I Have Realized That The Perfect Form Of Media Must Have A Delicate Balance Between Absolutely Heart

I have realized that the perfect form of media must have a delicate balance between absolutely heart wrenching pure emotional devastation and the most ridiculous nonsense you have ever seen in your whole life

Beneath Their Masks Chapter 10 is Up!

It feels a little weird to put up a chapter taking place on Christmas in October but...here we are, I guess? This is kind of where things diverge from just being about Makoto and Ann, kind of like I said before. I hope it's not too distracting or out of character, but I do want to mix things up a bit. Let me know what you think!

Ann carefully freed herself from Makoto’s grasp as she slid out from beneath the covers, not so gracefully ending up on the floor in the process. Grabbing her phone, she picked herself up and quietly exited Makoto’s bedroom, silently closing the door behind her. When she turned, she didn’t expect to see anyone else up in the Niijima household. Messy red hair filled her view as she almost bumped into her, herself leaving the other Niijima sister’s bedroom.

“Um…”

The woman before her tensed, and she slowly turned around, but relaxed when she saw Ann.

“Oh, I thought you were Makoto for a second. Good morning.” The woman said quietly.

“You’re…Sae’s friend, right?” Ann asked, voice barely above a whisper.

“Why don’t we go out into the kitchen? Wouldn’t want to wake the Niijimas, right?” Sae’s friend(?) said.

Ann nodded and followed her out to the kitchen.

Beneath Their Masks Chapter 7 is Up!

Something a bit lighter than the last chapter. There's one more chapter for the vacation "arc" and that should be coming soon.

“Just hand your clothes to me and I’ll hang them up out here.” Ann said, through the curtain.

“No peeking!” Makoto joked.

“Ah! You got me. Guess I’ll have to keep my eyes to myself this time.” Ann joked back.

Makoto looked at herself in the standing mirror inside the stall for a moment. She was wearing a short black leather jacket over a white t-shirt with black slacks. It was simple, elegant, and “totally Makoto’s style”, according to Ann (who had helped Makoto pick it out). Makoto wasn’t used to being this bold with her style, normally sticking to hand-me-downs from Sae’s wardrobe, but she was beginning to find her own look. Not that she didn’t like the way Sae dressed, but she tended to maintain a very prim and professional appearance, more suited to office meetings and business lunches.

She shedded her current attire, handing it to Ann through the curtain, before slipping on the cream-colored sundress. It was long and airy, and although it was simple, it did add an air of carefreeness and serenity.

“I’m done, Ann.” Makoto said, as she slid the curtain aside. “What do you…think?”

Ann was nowhere to be found. There was a small pile of Ann’s clothes on the couch, and, noticeably, Makoto’s were missing.

“...Ah.” Makoto said to herself. “I see. I suppose two can play at this game.”

hello! i've opened 3 types of commissions on my ko-fi!! greatly appreciated if u check it out or reblog :) !!

aka... pls help me fix my car so i can touch grass again :') thank u♡

(It doesn't really matter, but if I weren't me and I read this, I would want to at least see a little bit of closure. You're so nosy! Er, I'm so nosy.)

Things are fine. I was worrying (not necessarily unwarranted), but things ended up being fine. That's all. What a pal.

Oh I've also been kicking myself today because I realized that I forgot to mention my beta reader when I post about new chapters being uploaded. I really appreciate all their hard work, and you should go give them a follow. @makomaki5

As for when the writing in mention will be uploaded...who knows? It's all signed off on and approved by my beta reader, but I think I want to sit on it for a little while in case I think of some other things I would like to add. As much as I can go back and add things to it, or even add chapters. I think if I get into the mindset of always being able to go back and add on to works I've posted, I would never get anything new done. It's a concept I considered approaching for more characters, but I want to keep things strictly in character as much as possible, with some slight deviation by reading deeper into the way they act and present themselves to the outside world.

Also, I feel like you would want to strike some kind of balance of hurt and comfort as to not be a total bummer. The thing is, I'm basing (not directly trying to use characters as an analog for myself, consider basing like...how some movies are "based" on a true story or some such) a lot of what I wrote on my real thoughts and experiences. As sad as it is to say...sometimes you don't get the comfort part. Sometimes you just have to push forward, and that sucks. I want to provide some hope if I can, and well, using the tools to my disposal just makes certain moments feel right to include. You'll know what I mean when I post it, I think...

Anyway, enough of being a bummer. I kinda wanna use this page as an outlet for headcanon and other writing ideas, after seeing some other people do that. It just brings me such joy to see the way people think and perceive things about characters.

@hobie-doh made a post about hc-ing (headcanoning?) Akira as being one to sing or hum a lot. I encourage you to read it, because it is fascinating to think about, and I don't think I could do it justice in a brief summary. It's short, it'll take you like two minutes to read. Come ooooon, do it for me?

I want to be able to speak freely like this about things I think about. Sure, part of me is paranoid about giving away moments in things I will eventually write, but I feel like that's okay. Seeing ideas form and eventually turn into larger concepts and stories with outside input is a great way for ideas to turn into stories, naturally. It's like two-way brainstorming.

Anyway, that's a ramble and a half. Thanks for reading, if you did. I like how Tumblr allows for longform writing, and since I barely have anyone following me, I feel more comfortable about speaking my mind.

Also I had a chill birthday. It was nice. Gonna pre order some games for myself when I get paid next week. The best presents are the ones you gift yourself.

BRB letting the intrusive thoughts win (also happy birthday to me i guess????)

Fear not, I'll properly tag anything that could be too extreme. Don't worry.

It's uh, all a bit extreme. Sorry! I'll try not to make this a habit...

Beneath Their Masks is continuing on schedule (somewhat), but don't be surprised if I do some other stuff in the meantime. Just haven't been in a really fluff-y mood this week. Sorry.

Beneath Their Masks Chapter 13 is Up!

Oh yeah, it's actually going up at a time for people to read it during the day! Wow! Also please excuse the confusing chronology. When I eventually finish P5R, I wanna go through these chapters again and fix up any mistakes or anachronisms that don't fit the timeline. Can you tell that I have basically no idea what I'm doing?

"Sis?"

"Hm?"

Sae was reading a legal journal on the couch, legs crossed, with a steaming cup of coffee in her free hand. Makoto hadn't seen Sae relaxed in a long while, so she would have been surprised…if she wasn't so nervous.

"Go on. I'm right here." Ann whispered. She placed a hand on the small of Makoto's back as reassurance.

"Sis…Ann and I…you see…" Makoto sputtered.

Sae closed the journal with one hand, setting it down next to her. The act of giving her sister her full attention would have been comforting to Makoto…if she wasn't so nervous.

Right. Ripping off the bandaid. How fitting that things had come full circle from when Ann and Makoto first started dating.

"Ann and I are dating. She's my girlfriend." Makoto finally said.

However long it took for the words to reach Sae's ears and her reaction couldn't have been longer than a couple seconds, but to Makoto, it may as well have been hours of awkward silence.