trainingtrioweek

[trainingtrioweek]

… Yes, I did plan on doing a V3 remnants AU thing but I was a bit tired, so right now it’s me going “no thoughts, head empty”.

I don’t have much to say about this, it’s just a few pals chilling on the grass.

Training trio week! Day 7: Free day! Event hosted by (me) @trainingtrioweek

[trainingtrioweek]

“I’ve got no right to call myself that, have I? I mean, who would ever look up to me if they saw me like this? I’m nothing but a big failure. I’m weak. I wouldn’t inspire anyone.”

“All of their pain is my fault. Detectives don’t do anything but hurt people. Enough of this ‘truth’! I don’t want to know or see any of it!”

“I don’t wanna kill anyone. I never wanted this. I just wanna be a normal girl! Why don’t I get to have what I want like everyone else!? It’s not fair!”

—

@trainingtrioweek Day 7: Free day - Crossover

(Otherwise known as the AU I was planning to do for yesterday’s prompt until suddenly a different AU happened and I had an uncontrollable need to draw that first. I didn’t have any other ideas for this free day, so I decided to do this here anyway and pretend it’s totally not the same prompt again since this is specifically a crossover AU.)

Another of my favourite games, Persona 4, contains the concept of Shadow selves. These are a manifestation of a person’s suppressed thoughts and feelings, everything they don’t want to acknowledge or show about themselves. This is a delightful concept that I love thinking about and applying to all kinds of other non-P4 characters that I’m fond of who have interesting issues. It’s especially perfect for Kaito, given how much of his suffering he refuses to admit to on the surface. And this is a very similar concept to the “enemies” Kaito helps his sidekicks confront during their training, so Shuichi and Maki would have some fun Shadows, too, even if they kind of do essentially face those shadows in canon.

…I’m also kind of using this as a shameless excuse to plug some of my older content. I posted quite a bit of stuff relevant to this in the past, but I’ve gained a lot more followers since then who might not be aware of it and maybe might be interested?

In particular, I’ve written a fic in which Kaito encounters his Shadow during chapter 4’s Daily Life while Shuichi and Maki are there, which is a fic I invite everyone to read even if they don’t know anything about Persona 4. No knowledge of the fandom should be required to understand it, since the characters are completely unfamiliar with the concept too; I’ve had more than one reader tell me they enjoyed it despite knowing nothing about P4.

At its heart, it’s much less a crossover fic and much more just a fic about Kaito’s issues - something I imagine a lot of people who follow me are probably interested in. The end result of the fic is also one of my go-to AUs for imagining both Kaito surviving the killing game and Kaito having learned to be okay with talking about his problems and accepting his sidekicks’ support.

I don’t have anything so fully-formed involving Shuichi and Maki’s Shadows, or the three of them becoming full-on Persona-users or anything like that. But for anyone with an interest in some more Persona-specific concepts, I do have various brief ideas and thoughts about some things along those lines (such as the mythological figures their hypothetical Personas would be based on, and an actual design for Kaito’s Persona) in my Shadow Kaito tag.

[trainingtrioweek]

Did you honestly think I would design these two without any further intentions? Of course that was a ref sheet for me to use for this.

For those who don’t know the context, I may or may not have the concept for some kind of Touhou AU. I love this franchise but it’s extremely underrated in the west, which is a shame. I am not joking when I say the creator is a musical genius. Like seriously, check those games out because even though the art for the characters is not that great and the character design pretty wacky, the spell cards are very satisfying to watch, I swear.

Training trio week! Day 6: AU/Talentswap Event hosted by (me) @trainingtrioweek

More info below.

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[trainingtrioweek]

“Hey, Maki Roll!” “Hey, Shuichi!”

“…What are you two up to now?”

“Whaddaya mean by that!? We just wanted—” “—to see how our favourite sidekicks are doing!”

“I still can’t believe there’s two of you. And do you really have to finish each other’s sentences like that?”

““Of course!””

“…And talk in unison, too…”

—

@trainingtrioweek​ Day 6: AU

I couldn’t resist using this opportunity to draw (the happiest ending of) my recent Duplicate Kaito AU. A lot of people seemed to like those posts of mine, and, heck, I wanted to see Kaito and Kaito double-teaming their sidekicks, too.

For those unfamiliar: despite the different body, that is still every bit the same Kaito there. He has exactly the same personality and memories (just with some bonus existential issues that he’s mostly worked out at this point). It’s Kaito, but TWICE.

(some additional very important lore about this AU beneath the cut)

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[trainingtrioweek]

@trainingtrioweek

Day 5: Fashion / Festival / Family

All I want to draw is pretty clothing and space patterns, so I knew I had to do this day at least, even if I have other events coming up.

[trainingtrioweek]

I was busy today ok

Once again, a pic without any real context, although I was thinking more of a non-despair (UTDP) AU. Because I want them to be happy. (Sheesh, I never thought I would say that quote so much since the event started)

And a theme that was a perfect excuse to draw these! I promised myself to draw them one day but uhhh you know the drill, I get caught up in AUs, projects and events and thus never do it.

… And finally, I despise whoever made Kaito’s design for making me draw a freaking bi flag without realizing it. I’m still ashamed of myself for not realizing immediately.

Training trio week! Day 5: Fashion/Festival/Family

[trainingtrioweek]

“Well, they’re more like a mom and dad who have a… hands-off approach to parenting.”

“That sounds… awkward. I don’t know if that’s better or worse than never knowing your parents at all.”

“Yeah… me neither. I’m lucky to have my uncle, at least.”

“…Hey, Kaito? You’ve been quiet for a while. Is something wrong?”

“Hm? Oh, nah, it’s nothing. Just spaced out for a bit, that’s all. My bad.”

“You know, Kaito… you live with your grandparents, right? And you never talk about your parents. It… it might not be any of my business, but I couldn’t help but wonder… are you… like me? Or… perhaps a bit like Maki, and you don’t even remember them?”

“Huh? N-No, it’s… neither of those.”

“I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. You don’t have to—”

“Hey, it’s fine. I… I guess I don’t mind telling you guys. They… my parents died in a car crash when I was ten.”

—

@trainingtrioweek Day 5: Family

Instead of an art today, some rambly thoughts that this prompt gave me the perfect excuse to bring up. (If you’re finding my blog through this event: as well as arts, I also do quite a bit of meta and not-quite-meta rambling such as this kind of thing on here, usually still about the training trio!)

It’s only especially relevant in non-fiction AUs such as UTDP where everyone’s families are actually real, but – can we talk about the fact that all three of the training trio, in very different ways, are lacking in parents with both the qualities of being alive and being decent parents?

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[trainingtrioweek]

“And then I’ll take you guys into space one day. After all, I need my sidekicks to help me out.”

“You need us to save you, Kaito?”

“Well, yeah… We’re the only ones who would do it.”

“Hey, Shuichi, what do you mean ‘save me’!? Maki Roll, what do you mean, ‘the only ones’!?”

—

@trainingtrioweek Day 4: (Stars)/Dreams

Those lines aren’t written by me today; they’re actual (semi-)canon lines from a conversation between the three of them in UTDP. Upon realising that going to space means he’ll be separated from his sidekicks for months at a time, Kaito abruptly decides, welp, that means they’re just gonna have to come to space with him, obviously. Then he can be in space and also not ever be apart from his sidekicks, and they can have space adventures together forever!

…He knows that’s not really feasible. Shuichi and Maki have their own lives to lead, and he’d never want to force them onto the path of an astronaut just so they can keep him company in space. Of course he knows that. But… hey, let him dream.

—

“…How did we end up agreeing to go into space with Kaito?”

“There’s no way it would go that smoothly. You really are all talk, Kaito.”

“Shut it! The impossible is possible, all you gotta do is make it so! It’s already been decided!”

> You made a promise for the future with your sidekicks…

[trainingtrioweek]

“Even though she doesn’t want to admit it, Maki-roll really likes taking care of flowers, huh?” “… Yeah. I’m glad she found something to enjoy. She deserves it after all.”

This took way longer than I expected, but it’s fine. After yesterday’s angst, I felt like I could draw a more light-hearted piece.

It has like no context so take it how you will. Non-despair AU? Post-game VR AU? Your choice. I just wanted to draw nice stuff.

Also yeah I decided to change Maki’s and Kaito’s hairstyles because I thought it would suit them.

Training trio week! Day 4: Flowers/Dreams/Stars

[trainingtrioweek]

“Y-You guys… You guys are the best, you know that?”

“We do. Because you’re always telling us.”

“W-Well, it’s always true!”

“…Maybe so.”

—

@trainingtrioweek Day 3: (Angst)/Comfort

What’s that? It’s Kaito Getting Hugs Day, you say? ’Cause that’s definitely what I heard from today’s prompt. Well, then, I guess I have no choice but to oblige!

Necessary disclaimer: Obviously this is not something that would happen as their relationship canonically stands. Kaito would need to make some Important Progress in his issues about not showing weakness to his sidekicks before he’d be okay with this. Luckily, I have dedicated a large portion of my Thinking About Kaito Time to figuring out plenty of possible ways Kaito could reach this point, since I so, so desperately crave being able to imagine him comfortably showing vulnerability to his friends and accepting the support he deserves. I’ve written two separate fics that have this as the endpoint, and several of the other smaller AU scenarios I’ve described in not-quite-fic form on here also ended up involving this in some way.

I’ll leave it up to you to imagine what Kaito was crying about. There are a lot of possibilities, after all. Kaito has so many emotions about so many things; once he’s learned that it’s okay for him to healthily express the painful ones rather than turning them into anger or trying to ignore them outright, this might well happen more often than you’d think.

—

“Y’know… hugs are pretty great. I oughta offer them as a service for my sidekicks.”

“You mean, for us.”

“Well, yeah, duh. Who else?”

“…Yeah. I’d be up for that.”

“I guess… I wouldn’t mind.”

“Alright, you guys better be ready. You’re givin’ me some serious competition here, but I won’t lose when it comes to hugs!”

[trainingtrioweek]

even if you can’t see me

day 3 of @trainingtrioweek

angst/comfort/casual

wc: 1167

read on ao3

—

There’s a certain pain and joy resting heavily in Kaito’s chest as Shuichi, Maki and Himiko step out from the rubble.

“They did it.” Kaede says, coming to float beside him disbelievingly. “They actually did it.”

“Ha, I knew they could.” Kaito smiles weakly, he points a finger and a small stone that Shuichi could’ve definitely tripped on wobbles and rolls away. Not as strong as Rantaro or Kaede. Kaito hoped he wouldn’t be a ghost long enough to reach their levels of power.

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[trainingtrioweek]

You act all mighty and invincible but…

Deep down you wish you were the one they would comfort, don’t you?

After all, who’s the most pitiful between two growing sidekicks and a pathetic excuse of a hero crumbling from an illness, slowly but surely embracing death?

And yet you can’t bring yourself to actually call for help.

Better withering away like a fragile little flower than to make those precious sidekicks worry, don’t you think?

-

I swear I wanted to do ‘comfort’ because space boy deserves it. I tried, really. But as you can see I miserably failed because my brain failed to think of a scene to make it happen. I’m sorry.

You may call me CEO of angst.

Training trio week! Day 3: Angst/Comfort/Casual Event hosted by (me) @trainingtrioweek

[trainingtrioweek]

“HEY! MAKI ROLL! SHUICHI!! I’M IN SPACE!!!”

“You sure are.”

“LOOK, MAKI ROLL! IT’S SPACE!! I’M IN SPACE!!!”

“Yes, Kaito, I know. I can see that.”

“We watched your launch and everything.”

“SPACE, YOU GUYS! I MADE IT!! I’M IN SPACE!!!”

“…Hehe. I’m so happy for you.”

—

@trainingtrioweek Day 2: Travel

Obviously, no travel could possibly be more important than Kaito travelling to SPACE!

Since gaining an interest in astronauts thanks to Kaito and learning more about what real-life ones do, I’ve often liked to imagine Kaito going on missions to the ISS. You know, regular full-fledged astronaut stuff in which he is very alive the entire time. And naturally, in his first video chat from space with his sidekicks, he’d be just a huge ball of uncontainable excitement. (He’s in space!)

…actually, he’d continue to be excited every time, let’s be real. Even months into the trip, Shuichi and Maki’s video chats with him probably still begin something like this. (He’s in space, after all.)

As you can see, Kaito was not allowed to bring several months’ worth of hair gel into space with him. Good thing he kinda didn’t need to! Heck, maybe his usual hairstyle was always an attempt to mimic the effects of zero gravity.

(He’s in space.)

[speaking of gravity, here’s more shenanigans from Kaito’s being-a-regular-astronaut adventures]

[trainingtrioweek]

“Shuichi. He’s been explaining thermodynamics for an hour now. I didn’t understand a single word of what he’s saying ever since he started. I can’t do this anymore.” “I’m sure he’ll be done soon…” “He won’t and you know it. Next time Kokichi tells him he’s an idiot I bring his ass here to listen to Kaito’s scientific ramblings for a couple of hours.” “You guys okay? Did you not understand something?” “We’re good.” “We’re good.”

Not gonna lie this was the “Let’s become nostalgic and draw good memories” piece. Because yeah I somehow miss college. (Although thermodynamics are the worst nightmare I’ve ever encountered I swear I want to slam my head against the desk everytime I have to do something-)

I did use the Hope’s peak uniforms because we all want a canon non-depsair AU like UTDP don’t deny it, anyway let’s see

Kaito tried going in slippers + his favorite jacket. It didn’t go well. He customized the uniform so he could still have the galaxy print inside the jacket. And of course the one sleeve out is mandatory.

Shuichi is a good boy. He wears his uniform correctly.

Maki does the same, she just has her boots, a red vest under the uniform jacket and a black bow-tie.

Also small reminder that our space boy is smart. Not very wise but smart.

Training trio week! Day 2: Travel/Training/Study Event hosted by (me) @trainingtrioweek

[trainingtrioweek]

AO3 one-shots masterlist

So it has come to my attention that some one-shots are only on AO3, and not directly seen on Tumblr.

This post will regroup every single one that I find. I will update it whenever a new one pops up.

No matter what by saccharinetea (Day 1: Post game)

Loving slumber by saccharinetea (Day 2: Training)

Death note by saccharinetea (Day 3: Angst)

The stars hold the secrets to the universe by saccharinetea (Day 4: Stars)

[trainingtrioweek]

“Hey, Kaito. The stars are really pretty tonight, huh? …I’ve begun to notice things like that more, since I met you.”

“Our training’s still going well. I bet even you’d be surprised by how many push-ups I can do now. And Himiko, too - she’s been getting much better at them. It’s really helping us a lot with… everything.”

“I’ve been… starting to like myself. A little bit. It’s not coming easy, but I’m getting somewhere. I’m not going to waste what you taught me.”

“And don’t worry; I’m not trying to do everything by myself. I’ve got Maki, and Himiko, and even the survivors from the other games. It’s hard knowing you’re not here, but… you were right. I’m not alone.”

“I miss you too, every day - but I’m looking forward, not back. Just… just like you’d want, right? I’m going to make you proud.”

“No… we *are* making you proud, aren’t we? I know we are.”

—

@trainingtrioweek Day 1: Post-game

As Shuichi and Maki adjust to life in the outside world and try to come to terms with their grief, they’d probably sometimes find themselves with things they want to say “to” Kaito. And what better way to do so than while looking up at the stars he loved so much?

Kaito died up there in space - so it’s almost like he’s still up there, watching over them. The luminary among the stars.

[trainingtrioweek]

IT’S TIME

I hesitated for a long time whether I should do Pre-game or Post-game but I chose Pre-game because I don’t wanna draw sadness… yet.

Not gonna lie, since Tsumugi was bullshitting her way to despair in the last trial I think the tapes were fake. So while I was drawing I came up with two possible explanations and one AU concept.

Either: The entire cast was a bunch of sad kids who wanted to die/be forgotten for different reasons. Or they were kidnapped, which is the most plausible explanation to me.

And about this AU concept, I was imagining a Pre-game AU where their personalities was the same as in-game, and Danganronpa is still a popular TV show etc, but the entire cast was actually several groups of friends investigating on the thing because the concept of the show was extremely suspicious, and they all ended up getting kidnapped because they knew too much.

Training trio week! Day 1: Post-game/Pre-game Event hosted by (me) @trainingtrioweek