Fanfic / Withering Hope

"So which will it be? Your freedom? Or the lives of your dear friends..."

Withering Hope is an ongoing fanfiction focusing on a crossover between Danganronpa and Minecraft. The story is written by Jade-Spade .

The story features fifteen Minecraft Youtubers and one Author Avatar, each considered to be the top of their respective fields, being invited to participate in some bizarre gameshow. Regardless of their choices in attending, strange events lead to them being trapped in a twisted filming area, run by the sadistic and psychotic Monowither. Soon, the Wither reveals that the only way to leave their predicament is to kill somebody else and not get caught. Taking place from the perspective of the Super Duper Minecrafter Level Sorcerer, AKA, Seto, he slowly begins to realize something: In this prison, every single one of them was capable of murdering another.

On September 10th, it was announced that the story would be revamped with original OCs due to the writer growing uncomfortable writing about real people.

---

This Story Has Examples of:

• Aborted Declaration of Love: Happens twice in the story.
  • In Part 02, Ryan almost tells Mitch his feelings for him, but Monowither convinces him not to do it.
  • In Part 03, Monowither asks Ashley if she would like to confess her feelings for Bodil, but she chooses not to because she feels that he would never see her in a positive light after what she did.
• Action Girl: Ashley and Annie.
• A Day in the Limelight: In the Alternative Endings and Misc story, we see alternate endings and different perspectives of multiple cases. Characters given this treatment have included just about every member of the main cast.
• Alas, Poor Villain: At the end of every trial, the culprits are treated sympathetically, and only killed because Monowither's motivations drove them to. The only possible exception among the culprits is possibly Ashley.
• All for Nothing: Just about every culprit's murder ends up being for nothing, because not only did they all fail in escaping, but they caused the deaths of some of their closest friends.
• Anyone Can Die: As of now, 11 of the 16 people trapped inside the filming area have died. The only current survivors are Annie, Bodil, Bonks, Seto, and Tyler.
• Arc Words: "Despair" and "Hope" are repeated constantly throughout the story.
• Artificial Intelligence: CODIE is an AI created by Seth and left in Dave's gaming device.
• Bait-and-Switch: Jade is the Author Avatar, but is the first one to be murdered in the story.
  • In Part 03, Jordan's body is found, but he turns out to merely be unconscious from a sleeping potion. Bodil's body is also found later, but he turns out to still be alive, albeit barely. Ultimately it's averted when Husky is found soon after to still be alive, but he dies a few minutes later from his wounds.
• Benevolent A.I.: CODIE.
• Big Brother Is Watching: Monowither has cameras and monitors installed throughout the building to watch their prisoners.
• Bland-Name Product: Monowither will avoid "product placement" to replicate a true reality TV show.
  Jerome: What the- [pulls out a red soda can labeled "Koka-Kola"] Is this one of those cheap knock-offs?!
  Monowither: Well of course! There are copyright issues with displaying licensed products without permission, you know?
• Body of the Week: Considering the only way to escape the building is through murder, it's to be expected that someone is bound to die every week.
• Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: When talking about the effects of sleeping potions, Monowither says that you can use them "to transport them to other places, to make them stop snoring, to make them stop tossing and turning in the bed, to slowly kill or torture them with little resistance, all kinds of things!"
• Characters Dropping Like Flies: In the first chapter, we're introduced to the sixteen characters trapped inside the filming area. As of the most recent chapter, only 6 remain.
• Chekhov's Gun: Most cases have important evidence that's introduced well before the murder actually takes place, or may still seem irrelevant until the trial is underway. An example of this is Monowither offering Seto, Sky, and Tyler 30 Withercoins, a fact that is used to help prove how Sky is the thief and the killer in Part 01.
• The Corpse Stops Here
• Couldn't Find a Pen: Overlaps with Dying Clue and Forged Message. In the first murder, Jade tries to write Sky's name on the floor with her blood, but dies after writing the letter "S". Sky uses her finger to write Seto's name and frame Seto.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: The executions in general are this.
  • In the first chapter, a group of people is gruesomely murdered via giant saw blades.
  • Sky is pulled underwater by giant squids, before being torn apart by them as he silently screams in pain.
  • Mitch takes an arrow to the chest to try and save a fake version of his already dead best friend, before said fake friend finishes him off with a stab from an axe.
  • Ashley barely survives being thrown off a cliff with an MRI machine, before being crushed in an avalanche.
  • Steven and his friends, Bart and Dave, are forced into multiple fights against several different dangerous mobs, before being finished off with a fiery explosion from an Ender Dragon.
• Dark Secret: The second motive has Monowither passing out envelopes containing each person's darkest secret, saying that if no one has died in 24 hours, they will reveal them to the whole world. Everyone's darkest secrets are revealed in an alternative ending. In the actual story, it is Mitch who succumbs to the motive and kills Jerome, albeit by accident.
• Deadly Game: For obvious reasons.
• Death by Irony: Monowither tailors their executions around this, in addition to Cruel and Unusual Death.
• Despair Event Horizon: The first three killers, Sky, Mitch, and Ashley all cross this line before choosing to kill someone.
  • Subverted by Seto, who almost kills Bonks but backs out at the last second. Also counts as Heroic BSoD.
• Detectives Follow Footprints: In the fourth case, Seto uses Jordan's bloody shoe prints to see how he died.
• Downer Beginning: In the prologue, a group of people are brutally killed by saw blades as they beg for their lives.
• Driven to Suicide: Played with. In Part 03, Seto almost commits suicide out of guilt, but ultimately chooses not to. Played straight with Ryan, however.
• Emergency Transformation: When Bodil falls off the parkour course, Seto transforms into a part-dragon (despite having never been able to do so before) to fly down and save him.
• Evidence Scavenger Hunt: Before each trial, the survivors have an investigation period where they search for any clues to help them uncover the killer.
• Empty Chair Memorial: Dead participants are replaced during trials with a "memorial" picture that has their face crossed out. The cross marks are customized to fit each participant. Seth's has redstone trails, Jade's has a quill and a pencil, Sky's has two squid tentacles, Jerome's has two axes, Mitch's has two swords, Ryan's has a red bat symbol, Husky's X is covered in flames, Ashley's has two needles, and Jordan's has a quarter rest symbol.
• Empty Shell: Seto and Mitch temporarily suffer from this at some point but Ryan's case is especially poignant as he never recovers before he kills himself.
  • Steven also suffers from this temporarily after he is separated from Bart and Dave in Part 04, but he recovers somewhat until they are reunited.
• Evil Me Scares Me: How Seto feels about Slotty.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Monowither's Special Poison.
• Eye Scream: In the special episode, Natasha kills Michael by stabbing him in the eye and twisting the knife. Ouch.
• False Confession: In Part 02, Ryan falsely confesses to being the killer to cover for Mitch, the true killer.
  • In Part 04, Steven pretends to be a spy for despair to convince the participants to vote for him. It doesn't work, however, and his act falls when it makes Bonks cry.
• Fiery Cover-Up: In Part 01's murder case, the killer uses the incinerator to dispose of most of the evidence.
• Foreshadowing: Tons of it.
• Gender-Equal Ensemble: Averted. Out of the original 16 participants, there are only four who are female.
  • Played straight with the Hope Organization members in the special episode, which has eight men and eight women.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: In Part 04, Annie slaps Jason out of anger when he tells Bodil that he should have died instead of Husky.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Steven helps the others conclude that he killed Jordan to save their lives. It costs him his life when he is executed.
• Hope Spot: In Part 04, members of a group called Hope Organization break in to rescue the remaining survivors. However, the Puppetmaster unleashes many robots that kill the members and recapture all the survivors.
• I Never Said It Was Poison: This is used a number of times to get expose facts in the trials, especially in the first one.
  • In the first trial, Bodil accidentally says that the prize was in a chest. However, it turns out that he is innocent, but hid the fact that the thief had already found the prize and was planning to kill someone. Seto uses this as inspiration to get Sky to accidentally reveal that the killer used a spool of gray thread when Ryan had never revealed the thread's color.
• Involuntary Battle to the Death: The entire point of the show.
• Lights Off, Somebody Dies: In Part 03, a blackout occurs. When the lights turn back on, the participants find that Bodil has been severely injured and Husky has been murdered.
• The Mole: Played straight and subverted. In Part 03, Monowither reveals that two of the remaining participants are spies and later emphasizes that they are spying willingly. In Part 04, Steven all but admits that he is one of the spies. Unfortunately, it is only after he, Bart, and Dave are executed that Monowither reveals Steven was actually a spy for hope who relayed information to Hope Organization to save them. However, there is still a spy for despair among the group working for the Puppetmaster, and their identity is still unknown.
• Motive Rant: Played straight and subverted. In Part 02, Ryan admits to killing Jerome and rants about how he wanted Jerome dead from the start because he knew that Jerome trusted him. However, it is subverted because Ryan was framing himself as the killer to cover for Mitch, the true killer. In Part 03, Ashley talks about how the others have never experienced poverty and the desire for money to live, the latter of which is what drove her to kill Husky.
• My God, What Have I Done?: The first three killers have all regretted their actions, but unfortunately because of their inevitable executions, it is too late for them to make amends. Seto also has much regret due to all that he has done in his past.
• Never Suicide: Averted in Part 03, where Ryan really did kill himself.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Since the characters are based off of Minecraft Youtubers, this trope is inevitable.
• Not What It Looks Like: A humorous example in Part 02 when Seto and Tyler are seen leaving Seto's room together in the morning by Mitch, Jerome, and Ryan. While Mitch and Jerome tease them, Ryan does not realize they are joking and scolds them. Monowither then tells the others, who all react with shock except for Steven, who is too innocent to realize what Monowither is implying.
• Ontological Mystery: None of the characters know who has trapped them in the filming area and why.
• Public Execution: The fate of every culprit who fails to get away with murder.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Monowither and Slotty.
  • Averted with Ty.
• Sacrificial Lamb: Jade, who is the first person to be murdered despite being the Author Avatar.
• Sadistic Choice: The whole show is based on this. You can kill one of your friends or spend the rest of your life trapped in captivity with no interaction with the outside world. If someone dies and the killer is caught, you can either vote for them and execute another one of your friends or suffer a painful execution yourself.
• Ship Tease:
  • The most notable example is between Seto and Tyler, who grow closer after Sky's death. They bond over their mutual understanding and support each other during their emotional struggles. They are also teased by the others occasionally. Tyler also blushes when he compliments Seto on the night they first met. As of now they are the last remaining ship still alive.
  • Another example is Bodil and Ashley, who have been close friends since childhood. They both have feelings for each other, but never say it. In the alternative endings book, one of the endings reveals that Bodil's worst secret was his crush on Ashley. Unfortunately, death separates them when Ashley is executed, and she has an Aborted Declaration of Love.
  • Jason and Husky have also been close friends since childhood. They frequently make perverted jokes towards each other and Husky even holds Jason at one point to comfort him because of a nightmare. Death also separates them when Husky is murdered by Ashley.
  • Jordan and Seth are another example. In the alternative endings book, it is revealed that Jordan's secret was his love for Seth. Unfortunately, Seth is the first person to die and Jordan survives for four more parts before ultimately being killed himself.
  • Steven and Bonks are shipped by Monowither. They are both artists and bond over this shared interest. They can be seen drawing together in Part 02. After Steven is separated from Bart and Dave in Part 04, Bonks tries to help him feel better. Sadly, Steven is executed in the same part and Bonks is unable to accept that he is a spy. Steven does not reveal that he is spying for their side because it would activate Bonks' Forbidden Action and kill her.
• Shrine to the Fallen: After every trial, Bonks draws portraits of those who have died and places them on a table in the cafeteria. There are candles placed near the memorial.
• Shoo Out the Clowns: Mitch, Jerome, Ryan, and Husky caused many humorous moments in the story before they died.
  • Dave, despite being a zombie, was also a source of comic relief before being executed in Part 04.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Countless times, characters tell Monowither to shut up because of their annoying behavior.
• Stuff Blowing Up: In Part 04, a Monoghast supposedly blows up the Nether Portal that would have allowed Seto and the others to escape to safety. However, Annie accuses Seto of having blown it up.
• The Summation: At the end of each trial, Seto sums up the crime and finalizes his accusation of the killer to everyone else.
• Tempting Fate: Occurs every time the participants claim that no more deaths will occur. Also occurs when Husky promises Jason that he will survive, only to die later in the same part.
• This Is Reality: Frequently invoked and lampshaded by Monowither, who emphasizes that this is a reality TV show.
• Troll: Monowither in Part 03 when they puts ketchup on Jordan's unconscious body to make it seem like he was brutally murdered.
• Two Girls to a Team: As of now, Annie and Bonks are the only girls left alive.
• Villain Has a Point: Although not a "villain", Ashley brings up how humans are driven by survival when their lives are at risk, using Sky and Mitch's killings as proof, and says that eventually someone might murder someone and pass the voting.
• Win Your Freedom: To leave the filming area, you must kill all of your friends by overcoming the Show Trial.
• You Wake Up in a Room: What happens to Seto and the others in the beginning after they are gassed. Also happens to the mysterious group of people in the prologue before they are killed.