DarkKing98
Certified Village Idiot
- Location
- USA
So guys, do you think we should use a pseudonym for publishing? Or just let one of our older friends take public credit?
Shattered Justice (A Persona Quest)
- Thread starter SeekerofDreams
- Start date
- Location
- The Internet
I would prefer a pseudonym.
SeekerofDreams
Aspiring Farmer
- Location
- Selphia
Inserted tally
SeekerofDreams
Aspiring Farmer
- Location
- Selphia
Well, that's one important thing decided.
Now, back to the things that are currently happening.
-Vote Closed!-
Now, back to the things that are currently happening.
Hard Questions
SeekerofDreams
Aspiring Farmer
- Location
- Selphia
"I thought you said we weren't a daycare center," Is what Shinjiro-san says when Mitsuru-san tells everyone that Akira will be more or less spending the remainder of break at the dorms.
"Yes, well, that was several months ago." Mitsuru-san doesn't sound even vaguely apologetic. "And if there's no school, odds are at least one of us will be here at all times."
"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure it's gonna be me." You can't bring yourself to disagree with his assessment. "What are you planning to tell Ikutsuki, anyway?"
"The chairman has already been here this month, and if we're lucky, I can hold him off from coming back until school has started again." You have no idea how she plans on doing that, and you think it might be best not to ask. You wouldn't want to be implicated by knowing, after all. "Does anyone have any other questions or witty remarks?"
"Are you sure it's okay for me to be here?" Akira asks. One of these days, you need to fill him in on the mutual vaguely-antagonistic relationship this group shares with its so-called adviser. Some parts of it he might even find funny. Like the bit where Ikutsuki-san still hasn't noticed that you have a cat.
"He already knows we have a little kid and a dog," Takeba-san points out. "And we'd probably get in less trouble for having you than for having Morgana."
"Hey! Why's that!?" The cat complains, but nobody can really respond to him without looking at least a bit crazy. Still, you're pretty sure the answer is 'allergies'. Except you'd probably have noticed if anyone you knew was allergic.
"He... doesn't know about Morgana?" And you get the confusion, especially when Koromaru goes around openly. Takeba-san even got him a shirt with little wings attached to it.
Not that you can imagine ever managing to get such a thing onto Morgana, but it's fun to imagine. "We don't know if he's a cat person or not," You say, which is true, if not the reason Morgana is in hiding. But you don't think Akira would expect you to know the truth when you're so much younger than everyone else, so it works out well enough.
"Is there anything else?" Mitsuru-san seems to be getting a bit impatient with this whole thing. But nobody really has anything else to say about the new arrangements other than a general agreement to give your guest priority when it comes to deciding what to watch on TV.
As much as it matters. Akira doesn't even like TV. But it gives you the opportunity to convert him to the cause of Phoenix Ranger Featherman R, which is arguably the most important job you'll have all spring.
Still, aside from the current arrangement, you actually do have something to ask Mitsuru-san. You'll do it later, once everything's settled down a bit.
"You... had something you wanted to ask me?" She's not reading your mind right now. Her gaze could be redder than it already is, as hard as it is to believe when you'd never seen a more piercing crimson before the day you first met her eyes. She even sounds genuinely curious, the air the same temperature that it was before the two of you entered this room.
There's nothing for you to be scared of. So why are you so nervous?
"Well... I... Do you remember that story I was writing?" She nods, silently, that piercing gaze drifting over to the notebook you hold, like she can make it tell her its secrets. It wouldn't surprise you if she actually could. "I finished it. Sort of. And I was wondering if you could help me with..." No, too expecting. "If you knew how to..." No, that's not quite right, either...
"You wish to publish this?" Mitsuru-san asks, mercifully, and you nod as quickly as you can. "Might I ask why?"
[ ] Because your friends say you should write a book.
[ ] Because you want people to know about Personas, if not the Dark Hour. (+Expression)
[ ] Because you're sure people in Mikage-Cho could use fiction relevant to their lives. (+Empathy)
[ ] Because it'd let you be sure your hard work got somewhere.
[ ] That's... personal.
"Yes, well, that was several months ago." Mitsuru-san doesn't sound even vaguely apologetic. "And if there's no school, odds are at least one of us will be here at all times."
"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure it's gonna be me." You can't bring yourself to disagree with his assessment. "What are you planning to tell Ikutsuki, anyway?"
"The chairman has already been here this month, and if we're lucky, I can hold him off from coming back until school has started again." You have no idea how she plans on doing that, and you think it might be best not to ask. You wouldn't want to be implicated by knowing, after all. "Does anyone have any other questions or witty remarks?"
"Are you sure it's okay for me to be here?" Akira asks. One of these days, you need to fill him in on the mutual vaguely-antagonistic relationship this group shares with its so-called adviser. Some parts of it he might even find funny. Like the bit where Ikutsuki-san still hasn't noticed that you have a cat.
"He already knows we have a little kid and a dog," Takeba-san points out. "And we'd probably get in less trouble for having you than for having Morgana."
"Hey! Why's that!?" The cat complains, but nobody can really respond to him without looking at least a bit crazy. Still, you're pretty sure the answer is 'allergies'. Except you'd probably have noticed if anyone you knew was allergic.
"He... doesn't know about Morgana?" And you get the confusion, especially when Koromaru goes around openly. Takeba-san even got him a shirt with little wings attached to it.
Not that you can imagine ever managing to get such a thing onto Morgana, but it's fun to imagine. "We don't know if he's a cat person or not," You say, which is true, if not the reason Morgana is in hiding. But you don't think Akira would expect you to know the truth when you're so much younger than everyone else, so it works out well enough.
"Is there anything else?" Mitsuru-san seems to be getting a bit impatient with this whole thing. But nobody really has anything else to say about the new arrangements other than a general agreement to give your guest priority when it comes to deciding what to watch on TV.
As much as it matters. Akira doesn't even like TV. But it gives you the opportunity to convert him to the cause of Phoenix Ranger Featherman R, which is arguably the most important job you'll have all spring.
Still, aside from the current arrangement, you actually do have something to ask Mitsuru-san. You'll do it later, once everything's settled down a bit.
"You... had something you wanted to ask me?" She's not reading your mind right now. Her gaze could be redder than it already is, as hard as it is to believe when you'd never seen a more piercing crimson before the day you first met her eyes. She even sounds genuinely curious, the air the same temperature that it was before the two of you entered this room.
There's nothing for you to be scared of. So why are you so nervous?
"Well... I... Do you remember that story I was writing?" She nods, silently, that piercing gaze drifting over to the notebook you hold, like she can make it tell her its secrets. It wouldn't surprise you if she actually could. "I finished it. Sort of. And I was wondering if you could help me with..." No, too expecting. "If you knew how to..." No, that's not quite right, either...
"You wish to publish this?" Mitsuru-san asks, mercifully, and you nod as quickly as you can. "Might I ask why?"
[ ] Because your friends say you should write a book.
[ ] Because you want people to know about Personas, if not the Dark Hour. (+Expression)
[ ] Because you're sure people in Mikage-Cho could use fiction relevant to their lives. (+Empathy)
[ ] Because it'd let you be sure your hard work got somewhere.
[ ] That's... personal.
DarkKing98
Certified Village Idiot
- Location
- USA
[X] Because you want people to know about Personas, if not the Dark Hour. (+Expression)
AilingStar
Herald of the Cassowaries
- Location
- Not Australia
[X] Because you're sure people in Mikage-Cho could use fiction relevant to their lives. (+Empathy)
SeekerofDreams
Aspiring Farmer
- Location
- Selphia
Inserted tally
SeekerofDreams
Aspiring Farmer
- Location
- Selphia
Okay, yes, this is as good a reason as any...
Let's just see what Mitsuru thinks of it...
-Vote Closed!-
Let's just see what Mitsuru thinks of it...
Storyline
SeekerofDreams
Aspiring Farmer
- Location
- Selphia
What you want... it's a difficult thing to put into words. You aren't sure if it's because you don't know how Mitsuru-san will react, or maybe it's just that you don't know the right words to say it. "I think it could help people."
She only raises an eyebrow, because of course that doesn't really explain anything, and you continue. "I mean, it's not about the Dark Hour. Not really. But if someone gets a Persona, and they don't know about all of this, maybe it'd give them a place to start." It might not be the best starting point, you think the best actual advice in the story's first part is 'don't mess with the Reaper,' but it's more than anyone else has ever done.
Really. You'd checked. Even Mikage-Cho doesn't have Persona User fiction. Or nonfiction, come to that. You guess everyone's just so used to not talking about it that it extends into their writing.
I wonder if we could get people to classify this as realistic fiction.
"Wouldn't that require them to make the connection?" Yes, that is the one flaw you have detected in your reasoning, you were hoping she hadn't noticed that.
"Well, I kept all the spells and stuff the same," You point out. The names themselves aren't gone over all that much, but they're there to be seen, as well as the concepts of affinities and Arcanas. And maybe, for some people, that's all the evidence they'd need. "I think the second part might be better for that kind of thing, but I only just started working on it." And you can't leave the first part out, or whoever reads it would end up missing out on an important part of the story.
Besides, even this is still more helpful than what you had when you first started experiencing the Dark Hour. If someone out there starts randomly waking up to the world being green, you think they'd need all the help they can get.
Mitsuru-san seems a bit more interested in there being a second part to the story than the fact that the story's there to begin with. Never mind that what you have already isn't really an ending, just... a part where the next part can pick up without either segment really losing anything. There's a difference.
"You're set on continuing this?" She asks, and receives a nod in return.
"The first part's done, but the story isn't really finished yet," You explain. "It'll be better once the whole thing's together, but this... it works." Not that you can really explain why it does, but you're sure, if she read it, she'd understand.
She takes the notebook, flips through it, light appearing and disappearing repeatedly in her eyes like she thinks she could scan the whole thing, and get some sort of answer to whatever questions plague her. You can almost count down the pages until she gets to Yukinari's resolution, except not really, because you never bothered marking page numbers. "There is... you've put a lot of effort into this."
"I... didn't have a lot of other things to do, some days."
You don't say anything more, and it's more than a minute before the next time Mitsuru-san speaks. "So... you want my assistance?" You can't tell what she's thinking by the look on her face, but that's just about normal, anyway.
You nod. "I... didn't really have any other ideas." Mostly because you're ten, and therefore don't really have options. You have no back-up plan in the event that she says no.
Thankfully, it turns out you don't need one.
It's a bit strange, having Akira around during the day. He always shows up as soon as he can, and never leaves until he absolutely has to, and nobody's really trying to convince him otherwise.
You've been trying to get him into your favorite television shows, or failing that, to at least agree that they're better than what Maiko watches. Of course, that requires him to be aware of what Maiko watches, and before you know it, you're trying to explain the concept of magical girls to Mitsuru-san, who grew up with money and the ability to cast spells of her own and is probably the closest thing this group has to an actual magical girl.
The problem is, once you fit the definition, you can no longer understand the appeal.
Now that you've realized this fact, you are aware that you can absolutely never repeat it to Maiko without some form of disaster happening. Avoiding said disaster means you can't warn Akira, but he's smart, he can figure it out.
But after three days of television, you're told to go and do something that's at least not on the same couch you've spent the past few days on. Which seems reasonable, even if you need to think of a distraction for the two of you now.
[ ] Takeba-san's given you an open invitation to watch her practice shooting- apparently school not being in session is no longer a good enough reason to slack on her archery.
[ ] Akira's parents are maybe not the best at providing food. You know this. So does Shinjiro-san. This is clearly a good time for the both of you to learn to make your own lunches.
[ ] ...Nobody will notice if you use the roof for an impromptu magic show, right?
She only raises an eyebrow, because of course that doesn't really explain anything, and you continue. "I mean, it's not about the Dark Hour. Not really. But if someone gets a Persona, and they don't know about all of this, maybe it'd give them a place to start." It might not be the best starting point, you think the best actual advice in the story's first part is 'don't mess with the Reaper,' but it's more than anyone else has ever done.
Really. You'd checked. Even Mikage-Cho doesn't have Persona User fiction. Or nonfiction, come to that. You guess everyone's just so used to not talking about it that it extends into their writing.
I wonder if we could get people to classify this as realistic fiction.
"Wouldn't that require them to make the connection?" Yes, that is the one flaw you have detected in your reasoning, you were hoping she hadn't noticed that.
"Well, I kept all the spells and stuff the same," You point out. The names themselves aren't gone over all that much, but they're there to be seen, as well as the concepts of affinities and Arcanas. And maybe, for some people, that's all the evidence they'd need. "I think the second part might be better for that kind of thing, but I only just started working on it." And you can't leave the first part out, or whoever reads it would end up missing out on an important part of the story.
Besides, even this is still more helpful than what you had when you first started experiencing the Dark Hour. If someone out there starts randomly waking up to the world being green, you think they'd need all the help they can get.
Mitsuru-san seems a bit more interested in there being a second part to the story than the fact that the story's there to begin with. Never mind that what you have already isn't really an ending, just... a part where the next part can pick up without either segment really losing anything. There's a difference.
"You're set on continuing this?" She asks, and receives a nod in return.
"The first part's done, but the story isn't really finished yet," You explain. "It'll be better once the whole thing's together, but this... it works." Not that you can really explain why it does, but you're sure, if she read it, she'd understand.
She takes the notebook, flips through it, light appearing and disappearing repeatedly in her eyes like she thinks she could scan the whole thing, and get some sort of answer to whatever questions plague her. You can almost count down the pages until she gets to Yukinari's resolution, except not really, because you never bothered marking page numbers. "There is... you've put a lot of effort into this."
"I... didn't have a lot of other things to do, some days."
You don't say anything more, and it's more than a minute before the next time Mitsuru-san speaks. "So... you want my assistance?" You can't tell what she's thinking by the look on her face, but that's just about normal, anyway.
You nod. "I... didn't really have any other ideas." Mostly because you're ten, and therefore don't really have options. You have no back-up plan in the event that she says no.
Thankfully, it turns out you don't need one.
It's a bit strange, having Akira around during the day. He always shows up as soon as he can, and never leaves until he absolutely has to, and nobody's really trying to convince him otherwise.
You've been trying to get him into your favorite television shows, or failing that, to at least agree that they're better than what Maiko watches. Of course, that requires him to be aware of what Maiko watches, and before you know it, you're trying to explain the concept of magical girls to Mitsuru-san, who grew up with money and the ability to cast spells of her own and is probably the closest thing this group has to an actual magical girl.
The problem is, once you fit the definition, you can no longer understand the appeal.
Now that you've realized this fact, you are aware that you can absolutely never repeat it to Maiko without some form of disaster happening. Avoiding said disaster means you can't warn Akira, but he's smart, he can figure it out.
But after three days of television, you're told to go and do something that's at least not on the same couch you've spent the past few days on. Which seems reasonable, even if you need to think of a distraction for the two of you now.
[ ] Takeba-san's given you an open invitation to watch her practice shooting- apparently school not being in session is no longer a good enough reason to slack on her archery.
[ ] Akira's parents are maybe not the best at providing food. You know this. So does Shinjiro-san. This is clearly a good time for the both of you to learn to make your own lunches.
[ ] ...Nobody will notice if you use the roof for an impromptu magic show, right?
DarkKing98
Certified Village Idiot
- Location
- USA
[X] Akira's parents are maybe not the best at providing food. You know this. So does Shinjiro-san. This is clearly a good time for the both of you to learn to make your own lunches.
The most important life skill.
The most important life skill.
Kkutlord
Prince of Breath
- Location
- Indianapolis, Indiana
[X] Akira's parents are maybe not the best at providing food. You know this. So does Shinjiro-san. This is clearly a good time for the both of you to learn to make your own lunches.
We're really doing this so Akira & Shinjiro interact right? That, and we haven't done much with Shinjiro recently.
We're really doing this so Akira & Shinjiro interact right? That, and we haven't done much with Shinjiro recently.