#compared to Munakata

[autistic-ben-tennyson]

Is it just me

Or do Suzume and Souta remind you a bit of Chihiro and Haku? I actually watched Suzume first so I didn’t catch this until I watched Spirited Away.

Everything from their bond that could be interpreted as either platonic or romantic to Haku/Souta’s promise to see Chihiro/Suzume again or Suzume/Chihiro tending to Haku/Souta after they’re injured. There are some Ghibli references in Suzume like one of the songs Serizawa played in the car being from Kiki’s Delivery Service so I wouldn’t be surprised if Spirited Away had an influence as well.

[jokertrap-ran]

Update: Hi, Ran here. Work has picked up this week and I've been crashing after work more often than not lately, so I haven't had the time to actually hunker down and format my longer translations into posts to set up the release queue.

Hence, this week's translations (and maybe for a while) will consist of shorter posts that I can cobble together with my remaining one braincell and dwindling energy by night—(⁠｡⁠•́⁠︿⁠•̀⁠｡⁠)

Fingers crossed I have energy on Friday to put into this blog of mine... ANYWAY. Progress report of current translations I'm working on down under cut.

And if you like my translations, please do consider reblogging!🌹

Bad Medicine Infectious Teachers: Kashu Route— Part 17 (Judging from past routes I've translated, I'd say the next few segments should be the endings!)

Gakuen K: Munakata Route— I've done 3 events so far but I need to unlock the alt choices in his route before I can post them. This is just a thought, but since I find this game relatively easy to translate compared to everything else I'm currently working on, I'd recommended people trying to learn Japanese to play this game.

Kiniro no Corda Staoke Main Story S1— I'm working on Chapter 4 now! I've completed all chapter 3 translations, but I've yet to have enough time to format them all into posts 🥲

Kiniro no Corda Osakabe Seiji Route: I only have till Chapter 11/15 of his route but ITS DONE! AND HIS 9 WALK DOLCES ARE DONE!!! I'm just waiting to format and release them~

Kiniro no Corda Mikado Ukiha Route— IM SO SORRY ANON... I realized I only have till chapter 5 of his route... but I'm 3/5 parts done! (I do have most chapters of Taiga though)

Light & Night: ...I've started working on an Evan Card but no promises on when it's going to be done because this is a lot of text and I'm trying not to burn myself out from everything 👍 Meanwhile, I'll work on SMS/calls/facetime and the like in the meantime~ If there are any specific MLs you'd like to see short content of, please leave a comment or feel free to come into my asks.

Anon requests: Kujo Soma Cards (Sutamai) + Yume100 Undertaker Story — I've not started on these yet, but I still remember! I'll get to them, but slowly.

Well, all in all... I do have other stuff I want to work on as well but I am only one person, cheers. 🥰

[ridiasfangirlings]

I was wondering how much you pay attention to the writer of a particular story? Like do you notice specific differences in how each writer characterizes a certain character, or any preferences in writing style?

I don’t know if it’s necessarily something I would consider a ‘noticeable preference’ but there are definitely members of Gora whose stuff I gravitate to more than others. In particular if I had to pick a favorite member it would definitely be Yellow, because I’m pretty sure Fushimi is Yellow’s baby. Besides writing LSW Yellow also wrote some of my favorite Fushimi short stories, including Sand Castle and especially The King and The Traitor. While I’m sure that in some respects the characters were molded by the whole group I feel like Yellow’s given Fushimi the most characterization and probably did the most to mold him into my precious disaster baby and I appreciate that. I recall around when LSW came out some people were arguing that she seems more interested in Fushimi and Munakata together but she’s written a lot of him with Yata too, I think she just likes Fushimi as a character (of course on the negative side, she also created Niki and Kisa and I’m pretty sure offhand all the side stories where those two appear were her work).

For the other members, I’m rather fond of Pink’s Mikoto, and in general I feel like they handle the Homra team the best. Side Red is still probably my favorite of the novels (and I love how Fushimi is written in it), plus Pink is responsible for the writing of the Kuroe Yui manga (Memory of Red, Days of Blue, Countdown and Dream of Green) and I feel like they have a good grasp of the cast in general. I’m not sure if I could pinpoint exactly what I feel stands out about their writing but I feel like their characters are very consistent between works and I like the way everyone is portrayed. I feel like there’s not as much ‘this feels like a first draft of the cast,’ particularly when you compare Side Red to the much rougher Side Blue (in fairness, I think Homra was always sketched more clearly from the start than S4).

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

To Mod: So far what character do you think definitely gets mentally better as part of their character arc?

//Well there's a couple, so I'll make a small list.

Toko is the big one. I did a full analysis of how much she's improved mentally since the events of Danganronpa 1 and Ultra Despair Girls.

Makoto's arc for these last few arcs of the story are a key one.

Mukuro is another big one. Her entire role in the story is the big bad's sidekick turned over a new leaf and trying to cope with the horrible shit she spent like, 20 years doing.

Mikan, although her's is a bit wishy washy because she tends to regress back into her Despair self every now and then, but she sees it mostly as a way of confronting and accepting that side of her that's a little bit mental.

Nagito is another big one. Though not initially, he's definitely on that path now. He's kind of coming around to accepting that his mindset was warped and that he really only convinced himself that Hope and Luck were what they were because his talent did so much to ruin his life, so he kind of had to find the positives somewhere, but now that he's sort of facing that part of himself instead of running from it, he's starting to become less of a twat.

I'm gonna put Izuru on this list to, but his is a little looser. He's not getting "mentally" better so to speak, but he's becoming more of a person and less of a template the more he interacts with the others.

Another big one is Munakata. His is also about trying to overcome his past and being less of a dick than he was in DR3.

Angie's character arc is this too, even though I don't touch on it very often, but with everything she's been through she's not all smiles all the time anymore, because she's done putting on a front and trying to let God solve all her problems.

Tenko's character arc from this point on falls under this umbrella.

Miu's character arc has been this since the end of Phase 1 all the way up to this point, and even though I really didn't like The Tower arc back when I made it, with what Miu was able to do in this chapter, it was so worth writing it in the end because it's a great way to show how far she's come as a person.

I want to say Kokichi is this as well, but he hasn't really changed that much, he's just learning how to drop the front and show a little bit of sympathy and weakness when it matters.

Sora had some trauma that she needed to overcome, and that's shown best in Rise and Shine with the situation where she was afraid to take off her restraints, fearing what she might do, but bit the bullet to save Kaede and Monodam.

Iroha went through quite a lot of development in Survivor compared to her last canon appearance in the Omake thanks to Kokichi's influence and the fact that she's lived a life away from all the Despair and dread, and that's done a lot for her mentality and personality. She's not half as selfish as she was during the Killing Game.

Akane Taira's like this too, but more on that to come.

And lastly, this is sort of what's going to happen with Uchui from this point forward. He's managed to overcome the ghosts, beat Zetsubou, stop his father's project for good, and now he just needs to mentally heal the cracks. And after a long time of being alone and suicidal, he's finally willing to accept help for his problems.

//Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Trauma.

-Mod

[anonymousdanganronpaconfessions]

If you look closely, you can get a pretty good idea of Tsumugi’s actual plan for how V3 was supposed to go. It all starts with Kaede meeting her. Kaede’s reaction is so ridiculously horny that Shuichi calls her a “dirty old man” for how she’s acting. Kaede is a blonde with a twin sister. Tsumugi is a Junko fangirl.

Furthermore, Kaede has several free time events with each character that you have to reload Chapter 1 repeatedly to be able to do. Obviously most people miss them. Surprisingly, they can have variable outcomes. The ending dialogue choices clearly have a “good end” option based on the length and depth of the scene. Tsumugi’s good end? Asking her on a date. Additionally, the optional scene with Rantaro and Kaede has an upset Tsumugi in the background.

A common plot in Makoto/Junko fanfiction and doujins is her breaking him and bringing him to despair, which goes in tandem with them fucking. Tsumugi created a girl who’s extremely into her, she’s clearly also into, and who is meant to both openly lust for her and ask her out. Said girl also happens to fit details of Tsumugi’s waifu. Tsumugi created a waifu for herself.

The obvious plan she had in mind before V3 quickly went off the rails was to use a standard ship fic/doujin plot of “break the hope protagonist and become her girlfriend”. Makoto was incorruptible because of his strong moral absolutism. So, Tsumugi made Kaede more morally flexible, more normal, and a little more like Komaru. Problem is, that ironically is what made Tsumugi’s plan fail.

Compare Kaede to the conflict between Makoto and Munakata. She is a synthesis of the two perspectives. She wants to be fully on Makoto’s side, but if a situation presents itself where killing is seemingly the only option, she has the ability to do it. It’s an unintentional side effect of making her a little less like Makoto. If Kaede were just like Makoto, she wouldn’t have ended up executed. But if Kaede were just like Makoto, Tsumugi wouldn’t be able to break her and make her her waifu.

Tsumugi is bad at her job. Everything in V3 is an intentionally sloppy copy, because it’s being made by a poor craftsman in universe. Kokichi? Literally just 2010s Fandom “that’s not even the same character anymore” Komaeda. Kokichi has so much in common with how people flanderized Komaeda and made him OOC in fandom. Miu? Combine Teruteru and Metal Devil Horns Sprite Junko. Tenko and Himiko? Remix of Mahiru and Hiyoko. Korekiyo? He’s not copied from a prior series character but rather a “the writer is a fan of this other thing” type character. He’s NBC Hannibal. Seriously, do his FTEs as Shuichi if you can’t tell just from the stuff everyone sees (complete with sister motive). Korekiyo’s FTEs are pure Hannigram.

In short? V3 is a Fanganronpa gone wrong. It’s playing on all the tropes of a fangan, but it fell apart in Chapter 1 and is trying to recover after that. Knockoffs and remixes of prior characters (sometimes based on the Fanon Version rather than canon), imported characters from other works, the plot written around the writer’s kink/obsession, and ridiculous attempts to try to tie it back into canon.

.

[lisutarid-a]

Just finished Munakata's happy ending and I have to admit that he has the best route of all the ones I've played so far! Maybe only Totsuka's can match it in terms of emotion.

If compare it to the others, I would say that his route felt like more of a mature healthy adult one to me and I think that's why I liked it so much.

Have to thank the anon who asked me to play his route, I really enjoyed it a lot! Never thought I would ever fall in love with Reisi 🤭

Still need to translate the rest of the endings and the extra chapter~

[fala-alfredo-pasta]

I did actually have an idea for what could be a catalyst for Protag!Nagito changing his mind; Sakura. Just as her main self's determination managed to pretty much stop Class 78 actively participating in the Killing Game, what if some of Despair!Sakura's original self managed to pierce the brainwashing through sheer willpower? Not fully able to stop the compulsions Junko implanted into her, but she does become a kind of mole among the Remnants for the Class 77 survivors. Protag!Nagito realizing that if there old selves aren't completely gone, maybe the simulation idea that Gekkogahara proposed before getting shot down might not be a pipedream after all. Up until this point I picture him as being kind of a "Anti-Hero Replacement" for main Makoto. He does undergo some positive character growth and forge stronger bonds with his classmates in their Killing Game. And he does become a somewhat inspiring figure in a way the mastermind didn't intend. But it's more like the audience found his plucky determination and never-give-up attitude weirdly endearing than him being an "Ultimate Hope". And after they team up with the Future Foundation, he's a little too onboard with Munakata's brand of fighting despair. But rehabilitating the Remnants could well be the point where him and the Class 77 survivors actually do better than the Class 78 survivors in canon. Like for example, maybe Sonia decides on the location of the NWP being a secure remote area of Novoselic instead of Jabberwock Island (her homeland still being a holdout in this timeline). And insists that they fake the Remnants' death in some kind of bombing. All to ensure that the Foundation doesn't interfere with the program. And Protag!Nagito's more flawed characteristics compared to Makoto could actually become an advantage here. Like he might have an easier time relating to the Remnants post-deprogramming, with some of them feeling like they don't deserve a second chance. Plus I could actually see him clashing with Gekkogahara and insisting she come up with a method that doesn't involve amnesia. Because on top of it feeling kind of offensive after his experiences in their Killing Game and his struggles with dementia, he's just thinking "How do you think they're going to feel when they wake up from a comfy European holiday and find most of their family and friends are dead, the world is a mess, and they're the cause?!" Hell, if the Monokuma virus does happen in his timeline (not sure if Hajime/Izuru would be present or not), maybe he just drops all the bullshit. Leading the others to some hidden dev room with Usami and laying out where they really are and why they're here. Could well be one of the few Killing Games in the multiverse that ends with no murders. He let Makoto Naegi down, but goddammit him and the other survivors aren't gonna let the rest of their Kouhais down this time.

I like the idea of Nagito preferring to have them remember well—their sins basically—as a call back his own personal experience with dementia because yeah, that was always such a weird feature for the program to begin with. It’s remarkably harder to get closure from an experience you don’t even remember anymore but still visibly and emotionally have to deal with the effects of. How do you even begin to approach that? This doesn’t even touch upon the fact that you’ve basically been age regressed to a teenager again and suddenly find yourself in an adult body that’s been mutilated in so many ways. I’ve always wondered how exactly the SDR1 crew were going to approach class 77 in the event of an actual successful program—no virus detected. I also found it amusing that Makoto seemed the most skeptical of the survivors to use the program as is considering he was the one who implemented the failsafe in the event something went south (which it did of course). Makes me think that Makoto would have preferred the program worked differently and, if given the time, would have made it be a much more different experience for the remnants rather than the whole Hope Fragment school field trip concept. I’d like to see Makoto’s version of the Neo World Program now haha. Ah, the DR lore really is somethin’—oodles of fun to consider all the possible aus that could have happened with just one simple change.

[creepercraftguy]

NAEGIRI WEEK Day 4 - Locked In/Out

Whether it’s good luck or bad luck is left to be decided, as Makoto ends up trapped in Hope’s Peak Academy with Kyoko, both having nothing to wear than some towels. How will they overcome this predicament?

@naegiriweek​

IMPORTANT NOTE PLEASE READ: The story that you’re about to read below the cut is the CENSORED version of the original story. The original story contains descriptions of nudity, and is generally more NSFW. To make it safer for Tumblr and to allow more people to enjoy the week, THIS version is significantly less lewd. That being said, it’s not COMPLETELY safe for work. It’s still very fanservicy, compared to the other chapters. I just removed anything that could potentially put it in porn territory. However, the Uncensored version can still be read on my WattPad, which I always link with these: https://www.wattpad.com/1290176679-naegiri-week-2022-creepercraftguy-day-4-locked-in

Regardless, the story is under the cut. Please enjoy.

Despite being the Ultimate Lucky Student during his time at Hope's Peak Academy, Makoto Naegi had never considered himself to have very good luck, even now. Luck was a difficult concept to understand, but it seemed that Makoto's life up until now, what with the two Killing Games he was forced into, and the Tragedy having happened, as well as his memory's being wiped, were just a string of misfortunate events, one after the other.

Which wasn't to say that Makoto's life had been completely terrible. After the end of the Killing Game amongst the Future Foundation, society had been on the on and up since then. The Remnant's of Despair were still about, but thanks to the efforts of the Future Foundation, and their new allies, Hajime Hinata and the 77th class, things were going pretty well. Makoto had even succeeded Jin Kirigiri as the Headmaster of the newly reopened Hope's Peak Academy, and this time, things were going to be different.

But even now that everything was going smoothly, and society was going back to normal, some things never change, and Makoto Naegi's luck certainly never did. And because of his dumb luck, he was about to find himself in a very awkward situation.

It was very late in the evening and the students of the new Hope's Peak Academy had gone home for the day. Makoto had no reason to stay out so late, but after the day ended, he decided he would go shopping for groceries on the way home.

Alongside being the Headmaster of Hope's Peak, and choosing to run the academy a little differently, Makoto was also hard at work at the Future Foundation. He worked under his boss, fellow Ultimate alumni, and best friend, Kyoko Kirigiri, the Ultimate Detective, who spearheaded 14th Branch. However, there were talks that Kyoko was planned to succeed Kyosuke Munakata, who had been forcibly retired, as the new Chairwoman of the Future Foundation. The job came with a lot of pressure, but Makoto couldn't be happier for her. Anything was better than Munakata.

Also, on an unrelated note, she was also the girl Makoto was crushing hard for. Ever since she had come back at the end of the Final Killing Game, Makoto had started to catch feelings for the enigmatic, lavender-haired detective. Unfortunately, she was way too good for him, and she never ever broke face, even in the toughest of moments.

With this in his mind, Makoto decided to buy extra groceries for Kyoko as a gift. However, today, things weren't about to go his way. On his way back home, the heavens opened, and a wash of rain came pouring down suddenly, with thunder crackling in the background.

"Oh...dammit!" Makoto cursed, trying his best to shelter his bags so the contents didn't get soaked. Rain hadn't been predicted that day, so he hadn't thought to wear a coat. Shame on him for that one. Makoto tried to power through the rain, but quickly realized; as the shower got worse; that there was no way he'd be able to make it back home before the food he bought spoiled.

Thus, he immediately changed direction and headed back towards Hope's Peak Academy, which was closer to the supermarket. He could just sit tight in his office for a while until the rain died down. It's not like he would've run out of things to do in there.

But unbeknownst to the Lucky Headmaster, this was only the beginning of one crazy ride.

Ever since he was young, Makoto had never thought himself as special. Even being accepted as a Lucky Student at Hope's Peak was like a dream come true for him. But if there were two skills Makoto had that he had complete confidence in, it was these...

One - He was overly optimistic and always say the best in a situation and a person, and always believed the best possible outcome would come, no matter how unlucky he was.

And two - He was ever so slightly more observant of his surroundings than the average guy. Little details that fly past most rarely escaped Makoto, and it was a natural skill he had.

Hence why as soon as he ran inside the academy for shelter and climbed the stairs to his office, he noticed something immediately out of place - A magenta business jacket hanging on the sliding door to his office.

Makoto immediately recognized the jacket and, being careful not to slip on his wet shoes, hurried to the sliding door and opened it. As soon as he did, he saw an easily recognizable silhouette in the window, highlighted further as the thunder and lightning came crashing down outside.

"Ah...There you are. I was wondering where you'd got to," Kyoko Kirigiri turned to greet him as he stepped in, "seeking shelter from the rain as well?"

"Y-Yeah...It's really coming down out the-...um...uh..." he massively trailed off as he noticed that Kyoko's shirt and skirt were also completely soaked through, and he could see her underwear through it. He chose to look away as to not disrespect her, and continued speaking. "What are you doing here?"

"When the rain started coming down, I was already fairly near the academy," she spoke, her voice slightly trembling, likely from the breeze, "so when it started to get bad, I came running here, hoping to find you. If I'm going to be stuck in a storm, I'd rather it be with someone I trust."

"I appreciate that..." Makoto said, his voice also trembling but for a totally different reason. Although he thought it respectful to her image to look away from her damp clothes, he also realized that not making eye contact would be equally as disrespectful, so he found some middle ground. He glanced back and forth at Kyoko repeatedly, pretending his eyes were directed at other things in the room.

However, as he did this, he started to notice Kyoko standing weirdly. She was usually very astute and always walked with such power and cool beauty, but here she seemed...shifty.

It wasn't difficult for Makoto to figure out why though. He honestly felt like smacking himself in the face for realizing it sooner. Kyoko was one of the smartest women he knew, so obviously she would have also realized herself that her clothes were semi-see-through. Makoto would never ever have admitted this to her face, but seeing Kyoko embarrassed was a rarity, and he was kind of enjoying it.

Then again, Kyoko had never been an easy person to read, so more than likely, it was something else. Maybe she was just cold? Makoto certainly was. The heating had been turned off in the academy after he and the other staff had left, and since Kyoko wasn't that familiar with the school layout now, she wouldn't know where to turn it on.

Either way, Makoto knew what he had to do.

"Sit tight for a second," he gave her a thumbs up, "I'll go grab you some towels to dry off."

"That's very thoughtful of you." Kyoko smiled, happy that Makoto wasn't drawing attention to her immodesty

True to his word, Makoto hurried to the gym locker rooms and grabbed some towels. One for him, and one for Kyoko, making sure both of them were big enough to swiftly dry off their whole bodies. En route, he also switched the heating on for his office, so neither of them would catch a cold.

Makoto hurried back to the office and found Kyoko still there, handing her one of his towels. However, when Kyoko took it, she looked a little uncertain.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's nothing," she said, "thank you for turning the heating on. And thanks for the towel as well."

"Is something bugging you?" he asked, "you can tell me if you want, I won't judge if it's embarrassing."

Makoto realized he probably shouldn't have said that, since it implied he was drawing attention to Kyoko's immodest appearance. Thankfully, either it went over her head, or she heard but  ignored it.

"It's just...My clothes are completely soaked through..." she said, "dabbing it with a towel probably isn't going to dry it very much. Maybe I could use it for my hair, but..." she pulled on her shirt, "it soaked all the way through my jacket. Suffice to say, it's gonna take a lot of effort."

"Good point..." Makoto really struggled to avert his eyes from looking anywhere sinful, "but don't worry. I have a perfect plan."

Makoto then revealed his secret weapon. He stood on his desk and reached up near the window to his office, which was quite high. He reached over to a handle on the wall next to the window and pulled it. The handle came loose, with a taut string attached to it, being pulled out from the wall like a toy. Makoto took the handle and hooked it on a hook on the other side of the wall. He stepped down from the desk and waved his hands dramatically.

"Is this...a clothesline?" Kyoko asked, "you have a clothesline in your room?"

"Let's just say this isn't the first time I've been caught in a heavy storm," Makoto scratched his face awkwardly, "I had one of these at home as well, and put one in my office just in case...Unfortunately, the windows are quite high and I don't have a stool."

"That's...very clever." Kyoko was very impressed.

"Anyway, I know it's probably embarrassing, but if we leave our clothes next to the window, they'll dry quickly. And now that we have the heating on, we should be able to strip down to our underwear without catching a cold." Makoto smiled. He noticed Kyoko still looked very flustered though. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Makoto, you...didn't really listen earlier," Kyoko cradled her own body, "I told you I was completely soaked through...Including my jacket...including my underwear..."

"Oh.......OH!" both of their faces went bright red as soon as Makoto realized what that implied, "well uh...um...I won't make you do anything you don't want to, but I really don't want you to catch a cold...B-But the towel I gave you should be enough to wrap yourself in! I promise, I won't look where I'm not supposed to."

Kyoko paused for a moment, looking down at herself, and then back up at Makoto's clothesline. She sighed and smiled.

"Sorry...I trust you," she said, "and you are going out of your way to help me, so thanks..."

Not looking at one another as they did so, Makoto and Kyoko completely stripped down. Makoto's jacket, shirt, tie, trousers, vest, socks and underpants were hung on one side of the line. Kyoko's jacket, skirt, shirt, tie, socks, panties and bra were hung on the other. The only thing that DIDN'T go on the line were Kyoko's gloves, which she insisted upon wearing. Both of them had wrapped the towels around their bodies, and out of sheer embarrassment, both remained a relative distance from one another, and had their backs turned, not looking in each other's direction.

The air was warm thanks to the heater, but the mood between them was stone cold. Makoto decided to break the ice.

"So...I take it this is a new experience for you," he asked, which got her attention, "for once you seem...unsure of what to do. Sorry for pointing that out."

"No, it's ok." she chuckled quietly, "to be honest, I thought I could handle any sort of situation. In fact, I've been in situations like this where I've had to shelter myself from the rain and dry my clothes...This isn't my first rodeo either."

"Then why are you so...out of practice?" Makoto continued to pry, even though he shouldn't. Kyoko turned around.

"Because every other time, I've either been by myself, or with another girl," she admitted, "and despite how it may seem...I am still a woman you know?"

"I'm sorry if my questions are insensitive," Makoto sighed, "I'm just not used to being the one to take charge. Honestly, it's just through sheer luck that I'm this prepared...Though I guess it's also sheer luck that got us into this mess in the first place..."

"But it's also sheer luck that got us in this situation together," Kyoko turned around fully to look at Makoto, who was still facing the wall, "by the way, are you cold...Your skin looks pale."

"Huh?" Makoto turned his head, realizing she was looking at him, "uh, I guess so. The heating may be on but the draft from the window is kinda chilling me."

"I see..." her face went very red, and Makoto didn't know why until she drew closer, "in that case, please excuse me..."

Makoto started stammering incomprehensible nonsense as Kyoko suddenly reached out, wrapped her arms around his body and pulled him close. She cradled his body with hers, and Makoto could feel both his and her heartbeat accelerate.

"In prior situations, me and coworkers I got stuck in the rain with would usually wrap our bodies together in blankets and cuddle for warmth," she explained, "unfortunately, we don't have any blankets or other towels, so hopefully this will work anyway."

"A-Are you sure you're ok with doing this?" Makoto's asked. Kyoko’s warm body against him felt nice, but it also felt wrong. He wasn’t sure how to approach this situation.

"Like I said, I trust you not to indulge or anything," Kyoko smiled, "don't worry about it. I'm just sorry I'm not acting like my usual self."

They stayed like that for a while, their shared body heat working wonders for one another, until of sudden, the two noticed a glimmer of light pour in through the window. Kyoko released Makoto and the two looked outside to see the sun lowering in the horizon, and the rain had stopped. Although, the breeze was certainly beginning to pick up.

"Looks like there's a break in the storm..." Kyoko breathed a sigh of relief, as did Makoto.

"Yeah...lucky us..." he reached down to cover his privates with his hands, fearing Kyoko might see the erection he had gotten, "guess that means we'll be able to head back home now."

"Yeah, we'll just have to power through with our wet clothes until...huh?" Kyoko wasn't able to finish this sentence, as something truly horrifying happened.

The wind had picked up so much, the clothes on the line were flapping around like crazy! And before either of them realized what happened, Kyoko's shirt suddenly got sucked through the open window like a vaccum!

And it didn't stop there, each piece of clothing one by one went flying off the line and out the window!

"NO!" Kyoko screamed in alarm! The situation had gotten bad enough, but somehow, it got even worse! She rushed forward, hoping to grab her jacket at least before it got sucked out into the evening sky.

Unfortunately, she was unable to reach it. It took Makoto a second to react, but as soon as the reality sunk in, he rushed to help her.

Makoto kept a tight hold of his towel and also rushed forward. Without saying anything, knowing Kyoko would know what to do, he got down on all fours at the foot of the window. Sure enough, Kyoko noticed and stood on top of Makoto's body, using him as a stool.

But unfortunately, it was all for naught. Kyoko reached up to grab the last item of clothing on the line, being Makoto's jacket, but the strong winds swept that away too, just as she reached out for it. As it escaped her grasp, Kyoko lost her balance and toppled to the ground, knocking Makoto over as well.

Makoto managed to get on his feet first. Kyoko had fallen to the floor, her towel luckily having stayed on. Makoto reached out a hand and pulled her to her feet.

However, at this time, the gravity of the situation weighed in on them. They were stuck alone together in the office, with not a shred of clothing between them other than a pair of towels and a pair of gloves. There was no way either of them could leave the academy like this. They were stuck!

"Ironic isn't it?" Kyoko sighed, "practically locked inside Hope's Peak Academy once again, this time at the mercy of our own chastity as opposed to Despair."

Kyoko was being serious about this, but her phrasing made Makoto laugh. Upon seeing him laugh, Kyoko began laughing as well. As embarrassing as this situation was, it was somehow hilarious at the same time. The laugh was definitely needed to clear the air between them.

"What are we going to do?" Kyoko asked, "do you have any other plans?"

"Well, we could always try walking home in these towels, but the wind is so strong we might end up losing them...Then we'd be stark naked in public with nothing..."

Kyoko didn’t say anything, but her body language made it clear that she was opposed to this plan. Makoto stood still and thought for a moment, but then luckily, his brain popped an idea.

"I've got something!" he exclaimed, "sometimes students stay a few hours after school for extra gym lessons. I usually go down to the locker rooms after school and pick up a punch of PE bags and put them in lost property. In fact, I saw a few of them when I went down to grab towels!"

"I see what you're saying," Kyoko smiled, "if they left their gym bags here, then their gym clothes will be in them. They might be a bit small, but it's better than walking home without any clothes, right?"

"Let's just agree that as soon as we get home, we NEVER talk of this to anyone ever again." Makoto stated the obvious, "we'll need to walk through the school like this, but that shouldn't be a problem. The students should have all gone-"

Makoto froze. He looked out of his office window down towards the gates of the academy, trying to plan out the route. No sooner did the words escape his mouth, he suddenly saw a silhouetted figure walk through the gates, carrying a bag over his shoulder. Not only that, He couldn't tell if it was a student or staff, but one thing was for sure...

"Kyoko...someone just entered through the gates." he whispered, terrified. Kyoko's face went pale.

"What!?" she exclaimed, quickly grabbing her towel, "wh-what do we do!?"

"We...We stick with the plan," the fire in Makoto's eyes was fierce, "if we're quick and quiet about it, we can grab the clothes and go before he or she sees us. It's not far, don't worry!"

Not wasting a single second, Makoto grabbed one of Kyoko's arms, letting her keep a hold of her towel with the other. Makoto opened the sliding door to his office and he and his crush stepped out into the hallway.

They started making their way through the academy hallway slowly looking frantically up and down, faces burning up. Makoto led Kyoko down the hall, not letting go of her hand. Putting full trust in him, Kyoko let herself be led on.

To the point that Makoto came to a sudden stop and she was so distracted she bumped into him. Though he was facing away from her, Makoto's expression, at least what she could see of it, made it clear something was wrong. And it wasn't hard to figure out what. The nearby stairs that he intended to take her down started echoing with the sounds of heavy footsteps climbing up.

Whoever it was that had infiltrated the academy was climbing up the stairs.

"Run!" Makoto exclaimed, suddenly yanking Kyoko's hand and pulling her in the opposite direction, towards the flight of stairs at the other end of the hallway!

At this point, they had everything to lose, so they kept running and running and running down the hallway, hoping that the mysterious newcomer wouldn't spot them! Kyoko held tightly onto her towel with her right hand, and kept a tighter hold on Makoto’s hand with her left.

The figure had clearly heard them and was no doubt climbing the stairs all the more quickly, but neither of the two turned back. They continued to run down the hallway, their bare feet pitter-pattering on the cold floor, until they finally rushed down the stairs.

The wind was indeed very strong when they finally broke into the courtyard, but they were able to keep hold of their towels. Fortunately, other than the mysterious trespasser, no one else seemed to be on site. When they finally made it to the locker rooms, Makoto flung the door open and they both tumbled inside! Kyoko let go of Makoto's hand and slammed the door shut. Makoto hurried and locked it!

"That was...crazy...!" Kyoko panted.

"Yeah. But at least we're in the clear...for now at least..." Makoto panted. The run had been so hectic that the two needed a moment to catch their breaths.

But not too long after, both of their hearts sunk deep in their chests, when they heard a sudden noise. Though Makoto had locked the door from the inside, they could hear the sound of a key turning in the lock, and the door being inches away from opening.

There were no windows large enough to escape from, and no time. Whoever was coming in was clearly a staff member or otherwise, since they had a key, but regardless, they were going to walk into the changing rooms and catch the both of them wearing nothing but towels. Then what would they do?

Thus, Makoto did the only thing he could think of. Though he was far from suitably dressed himself, he stood in front of Kyoko, and did his best to cover her body from sight. He turned around and gave Kyoko a reassuring nod.

Though she was unsure of what to do in response, Kyoko was touched by his kindness. She knew that if she argued with his decision, it would lead to more complications. And although this situation had proved to be a challenge she’d never encountered before, Kyoko Kirigiri was forever meticulous. 

No matter what happened, they were ready to face it together, but neither of them could have prepared for what came next. The doors opened...and a familiar face poked in, looking at the pair with complete and utter confusion.

"Byakuya!?" they exclaimed simultaneously.

Sure enough, the figure who poked his head into the locker room, staring in bewilderment at both his friends completely in the buff, was Byakuya Togami, the Ultimate Affluant Progeny, and fellow Future Foundation employee. It was here that Makoto remembered Byakuya managed security for Hope's Peak, and as a result, he had lent him a spare key.

"Wh-What are you doing here?" Makoto asked sheepishly.

"I should be the one asking that...!" he hissed, "what the actual hell are you doing!?"

"W-Wait! It isn't what you think! I-I know how it looks, but hear me out!" Makoto cried.

A short time passed as Makoto explained the entire story to Byakuya. The bad news was that now everyone there had mental scars as a result of what happened. Kyoko and Makoto were absolutely mortified that their mutual friend had caught them streaking across Hope's Peak Academy in the evening by themselves, then proceeding to find them clinging onto each other wearing nothing, leaving him the complete wrong impression. This kind of situation wasn't an easy one to talk you way out of.

The good news is that of everyone Kyoko and Makoto knew, running into Byakuya was quite possibly the best outcome for the both of them. Not a good outcome by any means, especially since Makoto and Kyoko still had nothing else to wear, even while Makoto told Byakuya the whole story; but compared to the potential reactions of their other friends, the alternatives were SO much worse.

Hina would have panicked and called Makoto a pervert. Probably beaten him up too.

Hiro probably wouldn't have stopped looking.

Toko would probably make dirty jokes about the situation to everyone for a month after.

Ryota would have gotten too embarrassed and would have run away with the scars before Makoto had a chance to explain anything.

And GOD, Makoto did NOT want to imagine what his sister Komaru would think.

All things considered, Byakuya was always professional and didn't let his eyes wander to either's assets. He stood there patiently in front of his towel-bearing friends and processed the story as Makoto told it.

Plus, it was better to be caught wearing nothing but towels as opposed to getting caught with nothing at all. When Makoto finished explaining the story to Byakuya, he nodded.

"I see..." he pondered, "so THAT'S what happened..."

"You believe me?" Makoto asked, "now that it's come out of my mouth, the turn of events is pretty ridiculous. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't believe me."

"Of course," Byakuya sighed, "believe it or not, what you've just claimed to the be the case is somehow more believable than you two purposefully committing a shameless act of voyeurism on school grounds. You especially Kyoko. You can do way better than him."

Even though Byakuya insulted him, Makoto just laughed. Kyoko didn't say anything. Her face flushed.

"Well...there's that, and also there's this..." Byakuya suddenly took the bag he had hung on his shoulder and opened it. Looking inside, Makoto and Kyoko couldn't believe it, but they saw the bag was filled with their clothes that had gone flying into the windy sky. "I ended up finding these scattered about the flower fields out front," Byakuya explained, "I commanded my men to gather them up for me so I could find the owners and return them. Didn't expect it'd be you two though."

With that, Byakuya handed them the bag. Makoto and Kyoko pulled out their clothes and frantically got dressed. They had been trapped in the school for such a long time, they had completely dried by now.

"W-Well, at least that whole mess is settled..." Kyoko chuckled, looking at Makoto, "I should um..."

But before she could finish, Kyoko covered her face with her gloved hands in embarrassment and made a run for it. Makoto thought about chasing after her, but decided it would be best to leave her be.

"Hey, um...Byakuya. I'm not saying you're going to, but please don't tell anyone about what you saw..." he pleaded.

"You mean you don't want me to tell anyone about the traumatizing sight of my closest friends running around underdressed? Why would I?" he snarked, "whether you want me to or not, I will force myself to forget what I've seen. That said, Kyoko isn't likely to forget any time soon."

"Yeah...it was my luck that put her through this. I wouldn't have wished it on her ever," Makoto sighed, "I just hope I haven't ruined things between us forever..."

"Don't be an idiot," Byakuya snarled, "tell me...You like her, right? Romantically?"

"Uh...yeah...Guess there’s no use hiding that..." Makoto flushed.

"Well, it's painfully and disgustingly obvious that she likes you back," he grumbled, "hell, you could slaughter a litter of puppies and she'd still find some way to love you!"

Makoto's eyes widened. Was Byakuya really being encouraging?

"But...you literally just said she could do better than me!" Makoto exclaimed.

"She can!" Byakuya snapped, "but she can absolutely do worse too.”

Byakuya turned his back and began to leave the locker room, continuing to talk as he did.

"You're kind-hearted, strong-willed, you look decent, and you're better than 90% of the people around you..." he said, "so...don't sell yourself short Naegi."

Makoto processed this for a moment, before smiling and saying.

"Thank you Byakuya."

"Whatever, I'm out of here," he grouched, "this NEVER happened."

As he left, Makoto looked around the locker room. The towel he had been wearing was now neatly folded up in the wash bin near him, but his eyes drifted back to it.

"I really am lucky... Makoto blushed, "and I couldn't forget it if I tried..."

[kazukibou]

Do you think Munakata's son (I'm terrible at remembering names at times) and Natsumi will somewhat ease hostilities?

Did Mikan also needed to change her appearance such as hair style, length, hair colour and even overall outfits to become her new identity to the public?

When did Kyoko completely switch from Vice-headmaster to Detective? Knowing Makoto, did he organise some of the students to help make her final day special by making her gifts?

Since Hope's Peak was filled with traps that are likely still armed, execution devices for each student and the old trial room after DR3. Did some people got injured or likely killed during the clean-up prior to the rebuild?

Do you think the fankids outside of the Naegi's will find Kyoko less intimidating during her retirement?

I also read those two links too and they were a great read!

His name is Hayato! I would like to think Hayato learns that Natsumi isn't really a bad person, though it would probably take some convincing...probably from Mei.

Mikan has a different hairstyle as an adult compared to SDR2, since those things change over the years. To what it is now, I haven't figured out yet. She does put on makeup. Mahiru and Hiyoko helped her out until she learned on her own.

Kyoko stepped down before she gave birth to Kazuki. Then when she felt ready, she went back to detective work. I could see her going away party also being like a baby shower.

The old Hope's Peak building is not in use and wasn't rebuilt, so the Hope's Peak in KKB is an entirely different building. The old building exists, however it's like an abandoned monument. Superstitious types believe the building is haunted by the students who died there, so many are afraid to repurpose it...let alone touch it.

The kids that are around Kyoko more often will be less intimidated. Mei and Jun'ichi are fine examples of this, as well as Hideaki and Yuudai.

Glad you liked the stories! I just added a new chapter to what was supposed to be a Halloween fic,, haha

[anticutes]

general rant: i don't like the anime adaptation. (surprise!)

ah yes, danganronpa 3. love it or hate it, the anime adaptation was extremely impactful to the series in terms of the information we learnt about the characters and certain events. (on a tangent, i personally loved human chiaki, even if it doesn't make thematic sense for her character... i hate to love her i do...) but when it comes to the adaptation's characterisation of junko... i think that it leaves much to be desired. not even listening to jamie marchi's top tier voice work for her was enough to save her, and i genuinely believe jamie marchi's voice is a perfect westernised interpretation of junko's character.

there are two main points of contention when it comes to junko that stops me from truly enjoying the installment- firstly, her characterisation. secondly, her impact.

first of all, junko's characterisation did a complete 180 when you compare her in the anime to the games. in the anime, she has a blatant disregard for people around her. in the games/light novels, junko held a lot more restraint. i can't get over how many of the key events in the tragedy were experiments done by junko in preparation for the events of trigger happy havoc, which, to her, was the climax of the tragedy. but, not only that, a lot of what junko did during her school life was done inconspicuously. in danganronpa zero, the e-mail sent to the reserve course students was sent by a redacted sender that only the combined efforts of a software engineer and a spy could uncover. junko spread awareness of the tragedy of hope's peak through word of mouth before leaking the video- and not many people knew that she was the one who spread it, much less the person who "discovered" the event. she also erased her memory with yasuke's help in order to evade suspicion from both the school and the student body (specifically, survivors of the killing game), and, not to mention, she got interrogated by the school- and this wasn't a simple interrogation, either- yuto claims that they analysed her brainwaves and did a non-verbal communication (kinesic) analysis on her! and they let her go free and closed the investigation into her!

when making junko, kodaka said that he wanted to create a cute, visually appealing character who was just irredeemably evil. i believe the dichotomy he wanted to establish in her character influenced junko's in-universe reception: her ability to evade suspicion was a result of her nonthreatening appearance. because of her innocent, cute look, virtually no one but her victims suspected her.

so, with that in mind... her literally blowing up a car with mukuro in her first appearance? getting juzo to write her off on paper by threatening him with his secret crush on munakata? mocking ryota in front of a crowd? i just don't think these would be things she would do, unless she was intentionally trying to provoke them. and who knows, maybe she was- but, like she said in danganronpa zero, all of this was just to set up for the events of trigger happy havoc.

when junko says that things were "moving along exactly according to her scenario", the implication i got was that no one noticed what she was doing. most of her outrageous behaviour would take place behind closed doors.

speaking of which, a particular pet peeve i had about the despair arc was junko making mukuro sing during the killing game they forced the student council into. personally, i think that just made the scene more comedic than anything. i feel that from trigger happy havoc, junko and mukuro were not perceived as this slapstick comedy duo- they always gave me the feeling that they were intimidating in public and worked exceedingly well. yes, junko is abusive towards mukuro- she berates her, humiliates her, and tries to kill her- but she wouldn't do that when they're in front of strangers that have not yet embraced despair.

i also am just not a fan of how they simplified junko's relationship with despair. yes, i know, "but kodaka said she was supposed to be fully unsympathetic!" i think... she was already pretty unsympathetic to begin with? when you think about her ultimate analyst abilities and how everything she has done has been calculated, not to mention the antisocial behaviour she acts out... i feel that's infinitely more terrifying than the "randumz teehee XD i think despair is funsies!! random people suffering is comedy gold!!" junko that was shown in the anime. "junko's a character whose entire motivation is despair!" her motivation is still despair in the games! just because it's a bit more nuanced doesn't mean it isn't!

i have a lot of gripes about the tragedy of hope's peak academy, now that i've read danganronpa zero. i feel these are all common gripes, though- like how the anime tried to shift the blame of the tragedy off of izuru by making him only kill one person (in self-defense!), as if junko's attempt to win izuru over with her ideology meant nothing- isn't izuru supposed to be slightly more interested in her ideology than everything else? the lack of scale of izuru's involvement in the tragedy of hope's peak academy made the reserve course's reaction very disproportionate.

in general, i was just very underwhelmed by the lack of focus on the reserve course and how we didn't get to see their bubbling resentment- despite them adapting the twilight syndrome murder case as well, which, you know, was a case that involved the deaths of two reserve course students and the involvement of one main course student. i'd imagine that was the first shockwave that rippled across the reserve course student body. like, they'd lose their trust in the main course as being "pinnacles of hope". maybe even scared for their lives?

i also, surprise surprise, have a problem with how they interpreted brainwashing in the anime adaptation! as a result, i do not like ryota mitarai, as the unfortunate face of this interpretation. i don't mind writing with ryotas, of course- but i think their relationship and what they do will need to be completely replotted.

(on a tangent, i... really don't know how ryota's talent would be of help when it comes to enhancing junko's videos at all. they're "live action". if anything, an ultimate filmmaker/visual effects artist/editor would make more sense than a 2d animator. hell, a 3d animator would make more sense than a 2d animator.)

so, let's talk brainwashing. i will say that brainwashing as a concept existed in the series before dr3, but i will also say that how brainwashing's portrayed in those installments is completely different from how it's portrayed in the anime.

in danganronpa zero, yasuke said that junko brainwashed the students by taking advantage of her victims' (in this case, the reserve course students) already existing emotions of her victims and manipulating them with information. this information, as we know already, can be in the form of a video, written word, or spoken word. this is also supported by monokuma in sdr2:

not only that, brainwashing in danganronpa zero is associated with repetition. a reserve course student in the monokuma cult watched it around 5,818 times.

now, moving onto the despair video in particular- from how i interpreted the description of the video, i believe that the video was meant to look amateurish. ryoko talks about how the video looked like "obscure video art" or "avant-garde dance"- her narration emphasises it feeling like a (fictional) movie done by the reserve students:

words that take up the entire screen, colours that real broadcasts would never utilize:

mentions of completely one-coloured screens:

obscured, low quality video footage and audio:

the despair video junko sent to the reserve course was not meant to be appealing. if anything, the video should look more like a snuff film. it should look shocking- whether it's because the quality is bad or the contents are too explicit: ultimately, the video something that you can't believe is real at a glance- that you have to watch again just to make sure you saw it.

brainwashing, as described in the novel, is a psychological phenomenon rather than an actual physical event.

now that we've tackled the novels, let's move onto the games. the games don't quite expand on how brainwashing works as much as danganronpa zero does, but we know that it's mentioned in both sdr2 and udg.

in udg, there are the monokuma kids, who wear monokuma helmets that are similar to the helmets the reserve course student cult wore:

furthermore, in sdr2, there's a manga in the bio lab that talks about how the tragedy became so big. it mentions the importance of repetition (via media saturation) and inciting pre-existing emotion in danganronpa's brainwashing.

it also uses the term itself, referring to what members of ultimate despair did to spread the ideology:

sdr2 doesn't give us much insight on how junko utilised it for class 77-b, but it does give us insight on how ultimate despair utilised brainwashing for the world: by using their influence and talents. using software. coming up with new laws and policies. so on and so forth. to me, it doesn't seem like they used the despair video that junko used on the reserve course students- which implies that brainwashing is not necessarily done through the despair video. it can be done with anything- so who's to say that junko needed to use the despair video on class 77-b?

not only that, the neo world program truth bullet also mentions the term in its description, especially in relation to rehabilitating the remnants of despair. the neo world program, which was created by a therapist, neurologist and programmer- which means this is a virtual therapeutic simulation meant to assist with deprogramming victims of brainwashing- especially victims who were in a cult. and junko's ultimate despair group is essentially a cult.

now that i've laid out how brainwashing works, we can see how the anime utterly simplifies this phenomenon, turning this intensive, multi-pronged process into one magical anime video (with magical ~subliminal messaging~) that conditions you to "desire despair". it's, for all intents and purposes (and pardon mois francois), fucking bullshit. if you ask me, if you replaced that despair video with the lobotomy mukuro did to chisa, i don't think it would've made a difference at all! and i hated the lobotomy more than the brainwashing!

i know, i'm supposed to brainrot about how badly they ruined my girl- but honestly, the way they did junko dirty wasn't through characterisation- it was how they butchered her actions. the lack of attention given to both the reserve course students and class 77-b is frankly insulting to her, seeing as these two groups were key characters in the worldwide tragedy. i've done my fair share of complaining about the reserve course students, so let me end this rant on class 77-b.

i wish we got to see why junko was so interested in class 77-b. once again, nagito pulling a gun on junko was funny, but him breaking into her secret lair because he was lucky- not even in an accurate way to his luck cycle, mind you- was just unsatisfying at a second watch. i know this is probably because both future and despair arcs were being developed and aired simultaneously (if i remember correctly), but i still think that there were ways to make the despair arc satisfying, especially since there were so many existing characters in that arc.

if you ask me why junko was so interested in them in the first place: from what i can infer from the games and novels, i think that junko took advantage of class 77-b because they perfectly embodied the arrogance and contempt of the main course students. because of this, i don't really mind that junko didn't take advantage of them in a more personalised manner, although i still prefer it and want to write plots in that vein! but i think that class 77-b was used because of what they represent- the ultimate flaw in hope's peak ideology- rather than who they are as people.

...also, where the hell is my boy yasuke in all this???

[despair-to-future-arcs]

Tsurugi is basically Kyousuke but even worse.

Trust me, I'm in no way contacting the leader - frankly compare to Kyosuke Munakata who I can at least talk to and reason with, Tsurugi Kinjo is nothing but a war mongrel on the war path to wipe out all criminals and despair!

In fact I'm going to contact someone else...

[thedragonofdoma]

Introductions

So I realize that, in a setting where just about everyone has their own characters and stories they want to tell, it can get exhausting trying to figure out what each character's deal... is. And mine are no better, given my tendency to not elaborate much on their stories and personalities beyond the occasional wolqotd. So, to try and clear away some of the fog, here's an introduction to the characters I'll probably be posting about on here.

Fair warning, this is a LONG post.

The easiest place to start is with my primary character, Zaya Dalamiq. She is a Xaela Au'ra from Doma, whose parents immigrated from the Azim Steppe.

Zaya's story is one of connections and vulnerability, culminating in her replacing Gosetsu as one of Hien's trusted retainers and advisors, alongside Yugiri. Zaya is a (non)wol x Yugiri ship, and sees Hien as a non-blood related sibling. She also has close relations with Lyse Hext, Magnai Oronir, and Aymeric de Borel.

Zaya has two custom jobs called Demon King (DMK) and Sohei (SOH). Demon King mixes aspects of Dark Knight, Warrior, and Samurai; while Sohei is a very straightforward blend of Monk and Dragoon. She does not possess the echo, and was born with unnaturally thin aether, to the point she is unable to use magic of any sort without the use of crystal conduits. In exchange for this defecit -- and to explain her DRK capabilites -- Zaya has a natural affinity for Dynamis, to the point she is able to freely manipulate the energy as if it were aether.

Zaya is also a talented artisan, specializing in metalwork such as Armorcraft, weaponry, and goldsmithing. A lot of her spare time is spent around the Doman Enclave, training the guard and working to help Doma's reconstruction in the wake of Stormblood.

She's an extremely emotional woman with a measured and controlled exterior that she's developed to oppose her empathetic nature. She is strongly loyal to her friends and Doma both, and puts 110% into every single thing she does. Unfortunately, she does suffer from Impostor Syndrome, and always assumes herself at fault for problems or tragedies, so there's still some stuff that could be worked on.

================================================

Next on the list is Lernea, Zaya's Ancient counterpart. She's much less developed than Zaya, but still has a good bit of lore surrounding her place in the world and how her story goes.

Lernea is a researcher in Elpis, though 'researcher' is a lofty title for what she really does. Put as simply as possible, Lernea's job is to fight things. Despite lacking the level of aetheric control necessary to actually test and evaluate concepts, Lernea serves to test a being's combat capabilities and to determine whether a certain concept will be a threat to the outside world.

Compared to Zaya, Lernea is far more confident and headstrong, to the point of appearing arrogant and brash. She has a short temper, and lives for the thrill of battle, though this comes from an innate desire to protect -- one that, for the most part, could only be satisfied with testing -- which has persisted into her various shards, including Lyna, who I've picked to be Zaya's reflection in the First.

================================================

Moving on to the more... conceptual characters, we have Kanemi and Kawami Munakata, two Hingan Au'ra that come from a wealthy mercantile family near Kugane. Originally conceived to be foster siblings for Zaya, these two have ended up being their own characters with their own stories.

The older of the two, Munakata Kanemi, is usually depicted as a soft-spoken caretaker, leaning heavily into the stereotypical Healer Archetypes. Being the next head of the Munakata family, she doesn't get to do much in the way of combat, as her talents lie more in commerce and communication. Her job is a custom rendition of White Mage, meant to present a far more Eastern aesthetic than the normal job allows.

The younger, Munakata Kawami, is actually from a branch family of the Munakata clan. Despite that, she grew up in the same house as Kanemi, and the two are more like sisters than cousins. Kawami is much more rambunctious and mischievous, fitting well into the 'gremlin' caricature. While originally designed to be a Monk, I've recently changed Kawami to being a Samurai, having trained with the Sekiseigumi in Kugane before eventually swearing her sword as Kanemi's personal protector.

To that end, the two are never far from one another, and I struggle to picture them without the other.

================================================

Of course, I've some other characters that I may eventually explore, but for the time being these are the ones most likely to appear!

Thank you for taking the time to read through this! I've not been doing this sort of stuff for very long, but it means a lot to me to be able to share something I'm passionate about with others.

[jokertrap-ran]

[Gakuen K] SCEPTER 4 Route: As a Member of the Blue Club (Scepter 4 END) Translation

*Translator’s note : MC’s name shall remain as my normal (水嶋ラン) *Gakuen K Masterlist / Gakuen K Mobile Masterlist *Spoiler FREE : Translations under cut! *T/N: You will get this scene if you've raised neither Fushimi nor Munakata's affection by the end of the Scepter 4 common route! And this marks the end of Scepter 4's route!! We've come... a long way... but we're not even halfway done with the game... (´･ω･`) Thanks for sticking with me! I'll be taking a short break off Gakuen K for a bit of a palette cleanser and then I'll be back with Munakata's route~

Munakata: Your punishment will come to an end today. You did well during this time, Fushimi-kun.

Fushimi: Okay. I’ll be taking my leave then.

Munakata: Now then, carrying on with the topic of the Student Council…

»» ━━━━━━━ ∘◦♔◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ««

Akiyama: You’re now a member of the Student Council? That’s… a pretty big promotion right off the bat.

Ran: You missed out on the part where I’m just an apprentice.

Akiyama: Even so, that doesn’t change the fact that you’re now a part of the Student Council. You must be talented.

Ran: You think so? I didn’t particularly do anything to stand out though…

Akiyama: You have the potential, and that’s why Captain Munakata has acknowledged your skills.

Akiyama: Personally, I think you’re an admirable person.

Ran: No way, I’m really not all that you make me out to be.

Akiyama: I’m guessing you’ll be pretty busy juggling both Student Council work and the Blue Club’s activities, but remember to take care of your health.

Ran: Of course. You too.

Akiyama: Thank you, but I’ll be fine.

Ran: You’re a third-year, right? Doesn’t that mean you’re going to be taking entrance exams this year?

Akiyama: Yes, but I’m planning on entering the university our school’s affiliated with, so the entrance exams I’m taking are going to be relatively easier compared to others.

Ran: Wait, really?

Akiyama: Yes. I just have to get a grade that is enough to meet the cut-off point, so I don’t particularly need to study much.

Akiyama: What about you? How are your grades?

Ran: I was pretty average back in my old school…

Ran: But I still don’t know how I’ll fare academically in this school since I entered on a recommendation.

Akiyama: I see. Well, the mid-term exams start in two weeks. How confident are you?

Ran: Not at all…

Akiyama: *Chuckles* I see. I could teach you if you’d like.

Ran: Are you sure?

Akiyama: Yes. Although, I can only teach you things that I already know…

Ran: Thank you, regardless!

Akiyama: Oh, and there goes the bell.

Ran: Sorry for taking up so much of your precious lunchtime.

Akiyama: Don’t be, it was an enjoyable chat. See you after school.

»» ━━━━━━━ ∘◦♔◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ««

Ran: Oh, Akiyama-senpai! Sorry for bothering you, but I have something to ask.

Akiyama: Yes, what is it?

Ran: You don’t have to be so polite with me. You’re older than me, after all.

Akiyama: Ah, right. Sorry about that. That’s ri- Ah, no. Yeah.

Akiyama: Like this, yeah?

Ran: Yup. Sounds perfect.

»» ━━━━━━━ ∘◦♔◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ««

Ran: Akiyama-senpai? What’s with that mountain of books you have there?

Akiyama: The Captain asked me to help return these books to the library.

Ran: Looks like you’re going to have a hard time carrying that many books alone. Let me help.

Akiyama: Don’t worry about it. I’m going to use a trolley cart to move them.

Ran: I see…

Akiyama: Ah, why don’t we go together? You can help load them back onto the shelves.

»» ━━━━━━━ ∘◦♔◦∘ ━━━━━━━ ««

Ran: (He said that we should arrange them in order of the authors’ names…)

Ran: (I think Munakata-senpai’s amazing to be able to read books that are this hard… and so many of them, at that.)

Ran: (I mean, look at this one… It’s written in a foreign language. Just looking at it makes my head spin.)

Ran: Alright, this one’s the last one! But where does this belong to…?

Akiyama: On the shelf behind you, third from the top.

Ran: Oh, you’re right. Done and dusted!

Akiyama: I’m also done on my end. How about stopping by the store before we head back to the club room?

Ran: Sure thing.

Akiyama: Let me buy you something as thanks for your help.

Ran: Oh, you don’t have to.

Akiyama: But I want to. Plus, all this shelving has made me thirsty so it’ll be just as well.

Ran: Thank you. You even went and bought me a snack…

Akiyama: Don’t worry about it. You were of really great help back there. So this is just my way of thanking you.

Ran: (He’s so kind… I should also take a page out of his book.)

Ran: Come to think of it… you’re going to be graduating around the same time as now next year, right?

Akiyama: Yeah. I’ll be graduating if all goes well.

Ran: …Feels kinda sad that you’re going to be gone.

Akiyama: It’s way too early for that. I still have a year to go.

Ran: T-That’s true.

Ran: Let’s make lots of memories together so that we won’t feel as lonely when you graduate next year!

Akiyama: Yeah. Let’s make memorable memories with everyone.

Akiyama: …We should head to the club room soon. We still have other things to do after this.

Ran: Yeah, let’s go!

»» ━━━━━━━ ∘◦♔𝔉𝔦𝔫 ♔ .◦∘ ━━━━━━━ «« 

[ridiasfangirlings]

you this is going to sound like an unpopular opinion but gora is not consitent when it comes to writieng characters

Honestly you’re right and you should say it :P I love K but I do agree there’s some inconsistencies with how the characters are written, especially between different media. I think some of that is just to be expected from a project like K, that’s a collaboration between different writers who all presumably have their own viewpoints when it comes to each character. I definitely get the impression that certain members of Gora are more partial to certain characters, and that some characters are written slightly differently depending on who happens to be doing the writing.

I also feel like K as a series grew and changed the more Gora wrote — in particular I think a lot of the earlier parts of the series don’t always quite fit with characterization from later media. Fushimi is a big example of this, his character from S1 is almost entirely different from how he acts in all subsequent media and it feels like they bent a little far to explain why he acts the way he does in episode 5 of season one (while I do appreciate that Fushimi went from generic vaguely yandere guy to sad disaster child it definitely makes his characterization feel a bit off when you compare season one to season two). Similarly S4 in general feels a lot more antagonistic and sinister in the early episodes of S1, and I feel like the Munakata of Side Blue the novel and the Munakata of the 7Stories adaptation of Side Blue aren’t quite the same. I kinda suspect that while Gora did have some ideas for how the story and characters should play out from the start (the Greens are teased as early as Side Blue, for example) there was also some measure of ‘throwing things at the wall to see what sticks and running with that.’ For example, the Ashinaka kids are much more prominent in season one to the point you’d expect them to be more of a focal point going forward but they largely disappear after this aside from Kukuri and even she’s largely relegated to cameos, and while there’s no way to say for sure I do wonder if we would have seen more of her and the other students if they’d been more popular with the audience. 

And outside of the character writing we do know that Gora is not adverse to changing their minds and adding things to canon after the fact. Take the differences between S1, The First manga and the First Story novel for example. Hisui being behind Colorless isn’t even so much as hinted in season one of the anime but The First manga has a whole scene of Kotosaka interacting with Colorless which makes it clear. This is a fairly important scene in regards to what comes later and I feel like it would be odd for them to skip out on it in the anime, unless it’s something Gora came up with after season one had already been animated. Both the manga and novel also place a lot of emphasis on Colorless having the physical fox mask, which shows up only very briefly in the first season of the anime (offhand I think it’s just the random kid who calls Mikoto in jail and the personification of Colorless as a fox in that moment, whereas The First even replaces Shiro finding bloodstained clothes with Shiro finding a fox mask). The Return of Kings novelization adds a whole character arc for Neko that’s not in the anime, and while I think that was a huge plus it still does change that characterization slightly just by having this arc occur. In some ways K reminds me of writing a fic and changing things between drafts, it’s just for Gora one of those drafts was already animated or published and they just decided to roll with later changes as if those were there from the start.

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Honestly , fanfics write her better than the actual anime. I'm having a hard time deciding who's worse, Munakata or Juzo. At least with Munakata, You can argue that He was trying to hide his paranoia, and chisa's death just sent him over the edge, Juzo has almost no excuse aside from being angry and having the gay for Munakata.

//The thing that pissed me off the most about Juzo is that he knew full well that Junko was the mastermind of the attacks on the school, and the one singular reason why he didn’t tell Munakata, thus leading to Junko successfully starting the tragedy and sending the whole world to hell, is because he was too scared to come out as gay, and she threatened to tell Munakata his true feelings.

//I get that coming out of the closet is hard, and I know that Japan even now has much stricter ideas on the concept of gay and lesbian romance. I also know that the real problem was Juzo was afraid Munakata would ostracise him for it. But all of that be damned in the face of what is so obviously a major threat not just to Hope’s Peak (an institute that Munakata values greatly, and Juzo obviously KNOWS this) but the world itself.

//If I was in a situation where I was told to confess my love to my childhood friend, or else the world ends, I would do it. Because I know the sheer embarrassment I might feel is nothing compared to my world being taken from me and my family possibly tortured and killed.

//It’s frankly a poor plot device and it’s handled, much like everything else in DR3, very badly.

-Mod

[turnaboutsisterzarchive]

forgive me if u already answered this or said it somewhere and i missed it but in RH what're the other classes swapped talents :o? curious abt chihiros specifically

chihiros the shsl gambler! i dont talk abt class 78 much on here compared to 77-b orz here is the list of talents [apologies for grabbing it straight from le ao3 i am coming down from a headache]

while im still thinking abt it seiko kimura, ruruka ando, and sonosuke izayoi of class 76 r the shsl blacksmith, animator, and confectioner in that order [i havent talked abt her much yet but seiko in particular is extreeemely important pre-sdr2rh during the time depicted in dr3's despair side]

i think this is the first time i've mentioned them ever BUT chisa yukizome, juzo sakakura, and kyosuke munakata of class 74 r the [former] shsl boxer, student council president, and housekeeper in that order as well [yukizome's still class 77-b's homeroom teacher she isnt too different from canon yukizome now that i think abt it. in terms of how she interacts with her students. she will beat up a 13 yr old [saionji] though

im indecisive abt whats going on with the warriors of hope but the captives are mostly the same with only circumstantial differences [ayaka still performs but isnt a full fledged idol, fujiko draws manga but is mostly unknown outside of the fanbase shes curated online, etc]

v3 is there i dont have much to say abt it other than its tenkos horrible no good very bad summer vacation <= shsl unlucky student