Franchouchou had lives before their untimely deaths. While they live on in happiness together, there will always be a part of them that misses their old lives. From cassette tapes to interviews with relatives, the girls must confront the ghosts of their old lives.
Mementos is a fanfiction based on Zombie Land Saga written by "thewriterofflucifenia''. The series was published months after the second season concluded.
Every chapter of the series follows the main cast as they face mementos from their past lives.
- Chapter One: "Cassette" follows Saki as she discovers a cassette tape from her late mother, a musician just like the former is now.
- Chapter Two: "Cafes and Bedrooms" follows Sakura as she recalls her family who she left behind on death.
- Chapter Three: "Of Onions and Lovers" follows Tae as she has vague recollections of someone close to her in life.
- Chapter Four: "Alone" follows Yugiri as she reflects on her past life as an oiran.
- Chapter Five: "Mango Lollipops" follows Saki as she meets with her father.
- Chapter Six: "Sins of the Mother" follows Ai as she discovers what her mother has done after she died.
The work can be read here on Ao3.
Tropes
- Abusive Parents: Naomi Mizuno is definitely this for profiting off her daughter's death and forcing her other daughter to get plastic surgery so she'll better resemble Ai and exploit it.
- Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: Saki and Reiko in this fic had a romantic relationship in life, whereas they're close but not lovers in canon.
- Affectionate Nickname: Emiko used to call Saki "Chickie".
- Age Lift: Yuko Hyodo is closer in age to Tae here than she is in canon. Their relationship is also explicitly romantic.
- Cast Full of Gay: Saki is explicitly into girls and has a lot of Ship Tease with Sakura. Ai and Junko have a clear mutual attraction, though Junko continues to be in denial because she's a dork. Tae and Yuko were lovers in life.
- Cuteness Proximity: Ai finds herself enamored with a big plushie of an onion. Junko decides to get a matching one that's marketed as its lover, not realizing the implications in regards to between her and Ai.
- Granola Girl: Maria was somehow able to guilt trip Saki into buying a canvas bag, reasoning that it would reduce plastic pollution.The kid sure knew how to guilt trip, talking up how plastic was killing sweet baby turtles, are you a turtle killer? You wanna make a turtle cry? Look at his poor little nose.
- I Miss Mom:
- A heartbroken Saki admits to Sakura that she still misses her mother."Your mom would be so proud, Saki-chan," Sakura assured, only to have her friend turn to face her in tears.
"I don’t give a shit about that, I just want her back, and she’s not coming back. She's just fucking gone and this is all I have left." Saki hugged her tear-soaked pillow and hit it a few times. “Damn it damn it damn it!" - Sakura realizes that she misses her parents and suffers an episode of depression after encountering them again years after her death.A tinge of regret hit Sakura as she thought back to her family. Her sister’s well meaning, yet annoying attempts to break her from her depression, her father’s doting, and her mother’s attempt at pep talks had all made her feel worse at the time, but she missed those annoying interruptions. She missed her family…
- A heartbroken Saki admits to Sakura that she still misses her mother.
- Like Mother, Like Daughter: Saki is revealed to have had a lot in common with her mother Emiko: they were both musicians, swore like sailors, and had strong maternal instincts.
- Missing Mom: Saki's mother, Emiko, is revealed to have died from an overdose when Saki was ten, leaving her all alone with no family to turn to. This creates a retroactive interpretation for how Saki grew up to be a troubled delinquent.
- Momma's Girl: Saki grew up with no one but her mother, making the two incredibly close. Her mother's death was what drove her into a troubled life as a teen.
- No-Sell: Tae is able to take a knife to the chest when confronting an armed assailant.
- Original Character:
- Emiko Nikaido, Saki's mother and an impoverished musician.
- Sachiko and Shigeru Minamoto, Sakura's mother and father who now run a cafe inspired by her.
- Aya Minamoto, Sakura's older sister.
- Mei Mizuno, Ai's younger sister.
- Naomi Mizuno, Ai's mother.
- Hiroshi Mizuno, Ai’s older brother.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Sakura's parents are still around and have been to this day in grief of their daughter's death. The event was traumatic enough that they tend to avoid being home as it reminds them of the day she died on the street."So are we supposed to just shut this down and hide in that house?"
"I would call this more hiding from that house," the husband remarked softly as he closed his laptop and massaged his temples, stress causing his head to throb in pain. - Personality Remnant: What little there is left of the original Tae Yamada is buried deep under her zombie instincts. It lets her trace her way back to Yuko's home after 30 years.
- Shipper on Deck: Saki's pretty forward about Ai and Junko having something between them.
- Starving Artist: Saki's mother was an impoverished musician who barely afforded enough to support the two of them.
- Tragic Keepsake: The cassette made by Saki's mother is found at an antique stall, and Saki buys it immediately upon seeing it. She stays up later that night listening to it, the memories that resurface bringing her to tears.
