#dr1 spoilers

[mickules]

I missed you too

The Parent Trap

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I ended up watching the original 1961 Parent Trap and LORD but there's a lot going on in that film. But ignoring the more . . . distressingly unhealthy 60s attitude toward marriage dynamics. . . The actual twin swap is such a good angle (and the effects genuinely hold up really well) I just wanted to capture the stress of trying to assimilate into a life so unlike your own, and that gut punch moment when they get to meet their missing parent for the first time.

And from there I just couldn't help imagine a future parent reconciliation, with a couple of siblings added into the mix . . .

Unlike in the film where they were right to have gotten divorced (and shoulda stayed super divorced)- Takaaki and Kiyoko's seperation was very much a symptom of Toranosuke's scandal and demanded by Kiyoko's father. So when they meet once again as a result of the Twin's shenanigans, the two of them could easily develop a genuine connection, now they're older, more experienced, and freed from the pressure of expectation. And I'm not immune to making every red eyed Dangan character an Ishimaru sibling

(Truth be told, this has been on my mind ever since @puckishpal 's just marvellous fic Changed, and I really wanted to get this out in time for @mini-mecha-cowboy 's Kiyotaka week prompts AU and Lookalike, but uuuh- I managed to miss that by just a few ;; )

[tumbleweedmemethemes]

I’ve noticed that there isn’t really anything relating to the Danganronpa 1 beta design sheets on tumblr so I decided to do y’all a favour~

(Part 1):

[metamatronic]

Nothing bad has ever happened to these kids ever! (Total time: 10:09:21)

I first started posting Danganronpa content around a year ago (July 27th is the anniversary), so this is a bit of a celebratory piece. Thanks to all the support and interaction you guys have shown, it’s been a really amazing community to be a part of!

Hopefully picking up streaming DRV:3 again this week, been making adjustments to the Cryptid AU, and have the full outline for (After) Life of the Party. My goal is to finish ALotP + DRV:3 by the end of the year. :)

[luckcycler]

We are social creatures

Therefore community is important for one’s survival, isn’t that so?

[edgy-senju]

Smile for the camera, it's the last time you'll do it.

[monokumafightclub]

shirtposting iii: reign of chaos

munakata sprite by @bastart13

[skeletalscallybones]

I made some pixel sprites for @spenpy 's sketches of Taka as the other DR1 characters! I really liked it a lot so I thought I'd draw it, my favorites being the Makoto, Hifumi, Toko & Celeste, Takas. (I didn't include the regular Taka for obvious reasons.)

[hopeymchope]

Hope's Peak and... Whatever is Going on with the "Talents" They Study

Hope's Peak Academy! Where only the greatest talents are invited to focus on the areas in which they excel (and to be studied by the staff).

The people working at Hope's Peak Academy in Danganronpa (whether staff, scientists, or Steering Committee) are pretty consistently presented as being dedicated to researching and understanding the nature of talent. They talk like talent is this hazy concept that only certain people somehow possess, so they're out to crack the code of its mysterious origins.

We have top men working on the origins of talent right now. .... TOP. MEN.

Now, I know we all eventually learn just how much of a shitshow HPA was and how corrupt its primary operators were. But the evidence of their crimes is mostly focused on how they take their interest in "Talent" much too far. So long as it furthered the study of "talent," human experimentation, endangering the lives of students, and much, MUCH more were totally on the table as far as HPA's Steering Committee was concerned. Which is very bad, yes.

However! I think the issues with HPA's intentions ran even deeper. The people in charge weren't just corrupt; they were also stupid. And this is evidenced by many of the "talents" they identified and researched.

See, Hope's Peak makes no real distinction between the types of talent they identify and accept into their walls. Even though there's a MASSIVE DIFFERENCE between the talent of someone like Junko Enoshima vs. that of someone like Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu. Y'know?

(I strongly doubt I'm the first to observe how bullshit some of these "talents" are. But since I can't find any other conversations about this on Tumblr, I'm going to move forward with making my own commentary. Sorry?)

BTW, consider this: If Komaeda were somehow born earlier and was an adult by the time the 77th Class entered HPA? He could've easily been one of the staff members putting Hajime into that metal coffin.

In descending order of "I can see why they were interested" to "WTF is this," here are the four core types of Super High School-Level "Talents" that Hope's Peak Academy welcomes within its hallowed halls:

(DISCLAIMER: I include V3 students as some of the examples cited below. YES, I know they don't attend Hope's Peak in their game's main storyline. However, they attend Hope's Peak in both UTDP and DRS. That's good enough for me; you can always ignore those examples if you disagree.)

CATEGORY (A) Talents that seem to come innaately/naturally to those who have them. These are either your wunderkind types, or they otherwise gained their talent seemingly overnight. — (e.g., Yasuhiro Hagakure, Junko Enoshima, Nagito Komaeda, Miu Iruma)

My Thoughts: Okay, SURE. I get why you'd want to study how this can happen and where these kinds of skills come from. No notes.

CATEGORY (B) Talents that are developed over a lifetime of practice and/or hard work. Most Hope's Peak students we know about seem like they slot into this category. — (e.g., Nekomaru Nidai, Mikan Tsumiki, Kaede Akamatsu)

My Thoughts: My first reaction is "What is there to study/research about this?" Do the Hope's Peak staff not know that working on something for a long time can make you get way better at that thing? Y'all reminding me of Hajime in the now-classic @reddpenn comic where he is legitimately shocked to learn people can gain skills through practice. :P But HOLD UP; let's give them the benefit of the doubt here for a sec. Perhaps Hope's Peak's personnel are wondering why only some practitioners of these talents can reach such a noteworthy level of skill by the time they're teenagers? That's the most reasonable conclusion to draw about the inclusion of these students.

CATEGORY (C) Talents that are only noteworthy because these students demonstrated some above-average skill relative to their age or because they garnered attention through one specific incident. In other words: These individuals aren't nearly as exceptional as those in the previous two categories of talent, but at least they seem pretty decent at what they're being identifed for? — (e.g., Mahiru Koizumi, Shuichi Saihara, Kaito Momota)

My Thoughts: I hope I'm being clear enough about what I mean by this category. But if not, I'll try to clarify: Shuichi was supposedly recognized for his talent solely because he caught one murderer. Mahiru's photography is almost solely portrait photography and therefore not particularly noteworthy to most photographers; she's just pretty good at the one thing she happens to do. (And in truth, her mom's reputation probably played a role in her own Hope's Peak invite.) Kaito being able to pass a basic Astronaut screening exam at a younger age than is usually allowed is neat, but it's not like he's been an exceptional trainee or even gone into space; he's just the "Ultimate Astronaut" because he cheated his way into taking a test early and did surprisingly well at it. Maybe we're meant to think "Oh, Kizakura or whoever could somehow tell these students have the innate potential to be truly spectacular" or somesuch?? But that interpretation requires putting a lot of faith in this questionable-ass system (and the one HPA scout we're familiar with — a known alcoholic). Do these people REALLY demand further study? Is there ACTUALLY anything to be gained by learning about their "talents"??? I... can't see it, y'all. I don't get it.

CATEGORY (D) Talents that aren't even really a talent at all, they're just a position/title someone gained by being born. — (e.g., Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu, Sonia Nevermind, Keebo)

LIVE HINATA REACTION

My Thoughts: Okay, so MAYBE Sonia was recognized by Hope's Peak as the the absolute pinnacle of refinement and royal behavior or something? But I kind of doubt it based on her actual behavior (and weird interest in serial killers) in DR2. And there's no way in hell that Fuyuhiko is the baddest-ass Yakuza, even among teenagers. You scratch that kid slightly. and you get the babychild undernearth. And Keebo? His talent is HIS OWN EXISTENCE. His "talent" is actually just his creator's talent, FFS. He's not even "High School"-AGED in reality; he's just programmed to operate at a mental capacity of approximately teenage-level. So ultimately, I'm asking: What is there to STUDY about any of these?! These aren't even TALENTS, frankly! These have got me wondering if there's some other reason to include these particular students... like perhaps Hope's Peak wants to extend their tentacles into the power/influence afforded by Novoselic royalty/the Yakuza? Or perhaps they wish the leverage Keebo's A.I. technology in their own pursuit of creating of an "Ultimate Talent"? Point is: THESE 'TALENTS' ARE SEVERELY SUS. (I have to wonder if the larger public and Reserve Coursers ever complained about how sketchy some of this shit sounds?? SURELY they did.)

ADDENDUM/NOTE: There are also those who hover between the various categories I've cited. This includes those who might be a mixture of two categories, or those whose background is hazy enough that it's not clear whether they always had their talent (A) or developed it over time (B). But I think the above list encompasses everyone we know about, either in one or multiple categories.

CONCLUSION: Hope's Peak is so vague and weird about what they define as "talents" that it's tough to say what on Earth they believe they're studying over there. Because the methodology they were employing for identifying these talents is super loose, they're inviting over SOME fascinating subjects right alongside a bunch of teenagers who... really can't reveal much of anything about anything?

How did Junko Enoshima learn to easily analyze the patterns all around her to the point that she was able to accurately predict most outcomes? GREAT question! You may genuinely be able to unravel something about inborn skillsets and unusual brain development from such a case.

How did Mahiru Koizumi become a great photographer? Uhhh, she observed some stuff from her mom and just tried a decent amount of portraits, I suppose. But she's not even that amazing frankly, she ain't taking any award-winning pictures or using any particular artistry. She's just good at smiling portraits. That's it. You ain't gonna learn shit from this.

How did Fuyuhiko become the Ultimate Yakuza? Because YOU decided he was! And that was just because of his inherited leadership role! He has NO special talent, wtf are you idiots doing?!?!

ANYWAY, that should cover all of the Hope's Peak students we've ever me—

Oh, right. There's ONE weird half-exception to this list, which I guess I'll explain for anyone who wants to be extracirricular about this topic.

BONUS! Outlier Case: Makoto Naegi (in DR1 only)

My Thoughts: In the original Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, the player/viewer/reader is made to believe that Makoto Naegi possesses no talent at all. Instead, Naegi was merely this year's winner of the annual drawing at Hope's Peak, and THAT IS IT. He was just drawn from a proverbial hat, and his presence is just a randomized factor. And SURE, by the end of the game/manga/anime, he's declared the "Ultimate Hope," but it's not like he was brought into the school based on that talent, so that's not particularly relevant. What I'm saying is simply this: DR1-era Naegi is the only known Hope's Peak student who doesn't fit into the above four categories. ............ Though this was later retconned, of course. Stories such as Makoto Naegi's Worst Day Ever (which came out alongside the first release of DR2, a mere two years after DR1 first hit PSP) and Danganronpa 3 would state that Naegi always possessed some unpredictable form of Komaeda-style inborn "luck" even if he wasn't necessarily aware of it. Which slots him into category (A). AS SUCH, he was only an outlier for literally THE FIRST INSTALLMENT OF THE SERIES. And since the first installment didn't really delve as much into the sketchy, obsessive ways the Hope's Peak scientists chose to study their roster of "talents," his outlier nature isn't really relevant anyway. I don't feel any need to justify "Makoto Naegi as portrayed in 2010-2011 continuity" for his inclusion in the class roster.

..........................but if I DID have to do that, I'd say including him among the students makes him the Control Group. :P

[thefandomenchantress]

In episode two of chapter two, MonoTV drops this line while Teruko and Veronika are investigating the playground:

It was such a weirdly specific thing to mention (the fact that the Movie Screening Room could somehow lead to the playground, I mean) that many took note of it as possibly being important, including me.

Once we saw that the light was broken, some thought that maybe Veronika (since she was the only one to hear this comment besides Teruko, but it’s possible someone else thought to do it without MonoTV’s comment) could’ve somehow used the light as a way to climb down from the movie screening room to the playground, with the rope helping secure them. Since the floor is squishy and helps people not get hurt, a fall from the movie screening room might not get whoever used the secret entrance hurt in a significant enough way for them to get a significant injury, if they somehow used the light and rope to at least partially descend.

Of course, that’s a lot of speculation. While I think that tossing the rope over the light (possibly by throwing the ball of clothes over the light with the rope attached for extra weight and such) from the movie screening room secret passage and then jumping to the rope to climb down from makes sense by itself, I haven’t done enough looking into the rest of the crime to see if it would fit into the rest of the evidence at the crime scene. So for now I’ll leave that at that, and discuss this topic with a more general question:

Is it plausible for a secret entrance (possibly made by punching the wall) to the playground via the Movie Screening Room to even exist?

The most common reason for people to outright deny its existence is a fair claim: Proving that some sort of passage exists between the two rooms is hard to do in a trial, given that Teruko can’t prove it while stuck in the trial room. How is she supposed to prove there’s a hole in the wall without showing people the hole in the wall?

But I’d like to suggest a possibility. What if the students didn’t have to stay in the trial room? What if they were allowed to revisit the crime scene, or at least the room above it?

Despair Time does seem to base its events on Trigger Happy Havoc (THH). Very loosely, however. While Xander betrayed Teruko like Sayaka betrayed Makoto, the first motive, which would’ve likely matched THH’s first motive, isn’t given out in DRDT. And while Nico’s gender plays a role in chapter 2, just as Chihiro’s did, they didn’t end up being the murder victim. I could go on.

And something interesting happens in Trial 2 of THH, something that, to my memory, is something that only happens in this trial, and this trial alone:

Kyoko suggests that the class leave the class trial room so that she can prove something about the case. Monokuma agrees, because she promises it will make the case more exciting.

And, surprise! She does this to prove how someone could’ve entered a room in a way they seemingly couldn’t have judging by the information the class currently had:

So it isn’t impossible that DRDT will also pull out this trick and allow Teruko or another character to convince MonoTV to let them leave the trial room (Teruko could be like ‘this will make it more exciting, which means higher ratings’ or something like that). While I think them leaving the trial room for a brief period would relate to the secret passage, it could also be used to reinvestigate the crime scene in some other way.

Of course, I know comparing the canon games to DRDT isn’t exactly irrefutable evidence, but MonoTV’s comment struck me as strange enough for me to want to think of how it may affect the case. Then again, it could just be a silly joke. But it’s more interesting to explore the possibility it did mean something anyhow.

[bigjumpervibes]

It’s the BIRTHDAY BOY 😤🥳

It’s been so long since I’ve drawn Kiyotaka 🥹 I wanted to give him a dramatic pose and do a parallel with Kiyondo

[mickules]

Rule #[̸̡͈͈̳̝̝̻̭̙̺̳͙̲͌̊̍̄͌̂̈́͑͐̄͐͒͛͛̎͋͆̐̑͋͒͗̇̎̆͘͘͝͝/̶͚͙̐]̴̢̢̢̡̢̬̣͈̹̠͕̟͈̖͎̜͚̰͈͓͍͎̙̳̃͗͐͆͗̈́͂͊͗̎̅͐̈́̏͋͒̒͊̕͝[̶̛̙̓̑̓͂̃̾̍́̚̕͝͠/̸̨͍̪͕̝̪̞͇̪̳̝̪͉̣͇̯̳̳̠̊͗̃̈̀̆̆͑̄̿͂̂̽͐͛̍͘̚͠͝]̸̢̢̩̜̝͓̹̦͓̩͔͈̗̼̥͕̬̙͒̀͋̓̃͜͜ͅͅ Don't

DON'T ̸̵̷̷̵̴̶̷̢̨͔͓̺̬͕̳̤͈̠̺̻̦̮̲̦͇͈̻̱̹̼̬̩͈̗͎͔̯̦̖͉̺̪̙̮̫̟͇̻̎̈̀͆͋̍̀̋͗̿̋͐̋̃̀͂̽͗͛̀́̈͒̑̅̓̓̊̓̅̕͠D̶̙̰̲͓̫̝̹͍͇͉͊̈̈́͗ͅO̵̧̨͖͍̖͍̞̥͐͐̃̕͠͝N̴͈̰̠̝̍͛͐̈́̇̑͋͛͆͐̋͆͂̚͝'̴̺̠͖̼̼̪̙̟̥̻͈̓̈́̌̈́́̆̎̂̑̽̏̚̕͝T̴̵̷̶̶̴̢̢̡̢̞̝̠̮̬͖͇̥̬̥͕̳̤͈̠̺̻̮̲̦͇͈̻̱̹̼̱̝̗͍̼͆̈́͌͗̃̊́̃̀͒͋̿̋͐̋̓̋̏̌͊̓̑́͘͜͝ /̸̹̤͚̀̐̈̚]̶̦̼̩̲͖̍͗/̴̗̮̲̹̥͓̉̐͆̄̅͌]̵̧̢̳̺̮̞̭́̓͜͝[̴̯̪̫̳̟̺̯̣̈́̀̃̈/̸̣̣̝̃͘]̷͇͂̌͆̎[̷͙̅̆̀̂̂͠/̶̥̲̖͇̠̀̏̂̔]̸̧̨͓̤͖̙̐̂͗͂̊̾͒̕[̴̬̤̠̟̱͉̒͐̈́́̄̔̊̐/̷̡̽]̷̦̹̦͔̺͉̉̅̃͝ͅ[̵̧͎̽̉̓̍͛̔͒͘/̵̡̧̞̯͓̫͉̐̔]̴̖͈̭̞̻̱͠[̷̛̫͈̹̍̊͊͑͂͌̅/̸̛̩̲̯͚̩͚͖͖͋͛̓̍͂̿̾]̵̛̥͎̬̰̙̤̟̅̈́̐[̵̝̙̱̼̌́̐̅/̷̙̱̜̺͔̣̩͐̏̂̍͜]̸̺̜͔̘̳̘̘̃͛̂͌̏͊͝[̵̢̧̛͍̺͉̱̂̀̇̊ͅͅ/̸̥̺͈̤̀̋̊͑̕]̸̘̿̐̇͂̕[̶̗̗̦͈̦͙͆̑̌/̴̨̟̖͖͔͗̊͒͊̀̎̆̚͜]̶̳͍̱͒̊͌͌̅̾̔̔ͅ[̸̢͉̫͇̫͈͉͑̂̏͆͒̅/̶̩̮͚̽̌

NEVER BREAK EVERY RULE

---

Have you heard what they say?

Hmm? Reeeally, You have? Who EXACTLY did you hear it from? Puuu hu hu hu hu hu!

Tsk Tsk Tsk! How despairing! You had every opportunity! All those dead kiddies tried sooo hard to scare you away, you'd have thought you'd have given up the ghost by now! P̸͍̣͛̏̉̍Ṷ̵͑͑̕Ủ̸̧͓͈͍̊̄Ṵ̴̞͐͌͘͠U̷̡̠͕̣͆̎PU HU HU HU HU HU HUH̴̢̛̼̊͋U̶̱̍͆̐Ü̷̡͖͠Ǘ̷̼̰̉Ü̴̩̿!

Well? Was it everything you were hoping for? You know what they say, if you break the rules, you get punished! Say it with feeling now!

IT'S '̴̨̏́ ≠͓̟͍͊͂̎ͅ-̴̯̝̳̳̾=̷͙̮͒̿PUNISHMENT≠͓̟͍͊͂̎ͅ-̴̯̝̳̳̾=̷͙̮͒̿'̴̏́ '̴̨̏́ TIME

[Rule #1]

[cuddles-edits]

Mukuro Ikusaba from Danganronpa

Bisexual Pride Icons

Custom sprites by u/Drakidor and u/XxGoldMadnessxX on the Danganronpa subreddit. Please credit them if you use these.

Please like or reblog if using. Credit not required for icons using official art, but is appreciated.

[metamatronic]

ghost au ghost au ghost au screw the canon ghost au

21 ghosts. 9 from class 78. 11 from class 77. 1 Junko probably tied up in a closet somewhere, who knows. Unlimited chaos.

[still haven’t finished DRV3 so no spoilers please!]

[caeboa]

"Survival is not based on who is the strongest or the smartest. It comes down to who can adapt." Here's my piece from the Celestia Zine! As usual with Danganronpa mosaics implied spoilers don't look too long if you havent finished! This one was a lot of fun to work with, from the cards to the lace to all the game pieces. The Ultimate Gambler herself has such a lovely design. Everyone on the project was very nice and happy to have been a part of it. This design will be a print as well in 2023 so keep an eye out for her!

[doodlboy]

Man I can't imagine being mondo in the middle of case 2,

Because like the entire first half is unrelated red herrings to the murder HE committed, and no one has even fathomed that he's involved. Everyone is too busy accusing byakuya, then toko, then finding out toko is a serial killer, THEN finding out she wasn't involved at all and it was just byakuya's shitty copycat of serial killer toko in an attempt to make the case more "interesting."

And the only reason Mondo gets found out is because he made a slip of the tongue. If he hadn't said "blue tracksuit," he might not have gotten caught or at least postponed them finding out it was him. The guilt might've gotten to him if they kept going back and forth for a while, and he would have just confessed like he did at the end of the trial, but like...damn.