Stories are the Real Key to the Soul

"...Oh! I-I didn't see you there. I'm sorry if I was ignoring you, it wasn't intentional at all, I promise. I was just reading this book. Who am I? Why, I'm Chouko Sera, the Super High School Level Literature Analyzer. It's quite lovely to meet you, I hope." ((Tracked Tag: shslliteraryanalyzer A Danganronpa OC RP Blog a part of Despair Castle Two. Sideblog to shslauctioneer Icon drawn by sweetsoothings Sidebar by kaikeishi)) Overall Status: Alive Heath Status: Quite Healthy Mentality: I'm not quite sure... I think I'm in a dream to be honest. Relationship Status: Single

[shslliteraryanalyzer-blog]

Is this a Dream? It has to be, right?/ Body Discovery Reaction

Chouko stood in shock, looking at the blonde girl laying in the room. Was it still a dream? This had to be a dream, right? 

... He should really give up on convincing himself of that. This was real, so very very very real. The bookworm didn't move for several moments as his eyes refused to move from the body. He hadn't met this girl, had he? He had seen her around, but he didn't talk to her at all. Was that better at all? Did that make it better? No attachment and all. 

He began to shake slightly, feeling tears come to his eyes. He had seen someone shot and shanked, sure, but stabbed and beaten and burned? No, not at all that. And all the deaths he had read in books, boys stabbing another one of them with sharpened sticks, and people shot at until their intestines were out of their body, as well as people killed under buildings. All of it described in great detail, providing a vivid image. But he wasn't prepared for this. Not this. Anything but this. He wanted to close his eyes. He wanted to go to his room and go under his blanket and sleep. He wanted to sleep forever and ever and ever, and then he'd wake up with smiling happy faces around him, all familiar. 

Somehow, he managed to snap out of his frozen state, turning his head away and closing his eyes, allowing the tears that built up to roll down his cheeks only once, and then he wiped at them. He straightened up and put on his normal cynical look, although there was something weak about it. He didn't say anything as he did, and then just left the room, arms crossed. 

[despaircastletwo]

HERE YE HERE YE, A PEASANT HAS BEEN DISCOVERED (1)

You may be asking yourself…who is this peasant we’ve found ourselves today?

Why it’s…

(WARNING: We received art of the death! Please be weary of: bruises, burns and multiple stab wounds. A super special thanks to Linda for the amazing art!)

Read More

[shslliteraryanalyzer-blog]

((Hey guys! So I'm going to be completely out of commission this weekend as I'm going to anime boston! I will probably not be online at all, so just warning you! (I might come back online at the end of the day, but who knows if I'll write at all?) So yeah, just informing you all!))

[shslinstinct]

Oh, another boy showed up. How wonderful… Maybe the boy could tell him where he was? Even if he couldn’t, he would certainly be nice company. There was nothing else in the world that made a situation better than another person to be with through it, after all! 

But, his words implied he knew something after all, and something about them felt right enough… Even if it seemed like there wasn’t any reason to assume it was a real castle to Katsurou, there was a certain feeling that maybe that’s what it was. Besides, there was no reason for him to assume the other boy didn’t know everything about the situation… Although, Katsurou couldn’t help but doubt the idea that the boy in front of him knew any more than he did.

"Is that it? It’s a little embarrassing to admit it, but I don’t remember seeing the outside, so I was just guessing based on the hallway. I must have drank some expired juice or something- I can’t recall coming here at all, and I don’t know why I’d go to sleep in a castle. Any chance you could tell me what, uh, city this is?"

"The extent of my memory loss is pretty scary, since I don’t even know that… I should see a doctor."

[shslliteraryanalyzer-blog]

Chouko ran a hand through his hair, hearing the questions and not knowing how to answer them. He only got the assumption of this place being a castle because of the vibe he got. It didn't seem like a fancy hotel to him for some reason- much more like someplace of royalty. And plus when the bear called them royalty, it helped his thought come to a conclusion. 

"Erm, well to be honest that's all I know. That bear told us to kill each other, and called us 'Royalty' on top of it. I don't think I've of royal blood, and I don't think you are either." Chouko sighed deeply. What city was this? How did he get here? Who was he- okay, that was a dumb question to ask himself. But still, he was going to Hope's Peak Academy. This wasn't Hope's Peak Academy. 

"I think if this memory loss is truly a problem, then we both need to see doctors. And I don't think there are any here, and I don't think that bear would let us see one either. All I remember is going to Hope's Peak Academy, my bags at my side and me reading my book, and then poof, I wake up and there is this weird ass bear on a TV screen telling me that I need to kill someone. That's weird. And on top of it all," he shivered at recalling the so-called motive, "that bear even thought up a motive to get us to kill each other. If that's not crazy, I don't know what is. It's like something from a book..."

[tweeboxpuppetshow]

Thief, They Cried | Motive Reaction

"Wha….? But….How the heck could they nab my bike-?!"

Harue could only stare at the silver bicycle and all of its packs and loads stashed amongst the other stolen possessions, just sitting there so pitifully. No way….That bike was their home. You can’t just spend two years living on something and not even care when it was stolen! To make matters even worse, the storyteller could clearly see their kamishibai box still strapped onto the back of the vehicle.

With a groan they stepped back, rubbing their eyes. That bear had sunk low.

"Still….It can’t be worth killing for, can it."

A sigh finished their statement, and then a shake of their head.

[shslliteraryanalyzer-blog]

Chouko stumbled stayed frozen in his spot, then moved his eyes toward the other who happened to be in the same hallway as he was. He tried to force up a smile, but all it did was make his face look more scared. The smile dropped as he couldn't keep it up. How sad. 

He opened his mouth to speak to the redhead that he had met and spoke with before, but not had the pleasure of knowing their name. They don't know his either. No voice came out as he tried to figure out what to say. He didn't know what to say, and so just a small noise came from his throat. 

How pitiful. 

This boy that appeared strong, and acted like he was so much better was reduced to this weak state by something he prized, but didn't want the world to know about. How disgusting. 

[shslliteraryanalyzer-blog]

((Okay! Now that there is a motive out, I have a question- do any of you want me to continue our thread? Or should I just drop them? Or if you want to continue them, do you guys want me to write my response as if everyone had already heard the motive, or do you guys still want it pre-motive? I don't really mind which way you want me to go at it with!))

[shslliteraryanalyzer-blog]

This is Just a Little Trifle, so Don't You Worry About It

Chouko had been recovering from the dream. This dream. Was it a dream? He did punch himself in the face and nothing happened. And then the announcement went off. He listened with a look of confusion wrapped on his face, This bear really wanted one of them to die, huh? What possessed it to want to do such things anyway? Chouko slowly turned his head toward the screen positioned in the middle of the hallway. 

And that's when he saw it. Oh god. Oh god. Chouko's eyes widened in confusion as he saw it there. Oh no, oh no, that wasn't supposed to leave his closet, never never never never never never never nevernevernevernevernever- 

He hugged his sides tightly and took several deep breaths. Now was not the time, now was not the time. He just had to forget about it, like he had all these years. He just had to start anew, he didn't need that to keep him down. 

He didn't need it.

That one thought echoed in his mind as he stood frozen in the hallway, eyes looking down at his dress shoes and black socks. He would like to think he didn't need it, right? Right. Of course you don't need it Chouko, of course...

[despaircastletwo]

MOTIVE 1: THE WAR OF DESPAIR BEGINS

((monobear sprites will be added later since I’m on mobile! Sorry!))

The screens littered around the school light up, a familiar figure appears and laughs loudly and it seems to be standing in front of a stack of objects, all hidden by a tarp.

"Hello again, bastards! I guess you guys aren’t feeling the despair quite yet, no one’s dead!"

"So…here is a little boost! Get that blood of yours pumping! I’ve prepared a MOTIVE! Now…if you were smart enough, you’d notice you’ve got something missing…well, I stole it! I stole all your most prized possessions!"

He removes the tarp to reveal everything he’s stolen.

"Call it cliche, I don’t really care! This’ll get those despair gears rolling, I just know it!"

"And you might be wondering how to get your things back…weeeeeell…"

"SOMEONE HAS TO DIE! PLAIN AND SIMPLE!"

"Alright~ Time for me to leave, Upupupuu~"

"WHEN I COME BACK, SOMEONE BETTER BE DEAD!"

and with that, the screens turn off…

((HELLO! Our very first motive…..let me explain how this will go down. YOU decide what was stolen! You don’t have to say what it was, but it HAS to be your most prized possession! Don’t just make it something they couldn’t care less for (unless that’s their reaction to losing the thing they cherish most.

It can also be something that they didn’t bring into the castle prior! Here’s an example (not canon btw)

Say Ellie loses her belt, everything she’s worked so hard on was in there. Or maybe she lost the picture of someone she knew which she didn’t have on her person when waking up. Something they really care for!))

[shslliteraryanalyzer-blog]

What is this? A Book? A Dream? ...How Silly.

[shslnyoom]

That was not the happy intro that Nobue prepared for. Wow, her friends were right when they said that the talented people might not be the nicest people on the country. After all, some of them had to claw their way to the top while she just had to do what she loved doing. 

"Aw, why are you annoyed? Did you have a pet you had to leave behind when you got here? Maybe a small parrot that sat on your shoulders and sang to you while you worked! Can parrots even sing that well?" The blonde took a few seconds to think about the question, seeing as it was totally the most important thing going on right now.

After pure silence for some odd seconds, Nobue shrugged and looked at the boy. “Whatever, I wonder if it called you a name like ‘Vest-kun’. So, Vest-kun, what are you so grumpy about?”

[shslliteraryanalyzer-blog]

"...Vest-kun? Really? My name is Chouko Sera, thank you very much, and I'd appreciate it if you'd use it. And what am I grumpy about? Well, I wake up, I only have a single book with me, a book that I'm nearly done with, mind you, and also this whole dream is really messed up with a castle and talking bears on TV telling us to kill each other, not to mention that there is a silly girl here thinking I have a goddamned parrot who thinks it sings to me. Do they even sing well, I don't know." Now you were just getting off of the main point Chouko. 

He sighed and just ran a hand through his wavy hair. He just wanted to wake up from this dream already. It was already dragging on for too long, and at this point he just wanted to punch himself awake if that's what it took. Wait... that wasn't that bad of an idea...

And then he did it.He punched himself right in the face. He staggered and held his face, blinking as he looked around and nothing changed, other than the new found throbbing in his cheek. 

"Come on! I should've woken up with that! Ow..."

[tweeboxpuppetshow]

Harue saw the boy coming from a mile away- Well, not an actual mile. While it was a pretty impressive length, the hallway wasn’t quite that long. Not even close.

Oh well, back to the matter at hand; Hooray, a person! And one that didn’t seem to have any murderous intent, too! Flashing him a grin Harue bowed, waving one hand.

"Eh, hello! I don’t suppose you heard a message saying we had to kill each other and want to take me out, right? I like having head starts when being pursued by killers."

[shslliteraryanalyzer-blog]

"...Head starts when pursued by killers? Do you really think anyone in their right mind would think to listen to such a stupid task? Unless someone in here is psychopathic, then I don't think we need to worry, now do we?" Well, you seem to be fun Chouko. Oh, so much fun. Everyone finds you to be the life of the party, really. You've read enough books, so why can't you seem to have fun with conversations? 

Chouko just simply stood there, arms crossed as the slightly irritated expression didn't leave his face. What if his face froze like that? Wouldn't that be funny? ...Actually no that wouldn't be funny, never mind. This dream was going to really mess him up, he bet. He'd wake up and it would be a real rude awakening. Well, he had to attempt to make his imprint on this dream. 

"I have another question for you. Do you really think this whole thing is... real?" 

[shslpoison-blog]

A + B = ?

"Oh dear oh dear! It seems that…we are in a pretty frightening situation, ladies and gentlemen plus bear!"

How long has it been, a day or two weeks since she was asleep? God, this really made her feel like hiding in a hole somewhere. What is this talk about mutual killing?! She must be in some sort of terrible experiment, that’s for sure! 'How long does it take until the ███████ in our bodies will be lethal?'

Her heart began to pump quickly, the █████████ in her body releasing to her now high blood pressure. What was this place? Where was she?! Are there any other humans here as well?! God she felt so sick! She really wanted to sleep in this…bedroom of hers? Oh god oh goodness what is she was being—!

Getting out of the room as quickly as possible, Hanako made sure that she was dying or anything. Breath? Yes. She was fine…all fine….

"I hope…we aren’t stuck here forever.”

[shslliteraryanalyzer-blog]

Chouko was still in the hallway. Just... sitting around. Yes, he had retreated to sitting in the hallway with him hugging his knees and cowering against the wall. Sure, it could be considered embarrassing, but at this point he didn't care. This dream was far too much for him too take, and he wasn't ready to read the final part of The Long Walk, like really. And he didn't have any other books to read while he mentally prepared himself! What kind of castle didn't have a library! A stupid one, that's what. 

But as he was sitting here, contemplating his life and book reading, he saw a girl zoom from out of one of the doorways and stop, breathing, checking he was breathing, and seemingly calming down just a bit. Chouko blinked at the scene before speaking up. He wasn't going to get up though. 

"Does it matter whether we stay here forever or not? Does it really matter too much as long as we got food and water and a library? If we have those we are sure to live comfortably." Wow Chouko, and you don't even like castles. "Even though this is probably just one really messed up dream I'm having, might as well deal with it."

[shslliteraryanalyzer-blog]

((Y'know, sometimes as I sit here and write Chouko, I realize how much of a NERD he is it's actually hilarious o h my go d ))

[shslinstinct]

Katsurou jumped when the television turned on. Did he do that? He started checking the bed for a remote, but- Was this a hotel? No… There wasn’t a hotel on earth that looked like this. Still, no bedroom of his had ever had a television before.

What kind of show was this, anyways? This was definitely an intro sequence, but it had no context- Maybe he had turned the television on at the wrong time? In any case, if the intro reflected on the contents of the programming, he didn’t really want to watch it. Where was that remote? After a minute of searching, the image disappeared from the screen. Had he turned it off? In a way, that was almost disappointing. He didn’t actually get the context for the introduction… The bear couldn’t have been the only member of the cast, right? Who were the people it was talking to? It had only referred to them as Royals… Maybe he should ask someone who watched more television- Other than sports games, he didn’t keep up with it.

Well, there wasn’t anyone else in this bedroom, so there wasn’t any point in staying in. Going outside in what he slept in… It wasn’t good, but this wasn’t his bedroom- He didn’t have much of a choice otherwise. He opened the door and stepped outside.

"A row of doors and a long hallway… Is this a hotel after all, then?"

[shslliteraryanalyzer-blog]

Chouko left his room and locked the door firmly, then wandering out and looking around. It was quite a pretty corridor, just as one would expect. It seemed like a castle, and so it could only make sense that it was a castle. But really, who even lived in castles now a days? Weirdos with too much money to spend, that's who.

But anyway, Chouko had just been in the hallway for a few moments when he saw another boy exit from a door and speak out loud to himself. Wow, he wasn't the only one who did that, although he seemed to do it much louder than he did. He was loud, while Chouko tended to whisper. Why would he want the whole world to hear the thoughts he couldn't contain to himself? Well, no matter. Chouko walked up to the male to talk to him, because hell, why not?

"Actually, I don't think this is a hotel at all. In fact, it more resembles one of those castles, wouldn't you say?"

[alowlystreetvendor]

A Prank Unfit for a Pauper {{Open Despair Castle Two Starter!}}

Having lost her state of consciousness hours ago, The Peddler was more than shocked when she’d been woken by a booming noise; that of a strangely-pitched voice blaring something out to her. ‘And when her eyelids had hurriedly lifted; due to her shock, it took no time for her to lurch over the side of the pristine bed she’d been laid in. The Animal’s announcements meant little to her; seeing as she hadn’t exactly been listening, due to her disorientation and her focus on keeping the liquid that’d risen to her eyes inside of her body. After all, ruining her makeup was the last thing she’d want to do. Right? Right.

So, with a deep intake of breath, Ccieri stood; brushing herself off while sending a glance around the embellished and neat room and listening to the finale of the message being streamed to her. Which is the part that caught her attention and ensnared her in a web of bewilderment. Killing someone? No, that couldn’t be right. Maybe it was just another prank or someone trying to play around with her. That would have been nice, right? Well, if it weren’t for the migraine overtaking her thought-train. It was almost as if she’d harmed herself prior to falling. Oh well.

With that, the ‘Mute’ stumbled towards the embellished basket lying in wait in the corner of this Bedroom; it being filled with small trinkets, treats, and flowers that were bound to wither away by the end of the next day. That was too bad, but, maybe she could find another place to get some after exploring. Or some people to speak to about this silly game. So, with little more than a strained smile and a lifting of the carrier, the Peddler pushed open the door that lead to the foyers and began her search. Luckily, stumbling across a fresh figure while turning at the bend of the corridor into another lengthy hallway; herself hoping to catch their attention by scuttling towards the new face while waving one arm beside her and above her head wildly, smile having grown into an ecstatic grin upon being near them. They should be some form of help!

[shslliteraryanalyzer-blog]

Chouko was sick of it all. This dream was lasting far too long. Far. Too. Long. He had come to the conclusion this was just a dream a little bit ago, seeing that even though he pinched himself, he didn't wake up, but hell, no one lived in castles anymore. Those things only happened in books, histories, and dreams(last time he checked), and plus, why would he willingly go to a castle? That was just ridiculous!

Wait... not unless he was kidnapped! That would be the only other option! But who would want to kidnap him to a castle? That was just silly. 

He entertained these thoughts as he continued walking through the hallways, sauntering through the middle of the walkway, not happening to catch anyone's eye. Then he saw frantic waving and blinked a couple times in confusion. It seemed to be a clown. Why was there a clown at a castle? This was some fucked up dream. 

A really fucked up dream. 

He stood there and stared at the weirdly clothed girl with the extremely pleased grin on her face as she ran up to him. He had nothing to say. Nothing. He was still in a state of shock that he would even dream of clowns like really. That's really messed up.

[shslliteraryanalyzer-blog]

What is this? A Book? A Dream? ...How Silly./Open Starter for Despair Castle Two!

[shslnyoom]

After waking up and jumping out of bed, Nobue began running around the halls. Of course that was the best way to explore the area, you get the general jist of the place before getting the details. 

In her rush around the school, she didn’t notice the extremely grumpy person around the corner before she could stop. She didn’t stop, however, she just ran past him and turned around making a ‘nnnNNNNNEEERRRRR’ sound to mimic the screeching of tires. 

Nobue came to a halt in front of the boy, still mimicking the car sound. “Hey there, how’s it goin’?”

[shslliteraryanalyzer-blog]

Chouko didn't even get much of a chance to stop, as a blonde raced by him. Then they came zooming back, making sounds effects as well. He pursed his lips and stared at the other with confusion. What a way to make an entrance. He didn't reply for a few moments, just staring in surprise, trying to figure out what just happened. 

First I was walking from my room. Then there was a girl zooming by. She stopped- wait no, she went past me and then turned around and stopped by me. That was what just happened, right? Man, he was lucky he was able to stop. 

Then he heard the other speak. He blinked for a few moments before answering. Whatever he was going to say probably wasn't going to be the most polite thing. 

"Hello to you too. I was grouchy, and now I'm annoyed, thank you for asking." He would probably clarify if asked, but at the moment there seemed to be no clarification at exactly what he was grouchy and annoyed at, although it took no genius to figure out what. 

[tweeboxpuppetshow]

"…….Eh?"

The heck was going on here? As if waking up in a strange room with a splitting headache wasn’t bad enough, what was with this weird bear babbling on about killing? Kill who? What?

With these questions spinning around in Harue’s head, which just proved to make their headache worse, they got out of bed with a sigh. Well, if they were supposed to kill someone, that meant there were other people here, right? The door opened easily, so at least by ‘trapped’ the thing didn’t mean in the rooms.

"Maybe someone else can help make some sense of this, because goodness knows I can’t on my own!"

And with that they slowly stepped outside of the room, head turning from side to side to scan for any others.

[shslliteraryanalyzer-blog]

Chouko happened to catch sight of someone, someone with a bag and a hat and hair much redder than his own. And deciding to take a change, he walked up to the girl and lifted his head, and began to talk down to them- 

Ehem. He began to talk to them- To them. He was not better than anyone. Yeah, not better than anybody. 

After all he was just a nerd. Who read books. Wow, what a nerd, let me tell you- Okay, okay, now we're getting off track. 

He crossed his arms and opened his mouth to speak. 

"Hello there." 

Wow. Way to start a conversation. Truly a man with many words to begin conversations, I'm sure. And then he just waited for the other's response. 

[shslliteraryanalyzer-blog]

What is this? A Book? A Dream? ...How Silly./Open Starter for Despair Castle Two!

Chouko blinked. Then rubbed his head. Then blinked once again. 

...

Where was he? The ceilings didn't look like the dorm room ceilings that he was used to at the orphanage. In fact, it didn't resemble them at all! The ceiling was far to high to be in that building, and it looked a pristine white. 

It was beautiful, one would think. But of course, he didn't think such a thing. Why would he think that at all? He did like a mess after all. Messes were such wonderful things- full of character. You could analyze so much from a room, and so much more from a book-

And that is when he jolted up. He was in the middle of reading The Long Walk. He was almost done with it. In fact, he was reading it on the car to that school he got accepted to, Hope's Peak Academy. Was this Hope's Peak Academy? It looked too... fancy to be Hope's Peak. Something you'd see out of a castle or something...

Ha. A castle. That was joke, he was sure. Why would he ever be in a castle? Probably a prank for newcomers. Yes, most definitely. He yawned loudly and rolled his shoulders back. looking around the large room. What a large room. It looked so nice, on top of that! 

Then there was an annoying flickering light. Ugh. He wasn't in the mood for such tomfoolery. And then there was a bear. A fucking bear. He was probably still asleep and in a dream. And then the bear said something about mutual killing.

What was this? Hunger Games? Battle Royale? The Running Man? Wait no, not The Running Man... Wrong reference. But damn, that was just silly. Very very silly. He didn't even know that there were others with him! He was just hoping at this point that they wouldn't piss him off. 

He slowly got up and walked to the full body mirror in a corner of the large room. He looked to see that his hair was disheveled, his socks weren't pulled up to his knees, his vest was lopsided, as was his red-tinted button-up... he was a mess. He sighed, annoyed, before pulling up his socks and making sure that everything was in it's right place. Then he just pat his head to neaten out his already messy wavy hair and strutted to the door- possibly leading out of the room- to where his shoes were. He slid on the dark dress shoes and saw the glistening key on a table by the door. He grabbed it and pocketed it before swinging the door open, slamming it shut, and turning around to lock the door. 

"Hmph, there. That's done." He said this to primarily himself as he turned around. "Now... is there anyone else even here?" He whispered this as he looked around the hallway in search of others.