#zumi answers

[honnojis]

is there a reason there's like no fat characters in rejuvenation?

no, it just kinda turned out that way. no one on the team deliberately has something against fat characters fwiw, it's moreso the product of inexperience with variety in character design in the past. a lot of the character designs are close to a decade old—at the time we didn't really think too much of it probably 😅

that's not to say that i'm unaware of the lack of body type diversity—i'm also trying to get better at conveying that better in the art for rejuv (because yes i am aware of my own faults in the matter), and potentially may come back to some of the older art to change things up. there just haven't really been a lot of characters where it's been asked of/appropriate to push things a little more.

i do see a lot of fanart with plus sized interpretations of the characters tho and i think those are cool!!!! i'm happy people don't feel constrained by what the official material provides

[old-thymey-magpie]

Was going for a back strike and- OH. Well okay that works too-

[novaae]

It's not a question, it's a statement, because of you now I want to do more Bumizumi 👁️👁️♥️

ahhh thank you!!!! im always up to talk about bumizumi! i was just gonna a bumizumi doodle in a few mins hehe

[toomanygoldfish]

You and your boyfriend Iwaizumi had been lounging on the couch for the past hour or two, binging your favorite movie series.

You had gotten up to go make a snack for the both of you when you hear you boyfriend’s voice call out; “hey love?”

pausing what you were doing you answer him;“yea?”

“can you get my phone for me? I think someone texted me.” “sure” you hadn’t heard his phone go off, but you shuffle around, finishing what you were doing before bringing it to him.

you take a glance down at his phone as you walk towards the living room. His lock screen was a picture you had sent him while you were babysitting two young kids.

You had found some face paint and had let the kids draw freely on your face. You had a mustache and a few strange flowers on your cheek.

You had made duck lips to take a photo and had sent it to him. You had forgotten about the phot about five minutes later after one of the children had decided to eat the houseplant.

You gently toss the phone at him. He catches it and you glower at him. “I could have given you a much better Lock Screen picture than that”

he smoothed his face into one of innocence. He looked up at you, “but you look cute”

Huffing at his voice you turn away and walk back into the kitchen before calling out, “I still could have given you a better one.”

there is a pause before you hear faintly from the other room, “… ok send it over”

——————three days later———————

“hey Zumi! Your phone whent off, do you want me to bring it to you?” You were lounging around in your bed when his phone went off. He had gone the his office to finish up some paperwork.

“sure! Thank you [Name]” you pulled yourself off of the bed and started making your way to the office. His phone went off once more glancing down at it you see it’s a text from Oikawa.

“Of cou— you didn’t change the Lock Screen.” Behind that text from Oikawa was that gosh darn picture. “noo?”

Standing in the doorway you make eye contact with him. “Are you asking or telling me?”

He mouth opens and closes like a goldfish for a moment before he bursts out, “but my love! You looked so cute!”

you gasp in mock outrage, turning on his phone you shove the lock screen right in front of his face. Holding back a giggle you yell, “I look like a squirrel!!!”

He reaches up to grab you wrist. He pulled it down and kisses it. “but I still love you either way!”

“WOW” by this point you are full on laughing. “Well I can’t get too mad at you.”

He looks up at you, and with mild distrust in his voice he tentatively asks “why?”

With an ear to ear grin on your face, you pull out your own phone and show him your lock screen, “cause I got this photo of you as mine.”

“EW. What the crap! Did Oikawa send you this?” He physically recoiled from the photo.

“yeah.” You can barely breathe through you laughs.

“change it!”

“no you look cute in it!!”

You looked at you before almost lunging at you. “YOU LITTLE—“

The two of you were rolling on the floor, wrestling for possession of the phone.

[traversety]

mona getting sick of waiting on gala to actually do anything (this is going to take multiple posts)

hi @gala-xyzz isnt writing so im gonna slowly work my way through my favorite bit of her sky au which i am totally normal and not sick in the head about. its almost 1am someone stop me.

this is the first bit bc i cant keep going rn ;-;

They found Mayhem standing at Eden's gate. He was staring deep into the rich red light the inner depths of the gate cast outwards, so still and motionless that he seemed dead or frozen.

Zumi tugged on his cape. "Mayhem? Why are you standing and staring into that big creepy light?"

Like a freshly wound music-box, Mayhem snapped to life, jolting and stepping back so quickly that he crashed into Zumi and knocked her over. "Oh, shit, sorry, uh. Wow. Fuck, didn't realize you guys were here already."

"Well," Vega snapped, "it's one in the morning, and you said you wanted to talk. So talk. If Lyra somehow wakes up and realizes I've left the house after I just got back—"

"—She's going to lock you up in your room like a damsel in distress, I know." Mayhem let out a spiteful chuckle and rolled his eyes before continuing. "Look, Ringer and I didn't tell you guys about this, we really, really didn't want to, but I've been thinking about it since we came back home. And Ringer thinks we should tell you."

The girls turned around to look at Ringer, who was hovering shyly near Sesha. Even beneath his mask, there was a visible flush on his face. "Um… Mayhem and I… we… oh, how do I-"

"JUST TELL US!" Zumi screeched.

A sigh. "Once Mayhem and I were done making our report to the Elders about Ismyth, we were about to head home and… well, Ismyth came. Physically."

A heavy mist of silence graced the air in the moments after that announcement. Zumi started to scream again, but Sesha quickly clapped a hand over her mouth. "Zumi, shut it, you're going to wake the entire village-"

"He WHAT." Vega's tone was furious. "I thought he said he couldn't get into the Vault physically! I thought he could only present himself physically in the Wasteland!"

Ringer sighed again. "It only gets worse from there. He congratulated us for completing a pilgrimage, and then said that if wanted to make the final push, make it a real pilgrimage, he'd…" Ringer seemed to be choking on his words like they were poisoned.

Mayhem cut in and finished for him. "He said if we went to the Storm he'd tell us every fucking secret he's held back from us. Who he is, what's his deal, all the shit. Everything."

Sesha, still keeping a tight rein on Zumi, said, "We're not going. Absolutely not. Not a single one of us is going there. We just can't! Are you crazy?! No! Vega's core is too fragile, Zumi's too young, and besides, we're all still on official lockdown! Even if I wanted to go, we couldn't because of these two!"

Zumi looked ready to have Mister Cuddles chop Sesha's hand off at a single kick. Although, there was already a fair amount of kicking, so the crab probably wouldn't get the signal. Hopefully. Maybe.

"Look," Mayhem said, grabbing his staff off his back and gesturing towards Eden, "I don't like going in there anymore since my accident, you all know that, but I am ready to march in there all by myself for no other reason besides finding that fucking prick and beating the light from his core for my own enjoyment, lockdown or no lockdown. We might as well get some answers out of it, okay? And Ringer can get his first pilgrimage properly finished! It's a win on every side! I get to claw Ismyth to bits, we finally get the answers we've wanted, and Ringer gets to finish the pilgrimage! I saw we go, and we go now."

Vega gripped Mayhem's shoulder. "You're crazy. I'm going to die if I go in there. That's what the physicians all told me. We can't go in there."

Zumi finally broke free of Sesha's grasp. "I agree with Mayhem!"

Ringer's face broke out into a panic. "Zumi, we're under orders from the Elders to stay here and you can't-"

"I DON'T CARE! I AM SICK OF BEING TOLD NO AND I WANT ANSWERS!"

Before anyone could even try to stop her, Zumi dashed through Eden's gate.

"I change my mind," Vega said. "We can't just let her go by herself."

*****

[lemontsumu]

// JNT shenanigans, magic realism

Atsumu tends to self-isolate when he’s despondent or deeply distressed. Perhaps it’s precisely because of the fact that had he’s developed his… jinx.

Some foreign player hears about the infamous reputation of the Miya twins in high school and half jokes about Osamu quitting volleyball because he can’t stand his twin, an old classic jab Atsumu has heard too many times before, really, so Atsumu shrugs it off as usual with a forced laugh and an insincere retort.

They go along their merry way and guzzle up drinks with team they had annihilated on court for a practice earlier, the low blow long forgotten by everyone but the person slighted albeit the amount of alcohol consumed until dawn.

The next morning, a loud shrill awakens the entire floor, eleven volleyball players gather towards the commotion.

“Miya, please- it’s like 10am. At least let me sleep until noon,” Yaku grunts through the rhythmic throbbing of his head.

Behind him, Iwaizumi yawns lazily and joins the group.

“Yakkun, Zumi-kun! Taihen!” Bokuto bounces up and down.

“Bokuto, calm down,” Kiyoomi sighs tiredly. “What happened?”

Hinata and Bokuto share puzzled looks. “Uh-“

The crying comes to an abrupt stop and they turn towards the bedroom from where the noise originated, and it takes a few seconds for their sleep-addled brains to register the scene in front of them: a toddler hiccuping between wet sobs as his tiny head pokes out of the fuzzy peach sweater Atsumu had slept in the night prior, honey brown eyes glazed with tears while he clutches the sheets around his small body.

The 29-year old setter nowhere to be found in the room.

His phone starts ringing and startles the unknown child, so one of his teammates scrambles to pick up and placate the child.

“Tsumu, are ya okay? I-I had… a strange feeling. Are ya still at camp?” The voice on the other end of the line was frantically heaving, the familiar drawl of a Kansai-ben making it easy to guess to whom it belonged.

“Uh… Miya Osamu?” Wakatoshi was the chosen one urged to answer.

“What are ya- Wait, who is this? Where the hell is my brother?”

“Atsumu-kun is… not here at the moment but-“

Then the wailing resumes on their end of the line.

“Is that-“

“Uhm, Osamu-san, this is Hinata. Atsumu-san isn’t in his room right now and there’s a child that… well-“

“Oh, no. Is the kid a snotty boy with dyed blonde hair like Tsumu’s?”

Mouths fall agape as the implication of Osamu’s suggestion resounds on speaker.

“Now that you mention it, yes…”

There’s a pregnant pause on the other end of the line followed by a muffled rustling and plodding footsteps echoing through a hallway.

“Text me the address of yer hotel. I’ll be there in a few hours.”

The guys, now fully awake, blink at each other and responds with silent nods as if Osamu can see their heads bobbing.

“And whatever happens, don’t let him out of yer sight,” he says sternly, both a threat and a plea.

[Click.]

When the line disconnects, their gazes shift to the whimpering child whose interest they seem to have piqued.

“Atsumu?” Iwaizumi is the one who steps forward and makes a first approach, one arm keeping the rest of them behind him as if to protect the boy from big buff men. “Are you Atsumu?”

Little Tsumu sticks his finger in his mouth and gives him an affirming nod.

Oh.

Oh, boy.

“Ahhh, Tsumu-Tsumu is so cute!” Bokuto coos.

“Not now, Bokuto!” Yaku chides him.

“What should we do? He’s probably hungry!” Hinata panics.

“Calm down, you’ll startle him,” Kiyoomi remains unmoving as if to balance the jumpiness from the other.

“So, what’s the plan, coach?” They all look to Iwaizumi.

Iwaizumi sighs, all set to give out his orders.

Looks like they’re in for a shift in careers indefinitely—however long it takes to revert their precious setter.

[sambhavami]

Vyasa and Dhritarashtra

This is an offshoot inspired by a post I saw by @imai-zumi...thanks man! ❤️

Dhritarashtra, as a character, his presentation within the story, is highly influenced by how Vyasa sees him. He is Vyasa's first child, and his favourite one. When the vastraharana incident happens, before going to the Pandavas immediately, Vyasa chooses to go to Hastinapura, to Dhritarashtra, to comfort him.

Vyasa tells him a story about how Surabhi, the divine mother of all cattle, is once confronted by Indra who asks why, leaving all her other mortal children, she is shedding tears over the mistreatment of one weak, crippled bull. Surabhi answers that she cares more for that bull, to the point of being overtly partial, because it is her weakest child. Using this story as almost a direct metaphor, we see the relationship of Dhritarashtra and Vyasa in another light.

Mahabharata is essentially a story that, among other things, sheds light on the cyclical pattern of shortcomings and insecurities, handed down from one generation to the next, which then manifest in new and old ways.

Looking at the circumstances of Dhritarashtra’s birth, we see a young Vyasa, in his mid to late twenties being coerced by his arguably traumatised and teetering-on-the-edge-of-an-anxious-breakdown mother, into basically assaulting two innocent women. He then finds some comfort in the ‘lower-caste’ woman who is sent to him next, but his first experience of intimacy is forever marred by the cruel acts that he is forced to commit.

Even then, Dhritarashtra is still Vyasa’s first child. And the weakest one of the lot. Pandu dies early, and Vidura doesn’t need his father either emotionally or philosophically.

Vyasa, in my opinion, blames himself to some degree for how things turned out. For not refusing his mother. For not being there during the formative years of his children. For not nipping this seed of resentment in the bud. Because, for all intents and purposes, Duryodhana is not a product of Shakuni’s ambition. He is in fact the vocal manifestation of the quiet thoughts in Dhritarashtra’s head.

When Duryodhana is born, Dhritarashtra, for once, says the quiet part out loud, “It’s alright that Yudhishthira is the oldest, but my son inherits after him right?”

Yudhishthira and Duryodhana are only about one year apart in age. If there was to be no sabotage, then there would be no happy scenario where Duryodhana would inherit. However, the enunciation of this question itself sets off alarm bells in Vidura’s mind which prompts his next, much-debated statement, “You can remain happy with 99 children, maybe go ahead and have another one to hit your goal, but for the love of God, please abandon this one!”

Vidura here is trying to nip this thought in the bud. No one in the palace yet knows of Bheema’s existence as he is born only the same afternoon, some sixish hours before Duryodhana. Vidura therefore wants to ensure that the gap between Yudhishthira and the next child is maximised, so that they can avoid the neck-to-neck legal nightmare they landed in, as a result of Dhritarashtra not abandoning his first child, no matter what. Only, Vidura doesn't realise immediately that this point is not the inception, and the resentment goes far, far back.

From here we return to Vyasa. Dhritarashtra’s weakness and his ‘blind’ preference for Duryodhana is in fact the mirror held up to Vyasa’s own weakness for his firstborn.

And hence, after vastraharana, when Dhritarashtra himself is somewhat in shock and lashing out at everyone, then, instead of rebuking and deriding him, Vyasa just puts an arm around him and says, roughly, “It is in fact my ‘blindness’ that you have inherited.”

In fact, this is true, just like Vyasa (and also, in some ways differently from him), Dhritarashtra is both ‘helplessly blind’ and ‘pragya-chakshu’.

Vyasa’s duality is exposed by the fact that he is involved as well as neutral in this story. Dhritarashtra is surprisingly wise and insightful, held back only by his inherent insecurities exacerbated by his physical roadblocks.

Now, Krishna calls him out quite viciously, more and more, as we barrel towards the war, but Dwaipayana Krishna does not. He is perfectly understanding, but yet is firm (very subtly) as he, at the same time, presents the option to ‘show’ Dhritarashtra exactly the nature and results of the conflict that he himself has created.

Again and again, we see Vyasa return to this ‘family’, despite being a sanyasi, to Dhritarashtra and Gandhari, because just like Surabhi, he just can’t bring himself to abandon his weakest calf (and his most betrayed daughter-in-law, according to him).

[marriedzukka]

dani i just need you to know that when i got in the car today and my music turned on, evermore started playing RIGHT as she said real enough to get me through and i spent the entire drive after that thinking about retgmt and sokka and zuko and izumi and i was so emotional. i love them and that fic so much 🫶

hi nellie most beloved🥹 thank you for this, it made my day...as a thank you, may I offer you a recent chp16 snippet I wrote of them being sweet in this trying time:

“Put down the sponge.”

Zuko’s bent over the kitchen stove, lit only by the dim light above it as his gloved hand scrubs vigorously under the iron grates. “Go back to bed.”

“No can do.” Sokka leans back against the counter nearby; better settle in for what is sure to be a productive conversation. “You missed a spot.”

Zuko’s answering sigh is bone deep, tired, but he keeps stubbornly working at the nonexistent grime anyway. It’s hard not to feel some sympathy for him. Hot and pathetic? Jackpot.

“Something on your mind, Sunshine?”

Incredulous, he glares back, a bit of hair falling into his face. “What makes you think that?”

He’s still shirtless, barefoot, nothing on but a pair of pink cleaning gloves that Izumi picked out and a walkie talkie clipped to the waistband of his sweatpants. He looks ridiculous, and oh, Sokka loves him more than anything.

“Because I know you. And this is what you do.”

He scoffs, curiosity disguised as annoyance. “What I do?”

“When you don’t want to think about something, you clean. Or cook. Or reorganize stuff that I’ve already organized. Whatever it is, it’s usually when you should be doing something more important, like being in bed with me.”

Zuko doesn’t argue. They both know it would be pointless considering the evidence from the last few months alone. Who knows how long he was doing this kind of thing before Sokka came into the picture. He shudders at the thought.

“I’m a pretty good listener, you know.”

At that, Zuko finally deflates. “I know.”

“So you could take advantage of that instead of taking it out on our appliances.”

He glances back at the squeaky clean stove, jaw ticking. With a sigh, he slips his gloves off, laying them neatly over the middle partition in the sink to dry. “What if it’s both?”

“What if what’s both?”

He paces back and forth, though it’s not many steps considering the size of their small kitchen. “Rain or shine. What if it’s not one or the other. What if it’s both. At the same time.”

“Not sure I follow.”

Frustrated, he runs a hand through his hair. It only makes it messier. “Sometimes it can be sunny and raining all at once. It happens!”

Sokka lifts his hands as if soothing a wild, panicked animal. “I know that. I’m just trying to figure out what that has to do with you.”

The moment hangs. In the dim kitchen light, the deep set bags under Zuko’s eyes are more obvious, and his shoulders sag with weight that Sokka can’t see.

He rubs at the back of his neck. “I don’t know, I’m just—”

ccrrrshhhh.

ccrrrshhhh.

Static crackles from the walkie talkie on Zuko’s hip. They look at each other, unsure if it’s a fluke or if Izumi actually needs them, until an adorably tiny voice comes through.

ccrrrshhhh. “Um. Hello?”

As tired as they both are, they can’t help but smile. Zuko turns his hip, and the walkie, in Sokka’s direction. “Duty calls. Answer her.”

“You answer her.”

“I got it last time.”

Grumbling, Sokka snatches the walkie from Zuko’s waist— but doesn’t let him get far— and presses the call button. ccrrrshhhh. “We’re here, ‘Zumi."

ccrrrshhhh. “Papa," she whispers as if it's a secret, "You have to call me Princess Penguin, remember? It's my special code name.”

Sokka shivers as Zuko laughs against his throat- a rush of breath and heat that he would very much like to sink into, but he does his best to concentrate for Izumi's sake. These two are going to be the death of him.

ccrrrshhhh. “Whatcha need, Princess?”

ccrrrshhhh. “I need to use the potty.”

ccrrrshhhh. “So go.”

ccrrrshhhh. “But it’s really super dark!”

It's a losing game, he knows. No matter how many nightlights he installs in the hallway for her, it still spooks her to go out there alone at night. He pictures her, all scared and huddled up under the covers with Druk, and helplessly melts, knowing without a shadow of a doubt that he’d go rescue her every night if that’s what it takes for her to feel safe.

Zuko stands back to look at him fondly. Knowingly. “Well?”

“I got it,” he says, “But you better be in bed when I get back.”

A smile, even softer now. Zuko leans in to kiss his cheek, warm and full of affection. “Go save the day, Papa Penguin.”

He steps away, and Sokka fights back the incessant butterflies fluttering around in his stomach as he holds the walkie to his mouth.

Ccrrrshhhh. “On my way, Princess. Hang tight.”

[3rizu]

A Weeping Willow’s Dream

Wrapped around his finger

Contents: Geto x fem!reader - Gojo x fem!reader - Shoko x Utahime - explicit content: MDNI - fingering (f! receiving) - piv - clitoral play - modern au! - pet names (sweetheart, princess, honey, and etc) - ooc

Word Count: 5,049

A/N: If there’s any warnings missing please tell me

Masterlist

From that day on, you and Suguru didn't take so much. You could only wonder who he was with during the time he didn't answer your messages. Until you opened your phone and saw that he had posted something on his Instagram, it was Kozumi and Suguru together on a date. You were angry. How could this happen after trying so hard to wait patiently by his side? How could you get angry when he was with another woman? Even though you knew this man was not yours and you had no right to feel this way about him.

Every day you'd ask Suguru to hang out with you as usual, but the answer was always the same. "I'll hang out with Zumi today, maybe tomorrow."

God, how it annoyed you that he kept talking and hanging out with her and not just using the nickname you and the girls had made up. If you weren't any smarter, you would have killed the man with how annoying he was becoming. You kept trying to get him to hang out with you, but it was no use. No matter what time or day he was with her.

Groaning filled the room; you were in your bedroom, yelling into your pillow after seeing another Instagram post of Suguru with her. You sighed as you turned off your phone, rolled over, and looked up at the ceiling. There was the soft buzz of a notification. It was Gojo. You cracked a small smile when you saw his name. You looked at the bunny you had added to his contact name because of his white hair and the way he seemed pure and innocent to you. When you opened the message, it was another cat meme.

Weirdo🐇: This is so me coded

You: I know you don't really have a personality

Weirdo🐇: You should have said I'm wrong and I have a great personality ✋🏻😔

You: Good? I'd say it's a pretty somewhat decent personality.

Weirdo🐇: You just keep hurting my feelings, honey

You: I know, I love doing it😈

Weirdo🐇: I know you keep doing it to me

You: Wanna hang out?

Weirdo🐇: Wait, really? Actually, never mind, let's hangout.

You: All right.

-

Satoru looked at you lovingly while you two were eating in a restaurant.

"Are you going to eat? Or are you going to look like a stick man for the rest of your life?"

"Wow, rude honey!"

"Oh shut up, you know I've said worse than that.”

"Yes you have, it's like your whole purpose is to humiliate me," He whined, covering his face with his hands.

"Who else is going to keep you humble? I know other girls just make your ego bigger than your brain.”

"Sometimes I love and hate the fact that you are not like the girls who are so in love with me.”

"You're just in need of girl who doesn't love you. That's what my pretty self is here for," You said mockingly, obviously joking when you said "pretty self".

He rolled his eyes at your words, "Of course I love it between us, sweetheart is beautiful, I take you out and you use me and I let you step all over me and you keep me humble.” He said jokingly to you.

"Oh please, you love it and wouldn't have it any other way, you weirdo."

"Obviously? I'm so in love with you, like step on me baby.”

"Weirdo, but I'll let it slide this time because you bought me food and you let me use your money while we were shopping."

"We? You mean you"

"Shut up, you literally said 'don't worry about it, I'll take care of it,' so don't even start.” you said, mocking his voice.

"Only because I want you to save your money and I have more than enough to spend on you, sweetheart."

You took the last bite of your food and drank some water, "Yes, I know you're rich and handsome.

"Hah! So you admit it, I am handsome." He grinned, happy that you had finally admitted that you found him attractive.

You rolled your eyes at his grin. "All right, you're not that bad looking, okay?"

"Better than you calling me a mole rat again."

-

"I had a great time today, Gojo."

"Well, I'm glad you did, I mean, I was just hoping I didn't screw up half the time." he told you truthfully, his eyes focused somewhere else, unable to maintain eye contact for too long.

"Well, you're a really sweet guy, Gojo, any girl would be lucky to have you." you would soon know which girl would be lucky to have him.

"Thank you, sweetheart, you're just as good as me, if not better, I'm sure you'll find yourself a good guy." he said, although he looked sad when he said it, knowing that he might not be the man for you.

"Well, see you some other time, Gojo, maybe I'll call you tonight," you said teasingly, knowing that he would jump at the chance to be on call.

"Yeah? That's great! I mean, um, yeah, whatever," he seemed excited as he softened his tone and brushed off your offer to call him.

"Got it, I'll call you later tonight, bye Gojo."

"Bye, sweetheart." his eyes followed you as you walked into your dorm.

You walked in and Shoko was in your shared dorm, sleeping in front of the TV, you smiled at that, covered her with a blanket and turned off the TV, then went to your bedroom.

-

You hummed as you called Satoru, music playing in the background. You had finally done what you had to do. You finished all the assignments that were due today and started on some that were due next week, then you studied for half an hour. After all that work, you took a well-deserved shower and then went into the kitchen to make some dinner. After the first few rings, he answered

"Honey?" He seemed out of breath, as if he had run to the phone after hearing it ring.

"Why are you so out of breath, were you so desperate to hear my voice that you ran to your phone after hearing it ring?

"Oh, shut up, I didn't."

You rolled your eyes at his obvious lie.

"Yeah right, so what were you doing then, working out for the ladies?"

"Nah, I only work out for you, honey, I have to look good for my future girlfriend."

You smiled at his words, thinking he was joking, "Is that so? You're really desperate if you're working out to look good for me."

"You'd rather I didn't?"

"Well... no, but I mean, it's not just about looks, you know?"

"Oh really?" He smiled when he heard your sweet answer.

"No, not really. Obviously you're an idiot; if you think looks are everything, then you're crazy. Sure, it's nice to have a guy who's attractive, but it's not all about that; if you like each other, you should want to commit to that person."

"Oh, you're that kind of girl? The one who's not too picky with her type of men, and you could say she's a goddess while the man looks, uh, not the best? Although you don't have to worry about that, sweetie, I'm handsome enough for you."

“Sure… You’re certainly something Gojo.”

“I’ll certainly be your everything in a while, sweetheart.”

You rolled your eyes at his dumb comment, “I promise you we will not end up together." You checked the time on your phone; it was 7:21 pm. The sun was setting, and you were a bit hungry, so you left your room to go to the kitchen.

"Ooh, where are we going?” He asked after having heard the noise of a door opening.

“I’m going to the kitchen, nosy. I want to eat something.”

—

9:37 pm

You were laying in bed watching a movie while you thought about Suguru. He still hadn’t replied to you. You paused the movie as you grabbed your phone, seeing the little bubble showing he was typing. A smile was on your face after noticing he was typing.

Suguru❤️: I was with Zumi, so I wasn’t on my phone.

You: Oh, that’s fine :3

Suguru❤️: What were you doing? You usually text me throughout the entire day.

You: I was out with a friend. :D

Suguru❤️: Oh okay, I’m going to bed gn.

You: Alright, goodnight. :P

Giggling filled your entire room after Suguru finally texted you after he had not been responding for the day. Though you were a little ticked off having seen his text of him saying he had been with Kozumi. You wondered why he had been with her; you just hoped that they did not start hooking up. Then it would’ve been pointless to have been by his side the entire time just for him to find a new toy. 

 

Though you had been with him the entire time while he slept with other girls, Kozumi was different, and you knew that. The way his gaze would soften every time he would look at her made you angry and jealous, but most of all, you were envious of her achieving the one thing you had been trying to achieve. What was worse was the fact that she wasn’t even trying to get with him; they just happened to meet each other while you were hanging out with her.

 

You could only hope Suguru would get rid of her soon, or he would get tired of her and stop seeing her. Which would mean for you that he was all yours again to keep for yourself. Though if he did, you were going to make sure that another girl would not be able to pique his interest even a tiny bit. The next time you weren’t going to take any chances with him leaving you and ignoring you. 

 

The one feeling you felt right now was worry. What if Suguru wouldn’t get over her? What if Suguru stopped talking to you at all? The thought of it made a shiver go down your spine, knowing that if he was as in love as he looked, you were so fucked. You shook your head, trying not to think of it getting comfortable in bed and trying to sleep before you started overthinking much more.

 

—

 

8:21 pm

You had woken up a while ago due to Shoko making herself breakfast and Utahime arriving at the house to hang out with her. You sat down on the table eating breakfast after having thanked Shoko multiple times. Her food was good after Utahime had taught her how to cook a lot better after Shoko almost burned down her kitchen trying to cook Utahime breakfast.

“Thank you, Shoko, for cooking breakfast.”

“You’ve said that a million times already. I’m surprised you’re still repeating the same words.”

“You already know her, Shoko; she likes to thank you profusely for the most simple things.”

“I know you’re just a sweetheart. Although Suguru does not deserve you." Shoko said to you sweetly before her voice turned cold, mentioning Suguru.

“Come on, don’t say that, Shoko.”

“You know I’m right. He doesn’t deserve you; me and Utahime have seen how he looks at Kozumi. You really think he’s going to come back to you?”

“You just don’t understand Shoko.”

“I do understand it’s happened multiple times to other friends of mine, and I will not stand by on the sidelines watching you get your heartbroken for a man who doesn’t even deserve to breathe the same air as you.”

“Hey Shoko, settle down, she knows." Utahime spoke softly to try and calm Shoko down before she tried something stupid.

“I just can’t let that happen to you. He’s going to ruin you, and you’ll come back to him because you’re wrapped around his finger." Shoko was angry, you could tell by the way she spoke, but she wasn’t angry at you; mostly it was at Suguru.

Suguru had known he was a bad man for you, yet he stuck around and let you get attached.

“Shoko, he’ll come around, I’m sure of it.”

“You better hope that he does.”

—

It was the evening of September 14. It was a bit chilly, so you decided to take a coat outside even though you’d get in your car just in case you needed to go out to get your cat/dog food and also something for yourself since you were also a bit hungry. You got into your car, starting up the engine, and driving to the store, listening to music while driving. The store came to view as you pulled into the parking lot, making sure you parked correctly before locking your car and heading inside the store.

 You looked around, looking for the aisle where the pet food was. You continued walking around to find it before you spotted someone familiar. It was Suguru and Kozumi laughing together while they were shopping. He had his arm around her waist; you were angry; how could he do this to you? You always went shopping together since you always got similar things, and you both had the time to go together, but he had decided to go with Kozumi, of course. 

 

Everything was about Kozumi; he could be drowning, but he’d say I have to reply to Kozumi's text. Gosh, you were so sick of the constant excuses. You turned around and just went to buy your cat/dog food. As you were leaving the store, you saw Gojo. 

 

“Oh sweetheart, what are you doing here?”

 

“Oh, Gojo. I was just getting my cat/dog food.”

 

“That’s nice you doing anything else right now?”

 

“Like if I’m going out or something? If you are asking that no.”

 

“Mm, that’s good, sweetheart. Wanna hang out a bit? Maybe we can go to my place to eat dinner together or something?”

 

“Actually yeah, that’d be nice to do. I was going to just watch movies all afternoon after doing schoolwork.”

 

"Boring, it’s great I’m here.”

 

"Yeah, I guess so.”

 

—

 

“Gojo, are you playing careless whisper?” You asked after having heard the start of the song.

 

“Uhh, no?” Gojo seemed guilty, acting as if he wasn’t lying.

 

“You lying ass bitch, you totally are.” 

 

"C'mon, I was trying to be romantic.” He whined, leaning his body against the wall.

 

"Yeah, you’re so romantic, Gojo." You said sarcastically while looking at him.

 

“Quit it, I hate you.”

 

"No, you don't.”

 

"No, I don't.” He said quickly, knowing what he said previously was a complete lie.

 

“Anyways let's continue I wanna eat so let’s hurry with this food”

“Of course sweetheart anything for my precious princess” He said sarcastically his gaze turning back towards the food on the stove

“Yes cook for me peasant” You said grinning, acting as if he was some sort of servant.

“Of course nothing but the best for my princess” He said as he served you dinner and placed it in front of you.

“Thanks you’re the best Gojo”

“No problem, I don't mind doing this for you. When it’s something for you I’ll do it in a heartbeat” He said acting as if you were a goddess

“You really are desperate to win me over”

“I have to work hard to win your love or else some other guy might scoop you up and take you away.”

“You’re a sweet guy Gojo. Although you deserve someone a lot better than me.”

“You don’t decide what’s better for me plus you’re my someone better in any situation” He said as his gazes softened looking directly at you.

“You’re horrible” You sighed hearing his words.

“Yet, you stick around.“

“Which other person allows me to use their card all the time”

“Only me because I’m the best option for you”

“Mm nope”

“I feel like my heart has broken into two” He said placing his hand over his heart being dramatic

“Oh shut up now let’s eat” He only frowned at your words because he wanted to continue talking.

“Yes princess whatever you like” He said, serving himself food and sitting next to you starting to eat together. To him this is the first step of his plan to get you to like him.

—

It was now a bit later than midnight and you were at home while Shoko was with Utahime staying at her place since she had gotten drunk from them going out to a club. A soft knock was heard on your front door, you didn’t want to be stupid so you checked the peephole to make sure it wasn’t some type of murder but it was just Suguru. You opened the door surprised he was here so late, especially with him always being with Kozumi.

“Suguru? What the hell are you doing here?” You were curious to know what he’d say since it had been a couple weeks when he had last come to your place.

“Oh uhm I couldn’t sleep or whatever it doesn’t matter. Can I come in?” He said he seemed a bit desperate. It was weird but who were you to tell the man you love no?

“Yeah, come inside Suguru. Want anything to drink?” You asked as he walked in while you closed and locked the door behind him.

“No, thank you.”

“Did something happ-“ Suguru interrupted you as he pulled into a kiss your arms wrapped around his neck.

“Just stay quiet please”

He pulled away grabbing onto your hand leading you towards your bedroom. He laid you gently on the bed taking your clothes off with the utmost care. It was weird to say the least when he had never been so gentle and loving.

“Is this alright?” He said looking up at you his gaze softened as if you were an angel, his thumb over your puffy clit while he rubbed it.

“Sugu, is something w-wrong?” You asked, trying to breathe steadily while he slipped a finger into your velvety walls.

“Just stay quiet and let yourself enjoy this.”

He said focusing back onto your cunt fingering it while he curled his fingers hitting your g-spot perfectly. You bit back your moans, your hands tugging on his hair. He kept his fingers inside thrusting them in at a steady pace, you whined helplessly tugging on his hair harder getting closer to your release before he pulled out ripping away your orgasm.

“Why’d you stop?” You whined as he worked on taking his pants off along with his boxers.

“If I don’t put my dick in you, I’ll cum in my pants.” He said as he cock stood up slanted a little due to the girth of it.

“Is that a good thing?” You said looking at his cock the red angry tip with pearly white precum coming out of his tip you forced your gaze onto his pretty purple eyes.

“Yeah, it’s a good thing.” He looked at you while you had your gaze on his cock, you seemed enamored with it, he chuckled at the fact you seemed to love his cock.

He said bringing you closer to the edge of the bed fixing your legs onto his shoulders. His hands held onto the shaft of his cock rubbing it against your slit covering the tip of his cock in your slick. The bulbous tip slipped into your velvety walls makes your hands grip onto the bed sheets. Although he had been inside of you more times than you could count he filled you up to the brim every time he slipped in.

He thrusted in out of you at a quick but steady pace, you tried holding back your moans covering your mouth with your hand. He looked at you with his gaze softened before taking your shirt off letting his hand wander behind your back and unclipping your bra letting your tits free. Although he noticed your hand on your mouth again.

“Nuh uh. Take your hand off now”

“S-sugu ‘s not fair g-gonna be loud” He grinned you were already fucked dumb he knew he had this type of affect on you especially if he hadn’t given you any attention previously.

“Well I don’t care” You took your hand off gripping onto the sheets while he sped up.

He hummed seeing you fucked dumb before he sped up going faster.

“Holy shit, I love your cunt” He kept his eyes shut tightly enjoying the clench of your cunt keeping him inside milking him of all his worth.

“Fuck, I’m going to cum.” He whimpered, speeding up while your hand went down to play with your clit, your finger working fast on it to cum with him at the same time.

“Wanna cum at the same time? Mm that's it?” He said softly, speeding up his release so close.

“Shit, Kozumi you’re so tight.”

Your eyes widened at his words while you sat up. “What the fuck did you just say?”

“What? I didn’t say anything?”

“Did you just call me Kozumi?!” You asked angrily, screaming at him, how could he have the audacity to come to your house? And moan another girls name.

“Calm down” He said nervously, a bit scared you had never screamed at him, always speaking softly to him and taking care of him.

“What’s wrong with you!? You come into my house and moan another girl's name?! Especially hers!?” You were angry, although angry was an understatement, it was one thing for him to start ignoring you to be with her, but to say and moan her name while fucking?

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to!”

“Get the fuck out. I’m sorry Suguru, I'm so sick of your shit! I have stayed loyal to you time and time again even when you ignored me to entertain other women but this? No.”

“Don’t make me out to be the bad guy! Did I ask you to stay loyal to me? No, you did that because you were so infatuated with me. It was you who didn’t mind waiting for me even if it meant you’d see me with other women”

You stayed quiet, he was right. Suguru never asked you to stay loyal to him, this was your fault you allowed yourself to get hurt.

“Well yeah you’re right! But this time I am not putting up with your bullshit!”

“Good! I was getting sick of you anyway!”

“Get out, Suguru!”

His phone buzzed with a notification silencing the both of you. It was her Kozumi asking if he could come over and watch a movie with her.

“You know what Kozumi is way better than you”

“Just get out of my house, Suguru. I can't be with you anymore” Tears fell down your cheeks his words hurt as if he had twisted the knife he had already stabbed in your heart.

“…” He stayed silent, he felt guilty for making you cry even though he had said those things to you no woman could compare to you but he would die in a ditch before he would admit he was wrong and he wanted you as his girlfriend. Either way Suguru knew there was going to be no coming back from this.

Meanwhile you cried helplessly, you felt pathetic. How could you let him hurt you this way? Shoko warned you but you didn’t listen, this was your own fault. You kept sobbing hiccuping every once in a while. Although you kept crying for an hour till you fell asleep.

-

4:02 am

Shoko and Utahime arrived at the house, they saw your room open. Utahime led Shoko to her bedroom before going to check up on you, seeing the dry tears on your cheeks she knew what had happened, especially with how you were naked barely covered by the bed sheets. Utahime put a blanket over your body so you wouldn’t freeze overnight, you felt your body warm up and shifted while asleep.

Utahime left your bedroom to turn the heater up a bit so you and Shoko wouldn’t freeze. Although it was also a good thing because then it would be warm in the morning especially with it starting to become more cold.

-

8:12 am

Shoko had just woken up after Utahime woke her up, she knew she’d have to deal with one hungover person and another heartbroken person. Utahime had left you in the bathroom to shower while she took care of the rest cleaning up your bedroom although she hated knowing what had happened previously, but you were her friend too and you needed some support right now.

“Thank you, Utahime. You’re so sweet to me” You said as you looked at your clean room everything was organized properly.

“No problem, I can tell you had a tough time last night… Do you want to talk about it?”

“Uhm, are you sure?”

“Why would I ask if I didn’t want to hear?” Utahime asked as if it was stupid that she’d say anything and now want to listen.

“Well, she was right. Suguru moaned Kozumi’s name last night when we were having sex and then to put the cherry on top he left to go to her place.”

“Oh my gosh. Are you alright? I know that must’ve been hard to deal with, especially if you didn’t like her.”

“No, not really. It just feels horrible.” You started tearing up, remembering what had happened and how you felt while Utahime came by your side, comforting you. She held onto you, hugging you, although you hadn’t changed, and your hair was soaking wet.

“You know your hair is so wet it’s wetting me,” she said, chuckling as she tried to lighten the mood. It worked; you chuckled a bit before looking back up at her, the corners of your mouth betraying the heaviness in your heart.

“Sorry,” you murmured, wiping your eyes with the back of your hand. “I didn’t mean to get so emotional. It’s just… everything feels so overwhelming right now.”

Utahime nodded, her expression softening. “I get it. It’s okay to feel that way. Sometimes, it’s easier to hold everything in, but it just builds up until it spills over.”

You took a deep breath, trying to steady yourself. “I thought I could handle it. I really did. But when I saw him leaving to be with Kozumi, it just hit me like a truck. I didn’t expect to care so much.”

“People have a way of surprising us,” she replied gently, her fingers playing with the ends of your damp hair. “It’s normal to feel hurt, especially when it comes to someone you thought you could trust. It’s even harder when they move on so quickly.”

You sighed, the weight of her words settling around you like a warm blanket. “It’s just that I thought we had something special. I thought he saw me the way I saw him.”

“Sometimes, what we want and what the other person wants don’t align,” Utahime said, her voice steady. “It doesn’t diminish what you felt. It just means that the timing or the feelings weren't mutual.”

The rain continued to patter softly around you, a soothing soundtrack to your thoughts. You took a moment to gather your emotions, feeling the warmth of Utahime's embrace grounding you. “I just feel so foolish. Like I invested so much into something that was never real.”

“Don’t say that. Your feelings were real, and they were valid. Just because someone doesn’t reciprocate doesn’t mean your emotions were wasted. You loved, and that’s a beautiful thing—even if it hurts right now.”

You looked up at her, gratitude swelling in your chest. “How do you always know the right thing to say?”

She shrugged, a playful smile creeping across her face. “Years of practice. Besides, I’ve been in your shoes before. It’s a tough lesson, but you’ll come out stronger. Just give yourself time to heal.”

You nodded, feeling a flicker of hope amidst the pain. “I guess I just need to take it one day at a time.”

“Exactly. And when you feel ready, we can go out, do something fun. You know, take your mind off things,” Utahime suggested, her enthusiasm infectious.

“Like what?” you asked, curiosity piqued.

“Maybe a trip to that new café downtown? I heard they have amazing pastries. Or we could hit up that arcade you love,” she replied, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“An arcade sounds perfect.” You said, feeling a smile tugging at your lips. “I could use some distraction, and I know I’d have fun with you.”

“Great! Just promise me you won’t dwell on her while we’re out. Let’s make it a day to forget about everything else,” Utahime said, squeezing your shoulder.

You took another deep breath, feeling lighter. “Deal. I’ll try my best.”

As the rain began to lighten, you both stood there for a moment, enjoying the rhythm of the world around you. The air was fresh, and the dampness felt rejuvenating. It was as if nature itself was washing away the remnants of your heartache.

“Hey, look at it this way,” Utahime said, grinning. “Every time it rains, it only means the sun will shine brighter afterward. Just like you. You’ll shine again, I promise.”

“Thanks, Utahime,” you replied, your heart swelling with warmth for your friend. “I really don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Just remember, I’m always here. Now, let’s go grab some dry clothes and plan our arcade adventure!” she said, pulling you along, her laughter mixing with the sound of the rain, a melody of hope and friendship.

Finally Utahime left, leaving you to change into actual clothing. You felt a lot better knowing she was going to be there to help you, and you already knew Shoko would be angry at Suguru for breaking your heart in such a cold hearted way.

Credit for dividers: @plutism

[kiroonsmoon]

I know there's a lot of people refusing to play the renegade route in rejuvenation. Sorry if you answered this already but I'd love to know where you stand on this. Have you played renegade? If so what are you most looking forward to about it?

Oughhhhhahhhh Renegade (BEGINS FOAMING AT THE MOUTH) /neg. My thoughts on it are very mixed so to say. But yes I’ve played it, I like doing oc runs so I did my mono dragon run for Lucifer on it.

Renegade has most of my favorite scenes ever in Rejvu but simultaneously is my least favorite part of the game and is like, the worst mix of my criticisms of the game. Which is why I generally prefer Paragon to Renegade despite paragon having a less gripping story/events to me as of 13.5.

Basically if I could summarize it: I love the story and it has WONDERFUL, heartbreaking scenes but it also shares that with the most whiplash inducing humor and scenes possible as well. Which results in severe tonal issues that heavily damages my enjoyment of the route.

I’m going to be putting my more detailed thoughts under cut. All my positives and negatives towards it. I’m putting it undercut because of 1) spoilers and 2) speaking from personal experience I know it’s unpleasant to see some bashing and criticizing something you love dearly. And I don’t want to subject people to that if they do not want to see that. My criticisms point largely to a specific character I know people are major fans of and love dearly. I don’t want to subject people to unpleasant things like that.

Again all of this is subjective and my opinion. You aren’t bad for liking something I don’t like.

Still here? Good great! First things first let’s start with some positives. Because despite everything I do like this route.

The fights were fun! I had a great time with the battles (expect with Spacea/Timepa but this isn’t an issue on the devs it’s just Mono Dragon is NOT good for that fight).

The scenes when the game takes itself seriously are fucking phenomenal. Adrest’s death and then the failed world with the host and M2 are a phenomenal beginning to renegade in my eyes. And Zumi’s art like always fucking rocks. The failed world really sets up the tone well for renegade. Which M2 finally snapping and attempting to murder the only person she’s been stuck for years. Fantastic beginning to a route about destroying the world.

And Karma Beast Talon….oh karma beast Talon. It’s my favoritest fucking boss battle and segment of the entire game. Everything down to the story, music, setting and Talon’s character mixes into one of the best written arcs in rejvuenation ever. Talon’s arc was way better than I could’ve ever expect and the best of his character is shown in his karma beast route. Just seeing his desperation and pain at learning his best friend died, his mother is on death’s door, he was never anything but a puppet that leads him to becoming a monster of his own despair and that on top of the art in music. Chef’s kiss, I love it so much.

I also loved the Ren chase (hell I made fanart of this moment), M2 getting called the fuck out and Venam + Amber battle and Amber’s death…oughhh all good fucking scenes.

However, all these things are torn down by one thing, the humor. Even more specifically M2.

M2..M2, gosh, she’s a fucking lot. I honestly still don’t know how to feel about her. The only thing I’m 100% certain on and don’t have any mixed thoughts on his her design. Her design fucking rocks, probably my most favorite design of all the Melia’s.

M2 is easily the worst part of renegade and the game for me. She’s very poorly written to me. Which is unfortunate. I like her concept I really do. However the problem is I couldn’t really truly understand and appreciate her concept until I sat down and truly thought on renegades story while removing all the silly stuff from my brain.

Basically: M2 is completely shot down by the humor she brings and it negatively affects her and the story as a whole.

Now I’m not saying renegade has to be 100% serious and grimdark. That’s just not realistic and I would just have issues with it the other way instead. However the humor it shows is not for renegade. The humor of renegade (and M2…) is very lol xd and sudden and random. It’s very very very jarring. Especially for such a dark and grim route. Renegade’s humor would be better placed in paragon. Rejvu’s humor is already hit or miss and renegade’s humor is nearly all miss.

Now humor in renegade can work, hell it’s even required. Stories can’t be all dark, you need a breather in there. However, balance of the humor is very important and Rejvu’s renegade route does a really piss poor job of it. Some jokes can work though! The fucking bait and switch with the item during the Ren chase seen is probably my favorite joke it all of Rejvu honestly. It uses the expected actions of the player and turns it on their head. It even works in a character sense! M2 is smart, she’s been taking notes on you and uses what she knows on you against you. It makes for a great joke and prank, I couldn’t even be angry that all my pokemon had 1 hp! It was a fantastic humorous moment that made me go “you son of a bitch” and crack a smile. I also think M2 calling Kanon an incel is a joke that works as well. However I do have problems with that as well, but that doesn’t relate to the humor, I’ll get into that later.

Renegade would’ve benefited from more humor like that. Not the clones, which made me more and more annoyed as time went on. The clones should’ve been left in Ren’s Chase as NPCs that act as obstacles and that’s it. Not the random beef M2 had gotten with random unimportant NPCs offscreen, which just made me more annoyed with her (and not the fun kind of annoyed). The kinda annoyed where I wanted to bash her head into the wall.

However the biggest offender of them all is Guilty or Nah. I’m going to be blunt. Guilty or Nah is not needed and brings absolutely no substance to the story and actively damages it. I hate it. You are actively chasing down someone WHO YOU PLAN ON ERASING FROM THE ENITRE UNIVERSE. And when you finally catch up to them, guess what happens! The most completely unnecessary and tonal whipping lashing gameshow thing I have ever seen in a piece of media. ITS NOT GOOD. IT SUCKS IN LITERALLY EVERY WAY POSSIBLE FROM A NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE. It needs to be cut from the story completely. The most important part of the chases are the emotions and perspectives of the victims. Karrina’s, Ren’s and The Hag’s deaths/near death would’ve been so much better and impactful if Guilty or Nah was completely axed. Look at me in the eyes and tell me if Talon (+ Florin in one route) suddenly got a Guilty or Nah before being erased it would do anything for the scene and their arcs. If like anyone has any reasons I would genuinely love to hear it because I cannot see any reason for Guilty or Nah’s existence.

Anyways now that’s out of the way, less negative thoughts more kinda musing I had. M2 to me is a very….nostalgic character. She comes from an older version of Rejvu, which again cool in concept. However it also alienates newer Rejvu fans like me who weren’t around for the older versions. This is definitely compounded by me play renegade first but even if you played paragon first and know every version is canon…a newer rejvuenation player will not have the context of what M2 is talking about in regards to her version. I was completely unaware Ren and Kanon used to be major fucking assholes until my Rejvu veteran friends told me. Basically, a veteran will have a different reaction and feel for m2 than a newer player, with newer players not having all the context unless they ask friends or go looking around. Which they may not have or do.

Anyways yeah! My renegade thoughts. This got way more longer than I meant it too but I have a lot of thoughts on renegade as a whole. It could be so great but it’s extremely brought down by its humor and alienates a lot of people who don’t like the humor it has (cough like me cough).

[tears-of-taelia]

re: melia & emma

I've been thinking about this for awhile now. The way that the newest version of the Blacksteeple Castle chapter has presented Emma is interesting. There will be spoilers ahead, so don't read if you're still working your way through version 13.5!

My ramblings begin below. Here are some official pics (by the amazing Zumi) for reference.

As we know, during the events of Blacksteeple Castle, Melia wore a disguise to hide her true identity. This disguise is removed when Madame X slashes it with her sword. There is a small animation that follows, where a dark magical aura envelopes “Emma” before she is revealed to be Melia.

After the subsequent chaos, the disguise is not brought up again. However, the character of Emma is revealed to still reside in Melia’s cognition, apparently unbeknownst to Melia, as she says, “I thought I left you behind at Blacksteeple”. How odd.

Then, (a long time) later, while exploring the 3rd Layer, Melia stumbles across a deathbed journal entry written by a Garufa Inc. volunteer named Emma. It reads as follows.

My name is Emma. I undertook the Archetype's power today, and it failed miserably. I was unable to manifest its power and was mortally wounded during a test. I thought I actually had potential... but I guess not. The doctors say I don't have long left. It's cruel, isn't it? Life is just so cruel. But this is the path me and all the other volunteers chose. Humanity has nothing left but us. ...Is it all worth it in the end, though? What do we want to survive for? ...Anyway. I'm losing energy fast. Garufa Incorporated is our last hope. Please, save us.

Melia expresses to Nim that she finds it odd that this person and her Blacksteeple cover share a name. Nim passes this off as a coincidence, and understandably so. Emma isn’t exactly a rare name (though perhaps things are different in the world of rejuvenation?). The coincidence still seems to bother Melia for some reason.

Now, there are a LOT of theories about Melia out there. Despite hours and hours of gameplay, her true identity has yet to be revealed.

People have theorized for years that she is Maria, and the game seems to heavily imply that that is the case. If Anathea had four children, Erin, Maria, Alice, and Allen, and Erin, Melia, Alice, and Allen know that they share a mother, Anathea, then it would logically follow that Melia is Maria. In addition, Melia and Maria physically resemble each other, Melia is unsure of her origins prior to meeting Jenner, and Maria has not otherwise made an appearance in the current timeline (besides the whole Marianette ordeal in Gearen Sewers). So, it’s not exactly a dramatic leap.

It is eventually even addressed by the characters themselves.  When Erin directly asks for her opinion on this matter, Melia balks, and seemingly contradicts herself.

MELIA: Hahah... I guess I've known for a long time that I was Maria. Ever since our interaction with Angie, that name has been going through my head in my dreams. But I have to disagree, Erin. I am not Maria. ERIN: But out of the process of elimination, you must be. MELIA: Sorry, but it's true. That's what my mind is telling me, desperately. I am not Maria. I am not Maria. That's what echoes in my head.

If Melia is and is not Maria, then… how…? In what way? Who is she? Why would she share a connection with Erin? Why is she the only one with Genesis Syndrome? And what does Emma have to do with all of this? I don’t really have an answer. But there is something I want to muse on.

Let’s circle back to Melia’s “disguise”, if we can even call it that. Her cover as Emma made her look like an entirely different person, unrecognizable to the Player character. She has a different outfit, hair color, and eye color. If we are to believe that this is an ordinary disguise, we would need to believe that, with one slash, Madame X was able to tear through a wig, two color contacts, and an entire outfit, including thigh high boots. We would need to believe that Melia conveniently decided to wear a different outfit underneath this disguise, and that Madame X was able to slash off her exterior outfit without marring the one underneath. We would also need to believe that the special, dark, magical animation the occurs at this moment was purely aesthetic and meaningless.

So, yeah, I don’t really believe it this disguise is your regular, run-of-the-mill costume.

We learn that Melia was sent to Blacksteeple through the powers of Spacea and Tiempa. She was on a mission as a Storm Chaser, to save the Player character and gather information. As we know (all too well) from V13.5, Spacea and Tiempa are powerful. Specifically, they have powers over space and time akin to Palkia and Dialga. They use these powers pretty recklessly to manipulate many characters throughout the story. However, every instance of power they exhibit is strictly tied to their dimensions, space and time. Spacea does magic related to space. Tiempa does magic related to time. So, how, then, would they be able to create such a magical disguise for Melia? Through Garufan dress-up magic? Creating an illusion? Maybe. I wouldn’t be shocked. But I think it’s more than that. I think that Spacea and Tiempa used their magic to revive a version of Melia from the past, a different dimension, or a different “layer” (past world?). Perhaps… the third layer. A different appearance. A different life. Emma.

I think of it sort of like what happened with Narcissa during the Dufaux sidequest. But, instead of S+T directly swapping Melia with Emma, they just projected the appearance of Emma onto Melia.

There isn’t much to support or detract from this speculation. What we do know? We know that Melia is and is not Maria. We know that both Melia and Emma struggle to manifest the Archetype's power. We know that Emma resides in Melia’s cognition, like Melanie. We know Melia was deeply bothered by Emma’s journal entry in the Third Layer. We know that the outfit Melia dons when using her powers is very reminiscent of Emma’s.

We also know that Emma is dead.

Or, at least, presumed dead.

Just like Aevis, Aevia, Aria, Axel, Aero, and Alain.

You see where I’m going with this?

We know Emma dies disappointed, having believed she had “potential”, according to her journal entry. Did someone else think she had potential too? Perhaps, her “majesty” herself?

I know I’m not the only one to theorize that Melia is another Interceptor. I mean, it is heavily implied throughout the story. Melia is one of two characters for which we have seen Variya appear. The other, of course, being the player character. Melia is able to enter Zeight. In fact, she enters her own Zeight a couple of points during the game. She is shown with the triangular core motif a couple of times as well. She has led a lot of the research about the Interceptor phenomenon, in the Blakeory Athenaeum, for example.

How this all ties in with Maria, though? I don’t know. In the case of the Player character, we know that A-team didn’t want to live, and agreed to let Variya choose a different soul to take control over their body. Presumably, that soul is us, literally, the player, the person playing the game. Could Maria be the soul taking over Emma? Could Emma be the soul taking over Maria?

Who knows.

I do know there are holes in these theories. I know the events of the Renegade Route may complicate everything. (truthfully, I am too much of a wuss to complete the renegade route myself. I watched a youtube video of someone else's playthrough, so I know the broad strokes of what happens, but I definitely don't know the renegade lore in the same way I know paragon. maybe I should rewatch it at some point and take notes)

But this has been bouncing around my brain for too long and I wanted to put it in writing to help organize my thoughts. If you made it this far, wow, you rock! Thanks for reading. I’m interested if anyone has thoughts about this, if anyone can potentially disprove it, or if anyone has their own version or counter version of this idea! I live for this shit.

[honnojis]

Venam

Gay people real

this is true. verified rejuv fact

[owlhead650]

Guys I finally found Erin on the official pokemon rejuvenation personality quiz. I tried picking a bunch of answers I thought suited her. The first couple times I got Kreiss and Narcissa, but after some minor tweaks I found Erin! I mainly did this to see what Zumi says her personality is like and test my own understanding against that. Thankfully it seems I'm relatively good at understanding her. (I remember the first time I did this quiz I got Melia, I'll post that description another time.)

[deusvervewrites]

Not the first ask of mine you've answered in 2024, but it is the first ask I'm making in 2024. Gotta make it a good one.

Little Mouse: We know that the name of the AU is Nezu's nickname for Izuku, but no one has mentioned nickname for Nezu from Izuku.

I propose: Nii-zumi. A play on "Nezumi" and "Nii-sama" (because while Nezu in theory is his dog father godfather, in practice he acts more like a little shit older brother who encourages him to be feral).

I don't know enough about kanji and katakana to make the pun work when written in Japanese, but I'm sure someone can come up with something.

Also, out of curiosity, do you know what the "Little Mouse" nickname would be translated to Japanese?

That's fun

I also don't know enough about Japanese to translate Little Mouse. I have a few guesses but I don't want to say anything when I 'm so unsure

[gadgetcheat]

[rejuv spoilers, crazy ramble, again]

re: risa and eden. i said this topic was for another post and that post is now! it's um... kind of long!

so i noted in a previous post (kind of a prequel to this one, that i'm still proud of, go check it out) how the parallels between Risa and Eden are totally not a coincidence, and i've been wanting to elaborate on that especially given... new insight we have ^_^

so there's the obvious fact of both characters being, well, dead. and their association with XJ / KC respectively. but beyond that, there's possibly something to be said about the parallel of both characters being associated with joy and happiness, but in opposite ways. Risa who sacrificed her life to continue bringing joy to people VS Eden who's signature trick was making people so happy they could literally Die. even if this is a coincidence it's an extremely interesting contrast...

so it's not a stretch to say they could be related in some way, and as i've been racking my brain trying to think of how...

you know how in renegade Talon says how he "didn't exist in his past life" (the old earth)? and how he was put into the new world as an "afterthought"?

my idea: i think Risa was created for the new world to replace the human Eden. to fill the void left by a person who no longer exists. it would explain the total absence of Eden's supposed counterpart, why risa is familiar with XJ but not KC (the XJ from the old earth)

the only limitation of this is that i have no clue what that would mean for Texen and in-game Zumi. i honestly don't have a real answer for that, but Texen does have a piece on the nightmare chess board, so we'll definitely get more of him in the future... interestingly, his piece is labeled "A shadow of a greater purpose"... how greater of a purpose are we talking :D?

also, if you've seen that collage Zumi posted of all the character's eyes, in an eye, ignoring the obvious new artwork in the bottom right for a second-- i really wasn't paying much mind to the placements of characters but it caught my eye (heh) the four specific characters perfectly lined up in the dead center of the pupil:

(archetype) Melia, Variya, Crescent, and... whatever Risa is doing here? she's the odd one out considering the other three are very important characters and have obvious ties to zeight/the core/etc. this is rejuvenation, i don't think they would put someone there just for vibes 0_0

actually, in the dead center of the eye... could you say they're at the Core of it? ehhh :D? you know, as in the system responsible for recycling souls and stuff?

also also, in terms of "things that aren't unusual but that weirdly fit in the context of this theory of mine", Risa has a banner outside the GDC stadium that reads "2FCE" (two-face) with the caption "In our soul there are two faces... One is beautiful, and the other is gorgeous!" possible that this is a reference to Clear acting as her, or maybe its something else? or maybe it's nothing at all shrug. just thought that was interesting

my impatient brainrot is leading me to reverse engineer the hell out of Eden because there is, again, literally almost nothing about them anywhere right now. can i prove their relevance? can i provide a definitive explanation for their existence? no, but i think that's kind of the point...

it's like they were hardly even there in the first place. no lines, no real screentime, no direct counterpart, dead long before the story takes place... i've said it before, but for a trio of characters notorious for being weird and mysterious, Eden is particularly strange and different in ways that haven't even been acknowledged in game. like i feel like we should look into this

from a coping narrative perspective this could be a way to make eden relevant without just using flashbacks or time travel (the latter of which i'm not certain would even work with her), if they were destroyed but there's still a trace of them in the new world... i don't expect them to come back to life or anything, but even ignoring my favorite character bias i don't think it's unreasonable to expect him to have at least some influence on the current story. the mysterious figures are important characters, i feel like Eden wouldn't be in the game if they didn't have some big underlying significance to the lore that is just being very well kept under wraps...

regardless of if i'm totally and hilariously wrong on all of this the big idea is that if Risa ends up being more important than initially thought, then i'd wager Eden has something to do with it… and it seems like Risa's show isn't quite over yet...

"Risa... Who are you?"

[roseeycreates-blog]

more of farmer au, please! Who's Suyin's dad? tell us more about the gaang and their children? more of farmer Lin? what did Toph find out that ruined their relationship? how come Toph never found Kanto?

Aaaaahhhh! Thank you for taking an interest in the AU! I've said this before and I'll say it again, this makes me so happy~ ANYWAY, I'll answer your questions~

Suyin's dad is Sokka. Let me tell you about the complicated relationship they had. As I mentioned in a previous ask, Sokka was in a relationship with Suki while Toph was with Kanto. After Toph announced her pregnancy to the gaang, Sokka started feeling a little jealous because everyone else, even the one he least expected, had one. He proposed to Suki and asked her to move to Republic City to start a family, but Suki graciously declined. She loved Sokka but couldn't leave Kyoshi Island and her people. They needed her there. Sokka understood because he couldn't leave Republic City and his duties. They both chose their careers over love. Months went by, and then Toph lost her child and her lover. Sokka knew how painful it was to lose someone, so he offered Toph a shoulder to cry on. Toph acted annoyed and insisted she didn't need anyone, but Sokka's persistence won her over. He took extra care of Toph during that time, helping with the investigation and search for Kanto and the midwife. When Toph lost all hope, Sokka was there for her. Old feelings for her friend reignited, and Sokka began seeing Toph as more than a friend. That's how they had Suyin. However, their marriage didn't last. They argued most of the time, especially about Toph's way of raising Su. When Suyin was just 10 years old, her parents split for good. It wasn't a messy breakup because both of them knew they were better as friends than as a couple. Toph also knew that Sokka loved her, but not as much as he loved Suki. About the GAANG and the next-gen:

Zuko ended up with Mai and led the Fire Nation. They were the first to have a child, making Izumi the first baby the Gaang took care of. Toph and Aang spoiled her rotten with gifts and sweets whenever they visited. Katara and Mai often scolded them for going overboard. Aang and Katara had Bumi, Kya, and Tenzin. Unlike in canon, Aang never neglected Bumi and Kya. They always went on family trips, spending quality time together and passing down their Air Nomad and Water Tribe cultures. Izumi’s nickname is Zumi, but Zuko prefers calling her "my princess." Bumi is often called Bubu or Umi by baby Tenzin and later on by baby Suyin. Kya goes by her name, but Aang calls her "my baby girl." She loved it as a kid, but as she grew older, she wasn't as fond of it. When Su was born, Kya was relieved that her dad retired the nickname and passed it to baby Su. Because the adults were often busy, Suyin spent more time with her cousins. Additionally, she spent a lot of time with her father, Sokka, since Toph was frequently occupied with work.

More on Farmer Lin:

Lin had a wonderful childhood despite growing up without a mother. Her father often affectionately called her "Meilin." She found a second mother figure in Lei, her babysitter (also the midwife who delivered her). Lin cherished Lei deeply and once even asked her to be with her father, but Lei always declined, insisting that Kanto was just a friend.

Lin was a quiet child and not very social. She had a few friends from the neighborhood and school. She was known as the quiet kid you never mess with because one time, she snapped and fought off a bully who was picking on her friend.

As a teen, Lin became popular with the boys because of her looks, but she wasn't interested and found them really annoying. Her father would tease her about being tomboyish and say she was too intimidating. She would tease him back, saying, "Maybe I'll marry a feminine boy, and we'll run away and elope, Dad." This always got Kanto, and he would swear that no man would ever lay a finger on his precious girl and take her away from him.

In her young adult years, Lin inherited her grandpa's farm, including the existing workers whom she chose to keep on. Despite their assurances that they can handle things, Lin insists on personally tending to the plants. She also has a soft spot for the farm animals and owns a shepherd dog named Zhenzhen. He's incredibly loyal and friendly to Lin but also fierce and protective of her.

Toph and Kanto's relationship hit the rocks when:

Toph discovered his ties to a gang, later known as the Triple Threat Triad. They argued fiercely because Toph insisted on getting him and others involved arrested. Kanto begged Toph, promising to reform and leave the gang, but Toph remained firm. She insisted he stay free until after she gave birth, after which he would face justice.

Despite Toph's efforts, Kanto managed to evade her thanks to his connections in Ba Sing Se. With "Kanto" being a common name, especially in the Fire Nation, Toph focused her search on finding a firebender named Kanto within the Fire Nation. Meanwhile, Kanto played the part of a non-bender widowed father, complicating Toph's quest to locate him.