#‘oh but he’s a mastermind he plans for all outcomes’ well did he plan for this *reaches into the manga and strangles him with my bare hands*

[iingeniums]

In today’s episode of Leg Fucks Up: apparently in the anime it says that Garaki (the doctor/AfO’s right hand man) funded orphanages and medical centers “across the country” and not just around Jaku like I’d assumed

Which, suffice to say, does not bode well for Ketsu’s entire backstory at all

#gonna have to beat the ‘afo is responsible for all/most of his trauma’ allegations back with a stick with this one #i don’t want that raisin-looking mfer near any of my ocs just let them be their own fucking persons bro i’m sick of this shit #‘oh but he’s a mastermind he plans for all outcomes’ well did he plan for this *reaches into the manga and strangles him with my bare hands* #bnha #bnha season 6 #bnha oc #mha oc #oc: ketsu #legacy dot text

[daz4i]

oh wait i did promise a full dazai and nikolai comparison post didn’t i. time to deliver. no keep reading button, we’re clogging everyone’s dashboards like men. enjoy

clowning

so. i doubt i need to elaborate much on nikolai’s clowning - it’s very plainly put in the text, he along with other characters constantly call him a clown, and he obviously takes on a clown persona.

nikolai’s method of clowning is to take it to the extreme - everything he says sounds like a joke or pure nonsense, making you doubt everything that comes out of his mouth immediately, even when he’s saying the truth.

dazai’s is only slightly more subtle. i’m basing this on no longer human, given that so much of his character is based on yozo. dazai puts on a mask of a carefree, funny, lazy guy, especially to the agency, just like yozo does

his method of clowning is to seem genuine. pepper in just enough truth to make others believe him. seem reliable enough to make others trust him. but never showing his full self, so you should doubt everything he says

ultimately, the same outcome, done with different methods

so, we all agree they both do it. now, let’s analyze why. dazai’s is more obvious imo, so let’s start with him. 

with the agency specifically, it makes sense, gotta appear nonthreatening n all, seem like a normal guy with absolutely no past in the mafia (at least at first). i’d also say it can be used to make his enemies underestimate him - no one expects the goofy silly guy to pull a knife on them, after all, and you definitely don’t expect him to be a mastermind.

on a deeper level, if we go back to the yozo train of thought, it’s also to protect himself. no one can leave you, hurt the deeper parts of your soul, attack you personally if they can’t figure out who you are. no one can get close enough to matter to you then get taken away, the way oda was.

nikolai’s reasoning is less grounded in canon or external works (that i know of), so feel free to disagree with that part (with any part of this post tbh.) but in my interpretation, he does it for multiple reasons:

same as dazai, not letting anyone close enough to get him to care. nikolai sees bonds as something chaining him down - he cares about fyodor and sees him as a friend, and that’s why he wants to kill him. if you see him, he will care about you, and he can’t have that. better to have the self inflicted cage of a mask than have the key in someone else’s hands, if you wanna be poetic about it.

chaos! a lot of what nikolai does is to subvert expectations, be illogical, to prove the existence of his free will. nothing more chaotic than a clown

to contrast dazai, rather than make his enemies underestimate him, nikolai’s intention is to make his teammates underestimate him. he’s trying to throw their suspicions off him - oh, he defied the plan fyodor set up? well, can’t blame him, he always does silly shit like that. look how crazy that guy is, obviously he can’t follow orders - so he can freely do what he wants and only have them catch up way later.

already, we see a lot of similarities, as well as opposites-within-the-same-action. let’s continue

death

tldr: both are supposedly willing to die, yet still avoid death.

dazai sure managed to survive a lot of suicide attempts, huh! weird how all of his on screen attempts - especially since oda’s death - have been using methods that are easily to survive, like drowning. that’s so strange guys i wonder why’s that (psst i wrote a whole post just about that already)

and nikolai sure did give a dramatic speech about how dying will set him free, very convincing! weird that he faked his death, then. hmmm.

granted, nikolai’s speech might’ve been The Page’s work, but tbf it does align with his views on this topic so i’d like to believe there was some truth there, just like there’s some truth in dazai’s suicide attempts - yes, they want to die, but... there’s more to be done first.

both of them seem to hold a high value in the act of dying, and both see it as being set free. both feel trapped in their own life - nikolai outright says so, that he feels caged inside his own head, and if you dig into dazai’s character song you see him describe life as a “never-ending today”. both see death as salvation from their situation, but won’t get down to achieving it.

this is actually a good place to transition to our next topic,

meaning

since i mentioned dazai’s character song, one thing he seems to focus on there is looking for meaning, or rather being frustrated that he hasn’t found one yet (he also brings up this internal conflict in the dark era, but the song solidifies it as relevant even in his current state). dazai tries so hard to find meaning, but can’t.

nikolai’s fixation on free will, i’d argue, is not quite a search for meaning, but rather a struggle to prove there is no greater meaning in life, in order to ease his own guilt. none of his murders matter at the end of the day... right? then why does he still feel this way?

ironically, both can find meaning in their bonds - dazai has many at this point, with oda being the main one he might’ve found meaning in before, and nikolai has fyodor - but this is scary. they’re not used to having meaning, to caring. and so we circle back to the clowning, to pushing people away, to wanting to kill fyodor, to the comfort and familiarity of no meaning. 

guilt

like onions and ogres, clowns have layers. bear with me here.

on the surface, you’d expect them both to feel guilt for their horrendous acts. peel a layer, and it seems neither of them particularly does, otherwise they would stop doing it, you’d assume. peel back another layer, and... honestly, i think they do, but are just repressing it.

this is smth i get less from the text and more from their real life counterparts, tbh. going back to the yozo comparisons, he does outright say “i’ve lived a life filled with guilt” which. is very fair to expect to hear from our dazai. meanwhile the real life gogol straight up died because of his guilt. i don’t think asagiri would overlook stuff like that when turning them into characters.

nikolai also does outright tell atsushi he feels guilty for the atrocities he committed - though, pretends he didn’t mean it immediately after, putting back one of those layers we tried to peel.

going back to dazai’s song, it’s the “the tainted past, too, begone!” line that i feel is nodding to it. dazai obviously knows the things he’s done while in the mafia are wrong, seems like he knew while being in the mafia as well given his conversations with oda during the dark era. but this really does make it seem like he regrets it, imo.

they’re both repressing their guilt for the same reason they won’t die. there’s more important shit going on. dazai outright tells atsushi that wallowing in guilt is pointless, and we see him move forward and execute plans even if he’s still feeling guilty throughout, and even when he needs to do some dirty work to make them happen. nikolai is the same in that regard - he’s just hyperfocused on this goal of proving his free will, and guilt is another thing that’s keeping him caged, so he must break free from it. wallowing in it will simply be counterproductive.

sorry i gotta talk abt fyodor now

but it’s gonna be short i promise

so we’ve got this all knowing, unbeatable, super smart guy, right? anyway what if the only people we see outsmart him were 2 suicidal clowns. wouldn’t that be funny

so, it’s a bit tricky to call it “outsmarting” with dazai considering how their whole Thing is give and take that’s not going to end any time soon, but fyodor obviously views him as someone on his level so i’m counting that. he wouldn’t put this much effort into someone he didn’t think was less smart than him. and, he calls him a worthy chess opponent for a reason

nikolai did outsmart him, though. nikolai was supposed to die. nikolai wasn’t meant to survive the plan, let alone come to meursault and put fyodor in a death game when he could’ve escaped using the vampiric guard he planted in the prison instead. nikolai is throwing an unpredictable wrench in the plan of the guy who knows how everything is gonna turn out because humans are so predictable.

clearly they both affect him a lot, more than we see others have. both of them are the only ones so far we’ve seen get on the same level as fyodor

and, both of them are seen by fyodor. nikolai explicitly says fyodor is the only person who sees him, and dazai is seen because they are the same, on a certain level. fyodor understands them, which is why it’s even more impressive that they can outsmart him, imo

in conclusion

asagiri i am on my knees begging. make them interact properly please please please

fr tho, i’m curious if this means something. because this is a huge amount of similarities, especially when they’re not really related in any way and barely ever talked. does it mean anything?? how about nikolai being able to use his ability on dazai, does that mean anything????? asagiri please give me some answers i am asking so nicely

anyway. thank you for reading! lmk if i missed anything, or reblog with your own additions and analysis. if you disagree with anything i said, feel free to express that as well, just be respectful. hope i managed to infect you with my brainrot as well. have a great day :3!

#bungou stray dogs #bsd analysis #bsd osamu dazai #bsd nikolai gogol #nikozai #<- man idk. is this even a ship? #long post #dan rambles #please reblog this i worked hard . #this is probably the most organized post i made abt bsd so far #or in general lol 😭 better appreciate it

[lov-eable]

TELL ME  ֗ ˖ ࣪ ᩠ ༉‧₊˚ ✿ #03

━━ a filmmaker decides to follow and document the lives of the worst and best students at your school for a month, unfortunately, those students are you and chishiya, the most annoying guy on earth.

masterlist ◌*ꕤ

word count ✦ 1547

A/N: helloouuurrrr!! im sorry for the late update i was away at the beach but i do think this chapter its good (i personally enjoyed writing it!!) and i hope u like it :D not proofread so sorry for any mistakezzz

06/04/18 8:29

“You did not mention anything about this!” it was finally the day, the day you hoped would never come, without any outcome in your favour, of course. There was no way out now, you had to commit to the shooting and try to ignore Chishiya the best you could, to avoid the possibility of being pissed off by him and as a consequence, ultimately fleeing the scene. It occurred to you that maybe the universe was against you, based on how your plans were failing lately. Director Kyuma said you had to sit next to Chishiya for the next month as soon as you went into the classroom. “You did not say it in the contract! You just said you would record our daily lives”.

“We agreed to that but also, we need to record your interactions… It was stated in the contract…” Mr. Kyuma looked away from you, awe in his eyes because of your fierceness when ‘arguing’. You noticed in the corner of your eye how Chishiya had taken the supposed seat next to you, “leave him alone, Y/N, we did agree to this. Maybe if you had carefully read the contract, you would remember”. You forced yourself to cool off, sadly enough, Chishiya was right. You wouldn’t admit it though, that’s why you moved your seat some centimetres away from Chishiya’s as if that minimum space would guarantee you not be bothered by him.

The first two periods went by without distractions, either for Chishiya who was actually paying attention to the class or for you, head deep into your book. You were twenty-something pages away from finishing the book and your third period had just started some minutes, not desiring to complete your reading quite yet, a nap until lunch seemed the best option. Laying your head in the back of your seat, you were soon falling into a profound sleep until… “Ma’am, how can we resolve this problem with the formula?” Chishiya Smartass Shuntaro was at it again, disturbing your whole existence.

That was it, he got his answer and now you could try to rest again, right? Absolutely wrong. Every single time you thought you were about to fall asleep and travel to the sweet dream realm, he was raising his hand and obnoxiously asking the teacher about something. Wasn’t he a gifted kid, like a genius or something? Why was he asking all these questions? Trying your best to not be caught, you peeked at his book, every single math exercise was already solved, even the ones the teacher had not explained yet -you assumed solely based on whatever was written on the chalkboard, you weren’t even sure which page they were at.

It was clear, he was trying to annoy you as always. It was one of his masterplans to tick you and avoid whatever you wanted, maybe scientists were right, smarter people were more likely to become evil masterminds or psychopaths. Well, maybe you would stick to ‘evil mastermind’, calling Chishiya a psychopath was too far even if it was him. Although, sometimes you wished you could call him a psychopath and someone would come and take him away, leaving you alone at last. Oh, god, the things you would do to recover your peace, but they weren’t possible just now. You had to bear him for a tad bit more, at least you wouldn’t spend lunch with him.

Without a doubt, the universe had something against you. Did you do something bad and now you were paying the price? Was it the time you refused to help your father carry the groceries? Or every time you fought with Mira? You couldn’t help but contemplate the reason why the universe was punishing you by having to spend lunch with Chishiya. At least he was wearing his old-fashioned headphones, you assumed he would listen to music over the break instead of bugging you.

And you were right, no less than ten minutes of the lunch break went by slowly and, at least for you, deviously. Your friends were over at another table, you didn’t have any music or a book because you had finished it earlier, and just looking at Chishiya’s face in front of you annoyed you. You glanced at Mr. Kyuma, begging him with your gaze to set you free and let you go spend your recess somewhere less awkward, he gestured something along the lines of “you can go”, you didn’t fully understand what he tried to say but it didn’t matter either, it was your sign to escape from there and you wouldn’t ignore it. 

You took your tray and as you were about to leave, you stumbled on the seat. You did not trip enough to meet the floor, but some pieces of your food and your water did meet Chishiya’s hoodie. You screwed up completely, even if you disliked him, it wasn’t your intention to basically throw your tray at him. “I’m sorry, I can go grab you a…” you didn’t need to finish your sentence, while you were apologizing, Chishiya took a small sauce packet from his tray and splashed ketchup all over your shirt. He was one vengeful boy.

“Kuina, this is literally my war mark…” you said jokingly crying as Kuina tried to clean your shirt, you tried to rub it off only making it worse so she had to come to your rescue. Arisu was laughing at you shamelessly, you told him to shut up but there was no case, when he started making fun of you, no one could stop him, “again, what did you do to receive this? Did you destroy his hoodie or something?” “After this, I wish… I accidentally stained it, I already told you. Kuina, tell him to leave me alone”, you squealed. Kuina eyed you and chuckled, you gave her a look expecting her to support you, getting nothing in return. “Kuina?!” “I’m sorry but I can’t defend you… How do you even get yourself in these situations?” both she and Arisu laughed at you, you pouted but finally gave in, laughing with them.

02/03/18 1:45, previous records

Sleepovers at your house weren’t uncommon, Arisu, you and Kuina started having at least monthly sleepovers at your house since elementary school, probably, you couldn’t even remember when they started but they quickly became part of your routine. The initial plan was for Kuina to sleep over at your house, as normal, and then around 12 a.m. Arisu would ‘climb’ -he enjoyed thinking he was a spy doing risky activities, your house didn’t even have a second floor- to your bedroom. Ta-da! Amazing, right? The plan worked for some sleepovers but Arisu had terrible hiding skills, so your parents finally found him.

But your sleepovers did not end there, after some time, some begging and your parents being awfully aware nothing was going to happen with Arisu -just look at him…-, they let you have ‘legal’ sleepovers. It was your little safe space with each other, sometimes Mira would try to join but every single time you would kick her, you also had other friends but never as close as to invite to these hideouts.

“Guys, I actually saw Chishiya today, it was so funny” you blurted out, impatient to tell them what you have witnessed. “Chishiya and the word ‘funny’ in the same sentence?” Kuina asked while grabbing a bunch of snacks and bringing them to her mouth, “do not get mistaken, he’s not funny, I am making fun of him…” they shut their mouths letting you speak, curious of what you had to say. “Okay, you know, you Arisu asked to buy some ramen for today” Arisu nodded in answer. “So I went to the supermarket, bought everything I needed, blah blah blah and when I walk out, there he is, laying on the floor trying to pick everything he had bought. His bag actually ripped apart” you giggled.

“Y/N… that’s only funny to you” Arisu spoke while eating his so-called spicy noodles, “right… You would cry if that happened to you, you even giggled in front of him to make Chishiya notice you, am I right?” Kuina hit your forehead with her fingers, making you let out a barely audible whine. Kuina was half-right, the second half of her words were right, you did that, Kuina knew you so much, but you didn’t cry when the same thing happened to you. 

You weren’t telling the whole story to your peers. The exact same thing that happened to Chishiya happened to you, that afternoon in the worst possible moment, when you were making fun of Chishiya outside the grocery store. When you were enjoying yourself and completely distracted, some cups of ramen and many varied snacks fell to the ground making a fool out of you and embarrassing you in front of your nemesis -it was never that serious, you just liked calling him a nemesis in your personal monologue for dramatic purposes-. It’s needless to say, Chishiya grinned at you trying to hold his laughter, picked up everything from the ground and stepped towards you, “see you at school…” that was everything he said before walking away. How you hated him.

tag list: @surshica @enslique @httpsimmy @elernity @eshtravagent @fishisahappydog @kreishin @vernon-dursley @mhyunri @thenightsflower @madjz @saiewithakatana @yeosangiehwa @xiaoishwrites @seloise @justhere105 @naegisimp @mxbrahms @chlooooop @woodandwaxwings @huachengsbestie01 

#chishiya x reader #chishiya shuntaro x reader #aib x reader #alice in boderland x reader #chishiya x fem!reader #aib chishiya #୨୧ . . . tell me #l❤︎veable

[what-the-stories-have-foretold]

Detective x Family

Akai x gn!reader

Two Truths

My Navigation is here.

Warnings: reader makes a stupid mistake that reveals they know. To be fair though, this could happen to me too

Wordcount: 515

You started to ask yourself whether Conan was actually an evil mastermind, planning murders meticulously to lent suspense to his dull elementary school life. Another murder in a place that was supposed to let you three relax. You knew that this wouldn't work the moment that little boy stood before your family, rambling something about a broken down car.

You sighed, as you leaned back against the arm rest of the couch.

"Are you tired, sweetheart?" Akai had come up behind you, letting his hand briefly rest upon the top of your head. You looked up at him, eyes blinking slowly.

"I'm just a little bit tired. And I had hoped we could all spent some time together. We don't get to do that as often as I'd like."

He hummed, picking you up and moving you to the side so he could sit against the armrest.

"We should have left the moment Conan appeared," he chuckled and you smiled.

"I don't know how he does it."

Akai shrugged.

"Who knows."

You looked down at your lap where you were fiddling with your fingers. Gently, Akai took them into his hands and they stilled.

"You know, you are quite nervous around me. Someone might notice." There was a teasing tilt in his voice, yet you knew he was genuinly worried for his cover. And who could blame him? After all, your research on him had shown that the Black Organisation had tried to kill him once before.

"Don't worry about it," you said, shaking your head, and you pulled away from his grasp.

"But I do." You looked up in surprise at his serious tone. "I make you uncomfortable. I need to know why."

Oh, he was not worried about his cover?

"It's nothing, I promise Ak-" your eyes widened.

"Ah." Akai leaned back, eyes raking over your form. Your eyes sqeezed shut. Why on earth was your tongue so loose around him? "Since when did you know?"

"The Murder Mystery Train. Ai-chan later explained to me what's going on."

"And you decided to stay regardless?" Akai raised his eyebrows.

"Of course I did. I was once on their list. I got lucky they decided against going after me. Since then I haven't really had any jobs. And to be honest, on the murder mystery train…that should have been my last."

"They beat you to it?" he chuckled.

You nodded.

Akai sighed, as he watched you starting to nervously fiddle with your fingers again. Then he reached out to pull you against him. You gasped, but he payed it no mind.

"Well, that explains why Ai looks so at ease around you. And I won't have to worry about you getting hurt."

Your eyes widened and you looked up to him, but he only shrugged.

"We both used each other as a cover, did we not? And neither of us were fully truthful. To be honest, this is the best outcome imaginable."

You hummed, fingers finally ceasing to move.

If this was what married life was like, you could most definitely get used to it.

#akai shuichi x reader #akai x reader #akai shuichi #subaru x reader #subaru #ai haibara #detective x family #detective conan #what-the-stories-have-foretold #x gn!reader #cafe employee

[h50europe]

Why the myth about Steve's PTSD doesn't add up and other inconsistencies

In the last few episodes of H50, PL tried to sell us a mentally broken Steve suffering from PTSD. Only the whole thing came a bit too late. The clip you see is from season 4 and ended up - no, not in the series - but somewhere on the floor of PL's editing room. And why? after Kurtzman and Orci departed, along with their writers, PL took the helm and started turning Steve into a super-soldier. He stylized him into something that wasn't meant to be. Instead of developing the characters, PL began to incorporate more and more hair-raising action sequences into the series and then let Steve fight on the front lines. There was no mention of Steve's mental state, and a lot was explained by PL with: it just happened "offscreen." Yeah, sure. PL can't create a decent character. He can only produce stereotypes and one-dimensional beings. Like Adam. What potential would that character have had had he been turned into Five-0's antagonist? But no. So his role remained diffuse and monotonous. Sometimes even tragicomical.

Back to Steve. When SEAL Team started on CBS, PL also lapsed into SEAL mania. If someone who writes fanfiction were to produce as much garbage as this man did, he would be chased away from every writers' platform in disgrace. PL's Super SEAL also had to rescue his team members from a blazing inferno. Not man by man, no, he flew a helicopter right into the danger zone and lifted a whole cabin out of the burning jungle. If lunacy had a name, it would be PL. While the action became more and more exaggerated and unrealistic, the same happened to the protagonists. After the departure of Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, PL completely lost his mind. And please, don't blame the writers for the nonsense that was thrown at you. A series stands and falls with the showrunner. He dictates what he wants and passes it on to his staff.

And so, lovable Steve became a soulless robot who only showed feelings here and there. Danny diminished more and more into a sidekick. McDanno became a ship that drifted anchorless through a stormy sea and threatened to capsize again and again. From season 8, it became a reboot of the reboot. PL tried an ensemble show and failed more than miserably. Often the actors just stood around bored. At least that was the impression. The only highlight was episode 8.10. A feast for all McDanno fans. But even here, the outcome of "who shot Danny" was more than insubstantial.

Wait, there was something about SEALs... Oh, yes. Junior appeared on the scene and became Steve's lapdog. I really wondered when there was going to be an episode where he would fetch sticks for Steve. Luckily we had Eddie for that. And because he thought he was so clever, PL invented the episode speed dating. How many subplots can you squeeze into one episode at the same time? In some episodes, you couldn't even take a look at the bag of potato chips without losing the thread.

The case of the week became the yawn of the week. There were so many loose ends that PL then came up with something called retconning. That's what you do when you're no longer satisfied with what was once established in the series years ago, or it no longer fits. But PL went one step further and did the same with the characters. The more the series was dragged out, the more the characters deteriorated and became OOC. It means, often, they were not recognizable at all. And that's where we come to Steve. Because PL, in his desperation, didn't know what else he could do to Steve, and so he killed Joe White. He did it in such a cheesy way with a fake sunset that it made you sick.

Of course, one episode later, there had to be another gig of PL's favorite Barbie. He stuck a fake beard on poor Steve/Alex, so he couldn't even hug Danny/Scott properly. The episode also raised more questions than it answered any. And Steve? He still didn't suffer from PTSD, even though he had now lost Joe White and a fellow SEAL. Everyone is dropping like flies, except for Steve, who is standing like a rock. No matter what. He doesn't need in-depth talks with Danny, nor psychological care, nor any sleeping pills. No, he's doing great. He also opens a restaurant with Danny because apparently, the carguments are already getting on PL's nerves. Unfortunately, this plot device leads into nirvana. The idea was nice, but nobody thought it through to the end. And the merry-go-round continues. Until we get to season 10, where it gets even more absurd. Now PL is almost bombarding us with McDanno episodes, or at least it should seem that way. Oh well, he's already planning for season 11, so a new character has to come on board quickly. While in the beginning, Steve's mother, Doris, dies.

Alex was allowed to take on the subject. Of course, only under the strict eyes of PL. He then nullifies Alex's idea that Steve kills his mother. Because a good soldier and Super SEAL won't do that. Little does PL know. THAT could have been the opening of a PTSD scenario for Steve. However, apart from that, this episode would have had any potential for a multi-arc. Just imagine Steve chasing his mother across multiple episodes. Again, PL stepped in and butchered Alex's episode. You can really feel sorry for the guy. PL at his best or worse? He just can't help it. And then, on the very last meters of the series, he brings someone new, who is allowed to cruise around with Steve most of the time. Because Danny was kidnapped by Wo Fat's widow, PL also invented quite late to have some villain at his disposal. This wannabe mastermind must really have been living under a rock somewhere if she wasn't even mentioned by her husband or appeared earlier.

Because towards the end, PL obviously ran out not only of steam but also of ideas, everything culminated in a wildly illogical scenario. Steve has to live through a dramatic day with Eddie, who stands as a metaphor for Steve (as I said, PTSD was never a thing for Super SEAL), Danny bangs his brains out in a ladies' room with a complete stranger, who dies shortly after that in an accident with Danny's rental car. Apparently, there was no budget to turn the Camaro into scrap metal. Danny then also goes home alone, ignoring the incoming emergency vehicles. Everything remains open at the end of the episode. While Steve expresses his gratitude to Tani and Quinn and says, he would be just as lost as poor Eddie without the dog and all of them. The strange thing is that you never notice anything until that sentence. A few forced dialogues are supposed to make the drama visible, but they all happen way too late or are so poorly written that you miss them.

PL had decided early on to make Steve a Teflon hero. That also means he didn't need to put much substance into the character. Which you can clearly see if you compare the first three seasons to the rest of the series. But towards the end, PL wanted to turn the tide and forcefully rewrote Steve's past. There is a huge difference if you compare Steve from seasons 1 to 3 with Steve from season 10. It is only a sparse remnant of what made this character so great. This change in Steve's personality also affects his relationship with Danny. The witty, affectionate banter degenerates into a snappy, humorless bitch-fest that takes all the joy out of it.

The final two episodes could have been written for any other crime show. As mentioned, we have Cole, who even gets a book'em Cole from Steve, which can only be described as out of line. And it begs the question, was that what Lenkov originally had in mind? Danny out of the show and Cole in? Was the last episode, which mainly featured McCole, something of a test run? Did all the McDanno moments happen only to tear the two apart eventually? Was the real final scene the one where Steve and Catherine take Danny's coffin back to Jersey? Was Danny not supposed to survive? Was that the real reason Steve wanted to get out of Hawaii because he wanted to pay his respects to Danny? And would he really have returned to Hawaii later? Or would he have turned his back on Hawaii? To me, this ending is more plausible than what PL served us. Then, Steve handed over his credentials to Cole instead of Danny, his second in command. Honestly, you can't make the end of a series any more sloppy and dumber than that. And I won't even lose a word about the last 1:30 minutes because I think everything has already been said.

No PL, mission absolutely not accomplished. You created Teflon-Steve. You never wanted him to show any weakness. You turned him into a superhuman who can survive anything. Only to pull the rug out from under him on the last few meters to the finish line and spit on his legacy. How can you dismantle such a great series and its characters like you did? How much do you have to hate something to do that? In the final interviews, the showrunner didn't exactly cover himself in glory either. Everyone who grew up with the series from day one knows that its end was wrong on all the possible levels and that the showrunner is solely to blame for that. It takes a fair amount of egoism and carelessness to drive 10 years at full throttle against the wall. Not many people can do that. Whether you can be proud of that, however, I doubt.

My respect if you have made it this far. Each of you gets 10 extra brownie points for it.

#McDanno #steve mcgarrett #danny williams #scott caan #alex o'loughlin #H50 the final chapter #H50 series finale #Lenkov #Eddie #Junior #seal team

[chidoroki]

TPN - Isabella one-shot

Okay, so.. I have so many emotions right now it's not even funny. I don't care how many times I've said this since ch169, but I'm gonna say it again: Isabella is a goddamn QUEEN! I thought the side chapter was going to reflect the light novel like Krone's was last week (it was based on that, correct?), so being able to witness Isabella be that dangerous “iron woman” mastermind again was simply fantastic.

As Krone's extra chapter reminded us, every woman in this mother/sister academy is fighting to survive by any means necessary, so seeing these ladies put on a pretty face one moment to praise Isabella on her promotion only to talk shit behind her back the next minute was of no surprise to me. What did make me a little stunned was that these women are unmistakably the same women who stood so proud and confidently behind Isabella once she revealed her wonderful revenge plan to the rest of the facility back in ch170.

So, what changed? Oh, it's quite simple and a complete joy for me to talk about, so allow me. Isabella had a reputation of never making mistakes, as she always received perfect scores on both written and physical tests, so upon learning that she allowed 15 children to escape is a bit jarring, especially to the other ladies. The quality of her loss was such a huge hit to the farm's profit that they couldn't fathom why she of all people would be chosen to become the next Grandma. They believed it to be unfair, that Isabella must have had some sort advantage after working under Grandma Sarah that could've been kept under wraps. They both got rid of Krone with little to no explanation at all, so some rules must have been tweaked. It's no doubt the ladies saw Isabella as a major threat to their own survival, so they kept a close eye on her and waited for the perfect opportunity.. to create a fake lead to raise suspicion on this flawless woman.

Too bad dearest Grandma was already ten steps ahead of them! HAA! Did they honestly think they could take her down? And Jessica, sweetheart, you even spoke about Isabella's training days a couple of pages ago and how “she calmly got revenge on all the girls when they tried to sabotage her.” That literally just happened again so y'all can't really be surprised by this outcome! She knows that Jessica, Sienna, Scarlet & Matilda, are the current top four choices to become mothers, so it was quite easy for Isabella to determine who would go after her and her new position, if anyone were foolish enough to think about such a thing.

Luckily for them, Isabella has no intentions of killing them off. Since they're all quite intelligent and skilled, she decides to recruit them as allies in her pursuit to destroy Grace Field. Their reaction is similar to the other women we see from ch170. Everyone is apprehensive at first, as going against the farm is nothing but a crazy idea, and yet Isabella assures them that there is no bright future if they remain stuck in the system and obey their rules.

They betray each other to give themselves the best chance at surviving, but it'll be an endless hell if you live out your entire life in fear. So if not for each other, what do these ladies have to live for? Oh, just their children they all chose so hard to forget about.

By now it's no secret that Ray is Isabella's son, but ever since ch170 I couldn't help but wonder if any of those women were the biological moms of any of the other kids we know. You can't tell me the lady with that distinguished nose isn't Nat's mother. I also thought the others could be mothers of Rossi, Yvette, Anna and perhaps Don? Sienna might be Emma's, Matilda to Norman's, Scarlet to Phil's, and Jessica.. I'm not sure honestly? I know it could be any of the kids at GF plant #3, not just the 15 that escaped, but it is fun to think about though and I wasn't expecting to learn that their kids were all at the same house.

It's quite convenient that Isabella had the chance to raise their children actually, because after a few more words of encouragement and the knowledge that their children are indeed still alive, the four ladies agree to support Isabella's plan. Well, once she guarantees to not double-cross them, which is reasonable. It's best for them to have some trust in each other in order to work together. Isabella gives them her word and some much better evidence of her mistake in the form of… aaaaahhh Ray's note.

Bro, believe me when I was completely shooketh upon reading this. It's been a question we all had for so long that I was fairly certain we weren't going to get an answer for it after the series ended. Of course the knowledge of Ray being Isabella's true son was the weakness many of us thought the note contained, but I could've sworn I read somewhere, in some interview or whatever it was, that Shirai said it was something else Ray baited Krone with (right? or am I completely going crazy about this trivia). Anyways, I guess a farewell note is different enough but damn.. what a punch to my heart. Not only did he address it as “dear mother,” but the fact that Isabella kept it this entire time. Like wow.. I'm kinda speechless here. No doubt she still loves her son, just look at how fondly she holds it! If anything, I must know the full contents of said note! Shirai, please! I'm begging!

And if that wasn't enough to make me emotional, Isabella's wish certainly had me tearing up. I hope she knows that her precious children are all happy together in a free world living the best life they possibly can. Honestly, if I had any power to change just one thing in this series, it would to let Isabella live. Having Emma keep her memories is a close second, but I've come to accept that inconvenience after seeing how happy she and all the other kids are post-series. Look at this precious family! I love them! (also I wanna see that full photo on top with her and ayshe darn it!)

Seriously though, her death is still something I'm not over. I literally have not listened to her lullaby since ch177 dropped because I'm scared I'll become a tearful mess. Yes, sacrificing herself to protect Emma and that other girl from the demon was very admirable of her and helped with her redemption, but she didn't have to die from it! (hell, if emma could survive being stabbed then so could isabella, right?? damn plot armor! ) To me, I just feel like it wasn't necessary, especially now after learning what we just did from this extra chapter. Not only did she agree to become Grandma to help the children when they eventually returned to GF in two years, but Isabella also decreased the number of shipments in order to produce higher quality goods to make up for those that escaped, which is exactly what Emma believed would happen once she decided to leave the kids four and under behind. I love how Isabella adopted Emma's ideals and spirit in order to go against the system and rally everyone else up to accomplish the impossible. Personally, I forgave this woman the moment she retrieved the ropes in ch37 so the farm wouldn't know exactly where the children escaped from. She didn't have to die to prove she was a good mother who cared and love her children, because she showed that several times over and over again. She literally did everything in her power to help these kids secure a brighter future while remaining in the shadows.

Yeah, it makes me happy that they did at least take her body to to the human world so they all can continue to pay their respects to her, but aaahhh.. how I wish she were still alive. She suffered so much, she deserves to live in peace with her children and love them all normally. Ray especially!! You can't just formally introduce these four brilliant women to me and then be like “oh yeah, they have GF kids too and now they're free in the human world with them” and not have Isabella with Ray! I'm sure their relationship would've been rocky at first, but I still would've love to see them at least give each other a chance to be a real family. Hmmmm.. this chapter, man.. so not good for my heart, but I loved every bit of it. Once again, rest in peace to the iron woman. What a queen.

#the promised neverland #tpn isabella #mother isabella #tpn manga #chidoroki used chatter

[smallblueandloud]

some leverage: redemption reactions

i finished leverage redemption today! and i don't have anyone to talk to about it so, here we have my reactions for all eight episodes, both positive and negative. please feel free to reblog/comment -- discussions are what i'm here for! (under a cut because spoilers and also this ended up being 2k. whoops!)

EPISODE 1: the too many rembrandts job

the "aww, this guy is trying to pull his first heist! how cute" job

what they chose to do with nate was... interesting. it might just be that i read too many of those cracky "here's how they should explain nate's absence" posts, but i was expecting something funny. the grief permeating this episode -- it makes SENSE, but it was still weird. leverage doesn't usually have sadness like this. pain, yes, rage, certainly, but sadness? not usually

the way sophie immediately spots the signs of a con and slips into a character? phenomenal. i'm here for EXPERTS BEING EXPERTS and this show does NOT disappoint

harry wilson is a really solid character! most impressively, he's not flynn, which is impressive enough that i'm making a whole bullet point about it. i was worried that noah wyle was kinda a one-trick pony, but it appears not! good for him tbh

i'm LIVING for the ot3 moments in this episode. "what happened?" "we happened" YESSSSS!!! i wish we'd had more domesticity, but i know they did what they could

"he gets it from his father" FUCK!!!!!

the discussion about redemption in this episode is FANTASTIC but personally i am still delirious with excitement about "my nana leads a multi-denominational household" so expect those thoughts in 3-5 business days

EPISODE 2: the panamanian monkey job

the "flash electropop concert" job

BREANNA INTRODUCTION! i love her so MUCH, y'all. we only got to see her dynamic with hardison in this one episode, but man, it manages to be one of her best dynamics anyway. i just! i love her! i love the way the team works with her!

"in our field, you're one of the best. but there, you're the only one." god we have ELIOT/HARDISON rights and i am NOT OKAY. just!! them!!!!!! being supportive!!!!!! they have learned how to be sweet with each other! they work together so much better (in part because we're seeing them from harry's outsider pov instead of nate's insider pov, but STILL)

midway through this episode, i thought "huh, leverage always focuses on specific people, when really the problem is systematic, and pretending it's anything different is just an excuse to not fight for change". and then at the end harry talks about how the system itself is broken! i love knowing that john rogers and i were reading the same tweets last summer. it's a good feeling to trust the people making a piece of media

who let noah wyle speak spanish. whoever it was, they need to rescind their permission

god, the parker/hardison in this episode. THE PARKER/HARDISON IN THIS EPISODE! they KILL me friends they KILL ME!

also just like, hardison in this episode in general. he made a star trek reference! he made a doctor who reference! he decides there are other people who need him more! the way they wrote around gina bellman's maternity leave in s2 was good but this was phenomenal.

also i'm here for ot3 crumbs so "is this like the time when eliot wanted us to say no" is going on my ot3-is-canon conspiracy board

this is a tiny detail but eliot taking out the drone with a goddamn ORANGE was so good. he's so good at his job!! they're all so good at their jobs!! i know i literally just talked about this but AAA

EPISODE 3: the rollin' on the river job

the "sometimes you just want to rob a vault wearing a floofy dress, and that's valid" job

i did... not. like. how the villain in this one was an immigrant whose exploitable weakness was a "desperation" to be included in the upper crust. and the fact that they beat him with a literal southern belle who explicitly beats him BECAUSE her family has been in the area for "hundreds of years"? it just feels Iffy.

also iffy about this episode was breanna's characterization. it felt inconsistent. she feels inconsistent across the whole season, but this episode in particular... she tells harry she's only with the team because she's desperate, that she doesn't believe in hope, and then at the end of the episode she tells parker she wants to be there to change the world. and like, even in the first place, she's not here out of desperation! SHE asked to join the team! like, i can see how it all kinda fits together, but it just feels... inconsistent. idk. i think these scripts all could've benefited from an extra round or two of editing.

anyway! i loved the way they tied hardison into these episodes, even though aldis hodge couldn't be there. he has binders! breanna doesn't want to read them! parker did! he put in big letters, "when in doubt, trust the person in the van". i'm just so !!! about how much i love him and how much he loves his team and how much his team loves him. FOUND FAMILY, BABY!

all inconsistencies in breanna's characterization aside, i really liked her speech at the end. i know how she feels! it's really nice to have someone on the team who's from -- not my world, really, but a lot closer than any of the others. it's a nice feeling! i love her a lot. i hope her writing gets more consistent

lol, parker ate eliot's carrot cake. i love the parker/eliot rights we get in this show, they're so domestic and it's wonderful.

EPISODE 4: the tower job

the "hardison made his partners learn klingon" job

watching this episode was what made me go "they're not going to make us sit through a harry/sophie romance... right? right?"

i'm still not sure they're gonna let us avoid it but it COULD work so... i've decided to just not worry about it for now

i liked the number of ways the con goes wrong! it was fun to watch them work on the fly like that. i think them not having a dedicated Mastermind(tm) is a good watsonian explanation for their plans being pretty haphazard in general, but it's good, they think well on their feet

nate was a chessmaster. he had the whole situation in his mind from the beginning, accounting for every possible outcome. parker and sophie are much more adaptive, and it's cool to see. they can rely on their respective skillsets a lot more than nate could

a really solid episode! probably one of the strongest ones in the season. i liked it a lot.

(ALSO as mentioned above the klingon lines were fantastic and not just because they were a star trek reference -- every time eliot and parker both mentioned hardison, together, it added a year to my lifespan)

EPISODE 5: the paranormal hacktivity job

the "sophie was worryingly prepared to fake her death" job

i know why they characterized the client as a skeptic, i really do, and i loved the format of this episode, but also. But Also. she should've been a love interest for breanna and I'm Right.

having a girl's episode was the CORRECT choice. they do crimes in their free time! they fleece newbie, cruel criminals! it's so good!

it would've been cool to have eliot around for the assassin guy, but it was also cool to see the others take him out without having eliot to rely on. it's like getting to see how they'd take out eliot, if they were ever on opposing sides.

PARKER CANONICALLY USES SCRIPTS IT'S THE BEST THING EVER

breanna bristling about letting the criminal into the theater's electric system was so good god i love her so much. she knows hardware! i bet she likes to work with her hands. i bet she stims. i bet she has adhd

actually, sidenote, but i LOVE these headquarters. they look so nice! the stage is so nice! i loved having an episode set in and around it, it was such a good choice.

EPISODE 6: the card game job

the "FINALLY AN EXPLICITLY QUEER LEVERAGE CHARACTER" job

QUEER BREANNA QUEER BREANNA QUEER BREANNA QUEER BR

UNFOLLOW ME NOW THIS IS GONNA BE THE ONLY THING I POST ABOUT FOR THE REST OF TIME

GOD, what a good way to reveal it. it's fully about her! i love queer romances, of course i do, but i don't think i've ever seen a character come out without a romance being their reason for doing so (however indirectly). i still think she should've gotten a date with the client from 1x05, but i really liked this too.

this episode just felt like a love letter to fandom, and i love that. i love how much it shone through. i'm used to writers specifically going out of their way to make fun of fans and laugh at them, so it was just. really nice to have someone stand up and go, no, this is important for a reason! people love this for a reason! it MEANS something!

very fun to watch eliot swordfight. very fun to watch sophie recite a sonnet in her classic fashion. very fun to watch parker work at being a good mentor. breanna was so excited about the card game! they're all so good!

oh, and i guess harry's here too.

EPISODE 7: the double-edged sword job

the "harry is addicted to mobile games, which is a mood" job

hot take alert! i think this is the weakest episode of the season by a LOT. it needed so much more editing. it felt so disjointed, so all over the place. the plot was haphazard but in a muffled way, where you had no idea why they were doing what they were doing. the climax was sudden and didn't make any sense. it was just weird.

i'm not the person to comment on this but it feels kind of lazy to cast an east asian guy to play a socially-awkward tech genius. just a thought.

oh, of course jonathan frakes directed this episode. sometimes his stuff is really good but other times (ahem, ds9 3x02) it's disjointed and all over the place. i'm not even surprised it was him.

idk if i have anything else to say about this. oh! some of the team moments were great -- mostly involving eliot. i loved the moment of him recognizing the headshot, i LOVED the ten seconds of everyone teasing him. he and parker talked about the wellbeing of their friend, the woman whose ex tracked her down!

separate bulletpoint to say how much i LOVED his conversation with breanna outside the house. he's so good at reassuring! he could go deeper there, talking about being better than your worst day, but he knew when not to push! it was so good.

"first off, this guy can't TOUCH hardison" deserves its own bulletpoint because like. y'all. Y'ALL.

EPISODE 8: the mastermind job

the "eliot is more than just a pretty face" job

oh man this post is so much longer than i thought it would be. okay just one more episode and then i'm done.

the callbacks to original leverage were SO well done and made me feel emotions without feeling overbearing.

i didn't like the central premise -- that nate would share so many details with a random insurance agent -- in the first place, but i did like how it allowed them to bring back nate without actually hiring timerty mcasshole.

i liked eliot's insistence that he's more than just the muscle! he is, and it's really good to know, textually, that the writers do too!

me, watching the resolution of the episode: ah, yeah, insurance fraud. a classic!

harry bonding with his guard had "they don't even have dental!" energy and i am SUCH a fan. i know it was all for the con but also give me harry, unable to stop advising people, even when they're actively holding him hostage

parker! on the phone with hardison!!!! ADORABLE

is it just me or was someone else expecting the accountant's name to be something significant? with the way they led up to it, i was waiting for a "sterling" or something else. my sensors were pinging for another tara reveal. i'm still convinced we're gonna get this guy dramatically revealed in the season finale.

a really nice episode! i had a lot of fun with it. and now i want to rewatch the rashamon job, but tbh i ALWAYS want to rewatch the rashamon job.

and that's a wrap! overall, a fun season, i enjoyed it a lot. not as solid as original leverage, but it's the very beginning, and it was put together during a global pandemic, so i'm cutting them some slack. also levar burton is gonna show up at some point. that's a big reason of why i'm cutting them so much slack.

my personal ranking of the episodes is 1x04, 1x06, 1x08, 1x01, 1x02, 1x03, and finally last (and least), 1x07.

what did you guys think of the new season? what was your favorite episode? do you agree with any of my opinions? disagree with any? let me know, please, i'd love to discuss!

#leverage #leverage redemption #leverage spoilers #redemption spoilers #leverage redemption spoilers #sb and l rambles #sb and l watches leverage #levred #this is so much longer than i thought it was gonna be #i shouldn't be surprised but ughhhh i'm so tired

[kpopchangedmylife44]

Ateez reaction: realizing they‘re in love with their best friend and confessing to them

Hongjoong

- he always knew it, but when you got the acception letter for your dream university, he felt like his own dream just came true

- your happiness is his happiness and he knew it would be enough to just be friends, but he wanted more than this

- feels like the risk is worth taking, but overreacts when he starts planning his confession

- ,,If I screw this up, our whole relationship is ruined.”

- prepares everything for weeks until its perfect

- has a plan for every possible outcome

- his confession is straight out of your dream, but Hongjoong is still anxious and a hot mess

- but since you also have feeling for him, it goes well and he didn’t need his 10 backup plans, cause the best possible scenario happened - you are finally his

Seonghwa

- when you went to a family wedding together he was having an epiphany

- he could imagine you both getting married

- and not only that: he started to really want to (one day)

- Seonghwa always knew you would be a part of his whole life and he never thought of anyone else but you, so why did it take him this long

- after this realization he was struggling

- he screamed inside and judged himself for being this oblivious of his feelings

- he ignored you for a week, because he didn’t know how to cope with this situation

- he wanted to see you, but was also afraid to ruin it all

- when you finally met, he was dying inside and needed to let it all out to take this weight off his heart

,,Y/n I’m so badly in love with you” he blurted out and cursed afterwards under his breath

- you saw his face go through all emotions

- he felt like disappearing, but then you started to beam at him all his worries vanished into nothingness

Yunho

- god this boy

- he starts smiling like crazy when it finally hits him, that he is in love with his best friend for all this years

- he always was and he always will be

- you have been childhood friends, growing up together and going to the same school, always sitting next to each other

- he helped you overcome your first heart break and maybe that was when he first realized

- Yunho couldn’t see you being this sad, it actually broke his own heart

- and you were the person he always wanted to be happy

- in his eyes you deserved the world

- so when your next love interest appeared, he is happy that you’re so contented with your life, although he wished that he could be the source of this happiness

- after the break up he realizes that he was jealous and is relieved to still have the chance to become yours

- when you meet up he is over the moon and while hugging you, his feelings get the best of him

- ,,Y/n, I love you.”

- you were not sure if you heard right, so when he pulled away (flustered and his face bright red) he tried to repeat his words, but you were quicker this time

- ,,I love you too”

Yeosang

- he realized it when he was going through a stressful time

- everything was overwhelming and you were the only thing that calmed him down

- you were one of the few people who made him happy just by being there

- he never got tired of seeing you

- after a week of a packed schedule he visited you, cause he couldn’t way any longer

- for the first time in forever he felt like he could breathe freely

- you brought him peace and he didn’t want to leave you as you were his comfort zone

- he realized what love should feel like when you were together

- Yeosang was so in love with you, that it left him breathless and overwhelmed

- he slowly started to freak out, cause what if you don’t return his feelings and he loses you completely

- you knew something was wrong with him in this second

,,Yeosang, what is going on? You can tell me everything.”

- his voice broke slightly when he said the following words ,,It’s you.“

- you looked at him slightly confused, but he looked at you like you were everything he ever wanted (because you were)

- and you knew it by then, of course you knew it

- you reached out to him, giving him a long hug

,,Dont worry about it, I feel the same way.”

- with that he relaxed, feeling completely safe with you in his arms

San

- he realizes that he is in love with you when he has a day off

- instead of exploring the city with the rest of Ateez, he just wants to hang out with you

- since he’s on tour you haven’t seen each other for a while now and it shows

- he misses you like crazy so he decided to take a 5 hour train journey to visit you for a day

- during the journey he had a lot of time to think, but the realization hit him after a talk with a friendly old lady

- she sat next to him and chatted about visiting her grandchildren and also asked San about his destination

- he talked about you and just by explaining how you were best friends, the old lady knew everything

- ,,This person must be really special when you take 10 hours of your day just to see them for a few hours.“

- San agreed, but in his eyes it was totally worth it

- before she left, she said ,,Falling in love with your best friend is the best thing that can happen to you, sweetheart. I can tell you this much.“

- she wished him all the best and San finally knew she was right

- when San surprised you in front of your door you knew by the look of his eyes that something has changed

- you were lost in the moment and you didn’t need to hear it now, cause you kind of knew deep down

- when he took your hand into his and smiled at you like a maniac, everything fell into place

Mingi

- Mingi and you were hanging out in a diner, just joking around and laughing like crazy

- he laughed at all your jokes, as you both shared the same kind of humor

- this was a wonderful thing in itself, just getting along in this way, really understanding each other

- your laugh was a little weird and also loud, so everyone turned around to look at you

- it actually made you a little insecure about your laugh, but Mingi always got your back

- ,,Don’t worry about it, y/n. They are just looking at you, because you’re so pretty. And you have such a cute and unique laugh. Don’t let them stop you from laughing.“

- you were always grateful for him, especially in this moments

- he always adored your laugh as it was his favorite melody in the world cause it meant that you were genuinely happy in the moment

- he had always been a supportive friend, not only tolerate your ,,flaws“ but loving them

- so when you two continued to laugh so much that you needed a break, everyone was still looking at you

- ,,Hey, can you stop looking at my girlfriend/boyfriend? I know she/he is way too pretty for me and has the best laugh in the world, so you’re all just jealous.“

- everyone was now minding their own business, which made him smile brightly

- but you were just repeating his words

- ,,Did you just call me your bf/gf?���

- he got really flustered and just stared at you, feeling exposed and vulnerable

- when speaking the words out, he knew that he wanted it to be true, but now he felt so embarrassed

- ,,Oh I didn’t mean it that way.“

- ,,Well that’s to bad, cause I actually enjoy the idea of you being my boyfriend.“

- and just like that it happened, it was so easy since it was with Mingi and you continued to smile and laugh because of your happiness

Wooyoung

- Yeosang invited you for the concert this evening to surprise Wooyoung

- when he found out minutes before the show started, he immediately freaked out

- he stopped working properly, laughing manically while breaking a sweat

- by the bewildered look on his face you would think that he has lost it completely

- how dare they didn’t told him earlier

- he felt not prepared at all, getting more nervous by the minute

- you were so important to him and he wanted to show you the best performance to impress you

- the other members didn’t get what was going on ,,Wooyoung, just calm down. Why are you like this.”

- ,,ARE YOU SERIOUS? IM IN LOVE WITH Y/N AND I CAN’T GO ON STAGE WHEN SHE/HE IS WATCHING ME. HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME.“

- the look on the members faces were priceless, while Yeosang broke in a tiny laughter ,,Finally you admitted it.”

- and the realization of his feeling for you and the way that Yeosang betrayed him made him feel all kinds of emotions

- but when he went on stage, his eyes landed on yours only and it was strange how all of his nervousness went away

- it was his best performance ever and because his eyes never left you, he noticed your huge sign saying ,,I’m in love with you, Wooyoung.”

- and he knew that you were speaking the truth

- after the show Yeosang winked at Wooyoung ,,you’re welcome”

- this boy was the mastermind behind it all, but Wooyoung had more important things to take care of now ^^

Jongho

- you have been friends for your whole life, so you were one of his biggest supporter for his music career

- he would get quite a lot of fanpost, but one letter stuck out to him

- it was a love letter, which arrived at his private mailbox

- this was really strange, as nobody knew where his apartment was

- it was signed with the initials of your name

- there were a lot of possibilities- this could be just a random person or a prank

- but he kept wondering if it was you and he wasn’t repelled of the idea of dating you

- he actually came to the realization that he could see you in this way and he also wanted it to come reality

- before overthinking for too long he wrote you a love letter in return

- 2 days later you visited him at his apartment

- ,,I got your letter, Jongho.“

- ,,Yeah, I also got your letter.“

- and you were like what in the world is he talking about, but continued regardless

- ,,I also thought about us in this way and I would love to give it a try.“

- Jongho broke into his gummy smile

- ,,So do I.“

#ateez #ateez reaction #ateez imagine #ateez scenario #friends to lovers #hongjoong #jongho #mingi #san #wooyoung #yeosang #yunho #seonghwa #atiny #ateez au #ateez boyfriend #mingi actually wrote the letter to prank jongho #well he played himself

[kpopisthereasonihavenolife]

wonho/reader

genre: neighbor au, single parent au, handyman!wonho, kindergarten teacher!y/n, single mom!y/n

warning(s)!!!: y/n being insecure about being a good mom, past toxic relationships, toxic exes, wonho is an oblivious flirt, wonho is referred to as hoseok, yoongi is a mastermind highschooler, rocky past+acceptance to the past

[teaser]: mentoins of juvy, adoption

teaser w.count: 1k

Series | One-Shot | Two-Shot | Drabble | [Rated: T] 

-TEASER-

a/n: I accidentally wrote 3k words more of this and now I have the urge to write it until it’s complete oops. meanwhile, this is probably going to get out of hand (again) bc i originally was gonna have this planned out for like a quick, 10k story and i’m already at 6k and i’m not close to being done yet.  yeehaw (anyways enjoy!) 

Hoseok wasn’t all that shocked to be getting a phone call late into the afternoon of his day from Liu.  He was currently standing outside beside his jeep as he loaded it back up with his toolbox from a job he had just wrapped up. 

“Hello,” he answered as he pressed the phone to his cheek with his shoulder as he wrestled with the toolbox, forcing it between the gap of the passenger seat’s back and the backseat to get it onto the floorboard. 

“Hoseok, I’m glad I could reach you. I tried to call earlier, but I only got voicemail,” the voice of Landlord Liu crackled through the phone’s speaker.  

“I apologize for that, I was with a client and couldn’t get to my phone for a while.” 

“No need to explain, you’re a busy man.” Hoseok just tutted in a small tone as he finally got his toolbox situation and the back door closed.  He rounded his jeep as he opened the driver’s door and hopped inside, revving it up. “That being said, I have a small favor to ask.” 

“I’m listening,” Hoseok prompted for him to continue.  

“I know you just moved and are still settling in, but could I possibly have you head to a tenant’s apartment and do a small repair job?” Hoseok’s lip twitched as he curled them around his teeth to keep from grinning. “It seems as though her child accidentally caused a shelf to come clean out of the living room wall.” 

“Oh really? That’s tough,” Hoseok played ignorant.  It’d be too long winded to explain the situation to Liu on how he knew this already.  “And who is this tennant?” 

“Her name is Y/n. She happens to live next to you with her two sons. I told her I’d give her a call back once I got a definite answer from a repair-man.” 

Hoseok started backing out of his parking place as he held the phone with his free hand now, the other on the wheel as he started driving.  Pulling out into the afternoon traffic as he began his journey back to the apartment complex. 

“I can get it done this afternoon when she’s free. If you would, just pass my number to her when you talk to her next and tell her to contact me when she’s free.”  Hoseok had a small smile on his face as he drove.  He had a small inkling that this was going to be the outcome of your son’s little sneak-stunt gone wrong. 

“Of course. Thank you very much, Hoseok. I’ll give her a call back and let her know.” 

The call was cut there as Hoseok tossed his phone into the seat beside him now.  “Called it,” he sang to himself as he continued driving, only stopping to the occasional stoplight or sign. 

He had been home for about an hour before his phone that sat next to him on the coffee table began to vibrate.  He had turned the ringtone down as he stared at the lit up screen with an unknown number on it.  Picking it up, he held it to his ear as he turned the audio on his laptop down. 

“Hello?”  

“Good afternoon,” he recognized  your voice immediately even if you had only officially met him once. “I was told that Liu, my landlord, had called a repair-man and he gave me his number. Can I assume this is he?” You were so formal. Hoseok could just tell you it was him and the whole formality business might settle, but he decided to do his work-title justice and play along. 

“You can. Liu called me earlier on saying that you had a shelf out of your wall?” He heard you sigh on the other line. 

“Yes, my son was a bit too… how do I put this, overconfident in thinking he could outsmart me.” 

“I see,” Hoseok mused. “Well, is there a specific time you’d like for me to come by? I’m sure a small shelf repair wouldn’t take too awful long.” 

“If at all, would you mind heading over as soon as possible? I’m currently on the way home with my youngest son, but my oldest is at the apartment and I can have him let you in while I’m on the way. He’s in high school if that makes you feel any better.” 

Hoseok had closed the tabs on his laptop as he had already begun to shut the lid.  Standing up, he stretched silently as he spoke back to you. HIs voice strained in the beginning due to his stretch. 

“Of course. That wouldn’t be a problem. I’m not too far from your location, so I’ll head on over.” 

“Thank you very much. My son, Yoongi will let you inside. Just tell him I sent you to fix the shelf.”

“Yes, ma’am.” 

The ended with a short goodbye from either side as Hoseok began to change. Pulling back on the flannel he had taken on when he got home, he tucked it back into his pants. Slipping on his tool belt, he fastened it as he slipped on his shoes.  Ruffling his hair with his fingers, he stepped out of his apartment and waltzed over to yours.  

He knocked on the door and waited patiently.  He vaguely heard Yoongi inside talking to himself, or perhaps he was on the phone due to the ‘I know mom’ Hoseok heard through the door.  When the carpenter heard the lock flick and the doorknob twist, Yoongi’s speech halted for a moment as he did indeed have his phone held to his cheek. 

“Hey, I gotta go mom. Yes, I know, let the repair guy in. I don’t think I’ll have to wait that long though,” the teen muttered as he looked at the belt around Hoseok’s waist. “See you when you get home.” He hung up the phone, sliding it back into his pocket as the two men just stared at each other. “So, Liu sent you huh?” Yoongi questioned. 

“I had a feeling he would,” the older man shrugged as Yoongi stepped aside to allow him entrance to the apartment he had been in not 24 hours ago.

#wonho #wonho fic #wonho fanfic #wonho fanfiction #wonho fluff #wonho angst #wonho oneshot #wonho teaser #shin hoseok #lee hoseok #wonho x reader #wonho x reader au #x reader #reader insert #female reader #single mom y/n #handyman wonho #hoseok #hoseok x reader #au #handyman au #single parent au #single mom #tw #tw: past toxic relationships #tw: toxic exes

[lady-divine-writes]

A Change in the Weather AU (inspired by Cacophonylights's A Change in the Weather) - Chapter 30

Read on AO3.

(Author’s note - the above cover gives hint about this chapter, and chapter 31 :D)

Kurt appreciates drama.

He appreciates it to a degree rivaled only by his dad’s love of NASCAR and Finn’s obsession with grilled cheese sandwiches.

It might even be said, by a select few, that he possesses a flair for the dramatic.

Kurt isn’t, however, a fan of the fact that drama seems to follow him wherever he goes, comes courtesy of big ticket items, and hangs over his head like a sword held aloft by a single thread of red rope licorice.

That he doesn’t appreciate.

The drama Kurt does enjoy happens to be genre-specific, goes hand-in-hand with sweeping, over-the-top, romantic gestures, and maybe a dance number or two.

Like the situation he’s currently in, preparing to perch atop a magnificent red roan mare. Kurt has never been up close and personal with a horse before. The first thing he notices is they’re so much taller - and wider - in real life than they seem on screen. He also didn’t know he’d have to be introduced to his horse before he could mount it (though when you use a word like mount, the need for an introduction makes sense).

Their groom teaches Kurt how to brush his mare’s mane (which he is determined to braid somewhere along the way, get it out of her eyes). Then he earns her favor by feeding her sugar cubes. She plucks them one by one from his outstretched palm, and Kurt falls instantly in love.

If his future as a Broadway phenom ever hits the skids, equestrian sports are beginning to look like an acceptable replacement.

But there is a problem.

Everything about potentially riding this horse terrifies him.

Sebastian rented the horses from a stable nearby, one the Smythe family frequents whenever they’re in town. The horses don’t belong to the Smythes, but according to the man who saddled them, they might as well, as Sebastian’s family reserves the exact same beasts every summer.

Sebastian mounts his own mare with the skill of an accomplished equestrian because of course he does. Kurt, on the other hand, requires the assistance of two bubbly blond stable hands (who remind him enough of Brittany and Sam that he has to do a double take) and a large wooden block. Sebastian watches the calamity go down from his own saddle with intense interest and a twinkle in his eye. Between trying to maintain balance and not roll his ankle, Kurt spots Sebastian sporting his signature smirk and braces for the taunts guaranteed to come, which he plans to volley with comebacks he’s already preparing in his head. But when Kurt finally finds his seat, Sebastian gives him a smile that appears to have nothing devious hiding behind it.

“All set?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Kurt manages, panting from the exertion of pulling himself up and throwing a leg over, doing both so enthusiastically he nearly propelled himself clear over the other side of his horse. “All set.”

“Everyone’s first time goes like that,” Sebastian reassures him with a dismissive wave and only a sliver of innuendo.

“Even Julian’s?” Kurt asks bitterly, his ego stinging. He imagines the older Smythe boy launching himself onto a stallion’s muscular back from the ground using only the saddle horn to boost him up, then galloping off into the sunset, leaving the rest of his family in the dust.

But Sebastian dashes that image with a nod. “Yup. Julian excels at a great many things. But for some reason, horseback riding isn’t one of them.”

“A-ha. Somehow I don’t believe you.”

“I’ve got no reason to lie, babe. And besides - I have videos.” Sebastian bounces his eyebrows, apparently relishing the fact. “Lots of them.”

Kurt’s left eyebrow bobs up. “So you gather blackmail material on your brother, too?”

“I don’t see why you’d assume he’d be immune.” Sebastian’s horse, itching to get on the trail, shifts her weight underneath him. He strokes her neck, shushing her to keep her still. It’s such an endearing gesture, so unlike the Sebastian Kurt once despised … but so much like the Sebastian he’s grown to love. “It’s tit for tat, really. Lord knows he’s got tons of stuff on me. I’ve got stuff on Liv, too, but I’m smarter than to use it.”

“Why’s that?”

Sebastian barks out a laugh that, underneath the surface, is laced with genuine fear. “Are you kidding? She’d murder me in my sleep!”

“Then why have it?”

“As leverage against Julian.”

“And that works how exactly?”

“If I let something I have on Livvie slip but I can convince her that Julian is responsible …” Sebastian sucks a breath in through his teeth, his eyes going distant, like he’s imagining the outcome of such an act, the gruesome devastation that would ensue. “But I’d only do that as a last resort. Julian would have to do something particularly heinous for me to go that far.”

Kurt shakes his head disapprovingly. Poor Olivia. Kurt wonders if she knows that she’s Sebastian’s nuclear option. Sebastian and Julian must be rubbing off on Kurt more than he knows because he also wonders how much that information might be worth. “Oh what a twisted life you lead. You are truly a criminal mastermind.”

“You know it,” Sebastian says, throwing Kurt a wink. He clicks his tongue and leads his horse away, Kurt’s mare following behind as if she knew that was the plan all along.

Sebastian takes them to a rise overlooking the beach, the trail to get there narrower than Kurt likes. He’s sure his horse knows what she’s doing. This isn’t her first time walking this trail, after all. But again, Kurt’s mare is a big animal, and she lists from side to side. This trail, flush up against the cliff side, is one Kurt would think twice about taking on foot before calling it quits, doing an about face, and going off in search of the nearest coffee shop. Since there are no seat belts, the only thing keeping him from sliding off and falling to his death is the strength of his thighs.

Kurt thought his thighs were strong. Only now does he see that cutting the 30 Minute Buns and Thighs video he used to do religiously from his cardio rotation was a huge mistake.

Fear for his life aside, the view from the overlook is spectacular, but the height vomit inducing. Kurt leans forward, barely budging in his saddle to peek over the edge, and his stomach lurches up into his throat.

He has to trust his horse. She wouldn’t go running off this cliff for no reason. She wouldn’t do anything to hurt herself. But what about him? Would she buck him off? What motivation would she have to do so? Horses, like dogs, can sense the good in people, can’t they? Not just the shallow good like, “I put a dollar in a Salvation Army bucket once,” but the deep down, selfless good. Kurt isn’t a bad person, but he can be a bit inconsiderate at times, especially with wait staff.

If this horse decides to judge him, his inability to stop snapping at waiters will be the hill he ends up dying on, he just knows it.

The path takes his mare nauseatingly close to the edge for a brief second, and Kurt bites his tongue to keep from screaming.

“Whoa, Nellie,” he says in a wobbly voice, pulling up beside Sebastian’s mare, stopped on a ledge wide enough to accommodate both animals … and the two of them should Kurt decide to crawl off his horse, lay flat on his stomach, and hug the ground.

Sebastian, watching Kurt’s silent crisis run its course, points out, “You do know your horse’s name is Desiree, right?”

“I do. And by the way, I have questions about that. But whoa, Desiree doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

Sebastian shrugs. “You’re not wrong.”

“So,” Kurt starts, swallowing half a dozen times to stop his voice from shaking, “does your exceptional riding proclivity qualify you as a ‘horse boy’ then?”

Sebastian chuckles. “No. No, Livvie is the horse person in our family. Always has been”

“That’s right,” Kurt says, wrapping the reins around his hand for security so tightly he’s afraid his fingers might turn purple. “She got the pony.”

“Mm-hmm. Pony, private riding lessons, the whole bit. The trails around the beach are perfect for horseback riding. So when we’d come out here, my dad and mom would take her, and Julian and I were forced to tag along. To teach us important life lessons, they said. I think they just didn’t want to leave us alone, afraid of the trouble we’d get into unsupervised. Needless to say, Molly here and I have a special relationship.”

Kurt eyes Sebastian coyly through lowered lashes. “Should I be jealous?”

Sebastian eyes him back, wearing a way-too-suggestive smile considering the subject matter. “Tremendously.”

“I’ve always wanted to learn to ride a horse,” Kurt admits. “I think a lot of kids do.”

“Did you picture yourself as Liz Taylor in National Velvet? Or Robert Redford in The Electric Horseman?”

“More like Viggo Mortensen in Hidalgo.”

Sebastian gives that some thought before commenting, green eyes aimed at the sky, peering at strings of clouds overhead. “I can see that. I think you’d look rather distinguished in a Stetson Diamante.”

“I’ve always thought so,” Kurt says, pulling himself up in his stirrups, a proud expression on his face.

Sebastian’s eyes, tracing the clouds, find the ocean, stare off into the sunset as the tide rolls up the sand. “Julian teased her endlessly for it.”

“Julian did?” Kurt asks with a dubious tilt of his head.

“Yup. Just Jules. I didn’t.”

“Why not?” It sounds like an odd question after Kurt asks it, grilling his boyfriend to find out why he didn’t cut down his older sister over one of her favorite hobbies.

“I envied her her love of riding,” Sebastian replies without turning to look Kurt’s way, the way Kurt had expected. “You know, when kids ask their parents for a pony, it’s usually because they think it’s going to be fun and exciting, make them look cool, turn them into a superhero or something. Not her. She loved riding for the sake of riding and for no other reason. She loved horses simply because she wanted to take care of a horse, even before she ever sat on one … or so my parents tell me.” He looks at the reins pooled in his hands, the horse’s mane beneath them chocolate brown, close to the shade of his own hair. Sebastian sniffs … or Kurt thinks he does. He only sees the subtle movement, doesn’t hear from where he and his horse are standing. “I don’t think I’ve ever loved anything that way.”

Kurt nudges his horse closer, feeling too far away with the few feet of space between them. “Not even your car?”

“Oh, well, cut me to the quick, I guess.” Sebastian throws his head back and laughs. This time Kurt definitely hears him sniffle, sees him wipe a tear from his cheek with the back of his hand. But there must only be the one because when he turns to look at Kurt, his cheeks are dry. “No, Olivia is special. When you take riding lessons, the first thing your instructor tells you is that riding is less about getting on a horse’s back and flying down the straightaway and more about taking care of something other than yourself. You put your horse first at all times. Its comfort is paramount.” Sebastian looks back at the ocean, clears a catch from his throat. “To ride a horse is to put your trust in someone else, and have someone else trust you back. Whatever you do, you do to bring out the best in the animal you choose to ride. If you hate horses, you’re going to be a lousy horse person. Olivia doesn’t see things the way they are,” he says after a pause. “She sees things the way they could be. People, too. Always finding the best in everyone. She’s not a cynic like me and my brother. She inherited the lion’s share of my parents’ optimism and goodwill. She didn’t leave any for the rest of us. And she knows what she wants, has since she was little. She launches into life with both feet. So does Julian, though, in his case, he doesn’t always land on them.”

“What about you?”

A hint of the cynicism Sebastian mentioned comes to rest in the corners of his mouth, pushing it into a half-grin. “I’m not quite as brave as they are.”

“I think you are.”

“Reckless isn’t the same as brave, babe.”

“I think it depends on how you look at it, on how you define reckless. But you have so many opportunities available to you. And a built in safety net. You can afford to be reckless.”

Sebastian chews his lower lip, seems to contemplate his next words carefully. “Because I have money, right?”

“Right,” Kurt answers quickly, then suddenly feels like he’s taken a wrong turn down a one-way street.

“Money doesn’t help when you don’t have a path.”

“Yes it does!” Kurt says, wondering why it is that Sebastian doesn’t see his wealth as a boon when it’s as clear as day to Kurt. Enjoy all the things his wealth can buy him. Sebastian had repeated that sentiment last night when they were talking about Kurt going to NYADA, and taking that $10,000 check so he could get there. Which proves that wealth can definitely buy a future. A good one, even if Sebastian might be on the fence about which way to go. “It can help you build your own path. It can build you a dozen paths!”

“But where would they lead?” It’s a rhetorical question, but one that sounds like he’s pleading with Kurt to give him an answer. Not in general terms, but a specific destination. “If I don’t know which direction I want to go, what good does a path do me?”

“It gets you started going somewhere! Anywhere!”

“And what’s wrong with staying where you are when you don’t know where to go?” Sebastian asks, his voice so thick under the weight of his emotions, it cracks. This isn’t just a friendly discussion they’re having anymore, Kurt realizes. This is something else. Something Kurt doesn’t fully understand. “Isn’t that what they teach you in wilderness survival? Stay where you are until someone finds you? Hug a tree and shit?”

That remark strikes Kurt as so absurd considering the context of their conversation, he almost bursts out laughing. “Do I look like I would know the answer to a wilderness survival question?” But then that context becomes clearer, and Sebastian’s remark even more absurd. Wait … is he thinking about … staying in Ohio!?!?

“Do you think money solves everything, Kurt? Do you think those rich people on the Titanic could buy their way off that sinking ship?”

“They kinda did,” Kurt says sheepishly, face scrunching apologetically knowing that’s not the answer Sebastian wants to hear. “They were the only ones allowed on the lifeboats, so …

“Yeah. Right. Okay,” Sebastian says, each word clipped within an inch of its life. He turns away in frustration, focusing on the sunset as if he has to watch every last minute of it or suffer dire consequences.

“But you’re not on a sinking ship,” Kurt continues, watching his step with every word. “You can literally choose any direction and go. You wouldn’t have to know what’s there or even have a reason why. Just pack a bag and start walking.”

“You make it sound so simple,” Sebastian mutters grimly, followed by something else Kurt doesn’t catch, although he does hear the words know what you want to do.

“It sounds to me like you’re making excuses,” Kurt counters but not unkindly, “and I don’t know what for. To tell you the truth, I feel like I’ve entered an argument already in progress.”

Sebastian bristles, his back going rigid. Kurt holds his breath, unsure what he’s about to do. Would he turn his horse around and leave without a word, abandon Kurt there on the top of this rise in the dark?

No. Kurt is confident he wouldn’t. Sebastian isn’t that person. Not anymore. He wouldn’t do that.

Besides, Kurt’s mare would simply follow his. He’s really in no danger unless Sebastian comes up to him and shoves him off his horse.

Kurt isn’t convinced his thighs would protect him.

Kurt’s words seem to take the steam out of Sebastian. When he turns around to face Kurt, he looks tired. Worn down. “I’m sorry. Kurt. I’m not trying to start a fight. And don’t think I don’t understand where you’re coming from. I do. I really do. Maybe not from first hand experience but I get it. And you’re absolutely right. When you don’t have money, when you have to worry about where your next meal is coming from or how you’re going to pay your rent, it sucks. Money greases so many wheels, can take you to so many places. I’m fortunate. So fucking fortunate. But there’s something to be said about having an identity that doesn’t revolve around money.”

“I don’t … I don’t think I understand.” Kurt says it, but then he realizes that’s not entirely true. On some level, he does. For a good portion of his high school career, he had to contend with being known as the one out-and-proud gay kid. To most people, it was his sole descriptor. But there’s so much more to him.

Just like there’s so much about Sebastian’s situation that Kurt doesn’t understand.

“No matter where I am, if I’ve been there longer than a week and you ask someone about me, ask them to describe who I am, they’ll tell you I’m some rich douche. That’s it. That’s what I am. That’s who I was at Dalton. It doesn’t matter that I was a straight A student, 5.0 GPA, on the lacrosse team, that I was a Warbler, or any of that. I’m an asshole and I have money. That’s it. That’s my identity. But not you,” Sebastian says, his voice becoming hard and soft at the same time. “You’re Kurt Hummel. You’re a trail blazer. You’re compassionate and brave and talented ...”

“Who told you that?” Kurt interjects, squashing uncomfortable laughter with disbelief.

“Blaine for one,” Sebastian admits, though from his expression, he would rather pry up his fingernails than say that name. “The Warblers, your friends at that public school you went to, your teacher Will Schuester, your father, your stepmother, Finn and Puck. You do your own thing no matter what other people say. And even if they knock you down, you stick up for them. You ran for student body president on a platform of stopping bullying. I would never do that!”

“You don’t want to stop bullying?” Kurt asks, appalled enough to overlook the fact that Sebastian knows any of that. But when Sebastian shoots him a You have got to be kidding me! look, Kurt is immediately confronted with the reality of who he’s talking to. Sebastian was a bully! He blackmailed and schemed. He photoshopped vulgar pictures of Kurt’s stepbrother, and tried to steal his boyfriend. He’s only recently redeemed himself for any of that. There are people who would still consider him a bully - Kurt’s friends, people he loves - who haven’t had the opportunity Kurt has to get to know him.

But it’s also an unfair question. From what Kurt has learned, Sebastian wasn’t always that way. The person he was while he was at Dalton - that person was created, and by someone other than himself.

“I would never run for student body president in the first place!” Sebastian yells. “I don’t care about other people’s problems! I can’t be bothered! If I went to your school God forbid and people bullied me, I wouldn’t want to help them! I’d want to watch the place burn to the ground!”

“That … that’s not true!”

Sebastian leans towards him threateningly. But not threatening to hurt him. Threatening to make him see the truth. “Isn’t it!?”

“I …” Kurt puts a hand to his head and closes his eyes. Sebastian’s words pound in his brain. They connect a bunch of dots, but they also leave other sections of the overall picture blank. “I’m sorry, I … I don’t know what’s going on. We’ve gone from horses to your sister to student body president to arson and I … I think … I may have missed the point somewhere.”

“The point I’ve been trying to make,” Sebastian says slowly, bringing his mare closer to Kurt’s, “and very badly is that money is a wonderful thing to have. But it shouldn’t be your identity. You need to be something more. Money will never make you a whole person if you can’t be one without it.”

Kurt nods, relieved to have it summed up so nicely before either one of them accidentally says something they’ll both regret. With his own deadline of NYADA looming, Kurt forgot that Sebastian said he hasn’t chosen a college yet. What if that’s not the entire story?

What if he doesn’t know what he wants to do with the rest of his life? And what if that scares him?

“Okay,” Kurt says, accepting Sebastian’s hand when it finds his. “I … I think I get it. That makes sense.”

“I’m glad. Because believe it or don’t, I didn’t bring you up here to start an argument. I just wanted to watch the sun set. Show you one of my favorite thinking spots. To be honest …” Sebastian shakes his head “… I don’t know where half of that came from.”

Kurt gives Sebastian’s hand a comforting squeeze. He hopes that Sebastian might be willing to bring this subject up again at the beach house when they’re both a little more level-headed, better equipped to handle it. “Where would you say you fall on that spectrum? Between being whole and being not?”

“I’d have to say I’m extensively ventilated …” Sebastian brings Kurt’s hand to his mouth for a kiss, disarming smile locked back in place. “But on the mend.”

Kurt watches Sebastian run his thumb over his knuckles, hesitant to give his hand back, even with the darkness settling in around them. “You know,” Kurt says, “this picture you’re painting of who you are … if I wasn’t here, seeing it for myself, I don’t think I would ever believe any of this about you.”

Sebastian frowns, looks like he’s about to rush to his own defense, but he stops. “I guess I didn’t really give you the chance to find out for yourself.”

“Why isn’t this the foot you put forward all the time?”

“Because … I don’t like being vulnerable with people.”

“You don’t have to be vulnerable. But nice would be …” Kurt searches his head for the perfect word, but only comes up with “… nice. You know what they say - more flies with honey and all that.”

Sebastian sputters. “There you go again with those archaic expressions! Who on earth wants to be surrounded by flies? Being this version of me is too much work for too little pay off most of the time. For what I usually want, my methods get me results quicker.”

“So … what does that say about me?” Kurt asks. “You and I have been at this for months. And it’s not as if I rolled over for you the first chance I got.”

Sebastian tugs Kurt’s hand, brings him close enough to give him the whisper of a kiss against his cheek. “That says you’re worth the effort.”

***

It’s been well over a week since the Smythes descended on the beach house, and as much fun as it is having them there, Kurt is steadily becoming paranoid. He wouldn’t have had Olivia not made that remark about keeping an eye out for her mother. Now he’s convinced that every look Charlotte tosses his way holds significance.

A silent warning.

That she knows about him and Sebastian, and that the two of them are royally screwed - Sebastian more so than he, of course. Only she’s too nice to shred him to pieces in front of the family, so she’s waiting to do it in private.

He won’t know for certain until she corners him and they talk.

So he does the mature thing.

He avoids being alone with her at all costs.

He doesn’t hide behind curtains or vault over furniture when he sees her approach. He simply makes certain he’s never by himself for longer than a few minutes. That amounts to trips to the bathroom and any time he needs to change clothes, which (and he’s not proud of this) he’s done twice as an excuse not to talk to her. With Sebastian’s new found need to be with Kurt every conceivable second, that takes care of every time else. Still, in the confines of the beach house, Kurt knows it’s impossible to dodge Charlotte forever. He just hopes he can figure out what he’s going to say when the time comes, how he’s going to defend his and Sebastian’s actions.

How he’s going to make being a boyfriend-for-hire in order to deceive her in specific sound not so bad.

Sitting on Sebastian’s lap on the porch swing, Kurt’s favorite place in the house to be hands down, he’s finding it difficult to relax. Even though she’s nowhere where she can see them, Kurt feels her eyes on him. Several times he pops his head up and scans the beach to see if she’s walking along the shore, but no. She’s not there.

This is all in his head. He knows it. He’s building it up to something bigger than it needs to be. But if he doesn’t deal with things soon, he’s going to give himself a nervous condition.

“Hey, babe. I have to run to the bathroom,” Sebastian says, sliding his hands underneath Kurt’s rear and relocating him to the far side of the swing.

“O-okay,” Kurt says, a knot starting in his stomach, like a stop watch zeroing out before a tie-breaker race. “Don’t take too long.”

“Yeah, alright. I … won’t,” Sebastian says, giving Kurt an odd look before heading towards the door to his room. Kurt watches him go, crossing every finger on both hands and his toes in his socks, praying Sebastian returns before Charlotte discovers he’s alone and swoops in. Kurt doesn’t see her, hasn’t seen her for most of the day actually. He’d be hard pressed to say whether or not she’s even there.

Kurt and Sebastian ate dinner on the porch, intend on sleeping out there, too, in the tent still set up in the far corner. Did he see her before dinner? Or did Greg take her out to eat? They’d been discussing an Italian place not too far from the beach. They could be there, enjoying a romantic evening alone, with not a single thought to the deceptive practices of her son and his boyfriend. Or did she go shopping with Olivia? Olivia mentioned wanting to hit Yankee Candle for apple pie scented wax melts after stumbling across one of Kurt and Sebastian’s vanilla scented votives. That’s a possibility.

Unfortunately, there’s only one way for him to inconspicuously check. He’d have to go inside and take a peek for himself. If he texts Olivia, he runs the risk of her coming out to ask him what’s up with her mother in tow.

Kurt gets so wrapped up in thinking about where Charlotte could be that he misses her sweeping through the door right as Sebastian leaves, stopping her son to give him a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey, Kurt!” she says brightly, striding across the porch toward him, wrapped in the coziest looking, camel-colored, cashmere duster. He’s been looking for one just like it - not super chunky the way knitted dusters tend to be. This one looks soft, and clingy in all the right places. And that color - super complementary. Once she’s done verbally disemboweling him, he’ll have to ask her where she got it. “I was hoping I’d get you alone! You and my son seem to be locked together at the hip lately! I’d need a crowbar to separate you two!”

“That seems to be the consensus,” Kurt says, banishing the image of sweet matriarch Charlotte Smythe wielding a crowbar. He shouldn’t be this nervous around her. She’s never given him reason to be. She treats him like he’s part of the family. Besides, Sebastian and Julian both agree that Olivia is the scary one. Not their mother.

Then again, where do they think Olivia gets it from?

“That’s not a bad thing. I remember being your age, locked at the hip with my boyfriend,” she reveals, a speck of wickedness coloring her smile. “But as much as I adore my son, I was hoping I could talk to you - one on one.”

Kurt’s stomach flip-flops the way it did during his NYADA audition. The only difference is, at his audition, he had a pair of gold pants to give him strength. He loves borrowing Sebastian’s Ralph Lauren lounge pants, but it’s not the same. “Absolutely. What’s on your mind?”

“Well, I feel like you may be avoiding me … just a little,” she says, bringing a hand up, putting her thumb and forefinger together for emphasis.

“Oh, uh … no. No I haven’t. Not … consciously,” he fibs, but she stares him down. Even if she doesn’t know about him and Sebastian pretending to be boyfriends, she knows that Kurt has been lying about something. Charlotte is an intelligent woman. Kurt is not about to disrespect her. “I’m sorry if it seems that way. That wasn’t my intention.”

She stays silent a moment longer, scrutinizing him the same way Carole does him and Finn when her motherly instincts tell her not to trust them. And Carole’s instincts are pretty much consistently on the nose. But Charlotte may not feel comfortable scolding her son’s boyfriend.

She may have decided to let the guilt eat Kurt away for her.

“Sebastian says you have quite a fondness for this old swing,” she says. “But before you came along, he’d never come out here. Ever. You would think he was afraid of heights or something the way he avoided it, and my son is definitely not afraid of heights. In fact, if someone were to ask me what Sebastian is afraid of, I’d have to say there isn’t a thing … except losing you. And your good opinion of him.”

Kurt goes temporarily speechless. He wants to say he knew that, but he can’t. Because he didn’t. “Really?”

“A-ha. So imagine my surprise when I found out that the two of you weren’t actually an item.”

Kurt’s eyes pop open. He hopes he looks stunned, hurt, maybe even a little too scandalized for words. But he knows he’s not that good an actor. Not yet. Give him a couple of semesters, maybe a year abroad …

But right now, he probably looks exactly the way he feels.

Busted.

“That’s … that’s not …” Kurt tries, but he can’t get the rest of the words out. They physically refuse to leave his tongue.

“It’s not what?” Charlotte asks in that stern way mothers do when weeding out the truth.

When they know for a fact that they’re being duped.

“You’re … you’re right.” Those words are a bit harder to say but at least they come out. “We weren’t a couple. B-but we are now,” he adds, praying that makes everything right, that he didn’t inadvertently toss Sebastian under the bus and lose him everything.

“As of …?” she presses.

Oh God, Kurt thinks, losing the feeling in his entire body. Even his tongue goes numb. Nope. He didn’t lose Sebastian everything before. But he may right now. God, he wishes he’d thought to talk to Sebastian about this! Gotten some sort of story straight. “A…after the gala?” More like after they got to North Carolina, but Kurt is not about to split hairs.

Charlotte, who had been sitting with her legs crossed, an elbow resting comfortably on one knee and her chin cradled in the palm of her hand, straightens in surprise.

Oh no! Kurt panics, knowing by the look in her eyes that she’s putting two and two together, time lines readjusting, figuring out just how long they haven’t been a couple.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry for lying to you! It’s … it’s all my fault!” he says, hoping that if he keeps her attention locked on himself, that if he can somehow spin it so he’s the perpetrator here and not Sebastian, she’ll forget that they were going to empty out his bank account and take back his tuition money. They can’t do that! Not after what Sebastian told him today! Not after everything he might be afraid of! “Are you angry? Disappointed? I’ll make it up to you somehow! I swear!”

“Calm down, dear.” She has an exquisite poker face. Kurt has to give her that. He doesn’t have a clue what she’s thinking. But the parts of her expression that aren’t blank are slightly sad. “I’m not disappointed. Or angry.”

“If you don’t mind my asking,” Kurt says, feeling like he’s walking on eggshells made of plate glass and battery acid, “how did you figure us out?”

Charlotte smirks. “Well, whether they like it or not, I know my children. And to be honest, because he’s my youngest, I probably know Sebastian best of all. Which is how I know this arrangement the two of you had …” She wiggles her forefinger between Kurt and an invisible placeholder that represents Sebastian “… whatever it entailed, wasn’t your idea. But I can appreciate you throwing yourself on that grenade, and don’t think I don’t know why.” Kurt is about to launch into a new line of disagreeing, but Charlotte sighs uncomfortably, and that makes him hold back. “Kurt, I’ve walked in on my son mid-coitus more times than any mother should, and what I saw when I walked in on the two of you … that wasn’t Sebastian. Not the one I’ve seen torturing himself with different sexual partners for years. The giggling, the smiling - that was different. It was honest. It’s what I’ve wanted for him for longer than I can tell you. And I was so happy to see it. But in a way, because of that, I knew it wasn’t real.”

“But … why didn’t you say something earlier?”

“Because of all the boys my son knows, he chose you. So he had to have a reason. And aside from that, I like you, Kurt. My husband husband likes you. We think that you’re good for our son. So I thought that, given enough time, what you two were pretending to be might become real.” Charlotte smiles. “As it turns out, it did.”

“Yes, it did,” Kurt agrees shyly.

“And I don’t want you to worry. Sebastian is safe. And that’s not contingent on you or on anything the two of you do. Gregory and I, we both bear some responsibility for Sebastian hatching this little scheme. Ultimatums don’t always work the way you intend them to.” That should sound like she’s admitting defeat, but the wink she gives Kurt admits anything but. “Just make sure you get what he promised you.”

“I did,” Kurt assures her. “It and a lot more.”

“Good,” she says. “Very good. You know, being a parent, you raise your kids the best way you know how, in the hopes that they grow into adults that can make good decisions on their own. I may not agree with all of the decisions my children have made, but they are their decisions to make. I can’t micromanage their lives. I have to trust them.”

“I think my dad would agree with you,” Kurt says, thinking back on all the times his father stressed that Kurt was an adult, that he’d be out of the house soon, and that his decisions were his own. And as much as Kurt appreciated the sentiment, the look in his father’s eye when he said it, one he probably thought he was covering so well, gutted him.

“Your father is a good man,” Charlotte says, giving Kurt’s hand a pat. “And from what I can see, he did a wonderful job raising you.”

“Thank you,” Kurt says, feeling way more at ease now than he did when this conversation started. “For what it’s worth, I think you guys did an amazing job as parents, too.”

Charlotte’s smile dips, wobbles at the corners, and Kurt wonders if he said something wrong. She sits back in the swing, turns her head slightly away. She gazes down the beach, the same way Sebastian does when he thinks about something sad, watching the water rush in to meet the shore, then out to join the waves. “Thank you, Kurt,” she says finally. “That does mean a lot.”

***

Julian’s demeanor has been changing in increments.

Kurt thinks he may be the only one who notices since he’s spent time alone with every member of the Smythe family and no one else has mentioned it. But Julian has become sullen.

Downright sulky.

He hasn’t gotten on Sebastian’s case recently half as much as when he got there, hasn’t flirted with Kurt in the past few days other than to tell him he looks good wearing his clothes (a black Henley Kurt thought was Sebastian’s, which had found itself in Sebastian’s room due to an unfortunate dry cleaning mishap).

The change started about the same time Kurt began to notice that the long phone conversations Julian had been having with Cooper - the ones that started in the family room or in the kitchen after dinner but eventually sent Julian outside searching for privacy - seemed to happen less and less, and with no estimated time of Cooper’s arrival in sight. Kurt reminds himself that Julian and Cooper’s relationship has always been a volatile one, so maybe this is just the way things go between them.

But it’s still heartbreaking.

Julian seemed so happy when he first arrived, first told them about Cooper spending the summer with him, and now ...

Kurt hopes that their flame hasn’t burned out so quickly, the way he feared his with Sebastian would, the thrill of the chase gone, the shine of the taboo beginning to take on a matte finish.

“Hey, gorgeous,” Julian says, catching Kurt off guard and staring as he makes his way up to their towels spread out on the beach. Kurt wasn’t staring at Julian, even though he’d been looking in the man’s direction. He was just staring, lost in his own thoughts. But he’ll never convince Julian of that. “Why don’t you take a picture? It lasts longer. In fact, I have a few I can text you, save you the trouble. They’re organized by various states of undress …”

“That’s a surefire way to end up with a broken screen,” Olivia says while Sebastian scoots his towel over, scoops up his boyfriend.

“Happen to have any of you in a Franciscan robe?” Kurt counters. “Maybe even a kaftan?”

Julian smirks, and even though it makes him look as handsome as ever, it doesn’t brighten his face, doesn’t reach his eyes. “You know, I might.”

“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Olivia snickers, “so be careful what you ask for. Even if he does, nothing says it’ll be PG.”

“Speaking of, what are you two gentlemen doing tomorrow night?” he asks. “I mean, between the sex, sex, and more sex.”

“Have they been having a lot of sex?” Olivia asks offhandedly while she scrolls through her phone.

“As far as I can tell. I don’t know one hundred percent. They haven’t invited me to join in.”

“We don’t have any hard and fast plans,” Sebastian says, diverting the topic of conversation away from his and Kurt’s sex life. “Why do you ask? And before you say anything, threesomes are out.”

“Airiel Down is playing at Red Hat,” Julian says, reaching into the pocket of his shorts for his phone. “I got two tickets. I was going to take Cooper, but he hasn’t …” Julian’s voice waffles, goes minutely hoarse.

Olivia’s eyes dart his way.

No. That didn’t go unnoticed, Kurt thinks when her gaze shifts to Sebastian, and then Sebastian looks at Kurt. All three of them had heard the same thing.

“Anyway, anyway,” Julian says, pushing past it, “no reason for them to go to waste.”

“Are you sure? I mean, you could still go. Scalp the other ticket,” Sebastian suggests, but from the tone of his voice, it sounds like he’s asking another question entirely.

“I’m sure, little bro. No worries.” Julian chuckles, but it’s as dry as the sand they’re sitting on. They watch in silence as Julian types out a text and attaches the electronic tickets. A second later, Sebastian’s phone in his pocket beeps. “Your boyfriend here needs a night out, and exposure to some of our fine North Carolina culture.” Julian grins. For a moment, he’s closer to normal than he’s been in days. “Besides, you two need to give that beautiful ass of his a break.”

#acitw #acitw au #kurtbastian #sekurt

[honeysuckle-writings]

SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 1. I JUST REALLY WANTED TO GET THIS OFF MY CHEST BECAUSE I AM A FILTHY KINNIE

*********************************************

"Kokichi I said don't follow me."

"But Ran Ran please!"

Kokichi whined at the taller male in front of him. His hands were balled into fist in front of him and his face was squished into a pout. Rantaro sighed and frowned. He had told Kokichi over and over again that he wanted to go about things on his own for a little while and he certainly kept his plan a secret much to Kokichi's displeasure. One of his main reasons being he didn't want Kokichi to get hurt if something were to happen.

"But I can keep watch! Hell I could sneak into places because you're too tall! I can lock pick! You need my expertise." Kokichi stated matter of factly and m shoved his fist onto his hips.

Rantaro's green eyes locked on to the purple eyes in front of him, a soft smile replacing the frown. He could feel his chest tightening at having to keep Kokichi at a distance. He knew things like this would mess with his head and push any ounce of trust he had gained through their small amount of time together out of the window. Kokichi wouldn't get close to anyone so carelessly. The fact that Rantaro was able to dip his finger tips past the cracks in the walls Kokichi had up was both a blessing and a curse.

From day one, Kokochi seemed to latch on to Rantaro. Something about each other acted as a magnet to the other. Neither of them were quite sure what it was but they didn't find it pivotal to question. Kokichi didn't know what personal space was but Rantaro didn't mind. He would knock and come into Rantaro's room as soon as it was open the tinest bit and before Rantaro could properly invite him in.

He also noticed pretty early on that Rantaro had some information none of the others did. Kokichi hung around him and called it "keeping and eye on him" in case he was the mastermind since he was so suspicious. Rantaro knew that was not quite the truth the first time Kokichi let down a wall and fell asleep in his bed.

From then on Kokichi would make his way into Rantaro's bedroom each night. Sometimes he would leave in the middle of the night. Other times they were so caught up in laughing at each others antics that neither of them noticed when they would both doze off. Kokichi got to see the goofy side of Rantaro. Like when he would bump into something in his room and knock it over and respond with "Sorry. I've just got a fat ass." Or, "Who fucked the legend? Who fucked the legend Danny Devito?" After a random thought process. It was refreshing to know he was just as silly and could keep up with Kokichi's antics.

The two had become inseparable, but not to anyone around them. They kept their stuff private to not attract any unwanted attention or questions. It was safer for the both of them to work together in secrecy. Kokichi would still throw jokes at him across the table at breakfast or make flirty remarks but in a way that made everyone think he was completely faking it.

"I'll tell you what," Rantaro reached out and held Kokichi's shoulder gently. "If you let me go do this on my own and I get us out of here, I promise I will have you by my side when we escape. Okay? I won't just forget about you and move out when were out." He squeezed his grip only slightly to affirm his own statement.

Kokichi deadpanned and never took his eyes off of Rantaro's as he processed the words. He wanted to believe him. He really did, but something didn't seem right. "No." His voice was monotone.

"What do you mean no?" Rantaro raised an eyebrow.

Rantaro's confidence really was something to admire. Kokichi knew that Rantaro had something up those billowing sleeves of his. Something no one else here had.

"Just kidding!" Kokichi flashed a cheeky grin. "Fine. I'll let you do whatever you need to. Just please don't get yourself hurt okay? I don't wanna have to clean up your mess!" Kokichi poked Rantaro in the chest and stuck his tongue out.

A smile returned to Rantaro's face. He knew full well that Kokichi was just lying to keep his emotions about it safe.

"You need to stay out of the way and I'm serious. For your sake, just stay inside your room or something. I promise that I will be back okay?" He pulled Kokichi into a hug and held him there, an arm around his shoulders and the other hand behind Kokichi's head. It took a moment, but Kokichi finally wrapped his arms around Rantaro's waist and buried his face into his chest. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes to just be with each other, both of them uncertain of the outcome of Rantaro's plan.

Rantaro leaned down and kissed the top of Kokichi's fluffy hair before pulling back, a little reluctantly.

"I've gotta go now okay? Time is running out and I really need to this for everyone." The aura had changed back to a serious tone now and Kokichi knew that meant business.

"Okay. I love you Ran Ran." Kokichi pulled back and turned away, not wanting to watch Rantaro leave from his room.

There was no joke or lie at the end which was unusual for Kokichi.

"I love you too Kichi."

Time seemed to go by so slow as Kokichi tried to busy himself in his room. Sheets of paper surrounded him on the bed as he tried desperately to distract himself. He tried napping but no one could sleep at a time like this.

Suddenly the monitor turned on. Kokichi's heart leaped and he wondered if he would see Rantaro's face appear. Maybe he had defeated Monokuma in a cool ninja fight and had taken over the system.

The loud music that began blaring almost made him jump out of bed. He rushed over to the monitor and jumped up and down trying to even reach it, hoping there was a volume button but it was no use. He covered his ears and went for the door, reaching out for the handle but Rantaros voice from earlier stopped him. In one hour everything would be over. "Dont follow me

I promise I'll be back."

Kokichi's hand hovered over the knob, trembling slightly. His stomach churned as he struggled to decide whether he should trust him or not. He didn't realize tears had welled into his eyes until one began to drop down his cheek. The thought of dying scared him. If Rantaro failed and they all died, Kokichi would be here alone for it. His whole body shook and he let out a sob. So much for being strong through it all.

He jerked his hand back and groaned in frustration. The music surrounding him made it hard to think. As sudden as the music started, it shut off just as abruptly.

Kokichi looked up at the monitor with wide terror filled eyes. What was going to happen now? Would it be sudden or would they have to endure it slowly?

What he didn't expect was to be shaken out of his thoughts but the unwelcomed voice of Monokuma.

"A body has been discovered! Please, make your way to the library to begin investigation!"

Throwing all his previous thoughts out, Kokichi swung his door open and ran as fast as he legs would go, catching up with Iruma, Hoshi, Korekiyo, Kirumi, and Kiibo.

The sight before him once he reached the back of library made his vision begin to grow blurry. The sound of his heart strings snapping into loose strings in his chest blocked out the sounds of those around him.

There laid Rantaro, dead, in a puddle of his own blood.

No. No no no no no.

"This is a lie right?" Tears were falling down his cheeks as he spoke and his lip quivered as he tried to keep a sob in. "My dearest Rantaro is dea- I mean was killed?" His voice squeaked and he cried out.

"Oh shut up would you? It's not like you even cared." Tenko shot at him.

Kokichi immediately stopped, save for a few sniffles as he tried to collect himself. No one here would believe him anyway. They all thought he was a heartless monster and he knew it. The looks he was recieving told it all. "Nishishi! You caught me! Thank goodness this thing isn't boring anymore!" He threw his hands behind his head and grinned wide enough to make his eyes squint closed. His abdomen burned as he gulped and felt his emotions plummet to the bottom of his stomach.

It felt like a slap in the face when no one took the first blood perk. Why would someone do something like that to someone like Rantaro. He didn't even do anything wrong. Kokichi wanted to scream and lash out at everyone surrounding Monokuma when they were faced with actually having to have a trial.

While the others were fixated on arguing with Monokuma, Kokichi snuck over to Rantaro's body. One last look at the boy had actually began to rebuild his thoughts on humanity. He squatted down quietly and let his finger tips brush against Rantaro's still warm cheek on his way to his collar. He clasped his fingers around a chain and yanked it off with ease. He kept a good hold on it with his index finger as he let it droop down his forearm into his sleeve to hide it.

"Well if you'll excuse me!" He suddenly shouted. "I have to do some investigating by myself. I don't need anyone with me to figure this out. Good luck everyone!"

"Oh no you don't. You can't get out of this that easily." Kaito stormed towards him but Kaede stopped him.

"Let him go. We will catch up with him later." Kaede kept her arm out to keep him in place.

Kaito huffed and glared at Kokichi but Kokichi didn't care. He just walked slowly out of the library and made his way back to his room without taking another look behind.

As Kokichi walked, he took the necklace out of his sleeve and examined it. This was the only thing he had left of him. No one would take this away from him. He slipped the necklace up under his checkered scarf and clasped it behind his neck. It was perfectly hidden from everyone else but he would know it was there.

As soon as Kokichi walked into his dorm and shut the door, he hoped that either they were sound proof or the others were still down in the library. A scream pierced the room as Kokichi broke down.

He jumped on to the bed and began hitting his pillows as he sobbed, getting out everything he could.

"You promised! You promised!"

He repeated to himself over and over. He cried until he began gagging at how hard he was crying and how scratchy his throat was becoming. Nothing felt real anymore. Rantaro was gone and now he was alone. Kokichi wished it was him instead. What he wouldn't give to be in Rantaro's place now.

"You asshole!" His voice was giving out and he was beginning to feel nauseous.

"It should have been me." The confession came out a whisper as fatigue came over his body. Everything began to settle into a numbness as he curled up on to the bed. With the last bit of energy he could muster, he reached up and held the pendant in the palm of his hand.

Kokichi wouldn't let Rantaro's death be for nothing. It was not fair for someone with his heart to be taken out of the world like that. No matter what it took, Kokichi would make sure they got out of there. That was Rantaro's plan, his wish, and Kokichi would follow through with it. Even if it meant they all saw him in a bad light until the end. He would learn to be alone again.

#kokichi ouma #rantaro amami #oumami #danganronpa #drv3 #dannganronpa v3

[thiswasinevitableid]

Akshkshd any chance you’d be willing to write Indruck with prompt 8 (sfw)?

Quite willing! I decided to make it a continuation of this fill, but it can also be read as a standalone.

8. Where’s your enemy when you just watched a sad movie and need a hug?

This is simply nonsensical. 

Indrid is a supervillain, a mastermind, a force to be reckoned with.

He is not supposed to be sitting here, weepy-eyed, on his couch on Tuesday night.

After his casual phone conversation with his arch-nemesis that accidentally gave away his location, he’d assumed Duck would arrive at his hideout within twenty-four hours. That they’d banter, perhaps trade blows, before Indrid made his escape. 

Instead, he waited a full two days before receiving a vision of Duck arriving with the rest of the Pine Guard. That would not do, and so he took what he needed and blew hideout #12 to smithereens, taking up residence in hideout #33 (contingency plans are his strong suit). 

The next two times Duck foiled him, he did so with at least one other hero. The banter ceased, as did any feelings of, well, pleasure Indrid derived from the encounter. Now it was all business. He let Duck know as much by knocking him out with a special smoke bomb designed to circumvent his powers. 

Tonight was his night off, and he settled in with snacks and blankets to watch a movie. He Foolishly opted for the second film in a favorite series. It was supposed to be a western love story, but because it’s a middle film it ends with a tearful farewell between the lovers. And the third part doesn’t come out until next summer. 

He could research the studio, flit off to Los Angeles and steal the third film for himself.

Or he could roll over, hugging his round, squishy mothman pillow, and feel sorry for himself. 

Everything will be alright. In the movie, he means. The heroes will be reunited, the once-villainous one of the pair will be redeemed, and they will live happily ever after. 

That must be nice.

It would be nice.

Nice to have someone kind and brave in love with him, someone who would see him as his whole self, hold him tight and touch him. Hug him when he does silly things like watch sad movies.

When was the last time someone hugged him? Or touched him at all, for that matter? As he thinks, his mind supplies only “Duck” as an answer. It’s true, the hero touches him often enough when they fight, trying to use his strength hinder Indrid’s agility. 

Duck probably gives amazing hugs. 

Indrid wants Duck to hug him. 

No, absolutely not, he is not going down that mental path again. It will just make him frustrated at all the wrong things.

Instead, he picks up his communication pad.

The Moth: The Richardsons are hosting a gala. Anyone care to crash it? Might be some nice jewels worth stealing.

The Englishman: You git, they tapped this channel remember? That’s why the last message is from six months ago.

He groans, whacks his forehead with the pad. How is he getting so careless? Is he losing his touch? 

“That settles it.” He says to the empty living room. Holding his head high, he strides into the bedroom, wall of gadgets and disguises glinting in the dark. 

Then he bellyflops onto the bed, intending to stay there until the weekend.

-----------------------------------------------------

Duck is worried about Indrid. And not in the “what the fuck is he planning” way. The Moth was always a careful, elusive villain. But lately he’s gotten so sloppy Duck wonders if this was another cloning or mind-control scheme gone awry.

Not to mention he’s never had to thwart Indrid on a Tuesday. Minerva and the others insisted he had to take Indrid’s comment in the monitored villain channel seriously. And so he once again tracked his location, and is now standing in the entryway, alarm system blaring. No booby traps activate, and Indrid doesn’t appear.

There’s a faint groan followed by a silhouette in a room at the end of the hall jabbing a control panel angrily before laying back down. 

It has all the marks of a trap, except for a bad feeling in his gut.

He makes it to the room with no issues, finds Indrid rolled on his side on a large, black bed, his back to Duck. He’s cuddling a pillow, face pressed into it.

“Cold?”

“Go’way.” 

“Indrid, you threatened to rob the D.A’s party. I’m not goin anywhere. Plus, I’m still kinda pissed about that gas you used on me. Had a cough for a week after.”

“Oh dear, that was the least likely outcome. My apolog-” Indrid stops talking when Duck uses his SmartRope to tie him up from a distance. He glowers over his shoulder, then sighs.

“C’mon, you ain’t even gonna try to get free?”

Indrid rolls halfheartedly, over and over, until he falls off the bed, disappearing from view. 

Duck circles the foot of the bed, ready to settle into their usual rhythm. Indrid will have gotten out of the rope, be ready to spring, quip on his lips, as soon as Duck sees him…

….Or he could be still tied up, laying on the floor. 

Okay, apparently he’s captured the Moth for real.

“Off the floor, let’s go.”

“No.”

“Oh for fucks sake.” He bends down, hoisting Indrid easily into a standing position, arms around him to steady him as he gets his balance. Indrid stiffens, bracing for a roughness Duck has zero interest in showing. 

Then he sighs, so softly that Duck might have imagined it. 

Duck wraps him in his arms more firmly, draws a hand across Indrids back checking the rope.

The same noise, so quick it’s almost a chirp. 

“Indrid?” He doesn’t move his arms, inhales sharply when the villain drops his forehead to his shoulder, hiding his face against the neck of his suit, “You, uh, you okay there bud?”

“No.”

“You wanna talk about it?”

“I watched a sad movie. Now I am sad as a result. You can either leave me to my shame, or take me to your hideout that I can easily escape from.”

Duck snaps his fingers, and the rope drops to the ground. Indrid stays huddled against him. 

“You know my identity, right?”

A nod. Duck unclips his mask, makes Indrid step back as pulls off the top half of his costume, leaving him in a white undershirt. 

When he opens his arms again, he watches Indrid pause, no doubt contemplating if he ought to strike now. Then the villain turns away, embarrassed.

“This is absurd.”

“Nothin wrong with wantin a hug. ‘Specially not from me, I’m a hug master.” 

Indrid sits down with a huff, rolling so his back is once again to Duck. A hunch paws at his mind, and he gets onto the bed, lays facing Indrid. Leaves space between them, but reaches out a hand and runs it along a strip of exposed skin, Indrid’s shirt riding up from his moth-patterned pajama pants.

Indrid whimpers, not with pain but with longing, and so Duck scoots closer, keeps stroking his side. This time when he rolls over there’s no pause, no pretending. He presses as close to Duck as he can, hands knotted in his shirt and face hiding in his neck. 

He’s crying, soundlessly, the only tell the drops hitting Duck’s skin. 

“Jesus, must’ve been some movie.”

A weak laugh, “It’s not even a tragedy. But regardless, I do no wish to talk about it.”

“Don’t have to talk at all if you don’t want. I can keep quiet too.”

“No, that’s ah, that’s not necessary. In fact, I would like very much to hear you talk more. About whatever you please. I lo-, ah, I am fond of your voice.”

It should bother him, how easy it is to hold Indrid like this. How natural it feels to talk about his plants, his cat, harmless adventures from his youth. How badly he wants to apologize for whatever it is that’s making the thinner man so sad. 

The bigger storm of feeling swirling in his chest dampens any sparks of worry. The ways Indrig sighs contentedly and nestles closer sending protective, terrifyingly sharp affection prickling across his skin. 

When the villain is sound asleep, Duck slips from the bed, tucks a blanket around those narrow shoulders, and pulls his mask back on. But before all that, he plants the most covert kiss possible on Indrid’s forehead. 

The next time they meet as hero and villain, neither says a word about that night.

But neither has forgotten it. 

#Indruck #indrid cold/duck newton #superhero au #prompt fill

[justformyself2]

San Francisco (Part Two)

Click here for Part One.

Hi, guys. It has been long, but it is finally here. I’m pretty happy to be posting this one and I hope you feel happy reading it.  

There is going to be a part three, so stick around in case you like this one.

I have other stories if you want to check those out (i have to make a masterlist, but it easy to find them)

If you have a request or just want to chat send me an ask.

special tag @lullabieswrappedinlies

if you want to be tagged, let me know.

Before you jump in, be advised:

. There is some cursing words, some f-bombs.

. Consumption of alcohol.

                                                cccccccccc

"Morning guys." Dex greets enthusiastically, before bowing down to place a kiss on his bride-to-be's cheek.

You are staring too much, but you can't miss the view.

The gift of ignorance was a delicacy underappreciated, at least while it lasts. It would make you eternally grateful if Rachel could keep everything to herself till ten years later. She will be sitting at her fancy dinner table, arrived from France, laughing too much because of that one bottle of old wine, from another place in Europe, maybe from Spain, she won't remember quite well. Then after recovering from laughing, putting the last sip of wine on her glass, she will tell him the story. With a sad, mildly drunk expression, Dexter would stop laughing.

"Morning." You respond.

She smiles at him and goes back to reading the newspaper.

Rachel was good at this, controlled, on the surface, as a lawyer should be. It brings a mixture of fear and thankfulness, that hid underneath itself another problem that walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, just so you know, Claire is coming today, she just called." Her mouth moves and her eyes don't lookup.

Dex sighs and you get up with the last spoon of cereal still laying on your tongue. You take the bowl and go towards the sink, planning to stay a long time with your back turned. 

"Morning everybody." 

It was visible the tiredness in his voice, tone low and deep, while you washed the white ceramic bowl in auto mode.

"Morning." Dex and Rachel responded together, laughing afterward. 

"That's cute." 

A chair's screech filled the room before a previous subject arose again. 

"So, she is really coming?"

Dex sounded worried.

"What, who is coming?" Now Ethan was worried too.

But why would he be worried about who was coming when he will be leaving tonight?

"Claire," Rachel says neutrally as before.

You place the bowl and the spoon carefully on the dish rack and spin back, spotting Ethan for the first time in the morning since you woke up to an empty bed. 

He stares from the not very long distance, with no longevity, because you cut it right away going towards the door, a way out to the porch, out to where random people were laying in the sand. 

Harsh winds of the morning shaping up weaves. You have to pay attention to that, to anything at all other than your head. 

You sit at the wooden bench, that didn't quite match the rest of the design on the porch next to a luxurious white couch, a unique setting for a suffering old seat that didn't belong. The best guess, could it be someone's favorite? Why wouldn't they throw it away when they thought about putting a much better couch beside it? Why did it remind you of the ones in San Francisco? 

"What the fuck am I thinking?"

"Am I interrupting something?"

Dex leans over, and your heart skips a beat from his sudden appearance.

He was observing. God knows for how long.

"No, I'm just thinking out loud, like a normal person."

He laughs, while you tried to shake the uncomfortable off, and takes a seat next to you. 

The next thing was silence, what you observed to happen a lot when Dex would talk to anyone other than Rachel, something normal considering you two barely knew each other, but still. Dex was the type to slip under radar if it wasn't for his looks. He was quiet, polite, unlike the stereotypes set for someone on his position, he possessed some of the same traits Rachel had, good traits, that combined make them good people if you could only erase all the cheating behavior Ethan mentioned. 

Now you see why his ex-fiancé wouldn't suspect them at all. 

Yet, it was none of your business, and the only thing that kept you involved in this world was the one that wasn't sitting on this bench with you.

"It is a good view right?"

Dex asks, and it is clear that making small talk wasn't his thing, and you were on the same level right now. Smiles appear to compensate.

"Yes, it is amazing."

You breathe in, deep. It could be some type of nervous vibe easy to detect, hovering, or you were projecting. 

"So, you and Ethan... You guys look good together."

"Oh, you think so?" 

Your mouth open's in surprise, genuine surprise. 

Before advancing to a judgment that could compromise, you try to relax and answer as naturally as possible.

"Yeah, I thought he was... Nevermind-." Dex interrupts the took, shaking his head and looking down at his feet.

"Gay?" You completed with confidence, spotting a mix of surprise and discomfort in the way he smiled back.

"Yeah. To be fair, Ethan gives the vibe sometimes." You continued, knowing that Dex was probably confused, reminiscing Ethan's lie about being gay so Claire would leave him alone, and the fool never cleared it out before moving to London.

Something bumps into the door, somewhat aggressively, and the first thing you recognized was the hand.

"What are you guys gossiping about out here?"

Ethan comes out to the porch, exchanging looks towards you and Dex, taking the space left between the two of you. 

"I was just saying to (y/n) that I think you two make a great couple." 

"Oh, you think so?"

Ethan responds, reclining his back against the bench and puts an arm around your neck. It is all that it takes to remind you why you escaped to the porch in the first place.

"And we were also talking about your gay vibes, babe."

"What?" He looks at you, confused.

"Yeah, like when you said you were gay to drive Claire away, like the mastermind player that you are. That is like, his thing Dex. He loves doing stuff like that-."

You incline forward to look at Dex, but Ethan blocks the view. His arm traps your body next to his chest, and you were obliged to stand up with him.

"Okay, babe. Do you want to take a walk on the beach? Hun? Dex, catch you later, bud." You don't resist since that at some point it all had to be addressed.

Ethan loosens the grip while you both were walking down the four steps. His hand travels down your arm slowly, and before you could cross them, he beats you by the timing and takes your hand. 

You wait for a fair distance before taking your hand back.

"What was all that?" 

Ethan asks. The audacity of the annoyed tone he used makes you start to walk faster in front of him.

"Does it matter? we are leaving tonight, right?"

"No, we're not leaving."

You stopped and turned around. Ethan faces you with both hands on his hips. You waited for some confirmation that he was messing with you.

"Ethan."

"Look, I talked to Rachel this morning, I apologized, and she decided to forget all it. It is going to be weird if I suddenly left. I'm her best friend."

"Oh, so that's why you left me this morning? To go talk to Rachel."

"I'm only trying to fix this, find an answer to make this right."

You complete the steps that separated both of you, being centimeters away from his face and the way he observed you.

"Look. Do what you want to do, every crazy pathetic thing you want, to get a woman that doesn't want you but don't use me and leave me like I'm nothing because I'm not your rebound anymore, Ethan."

You breathe in, feeling your chest rise and the beats of your heart multiply by the second. Suddenly there wasn't control over thoughts or words. Everything wanted to break loose.

"Are you even listening to yourself right now? 'I'm her best friend.' You mocked. " Stop using this bullshit to excuse what you are thinking. The answer is Dex, Rachel is not choosing you. She never did, not then and not now. You should do yourself a favor and get the fucking hint already Ethan."

You wanted to explode, wanted to scream. It wasn't the first time this same conversation took place between both of you, and yet, you were waiting for a different outcome that never happened before. It was useless. You saw it in his eyes. You saw it in the way he walked right past you and didn't look back.

                                             (Ethan POV.)

There is something worse about positive emotions. Something buried underneath, and It's ugly, blinds you, makes you live in denial for a very long time, till it turns the question 'What the fuck am I doing?', into a daily mantra from a bad religion.

I asked this more times than it is possible to count. I asked a thousand times while I was doing my bags, and another thousand while I was on the plane watching (y/n) asleep. I asked it again for a couple more thousand times when I saw Rachel, and since then it has been a background sound for my thoughts, the usual ones she belonged. 

Her face. Her laugh, ever-living memories, that insisted themselves on my central vision like jumping ghosts, obliging me to keep feeding my brain with any distraction. Sinking myself with work till numbness almost did the thing, but the closest I came to the remedy was (y/n).

That one night, I went out to the bar on my block, not feeling like me anymore after diagnosing myself with derealization through a quick search on google. The impression of furniture moving convinced me to run away from the claustrophobic place that became that apartment.   

It all happened at some time past one in the morning, at the right time and place to meet someone like her, someone very different from me. I guess, just what I need it. 

The crisp vision of things gives you a perspective, but she never centered around only one thing. (Y/N) was always in movement while I was still ruminating about Rachel and what I couldn't let go. 

When the post-coital conversation started flowing, after weeks of our same scheme passed by, I realized that not everything was cold with (y/n), only the way she perceived love. The way she rolled her eyes when I talked about it, but not the way she makes it, which can make one confused at first and be careful at least.

I  had reasons to strongly believed in my immunity because I knew I was still in love with Rachel. That was what my brain reminded me on the daily, being in love with an unavailable person was becoming a personality trait instead of a problem to be dealt with it, and it was that I accepted. Only at San Francisco, when I made no attempts to contact Rachel, I realized too late that I had mixed the medicine with alcohol, and now they had the same effect.

All of the past mess, mixing with the habit of sweeping things under the rug, made me start thinking about ending everything. Still, a burden compounded with a miracle came when we got back from San Francisco, and we discovered to be new working partners. The universe seemed to have done everything for me, except providing the answer I was still looking for when Rachel's wedding invitation arrived. I was about to mix the medicine with alcohol all over again. 

When they hugged at the airport, my stomach ran laps. 'What the fuck am I doing?'. The mantra comes back again. 

"Can I take your order, sir?"

A redhead girl, holding a notepad, appeared next to the table I occupied. Her Blythe doll eyes blinking at me.

How long was she there while I rewind all the past regrets only God knows.

"Sorry. I'm... I'm waiting for someone before ordering."

I simulate my way out of the situation with a smile. My wallet was at home, and it was a good thing because it was too early to drink something distilled.

"Oh, okay. I'll just leave the menu here." 

She left two menus over the white cloth before leaving with a condescending smile.

I decided to spare some time. I faked looking at my clock and looking around at random times as if I waited for someone very tardy before I left the table. The Blythe doll eyes must be cursing me, and I deserve it. 

 The sun outside, hitting my eyes was already alarming hot, or London made me a stranger to the feeling of warmth. I look behind me, but there is only the bridge, and random people passing by.

It felt familiar to the place where Rachel and I spend time together, but like everything else after a while became a blur under what happened that night. 

I can replay it quickly while continuing to walk with no destination.

It happened when Rachel smiled and ordered a Heineken. I was explaining the order to myself, controlling my eyes and planing my words, usually with gastric reflux would be burning the walls of my stomach, but now the house was quiet. 

I was alone with her, after years, after long years and miserable scenarios played inside my head, and now there was total silence, the silence of death.

"What?"

Rachel asked, still smiling, brightly, I loved that fucking smile, I loved.

I loved.

"We need to talk."

#john krasinski #fanfiction #fanfic #story #imagine #john krasinski imagine #something borrowed #interative imagine #interative #imagination #original #i hope i didnt wrote something wrong #lol #mine #god i'm hungry #i hope you enjoy

[commentaryvorg]

Danganronpa V3 Commentary: Part 5.18

Be aware that this is not a blind playthrough! This will contain spoilers for the entire game, regardless of the part of the game I’m commenting on. A major focus of this commentary is to talk about all of the hints and foreshadowing of events that are going to happen and facts that are going to be revealed in the future of the story. It is emphatically not intended for someone experiencing the game for their first time.

Last time in trial 5 (trial 5!!!!!!) as we spent a lot of time discussing the logistics of the plan, Kaito’s cause of death was thrown into question, leading to a clever bit of misdirection which was probably written by Kokichi just before he died about how an unknowable culprit was totally the point of the plan, Kaito basically told everyone that Monokuma doesn’t know who did it, which had equal chances of being Kokichi being stupid and full of himself or Kaito being clever and gunning for the next-best outcome since the best one is almost certainly out of reach, Shuichi figured out Kokichi wasn’t the mastermind (rendering Miu and Gonta’s deaths now completely pointless), then Kokichi ruined his own plan by posthumously gloating about how evil he is, causing everyone to make the mistake of thinking their real enemy was Kokichi and not Monokuma, and so Monokuma joined the party.

Monokuma:  “Now, where should we start? We’ve already established what Kokichi is after…”

Note how Monokuma has still not explicitly admitted that he doesn’t know who the culprit is. He’s only vaguely alluding to it here without outright saying it. I really do think that he’s literally not allowed to admit it.

Shuichi realises that now that we know Kokichi’s objective was to fool Monokuma, it might explain why he would bizarrely show a video that apparently proves he crushed Kaito.

Monokuma:  “Then what kinda mistake was Kokichi tryin’ to get me to make?”

They made a big deal about how Monokuma is supposedly participating now like just another student, but he’s still kind of not. He could just tell Shuichi, “so, hey, I’m not even sure if Kaito is the victim, I don’t trust that video but I don’t know how it could be faked, figure it out for me”. But it seems he’s still not allowed to participate so directly and is instead just asking vague questions to point Shuichi in the right direction.

Shuichi:  “There must be a reason you went out of your way to show us the body being crushed.”

Exisal Kokichi:  “No reason, really. That’s just my twisted personality.”

Shuichi:  (You’re lying again, Kokichi. There’s a method to your madness.)

Shuichi is still sure that the person he’s talking to here is Kokichi. That will change very soon.

(It might kind of partially be “Kokichi” he’s talking to anyway in the sense that this is probably scripted. But then again, maybe not – again, he’s using Kokichi’s nature as an excuse for a lie, which is not really something Kokichi ever did?)

Shuichi:  (Taking the video of the murder but keeping the victim’s identity hidden… What does it show? What doesn’t it show?) “…The victim.”

Maki:  “Huh?”

Oh man I never properly noticed until now how Maki is the first one to react to this, aaaa, of course she is.

Shuichi:  (Is it even possible?)

This single line, on my first time through, absolutely fucking broke me.

I’d been convinced for a while that Kaito definitely was dead after all, this was the absolute truth, it’s sad but we’ll just have to deal with it and keep going. And then suddenly, for the first time in over an hour, this line was the narrative acknowledging the possibility that Kaito could be alive after all. This wasn’t a relief. This was utterly terrifying, because it was still only a possibility, and there was every chance that this hope would be crushed and snuffed out yet again, which would hurt even more than it had the first time, make me feel stupid and foolish for daring to hope again in the first place. And yet, even the tiniest most fragile possibility of Kaito being alive was infinitely better than the alternative. I couldn’t not hope, despite how terrifying it was.

For me, this case was the absolute best hands-on experience of hope fighting against despair (the real meanings of those words), more than anything else in Danganronpa has ever been. I am so, so glad I managed to be unspoiled for this game so that I could have that, and so sad that I am never going to be able to feel that way while watching this case ever again. Rewatches are great for a lot of things, but some experiences of fiction are literally once-in-a-lifetime.

I admit that I read this line as a desperately hopeful “is it even possible (that Kaito could be alive after all)?” when it might actually just be meant as a more logistical question of “is it even possible (that the video could have been faked)?”. But even if it’s the latter, that still suddenly reopens the possibility that Kaito is alive, so Shuichi has to be thinking that here, one way or another.

Shuichi:  (No, that’s a question for later. For now, we know that…)

Regardless, Shuichi is amazingly good at pushing his emotions aside and just focusing on taking the logic one step at a time. While there’s got to be a part of his mind that’s desperately jumping up and down going Kaito might be alive!!! (first-time-me knew exactly that feel and that’s why I can confirm that Shuichi is showing incredible self-control right now), he’s refusing to let it have a say because it’ll cause him to think irrationally and maybe come to the wrong conclusions. The Ultimate Detective can’t let himself be biased by what he wants to be true.

Tsumugi:  “Then it was some other dead body that got crushed by the hydraulic press?”

Maki:  “What?”

Maki Roll! She sounds hopeful!

Himiko:  “Where would he even get another body?”

Keebo:  “There should be plenty to choose from if you reuse the body of a former victim—”

Perhaps because they know the story of DR1 now, they’re jumping to this conclusion instead of considering the other possibility that there was one other living person there who could have been crushed instead. I personally immediately assumed that if Kaito was alive then that must have meant somehow Kokichi was dead and Kaito was in the Exisal, but that might be thanks to the narrative argument that that’d make the most interesting story, which these guys of course don’t have.

Exisal Kokichi has a whole scripted speech here about how switching the victims was definitely impossible because the footage wasn’t edited. I think it was around this point that first-time-me finally realised that the camera has a pause button!!!! and that actually totally made it possible for the footage to be faked and Kaito to be alive. This helped a lot in making me somewhat less terrified, because I’d gone from hope that was completely baseless into hope with an actual basis behind it, some way that I could see to reach the outcome I wanted. Even then, it was still only a possibility and there was still always the chance the game could pull the rug out from under me again – but it was a much firmer possibility than a few moments ago, and that was good.

Exisal Kokichi:  “Also, if the victim was switched, then that would mean Kaito is still alive. We already discussed this sooo many times. The chance of that happening is imposs—”

…Says Kaito. Heh. Imagine how amused he must be to talk about how impossible it is for him to be alive.

This is definitely scripted, though. The only reason there’s ever been to be sure that Kaito is dead is the footage, but he’s talking about this like it’s a completely separate argument from what he was just saying about that. Like Kaito is obviously just this reckless idiot who’s inevitably going to fail pathetically and get himself killed, and the idea that he could have escaped death and succeeded at something is ridiculous. Like that in itself is proof Kaito must be dead. This is a narrative that Kaito would never choose on his own to promote – but Kokichi had been known to join in with said narrative occasionally, and so it seems he did in the script as well.

Maki:  “…It might be possible.”

Exisal Kokichi:  “Huh?”

Maki Roll!! He says it’s impossible, but the impossible could be possible if it’s Kaito! She’s finally trying to claw and fight her way into a better reality rather than just accepting the awful one she’s stuck in! And Kaito must quietly be so proud to see Maki latching onto this possibility, to have stopped feeling that unshakeable despair and be looking for a better outcome.

Maki:  “There could be a trick to make the switch possible. We just haven’t noticed it yet…”

Exisal Kokichi:  “Ooohh, and what trick is that?”

Maki:  “…”

Exisal Kokichi:  “See, you don’t know, do you? I already said it’s imposs—”

It seems like right now Maki’s hope is still completely baseless. But even though it’s baseless, she’s desperately holding onto it anyway! That’s such a big deal coming from Maki!

Shuichi:  “Maki’s not wrong. There is a way it could be done… So we can’t just give up here!”

Shuichi sounds here like he’s already figured out the trick. But I kind of doubt he has, because you’d think this would be the one time where he wouldn’t hesitate to voice his deductions and would immediately explain the whole thing. So in fact, Shuichi’s hope is probably also still baseless, and he’s just doing a better job than Maki of making it sound like it isn’t, to try and keep her hopes up. How very Kaito of him!

Maki:  “Hey, Shuichi… I’ll think harder about this as well… So… can you confirm whether or not the victim switched places? If Kaito is… alive or not?”

Maki’s voice sounds so full of emotion here! She’s not holding anything back and is finally letting herself desperately reach for this possibility, now that it seems possible after all!

Maki:  “I don’t like the thought that I killed Kaito… I don’t… want that.”

This is the first time Maki has mentioned that she didn’t want to kill him! She’s talking about what she wants! She’s talking about how she felt about killing someone! She’s not just a heartless killer! Her feelings and desires matter!

It’s also in this moment that Maki starts crying, which is the first time we’ve ever seen her do so. She is having emotions and being a person! Kaito must be so proud of her, and so relieved that she’s finally letting herself feel this instead of locking it all away.

Himiko:  “Okay then, let’s talk about the possibility that Maki Roll mentioned.”

Tsumugi:  “Himiko, if you call her that again—”

Maki:  “…Yes, please.”

Maki Roll!!! I absolutely love that this is the moment she accepts that nickname from Himiko. It’s not just that she’s tolerating it; she actively wants Himiko to call her that! She’s desperate for anything that’ll remind her of Kaito and help her feel the way she did back before she thought she’d killed him, just so that she can hold onto that hope!

Tsumugi:  “Then let’s all talk it over together!”

Shuichi:  (Together…)

…

Kaito:  “And don’t forget… you’re not alone! Don’t try to do everything yourself. It’s only gonna wear you out. When times are hard, you gotta rely on your friends.”

…

Shuichi:  “Yeah… I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”

FRIENDS!!! It’s probably thinking that Kaito might be alive that spurs Shuichi to remember what Kaito said to him, and it’s so lovely and appropriate that the feeling that his best friend might still be here is also accompanied by the reminder that he’s not alone and he’s got other friends he can rely on too. Did you know that this game is about friends.

Exisal Kokichi:  “Geez, you guys are a stubborn bunch. There’s no trick.”

And yet you’re still the most stubborn person here, Kaito! He has to have been so thrilled to see the change in Maki just now, and to see everyone working together, and Shuichi letting his friends support him (even if he has no idea that Shuichi was specifically thinking of his own words about that). But no matter how much this might make Kaito feel like he wants them to succeed, he still has to oppose them, and he’s still going to give that everything he’s got until the very end.

Maki:  “The person in that video… Was it really Kaito?”

Everyone else in this debate is making fairly logical suggestions for what could be off about the video. But Maki’s voice just sounds full of desperate hope, and this doesn’t even read like a logical argument and doesn’t have an agree spot like the others (surely she can’t really be arguing that it’s not actually Kaito that we see there; it is very unmistakably him). This is her still being so stuck on the is Kaito really alive after all??? that she can’t even think logically like she usually does.

Shuichi:  (If we put our heads together, we can find the smallest hope… We won’t fall into despair!)

Finally the narrative is using these words correctly! Yes, damn right thinking that Kaito might be alive is hope! Damn right that him turning out to be dead after all would make them despair! Shuichi’s still having wishful thinking to be saying that they definitely won’t fall into despair, since Kaito’s survival isn’t confirmed yet, but that’s precisely what hope is!

Keebo:  “There’d be no way to stop the hydraulic press unless someone used the ‘Force Stop’ button.”

Maki:  “When you say someone… you mean Kokichi, right? He was the only one there.”

Exisal Kokichi:  “… Hm, actually… maybe I pressed it by accident? I don’t really remember…”

You would imagine that this response would be scripted, but it seems oddly vague for one of Kokichi’s calculated lies to hide the truth of his plan, so I’m not actually sure about this one. Maybe it’s just the vagueness in his tone of voice which strikes me as off? If Kokichi were really here delivering this line he’d probably sound a lot more gleefully sure about his unsureness.

Monokuma:  “There’s also the question of how the bodies got switched while the camera was rolling. That would have clearly been caught on camera.”

It almost kind of sounds like Monokuma has already figured this out and is just leading Shuichi into saying it. But then again, if he’d already figured this part out here then he’d probably have been capable of figuring out the whole trick by himself and wouldn’t have needed Shuichi’s help at all.

Shuichi:  “Ah, I see. It wasn’t just the press that stopped…”

Monokuma:  “…Eh? Huh? Whaddaya mean?”

…Yeah, maybe not. He seems genuinely confused here.

By the way, can we talk about the fact that after the press stopped and the switch happened, the press then descends for the killing blow faster than it did before? I saw a fic once which surmised that during the switch, Kaito fiddled with the settings of the press as best he could to make it go faster, in order to make Kokichi’s death as quick and painless as possible. Not my idea, but hell yes, headcanon absolutely accepted.

Tsumugi helps explain why the video’s odd camera angle was necessary for the trick.

Tsumugi:  “If they were recording it like normal, they would have used a better angle.”

Maki:  “And if it was recorded at such an odd angle, then that proves a trick was used.”

It technically doesn’t prove it. It could just be that Kokichi had no idea how to frame a decent shot, or that he just wanted us to think a trick was used. But Maki’s latching onto anything that makes it more likely that Kaito is alive and trying to insist that it’s proof, because of course she is. I love how desperately she wants this.

Himiko:  “Camera angles, huh? Looks like your cosplayer experience is finally useful.”

Tsumugi:  “Well, cosplay doesn’t really come up all that much in class trials…”

Yeah, and maybe it should stay that way, hm?

Shuichi:  “When the press was stopped, you couldn’t really see who was inside it, correct?”

Except for his VERY VISIBLE ARM which isn’t actually visible there in canon and we just have to pretend we can’t see, araghrghrghr.

Shuichi:  “That was intentional. The body is mostly hidden by the press, making the swap easier.”

In reality, it’s not “mostly” – he’s completely hidden by the press at this point. “Mostly” is what we see in the flawed localisation version, and that would not be enough to convincingly pull off the switch. (I checked the Japanese, and he does indeed still say “mostly” there, even though it really isn’t.)

I suppose one could argue that it was teeeeechnically possible to co-ordinate Kaito’s and Kokichi’s arms to be in similar enough positions to each other that the switch might not be noticeable to the human eye in the split second before the press descended again. But the fact that Shuichi never talks about how that could have been possible – which would be a very important point to cover – basically makes it canon that the arm isn’t actually visible, despite what we localisation-players see in the video.

Tsumugi:  “I wonder if they used that tripod in the hangar to adjust the camera’s height.”

What tripod in the hangar? She’s talking like there was one there that we found during the investigation, but… there wasn’t? (If there wasn’t, it doesn’t have to be a plot-hole; Kaito could have taken it with him into the Exisal to hide it.)

Maki:  “Then… that logic is correct, right? Kokichi used that video angle trick, and switched the victim in the hydraulic press. In that case, Kaito is—”

Maki is the first one to summarise this discussion and get to the point that this means Kaito’s alive, right? and it’s adorable.

Shuichi:  “Himiko, the different body you mentioned… What are you talking about?”

Himiko:  “The bodies from the other cases. Kokichi’s the mastermind, so he’d— Nyeh…? Wait… The mastermind…?”

Shuichi:  “Yeah. Kokichi isn’t the mastermind, so… I don’t think he’d be able to produce a body to switch out.”

Maki:  “…What?”

It seems that most of them, Maki included, were still casually assuming that Kokichi pulled a case 5 from the first Danganronpa and swapped in an older dead body. Which makes sense for them to think, since their heads are full of Hope’s Peak right now, and they also still haven’t shaken off the impression in their minds that Kokichi is the mastermind even though it’s been disproven.

But that would be a rather boring story if it were true. That’d mean that Kokichi is the one in the Exisal after all, and sure, Kaito’s alive, but he’s just hidden somewhere in the school, completely oblivious to the trial going on, still just an unwitting pawn in Kokichi’s plan with no agency of his own. That’s no fun at all. Kaito deserves better than that, narratively speaking. Kaito would have wanted better than that, to be more of a hero than that in his last day alive, no matter what it meant he had to do.

Keebo:  “Well, Monokuma? Do the rules allow for a body to be reused?”

Monokuma:  “Very well. I’ll answer that.”

Exisal Kokichi:  “…You’re giving in pretty easily.”

Monokuma:  “Well, it’s crucial information to make the trial fair. This discussion is pointless if it’s not clear what the culprit was allowed to do, right?”

Exisal Kokichi:  “Ah-haha, you’ve a convenient mastermind. But I guess that makes defeating you worth my time.”

Not sure this last line of Exisal Kokichi’s is actually scripted. “Worth my time” seems like one hell of an understatement for how Kokichi really felt about defeating Monokuma and the mastermind, given the desperate, twisted lengths he was willing to go to for it and how much more passionately he was gloating about it in the script earlier. This might just be Kaito trying to ad-lib an approximation of how Kokichi feels about this, based on said earlier scripted speech, and not quite getting into it enough.

Monokuma confirms that it was impossible to re-use a dead body.

Shuichi:  “…” (Kokichi and Kaito were the only ones in the hangar at the time. If they were the only ones present during the body-swapping trick… Then the real victim was…)

Shuichi looks intensely worried here as he realises this. His narration makes it seem like he’s being shaken at the realisation of who the victim was, but that doesn’t really make sense. He’d already accepted at the beginning of this case that one of the two of them has to be dead, and he was quite happy for Kokichi to be dead if it meant Kaito was alive.

What Shuichi’s really got to be horrified about here is the realisation of who the culprit is. He’s just approaching that topic in the most indirect way possible in his mind because he still doesn’t enjoy facing painful truths like this.

If you get this question wrong and say the victim was a third party, Maki has an extra line to fill Shuichi’s silence as he explains to himself why that’s not possible.

Maki:  “If there were no other bodies… then how the hell?”

She is so confused. Kokichi being the victim would mean that Kaito has to be the killer, but obviously it’s completely impossible that Kaito would ever do that, so this is clearly an unsolvable conundrum.

Maki:  “…What’s wrong, Shuichi? Who did Kaito switch places with?”

And back to the canon voiced lines from getting it right, Maki sounds somewhat frantic. Either she’s worried that Shuichi’s silence means he’s realised something that proves Kaito didn’t switch with anyone and is dead after all… or perhaps, somewhere deep down she’s also realised the truth and is even more afraid of admitting it than Shuichi.

Shuichi:  “Maki… I think I missed something very important here…”

I enjoy the sense given here that Shuichi and Maki’s excited hope of a few minutes ago has come screeching to an awkward halt. They were all so focused on the idea that Kaito was still alive and figuring out how to prove it was possible that nobody took a step back to look at the bigger picture and realise the full implications of what it would mean if Kaito really was alive. In some ways, this is actually worse than Kaito being the victim.

(It’s not, of course; it is immeasurably better. But they’re not looking at this as a narrative. They don’t mind if Kaito doesn’t get to be a hero and just want their friend to survive and preferably not be a murderer.)

Shuichi goes on to deduce that Kaito and Kokichi were working together. Which really kind of makes more sense being deduced after figuring out that Kaito was the culprit, in order to then establish the how and a tiny bit of the why. But nope, Shuichi’s leaving that conclusion until the last possible moment.

Shuichi:  “I can’t believe I overlooked this!”

Overlooking them working together until now isn’t something to be kicking himself about. The notion that Kaito and Kokichi would ever co-operate is inconceivable enough that of course it wouldn’t ever come to mind until you have basically conclusive proof that it must have happened, and he only just figured out that proof. Which means that really Shuichi is kicking himself about not having considered during all of his hopeful deductions earlier that if Kaito is alive then he almost certainly killed Kokichi. Shuichi still isn’t willing to think about that directly.

Shuichi:  “If they switched places while the press and the camera were stopped… then the person who turned the camera and the press back on was the original victim.”

Even as he’s explaining the switch, he’s using these vague placeholder terms despite knowing full well who he’s talking about. He does not want to say it.

Monokuma:  “Geez, this culprit’s a real jerk.”

Heh. Only to you, Monokuma.

I love the way he says this at the point where it is 100% clear that he’s talking about Kaito. It’s some delightful irony, knowing that really this culprit one of the least jerkish people around, and yet also he has been acting like a jerk for most of this trial, all for the purpose of pissing off Monokuma and saving his friends.

Monokuma:  “…So, have you realised whodunnit yet?”

Maki:  “…”

Maki’s distant, worried expression here makes it clear that she very much has.

Shuichi:  (The culprit of the case… If my detective work hasn’t failed me, the culprit is inside that Exisal…)

Exisal:  “…”

I love that it no longer displays it as “Exisal Kokichi” here. This is the first time Shuichi has looked at that Exisal without making the assumption that it’s Kokichi in there.

Actually, that’s also an interesting point. Despite how much Shuichi was desperately insisting Kaito could be alive at the beginning of the trial, he never properly extended that to figure that if Kaito really was alive, then he must be the one in the Exisal. He never even acknowledged the possibility of that until now. Partly that’s because he never truly believed Kaito was alive back then, of course. But perhaps it was also that thinking Kaito was in the Exisal was almost as bad as thinking he was dead – because that’d mean Kaito was actively deceiving them for some inconceivable reason.

The question the game asks you here in this accusation screen is “Who is in the Exisal?”. Not “Who is the culprit?”, even though Shuichi knows full well that that’s what he’s proving here. He still does not want to think about that and would rather think of it as proving that Kaito is alive after all.

(First-time-me, meanwhile, was elated to have reached this near-confirmation that Kaito was not only alive but had been inside that Exisal the whole time. It’s not just that his friends are going to get to see him again, but also that he’s been playing an active, integral role in this whole trial, fighting as hard as he can to defeat Monokuma and save everyone. This is exactly the narrative Kaito deserved.)

Shuichi:  “If the two of them switched while the press was stopped… then the culprit who started the hydraulic press again and crushed Kokichi… must be Kaito!”

Instead of just straight-up saying “Kaito is the culprit” after you make the choice, Shuichi goes on to re-explain the victim switch, except using actual names this time, in order to end on the conclusion here that the culprit is Kaito. It’s like he still can’t bring himself to admit it unless he justifies to himself that this has to be what happened.

Shuichi:  “I don’t want to believe it either… but it’s the only way any of this makes sense. My detective work has led me to the conclusion that Kaito is the culprit.”

I like how Shuichi stresses it being from his detective work. The Ultimate Detective may have figured this out, but Shuichi Saihara alone would never have been able to conceive of the idea that his best friend would kill anyone.

Exisal:  “…”

Kaito’s being very quiet during this whole part. It is possible that Kokichi didn’t cover this eventuality in the script – more on that later.

(Kaito’s probably feeling incredibly proud of Shuichi for figuring it out, even as he’s also thinking, “well, shit, what do I do now?”. He’s still not about to just give up and admit it, of course!)

Tsumugi:  “Hey, answer us! If you really are Kaito, then—”

Maki:  “I’m the culprit.”

Shuichi:  (Huh?)

Maki:  “There’s no way that Kaito can still be alive… Because I’m the culprit.”

It is so heartbreaking that Maki would rather have a narrative where Kaito is dead and she killed him than one in which he’s alive but he killed anyone at all. She said just before the investigation began that Kaito being the culprit is even more impossible than him being dead, and she still desperately wants that to be the case.

(And note how she’s not trying to get the best of both worlds by arguing that she killed Kokichi and so Kaito is both alive and spotless. Which means that even though she’s not admitting it, she knows that if Kaito were alive then he’d definitely have killed Kokichi before the poison could in order to protect her. The only way for him to conceivably not be the culprit is if he’s dead, therefore that has to be the truth.)

Maki:  “I saw it with my own eyes. Kokichi drank the antidote that he stole from Kaito… There’s no doubt Kaito died.”

She makes this argument, but it no longer holds any water. Now that we’ve established that Kokichi’s plan was to die while making everyone think he was still alive by having Kaito pretend to be him inside the Exisal, obviously Kokichi needed Kaito to live and not himself, so obviously he would have wanted to give Kaito the antidote. As soon as you realise that, it’s clear that him drinking the antidote was a lie.

Maki is smart enough that she’s got to have realised this. She’s only making this argument because it’s basically the only argument left to make, even though she knows it’s wrong.

Maki:  “And he died because of my poison arrow.”

She’s also insisting that, given Kokichi totally drank the antidote, Kaito definitely died because of her, never mind the possibility presented earlier that Kaito was crushed to death by Kokichi. (Which is actually fair, because that’d mean Maki would still bear the responsibility for Kaito’s death since he would have died thanks to her either way. Look who’s not trying to run away from her responsibility in killing someone.)

Himiko:  “But you told us you didn’t want to kill Kaito and—”

Maki:  “Yes, I never wanted to. I wanted to believe that I didn’t kill him. But… the truth speaks differently. In the end, I was just running away from the facts.”

She’s still willing to acknowledge at this point that she didn’t want to kill him – and yet even then, she’d still rather have killed Kaito despite that than think that he could have killed anyone.

Shuichi:  (Maki, are you…? Trying to protect Kaito? If he’s the culprit, you’re trying to help him get away?)

That doesn’t make any sense, Shuichi. There’s nowhere to escape to, as far as both you and Maki know. If Kaito is the culprit, then there is absolutely no way he’d want to get away with it, because it’d get everyone else killed. The only circumstances in which he’d ever be trying to do that is if he’s (inconceivably) not actually the person we believed in, in which case he wouldn’t deserve anyone trying to protect him. Maki is smart enough to realise all this, too.

What Maki is doing here is running away from the truth that Kaito did it. She knows he must be the killer, but she just can’t bear to accept it. Just like Kaito was with Gonta last trial. It’s ironic how during the investigation she accused Shuichi of being the same way about the “truth” of Kaito’s death, but in the end, she’s the one who’s ended up acting most strongly that way.

(Kaito’s got to have realised that this is what Maki is doing, especially since he was guilty of it himself once before. On the one hand he must be happy that she wants to believe in him this much, but on the other hand he massively regretted doing this kind of thing to Shuichi last trial and it has to hurt to see Maki doing essentially the same. And of course, he still can’t say anything to make this situation any better.)

Maki:  “There was only one antidote, so it’s more likely he died from my poison arrow. This is the truth…”

Exisal Kokichi:  “It’s not decided yet. I could’ve still killed him with the hydraulic press.”

This is the first thing Kaito’s said since a while before Shuichi accused him. He was probably intending to just stay quiet entirely, but not when Maki is happy to make herself into the murderer in order to run away from the truth. He must really just want to tell her that she didn’t kill anyone because he killed Kokichi, but he’s still being stubborn and refusing to give up on the plan even though it’s almost completely hopeless now. Nonetheless, he can still try and help Maki just a little by reminding everyone that even in his version of events in which he is totally Kokichi and Kaito is totally dead, it’s possible that Maki technically didn’t kill anyone at all.

And again, this is not even remotely what the real Kokichi would say here – he’d be jumping on the idea that the horrible murderous Maki seems to want to think she killed Kaito and cruelly taunting her about it. Yet again, Kaito’s making it pretty damn clear that he’s not Kokichi. Nobody picks up on this even now that they’re aware it really probably is Kaito in there, but still.

(Kokichi would also have loved to gleefully rub in the idea that Kaito killed someone despite how much they all trusted him… but him hypothetically doing that here gets a bit paradoxical.)

Exisal Kokichi:  “Either way, those are the two options. Monokuma knows the answer, riiight?”

Monokuma:  “…Huh? Are those the only options?”

Yup, definitely just those two options, not any options that involve Kaito being alive and having done it. Kaito is blatantly ignoring the entire conversation they just had deducing that he did it and is taking the opportunity from Maki’s desperate deflecting confession to keep trying to push his narrative onto Monokuma even though it’s near hopeless. He is so damn stubborn.

Also note him again implying that Monokuma actually doesn’t know the answer, since proving that is really what Kaito’s been trying to achieve this whole time given that he knew the main goal would fail. This is probably not scripted, after all – I highly doubt Kokichi predicted that Maki would do this. Kokichi assuming that anyone would believe in someone else is difficult enough for him at the best of times, but even more so when it’s Maki the horrible backstabbing assassin.

Maki:  “There’s no mistake… Kaito is dead… I… killed Kaito… There is absolutely… no doubt. That’s… the truth.”

You very clearly don’t really believe that, Maki.

(It’s okay, though. Kaito is still the person you believe in! And him being still alive means you’ll get to talk to him one last time!)

Shuichi:  (Ah, I thought so. Maki is trying to protect Kaito.)

No, Shuichi, she’s not! If she were doing that, she’d be stupid!

Shuichi:  (I understand how she feels, but if Kaito is the culprit… Why did he agree to Kokichi’s plan?)

Exisal Kokichi:  “…”

Shuichi:  (I can’t imagine that Kaito would do something so selfish…)

Because it’s not selfish, obviously! The reason why Kaito is doing this should be quite clear. We’ve already established that the point of Kokichi’s plan is to fool Monokuma and “defeat” him. That would be something Kaito would want to do too! Kaito is also trying to defeat Monokuma! Is that not enough, Shuichi?

Shuichi is an amazing detective in terms of piecing together the facts from the evidence, but it seems he’s not always that great at figuring out people and the motives behind their actions, even when those people are his closest friends. (Meanwhile, figuring out the people more than the facts is what Kaito is best at! He and Shuichi complement each other so well.)

I’m also a little disappointed he’s stopped viewing the Exisal as just “Exisal” when it’s not speaking and actively sounding like Kokichi. He knows it’s not Kokichi in there now!

Shuichi:  (There must be a reason for it. I truly believe that…)

At least, even while Shuichi is taking way longer than he should to figure out this reason, he is still as certain as he ought to be that there is a reason and Kaito is still definitely on their side. Shuichi may be rather slow on the uptake here, but that never for a second makes him not believe in Kaito.

Shuichi:  “You saw him drink it right in front of you, but you couldn’t confirm he actually did it. So maybe… there’s another possibility.”

Maki:  “What… are you talking about? Impossible… That’s… impossible…”

Another possibility that means that Kaito killed someone? No, can’t be possible. Can’t be.

Maki:  “There is no other possibility! I killed Kaito!”

Definitely no other possibility. She is definitely not already aware of exactly what this possibility is.

The point of Argument Armaments is always that the subject already knows the final bit of proof and just starts yelling furiously to try and stop Shuichi from actually getting to prove it. Usually this is because the subject is the culprit, so of course they know what the proof is. But I love that this even applies to the two times in this game that the subject isn’t the culprit and is just desperately defending someone else – both times, they already know they’re wrong and just can’t bear to face it.

“Don’t reveal the truth… anymore!”

This is one of Maki’s lines for the thing where she blocks your view. She knows full well that what Shuichi’s about to reveal is the truth and just doesn’t want him to force her to accept it. And she’s in a slightly less stubborn amount of denial than Kaito was last trial, since she’s at least vaguely acknowledging this in her words. That would be because Kaito was not only running away from the truth but also running away from the fact that that was what he was doing, whereas Maki here does not have quite as many layers of issues over this and so is willing to acknowledge on some level that she is running away from the truth.

…Yep, Maki’s Argument Armament definitely has button patterns that aren’t quite as difficult as Kaito’s. (I know this without having to go back and check Kaito’s, because I am quite familiar with how his goes.) I mentioned last trial that I found Kaito’s the hardest, and it seems that isn’t just me; that’s a thing the game developers did on purpose. They are both very similar situations, but Kaito definitely did have more issues and more denial going on than Maki does here, and I love that the writers got that across in the difficulty, too.

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#danganronpa #danganronpa v3 #drv3 #ndrv3 #chapter 5 #class trial #commentary

[imaginedanganronpa]

Hi I really like the mute s/o witnessing murder story you did! so can you plz make a Mute s/o that finds out the v3 cast (Seperetly of course) is the mastermind and avoids them until they find out about it?

Thank you, I’m glad you likedit! This Request is referencing THIS post if you guys want to checkthat one out, too! I’m also going to cut this because of how ridiculously long it is.

Mute!S/OFinding Out the V3 Cast Are the Masterminds!

Kaede Akamatsu

Kaede took the role as the leader upon first entering this KillingGame, which is what originally attracted you to her. She was so dead-set onescaping and guiding the others to the truth that she seemed like someone youcould easily trust, and it was inspiring.

You knew you were at a disadvantage from the start of this KillingGame since you were mute, but Kaede made a promise to do everything in herpower to protect you; you had no other choice but to believe her.

She was such a kind and gentle soul, and by far the mostdetermined and passionate student here. Just being around her brought you peaceof mind and filled you with determination to survive this.

But little did you know, her desire to escape was simply a façadeand she was actually just trying to steer the others into a differentdirection, away from uncovering the real truth…

You spent plenty of time in Kaede’s dorm since you felt safethere. While she relied on Saihara to solve the murders, she would uncoverevidence that not even he was awareof. It seemed a bit strange but you shrug it off because someone like Kaedewould never be the Mastermind… right?

She excused herself momentarily and that’s when you started yourown investigation. 

After snooping through her dresser for quite some time, youfound plans and papers about the Monokuma Drones and the Killing Game, photosof the murders as they occurred that no one else had seen. You wondered howKaede possibly gained access to these and… why she wasn’t telling anyone aboutit.

You heard her footsteps approaching and hastily shoved the papersback into her drawer, scurrying to sit back on the edge of her bed and look asnatural as possible.

She could tell something was off at first. “Is something wrong,(Y/N)?” Kaede asks softly, and you hastily shake your head in response. Fromthat point on, you tried signalling to Saihara that she was someone whocouldn’t be trusted, but he never picked up on your hints. 

Kaede was always anearshot away, always by your side, even more now that you’ve made yourdiscovery; it’s as if she knew something was fishy and was monitoring you closely. You didn’t speak to hernearly as much as you used to out of fear and distrust, avoiding her eventhough Kaede still inserted herself in your life.

After several of your failed attempts to confide in the Detective,she finally snapped. Her eyes dropped to the ground, but her smile twisted intosomething evil as she let out a laugh. She grabbed your wrist and leads youinto a secluded area, and all you could do was helplessly comply.

“You know something, don’t you, (Y/N)?” She asks as if you wouldrespond. In an instant, Kaede dropped her sweet act and revealed her trueintentions. “When Shuichi accused me of killing Rantaro, you should’ve alllistened to him… instead, you let me execute poor, innocent Tsumugi!” All ofyour fears were being confirmed and you felt vulnerable.

None of it made sense, she wanted so badly to escape! Had she reallybeen playing you all into her hands from the beginning? 

“I’ve been keeping an eye on you since I figured out that you knewmy real identity, and I can’t just let you go now, upupupu!” Kaede’s twistedgiggle sent chills down your spine. “Of course, I never wanted to actually escape, I’m only leading you idiots intomy trap! I did love you, (Y/N), so what should I do with you now?”

Fear started to course through your veins. You opened your mouthas if you were going to protest and, of course, nothing came out. You couldn’tfight back or question her: all you could do was let her have her way with you,and she knew it. 

“So what? Will you tell the othersand have them execute me? How does it feel, falling in love with a killer? I’msorry I lied to you, (Y/N), but can’t you feel the Despair now? Doesn’t it feelwonderful?!”

This… isn’t the Kaede that you know and love. This is a monster.

Saihara Shuichi

You two met at the start of the Killing Game when you woke up inthe same room together and almost instantly clicked. He could quickly tell thatthere was something different about you, and after explaining that he was theUltimate Detective, he also explained that he figured out that you weremute. 

But Saihara was so sweet towards you and stayed by your side afteryour meeting, vowing to protect you. He got easily flustered around you and hisDetective intuition made it easy for him to tell what you were thinking.

He could read you like a book and never tried forcing you to talk.He seemed like the most genuine person here, and the last person you would eversuspect of being the Mastermind.

Saihara was a Detective meant to solve homicides, so why would hebe the Mastermind in this situation? Their goal is to kill as many of you aspossible and bring you Despair, so why would he seamlessly solve each Case and help you out ifhe was the one responsible for this situation?

But sometimes, it seemed like he knew too muchand you wondered how he even got some of this information, but you gave him thebenefit of the doubt and Saihara insisted that that’s just because he’s anUltimate.

You didn’t really have any other choice but to trust him. Heplayed it off well enough but you were right to have your suspicions.

You slept in his room on most nights since there wasn’t really arule that said you couldn’t; you just felt safer in Saihara’s arms. As youreyes drifted close, you could feel him shifting beside you. He must havethought you were asleep by now, so you kept your eyes shut tightly and remainedstill, not daring to move a muscle.

You felt Saihara rise out of bed beside you and his footstepstraveling towards the door. He muttered an apology under his breath, and youwondered what that could have meant.

Once the door was shut and you knew he was gone, you slowly openedyour eyes and crept outside, following him from a distance. You followedSaihara until he turned around the corner and slipped into the Boys’ Bathroom.You had no other choice and you’ve already come this far, so with a deep breathyou push forward.

He was a bit too careless and left his secret tunnel leading intothe Mastermind’s room open. You had no idea what to make out of it and pinchedyourself to make sure you weren’t dreaming.

Your eyes widen with fear and you scamper back to his bedroom,readjusting your position and pretending to be asleep. He soon came back andslipped in bed beside you as if nothing had happened. Clearly, you weredisturbed as the reality soon hit you, but there had to be an explanation!Maybe he found the room on his own and was trying to figure out who theMastermind really was.

For the next several days, you distance yourself from Saihara. Youwere terrified of the man who was playing you all like a fiddle. How could youof all people communicate your discovery to the others? Everyone here trustedSaihara, and they shouldn’t.

Of course he figured out that you knew, his talent wasn’tfabricated. He could connect the dots and realize that you had uncovered hisidentity, but he didn’t want to believe it either.

Since you started avoiding him you’ve been staying in your ownroom. After Night-Time started and you returned to your dorm, you were shockedto find Saihara waiting patiently for you on your bed, letting out an inaudibleyelp. 

A dark, sinister grin formed on his lips and something about hiseyes seemed more evil than before. How could this shy, sweet boy do all ofthis? Patting the bed beside him, he gestured for you to come closer but yourefused. “Oh, (Y/N), I’m not happy with this outcome, either. But… I wasbored. I wanted to bring Despair to you all because I didn’t have anythingbetter to do. Is that so wrong?”

All of the air was trapped in your throat and you wondered how theHell he could possibly be serious. You wanted to scream at him, but all youcould do was cry as hot tears streamed down your cheeks.

He offered his hand and asked you to join him, but how could you?

Maki Harukawa

From the beginning, she was cold towards almost everyone…almost. Maki gave you her cold shoulder initially, keeping you at the samedistance as everyone else, but soon started to come around. She could tell thatyou and her were one in the same and that’s when she started to finally open uparound you.

You assumed that the Mastermind wouldn’t be someone you’d suspect,so you ruled out Maki early on. After she opened up to you about her realtalent as the Ultimate Assassin, you started to realize that she is someone youcould trust after all. You felt a sense of comfort in her presence and slowlyfell for her after that.

Maybe that was just her plan to get you onto her side, because thelonger this Game went on, the less she wanted to kill you…

You were the only person Maki allowed into her Lab since shehadn’t revealed her true talent to anyone else yet. Most of your time spenttogether was spent in silence, but it was still comforting. Having someone thatyou felt safe around is all you could ask for anymore.

But things can’t stay peaceful forever and you quickly realizethat you can’t trust just anyone, not even the woman you loved.

You and Maki were walking back from one of your Training Sessionswith Kaito, when she excused herself for a moment. You watched her disappearinto the Courtyard and out of sight, and she didn’t give you any time toprotest before she walked away.

Curiously, you follow her. It’s not unlike Maki to suddenlydisappear, but she usually tells you where she’s going beforehand. A sinking gutfeeling in your stomach told you to track her, so you remained as quiet aspossible as you creep behind her, watching intently.

Her skills as an Assassin must have been dull, or maybe you’rejust good at being silent. Either way, she didn’t notice you after she meets upwith Monokuma and started to talk to him. Their conversation unfolded andrevealed information that you weren’t supposed to know…

Information that Maki wasn’t supposed to know either. How? It didn’t make sense until she let out abloodcurdling laugh that caused goosebumps to rise on your skin. It didn’t takelong for the dominoes to fall after that.

You started to avoid Maki since there was no way you could trusther after that. You didn’t want to believe that she was the Mastermind, butthere was no other explanation for what you saw that night.

Maki was able to hide behind the Child Caregiver talent when inreality, something much darker was afoot. She seemed too obvious to be the Mastermind; therewere other more suspicious people in the Academy. You didn’t want to believe itbut the proof was right before your very eyes.

After avoiding Maki for several days, she finally cornered you,causing you to jump at her sudden appearance. “Why have you been avoiding me?”She positioned her arm in a way that trapped you and prevented you fromleaving.

It’s like she could tell with one look. She become violent andwrapped her fingers around your throat, her eyes growing intense. “What doyou know?” Since when was she so hostile towards you?

Maki seemed to forget that you were mute and her interrogationproved unsuccessful, as you just stared at her with a bewildered expression.She eventually released you and pulled out her knife, pressing it against yoursoft skin.

This was the first time you ever saw her smile, genuinely smile, and it made youtremble. “You know, I’ve been lying to you this whole time,” she hesitatedand her features softened briefly, “my feelings for you weren’t a lie, though.”

Her grip tightened and her mask that she hid behind so well beganto crumble, twitching. “I don’t want to hurt you… I just want you to comeonto the side of Despair and help me continue my work. Please, (Y/N)?”

You were in utter disbelief and a part of you wanted to laugh ifyou could. You started going into a state of shock as you shook your head andthoughts raced through your mind. Your silence only pissed Maki off even moreand she got serious.

“If you don’t join me and try to out me as the Mastermind, don’tthink I won’t kill you.” This was… real, she was really threatening you rightnow and literally had you backed into a corner.

All you wanted to do was disappear and give up. There’s no way youwould let Despair win, but you weren’t ready to die, either. 

Ouma Kokichi

Out of everyone here, Ouma was undoubtedly he most suspiciousperson regarding the Mastermind’s identity – he was shady and untrustworthy,but you always thought that that was all an act. He was far tooover-exaggerated to be taken seriously, right?

That’s what you wanted to believe anyway. Ouma treated youdifferently once he found out that you were mute and he refrained from teasingyou too much, saving that more someone more ‘deserving.’

And he always showed you compassion and love, so you wanted tobelieve that that was the truth and that his ‘evil’ personality was justthe mask he put on in front of the others.

But you just can’t trust people like Ouma, especially in ahigh-stakes situation like yours. Everyone warned you to be careful since hemay not be nearly as loving as he plays himself up to be, and you startedwondering if he was only stringing you along in a complicated lie.

If only you knew how right you were.

You were beginning to get sick of the rumors and wanted to uncoverthe truth for yourself, once and for all. Some of the others were alreadyaccusing him of being the Mastermind and he never really fought againstthem, just smirking and teasing them rather than refuting their claims.

You started heading towards Ouma’s Research Lab where he had beenhiding out recently to put an end to this once and for all. There were still so many things you didn’t know about him and hoped that his Lab would provide answers.

Only to unravel his dirty little secret and catch him talking tothe Exisals and commanding them to go on patrol duty. After the giant killer machinesdispersed, you backed away and covered your mouth as if that would do anything. 

Your eyes widened and your heart started to race because Monokuma has said atthe start that the only person the Exisals would take orders from is… theMastermind.

You avoided him out of fear, going into a state of denial overwhat you had just witnessed. You couldn’t scream and couldn’t actuallycommunicate with him, so what else were you supposed to do to defend yourself?And if he really was the Mastermind, then it’snot like he would be willing to compromise with you.

You worried that he would just kill you on the spot, unsure ofwhat he was truly capable of. You just couldn’t believe it - that out of everything he said and did, that wasn’t a lie.

Ouma kept up his cutesy act around you, as if nothing had everhappened. He was like a whole new person with a different personality and youstarted to wonder which side of him was the real one.

You desperately tried thinking of a way to tell the others whatyou had found out, but how? Ouma was the only person who could understand youand he was out of the question.

Once he realized that you knew his dark secret, an evil grintwisted on his face. Ouma approached you while you were alone in your dorm tofinally settle this. “Oh, so (Y/N) found me out, huh? Well, it’s not likeyou’ll fucking tell anyone, anyway!” He says in a disturbingly upbeattone. You were surprised by how blunt he was, somewhat taken aback.

He shoved you onto your bed and forced you into a sittingposition, proceeding to circle you like a shark. “So, what is (Y/N)-Changoing to do about it? I’m the Mastermind! I can’t just let you live, but Idon’t want you to die, either. Oh, what a predicament I’m in!”

There he goes, acting as if he’s the one in peril. You’ve seen himact suspicious before, but this was on a whole new level. It was like a Game tohim, and he was cheering as if he was having fun.

“I only created this Killing Game out of boredom. I knew that noone would trust me, but you… you’re special. I can bring you onto my side, orI can execute you. Either way, I don’t really care… your choice. Both will bring me even more Despair!”

It was hard to believe that this was reality, because this is the kind of thing you could expect from Ouma. But the truth is that… the man you loved is the reason why you’re here, and you’re not sure if you could ever love him the same way after all of this.

Himiko Yumeno

No one would ever suspect Himiko of being the Mastermindresponsible for this situation, especially not you. You met Himiko when youfirst woke up here and were wholeheartedly convinced that she wasn’t capable ofsomething like this.

Between her sleepy and lazy persona and to her bottled upemotions, she didn’t seem like a likely candidate. She didn’t have the energyor drive to hold a Killing Game, and she often showed a lack of interest inwhat was going on. It just didn’t make any sense to you.

Besides, Himiko was kind and loved everyone here, almost. Shealways involved you in the group even if you couldn’t vocally participate, althoughshe could be a bit ditsy at times; she did her best to contribute and be anactive member in the Trials. 

You’d think that the Mastermind would try steeringyou away from the truth, but she always put her heart into them.

She was far too cutesy so have malicious intentions. Everytime you looked at her, your heart would swoon and you fell for her fast andhard – she often joked that that was a result of her magic, and that she put a Love Spellon you.

Himiko didn’t make it to the mandatory morning meeting, so theothers requested that you go look for her since you were one of the only peopleshe trusted and would confide in. Nodding wordlessly, you start making your wayto her dorm.

You place your ear on the outside of her door and listen closely,hearing voices coming from inside. It was certainly Himiko’s voice, but wasthat… the Monokubz? You were sure of it.

Your jaw dropped when you realized that they were talking aboutthe Killing Game. All you could do was stand there, flabbergasted and your mindwent completely blank. Why were they talking, especially in private, about theKilling Game?

You hastily made your way back to the others, shaking your headwith a pale look on your face. From then on, you avoided Himiko without givingher any sort of explanation as to why. You needed to be alone while you came upwith any possible solution for this. The others were wary and could sense thatsomething was wrong, so they distanced themselves from you.

This made it easy for Himiko to corner you when she got thechance. With a cute pout, she gazed up at you with those big, loving eyes. “Didsomething happen, (Y/N)? Why have you been avoiding me? You’re not planningto kill anyone, are you?” Due to the current circumstances, that sentence causedyou to shiver with terror.

She could tell by the way you looked at her, and her reactionsgave her away. She seemed shocked at first, shaking her head and staring at youwith hurt eyes. “Are you serious, (Y/N)? Me, of all people?” A tinge ofdisbelief filled her voice and she seemed taken aback by your implications. Butyou knew what you heard and there was no way she wasn’t incriminating herself.As much as you didn’t want to believe it, you had to face reality.

Her mouth twitched into a smile and suddenly, Himiko burst into afit of sinister laughter as she wiped a tear from her eye.

“Oh, I knew I couldn’t keep it up for too much longer!” Sheexclaims as she starts making her way towards you, causing you to back upslowly. “Now, the question is… what should I do with you now?”

In an instant, the cute girl you loved turned into a twisted,unstable person. Is this what the Mastermind was really like? You started to become defensive, your eyes darting around the room as you searched forany sign of help, which only caused her to laugh more. “No one is going to comelooking for you! Now, should I cast a Forgetting Spell on you, or just kill yououtright?”

Himiko was like a whole new person. “I was starting to get bored. It took you long enough to figure me out!” 

The closer she got to you, themore crazed her eyes became. Your features softened, and you wanted to ask herwhy she was doing this but nothing would come out.

Rantaro Amami

If there was anyone here who understood you, it would be Rantaro.He was so gentle towards you and, other than Saihara, he was the only one whoseemed to know what you were thinking.

You were drawn to his personality because of how relaxed he was inthis situation, and he seemed to be the calmest out of the whole group. Youoften wondered how he was able to stay so relaxed like this but dismissed anyincriminating thoughts.

Because there’s no way someone that caring could be theringleader. Rantaro gave off a very welcoming vibe, and if he insisted that hewasn’t a bad person then who are you to question him? That sort of thinkingmight end up getting you killed, but you wanted to put more faith into the manyou loved so dearly.

Since you are mute, you were at a clear disadvantage from thestart. Rantaro felt for you and made a promise to protect you from harm, hisbrotherly instincts clouding his judgement. All he wanted to do was keep yousafe, which is something he couldn’t always do for his blood siblings. But youwere different than the rest, and he really did care for you.

You two got close from the start and were always together, nevertoo far apart. The others would worry if you were ever separated so it was hardfor either of you to catch a break; the feelings came naturally.

That closeness may be his downfall, though. Rantaro brieflyexcused himself and parted ways with you, asking you to patiently wait forhim. But when you two aren’t together, you don’t feel safe. The longer he wasgone, the antsier you became. You knew how awful he would feel if somethingwere to happen to you in his absence, so you started searching for him.

But you couldn’t seem to find Rantaro anywhere. Eventually, youmade your way to the top of the building and peeked into his Lab, where you sawhim crouched down over what looked like a Monokuma Drone. A sinister laugh escapedhis lips and caused you to tilt your head in confusion.

As if sensing that you were there, he snapped his head around justas you ducked behind a corner. The way he was talking to himself and his tonedidn’t sound like the Rantaro you knew and loved, and fear started to run through yourveins.

As much as it hurt, you started to avoid him for your own good.You weren’t entirely sure what you saw that morning, but you had a bad gutfeeling about it and you couldn’t keep him close as long as you had thesesuspicions. You wished there was a simple solution.

Rantaro’s instincts are keen, though. It didn’t take him long torealize you were purposefully avoiding him and he started to seek out yourcomfort, giving you his best puppy-dog eyes that always caused your heart toleap. Even when you were terrified of him, he still knew how to make you swoon.

But as you looked at him right now, your eyes filled with tears.He was sharp and immediately understood what was going on.

“Oh, (Y/N), you found out, huh?” He tilts his head to one side andlooks at you with those big, piercing eyes, “I knew you were clever, I’msurprised you didn’t find out sooner, but I knew this would happen eventually.”

You didn’t want to believe that he was the Mastermind and you feltyour stomach start twisting in knots at the thought. You knew that the otherswere suspicious of Rantaro due to his amnesia but you thought he was betterthan that. “I told you I’m not a bad guy… maybe that was a lie,” he shruggednonchalantly. Your eyes widened with fear, how could you trust him anymore? You have never felt so betrayed.

You always thought he knew more than he was leading on…

He takes your hand in his and kisses the top, still strangely calmafter his identity has been discovered. “Please, join me. I’ve been thinkingabout this moment for a long time now. Come onto the side of Despair and I’ll make sure we get out of here together, and we can rule the world…”

Tenko Chabashira

Tenko always seemed to gravitate towards you and was moreprotective over you than anyone else here, likely because you were mute. Shealways talked about how you didn’t deserve to be in this situation, and aMastermind wouldn’t say things like that, right?

And it always sounded so genuine and heartfelt. In your eyes, theMastermind wouldn’t be a bubbly and kind person like her, which ruled Tenkoout. She wasn’t someone that anyone would really suspect, anyway.

It was hard for Tenko to control her emotions, especially indrastic times of need, so you never thought that the Mastermind could besomeone like her. She was always so kind towards you and didn’t seem like abloodthirsty person, right? And someone that sinister wouldn’t be prone tooutbursts.

These are the things you continuedtelling yourself, but perhaps you were just blinded by love. You truly did havefeelings for her and felt safe in her presence, never seeing a reason to doubther.

Tenko did her best to translate for you and claimed to be able toread your thoughts, but you don’t really buy into that. She wasn’t thebrightest but you loved her anyway.

And since this Killing Game started, you and Tenko have beenjoined at the hip. You sleep in one another’s room, however it’s normally inhers where she feels more comfortable protecting you. It makes you feelcomforted knowing that you had someone there who cared about you.

You have a bad habit of looking through other people’s belongingswhen your mind starts to wander, and you were snooping through her things aftershe had fallen asleep. After some digging, you uncovered a scrap of paper thatlooked like the blueprints to the Exisals.

Of course, you couldn’t say anything or confront her about thembut you immediately became scared and suspicious. Looking over yourshoulder, you examined the beautiful, sleeping face of the woman you adored,and wondered how she got ahold of these. Surely they couldn’t belong to her,right? This had to be a joke.

This beautiful girl sleeping peacefully couldn’t be theMastermind… right? You didn’t want to have to constantly look over yourshoulder or suspect your closest friend and partner, but maybe you had to.

Of course, you put the scraps back where you found them andrejoined her in bed, trying to put them out of your memory. But the possibilitythat Tenko could be the Mastermind was tormenting your thoughts.

Technically,anyone could be the leader, but her of all people? You never had a secondthought about it until now. Someone like her, with such a wild and caringpersonality, would be a perfect cover-up for a cold-hearted killer. And she may not be the keenest, but she did have a peculiarintuition when it came to your thoughts. 

Although you tried to avoid Tenkobefore coming up with a way to confront her about your findings, she corneredyou before you could form a real plan. You wanted to figure out a way to bringit up but she gave you no time at all to prepare, catching you off-guard.

She became increasingly needy and hostile, desperate to know whatyou knew. “(Y/N), tell me you’re not hiding something, please…” You could tellthat she was frantic, but she had no idea what you were feeling. You glued youreyes to the floor and retreated in fear, and it started to click.

“It’s not what it looks like!” At that point, she finally realizedwhat you found out and after you tried shoving your way past her, she grabbedyour arm forcefully and lashed out. “What are you going to do now?”

Tenko had never been violent with you before, but she couldn’t restrain herselfright now. Her grip was harsh and you knew it would leave a bruise, wincing inpain, but she didn’t let up. That’s when you finally saw her eyes and her realpersonality shines through the cracks.

You mouthed a ‘why’ to her and her face faltered. “Why? Why? Whatdo you mean why? Despair is the most wonderful feeling in the world!”

You shake your head, trying your best to break away from herbefore Tenko digs her nails into your skin. “I mainly just wanted an excuse todispose of the male scum of the Earth, haven’t you noticed a pattern? But then… I just gotaddicted to this Killing Game!”

Tears formed in your eyes and your heart was sore; the woman you loved was lying to you, tricked you all and had you wrapped around her finger.

Kiibo

Kiibo was so kind and clueless that you never thought he’d becapable of being the Mastermind.

You two got along because you were both the outliers, the misfits,of the group – you, being mute, and Kiibo being a Robot. That’s what inevitablybrought you two close together. He could sense that something was different about you from thevery start and found comfort in that.

You would often point to different functions of his and Kiibo wouldtalk about them, although he advised you to never press the button in thecenter of his chest because it was a self-destruct button. You wondered why hewould even need a self-destructbutton, but you wouldn’t attempt it for yours and his sake.

Regardless, he was sweet towards you, kinder than anyone else was,which is ironic since he can’t process empathy like humans can. Kiibo was alsojust as paranoid about this Killing Game as you were and didn’t understand alot of the things the others did, sometimes undermining the seriousness of thesituation.

But together, you each felt more confident. You felt like you hadsomeone you could go to and who would understand you. Kiibo knew what it waslike to be different and would never try forcing you to talk, and you fell forhim because of how open minded he was with you.

One night, you were playing with his functions as he shut himselfoff. You could still toy with them when he was in ‘Sleep Mode’ and itwouldn’t disturb him, in fact, he wouldn’t even know you were doing it. You didso out of sheer boredom since you couldn’t fall asleep and he told you that hedidn’t mind as long as you didn’t press that button.

You liked running your fingers along his metal body, all of his groovesand special features and wondered what it was like to be a Robot. He alwayspromised to show you all of his weapons and other forms once you got out ofhere.

Although, your eyes were beginning to feel heavy and you knew youneeded to join him in your slumber. As you rolled over,  your elbow accidentally pressed the button onhis chest, and you yelped in fear, shielding yourself. When Kiibo didn’tself-destruct, you stared at him curiously. Was it because he was ‘asleep’and that canceled out the function? Everything else worked perfectly fine, so you wonder if it was aglitch. Regardless, you were relieved that you didn’t just accidentally blowKiibo up.

But, then something curious happened. A red light flashed onKiibo’s built in monitor: it looked like a Monokuma face with a red background.You narrowed your eyes and took a closer look at the monitor, but it was gonein an instant – still, you knew what you saw and wondered why Monokuma wasprogrammed into Kiibo, and how you triggered it.

In the morning, he asked you about it and you told him that youhad no idea what he was talking about. Of course, he left out the part aboutMonokuma, which only heightened your suspicions.

You passed a note to Miu, asking if she knew anything about it,but she shakes her head. The more you thought about it, the more disturbing itbecame. You avoided Kiibo out of fear, just to protect yourself until you gotto the bottom of this. Maybe it was something the Mastermind built into himthat he didn’t know about?

Or maybe the possibility that he could be the Mastermind wasn’t sofar off in the first place…

Everything he said to you was a lie? There had to be a reason whythat was there? But Kiibo could read you better than anyone else here.

“Oh, (Y/N),” Kiibo sighs, “I’m not stupid, you know.” Yourheart speeds up as he emerges from the shadows, startling you as he is bluntand spills everything to you. “I know you pressed my button, and I guess Ishould finally tell you the truth. You’re right, it’s not a self-destructbutton.”

You helplessly watch in horror as he presses it and switches intoa different personality. Your mind was completely blank – you couldn’t evenprocess a thought.

“I knew when I woke up the following morning in my otherpersonality that someone had pressed it, and who else could have done it other than you?” He explained thatit’s a button that switches into his real personality as the Mastermind – and that fact sentchills down your spine. The sweet, loving Robot that you’ve come to know isn’teven real? That was fake and the real Kiibo… actually is the Mastermind.

He smirked devilishly. “I’ll give you props, (Y/N), I didn’texpect you to figure me out. But I guess I can’t hide anymore.”

This Kiibo was darker and more evil than the one everyone elseknew. His second personality was bloodthirsty and heartless, which is why he constructed this Killing Game. He was tired of being looked down upon for being different, which is why he cared about you so much.

Even though Kiibo tried luring you onto his side, you couldn’t join him and let him kill your friends… this Game was more complicated than you ever could have imagined, and you were in the center of it all.

Miu Iruma

Honestly, you never thought you would get along with Miu so well.She was so outgoing and bold that your personalities clashed but, as they say,opposites attract.

Miu continued to offer to make inventions that would help youspeak again or translate for you, but you always politely declined. Still, it was a kindoffer and you appreciated her thoughtfulness. She proved to you more than oncethat she would go out of her way for you and that was something you simply hadto give her credit for.

Of course, some people were wary of Miu and were turned off by her boldpersonality, but you gave her the benefit of the doubt. She showed her softer,more down to Earth side around you and you got to see her real personality.

Some of the others accused her of being the Mastermind since shewas the only one capable of building the Exisals and the Monokumas, but she always gotincredibly defensive and on the brink of tears whenever anyone doubted her.

She shut herself away in her Lab once it finally opened andcompletely melted into her work. When you would spend time together here, youfound peace in watching her work as she was completely in her element.Something about it was just so attractive and uplifting.

You haven’t seen Miu as much lately and she’s started growingapart from you which immediately raised concerns and you worried that she mightbe planning to do something stupid. You approached her Lab and knocked on thedoor in the special way you two created, but her loud voice echoed from theinside. “Go away, (Y/N)! Come back later!”

A bit stunned, you simply turn on your heels and leave withoutmuch of a protest.

The thought of Miu disposing of you got under your skin, and youreturned a few hours later like she asked. You knocked, but the door swung open loosely as if sheleft it unlocked, so you entered her Lab without her knowledge and soonrealized that she wasn’t home.

Once you walked inside, you were startled to find… robots, butnot just any kinds of robots. They were all Monokuma robots, Drones, andweapons… you stopped dead in your tracks. She also had blueprints of theExisals strewn across her work-desk. Here, you also found blueprints for Monokuma and MotherMonokuma.

You knew that Miu was a world-class Inventor, but you didn’t knowshe was capable of building something like this, especially when she sofeverishly denied it. You thought that she would be too obvious and thateveryone was just delusional!

You quickly run back out of her Lab before she can return andavoid her for the next few days, which wasn’t hard since she was already distancing herself from youanyway. You went into a state of shock and denial because there was no way thatthe woman you loved was the Mastermind, she wouldn’t do that to you!

But apparently, you weren’t careful enough and left behind someevidence that you had been there because Miu came searching for you.

She used her tools to pick your lock while you were sleeping andbarged into your room, immediately waking you and causing you to jump out ofyour sheets, the air getting trapped in your throat.

“Are you hiding something from me?” She asks in a playful tone,causing you to sleepily narrow your eyes at her. No, you weren’t, but she was definitelyhiding something from you; of course, you couldn’t say that. You wondered whyMiu was here in the middle of the night, and she quickly dropped theplayfulness after you refused to comply.

Using her first two fingers, Miu lifted your chin to look her inthe eyes. “So, you were sneaking into my Lab, huh? So… I guess youknow,” a sinister grin formed on her lips, “Yeah, I’m the Mastermind,so-fuckin’-what?!” Then, she retrieved one of her sharp tools from her waistand held it to your throat.

She started to cackle which sent chills down your spine and sweatpooled on your skin as your breathing increased. You couldn’t verbally talk herout of it, so if she wanted to kill you then she easily could. If she was beinghonest about being the Mastermind, then you were sure she could easily disposeof you like garbage.

“And you can’t tell anyone… if you try, just know that I’veplaced an explosive inside of Kiibo and I’m not afraid of taking us all out!”You started shaking your head, not wanting to believe that this was her doing.And yet, it’s like you could see the Despair in her eyes. She looked and sounded insane andyou felt tears forming on your lashes as the reality hit you, and you could no longer run from the truth.

Miu played you and dragged you onto her side, but she was onlyusing you. “I had some killer robots I was just dying to try out, pun intended…but, I really do care about you, (Y/N). Ahahaha! I guess there’s nothing youcan do anymore.”

She tightens her grip on you and is now straddling you, completelypinning you to the bed. “I don’t want to kill you but try exposing me and Ifuckin’ will! Or, join me in Despair and we can have lots of fun together!”

This isn’t the girl you loved anymore.

Kaito Momota

Kaito was extremely kindhearted, even if he could be a little bitextreme at times. He wanted nothing more than to escape this godforsakenKilling Game, and although he acted as if he was confident and brave, you couldsense the fear building inside of him.

But you could tell he had a heart of gold. The way he coddledSaihara after Kaede’s inevitable death and motivated the others to be theirvery best, even going out of his way to check up on you and his friends,bringing you outside to train in the middle of the night.

He has proven more than once that he really does care about theothers, especially you. He was drawn towards you specifically and felt a senseof protection over you, feeling an urge to keep you safe since that’s what wasright and just. 

Everything about Kaito was pure and genuine, how could you notfall for him?

You admired Kaito and his loud, explosive personality made up foryour lack of voice, and he tries speaking for you although he doesn’t alwaysget everything right. His misinterpretations always made you giggle, though.

He was the last person you suspected of being the Mastermind –especially after everything he’s done for you and the others. There’s no waysomeone like him would be responsible for this, and besides, he wanted toescape more than anyone else here.

As the numbers started to whittle down more and more, though, hestarted disappearing. He would leave without much of a reason and make upexcuses as to where he was or why he couldn’t see you, and you could seethrough them like glass. He wasn’t the best liar so you figured it wassomething innocent…

You took the liberty to investigate Kaito’s Lab to try to uncoversome truths for yourself to ease your mind. Nothing he could do would be thatbad so there was little worry at first.

Except… you found stacks and stacks of books about Despair, mindcontrol, and manipulation in his Lab and a map of the world with pinpoints inthem, with notes rambling on and on about Danganronpa and Remnants of Despair.You were confused until you noticed a stamp of Monokuma’s face in the center ofthe globe.

None of it made sense – why would Kaito even have something likethis? You quietly exited his Lab and locked yourself in your room, needing tobe alone for a while. You needed time to figure all of this out and come up with an explanation, but you’d just be lying to yourself.

When he swings by your dorm and calls for you to come outto train that night, you pretend to be asleep and lock your door.

His advances started to get more and more desperate and Kaito started showing up more frequently at your door, begging for you to let him in. You could tell by his tone that he was growing angrier.

One night, you slipped out of your dorm to go to the bathroom and jumped when Kaito emerged from the shadows as if he had been waiting for you, calling your name. Why wasn’t he asleep right now?

He had an impish smile on his face, but you still retreated and avoided looking at him directly. He seemed hurt and asked, “What? You don’t think I’m a bad guy, right?” All you could do was stare at the floor and frown.

“You’re joking! You don’t actually think I’m the Mastermind… right?”

Immediately, you could sense the panic in his voice. Kaito seemeda little bit too pushy, as if he was trying desperately to convince you tobelieve him; this only made you more suspicious instead.

He started to become a little more hostile and got in yourface. “(Y/N), I thought you loved me? You think I would do that to you?!”

Something inside of him just… snapped. An unstable laughter erupted from his throat and you could see the craze in his eyes, which caused your heart to race. This is the first time Kaito ever made you feel true fear.

A dark expression formed on his face and he stared at you with anintense, terrifying look. You felt a shiver run down your spine as he tiltedhis head. “Yeah, I guess I am a bad guy… I knew you would find out eventually.”

The more you fought back, the rougher he got. Kaito pinned you against the wall and tightened his grip on your wrists. “So what? Can’t a guy just spread Despair in peace? That’s all I wanted… are you going to tell fuckin’ Shuichi? Or Maki?” He laughed at his own sentence, “That’s right, you won’t tell anyone. And if you try, I’ll execute you all!”

So, this is the real Kaito, and this is what Despair feels like. Your soul was crushed and all you could do was close your eyes as a tear rolled down your cheek. Your broken spirit only seemed to amuse the Astronaut who released your hands and watched them fall limp at your sides.

“You’re feeling the Despair, aren’t you, (Y/N)?! Don’t you love it?!”

No… you didn’t. You loved him, but you couldn’t have feelings for someone like that. Kaito was right: you really were feeling the Despair.

Angie Yonaga

Angie could be a bit hard to deal with at times. She could beditsy and air-headed, but she had a good heart.

She was obviously very sweet. She insisted that Atua told her what youwere thinking and could speak for you which resulted in Angie becoming attachedto you. She said you were like a vessel to Atua and she clings onto you sinceshe believed you only made her faith grow stronger, so you unintentionally grewclose.

In this time span, you saw her for who she really was and reallygot to know her. Angie taught you about her religion and started swaying youonto her side, saying that you didn’t need to talk as long as you were able tocommunicate with Atua.

Her bubbly personality was also endearing and felt so real – shewasn’t just a blindly positive girl but she truly meant it and wanted the bestfor the others. That aura radiated onto you and lifted your spirits.

When she started the Student Council within the Killing Game, youjoined out of support. Although you didn’t really know what her plan was, youcould respect that she was trying to unify the group.

You always admired Angie’s art and could feel her passion for herwork. It brought a smile to your face whenever she spoke of her talent and theway her entire face lit up with pleasure – she looked so innocent and happy,and it almost made you forget you were in a Killing Game.

It never even crossed your mind that someone like Angie could bethe Mastermind. She was simply too kindhearted and cared about the others toomuch, otherwise she never would have formed the Student Council. She’s done somuch for you all that an evil, malicious person would never dream of.

After finding her Lab, she would make you plenty of beautifulartworks and spend hours at a time holed up in her own little space, making different kinds of art forher own pleasure and as gifts for the others. It was the way she relieved herstress, or so she said.

And you also made paintings as well, and small sketches withnotes, but that didn’t compare to her abilities – that’s why she’s consideredto be the best of the best.

Angie would hide a lot of her artworks though, claiming that theyweren’t as good as the rest. You never believed it since you didn’t thinkanything she created was ‘bad’ and gestured for her to show you anyway, writingdown positive notes of encouragement which brings a smile to her face. Still,she shakes her head and tells you that, “Some things need to be kept private!”

Out of curiosity, you decided to sift through those hiddenartworks when Angie excused herself one evening. They couldn’t be as bad as shesaid they were… or, at least, that’s what you were hoping. That’s when youuncovered paintings, drawings, and sculptures depicting the crime scenes andMonokuma, with herself in the center of it all.

It was… odd, and peculiar, but maybe this was her way of coping? That’swhat you told yourself. But then why was she so insecure and determined to hide them from you? Why did she act like she needed to hide them? That’s the partthat really set you off and caused you to grow wary of her.

You put them back in place before Angie returns and tried to actnormal, but that art was still bothering you in the back of your mind andwouldn’t seem to go away no matter how hard you tried.

You didn’t return to her Lab after that and instead lockedyourself in your room. Angie would call for you on the other side of the door,but you’d never open it. You didn’t feel like you could trust her and worriedthat she had negative intentions with the Student Council and within theKilling Game.

If you’ve learned anything about her though, it’s that Angie ispersistent and she doesn’t give up very easily. She pestered you day and night,desperately trying to get you to talk to her, and eventually you just couldn’ttake it anymore. You loved her and you had to put some faith into her, knowing shewould do the same for you.

However, that was your greatest mistake. After letting Angie intoyour dorm, she snapped and started showing her true colors, all while talking in the same upbeat tone.

A disturbing grin formed on her lips, “Ahaha!~ You are much moreintelligent than I thought! Or, did Atua tell you the truth…?” Shaking your head out ofsheer confusion, she bluntly confessed, “That’s right, (Y/N), I am theMastermind! Whatever shall you do now? Tell someone?” A wide grin was stillplastered on her lips and that peppy personality you used to love now got underyour skin.

She was convinced she just had to bring you onto her side! It wasalmost like a cult, beckoning you to join her in Despair. Angie clutched herbody and her opened her eyes, which now looked crazed and unstable. “Oh, I onlycreated this Killing Game to give sacrifices to Atua because he told me to! It’s so…Despair-inducing, and it feels wonderful. Atua loves Despair, after all! Now,all I have to do is take you with me!”

But, you didn’t want to join her. The more she insisted, the more terrified you were of the Artist. Her creepy smile and the way she talked about Despair like it was a drug caused you to feel sick.

“Oh? Well, if you won’t join me… then Atua said you must die!”

Korekiyo Shinguuji

At first, you were highly skeptical of Korekiyo, as were most ofyour classmates. After getting to know him, though, you realized how much of abeautiful person he was.

He was one of the only people, other than Kaede and Rantaro, whonever tried getting you to speak. He was extremely understanding of yoursituation and respected that you were mute, more curious than anything butnever pushy. Korekiyo always said that it made you a special and unique person,and he thought that that was enthralling.

He seemed like the obvious choice to be the Mastermind – a bitstandoffish and one to keep your eye on, but you didn’t think it would be thatobvious. The others may have considered him a suspect, but you knew how genuinehe really was.

You wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, anyway. You knewwhat it was like to be left out and when others didn’t fully understand ortrust you – granted, the group was also wary of you since you didn’t speak andcould be hiding anything, but that only caused you to gravitate and eventuallyfall for one another even further.

Korekiyo was always sweet towards you and you were convinced thatthe others were just wrong about him. There was no way someone this endearingand compassionate, and one who cared so much about humanity, was theMastermind. 

But still, there were some incriminating books in his Lab – aboutbrainwashing, Despair, and other alarming topics. But, that could just be theMastermind framing him, right? Making the already sketchy person seem even moreuntrustworthy? That’s something they would definitely do and you just needed toconvince the others that he was as sweet as you knew he was, but how?

Korekiyo tried keeping you out of his Lab, insisting that therewas nothing of importance in there. While he was busy holed up inside, youdecided to investigate his room and try to connect any dots. There were similarthemes in his room – about murder, the Despairing nature of humans and theBiggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History… whatever that was.

But he was an Anthropologist – surely there was a reason for this, it was about people after all…you disregarded the photos of the crime scenes and his fascination with theKilling Game.

You wanted to confront him about your findings, through plannedout notecards, and noticed him off in the distance. As you get closer to him,you realize that he’s talking to the Monokubz and… commanding them? Why wouldthey listen to him? Suddenly, everything started to make sense and the starsstarted to align, you could no longer deny the truth.

You started to sweat and your hands trembled, causing you to dropyour notecards as you ran from him in fear. Everyone was right, but how? Why?Why would Korekiyo do something like this? Was his love for you simply fake as well?

From then on, you avoided Korekiyo until you came up with a backupplan. As much as you wanted to deny it, there was far too much evidence thatlead you to believe that he was indeed the Mastermind.

He wasn’t too fond of your disappearance and accused you ofavoiding him, becoming increasingly needy to the point where it was a littlebit creepy. You avoided him and refused to acknowledge him if he was inthe same room as you, and Korekiyo knew that something fishy was going on.

While you were returning from your training session with Kaito,the Anthropologist cornered you as he lingered in the shadows.

“(Y/N),” his voice immediately caused goosebumps on your skin andyou froze in fear. Before you knew it, his arms were wrapping around you and asyou turned to look at him, he had a different glint in his eye than normal: something seemed off.

You tried to break from his grasp but he was far too strong. “Whyare you trying to run from me? Is it because you found out I’m the Mastermind?”The question was followed by an unsettling laugh that caused you to freeze inplace out of terror.

Tears formed in your eyes and a wide smile formed on Korekiyo’s face. “That’s right, you heard me! But you don’t have to be afraid, I won’t hurt you unless you make me. You can always join me in Despair!”

You started to angrily shake your head and flail against his grasp, but he wouldn’t let up. He pressed a knife against your skin which forced you to stop and comply.

“I did it because Despair is beautiful! And I wanted to see the darker side of humanity!” You couldn’t believe it, or didn’t want to. Korekiyo was really the Mastermind responsible for this Killing Game and executing your friends… he was a monster, a murderer.

What were you supposed to do now?

Kirumi Tojo

Kirumi was the last person here you’d expect to be the Mastermind.She was the parental figure of the group who always took care of you, it justwasn’t possible in your eyes. She showed nothing but respect and love for eachand every one of you, there’s no way someone like her is to blame for this.

The Mastermind wouldn’t take care of you all so much, especiallyyou. If anything, they would leave you to the wolves.

But Kirumi tended to you specifically much more than anyone elsebecause she sympathized with you and could see where you being mute could be adisadvantage and make you a target. She said she didn’t want any of her friendsto fall victim in this Killing Game and swore to protect you because of that,showing a strong sense of motherly love for you all.

She loved you so much, and you knew that she did, but alwaysseemed to show up at inconvenient times. When you would wander around theAcademy grounds or search for the Mastermind’s secret room, Kirumi alwaysseemed to pop up and distract you from what you were doing.

And every time you talked about uncovering their identity, shewould wince and avoid eye-contact with you, trying to change the subject. 

She alwaysseemed uncomfortable around the subject but you assumed that was just becauseshe was fearful, and too proud to admit it. That wasn’t too far of a stretch inyour eyes.

That had to be it. Sure, her reactions and timing were a bitcoincidental, but you didn’t think much of it. Kirumi is simply not that kindof person, you were sure of it.

One morning, though, you overheard her talking to Monokuma about “theirplans”. You normally woke up before everyone else and would walk around theperimeters of the campus to get your day started; on this particular morning,you thought Kirumi was asleep since she told you the night before that she wasplanning on staying in.

Peering around the corner, you then saw her reprogramming Monokumaas she knelt down on one knee. Now, she doescare for everyone, but why would she be helping Monokuma in his time of need?He’s the only one you’d think she would disregard, but maybe her heart was toobig to ignore him; she was a gentle soul who felt for others.

Or maybe… no, that’s just silly. He was responsible for executingseveral of their classmates and controlling their situation! He was part of theMastermind’s inventions, so why should she care?

You backed away slowly before she saw you, disappearing into theshadows and walking along the wall. You couldn’t get the thought out of yourmind for the rest of the day and avoided her at all costs since you didn’t wantto alarm her. While you did conjure up some excuses in your mind, somethingabout seeing them together got under your skin.

Kirumi could sense that something was wrong, though, and let herselfinto your room where she finally confronted you after you avoided her for days.You were desperately trying to distance yourself from her until you found outthe real reason why she and Monokuma were together, and you didn’t want to takeany risks. You hated to accuse her like this but what other choice did youhave?

She got tired of it, though, and wanted to show her appreciationfor you in the best way she knew how, finally prying herself back into yourlife. Kirumi tried offering you breakfast, which you declined, and she frownedin return. Hanging her head, something about her seemed different.

When she finally looked you in the eye again, a chill went downyour spine. “Why… not? Did you see something you didn’t want to, (Y/N)?”

That sentence surprised you and caused you to jolt up, lockingeyes with her and finally seeing the long, twisted grin spreading across herlips. Kirumi looked terrifying and evil. Suddenly, your body felt heavy and cold. Youwanted to scream or call for help but nothing came out, only a few choked outsqueaks.

“It’s not like I wanted to continue these Killing Games, but mymaster ordered me to continue her reign and spread Despair… and that’s when Irealized how wonderful Despair feels.” Her voice, although it was still as calmand soothing as normal, was also unsettling.

You started backing away from the Maid before she lunged at youand wrapped her fingers around your wrist, causing you to wince and flinch awayfrom her, and then Kirumi drew out the kitchen knife she retrieved whilecooking.

“I will not disobey her, and even if it means by inevitable death,I will continue infecting you all with Despair… let me show you how it feels,(Y/N),” she had the same loving tone you were familiar with but the words she was saying were dark andunsettling.

You wordlessly shake your head and Kirumi tilts hers to oneside while smiling, “I’m the Mastermind and I’m in control. You don’t want meto kill you, right?”

All you could do was stare into her beckoning eyes. Nothing madesense anymore. You didn’t want her to kill you, but you knew you couldn’t let her get away with this. She was the person you always went to for help when something like this happened, and now you had no one.

Gonta Gokuhara

Gonta was by far one of the kindest students here and you wonderedhow someone like him ended up in this Killing Game. You didn’t think hedeserved to be here, in fact, he was the only person you cared about and allyou wanted to do was take his pain away.

He made it his gentlemanly duty to protect you since you weredisadvantaged and, thus, a target. Sometimes, Gonta forgets that you are muteand tries talking to you before remembering, which sends him into a panic.Still, he thinks that you being mute just made you even more unique andspecial, and it made him love you even more!

He would help translate for you, although he wouldn’t always getit right. You would still grin warmly and nod your head, just to make him feelgood. His smiling, beaming face was the only thing that brought you joyanymore. 

Between you being mute and his lack of communication skills, it couldbe difficult to get your point across, but he’s doing his best.

Gonta never failed to show you kind gestures and whenever anyone spokeof the Mastermind, you could feel him tense up, presumably from fear.However, you soon realize that fear may not actually be the case and he may not be as clueless and innocent as you believed.

Gonta was never accused of being the Mastermind since the othersthought he wasn’t bright enough to do something like this, for lack of betterwords. Plus, this isn’t something a Gentleman would do and that was his wholeagenda. That could always be a clever cover-up, but was he smooth enough to getaway with that?

After several Trials, things were starting to get down to thewire. You investigated the Mother Monokuma that Saihara found out of sheercuriosity. Apparently, it was able to activate by a voice command, whichautomatically made you suspicious to everyone else. Everyone thought that youbeing mute was just a ploy by now; well, everyone except Gonta.

You couldn’t really blame them since they’ve never heard youspeak, but you know you’re not the Mastermind and you were only here to find away to prove it to them.

As you circled around the broken machine, you heard footstepsapproaching and ducked into a corner where you couldn’t be easily seen. Yourimmediate thought was that it could be the Mastermind – and if itwasn’t, then just being here would only incriminate you further. But to yoursurprise, it was just Gonta…

You watched him walk towards the machine and look aroundnervously, peering over his shoulder as if he was checking to make sure he wasalone, and then he said the phrase that activated it. Your mind started to race– how did he do that? He couldn’t actually be the Mastermind right?

You covered your mouth from shock and slowly slink out of the roombefore he saw you and avoided him after that, since there was no one else youcould trust. As much as you wanted to trust him, that kind of evidence wasundeniable.

It would only activate when hearing the Mastermind’s voice – noone else was able to get it to work, and you realized that Gonta actually hadyet to say the phrase to it. He played it off as if he couldn’t remember it andeveryone believed him, since they had already accepted his so-called innocence; but maybe he knew more than he said he did.

The longer you avoided him, the more nervous he got and the morehe started to pry. Eventually, Gonta snapped and broke the lock to your dorm,letting himself in freely. His sudden presence surprised you, but yousoften at his puppy-dog eyes. He looked genuinely hurt as he asked, “Why is(Y/N) avoiding Gonta?”

This couldn’t be the Mastermind, right? No, you couldn’t be swayednow, and gave him a very stern look before glancing at the notes you had madeon your whiteboard. His eyes followed yours and dropped after he read yourscribbles about what you saw.

“It’s not what (Y/N) thinks!” He hastily pleads as he grabs youroughly, “Gonta can… explain.” Arching a brow, you patiently wait for him tocontinue, but instead he sighs and shakes his head. “No… Gonta can’t.”

Was this a confession? But you didn’t understand, why would hegive up so easily? As he spoke, his face twisted into something much darker andmalicious, and you wondered if this was really the man you’ve come to know.“I’m not as stupid as everything thinks I am… I didn’t expect to fall forsomeone but, well, I had a soft spot for you.” You sat there in shock as Gontaspoke in perfect English.

He chuckled when your eyes widened, shrugging his large shoulders.“I can’t tell you why I did all this, I was just bored. No one would think the lovable, bumbling idiot, sweetheart would be the Mastermind! And I won’t let youtell them my secret.” That last sentence was extremely sinister.

If he was the Mastermind, then could you really trust anyone, anymore?

Tsumugi Shirogane

From the beginning, Tsumugi was always kind to you - honestly, shewas kind towards everyone. She fit in with the group and was consistentlyactive in the Trials and Investigations.

For someone so helpful, it never crossed your mind that she may bethe Mastermind. Tsumugi was too docile and gentle and she seemed genuinelyconcerned with everyone’s well-being, especially yours.

She had so many questions for you from the start of the KillingGame, like how you became mute and why, but she tried to not step over any sensitive boundaries.

Since Tsumugi is rather introverted, she was attracted to yourquiet mannerisms and your passiveness, since you never really panicked like therest of the students here. Even though you were mute, you were also one of themost normal people here.

She would make costumes for you after her Lab finally opened upand together, you would spend hours just sewing and trying things on to passthe time and alleviate your stress. You loved humoring Tsumugi and listening toher talk about the things she was passionate about.

It brought you a sense of calmness and seeing her bubbly face onlybrightened your day. You could tell that she truly did love making costumes,but she was still a bit insecure about herself and her talent. She believedthat she was too plain and undeserving of her title as an Ultimate.

She always insisted that her costumes weren’t great and asked youto look away as she hid some in her closet. You didn’t believe it, though,since she obviously worked for her title. Although you tried insisting that sheshow you the costumes she was hiding, Tsumugi refused.

It couldn’t be as bad as she says it was. Your girlfriend excusedherself to go to the bathroom, and that’s when you made your move. You wouldnormally respect other people’s privacy, but what did you really have to losein this Killing Game?

Slowly, you opened her closet door to reveal something ratherincriminating – it was a black, white, and red outfit that resembled a schoolgirl’s, but it had Monokuma’s face and the Academy’s logo on the tie.Squinting, you shake your head from confusion. Why would Tsumugi make somethinglike this?

Beside it was a costume that eerily mirrored Monokuma, completedwith hair-clips of his black and white sides, as well as a third spare uniform thatlooked exactly like Tsumugi’s.

Your initial thought is that she made these costumes as a way tocope with the Killing Game, but it was rather disturbing. Even though you wereall feeling the pressure, you’d never take it this far. The longer you looked,the more unsettling things got – in the back of the closet was a blueprint ofthe Exisals and notes that were clearly written in her handwriting that talkedabout the Killing Game.

Why was she hiding these, and why did she have them? None of itreally made sense because she always vowed to protect you, but this discoverymade you feel sick. It caused your smile to fade and your stomach to churn, asyou slowly closed the doors and returned to your spot before she got back.

Tsumugi seemed a bit wary upon returning, sensing that something waswrong, but you shake your head silently. Then, without much of a thought, youleave her Lab because you can’t stand looking her in the eye.

You just needed time to think and come up with a reason, but whatelse made sense other than your girlfriend being the Mastermind? As much as youtried to deny it, you couldn’t think of any other reason for her to have thosethings; and that would also explain her behavior.

The more you thought about it, the more uncomfortable you became –so, you started to avoid Tsumugi at all costs. If you were right, then you nolonger wanted to be romantically involved with her.

But you can’t just cut her off because she gets attached. She broke into your room in the middle of the night and stirred you awake, an inaudible gasp escaping your throat when you opened your eyes to see Tsumugi looming over you. “Oh, (Y/N), what’s wrong?”

She looked different - more unstable than usual. You tried pushing her off of you and that’s when she pulled out a weapon. “I know you looked in my closet, and I guess you know the truth… I’m the Mastermind, (Y/N)! I know that’s why you’ve been avoiding me.”

Would she really just come out with it? Were you dreaming? While you were still in a half-asleep daze, Tsumugi continued rambling. “I did it because I love Danganronpa and I want you all to feel Despair… but I can’t let you leave this place now. Despite my secret, I do love you.”

She pressed the blade deeper into your skin, scratching you now as she giggled. This all seemed so natural for her and it was like she had a completely different personality from the one you knew. “Join me, (Y/N)… join me in Despair!”

Before you could protest, she cuts you off, and her final, cheery sentence sent a chill down your spine. “And if you don’t, then killing you will just bring me more Despair, so either way… I win!”

Ryoma Hoshi

When you got trapped in this Killing Game, you were certain thatyou would be the outcast of the group. You were mute and couldn’t participatein the Trials or do much of anything to contribute to the group’s efforts, andyou were terrified that they would start suspecting you of being responsiblefor this or deem you untrustworthy.

But within the walls of the Killing Game, you met Ryoma who madeall of those fears fade away. He, too, was a bit of an odd one out. He didn’thave the same drive to live that everyone else did.

Out of everyone here, Ryoma seemed to fall into the deepestDespair. You could see why he may be mistaken for the Mastermind, but as yougot to know him, you realized that he was a wise, gentle soul. He said he would bewilling to sacrifice himself for the others and you wondered how he could saysuch a thing. But it was all because he wanted to help the greater good and youadmired him for it.

You and Ryoma grow quite close and he doesn’t mind that you’remute. He doesn’t say a lot when you’re together, either, and you find comfortin the simplicity of each other’s quiet presence. Strength was in numbers and youformed a bond together that you valued deeply. The others might find you two tobe sketchy but you knew the truth and he was the only person here you actuallytrusted.

After all, you could see Ryoma for who he really was and knew thathe had a golden heart.

Saihara had recently uncovered the Mother Monokuma and theMastermind’s secret room, and since then, Ryoma was more distant than usual.Things were getting down to the wire, after all, so you don’t push him toomuch. Instead, you take the time to do your own investigations.

You just assumed that he was growing distant because the paranoiawas getting the best of him, as it was for everyone.

You creep into the room while everyone else was asleep to lookcloser at the Mother program and were shocked to find the actual Monokumastanding in the center of the room. Letting out an inaudible squeak, you jumpback, crouching and watching closely as the small bear approaches the machineand places his hand on the glass.

Except, something about him seemed off. Turning his head, yourealized that this wasn’t that murderous bear you’ve come to despise butinstead it was someone wearing a Monokuma costume, and a dim light flickeredacross their face… Ryoma?

Your eyes widened with fear and you started to retreat,frantically scooting backwards and losing your balance in the process.

Ryoma turned, still adorning the Monokuma onesie, and looked inyour direction but you were already long gone, panting heavily as you rush backinto your room and lock the door behind you. All you could do was pray that he didn’tsee you.

The thought kept you up all night and you kept replaying the scenein your head – watching Ryoma approach the glass and realizing who you werelooking at. It was a terrifying and chilling thought that maybe his attitudewasn’t fabricated and he really was overcome with Despair. Was this really theman you’ve come to love?

You couldn’t deny the truth any further and there was nodoubt that he had to be the Mastermind, because you certainly weren’t seeingthings and there was no other explanation for what you saw.

He was the only person you really talked to in the Killing Gameand the others tended to avoid you, so you had to rack your brain while comingup with a way to tell them. You hoped that someone would listen to you, maybeSaihara… but how? None of them could communicate with you like Ryoma did and noone else understood you.

With a sigh, you start shutting yourself away from the group andbecame a shell, just like Ryoma.

He knocked on your door and you open it just a crack, beforepromptly closing it in his face. But that didn’t work and he jammed his foot inthe door, stopping it, and forced his way into your room.

His voice was sentimental and he sounded thoughtful as he tookyour hand into his. “Is something going on, (Y/N)? You’re not planning onkilling anyone, right?” You shoot him an intimidating glare which causes hisface to falter; that was an ironic sentence coming from him.

You couldn’t even stand looking at him directly. “Did you… find somethingout? You can tell me.” It’s like he was hinting at it, dancing around the subjectand trying to pick at your brain to find out what you know. All you did wassquint at him and shake your head with disgust, unable to develop a thought.

Then, a smirk formed on Ryoma’s lips. “You’re a clever one… tellme what you saw.” His voice was alluring as he used two fingers to lift yourchin and lock eyes with him. You tried flinching away and averting your gaze, buthe was persistent.

Then, he let out a long chuckle. “You know I’m the Mastermind, don’tyou? I thought that was you a few nights ago, and then you started to avoid me…”Ryoma watched you with longing eyes and thoughtfully tilted his head, “I betyou’re wondering why I did this? Well, I’ve always been like this – filled withDespair. You should try it!”

You weren’t used to his sudden enthusiasm but you couldn’t weaveyour way out of his grasp – he was straddling you now and you started to sob withfear. Then, Ryoma retrieved a weapon from his back pocket and pressed it againstyour skin. “I got close to you because I knew you wouldn’t tell anyone. Icouldn’t care less if you died or not, I think that would only fill me with evenmore Despair, so don’t think I won’t kill you.”

He sounded unstable and your heart was pounding from thatsentence. You started to tremble, wondering if this is how you were going todie.

- Mod Rantaro

#danganronpa #danganronpa imagines #danganronpa v3 #ndrv3 #ndrv3 imagines #killing harmony #kaede akamatsu #shuichi saihara #saihara shuichi #maki harukawa #ouma kokichi #kokichi ouma #oma kokichi #himiko yumeno #rantaro amami #amami rantarou #angie yonaga #tenko chabashira #kiibo #kaito momota #miu iruma #gonta gokuhara #korekiyo shinguuji #ryoma hoshi #tsumugi shirogane #kirumi tojo

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z 190

Cell’s gonna blow up the whole world!  

And Gohan isn’t even trying to stop it, because he’s got a wounded arm and he’s overcome with regret.    If only he’d killed Cell when he had the chance, things never would have come to this.

Even Vegeta apologizes for his own part in this debacle, although I think he’s only saying he’s sorry for attacking Cell in the previous episode and getting Gohan’s arm wrecked.    He really ought to be apologizing for allowing Cell to become perfect in the first place.   That, and letting Dr. Gero wake up 17 and 18.    Oh, and he could have shown up a little earlier on the morning of May 12 and killed 19 and 20 a lot faster.   Also East City.    Yeah, Nappa blew that up, but fuck that.   Vegeta could have stopped him, but he didn’t.

Everyone’s pretty much convinced that the Earth is doomed.   Even the Namekians can tell.   

In the midst of this moment of triumph, Cell has an extended flashback to his origin story.   This is like the third time we’ve gone over Cell’s origin.   Normally, I would say it’s not a bad idea to run through it agan, since it’s been about 25 episodes since the last time, but... well, he dies in the next episode, so what’s the point?  

So, Cell’s from basically the same dark future that Trunks is from, where 17 and 18 killed Gero and wrecked the whole planet over the course of the next couple of decades.  Here, we see that version of Dr. Gero working in his lab on what would eventually become Cell, and then...

... 17 and 18 turn on him.    I think this is like the sixth or seventh time we’ve seen this moment depicted in DBZ.  

I’m not sure how well any of this fits into continuity.   In a different flashback, we saw Gero shutter the sub basement of the lab where Cell was being developed, and his computer took over the work while he moved on to other matters.   Here, it’s implied that he was working on Cell right up until the very end.   He even threatens 17 and 18 that Cell will one day avenge him, but they ignore him, take a last look at his “ultimate” creation, and blow up the lab.  

Maybe this flashback is just Cell’s personal imagining of how things happened.    It certainly plays into his ego.  

The rest we know.   Cell’s maturation chamber survived the lab’s destruction, and he awoke years later, after 17 and 18 had already wiped out most of the world’s inhabitants.    But Cell couldn’t find 17 and 18, perhaps because Trunks had killed them by this point.    Remember, Cell’s earliest memories take place after the era Future Trunks is from, so we don’t yet know how things turned out.

So Cell found Trunks’ time machine, and went back to the past so he could absorb 17 and 18 while they were still alive.   But only now does Cell realize the true meaning of what Dr. Gero envisioned for him.   Being perfect isn’t just about killing Goku or being the strongest.    Instead, Cell now sees that he can usher in the end of the universe itself.    All he has to do is travel from planet to planet with Goku’s instant transmission technique and snuff out each world one by one.   As long as his nucleus survives, he can regenerate like Piccolo, grow stronger like the Saiyans, and survive anything like Frieza.  

Although, I doubt Gero ever had this specific outcome in mind.   Did he ever think that his creations would destroy the planet?  As Cell points out, 17 and 18 basically ruined the Earth in the original timeline, so it really makes no difference if Cell blows it up here and now.    Did Gero want the whole world destroyed?   Or would he be horrified by how far his vendetta has spiraled out of control? 

This is the cool thing about the evil mastermind dying so early in the story.   As I understood it, Toriyama’s editor poo-pooed Dr. Gero #19 as the main villains of this arc, so he created 17 and 18 to take over the role, only the editor didn’t like them much either, which led to Cell.   I’ve always wondered how Dr. Gero would have fared as the first, last, and only antagonist of this story.   To me, this whole thing only works as well as it does because he dies so early on.     All of his backup plans and failsafes and failed experiements begin to act on their own, and we’re left to wonder what he would have thought about all of this.   Would he be satisfied?  

Meanwhile, Fortuneteller Baba shows up at Chi-Chi’s house to show her what’s going on, since ZTV can’t film it.    I don’t see how Baba can do any better, since her crystal ball fizzled out when she tried to watch the climax of Goku vs. Vegeta.    Cell and Gohan are way, way stronger than those two were back then.    Maybe she upgraded her crystal ball. 

Back to Gohan, he’s basically lost the will to go on.    He figures there’s no point in fighting back, and he’s resigned himself to the Earth’s destruction.

But then Gohan contacts him, via King Kai’s telepathy, and gives him a pep talk.

Gohan still feels terrible about how he screwed this up, but Goku tells him it’s no big deal, and if he still feels that way, then he should use that feeling as motivation to beat Cell and avenge him.  

And so Gohan finally squares up and fires his own Kamehameha to match Cell’s.    Will it be enough?   Only time will tell...

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