#Kokichi post EXECUTION I meant

[akechiguro]

to see you again.

oneshot | shuichi saihara x kokichi ouma

alternate universe - postgame, simulation

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Synopsis | Shuichi Saihara and Kokichi Ouma meet again after the events of the 53rd season of Danganronpa.

Word Count | 3.0k.

Author’s Note | i don’t usually write in first person so this is a change of speed ^^ this is also from january so it’s pretty old, i feel bad for not posting :,D

also posted on ao3! (with minor changes)

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I still remember our last conversation. It rings like a fucking melody in my ears every time I go to sleep and I hate it. Every time the ear worm starts replaying in my head, it makes me forget about her, she’s the reason I even put myself out there and yet I find myself thinking about his and I’s last conversation rather than hers and mine.

“But, y’know…I…wasn’t boring, right?”

He wasn’t. He never was. He kept me on my feet like a real detective and pushed my limits so far over the edge I was sure I’d come crashing down at some point, but I didn’t. In a way, he saved me from doing that— or did she? Both of them? It doesn’t matter. One way or the other, I’m a better man because of them. Better, sure, but whipped out of my damn mind because of that little scumbag who preferred to play the devil’s advocate in serious situations rather than actually being of some real use.

I thought— no— I knew he died. Investigated his own death with my own eyes, forced another one of my best friends to his execution because of it, and found myself becoming a sobbing mess all over again. Not just for him, but her as well, even if she was some number of months between the two cases. I wasted too much of my time crying over someone I swore up and down I hated. Was it for nothing?

It had to have been. He’s sitting right in front of me right now.

There’s an awkward silence to the room, an unresolved tension lingering in the air so thick you could cut it with a knife. His hair is still the same shade of purple, if not a bit darker, maybe a little longer, and he looks taller since we last talked. Ironic. The outfit is near unrecognizable— the strangest feeling of deja vu, and yet, neither of us can remember where we’d seen each other in these clothes.

“So,” he started, taking the liberty of starting our conversation. God knows I can’t. Not after everything I’ve seen, argued for, cried over. He leaned his head against his hand with that certain admiration in his eye I could never quite figure out during the game. I’m glad he’s casual. It helped me calm down a little bit.

“So?” I retort shakily. My hands are trembling, fiddling with the hem of my school uniform’s jacket. I know I said Kaede helped me grow as a person, be more confident, but for some reason I can’t meet his eye.

“How’d you do? You know, after I was gone?” He asked. His tone is more…calm? It’s different from the game’s, whatever persona he took on. He doesn’t seem like a malicious person anymore. Or at least, not acting like he is. But he doesn’t seem totally different, either.

“What do you mean?” I mumbled, and I felt like an idiot. You know what he meant. How’d we figure out it was Kaito, who survived and how we did it, stuff like that. I clenched my teeth and averted my gaze to a wall— plain white with a bit of grime. Well, can’t expect every room in this facility to be squeaky clean.

Kokichi laughed, softly, a strange unfamiliarity striking right through my ears. It’s nothing like how it was in the game. It’s intriguing. “You know what I mean! How did you figure out my plan and all that? Who was the mastermind you and Kaede tried so hard to uncover? I want all the details!”

I blinked. “Oh, uh— right. Well, it took, uh…a lot of probing, I guess, to figure out it was Kaito in the exisal and not you,” I started, gazing off in a random direction to gather my thoughts. “I…well, neither Maki or I could really handle the aftermath of that. For two different reasons, I think,” I chuckled nervously, and this caught his attention.

“Two different reasons? Maki was affected? I didn’t think she cared about anybody!” He laughed again and my heart started beating faster. Why did I have to catch feelings for someone who purposefully made themself out to be a bad person in a game of life and death?

“Yeah, believe it or not,” I smiled, catching his eyes for no longer than a second before deciding the painting behind him was a lot more interesting. Some sort of wave, I think the picture was. “She had a crush on him I guess, ended up threatening Monokuma and all that. Kaito didn’t actually die in his execution, either, it was his sickness that ended up killing him. Had he not had it…” I trailed off, feeling my features soften, “…he would’ve survived with the rest of us. Maki, Himiko, and I.”

“Woah, woah. Slow down,” Kokichi grinned. “Himiko survived with you but not Kiibo? What, did he kill Tsumugi or something? And an execution failed?”

“Yep. His execution failed and that, uh…really pissed off Monokuma,” I smiled. Enough time has passed where names don’t make me flinch anymore, they don’t send my lunch up my throat like they used to. “…You’re not far off from your theory about Kiibo, though. I guess Miu installed lasers and stuff inside of him and he ended up destroying the End Wall so we could escape. The final trial was a redo of the first one, and we figured out Kaede’s plan…”

No. You swore you wouldn’t cry to him when you found out this opportunity was something that could happen. Stay strong.

“…Kaede’s plan failed. Her shot put ball missed,” I explained, voice shaking with each new word. “It was Tsumugi who actually killed him, and who ended up being the mastermind. It…it wasn’t an easy trial,” I laughed bitterly, staring down at the table. I know Kaede is still alive. I know it was a simulation. But that means Tsumugi also lives; the one who orchestrated all of their deaths, left a far deeper cut in my core than any murder attempt ever could, is still walking and breathing. Something about that made it worse.

Kokichi fell back in his chair with a look of shock. “Dang. So how did her and Kiibo end up dead while you, Maki, and Himiko didn’t? Wouldn’t Kiibo’s lasers have killed you, too?”

“Nope. He destroyed the Ultimate Academy while breaking the End Wall, and a piece of rubble ended up falling on Tsumugi. Kiibo, he…he made sure we were safe and protected before self-destructing.”

“So a robot did have some humanity after all,” Kokichi giggled, crossing his arms on the table and letting his head follow. He still looked just as childish as he did in the simulation, yet there was more of a sense of…maturity, maybe? Was that the word? I don’t know. When it comes to him, it feels like no words even come close to describing him.

There’s awkward tension in the air again. There’s so much I wanna tell him and yet none of it is coming out. So much I wanna ask; why put on such an…interesting front? Why sacrifice himself the way he did, especially with the show he’d put on just before his death? Was everything he’d told me about hating me true?

I can’t get anything to come out. I’m just staring at him like an idiot, or maybe admiring, I can’t really tell, myself. I think he notices, too, because he seems totally comfortable in the silence. At least he seems like he does. If I’m not in tune with my own emotions, then I don’t think I ever will be with Kokichi’s, even outside of the game.

“You’re still insecure, aren’t you?” He asks suddenly.

I blinked. “What?”

“I can see it in your eyes, y’know. I may not have the same confidence I did in the game, but I can still read you like a book, Shuichi,” he smiled, something soft in his gaze while he stared at me. Maybe even sincerity. I fully believe him, too. Even the tone of his voice is softer, meeker, and his eyes don’t hold the same mischief and judgment they used to. Is this the real him? What he truly feels? No, not that— he’s not done anything out of emotion. He’s just…talking. And yet somehow my assumption seems correct. “I thought you got over your emo phase,”

I want to counter that. But he’s right. I guess I don’t really have the same confidence I had in Danganronpa, either. “I, uh…I thought I did, at least. Why bring that up?”

“I dunno. You look like you wanna say something.”

“Oh,” I breathed, mentally beating myself up. At the very least I thought I was better at speaking my mind. Well- this meeting should’ve made it obvious to myself that I’m not. “I guess I’m kind of just wondering…how to word this…why? Why were you the way you were? You seem so…” I trailed off, not letting myself finish that. That’s not the only thing I want to ask. Not why I contacted Danganronpa asking for this meeting. But it’s all I can get out right now.

He laughed. “You’re not the first to ask, y’know? I thought my favorite might be more original, but you’re asking such a boring question.”

So others got to him before I did…somehow that’s not surprising. “You’re surprised? I thought you could read me like a book,” I smirked, “I thought you of all people should know why I’m the most interested,”

“Fine, you’re right,” He smiled, adjusting so his cheek laid against a fist. “Welp! I don’t have a good answer to that. I wanted to be the antagonist. Nagito was my favorite in all 52 seasons I saw before applying to Danganronpa,” He laughed.

“Is that…it?” I asked, mentally cringing. That came out rude.

“Yep.”

“I don’t…really believe you,”

He barked out a laugh. It’s the most familiar thing he’s done this whole time. “Wow! A whole couple months after we last talked and you still don’t fully trust me?” He’s weirdly amused, I noticed. Was his in-game personality the real thing? No— somehow this feels like an act.

I shook my head quickly, flustered. “No, no! It’s not that! It’s just, well- it’s not just your attitude I was referring to. You seemed to have it out for me specifically. And Kaito and Miu, I guess, though I can probably assume for them…”

He hums, leaning back in his chair. His arms rested comfortably behind his head, the darkness of his uniform making his hair pop to a lighter purple than it actually is. “Yeah, those two are idiots. I’m surprised Kaito lasted so long,” he giggled quietly to himself, “but as for you…I don’t really wanna tell you that.”

“Huh?” Now that actually surprised me.

“I didn’t hate you or anything if that’s the answer you’re after,” he continued, averting his gaze elsewhere, “but the exact reason..eh,”

I can’t complain, that is the answer I was after. But now I’m just more curious. “Is there a, uh…a reason you can’t tell me the reason?”

Kokichi shrugged. “Nope! Maybe I’m lying though, huh?” He smiled. That itself was a lie. I could tell, somehow.

Another moment of awkward silence.

“Well, what did you think of me?” He asked, adjusting his position back to resting his head on his arms again. Could he always not sit still for this long? Or had I just never noticed in the game?

“Do you not know?” I asked, cautiously. “I…I told you that you’ll always be alone. I- I don’t mean it now, in fact I wanted to apologize for that-“

“Don’t worry about it, Shumai,” He laughed. “It was easy to hate me in the game, y’know? I hated myself!”

“Er…” I glanced down, picking at my nail beds.

“Oh, not to traumadump or whatever the word is,” Kokichi shook his head quickly, “I already knew, actually. I just wanted to hear it come from your own mouth.”

“But I still want to apologize! That was- that was rude of me. What you did was horrible, but it was still uncalled for on my part.” Plenty of people had murdered in the game. Too many, far too many. Was I justified to say that to someone who, more or less, did what he did in self defense?

“But is that all you felt about me?” Kokichi asked, the same cautious tone I’d used earlier. Like he’d said it accidentally, almost.

It kinda shocked me, to hear him ask that. He’s right. That’s not all. It’s the safe answer, the one I’d assumed everyone else had told him. But should I even admit to that other feeling? The one still eating at me, the one I can’t get out of my head no matter how hard I try? He can’t feel the same. Not him.

I took a second to think of a response, holding unsteady eye contact. It was Kokichi who’s eyes darted away momentarily, only to return with the same hesitation. “…No. It’s..it’s not.”

Why not come clean? What are the chances I ever see him again after this? We both will become just another face in the crowd, going about our school lives as though we hadn’t gone through someone so horribly traumatic.

I don’t think Kokichi was expecting my response. His eyes widened slightly, the micro movements of his mouth and eyebrows revealing to me a sort of surprise. I know I’m not a detective anymore, but I’m still attentive. He definitely wasn’t expecting it.

He licked his lips, ever so slightly. They’d gone dry. “What’s that other feeling, then?” He leaned forward, slightly, his eyes falling somewhere else. Lower to my face. The tension’s changed.

My breath caught in my throat, mimicking his actions. “I’m…sure you can guess.” I mumbled, meeting his eyes again. I feel like I’m running a fever, I feel lightheaded, this is a horrible idea…I shouldn’t have said that, I should’ve lied, I should’ve…

…His hand sliding gently over mine, his body to lean further across the table… Should I?

What other chance would I get?

I stood, cupping his face gently and closing the distance. His skin is just as smooth as I remember it being, so strangely soft, yet I can still feel the bones in his cheeks. He’s thin, sure, but it doesn’t seem too unhealthy. His lips are chapped, dry, almost uncomfortable. He chews at his lips, a nervous habit. It’s more endearing than I should think of it being.

He’s quick to kiss back. He tugged at my uniform’s collar, almost needily- hungrily?- like he’d been waiting for this. None of this explains anything that happened in the game. I think it just raises more questions, if anything. But my mind’s too fogged and my face is too hot to think of anything else but our proximity.

It’s only when he starts to fidget with the buttons on my jacket that I pull away, and I can think of absolutely nothing except how much I’m going to regret that. Not because I don’t like Kokichi, honestly, it’s the opposite. I refused it for so long that I think I’m actually in love with him. But I thought it earlier; what are the chances I’m going to see him again after this? I don’t think I can handle a long distance relationship, but I don’t think I’m ever going to get over him. No, no, I don’t think, I know I’m never gonna get over him.

He looked nervous, hand lingering on my clothes for a moment longer before he brought them to his chest nervously. He looked so out of character from what I remembered of him in the game…that Kokichi would probably keep going. This one looks like he’s on the brink of tears. “Pausing for air, or..?” He asked, trying to laugh it off.

I shook my head. “We can’t do this, Kokichi.”

“Why not? You kissed me!” He’s getting defensive. I should’ve seen this coming.

“I know! I know, that was…my mistake. It’s not that I don’t want this,” I started, grabbing his hand and slinking my fingers through his, “I…I’ve been denying how much I’ve wanted to do that for entirely too long. But it’s…I don’t know where you live. We don’t go to the same school, hell, we might not even live in the same part of Japan. I don’t…want to commit to something I can’t maintain.”

He looks defeated, for far longer than I would’ve liked. I feel horrible. But quickly perks up. “Well, where do you live?”

“Huh?”

“You can’t just kiss me and then go on this whole rant about why we can’t be together and then expect me not to ask where you live!” He smiled. “Where you from?”

“Oh.” I take a second to think. Are we even allowed to tell each other that? Fuck, of course we are- why wouldn’t we be? “Uh, Okinawa. I wear…probably too many layers for how warm it is compared to the rest of Japan,”

He smiled. A lot brighter than I would’ve imagined. “And you’re not lying?”

“No! Why would I?”

“I’m from there, too! No way that’s a coincidence!” He giggled like a child, freeing his hand to wrap them around mine. “I don’t live with my parents, they’re from Aichi. Just my older brother. But it’s crazy lucky I do, right?”

I stood there, dumbfounded. I was worrying for nothing? “So…so that means—“

“If you break my heart, Shumai, DICE is a real organization. They’ll kick your ass!” He laughed, dropping my hands to grab me in a hug. It’s so unfamiliar. In game Kokichi…no, I need to stop thinking about him.

“Y-yeah..! Yeah, I’m sure Kaede or Kaito will have your head in seconds if you, uh..break mine, too.” I laughed, awkwardly returning the action.

I still don’t know a lot about Kokichi. I don’t know about his family or how his school is or even if this version of him is the real one. There’s still so much I need to learn about him, that he needs to learn about me, but somehow, I know it’s going to be easier with us. I don’t think I’ll ever forget our last conversation as characters in a television show. The game, I think, forever changed who we are as people. But it’ll work out. We’ll be okay.

We’re gonna be great.

#saiouma #oumasai #postgame #danganronpa #danganronpa v3 #shuichi x kokichi #shuichi saihara #kokichi ouma #kokichi ouma x shuichi saihara #heart to heart #conversation #i’m incapable of writing a sad ending sorry #i care them too much #i mean who said that i hate them #drv3 #drv3 shuichi #drv3 kokichi #oneshot #gay pride

[lovova]

I see artists doing little showcasings of what they've accomplished creatively in the last year, decided that looks fun, and decided I'd do for myself an little inventory of what I've written in the last year as well, based on archive posts and what I can recall (I specify 'what I can recall', because I was not keeping track of when I did or did not update my main fanfic "Video Game Cruelty Potential" so...guestimates for that fic! I have 36 chapters, I can probably guess it was updated at least every other month) ~ So! For 2023: January: Did a fan-fanfic for my friend Lex called "The Other Rooms" where I explored off-scene implications of his cool-ass fic Room No.5 February: Created an alternate version of VGCP called "VGCP: Characters at their best" where I tried to explore some of the chars in the same setting being more well adjusted. I haven't gotten very far in it, but I am determined to get back to it this year! Also probably updated VGCP March: Did two short Kaito stories, an Oumota called "Playing with Phobias" where Kokichi messes with Kaito and a Saimota called "Luminary Hero of the Track Field" where Shuichi worries over Kaito's enthusiasm to sports while sick. April: Started what was MEANT to be a multi-chaptered Homestuck!V3 Kaito fic called "The Devotion of the Luminary of Skaia", but I haven't gone back yet to figure out what happens next yet. Thinking about it now, I think I was to make it a three chapter fic, but I just need to save some space to go back and outline it someday. VGCP? Maybe? May: A short Oumota piece called "Carnation: Please Handle Gently" that I got some awesome art commissioned for by the incredibly talented Ere. This short story inspired me so much that I'm actually basing a new original novel on the same concept~

June: I (believe) this was the month I finished Kaiden! An omegaverse original story I was writing and posting to Kindlevella. I am super proud of finishing that piece, and while I want to go back and create a more refined second draft before selling it as an Amazon book, I still LOVE this version as well. Very proud~ And VGCP!

July: Two Oumota short stories, "Touring Mortality" and "Execution Failed". Touring Mortality was especially fun to write, though I was amazed at the positive feedback Execution Failed got. It was very uplifting XD This was also the month I (re)started my original story "Pearls and Shackles". Also probably VGCP August: More Pearls and Shackles, more VGCP. September: Pearls and Shackles! Probably more VGCP! Can't remember! October: Can you guess? PEARLS AND SHACKLES! VIDEO GAME CRUELTY POTENTIAL!! November: This was a purely Pearls and Shackles month, and that was because I dedicated NANO (National Novel Writing Month) to finishing it. AND I DID! It super needs a second draft, its not ready to show off, but it EXISTS! So hell yeah!

December: A funny short V3 story called "Soulmate Goose of Enforcement!" I had a lot of fun collaborating with this one with Lex, and am hoping to do a chapter 2 with another great writer added to the mix too, Andromebaa. I also started the first two chapters of a new novel manuscript, a Hanahaki story about a pair of lesbians struggling with love in their own ways, but both trying their best! And, also, I updated "Video Game Cruelty Potential"

Did I overestimate how often I updated VGCP this year? Underestimate? I have no idea, that fic is almost 300,000 words long by this point, let's call an update every other month a generous average of how often I add to it. Other then VGCP, I did 8 Short Fanfics, finished a book, started and finished another book, and started a third book. And I'm not counting stories I had to write for my school year. Just ones I did out of the passion in my damn heart.

So, yeah! I'm pretty proud of this year, it was a good one. I hope anyone reading this had just as good a year! Writers, steal this idea, go looking back the year and brag about what you accomplished! You deserve it!

Have a good 2024 everyone!

[fragments-of-despair]

What's your favorite line of dialog in Take You With Me so far? :D

Gosh, that’s a tough one. There’s a lot of classic ones. More like snippets of conversation I quite enjoyed writing. 

Here’s a small collection of favorites done chapter by chapter so far that’s been posted. Under the cut so as not to take up a lot of space. 

CHAPTER 1

"You need the first aid kit?" Ryoma asked.

"I got it," Mondo assured. "You finish getting ready for class. Don't wanna be late."

"Bold words from the class delinquent."

"Look who's fucking talking."

"Gonta." Ryoma turned around, gripping his racket tightly. "I need you to throw me."

Gonta's eyes went wide in disbelief. "What?!"

"Throw me over towards the gate like a football! You're the only one strong enough, so do it!"

"B-but gentlemen can not throw friends like football! Is bad manners!"

"Gentleman can make an exception today since friend wants to be football!"

CHAPTER 2

"His injuries were incredibly extensive. We must be patient regarding his recovery."

"Of course a Robot would say something so cold hearted."

"Excuse me-?!"

"C-can't breathe. Gonta. Please."

"Gonta so glad! Gonta sure you not wake up! Very worried-!"

"G-G-G-Gokuhara! Please! Y-you need to be careful! He's still healing! We d-don't want him d-d-d-dying a fourth time! P-p-p-please, b-be gentle!"

"Oh! S-sorry!"

"You're not going to show the execution, are you?"

"…No. Even that's a bit much for me. And I never liked the piano much anyway. Preferred the guitar."

CHAPTER 3

"What?"

"So it's "Kyosuke" now, huh?"

Crap. "Look, Chisa-"

"Don't "Chisa" me now. Why does Kyosuke get the special treatment so readily, you boxing meathead?"

"Do you want me to be less formal with you both or not?! Make up your mind, you damned airheaded housekeeper!"

"You okay, dude?" Kazuichi asked. "You're kinda-"

"You killed your omelet, Mondo," Rantaro stated bluntly.

"He said he's fine, teach," Kazuichi assured. "Trust him. He wouldn't just say that if he wasn't. Just relax."

"Are you sure this is the time to relax?" Rantaro asked.

"Why wouldn't it be? Ryoma's woken up, school's moving us to better housing in two months or so, and we have good food. I'd say it's the perfect time to relax." Kazuichi pulled the fridge door open. "Besides, it's not we're gonna get ambushed-"

"INFINITY UNLIMITED FLAME!"

"Hahahahahaha! That's right! Cower in fear, Kazuichi Souda! I, Gundham Tanaka, Supreme Overlord of Ice, have finally won this pathetic combat. Tremble and beg for mercy before Tanaka, The Forbidden One!"

Kazuichi glared at him, getting to his feet and snatching the juice from his bandaged hand. "Dammit, Gunham! You're not meant to show up for another hour!"

"Hmph. Time is irrelevant to the whims of the Darkness!" Gundham smirked. "What's more, the contracts have yet to be sealed, and so I have come to prevent them being driven asunder. The Demon of Speed needs his familiars boundary lines to be expanded in as timely a matter as possible."

"Ugh, I can't understand what you're talking about."

"He said he needs Mr. Sakakura to sign paperwork for Ryoma's cats." Gonta smiled, pointed to Kazuichi's breakfast, where four little hamsters were munching away on the veggies. "The hamsters tell Gonta. They also help Gundham sneak into kitchen."

"Hey! That's my fucking breakfast!"

"About time you got here!" Kokichi whined. "I was getting bored of being asked the same questions over, and over, and over, and over-"

"Be quiet, Oma," chided a synthesized voice.

"And with that, we're free to go, riiiiiight?"

"Anything else you need, Jin and Tonic? Because if not, we'd like to leave."

"Geez, that was annoying," Kokichi muttered as they drove off. "And so boring too. Would it kill her to have some kind of reaction beyond that stare?"

"Just be glad it was Detective Kirigiri interviewing you," Houzuki chided, swiping the last donut from Kokichi's hand as he put away the tablet. "I doubt you'd have shown the same restraint to Detective Saihara."

"Hey, that's my donut!"

"Consider it my payment for bailing you out. Again."

Kokichi pouted, watching the donut disappear behind the scarf. "You're mean, Yu-chan. You know I like to save the cream filled ones for last."

Houzuki shrugged. "Tough tittles, Leader. That's what you get for not listening to me and refusing to keep your fucking locker empty."

"You're the best, Yu-chan. I'm so glad you're part of the group."

"You're lying again," Houzuki mumbled, waving Kokichi's hand away. "Aren't you?"

"Nyehehehe. Nope. I'd never lie to you, and that is the honest truth."

"Sure, Leader. Keep telling yourself that. Maybe one day I'll believe it."

CHAPTER 4

"You have a lot of nerve storming into our home the way you did," Harunobu growled. "If you hadn't tossed your guns when you had, you'd be dead where you stand."

The stranger chuckled, barely looking up with a smile. "Technically speaking, Your Lordship, I am on my knees. I'm not standing right now. Have been the past half hour."

"And how many times do I gotta say it? Stop fucking calling me "Your Lordship" or whatever. It's annoying. Way too damn formal."

"Until Lord Harunobu steps down, I'm afraid that order is the only one I cannot follow. My apologies, Your Lordship, but the formalities shall remain."

Fuyuhiko scowled. "Whatever. Fucking bastard…"

"…You could come with us, you know. Pretty sure they'd let you in if you wanna visit him too."

"…Do you wanna die?" Kasai asked, glaring at Fuyuhiko.

The young yakuza heir just scoffed, the tension in his body easing a little. "You can just say no like a normal person, shithead."

Kasai's glare softened. "Aw, Lord Fuyuhiko saw right through me."

"It'd help if you didn't use that phrase so often."

"Alright. What'd you overhear the old hag say this time?"

"Hmph. Is that any way to refer to our mother?"

"You've called her worse."

"True."

"Dammit," Hajime grumbled. He turned around, just in time to see the door to Ryoma's room slide open and Fuyuhiko standing in the frame. "Afternoon, Kuzuryu-"

"You. Heard. Nothing." Fuyuhiko glared at the both of them. A glare Hajime had been on the receiving end of earlier that very same day. "Got it? Nothing."

"R-right, not a thing," Shuichi stammered.

He sure caved easy there.

CHAPTER 5

Slowly, she started typing.

"Hibiki".

The screen changed with a soft ping, and soon she was on the main page.

"You guessed it?" Kizakura asked.

"You picked whiskey brand," she stated. "You have hundreds of these bottles in your office."

"…Yeah. Whiskey…"

"Um…" She looked back to her brother nervously. "Hey, Makoto? Is….is the school haunted?"

Immediately, Kaito's chipper attitude vanished. "Oh, would you look at the time! I almost forgot I had training today! See ya!" He let go of Yasuhiro and bolted back into his room, locking the door behind him.

That was weird, Makoto thought.

"Hmh….now that you mention it…" Yasuhiro looked in the same direction, thinking pensively. "I can kinda see it….yeah…yeah….Yeah, I totally see it!"

Mukuro glared at him. "What?"

The Clairvoyant snapped his fingers, pointing right behind her. "A guardian angel in the form of a two-toned wolf in a giant blue overcoat and a bunch of knives strapped to his limbs! And that guardian angel is your guardian angel, Mooks!"

"…Are…you serious?" She shook her head in disbelief. "A what?"

Komaru twiddled her thumbs slightly. "I mean….I'm pretty sure one of those isn't a knife but…"

"Wait, you too?"

Makoto laughed nervously. "I mean, it's better than an angel with a perm chasing bigfoot with a skyfish in his mouth."

And that’s some of my favorite lines of dialogue that I’ve written so far in the fic. There’s plenty more to come, and I’m super excited for when we get to the part where that morse code post comes into play. (Let’s just say I’m trying to write a song and leave it at that.)

Thanks for the ask, my friend!

#mod kakera posts #writing ask game #take you with me fic

[toriliashine]

ndrv3 chapter 4 freaking destroys me so I'm making shitty memes to cope

Edit - touched up a blurry one

#kokichi posttrial said: when they ask how u are u have to say ur fine but ur not fine but you cant show it because they would never unders- #pls i love this trio sm but wow that freaking CHAPTER #i cld probs make more but im tired sksks #will tolerate only SLIGHT slander of any of these three but i will fight for themm #ougugu #ch4 trio #is this a comedy version of gokuirouma jdasbdasjb #kokichi ouma #miu iruma #gonta gokuhara #ndrv3 #danganronpa #dr memes #Kokichi post EXECUTION I meant

[rovelae]

Why Saiouma isn’t toxic

(CW: in-depth discussion of abuse, discussion of rape/noncon)

           Disclaimer(s): This is an intellectual discussion, not a screaming match. If you’re here to argue with facts and evidence, I don’t mind debating with you. If you just want to throw a tantrum because I like something you don’t, I’m going to tell you to take a Xanax and go to bed.

           I’m combining the terms “toxic” and “abusive”; though they aren’t technically the exact same, they’re similar enough for the purposes of this essay.

           This essay isn’t meant to convince you to ship Saiou. If you don’t like it, you don’t like it. But it’s not right to scream ‘abuse’ where none exists; it hurts fans and content creators, and it “diminishes the importance of that word and it reduces [it] to something volatile and stupid.”

           To begin with, we have to identify what makes a relationship abusive. The way I define it, an abusive relationship involves manipulation, an inherent power imbalance, and/or physical or sexual abuse. Most of the hate-posts I’ve seen paint Kokichi as the abuser and Shuichi as the hapless victim, so that will be the focus of this essay.

1. Would Kokichi manipulate Shuichi for personal gain?

           There’s no denying that Kokichi is a manipulative person. He’s a liar and he did some awful things in the game. No one’s saying he’s a morally white character. But it would be wrong to say he’s entirely evil, either.

           I’ve already covered in this post why Kokichi can’t be said to lie for personal gain, but I’ll quote a bit of it here.

           “The motivation [behind Kokichi’s lies] isn’t self-serving—he’s motivated by a desire to end a death game and stop anyone from having to go through what he and his friends have ever again. The smaller lies, though, like lying about his favorite foods? It would be annoying to be tricked like that, but it’s way too much of a stretch to label it psychological abuse.”

           We know that Kokichi’s DICE organization has a moral taboo against murder. We know he hated the killing game, to the point where he orchestrated his own suicide in order to ruin it. And almost every time Kokichi lies in the class trials, it’s either for comedic relief or to push the cast toward finding the culprit.

           “But Chapter 4!” you protest. “Kokichi manipulated Gonta into killing Miu!”

           My response is threefold:

-        Miu started it. Kokichi wouldn’t have done anything at all if his life wasn’t in danger and he wasn’t desperate.

-        It’s wrong to think that Gonta is incapable of making his own decisions. Kokichi may have influenced him in that direction, but Gonta actively made the choice to kill Miu—his own avatar confirms it at the end of the trial. (See also: Impytricky’s “Gonta Gokuhara Character Analysis: When a Genius is Treated like a Child”)

-        Kokichi felt terrible about what happened in Trial 4, to the point where he begged Monokuma to execute him along with Gonta. He didn’t need to do that, and it throws off his whole “I’m the mastermind” act just a few lines later, so we must assume he was being honest about that. It’s clear that he doesn’t enjoy hurting others.

           If that’s still not enough for you, consider: desperation, and, by extension, the killing game, brings out the worst in people. We can’t accurately judge a person’s character if all we have to go off of is the worst parts of them. Would Leon have killed Sayaka outside of the killing game? Would Hifumi have agreed to help Celestia kill Taka? Would Gundham have killed Nekomaru?

           So, would Kokichi manipulate Shuichi for personal gain? No. His whole character is motivated by a desire to help the others, and his lies are either manifestations of that motivation or harmless pranks meant to entertain.

2. Does the Saiouma ship have an inherent power imbalance?

           Shuichi is, by his own admission, weak. Kokichi has a strong personality and likes to be in charge. That doesn’t mean that Kokichi doesn’t respect Shuichi and his opinions. In fact, each class trial is packed with evidence of Kokichi listening to Shuichi’s point of view and respecting his intelligence. For instance:

-        Kokichi sided with Shuichi during scrum debates 2, 3, and 4

-        Kokichi pointed out most of Shuichi’s lies during the trials (and back routes), but in most cases, didn’t fight him on it

-        Shuichi is the only character identified as “trustworthy” by the white board in Kokichi’s room—i.e., Kokichi trusted him to at least be on the right track in the trials.

           Kokichi is also shown to care about Shuichi’s feelings in the game, like when he told him he’d rather bring Kaede back to life in Chapter 3, because it would make Shuichi happy. To reiterate: he wants Shuichi to be happy even if it means they don’t end up together. That says a lot.

           Additionally, I already mentioned that Shuichi is weak, but it’s important to realize that he isn’t so much of a pushover that he’s entirely incapable of standing up for himself. Look at his interactions with Miu, for example: he sharply told her that “I can wear a hat if I want” when she made fun of him for it, and in her FTEs, he refuses to eat the hygienically questionable food she made for him.

           Shuichi’s kind of a simp and tends to get roped into things, yes. But he’s able to stand up for himself—especially after Chapter 6—to the point where he wouldn’t enter into a relationship unless he wanted to. If you think Kokichi would somehow be able to force Shuichi to be his boyfriend, you have no faith in Shuichi—and Chapter 6 proves you wrong.

           So, is Saiouma inherently imbalanced? No. Kokichi respects Shuichi’s feelngs, intelligence, and opinions, and Shuichi’s a stronger character than he’s given credit for.

3. Would Kokichi physically or sexually abuse Shuichi?

           One needs only to look at Kokichi’s Love Hotel event for the answer. While the Love Hotel isn’t canon to the game’s timeline, the characters are still in character— that is, Kokichi and Shuichi are acting as they normally act.

           It’s important to note that Kokichi is the only character who backed off of Shuichi after Shuichi either appeared visibly uncomfortable or told them to stop. Kaede asked for Shuichi’s consent and was given it; Angie, Himiko, Kiyo, Miu, and Tsumugi all took advantage of Shuichi in some way or another; and the rest just didn’t have sexual connotations. Kokichi made advances on Shuichi, noticed that Shuichi was uncomfortable, and immediately backed off.

           “But wait!” you cry. “Just because one character didn’t rape the other doesn’t mean they have a good relationship!”

           Of course, and that’s important to realize, too. But recall that the purpose of this essay isn’t to convince you to ship Saiouma—it’s to prove that it isn’t abusive.

           Keep in mind that this was Kokichi’s fantasy— he would have been able to do whatever he wanted to Shuichi with zero repercussions, and Shuichi probably wouldn’t even remember much when he woke up. And still, Kokichi chose to stop the moment he realized Shuichi wasn’t on board with what was happening. That says a lot.

           And what about outside the game? We know from the Salmon Mode ending that Kokichi is desperate for someone to “figure him out.” He’d be very careful not to jeopardize his relationship with someone who genuinely wants to understand him.

           And Shuichi does genuinely want to understand him:

           So, would Kokichi physically or sexually abuse Shuichi? No. It’s just not in his character.

“But what if Kokichi was lying about EVERYTHING IN THE WHOLE GAME?” you yell. “There’s no way we can trust anything he’s ever said ever!”

           If every Danganronpa character was polite, kind, open, and honest, 100% of the time without fail, the game would be incredibly boring. If that’s the kind of media you’re into, I’d recommend something like Reader Rabbit or Winnie the Pooh. Danganronpa is a murder mystery, where characters hurt and betray and lie and actually kill each other. You can’t trust anyone; that’s the whole point.

           So I advise you to go back through the game with an open mind and try, actually try, to use reading comprehension skills to understand the characters. Examine their motives, think about what they might be feeling when they make the decisions they do.

           Danganronpa is not the kind of game to spoon-feed you easy-to-swallow characters. You have to pick them apart yourself.

           As for everything Kokichi has ever said possibly being a lie? Maybe. Maybe every character is lying to you. But if you hate Kokichi just because he’s dishonest, then it follows that you have to hate Rantaro, Kaede, Shuichi, Kaito, Maki, Himiko, Kiyo, Miu, Tsumugi, Kirumi, and Kiibo—which, at that point, why are you even a fan of the game?

           And if you deny everything Kokichi said just because you think it’s a lie…

 In conclusion

           You can dislike Saiouma because it’s not your thing, but it’s wrong to spread hate over abuse that doesn’t exist. Hating and attacking people for having a different opinion than you won't magically sway them to your side. If you can't articulate your points in a way that doesn't antagonize, you probably shouldn't be talking. People like what they like for a reason, and spitting on what they like won't make you any friends.

           And throwing around weighted terms like “toxic” when you just don’t like something? That makes YOU the toxic one.

#Rov talks #a lot #Saiouma #abuse mention #rape mention #character analysis #I doubt that the people who *should* read this *will* read it #so this might be more of a vent I guess #Feel free to reblog/quote/repost with credit #References: users oumakokichi; impytricky; and chibigaia-art #The first two do great meta pieces #and the last spits more fax than an office

[bullshittierlists]

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR DANGANRONPA V3 (and probably the other games, too, just to be safe)

So, just as a heads up, I made this list a few months ago, I think in the middle of chapter 4. I was going to update it, but I realized that any feelings I had were just made stronger and the list was still relatively accurate. Here are my thoughts:

I see no god up here other than me

Kirumi Tojo - As you may know about me, I can typically tell who my favorite characters are going to be before I indulge myself in a series. This has especially rung true throughout Danganronpa, I was able to correctly guess Taka and Gundham as my respective favorites before actually seeing them in action. Let me tell you that Kirumi surprised me. I originally guessed K1-B0 as my favorite and while he’s still up there, he is nowhere near Kirumi. I realized she was my favorite the moment chapter 2 ended. Not only were her execution and plan wonderful and brilliantly done, her last-ditch plea to convince everyone to let her live sold her for me. Not only did this plea make sense, it almost worked and I kinda wish it would’ve. Her motive was almost completely selfless and she worked damn hard to escape. Her execution was the only time I cried during this game because I wanted so badly for her to escape, but I knew that all of her efforts were futile. I know her biggest criticism is that her plan from hiding Ryoma’s body was completely unnecessary, but I like to believe she was just nervous and overthought the whole thing. I mean, this had to go perfectly in order for her to save her country, of course she’s going to add a few too many steps.

Miu Iruma - Okay, I know this is going to sound fake, but I actually really love the dichotomy of her character. The way that she acts so self-righteous but is actually quite self-conscious really stood out to me. Of course she’s funny and hot, too, but I feel it’s important to really appreciate the way her character was written. It amazes me that she was written to be the least likable character in the entire series and still ended up being one of my favorites.

You’re the best

K1-B0 - Yes, I type out his name every time. As I already mentioned, he was my original guess for favorite character, but it obviously didn’t work out that way. He stayed in his position of first for a while, but I always knew it wasn’t meant to last, I just didn’t know which character would take his place. Even besides my doubts, I still love K1-B0, I just wish more could’ve been done with him in the earlier chapters. There are several opportunities for him to be a really funny character and have good interactions with Kokichi and Miu, but he just comes off as annoying. I feel like he only really started to be utilized after Miu died with Monotaro and I really enjoyed their dynamic, I just wish we could’ve had some of this side of K1-B0 before this point.

Kokichi Oma - This spot probably isn’t as subjective as I’d like it to be. Every time Kokichi was on screen, I would get visibly annoyed, but I knew I was in for a treat figuring out his deeper intents behind what he’s saying. The only reason I really like Kokichi at all is because he’s fun to analyze. It gets boring to analyze Nagito because his motivation is pretty much just a mix of “hope” and “he’s crazy.” Kokichi’s character trait of lying makes it so fun to individually analyze each of his lines to figure out whether he’s telling the truth and why or why not. Other than that, I guess he has some funny dialogue with Miu sometimes.

Gonta Gokuhara - I really don’t know. I know this is way too early to be unsure about characters, but I just know I couldn’t put him any lower, but I also couldn’t put him any higher. He’s just such a sweetheart, but that’s about where the substance ends. I adored every time he was on my screen, but everything that would’ve been fun to analyze about him just leads back to Kokichi. I still really enjoy his presence, though. I’d like a big Gonta hug.

Kaede Akamatsu - I’ll just say it, I think she would’ve made for a better protagonist. I’ll talk about this later, but Shuichi’s character development doesn’t really feel like it goes anywhere and the twist doesn’t feel worth it because of that. I think the twist should still have been incorporated, but with the roles reversed. Either way, we got what we got, and what we got was tears from Clair de Lune. But seriously, she really is a great pianist. I’ve been trying to learn the piece for ages and it’s still too complicated for me. I mean, it’s in 9/8 for God’s sake. Good for her, regardless.

Tenko Chabashira - Tenko’s a weird case. I didn’t actually care for her that much until quite literally a few lines before she died. Fun fact: I spoiled this entire series for myself before I ended up playing it and I’m still mad at myself. This meant that I was just waiting for all of the deaths to happen, especially Tenko’s. I was fully aware that every line could be her last during the seance, but I wasn’t aware that she would pull on my heart strings before she went. When she tells Himiko that she’ll do the seance in her place so she can talk to Angie, I literally almost started crying. Before this, Tenko was just kind of annoying, but not too bad, but this moment really solidified her spot for me. She really just wanted to help Himiko and I wish she had chosen a better target for her affections.

Hey, I think you’re pretty cool, I like you a lot

Shuichi Saihara - Time to elaborate on what I said for Kaede. I actually really enjoyed Shuichi’s character development throughout the first three chapters. Before coming to Hope’s Peak, he was afraid to hurt people with his detective skills. Kaede notices this and helps him through it, passing the reins to Kaito once she passes. Shuichi convicts Kaede and later Kirumi, much to everyone’s detriment, but they’re all okay with it (Nobody was really super sad about Korekiyo to begin with, lol). Then, starting in chapter 4, everyone just kinda flips on him. Shuichi + the rest of the gang - Kokichi all believe that Gonta is innocent and Shuichi tries to prove this. Instead of supporting him, everyone (especially Kaito) tries to... stop him??? from proving it??? They’re all just in agreement that it wasn’t Gonta, but don’t want to proceed with the investigation to figure out who it was instead. It’s really frustrating and made my overall experience much less enjoyable. This is bumped up a few notches in chapter 5 with Maki. I understand that she was part of the whole case, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying that she won’t let me prove Kaito was the victim. It just feels like the character development was all for nothing and every student feels like a human obstacle (except K1-B0, of course). Still relatable and emo, though.

Rantaro Amami - I would make the joke everyone expects, but I’m on my laptop and I don’t know how to get to the emoji keyboard.

Ryoma Hoshi - I genuinely don’t have anything to say about Ryoma. He’s my halfway point because I don’t have anything particularly for him and I don’t have anything particularly against him, either. Go off, funky little cat man.

Kaito Momota - He got on my nerves in chapter 4, but he was a genuinely sweet character that I really enjoyed talking to. Any time he would talk about the stars, I would swoon because he’s just such a natural romantic. Not really my type, though. Very average.

Monophanie - Legally you can’t ask me why the monokubs are where they are. She’s voiced by Natalie Hoover (Sonia) and I guess that’s my only reasoning.

Monotaro - I really just liked his interactions with K1-B0 in chapter 4. Other than that, I greatly disliked his and Monophanie’s presence in Gonta’s execution. 0/10 worst use for monokubs.

Monodam - A nice, non-distracting addition to Korekiyo’s execution. But he had so much potential and just threw it all away. Apparently I’m a basketball dad from a high school movie now.

I remember you

Angie Yonaga - Many times, I’ve found myself asking who I ship from the series and this love triangle comes to mind. Of Angie, Himiko, and Tenko... I only really like Tenko. I don’t hate Angie’s cult stuff as much as everyone else seems to, but she didn’t have nearly enough of a presence for me to latch onto outside of the cult stuff, which was funny, I will admit.

Maki Harukawa - I was so excited the whole game for her to get cool. I knew she was going to get cool, I just didn’t know when or how. But then, it was chapter 5 already and she hadn’t gotten cool in my eyes yet. I was really meh on her by that chapter anyway, but her being annoying really knocked her down a few pegs. She got a couple extra points for surprising me during the case, but not enough to bump her up any spots.

Himiko Yumeno - I was rooting for her to be crushed under the rock at the end. She was fine before chapter 3, but then they tried to develop her with the Akane treatment and it didn’t work for me at all. She just got on my nerves during the third trial and continued to contribute nothing throughout the rest of the game. During chapter 5 and 6, it’s like the writers just completely forgot that she was there. This would’ve been fine if they weren’t the last couple of chapters and she was one of about 6 people left alive. She had a role to play and didn’t play it in the slightest. The most she was utilized after chapter 3 was as Miu’s replacement post-chapter 5. Someone needed to fill the dirty jokes quota and I guess Himiko was chosen. #GiveTenkoABetterLoveInterest2021

Monosuke - The only thing I remember him doing throughout the entire game was distract me from Kirumi’s exectuion. Not a fan.

You are the worst. Literal scum. Leave this planet and never return

Korekiyo Shinguji - Okay, listen. He’s not that bad. His design is actually one of the best, in my opinion and I love his dedication to his craft. However, he just creeps me out whenever he’s on screen and I’d prefer not to be around him. It’s not even the sister thing, I honestly think that’s funny and a nice change of pace, but his overall demeanor is creepy. Not to mention he’s played by Todd Haberkorn and he’s been in one too many roles recently. Hopefully I’ll get over it, but as for now, that loses him points.

Tsumugi Shirogane - I know, not exactly an unpopular opinion. She’s just annoying and downright pisses me off a lot of the time with her “plain” shtick. I already knew she was going to be the mastermind, so most of the game was just me waiting for her to reveal it. I swear, I almost couldn’t take it every time she said something like, “What if there isn’t a mastermind?” “What?? There’s a mastermind????” Just stfu Tsumugi. You all are lucky I don’t have the energy to talk about 3-6 right now.

Monokid - Hate the tongue sprite, that’s literally the only reason he’s down here. He’s also kind of annoying, but made the best addition to an execution out of all of the monokubs. His death was one of the few things that surprised me in this game and it was a welcome twist. I was sick of him by this point, but was still incredibly shocked when he was pushed into the execution. Then, his severed head rolls out to all of the students looking on in shock at Kaede’s death. Masterful. Still hate the tongue sprite.

There we go. Definitely my least favorite cast out of the whole series, but it’s still fun to love on and hate on a lot of the characters, as per usual. There are just a few too many in the middle tier (metaphorically speaking) that are either uninteresting or just don’t get their time to shine. Maybe they’ll eventually grow on me more, but I doubt it.

#bullshittierlists #danganronpa #danganronpa v3 #drv3 #drv3 spoilers #sdr2 spoilers #kirumi tojo #miu iruma #k1-b0 #kokichi oma #gonta gokuhara #kaede akamatsu #tenko chabashira #shuichi saihara #rantaro amami #ryoma hoshi #kaito momota #monophanie #monotaro #monodam #angie yonaga #maki harukawa #himiko yumeno #monosuke #korekiyo shinguji #tsumugi shirogane #monokid

[dangan-meme-palace]

Analysis – Kokichi's Plan in Chapter 4

The concept, the execution, and the failure.

Before we start, it's my personal recommendation that you read this analysis before rewatching the chapter 4 trial, and then reading it as you rewatch it. Unfortunately, due to tumblr limiting the number of pictures I can put in a single post, I've decided to refrain from adding screenshots as I just have too many I want to add. However, my points are evidenced by the trial itself if you watch carefully with them in mind, and so I'm encouraging you to do so. Please, please do so.

Concept

By my analysis, Kokichi's plan was to implicate himself as the culprit and for Gonta to get away with the murder in order to mercy kill the rest of the students and save them from despair.

Kokichi mentions this much before and after the trial, most people remembering the moments after and not the moments before; probably because between subtle admittance and loud screaming and crying, you'll remember the screaming and crying more. This analysis is based on the fact that his words pre- and post-trial are true, which is backed by several canon instances and also it just makes sense.

Execution

Now! This plan required a few things to work:

It required Kokichi to make everyone hate and be suspicious of him

It required Gonta to cooperate

It required Kokichi to be able to get around Shuichi's deductive reasoning in some way

It required a majority of the class to vote for Kokichi

If that wording seems specific, it's because it is!

I'll be talking about each major component of this plan and how each factor (almost) worked together to create a perfect storm + when, how, and why this plan failed despite quite frankly being a fantastic display of Kokichi's talent as the Ultimate (Supreme) Leader.

The 1st component is pretty much accomplished before the chapter even begins, he is a self-proclaimed liar that annoys people regularly after all, but in order for the 3rd and 4th components to really work he needed to sink his reputation even lower. He does this in a multitude of ways both before and during the trial: making sinister faces or looking nervous at appropriate times, antagonizing everyone (but most importantly Gonta and Kaito), and just in general being a lying nuisance that no one really wants to listen to.

The 2nd component was accomplished inside the Virtual World... and then immediately undone as soon as Gonta logged out due to a couple of crossed wires. The fact that Gonta forgot remaining undiscovered by everyone (including Kokichi) until two-thirds of the way through the trial is important to how the plan failed and adds perspective in areas, but I'll hold off on explaining why until it's time to talk about it in-depth. Make a mental note and let's move on.

The 3rd component explains why during the investigation every single surviving member of the cast told Shuichi that they trusted him but then when we get really into the trial we start seeing them doubt him immensely, Kaito being among the people that doubted Shuichi the most. Why is that? How did everyone go from relying on Shuichi to thinking for themselves and doubting his reasoning, and what does it have to do with Kokichi? It's simple: Kokichi lead the others into doing so.

We see this a lot during the investigation period, or at least the prep work of it. Kokichi constantly encourages the others to say things like: "We can't leave this all to Shuichi, we have to work hard too!" by telling them that they should all rely on Shuichi and to never doubt his judgment. Kokichi was using his bad reputation to make them come to a conclusion that is the exact opposite of what he said. More on that a little later as well!

Kokichi knows his reputation, he's the one that made it that way after all, and frequently you will see him use it to his advantage. Whether he's trying to cover up an emotional outburst or he's trying to make someone admit something, you will often see him use his reputation as someone untrustworthy to lead conversations in subtle ways.

I use the word "lead" with great emphasis as that is his Talent. He is the very best of the best at leading people; The Ultimate (Supreme) Leader. When he wants someone to think a certain way or do something they end up doing it whether they realize it or not, because he is extremely talented in his field. I cannot stress enough how good this man is at leading conversations and people into going where he wants them to go. Oh shit back to the point–!

During this time we also see Kokichi acting strange, so strange that Shuichi mentions it four times in his internal dialogue. Following him, being helpful, offering advice and hints... it seems nice until you realize his intention wasn't to become good partners with Shuichi, but to instead ruin Shuichi's reputation with the others by having them associate Shuichi with Kokichi, who they already hate thanks to component 1.

During the trial you'll see this subtle manipulation working as soon as Kokichi starts calling Shuichi partner and making Shuichi agree with his points, putting on a false show of partnership. To the others it seemed that Shuichi was picking Kokichi over all of his friends even when Shuichi himself tries to explain otherwise, and this is absolutely no coincidence.

Kaito is especially affected by this because Kaito and Kokichi are sworn enemies, and in Kaito's mind, Shuichi just picked his enemy over him. It really hurt him to be "betrayed" like this, causing Kaito to turn his back on Shuichi despite the numerous promises that he would never do such a thing he made prior to this trial. Kokichi really focuses on breaking their friendship too, interrupting Shuichi multiple times when he tries to tell Kaito that it's not personal and making sinister faces while saying that Shuichi is his partner now, taunting and gloating to Kaito's face about the loss of his sidekick. Breaking them apart was actually key to how Kokichi used Kaito's influence to his advantage in component 4.

Focus on Kaito aside, everyone else also refuses to agree with Kokichi –and Shuichi by association– which means that no matter what Shuichi says or how hard he tries to prove it, as long as Kokichi interrupts him and spins the story to make it look like he was somehow involved in that deduction, no one will agree with Shuichi no matter how much logic he throws at them. He has placed Shuichi's deductions in a permanent state of check. No matter what Shuichi says or does, Kokichi can and will get in the way of it immediately to control the narrative of the trial.

During this time Kokichi also says that Gonta is the culprit and I know that it tripped a lot of people up so I'll elaborate on what he was doing before we get to the next component. You have to remember that Kokichi's style of lying for this trial has predominantly been him saying the exact opposite of what he means in order to make the others do it. If Kokichi says "go left" they will all go right, that is how he uses his reputation. Notice how when he says Gonta is the culprit everyone's immediate reaction is to defend Gonta and persecute Kokichi even more than they were before, effectively framing himself by making it look like he was framing Gonta. When looking at Kokichi's lies it is sometimes essential to analyze the reaction he got than the lie on it's own because what he wants out of people is just as important as what he says to make them do it.

This leads into the 4th component: Kokichi getting the majority vote.

Kaito unquestionably holds the most influence in the trial after Shuichi loses all of his, gaining more by spearheading the hate campaign against Kokichi, and because of this everyone almost lost their lives in a mass execution.

After Shuichi's reputation in the eyes of the others is seen as being led astray and therefore less trustworthy, Kaito is the one that causes and loudly encourages everyone to rally against Kokichi, and by extension, doubt Shuichi's deductions. Kaito doing this more out of a hatred/distrust of Kokichi than anything related to Shuichi, with the rest following suit because they can't trust Kokichi, who they've been lead to hate so much in this trial by both Kaito and, unbeknownst to them, Kokichi. Kokichi essentially created his own witch hunt, with the cast's irrational anger without proof almost leading to a false conviction.

Allow me to further emphasize the fact that everyone but Shuichi was convinced that "Kokichi was a cold-hearted murderer trying to frame poor Gonta for his own crimes." Also allow me to remind you that according to the rules you don't need everyone to vote for the same person in order to win, you just need a majority. Kokichi had that majority and was about to "win" the trial.

...So why didn't he?

Failure

Two. Crossed. Wires.

That's it. All it took was one little piece to be out of place and Kokichi's astonishingly brilliant strategy crumbled in an instant. Allow me to clarify:

Everyone remembers the moment when Kokichi yelled at Gonta, right? The big, bad moment? That one? Good. I'm about to explain to you what Kokichi was thinking while he yelled.

In Kokichi's mind, his plan was almost complete. He had done the impossible! Everything had gone according to keikaku! He had gotten Gonta's cooperation, he made everyone blame him, he made everyone stop listening to the Ultimate Detective, all that was left was for Gonta to condemn him in front of the others and they would all vote for the wrong man. That one little nudge at this very crucial turning point and the plan would finally be complete, his effort made to bear fruit...

Except... Gonta never condemned Kokichi with any sort of evidence, all he said was "I don't know!" and "I didn't do it!" Gonta was about to trip them at the finish line and so Kokichi, as subtly as he could, told Gonta to blame him, the "culprit". Once, twice, a third time... he really tried to explain to Gonta what he was meant to do without alerting the others. It didn't even have to be true, as long as Gonta denounced Kokichi with even the slightest bit of evidence, the others were in enough of a frenzy to believe anything that pinned Kokichi as the culprit. Still, Gonta doesn't catch the hints from his collaborator. How could he? He didn't remember ever becoming partners in the first place. However, Kokichi doesn't know that and gets very frustrated that Gonta is about to throw away their one ticket to stopping the game, so he screams "Just make up an excuse or whatever" in his anger, still trying to get his point across. Gonta can't fuck up now. This is their only shot. Despite this, once more Gonta doesn't know what's going on and misses his cue.

Shuichi finally notices this as well, coming to the conclusion that Gonta's avatar had been the one with the error. Kokichi quickly realizes that his partner isn't available to him anymore, his memories lost in a bundle of wires and code. The moment is over, the frenzy has cooled off by the time Shuichi was done explaining and there was no way for him to lead the conversation again after ruining his own reputation like that. The plan failed.

All because of two little wires.

From here on out we see Kokichi visibly withdraw. There isn't anything left for him to do but complete the trial and think of a new plan. He's less motivated than before, insults everyone less than before, offers his input less than before, and generally seems like he can barely keep up his facade. You can't blame him though, with everything that happened that day and the fact that it was all in vain anyway really must have taken it's toll on Kokichi. From his friend trying to kill him to trying and failing to plan around his own murder to orchestrate and get away with a mass mercy kill... it's an unbelievable understatement to say he was having a bad day.

He speeds the trial up as much as he can with Kaito stubbornly getting in the way, forcing Shuichi to cross everyone off the suspect list except for Gonta, the unwitting blackened. Whether it was out of pity for Gonta's confusion or just him wanting the trial to be over already due to emotional exhaustion, or perhaps even both, doesn't neccesarily matter. Shuichi ends the trial regardless, and it's all over. Kokichi wasn't able to save anyone from despair and two of his friends died for nothing. He has no one to rely on now and no one left would ever consider letting him close to them. Roll credits... until he comes up with a new plan moments after Gonta is executed because if there is one thing about Kokichi you can always bet on, it's his quick wit.

Afterword

Now that we're at the end, I would like to make something very clear because with how much emphasis I put on Kokichi's capabilities as a leader I'm worried that I might be misunderstood.

I do not believe Gonta was manipulated into murdering Miu. Canon proves that Gonta was a willing collaborator due to external factors not relating to Kokichi's talent as a Leader, but instead because of despair and his own desire to protect everyone and that's that.

It's not really related to this anaylsis, however if I see someone using my own analysis to try and prove that Kokichi was anything but friends with Gonta I will go apeshit. Do not fucking do that.

#kokitea #danganronpa analysis #drv3 analysis #kokichi analysis #not sure what to tag this because i dont wanna put it in the main tags... #sorry for the sheer length of the post and the fact that im unable to add a read more because im on mobile #its not d1sc 0urs3 and its not criticism so idk what i should tag this as

[shitmak]

So @toadollie was answering some asks about different ships, I was gonna reblog and write my own thoughts on what he said, because i very much agreed with him. And then i realized "WOW this is a lot" and it would probably seem like i was trying to obscure or upstage his post. So here's a separate one to briefly talk about my feelings on Ougoku, because it makes me feel and think about a lot. This is the original post here, so check it out for context.

Oh and just a sidenote– this isn't meant as any disrespect to people who like this ship! I just think about it a lot and this post finally motivated me to write my thoughts out. Might do a more in depth thing in the future i dunno?

Ok let's go!

So to start, um.... their dynamic? Could have been VERY fuckin solid– in another world. The opposite personalities trope is always appealing (to me anyways), but the fact that Kokichi takes advantage of Gonta really ruins them for me, platonic or otherwise. Now hear me out, because i do think they have chemistry; it's just a bit more complicated.

So don't get me wrong here: i love Ouma's character, AND i know he manipulated plenty of people besides Gonta. But it feels worse knowing that not only was he tricked, but he was tricked into doing something that he would never do, if he'd understood how truly wrong it was.

Like for example with Miu (again, someone who holds a a very special place in my heart), she was a lot more selfish and desperate than Gonta. If her and Gonta's roles were reversed in chapter 4, it wouldn't have been as powerful when she was eventually accused and executed. The reason I say that is because it's more likely that she would have agreed to Kokichi's plan to benefit herself, more than she would have because she thought it was the "right" thing to do. That would result in less empathy or pity for her actions, because she would have showed that her classmates didn't really matter to her in the end.

I think you could say similar things about all the other characters as well. They all would have known that Kokichi's whole plan was immoral, and going along with it would make them no better than Miu, if she was in that situation. Gonta however, was the only one who wouldn't realize this, which unfortunately, made him the perfect (and only) target. That innocence of wanting to do anything to help his classmates, a lot of which he barely really knew, makes it so much more painful when he realizes that his kindness was taken advantage of, and that his actions had hurt more than they helped.

In another universe where this all didn't happen and where Kokichi didn't mess with Gonta specifically because of his naivety, i think they could be an absolute unit of a pairing. Imagine the possibilities if they helped each other instead of... well, everything that happened. Their opposite skill sets and personalities would make for amazing character development, and i'm honestly sad we didnt get more of it in the game.

Kokichi helping Gonta think strategically, or teaching him how to lead a crowd. Or reminding him that you probably shouldn't immediately trust every single person you meet, because really, that's not the best idea. And Gonta showing Kokichi that most people are NOT out to get him, and how things are often nicer and more "worth it" than they appear to be, if you can spare some kindness, patience and support. Demonstrating that support and trust is the opposite of weakness. And showing that maybe bugs aren't quite so bad. They would just keep building the other person up until they became nearly unstoppable, and I think that would be an AMAZING story in and of itself. That kind of Ougoku? 11/10. Maybe... a fic is in order?

#danganronpa #drv3 #ndrv3 #danganronpa spoilers #drv3 spoilers #ndrv3 spoilers #gonta gokuhara #kokichi ouma #miu iruma #ougoku #my shit thoughts

[missmage52]

Remember Your Promise {KaiMaki} (Kaito Momota x Maki Harukawa) [SPOILERS FOR DRV3]

Okay so I got this idea for a fanfic and I wrote the prologue. But I’m not sure if I should post it. So here’s the general idea and prologue:

What if Kaito had pretended to die from his illness during his execution?

What if he, along with Himiko, Maki, and Shuichi was a survivor?

What if he still struggled with his illness even after the events of the 53rd season of Danganronpa?

And what if he still remembered Maki’s confession?

PROLOGUE: REMEMBER YOUR PROMISE

“I’ve never felt this way before! I’ve always fought to kill, but... this is the first time I’ve fought to protect someone! And... I’ve never... been given a nickname like ‘Maki Roll’ before, either. And I’ve never... met someone as stubborn as you before... And... I’ve never... fallen for someone before. That’s why I won’t let you kill Kaito! I absolutely won’t let you!”

Kaito smirked, replaying the words over and over in his head as he finally glanced over the stars surrounding him. He was living his dream right now. If he died, he’d be perfectly content.

But his promise to Maki, he couldn’t break it. As he said to her, he wouldn’t die that easily. He told her not to worry, to run while she could.

He promised her that he would be fine.

But dead wasn’t exactly fine.

It was a slim chance. He was cured of the poison from the antidote, sure, but his lungs filled up with more blood than oxygen after he took the antidote.

Even though the sight of space around him was beautiful, the sight of him was unruly. The lack of oxygen made him a sickly white, almost turning blue. Sweat rolled down his face, drenching his clothes. His jaw was firmly set, in attempts to prevent coughing and vomited more blood from his system, with it spurting out and dribbling down his chin, covering and staining his sweat-soaked clothes.

Kokichi had promised this plan would work. That Monokuma and the mastermind would be fooled, but no. Maki wasn’t safe after all, nobody was. They were all going to die because of him.

He was the hero of the story, after all. A true hero never lost to the villain. He just couldn’t let the mastermind win, not if he had anything to do with it.

A large cough slipped out and blood splattered on the window, obscuring his lovely view of the stars. He wasn’t as bright as them, but suddenly an idea popped in his head.

It wasn’t a guarantee, but if he tried it, he could live. He could fulfill his promise to Maki, and be the hero he was meant to be. Besides, he had lived his dream of going into space. Now, his focus was to save his friends.

He forcefully coughed out the blood, the thick fluid emptying his lungs and pooling on the floor of the small spacecraft.

His lungs welcomed the oxygen inside, but with the strange amount of oxygen intake and blood loss, Kaito flopped over from the wave of dizziness. But through the dizzy haze, he smirked. His plan was gonna work, he was gonna be the hero he was meant to be.

He played dead, he calmed his mind and let his heart rate slow. Even as he felt the rocket plummet, he laid there, calm as a frozen lake in his own blood. When it finally crashed and the door swung open, he let his body tumble out, limp. Even if he was out of the spaceship, he didn’t want Monokuma to put him back in. He couldn’t screw around, he couldn’t quit the act now.

Sounds of rubble falling down and wreckage reached Kaito’s ears. The sound of footsteps running off. Feeling uneasy, he ever so slightly opened his eye. The coast was clear, but the room was about to collapse.

Gathering up his strength, he slipped out of there before he could get squished like Kokichi. Even though he screwed up their plan, he wasn’t going to let the bastard’s sacrifice go to waste.

He sneaked around the camera’s blind spots until he came across an abandoned room, with the camera destroyed, exhausted, he slumped over and decided to camp out there until he got his strength back.

Not long after he decided to rest, he could hear a destructive commotion of lasers outside. Damn... is this the execution Monokuma was talking about when he said he was gonna killed everyone...?

He sat there and thought of Maki and Shuichi, his sidekicks. He thought of Kiibo, Himiko, and Tsumugi. He wouldn’t let them die. He wouldn’t let the mastermind win.

“I kept my promise... Maki Roll...” He said with a pained tone. “Now you and everyone else... have to keep yours...”

END OF PROLOGUE

So should I continue it, post it up on Wattpad or something? Let me know what you think!

#drv3 kaimaki #kaimaki #momoharu #drv3 momoharu #New Danganronpa V3 #drv3 #danganronpa v3 #new danganronpa killing harmony #new danganronpa v3 killing harmony #kaito momota drv3 #kaito momota #momota kaito #danganronpa kaito #kaito #momota #danganronpa momota #maki harukawa #harukawa maki #danganronpa maki #drv3 maki #drv3 kaito #maki #harukawa #danganronpa harukawa #drv3 shuichi saihara #drv3 himiko yumeno #drv3 Kaito momota

[monomonomagines]

hey there! if it's okay, would I be able to request a similar thing as one of your recent posts with the V3 characters being taunted abt their s/o's death except it's for the v3 girls with a fem s/o? and otherwise p much the same if that's okay?? thank you!!!! yall are great!!!!

Thanks so much for requesting this. I’m sure since you read the last one of these I did, you know I can’t go into too much detail about gore/blood but I’ll still try my hardest! I’ve been working harder to make all of these imagines better written so I hope you enjoy this and if not please feel free to tell me where I goofed so that I can fix it up. Also for anyone that isn’t familiar with the previous version I did of this request with the V3 boys you can find it here.

Kaede

Kaede dreaded those awful announcements more than anything.

Whenever another body was found so was another murderer, both being the very people she knew to be her friends.

It was too much for her most of the time but she was determined to remain positive. As long as you were with her, she had nothing to worry about.

That’s what she thought at least until she entered the Gym and realized she couldn’t pick you out from the crowd.

She felt her heart suddenly sink but before she could even confirm her suspicions Shuichi pulled her by the arm to drag her aside.

He didn’t want her to have to see the horrible state your body was left in but even as he told her of what happened she couldn’t believe it, not until she saw it with her own two eyes.

When she did see you though, with your lifeless eyes crumpled on the floor like some forgotten rag doll with the murder weapon next to you she knew.

She knew but she couldn’t accept it at all.

The whole investigation she’s trying her hardest to still help Shuichi and during the class trial, she’s staying fairly strong.

However, that all comes crashing down as soon as the murderer is cornered by the two and begins to mock you.

Kaede couldn’t believe her ears but she definitely heard them mock the way that you didn’t even see them coming, the way that you thought of them as a mere friend passing when you saw them, and how you simply fell to the floor lifeless without even knowing what happened.

Kaede had discerned with Shuichi that the cause of death was instantaneous and was a result of blunt force trauma but she still didn’t want to hear about your suffering at all.

You were always so kind and for someone to betray your trust like that was just unacceptable!

She’d push Shuichi to finish things off as tears streamed down her cheeks but she couldn’t bring herself to watch the execution at all.

She knows you wouldn’t have wanted this but she had no choice but to do this for your sake and everyone else’s. That murderer had to pay for their crimes!

Kirumi

Kirumi had taken a while to dedicate herself to one person but now that she had, she had never been happier.

That’s why she was prepared to investigate as soon as she heard the Body Discovery Announcement with you and your remaining friends.

However, when she opened your lab only to find you hung up like some oversized ornament with the murder weapon laying below your dangling body she was in total shock.

She still wasn’t prepared to have someone like you and she wasn’t prepared at all for you to be taken out of her life.

She was normally so calm and so composed but just like when she had fallen in love with you she had only been able to fall to her knees and begin to wail like a child.

Everyone was shocked but no one dared to disturb her, not even Kokichi.

This was such a rare explosion of emotion from the Ultimate Maid and all of them knew it wasn’t a good idea to make things worse.

That is everyone other than the murderer.

As soon as there were a few pieces of incriminating evidence used against them they immediately turned to try to rile up Kirumi, telling her about how you cried for her to save you, how even as you died you were spouting nonsense about how she’d get them even if you didn’t make it, and most of all how she failed to do either.

Unbeknownst to them though, Kirumi had no tears left to shed. She was only filled with ice-cold rage.

Her expression didn’t change but her eyes certainly glared daggers at them.

She was ready to end this and if she had to she’d do it herself.

Kirumi brought things to a swift end, putting together the pieces without even investigating herself.

She thought she’d feel relieved but even as the execution played she felt sadder than she ever had before. This wouldn’t bring you back, nothing could.

Angie

Angie was rather carefree even when it came to the Killing Games so when the Body Discovery Announcement reared it’s ugly head she barely paid it any mind.

This just meant that she’d go spend more time with you, get through another Class Trial guided by Atua, and then she could go back to the dorms to hang out with you.

She expected you to already be there as you normally were a lot quicker about these things yet something was odd.

The place of crime was your room somehow?

She merely thought it coincidence at first but when she saw everyone but you crowded around the outside of your dorm she knew something was amiss.

Before anyone could stop her, she pushed her way through, calling for you.

However, once she saw you, she realized that you weren’t going to respond anytime soon.

There you lay on your bed as though you were just sleeping, the only difference on you being some blood on your hands.

She wasn’t ready to comprehend the intricacies of your murder though.

All she could comprehend was that she was back to being the world’s loneliest girl and that you’d never return to her.

Surprisingly she wasn’t emotional at all. No, instead her normally aglow face just held a strangely foreign downcast look.

It was so unusual for Angie to not be her usual smiling self but even when it was time to begin the Trial itself she still just stood in her place with that same expression on her face.

It was all she had done during the investigation. No one had heard a word from her within the entire Trial even.

That is until the murderer had dared to mock her.

She couldn’t feel anything but sadness and anger swirling inside her despite her lack of expression.

She didn’t retort at all she knew that you probably would’ve called for her.

She knew you’d believe in her to the last minute just as much as she believed in Atua but what use was it when those beliefs weren’t granted?

She knew she had to end this so finally acting like her old self she put on a smile urging Shuichi to finish things up.

She didn’t watch the execution at all she just would wait until she could return to her room before she could wail and scream at the heavens to give you back.

 Tenko

Like Angie, Tenko can get carried away with her own interests.

She always cares if she loses a friend (including degenerate males even) but she doesn’t always help out the most during the investigation process.

Again not because she doesn’t care but rather because she has her priorities, priorities which happened to be you.

Because of dating you she’d be stuck to you like glue most of the time. That and you were what was always on her mind even in this awful Killing Game.

So when that blasted Announcement played itself she knew she would be needed. You were probably scared without her there to protect you.

She quickly sprinted to the Dining Hall, prepared to be a source of comfort for you in these trying times when her eyes didn’t spot you.

Huh? That’s odd. Perhaps she had just missed you?

She kept scanning all the standing students gathered around, not even bothering to look at the body until it sank in.

You weren’t here so that could only mean one thing. That body she saw sprawled out in the corner was none other than you.

Tenko always had trouble being a bit overemotional but this just made things worse.

She was equally angry and sad and she really couldn’t pick between crying over you and threatening the others even when they had to touch your body for the investigation.

She impeded the investigation more than helped it but no one wanted to blame her for that.

You two were so close, she always made sure everyone knew it too so for someone to do this was just plain cruel.

And that couldn’t have been more true.

The murderer just had to add insult to injury by mocking her about how you cried out for her, that she’d protect you because she swore to, and how you still died with the foolish hope that she would come in time.

It was too much for her and if not for Gonta holding her back they might’ve had another murder on their hands.

Tenko would push Shuichi to finish things, not being much help herself this time around.

She wouldn’t watch the execution but she wouldn’t be quite the same afterwards. Compared to Angie, she isn’t good at faking going back to her old self and wouldn’t seem like it until a good while had passed.

Then she’d decide to keep living on for you! Even if she couldn’t have protected your body, she’d protect your memory for sure!

Miu

Miu had made some basic walkie talkie like devices for you and her to keep in touch but you hadn’t been picking up.

She assumed you were just ignoring her or sleeping or some shit so at first, she was just anticipating you to send a message back.

However, more and more time passed and there was no word back.

She had begun to grow a bit worried by then so she decided to go by your dorm but even when she knocked there was no answer.

The only other option was the dining hall then! She quickly made her way over to the hall but something on the way stopped her.

Because of being in such a hurry she had tripped over something but when she looked down to see that it was a literal arm she couldn’t help but let out a shriek.

Soon all the others came running and as soon as they did that terrifying Announcement played.

At first, Miu was confused, but as she looked a little further beyond the arm she had tripped over she knew why you didn’t answer her.

She couldn’t look as they looked over your body, all she could do was dejectedly pick up your walkie talkie laying next to you.

Both of her newest favorite things were now in pieces and she didn’t even know how to react.

Throughout the investigation, she’d be rather angry impeding more than helping like Tenko.

However, that anger wouldn’t subside even in the Class Trial.

The whole time she kept both walkie talkies in hand ready to incriminate the asshole that killed her lover in a heartbeat.

In fact, she was so angry that even when the killer began to mock her she didn’t get meek like normal at all.

She didn’t care if you tried to call her with the walkie talkie or if you screamed or whatever. What she cared about was getting rid of the asshole that stole you from her!

She’d actually somehow wrap up a Class Trial herself, surprising everyone there.

But when the execution played she was more focused on fiddling with that walkie talkie. She had made it so that it wasn’t just like any old one. She could still get your chat logs if she fixed yours.

And once she did she’d just sit and listen to the sound of your voice. Now all those, “I love yous” and “Good mornings or nights” felt so long ago.

Himiko

Himiko was normally woken up by you so that she didn’t have to worry about getting up herself but weirdly enough that awful Announcement woke her instead.

It wasn’t like you to just suddenly not come to wake her up so she made her way towards the crime scene in the pool rather leisurely.

She didn’t feel hurried at all until she saw something that caught her eye in the pool.

Was that you?

She couldn’t comprehend it and even though she was always so relaxed she couldn’t help but feel panicked.

How was this happening? This was really happening, right?

Himiko felt her legs give out underneath her, falling to the ground in a small heap as she looked on in horror.

She couldn’t cry or scream, all she could was look on in a terrified stupor.

By the time she felt even slightly more balanced the whole investigation had gone by.

As far as she was concerned the investigation was a total blur but as soon as the Trial began she had some newfound anger.

She was demanding answers even before Shuichi had a certain suspect pinned and even then her questioning only grew in ferocity.

She wasn’t backing down at least not until that awful murderer mocked you.

That was a whole other story. She couldn’t believe that she didn’t hear you calling for help, that you believed in her even then, and that you died with such faith in her never being realized.

She felt awful and before she knew it she was a crying screaming mess.

She wanted this to end. She needed Shuichi to finish this for her. She was too weak to do this even with her magic.

After the Trial, she’s still just a sobbing mess. Tenko would have to take her back to her room, trying to comfort her.

But she doesn’t want to come out of her room again. You’re not there so what’s the point?

She’ll be down for a good while but with her friends encouraging her she’ll try to follow Tenko’s example, living to honor the memories of you she held in her heart.

Tsumugi

Tsumugi was used to eating breakfast with you in the morning so when you never came to the Dining Hall she immediately began to worry.

She’d run out before she even registered that her legs were moving towards your dorm.

She’d knock and knock but you wouldn’t respond and that’s when she knew something wasn’t right.

Running out to check whatever rooms she knew were nearby, she never expected to find you by the top of the stairs on the second floor.

Who could’ve done this!? She was overwhelmed by the sudden sight that all she could do was fall to her knees as a few tears began to trickle down.

She had to call for the rest of your friends, she knew she did but she didn’t want to acknowledge that this was really happening.

Even though her voice felt like it barely came out she was able to yell loud enough for a few others to come, signaling that terrible Announcement.

She was far too shaken up for the investigation and she wasn’t any better in the trial.

That’s why when the murderer began to mock her everyone was sure it was going to break her. 

Instead, though, she looked very angry.

She didn’t ask to hear about how you screamed for help or how the life left your eyes. She only cared about delivering the final blow to this scumbag.

Even after the Trial is over though she can’t look anyone in the eye. She just feels so lost without you that she ends up being rather distant.

She’ll make a lot more cosplays to try to cope but she just ends up making all of your favorite characters even when you can’t wear their outfits.

Maki

Maki was used to losing people that she cared for.

That’s why she expected something like this to happen. She just didn’t know it’d happen so soon.

It was only last night when the two of you spoke. She had warned you to be careful, to not get yourself killed and you promised that you wouldn’t.

She didn’t know why but the fact that promise was broken only made that ache her heart worse.

She didn’t express anything even when the Announcement played after everyone showed up to the Gym.

She could tell what was going on. You were the only one not here so it had to be you laying in a puddle of your own blood there.

You were such an idiot. You promised her and now here you were.

As much as she wanted to avenge you, she knew she couldn’t kill to get back at your killer. She needed to do this right and that’s why she’s stepping up for the investigation.

She knew everything there was about murder obviously and she was going to use it to her advantage.

It was this very knowledge that helped incriminate the brute that killed you but they didn’t want to give up hurting others apparently.

Maki wasn’t too fazed when the killer mocked her but when they talked about how you cried out for her, an assassin of all people she was beyond mad.

How dare they talk about you like that!

She makes sure there’s a swift finish to that trial and she watches that execution with cold eyes.

She wasn’t happy to see another classmate of hers die but she was more concerned about one thing.

How could they look so scared to die? How scared were you with her not there to save you?

It all just left a bad taste in her mouth. It was worse than failing a mission. She had allowed herself to get close to someone and for what?

She was all alone in the world again.

#danganronpa #danganronpa imagines #drv3 #danganronpa killing harmony #danganronpa x reader #x reader #imagine #kaede akamatsu #kirumi tojo #angie yonaga #tenko chabashira #miu iruma #himiko yumeno #tsumugi shirogane #maki haruwaka #ask #mod toko

[danganronpalimits]

chapter 1/part 3|not so hopeful beginnings

“GAHHH!!I-I KNEW THEY WERE AIMING FOR THE SURVIVORS!!”screams Kazuichi,as soon as he sees Akane’s corpse,also returning into a crying mess again.Kaede didn’t respond like last time,just staring blankly at the body.it hasn’t even been a full day yet…yet there was already a body discovery.she thought that no one would be stupid enough to actually try and kill someone…but the body in front of her clearly proved her wrong

“ah,Kazuichi!where in the name of hell were-“

The duo turned around,to see Gundham approaching them,as well as him also seeing Akane’s body.at that,he took a step back,clearly shocked by all this

“wh-what?!no…what kind of imbecile would actually do it?!”

DING DING DING

“ahem.weell~…we’ve had one already!in case you all forgot what this meant…a body has been discovered!! After you do your investigation,please head to the trial room for you-know-what!!oh,also…once you all are in the trial room,I’ll hafta introduce you all to someone.anyways,happy investigating!!”

BEEP

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

A few minutes after the BDA,all the remaining students had found the closet,where Akane was.whilst Gundham tried to calm an over-panicking Kazuichi down from outside the closet, with some unwanted help from Kokichi,the others began their investigation

“from the looks here,it seems like Akane was stabbed in the throat then the chest.” Says Celestia,as she pointed to one of Akane’s impalements “because the blood here does appear to be wetter than the blood around her neck”

“so…the culprit stabbed her in the neck first,than the chest….oh!maybe they stabbed her in the throat first as a strategy to make sure she didn’t call for help” comments Kaede,as she stood next to Celestia and the body

“but…knowing Akane,she would’ve fought back in some sort of way…but then that would explain the presence of inside here” says Peko,as she looked around the messy closet.boxes and some other items were scattered along the floor,clearly proving her point

“do we really have to do this?it was clearly that degenerate male who was crying in here that killed Akane!!”

“C-CAN YOU NOT PICK ON ME FOR 5 MINUTES?!”

“sorry Tenko...but i’ve would’ve known if Kazuichi killed her or not...”replies Kaede,causing her friend to give a small pout

“and besides...his a bit too unstable to kill anyone,you know.”

“NOT HELPING!!”

“jeez,quit bullying Big Bro Kazuichi already!oh,hey guys!i found something!” squeals Hiyoko,as she kneeled down on the ground close to Akane. 

“huh? What’s a vent doing in a closet?” asks Kaito,as he looks over Hiyoko to get a closer look

“maybe it could’ve been the culprit escape routine? But it’s pretty small…and I don’t think that many of us could actually fit in there…” says Kaede,as she and a few other students turned their heads a certain way

“wow.that’s just mean,you know” mutters Ryoma,pulling his beanie over his head.

“Hiyoko,how about you try and get inside?”

“as if!something probably died in there!!”

at that point,Kokichi had entered the closet,with a satisfied look on his face

“well,edgelord guy and I tried to calm down sharkboy but…how do I say this nicely…his still being a crybaby”

“KOKICHI!!”yelled Kazuichi and Gundham from outside,clearly annoyed

“oi,Kokichi!why don’t you go into the vent?you’ll fit just fine!”

“really,Kaito?why do I have to do it…I mean,Ryoma’s right here!”

“you suck…you know that,Kokichi”

From where a pile of boxes were,Mondo stood there arms crossed with an annoyed look on his face

“can we just shove someone in the damn vent already?! We’re gonna run outta time,dumbasses!!”

“jeeezz…calm down would ya?fine,I’ll go in” smirks Kokichi,as he bends down and begins to climb into the vent. Some of the students had began to gather around the vent,as Mondo left to try and get Kazuichi and Gundham to help with the investigation

“how’s it going in there,Kokichi?”

“ergghh…it’s so cramped…hey!i found something!!”

“what is it?”asks Kaede again,bending down a bit more

“a…chain?i don’t know…lemme get out!” says Kokichi,as he begins to retreat out of the vent.

once Kokichi had finally left the vent,and the boys from outside entering the closet,Asahina had taken the chain from out of his hand,and began to study it

“what’s a chain doing in the vent? I don’t get it…”

“maybe the culprit had used it to strangle Akane? That’s a possibility”

“but then what would merely be the point of the impalements,when the murderer could of just choked the gymnast one to death?”

“G-Gundham’s got a point…it doesn’t make any sense…”stammers Kazuichi,as him and his friend stood close to each other

“well…it has to be from something,right-?”

DING DING DING

“tiimmmeeess up!!now please head down to the class trial room!!”

BEEP

“aww come on!! We barely got anything done at all!!” whines Hiyoko,as the students left the closet and made their way into the elevator that lead them to the trial room.while in the elevator,Kaede stood there absolutely nervous.in her first and only class trial…she was identified as the culprit and executed.and after the events of this one,she’ll get to see how most people react to the first execution that she had missed…

once everyone had entered the room,Monokuma sat up in his throne like chair,behind Kokichi and Asahina’s posts

“now,about that introduction thing…I’ll like to introudutce ya’ll to my despairfully lovely wife,Rokikuma!!”

at that,a blue and black cat looking monobear popped into the middle of the trial room,causing a few students to jump in their spots

“HEY HEY!!finally nice to meet you little fuckers!!”

#danagnronpa limits #dr limits #danganronpa au #kaede akamatsu #kazuichi souda #gundham tanaka #kokichi oma #akane owari #celestia ludenburg #korekiyo shinguji #kaito momota #mondo oowada #hiyoko saionji #tenko chabashira #ryoma hoshi #aoi asahina #sakura ogami #byakuya twogami #monokuma #rokikuma #fanganronpa #fan writing #not so hopeful beginnings

[commentaryvorg]

Brief and basically irrelevant addendum to this part from last post in which Monokuma made up a new rule as to what’d happen if the vote was a tie:

Monokuma:  “It means they’re both the blackened. As long as one of them is correct, it’s fine.”

I assumed Monokuma was saying here that it’d simply count as the spotless winning anyway and only the blackened would be executed. However, my friend antialiasis pointed out to me that that’d allow for the students to deliberately arrange a tie between every possible suspect and therefore win the trial with no repercussions to the spotless despite not actually knowing who the blackened was, at least if it’s been narrowed down to only two possible suspects. Which you’d think Monokuma wouldn’t want.

Meanwhile, Monokuma horrendously misusing the word “blackened” here could actually mean that the other spotless person voted for then becomes another “blackened” (even when they didn’t kill anyone) and also gets executed alongside the real blackened, provided the real one was also part of the tie. Which would make more sense in that it’d discourage the spotless from trying to arrange a tie and cheat the system, but also, wow, it is a bit much to suddenly introduce a rule which means that a spotless can be executed at the same time as a blackened when the entire point of this game is supposed to be to pit the blackened and the spotless against each other. Monokuma should have been way clearer about this rule, what the hell. And Kokichi should have cared much more about clarifying what Monokuma meant, since he was presumably asking in case things really did reach a tie, and Monokuma’s answer did not remotely clear anything up.

Ultimately it doesn’t ever matter at all because this new rule is never relevant, but like, geez, writers, come on.

#danganronpa v3 #danganronpa v3 spoilers #reply #(essentially)

[ixcaliber]

i finally got my hands on dangan ronpa 3 and it’d feel wrong to play it and not liveblog it at least a little

finished the prologue here’s my opinions of/predictions for the characters

kaede akamatsu - shsl pianist & protagonist? i’m not going to pretend i didn’t scroll past some kind of vague hint that the first character you control is a decoy protagonist back when the game first came out so she’s probably doomed or she’s junko or both

it’s been a long time since i played the first two dangan ronpas, i feel like kaede seems to have more of a personality than ummmm makoto? and um nagisa? nope um i forgot their names but the first two dr protagonists. and her shsl talent is a specific talent unlike theirs which brings me to

rantaro amami - shsl amnesiac and my best guess as to who will be the actual protagonist after kaede. for the sole reason of the unknown (or hidden) talent. i have nothing else to base this on. seemed to have heard of the killing games before they had their memories altered and for that reason he’ll probably be around for a good while

shuichi saihara - shsl detective and hat wearer. what’s under that hat? also didn’t we already have a shsl detective? wasn’t that kyoko’s whole thing? would be my second guess for protagonist if it turns out rantaro isn’t it, and if not maybe the murderboy who kills kaede.

so much of my initial impressions are being coloured by this half-read spoiler that it’s going to turn out that like the protagonist switch was something that happened in like... the demo or something. i mean i did think that if they were doing this that they would have done it by the end of the prologue. ???

this is going to end up just like that one time i saw an au image of hall monitor kid as the mastermind and convinced myself that it was a real spoiler for almost the entire way through dr1.

tsumugi shirogane - shsl cosplayer and almost certainly the new genocide jack. maybe this time the serial killer student will do one of the murders

k1-b0 - shsl robot. looks vaguely familiar. you know now that i think about it dr2 really relied on you remembering the events of dr1 to draw parallels and subvert expectations, so actually retaining some memories of the first two would help me in my guesses/predictions. as far as i remember there was a robot in the second game, which i think was like a parallel to chihiro having a computer version of herself in dr1. probably this guy is just a person in a robot suit?

kokichi oma - shsl supreme leader. the new ummmm what was the mafia kid called again? i think it was something like kiriyo, but anyway this guy isn’t as good as the mafia kid whose name i can’t remember. i got halfway through predicting that his status as a supreme leader of an evil organization meant he’d probably die early and uneventfully before i realized that he might be lying. i’d say maybe his talent was being a liar but we kind of already got that with twogami, but dr does like parallels so maybe? solid pick to last till midgame at least

miu iruma - shsl inventor. cool inventor lady. has cool goggles. definitely going to die because i like her and that’s how dangan ronpa works unfortunately. might be a murderer because they could have an execution with like cool robots or something

himiko yumeno - shsl mage. powerful witch girl. love her she probably dies in the same case as miu. probably dies in ‘a magic trick gone wrong’. i don’t know where you’d go with it from a storytelling perspective but i do hope she has actual real magic.

tenko chabashiru - shsl aikido master. i appreciate dangan ronpa’s dedication to having cool sports girls in its games. this sports girl probably gets murdered early. the only real logic i have for this is that aoi survived to the end, akane as far i remember survived to the end. they’re gonna buck the trend, send us the message that nobody is safe not even the cool sports girl.

maki harukawa - shsl child caregiver. i’m clearly supposed to be suspicious of her. she was acting suspicious. she was the only one to walk away after talking to her in the prologue. she’s a child caregiver and all the monokumas are kids this time. she’ll probably be an important confidante of the main character, entirely blameless and survive the entire game.

unless thats what they want me to think...

ryoma hoshi - shsl tennis bastard. hate him. hope he copies teruteru and does the first murder so i can be done with him asap

korekiyo shinguji - shsl anthropologist and mask wearer. all my instincts say komaeda 2 the sequel to komaeda. he’ll likely be entirely benign and make it to the end like mafia kid in 2 and togami in 1. 

kaito momota - shsl astronaut. will definitely murder someone so they can have an astronaut themed execution. though my memory is telling me they kind of already did an astronaut themed execution? astronaut is such an out there talent for a high schooler to have, we can’t have already had an astronaut right???

kirumi tojo - shsl maid assassin. god i wish i could remember mafia kid’s name and its too late in this post to go looking things up at this point. anyway kirumi has a very clear parallel to mafia kid’s assistant, who oh yeah thats right she prevented his execution and got herself killed doing so... god dangan ronpa 2 was fucking wild. kirumi is so dangerous that she’ll likely be a surprising midgame murder victim. 

gonta gokuhara - shsl entomologist (the bug one not the word one) and raised by wolves. my instinct tells me he’ll do a murder by accident (of mice and men style) or be tricked into doing one by... lets say korekiyo. 

angie yonaga - shsl artist and conduit for atua. hey i love her and hope she survives to the end as like the one quirky character allowed to actually survive the game (psychic boy from dr1 and ummmmm i don’t remember if dr2 has a good parallel). 

also of note the monokubs kind of put me in mind of the kids from ultra despair girls and i am Concerned.

#liveblog #ix plays dangan ronpa

[oumakokichi]

I adored what you had to say on how some adjustments in meaning really change how Kokichi comes across in the English version of V3. REALLY important question: Kokichi hates murder. So what was his motivation for the events of the chapter four trial? What are the circumstances of his decisions? He clearly established himself as someone who walks the line, but is there a difference for him between having a line and killing, going against one of his core values? Was he testing the game? What's up?

So many Chapter 4 questions, so little time. Thankfully, it’sone of my favorite chapters in any DR game so I don’t mind talking about it atall!

I hope it’s okay if I answer all of these in one big post! Iget a lot of questions about Chapter 4 specifically (as you can see) and Ithought it’d be best if I try to address all the points in common that thesequestions have. I’ll try to hit the main points, which are: “Why did Ouma gettwo people killed if he’s morally against murder?”, “Why didn’t Ouma leteveryone vote wrong in the trial and get them all killed to put them out oftheir misery?”, and “Was Ouma’s reaction just before Gonta’s execution genuine or not?”

I’ve written quite a few pieces of meta with regards toChapter 4 in the past, the most recent of which might help clear up the firstof these points (and a little bit of the second)! The post is here, if anyone’scurious.

In any case, I’ll try to make this my big “what went down inChapter 4” post, but I will be discussing spoilers for Chapters 5 and 6 aswell, so anyone who hasn’t reached the second half of the game should only readif they’re okay with that.

So, to begin… In order to better understand why Ouma gotboth Gonta and Miu killed, it’s necessary to look at everything that was goingon behind the scenes, without Saihara (or the player) being aware of it at thetime. More specifically, it’s important to realize that Ouma and Miu had a verytentative alliance in place (likely since either Chapter 2 or 3 and onward),and that Ouma was commissioning her to create various inventions for him.

He tells Saihara and the others about this alliance betweenthe two of them in Chapter 5, when he brings the hammers and the bombs in orderto let everyone clear the Despair Death Road mini-game. The news is receivedwith a great deal of suspicion by everyone—understandably, since this is rightafter Chapter 4 and they all know for a fact that Ouma got both Gonta and Miukilled as a result of his actions.

But it’s very clear that he was telling the truth abouttheir tentative cooperation. The hammers and bombs were clearly made by Miu (thebombs even have the same mouse mascot that’s on her uniform), as there’s no oneelse who could’ve made them. Later in Chapter 6, we find the design for thebug-vac in Ouma’s room, while the actual invention itself is in Miu’s lab,proving again that they were, in fact, working together. Despite how unlikelyit seemed, and despite the fact that they both clearly disliked one another fortheir personalities, the two of them did manage to cooperate for a time, andpretty much everything Ouma asked her to make was specifically for the sake oftrying to end the killing game.

However, Chapter 4 is where that temporary cooperation ranits course. Ouma provides a very vague, general explanation of what happened inthe same scene in Chapter 5, but as he’s being intentionally vague and as noone in the group really believes him, it’s easy to miss the point of what he’ssaying. Basically, what happened is this: after the whole group used theflashback light in Chapter 4 and realized how horrible the state of the outsideworld was after the meteorites hit, Miu became scared. She’s one of thecharacters whose reaction to that flashback light is the most obviously drastic, and she even claimsthat they must all be in “hell” if the world is really like that.

In the flashback between the two of them, we can see that Oumawanted to use the inventions he commissioned from her in order to take onMonokuma and the remaining two Exisals directly—basically, he wanted to trysomething very similar to what Momota was going to do in Chapter 5, butbetter-equipped. But Miu refused to participate in the fight or to inventanything new for him any longer after finishing the hammers and bombs. Afterseeing the rest of their classmates betray and kill one another repeatedly, shewas deeply paranoid and believed that someone in the group was bound tobackstab them, and that the plan would never work.

What’s more, in addition to refusing to go along with Ouma’splan or trust and cooperate with anyone else in the group, she also begantalking very emphatically about wanting to get out of the school. She claimedshe could be making the world a better place with her inventions, and therefore felt she’d be better off out there rather than trapped in the school witheveryone else. This desperation to get outside is what led her to make up hermind to try and attempt murder—as it has done with several other charactersthroughout the course of the DR series, including but not limited to Maizono,Celes, and Teruteru. It’s a trap of the killing game itself, and one of thereasons the motive videos are some of the simplest yet most effective motivesto kill in both dr1 and ndrv3.

The most important thing to note is that Ouma, seeing herreactions and desperation to get outside the school, knew she had made up her mind to try and kill someone pretty muchfrom the moment it happened. In the flashback scene itself, we can see him goextremely blank-faced as he listens to her, sprites which are usually reservedfor when he’s revising his opinion or rethinking his options. When she had himhelp move the armchairs to her lab and asked him to meet her within the VRworld to talk in private, he then put the pieces together and knew she wanted to try and kill him specifically.

As I discussed in my other post that I linked to, thebiggest problem wasn’t that she was trying to kill him within the VR world, butthat she had already made up her mind to commit murder in the first place. Inthe DR franchise, the decision to commit murder isn’t simply about taking onelife—it’s about being willing to forfeit everyone’s lives in the class trial inexchange for “graduating.” And this was clearly, from Ouma’s perspective, theabsolute worst-case scenario. Not only would he die regardless, but everyoneelse stood a good chance of dying too. If Miu’s plan worked, then it wouldresult in the deaths of 8 people (Ouma, Saihara, Maki, Himiko, Momota, Gonta, Kiibo,and Tsumugi), not just Ouma himself.

Just as Miu was too paranoid to trust anyone else in thegroup and believed that someone was definitely bound to betray them, Ouma wasalso incredibly paranoid. His paranoia shows through pretty early on in thegame; if Momota is the character that best symbolizes blind faith and belief ineveryone regardless of what the facts say, then Ouma is the character whorepresents trusting no one, doubting absolutelyeveryone, suspecting that everything is a lie until proven otherwise.

Seeing Miu refuse to cooperate any longer and knowing thatshe had already made up her mind to commit murder once, he felt there was noguarantee that she wouldn’t try it again, even if he stopped her the firsttime. The moment she made up her mind to kill was the moment he made up hismind that he couldn’t trust her, and decided she was a threat to the entiregroup’s safety that needed to be eliminated—regardless of his personal moralsagainst killing.

The problem, however, was how to eliminate her without: 1.)dying himself, and 2.) playing right into the same trap of the killing game and gettingeveryone else killed. He could certainly have tried to kill her himself—butthat would’ve meant he would be a culprit instead, not her. In which case, hecould only live by tricking everyone else in the class trial and getting themall executed instead. Again, this was the absolute worst-case scenario. He didn’twant to die either, in part because he was still searching for the ringleaderand trying to end the killing game, but also… well, simply because he didn’twant to die. Self-preservation and the fear of death is yet another prettyconstant motif with different DR characters.

As a result, he decided the most “practical” solution was touse a sacrificial pawn of sorts to eliminate Miu for him, who he could thensubtly lead the rest of the group to in the trial. This way, the total numberof deaths would be limited to two people, rather than everyone else dying andonly one culprit surviving. It was a very, veryruthless, cold way of looking at things through a lens of game theory—empatheticand morally opposed to killing though he was, one of the most contradictorythings about Ouma is that he was still very much willing to do very morallygrey things in order to achieve his goals. This walking contradiction ofsomeone who was definitely a pacifist, but who would strike back and strikehard if threatened, is something that’s very central to his character.

Chapter 4 is essentially one big mess of rampant paranoia. It’sthe chapter that best represents being stuck between a rock and a hard place, andthat’s one of the reasons I love it so much from a writing perspective. Miucouldn’t trust anyone; she didn’t want to die, so she made up her mind to killinstead. Ouma couldn’t trust anyone; he didn’t want to die either, so he madeup his mind to kill Miu and eliminate her as a threat so that she didn’t getthe rest of the group killed. It all comes back to paranoia, doubt, andsuspicion, which are some of ndrv3’s most important themes.

On to the second point: why didn’t he let everyone voteincorrectly and get them all killed in order to “put them out of their misery,”since he said that’s what he and Gonta were trying to do? The simplest answerto this is that it was a lie. More specifically, it was a lie for Gonta’s sake.

This, of course, justifies nothing about what Ouma actuallydid. He knew from start to finish that he was manipulating Gonta into takingthe fall for him, just as he knew that his actions were inexcusable (the toneof the line he has in the trial where he says “You’re right… I really am doingsomething horrible to Gonta… I’m sorry,” was yet another piece of dialoguewhere the general mood and feeling was made much less serious in the localization).However, it’s a fact that he lied about working in order to “put everyone outof their misery” in order to try and keep the rest of the group from blamingGonta, and in order to try and let Gonta himself feel like there was a greaterpurpose to him killing Miu.

After watching the flashback light that Monokuma set withinthe VR world, Gonta discovered the “truth of the outside world” just as Oumadid at the beginning of Chapter 4. He realized that the outside world was truly“hell,” and that the inside of the school was also a “hell” where they wereforced into the killing game—and Ouma led him to the conclusion that if theoutside and the inside were both hell, then the easiest solution was to “endeveryone’s suffering” by killing them so that they wouldn’t have to keepsuffering in the killing game and they wouldn’t have to know the painful truthof the outside world.

But the real truth is somewhat more complicated. Ouma clearlysuspected much, much earlier than Chapters 4 and 5 that the entire killing gamewas a show. He has tons of lines even in Chapters 2 and 3 where he talks abouthow “it’s almost like a show,” “if people were watching this I bet they’d allbe having so much fun they just couldn’t help themselves,” etc. Given the rulesof the killing game itself and Monokuma’s drive to make it “more exciting” and “moreinteresting,” he clearly knew, despite witnessing the “truth of the outsideworld,” that they couldn’t actually be the last 16 survivors of humanity:because clearly, there had to be an audience.

However, bringing this up at the end of the Chapter 4 trialwould only have made things more painful for Gonta, not less. Gonta was alreadyextremely horrified and traumatized by the idea that he would ever agree tohurt another person, much less kill them—the AI Gonta on the laptop thatMonokuma provides was traumatized even moreso by the actual memories of the “truthof the outside world.” Learning that the entire killing game was just a form ofsick and twisted entertainment and that his and Miu’s deaths amounted to littlemore than a sacrifice (and another part of that entertainment) in the grandscheme of things would’ve been crushing.

It’s clear to see that Ouma was lying about trying to geteveryone to vote incorrectly, because throughout the entirety of the Chapter 4trial he does nothing but try and push them all to the right answer, not the wrong one. He takes charge in the trial almost from the moment it starts, providing vital clues and hints, offering up information that does nothing but put him at a disadvantage, all because he’s clearly trying to get the group to realize on their own that only Gonta could’ve been the culprit.

The reason he lies about not goingto the rooftop to meet with Miu is because he was trying to lead the wholegroup into realizing on their own that the only person who could’ve had anyopportunity to kill Miu was Gonta. Had they taken his lie about the rooftop atface value, it’s still very likely that it would’ve taken them ages to actuallypoint the finger at Gonta or to realize that he was the only one who could’vedone it, and there’s no doubt that they all would’ve still been clueless as towhy—but it would’ve been a much less painful and agonizing process.

During the trial, though, Saihara calls him out on his lieabout the rooftop by lying in return and saying he went looking for him in the parlor, which pisses Ouma offimmensely. Not only does the entire group start telling him to stop lying, butthey only “know” he was lying in the first place because Saihara lied in turn.Fed up and completely through with the entire group rejecting lies as “universallybad” and demanding the truth as if it were “universally good,” Ouma just comesright out and tells them that Gonta is the culprit.

Again, had he actually been trying to get the whole groupkilled he would never have handed them the answer directly. It would’ve been athousand times easier to let them just vote for him as the culprit, since theyall thought he was the most suspicious one anyway. With a unanimous vote forhimself, everyone would’ve been executed for the wrong verdict, and only Gontawould’ve survived as a successful culprit, which was a task the AI Gontamentions he was willing to bear if it meant that everyone else didn’t have tosuffer through the killing game or the “truth of the outside world” anymore.

But Ouma also had another reason for just handing them theanswer the way that he does in the Chapter 4 trial—and that’s that he wanted toforce them all to acknowledge that the truth they all wanted from him wasextremely, undeniably painful. Lies, as he says in his Chapter 4 speech, offer “endlesspossibilities” and can be used to comfort and console others. The truth, bycontrast, is singular, and often very harsh. No matter how much you don’t wantto believe it, the truth won’t change. And that’s a lesson he pretty muchforces the entire group to learn by dragging them all by the nose for thesecond half of the Chapter 4 trial, because he got pissed off, petty, andimpatient all at once.

And now, as for the final point, about whether his reactionsjust before Gonta’s execution were genuine or not… This is perhaps thetrickiest point to discuss, because it truly is one of those moments that’s themost subjective to the player’s interpretation. No matter how much evidence isshown that Ouma hated killing and murder, no matter how much dialogue indicatesthat he really, honestly hated the killing game and his own actions within it,it’s still a scene where a lot depends on how you read into it. And of course,no matter how much he resented himself and no matter whether he had goodintentions or not, it still doesn’t excuse the fact that he knowingly led twopeople to their deaths.

I will say though that I feel it’s one of the scenes thatbest benefits from a second playthrough. On a first playthrough, Ouma simplyseems all-around despicable. The knee-jerk reaction is to simply assume that hewas lying about being sad and he was lying about wanting to be executedalongside Gonta, and that he’s just an awful and unsympathetic piece of shitwho really does want to make other people suffer. But knowing what we know abouthis character from the reveals in Chapters 5 and 6 though makes the whole scene read… quitedifferently.

In my own personal opinion, yes, I think he was beinggenuine. It still excuses nothing about his actions (and it’s very clear thatthe game itself doesn’t try to excuse him, considering he gets called out bypretty much the entire cast), but it does add insight and meaning to hisactions. One of the most interesting things about Ouma, to me at least, is thatdespite how hard he tries to play the role of a chessmaster and a cold,calculating strategist, his empathy is something that’s always there, rightunder the surface. It shows through in these little scenes and glimpses—and he goes ahead and lets it slip every now and then, because he knows the other characters (andthe players) will just think he’s lying anyway.

Something I feel is worth mentioning is that if Ouma hadreally, truly just wanted to backstab Gonta, belittle him, or see him suffer atthe end, he would’ve pulled out all the stops with his “I’m the big, evilringleader” routine before Gontadied, not after. The one thing that would’ve hurt Gonta the most and rubbedsalt in the wound would’ve been to mock him and reveal how he “double-crossedhim” and was “lying the entire time.”

Instead, he very clearly takes all the blame on himself inthe post-trial leading up to Gonta’s execution. He makes it very clear that he was the one who led Gonta to theflashback light and asked him to kill Miu, and even tells the whole grouppoint-blank not to blame Gonta or hate him. It makes no sense to say that hewas lying, in my opinion. If he’d been lying, he would’ve tried to win over more sympathy, not less. It would’vebeen very easy for him to play the part of a victim or try and win the group over to his side—but instead he makes it explicitly clear that the wholething was his fault, not Gonta’s.

Not only that, but he even begs to be executed alongsideGonta. There is literally no benefit to him doing this whatsoever, since he was volunteering his own life there. Looking atit from the standpoint of a lie or an act just doesn’t add up. He certainlywasn’t doing it for sympathy; if so, he wouldn’t have turned around and madehimself out to be the biggest asshole of the century five seconds later. Theonly way it makes any sense at all is under the assumption that he was tellingthe truth: that he absolutely hated what he did to Gonta and Miu, that he hatedbreaking such an important moral code and staining his hands, and that he wastruly tempted to just give up and die because the whole situation was soall-around horrible.

I think it’s worth noting that in Chapter 5 he does, infact, have a perfect opportunity to do the same exact thing to Momota and Makithat he did to Miu and Gonta already. It would’ve been perfectly easy for himto drink the antidote instead of Momota, let Momota die of his wounds, and tohide in an Exisal and attend the trial himself. That way, Maki would’ve beenexecuted as the culprit (and he wouldn’t have had to worry about her trying tocome and kill him again), and he would’ve been free to continue trying toexpose the ringleader and stop the killing game himself. Had he thrown theirlives under the bus, it would’ve been perfectly easy for him to have survivedpast Chapter 5.

But he didn’t, and I believe that speaks volumes about thetoll that Chapter 4 took on him. No matter how he tried to rationalize it andjustify it to himself, he still clearly felt that murder was murder and that nothingcould really excuse his actions in getting Miu and Gonta killed. In trying toact like the ringleader, think like them, and expose them, he felt in the endthat he had become no better than them. And he wasn’t willing to sacrificeanyone else’s lives after that, which is why he went willingly to his own deathinstead, leaving a trail of clues behind all over the school in the hopes thatSaihara and the others could bring an end to the killing game where he couldn’t.

I think I managed to hit all the points, and this has gottenextremely long by now, so I’ll stop, but I hope I was able to answer everyone’squestions! Chapter 4 is still the biggest point of controversy in the game, Ithink—I’ve gotten even more questions about it than about Chapter 5 by thispoint. It’s understandable too, since almost everything Ouma does and says is ahuge contradictory mess. But it’s definitely possible to look back at hisactions and to understand them in a new light after finishing the game for thefirst time.

I hope I was able to clear up a lot of the confusionregarding this chapter! It’s a long post, but if people want to reblog it andspread it around just to help clear up misinformation or misunderstandings,that would be great. Thank you all for asking and stopping by!

#ndrv3 #new danganronpa v3 #drv3 #kokichi ouma #ouma kokichi #ndrv3 spoilers // #my meta #okay to reblog #i once joked that i would never stop answering questions about chapter 4 until i reached old age #and i think that joke is coming back to haunt me #octoberwisdom10 #anonymous

[trashy-fujoshi-blog]

ライアーダンス

Kek what is this beautiful trash...???

It’s beauiful trashy POST-NDRV3 Fanfic featuring the wonders of a virtual Reality AU... because I’m salty about the ending and want my children to be alive...

#Heavy NDRV3 Spoilers.

Amami was first into the room. It was a small classroom, 16 desks, and with no other worthy-to-be-mentioned features to it. It was dark, hues of blue and greys and blacks, and the Ultimate Adventurer had no choice but to take a seat by the window and wait. The doors didn’t open and the windows had no way to unlock, nor would they smash. So all he did was wait. Was this hell? It felt like hell.

When the doors opened, and Kaede Akamatsu walked in, Amami could say he did understand the situation a  tiny bit better.

“A-Amami?!”

“Yo.”

“Wh-What is this.. Is this hell?”

“Who knows. So did you possibly kill me, Akamatsu?”

Kaede paused, eyes wide before nodding slowly.

“So you were the Mastermind?” Amami continued and Kaede frowned.

“No… I thought you were… that’s why I set the whole thing up…”

Amami paused for a moment.

“I see… So you didn’t kill me.”

“Wh- What? But Monokuma sai-”

“Monokuma can lie if no one knows the truth. You didn’t kill me, because that shot put missed. If it had hit me, how would I know it was a shotput, because I’d have died instantly. See?” Amami answered, proving Kaede’s innocence to the girl who just gaped confused.

“The shot putt form above didn’t kill me. Someone hit me from behind.”

“Then- Then-”

“The True Mastermind.”

Silence fell as Kaede took everything in. Amami let her, gave her the space and silence she needed to comprehend what had happened.

“It’s likely they executed you to cover it up, they would have wanted me dead as soon as possible anyway from what I knew.”

“Knew?”

“Well I didn’t remember at the time… But that wasn’t my first killing game.”

“... I remember. You were in the 52nd season.”

“Yes.”

“This is messed up.”

“Exactly, and what’s more messed up is that we wanted it, Akamatsu.”

When Ryoma Hoshi walked through the doors after what felt like a few days later, Amami could only sigh and Kaede looked concerned.

“Well this is odd.”

“And the killing continues I can assume.” Amami frowned. He wanted to prevent this. How had he failed so early on.

“I let her. She needed to get out… Or I thought she did at least.”

“Her?”

“Kirumi.”

It came as no shock when Kirumi Tojo burst through the doors later that ‘day’ (as there was a lacking concept of time to the room, and the students felt no need to sleep or eat or breathe… so it certainly was hell.)

She was quite composed about the whole thing, accepting the outcome of everything after remembering she had willingly signed up, and had met the end she had begged for in her audition. She was repulsed at who she had been, but kept her cool, and settled into a seat near the front of the class.

“If it means anything, I apologize for my actions. I believe the motive video was a strong factor behind the path I took.”

“Don’t worry.”

When Angie and Tenko entered together Amami just dropped his head to the desk and let out a frustrated noise.

“Is this Heaven? Atua must have reunited us in this plain~!”

“Heaven? Atua?”

“This isn’t heaven Angie, it looks like hell to me.”

Tenko was slightly disheartened to learn Kiyo has behind her death, from Angie’s explanation on what had occurred. On the other hand though, she was relieved. If she hadn’t offered to take Yumeno’s place… then the small magician would be dead instead of her. That was enough to keep Tenko sane.

When Kiyo came through the doors, he didn’t apologize.

Nor was he forgiven.

But none the less, he took a seat near the back of the class, and sat in silence.

“Would it be wrong to guess who’ll step through the doors next?”

“...”

“Yes, probably, considering it means you’re guessing who dies next.”

“Well it’s not like there is much else to do here anyway.”

“Fine.”

So the group of teens decided to pass their time trapped in the room by predicting who would walk through those doors next.

Tenko spent most of her time silently praying it wouldn’t be Himeko, after Kiyo had said the short redhead would be next because she was an easy target. Amami and Kaede refused to guess because they found it to be horrible.

Angie claimed Atua had informed her it would be Kiibo and Ryoma had quietly guessed it would be Maki. Kirumi simply decided on Iruma.

When Iruma Miu walked through the doors next, though she didn’t show it, Kirumi felt a tiny bit of smugness, at guessing right.

“As if you guessed right.”

“It was merely a random guess.”

“Guess? You fuckers guessed on who’d die next, and you picked me? I’ll have you know I was mid murder plot..-” Iruma stopped, and then frowned.

“Woops.”

“You were? Do share.” Kiyo asked, sounding the slightest bit excited for some reason.

“Haa? Why should I fucking tell you my plans?”

“Because we’re stuck in this room with no way out and it might pass the time?” Ryoma suggested.

In the end Iruma admitted she’d been about to kill Ouma before behind strangled from behind, dying witnessing Ouma’s smug victorious face, because the fucker knew her plan all along.

“That little shit better die soon.” Iruma added and Kaede shook her head in disapproval. She didn’t want anyone else to die, but if people kept coming by themselves, it meant Saihara must be solving the trials, she hoped he was doing okay.

Gonta came through the doors next, and at the sight of them all, he burst into tears.

“Gonta is so happy to see everyone again.”

And Gonta would not stop apologizing to Iruma, to the point she was forced to accept his apology.

“Will the game really continue to just two of them?”

“It has every other time.”

“Saihara won’t die. I’m sure.”

“Yumeno won’t die either! I have faith in her!” Tenko declared.

The doors creaked open once again, and Amami raised his head from his desk, and met the wide grin of Kokichi Ouma who stood in the doorway with a hand raised in greeting to the Adventurer.

“Nishishi, fancy seeing you guys here.” Was all he said.

Iruma got up first, and slapped the shorter boy, before returning to her seat, feeling a lot better about herself, even if she had tried to kill him first.

“Hello to you too Iruma.”

“Someone finally took the initiative to kill you?”

“They probably did it after learning what he did to Gonta and Iruma.”

“Nope~! I had Momota-chan crush me.”

“Wait- Had?”

“Yup~! I did. If everything goes right, then it should end the game.”

“You gave your life to end the game?”

“Sure did.”

And then Ouma bounced right over to Amami, sitting down on top of the boys desk with a smaller more genuine smile.

“You’re an idiot Ouma.” Amami deadpanned and Ouma gave a small nishishi .

“So are you.” Ouma retorted and the two fell into quiet laughs.

When Kaito Momota walked through the doors, Ouma punched the wall. Pain wasn’t something they could feel here, and injuries never occurred, so it did nothing at all, it was simply a way to vent his anger.

“Wha- What is this-”

“Momota-chan what happened?!” Ouma asked with a frown, wondering how his plan had failed.

“Shuuichi figured everything out, and then decided to lie at the last second saying I was you, but... I couldn’t let him do it…”

Ouma just sighed as though he expected it.

“My Beloved Saihara-chan is just too smart.”

Tsumugi Shirogane came next, and Kiibo followed her heels.

“So it’s over?” Amami asked upon seeing her and she nodded.

“It’s over.”

“What’s over, what do you mean?”

“Shirogane was the Mastermind.” Amami admitted.

“What?”

Ouma’s nose curled up in disgust. The Mastermind had been under his nose the entire time?

Kaede was gobsmacked too, she hadn’t expected that whatsoever. Why had Ammai kept quiet.

“Did you know the entire time Amami?”

“Only after speaking to Kaede, she helped me clear up some memories... Shirogane was in the 52nd season too. She wasn’t the true Mastermind, that would be Team Danganronpa, who crafted her memories to make her that way.”

“It’s true. I wasn’t a willing Mastermind.”

“Keeboy died too?” Ouma asked, and Kiibo nodded.

“It was the only way to destroy the place.”

“What was?” Kirumi asked.

“Self destructing.”

And Kiibo ignored the few pitying or shocked looks, Kiibo ignored Kaede’s tears and Ouma’s tauntings, and simply turned to the doors behind him.

“No one should come through those again.”

“There’s 16 seats though.”

“Who knows.”

Maki came what felt like shortly after, and blinked through tears on seeing Kaito once again.

“What happened?”

“Everything ended… but the world didn’t want us back. I- I tried to protect them.. But I guess I died.”

Yumeno came after that and Tenko cried, so much, refusing to let go of her. Yumeno cried a lot too though, and Angie shed some tears as well. It was sad to see that even after everything ended, they weren’t welcome into the world as they had hopepd to be.

“Shuuichi is alone?”

Silence fell.

The detective was alone in the world.

Oddly though, the detective didn’t step into the room for days upon days later. Maybe it was months? Maybe it was years? They had no way of telling, but Amami could confirm this was the longest they had waited by far.

Saihara did eventually come through the doors, but it wasn’t the Saihara they knew, that much was evident.

“Shuuichi!”

“Saihara?”

“Sa...i..hara-cha..n?”

Saihara looked like shit, and was completely in denial that they were in front of them.

“This isn’t real.”

“This is real.” Kaito countered, trying to move closer to the detective, who looked like the living dead which was punny since the detective had just died.

“No.” Saihara shuffled back as far as he could, back against the door, sliding down against it, as far back as he could go from any of them.

“This isn’t real.”

Saihara assumed the smallest position he could, knees tucked under his head, facing down.

“I’m alone. You're not real.”

“Shuuichi-”

Kaito was lost for words, all of them were. The strain of being alone had obviously not seated well with the detective. Kaede made a move from her seat, only to meet the arm of Ouma Kokichi who blocked her way, shaking his head at her attempts to move, before silently going over to the boy instead. Ouma said nothing, sliding down against the door too, taking a similar position, but resting his chin atop his knees instead.

“Saihara-chan. We’re most definitely real.” Ouma whispered.

“No-”

“Saihara-chan”

“No!”

“Shuuichi.”

Saihara lifted his head, and his eyes turned to Ouma, sharp, focused, and a spark Ouma was trying to find in the lost soul before him.

“There you are Saihara-chan. I was beginning to think you were lost.”

“Wh.. What did you call me?” Saihara whispered quietly.

“Hm? Saihara-chan?”

“N..No you said Shu-”

“Who knows what I said~ After all I am a liar.” Ouma shrugged, standing back up, and returning to Amami’s desk, which he had taken to sitting on, rather than taking a desk of his own.

Saihara’s eyes stayed glued to Ouma, who had started talking quietly to Amami. The detective's eyes never left the back of the Supreme Leader, even after he was swarmed, by Maki, Himeko, Kaede and Kaito.

In the end, Saihara accepted he had died, and explained what had happened to Maki and Himeko.

“Shortly after we left, we were chased by a large group. Maki made us go ahead.”

“Yeah Maki Roll told us that.”

“Himeko and Me made it to some mountain pass, found some shelter there, but they jumped on us while it was dark. I was asleep, and Himeko was watching, but they found us and I couldn’t do anything to stop them.”

“After that, it was just me by myself, trying to stay ahead of them. I managed for a while too, seems the Ultimate Detective title wasn’t just for crime solving, but crime committing. I broke into a lot of places to hide in, stole things.. It wasn’t… It wasn’t living. It wasn’t the freedom we fought for. It was hell, and death seemed peaceful compared to living in hell… So... that’s what happened.”

It was silent as the detectives words sunk in.

Saihara hadn’t been killed.

He’d killed himself.

“Saihara!”

Kaede had clung to him for who knows how long, crying onto his shoulder. Even Ouma and Kiyo had the decency to not speak. Hell, most of the class had clambered to comfort him.

In the end, the 16 of them settled once more, taking a desk each, wondering if now they were all reunited, they could leave this purgatory-like Room?

Oddly enough, as though them taking their seats was the key to the whole thing, the world around them began to glitch, walls juttering in awkward directions, desks fading in and out of view. Yumeno let out a shriek in shock, and even Kiyo lost his composure for a second. Tenko made a move to stand up, to go to the Magician, but Amaimi’s voice kept her seated.

“Stop. We don’t know what happens if we get back up.”

So Tenko stayed put, as much as it pained her to do so, itching to get up from her seat.

And through all the chaos, the unexplained events surrounding the room, everything faded to black.

“Up you get, steady now, not too quickly.”

Saihara blinked in shock, at first all he could see was white, his eyes trying desperately to seek something out, but it hurt, it hurt so much Saihara clamped them shut again. All he could feel was someone slowly helping him sit up, from where he lay… the ground beneath him felt like it was humming, cold metal against his back. Odd…

“Careful now, give your eyes time to adjust.”

Saihara frowned. He couldn’t see but he knew that voice. He knew that voice… but it couldn’t be them.

“Do you know who you are?”

Saihara paused. Who has he… Was he Saihara Shuuichi or was he the monster who’d eagerly signed up for his own death, for the chance to murder for fame and glory…?

"Saihara Shuuichi.” Came the feeble voice. Saihara was shocked, he sounded awful, like he hadn’t spoken for a while… what?

“Good. Right do you think you could try opening your eyes for me? Slowly, they need to adjust to the light.”

Saihara gave a weak nod, arms clinging to the arm supporting him. He felt weak, like he hadn’t used his body in so long. It took a bit, of squinting and blinking, before Saihara could make out vague shapes and colours, browns and blacks and greens.

He was right then.

“How… How much was the truth?”

“I think that conversation is better held with you all together.”

“All… everyone is alive?”

“Yes.”

That was enough for Saihara. He understood parts of the situation, could vaguely guess what had happened, but he needed confirmation.

But all he knew for sure, was he was alive. He was alive, and everyone was alive, and he would make sure things stayed that way.

…

Or that’s what he had hoped.

For the first few days, Saihara wasn’t allowed out of the room, he was kept under some monitoring, and attended to by some clumsy nurse, with a soft spoken voice, until his condition meant he could walk properly, and that they knew he was okay… or as okay as he could be.

It took about three days for Saihara to be able to stand on two feet, hands clutching onto the arm of his career. From what he’d been told, they’d all been assigned someone, and Saihara was grateful he was with someone as patient and considerate as the short brunette he knew to be Naegi Makoto.

“Do you think you could try a step?”

Saihara gave a nod. He had to try, he had to step onwards, Kaede had taught him as much.

And Saihara, by the end of the fourth day, could walk without assistance, Naegi staying by his side though, ready to catch the detective if needs be.

By the end of the week, Saihara finally got to see someone other than the nurse and Naegi.

That someone was the unexpected arrival of a boy who most certainly looked like Kiibo… except.

“Hello Saihara.”

“Kiibo?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

Except the Ultimate Robot… wasn’t really living up to his talent…

“It appears I’m not actually a robot…” Kiibo mumbled, scratching the back of his head, bashfully.

A 100% a flesh and blood human.

“Wha..”

“I’m actually just a normal person… Odd isn’t it.”

He certainly looked like normal though, his facial features remained the same, hair still unruly as ever.

“Are you okay, Saihara?”

“Yeah… Are you?”

“Yes. I apparently recovered quickest, so I’ve been allowed to visit some of you.”

“Some?”

Kiibo went silent for a second.

“Ah…”

Saihara couldn’t help the unease in his stomach, to the extent he had to ask what the boy meant.

“What do you mean some?”

“Some people… don’t remember.”

“Remember what?”

“Anything after the game started… They basically don’t remember anything except the… well… the monsters we were.”

Saihara couldn’t help but raise a hand to his mouth, which he knew was open in shock and horror.

He didn’t really understand everything yet, it hadn’t been explained, but he knew he’d always been Saihara Shuuichi, and that the monster who’d signed up for the game wasn’t him, that was the fictional him. Saihara Shuuichi was not fictional, but #154 was..

“So… they think- they think they’re..”

“Yes. Some one them believe themselves to be the monsters we were made to be.”

“W-Who?”

Kiibo blinked.

“I can’t answer.”

“Kiibo please.”

“I can’t tell you, but I can tell you Kaede is okay.” And then he turned to leave.

Two weeks after waking up, Saihara finally got an explanation, and was allowed to leave the room.

Essentially what had happened was that he, and his classmates, all of which genuinely were his classmate, and part of the rebuilt Hope’s Peak, had been captured by some of the last parts of Despair, and forced into a simulation similar to what the 77th class had endured, except… they’d been led to believe their entire identities were fiction, with the creation of fake versions of themselves.

Essentially, the people they thought they were, and the sides of them they thought were fictional… were swapped. Their talents existed, their families and motives were correct, and the people who they’d been told they were, Danganronpa-crazed fans seeking glory in murder, were fictional.

For some of them though, after waking from the Sim, they’d forgotten their true selves, and believed in the fictional versions of themselves. Some of their history may be accurate, but that was all they could remember. No killing game. No having met any of them before… Nothing.

The Staff of the New Hope’s Peak and Remnants of Future Foundation had found the class of Ultimates under Simulation, fairly quickly, and defeated the last of Despair, but couldn’t wake the students up without risking their brains being fried. The only way it would end was with every single one of their deaths, which explained the room waiting for them, and why none of them had left for the extended period of time it took for Saihara to eventually ‘die.’

With his new found freedom, Saihara made it his mission to seek out anyone… someone…

Kiibo had been busy with the Staff and Future Foundation, the Ultimate Robotics Student was assisting them in dismantling the Simulation, processing data, and attempting to reverse the memory wipes which had occurred when some students awoke. Saihara understood it was important, and Kiibo likely knew the most in the subject, but Saihara hadn’t been able to speak to him since that one encounter.

When Saihara ended up walking the gardens of the huge area they were in currently, he found himself finally finding someone.

Namely Rantaro Amami.

“Yo, Saihara.” Amami smiled, a small gentle smile, waving a hand before beckoning him to sit beside him, on the stone bench.

Saihara complied, taking a seat beside the Ultimate Adventurer.

“Hello Amami.”

“Nice to see you’re okay. Are you managing okay? Just let me know if not.. I’ve got an… impressive… person helping me out, and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind helping out if you need anything.”

“Ah- It’s okay Amami, I have someone rather pleasant myself.”

Amami just let out a quiet laugh.

“Ah, if only the same could be said for Kaede. She told me she has the most odd and Chuunibyou-like person ever. Not a bad person, just odd.”

“You’ve spoken to her?”

“Yeah. Our rooms are opposite one another. There’s two rooms per floor.. So you should be with someone too… Have you noticed?”

“No…” Saihara admitted. He hadn’t looked, but now that he thought about it… there was a room opposite… probably?

“If you want, I’ll show you where abouts our rooms are?”

“Please.”

While Saihara was on the 11th floor, Amami was only on the 2nd, and Saihara was grateful it wasn’t a long walk.

The door read Kaede Akamatsu, and Saihara could vaguely recall his own might have said his name on it…? Maybe?

Amami stood beside him reassuringly, as Saihara raised a fist, to knock.

“It’s open” Kaede’s voice chimed, after Saihara knocked, and slowly but surely Saihara opened the door, filled with the same feeling of unease and fear he’d felt opening those Library doors to that god awful scene…

And Saihara swore opening the doors was the best sight he’d seen since he woke up. Kaede looks positively radiant, a gentle smile on her lips, head swaying to the quiet sound of something classical Saihara didn’t know the name of.

“Saihara!”

As soon as Kaede saw him, she launched herself at him, accidentally tugging him onto the ground with her, Amami somehow ending up pulled down too.

The three paused for a second before breaking out into giggles.

“It’s good to see you’re okay Saihara.”

“It’s good to see you too! I was worried you’d.. Kiibo told me some of us… aren’t us.”

“What?”

Neither of the 2nd floor residents had heard this.

“Kiibo let slip that some of us woke up.. And didn’t remember us.. Only the fictional us.”

Kaede let out a gasp in shock, and Amami closed his eyes in horror.

“I don’t know who, he wouldn’t say… I don’t think he was meant to tell me.. But I was worried… I still am.”

Kaede’s hand found Saihara’s, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“I’m sure they’re doing everything they can for whoever it is.”

“I hope so.”

The evening drew in, and eventually Saihara had to head back to his own floor, bidding farewell to Kaede and Amami who told him he was welcome to come by their floor anytime.

On his way back up, Saihara stopped outside the other door on his floor.

Ouma Kokichi.

Of all the people, Saihara was the least sure about Ouma. He was complex.. That was for sure. He wasn’t 100% certain he was ready to face the Ultimate Supreme Leader just yet…

It’s not like he could anyway, when two tall individuals left the room, one just slightly taller than the other.

Saihara had seen both of them… through Tsumugi’s talent in the Simulation. This was Hinata Hajime… but the name of the other escaped the detectives memory.

“Oh. Hello.” Hinata spoke, quietly, surprised to see someone in the hallway. The light haired male to his side just gave a skeptical look before smiling, a small smile that didn’t seem completely true. Actually it wreaked of the falseness that often masked Ouma’s face too.

“You must be Saihara… your room is on this floor too?”

“Yes. I am... “

“Are you here to see Ouma?” Hinata asked.

Saihara paused for a second before shrugging. He had to face everything, there was no point running.

“Ah.”

That was… unexpected.

“Ouma.. he’s not really in a state for visitors.” Hinata went on to explain, Saihara’s eyes darting between Hinata and the other, for any traces of a lie.

“He.. remembers though… right?”

The other, shook his head.

“Nope. He doesn’t remember much at all, he can give us his name and a bit of his history… and that’s all.”

Saihara’s eyes widened.

“But how do you know that, hm?” The light haired one went on to continue.

“Nagito stop pressuring the poor guy.” The other snapped and Komaeda rolled his eyes.

“Kiibo told me. Just.. not who.”

“Aha… sneaky, he wasn’t meant to~! But yeah, there’s Ouma, and I believe the girl on the 6th floor, and the two on the floor above. Only four.” Komaeda relayed and Hinata elbowed him.

“You’re not meant to say.”

“What? It’s not like I gave that much away… Such a downer Hajime.”

Saihara just backed away, into his own room, unnoticed by the two who ended up in petty bickering.

Ouma didn’t remember?

Ouma… didn’t remember…him.

To some, the boy had already been quite the monster, as his normal self… so what the hell was he like now? How much worse could he be?

Four days of sitting with his thoughts, Saihara had enough. He hadn’t really left his room that much in that time, and he hadn’t returned back to the 2nd floor. The only person he’d spoken to was was Naegi who brought him meals, after the detective refused to visit the dining hall for them.

“Naegi.”

“Hm?”

“Can .. Can I see Ouma?”

Naegi looked taken aback for a second, opening his mouth to say what Saihara already knew.

“I know he doesn’t.. He doesn’t remember… but.. I just want to try… see if maybe us being around him jogs his memory?”

“You weren’t supposed to know.”

“Komaeda told me.”

Naegi let out a weak curse, possibly a damn or a darnit, Saihara couldn’t hear properly, but he knew the gentle boy wouldn’t swear… especially since he was a headmaster after all, even if he was barely 23. He had to set a good example to the students he felt he’d failed.

“I.. could see if it would be possible.”

“Really?”

Saihara wasn’t sure why he sounded eager, but Naegi nodded.

“Yes. I’ll let you know as soon as we reach a decision.”

Two days later, Saihara finally found himself on the 2nd floor.

“Saihara, you okay? Expected you sooner.” Amami spoke, leaning against his door frame.

“Kaede’s down in the dining hall currently, with Yumeno and Angie, but you can wait in my room if you’d like.”

Saihara took Amami up on that offer, the tall boy being nothing short of a life saver. Saihara wasn’t sure how the boy could be so nice and positive after everything. Saihara still woke up screaming, and hated when the dark drew in, and the nightmares stalked his mind… but Amami seemed fine, and Saihara just couldn’t understand that.

“So why’d you wait a while?” Amami asked, as Saihara took a seat on the chair by the desk in the corner of the room, Amami sitting on the edge of the desk.

“Ouma’s on my floor.”

“Oh. I wondered where he’d ended up, I wasn’t allowed past floor 5 though. Have you spoken to him? Is he okay?”

“He.. I haven’t spoken to him. He doesn’t remember…”

Saihara let the words sink in, and watched Amami’s usually positive and composed demeanor sink.

“He doesn’t?” Was the feeble whisper Saihara managed to hear, giving a nod in confirmation. From the slowly returning pre-Sim memories, Saihara could recall the two were close, and that Amami had claimed the Supreme Leader as his brother (after all 12 sisters was lovely, but he’d longed for a little brother too, and well, Ouma calling him Nii-chan was just… perfect.)

“That’s…”

“I’m trying to get permission to see him, even if he doesn’t remember, so I can try and spark some memories or something.” Saihara went on to explain.

“Let me come too.” Amami answered, instantly, with a confident and determined look in his eyes.

“We'll have to ask.”

As it turned out, Amami had been assigned Togami Byakuya, and well… that guy could make anything happen. (Plus, not that anyone knew, but Togami also couldn’t resist Naegi’s puppy dog eyes that pleaded to let his patient into see the Supreme Leader.)

So Amami and Saihara stood outside the door of the Supreme Leader, unsure what to expect, accompanied by Komaeda, Hinata, Togami, Naegi and Kirigiri. It turned out that those without their memories were assigned two people, and Ouma had been assigned Komaeda and Hinata. Komaeda because they’d come across as similar to one another, and Hinata being the only one willing to work with Komaeda.

Kirigiri simply came along because she didn’t trust Naegi to not be a dork, and because she felt like the only sane and normal one from the group of Staff that would be there.

“What was that Ouma like.. The one they made?”

Saihara knew what some of them had been crafted like, knew Kaito had been made into a sadistic and bloodthirsty competitor who had wanted to kill every one of them, Kaede had no faith in humanity, and he himself had eagerly planned his own execution, planning the gruesome murders of his friends. What had Ouma been?

“...Imagine the opposite from normal I guess.”

“...”

Saihara just blinked. The opposite?

“What.”

But the question wasn’t answered, and Komaeda opened the door for them, without warning.

“Ouma?” Komaeda asked, bed empty. The small form of the Supreme Leader instead sat upon the thin window ledge, knees to his chin, staring out the window onto the vastness of greenery. Still donned in the same uniform he’d worn from his time as a student, the Supreme Leader sat, face slightly obscured by his trademark check scarf.

His head turned at the sound, eyes taking in the newest arrivals to the room.  

“These guys wondered if they could spend some time with you, I promise you they’re good people, is that okay?”

Ouma nodded, staying silent, not making an attempt to move.

“Would you like us to stay, or we can wait outside?”

Ouma didn’t speak, but his eyes flitted between Amami and Saihara, before nodding towards the door.

“C’mon then.” Komaeda ushered the four of them out, following himself, leaving just Ouma, Amami and Saihara in the room.

“Will they be okay?” Was all Saihara heard before the door shut, and silence fell.

Ouma went back to staring out of the window.

“Ouma…” Amami started, and the boy flinched at his voice, but turning to look none the less.

“Do I know you?” Ouma asked, voice shaky, and small, he sounded so… Gods. Saihara stood frozen. This was Ouma? This...

Amami nodded, Saihara was sure neither of them could find words right now. The detective wanted nothing more than to simply scoop this small boy up into his arms and make sure he knew he was okay, he was safe… because frankly, Ouma looked petrified at them being in the same room as them.

“I’m Rantaro Amami.”

“And I’m Saihara.”

The Ultimate Detective was the only one of the two to notice the smallest flash of recognition in Ouma’s eyes, before he turned his face away, back to the window.

“Ouma.” Was all he said, introducing himself when it really wasn’t needed.

“Were you… in it to?”

Saihara and Amami looked at one another before both nodding.

“We were. Yes.”

Ouma just clutched his hands under his thighs, pulling his knees even higher.

“Th-.. Then could you please leave?” Ouma spoke, hands trembling, face not turning to meet them anymore.

Neither of them expected that. It was like looking at a completely different person.

“P..Please.” It was then, with Ouma’s voice breaking slightly, that Saihara and Amami could tell he was crying.

“C’mon Amami.” Saihara sighed, heading back towards the door. They didn’t want to make the boys condition worse, and he was obviously distressed by their presence. He likely thought them to be.. Well people who’d signed up for the game, and summarily probably not the best people… But Ouma… his personality just didn’t match what they’d all been made to be.

The two left, leaving behind Ouma who sat still, staring from his place by the window, raising a sleeve to wipe his damp eyes.

“Sorry, Shuuichi. ”

So that’s all I have so far...

But....

I have already started a second chapter

This has become surprisingly popular on AO3 compared to my other stuff

I kinda roughly know how I want it to play out

I have motivation

ALL IN ALL HERE IS HOPE FOR THIS FIC UNLIKE ALL THE OTHERS I ABANDON.

#danganronpa v3 #danganronpa #ndrv3 #ouma kokichi #kokichi oma #fanfic #amami rantarou #shuichi saihara #kaede akamatsu #nagito komaeda #hajime hinata #komahina #byakuya togami #makoto naegi #kyoko kirigiri #virtual reality #kiibo

[mysterious-matcha]

just curious, why do you dislike saihara so much?

Why do I dislike Saihara? Here’s why.

I mean, I sort of understand why some people think he’s a good protag. He does get development, blah blah blah, but I still think Saihara is pretty Gary Stu-ish. Like, this might be mainly because of how Saimatsu was executed in-canon, but he and Kaede are so revolved around each other, it’s almost impossible for me to talk about my issues with him without bringing up Saimatsu.

Saimatsu is NOT a relationship where both sides mutually support each other—Kaede is the only one who does the supporting, and that’s her sole purpose in the story. Her own character arc was tossed aside, and she’s reduced to nothing but Saihara’s dead girlfriend. She was the one who “killed” Rantarou, yet the way Saihara treated her like she was a victim. And everyone else, instead of being cautious towards someone who had been following Kaede—who just “killed” Rantarou—like a dog, they always comfort him every time he’s even remotely sad as if those two had been married for like a century or something. And chapter 6 only made it even worse. The fact that she didn’t actually kill anyone only confirm that her death was meaningless other than, once again, to be an angst machine for the sake of Saihara’s “development”. Despite her actually attempting to kill someone, she wasn’t faulted at all for that. The only ones who remember her “fault” were Angie and Kokichi, yet the plot treats them as “the ones that aren’t meant to be likeable”.

IMO Saihara is basically just emo bishie Naegi minus the flaws—and I don’t even like Naegi to begin with. Hell, Naegi was at least mad when he first found out Sayaka framed him for murder. Granted, she only did that because she had no choice, but it was plausible for Naegi to not be able to care less about her reasons at first. Sayaka was at least treated as someone who suffers the consequences of her own fault. But Kaede? She was only fucked over and tortured by the plot for the sake of making Saihara sad, so the players feel sorry for him.

Saimatsu is so idealized and rubbed onto the players’ faces despite Saihara and Kaede have only just met like 3 days before Kaede died. And they’re not even saved by the “past lovers who regain their feelings despite not having memories of each other” trope. Their “fateful encounter” in the prologue was the literal proof that they’ve just met then and there, debunking any possibilities that they’ve known each other beforehand. You may argue the “only know for three days” thing also apply to every other Kaede ships, but the “past lovers” trope could still be an excuse somehow, albeit cheesy/unrealistic/whatever.

Kaede was interesting and she had the potential to be the best protag in the series, but nope, the story just has to toss her aside and replace her with someone who’s easier to write. I’ve heard some people saying Kaede’s constant optimism was annoying, but actually, she was called out for it. When she tried to take everyone else to go through the tunnel over and over, Kokichi reality-slapped her for pushing everyone else too far. And unlike in later cases where the rest of the gang defend her despite her murder attempt like there’s no tomorrow, in Kaede’s case (at least when she was still a character) no one else stood up for her except for Kaito—because, well, he’s Kaito—and Saihara. Also, people only praised Kaede for being a great leader after she actually acts like one. She was surprised at first, yeah, but she didn’t go “wah wah I don’t deserve this” like Saihara would, and actually took the leadership baton.

And now my non-Saimatsu-related issues: The side characters like to kiss his ass/brag about how great he is like every 5 minutes, just because that’s easier than actually showing him doing something great. Best example was when everyone praised Himiko—who actually earned her praises, since she actually developed after what happened to Tenko and Angie, but then suddenly Himiko changed the topic into “No, Saihara, YOU’RE the best one!” which was so out-of-place, despite Saihara’s only “development” at that point was, what, taking off his hat? Kaede, as said above, solely exists to be his dead girlfriend. Kaito was mad at him in chapter 5, yeah, but 10 minutes later their “fight” ends with Kaito being like “You’re the best person ever, sorry for the pointless tension lmao” instead of both sides trying to reconcile. Miu was one of the few who doesn’t kiss his ass, but the story treats her as nothing but a walking sex joke. Let alone Tsumugi, who was the literal villain in the story.

Basically, a lot of things that revolve around Saihara happens “because the plot wants it to be”, not because it actually makes sense to happen. Why does Kaede only stick with him like 90% of her screen time? Because he’ll eventually take over the protag spot so the story has to build him up. Why does the rest of the gang like kissing his ass, praising him for being great? Because he’s the protagonist beloved by everyone. Why does he bother to say Tsumugi might have lied about him and everyone else voluntarily signing into the killing game? Because the villain is the only one who’s bad, everyone else is cinnamon rolls who did nothing wrong uwu.

All in all, I’m not gonna bash you for liking Saihara, I promise. You’re entitled to your opinion. But please keep in mind that I’m also entitled to mine. I also promise that I won’t post anti-Saihara/Saimatsu posts too often—since this is supposed to be a Rantarou-centric blog, and when I do, I’ll tag it as [#character hate] and [#ship hate] if you just want to avoid negativity in general. Or [#anti saihara shuuichi] if you want to be more specific.

#ndrv3 spoilers #character hate #ship hate #anti saihara shuuichi