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mwolf0epsilon · 3 years

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“Eps’s Notes on The Illusion of Living”

It's taken me nearly three months to get this done due to writer’s block kicking my sorry butt. But, as promised, here are my notes on the "Illusion of Living". Good god has this been painful… But I did have a lot of stuff I initially thought of Joey somewhat confirmed for me, and got a few extra interesting tidbits of info that I feel are very curious...

--{Key}--

Italics are my opinion

--{Key}--

--{Quick retelling of the book’s contents}--

The Drews were among the more impoverished families in New Jersey, and Joey's father briefly worked in the silk industry to make end's meet before opening his own shoe store (that his mother oversaw profits for as the accountant). As such there were obvious limitations to a lot of Joey’s upbringing (like a lack of toys to entertain him with, and very few family vacations/trips that were memorable).

According to Joey, the shoes sold at his family’s store were primarily designed for people in the working class (clunky shoes and boots that would endure wear and tear rather than be flashy or comfortable to wear, which Joey complained never really fit him right), and had one singular design that was simply improved upon rather than any variety (I suppose the saying here would be “don’t fix it if it ain’t broke” but Joey really seemed to have some sort of issue with this, as he disliked his father’s works).

Joey's mother was a hardworking housewife and the primary parent when it came to rearing her child. She educated and played with him more than his father, so Joey was much fonder and emotionally close to her than to him and, while Joey’s father wasn’t an absent parent by any means, he was definitely more engrossed in working to sustain the family.

This family dynamic definitely had some impact on Joey, especially since his mother got him interested in the art of storytelling in general, and he seemed to have a lot more respect for her than for his father. In fact he even had a few reservations regarding his father’s mental integrity when he discovered his talent for making voices in a rather odd manner.

It should be noted here that, while Joey's father was strong, he looked deceptively frail and wasn't considered a particularly brave man by any means. He was however regarded as a bit of an entrepreneur, and Joey was very concerned that he may not be sane (which was a bit of taboo at the time, considering treatment for mental health issues hadn’t advanced past lobotomies and other disturbing medical malpractices) because he talked and sang to himself in curious little voices while he worked. Curiously enough, while a patient and loving man, Joey's father wasn't aversed to cursing around his young son (although Joey himself doesn't seem to use crass language, even if it was normalized in the household). Another curious thing to note is that Joey greatly dislikes mud, and especially hated it as a child (alluding to his later obsessive cleanliness as an adult).

Because of the financial issues his family suffered through, Joey didn't have a radio or many books growing up, and was thus more fond of Vaudevilles (specifically theatrical comedy, tragedy, and bizarre/surreal acts) which were pretty common in his city of birth. This interest for theatrics and third person story perspectives mixed terribly with later events in his life, like how at age 10 he witnessed a potential murder/suicide (Jesus christ...). Through this event he realized that there were different kinds of people in specific situations, especially when faced with the finality of death. Joey goes so far as to describe how theatrical the death was (Almost sounding disconnected from the reality of the situation as he noted that the crowd and even his own father seemed more like characters to him than real people). However, since Joey's neighborhood was ripe with strange people, he wasn't unfamiliar with bizarre events happening around him. Seeing a motorized ambulance was more amazing to a 10 year old him than actually caring for the death of a stranger at the front of his father's store.

At age 12, Joey went to Coney Island for the first time, and the journey excited him greatly since he didn't get to leave home very often. The trip to Coney Island was magical in a sense, and later in life he hoped to replicate it in Bendyland to a more permanent degree (the trip back home ruptured the magical effect, which he didn't want to happen with Bendyland).

Joey has his own set of rules he plays by which he considers his life’s philosophy that he calls "The Illusion of Living". This was inspired by several events in his life, including his father passing the time by playing make believe (the Shoemaker and the Elves). This unique perception of what illusion and reality are (“the same thing”), seems to point to Joey having developed a dissociative personality disorder from a young age, which got progressively worse as he grew older. This in addition with the ADHD patterns he displays in his confusing rambling writing (and Joey rambles a LOT), and the almost OCD behaviour in regards to cleaning up after himself, indicates Joey lacked impulse control and was more prone to listening to intrusive thoughts.

Joey's view of reality was often confusing to others and he greatly enjoyed poking fun out of slowly getting them to his point of view. Conversations with Joey were thus quite frustrating to some, but no less curious to others that actually tried to understand what the “Illusion of Living” was about (Like Nathan). According to Joey, only a few people ever got close to understanding it.

Joey enlisted to fight in the first war after he lied about his age (He was 15 years old, a year younger than the required age to enlist at the time). Out of all the positions in the army, he seemed most interested in comms, and considered himself more decent in communicating than actually fighting in the front lines.

It seems like Joey greatly enjoyed how he looked in uniform, and was also particularly finicky about his looks in general despite being in boot camp.

He made friends in the army, Private Donaldson and Private Eckhart, which Nathan (who worked at the tech lab that Joey later worked for) attests to being accurately described in the book. They were slightly older than Joey and were also interested in communication tech and shared his sense of humor. They also influenced Joey's social life, and tried to get him to date some gals that he wasn’t remotely interested in (the first indication that he may not be straight).

Another close friend Joey had in the army was Lottie (a communications officer) and he used to "chaperone" her whenever the four went out to party. He seemed to have a considerable amount of respect for her (which is likely a result of growing up observing his mother, thus understanding that women were competent in positions where other men would scoff at the idea of them working at all). As such he was quite supportive of the War's “Hello Girls” (comms female officers). Interestingly enough this contradicts Joey's sexist persona that he seems to take on in Dream Come to Life (a mask that seems to be among many others he employs to fit in with the rest of society).

Lottie was his special gal pal in the platonic sense and, while he often ate alone to be left with his thoughts, she usually sought him out to talk to.

Joey only ever empathized with people he was close to, often reserving telling stories to comfort his friends specifically. It was the only way he could brighten their day (which later supposedly helped a disillusioned Lottie when she was sent to serve in London). What one could take away from Joey’s days as a soldier was that he was incredibly perceptive in terms of studying people. He easily recognized people’s handwriting, and was greatly fascinated by others’s personalities.

He could also easily charm people just from reading into what they might be interested in, and liked the thought of subliminally impressing others (which he later incorporated into his cartoons). It’s never mentioned, but Joey was likely honorably discharged since the war ended in 1918 and didn’t need to return to the service of the military when the second world war hit (keeping in mind Joey appears to have mobility issues later in life, he might have not been fit for field duty).

At age 19 Joey ended up involved in investigating the murder case of Walter Richmond, a signal corps soldier Joey met briefly in his service days. The victim in question was responsible for documenting the war efforts, not being necessarily that great of a photographer, but taking a certain amount of pleasure in capturing the most viscerally gruesome pictures possible for shock value. How Joey got involved was a curious thing in of itself, since he didn’t know the victim all that well, nor cared to get to know him. Detective Adam Sinclair (a tall hulking man wearing the typical trenchcoat and fedora combo, who’s most noticeable features were his aged face and unshaven 5’o’clock shadow) tracked him down to his little minimalistic (and obsessively clean and tidy) apartment to question him. Joey was initially unsurprised that an ex-soldier ended up dead (not from the war, but likely ptsd), and was instead surprised that it was a murder case. He ended up inserting himself into the case as Sinclair’s shadow to help solve it. The reason was mostly out of self-interest, but his perspective did seem useful to the detective in the end. Throughout the investigation Joey displayed a few particular traits that indicate his attentive and peculiar nature, such as the way he reads others (their way of dressing and upkeep of posture), the manner of which he judges a good handshake, his distaste for smoking (which was taught to him via the idea that if something smells bad it’s usually bad for you) and drinking (he tries to be careful with alcohol intake in general, as he’s more accustomed to beer than drinks like champagne which one could over-indulge recklessly without noticing). Joey’s fascination for taboo subjects (war, violence, and death specifically) is also noted when he observes the victim’s photographic works.

This is a prevalent theme in an art gallery event where these particular subjects seemed to linger strongly in his mind, to the point where he noticed when one of the photos he recalls having seen before during his brief meeting with Richmond, appeared to be missing from the display. A detail that appeared to be dismissed by others, but of great interest to Sinclair.

During this same gallery event, there was an incident set up by the murderer that involved a firecracker and a crowbar that set off a lot of panic. Joey’s work at the signal corps labs saved him from the brutality of the trenches, but he's apparently familiar with the effects of severe PTSD (And ironically notes that reliving the same painful event over and over again is his definition of true horror/personal hell).

It became very apparent to both Joey and Sinclair that the murderer was amongst them, and that this onslaught of panic was a message: That the murder of the frontline photographer was personal.

They did in fact come into contact with the perpetrator and, after a while of radio silence between Joey and Sinclair, the case was solved with...Minimal success. While Sinclair knew who killed Walter Richmond, he unfortunatelly did not have enough proof to convict her (the sister of a casualty of war that could have easily been saved, had Richmond not left him for dead because it fit his narrative of the war just fine), thus allowing her to get away with literal murder. Worse yet, the resolution of the case seemed to further disconnect Joey from reality and consequence. He gained a disdain for Adam Sinclair where once he’d respected him as an authority figure of sorts, finding that he’d accomplished his role and still failed miserably. In the end, the only thing to come out of teaming up with Sinclair was learning a social skill that Joey employed later on, by mirroring back certain aspects of a person so they’d be more comfortable around him. Otherwise the detective became nothing more than a distant memory. Unimportant in Joey’s later narrative.

Two years later, Joey started working for a bookstore where he began satiating his vast hunger for knowledge, now that he had access to all sorts of books he could never afford as a child. Joey is fairly well read with an interest in various genres, although it was previously noted that during his army service people made fun of him for especially liking fictional novels. Joey being Joey however, wasn’t overly fussed about others’s opinions on what he sought enjoyment from, especially when it came to storytelling. Aside from getting his reading quota filled out, his bookstore job also helped him develop his salesperson skills through reading his customers. Through his experiences with his father’s shop and shadowing Sinclair, he had by now understood that people were highly superficial, and that he could apply whatever knowledge he gathered from them into how he sold his pitch to them. His charisma seemed to lure in customers.

While working at the store he met Abby Lambert who he immediately noticed had an eye for art. Joey quickly became friends with her and seemed to greatly appreciate her no-nonsense attitude towards life in general, going so far as to respect her capabilities as a working lady where other men would be disdained with her difficult attitude. In fact, he wondered why anyone wouldn’t hire her to do a job she could clearly handle, just because she was a woman (again contradicting his sexist persona). As a connoisseur of the arts, Abby was the one to fully introduce Joey to her favourite craft. He especially took an interest in Impressionism and its influences.

Abby also supposedly introduced Henry to Joey, which the latter insists wasn’t really that remarkable of an event since Henry was “unimaginative” and “lacking in talent” due to his specialty in cartoon caricatures, and not the richer awe inspiring paintings Joey seemed to prefer (basically Joey spends any given time in the book trying to make Henry seem as insignificant as possible out of pure unadulterated pettiness, which physically pains me).

Ironically, in terms of entertainment, Joey later favoured cartoons as the more appealing form of films since most other mediums didn’t really spark his interest, even if the genres were ones he found fascinating (I suppose that despite films being works of fiction most times, Joey likely thought real life actors were far too limited in their acts due to the natural limitations of the human body).

Returning to Abby, her friendship seemed to be more impactful to Joey than most others. Like with how he preferred his mother’s company to his father’s, Abby seemed to be one of few people he actually felt comfortable around, to the point where her criticism didn’t bother him. She was also mindful of him, where she could recognize Joey’s “preferences” and made it a point to clarify to him that their outings were purely platonic so he wouldn’t get uncomfortable in those situations.

Three years after meeting Abby and Henry, Joey became a manager at the bookstore and Henry began working there as well (by Joey’s suggestion it seems), and only then did they sort of start developing a meek little friendship of sorts (although Joey seems very dismissive about it and focuses primarily on Abby).

During that time, the idea to start his own business came about from two different events that happened that year. The first being his first ever theatrical script that he wrote and performed with Abby at a gallery event. During the performance of this little play (the theme of which was an angel and a demon discussing their role in influencing a mortal’s life), Joey discovered that he greatly enjoyed controlling situations and got way too into it (even considers what he could get away with in the name of entertainment, such as if he could act out actual violent or scandalous behaviours if he proclaimed it a part of the show).

The second event was his father sending him shoes once a year (which, because Joey disliked the make of his father’s shoes, he tried to get him to stop by pretending they weren’t arriving at his address or that they were getting stolen). As a means to ensure he got them, Joey's father started sending the packages to the bookstore. A doodle and writing on the package ended up inspiring Joey to create his own studio as he wanted to take flight in the entertainment industry.

Having thus decided that he wanted to open up a film studio of some kind, Joey immediately set off to get himself a memorable mascot. He had a vague idea of what he needed and what might be appealing to an audience, but he wasn’t particularly skilled in character design and openly admitted to this. Abby, who was also not particularly good at drawing cartoons, understood that her more realistic style wouldn’t really help (or appeal to) Joey, so she enlisted Henry’s help. Knowing that Joey was a bit picky in regards to how he evaluated art, she thought perhaps she could persuade him to take a liking to Henry’s works (which he wasn’t particularly fond of, due to Henry mostly working with pen-drawings of cartoon characters and caricatures that looked very unremarkable to him) if he could only see him actually work his “magic”. Joey was reluctant to bring Henry into his business plan, but upon actually reaching a design within a few minutes (that took a few tries experimenting with animal and human features in more detailed and then simplified ways) of Joey giving some directions, he seemed to be sold on bringing Henry on board.

Henry designing the company mascot was thus the final push to open up Joey Drew Studios.

The two began their partnership not too long after, and from then on out things got interesting very quickly.

The history behind the studio is...Not an easy one to validate in terms of whether or not Joey is sincere or even really knows certain dates (the more I look into the beginning of the book and the later exposition of information, the more I realized either Joey was starting to trip himself up on dates or his memory was visibly failing him). There are a lot of discrepancies in the dates provided, with some going back on how long Henry remained in the studio (even claiming to have at some point surrounded him with other animators and even a lead artist a year prior to his departure), when Sammy and Jack were hired (He says he hired Sammy in 1929 during the Wallstreet Crash, but later says he hired both him and Jack after the Wallstreet Crash), among other things... Joey Drew Studios was primarily funded by Mrs. Richmond (the mother of Walter Richmond), as Joey had forged friendships with the people involved in the case he’d helped Sinclair investigate (including the murderer whom he had grown to respect).

While other investors aren’t really brought up, it’s implied Nathan also had a hand in helping the studio taking off, as Joey often met up with him at the Russian Tearoom whenever he could. During these private meetings, Nathan would impart advice on Joey. Advice which he seemed to not care for, as he already had his own concerns at the time.

It seemed that his main plan was to acquire a talented and capable team to achieve his dream. A team Joey thought he wouldn’t need to "baby-sit", as he specifically wanted to hire individuals that were as studious and capable as he saw himself (curiously Joey mentions that Henry’s work ethic was exactly what he wanted, as Henry had never held work back or needed to be checked up on, which to Joey was an invaluable attribute).

For at least two years, the Bendy Cartoons were nothing but silence and sound effects (something we actually see in-game in BatIM Chapter One when the projector suddenly turns on and we hear nothing but the clicking of the projector and Joey’s whistling), which put them at a bit of a disadvantage when it came to competing with other animation studios.

This soon changed when Joey came across Sammy Lawrence and Jack Fain at a party he was attending on his 30th birthday (which he wasn’t celebrating, the party was a completely different event so supposedly Joey doesn’t care much for his own birthday).

He was already familiar with Sammy’s musical skills (mostly playing the piano quite masterfully), as he’d seen him perform at the theater when Sammy was still a teenager. Noticing him and Jack at the party was entirely accidental and was mostly due to the fact that, while Sammy was trying to keep out of the spotlight as he played, Jack’s showmanship shone through and caught Joey’s eye with how boisterous he was in their musical performance.

Joey approached them once their act was done and managed to convince them to work for him. Jack seemed to be immediately on board, while Sammy was a little more guarded in his agreement and immediately set up his stipulations for the job. This seemed to lean Joey’s interest towards Sammy (who Joey was unhealthily fascinated with because he was clearly not an easy man to control) more than Jack (who he likely considered too easy a read in terms of character, thus not much of a challenge to sway or condition).

By 1933 Joey officially bought the entire building the studio was set up in (which up until then was occupied by other people seeking their own ventures). Expansion and new hires likely started a year or so later and continued on despite financial instability, and between 1941 and 1942 Joey was already starting to work out how he’d get Bendyland to be just as perfect and spectacular as he had always envisioned (which was difficult because he never really got it to feel just right in his eyes, and something felt off to him).

In between listing several different projects, vaguely describing an innovative techniques (Sillyvision which seems to be linked with the Golden Ink?), and even setting up his own 7 rules on how to animate to help set up a guide for aspiring animators, Joey slowly drifts away from the studio topic and finalizes his book rather abruptly.

He insinuates there’s a lot more for him to tell but little to no connection with the “Illusion of Living” philosophy and he’d rather focus on his actual physical work with the Studio than sit down and write further, so he finishes off on a rather...Vague note.

--{On Joey Drew}--

Year of Birth - 1901 (Day and month are never mentioned, but it's possible that his favouring of the autumnal season alludes to a fall month) Year of Death - ??? (Supposedly he's died, hence why Nathan claimed the Bendy IP) Birth City: Born and raised in Paterson "Silk City", New Jersey (Joey doesn't seem to have an accent, so he likely masks it, or made an effort to lose it). Physical Characteristics: As a child he used to have curly hair (Considering the era’s general fashion and style, it’s very likely that Joey either cut his hair too short to see the curls, or simply uses too much gel to seem more presentable) Sexual/Romantic Preferences: Homosexual with Demiromantic subtones (Joey seems to be closed off in general, but more appreciative of the male figure. Could be interpreted as demisexual however, since Joey himself doesn't seem to like wasting time around people he doesn't have much of a bond with) Notes: Here are several notes I’ve compiled about Joey and his opinions on certain things and people. There’s a lot to look at as this man rambles like an old lady at a friday night bingo event, and thus I had a lot to take in!

Laughter is important to him.

Seems to be a dog person.

Likes Cheerios (yes this was a super necessary detail I had to jot down).

Considers having his ideas disclosed without permission to be disloyal.

Seems to have some sort of dissociative personality disorder (likely brought on by trauma or another undiagnosed mental disorder).

People-Watcher by nature.

Was taught by his father that the shoe makes the man (aka the art of studying people through their shoes).

Joey believes in the saying "The Truth is in the Pudding", a saying his mother often employed.

Never had enough money to own a pair of nice fitting shoes until he was 26.

Is narcissistically vain. Easily takes insult if people assume he can't look presentable.

His service in the army gave him experience with "experimental tech".

Enjoys music a lot, and he was considered a great dancer.

Finds modern feminine fashion standards appealing.

Disliked the way those with money romanticized lacking material gains. Found it personally disrespectful in a way, since he himself came from a poor family.

Seems appalled by too much color on one's wear (Joey is the goddamn fashion police).

Very picky about the arts.

Apparently disliked Henry's art style(???).

Lets people believe Henry is the creator of the toons, in an act of being holier than thou. (You lying son of a gun, stop lying to everyone and yourself whaddahell).

Joey's analogy of Henry starting a journey but Joey being the one to reap the benefits, is likely the truest thing he's said in this nightmare of a novel (boastful bastard...).

Thinks of Bendy as his firstborn, muse and messenger.

Took an art class with Abby (likely not a full art course, just a simple class to get the gist of it?).

Considers art the doorway to immortality.

Doesn't like post-mortem success (it frightens him, even). He'd rather be successful in his lifetime.

Admits to making mistakes, but not many. He also thinks mistakes don't need to be permanent.

Doesn't know what true rest is like, and is unsure if he'll ever be content enough to rest. On that same note he seems to really hate sitting still and his mind tends to wander, which he notes Nathan recognized with ease, even reserving a specific look for him (It’s the ADHD baby).

His friend Kyle was a lazy person and a gossip, which were traits Joey found annoying.

On their first meeting, Joey described having a desire to shove Sammy off a roof to see a more human reaction from him.

Assumes Jack is jealous of the attention he gives Sammy, or that the duo's relationship is strained, despite him barging into their lives out of the blue and making him feel like a third wheel.

Seems to think of himself as some sort of a messenger (going so far as to akin himself to the god, Mercury). His life’s mission is to help those who don't know they need to be helped (mostly through spreading happiness and laughter in such a dark and dreary era of human history). Bendyland is essentially Joey's means to fulfil this desire, as well as to chase his own need for a properly realized mixture of immersion and illusion.

He wanted Bendyland to be perfect, even the plot of land it might be built in needed to be perfect, so he inspected it himself with Nathan once he bought the deed.

Appears to refuse to call Bertrum by his proper name once he’s corrected the first time. Referring to him instead as either Bertie or Bert (toying with him perhaps? Testing boundaries?)

Doesn't drive. He instead hired a personal driver, Simmons.

For a little while he was living the American Dream, but thought of how he lived as less of a shared goal and more of a personal one (again setting himself apart from others).

His days were quite flexible and he seemed to despise set routines. He also doesn't like sleeping in. He liked to take a walk in central park early in the morning.

Joey used to make his rounds around the studio but the installation of the Ink Machine changed that habit a bit.

Nonchalantly notes that Shawn Flynn got a little defensive if he needed to be corrected on his work (OCD much, Joey? He was painting a lot of dolls by hand, slipups happen...).

He had priority meetings with Sammy, "meetings" with Jack (Sir what are these quotation marks for, are you snogging Jack while no one’s watching???), then met with the art department preceding the writing department, and finally he met with Grant Cohen in accounting to discuss finances and budget.

He had the final say in ALL paperwork regarding studio affairs.

Upon reading about it, found the concept of bringing in real animals to produce Disney's Bambi as funny, and joked about how trying to do so with Bendy and Boris would be chaotic.

Noted that Abby and Sammy were likely the only two people who closely understand the philosophy of the illusion of living, but not quite…

Was terrified of being misunderstood. Joey didn’t want to only be able to show half-truths, like a mirror reflecting the world darkly. Rather ironic considering he was quite deceitful in his adult life.

His desire for the world to love Bendy seems to be a projection of wanting to feel loved himself (quite honestly if one were to apply the theory of the id, ego and superego, it seems to me that Bendy is essentially Joey’s id, while Joey himself could be considered the Superego. The chameleonic social mask he wears is thus the ego. At the end of the day Bendy and Joey are and aren’t the same entity...).

Originally he didn't want to make a memoir (likely because he can't be direct and needs to work around the truth to fit him). It could also be that Joey didn’t want to linger on the past nor in death. He wasn't sure where it fit with his philosophy and thus tried not to explore too deep into it (existential dread?).

He wore custom tailored suits, and as of beginning writing TioL he had recently taken to wearing cravats (ever the vain man I suppose…).

Despite considering revisiting the past unnecessary, he couldn’t deny doing so if the time called for it. In fact, the Archives are Joey's memories of the past and he's sentimental enough to collect mementos of bygone eras.

Joey has trophies at home, the deeply personal things he couldn’t bare part with. Like the first sketch of Bendy, a napkin with the design of Bendyland, a letter from Henry, a ticket from a Vaudeville show, and his set of shoes he wore when he was surveying the plot of land where he planned to build Bendyland.

--{On Bendy}--

Notes: Here are a few notes I’ve compiled about the Little Devil Darling himself, and a few curiosities about his creation and the inspiration behind his character.

Bendy was officially created in 1928. According to Joey he was born of a dream, supposedly out of necessity, and he always had this idea of a little devil character doing mischief.

Bendy started off as a realistic little boy with a tail and horns (Abby’s attempt to bring to life Joey’s vague idea). Then, when Henry got involved, he became a cartoonish goat creature. The concepts were quickly worked out from a toony clothed amalgamation of both previous concepts, to a more intermediate design more closely resembling Bendy, and then finally, after Joey requested a simpler more shapely and less detailed toon, Bendy became the iconic little imp clad in only gloves and bowtie.

Joey named him upon seeing the completed design. There are two origins for his name: That of Walter Benjamin Richmond, who’s nickname in life was “Bendy” (a rather morbid homage considering what happened to him), and the mere fact that in Joey’s eyes, his little cartoon imp “bent all the rules”. Henry seemed to appreciate the name.

Bendy is meant to be the devil on one’s shoulders, much like the devil in Joey’s first theatrical play. He is however, a lot more like a little kid playing pranks on people. He is also a sort of embodiment of both the population and human morality (society at its most flawed point, but also quite relatable).

Buster Keaton was an inspiration for Bendy’s many shenanigans and movements, which were always meant to be fluid and a bit bouncy.

--{On Henry Stein}--

Year of Birth - ??? (It’s never mentioned how old Henry is, but I assume he’s around the same age group as Abby, since they were friends and likely went to the same art course. It’s likely that he’s younger than Joey, but not likely by much.) Year of Death - 1963 (It’s not really confirmed if Henry died when he was put into the Cycle, as he doesn’t seem to notice anything odd about himself, but it’s safe to assume the process very likely involves human sacrifice). Birth City: ??? (Unknown, it could be that he was born and raised in New York but Henry lacks a noticeable accent) Physical Characteristics: Average looking? (Irrelevant, he could honestly look like anyone really...) Sexual/Romantic Preferences: Presumably Heterosexual (He’s a married man in the 1930s-1960s, he’s either straight or hiding his sexuality, he seems to really like Linda however so could go either way really...) Notes: Here the few notes I could gather of the Henry info we got from TioL. It’s not much but its at least something to work with!

Henry is unremarkable appearance wise (to the point Joey forgot his face easily at first).

The way Henry dressed (mismatched and ill-fitted) indicates he likely grew up in poverty and likely only had hand-me-downs.

He mostly worked with pen-drawn cartoon character designs that were unremarkable but distinctly caricature-like (the Butcher Gang concepts were likely displayed in the gallery Joey attended, as noted by a comment he makes about them). Even if Joey apparently didn’t particularly like his style, Henry’s artwork was one of the final inspirations for the creation of Joey Drew Studios.

He is described as able to draw quite fast, great at taking directions, and as being a good animator. Overall Henry never really had any real need for someone to keep an eye on him which made him an exemplary worker.

According to Joey, Henry used to give pep-talks before he left the studio. This seemed to annoy Joey considerably for some reason (perhaps he was envious that Henry was generally a more likeable person).

Henry is remembered as forgettable, whereas Joey is flashier and more memorable.

Interestingly enough, Henry never claimed to own the design of Bendy, and was more interested in being business partners with Joey than starting a fuss about who owned the rights to Bendy’s creation (It’s very likely that he willingly gave Joey the design because Bendy was his character, and that instead the designs Joey did steal were that of Boris the Wolf, Alice Angel, and the Butcher Gang, the five other more notorious characters in the Bendy franchise).

--{On Abby Lambert}--

Year of Birth - ??? (It’s never mentioned how old Abby is, but I assume she’s around the same age group as Henry, since they were friends and likely went to the same art course. It’s likely that she’s younger than Joey, but not likely by much.) Year of Death - Possibly 1946 (Upon finally losing himself to the ink, Sammy seemed to have been actively hunting the Art Department and any stragglers that he encountered in the studio, so it can be assumed she died in the chaos) Birth City: ??? (Unknown but more likely to be born and raised in New York than Henry) Physical Characteristics: Frizzy hair, even when bobbed. Sexual/Romantic Preferences: Potentially Bisexual (She seemed to be acutely aware of Joey’s “peculiarities” so it’s possible she’s either a member of the LGBTQ community or perhaps an ally. Whatever the case it’s up for debate and interpretation.) Notes: Here are several notes I’ve compiled about Abby and some of her traits and mannerisms. There was surprisingly a lot more to work with than I expected.

She wasn’t really into the typical female fashion of the time. In fact, Abby wasn’t exactly fond of the typical mannerisms associated with women and was both notoriously rude and dressed herself in a “scandalously” modern manner (which is basically code for more practical less femenine clothing).

According to Joey, Abby is a very focused and determined person, which is why he admired her greatly. She didn’t know when to quit, however, and sometimes took things too far or involved others in situations or projects they didn’t want to be involved in.

She wasn’t very good at drawing original cartoon characters, and Joey was apparently not overly fond of her attempts at putting his ideas to paper due to her more realistic art style.

Abby was very insistent on Joey looking at Henry's works, even if he wasn't particularly interested in them (While it’s never said if she enjoys his art herself, it can be assumed she appreciates it enough that she’d want their mutual friend to see the potential Henry had).

She didn’t join the studio as the replacement Director of the Art Department until 1931, as during its founding she was still finishing art school. She and Henry never worked together. Despite this, she and Henry remained in touch even after he left for Pasadena.

--{On Sammy Lawrence}--

Year of Birth - ??? (From how Joey describes him, it can be assume Sammy was a teenager around either Joey’s early or late 20s before they officially met on Joey’s 30th birthday) Year of Death - 1946? (Sammy is one of few people who was turned without being killed first so it’s hard to tell if he’s really dead even within the Cycle since it’s a time loop...) Birth City: ??? (Sammy lacks a noticeable accent so it’s hard to tell where he’s from). Physical Characteristics: Has been described as bird-like and insect-like, with either brown or blond hair that’s kept longer than the typical fashion of the time (Not much more is known about his actual appearance but it can be assumed he’s either average sized or on the tall side considering his in-game height and build) Sexual/Romantic Preferences: Potentially Biromantic with a lot of Demiromantic subtones. Possibly Asexual? (Again this is pure speculation on my part because he did seem interested in Susie but isn’t really a people person in general. Does seem to know how to reign in people tho, so ???) Notes: Here are a few curious notes I’ve compiled about Sammy, the circumstances behind his hiring, and how much control he actually had as the music director.

He has an unusual appearance that, while not necessarily described as ugly, was clearly outstanding enough that some people were put off (Buddy) and others thought him handsome (Susie). His hair is also described as messy.

Sammy is an avid smoker.

He was among a few other musicians employed by the theater to drown out projector sounds and match the mood in silent films. Because he was good at improvising music on the spot, Sammy was excellent at carrying the story presented on screen through his melodies, which was what caught Joey’s eye when he first saw Sammy perform.

Sammy also recognized Joey and didn’t believe his dismissal that he was a “town person”. In fact, Sammy pinpointed the recognition to the fact Joey was that one loner that sat in the front row of the theater he played at.

It becomes very apparent that Sammy is suspicious of people in general. The way he observes others indicates he’s had some sort of struggle growing up. As such, he’s not big on sustaining conversations and he managed to aggravate Joey slightly by the way he addressed him on their first proper meeting.

Sammy had a songbook he shared with Jack, meaning they had a strong trust bond, which is why he only agrees to work for Joey based on Jack’s willingness to also be hired. Even so, he immediately set up professional boundaries for his position. He hired his own people without Joey’s interference, and he only ever indulged him if Joey was being particularly exasperating.

It’s very likely that since Sammy was the one hiring who worked for the music department, that he was the one who hired Norman Polk. This theory is made stronger by the fact he immediately demanded a projector and projectionist booth so he could better do his job.

Despite his surly disposition, Sammy is a no nonsense sort who wants things done and over with, rather than sit around and stall. As such Joey considered him one of the best decisions he made in terms of career.

Funnily enough, because the band seemed to be skittish around Joey, Sammy specifically prohibited his presence in the music department unless they had a scheduled meeting. This likely meant Joey was scarcely ever seen in the music department so as to not aggravate Sammy in person.

Alice Angel’s bigger (and failed) presence in the franchise is likely a consequence of another one of Sammy’s stipulations upon being hired. He had immediately noted that if the studio wanted to go anywhere, they’d need a female character (Perhaps Sammy really believed what he told Susie due to despising Bendy and actually favouring Alice as a character).

--{On Jack Fain}--

Year of Birth - ??? (Possibly around the same age as Sammy or a little older?) Year of Death - ??? (He was gone long before a few other people in the studio, likely in the first few experiments Joey performed) Birth City: ??? (Hard to tell, he doesn’t have an easily identifiable accent). Physical Characteristics: Has been described as an atrocious dresser (This man likes wearing bright colors!) Sexual/Romantic Preferences: Potentially Homosexual subtones (Not enough information provided to tell) Notes: Sadly lacking in the information department for Jack.

Jack is incredibly sociable and trusts easily. He's described as making bad jokes but laughing genuinely at them. His smiles are contagious.

Jack is an optimist sort who sees the good in any situation (even when being led around in a dark creepy room by a peculiar stranger).

--{On Bertrum Piedmont}--

Year of Birth - ??? (He was retired, so it’s likely he was around his 60s or early 70s when Joey first met him) Year of Death - ??? (It’s unknown when exactly he ended up in the Ink Machine but it’s very possible he was killed when all hell broke loose in the studio) Birth City: ??? (No clue). Physical Characteristics: Joey describes him (rather rudely) as a very portly man. Sexual/Romantic Preferences: ??? (No idea, chief...) Notes: Lacking in the information department like Jack, but what we get is a lot more substantial.

Bertrum was actually retired when Joey managed to get a hold of him. It took a bit of detective work on Mrs. Rodriguez's (Joey's secretary) part to actually find him as well, so he was not an easy man to get an appointment with.

His creative vision impressed Joey enough that the latter he ignored his apparent dislike for reminiscing so as to get him on board of the Bendyland project.

While discussing the Bendyland Project, Bertrum confidently jokes about it being quite the catch. He agrees to joining forces with Joey as long as he gets full creative control of the entire project. Although Joey agreed to this, he still managed to fight Bertrum on a few ideas, which annoyed him greatly.

It’s very likely that it didn’t take long for their initially friendly relationship to sour into open hostility on Bertrum’s part.

--{On Wally Franks}--

Year of Birth - ??? (No clue, but he was very likely in his late teens or early adult years when he was first hired as the studio Janitor) Year of Death - Supposedly still alive (I really do hope he got outta there like the letter insinuates...) Birth City: Brooklyn, New York. Physical Characteristics: ??? (All we know is he likely wears overalls and a sport’s cap) Sexual/Romantic Preferences: Possibly Heterosexual (Unless the letter is a forgery, he apparently has a wife, kids and grandkids) Notes: I’ll admit I didn’t expect to get Wally lore, but here we are!

Wally's actually quite skilled with maintenance. He can tinker with the projectors, other machinery and even plumbing. His schedule is a little off however, but Joey turns a blind eye to it because he gets the job done without question.

--{On Allison Pendle}--

Year of Birth - ??? (No idea! But she was relatively well known when she was hired!) Year of Death - ??? (She was likely lured back to the studio after everything went down but before Henry) Birth City: ??? Physical Characteristics: She’s a beautiful tall blonde according to DCTL Sexual/Romantic Preferences: ??? (She and Thomas are married but I honestly have no clue how to feel about her, she’s a mystery to me.) Notes: Extra minimal Allison lore for your Allison Pendle lore needs.

She was a famous Broadway actress before joining the studio. Interestingly enough, Joey was the one to hire her to replace Susie, not only breaking Sammy’s stipulation on the matter but also stirring Susie into becoming resentful towards Sammy and actually trying to recover her former role at all costs (even her own life).

--{On Nathan Arch}--

Year of Birth - ??? (He was likely a little older than Joey since they were in the army at the same time but Joey lied about his age to enlist earlier) Year of Death - N/A (Still alive and kicking) Birth City: ??? Physical Characteristics: ??? (I guess Boswell Lotsabucks is sorta modeled after him so go off on that???) Sexual/Romantic Preferences: Heterosexual (He has a wife and son and doesn’t give me any other vibes besides and overall instinctual distrust) Notes: Oh boy...I do NOT trust this man...

Immediately upon beginning reading TioL you get the impression that Nathan is not only trying to appear friendly and trustworthy by referring to himself as Nate A, but also that he’s trying to cover for Joey and make him appear more personable to the reader. But to what gain exactly?

Nathan is, like Joey, very narcissistically vain, and is also writing a book of his own (an autobiography maybe?)

He’s a smoker and prefers cigars.

When Joey discusses his childhood, Nathan is unable to contradict or confirm anything as he noted that Joey was always very private about his origins.

Nathan seemed truly surprised and impressed with Joey’s ability to make up uncannily believable stories, even suspecting that his accounts of “Lottie” might have been false as he couldn’t find any of the supposed letters Joey sent her when he started working on republishing TioL (it’s likely he could see that Joey often lied to himself just as much as he lied to others).

It seemed to Nathan that Joey was rather oblivious of subtle compliments.

By the manner of which Nathan phrases it, he seems to think of Joey as a professional and kind man, capable of seeing the good in others. That said, Nathan remarks that Henry's departure was a great betrayal for his friend, and that the latter shouldn't have been so "gracious" and "forgiving" towards him…

When the studio began to struggle financially, Nathan worried that Joey might not be aware of the issue at all, or that perhaps he was lying to himself to cope. He also later notes that Joey’s memories seemed to have deteriorated in his old age. He was often mixing up information and seemed rather guilty, which Nathan considering to be very unbecoming of the man he knew Joey to be.

A lot of the deeply philosophical Joey and Nathan interactions seen in the book might actually have occured between Joey and Henry (the "I think therefore I am" conversation is an especially telling one for me), hence why Nathan doesn't recall them. It also seems more likely because they contradict the way Joey portrays Nathan, but seem to fit his portrayal of Henry better.

#Bendy and the Ink Machine #BATIM #The Illusion of Living #TIoL #Notes #Reference

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ladyadalicialove · 4 years

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Me, says I will be on hiatus and probs won’t post anything cus exams and essays

Also me: procrastinating very hard

Don't mind me just salty about the new episode and what not...also I don’t want to finish my essay.

Anyway since Chat Blanc was basically fanservice that served no significant purpose to the plot of the show other than "what if" scenarios. I've decided to share some AUs to put some good wholesome content back into the fandom.

Also I need to write these things down before I forget....

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Previous Holder is now your Babysistter AU

(I don’t have an actual name for it lmao suggestions?)

I’ve had this one in head for a couple of months now. The premise of this AU is the miraculous doesn't just come with the Kwami but a ghost/apparition of the previous holder. Unlike the kwami's they aren't what makes the suit or have any magical abilities. Rather they are just glorified babysitters, looking after and guiding the new holder the best they can. Some are some magical rules with them though:

Only the miraculous holder and thier Kwami can see them, when they are still in their civilian forms.

They don’t disappear when the holder transform.

When other miraculous holders are transformed they can see other holder’s apparition, but when they undo the transformation they can no longer see them.

The holders and kwamis can touch them as if they were real, but they phase through everything and everyone else.

I liked the idea of the holders prior to Marinette and Adrien being a pirate and a sailor who fell madly in love. They unfortunately died together and never had kids so when they came back as “mentors” for two lovesick teens they adopt them so quickly.

Adrien gets Captain Noir, the most ferocious and seductive pirate of the seven seas! And she absolutely adores Adrien and quickly assumes a motherly role in his life. The captain doesn’t like that he is alone in the mansion and gives every second of her attention to him. She calls him her "big kitten" and tries to ruin Gabriel's day every second she can. She also despises Nathalie but tolerates Gorilla.

Marinette gets Commander Bug, a stoic and ever so suave solider of his majesty's Royal Navy. He is very chill and helps Marinette to calm down when she starts acting up. Since he is a high ranking soldier, he often assists Marinette in creating strategies to defeat villains in both her hero and civilian life. Tbh he is a very reliable guy and very sweet.

Honestly the two of them basically become parents to the two lovesick teens... and I imagine the story would literally be them ready to throw hands with Gabriel and Lila. Commander bug though ever so serious, meets Lila and immediately takes on the Captain Noir’s more... vulgar traits.

Commander Bug: Hey Marinette *nudges her* Dead men tell no tales. 😎 *makes obscene gesture towards Lila*

Marinette: FOR THE LAST TIME IM NOT MURDERING LILA

Tikki: no wait maybe he has a point

Captain Noir: Ye really need to scupper that deadbeat father of yours off the side of this building. Hey Plagg, do ye think I can take custody of Adrien??

Adrien: I’m not throwing my father off the building!! He can be nice!!

Captain Noir: Oh no ye have Stockholm syndrome... maybe I can cure it with some rum?? That always helped the new sailors who were home sick! 😱

Adrien: oh my god I’m only fourteen 😦

Plagg: *laughing hysterically* at least you can drink your woes away!!! 😂🤣

And yes they both like the Couffaines mainly because they live on a boat.

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The Mythical Miraculous AU:

I wrote and planned this one before it was revealed there are multiple miraculous boxes. So in this universe let’s just say that the events of feast never happened. Prior to the “episode” Fu relinquishes guardianship and loses his memories. Let’s say there is no sentimonster that caused the downfall of the monks but rather Fu causing the temple to burn down another way. How? Maybe he left a torch unsupervised and burned the place down. Why? Idk that’s just how it’s happening now.

Anyway this AU stemmed from doing so many OC drawing requests in January. And I created seven miraculous OC's whose kwamis/concept are based on the seven virtues. They are also all based on mythical creatures.

In the story I imagined that Marinette is 17 and was giving guardianship over the miracle box some time ago. One day while messing around with it, she discovers that underneath the ying and yang centre piece there was cyclinder compartment that contained a parchment. Unrolling it had printed on it six locations along with the name of the miraculous associated.

Tikki informs her of the seven miraculous that were created as backups if the the miracle box or miraculous’ were ever stolen, lost, destroyed etc. Basically the last resort. Thus they needed to be kept out of the miracle box and in the world and always ready to defend. Hence they were given to families across Europe/Asia who promised their loyalties to the miraculous cause.

Marinette decides since it’s summer break and she isn’t busy, to find each of them and get them to help in the fight against Hawkmoth. Tikki just rolls with it.

In no particular order these are the mythical miraculous and their holders:

London, UK ~ The Unicorn and Pegasus Miraculous of Kindness and Humility: They are currently owned by 12 year old British Twins, Iris and Ivy. They come from a rich family and only recently acquired the miraculous from their father and uncle. Ivy is all about sports and is extremely athletic, Iris prefers to read and paint. Apollo is Ivy’s kwami and he is a white unicorn, and Artemis is Iris’ kwami and is a black pegasus. The miraculous are anklets.

Sovana - Tuscany, Italy ~ The Ogre Miraculous of Charity: Currently owned by Raphael, a 21 year old Italian guy studying Archaeology. He lives out in the Italian countryside with his parents and many siblings, he has a big family who owns a huge block of farmland. He is super kind and very charitable and received his miraculous from his Nonna. Orc is Raphael’s kwami and he is a selfish little bastard but he is huggable. The miraculous is a belt buckle.

Nice, Paris ~ The Pooka Miraculous of Diligence: Currently owned by Colette, a 25 year old French girl who is busy teaching six year olds, she doesn’t have any family as she was orphaned as an infant. She has always had her miraculous as she was left at the orphanage with it. She was unfortunately never adopted out, but she is extremely motivated individual with big dreams. Cinna is Colette’s kwami, she is quite lazy and often called Cinna-bun. The miraculous is a hair clip.

Kazan, Russia ~ The Phoenix Miraculous of Chastity/Abstinence: Currently owned by Orion, a flamboyant and arrogant 30 year old. He is extremely beautiful and a very proud man, and most would think he is a bit of a f*ckboi but nope. He is just saving himself for the right person. His father gifted him the miraculous when he was 15. Newborn is Orion’s kwami, and she is little b*tch and very stuck up. The miraculous is an armband.

Nazareth, Israel ~ The Griffin Miraculous of Patience: Currently owned by Nevaeh, a 16 year old revolutionist and active feminist. She has big ideas and big dreams that she hopes with enough dedication and patience she can achieve. Unlike the others, she received the miraculous from her dying neighbour, who was an old man in his nineties who had no children. Nevaeh may not be an intended holder but she is a brilliant one! Constance is Navaeh’s kwami, she is extremely wise and a soft speaker. The miraculous is a thumb ring.

Seoul, Korea ~ The Sea Serpent Miraculous of Temperance: Currently owned by 19 year old aspiring pop singer Levi. Levi is extremely shy and laid back, he tends to be soft-spoken and polite.Often he dreams of being an Idol but his shy personality isn’t doing him any favours. His older brother was originally the miraculous holder but instead of accepting any potential responsibility he dumped it onto him. It was originally gifted to his brother by their mother. Sai is Levi’s kwami, he is extremely skittish and is just riddled with anxiety over the belief of the world ending. He is a bit of a conspiracy theorist. The miraculous is a fin pendant necklace.

Of course Marinette in three months convinces them all to go to Paris and stay there until the defeat of Hawkmoth.

During her travels and time with them, she unravels the mysterious of these seven miraculous and their history. What are their abilities? Why do they specifically correlate with the seven virtues? How powerful are they?

Ivy and Iris stemming from a rich family, rent out a lovely penthouse for the seven of them in Paris. Colette decides to be the legal guardian of the minors since she actually is French. Orion decides he is gonna be a dick. The rest are there for a good time and to kick a buterrfly's butt. And thus ensue chaos, pranks, romance and a whole lotta arguing.

I can only imagine all the kwami’s and Marinette sitting, drinking green tea while watching these seven holders become absolute hooligans.

I already drew up concept art of them but they are not good sketches so yeah maybe I will show you guys another time.

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Idk why I think this but I just figured everyone would hate AUs like this so I don’t bother posting these ideas especially if they are not fleshed out. I have so many but these are my most promising ones.

The previous holder AU is one of my favourites because I had Captain Noir and Commander Bug’s story in my head forever. I love me some pirates. I know their whole miraculous story, like how they fell in love and why she became a pirate etc. The part where they become ghost mentors is a fairly new addition, been rolling it around for a month now and it is 100% caused by the shitty parenting via la agreste.

The mythical miraculous one is extremely fun for me, but it was one of those AUs were I believed no one would like it so....yeah enjoy it?

If you wanna know more about each one send me an ask or send names suggestions!!

#miraculous ladybug #miraculousladybug #mlb #marinette dupain cheng #marinette #adrien agreste #miraculousau #previous holder au #mythical miraculous au #adrien gets a good parental figure #this is me procrastinating #ml season 3

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danganronpa-21 · 6 years

Text

Chapter 4: New Friends and Familiar Enemies

TRACK: Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy OST 1 - 2O. Dangan Break.

Before I even took the entrance exam to get in to Hope's Peak Academy, I auditioned to be apart of the school's Talent Class Program instead of the Reserve Class one. Actually, if you want to get technical, I was auditioned more than once. Due to unfortunate circumstances, I was forced to audition twice.

The first time I was by myself, in front of a small room of people that included about four members of the school board, my father and my mother, and a talent scout. The second time, in a crowded gymnasium with all kinds of onlookers and people participating in the audition. The second time, this collection of people also happened to include an opponent by the name of Asuga Oyama.

Thanks to a heated debate between the school board and the staff at the academy, the second audition for the Talent Class title of the Super High School Level Martial Artist was held as a full-out brawl between the two students who had been selected for the role. Myself, the headmaster and vice principal's son who all in all didn't stand out too much; and another girl who stood out a little too much through her past school expulsions due to extreme violence. Thanks to the girl's history of violence in her background, Mom and Dad had wanted to reject her application for it didn't fit their requirements of what a Hope's Peak student should be. However, this screamed bias to the school board who claimed that they were surprised and even angered to not see her name in the outgoing student letters. Once they explained the circumstances, the school board shrugged off their concerns and said that a second audition should be conducted in which the two contenders fought for the rights to the title. While Mom and Dad originally tried to reject this idea, the school board forced their hands. So on a Monday evening, I received news that I was going to have to audition for a second time in the following week against an opponent I'd never met. As if that weren't enough, by the end I wasn't able to recall a lot of what happened in my second audition.

The end, especially, I don't remember. I don't remember the point in which it all turned bad. I don't remember the sensation of pain that was coursing through my body in those moments, or the feeling of the blood dribbling down my lips and chin. I can't recall the exact moment that I tumbled to the ground in bitter defeat. I can only remember what other people have told me about those last few moments, and even then they're hazy and seem almost unreal.

According to what I've been told, she got one good hit in at my nose. Fortunately there was no crunching sound, so it didn't seem like it was broken. Still, upon impact it began to mercilessly gush blood which dripped down my chin and neck, soaking my gi. At that point I'm told my parents were beginning to look a little more antsy, hoping that I would be able to take the shot no matter my pain and recover well. I can recall hoping for that too, but another strike forced in to my gut knocked the wind out of me and sent me tumbling backwards.

The crowd let out an "ooh" as I hit the mat, my lungs screaming for air as my brain tried to grasp the idea of me having been knocked on to my butt. I sat there for a split second, gasping and sputtering desperately as I strived for comprehension of situation. I should have known that I didn't have time to process it, though, for the next thing I knew I was receiving a warning from the referee that I'd have to get up soon or I'd be considered down for the count. Staying on the ground was not an option for me. It just wasn't. So despite everything that I was feeling in my body while I sat there on the mat, I used every nerve that I possibly could to push myself to my feet and maybe get myself back on track. The spectators began to cheer as I rose to my feet, but they quickly cut themselves off as soon as they saw her grab on to me and flip me. With how swiftly she'd been able to pick me up, you'd think I was nothing more than a sack of potatoes to her. Well, I suppose perhaps I was because much like the potatoes would, I received some nasty bruises from that flip.

As the crowd watched my struggle, voices began to shout from the stands and call out to me. The voices were cheering me on and assuring me that I would be able to get the upper hand against her once again if I just got back on to my feet. I had wanted to believe them, but the aching that had spread throughout my back and the rest of my body told me otherwise. I knew that if I didn't want to suffer an unfortunate fate, I would have to get up, but my body felt like it didn't remember how anymore. The only thing it seemed to understand was pure, untainted pain as I laid there on my back.

"Come on, Koichi, little buddy, get up!" I heard Yasuhiro yell from the stands, likely cupping his hands around his mouth so his voice would project louder.

"You can do it, Koichi, we know you can!" Aunt Komaru whooped next. I could already picture the way she was pumping her fist in the air. "You're doing great!"

"K-K-K-Kick her ass, kid!" Toko added, not allowing her stuttering problem to quiet her down. Realistically it was wrong of her to be saying that as a member of staff, especially considering it showed bias, but... Toko wasn't really one to play by the rules. She was incredibly good at speaking her mind, no matter how cruel or mean she was being. Usually it tended to be difficult to put up with; however, in that moment I found it actually pretty encouraging. Knowing that my family and friends were supporting me and had my back, I struggled to sit up and push myself to my feet once again.

"Seriously? Are you going to give up or what?" My opponent snarled as she adjusted the buns that she'd tied her teal hair up in. Despite my multiple attacks, she seemed to be doing a lot better than I was. She seemed to only be bleeding a little bit from her lip and her most noticeable bruise had only just begun to swell. "Aren't you ready to say that Oyama Asuga-san will be the next Super High School Level Martial Artist?"

"Fat chance of that," I retorted, putting on a smirk despite the pain and the persisting flavour of copper. "I'm going to knock your teeth out and show you who's boss."

"Hmph. Too bad you talk smack better than you fight." She countered, her body reacting in time with her words as she moved her leg up to perform a crescent kick. Instinctively I ducked, her foot just narrowly grazing my head as I nearly hit the floor. Now that she had made an attempt at getting a hit in, I knew I'd have to move quickly. As I sprung back up from the floor, I took my chance as quickly as possible and followed up with a twisting kick. Fortunately I was able to move fast enough that it collided directly with Asuga's nose. There was a slight crunching sound as it made impact, and soon it began to drip blood down her front just as mine had. Without thinking she had cupped her hands around it as involuntary tears sprung to her eyes, and for a moment I thought maybe I had her beat. If I could move fast enough to get a hit in just after she removed her hands, I thought maybe I would be able to get the upper hand. That was all I thought I really needed in that moment, to be the winner. After all, the brawl wasn't going to be over until one of us either surrendered or was no longer able to fight.

Regrettably, this was a severe blunder on my part that ultimately lead to failure. As I stood there for a moment, watching Asuga with careful eyes, I was able to observe Asuga as she drew her hands away from her nose and wiped the blood off with the back of her hand. Her gaze seemed to linger the scarlet smear on her hand for a moment, and before I knew it her icy blue eyes had pried themselves away from her hand to look at me. People have told me that even from the audience seating, they could all see the absolute fury in Asuga's eyes as she glared over at me. Her jaw clenched tight and her breathing unsteady, Asuga let out a low growling sound before lunging forward and allowing her hand to collide forcefully with my chin.

As I felt the impact I stumbled backward slightly, cringing at the feeling of my teeth being forced together due to how she struck my jaw. How unusual it was of me to have been caught off guard by something as simple as shomen-ate. When all is said and done, shomen-ate is one of the basic movements used in aikido. You could argue that it was cheap of Asuga to even use such a shot, but then again... you could also argue that it was representative of her superiority that she was able to hit me with it. I could tell that all of the spectators, no matter if they were cheering on my opponent or myself, knew that I should have been able to avoid that. But I didn't. I didn't and it enabled her to continue to her attack, each strike more powerful than the last.

It wasn't as if I wasn't trying to fight back. I was— I was whipping out everything I had to try and beat her. I was pulling moves from each of the five martial arts that I knew, but every single move I made seemed to be returned with a block and then a vicious attack against me. Before I knew it I felt blood begin to gush from my nose again thanks to another impact, and my right eye had been hit so many times that it was starting to swell. Trying desperately to stay on my feet, I bit down on my mouth guard and attempted to think of a plan to get me out of the scenario. It felt as if it was almost no use, for it seemed every move that I made, Asuga always had a counterattack for it. It probably wasn't too helpful that I was beginning to feel a little woozy in the head area, either. I felt almost as if I couldn't stand on my own two feet anymore, my stomach churning as the room spun around me.

'I've got to keep fighting.' I barely remember telling myself. For what, I wonder now. At that point it had become abundantly clear that I had no chance and yet I refused to be crushed under the weight of my opponent's superiority. My reflexes were slowing and the world kept spinning and I felt like I was going to vomit. I felt practically defenceless as Asuga grabbed on to me and performed another judo flip, slamming me down in to the mat. Pain spread throughout my entire back and shot down my legs as well. I laid there for a moment, processing all of the pain I was experiencing until finally I knew that I had to push myself up. Some of the audience members cheered as I rolled over and stood on all fours, expecting me to eventually push myself back up to being on two feet. But I didn't. Instead, I listened carefully to the angry shouts I was hearing from the stands.

"This barbaric!" A familiar voice yelled, "You're sick for making them do this. He's obviously injured, just call off the fight already! He needs help! I don't care about the competition, it's not worth these kids getting hurt!"

I didn't hear the response to that statement. I wasn't even able to decipher who's voice it was yelling, only that it belonged to a man I was sure I knew. Rather than forcing myself to understand, I simply continued to stare at the ground as the referee and Asuga both screamed at me to get up. I could feel the chaos breaking loose all around me, but I was so battered and broken that I didn't even have it in me to do anything about it. As I tried to get back to my feet, the world seemed to spin even faster, and I began to feel a warm bile rise up my throat.

'Oh god. Koichi, do not puke here.' I ordered myself, but the concussion I had just received was not going to obey such a command. Instead it allowed, or maybe even *encouraged* me to barf up my breakfast from that morning. All over the mat, I may add. As I stood there, still on all fours, gasping and looking at the mess that I had just made; I came to the profound realization that at this point I had completely lost. There was no coming back from a concussion that made me too dizzy to stand and so, so sick to my stomach. Without the strength to do anything more, I let myself fall to my left side (away from the puddle) and hit the floor.

Just doing that, there were about two sensations I felt within that moment: utter disappointment in myself, and utter pain due to every single injury I sustained.

"Winner: Challenger Oyama Asuga!" The referee cheered, holding Asuga's arm in the air triumphantly as he completely ignored my panicked parents pushing past him and rushing to my side. I've been told that the moment they got a hold of me, Dad wrapped his arms around me and picked me up. Carrying me incredibly gingerly in his arms, he and Mom rushed me to the infirmary for medical attention. They left the whole competition aspect behind, not thinking about how they would be forced to admit the girl who ruthlessly attacked their son.

Not thinking about the girl who wouldn't stop even after her opponent was obviously down. The girl I'd hoped that I would never have to see again.

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TRACK: DRtA OST: -1-11- Despair Eden

After Tamiko and I parted, my feelings of anxiousness and uncertainty seemed to increase once again. Which was really obnoxious, to say the least, but it's not like there was anything I could have done about it. We both met each other knowing that eventually we would have to go off with our own classes. It just seemed almost as if it was too soon when we finally did part. Honestly because of that... I felt as if the whole entrance ceremony was a total blur. I was too busy running through the different possibilities in my mind that I could barely focus on the speech that poor Dad had been reciting to himself while doing the laundry for weeks. I actually even managed to miss homeroom teacher introductions, and was forced to awkwardly ask the girl next to me what our homeroom teacher's name was. On the bright side, at least, I definitely wasn't one of the students who needed all of these speeches to understand what my school life would be like. Seeing as I practically grew up at Hope's Peak, I pretty much knew how everything worked. I figured that I could afford to not be one-hundred percent attentive this one time. Besides, it wasn't like I hadn't been to half a dozen of these entrance ceremonies before— back when I was a lot younger, Mom and Dad used to bring me to them all the time just to get a look at my future.

I'm sure it could've been overwhelming for some of the kids who had never seen the place before in their lives, though. The alumni who restored the school had done a spectacular job of upholding its reputation as a beacon of hope, and likely even having created predecessor that far surpassed the original. Everything about the school was planned out to the last detail to assure that the school would be up to code and accessible to a spectrum of students. While this meant that the school was greatly improved, it also meant that there were many more precautions taken, thus ultimately making it more difficult to get in. While rebuilding the school, the alumni abolished the hated Steering Committee, and in turn amplified the difficulty of the school's application process. Talent Class students were put through a sequence that included an audition, several background checks, a personal interview, and then a final application to even be considered for their spot within the school. As for us Reserve Class kids, we were subjected to a similar sequence of an entrance exam, several background checks, an essay describing our life goals and ambitions, and then the final application. Saying it was a somewhat brutal system was putting it lightly, so at least I could find in my heart the empathy I needed for the kids who were literally trembling in their seats.

The future was coming up on each and every once of us quickly, and it really didn't hit any of us until the older students concluded the school's song and our teacher gathered us all up together and lead us to our homeroom. No more time to tremble in the auditorium seats and think of what could be. The future was happening now.

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TRACK: Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy OST 1 - 15. The housekeeper saw!

Class 99-A consisted of twenty-five students including myself. The Reserve Class to Talent Class ratio was split almost perfectly down the middle (considering you can't have half a student), with twelve Talent Class kids and thirteen Reserve Class kids. Among our ranks were some notable titles such as Kotone Sawamatsu the Super High School Level Child Star, Arata Hara the Super High School Level Ringmaster, and Jirou Watabe the Super Highschool Level Rugby Player. Aside from that, there was a plethora of different talents situated in the Reserve Class as well. Some people had come to study snake charming, piloting, and even the importance of biodiversity. It seemed almost everyone in Class 99-A had something to offer. Everybody was unique and different, and had their own interests. As we played our icebreaker games, this was something they all seemed to remark upon. That is, everyone except for myself and a certain girl who sat at the back of our classroom.

That girl aside, just from the ice breaking games that our class played in homeroom, I had the feeling that I would like a lot of my new classmates. Although some of them could be a bit rowdy, they all appeared to be genuinely friendly and open. If they saw somebody retreating because they were shy, there would usually be at least two other students who would pull them further in to activities and make them feel like they belonged. By the time we'd rolled through our first three periods, we were all pretty much best friends. I'd never felt that comfortable in a classroom in my life, so by the time lunch rolled around and we all decided to head back to our homeroom, I wasn't all that concerned about being vulnerable. I mean, I already had a great group of people that I could eat with and talk to. Lunch would have been like a perfect dream if I hadn't gone to my locker to get my lunch... only to find out that in the rush of the morning, I'd completely forgotten it. I could only hope that Mom, Dad, or Hope might have picked it up on their way out the door. I figured I would text Dad, just to be sure.

'Hey— sorry to bother you while you're busy, but did you pick up my lunch before we left? I accidentally left it behind by accident. Optimistically thinking you might have grabbed it?' I typed, hitting send before bothering to read it through for typos. I figured that Dad would get back to me relatively quickly, considering that he too would be on his lunch break. Although now that I think about it, I could have been thinking far too optimistically about that in an attempt to get my stomach to shut up about how hungry I was. I was so nervous that I'd barely touched my breakfast that morning, and I was definitely paying the price for it.

Willing my mind to forget my food for one minute, I placed my phone back down on my desk and sighed. As I didn't end up walking to my locker with anyone else, this also meant that I was one of the first people back. So for a solid few minutes I was sitting alone in the classroom without a soul to disturb me. That is, until back-of-the-classroom girl came stomping in, her feet thundering against the tile floor as she made her way back in. Though she seemed to be holding a lunch box, I got the weirdest feeling that her first intention once she entered the room wasn't to sit down and start eating. The glare she shot me when she walked in to the room was probably the clearest sign of that.

"Why are you sitting in here all alone?" She huffed, raising an eyebrow at me as she folded her arms across the chest that she had puffed up a little too proudly. I couldn't help but remark that her knuckles were bandaged. "I thought for sure you'd be out there socializing and making friends with all of the others. Getting them all on your side, Mister Sociable. Isn't that what you do?"

"That's a pretty bold assumption for a girl who doesn't even know me," I shot back, sensing her hostility from my seat. "Mind your own business."

"Please, I can read you like a book." She hissed, continuing to pound her feet against the floor as she moved forward, placing herself right in front of my desk. I willed myself not to feel threatened by her presence as she leaned forward so that the two of us were nearly at eye level. It was a tactic she was trying to use to irk me. Even though I knew what she was capable of, I did not feel that I should show any weakness. "You're Mommy and Daddy's little prince who gets everything he's ever wanted and more. Everybody always has and always will love you... or at least they'll pretend to."

"Why are you even speaking to me? Did you come here to gloat, or something? I get it, Oyama-san, you won." I murmured, the emptiness in my chest sparking yet again as I spoke the words. It was awful to admit, especially to her face like that, but what could I do? We were both there. We both knew that between the two of us, I was the loser.

"I guess you could say that," She taunted, shrugging her shoulders slightly as her icy blue eyes remained locked on to mine. "After all, this has to have been the first time that you haven't gotten what you wanted. I figured that you would be a little bit upset about it."

"I'm not upset," I insisted, knowing that that was a bull-faced lie. Of course I was upset, she beat the crap out of me and didn't stop until I was concussed. She bloodied my face, bruised my body, and then spit on me like I was trash. Her unsportsmanlike-like behaviour should have been enough of a sign of who she was, but because I was the headmaster's son nobody else saw it that way. "I'm over it, Oyama-san. I don't care anymore."

"That's some tough shit to believe, Naegi-kun. Judging by our little audition, you seem to have a hard time letting shit go. I got in one good hit and then you would deliver three back with this furious little look on your face." She remarked. "So personally, I think that you're still holding on to this little problem of yours. Maybe you're going to use it to your advantage."

"To my advantage?" I echoed, honest to god having no clue what she was inferring. If I was still holding on to some false hope, that was my issue— not hers. It made so little sense to me that I found myself waiting for her to say something at least somewhat logical. Instead, she slammed her fist down on the table in front of me.

"Let's not play dumb here." She snapped, baring her teeth at me like an angry dog. The way she was speaking was so careful and so controlled that you could tell she was doing everything in her power to keep herself from flying off the handle. "You're Mommy and Daddy's favourite little student, and if you went running to tell them shit about me they'd believe you without a doubt. It ain't no secret to me that your dumbass parents didn't want me here, either. The second they hear you say something about me, whether it is the truth or a lie, they'll boot my ass outta here. Strip me of my title, and give it to you."

"Oyama-san, what kind of devious—" I interrupted, but a swift movement she made to kick me in the shin shut me right up as I yelped out in surprise and pain.

"Don't act like you're so fucking innocent. The others may not see what a piece of shit you really are, but I do. I know exactly what you do, and I'm telling you now that if you fucking try anything to get me expelled, you should expect an ass beating. I won't hesitate to send you to the hospital, maybe break a few of your bones. Show everyone what happens to snot-nosed little bitches who think they're better than everybody."

"Hey, what's your problem?!"

Those words didn't come from my mouth. Somebody else was... was defending me.

The voice interrupted her rant so suddenly that it took the both of us by surprise. After all, we had been under the impression that the two of us were the only two people in the classroom at that moment. Considering the others left with friends at their sides, we had assumed it would be awhile until they returned as they needed to hit multiple lockers and would likely chat along the way. As far as we were concerned, we were supposed to be the only people in the room. That was why Asuga had decided to have this little confrontation with me, wasn't it?

As the two of us whipped our heads around toward the doorway of the classroom, we found two of our classmates standing there. One of them was a tall blonde boy with heterochromatic eyes, and the other was a silver-haired girl with a mole on her chin. Judging by the sound of the voice that spoke, the silver-haired girl was likely the one who had jumped to my defence. The voice had been undeniably female, even despite the fact that she seemed to speak in a low and almost unamused tone.

"Hey, I ain't going to ask you again," The girl growled, narrowing her eyes at Asuga. "What's your issue? Why are you in here threatening that kid?"

"Why aren't you minding your own business, Kitagawa-san?" Asuga retorted sharply, gritting her teeth out of what I could assume was probably habit. "I wasn't doing anything that this kid doesn't deserve."

"You just met him today. He hasn't done anything to you yet." The girl, whose first name I had since forgotten and will refer to as Kitagawa until I actually found out, pointed out. She'd have had no clue how well Asuga and I knew each other, but at the very least I was incredibly grateful that she had jumped to my defence. I definitely wasn't going to be able to deal with her on my own, especially after our audition together. "Just leave him alone."

"You don't know anything about what's going on here, so just keep your nose out of my business." Asuga demanded, her fist slamming down on my desk hard. Although I knew it was kind of sad of me to have done so, I jumped a little. (It startled me!)

"I'll keep my nose out of your business when you stop threatening kids who didn't do anything." She announced firmly, starting to walk toward Asuga. "Don't think that just because my talent is fire dancing doesn't mean that I can't kick your ass. 'Cause I can and I will."

"You want a bet on that, Golden Eyes?" Asuga said, her tone not quite as loud but still clipped. I couldn't help but wonder if perhaps she was maybe losing a bit of her edge due to Kitagawa's presence. Whoever she was, this girl must have been good if she had the power to intimidate someone like Asuga. Not once when we auditioned together did she ever appear to be fearful of me. She was always moving and thinking about her next hit, never concerned about what I was going to do. While she looked down on me, I assumed that she must have seen Kitagawa as someone who was closer to being an equal. Maybe even closer to being above her.

"N-Natsumi," The blond boy piped up, tugging on the sleeve of Kitagawa's uniform like a small child attempting to get the attention of his mother. "Remember what we were told, we can't afford to be getting in to fights while we're here."

"It ain't a fight if she attacks me first," Kitagawa— Er... Natsumi, responded briskly. Though the two (as far as I had seen) appeared to be friends, Natsumi was portraying herself as the type of person who was fairly stuck in her own ways. She likely wasn't going to be taking her friend's advice if it meant having to back down. "Besides, if I leave this bitch alone she'll just keep harassing him."

"Who are you calling bitch? You want to get your teeth knocked out?!"

"Don't you dare!" I snapped involuntarily, pushing myself to my feet as if I could do something about the scenario that we were in. Again it was no secret that I wouldn't be able to defeat her this time if I hadn't managed it during the audition. Some people might have even said that it would have been better if I kept my big stupid mouth shut, but I wasn't going to let Natsumi get hurt because she was defending my sorry butt. I would rather have another concussion than allow anything like that to happen.

Upon hearing my outburst, Asuga whipped her head around to look at me again with a nasty glare. "Oh yeah, and I suppose you're going to be able to kick my ass if I do hit her? Grow up, Naegi-kun, we all know that you're nothin' more than a little pipsqueak who thinks talent comes from genetics. Just remember that beyond that fancy celebrity status, you come from a family of huge losers. You're never going to be anything more than Reserve Course dud, you rotten little—"

"That's it!" Natsumi yelled, bringing her fist up so that it could connect with Asuga's face. Fortunately for all of us, her friend leaped in at the last possible minute and grabbed her wrist.

"Natsumi, no!" He whimpered, "You remember what your dad told you!"

"I don't give a damn!" She shouted, struggling to release her wrist from his grasp. By this point she was clenching her jaw so tightly that her face was beginning to turn pink. Sweat began to form on her forehead as she tried to allow the anger to be her strength and pry herself free from her friend's grasp. Even watching Natsumi's fury, there was one thing that was lingering in my mind as the blond boy and I worked desperately to keep Asuga and Natsumi from slaughtering each other on the spot.

Your dad.

Not Natsumi's dad, of course. At the time I didn't know the guy and ultimately had no idea if he even would've been useful to us within that moment. No, I was thinking about my dad, and what Asuga had been saying to me earlier about how I was only at Hope's Peak because of my parents. You know, how she thought I would tattle on her to them even for things she didn't do, just to get her expelled.

Mulling this thought over in my mind, I looked down at my phone, which sat directly in the middle of my desk with its face down. Carefully, I reached for it and picked it up, praying to have received a reply from Dad (although admittedly that was mostly due to hunger). Gripping it as tightly as possible so as to make sure Asuga could not snatch it from my hands, I turned it over to see the notifications that had popped up on the screen. Just as I had hoped, my phone had lit up with a message from none other than my father.

'Yup, grabbed your lunch. Mom nearly forgot hers too. I asked Hope to deliver it to you, so it won't be embarrassing to have your dad walk in to the classroom and all. I hope you're having a good day and making lots of new friends! I'm going to make curry tonight in celebration of your new adventures. Love you!'

I had to fight off a smile as I read the message over, endeared by how considerate Dad was of my feelings. Of course, right then was not the time or the place to establish that my father was adorable, so I had to do my best to fend off the smile as the altercation in front of me continued to progress. Still, Dad's message to me ended up being valuable, and not because it now meant that I was aware of what was on the menu for dinner tonight.

"Oyama-san?" I said softly, a smirk appearing on my face as I looked up from my phone. I made sure to say her name extra sweetly and gently so that she would turn to me with pure rage in mind. It was safe to say that even though we didn't know each other that well, I knew exactly what would make her tick.

"What do you want now?" She snapped, her eyes drilling in to me as she focused on what I had to say. "Got something to say, or do you just want me to give you a fat lip?"

Now that her eyes were on me and there was a chance that the whole thing could go terribly wrong, it dawned on me how unsure of this I was. I mean, my stomach was now doing somersaults and I could feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead. I found myself biting my lip as she scrutinized me, trying to think of the best way of delivering my message. Confidence should have been the key in its delivery, but let's be honest here— I don't have any confidence. It's never really been up my alley.

"I just wanted to remind you of something you said earlier," I chuckled, forcing a mischievous smile so I appeared as if I would be able to wrap her right around my finger. "When you were talking about my parents and I, specifically."

Upon hearing this, even Natsumi seemed to pipe down as she and the blond boy observed me eagerly. It was clear from the looks on their faces that they wanted to see what I was going to do next, and I couldn't deny that the thought of showing them was kind of thrilling to me.

"What about it?" She grunted. Just by the very mention of my parents, she puffed up her chest and stood a little taller. It was a small sign, but it showed that this was the one thing that intimidated her about me: the power I had over her in the school's administration. Even if this power was a fictional figment of her own mind, it couldn't hurt to see if she'd back down due to the threat of potentially losing her spot at Hope's Peak. As rude and nasty as she was, Asuga was just like the rest of us. She'd wanted to come here since she was young and she probably worked pretty hard to qualify for it. She wouldn't want that to slip away, but it didn't give her the right to threaten people. So maybe that's why I decided to pretend to be the vile creature she thought I was.

"You mentioned some concerns you had about me tattling to my parents about some of the things you might do just for the sake of your expulsion," I reminded her, putting one of my hands on my hip almost confidently. Despite my facade of ease, I still had a death grip on my phone so she couldn't take it away from me. "If that's the kind of behaviour you expect from me, you've got some nerve to come over here threatening me and nearly fighting Kitagawa-san over here. I mean, couldn't I just go tattle on you to Mommy and Daddy? Send you packing, just as you said?"

In that moment I swear that there was nothing more satisfying than bearing witness to the change in Asuga's expression. Just as suddenly as it had come, her anger melted away. Replacing it was an expression that featured brows that had been knit together, worried eyes, and teeth that were clenched with much less certainty.

"You wouldn't do that." She sputtered gracelessly, glancing quickly over at Natsumi and her blond buddy as if to ask if I actually would. When her eyes fell on them, they shrugged in response. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the grin on Natsumi's face. She and I both knew we had her beat.

"Wouldn't I, though?" I taunted, waving my phone at her. "I thought that you said that this kind of thing was what I do."

Asuga's jaw clenched harder as she stared at me, her body beginning to tremble as it processed the sensations of anger that were coursing through it. "So what are you going to do? Tattle on me then?"

"Well, I will if you don't leave us alone. Otherwise, I won't speak a word."

Her gaze darted from me to Natsumi to back to me again. Finally, she let out a screech of frustration and defeat as her foot collided with the classroom floor again. "F-Fine, whatever!" She cried loudly, likely drawing the attention of the students that were just piling in to eat their own lunches. "Just know that if you do say something—"

"I know, I know, you'll kick my arse." I said, holding my hand up as if to halt her from her useless threats. "I'll keep my mouth shut if you keep yours shut, alright?"

"D-Deal." She muttered. With that, she took this as a cue to turn around and stomp off in the other direction, much to the confusion of our classmates who had just come from their lockers. A few of them even glanced in our direction with raised eyebrows as if to ask what was up with her, but we ended up offering them nothing more than a few well-coordinated shrugs. As soon as they saw this, they accepted that Asuga might have been in a snit and left the three of us to go back to our business. Once she was gone, it gave the three of us a chance to talk to each other.

"Dude, what you just did there was fuckin' brilliant!" Natsumi whooped, pumping her fist in the air triumphantly. "Seriously, it was real clever. You twisted her words around and used them to get things to go in your favour. That takes some skill."

Upon hearing Natsumi's compliment, I couldn't hide my blush. I wasn't accustomed to receiving compliments that weren't from family or my teachers, so hearing that was like its own recipe for making me get all flustered. "T-Thanks... You were really cool too, stepping in the way that you did. I don't know what I would've done if it hadn't been for you... So, y'know... thanks."

"It's no problem, really. It's what any decent person should do." Natsumi assured me, moving to tuck a strand of her silver hair behind her ear. Now that she was closer to me and I wasn't preoccupied with not getting in to any trouble on my first day, I could really take a minute to get a good look at Natsumi. Now that she was up close, I could see the smaller details of her. Like me, she was pretty short. At tallest, I would say she was about four feet eleven inches. Her build was fairly rectangular, and very few parts of her body were all that curvy. Her skin was a soft peachy tone, which paired nicely with the striking silver colour of her hair. It was glossy and long, spilling down her shoulders and flowing down her back until it reached her waistline. Sprinkled across her cheeks and nose there were half a million different freckles, and there was a tiny mole that sat happily upon her chin. She seemed to be fond of accessorizing and doing make-up, for in her right ear she had about three piercings and had done her eyeliner so it would be a perfect wing. Like all girls at Hope's Peak Academy did, Natsumi donned the seifuku-style uniform with a merlot red ribbon to express herself. All in all she was a fairly good-looking girl, but not someone I ultimately felt like I would see around Tokyo.

"Well thanks for being a decent person then." I chuckled. "I don't believe we've formally met, though. I mean, we did class introductions but honestly... I'm not great with names."

"It's cool, no worries." Natsumi told me, folding her arms across her chest. "They call me Ku—Kitagawa Natsumi. I'm the Super High School Level Fire Dancer."

I recall feeling off-put by how Natsumi seemed to stutter over her own name, as if she was trying to hide something from me. Still, excited by the presence of potential new friends, I shrugged it off and told her that it was nice to meet her before turning to the other boy. "And if you don't mind my asking, what's your name?"

Upon acknowledgement, the blond boy's face lit up with surprise. He seemed to grin almost immediately as he realized what was happening. "Oh! My name's Tachibana Phoenix, and I'm the Super High School Level Parapsychologist! It's really nice to meet you." He giggled, his eyes sparkling with delight as he spoke. "I know this is kind of a weird question, but has anybody ever told you that you look like Makoto Naegi?"

I felt bad for how quickly and openly I laughed at that. "Considering he's my dad, yeah, kinda." I replied, scratching my cheek out of fear that my laughter might have offended Phoenix. Thankfully, instead of getting flustered and embarrassed, he continued to smile like it was his job.

"Really?" Phoenix asked, "You're the son they talk about?"

"Y-Yeah," I admitted, shrugging a little bit. "My name's Naegi-Kirigiri Koichi, but for convenience's sake you can just call me Naegi-san. Naegi-Kirigiri-san is a mouthful."

"Jesus Christ, Naegi-san, is your mother a printer or something? Now that Phoenix has pointed it out, I can't deny how alike you and your dad look." Natsumi gasped, raising an eyebrow as she studied my appearance. "I can't believe I didn't pick up on it before."

"My mother is in fact a real woman, she just ended up having a baby who looked exactly her husband..." I snickered somewhat awkwardly, my scratching moving to the back of my neck. "It happens. That aside, where are you guys from?"

"Oh, we're from an island!" Phoenix chirped happily, pushing the pair of glasses sitting on his nose up a little further.

"Phoenix, this whole country is essentially an island." She reminded him, her eyes doing a full rotation before falling back on me. "More specifically, we're from Shikoku."

"Shikoku, huh?" I said, putting forth my best smile. "Well, welcome to Tokyo then."

#Danganronpa 21 #Danganronpa 21: The Old World's Future #danganronpa #danganronpa next generation #naegiri fanchild #kuzupeko fanchild #sondam fanchild #post hope arc #koichi naegi-kirigiri #Natsumi Kuzuryuu #phoenix nevermind #naegiri #sondam #kuzupeko #Asuga Oyama

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raendown · 7 years

Link

Pairing: ItachiSakura Soulmate au: The one where you have a meter on your body that tells you how dangerous your soulmate is

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

Although he would rather let his younger sibling shave him bald then admit it, Itachi had always been rather anxious about meeting his soulmate. There were speculations that the Meters were a product of generations long ago, back in olden times when carrying hidden weapons was typical and being a ninja was a common profession. Back then it would have been useful to know how dangerous one’s soulmate was; it might have actually helping you find them. Nowadays the Meters were largely superfluous, only helpful if one by chance happened to stumble across one’s soulmate and touch them.

For people like Itachi, however, the Meter had another purpose: worrying him sick whenever he let himself think about things too deeply. It sat upon his right wrist, a half-moon broken in to four colored sections. Most people that he met had their thick black needle pointing firmly somewhere in the green quadrant. He had seen a few that pointed in the middling yellow range, whose soulmates often turned out to be police officers or military personnel. He had even met one person whose needle pointed to the orange quadrant and when the truth of his home life had finally come out the entire town had been in an uproar.

Itachi’s Meter, however, was unlike any he’d seen before. The needle on his wrist pointed firmly towards the red quadrant. Whoever his soulmate was they were a very dangerous person indeed. Itachi often wondered how he registered for his other half; as the CEO of Uchiha Incorporated he didn’t imagine he could be seen as very dangerous at all. Certainly he was trained in several martial arts, but that was more of a personal hobby than an intention to hurt someone.

Finding one’s soulmate was not actually very common anymore. Enough so that when Itachi did meet his, he couldn’t decide whether to be more shocked at the fact of the meeting or the method.

Being the CEO made every personal moment in his life a public one, much to his chagrin, and his thirty-second birthday was no different. The party his younger brother had arranged for him was tasteful but he would have much preferred to celebrate quietly at home instead of in the massive office from which he ran the family company. Despite the terror of the moment when a gang of men with automatic weapons burst in to crash the party, Itachi could not stop himself from sending his brother the driest ‘I-told-you-so’ face in his repertoire.

That look melted away to be replaced with complete and utter shock as a petite woman with bright pink hair dropped down through his ceiling tiles right on top of the one pointing a gun in his face. With seeming ease she locked her thighs around his neck, twisted, and rolled away leaving a dead man behind her. Itachi could do no more than sit huddled behind his desk beside Sasuke and watch as this tiny slip of a thing systematically took out each and every one of the assailants without earning so much as a scratch.

Stupidly, despite the shock of the events going on around him, Itachi could not take his eyes from the woman. Her distractingly beautiful face remained impassive even as she disarmed a man twice her size and drove the butt of his own gun in to the base of his skull. Party-goers screamed and scattered every which way each time one of the masked intruders moved yet his pink-haired savior appeared perfectly calm, rolling backwards over the snack table to avoid a wild punch and kicking her opponent between the eyes as she went.

As abruptly as the action had started, it was all over. Suddenly the room was left utterly quiet, the rich and terrified all huddled along the edges of the room, several large muscle-bound terrorists unconscious or dead on the floor, and one petite woman casually brushing her hair out of her eyes, examining the cuff of her sleeve and grimacing at a tear in the material. With a huff, her eyes swung over to where Itachi and Sasuke were both still crouched behind his large desk. As the elder rose slowly to his feet with as much composure as he could her gaze swept over him from head to toe, a considering look on her face. Itachi felt almost as though he were being judged and he wondered if he had been found wanting.

“You have some pretty important people after your head, you know,” she said, the first words she had spoken since entering the room. Itachi raised a single eyebrow.

“That is not news to me,” he replied. She snorted, shaking a bit of broken glass off of her boot before stepping over in his direction.

“Well lucky for you you’ve also got some important people looking out for that pretty head of your as well. Sorry to break up your party”–she really didn’t sound very sorry–“but you’ll have to come with me, Uchiha-san.” With one hip cocked and the slightly tilt to her head, pink hair swaying like a sheet of candy floss around her face, she looked nothing like the deadly fighting machine of only a moment ago.

In all his life, Itachi had never been so instantly intrigued by a person.

“To follow you would seem the best course of action,” he conceded, tugging his clothes in to the place in an effort to further compose himself. He’d just watched three men die and several others be rendered violently unconscious; he should not be fighting back a flush of attraction. To his side, Sasuke was looking at him as though he’d gone crazy.

“You can’t just go running off with some stranger!” his brother protested. The girl smirked.

“Why Sasuke, how rude!” She gave a simpering pout so false it was laughable. “How can you possibly call me a stranger? Don’t you recognize your old classmate?”

Three heartbeats of silence passed while Sasuke stared at the woman, confusion written on his features as he obviously wracked his brain to try and come up with where he could have possibly met someone so dangerous before. The moment it clicked was obvious when his jaw dropped. “Sakura!?”

“The one and the only. Now, Uchiha-san, if you would?” She directed her second statement to the one she had been paid to come here and protect, beckoning Itachi towards her and completely dismissing his younger brother.

“If memory serves,” Itachi said as he picked his way towards her, “’Sakura’ was the name of the girl in high school who had an obsession with my little brother.” The woman chuckled.

“Yes, well. Let’s just say I’ve moved on to bigger and better things.”

Itachi hummed as he drew abreast of her. Shaking her head in amusement at his efforts to seem unaffected by everything that was happening, she reached out to tug his tie in to place for him. His hand came up in reflex, attempting to block her motion using one of the moves he practiced so often in the dojo. The moment his fingers curled around his wrist they both stopped moving, staring at each other in wonderment.

“Much better things, it would seem,” she breathed for only him to hear.

He found he could hardly respond at first. His soulmate! He knew it the moment their skin touched, this woman before him was his soulmate! He could hardly believe that they had found each other; even less believable that he had watched her kill three would-be attackers within the first five minutes of meeting.

Sakura recovered first. She stepped away from him with a sharp smirk but soft eyes, heading for the exit. The partygoers that he had forgotten all about, still braced along the edges of the room, scrambled to get out of her way as she reached the door.

“Coming?” she called over her shoulder. Once corner of Itachi’s mouth quirked up ever so slightly.

“Oh yes,” he answered in a low voice. “I believe I will follow wherever you wish to lead me.”

#soulmate collection #rae writes #itasaku #itachi #sakura #fanfiction #naruto shippuden

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yogaadvise · 4 years

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5 Yoga Poses and Journaling Exercises, Paired for Inner Healing

There's a stating in yoga exercise--" Your problems remain in your tissues." It's amusing shorthand, yet real. It is not unusual to be in a yoga exercise technique just to discover the disturbing sensation of anger, jealousy, or resentment arise from what looks like out of nowhere. Fortunately is that yoga exercise can assist you acknowledge as well as digest your hard feelings-- whether they emerge on or off the mat.

You bump up against the body-feelings nexus any kind of time you remain in a yoga exercise course. As well as there are times in life when you want is to be anywhere except where you are. It's a natural component of the human experience. And also yet, if you can learn to stay with discomfort, the next moment commonly generates something brand-new and also sweet-- release, catharsis, or combination. What brings you to the yoga floor covering over and also over is that wonderful feeling of efficiency as well as peace when you remain present with whatever develops during technique, as well as additionally when you bring what exists in your day-to-day life to the mat.

Journaling is an additional technique that can assist you find quality in the mire of sensation and also sensation. It can really feel like speaking to a good buddy or therapist-- just that thoughtful, wise individual beyond of the dialogue is you. A journaling technique can be carried out in a stream-of-consciousness kind of means, or it can take the type of details inquiries as well as responses. Do whatever helps you.

In the spirit of query, integrating yoga and journaling can produce riches of self-understanding. Here's a yoga and journaling sequence for recognizing, digesting, as well as integrating emotions that occur for you on and off the yoga mat. This practice includes longer holds of stances (one to three minutes) because that permits room for feelings to bubble to the surface area. Use a timer to ensure that you don't need to maintain track yourself, and maintain a journal as well as pen nearby. Consider making use of the antique, hands-on art of putting pen to paper as opposed to keying your notes-- research studies show that the plain existence of computer systems or smart devices modifies the method you think.

1. Child's Pose (Balasana)

Child's Pose is the best, peaceful starting point for this journaling and also yoga exercise practice.

Start on all fours in Table Pose.

Bring your big toes with each other, different your knees, as well as push your hips back toward your heels.

Rest your forehead on the floor or your piled hands.

Exert mild pressure on your forehead toward the eyebrow line (as opposed to the hairline) to ground and relieve your body and also mind.

Stay in the present for 2 minutes.

Regulate the size of your breath to a pattern of four counts inhalation, and 8 counts exhalation.

Check out directions for 5 different adjustments for your Kid's Pose.

Journaling Exercise:

Ask on your own, "How does my body feel? What are the sensations in my muscles, bones, joints, as well as body organs?" Try not to inform on your own a story regarding why you really feel the means you do. Just notice the sensations.

Next, ask, "Is my mind calmness or agitated? Where are my thoughts drawn? Is there a predominating topic to my reasoning, or am I drew in several directions?" Once more, attempt not to slam or describe any one of this to on your own. Just observe and also permit to be as you are.

Last, ask, "What is my state of heart, or emotion, at this minute?" See if you can put a name to several sensations, also if they're tough ones. Bear in mind that individuals can hold numerous-- sometimes clashing-- feelings. You could register fear, hopefulness, despair, impatience, and like done in the very same moment.

Write down your observations before transitioning to the following activities. It serves to tape even the noticeable things, such as "I'm starving" or "My back really feels achy." This is a workout in deep self-awareness, as well as that begins with the outermost layer-- the body.

2. Free-Form Cat and Cow (Marjariasana and Bitilasana)

This enlivening workout will prepare your body to hold the poses that follow.

Come back to Table Pose.

Move your back in gentle onward as well as back bends (also known as curving as well as rounding).

As you breathe in, lift your tailbone and chin upward toward the skies as well as allow your tummy relocate down towards the earth.

As you breathe out, draw your tummy into your back as well as round your back toward the ceiling as you put your chin and also tailbone.

Alternate these 2 movements a number of times.

Now, allow this movement evolve. You can guide your hips side to side, or do circles and barrel rolls-- whatever sorts of mild activities stir up and energize your spine.

Let it really feel great and let your body-- as opposed to your program-- lead the method. All the while, stay knowledgeable about your physical, mental, as well as psychological landscape.

Journaling Exercise: Notification the impacts of these simple motions in your body. Ask, "Just how has my body responded? Do I feel awake in my body-- or tired, or tight, or kicked back, or another thing? What sort of ideas exist? Have my sensations shifted from a moment ago?"

Remember, it's okay if sensations as well as feelings shift, and also it's okay if they stay the very same. The function of this exercise isn't to compel an adjustment, yet merely to grow your awareness.

3. Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

Downward Pet, an ubiquitous yoga position, offers a luxurious stretch to the whole rear of your body from legs to spine as well as shoulders-- as well as is a healthy and balanced place to hold and also observe. A light inversion, it allows more blood flow to your brain.

From Table Posture, walk your hands a few inches onward, curl your toes under, and press up and back to Downward Dog.

First, pedal your heels as well as release any tension from your head and neck.

Then, align your arms, lengthen your upper body, raise your resting bones up and also back, press your thighs towards the wall surface behind you. Flexing your knees is completely okay here.

Encourage your heels toward the floor if that's offered to you.

Try to keep every one of these activities in the body while taking a breath deeply and also holding the pose for 2 to 3 minutes.

Take a brief remainder in Youngster's Posture, and after that return to your journal.

Journaling Exercise: Exactly how did your body feel? What kinds of ideas existed? Did you experience resistance to the lengthy hold of the pose? Did your mind roam, as well as if so, where did it go? What kinds of feelings emerged? Are they the very same ones from your initial round of journaling a couple of mins ago, or did they change? How do you feel now that it's done?

4. Pigeon Pose (Kapotasana)

According to chakra theory, the hips are the seat of the sacral, or second, chakra, and also control the emotions. Simply put, you might discover that your problems are most specifically in your hip tissues!

From Table Pose, slide your right knee behind your right wrist.

Flex your right foot as well as slide the heel towards the front of your mat.

Slide your left upper leg back as well as straighten the left knee, then broaden the left side of the hips toward the left, and also descend your hips and butts closer to the floor.

Walk your hands forward, relax your temple on your forearms, on a block, or on the floor.

Breathe. Allow experiences to be there. Kick back all that you can.

Sometimes unexpected despair or pain can show up here, if you permit it. Splits can supply a welcome launch from previous injures that you may-- or might not-- bear in mind consciously. Try to permit on your own this experience without classifying feelings as excellent or negative, and also without pushing them away. After 3 mins, change sides. Upon releasing Pigeon Posture, return to your journal.

Journaling Exercise: Observe on your own in body, mind, and also emotion, and also document what you discover, together with any insights. You might ask yourself: "Where, specifically, did I really feel Pigeon Pose in my body? The back leg or the front leg? The external hip or the butts? What was the high quality of that feeling-- deep or shallow, localized or diffuse, positive or extreme? Where are my thoughts currently? Is it getting easier to anchor right into the here and now moment by linking recognition of my body, mind as well as heart? Did my feelings alter or escalate in Pigeon Posture? Were any kind of memories or past experiences activated?"

If you locate yourself dismayed or flustered hereafter method, or if you have unaddressed injury in your past, seek the assistance of an experienced specialist. There are lots of specialists that make use of a somatic, or body-centered, approach.

5. Corpse Pose (Savasana)

Also called yogic leisure or Savasana, this is the supreme minute to incorporate the physical-mental-emotional experience you have actually had.

Lie flat on your back as well as relax your legs to be equivalent distance from the mid-line.

Open your arms to a 45-degree angle, transforming your hands up. Make the effort to establish Savasana in a symmetrical method to make sure that your Prana, or life power, flows unimpeded via your physical and psychological bodies-- bringing rest, integration, as well as ease.

Let go of idea, evaluation, as well as analysis, as well as allow your mind to drift or wander if it wishes to. You might discover on your own honored with an experience of pure Being.

Stay in Savasana for five to ten minutes.

Journaling Exercise: Strategy this last round of journaling as a method to integrate the entire experience. What are the impacts of the entire practice in your body, mind, and heart? How do you feel now? Do you have a message for on your own moving on, or an affirmation about what you wish to produce? Once more, count on whatever pertains to you presently, without judging or censoring. Practicing understanding of body, mind and also heart can result in more liberty, if you enable it.

If it comes conveniently, you can end this exercise with a petition. You may ask that your problems be minimized, or for advice as well as instructions. Or you might merely claim, "thank you for the presents and understandings of this method. May I have compassion, and might I see the light in all beings."

These presents will certainly each link your mind and body differently, which indicates that they all have the potential to launch different ideas as well as sensations. Take the additional time in these postures to heart as well as utilize your journal to better explore pertains to the surface.

*Editor's Note: The info in this short article is intended for your instructional usage just, does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Chopra Facility's Mind-Body Medical Team, as well as is not an alternative to specialist medical recommendations, diagnosis, or treatment. Always look for the advice of your doctor or other competent health and wellness suppliers with any kind of concerns you might have relating to a medical condition and also before taking on any type of diet, supplement, health and fitness, or various other health program.

Learn the 7 Spiritual Laws of Yoga, our trademark form of yoga exercise that strengthens your link to spirit and stimulates profound healing at Seduction of Spirit, our signature reflection as well as yoga retreat led by Deepak Chopra. Learn More.

#bikram yoga #healing #spiritual #yoga #yoga retreat

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