I come baring a new story-series about Persona 3 FES!

I'm currently playing the game… but I ended up finding out how it ends and ended up bummed out. (For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about… don't ask).

So now I'm writing a fic to relieve myself of sadness.

Some write eulogies. Some write 'AU' fics. Some… probably ended up going with the more 'dark' ending and decide to go with that…

But, I'm going to do a 'fourth-wall-break' type of story.

In this series of drabbles, the characters live 'on-set' of the setting for the movie/game series; basically, what all they do in their free time when they're not on-camera.

Think of it as watching 'extra videos' in the control room, in a way.

So, yup. This is my way of coping. Hope you guys enjoy!

(seriously, though, the ending gave me the feels real bad…)

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"Cut! Great shot, everybody! Okay, move it out, people! We'll shoot the next scene Monday!" the director, Noriaki Akitaya, said through the megaphone at the end of the final scene. He turned to Akihiko, as he was walking over to the refreshment table. "Hey, Sanada, great work on the battle-sequence. Glad that injury of yours finally healed- I was worried we'd have to re-edit the script!"

Akihiko rolled his eyes- the director was referring to the first two weeks of shooting, when he had slipped up in one of his stunt-moves and suffered the injury fans would find out about in the game. Of course, since they were on a deadline and had to shoot something, they had edited in the accident in order to save time. "Yeah, well, that won't happen again with me," Akihiko said.

"Yeah, they'd probably have to give you a death-scene, heh heh," Shinjiro cracked, sipping a coffee. He then grimaced. "Ugh, who made the coffee this morning? It tastes like shit." He then discarded the styrofoam cup into a waste bin.

"Like what they did with you?" Akihiko cracked back, earning a glare from his friend.

Yukari stretched her back as she, the rest of the actors, and staff cleared the Tartarus set; the special-effects team were double-checking the projectors used to display Shadows and Personas for battle-scenes, before shutting everything down. The teenage girl was glad they had the next three days off to rest up for the next take.

She walked over to Makoto, who already had his headphones on and was heading for the dorm, where not only a few scenes were shot for the movie, but also where the cast were allowed to stay, in order to 'get a feel of the scene' better.

…That, or the director had a twisted sense of humor and wanted to see how all the characters got along off-set, perhaps for some 'special features' commentary to be shown later on.

"So, what are your plans for the weekend?" Yukari asked Makoto- as well as wondering if he heard her through those headphones.

"Ah, nothing much- just going to nap, binge on some junkfood, watch some TV, and chill." Came a response from Junpei instead. "Maybe I'll call up Chidori later, see if she wants to hang out-"

"I wasn't talking to you… and I thought Chidori was out of town for the week?"

Junpei paused, rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh, right, she's on vacation. …I wonder if I could get some extra time off?"

"With the tight schedule we have? We're lucky we have the weekend off!" Yukari turned to Makoto, who was now giving her his full attention, headphones now around his neck. "What are you going to do for the weekend?"

Makoto shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe just go over my lines," he replied.

"Again?" Junpei exclaimed, surprised. "Dude, you're always having your nose in the scripts! Take time and chill out, for once. What could it hurt?"

"Maybe suffering humiliation in missing his lines- like you?" Yukari quipped.

Junpei shot her a glare. "When have I ever done that?!"

She scoffed. "Pretty much every day! Tell me, Makoto, how many times has he turned to you, asking what his next line… when he's not 'improvising'?"

"Hey, half of the lines I used were better than what the script had! The writer even admitted it!"

"Last time you said it was the director; time before that, the producer,"

Junpei turned to Makoto. "What do you think, bud? I do better when I wing it, right?"

Makoto sighed. When it came to talking to his friends in real life, he wished it were more like the game where someone chose what he would say- then if he said the wrong thing, someone else would be the one to blame. But, having free will, he had to choose his words carefully- and take responsibility for whatever occurs.

…funny, that's exactly what that contract Pharos showed him said. Huh.

"You do great, Junpei- but you should look over your lines once in a while. Y'know, that way you'll know what to do on the spot and be prepared." Makoto replied. "Especially since there's a lot of dramatic takes we have to do, and some action scenes we should practice for."

"Yeah, I guess… 'Shouldn't put the material to waste- the whole staff can't depend on my own creativity forever, and everyone put a lot of detail into the story so I'd probably piss 'em off." Junpei agreed, smirking in pride.

"How noble of you," Yukari deadpanned, rolling her eyes. "Does this mean you're actually going to rehearse in your free time?"

"He had better," came the voice of Mitsuru, as she walked over. "Akitaya-senpai said if Junpei misses his cue again, he's going to have him killed off and will replace him with Vincent Brooks."

Junpei gave a surprised look. "S-Seriously?! That guy is from an entirely different game!" he argued.

Mitsuru shrugged. "Cameo appearances tend to help ratings. I'd be going over your lines if I were you, Iori,"

Junpei groaned. "Fine… I'll memorize my lines better." He turned to Makoto, grinning- which his friend always took with caution. "Hey, why don't we rehearse together? We can help each other out- you help me memorize my lines, and I'll give you some tips on improvising!"

"…oh, good grief," Yukari sighed.

Junpei ignored her. "What do you say, pal?"

Makoto thought it over. From experiences in the past, he knew working with Junpei wasn't so easy- sometimes they would just skim through the material then hang out, or his friend would go on a rant about a scene that pissed him off, or he would immediately change his mind and do something else.

Though, that was within the first month when they first started shooting for the game. By the time they had wrapped up the final scene, Junpei had become easier to work with- that is, he didn't want to lose his chance at fame and have to 'go to a boring high school for real', which was enough motivation he needed to stay focused… At least, until he had the lines memorized enough to use his free time to goof off.

Plus, sometimes it was fun. Junpei would often have certain lines memorized, and end up improvising just to make his friend laugh; often, he would just do it to get everyone else to laugh- especially after emotional takes. He once claimed he'd probably be the next Robin Williams; Makoto could see it- maybe he wouldn't be as big as the comedy legend, but he always had a way of giving everyone laughs when things got too depressing.

"Sure, we can go over lines for the next scene tonight," Makoto answered.

"Awesome! …Oh, wait, can we make it tomorrow? I wanted to hit the manga shop," Junpei stated.

"Iori…" Mitsuru firmly said, giving him a look that only a strict mother could give.

"Hey, it's just for a couple hours! …Besides, if you stress yourself too much, your mind won't be able to process any information- you gotta give it time to cool down before absorbing more information!"

Yukari gave him a surprised look. "Wow… you actually remembered a lecture from class!" she gasped.

Junpei arched an eyebrow. "…We had a lecture on that?" he cleared his throat. "Oh, yeah! So that's where I heard it, heh heh!"

Yukari sighed, then began walking off. "Forget it. I'm going to go see what Fuuka and Aigis are doing,"

"I will be meeting with Akihiko and Shinjiro to go over our combat-skills for the next action sequence," Mitsuru added. "I want to make sure my agility is flawless,"

"True… that, and someone has to make sure Akihiko doesn't hurt himself again," Junpei joked.

"I HEARD THAT, JUNPEI!" Akihiko shouted, having been standing by a tree talking to Shinjiro at the moment.

"Just kidding! …Sheesh, am I the only one with a sense of humor around here?" He turned to Makoto. "I'm heading to the strip mall, now. Later!" he then took off.

Mitsuru shook her head. "I swear, sometimes I wonder if the creator had second thoughts about Junpei's character…" she muttered.

"Well… he did say he was a crucial-character, because he actually acts like a real teenager." Makoto stated, giving her a concerned look. "Did… did they really say they'd replace him if he botched another line?"

Mitsuru smirked. "No. I just told him that to get him to rehearse,"

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A/N: Okay, tell me how bad I did guys. This is my first Persona fic, so please be gentle. Since I'm still playing the game, I won't be including the other characters until I get to know them a little better- right now, I'm sticking with the ones I know best.

Also, Vincent Brooks is the protagonist from the game Catherine. …I heard he was featured in a Persona game before, so that's where that quip came from.

And again, this is a drabble-series, so it won't be in chronological order. I'm aiming it in the humor category, though I may throw in some fluff here and there.

I'll also try to go easy on the spoilers (might be a little late for that).

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this so far. If any of you have some ideas for what kind of scenario you'd like to see the cast (or even the staff) go through, just PM me.

Please review, lend me some constructive criticism, but hold back on the flames!