AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH I’m still screaming over that trial god damn
d e v o n

bliss lane
Sade Olutola
hello vonnie

blake kathryn
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Keni

izzy's playlists!
Fai_Ryy
Cookie Run:Kingdom Official!

No title available
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
occasionally subtle
Sweet Seals For You, Always

ellievsbear

gracie abrams
Cosimo Galluzzi

Jimmy Eat World

Love Begins

PR's Tumblrdome

seen from Argentina
seen from Türkiye

seen from Canada
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Brazil
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom

seen from Netherlands

seen from Morocco
seen from United States
seen from United States

seen from Germany

seen from United States

seen from United States

seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from Brazil
@shslhanakotoba
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH I’m still screaming over that trial god damn
[Execution 001] Tinged Thorns
Read More
{Task 3} Edelweiss
Stricken with fear, Haru watched from the back of the group. His eyes widened in horror as sharp objects pierced the game-master from across the way. He found himself covering his ears and closing his eyes tightly against the gruesome scene. The sound of horns blared in the back of his mind and while he stumbled backwards away from the bear. When he finally lost track of time the sound of horrible sobs and screaming filled the station.
His head ached, the screams and cries wafted inside his head ramming against the inner walls. They echoed into his only thoughts and made it hard to breathe. Haru looked for an out, nervously looking around the entire station. He had always left the group before, why was this time so different? Their voices and cries- Everyones emotions mixed together and there was no escape.
Haru pushed through the group of individuals surrounding him. There was an opening near the opposite side of the station where he could calm down. Even if it meant getting stuck in the middle of the crowd, his only necessity was in sight. To be Alone.
Alone.
Why did people want to be near him? Why were they trying to get close to him? He couldn't imagine what likable qualities he could possibly possess. Hadn't he hurt enough people...
The Hanakotoba made it near the other side of the group after pushing his way through, stumbling a few times. When the area was almost attainable he took a deep breath only to slam into the back of another student. Haru looked down at them, averting his eyes.
"..."
{Task 2} Chrysanthemum
"…huh—? Eh?"
Ruri didn’t mean to sound like he was bullying Haru out of his tokens! Is that what was happening here?! After a moment of standing and looking mortified, Ruri cupped Haru’s hand with both of his own.
"Nice to meet you, Takeyama-san. But, uh, you can keep them! I was just asking what you thought. They might be useful to you, and stuff."
Ruri wasn’t about to accept this offer just yet. Or leave Haru alone, for that matter. It seemed… wrong, in a way, and would probably mean Michina would be able to smell him from miles away, what with all of this meaningless game currency on his person.
"You seem like a solitary kinda guy, huh… you don’t wanna go to the arcade at all?"
Isn't that what Ruri was insinuating? Or did he misunderstand someone's feelings yet again. The language of flowers was easy to get his own feelings across but figuring out others... Was another story all together. But- If Haru had no use for the tokens... Why not give them away? With that in mind he shook his head and continued to hold out his hand.
"... You wanted them... Here." His heart pounded and maybe for the first time he felt his facade crack. Without thinking about it, Haru took Ruri's hand and dropped the tokens into it.
"Please make use of them." He nodded once, taking his hand back and placing it in his front pocket.
Haru tried his best to keep his usual demeanor under control but this person's personality was causing it to slip. Though Ruri looked nothing like Kaori they had some similarities.
"... I have no interest in games." He looked around nervously. "Shrines... plants... T- things like that." He coughed looking at his feet. What was he doing? Was this really happening?
{Task 2} Chrysanthemum
It wasn’t like Naomi had a habit of following people around or anything, but when she saw the boy with the white stripe in his hair walking away from the crowd, she wondered if he was planning something. After all, they hadn’t known about Mamoru’s secret room - maybe there were other hidden places around the station, or the arcade tokens could help them escape somehow.
She considered calling out to him so he wouldn’t get the wrong idea, but what if she spooked him off or attracted unwanted attention? Better to wait until they were further away…
Anyway, that was why the Hanakotoba would suddenly hear a voice from not far behind him.
"Shit, you mean there’s nothing we can do with these? Aside from losing at Pac-Man and stuff, I mean. Swear those games are rigged."
Haru just couldn't catch a break. It seems a pattern was showing itself... As soon as he felt at ease talking out loud, someone was close enough behind to hear it all. This wouldn't be a problem if he had actually made it to Hope's Peak Academy. That's all he really truly wanted. Of course, the stress was probably starting to get to him. But that's just another emotion to push down deep inside of him.
He turned to face the unknown voice, raising his eyebrow. She was tan, with purple hair and eyes to match. Honestly, Haru had no idea what her talent could even be at this point. Super High School Level Abrasive-as-hell? Probably.
"... I assume they're just normal arcade tokens." He took the stray token and placed it back into his pocket. With a small clink, he nodded in her direction. "I have no interest in playing games."
{Task 2} Chrysanthemum
Hiroshi made his way into the train, heading towards his dorm room as he didn’t even want to deal with this bullshit at all. Stopping in the middle of the train, he glanced back behind him at the others that still milled about that area and the arcade itself. Letting out a sigh he shook his head, leaning against one of the railings in the train car.
As he was about to leave, he turned to notice someone else at the far end of the train. Who could it be? …. He honestly wasn’t in the mood to talk with another person, but whoever it might be might be more messed up than he was about the situation. Hiroshi figured that might be something better to do rather than just going back to his room and forgetting everything else. After all, that wouldn’t help at all with the situation at hand.
Walking down the length of the train, the tokens in his pocket jingled but they were quickly silenced as Hiroshi’s hands were stuffed into his pocket as he walked towards Haru. As he got closer, he realized that the person at the other end of the train was the guy from earlier. The guy who’d just left without answering his question from earlier when he was in the cafe.
"Hey… What’re you doing here? You, uh… Alright?"
He frowned slightly. This guy sure was an introverted type… Perhaps more than one really should be. He certainly wasn’t the social type. Hiroshi couldn’t help but feel a twinge of worry for this guy.
"Look, sorry about earlier. Did I scare you or something or… Uh…"
Wow he really wasn’t good at this sort of thing.
Startled by the question Haru dropped the coin he was looking at onto the ground. It bounced on the floor a few times before rolling farther off into the distance. He kept his eyes on the coin without lifting his head to meet with the person before him. He thought back to what he had said during his swift time in the cafe.
"So, what’s your name? I’m Hiroshi Koda by the way, I assume you were also going to Hope’s Peak Academy before all of this?"
Hiroshi Koda... The name rang a bell, but not enough to seem fully recognizable in the Hanakotoba's life. Haru didn't want to linger too much on the subject and finally faced the other boy. He looked at him for a short second before bowing in front of him.
"My apologies." He spoke out straightly. It wasn't that he wanted to ignore him. In fact, he was just nervous that he heard him speaking to himself. That in itself is embarrassing enough.
"... .... ... Your question from earlier... Haru Takeyama." Haru fixed his posture, standing back up straight. "... It's fine, Koda-san."
Maybe learning to talk to people wasn't a bad idea...
{Task 2} Chrysanthemum
Ruri seemed to have a way of ending up in the right places at the right time—or wrong places, wrong time, depends on how you felt about him… but the point was that he was pleased to see Haru. He hadn’t talked to the guy yet, and at least knew that he did stuff with flowers, like Kobayashi. And they both seemed mellow, but Haru seemed like an uptight kind of mellow, if there was a distinction.
With that internal rundown over with, Ruri leaned in to look over Haru’s shoulder.
"Normal, huh."
How to go about this, now.
"You don’t look like the kind of guy who plays too many games, right? D’you think you’re gonna use them or not?"
Probing, of course!
"I mean, not to be pushy. You think the credit we get is actually of any use…? Hm."
Ruri shuffled away to give Haru his personal space and folded his arms behind his back.
"I’m Ruri Egusa, by the way! So, hi."
As the other boys body pushed up against his own, a small twitch of annoyance made itself present. With him leaning over his shoulders, it sent shivers through his already stiffened posture. It wasn't that Haru didn't expect anyone to follow him... He was just sure that everyone would be too busy to care about his whereabouts.
While the unknown voice spoke, he was much louder than expected. Truthfully, Haru would be lying if he wasn't at least glad he was looking over his right shoulder. Though he disliked the contact, it was much easier to hear that way. With that in mind, Haru moved forward and turned to face him after he shuffled away.
"... ... ... A hand out?" He paused, looking over the coin in his hand. Haru pulled out the rest of the remaining coins and looked them over. If he gave them to him he'd probably leave him alone, right? He slipped the 'nyan' coin back into his pocket before offering the rest.
"Here." He sighed, introducing himself after a short pause."Haru Takeyama... is my name."
{Task 2} Chrysanthemum
Gathering at the platform with the rest of the crew, Haru found himself settling his nerves near the back. He watched the movement of everyones heads as the newest game master exposed himself. Following the announcement he found himself full of unanswered questions. The Hanakotoba felt his senses heighten... Where even the rise and drop of his chest as he breathed bothered him. He'd never allow these people to see him in such a state though.
Haru left the crowd like before, heading in a different direction. He counted the windows on the train as he passed through it slowly. As if counting windows would fix anything. He clutched the coins given to him in his palm tightly before slipping them into his pocket. They jingled against his hip while the sounds of conversations faded into the distance.
When he finally reached the other side of the train he took a deep breath and pulled out one coin. He held it up to his eye, blocking out the light behind it. It wasn't special- it resembled every other coin you'd find in a gamer arcade. He stood there analyzing the coin before sighing.
"... ... ... How normal."
{Task 1} Peony
Public transportation is always uncomfortable. Especially in a place like this, not only surrounded by complete strangers but talented complete strangers. Hopefully, they were getting out soon because the florist could already feel the need for fresh air. In the meantime, they sat away from all the people and clutched at their necklace.
As light flooded the area, Eiji was… already asleep. But not for long as the sudden shifting sounds of the others caused them to stir up.
Once they got off, the first thing they saw was… a cat.
"How… cute…!"
Even though they were looking right at… What was it’s name again? Nyanburu? None of it’s words got to Eiji so when they received the transit pass, they had no idea what to do with it. After wiping the trail of drool off their face, they looked at it in confusion. What do you do with it? Somehow, Eiji managed to find the map and wandered off, trying to locate where ever they were. Well, it didn’t say anything about their exact location…
Head down and focused on making their way somehere, Eiji ended up treading over somebody’s feet, causing them to tumble over. They rolled over swiftly before they could hurl right into the door. Smooth.
"S… Sorry… Didn’t mean t’ hurt you… Well… Uhh… I hope you aren’t hurt…?"
That ended up sounding like they were questioning if they really did care but that wasn’t the case. Not everyone was as fragile as they expect. After all, you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover. Wait. This was…
"T-Takeyama-tan…!"
Did they say that out loud? They didn’t realize it. Eiji got up, brushed themselves off a performed a small bow as an apology and form of respect at the same time. … Did they say -tan?
Feet stumbled over his own, fumbling onto the ground below. His first initial thought was that hopefully they hadn't heard him speaking to himself. The following thought was he didn't want to speak to them. But, Haru couldn't help but feel bad that they fell... Even if it was their fault. He offered his hand to help the person up, eyeing their appearance and down before responding.
"I'm fine." Haru placed his hand back at his side as he watched them prepare to get up by themselves.
Hm. Was their true motive to hurt him after all? Not that it mattered. Nothing could really hurt him anymore once he cut his own emotions off at the root. Like a plant without a source of vitamins or water, they rotted away. Pain existed only to linger in the back of his mind as a reminder of everything that has happened up until now.
Taken off guard, he heard his own name being called out by this person.
"... Hm?" He looked at them once again, wondering if they had met before.
No... They definitely hadn't but he knew this person from somewhere. Their flower crown tipped the scale and then it came into his mind. Wasn't this the traveling florist? Haru knew that much... But what was their name again.
"You're... Kobayashi-san? Correct?"
the doomsday scenario | task i | open
Well, at the very least, his suit was purple. That was one aesthetic solace in what had so far been a very disappointing train ride. A very disappointing train ride that was serving to transmute latent anxiety into tangible spite at the circumstances, her gaze harder and her shoulders held in a more rigid hunch than was at all welcoming or advisable.
"I’m not sure you can be of service either," Suzuka offered abruptly, staring over the rim of her now-open coffee can and directly into his soul. The implicit affronts piled haphazardly: he was unaware of who she was looking for, and hence unaware of her partnership with Tsubaki, and hence unaware of Tsubaki, not to mention the Mikata Corp case and all of the gross injustices that continued to propagate there like so many volatile organic chemicals released illicitly into the environment.
The moral disgrace of it all grated, and it was with great prejudice that her fingers began to terminate the original shape of the can she still held.
"Tsubaki Sugawara — id est my partner and co-litigant — id est the keystone plaintiff in the Mikata Corporation case — you know, just a vital part of Japanese legal history,” Suzuka squinted, the odd preciseness of her prosody only compounded by the sentiment behind them. Finally, she sighed, then began to recite some more digestible facts with an air of faint resignation. As Tsubaki would possibly say, people were always learning. “Brown hair. About this high. Glasses, but not like mine. Hypoallergenic fur-lined coat.”
Her presence was nothing less than intimidating. But Haru couldn't let that get to him. In fact, after looking her up and down for a second time he had this sinking feeling he had seen her somewhere. Where was it again? It didn't matter for the time being, but she seemed to be very disinterested with him. The Hanakotoba turned his head slightly to the left so his right ear could hear most of her ongoing rant.
"... ... ..." He stood in silence.
Once she mentioned the person she was looking for Haru realized just who he was talking to: Suzuka Tsujio. As she continued to speak of the person she was looking for, he remembered back to the newspaper articles he had seen of her with them. They were one of the biggest reasons he kept reading up on the Mikata Corporation case for months. His family was big on the entire case, considering they were farmers. Any amount of pollution effected even the farthest corners of the world.
" ... You're Suzuka Tsujio-san, right? My family and I followed the case..." Though, Haru guessed he probably didn't pay too much attention to it if he didn't even realize who she was beforehand. Haru felt no need to spend much time conversing with this woman if all she did was cause him general anxiety.
"... ... She got off the train."
Task 1 / Japanese Yōkai: Ubume / Open
Some quite taller than themselves. He seems a bit zoned out, finding it hard to focus on things. Thankfully for Izumi, he seemed to be able to put things aside and speak to them for a few moments. Maybe he knew a bit about the situation, or at least had a guess. That was better than being completely clueless.
Apparently he recognizes them as well. That’s something that Izumi is used to hearing, though. The show itself was popular.
Izumi let out a tiny sigh, before writing on their board again.
<”Yes, that is correct. I’m honored that you recognize me.”>
Erase, erase, erase.
<”It’s wonderful to meet you, Takeyama-san. I know you as well; my sister is a fan of yours.”>
That’s one familiar face.. thank goodness. It would be unfortunate to not know anyone.. Izumi wasn’t particularly fond with not knowing someone. It would be best to get to know everyone as quickly as possible, so there are no strangers running around among them.
Scribble scribble scribble.
<”What do you think our situation is?”>
With all the background noise behind him, Haru could finally focus on someone. If he were to have a conversation out loud right now, the rest of the groups conversations would interfere with his own. He didn't even have to worry about which side he was standing on.
The pace of his heart seemed to slow and he could finally relax for the time being. It could be the fact that Izumi was around the same height as Kaori or maybe it was just the simple whiteboard. But whatever it was, he felt at ease talking to them. Especially in this situation it was good to have someone like that around. He'd never admit it though.
Haru focused his eyes back on the whiteboard, nodding his head.
"... Your sister knows of me?" He lifted his eyebrows, trying not to seem surprised. It wouldn't be the first time he had heard about girl's fawning over him. But wouldn't that girl be more inclined to fawn over someone on tv. Their sibling probably knew plenty of famous people after all!
"... ... Thank you. I will think of her." What else is he supposed to say? He had just hoped to find solace in the academy but instead he was at some random station as a 'gamer'... Whatever that meant.
With that in mind, he continued to read on to the next thing they had to say. "... ... ... ..." Haru opened his mouth but nothing came out. That was the one question he feared. Something about this entire situation was off. He frowned and shrugged, looking at the rest of the group.
"No idea."
Task 1 / Japanese Yōkai: Ubume / Open
Ubume: When a woman dies just before, during, or shortly after childbirth, her spirit is often unable to pass on out of anxiety for her child.
-yokai.com
They were having one of those dreams again, apparently.
They didn’t want to open their eye. Even when they heard shuffling inside the train, they kept their eye closed until they heard an announcement that made them flicker their single blue eye open.
"Next stop is Silver Station. Exits will be on the right and left."
Silver Station?
Where on earth was that? Still on the cold floor, they finally pushed themselves up to a sitting position, watching the occasional red and white light fly through the window. It was dark, so there was no telling where they were. The two best options were that they were underground, or in a very long tunnel. They figured that the former seemed more likely, as a tunnel should not be carry on for such a length.
’..What’s going on?’
Izumi Kurosawa, a renowned ghost hunter and paranormal investigator, mostly known from their television show ‘PHANTA5M’.
Light poured through the windows, temporarily blinding the only eye capable of seeing at the moment, as the other one had been covered by a black eye-patch. Bringing a jacket sleeve up to shield their eye, the doors slid open, and they remained in the train, listening to what their.. host had to say. Despite being very suspicious of the entire set-up, they managed to keep suspicions to themselves, figuring any question they could think up would be answered by the mascot character.
Okay, not really, but it’s all good. Let’s just ask someone else, shall we?
Not thinking twice, Izumi went up to a random “player” as well, tapping them on the shoulder before pulling out their white-board from a small white bag that hung to their side. Grabbing a black marker as well, they started to write on it, turning it so the person could read it.
The handwriting was very neat, and definitely readable. Almost looks like it was typed, so freakin’ neat man.
<”Hello. What is your name? I am Izumi Kurosawa.”>
With all the commotion going on around him, Haru was trying to focus on a few conversations at once. Though most of the time the voices meshed together and sounded muffled on the opposite side of him. He found himself breathing heavier from the anxiety of not understanding the situation. But he kept his facade up and stared blankly at the pass in his hand.
Without him noticing, a smaller person walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. It took him a minute to break out of his own thoughts to look up at them.
"... ... huh?" His voice was slow as he tried to slow down his own breathing. He couldn't let someone find out how much this was actually effecting him. Avoiding his own thoughts, he focused on the person before him.
Short, gray hair, and light blue eyes. Hadn't he seen this person somewhere? What was more important was that they were using a board to speak, which eased his thoughts more.
"... Kurosawa-san? ... ... ... You're from that tv show, right?" That's right. They were on the popular television show 'PHANTA5M'. Haru didn't watch it much but his brother loved it.
"... Right... My name is Haru Takeyama."
the doomsday scenario | task i | open
Silver Station.
The words were coherent, yet so generic and devoid of context that their meaning still utterly eluded her. As any of the limited number of people that knew her well would quickly attest to, trains (or any form of mass transit that was likely to crash, or come to an unsolicited stop in a limited space, or, most pervasively, close in, just as the walls of the carriage now tempted to for the longer she stared) were not her forte. Still, it hardly took an aficionado to realise that no station in her area was named as such — nor, she realised, did her last memories concern anything like a train.
Had their hurtle into the ambiguous stretched on any longer, Suzuka might have descended into something resembling a serious state of panic. Fortunately, fate had much better things in store than ambiguity. Some of her fellow students were already standing up, and had begun to hesitantly mingle in the way that high schoolers did when faced with a very dissonant kidnapping scenario; absolute discomfort with the train and the sudden change still blocking out any awareness of what surrounded her, Suzuka remained in her seat, having not done much more than located and instinctively opened a lone can of coffee on her person by the time Nyanburu appeared.
Obviously, the situation before her was entirely ludicrous. But it was set out with such solemn and systematic structure that the possibility that this was all a very elaborate dream entirely failed to occur. The cat and their bizarre laugh seemed more at home in an air freshener commercial than what was, by all accounts, a very modern train — but they were undoubtedly there, saying something about maps and rules and (most unnervingly yet) retro arcade tokens. In fact, it was all so very ludicrous that it was easy to view with an almost clinical detachment.
That was, until she remembered the missing factor.
“You,” Suzuka rose from her seat with an unnerving sharpness, towards the first and nearest person still lingering in the vicinity. Her heels clicked against the train’s flooring in a sound that might have made Suzuka herself wince, was her mind not precipitously hyperfocused on the more important question at hand. The most important question at hand, in fact, and one that required no explanation or context in her eyes. “Where is she?”
After the short train ride, the last possible thing Haru thought he'd be experiencing was an interrogation. Honestly, he had no idea how he even got to this station much less on the train... And now this abrasive female was asking him questions he didn't understand.
The boy stumbled back after she approached him, looking around nervously before looking her straight in the eyes. "... ... ... What?"
Where was who, exactly? He was pretty sure that everyone they arrived with was already out of the train...
"I don't think I can be of service..."
Haru looked her up and down, trying to figure out who she was. Maybe she remembered something he didn't. Her hair was flashy, and cut with defining lines... Her outfit was sleek and black, very modern. The Hanakotoba had only seen someone dress like this in movies and in the news. Especially since where he's from is mostly farmers or hermits...
"... ... Who are you looking for?"
{Task 1} Peony
Light flooded from the windows as the train met Silver Station. Furrowing his brows, Haru closed his eyes before allowing them to adjust to the new surroundings. After the announcement he found himself lost in thought, asking himself questions about where he was or how he got there. But to no avail, there wasn't a single memory of him getting on this train.
Just how did he get from point A to point B?
Before stepping off the train he took a quick look around. The seats and car looked new as if everyone here were the first people to use it. That wouldn't make sense if they were using just any metro system... It was no use trying to figure this out all by himself, he'd have to step up and talk to someone soon. Maybe one of them knew what was going on...
Haru followed the group out of the train and into the station. Standing before them was a... talking cat..? The cat spoke of waiting for them and handed off 'transit passes'. The boy took it in one hand, flipping it over and over to see every detail. His gaze followed the cat as it continued to speak until it finally ran off somewhere to find their coins or something?
With that, Haru brought up the rules on his device and read them over completely. Wasn't he supposed to be enrolled into Hopes Peak Academy? The cat called them gamers, but he's never played that many games... This had to be a big prank, but there was no way of telling for sure.
"... ... Hmm." Haru opened the maps on the device and read over them easily. The entire place seemed easy enough to navigate. He placed the pass into his back pocket and moved away from the large group heading towards the Silver Bullion Brewery.
He stood outside of the building, inspecting the inside from the window until deciding to enter. When the door closed behind him he let out a huge sigh.
"Th- that wasn't so bad... But so many people in a group... It's still hard to hear..." He said out loud, holding a hand on his heart to feel the palpitations. "I guess I couldn't talk to someone after all..."
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
"... Isn't that a bit too p- personal..?"
What's your favourite flower?
"... Does that mean you want to know my feelings..?"
"Aster Tataricus."
Out of this class, who would you rather go shopping with?
"... ... I'd much rather spend my time alone."
"Kobayashi-san has a nice sense of style... Maybe they'd want to go shopping somewhere quiet too."