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yogen wants to hear ur cr
pictured: you, talking about what ur character thinks of someone else
step 1: post with your characters
step 2: respond to others with the characters you have CR with (or not, i aint gonna stop you)
step 3: get all the details on how their characters feel about yours!
step 4: return da favor?
i havent made one of these in a while it ok
bunny
chiaki nanami, danganronpa 2
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With that out of the way, he sees Amami as "reliable." He's not the brightest or the best as he's used to, but he's a person who does know how to work with what he has and who can be depended on to see things through. He doesn't shy away from things, and he's a person who is willing to put himself at risk and go out of his way for whoever he's working with. Those are important factors for a person who's used to that kind of environment. ASUNARO is far more toxic and sacrificing, but ultimately the triage system would be yourself > ASUNARO employees > everyone else. Aside from being too kind and self-sacrificing, Amami hits all the right notes for Ranger to go to him.
I think he trusts Ammai more than most and is willing to coordinate with and share information with him, albeit he doesn't think of Amami as very smart. He's slow, but Ranger has accepted that humans on the whole are slow in the same way that cats assume that their humans are just big kittens that they need to teach how to hunt. So, he has a certain level of respect and a willingness to share information and soundboard with him that I don't think you see with many other people. He'll go to others for specific ideas or for their specific skills, but he won't necessarily go out of his way for them.
On a more emotional level (since Ranger assessments always lean so heavily logic,) I think he does enjoy Amami's company and being around him. Ranger can handle high energy individuals like Midori well enough, but I think he's at his best with people who are willing to slow down the conversation and let him collect his thoughts, or otherwise work through it, since once you take him out of information-based conversations he takes a little while. So, basically you have to either be tolerant or highly intelligent. Amami is the latter, and he's someone who will approach him and that is easy for him to carry conversation with, and I think he likes that about him.
Also, I do think he recognizes that Amami has a different kind of intelligence, and when Komaeda's not being a freak about it I think he'd actually really enjoy hearing Amami's personal accounts on what he's done and where he's been - people who have lived through things just have a different perspective, and he likes hearing about those things.
Finally, I think him vouching for Ranger in the meeting thread really puzzled him. Ranger does handle himself well, but it's also just that he knows who and what he is and doesn't expect anyone else to put that kind of trust or care into him, much less speak up on his behalf when it's really not necessary - I think it's kind of jarring and upsetting, but not in a bad way, so Amami really did get points for that. I might be forgetting something, but I think Amami is the first one to do so, and if not he's in the top three and I think that's meaningful with someone who's so used to a toxic, back-stabbing environment.
So tl;dr - He likes him, thinks he's reliable, trusts him, and is friends with him and he just doesn't realize it.
Kobato is a dumbass and he's throwing him into the void so we can make it recede a few more inches.
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Nanami's feelings on Komaeda are aren't very complicated. I don't see it as her being naive or too trusting, but that she's very earnest and sees the best in those around her. She has a somewhat childish personality at times, but she's empathetic and is able to look at the full person and the situation that they're in. That is all to say that she can look at Komaeda, recognize every single fault and misdeed, and still love him. He's somebody who is so important to her, and I think if she had a regret it would be that she wasn't there for him more. It's subtly different from regretting his choices, because Komaeda stands by those and she won't take that away from him, but the thought of what they could have built up if they were together rather than apart. It's that same metaphor of that if you're cold, you'd be happy to be in front of a warm fireplace, but if you were in front of it from the start then you wouldn't need to be happy for being offered that warmth.
I always think it's interesting that the three that reach out to Komaeda the most are Hinata, Nanami, and Sonia. We do know that she does little things that the others don't, such as checking up on him while he was tied up, and how different things might have been if CH5 Nanami had been with them from the start. Regardless, I think he's someone she loves deeply. They wear the same hat in that they're both kids who care about the group rather than themselves as individuals, hope, and who love too earnestly. They're so the same but in completely different ways, so of the group I think they both have the most conflict while understanding each other best in terms of motivation and beliefs - but also in what they lack, as Nanami has no true family and would have been compeltely isolated if not for the cast.
I'm inclined to agree that they'll settle into a sibling relationship, and I think that's what both of them need more than anything. They're both capable of romantic love and other kinds of support, but they lack those familial bonds that are just earnest and caring and that can help to carry a person and change them without the complications of romance and other factors. It's just a different dynamic, you know? It's one where you can always expect the other to be there, and it's uncomplicated and supportive despite the conflict that comes with it, and one that both of them lack.
As for Midori... She's fond of him! He's very charming, and he's a person who is patient enough to handle her quirks and to find them interesting rather than strange. He's trash and I hate him, but I also hope they can just nap together sometime, that would be cute. But she's just really charmed by him and enjoys talking with him. I can't wait for him to fiddle with her code.
As for Ranger and Komaeda... looks off to the side. I really should have killed him when I had the chance. If you hadn't told me I couldn't, then I would have, but the opportunity is gone now. That's his AI, he made it, and he owns it. His feelings on Komaeda re really complicated because it's become a tangled web of emotions vs logic in a way that I don't think anyone else has really managed, and that's because Komaeda is a very emotional person who is also highly intelligent, reliable, and patient with him. I think it's less that Komaeda has put more effort in and more that he checks all the right boxes, but he's also focused on purely emotional concepts and that makes him difficult to compartmentalize.
Anyway, Komaeda has been essential to Ranger's development, and I mean it when I say he wouldn't be who he is today without him. It's because Komaeda is so difficult to compartmentalize that he's able to push Ranger in a way that other's can't, and he does so while being patient and trying to understand Ranger. It's a comfortable thing where he can safely assume that he doesn't truly care about him or view him as anything, while also sharing everything with him. It's a paradox, and it's a dangerous one, but it let them bypass the hedgehog's dilemma - Ranger doesn't believe the spines are there, and so he was able to huddle with him for warmth. If it's for different reasons, and if their priority systems are different, he can assume that Komaeda will act as Ranger does and that makes him feel safe. That said, it's a bit like knowing a winding punch is coming, and it's going to leave a permanent fracture when it happens.
So all that is to say that Komaeda has hit this intersection where I think he has the same relationship with him that he did with ASUNARO, but one wherein he can breathe and mixed in emotional concepts so it's developed further: He's intelligent, reliable, and his partner who he would kill for. He is the person that Ranger trusts most, and he's the exception to that very logic based priority system because he's less useful than those of ASUNARO (leading to it being Komaeda > ASUNARO > Shin/Sara > everyone else.) But again, that's just because Komaeda is a very emotional person who has pried him open time and time again. I'd almost argue that Komaeda has become his hope because of how he's pushed him, but I don't want to frame it as toxic and codependent since it's really more like Komaeda constantly affords him opportunities and growth... So it's a positive example of that since it's not like it'd go away with him, you know?
Aside from that, I tried very hard to temper his crush on Komaeda. It did not work. He spited me by digging the hole deeper, and I think it's a very honest love. Ranger is a person who has many flaws, but he can accept the best and worst parts of a person and see them as they are. That's why he works so hard to understand Komaeda, and I think that he loves him for both the best and worst parts of him. He enjoys his company, there's push and pull with both of them, and Komaeda balances him out, and that's all led to just these complicated feelings. Bravely Default has "it only gets worse from here on in" when you're saving before a boss and that's how I feel about this at all times.
So tl;dr - Partner, romantic interest, would do anything for.
Midori we've talked about so I won't rehash it, but in the end they're both just byproducts of ASUNARO, and I do believe their relationship reflects that. I do think a lot about the fact that both of them seem to have been intended to be heirs at one point or another (Sara's comment about Ranger being a heir, and then the doll clause for the final participant in addition to how proactive Midori is and the deck is stacked for him and Sara in particular,) so I think there's an odd connection between the two of them that isn't present with ASUNARO employees. I don't think either of them are aware of it, but there is a kind of solidarity in being intended for far greater things than you were left with due tot he actions of others. But Midori's the one who is easiest for him to work with, and it's very toxic, but there is a strange kind of care between the two of them that no one else can understand. No one can understand their love I'm crying.
Re: bunny
(and first impressions from nanami to shirogane)
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Sara is so interesting because if you look at the way that the game is set up, as well as other hints, it seems that ASUNARO has three characters that were sent up to be a heir in some sense of the word: Midori, Ranger, and Sara; however, by their own actions the company ruined all three. Ranger was a failed project due to Gashu's meddling, Midori was killed by Alice (and while there's an argument to be had here about his hubris, there's no way he could have gotten as far as he did without ASUNARO's blessing,) and Sara proves to be dramatically different than expected due to their efforts at balancing. In that sense, it can be said that all three are failed projects by the company's standards and are connected by that thread of being doomed from the start due to the way that their lives were set up. But it doesn't seem that any of them make that connection.
With all that said, Sara and Komaeda are the first two people who realy reached out to Ranger and for that reason alone she's special to him in a way that can't be replicated. There are others who can get close to him and move up on the priority list, but hers is fixed in place and won't budge regardless of how much she changes. He was resentful and begrudging at the offset, and to a point he still resents the fact that she was given all the care and attention that he lacked, but I think over time he's come to see her for what and who she is and been able to make the connection between the two of them accordingly. They're just two people who were doomed from the start.
There's that, and the fact that she mentioned "reviving" him via using his chip, and he's very soft on her and cares about her a lot. It's really all pieced together to create a unique connection that he doesn't have with anyone else, where they don't necessarily have to agree or understand each other on all fronts for him to have this genuine kind of care for her. Sara is one of the reasons he took it seriously when Satou mentioned finding a way for people to go back to their worlds and revive. I don't think Ranger wants to go back, but I do believe that he wants her to be able to find and live the kind of life that she wants. They're cousins but he also has a little bit of dad energy with her, and I think it's so funny how him and Komaeda have wound up wanting to take care of her. But he really sees her for what she is and wants her to have better.
It's also a little funny because she does break his priority system in a couple of different ways. Ranger values people in the same way that the company doers, and so it's based on a person's merits rather than emotional sentiment. His list tends to wind up being Komaeda > ASUNARO > Sara/Shin > everyone else, with the latter being fluid and changing depending on the situation. But this is in terms of having to choose whether to keep Mr. Blue or Ms. Red, but if he wants to have his cake and eat it too and that means keeping her a long with them.
But it also means that he's willing to push back on the first two for her in a way he doesn't tend to for others. Part of that is just that Ranger is as God made him, but it's also that he tends to hold anyone on that upper tier to his own standards. He can carry a lot, and he can work through things, and this and that, so even if he logically understands how frail people are it's still difficult for him to factor it in and it's easy to let them dangle because he'll believe that they can handle themselves. It's really just that his standards are too high lmao, but either way, Sara managed to cut through that in a way that's hard to do so now he sees her as more or less what she is - a vulnerable teenager, and if that's hard for him to compartmentalize he's at least realized that she can't be pushed too far or she'll crumble. It came up with Komaeda before where he warned him not to push her too far, and I'm sure he'll get hissy with Midori too.
Anyway, I just think a lot about how she tipped the first domino in his character development and really is the reason he's the way that he is now. That's so wild.
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and the point about them three being doomed asunaro heirs is interesting...waiting for nankidai to update so sara can realize who her dad is................. i totally believe gashu and meister were out drinking and bragging about how cool their kids are and then ruined them both! uggh its killer how they were both used for this sucession plan, even if they both had different roles.
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Finally, they're both victims of the hedgehog's dilemma. Ranger tends to be simpler and more straightforward with his thoughts and feelings, but for various reasons he doesn't form true bonds. The knife is always at your back, and even now how Ranger feels about others. It's difficult for him to conceptualize a world in which he's not betrayed in the end for some minor slight (which is being validated on both sides,) and when it happens it seems as though it's a natural consequence and a logical progression because that's just how life is. It's much in the same way that he doesn't blink at Komaeda talking about killing him since that feels safe and normal when compared to something softer and more protective... So, what does that mean? It means they can be close while pretending to not feel hurt when that sense of closeness falls apart.
This is a really roundabout analysis, but I think about it a lot since without all of those factors you wouldn't have the messy situation they're in now where both sides are pricking each other without actually meaning to.
Regardless, I think that because of all of the above Ranger tends to overestimate Shin since he does make the effort to be more like Midori et al. It's like when a person is teaching a new concept to someone, they can easily things that are "obvious" to them and leave the other person feeling confused and missing chunks. In the same way, he misses how frail Shin is and approaches him accordingly. This is even worse because with Ranger, you tend to get what you ask for, and since Shin tends to ask for logic and problem solving that's what he gets. It might have been easier for him to catch in canon, since he was like a scared rrabbit, but he's done fine in Yogen so now we're at this point where he has to learn it all over again. It's started to occur to him, and I think it will more now that things are coming to a head with Midori's arrival, but it's not something that happens overnight.
With that being said, Shin is one of four people that Ranger will truly go out of his way for in Yogen - the other three are Komaeda, Midori, and Sara. It's not an easy position to get to with him. Komaeda is his partner, Midori is the most useful person in the room, but Shin and Sara are due to the ties that he has to them. He does have respect for Shin as a tech person, but it's moreso the way that they've bonded over time beginning with seeing him working with Rei and peaking when Shin fixed the errors in his system without thinking on it for a second. For someone who think so themselves as a thing and was owed no favors, that was significant, as was being completed, and everything just tied together so that he genuinely cares about him. There's a lot of trust there too, but because of the way they are it's easy to miss.
But he likes him, and he watches out for him, and he enjoys working with him. I also don't think he'll be surprised by Shin pushing him away, though I'm not sure how that'll be taken yet. In the end I think he'll be able to justify it, but that doesn't mean it won't sting. It's worse when you consider that he both told Shin about Midori first, and because he's already doing what he can to coordinate and avoid putting a target on his back - such as making a point of not mentioning Shin's involvement with fixing his code... But then as with Sara, that's probably something Shin will never know about because it just comes naturally for him... So you know, it's a huge mess with everyone doing their best and it ends in tragedy because no one talks to each other properly... Anyway I'm hopeful that they can sort it out over time, it's just messy right now.
All that aside, I'll also note that Shin is probably one of the people he'll go to for collaborations and to soundboard for projects, or give information to whereas I don't think he does that with everyone.
Nanami! I think she's fond of him. He probably reminds her a lot of her classmates since they were largely people who had a similar vibe to them - genuinely good people who were weighed down by the issues that they suffered from. She's the opposite of Ranger in that she's very sensitive to people's feelings, and she is indeed the kind of person to set herself on fire to keep others warm. I think she'll warm up to Shin quickly and want to watch out for him, especially with him getting closer to her twin... I could easily see her filling a similar role as Kanna, albeit not quite the same. Nanami is sharp and she can handle her own, but she still sees the best in others and makes a conscious effort to support them.
I'm very excited to see him find out that she's an AI and discuss it! She's a bit like Ranger in that she won't hide it if asked, but that she won't volunteer it since she's really not supposed to.. I'm kinda crying because Midori's already sinking his claws into her too. I can't wait for somebody to start messing with her code around here. But for now, she's fond of him and she'd like to get to know him better, and I think she'll be a warm and supportive presence for him that doesn't really push him too far or too hard.
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His thoughts on Alice are complicated by default for a couple reasons, starting with the fact that they're coming from different periods in time. Ranger knows that he led to Reko's death, but since he didn't actually experience that (or at least, doesn't have the memory of it,) he doesn't have any thoughts on the matter. I'm not sure how he'll be once he does regain that, but he can't discuss it with Alice or Sara because from his point of view, it's not something he did and therefore not something he's obligated to comment on... Buuut he does understand the effect that it would have and it's one of those things where he's approaching it tentatively without expecting anything.
So, he's kind of tentatively willing to try and approach him and see him as an actual person, and I think that's where he's standing for now. Alice is a little bit dumb (by Ranger standards) and he's so fussy, and I think Ranger finds the Fairy Godmother of Hope thing really funny ngl to you. It's not as funny as when komaeda was pretending to be a Death God, but this seems to be uniquely tailored to Alice and I think he appreciates watching that. That all said, the fact that Alice is willing to tolerate him at all and that they can work together is surprising to him. I think as with Sara and Shin though, he's realized that Alice is actually a good person when you take that away, and he is reliable enough that Ranger thinks he can be pulled into things. He wouldn't let anything happen to him, anyway. I thought him being like "eh he'll be fine" at Komaeda was cute.
So in short... I think they've got some mutual confusion going on here, and it's complicated, but I see him as defrosting some around Alice and trying to actually approach him as a person rather than a participant. He'll probably think he's funny, and long term he's eventually going to get a canon update where he'll be able to actually acknowledge things as a whole. I'm not really sure how that'll go, but I think it'll be interesting to see. Alice is a good egg though, he doesn't mind him.
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