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idiotwhotalkstoomuch · 3 years

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The Despair Disease

While the post I made saying I want to make this post didnt gain a lot of traction I’m making it anyway to defend the motive the fandom deems the worst of the worst when it’s one of my favorites

This post contains spoilers for SDR2 and DR1′s chapter 6 and other chapters so finish those before you read. I dont believe I spoiled anything about DRV3 but if I did shoot me a comment I’ll update this.

In this post I will explain why I adore this motive (its prolly even my favorite in the franchise) and later explain the despair disease we got. If people want I will make another post on what the other cast would get as a despair disease but this post is getting very long.

Also I apologize if this post makes no sense I write on pure passion and don’t feel like trying my best to make it cohesive. Feel free to ask in replies or my dms what Im saying in some points.

The criticism behind this motive

I see a lot of posts saying this motive is a lazy excuse for foreshadowing and how it butchered characters like Mikan because they were running out of motives.

In my opinion, to say this is lazy foreshadowing is a bit ridiculous because it foreshadows two things pretty well when I was watching a playthrough (I wasnt able to buy the game *mourning noises*)

- Junko AI’s control over the world is foreshadowed with the fact the disease easily came and went. As the teacher or admin essentially she has the power to do this because its a game world not the real one.

- Mikan’s breakdown and motive is the biggest remnant of despair foreshadowing we get prior to it being revealed in Chapter 6.

I’ve seen people say Junko choosing to only infect Mikan with the remembering disease is ridiculous because she should just infect everyone then they kill each other and she takes the bodies but this idea forgets one key aspect of Junko’s plan.

She wanted to trap Makoto, Kyoko and Byakuya in the Neo World Program

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TLDR: Junko cant trap the survivors if they’re all despair cause Byakuya or Kyoko would’ve ended the whole thing and have the DR2 cast killed.

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If Junko made everyone back into despairs, Makoto might’ve jumped in if he was alone but Kyoko and Byakuya (well maybe with Makoto’s urging just Byakuya) never would’ve gone in and they would’ve stopped Makoto. Byakuya might even just straight up pull the plug on the operation and tell Makoto its impossible to save them because they’re optimistic not delusional. They believed in them in Chapter 6 because they were still themselves but if they all became despair then Byakuya or Kyoko would’ve ended the whole thing and her plans would go down the drain.

Of course causing herself despair may have been a side motive but above all if she made everyone despair she couldnt trap the survivors which she wanted to do so only Mikan became despair and I fully believe Mikan was an appropriate choice for the remembering disease not because she outlived her usefulness to the plot or she’s too useful but rather she along with Hajime are the most fitting candidates for the remembering disease.

To prevent this post from becoming super long my elaboration on the Despair disease and how it works will be under cut along with me explaining why this motive stands out to me to be one of my favorite motives

How does the despair disease work

As the name suggests to put it lightly the disease causes despair but how exactly you may ask

The disease makes the character act or experience something that makes them miserable

I mean in hindsight it’s actually pretty obvious since its name isn’t exactly subtle yet most seem to think it just makes them behave erratically (I did initially but upon rewatching chap 3 which is one of my favorite of DR2, another hot take but the hate on that chapter is more justified so I dont feel inclined to defend it.)

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TLDR: Akane hates being a coward, Nagito wants to be helpful not just spew nonsense, Ibuki wants to be herself not a mindless doll and Mikan has a horrible past and hates remembering it.

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Akane Owari (Coward disease) - This disease is the most obvious in how it causes its host despair as in the main story and her free time events its made very clear how much she hates crying and being afraid. She will charge in head first at danger and despises crying, even keeping herself together after Nekomaru sacrificed himself for her so she must’ve thoroughly hated crying so much and acting so pathetic.

Nagito Komaeda (Lying disease) - This disease makes Nagito not just lie but spout info that is blatantly wrong or unhelpful. The way this disease causes him despair is not actually that Nagito hates lying. In chapter 1 he freely acted like he had no clue Teruteru was the murderer and will gladly help the killers which would require him to lie. This disease causes him despair because in this state Nagito is extremely useless and flat out in the way. Nagito as problematic as he is always has meaning behind his action whether its to try and inspire hope or its to lead his classmates to the correct answer he doesnt just do things for the sake of insanity. With the despair disease, Nagito is saying the most dumb and useless info along with not being able to give proper lies or half truths to this classmates which means he’s just actually bothering them now with no purpose which is what causes him despair (And the fact the disease worsened his what must be painful tumor so yeah that mustve caused him despair as well)

Ibuki Mioda (Gullible disease) - Admittedly I know less about Ibuki then a lot of the cast but I will say why this disease works in my opinion. Ibuki left her band that made her so successful to make her own music because of creative differences because Ibuki likes being herself. The gullible disease makes her just some subservient lapdog with no personality. She believed Mikan who told her to go to the music venue with her during the night with no suspicion whatsoever because of this disease and she didnt die being herself but just being some doll who will believe anything and do anything because of how gullible she is.

Mikan Tsumiki (Remembering disease) - Alright time to explain the most criticized one. This disease is honestly perfectly fitting for Mikan because of Mikan’s abusive past. It’s not rocket science to tell Mikan was abused after the first chapter of the game with her timid and weak personality along with frequent reference to bullies. Mikan both in the main story and her free time events never actually elaborates on things like her home life and how bad her bullying was. Of course we know they did things like draw on her and cut her hair but she never actually talks about events that scarred her for life or things like why she’s covered in bandages, its mostly implicitly told by her behavior and one instance where she mentions her home as a place she was beaten a lot in. This just shows that Mikan doesn’t like looking at her past and she would rather try to please the people she’s currently with or just be happy about her current situation (she calls the neo world program a paradise because no one abuses her there). For Junko to give Mikan a disease where she remembers all about the things she’s forgotten along with the memories of her past that weren’t wiped must’ve been hell for her as she would remember all the pain and agony throughout her life which made her return to her despair self, the Mikan who snapped and become dependent again on the person she believes is the only one who’s ever been kind to and loves her. It takes more than remembering Junko to return Mikan to despair, she would have to remember all the bullies and people who beat her at home for her to return to the remnant of despair who chose to plunge the world into chaos and madness.

Now why do I love this motive

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TLDR: The despair disease has the framework of a sympathetic motive that would make us shed tears for Mikan but she hits us with the fact this was who she was before the killing game. This motive is great because the person it triggered to kill wasn’t some innocent angel who would never do it otherwise, it’s someone who just needed a good push to kill not one but two of her classmates.

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After that very long elaboration, I want to say why this motive is one of my favorite in the franchise and a motive I deem one of the best.

As I mentioned earlier this disease makes the characters feel or act in a way that makes them miserable or as the game would call it “bring them despair”. It’s really interesting to watch because the characters aren’t all going “We’re friends and we’ll never kill each other!” which is the expected attitude after Terueru and Peko’s sympathetic and tragic ends. This motive makes the infected erratic and the uninfected afraid of the infected because they don’t want to get sick.

This motive was done by Monokuma and the Junko AI because after the events of chapter 1 and 2 where Teruteru didnt get to learn what happened to his mom and where Peko begged her classmates to never do a senseless killing again, it takes very extreme circumstances to make the cast kill again because these events united them so Monokuma needed to break it open because if it weren’t for motives like the despair disease and later the funhouse and the truth behind the cast, they likely would’ve actually stopped killing because it’s not like life is hard on the island, it’s quite pleasant for them honestly.

But of course necessity to the plot isn’t enough to make a motive something I deem part of the best, now what about this motive makes me think it is one of the best in the franchise.

The sympathy aspect

Now what do I mean by this?

In Danganronpa it’s very easy to identify a sympathetic motive from an unsympathetic motive. For example: Danganronpa 1 case 1 is a sympathetic motive because Leon was scared and panicked after Sayaka tried to kill him so he killed her before she could leave the bathroom she locked herself in and try again. Danganropa 1 case 3 is obviously an unsympathetic motive because Celeste for cash, no stakes on her life she just wanted the cash prize.

The despair disease is written with the framework of a sympathetic motive because it forcefully changes the way a character is so it would hypothetically make someone crazy against their will then kill someone without them actually wanting to but this motive throws your expectations right in your face because of Mikan’s despair disease.

Mikan’s disease being the remembering disease turns the motive of this case to “Poor soft nurse was forced to kill her friends” to “Soft nurse remembers she’s actually really insane and wants to kill her classmates to inflict despair and join her beloved in death because she believes they loved her above all else.”

Danganronpa 2 is full of sympathetic killers at the start with Teruteru wanting to first save the others then later save his mother when Nagito ends up living and with Fuyuhiko wanting to avenge his little sister who died too young but Peko sees what he’s doing will get him killed so she kills Mahiru instead of him to at least let him live another round.

This motive was supposed to make another character in this cast a sympathetic victim of Monokuma as they would not kill the people they did on other circumstances but with the disease that would inflict Mikan the most despair, it made her remember everything that has happened and what made her want to kill.

#danganronpa #danganronpa 2 #sdr2 #despair disease #mikan tsumiki #nagito komaeda #akane owari #ibuki mioda #junko enoshima

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shiny-procrastinates · 3 years

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(re)Watching Magia Record S1 - part 6

part 5 here

Hello everyone, welcome back! Today, we will be watching episode 6. Last time, some really weird (well, weirder than normal), pre-established rule breaking things happened to some of our girls. How come? Is Kaede going to be alright? Will Yachiyo fill Iroha in on what happened? We'll have to watch to find out.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story: Magia Record S1 episode 6

We open this episode with a, uhhh... alluring...? Witch show. A group of unknown magical girls is hunting this witch. Seeing the amount of familiars, the girls in front decide to revise their plan, but the girl called Felicia just barges right in, forcing her team to follow after her.

Seems this girl has a real beef with witches.

Hey, Tsuruno's now in the opening!

Rather than continuing the scene before the opening, we are now back to Iroha, who stayed over at Yachiyo's place after the events from the previous episode.

The two eat breakfast, and we learn that Yachiyo's place used to be a bording house. That explains why it's so big.

Iroha thanks Yachiyo for cleaning her Soul Gem, to which Yachiyo is like "?" for a moment before connecting the dots. As it stands, it seems like Iroha doesn't know what happened and Yachiyo's not telling her either. On the one hand, that seems like a bad idea, on the other, well, we saw Kaede's reaction.

Yachiyo changes subject to Iroha's plans for today.

...thanks, Takarazaki Milk, for reminding us where Iroha's from.

Iroha's going to be investigating Kamihama some more, so Yachiyo advises her to keep being a magical girl a secret as best as she can, particularly if she's going east beyond Chuo Ward. Wonder why the direction matters.

...not really important, but I'm bothered I can't remember what this place is.

Iroha takes a walk around Sankyo Ward looking for Ui, finally arriving at a weeeird part of town.

Other than telling her not to walk around at night, maybe Yachiyo should've told her not to enter places that seem out of a horror movie. Also, maybe Iroha's just so used to witch Labyrinths this doesn't even register as bizarre to her anymore. (It's probably just Shaft being Shaft).

This... really is almost a Labyrinth, isn't it.

This couldn't get more suspicious if it tried. It might as well have someone screaming "scam!".

Iroha is offered a bottle and hesitates to accept until she sees

the kid berserker from before drinking it.

Still, I get Felicia, but did your parents not teach you not to accept things from strangers, Iroha?

But well, for the moment, the water itself seems to be fine, other than it being drugs. No way this'll blow up on their faces or anything.

In any case, Iroha goes back to her wandering. It seems she's in Kosho Ward right now.

Now, not only did Iroha accept things from strangers, she also did the one thing Yachiyo warned her about: she got outed as a magical girl.

Good thing the Soul Gem rings work as name tags too. It's written "Felicia".

Iroha's now being extorted by a 13 y.o.

Not that she's that much older, but still.

Thankfully(?) she's saved by a witch appearing.

This witch seems a bit like the one on the start of the episode. Felicia, of course, doesn't even need Iroha's help, she just wrecks everything with her big ol' hammer. Rather, it's more dangerous for Iroha herself to be there lol

Look at that cute smile.

Felicia goes right back to extorting... I mean, asking Iroha for payment. Iroha makes the fair point that she didn't ask for her help, but Felicia makes the even fairer point that a weakling like her would be dead if she hadn't, so Iroha finds herself with no choice but to pay up... in ice cream. Seems her allowance's running dry from coming to Kamihama every day.

The two go for some ice cream and start bonding. This girl is Felicia Mitsuki, and she makes a living as a mercenary who takes on jobs from other magical girls.

While Iroha's out doing ill-advised things and making new friends, Yachiyo's dropping by the Coordinator's and happens to overhear the team who had hired Felicia before, and...

Oh my god Mitama what have you done this time. This is blasphemy towards food, you know.

Alas, a wanted sign is kinda too much for a simple warning, don't you think?

Seems like Felicia's (un)famous for her berserker tendencies.

Yachiyo came here to hear some new information about the rumors, but first she has to deal with a new guest.

Ohhh talking about food, look who's here. It's Kyoko!

Apparently, Kyoko came here due to the decrease in witches in the surrounding regions. She expected she'd get into trouble hunting witches in another magical girl's territory, but Yachiyo says it's fine as long as she doesn't pick a fight with anybody. She's let down by how easy it was but says she'll just do whatever then. While she's at it, she also pokes at the same thing Mami said about someone gathering witches, but Yachiyo shoots her down right away. Did Kyoko hear something from Mami or did Kyuubei tell her this?

Back to Iroha and Felicia, the two are still on their lucky strike. Hey, seems the Lucky Owl Water wasn't a scam after all!

The two just keep on winning and winning (also who let kids into casino) and as expected Iroha's starting to get suspicious about their unnatural luck.

"I still got a dupe"

After winning amounts of money that would probably make broke college student Yachiyo jealous, the two go out to have lunch.

Felicia compliments Iroha's guts to enter the east like that, and Iroha takes the opportunity to ask her if she knows her sister. (not related but the way the table is set gives a great sense of the difference in age and tastes between these two. Iroha's a simple and responsible girl, so her food is only japanese cuisine and problably only as much as she can eat, while Felicia is a kid who probably never had this amount of money, so it looks like she just went ahead and ordered everything she wanted to eat.)

Felicia offers making an exclusive contract with Iroha, and Iroha asks why is Felicia even a mercenary at all. Felicia says if she doesn't work she can't eat, so Iroha asks where are her parents, to which Felicia responds, well...

They're dead. They were killed by a witch. That explains why Felicia's got a thing with witches.

As if she had guessed the uncomfortable atmosphere, Yachiyo calls. Iroha glances hesitatingly a moment at Felicia before answering. Seems Yachiyo has information about a new rumor.

...wait, isn't Lucky Owl Water the thing Felicia and Iroha drank just earlier? So it was a scam after all!

Perfect fashion sense there, Tsuruno.

Iroha and Felicia go meet up with Tsuruno and Yachiyo. Tsuruno knows who Felicia is, and Felicia knows who Yachiyo is, but has no idea about Tsuruno. While Tsuruno protests this, Yachiyo scolds Iroha for failing her one job, and warns her about Felicia's berserker tendencies.

Yachiyo confirms that Iroha has drank the Lucky Owl Water, and tells her the contents of the rumor about it. So basically, once you drink it, 24 lucky things will happen to you and after these 24 things are over a barrage of bad luck will follow. Yachiyo doesn't know what that "bad luck" actually entails, but she has found that even magical girls have gone missing this time.

Felicia thinks all this is a bunch of nonsense so Yachiyo tells her to just go away then. Felicia does just that, but kind-hearted Iroha stops her from going away by hiring her.

Felicia names her prices and Iroha's about to pay, but Yachiyo tells her to make it something besides money, so Iroha offers making Felicia dinner instead.

Look at her, Felicia really is a nice kid. Not only did she half her price instead of doubling it if it's not a witch, she's totally fine with being paid in food. I mean, there is the fact that she needs to work to eat but... she's not cut out for running a mercenary business.

Still, for the moment, Felicia's not part of the team.

Iroha and co. go back to where Iroha drank the Lucky Owl Water and, although everyone's still blissfully unaware of how bizarre this place is, it seems they now can see the familiars(?) as familiars. Is it that thing? The one where you can only perceive what you are looking for?

Felicia picks a fight with the... uh... Thing, please give us a name anime, and it disappears. Yachiyo chides Felicia for jumping the gun, and the two start fighting.

*Kaos noises*

Tsuruno appropriately cuts in, and Yachiyo theorizes that, just like the previous times, they'll have to find and beat the rumor's true form in order to undo it. Preferably before Iroha and Felicia's luck runs out.

Aaand Kyoko was listening in on them.

Iroha and co. start investigating the rumor. Seems the storyteller from the scenes explaining the contents of the rumors aren't just for show, they actually exist, though the girls hearing the rumor from it don't seem to notice it's not human.

Oh, there. That'd explain why Iroha and Felicia didn't notice the Owl Water the first time... still doesn't excuse them from accepting things from strangers though, lol

...look at Yachiyo's cool composure as she pins down poor Felicia. Brutal.

The girls chase after the storyteller familiar. Now peeps, if you've been paying close attention, you'll notice this episode has been counting down Iroha's and Felicia's luck ever since they drank the Lucky Owl Water. Neat, right? I won't post all of them since 24 is a lot, but did you guys catch it?

Anyways,

while chasing down the familiar, the girls are surrounded by a group of weirdos in hoods. Managing to string together a sentence with their impeccable coordination, they tell our girls they are obstructing the Magius's plans, whoever that is, by chasing the Rumor. It's just for a moment, but the screen flashes that one paper slip that's slapped everywhere there's rumors involved. I'm also pretty sure there's one inside Yachiyo's notebook too.

The group continues their speech and Yachiyo conveniently translates for us: they're saying they'll give them the water everyday, as long as they keep away from the Rumor.

Tsuruno protests that there are magical girls who got caught up in this rumor, but the group continue with their talk of Magius and telling them not to interfere.

I really like the panning in this one shot. You clearly get a sense of how while the older girls, Yachiyo and Tsuruno, know something's up and are willing to bonk the weirdos, Iroha and Felicia are in doubt about what these girls are saying. Their mind spaces are so different separating them just with the shadows wasn't enough: they had to be in different frames altogether.

...I don't think the person who decided on this thought that far, but still.

Anyway, Felicia bites their bait and asks about the "all witches will disappear" part. The weirdos, who know about Felicia, say they'll hire her. The reward? The elimination of all witches.

Too bad Iroha, seems your handmade dinner wasn't an appetizing enough reward.

So! Felicia decided to go with these weirdos, the Wings of the Magius, who say they know a way to get rid of all witches. Well... that'd better be a more efficient method than the one Suzune thought, or else they're not getting anywhere.

Going by what they said, these girls have something to do with the rumors... or rather, Rumors, because that's not confusing at all. They also said something about salvation, so they probably have something to do with the rampant dream-ads that the magical girls outside Kamihama are having. How rude. I wonder how much would you have to pay for one of those?

Jokes aside, with this, we finally have a new lead on the weird things going on in Kamihama. And not only us, either. Kyoko also learnt something about the Rumors. Which brings up the question: where is Mami? She should be investigating Kamihama, but she hasn't shown up since she tried to shoot Iroha. Weird.

Well, the only way to answer the obscene amount of questions this show likes to bring up is by watching, but before I finish this up I'd like to write down the numbers on this episode:

24-23: Felicia's ice cream's package; 23-22: raffle ticket; 22-21: raffle drawing; 21-20: falling coins; 20-19: slot machine's label; 19-18: bet nº; 18-17: fever!; 17-16: Magireco's game currency (lol); 16-15: the table's number; 15-14: the paper one of the familiars is holding; 14-13: formed by the light on the ground.

Nothing lucky happens after that one, so I think these are the ones in this episode. I feel this was the first time in all my rewatches I caught the one on Felicia's ice cream and the one the familiar was holding, so maybe I got some of that luck too, haha.

This ran on longer than I thought it would for Felicia's introduction episode. I'll be releasing you people from this barrage of text now, so I hope I'll still see you next time when we watch episode 7. Have a good morning/afternoon/evening! Bye-bye!

#Magia Record #Puella Magi Madoka Magica #magireco #pmmm magia record

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takerfoxx · 4 years

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Notes on Restless

A day overdue, but here it is! My thoughts on writing Restless.

Restless is, in many ways, the most important arc in the story, not because it is the most plot or character significant (though it definitely is very important to both), but because it was one of the first, if not the first story arc I planned out, and have been cooking up in the back of my mind and working toward ever since this story started. And, as indicated by the title, it is one big reference to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode Restless, which is my favorite episode and also featured all of the main characters trapped in their little dream worlds.

What can I say; I like dream sequences!

In fact, and I know I have mentioned this a few times already, but it bears repeating the first chapter of this arc was literally the very first scene I thought up for this story, back when I was still in post-episode 9 depression and wanted nothing more for Kyoko and Oktavia to reunite somewhere and be happy together (well, the story definitely gives us the former, but, um, not really the latter, because I am still a sadist). If memory serves, my original vision had the two of them and Mami relaxing in a fantasy-world hot spring that had a bunch of big crystals everywhere (because I like crystals), only for them to be interrupted by the sound of something moving nearby, and, upon inspection, they would find the doll version of Charlotte watching them.

Obviously that scenario’s gone through a lot of fine-tuning, especially when it comes to Charlotte. And the crystals got moved to the end of the story after the hot spring had been removed, but hey, they still made the final cut. Regardless, I did settle on a finalized version some years ago, and the final cut came out more-or-less exactly as I envisioned, down to Mami and Charlotte going off alone for some, ah, quality time.

The only new addition was Jerky’s little scene and the Sayaka/Oktavia flirting sequence, and, well, that happened. I honestly don’t know if I’m even allowed to say much about it without getting into trouble with someone, even though I wrote it, but let’s just say the time has come to finally kick things into high gear on that end.

Okay, so onto the dreams!

Kyoko’s dream was of course the one I came up with first, and yet ended up being the shortest. I guess it’s because while she’s white-hot mess of issues, she’s at least a straightforward white-hot mess of issues, and honestly, it came out more-or-less how I initially planned years ago, with very little addition.

Now, Mephisto gave us a pretty clear breakdown of what the individual girls’ dreams meant thematically when she started torturing them directly, but it bears repeating that Kyoko’s dream was mainly dealing with her poor reaction to loss (the concept, not the meme), specifically the loss of Sayaka to Oktavia, and her stubborn and yet misguided quest to bring Sayaka back at any cost.

We start with a perfect repeat of her dream from waaaaaaaay back from chapter five, when she was first waking up from being drugged. I was originally just going to begin with the continuation, but it had been so long since that chapter that I just copied and pasted the original dream so we can have it in its entirety, which included the all-important image of Sayaka dissolving into silver fishes.

From there it’s mainly Kyoko’s singleminded quest to find Sayaka at any cost. And from there, we see her think that she’s found her time after time, only to be disappointed, from thinking that Madoka was Sayaka (and it’s a shame that they never interacted more beyond that single episode, as they had a good dynamic), to nearly catching the silver-fish Sayaka only to have her torn away, to finally finding the fake fish-faced conductor Sayaka, further establishing her inability to accept Oktavia as not being Sayaka. The hole that her father left in her heart and how deeply she misses him even with what he did does come up, but she abandons catching him once Kyubey makes it clear that doing so is impossible, as well as showing that while she still loves her father, part of her still does not forgive him and she truly believes that he went to Hell.

Also, was that the first time I’ve had Kyubey show up and have original dialogue? Because it might be!

Mephisto’s first appearance has her occupying the same role that she would in everyone’s dreams, that of a surly gatekeeper. She’s a bouncer in Kyoko’s dream, a ticket-taker/ride operator in Sayaka’s, a hostess in Mami’s, and a receptionist in Charlotte’s. And in each one, she lets the dreamer pass while making it clear that doing so is probably a bad idea. Her design was a lot of fun, though there truly is no significance to her rainbow dreadlocks, punk-rock aesthetic, or denim outfit, other than I liked the way they looked. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Annabelle Lee and the dockengauts have very short appearances in the nightclub, as despite all the pain they’ve put Kyoko through, she is still so singleminded in her pursuit that she considers them nothing more than obstacles to be overcome, which Annabelle Lee would probably be annoyed to hear.

As for Mami’s weird striptease, well, Kyoko is just now having to grapple with her own budding sexuality, and it stands to reason that Mami would have been an early crush for her. The “ending” though shows that while she’s more-or-less okay with Charlotte, she is still very aware of how Mami died.

Like Annabelle Lee, Elsa Maria would have the same role in everyone’s dream, the same role she had in Annabelle Lee’s feverish dream during the Help arc, that of the person who points the way to what the dreamer is seeking while still advising against it, which is always ignored. Though don’t read too much into her working with Mephisto in the end, as it’s not the real Elsa Maria and Mephisto is still the one in control.

And what better place for Kyoko, now Ophelia, to start her quest to find Sayaka for real than the same train station that she originally lost Sayaka in?

Anyway, while this chapter came out basically as originally envisioned, there are a couple things that I wish I had included, firstly a scene where Kyoko loses her necklace while being swept along by the current for Sayaka to find it later, and to have the sound of the crying child from the beginning to continue throughout the whole chapter, showing that she still hadn’t forgotten her quest to find her sister, as impossible as it might seem now.

Sayaka’s dream had largely to do with her and Oktavia’s issues with personal identity, and the dichotomy that Oktavia feels at all times, but translated through Sayaka’s eyes. In fact, bits and pieces of both their personalities are present through the circus (and given that Rumia’s dream took place in a circus in Imperfect Metamorphosis, it does just seem to be a recurring theme with me). The whole knight in shining armor for Sayaka is obvious, as is her sense of righteous justice as what Lily did. But her dynamics with the various characters that she comes across, her memories in general, her growing attraction to Kyoko, and her annoyance at being addressed incorrectly is all Oktavia.

It’s the two Kyoko encounters I want the highlight. The first at the shooting gallery shows that while Oktavia does love Kyoko, she is getting quite fed up with the constant nicknames in place of her actual name, while the second in the dunking tank shows her growing concern that Kyoko’s dogheaded persistence is only going to keep getting her hurt until there’s nothing left, as well as show her growing sexual attraction to Kyoko as she is progressively more stripped.

Mami and Charlotte’s brief appearance was in part to get them on the dream, and so show that that while Oktavia cares for them deeply, she’s not nearly as worried about them as she is Kyoko, hence why they’re here so briefly. Also, them pushing Ticky Nikki around in a stroller, aside from being Nikki’s only appearance this whole arc, was also a tip of the hat to the original Restless episode from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as Giles’s dream had him and his girlfriend pushing a stroller around through a carnival in the middle of a graveyard.

The Freakshow was a mixture of the traumatic monsters both Sayaka and Oktavia had to encounter, from the various witch familiars and to Gertrud, the first witch Sayaka ever saw, to the witch form of Charlotte, who traumatized Sayaka deeply, to Brooklyn, who briefly showed up earlier and was sort of Oktavia’s nemesis in The Heist and targeted her specifically, which left a mark.

And that whole business with Annabelle Lee “pouring” Kyoko into the tank was to lean more into dream logic, where deeply personal fears tend to be translated through nonsensical imagery. I’ve had plenty of dreams where I’d “lose” a close friend or family member because they got turned into a jar of dried corn or something and I’d just be so devastated and obsessed with turning said corn back into my loved one, and it’d be very serious and emotional, and it wouldn’t be until I had woken up that I’d realize, “Dude, dried corn?” Plus, her guilt about stabbing Annabelle Lee was a reference to Sayaka’s own increasing guilt when she realized that she wasn’t the shining hero she had wanted to be.

The clown dance is pretty self-explanatory, in that Sayaka spent so much time killing witches and treating them like monsters only to become a witch herself. Plus, given how quick her downfall was, it serves to reason that she would think of herself as a clown. Plus, I just like Lily as a character, and wanted any excuse to use her as much as possible.

The whole bit with the train station acting as the loading gate for the roller-coaster is also fairly obvious. That’s where Sayaka became Oktavia, hence the cart turning into the wheelchair, or the coaster track leading into Oktavia’s barrier. I’m honestly not too thrilled about the coaster going through Genocide City, because while having it make an appearance makes sense, since it’s literally Oktavia’s first memory, but if I recall, I had the hardest time settling on a location for the rollercoaster to ride through before heading into the castle. I tried Freehaven, the outside of the high school, and returning to the circus itself before just settling with Genocide City, which honestly was chosen mainly because the deadline was coming up and I had to go with something. I guess it works though.

There really isn’t much to say about the reversed Kyoko/Oktavia fight, as it’s literally just a perspective flip of their final battle. Incredibly important and significant as it embodies the entirety of Sayaka’s aspect as the “Monster” of her dream and hammered in her connection to Kyoko? Absolutely. Has much that I can explain that isn’t literally sitting right on the surface? Nope.

We do get Mephisto basically spelling out Sayaka’s contradictory identity in her final days though, in which she was the valiant knight she always wanted to be, she was the damsel in distress that Madoka and Kyoko tried and failed to rescue, and she was the monster holding that damsel captive. No doubt that part was inspired by the meme of the Dragonborn princess paladin who was hired to rescue herself from herself.

From there, the “Monster” is slain, and the cute mermaid Oktavia von Seckendorff is born, the only time during her own dream that she makes a full appearance. She then is treated to a montage of Sayaka’s memories, but of course, they mean nothing to her.

However, I would like to point out what amounted to the payoff of a joke I had set up literally years ago. Readers of all my stuff might remember that way back in Rhapsody of Subconscious Desire, another story that took place in a dream world, Kaguya Houraisan was split into two identical copies of herself, called Head and Body, who encountered Oktavia swimming around in a large aquarium, who in turn shot them a rude gesture and swam off. Here, we finally see the inverse of that scene, which is why a couple of previously unseen twin girls showed up with no explanation.

Next is where the dreams start to converge. Oktavia finds Kyoko’s necklace (which, again, I wish I had included in Kyoko’s dream. Maybe in time I’ll go back and edit it in) and meets the silver fish’s from Kyoko’s dream, absorbing them and turning fully into the princess and, as a result, Sayaka Miki finally returns in full.

Funny thing about that.

At this point, I didn’t know how much the whole Sayaka thing would play out, and originally she would just be Oktavia in a dress. But after having Sayaka’s memories intrude again and again, I thought, “Huh, wouldn’t it be fun if she just became Sayaka again for a short time? Have a weird inverse of the Oktavia situation?” and went ahead and did it.

This choice led to…major consequences.

Mami’s dream is next, and despite being the one that I literally had planned out the least ahead of time, ended up being the most fun to write. Naturally, her dream dreams with her immense guilt over having been Kyubey’s poster girl for so long, helping him ensnare several innocent girls into his scheme as well as kill them off herself when they became witches. Also, it served as a little nod to Candeloro’s job as a baker in WN. Anyway, the whole thing was heavily influenced by Sweeney Todd, in that victims are misled into doing something they think is innocent, only for them to be gruesomely murdered and sent off to be turned into food.

The world of candles is just something I thought would be neat imagery, so infer from it what you wish. However, it is interesting to note that Mami is the only one to have a dream that features Annabelle Lee as the persistent antagonist that she is, showing up over and over to antagonize her. There wasn’t an intended reason for this, but come to think of it, with Kyoko focused on her endgame, Oktavia just wanting her friends to be safe, and Charlotte obsessed with what was lost, Mami would be the one most living in the nowness of their situation, convinced that she is finally in Hell for her sins.

In the restaurant, Mami is indirectly guilt-tripped by Shizuku for essentially abandoning all of her responsibilities to help Kyoko, and is then given a choice: abandon her quest and stay with her loved ones, or continue on with her “duty” despite all warning signs, thereby sealing her own destruction. Charlotte even goes so far as to beg her directly to not go on, but Mami refuses, saying over and over again that she is, “On the clock,” signifying how being a magical girl essentially took over her entire life after her parents’ death, and how full she threw herself into it to shield herself from her own loneliness.

And from then on, her fate is sealed.

While descending the long staircase, the father of Mami’s occasionally mentioned former crush Ryu Hagane shows up to chastise her for throwing her life way in making her contract, and then Mami’s actual love Charlotte shows up on the big TV to remind Mami of what she was now throwing away, and curiously, when she brings out the doll version of herself, it’s not to remind her of how Charlotte kill Mami (though the worms coming out of the doll’s mouth shows that Mami still hasn’t forgotten), but to remind her of how Mami had tried to kill Charlotte upon their first meeting, as her own guilt is more powerful than even the trauma from having her own head bitten off. Annabelle Lee emerges again, and in the process, the staircase is destroyed. Mami’s choice was made. There is going back.

Sure enough, when she enters the classroom, the marionette corpse of Kazuko Saotome (a reference to how she was killed and eaten in the Oriko timeline, in addition to just being very creepy) spells out to Mami’s face what an idiot she was for trusting Kyubey, how many lives she had ruined by doing so, finishing with Homura showing up to basically say, “I told you so.”

Annabelle Lee attacks again, and Mami is sent into a montage of battles she has fought since their disastrous adventure begun, but with each of her assailants being replaced at the last second by one of her friends, showing that even after forgiveness, she still feels like she’s their murderer, as well as driving home the point that in all of her battles to defend herself over the course of this story, she was still just fighting and hurting other magical girls, and regardless of which side they were on, they were all still victims of the same scam.

Annabelle Lee is finally defeated and put down, but there is no victory, only horror at what Mami had done. She flees, but finally finds herself in the Hell she always felt that she deserved, pursued by the zombified corpses of all the monsters that had defeated her, from Lily, who had stolen her mind and made her commit atrocities, to the wild girls, whom she had slaughtered, to the Worm, whom had killed her in her arrogance.

She escapes, but that just leads her back to the bakery, signifying that no matter what, the second she had made that contract she had been doomed. It didn’t matter if she was leaping through the sky in an extravagant outfit, effortlessly defeating monsters with her magic, or if she was sinking into her own despair with a darkening soul gem, it was all the same. She was just food for the Incubators, to be chewed up and discarded, thrown into the mouth of the Worm and run down by the same vehicle that had killed her parents.

She then wakes up in the hospital, reliving a twisted version of when she had been recovered from the car wreck that had taken her parents, taking her back to her first sin that still haunted her: only saving her own life with her wish and letting her parents die. And thus, she is turned into the same monster she had spent the last few years fighting: the witch, Candeloro.

The whole bit in the hospital was a twisted version of what it must have been like for the original Mami to wake up in the hospital and learn that her parents had died. No doubt Mephisto’s dream doctors would have continued to further twist the knife had Ophelia and Sayaka not violently intervened (which gives us a rare case of blood instead of mist). And Candeloro is brought into the party, and with a Cyberpunk reference no less!

Charlotte’s dream comes last, and in my opinion, is the most multi-layered. The bulk is focused on how bitter she is at having her perfect life with her wife stolen away and how many people she resents for it, her own feelings of helplessness at being unable to prevent it, and also it addresses her own guilt at having killed Mami to begin with and how much she fears the return of the Worm that did it, but also she seems to be the only person that has some subconscious awareness of how Homura is timelooping them over and over again, forcing them to relive the same torturous sequence of events (probably has something to do with Homura being the one who killed her after she ate Mami).

In the first loop, Mami is taken by Annabelle Lee, and Charlotte is totally helpless to stop her. This is pretty obvious: Annabelle Lee has been a thorn in her side since day one. It was because of her that they were ambushed in Cloudbreak and forced into their horrible adventure. And more directly, it was because of Annabelle Lee that they fell into the Etherdale to begin with, leading to them all being enslaved by Lily and Charlotte and Mami being forced to commit atrocities.

Also, it’s hinted that the city that Charlotte is forced to march through is the same one Kyoko had been following her father through in her dream, indicating that their minds are already crossing over.

The second is a little more complicated. Yes, Charlotte and Kyoko are on better terms. Yes, they’re getting along. Yes, Kyoko apologized and they bonded. But if it weren’t for Kyoko, then none of this would have ever happened. If it weren’t for Kyoko, Charlotte wouldn’t have lost her home, wouldn’t have been targeted by Reibey, and wouldn’t have to suffer being pursued by dockengauts and valks, two creatures that she has an acute phobia of. So there is still some hard feelings there.

The third is when Charlotte is forced to confront something about herself, that no matter how many people she blames, her own actions still played a part as well. Now she is the one riding the Worm. She is the one who cost Mami her life. And in the hospital, it was her misguided wish that cost her her mother, whether she knows it or not, as well as why she became a witch in the first place.

Couple notes about the hospital: first, the cheese slices do signify how Charlotte threw her wish away for something as stupid as cheesecake, but are also another reference to the original Restless, in which a man carrying cheese slices shows up in each of the characters dreams, just to be weird.

Also, Charlotte’s magical girl outfit was in part inspired by a 4koma MamiLotte doujin from before The Rebellion Story, in which Charlotte becomes human again and crushes on Mami big time. And her outfit consists of a double-breasted coat and skirt. Also there were parts taken from the character notes from Walpurgisnacht, in which one of her familiars is an early draft of Human!Charlotte, before Nagisa had been designed, and she’s depicted holding a staff topped with the wrapped candy charm.

The final loop is where Charlotte fully becomes Nozomi (a name I think I just took from another fanfic that gave her that name) and finally defeats the Worm, this time ridden by Homura Akemi. After all, Homura Akemi is the one resetting things over and over again, forcing Charlotte to relive the same terrible events over and over. And as for that rooftop meeting…well, explaining that would be telling, so infer what you will.

The next chapter is mainly spent playing catch-up, gathering all the characters together and pushing toward the final battle with Mephisto. Here, things get less symbolic and more character based, so there’s a lot less to explain. Ophelia’s path of destruction through Sayaka’s carnival and Mami’s school are basically in line with lucid dreaming, in that once you know that you’re in a dream, everything just feels so much less solid, leading Ophelia to take down the ravaged versions of Brooklyn and Annabelle Lee with ease. Also, that scene with her talking to the dying Lily was an American Gods reference, which featured a similar scene.

So let’s talk about the big thing with this chapter. Let’s talk about Sayaka.

Originally the plan was to go straight from Charlotte’s dream to the fight with Mephisto, but then I realized what a bad idea that is. I mean, Sayaka was back! It’s something that’s been hinted and talked about all through the story’s run, but now it’s actually a thing. The original Sayaka Miki, the one that fell into despair and became a witch, is now back, and without having merged with Oktavia and gaining her memories. She’s thrown literally into the middle of things, during the gang’s weirdest adventure yet. And, it should be noted, her most recent memory is literally sitting with Kyoko in the train station, right before she became Oktavia. That is one hell of a bad day.

Obviously she reacts poorly, and who can blame her? And give her credit, she pulled herself together pretty quickly. However, she did pick up very quickly on Kyoko’s feelings for her. And why shouldn’t we just start saying it? It’s obvious to everyone! But obviously, as short as it was, Sayaka’s brief return will have major consequences that will play out over time.

Anyway, obviously everyone else has their own identity crisis. Mami turns fully into Candeloro, which provides a measure of relief from her own shame, while Kyoko as Ophelia is the rare witch that remembers everything while still sticking fully to her witch identity.

As for Charlotte, her case as Charzomi is easily the weirdest, with her constantly shifting back and forth between Charlotte and Nozomi, and her own memories fading in and out, forcing her to work extra hard to stay focused. It’s been suggested that this might serve as a metaphor for gender fluidity, and while this wasn’t the intention and thus I can’t speak to its accuracy, I can see and support the applicability. Still haven’t worked out what the long-term consequences of that will be, but I do want this to play into her future character development.

The walk up the tongue was mainly me realizing that the fighting was going to start soon, and Sayaka was going away right after, so I had one last opportunity to make the most out of her presence and I was determined not to waste it.

So we ticked off the boxes on everything we ought to address with her. She cleared the air with Charlotte over having to watch Mami get eaten. She finally got to hug Mami (well, Candeloro anyway) and got everything she wanted to say off her chest. And with Ophelia, she naturally wants to know more about exactly what Kyoko has been getting up to with Sayaka’s other self.

Sayaka again confronts Ophelia about how she feels about her (or, well, Oktavia, or maybe Sayaka? It’s weird), and naturally she is kind of freaked out by it. Remember, from her point of view, her relationship with Kyoko had been nothing but antagonistic. Whether Kyoko had been attacking her or trying to help her, Sayaka always resented her presence, so now suddenly being dropped into the middle of things and learning that her one-time rival now has a thing for her? Well, can you blame her for getting a little freaked out?

Also, it’s worth pointing out how the script had been flipped with everyone’s new identities. Now it’s Ophelia and Candeloro with the witch names, while Sayaka still thinks of them using their old names, causing them discomfort, but she has no problem calling Charzomi whatever because they had just met and she didn’t care.

And then we get to the fight, and of course it has to be a pro wrestling match. I’d also like to point out that there were a lot of songs I wanted to use for this chapter but was unsure of where to put each one. Originally the climb up the tongue was just going to have generic thrash metal playing the background, while Mephisto’s entrance theme was going to start with Mr. Sandman, only to transition into Bad Reputation (which is Ronda Rousey’s RL entrance theme), but then I was like, I should put Welcome to My Nightmare in there somewhere. And then I remembered that Cult of Personality is a thing, which is also CM Punk’s entrance theme, so I finally decided to move the first three songs to the tongue scene and have CoP as Mephisto’s entrance music.

And finally, we come to the last chapter. The magical girl fight scene was another one of those checklist things I wanted to have so long as I had Sayaka around. That way, I could actually build some real KyoSaya moments to make the KyoTavi angst all the more potent, as Sayaka realizes that she is developing an attraction to Kyoko as they fight side-by-side, letting me recreate that magical little moment from The Rebellion Story in which Sayaka basically confesses in the middle of the battle, complete with Charlotte ruining the mood.

I’ll admit, I kind of skimped out on Mephisto’s witch design and didn’t give it as much thought as I could have, but that part was never important. The important part was to recreate a classic witch fight and let the girls interact during it. I am proud of the Charlotte’s Web joke though.

What happens next is to establish that it doesn’t matter how hard they fight or how smart they are, they simply cannot beat Mephisto now. She’s taken complete control, enough to flick them through their various personas on a whim turning them into Puella Magi, then to human!witches (basically the Walpurgis Nights girls), then to full witches, then to the classic squad from the bulk of the story (bringing Oktavia back briefly), then to vanilla humans. It doesn’t matter. Mephisto has them, and can do whatever she wants.

From there, she separates them again and subjects them to a condensed version of their previous dreams, with the same themes but different imagery. Kyoko is subjected to a sermon about her poor responses to loss from her dead father, as he really lays into her over how much damage she had done. And I gotta admit, even I felt pretty bad just for writing that scene. Because I know torturing Kyoko is kind of this story’s MO, but damn.

Sayaka is a little more nuanced. Yes, the identity issues from her own dream are brought up, but it’s more focused on a new issues: mainly, now that Sayaka is back, she not only has to grapple with all the weirdness that she’s been thrust into, but also with essentially having been replaced. We see the vision of her friends getting along happily without her, the friends she had pushed away and alienated having moved on without her, Madoka basically having replaced her entirely with Homura. Of course this is not reflected in reality, as by this point in the world of the living they probably haven’t even found Sayaka’s body yet due to the time difference, but it is definitely that Sayaka would easily believe.

The next part is basically the whole reason for bringing Sayaka back in this manner. Mephisto then shows Sayaka a real memory that of Oktavia spending time with Kyoko, Mami, and Charlotte and being loved and accepted by them.

Sayaka’s character arc in the original series was driven by her letting her insecurities cause her to overcompensate and destroy herself, and Oktavia has largely been characterized as what Sayaka would be like if she didn’t have those insecurities. Sure, she’s had the shadow of the original Sayaka hanging over her, but for the most part this hasn’t seemed to bother her much, aside from getting annoyed at being called the wrong name, but it’s been taken for granted that sooner or later being thought of as Sayaka instead of herself by Kyoko was going to come to a head.

But here we have one of those happy unplanned gold veins, something I hadn’t planned on doing but am thrilled gets to happen now: we have Sayaka being forced to come to terms with living in Oktavia’s shadow.

Yes, they’re the same person. Yes, Oktavia is just Sayaka with her memory wiped and many of her self-destructive issues cleared away. But as WN demonstrated, it’s not as clear cut as that, and there is still some degree of separation between the two. And the infamously self-loathing Sayaka would most certainly be messed up by being confronted by a version of herself that people like and enjoy being around, that doesn’t feel the need to prove anything. And this is coming right off the heels of her realizing that she might have feelings for Kyoko after all (even if that is in part because of her empathetic connection to Oktavia), only to have it thrown in her face that it was Oktavia that Kyoko really loved, when she herself never did anything other than push Kyoko away. Granted, she had good reason for doing so, given that the first thing Kyoko did was try to kill her, but the point stands.

The Kyoko/Oktavia dynamic has always been messy due to Sayaka’s constant presence, but I kind of feel that that was unfair to Sayaka herself, as she deserves better than just being a memory, and I wanted her to have an actual voice in the whole deal, to be able to express her own feelings about it, even if it does complicate an already incredibly complicated situation.

Anyway, the next bit is pretty self-explanatory, with Mephisto further twisting the knife by replaying Sayaka’s last conversation with Madoka and really driving home what a wreck Sayaka had been at the time. Remember, from Sayaka’s point of view, that whole moment was only a few hours ago, at most!

Mami’s was very interesting, because the whole trial bit is self-explanatory, but it’s actually a reference to the bizarre trial that made up the final episode of the classic mindscrew TV show The Prisoner, which featured a jury wearing masks, the plaintiff sitting on an ornate chair on a raised platform, witnesses being pulled out of steam-filled holes, and an extended singalong of Dry Bones. Granted, I mainly knew about it because Reboot, one of my favorite shows, also referenced it in a dream episode of their own, but I liked that episode, and wanted to rip it off.

For the witnesses, we first get the expected faces from the show itself, but we also get a few new ones. Brooke Alexander was already named once before when Mami was reflecting on the various girls she had trained, Janice Goldberg was made up specifically for this scene, but we also get Michiru Kazusa, from the really weird spin-off manga Kazumi Magica, who was established as having a past with Mami. Kazumi Magica had its problems, but I did like a lot of the characters (i.e. The Twins), so this seemed like a good time to bring in another one.

Charlotte’s dream is the most straightforward, as it’s basically just her first dream condensed into a claw machine. What I wanted to put focus on was that Charlotte is the one character that knows who Mephisto is, as her role as the team scholar who does the most reading, she would actually have heard of the Ideal Witches, and thus would really understand just how much trouble they were all in.

And at the end of each segment, Mephisto gives each of them the same offer: submit willingly and be given a pleasant fantasy while Mephisto digests their souls, or continue to resist and get digested anyway, only in eternal torment. And her offer would give them each what they wanted the most. Kyoko wants her loved ones back, Sayaka wants to be loved and appreciated, Mami wants forgiveness, and Charlotte just wants to go home. And in light of what they were facing, can any of them be blamed for wanting to take Mephisto up on her offer?

Enter Jerky.

Jerky was a ton of fun to write for, and judging by the overwhelming positive response to his segments, bringing in the baby space raptor was a good idea. Like I’ve said before, his bits were one big love letter to Raptor Red, a novel by paleontologist Robert Bakker which tells of the life and times of a female Utahraptor from the Utahraptor’s point of view. And the nice thing about Jerky is that he’s smart enough to know the does and don’ts, but simple enough to be uncomplicated. He’s an animal. An exceptionally smart animal, but still an animal. He knows that he loves Kyoko and is loyal to her, he’s been made to understand that he can’t let Charlotte, Mami, and Oktavia see him, and he knows that Kyoko’s skin is softer than his and he needs to be careful, but beyond that he couldn’t care less of their various issues. It’s refreshingly simple.

As such, when confronted with a complete inexplicable threat such as Mephisto, something well beyond his ability to comprehend, he’s worried, he’s scared, he doesn’t know what to do, so he defaults to his predatory instincts.

When in doubt, start biting.

And it does the trick, because something that needs to be said is that while the Ideal Witches are powerful, they’re not omnipotent. Mephisto needed to lure the girls in and submerge them fully in her dream in order to control them the way that she did, but in the real world, she was vulnerable once she had manifested fully, allowing Kyoko to break free long enough to fire the final shot.

In the end, everyone escapes, but not unscathed. Kyoko especially had been scarred even further, in part from the dream of her father, but also from having to watch Sayaka basically die again, leading to her reaching what very well might be her breaking point. Mami’s slipping deeper into depression, having been forced to once again confront all the damage she unwittingly did as a magical girl, Charlotte is fully fed up with everything that had happened to them. And Oktavia? Well, now that it’s been shown that Sayaka Miki can and has come back, suddenly her own identity issues are going to become worse. She’s really going to have to grapple with Sayaka being an actual person with a legitimate claim to her body, especially since when Sayaka came back, she effectively traded places with Oktavia instead of merging with her. That’s gotta be scary.

At the very least, Kyoko did not reject Oktavia. In some way, she does understand that Oktavia is her own person, and she’s coming to respect that. But there are some deep wounds having to do with Oktavia’s creation, and they’re both going to have to come to terms with a great many things in the days to come.

And at the very end, it’s shown that Mephisto is weakened but still alive, and she’s pissed! We also learn that one of the girls did accept Mephisto’s offer before she was defeated, so that’s definitely going to come up later. And we meet the rest of the Ideal Witches. Obviously there is more to come with them, so I will say nothing further.

Anyway, I guess that’s it. Feel free to message me if you want anything explained further, or just make your own interpretations. Either is fine.

#resonance days #restless

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danganronpa-21 · 5 years

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Naegiri Week Day 7: Investigate

Awwww... it’s the last day of Naegiri Week already. I have to say, I’m going to miss writing about Naegiri every day. Posting work that so many of you have interacted with is ridiculously fun, but... also quite tiring. So here’s my last prompt for Naegiri Week 2019. And look, guys! I finished all seven days this year!

Before I let you read though, I want to give special thanks to everyone who’s been supporting myself and other creators for this week. Seeing other people reblog our content, so many of them filled with that sweet tag commentary, it brightens up everyone’s days! So thank you for that!

And thank you to Eon of @naegiriweek for organizing! I know it was harder to do on your own this year, and I really appreciate all of the work you put into managing everything. Thank you very much for what you’ve done -- you were spectacular!

Alright. I think that’s all I have to say for now. I hope you enjoy Day 7: Investigate.

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Christmas Eve traditionally tended to be a bad time to ask Kyoko for help.

“It’s a challenging day of the year for me,” She had told him a few days prior, her tone not at all mimicking the nature of her words, “So I prefer not to be bothered much throughout its duration.”

When Makoto had inquired as to why, she pushed past it. Something sharp and snappy was said, but it went ignored. They’d been friends for long enough for him to know when he was supposed to take certain things to heart. So conversation-wise, they left it at that. They left it knowing that Kyoko found Christmas Eve to be a tough day of the year, and that Makoto shouldn’t bother her too much because of it. Pretty simple stuff.

But even if that was the conclusion that was drawn, that certainly wouldn’t stop Makoto from doing what he could to cheer her up. One could always assume that there were a few certainties in life: One, death. Two, life. Three, Makoto Naegi being physically unable to avoid doing nice things for friends that were feeling down. So naturally, the luckster picked up the slack. He’d been oh so proud of himself at the time; so glad to have found a way to help Kyoko feel better during such a rough time of year.

Really, the only problem was that the slack he’d picked up had gone horribly missing.

“Where could they be…?” He groaned to himself, shuffling through just about everything in his bedroom. He’d already torn apart his desk and the top of his dresser trying to figure out where he placed it, and so far had come up with nothing. He hoped that wouldn’t be the case for the surface of his bedside table as he turned towards it, expecting more than what it would give. “Of all the times to lose something…!”

With one fell swoop, he pushed all of the books off of his bedside table. Probably not the best idea if he intended to keep his present in tact, but he thought that it could maybe be a good way of revealing the contents of its surface. The issue was that only books and personal hygiene products hit the ground, spilling papers and deodorant all over his bedroom floor. No signs of the little box he’d wrapped Kyoko’s gift in.

“Of course. Of course it’s not here!” He griped to himself; his arms thrown into the air dramatically. A low grumble escaped his throat as he glared at the table, cursing it for not being the hiding spot of Kyoko’s present. “God… where could it be…?”

Pushing a hand through his hair, Makoto decided to take a couple of steps back. Perhaps if he surveyed the room for a minute or two, the box would make itself seen. He just had to make sure he was keeping an eye out for the right things. A little box covered in pink wrapping paper; tied nicely with a silky white bow. It shouldn’t be so hard to find. It wasn’t like Makoto had a lot of shiny pink things in his bedroom.

His eyes scanned the room once more. As he looked around the room, he swore he could feel the weight of his worry on his shoulders. Christmas Eve in Japan was… well, it was one of the most romantic nights of the year. And even despite her hardships with the time, Kyoko had agreed to go out with him for this one night. He planned to take her somewhere nice, and give her a gift, so maybe she wouldn’t have to feel so sad. Whether she chose to interpret his actions as a flirtatious gesture was up to her. He would accept things no matter how they came. All he wanted was for her to feel loved. In order to do that, though, they would need to fulfill his other want: finding that box.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Of all times to get there! The knocking on his front door was unmistakable. Of course Kyoko would be there early. Normally she was the kind of person who didn’t really think of other people’s time; it all but showed in her tendency to be late to class. Almost every other time he’d asked her to hang out were another piece of evidence to the case. Of course just this once, when she needed to be tardy, she wasn’t. His hands curled into fists at the frustration of hearing the door open, and the sound of his mother’s voice greeting Kyoko.

“Hi Kirigiri-san!” He heard the older woman’s silvery voice chirp, “It’s good to see you again. Makoto’s just upstairs getting ready. I can go get him for you, if you like.”

Makoto sighed. At least he could be comforted by the fact that his mother had finally learned that Kyoko wasn’t a talker. The first time she’d come to visit the house, she’d bombarded her with all kinds of questions about herself. When Kyoko dodged practically every single one, his mother worried that the girl disliked her. Which, in turn, led to her son explaining to her that Kyoko was shy and reticent. Fortunately, that had been enough to get her to stop pushing the next time the two of them were in the same room.

“Actually, Mrs. Naegi, I wondered if I might speak to Naegi-kun myself. I have something I need to ask him before we leave.”

He froze when he caught those words. Oh god, what was he going to tell her about his bedroom? He planned for her gift to be a surprise. He’d need to come up with some sort of excuse for the mess of papers and knick-knacks strewn across the hardwood floors.

“Sure thing! His bedroom’s just up there, first door on your right.”

Makoto didn’t hear Kyoko say thank you, but he assumed she probably nodded it. Her choosing to be quiet around his mother seemed more likely that him choosing to be impolite. Dread built in his stomach as he listened to her footsteps as they pounded against the staircase hard and strong as she made her way up. Likely on account of her high-heeled boots; she seemed to pair them with every outfit. Even for a winter’s night, he noted. Which was absolutely the wrong thing to note, given that his room was a mess and he had no excuse as to why. He supposed it was at least something that made her entrance more dramatic, as she swung into the doorway of his bedroom. Her brows were raised in surprise almost immediately.

The first and only thing he thought to do when she caught sight of him was grin sheepishly, offering a tiny wave. “H-Hey, Kirigiri-san.”

The detective’s face screamed confusion; her head tilting as she rushed to comprehend the information she was taking in. Her brows were furrowed together slightly, and he could see her pursing her lips.

“Did a bomb go off in here?”

Kind of rude, he thought, but pushed the thought away. He forced himself to laugh instead, but he could tell it did little to convince Kyoko that what she said something humorous. “N-No, I just…” He paused, scrambling for a last minute excuse, “I was looking for something.”

Pathetic and also truthful. Jeez, he hadn’t realized that he was such a bad liar. Maybe he needed to get Celestia to coach him sometime.

Kyoko’s expression remained dubious; still scrutinizing the details of his bedroom rather than the details of his face. “... Right.”

“Actually… Kirigiri-san, do you think you could help me?” He asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet, “I really need to find it before we go out.”

She folded her arms across her chest; he couldn’t help but notice how she puffed it up proudly at being asked. She wasn’t kidding about taking pride in her work, no matter how small the job. “What am I investigating?”

Blood flowed to Makoto’s face at the question. Well, now that she’d seen the room, he imagined he would have to tell her what she was looking for. Sure, it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore, but hopefully it was still possible for her to enjoy the gift anyway.

His inner self-reassurance didn’t stop him from scratching at his cheek, though. “You see, the other day, when you told me that you don’t feel so great on Christmas Eve, I got to thinking… I know this time of year is hard for you, and I don’t really know what for. So I decided I would make you a little Christmas gift. You know, to help you feel better.”

Kyoko nodded in recognition, but showed no semblance of happiness. Typical. She could be bouncing for joy underneath that iron mask of hers, and he wouldn’t have a clue.

“I see…” A hand flew to her chin; her usual signal that she was diving into deep thought. “And I imagine you misplaced my gift?”

His shoulders slumped a little at the confession. “Unfortunately.”

“Well, I suppose now I have to help you find it, don’t I?” She sighed, striding into the room with a complete and total disregard for the floor clutter. This would prove to be her downfall, for she nearly got taken out by the stick of deodorant that had been swept to the floor. It was a stroke of good luck that allowed Makoto to catch her elbow and steady her.

“If you’d still like it. What I thought we might do together tonight wasn’t anything time sensitive. We can afford to spend a few minutes looking around for your present.”

Letting out a small sigh, Kyoko steadied herself. Her gaze failed to meet Makoto’s as she studied the room; the gears in her mind already turning. With the way she acted, one might almost have believed that he hadn’t heard what he said. “What does the gift look like?”

“It’s small, and pink-”

“How small?”

“About… uh…” Makoto straightened out his hands and made the distance; he kept them about a shoebox-length apart. “This big.”

She nodded. “And you said it was pink?”

“Yes. A shiny pink. I tied it up with a white bow.”

For the first time that night, Kyoko laughed. A relatively small one, but still a laugh. She covered her mouth in an attempt to hide it, but he could still see it. He almost thought it to be the first he’d seen her laugh all day. Did his diligence with presents humour her? He hoped she knew that he always took gift-giving seriously. The birthday party they’d thrown for Mukuro and Junko at school earlier that day should have clued her into that.

“Of course you did,” She sighed, “You are the kind of person to do that.”

He struggled to understand whether or not he should be offended“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She waved it off, choosing to step further into the room. “Just one more thing I can discern simply by examining you for more than three seconds.”

Makoto bristled slightly; unafraid to pout at the comment. Once again she was teasing him for being so open. Sometimes he couldn’t tell if she liked that about him, or if she found it annoying. He could only hope that this time it was meant to be complementary; he did intend to be subtly romantic with her that night, after all. It wouldn’t exactly bode well for him if she thought him to be an overt fool.

He huffed half-exasperatedly. “Do you need any other clues to search? Like where I saw it last?”

She shrugged, closing one of her eyes as she searched the room. What that did, he couldn’t help but wonder. “Was it here that you last saw it?”

He nodded. Wrapping her gift was the last thing he’d done before bed. He remembered the whole thing so meticulously: placing the gift on the sheet of wrapping paper, measuring out the exact dimensions of the box, placing the tape on each individual corner. He found he could even recall the tying of the bow, and how he redid it a few times to make it perfect. Then, he’d placed it down somewhere for the next day. The same place where he’d put the presents he wrapped for Mukuro and Junko’s birthday. But when he returned home after a long day at their school party, Kyoko’s box was no longer there. And he knew he didn’t take it and give it to one of the twins by accident.

“Who else has been in this bedroom lately?” She inquired, her expression slowly but surely falling flat once again. “Is there anyone who comes in when you’re not here?”

“Not… usually, no. Most of the time it’s just me. Sometimes my mom if she needs a couple extra pieces of clothing for a load of her laundry…” He tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Other than that, no real regulars…”

“I see.”

A brief silence fell between them, but not for more than a few seconds. Instantly, a memory popped into his mind. One that he’d forgotten amongst all of the Christmas and birthday bustle.

“Oh, wait! Dad was in here last night. He asked if he could hide his gift for Mom in my room. They’re supposed to be going out on a date later tonight, and he didn’t want her to find it before he could give it to her.”

Kyoko snapped her fingers, but it didn’t register in his ears. On account of it just be leather rubbing together, he predicted. He wondered if she ever missed the click ungloved hands made. “Where did he hide his gift for your mother?”

Makoto gestured towards his closet. “Top shelf. Where that box of old action figures is.”

She laughed softly once again, strutting over to the closet. She pulled the doors open with ease, starting her search without wasting a lick of time. “Bit of an action figures kid, were you?”

He scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah,” He admitted, “I had a really big superhero phase when I was a kid. I collected all kinds of figures. Unfortunately, I can’t bear to part with them quite yet, even though I’m almost eighteen.”

“That’s perfectly normal,” She assured him, “I'll admit that I still have some of the dolls from my youth. Also, a bit of a side note really, but I think I found out the answer to your mystery.”

His ears perked up at the second phrase. Man, was she fast. Her Super High School Level Detective title was no joke. “Really? You did?”

She nodded. “Simple case of misplacement. Your father wrapped his gift in the same wrapping paper as you.” She pulled the gift down from the shelf to prove her point, the shiny paper glittering at both of them, “He probably thought that you’d taken his out for him, and he brought it along with him. You do kind things like that so often; it’s likely he wouldn’t have thought twice.”

“That makes sense,” He laughed slightly, “Dad’s usually dragging me into his gifts for Mom. He can trust me not to blab like Komaru will.”

Kyoko chuckled softly, holding the present out to him. “Well, if it’s a logical conclusion, then you’d better go exchange the gift before your father goes out on that date. Judging by the weight of this box, I’d say he probably got her something as valuable as a necklace. We would not want him to panic over a switch like that, given how expensive Christmas Eve jewellery tends to be.”

Makoto accepted the package from her gratefully. “He did get her a necklace; he told me so. Green zircon pendant, I think. He said something about it reminding him of her eyes.”

“It would match her eyes well, yes.”

He blinked, taken aback by the observation. “I’m surprised you noticed.”

She shrugged. “They’re the same colour as yours.”

Nothing about how noticing things as a detective was in her nature. Just the simple statement that he and his mother shared the same eyes. Such a tiny comment, yet Makoto felt his heart skip a beat. He hoped she couldn’t see him start to blush at her comment.

“Y-Yeah…” He paused for a minute, staring at the box in his hand.

“Well don’t just stand there. Go give it to him.” She urged, “I’ll be waiting in the foyer when you get back. We mustn’t take any longer getting to this amazing sight you wanted me to see.”

A soft smile began to curve across his face. God, if he hadn’t liked her before, he really liked her now.

“Yeah, okay. Thanks, Kirigiri-san.”

She winked. “It’s a detective’s job to investigate.”

___________________

“Wow…”

Deciding which was twinkling more was a challenge — Makoto found himself severely caught between Kyoko’s eyes or the city lights. The sight didn’t allow him to fight off his smile as he leaned into her, his tone full of amusement. “Well, what did I tell you?”

Her gaze fixed itself forward on the view. She didn’t seem prepared to look at him… but that was fine. He liked looking at her. “It’s… beautiful. Just as much as you said.”

“I knew you would like it.”

“I imagine I would have a harder time not liking it. The city is absolutely radiant from up here.”

So are you, Makoto desired to say, but he kept his lips sealed. Comments like that would be too forward, and he knew they both weren’t ready for that yet. They were still just two friends, having a nice night. Watching each other’s faces among the gleaming city lights.

He didn’t quite catch what drew her back from the otherworldliness of the view. From one minute to the next, it seemed like she slowly slipped out of its hypnotism, turning to him with a smile on her face. Something he hadn’t expected to see, after how scantly she’d laughed that day.

“So am I allowed to open this gift of yours now?” She shook the package at him excitedly. He could see in her expression how much more relaxed she was now; her smile being a relatively lazy one.

“Of course. Rip into it.”

She wasted no time tearing into the wrapping paper like a small child, but not before she undid the bow and gently placed it aside. Makoto couldn’t help but remark to himself how cute it was that she had so much consideration for the aesthetics and maintenance of the bow. Just another one of her charming quirks, he supposed.

Kyoko finished off the wrapping paper easily; practically the moment she tore into it. As soon as the wrapping paper had been torn from the box, the detective’s next challenge was sliding her finger underneath an edge to pry it open. Fortunately she was able to do so with little struggle, reaching into it. A small tray sat inside, and when Kyoko pinched it between her fingers and pulled it out… She revealed a gift of chocolates.

“Naegi-kun… did you make these?” Her voice was wrought with disbelief; her eyes wide.

He nodded. “I did. You know, there’s actually a lot of research that suggests that chocolate makes you happier. So I thought, what’s better this time of year than some homemade chocolates? Plus… a-admittedly, Asahina-san sort of told me about your secret fixation on chocolate.”

She shook her head. “Betrayed by my confidant,” She said mockingly, staring off into the distance as if she were in a detective noir, “How harrowing.”

There was no use in him fighting off his laugh; he chose to embrace it. Despite her tendency to be stoic, she always could crack a good joke. “Do you want to try one?”

“Undoubtedly.” She plucked one from the tray and popped it into her mouth. Within an instant, her eyebrows raised. She chewed for a few seconds, only to stop suddenly. He hoped that meant something good. She confirmed his hopes by starting to suck on the chocolate; her intent to make it last longer clear as day.

Nervously, he leaned in closer to her. “Do you… like it?”

“I love it.” She replied, her answer deeply muffled by the chocolate on her tongue. “This is… some of the best chocolate I’ve ever had. It’s… wonderful.”

He felt himself start to blush at her words. He’d never really been quite so sure of his dessert-making skills, so having the reassurance was comforting. “I’m glad.”

Before she had even finished sucking on the first one, he watched her pop another one of the tray and into her mouth. “Naegi-kun, honestly, this is amazing…”

He swatted the comment away, taking on a ‘you flatter me’ gesture. “Oh, it’s no problem.”

“No, it is. You were under no obligation to do any of this for me, but you did it anyway. All because I told you I found Christmas Eve challenging. Taking me here, and giving me this… it’s amazing. Naegi-kun, you’re amazing.”

You’re amazing.

Makoto felt his heart skip its beat once again. Maybe he wasn’t ready to tell her that she was radiant. But she was ready to tell him that he was amazing. And that was enough.

“So are you, Kirigiri-chan.”

#Naegiri2019 #Naegiri #danganronpa #thh #kyoko kirigiri #makoto naegi #naegi x kirigiri #DR1 #danganronpa trigger happy havoc #fanfiction #kyouko kirigiri #kirigiri kyoko #naegi makoto #hey look there is a very weak weak reference to Yui Samidare in here

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murasaki-murasame · 5 years

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Thoughts on Fruits Basket 2019 Episode 16: “She Said Don’t Step On Them!”

I feel like I’ve been waiting ages for this episode specifically, and let’s just say it surpassed my expectations!

There’s something surreal and thrilling about finally getting an episode that’s like 99% stuff that wasn’t covered in the 2001 anime at all.

I think this might already be an improvement over this arc from the manga, and it was already one of my favourite bits to begin with, so that probably says a lot about how much I liked it.

Anyway, thoughts under the cut. [Potential spoiler warning for the whole manga]

I guess this is what I do every week, but I want to immediately talk about how this compares to the manga and exactly what material it adapts, since this is the first episode thus far where it’s been unclear in advance exactly how they’d go about it. Every episode thus far has more or less covered one- or two-chapter long self-contained story beats [aside from some rearranging early on], but this is the start of a two-episode arc adapting a three-chapter arc of the manga, so I’ve been wondering how they’d do it.

So basically this episode adapted chapter 39 and the first half of chapter 40. Which is a bit of a jump forward from the last episode covering chapters 25 and 26, but honestly I think it works fine to move Uo’s whole backstory arc up this early. Especially since we know that they’re also going to be adapting Hana’s backstory chapter later in this season, even though it happened even later in the manga, it’s clear that they’re trying to shuffle things about a bit so that the first season of the reboot covers all of the major character introduction/backstory arcs from the first half of the series, which I think is a good choice. This way the second season will be all about introducing entirely new characters and developing old ones.

I was wondering if they might attach chapter 50 to the next episode so that it can keep up a two chapters per episode pace, but I probably should have expected they’d just cover one and a half chapters per episode instead. It should work out for the best, but I guess this means that we won’t be seeing Kureno until season 2. I wonder if they’ll also leave Rin’s introduction to that point too. She gets introduced a little bit earlier than Kureno in the manga, but they’re gonna be shuffling things about later in season 1 anyway so she might also just appear near the start of season 2.

Anyway, that aside, this was a really good and faithful adaptation of the first half of this whole backstory arc. And since it covered less than two chapters, it gave them room to really flesh things out and to add a few things here and there, including an entire post-credits scene. Which was a real surprise, since I don’t think there’s been a single post-credits scene in the whole show before this point. But I’m not complaining or anything, since it was incredible. You’d think it would have been way too jarring after how sad of a note the episode ended on, but I think it did a nice job of just sneaking in some last minute comedy. It was also an entirely anime-original scene, which was nice. It’s pretty similar to a few background moments we get with the delinquent girls, but I’m pretty sure it’s technically still a new scene. I have a feeling that they wanted to give themselves an excuse to throw in some character animation that’s a lot more cartoonish and loose than what this series usually has, and I respect that, lol. It fit these characters really well, and it made the scene really stand out.

It’s also worth noting that back in the New Years episode they also added a scene that gave us a glimpse of Uo’s household, and how her father is a recovering alcoholic. Which at least puts a more positive and hopeful spin on this whole episode.

I’ve always really loved this whole arc from the manga, since it’s one of the best examples of the series’ willingness to take the time to really flesh out it’s supporting cast and to build up this interconnected web of relationships, and thankfully the anime’s really doing it justice so far. We still have another episode to go before this whole part’s finished, but I think it’s safe to say that the next episode should be just as good as this one.

The whole deal with Kyoko having been a delinquent in the past, and even Uo having been one too, have sorta just been running jokes up to this point, but this is where the story really makes it clear that on top of being a running joke, it’s also a topic that it’s willing to seriously dive into and explore the implications of. We haven’t gotten to the part where we really get to know about Kyoko’s own delinquent days [that’ll happen WAY later], but we do get a really interesting glimpse at her post-delinquency life in this episode, and most of all this is where we get all the details about Uo’s time in her gang.

The manga was already pretty explicit and heavy about it, especially for the time it was made, but pretty much everything about the animation and music and voice acting really elevated it even higher, and made the reality of it all even more hard-hitting. The specific type of gang Uo was in probably comes across as a bit more ‘dated’ in the modern day than it’s meant to, but I don’t think it’s super jarring or anything.

I have a feeling that most people getting into this series don’t exactly expect it to end up having a whole arc about how young people can fall through the cracks in society and end up involved in criminal activity before they know it, but that’s just what this series is like, lol.

I think one thing that really gives this whole part a distinctly ‘realistic’ tone is the fact that in several different ways it’s all about looking back on dark elements of your past when you’ve been able to grow past them and become a better and more happy person. Uo is literally narrating this story to everyone as a flashback just to highlight how different she is now and how much happier and more well-adjusted she is with Tohru and Hana in her life, and how she’s channeled her rebellious punk energy into being part of her self-confidence and independence, rather than it all being about her being a vulnerable live wire who just wanted to lash out at everything.

And on the other hand, we find out that the thing that really shook Uo as a child and made her think about her own life and whether or not she was truly happy was seeing how Kyoko had moved on from her own delinquency days and forged her own life and her own family. Like she said, she just learned to relax, and to let it all go, and Uo just didn’t really know how to process that at the time.

It just gives it a more mature and introspective sort of feeling, rather than having it be about characters who are still in the midst of it all. We do get the three delinquent girls who are tailing Uo in this episode. Though they’re mostly just funny background characters, which in it’s own way also spells out how the series isn’t trying to, like, glorify and glamorize the image of deliquency.

But I do still like, on the other hand, how Uo still has largely the same punk aesthetic and attitude going on. It’s just channeled in a more positive way, and she does it just because she genuinely enjoys it, and not out of a need to fit in with a gang. It’s just neat that the story still lets her embrace certain aspects of how she used to be, rather than having her completely abandon all of it and just be conventionally ‘normal’ afterward.

Also, before I forget, they also added a small detail of having Uo’s senpai from the gang watching her leaving Tohru’s house, and I think there were one or two other moments elsewhere that emphasized the way that she was keeping an eye on Uo. It’s not like there wasn’t any of that in the manga, but it was a lot more minor and easy to miss, and it was a bit more out of the blue when we found out later in this arc that she went to Kyoko for help.

And even if it wasn’t exactly a new scene, I really like how moody and atmospheric the scenes at the start and end of the episode with Uo in her apartment were. It’s not the sorta tone this series usually has, but it worked really well. The bit at the very end with Uo’s thoughts and the sound of her father’s TV blending together into overwhelming white noise was a really fantastic touch that helped get across how bad Uo was feeling.

With how this episode managed to be even more intense than the manga version was, I can’t wait to see how the next one goes, since it’ll be the big emotional climax of this arc. And now that we’ve seen how well they’re adapting Uo’s backstory, I can’t wait to see how their adaptation of Hana’s backstory chapter later in the season will be.

Also, on top of all the incredibly good and dramatic Uo content, the cute and fluffy present-day scenes were even more cute and fluffy than they were in the manga. It’s kinda funny at this point how much they’re leaning into the Kyo/Tohru ship-tease, lol. I feel like Kyo’s screen-time in this episode was 90% just him blushing and making a >n< face and honestly I am living for it.

I have a feeling that a lot of anime-only people might not even realize that this is actually the first part of a two-episode arc, rather than a self-contained episode like basically all of the ones before it, since it was still so cohesive and satisfying on it’s own. So I wonder how surprised they might be when they find out that the next episode is a direct continuation of this one.

Anyway this was a great episode and I’m even more excited than ever to see the anime get even deeper into ‘new’ material.

#murasaki rambles #fruits basket

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pinkcurse · 6 years

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Chapter 264, 265, 266 , and 226.5 Thoughts...a mini novel

Ok, I’m sorry, I’m sorry I haven’t posted my thoughts in a long time. Graduate school is a killer! Anyway, let's do this in order.

Chapter 264

1. Do any of us really believe that Kimiko is gone for good? Like seriously. I feel like with her it is a waiting game to when she comes back. The question is, will she be reformed or will she try to do something to hurt Kyoko again? My money is on vengeance.

2. Kurisaki’s geeking out over Hiou’s grandpa is so adorable. I wonder if he will get a chance to meet him. Like if he comes on set to see how Kyoko is doing. The way he reacts to the fact that he didn’t hire Kanae makes me wonder if he suffers from the same illness that Kyoko suffers—wild delusions.

3. I think the most important and intriguing thing from this chapter is WHAT IS THIS ROLE THAT KANAE FEELS UNABLE TO DO? Like seriously, what kind of role would she lack confidence in performing? She seems very confident. If I had to venture a guess, it would have to be something about being happy with a family situation like the one she has, to act contrary to her nature. Also, it’s in America. So, Kanae starts the excuse of our beloved characters to the U.S or maybe introduce Juli into the mix.

Chapter 265

1. So the bullying of Koga begins. I’m wondering where this goes. Does he become yet another Kyoko admirer or does he play some sort of role in FINALLY getting Ren and Kyoko together?

2.”He’s just a toddler, toddling along.” I love this. It is soo true. Unfortunately for Kyoko...she is too. She thinks she understands love but she intentionally misunderstands that Ren is possessive of her. I would love SO MUCH for Kyoko to realize Ren’s feelings for her and call him out on it. Like she has already started to wake up to it with her conversation Kuon and why she shouldn’t have made the kiss promise with Kuon, but I question how many years we have to wait for it.

3. Ok, so Kyoko preserving the flower. I think all of her mementos from Ren are going to be sooo important at some point. Like Ren see’s getting to go into her room and seeing the bed for Princess Rosa, and the preserved the dandelion ring, and whatever place of honor Kyoko gives to her infinity points reward, and the corn stone sitting on a bed of sand from Guam. I hope that he sees this soon. Cause this will be the only thing, I think, that can make him realize Kyoko’s feelings.

4. BLEH SHO RUINS EVERYTHING. Not really, I think he is more of an instigator for Ren and Kyoko finally getting together. With Ren and Sho scheduled to show up at the same time... well, nothing good can come of this. Annnd... for all we know nothing good does come of it...

Chapter 266

1. Once again BLEH SHO RUINS EVERYTHING! I think we could all safely say that we saw Ren finding out Sho was there coming from about 200 miles away. I think as long as this incident wakes Ren up and gets his butt in gear then it isn’t too bad.

2. Ok, Kyoko and Sho seemed really cute together right there, but I think if we saw Kyoko’s side of the conversation it probably wasn’t as cute and playful as it appeared to Ren and Yashiro. Remember Kyoko is a great actress so she might have been doing what she felt was needed to get Sho out of there ASAP.

3. I kind of hate that he seems mad. But is he mad at her or himself? I don’t think he can be mad at her. I hope he realizes that and hopefully, they are able to have a decent conversation on the way to the studio.

4. POOR YASHIRO! He tried soooo hard and he has to put up with grumpy Ren all day. Maybe he is the one who encourages Ren that Kyoko's interactions with Sho indicate that her heart is healed and that NOW IS YOUR MOMENT! GO FOR IT! HONESTLY, though.. I want Bo to be the one to encourage him cause... I just do. If not Bo, then I want to see Ren reach out to his parents and get advice from them. I can’t help but think we might see Julie soon, with all the little Kuon pictures we’ve been getting. I think Julie is going to be important to Kyoko’s growth. Kuu taught Kyoko how to live in her acting and truly love her roles, while I think Julie will teach Kyoko confidence in herself, and show her it’s possible to have a loving healthy relationship without sacrificing herself.

5. Lastly, THAT LAST PAGE! Can that get any more ominous? With the Chapter title not even till then—Unexpected Results: One Day Earlier. So we are getting closer but the only thing I don’t expect is a confession, but it is the thing I am hoping for the most. I am just hoping they don’t have like an angsty time where they are separated and all depressed and angry at each other. The comment about the end of peaceful times, I think is a red herring (hoping?). I think if Ren does confess, Kyoko would definitely not be peaceful, mostly because she doesn't see herself as worthy of him. She isn’t even a possibility in her own mind. This is why we need Julie to save the day...or someone...anyone... help them...please.

Chapter 266.5

ZOMG WE GOT LIKE ALMOST A WHOLE FRICKEN CHAPTER SIDE STORY AND ITS GREAT!!!!

Ok so storyline, timing wise this chapter is in two different places. The first page says the event happens a bit before chapter 266. However, it is only chapter 265 where Tashio is trying to remember what he locked away in the vault and chapter 266 is the next day. So, he had to have given her the letter that evening. If that's the case I can see why Kyoko didn’t open it immediately, she might have been worried about angry Ren, but she also was probably too busy worrying about Sho’s arrival the next day.

So timing wise when Kyoko does open the letter, and based on Kanae’s comments, I think she doesn’t open it until after the Unexpected Results day... But Ren seemed OK... not like I would expect him to look if Ren and Kyoko had a falling out.

Kanae does conclude that Ren must have dropped some sort of declaration bomb on Kyoko that caused Kyoko’s reaction to Ren. Soooo this gives me some hope for the unexpected result being Ren mans up and starts pursuing her seriously.

All this being said this makes Kanae’s behavior during the Lotus and the Mire auditions strange. When Kyoko tells Kanae about “Amaya’s” feeling that Ren is in love with Kimiko, Kanae just kind of rolls with that idea, agreeing with Kyoko. We don’t even get a funny look from her to Kyoko. She has suspected Ren’s feelings from the beginning so why would she even entertain the idea that Ren is in love with someone other than Kyoko? The only thing I can figure is she saw through Kyoko’s lie and realized it was Kyoko’s feelings she was talking about. However, Kanae doesn’t indicate during this side story that she suspects Kyoko of having feelings toward Ren. I just find it interesting and inconsistent.

I am looking forward to eventually seeing Kanae call Ren out. Maybe it will be Kanae who gets our two idiots together....

This side story did bring out another inconsistency in the story as well...When Kyoko and Ren meet in the president’s office on white day Ren straight up tells Yashiro that he didn’t get her anything yet, but those tickets were sent the day before white day. Why lie about that? I don’t think Yashiro would have really teased him as much, maybe just said that it was a good idea that Kyoko would like the tickets.

Ok here is a question for you my friends. Were you as equally disappointed with this white day gift as I was? Like, I kind of thought that when we did get one it might be theme park tickets (cause Skip Beat! hasn’t done that Shojo manga trope yet) buttttt I want her to go with Ren...or better yet...with Korn.

What are your thoughts?

#skip beat #skip beat!#kyoko mogami #Mogami Kyoko #tsuruga ren #ren tsuruga #i am way behind #im sorry

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iohourtime · 6 years

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Kiokuya (Memory Man) - Novel Spoiler (Part 1)

*While the most literal translation of Kiokuya (記憶屋) is “Memory Store”, XX-屋 can also refer to XX-man, like Koroshi-ya means hit man. Since the story about a mysterious person, Kiokuya, it is more correct to go with the second translation: Memory Man.

You may have heard about Yamada Ryosuke being cast in a new movie, Kiokuya, which was adapted from the novel of the same name written by Origami Kyoya. (Here’s the official website and twitter.) The novel was released by Kadokawa Horror Publishing but was also described as a “love story” or “sad love story”. Yamada himself said that he read the novel and rather than it being “scary”, it’s more of a “human love story”. So what is it?

I’ve just read the Chinese version of the novel and I will summarize (and fully spoil) the plot after the cut. I only read the novel once, so some of the plot might be a bit jumbled, but it shouldn't affect the story. (Or it’s the work of Memory Man! ) Based on the synopsis of the movie, it seems like there will be some changes to the novel. I don’t think they’ll change the ending though. Anyway… final warning. Close this if you don’t want to be spoiled.

Novel Spoilers are divided into 4 parts due to length. Here are the links for the other 3 parts:

Part 2 - “at present 1″, “Episode 2″, “at present 2″ Part 3 - “Episode 3″, “at present 3″ Part 4 - “Episode 4, “Epilogue”

Sorry, this ended up being almost like an abridged version of the light novel. I’ll post the remaining parts over the next week. One interesting thing is that the author is a lawyer by trade and a writer in her spare time. That’s probably why the chapter headings have legal terms. (They were originally in English to begin with.)

If you can read Chinese, here is the link for the ebook on Kobo (available to Canadians). It’s also available on books.com.tw and actual bookstores in Asia. There is also a manga adaptation released by Gangan. You can access the sample chapter on here, which basically takes us up to the end of the first episode. I just want to say that they could easily use Yamada’s personal wardrobe for this character.

…………

Movie Synopsis:

University student, Yoshimori Ryoichi (Yamada), just proposed to his older lover, Sawada Kyoko (Renbutsu Misako). For some reason, he was not able to contact her the next day. A few days later, he saw Kyoko again, but she had lost all memories of Ryoichi. Unable to accept this, Ryoichi went looking for the truth about Kiokuya with his childhood friend, Kawai Maki (Yoshine Kyoko), a senpai and lawyer, Takaharu Tomoaki (Sasaki Kuranosuke). Is this the work of the urban legend, Kiokuya, a person who can take away people’s unpleasant memories.

Prologue

The first time Ryoichi heard of the Memory Man was when he was 3 years old. It seemed to be a popular folklore among the older people. Whenever one of them forgot something, his grandmother used to joke that the Memory Man must have “eaten” their memory

....

He saw a man wearing a long coat and an elementary school aged child. As the man touched her forehead, Ryoichi screamed “run”...

...

“Ryo-chan!” Maki shouted, waking him up from his slumber. His MAC was still on the urban legend forum and Maki saw this before he could close the browser. Maki was 3 years younger than Ryoichi and was currently in high school. They grew up across the street from each other and were very close.

Maki said, “Oh Memory Man. You're interested in him? You even did a timeline and everything!”

Ryoichi made some excuse about researching a paper for university about how urban legends started and spread.

Maki said, “Wow, the first sighting of Memory Man was 50 years ago? I only heard of him about a year ago. It’s a really popular urban legend among us high school girls right now. Do you want me to help?”

Ryoichi played it cool and pretended to be disinterested and finally managed to kick Maki out of his room. However, he wasn’t doing this to be mean - he just wanted to protect her from finding out about Memory Man. He was very sure she was one of the three people whose memory was erased by Memory Man. They both saw something when they were really young and Maki was inconsolable, but the next day, she was completely OK and seemed to have forgotten about it. He didn’t link this incident to Memory Man until a year ago when the second person he knew had her memory erased. And then there was a third person.

1st Episode: Notice (1 Year Earlier)

Ryoichi was invited by his senpais to this gathering. He didn’t really want to go because he felt uncomfortable being surrounded by upperclassmen, but he went anyway. Suddenly, another senpai walked in and sat nearby. Long haired, pretty, and carrying a pink bag, but in her hands were textbooks on psychology and neuro sciences. “Such a gap, and just my type!” Ryoichi thought.

“Are you a psychology student!?” They started chatting. They happened to both like the same baseball team, movies, etc… In other words, they totally hit it off. Ryoichi was thankful to the senpais who “forced” him to come. Then out of nowhere, Kyoko said she had to go. Ryoichi was shocked and thought it was him, but the other senpais said she didn’t usually come to these events and if she did, she would leave before it gets dark. Ryoichi kicked himself for not even getting her email.

Luckily, they were in the same class and Ryoichi saw her again. They were chatting again and talked about the urban legends Ryoichi was looking at. She apologized again for leaving and explained why she left so suddenly: she was scared to walk home in the dark by herself. While normally kinda passive, Ryoichi got this urge to ask her out.

“If we go watch that movie we both wanted to see right now, we can be done before dark. That's OK, right?” Ryoichi asked.

“Sorry, I can't today”

“How about Monday?”

“Sorry, I have something i need to do.”

Ryoichi was dejected. Kyoko added “Sorry, but I am very happy you asked me.”

Ryoichi bumped into Kyoko on Monday at the hospital and she finally confessed - she had been seeing a psychologist on Monday to treat her phobia and she felt ashamed for being so scared at her age. Kyoko said, “So, do I lose any points?” Ryoichi said, “You know, let’s go watch the movie and I will walk you home. You don’t have to be afraid.” Kyoko agreed reluctantly.

It was dark. Ryoichi saw Kyoko pulled out a rape whistle and mace. As they walked towards her house, they passed by this dark alley. Ryoichi felt Kyoko’s body tensing, her grip on her rape whistle and mace tightened. She said (somewhat ashamed) that she was once attacked while walking down a dark alley. Even though a passerby managed to save her from being raped, she developed a crippling fear of the dark and could not walk home by herself once it got dark. She knew it was psychological and had been seeing a specialist but it did little to allay her fears.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if I can just have that memory taken away?”, Kyoko said.

Ryoichi said even though he had no experience with being attacked, he swore he would help her conquer the fear. Kyoko nonchalantly asked about his research paper on Memory Man. She thanked him and walked into her house.

Ryoichi researched more about Memory Man for his paper. He found an urban legend forum and joined the chat group. Usually, urban legends are based on local folklore, or a real event that was distorted. The popular ones typically have a being with an identifiable feature or they have a scary element, i.e. something that could happen to you. Memory Man was different. It was pretty lowkey and was only popular in a specific region - his city. There were no description of memory man and he might not be bad. “Why would senpai mention Memory Man?”

Ryoichi and Kyoko started hanging out regularly and they would stay out later and later. 8pm, 9pm, 10pm... and Ryoichi would always walk her home right to the door. He decided one day that maybe she was ready to face her fears. It would be like teaching a kid to ride a bike and letting go once they are riding on their own. He said he was going to be at this student event, but when Kyoko got there, she found out he was not able to make it. (But he was checking upon her.) It was too late for her to leave before dark, so she took the subway to the nearest station. But she was petrified when it was time for her to go. She tried leaving but was too afraid and kept turning back to the station area. She finally decided she would just stay the night at the 24 hour restaurant right by the station. Ryoichi panicked when he saw how bad her fear was. He ran up to her and she realized what was going on. Rather than be mad at him, she was just mad at herself for being weak.

After that time, she started talking more and more about Memory Man. She became even more untouchable. Every time they walked together, she would hold her rape whistle and mace tight. She threw herself into the research of Memory Man.

Ryoichi too, started became more active in the forums when Maki disrupted him to borrow a DVD. They talked about what the high school students know about Memory Man. What’s Memory Man? A world class hypnotist? A being that can “eat” memories? If it’s all psychological, shouldn’t Kyoko senpai be able to conquer this by herself? (Meanwhile, Maki was all like - is she your girlfriend?)

One day, Ryoichi asked if she wanted to go out. Kyoko said, “No, there is something I need to do alone.” Ryoichi knew she was trying to meet Memory Man, who supposedly only shows up to people who needs him and when they are alone. He called Kyoko later, asking her not to do anything drastic or place her hopes on this urban legend that is probably not true. He said he would walk her home for as long as she needs.

Kyoko said “You know, it's useless. I'm paralyzed by fear. Even when I was walking with you, I was afraid every second of it. I know you are a nice guy, but even though I know you won’t hurt me, I was still nervous. My guards are up. I am very happy you’ve been helping me get home and that you worry about me. But I can’t do it. I know I can’t face you like this. I don’t want to only look at you as someone I rely on to protect me. I want to be able to just have a normal relationship with you.”

Ryoichi wanted to tell her to trust him, but he couldn’t get the message out. He also knew he screwed up. That he just wanted to be a knight in the shining armour for her and forgot about her actual needs. He was an idiot and an asshole.

The next night, he walked over to her place to try and apologize, then suddenly, he saw Kyoko emerged from the dark alley alone. How could this be?

He walked up to her and said “Sawada senpai. Why didn’t you come to school?”

Kyoko looked at him and said “Sorry, who are you?”

Ryoichi was shocked. “I’m your kouhai. We are in the same class together. I walked you home before.”

Kyoko was apologetic, laughing that she didn’t realize she was too drunk to remember him walking her home. She was like a new person and even said it was not dangerous walking in the dark in the residential area, since she could just scream if anything happened. “Your name is Yoshimori?” She confirmed and that was the end of the encounter.

The feeling of being completely erased from someone’s memory was a bombshell to Ryoichi. He suddenly remembered an incident from the past. Maki was crying, so Ryoichi took her to her grandfather’s. The next day, he asked if she was OK, but she completely forgot. It was like the incident was wiped off her mind. Now it was happening again with Kyoko. He was completely gone from her memories. His chest tightened and he had this uneasy feeling, disgust even, about Memory Man.

Ryoichi saw Kyoko in class a couple of days later. She was talking with friends about going to an alumni speaker event. The speaker was a young lawyer and supposedly quite hot. Ryoichi followed her… for some reason, he didn’t have the urge to go up to her and ask her to remember him. The lawyer, Takahara Tomoaki, told the attendants they could ask him anything.

Ryoichi asked “If someone lost their memory and it was caused by this person, will there be consequences?”

Takahara said, “You mean, are memories protected by law? Ethically, if it was done without consent, then it is wrong. But since this is not within the boundaries of criminal law, it will not be punished.” Kyoko had no reaction to this discussion about Memory Man at all.

Over the next year, Ryoichi never really talked to Kyoko again. He also saw her less and less. Maki started to get more grown up, but she was still hanging around Ryoichi’s room like she used to. Did Maki’s meet the Memory Man as well? Is it possible that two people in his life had their memory erased? Ryoichi became obsessed.

Takahara called him out of the blue. “Do you want to talk about Memory Man? You live near XXXX, let’s meet.”

How did Takahara get his phone number and know where he lived? He didn’t remember giving Takahara his number. Did his memory also get erased?

Ryoichi realized he may be the third known victim of Memory Man.

Continue to part 2

#Kiokuya #記憶屋 #novel summary #episode 1 #It maybe published as a horror novel but it's not horror #yamada ryosuke #yoshine kyoko #renbutsu misako #sasaki kuranosuke #origami kyoya

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togafukagiftexchange · 6 years

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run red run (1/3)

My, really late, gift for @evil-muffins ! I’m sorry this took so long, but I hope you enjoy the first part of this fic. I saw your prompt for a Red Riding Hood Au and this just…became a thing. So please enjoy the first part of a three part project!

Will be cross-posted unto my AO3.

Once upon a time…

There lived a family in the woods. A young girl, the only child in the family, who always appeared unkempt and smelled fairly awful. A father, who had stories parents the nearest village would scare their children with. And, lastly, two equally horrible women.

The young girl’s mothers.

They were a quiet, secluded family. Living so deep into the forest that the local villagers would often bet whether or not they had all died. A harmless game for sure.

Until it came true.

A search party hadn’t gone out looking for them until one could smell the rot and decay coming from the forest. And naturally the villagers had suspected the worse. For the forest was dark and dangerous and full of wolves. Hungry, vicious wolves.

Monsters, really.

So it really came as no surprise when they came upon the source of that abrasive stench. The father and the two mothers in barely recognized pieces. Splattered along the walls. Scattered all over the floor.

A wolf’s doing.

That, the villagers had foresaw. That, they had prepared for. They had expected all of it. Except for one little thing.

The girl survived.

Byakuya Togami was pissed off.

By order of his father, the affluent heir was forced to travel to the lower rungs of their lands to pay a visit to the peasants and serfs who were failing to produce up to Togami standards. Tch!

Imbeciles.

“Careful there Byakuya, your face might freeze like that.” Came a sharp quip from his right, with just the barest hint of a smile. From none other than the irksome acquaintance of his, Kirigiri Kyoko. A rather successful detective and another equally analytic mind. Though if the choice had been up to Byakuya, she wouldn’t even be sitting in his family’s carriage. But, unfortunately, Byakuya didn’t have the choice.

Thus contributing to his foul mood.

“Hmph, and to think that I never took you as the superstitious type Kyoko. How disappointing.” Byakuya responded, never once looking at the lavender-haired woman next to him. Choosing instead to stare out of his carriage windows and into the worker-trodden fields before him. His father must truly be going senile for him to force his only heir to do such a menial task.

The old fool.

But it wasn’t as if Byakuya could just openly defy him. Not when he held up his son’s position over his head like a damn leash around his neck. Though, Byakuya supposed, that just further proved the young heir’s point. His father was scared of him. Sacred that he would bring the Togami family to such grand heights that all the old man’s achievements would be rendered to mere footnotes within their family history. Such a fear was rather deplorable. Especially coming from Byakuya’s father.

But not entirely unfounded.

“Byakuya-chi! Kyoko-chi! We’ve arrived!” That announcement, the heir swore, was the one good thing to happen today. Despite the irksome idiot who declared it. Kyoko wasted no time, opening the nearest door to her. Never waiting for Byakuya to offer her so much as a hand to help her off the vehicle.

Not that he would’ve.

Opening his own door, Byakuya had half a mind to close it and command the palm-tree idiot driving the carriage to take him back to his family’s manor at once. However, the heir’s rational side, the side that kept him and made him the prodigy he was today, fought such weak notions aside. And so the Togami heir exited the out-of-place luxury carriage with all the grace of someone worth a hundred times more than those around him.

And he was.

It was by the might of the Togami family that they had so many villages working and producing for their land. Easily making them elites among the other nobles. Those around him were merely livestock to whip into proper, functioning shape. And, in the case of this particular village within his family’s land, a strong, capable hand was needed.

And an even stronger whip.

“Yo! Togami-chi! Do you want me to wait for you or-?”

“Naturally. How else are you supposed to erase your debt to my family?” At the mention of the sheer amount of money one Hagakure Yasuhiro owned to him, the former promptly shut his trap and proceeded to stay put at the entrance of their destination.

Mirai Village.

A rather hopeful name, almost obnoxiously so. But they were the Togami family’s leading prouder in wool, and, for whatever excuse they dared give him, their production numbers had been dropping. Resulting in both his and Kyoko’s visit. Him, to remind those beneath him who their true master was. Kyoko, to sniff out any possibility of theft. Granted the two of them didn’t like working with one another, but no one could deny that when they did, the pair could be quite intimidating.

As the villagers quickly realised.

The path through the village was a straight dirt road with all manner of houses and shops crammed into it. As the pair walked, dressed in clothes clearly proclaiming their nobility, the local residents all stopped and stared at the pair.

Not that Byakuya could blame them.

His suit was deep navy with a black waistcoat lined with gold. The chain of his gold pocket watch sparking in the light, ticking warmly against his chest.

And Kyoko always did look the part of a rather fierce noblewoman, the heir supposed. A long, primply ironed skirt, full-sleeved blouse, and dark leather gloves gave absolutely none of her away. Save for the long stream of lavender hair that practically sliced at the air as she moved through the town.

Receiving nothing but stares.

Everyone was looking at them now. A hush fell upon the villagers. Who, Byakuya had to admit, did look a little worse for wear. They all looked…scared. Like little mice caught and cornered and waiting to be killed. Surely that wasn’t because their arrival.

Surely.

===

Makoto liked his routine.

Wake up, eat breakfast, take a bath, start his chores, sell bread, and so on. Granted, the life him and his family lived wasn’t very glamorous. But it was cozy. It was safe and average and hardly ever changed.

Until one day.

It started out normal, of course. He was just bringing a fresh batch of cinnamon rolls out to an unusually quiet street. That should’ve been his first clue that something was amiss. But then he saw what caused all the commotion. Or lack thereof.

Then he saw her.

And promptly walked into a wooden beam.

Just his luck, she had noticed! She and her companion were looking in his direction, subjugating the poor boy to the full force of their razor sharp gazes. Crap. The woman was even prettier the closer she came to him, her companion staring quizzically at her retreating back. Makoto frantically scrambled to collect the rolls that had fallen into the dirt road.

Oh crap.

But just as the young man was about to pick up the last sticky sweet roll, someone else beat him to it. A dark purple glove enclosing around the dropped pastry softly. Makoto looked up.

Losing his breath.

It was the woman from before, mere inches from his face. Kneels folded underneath her as she lowered herself to his level. Her skin was so pale, clear and soft-looking like a doll’s. But her eyes were anything but. Makoto never thought that such a soft lilac color could make up such a disabling gaze. But here was the proof, staring directly at him and stealing every ounce of breath from his lungs.

Makoto leapt back.

“S-Sorry about that Miss! I wasn’t looking where I was going and I-” Tripping over his own words, Makoto hastily stood up. Nearly dropping all his rescued rolls in the process. The young woman, however, rose with a certain grace that she seemed to effortlessly exclude.

Her companion coming to her side.

He looked awfully familiar, but Makoto could quite put a name to the blonde hair and cold blue eyes. All he could come up with was that this was clearly a noble and he was the kind of person to make that well-known.

“It’s quite alright. In fact, I think we can help each other Mr. Naegi.” The slight, aloof smile on the young woman’s face brought a rush of heat to Makoto’s face.

He dropped the cinnamon rolls.

===

This was ridiculous.

Still, Byakuya had little else to work off of other than Kyoko’s strange hunch. The heir could only follow her as that moony-eyed baker lead them into their family shop. A rather run-down and homely looking establishment that Byakuya would’ve otherwise never be caught dead in.

But the smell was…passable.

The sugary, sweet smell of pastries and the hearty, warm scent of fresh bread right out of the oven was unfamiliar to the Togami heir. Though not…entirely unwelcome. The shop was composed almost entirely out of wood, with metal pans of warm goods set out to cool on wooden shelves. All while flour seemed to be permanently transfixed in the air. The fumbling baker boy, Makoto Naegi, Byakuya believed the young man’s name was, barely managed to set the soiled pastries down before turning to them.

Smiling like a fool.

“So what can I help you two with today?” Clapping his hands together, Makoto sent another plume of smokey flour flying in the sunlit air. There were even smears of it on his face.

Ugh.

“We’re here to look into the recent killings and mutilations of this village’s livestock, or should I say, my livestock.” Byakuya announced, gliding in front of Kyoko to stand eye-to-eye with the young baker. He was on the shorter side. Standing just under the noblewoman with only the strange spike of hair atop his head protesting the fact. Glass green eyes that blinked up at him.

Once, twice.

Then the realization struck him. It was almost comical really, how his expressions shifted from open and asking to shocked and stuttering. It nearly made Byakuya laugh.

Nearly.

“S-So you’re Mister Togami? Wow, you’re a lot younger than I thought you were!” Makoto offered his hand for a handshake. But Byakuya just stared at the floury hand offered to him with a mild sort of disgust. Kyoko taking it upon herself to take up the formality.

Leather gloves gripping at the flour.

“I’m not here for chit-chat, I’m here for answers.” Byakuya interjected, promptly startling Makoto and Kyoko out of whatever strange, prolonged staring contest they had initiated.

“Oh! Right! Sorry about that…um, you said you stopped by because of what was happening to all the cattle?” Spasming, Makoto slipped his hand out of the noblewoman’s. Moving it to rub at his neck somewhat awkwardly. Strange, Byakuya thought.

His cold eyes narrowed.

“Please, call me Makoto and…well, its just really weird. All our stables and fences are in order. And no one really hears anything at night.” He wasn’t looking at them. Makoto was looking at everything but the two nobles. The heir could already see the cogs turn in his companion’s head.

But Byakuya was hardly surprised.

The reports had said as much. Every security measure was left intact, but the slaughtering persisted. And it wasn’t as if the cattle was butchered cleanly. No, nearly every slash was crude and almost frantic. With most of the animal remaining intact. Spoiled beyond use, but intact.

Save for the heart.

In every case of mutilation, the heart of each farm animal was nowhere to be found. Be it sheep, cow, or even an uncommon horse. All of them were impaled onto the ground with strange, scissor-like blades. Gutted and maimed for just one organ.

However, those who had reported the issue to the Togami Family cited supernatural causes for the killing. Werewolves, they said. Some going as far as begging for money to better protect themselves with silver.

Ridiculous.

There was no such thing as monsters. They existed to scare rowdy children and provide some mildly interesting literature that Byakuya was often forced to read when bored at his family manor. Their origins were even more pathetic. Vampires were repurposed Turkish counts. Ghouls and Ghosts were regretful wish-fulfillment by people haunted by Death. And Werewolves?

They were just mutts.

Wild dogs that looked bigger in the dark and scared fools traveling in the forest half to death. Big dogs that, in the shadows, appeared much larger and more dangerous than they actually were. In the end, all those monsters were the same, mere products of overactive imaginations and paranoia. They were of no significance to Byakuya.

And therefore not worth his time.

“But there will always be at least two or three animals dead by morning. We’re all kind of at our wits end trying to figure it out…” At this, Makoto smiled apologetically. But there was something to his eyes then.

Something Byakuya couldn’t quite place.

“That’s what we’re here for Makoto, so any information you have would be helpful.” Kyoko supplied, once again affixing the baker in her intense stare. Picking up on that anomaly almost as fast as Byakuya. Makoto looked at the two of them.

Struggling with something.

Byakuya crossed his arms. He didn’t have time for this. He was supposed to be taking charge of the Togami Family, not running around some village in the middle of nowhere. Makoto swallowed, leaning over the large flour-painted table and racks of goods cooling next to him. Cupping his hand over the side of his face as he beckoned the two closer.

Like a child telling a secret.

“…I don’t know if you heard, but most people here think the killings are the work of-“

“Werewolves, I know. Really Naegi? Do you honestly think I’d be stupid enough to even consider that a possibility?” The Togami heir snapped. He was growing tired of this. It was obvious the two were wasting their time here. Byakuya was just about to signal their leave when-

“I don’t think it’s a question of stupidity Mister Togami.”

“Excuse me?”

“Ah well, you haven’t been here before, so it’s understandable that you might not have heard…” The baker floundered in response to the Togami heir’s ice cold glare. Quickly clearing his throat. Oh boy.

Him and his big mouth.

“Makoto, please, if there is anything you know, or if you’ve met anyone suspicious, you need to tell us.” The detective interrupted. Byakuya’s eye twitching in annoyance, but it seemed whatever Makoto saw in his companion’s eyes compelled him to answer. The strange look in his eyes only growing stronger.

Heavier.

“There was an incident that happened, around the time where I was a little kid, and it’s kinda like what’s going on now.” Kyoko’s eyes sparked at Makoto’s words.

Latching onto the lead.

“How similar?” But Makoto only grew more flustered at Kyoko’s increased attention on him. Oh, if only Byakuya could vomit at the display.

If only.

“A family who lived in the forest, the Fukawas, were killed by some…thing in a similar way. And most villagers think that’s why all the livestock is dying.” Now this peaked Byakuya’s interest. A beast that attacked humans before but now feasts on animals?

No animal ever does that.

One they taste human blood there’s no going back. The taste of former prey lost all value. And their only option was to hunt nature’s most dangerous animal for another taste of blood.

So why was this creature even trying?

“You said ‘other villagers’, is there someone else who can tell us more?” Kyoko’s voice brought Byakuya out his thoughts of blood and beasts and missing hearts.

“W-Well I don’t know how much she’ll tell you, but there is someone you might want to talk to.” At this, Makoto took off to somewhere behind the shopfront and into the bakery. The click and clang of pots and pans echoing after him as he searched for something.

Talking all the while.

“Really, she’s a good person. Just a little strange that’s all, she’s really nice one you get to-“

“Just tell us Naegi.” Byakuya cut in, putting a stop to the baker’s pointless chatter. The noise from the kitchen ceased, and Makoto emerged once more.

Smiling hopefully.

“She lives really deep in the forest, so if anyone knows more, she might.” In his powdery white grip, Makoto handed over a roll of parchment to Byakuya with a slight, cryptic smile on his face. The note detailing how to get to this mystery informant.

“Her name’s Touko Fukawa.”

===

Today felt different.

And she hated it.

Different was no good. Different meant change and that was the last thing Touko Fukawa needed right now. Granted, her morning routine was much the same that day. Wake up, scrounge up some breakfast, and write.

All day long.

When she wrote everything just…faded away. The hunger, the smell, the memories. It was as if all of it had been easy and was long behind her. A lie of course.

But a comforting one.

Touko had notebooks and notebooks filled with her work. Known to the few she had deemed worthy enough to be her readers, her stories covered a long list of topics. But they all had one thing in common.

Romance.

Yes, at the core of her being, Touko Fukawa was enamored by the concept of love. Of giving it, of having it accepted. Of it finally feeling right and fitting into her chaotic life. Such a thing had to be possible.

It had to.

But this…feeling in the air. Like new winds and shifting directions. She didn’t like it. Touko drew what threadbare curtains her cottage had closed. Locked the door and shut out the outside completely.

Just not the light.

Oh God no, not the light. Not when the dark reminded Touko of all she had gone through. So she always kept candles lit, scattered around her meager home. And, though the light they gave off was warm, the young woman constantly kept her cloak tucked closely around her. It was the finest thing she owned and Touko loved it dearly.

A cloak the pure white of snow.

Huddling deeper into the familiar warmth, she hunched even lower above her newest work. The metal nip of her pen digging dangerously into her notebook. The nib was new. The old one having snapped in two halfway through chapter five.

But Touko despised going into town.

She hated the swell of it. All the people. All the noise. All the hustle and bustle. It all too loud, too noisy, and too dirty. Touko only ever made the journey when it was absolutely nessesary.

Like her parents had taught her.

Like she had learned. The hard way. The bloody way when one night she had risked going out to-

DOCTDOCTDOCT

Touko screamed and scrambled out her chair with enough force to knock both of them to the floor. Landing squarely on her rear, the young woman pressed her hands to her lips.

Digging her bitten, dirty nails into the skin around her mouth as if to punish herself for the outburst. Gray eyes encased with thick, circular wire frames gazed, half in shock and half in fear, at the wooden door that separated Touko from the young outside world.

At the door that kept her away.

The knocking came again, all while Touko could only stare. At the rotting, pitting groves of the door. Almost as if once she stared long enough, she could see beyond it. Someone? Out here? No one ever came out here.

No one sane anyway.

Her hands fell away from her pale face with all the speed of someone sinking to the bottom of the ocean. Touko’s breath fast and light. Who? Who could it be? All around her, all the candles’ flames flickered, as if to convey a message best left unspoken. Did she…?

Did she dare?

Anyone could be outside that slab of wood. And what then? Invite them in for afternoon tea?! Pffft. Not likely. But what if they didn’t go away? What if-?

Touko’s nose twitched.

Huh? Wh-What was that smell? That scent in the air? It smelled like aged wood and spices. A comforting musk that existed just beyond her reach. Then, almost subconsciously, the young woman rose to feet. Moving just halfway to the door.

When she stopped.

Wait, what was she doing? Opening the door to a complete stranger? That was like rule number one of living alone! And that’s what she was good at!

Being alone!

But the knocking came again. Making Touko jump and return her eyes to the door. She shouldn’t. She couldn’t. Not with all she had at stake. Not when the meager, filthy life she had was hers. Pain and all. Her nose caught the receding scent.

And her hand opened the door.

===

This was stupid.

Complete, utter nonsense and Byakuya was going to have his Kyoko’s head for it. Sending him, the heir to the Togami family, into the damn forest?! When this search proved fruitless, and he had a feeling it would, he was going to wring her neck for even suggesting it.

The two having decided to split up.

Kyoko had opted for the opportunity to stay in Mirai and have Byakuya look into Naegi’s lead. The heir having half the mind to kill the baker along side the detective. Surely this lead was a ruse.

But then he saw the house.

Having followed Naegi’s simplistic instructions, Byakuya was lead to a small, rather filthy-looking hut in the woods. There was an underlying stench to the air that, initially, make Byakuya keep his distance.

Initially.

The Togami wanted all this over with. He wanted to question this crazy woman and get back to manor as quickly as possible. Perhaps the answer to this pointless endeavor was to just spend some gold and hire a guard.

His father be damned.

But Byakuya, despite being annoyed to his wits end, was nothing if not through. Ignoring the increasing stench of rot, the Togami heir ventured closer the the small wood house. Knocking firmly onto the moist, rotting wood of the front door. All the blinds drawn tightly into the house as if the owner feared the li-

“EEK!”

Even Byakuya couldn’t help but jump at the sudden shrill scream. The heir took a step back, staring at the door. Who in their right mind screams at the sound of a knock? He grit his teeth.

This was stupid.

What was he even doing out here? Questioning some forest-dwelling recluse as if she could possibly have the answers Byakuya wanted? Ugh.

He knocked once again.

But no startled scream came this time. Only a cutting silence that bled into the air. And part of the Togami heir wanted to demand an answer, especially after all he had gone through to even arrive in the middle of this godforsaken forest. But another part of him was already finding this entire ordeal tiresome.

And started to walk away.

He made it a couple feet away from the threshold of that rancid hut. Not far enough to get away from the stink, but just far enough for the sun to bring back the warmth to Byakuya’s skin. Dots and ribbons of light slicing through the canopy of evergreen pines. Settling on Byakuya’s path back to village like a wall. With no escape in sight. That’s when he heard it.

That’s when the door opened.

Looking behind him, Byakuya hid his surprise well. In the threshold of that filthy house was a young woman. Probably around Kyoko’s age. With long, alabaster hair tied up in two trailing braids on either side of her head. Oily and unwashed, they swung behind the girl’s thin frame like damp ropes. Her skin was pale. Clearly she wasn’t one to venture out of the little hole she lived in. She wasn’t what Byakuya expected.

But maybe she’d be useful.

The Togami heir drew closer. Eyes never leaving the small, smelly creature before him. The details of her person becoming clearer and clearer the closer he dared to move. Her entire body was thin, almost unhealthily so. With long, slender hands and fingers topped with obsessively bitten fingernails. A long skirt and blouse hiding a great deal of her skin away from the forest’s blinding light.

A white cloak around her shoulders.

It’s seemed so out of place on someone as dirty as this girl. Complied from a good percentage of silk, the cloak was a bright, clear white that made the girl in it seem all the more small and sickly looking. Her gray-Wait.

No.

Purple? Lilac? Pewter? Admittedly, Byakuya stared into the girl’s eyes for longer than might’ve been appropriate. Trying and failing to put a name to their color until his common sense came rushing up to smack some sense into him.

“Are you Touko Fukawa?” To his credit, the heir was able to successfully keep his voice direct. Despite the momentarily flailing of his mind. The young woman looked up at him through thick circular glasses. Blinking once.

Twice.

Her mouth, with a mole above the left of her chin, gaped open. Not unlike a fish. Her lips were thin and chapped. Byakuya tore his eyes away.

Blaming it on the stench of her breath.

Then the woman’s brows furrowed. Her gaze turning hostile under those wire frames. Scuttling away from him as she clutched her hands to her chest. Looking at Byakuya in trembling distrust. My.

What large eyes she had.

“Y-Yeah! T-T-That’s right, who w-wants to know?!” The girl, Touko, all but screeched as she pointed an accusatory finger at him. Byakuya scowled at her tone. Peering at her through his blonde lashes.

“The lord of your land, Byakuya Togami.” The heir announced, but, to his confusion, Touko remained suspicious.

“This l-land? No b-body c-can just own thi-”

“Yes well, I do Miss Fukawa, now are you going to invite me in or not?” Byakuya barked, startling Touko’s fingers back to their gripping place above her heart. And, after a heartbeat, she stepped aside to allow him inside.

A faint blush on her cheeks.

===

She was breaking so many rules right now.

Rules beaten into her by her parents. Rules she had steeled herself to. But now here she was. Inviting a complete stranger into her house. But she couldn’t help it.

Touko could never say no to pretty face.

She stepped aside, and allowed the older man, Byakuya, to enter her home. A prick of shame stinging at her chest when she saw him look around her dark lodgings. His noble features pinching at smells that had all but grown invisible to her.

But Touko pushed it down the second she saw that her notebook was still open. Shoving past Byakuya to close the leather-bound book in a flustered rush.

The heir only blinking ot her.

But there was something…comforting about the disgust he showed her. It was reflected, clear as day, on his face, not stewing somewhere in the back of his mind. There was an upfrontness about this man, a no-muss-no-fuss sort of manner that made all his distaste for her and the way she lived clear.

And Touko appreciated it.

Most people would’ve just walked into her house, pale at the smell, but still have the nerve to lie about it. Smile too wide a smile and comment on how ‘cozy' her home was. It was partially why Touko never bothered with people in town. The lot of them too stupid and too afraid to hurt. But not this man.

Not Byakuya.

Not with his pinched face and flinty stare. No. Touko knew with just one glance that this man was leagues above putting on any polite guises. And she appreciated it.

Almost as much as she did his face.

“Now I don’t want to stay too long in this damn town. So if you could procure something resembling a chair from this pigsty and answer my questions as quickly as possible, I would be ecstatic.” Now that got her moving with all the sudden sharpness of a cracked whip. Pulling her white cloak closer, Touko threw the single chair she had previously knocked over back into place.

Byakuya taking a tentative seat while the young woman stood, fidgeting, at his side. There were no other chairs for her to take seat, but the young woman quickly found that she didn’t care.

Not when she could look at Byakuya.

The heir sighed, annoyed. Granted, he was out of the forest, but was this place, and this woman, any better than the wilderness he had just been subjected to? Hmph.

Best get this over with.

“Just h-how did you find m-me? No one c-cares ab-”

“Naegi, the baker, told me after I asked around for information pertaining to my investigation.” Now that halted Touko’s thoughts. Makoto! Of course! That meddling little brat! Her expression soured and her hands curled as the young woman seethed. Had that irksome boy no idea of privacy?! One of a woman’s most treasured possessions!

Why she outta-

“So since I’ve come all this way, I’ll need all my questions answered Miss Fukawa.” Oh how that ice-blue gaze could cut her! Touko didn’t even try to suppress the blush rising to her face as she nodded enthusiastically. Being ordered around by a handsome man who sought her out for her mind? Not bad.

Not bad at all.

“Now, my investigation pertains to the recent slaughtering of livestock in Mirai Vi-”

“Get out.” Her body felt cold, but God was her heart pounding. Damn near shattering the bones trying to cage it in. Oh God. Touko knew she shouldn’t have opened the door.

She knew it!

Byakuya looked at her. Halfway between shocked and outraged. But Touko didn’t care. Not when she struggled to breathe. Wrestling the chair out from under Byakuya, the frantic woman was too terrified to keep her strength in check.

“Wha-How dare y-”

“Out!” She was screaming now. White cloak flapping all around her as she roughly grabbed the heir by his shoulders. All but pushing him out the door.

Eyes wide in terror.

The room was spinning and her hands were ice. She could smell it. His shock. The slight whiff of fear that clung to his skin as Touko pushed him. Oh God. She could feel it.

Byakuya’s heart.

Bright and thumping and red underneath his pale skin. It was strong. Young and beautiful and just within reach. She just had to-

Touko slammed the door in his face.

“Stay away from me!”

#togafukagiftexchange #togafuka #touko fukawa #byakuya togami #fanfiction #danganronpa #2018 #potentiala #submission

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junkandgadgets · 6 years

Text

Of Hollow and Empty Love.

A little one shot I did in one hour at 3AM, excuse the low quality angst but I hope you enjoy. This was cross posted on Archive and Fanfictionnet.

Essentially a ‘What-If?’ scenario of the end of DR3 where Kyoko remains dead. I also haven’t seen DR3 in a long while so I apologise if something seems off.

It wasn't uncommon to see Makoto alone now, sometimes staring into a wall with a distant look in his eyes and his brain in a distant slumber, sometimes acting like he wasn't even there and sometimes refused to respond to anything in the outside world.

It pained everyone.

But most of all, it pained her.

Dear, Komaru Naegi. The little sister of the Ultimate Hope. A less than normal girl with a less than normal life.

It pained her because her brother had been in such a state for nearly a month, the brother she desperately wanted to reunite with after all these years. She wanted to see him again, hear his voice just to confirm he was here and not some sick fantasy conjured by the atmosphere of paranoia and despair.

But everything was fine.

The world was healing.

And the haunting's and ghastly shrill laughter of despair was fading like a warm summer breeze.

She couldn't lose him, not now, not when she couldn't even find their parents.

She promised after all.

"Hey, Makoto?"

No response, not even a slight motion to acknowledge her existence. The room was almost silent, the beeping and light breathing being the only thing to break it. The whiteness and the smell of disinfectant only added to her unease, her hairs on end.

She could just barely manage a weak smile as she sat down on a chair next to his bed, setting down a bouquet of flowers on the table next to him. "It's me... Can you hear me?"

A broken laugh escaped her mouth, even as Makoto did nothing but stare.

Stare.

At.

Nothing.

"I wanted to see you again, its been a week but I wanted to see how you were doing and let you know what's going on." She looked out of a window, it was so bright it felt unnatural. But she was just so used to the hellish red that she forgot what normal even looked like. "Umm... Well, the construction of Hope's Peak is going well still, there still hasn't been any accidents or even any attacks, which is good. I'm also getting to know your classmates!"

...

"Well, I already know Byakuya... And I'm still not entirely sure what Touko see's in him to be honest, he's kind of a jerk. Mr Yasuhiro is really funny though! He saw me looking down the other day and decided to cheer me up and gave me a free fortune! He said 'Everything will get better soon, just not the way you expect it!' Toko said I shouldn't listen to him because his fortune telling is 'fake and scammy' and even if it was real 'it's only a 30% chance of it being accurate.' Well it's still better than nothing right?"

...

"I also really like Aoi- Hina! She's so sweet and she's been happily listening to my problems, she even gave me some donuts to cheer me up as well. But..." A hesitant pause. "I... Don't have the guts to tell her about Yuta. I think- I think Touko is going to tell her. I think its better that way, you know?"

...

"Speaking of Touko, we're going to go on another expedition to Towa City tomorrow! I still haven't given up on mom or dad yet, I know they're still in the city... Somewhere! And- And!"

...

"...And I really want you to be there for when I return with them, I want us to be a happy family again."

...

"And I... And I want you to be like you were... Like you... You were..."

Everything was getting blurry, she could feel her cheeks warming up as her tears began to pour down her face.

A family.

That's all she wanted.

Just to be a family again...

She let out a few hiccups, not hearing the door open and a set of footsteps come closer towards her. "I know you miss- miss her. Everyone else misses her too, and she... She must of been so important to you for you to be like- like- Makoto!"

It felt like a dam had burst.

"I wish- I wish I got to know her... As well!" She hiccuped. "She sounded, sounded like an amazing per- person. And to see you like... Like this hurts because... Because..."

"Komaru..."

She turned towards Touko and immediately hugged her, ignoring her startled hiss and ignoring how ugly she must of looked right now. "If I could bring Kyoko back, even just for a few minutes, just to see you smile-!"

"...Hey, Komaru..."

"I- I know! I know Touko! I just..."

"Come on... I know you'll stain my clothes, but if it'll make you feel better you can let it all out."

"Auuugh... Waaaaaaahhhh!"

Even as she cried, even as Touko held her closest and only friend tight and did her best to comfort her.

Makoto.

Still.

Didn't.

Respond.

"Hey~! What's with all of the commotion? Did we miss something?"

Jack's curious question snapped her out of her deep thoughts which still lingered on such painful memories, Komaru looked up from her gun to see a crowd of people. Most of them were builders and other agents from Future Foundation, others were people she recognised such as Yasuhiro and Aoi. And, for whatever the reason, they were all crowded around the entrance of the academy.

Did something happen?

"Shall we check it out?"

"What, and just stand around like a bunch of Monokuma's without a purpose?" Jack asked. "Go on! I want to see what's happened!"

So they began to walk towards the crowd, and began to hear individual voices that began to occasionally overlap each other like a really bad choir.

"...Real?"

"...-Is it possible?"

"-Alright but-

"-He hasn't properly coped."

...?

"Hey Hina!"

Suddenly the crowd was silent, each whisper suddenly died down and sets of nervous eyes fell on her. They all looked at her, startled and almost uncertain. Aoi also shared their look, however her nervousness was more apparent from how she sweated like a child being scolded by their parents.

"Oh, hey Komaru..."

"Hey, what's going on? Did something happen?"

"W-Well... Yes, it's good but-"

"Komaru?"

There it was. A voice, a very familiar sounding voice that sounded similar, yet very different. A kind tone she remembers him having. A voice that made her heart suddenly pound against her chest like it was about to burst.

And suddenly the crowd made sense. The crowd began to shuffle, splitting at the centre to reveal...

To... Reveal...

He woke up.

Makoto Naegi finally woke up.

"Makoto!"

"Kom- Ack!"

She couldn't help herself, she couldn't help but run up to him, lift him up and hug him with all of her might, ignorant of the choked splutters and gasps that came from her brother. Some of crowd tried to pry her off in vain, but she was just...

"Oh Makoto... Makoto... You're back!"

"K-Komaru-"

"Is it really you? Is it?"

"...Yeah, I'm back. I'm sorry I've been gone for so long..."

She put her brother down onto the floor. "I was so- so scared. I didn't want to lose you. I didn't want to be alone. Augh... Urghh..."

"I'm sorry. I really am." He paused. "Komaru? I know this may be sudden, but can I introduce you to someone important..?"

"O-Oh? Sure."

Komaru weakly smiled, her cheeks turning red once again, her heart now a flutter and her mind trying its best not to overwhelm itself. Her brother was fine, Makoto was fine-

"I'm sure my friends have told you about her before, but she's been out so you've never really met but-"

...Oh?

Makoto motioned towards his side, and Komaru was expecting to see a woman or another close friend-

"This is Kyoko Kirigiri, she's someone special to me."

Only to see an empty space.

"...Huh?"

Kyoko...? The same Kyoko from his class? One of his important people? The one's who's death broke him?

But... There was no one there.

Makoto let out a nervous laugh, which was when she noticed a pair of blacked studded gloves clenched in his hands. "I'm not entirely sure if I actually introduced you to each other back when I was still a student in Hope's Peak. But this is Kyoko, she helped save our lives back in the Killing Game and is someone close to me." His cheeks turned a faint shade of pink. "She was in a bad state due to the poison, but she's gotten much better now. See?"

He motioned towards the space, this time pointing to somewhere specific. She wasn't entirely sure but...

"Ma... Makoto? What are-?"

"Well? Are you going to introduce yourself?" Makoto asked innocently, seeming unaware of the growing horror growing in Komaru's eyes.

What was going on?

Was he sick?

Was he still out of it?

She opened her mouth, to ask what was going on-

..?

A sharp glare from Byakuya shut her mouth shut.

...

She's... She's read this before, in a romance manga.

It was the story of a happy couple, who were just like any other. But one day something tragic happened with the girl that killed her sister and was in a coma like state for quite a while. And when she woke up-

She acted like nothing bad had happened.

And despite the fact her sister was dead-

She pretended that she was alive. She pretended, just to keep her mental state intact. She carried a bear toy around, and pretended it was her sister.

And... It was something Makoto was doing, right now.

"I..."

She didn't want this.

She just wanted her brother back.

"Komaru?"

"...My..."

But if this was to keep his mental state in check, to stop him from shutting down.

'I'm so sorry Makoto.'

"...Hello, you must be my brother's girlfriend. My name is Komaru Naegi. It's a pleasure to finally meet you Kyoko."

She couldn't bare seeing him shut down again.

She didn't want to be alone, even if it went using selfish reasons.

Even if he had to live in blissful denial for the rest of his life.

#danganronpa #makoto naegi #kyoko kirigiri #komaru naegi #toko fuwaka #not sure how to tag this #please tell me #danganronpa spoilers

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multiimuse · 6 years

Note

frost blue, burnt umber, tea orange, coral, currant, crimson, raspberry, baby blossoms, mallow, honey, new leaf, silk, atoll -- dr gang~

frost blue: does your muse enjoy the snow and cold? or are they the type to enjoy summer more?

Hajime - He’s not really a fan of the cold- it’s not that it’s physically difficult for him to take, or anything. He just prefers long, warm days to short, chilly ones. And as for snow, it’s an inconvenience that he could easily live without.

Kaede - She likes the cold, actually! Mostly because it means she can drink more hot chocolate, but snowfall is pretty and soothing and it’s nice to have an excuse to snuggle under the blankets with a book or a video game and just… stay in.

Shuichi - He’s…. pretty neutral on it, really? Cold weather lets him get away with staying in bed longer, though, so that’s a plus. Warm weather and longer days tend to perk his mood up just a little, so it’s kind of a trade-off.

burnt umber: how stable is your muse, mentally and/or emotionally?

Hajime - Overall, he’s pretty stable both mentally and emotionally! So long as he doesn’t push himself past his limits, he’s a grounded person with a lot of confidence and determination to help his friends. He’s not without his traumas or his weak points, but he can usually hold himself together pretty well — unless he’s being stubborn and ignoring it, in which case it can end up overwhelming him. Generally though? He’s pretty stable.

Kaede - She’s a teenager in every sense of the word, so she tends to be pretty emotionally erratic. She’s trying very hard to be grown-up and put together but it doesn’t always work, and sometimes the cracks show, and show in ugly ways. She wasn’t happy with who she was before she went into the game, but she’s trying to be better now, and as a result is working her way toward emotional stability one day at a time. As for mental stability, her mother is a psychologist and is making sure she gets everything she needs to minimize trauma from the game. She’s not 100% stable in either category, but she has a good basis to reach that point going forward!

Shuichi - Hahaha what is stability? This child is not okay. Send help. …More seriously, he really isn’t in that great of a place. He suffers from clinical depression and struggled with keeping his head above water before the game. If Team DR had any kind of a screening process he wouldn’t have gotten through, but the company did not and so he got in, got pushed into the protagonist role and had to deal with that. He’s… really not okay, but he’s trying to stabilize, and is very slowly starting to improve. It’s hard, but he has friends to help him, and they won’t let him fall.

tea orange: what is something that your muse is fascinated with?

Hajime - For Hajime, what really fascinates him is emotions and bonds, and the way people can affect one another (can affect him) through both of these. After spending a few years without either, he doesn’t think he’ll ever be bored of simply feeling again. Besides this, he’s also still easily fascinated by things he can’t predict, and can lose track of what’s going on around him when he finds one such thing until he’s deciphered its mystery and worked it out. … Usually this doesn’t take long, but there has been at least one situation where he’s been contently staring at what looks like nothing for upwards of ten minutes.

Kaede - It’s kind of funny, given what she became in the game, but Kaede’s always been fascinated by music. Not classical music, really, but things like vocaloids and mixing technology, and she’s absolutely considered trying her hand at a few covers of her favorite songs. There’s just something about the way everything comes together, the way each little bit contributes to making a great piece. It’s neat!

Shuichi - Books, mostly! He adores fiction of all kinds, but especially mysteries, and he can spend hours curled up with a stack of books without realizing that time’s passing. He’s very well-read for a kid his age, and tends to spend most of his free time with his nose in a book. He also likes puzzles, especially number and logic puzzles - he doesn’t always have the mental energy for them, but he’ll never turn down the chance to try and solve one.

coral: what is your muse’s romantic and sexual orientations?

Hajime - Grey-asexual // Biromantic

Kaede - Pansexual // Panromantic

Shuichi - Bisexual // Biromantic

currant: what’s something that absolutely disgusts your muse (can be a person, place, thing, ect)?

Hajime - … Junko Enoshima. Her concept of despair. People that use and control others, taking away their chance to choose their fates for themselves. And, on a much lesser scale, sakuramochi.

Kaede - People who hurt kids, people who turn a blind eye to others’ suffering, people who frame you and set you up to die because you’re a threat to their stupid toybox world—- ahem. Really, Kaede is most bothered by cruelty and indifference.

Shuichi - Meaninglessness. It sounds stupid, but he doesn’t like it when something doesn’t have a point or a purpose. When something isn’t worth bothering with because there is no reason to bother with it. He doesn’t like gossip, either, because that kind of thing does nothing but bring hurt (and… he knows he’s been the target of gossip a lot in the past, which makes him like it even less.)

crimson: how passionate is your muse about the things they love most?

Hajime - Unlike a natural Ultimate, Hajime doesn’t have that same all-consuming passion that they do. He tempers his passions with realism, but that doesn’t make him love them any less - generally his passion is controlled and constant. A steady warmth and dedication rather than flares of heat.

Kaede - She tends to get very passionate about the things she loves! Vocal and excited, eager to engage with other people and share how much she loves it - her passion is bright and intense, and is a part of why it was so easy to make her into the Ultimate Pianist. Passion itself is a natural part of her personality, the game’s programming just… gave her a specific direction for it.

Shuichi - When his energy levels let him, he can be very passionate. (See the several-thousand word character analysis he wrote about Kyoko Kirigiri and an in-depth look at each investigation in both games, both posted to a popular internet forum.) But when his depression is flaring up even getting out of bed is hard, let alone investing himself into anything. If passion is a fire, then Shuichi’s periodically gets water dumped on it.

raspberry: what food and/or drink can your muse not get enough of? do they indulge in it often, or is it something reserved for special occasions?

Hajime - Kusamochi. It’s one of the few things the Neo World Program managed to properly dig out of his head. He… also thinks he may have tasted it as Izuru and enjoyed it a little then, too? Maybe? He didn’t really pay much attention to food while he was living like that. Either way, he hasn’t had any in a long time but is pretty sure it’s still his favorite.

Kaede - Koala March cookies, especially the green tea flavored. She’ll fight you for them. She’ll fight your friends for them. She’s happy to share them, though! Just.. don’t deny her access to them, you’ll probably regret it. (She also enjoys other thigns that are green tea flavored, like ice cream and mochi and Kit-Kats. Strawberry and chocolate flavors are nice too, especially chocolate-banana, but green tea is her absolute favorite (which is… ironic, because she’s doesn’t actually like real green tea very much!)

Shuichi - Nori. Don’t judge him. He likes seaweed, and it’s easy to get and keep around to snack on. Even on bad days he can usually manage to eat that, and that’s not something you can just shove aside as silly. (He also likes salty things, but he only really likes sugar if it’s in a drink.)

baby blossoms: does your muse have a favorite scent? what is it, and why?

Hajime - This is a complicated question, actually. Hajime’s sense of smell was fine-tuned by the project, so he tends to pick out the component scents of something and gets a little overloaded by particularly strong, complicated smells. As a result he tends to like simpler, lighter smells, those that are generally faint to most people. He doesn’t have a specific favorite scent, though he’ll get… very twitchy around hospital smells. Hospital-grade chemicals and bleach tend to upset him.

Kaede - She likes floral scents, especially the scent of plum blossoms! There’s no particular reason for it, she just really likes that scent and will never, ever, ever get tired of smelling it.(Alright, it might be because she got into a bottle of plum blossom perfume when she was very tiny and, spilled it all over her pillow, making her room smell like plum blossoms for a week. She’s loved it ever since.)

Shuichi - He likes the smell of books the most - books are safe, and if he can smell them he’s usually somewhere he’s going to feel comfortable and can safely lose himself for a while. There’s just something soothing about being surrounded by so many books that you can smell the paper and the ink. (Bookstores and libraries are two of his favorite places, actually - it’s easy to tuck yourself into a corner for a few hours and read the day away.)

mallow: what sorts of things might remind your muse of those close to them? any scents, objects, sounds?

Hajime - Video game noises, clouds, the sound of a fountain, the golden light of later afternoon, toast instead of rice, getting bumped into from the side, white rabbits a game consoles, the smell of the beach and midday-warm sand. And this is just the two most important people!

Kaede - The sound of a pen on paper, business suits from the back, barely-comfortable chairs. Piano music and baseball caps, nail art and checkered scarves, Pocky and the hum of fluorescent lighting. Running footsteps, really embarrassing movie covers.

Shuichi - Aquarium bubbles, birthday cake, muffled sobbing, black ribbons. Piano music, planetariums, magic wands, exercising. Plum blossom perfume, the warmth of a hand on his, the feeling of grass under his palms, the sight of the sky at night.

honey: when your muse loves someone (whether it be romantic, platonic, or familial love), how do they show it?

Hajime - He tends to show his love by being present, by putting up with things that exasperate him or annoy him; by persistently reaching out if he senses something is wrong, and offering a shoulder to cry on or just a listening ear if that’s what’s needed. He really… he just tries to be there. That’s the most important thing he can think of for anyone.

Kaede - If Kaede cares about you she’ll make sure you know it. She tends to fuss. She’ll push and prod and nag a little if needed, making sure they’re taking care of themselves - but she’s also free with her encouragement and compliments, quick to smile and try to bring smiles, and generally try to make their lives a little brighter.

Shuichi - He’s quiet about it. Usually he tries to do little things - little acts of kindness, like giving gifts or, if he’s feeling up to it, making time for them and whatever they want to do. He’ll stand up for them if it looks like they need it, or try to find something encouraging to say if they’re not doing well. He… isn’t sure he’s very good at any of it, but he tries to show his care in whatever way he can. (He has a hard time telling people ‘no’, unless he sees it as something that’s important for him to refuse, and that doesn’t happen that often.)

new leaf: what message would your muse send to their past self, if any?

Hajime - Chiaki and Miss Yukizome are right. You’ll learn that eventually.You’re going to hurt, a lot, and life will feel very empty for even longer. But it gets better, and you’ll become someone you want to be in the end. You’ll find people who love you, too. Just… hold on until you do.

Kaede - Put that shot put ball back where you found it you absolute moron! No. Really. Rube-Goldberg machines are a bad idea and you don’t want to do that, you’ll regret it. Not just for what it does to you, but because of what it does to him.

Shuichi - It’s not cool. It’s not cool, it’s not interesting, and it’s not going to make the thoughts stop. It’s going to tear you apart over and over and over again and you won’t even know why it’s happening until it’s finished and you have to live with it all. How could you be this stupid? Just… just tell someone you’re thinking of entering. Tell them why. Let someone stop you.

silk: does your muse care about appearances much? do they spend a lot of time on their own appearance, or do they just go with the flow each day?

Hajime - Not really. He tries to keep clean, mostly, but beyond that doesn’t think about it. He keeps his hair short mostly because he didn’t bother looking after it as Izuru and woke up with it a tangled mess. He’s not doing that again.

Kaede - A little bit! She likes to look her best, but she’s not going to get all elaborate and fancy about it unless she needs to dress up. A cute outfit, a brush of her hair and a little mascara and she’s good to go.

Shuichi - … That takes energy he doesn’t have. Even his school uniforms tend to be wrinkled unless his aunt gets on his case about it. He’ll comb his hair if he’s going out or having a better day. Otherwise… why bother?

atoll: if your muse could go anywhere, without any restrictions whatsoever, where would they go? why would they go there?

Hajime - He might like to go to his old home, just to see what happened to it - to them. There’s almost no chance either of his parents are still alive, and he’s not sure what he would do if they are, not when he doesn’t really remember them apart from the fact that they weren’t happy with him. But… he’d like to know what happened, all the same.

Kaede - She wants to go to Australia. Let her go there, to see all the animals and explore the pretty mountains and swim on the Great Barrier Reef. She wants to pet a kangaroo and hug a koala. Please, somebody, let her hug a koala.

Shuichi - Maybe to an aquarium again? He’s… not really sure.The only places he wants to go don’t exist. It’s not like wishing could make Hope’s Peak Academy real, or make him anyone or anything special. …. Mostly he’d just like to be able to go somewhere and enjoy it. It doesn’t really matter where, as long as he could have fun again. Maybe somewhere with his friends?

#;hc: hajime #;hc: kaede #;hc: shuichi #strangefellows

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weheartjik00k · 7 years

Text

JIKOOK RANT part 2:

Another suspicious tweet.It’s a post, before the previous ones I mentioned. On 04.05.2016 Jimin posted a pic of the group and counted the days until their concert.The caption said, “I wanna see you soon~”.So it must have been for ARMYs.But on the same day, JK posted a video of himself in the car, making a heart sign with his fingers.So yeah.It could have been for the fandom of course.This is not a really big deal.However, I consider it so, because of what happened on the same day after their posts.

MY OPINION(also based on other jikookers)

Timeline and development of their relationship.Or what I think.

We’ve seen the dynamic between Jikook ever since their debut.The chaser and runner phase.Jimin was seeking his dongsaeng’s attention for a long time and joked a lot about liking him, and them being a couple or trying to steal a kiss, again just as a joke.But suddenly in 2015, this stopped.We saw how the tables have turned in their relationship.Now Jungkook was more touchy and Jimin was more passive with his actions towards the maknae.

Many jikookers speculate that they started being official(or confesses, or started dating—whatever) in the RUN era.I also think so.

To me, the way they started to act around each other was more intense,the tension was bigger around them, like they shared a secret.Of course, we will never know when they happened(if they did for real in the first place, in which I believe with every cell of my body).

In 2016 they started being more obvious.For me, that was the year with lots of things that have happened between them(all of the moments I mentioned in the previous rant were from 2016).

Also, 2017 has been the GAY year not just for Jikook, but BTS.They’ve always supported the lgbt community which makes me respect them a lot.(and many other things about them, but I will talk about this in another post). 2017, especially the end of it was the crucial point.

How MORE OBVIOUS do they have to get to make people start noticing their love for each other(and I am not talking about brother-like love).

I think it makes Jikook really special that they changed, they kind of went through a metamorphosis.That’s why it feels like their bond is so much stronger.

Simply how I see their whole timeline:

Afraid of having crushes, even super small, on each other, they thought it’s just a phase.A weird one, tho.But the more the grew to know each other, the more they matured they noticed that there is something special they feel about each other.JM doesn’t see JK as the cute, younger ‘brother’ anymore.His affection is not excused with the resemblance Jungkook and his real brother had for him.He is not just protective and supportive hyung.He realized he wants to be much more to Jungkook.Joking about having feelings for him was a mistake because it made him think that Jungkook doesn’t like this(gay couples or Jimin as more than a friend). At the same time, Jungkook is confused with his own mind.He had dated before.Girls!He never felt what real love is like, tho(he said this in their debut years in the AHL interviews).So this boy, still not grown up, was afraid if he ruins his relationship with Jimin.-a hyung he appreciates way too much but never shows.So, to hide his feelings, he puts on a mask and pushes Jimin away all the time.But his crush starts to overtake.It’s not a phase anymore.And with Jimin slowly trying to ignore him, Jungkook knows he can’t stay away from his hyung. (this is totally my perspective, and we will never know their real feelings, I just guess, based on how I would have acted if I was in such situation.Because, I admit, I have lots of similarities with JK in character.Even tho I didn’t like him before, it’s surprising now that I find out.I AM NOT SAYING I KNOW HIS PERSONALITY OR ANYTHING!don’t get me wrong)

Sexualities and how complex this is.

If you asked me to point out who I think might be gay or lgbt in BTS, I will go like J-Hope, Suga(he mentioned that the gender doesn’t matter,so..) and maybe Jimin. If you ever asked me about Jungkook I would’ve screamed STRAIGHT from the rooftops..But now.Oh, now…I don’t only observe their actions, but also consider what they say and what sign they try to give us. I will only speak about Jungkook since I don’t want to make this EVEN longer. We know that Jungkook is Troye Sivan’s fanboy.Does this make him gay?No.I also listen to Troye, Hayle Kyoko, and some other lgbt musicians.My best guy friend likes Troye Sivan and even if he doesn’t always act in the manliest way(you know what I mean) he is hella straight.And he’s gonna be a great husband because the way he values women-this is so much MANLIER than anything else. Yep, liking Troye doesn’t make him gay. But at the same time, the Jikook timeline is just such a big coincidence.At the RUN era, when I think they got together, he covered Troye Sivan’s song “Fools”.(he and RM didn’t change the pronouns) In my opinion, this is important, because it’s the first sign he gave us.In Korea being lgbt is really hard.Most young people are fine with it, but even they will look at you like you are different(in a not good way).And what about elders.They think being gay is wrong.Something is wrong with YOU.

I think Jungkook is bisexual.He showed that he is attracted to women and it’s also obvious to me, but I think he has some male crushes.(and one male boyfriend at this time, but anyways xdd)And I think Jimin is just special.Maybe he was this one boy Jungkook really fell in love with.

Also, using his song for GCF without changing the pronouns or cutting off parts of the song and skipping to the chorus,it shows that he wasn’t bothered.In that show this year he said that he feels like he’s wearing a mask when he’s with other people.For me, this is like saying that he hid something about himself.Not just acting idolish, but also keeping the truth.And the fact that in America this year Namjoon mentioned several times, when they asked them about dating, that they don’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend.Also, thatlove is not only between genders.(i stan this king and his beautiful mind; I literally fell in love with the small part of his way of thinking that he showed to us.I can’t believe how I’d feel if I knew him personally)

I think BTS gave us many hints that there are lgbt members among them.And I think Jikook is one of them.Also, I think Namjoon is lgbt, but I will not explicit the exact sexuality because I really have no idea.

What I’ve seen on Jikookers’ profiles.

I have noticed many fans of Jikook saying that they have been in kpop for a long time, but they’ve never seen a ship like this.So real.SO unexplainable.Because even if I remove all the times they look at each other, hold hands, hug, smile, laugh together, tease each other ,the jealousy moments or whatever(photoshoots together, fanservice,couple items) even after I do that (like stop including the moments that ships are based on usually), with Jikook there are STILL moments I can’t explain with brotherhood!I just can’t.So, not just that Jikook really is like any other ship, butmany who ship them study psychology or/and body language.

Me too.I’ve watched videos with other ships’ moments and 'proof’, but never ever found something that really couldn’t be explained.So I believe that Jikook really is different.I don’t hate any ship!They are all beautiful and have amazing moments, no matter what kind of relationship those two people have.(Like.. have you seen Taemin and Jimin.Or Taemin and Kai.They have such cute friendship.) I also love Jessica and Krystal, because I also have a sister and it’s really amazing how close they are.Ships could be for all types of relationship.Shipping doesn’t mean you see two persons being romantically involved.That’s why I don’t ship Jikook. I support them.

And you know what.I always will.And all BTS members.Even if Jungkook and Jimin are not dating.Even if they date someone else(boy or girl/bandmate,co-idol,friend,someone unfamous,a fan even).I will always respect them.I don’t force them to be together and neither I can.I just want to show that no matter what they choose, I will support them.I only believe (my opinion!) that there is something beautiful between them and I believe is that type of love.That’s it.

And finally!How I think their (romantic) relationship is.

I feel like at first, it was scary and unsure, but as time passed by, they got closer.They know that they can always rely on each other.It feels like this couple is very supportive and cute.For me, they might have fights from time to time, be a little possessive, but they would never leave each other.It seems that they have been through a lot about how people saw them(members are 100% supporting them; BH also seems fine about it–but what about their families? I hope the same goes for them),or how they have to hide all the time,how jealousy got them on their nerves or just simple argues.Anyway, I think they will survive all the obstacles and still stand side by side.

No matter what you think, you ship someone else, support them and believe in them as much as I do even more, only spread the love.This is our biggest weapon against all the bad things that happen in our life.Love, after all, is the key to happiness.

Sorry for another long rant, but I just needed to clear myself out and to sort out “the proof” going in my head.I hope you liked it and I hope it helped you get another perspective on this topic.I tried to give the most objective assessment.I am and will always be as realistic as hell.That’s why I judge from both sides.That’s why I never consider as evidence moments where they -look at each other -smile at each other -hug, hold hands, etc. (even tho it’s still cute, this is not what made me believe in them.I was very skeptical at the beginning too and I did my research very well :) )

Since my account is new, I don’t plan to post actively what happens between Jikook.Most would be rants and analysis.Also, if you want to (if you are ready) follow me xd because I have only one friend that ships Jikook, but she is not into kpop so much lately,so..you get me.

Let’s be friends y'all!SPREAD LOVE!LOVE YOURSELF!

#jikook #kookmin #analysis #jikookisreal #opinion #respect #i dont hate #so don't hate on me too #jungkok #jimin #jeon jungkook #jeon jeongguk #park jimin

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anonymous-hopeful · 7 years

Text

Hopestuck

A fanfic with Danganronpa characters in Homestuck

I'm just going to post it all in one go, then update as needed.

Like and reblog, all that fun stuff

ACT ONE: THE BEGINNING

A young adult male stands alone in his room. He dons his zip-up hoodie, t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and sneakers. At first glance, this teenaged boy seems normal, completely ordinary, however, this is not so. For you see, atop his head is an ahoge, passed down from generation to generation. They say it's a mark of destiny. This boy will be known in history. This boy is extremely special. This boy...this boy is...

==> Name The Boy.

NAEGG MACOOKEM

...

"Actually, you're not that far off."

==>

NAEGI MAKOTO

"See? You were pretty close."

==>

Your name is NAEGI MAKOTO. Inside your dorm is your VARIETY OF INTRESTS, or rather, LACK THEREOF. You don't really have much in your room, as every time you try to decorate it, IT PUTS OUT THE WRONG MESSAGE ABOUT YOU. The message being you're an INTRESTING GUY. The only reason you're even in HOPE'S PEAK ACADEMY anyway was because of the LOTTERY YOU WON. By winning said lottery, you were awarded the title of ULTIMATE LUCKY STUDENT, and the entrace into ONE OF THE MOST PRESTEGIOUS SCHOOLS IN JAPAN. While you try to FIT IN, you can't help but be intimidated by the other students who are TRULY TALENTED. Thankfully, someone connected you to CHAT-CHAN, a chat-room application that some students here use. You've made some friends under your CHANHANDLE, HopefulEgg. Unfortunately, you're too shy to talk to them in real life.

What will you do now?

==> Makoto: Examine your fetch modus.

Fetch modus? Oh yeah. That was the storage device you recieved when you came in on the first day. You look at your FETCH MODUS. It's the LUCK MODUS, of course. Once something goes in, whether or not comes out is up to sheer luck. You've avoided using the capchalouge cards for it. You don't need anything important getting stuck in the sylladex.

==> Makoto: Examine your strife specibus.

Strife specibus? Oh yeah. That was the weopon specializer you recieved when you came in the first day. You have the REVOLVERKIND, filled with a large supply of TRUTH BULLETS. You've avoided using that, too. Guns are dangerous, and you're no marksman.

==>

"Uwuu! Someone wants to chat with you!☆"

Looks like Chat-chan's alerting you.

==> Makoto: Chat.

MysteriousRamen [MR] began chatting with HopefulEgg [HE]

MR: Are you available at the moment?

HE: as of now, yes. whats up?

MR: I was wondering if you had taken notes from today's lesson.

HE: yeah, i always do that, why, do you need them?

MR: If we were able to meet up somewhere on campus, yes.

HE: oh, i see what this is! you're not making me fall for it, ramen -.-

MR: What is that at the end?

HE: it's a squinty face. it enforces that i'm not falling for the trick.

MR: Sure it does.

HE: :)

MR: I don't understand why you are so self conscious. Surely after our many chats, you will have become more confident.

HE: i have! a little...

MR: Would you at least tell me your name?

HE: eh...why don't you go first?

MR: I inquired first.

HE: still, i'm not ready!

MR: Then my identity shall remain hidden as well.

HE: fine by me.

MR: Seriously though, I do need the notes.

HE: don't worry, i'll send them via internet file.

HE: IMPORTANTNOTES.jpg

MR: Thank you. This will work tremendously in my investigation.

HE: what investigation?

MR: ...

MysteriousRamen [MR] ceased chatting with HopefulEgg [HE]

==>

You hope that investigation had good intentions behind it.

==>

*a knock at the door*

==> Makoto: Answer knock.

No one's on the other side, however, there are two envelopes left in their wake.

==> Makoto: Pick up envelopes.

You pick up the envelopes and look atbthe packaging. On each one, the logo for a game called SBURB in printed, but underneath, the text either says server or client. You have a vauge idea who left these at your dorm. After all, he's the only one that knows who you are.

==> Makoto: Chat with you-know-who.

HopefulEgg [HE] began chatting with CookiecutterPepsicola [CP]

HE: hey, did you leave these disks outside my dorm?

==>

You end up waiting a pretty long time. Eventually, you give up on the guy.

"SBURB...I wonder what it is..."

==> Makoto: Ask about SBURB.

You examine your chatmate list.

MysteriousRamen

WealthyLiterary

PsychoticLovestruck

CrystalClairvoyant

WaterloggedSprinkle

SeriouslyTalentless

OccultNobility

CookiecutterPepsicola

FamishedOlympian

HomicidalBabyface

Other than CookiecutterPepsicola, you're not sure who would have any idea about this game. You decide to take to the internet for this one.

==>

You find nothing. Literally nothing. Does this game even exist?!

==>

MysteriousRamen

WealthyLiterary

PsychoticLovestruck

CrystalClairvoyant

WaterloggedSprinkle

SeriouslyTalentless

OccultNobility

●CookiecutterPepsicola

FamishedOlympian

HomicidalBabyface

Looks like he's on now.

==>

HopefulEgg [HE] began chatting with CookiecutterPepsicola [CP]

HE: hey, did you leave these disks outside my dorm?

CP: Yeh. Cool, right?

HE: if i knew what it was, sure.

CP: Yer gonna find out soon enough. Along with the others.

HE: others?

CP: Mmhmm. It's all part of my plan.

HE: so you made this?

CP: Sorta. Some of th' stuff I got from this random guy that keeps botherin me.

HE: aw man. internet troll?

CP: Self proclaimed too.

HE: don't you know to just leave those guys alone?

CP: That's just it. He won't, and every time I block 'im, it seems ta override.

HE: :O

CP: I guess th' guy ain't that bad. Though, I guess I get some weird feelin's from 'im. Like...he's flirtin or somethin.

HE: :(

CP: Hold on. He's on now. I gotta get back ta ya.

CookiecutterPepsicola [CP] ceased chatting with HopefulEgg [HE]

==>

You're amazed. You can't believe that guy blew you off to indulge some internet troll. You almost feel offended. Actually, you do. Then again, you're not that surprised. He's a quirky guy.

==> Point of View: Switch.

Wait a minute! We're not done with this guy yet! There's so much more to...oh.

It appears the point of view switches anyway. Bummer.

ACT ONE: POINT OF VIEW SWAP

A serious, dignified, and one might even say stoic girl stands in the middle of her dorm. The lavender-haired lass is wearing her dark purple jacket, paired with a tie, black gloves, heeled boots, a skirt, and a small bow in a single braid. One look at this lady, and you know she means business, and even though her lips are sealed, she's examining, analyzing, studying, completely aware of her surroundings, and that you're looking at her. Maybe you should guess her name.

==> Guess her name.

CUP O' FANSERVICE NOODLES

...

"You couldn't possibly have done worse."

==>

KIRIGIRI KYOKO

Yeah. That's it. She wonders why you didn't get it sooner.

==>

Your name is KIRIGIRI KYOKO. You go to HOPE'S PEAK ACADEMY as the ULTIMATE DETECTIVE. As expected, you've got quite a bit of DETECTIVE MERCHANDICE in your room. A POSTER OF YOUR FAVORITE DETECTIVE here, a NANCY DREW BOOK there, and and old-timey DETECTIVE OUTFIT hanging in your closet. Your FATHER got that for you when you were accepted in. Your father, of course, is KIRIGIRI JIN, the HEADMASTER of Hope's Peak. He's a pretty good father, you think, when he's not being a total nerd. Quite recently, you took on another case, except instead of finding a MURDERER, you're trying to figure out who's on the end of each CHANHANDLE. Just saying, you all claim to go to Hope's Peak. The least you all could do is talk IN REAL LIFE. Still, you communicate with them under your own chanhandle, MysteriousRamen.

What will you do?

==> What are those notebooks on the floor?

Nothing. They're not important.

==> What's on that corkboard over there?

You sure are nosy.

==> What-

Before you can finish, she snaps up the item in her sylladex. Even if you wanted to see it, it'd only be a photo-copy. This is the CLUE MODUS. The only way to truly get the item would be to follow the clues on the back of the card. Only the wisest of detectives use this modus.

==> What about-

Once again cutting you off, she pulls out a SHIV, which was stored in her KNIFEKIND. She thinks it'll get you to stop. She's right.

==> Kyoko: Continue investigation.

You go on your computer and examine all of your files. You've managed to get majority of your chans to send over something with their handwriting on it. You just need two more submissions, then some difinitive answers can come up.

==> Kyoko: Have that conversation with HopefulEgg.

You have that conversation with HopefulEgg. The one where you asked for a picture of their notes. They were apprehensive at first, but the mission was a victory. The next nut got a tougher shell to crack...

==> Kyoko: Chat with WealthyLiterary.

MysteriousRamen [MR] began chatting with WealthyLiterary [WL]

MR: If it doesn't bother you, I'd like to ask you a favor.

WL: Fun fact: I don't do favors.

MR: Fun fact: this is important.

WL: ...

WL: Fine. Make it quick. I have better things to do.

MR: Of course. Could you send me a handwritten document via comupter?

WL: Excuse me?

MR: There is an extreme emergency within Hope's Peak.

WL: You're bluffing.

MR: I'm as serious as a heart attack.

WL: If you're being serious, you'll tell me what's happening.

MR: Gladly. It seems a thief in in this school, and they leave notes behind every time they steal. I'm examining everyone's handwriting.

WL: Either this is true, or you're the Ultimate Liar.

MR: I couldn't be. They graduated last year.

WL: ...

WL: You've barely convinced me.

MR: Funny. Everyone else submitted a document. You are the first to downright refuse. This could cut out inveatigation all together. You must be the culprit.

WL: What? Impossible. I'd never stoop so low as to resort to thievery.

MR: Tell it to the judge.

WL: You really are serious about this, aren't you?

MR: As a heart attack, like I said.

MR: Now, either send me a document, or face jail time. Your choice.

WL: Give me a moment.

MR: (Time Lapse)

WL: Very mature.

MR: ; :)

MR: I try.

WL: Writtendocument.jpg

WL: There. Are you satisfied?

MR: Quite.

WL: Thank goodness.

WealthyLiterary [WL] ceased chatting to MysteriousRamen [MR]

==>

"That guy's a total douche."

==>

What? He is!

==>

That also wasn't a lie. Technically, there is a theif.

==>

And they've stolen your heart.

==>

You enjoy chatting with them. Whoever they are...

==>

HopefulEgg...

==> Kyoko: Begin deeper investigation.

You pull up each file. You begin to try and decode each sample. To aid in this, you take out the (completed and graded) essays you've stolen from the classroom. The investigation is-

==> Knock knock.

Who's there? You decide to go check.

==> No one.

Of course. Practical jokery, ha ha. You're so mad about the jape you almost don't see the two envelopes on the ground.

==> Kyoko: Pick them up.

You pick them up, just like it says.

"SBURB, huh?"

==>

Looks like a game of some sort. One's marked Server, and the other is marked Client. You were never big on video games, but this one seems intresting. You decide to consult your local techie.

==> Kyoko: Consult your local techie.

MysteriousRamen [MR] began chatting with CookiecutterPepsicola [CP]

MR: SBURB, huh?

CP: What?

MR: Oh nothing. I would just like to know what's your aim in this game you've created.

CP: There ain't an aim in this. I just want everyone ta play it.

MR: It surprises me that you could purchace this for me.

CP: I didn't. I made it with the help of some internet troll.

MR: Oh?

CP: Now I know what yer thinkin, an' no, he ain't some creep.

MR: How does he describe himself?

CP: Um...it's weird.

MR: I'm sure I've heard weirder.

CP: He says he's an amethyst blooded, sea dwelling troll with a love for lusi, whatever those are.

MR: Intresting.

CP: Also, as rude as he usually is, I think he's bein' flirty. Endin every statement with ♡♤.

MR: Oh really?

CP: Yeah. He says he's fanscinated wit me.

MR: Hmm. Now that I think about it, a random person has began messaging me as well. Though I never indulge them.

CP: I suggest it. The guy I got's not bad.

MR: I will consider.

MysteriousRamen [MR] ceased chatting with CookiecutterPepsicola [CP]

==>

"Uwaa! ☆"

Speaking of...

==>

treblemakingSongbird [TS] began trolling MysteriousRamen [MR]

TS: Are you on? <(^^)

TS: Please don't block me again. It took our tech troll over an hour to decode the system. <(UU)

MR: Not this time.

TS: >(' ')!

==> Random Douchebag: Appear out of nowhere.

Oh boy. Here we go again.

ACT ONE: Who's this douchebag?

A random douchbag appeared. You examine him a bit. Straight-laced green suit, perfecty styled blonde hair, expensive looking glasses, and a narssicistic scowl on his face. All doubt leaves your mind; this guy really is a douchebag. Textbook definition of the term. If you looked up that word in the dictionary, there would be no words, only this guy's photo. He looks at you and raises a disapproving eyebrow. He wants you to guess his name. Actually, he expects you to know it already. What a prick.

==> INSUFFERABLE DOUCHEPRICK.

He says he's not going to acknowledge the degrading name you gave him.

==> TOGAMI BYAKUYA.

He nods a bit in approval. You guess that's who he is.

==>

Your name is TOGAMI BYAKUYA. As Hope's Peak's ULTIMATE AFFLUENT PROGENCY, you plan on letting everyone know YOU'RE IN CHARGE, and that you're basically BETTER THAN EVERYONE. In your dorm, you have decorated with EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE STATUES, BOOKS, AND FURNATURE, and in your closet is a wide variety of EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE SUITS. That's how rich you are. Of course, such is expected of the next owner of the TOGAMI CONGLOMERATE, one of Japan's BIGGEST BUSINESSES. You admit, you spent a long time working up to that level, and there's NO WAY YOU'RE BACKING DOWN. You also admit that you only went to Hope's Peak to see if anyone was as COMPETENT AS YOU. The only one that came close was the ULTIMATE PRINCESS. Well, also that really quiet guy, but that's for an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT REASON. Still, you do frequently chat with these lowly classmates of yours on Chat-chan, via your Chanhandle, WealthyLiterary.

==>

Because he knew you were about to ask, he demonstrates his CREDIT CARD MODUS for you. When an item is captchalouged, the card must be swiped on order for the item to be freed. It's reserved for only the rich, he tells you. You don't particuallarly care.

==>

He now takes the time to show off his MEGAPHONEKIND. A pull of the trigger releases an electric blast. As much as you don't want to care, you have to agree it's pretty cool.

==>

"Uwuu! Someone wants to chat with you!☆"

==>

"If it's her, I swear...".

==> Byakuya: Is it her?

No it's not. It seems that MysteriousRamen wanted to chat.

==> Byakuya: Chat against your better judgement.

You chat against your better judgement. The conversation wasn't all that bad. Seems that there's a thief in the school. You hope they get caught. You don't need any of your precious items stolen.

==> *Knock knock*

You hope this isn't the set-up of an incredibly juvenile joke.

==> Byakuya: Check the door.

That doesn't seem to be the case. You do have mail, however.

==> Byakuya: Examine mail.

SBURB Beta. Sounds like a video game. You don't do video games.

==>

"Uwuu! ☆"

==>

OH GOD, IT'S HER.

==> Byakuya: Attempt to deter.

PsychoticLovestruck [PL] began chatting with WealthyLiterary [WL]

PL: Byakuya...

WL: Go away.

PL: I swear, I-I'm not hitting on you this time! O~O

WL: Leave me alone.

PL: I'm being s-serious! OnO

WL: Fine, but if you even attempt to make a pass at me, I will hit block user.

PL: I understand...

PL: Did you...happen to recieve any mail?

WL: Please don't tell me this is yours.

PL: W-what? No! Ò.Ó

WL: Then yes. I happened to recieve two envelopes today for SBURB Beta.

PL: Was there both a server and client disk?

WL: Yes. Why do you ask?

PL: I recieved one too...

WL: Odd. I don't remember anyone even mentioning this game.

PL: I can say for certain that this isn't your everyday game...

WL: Elaborate.

PL: I chatted with Cookiecutter earlier. He says he made it with some help.

WL: Oh, really?

PL: He plans on all of us playing it. H-he says it'll be fun O*O

WL: Are you sure he didn't send this to me on accident?

PL: He gave one to everybody. He seems passionate about it, so...m-maybe I'll give it a go.

WL: You? Playing a video game?

PL: I-it would help me socialize.

PL: Whether or not you play is up to you.

PsychoticLovestruck [PL] ceased chatting with WealthyLiterary [WL]

==>

Wow. You almost can't believe it. You actually had a normal conversation with her. As for this game, you're thinking about playing it, but you aren't quite sure.

==>

"Uwuu!☆"

==>

gothicSnakeeyes [GS] began trolling WealthyLiterary [WL]

GS: Play the game, douchebag ;3

gothicSnakeeyes [GS] ceased trolling WealthyLiterary [WL]

==>

Great. Now internet trolls are after you. You dismiss the person watching to deal with with the troll.

==> Person watching: Watch someone else.

...

OH GOD, IT'S HER.

ACT ONE: OH GOD, IT'S HER

OH GOD IT'S HER. Large round glasses, uneasy smirk, two neat braids, conservative clothing. Wait. Why are you so upset? This seems like a nice, civiliized lady. What could possibly be wrong with her? She says nothing, then looks away slightly. So shy...you'd be pretty surprised if this girl turned out to be a serial killer or something. She just says nothing. Hmm...

==> PROBABLY A SERIAL KILLER.

She cringes at the name.

==> FUKAWA TOUKO

She cringes at that one too, but slightly less.

==>

Your name is FUKAWA TOUKO. As Hope's Peak's ULTIMATE AUTHOR, you're expected to be SOCIABLE AND CHARISMATIC, but in reality, you're very SOCIALLY AWKWARD. You AVOID PEOPLE often, and REFUSE TO SPEAK UNLESS SPOKEN TO. In your dorm, you have BOOKS, PAPER, AND PENCILS scattered about, and posters of HOT GUYS hang on your walls. You're a bit of a PERVERT when it comes to some things, but you do speciallize in ROMANCE NOVELS, so you have a bit of an excuse. Those excuses don't help when you're caught STALKING YOUR CRUSHES, however, which, unfortunately happen often. The current guy you have your eyes on just happens to be HOT, but a HUGE DOUCHE, just the way you like them. In spite of not being able to socialize in real life, you tend to chat on Chat-chan, under the chanhandle PsychoticLovestruck.

==> Touko: Fetch Modus, please.

Your fetch modus is the LIBRARY MODUS. When an item is captured, it turns into a book, and is stored into the sylladex. In order to access it again, you have to read the book, which is essentally a novel about that item. It's actually some pretty good material.

==> Touko: How about that strife specibus?

That? It's equipped with SCISSORKIND, it seems. She doesn't seem to want to touch it...

==> *Knock*

You wonder why they only knocked once. You're a bit offended by this. It doesn't seem like they're there anymore, so you decide to do something else.

==> Touko: Feed your stinkbug.

You feed your stinkbug. You found her when you were young. Her name is Kameko. You keep her in your dorm because everyone complains of her stench, but you don't care. Aftet all, she understands you better than anyone. If anything, you and that stinkbug are in it for the long haul.

==> Touko: Who knocked?

It seems that whoever was there has left something behind. Two somethings actually. You pick them up and instantly know who left them.

==> Touko: Chat to who left them.

PsychoticLovestruck [PS] began chatting with CookiecutterPepsicola [CP]

PL: Is this...what you've been w-working on?

CP: Cool, right?

PL: What is it exactly?

CP: A game. Once I finish deliverin em, we're gonna play.

PL: Um...

CP: What's up?

PL: I don't...really d-do video games...ÕnÕ

CP: You'll enjoy this one. It'll be fun.

PL: ...what's i-it about?

CP: I don't fully know. I got some help from my troll friend.

PL: Ugh, I hate internet trolls. T-they make so much trouble.

CP: This one's good, don't worry. He's real helpful.

PL: S-so...the game?

CP: All I know is that we can like, manipulate out enviroments and shit. Plus, we need to use both the server an client disk.

PL: Manipulate environments? L-like a simulator, or...?

CP: I think the guy meant in reality.

PL: OõO

CP: Yeah, pretty awesome.

PL: I-i admit, I'm on board...

CP: I'm proud o ya! I'mma go make more deliveries.

PL: I guess I'll chat with you l-later...

PsychoticLovestruck [PL] ceased chatting with CookiecutterPepsicola [CP]

==>

You think you want to inform your crush about this...

==>

"Uwuu! ☆"

==>

...and here's a sidetracker.

==> Touko: Answer sidetracker.

CrystalClairvoyant [CC] began chatting with PsychoticLovestruck [PL]

CC: YOO, TOUKO!

CC: DID U JUST GET A GAME?

CC: PLZ SAY YES! (☆)

PL: Yes...

CC: GOOD, I'M SEEIN' THINGS RIGHT THEN.

PL: Huh?

CC: WE'RE ALL GONNA PLAY THIS GAME, RIGHT? BUT IT'S SO MUCH MORE, LIKE, I CAN'T EVEN.

PL: Really? Ø.Ø

CC: DON'T SLANTY EYE ME!

CC: DUDE, I SAW METEORS CRASHIN INTO THE SCHOOL!

CC: AND LIKE, THESE COOL PJS

CC: PJS, TOUKO

PL: Remind me why I'm on the recieving end of this?

CC: You sound like Kyoko, smh.

CC: You were the first one I saw on my dash.

PL: Even still...why w-would I care?

CC: I'm at least 33% correct...

PL: Chat with me when you're not acting like a lunatic.

CC: BUT

PsychoticLovestruck [PL] blocked CrystalClairvoyant [CC]

==>

You'll unblock the guy when you're done chatting with Byakuya.

==> Touko: Think about cool pjs.

What? You already know about the cool pjs. At least in your dreams. You've even chronicled your adventures in the dream world. You can't help it. The ominous purple aura really brings out your creative side. In fact, it's inspired a good chunk of your stories. You kinda wonder if that guy's there too. After all, you've seen Kyoko, Byakuya, and a few others there too. Sound asleep, but there. You wonder if they'll awaken soon. Maybe you'll tell this to the crazy guy. Well, after chatting with Byakuya.

==> Touko: Chat with Byakuya.

You chat with Byakuya. He doesn't block you, and actually, he seems to listen to you this time. Maybe there is a chance...

"Uwuu! ☆"

"Huh?"

==>

trippyPillpopper [TP] began trolling PsychoticLovestruck [PL]

TP: *please talk to me* ]:'(

trippyPillpopper [TP] was blocked by PsychoticLovestruck [PL]

==>

You don't need any of this troll mess. You just can't deal with it. Instead, you go to bathe. After all, if you're going to be social, you might as well smell nice.

==> Veiwer: Considerately view someone else.

You considerately view someone else. Touko appreciates it, but now a random wierdo seems to be freaking out at your sudden arrival.

ACT ONE: RANDOM WEIRDO

A random weirdo looks at you. You look at a random weirdo. His hair sticks up in all directictions, he has the slightest beard stubble, and he gives off a very strong hobo aura. He also looks too old to even be in this school...and you'd be right. Then again, he was never the brightest bulb.

==> TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER.

Okay, whoa. Calm down man, it was a joke. Just a joke...um...

It doesn't look like he's calming down anytime soon.

==> HAGAKURE YASUHIRO

" Huh?"

==>

Your name is HAGAKURE YASUHIRO. As Hope's Peak's ULTIMATE CLAIRVOYANT, you...don't really do much. Often, you'll offer to READ PALMS, and SEE INTO ONE'S FUTURE, but the STEEP PRICE usually turns others away. In your dorm, you have everything a shaman needs, CATCHY POSTERS, INTERESTING ARTIFACTS, and GIMMICKS GALORE. You would think that a BUSINESSMAN LIKE YOURSELF would stay out of SERIOUS TROUBLE, but it seems that a CERTAIN YAKUZA has a large TARGET ON YOUR BOUNTY. You haven't left your room since. Luckily, your classmates can supply you your work through Chat-chan, under the clever chanhandle CrystalClairvoyant.

==> Yasuhiro: Consult your fetch modus.

You have the CRYSTAL BALL MODUS. Rather than captchalouging spare items for later use, your modus captchalouges random items that you'll need for later use sometime in the future. Sometimes it's the near future, and others, practically months. It also doesn't help that you can't captchalouge immediately.

...looks like the crystal ball has sent a hamburger. Sweet!

==>

Whoops. It got stuck in that extra strife specibus card the crystal ball sent earlier. Now you have a FOODKIND to go along with your MAGICKIND. The MAGICKIND has a WAND inside. You haven't figured out how to work that yet, but when you do, all kinds of cool stuff's gonna happen.

==>

At least you have a use for the specibus portfolio you got months ago.

Hey, what's in the crystal ball now?

==> Yasuhiro: Look inside.

It looks like a copy of a game. Two copies of a game actually. Those had to be coming your way eventually. After all, the crystal ball modus knows all. Once you retrieve the card from the sylladex, you take the copies of the game and examine them. SBURB Beta, server and client copies. You haven't heard of this game before. It must be new on the market. You decide to see what it has in store via your clairvoyant powers.

==> Yasuhiro: See.

You take out the disks and hold them in your hands. Closing your eyes, you begin to see new, complex contraptions around your room. A hail of meteors rain outside, but then the scene shifts to a beautiful planet with little chameleons running around. At a moment, the scene blacks out, and you're on a planet of gold. You're wearing some pretty cool pjs.

==>Yasuhiro: Drop the disks.

You gently set the disks down. After that exclusive preview, you don't want those disks destroyed. Wait. It occurs to you...

"I GOTTA TELL SOMEONE ABOUT THIS!!"

==> Yasuhiro: Tell someone about this.

You tell someone about this! Unfortunately, they block you. Oh well. At least she listened to the majority of your spiel.

==>

"Uwuu!☆"

Oh boy.

==>

punkrockBallpark [PB] began trolling CrystalClairvoyant [CC]

PB: get hacked

CC: Nooo

PB: nice line driver t⊙ y⊙ur c⊙mputer

PB: tech tr⊙ll hit a h⊙me run

CC: Leave me be ;_;

PB: i've tr⊙lled y⊙u this l⊙ng, what makes y⊙u think i'm st⊙pping n⊙w?

CC: Why must you terrorize me so?

PB: eh, i'm b⊙red. my kismesis is ⊙ut d⊙ing whatever, s⊙ i'm just kinda here

CC: Kismesis?

PB: wh⊙⊙ps. i mean ⊙ne ⊙f y⊙ur human b⊙y/girlfriends

CC: In this case?

PB: b⊙yfriend

PB: Out there flying and shit

PB: y⊙u aren't dead, g⊙⊙d f⊙r y⊙u

PB: but it makes me hate him m⊙re, s⊙ i can't c⊙mplain

CC: Why do you want to hate your boyfriend ( ? )

PB: y⊙u're g⊙nna have t⊙ wait f⊙r that talk

CC: You realize I may be older than you...?

PB: i'm 9 sweeps

PB: translate it y⊙urself

punkrockBallpark [PB] ceased trolling CrystalClairvoyant [CC]

==>

You have no idea what sweeps are.

==> Yasuhiro: Ask someone what sweeps are.

CrystalClairvoyant [CC] began chatting with WaterloggedSprinkle [WS]

CC: Do you know what a sweep is?

WS: Something a broom does ~u~

CC: Haha! Nice. Seriously tho.

WS: No...I'll find out though.

==>

How rude. You came in just as she was about to find out.

ACT ONE: WELL, FIND OUT.

She looks around. She may have forgotten what she was doing already. Oh well, at least we can get on with the intro. A swirled ponytail, athletic clothing, and an inordinate amount of donut boxes? Certainly contradictory, but she seems to be in great shape, so you don't judge her. She offers you a donut. You would take it if you could reach through the screen. She apologizes, then eats the donut herself. You feel like you know this young lady's name...

==> DOUBLE D...ONUTS...

Nice save there.

==> ASAHINA AOI

"Hehe! Yeah!".

==>

Your name is ASAHINA AOI. You go to school at Hope's Peak Academy under the title of ULTIMATE SWIMMER. You do admit to feeling like a fish at times. Anyway, in your dorm is EVERYTHING YOU POSSIBLY NEED, including VARIOUS PLUSHIES, GIFTS FROM YOUR LITTLE BROTHER, AN AQUARIUM, A COMPUTER, and of course, DONUTS. LOTS OF THEM. You love donuts like crazy. Almost as much as you love swimming. You learned the hard way not to mix eating donuts and swimming. As much as you enjoy being at Hope's Peak, you miss having your old friends around, as NO ONE IS PASSIONATE AS SWIMMING AS YOU ARE. Maybe someday soon, you'll have a friend who ENJOYS A GOOD SWIM LIKE YOU DO. It would be nice. For now, at least, you chat with the friends you have on Chat-chan, under the chanhandle WaterloggedSprinkle.

==> Bzzz.

You look at an annoying fly and decide to use your BUBBLEKIND against it. A swift blow traps the fly in a large bubble. And they said that bubbles would be useless.

==>

You decide to captchalouge the bubbled fly in your HYDRATION MODUS. Basically, the cards in the sylladex are dehydrated, and in order to use an item, you need to put the card in some water. This usually backfires when you go for a swim in the school's pool.

==> Aoi: Isn't there supposed to be a knock now?

Nope. That happened a few minutes ago. At your door, you found two envelopes containing the game Sburb inside. You don't play video games often, but you think that this one's worth playing. At least it looks cool.

==> Aoi: Ahem?

What?

==> Aoi: Didn't you have a prior engagement?

Oh, that's right! You had to find out what the heck a sweep was. You think you may know someone who has that info.

==> Aoi: Chat with the troll.

WaterloggedSprinkle [WS] began chatting with muscularProtienshake [MP]

WS: Heey.

WS: Would you happen to know what a sweep is?

MP: J(`v')J "why, yes, i do.".

MP: f(`o')J " a sweep is a year in alternia."

MP: h('v~)h "though it takes about two of your human years"

WS: Ooh, thank you!

MP: y(~v~)y

WaterloggedSprinkle [WS] ceased chatting with muscularProteinshake [MP]

==>

WS: Hey, Yasuhiro?

WS: A sweep is about two human years.

CC: Good. Now I have to deal with this punk troll.

CrystalClairvoyant [CC] ceased chatting with WaterloggedSprinkle [WS]

==>

Well that's that-

"Uwuu!☆"

==>

CookiecutterPepsicola [CP] began chatting with WaterloggedSprinkle [WS]

CP: Hey Aoi. Pay attention. I have some instructions for ya.

WS: Go on.

CP: You need ta be the first server player.

WS: For Sburb?

CP: Yeh. You connect to Makoto, who'll connect to Kyoko, who'll connect to Byakuya, who'll connect to Touko, who'll connect to Yasuhiro, then he to you.

WS: Wait, why are we splitting up?

CP: From what I know, we're still gonna end up in the same session. By doin it like this, it should take a shorter time to get started.

CP: Essentially, I should be the last player in.

WS: I think I may understand. Should I communicate this to Makoto?

CP: I reccomend it. Also, start running your server copy. It takes a while for it to load.

WS: Got it! Thanks, Cookie!

CP: Ey, ain't nothin!

==>

You decide to keep him on in case you need help. After all, were doing this man. Were making this happen.

ACT ONE: WERE DOING THIS

==>

A young troll is travelling in the vast expanses of space. He has finished playing his session quite a while ago, and he was one of few in his session who went god teir...though he had to in order to live through his session, for he was on the brink of death when he entered his land. Assisting him is another troll who went god teir, as well as a consort from his land. The troll himself is the Page of Time, his assistant the Rouge of Life, and the consort so generously named Delegate Hornliza. At once, this troll stops what he's doing, and rushes back to home, or at least what he and many others call home now. The reason? Another session is about to start, and he swore to guard a certain player...

==> Aoi: Communicate with Makoto.

WaterloggedSprinkle [WS] began chatting with HopefulEgg [HE]

WS: Hey Makoto, good news!

HE: what is it?

WS: You get to be the first client player! How cool is that?

HE: pretty cool, i guess. cookiecutter tell you this?

WS: Yep, and I'm your server player!

HE: ah, sweet! do i enter in the disk or...

WS: Yeah, just put it in your computer. It should instantly hook you up to my server program.

==> Makoto: Insert the disk.

You put the disk in. Just like Aoi said, it connects to her server.

==>

HE: i have confirmation we're connnected.

WS: Oh cool, I can see you!

HE: wait what?

WS: You're the shy new guy? I would have never guessed!

HE: ...thanks.

WS: Okay...lets see. We start with a cruxtruder, alchemiter, totem lathe, and punch card designix, as well as some extra captchalouge cards.

WS: You may want to move some stuff out of the way.

HE: why?

==> Aoi: Deploy Cruxtruder.

*BANG*

==>

WS: That answer your question?

HE: i got it. so what's this do?

WS: It apparently deploys an unlimited amount of cruxite dowels according to this instruction pamplet Cookiecutter included. If you can get it opened.

HE: how am i gonna manage that? i'm kinda short...and weak.

WS: Wait, I have an idea!

==> Aoi: Act on your idea.

Using your cursor, you pick up Makoto's bed. He seems to be in protest of this idea, but you continue on nonetheless. After holding it directly over the Cruxtruder, you drop it on top. The bed almost breaks in half, but the Cruxtruder is now open. A small, flashy thing flies out as well.

==>

HE: um, aoi? any idea what that is?

WS: Consulting Cookiecutter's guide...it's a ...kernelsprite. try putting something in it.

==> Makoto: Put something in it.

You look around. There doesn't seem to be much you want to prototype in the Kernelsprite. A ton of stuff from the school shop, but...oh wait. You remember that pinned butterfly you got from a nature museum. Papillio xuthus, or something. You decide to grab the case, remove the lid, and toss the butterfly into the sprite.

*Swift Toss!*

The Kernelsprite and the dead butterfly fuse, creating the Butterflysprite.

==>

HE: okay, what was the significance of that?

WS: You'll see later. For now, get a cruxite dowel from the cruxtruder by operating the crank.

==> Makoto: Operate the crank.

You push the crank with all of your might...just a bit more strength ought to do it...and...nope. Nothing. Nice try, Macookem.

==> Aoi: Pity assist.

You pity assist Makoto. With the magic of the cursor, you push the crank and extract a cruxite dowel.

==>

HE: what's next?

WS: The...totem lathe. Clear some room, Makoto!

HE: alright, alright!

==> Makoto: Clear some room.

You remove some random items from the floor in order to make room for the Totem Lathe.

==>

WS: Whoops...

HE: what now?

WS: The totem lathe isn't going to do much without the punched capchalouge card.

HE: so we need the designix?

WS: Actually, there's a pre-punched card included.

HE: oh good. also...what's this countdown for?

WS: What's it set for?

HE: four hours and thirteen minutes now.

WS: I think we'll be fine. I'm dropping the punched card in now.

==> Makoto: Examine the pre-punched card.

Yep. That card's punched alright.

==>

WS: Now put the cruxite dowel into the lathe and slide the card into the scanner.

==> Makoto: Do what she said.

You do what she said. The Totem Lathe carves the dowel into an intricate totem. These things are appropriately named.

==> *CRASH*

WS: What was that??

HE: i...don't know :(

==> *CRASH*

WS: I think something's happening outside.

HE: should i check?

WS: No. I have to get you into the session so you can connect to Kyoko. I'll probably check it later though.

HE: okay. so i have the dowel carved. what do i do now?

WS: I need to put in the alchemiter. This will read the code on the totem and create an item that you'll need to utilize in order to enter your session.

HE: oh, okay. let me make more space.

==> Makoto: Make more space.

You scoot your bed over to the side of the room, then oush aside some random items. That should be enough.

==> Aoi: Deploy Alchemiter.

You place the Alchemiter in the area Makoto cleared.

==>

WS: Boom! Alchemiter!

HE: so just put the totem on the pedistal and press a few buttons?

WS: That's pretty much it!

==> Makoto: Use the Alchemiter.

It takes a moment, but the device eventually scans the dowel and makes...a flower. You think you know what to do...

==>

You pick up the flower by its pot and turn to face Butterflysprite. It slowly flies toward it, then sticks out it's proboscsis and drinks the nectar. As Butterflysprite drinks, a white light consumes Makoto. As he enters the session, the troll waits for the right time to communicate. After all, one slip up could make the difference.

==> ACT ONE: WITHIN THE MEDIUM

==>

A HALCYON EASTGOER travels upons the vast expanses of dry, deserted land. He doesn't know where he's going, or where he'll end up. All he knows is that he'll be there soon.

==> Makoto: Communicate with Aoi

HE: so...that happened.

WS: I can't believe this! You're literally in the game!

HE: yeah, so is my room...which is miss a couple walls.

WS: I'd be able to build on it if we had more build grist.

HE: build grist?

WS: The stuff you need to build on to your dorm. Looks like you're gonna need a lot.

HE: amazing. just perfect. how do i get grist?

WS: The pamphlet says you need to kill underlings and collect their spoils.

HE: underlings?

WS: Yep. They should be getting near you any moment.

HE: you realize i can't waste my time on this, right? i need to get whoever my client is into the session.

WS: I know. By the way, it's Kyoko.

HE: kyoko? oh...

WS: What?

HE: it's nothing.

WS: Mmhmm.

WS: The more you try to hide, the more obvious you are.

HE: :C

WS: Don't worry, I'll keep it a secret.

HE: what good is that gonna do? i like more than one person anyway.

WS: MAKOTO, BEHIND YOU!

==> Aoi: Squash the imp.

. . . *SQUISH*

"Did you have to use my Midnight Crew comics for that?!"

==> Makoto: Collect spoils.

Looks like you've gone up to six whole build grist. That's going to do absolutely nothing.

==>

WS: Okay, here's an idea. I'll fend off the imps while you connect to Kyoko.

HE: good idea.

WS: Team break!

==>

"E¥. ¥a jus up an' left me. \/\/hat the glub \/\/as that all about?"

"My 4p010g13s! 1 h4d a pr10r 3ng4g3m3n7 th4t c0u1d n0t b3 pu7 0n h01d!"

( My apologies! I had a prior engagement that could not be put on hold!)

"\/\/hat? I'm ¥er motherglubbin' matesprit, I am ¥er prior fingagement."

" Y3s, 1 4m w3ll 4w4r3 0f 0ur m4t3spr17sh1p, 8ut 7h1s c0u1d n0t w41t!"

(Yes, I am well aware of our matespritship, but this could not wait!)

"Bullshrimp."

"W47ch y0ur l4ngu4g3!"

(Watch your language!)

"Shell, if \/\/e \/\/ere still on Alternia, I'd be th' glubbin' emperor by no\/\/."

"Mmhmm, 4nd wh47 w0u1d b3c0m3 0f m3?"

(Mmhmm, and what would become of me?)

"¥a'd be my peasant-blooded matesprit, that's \/\/hat."

"Y0u kn0w 1 d0 n07 3nj0y 7h3 us3 0f 7h47 d3r0g4t0ry 73rm! 83s1d3s, 7h3 3n71r37y 0f 4173rn14 w0u1d r107! 4 fush14-b100d w1th 4 v3rm1111on! 1 c4n h34r 7the pr073s7s fr0m h3r3!"

(You know I do not enjoy the use of that derogatory term! Besides, the entirety of Alternia would riot! A fushia-blood with a vermillion! I can hear the protests from here!)

"The¥ couldn't do a glubbin' thing. ¥er the matesprit, not them."

"Y0u kn0w, H1s 1ns4n17y Crys7411ys4710n k1113d h1s H473m473. "

(You know, His Insanity Crystallization killed his Hatemate)

"His Insanity Crystallization also up and left the glubbin planet and...oh yeah, was a big, cod-suckin tyrant."

"7h47 1s n0 w4y 7o sp34k 0f H1s 1ns4n17y!"

(That is no way to speak of His Insanity!)

" ¥ou shoal about that?"

"...1 4dm17, 7h3y h4d 70 c411 h1m H1s 1ns4n17y f0r 4 r34s0n."

(I admit, they had to call him His Insanity for a reason.)

"Told ya."

"S7i11, 1 h4v3 4 k1sm3s1s b4ck 47 h0m3 7h47 1'v3 b4r31y p41d 4773nt710n 70, 4nd 7h3r3 1s s0me0n3 1 mus7 a773nd 70!"

(Still, I have a kismesis back at home that I've barely paid attention to, and there is someone I must attend to!)

"First of all, glub your kismesis, and second, \/\/e \/\/ere kinda in the middle of-"

"4s much 4s 1'd 11k3 70 dr4g 7h1s 0n, 1 mus7 134v3."

(As much as I'd like to drag this on, I must leave.)

"But-"

"W47ch 4f73r H0rn11z4 wh113 1'm 4w4y!"

(Watch after Hornliza while I'm away!)

"..."

".....fine...."

==> Makoto: Communicate with Kyoko

HopefulEgg [HE] began chatting with MysteriousRamen [MR]

HE: do you have your copies of the game ready?

MR: Yes. Yes I do.

HE: get ready for some intense instructions. when they you're going into the session, you're going into the session.

MR: Of course I will.

HE: alright, don't say i didn't warn you...

ACT ONE: SECOND PLAYER

==> Makoto: Run your server application.

==> Kyoko: Run your client application.

==>

HopefulEgg [HE] began chatting with MysteriousRamen [MR]

HE: alright, we should be connected now.

MR: Yes, I see the confirmation on the computer. What happens now?

HE: i have to put in some fancy techological junk into your room. by the way, i can see you

MR: ....

HE: anyway, you might want to clear some room, this stuff is pretty big

MR: Noted. You never told me who you were.

MR: By the way.

HE: oh yeah. um. later.

MR: Why am I not surprised?

HE: well, thats not important! what needs to happen now is that you successfully get into the session. right now, im going to put in this cruxtuder thing. when you open it, a kernelsprite will come out. it seems to like dead things, so put something dead in it.

MR: Will the bones of a desceased family member work?

MR: That being the example.

MR: I don't have any dead family member's bones...

HE: ...

HE: im just gonna put in these gizmos now...

==>

Meanwhile, years in the future, but not many, a Mindful Refuge finds herself roaming the expanses of a dry and sandy desert...

==>

In the same time, but different location, the Halcyon Eastgoer seems to have found some sort of shuttle. He messes around with it for a bit before finding a way to open the door. Curious, he wanders inside, only for the door to slam shut behind him. It seems that he will be stuck there for a while...

==> Page of Time: Is it time yet?

Oh, no no no. It's nowhere near time now! He hasn't even stepped foot on his land yet; how could it possibly be time yet? Besides, there's a specific system to this yet to happen chain of conversations...at least yet to happen for him. Man, you love these time shenanigans. Anyway, you decided that this would work like a clock; clockwise for him, counterclockwise for you. It's simple really; (12=1)(11=2)(10=3)(9=4)(8=5)(7=6)(6=7)(5=8)(4=9)(3=10)(2=11)(1=12). You're really looking forward to the 7=6 meetup. This meet, you two will talk in real life! At least, the one of you still on his timeline. Once again, thank you time shenanigans.

==> Rouge of Life: How's it hangin?

"Go glub ¥ourself."

Wow, rude.

==> Makoto and Kyoko: Any Progress?

Actually, yes. All Cruxtruder, Totem Lathe, and Alchemiter have been deployed, and the kernelsprite has been prototyped with a bee that had flown into it accidentally.

==> Kyoko: Add in a secret sauce.

What sauce? All you have is this box that may or may not have the bones of your father, the headmaster, who may or may not be dead.

==>

Swift toss!

==>

Beesprite is now Jinsprite.

==>

Makoto is now thouroughly weirded out.

==>

HE: uh...

MR: What?

HE: just...use the totem...

MR: You're judging me.

HE: yep

MR: At least you were honest.

==> Kyoko: Alchemize.

The carved totem creates...a box, with the word evidence engraved on the side. You've seen enough detective movies to know what to do with this.

==>

With a bit of effort, Kyoko lifts the box and carries it to her window. Staring outside, she notices that the weather has changed, and that there are a few craters in the distance. She decides to use this to her advantage, and toddes the box out of the window. Something comes outbof the sky and destroys it, maybe a meteor, but she does not see this happen, for as soon as the item was hot, she was transported into the session.

ACT ONE: Land of Snowstorms and Thought

==> Kyoko: Where are you?

She doesn't exactly know. Some of the walls on her room have vanished, and she is now quite cold. In the distance, she sees a whirl of flurries dance their way to the ground, and a group of shivering reptiles. One thing for sure; she isn't at Hope's Peak anymore.

==> Kyoko: Get in touch with the Egg.

MR: I'm cold.

HE: looks like you are.

MR: Is your place anything like this?

HE: nope. actually, it's called a medium. i think you may be on a specific land though.

MR: Interesting...perhaps you have yet to make it to your land?

HE: most likely. sprinkle's working on that though.

MR: Do you at least have walls?

HE: she's still on that. right now she's kinda protecting me from imps and stuff though so...

MR: Imps?

HE: oh yeah, stuff's going to try to attack you.

MR: Aren't I someone's server player?

HE: WL.

MR: That douche? Also, you could use names.

HE: i know, i'm just annoying you.

MR: Quite hilarious.

HE: :)

MR: It was a joke.

HE: :(

MR: So, what's your plan? Help WS get you to your land or keep back imps while I get WL in?

HE: which do you prefer?

MR: Honestly, I can hold my own. Though I am cold.

HE: are you sure?

MR: Yes. Help WS. I'll get WL in.

HE: alright, but keep me on standby.

MR: Will do.

==> Kyoko: Talk to Jinsprite.

Kyoko: So...how's being a ghost thing?

Jinsprite: I admit, not the first time I thought about thiszz.

Kyoko: Also, the bee thing..?

Jinsprite: Eh, it doeszzn't bother me. Though...how did you have my remainszz on hand?

Kyoko: The police let me keep them. I know, so irresponsible.

Jinsprite: I mean, I szzuppose it was foolish of me to partake in a volunteer zzspace expedition.

Kyoko: Without telling me.

Jinsprite: Yeah...at least I know szzome szztuff about this game.

Kyoko: Oh really? Like?

Jinsprite: Your land izzs called the Land of Szznowstormzzs and Thought.

Kyoko: Hmm...anything important about that name?

Jinsprite: Don't you have szzomething to do?

Kyoko: Ah, if there was anything I missed, it was your ability to hold a secret.

==> Kyoko: Chat with the Wealthy.

MysteriousRamen [MR] began chatting with WealthyLiterary [WL]

MR: Put in your disks.

WL: Time already?

MR: Oh yeah. Hurry up, I'm freezing here.

WL: What?

MR: You'll find out why later.

WL: Fine. I'm running them now. What else do I need to do?

MR: Clear some space in your room.

WL: What did Cookiecutter do now?

MR: I can certainly say it's something.

WL: Okay, my room has some cleared spaces.

MR: I see. Ah, so you are Byakuya.

WL: You can see me?

MR: Yes, just like Egg saw me, and Sprinkle saw Egg.

WL: Wait, I'm not the first one in the game?

MR: Nope. That was Egg.

WL: I'm slightly offended.

MR: When are you not? Whatever, we need to get started.

==> Makoto: How's the imp slaying?

This was the first time he used his specibus...and surprisingly, it's going well. At least imps are dying quicker, and grist can be collected quicker. Though, there's something about these...

==>

HE: hey, have you ever noticed these guys looking a bit odd?

WS: Uh, yeah. I checked Cookie's pamphlet. You know that stuff you put inside your sprite? I think everyone's affect what the imps look like.

HE: that's why they look like late principal kirigiri.

WS: Mixed with a butterfly and a bee. Seems like after entry prototypes don't affect them though. Is that a picture of your sister?

HE: yeah, why?

WS: Prototype Butterflysprite with it.

HE: uh, okay.

==>

*Swift Toss*

==>

Butterflysprite is now Komarusprite.

"Uh..."

"Hey bro!"

==> Makoto: Talk to Komarusprite.

Makoto: Could you help me with these imps?

Komarusprite: Sure.

Makoto: Also, is this really you or..?

Komarusprite: It's actually me! Mixed with a butterfly.

Makoto: But what about Earth?

Komarusprite: Actually...I kinda died...

Makoto: Huh?!

Komarusprite: These meteors were barreling down on us at home and while mom and dad got out I didn't...

Makoto: You say that like that's normal...

Komarusprite: I didn't feel anything when it happened. It just did. And now I'm here with you, as a ghosty thing!

Makoto: I guess that's a plus, but what about mom and dad?

Komarusprite: Well, um...huh.

Makoto: ...

Komarusprite: ...

Makoto: Let's just.. fight these guys.

Komarusprite: Yeah...

==> Page?

Everything's going delightfully to plan! It shouldn't be long now...

==> Kyoko and Byakuya?

WL: I'm sorry, what?

MR: Take Shinobu's ashes and put them in the Cricketsprite.

WL: You think I'm going to desecrate my half sister by tossing her ashes into some bug/sprite abomination?

MR: ',:)

WL: You disturb me.

MR: Wasn't she your secretary anyway?

WL: Does it make a difference?

MR: No.

WL: ...

==>

*Swift Toss*

==> Byakuya: Talk to Shinobusprite.

Shinobusprite: Why me?

Byakuya: I respected you enough to keep your urn.

Shinobusprite: When I was told I would get another chance at life by some offbeat clairvoyant, this wasn't what I was thinking.

Byakuya: I missed you as well...

Shinobusprite: *chirp chirp*

Shinobusprite: Fused me with a cricket, huh?

Byakuya: It jumped in...

==>

MR: Fun, yes?

WL: She's resentful.

MR: You're surprised by this?

WL: Just give me my next instruction now.

MR: Use the carved totem with the Alchemiter.

==>

Shinobusprite: Already done...

==>

WL: Alright...a stack of cash? What am I going to do with that?

MR: You know. ;)

==> Byakuya: Make it rain.

You make it rain as a meteor crashes in the distance. Looks like it crashed into the Conclomerate. This is the least of your concerns, however, as a white light engulfs your room...

==> Years in the future, but not many...

A WISE LONER comes across a destroyed building. He looks around. No one is near him. Not even close. Suddenly, something begins to rise from the ground in the near distance. Curious, he gravitates toward it. Perhaps, there will be someone there, waiting for him...

ACT ONE: Land of Heatwaves and Fortune

==>Byakuya: How's the weather?

HOT. So hot that you feel the need to remove some of your clothes. But you don't because that's aginst your protocol. Seriously though, why the heck is it so hot out here?!

==>

You look out across the land you ended up in. You see towers of gold and silver, and even some of crystals. Across this sweltering place, you notice some sort of reptillian creatures seemingly unphased by the heat. Shinobusprite also looks unphased. Are you the only one roasting here?!

==> Byakuya: Consult Shinobusprite.

Byakuya: Well, any idea of where we are?

Shinobusprite: We are in your medium, more specifically, the Land of Heatwaves and Fortune.

Byakuya: I understand the heatwave part, but fortune?

Shinobusprite: That, too, will play a role in your session. I can't tell you yet, though.

Byakuya: You don't habe to act like a secretary anymore, Shinobu.

Shinobusprite: It's Shinobusprite now, Byakuya.

Shinobusprite: *chirp chirp*

Byakuya: Fine...who are they?

Shinobusprite: Those reptiles are desert tortises, and they will be your consorts, your loving helpers.

Byakuya: What does that make you?

Shinobusprite: As your sprite, I am your guide. Nowhere did it say I had to be loving.

Byakuya: ...

==> Byakuya: Let Ramen know their mistake.

WL: Let's see. My sprite hates me, and my land is as hot as Hell. What is this game again?

MR: SBURB. Wow, at least I could wrap myself in a blanket.

WL: Aside from my land, and my obvious issues with my sprite, what the heck am I supposed to do?

MR: You need to get the next player in. I'm sure Sprinkle or Cookiecutter know who it'll be.

WL: Why don't you find out?

MR: Yeah, okay.

==> Kyoko: Find out.

MysteriousRamen [MR] began chatting with WaterloggedSprinkle [WL]

MR: You're Egg's server, yes?

WS: Yep!

MR: Did Cookiecutter tell you the order we enter in?

WS: Yes! First was Makoto, then you, then Byakuya, then Touko, then Yasuhiro, then me.

MR: Hold on. That's just our class, or some of our class. What about the other class? Surely he's playing with them.

WS: Well, duh, but they won't start until we're all in.

MR: Ah, so once you're in whatever land you have, you'll tell him?

WS: That's the plan. Although...I am worried they may not make it in time.

MR: What's going on at Earth?

WS: Meteors are crashing all around. I'm surprised the internet hasn't been knocked out.

MR: Oh my. Stay safe, Aoi.

WS: You got it!

MysteriousRamen [MR] ceased chatting with WaterloggedSprinkle [WS]

==> Kyoko: Give Byakuya that sweet info.

MR: Guess what?

WL: Just tell me.

MR: You bring in Touko.

WL: PsychoticLovestruck?!

MR: I think that's her.

WL: As if my session couldn't get any worse...

WealthyLiterary [WL] ceased chatting with MysteriousRamen [MR]

==> Meanwhile...

The Mindful Refuge notices someone in the distance...but is he friend...or foe?

==> Byakuya: Let's get this over with.

WealthyLiterary [WL] began chatting with PsychoticLovestruck [PL]

WL: Who is it this time?

PL: You know who ♡□♡

WL: You know what? No. I'm not doing this with you.

PL: Oh, come on, ya know I'm more fun than she is ',8)

WL: I'm blocking.

PL: Ugh. You're soooo playing hard to get U♡Ó

WL: What even is that?!

PL: A winky face U3Ó

WL: Get her now.

PL: Fine...ÒnÓ

==> Touko: Where are you?

You're in your cool pajamas right now. It's a nice tradeoff. When...she...is out, you are here, and of course, the other way around. It's nice, being in this dream world. You dispose of your cares here. You fly without chains. Sometimes, you wonder what she does when she's here. Other times, you try to wake your friends. They're there too, but they're always asleep. You leave notes and letters every time you visit them, though. At least let them know you were there.

==>

She's trying to wake you up, but you don't want to go. Not yet...

==>

Seriously, stop. You aren't going back.

==>

PL: Okay, slight little problem.

WL: What...

PL: She's refusing to come to. Probably off on dream world again.

WL: Dream world? Now I've heard everything.

PL: I'm serious! It's like purple and dark, and there are people there, but they're like...covered in some black shell thing.

WL: A carapace?

PL: Yeah, we'll call it that. There's a golden one too. I've seen both. There's also these towers with everyone else in them, though I'm not sure why they won't wake up. It's like...you have to be conscious enough to wake up here...

WL: Alright, fine. I'll get you into the game then, and I guess I'll fill her in later.

PL: Yesss

WL: On one conditon.

WL: No flirting. At all.

PL: Hmmm.....

PL: Can I write them on a piece of paper?

WL: As long as you don't tell me.

PL: Deal! Now, tell me what to do.

==> Mindful Refuge: Inspect the loner.

It looks like he's heading toward the building rising out of the ground. You squint your eyes to see him better. It looks like he doesn't notice you at all. You aren't sure whether or not that's good. After all, you're seeking to find a place of your own. Slowly, you back away. As you do, your foot touches a hard surface, not at all like the sand you feel. You dust away the remaiming grains of sand to see some sort of symbol. Surprised, you jump up. This requires some investigation.

==>

As this happens, you fail to notice the PEASANT LIGHTHEARTED wandering in the distance...

==>

WL: I'll repeat this one more time. You can put whatever you want into the kernelsprite.

PL: Anything?

WL: Anything.

PL: In that case...

==>

You open your drawer to find your not-so-secret stash of model magazines. Cosmopolitan...Vogue...ah, Playboy! Slowly, you tear out a poster of a rather risque woman and toss it into the sprite, which becomes a...Modelsprite.

==>

SQUISH

==>

Huh? Kameko?! You should have seen this coming. She was always a sneaky one. Luckily, you were going to need her anyway.

==>

*Sprite Ex-Machina!*

This was used several times already.

==>

Modelsprite is now Kamekosprite.

==>

WL: I'm almost surprised you didn't prototype a photo of me.

PL: What?! I'm not THAT obsessive!

WL: Yet you put your stinkbug with a model...

PL: She wanted to be pretty. Did ya think I sat around and looked at that smut?

WL: You didn't?

PL: No, I do.

WL: Disgusting.

PL: You asked! Now what's next?

WL: Get one of those dowels of cruxite and carve it with the totem lathe.

==>

Kamekosprite: Ooh, what are you doing, Syo?

Syo: Trying to start some game.

Kamekosprite: Is that why you mixed me with the pretty lady?

Syo: Well yeah. You're joining the ride, too.

Kamekosprite: Aw, thank you...though did you have to do the one from Playboy?

Syo: It was the only one with a poster that didn't have an ad for cologne on the back.

Kamekosprite: But...I smell bad...

Syo: Nonsense, you smell amazing.

Kamekosprite: *w*

==>

WL: How nice. You and your sprite get along.

PL: Wait, can you see me?!

WL: I thought you knew.

PL: Damn, if I did, I...

PL: won't say what I'd do.

==>

*Noice Save!*

==>

WL: Totem?

PL: Lathed.

PL: What's up with your sprite?

WL: Let's just say Shinobu didn't like being my secretary as much as I thought.

PL: Eh, she'll come to realize that you love her, too.

WL: She's also part cricket, so...

PL: Like Kameko is half model?

WL: Correct.

WL: Syo.

PL: Yes?

WL: ...

WL: Put the totem on the Alchemiter. It'll make the item you need to enter your land.

PL: Okie.

==>

Kamekosprite: Allow me.

==>

PL: Seriously? A book? I read enough of those to get my stuff out of the fetch modus.

WL: Well, what would Genocider Syo do to the book?

PL: Ahh...

==> Syo: Do what you'd do to the book.

You get your scissors from your strife specibus and go to work cutting up the book. You feel Touko cringing within you as you desecrate the piece of literature, but personally, you couldn't care less...that is, until an unprompted sneeze switches you two. Gosh darn it, why doesn't she tell you this beforehand? Why couldn't she do the sneeze earlier? Still, she takes over as your room is covered in white...

#danganronpa #super dangan ronpa 2 #danganronpa fanfiction #homestuck #homestuck universe #makoto naegi #kyoko kirigiri #byakuya togami #touko fukawa #yasuhiro hagakure #aoi asahina #more tags

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rdmfavcpls · 7 years

Text

My Secret - Chapter 3 - Chase

Title: My Secret

Pairing: Ami/Arata

Rating: T

Summary: Have you ever felt safe and protected when you are with someone you love? Do you have that one item that has their scent on it and you just hold that tight around you for any reason? I do, but that person must never know I love them because they are in a happy relationship, this is my secret. (They don’t know the relationship is on the verge of falling apart.)

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Digimon or its franchise.

Chapter 1 - http://rdmfavcpls.tumblr.com/post/165463976832/my-secret-chapter-1

Chapter 2 - http://rdmfavcpls.tumblr.com/post/165664831462/my-secrect-chapter-2-reunion

~~Story Begins~~

Chapter 3 - Chase

Arata scrunched his nose up as something soft touched his nose. He heard giggles trying to be quiet, but he knew who it was. “What do you want, Nokia?”

“No fun!” Nokia whined as Arata opened one eye to look at her. “You was supposed to snap awake and freak out.”

“Nice try,” Arata spoke. “How did you get in?”

“Ami gave me her key. About time you broke up with Emi,” Nokia commented as Arata sat up.

“How did-”

“Besides the fact that Ami let you stay in her apartment? Emi called looking for you. Once I heard that, I ran over here to tell Ami, and she already knew. Emi is furious with you.”

“Don’t care. I told her it was over explained as to why it was over.”

“She’s more mad because you deactivated your Faceyear page so she was already single before you broke up with her,” Nokia spoke. Arata just looked at her, uncaring. “You know, it’s not official unless it is on Faceyear.”

“I mostly left Faceyear so her ex would quit bothering me. He can have her again, if he so chooses,” Arata said shaking his head.

“So, when are you going to ask Ami out?”

“Excuse me?”

Nokia crossed her arms, “Do I need to speak slowly? When are you going to ask Ami out?”

“Keep your voice down, idiot,” Arata hissed. “You do realize if I ask her now, she’ll think I’m using her to get back at Emi?”

“It was just a question,” Nokia said with a huff. “It didn’t have to be right now.”

The door opened and the Kamishiro twins entered the apartment with two boxes. “Where’s Ami?” Yuuko wondered as she slid her shoes off, Yuugo doing the same.

“At work, she said she’ll be done shortly,” Nokia answered.

“So, is it true?” Yuuko asked as she sat her box down. “That you broke up with Emi and temporarily moving in with Ami?”

“Yes,” Arata answered warily. “Who told you?”

“Kyoko,” Yuugo responded sitting his own box down. “Heck, Kyoko has even talked to the ones who manage the apartments here and added you onto Ami’s lease. Ami did try to talk Kyoko out of it, but she wouldn’t listen.”

“It isn’t like it matters,” his sister spoke next. “In three months, Ami’s lease is up and she’s moving into another apartment here. So when are you going to be asking Ami out?”

“None of you,” Arata growled out each word slowly, “are going to hear about any crushes that I have, ever again.” He took a deep breath. “It won’t be for a while, I don’t think she even likes me like that.”

“You are wrong,” Yuuko spoke. “Maybe she got tired of chasing and is waiting to be chased?”

Nokia and Arata just looked at her, “What are you talking about?”

Her brother answered her question, “I doubt it. I have watched her when I was the main Eater. Ami isn’t someone who is going to sit by and wait. She’ll be productive some way, it might not be towards the goal that she wants, but she’ll be productive.”

“Huh?” Nokia asked confused. “What?”

Yuuko thought about it, “I think you are right. Especially since Nokia and I had to take care of Ami once before when she got sick.”

“We did?” Nokia questioned.

“When Arata foolishly decided to become an Eater,” Yuuko explained. “Ami didn’t just wait around until Arata came back. She worked herself to death if Alphamon didn’t step up and told her to stop.”

Arata could see the lightbulb going off in Nokia’s head, “Oh, yeah!” Nokia said remembering. “Mirel allowed us into the Digi-Lab and onto Ami’s Digi-farms, just so we could take care her properly - with her being data and all that.”

“Digi-lab? Do you know what, nevermind. Why was she working so hard?” Arata asked.

“She was trying to find a lead to your whereabouts,” Yuuko said. “Do you honestly think she wanted to punch you?”

“Enough gloomy talk!” Nokia said. “You should open the boxes and praise us with grace!”

“Who is getting praise?” Ami asked coming into her own apartment.

“Ami!” Nokia yelled and hugged the former cyber sleuth, rubbing her face against Ami’s cheek. “I was so worried about you last night since I never recieved a message stating you was home.”

Arata raised an eyebrow but the Kamishiro siblings rolled their eyes.

“Did you check your digivice by chance?” Ami wondered.

“Yes!” Nokia said going to check her digivice. “Wait, I have a Digi-line.”

As Nokia checked her message from Ami, Yuuko spoke, “Why don’t we all hang out? It’s been a whille since the five of us hung out together.”

“As much as I would love too, I’m going to pass,” Ami answered right before she sneezed into her shirt. “I only got twenty minutes of sleep in me so I plan on taking a nap.”

“You sound like you are a catching a cold,” Yuugo spoke thoughtfully.

“Haha, I’ll be fine,” Ami said with a smile.

“I can’t either today,” Arata spoke. “I need to get my overnight bag from a friend’s house,” Arata commented.

“The three of us can make plans for the five of us to hang out all day sometime than,” Yuugo said.

“Nokia, I swear if you come into my room while I’m sleeping and try to wake me up, the next time Jimi Ken owes me some favors, I will not use them to get you tickets to his show,” Ami threatened as she went to her room, closing the door.

Nokia frowned, “No fair!”

“You was walking on thin ice,” Yuuko said. “Besides, what do you see in his song?”

“How many times must we have this conversation?” Nokia asked.

“Yeah, well, this time we are discussing it over ice cream!” Yuuko said dragging Nokia away leaving the two men there smiling at their antics.

“You should open the boxes,” Yuugo prompted once the girls left.

“Why? What’s in there?” Arata questioned.

“You’ll find out once you open it,” Yuugo said.

Arata opened the box and stared, his eyes going wide. Yuugo liked Ami’s expression and reaction more of being surprised.

“How?”

“When you had us help you pack so you could move in with Emi. We could tell you didn’t want to let go of 85% of the things you said to donate. The figurines are underneath your clothing and the other box is your books.”

Arata looked through the clothing before frowning. “Did you donate my white jacket?”

“We gave it away, yes,” Yuugo responded smoothly while also sending a mental apologize to Ami. “My sister believed one of her friends needed it.”

“I see. Well, as long as it went to a good home than,” Arata said with a sigh.

Yuugo made a mental note to tell the others to change their wallpaper picture on their digivice so Arata wouldn’t see what friend has the missing white jacket. Ami doesn’t even know that the picture Nokia took was sent to his sister and himself.

It was later in the day when Arata came back to Ami’s apartment after getting his overnight bag. When he entered the apartment, he instantly dropped the bag so he could take off of his coat, the rain was still coming down like it was early this morning.

“Ami?” he called out not seeing the red hair friend anywhere.

“Kitchen,” she responded blankly.

Arata walked into the kitchen and saw Ami sitting on the counter, a black mug held tightly in her hands even through they were shaking, steam was rising out of the mug. Her blue eyes were glazed over but she moved her eyes to look at him.

“You okay?” he asked walking closer to her.

“I made hot chocolate,” Ami said moving her head to look at the kettle on the stove.

Arata stood in front of her now. “That isn’t what I asked you,” he said causing her to look at him.

“I’m not going to bother you with my demons,” Ami said looking down at her hot chocolate. “Not when you need someone to lean on.”

Arata narrowed his eyes at her, “Ami, I know I can always lean on you, no matter how small my problem is.” Ami blankly watched as he removed her mug from her hands and sitting it off to the side. “Don’t make me tickle you.”

Ami looked up in surprise and stared at him, her eyes focusing on her situation. She was trapped on the counter, no where to escape with him standing in front of her.

He smirked and lightly tapped his chin in mock thought, “You know, I think I will tickle you anyway.”

Ami got down from the counter and tried to get away but Arata was quicker. He grabbed her sides and started moving his fingers against her sides, moving in between the bones of her ribcage, a senstive area on her.

She tried to escape as she laughed from being tickled, struggling against Arata’s grip but every time she got so close to escaping, he pulled her back in. Arata smiled as her laughter filled the walls of the apartment. Her laugh was very much like her personality, it always seemed to brighten up the atmosphere, the mood of those around her, and always made the day seem better. Even now, Arata didn’t think that the dreary, rainy weather was all that bad now.

Than again, any time he hung out with Ami on days like today, it never seemed like it was a dreary, rainy day. That was just how she was even with all of the horrors that she’s seen, she was so bright and warm.

“Uncle! Uncle! Mercy! Mercy!” Ami cried out as she laughed. Arata stopped tickling her but never let her go. “I’ll tell you, as much as I don’t want too, but I’ll tell you.”

Arata did let her go now and she quickly scampered away from him, trying to catch her breath. He waited patiently as she took her time to compose herself. He knew it wasn’t that serious since she wasn’t trying to kick him out.

“Just for that,” Ami said, “you’re helping me clean out the guest bedroom.”

Arata blinked and followed Ami to the guest bedroom. He shook his head upon seeing the room having most of his stuff already laid out the way he would have it. “What do you need my help with? You even decorated it for me to fit my taste.”

“Closet,” Ami said. “Remember, you are taller than me. You can reach stuff on higher shelves than me.”

Arata shook his head again and went to the closet, “How did you even get the stuff up there?”

“Step-stool. Just hand me the boxes and I’ll set them down before I start moving them to my bedroom,” Ami instructered.

Arata did as he was told with a sigh. It wasn’t until three boxes were left when Ami spoke. “My last case I worked, the trial ended today.” Arata looked at Ami. “This lady was so mad that her twins were taken away by the government. So, she started kidnapping children around the same age as her twins, torturing them, breaking their mentality and spirit, before killing them. She had EVERYTHING planned out, Arata. Everything. She did so much research on the children, who their grandparents are, what they did, their parents, their dreams, their hobbies, their friends, and even did research on their friends family. Than when she had them, she planned out what to say to them, what their reactions would be, how they will break.”

“A little girl keeps haunting me now, it’s been two months since I worked on a case, two weeks ago, is when the trial started for all the children that have been killed. More children haunted me before, when the case was fresh into mind, but the girl, she hasn’t left me yet. I doubt she’ll ever leave me. She’s the reason Kyoko moved me to be her personal assassitant and social media assassitant, I couldn’t live with what I did to her.”

Arata watched as she broke down, dropping to her knees, her hands covering her face as she cried. He instantly went to her and went down on his knees, pulling her close to him. He couldn’t stand her breaking down like this, but he knows better than anyone that she needs to do this. However, he’s never seen her this weak, she usually fights when he tries to comfort her, doesn’t want to ruin his clothes she’ll say. This time, she grabbed his shirt and clung to it like it was the only thing keeping her alive.

“I watched her die Arata,” Ami said sobbing. “The lady, she had the girl hanging in the closet. Kyoko and I got there in time and I found the girl in the closet. I put her on my shoulders and stood on my tiptoes, trying to get as tall as I could to loosen the pressure on her neck. I couldn’t keep the pressure on my toes anymore, I tried to hold out until help could come. I couldn’t. I went to rest on the flat of my feets, I was going to grab the stool nearby, but it was too late. When I looked up at her to tell her, her eyes were dull, lifeless, empty. I killed her Arata! It’s my fault that she’s-”

“NO!” Arata snapped pressing Ami as tight as he could against him, suffocating her until she moved her head to rest against his shoulder. “You didn’t kill her and it sure isn’t your fault!”

Ami blinked in surprised, any sobs wanting to escape her throat was blocked. He’s never interrupted her when she was telling him about what is haunting her.

“None of this is your fault! You did everything you could to try and save her,” Arata said. “You put too much pressure on yourself, you think if you worked faster, if you worked harder, that you would have saved more lives, but Ami, you never give something just 110%. You give it 300% everytime.”

Ami relaxed a little at Arata’s words, her eyes looked at him. She looked forward and saw the little girl there again, a smile on her face. Arata started to talk again and the little girl was slowly disappearing into tiny dots before fading away.

“Ami, if you could, you wouldn’t think twice about giving up your life if it could bring someone back,” Arata said gently. “You don’t realize how much that scares all of us.”

“Two weeks ago, I could have used you,” Ami said in a whisper. “I had to testify in court against the lady and relive the experience. The parents, they were giving me that look, that look that made me think I could have done a better job.” She felt Arata tighten his hug on her. “Thank you, I’m sorry I can’t be the friend you need me to be right now.”

“Ami, honestly, I’ve been wanting to break up with Emi for a while, but felt like I didn’t have a good reason too. So, when Yuugo told me about what Emi said to you,” Arata said. “If anything, I should be the one sorry for not being the friend you needed me to be when you needed me.”

“You had a reason,” Ami said pulling away and smiling. “Glad I could be of service to you.”

“Now, what do you even have in these boxes?” Arata asked.

“My mom’s old manuscripts. Why she instists on keeping them, I don’t know,” Ami said. “She says they will help me sleep at night and so far they have been, expect they are a mindless sleep because they are just so boring to read!”

Arata chuckled and let go of Ami. He was glad the bright Ami was back, and he hopes that now that the other Ami won’t show up for a while, if it shows up again. He is also going to make sure that if Ami ever needs someone to lean on again, someone to help her through her nightmares and demons, it’s going to be him, so she won’t be alone.

#Digimon #Digimon Story #Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth #Ami Aiba #Arata Sanada #nokia shiramine #Yuuko Kamishiro #yuugo kamishiro #Ami x Arata

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