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Fedule posted:Sonia's "thing" is that she combines the well-spoken royalty archetype with the pop-culture encyclopedia one - except that the pop-culture is all from 30+ years ago. So she's quite able to string eloquent sentences together, but all of her slang, idioms, proverbs and references are jarringly out of date (and sometimes misunderstood or misapplied or otherwise incorrect-if-unintentionally-apt - see "cat out of the frying pan"). This sounds alarmingly like me in real life, minus the royalty part. I constantly have to repress the urge to reference decades-old pop culture ephemera like Tony Franciosa.
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Feb 13, 2013 19:17
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 17:01 |
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Are we still doing theories? I wanted to try! Let's see... - The students here are the same class, but after a year has passed. Their school life would start a year after the first game's characters. - The vacation was a second option if that Super High School Level Hope Shelter plan didn't turn out too good (which it didn't). Something threw them into deep despair (no doubt the failure of the school shelter), and their memories were erased to remove a student or faculty member -- probably the one orchestrating the island vacation -- for a round 2, in which this hopeful mastermind tried to incite hope, trying to avoid Mutual Killings Round Two by reconstructing their bonds and erasing knowledge of how Monobear crushed the world and the school that they believed would survive. Unfortunately, monobear found them before they could establish any relationships, and the memory erasing totally backfired, creating a climate identical to the one that triggered the first Mutual Killing session, and the hopeful mastermind is silenced! Incredible bad luck. ;9 Extra theory: - Togami only remembers being locked inside of the school, powerless to stop whatever is happening outside. It explains why he's more amiable, why he seems to know what's happening but isn't doing anything to stop it, why he still believes in his family, and why he keeps referring to his own powerlessness. He might have been brought in to establish a point of guidance after the student's memories were erased, since he has nice leadership skills. Maybe because the hopeful mastermind saw the broadcast and liked how he handled the events in the first game. ...Those are my theories. \(*7* ) As for who that hopeful mastermind is...probably not one of the students, if the hopeful mastermind erased the memories themselves! One of them is probably helping out, though. My money's on Togami or Komaeda. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Feb 13, 2013 19:23
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Sonia's speech is a complex mixture of influences. Her regular mode is, as you'd expect, fairly formal Japanese with some awkward grammar and questionable vocabulary choices. She also sometimes has weird idiom usages, as expected from a foreign speaker trying to use advanced language features. Then, she peppers her speech with random phrases and words from Japanese pop culture old and new, subculture slang and lame old gags that would embarrass anyone under 50 years old.
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Feb 13, 2013 19:28
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RefinedUndefined posted:Why does everyone assume he has an ulterior motive, can't he just want to strengthen the bonds between classmates so that nobody has to die. Well aside from telling them something that he doesn't want Monobera to overhear, but that plan has a gaping hole in it. I think the gaping hole is too blatant to not be deliberate, though. Since he talked about time and place in a monitored area, Monobear's being led to pay close attention to the shack. Make it easy for the students to be planning something elsewhere. might be wrong fucked around with this message at 19:44 on Feb 13, 2013 |
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Feb 13, 2013 19:34
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Not too surprised that Nagito would be unavailable. I was thinking yesterday how he, Hanamura and Togami may not be available for free time, though I guess I was wrong on Togami. Those poor 650 voters have been left in horrible despair. In regards to Sonia, I think I know why I like her so much now. She's everything I wanted Maizono to be in the last game. A character who was kind, but made clear she was willing to do what it took to protect herself. The only difference is Maizono took that to the extreme and attempted to commit murder, whereas Sonia seems to say that she doesn't want to die but also isn't willing to kill. Both characters are similar in design and personality to a degree, but that distinction sets them apart by a good measure. I feel like if Maizono lived to the end she may have become more like Sonia is now and that idea makes me like Sonia. I'm really rooting for her to live to the end now.
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Feb 13, 2013 19:51
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I like Sonia a lot because I feel like she could have easily been made to be Togami 2.0. (I mean, seriously, she's a princess! Why should she have to put up with these peasants?) But she's not; she's really genuine and earnest and seems to want to bond with those around her and learn what life is like outside her royal bubble. Of course this means she's going to die 
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Feb 13, 2013 20:47
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Happy Landfill posted:I like Sonia a lot because I feel like she could have easily been made to be Togami 2.0. (I mean, seriously, she's a princess! Why should she have to put up with these peasants?) But she's not; she's really genuine and earnest and seems to want to bond with those around her and learn what life is like outside her royal bubble. That, or she has a darker side to her personality. Perhaps, in her home country, she'd be gleefully putting peasants to the sword.
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Feb 13, 2013 20:50
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Amidiri posted:I thought it was pretty obvious that the 'ulterior motive' is that while everyone is in the same room having a party, nobody can commit a murder undetected. I mean, as well as strengthening bonds, because that's important too. That's not what I would call a ulterior motive, if only due to how benign that idea is, whereas 'ulterior' sounds quite sinister. might be wrong posted:I think the gaping hole is too blatant to not be deliberate, though. Since he talked about time and place in a monitored area, Monobear's being led to pay close attention to the shack. Make it easy for the students to be planning something elsewhere. So, if I'm correct, you're making it out to be that the party is a diversion, but if that is the case, where would they plan, after all, the controller, if there is one, can still see them on camera, unless the control room is set up like Junko's in the first game, so such a diversion might not be very useful. It does give a sort of ulterior motive to Togami's idea however. RefinedUndefined fucked around with this message at 21:04 on Feb 13, 2013 |
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Feb 13, 2013 20:59
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Happy Landfill posted:I like Sonia a lot because I feel like she could have easily been made to be Togami 2.0. (I mean, seriously, she's a princess! Why should she have to put up with these peasants?) But she's not; she's really genuine and earnest and seems to want to bond with those around her and learn what life is like outside her royal bubble. I dunno Asahina was the kind girl who also wanted to bond with everyone and she survived DR1, we can only hope Sonia does too since she seems interesting
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Feb 13, 2013 21:06
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I should say that I don't think Togami's ulterior motive for the party isn't in favor of the group. I don't think he's doing it to put anyone in danger, but there's something weird about announcing your secret party location in a monitored area. We've all agreed on that much, anyway. It's hard to speculate with him right now because we're familiar with his character, but we don't know what timeframe/memories/etc we're dealing with. I would be totally okay with Sonia being the Aoi of this group and just be the pleasant/funny/sweet girl that lives until the end. If she does have a dark side, I think it could be interesting, as long as it's done in a different way than Syo was. Syo was funny but something less over the top would be preferable this time around, though I might be in the minority. Everyone seemed to like Syo way more than I did in the last thread.
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Feb 14, 2013 00:08
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I really hope Sonia's acting at face value because she's behaving like the most responsible and empathetic character around - that's how you play for survival in a situation like this, establish that you have no incentives to kill and make sure you're not giving anyone a reason to target you.
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Feb 14, 2013 00:29
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MUTEkI posted:Wow, Togami is all but admitting that he had something to do with wiping everyone's memories. I'm assuming by that you mean that he is alluding to the fact (to the player) that he retains his memories, which would beg the question as to "why does he retain those memories?" In which case you believe he would then have to have something to do with the mind wiping, correct? Skunkrocker posted:I'm on my cellphone in my work truck, so I can't really explain my point in full detail at this time, but I want to bring up the possibility of this Togami being a fake. My main evidence of this was this past free time event. He mentioned forgetting your past and that he was not as powerful as he is now. Along with Monobear pointing out someone wasn't supposed to be there, it could be possible this guy disguised himself like a Togami just to have a reason for being there. He might not even have an actual talent, except maybe the honorary SHSL Infiltrator... Why not wait until you get home to explain this, if you can't explain it in full detail? Also, I don't see how either of that has any bearing on him being a fake anyway. In fact, wouldn't that serve as evidence for this being the real Togami? After all, Togami already previously forgot his past before in the original Dangan Ronpa, and he would not be as powerful as he is now could either be a fat joke or a direct reference to how he grew as a person. Remember how anti-social he was before, and yet how much of a better leader he is here. Everything is in order. This could easily have been drawn from his experience leading the group towards the end of the previous title.
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Feb 14, 2013 01:01
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Tenebrais posted:That, or she has a darker side to her personality. Perhaps, in her home country, she'd be gleefully putting peasants to the sword. Even a genuinely good ruler could be moved to murder, in these circumstances. "I'm sorry, but Novoselic needs me."
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Feb 14, 2013 01:17
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I can't tell if I actually like Sonia or I'm just so perplexed by her that she's only interesting. Also, Byakuya grilling you about your choice of meat and then asking you to be his assistant in one fell swoop is amazing, he's so loving offputting, but so charismatic at the same time, how does that even work?
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Feb 14, 2013 02:29
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Sonia disappointed me a little bit with this one. It is the first free-time event, but I thought there would be more hints to her more manipulative side that's becoming more and more obvious. Maybe once we get past the background we'll get to the really neat stuff. Her "who are you picking?" comment (I naturally assume she means romantic partners) makes me wonder who she would have picked... I don't know why. That being said, I still really like Sonia, and I'm going to continue to vote for her as long as she's alive (which will hopefully be a long time). Oh, and another thing, this whole process of picking who we spend free time with makes me want to have this game just so I can see all the events. Does anyone know if oren and Fedule are planning on doing all of them at some point, like they started to with DR1?
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Feb 14, 2013 02:33
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Actually making good on something I said I would do, I made an Fanart Thing: It's essentially redundant in light of Zyxyz's Perler work earlier in the thread, but it beats 95% of the patterns that the craft places around here carry. It's also my first time doing one of these off a pattern I created (from the pixel art, obviously). I took a few liberties/shortcuts with the colors, but think most of my decisions worked out ok. I am still on the fence about just doing a single thread around the hair instead of the full stitch. Think of it as a test. From here out, my plan is to do them in memory of the murdered characters. I did Nagito here as a test for old times sake. If he ever does bite it, maybe I'll redo him based on any feedback or from a different sprite or something. Hinata, Monobear, and Monomi I plan to do intermittently.
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Feb 14, 2013 02:42
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Spooky that is adorable! My mom used to cross-stitch, it's probably one of my favorite crafty-type-things for that reason. I think doing them in memory of deaths is an awesome idea.  I might have to do fanart for this game, it's too tempting.
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Feb 14, 2013 03:01
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Mondlicht posted:I would be totally okay with Sonia being the Aoi of this group and just be the pleasant/funny/sweet girl that lives until the end. If she does have a dark side, I think it could be interesting, as long as it's done in a different way than Syo was. Syo was funny but something less over the top would be preferable this time around, though I might be in the minority. Everyone seemed to like Syo way more than I did in the last thread. It's hard to get a bead on Sonia at the juncture, which makes her pretty interesting. On the one hand you have the earnestness coupled with the language barrier and outdated cultural references... And then suddenly you get her making very canny observations about leadership, and saying she won't go down without a fight, but in the time it takes to say "wait what" she's back to smiling and mixing metaphors. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's seeds of something nefarious, but I'm definitely curious to see what her deal is.
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Feb 14, 2013 03:23
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Did someone order a fanart collection? I'm collecting all fanart as it comes in and sorting it by spoiler level. The post I just linked contains spoiler-free or prologue-spoiling fanart, and I'm collecting stuff that depicts things we've seen in Ch1 so far. New sections will be added as the LP completes chapters.
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Feb 14, 2013 03:32
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Mondlicht posted:there's something weird about announcing your secret party location in a monitored area. Didn't they do this last game too, with the public bath at some point? They'd meet up in there because Monobear wouldn't go in there. I'm pretty sure they said that out loud in another area to each other.
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Feb 14, 2013 03:45
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Suzuki Method posted:Didn't they do this last game too, with the public bath at some point? They'd meet up in there because Monobear wouldn't go in there. I'm pretty sure they said that out loud in another area to each other. And thanks to that Monobear was perfectly aware that something was up. Mondlicht's point still stands. It's silly, unless it's part of Togami's plan like some other goons have pointed out. Either way, they can't do anything without Monobear seeing, so it's not like they could do much about it.
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Feb 14, 2013 03:55
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CrashScreen posted:And thanks to that Monobear was perfectly aware that something was up. Mondlicht's point still stands. It's silly, unless it's part of Togami's plan like some other goons have pointed out. Either way, they can't do anything without Monobear seeing, so it's not like they could do much about it. Considering that Togami mentioned the presence of surveillance cameras literally moments ago, it seems like he wants to test Monobear's ability with his announcement. And with regards to Hinata's amnesia, I am leaning towards him actually having a SHSL ability now - there is little sense to do extra memory wipe on a regular guy, and remember how Junko wipe out Kirigiri's memory to sway the game in her favour. That also fit my theory that Monobear's "traitor" is Togami - if Togami is the one out of place, that means everyone else must be a genuine SHSL student.
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Feb 14, 2013 04:21
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Know what I want to see? A failed murder. One of the students to attack, possibly wound, another student but unsuccessfully kill them. Remember, there is no penalty for attempted murder. They can't send him to execution because he didn't kill anyone. He gets to stick around with the rest of the people despite having tried to kill them, and they have to live with it and adjust. It'd be interesting for the interaction it brings and how people change from it and react.
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Feb 14, 2013 17:43
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James Totes posted:Know what I want to see? A failed murder. One of the students to attack, possibly wound, another student but unsuccessfully kill them. Like what Aoi did with the court case in the first game? Or nearly everyone in that case? e: I guess it would be cool to see how that'd affect the dynamic in this game, with how Togami is pushing for everyone's trust. It isn't beyond the game to do that either. CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 17:51 on Feb 14, 2013 |
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Feb 14, 2013 17:47
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Yeah, the first murder in DR1 was basically that too. Maizono was trying to kill Leon and pin it on Naegi, but she hosed up so badly that it went the other way around.
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Feb 14, 2013 17:50
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CrashScreen posted:Like what Aoi did with the court case in the first game? Or nearly everyone in that case? Right, but both the times someone failed at murdering, something else happened to take the attention away. With Maizono, the one who attempted murder died, and with the Aoi court case, it was shown that she was induced to do so by Monobear loving around with evidence... making the game unfair and galvanising everyone in their resistance towards Monobear. The interesting thing would be how the crew would react to someone who was an attempted murderer, but who didn't die, and who wasn't pushed to it by Monobear.
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Feb 14, 2013 17:56
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Exercu posted:Right, but both the times someone failed at murdering, something else happened to take the attention away. With Maizono, the one who attempted murder died, and with the Aoi court case, it was shown that she was induced to do so by Monobear loving around with evidence... making the game unfair and galvanising everyone in their resistance towards Monobear. Don't forget that the first game had Syo, and she actually attempted to murder Sakura (albeit in a comical scene in which she was taken by surprise). Hagakure tried to murder her out of self defence too, and only because she was intimidating. I'll agree that there's not been a proper intentionally planned murder that got cocked up though. But there's already been a few failed attempts in the last game.
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Feb 14, 2013 18:02
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Remember that the last game didn't have a rule against violence like this one does. Although Monomi made that rule, I wouldn't put it past Monobear to kill someone for a failed attempt.
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Feb 14, 2013 18:16
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CrashScreen posted:Don't forget that the first game had Syo, and she actually attempted to murder Sakura (albeit in a comical scene in which she was taken by surprise). Hagakure tried to murder her out of self defence too, and only because she was intimidating. If anything like that happens in this game, I expect Kuzuryuu will be responsible. Hell it wouldn't surprise me if that's the entire purpose of his character.
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Feb 14, 2013 18:28
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Fedule posted:What we want is to not have like five back to back pages of "Sonia, Gundam" with no other content. Try having a discussion with all that noise. It's impossible! There's been some back and forth in the last page or so of discussion - that wouldn't have happened had all of those people who voted done so in otherwise empty posts. This is late, but thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing this. Free Time posts are always where I fall off reading the thread for 2+ weeks because the thread is so god-awful noisy I can barely read it.
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Feb 14, 2013 18:49
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Hey do you think Sonia's castle is on a plain?
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Feb 14, 2013 20:04
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Verbose posted:Hey do you think Sonia's castle is on a plain? Edit: Nevermind, I clearly don't know enough about Nirvana. RefinedUndefined fucked around with this message at 21:13 on Feb 14, 2013 |
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Feb 14, 2013 20:28
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James Totes posted:Know what I want to see? A failed murder. One of the students to attack, possibly wound, another student but unsuccessfully kill them. To be honest? I'm somewhat suspicious that maybe we've already had a failed killing. Though I'm not sure whether it'll play out like you're saying and yeah, as folks have pointed out, there are rules this time where Monobear could arguably execute you for failing to carry through on a killing. Verbose posted:Hey do you think Sonia's castle is on a plain? 
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Feb 14, 2013 20:41
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Falls Down Stairs posted:To be honest? I'm somewhat suspicious that maybe we've already had a failed killing. You mean Tsumiki's accident?  Yes, clearly someone thought making an attempt on her life in the middle of a crowd of people by tying a cord around her legs was a great plan.I don't get the "castle on a plain" reference.
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Feb 14, 2013 20:50
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Stabbey_the_Clown posted:You mean Tsumiki's accident? Well, that's why it's a "failed" attempt.  I can see it though. Doing it in a crowd full of people can make it even harder to figure out who did it.
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Feb 14, 2013 20:55
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getitoffgetitoff posted:Well, that's why it's a "failed" attempt. Wait, that wasn't incredible clumsiness? It doesn't seem so far out of left field that she'd just trip over a myriad of wires that might belong to Nanami's game systems that she inexplicably lugs around because she's a SHSL Gamer.
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Feb 14, 2013 21:00
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ChaosArgate posted:Wait, that wasn't incredible clumsiness? It doesn't seem so far out of left field that she'd just trip over a myriad of wires that might belong to Nanami's game systems that she inexplicably lugs around because she's a SHSL Gamer.  It doesn't look like just clumsiness. Maybe it was part of a booby trap that didn't quite work right. Hinata and Togami seem to agree with me: orenronen posted:
getitoffgetitoff fucked around with this message at 21:09 on Feb 14, 2013 |
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Feb 14, 2013 21:06
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I...I fell down and I can't get up!
T...That goes a bit beyond "fell down"!
How can you fall down... and end up like that?!
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Stabbey_the_Clown posted:I don't get the "castle on a plain" reference. "On A Plain" is a song from Nirvana's popular album "Nevermind." The castle was just because she has a castle. And I'm sure she's anxious to get back there and serve the servants some pennyroyal tea or something, if I may make an assumption or two about a girl, but unfortunately right now there's something in the way. All apologies. fake-edit: Sonia Nevermind Will Have Her Revenge On Hope's Peak Academy real-edit: can't believe I missed the chance to put one more in there 
loquacius fucked around with this message at 22:18 on Feb 14, 2013 |
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Feb 14, 2013 21:10
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loquacius posted:"On A Plain" is a song from Nirvana's popular album "Nevermind." The castle was just because she has a castle. And I'm sure she's anxious to get back there and serve the servants some tea or something, if I may make an assumption or two about a girl, but unfortunately right now there's something in the way. All apologies. Calling it now: Courtney Love will, somehow, be responsible for Sonia's death.
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Feb 14, 2013 21:24
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 17:01 |
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 Note: Yet another first half of a long chapter. In addition, this is a special Valentine's Day episode of Dangan Ronpa/Zero. When I finally opened my eyes, there was a ceiling above me. It seems I fell asleep somewhere, but since, being forgetful, I always forget the circumstances I’ve fallen asleep in, I wasn’t especially confused. I calmly turned my eyes from the ceiling and saw a window. A clear beam of sunlight came in through a gap in the curtains, illuminating the white room I was in. It seems it was morning. This room... It was a room I couldn’t remember. But that’s the same as always, too. Anyway, my first order of business should be to calmly confirm the situation in “Ryouko Otonashi’s Memory Notebook”, and so I calmly tried to rise up from the bed -- and then realized that I couldn’t. “...What’s going on?” My body was firmly tied to the bed with a sturdy-looking rope. It was a magnificent knot I could only describe as “craftsmanlike”, and it bound me so tightly I could hardly move my body at all. I couldn’t even turn my neck well, which made looking around the room impossible. At this point, I finally started to feel panic at this incoherent state of affairs. In other words, I went from “What’s going on?” to “What’s going on?!!”. “W...What’s going on?!!” But, no matter how much I struggled, all I could do was shake and rattle the bed. Not only did the diligently tied rope show no signs of becoming looser, it seemed to actually be getting tighter. “S...Someone...!” I started screaming, carried away by fear. “H...HELP MEEEEEEEE!!” Once I started, I couldn’t stop. “PLEEEEEEEEEEASE!” I screamed and screamed and screamed. “SOOOOOOOOOMEONE! HELP MEEEEEEEEEEE!” Then, after my earnest calls for help has been going on for a short while -- “You’re being too loud, dung beetle.” The words were abusive, but my heart start beating even faster than it already was! “Eh? Matsuda-kun?” “If you want to scream, do it more quietly, you dullard.” “It is you, Matsuda-kun!” From the moment I knew for certain that the mocking voice belonged to my beloved Matsuda-kun, my only desire was to rush and search for him. But since my head was tightly tied to the bed, I couldn’t even look around. “Where are you, Matsuda-kun?” I called, frantically. “Where...? I’m right under you, isn’t that obvious?” “Huh? Under me?” “I’m under the bed you’re lying on, you cheap woman.” Even disregarding his cheap woman comment, what he said was most unexpected. “Eh? Why are you under the bed?” “I’m doing mental concentration exercises to subdue my anger.” Being in the midst of a bondage situation I couldn’t confirm it with my own eyes, but his voice certainly seemed to come from the other side of the bed. It seemed that he was, in fact, under it. “......Um, are mental exercises usually done under beds?” “For me, they are.” It seems Matsuda-kun is a man of many colors. “Hey, Matsuda-kun. If something is troubling you, you can always come to me. I’ll listen to your troubles anytime.” “I think I’ll take you up on that offer, then...” Matsuda-kun breathed deeply once, and then suddenly started talking his mouth off. “On the dawn of a sleepless night, I was informed that an ugly friend of mine went missing. So, I had no choice but to go searching for her all over the place. But when I came back to the lab I suddenly discovered her ugly, dirty body lying on top of my bed, sleeping like a log and snoring to boot. Care to tell me how best to handle the anger that had engulfed me then?” “......That sounds like a truly ugly friend you have.” “It’s you.” Yep. That was to be expected! “...Um, so I’ve gone missing?” “Someone who can’t even remember themselves going missing shouldn’t be allowed to act freely. I guess tying you up was a good decision.” ...That means the person who tied me up was Matsuda-kun. How surprising! I wouldn’t have imagined he could tie such a masterful knot! This is even a little stimulating! “Anyway, I’m going to keep you tied for a while so you can reflect on what you did.” “...Um, how long would you estimate ‘a while’ is?” “Let’s see... Until the next World Cup would be --” “That’s too long!!” “...I guess you have a point. Well, then - we’ll make it most of today.” “Even that’s a little excessive! One shouldn’t tie their lover to a bed for an entire day!” “Who are you calling your lover? I’m not the type of weirdo that would have vermin as a girlfriend.” “V...Vermin...?” I couldn’t find anything to say in response to his excessive nastiness. In any case, it appears that he really was angry, and not just faking it. The fact that he now stayed quiet proved it. On top of the bed, I was silent. Under the bed, Matsuda-kun was silent. That awkward silence continued for a while. After some time passed, Matsuda-kun sighed and said, “...Honestly, you’ve always been that way.” “Eh? What are you talking about?” “I just remembered. Something like this happened before... You’ve always known the perfect ways to irritate me.” “I’m not sure if I want to hear about it or not... but I guess I want to, after all. So, what happened before?” Matsuda-kun started telling the story slowly, as he struggled to turn the memories in his head into words. “It was... just after you started elementary school.” I was surprised at how old this story seemed to be, but at the same time I was happy. It meant I’ve been together with Matsuda-kun ever since I was little, and that he remembered such an ancient story about me. But, I don’t remember it, of course. There’s nothing I can do about that. “You were skillful in the sandpit, and started building a surprisingly large and intricate sand sculpture at the public park. It was modeled after the Sagrada Familia church. That’s really amazing, isn’t it? I mean, a tiny elementary school student deciding she wants to build the Sagrada Familia! And on top of that, you even knew how to use some advanced techniques involving hardening the sand with some water. It took you an entire month to build.” “A...An entire month?!” “The real Sagrada Familia has been under construction for over a hundred and twenty years. and it still isn’t complete. It isn’t too surprising it would take that long to build a perfect replica out of sand...” But still, an entire month! I wonder what I wanted to prove back then. “It was truly an amazing sand sculpture. No one could believe it was built by an elementary school student. As you were getting closer to completion, many people from around the neighbourhood came over just to watch you work. It was a huge success. But... you never did get to complete it.” “Eh? Why? You said I was really close to...” Matsuda-kun answered my question in a somewhat depressed tone. “Someone destroyed it. Just when it was about to be completed.” “D...Destroyed it...?” An image suddenly appeared in the back of my mind. An image of the pitiful wreck of a sand sculpture that’s been trampled on. “W...What the heck? You have to be a truly heartless person to destroy the work of an elementary school girl!” I was still tied to the bed, but my voice had fire raging in it. “At the time, you said the same thing and started crying hysterically. You cried continuously for almost an entire day.” “Well, that’s to be expected!” I felt intense sympathy for my elementary school self. “As you’d expect, I felt angry about what happened and decided to go search for the culprit myself... but, no matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find a trace of them. There wasn’t even supposed to be anyone at the park when the Sagrada Familia got destroyed except for you. I couldn’t find any other witnesses, and my investigation reached a dead end. I think I got really depressed at that point... I remember sitting on a bench at the park staring at the remains of the Sagrada Familia, when you suddenly came running to me. Surprisingly, you had a huge smile on your face, like I’ve never seen before.” “Ah, I got it! I must have found the culprit myself!” “No, that wasn’t it.” He sounded as if it would be much better had that been the case. “You came and whispered in my ear. You told me to keep it a secret, but that it was you who destroyed the Sagrada Familia.” “......Huh?” I was struck by complete surprise. “Um... so, I spent a full month working on a sand sculpture, and when it was nearing completion, I destroyed it myself?” “An irritating story, isn’t it?” “I...Irritating or not... why would I ever do such a thing in the first place?” “I asked you that. You said it was an accident. I mean, in that case you should’ve said so from the beginning! Thanks to you, I wasted a lot of time searching for a culprit!” To think I wasted an entire month of work with an accident... How much of an idiot was I? I can’t sympathise at all. “When all is said and done, you just used me as your plaything. So, do you get it now? Do you get how much of a bother you are?” “Yep! I guess I’m at a level where it’s best to just tie me up after all!” “We have reached a rare agreement, then.” Just like that, I approved myself being tied up -- but I still had one regret. It was an intense regret that I’m not even sure a word like “regret” describes very well. “Grrrrrrrrrrrrr...” “What is it? Does your stomach hurt?” “......No, that’s not it. It’s just vexing. I finally got to hear Matsuda-kun speaking about his memories of me, but since I don’t have my notebook I’m going to forget it all soon. Grrrr.” “If you want your notebook, I put it right next to the pillow.” “Eh? Really?” My heart leaped at this unexpected lifeboat for love. “Which side? Left or right? Or maybe, neither of them?” “Calm down, dimwit. It should be to your right.” If it’s to my right, I should concentrate on my right side! I strained the eyeball muscles and turned them toward the pillow. As expected, there was something there that looked like a notebook. “Ah! There it is!” I stretched my neck like a turtle, and got the tip of the notebook between my lips. Then, I abused my tongue muscles and somehow succeeded in getting the notebook open. ...Opening it is one thing, but how am I supposed to write anything? As I contemplated that fundamental problem, a certain sentence entered my field of vision by chance. “It seems Junko Enoshima killed him ---” The letters looked like twisted hieroglyphs that were written with a very shaky hand. I didn’t understand what they meant. “Junko Enoshima killed him...? Is this about a movie or something?” I heard a loud bang from under the bed, and felt it shake from the power of the impact. “...Oy. What did you say?” Matsuda-kun’s voice was suddenly very stiff. “What was it you said just now?” “Eh? Um...”, I was disturbed by the intensity of his voice and used my eyeball muscles once again to look at the notebook, when another shocking sentence appeared in front of me. ”I discovered a dead body at the central plaza” -- A dead body? It took me about three seconds to understand what I just read. Then, I started screaming. “A...A...A dead bodyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?!” The rope dug forcefully into my body as I tried to jump out of the bed. “Owowowowowowow--” I screamed a different type of scream. Nevertheless, Matsuda-kun didn’t seem to care about my predicament. He just asked the question again in his stiff voice. “You said... Junko Enoshima, didn’t you?” But, I didn’t care about some girl’s name anymore. “A...A dead body! I...It says here I found a dead body! W-W-W-What am I going to do? ...What do you do when you find a body?” “More importantly, answer my question. Do you know who Junko Enoshima is?” -- More importantly? Upon hearing those words, a bad feeling spread through my body. I mean... what could be more important than discovering a body? That’s just not natural. “H...Hey, Matsuda-kun,” I boldly decided to ask him directly. “You seem to be worried about that Junko Enoshima person. Is she a friend of yours or something?” I could hear a short gulping sound from under the bed. “H...Hey, Matsuda kun --” “There is no dead body.” “......Eh?” “If you really had found one... the school would’ve been in an uproar by now. There is no way you did...” “T...That’s not it... About that girl... um, what was her name again...?” I looked for my notebook, and discovered that it slipped to the area of my chest when I was screaming and struggling. No matter how much I stretched my neck and tongue, I couldn’t get to it anymore. “...That’s enough. I was mistaken. That girl has nothing to do with either me or you. Forget about it.” For some reason, I got the impression his words were colored with irritation. “B...But, I can’t just forget it that easily... I mean, it was written right there in my notebook so it must be something that really happened to me...” “That’s not necessarily true.” “......Eh?” “Finding a body... Meeting a strange girl... They’re most likely just stories you made up. You’re simply mistaking them for true memories right now.” “I...I’d never write made up stories in my notebook... I mean, if I did they’d get mixed up with my memories, which would be a terrible thing...” “Maybe that’s exactly why you did it?” “Eh?” “I’m thinking you may have mixed fake stories with your memories on purpose.” My heart became hazy as I listened to his blunt words. “W...Why would I do such a thing?” “You’re always saying how nothing has anything to do with you. Nevertheless, you must feel lonely sometimes, don’t you? You can’t retain any memories so you can’t form connections with anyone around you... I’m sure that can get very lonely.” “...Huh?” I felt my breathing becoming rough. “That’s right. You got lonely. That’s why you fabricated all of those delusional stories--” “I’ve never been lonely!” I screamed, not being able to take it anymore. “Oh, and you remember that?!” Matsuda’s sullen voice yelled back from under the bed. “That’s not it at all!” I screamed even louder. Matsuda-kun’s words were so off the mark -- they so misunderstood who I was -- that I couldn’t do anything but scream. “I’m sure I told you a million times! I’m sure you got tired of hearing me blabbering about it! As long as I have Matsuda-kun I’m fine! As long as I have Matsuda-kun I’d never get lonely! I’m sure I told you that many, many times!” I screamed so hard my breathing got out of order. I screamed so hard my voice buzzed inside my own ears. It might have been cowardly to shelve my own forgetfulness, but I wanted Matsuda-kun to remember, no matter the cost. I couldn’t give up. “If I can remember that despite my forgetfulness... how can you forget it, Matsuda-kun?!” After the echos of my screams were gone, there was silence. An awkward silence. Finally, Matsuda-kun broke the silence with a whisper. “......Anyway, what’s written there is a lie.” He probably wanted to put an end to the conversation once and for all, but I couldn’t accept it that easily. “But... if this notebook is a lie... If I can’t trust my own notebook anymore... what is there left for me to believe in...?” “Believe in me.” “Eh...?” “Believe in me, and forget what’s written there.” Had these been normal circumstances, my heart would probably leap at those words. But, that was impossible right now. There was a conflict inside my heart that overcame any heart throbbing. The only two certain things in my life clashed heavily, and I was swaying violently from the shock, as if I was a small boat caught in a storm. “Ryouko Otonashi’s Memory Notebook” was the one and only trusted route to my memories. Matsuda-kun was the one and only existence connecting me to the rest of the world. In other words, I had the ultimate choice in front of me. Should I believe in myself? Or should I believe in Matsuda-kun? I finally reached a conclusion. “In that case... always be by my side, Matsuda-kun. If you do... I can give away my memories...” Matsuda-kun stayed quiet for a while under the bed. I waited, motionless. I waited until he gave me an answer. Then, he finally did. “Right now... that’s impossible.” But, it was the exact opposite of what I hoped for. I was dumbfounded, and could only return an absent-minded question of my own. “If not now... then when would it be possible?” “......I don’t know.” “Y...You... don’t know?” “Anyway, it’s impossible right now. I can’t be with you. There are other things I must do.” Things he must do? I guess, that must be... “...I see. The most important thing to you is your research... Which means, no matter how much I choose you, you will not choose me back.” All I could do now was grudgingly whisper those words of resentment. “No, that’s not it. I --” It seemed Matsuda-kun was about to say something, but he held his tongue at the last minute. He sank into silence, and said nothing more. It doesn’t matter how much I wait, he is never going to say the words I yearn for. “In that case... at least cure me...” My head felt hot, and my view of the ceiling got blurry. My face was probably covered in tears. Snot was probably gushing out of my nose. But, I couldn’t stop the stream of emotions flowing out of me anymore. “And if you can’t cure me, at least make me forget about you too!” My screams were now mixed with sobbing, as I let everything out at once. “It hurts too much that you’re the only thing I can remember! I’d rather not remember anything at all!” The rope dug deeper into my body as I raged and loudly scraped my skin. Nevertheless, I couldn’t even feel the pain and continued to scream. “I’ve had it! Make me forget! Make me forget about you, Matsuda-kun!” There was a rustling noise from under the bed. Then, Matsuda-kun rose up and stood by it. He was quiet, and looked down at me sobbing violently. Then, he quietly took a tissue out of his pocket and started wiping my face. I gazed at him. Almond eyes carved in the middle of a pale, unhealthy-looking face. Thin, black hair hanging down near the corners of the eyes. Long, feminine eyelashes. A pointed chin. Thin, small lips. Long, white fingers. That was Matsuda-kun. But, his face... his face looked lonely. He looked at me with lonely eyes, and gently wiped the tears and the snot off my face. For some reason, I felt fear washing over my body. Fear stronger than any regret at the words I just said. Matsuda-kun -- Then, just as I was about to open my mouth again, Matsuda-kun’s hand stopped moving. He quietly turned aside, and started walking toward his desk. Soon, he disappeared from my field of vision. “M...Matsuda-kun...” I finally managed to speak again, but -- “...I have an appointment I have to go to.” I could hear his voice from somewhere outside my field of vision. “I’ve been entrusted with the treatment of a certain student... I can’t postpone it.” “...You’re going?” “I’ll be back soon. We will continue this discussion then.” Soon, I could hear his footsteps walking away, and then the lonely sound of the door closing. -- He went away... Every bit of energy in my body faded out with a single ashen sigh. Then, I suddenly remembered the heavy pressure on my chest. “He could’ve at least loosened the rope...” My body was engulfed with fatigue, but the pain I felt wasn’t the rope’s fault. Its source was clear. I closed my eyes, trying to escape the anguish. I wanted to fall asleep. I wanted to forget everything... With that thought in mind, I slowly started dissolving my own consciousness away. Slowly, slowly... Suddenly, I felt the floaty feeling of my body being released. -- Huh? I gathered up my dissolved consciousness, and when I opened my eyes I discovered that the rope that had bound me was now untied. “...Matsuda-kun?” I rose up from the bed and looked around the laboratory, but there was no one there. -- So, how did the rope become untied?
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Feb 14, 2013 21:42
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