2025-10-30: Homunculi In the Dark Hour
- Cutscene: Homunculi In the Dark Hour
- Cast: Tamaki Uchida
- Where: Dark Side of Sumaru forums
- OOC Date: 2025-10-30
- IC Date: 2012-08-03
- Summary: A forum cryptid who goes by arc-en-ciel posts a dire warning about approaching a Homunculus during the Dark Hour.
FIVE YEARS AGO
On the Dark Side of Sumaru message boards, the user that goes by 'arc-en-ciel' maintains a cryptid presence as one of its oldest members, but least frequent posters. Their earliest exchanges entail arc-en-ciel relating outlandish tales that mostly resemble what Persona-users may recognize, but they differ in that aspects of these tales cross the line into encouraging actions that would endanger even a Persona-user's life if repeated. Other posters were quick to accuse them of spreading lies and dismissed them as a troll.
> Are you just stupid, or are you trying to get people killed?! You don't ACTUALLY need to physically die to have an Awakening!
> Ignore them. While it's a high-effort shitpost, it's still a shitpost. Like that one music channel that posts remixes of songs from games, but presents them like they're the real thing, you know? SilverGunpla or something like that, they'll use Drake Adventure's soundfont to make something that's just every other note from the song used in that Geddan meme.
> Can we get the thread deleted? It'll be a real problem if someone actually follows this advice ...
> Mods aren't gonna do anything, but we can ridicule them and make it a lesson for other members to not trust EVERYTHING they read here.
> probably some dumb chuunibyou edgelord kid. fuck off and go back to 2chan wwwww
arc-en-ciel then made a final post to their first thread before locking the topic, simply stating "I'm sorry. You're right, it was a joke. Do not attempt to recreate what I've said here. I'll do better in the future."
Despite that initial incident, the "Last Online" timestamp on their user profile is never more than a few days old, indicating that they're still present today and actively reading threads. When they do post, it's treated as an event. Posters usually express skepticism about any further claims they've made, but anyone who tries to verify their subsequent claims beyond that first thread discovers that they're correct. While arc-en-ciel's reputation started poor, it has at least been on the mend: some members still disregard them as untrustworthy, but others think they've been reformed.
NOW
2012-08-03, 07:53 AM: New Thread posted by arc-en-ciel: "Homunculi in the Dark Hour"
> I have some new information building off of what Constellations had said in their earlier thread. In the interest of informing everyone so they do not fall prey into a lethal trap, I'm sharing what I know.
> Do not, under any circumstances, try to approach a Homunculus in the Dark Hour. Or at least don't do it without being prepared.
> If you can find another way to retrieve their Thread that doesn't involve the Dark Hour, I would highly advise you to take that path instead.
> Don't repeat my mistake.
> They'll be in a coffin, like normal. Everything looks the same on the surface. You won't be able to tell at a glance that anything's different.
> I took their Thread. I thought I was completely in the clear.
> I turned back to the door to leave, but the coffin opened up. Something resembling the Homunculus' host jumped out at me and relentlessly chased me down, trying to kill me.
> I've only really dealt with Demons, so I think this was a Shadow, but I'm not sure ... are all Shadows as strong as that, or was it an exception?
> Its face was completely covered in white cloth or something. I couldn't really get a good look. It was like the host's facial features had been sanded off.
> I tried throwing the Thread away from me, hoping that it would leave me alone and be satisfied with taking the Thread back. It still focused on me.
> It's strong. Absurdly strong. I don't think I could have beaten it even at the peak of my abilities.
> I barely got out alive. I've been Awakened for five years. Even still, I attribute my survival more to luck than experience. I shudder to think what it would do to someone who'd only Awakened in the last few weeks or months.
> It seems to be highly territorial. When I left the area it was familiar with, it was only then that it stopped chasing me.
> I don't know if that will be true in every case, but it was true in mine. If you get into this situation, then leading them out to an area they're not intimately familiar with might be what saves you.
> I want to re-emphasize: do not treat the Dark Hour like a shortcut to retrieving their Thread. If you have another way of getting their Thread, do that instead. Only use this method as a last resort.
The replies are the usual mixture of what they are in an arc-en-ciel thread: a cacophony of "WILD ARC-EN-CIEL SIGHTING" posts just participating in the event like it's a comet or eclipse, skeptic "cool story bro" dismissals, and others who take the information presented with all seriousness.
While some may ask questions which arc-en-ciel mostly answers "I don't know" to, they do have a brief exchange with someone more familiar with both Shadows and Demons which confirms that this was no ordinary Shadow indeed.