[open] Introduction + July Catch-all

[peninhand]

🧙 WHO: Monika and ~~YOU~~!
⚔️️ WHAT: There are three prompts: one is Monika in the hotel shortly after her arrival, another is her trying out magic and the other is her helping patients as part of the Summer Fever quest. Additionally, the TDM prompts will be posted as well, in case anyone wants to play around with them. I am happy to go with either prose or bracket, whichever you're most comfortable with.
🕒 WHEN: Throughout July
🗺️ WHERE: Camelot, surrounding areas
⚠️ WARNINGS: N/A, but it's Monika so there is always a risk for touchy topics to pop up. Will edit if this happens.

All prompts are inside the post in the form of comments

Comments

I/ Doki Doki New Beginnings Club || Arrival, Hotel

[peninhand]

a) Monika was sitting at a table, with her familiar sitting on her lap— A small, pink nine-tailed fox. There was a cup of coffee on the table and she held the spoon in hand, lost in thought. Was any of this real? It certainly seemed to be, but... So had Doki Doki Literature Club, prior to her epiphany. Then her reality had unraveled itself and her memories had been exposed as nothing but fabrications. Would the same await her here...?

She didn't even want to think of that. So far she felt... If not happiness, at least comfort. Yes, she felt comfortable here. More than she'd ever been in the game. Perhaps she should change her mind. She looked around for a bit, and addressed the first person who passed by her.

"Oh, excuse me— Are you someone from another world or era, too?"


b) The day after, Monika has come back to the same table, but this time her familiar was sitting on a chair instead. The coffee cup was half-empty as she was busy writing in her notebook:

New Beginnings

Colors, screams, lights, screeching

I close my eyes and wait
I close my heart and wait
Wait, wait, w a i t
Till the pain goes away and I find peace

It is the end, the end of all things

Yet my eyes cannot contain the tears
Yet my heart cannot smother the cries
Wait, wait, w a i t
Till it all ends and I find peace

Rainbows, laughter, speaking, smiling

My eyes open to a new sky
My heart opens to a new hope
The wait is over
I found peace, but the end did not come

New beginnings, the beginning of life

My eyes sparkle as I cry
My heart beats as I laugh
I have waited long enough
Maybe now I can live

And maybe now I can love

As she finished writing, she put down her pen and re-read the poem. Ah, it wasn't her best one... But for something she'd written on an impulse, she was pretty happy with it. She smiled and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Maybe putting this down on paper would successfully lessen her fears.

A

[whatsamada]

Meanwhile, Ken was sitting nearby as he looked at his familiar with a small sigh. Between the heat and how the poor snowman was about to faint, he wondered how he was going to keep on training him when he could barely handle it. Just as he was about to get ready to go, that's when he heard a voice.

"Yes, I am?" He said before the realization hit him. "Isn't almost everyone from a different world here?"

[peninhand]

Almost everyone? Huh... So that was even worse than she'd imagined.

"Really?" That was going to count as a first bad impression, huh? "Um, I'm sorry I arrived just yesterday. I figured there were just as many natives as people from other worlds if not more, ahaha!"

Like that person she spoke to on her way here, Archimedes was it? And there was King Arthur, of course. Maybe things were just run magically without actual workers and stuff. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't really spotted them...

[whatsamada]

In return, Ken just shook his head before giving a small smile. "It's okay, there are a lot of things you want to know when you're new here!" With that, he looked back at Jack Frost before looking back at Monika.

"I know there are a lot of things you want answered but I'll try my best to answer them!" That and he wondered how much he can answer when his familiar sweating so much.

b

[corruptedsave]

Someone, a younger someone, just happens to walk past the table that Monika and her familiar are seated at and well... She happens to get their attention, or at least Chara decides that she's someone worth pestering, especially with her eyes closed and a smile on her face.

It's just begging to be bothered, so they'll get close and try to peer at what Monika has written.

"Is that a diary or something?"

[peninhand]

"Oh, hello!"

She opened her eyes and smiled sweetly at the child who passed by. Monika didn't look annoyed, she was quite happy to speak with someone in fact.

"In a manner of speaking." She nodded. "It's where I write poems and short stories when inspiration strikes."

She closed her notebook before they could read the whole thing though. Poetry was something personal and even somewhat intimate. She had no qualms sharing it with her friends, even newly made friends, but someone she'd never met before peeking into her journal was a bit much. She could understand why they'd peered, though. She'd have done the same, it's human.

[corruptedsave]

"I see," Chara didn't get a good enough look at the poem to be able to comment on it, although part of them wants to anyway.

Just because they're that much of a shit.

"It seemed a bit silly though, kind of childish."

Of course, they're not an expert on poetry, so they really are just saying that to get a reaction. Their attention now on Monika's face to see just how she'd react to their words.

II/ Doki Doki Magical Club || Early July, Training

[peninhand]

a) Monika had found a nice, quiet spot in Camelot where she could practice without anyone (hopefully) seeing her. She was sure there were places specialized in this, but she didn't want people to see her sad first attempts at magic... That and really, her combo wasn't the most useful. She wasn't too sure what practical use Cognitive Magic would have. And Technomancy... It was as if this place mocked her. Of course she got access to the magics that were most reminiscent of what powers she had had within Doki Doki Literature Club.

So far, she had very little success getting anything done. Maybe because her heart wasn't really into it...? Well, maybe she could try having fun with it. She put her phone on the ground, before taking out her pen and pointing it at the device. She cleared her throat, and—

"In the name of Love and Literature, I command you to turn the light on!"

Lo and behold, the light on the phone turned on! The pink and small nine-tailed fox sitting next to Monika nodded approvingly as she giggled and spoke to herself with joy. It was silly, but putting more heart into it made it easier for her to enjoy this, and therefore getting results.

"Yay, it worked~!"


b) Monika had decided to try working on her Cognitive Magic, and she had succeeded... Except she'd accidentally done something she had never intended on doing. Astral Projection. An out of body experience. That wasn't so scary, seeing what she had expected in DDLC was magnitude worst. But seeing her own body like that sure was an experience...

Indeed, should anyone pass by? They would see her body lying on the ground, unconscious. Trying to wake her up or poke at her would result in absolutely no results, and her familiar was nowhere to be found. It looked as though she was dead... But she was still breathing so that couldn't be it, right? Her magic wasn't good enough for her "soul" to be visible while astral walking, so she couldn't even tell whoever passed by not to worry for her.

She thinks she knows how to go back to her body, but she needs one more minute... She just hopes nobody will panic and think she's dead before that happens.

a

[flapsin]

[By chance, a duck happened upon her.

Drake was trying to explore every obscure corner of the area to get a better lay of the land and increase the efficiency of his crimefighting! Sometimes, that results in witnessing a girl practicing magic on her phone, with a ridiculous declaration. Drake steps forward to reveal himself, while applauding.]

Nicely done! You really put some power into that declaration!

[peninhand]

[ Oh, had someone seen her do this? It's so embarrassing! It had been fun, but that was really silly... And she was supposed to be responsible, right? So she turned around, laughing awkwardly with her eyes closed. ]

Ahaha, thank you very mu— [There's an abrupt pause when she opens her eyes. Was... Was it the duck who had just talked to her?] Ah, I, um...

[ A talking duck. Well, she had with her a pink nine-tailed talking fox, so that helped lessen the impact somewhat. She tried regaining her composure, hand on her hip and raising a finger. Gawking like that was impolite! ]

G-Gosh I'm so sorry, I'd just never seen... [How to say it without sounding insensitive?] Someone like you before.

b

[troubadamsel]

She just hopes nobody will panic and think she's dead before that happens.

Unfortunately, this is exactly what happens. Well, maybe not dead, but getting there.

"Oh my goodness!" Maribelle shrieks, running over to the body and kneeling down, taking off her gloves so she can try to find a pulse. "Can you hear me?! Hang on!" Her hand takes on a glow, ready to use her Healing Magic!

[peninhand]

There is something like a very very distant voice that is trying to reach Maribelle. Honestly the sound is so weak and intelligible, that's probably the work of some mischievous faerie. And it would be true, if said faerie was a soul floating just above them and was named Monika. She tried so hard to be heard! But clearly that magic was way beyond her skill level.

"I-I can hear you... I'm fine I swear...!"

... Oh no, what would happen if she used healing magic on her while her soul is floating just outside her body? Was that it? Was her happy ending already coming to a sad conclusion? No no, she just needed one more tag second and she would re-enter her body. Please, please don't do anything senseless.

A

[granmaster]

Gran was watching from a distance, smiling wildly. It was always nice to watch others practice their magic. It just means they wanted to experience new things. When the phone turns on, he can’t help but congratulate her. “Wonderful work! You’re a natural, it looks like!”

After a couple of seconds, however, it hit him. “Wait, you can do that with magic?!”

Poor Gran’s never seen technomancy before.

[peninhand]

Oh gosh. She had hoped nobody would see her being so silly with her magic. That's kinda embarrassing. She turned around when he complimented her, smiling awkwardly. She had to look so stupid and childish right now...!

"Ah, um, thank you!"

Wait, what was that? An opportunity to shift the topic somewhere else? Yes, thank you very much. She's going to take it and run with it.

"Mhm! Technomancy is about controlling technology with your voice. Maybe even with your mind, but I'm light-years away from being that good, ahaha!" And now the final blow to shift the conversation around: "What's your magic?"

She did sound genuinely interested and smiled at that.

III/ Doki Doki Healing Club || Throughout July, Summer Fever Quest

[peninhand]

a) Monika was in a medical care center, tidying things up. She'd seen the quest and she would need the rewards— Being an adult meant finding ways to earn money and fend for yourself. But even more than that, she needed to feel useful. She probably would have come and offered to help even without the reward. There were no worse feelings than when she thought of herself as useless. Unneeded. Unloved.

The tiding up was really nothing. Most of her help came in the form of offering the patients some distraction. Still, before leaving she would always make sure things were all in order and clean. Should she spot a fellow off-worlder, she would smile at them sweetly and tilt her head.

"Hello! Are you here to help too?"


b) "You've done so much progress in only a few days! It's something to be really proud of."

Monika was sitting next to a patient's bed, holding a piece of paper in hand. A poem was written on it, which she folded and placed in her notebook. The patient had a piece of paper too, on which her poem was written.

"Gosh, at this rate you're the one giving me lessons in writing, ahaha!" She rose a finger and beamed at them. "I'll be back tomorrow, alright? And I'll bring you the book you asked then!"

She waved goodbye at the patient and moved to the corridor. She didn't need to do that, she'd already earned the reward. But... Helping people felt nice. It made her feel good about herself. Maybe it was selfish... But she liked doing it regardless. She opened her notebook and flipped through the page.

"So next... Ah, room 402, Miss—"

Lost in her work as she was, Monika was speaking to herself on a normal tone, unaware anyone may have heard her.

A

[doctorintern]

By now, Fenton has been to a few different medical centers to help out with the widespread fever throughout the city. He has to be careful so he doesn't accidentally change in or out of his suit where people might see him.

In fact, he'd been looking for an empty room to put on the suit for a supply run when he finds her, and is a little surprised. He manages to recover quickly enough though as he returns the smile.

"Uh, y-yeah! Hi! I'm, uh...yeah, I'm here to help too."

[peninhand]

It's probably fortunate that Monika has already met Drake, so the sight of a duck doesn't phase her the way it otherwise would have. Things that were once weird were now becoming normal... She didn't know yet whether this was the real world or not, but she enjoyed it. Wasn't it all that mattered.

And he looks very anxious, too! She really needs to make sure to be doubly as confident then. She notices the suit though—

"Oh, are you a doctor?" Well, ducks could be doctors too, right? "With this fever, I'm sure your help is really invaluable!"

A!

[notcethleann]

Flayn has been spending most of her time over the last week or two moving from medical center to medical center and spending long hours at each one. This is her job, after all! Or it was at home, anyway, and the opportunity to do it here as well is much appreciated.

She's on her way to fill a small basin with more water when the greeting comes, and she turns with a pleasant smile of her own.

"Hello! Yes indeed, I am. Are you a healer as well?"

[peninhand]

"Ahaha, I wish!" Being able to heal people would be nice. Better than what she's been given. "I'm just tidying things up and trying to make the patients forget they're here."

She noticed what Flayn had in hand— A small basin. Boy, the girl looked even younger than her, and yet she'd already taken on such responsibilities.

"Ah, please let me take care of this." She smiled at her and reached for the basin. "Your talents are better used on the patients, leave that sort of stuff to the rest of us."

IV/ Doki Doki Test Drive Club || Throughout July, Various Prompt

[peninhand]

a) Cool Carnival (The Margaritaville Pair Challenge)

[peninhand]

We need to think about this logically.

[ Monika was sitting before the giant glass containing all that Margarita. She was staring at it as if she was evaluating the resistance of an enemy in some kind of J-RPG. She wasn't even sure why she'd accepted this challenge, but if she was to do it, it had to be perfect. She then turned to whoever her partner for the challenge was. ]

If we share it, we'll both be completely out of it by the time it's done and pass out before getting our reward. And even if we manage it, we'll both be in for an absolute hell till the effects clear out. [She rose a finger.] But I think I can drink all of it and survive.

[ It was a matter of just drinking and drinking non-stop without letting her brain the time to process what she was doing. As far as she knew, her resistance to alcohol was laughable. But if she could drink all of it before the effects took over... A sacrifice for victory. ]

You claim the prize and quickly make me a Hangover Moveover, then give it to me before I make an embarrassment out of myself. [She beams.] And we get to have our month of free happy hour item without having to go absolutely delirious!

[loyalbreed]

[ He's already taken the cup, and in his hand look sat her boastfully. ]

Fret not I will drink this all if it is to your desire Ma'dam. Let it be that you gain the prize of which your heart seeks!!

[ There he goes again, like the Chalice quest. Drinking it all the fuck down. Its gunna take him a minute though. ]

b) Clean-Up Chaos

[peninhand]

[ Is it time for magic? It's time for magic! And Monika's pretty good at it actually. But unfortunately, one of those creatures or utensils decided to hop onto her head to take care of her hair. ]

H-Hey, don't touch that!

[ Off is the bow holding her hair together. Urgh, that sucks. She can't even do anything about it from her position. So she approaches the nearest person who may be able to do something about it before that thing decides it's faster to cut her hair than to take care of them. ]

Ah, excuse me but could you... [She points at her hair nervously.] Help with that?

c) Of Wards and Worms

[peninhand]

[ Well, that's it. She's dead. Again. Nothing but darkness all around her. Of course, you can't expect for a giant worm to strike at you and survive. Is she back in the digital void...? That's the only explanation, right? Nope, or she'd already feel its effects.

Thinking about it, it's realm warm where she is... Very stinky... And why does it feel like she's walking on some disgusting gooey stuff? Oh no. Oh no no no. Did... That thing swallow her?! She realizes the Pinocchio comparisons with what she is are pretty obvious, but now that's pushing it. ]

H-Hey, is there someone in here?

[ She had to remain calm. Not panic. There had been many of them, surely there were others in there. She couldn't be the only one to have been swallowed, but they could be far... Better scream to make sure she is heard. ]

IS THERE ANYONE HERE?

[scriptwriter]

[Of all things to happen to Kotarou, he never would've thought that getting eaten by a worm would be on that list. The good news was that he was alive. But the bad news is that he doesn't know for how long. There would've been a good chance that he would've been digested if he stayed inside this things stomach for too long.

He created his light pole and generated enough light energy to create a 'torch' of sorts. This would be a more miniature form of his beloved 'Aurora Spark' move. Kotarou definitely heard a voice in a certain direction, so he follows along.]

Sheesh! You're gonna blow my eardrums out if you yell any louder! I'm already feeling goop in my shoes!

[A snarky knight in suited armor has arrived. Kotarou wasn't sure if he should be glad that he has some company in this sticky gloomy place. But he was the type to help others without thinking much of it.]

But I'm glad that you haven't been digested yet. Are you okay?