Sayuri

Sayuri is the femslash ship between Sayori and Yuri from the Doki Doki Literature Club! fandom.

Canon
In-game, Yuri and Sayori have amongst the fewest interactions within the club, presumably due to heavier plot importance between Yuri and Natsuki, and Sayori and Monika simultaneously. Despite this, it was made clear that this does not stop the girls from having bonded, even with their differing personalities.

In Act 1, Sayori introduces MC to Yuri by calling her “the smartest in the club”, which causes Yuri to fluster and hide her face. Stuttering, Yuri says not to say things like that (presumably because compliments embarrass her, but this is not explicitly stated). Seeing this, MC notes that Yuri, timid and mature as she is, appears to have difficulty keeping up with energetic people like Sayori (and Natsuki). The next day; If you choose to write your first poem for Yuri, Sayori comments that it is very well-written for a ‘newbie’, and that it impressed her. On the other hand, if you choose to write your first poem for Sayori, Yuri comments that the writing is obvious to be that of a new-comer.

Yuri sees how close Sayori and MC are, and comments on this, feeling a little jealous. Sayori tells her that MC and her (Yuri) can become close friends too, which embarasses Yuri and causes her to fluster, given the weird situation. Despite Yuri’s body language, Sayori remains oblivious to how awkward the situation is. Later, when Natsuki and Yuri’s fight becomes too sour to handle, Sayori butts in, and tells the girls to stop, because they’re both so amazing/talented. She says that Yuri’s boobs are ‘big and beautiful’ as they’ve always been, and hadn't grown, nor for the reason Natsuki had implied.

Sayori attempts to trick MC into buying her a snack from the school vending machine, but her plan is quickly debauched by MC’s knowledge of her schemes. Yuri overhears Sayori as she complains about not being able to have a snack, now that she’d been found out, and says that Sayori deserved this for having lied, albeit more eloquently. She then catches herself, and apologizes for being bold. Sayori assures her that her ‘outburst’, if it could even be called that, was fine, and that she (Sayori) rather enjoyed that bold side of Yuri, and found it rather fun when she acted as such. Not long afterwards, Sayori is hit in the face by a cookie. Sayori voices that this sudden appearance of a snack was because she paid her restitution by apologizing to MC. Yuri corrects her on her word usage (restitution),  but adds that the word Sayori chose was almost right.

In Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!, the side story "Understanding" features Sayori and Yuri's interactions when Yuri first joins the literature club. Yuri brings up her love for fantasy books, and offers to share them with Sayori and Monika. She brings the first book of her fantasy series to the club, but before beginning to read it with Sayori, Sayori says that she wants to get to know Yuri better before starting the book. Sayori asks Yuri what type of things she likes, and Yuri embarrassly says, "Just things that you would think are dumb...". In response, Sayori offers to say one thing about herself first. This causes Yuri to talk about how she enjoys nature, and the three girls start having a conversation.

The meeting after that, Sayori and Yuri are alone together in the clubroom because Monika had to go to the computer lab. Yuri apologizes for being inconsiderate towards Sayori by being overly excited about her books. Sayori reassures her by saying that it was cute how excited Yuri was and how she didn't do anything wrong. Then, Yuri tells Sayori that they don't have to read the book together, because she felt that Sayori was only "humoring her". Sayori tells her that her book is worth sharing, and that they can read it together as a club activity. But before they start reading, Yuri takes some notebook paper. Sayori asks why they need the paper, and Yuri says that they need it to take notes. Sayori responds with, "Notes???" Yuri says that she will try to make it more accessible to Sayori, and Sayori compliments Yuri by saying that she's super smart. Yuri blushes and smiles to Sayori's remark. Then, she says that she thinks Sayori is smart, because Sayori is good at dealing with people. In response, Sayori goes over to Yuri and rubs her shoulders, saying that Yuri is such a sweetheart when she's not shy.

Before they get started on reading, Yuri explains the fantasy world the book takes place in, and Sayori mentions that she writes poetry and how it's a lot different compared to the amount of planning needed to do good worldbuilding. Yuri tells Sayori that there's an appendix in the book that features songs and poetry from the fantasy kingdom. Sayori replies, "No way!", causing Yuri to giggle. The in-game text says "Yuri giggles, filling Sayori's heart with happiness when she realizes that it's the first time she's heard Yuri laugh."

After finishing the first chapter of the book, Sayori asks Yuri if she's doing well because she says that when it takes her so long to read, it makes her feel dumb. Yuri feels guilty after hearing this, and apologizes for making Sayori read with her. Then, Yuri leaves. Sayori feels bad, and tries to figure out what went wrong and trying to convince herself that Yuri might come back.

The next club meeting, Sayori is the first to arrive, and is worrying about whether Yuri will come back. Sayori wonders why this is bothering her so much. Just as Monika is about to arrive to the club, she spots Yuri sitting at the door. Yuri offers to run errands with Monika, and the two leave Sayori alone in the clubroom. Monika convinces Yuri to communicate her feelings with Sayori, and after they're done with their tasks, Yuri approaches Sayori in the clubroom, and finds that Sayori was reading Yuri's book the whole time and taking notes. Yuri feels even worse, and falls to her knees, crying. Sayori hugs her from behind, and consoles Yuri. After telling Sayori her true feelings, Sayori says that she will help Yuri with the things that she needs. Yuri says that it would be frustrating for Sayori, because it would take a lot of patience to do it. Sayori responds with how she felt the same way when they were reading together, and that she thought Yuri would get frustrated with her. Yuri says that she would never, and Sayori says that its because of their irrational fears that they both feel that way. Sayori then says that she would never get frustrated with Yuri, because she likes the person that Yuri is. Then, Sayori mentions how smart Yuri is, and Yuri can't help but smile at that comment again. The in-game text says that "Already, the heavy atmosphere surrounding her seems to have evaporated through the caress of Sayori's arms.

After a little moment, Sayori says that Yuri's hair is really pretty. The text that comes after says that for once, Yuri felt okay with just listening instead of finding the right words to say. Finally, they both get up and Yuri agrees with reading with Sayori again. Then, Yuri tells Sayori that she should ask for consent before touching others, and Sayori worriedly asks if she made Yuri uncomfortable. Yuri says she didn't, and that it actually felt kind of nice. Monika enters the room, and says that Sayori can be a "hug monster". Sayori refutes Monika's comment by making a reference to Yuri's book. Yuri laughs, and says that she wants to learn more about Sayori's interests as well. The side story ends with Yuri smiling, and her and Sayori understanding each other.

Fanon
Similarly to Natsuri, Sayuri gained fans due to the shy girl/loud girl, trope it portrays, although without Natsuki’s ‘tsun’, although to a considerably lesser extent given the spare interactions shown in-game. Sayori has been shown to be patient with Yuri’s timidity, and tries to help her feel comfortable, although her oblivious behavior can sometimes put Yuri in a situation she finds undesirable, or even uncomfortable, as shown on few occasions, This turns some away from the idea of the pairing, although Sayori evidently means no harm by what she does- she intends to help Yuri break out of her shell, as much as she can, at least.

Sayuri is most commonly shipped alongside CHARACTER/MC pairings (ex. Natsuki x MC or Monika x MC), or Monisuki (in the case of Monisuki, to pair all four girls off, most often). This is a theme present in most fanworks of the ship, from fanart to fanfiction.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Sayori/Yuri on FanFiction.Net

TUMBLR

Trivia

 * Yuri and Sayori's cutscene from 'Understanding' was used as the face of the marketing of the sidestories of DDLC Plus.

Variations

 * Doki Doki Squad refers to the ship between the two, Monika, and Natsuki
 * Literature Club refers to the ship between the two, Protagonist, Monika and Natsuki
 * MCSayoYuri refers to the ship between the two and Protagonist
 * SayoMoniYuri refers to the ship between the two and Monika
 * SayoSukiYuri refers to the ship between the two and Natsuki