#yumeko : about

[ghostymegastuffs]

yumeko ref

[occasionaltouhou]

regular touhou #42: i hear they're celebrating halloween in makai this year! let's see how that's going

[badappleparadise]

don't know if Yumeko is dissociating here cause all the trauma she went through or she's just sad and i'm projecting how i'd feel, or if it's me dissociating right now

kakegurui #106.5

[crystalmoonxo]

Um….

HELLO? KAKEGURUI PLUSHIES??

This is my DREAM come true. I couldn’t pre order these cuties fast enough

[vagun1ka]

felt really kakegurui yesterday evening

[pink-gladioli]

god this pannel hurt me so much. she was a child, she was fucking six years old. a child stolen away from her family and groomed into a weapon for others amusment. that doesn't excuse her actions but still. broken child my ass! yumeko could have grown up and still been a skilled gambler! she could have grown up and been satisfied with simple coin tosses like the one she did with suzui after the game with midari. could have, if it wasnt for that monster kabura and the adults that raised kirari. now shes too far gone, and frankly its only a matter of time before she falls like every other jabami

[astr0star5]

the parasites in me want to write a sinstora (specifically taiga) x yumeko jabami! mc! That shit would be mad funny and suggestive ngl.

[snakedevour]

Kakegurui Chapter 106 spoilers / chatter ahead

quick preamble that this will be a stream of consciousness-y write-up, so maybe we're subject to being a bit disjointed this time. maybe some typos. who knows.

but in any case one thing i will talk about though is that in chapter 106 we see another callback to older chapters. And while you can argue that I was just imagining the parallel in 28 vs 104.5, this one is pretty clearly deliberate

Chapter 29 (tower of doors) vs Chapter 106

These chapters have taught us that Yumeko's impulses seem to be inborn, and that's Just How She Is, but there's pretty clearly a case to be made if we posit that her actual behavior and...methodology? is largely informed by Kabura. Nature/Nurture type thing.

Yumeko is able to clock that Sayaka's "everything" is her connection to Kirari because Yumeko herself was "everything" to Souko. Kabura forced Yumeko and Souko to become effective strangers and Yumeko is aware of the impact that has.

ok that notwithstanding though, I don't think Kabura has actually...outmaneuvered Yumeko. She has this whole shtick about how Yumeko is some completely different beast and how she has the potential to 'swallow the Hundred Devouring Families' (something Kirari has been shown to have a vested interest in seeing happen, mind you) and separating her from her sister was done in the interest of minimizing Souko's positive influence and maximizing Yumeko's innate unhingedness.

Sure, yeah, she did that much.

But if we presume there to be a parallel between chapter 29 and 106, then there's probably another parallel that'll follow: how things actually turned out.

In the Tower of Doors, Sayaka lost. She threw herself off the tower, Kirari jumped after her, and because Sayaka had (either intuited or guessed luckily) chosen the correct door to jump from the two of them landed on that safety mat. Adhering to the condition that 'they were strangers', Kirari circumvented the finality of it by simply re-introducing herself. like. el oh el. el oh el el oh el.

Now I naturally don't expect there to actually be a 1-to-1 parallel therein, but what I AM getting at is that Yumeko clearly still holds some regard for her older sister.

1. She doesn't call Kabura 'big sis' when asked to AND 2. she outwardly reacts when it's suggested that she'll see Souko:

Also note that Kabura drops this line on her after having her get ready for a funeral like...gorl...

I don't think this is a funeral for Souko because that just. makes no sense. Maybe the aunt? Or maybe this is related to Souko's collapse earlier in the chapter (the point at which she's hospitalized, persnaps?) and Kabura is just being Really, Really Mean. Hmst've.

3. She's paying for Souko's medical expenses out of pocket:

and 4. She still wears the ring that matches Souko's (originally her parents' engagement rings), an accessory that she's already mentioned makes her feel connected to them:

and like, maybe this is just a me thing, but if I were a young child and didn't remember my parents at all, but me and my sister who I DO know end up wearing their engagement rings as a matching set... I'd eventually end up associating the ring with my sister. Ionno! Just a thought!

ALSO in regards to the ring, Yumeko is literally never seen without it. She wears it in that really sapphic two-page spread with Mary. She wears it when metaphorically (and illustrated as... homura i just want to talk) 'stripped bare' of her attachments. The ring is HIGHLIGHTED in multiple (albeit not all) chapter/volume covers

That ring is part of a matching set with the one Souko wears, so that might actually be the single piece of something material that she ascribes sentimental value to. and like gee, I wonder why.

This is all to say that, if we use the wording from the aforementioned parallel, much like Kirari and Sayaka were not 'made strangers' with finality, it really doesn't seem to me that Kabura was successful in severing Yumeko's attachment to her sister. You can argue that she separated them, and she most definitely did, but stuff like trying to get Yumeko to call her 'big sis' is a pretty obvious acid test that she's not been shown to pass yet.

[chiisana-lion]

i actually only just saw this authors note now somehow on my 6th reread since the 12th and now i have to know tooru what games are you playing.

[asexualcloud]

me watching kakegurui for the first time: "i recognize yumeko's voice! ill look it up! i already knew that midari, killua, and ray have the same va (Mariya Ise) and kirari and kurapika also have the same va (Miyuki Sawashiro), so maybe itll make sense!"

"hmmmm i dont recognize the name Saori Hayami"

"WHAT THE FUCK SHINOBU?!?!?!?"

[just-absolutely-super]

tbh it's probably not anything noteworthy, but i'm kinda fascinated by Hibiki and Yumeko's friendship in the beginning of the series

they're mentioned constantly as always hanging out (even before D took on Hibiki's persona), but we're never told how they met or why they even hang out with each other in the first place

did Yumeko think she could get closer to Sesera through Hibiki in a plan to kill her?

or is it one of those friendships where Hibiki was nice to her so Yumeko just latched on? or the other way around where Hibiki came into her life and never left?

did they notice the other had reservations about the rangers and thought they could recruit each other for their own individual goals?

idk but i honestly don't like how it's set up that they might be friends, only for the two to barely acknowledge the other's existence once Hibiki goes into hiding

[capmangacap]

[otherwurld]

Reality Shifting to Kakegurui

soooo I didn’t actually document the full experience on this blog - here it is!

(thanks @nothingbutcloud for replying to the 1st post I made about it ^O^)

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

I found myself having false awakenings, sleep paralysis, a time loop. In realising my environment, I went to my bedroom door in the astral and decided to make a portal.

The first try didn’t work, I opened the door and looked into my corridor, so, I tried again, FULL of intention. I screamed with the furious intent, as much as I could in the airless astral, breathless and roaring, holding up my arms like Eleven from Stranger Things. This seemed to work!

A bright white rim of light appeared bursting from the outline of the door.

I had one sentence appearing to me “where is Yumeko?” as I went through the portal, entering the new world.

I enter the front doors of the academy’s corridor, bustling with students. I feel thrilled about the experience already, keeping my cool as I budge through the busy academy’s corridors. I also felt a sense of confusion, and searching for Yumeko amongst the students.

I look down to my uniform briefly, noticing I feel a little shorter than usual. I see strands of styled black hair entering my peripheral.

To my right, an opening where students - some cartoon, some live-action looking - lounge on the floor. I notice one 2D girl with pink hair physically blush, I wave to her, continuing on my search for Yumeko.

Apparently I’d been frantically looking for her since I entered the reality consciously. I turned to a student, a live-action person, and asked, in Japanese, “doko desu ka Yumeko?” - the students spoke in a mixture of English and Japanese, the words fell out of my mouth so quicky, I only just realised I’d been speaking it. The student boy pointed over to the gambling hall.

The detail was incredible everywhere I looked. I was slightly nerved by the mixture of 2D/3D figures around me, along with live-action “real life” people… [the way I scripted it was a ‘hyperreality 3D sense”, not what I envisioned, but still fascinating] The gambling hall looked much different to the anime, coloured glass surrounded the walls. I took a second to glance around, then I found Yumeko, and I was delighted - she ignored me. She actually looked upset. I wondered why. A painful feeling went through my chest, rejection.

Ever since I’d entered this world consciously, I felt confused, excited, but.. mostly confused. I felt real, I felt visceral.

Itsuki, live-action, tall, Itsuki, who’d I previously scripted to be a ‘best friend’ in this reality, was … incredibly attractive to me in that moment [not anticipated]. She smiled, asked if I was okay.

Manyuda, even taller, and towering, came by me and striked up a small-talk conversation. What I remember is him reminiscing on the last few weeks or so - before I’d left the school to apparently be forcibly checked into a mental hospital?

He fills me in, saying something like “you ate those sweets and went crazy!”

I separated myself from the conversation, feeling unnerved, still embarrassed by Yumeko’s reaction in seeing me, and came to a realisation that she must’ve not known why I’d been away from school.

Memories now started to come in. I sat by Sarah Paulson (this wasn’t scripted lmfao), who was my teacher, and I received a memory of her smoking, seeing her drink in the gambling hall.

After watching a show for what felt like an hour or two (tedious, not worth mentioning), I came by an in-school shop that I actually did script, and received another memory of an inside joke between me, Itsuki and other friends - about a fabulous bong that never gets sold - and pointed out to Itsuki that it was finally gone.

I remembered that I’d scripted a ‘black card’ with infinity money, reaching into my back pocket, I found black paper money instead.

At this point, I prayed that I was simply just lucid dreaming, and really tried to make myself believe it, so that I could magic the black card I intended on by will - I tried to wish it into my pocket, trying to convince myself of being lucid in a dreamscape, but it didn’t work. I got angrier.

I came up to the cashier, who, this guy from memories was already done with my shit. Apparently I’m a real asshole (don’t script that you have an insanely rich mafia family/background oml - it was that experience I really learnt & FELT that insanely rich people SUCK & are ENTITLED) and straight up demanded he run and get me a ‘black card’.

He says, “I can’t do that”, I feel a flush of anger overtake me (based on what I scripted for my background/past, after coming out of this reality, it was clear I accidentally scripted some form of anger issues, or a stupid sense of entitlement) — I rage out on his register, shoving everything off the counter.

A student in the forming line beside me apologised to the cashier for me, I stroppily walked away and heard Sarah Paulson calling to me, to have a talk.

Aaaand that’s where the shift ended! I was heading to the corridor to my dorm, where Sarah Paulson, my teacher, in the Kakegurui reality, was calling out to me. Lol.

[gothamcityneedsme]

something else i looove about kakegurui is how yumeko is so hard to understand and she seems enigmatic and like, to a degree almost lacking character. she seems like that to the reader and to everyone else. but once you're several arcs in the little hints and singular moments of previous arcs start to come together and a lot more about her is apparent, you start to understand her. well enough, even, to understand how many of the characters looking at her, thinking they understand, are wrong about her.

and all of this has improved further with the recent flashbacks, and im assuming this revealing of yumeko will only continue, and its great. i love the slowness of letting us into knowing her--that nothing has been in her pov. it's great.

[coyoxxtl]

shut up about yandere yumeko jabami she isnt yandere and thats not even a hot take

[kalu-luwa]

'Shhh, sh, dont cry' of the angst prompts, with nephi @ yume? Feelin in the mood for a lil angst

ANYTHING FOR YOU MY HOMIE HANG ON I’M SO SORRY THIS IS LATE

okok so i don't know if you wanted yume or neph to be oof'd so i did both

tw/cw: death, hella swearing, arson, ENG CHAPTER 6 SPOILERS, just the two of them (they can't make it, even if they tried)

(under the cut!)

A high-pitched ringing filled their ears, muffling any other sound that they might've heard over the distant roars and muted shouts. Their head spun wildly, vertigo throwing them off their balance. They could feel something trickling down their body. Something slimy, something wet, something painful. It felt warm to the touch, sticky and coagulated. Were they bleeding from somewhere? Smoke and ash permeated the air, feeling eerily reminiscent of-

It hurt to breathe, not with the support beam crushing their chest. It hurt to breathe, not with the fire raging around them. It hurt to breathe, not when they were dying so soon.

̴̖̔H̸̺͌i̸̹̊s̵̡̒t̷̝̒õ̷̫r̵̺͛y̴̱̑ ̸͇̚r̴̠̋e̶̛̻p̴̣̊ȅ̸͈a̷̯̾t̸̩̊s̵̢̔ ̷̝͝į̵̂t̷͚̚s̶̹̋ḛ̶̓l̶̯̾f̶̱̌,̸͚͝ ̶͕͐í̵̩ṱ̵̈́ ̷̪͗s̶̪̍é̵̟è̸̱m̶̐ͅs̷̗͝.̸̙͗

“-phi? Nephi, where are you?” A voice pulled them out of their stupor, shaking them of their spiraling thoughts. “I can’t- oh my god!”

Yumeko.

“I’m-” They cut themself off, coughing and hacking more ichor from their shredded lungs. They could feel the ground beneath them tremble once more, their legs wobbling unsteadily. “Yume, I-I’m here-”

“There you are!” Hands shot out to catch them mid-fall, cradling their head gently. “Oh god, what happened to you?”

“A-ah, I’m not sure...” they chuckled hesitantly, eyelids drooping shut as they tried (and failed) to sit up. “But... where are the others?”

“They’re taking care of Grim.” Oh, right, Grim. The cat-monster they met on the first day. Their unruly ‘familiar’ with flaming ears and a penchant for tuna cans. Grim, their fellow dorm-mate and friend.

G̷͔̱̮͔̾̓̒r̵̺̩̹̬̀̓í̴̞̦̳̐̈́̋ṃ̷̗͌,̵̛͕̐̎͌ ̸̛̣͙̥̭͌̕͘t̴͓̠̠̉͜͝h̴̞͉̳͒͒ẽ̷̥̭͒͜ ̵��͉͔͝o̷̊͜ͅv̷͚͚̪̹̽̽̄͠ê̴̢̫͓͖r̵̜̥̀̾ͅb̶͍̘͚̆̂̑̏l̶̢̤̇̈ò̴̩̋ẗ̵̞́̓̃ ̸̹̘̐́̍̚m̸̘̊͊͑ó̸̩̞͆ň̸̦̪̟̼̍̌̚ṡ̵͍̦̪̬͊t̶̯͈͌̎̀e̵̱͑ŗ̴̩͔͇͛.̸̡̘̰̺́̈̚

“I- we have to-”

“No, Neph!” Yumeko grasped tightly onto them, locking them in place. “I can’t let you get yourself killed!”

Not again, at least. 

“But I can’t leave Grim to die-!”

“I know, I know, I don’t want that either,” she sobbed, a hand resting on top of their head, “But I’m scared, Nephi. You’re injured- badly, and I-”

She took in a deep breath. “If I let you go, how do I know you’ll come back? How do I know the both of you will come back?”

“We will. I promise.”

“The last time you did-“ she stuttered, heaving painfully as she gripped onto their shoulders, “the last time you made a promise was when we went down into S.TY.X together. Don’t you remember?”

Ah, right. How could they forget?

Yumeko, on top of the chariot, reaching desperately forward as they dove headfirst into the Underworld. The others, their own horrified screams echoing into the caverns, unable to do anything. Grim, safely tucked into their arms as they fell, deeper and deeper still.

Had it not been for Yume’s quick thinking, they would’ve surely died then.

———

“Promise me you won’t do anything reckless?”

“I promise, cross my heart and hope to die.”

———

But today was different, they reasoned to themself, today wasn’t like then.

That isn’t counting what would happen if Grim managed to get out of the campus. What would happen to RSA? The village by the bay? The rest of Twisted Wonderland?

If they didn’t get to Grim in time, everyone would die. It wouldn’t be just them, or him, but everyone. Malleus, the Briar Prince and heir to the throne of the Valley of Thorns, Leona, the second prince of the Sunset Savanna, Kalim, eldest of the Al-Asim family, everyone in NRC would die.

Yumeko’s cries snapped them out of their spiral, hands instinctively wrapping around her in a hug.

The girl in their arms curled further into them, as if to hide herself away from the carnage around them. Her hands were scuffed and grazed, they noted, as they held her closer. Her hair was matted, faintly smelling of iron and smoke. Her glasses were missing as well, the tears pouring freely down her face.

And god, did that break their heart.

“Please, Neph, I can’t lose you too.”

“Shh, shh. Don’t cry, Yume. I won’t leave you, I promise. I promise.”

How they wish they could keep promises well.