#he and makoto are such an iconic pair

[pixelatedraindrops]

Happy 1st Anniversary RainCode!

☔️6🔎30👻

Thank you for bringing me so much joy 💜💕

(and thank you for giving me the gift that is yuma kokohead)

I didn’t think I’d make art for it at first, but I figured this game has done so much for me, so I’ll give back by drawing the duo that started it all 💜🩷 These two are such an iconic pair and I will draw them together as much as possible c: (tho Shinigami will be mostly in her ghost form if I do)

First time drawing human form Shinigami non-chibi, and I admit she was a little tricky with that outfit. But I think I did it decently enough… xD

little bonus for the kokogami enjoyers 💕

miss death god is too much woman for this little boy to handle~ 🤭

i know he's an adult but can you honestly look at him without context and say this is a man??? he's just an eemey meemey little guy.

Personal Rambling below (because I love this game so much)

WARNING MINI ESSAY INCOMING (lmao)

Oh RainCode... Where do I even begin...

RainCode is a game that has changed my life along with likely many other people’s lives. Although the premise of it is fairly straightforward, the characters and atmosphere make this game so much more. The successor to Danganropa is honestly its own unique story and structure, and tbh I think I love and enjoy it far more than Danganronpa. But this game…is just so much more for me.

I truly never expected this game to be such an impact on my life, let alone become my next fixation.

So, for history, I was honestly in no real hurry to get the game on its release date last year, so I got it a day later. On July 1st, I played the game for the first time. And I didn’t think much of it at first. The only thing that was on my mind when I started this game, was that I was positive I was going to be treating the protagonist like Makoto Naegi and Kyoko Kirigiri’s son the whole time.

This was the first post I made about RainCode back on twitter in 2023.

Yeah... Kinda silly when I look at it now... XD But I do still beleive this headcanon.

When I started the game my 2016 fixation of Danganronpa came back a bit. As a previous DR lover, I did make comparisons here and there to all of the characters. Yuma was very much like Naegi with his shy and timid demeanor at first due to having amnesia, and it felt like déjà vu when playing through the start of the game. But then it happened. The moment that solidified Yuma as my next and now permanent target. When he got sick/dizzy on the train... God that moment still lives rent free in my head. (I know the cause of it was different/related to the first mystery/case, but as someone who enjoys any sort of sick whump moment, regardless of if its little crumbs or a whole-ass meal it still counted for me) I was still shy and hid in the shadows with my silly little niche back then, but I told myself. Yep, once I finish this game, I’m writing a sickfic for this game and he’s the victim. (though what surprised me was that I wasn’t alone on that, 3 other people made sickfics with yuma before I did so that was a pleasant surprise xD)

As the game went on it shocked and impressed me in many different forms. I realized that this game isn’t the Danganronpa clone I thought it would be. Sure, it had a lot of similar elements and mirrored mini games like Hangman’s Gambit, Spot Selection, and of course the Conclusion Comic of the whole case, but the story the world and the mysteries were honestly different from the way DR structured them. And it pleased me when not many people from the main team had died. Most of the deaths were of side characters that had appeared in their respective chapters. Which honestly was a breath of fresh air for me, and I think that’s the real reason it’s separate from DR. It’s not as cruel and not as stressful. It’s a lot more chill, but the mysteries were still enough to get me excited and look forward to the next maze I would enter. The mystery labyrinths were probably my favorites elements of the game. They were just so much fun. And every single character was so likeable, (yes even some of the peacekeepers were fun aside of one or two that I absolutely despise. mostly yomi and guillame lol but I guess I kinda like yomi a bit more bc of the fandom)

And I grew to love Yuma EVEN more. He is honestly one of the best written protagonists I’ve seen in a long time. It’s hard to do timid protagonists right, but RainCode definitely nailed it with Yuma. He had his moments, but it wasn’t enough to be obnoxious. He also shined in more ways than one. And my god, so many relatable moments… (I have anxiety too xD) He was so charming and cute the whole time and even had his badass moments. This little guy is the whole package and I LOVE him for that. Truly a unique and fun main character that blows every DR protagonist out of the water.

(Yes, I said what I said.)

And the ending, GOOD LORD THE ENDING?? It was so well executed, and the ending twist villain was immediately my second favorite character after the protagonist. I could go on about how much I loved the ending but if I did, we’d be here all day and I don’t want to spoil the entire game…so… I’ll leave it at that.

When I finished the game, I was so satisfied. (Yes I love it more than DR, what are you gonna do about it?) It left me super happy and made me want to make some fan content for it. Though I was still very quiet on twitter and had a feeling since twitter is a more complicated platform, I couldn’t gush about the game too much due to fear of spoiling other people…and when one of your favorite characters is just the whole secret of the game’s core mystery, I couldn’t talk about it too much… >.>

So, then I did the unthinkable. I went back to tumblr… It’s a little embarrassing but this account is actually my old one I had from years ago. I was on tumblr more 2013 to 2017 before I abandoned the site when it no longer seemed fun and there were times that I’d rather forget... (let’s just say that I used to RP with my OCs and…one of my RP ex friends catfished me and it made me feel VERY uncomfortable. I wanted to forget it, so I ran away and never returned.) I was super nervous to come back and try to post again, so my first RC related post was about him being a naegiri child.

After that I began making more edits once I gained access to the sprites and full body arts. I made some Pokémon AU edits because those were always fun, and then I started making feverish edits of Yuma’s sprites. My first post ended up becoming a hit and I caught the attention of some people. They liked what I was doing so it gave me a bit of confidence to continue. I got even more attention, and it made my confidence go up even more.

And then I started trying to draw art again, something I gave up long ago. My first few arts were a little rocky at best, but so many people enjoyed it! One of my older arts ended up becoming pretty popular. Through this my few pieces of art, my many sprite edits, and my first fan fiction (Home Is Where The Heart Is) got me pretty well recognized in the Rain code community on here. So much so that I felt confident enough to give myself a title. The CEO of RainCode Whump or “Whumpcode” and all of this confidence made me decide to turn my blog into a fandom and sick whump blog. It became a full blown obsession that possessed my mind that I've become TOO passionate about. Never thought making these little guys suffer would bring me this much joy... XD

Over time, I’ve drawn more art and written more fics than I ever had for a fandom. Before I never ever made fandom art, and I would usually only write one sickfic per fixation. (my last ones being demon slayer and spy x family) But here I am, making more art pieces than I ever have before (hell even doing a MONTH ART CHALLENGE) and improving even! And having 7 fanfictions of RainCode, 6 with Yuma and one with Makoto. And those two became my prime targets and muses for my art. Drawing them is easier for me and they’re my favorites so it brings me such joy to draw them. I love MakoYuma so much. Maybe not so much romantically, but friendship and familial. They have such potential to be so much, and I adore them. Plus putting them in sicknarios and situations is fun (I think we can all agree on that haha)

I think I’m talking too much, so I will say one more thing. I never thought my fixation on this game would last this long. I was positive it would go away after just a few months at best. The game is great but nothing amazing to keep thinking about for too long for me. But I think the main reason I was able to keep my fixation on this game for almost a year (and ongoing) is because of the fandom. (specifically, the Tumblr fandom, but some people on twitter are cool too) I’m honestly so happy I returned to tumblr and was able to make a name for myself in this community. I have met so many talented artists and creators and even made some new friends (and even got a few apprentices to take under my wing) If it weren’t for everyone’s support, I don’t think I would have ever done this much and made it this far.

I’ve essentially made a platform for myself, and I didn’t think tumblr would be a place I’d check daily ever again. To think this silly little game…would change my life so much and make me happier than I’ve ever been in such a long time. I feel recognized and like I belong, I’m finally able to be loud and proud about my passions for sick whump and not worry too much about it, I’ve finally found my prime target and I have fun with him every time, I’ve gotten back into the arts of drawing and writing again and I think I’ve made some of my best work yet, and I’ve met so many wonderful people and even collaborated with them on some fun projects too! (Here's the most popular one and also the first one I did!)  It’s just been…so wonderful… I am so happy to be part of such a chill talented and fantastic community TwT So thank you everyone… this is all thanks to your support… <3

Sorry I’m getting a little mushy here aren’t I… x’D I just couldn’t be more grateful for this game if I tried… So, thank you so much Rain Code, for existing and doing so much for me and making me so happy… I have never had this much fun in a fixation before, and I never felt like I was ever truly part of any fandom and was always just a lurker. It feels so good to finally feel like part of a fandom you love, and also be well liked, admired and accepted by others despite your niche being a little on the odd side… XD

I really hope there will be a sequel for this game, and we’ll see all these wonderful characters again. After all I’ve been through with this title and how much joy and purpose it brought me, consider me a fan for life. I will be dedicated to every future title in this series and play the hell out of it. And I hope it gains a wider audience come October when it is released for more consoles. (Just hoping no weirdos take over and ruin it with stupid drama and horrible things like the DR fandom…)

Though once new fans come in and are also tumblr users…I wonder what they’d even think of me and my place and takes when it comes to this series… XD (hopefully they’ll be nice to me… XD)

Anyway, I’ve said enough.

Happy Anniversary RainCode!!

☔💜👻🔍

[affluent-havoc]

It's time for the fiend! Spoilers of course

For one, Syo here actually breaks the formula I have with these designs, Syo not really working or going out most of the time unless she's heavily disguised. However, I tried my best to ensure she was given some love! So, for her "casual" attire, it's rather simple looking. It's got some LORE though with Syo trying to reform from her murdering days and Komaru helping out in making this outfit! Most of the materials are just thrifted such as the boots with the rest being slightly modified. It holds up rather poorly and has it's flaws. However, Syo seems to like it. Toko, not so much. Toko finds it ugly, no matter how much Komaru tries to give her the puppy eyes, asking for Toko to give it a chance. I also want to take note the bracelet she has on as well as the hat. I thought it would also be cute if Komaru made her a little friendship bracelet. Toko also has one but she finds it childish to just be wearing it out an about (she's not really into much jewelry anyway). Thus, Toko just keeps it on her nightstand. Syo, however, fears nothing and has no shame. Speaking of which, the hat. I was a little lazy with the details but it is indeed one of those "Woman love me, Fish fear me" hats. Syo did the embroidery on it (Syo being oddly good with crochet and sewing) and Toko despises. And, the worst part is that Syo did an amazing job on it which makes Toko hate it even more whenever she ends up in it after Syo finishes fronting. Toko's at least a bit grateful though that Syo doesn't go out that much. Toko is already mortified waking up in the outfit. It'd be way worse to be waking up in one of the ugliest garments present in the apartment while in public. As for Syo's "work" attire, it's just Toko's attire for work with slight Syoifications (Jackifications?) made with the zipper being undone revealing a little pouch she has on, and sleaves rolled up. She even has Toko's purse worn slightly different as well! Thought it would be cute to do! Also, for the pouch, Her iconic scissors are absent, being held deep in a vault somewhere with Byakuya as a safety precaution. Syo doesn't mind too much though. For one, she knows they're safe even though she likes to joke that Byakuya's doing unspeakable things with them which he just sighs at. Additionally she's not planning on murdering anyone anymore as I feel she holds pride in her killing SPECIFICALLY with those scissors. So, she wouldn't be using any random pair. But also, her being reformed and all. Besides, the scissors being held in the care of Byakuya it's not because of the potential of Syo starting all over again with the murders anyway. It's more about the potential of the whole "Toko is Genocider Syo and is a serial killer" thing coming out and as a way of showing that Byakuya does care for Toko, aloofness or not. I like to headcanon that, though footage of the Killing game were indeed broadcasted, for one, the Future Foundation were the main people to see it. Additionally, the average civilian would probably not a bit too busy trying to save their own lives than to be keeping up with the news regarding the Ultimate's in Hopes Peak. Not saying that some of that info wouldn't be able to get out. Some of it certainly could have and added to the despair and all. As to regards on where the footage is held, it's with Future Foundation in partner with Byakuya. Perhaps a bit of Kyoko their too and a bit of Makoto as well though I feel all the survivors pitched in on having the say on what to do with it. After all, it IS the recording of all their Hopes Peak trauma, though I don't think they'd want to destroy it oddly enough. This concept of course has room to change but these are the main thoughts Plus, it's fun to think about as, with Syo in the picture in this AU, the concept of whether the people know or don't know about the whole "notorious serial killer Genocider Syo is sorta just an alter of Toko Fukawa" is something that has to be addressed to SOME extent .

For her physical build, it's just Toko's. What really changes is the undergarments anyway. Though they are not colored her, they are very much bright red, very garish. All of her undergarments are which contrasts with Toko's more frilly and pretty undergarments. One other bit to mention is Syo's hair! It's nothing too crazy, just Toko's hair out of the pony tail and ruffled to high hell! Syo makes it work though.

That's Syo done! Hope I did her justice! Tried my best ;-; (1) | (6)

[vashtijoy]

whose phone is that, anyway? character signature colours and yoshizawa's phone

There is a perennial debate over what's going on with Yoshizawa's phone. Isn't it Kasumi's phone that she's dragging around for reasons? What's even wrong with it, and why?

I have no opinion on the last two questions (other than that her difficulty communicating likely symbolises the things she's hiding from herself and others.) But I do think we can put that first question, of ownership, to bed.

First let's take a quick look at...

character colour coding

Most playable characters in P5 are assigned a colour, which is used more-or-less consistently for various things. For instance, their chat icons use them:

Their gloves use them. Makoto is the exception here with white gloves (perhaps because she uses fist weapons, so her gloves are always hidden?):

More to the point? Their phones are all colour coded:

Clockwise from the top: Ryuji (gold), Ann (hot pink), Yusuke (pale blue), Haru (purple), Futaba (green) and Makoto (dark blue).

royal trio: joker

The Royal Trio throw this nice little arrangement for an absolute loop.

First off, let's take a look at Joker. Silver phone (you may have observed it). No chat icon that we ever see to my knowledge, though it seems highly unlikely that he wouldn't have a red one. And indeed, his gloves are red. (as you may also have observed)

royal trio: akechi

Our resident Gemini, of course, stomps in with his steel-capped kicker boots and does everything twice. He's got two pairs of gloves, which match his apparent alignment (white or black, with his "day gloves" being black):

And his phone? Well, it's red (though the anime has it as dark grey, because, again, never not extra). Because, to this day, he's still playing hero—with the emphasis by now very much on "playing"—and part of him still wants to be the hero....

So Joker and Akechi have a reverse colour scheme going on with their phones: Joker has the silver/white/colourless phone that you might expect Akechi to have, and Akechi has the red one you'd expect Joker to have. Or rather, Joker has the "bad guy" phone while Akechi has the "good guy" phone, because he's a fucking liar and because each of them, to a greater or lesser extent, is walking that line between hero and villain.

As for his chat icon, it was grey in vanilla [source], while in Royal it was changed to brown. So: two sets of gloves, two chat icons, two phones (if we count the anime). Complicated.

what about yoshizawa?

Just like Joker and Akechi, Yoshizawa is too cool to be bound by any stupid dress code... pretty much. Her outfit is essentially girl Joker, and so her gloves are red, like his. Her chat icon is a deep purply-pink—more hot pink than Ann's, in fact, whose colour hot pink is!

It's possible her icon is meant to be red, but it's been shifted to purply-pink because a red icon on a red background would look bad.

But there are a couple of other things we can look at. And they tell us it's incredibly likely that the malfunctioning phone Yoshizawa carries through the game is not Kasumi's, but her own.

Remember that Yoshizawa's codename, Violet, is taken from her true given name Sumire—which means "violet". In Maruki's Palace, there's a cinematic of her with the real Kasumi during their accident, where both girls have umbrellas. Kasumi's is yellow—but Sumire's?

It's violet. And what colour is Yoshizawa's phone, when she pulls it out on 10/3, still believing that she's Kasumi?

It's violet. Violet for her true name, violet for her codename. Violet like the umbrella she carried when Kasumi died. This is clearly Sumire's phone, not Kasumi's.

Why is it broken? Still damaged in the accident, maybe?—Sumire is knocked flying. Unconsciously sabotaged? Space pixies? Who knows.

[moldsporr]

About that character inmpression, ship thingy you posted... Of course I'l ask you about Yomi (you can answer each questions for him if you want 👀👀)

Aaaand hmmm

What do you think about Yomi x Seth, Hellxander, Fake Zilch x Seth, and Yomi x Fake Zilch x Seth ?

That might be a lot in one go, so uh, take your time!

OURGHHH Yomi. Okay this is gonna be a lot but lets-a go yahoo

Alright first off, first impression of him.

His introduction was literally golden. From his and Martina's Akira reference to Yomi fake-sobbing before coldly ordering Seth to be executed. I was kicking my feet. He immediately shot to my top favorite (before being kicked down again by Yuma and Makoto) but I absolutely enjoyed what an evil little gremlin he was from the very beginning. Honestly, one of the best introductions of a villain I've ever seen.

Next, headcanons. I think he was a theatre kid in high school. I'm saying this from experience. Every theatre kid goes through a little phase where they're evil and flamboyant it comes with the title. Yomi's just went on a little too long, silly silly boy. OH and I think he has chew toys. Being evil is stressful he's gotta chew on smth or else he'll just take it out on an underling, yk?

As for complaints and praise... weeeell, I thought his takedown was a little... anti-climatic? Like on the one hand, I'm very happy for Martina to get to send him to jail. You go girl. But also, he just sorta... accepts being arrested? I wanted him to resist more. Kicking scratching and screaming, yk?? He did a little of that but not much. And I wish we'd seen him in the epilogue, maybe as a small little shot of him in jail being all pouty. As for praise, I really love how fun-to-hate he is. The game makes it very clear he's horrible and you can't really sympathize with him, but also, he's just so fun to watch. Like. What's wrong with him *twirls hair*

Favorite pairing, hmmmmmmmmmm. Initially it was Makoyomi, but rn it's a three-way tie between Makoyomi, Yomiakou, and Hellxander. These dynamics are all just... really fascinating in all honesty. I want to study them. I'm so glad this fandom enjoys toxic yaoi I think I would go insane if there wasn't a plethora of content for these weirdos.

And finally, my overall opinion. He's my wife. My evil scrunkly meow meow. I'm gonna put a collar on him and cook him a yummy dinner while he's chained to a chair. Also his English VA is amazing and did a wonderful job making Yomi iconic, I'm planning on playing Raincode again but with JP voices to compare. He's the silliest villain I've ever seen. They did a great job with his writing, I think. He just, immediately grabs you- and when you look deeper into him it's genuinely so interesting and fun.

OKAY NOW FOR SHIPS.

Yomi x Seth is definitely an interesting ship for me. I don't actively think about it but when I come across content of them, my brain goes "fuck yeah". Sadly their interactions don't give us much to go off of as much as other pairs, but it's always a joy to see.

Hellxander. My beloved. Finding Fake!Zilch in the factory and hearing him ramble about Yomi was eye opening. Kodaka did not need to have that in there but it's there and it's amazing. I wish Yomi had a line or something about Zilch, I want to know how he feels about the guy. Was it a parasocial type of thing??? Was Yomi leading him along??? Please Kodaka. Yomi DLC where we visit Kanai Ward and Yomi is doing community service and having flashbacks to his old gay lover Hitman and he cries in the rain "I hate that ugly bowl cut detective!!!!!!! Curse you Yuma the Kokohead!!!!!!!"

Fake!Zilch x Seth isn't something I've ever really thought about, but I can kinda see a dynamic there. Frail little guy x tough hitman? Yeah that's certainly a good dynamic. I just don't know if this particular case would really... grab me?

And Yomi x Fake!Zilch x Seth... yeah I think that's just torture for Seth. Which is fine I like torturing the guy. I can definitely see Yomi being like "lol that seth guy is soooo funny to torment" and zilch is like "do you want me to torment him director yomi. Anything for you director yomi" and Seth is like "can I please just do my job. Please. Please"

[designernishiki]

okay hot take time with tumblr user designernishiki yet again.

i really don’t get the hype over majimako like. at all. I’ve tried to wrap my head around it but every time I just end up so confused how it’s such a popular pairing and wondering if we played the same game like?? they had no chemistry, barely even knew each other (and what they did know of each other was almost entirely built off desperate traumabonding) and people treat the pairing like it’s the most deep, romantic thing in the world despite there being like. nothing there. at least romantically speaking. it’s honest to god baffling to me.

their most iconic “romantic” image together comes from a scene where makoto wants to fucking run away from him because she wants to find lee, who she fully trusts and who’s in danger (and probably also because majima’s literally just admitted to initially planning to murder her.) and he has to hold her there so she doesn’t get herself killed by running (literally) blindly into the street or something. how on earth is that a romantic scene.

their little sort-of date consists of majima being kind and sympathetic to her, sure, maybe even displaying some surface level feelings, but she’s completely preoccupied because of the massively important issues going on at the time with the lieutenants who wronged tachibana, she’s more or less probably plotting their deaths in her head during that scene, and in the end she purposefully has him run to get takoyaki so she can flat out Leave without him stopping her. because she has other priorities and is Not In The Headspace For A Soft Sentimental Escapade to say the absolute least.

Whatever they were, they were not In Love, they didn’t have time or circumstances for that, or to get to know one another as Actual People rather than as incidental liferafts in the midst of a sea of traumatic, nightmarish events. majima attached himself to her and felt strongly about her safety and eventual return to normalcy because she reminded him of himself and wanted her to have the pleasant civilian life he couldn’t give himself. on her end? honestly I don’t think she felt that connected to him at all up until the end, namely up until when he fixed her watch. and even then “romantic” is not even close to the word id use for what she was feeling– in fact I think that waters it down, if anything. I mean like fuck she was there bringing flowers to her brother’s grave in the spot where he died in front of her i really don’t think this was about romanticism, it was about compassion and selflessness and wishing her good luck in her new, free life, while expecting nothing from her in return. he cared about her and her outcome in life deeply and this would be the case regardless of any romantic feelings for her.

Anyway I didn’t mean for this to turn into an essay and somehow I could go on for longer but I absolutely do not need to. I just. am so secure in my thoughts about this and sometimes seeing how people talk about this relationship and it’s supposed deep romanticism makes me feel like I’m losing my mind or played a completely different game or something ngl. don’t get me wrong, ship whatever you want I’m not saying it’s problematic or something it’s just. bizarre to me how popular and sensationalized it is. and a little frustrating how applying this overdramatic romantic narrative to them can so often water down a dynamic that’s way more nuanced and interesting on an individual character level.

[one-way-dream]

A Lack of Essence (One-Shot)

Rating: General

Words: 3100+

Media: Danganronpa, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

Pairing: Aoi Asahina/Sakura Ogami, Minor Hajime Hinata/Nagito Komaeda (Mentioned)

Tags: Post-canon, Hurt/Comfort, Depression, Pining, Feelings Realization

Warnings: Descriptions of an anxiety attack.

Chapter: 1/1

Link to the original work

AO3 Summary/Excerpt:

Undoubtedly, it’s one of the best, no— maybe the best she’s ever had in her life. It’s a perfect technique, it’s a perfect balance, it’s… it’s…

…But it’s not the same.

--

Aoi tries to make donuts like the ones she made in the past, but she feels like there's something missing.

Author's Notes:

i love sakuraoi and i've never written them before so here's a little brain dump before i forget that i ever wrote it and it rots in my computer forever fdjshfksdfsdf asahina aoi my oomfie ❤ as always, this is not beta-read

thank you for reading and i hope you enjoy!

Aoi doesn’t like the taste of the doughnuts being made nowadays.

Sure, the ingredients were much fresher, – at least compared to whatever Junko had arranged for them during their days trapped in the school – but something about the taste was… inadequate.

Whatever it was, it frustrated Aoi to no end.

With every passing year it felt like something was slipping away. That ‘something’ twisted deep in her chest, gnawing away and taking parts and pieces of her until she gave in to tears. Until she felt hollowed out from breaking down time and time again, however far and in between it may happen.

Despite the kind words Makoto shed time and time again, she never really considered herself a strong person. Sometimes Aoi wondered what she would think of her moments of weakness, years after their escape, years after her sacrifice.

A heaviness weighed on her shoulders, bringing her back to the present, where she absentmindedly leaned over a shallow pot of oil gone lukewarm – which subsequently meant that the test batch of doughnuts she’d set to the side had definitely gone cold while she was lost in thought. She blinks, clicking her tongue in irritation as she stares down the pastries, wondering how she was careless enough to even forget setting a timer on her phone.

Well… better off a little cold than burned to a lump of coal.

Aoi takes the plate off the edge of her kitchenette counter and sets it on the breakfast bar. She pulls the curtains apart to let the evening light fill the shadows of her small but tidy studio apartment. A sleepy marmalade sun has yet to rest behind the silhouette of the rebuilt city. Somehow the light begins to fill the shadows in her mind too; not completely, but just enough to pinch her cheeks and huff out a determined breath.

“This is it,” she whispers to herself, furrowing her eyebrows in concentration. “This has to be the one.”

Nimble band-aid covered fingers dart across her phone screen before she even considers taking a bite, sending a text message to Makoto, hoping that he wouldn’t mind Aoi sending her seventh consecutive message of the day.

>[7:08 PM] Heyhey, Naegi! I’m about to try out the new recipe you got from Hanamura-san! Wish me luck. :)

A quick tap on the paperclip icon and then a few more before the image is delivered to him. She smiles down at her phone a little at the picturesque scene of her evening snack neatly plated on her favourite porcelain, the paper towel beneath it splotched with oil and stray bits of cinnamon sugar shimmering in the sunlight. Everything looked perfect.

The arrangement feels awfully nostalgic; memories overtake her of large but gentle hands working side by side with her, the other insisting that ‘food tasted better when presented with care’. It’s nostalgic to the point where familiar feelings begin to rouse in her heart at the memory – but she pushes it down. The grip on her phone gets tighter until her hand starts to tremble. 

Not yet.

Not now.

Aoi quickly sets the phone down and swallows thickly, though she finds her mouth drier than usual despite what was supposedly a perfect rendition of her favourite food lying before her. Even during the killing game, her appetite had never dwindled at the sight of doughnuts. She smiled brightly for herself as encouragement, as if practising in front of a mirror like the many times she’d done on her worst days before stepping out for work.

Why… did she feel this nervous? And why did she feel so afraid of disappointment?

Finally, she reaches out and picks up a doughnut by the edges, where the caramel-esque sugar just barely grazed her fingertips. Surprisingly it’s still a little warm, and truthfully, it's unbelievable that it’s this soft even after cooling down. 

The numb buzzing still clings to Aoi’s mind, and while it usually wouldn’t be an appetite killer, today nothing really feels right. But as soon as the sweet and spicy aroma reaches her nose, her mouth waters instinctively, eager to partake in old indulgences. With a bit of optimism, she leans forward and takes a small and hesitant bite, careful not to let her thoughts sour the experience.

Even though her mind wasn’t quite swayed by the thought of doughnuts, her tastebuds immediately gave into the familiarity. The first thing that she notices is that it’s just as soft and light as it feels, almost unbelievably so, as it melts in her mouth in an array of flavour ranging from a delicate mellow sweetness to a hint of mild spice. The taste coats her tongue without being overwhelming somehow – without a doubt, the recipe is a decadent masterpiece. Simply pure art.  

Aoi reigns herself in and manages to wolf down the last quarter of it without inhaling any topping sugar by accident. Eventually, as she chews, she comes down from the high and her mind wanders again. If she were her younger self, the one before the killing game, she could have died peacefully knowing that this was the best that she’d ever get.

Undoubtedly, it’s one of the best, no— maybe the best she’s ever had in her life. It’s a perfect technique, it’s a perfect balance, it’s… it’s…

…But it’s not the same.

Aoi’s own voice echoes the words she didn’t want to admit in the back of her head, so strongly that it makes her flinch.

It pulls her out of the delight by drowning it in the frustration she’d feared time and time again. It’s disappointment that finally settles in her mind despite everything; as sticky, heavy, and gross as the bitter kuromitsu her mother was so fond of. As she swallows down the last bit of the pastry clean from the side of her cheek, she finds that there is a flaw to it after all: there’s a stale aftertaste.

For something so seemingly perfect, even this had its flaws. It lacked something. Or maybe there was too much of something? 

But… just what was it? Aoi’s brows scrunched together as she mulled it over, wiping the grease and crumbs off her fingertips onto the clean parts of the paper towel. No distinct taste from a lack of ingredients? No, probably not, given that it called for cinnamon and the barest hint of clove and spices she’d never even heard of. Maybe there wasn’t enough sugar? Oh, but the cinnamon sugar dusting should’ve covered that base as well.

It just… wasn’t enough.

It wasn’t enough. It’d never be enough.

She just had to accept the facts – nothing she will ever make from here on out could ever be the same as the ones she and Sakura made together.

But the question was: could she live with that?

Aoi sighs deep and forlorn, leaning back against the barstool as her gaze veers out the window overlooking the growing shadow of the cityscape, eventually trailing back to the remaining three doughnuts.

Old feelings come back with a vengeance at the sight, thrashing in her chest like a small bird trapped in a cage. She clenches her knuckles white and then relents, at long last – she doesn’t want to fight the feeling anymore today. At least for today, even if she knows the cost is that it won’t end well.

She takes a deep breath and smiles, genuinely this time, wondering how Sakura would look like bathed in the light of sundown like she is now, sharing a meal together like they used to every day. She never saw her in the sunlight before - and even if she did during their school years, she wouldn't know anymore. She would never get to know.

And that’s all it takes for the seams of her composure to be suddenly torn to shreds; for that weird mixture between swelling affection that made her heart soar only to be shot down by unbearable, crushing grief. It held her at a deadlock, stasis, as sobs wracked her body. It was so unlike her, ‘sooo unlike’ the world-renowned star athlete and Ultimate Swimmer Aoi Asahina, as she’d chastise herself after a thorough cry.

Aoi had always considered herself lucky that her good days and neutral days far outweighed the bad compared to the others, but it was never like she was ever immune to despair in the first place, not even after all that her friends had done for her. Especially not after all that her friends had done for her. The guilt is a snaking hairline fracture in her favourite and otherwise perfect ceramic mug - the one that reminds her of home and of family and loved ones. 

The guilt is something she finds hard to douse; it’s a constant reminder against calloused palms and one might even say that, despite her go-getter personality, the fissure is reminiscent of her own being. It’s seemingly harmless, and it won’t shatter to pieces, but it’s there. 

Thinking hard on things was never her forte, and neither was sweating the small stuff. Even so, bitterness claws at her throat, constricts her breathing to nothing more than a desperate rhythm.

It was really unlike her.

The muted sound of a ticking wall clock is all that resounds in the living room, in between shaky breaths, in between the unsteady pulses of her heartbeat. Vaguely, she's aware of the pace of it, of how the ticking tries to punctuate all the other sounds, except–

Everything is off. Her heartrate speeds up and it's thrown off even more. it's all lost to a moment's hesitation, and suddenly she's wrenched back into the depths of a swimming pool. Her coach spits out demands; that she needs to pick up the pace. It's off rhythm. It's grating. That she's off rhythm. She's grating. It's all wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong. 

Until she catches the single beat where all three align at once. They blend together into a single startling click, folding into one like flour and sugar and yeast. Her head feels heavy, but clear for a moment; just enough to stop thinking. 

A pillow stays close to her chest as she calms down, as she buries her face just enough to muffle the sound. Just enough so that she couldn’t hear her own voice – her own weakness that she so despised. How could she not when the person she cared for was the very definition of the strength she always strove for?

The thing is, Sakura Ogami was never just physically strong.

Sure enough, the others had seen both her physical strength and her strength of character back in those days but… Aoi had seen it all. Sakura is Eden; she’s all the nurturing resilience of sanctum and all the grace of it too, right down to dew-soaked grass blades and tree roots buried in rich soil. 

Aoi had seen it with her own eyes; what it means to be in paradise. It was when she lay side by side with her, peeking a single eye open every now and then to see if the other was awake – if she was okay. She’d be met with a small smile, but her gaze always wavered, as if it was the smallest tell that she, too, might’ve been a little afraid. But instead of a confession, what she’d get in return was a promise that the first person she would turn to if she was ever in trouble would be Aoi – no one else but her. It made her heart soar, so much that she was afraid she’d never be able to sleep again from the way her pulse hammered against her chest. 

But still, she’d force her eyes shut, hoping, praying for it to be one of the nights where her run-of-the-mill luck favoured her. But eventually she realized that she never had to wish so hard to begin with, because each passing night it got easier; Sakura would stroke a gentle, warm hand down the side of her head whenever she figured Aoi was asleep anyway. She’d hum a gentle melody to her anyway, and each time, she fell a little more. Each time, she woke up a little braver and stronger, just like Sakura – like she was lending Aoi her strength. 

She wonders if Sakura ever figured her out. 

She wonders if she ever had herself figured out back then. 

But she doubts it, she’s never been the perceptive type. If she was then she would’ve known to help Sakura sooner. If she’d known then she could’ve saved her from her fate. Aoi knew well enough that ‘what-ifs’ and dwelling on the past never helped matters, but sometimes it felt easier to let it catch up, let it trip you by the ankles – even if only for a reality check. It’s her only companion within the lonely confines of her house, no matter how well she decorated, no matter how homely she made it; nothing would fill the space quite the same. 

The sound of a notification jolts her out of her thoughts, quickly picking up her phone to catch Makoto’s name in the preview. She unlocks the phone, holding her breath as she looks over the three messages.

>[7:39 PM] It looks great, Asahina-san! :) I’ll let Hanamura-kun know the next time I see him. I know you're busy but, if you get the time, maybe we could make some together for everyone?

>[7:40 PM] Sorry, I can’t talk a lot because I’m still working, but Hinata-kun came by and wanted me to pass along that he’d like all of us over for dinner this Saturday.

>[7:40 PM] Is that alright with you?

Her breath escapes through her teeth as she starts to chew on the skin of her bottom lip, clicking the phone off once more. She’d turned off ‘read’ notifications a few months ago when the pressure to respond immediately got too much; stewing in her own thoughts might not have been healthy, but neither were donuts – she could afford to cut loose a little sometimes. 

Now the trouble was those last two messages. 

Aoi loved her friends, she really did. She was always the first to celebrate them, and always the first to push them forward in the right direction if Makoto didn’t beat her to it first. But unfortunately, she was still every bit as human as she was an airheaded cheerleader.

She still distinctly remembers how she would always smile, shove down the sharp and ugly jealousy she felt when Hajime’s gold engagement band glistened under fluorescent lights before the guilt smothered her in its place.

Aoi once nodded along enthusiastically when Hajime fondly spoke of how he loved the fact that Nagito’s ring matched the silver of his eyes – and she wondered faintly, with her chin resting on her hand, whether he knew that she could relate wholeheartedly.

Nothing in the world could compare to the thought of Sakura wearing a wedding ring as silver and bright as her eyes, except maybe seeing her in a kimono that would undoubtedly look elegant on her. The feeling rocked unsteadily inside her chest, making her fond and unbearably lonely all at once.

The plate of doughnuts lay in front of her on the coffee table by the vase of fresh flowers Komaru and Touko had dropped off in the morning. And with the sun dipping into the horizon, she knew that her food would only get colder, and the room would only grow darker.

Frowning, Aoi reached into the drawer of the table, pulling out a box of matches and striking one against the strip as it flared to life. Her cherry blossom scented candles would do; they would keep her company, keep her surroundings bright, keep her warm despite how little wax was left. Something about that last part made her feel sour.

She leaned forward, tearing off a piece of a doughnut and ignoring the stickiness and grease that clings to her skin in favour of living in the moment. Maybe a little indulgence would be just fine, even if it wasn’t the same. 

So maybe Aoi wasn’t the only one to see Sakura in her moments of vulnerability.

And it's a selfish feeling, the hope she felt when Aoi caught a flash of guilt in Sakura’s eyes when she spoke of her boyfriend on the outside, when she caught her staring at her more and more with each passing morning. She wanted it to mean something.

She wanted the gradual transition from ‘my dear Asahina’ to ‘my dearest’ to mean something.

The silence in the room was heavy, but strangely enough, not in an oppressive way. 

What was stopping her from remembering her words? What was stopping her from letting Sakura’s life, her sacrifice, mean more than a push forward towards hope? 

After all, from the casual touches while they made donuts for the first time to her final heartfelt words, wasn’t it all an act of love from start to finish? 

Aoi blinks the mistiness in her eyes away, swallows thickly and leans back on the old couch, tracing the threadbare edges of it with her left hand; a well-loved part of her home that cradles her aching heart after a tiresome day. The remote rests easily in her hand, TV flickering to life with a single button, as the face of her high school swimming idol grins brightly at the camera. It's like she can feel the droplets running down her face, remembering how free she felt doing what she loved. She finally picks up her phone with a small smile, bordering on bittersweet, wondering if there was ever a missing ingredient to begin with. 

> [8:34 PM] Tell him that we're on for that group dinner date. 

Her fingers pause, hovering over the next few keys. With a sharp exhale, she settles on her words. 

> [8:35 PM] And yeah, let's finally make those doughnuts together for everyone. It'll be fun! <3 

Aoi lets out another determined huff, trying not to let her wobbly yet courageous smile fade. She’d just have to find a way to make her own secret ingredient. 

-x-

That night, Aoi dreamed.

She dreamed of doughnuts and picnics under a cherry blossom tree in full bloom and a world made for two people.

She dreamed of her beloved wearing the summer dresses Aoi always thought she’d look like a goddess in, even though she was always more than enough in her ripped sailor outfit.

She dreamed of a fond smile and husky voice humming, their bodies close enough that she could feel the rumble of her voice in her chest; large, protective, and warm hands enveloping her own, and the steady rhythm of silver bands clicking against each other as they walked hand in hand.

For once, Aoi dreams and ignores the dull ache in her chest in place of something far stronger, far more wonderful.

Love, and love alone, until the end of her days.

[angelofdarknessss]

Beautiful Sinner

Chapter 1: Why? Previous Parts: Prologue 2/2

Next Part: CH-2 Word Count: 3,426 Main Pairing: Toko Fukawa x gen!neutral reader Summary: Things seem to get more and more strange Author note: I meant to post this a day after I posted this chapter on ao3 but I forgot...hahaha SORRY. also happy late new year againn

The words echoed in your head like an empty room.

“You must kill someone if you want to leave” …..You couldn’t talk. There was nothing that needed to be said. In fact, there was nothing said for a few minutes, the only thing that spoke were everyone’s eyes. Just looking into them, you could almost hear “…Are they going to try to kill me?”

The air felt so heavy, so thick you could cut it with a knife. But as thick as the air felt… a sharp voice was able to pierce right through it. It belonged to that lavender haired girl…Kyoko.

“So? What are you going to do now? Just stand around glaring at each other?”

Her pointed comment was directed at everyone in the room. It seemingly helped everyone pull them back into reality.

Taka perked up at this. “R-Right... She's right!... Sometimes, even if you're nervous or afraid, you just have to step forward!” He said confidently, though It looked like he was about to cry. “To forget such a simple fact... I can't forgive myself. I'm so ashamed! Please, someone hit me! I can't forgive myself! Somebody hit me! Punish me!”

Mondo grunts in response. “Jesus. If you have time to yell about it, you have time to DO something about it.”

“Perhaps, but...what is the mission, exactly?” Hifumi whimpers. “Idiot! To look for a way out, duh!” Leon responded.

“And we totally need to find out whoever was controlling that stupid bear and beat the hell out of 'em.” Junko angrily stated.

“...B-But before we do all that, maybe we should look at the handbook... It's probably best to check out the school regulations Monokuma mentioned before doing anything else.” Chihiro said. She was right about that…Mondo was almost killed a few minutes ago because he unknowingly broke one of the rules.

“Ah…that’s right… we should probably take a look at that now…I don’t want to get blown up.” You said as you glanced over at Mondo.

Junko sighed in response. “Fine. Then let's hurry up and check out the stupid rules already.”

You turned on your e-Handbook, the first thing that appeared was your name. From the main menu that popped up, you selected the School Regulations icon. An itemized list appears on-screen, it was the rules being imposed on us.

Students may reside only within the school. Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time.

"Nighttime" is from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.

Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and punished accordingly.

With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope's Peak Academy at your discretion.

Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras.

Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate unless they are discovered.

Additional school regulations may be added as necessary.

You were starting to feel nervous again, you lifted your head from the screen and saw the same stormy expression on the other’s faces…including Makoto.

“This… this is…I don’t…what….” You started to stutter. You just couldn’t seem to gather your words right now. Your words were interrupted by a piercing yell coming from Mondo. “This is bullshit! What the hell kinda rules are these!? I'm not gonna let them control ME!”

Celeste giggled into her hand. “Well then, why don't you wander around the school without a care in the world and see what happens? Personally, I would love to see what happens when someone breaks one of the rules.”

“But if he got punished like what we saw before, I don't think there'd be a respawn waiting for him...” Hifumi nervously said. Mondo was silent for a few seconds.

“…..”

“I... Ever since I was a kid, I grew up with my older brother pounding this into my head... When a man makes a promise, he has to keep it, even if it kills him.”

“…So what?” Junko crosses her arms. “I've made a ton of promises that I still have to keep, that's "so what"! Mondo clenches his fist in anger. “So I can't afford to die in here!”

Celeste toys with hair as she looks away from him, looking uninterested. “None of that made much sense to me, but you are saying you will follow the regulations, is that it?” Mondo looks stunned for a second before scratching the back of his head slightly embarrassed. “Huh? Oh, well...yeah, I guess you're right.”

“Hey, um...I have a question. For regulation number six...what do you think it means exactly?” Sayaka softly spoke up. That rule she was referring to was… “Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate unless they are discovered.”

“You're talking about the second half, right? Where it says, "unless they are discovered"? I was wondering about that myself.” Makoto said. “I was wondering about that one too…what do you think it means?” You followed up.

Byakuya answered for us. “It's saying that if you want to graduate, you have to kill someone without anyone finding out it was you.” Toko shivered. “B-But why...? Why do we h-have to do that?”

“I don't see any reason to worry about it. Just worry about following the rules as they've been explained to us.” He crosses his arms. “Frankly, I don't want to hear anything from someone who waits for others to decide what to do for them.”

“D-Don't jab at me...” She responds while blushing lightly. You couldn’t tell if she was happy or upset over that comment.

Aoi confidently clenches her fists. “Now that we know the rules, let's start exploring the school!”

Ex…exploring?..... right now?..to be honest you were too shaken up STILL about everything that just happened. You don’t understand how this can fuel anyone to do anything. That and… you were worried about exploring this massive school possibly alone knowing that there could be someone lurking… just waiting to kill you. You weren’t gonna go down without a fight for sure but…its still horrifying to think about.

Both Leo and Taka agreed. “True. We need to find out where exactly we are. Is there any way out? What about food and supplies? There are tons of questions we need to answer!”

“Damn straight! Okay, then let's all start looking around!” Leon replied

“...I'll be going alone.” Byakuya states flatly. “What!? Why? That's a pretty stupid idea, don't you think?” Junko criticizes him.

“Someone here might already have started thinking about murdering one of us. Are you saying we should stand around with them in our midst and make it that much easier for them?”

“W-Wait, hold on a second. That would never—!”

Byakuya cuts off Sayaka almost immediately, following with a stern, serious expression painted on his face. “Don't bother saying it couldn't happen. You can't deny the possibility. That's why you all seized up with fear when that graduation rule was made clear to you.” He cockily smiles. “Am I wrong?”

“B-But......”

“So, I'm simply acting in accordance with what I think is best for me.” You scoffed in annoyance. What’s this guy’s problem.

Before you could comment on his responses to Sayaka, Mondo steps in very heated. “Hold on! Like hell I'm gonna let you run off and do whatever you want!”

“Out of my way, plankton.”

“Wh--!? The fuck's that supposed to mean!?”

“One tiny bit of plankton, drifting across the sea. So minuscule, so insignificant, they couldn't possibly have any kind of influence on the boundless ocean.” This severely angered Mondo. Somebody was definitely about to get beaten up.. “I'm gonna kick your ass!”

“S-Stop it! We shouldn't fight!” Makoto spoke up. However, this was a bad move on his end.

Mondo turned to look at him, his anger still boiling inside him. “The fuck you just say? You some kinda goody-goody little bitch?” You stepped in front of Makoto. “H-Hold on Mondo! Relax!” You attempted to de-escalate the situation. Instead Mondo shoved you on the ground away from Makoto, you landed on your arm. “Get outta my way!”

“Ugh!—" A groan escaped your mouth. Before Makoto could acknowledge you, Mondo was already getting closer to him. His face was red hot and his hand was clenched so hard you could see his fist turning white. “Who do you think you are, talkin' to me like that? You think you're my fuckin' dad or something!?”

“N-No, I wasn't--!”

“Fuck you!”

*WHAM*

Makoto’s body fell straight onto the ground. It was like something straight out of a comic book, Mondo punched Makoto so fast you bet he didn’t even see it coming. One second he was standing there perfectly conscious the next second you saw him unconscious on the ground.

“MAKOTO!” Both you and Sayaka screamed.

Everyone else was in shock for a moment before ultimately rushing coming to check on him…by everyone else you mean everyone besides Byakuya, Kyoko, Celeste, Toko and.. Mondo. You rushed by his side and started to shake Makoto somewhat gently. “Makoto?! Are you okay?”

“Ah! Y/N d-don’t shake him!” Sayaka stuttered out as she kneeled next to you. “Oh my! This is becoming quite interesting.” Celeste giggled into her hand in amusement.

“O-Oh no! Makoto! can you hear me?!” Taka frantically yelled.

“Wh-wh-what just happened?!” Yasuhiro yelled.

Junko annoyingly scoffed. “Weren’t you paying any attention? Mondo just punched him! We haven’t even left the gym yet we’re like already messing up!”

“Get off my ass I didn’t punch him THAT hard.” Mondo was still visibly angry but was slowly calming himself down. He glanced over at Makoto a few times, showing no other visible reaction to him.

Now it was your turn to get angry. “What do you mean not that hard? He’s not moving!”

“It’s not my fault he’s a weak little punk!” He responds defensively.

“D-do you think h-he’s dead...?” Toko stuttered. Before you could respond Kyoko came near Makoto and placed her index and long finger gently on his carotid artery, checking for a pulse. Luckily, he was in fact not dead.

“No. He’s alive, just unconscious.” She stated plainly. You let out a sigh of relief. “Ohh.. thank god..” Sayaka was put at ease as well. “Thank goodness….”

Hifumi anxiously glances at Makoto. “So.. uh… what do we do about him now that we know he’s—” right before he could finish his sentence, Monokuma popped up without any warning.

“Phuhuhu!~”

“Kyaaaaah!” Toko screamed.

 “That was so fun to watch! You guys haven’t even made it to your dorms, yet you’ve already started to slaughter each other!” He laughed into his paws maniacally.

“Slaughter?! He’s not dead!... why are you even here?!” You yell at him. “That’s how it always starts! Sooner or later, you’ll be towering over his dead, soulless body. As the innocent or.. who knows! Maybe the murderer! Those tools you have are pretttyyy sharp and pointy! Can those scissors cut skin?” He teases.

“For the last time these tools are for HAIR—!”

“Anywho… I’d love to keep tormenting my lovely students but!...” He waddles over to Makoto. “I’ll have to steal your little friend here!” You and Sayaka protectively grab Makoto’s shoulders, pulling him towards you both. “No! You’re not taking him anywhere!”

“Y-yeah!...” She agrees. “Now now kids! Not too aggressive! Remember, you can’t touch me otherwiseeee…. You’ll be DEAD!” He shouted towards the end of his sentence. “Besides, I’m not going to kill him. That’s your guy’s job. I’m just going to safely put him in his own dorm, so when he wakes up, he can join you. Can’t have you guys be focused on him when there’s much more interesting things for you guys to explore!”

“But…how can we?!—” Kyoko cut you off. “Step away from him, Y/N. You too Sayaka.” Her stern voice made you both flinch. Sayaka nervously looked at Kyoko. “B-but…”

“Now, both of you move.” Sakura sternly said.

“………….”

“…………”

You both hesitantly moved away from Makoto’s unconscious body, allowing Monokuma to come back and carry him. He crawled under his back and lifted him up slowly, it looked like he was struggling as his arms were trembling, but he still somehow kept his composure with that same creepy smile. “Ah.. you worried I’m going to hurt your little boyfriend? *huff*.. don’t worry, I would never hurt my students!...for no reason that is.” And with that Monokuma ‘carried’ him out of the gym and to his assigned dorm.

You continued to sit there kneeling on the floor as you stared at double doors, slowly closing. Leaving everyone in a state of silence for a few moments. That is until that one individual spoke up again.

“Anywho… I’ll be leaving. Try not to get yourselves killed.” Byakuya stated flatly before beginning to walk towards the double doors. “W-Wait you’re still leaving?... even after what you just caused?!” Aoi called out. “I haven’t done anything. That idiot has only himself to blame.”

“You—!” You angrily get up from the floor, Sayaka watches you hesitantly as she got up alongside you, putting a hand on your shoulder to lightly reassure you. “This is your fault! What do you get out of provoking people huh?!” He spares you no glance, not even an acknowledgement of your existence. It’s like you don’t exist to him.

“Goodbye.” He says before finally leaving. Another person leaving your group. “...ugh..”

Sayaka rubs your shoulder gently. “hey... are you okay?”

“…..Uh.. yeah I’m fine… I think.” You responded while you stared at the doors. She took notice of this. “Don’t worry about Makoto, I’m sure he’s gonna be okay..!” Aoi some-what confidently states.

“But—! What about Monokuma?” You stammered. “If Monokuma’s intention was to hurt him, he would’ve done so already. Not only that, but we’d already be dead.” Kyoko said.

She was right but… this didn’t stop you from worrying about him. Especially considering the situation you were in now. “Yeah… yeah she’s right!” Taka perked up. “We’re still alive and well so that should mean something!”

“Yeah m-maybe for now…t-there’s no telling what that bear is doing to that idiot… probably ripping out his t-teeth or stitching h-his mouth shut s-so he won’t talk a-again…” Toko said. This caused most of the group to be repulsed of the thought. This didn’t help your worries, in fact that made it worse.

Sayaka’s face turned white. “D-don’t say that! That’s horrible!” Junko nodded in agreement. “Right, what the hell Toko? Are you trying to freak them out again?” Junko herself seemed a little disgusted as well.

“ u-um so… are we still going to look around the school…?” Chihiro asked while nervously fidgeting with her fingers.

Oh right… we were supposed to be exploring by now. Instead, everyone including you got sidetracked with the whole Makoto situation...

“Oh yeah that’s right! We were supposed to be looking around.” Yasuhiro stated, rubbing his head. “So…is the looking around the school together off the table or…?”

“I believe it would be wise to investigate separately, we can find our own clues I suppose. Perhaps Byakuya’s idea wasn’t too bad, yes?” Celeste questioned. Unfortunately…. she was right. Exploring in one big group would’ve most likely declined your chances of finding clues to escape. Though, you felt nervous even thinking out doing it alone.

“Okay! Then it’s settled! We will investigate alone!” Aoi confidently said.

Before anyone else could respond, Toko quickly spoke. “W-wait what?! B-but that’s practically s-suicide! Are you t-trying to get me k-killed?!” Toko whined.

“Alright alright! Then… go explore with Y/N! I’m sure they don’t mind.” Aoi replied.

You and Toko exchanged looks. Her eyes then followed from yours to your waist apron, her face immediately contorted into a look of disgust. “….N-No…!”

You just continued to stand there in silence, unsure how to respond. “……” What was her problem with you?

Junko groaned. “Then what do you want?! You’re making this much more difficult than it needs to be, girl!”

“….um…maybe we should rethink investigating alone then…?” You stated. “How about we look around in groups instead? Probably groups of four.” Sayaka nodded in agreement, clasping her hands together. “Oh! I like that idea! How does that sound, everyone?”

Most of the group looked at each other momentarily before silently nodding in agreement.

 “I can roll with that.” Yasuhiro crossed his arms smiling.

 “Eh…alright.” Leon shrugs.

“W-were changing the plan that fast?! Just like that?!” Hifumi stuttered.

“Actually...I want to investigate alone.” Taka said. Aoi tilted her head in confusion. “Huh? Are you sure?” He proudly put his hands on his hips.

“Yes! We shall meet again to talk about what we found elsewhere.” He states confidently as he puts his hands on his hips. Another one who wants to search alone huh?

Aoi shrugs. “Okay, suit yourself.”

“So, about those groups uh…. Who is—”

“I’ll pick them!” Taka cut Hifumi off, leaving him a little defeated. “Hmm let’s see… how about Yasuhiro, Leon, Junko and Chihiro?”

“O..okay!” Chihiro happily stated.

“Cool! I can deal with that!” Yasuhiro states.

“Fine with me.” Junko shrugs.

“Fantastic!” He places his hand on his chin. “Hm...let’s see… how about Kyoko—”

“I’m investigating alone.” Kyoko spoke up sternly. Taka looked a little surprised. “O-oh? You too?” She silently nods. “If you say so then…” He looks around at the other group of students. “Okay, since Kyoko is investigating alone... let’s do Sakura, Aoi and Mondo!”

You? In a group with Mondo?

Mondo scoffs. “Whatever, sure. Let’s just get this shit over with.

Aoi confidently pops her jacket collar. “Got it! I’ll do my best!”

Sakura only silently hums in agreement.

“So that leaves me, Y/n, Celeste, Hifumi and Toko...!” Sayaka wrapped her arm around yours. “Hey y/n, would you like to investigate with me?” She gives you that same warm smile she gave Makoto. “Just until Makoto comes back…?”

“Ah…well…”

“I-If you want to of course!...I don’t want to pressure you.” You chuckle dryly, giving her a smile back. “It’s okay, Sayaka. I’ll go with you.” She lets out a sigh of relief. “whew..okay, good!”

Taka happily extends his arms up. “Perfect! All who is left is Celeste, Hifumi, and Toko! How convenient, you guys can be a group!” Toko gives Taka an irritated stare. “W-what am I?!..Left overs?” Celeste glances over at Hifumi, then to Toko. Her expressions weren’t the most readable like the others, but you could tell she wasn’t thrilled about this group choice. “Ah… actually, I—”

“So… are we ready to go investigate?”  Yasuhiro cuts her off unintentionally. “Actually, I’d rather—"

She gets cut off again. “It seems so! Okay everyone, we will meet up later to talk about what we have found! Let’s go!” Taka proudly states. “But please, watch your step!” Hifumi looks over at Celeste, who held an unreadable expression. “Uh…are you okay miss Ludenburg?” She turns her head to face him, her face held a blank stare while she held her pale hands together. “Yes, perfect.”

He nervously chuckled. “O-okay, if you say so.”

She was not perfect, not even close.

“Are you ready to go, y/n? What should we explore first..?” Sayaka asks you. “How about the dorms? I want to see what they look like since it seems like were going to be here for awhile..”

“Aww.. you really miss Makoto, hmm?” She teases. You put your hands up defensively. “Wha-? No. I mean, yes I am worried about him but I wanted to check out the dorms from the-“ You could hear her giggling into her hand at your reaction. “I’m just joking. Let’s go!” She drags your arm towards the exit and you both made your way through the hallways towards the dorms, the others soon followed behind to begin their own investigation. You don’t know what the future will hold, hell you don’t know if you’ll even survive the first night. Will this investigation even be worth it? If there was a way to escape…surely it would’ve been patched by Monokuma? It makes you nervous. But right now, you’re willing to do what it takes to figure out a way to leave Hope’s Peak Academy that doesn’t involve taking a person’s life.

Thank for reading! See you in the next chapter <3

[queenxfjustice]

He had a big task on his hands this year. A singular question that seemed impossible to answer-

How do you outdo a motorcycle?

Last year, only about a month into their relationship, he worked his ass off to save up enough cash to afford the down payment for her own Ducati. Wasn't exactly the same as buying her one outright, but that definitely wasn't in the cards for him, and regardless she still considered it a gift he gave her.

So how on Earth was he going to top that?

It was only upon reflecting on the past year that he found an answer. She had powers like his now, and she wanted to help him like the others did, but until recently he'd been... reluctant to let her. So perhaps his gift could be a gesture to commit to that, to letting her be his partner in fighting crime as much as she was in everything else. It may not be as grand as last year's gift, but... maybe it could help him make amends for pushing her away before.

"Merry Christmas, Koto."

He handed her a small white box tied up with black ribbon. Inside the box was a smart watch that seemed custom made, with a two round bits of plastic at the top that almost looked like ears. Turning it on would reveal an animated Buchimaru face.

"It's a pretty standard smart watch. Has a fitness tracker, supports all the usual apps, built-in reminders for events on your schedule, all that jazz. You can even swap out the ears and Buchi-kun for something more Majima themed if you feel like it. But it does have one unique function-"

He rolled up his sleeve to show he had a matching watch, though he clearly hadn't had the time to customize it yet. He then reached over to his wrist, and held down a small button on the side. Suddenly, her watch started to vibrate.

"These two are paired, using a rather sophisticated setup Futaba made for me. So whenever I send a ping to the system, if you just give this little button here a quick tap-"

He pressed the same button on hers, and suddenly the screen was replaced with a map, with a flashing little Spider icon showing his exact location.

"-it'll show you where I am. So if I'm ever in trouble, I can just hold the button, and it'll let you know. And the reverse is also true."

He'd also set hers to always be able to locate his, regardless of if he sent an SOS or not, as a way to give her some peace of mind. He did not however include the same feature on his, as a way to respect her privacy and keep him from being overprotective... as much.

"I know I've said this a million times since it happened, but I'm sorry I was being so... stubborn before. I was trying to protect you, but I ended up hurting us both. I'm... I'm only at my best when you're by my side, I see that now. So I made these so that even when you're not, you're only ever a button press away."

"And I swear on my parents' graves I'm going to use this. I'm not just going to leave it at home, or never press the button even when I know I'm in a rough spot. I made that mistake once before, and I don't plan to repeat it."

It was clear he was still beating himself up over his behavior of months prior. Which was typical of him, but this seemed like a particularly bad case. He was scared of losing her so much he nearly did anyway. Just... in a different sense.

"You're my partner, and I promise I'm going to treat you like it."

Christmas was usually a time for families to share a meal and lovers to have a romantic date night. Sure, kids got gifts and all that jazz, but the main event was spending a romantic night with your special someone. So of course, Makoto and Aaron had a night all to themselves planned. Cuddled up together in the attic, Makoto was surprised when he pulled out the small gift.

"I thought we agreed on no gifts this year?" She asked as he handed her the small box. "I don't have a gift for you!"

Despite that, she opened the box and admired the smartwatch as he made his long-winded explanation. Makoto's eyes darted up to look at him, her heart aching as he beat himself up over his past actions. She was partly to blame - Makoto had spent the whole couple of months refusing to speak to Aaron even when he tried to reconcile at first. She reached out, placing her hand on his cheek and giving him an encouraging smile.

"You didn't need to do all this for me," she replied. "I know you beat yourself up about our hardships. I know you regret some of the things you've said and done. I do too, but I'll always love you, Aaron. We might have our ups and downs but in the end, I'll always be here for you."

She leaned in and gave him a small kiss. "Thank you for this," she added, putting the watch on her wrist. "Merry Christmas, Aaron. I love you."

[lovehotelreservation]

Fantasy

Summary: It has been the greatest honor to be selected as the official cosplayer at your favorite gacha game’s fan festival event.

But what pleasure could compare to having your fellow cosplay colleagues have their way with you? [Cosplayer AU]

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Makoto/F!Reader/Sousuke/Natsuya

THE LEVELS OF ON BRAND™ THIS ONE-SHOT IS I S2G

I’VE BEEN SITTING ON THIS PIECE FOR A WHILE NOW AND NOW I OFFER IT TO U ALL

ANYWAY MAKE US FREE NA SPLASH-- ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

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

Another year meant another summer of pinning your hair beneath a blonde bob wig and twirling around in a pink dress that required countless hours to recreate.

But it was because of your efforts of investing your all into faithfully bringing to life the character design of Djeeta that the organizers of Granblue Fantasy Festival reached out to have you as the official cosplayer to work the event. Appearing on mainstage to enthrall awaiting fans, assisting with the presentation of prizes during the various games planned for the attending seiyuu, walking the floor to pose for pictures by enthusiastic players--you were honored by this opportunity, one that you looked forward to year after year with each invitation.

The trek across Japan to attend GBF Fes during its tour also meant reunions with the other official cosplayers, some of whom you have bonded and befriended even beyond the event itself.

Such was the case with the three who portrayed Lobelia, Aglovale and Belial: Natsuya Kirishima, Makoto Tachibana, and Sousuke Yamazaki.

Besides being profound cosplayers who found their claim to fame from their GBF cosplays, the trio were known to even sound practically identical to their respective characters.

Though spirited and ever eager, Natsuya certainly wasn’t a shameless guro-addict like the twisted Lobelia. By contrast, Makoto was far too much of a big precious teddy bear to be arrogant like the regal Aglovale. Last of all, the aloof Sousuke only shared the common trait of being tall, dark, and handsome with the lasciviously depraved Belial.

It was always a wonderful time with the three, from your reunions just days before the event, spending the weekend indulging in your favorite mobile game, to hanging out for carefree fun before the eventual but dreaded goodbye.

But by Makoto’s suggestion for you all to hit up the newly opened Super Nintendo World after the Osaka run of GBF Fes, you expected for your parting to end on a higher note this time around at least.

Especially since, upon the conclusion of the second day of GBF Fes, it was Natsuya insisting you all hop into a taxi and celebrate with dinner at a karaoke joint along Dotonbori’s canal upon the return to your hotel located by the massive INTEX Osaka convention center space.

However, what you didn’t expect was for the evening to go about as it did.

Hues of soft pink, blue, and purple mood lighting that contrasted the sharp gleams within hazy irises of red, green, and teal.

Moody synths of 80s city pop accompanying lyrics yearning love and desire were muffled to your ears, the breathy huffs of sweet whines and low groans a much more distinct sound.

A blushing heat coursed through the entirety of your body, stoked even further by lips chilled by ice cold beer kissing your skin.

The hotly murmured question of “Say Captain, which one of us do you like most?” from Natsuya had yet to receive a verbal answer, of which you conveyed through a different, more physical kind of reciprocation to all three.

You had inklings of how this weekend was going to turn out, but surely not like this.

While setting out for Osaka, you ran into Natsuya while settling in for your bullet train ride from Tokyo. It was a delight to already see his handsome grin once again, making you all the more excited to reunite with the others. As it had been a long morning, you found yourself dozing off while you both caught up with one another. With your mind drifted to a weekend of cosplay fun and amusement park thrills, you weren’t aware that he snapped a photo of him beaming at his phone camera with a peace sign while proudly displaying your head resting on his shoulder during the train ride over, texting the picture over to Makoto and Sousuke.

A frazzled kaomoji from Makoto while Sousuke left the response on read.

Then, during the afternoon for the first day of GBF Fes, you had some issues with zipping up the back of your idol Djeeta cosplay. Thankfully, Makoto was in the next stall over in the private dressing room for official cosplayers and was prompt to help you out once he finished buttoning up his coat for Aglovale’s House of Wales attire.

You were about to head out to the mainstage when you heard Makoto’s flustered squawk of your name upon his realization that your skirt was lifted after having gotten bunched up somehow while you were trying to fix your zipper on your own. Given that time demanded your immediate presence to the stage, you weren’t as alarmed by the sudden presence of Natsuya and Sousuke upon their return from making their rounds through the main event floor in their cosplays.

But they were rather taken by the sight of your skirt’s hem being hastily tugged by Makoto’s fingers.

Though, you could see why things came to a head earlier today when you--now in Djeeta’s iconic skyfarer dress--and Sousuke joined each other on stage. As “Parade’s Lust” blared from the speakers, the audience watched as he knocked away your sword before embracing you from behind, his grinning lips planting onto your cheek while his large hands caressed your waist.

”Oi, oi, when did you have the time to practice that?!” Natsuya jeered with a raised brow and a smirk as the two of you made your way backstage.

Makoto was rendered too speechless to say anything.

Sousuke, whose hand still held yours from when he helped you step down from the main stage, merely shrugged with nonchalance, of which was betrayed by the hint of a smug grin sliding onto his lips. “We just did what felt natural.”

And surely, while the effects of liquor of the sweetest and hardest varieties were well underway, this moment shared with these three--unexpected as it was--felt seamless in its transition from a night of merriment to an evening of withheld desire spilling forth.

As clothes were either tugged away just enough for a bit of freedom or exposure, or discarded entirely, you found yourself at the center of Natsuya’s, Makoto’s, and Sousuke’s affections, easily caught beneath the loom of their towering physiques

Natsuya was no sadist compared to his cosplay counterpart, but he didn’t refrain from affectionately nipping at your neck while enjoying the cute yelps you let out whenever his hand freely spanked your ass. He was no brute, but when he had his fingers tightly weaved in your hair, he didn’t hold back from fucking your mouth, all while he slurred out praises of how much of a good girl you were.

While he came from a humble upbringing back in the sleepy town of Iwatobi, Makoto made you feel like royalty while he happily knelt before where you sat as his tongue lapped against your core, dragging along your folds and twirling around your clit. When he had you sit on his lap--a proper throne for you, as he gasped desperately upon his dick entering you fully--, he cradled and massaged your breasts from behind as he had you ride him

And while every messy kiss shared with Sousuke felt like love--which it did, inebriation and all--, the way he spoke to and handled you was absolute and utter filth. His big and muscular arms hooked beneath your thighs, keeping them raised up while his hands stayed clasped behind your head, the sight of his thick cock ramming up into your ass to be seen fully by Makoto and Natsuya.

“Is this what you enjoy? Having other guys watch you get fucked in the ass like the cockslut that you are?” Sousuke grunted huskily, a harsh flush of red spread across his cheeks.

You squealed your desire for more as he continued to not relent in the slightest with the vicious rate he was thrusting into you.

Sousuke eyed Natsuya and Makoto, the look in his eyes as urgent as it was arrogant. “Captain’s needy.”

”Then leave it to me to satisfy Captain’s le désir,” Natsuya hummed proudly with a pound at his chest as he approached, eager to stuff your sopping core with his cock.

”Ahh that won’t do at all,” Makoto tsked with a sweet smile, ready to soothe your whines by giving you a mouthful of his dick.

You couldn’t have imagined that a night straight out of your fantasies would come to light as it did.

But as this game had come to show you, luck had a hell of a way of revealing itself to you.

[hopeymchope]

Judging the Danganronpa x Sanrio character pairings

You may have already heard that a DANGANRONPA X SANRIO line of crossover merch was announced a few days ago! Which is obviously AMAZING, because they’re combining cutesy characters that have often been marketed to wee children with everybody’s favorite murderdeathkill game! I LOVE IT.

I have a niece who went through a Sanrio/Hello Kitty phase, so I actually know a few of these characters. In turn, this means that I have THOUGHTS on how the DR1 and Sanrio cast were paired up.

Granted, I still had to look up a lot of these guys and read about them. But now I feel adequately educated to the point where I can judge just how well the Danganronpa and Sanrio pairings actually match up. 

Makoto Naegi/Cinnamoroll - Obviously this totally works because Makoto IS something of a cinnamon roll, eh? EH? But Cinnamoroll is said to be shy albeit still very friendly. He also likes to seek out fun new adventures. So, aside from “very friendly,” I’m not sure that this sounds like Makoto. I also doubt that calling a character a “cinnamon roll” is common slang in Japan. So this is whatever.

Sayaka Maizono/Wish Me Mell - Mell has the power to connect people’s hearts by simply stating the feelings they keep inside. She was initially withdrawn and believed she didn’t have any friends, but the people who cared for her finally broke through her shell and convinced her that she DOES have friends. So uh, Maizono... I guess music can also bring out people’s feelings? And perhaps you could plausibly HC that Sayaka has often felt like her surrounding friends were “fake” and only there because of her celebrity status. There’s not really much to go on here. 

Leon Kuwata/Tiran - Tiran is an orange T-rex that is said to be scatterbrained but still a strong and reliable leader. Meanwhile, Leon has orange hair, and he’s certainly strong and kind of scatterbrained sometimes. It sorta works.

Kyoko Kirigiri/Marroncream - Marroncream is bright, positive, and fashionable. She is talented at making crafts and sweets. She lives in Paris. She has nearly nothing in common with Kyoko, although Kyoko did live abroad a lot in her younger years. So I could try to latch onto the Paris thing.

Hifumi Yamada/Pokopon - Pokopon is a raccoon that loves to read but dislikes ghosts and “the thunder god.” (uh... what?) He also finishes his sentences with the unusual suffix “-das.” Of course, Hifumi loves to write (which certainly is connected to reading), and he likes to end all names with a weird suffix (”-dono”), so I can see how they might make a cute pair.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru/Pekkle - Pekkle is a duck who is good-natured and kind. He loves to sing and dance. It kind of sounds like he should’ve been matched with Sayaka, but instead he’s here with Taka. While Ishimaru is definitely a good person, I don’t think most people would immediately describe him as “kind.” And he certainly isn’t known for his love of music.

Yasuhiro Hagakure/Monkichi - Monkichi is a laid-back, easygoing guy who is upbeat and loves puns. His dream is to become a poet. It’s said that once he sets his mind on something, there is no stopping him! And in comparison, Hagakure is... well, he’s kind of laid-back in the sense that he’s kind of lazy? But he’s actually pretty high-stress a lot of the time, too. Honestly, there’s not much linking the two.

Chihiro Fujisaki/Kurousa and Shirousa - Shirousa is the white one and is the older sibling to Kurousa, the brown one. Shirousa is described as an energetic leader and Kurousa is described as being nice but lazy. They like to make cakes. What does any of this have to do with Chihiro? Beats me. This particular pairing is nonsense.

Byakuya Togami/Badtz-Maru - Badtz-Maru is said to have a bad attitude and dreams of being “the boss of everything” when he grows up. He tends to act a bit selfish, and he mocks things he dislikes/disagrees with. He enjoys expensive food and collecting photos of movie villains. With the exception of that last point, I’d have to say that this sounds like a near-perfect match for Togami.

Mondo Owada/Goropikadon - The Goropikadon are a group of cave boys whose actual names are Goro (blue hair), Pika (pink hair), and Don (teal hair). Goro is always hungry and joking around. PIka is a thoughtful, shy mama’s boy. Don is serious and places a high value on honesty. Overall, I suppose that how quick Mondo is to get angry and resort to violence kind of makes him seem like a stereotypical caveman? But in terms of their distinct personalities, only Don’s focus on honesty rings true for Mondo. 

Toko Fukawa/Lloromannic - Another multi-character one. The Llormannic are a pair of creatures named Berry (the black one, who is male) and Cherry (the pink one, who is female). They are mischievous and love to play pranks on humans. Cherry was originally alone and created Berry for companionship; however, she mixed up her magic spell ingredients and used salt when she meant to use sugar, which resulted in Berry turning out to be a more hostile being than Cherry. I suppose the fact that Berry is a darker creation of Cherry’s sort of reflects the relationship between Toko and her other self, Genocide(r) Syo/Jack. However, Berry and Cherry are still best friends. Toko and Syo/Jack are definitely not that.

Celestia Ludenberg/Kuromi - Kuromi is the rival of a bunny named “My Melody” who doesn’t appear in this promotion. Kuromi is said to look “tough and punk” in her jester’s hat with the pink skull on it, but in reality she is very girly. She enjoys writing in her diary, reading romance books, cooking, and checking out good-looking guys. I suppose Celestia did have that dream of living in a mansion where she was served by handsome guys dressed as vampires? So... they both like hot guys? But that’s all I’ve got here. Pretty sure this pairing only exists for aesthetic reasons. And admittedly, their aesthetics mesh very well.

Aoi Asahina/Keroppi - Keroppi lives with his family on the edge of Donut Pond. He is bubbly, a fantastic swimmer and, because of the name of his home pond, is often associated with donuts and/or things that are donut-shaped. Ok, so this was an obvious pairing, then. They nailed it. Probably the single best pairing they came up with.

Sakura Ogami/My Sweet Piano - Yes, the character’s name is literally “My Sweet Piano.” She’s described as soft, kind, and girly. Given Sakura’s secret love of girly things, I can see how this soft, pink, girly sheep would be something she’d love to be around. 

Junko Enoshima (...?)/Hello Kitty - Hello Kitty (a.k.a. Kitty White) is described by Sanrio as “cute, bright, sweet, kind-hearted and tomboyish.” They also say that Kitty is very close with her sister, Mimmy. As for Junko... look, the only reason I think maybe this is supposed to be Junko is because Mukuro already has her own Sanrio matchup (see the next entry), but in terms of her appearance, this “Junko” sure looks like it’s “Junkuro.” The telltale sign is that giant bow on the left side of the head, which only Mukuro-as-Junko has ever worn. I doubt we’re supposed to be thinking that they did two Mukuros in two different outfits, though? 

It’s like this: If it’s Junko, well, I guess both Junko and Kitty are icons within their respective brands. And Junko tries to put on a “cute and bright” exterior persona, I guess? But that’s pretty thin. On the other hand, if this is Mukuro in disguise, this is actually a semi-decent matchup! Mukuro is arguably tomboyish and certainly very close to her sister (at least from her own perspective), so these two are not without their parallels. 

In either case, both Kitty and the Unknown Despair Sister have a big bow on the left side of their head. Which I think is the real reason they’ve been paired, honestly.

Mukuro Ikusaba/Little Twin Stars - Kiki and Lala are a pair of twins that were born on December 24th. Mukuro is one half of a pair of twins ALSO born on December 24th. Instant connection! Kiki (the blue-haired boy) loves fishing and inventing things. He is curious and cheeky. Lala (the pink-haired girl) loves drawing, writing poems, and cooking. She is rather timid. In short, the “twins with the same birthdate” thing is the only thing connecting Mukuro to these two. Still, it’s not bad.

Also, the most amazing thing to come out of this team-up so far HAS TO BE MonoKitty. Hello Kitty cosplaying as our favorite psychotic MurderBear? How great is that? SELL ME MERCH OF MONOKITTY.

[systematicallycapricious]

Persona x Soul Eater AU

Spoilers for Personas 3-5 (and their remakes FES, Golden, and Royal), PQ1 (Shadow of the Labyrinth), and the P4: Arena series below, as well as the Soul Eater and Soul Eater: Not! anime (and potentially manga? it’s been a while, so I forget)!

Cast (We = Weapon, M = Meister, H = Human, Wi = Witch, O = Other):

SEES:

Minato Arisato - M | Aigis - Multiform-We | Ryoji Mochizuki - We

Minako Arisato - M | Yukari Takeba - We | Ryoji Mochizuki - We | Aigis - Multiform-We

Junpei Iori - M | Chidori Yoshino - We (presently)

Akihiko Sanada - M or We? | Shinjiro Aragaki We or M?

Mitsuru Kirijo - We (Meisterless and badass; probably a rapier?)

Ken Amada - M | Koromaru - We (a non-human Weapon)

Fuuka Yamagishi - Wi (??? animal)

Investigation Team:

Yu Narukami - M | Teddie - We (potentially a non-human Weapon)

Yosuke Hanamura - M | Labrys - Multiform-We

Chie Satonaka - We or M? | Yukiko Amagi M or We?

Kanji Tatsumi - M? | Naoto Shirogane - We?

Rise Kujikawa - Wi (??? animal)

Phantom Thieves:

Ren Amamiya - M | Morgana - We

Ryuji Sakamoto - M or We? | Yuuki Mishima We or M?

Yusuke Kitagawa - M | Ann Takamaki - We (a whip)

Makoto Nijima - We or M? | Haru Okumura - M or We?

Goro Akechi - M | Robin Hood - We (a bow) | Loki - We (a greatsword)

Kasumi Yoshizawa - M | Sumire Yoshizawa - We (a ribbon wand)

Futaba Sakura - Wi (??? animal)

Etc:

Daisuke Nagase - We or M? | Kou Ichijo - M or We?

Rei - H

Zen - We, H, or maybe O?

Takuto Maruki - H

Sho - M | Minazuki - We (separate entities in this; Minazuki's a katana)

Shuji Ikutsuki - H

Takaya Sakaki - M | Jin Shirato - We | Chidori Yoshino - We (formerly)

Marie/Izanami-no-Mikoto - Wi (??? animal)

More Notes:

The 'Wild Cards' in this just have really good partnership/Resonance abilities with everyone in their groups, so they can work with any of the Weapons in their groups (and even outside of them a lot of times... looking at Ren and Loki for an example. xP) uncannily naturally.

The Navis in this are all Witches, but good-natured ones, and use their magic to support their respective groups/help make the world a better place. For example, Futaba would probably be able to 'hack' souls somehow with her magic, and also her reclusiveness in this would be at least in part due to being terrified of people finding out her true nature as a Witch. I'm not sure how welcomed/persecuted/the general climate of Witches are/is in this AU yet though.

The Arisato twins and Ryoji are all children of Death in this, with Ryoji being the older sibling and the twins being twins. Death is still Death like he is in SE-OG in this AU, more or less.

Ryoji and Aigis tend to float between Minato and Minako as their secondary partners, though Aigis tends to stick more to Minato as his primary partner and much less often swaps to Minako, while Ryoji shifts between his two siblings more frequently. Yukari swaps about as much as the rest of SEES's Weapons do among their Wild Cards, which is more or less situationally or for fun. Despite this, Aigis and Ryoji still don't get along particularly well with one another, only putting up with each other for their Meisters' sakes.

Strega did exist in this, though I'm not sure yet what their aim was, or the fate of its members. At the very least, they were some kind of rogue antagonist group, and Takaya used to be the Meister of both Jin and Chidori. Chidori ends up defecting to DWMA though, or whatever organization Junpei is a part of.

Aigis, maybe Ryoji?, Mitsuru, Labrys, and Minazuki are all Weapons that can fight without Meisters. Loki and/or Robin Hood might also be among them? I'm undecided.

Originally, I was considering having the cast have their Personas as their Weapon-partners, and just have them have personalities based off of their Shadow-selves' but more aligned with their accepted-selves, but I decided against it in the end. Akechi gets to be the exception, because he's Akechi.

Speaking of Akechi-- Robin and Loki are very powerful Weapons in this AU. Loki's 'chaos magic' would become an incredibly chaotic/maddening soul-wavelength that most others wouldn't be able to handle contact with on its own, as well as perhaps some Madness magic or abilities of some kind? Robin's soul meanwhile would be much calmer and help to counteract/cover-up Loki's from those who can sense souls, as well as perhaps provide some tactical abilities; I'm undecided on that for now. I'm not sure who's side Akechi would be on in this AU yet, like if he was being manipulated by a Shido-like person or not, and for what reason if so.

As for Robin and Loki's personalities and appearances in this... Well, the latter would be somewhat similar to their Persona forms probably, including some of the less-human traits given OG-SE characters (*stares intensely at Excalibur*), and the former would also be somewhat based off of those, as well as sort of how Akechi acts in relation to both of his 'masks'? So Robin tends to be calmer and more polite, though he still possesses a small amount of vengeful desire or bloodlust, whilst Loki is a lot more chaotic, hot-blooded, and very vengeful/aggressive. Both share a tendency towards showiness however, and sometimes get in small competitions with one another to up the other to impress their Meister or be the better Weapon among themselves (since they both might think already that they're superior to other Weapons in general? Unsure).

Also speaking of manipulated and abused children, Sho and Minazuki, alongside Ikutsuki, more or less replace Crona, Ragnarok, and Medusa in this. Not fully 1-for-1 however. Ikutsuki is very much a human, albeit a Mad or power-hungry one (still kinda looking to create a Kishin or otherwise bring about some kind of catastrophic destruction), and Minazuki is a separate Weapon, as opposed to how Ragnarok is Crona's Black Blood. Minazuki and Sho might be twins however, just with one a human/Meister and the other a Weapon. They look almost identical physically in this AU, even down to haircuts, but Minazuki lacks the iconic X-ish shaped face scarring that Sho possesses (and overall the two have a different patterning of scars across their bodies), and Sho's irises appear to be more gray while Minazuki's appear to be more blue. Weapon-form-wise, Minazuki looks like Sho's OG katanas, just in different colors and as a singular blade rather than a pair.

Ikutsuki is still forcing Sho and Minazuki to become stronger in similar methods to Medusa in some ways however, such as going out and obtaining/consuming great amounts of human (and maybe even Witch) souls.

Sho's a little less messed-up than Crona is, due to Minazuki being supportive of and dedicated to him as opposed to bullying him into submission like Ragnarok does to Crona. That being said however, I don't yet know why Minazuki hasn't yet defected from Ikutsuki. P: Other than that, Minazuki is kind of like Sho's impulse control and logical reasoning at times, due to being able to control when he transforms into his Weapon form and thus deny Sho access to his weaponry in times where he's being reckless or unreasonable. Soul-wavelengths-wise, too, Minazuki's soul just in general helps to keep Sho's soul/wavelength more stable probably?

Also in terms of replacing SE cast and plots; The IT replaces Maka et al for the sake of the main story most likely, with SEES being their upperclassmen or alumni and the PT being their underclassmen, if they even attend DWMA at this point anyways.

Lotsa dead people in OG are alive in this AU; Minato, Minako, and Ryoji, Shinjiro, Kasumi, etc.

Speaking of Kasumi; she fights kind of like Sumire does in Royal, that being making use of their gymnastics and priorly-athletic builds. Both sisters are gymnists in this still.

Alternatively, Sho and Minazuki's situations almost ended up reversed, leaving a highly impulsive/aggressive Weapon-Sho and a Meister-Minazuki who would have the kinda backwards idealology of trying to protect his Weapon partner in times where it would be best left to the Weapon to defend their Meister, but also really good at getting Sho to focus when wielding him as a weapon/in resonance (and can in general reign him in to some degree while others can't), making them an exceedingly deadly duo. I kind of prefer Minazuki as the Weapon however, as fun as the reverse could be, as it gives Ikutsuki a bit more leverage over Sho's situation I think? Also in that vein, it would make a lot of sense, given OG, for Minazuki to be more like a Black Blood entity like Ragnarok; however, I like Minazuki being able to have his own body in this, so that can be left for another AU perhaps. xP

Ikutsuki would infiltrate/be trusted by the DWMA in this AU at first, like Medusa was, but eventually get outed for his true intentions most likely. He might be a teacher or other kind of faculty rather than a nurse however?

Maruki meanwhile gets to play the role of school nurse in this. He's not a few screws loose like his Royal counterpart is though, he's just a humble nurse. However, he does still have his interest in researching dangerous subjects, though I haven't yet decided if that would be magic, Witches, Madness, Kishins, or what. It could potentially put him in knowing-contact with the Navis, if they aren't already known to be Witches by the DWMA anyways.

I'm not yet sure on what to do with Adachi or Nyx yet. Nyx might be some kind of Madness-related catastrophe, power, or individual perhaps however?

Rei and Zen are probably just civilians in this. Zen just happens to be really devoted to protecting/looking after(?) Rei still. xD

I'm undecided on if Marie should be amnesiac about her Witchhood or if she should be more like Izanami-no-Mikoto from OG in this.

Yusuke is still obsessed with artistry and beauty in this, so you can imagine what he's like as a Meister. He is still capable as a fighter and dependable when needed... more or less, but is also still easily distracted by, and places higher priority on, such things.

Ryuji kinda gets the short end of the stick because I didn't particularly know who to pair him with or what really to do with him at the moment. Mishima's a big tentative as his partner as a result of that, though I think it could prove to be an interesting relationship potentially.

I'm hoping to add more SL/Confidant and secondary/tertiary/background cast peeps eventually into various roles, but I'd need to do more refreshing/research on them first. I also haven't decided on if I should include Metis in this or not.

If the SE info is inaccurate, it's because I haven't seen the anime or read-up on it in like years. I might do clarifying/fact-checking research some day, but for now, nah. xP

[sailormoonandme]

Why does Usagi think Mamoru might leave/cheat on her?

Occasionally during Sailor Moon R, S and SuperS Usagi seemed to have these moments of insecurity where she was concerned that Mamoru was either interested in other people or else other people might make a play for him.

The real life reason for this I suspect is simply because Sailor Moon has a lot of sitcom sensibilities alongside it’s romantic elements, so milking comedy from a romantic topic by having our lead act over the top or goofy is a logical writing tool to reach for. Especially when you have such a large quantity of episodes to produce.

However, I have a more in-universe explanation to propose.

In real life Usagi’s behaviour would most likely be connected to trust issues with her partner, with other people or else concerns about her own inadequacies. However, I don’t think that’s the case here.

Rather, I think it’s actually far more connected to the numerous times Usagi has loved and ‘lost’ Mamoru.

Back in the Silver Millennium days there was this low key implication that romantic mingling between the Moon Princess and Earth Prince was somehow forbidden. After all when Endymion came to the Moon and tried to warn Serenity about Metalia and Beryl the royal guards chased him away and he needed to disguise himself. So from Serenity’s POV the social system she was living in was limiting her ability to be with the man she loved and made their future together at best uncertain.  

Now, I admit that’s perhaps a bit too big of an extrapolation to draw from, especially for the anime version of the characters where we got far less info about their past lives. However, the more significant part here is the fact that Endymion was taken from her when he was killed by the Dark Kingdom. Seeing her lover murdered in front of her whilst her home were also being destroyed (and her friends killed) would obviously be very traumatic, particularly if Serenity was mentally and physically the equivalent of a fourteen year old like Usagi.  

In her next life she was crushing very hard on Tuxedo Mask who routinely showed up to aid her and then rarely lingered. That’s not exactly traumatic, but the early days of their relationship would’ve still been founded by Usagi seeing the person she wants to stick around and spend time with her leave her when she wouldn’t want him to.

She also feared Tuxedo Mask had died in episode 13 when Jadeite announced that he’d killed him. True, he was revealed as alive and well shortly afterwards, but the horror of that moment (however brief it may’ve been) could’ve stuck with Usagi.

Then, in the iconic 34th episode of the show, Mamoru was violently impaled right in front of her. We can debate if he died and was consequently revived by the Dark Kingdom or if he was merely close to death before his abduction. But either way that’d inevitably be an instance where Usagi once again traumatically lost the man she loved, or at least came extremely close to doing so if not for the emotion of the moment re-awaking her old memories.

Speaking of which, as episode 35-36 make clear, the mere act of abruptly regaining all her memories would be emotionally wrenching all on it’s own. When combined with the tragic and traumatic nature of those memories, it’s far from unbelievable that subconsciously this would further mark Usagi’s psyche.  

The reveal that her lover is alive but no longer remembers her and is actively a threat to her now would obviously compound this. As would the fact that in episode 36 he uses a rose to hurt her. It’s not a serious wound at all, but he still hurt her and used an object that up until then he’d used explicitly to help and protect her. Within Usagi’s mind his roses would’ve likely been ‘coded’ with positive emotions, so seeing them used in that way would’ve been further upsetting for her, in essence a perversion of what they should  mean to her mind. The roses now being black are an apt metaphor for this point.  

Of course during the final stretch of episodes in season 1 Usagi almost  restores Mamoru. But that’s the key here, she almost  succeeds. First it the ski episode where he briefly seems to break out of his brainwashing and then again in the episode where Ryo (and the other Rainbow Crystal hosts) returns. In the latter she actually succeeds in restoring him to normal but he’s abducted immediately once again. Not only did Usagi lose Mamoru a few more times but her active efforts to bring him back to her failed.

We then come to the most traumatic events in Usagi’s second life (up to that point), episodes 44-46.

In episode 44, not only did she once again re-experience the tragic destruction of the Silver Millennium, but she got a ‘bird’s eye view’ of everything that happened, including the specific moments she, Endymion, her friends and even her mother died. True, her sadness or trauma over everyone else isn’t specific to her losing Endymion/Mamoru, however because these events happen so close together and are connected it’s not unbelievable that Usagi’s mind might’ve created an association. So her pain over seeing her mother die is associated also with her ‘losing’ Endymion as well. By that same token, the death of her beloved friends in episode 45 might’ve consequently become associated with what happened next.  

In episode 46 Usagi is outright attacked by a brainwashed Endymion. First she sees him loyally serving her enemy who (by proxy) murdered her friends like an hour ago. Worse she might’ve picked up on the obvious romantic undertones between Beryl and Endymion, including him kissing her hand, and let’s not forget in the flashback from episode 44 Beryl clearly desired Endymion. Whilst intellectually Usagi might know he’s not in his right mind, emotionally seeing him like that with Beryl in that context could emotionally upset her, almost as though he was betraying their love in the worst possible way.  

Endymion’s efforts against her are also significantly more violent and active than anything he did before since episode 36. Dashing a rose across the back of her hand pales in comparison to ensnaring her and shocking her with his roses. Not to mention trying to slice her up with the very same sword he would’ve used to defend her in the Silver Millennium. Even if you don’t buy into my point about perverting these symbols of their relationship, the mere act of him hurting her and trying to murder her like that is going to obviously be emotionally arresting.

In a sense in those horrible moments for Usagi Endymion/Mamoru really was ‘lost’ to her, he merely looked  like her lover. This I think is why it was significant that she actually fought  back against him with her tiara. But since he still looked like her lover and intellectually she knew he wasn’t to blame (and emotionally hoped he was still salvageable) her own act of self-defence horrified her.  

Of course she does save him, but then he dies again. Depending on how you look at it, from Usagi’s POV this is at least the second  time he’s really died and that number climbs higher if you include his presumed death in episode 13 and the number of times she had to re-experience his death in the Silver Millennium. And that isn’t even counting traumatic dreams about him dying in the aftermath of episodes 34-35. It doesn’t help that his mortal injuries in episode 46 are eerily similar to the ones he sustained in episode 34, namely a violent impalement.

We might even argue this is categorically the worst  instance up until this point of Usagi watching her lover die or seemingly die. In the Silver Millennium she herself died seconds later. In episode 13 they weren’t nearly as close as they’d become by episode 46 and she at least had friends and family in her life she knew she could lean on. This equally applies to Mamoru seemingly dying in episode 34 and even his abduction in episode 35. In fact with Minako, Makoto and Artemis Usagi had an even larger support network than before. In episode 46 though her lover has died in her arms, she’s left to go on and the Inner Senshi are dead, Luna and Artemis aren’t around and the end of the world is imminent. She’s truly all alone in her grief and intellectually she knows that even if somehow she resolves the crisis her support network has been mostly gutted. THEN she herself dies  to defeat Beryl/Metalia and save the world.

She gets her fondest wish, to go back to a normal life, but that’s also taken from her due to the arrival of Ail and An. Yay for Usagi, she gets to have ALL of those traumatic memories from the Silver Millennium rerun through her head AGAIN. And this time they’re complimented by the Hell she went through in losing her friends, her lover and dying herself in the Arctic.  

But hey, at least now she and her lover can finally be together right? Nope. He literally doesn’t know her. He isn’t Endymion. He isn’t Tuxedo Mask. He isn’t the Mamoru she knew and doesn’t even want to know her. Meanwhile a prospective romantic rival is sniffing around him and for all she knows he may well be interested in her. She gets a tiny ray of hope when Moonlight Knight shows up but that’s abruptly squashed when she receives (seemingly) hard proof this guy who seems oh so similar to the man she loves definitely isn’t that man. So her tiny hope of maybe  getting him back is taken from her almost as quickly as it came.

After Ail and An depart Earth Usagi finally   has what she wants…until two episodes later. This time in the cruelest twist of fate for her, it isn’t external forces that tears Mamoru away from her. This time he  takes himself from her. From a certain point of view this is sort of worse than him dying. Usagi knows death and reincarnation are a thing and that magic exists. She already knows that, as traumatic as it might’ve been, the pair have been given more chances than most people to get together. But how is that to happen when Mamoru, in his right mind and fully possessing all his memories, clearly conveys he doesn’t want her. In the same way Tuxedo Mask pulled a disappearing act early on, now Mamoru in normal life begins actively avoiding Usagi and even saying hurtful things to her.  

It is in episode 61 (the break up episode itself) that we arguably first see this insecure side to Usagi where she questions if Mamoru prefers a child under 10 years old to her. From there we also see Mamoru try to hint to her that he’s seeing Unazuki.  

Of course Usagi eventually learns that it WAS another external force pushing them apart again (well sort of but that’s for another day). However, to lose Mamoru again after all she’d already gone through to be with him was emotionally going to be a serious twisting of the knife for her, in addition to his efforts after episode 61 to push her away. The fact that his own desire to be with her caused him to still help and even hang out with her on occasion would’ve further confused her.  

But even after  this mess is cleared up, in Sailor Moon R The Movie: Promise of the Rose Usagi has to witness Mamoru nearly die for her again. And like on other occasions it comes via an impalement right in front of her and a consequent abduction to boot. And the abductee happens to be someone she and her friends suspect might harbor romantic feelings for Mamoru as well, someone who actively insulted her, actively tried to dissuade Mamoru from dating her and who literally  pushed her away from him.  

When taken collectively, I think all these traumas associated with Usagi ‘losing’ Mamoru or otherwise being prevented from being with him would make Usagi subconsciously on the alert for the next  thing that might take him from her.

I propose that this is the actual reason for Usagi’s concerns that Mamoru might like Chibiusa more than her, for why she gets concerned when Ami and Mamoru chat together in S, for why she goes all ninja in SuperS, etc. Deep down she does  trust him and deep down she trusts her friends and doesn’t actually  feel threatened by anyone who might try to hit on Mamoru.

It’s in reality a case of her gripping too tight precisely because the object of her desire has slipped through her fingers far too many times in the past.* Or if you like, from Usagi’s POV destiny might’ve pre-ordained that she fall in love with Mamoru but she may well be concerned that it’s also pre-ordained that they be allowed to enjoy  being in love, not for too long anyway.  

However, I think this in turn set up a great example of character development for our heroine.

First of all, in episode 132 we have Chibiusa outright warning Usagi she has a romantic rival and that if she doesn’t shape up she will  lose Mamoru to her, and yet Usagi shrugs this off. 

Of course, we could argue that this is Usagi trying to simply one up Chibiusa in this moment, or else she is dismissive of the warning precisely because it comes from Chibiusa whom is both a child and someone who makes a point of trolling her. On the other hand we might view this as an example of how Usagi has in fact grown and is more at peace with the idea that she isn’t about to have Mamoru taken from her for the umpteenth time.  

Granted her over reaction in episode 136, wherein she dresses as a ninja to ensure Rei and Mamoru don’t get up to anything, goes against that idea. However, we could just as easily argue that Usagi’s reactions in that episode were an example of her backsliding precisely because of Rei and Mamoru’s history. She might not worry about Rei and Mamoru deep down, but the idea of them living in the same place when they used to date and when she knows how active  Rei was in pursuing him back in the day? It’s not beyond belief that in these specific circumstances Usagi’s resolve faltered whereas she’d have been less concerned if it’d been a stranger or someone with no romantic history with Mamoru.ffff

More significantly though is Sailor Stars. Once more Usagi ‘lost’/nearly lost Mamoru. This time this was due to Queen Nehelenia, whose efforts poisoned the Earth and by extension endangered the life of her lover. Then she did that AGAIN, this time outright brainwashing and abducting him. 

Even if this didn’t remind Usagi of her horrible experiences with Evil Endymion and Beryl, it would’ve still been disturbing and upsetting, especially when Mamoru developed a mirror fetish. Usagi went through Hell and physical torture to try and save her lover and this time the stakes were even higher. Because this time losing him would also mean losing the other person she loved the most, (Chibiusa) a horrible event that she eventually witnessed happen.

Sure, she saved the day and got both her future husband and future daughter back, but she still had to live through those horrible experiences to get to that point.  

And yet, despite these fresh traumas regarding losing her lover, in episode 173 Usagi handles Mamoru leaving for America surprisingly well.

It’s made clear she’s upset by his departure and doesn’t want  him to go. But she comes mere inches from seeing him off with a smile as she intended, demonstrating her increased strength and maturity. 

And despite her tears, despite her not wanting him to go, she still sees him off, she doesn’t try to dissuade him, she isn’t worried that he’ll meet other people or that their relationship will get torn asunder once more. She is sad because they are going to be physically separated by a long distance for a long time, but that’s the only  thing that’s of concern to her. And her reaction even then is relatively reigned in (by her standards) even in the privacy of her own home.  

And from a narrative/emotional POV it is almost like the universe rewards  her for that growth via Mamoru giving her a promise/engagement ring, saying he loves her and kissing her in the airport.

Whilst the significance of the ring is obvious (albeit not to Usagi) we shouldn’t undersell Mamoru’s words or the kiss. 

I’m willing to be corrected on this but I’m fairly certain that episode was the first time Mamoru (not Endymion, not Moonlight Knight talking about  Mamoru, etc) had ever told Usagi he loved her. Of course, his actions spoke louder than words on this front. Even before Usagi knew Mamoru was Tuxedo Mask she suspected the latter rescued her because he was in love with her. Nevertheless, having your partner actually look you in the eye and say the words can be incredibly emotionally significant for a lot of people. In a sense it is the ultimate unambiguous proof of the other person’s feelings (in theory anyway). Even if Usagi hadn’t been waiting to hear him say the words (personally I think her expression implies she had been) it would’ve nevertheless been a significant development in their relationship all the same.  

And as for the kiss, I admit I only vaguely know about Japanese cultural norms regarding PDA, but it is to my understanding that kissing in public is frowned upon. Even if I’m wrong about that, Mamoru (as evidenced by the R movie) certainly doesn’t like to kiss Usagi when anyone else is around. If you go back to check most of their kisses, either they are alone or else it’s obvious Mamoru doesn’t think anyone is observing them. The fact that he kisses Usagi not only in a public space, but an airport of all places (when there are crowds there for three big celebrities no less) is a huge deal for him. And in turn it’s a huge deal for Usagi because, whilst Mamoru might have more reservations, Usagi clearly cared a lot less about PDA, typically being the one to initiate their kisses.  

Consequent episodes further demonstrate Usagi’s growth regarding her old insecurities with Mamoru. Putting aside how we never once see her worried about him seeing other girls, in episode 181 Seiya outright raises the idea of him seeing other people. Usagi casually, without a hint of aggression, dismisses the idea.  

The irony is that it is Usagi  who’s in the situation she so often worried about regarding Mamoru. She is the person being pursued by  romantic rival to her lover, namely Seiya.  

The cruel  irony is that Usagi having matured enough to accept Mamoru leaving (despite being deeply upset and lonely about it) actually had  lost him yet again.  

She just didn’t know it.  

*Not to mention…she is a teenager. Those people tend to be ever so slightly prone to emotional over reactions at the best of times.  

[auncyen]

Ren stirred uneasily in the top compartment of the RV.  All the other guys were snoozing already, and while other nights he’d found their breathing quite peaceful--he was already used to Morgana’s sleeping tics, and being able to hear Yusuke and Ryuji as well reinforced even more firmly that he was safe, he wasn’t alone--but tonight the air was hot enough that sleep had eluded him for well over an hour, and at this point he was still glad for the company, but also starting to be a little resentful that they’d found rest so easily.

His phone buzzed, and he patted around for it with one hand while sitting up, his eyes opening with a baleful but also bleary glare at the device.  The notification light on the phone was red.  The battery was low, and a stock message informed him that Sophia was heavily draining his phone’s charge, and would he like to force the program to close?  Swallowing a yawn, he hit “Yes” and put the phone back down.  He’d charge the phone in the morning, Sophia would remind him--

Wait.  The message had said Sophia was draining the battery.

Which would make her the program he just--

Ren jerked upright, grabbing the phone again.  “Sophia?” he croaked.  There was no answer from the AI, even though she wouldn’t be asleep--she didn’t need to sleep.

He’d just forced-quit Sophia.  Which meant--which meant--

“Sophia?” he asked again.  There was a sleepy but concerned “Ren?” from Morgana.  No answer from Sophia.  What had he done?  “FUTABA!” he called, launching himself out of his sleeping bag and down from the top of the RV, ignoring his feline friend to slide down the ladder, clad in his pajamas with his phone in one hand.  He pounded on the RV door with one hand, staring at the phone in the other, frantically swiping through system control menus as though there’d be a secret option to rewind the past minute.  Of course, it was fruitless, and finding nothing helpful, he backed out of everything--

And sitting amongst the rows of his app icons was a new one.  It looked like a miniature of the box he’d found Sophia in.

...Programs could be closed and reopened.  He pressed the icon as the RV door was swung open.

“Oh my god, Ren.  What happened?  Who’s hurt?” Ann asked in a hushed voice just as Sophia appeared on screen, her digital face immediately mirroring Ann’s worry.

“Has something happened?” Sophia questioned.  “There was an interruption to my data processing.  That was strange.”

She was okay.

Ren sighed, covering his face; with Morgana circling around his feet in worry, and Yusuke now clambering down the RV’s ladder, and the sounds of more stirring within the RV, he knew he’d woken most of his friends up with that stupid moment of panic.  “False alarm,” he muttered.  “I’m a dumbass.”  He looked up at Ann to give a better explanation, since she was surely expecting one, and his mind stuttered on the observation that she was wearing a pair of loose cotton shorts and a spaghetti strap top with a matching pink and red floral print.

The correct thing to say at this point would have been “Everything’s fine,” or “I’m sorry for waking everyone up.”  Instead, what popped out of his mouth was: “Cute PJs.”

Both Morgana’s and Ann’s expressions immediately shifted from worried to unimpressed.

Futaba also looked very unimpressed when he finally explained to everyone--everyone except Ryuji, who had somehow never woken up--just what had happened.  “Jeez, you’ve fixed a laptop on your own, but you thought closing a program was the same as deleting it?”

“I know it’s not,” Ren protested weakly.  “Sophia’s not a normal program, though.”

“It’s true.  I am meant to be a companion to humanity, which is outside the scope of the vast majority of programs,” Sophia said from her perch on the phone stand.  She was now plugged into a charger battery.  “However, when it comes to the most basic functions, I am not much different.  Do not worry, Ren.  My last search may have been lost, but I believe it was inconsequential.  I had been, as it’s called, ‘going down a kwikipedia rabbit hole’.  The last thing I remember is reading the article for ‘eustress’.  The next thing I have knowledge of is Ann’s query regarding everyone’s status.  There is nothing in-between, good or bad.”

“Does that bother you?” Makoto asked.  Sophia hummed noncommittally.

“Not really.  This was unexpected, but it is still an event that can happen within normal parameters.  Humans experience the same thing every night, don’t they?  You remember going to sleep, but not actually sleeping, and then it’s morning.”

“Or it’s 1:34 am,” Yusuke said, wistfully gazing at his phone’s time.

“I’m sorry,” Ren said.

“I can’t believe Ryuji managed to sleep through Ren yelling like that.”  Morgana glared at the RV’s roof.  “I oughtta wake him up--”

“Morgana, you do that, and no one is getting back to sleep,” Ann warned.  “...Besides, he’s probably sleeping like a log because he did a lot in the jail.  Which just makes me surprised you were awake,” she told Ren.  She squinted at his face.  “You never got to sleep, did you.”

“I miss Takemi’s drug trials,” Ren said.  “I could just take some strange medicine, and I’d be knocked out in ten seconds.”

Haru pulled a face at that.  “I don’t think there’s any need for that,” she said. “Why don’t I make us some chamomile tea, and we can talk and relax until we feel ready to go back to sleep?”

[the-worst-fe-player]

☕ everything about fates and the drama give us an essay king

Lamo thank you to king/queen/royalty

Okay so I'm gonna break this down into segments and header it with a different colour some will he shorter than others. Also sorry if I spell names of county wrong and rember this is just my opinion

Story

Also heads up I played it in this order conquest -> rev -> birthrights I know I should have swapped rev and birthrights but it was really expensive and I was like 14

Fates story is not the best but deffently not as bad as some people said. Overall I'll be honst I liked conquest story but not birthrights which I know most people have the opposite oppion on but like I found conquest to be more fun I enjoyed the idea of sneaking around garons back with your siblings and being powerless at times to stop a lot of the things like the massacre where scarlet dies and ryoma death there where moments I just groaned at the screen but apart from that I had more fun. Birthrights I'll be real the story kind of bored me i only really found certain parts interesting but my favourite moment from fates actually came from birthrights and it was the Xander fight where he killed elise and then let corrin kill him it was tragic and sad and I live for angst ngl. rev story I don't remember to much sorry I mostly fouced on the characters ngl but that sence with the kid turning into the faceless was really cool and also the one with makoto and she fucks with you and the doors but idk if that's classed as story or gameplay but either way that was sick

Gameplay

Fates gameplay was soild as fuck I will die on this hill. The pair up was cool, the skills and classes where sick and the character balancing minor some major problems *cough xander ryoma takumi cough* was pretty cool and corrin is not nearly as broken as Robin or byleth. I like to play conquest the most because I'm a maschoist lol but even though most of revs maps where gimmicks I love them there so iconic, tbh most of fates maps are like I understand most of fates criticism but the maps, apart from rev as not everyone likes gimmicks, I just dont understand

Phoenix mode

Honstly play the game how you want to if that's on normal Phoenix go a head I dont care you play the game how you want to. Like yeah Phoenix mode may take away all the difficulty but casual took away perma death and that's the most played game mode because that's what people want and if people want Phoenix then just let them have it doesn't bother me I will never play it but I dont care if others do.

Corrin

Okay so I actually like corrin and before you look away I will explain why I think their dislikes and why I do like them and think how they could be improved

I think the promblem people have with Corrin is that they dont have enough personilty to be a regular character but they have to much that they can't be an avatar if you know what I mean. Like with Robin they deffently had a personily but they weren't the main character chrom was so it wasn't in your face as much yeah they made some important decisions whitch often did nothing but at the end of the day it lopped back to chrom and this is something corrin cant do everything has to be about corrin as there the main lord. But corrin is kind they dont want to kill common soldiers and that's never really addressed (as far as I can remember) why corrin wont kill like the sibling bit make sense but the common solider whitch could have killed there spouse is just frustrating at times and something not many people feel while playing. Corrin would have worked better if they wasn't a self insert that went against the average players emotions. But yeah I do feel people are to harsh on corrin as well though like with the whole not earning the Yaot witch is like they kind of did though it was the fact that who ever held the yaot would bring the world peace and they did it was there destiny to do so to fight in a war and mabey kill there family but even then I don't see people giving the three houses leaders shit for there wepons and they did less all they did was be born from a group of people that committed genocide! But also many people say nothing bad happens to them but at least in conquest and birthrights corrin suffers, in conquest the blood of what you think are your siblings are on your hands one forced to commit sucide and the other painful possed and then there the amount of murder they just had to watch and then birthrights watching elise die for them and xander pretty much letting corrin kill him and everything else like bruh this shit is sad and is also the reson I pray fe stops using self inserts and goes back to the older ways

Translation

Why! Why! Who thought that was a good idea Xander what did they do to him 🥺 I haven't finshed reading a direct translation of fates yet but its like so much better then the English version if you have the chance to read through it's worth it so much. Also same with three houses it wasn't as bad but like certain scenes are better like the really cringy reponse el had to dimitri on gronder feild actually makes sense and just especially if you like crimson flower as out of all the routs edelgard and cf feels like it got changed the most its just interesting ngl anyway onto fates again

The petting game

I know I would hate it as I already hate the wake the slug a bug up and the "you didn't blow niles hard enough" stuff but it was also optional so like idk i don't really have an oppion

Fan service (camilla)

I like big tits (as long as there not mine lol) as much as the next person who also likes that stuff but even I'll admit It was way to much at times especially the did you miss you big sister part like I enjoy camillas character I'm a sucker for a character with a tragic backstory, loves there family, cares for others a bit to much and could bench press me but the times where she was just fan severse sucked.

Paying for everything sprealty

I hate it:(

Characters

Leo♥️leo♥️leo♥️

Overall I like the majority of characters, here are my top 3 favs girls and boy

Best girls : Charlotte, orochi and Nyx

Best boys: leo, saizo and laslow (idk if he counts if not Forrest)

I always see people being like (x) was wasted in fates i wished they were in a different game but literally 3/4 of the cast have that said about them so like do yall hate the cast or love it :/

My overall oppion

I have mixed oppions over all I do like fates conquest is one of my favourite fe and I hope mabey in twenty years it will get re made with a better translation and some adjustments to corrin and the story

Thank you for the ask sorry this is so long and sorry if it makes no sense

[shadowtarot]

CHM: I am just using Sho as a Red Herring/Living Inciting incident FYI. Maybe he contacts Ryuji again, following a fight possibly, he tells him to tell his leader (how he knows about Ren in Inaba? who knows.) to go to Junes and stick his hand in the big TV in the Elec. Dept. just avoid the mascot and manager (Yosuke). Sho is just causing stuff for shits and giggles. Plus it’s a way to rope in P4.

Chariot's Mystery Part 18

Following that fiasco in the messed up Metaverse, Ryuji's been on edge. Despite the fact that Ren gave that threat to Kirijo, they now had to capture Sho as a show of faith. Or as it actually was, work with Sho to try and further expose Kirijo. That meant that he was bait for the red-haired manic. His mind goes back to the conversation that happened directly after school that day: "ARE YOU INSANE?!" Zenkichi says in the video call. "Sending Ryuji on his own to lure him is suicide. I had a first hand experience with him, and despite his looks he could easily break my damn sword if he wanted. At least...that's what I could tell at least." The Trio were in the warehouse again, given it was the only safe spot at the moment to discuss these things. "Buuut, we don't want to send you and Doc out there. You're both Newbs! Sure you've had a little experience in combat, but Ryuji's had his Persona longer than most of us! ...excluding Mona." Futaba plays with a Jaggriko in her hand as Yusuke sketches in the background. "Well I'm at least gonna stay on standby, I'm not about to let this get deadly if simple discussion goes south." Zenkichi folds his arms, looking at everyone seriously. Sophia's tiny icon bounces on the screen. "I can try to look up information on him while we do these dealings. Perhaps find any report of crimnal history?" Makoto nods. "That sounds good. Now Ryuji, Ren showed you how to make Thief Tools during our roundtrip right? We don't know Sho's elemental affinity...if he even has one. I'd make a few elemental rounds for each element. Just to be safe."

"Right." Ryuji nods, glancing over at the spare set of tools Ren gave him. Suddenly, Ryuji's phone alarm goes off. It was time for him to start heading down that same alley way as before. Zenkichi and Maruki were watching from a safe distance. All Ryuji needed to do was get Sho's cooperation. And as if on cue, Sho appears. "Seriously? The same damn alleyway? You're not supposed to be predictable in your line of work, dumbass." Sho's getting dangerously close, but Ryuji's hand is firmly in his pocket, thumb hovering over the Broken Metanav. He doesn't say a word as he activates it, dragging Sho into the Metaverse with him. Taking a deep breath as Skull opens his eyes to the glitchy Metaverse, he draws his weapon. "Sho, yeah? Look we both hate Kirijo, but we need a way to get closer in to dig more dirt on 'em so-" But Sho's already drawn one sword, pointing it at Skull's neck. "Blah blah blah. I'll listen to whatever the hell you got, but I ain't listing to SHIT until you fight me." Now that there wasn't several Persona users around him, Skull could better judge Sho's aura. There was no way in hell he'd win in a fair fight. Good thing he wasn't planning on fighting fair.

I gotta fight him just enough to figure out his weaknesses. Time to make him show his hand!

Skull charges at Sho, not even summoning William, choosing instead to just strike at him with his club. Sho just casually blocks it with his short sword, drawing his full length and striking him hard with the blunt end. "Did you seriously already forget how I was armed? Or are you really as much of a dumbass as I had you pegged for?" Sho mocks charging at Ryuji while he's stunned. He was fast, too fast to react to. But he needed to space himself somehow! Skull begins to scan the buildings, looking for a safe path to jump and scale. Unfortunately, while a path was found...a Curse attack had already hit him the moment he took his eyes off Sho. "Gah!" Ryuji winces. Curse didn't do a whole lot to him, but at least he could hopefully figure out his weakness now that he knows his affinity. Moving fast, a Bless Round is loaded into his shotgun as he aims...but looking down past the barrel...he sees Sho yawn as he puts his weapons away. "You space out in combat, then point a gun at me? Come on...at least make it interesting. Look, if your goal was to bore me with piss poor fighting you did it. Congrats, loser." Sho leans up against a wall though goes back to standing up once he notices the wall cease to exist. "Your group has a leader, and I know pretty damn well that none of you three bozos are it. Nooo, you gotta be special beyond special to lead a group. At least that's what those damn people in blue seemed to imply...." Sho mutters to himself. "Give me a way to contact him." Putting the shotgun away, Skull stares right at Sho. "You'll be contacting Joker in that case. I can't give you direct contact, but we have a sorta...uh...secure network we use to relay information and-" "And? You need an access point to ping me, yeah? Here." Sho takes out a slip of paper. The stuff written on it is foreign to Ryuji, but all he can gather is...Sho was already prepared for this. This might be why Kirijo counts him as dangerous. Three Hours following this exchange, Futaba is getting the link all set up for Ren. "Is it illegal to hack someone if they've given consent, Zenkichi-san?" Haru asks as the team has one last meeting. "If permission was granted, it'd be the same as hotwiring someone's car to save their life, yes? The act is frowned upon, but if there's no bad intent then it shouldn't have issues." Yusuke interjects. "Hey-let me at least answer the question!" Zenkichi sighs. Everyone laughs, only for Futaba to suddenly cheer. "Everything's all set up, Ren! Now whenever you use that access point we've been using to contact someone outside of the team on your cell...the voice filter should still work."

"Great. I'll be contacting him solo. I'll try to get any intel out of him I can." Ren nods. "I'll talk to you guys tomorrow with what I got." Once the team logged off, Ren contacts Sho. "So you actually called, huh? Guess you guys do some things right after all." Sho's snark can be felt on the other end of the line. "Joker right? Why are you guys so hellbent on contacting me for?" "We want to strike a deal with you. We need an in to get on Kirijo's good side and expose what they have done in better detail. But to do this, we need your help. You know a lot about the group, correct?" Ren choses his words carefully.

"...yeah I do. Hell, they hide so many damn secrets, it's clear they're planning SOMETHING. Did your little data dig give you info about the TVs?" Sho's question is sudden.

"TVs?"

"Yeah. In a small town called Inaba, there's a TV in the local Junes that never gets sold. They use it as a normal TV for customers. But...if you touch that TV, something strange happens. No one in the town knows about it, so it's 100% a cover up." Sho's smirking on the other end of the line. "Confirm that rumor for me, yeah? ...and don't let the bear or the brunette see you."

Sho suddenly hangs up at that point. "TV in Junes. ...there is that outdated TV in the home appliances section." Checking the time, Ren makes his way to Junes. He had a few hours before they closed, should be enough time to see if it was BS or not. The store's huge, weaving and maneuvering around different isles until he finally reaches that section. "Hm...so if I touch it..." Ren says quietly, extending his hand to the screen only to see it ripple like water. "That movement....it's not dissimilar to how the Meta Nav takes you in. ...can I stick my hand in it...?" The moment he does, however...two pairs of eyes have already locked on to what he's doing. He forgot to heed the warning....

[miyakuli]

I saw your fandom post so uhm, free! 💙💜🖤💚

Send me a fandom

Thank you anon <333 I remember doing this fandom in the past and I’m pretty sure a lot of things have changed since then :p

The first character I first fell in love with: Makoto obviously x))

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Rin. It took me few years bcs at first I couldn’t bear him but, I grew up and started to see things in a new light. So yeah, Rin is def one of my fav charac now ^^

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: *take a breath* Momo/////// not that I dislike him but now I think he’s kinda annoying x)

The character I love that everyone else hates: idk...is there someone being hated in the fandom?

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: *I’msorryI’msorryI’msorry* I have to say Nitori BUT, it’s not that I don’t like him but with the new seasons, his character didn’t seem to evolve so now I’m kinda indifferent sadly :s

The character I would totally smooch: Makoto <333333

The character I’d want to be like: well, Makoto again xD an angel that can be anxious but take the strength in his surroundings to get through the difficulties and move forward? A MODEL

The character I’d slap: Rin xDD ily but damn you need a slap sometimes lol

A pairing that I love: OHH I WONDER WHICH ONE I LOVE *take a look to my icon that hasn’t changed in years*

A pairing that I despise: well, Rinharu, I’ll always see them as best bros, can’t see them romantically involved