#dash games. mitsuru kirijo

[braveryhearted]

which month of the year are you ?

you are february. the month of love, the month of pain. you're slowly melting, the sun is slowly showing itself, coming out of its own shadow. the air inside of you is turning to ice. the hearts that fly around the shops and the way everyone is smiling at each other expectantly tastes like a badly-made dark chocolate. it tastes rich, too rich, and you need a refreshing drink of water immediately.

you are march. as the ground beneath your feet blooms a brilliant green and the frost inside your lungs clears up, you can't help but feel you shouldn't have made it this far. you should be used to the way the days turn over, the way the grass turns from gray to green, you're already three months in. you're not doing as much as you should be. you're wasting away in the grass.

Tagged: @enshijou Tagging: @limitlesspossibilities and any of my other persona 3 mutuals. Or anyone who wants to do this. Say that I tagged you.

[caramialunaestelle]

RANDOMLY GENERATED HEADCANONS

use this generator to create some randomly generated headcanons for your muse!

It would not take much for Mitsuru Kirijo to turn evil.

Mitsuru Kirijo desperately needs a hug but doesn't know it and refuses to ask for one.

Mitsuru Kirijo could easily survive The Hunger Games.

Mitsuru Kirijo watches My Little Pony.

Mitsuru Kirijo believes in ghosts and insists on trying to summon one at every sleepover.

Tagged by: @epitomees (Thank you!!)

Tagging: @ you!!!

[daily-rayless]

15 Years of Natalia

November 2008. I think these are my first Natalias. As you can see, I haven't yet committed to the full floofiness of her hair.

So we've come to the end of my character appreciation series (for 2023, stayed tuned for next year), and that means it's time to turn to Tales of the Abyss, which I first played toward the end of 2008, during a very stressful point in my life. Perhaps because of that, but definitely because of the game's excellent story, it became one of my very favorite games, and there are lots of characters in it that I'd class among my favorites. But right at the top, and close to the top of my favorite characters of all time, is Her Highness, the national hero, the false princess, the girl with too many letters in her name, Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear.

Let me tell you why.

November 2008. Asch often features in my Natalia art. I like him a lot, both as a character and as part of the pairing itself. But I want to focus this post on Natalia, not Natalia and Asch.

When first glancing over the game's booklet, I identified Tear as the character I'd like. Looking at Natalia's design, I was actually quite turned off by her – all the frills, all the curls, all the puffs and scallops and ruffles. For a fan who loved cool, no-nonsense, knightly heroines like Celes Chere, Chris Lightfellow, and Mitsuru Kirijo, Natalia didn't seem to offer much.

December 2008. A Natalia panel from my first attempt to do an Asch-Natalia comic.

And then you get her first scene in the game, where she blasts in at her absolute worst, domineering, catty, snobby, obsessed with her own little world of childhood promises. She barges into your party, insists she won't be a burden, and continues to bully everyone right and left.

December 2009. My interest in Abyss cut off abruptly in early 2009 when I got into Persona 4, but it never died completely. It never does die completely.

But none of Abyss' party members are simply what they seem at first glance. Not only is Natalia soon revealed to be brave and generous (and more than a little unintentionally goofy) but the story forces her to mature.

May 2011. See? The obsession's right back here again.

And it's not a shallow maturity, where she becomes cold and uncaring, hardly the same person she was before. Even as she faces betrayals and difficult choices, she remains emotional, even naive.

June 2011. Trying to draw Asch and Natalia as regal and courtly as I possibly could.

But she stops focusing so much on herself, learns to treat others better, and realizes – though it takes her right until the end of the game – that she can't ask anyone else to make her dreams come true.

October 2011. Natalia at the ending battle. I was so proud of this one.

So I very quickly learned to love Natalia. By the time I finished the game, I was hooked, already off and writing fanfic. But the thing was? I still didn't like her design.

August 2012. Not sure what's happening with her elbow there. Maybe she's inviting someone to stroll with her.

I couldn't dispense with the flippy curls, but at least I could lose some of the ruffles, which is why so much of my art features her in alternate costumes or even completely new clothes.

October 2012. It's hard to make Asch look both happy and in character, but I think I manage.

But as time's gone on, I've started to appreciate her canonical design. Yes, she's a frilly princess. That's okay. She's a dashing, gallant, daring, floofy princess. She doesn't need to become (or look) “stronger” because the game already proves her to be incredibly strong.

March 2013. Post-game Natalia, looking older and more resolute.

And what's best about that is that you aren't merely told she's strong. She shows it, repeatedly, from immediately launching into rescuing the citizens of an enemy nation, to crossing a battlefield in order to halt a war, to risking her own life to negotiate with her father when he's literally named her an enemy of the state, to being punched by a man in a rioting crowd and then standing up to calm everyone and promise she'll do her best to protect them.

February 2015. I wasn't drawing much Natalia that year, but I found this sweet little sketch. I believe that's an early sketch of Eider she's sharing the page with.

And this isn't stuff she does while the hero, Luke, is the one really doing it. These aren't moments where she's assisting him on various plot points in his quest. These are things she does for her own reasons, as key plot points in her own arc – connected to Luke's, but still distinct from his. She's not just one of his entourage, she is going through her own story right up to the end of the game.

February 2021. And then after years of quietly resting, the Abyss-love hit me again. Time to draw the fanciest wedding Natalia possible.

In early days in the fandom, the female characters were often ignored in favor of the boys, and it was popular to bash Natalia. She's the “girly” one, the emotional one, the one whose story often focuses on her wanting to be loved and acknowledged by several male characters.

November 2021. This is one of my favorite Natalias. I wanted to emphasize her physical strength as well as her personal strength, and I think she came out looking very different and striking.

She isn't stoic like Tear. She doesn't suffer in silence. She gets petty, she cries, she falls to her knees, she can be so caught up in her own mind that she doesn't know what to do, and the game itself goes so far as to slap her for it at her very lowest moment. I think for a lot of gamers, they weren't able to see past Natalia's shortcomings and annoying traits.

March 2022. The cover for the newer Asch-Natalia comic.

But during my time in this fandom, I've noticed a shift, a positive one. More fans openly love the female characters, and I see much less scorn for Natalia these days. I wouldn't expect everyone to like her – she has her bad moments, and what makes one character work for one fan won't work for all fans. But I think people appreciate her heroic traits more now.

September 2022. In the old days, there was this feeling she wasn't good enough for Asch. I've long argued Asch isn't good enough for her.

So Natalia is now one of my very favorite characters. I'm so happy that my first impression of her was so very wrong.

August 2023. Her Glorious Majesty Natalia

[facetsofdaydreams]

what type of love do you attract..?

you attract... comfort. waking up to the sound of singing chickadees perched on your windowsill by your sleeping lover; giggling by their side as you watch the sky, laying on a picnic blanket with small sandwiches and juice boxes near you; slow dancing late at night to no music in the middle of your kitchen floor. you attract comfort. falling in love with you is like going home. it's like breathing in and basking in the familiarity of it all. those who search for you find that they are at their happiest when they finally find you. your beauty is a breath of fresh air, a painting that soothes, a melody that you recognize. your love is so gentle, so kind, so soft to the touch that it eases the hearts of everyone around you. people find themselves relieved even at the sight of your mere smile, and they don't even know why. you bring warmth to this world, my angel. keep shining.

tagged by: the lovely @musaeon tagging: @bondedfates for whomever you’d like, @bleachblondbeefcake, @lazyparallelworld for yugi and/or ryuuji, & @mediioxumate for whomever you’d like~! feel free to steal if you slipped my mind!

[pulaasul]

Rairyu - IRL 3

[lit. Thunder Dragon] Ryuji and Futaba promised to meet in Sword Art Online with Ryuji going in first to scout for suitable grinding areas. However, before Futaba could get into the game, Sojiro stopped her and revealed to her the status of Sword Art Online as a Death Game. [Prologue is an entry for #kissryujiday]

C1 I C2 I C3 I C4 

AO3 I FFN

---------------

A few weeks had passed since Futaba's suggestion of hacking into the NerveGear's codes.

Ren was getting frustrated at the fact that they were stuck waiting for her to hack into it. He just can't stand the fact that Ryuji was inside the game without getting any help from anyone.

"Ryuji may be an idiot academically." Morgana started as he popped out of the bag. "I trust that he can take care of himself." He assured his friend. "He has street smarts to back himself up."

"I know Ryuji can take care of himself." Ren nodded. "I'm just frustrated."

"You know we can't rush putting Sophia into SAO." Morgana reminded. "We don't know the risks involved."

"Morgana-san is correct Ren-san." Sophia agreed. "For me to be a good friend to people, I also need to assess the consequences of every action."

"Let's just be glad that Sophia, Zenkichi and Sumire have now been made aware of Ryuji's situation." Morgana offered.

"Are there any progress on your front Futaba?" Ren asked as soon as he stepped inside LeBlanc.

------------------

"It took some days to discover the hardware's codes and more days to connect them to the software's codes." Futaba began. "But I managed to decrypt them and see what they can do." She answered. "It turns out, Kayaba was telling the truth."

"What do you mean?" Anne frowned.

"Kayaba was not hiding any remote kill switch in the NerveGears." Futaba answered. "The worst he could he can do is shutdown the entire SAO server and kill all of his hostages." She added. "Or maybe reroute the hostages' consciousness into another virtual world where they remain unconscious IRL."

"What's stopping him from shutting down the servers entirely?" Makoto's eyes frowned in contemplation. "What's stopping him from killing thousands of hostages in one blow?"

"Can we really trust someone like Kayaba?" Haru voiced her concern. "If we put in Sophia inside the game, there is a chance that he could pull the plug and kill every hostage down."

"Not if he's not monitoring the game himself." Futaba snickered at her discovery.

Ren looked at the other occupants of the café, which mostly consisted of the former Phantom Thieves who were intently listening on Futaba's discover, gauging everyone's reactions.

He could almost smile at everyone's worry over Ryuji. It was true that some of them found his best friend annoying, being the loudmouth and brash person that he is.

Somehow, someway that lovable punk had wormed his way into each of their hearts. Sooner or later, he was found to be endearing, his brashness can be seen as a manifestation of his loyalty, sincerity and caring nature towards his friends and family.

"You see as I was hacking into my NerveGear, I noticed something peculiar." Futaba shared. "I had already pre-loaded the game that morning so that I can get into the action immediately."

Ren's eyes narrowed and the girls gasped as they realized the implications of Futaba's reaction

"I didn't log in, just loaded it." Futaba immediately assured as soon as she saw the reactions her friends donned. "I hacked into SAO's codes and found something interesting."

"Interesting, how?" Ren questioned.

"There's a system in place that manages everything in the virtual world." Futaba informed. "I haven't been able to even get a peek at the things this system can manage, but most probably everything." She continued. "Most probably, Kayaba won't even notice that someone hacked and logged into the game."

"Do we risk Ryuji's and everyone else's lives?" Yusuke asked. "There is still a chance that the worst will happen."

Everyone fell silent at the question.

"If Kayaba is indeed not monitoring the game itself." Sophia voiced out. "Then there's also a probability that the system in place would not notice I am inside." She offered. "Not unless I do something that would notify it of my presence."

"What happens if you get discovered?" Anne asked the girl inside the phone.

"She'd simply be kicked out of the game." Futaba answered. "Sophia is not an internal program that the system in place could just rewrite or delete."

"I suggest you consult Sakamoto-san for your answer." Sae offered as she went inside the café. "Every step you take involves the life of her son, in that sense, she has every right to know of your plans."

"Nijima-san is right." Sojiro voiced out as he went inside the café as well. "But we're not here for that."

"What?" Ren immediately went on alert.

"What happened?" Makoto asked her sister.

"The Kirijo group is moving a number of the SAO players to another hospital." Sae answered. "To free up some room for other patients." She explained.

"Are they doing it for free?" Ren immediately asked.

"The families of the SAO players would work at any Kirijo group affiliated stores and establishments." Sojiro answered. "If you lot are fast enough, you might still be able to catch up."

Everyone immediately dashed outside of the store. They all piled into separate vehicles and sped their way to the hospital were Ryuji was admitted.

------------------

The former Phantom Thieves rushed to the hospital where Ryuji was admitted and there they saw Ryuji's mother talking to a regal woman with red hair.

"I assure you Sakamoto-san, your son will be taken care of." The red haired woman gave her assurance to Ryuji's mother.

"Kirijo-sama this hospital is near to the places I work for and near to my house." Ryuji's mother reasoned. "I don't have enough time to add working for the Kirijo group on top of looking out for my son."

"Mitsuru-senpai let me take over." A woman in pink volunteered.

"Very well Yukari." Mitsuru conceded.

"Sakamoto-san right? I'm Yukari Takeba." The woman in pink introduced herself.

"That's Yukari Takeba!" Futaba hissed. "What is she doing here?!"

"Futaba keep it down." Makoto chided.

"S-sorry." Futaba apologized, head downcast.

"It's fine." Ren comforted the youngest person in the group. "Keep your enthusiasm low for the moment alright?"

"I understand your hesitation with regards to moving your son to a new facility." She smiled. "However don't you think it's beneficial if you just worked for one shift, that way you can take care of your son and yourself at the same time?"

Ren couldn't help but feel that something was wrong here. He knew that the Kirijo group could give Ryuji and anyone the best possible care if necessary. However, the Kirijo group's insistence on placing his best friend under their care was suspicious, and he wasn't going to stand for that.

"What about the jobs I took?" Ryuji's mother asked. "Resigning now with immediate effectivity would look badly on my record."

"Isn't your son's well being more important than your record at your workplace?" Yukari offered.

"Sakamoto-san already declined the offer." Ren voiced out, walking inside the room full of unconscious SAO players. "What is with the insistence to place her son under your care?"

"Ren-kun." Ryuji's mother gasped. "You don't need to do this."

"Ryuji's not here to do this himself." Ren smiled at his best friend's mother. "We'll do it in his stead."

As if on cue, the other former Phantom Thieves went inside the room and stood behind their friend's mother and their leader.

"I was wondering when you lot would reveal yourselves." Mitsuru announced. "Phantom Thieves of Hearts."

"Wha-"The former thieves were caught off guard at the declaration.

Ren was the only one whose identity was announced.

Wary, the Phantom Thieves subtlety moved themselves to surround their leader and Ryuji's mother, bracing themselves for what's to come.

"Since you are his mother Sakamoto-san" Mitsuru sighed. "You have every right to know about this."

"Are you sure Mitsuru-senpai?" Yukari questioned.

"Narukami has made his uncle aware of his abilities." Mitsuru offered. "As did Shirogane."

"That was due to their circumstances, right?" Yukari asked. "Yu-kun was forced to tell his uncle when he was put under suspicion for the serial kidnappings that took over Inaba." She started. "Naoto-kun had to tell her grandfather when she started to work for the Kirijo group."

"Yes, that is true." Mitsuru nodded. "However, I must take away Sakamoto's freedom to inform his mother of his abilities due to the current circumstances."

"What abilities Kirijo-sama?" Ryuji's mother asked. "My son's leg is broken, what other abilities could he possibly have that's not been taken by that perverted teacher?"

The former Phantom Thieves of Hearts looked at each other.

"Your son has the power of Persona." Mitsuru revealed. "As do the children behind you." She gestured.

Ryuji's mother looked at her son's friends in disbelief.

"Persona?"

The Phantom Thieves tried their best not to look affected at the reveal of their powers. If the Kirijo ever noticed the surprise in their actions, she never showed it.

"Impossible!" Morgana bellowed out. "There shouldn't be other Persona-users!"

"Simply put, a Persona is a mask used to face hardship." Mitsuru explained. "The Kirijo group once dabbled in experiments about Personas and Shadows, the opposite of Personas, and the few who exited the company were involved in those as well."

"I still don't see why you are insistent on taking Ryuji away." Ren challenged.

"Those people had experimented on people in the name of that power." Mitsuru answered. "We fear that if they discovered that one of Sword Art Online's players was also a Persona-user, he could be experimented."

"Especially now that he's unconscious." Yukari supplied. "He has no agency to refuse or even defend himself from the experimentation."

"How do we know that you aren't going to experiment on Ryuji yourselves?" Makoto stepped forward.

"Because the Kirijo group has stopped performing those kinds of experiments." Mitsuru answered.

"And also the fact that we can use them." Yukari supplied.

"Are you saying that you have the capacity to protect Ryuji from these would be assailants?" Yusuke challenged.

"Ye-"

"As much as I wish to say yes." Mitsuru cut off Yukari's answer. "I cannot completely guarantee his safety."

"Mitsuru-senpai." Yukari looked at her best friend.

"We will still protect him with the best of our abilities regardless." Mitsuru continued.

"Takeba-san mentioned that you can use your Personas." Futaba stepped forward, just behind Ren. "How do you even know the existence of Personas?"

"Futaba's right." Morgana praised. "Only the people who ventured inside the Metaverse can summon their Personas." He added. "As far as I know, we've only encountered people who awakened to their Personas right in front of us, barring Akechi."

The other thieves looked at Morgana as his head peaked out of the bag slightly to observe the events.

Mitsuru and Yukari looked at their immediate surroundings. No one was inside the room that wasn't related to one Ryuji Sakamoto.

"Fujisaki." Mitsuru called out. "Can you and your men step out of the room and proceed to the floor below for a moment?" She requested.

"As you wish Kirijo-sama." One of the men bowed then ushered everyone from the Kirijo group out of the room.

As soon as the Kirijo group employees left the room, Mitsuru produced a silver handgun.

The thieves' eyes widened at the firearm that was smuggled inside the hospital. Ren immediately pulled Ryuji's mom behind him as the other thieves got into a fighting stance.

Mitsuru suddenly pointed the gun at her head.

"Wha-!"

"Artemisia!" Mitsuru yelled as she pulled the trigger.

A gunshot was heard as an elegant woman with a whip appeared behind the Kirijo. The thieves were in awe at the sheer display of power. While Ryuji's mother gasped at the scene before her.

Ryuji's mother covered her face with her hands in fear and there was no doubt a lot of questions that ran through the elder Sakamoto's brain.

Ren looked at the gun and sure enough there was smoke coming out of the barrel but the Kirijo was still standing and wasn't bleeding from her temple.

"Incredible!" Morgana stared at the Persona in awe. "She's able to summon her Persona in the real world!"

"You must be thinking how am I able to use my Persona while in the real world and not inside a shadow nest." Mitsuru voiced out the unspoken question. "And depending on circumstances, Sakamoto-san may not be able to see my Persona."

The Phantom Thieves looked at their friend's mother expectantly. The Kirijo's words filled them a lot of questions.

"I-I can see the woman that just appeared." Ryuji's mother answered.

"But how?!" Anne exclaimed.

"I must agree." Yusuke nodded. "Personas shouldn't be usable in the real world."

"What Mitsuru-senpai used was an evoker." Yukari answered. "An evoker is needed to summon our Personas in the real world." She continued as she looked at the flabbergasted faces in front of her. "I can't really explain why the Evokers are shaped like guns." She admitted.

"It is possible to summon our Personas in the real world through sufficient training." Mitsuru answered some unspoken questions. "However the training necessary can be arduous and time consuming." She sighed. "It is still easy to summon our Personas using the evoker."

"If they can use their Personas, they must also be used to battle shadows." Morgana voiced out. "If what their saying is true, then maybe they can protect Ryuji."

"Is it just me or am I really hearing a cat meowing?" Yukari voiced out.

"It's not just you Yukari." Mitsuru answered. "I've been hearing those meows as well."

"Crap!" Futaba cussed.

"Please bring forth the other Persona-user in your midst." Mitsuru stated.

Morgana climbed out of Ren's bag and sat on his shoulders.

"Another animal huh?" Yukari sighed. "It just makes me miss Koro-chan more."

"You knew?!" Futaba pointed a finger at both ladies.

"I only knew that the number of Persona users in my scan do not match the number of people I'm facing." Mitsuru shook her head. "I did not know that the missing Persona-user was a feline."

"I'm not a cat!" Morgana hissed.

"From the hissing, I can tell he's uncomfortable."

"He's saying he's not a cat." Futaba translated. "So you can't really hear what he's saying."

"Are you saying that you can understand your cat?" Yukari exclaimed. "H-how?!"

"Let's skip the details for now Yukari." Mitsuru ordered. "Let's come back another day and transport the other patients, they only have two hours before their NerveGears' kill switch activates."

"Wait." Ren called hesitantly. "If you can summon your Persona." He walked towards Mitsuru's position. "Can you let us talk to Ryuji?"

"Ren." The thieves looked at their leader.

"Please?" Ren bowed in front of the Kirijo woman.

Mitsuru smiled at Ren's action.

"Yukari, you can go on ahead and oversee the transfer." Mitsuru ordered. "Tell Akihiko and Iori that I'll be with them shortly."

"Should I tell Fuuka as well senpai?"

"Please do." Mitsuru nodded.

The thieves and Ryuji's mother looked at Mitsuru in confusion as she ordered the lady with her to oversee the operation they have at hand.

"Artemisia, also has secondary communication abilities." Mitsuru revealed. "You can talk to your friend for a while."

[braveryhearted]

what specifically named color do you embody?

phlox

you are someone who often finds themselves comforted by the quiet and solitude of the world around you. you find soft spoken people who speak their minds much louder than those who scream what they found out. you find temples made out of papier mache and duct tape and a dream and put offerings at their altars. you are quiet in the way you love the world, and it shows. the world does not see you, and that's the way you want to keep it. the world does not even notice you're there, and it scares you just a little, just a few moments every day. you're not sure yourself if you're much more than a ghost, and you can't bring yourself to ask, too afraid to get the wrong answer.

verdigris

you will do everything and anything to not think about the past days. how many you're trying to forget, it doesn't matter, but you will do anything, everything, all the things you can in order to not have to focus on the fact that you made a mistake. the world is full of life and vibrancy, and you don't want to be that dark spot in it that you believe yourself to be. so you fight it with everything you've got, pushing away people in fear of them making you darker, fighting those who oppress you without questioning their motives. fearful. regretful. uncertain. you dance to a tune only you hear in this world, and you know it's going to kill you one day. you hope it's soon.

Tagged: @tacitusauxilium Tagging: Uh, @infog @yosukeh & my other persona moots. Also anyone else who wants to do this. Say that I tagged you.

[caramialunaestelle]

BOLD any fears which apply to your muse. Italicize what makes them uncomfortable.

tagged by: @ofcadenza (Thank you!!)

the dark. fire. open water. deep water. being alone. crowded spaces. confined spaces. change. failure. war. loss of control. powerlessness. prison. blood. drowning. suffocation. public speaking. natural animals. the supernatural. heights. death. dying. intimacy. rejection. abandonment. loss. the unknown. the future. not being good enough. scary stories. speaking to new people. poverty. loud noises. being touched. sex. chains. inner demons. hallucinations. staring. going berserk. betrayal.

Tagging: @webbedphantom, @the-ultimate-muses (Kaz), @ultfan, @chibitantei, and you! :D

[caramialunaestelle]

Aigis has appeared! What to do?

Run away

Kill

Admire

Ravish

"I will not go down easily if one were to attempt to annihilate me."

Chidori Yoshino has appeared! What to do?

Grope

Smooch

Worship

Make them mine

"... why?"

Mitsuru Kirijo has appeared! What to do?

Scare

Yell at

Confess

Violate

"How awful!"

[caramialunaestelle]

WHAT TAROT CARD ARE YOU?

The Lovers

Your lover’s back does not look quite the same this morning. No one else would notice the difference, if there even is a difference, but you could swear they have more vertebrae than usual. Something in the breathing, as you stare at them in the morning light. The light in the kitchen is just as warm as it always is, the coffee just as hot, but you cannot meet your lover’s eyes. They kiss you on the forehead, go off to work, shake their keys on the way out as they always do. Did they eat anything this morning? Did they speak? Of course they did. You’re probably losing your mind. You would call your friends to ask, if you had any friends left. You don’t, of course, haven’t for months. You only need each other. You only need them. You haven’t spoken to anyone in months. You count the notches on their back. You watch them breathe. You pray they don’t turn around.

Justice

What would you do to ensure justice? You know full well I don’t speak of lofty ideals and courts and magistrates, dearest. What would you do to those that hurt you? If I dropped them in your lap, what would you do? What kind of pain could you possibly inflict upon them? You are right to do so. You are right to want to do so. Ignore the screaming, dearest, you are the hand of justice now, and they hurt you. Do not look too closely at their faces, dearest. You are within your rights. You spell out your own rights, now. Are you happy about it? Are you certain that this is the right person you hold by the hair? Does your anger hurt less now?

I honestly did not expect either of these answers lol.

Tagged by: @epitomees (Thank you!!! <3)

Tagging: @webbedphantom, @ochazos, @unrealization (akihiko), @phantomuheist, @tacitusauxilium, and whoever would like to do it!! :D