Beneath Their Masks Chapter 20 Is Up!

Beneath Their Masks Chapter 20 is Up!

It's late, but whatever. This prompt was incredibly difficult to write for, to be honest. I had a hard time coming up with a convincing scenario. Also does a work count as failing the bechdel test if they're talking about a friend that they're worried about? I'm not sure. I also feel like the writing in this one was a little sloppy. I feel weird about having large portions of just dialogue with nothing else in between, but like...what the hell else are you supposed to do? Might be something to look into as an exercise.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Makoto.”

“Hey, Ann.”

A pause.

“So what’re you reading?”

“I’m reading The Illusory Popess per Akira’s recommendation. It’s about the real life Johanna.”

“Oh, that sounds interesting.”

“It is. It’s a bit heavy for night-time reading, so that’s probably why I can’t focus.”

Ann could hear Makoto stir slightly in her bed, likely shifting to a more comfortable position.

“Would it be alright if we just stayed on call for a while? I don’t really have anything to talk about, but…”

“I’d love to. If anything comes to mind, just let me know.”

“Thank you.”

Ann continued to read her book in relative silence, as Makoto did the same. The quiet was only broken by the intermittent sound of a page being turned from Makoto’s end.

“This is kind of cute, ya know?”

“What do you mean, Ann?”

“I mean, we’re both reading books over the phone. It’s like we’re on a date or something.”

“I suppose you’re right. To be honest, it didn’t matter what we were doing, I just wanted to hear your voice.”

ya'll ever write a comment or reply to something and then before you post it go: "eh. who cares?" and then delete it

Beneath Their Masks Chapter 21 is Up!

There we go, now I'm caught up. Don't expect this kind of thing to happen again anytime soon. I'll definitely be even later next time, especially during the week. We'll see what happens, I guess. But I've been writing for like 5 hours so I'm gonna call it for today. Whatever happens, happens.

“Oh, I think this is a good spot.” Ann said, pointing to one of the empty picnic tables.

“It’s looking a little cloudy, Ann. Are you sure today was the best day to spend at the park?”

Makoto said, looking up at the overcast sky. “I think it’s supposed to rain.”

“It’s not supposed to rain until later tonight.” Ann said, setting the stereotypical picnic basket on the table. “You worry too much. Now come on, the food should still be warm.”

Ann opened the picnic basket and Makoto peered in. She expected to see wrapped bento boxes, but inside the basket was…

“Take out?”

“Yes?”

“Given the picnic basket, I would’ve expected something home-cooked. I’m not complaining, it’s just a funny visual.”

“Eheh, well I uh, kind of waited til the last minute to prepare for today. Besides, ramen just sounded good today. Alright, let’s dig in!”

Ann removed the containers from the basket and set it down beside her. Ann then removed the lids from the ramen containers and poured the broth, which was packed separately, into each of the waiting bowls.

“If only cooking was actually this easy. Well, alright, it’s ready now. Let’s eat!”

Beneath Their Masks Chapter 19 is Up!

Yeah, it's late. Oops. Something a bit lighter and less makoann focused, but there's still some stuff there. I've kinda always wanted to do something the conversations that the party has in Mementos. I still have some ideas, so maybe I'll do another one of these someday.

Queen always felt a bit like a teacher trying to wrangle an unenthused class whenever she asked, but the results usually spoke for themselves.

“I’m good as long as we’re together, Queen!” Panther replied, brushing her hand over Queen’s, resting on the back of the front seat.

“Well, then…” Queen said, blushing behind her mask. She was thankful that her mask covered at least part of her face so it wouldn’t be so obvious. The red lighting in Mementos certainly helped.

"I recently finished a book, and now I'm having trouble figuring out what to read next..."

"Oh? It's nice to hear that you're committed to pursuing reading outside of school, Noir. What book was it? I may be able to offer a suggestion?"

"Thank you, Queen. It was actually a short story. It was called ‘I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream’!"

"Um. I may have to get back to you on a recommendation, then...I don't believe I've read that one...or have any desire to."

"Come now, Queen. You can't judge a book by its title, after all."

"Yes, but when it has a title like that? I don't think I need to read it."

Beneath Their Masks Chapter 18 is Up!

Ok NOW I'm out of pre-written chapters. I officially have nothing written for tomorrow. So...if chapter 19 is late, then that's why. I work during the week so it makes getting chapters out on time a bit of a struggle if I do give myself a buffer beforehand. I will still try my best to maintain my current schedule as well as I can.

“Ann-chan, I have a question for you.”

“Hm?”

Ann looked up from her empty coffee mug. The pair were seated in a booth at Leblanc, waiting for Makoto to arrive so they could go see a movie at Haru’s recommendation. It was a horror movie, so Ann was a little worried about Makoto, but she assured Ann that she would be alright as long as Ann was there.

“I wanted to ask about you and Mako-chan.”

“Oh yeah, sure, what’s up?”

“Well, I’ve not been with the group very long, but you two seem very close. There’s one thing I don’t see you two doing as much as other couples.”

“And that is…?”

Haru blushed slightly. Surely she wasn’t going to ask about…

“Well, you two don’t seem to hold hands very often.”

Ann breathed a sigh of relief.