#komawari

[danganronpa-shipping-galore]

✨ New & Finalized ✨

Credit for despair sprites goes to @chomaeki

[theamityelf]

I was thinking about how cool it would have been if Nagito had been the one character who noticed and acknowledged Akane's moments/areas of intelligence...

(obligatory link to the post I already made about them being friends)

(obligatory link to the post I already made about Akane being smart)

And initially I was thinking about it in the context of what a fun/funny unlikely friendship it could be, like, both of them are still characterized the same way they are in canon, Akane still wants to punch him when he starts raving in Chapter 1, but they just kind of end up getting along during trials (especially trial 2) because they both have a way of lowkey figuring stuff out way earlier than anyone else, and if Nagito had cared about Akane pretty much at all ever, he might have taken an interest in that.

And then I was thinking about how much more interesting that would have made their interactions in Chapters 4 and 5. Like, they ride the rollercoaster together, and then once Nagito finds out about the despair twist he straight-up calls her stupid to her face, and then later she strangles him trying to get information about the bombs, and all of these things would be very cool character beats if they had been kinda-sorta trial buddies the whole time.

She gets angry whenever he starts raving about despair and hope, but she gladly rides the rollercoaster with him.

He's the only one who noticed that she has a brain, but he lashes out and calls her stupid when he's in a bad place.

She strangles him, and it feels like the end of something that could have been friendship. One can't ignore the undercurrent of hurt that must be there for her. She didn't do anything to him when he called her stupid, when he betrayed the tenuous bond they had formed in the trials, but now he's threatening everyone, and now she's justified in attacking him, but the feelings are so so personal. Strangling the first person to call her smart is also a way of bitterly punching back at the idea that she's smart. It's late in the killing game, she's lost people, and if Nagito doesn't think she's smart anymore then screw him because she never was! Smarts didn't save her; strength did!

(Then Chiaki interrupts and comforts her, which is very needed.)

And then I started thinking about Ougoku and how their story-beats compare to the ones I imagine for Nagito and Akane.

Would other SDR2 characters have interpreted a Nagito-Akane friendship as Nagito manipulating or taking advantage of Akane?

I think Nekomaru's the only character who could convincingly be given that characterization without moving things around, because in SDR2 canon the others just kind of don't care about Akane very much, by my recollection anyway. (Like, in V3 there was a lot of "How could you use Gonta like that?! Don't believe him, Gonta!" mostly from Tsumugi, I think, but in SDR2 I don't see anyone being like, "Hey, leave Akane alone!")

But that's fine, because Nekomaru kind of needs something else going on anyway, and him thinking Nagito is using Akane might be an interesting character flaw. Ties in to him being one of the ones to tie Nagito up, early on (If we take that as a flaw, lol.), and could culminate in him saying something to the effect of, "I haven't been acting like a team manager," late in his arc. Maybe that motivates his kinda-sorta sacrifice in Chapter 4. (It's not just about Nagito and Akane; that's just one example of him not doing what he thinks a team manager should have done. It's classic late-game "I didn't save them," stuff.)

Though this has the unfortunate consequence of entangling Akane's narrative with boys a little too much. It helps that she really doesn't want to believe Mikan is guilty, in trial 3; she's directly at odds with Hajime and Nagito, there. That's something. Maybe at risk of coming across as a Life is Strange -style, "punishing female character for caring about other female characters" thing, but I maintain that it could be interesting.

[my-gf-is-kazuichi-soda]

Komawari edits

Akane frequently tackles Nagito with affection.

Akane pets Nagito while he enjoys a good book.

[problamticsideanna]

Favorite Nagito Komaeda Ship M/F

Nagito x Akane

Nagito x Chiaki

Nagito x Ibuki

Nagito x Mahiru

Nagito x Mikan

Nagito x Peko

Nagito x Sonia

Nagito x Junko

Nagito x Seiko

Nagito x Komaru

Voting ended onJun 15, 2024

[radchoco]

Happy birthday Nagito  ^o^

next years birthday gift will be even bigger

[dangan-shipping-confessions]

I am honestly such a sucker for Komawari. Like, just either of them getting immensely flustered or confused at the other because neither of them can handle compliments.

[magioftheseas]

If you are still taking headcanon requests how about some post series bonding between Komaeda and his classmates? This boy needs more friends other than just Hinata.

Yes, yes he does.

Hinata kind of has to strong-arm Souda into being nice to him, but once he actually tries, he finds that Komaeda’s actually pretty fun to talk to and that he’s actually pretty easy help since he doesn’t go astray if you give him directions. He honestly starts feeling like garbage because of how nice Komaeda actually is and blurts out several apologies. Komaeda forgives him.

Kuzuryuu and Sonia meanwhile are fairly civil from the start, so they get along with him rather well. They both get a little protective of him, too, because they’re protective over everyone. The same goes for Koizumi and Peko.

Akane doesn’t trust Komaeda as far as she can throw him but when she notices how bad Komaeda’s diet is, she can’t take that shit lying down and decides to help him improve it. She ends up eating so much she gets sick. Komaeda holds her hair back and she basically considers him a BFF from that point onward. Nidai befriends him for similar reasons.

Ibuki starts happily dragging him into events and group activities. So much so that Komaeda’s tempted to try and avoid her but she always manages to find him because of her hearing. Eventually, he just lets her be.

Mikan it takes a while to be around. Even when they’re in a room together, they have difficulty even looking at each other. But one day when suffering from a migraine, Mikan just silently slides him the medicine he needs and they’re probably going to be okay.

[theamityelf]

Could I ask what your top 10 Nagito ships are? Or even top 20 if you can go that high?

Okay! This is in a tiered order moreso than a sequential order, and I'm tossing a few platonic ships in, too, when I'm equally passionate about them. (There are some friendships that I just really want him to form, lol. I'm not wholly closed to them being romantic, but I really like them as friendships.)

If you know the actual ship name for the ones I don't, please let me know.

So first of all, I'm weird about Nagito ships (and this is fully a me thing), in that I don't love any ship that I feel reinforces his worst beliefs. So, in the

Favorite Tier: Komaegi, Komahina

Because those two don't have talents (in the way Hope's Peak understands talent) and I feel like having him date someone with a talent means he isn't having to confront any of his own opinions, and on some level that bothers me. Granted, dating the untalented doesn't necessarily mean he's confronting his beliefs either, but this is Makoto and Hajime we're talking about.

Favorite Tier (Platonic): Komanaga

Because I feel like a lot of the mental/emotional work Nagito has to do is stuff Angie also has to do, and I just really like them as friends. I really think they can be good for each other, provided they're both working on unlearning a lot of stuff.

"Still Really Like" Tier: Komanami, Komazumi, Kamukoma, Nagito x Chihiro

I think most of this is self-explanatory, and also the possibilities created by Chihiro x Nagito excite me.

"Still Really Like" Tier (Platonic): Sonagito, Nagito & Taka, Nagito & Kyoko

Also mostly self-explanatory, I think.

Like Well Enough: Kuzukoma, Soumaeda, Twomaeda, Komawari

Okay I wasn't sure whether to put Komawari in this or the "Still Really Like" platonic section, but I went with this just because I think it'd be interesting. I made a post in the past about how I think Akane could also make Nagito think about his internal biases and how he kind of views and treats intelligence. Also, I'm kind of hard-headed, and when I see it commonly taken as a matter of course that Nagito and Akane are platonic, my brain wants to try the opposite.

Can Enjoy, Depending on Execution: Komamiki, Oumaeda

It really just depends for them. I've seen some cool stuff and I've seen some stuff that super wasn't for me. In a vacuum, I'm not into it, but I can see potential.

Please help me out with these ship names, lol!