They're watching her.
She feels their eyes first. A dozen strikingly red orbs, scorching holes beneath her skin; within the ink stained darkness of twilight, she cowers, bows her head and arches her arms above her skull, awaits the gleaming rip of silver claws to tear into porcelain flesh. Her heart pounds a drumbeat, every whack against her ribs a pained reminder of the looming inevitable that lurks ahead.
There's no use running now. She's run far too long; far too fast. Everything hurts. No. The months have drawled on in unyielding pursuit; time has finally seized her within its jaws. She's a prisoner to her fate. Always has been. Now it's only a matter of the seconds, or minutes, leading up to her demise.
They know the fight has left her form. They smile. They chuff. They crowd in on her tiny body, kicking, taunting, and shoving. Run, they crow, and instinct almost tempts her to. But she merely lowers herself closer to the blood splashed earth; the sticky liquid paints her pale fingers and knees a deep scarlet, and in the back of her mind she can't help but vaguely wonder: is this blood mine? Or is it the victim's of yesterday?
The smallest of smiles quirks up at her lips. Ha! Figures that's where her dumb old brain goes. As if any of that matters, in the end. Trivial details, all of it. When death breathed right up in your face, what did the color of a blood moon matter? What did the scratchy feeling of grass beneath her blistered toes contribute?
All just meaningless nonsense. So, so meaningless.
It makes her rather sad.
Their leader pushes forward, until his shadow engulfs her in its shade. And though she knows it matters not, though she can't see the meaning in such inconsequential details any longer, she can't help but commit the blackened sky to memory; can't help but trace each and every blade of grass tussled in a cool midnight breeze. If she is about to die, then she wants to focus especially on these tiny, insignificant details; if these are her last moments, then please, God, let them be as pleasant as possible.
The leader's hand lifts towards the moon. The crowing and cawing of his posse heightens, like a baying pack of ravenous wolves. Red eyes glint in bright anticipation. She swallows, savoring that small stab of pain in her throat. An awful final sensation – but a sensation nonetheless. Proof that she's still alive, proof that her heart still beats in symphony to the drums.
What happens next will forever be a blur. All she remembers is turning her face up to the scarlet moon so high overhead, and catching the single eye of her killer basked in its bloodied glow. Tears sting at her vision, blur at her peripheral, but she bravely swallows her sobs and sets her lips into a tight, rebellious scowl. There's a screech, way at the back of the crowd, and she thinks its all part of the ceremony, until the leader is stepping back, and there's panic in their gaze now, so bright and unscripted.
A halo of yellow cuts through the tight circle; amid the chanting, the smash of car wheels bursts to life within her ears, and mud is kicked up beneath well tread tires as the car slides to a halt. The crowd disperses. Their leader stumbles back, one hand whipping up to shield his eyes from the harsh glow of the headlights.
She can't see the driver. They are cloaked in darkness. As the door slams open however, a human's hand extends, vying for her own.
"Hey. Would you like to play a game?"
Maybe she'll regret it. Maybe this will be the worst decision of her life. But does she care? No. At once her arm whips up, the palm of her hand coming to fold comfortably within her savior's own.
She takes that hand.
And she doesn't let go.
WELCOME
TO HOPE'S PEAK ACADEMY -
OH, WAIT. THAT'S NOT RIGHT AT ALL, ISN'T IT?
NO, NO. THIS WON'T DO. HOPE'S PEAK THIS, HOPE'S PEAK THAT.
UPUPU.
LET'S CHANGE IT UP A BIT, SHALL WE?
A / N - I've always adored the Danganronpa series, and to finally contribute within this fandom is certainly an exciting prospect! A SYOC fanfiction has always been on my to-do list, and with NaNoWriMo just around the corner, I'm finally getting around to it! My main goal with this fic is to add to the Danganronpa Universe overall; there will be twists and turns here, as is par for the course with the genre. But I'll be taking my own spin on things too.
I hope for this to be a fresh experience, something different from your typical Danganronpa fare, though essentially tying in closely with the series too. But I don't want to give away too much! For now, before I can even begin to put my plans into action, I need your help to bring this story to life! After all, characters are the life blood of any tale, fanfiction or otherwise. And I can't wait to see yours!
Before you rush off and throw me your awesome OCs, however, please read the rules, and then proceed to fill out the required form below!
.:RULES:.
NO. 1 -
This is fairly important, so please read this carefully! Do not submit your OCs via review. There's a few reasons for this - one, some of the questions you'll have to answer might be bordering on spoiler territory for your character, and we certainly don't want to ruin their Arc! Let's just keep their secrets between you and me until the time is right, okay? Two - I want to keep the review section for, well, reviews! Your reactions, theories, suggestions, critiques, impressions - anything at all, really, so long as it has something to do with the stories and characters at hand. Instead, please submit your character via PM to me! That way, the review section is kept neat and tidy, and your character's potential secrets are hidden under wraps. It's a win-win situation!
NO. 2 -
No 'Mary-Sues.' I understand that's a vague thing to say, but essentially, the best characters are well balanced and have their fare share of flaws and positives in their personality. Please also be as in depth about your OC as possible; I'm not asking for an essay here, or anything like that, but I want to try and capture their personality and mannerisms to the best of my ability! So the more detail, the better!
NO. 3 -
No double-up talents. By this I mean, no talents from the canonical series pasted into here. Let's be as original as possible! This does mean no 'Luckster/Detective/?' sadly, as, well, we've seen this before, so it's not going to be that great a twist in the long run anyway. I'm lenient on this rule in regards to Danganronpa V3 however, as that game has yet to be released. Alongside this rule, I'd also like to specify no demeaning talents either. SHSL Prostitute/Yandere/Mary Sue or anything those lines won't be allowed.
NO. 4 -
Finally, this is a lot more light, but with your biographies please try to keep basic grammar and spelling in check. Thank you!
And that's it, guys! Apart from that, go wild! Let your imaginations run crazy! This is Danganronpa, and I'm sure you all have some fantastic original characters; I'd be more than honored to have them in this fanfic. Of course, it goes without saying that this is DR, and characters will die - but hey, what's a murder mystery without a few murders along the way!
Finally, please introduce me to your character!
.:FORM:.
NAME: (Real name, regardless of alias)
ALIAS: (What they are more often known by; if they'd rather use a fake name, then please specify that here.)
AGE: (Fifteen to Twenty.)
SEXUAL ORIENTATION: (Any orientation is of course allowed!)
GENDER IDENTITY: (And the same goes for gender identity!)
PREFERRED PRONOUNS: (Whatever pronouns they prefer to be referred to by.)
TALENT: (Rather self explanatory! What got them scouted out by Hope's Peak in the first place!)
SHORT DESCRIPTION: (You know how in Danganronpa, you'll have the IDs with a short summary of the character and their talent? Well, this spot is essentially what you'd see on their ID.)
APPEARANCE: (As in depth as possible please!)
CLOTHING STYLE/OUTFITS: (As many or as few as you'd like, but definitely please do fill out this section. Unless they run around stark naked that is...! ...No running naked in the halls, please.)
HEIGHT: (Self explanatory.)
WEIGHT: (Self explanatory.)
PERSONALITY: (As in depth as possible! I want to get as accurate a portrayal of your character as I possibly can, so the more I know about them the better.)
HISTORY: (You don't have to write a novel, but it'd be great to get some perspective on your character, and how they developed into the person they are today! This could also be an important factor for murders, so keep that in mind! Some things you might want to include are - the worst moment in their life, how their family made an impact on them, how their talent developed...don't hold back! Maybe they were relatively sheltered, maybe they had a horrible upbringing. Regardless, put that all here!)
LIKES: (A short list of things they like.)
DISLIKES: (A short list of things they dislike.)
EXECUTION: (A short description of their execution. Necessary for all characters, even if they don't end up being a murderer!)
OPTIONAL/ feel free to include any of these within your form, or not!
SECRETS: (So completely optional. Your character might not have anything to hide - or maybe they do! Are they sick, but they would rather keep this information hidden from their peers? Have they committed a crime? Basically, anything they'd rather not want others knowing, if that's anything at all!)
QUOTES: (Any notable quotes or things they might say? Can include their introduction.)
MANNERISMS: (Do they chew their fingernails? Do they pick at their skin? Do they have a flighty/poised/confident way of speaking? Basically, tiny little things they may do or say or sound like that can help me nail their personality down.)
PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE: (How do they view life? What are their thoughts and feelings on their past and futures?)
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: (How might someone react, or think, upon first meeting your character? What are they most likely to notice? How do they interact with the people around them?)
POSSIBLE MOTIVES: (What would drive your character to commit murder, or to even consider it, so to speak?)
MENTAL STABILITY: (Do they have any mental disorders? Illnesses? All I ask is that it's portrayed without stereotyping!)
EXTRA: (This section is all for you! Are there things you'd like to see happen to them in this story? Twists or turns you'd like me to implement involving your character? I cannot promise that it will happen or not, but suggestions can certainly be made here. Anything else that you would consider important, but fits in no other place, can also be stored here.)
TOOT, TOOT.
SEAT BELTS EVERYONE.
WE'RE GOING ON A FIELD TRIP.
CHARACTER QUOTA: 2/8 BOYS - 5/8 GIRLS