#and maybe little personality chip for goro as a treat

[fereldanwench]

watching the 100 is giving me all kinds of ideas now on fleshing out valerie's mom's side of the family

i think valerie is gonna have a mercan-side cousin inspired by becca franko

naively optimistic neuroscientist tech billionaire comin right up!!

[charmergirl2468]

Akeshu (Selfshipping)- A Peaceful Sanctuary

HEADS UP: SPOILERS!!!!

This is just a small slice of this weird daydream where I’m in Akira’s body and go through the main game, except with my own persona being Atalanta! And mostly a fantasy of being able to talk Akechi down from the end game. Please enjoy this small sliver of insanity~

Walking into La Blanc was just like every other since I came here. The bell ringing from the front door, the smell of coffee swirling in the air, and Sakura’s greeting of “oh, you’re back”. There’s even that comfortable aura I’ve always headcanoned was permeating the place. It was a grounding place for me, seeing as most of this world is still a vast, confusing maze for me. Seriously, I bet none of the Lets players have tried to walk in the city without using the quick travel.

But the one thing that always disrupted the picture of Le Blanc that’s kept me sane is one Goro Akechi showing up randomly, just like today.

I have nothing against Akechi personally, despite my private nick name of him being Sketchy Akechi. But him showing up without a schedule, something I can keep track of and prepare for, makes it harder for me to be at ease with him. Especially considering what’s to come… I shouldn’t think about it now!

I was at least familiar with the time frame, where Akechi was getting scorn from the public eye for calling out the Phantom Theives. There’s at least that comfort in this crazy mess. But I’m not comfortable with how miserable Akechi is feeling, even if he doesn’t know I know. Something about Akechi finding solstice in Le Blanc felt like daja vu, but I couldn’t pin point what.

Still, just because I know what happens doesn’t mean I can’t be nice. I walk around the counter, putting the bag with Morgana by the stairs to slip into the attic, and pulled out a glazed chocolate chip scone from my secret stash. Akechi stared at me when I put it on a small plate and placed it in front of him. He made a move to grab his wallet, but I quickly stopped him.

“Woah woah woah!” I went, waving my hands side to side, “No need! It’s on the house. We can call it an active detectives discount”

“Oh…” he breathed, putting his wallet back and looking slightly shocked, “That’s very generous of you, but won’t Sakura-San get upset over you handing out product like that?”

“No need to worry, my dude. That delicious glazed scone with delectable chocolate chips is an Akira original from my own secret stash~”

So what if I’m showing off? He gets to be a detective from the cases he creates with the Metaverse, and is a conspirator with an attempted rapist. I’m allowed to let my old Anglophile phase shine through for a bit. ‘Sides, scones never hurt anyone.

“Amazing…” Akechi quietly gawked, taking the first bite. His eyes went wide open from the surprise deliciousness. At least, that’s what I’ll tell myself. “You made this yourself, Kurusu-San?”

“Not really, I mostly followed a recipe online and added chocolate chips and glaze. But I still loved playing with the dough and making this yum-tastic!”

I decided to sit next to him with a scone of my own, taking huge bites compared to his tiny ones. Seriously, who feeds this boy and is it enough? He looks normal but no human takes that tiny of bites. Than again, someone getting sucked into a game and becoming the protag, cis-gender and all, isn’t in the realm of normal either.

Akechi interrupted my train of thought with “Do you enjoy baking, Kurusu-San?”

“Oh, oh yeah!” I stuttered out, “Mostly stuff I hear about online or see on tv. There was one time I baked and frosted cookies at like 11 at night and made them look like different country flags!”

That story at least got a chuckle out of him, making me blush a little. Dammit, why does he have to be so evil and yet so hot!? I know I shouldn’t be attracted to him, all things considered, but something draws me to him. Like how flys will hang around any kind of sweet. Maybe I’m over thinking it.

Once his chuckle was over, his eyes returned to a saddened gaze at the counter. The whole world is ridiculing him, even though it’s part of his plan. No amount of mental fortitude or after school programs can prepare for all those angry, violent, hateful words. He reminds me of…

I put an arm near his, getting him to look at me. “Listen, from one dude to another, don’t worry about the people tweeting or whatever about hating you. They’re the kind of people who follow trends for the sake of trends and throw logic out the window. I’d bet my bottom dollar that they’ll find another sap to get pissy about once this blows over.”

His eyes looked glossy, like he was holding back tears. Maybe he was and I couldn’t tell.

“Honestly, if they’re going to judge you based on this incident alone and ignore the hard work you put in to being a damn detective at our age, they can fuck themselves with a cactus! Just because you were cautious of the Phantom Thieves doesn’t make you a monster. It means you were analytical and wanted to make a decision with all the facts! If they have an issue with that, they’re dumber than an anti-vaxxer!”

Akechi surprised me with something I’d never in a million years thought I’d get to see; he genuinely smiled at me. Not his fake polite smile, not his crazed hopped up smile, just a smile of relief and comfort.

“T-That was a surprising speech…” he muttered out, probably trying his damnest not to cry. “D-Do you speak from personal experience?”

I looked at the counter myself, thinking back to all the things people have said about me. I shake my head like it’s an etch-a-sketch and return my attention to Akechi.

“Maybe a little…” I answered quietly, stuffing my mouth with scone so he can’t ask me anymore questions.

Akechi returned to his fake smile and turned to Sojiro.

“I should be going” he said, moving out of his seat “Thank you for having me. The coffee was delicious! As was that scone~”

He walked out of the store without looking back.

Once I swallowed my scone I excused myself to the attic and sat on the futon with a sigh.

“Charm?” Morgana pipped up, “What the hell was all that? You sounded… experienced…”

I ran my fingers through my hair, the same stress tick I’ve had for years.

“Just stuff from the past back home. Nothing to worry about.” I excuse with a faint smile, “I’ve buried most of it anyways so it doesn’t bother me anymore”

“If you say so…”

I laid out on the makeshift bed and covered myself with a blanket, Morgana curling up near my feet. The attic wasn’t well insulated in the slightest but it’s livable with a fan and a space heater. Plus one cat warming my feet for free isn’t bad.

“Do you mind if I ask you something else?” Morgana questioned as we settled down.

“Go for it” I replied while glancing at my phone in case Yuki gives us a request.

“Why were you trying to comfort Akechi? People are being mean to him but he brought it on himself by trying to doubt us”

I stared at the ceiling for a second, phone hand resting on the mattress.

“Mostly because… he shouldn’t have this huge a back last to being cautious. He didn’t dance on graves or isn’t a racist asshole. He’s a teenager who didn’t know how we’re doing things and was very skeptical of that. He has every right to be wary of us, but people are treating him like he’s the devil incarnate. It’s not fair to him… he’s still a kid, like us…”

“I… I guess that makes sense” he admitted.

We really didn’t do much talking after that. I just stared at the ceiling until I fell asleep. I couldn’t remember much of my dream, but I do remember seeing a red crow chilling on the back of a grey wolf laying down.