justicepuppet

[justicepuppet]

There was something almost bitterly funny about the blunt way that Joker addressed. No attempt was made to sugar-coat the life that Akechi was living, no soft words given to try to describe it as if it would somehow make it better. Not even something kinder, gentler; you were unhappy, things could be better.

No. Just - You're miserable.

"Astute observation." Akechi's voice came out flat and dry, with no signs of any concerns for the bladed tip that was following his movements, intent on staying aimed at his throat. "I was. I am. And this is why I want this reality to end. I should be dead and you know that, and it's only because of Maruki's will that I'm still breathing."

"What?" From behind him Akechi could hear Yoshizawa's voice, her shocked word coming out breathy and stunned at the revelation. "Ake-- Crow-san, what do you-"

"I'm dead. I died. He-" His words were aimed at Yoshizawa but that didn't make it polite to refer to Joker in the third person, though Akechi's focus didn't waver as he met the other's gaze. "-was there and witnessed it. Isn't that right, Joker? Hearing the singular gunshot while you trapped on the other side of the bulkhead, unable to do anything. Or maybe you didn't even try. Maybe you were glad to hear it. One less problem to deal with, right?"

"Don't make this any harder than it needs to be," he replied, even as if knife still traced the other's motion, dancing after Crow's neck as it moved with what Akechi did.

Although Joker registered Violet's gasp, he didn't look away from Crow. He was the dangerous one, he was the one who might actually put up a fight. He was the one that didn't have a pre-scripted happiness.

That was what Maruki told him anyway. Where they could lull Sumire back to sleep into the life of her sister, there didn't seem to be much in the way of happiness in store for Crow. There didn't seem to be much in the way of anything left for Crow--Maruki didn't say that but Joker still got that impression--which meant it was up to Joker to give him a happy ending. And a happy ending was possible in this new reality.

"You're miserable," he continued bluntly. "You want to keep living like that? You don't have to." A pause, urgency slipping into his previously monotonous voice. "You could be happy, Akechi."

[justicepuppet]

Her first words were met with a sharp inhale followed by a moment of silence as Akechi had to work out how best to respond to such an insulting statement. Joker was not his rival but that did not mean that Akechi had given up. It was the opposite; he knew that the other wildcard would never be able to measure up to him.

-- which was a lie, a lie, he was nothing more than a liar. Joker wasn't his rival, Joker wasn't his equal; Joker was his superior.

"Joker is not my rival-- if I wanted someone so weak to play that role then I might as well pick that idiot Sakamoto." His words came out close to a growl, followed by a long and heavy exhale through his nose. "I haven't given in. And if he still clings to my glove then that's his issue." That was pathetic, honestly. He should have been ashamed of himself for holding onto such a stupid memento of another person.

Sae had seemingly adapted to the idea that the metaverse existed almost shockingly fast, and in turn she found it easy to hypothesize over both why he had the wound, and why the wound wasn't getting any better. Akechi would have been impressed if he didn't feel so irritable in the moment. A wound caused in reality needed to be healed in reality. A wound caused in the metaverse would have to heal in the metaverse.

Not... entirely true; the few times he had been careless enough to catch an illness from the metaverse, it had still been with him in reality and Akechi had been forced to suffer through several unpleasant days until he recovered. But there were 'medicines' that made the illness practically vanish while in the metaverse, cutting down and sometimes even entirely removing the healing process entirely.

By this logic, then his wound could heal in reality. But Akechi - and Sae, he wagered - could see that wasn't going to happen. It was going to keep reopening, going to keep growing, and he would die from either blood loss or infection or simply from the fact that he had a giant hole in his side. Humans weren't really designed to exist like that. So-

"That isn't going to do anything here. I'd have to be in the metaverse. And if you let me go there, you're an idiot to trust that I wouldn't simply try to run off the moment I could."

Fear.

Such a ruinous and hateful thing. The kind of emotion that drives people to make deals with things that they don't understand, and to do terrible things in the service of safety. What had Sae lost everything to, if not fear?

The fear of loss, of losing the few things she had left. The fear of not measuring up to her peers, of not being able to provide for her and Makoto. Fortune had taken her father away from her and shackled her to a fate, not unlike hell. But Sae had taken her personal hell... and made it everyone else's too.

Envy and Fear had burnt away her virtues, her Justice, everything that made Sae Niijima anything other than an agent of the law. Her Shadow grew in the absence of the parts she sacrificed to feed her ambition. And, without noticing, Sae had lost everything she had left in the process of pursuing victory.

No wonder Makoto had given her the cold shoulder on the 29th of November. Disgusted with what Sae had become, seeing the darkness in her heart. Makoto had grown up, became so strong and independent. Not because of Sae's efforts, but in spite of them. And the supposed adult, the abrasive caretaker, the SIU's shining star?

She had become exactly the failure and weakling she had derided and scoffed at.

The end result of three years of abject and utter failure.

But. On the 30th, that had started to change. She could grow too. She would. Not for anyone else...but for her own sake. Taking Makoto's example, she would take her fate into her own hands. Rigging the games that she played only brought her misery, in the end. Her rise was to a shut-off ceiling, a set of strings forever trailing above her.

But getting a mask meant she could tear the strings off. Freedom found in a strange world...and a stranger alliegance.

The tone that Sae adopts in response to the snarl is unshaken. Implacable.

"You should tell Joker that, then. That you've given in. He still keeps your glove, you know. Next to his pistol. He doesn't show it off, but...he cares for you. Mourns you."

Akechi was destined to be a two-bit villain just as much as Sae was destined to be a disappointment. But people can be more than their roles. Rage against the uncaring machine that is the state, Fate, cruelty and hatred and despair. Fight, with a mask on and a roaring heart. Be true to yourself under the aegis of a secret identity. Sae Niijima could not be seen supporting the Phantom Thieves.

But Ronin could fight with them.

"Appearing after your escape from the Palace, no doubt. And gradual degradation, given how you've been reported missing..."

She's no cognitive psientist...but she has always been lethally sharp.

"I have a hypothesis. Perhaps, with this being a cognitive wound inflicted in the Metaverse...it requires Metaversal healing. I have a Bead in my possession."

Owing favours is not something Sae likes doing.

But she had been found to owe so much to a select few.

[justicepuppet]

Hello!

Took some time away from the internet and thought about how I want to approach writing. It hasn't been really fun for a bit, both in large part because of my IRL work and because of how behind I am.

I have reached out to people; if you haven't heard anything you are free to assume that I wish to keep interactions.

I am slow and I cannot change this. I will have to continue to function off of my queue and my queue will continue to be at only a post a day for the foreseeable future. However, as I do want to try to engage with the dash, I am going to try taking Fridays as the day I focus on just being involved with community activities instead of focusing on my drafts. There are going to be some Fridays where other obligations will take priority, but otherwise that will be the dash you see me engaging on the dash. I'm also going to try to make that the day I send out asks to anything I see reblogged instead of relying on inbox calls.

[justicepuppet]

I've reached a point where I have to admit I can no longer get caught up with everything I have. I want to write and I want to be able to start threads with new followers, and I can't do that because I am constantly overwhelmed with what I owe.

I am considering everything dropped moving forward. This includes the threads I will be replying to in my queue.

If you have a thread you would like continued, please reply letting me know. The same if you've sent an ask you want answered.

I hate how I've felt about being here recently and how it's felt like I can't be involved with anything.

Again, if there is a thread in particular you want continued, please reply and let me know. Otherwise, everything is dropped.

[justicepuppet]

If Akechi was aware of the internal struggle that Ren was going through - and it would have been hard not to be - he gave no sign of it. Instead he simply waited for Ren to get seated, one hand rubbing against the grip of the 'bike in an almost fidgety motion. There wasn't any reason to have this take so long; Ren just had to get on and hold tight.

Tighter than he was seemingly willing to.

"You want to fall off?" Akechi tried to keep the scoff out of his tone as he reached down to grab one of Ren's forearms. He pulled on it, tugging it forward to indicate for him hold on even tighter. It wasn't a matter of what was and wasn't appropriate; it was a matter of making sure he didn't lose balance and go tumbling off the back or side in the middle of traffic. Akechi was confident in his reflexes and knew he could stop quickly, but probably not fast enough to catch Ren.

It was up to Ren to decide to tighten his hold or not. Either way, Akechi waited just a moment before pushing his weight off the foot resting on the ground while gently gunning the gas. Getting to where Ren wanted to go wasn't going to take long, but Akechi wasn't one to go slow. The faster the better, and he liked setting new personal bests.

... he'd try to be careful though. If he ate the pavement, Ren would have to pay the price too.

It wouldn't be long - less than fifteen - before Akechi would find himself slowing down to pull to the side of the street Ren had indicated he wanted to head to.

Yeah. The sarcastic thumbs up emoji was about right.

That brief show of affection, Ren would blame on his drag persona... But she wasn't necessarily all that outwardly affectionate either. Polite, more like. The type to admire from afar, to swoon and sigh while the other wasn't really looking. That bold leap was him, it was his belief that if he didn't even start to try to go for it, then all would be lost.

Ren wanted to get out of his comfort zone. He'd wanted to do that since he finally settled into a life in Tokyo, one that saw him surrounding himself with way too many weirdos to worry his head so much about being one of them. The head of the freak show, trapped in the circus-- Or something like that, once upon a time.

Akechi was... trying to help. There were moments where it looked like it might be more than that, but those moments were few and far between. It led one to wonder if his own promise to wait was only a dream. If he was fooling himself when he thought that rivalry could've led to anything else.

But.

He did come by, just for being asked. That was worth something.

"Right, yeah." The net, he could pull off for now. Tucked away in one of his pockets. "Thanks for this. It means a lot."

With that, Ren approached the bike. He'd grab the spare helmet hooked on its side, slipping it on and...

Ah.

Right.

The next step of this would, in fact, be getting on the back of the seat, wouldn't it. That close. Okay. He just needed to... take a minute, to do that. One leg over. Pretend he wasn't turning into a ripe tomato underneath his foundation, and... When people rode bitch, they normally wrapped their hands around the driver, and this was no different and he just needed to stop being a baby about it--

'...so you can 'accidentally' move your hands where you want, huh?'

Shut up. Shut up. Shut the fuck up.

One last breath. Hands around the middle, shirt fabric between the two of them.

[justicepuppet]

Sera has brought up the idea of archiving this blog and making a new fresh one and idk how I feel about that idea. There's some thought/merit to it but it also feels like not a solution to my problem.

[justicepuppet]

@wildthief asked: “  i know it’s not fair to say this,  but i don’t have anything without you.  if i don’t have you i have nothing.  ” | SOME ANGST

"And this is my fault? My problem?" One inappropriate statement made in response to another. How wrong and selfish was it of Akira to put so responsibility and weight on Akechi's shoulders, and callous and cruel of him to give an answer that was so blithe.

Akira should have thought this through. That was the true long and short of their current situation. This predicament wouldn't have happened if the oh-so-famous Phantom Thief had thought just a little ahead.

With a self satisfied grin, Akechi moved his final piece before leaning back in his chair. "Check. And mate, I believe."

And after so much near-bragging from Akira about how good he was at chess. If he didn't know any better, Akechi might have thought that Akira just liked being bullied by him.

[justicepuppet]

Her answer didn't feel entirely satisfactory for Akechi, though he wasn't able to really pinpoint why it felt off. Wrong, maybe? It was saying that it was kinder to allow two people to continue to grieve their dead daughter - because they were grieving, even if they didn't seem to be as caught up in their grief as Sumire had been.

Maruki didn't seem to view their pain as worthy of altering. Or perhaps, more ominously, it was that Sumire's grief and Sumire's desire mattered more. She wanted to be the elder sister. She wanted to be the child who had lived, with the sister who had died.

Akechi didn't blame her; no one was really in control of what their desires were, especially if they were subconscious ones. But her blame Maruki would allowing these desires to see the light of day.

"I'll be fine." Fine enough, anyways. Akechi would be able to hold himself together just long enough for Joker to make his choice and change Maruki's heart. Once that happened and this reality fully ended, then he would be returned to the state he should rightly be in.

He would be dead.

Akechi stood up to leave, their meal already paid for, before pausing to look curiously at Sumire. "... don't spend so much time worrying about me. I'll be fine. Take care of yourself first."

And with that he would be gone.

Sumire could almost laugh at the irony herself.

"I'm not sure. I suppose because he never felt like my parents needed a new reality? The pain of losing her hurt us, but they managed to work through their grief I think. They were more worried about me in the end so just letting me believe the reality I wanted is what Maruki decided to focus on I guess. And to my parents I was doing better, they didn't know the reality I was living."

"That depends, are you going to fa-I mean slip when you stand up and start walking?" She asked with an eyebrow raised.

"If you can move around alright and are feeling better then I'll stop bugging you," Sumire added, knowing it wouldn't do much good to push Aketchi too hard.

[justicepuppet]

“⭐️” for Akira @gloryseized and Akechi

For each “⭐️” I get, I’ll write a headcanon about our muses. | @gloryseized

The fact that Akechi is going to have Akira's blood inside of him now feels very meaningful. Something something - this ends up being the reason Akechi actually is alive post-third semester?

[justicepuppet]

⭐️⭐⭐ do some for my akira 👉👈

For each “⭐️” I get, I’ll write a headcanon about our muses. | @inspiirefear / @dzanni

Akechi doesn't grow his hair out that long, but long enough for it to be played with/styled. Akira probably does that a lot as a nervous habit/fidget toy.

I know you've talked about Akira being into paintball. That is something I can see Akechi enjoying too.

Akechi would be rather gate-keepery regarding Feathermen. He wants Akira to get into it, but if he doesn't get into it the right way then no thank you.

[justicepuppet]

⭐️⭐️ || One for each brother maybe? C:

For each “⭐️” I get, I’ll write a headcanon about our muses. | @ofstarsandskies

For Julius - I think he's closer to Julius than he is Ludger, if for no other reason than the two of them have worked together/have a level of trust born from 'we could both ruin each other's lives'.

We've also never really talked about what that incident was but... I know on Akechi's side it was probably someone who 'deserved to die' (murdered/rapist/etc) who disappeared and Julius never really pursued.

For Ludger - hmm. This is a bit harder because the two of them haven't really interacted much yet. It feels like these two would have a bit of a harder time to get 'close' due to Akechi's rather prickly exterior.

The two of them are close in age, if not the same age depending on how young you have Julius, so maybe they end up going to the same college.

[justicepuppet]

Even as she was speaking, Tae could tell that the words she had picked had been a mistake. She was practically egging him all, encouraging Akira to come forward with a very expected reveal: he just so happened to have the exact blood-type that would be needed to handle this situation. He had type O-negative blood.

Universal donor. That did sound about right for him.

"You're absolutely certain about this?" Even as she was asking the question, Tae knew what the answer would be. Of course he was. If he was willing to provide the blood, it was now up to her to make sure this could happen without killing one, or both, or them.

"Alright. Drink water and eat something with iron in it. I'll need to grab some things from my clinic." She hadn't come prepared with the tubing that would be needed for a blood transfusion, nor the needles. Her clinic was close enough that it wouldn't take more than a few minutes, though with the condition that Akechi was in... Best to not think about that.

"And see if you can move that futon to be next to the bed. It's best if the both of you can be lying at the same relative height."

--

Sterile needles, sterile plastic tubing, antiseptic alcohol wipes, gauze and tape. All of that was in hand when Tae returned. Sojiro was outside, cleaning out the blood in the backseat of the car; it was clear that he was concerned, but had settled on the idea that the less he knew, the better. Smart man. What Akira was doing was incredibly stupid, and what she was doing by going along with it was even more so. Better if there was at least one adult that could claim plausible deniability.

Her boots sounded heavy against the stairs as she headed up. "Are you still certain about this? Lay down and roll up the sleeve of your arm closest to him if you are." This wasn't going to be enjoyable for either of them.

"Because you're a doctor?" It sounded wrong even as Akira said it, but he still did anyway, eyebrows dancing towards his hairline as he bit at his lip. This was bad, and the fact that the usually unflappable doctor also looked worried told him just how bad it was.

Maybe they should try to take Akechi to a hospital? The idea was getting harder and harder to push away, although Akira had a strong hunch what would happen if they did. Word would reach Shido and the Akechi would disappear, at the minimum vanished away and his care overseen by those under Shido's thumb. And at the worst? Akira didn't want to think about it. If Shido was prepared to have his political opponents suffer a mental breakdown, he didn't want to think about what he would do to the person that carried those out.

He shrugged, using the motion to suppress a shudder. "You'll be the first to know once I figure it out," he said. Which was actually the truth. Sure, he could make the point that he'd stuck his nose where it didn't belong, but there was also something to be said for the mysterious power that had been granted to him to enter people's cognition, and he still hadn't quite figured out why he had that skill.

But his mouth thinned into a determined line as he began to roll up his sleeve. It was a good thing he didn't mind needles, especially given whatever it was that the doctor had been doing to him before. Better not to think about that either.

"Me. I have O negative blood," he said, glancing around to find himself a chair so he could sit down while doing the transfusion. Eyes landed on the chair by his desk and he moved it closer to his sorry excuse for a bed, eyes glittering as he stubbornly met the doctor's eyes. "I'll do it."

[justicepuppet]

⭐️ Anyway this one's for Morgana

For each “⭐️” I get, I’ll write a headcanon about our muses. | @gravity-wall

I think Big and Little would end up bullying Morgana. Not really on purpose (they are cats), but they'd constantly just scoff at him for being 'weird'. He smells weird. He doesn't just stay indoors. He doesn't understand that sleeping all day in a comfy bed is the best thing in the world. Human intellect is taken down by the sheer force of cats being absolutely certain they are the center of the universe.

Akechi is wary of Morgana, and might even be almost afraid of him. Morgana isn't like the other Phantoms. Morgana is Ren's. Morgana is the figure that he will never be able to escape. Morgana's views and thoughts about him would hold more weight than anyone else's.

It's why Akechi takes what Morgana says in the Shovel Talk thread seriously (when he should not have); Morgana knows Ren better than anyone else. If Morgana says that He's Bad For Him then... Morgana has to be right.

[justicepuppet]

⭐️ Oh you know.

For each “⭐️” I get, I’ll write a headcanon about our muses. | @gravity-wall

Ren clearly is aware of Akechi's self-harm scars. He probably never brings them up, but if he ever notices there seems to be more of them/more bandages would just find reasons to insist the two of them had to spend more time together. The active marks on Akechi's thighs are the ones likely unknown, though I also imagine he learns about them in one of our threads, and again it's probably something he nevers mentions but just keeps in his mind as 'yeah can't let him out of my sight'.

Buuuuuut I think Akechi does the same for Ren. Mr. 'I was never really a detective' is way more observant and picks up on far more than he'd ever be willing to admit. You've mentioned Ren grabbing pill bottles and handing them to Sojiro, so it's not out of the realm of possibilities for Akechi to see them and just... not even on a conscious level, just part of him just registering oh.

It'd never be brought up. He'd just shrug if Ren brought it up in kind of a like 'yeah that happened don't stress over it', but in the time right after Ren found out he was staying in Tokyo Akechi would never be too busy for him. It's likely part of why he jumped into the whole idea of 'helping Ren be comfortable being gay'. He cared but it's also such a ridiculous goal but it also would mean having to spend a lot of time together -- and spending time together meant being able to make sure Ren didn't. Well.

[justicepuppet]

Actually going out and getting food, or even having it delivered, wouldn't have put any strain on Akechi's bank account. But perhaps it was better to keep that bit of knowledge to himself; it wasn't something that Ren had to know, and bringing it up would only sound like he was bragging.

Curry. Downstairs, in the fridge. He nodded as he started to head toward the stairs before pausing at Ren's offer for him to have some too. Was he even hungry?

Maybe. But it wasn't pressing at the moment, and it would be better for Ren to be able to each as much as he wanted - or needed - since he was the one who was sick in the moment.

The offer got little more than a soft hmm in response before Akechi headed down the stairs. Finding the curry and heating it up in a microwave that looked like had been purchased in the previous century wasn't hard, though he was afraid he might have made it a little too hot. There was also the worry that popped into the back of his mind after a moment that Ren would have wanted this heated up in the oven instead of the microwave. It did have a tendency to give food an unpleasantly rubbery texture.

Too late to change what he had done now, unfortunately.

Moving the curry to a plate and grabbing a fork along with several napkins, Akechi headed back up the stairs. The plate was placed on the desk in the room. "It's hot--" Which would have been evident from the steam rising from the curry. Putting the fork down next to it, he stepped back to allow for Ren to take a seat and eat.

"Don't burn your throat choking it down. I don't think any of the medicine here would be able to help with that."

Ren gave a weak smile. That Akechi didn't immediately leave him did feel nice. Even if it was just a matter of societal expectations, it was still better than being left alone. He would have to make it up to him later, though. Maybe he'd take him out to one of those trendy cafes he seemed to like.

"Food... Food would be nice." Though if Akechi were to go get him food himself, that would mean he'd be spending money on Ren. That was unacceptable.

"There should be some leftover curry in the fridge downstairs, though. Boss wont mind if I finish it off. You can have some too, if you're hungry. If you like curry, that is..."

Did Akechi like Leblanc's curry? He couldn't remember. But it was all they had on hand, so that was the only option.

[justicepuppet]

"missed all of your vital organs" is such a scathing injury report if that happened to me i would never let the person who maimed me live it down. you had a 1 in 7 chance and more than 50% of my body's surface area to target and you fucking blew it. cope and seethe over my unperforated heart, lungs, brain, liver, kidneys, pancreas, small intestine and large intestine you fucking idiot. you incompetent fool.

[justicepuppet]

"Man in a red sports car actually slowed down so that I can merge in front of him. No attempt to keep the motorcycle out, no attempt to stay in front. Just calm mature behavior."

"I witnessed the man with the biggest dick in the world and he honestly deserves it."