#drew kyoko so nice here

[theultimatekamehamehavoc]

get dunked on, loser boy

also, since i got inspiration from this (with permission ^v^)

inspo specifically from this cus gosh this cracked me up (still does)

@dangans-ur-ronpas thank u for the inspo!!!!!!!

[mmani-e]

Another post! This time featuring what the antagonists for my AU might look like. While Akane and Nekomaru are locked in the rest is up to changes in the future. Kyoko and Celestia were put on a poll but the results I believe I didn't set up properly, so now I'm amending that somewhat. I drew both sets in these sketches, and when enough time has passed I'll set up another poll, properly this time on strawpoll.

As for some design explanations and lore you can check under the cut :)

Kyoko and Makoto I believe are pretty straightforward here, I gave Kyoko a neckerchief that goes pretty far down to give her that sort of upper class educated look, while Makoto I gave a smart little jacket. There's only so far you can go with the normal boy, but I also made his hair fluffier and nicer. His ahoge is there but it's normally combed back, and only springs to full life when he's in murder mode.

Kyoko joined her dad in leaving the tradition of detective work behind and entered the business world where she used her analytical mind to be the best damn stock investor in the world, while definitely something she excels at it's not something she finds particularly fulfilling.

Makoto is a wholesome, normal dude who loves writing books about wholesome stories with good endings, while his family was and still is normal, he was captured once by unscrupulous scientists wanting to explore Despair and its mysterious qualities. Makoto never gave in, but in his suffering developed an alter ego who was grimly invested in justice above all else.

Sparkling Justice is a night haunter, who exclusively goes around killing murderers and evildoers against Makoto's wishes. Choosing to right any injustice he sees in the world, allowing for happy endings for the victims, surely?

I went hard with celes and hifumi a long time ago in previous designs, so here they are with similar designs as I gave them before. Hifumi wears a suit vest, and a button-up underneath while still keeping his bag... which may or may not be more than just a simple bag...

Celestia was born a normal kid and absolutely hated that life, so when a relative of hers from Europe visited she begged them and her family to go with them and she did. She grew up exploring Europe, and would propose money-making schemes to her family abroad and would eventually be able to fund the glamorous lifestyle she always thought she deserved.

Hifumi is just a writer-focused version of himself, though with a particular love for action-romance novels and fiction rather than strictly heart-melting novels like Touko. He's a sweet boy but very weird and horny for Celestia, so he's completely useless around her. He's basically a tool... just like...

ROBO-JUSTICE is a serial killer known for their modus operandi of targeting particularly attractive and very mean women with hammers or blunt force trauma. This alter was formed after one particularly awful night of bullying resulting in Hifumi getting thrown into an abandoned industrial park and nearly dying from exposure to wires and sharp metal. Despite this though, it is almost entirely subservient to Celestia whenever it surfaces from Hifumi's mind.

Akane and Nekomaru I've already drawn before, but I think it'd be nice to give some of the backstory I've planned for them.

Akane is a well-meaning, brash, and reckless person whose freakish natural strength pairs with a luck that does everything except help her directly. Random and unpredictable, Akane desperately tries everything she can to get into extremely unpredictable and dangerous situation for her luck to grace those around her with the best outcome from her misfortune, even if it means hurting a lot of people in the process.

Nekomaru was inspired by the nonstop hard work he saw the nurses had to do when they were treating his heart condition. So inspired that he made it his solemn vow to join them whatever it took, leading him to become the ultimate nurse. He would, however, be the first of his classmates to fall to the despair of the mastermind, as his well-meaning nature drew him into a trap he could not predict.

For Rantaro and Tenko I took inspiration from M. Bison(Dictator) and Criss Angel specifically. These are the most experimental designs I have as you can tell, but I plan on working on them a lot.

Tenko's story involves her becoming the head of her little "dojo" and straight up turning it into a cult, with her as the ultimate supreme leader and the greatest fighter in the world.

Rantaro started off doing magic for her sisters, and got so good at making them happy that one of them introduced his magic act to the world through sites like youtube, causing him to become a sensation drooled over by millions of girls around the world.

[plaindangan]

Mistletoe [Makoto x Kyoko]

Naegi is preparing decorations for Holliday season and brought help from Kyoko, they have a great day decorating the house, and they both have a nice, slurpy & sexy kiss under the God-Killer plant, as they both strip naked to fuck in the living room like the horndogs they are~

Disclaimer: R18 material! If not to your liking then please do not view!

It was a nice day at Makoto's home. December was here and that meant working into making his little home fit the theme of the season~ Though, given how 'unlucky' he can be - he thought it'd be wise to get his close friend, and crush, Kyoko to help him. Thankfully, he had asked on a slow day of her's and she was quick to assist him (maybe because she also had a crush on him~).

They had a great time hanging his Christmas tree, putting lights all over his house (Kyoko also saving Makoto from falling off his roof), preparing gifts for their friends and just have a nice time being together.

They were at it all day, so by the time they were done, it was nightfall and Makoto was beginning to see Kyoko out of his home.

"This has been a great day!! Come by tomorrow for cookie baking?" With a cool smile, Kyoko nodded her head. "Why, of course...but aren't you forgetting something?"

Makoto looked suprised and looked about, though didn't seem to notice anything unusual or recall anything amiss. "A-am I?"

To that, Kyoko silently pointed up and Makoto followed her finger - thereby seeing a mistletoe hanging right above his door. When was this put up? Did Kyoko-!!!

Before Makoto knew it, Kyoko grabbed him by his hood and drew him in for a long passionate kiss that had his stomach fluttering. A passion for this forward, strong, beautiful, alluring detective overtaking him and having him join in bringing just as much passion into his kiss~ As they liplocked for control, Kyoko closed the door and backed Makoto onto the couch. No one is seeing what happens next besides her~ They spent a lot of time today on that couch: cutting up decorations, gift wrapping, watching TV, eating lunch and now? As Kyoko was bare ass naked and riding his ever so strong 'Hope', and he was calling out her name in euphoria?

Both of them could say they fucked each other nice and long on that couch as well~

[kisasiblings]

Fan kids(also I’ve actually designed a few of these so they will have notes on their designs)(and also yes this is a non despair au(and also there is literally a mikado/nikei child here because I cannot get the idea of mikado accidentally conjuring up a kid and going “okay,I’m gonna go bother nikei with this” out of my mind)(nvm I will only do the ones I have designed I have no energy for 16 kids I am coming back once I have designed the rest)

Kouhei kisaragi(protagonist and yamarugi child):shsl firearm inventor

*inherited tsurugi’s strong sense of justice but thanks to yamato he isn’t a light yagami about it,he just enforces the rules.

*he gets accused of murder in the first chapter and his whole defense is “but I wouldn’t do that”

*manages to take the spot and both smartest and dumbest person in the room(he’s unaware but he’s really good at solving mysteries)

Design notes:

*ahoge

*he looks like a mini tsurugi but his hair color is more reminiscent of Yamato and he has and zip up hoodie

*5’3 and second shortest out of the cast

*The shirt he has under it is the same color as tsurugi’s police uniform,but it isn’t a police uniform

*he has a pin that resembles a target

*his tie is sticking out

Michi Maeda(child of yuuki Maeda and support):shsl lucky student

*knows more than he lets on

*divine luck comes in clutch in the trials

*This games kyoko

*clashes a lot with the next character

Design notes:

*looks just like yuuki

*5’8 and one of the taller ones

*tiny ahoge

*wears a red hood that clashes with his otherwise formal attire

*upside down clover pin

Chizu mekaru(is the closest I can say to and antag and reikako kid):shsl occult teacher(might change)

*really nice and hardworking

*as said in michi’s bio,clashes a lot with him

*Her and kouhei don’t actually know their cousins(in the kg at least)

*one of the leading forces in the class trail

*actually defended kouhei along with Michi in the first class trial(peak cousin moment,except they don’t remember their cousins)

Design notes:

*Has a bead hair tie and earrings but not a necklace since that would clash with her tie

*has the little hair swoop side bangs(side burns?) that rei has

*hair is tied up in a bun kinda like mikako’s ponytail

5’7

*not actually much to note

Aimi kabuya(soruko kid):shsl website programmer

*shy

*gets panicked easily

*is kinda like sayaka in the way she is desperate to escape

Is cousins with the Ayakane child(iku) but doesn’t know it(also there’s another peak cousin moment,but they don’t remember their cousins time in ch1)

Design notes:

*pink hair with silver steaks

*necklace is the same as yoruko’s

*5’5

*tights(the reason why I am mentioning this is because a few weeks ago I was playing Digimon World next order and when you choose the female(shiki) there’s a shot where she’s falling into the digital world and they blur out the underside of her skirt and my first thought was “no panty shots for you,perverts!” and I don’t know why THAT was my first thought but it was my first thought,peak me moment indeed)

*you know those sweater jackets?she has one of those

Eiko Otori(teruhiko):shsl car saleswoman(well,for shsl car saleswoman,shes and two other characters are 21)

*her main mentors are Syobai and teruya

*shares most of syobai’s mannerisms

*aroace

*This lady was mentored by the shsl broker and merchant she can sell anything just that cars are her specialty

*she cares about two thing.cash.and her family.thats it.

Design notes:

*tie is the same design as teruya’s outfit

*low ponytail

*drew hats like twice and said “never again” so in return she gets two tiny ahoges

HIIII im alive. i think. projmoon games sucked me in lately sorry orz

i do hope its more of irlkado and nikei kid and you treat irlkado like a different person than aikado though /nm just. i do not like sann/iuri it makes me uncomfortable and nanas interpretation (hi nana) of irlkado/nikei is the only instance i tolerate it

but for the rest, i quite like these, i like soruko kids' talent /vpos

the rest are fine but i do think that combining the parents' talents usually isnt the best idea and branching out outside of that opens a lot of possibilities!! /nm just a little advice thats all

[goshdangronpa]

Makoto naegi

For the ask thing? Here ya go! And please bear in mind that it's been a long while since I've experienced Trigger Happy Havoc, which I only encountered by watching a walkthrough that didn't do any of the free time events.

Favorite thing about them: He's not the smartest - both Byakuya and Junko probably has hive beat in terms of sheer intellect, and Kyoko could almost certainly solve the cases on her own. Even so, he's no idiot, and he succeeds by combining careful reason with a level of kindness and faith in his fellow human that none of those three can match. His decision to trust that Kyoko is lying for a reason is what ultimately exposes the mastermind and saves the survivors' lives. It's all too easy for mystery genre protagonists to set aside emotion for cold, hard logic - that's the impression I get from Kyoko (whom I like a lot, to be clear). Makoto won't play that way, and that's awesome.

Least favorite thing about them: playing Ultra Despair Girls taught me that a character can be a total normie and somehow make that a hilarious and fun personality to follow. Makoto can't even match his sister in that regard. Not that he needs to be quite like that, though. Saying my least fave thing about any DR character will still end in their favor.

Favorite quote: it's the most obvious pick, but as someone who'd never even heard of the games before watching THH's playthrough, I can't emphasize enough how much of a kick I got from him interrupting his classmates' lies and conjectures with the blunt and plainly rude "NO! THAT'S WRONG!" So friggin' funny. Makoto is nice, but he does not tolerate bullshit!

BroTP: Is it unusual to be a fan of Yasuhiro? I, for one, would enjoy a straight man/funny man duo between this overconfident yet easily spooked moron and his level-headed yet polite friend who pulls him out of jams.

OTP: I once followed a wonderful Tumblrite who was the world's foremost expert on Chihiro Fujisaki. He shipped her with Makoto and invented such a wonderful narrative for them, along with plenty of sweet art, that I was converted. They're so cute.

NoTP: I don't think much about ships, not enough to reject many with any intensity. Let me think ... every nice guy has their limits, and I can only imagine that Makoto would draw the line at the notion of dating Toko. She's a fantastic character in UDG, but such an unrepetantly irritating piece of work in THH. I like to think that he's skeptical, to say the least, of her ability to be a good partner toward Komaru when he first hears about them.

Random headcanon: this isn't the hairstyle he actually wants, he just can't figure out how to tell the barber what he wants done.

Unpopular opinion: what are the popular ones, anyway? Uhhh how about this. Blank-slate audience avatar characters get a lot of flack among writers and critics because they're usually just so functional (give the audience someone to relate to and follow) and boring (outshone by more colorful castmates). Makoto stands out in a franchise defined by titanic personalities just by taking everyone as they are, having the smarts to solve complex murder mysteries, and being a chill and friendly guy. He proves the value of the archetype and shows that characters of this stock can distinguish themselves.

Song I associate with them: https://youtu.be/AFfmNQbcucw (I had to resist putting Mark Morrison's "Return of the Mack")

Favorite picture of them: so good that I actually drew it myself

[einsatzzz]

WHAT'S BETTER THAN ONE IKEMEN??? SEVEN OF THEM!!! AND THIS IS WHY OTOME GAMES WILL ALWAYS BE A TOP GAME GENRE FOR ME 🥰🥰😍😍✨✨✨

Anyway, NIMMMMAAAAA!!!! AWAWAWAWAWA 😭😭😭😭 Thank you so much for including Yui for this one!!! You drew him so ikemen xldbdmbdkd (and his TYL deisgn too omg!! 😳😳 but his troubled look among the other smiling ikemen bc he's abt to get divorced is also so 🤣🤣🤣🤣) The concept of an otoge with the male khr ocs and with Kyoko as the MC is so perfect!!! 1000/10 would play all routes and have 100% completion (despite the red flags hahahahaha) This is honestly such a big piece of art, besides how wonderful that art is itself, I really appreciate the time you put in in completing this as well 🥺🥺💖💖💖 fully-colored illustrations with multiple characters in it are never easy and will take a lot of patience!

I LAUGHED SO HARD AT YUI'S ROUTE DETAILS TOO HELPDMDLDJDKHDDKDN KYOKO-CHAN REALLY BECAME A MARRIAGE COUNSELOR ON THIS ONE 🤣🤣🤣🤣 AND HIM LIVING UNDER THE BRIDGE JXNDHDKSHS SO SORRY YUI, U BEING WIFELESS & HOMELESS IS ALL ON U 🫡🫡✨

Also so sorry lgbt community, but I will be one of the loud fans who will keep asking for a dlc where chief is romanceable!!! It just has to happen!! idc if i step on xanxus or squalo's toes, my life is alr in danger from hibari, two more is nothing 🤷🤷🤷😂😂😂

but realistically speaking, i would also go for ichiro's route, he seems to be the most green flag among everyone here mdbdkdhdkdj (that variant of naoya is so nice tho! 👀✨) but befriending yui is good too, so i can rizz his bestie instead.

Day 25♡: Community

Yaaaaaay! I'm done!! My idea was to create a fake otome game cover using khr male ocs as the love interests! Also made a fake screenshot with Dan who is not a love interest. [I like thinking discourse dissolves amount fans about this... :) one side demands he becomes one because he's so hot and relatable the other side is like "HELLO? He is gay and has not one but TWO boyfriends!!!"] Chief Daniele Costa belongs to @lixenn

Anyway tagging in order of character drawn along with their creator: Murakami Ichiro belonging to @melonchanverse , Hibari Naoya belonging to @cloudvaria (note: this is not mainline TYL! Naoya design!) , Ai Kai belonging to @mimiruku (note: I gave him this hair...I thought him looking like a reverse Dino hair style wise would be funny.), Yorimitsu Yui belonging to @einsatzzz , Sergey Shouta belonging to @eternitas , and last but not least Tristam Cavalieri belonging to @myrmyrtheorca (note: this is the TYL! Design Myell made for me for this fake otome cover! It may not be canon.)

Under the cut is the info regarding the fake otome!!

Fake Otome Game title:

Love ≠ Life: Dance With Darkness

[Fake] synopsis: Sasagawa Kyoko has lived a relatively normal life despite her older brother being the sun guardian for the Neo-Vongola. Kyoko tries not to think too much about this or the fact his boss and her old classmate, Sawada Tsunayoshi, distanced himself from her after middle school.

However not long after the Neo-Vongola separates from Vongola, Kyoko finds her life becoming much more dangerous very quickly. Will these new experiences lead to a fruitful love or will it lead to her death?

Some things I thought of for this:

Yui: FIRST OF ALL HE IS STILL MARRIED!!! Just "separated" and he cries and is so broken up about his wife potentially leaving him and he'll be homeless. Kyoko comes across him living in a cardboard box with a tin can to collect change... he used to live across from his actual house but his neighbors called the cops because "some homeless guy is panhandling!" So now he's in the park where Kyoko comes across him.

[Good End] Yui and Kyoko form a friendship where Kyoko listens to Yui's heartaches and gives him advice to get back with his wife. They go to a bar where Yui drinks and Kyoko sips juice.

[Bad End] Yui and Kyoko fall for each other but can not be because Yui is homeless and still with his wife. He leaves Kyoko's apartment that he had stayed at and now lives under a bridge. His wife hears he was staying at another woman's house and divorces him. Yui is back to being harassed by cops but it's fine because Kyoko brings him food and blankets...It's so cold under the bridge...

[TRUE END] Kyoko's friendship and good cheer leads to Yui reconciling with his wife!! He's back in the house and everything!!! Kyoko feels happy for Yui but also a bit sad. Will she find love? Well at least she found a dear friend...

Tw: cheating scumbag incoming. General mistreatment as well. Pregnancy mention at the end of the Kai portion.

.

Kai: THERE ARE NO GOOD ENDS WITH KAI. Either ("good" end) you as Kyoko get in a relationship with him where he constantly cheats and goes "you made me because I needed more attention." Or (true end) these two dated a bit and you left him because of the cheating but it hurts still to see him around town with five girls clinging to him simultaneously. Or (bad end) where it's the same as "good" except now Kyoko is pregnant. 😀

Ngl, the others feel like you can actually romance them with typical otome scenarios happening, so I'll stop here!!

[muffinrecord]

I stopped screwing around for this one (sort of, still used solo Ashley).

For the Light Witch: Like I mentioned, solo 4s Ashley. I’m 99% sure she won’t work as a solo for the EX-Challenges, but she made short work of the boss (completely forgot to take screenshots even). 

For the Dark Witch: Used a 3s MadoIro, 2s Nayuta, and 3s Madoka. 

MadoIro nearly killed it with a doppel, but ended up needing just a little bit more damage. Nayuta might seem like a weird choice but I wanted someone who could heal, contribute to accele combos + give some form of mp bonus, and her passive Status Ailments buff for the whole party was very persuasive.

If you’re struggling with the Dark witch, I just want to remind that you don’t need to use only light units. Light will deal extra damage to the boss sure, but the boss will also deal extra damage to the light girls. 

Sasara has specific def against darkness, but personally I didn’t find that she was quite cutting it for me. That being said, you might want to try her out anyways. I do think that magia, particularly magia that can heal, is super key here. Anything that gives ailment resistance is good too-- particularly on whoever you use to draw aggro. 

For the Flame Witch: I used a 2s Rena&Kaede (Swimsuit), 3s Sudachi, and a 1s Ao (who had the replacement memoria equipped).

Sudachi drew fire, and then Ao + RenaKaede swapped doppels back and forth. The biggest danger here was Sudachi’s health getting low, but luckily RenaKaede had a heal (sort of) on their connect that really helped.

I’ve seen some folks use Umika with great success. I haven’t been able to try it, but maybe Umika, Melissa, and some other tank would work really well here? TBH the only problem with Melissa is that she has good magia damage but she’s single target... I dunno. x_x

For the Forest Witch: I used a 1s Doppel Kyoko (with the memo replacement thing) and a 3s Sae.

Please note that I won on turn 2 just using flame kimochi strats. Doppel Kyoko is op.

For the Aqua Witch: 2s AniHoly Mami, 4s Matsuri tank, 4s Kako (who only has some actives equipped).

I won on turn 2 as well here. tbh, Matsuri wasn’t actually really needed here-- don’t need a tank if you don’t take that much damage-- but her extra slot was nice. I had Kako use accele draw, so that Mami could get to Doppel by turn two. On turn two I used a memoria that inflicted burn, and then the nemu one that gave curse and bewitch.

This meant Mami would deal shitloads of damage thanks to the extra damage taken from the buffs, and then her passive addict killer. cleaned up the witch quite nicely.

---

I explained all of this, but I don’t think it’ll be that helpful if you don’t have the same units I do. Some of these were still a struggle, particularly the dark witch and the flame one. I’m glad I bought Rena & Kaede because my list of slotted aqua girls is pretty poor.

[shirophic]

close nights | mm!naegiri fic

here’s the mastermind!naegiri fic i promised  BAAHAHAHA VERY INSPIRED BY SONGS AND THERES A FAMILIAR QUOTE AT THE END IM PRETTY SURE MOST OF YALL HAVE HEARD ngl i feel like it went too quick but honestly idc give me feedback warnings: mentions of death, blood, stabbing, major character deaths

The night was cold, colder than usual.

Kyoko Kirigiri entered the security room, sighing as she sat down in the cool, blue chair. As she scanned her eyes across all the different cameras, quite a few things were on her mind. The 4th trial had ended, with alter ego’s death replaying in the minds of the students. Despair rotted within the students as fear shook them. Alter ego was their only hope, and now they were crushed.

Kirigiri watched as Asahina sobbed in her pillow, Hagakure trying to calm himself down, Togami reading as if nothing happened, Fukawa having a panic attack... Kirigiri bored her eyes into each of the footage from the cameras. Careful trying not to miss anything. Up until she reached a certain CCTV footage caught her eye. 

A boy holding up a sign. The boy was Makoto Naegi, Ultimate Lucky Student. Kirigiri knew better than that, she was the Ultimate Detective for a reason. She knew that talent was a deception, after all, what kind of talent is the “Ultimate Lucky Student”?

Kirigiri knew his real ultimate was despair, a sickening depth of darkness, tearing down others. 

To put it down to simpler words, It was his specialty.

Kirigiri never really understood the reason for despair. Sure, without despair there is no hope, but what was the real meaning behind it? Her ultimate was the Ultimate Detective, aren’t detectives supposed to be fighting against despair in the name of hope? Oh well, she was pretty much forced into this.

Turning her attention back to the green-eyed boy, she noticed there were words on the sign, with a grinning Naegi as he tried to stand tall enough to show the message.

“What an idiot. How did he become the Ultimate Despair again?”

The sign said “Come meet me in our special spot! Wear something pretty!” with a lopsided smiley face.

Once holding it for about 10 more seconds, he ran with the sign. Kirigiri had no idea what he had stored in that deceptive of a mind, but probably something not good.

- - -

As Kirigiri strode over to their “special place” Naegi was setting up something. Something like a room filled with candles and roses.

Rose petals and rose vines adorned the walls and floors. Candles were set up as yellow light shown in the darkness. Vodka and other drinks were lined up on a table, all set up for the night. Sure, it was cheesy, but something he put too much effort in. About a minute passed until Kirigiri arrived, Naegi staggered to fix his tie and suit, waiting at the entrance. As he looked up to meet with her eyes, he paused in amazement.

Kirigiri was wearing a deep purple dress that went just above her ankles with long gloves. Purple heels allowed her to have a little more height against Naegi. And her hair was up in a ponytail, with a purple bow to match. In all words, she was stunning. Naegi stood there agape as he looked at Kirigiri (respectfully of course.)

“Well? Are you just going to stand there looking like a reincarnation of Kuwata’s hair? Or are you going to explain what this is?” smirked Kirigiri, Naegi could have sworn he saw Kirigiri blush.

“Ah yes of course..” Mumbled Naegi as he looked down. “I.. I wanted us to take some time alone with each other, seeing as we get too caught up with the killing game and making sure none of them finds out about… about us..” spoke Naegi, softly.

Kirigiri’s smirk softened, seeing a side she saw many times, but not like this. Was this a confession? Perhaps a prank? She had known the boy for far too long to just not expect this wasn’t one of his other little pranks.

“Well then… In that case, let us take some time with each other.”

With that, Naegi and Kirigiri spent time talking and letting out their struggles. “It’s hard to keep track of what I've said and what I've not! It’s like I have to create a mental script..”

“You.. don’t have a mental script?” “You do!?”

As the night went on, Naegi played some music.

“Oh.. Isn’t this Lacrimosa?” questioned Kirigiri.

“Yea! Sometimes it calms me down when times are rough for me,” exclaimed Naegi.

Kirigiri didn’t respond as she looked like she was lost in thought.

“You’re thinking about your past again, aren’t you?” whispered Naegi.

Kirigiri turned to glance at Naegi, a stoic but slightly saddened expression on her face, “You.. You don’t need to worry about me. I can handle myself perfectly fine, just some… memories.”

Naegi examined Kirigiri for a while before standing up and lending Kirigiri his hand.

“Hey, I’m no doctor or therapist but, maybe a waltz will get it off your mind,” suggested Naegi.

Kirigiri opened her mouth for a bit, but completely drew a blank. Eventually, she surrendered and took Naegi’s hand.

They danced to Lacrimosa until it came upon an end.

Naegi slightly lifted his head to Kirigiri’s lavender eyes, yet couldn’t make out what was in them, sadness? Regret? Anger? He’ll never know.

-

Kirigiri had many thoughts as she slowly danced with Naegi, but she held them off for the time being, as they both wanted time together. And she didn’t want her depressing thoughts to ruin it.

-

Kirigiri and Naegi made eye contact as their thoughts disappeared, only focusing on each other now.

-

Kirigiri suddenly stopped, being aware of her surroundings and what she was doing - dancing. And with whom she was dancing with. “I.. Don’t you think it’s a bit… well, late for this?” Kirigiri questioned, “I wouldn’t want to be caught, god knows what they’re up to…” Naegi paused and chuckled for a bit. “We’re the ones in charge, aren’t we? Where is their god now?” Kirigiri looked down, not saying anything. “Where is their god now?” typical Naegi…” “if you don’t want to do this right now, why not grab a drink with me?” Kirigiri looked at Naegi with slight amusement, “why the niceties now?” but gave in, as her throat ached with thirst.

Naegi laughed quietly, then led Kirigiri to the food and drinks stand. Naegi grabbed a bottle of vodka and poured 

“Hm, don’t you think we’re too young to be drinking?” “We’re 18 now, did you forget? Oh yea, Junko erased your memories as well.”

Kirigiri got lost in thought as she remembered the previous ultimate despair Junko Enoshima was the previous despair. Keyword: previous. Naegi and Enoshima had been partners for quite a while, a feared duo. After “The Tragedy” and after class 78 got converted to a new school for a safe shelter, Enoshima and Naegi were already putting their plan into action. They made sure everything was sealed and “safe” and after about a year, Enoshima forced them into the killing game. Unbeknownst to the other 15 students, Naegi was also in this plan from behind the scenes. And after the first death (Ikusaba), Naegi and Enoshima got into a fight.

- - -

An angry Naegi burst through the doors of the security room, opening to a gleeful-looking Enoshima.

Naegi never had any thoughts on Ikusaba, she was just another pawn in Enoshima’s plan. But she always had to make things complicated for him.

“Enoshima!” Naegi yelled, “How could you just let Ikusaba die like that? Do you know how risky that was.. If they found out-”

“Which they won’t, honestly Naegi you’re too paranoid,” Enoshima said unbothered. “And If they did I’m sure you can just kill them off like a fly.” 

Naegi had a dark look on his face, “And what would be the explanation for that? Tell me.”

“I-”

“Oh! Togami just pissed me off! So I killed him in cold blood, upupupupu!”

Enoshima took a stand, an annoyed look displayed on her face. 

“Look Naegi, if you’re just going to argue about the past, fuck off, it can’t be changed and you know that.”

Naegi quietly chuckled, which turned into full-on laughter.

“AHA- HAHAHAHA, you think I’m just going to accept giving up like that? Well unbeknownst to you, Enoshima, I have a few cards up my sleeve as well..”

Naegi swiftly threw a card at Enoshima’s face, giving a fresh cut to her cheek. Enoshima looked at Naegi in disbelief, gently touching her face.

“H- How dare you,” Enoshima said, bewildered.

Naegi looked at her in amusement, “Was that not entertaining for you enough, Enoshima?”

Enoshima growled, spitting at Naegi. 

“Fuck you,”

“Pay me.”

Naegi quickly moved behind Enoshima, slicing the back of her neck, then putting her up against the wall with a knife under her chin, complimenting her facial features.

“Well now, the shorty finally decided to grow some balls, huh?” Enoshima teased, wincing as the cut behind her neck burned.

“You know damn well I grew some balls ever since I even started our little plan. Have a nice time in hell, Enoshima.” Naegi sneered, looking up at the despair twin.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be saving you a seat.”

Naegi then sliced her neck, pink blood dripping from the knife and onto Naegi’s hand.

Naegi hummed, dropping Enoshima on the floor, disgust filling his senses. “As much as I love bringing people into despair, the stench of blood is disgusting.”

Naegi then washed his hands and ordered monokuma to clean the mess up before heading towards his dorm room, pretending as if nothing happened.

- - -

“Hello? Earth to Kirigiri?” Naegi waved his hand in front of Kirigiri’s face.

Kirigiri was brung back into reality, realization striking her that she was lost in thought. 

“O-oh, Naegi. Sorry, I was lost in thought… again.” Kirigiri said rather embarrassingly, glanced at the shot she was holding, and gulped it down.

“It’s okay Kirigiri,” Naegi spoke as he had doubt in his eyes. He then took a shot, shaking his head.

“Hey Kirigiri, I know I invited you here myself but, there’s another place I wanna show you, care to join me?”

Kirigiri pondered for a minute, should she really go with a murderer who killed the ultimate despair only just to become the ultimate despair himself? Kirigiri sighed, he couldn’t kill her because of her secret anyways. Kirigiri remembered how desperate he was to know the secret.

- - -

(beginning of chapter 3)

Naegi whined as he followed Kirigiri around pleading. 

“Oh Kirigiri pleaaase!” he begged, “Let me know your secret!”

Kirigiri stopped and looked at Naegi, “why do you want to learn my secret so much?”

Naegi scoffed, “Well obviously because you’ve mentioned it once before and never told me! I thought I was your best friend..”

Kirigiri shook her head and continued to walk towards the physics lab, a click in her steps.

- - -

Oh well, it’s not like she has much of a choice.

Kirigiri sighed and followed Naegi, hoping that it would mean something good.

- - -

Naegi led Kirigiri up to the roof of the school, looking back from tie to time with a smile on his face.

Once on the roof, Naegi invited Kirigiri to sit down. The area was outgrown, plants growing everywhere. Fires all around the building, blazes and flames of fire all around the base of the school, the sun setting with a red aura.

Smoke filling Kirigiri's senses, she coughed. “W-Where are we Naegi?” she said as she looked at Naegi. Naegi’s face was lightened with red, orange, and yellow hues as he grinned down upon the world, eyes sparkling with delight.

“We’re.. We’re at the top of the world,” Naegi smiled.

Kirigiri glanced at Naegi with a confused expression but stoic eyes as she looked Naegi up and down.

“Quit the act, why did you bring me here?” Kirigiri demanded.

Naegi turned around, surprised. “Kirigiri, I just wanted to spend time with yo-”

“Stop, I know you’re lying to me. Spit it out.”

Naegi sighed with an annoyed tone and looked Kirigiri directly in the eye.

“I want to know your secret.”

Kirigiri was disappointed, but not surprised. Naegi was an awfully ambitious person and would go to extraordinary heights to get what he wanted, but Kirigiri was awfully stubborn.

“And exactly why should I tell you? For all I know, you could kill me instantly after.” Kirigiri doubted.

“Well for one, you can get out alive!” Naegi laughed, “But you’re not getting away this easily, Kirigiri.”

Kirigiri carefully examined the options she had; A: make a run for it, B: punch him and run, C: tell him and live. She knew with plans A and B he could easily either send monokuma after her or just kill her himself. And with plan C he could also be lying. So in all, it’s a win-lose situation.

Kirigiri sighed and made up her mind.

“I’m not telling you, whether you kill me or not. And besides, even you don’t know the secrets of this school, you need me.”

Naegi examined her closely again, then swiftly took out knives, throwing them all at Kirigiri. Which she dodged them all, even catching one. She threw the knife aside and stepped forward towards Naegi.

“You know you need me, you can’t do anything without me. Give up.”

Naegi growled, “shut up, shut up, shut up!”

With a few knives cutting Kirigiri’s dress and skin, she fell on the ground, backing away from Naegi.

She winced in pain as she looked up at Naegi, her vision blurring as she tried to make out what to do. Naegi stopped in front of her, playing with the knife in his hands before kneeling down in front of her face, lifting her chin up with the knife.

“You know Kirigiri, you’re an intelligent person with lots of room for improvement. I never wanted to come to this conclusion, but if you’re not going to work with me here, we’re going to have a problem.” threatened Naegi.

Kirigiri glared up at Naegi, keeping full eye contact.

“I’m not giving in, no matter what little tricks you have in store.”

Naegi rolled his eyes in annoyance, then putting his knife hard against her neck, “if you oblige, I’ll make your death quick and painless, if you don’t - well then you’re gonna have a fun time suffering.”

Kirigiri stared at Naegi in silence watching as her blood dripped down from her neck and onto everywhere.

Naegi then grew tired of waiting and sliced Kirigiri’s throat leaving her dead blank face the last expression she’ll ever make again.

He then stood up and started walking towards the exit down back to the school, when he heard something.

“I-Ikusaba… she’s alive, an…” Naegi whipped around, anxious, as he urged Kirigiri to continue. “And… she’s o-out for you..”

Naegi was stunned into silence. Ikusaba.. was alive? And she wanted vengeance? Naegi was very confused about this whole proposition. This was Kirigiri’s secret? Naegi then looked at Kirigiri again waiting for more information. But to no avail, Kirigiri’s eyes rid of the light and grew dead.

Naegi then started pacing around, wondering what to do next. Should he try to find Ikusaba? Should he kill Ikusaba once and for all? Should he-

Naegi was then interrupted by a figure in the shadows. He turned around to look who it is, but he couldn’t make out who it was until they stepped into the light.

“Naegi,” a cool monotone voice spoke, “We meet again.”

The figure then stepped into the light - a face known too well.

Mukuro Ikusaba. The other despair twin. Also known as the ultimate soldier. The last time Naegi and Ikusaba met was when they were putting the plan into action and putting the students in the classrooms. After that they barely interacted.

Naegi knew Ikusaba was dangerous. Her talent gave it away, after all. She knew tons of different strategies, and while Enoshima liked to say that the strategies were hers’ - spoiler alert: they were not.

Turning back to reality, Naegi began thinking of different tactics to well ah, slaughter his close friend.

Ikusaba read Naegi like a book, and took out her dagger - to which Naegi replied to taking his own out as well.

“Impressive, I saw what you did with Kirigiri. You’ve worked on your reflexes.” complimented Ikusaba. “But you’re no match for me.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

“Alright, let’s dance.”

[yandere-ac]

part 2. for yandere monokuma. maybe we can get the giant Monokuma punishment, and then fluff, just him saying puhuhu in the hall way makes you anxious.

Yandere Monokuma X Reader

Despair for two part 2

“Y/N~ Where aaaaaare youuuu?” Oh god. Oh no. He was here. You were currently on the second floor of the school, cowering in one of the cabinets in classroom 1B. Your breath was out of control, unstable and violent as you tried to make the tears stop. You don’t know what happened. Everything was alright, you and Monokuma were in bed, just relaxing. But then, Monokuma had started to shift rather fiercely, telling you that the position was uncomfortable. When you had tried to help he just got angrier and told you to back off. But when you did, he got even angrier. Why the hell did you let go of him for?! How dare you! He obviously wanted you to change the position, not to let him go! He’d show you how it felt to be held like nothing but a piece of fabric.

And now here you were, hiding away in a cabinet while he roamed the halls, looking for you. You knew he was near and you had to control your breathing. Unless you wanted him to find you, and you sure as hell didn’t want that. You tried doing the breathing exercises that Taka had shared with you once, but that failed as the thought of Taka only made you cry harder. “No. Come on Y/N. God damn it, snap out of it!” You whispered to yourself. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Make sure to form your mouth in the shape of an “O” so that the air leaves slower. That’s what Taka had told you after he found you crying. You had a panic attack after Sayakas body had been discovered and ran away, he had been the one that followed you and comforted you. Oh Taka, how you missed him. You missed talking to him and Mondo, you missed showing your puppets to Makoto, you missed sitting in company with Kyoko, you missed doing your nails with Junko, you missed hanging out with Chihiro, you missed singing with Leon and Sayaka, you missed swimming with Hina and Sakura, you missed getting you palm read by Hiro, you missed playing poker with Celeste, you missed talking to Hifumi about his special interests and watching his eyes light up as he talked, you missed discussing novels and tropes with Toko, you even missed having Byakuya insult you. You missed all of them. You missed having someone that wasn’t Monokuma with you. You would do anything to get them back, to have one last moment, all of you together, as friends. But you couldn’t think about them, lest you want to start crying again. You gave the breathing exercise another shot.

You didn’t even get the chance as you heard his hauntingly gleeful laugh throughout the halls. Soon, you heard the sound of the doorknobs being turned and the double doors to the classroom being opened. Oh no. He was here. You covered your mouth with both of your hands, letting out shaky breaths through your nose. All of the previous calm had completely disappeared as you heard him roam the classroom. “Y/N? I know you’re in here~ I can smell you.” As Monokuma said this, he started sniffing the air to demonstrate. You felt tears start to brew up in your eyes yet again. Any desperate tries to muffle your heavy breathing ultimately failed as you heard Monokuma let out that signature laugh he always lets out. A laugh that usually sounded so cute in any other situation than the one you were in right now. “Aww are you crying? What’s the matter? Do you think a hug from your buddy Monokuma would help? Puhuhuhu!” Everything became quiet for a couple of seconds, the calm before the storm. It didn’t last long however, the rippling sound of wood breaking entered your ears as the door to your cabinet got torn off it’s hinges. As soon as the semi light from the classroom entered your vision, you let out a piercing scream. The thing that towered over your small form was none other than Monokuma, except he was absolutely huge! He was about 13 feet, which made you wonder how he even got through the door. His beady eyes met yours full of fear, and for a moment he waited. He waited and revelled at your small noises, until he couldn’t hold himself back anymore. He quickly snatched you up in one of his paws, letting out a loud and taunting laugh as he manhandled you. You let out a whimper as you struggled in his grasp. His sharp claws were out and was the thing that held you in place as you thrashed around. “Do you really think you can escape ME!? At this size?! That’s just adorable!” You quickly froze up once he stopped laughing and pointed one of his claws directly to your throat. He let out a low chuckle, much deeper than his usual high pitched voice. “You’re not getting out of this. Not that easily.” As he said this he swiped his other arm across the room, effectively pushing all of the desks and such away. You let out yet another choked yell as the violent motion caused several chairs to fly across the room, crashing into the wall. It scared you to the point of tears and once Monokuma saw this, he let out another string of giggles. He drew in one of his claws and used that finger to stroke your cheek, wiping away your tears rather violently. Which only made you cry harder. Although it didn’t last for very long as he laid down on the newly cleared surface on the floor, bringing your small body close to him, kind of like how you did when you two slept together. “Look! Now YOU’RE the plush puhuhuhu! And what a cute plush you are! Ahhh~ I could stay like this forever, you’re so small and helpless like this! I could poke your side and you would pretty much be impaled!” Your blood turned cold as he told you this. This was far from the first time Monokuma had mentioned killing you, it seemed to be like a fantasy of his. But he always made sure to tell you-

“But no! Seeing you like this, in this prolonged form of despair is far greater than any despair you would get from dying.” There it was. Just like always, Monokuma made sure to inform you that you weren’t gonna escape this hell by dying. Or at least by his hands, or well, paws. You knew he was enjoying your suffering. He wasn’t going to let you go. He wasn’t going to let you join the rest. You were his little puppeteer. And you were the only company he had, except for the mastermind. But you were different from them, you were full of so much hope and so much potential despair, hope that intrigued him to no end as he toyed around with you. “Wow! I only did this to teach you a lesson but this is actually really nice! I certainly see why you enjoy these kinds of things so much ehehehe.” The bear said as he practically cradled you in his big arms. “I won’t lie Y/N. The thrill of chasing you, and the fear in your eyes once I found you. It was ecstatic! I wouldn’t mind doing this more often puhuhu!”

You were his, his to play with, his to cuddle, his to terrify. His, and no one else’s.

////////////////////

This was a lot shorter than my usual fics but tbh, it wasn’t really a fic that needed to be that long. And it was actually kinda nice writing something that wasn’t so long. Don’t worry Monokuma simps, you will get more food soon I promise, but for now, have this short story

[theultimatekamehamehavoc]

AAAAAAAA! I finally finished this post that's been camping out in my drafts for freaking months! Let's gooooo!!!! Here are a small selection of the middle schoolers. Took me a while but I refined some of them. For now, it's this cluster but the others will appear soon! I swear!

Also, though they are open for some change, I got some explanations for all of them. Makoto: Pretty basic. Just him with a hoodie upgrade. I also gave him a bracelet as well. Had this idea of well, since Makoto and Sayaka new each other in middle school, maybe they get aqquainted more in this new canon and give each other friendship bracelets! In the killing game setting, if I go with this idea for this au, it can be a bit of a betrayal too cus like, she did a bad thing but also GASP! The bracelets! How could she! In a happy timeline/reimagining Danganronpa as a shitty kids show, it could just be wholesome. One other thing about Makoto's design that I'd like to note is his Band-Aid and acne. For the Band-Aid, just thought it'd be fun. Also, it mirrors someone else's design that I have that I will showcase soon. It's cute imagining Makoto carrying these band-aids around though cus he's in that awkward middle schooler phase which makes him more clumsy. He doesn't like it. Kyoko: Okay. Just stole her entire vibe from the Danganronpa Kirigiri novels. Here. Proof. Just drew her worse. May give her a more original outfit but for now, this is it.

Byakuya: Yeah. He was absurdly easy. Just gave him a silly sweater vest, shorts, and some goofy ass socks. I might improve this design later on but for now, this is his look as well. Leon: Leon was trickly and easy because his outfit was simple to translate into but also, he had a completly different look at some point in his youth that changed cus girls or something. Not the most well versed in the Leon lore so if anyone can educate me on this, I'm happy to know more. But like, for now, this is his design of just like, itty bitty punk boy until I figure out if he should look differently due to childhood factors. I, at the very least, cut his hair down as a buzz cut though to emphasis the fact that he's still deep in the baseball stuff, even if he may not like it as much by this point. Maybe he's in the transitional period from his old baseball days to his canon design Sayaka: She's basically the same with some added little bits. Made her skirt pink this time for fun and gave her a matching pink bow too! The main extra thing is the friendship bracelet idea mentioned earlier with Makoto in which I gave her a green one to match Makoto's outfit and energy. Thought it'd be a nice touch! Again though. All designs are open for change!

[lilyginnyblackv2]

Furuba S2, E22 - Thought Post - SPOILERS! (Super Long Post!)

I can't believe it! Here we are at S2, E22, we are almost at the end of the season, and the wait between the end of Season 2 to the beginning of Season 3 is going to be pretty brutal. I know it will be. I can feel it in my bones, lol. Anyway, let's jump right into this episode.

First, I absolutely love how they decided to show Yuki's feelings on Tohru. The way it was presented didn't just feel like a slideshow of flashbacks/past events. A good example to compare this too would be in Season 1 when it came to the New Year's episode. I remember really not being all that fond of how they implemented the flashbacks in that episode - they felt too much like they were just filling space. But here, they were executed very nicely. I think it also helped that we got moments like this one:

It made the flashback moments more transformative and it really hits home how Yuki feels about Tohru. It takes the scene of when Tohru placed the blanket over a sleeping Momiji, Hiro, and Kisa, and put Yuki in their place. They even made Yuki look like a child - kid Yuki. It makes it so that there is no more ambiguity with that scene and what it meant to Yuki. When we go back and watch that scene now, we can imagine the later take on it that we see in this episode. I feel like this image that we see here was what Yuki was actually imagining in his head at that moment.

We also get this moment briefly foreshadowed and shown to us, which is fantastic! (I legit gasped when I saw it!).

An excellent bit of jumping forward, in a very subtle way, that is noticeable to manga fans, but isn't quite as obvious as the Hatori and Mayu scene (which I do adore, but it is a very obvious flash forward).

It also makes me really excited to see what they might do with Momiji, when we get the reveal that he views Tohru romantically. Momiji's reveal isn't presented as personally as Yuki's is here, but still, they may add in a bit more or presented it in a slightly different way, and I am here for that possibility.

I also think it was a fantastic choice for this episode to add in small details like these:

Yuki kicking the soccer ball back and forth with Kakeru added some movement and extra humor to the episode. It gave more life to the scene, which is important when you get such a big retrospective bit of content from a character that is very internally based. That scene also added more to Yuki and Kakeru's friendship and highlights Yuki letting loose more. In the manga we do see them throw the ball back and forth at each other once or twice, but not to the same level and degree as we see here in the anime. It's one of the advantages of the animation.

Kimi going off to talk to one of the characters also works as a way to bring the episode back to a more active and external place, rather than the more passive and internal place that it was in before. Plus, it's another little moment that helps makes the characters and school setting feel more lived in and realistic.

There is one more aspect of this episode, related to Yuki, that I want to talk about, but I feel I want to end my thought post with that. So, instead, I'm going to talk about some of the other things very briefly here before jumping into that:

1. The Kyoru scenes were gorgeous and lovely! And the script keep away moment was so adorable, omg! I also love how Yuki says that they were at an “elementary school level,” lol. The way they drew and animated Kyo’s facial expressions in this episode were really great. Especially this moment:

It’s hard to capture in a still frame, but the way his hair raised up and face narrowed in anger - it’s very much like an angry, hissing cat (without resorting to the more comedic way of depicting that that we’ve seen in the past).

2. I love how they depicted Kyo's flash to Kyoko. It was unnerving, as it should be, and they have made the flashes remain on the screen longer and more concrete than the flashes that we saw in the past. This makes sense, since it ties into Kyo's own perception of these flashes and his own relationship with those flashes and moments in his past.

I think it really makes it clear in that moment that Yuki has finally started moving forward from his trauma. It isn't completely gone, but he has taken steps to overcome it. Meanwhile, Kyo is still stuck (as is Tohru, though that isn't touched on in this episode yet). I really enjoy how Furuba has relationships, as well as individual character development, move at different paces. It's very true to life.

3. Excuse me, the music that played during the Ayame and Mine scenes this episode? FABULOUS! I loved it and, even though the sound was different, the energy really did remind me of the old Ayame theme from the 01 series (those bagpipes really were something! lol).

4. In the manga they were rehearsing the play in the classroom (or, that was what I had always assumed), but here they are doing rehearsal in the gym and I like this switch. It's makes the play and culture festival feel closer. So rewriting the whole script holds a bit more weight to it (like, wow! that is such a wild idea/thing to do with the festival so close!).

5. The humor was spot on this episode. This reassures me that Sorta Cinderella's (yes, I am sticking with that title, lol) humor will be adapted correctly for the anime.

6. They really got across the Yuchi moment really well. Very nicely done:

So, now, this leaves me with the last thing that I want to touch on in this massive post, which is comphet (compulsive heterosexuality). This is something that a lot of LGBTQIA+ people experience, especially during high school/their teen years. Now, Takaya-sensei likely wasn't aware of this term, nor was it likely her intent to really explore it. But she does. And it's so important! 

I think it can be really hard for some people to really understand what Yuki means and is going through right here, because media perpetuates the idea that guys and girls can't be friends - that the only bonds they can have with each other is romantic ones - especially when they are around the same age and are high school aged. It's a narrative that is so constantly pushed in media and society that female and male characters will be shipped before they've even interacted with each other.

I know that there is the thought that, because of this plot line, Yuki should have been gay, but this confusion over different types of love is actually something that aromantic and asexual people struggle with a lot too. Especially in high school. I also think comphet is something that is so pervasive in societies all around the world that it is something that a lot of straight/heterosexual people experience too. Media will sometimes brush up to this idea, usually in a situation like we see in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, were two childhood friends who are a guy and girl are in high school and they mix up deep platonic feelings for romantic ones - because they feel that is what is expected of them - and also because we, as a society, often fail to highlight how deep friendships and platonic love can go.

I do want to be clear that I'm invalidating the interpretation/headcanon of Yuki being gay. If you have that headcanon - go with it! Rather, I just wanted to comment on how comphet is something that I think can affect anyone of any sexuality, and I'm just glad that we saw it get talked about in Furuba (even if that specific terminology wasn't used).

Also, kudos to Yuki and Takaya-sensei for having Yuki deny the idea of having a romantic partner (specifically with the implication of a girlfriend) who acts as a surrogate mother / emotional support for a man. This is an issue found throughout all cultures (I mean, just look at most American sitcom shows), and Japan is no exception. The idea of a "mother complex" is a really complicated one in Japanese culture and society (and still present to this day). But here is an article that I found from 1992. It's written in English, but contains quotes from actual Japanese psychologists on the matter.

While Yuki doesn't outright condemn these sorts of relationships, he takes more of a "I don't care what other people decide to do for themselves" route, the fact that we see Yuki not wanting this for himself, combined with none of the other relationships having this relationship dynamic, and then the message of the upcoming Sorta Cinderella play...well, I think it gets across the idea that this isn't a wholly desirable relationship dynamic. And I really like that.

Anyway, next week is Sorta Cinderella and I am excited for that! I'm also really interested in seeing what Episode 24 will be. Once we find out the contents of Episode 24, then I think it will be easy to see where they are going to end this season, but as of right now, it's still a bit up in the air, and that's rather thrilling. It's nice to be surprised. :)

[connan-l]

All right, so now that I finally digested the final a little I have some random messy thoughts about Fruits Basket 2019. It got really long lol, but this has been stuck in my head for a while so I needed to get it out!

Honestly, it was a very good adaptation and I’m still in awe I was able able to see the whole manga animated. Fruits Basket is pretty important to me, as I read it for the first time when I was around twelve and it was definitely one of the series that impacted me the most — the way it tackles themes of cycle of abuse, loneliness, grief and moving forward still feel very special to me even now (I briefly wrote a post about it months ago after rereading the manga), so of course I was delighted upon hearing the reboot announced and for the most part, it didn’t disappoint. I’d never truly thought I’d be able to see characters like Rin or Machi actually move on screen in my lifetime so in a way it still feel surreal lmao (RIP to Komaki though). It was really refreshing to revisit the story in that way, especially given amusingly enough I am myself in the middle of some big changes in my life where I have to leave things behind so it felt sort of... well, I won’t say empowering per se, but quite encouraging and satisfying to watch Furuba, and especially its final, at this timing, in a way. It wasn’t perfect, there are certainly a lot of flawed directive choices that I question and unfortunately quite some important cut contents — but even at its lowest it stayed all in all good. I’m genuinely a bit stunned there are people who thinks the entire thing is worthless or a failure, because man, I have seen what a bad anime adaptation looks like, and Fruits Basket 2019 definitely isn’t one. Natsuki Takaya herself was clearly very invested and satisfied in that adaptation — I mean, just the fact she drew arts for every single episodes or for the season 3 ending really shows that I think. And while there’s a part of me who will always have a soft spot for the 2001 anime, there’s no contest that the 2019 one is the superior one and more representative of the original manga as a whole.

I believe some people really don’t realize how... uncommon it is to get such a consistently good-looking and complete anime adaptation for a shojo manga? Shojo really aren’t lucky in that prospect usually; they rarely get animated, and when they do they’re usually very bland or outright bad, or they get one short season of like 13 episodes that never receive any follow-ups — even shojo considered like classics tend to get poor treatment, unless they’re Sailor Moon of course or a long-running magical girls franchise like Precure (and even then we could have a discussion about the way Sailor Moon’s treated compared to say Dragon Ball for example, but that’s another topic entirely). So yeah it is quite awesome we were able to get this kind of anime adaptation that covers the full manga with good quality from start to finish, and I am so, so glad it exists and that it managed to revive and makes the series so popular again. (Hopefully its success means we’ll be able to get more good anime adaptation of shojo manga from now on!)

But yeah, that doesn’t mean there wasn’t problems with it and I also understand why some of the manga fans had issues. We were kind of hyped with the fact this would be a complete adaptation and in the end we only got a... sort-of-complete one lol. The art and animation stayed fine during the run (there certainly were some episodes that were uhhh, lacking in that sense, but that’s just how it is sometimes with productions and budget), but I admit I was a bit letdown regarding the direction, where it often seemed… a bit uncreative or heavy-handed. There was some very beautiful and smart shots here and there, but on the whole I really had an issue with the adaptation failing to actually take more ambitious decisions on its visual aspect, especially compared to the pretty pannelling of the manga — and when it did take these decisions it just was… kind of obnoxious and in-your-face, like the show is trying to hold the watcher’s hand (with unnecessary things like Kyo’s father record player derailing or the whole big ropes symbolizing the curse that often slapped you all over the screen, which usually just made me want to roll my eyes because of how annoying it felt.) Multiple people also pointed out the overdramatization of some scenes like the Kyo and Tohru’s confrontation at the end of season 1 or Akito and Ren’s fight which was, indeed, not very good and a weird choice. Fruits Basket is already a pretty dramatic show and these scenes are already intense, there was no need for such over-the-top theatrical display of emotions that only made them comes off as comedic. I’m probably nitpicking here but it also bothered me some characters’ expressions didn’t feel properly retranscribed (Shigure especially, whose characterization depends a lot on that, really suffered from this), or that odd habit of making some big panorama plans instead of focusing on the faces and bodies, which particularly sucks during emotional scenes (like the backgrounds were pretty I guess, but that’s not what was important here lmao).

Also that might be just a personal thing, but can I point out that the openings were pretty disappointing to me... They're not bad, but they all looked so... bland. The songs are fine but the rest feel so uninspired and it's kind of sad... I dunno, I wasn't asking for much but I just think they could've done more than just scrolling each character looking vaguely melancholic or making them walk randomly one after another :/ The endings have at least pretty illustrations and I'm okay with them (I liked what they did with Kyoko’s photo in season 3 too), but the OPs kind of feel as if they ran out of budget and ideas for them or something. I kind of feel the same with the OST as well, where they’re generally fine but were a bit lackluster, and sometimes… they were kind of played at bad times? I remember the Rin episode in season 2 were the music felt a bit out of place and took me out of the immersion, which is a shame cause it was otherwise a pretty good episode. But that might just be a me-thing here lol. The voice actors were awesome though! (The Japanese ones, at least, I didn’t watch any other dubs). I’ve said it before but special kudos to Maaya Sakamoto cause damn she’s so perfect as Akito, and Shimazaki as Yuki and Toyosaki as Rin truly delivered too. I didn’t know Manaka Iwami at all but I was really impressed by her Tohru, especially in season 3 — she really was good at capturing her character’s subtle emotional turmoils (I think she makes a better Tohru than Yui Horie too, although I admit I missed Horie a little lol.)

Anyway, on the topic of lack of ambition, that might be an unpopular opinion but there’s also the fact that I’m sad they didn’t actually... try to change or add more original scenes. By which I mean, obviously we had some changes, but not ones that were really interesting (when they’re not actively detrimental to the story). For example, I was really hoping that we’d be able to get at least one original episode focused on Ritsu (and Mitsuru too why not) in season 2 or 3, or on Kagura or Kisa; I dunno, it would’ve been a good occasion to give something more to the characters that got sidelined in the original manga, or add some moments that would’ve been nice to develop like about Akito post-cliff confrontation, but we never got that. And well, that makes sense now that we know they seemingly had an episode restriction (at least on season 3), but, yeah, that’s still a shame. Honestly in the end Ritsu’s character made even less sense in the anime, because like, it was nice they tried to adapt his introduction episode so that it feels less “you have to adapt to gender norms to feel better about yourself,” (the gender non-confirmity is definitely one of the bits that aged the less well in FB) but then they still made him cut off his hair and give his feminine clothes to Kagura at the end so why lol. (And speaking of his episode introduction, I dislike that they cut off his conversation with Tohru after the suicide attempt, not only for Ritsu but also for Tohru cause it is one of the small instances bringing up her issues that is set up early on and that is crucial to her, but I’ll come back to this later.)

And now about the biggest problem to me being, the cut content and episodes rearangement. So, just so we’re clear, I definitely don’t think an anime adaptation needs to be a page-by-page adaptation of the manga to be good. Every decent adaptation needs to have changes, and the ones that tries to just follow the source material without any heart often tend to get pretty bad. So changes are good! Cut content are needed sometimes. But in Furuba 19, it really... wasn’t the case.

And the most unfortunate thing being that the one suffering the most from this is the show’s main character herself, Tohru.

So, obviously other characters also got done dirty by this; Yuki and Machi’s relationship was so incredibly shifted in the background and rushed it’s almost funny. I’m one of the people who thinks that, while I do think they’re cute, I definitely agree on the fact their relationship was a bit underdeveloped in the manga — and that Machi’s character especially suffered as a result by being a bit reduced to just "Yuki’s love interest" when she was a character with so much more to offer (and as a whole I also tend to agree with the fact that Yuki probably didn’t need a romance at all and that his arc is more meaningful while focusing on his platonic relationships, but that’s another topic entirely) — but man, if the manga already underdevelopped them, then ohhh boy, the anime just completely dropped the ball. It feels very odd because to me it seemed like season 2 was taking their time with setting them up, so if they knew they had only 13 episodes for season 3 then they should’ve started the changes there; instead we got 1 nice Yuki/Machi/Kakeru episode, and then it’s like "Yep, they’re in love, just trust me." (It does makes me wonder if season 3 wasn’t originally supposed to be longer but then got restrained because of budget or covid or something…) Kakeru also very much suffered because of them cutting off his girlfriend and his complicated relationship with Tohru… Now, to be honest, I’ve always found the Kakeru/Komaki/Tohru subplot pretty... contrived and useless, and Komaki’s not so much a character more than a device for Kakeru’s development, but it does have some good moments relevant to the story’s themes (I like the ‘‘you can’t play suffering olympics with people’s pain’’morale) and it is important to his character (and Komaki is cute, I admit), so it was still sad they shafted it entirely. (Also I kind of like the tense relationship between Tohru and Kakeru. The fact they both seem to not appreciate each other even afterwards feel sort of refreshing even if it’s never explored unfortunately orz.) I was still surprised they didn’t actually try to make a Komaki cameo at the end? Cause I think it would’ve fitted and Kakeru’s girlfriend had already been mentioned in season 2 but... for some reason they... didn’t. (Mayyybe we’ll get an OAV like with Kyoko and Katsuya? Who knows.)

One scene that was skipped/rearranged that I’m very bitter over is the whole Tohru/Kagura confrontation and Kagura/Rin scene — it might not seem like much, but the moment of Tohru refusing to forgive Kagura is very important, and I was pretty annoyed they turned Rin’s trauma response to Kagura’s violence and her subsequent apology/hug to a gag, it legit felt tasteless. The Tohrin scene they removed at the very end too was frustating; it was great they managed to fit in the "Rin doesn’t want to forgive Akito" bit at least (I was afraid they’d cut it off entirely), but it was so essential for her to say to Tohru, not to Haru and Momiji (plus the way they put it in felt very random and awkwardly placed there, when they were initially talking about Tohru before orz). OH AND the Akito/Hana friendship too! Yeah I know it’s not a Big deal but I absolutely love the little glimpses of their friendship and it’s very important to me so I’m disappointed over them not including the ‘Ah-chan’ scene… (It was kind of weird that the show sort-of implied Hana and Kazuma got together too cause that’s… not the vibe at all from the manga… oh well.)

Most people I’ve seen generally only bring up season 3 regarding the cuts/rearangement because it’s the most obvious and the biggest offender, but I personally think there were already problems with season 2 and 1. At first glance I didn’t have much issue with some of the rearrangement, because early Furuba can indeed be pretty episodic, but thinking back on it as a whole I think it might’ve been better to leave some stuff, like Hana and Uo’s episodes for example, to season 2 (I do wonder if they did this specifically so the reboot would offer original content and differ from 2001 early on...) and cut off other not-so-important things from S1 & S2 — because as a result season 2 kind of suffer a bit by being The Yuki Season, which, for as much as I love Yuki, did end up being a bit annoying and made his development feel less natural and gradual, as well as the fact it sidelined the other characters a little and left them with not much conclusion in its final. So this added to how much they ended up cutting in season 3, it makes the show as a whole feels really unequal. I think they did overall a good job in season 3 with what they had, and they really nailed some of the dramatic and Kyoru moments (the sheets scene, cliff confrontation and post-hospital confession were practically perfect), but it is a shame that it ended up as an extremely marathoned emotional roller-caster rather than a more well-paced watch that we would’ve had if it had been 20 or so episodes. (I know others argued that season 3 was what it was because there wasn’t enough content left to cover for 22 or 24 episodes, but I disagree and even if there weren’t, it would’ve been the perfect occasion to add original episodes then. But I think it was more of a budget and Covid issue personally.)

But anyway, all of this isn’t actually what I’m the most annoyed with (and YES that’s a already a lot lmao), those are stuff I can live with, but like I said earlier the most problematic is what they cut off from Tohru’s character. And that indeed includes her parents’ backstory.

So, just so I get this out of the way; yes, I do understand why people were relieved to not see Kyoko and Katsuya’s relationship play out on screen, and yes the age gap and teacher-student thing is creepy and I do kind of wish it hadn’t been written that way. (Though I was a bit amused by people who thought we didn’t get the backstory because of the questionable age gap when, uh... you know I very much doubt the anime industry has an issue with that. Like, to start with, we wouldn’t have had Uo and Kureno’s romance if that was the case (even if Uo and Kureno is less problematic, it’s still the same basis of a underage high school girl/20+ adult man relationship), and second there was a literal romcom anime about a high school girl and an adult man that was broadcasted at the same time as Furuba season 3 lmao. So nah, it wasn’t there the problem to them, it was just time and episode restriction, which was pretty much confirmed with the announcement of the OAV focused on them.)

So, Kyoko and Katsuya is definitely Problematic and I agree on their relationship being uncomfortable; however, I’m a bit baffled that people were literally cheering on not having that part in the show, because it is... it is not just like a small bit of family trivia, it is Extremely important and actively essential to Tohru’s character and Fruits Basket’s themes and narrative as a whole. It’s very important to understand Kyoko’s character, of course; to humanize her and finally present her as a very flawed person and not just the idealized mother that Tohru project upon her, and it is extremely important simply to understand Tohru herself as well; to understand where her way of thinking, her trauma and attitude stems from, and this in a way that just isn’t possible to see with the little fragments of that flashback we got or the bits of Kyo and Kyoko’s interactions.

See, Tohru’s character is principally constructed around two things; her grief over her mother and her almost-pathological selflesness and people-pleaser needs that comes from her abandonment issues and loneliness, and her arc is very much about letting go of both of these things and finally moving forward and letting her life change. There’s this perception of Tohru I see sometimes that she’s not a very interesting character especially compared to others like Yuki or Kyo, or that she ‘‘stays the same kindhearted, naive girl from start to finish,’’ and while I deeply disagree with this I know where it comes from. The thing with Tohru is that she is firstly an extremely emotionally repressed character, and so a lot of her depth and development is made through small, gradual details scattered throughout the manga. It’s done in such a way that except for some obvious scenes those small, apparently insignificant moments are easy to miss or disregarded, and unfortunately it is a lot of these details that the 2019 anime cut, or rearanged in a way that feel less impactful or makes less sense; such as, like I pointed out earlier, her conversation with Ritsu after his suicide attempt. As I’ve seen others point out, this result in altering Tohru’s portrayal and rendering her character mostly about her romance, undercutting and downplaying all of her small, subtle character moments and developments, and miss a bit the second part of the story where the narrative actively challenge the ‘savior/therapist/mom’ that other characters and Tohru herself projected upon her.

And as a result it also means undermining things like her parallel and relationship to Akito, which idealistically should’ve been slowly built up throughout the last season but because of how rushed season 3 was in the end felt a little flat. (Akito’s character in general had some issues also because of the unequal pacing and rearranged scenes, though admittedly I think this was also an issue present in the original manga.) Kyo’s character and his romance with Tohru is the one element that managed to get out of this mostly unscathed (although Kyo also does suffer a bit from it), but because of what was removed from Tohru’s character it still inevitably impacted them by making their characters as individuals lacking. It’s not like it is a complete failure, mind you; I think the anime at least did a decent job at showing Tohru is Not Okay even at the beginning in season 1 (they certainly did a better job at it than the 2001 one lol) and managed to roughly portray her issues well enough overall, but it is just… lacking in the subtlety and nuances that, to me, makes her character and writing really special and unique.

(This post explains what I’ve tried to say here in a much more eloquent and better way that I ever could, and this all put into perspective what I basically love so much about Tohru and Fruits Basket in general.)

And, you know, it would’ve been sad but comprehensible with any other character, but here we’re talking about the story’s literal protagonist, which is why it is the part of the adaptation that makes me feel the most bitter. Tohru and her story is truly amazing and well-written, the thing I was looking forward to the most with this reboot — and while I do understand the episode restriction and I do believe they still did their best with what they had — her arc still deserved to receive a full proper adaptation, not a kind-of-half one.

So, yes, I am at least glad they’ll adapt Kyoko and Katsuya’s story in OAV, but the fact that it will never be included in the actual main narrative is still actively detrimental to it, and it will never have the same effect that if it had been played out before the Kyoru sheets scene where it should’ve been. (I hope they also won’t cut the fact that their story is narrated by Kyo, because that is also a very important detail for both Kyo and the story, but I have the feeling they will…)

Welp, that was quite a long, messy rambling. Not sure if anyone will actually read all of it but if you did then congrats lol. I feel in the end I’ve been really harsh and negative with the reboot… I do love it a lot! If someone asked me I would wholeheartedly recommend it (though I guess I would still argue to read the manga first if you really want to experience the story in all its nuances). I think they truly did an impressive job — even with season 3, which a lot of its episodes were beautifully done and did make me tear up a few times lol. I’m just sad it couldn’t actually offer a better, more nuanced delivery of the story’s depths and of one of my favorite manga protagonists that means a lot to me. But that’s an adaptation that so many fans wanted for years and I’m happy and grateful it’s here cause Fruits Basket deserved at least that much!

[just-a-cheese-stick]

Naeleon week Day 1- confession (non despair au)

@naeleonweek2020

Makoto and Leon had been best friends since the start of their time at Hopes peak. They started talking to each other when they were placed in most of the same classes their first year.

It started when Leon tossed a note to Makoto’s desk, joking about something the teacher said that sounded weird out of context. At first, Makoto decided not to read it since he was in class, but as the kid next to him kept tossing more and more notes, he gave in.

Makoto read each note, each one making him smile without fail. He glanced back at the boy tossing them to him to give a chuckle, only to see who it was.

Before hopes peak, the lucky student had done some research on the other ultimates who were soon to be his classmates. He recognized that particular boy as the ultimate baseball star, Leon Kuwata.

Funny since he didn’t remember Leon’s hair being as scruffy as it was in his pictures.

Makoto was taken aback by this for a second, but responded with a small chuckle.

He took out a paper of his own from his notebook and a pen to respond to the other.

“Why are you throwing notes to me?” He folded the note neatly and slid it to the baseball player sitting across from him.

Leon noticed the neatly folded piece of loose-leaf paper slid over to his desk, and reached down to grab it.

He opened the response from the smaller boy who sat across from him and smiled a bit at it. He picked up his pencil and scribbled a response before attempting to replicate the neat folding of the note when it was passed to him before passing it back.

“Idk you seem nice”

Makoto saw the response, and tried to resist smiling ear to ear. Someone cool and popular like Leon wanted to make conversation with someone as basic as him? He stared at the note feeling his face heat up, before picking up his pen to send a message back to him.

They continued their chat throughout the class introduction, agreeing to meet up at lunch. They had been best friends ever since.

Now it was December. The two had been best friends for 3 months now. They were each others confidants, as well as best friends. Leon sometimes jokingly called Makoto his soulmate, since they understand each other so well.

But that statement was more than just a joke to Leon. He started to notice he was growing feelings for the brunette. Feelings way more intense than he’s felt for any other girl he’s ever met.

He could try and deceive himself, say it’s just what a true friendship is. But at the bottom of his heart he knew he had it bad for Makoto.

Midterm season drew close, which had everyone stressed and dreading the exams.

While Leon could usually care less, Makoto really wanted him to do well. So for him, Leon studied for the midterms. While it wasn’t too much, he still wanted to make Makoto happy.

The two even studied together in their dorms and in the library. Leon still got distracted a lot, but he was actually putting in effort. That made Makoto really happy. And afterwards, they’d walk off school campus to the coffee shop down the street and hang out.

Exam day came, and just walking into the exam hall, it was easy to tell everyone was stressed, tired, anxious, or all of the above. It was freezing outside. Snow was falling at quick speeds in high winds. Some people brought blankets or extra jackets into school. Others huddled into themselves or simply ignored the cold. Nonetheless, it was frigid indoors and out.

Makoto sat down in his assigned desk and took out his phone for them to collect, in order to ensure nobody cheats or gets distracted.

The desks were placed 4 by 4 rows, and students were sat in alphabetical order of their last names.

Aoi sat in the very front of the first row of desks. Behind her was Junko, who sat in front of Chihiro. In the back of the first row was Hiro, and in the front of the second was Mukuro, Junko’s twin sister. Sitting behind her was Kiyotaka, who appeared to be the only person who didn’t look like a zombie. Actually, he seemed quite eager to receive the first exam paper. Behind him sat kirigiri, who would be the runner up in The Who-Looks-The-Least-Lifeless challenge. She kept her calm and quiet nature constant, but appeared slightly tired nonetheless. In the very back of the row was Toko, who was too busy reading something to be paying attention to the cold. In the front of the third row was leon, who, unlike the two diagonal from him, looked like he was going to fall asleep any second now. Behind him was Celeste, who sat in front of sayaka, who was wearing a fuzzy looking hoodie with bear ears at the hood. She definitely looked comfortable. Makoto sat behind the three, and he looked exhausted. He brought a blanket into the exam hall and was wrapped in it, still shivering a little in the cold. At the front of the fourth row was Sakura. She appeared a little tired, which was odd, but not as odd as it would be in the situation they were in. Behind her sat Mondo, who had huddled himself into his jacket, and was trying to hide it. Togami and yamada sat in the two chairs behind him. Both, like toko, seemed too invested in a book to care about their surroundings or the cold.

Jin kirigiri came to the front of the exam hall designated for class 77B and loudly clearing his throat to silence the low chatter, turning the room silent.

From the corner of his eye, Makoto could see kyoko furrowing her eyebrows a little bit at her father. She mentioned once that he often overworked her to the point he refused to let her see her mother as she was on her death bed. The two had rocky relations ever since.

The headmaster began stating the exam rules and expectations, which, very little people paid much attention to.

“Please power off anyelectronic devices and place them on your desk so I can come around and collect them. You will get them back as you leave the exam hall when you’re dismissed.”

School bags and satchels could be heard unzipping almost in unison at that statement. Soon, phones and laptops were placed at the corner of nearly every desk, soon to be confiscated and replaced with a thick packet of papers and a #2 pencil. With that, the exam started.

It was like that every day of that week, leading up to Friday. Every day it snowed buckets, and every day people came into the exam hall cold and tired, and every day they took a midterm exam.

Friday afternoon. Makoto was one of the last ones in the exam hall, finishing his last part of the midterm. The only other people with him were hiro, leon, and mondo.

despite there being no windows in the gymnasium, Makoto could hear the snowstorm picking up.

“I hope everyone’s ok” he thought to himself. He was especially worried since this was when students began to clear out for winter break. His parents weren’t going to be able to come until Sunday, so he was glad they’d be safe.

He finally got to the last question. To his delight, it was a question on a topic he was really familiar with.

With eagerness, he aced the last question and got up from the desk, walking to the front table to turn in the finished exam.

Finally. His exams were done. He was so tired, physically and mentally. Finally. He’d be able to take a rest.

Makoto drowsily walked back to his dorm and flopped down on the bed.

He tried to nap, but he couldn’t sleep. His mind was racing. A lot of things were fuzzed together and racing thorough his head. He was stressed, tired, overwhelmed, and worn out.

But, there was one thing that remained constant on his mind. Leon. He’d recently been having dreams about him quite frequently. Dreams where he asks him out and he says yes. But he always wakes up from them knowing that will never happen. It was pretty clear to him that he had a crush on the redhead. But he never had the guts to say anything. But for whatever reason, he wanted to be close to him more than anything in the world.

But he was too tired.

He stayed in his dorm, gazing blankly at the ceiling; occasionally glancing at his window to watch the snow storm. It was pretty bad outside. Close to blizzard speeds, quite frankly.

He checked his phone to make sure the weather would be clear enough to get home Sunday when he heard a knock at his door. He got up and shuffled towards the door to open it, feeling a wave of cold corse down his body as his feet touched the floor. He turned the doorknob and opened it to be greeted by Leon standing in the doorway, looking excited about something.

“You’ll never believe this, but when I got my phone back, I checked my notifs and saw I got a B on my first two exams! Isn’t that awesome?” Leon said sounding proud of himself.

Makoto could feel himself beam ear to ear, pulling his friend into a tight hug. His entire body coursed with pride. He’d seen how hard he was working and it paid off.

Leon hugged back almost instantly squeezing the other out of pure excitement. Both boys were smiling ear to ear.

“Leon that’s amazing!” Makoto said pulling away from the hug.

“I know right?” Leon paused briefly. “Shit man it’s cold in here. Wanna come to my dorm? It’s a bit warmer in there” Leon then added.

Makoto thought for a brief minute. He was really tired— mentally and physically. But on the other hand he really wanted to spend time with Leon before winter break. “Sure”

Makoto picked up his phone and weighted blanket and fallowed him to his dorm, trudging a little. They made it to the Leon’s room and both sat down. “Those exams were exhausting, huh?” Leon stated.

“Yeah” Makoto said with an exhausted sigh.

“I dunno about you but I’m exhausted. I’m gonna-“ but just as Leon was about to finish his sentence, the lights to the dorm room went out.

“Shit was that the power?” Leon muttered under his breath. The entirety of the dorm building appeared significantly darker, and the tv that was on in the background of the dorm had completely shut down. In addition, the winds from the ongoing snowstorm had seemed to have picked up over the past few minutes.

“Yeah, pretty sure,” Makoto replied, slightly more interested in checking out the window and watching the leafless trees swaying violently in the storm.

“Damn” Leon paused. “Wait, that kills the heater too, right?”

“Oh god,” Makoto said starting to panic.

“Well shit!” Leon cursed. “Smart move bringing that blanket, man. But damn that isn’t good”

“Well, maybe we could have a sleepover” Makoto stated optimistically.

Leon turned his head towards him in curiosity. Makoto could tell that was kind of spontaneous, especially to someone who wasn’t komaru.

“Well, when I was younger and we’d lose power, komaru and I would always stay in the other’s room and have little ‘sleepovers’ where we’d stay in each others rooms and build pillow forts. We don’t have to do any of that but maybe we could just talk?” Makoto offered.

Leon thought for a second. He wasn’t used to friends wanting to spend that much time with him. Heck, he wasn’t even used to people he’d dated wanting to spend that much time with him.

“Yeah sure,” Leon replied with a slight smile.

Makoto’s face visibly lit up.

The two stayed up a few hours playing uno and other sleepover games and wearing those soft hoodies you never want to take off and are super comfy.

Before bed, they both snuck down to the kitchen where sayaka, mukuro, and kirigiri were all talking and holding lanterns.

“Oh, hi guys!” Makoto said seeing his friends.

“Oh, hello Makoto,” kirigiri stated calmly. “Need anything?”

“Nope. Just getting some cocoa,” Makoto replied cheerily.

“Wait Sayaka, weren’t you going home today?” Leon asked his friend.

“Mom couldn’t drive in the weather. She’s probably gonna come pick me up tomorrow, or at least when the storm calms,” Sayaka replied.

“Cool. Stay safe dude!” Leon said to his friend.

They made some cocoa and headed back upstairs to the dorms, where the awkward question of sleeping situation came up. Being as the beds in the dorms are somewhat small, they’d either have to smush together and share, or one would take the floor. While both secretly kind of wanted to lay together on the bed and share body heat, Makoto decided to sleep on the floor.

Makoto took his blanket and an extra pillow from the bed and laid down.

“Need anything, I’m here, ok?” Leon said before turning off the lantern that illuminated the room.

“Ok. Night” Makoto replied, shifting in his blanket to get comfy.

“Night”

It was midnight. There was still no luck with the power, and the temperature had only dropped more. The winds were still strong outside, and snow was piling up. On top of that, Makoto was tossing and turning in his sleep, letting out slightly distressed mutters. He curled up into his blanket more to preserve body heat, but was still undoubtedly cold.

Leon is a light sleeper. The slightest changes can wake him up, so hearing the constant shifting and shaking was enough to begin to wake him up.

Eventually, he couldn’t fall back asleep anymore. The constant disturbance was enough to shake him awake, and once he realized the source of the noise, he became worried.

He glanced down at Makoto shifting anxiously in his sleep, letting out almost inaudible whimpers.

Leon contemplated waking him up, but he didn’t want to be overbearing or annoying. He didn’t want to lose this friend. But his worries got the best of him and he gently shook Makoto awake.

Upon waking him up, Leon was met with a pair of drowsy eyes looking up at him.

“Hey, you ok? Sorry for waking you man, just saw you shifting a lot. Wanted to make sure you’re doing alright.” Leon said placing a hand on Makoto’s shoulder.

Makoto looked up at him wordlessly before throwing himself into a hug with him.

Leon was taken aback by this. He clearly did not expect that.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry Leon, but I can’t take this anymore! I like you! I like you in a way that’s more than I would like a friend! I’m in love with you, Kuwata! I’m sorry I couldn’t take the dreams and the falling and the embarrassment I couldn’t take it! I’m sorry for being so selfish, but I like you,” Makoto blurted out. Tears started forming in his eyes; purely out of anxiety. Did he really just blurt that out?

Leon stared at him for a moment, completely shocked. But then, he didn’t yell. He didn't leave. He didn’t even tell him he didn’t feel the same way. He hugged him tighter.

“So I’m not weird, huh?” Leon said somewhat under his breath.

“What do you mean?”

“Look man, I like you too. I don’t know if it’s weird or not, but yeah. Never thought you’d like someone like me,” Leon said resting his chin on Makoto’s head.

“You mean it?” Makoto asked, his face lighting up.

“Wouldn’t lie to ya, man. ‘Course I mean it.”

There was a silence. But not an uncomfortable one. It was actually quite pleasant. The two held each other for a while, enjoying the other’s company and warmth.

“Well, if it’s not too quick, would ya wanna come sleep in the bed with me? Floors gotta be cold,” Leon said breaking the silence.

Makoto’s face flushed. But he wasn’t going to say no. He could really use that right now.

“Ok.”

They climbed into the bed together. Makoto dragged his weighted blanket along with them, and Leon pulled it over the two for warmth.

He pulled Makoto into his arms and rested his head upon the other’s. Makoto returned the embrace, holding his new lover tightly and intertwining their fingers.

This was nice. It felt warm. It felt safe. It felt ok. They love each other so much. It felt nice to finally be able to channel that onto the other.

Barely 5 minutes had passed and Makoto could hear soft snoring coming from the other. This was a calming sound that he could get used to. He fell asleep soon after.

By around 6 in the morning, the power for the school came back on. It was warmer now. But that didn’t disturb the two. This was the closure they both needed.

[dangan-happy]

(No offense, but you're looking really good today.)

To Kyoko, Korekiyo and Kokichi. I want some advice. There's this guy I've been talking to on Discord for less than a month. I started to develop a crush on him, but I don't think it went any further because prior to meeting him, I had a crush on an irl person.

Today I get confirmation that he likes me romantically. I don't know what I feel about him and I don't know what I should respond.

Can I get a hug from Kokichi as well? thanks a lot

Hmm, romantic situations are always incredibly uncomfortable when the advances are unwanted or confusing. Perhaps this is my anti-social side talking, but I feel like these are some of the most uncomfortable social situations, so I'm sorry you have to unravel the knots of this. We can start by looking at the facts. You did, (past tense) have a crush on this individual, it is now confirmed that he has romantic feelings for you, and as of now you're unsure how you feel. Honestly, I would tell him just that. Tell him that you're not sure how you feel. Be honest, yet gentle and clear. Make sure he understands, and do try to phrase it at least a little nicely if you're worried about hurting him.

I would not recommend mentioning that you did have a crush on him. From what I've seen, that can sometimes lead to self doubt on his end, as he might start wondering what changed, or what he did to change that. Honesty is the best choice overall. I can't promise that your relationship won't change. Conversations between you may be awkward for a time, but it's better than just ignoring the situation. Yes, not acknowledging it would keep your relationship the same, but failing to address this now can lead to a bigger conflict later.

In problems like this, I don't think that any advice offered by anyone can be one hundred percent helpful. Ultimately the choice is yours, and this is all from my personal opinion. The most important thing is that you think of yourself and think of your own well being. It's ok to be selfish sometimes. I wish you all the best throughout this, I'm certain things will turn out alright for you.

-

Hiiii anon! Of course you can have the one and only Ultimate Supreme Leader help you out here! You're welcome in advance!! Ok, let's see. Aw man, these situations suck. It's stressful and awkward, and there's like, a whole other human person's feelings to worry about. If you did have a thing for him at one point, I'm guessing you do care about him as a person, so yeah, I think it would be good to worry about his feelings. Yeah, wow this is like, totally weird, but I agree with Kiyo. Honesty is the way to go with this one. I know, that's like, not my style but hear me out. Speculation and refusing to act almost always make these kinds of things worse. So to avoid that, put everything out in the open. Say you're not sure how you feel, and if he's a good person, he'll respect that and not push you.

Don't feel pressured to jump into anything, don't like, force feelings for this guy. Keep your emotions as priority one, make sure you're comfortable with what's going on. Yeah, I also agree on the "Don't tell him you did have feelings for him at one point" thingy. I think it's ok to leave that detail out. Like I said, if he's a good person, he'll respect your answer and leave it. This situation might be awkward for a while, but trust me, you want to handle this ASAP. You also said you've only known him for a month, so you might not even know him all that well. Just get the truth out there, and see how things go. This is like, probably kinda not helpful, but hey, you asked for a hug so a hug you will get!! Stay strong kay! You totally got this, and I'm sure as hell not lying about that!!  

-

I see, a dilemma that involves potentially breaking another persons heart because you’re unsure how you feel. Well then, I guess this is as good a time as any to see if I can provide you with some helpful tips.

I believe that you two need to have a discussion about this because avoiding it for too long will create a tense situation and awkwardness will form. For example, he might think that you’re annoyed with knowing that he’s interested romantically or he could also develop the habit of overthinking. That could cause him to believe that you don’t want anything to do with him. I’m not sure if that is the case but it could be a thought that’s come across his mind.

Excluding that you had a crush on someone else before meeting him think about the things that captured your interest with the person you met on Discord. What about him drew you to developing a crush, the small little details can help you decipher how you feel. Was it because you were speaking to him constantly? Or maybe the way that he treated you? The possibilities are endless, the evidence can be examined so you can determine your feelings. While I am no good with feelings myself, everything I say is circumstantial.

Take everything I say with a grain of salt Anon, I may be a detective but my specialty is dealing with murder cases, not love ones. But, that won’t stop me from trying to help you. I hope things mend over with no drama. If you can, you should inquire why he likes you. Questions can help probe whether you return the feelings or not.

[ariesborn]

CH. 1

Disclaimer : please make sure to read The lost boy, You know how to take a punch, wanna be a hero ? and No rest for the wicked as prologues of the story and also the work of the lovely Isidearie for some Kaji's past (especially with his dad!)

The heroes had truly abandoned this area.

It had been more than ten years since the multiple escapes from supervillain prisons all over Japan and yet, in some places, it was as if nothing had changed. It was both revolting and normal in a way... Revolution wasn't made in a day and there were always "after" the chaos. Here, it was as if time had stopped.

Rot filled the air and gnawed at the nose. Order was long gone and no uniformed policeman dared to set foot in such a desolate neighborhood anymore, yet Kyoko did. Reading through Heisuke's file quickly, she had traced him back to his birthplace. The description was vague, but she knew the city like the back of her hand and her father's experience had been a great help.

Of course, she hid her temporary badge and her face in a hood so as not to risk being recognized. She looked up at a building that was close to collapse. No more sounds from the street, but screaming, banging on the walls and arguing. The smell lingered, but we had just gone down a notch to hell.

" Excuse me, ma'am? Can you tell me where Yuri Naoko is ? Kyoko asked to the old, toad-like resident. "

The latter was carrying perhaps the equivalent of a wardrobe on her back and still looked chilled. She stared at the young policewoman from bottom to top before answering:

" No Yuri Naoko here. Not for years, go away if you value your life. "

The old lady abruptly closed the door of her dilapidated apartment behind her. Kyoko looked up to the sky before murmuring "Nice neighborhood". She walked down the hallway, counting her steps when it got too dark. Suddenly, a stench reached her nose. She put her arm against her nose, grimacing, before putting her hand on her service weapon, for safety. This place had just gone from bad to scary in the space of a second.

" Is anyone there ? Kyoko announced as she slowly moved forward. "

One more step and the floor cracked. Kyoko inwardly grumbled for a second, but her survival instinct was suddenly awakened. She stepped back quickly to avoid the rust of a sword at her neck. Her back hit the ground behind her and she drew her revolver before shooting straight ahead, following like a shadow. Doing her best to keep her composure, her breath was short and she could hardly see in the semi-darkness.

A sound of heavy boots echoed and she knew that no one would come to help her. A scent of fear was all she could perceive. Kyoko pressed her forehead to the ground and took a deep breath. When her attacker was close enough, she turned and kicked him in the stomach. Taking advantage of her retreat, she jumped to her feet and pulled one last time on his right arm. He dropped his sword with a howl of rage and found himself with his other arm broken, his cheek against the wall. For her size, Miharu was pretty violent.

" Yuri Naoko? Kyoko asked, maintaining her grip.

- Dead ! shouted her attacker. Dead like all heroes! Crazy and then dead. Good for her. At least she doesn't see her bastard growing up. "

Kyoko winced and finished dislocating the shoulder of her assailant who collapsed to the ground. She was about to question him when a strong heat propelled her a good five meters away. She crossed the window and fell heavily on the ground of the second floor of the building. When she woke up, it was dark. She got up and staggered to the only sanctuary where she knew she would not be asked any questions.

" Hey Kaji, can I spend the night here ? She asked with a broken smile."

© Kaji is @dabiboy’s character

[chiagappy]

Continuation to the Ghost Reimi haunting Rohan

Dedicated to @hittossan since you wanted to see what happens next!

---

A few weeks prior to the posession incident, Reimi had found herself in Morioh once more only this time without her beloved pet Arnold. For what reason? It was beyond her. However, instead of it filling her with unease and sadness, she viewed it as a chance to spend time with Rohan after finding him on his way to the local art store near Owson.

The intial shock in Rohan's face was quite hilarious, with eyes blown wide as if he had seen a ghost to almost dropping the supplies he was carrying on the sidewalk when she came by to say hello. It was understandable, considering the last time they've seen each other was when he reluctantly admitted to missing her, thinking it would be the final time they would see each other. Reimi playfully teased him on the matter before letting Rohan ask about her return. All she could do was shrug at this, telling the artist that she's stuck here, alone as she faced away from him to let out a dramatic tired sigh. 

Her ploy must have been so obvious to Rohan if his eye rolling was any indication of it, and yet despite this, he still invites her to stay with him. After all, he wasn't so heartless as the leave his deceased babysitter in town, even if nothing can harm her. Besides, maybe he can question her about what she about the past since asking about her struggle against Kira was still a touchy subject.

And like that they both became roomates, or something similar to it. For the most part, Reimi would keep Rohan company over in his studio talking about various topics, complimenting his artwork while bringing up some old drawings he gave her as a kid (although Rohan venomously refused it), and also reminding him to eat or sleep occasionally before going off to explore the spacious rooms the mansion had to offer. 

One thing she had noticed about the mansion was the lack of framed photos on the walls. It revealed an image of loneliness which was a stark contrast to the Kishibe household she came to know. Did something else occur after she passed away? She tried asking Rohan about the photos before and was told that he had no use for them, but they were safe with his grandmother and nothing more beyond that. 

She decided it was best to not pry into it as she continued her exploration- most of the rooms were nicely decorated but ultimately favorite place to be in so far was in the attic; although it remained dusty and seemed nothing more than a storage room with a few trunks and furniture covered with blankets, she enjoyed it for the large gazebo-like window panes, giving her a perfect view of the moon illuminating the small seaside town she grew up in. She would find herself sitting by the ledge once Rohan had fallen asleep, wondering if Rohan ever invited others to visit his home. She knew he was a private person yet it made her heart ache with sympathy on how different he was from the Rohan she once knew. 

She wanted to help him at least with this, so she began trying to involve the people Rohan knew into their conversations. It had worked well for a moment until she came to the subject of Josuke Higashikata where he quickly soured and went on a long rant on how he hated the overgrown delinquent for being friends with someone as respectful and kind as Koichi. And out of respect for the prideful artist, she had to cover her mouth to hide her giggles, seeing how this was the first time since they spoke that Rohan had opened up to her about someone without dodging or going for the short responses she was used to when she asked personal questions. It made her remember a similar situation when Rohan was coming home from elementary school with a bloody nose and tattered clothing, wiping away fat tears that threatened to fall from his eyes as he tells her how much he hated Kyoko from his class for beating him up. It was partially his fault that time considering he harshly criticized her drawings, but in the end she remembered Rohan harboring a crush on that girl and drew a picture of flowers as an apology for what he had done. 

Of course Reimi had to make sure so she often brought up the subject of Josuke just to gauge the mangaka's reactions and learned he held some respect for the teen despite the trash talking. She even found a sketch of Josuke when she was peeking through one of Rohan's recent sketchbooks, prompting her to believe that there was something more there. She didn't confirm it until she accompanied (followed) Rohan in one of his outings to visit Koichi and his friends ("Koichi's friends" Rohan corrected her) to see how the two interacted. It was unbearable to watch with Rohan rejecting any politeful advances from the teen, yet making his annoyance evident when one of Josuke's fangirls stopped by to flirt with the him. Rohan wouldn't acknowledge Josuke at all after that, holding conversations with Koichi or even Mikitaka who rarely came to these meetings.

It was so clear Rohan had a thing for Josuke and by the looks of it so did Josuke, so when she had possessed Rohan she thought of it as a blessing in disguise and made Rohan spit out the words he wouldn't have been able to say on his own. Sure it cause Rohan ignore her for a few days... and run and hide himself away from everyone, but it was worth it when she sees Josuke appear by the doorsteps of Rohan's house.

And now the once empty house she occupied in was filled with life as she hears the loud clamoring over some board game in the living room. It was mostly from Okuyasu and Josuke, but she would faintly hear a chuckle or two coming from Rohan as well. In the kitchen, there was the sound of a microwave dinging over some pizza poppers that finished cooking, and the light chattering of Koichi and Yukako as they looked through the cupboards for plates to serve. Humming to herself, she made her way up the stairs only to stop by Rohan's studio, quietly entering the space as she hovered over his desk. There she sees two photo frames standing on the left corner of the desk, one with Rohan and his friends and another of just Rohan and Josuke- with Josuke wearing the dopiest grin on his face while holding a flustered Rohan by the waist. She couldn't help but smile contently for the new couple as she made her way to the attic. 

For some strange reason she felt more relief than she ever had when Kira was no longer a threat and found herself feeling tired. As she rested against the window ledge once more, she discovered there was a portrait of herself, with the words "thank you Reimi" written on the bottom of the canvas. If she had the energy to cry she would have done so, wishing she could remain by Rohan's side for as long as she was allowed to, however knowing that her Ro-chan was going to be okay was enough for her to finally drifted to a dreamless sleep.