marigold-memory

[marigold-memory]

now presenting “(full) HISTORY OF PERSONA INCIDENTS" (1396 words) (chapter 1/2)

ryomina week 2025 day 7: free day!

I AM LATE. BUT I HAVE FINISHED THE SHIP WEEK! HOORAY!! im pretty proud of myself actually haha.

this story is post-strikers, where minato is asked to be the 'ambassador' of sorts for the phantom thieves (vanilla timeline -> strikers, fresh off of the emma disaster and with -0 faith in this shady organization) but we're not getting into that! no, we're just gonna see a lil snapshot of the begrudging start- the part where the phantom thieves get to know their persona history! but of course delivered by some guy who's totally not gonna do a bit to see how long it takes them to realize that he's one of the wild cards in said persona history. and then go hold hands with his bf. of course not

((and well i guess this could be read as a standalone... but it doesnt feel complete (to me) so. 1 of 2!))

as a bonus before you read! the first slide of the presentation. to really give u the vibe lmao

%

“…And that’s why we all owe our lives to Suou Tatsuya, the person who has suffered the most on this planet, finally deciding to take responsibility for his actions,” says Minato, clicking onto the next slide.

The Phantom Thieves, all 8 teenagers, one grown man, one AI, and one cat all stare back at him with varying degrees of shock, disbelief, and in one case incredulousness. Minato thinks his explanation was very thorough, with the slides and artist’s renditions and whatnot, but he guesses it’s hard to come to terms with the whole “the universe ended and we live in an alternate timeline where it didn’t end” thing. He stares back impassively. His phone buzzes with a notification.

“Okay, get your questions in order,” he says, pulling out his phone. “So we can move on to… lunch. And then the next one.” Ryoji has sent him a text asking what he wanted for lunch, accompanied with a cute cat sticker.

“Wait, how many more are there again?” Sakamoto says.

“Including yours? Three main ones, and a whole bunch of littler ones. You guys were involved in a couple of those, I think,” Minato says, typing out a response to Ryoji. He adds his own cute sticker, too. Ryoji immediately texts back with three more stickers. “But you don’t remember them. We’ll break for lunch after this round of questions, though. I think someone got you guys catering. I’ll check.”

As the Phantom Thieves deliberate in tones that they probably think are quiet but are actually perfectly audible in the small conference room with nobody around if someone tried very hard to overhear, Minato stretches and sends an inquiry to Mitsuru. It takes a minute, but he gets an affirmative back. He looks up. “You’re getting sushi for lunch. Got your questions ready?”

A few thieves, most notably Kitagawa and Morgana, the cat, perk up at the news, but otherwise rally around Nijima, who they’ve deemed spokesperson. The next few minutes are filled with a volley that’s probably meant to be somewhat intimidating, but Minato only gets intimidated by one former student council president nowadays, and it’s not the one in front of him. Still, he takes their questions seriously and answers what he can, directing them to the persons who would have a better answer for them if he can’t.

“Why are these ‘littler’ incidents, as you say, only starting to pop up now?” Nijima presses.

“Hm. Good question,” says Minato. He scrolls through his playlists and selects one, ready to set the mood for the retelling of his own journey. “Well, it’s likely there were other, minor incidents in the past that we don’t know about. But the scope of incidents in general have lessened somewhat in the time since the Sumaru City Crisis… and like I said before, it’s difficult to get involved with most incidents unless you’re right there at the start, or get dragged in. But we have been documenting them as they come.”

“I see,” says Nijima, her eyes glinting. Minato wonders what she even got from that, but he hopes it helps. “Last one,” she says, looking down at her list. “Why don’t we remember assisting in some of these incidents?”

Her tone is mild, but on the verge of being accusatory. Minato thinks she was trying to catch him off guard with it, but he’d been expecting it the entire time. He’d practically baited the question. “Oh, because of the time travel.”

They stare at him again. He stares back, knowing his amusement isn’t showing on his face. Nijima musters up an “I’m sorry, what?”

“The time travel,” he repeats, just to be annoying. “It happened outside of time.”

Takamaki can’t seem to stop herself from blurting out, “Are you even taking this seriously?” She sounds mad, but mostly just incredulous.

“According to my data, time travel should be impossible,” Sophia, the AI, pipes up.

Minato shrugs. “Eh, it probably should. But the concept god of time was involved. And the Velvet Room exists. So really, anything goes.”

She buffers. “…I’ll accept that new data.”

“Fair,” Minato acknowledges. “Oh, but he wasn’t around in the second one. I think." He actually does know the specifics, on account of being there, but- plausible deniability, and all that.

Their faces all scream confusion. Minato tries not to find it funny, and fails. It’s definitely still not showing on his face.

“Ahem.” Nijima coughs. “No more questions. For now.”

Minato nods, closes the laptop with the presentation on it, and stands up. “Okay. Lunch time, then.”

The ragtag group follow Minato as he drifts into the VIP elevator. Some of the teens seem a bit wary of the sleek halls of the Kirijo facility, but Minato has no qualms about them all piling into the elevator that can only be accessed via a key card. They end up huddling into each other, staring at Minato, who is making deliberate eye contact with another of Mitsuru’s executives. They’re all a bit scared of him, and he doesn’t know why, but it’s still fun to look them in the eye and watch them deliberate on how to interact with him.

The elevator dings, the executive flees, and Minato herds the Phantom Thieves into the exclusive cafeteria for higher-ups, where, at a long table, a labelled spread of sushi is arranged, enough for nine big eaters *and* a cat. “Here’s where you’ll be eating. It’s all self serve. Holler if you need anything. Try to be done in an hour or so.” He pauses. “Don’t talk about stuff too loud.”

With that, Minato heads for the table he usually shares with Ryoji, and settles in to wait for the meal he was promised. True to his word, not even two minutes later Ryoji rushes in, making a beeline for their table holding Hagakure takeout boxes.

“Ryoji,” Minato says fondly as the other sets the takeout down in front of the both of them.

“Minato,” Ryoji sighs, taking hold of Minato’s hand in both of his as he sat. His hands were cool despite the warmth of the takeout, but Minato didn’t mind. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting, dearest. How are the Phantom Thieves doing?”

“You’re right on time,” Minato assures him, getting an idea. “They’re probably watching us right now. Wanna be really obvious so they get grossed out?”

Ryoji’s eyes light up. And that’s how they spend the entire meal staring deeply into each other’s eyes between conversation and slurps of ramen.

“Wow,” Ryoji teases, making unceasing eye contact. He isn’t even blinking. Minato doesn’t mind, but only because it was Ryoji. “Did you know that there are studies that say people fall in love after making enough eye contact? I think I’m falling in love.”

“I’m not,” Minato says, playful. Ryoji gasps.

“Minato… could it be… that you were already in love with me?!” He fakes a swoon. Minato snorts.

There were a lot of reasons to be thankful for his life’s continuation, and this was one of them. Every now and then Ryoji would stifle a giggle at their circumstance, and Minato would roll his eyes and smile just the tiniest bit more, causing both of them to flush even more than the hot ramen strictly would have caused.

It was a good meal, made better with company. But when Minato received a message from his fellow Wild Card Yu, his mood took a turn for the melancholy.

“So,” Minato mutters after a gulp of the broth. “We managed to finish Suou-san’s journeys. I’ll be talking about the Dark Hour next. Yu’s class still won’t be out for another hour or two.”

Ryoji immediately understood, his smile softening into something sadder as he puts a hand over the other’s. Minato turns his hand over so Ryoji can clasp it firmly in his.

“…Do you want me to be in the room for it?” Ryoji suggests. “I can call off my afternoon shift. Manage your slides. I’ll be your eye candy!” Ryoji had a number of part-time jobs that he floated around- today’s afternoon one was a shift at the library, one Minato knew he enjoyed.

“That would help,” Minato says sincerely. He infuses his next words with as much gratitude as he can. “Thank you, Ryoji.”

Ryoji smiles wider, kissing the back of Minato’s hand. “My dearest. Anything for you.”

[marigold-memory]

ryomina week 2025 day 6: full moon / endings / au

and through your gaze, i crave, for lives beyond the means,,, honestly? this Could be postcanon in a fix it au. i'd believe

so i didnt rlly have solid ideas for this set of prompts (which is SUCH a shame since “au” is such a lovely and open-ended prompt...) but i was listening to/watching the video of 炜WARD ROMANCE and i really liked the background?? enjoyed the yellow-orange->blue color transition style a lot, so despite it being yellow-green->blue, this art is absolutely inspired by the visuals of that mv :)

[marigold-memory]

ryomina week 2025 day 5: mythology / memories / role swap

not even gonna lie. was a bit stumped on the other two prompts LOL! and maybe this sort of counts towards endings more, but the concept of this artwork is as follows:

memories of the school the city you

also. i tried something new with this one! so i must ask you to click the image for the full effect :)

[marigold-memory]

ryomina week 2025 day 4: wings / status effect / nyx

you there!! have you read eternity with you by ao3 user starrybird??well this is fanart for that fic :) give it a read!! im a sucker for tender post-canon ryomina in the seal and i really liked the imagery that starrybird evoked of the wings enveloping them,,,

took the opportunity to play with textures a bit, and used a lineless style, so thats why it looks different from my usual art? but i do enjoy how it turned out :0

[marigold-memory]

in the time between awakening and remembering (1077 words)

ryomina week 2025 day 3: thanatos / tartarus / sea of souls

yes i Am indeed posting a day late every day- sorry about that, but i'll post the next piece within 12 hours and catch up,,, hopefully

anyway take this fic! it... kinda falls under the prompts ?? not entirely... set in an au where tartarus has people's 'personal' shadows on top of the normal ones- so the following interaction is ryomina through transitive property :)

full thing under the cut for non-ao3-account-havers!

%

It was a quiet night.

From a balcony on the second-highest floor of Tartarus, Death itself stared at the shadow that Tartarus cast over the city. Its eyes, pools of inky blackness, pinpointed the window of a third-floor dorm room in a specific building, where a blue-haired teen with a vast soul lay fast asleep. Death knew the contours of that soul very, very well, and did not think about returning. Alas, it could not be contained any longer. 

It turned its gaze to the Moonlight Bridge, and watched silently as the blood-ocean’s waves lapped under it.

“There you are,” came an echoed voice from behind him. “I was wondering where you’d gone.”

Death paused. In a quiet monotone, it said, “…you recognize me?”

The speaker huffed a laugh. “You think I spent ten years doing nothing? Of course I’d know who you are.”

The wheels of a portable machine squeaked a little as the speaker stepped closer, to be level with Death. There was a pause as the wind started up, then settled. 

A hand tapped on the shoulder of Death, and Death obligingly turned to face it. The shadow of Arisato Minato met Death’s gaze, and for the first time, they beheld each other in full.

“Look at you,” he marveled, reaching up and brushing a thumb over the beauty mark on porcelain skin. “You’re taller than me.” Death made no move to stop him, simply staring back as the shadow ran both hands over the planes of its face, familiarizing himself with the new shape it had taken.

Ruffling the buttery yellow scarf, he asked, “What were you looking at?”

Though Death was under no obligation to answer, it did. “The Moonlight Bridge.”

The hands stopped. “Ah.”

The two stood in silence for a bit, the other’s face twisting into a frown. 

“Well… it is where we met. A little sentimental of you, hm?” The shadow smiled weakly. “Something up?”

A pause, almost like hesitancy, and then Death spoke. “It was because of me that your family died.”

The shadow’s breath hitched. Then, with a carefully blank face, he carefully reached up to cradle Death’s face in both of his hands.

“Hey,” he murmured, voice overlapping in a melodic manner. “I already forgave you for that. Remember?

“It was your fight that killed them… but you held me when he couldn’t cry,” he continued, a stray tear dripping down his face. “You’ve been my constant companion for ten years. You never let me feel alone.”

“There are no debts between us,” he said, looking deeply into Death’s eyes. “Only understanding.”

Death closed its eyes for a moment, as if in pain. “That chain cannot hold me,” it said. A slow drip of blood traced the chain as it swayed from where it was anchored firmly to the shadow’s wrist.

“I know,” said the shadow. “But at this point… it’s just proof of our bond, isn’t it?”

“The other end… lies with my human self.”

The shadow blinked, startled. “…human self?”

“Yes. That human self will eventually return to me.” Death intoned. “When that happens… I will bring the Fall, and eradicate all of mankind. The other end of that connection lies with him.”

The shadow hummed slowly, his multi-layered voice harmonizing. “…but you don’t want to do it, right?”

Death was silent a moment. “It is my nature. I will bring the Fall.”

“But you don’t want to.”

“…” Death said nothing. The other slipped his hand into its own hand, and Deaths’s hand automatically closed around it. 

“Mm. I know. I’m sorry.” The shadow laid his head on Death’s shoulder, reaching over to hold one of the scarf ends. “Is it really so bad that you had to split yourself?”

Death looked out over the city, acutely aware of the shadow that was burningly hot against its skin. “More than anything, I want to experience life as a human. To then proceed to bring the Fall… it is a kindness that he is separated from me. It would hurt more than anything else. I can scarcely bear the idea.”

“Ah,” said the shadow, wincing. “You want to keep him from that. As long as you can.”

“…Yes.”

The shadow blew out a long sigh, the airy whistle not unlike a brisk wind. “It can’t be forever. You can’t close your eyes or cover your ears, remember?”

“…I know,” Death breathed, so quiet only one could have possibly heard. “Even so…”

The words wouldn’t come. But the shadow seemed to understand anyway. ”I’ll stay with you until then. As long as you need me.”

“I will descend, eventually,” Death warned.

“I’ll walk you down,” he promised. And that was that.

They stood together, time blurring as the wind whipped around the very top of Tartarus. The shadow of Arisato Minato tapped his fingers along to the thump of the tower’s pulse, and sighed again.

“So you are Death,” he mumbled under his breath. “But that human is you too. Just like how all of my Personas are me, or reflections of my bonds…” A pause. "Is your human self a reflection of our bond?"

“Yes and no. Your soul was able to envelop my nascent being in its entirety.” Death stated evenly. “I am only capable of this depth because of you, and thus, he is a strange mirror. But he is mostly a reflection of the self that you granted me. That human form… will yearn toward you. For him, there is no other he would seek to behold.” 

“O-oh.” A flush spread across the shadow’s face, and he hid his expression in the yellow scarf. “That’s… hm. That should be fine."

Another comfortable silence before the other spoke, voice muffled. “What’s his name? Your other self, I mean.”

“Mochizuki Ryoji.“

Although it knew that the shadow would not be able to see it, Death lifted the hand not being held and pointed at the vessel it had created. The same fluffy hair, the same deliberate beauty mark, the same scarf- but he had a shackle closed around his wrist and its chain that draped off the bed, both there and not-there, and the blue, blue eyes of something human-yet-inhuman. Eyes that were closed in slumber, unaware of the hidden hour.

“Mm… that’s a good name. I like it.”

“… I’m glad you do.”

In the span of a single breath, the hour passed, and the tower and all its inhabitants vanished into the midnight.

[marigold-memory]

ryomina week 2025 day 2: kyoto / music / future

you thought it’d be more writing, but it was actually art!! they r chilling on the riverbank in kyoto… 100% they could have spent some time just enjoying the view,,,

fun fact despite not rlly showing the sunset, i color picked from a sunset... i LOVE sunsets (and sunrises) theyre so beautiful…

[marigold-memory]

with sincerity (2642 words)

ryomina week 2025 day 1: confessions / seasons / mirror

helloooo happy ryomina week everyone!! so excited to be participating i havent done a ship week in years :0

fun fact this isn't. what i originally planned ? i wanted to do art, but it wasn't working out, so i speedwrote this instead lol. hope you like it!

sticking it under the cut too in case you dont have an ao3 acc,,,

%

Ryoji is very sincere, Minato has noticed.

Whether it be asking girls to dinner or telling Minato all about his day, it’s like he doesn’t can’t help but spill all his feelings. Ryoji doesn’t leave much to the imagination- his intentions are very straightforward and he tries to communicate that. Tries, being the key word.

(That candidness of his landed him in hot water once or twice. If Minato hadn’t gone to the rooftop with him, Ryoji probably wouldn’t have gotten out unscathed. Minato could deal with a three on one. Ryoji… maybe not.)

Minato has told him before that he doesn’t have to tell him everything. Ryoji just blinked and asked if he didn’t want to hear it, pouting all the while.

…Minato didn’t respond. Since then, Ryoji still chattered on and on about things he’s seen and done since they last talked. 

He’ll never admit it but it’s… nice, to hear about how Ryoji sees the world. It’s different from his. Ryoji can find beauty in almost everything. And yet, he acknowledges how bleak the world can become. And yet, he still thinks the world is good, or can be good.

Minato has never met anyone with as in love with the world as Ryoji. 

It’s… humbling.

%

Minato overhears a lot of conversations. He doesn’t mean to, most of the time, but they don’t let him wear his headphones at school, and so he’s zoning out when his friends’ conversation sparks the tiniest bit of interest. 

“…and it’s just not fair that Mochizuki-kun gets all the girls and only barely seems interested in *any* of them!” Kenji says empathetically. He rolls his eyes.

Junpei pats his back with sympathy. “Man, I hear ya. Some guys get aaaall the luck, don’t they?”

“Like you have any room to talk,” Yukari rolls her eyes from a table or two over. She’s got a playful look in her eye, though, so Minato figures it isn’t serious. “We’ve literally all noticed you visiting the hospital, you know?”

“Wh- Yuka-tan!” Junpei sputters. “Leave Ch- her out of this!”

“Ughhh…” Kenji groans. “First *Iori* gets some hospital girl- who you still haven’t told us about, by the way- and then the brand new transfer student is so mysterious and cool that every girl in the city is cooing over him like he’s- a baby bird!”

Minato imagines it. Ryoji, a little blackbird with scraggly feathers and huge, beady eyes. And his beauty mark. It’s a funny thought. And somewhat cute, in a mildly pathetic kind of way.

He tunes back into the conversation. Yukari is talking. “…some of the girls I’ve talked to who went out with him say he’s a little weird, honestly. A perfect gentleman, but… weird. He’s does all kinds of romantic stuff, but when actually asked, he just keeps saying they’re just friends, all of them.” She shrugs. “I think they like him even better for that, honestly. The full experience, but none of the commitment.”

Kenji slumps over his desk, even more defeated. “He doesn’t even want to date them?! How is this my life…”

Minato knows exactly how Kenji’s life is like that, but refrains from saying anything. He’d learned that lesson already. No need to retread old ground. Unless… well, maybe if it was funny.

In his desperation, Kenji turns to Junpei- “Iori, you’ve hung out with him, right? What’s he like? As one of the bros?”

Junpei scratches the back of his neck. “He’s honestly a great friend? But it is a little weird how he’ll just… change the mood completely with some random statement. I honestly don’t know where his brain goes, sometimes.”

Minato thinks Ryoji’s train of thought is pretty easy to follow. He’s curious about a lot of things and will voice his thoughts. But he’s also curious about things commonly seen as negative, and will discuss them freely. It’s almost like he completely disregards a lot of social norms. Minato has seen him go on at length about the cycle of water and about why the cat wouldn’t let him pet it, but also about the terrifying vacuum of space and Apathy Syndrome. 

(That last one was a bit difficult to hear about, but Minato… still listened. He hoped that, despite playing into a delusional man’s schemes, defeating the Full Moon Shadows had at the very least helped some people recover. He held tightly to that hope.)

He tunes back into the conversation at just the right moment. “Actually,” Junpei is saying. “He brings up Minato a lot. So, y'know.”

Minato blinks at actually being addressed, and turns to meet their expectant gazes. He raises an eyebrow, waiting for them to elaborate.

Kenji leans in, an intense look in his eye. “Minato! What’s Ryoji like?”

Minato doesn’t even have to think about it. “He’s nice. Don’t know why Aigis hates him.”

The statement causes a series of understanding winces. Aigis and Ryoji had been drawn into the teacher’s lounge with Ms. Toriumi’s, and were likely getting a lecture on being civil. It was a miracle that Minato hadn’t been called as well, being one of the sources of their disagreement.

“…Yeah, that checks out,” Yukari sighs. “You know, it’s kind of weird you get along so well? But maybe you’re just the same kind of person deep down.” 

“Kinda mysterious to people, but secretly just a big softie!” Junpei adds with a grin. 

Minato makes a mental note to put Junpei on the front lines for the first half of the next Tartarus run, and squints at them. “Ryoji isn’t confusing.” 

Kenji barks a laugh. It's somehow not mean-spirited or even sad, so Minato guesses that the conversation cheered him up somewhat. “Of course the second-most mysterious guy in school thinks the first-most mysterious guy in school isn’t confusing.” He points an accusing finger. “Is your schedule still blocked out late at night without any labels at all? Mr. First-Name-Terms-With-Mochizuki?”

Minato ignores both jabs. His schedule is perfectly normal. Besides, scheduling Tartarus visits would look weird with or without a label, due to the timeslot. “Ryoji isn’t confusing,” he repeats, purposefully not emphasizing the name. “He just says what he means. That’s all.”

Yukari blinks at him, and then laughs. This one isn’t mean either, just a bit disbelieving. “That’s all, huh?”

 Minato doesn’t completely like the expression on her face, like she’s trying not to laugh harder. But since she’s his friend, he puts forth one more clarifying statement. “Stop reading into what he says. Just take it at face value. He’s so bad at hiding things.”

“I dunno, man,” Junpei is also looking at him with an almost-laughing expression. “Seems like he’s done okay to me.”

Minato barely resists the urge to roll his eyes, and deliberately turns away. There’s nothing Ryoji hides about himself. He’s extremely obvious. 

Minato knows him better than Junpei does, anyway.

%

Hand brushing Ryoji’s, Minato takes some time to reflect as they walk back to the hotel from the riverbank. On the way there, Ryoji had been fidgety. The reveal of the music box had been a nice surprise, and a wonderful memento, but even after, Ryoji’s hand toys with his scarf, and he’s dipped his head down into it to cover his mouth, the way he did when he was thinking deeply. Minato can feel the gaze burning into the side of his head, so he turns to meet it and asks, “What’s on your mind?”

“Wha- um!” Ryoji stammers, wide-eyed at being caught. The setting sun casts a rosy orange tint over everything it touches, and Ryoji practically glows in the early evening light. He takes a breath, blowing it out through pursed lips. “You can’t just ask me out of nowhere like that, Minato-kun!”

“Sorry,” Minato acknowledges. He waits another beat, another step, their arms swinging between them. Then, “Ryoji.”

Ryoji perks up. “Yes, Minato-kun?”

“What’s on your mind?”

Ryoji sputters again. Minato waits as he collects himself. They walk in silence for another block.

“Minato-kun,” Ryoji eventually starts. He stops them in the street, pulling him over to the side. His eyes are very big, and they valiantly hold Minato’s own stare. “Do you really want to know?”

Minato wants to know as much as he can about Ryoji, actually. “Yes.”

Ryoji’s face scrunches up, and Minato can’t help the slight upturn of his lips.  “Minato-kun…”

For a moment, it seems like Ryoji is about to crack, and spill everything the way he has countless times before. But his expression firms, and he shakes his head. “Sorry, Minato-kun. That’s a secret.”

Minato is feeling playful, so he hits Ryoji with an exaggerated pout. “Aw… that’s too bad…”

Ryoji’s face looks like someone hit him on the head with a hammer. Then the words register, and his already-wide eyes somehow widen even more in panic. He frantically affirms, “I’ll tell you! But just not right now, okay? Later! In the future! I promise!”

Minato decides to take pity on him, easing up. “Okay. I’ll wait.”

Ryoji looks at him with an expression… that Minato can’t quite parse. Relief, but not just relief. “You… will?”

“Yeah.” Minato shrugs.

Relaxing, Ryoji folds Minato into his embrace. Minato lets him, patting him on the back. “I’m sorry, Minato… it’s just that- these words are so important. I want to make sure they’re perfect, so we won’t misunderstand each other. Okay?”

Minato is intrigued. What could be so important? But he respects Ryoji’s wishes, so… “Okay,” he mumbles into the other’s scarf. “But promise you’ll tell me, someday?”

He can feel Ryoji’s heart, beating furiously in his chest. He can feel just how alive Ryoji is, through the shaky exhale. “I promise. One day… I’ll tell it to you.”

They pull apart after another moment. Ryoji offers his hand to Minato, and Minato takes it.

And in that moment, Minato can see exactly how the world must look like to Ryoji.

%

(The world is green, and the moon is green, and the bridge is dyed with blood and the ocean is blood, and this could all be borne, except that Aigis is *down*, and the one responsible is)

Minato can scarcely breathe as Ryoji numbly reveals a damning truth. 

%

December is a rough month for everyone involved. 

Ryoji disappears after the ultimatum that fateful night. The team fractures, everyone grappling with the cruel, cruel reality. Nothing has changed for everyone else. But the demeanor of the members of SEES has shifted, and almost everyone they know can tell.

Minato is… surviving. It almost doesn’t feel real. But every now and then he’ll catch a glimpse of something, and the memories of a happier time shock him back to reality. 

The thing is, Minato muses, that he’d never gotten to hear what Ryoji had thought was so important. It hadn’t been that he was Death. Ryoji had looked so dull, his voice and face and body language giving almost nothing away, except for the haunted look of despair in his eyes. There was no way that was what Ryoji had thought was so important that it needed time and perfection. 

(Minato had wondered, if it was what Ryoji was trying to say when they’d met in the music room. He wondered what Ryoji would have said if they hadn’t been interrupted. He tries not to feel the regret, but he does.)

…He probably didn’t even know that at the time. Minato tries not to think about how he was the entire month, versus the last time he’d seen him. It almost didn’t seem like the same person. But it was.

Life goes on. Minato takes the brunt of Junpei’s anger, wishing he could find the words to convey how he’s feeling, but he can’t. They go to school every day. Minato spends his time with others, to think about their problems instead of his own. One by one, the members of SEES find their resolve. Aigis returns from maintenance. And before long, on the last day of December, Ryoji returns to the dorm.

Minato doesn’t look up as he passes. But as soon as Ryoji’s gone, he meets the gaze of everyone in the room. Their resolve is set. Minato’s… not so much. But he can trust their decision, and he can relay it to Ryoji.

But once he gets up the stairs and into his room, his chest pangs fiercely, and before Ryoji can say anything, the words slip out. “What were you going to tell me.”

Almost a perfect mirror of that day long ago, Ryoji’s eyes widen. He opens his mouth, but Minato isn’t finished. “You promised me. Are you the kind of person who breaks promises?”

Ryoji’s mouth opens. And closes. And he says, sadly, “But I’m not a person-“

“Try again,” Minato orders. His chest is hurting more and his eyes feel like they’re sizzling in their sockets, but he pins Ryoji with his stare. “You were more of a person in one month than I’ve been in the past ten years. If you’re not a person, I’m not a person.”

Something in Minato breaks. He blinks, vision blurring, and tries to focus on Ryoji. “Just- tell me. Please.” 

Ryoji, on his part, looks horrified. He rises from the bed, and steps closer, and closer, until he’s swiping delicately at the corner of Minato’s eye with a single finger. 

“I’ve made you cry,” Ryoji whispers hoarsely. He sounds on the verge of tears. Minato finally registers the tears on his own cheeks. “All I’ve done is hurt you…”

Minato can’t help himself. The dam had already broken. “You did do that. But that wasn’t because of what you are. It’s because of what you did.”

Ryoji stares in mute horror as Minato continues. “Leaving for the entire month hurt me the most. You didn’t have to do that. You… I thought you would be there for me. But you weren’t.” 

Minato hates how vulnerable he sounds, but he just can’t control how the words are coming out. His voice hitches on a sob, and he tips his head forward so his hair falls limply over his face. “So. Just… tell me what it was. What was so important?”

There’s silence for a few moments, only broken by the occasional hiccuping breath. Minato is almost sure he’ll have to walk downstairs in the green of the Dark Hour, having let time run out, but a sound like glass breaking splits the air, and he jolts and looks up in shock. 

Thanatos is floating in front of him. Ryoji, in the form of Thanatos. Minato thinks he should be more shocked, but he’s so drained that he can barely muster any reaction. He only watches as those gloved hands come closer and wipe away the fresh wave of tears. 

“Minato,” he says. “You are the most important person to me. More than anything, I didn’t want to see you suffer… And yet… by my hand, and only mine…”

…With a sudden clarity, Minato grabs both of the entity’s hands in his own. “You did,” he whispers. “But you also… made me very happy, too.”

Another silence stretches between them. Then, a flash of light, and Ryoji is standing in front of Minato once more, hands clasped together. The music box is held between them.

���...You're not going to kill me,” Ryoji says quietly. There’s resignation on his face, in his posture. But he doesn’t move to let go. “I understand. It’s your choice.”

Minato doesn’t want to let go either. “I’ve already suffered. The world is full of suffering,” he says. “But the world… is also beautiful, isn’t it?”

Ryoji looks at him, and Minato looks back. He finds it in him to smile, weakly, and Ryoji looks devastated all over again. “I had forgotten, when you showed up. But you reminded me.”

“…So I did.”

[marigold-memory]

lemres eye color reveal coincided perfectly with the return of my puyo era. might post some doodles but for now take this monochrome art :0

[marigold-memory]

ok so i made this months ago and didn't post it. but i set it as my april fools pfp on discord on a whim and yknow what i'm kinda vibing with it. therefore i present to you: ghost rule kokichi, based on the project diva outfit and hair

[marigold-memory]

pixel portraits of two velvet room attendants! pixel brushes are truly cool. hats off to all pixel enjoyers

[marigold-memory]

after trawling the wiki a bit, i've discovered that the pristine cut, in all its glory, added an amount of routes that has perfectly evened out the princess count!

each chapter 2 princess, while able to be taken to the shifting mound on her own, can lead into exactly two possibilities for chapter 3- one that is unique to her, and one that she shares with her 'opposite' route (as depicted by the stranger's staircase). and of course each one has many, many variations and decisions on how exactly the player gets there!

i was so enthused by this news that i made a radial flowchart (using the lovely and cute in-game chibis from the gallery!) to demonstrate. i think it looks really nice :)

[marigold-memory]

edited a screenshot of nyx avatar from persona 3 reload to look a lil more like the original...

images for comparison/reference (reload on left, og on right):

notes:

these images are very easy to find on google, they're not mine lol

i... literally just slapped some filters over it in krita, with some adjustments as well. this means i did not recreate the cloudy background of the og version, but if i put in more effort i would want to have those clouds instead of a clearish sky (and also why is the sky only slightly cloudy. i think i'd have preferred either completely clear skies with no clouds whatsoever, or the complete overcast that is the og version)

the new one is Really green but kind of only in a way that's really noticeable when you're comparing it to the og

the og is a lot more blue green, while reload's is more yellowsish green. i tried for the bluer green tone because i prefer it more, but im not sure if i succeeded

speaking of, i kinda wanna make the wings stand out more? the pop of red is Really nice in the reload screenshot. however that would require me painstakingly tracing over every vein so uh. hard pass XD

also the filters i used made it Way too dark... if i were trying to make a scene that would be used in the game, i would want to add some more dramatic lighting that could highlight the party members too, but for a simple and quick edit i'm fine with this

the moon is completely white in the og while its tinted green the way everything else is in reload. lol. anyway i like the paleness of the og moon so i tried to make it 'white but with a green aura' or whatever

i think i understand why its so green? its probably to make nyx avatar stand out more against the sky. as you can see the og's bg was kind of 'it was a dark and stormy night' vibe bc it darkens as it gets further away from the moon but the new one has a lot less range of values so nyx avatar being very dark black stands out a bit more. if it wasnt so green. LOL and perhaps they wanted to brighten it up. to the atmosphere's detriment but yea

[marigold-memory]

my friend who was playing balatro, in discord: death fool combo mwah mwah kissy kissy

my brain: omg.... death and fool!?!?!?! just like them...!

thank u [friend name here] for activating the braincell immediately

[marigold-memory]

....okay this is like so out of nowhere. but this ryomina art by tumblr user townslore was rlly cute n i liked it... AND THE AIGIS IN THE FOREGROUND WAS ALSO CUTE OK???

so now you all get christmas/festive aigis, by me

[marigold-memory]

something, something, two birds of a feather??

idk i was just using this brush that i like and trying to learn how to draw sunday, for benign purposes. and then robin appeared. (hi robin. thanks for being here robin)

anyway where was i... oh yeah . i think(?) the inspo for this was like... from a fic of an entirely different fandom where there was a boss fight of two characters but they were fused and one side was one face and one was the other? and the concept actually kind of happens Twice within said fic?? it might have been that. maybe .

but this isnt intended to be a boss fight, more like... im just putting them side by side. a bit abstract . something. sunday is contemplating how to move forward. robin is singing her heart out. Contrast. you know those two contrasting cgs in the quest. yea those.

so yeah thats that

[marigold-memory]

me when i play in stars and time, but im a fan of persona so i keep accidentally calling the sadnesses shadows 😔

grinded out the whole game over the first three days of holiday from school. felt like i was stuck in the time loop w/ siffrin LOL but WE GOT OUT!!!!!!

[marigold-memory]

femc..... i tried out one of the pencil brushes on krita lmao

kinda similar to the other doodles of the moonlight bridge trio ? so im queueing it for the day after :)

bonus extra really old pixel doodle under the cut.

she's so ok you guys . so normal. and coping well with everything. For Real.