#her persona is named after Will Scarlet

[system-threat-detected]

Horizontober day 18: Tarot

A flimsy excuse to make another Persona crossover!

[agathasstrap]

call it puppy love ~ a.h

taglist: @ihaveawifebutwerenotmarriedyet @harknessshi @natashasdetka @inlovewithalcinadimitrescu @lanfear-is-my-darkmistress

pairing: agatha harkness x reader, reader x agatha harkness

word count: 3.7k

summary: agatha harkness is one of the most infamous witches to ever exist, and she also just so happens to be your ex. it's been three years since you broke up and she left to chase the scarlet witch and her chaos magic. your friend invites you to a bar to celebrate her birthday, and you accept, eager to get out of the house and enjoy yourself. what you didn't plan for, was seeing agatha there, much less with a woman. you leave the bar in a rage, annoyed and angry with how she had the audacity to show up after all this time, much less with someone else. when you get home, you unfortunately find that she's waiting there for you. you try your best to resist, but it proves impossible when she decides she's going to remind you that you belong to her, and that she would never fuck anyone the way she fucks you.. if at all.

content warnings: dom!agatha harkness, fem!reader, ex!agatha harkness, degrading, praising, mommy k!nk, slapping, fingering, pet names, a little violence, marking/hickeys, biting, fluff, magic use, smut.

you never knew what to expect when it came to your ex girlfriend. then again, maybe you should've thought about that before you fell in love with one of the most infamous witches to ever exist.

agatha harkness was a killer, a monster, some would even go as far as to say the devil.. but you loved her. you saw beyond her facade, you were one of the only people who really knew her.

you being a non-witch however, caused most of the issues that led to the breakup. your ex girlfriend loved using her power to manipulate you, as if it was a game to see how far she could make you go for her. on one side, it turned you on to know she was using her power to control you, and on the other, you wanted her to be her true self with you. manipulation and control were her main persona, but you knew that deep down, she was soft, and gentle. she had showed you this side of her before, but when she went back to being cold, and ruthless, it felt like she had become a different person.

the last time you saw her was three years ago. you missed her, but you knew it was better this way. the last you'd heard, she was meddling with the life of the scarlet witch. oh how you knew she must've enjoyed that. it made you a little jealous, knowing someone else would receive the same treatment you did, but again.. you knew it was better this way.

it was your friend's birthday, and you were invited to celebrate with her at a bar. you were excited, but a little anxious. superstition was never really your thing, but there was just a feeling you couldn't shake.

you decided to pretend like you didn't have this feeling. you wanted to have a good night, and you wanted to be present.

as you stepped out from the taxi you took, you felt a shiver go down your spine. again, you chose to ignore it.. but in the back of your mind, for just a second, you thought that this feeling was familiar.. that you'd felt it before.

when you opened the glass door to the bar, you sighed, smiling at the sight of your friend camille. she waved you over to the empty barstool next to her, and you eagerly followed her direction.

the last time you had seen her was last year when you two ran into each other at a cafe. it was refreshing to be out and about with other people you held dear.

you put your purse down on the stool beside you and order a drink.

when the bartender returns with your order, you and camille begin to catch up on the events of your life and the events of hers. she was one of the few friends you had who already knew about agatha harkness. you thought of course, since she already knew your long history, agatha wouldn't come up, but you were wrong.

"so.. how long's it been?"

you were mid sip when camille asked this, and you almost spit it out with a laugh when her eyebrows raised. you swallowed the liquor, letting the burning sensation warm your throat.

"what do you mean?" you ask, tilting your head in confusion.

"how long has it been since you've seen her?" when the question sank in, you felt a lump form in your throat. you bit your lip and downed the rest of your drink before raising a finger so that the bartender would refill it.

if there was one thing you hated, it was talking about agatha.

you smiled, not wanting to show your uncomfortable feelings upon that question.

"it's been three years." you were avoiding her gaze.

camille put a hand on your leg, and her lips turned to a pout.

"oh, you poor thing.. have you been with anyone else after.. you know..?" now she was sipping from her glass, her eyes locked in on your face.

you shook your head, a little embarrassed. you had been close, even gotten as far as having someone new in your bed.. but you could never actually go there with anyone else. it was like a curse, a burden.

camille's hand raced to cover her mouth, and she looked at you with so much pity. it enraged you a little.

"look, i mean, i've kissed other people, i just.. she just.. i don't know! i don't know." you sighed, turning your body to face her.

"i don't even know where she is, for gods sake!"

at this last comment, camille's eyes seemed to be completely entranced by something behind you. that same chill from before ran through your body, and your heart started racing. camille bit her lip and looked at you, "i think i just found her."

your head jerked to the side. your eyes instantly found what had caught her attention.. agatha harkness.

all you could see was the half of her face, and of course her body. you knew well enough it was her, though.

her hands were entangled in someone's hair, and the other woman was on her lap, straddling her. the part of her face that was hidden was buried in the stranger's neck, where you imagined she was leaving marks and warm kisses.

your heart sank, and you barely even noticed when the man behind the bar returned your refilled glass.

camille put her hand on your shoulder, trying to snap you out of your unbreakable gaze.

it worked, and you turned away, planting your palms against your forehead. it was stupid to come here, you should've just listened to your intuition. you knew there was something wrong tonight.

camille tried her best to console you, offering to pay for the drinks you consumed, and even to drive you home.

you refused. you just wanted to crawl into your bed and forget what you'd seen. i mean, what were the chances you'd see her in a bar after three years and she'd be with her new little plaything?

you picked up your purse and stood up, not even bothering to finish your drink. camille looked at you with that pitiful expression again, and you felt even more angered at this.

you didn't even tell her goodbye as you started to walk towards the bar door.

against your better judgement, you sighed, and looked back at where you'd seen your ex girlfriend. you could've been wrong, and you thought for a second you might've been, because when you did look she was looking back.

the eye contact was prevalent between the two of you for at least a minute, and you started breathing heavily.

agatha wore a smirk, and bit her lip. her hands were wrapped around the woman's waist, and you watched, almost hypnotized, as she kissed the stranger's neck again. anger, and even a little bit of jealousy pooled in your chest.

even more confusing was the fact that while she left warm kisses on this woman's neck, her eyes were locked on yours.

she pulled away from her throat and she tightened her grip around the stranger's waist. you bit your lip and took a deep breath. agatha winked.. and then the realization hit you like a brick. agatha being here tonight was no mistake. she came to this bar because of you. she wanted to torture you. she was evil, and she was haunting you.

you decided then that you hated her. you decided that you hated agatha harkness with every bone in your body.

your hands pushed the door open roughly, and you rushed through the opening.

thankfully, a cab was close to the establishment, and you raised your hand to signal for the driver to stop.

he did, and you got in without hesitation. you spent the ride home replaying the scene at the bar over and over again. you couldn't figure out what she wanted, or why she would show up after three years, just to make you jealous. it infuriated you, it made you want to bang your head against a wall. you hated her. or at least, that's what you decided this feeling was.

when you got home, you threw your bag onto your couch. your head was spinning. you wanted to stop thinking about her, but it felt impossible.

you ran your fingers through your hair and closed your eyes, when you heard a thud. it sounded like it came from your room.

your mind immediately went to an intruder, a burglar, or even a murderer. upon instinct, you hurried to the kitchen, pulling a long and sharp knife from one of the drawers.

you look around as you approach your room, trying to make out anything that might be lurking in the dark of your house.

when you reach the door to your bedroom, you peek through the crack between the frame. you see a dark figure. it's a person, and they're rummaging around in your closet. you take a deep breath, gaining the courage to go in there. you'd never hurt someone before, and you had no idea if this person was armed.

however, you knew, if you wanted to get rid of them, you should go in there. you roll your eyes, cursing the universe for this hectic night, and burst through the door, lunging after the person hidden in the dark.

your free hand wraps around their neck, and your knife is held against their throat.

the mysterious intruder chuckled, and you froze. your knife pressed into the skin on their neck, and you tightened your grip on the blade.

you knew who it was the moment you heard that sly and cocky chuckle.. it was your ex girlfriend.

agatha fiddled her fingers around, and there was now light in the room. she expected you to release her, but you stood still, your blade still threatening her throat.

she was hesitant to speak, but did so anyway. "huh, after all these years you'd think i'd remember how much you like knife play.."

her tease at you made your blood boil. you pulled the knife from her neck and unwrapped your arm from her throat. she stumbled, but it was clear that she enjoyed how much her comment angered you.

you threw the knife onto the bed and walked towards the door. you wouldn't stay in the same room as her for another moment. she was so enraging.

just as your hand met the handle, you were pulled back by an unseen force. you groaned as you were slammed against the wall of your bedroom.

agatha was watching you, amused.

you wince at the pain of the contact your back makes with the wall, but your eyes stay closed, you were still determined not to look at her.

she hums and sits down on your bed. her eyes dart around the room for a while, and you still avoid looking at her. she noticed by now of course, that you weren't looking at her.

this put a smile on her face.

agatha released you from the force of her magic, and you fell to your knees.

"don't try to leave again." her voice is cold, and you know that the best thing to do is listen to her.

you managed to get up, brushing off any dust from your body.

agatha bit her lip, "come here, pet." your body shivered, like it had throughout the night.

finally, you met her gaze. she smirked when you did, and her finger lifted. she was signaling for you to come closer, and you looked her up and down. it had been so long since you've had her.. you wanted her.. but you hated her.

even with that being acknowledged, you knew she would get her way somehow, so you took the liberty of taking the easy route and following her orders.

when you'd made yourself even with her, you noticed how she looked at your body. she looked hungry, looked eager. you'd seen her this way before.. you knew what she wanted from you.

part of you wanted to go, because you knew that you'd let her have her way with you, and the other part wanted to fight back, to make her angry and pathetic for a change.

she didn't give you time to do either option.

her hands clawed into your hips, and she pulled you down onto your knees, so that you'd be almost level with, but a little lower than her; being she was sitting on your bed.

you pursed your lips as her hand shot up to your chin. she held you firm, examining your face.

"god.. how i've missed my pretty little plaything." her eyes darkened with lust, and you bit your lip, looking up at her.

agatha retracted her hand from your jaw and pouted at you, tilting her head. her hand pulled back, and in a flash it connected to your cheek in a harsh slap.

your hands rushed to the side of your face, and you moaned at the pain. she hummed.

"you're so weak and pathetic, baby.." she whispered, cupping your hands with her own, the very hand that had caused the pain to begin with.

"i'm not weak, and i'm not pathetic, and i'm not your 'baby'." you spat, pushing away her hand.

she raised her eyebrows in curiosity and cackled. you watched intently as she spread her legs out, patting her lap.

you blushed, not sure if it was because she had flustered you or if it was embarrassing that she knew you'd still do as she said.

agatha rolled her eyes, and you took that as a sign that she was tired of waiting. you decided she would just have to suck it up.

"i'm not sitting on your lap. i'm not yours anymore, agatha. if you want some slut to manipulate.. why don't you go and find whoever you were with at the bar." you were shaking with anger, agatha could see the jealousy behind your words. you stood, and you held a straight face to her. you wanted her to think you were in control, to know that even though she had power, she couldn't use you anymore.. even with as much as you may have liked it.

she pressed her lips together, closing her eyes. she rose from the bed, opening her eyes when she was still. you thought about backing up a little, but you decided not to.

agatha wasn't looking at your face anymore. her eyes were on your body, specifically on your chest.

"take it off." she didn't even look back at you, her eyes were pointed, and her arms were crossed.

you sighed in shame, lifting your shirt from your body. she always got what she wanted.

when the top half of your body was uncovered besides your bra, she smirked, pulling you close to her body. her fingers trailed up your back, straight to the clasp of your garment. within a second, it was on the ground.

agatha's lips found your neck. you knew she'd leave marks on you, ones you'd never be able to explain. she loved to mark you, however. she loved to make sure everyone knew you were hers.

with each kiss and bite and suckle, you moaned, your hands eventually ending up entangled in her hair.

she dragged her tongue from your pulse point to your earlobe, biting it gently.

she whispered to you in a seductive manner, "you know mommy loves it when you get jealous.."

your body reacted, a wet heat began to pool between your legs. she knew how to get to you, she knew what made you crazy.

"i put on that whole show for you.. the kissing, the biting.. even fucking her, it was all for you."

you pressed your tongue to the inside of your cheek, and pushed her away from you.

"you fucked her?" your tone sounded accusatory. you were angry, you wished you had power; you'd have killed her by now.

"no, but your reaction was golden. really, you should see your face right now!"

her smile was intoxicating, and you felt a little relief that she hadn't touched another woman the way she's touched you. but then it hit you that she's been gone, for three years. with the scarlet witch of all people.. you didn't want to think of the things agatha might've done to her. but you wanted to know, you needed to know if she had been with anyone else. it meant something to you.

"did you.. have sex with.. you know, other people?" the sentence came out shaky, but you hoped she wouldn't notice.

she shook her head slightly, "why would you ask that, cariño? you know i.." for the first time since she'd been there, you saw sincerity behind her eyes; she was hurt by the question. maybe that was why she didn't finish her answer off.

you bit your lip and your fingers grabbed the material of your skirt. you slowly slid it down your body, avoiding her eyes. you were left only in your underwear, which were soaked and ruined already. you removed them too, leaving your body fully available and vulnerable to agatha's every will.

she watched intensely, her eyes dragging up your body.

"come here, y/n."

you went up to her, your nipples touching her button up shirt.

she pulled you as close as possible by your waist, and your lips were clashing with hers.

it had been three years since you'd kissed her. it felt like heaven. she felt like heaven.

she turned you so that your back would face the bed, and drew her lips back. using a finger, she pushed you down onto the soft surface. you watched as she stood at the end of the bed, unbuttoning her shirt. she threw it to the floor, same with her bra, pants, and panties.

agatha was the most beautiful woman you'd ever seen. her body was like a work of art.

"you're so perfect" you said a little quietly, part of you hoping she hadn't heard you.

she smiled, and climbed on top of you. her lips were on yours again, and the kisses felt so freeing, so sweet. it wasn't aggressive.

her hands cupped your breasts, and her thumbs circled your nipples.

your head tilted back, and you moaned into the kiss.

she pulled away, leaving you speechless. her lips started to run down your body, from your neck to your nipples. she took her time there, suckling them into her mouth, brushing her tongue against them. you felt the heat between your thighs start to grow, and your neediness for her began to get unbearable. her hand started to retreat down your stomach, and your hips bucked up as it fell between your thighs.

her mouth moved up again, and she kissed up to your ear.

agatha sucked onto your pulse point, something you were sure would leave a hickey.

her fingers lingered in the slick wetness of your pussy. you desperately needed her.

she released the part she had been sucking on, and whispered a question to you. "do you want mommy to put her fingers inside of you?"

you opened your mouth to reply, and as you did, her fingers began to rub against your clit.

you moaned at the touch, and your body jerked. she chuckled. god, she knew exactly how to make you a mess.

her fingers sped up, and she asked again, "i said.. do you want mommy to put her fingers inside of you..?"

you whimpered, nodding your head.

she bit your earlobe and you knew she wanted to hear you say it.

"i want your fingers inside of me mommy! please!" your face was red and hot at the confession, the plead. she smirked and then two fingers entered inside your soaked folds.

your eyes rolled back, and you arched your body. her fingers started thrusting into your pussy with increasing speed.

you'd missed her so much. you missed her fingers, and her voice, and the way she made you feel. you never wanted to go this long without her again.

she bit into your neck as her fingers curled into you. you moaned for her, "fuck, fuck, aggie! oh, please don't stop, please.."

her teeth released, "you're such a good girl for me, y/n."

your body was writhing in the pleasure you felt as her fingers curled and thrusted inside of you. you could feel yourself close to a climax.

agatha sped her fingers up just enough to get you there, and when you reached your orgasm, she slowed down, helping you ride it out.

you felt so free, so nostalgic as you rode your ex girlfriends fingers, covering them in cum.

she kissed you, taking away any oxygen you might've had before. the kisses were sloppy, but you savored every moment of them.

as your body finally relaxed, she pulled her fingers from your core, which left you to whimper.

she pulled her lips away, smiling at you. she brought her cum-covered fingers to your lips. "come on pretty girl, clean mommy's fingers."

you opened your mouth and sucked your juices off of them, and agatha bit her lip watching you clean up the mess she had turned you into.

she laughed, pulling them back.

you were blushing, still a little embarrassed about the way your body longed for her; even after all this time.

agatha could tell you were a little nervous, anxious even. she stroked your hair, cupping your jaw simultaneously.

"i could never.." she was being genuine now, you could tell by the way her expression softened. "i love you.. i couldn't—"

you chuckled and pulled her face close to yours. both of your eyes were focused on each other's. you nodded, letting her know that you understood.

she pulled you into another kiss and you happily kissed back.

when she finally broke the embrace, you smiled.

"you may be the most infuriating woman i've ever met, but i love you, agatha."

[whereispearlescentmoon]

For those who need a GGG recap on why the three of them seem to be pre-divorced (Warning, this is a Pearl blog. I will try to be as balanced as possible, but I may seem biased towards Pearl):

TLDR; They can’t stop betraying each other but the sticking point is what counted as the first betrayal.

Last Life: Scott and Pearl were teamed up (Scottage Duo/Galaxy Duo), and when Cleo was betrayed by BigB, Scott brought her in to their team, forming GGG. At the very end of the series, it was down to Scott and Pearl vs Ren and Martyn. When Scott killed Ren he said he had to because Ren killed Pearl. This is the healthiest they will ever be.

Double Life: The fault here is dependent on what you see as the first betrayal. If you haven’t seen this season, the gimmick is that they had soulmates who they shared a health bar with. If one took damage, the other did, and vice versa.

On day one, Pearl and Martyn decided to go to the nether together, something Martyn does every season he can, to gather supplies. Scott and Cleo ended up figuring out that those two had to be their soulmates because literally everyone else was teamed up and because they were taking damage constantly, which is typical of a nether trip. To Scott and Cleo, this is the first betrayal. Pearl and Martyn ditched them to go to the nether without caring about how their soulmate would also be taking damage.

When they got back, Pearl and Martyn went to look for their soulmates. Martyn set up a little game show at spawn that Scott and Cleo showed up to. When it was discovered that Scott and Pearl were soulmates, Scott announced that actually Cleo was already his soulmate and they didn’t want Pearl or Martyn, Martyn decided to pin the nether trip on Pearl, which was a lie btw, and he left her alone. To Pearl, this is the first betrayal. Pearl also, notably, has gotten a wolf on the first session that Martyn actually named Tilly, who she declares is her soulmate. It is at this point that Pearl starts to lean into the “Scarlet Pearl”/5AM Pearl persona which from her POV is very much a scorned, sad, lonely woman, but from everyone else’s POV is lowkey terrifying.

Cleo and Scott set up a “relationship ranch” to essentially be a couples counselor to other soulmate pairs. At some point they decide a good way to get back at their soulmates would be to axe crit each other, which does more damage than a sword strike. Cleo and Scott are also constantly talking about how much their soulmates suck all season, and are generally, by their own admission, the “mean girls” of the season.

Pearl at around the same time is approached by Scar, who felt cast aside by his soulmate and ally Grian, and Scar gives her the idea to use powdered snow, an item that does low but constant damage, so they can both annoy their soulmates. Pearl, after the axe crit, decides that two can play at the intentional damage game, and sits in the powdered snow with Scar. On multiple instances, both Pearl and Scott will stand in powdered snow while staring at each other, basically playing chicken with their health bars. Pearl also stands in powdered snow with Cleo at some point.

However, Pearl is 100% more reckless with their health than Scott. She lives a massive tower with only a ladder to get up and down that she constantly takes little bits of damage on, and she actually intentionally brings herself down to half a heart right in front of Scott by taking fall damage while taunting him. She is also responsible for their first death, having decided to try and steal a diamond chest plate from the Boat Boys (Joel and Etho) despite them being on red and thus allowed to kill.

There is also an incident in which Pearl decides to mess with Scott and Cleo by building a small hut on the bridge outside their home. Cleo responds by burning it, including doing damage to Tilly, who again Pearl has declared her soulmate. This seems to make Pearl really angry and upset and what started as playful teasing on both sides becomes actively malicious. It is worth noting that, rewatching DL, Pearl has no alliances that last more than maybe half a session. I haven’t watched Third Life, but as far as I can tell Pearl was the first person to ever have 0 allies all season, unless you count her occasional brushes with Scar where they were friendly enough or the time Ren and Martyn groveled to her out of desperation (After Ren had called her a demon with evil in her heart, but also gave her her second Tilly when the first one died. It’s complicated but not the point of this.)

At the end of the season, the last yellows were, ironically, the Divorce Quartet. Scott actually brings Pearl another wolf so she can breed up an entire dog army. The four of them hang out for part of the session, an event filled with snide comments on all sides, until Pearl goes off on her own again. Eventually Scott gets killed by Joel, bringing them down to red.

Pearl, by my own estimate, wins when she kills Impulse and BDubs and Martyn and Cleo on her own. This also starts the tradition of Pearl killing Cleo when she feels Cleo has betrayed her, as she only starts attacking after Martyn, who Cleo is now firmly allied with, shoots a firework at some of her dogs. The reason I say she won there is because the only person left is Scott. If they were any other soulmate pair, this may have been a double win, but unlike everyone else, these two weren’t allies. Scott blows himself up, killing himself and Pearl, but since he’s the one who actually died, Pearl is declared the victor.

Limited Life: This season actually starts relatively well for Cleo and Pearl, and Cleo and Scott. Cleo and Scott immediately make a side alliance, which is their default, and so do Cleo and Pearl. Scott and Cleo all season maintain their side alliance and generally are pretty friendly and willing to help each other out. Pearl teams up with BigB, who Cleo warns her about due to the fact that BigB has betrayed them before. Pearl both does not head this warning and is never betrayed by BigB.

Pearl and Scott get off to a rocky start immediately when she goes over to the island he has set up with Martyn. She immediately brings up last season, and it’s clear there’s still animosity between them, though it’s more playful this time.

Pearl and Cleo, by virtue of being neighbors, interact a lot more. The Clockers (Cleo, Scar, and Bdubs) set up by spawn on day one, mostly to watch the Bad Boys mansion burn after Cleo sets it on fire, and the Nosey Neighbors (Pearl and BigB) set up next to them so they can have a central point to watch everyone from (always watching).

Pearl and Cleo realize that they are going to go yellow at the same time, as they have the same amount of time left (the gimmick of limited life is that the players had 24 hours to live and could gain time by killing and lose time by dying). They decide to stand still and stare at each other while they turn yellow.

At some point, and I’m genuinely forgetting why, Scar decides to burn down some of the decorations on the Nosey Neighbor’s tower. I think it may have been that they promised the Clockers some TNT mine carts that they didn’t deliver on? Either way, Pearl takes this personally. Her and BigB both build a wall and dig a trench between them and the Clockers, showing that their tentative alliance is over.

Pearl, once yellow, decides to switch to her 5AM Pearl skin to mess with people and fails. Scott actually says at some point “Oh she thinks she can just put on a red skin and act crazy,” to mock her attempts at being scary. She does, however, successfully steal him and Martyn’s enchanting table, making them enemies.

The only person who does seem legit put off by her changing her skin is Cleo, who gets startled upon seeing her and says “Oh are we Scarlet Pearling this session?”

When Scott is on yellow and Cleo is on red, Scott lets Cleo kill him to gain more time, again solidifying their alliance. Scott ends up coming over at Pearl’s request in the final session and she tries to trap him to get BigB time. It doesn’t work. Scott ends up expressing that Pearl is a great ally to have, which BigB agrees with.

Cleo is the last of her alliance alive and is defending herself against Grian when Pearl comes in and decides to take the kill, the second time in a row that she has been Cleo’s final killer. Scott ends up killing BigB, Pearl’s ally, which puts him firmly on Pearl’s kill list as well.

Eventually the last people left are Scott and Martyn, who are allies, and Pearl and Impulse. Scott ends up chasing Pearl down and killing her, making this the second time he has been Pearl’s final killer.

Secret Life: On day one, Pearl and Scott end up coming across each other in the woods. Scott makes a joke about how it’s always the two of them. Pearl and Cleo also come across each other and end up splitting some bones that Cleo has so they can both tame a wolf. They make a side alliance called the “Puppo Alliance”, which is deeply millennial and hurt me to type. Cleo and Scott, as always, set up a side alliance.

Scott ends up teaming with Gem and Impulse, Cleo with Etho and eventually Grian, and Pearl with Mumbo, Bdubs, and Joel. The Joel thing is somewhat important because at this point it is evident that Joel’s #1 priority in any Life series is that Scott end up dead, though I don’t think Pearl took that into consideration when allying with him.

The gimmick of Secret Life was that they all had a secret task to do each session, which would give them hearts, a necessity as health did not regen so if you lost health you just lost it. One of Scott’s secret tasks was to say “I love you” to three people and have them say it back. When Scott tries this on Pearl, her only reaction is “Quite different from a certain series in the past, eh?” And she does not say “I love you” back, which Scott points out in the next session.

Pearl ends up apologizing the next session and says “I love you” to him. She is also forced into close proximity with him and helps his team build a zombie farmer, as her task is to be Impulse’s butler that session, who again is Scott’s ally.

At some point, Cleo’s dogs end up dying. To Cleo, this means the Puppo Alliance is over, though they neglect to inform Pearl of this. When Pearl gets hurt and offended at Cleo proceeding to kill some of her wolves, thinking they are still allies, Cleo laughs at her, implying that it’s obvious they can’t still be the Puppo Alliance if Cleo has no wolf. Pearl ends up taking Cleo’s yellow life, citing the wolf killing as her reason. Pearl also kills both of Cleo’s allies, Grian and Etho, this session, making her a firm enemy.

Generally speaking, Scott steers his alliance away from hurting Cleo and her alliance, and she does the same. However, after Cleo and Etho are both killed by Scar, Gem is free to kill Grian, the only remaining Roomie.

In the finale, Scott kills Pearl’s last remaining allies again, BDubs and Joel. She ends up teaming up with Scar, the second/third person to have no allies all season (Lizzie also had no allies this same season, unless you count Joel, her literal husband). The last four people are Pearl and Scar, and Scott and Gem. For the third time Pearl and Scott are in a final four of two alliance pairs, but this time on opposite sides. I’ve seen people talk about this as the two winners and their champions, and it really does feel that way.

Real Life: This was a one session April Fool’s special so you would think there isn’t much to say, but it’s shockingly chock full of GGG. One thing to note is that the players are far less “in character” due to this being an April Fool’s joke. The “gimmick” here was literally just that they were playing in Minecraft VR, which none of them knew how to play.

The first notable thing is that Cleo sets up a double chest and jokes that it will be her coffin for when Pearl inevitably kills her again. Pearl ends up giving her a flower which makes Cleo very happy.

While mining, Scott, Cleo, and Pearl meet up and, to quote,

“Is this the group? Oh, G-d we’ve done it again,”- Cleo

“Wait what?”-Pearl

“It’s Gatekeep, Girlboss, and Gaslight!”-Scott

“Oh Jeez. Alright, bring it in!”- Pearl

They group hug, they do the Macarena, Scott mines some blocks out from under Pearl because falling in VR is a weird experience, it’s all good.

Pearl, somehow, ends up with a dog again that she names Milly as a reference to Tilly. Milly ends up dying because dogs in Minecraft VR are even more janky than regular Minecraft. She, jokingly, lays down on the ground to cry. Since this is VR she genuinely lays down in real life to do this. Gem tries to reassure her by saying that at least she got to name it this time and Cleo says it’s worse when she names it, likely also referring to Pearl going off the deep end when Tilly died.

Before Pearl can fully get up, Cleo kills her. Scott takes this as his cue to start killing and he kills Martyn while Cleo kills Gem, leaving them as the final two. Scott, ironically, dies to an actual zombie, meaning that Cleo wins Real Life.

[agatharkn3ss]

Black Heart (spoilers)

I love the reveal that Teen/Billy/William is the "black heart" name. It just makes SO MUCH SENSE.

There are so many consequences of that, I'm only starting to process this, but here are my initial musings.

The Coven List

For one, Lilia drawing black heart on the list was finally explained - it was not because she ran out of time or anything - it was because she literally didn't know the name as her own sigil redacted it.

I expect this is Lilia sending the list of names from the future, after the sigil is broken, but the past Lilia could not decipher it because the sigil was still in place in her time.

But I wonder if they will ever explain how the coven names were actually put together in the first place? Is it somehow influenced by the fact that when Lilia first saw Billy Kaplan's hand, she might have seen every witch he came across in the near future and so that's what she concluded the coven shall be?

Will we see the reason why Lilia put the sigil on him? Because just hiding him from Agatha doesn't make sense, since she clocked him straight away. I thought it could be to protect his identity from Salem Seven (who hated Scarlet Witch as the Harbinger of Chaos)? But the sigil is destroyed now, so would it make sense?

So maybe he needs protection from Death? Maybe not now, but at the time of the accident? The sigil was the one thing that HELPED Billy Maximoff enter Kaplan's body because it had no known identity? And that's why Death couldn't find him to reap the soul/body in time?

2. Summoning the Road

He wasn't in the basement during the summoning and he didn't sing though. He was very much preoccupied with Salem Seven. We could presume that just his proximity caused that "magical spark" that Agatha spoke about... But then in one of the promos, there is a scene where we see Billy alone standing inside the blue pentacle. I am very intrigued by when exactly this happens - if in the past, then my theory is that his first Road attempt was what triggered Agnes' O'Connor persona. But if it happens in the future from now, then maybe this is him realising he needs to add his element to the summoning moment and send it in time. Though this seems quite a convoluted way. Maybe, if this is a future scene, this is instead him trying to open the door to exit Road. OR even - he managed to get out of the Road but Agatha is still trapped in there so he summons the gate for her to get out?

3. Is he aware?

Did Billy know he was the Black Heart? Lilia finally tells them the fourth "name" in Agatha's living room. But did he catch it? We never see his reaction when Lilia says it was a black heart. But Billy knew his abilities and must have thought of himself as a witch and not a familiar. Could a familiar even get any "prize" from the Road if only the witches were tested? He always seemed to hate whenever the witches referred to him as pet or familiar. He also wears this black stud in his ear, which is more of a triangle, but could be interpreted as black heart and that's why Eddie calls him that - so it must be a known nickname to Billy.

Because if he knew, then he purposely let Agatha bring Sharon into this, knowing it wasn't right. Would the sigil prevent him from telling them it was him? Would he even care at this point or tried to interfere with Sharon's mind? But then again, I don't think he's nowhere near as quick-witted as Agatha, so perhaps he didn't know to start with.

Sidenote: it would be interesting to see how well he can read other witches' minds. It seems to happen when other people are stressed. And not just the people he cares about, because he was able to read Ralph too. I don't think he can read Agatha's - even Wanda wasn't able to do that. But what about others?

4. The Trials

So after all that, Billy is a full witch member of the coven and it's Sharon who's the familiar. He's not the Earth element, but his powers are so vast, that he doesn't need to be. We almost have two Spirit elements? I think we will still get "Earth" trial though, but it will be Billy's - after all it is in a morgue and Agatha has her hands on his head - trying to find Tommy? Unlock some memories?

It's interesting that the first trial depended on the size of the group. There were exactly 5 glasses around the wine and the solution to the challenge was the blood of the un-poisoned. So technically, Sharon didn't have to drink, because she wasn't meant to be tested - Billy was. The group was very adamant that the whole coven had to drink and forced Agatha to do it, but it seems that maybe she really didn't need to after all? And Billy didn't seem to experience any nightmares because of it, even though he should have.

We knew this already, but clearly Sharon wasn't at all equipped to deal with the trial. What if she was so distressed by the trial, maybe still hallucinating her Wanda nightmare, that Billy heard it in her head, felt guilty that it should've been him, and tried to help/interfere? She did have her eyes open in the end, even though when they carried her into the oven she was out of it.

Because Agatha did notice something on Sharon's body. Was it her blue eyes, somehow vaguely similar to Lilia and Jen's eyes when Billy controlled them? (Not saying Billy killed Sharon, at least not intentionally. She was probably already dying and there was nothing anyone could do and so he eased her pain?)

5. Rio

So many questions! It does not seem coincidental that Rio specifically mentions having a black heart to Agatha. It could be entirely plausible that Rio was just being Rio and just wanted her feelings known? But what if she was intentionally misleading Agatha? Why? And how could she have already known about Billy and Lilia's list? Or could it be a play on words? Allusion to Billy as the "black heart" who seems connected to Agatha?

She wasn't at all surprised by Billy breaking in, and while he was searching for the locket, she randomly asked Agatha if she was hiding any evidence. This could be a spell somehow twisting Agatha's perception of what Rio was actually saying, but it seems like she was actually there, with Agatha, sharing the spell experience. It also seems to be confirmed that Rio wasn't actually physically there.

So what if she's somehow connected to Billy because of his "near-death" (but really, "actual death") experience. So that now death is always near him? Does she think of him as a ghost? Did the sigil prevent her from reaping Kaplan's body? So she needs to do "her job", but feels "cheated" and wants to put things back in order? It will be interesting to see what she does now, that the sigil is destroyed. She certainly seem to be interested in him on the Witches Road. It could be that it was her who threw Billy into the sound booth window in the fire episode? (it would be funny if it was because Billy was trying to access her mind and she got angry). If she's connected to Billy, what about Tommy?

Can Death traverse time? Or is she somehow just linked with Lilia, because she's Fate? (you know, the inevitable Fate is that all roads eventually lead to Death) She seems to know what Lilia was about to say about Salem Seven when she woke up in ep.5. And Lilia saw her in her nightmare vision in episode 3. With Lilia predicting all those tragedies, she must have seen her fair share of deaths.

I must admit, I love this enigma. Now that Billy's puzzle has been revealed, the Wiccan fans have had their share of fun and we can fully shift attention to theorising about Rio and building hype around her - and that's even when we 99.999999% know who she is! I also love seeing Agatha being back to her delicious character, not holding back any more. This is why I started watching in the first place, so I'm very excited for what's to come.

[bulbagarden]

Opinion: Scarlet and Violet are Pokémon's Queerest Games Yet (Bulbanews)

Hi it's Lisia here!! The following is an opinion piece from one of our staff members, Torchic W. Pip!! Blanc and I both loved this and like... we had to share it here LOL.

Pokémon was my queer awakening. I had silly little crushes on male and female characters alike, and I resonated with many of the designs of the series’s more gender nonconforming designs. Pokémon has always had a wink and a nod to queerness: Jessie and James’s genderbending antics, Beauty Nova in X and Y, Blanche from Pokémon GO… the list goes on. But with Scarlet and Violet, queerness shines bright as celestial stars.

“But wait!” you might say. “Scarlet and Violet has no canonical gay or trans characters! How can this thesis make sense?” Well, queer representation need not be explicit to be impactful. Sometimes, the stories queer people resonate with most are told through metaphor, from the misfits in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to X-Men to Luca and Gwen Stacy. The roots of this trace back to a history of censorship. LGBTQ+ stories have been historically censored, such as with the Hays Code. Queer people have long been unable to see stories with explicitly queer characters, so they instead turned to metaphors and symbolism. Gender nonconformity is also nothing new to the scene of video games. Metroid, Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, and Guilty Gear are just some of the games that play with our expectations of gender. It’s also nothing new to Pokémon. East Asian media tends to depict transness and gender nonconformity differently from the West, but for more on that, I'll direct you to this video.

Even before the release of Scarlet and Violet, gender nonconformity shined through. Take a character like Grusha, for example, who many mistook for a girl when he was first introduced. It goes a little deeper than that, though. “Grusha” is Russian for “pear”, but it’s also a diminutive for the name “Agrafena”... a female Russian name. Whether or not it was intentional, it does add an extra layer of nonconformity to Grusha. Another character with some queercoded elements is Iono: Her color palette evokes the colours of the trans flag, and her Magnemite headpieces evoke an explicitly genderless Pokémon. Baggy clothes are common among many transgender people. Her friend Bellibolt is a frog, and many frogs in real life can change their sex. In Japanese, she speaks with a Bokukko speech pattern (a girl using the masculine “boku”), which is often used for plucky characters, but also nonconforming characters. All of Iono’s names across translations evoke themes of questions. On top of all that… well, the Vtubing scene is, from personal experience, very queer. All of my friends who watch VTubers are queer in some way. More seriously, creating a persona where you can let your true self shine in a way that regular society won't allow you to... that's pretty queer.

With the release of the games, we’ve seen a wide array of characters—Rika, Saguaro, Penny, and all of the leaders of Team Star, among others—showcase a wide range of gender expressions, either in their appearances, their personalities, or their hobbies. And all of these characters are seen as heroes, as role models.

As with games before, there are two characters with queer subtext in their relationship. Hassel and Brassius have been seen by many as being in a gay relationship, bonding over a love of art, supporting each other in dark times, and giving each other pet names. Even if it's not outright stated that they're in a romantic relationship, their care for each other is a beautiful thing. Many gay coded relationships are often of younger men or women, and while these relationships are important, it's also important for older gay couples to receive some of the spotlight. After all, queer people have always existed, and it's important to remember our past and honor those who came before us, who helped paved the path to acceptance.

For the first time in a mainline game, the player character can choose any clothes, hair style, and so on regardless of gender. While the player can still only choose between being referred to by masculine or feminine terms, this is a step in the right direction, and it opens the door for many opportunities never seen before. Boys can be feminine, girls can be masculine, and both can be anywhere in between. The world of gender expression is as big as the open world of Paldea.

But back to Team Star. The whole Team Star path is one big, queer metaphor. Think about it: kids are bullied for how they dress or act, these misfits band together and retaliate against their bullies, finding a sort of family in each other, villains who turn out to be just the opposite… It’s a story that, in some way or form, can resonate with many kids who have, sadly, dealt with homophobia or transphobia in school. The path is a story about righting what’s wrong, about making the world a more accepting place.

Scarlet and Violet is a game about shining bright in the sky with other stars, about being your true self. Its themes are deeply resonant with the queer experience. At the end of the Team Star path, you battle Penny, whose ace Pokémon is trans flag-coloured Sylveon, and as she Terastilizes her partner, she says, “Shine bright like the starry sky and become who you really want to be!” So shine bright, trainers, and be your true self.

Oh, and of course, Quaquaval is the queer icon of all time.

[Torchic W. Pip is a Bulbanews writer with a focus on music, merchandise, and spin-off games. They're also a fanfiction author and moderator of the Writer's Workshop subforum. Outside of writing, Torchic is studying music theory and linguistics, and his favorite games are X/Y and Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire.]

[upsidedownlurker]

After watching Ep. 1 again...

Spoilers for episodes 1-6 of Agatha All Along!!! :)

"I was on a road this morning... and it led to something pretty awful."

I don't think that body is Wanda's. I think it's Billy's. I KNOW, I KNOWWW. Hear me outtt. JUST LISTEN-

First thing's first: We know that a huge amount of what Agatha perceived as real in that episode simply... wasn't. Objects and people acted and looked very different than they really were. There was usually a bit of truth to it (the neighbours really were playing along with Agatha's true crime persona, and Rio + Teen really were at her house) but the rest was obscured from Agatha's perception.

Let's apply this to the body.

Perhaps Agatha really did come across something awful on the road, something that turned her happy-go-lucky neighbour persona into a jaded crime scene detective. Her key questions: "Who are you?" and "What happened to you?"

Agatha doesn't know. She tries to fill in the gaps herself, but she's still under the spell and doesn't know all the details.

Which leads to what happened in the morgue. At first, she doesn't even see the body. But she TELLS HERSELF it's there, and what do you know? When she opens her eyes, the body is suddenly on the table. She says it had scarlet hair, and suddenly there's scarlet hair peeking out from the sheet. Agatha concludes to herself that the body was Wanda's.

Remembering Wanda is what ultimately allowed Agatha to break out of the spell. That's good. She solved the mystery of, "Who is that woman, 5"7 with green eyes and scarlet hair, whose name I can't remember?" and projected that mystery onto the body.

But she didn't solve the mystery of the dead person in the blue hoodie. Rio says to Agatha, "You're asking the wrong questions." Maybe Agatha also found the wrong answers.

Here's the really interesting part.

As we saw in Episode 1 and the trailer for Episode 6, there was a car crash in Eastview. After that, the dead body was found, apparently "crushed by something big and heavy", like a car. Right next to the body, Agatha finds a brooch– her brooch.

You know who was "born and raised" in Eastview? Teen.

You know who could've taken Agatha's brooch? Not Wanda, but Teen, who has done an egregious amount of research on Agatha and literally broke into her house.

You know who could've been crushed by a big, heavy car? Teen, WHO LITERALLY GETS HIT BY A FUCKING CAR AGAIN IN EPISODE 1. Dammit, Mrs. Hart! The boy's been through enough!

Okay.

But if the dead body is Teen's, then how is he LITERALLY ALIVE NOW?

When notified that the body is in fact dead, Agatha winks and says you can never be too sure. If that's not a big red flashing sign for the audience, I don't know what is.

Now, back to the morgue. Agatha finds her own name "A. Harkness" written on the library card. After she remembers Wanda, "W. Maximoff" also appears. This solves her first mystery: Who is that woman I don't quite remember?

But it also solves her second mystery. Who is the dead body?

W. MAXIMOFF.

William "Billy" Maximoff.

Here's a fun little hint I found. In episode 2, when Agatha rips down Billy's "Welcome Coven!" sign, she leaves the "W" just hanging there, right behind his head. This struck me as odd when I watched it the first time. She was pretty forceful, so the only way the "W" would've stayed hanging is if production designed it that way. And to place it right behind his head? That's a literal sign.

Back to the library card. Why even obscure Wanda's first name? If the body is really her, you might as well show her ENTIRE name and finally reveal her face to the audience. It would make things a little more clear... and it'd be good for dramatic effect. No need to be cryptic about it, just give us the answer!

Unless the answer isn't what we thought.

Regardless of whether the body in episode 1 was really there, or even dead at all... I believe it represents Billy, and we're gonna find out why in episode 6.

I'm excited to find out :D

...

Bonus: Lucky Thirteen

"Where were you between the hours of 1 and 3 am?" "Asleep!"

"A lot happened to me when I was 13, too..."

...

(Edited 16 Oct 2024)

[wellpeckyoutoo]

feral ibuki and hiyiko with a fucking weapon

YYYEEEEAAAHHHHH ibuki is probably my favorite design i've done she's so sillyyyyyyyyyy

all the other talent swaps i've seen give the character one kind of animal, but because it's ibuki... she has an otter, a snake, a hedgehog, and a fucking tiger :3 ..........and for some reason she attached a tail to all of her pairs of pants. what a legend

more info on them under the cut mwehehe >:3

Ibuki- One day Ibuki decided she wanted to be one with the animals and fucking disappeared for 3 years without telling anyone. She was presumed dead, but came back with the ability to talk to animals and her new besties. Their names are: Scarlet, (the otter), Wonder, (the hedgehog), Persona, (the snake), and Air Ride. (the tiger). (They're all named after video games, cuz Ibuki canonically likes gaming)

Hiyoko- Who doesn't love a short girl with a sword? Not much changes about her, aside from the obvious. Unlike Peko, Hiyoko carries a REAL sword with her at all times, "just in case." She's a lot more distrustful of everyone, but eventually warms up to them.

[loversarcanas]

sunset in the maze (ch. 2)

series: persona 5

pairing: makoann

words: 5,123

chapter 1

read on ao3!

Ann treats Makoto to a day of shopping as an apology for her drunken mess the night prior.

As it turns out, Lala-chan had been right. Ann woke up the next morning feeling like absolute shit.

Memories of the night before, infused with nausea, stomach pain, and a throbbing migraine, was the recipe for one very hungover Ann Takamaki. A dangerous tingling sensation flitted on her tongue and she scrambled out of her twisted sheets to find the toilet, before violently hurling into the bowl. The aftertaste of last night’s alcohol stung her throat and lingered on her tongue, causing her to wretch even moreso.

After throwing up for ten minutes straight, she pushed herself up from the toilet and lethargically made her way to the mirror. Her hair was a mess, blonde locks tangled and sticking upright in some places. Her scarlet eyeshadow and black mascara smudged together, giving her the appearance of a bloodshot raccoon - the consequence of completely forgetting to take off her makeup last night. There were bits of red lipstick staining her front teeth.

The picture of sophisticated grace, I guess. 

And then she remembered the date she made with Makoto.

Really, she didn't want to go anywhere today, especially not after puking her brains out, and especially-especially not after the combination of confusing feelings the night prior, and even worse confusing romantic dreams. But thinking back to Makoto's dejected expression after Ann bolted on her, the pangs of guilt sank in. It wouldn't be fair to ditch her, not after she went out of her way to bring Ann home, when she was at her lowest.

Do it for her.

Wobbling back to her mussy, full sized bed, she nabbed her charging phone off the bedside table and hovered a finger over Makoto's old number in her contacts.

Wait. 

Old number?

Doubt set in Ann's mind. They hadn't properly exchanged phone numbers last night - there's a high chance her phone number changed sometime in the past few years. Ann's number was certainly different, after all the phones she's gone through. It would be all too easy to just dismiss the whole thing, ignore the potentially defunct number in her phone and let these ships pass in the night.

But the bigger part of her didn't want to. 

So swallowing any lingering anxiety, her finger moved directly to the call option under Makoto's name, and pressed it. 

One ring. 

Two rings.

Three rings. She was getting nervous.

…

“Hello, Niijima speaking?”

To her relief, it was Makoto's recognizable voice on the other line, and not some random stranger.

“Oh thank god, this is still your number. I got worried that you had changed it.” 

Makoto chuckled.

“Oh, it’s you, Ann! No, it’s still me. I haven't switched phones for a long time actually. I've had this one since….. I don't even remember.”

“That's crazy, I feel like I have to get a new one every year at least!”

“Every YEAR? Ann, just what are you doing to those poor phones?!”

They both started giggling, and Ann felt normal again. It was almost like old times, when they would call each other on school nights; Makoto's attempt to help her study, slowly turning into a three hour chat about everything and anything. It was a much needed reminder that they were still friends, despite the time and distance. 

She had no idea how much she missed this.

“Okay, Okay. My dubious history with abusing cell phones aside, did you still want to hang out today?”

Ann bit her lip for a moment, suddenly self conscious of her request.

“I-If not though, no worries! I know I kinda sprung that on your fast last night, and I was barely sober and a hot mess and-”

Before she could keep rambling, Makoto gently cut her off.

“Hey, slow down! I already said it's okay, and I would love to hang out with you.”

There was a noticeable warmth in Makoto's voice, that Ann could practically see the smile on her face as she spoke. That was another thing Ann missed about Makoto, was how warm of a person she was - almost doting sometimes.She was a younger sister, yes, but she never acted like a typical younger sibling would. Instead, she was the opposite; motivating her friends and peers to do what’s right, assisting them with their life problems, being a caring presence in their lives.

Another item to add to the list of reasons why Ann admired her so.

“Ann? Are you still there?”

Without realizing it, Ann had been sitting in silence for a whole minute, a dumb smile plastered across her face. Embarrassed, she hastily made an excuse for her inaction.

“Sorry Makoto! I, uh, bumped the mute button by accident! Yeah. But I was saying, do you wanna meet at the mall in an hour? I know you have dinner with Sae-san later, so I don’t wanna keep you out all day.”

Now it was Makoto’s turn to be silent for a beat.

“...Y-yeah, let’s do that! What entrance should I meet you at?”

“Hm… The one near Chloé?”

For a brief moment, the sound of a keyboard  in the background filled the silence on Makoto’s end.

“Chloé… Where is Chloé…” She mumbled to herself, sounding focused. “Oh, so it’s right off that street by the Chiyoda line…”

Ann blinked, wondering if Makoto had never been to the mall before.

“Okay, I found the place you’re talking about, I’ll meet you in front of that store at noon?”

“Sounds good Makoto, see ya soon!”

After hanging up the phone, Ann let a small sigh escape her lips, mentally patting herself on the back for making it through the call.

This will be fun! This. Will. Be. Fun…right? I hope?

With a time limit of forty minutes to ready herself, she shuffled back to the bathroom for the world’s quickest shower. Managing to finish in only eight minutes - a personal best - she dried off, applied some lotion, and spent several minutes blow drying her huge head of hair. When it was sufficiently dry enough for her liking, she tied it into a high half-ponytail and headed to her closet.

Getting dressed was normally a coin flip for Ann; picking something at random and coordinating from there. However, today needed to be different. After making a drunken fool of herself yesterday, she needed to prove to Makoto - and the rest of the world - that she was a completely put-together adult who could make responsible choices. After ten minutes of deliberation, she settled on a puffy red crop top blouse, a silver belly chain adorned with stars, a pair of light denim flare jeans, and her signature red pumps. A throwback to an era of fashion past, but still chic and cute.

She stepped back into the bathroom, facing the mirror, and contemplated how she would do her makeup for the day. Popping open her pink striped makeup bag, she whipped out her tools and got to work, starting with primer and powder, applying highlighter and contour to her cheekbones, drawing a sharp wing on each eye with black liquid liner, and finishing off with a glossy, bright red lip.

A quick time check revealed it was 11:23am, meaning if she left for the train now, Ann would get there at almost exactly noon. 

She looked at herself in the mirror one last time, and grinned. It was always a fact she never paid attention to, but standing in front of this mirror, admiring her outfit and makeup, excited to actually spend time with a friend for the first time in a long time, she felt like herself. Makeup and fashion were her passion, and every time she modeled, every time she put together a matching look, or painted her face differently, it filled her with an almost overwhelming euphoria. She couldn’t help but smile.

Oh shit, I’m getting distracted. I gotta go!

.

Twelve o’clock sharp, and Ann sat on the ornate bench outside the entrance, waiting for her friend to appear. A mix of nerves and excitement bubbled in her stomach, as several couples, families, and teenagers passed her by. It was impossible not to stare at the live clock on her phone, counting the minutes until Makoto’s arrival. She fidgeted with her hair as she waited, impatiently combing through it with her left hand.

Makoto was never one to be late - ironically, lateness was typically Ann’s thing - so the fact that it was 10 after twelve and she still hadn’t arrived, concerned her a bit. She tapped on her recent calls and one again, hovered her finger over Makoto’s number.

I mean, it’s only been ten minutes. Is it creepy if I call to check on her?

Thankfully,  a call icon from Makoto popped up on her screen at that moment, the familiar instrumental tune to her favourite pop song playing briefly through the speakers until Ann picked up.

“Makoto? Where are you?”

“Hi, sorry Ann! I think I went to the wrong place earlier, but I see the sign for Chloé’s and I’m walking up to you.”

“Oh perfie!I’ll see you in a minute!”

Ann hung up the phone, quickly turning to the glass door of the store to check her hair and makeup one last time. She really wanted to make a better impression than she did yesterday, feeling remorseful for putting Makoto through that. So today she wanted to look her best, and be her best.

Is it normal to be this obsessed with it though?

“Hey!” Makoto’s voice echoed behind Ann, causing her to shift her glance from the glass window to the sidewalk behind her, and found Makoto in a black blazer, white satin undershirt, and a pair of black trousers. Her hair, though shorter, tied up in a simple bun and out of her face. Just like their first reunion, she looked very official, but very attractive.

Whoa.

“Hey Makoto! I’m glad you found it okay!”

“...Yeah, truth be told, I have just never been to this mall before. It’s…” Makoto started, facing away from Ann. She seemed distracted by… something - Ann couldn’t tell what though. 

“...Well, it’s a little gaudy.”

Ann stifled a laugh; It was a very in-character thing for Makoto to say. She knew Makoto was never one to go to trendy places as a teenager, being so invested in her studies for the sake of pleasing the adults around her. Now that they're adults, however, they have more time to themselves, and can live a little.

“Yeah, it’s definitely on the more extravagant side, but I promise you it’ll be fun inside. C’mon!”

Ann grabbed her friend by the arm and walked her inside the glass doors. The interior of the mall was very elegant, with golden-tinged lights glowing down on cream walls and slate patterned floors, and dozens upon dozens of stores, ranging from high end fashion, to flower shops, to game stores, and beyond. This was the atmosphere that Ann lived for, though she couldn’t fully say the same for Makoto. She hoped that this would still be something she would enjoy regardless.

Makoto looked overwhelmed as they walked down the expansive halls, passing by pairs of escalators, kiosks, and small food and coffee stands. If she had to guess, she’d think Makoto had never been to a mall before, period. If that was the case, Ann admitted to herself this may not be the best starting place for her. Oops.

Gah, I hope she isn’t too overwhelmed. I did NOT think this through.

“Wow, there are… quite a few places to go here, huh?”

“Yeah, maaaaybe just a few,” Ann joked. “But, on the bright side, this place has pretty much any store you can think of! It’s a tourist spot, so they have a little of everything. They even have a full fledged gym here.”

“A gym? Inside a mall? That seems a little much, doesn’t it?” Makoto snickered.

“Yeah, true. But this is technically a mall for tourists, so I suppose they want to include anything that’ll appeal to them.”

Makoto raised an eyebrow, smirking. “Soooooo, a gym is the best they could come up with?

“I have no idea.”

The two burst into giggles, walking arm in arm down the mall corridor.

.

“By the way Makoto,” Ann started, settling down as they browsed, “What do you usually wear when you go out with friends and stuff? I feel like I’ve only seen you in work clothes.”

They were inside their first clothing store of the day, one specializing in high fashion branding. It was a brand Ann wore somewhat frequently, yet rarely shopped for. Many refined stripe patterns, shawls, and wedges for the sophisticated lady. Makoto browsed the wall racks, seemingly deliberating on whether any of it appealed to her sense of style.

“Well… Honestly I don’t really go out much outside of work, so I usually just throw together a good outfit from what I have?” Makoto nervously tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, peeking up at Ann. “It… Doesn’t look bad, does it?”

Ann’s pulse shot upwards in a matter of seconds. Something about how earnestly worried Makoto seemed about this was so endearing to her. She also could not be more wrong about herself!

She’s absolutely gorgeous, what the hell is she talking about?!

“No, no, not at all! I didn’t mean it like that!” Ann apologized, waving her hands erratically. “You actually look really good in suits and blazers! I was just curious, sorry.”

Makoto sighed. “No, it’s okay Ann. I think I just feel better about myself in these clothes.”

Ann raised her head, giving Makoto her full attention.

“They remind me that I’m successful and doing something I love, and that it’s something for a good cause as well. I have some casual clothes, but I guess… I just feel better like this. Is that weird?”

Huh. That’s a really interesting way to put it, I never thought of clothes like that before.

“No, not at all. I sort of get it - like there are some clothes that when I wear them I feel more empowered, and more like myself. I think it makes sense.”

Makoto’s face relaxed a little with the confirmation. “Thanks, Ann.”

The two continued browsing the store for a few more minutes, before returning to the mall portion and making way to their next stop.

.

“So, can I ask you a question Ann?”

Ann poked her head up from a colourful rack of dresses in the middle of the store - this one being a gown-exclusive business, with dresses for all occasions.

“A-and if it’s too personal, you don’t have to answer, but…”

Ann’s stomach dropped. She had a feeling of what Makoto’s question was, and she honestly wasn’t sure if she could bring herself to answer it. 

“Did something happen last night?”

There it was.

Flashes of her recent breakup passed through her mind, and the nauseating, confusing feeling resurfacing beside them. Eyes flickered attention from Makoto’s crimson irises to the geometrical patterns on the floor. She really did not want to relieve the emotions she felt last night, the ones she tried desperately to drink away.

But Makoto deserved an answer - it did no one any good to hide something like this from a friend.

Friend…

“Okay so… Not to make a big deal of it or anything, but I kiiinda got broken up with yesterday?”

Makoto nearly dropped the dress she was looking at.

“What?! Oh, Ann…” Makoto cooed, immediately hanging up the clothing and rushing to Ann’s side.

Don’t cry.

“It’s fine! Really, we just…”

Don’t cry.

“...We weren’t compatible with each other, that’s all.”

Don’t. Cry.

“Ann, you could have told me! No wonder you seemed so miserable last night!”

Makoto frowned, wrapping her arms around Ann’s side in a comforting hug. Ann barely moved, trying desperately to stop her brain from reliving the last twenty four hours, and also from breaking down in a public shop. Still, the embrace left her weepy, and she needed to leave this store before everything came crashing out.

“Here, can we go to the bathrooms and talk? I really would prefer not to make a scene.” Ann rasped, the sting of tears quickly appearing at the corners of her eyes. Makoto immediately let go, nodding and walking with Ann out of the shop, and down the mall gallery towards the restrooms. There was one single-use bathroom open, and Makoto guided Ann towards it. As soon as the click of the door lock was audible, Ann cracked. Tears stung her eyes, small hiccups escaped her mouth, forced to reminisce about the hurt she felt, how broken she felt.

“Makoto, have you ever felt like you’re broken?”

The question surprised Makoto, the concern in her expression growing. It was such a stupid question, in Ann’s mind, but she needed an answer, one from someone she knew and trusted.

“I mean… I used to, but why do you ask?”

Ann sniffled, hesitating to continue. The intellectual part of her knew that Makoto wouldn’t judge her, and would be supportive no matter what, but her emotional brain played the devil on her shoulder, telling her Makoto would think it’s stupid. She desperately tried to push that though aside, and allowed herself to continue.

“Okay, so. This is gonna sound really stupid, and I’m sorry, but… He broke up with me because I wouldn’t sleep with him.”

Makoto’s face shifted instantly, from relief into disgust and anger.

“That’s all? He broke up with you over something so petty as that? I’m sorry, but that’s awful of him. That’s not on you.”

Ann bit her lip, grateful that Makoto was actively defending her, and yet feeling guilty all at the same time. It enveloped her.

“Except… It isn’t just that guy… He’s the third guy who's broken up with me over that.

“Third?!”

She winced. “I mean, if it was just one guy I would understand. Men can be stupid and misogynist and sex-obsessed. But I mean…after three breakups in a row, I dunno. You start to feel like you’re the problem. And I just can’t understand why intimacy is such a problem for me!”

And the concern returned to Makoto’s face tenfold.

“Oh, Ann, that’s just horrible. I’m so sorry.”

Ann started crying all over again, covering her teary face with her hands. This whole ordeal was humiliating, and having to relieve it with the friend she just reconnected with even moreso. Crying in a mall bathroom was also a contender for top ten lowest moments, for sure.

“Listen, Ann, that still doesn’t make you broken, by any means. I mean…”

Makoto fidgeted for a moment, staring down at her hands.

“... I-If it makes you feel better, I’ve also never slept with a guy.”

Ann’s head shot up from its spot in her hands.

Makoto may have dealt with the same thing I’m dealing with?!

Still staring at her hands, Makoto’s face flushed severely.

“Wait, so that means… You’ve been through this too?!”

Makoto made no eye contact, just nervously nodding her head.

“Though I, uh… I-It might not be the same thing you’re going through… but I have dealt with something similar in the past.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Ann looked at Makoto with worry, she seemed awfully nervous about where this conversation was going. She slowly reached out a hand to Makoto, as if to say ‘You don’t have to say anything you don’t want’. Still, Makoto took her hand and grasped it tightly.

“Listen, Ann. I’m telling you this because I trust you. I don’t know if it’s the same thing you’re going through or not but…”

The tension buildup only served to make Ann more anxious about what was to be said.

“It’s okay, Makoto. Whatever it is, I won’t be upset.”

“... I’m a lesbian, Ann.”

Pause.

Pause.

Makoto was gay? This… was news to her. When they were in school, she thought she had a thing for Akira. Was Ann just imagining it? I mean, Ann was her self-proclaimed best friend for years, when did she come out? Was Ann just too unaware to notice? Was she a bad friend? These thoughts plagued her mind at a million miles a second. 

Then she recalled her messy feelings from last night, how good Makoto smelled, how beautiful she was - and is - how cool it felt riding behind her on a motorcycle, clutched to her waist for dear life, and her sanity crumbled.

“ O-Oh! Makoto, that's great!” Ann started, not exactly sure where she'd be finishing. “I'm sure you must feel much better without men in your life!”

Makoto eyed her curiously. “Thank… you? I am?”

Ann grew quiet for a moment, not able to bring herself to meet Makoto's gaze.

“Um… I hope I’m not one of those ‘bad allies’ for asking this, but how did you know?”

Makoto sighed, turning away and staring at the sink.

“There was this girl in high school…”

Oh no. I really didn't catch any of that. 

“She wasn't in my class but we passed by each other enough. Anyways, I saw her kissing another girl on the rooftop once. This was a month or so before you guys formed the Phantom Thieves, mind you.”

Ann caught herself blushing at the thought. Two girls kissing on the school rooftop? That must have been a huge scandal. How did she not hear anything about it?

“As student council president, I had to intervene, since the rooftop was off limits to students, but as she left I stopped and asked her about it. She told me she couldn't imagine a future with a guy, so she picked a girl instead.”

Ann held onto Makoto's every word, paid extra attention to her facial expressions and body language. It seemed like as she began to talk about her experience more, she relaxed more. Her jaw unclenched as she spoke, her hand loosened its grip on Ann’s own. There was a hint of a smile on her face. In a small way, it was relieving.

“Ever since she said that, it made me think; Do I want to spend the rest of my life with a man? And the more I thought about cooking for a man, cleaning up after a man… even kissing a man, the more sure I was that the answer would be ‘no’.”

Wow. Makoto really knew that about herself that young… That's pretty incredible. 

… So why didn’t she tell me?

“And then when I inevitably had my first kiss with that same girl, I knew for sure that I wasn't into guys.

Record. Scratch.

Makoto had her first kiss? With a girl?

Ann's heart skipped a beat. It really shouldn't come as a surprise that Makoto's kissed before. After all, she was twenty four with a whole job and income. Ann's had her first kiss before, albeit with a guy, so it's really not that abnormal.

So why do I feel so weird about that?

“Um… So what happened to the girl? Did you go out with her?”

Makoto shook her head. “No. In fact, I don’t know if I even liked her that way. We kissed because she was the only other girl like that who I knew, and she offered to be my practice partner.”

Practice Partner? Practice for who?

Ann tried to tell herself it didn’t matter, quieting the part of her begging to pry more into Makoto’s life. Instead, she attempted to shake off the anxious sensations in her body, and gave Makoto’s hand a gentle squeeze.

“Hey. Thank you for sharing that with me, Makoto. I know it probably wasn't easy.”

Makoto looked up at Ann, smiling tenderly, and returning the gesture.

“Thanks for listening.” She started. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to take away from what you’re feeling right now.”

“No, you didn’t at all! You were trying to help me.” Ann looked down briefly, clicking her fingernails together. “I don’t think this is the same thing, but I do still really appreciate your perspective.”

Maybe she was imagining things, but for a moment, Ann thought she saw a flicker of disappointment in Makoto’s eyes.

Ann released her grasp on Makoto’s hand and wiped the last of the wet from her face. She checked her phone’s clock to see that they’d been in the bathroom for almost twenty minutes.

“Yeesh, we should probably get out of here, huh?”

Makoto tilted her head. “Only if you’re sure you’re okay? It’s alright if you need to take a little longer.”

Ann shook her head. “I think talking about it helped, And also, I wanna go hang out a little more before you have to go, is that okay?”

A warm smile and nod was all the confirmation she needed.

.

A handful of hours had passed and Ann and Makoto made it out of the mall relatively unscathed - the former holding two bags worth of cute dresses and summer tops, and the latter carrying a canvas bag full of books.

Makoto, once again, insisted on giving Ann a ride back to her apartment so she wouldn’t have to worry about her bags in a crowded train, and Ann had no choice but to concede. It was a very sweet notion, and one she appreciated tenfold from her best friend.

I mean, are we even still best friends? It’s been such a long time, and we've only been hanging out for one day.

Packing their goods in the travel trunk, the two secured their helmets and mounted the bike, Ann once again wrapped her arms around Makoto’s torso, as she pulled from her spot and rode away. The air was warmer today than it had been the night prior, and the breeze grazing her exposed midriff was more comfortable.

She couldn’t stop thinking about everything Makoto said earlier.

Imagine yourself with a man, huh…

She tried to picture the hottest man in her head living in her apartment with her, laying next to her in the same bed, waking up together every morning, and her response was… Well, normal, she thought. Maybe a little annoyed, because the man in her head wouldn’t pick up his laundry or cook, but normal. That was how her mother was with her father. And besides, guys were supposed to be a little gross and unappealing sometimes. Lord knows how many times she heard her friends in the modeling world swing between infatuation and disgust; and hell, Ann thought she felt the same way.

“You okay back there? You’re awfully quiet.” Makoto asked, slowing to a stop as the light flipped from yellow to red. She cocked her head back slightly to look at Ann.

“Yeah I’m good! I’m just tired is all.”

Makoto nodded, turning her head back and revving up as the light changed again to green. Ann’s thoughts then moved to living with a girl, rather than a guy - though instead of some faceless beauty, it was once again Makoto infiltrating her thoughts. Makoto making breakfast for the two of them, Makoto watching a movie with her, Makoto smiling back at her from under her sheets, her bare shoulders peeking out…

Okay let’s NOT do this right now?! What the hell is this train of thought?!

Ann nearly let go of Makoto completely, before remembering her position on the back of a motorcycle, currently going forty miles per hour. Instead, she hesitantly clung harder, opting to grip the lapels of Makoto’s blazer rather than her torso.

After two red lights and a couple of turns, they arrived back at Ann’s apartment. Makoto once again insisted on escorting Ann up the elevator with her bags - something Ann was grateful for, but nervous about all at once. Distracted by invasive thoughts that refused to dissipate, Ann remained quiet for the whole of the trip up.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You’ve barely said a word since we got here. Are you still thinking about the breakup?”

No, because I’m too busy having like three other closely related crisises!

“Yeah,” She lied, “I think it’s gonna take me a bit to fully recover.”

“Then are you sure it’s a good idea to be home alone at your apartment? Dinner isn’t for another two hours, I could hang around if you need.”

Her head swirled. It would be hell if she had to stay any longer with these perturbing thoughts running rampant in her mind, it would be even worse combating them while the subject of those thoughts was actively here with her. She felt ashamed for even them, like she was mentally taking advantage of Makoto’s kindness to be a creep.

“Noooo, It's okay, really! Plus you’ve already helped me a lot today, I’m sure you’ll want some time before dinner to relax, right?”

“Yeah, but-”

“Please. I already feel horrible that you had to comfort me earlier, I’ll be okay.” Ann smiled, a cheery mask obscuring her true anxiety.

Makoto returned with a sad smile of her own.

“Okay, I’ll drop it then. But please, Ann, don’t feel like you have to deal with this alone, okay? You have friends who can, and will, help you.”

She quietly embraced Ann, gingerly running her hands across her upper back. The action was so gentle, so caring, that Ann felt herself tear up again, and wrapped her arms around the spot above her lower back, resting her face on Makoto’s head for only a moment.

This is nice.

When they both let go, Makoto bid farewell as she watched Ann unlock her apartment and go inside. Closing the door and turning the lock, Ann immediately walked to her bed, dropped her bags on the ground, and face planted on her pillow.

“AUUUUUUUUUUGH.”

The muffled groan lasted for several seconds, and echoed in her head.

These intrusive thoughts were getting ridiculous, and Ann couldn’t stop obsessing over them. It felt gross, Thinking of her friend in that light. Her friend, who is a lesbian, who kisses women. Her lesbian friend.

Is that why?

Maybe Ann had a problem with Makoto being a lesbian. It was a concept she didn’t want to explore, because she always thought herself a great ally to LGBT people, but she otherwise couldn’t explain her sudden obsession with Makoto. If that was the truth, Ann hated herself for it.

After Makoto had wound up back into her life and had been so concerned with Ann’s wellbeing, it was distressing to think she was holding something uncontrollable against her.

I can’t deal with this by myself. I need backup.

Sitting up, she withdrew her phone from her jeans pocket and scrolled through the list until she got to the right name - hoping this wouldn’t be a huge mistake.

Akira.

[selarina]

Out of Style

-> Suna Rintaro x Fem!Reader

Chapter 2: Digitial Duet

Summary: The following night, Suna can't help but find himself lured by your online persona.

Content Warnings: celebrity au, rockstar!suna rintaro, actress!reader, online interactions, band dynamics, fluff, sexual undertones, mention of smoking, character study, sensual imagery, eventual smut

Word Count: 1.7k words

Author's Note: I'm ngl lead singer!atsumu does things to me.... also, bonus points for you if you guess what osamu, aran and kita's roles are in the band

Series Masterlist | Read on AO3

Suna’s public account is filled with carefully curated images sent by his publicist, or sometimes it is simply just posted by a poor intern whose only job is analyzing and curating his online presence. He tried maintaining a sense of autonomy at first. After all, he only becomes a star after being on social media for quite a while. He quite liked it, the unseriousness of it all but too many sites have risen and fallen since then, and he’s realized he might be too old or too busy to get used to the new features.

So… Suna’s not one to spend a lot of time on social media, barring the one private Instagram account his sister, Reiko, set up for him. It’s private, it has the only photo ever posted on the account — a selfie of him and his sister from the same day she set the account up. She’s smiling at the camera, perfectly posed while he’s right behind her, his face is twisted, caught off guard. You could say he was objectively ugly in the photo.

Hmm? He stares down at the picture. Seems like he never really deleted it. He switches to his public account.

His eyes move to scan his phone screen for a brief second before he finds it. He’s still not used to how different everything is from the last time he used this app, and it’s only been two weeks. How can you change so much in so little time? And why would you even?

His finger taps to reach the search option, his fingers moving to type in your name. Immediately, he gets a list of results — a verified account on top with a profile picture of you. He looks at the rest of the accounts below yours, a list of fan accounts of you.

He clicks on your account.

When the screen finally opens, Suna is accosted by your familiar face, scattered across the range of tiny boxes.

He clicks on the first picture that catches his immediate eye, it’s a picture of you sitting outside an establishment. Your shoes are scattered beside you as you smile sweetly at the screen. He smiles.

Your profile actually looks like photos you are posting yourself, but well, so does his, he thinks. Frowning, he scrolls, and he scrolls. He feels like an intruder as his scrolling continues, but he can’t seem to stop for some reason. The photos are like a collection of your life — it’s full of photos of you, your friends, co-stars, your sister, and your cat. Sometimes, the occasional movie promotion, a fashion event, or something like that.

And then he stumbles upon it, it’s a photo of you wrapped in a blazer, as the rain pours in the foreground. And you — you’re twisting your head ever so slightly to address the camera directly with your eyes, and you manage to hold his eyes to yours for quite a well somehow. He can’t help but think if your lips are purposefully quirked with a ghost of a smile. He lingers far longer than he’d care to admit but eventually, he scrolls again, as one does.

Only to wash away his opinion of you, he says. Only to get accustomed and to get rid of this new feeling, he says.

He then stops at another picture, a promotional picture, but it’s not for your movie. It’s for this band. Scarlet Riot.

He remembers this band, during a meeting where his manager was very upset with the band for Scarlet Riot’s new single surpassing his band, Black Velvet’s single on the rankings. He remembers dozing off during the meeting and being forcefully woken up again, and again, and again until the manager had enough and sent him back home. He happily accepted.

He doesn’t know anything about Scarlet Riot, apart from the fact that they are apparently cut from the same cloth as his band but yes, he notices how there isn’t much visible. Not your face, not the guy’s face but he seems to be holding you and your very lightly covered body — just you in your bra, and your underwear to be candid.

The said faceless guy is clothed entirely with one hand grasping the small of your back, and the other one holding your leg up as you seem to lift it in tandem.

He immediately clicks off the post, switching to his official account as he searches for your profile.

His hands hover for a second over the send button before he clicks on it.

To be fair, he isn’t technically lying in his texts because he is now rewatching your movie to drown out the anticipation of your response, but at the moment he only had enough heed to hit send on the message then, and he didn’t know how long that would last.

He eyes his abandoned phone on the teak table in front of him, as he watches your movie. It currently has a conversation between two guys in the movie, and honestly, he couldn’t care less about them.

He couldn’t help it. He looked up the video, and he admits he can find himself agreeing with the rest of the 14 million people who seem to find the appeal. He pauses the video, and it pauses at a picture-worthy shot if he could say so himself — your eyes are heavy-lidded resulting in a sultry expression, akin to a languid panther moving through the tall grass, that makes something primal rake right beneath the confines of his body.

H clicks off from the video, turning off his phone as he unpauses your movie continuing to chomp on the rest of his pasta.

—

The next day, Suna found himself on auto-pilot making his way through the band's rehearsal studio. The place was cramped and confining — just as he secretly liked. It’s always overfilled with a diversified jumble of instruments, amps, and other recording equipment.

He adjusts his guitar strap as he began the process of plugging his instrument in. He’s early today, so it affords him the opportunity to observe as his bandmates and studio staff trickle in, one by one, as he sips on his coffee. He’s not usually a fan of hot beverages, preferring cooler, or lukewarm drinks but today, he needs the searing warmth to keep him from biting off his bandmates’ heads.

Atsumu, the drummer, finally saunters in with his signature impish grin that sent a surge of irritation coursing through Suna's veins. It’s just lack of sleep talking, he reassures himself as Atsumu takes a seat near him seating himself behind the drum set.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," Atsumu quipped, his voice cutting through the studio's ambient hum Suna grew comfortable in.

Suna's retort was swift, a deadpan stare, as he took another sip. "Don't call me that.”

“Well, you look the part.” Atsumu remained undeterred, as he reclined against the seat, a smirk etched upon his features.

Suna doesn’t respond, his attention returning to the coffee cup, as he took another sip.

“Where's everyone else?” Suna set aside the guitar, carefully placing his chair as he weaved through to discard the now-empty cup into the bin.

"Aran’s out for a smoke. Osamu’s stuck in traffic, surprise surprise. Kita’s at a shoot. He should be late today," Atsumu replied.

Suna's response was a barely discernible hum as he sat back in his chair. He occupied himself with tuning his guitar, his fingers moving with practiced familiarity, attuned to the nuances of each string.

They continued to wait in silence, Atsumu’s soft humming withheld. Not that Suna particularly took issue with it, in fact, it was a bit soothing to exist in his space, until Atsumu spoke again that is.

"So, you seemed to have an interesting night.” Atsumu's tone was teasing, his words laden with an underlying implication that Suna found distinctly annoying.

A warning glint flickered through Suna's eyes, his response lax but firm. "No idea what you’re talking about."

Atsumu leaned back against his seat, a smile playing on his lips. "Oh, come on now. We all saw you last night. Never knew you could physically bring yourself to smile."

Suna's eyes narrowed. “We were just talking.”

Atsumu barely hummed in response, but Suna’s annoyance seemed to seep back under his skin – he didn't want to engage in this conversation, especially not with Atsumu, who generally had a talented knack for pushing his buttons early in the morning.

Atsumu waggled his eyebrows as they raise up. "So, what kind of talkin' were ya doin', hmm?"

Suna shot a sharp look at Atsumu, his fingers pausing his task on the guitar. "None of your business."

“Okay,” Atsumu responds and Suna’s relieved. For all his many complaints about Atsumu, he truly does know how to read people, and as much as he seemed to like pushing boundaries, he never truly seemed to cross them.

“Just be careful,” Atsumu speaks up, Atsumu's tone was tinged with a rare sincerity. Suna finds it a bit too jarring like he’s an alternate reality.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just — Relationships with other people like us never truly work out, ya know.”

“I know,” Suna responds, as his eyes flit down to his guitar. Suna's fingers slipped on the strings, creating a dissonant sound.

Atsumu sighs as his voice comes out in a subdued murmur, “I should know better than anyone,” before Osamu's voice carries from outside to inside the studio, disrupting the momentary exchange.

Osamu walks through pushing the entry door as he stomps over to where they are.

“Get off my seat, ya imp,” he says, tossing his back to the side before he proceeds to push Atsumu off the chair, and almost like he was slapped out of it — Atsumu’s back to his usual self as his hands rise up to pull Osamu’s hair.

At the backdrop of the familiar dance between Osamu and Atsumu, Suna pulls out of his phone and the muted buzz against his thigh.

Ping! His eyes flit up to the top of his phone. It’s you. He clicks on the notification.

yn_ln : sorry i passed out but wow, flattery and a movie review?

yn_ln : i'm honored

Suna smirks as he taps on the screen. His fingers seem to type out a reply before he's even fully aware of it.

[arinanightlight]

Profile for c!Grian in the 70s AU

While someone may be waiting for things for the -tobers (I haven't given up on this, everything is being written, it's just that there are so many things to do in my studies that I don't have time to fit writing for tobers in one day), hold the drawing and profile of Grian from the AU of the 70s (AU from the Season Infinity roleplay discord server).

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Nicknames and names: Grian Eyva Xelqua, "Ariana Griande", Charles Valerian Sirin.

Age: n/a

Gender and Pronouns: genderfluid, he/him, she/her (this is mostly due to his stage persona as Ariana Griande, he is simply confused about who he is and prefers not to think about it).

Sexuality: pansexual

Species: A descendant of the sirin, ancient mythical birds, which, according to myths, once existed on the territory of today's Slavic countries.

Abilities: A short flight on feathered wings, often with the help of fireworks. Enchanting people with his voice, singing. Some acting skills. Can hide his wings. Not bad in combat, but not a master.

Personality: Appearing with his performances on stage and disappearing immediately after them, avoiding questions and never coming down from the stage to the patrons of the bar, he maintains a mask of mystery while hiding someone a little more like himself behind the identity of Ariana Griande. With his acquaintances, whom he has confided more, he presents himself as Grian Eyva, a confident and polite person, inclined, however, to a little flirtation, teasing and jokes, if the interlocutor treats it without negativity. To those who have come to know him by chance, at first, he tries to appear dangerous, already realizing that the true nature of many creatures manifests face in face to fear. Those who pass this test of his, he allows a little closer to him. Only few people can recognize what he hides under his masks, especially the last one, that of Grian Eyva. Very few, and even then scarcely, he will allow to know about his past and how it disturbs him. This is a frightened, abandoned, betrayed person, full of pain, fear of trusting at least someone, and emotions that fade away, then rage. It's something that put up barriers from the other two personalities to protect themselves from what they once couldn't resist. This is Charles Valerian Sirin.

Likes: Singing, sewing, drawing drawings and sketches of buildings, getting and giving attention, flirting a bit with someone he finds interesting, when his boundaries are respected, when someone loves his work if it is peaceful, dancing. When he is hyperfixated on something, he tries to end the project before this state lets him go.

Dislikes:

When he's forced to finish an abandoned project; When he's asked about his past and what region/country/town he is from; Hard flirt; Rude+dumb people; Avian hunters; When someone touches his feathers without his permission; When his personal space is violated (and in doing so, he often violates it himself. But at least he apologizes when someone doesn't like it.);

Backstory: don't ask him about it. You definitely will not like the answer, so he will never tell you, maybe even if he will trust you fully and completely. But flashbacks and his dreams will reveal some of that little by little.

Relations: Tbh, with anyone i would like to collab. But what's favorite… It's desert duo (which probably won't be there) and maybeee roommates? Ah, and architechs (Grumbo), that's without questions, thanks Kat.

Looks: As Ariana Griande she hides her wings, wears a black flowing dress with silk elements scarlet and black colour and black ballet flats, also she wears a corsette on her waist and neck protection (it's after one accident on the stage), her fair-flaxen hair are braided and this braid is wrapped around her head one time. As Grian Eyva he wears a carmine coat from smooth blicky textile, white pants, knee pads and (still-) neck protection, and black boots. His braid may be a little messy, because it's a little less necessary to maintain the look.As Charles, when he is alone or thinks he is alone or next to the person closest to him, he takes off his protection, literally and figuratively. Even his hair is not braided into a tight braid, as usual, but loose and falls limply over his shoulders, scattered over a linen shirt slightly yellowed by time with half-erased red embroidery. At such moments, all his anxiety spills out. At such moments, he cannot control himself. He just can't. He is not free, it's just that the pressure that he and his life have placed on him is slightly relieved in moments when he is not being watched by outsiders.

Languages spoken: common (meant English), "Alien", Old Church Slavonic, Enchantic, roughly understands the new languages of the countries from the territories of the Slavs.

Faceclaim: here's the art i drew myself, it's the best way for me to show him visually.

[mythos321]

The Fourth of my WoF x Persona AU Profiles, this one being just a confidant as opposed to a Phantom Thief(also with a different arcana compared to the character they’re crossed with)

Kestrel: The Hanged Dragon

Arcana: Hanged Man

Birthdate: April 7th, 4981 AS

Backstory:Kestrels backstory starts similar to how it does in the main universe, with her losing both her children at The Diamond Spray river, one to Queen Scarlet, and the other to the river. However, due to the lack of The Talons of Peace, Kestrel instead kept up her search for her son, searching high and low for him almost like a madwoman. She nearly did find her son many times, but each time he disappeared from her sights, and she had no idea what to do, however, she had determined the general area where he stayed, and set up a cavern for herself for the time.

However, the day she finally found her son, she realized he was completely terrified of her, he hadn’t been disappearing from her for no reason…he thought she was trying to kill him. This shook Kestrel to her core, and though she tried to speak with her son, a small scavenger seemed to attempt to ward her off, and Kestrel, in so much shock, willingly fled, however always keeping close to her son as she slowly tried to make him trust her, with very minimal progress in such.

Kestrel felt lost, broken, and ashamed, passing her time by turning her cavern into a sort of cafe/bar she(uncreatively) named Cavern Tavern, serving multiple assortments of dishes, mainky coffee and curry. During this time she met a Mudwing named Asha who was the closest she had to an acquaintance, and one day learned from her about her nephew Clay, who by Ashas accord was being sent on probation due to being framed for attacking an unknown Skywing official.

Kestrel put together from the Skywings behavior they must have been Queen Scarlet, and with this knowledge, volunteered to let Clay stay with her as his guardian, and until his probations up, he shall be taken under her wings(hehe).

Physical Description: Kestrel is overall the same in her appearance, with a minor change in having a small scar on her paw after it was stabbed by a certain scavenger that was with her son. The biggest difference in appearance is actually Kestrels demeanor, having a much calmer abd more approachable face.

Personality:Although she used to be very similar to her main version, Kestrel is much less aggressive now after what happened between her and her son, with her having had the subconscious realization her actions and way of life made her own child afraid of her. She however is still very strict and cold, if only initially when Clay first meets her. Some also claim she has a smooth charm to her, though Kestrel herself admits she lost a lot of over the years.

Goals:To try and make amends with her son, and hopefully find her daughter one day.

Trivia

-Unlike her main counterpart, Kestrel would never even dream of harming the other dragonets, much less Clay

-Kestrels immediate assumption whenever Clay brings a dragon around his age to her cafe is that they’re his girlfriend/boyfriend, and she often snarks he’s surprisingly uneventful in that regard considering all the other hijinks he tells her about(or what she secretly reads from his journal and letters when he isn’t looking)

-Kestrel has a medical condition that gives her a forked tongue, she thinks it’s weird but does admit it makes for the occasional fun party trick

-Kestrel is a master of curry, her best ones being Beef Curry and(after lots of practice) Vegetable curry, the latter which she mainly makes for Sky

-Kestrel thinks those who do nothing about themself and use the excuse that that is the way life made them are losers who should get thrown off a cliff, she’d know, she used to think that way

[howhow326]

Harlequin AU: villain Maribug

This idea just popped into my head: what if Miraculous was a villain origin story? What if all the times where Marinette got treated like dog doo doo by her friends, society, and the narrative actually mattered?? What if all the times Marinette got needlessly traumatized were actually a prelude to a more dramatic mental break, a la Scarlet Witch??? What if Marinette went ape shit???? Here's my idea:

Marinette's descent into villainy starts the same way every other day of her life starts: Chloe and Sabrina bully her; Lila bullies her and none of her friends stand up for her; Chat Noir borderline sexually harasses her OR he acts like all the times he proclaimed his undying love to her never happened so he can avoid going on a date with her; the usual.

As Marinette goes into her room, she gets ready to cry herself to sleep like she does every night. And then, an idea pops into her head...

"Tiki, red spots on." "Marinette, no! You can't use the miraculous for evil! You know it always ends in disaster!" "Disaster for ME!!! I'm the one that always sufferers the most for mine and every else mistakes! No more... NO MORE!!! TIKI, RED SPOTS ON!!!"

Marinette transforms, but not into Ladybug. Her trauma and her 'selfish' desire to do what's good for her mixes into a new persona: Harlequin. Her outfit is a color flipped version of Ladybug's enhanced outfit from season 4, a black body suit with red spots.

Harlequin jumps out of her house and announces herself, "Bonsoir, citizens of Paris. You used to know me as the weak Ladybug, the failure superhero." Gasps can be heard from the late night citizens, wondering why their darling would call herself that. "But from now on my name is Harlequin, the strongest superhero in Earth! And I'll prove my strength by finding Hawkmoth and arresting him! CREATION CHARM!!!"

Harlequin digs deep with her power over creation, forcing her power to work for her the same way Hawkmoth forces his power to make akumas. She creates a magic compass that points in the direction of the Butterfly miraculous, and as soon as she arrives at the Agreste mansion, she knows exactly who has been making her life hell.

Gabriel is asleep when Harlequin crashes through his window and assults him. " Oh, you BETTER wake up!" Harlequin snatches his miraculous away and beats him into submission.

When Adrien walks in, he feels like he's in a nightmare. "Ladybug, what are you doing!" The boy screams as she continues to beat a corpse. "Happy Valentine's day, Adrien! Your abusive father, Hawkmoth, won't be bothering us anytime soon." As she walks out of the room to retrieve her kwamis, she turns back to face Adrien. "And by the way, it's Harlequin now."

Gabriel Agreste, AKA Hawkmoth, is dead. Suicide by cop, of course. It's not like anyone cares. Nathile is sent to a UN jail for life after her connection to Gabriel is found out. Adrien inherents his father's company and is to be allowed to live in the guardianship of the Gorilla until he becomes 18. Harlequin recreates the miraculous and brings them back home. But it's not a happy ending. It's just the beginning.

The next day, Lila is up to her old tricks. Afterschool, Harlequin drags her into the street in font of a local news station. "Bonjour citizens of Paris, Harlequin speaking! This girl, Lila Rossi, has been bullying an innocent girl in her class room for the last year. Lila has claimed an innocent girl cheated on a test, she claimed an innocent girl pushed her down the stairs, all sorts of lies really! She even claimed to be my best friend, although there's one hole in that story... Tiki, red spots off!" As Marinette reveals her identity to everyone in Paris, Lila's heart sinks. "The whole time I have been saving the people of Paris, the whole time I've been helping my friends, this wench has been bullying me! NO MORE! Tiki, red spots on!" Harlequin swings away into the distance...

The next day, Lila Rossi disappears. The people of Paris don't care, she bullyed their savior after all. Meanwhile, the akuma class' reputation is destroyed, each one becoming a social outcast.

The day after, Harlequin finds out that the Mayor of Paris has been breaking one two many laws. She decides that he, his wife, and Chloe are all going to go to a "nice family prison".

That's what she told the public. Harlequin used the bunny miraculous to send them back in time into the French Revolution. Chloe will never bully Marinette again.

The day Harlequin becomes the new Empress of France is met with cheers. She saved the world from Hawkmoth. She erased all crime in the country. She seperated France from the UN, so that they may be their own superpower again. Longue vie la Harlequin!

"Marinette, you need to stop! Don't you see that this is crazy?" Alya pleeds to her best friend. "Tell me Alya, where were you when I was being bullied by Lila? NEVER TELL ME WHAT I NEED!!!" Alya is sent away to the camps, where everyone who dare disagrees with Harlequin is sent.

Adrien is at a crossroads. If he chooses to love Harlequin, then his life will be full of joy and madness. Harlequin forgives him for all the wrong he did to her, and accepts him with open arms. Togather, they become the rulers of France... but their relationship is one of imbalance. Just as the Ladybug miraculous is so much more powerful that the Cat, Marinette is so much more powerful than Adrien. Everyday, Adrien thinks Marinette looks more and more like his father. He never says it out loud tho... He dosen't want to be punished again.

If Adrien rejects Harlequin, Kill Bill by Sza plays. Then Harlequin actually kills him.

As Marinette lays in her bed, she still cries herself to sleep. She has everything she could ever want... and she still has nothing...

[miwhotep]

During November, I wrote a series sets in an alternate universe where Ruskin is a vampire who started to serve the human Milverton after he saved him.

I share the full series here. Links to the fics in the titles. Be aware that most of them are E-rated.

INCARNATIONS

When an ambitious young priest frees a vampire in a far-away monastery to make him his servant, a bond forms between the undead creature and the pure evil human.

An unbreakable bond that ties their fates forever.

Prologue - Will You Bite Me?

Ever since he freed him from that far-away monastery where he was kept, Charles Augustus Milverton always fed his vampire servant with his own blood - but this time, he asks him to drink from his neck.

Part 2 - My Truth

Charles Augustus Milverton wasn't always the influential media mogul, the Blackmail King who is feared by everyone who knew his secret persona. A decade ago, he was just a young monk serving an order in a far-away monastery - a boy who was born from the sin of a priest and a nun.

After slowly discovering the lies behind his faith, the young Charles decides to escape to fulfill his mission and show the people the hidden truth about humanity. He is aware that he cannot fight the world alone - he needs a loyal servant who can protect him on the road to the darkness.

But he knows where to look for that guardian - inside the monastery's catacombs where the legends say a vampire was kept.

Part 3 - The Only Light

The darkness around the vampire now felt heavy and he was suffocating despite that he wasn’t even alive. He wanted to cry but he knew that it would not ease his pain and his eyes were unable to form tears anymore. The chains that were blessed with holy water kept burning his skin and increased his sufferings. He didn't know for how long he was lying on the dirty floor of his cell, when suddenly, he heard some noise from the distance.

The light footsteps of a human.

Will he finally get saved from his prison? Or the priest just came to torture him even more?

Part 4 - Evil Perfection

After the young priest finally became the so-called King of Media in England...

Milverton and his vampire servant sit on the roof of a nearby church and talk about evil while they are watching the night sky.

Part 5 - The Child with a Mission

The white-haired man wore the clothes of priests and he used to be one in the past - but not anymore. Yet, he still kept coming back to his roots. He was meant to be the force of temptation, just like the ancient Serpent... but where could have he made more people fall to sin than in a church, disguised as the servant of God?

The priest grinned and stood up as he sensed that his first prey arrived.

A child with scarlet eyes and a sense of mission in his heart.

Part 6 - Saviour Covered in Blood

Milverton gets kidnapped - but his saviour comes just in time.

Part 7 - The Wish of a Vampire Servant

After the young priest escaped from the monastery with the vampire he freed, his new servant has a wish.

A name from his master.

Part 8 - In the Darkness of the Church

Lady Eva Blackwell knew that she needed to come here, to visit the mysterious priest again who was her only consolation during these hard weeks. She needed to ask him about what she should do, how she could escape from the unwanted marriage that was arranged for her. He will know the answer, the woman thought and opening the door, she entered the church.

Father Charles always knows everything.

Part 9 - The Sins of the Past

Ruskin, the loyal vampire servant of Charles Augustus Milverton didn't have memories about his past, neither about the day when he turned into a monster... but his master's blood suddenly makes him remember to his long-forgotten human life and reveals the true nature of the bond what ties their fates together.

Everything started in a rose garden - and a forbidden love with another boy whose eyes are striking gold...

Epilogue - New Beginning

The vampire held his beloved master's body in his arms and watched the other man's agony with incredible sorrow. Behind them, the fire was raging in the manor and the light of the flames sparkled up in the dark red blood drops that dirtied the vampire's hands.

The blood of the only man he ever loved - Charles Augustus Milverton.

Ruskin knew that he cannot let his master die. However... there was still a way.

[bembwashere]

HI HELLO from one bored person to another!! I'd love to throw in an ask here, I'm not sure if this counts at all since I don't think you've necessarily posted about this here, but ever since I drew her for Artfight I've been very curious about your Toonkind Bemb!! Super and very interested, do you have fun little trivia or doodles about her? I LOVE Toonkind and eat it up at any opportunity, been dying to play a Toonkind game one day but I've unfortunately never gotten the opportunity or any other people around me knowing anything about it </3

(I don't?? Know?? If there's some sort of place to go or a server for Toonkind games????? but I'd probably get too shy LMAO)

Heres a little doodle I did of her before I get into rambling <3 There isn't much lore outside of the games I've done with her (WHICH YOU CAN WATCH HERE <3) So i'll give you lil' fun facts!

Bemb is technically 2 years old, Her birthday being on 23rd of December!

Bemb has an imaginary friend which she named Cosmo! They're completely trustworthy!

She has a strength of 18 :) don't worry about ittt

She has a magic unicorn (That Chloe helped summon) called Blueberry!

I'd like to think her full name is Bemb The (T.) Tavernkeeper because her mum probably doesn't have an actual name.

I don't think anyone knows this actually but she has a few items that I gave her when I first made her which is a magic sleeping mask, a potted daffodil and a weak magnetic wand! I'll fit lore into those somehow I guess.

The Scarlet Owl Tavern is different to most Toonkind campaigns/ groups as most of us use artist personas as our characters! It's also pretty lenient with rules so we can mostly focus on story and lore! There's an official server for Toonkind, but you'd need to get an admin to give you an invite because they're not doing public days and hosting games anymore. 😔 There is a bunch of "offshoot" servers that do host games n' such and owned by other peeps, the Tavern being one! I was super shy too at first but I eventually settled down and now I love doing stuff in there! (Extra out of context doodles I've dug up after ages VvV)

[scarlet--wiccan]

What do you think about (as an idea for a slight retcon to explain the Maximoff twins’ background without removing Natalya from their story) Magda actually BEING Natalya? As in, when Magda is presumed dead after giving birth, she actually took on a new persona as Natalya and started a new life as a witch? This way, Magneto and Magda could still be the twins’ parents. I feel like it’s iffy because Magda is Western European and Natalya is likely Eastern European implying they’d be from different vistas (sorry, I’m not 100% sure that this is the proper term) but I think it would be the best way to bring back the old story without undoing the new one.

I gotta tell you, that would be really hard to pull off. I mean, Marvel is no stranger to sloppy retcons, but if you actually care about good writing, I think it'd be tough. First of all, in Scarlet Witch, Wanda encounters a past version of Natalya from before the twins were born, and she's already a witch, already going by that name, etc. Second, multiple living characters attest that Natalya was Django's brother and had been living-- and doing magic-- in the Balkans her whole life.

So, you need to find a way to account for all that. If Natalya, as a character, existed in a vacuum, then maybe it would work, although I really don't like that almost every Romani woman in comics is a witch, so I'd like to keep Magda out of that if possible.

On that subject, though, if we are going to continue employing Romani witch archetypes, I want to do it in a way that speaks authentically to this part of Romani history.

As I understand it, things like folk magic and divination, in the Romani community, are usually family trades, and were historically practiced as survival work, so, for most people, it is something that goes back several generations. A lot of those skills, like cartomancy, were developed by applying Romani ancestral customs to European folkways, and many of our communities do still have closed and/or initiatory spiritual traditions.

I don't have all the right answers, but I feel very strongly that if Wanda's magic is hereditary, it does need to be a part of a family lineage. My dream would be to really incorporate this part of Romani history into the Marvel canon in a way that changes outsider perceptions of witches and gypsies in genre fiction for the better. That's a lofty goal, and I'm not the right person to do it-- I'm sure you can imagine that this is difficult to talk about in a way that respects our cultural boundaries, and you end up walking a really fine line between representation and affirming stereotypes. So, it's just really hard.

Anyway, that's why I kind of love Natalya as she is, and I want to believe that something really positive could be done with this character. In the same vein, I actually really like that Magda is just an ordinary lady-- her story's really dark, but it's important for people to be reminded of Romani Holocaust victims, and I worry that we would be taking away from that if we made her into a magical being.

In this house we stan two unique, individual, and equally important Romani mothers!!!

The word you're looking for is "vitsa," which, in this context, is used to describe distinct groups or communities within the global Romani diaspora. Those distinctions are not technically based on geography-- it's more about lineage and dialect-- but, yeah, in Europe, they tend to be regional. It's not a hard rule, or anything. My family lives really far north from where you'd think to find Cale people, but that's who we are! I don't think it's ever explicitly stated, but we can infer from context that Magda is Sinti. She is actually one of the few Romani characters in comics with an identifiable vitsa. The fact that the Maximoffs don't have one can make it harder to nail down "authentic" details, which is sometimes frustrating.

[cutieparadox]

OK PERSONA OC EXPLANATION BECAUSE. YES. I FINALLY FIGURED EVERYTHING OUT. UNDER THE CUT. if you saw me struggle to add a line break no you didnt.

I keep referring to my persona ocs and acting like everyone knows who they are and what I’m talking about, so, yeah here they are.

This is an original story, so this doesn’t happen during any of the games, or have any of the canon characters, this could be an alternate timeline, maybe one where the p2 timelines never split?? That’s not super important, but it does take place in sumaru city.

Or more accurately, it takes place in Yokohama! I’ll call it Sumaru City, but all of the background shots I’ll draw are just Yokohama. So.

The main cast is all based on each persona game, so for example Asuka is persona 3, so she’s blu-themed, and she's coming to terms with the limited time she has and to stop caring about other people because of it. Nana is based on persona 2 so she’s scarlet red themed and her character development is being like “yeah horrible things have happened to me, but I can decide if I become more bitter and angry because of it, or I can become a loving and supportive person instead.”, etc, etc.

So all of these people (Asuka Iwasaki, Nana Akiteru, Mikuru Saki, Ruuna Narumi, and Oka Morishita)

are childhood friends, Oka, Asuka, and Nana being the first to meet, and then Saki and Ruuna move in and meet them after, and they become INSEPARABLE like these 5 are just a package deal. They are split up between the two schools from persona 2, but they just run to the middle point once school ends to hang out anyway.

Ok so for the actual PERSONA stuff!!

In 2022, (when this story takes place), a strange phenomenon has been happening for about 4 years.

People have noticed objects or ideas from their dreams appearing in reality, but only to them. Reflections change to their fantasy self, surroundings shifting for only a moment.

Mental illness diagnosis and hospitalization have gone up tenfold, even if the patient's family history doesn’t have any listed psychosis cases. It’s baffled scientists and other researchers for years, as there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.

More recently, a particularly extreme set of cases has started happening all over japan. People have started suddenly going into a psychotic breakdown, speaking absolute nonsense and parading through the streets, possibly hurting other people or causing property destruction. They also end up admitting things they would NEVER admit willingly while in this trance, I have this vivid idea of a married man falling victim to this, and admitting to his wife that he never actually saw her as anything other than a friend and that he only married her to ignore the fact that he was gay and in love with his best friend. This character wouldn’t be important, just an idea of what happens.

They can not be stopped unless death or stamina runs out. Eventually, they run out of energy and collapse on the spot! Just. Crumple. These patients almost always fall into a coma and die after a month or so. When they are in that coma, their brain shuts off completely. Not even essential brain waves are active, and yet, their heart still beats?? I haven’t figured that part out uh

The apparent cause has been privately researched by two scientists by the names of Lain Hayashi and Ayaka Suzuki, as well as their assistants Ami Iwasaki and Ichiro Narumi.

Ami is Asuka’s Cousin, and Ichiro is Ruuna’s older brother and legal caretaker, as well as the owner of the house they live in. Ami lives there too, her and Ichiro have been dating since they were in school.

Both of them are super cute together. I adore them. the heterosexuals ever.

The “Lab” (I haven’t thought of a name for it, probably something like project blank) came up with the theory of the “Rem cycle” phenomenon, as well as the idea of the “inside”

Only persona users can enter the inside, so out of the research team, only Ami and Ichiro can enter it.

The inside is a HUGE towering hospital with a large labyrinthine courtyard.

I’ll talk about the courtyard first, it’s like mementos essentially. Something like..” forgotten dreams are laid to rest here” so it’s overgrown and stuff. It’s actually off to the side, so it’s like. Out of the way.

The individual dreams are separated into wards. These wards are basically pockets of whatever dream the holder is having. So, for example, if someone is having a dream where they are the Prime Minister, the dream world would be that version of japan. Or if anyone had a dream about being a princess in a Victorian castle then the ward would be that area of the world, and more particularly whatever castle they would live in. Persona users are not exempt from falling victim to this. Using my last example, one of my ocs is actually like that. She is completely aware that she is in a dream, and that her real body will die. She’s able to control everything around her because of that awareness. This is exclusive to persona users. But in most cases, at least the only case I had written which is aforementioned, they have to fuse with their shadow, therefore taking its place. I haven’t worked out all the logistics of that, so come back to me on that later. I just know that fusing causes heterochromia, with one eye being their natural color, whichever one the dominant side of their handsis, and the other being the yellow that shadows are known for. It also causes incredible power shifts that can be very physically dangerous. It doesn’t however cause any split personality tropes, because the shadow is them, so there’s no battle for control type things. Hypothetically there could be if you fuse with a shadow that is not your own, but I haven’t thought about that much.

The goal of these persona users is to kill the shadow and release the holder, or in the case of the fused people, get them to relinquish control and allow the ward to crumble and for them to return to reality.

When in the inside, persona users get their own outfits. Basically the metaverse outfits or magical girl transformations. Small colors change depending on the Ward, however.

Another interesting thing, particularly skilled persona users can bend the inside to their whims, if only in certain ways. Things like weapons appearing from thin air, floating/flying, destroying different structures,etc.

Two shadows end up joining the team as well after the rest of their awakenings. They are completely safe and stuff no like. Betrayal.

They didn’t have a name so they asked the team to name them.

Shadow A ends up asking for “the prettiest cutest loveliest name you can give me” so, she got Kokorohime MajiBaton Loveha. The ultimate KiraKira bs name. Everyone calls her Hime but she insists strangers call her by her full “legal” name, much to everyone else’s dismay.

Shadow B asked for any name that didn’t sound like that. So they got Natsuro Masa. Yay! New team members get. The two move in with Ruuna and Ami and Ichiro! Ami thought they were so cute so she was fine with it, And Ichiro was too tired to care and they had an extra room anyway. He basically just said “whatever kids have fun”

Eventually, they named the team “ dream saviors” or “YumeYumis!” I just call them the saviors in my head.

Other random stuff includes:

All of the saviors' (and Ichiro and Ami's) personas are the muses from Greek mythology! Some of these are super shallow relations but uh. Ignore that it will make sense eventually!! Here is The list of personas and how they connect to the characters are:

Ami has Erato, the muse of Love poetry. She’s like dangerously in love with Ichiro, like. Girly would put her life on the line for that man. (and it’s completely mutual dw)

Ichiro has Clio, the muse of history. Uh. He’s smart! That’s it!! I kind of didn’t have any other ideas for him I’m so sorry my baby boy.

Nana has Melpomene, the muse of tragedy and chorus. Nana has gone through some stuff. Like really. I haven’t exactly decided what. But I do know it’s some STUFF. So uh. Tragedy!

Saki has Calliope, The muse of epic poetry. Saki is a hardcore theater kid. She works for a theater troupe and is their rising star!

Asuka has Euterpe, the muse of music. She’s the headliner of a metal band. Yeah. Kinda clear there.

Oka has Polyhymnia, the muse of Hymns and sacred poetry. She’s a writer. Yet again, that’s it!!

Hime has Terpsichore, the muse of dancing. Hime's inside outfit (or what she wore for her entire life before getting pulled out of the inside) was a ballerina ensemble. Yet again, super shallow, but I feel like she would like dancing anyway.

Natsuro has Urania, the muse of astronomy! She’s space themed, but like 70’s science fiction space stuff??? You know what I meant!!

Last but not least, Ruuna has Thalia, the muse of comedy. Joking and being like, high energy is her coping mechanism. And uh. Yeah. That’s it!!

You might also be asking “why don’t Ichiro and Ami go save these people themselves” because they literally can’t!!

One, they are disallowed by Lain and Ayaka to do anything outside of looking around, and killing any random shadows walking around the hallways. They also just can’t enter the wards. The saviors are the “keys” to the wards because of fate and stuff. If the two followed behind them they could, that’s actually how they found out how they are researching the rem cycle.

Anything past any of this I don’t know. Lol.