#I thought it will be us hanging out and Makoto learning how to be a human being that makes mistakes

[a-mel-tomelts]

Exactly 30 tags.

I just got reminded of my feelings about Makoto by looking at choices, and thinking about how out of all the Phantom Thieves, she's my least favourite. How I'll actively choose her last. Which is - well, originally I was thinking "that's not something people would want to read, though, is it?" but then I remembered that I'd been asked to share my thoughts on her, and how I'd (re)write her.

So. Makoto.

I'm going to start out with the things I dislike about her, and address them as best I'm able, along with what I'd like to have seen instead.

The first thing that comes to my mind is a rather broad aspect, which is that even after she becomes a Phantom Thief and embraces her own rebellion, she has a bad habit of assuming that everyone should fit her own view of "a successful life" and that she's doing nothing wrong by helping others achieve that. This kinda seeps into everything else, and informs her failings.

The small - and not all bad - way that this shows through is in the way that she pushes everyone on the team to keep their grades up. She effectively acts as someone to remind them to study, who reminds them of how important their schoolwork is, and also how important not slacking off is when they're trying to keep a low profile.

The good part of this is that yes, most of them DO need this! They're not good at remembering to!

The bad part is... she only knows her own way of studying. So we end up frequently seeing scenes that have study sessions ending with Ann, Ryuji, or others going "I haven't been able to learn anything." And of course they haven't! They have different learning styles, and different needs. Ryuji especially is ADHD. This also kinda says to me how she's not as effective as the Student Council President as she wants to be - because she isn't flexible, and can't see her fellow students' individual needs.

I think that what would have been cool would have been if, after awakening her Persona and starting to hang out with the Thieves more often, there was a main storyline b-plot with her actively trying to learn how to connect with her peers not just with arcade games, but by talking to them about things that would actually help them learn better, which would be things that she could actively pass along to the teachers and would improve the school. If she paid attention to the study habits of her friends even, she'd be able to say "this works better for people like Ryuji, this works better for people like Ann..." and that, too, would be an improvement.

Or, alternatively, that could be a replacement for her canon confidant, which is... less than ideal.

Talking of her confidant... hm! A lot to talk about!

For one thing, when I was going through that story the first time, I thought that it would match the theme of the game if the guy Makoto's new friend was dating wasn't actually one of the bad ones, and that Makoto was making assumptions about people based on her own preconceived notions of them, but that... was hardly the case.

Like, yeah, that's an issue that could be brought up as a real problem, and there is a difference between those guys taking advantage of girls and a woman getting taken advantage of, but... there IS a certain irony and double standard that Akechi's mother was portrayed as a sex worker who committed suicide, and how the men are only allowed to be predators, not victims themselves. It could've just been one. And maybe this is just me! And it's kind of an aside to the point.

But yeah, we have her basically interfering with her new friend's life choices, and that's... another example of "everyone should do what Makoto thinks is best" in a way, and the game's storyline/script proves her right. It would have been great if something had proved her wrong, and forced her to think about her prejudices and assumptions!

Moving on, and I'm gonna quickly point out how she treats Futaba. Makoto trying to get Futaba to respond in a more neurotypical way and (basically) Just Stop Being So Autistic is painful. Thing is? Makoto as she is at this point? I wouldn't expect her to be any different. She's still learning. What I'd like would be if she could learn over the course of the story to just... accept people as they are more. Because yes, this is another point for "everyone has to be the way that Makoto thinks makes a successful member of society." But given how much trouble she has interacting with others, I do have to wonder - how much of this is what her sister drilled into her?

Perhaps, even, we could have had Makoto bonding with Futaba in later scenes over how neither of them really understand how to make friends or fit in with society, just in different ways. That'd be nice.

The funny thing is?

If you add up her canon traits - everything that falls under the umbrella of "people should act and conduct themselves in a manner that fits what Makoto thinks is best" - then unfortunately, you DO end up with the perfect kind of person who'd want to apply for a job with the police, whose JOB it is to ensure that everyone plays by the rules, and becomes a "good, functioning member of society," effectively.

This does not oppose her place in the Phantom Thieves, because the ones that the Phantom Thieves target are people who the law should be bringing to justice anyway, but because of the corruption, is not. The reason the theme of rebellion even exists at all is because the law isn't doing its job. If the law was doing its job, if people were good and kind to each other as they're supposed to be, then the Phantom Thieves wouldn't be needed. (This isn't me criticising the game for saying this. I actually agree.)

But being a cop isn't the way to go about creating change when she should know damn well by the point she says that she wants that profession in her confidant, and it's her own attitude that prevents her from seeing that.

If, however, there were all of these relatively minor changes to her writing?

If she was forced to see that her assumptions can be wrong, that she isn't always right about how the world should be and how people should act? If she learned to be flexible in helping others study and also in realising that some people just need to exist in their own way, and that's not bad?

Then she'd already be partway to becoming some kind of social worker, who'd be able to make an actual change in the world, and even if it's not on the big scale that she was thinking about, it'd still mean the world to whichever kids or adults she was able to help.

If she could find the temperance to learn a balance between "understanding how the law works" and "knowing that it does not always work in the favour of the people she wants to help" then she would be SUCH a better character.

And- like I said. All it would take would be a few minor changes.

Also as a disclaimer: I'm well aware that a big part of why she's written the way she is, as well as why she's so damn popular, is because she really is that goody two shoes character that has a veneer of rebellion without actually going the distance, so - especially in Japan, where she was created - that makes her more marketable.

As well, the game goes to great lengths to state how badly corrupted the police are, and I wouldn't be surprised if Makoto wanting to be a "good" police officer is its way of evening that out so that the game isn't seen as "too anti-establishment/police" when that would harm sales, or potentially get it to not be made at all.

[charlie-pippin-faraday]

My danganronpa v3 chapter 6 running commentary:

"MY NAME IS MAKOTO??????"

excuse me you black-haired bitch you're not makoto naegi

bro what the HELL was going on in that cutscene i'm so confused

"if my actions result in your deaths so be it" nah there's something wrong here, that doesn't sound like that keebo i know

keebo's protecting us he's stalling keebo i love you i love you so much

guys i gotta level up my FRIENDSHIP POINTS to move ROCKS

ah shit fam we finally found kokichi's lab. it looks like a door from fallout in a literal tunnel underground lol

kokichi wants to be a batman villain so bad

is kokichi actually the ultimate improv comedian or something what is this

what is the "inconsistency" in the hope's peak academy book that shuichi pointed out but won't tell me? come on now don't leave me hanging. is it that makoto established the academy for normies actually? or is it something to do with the secret DR2 killing game?

i'm not wrong about either of those facts, am i? am i misremembering? didn't makoto say in i think the anime that he wanted to establish the new hope's peak for everyone and not just ultimates? and weren't the events of jabberwock island kept a secret from the general public? the fact that he was trying to rehab the remnants of despair in the neo world program was supposed to be a secret, right? to protect them?? am i wrong about that??

that flashback light only had me more confused

woah you can go outside and watch an action sequence of keebo fighting an exisal that's fucking sick

kokichi has the wax figure of rantaro?? just strung up by his bed?? what the????

oh THAT'S where the caged child document went!

so he really WAS the leader of the ultimate improv comedy group

i bet they do flash mobs

i think a more accurate title for him would be "ultimate little shit"

obsessed with the whiteboard in his room with all our pictures on it. he wrote who murdered whom, then wrote "suspicious" by maki, "weird" by keebo, "trustworthy?" by me, and "annoying" by the monokubs lol

REAL makoto naegi??? in the flashback flesh???

hell yeah we're FINALLY going to rantaro's lab!

...now that i'm in here i instantly regret it i don't like it in here

how did kokichi know about the vaults in rantaro's lab early enough to leave those notes? did HE even leave those notes? and WHY do the vaults have a monokuma USB in them?

is it gonna have that message from rantaro that we saw in a cutscene earlier?

ha i knew it

ultimate survivor? maybe himiko wasn't joking when she said maybe he went on a bunch of game shows lol. get this man to CBS

"i never imagined rantaro the first victim would come up again like this" i mean, *i* could! at least i was hoping. there were way too many unanswered questions about him

the voice of one of these unnamed classmates in this flashback sounds SUSPICIOUSLY like bryce papenbrook. i've learned never to take his presence lightly in these games

cold sleep room?!

aw hey the whole gang back together in the flashback! man it's been awhile since i've seen some of these people

i'm sorry, kaede has a TWIN??????

bro this game actually game overed me because i spent too much time clicking on people to talk to. I WAS TRYING TO BE THOROUGH IN MY INVESTIGATION!!!!!!! i didn't think it would do that to me, i just thought the time limit would be done once i'd completed everything. ffs

...motherkuma?

oh the mastermind just be making flashback lights to include whatever memories they choose? so yeah they all have to be COMPLETE crap

if himiko suddenly reappeared and is once again being super unhelpful about how she escaped the sealed hidden room, i'm guessing that means there's another door to that room

oh shit fam a hidden passage in the girl's bathroom? hm

hey they repaired keebo's ahoge! which was the key to his inner voice clearly

ha i knew those "small bugs" were actually cameras of a sort

"i'll hit them with my 'all your relationships will end up being love triangles' curse!" damn himiko that's cold. i feel like a remnant of despair would enjoy that tho

you know, if you'd asked me to predict who my final group would be, i NEVER would have guessed himiko and tsumugi. maki absolutely, keebo maybe, but never those two. this is such an odd grouping to be the final one

wait how the fuck do you know about jabberwock island, shuichi? or was that less secret than i thought?

i need to know more about this "previous game" rantaro survived

god how i fucking WISH rantaro was the ultimate game show host that would be so funny

your honor my girlfriend kaede was innocent!!!!!!!

are you telling me that the throwaway joke the game grumps made about the shot put ball landing right next to rantaro and not actually hitting him is what ACTUALLY happened???

i knew everyone kind of brushing off that tsumugi went to the bathroom back in chapter 1 was odd

we're doing a closing argument now? we haven't even hit intermission. i assume part 2 of this trial is just gonna be off the rails then

they're literally all begging tsumugi to tell them she's not the mastermind but she can't do it

dude if kokichi were here he would be tearing her apart verbally

junko the 53rd?! new ultimate despair?

is tsumugi just doing a REALLY effective cosplay rn?

they all keep trying to tell me that kokichi was a remnant of despair but i don't believe he was

don't tell me that makoto went back on his promise to have hope's peak be for normies

i like to believe that toko wrote this book

yeah i knew all those memories were fake as shit. we're in like a hunger games arena i'm calling it now

lol they weren't even hope's peak students? i'm willing to be they're not even ultimates at all, and not a single one of their backstories is real

i like to imagine everyone who's died so far is watching this from another room like everyone eliminated from a season of the bachelor or survivor watching the finale episode

the ONLY piece of evidence leading me to believe anything told to us might've been even remotely real is kaito's strange illness. other than that, i'm fairly certain every single thing told to us about the backstory and the outside world is fake. i bet there is no gofer project, there were no meteorites, there is no disease

what the- HAJIME?????

mahiru? okay this is starting to get a little batshit. felt some whiplash when she turned into hiro and then soda

hey don't you DARE turn into makoto naegi that feels disrespectful

bro does this take place in a different universe from the other two games???

this is getting way too meta

i have no idea where this goes from here if this isn't in the same universe as the other games

wait are we actually in a time loop of sorts, like i'd predicted awhile back?

oh dude i just noticed there are little "V"s and "3"s in the eyes when tsumugi is cosplaying

is this girl really blaming her actions on ~society~?

bro this is getting WAY too meta. like, past the point of being fun

shuichi just shouting at them to shut up is my mood rn

is this a roundabout way of saying they're all quote-unquote actors?

damn even that illness was fake huh

bro not her actually becoming soda to make the tenko comparison 😂

guys i'm not really sure what to make of this. idk where to go from here

like i genuinely feel like a bucket of cold water was just poured on me. like. what the fuck is this

guys i'm gonna be real: this fucking sucks. i've never been a fan of "it was a dream this whole time and none of it mattered or was real" storylines. it's lazy writing. and i really feel it here

bro i got the BAD END??

...or maybe not?

oh my god is keebo gonna be my actual savior??

i knew keebo was the only bitch around here i could trust

hang on am i playing as keebo now?? it's my dream. he had an ahoge for a reason! the TRUE true protagonist! this game is starting to redeem itself

lol of course that was an antenna. and he was basically the first person camera for the audience? interesting

you know this means in the final chapter the audience wasn't watching the rest of us running around finding clues for the situation, they were watching keebo fight exisals lol

ULTIMATE HOPE ROBOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

there's always an ultimate hope at the end of these. and it's very interesting that unlike the other games, they didn't have it be the character i was controlling for a majority of the game. and tbh i think that was the correct choice. shuichi you're great and your heart's in the right place but you're not the ultimate hope lol

oh this is now a battle to save keebo's life???????? oh i am putting my ALL into this

the fuck kind of rules are these? even if we win we gotta sacrifice two of us? huh?

speaking of, what happened to the 11 other people in this game? are they actually dead? or not? that feels very unclear now

i gotta fight shuichi in verbal sword battle? i gotta fight essentially myself?

i was never good at the sword minigames i could never figure out the best way to control it

oh man that poor boy is just so clinically depressed

and the fact that we had that sword fight to clair de lune...oh man

shuichi i am unsure about this logic of yours

oh am i shuichi again now?

yes shuichi we stan a weak king

tsumugi don't you dare talk as makoto you're making a mockery of everything he stood for

wait now i get to be himiko too? i better get a turn as maki by the end of this

oh thank god i do

thank goodness i didn't enable the "more time" skill

did they fry keebo?????????? unforgiveable unforgiveable UNFORGIVEABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh my god they took him over i hate this. let me go back to playing as keebo again

THEY ERASED HIS PERSONALITY??????? i'm never forgiving this game. this last chapter is like the finale of how i met your mother

at least he came back to say goodbye 😭

I CAN'T BELIEVE I GOT THIS FAR AND THEY FUCKING TOOK KEEBO FROM ME NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

can't believe i had to fight keebo and not tsumugi in the final battle

"we're friends, aren't we?" oh shut the fuck UP, tsumugi

no votes? thanks keebs

keebo fucking razing the place to the ground and executing everyone else in the process was NOT how i expected this game to end

oh shit they pulled a fast one on me with this epilogue - shuichi and maki and himiko lived?!? damn

they've made it unclear whether or not this is ACTUALLY in the same world as makoto and friends ughhh

i hate that they ripped keebo from me at the last second. they erased his personality and made him self-destruct. he was the hero but at what cost. this is a personal betrayal

could they rebuild him? maybe? all i want is a reunion with keebo and the survivors (VERY small survivor pool this time btw)

i'm going to be thinking about keebo nonstop for days fyi

guys, i gotta be real with you. this was the most unsatisfying horseshit. it felt like nothing mattered, and honestly it felt like they were making a mockery of us for enjoying the previous games and content. i didn't like it. and honestly it felt...lazy? like i had been speculating so much about how this would connect with the rest of the danganronpa plot and how this would build upon the already established story and characters. like you should've seen the theories i had in my head (one of my best ones: tsumugi was a rogue hope's peak student who idolized junko and wanted to do a killing game in her honor. keebo was a plant from makoto and the future foundation/academy to guide the others and eventually help lead to their rescue - that would've been a great plotline tbh). but no, none of that happened, it didn't build on the story, it didn't add to it, it wasn't part of the same story. it was just............nothing. it didn't lead anywhere, it didn't build up to anything. it just went nowhere and did nothing, it wasn't connected. it felt like all the investigating i did to find out the truth was a waste of time, and all the plot twists and turns that happened and all the choices the characters made had no fucking payoff. it was so frustrating. there are so many creative choices they could've made to build on the story in the danganronpa world but...that meta bullshit was not it.

in other news, i have already started writing a fanfiction: an alternate version of v3 that actually takes place in-universe, therefore making all the games connected! and i think what i've thought up is pretty good, ngl. it might be related to that theory i mentioned above. if you're interested in reading, lmk and i'll work to write it faster!

and thus officially concludes my v3 gameplay commentary! i might post here and there about my experiences in the bonus modes as i do them

[bengiyo]

Don't Care for an Old Man's Underwear Ep 10 Stray Thoughts

This watch made possible thanks to @isaksbestpillow.

Last time, Hasegawa had the baseball team talk to Kakeru about why he felt uncomfortable with them. Over a series of conversations, the guys came to a better understanding about how their behavior made others uncomfortable, and realized that sometimes those behaviors make them uncomfortable too. On top of that, we got to see the baseball team mingle with Kakeru's girl friends. Elsewhere, Moe asked Makoto to go with Mika to the concert. Mika shared with Makoto that when she was in a dark place, RANDOM gave her something fun as a mental break and helped her make it through. Makoto listened closely and came to the fantastic analysis that RANDOM is the Okita family's benefactor. He had a great time at the concert with Mika, let her hang out with her fellow fans after the concert, did some research on his new bias, and then finally shared his research with Mika. They had a fantastic night, and met their kids on the way home. They invited Daichi and Madoka to hang out with them, and then Madoka proposed to Daichi in front of the Okita family. They later went to tell Daichi's mom and it was beautiful. I cried. We left at the family waiting to hear from Madoka, who went home to tell his family.

Oh no. Mihoko is definitely talking to Daichi's dad.

The costuming here feels intentional. Daichi and Makoto have come so far together that it feels like they're on the same page with their clothes looking so similar in color scheme.

Also, Makoto has become such a better listener. He can respond in compassionate ways to Daichi now that is supported by the earnestness he's always had.

I just love how thoughtful Makoto has become.

Kakeru looks so much more relaxed these days. He's having big youth moments.

Aw, Makoto was trying on the makeup trivia, and they dunked on my man.

Madoka succeeded!!! 🎉

Is Daichi's dad back to be homophobic? Sir, do you realize you are in the penultimate episode of the improving yourself and unlearning toxic masculinity show?

I am mad. I like Makoto slowing down to think about how best to support Daichi here.

I am with the makeup rival that they may be unintentionally encouraging Shizuka to change herself for her romantic interests.

Sir, your intellectualized homophobia is not cute.

I remain a fan of Haranishi.

Mika is such a good mom. I love the way she listens to Kakeru and gets him to the emotional core of his feelings. I also like that she doesn't disguise that some things aren't easy.

I will never forget Daichi. It's so rare that the characters can tell you how their own internalized homophobia cripples them in front of their relatives.

Yes, Kakeru! Tell him to meddle!

Well well well, Kakeru, look at you taking your own advice.

Wow, this man has gone too far. Do not talk to someone else's kid this way.

Yes, Makoto. Please go kick this man's ass.

This is such a difficult episode. There really is nothing you can say to someone to remove the infection of internalized homophobia. It's so upsetting because we learn shame at home. That's what this man put into his son. He is so rude, and I need him to have his ass handed to him pronto.

This was such a great episode reflecting on where we all fit into the society. I keep thinking about the scene about the colleague of theirs who got downsized. We contort ourselves to fit in only to be discarded when we're no longer useful, and then we lose our spouses.

I'm looking forward to the conclusion of this show, but I know I will miss it so dearly.

[review-anon]

Despair Time Chapter 2 Review Part 1: The Good

Hey guys Review Anon here and what’s this? I’m reviewing something other than ASOOT arcs? Yes, yes, I am. Shocker I know but I am not treading too far as I’m still covering Danganronpa as I’m reviewing Chapter 2 of Despair Time now it’s finished. I have my thoughts on it and now I’ve taken some time to take it all in I can talk about what went well, what didn’t go well and what lessons we can take away from the whole thing. I was gonna wait until Bubbles does their review/rant but natural disasters are bitches and power hasn’t been restored yet. So, I’m doing this now to get out of the way.

And for any people coming here from non ASOOT related tags then I will apologise in advance because you are gonna be in for a LOOONNNGGGG read. If you are the type to go tl;dr then turn away now.

I presume the rest of you want to read it? Well, let’s get right to it. I’ve split this into three parts because I don’t want to do Google Docs for this, and it would be an easier read for those who came from the non ASOOT space as you guys aren’t used to my lengthy reviews. Consider this your crash course on how I review, in extreme detail and excessive word count. This right here is about 8.5k which is a bite size by my standards which should tell you everything.

Please bear in mind you will have to wait a bit for the next parts as I want to get my current project done before this. Its just I didn't anticipate this taking so long.

Anyway, let’s get right into it, shall we?

Chains of Friendship

Chapter 1s for any Fanronpa tend to be very shocking as it’s the creator’s way to try and surprise the audience and subvert any expectations they have. Some do this well, others do not. But Despair Time was one of those who did it well by how it handled the main protagonist Teruko Tawaki.

At first glance she seemed to be an atypical Danganronpa protagonist. Ultimate Lucky Student? Check. Has an ahoge? Check. Believes in friendship, trust, hope and all those bollocks? Check. Gets backstabbed by someone they believed to be a friend in the first chapter? Check quite literally. Forgives said friend and continues to be a ray of sunshine? Ch- oh wait hang on a minute she didn’t do that at all.

Yeeaahhh while Xander’s sudden attempted murder on Teruko was a massive shock, what was even more so that Teruko decided to say fuck friendship and trust and not trust anyone ever again. On one hand you can understand Teruko’s rage. She was very close to Xander and he used that trust to try and kill her. Min was also someone who supported Teruko and she was willing to throw Teruko under the bus to save her own skin. None of the others stood up for her as they all decided that Teruko killed Xander, and it was only thanks to the power of protagonist energy and using basic logic that saved them. As such Teruko was well within her right to call everyone out for being selfish bastards. Especially since as we get to know more of Teruko this chapter, we learn that what happened in Chapter 1, while extreme, is a snapshot of her entire life due to how ruinous her luck has been.

I don’t think I’ve said this before, but I will say it now, luck SUCKS in the Danganronpa universe. Look at all the Lucky Students we had, Makoto is the only one who has a decent life and he loses the most. Nagito is so ravaged by luck he’s become suicidal and depressed. Yuki goes through literal hell due to his luck and the less said about Utsuro, the better. And while it’s still very much a WIP, one of my OCs is a Lucky Student and her life is equally ruined by her luck. But don’t worry I’ve not copy pasted it from anyone else as the direction I’ve taken my OC is in a way nobody has done before. And what Teruko has here is a fine example of that. She is an orphan who was abandoned by everyone in her life, she has numerous wounds on her body, she barely has any education as she has to sneak into large schools as a student and then once the gig is up, run away and her finances are in ruins due to the hospital bills. Its little surprise why she likes the Killing Game, as she gets guaranteed food and shelter here, which is more then what can be said outside. But even that has a silver lining as we know whoever the mastermind is, they have it out for her.

However, while this is a massive departure from what the typical protagonist would go through, it’s a known fact that in a Killing Game, you NEED to work with others. Class Trials are decided by majority vote and so if you become a pariah, you are very likely to be ignored and might risk dooming yourself or others if what you are saying is true. Teruko doesn’t have to like her classmates, but she needs to learn to coexist with them. Especially since Teruko switching from “I hate and distrust everyone” to “We are all friends” is a major mood whiplash I doubt anyone would do. So naturally one of the main themes of this chapter is learning to rebuild trust after its broken and the consequences of not trusting anyone.

Two major voices object to Teruko’s self-imposed isolation and distrust of everyone. The first is Eden Tobisa. She’s always been a cheerful and optimistic person within the Killing Game and has taken Xander’s and Min’s deaths harshly. In a way Eden behaves more like what a typical Danganronpa protagonist does, wanting to be friends with everyone and being kind. When she tries to get Teruko to bake with her, Teruko reminds her the last time they baked was with Hu, Rose and Min and that was later used for Min’s murder of Xander. She calls her naïve for being optimistic and says she won’t be friends with her, because she knows that at some point, Eden will crack from the harsh reality of the Killing Game and the luckster doesn’t want a stake in it. Kindness will always be rewarded with cruelty.

But when she says this Eden surprises her as contrary to what Teruko thinks, Eden isn’t oblivious to the cruelness of the Killing Game and reality as a whole. Yet the small clockmaker chooses to be kind because it’s the right thing to do, and if you give someone kindness while people can backstab you, you can be rewarded. When it comes to trust and distrust you need a healthy balance.

When I reviewed Black and White Christmas, I didn’t like how Sunako was forcing the Quantum Crew to trust the 76 Squad for a couple of reasons. I tried explaining it at the time, but I felt I telegraphed it quite poorly and I’m sure that’s irritated Mod Poi. The first one is on me, as I didn’t really know the 76 Squad then and as such couldn’t really tell at face value if they were to be trusted or not. Since they are from NWPM and I struggled to read it, my lack of knowledge led to that judgement, but the other thing is that I compared the whole thing to Raja and the Last Dragon and how it mishandled the theme of trust. Expect I didn’t explain it very well or misunderstood the hate. The main reason Raja got betrayed the first time was because she trusted Namaari too much, which you should never do to people you literally just meet. Give them the benefit of doubt yes, but never open yourself up to someone you don’t know that well. Teruko made that mistake with Xander and that’s why she got a knife in her gut.

While it’s a heartfelt speech, it had a notable impact on Teruko as she didn’t know how to respond. When you expect nothing but betrayal and backstabbing, having someone be kind for the sake of it can shock you. It’s the same shock Kyoko experienced in Trigger Happy Havoc when she didn’t expect Makoto to keep his mouth shut about evidence that he knows is false, and he explained it’s because he trusts her, she didn’t know how to respond. While Eden isn’t the main protagonist, the same principle applies.

Eden isn’t the only person who objects to Teruko’s views that you should never have faith in others as the other is Charles Cuevas. Starting off Charles was your atypical smug intellectual who believes he’s superior to others, akin like Byakuya and Rei. But much like them, he softens up and learns to work with others though in Charles’s case it’s a bit more extreme. In Chapter 1 he was revealed to suffer from Hemophobia, so much so that if he sees blood, he literally goes into shock and can’t remember anything. Xander uses this to his advantage to try and frame Charles for his would be killing of Teruko, but when it seems like everyone is turning on Charles, Whit is the one who stands up for him, gives evidence why he couldn’t do it and so Charles is cleared. This has caused the formally smug chemist to go through a bit of character development as while in Chapter 2 he still thinks his intelligence is beyond that of most of the cast, he isn’t pushing them down as much and has soften up to certain characters, most particularly Whit and Teruko. The former because he stood up for him and is an honest friend and the latter due to demonstrating that unlike most of the cast, Teruko actually uses her brain. It’s a slow burn but assuming Charles survives all to the end, he will become a much better person.

So, when Teruko talks about her disbelief that he is trusting people after what happened in the Class Trail, he brings up some valid points on why Teruko is actually being quite illogical as cooperation with others is key to surviving this game and humans are social pack animals by design, we work better as a team.

Chapter 1 Charles is pretty much Chapter 2 Teruko but after learning he cannot look at a corpse and thus is incapable of surviving on his own, Charles has started to learn how to rely on others. In some ways he doesn’t like how everyone pities him now so Teruko is a relief as her interactions with him haven’t changed. But while Eden says why Teruko is wrong from an emotional and moral perspective, Charles approaches it from a logical and factual point of view. As many analysts have already pointed out, it’s impossible to do a solo act in a Killing Game, if you want to live, you need to learn how to work with others. Either to prevent yourself from becoming a target, or so others can help you when you are down, much like how Whit helped Charles in his lowest point. As such using his own experiences, he knows the direction Teruko is coming from and implores her to reconsider as eventually events will occur which will force her back to trusting others again.

I like this as we have two different characters, both who get tons of development this Chapter, attacking Teruko’s morals from different angles. But while they are definitely making dents, Teruko is able to justify in her worldview that she’s been beaten too many times to be like Eden, especially as Eden seems to have had a good life where her worst secret is that she’s a closet lesbian. Which okay its definitely something Eden might have been harassed over if bigotry is still a thing in this world, but with so many of the cast being LGBTQ, it’s not the worst secret in the world. And for Charles, he has a deliberating condition which prevents him from surviving on his own. Everyone knows about Teruko’s luck and she’s survived this well without needing help on it so she doesn’t need to rely on others.

Expect of course, she’s wrong, because during an interaction with Veronika, she brings up the suggestion that Teruko might have prosopagnosia.

While it’s not confirmed in this Chapter, I do believe Bubbles has a point that Teruko might have face blindness but I don’t think its prosopagnosia. Recall that Teruko has had a very harsh upbringing where she couldn’t get close to people or have a solid support network. It’s known that having a disruptive childhood can lead to arrested development in various areas. I recall a case where a woman had blurry vision for a long time as a child and wasn’t diagnosed as shortsighted until much later in her life and because this happened after the point in a child’s development where the sense of self develops, it means this woman had a lot of self-identity problems and has a hard time recognising herself or others. But she doesn’t have prosopagnosia as that’s a neurological condition you are born with. Rather I feel the face blindness is due to people fazing in and out of Teruko’s life so much that she doesn’t bother forming connections and that is what’s fucked her up.

Regardless of the technicities, it IS a problem in a Killing Game because it would be very easy for someone to trick Teruko by merely dressing up as someone else. That wouldn’t be a problem if Teruko has a support network in place, but if she doesn’t, then she’s a goner. So, like Charles, for medical reasons Teruko doesn’t have the means to stand on her own and needs others to help her.

But the one character who shattered Teruko’s worldview and made her realise what she’s doing is wrong is the victim of this chapter; Arei Nageishi.

When Arei was introduced back in the Prologue at first it seemed like she was gonna be an insufferable Hiyoko-like character. She’s vicious, mean and enjoys tormenting others. But Chapter 1 reveals some layers to her as when Eden invited Teruko, Rose, Min and Hu to bake, Arei got really upset because she wasn’t invited, implying she wants to be involved with the group but doesn’t know how to approach it in any way other than being mean. Then during her FTE with J, she reveals that she has a ranking system in place for how badly she bullies other, while some like J get mild teasing, others she will try to ruin their lives completely. And for kind people she will make sure they cry because she cannot stand anyone being kind, implying that Arei seems to have a real problem with people being kind.

As such when Eden goes to apologise to Arei for excluding her, at first Arei behaves like how Teruko would think she would, she belittles Eden, calls her dumb and says she’s gonna die if she keeps this up, which causes Eden to burst into tears and run away. But alone with David and Teruko, Arei confesses that she didn’t like doing that. She said that stuff to Eden to protect her, because she believes the world is like what Teruko says it is, that kindness cannot be rewarded with anything other than cruelty. And if Eden keeps this up, she’s gonna die. The reason for this is as you would expect due to trauma as Arei’s older sisters would torment her constantly and make her life hell, until Arei just had it and frame her sisters for a bunch of crimes which resulted in them getting send to reform school. This here is a snapshot of one of the main themes this chapter has so we will come back to it later. So, is Arei just reinforcing Teruko’s worldview? Nope. Because then Arei reveals that despite all of that, she WANTS kind people to exist, she HAS to be doubtful of Eden because she’s so kind and optimistic, the exact person Arei wants to have in her life, but her past experiences have gotten in the way. And as she breaks down sobbing due to that, something stirs within Teruko.

Without realising it, Arei has shot a massive wound in Teruko’s armour. She’s someone who is basically like Teruko, who is rude and cruel to others because every time she’s tried to be kind, it was slapped down and punished. She also believes the world is a dark and evil place, but she also wants to believe kind people exist, despite what her experiences have taught her. This is what Teruko is going through. The fact she does cactus puppet plays of Xander and Min, shows that despite what Teruko claims, she is not a sociopath and can care for others, and she wants to be friends with everyone but having been hurt so badly, she cannot get close again. Teruko, without realising it, sees a lot of herself within Arei. She denies it at the time but those words have an impact on her.

David’s speech to her, even though its hollow and not even Arei believed it because she saw his secret and knew he was a piece of shit, still didn’t mind it. The reason being is that even if someone like David, who is seen as a beacon of hope and sunshine, is a rotten bastard deep down, then its proof she isn’t too far gone. While obviously we don’t have David reveal this to the others, we see the conversation happen, and it clearly had an effect on David, due to him remembering it so vividly. Arei’s drive to become a better person wound up saving Eden’s life twice as she interrupted Arturo’s attack on Eden when she tried to reveal his secret to him, and by doing her stunt Ace, the culprit for this case, decided to switch targets and go for Arei instead of Eden. Which I’m glad that Eden didn’t die because if she did, that would convince many that Despair Time was gonna be a cynical work like the Another Series and The Mistake. And why of course Arei still died this chapter, her death was NOT caused by her reaching out to others because Ace was gonna kill regardless of what was happening. And Teruko’s rage at Ace for killing Arei was less about him having a shitty motive but because had Arei lived, she and Teruko would have become good friends, since she would have understood Teruko’s pain and her desire to want to trust others regardless of her past.

Teruko also suffered the consequences of shutting others out as by being isolationist, Teruko has missed the context for a lot of what shenanigans have unfolded among others, and due to believing her viewpoint to be the only correct one, she makes mistakes. During the Class Trial, Teruko misreads the time and assumed the murder occurred at 8pm and NOT 8am which is Arei’s true time of death. Had Charles not pointed this out, David would be ruled as the culprit and everyone would have been executed. Another major mistake Teruko made was in how to end the Killing Game. When Veronika said that Eden had an idea to end the Killing Game by being as boring as possible, Teruko said that wouldn’t work as that’s why motives exist, whereas she has an idea but she needs to wait until the next murder occurs. We are left hanging, and for Arei’s case quite literally on what she meant by that, that is until Ace was exposed as the culprit and Teruko asks Ace to do something outrageous; Kill MonoTV.

Teruko’s logic for this at first glance seems sound. The reason the Killing Game occurs is due to the fact they have to follow MonoTV’s rules, and breaking them results in death. However, with Ace due to die via execution, he has nothing to lose. If he destroys MonoTV he has a chance to save his own life, of course if he fails, so what, Ace is gonna die anything so it achieves nothing. In short, there is no downsides and only upsides.

Expect of course if you have been paying attention, this is not the case. Firstly, normally with the mascots they tend to have copies, one gets destroyed, another takes its place. Thus, the game will carry on, but then there’s another one and one that tripped a lot of people up. When MonoTV was asked who would be the blackened, he said whoever was the most “mastermind-y” Now a lot of people interpreted this as being whoever is behind the murder and not necessarily the murderer. This is why Bubbles proposed that while Hu would be the one to kill Arei/J, David would be the blackened as he was the one who manipulated Hu into doing so. But this logic doesn’t just apply to murders, when Ace obliges and tries to smash MonoTV, it doesn’t work due to the robot being more durable then initially thought, the AI said that while Ace did break a rule, he was gonna be executed anyway so it would achieve nothing. As such the one being punished would be the one who told Ace to break said rule; Teruko herself.

As the countdown for Teruko to get gatling gunned occurs, I wasn’t worried like Teruko, as I KNEW someone was gonna jump in front of her and take the shots. The question was; who? I was thinking either Eden or Charles would do so as both have strong connections to Teruko, and for both it would be a massive contribution to their characters. In Eden’s case its shows she’s not scared to fight what she believes in, and returning the favour. Teruko stood up for her when the culprits narrowed down to Ace and herself, and Teruko decided to focus on Ace, so the petite clockmaker would return the favour. For Charles, it would be him facing his fears as he is terrified of the sight of blood and gore, so him jumping in front of the way of a gatling gun, assuming he survives, would show how much he is starting to care for the others. Anyone else aside those two…I didn’t think so. Ace would have never done so as I’m sure he is the one who voted for Teruko. Nico clearly wanted to get away with their crimes and the others either aren’t close to Teruko or jumping in front of the gun would be out of character for them. So, when the timer hit zero, I expected a CGI of either Eden or Charles with a lot of bullets in them…

But instead, my expectations were blown wide open by the fact that Levi of all people jumped in front of Teruko and shielded her from the bullets. This reminded me very much of when Akane was almost blown up by a bazooka by Monokuma but Nekomaru blocked his way and got shot. Considering what we learnt about Levi in this Chapter, this really took me off guard AND bumped him up several tiers in my character rankings.

But this had a total shock on Teruko, as she believed if she didn’t care for anyone else, nobody would likewise care for her, so the fact that someone cared enough to shield her from pain, and that they are on death’s door because of her, send shockwaves through Teruko’s body as when after Ace’s execution as everyone rushed to the infirmary to treat Levi, Teruko stayed behind to do something she said she would never do; mourn.

The amount of people who contributed to Teruko’s character development doesn’t end there as while those four are examples of positive interactions for Teruko, we have had two cases of negative interactions who serve a different purpose, the first is David Chiem.

When introduced David…seemed off. He seemed like an affable and friendly person who believes everyone has the motivation and desire to change, and Xander in particular seems to be a massive fanboy of him. But like most celebrities and people in public that is just a façade is in the Prologue when Xander went off to get something for his idol to sign, we see David chuckling to himself on how much of an idiot Xander is, without realising that Teruko was there to see it all, and his shock when she reveals she heard that, says it all. Chapter 2 brought up the suss meter even further when David ‘confessed’ his secret and implored everyone to discuss their own secrets, which far from doing good, ended up causing a lot of drama and tension. Anyone with a irk of sense could tell David was fake, I knew he was fake, Bubbles knew he was fake, pretty much most Youtubers reacting knew he was fake.

Another factor working against him is his VA. Quite a few SDRA2 English Dub VAs also worked on Despair Time, and for the most part is interesting to see their contrasts. Bblackroses is known for playing Hibiki Otonokoji, but here she is J who while Hibiki is a bubbly peppy girly-girly, J is a complete tomboy who hates the starlight and fame. Artimmissis Setsuka Chiebukuro, who is a very reliable woman with a prankster side to her, but here she is MonoTV an incompetent mastermind who tells the worst jokes. David Chiem’s VA is Sword of Swords who also worked on SDRA2, and what character did he play there?

Oh, nobody important, just Mikado Sannoji the Mastermind of that game, the leader of the main antagonist group Void and more or less a piece of shit.

At first glance the contrast seems to be that Mikado is an evil bastard whereas David is a moral force of good. But as the pressure mounts for David and the fact his secret is that he’s a manipulator who likes to deceive others, as well as how he mocked Arei’s desire for friends earlier, meant when it reached the boiling point the mask came off and David revealed his true self.

It’s here the true contrasts between him and Mikado become clear. Both are men who hide their true selves behind a mask, literally for Mikado and figuratively for David and both pretended to be forces of good before their masks slip and their true vile nature is revealed. David is obvious as he tried to be a good moral speaker whereas Mikado you might have missed it tried to be a hero and claim Void was a force of good before Rei and Teruya ruined it. In addition, their true selves are so VERY different. Mikado always remained polite and affable even when he is being extremely bastardry whereas David is rude, condensing and swears all the damn time. I also cannot help that David’s true self looking a lot like Utsuro, who is the main object of Mikado’s desires cannot NOT be a coincidence.

But what does David show for Teruko? Well, he seems to at a glance reinforce Teruko’s beliefs that nobody can be trusted as Teruko smugly pointed out she saw the warning signs of him being evil way before anyone else did. And whenever he talks to her, he seems to want to keep this act of Teruko hating everyone up, saying it’s her nature to distrust others and the only thing she trusts is the truth. And then here is his final confession he wants Teruko to trust what he’s saying. David is in a way a warning of the kind of person Teruko would become if she keeps on her current path. I also think that David had Teruko’s secret and knows it’s her fault the Killing Game is going on. The fact he keeps seemly praising Xander and calling him a good person is obviously an attempt to get under Teruko’s skin due to how she feels about him. I for one second don’t believe he cares about Xander.

Mr. Politician isn’t the only person who serves as a warning as the culprit of this chapter, Ace Markey does as well. Ace always seemed to be a coward as he is easily scared of his own shadow and while he talks tough, he doesn’t have the actions to back it up. However, in Chapter 2 Ace gets sick and tired of being a wimp and thus decides to become a bully, which is still being a coward as pretty much most bullies bully because they are cowards who want someone weaker than themselves to lord over to make themselves feel better. Yet what drives Ace’s actions is his Thanatophobia, fear of death which is a very bad thing to have in a Killing Game. Due to this fear, Ace decides to commit murder as he feels if he doesn’t kill someone, someone will do the same to him and the fact Nico almost does, reinforces this belief. Teruko is someone while not paranoid, is very distrustful of everyone and if she feels that anyone and everyone is out to get her, she could fall down the same slippery slope that Ace does.

Despite this, Ace still manages to surprise her as when Levi takes the bullets for her, everyone needs to get to the infirmary to treat Levi otherwise he dies, but the lift won’t work since Ace still needs to be executed. Ace has already made it very clear he hates and despises Levi, especially after the latter confesses that he doesn’t care about the former, which seemed to really hurt him, but seeing someone he hates that much do something so selfless, means he decides to do the one decent thing in his life, while also being his last, getting MonoTV to execute him so the lift doors open and Levi could be saved.

That I think was the final straw which broke Teruko. She has had mounting pressure throughout the entire Chapter but then someone who was a coward, sacrificing himself so that someone else could live, is the final crushing proof as well as the knowledge that while she avoided making the same mistakes as before, she just wound up making new ones, that caused her to cry alone in the Trial Room.

We also get interesting character interactions with Teruko and MonoTV throughout the chapter. Since Teruko isolated herself so much from the others, MonoTV hires her to do maintenance around the Killing Game since he’s too incompetent to do it himself. As Monokumas were originally butler robots this would have never happened in the main series. We learn a far bit about MonoTV, that he is a simple robot designed for the Killing Game and he doesn’t have full knowledge on who’s running the thing as he was only programmed to do what his tasks enabled. And as Teruko pointed out, he is sadistic as Min was executed before she could say everything she wanted to and Ace’s execution was dragged out for as long as possible, in both cases it’s to make the victims feel the most despair. The other interesting thing is that Teruko can use Monocoins to get him to remove other characters who are bothering her which is the complete contrast to FTEs. What should we call them instead? Exclusion Zone Effects or EZE? Nah that doesn’t roll off the tongue.

In conclusion, I really liked how Teruko was handled in this Chapter due to how much of a cliffhanger the previous chapter left with her. This chapter did so much to knock her down for her high and mighty view and while she won’t be buddy-buddy come Chapter 3, I do believe that she will be more approachable to the cast. Teruko’s journey throughout this fanganronpa will be interesting to see and I see her opening up more about her past as she gets more comfortable with the cast.

Trust in Nature

Every Danganronpa game has two themes, no matter how you slice it. The first theme is the most obvious one and this is a theme that the protagonist and the mastermind have in common. For Trigger Happy Havoc its Hope vs. Despair, Goodbye Despair is Future vs. Past and Killing Harmony is Truth vs. Lies.

Some have said that it’s too early to call what the themes for Despair Time are, but I disagree as Chapter 2 imo is the ideal time to introduce your themes, and I think I’ve worked them out. The primary theme is one that doesn’t take much to deduce and others have caught onto it and that is Optimism vs. Cynicism. Teruko is a very cynical individual and doesn’t think she can trust others but more optimistic people disagree, saying being jaded makes you more open to being deceived. Eden and Charles, who are 100% the partners in this fanganronpa serving similar roles to Kaito and Maki in Killing Harmony where one represents the emotional connection and the other the logical one. Eden is always a bundle of sunshine and wanting everyone to be happy, but unlike someone like say Makoto, she isn’t oblivious to the fact the world is cruel but chooses to be kind regardless because its decent and it’s the most moral thing to do. Charles is more logical based and originally was quite cynical but having been shown kindness by Whit, he has opened up a bit more to some other people and while he definitely is a work in progress, he is more optimistic about surviving and escaping the Killing Game.

And this brings me to the Rival of the Fanganronpa; David. Bubbles didn’t like David surviving past Chapter 2, ignoring their own hatred for David aside because they didn’t think David contributed anything meaningful to the overall narrative of Despair Time. I disagree harshly as if I am right with the main themes of Despair Time, David is 100% a perfect Rival character as he represents those themes so well. The cynicism side is obvious as David believes that everyone is gonna die in the Killing Game and there is no point to continuing so might as well get it over and done with. This is why when David’s true nature was exposed, he tried to claim to be the killer, which is another typical rival tactic, so everyone votes for him and they all die. This very logic is why Teruko said she is not the culprit because as soon as David went on his tirade, it would have been an instant win condition for her. And as the game progresses more and more people are gonna want to live to prove David wrong and his mental sanity is probably gonna decline as a result until his Rival protection cause expires in Chapter 5 where he probably dies in a way to try and spite the cast. Going back to the Mastermind, I believe they think the Despair Time cast are all horrible people that deserve to die, whenever that be because they are Neo Remnants of Despair or something to do with Teruko, and as such use the Killing Game to kill them all. By the end of the fanganronpa, Teruko would have become more like a typical Danganronpa protagonist and be able to defy the mastermind wanting to kill her by showing the world is not a bleak place and people can change and improve.

That brings me nicely to the secondary themes. The primary themes are shared between the protagonist and the mastermind, whereas the secondary themes are shared between the group and the rival character. This take a bit more thinking to figure out but I think I’ve cracked what Despair Time’s secondary theme is. Trigger Happy Havoc’s is working together as a team as the class are trying to work together to survive the Killing Game while Byakuya is trying to play the Killing Game in order to “win” and isolates himself from the others. Goodbye Despair’s secondary theme is a deconstruction of the idea of talent as despite being Ultimates, Class 77-B doesn’t really care about their talents and support each other for their own individual characteristics and despite Hajime being revealed to be a Reserve Course Student, are extremely accepting of him. Nagito by contrast believes Hope’s Peak talented and talentless system is gospel, praises his fellow Ultimates for their talents which they do not want to be reminded by and is extremely cruel to Hajime when he finds out he is a talentless person who thinks he can mingle with his idea of the elite. Killing Harmony’s secondary theme is wanting to remain stagnant and compliant as the V3 Cast are very content to stick to the status quo and carry on with their lives, whereas Kokichi would rather shake things up and challenge said status quo. All of these secondary themes are very important to the story. And with that I believe Despair Time’s secondary theme is if humanity is inherently good or evil.

That seems very similar to Optimism vs. Cynicism but it isn’t. This theme tackles if humans are capable of changing their nature or if they are always either good or evil. From this it’s very easy to see where David lies, he believes humanity cannot change their nature, people are either saints or scum. If someone can “change themselves” it’s because they were never that bad to begin with, whereas truly evil people cannot change. And Teruko also seems to agree on this concept because whenever Eden says she is a good person, Teruko tells her to stop as by saying that, she makes her feel worse for the fact she can change but she hasn’t made the effort to do so. Teruko always believed she was scum and would die like scum if she cared about nobody around her.

Naturally this chapter has a few characters who challenge this rule big time. Let’s start with Levi, the guy has always seemed chill but we get to see more of a scary side to him when he threatens to kill Ace if he doesn’t stop being an arsehole. We also have an interesting opening discussion with him and Eden where Levi confesses that he doesn’t see himself as a good person, contrary to what Eden thinks. This all gets revealed in the Class Trial when Levi admits that he doesn’t possess empathy and therefore cannot care about anyone around him, the fact he’s killed 4 people, one of whom being his own father and yet he treats it with the same disinterest as one would swat a fly, is very telling.

Fans were quick to diagnose Levi with Antisocial Personality Disorder, and this is where DT Dev actually impressed me big time. This disorder is one of the most maligned within society, even more so in my opinion then those on the autistic spectrum. The reason being is simple, almost every single time a fictional character is revealed to have this disorder they are almost always a psychopathic villain who kills everyone around them and gives zero shits. To say how damaging this stereotype is unbelievable and Levi is frankly the most realistic portrayal of someone with this disorder. Yes, Levi doesn’t have empathy, or a very low level of it, but he still tries to be a good person not because of morals and emotions, but more so out of a sense of duty, especially as before Levi revealed it nobody suspected a thing due to Levi not behaving like the usual stereotypes. He isn’t very good at it because he's trying to figure out how to be a good person which isn’t easy when it’s not instinct. When Ace asked if he cared about him at all and Levi responded with flat no, while Ace screamed at Levi in his usual manner, it’s clear the jockey was hurt by this reveal as a small part of him wanted to consider Levi a friend.

So, for Levi to then shield Teruko with his body from the gatling gun, not only comes as a massive shock but I believe this is Levi’s attempts of trying to prove he is a good person. Chances are, he wasn’t happy with how he handled the situation with Ace and wanted to prove something to him, so that’s why he protected Teruko, not only because thinking about it, Levi was probably one of the few characters who could survive that, but to try and redeem himself from how he mishandled the situation with Ace. And the effects of this are very clear as Ace, who was trying to prolong his death as much as possible, upon realising the only way to save Levi is for him to die, demands MonoTV to execute him. If someone without a clear concept of empathy can be a good person, then isn’t that proof humans can change?

Arei is another character who also wants to believe she can change. After she decides to become a good person, the bowler saves Eden from being threatened by Arturo and then later that night confronts David about the fact she knows he’s full of shit. We heard some of this originally from Ace who overheard the conversation, but when David is thinking about what to say to Eden, we hear the other half where Arei says she’s glad David is horrible because it means there is no such thing as a pure good person. That even someone like Eden might have done something nasty and if he’s so deprived then there’s hope left for her. She even offers a hand of friendship to David because she thinks they are one and the same, and they can improve their behaviour together. The fact David remembers this means the conversation had a meaningful impact on him, even though he doesn’t show it. What Arei is showing is clear existentialism or optimistic nihilism. Nihilism which I’m sure 75% of people reading this believe in, is where you believe nothing in the world matters because it’s all meaningless. Optimistic nihilism by contrast is saying that yes nothing matters, but that’s okay because you have the power to decide what is most important. Arei clearly believes there is no such thing as a pure good person, but what she can be is a slightly less shitty person then she was before.

And finally, there’s Ace. Ace’s motive for killing Arei is the fact he is scared of death, and that if he didn’t kill someone, then he would be killed. His reason for targeting Arei was simply coincidence, his original target was Eden but upon learning of Arei’s desire to change, decided to exploit that to target her. Ace also demonstrates a level of intelligence we haven’t seen from him before given that he was able to memorise how Nico tried to kill him, replicate that method, overpower Arei with a method unique to him and since everyone thinks Ace is dumb, he was able to pull the wool over their eyes and he could have damn well gotten away with it, especially with David’s stunt making so many convinced he was the one who killed Arei. Goes to show that people are not as stupid as you think. He gets chewed out big time by Teruko who calls him a coward, his motive is dumb and that Arei didn’t deserve to die because of that. However, even when facing death there is still a chance for character development and that comes when Levi eats a rain of bullets. Not only does this change Ace’s opinion on Levi considering he hated his guts before, but he gives Arturo a well-deserved callout who claims he doesn’t know how to treat Levi’s wounds because of his mix-maxed medical skills, but Ace calls him a coward saying as a surgeon he should know the basics and apply that skill to save Levi’s life or at least keep him alive as he gets executed. And yes, despite being as scared as possible for his death, he accepts it as it’s the only way to save Levi as the lift doors won’t open until he is executed.

Onto Ace’s execution I was pleasantly surprised as I have seen somewhere on YouTube an Ultimate Jockey Execution where the horses are used to tear the victim up, and I would have complained MASSIVELY if Ace went down a similar route. But no, the execution is more tailored to Ace’s fear of death by him escaping horror scenario after horror scenario, no wonder Veronika was orgasming over it, until when facing an execution squad, they shoot confetti and Ace suffers a heart attack and dies from fear. This is actually a real way people can die as during the 1970s, there was a string of cases where Hmong refugees would die from heart attacks in their sleep despite being healthy and middle-aged. Doctors at the time concluded that they were suffering nightmares so bad it would cause heart attacks and kill them in their sleep, and if this sounds familiar to you, it should as it was one of the inspirations behind A Nightmare on Elm Street. There’s a reason you shouldn’t scare someone with heart problems and while Ace might not have any heart issues, he has been suffering a lot of stress which could have made his heart rate dodgy and then the execution delivered.

These themes are extremely heavy hitting and I’m glad Despair Time is covering them. I could be wrong about them but that’s my theory on what they are.

Murderer Among Us

And finally, my last big positive about Despair Time’s Chapter 2 is the fact we not only get an attempted murder, with the plot twist the would-be victim would later become the culprit but the fact that this attempt didn’t succeed means the would-be murderer walks among the cast still and they have to deal with the consequences.

I have wanted this since Killing Harmony when Monokuma offered the tantalising prospect that if there are two blackeneds, only the first murder counts. So, when Korekiyo confesses to killing Tenko, the cast cannot vote for him because if he didn’t kill Angie, they would have got it wrong. I REALLY wanted it to be that Tenko was Angie’s killer, my logic being that Angie invited Tenko to her Talent Lab for a chat which got into a heated debate about how Angie was brainwashing Himiko and Tenko, who is quite hot-headed and doesn’t always think straight, accidently killed Angie in the heat of the moment. She would then either cover up her crime or someone else like the Mastermind would make the locked room mystery which the cast discovered and when Kiyo announces he is gonna do a séance, Tenko grows worried as if the séance is a success, Angie would reveal the culprit so Tenko offered to become the vessel which led to her death. You could also argue that maybe she sensed Korekiyo was up to something and did it to protect Himiko. Either way that would make for an interesting Chapter 4 because tensions between Korekiyo and Himiko would be high, but of course Kodaka doesn’t do anything with that and as a result we end up with 4 deaths, and 2 ruined chapters.

No other fanganronpa tried anything like this as they were all not willing to commit so I thank Despair Time wholeheartedly for actually having the balls to do so. As Nico, being pushed to their limit by Ace’s tormenting of them, which is very similar to how they are ostracised for being non-binary, meant they tried to commit murder by hanging Ace on the fans, but they not only miscalculated the strength of the fans but Ace woke up from being knocked unconscious and struggled awake. Before Nico could try again, Teruko and Eden showed up, foiling any would be attempt. Not only did Nico try to commit murder, but they betrayed the trust of both Hu who was trying to protect them but also Rose as Nico stole Hu’s wire and Rose’s turpentine to use for their murder scheme. What’s interesting is they didn’t apologise because they not only were not sorry for trying to kill Ace but know an apology won’t cut it. J gave Nico a very harsh verdict that even though their attempt was foiled, the point is they still tried to commit murder and was willing to give up the lives of everyone here for their own, and betrayed the trust of those who reached out to them. Hu hasn’t had a very good time this chapter because two of her closest friends; David and Nico, turned out to be using her for their own schemes, and we see the consequences of her mother hen nature. I feel a major theme for Chapter 3 is gonna be forgiveness as both Nico and David have burnt a lot of bridges this chapter and the fact they still live, means they need to somehow get back into the good graces of the group. How they do this I don’t know; David probably would be fine being a pariah but I’m not sure if Nico is wanting to make amends. They might, but they might also think they went too far. I do hope that Nico tries, especially after they have seen that even people like Levi and Ace were willing to act selflessly. And who knows, maybe David might try but I think it would be a ruse, which will still work because this cast isn’t the brightest.

Does this mean Nico would be a survivor? I don’t know as I do believe between David and Nico, one will be a survivor and the other will die, probably as a victim but who I cannot tell as Chapter 3 would probably expand upon these two a bit more. Regardless I’m glad this is being touched upon and I for one am looking forward to see where it takes Nico.

And that’s all the positives I have to say about Chapter 2. Teruko had a good character arc, I like how we know the main themes, we know who presumably the partners and rival characters are, we have an attempted murderer walking among the cast, quite a few characters like Levi, Arei and Ace got moments to shine and the execution was well done. But it cannot be all sunshine and rainbows. As much as there is good, there is also bad so when we come back next time, I’m gonna talk about what didn’t go well for Chapter 2 and what DT Dev could do to improve things.

Until then, see ya! -Review Anon

[phantomthiefgaige]

What if Chihiro Fushimi Joined SEES (Part 2)

Had to rewatch the P3 ending to amp myself up to do this. Don’t mind the tears…or the river of em flowing through the post. That’s normal. Anyway. This part will be covering some misc stuff like School life, minor changes, and right up to the June full moon operation. With that being said. Lets get into it.

TW//Bullying

“SOTERIA!!!”

Soteria is Chihiro Fushimis persona. The goddess of safety and salvation, deliverance, and preservation from harm…funny that she will exactly USE harm to protect others from it.

While Soteria does learn spells like Tetrakarn and Makarakarn and some defensive increasing skills. That’s not all her Persona can do.

This persona is well known for its high magic stat, but more importantly…she’s the teams nuke button.

Her most upgraded move besides the Agi skill line is the Megi skill line. For those who don’t remember. Megi moves are pure almighty damage, a damage type that can’t be blocked.

Why did I decide to give the terrified nervous wreck a nuke? Cause I thought it would be funny. Don’t worry, it drains her magic fast so you can’t go spamming it. You’re gonna have to actually use her fire skills until much later on when she gets an sp cost reduction skill.

Soteria is best described appearance wise as a graceful looking woman with angelic wings yet in her hands are a giant shield and a crackling hand mixed with agi and megi effects. She’d have some unique patterns on her arms and would have her eyes covered by a flower crown.

Now enough about Chihiros Persona, lets see how this girl is with the rest of the teammates and what she does outside of battle.

Of course she’s still the student council treasurer so she’s in there with Mitsuru from time to time but really, it’s more of a “friendly business partners” relationship rather than a true genuine sisterly friendship for right now.

Now on the other end of things are her dorm-mates. Yukari is often really close with Chihiro. She talks to her quite often about her mangas and how club meetings go while Yukari just listens or at least tries to act engaged at the very least.

Yukari can be a bit protective of her but not often. Just helping at times when she gets too nervous around Akihiko. Other times though, despite Chihiros protests, she throws the girl to the wolves with one particular man to help her overcome her fears. That one man is…

Junpei….is…an interesting case with Chihiro. They both like manga and nerdy things at times so besides the male fear thing, you’d think they’d be the best of friends. Well, kinda. She’s too nervous right now to fully hang out with him and watches from a corner usually. Often wondering how he has so much time to slack on his studies when she’s seen his exam scores. She’d reprimand him if she had the courage to…

Yukari is definitely gonna help this girl slightly tolerate this man if it kills her.

Or at least have her join the “Stupei, Ace Defective” roasting club.

Both options work too.

Chihiro doesn’t have much to talk about with Akihiko. If Junpei was a bit much for her at this level, then a guy who talks about getting stronger and fighting with, to her, not much in common is gonna put her off a bit more…but then again, she seems fine with Hidetoshi so who knows? Maybe they’ll be better friends in the near future.

Insert Makoto Yukis/Door Doors social link here.

What? You thought I was gonna write something for Makoto now? It’s basically going the same as her SL. They’re friends and she likes being around him.

…

…

…

Okay fine, maybe I’m planning something but you’ll have to wait until later in the story. For now. They’re friends. Like…rank 4 at best.

In the overworld, Chihiro can often be seen staring at Bookworms, thinking of going in. Heck maybe even considering asking for a part time job, this girl surrounded by books would think it’s a dream job.

She can also be spotted around the mall, checking out the CD shops or wondering if maybe someday Makoto will take her into Club Escapade…but she’s gotta get her own courage in check so we’ll check in on this subplot later.

At night, there is a rare chance that you won’t be able to use the computer there because Chihiro’s on it.

She’s either gonna be studying or looking at this weird new webcomic. It’s apparently about a boy and his three friends playing a video game? You aren’t sure yet because all you see is a boy kissing his poster goodbye while his friend plays the violin. It’s weird but hey, nobody said she can’t have weird interests.

Now that the current dorm life is out of the way, lets get into the story this time.

A reason Yukari may be a bit protectivr if Chihiro is because she’s been hearing about this currently being bullied by three girls.

It’s really starting to piss her off actually. But she bites her tongue for right now.

Most of May and such plays out as normal but instead of the ghost hunting team being just you, Yukari and Junpei, this girl gets in on it too…she wishes she wasn’t because she didn’t know wether to be afraid of ghosts or Junpei in the dark, or confused by how laughable his missing girl story was.

Nevertheless she joins their investigation with some reluctance…mainly Yukari saying it’ll help her.

For once though when they decide to go to the sketchy alleys of Port Island Station at night, she’s siding with Junpei in possibly wanting to back out.

Dear lord the girl was not only not made for scared, but for seeing Junpei get headbutted by a terrifying guy while being harassed by others.

And then there’s Shinji…

Poor girl just about fainted when she saw him. He’s downright terrifying. He seems nice but the poor gi-oh…she passed out. Poor thing.

When she gets back to the dorm she’s out for the whole night, cuddling with a pillow from fear…yeah Yukari may need to apologize later to her for doing that.

Weirdly enough though, the fact she felt like she “survived” something like that feels a bit relieving in her. Like she CAN do scary stuff and will be braver…eventually. For now though. Fuukas case takes high priority.

Hearing this Fuuka girl was getting bullied by Natsuki was bad enough, learning she could be dead is slightly pissing her off…then she learns Mr. Ekoda hid this information from everyone…someone hold this girl back she’s gonna take her paper fan and jam it down his throat.

Thankfully she heard Mitsuru got to him but she’s still pissed. Who knew this sweetheart could have a tipping point that deep.

It doesn’t make her fear into a hatred thankfully, I mean…seeing Junpei get knocked down at the station made her feel scared sure but like she wanted to help and just felt powerless…maybe that’s why when he heard this girl was being bullied and her missing status was hidden was what caused her to lose her cool for a little.

Come the time to save them, she begs Makoto to please go with him to save Fuuka. She feels like she needs to meet this girl.

He doesn’t care

But she’s in the party with Aki and Junpei.

In retrospect, not a good idea for her but she’s holding back her fear to save this woman.

Authors realization: OH SHIT, I FORGOT HOW SHE FEELS ABOUT NATSUKI!!!!

So with Natsuki she feels, understandably, upset that she would bully this girl and locked her up. Though she does promise she’ll help find Fuuka.

Now back in Tartar Sauce, she’s slightly relieved yet worried to be split from the all guys party. When she finds Makoto though, she’s much calmer. When they find Fuuka though…dear lord this girl is so glad she’s alive.

Then she sees Mitsuru and Yukari are down for the count and hey, she can actually do damage to them…it’s weak damage though. If only there were some persona user who could read enemies weaknesses an- oh Fuuka did it.

The rest of the story here mainly plays out as normal.

Now with Fuuka on the team, how are she and Chihiro gonna get along?

Dear lordy, these two are like sisters. Scared, timid, shy, other similar words can best describe them to a T.

Fuuka looks up to Chihiro as her Senpai while Chihiro looks up to her as someone much smarter than her.

These two have a lot of study sessions together and it’s sort of the opposite of Yukari so far.

Instead of having Chihiro try and work past things asap, she’s more into having her take her time and do things at her own speed.

They even suggest starting a manga/book club too.

Fuuka isn’t fully into Mangas? Well by golly Fuuka will try for her new friends sake

And this is where we end for this part. Sorry it’s a bit sloppy and has so much run offs, it’s unorganized and all over the place. Okay a lot more work is needed but there was a lot to go over and I set my ambitions a bit high. I’ll try and organize things a bit better next time and make things more coherent.

Special thanks to my co-author @maze-of-my-design for the relationships list for this gal and helping with ideas for this series.

Hope you enjoyed reading it y’all.

[tobiasdrake]

At the end of the longest day ever, nothing left to do but return to the sub and-- Hang on, what's going on here?

What the fuck. Is this. Is it the same conversation that Real Yuma was having with this same customer earlier?

NO SHUT UP I NEED TO--

I mean. Yes, actually. I've had a tremendously long day and everything I cook is terrible, let's be real. I appreciate you and your offer. You didn't deserve to be snapped at like that. I apologize.

But HOLY SHIT are you seeing this?

DID WE LEAVE? WHY DID WE LEAVE? Real Yuma's playing a rerun of a conversation. WHAT THE FUCK.

Yuma, go back there and start throwing hands until you know if the people in that diner are real or not. Wait. No. Do not do that. That's, like, pizzagate levels of conspiracy mongering.

But. Do. Something. Hide around the corner and listen in again! Get proof! I can't believe we left.

So help me, if you start shipping I will push you over that balcony. Don't think I can't. You have the skeletal structure of meringue pie.

...actually, no, I've seen you fight off Peacekeepers like Halara does. You're inexplicably formidable. But I'll still give you a stern glare. Very stern. Like a furious pout. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry-pouting.

No, the cloud cover's still pouring down Forever Rains. That's why we need to obtain more truths until we find the one that makes this stop happening. Won't see a drop of sunlight until that all gets cleared up.

I'm so tired of having to shield my tacos KANAI WARD SIGNATURE MEAT BUNS from the endless downpour. Just once, I want to enjoy food in public without it getting immediately soggy.

That's an elaborate Vivia-Speak way of saying that sleeping helps you rebalance your emotions and process the events that have transpired to you. Your brain forms new neural pathways while you're sleeping based on the things it experienced during the day.

That's how learning new skills through practice works. You do the thing badly, then sleep and build neural pathways that allow your brain to do it better. Right now, Yuma's emotionally exhausted. But a good night's rest may help his brain come to grips with things and develop the pathways it needs to process these emotions and thoughts.

Trust Vivia to be the unparalleled expert in the effects of sleep on brain chemistry.

Oh shit, Vivia's got the letter Yomi sent to Yakou. Now we can find out exactly what kind of pressure Yomi placed. Whether it was coercive or merely provocative.

Uh. Vivia? Should we go inside to read this? I don't know if you've noticed but it is pouring today. Like every day. Paper and heavy rain don't mix well.

Provocative, then.

So this wasn't something that's been on his mind for years. He hasn't been investigating it; Yomi sent him a letter detailing the murder and Yakou leapt to his feet shrieking, "SON OF A BITCH."

This was an elaborate crime of passion, not a premeditated assassination. That's disappointing.

...okay, so it was still premeditated. Just. Not for as long as I thought. Mm. I suppose it makes sense. As I said before, I respect Yakou more as a murderer than I ever did as a detective. I can see how the skills he cultivated catching cheating spouses in the act might not have been sufficient for him to crack one of the biggest conspiracies in Kanai Ward by himself.

I think that's part of the reason for his excessive drinking. He wasn't just managing stress. He was using it to numb the grief from his freshly reopened wounds, and the terrible indecision over whether or not to go through with his murder plan.

I think Makoto knew exactly what he was doing. The man is a master manipulator. We were the ball in a game of power that Yomi and Makoto were playing with one another. That Makoto won said game doesn't mean he's the good guy here.

Oh shit, what does Number One want now? Can we not have five minutes to grieve the death of our leader?

[iunctura-arch]

P5 AU IDEAS BELOW

The group consists of Niwa Tatsuki, Fujioka Juzo, Suzuki Makoto, Wakamatsu Haruka, Tachibana Hibiki, Kazanari Tsubasa, Yukine Chris, Akatsuki Kirika and Tsukuyomi Shirabe

Instead of going by a group name, they all use the Niwa Ancestor's old thief name 'Dark', which is also Tatsuki's codename in the Metaverse.

Makoto is in charge of making the calling cards. Juzo tried once, his handwriting is awful. No one could figure it out so they had to do it again the next day. Makoto just took over bc of Juzo's horrible handwriting.

They meet up mainly at Makoto's place to plan their heists/hang out.

Their guide is Wiz. Because I said so. Little adorable bunny rabbit-looking mascot. "I am not a rabbit!" jokes ensue.

Tatsuki was the one who thought bringing a fake gun into the Metaverse would be funny. That's how they learned model guns work in the Metaverse.

Chris is banned from driving.

So is Tsubasa.

Literally only Juzo is allowed to drive.

[badpostureart]

Message in a Bottle (pt. 1)

For anon, who asked my thoughts about secondary characters in Free!

Without Gou working her magic in the background, none of the conflict of season one could have been resolved. She became the Iwatobi swim club’s manager (primarily) because she wanted to reunite her brother with his old friends and hoped that in doing so, he’d start smiling and opening up again. Despite having no sports background and never having put a training regimen together before, Gou improvised with the resources she could find and did the proper fieldwork. All this is to say that she took her managerial responsibilities seriously for Iwatobi’s sake as well as for Rin. She’s earnest and hardworking (albeit a wee bit too ambitious where muscles are concerned) and made a great coach despite her inexperience. She’s a great sister to Rin who she never stopped reaching out to even when he neglects to answer. I do really wish we got to learn what Gou’s secret plans for the future were though! How’re you just going to tease a secret and then not tell me?!

Kisumi serves an interesting function in the series because he doesn’t swim and yet he’s in the loop about what virtually everyone else is up to. He’s a bit of a smartass, often trying to get a rise out of Asahi (by making fun of him) and Haru (by being in the vicinity), but he’s a good guy as well as a reliable source of information. As something of an outsider, Kisumi has also said things I was thinking while watching the show in real-time. For example, in Dive to the Future when Makoto is to race Hiyori for the “right” to be Ikuya’s friend, Kisumi says, “Is there really a point to this? Isn’t it kinda childish to bet things in contests like this? I don’t get it.” Indeed, although Kisumi is right that it’s really fucking juvenile to race for the “right” to be someone’s friend, swimming is like its own language to these guys, so Makoto will learn something important about Hiyori if they compete—and frankly, so will we, so I’m glad Kisumi asked!

I wasn’t terribly fond of Sousuke at first because of his hostility towards Haru and his bad attitude more generally. Instead of using the word “reminiscing” when thinking about his childhood in season two, he says he’s recalling “phantoms of the past.” Like, you wanna lighten up a little there? Sheesh! You could almost see the dark cloud hanging over his head! And while I can totally understand wanting to protect his friend, it still isn’t his place to tell Haru to stay out of Rin’s way or to say having Rin participate in Iwatobi’s disqualifying relay in season one was “idiotic.” Over time, however, we see Sousuke soften up in his interactions with others. He comes to appreciate the value of swimming together instead of soloing and he spends a good deal of time mentoring his juniors. It was lovely to see his recovery over the course of the series and how he came to accept that although his timeline may look different than others, there’s nothing wrong with doing things at his own pace.

My first notes about Ai were that he was “an insecure first-year,” and that I didn’t know for sure what stroke he swam. He reminded me of a remora with the way he followed Rin around. Of course, I couldn’t help but feel bad for the poor kid because his encouragement fell on deaf ears and most of his attempts to reach out were dismissed—what with Rin often refusing to dignify him with any answers to his questions. It was good to see Ai gain confidence in himself over time though! Leadership looks good on him. I also appreciate that despite his ability to plan itineraries down to the minute, his living space is in a constant state of disarray. (Though, I still can’t fathom what would compel a person to bring their umbilical cord with them to boarding school…or anywhere for that matter!) He’s a bit of a disaster, and maybe a bit too earnest for his own good, but he’s a nice kid through and through.

Momo is a joy. He may not be the smartest and may not have much of an attention span, but his enthusiasm is unmatched. The kid scores a 7 on a test and instead of thinking anything remotely negative or self-deprecating, he instead believes the number is a sign of good luck. What a joyful way to move about the world! He’s equally unapologetic about the things he likes (which include but are not limited to stag beetles, capibaras, Gou, hot springs, and Dangerous Ookuchin Hosoeson-kun, among other things), and remains a good sport in the face of defeat. I don’t think there’s a negative bone in his body. He’s “joie de vivre” incarnate!  

Much like his little brother, Seijuuro is boisterous and kind of dumb, but he has a heart of gold. Initially, he maintained a pretty cutthroat swimming culture at Samezuka, saying that “the past doesn’t matter. Performance is what counts here. The fastest swimmer wins. That’s all there is to it.” But by the time he enters university, he says instead that “there are many ways to get stronger! Past teammates and friendships can contribute to your strength in the present. There are lots of things that are important besides just practising.” For a meathead, he can be awfully wise, huh? He also doesn’t use a swim cap at all for some reason…but to be fair, most (if not all) of the other characters that do use one wear the damn thing incorrectly anyway. And I’m sure it’s to help us at home distinguish who’s who more easily, but that’s why you give them all different jammers and goggles tinted in different colours!

Isuzu is undoubtedly the coolest of her siblings, though I would have liked to see more of her to get to know her better! She compliments Haru on his triceps the first time they meet, which were what Gou had described as his charm point in high school—meaning that Isuzu and Gou are something of muscle-fanatic soulmates. The two of them proceed to induct Ayumu into the muscle cult and I’m frankly left sitting here waiting for my invite! Sure, I can’t confidently identify biceps from triceps or quadriceps from…hamstrings(?), but I promise I have the spirit!  

Nao is refreshingly no-nonsense and calls it as he sees it. Wise beyond his years, Nao’s advice is always astute and pertinent. He’s someone I’d look up to if I ever got to meet him. I just think he’s really cool! His adeptness at observation made him a hell of a coach even back in middle school and he’s only gotten better at it as he’s gotten older. And maybe I’m a wee bit biased because he’s said some of the things I’d like to say to other characters, but that’s neither here nor there.

Asahi is another goofball. He likes to show off and talk about how great he is, he’s highly reactive, and also an idiot. It’s quite easy to get under his skin and get him riled up if he feels like he’s being made fun of, hence his need to boast. His plight in Starting Days was one of the most baffling in the entire series: he “forgot” how to swim the front crawl. I’m not sure that’s something a person can forget to do, but that’s probably because it wasn’t that he actually forgot, he just lacked the courage to try out of a fear of looking silly/not being the best. Frankly, that’s something a lot of people can relate to, me included! His willingness to look inward (instead of continuing to blame Haru) is perhaps what I appreciate the most about Asahi. He took accountability and was able to grow as a character. It was also really sweet to see that as a young adult, he still says positive words of affirmation to himself in the mirror! While it may feel silly, it’s important to treat oneself with kindness regardless of if one feels they’re actually the best or not!

Mikhail, while a bit out of the loop concerning whatever’s cool with the youth these days, is a delight. He gives helpful advice (saying cute things like “having a lot of baggage is what makes life richer! [Even if] sometimes that baggage weighs you down too,”) and understands that sometimes what a person needs isn’t to be told what they did wrong and could instead benefit from some time to hurt. Meanwhile, Ryuuji tears into Rin and Ikuya’s performances at Sydney’s prelims to Haru—deliberately singling out the people he knows are important to him even though they swim different strokes—dismisses hard work that doesn’t yield the desired results, and then he sends Haru to bed saying, “all that matters is how you do in free tomorrow.” I’m not even supposed to be talking about Ryuuji yet and here I am getting pissed off at him in advance! Mikhail, in contrast, is kind in that he gives Rin the space to figure things out for himself while offering his support in the meantime. I also find it incredibly amusing to imagine Ai and Mikhail corresponding back and forth about how well-built Rin is—they couldn’t not have, right?

[team-mavericks]

A pre-recorded message, history of Gatz (Also a Headcanon post)

"Can't believe I'm actually doing this, but here we go. Hey there, Mavericks. If you're seeing this video, that means I didn't do the monthly check ups preventing this from going live. That means I either went home... Or more likely, I died. There are things about myself that you deserve to know about me, so I'll tell you everything here in this video. Here's hoping I didn't just fall into a coma and outing myself for no reason. First things first... I... Am a faller."

"When I first fell, all I wanted to do was go home to my fiance. Once I got the hang of moving my body without feeling what I was doing, and figuring out how to talk without biting my tongue, I looked for any path that might lead me home. I joined Galactic thinking I could use their mission to create a new world to hop scotch over to one that already exists. I was naive, it doesn't work that way, but I wanted to believe. But when I learned what Cyrus was really after, I jumped ship. When I learned about the consequences, about the distortion world, I felt regret and fear. A teachable moment to be sure. I ended up faking my death by killing the me that existed here, and went by a new name. Gatz."

"You heard that right. You didn't start the Mavericks. I did. I did a search for ambitious youngsters that might spearhead my mission, and that's when I found Jet. I was the one who gave Jet's family two tickets to Johto, on an exact path to a lone son of a motorcycle dealer. Finding out his cousin Morgan was actually a bit of a smart cookie and how close y'all were, I knew Jet would take her. It was a gamble, but it payed off. When that worked, I quit Team Plazma and started planting seeds that would lead the newly formed Mavericks to a place that benefited me."

"Then I went to Unova, found myself face to face with Plazma. I initially thought they had a good cause, so I figured I could at least join them and have a job. After finding out what Ghetsis really wanted... I didn't care. I had a job that payed well. I worked under Colress anyway. It was a great opportunity for me to better myself in the name of science. I actually learned the skills to investigate people on a high scale, I could be a P.I. if I really wanted to. Given my history in Sinnoh, I vowed to never look into 3 things. The young hero who went into the distortion world, the family of the me I killed, and this world's version of my fiance."

"It wasn't until I was surprised by strange Pokemon jumping out of wormholes that I realized I had a time limit of safety. It was like they could smell me or something. I eventually made a device that alerts me to sudden changes in the atmosphere so I can leave when I needed to deal with a customer. After that, I learned there were ties to Alola that might bring me home, but I couldn't do much about it. I had no idea what I was doing, and no idea who I could trust other than myself. When I discovered Gil's research into DNA and Artificial Intelligence links, I realized it would be beneficial to find a way into his circle and build an A.I. of myself to help guide me home. That's when the Maverick Initiative started. Of course, I didn't call it that. I called it Operation Ramène-moi à la Maison. I renamed it because Rin had the right idea, Maverick sounds way cooler."

"I didn't plan on Makoto. All things considered, I'm glad it worked out. Michael was a must, though. The team needed more strength, and Michael needed to find something to prove. Haku wasn't part of the plan, but he did take a load off my shoulders and another friendly face meant we were ready for Gil. Gil, if you succeeded and I stole your research for myself, please know that I am genuinely sorry. You were the reason I started this rollercoaster mission. Tamako kinda fell into it, I can only hope she enjoys the ride. I also hope by the time this video is released that we manage to find a way to send her home if she wants it. The only ones that know more about me than the rest are Haku and Valerie. Haku being a great and much needed therapist, and Valerie... I'll let her explain why she knows me on her own."

"It wasn't a coincidence that y'all found me in Kalos. That's where I am from in my reality. It was time for me to join the team physically, and I wanted to give you at least one truth to work with. But there is another truth that I desperately need y'all to know."

"I do, genuinely, love you guys. I've lost the desire to go home in favor of you. You're like a family to me. You can forgive me or resent me, it won't change anything I have said."

"Jet. You have the power to change hearts, to strengthen bonds, to bring out the best in others. You are exactly the kind of man you need to be, but don't hold yourself back. You are destined for greatness and a good life. Make sure you protect and cherish that. You can, no, you will be the best. Like no one ever will be again."

"Unless Sofia ends up replacing you as leader some day. Then it's her. She's got the pieces to get there, don't fall behind!"

"It's been a fun ride. Thank you for letting me be a part of it. This is Vedastus St. Clair, signing off. Goodbye."

-End of Playback-

[smol-tired-binch-blog]

Smol, Ask Game - Yakuza I'm curious

So. Full disclosure. I've only played Kiwami and 0, and am like...most of the way through Kiwami 2? So any knowledge I have of the rest of the franchise is via Tumblr and reading Majima's Wiki page (that's how I got here) So do bear with me lol.

3 male characters I love: To the shock of no one, Goro Majima. RGG really just made The Best Fictional Character Ever and just use him less and less huh I KNOW a lot of the characterisation came LONG after the first 6 games but IT STILL STANDS. Also also, Akira Nishikiyama. I know I've been more stuck on him recently but he's shoved his way to the front of my brain, but I still love Majima. They are both my boyfriends <3. Now hmmm, who gets the third spot....I know he was around for MUCH less time than I thought he would be, but I'm gonna say Homare Nishitani. He's a fucked up horny freak, he's just ACTUALLY a mad bastard and he loves it and I love him for it. I genuinely wish we got to fight him more it also makes fic more difficult cause I'm like 'wait when can he show up how does Sunshine fit in WHAT IS THE TIMELI-'. He's great, even though that first fight was very fucking bitchy.

3 female characters I love: Bold of you to assume there's more than 3 characters for me to pick from. Nah but uhhhh, can we count Yuko Nishikiyama when all my love for her is basically based on my own personal headcanons and interpretations? Let's call her a bonus option. Obviously Makoto Makimura, like I don't think I need to explain that do I? I think I also have to go withhhh.... Hibiki-chan and Yuki-chan. The fucking LORE IMPLICATIONS of Goromi's dress being a custom-made pink-snakeskin version of Hibiki's outfit?? And she was probably one of the most in love with him, idk she's just very sweet I love her. And Yuki is so cringefail but she thinks she's girlboss, I love that. Honestly I love all the Sunshine girls, more importantly I love the 'spares', yknow, the Golds and Silvers and Bronzes but I've mentioned that before, I should give them their own post.

3 romantic ships I love: Good morning Majimako nation :) It's a ship that brings me nothing but pain in canon and I love them so much, so thank God for fic writers vbhjnbhjn. I say canon brings me pain but they're just so cute and they understand each other's pain in a way others can't and it's like...all Majima had to do was give her closure, yknow? There's such a tragedy to it but I love them all the same. Also shoutout to the 7 other Majinishiki shippers out there. Yes I just put my two favourite beautiful men together. But the more I think about it the more I'm like "oh but this could be SO GOOD" cause they're both assholes and would both dislike each other and reckon they're polar opposites, which they appear to be on the surface, but they're more similar than they think and the idea of them learning that and being like "oh wait a minute....oh hang on...". They could be fun and funny and beautiful and hot so yeah, I've gotten real into it lol. Now....you know, I could pick the obvious, but it's time to push another agenda: Majima x Dolly. Yep. As in Doll Girl's mum. Look her kid has already decided he's her new dad, why not make it official? I just think Dolly is super cute, she's one of my favourite girls, and idk man it's really cute even though 0 content exists gvbhnjbhjn

3 platonic dynamics I love: Yuki and Majima's sibling bond means the world to me. Two cringefail weirdgirls who take turns being weird. Like one does something weird/stupid and the other is like "bro what the fuck is wrong with you" but then they switch and it's a constant bickering back and forth but you can tell it comes from a place of affection, and at the end of the day they do have each other's backs. Speaking of siblings, Nishiki and Kiryu. Yeah took my time bringing up the fuckin' protagonist didn't I? For all my Complicated Feelings towards Kiryu, his brotherly connection to Nishiki is clearer in 0 than it is in Kiwami, but when it's there it's there, man. These boys have each other's backs, they're the closest family they have, and seeing it fractured so tragically is heartbreaking. I wish they had more Heat Actions but the one they do have is delightful. OH, sorry, I had to take a minute irl to think of another platonic dynamic and I remembered: Kiryu and Rina. Yeah, the lesbian hostess from Kiwami who got the job to look at cute girls! The one who told Kiryu he can be wooed by men if he wants and he told her to not judge girls on such a binary femme/butch scale (well, 'cute/not cute'). I loved going to chat with her, they're really sweet and fun. Genuinely quite heartfelt conversations and I'm surprised how like...idk, progressive their chats are? It's sweet.

3 favorite moments in canon: This is actually very tricky to me, I've never really thought about ranking moments. Like, the games are a matter of 'vibing vibing vibing do some substories that give us some fun Kiryu characterisation do some plot I don't understand or particularly care for HOLY SHIT SUDDENLY IT'S REALLY GOOD AND THERE'S SOME GOOD CHARACTER/REALLY FUCKING COOL ACTION SCENES vibing vibing vibing' In no particular order:

The bit where Nishiki fuckin shanks Matsushige. I KNOW his psyche is shattering before our very eyes, I KNOW it's him well and truly crossing the line but like....Goddamn. I cannot have stated multiple times I find it to be his pinnacle of beauty and NOT include it, surely.

The entire Goromi interaction. What starts as a joke quickly just becomes a very heartfelt, honest chat between the two characters, and gives us a very welcome insight into Majima and what she's like when she's not wearing the Mad Dog mask. The cowards should give us a Goromi dating game.

Oh it's GOTTA be Majima's introduction, right? I feel like I can't be a Majima or Yakuza fan and not mention his intro in 0. Just the shot of those iconic shoes, seeing how he handles the whole customer conflict and faces it with such humility and grace and showmanship ALL WHILST HATING IT???? BUT MAINTAINING THAT COMPOSURE AND HAVING FUN FUCKING WITH HIM WHERE HE CAN???? Holy hell. Does the bit where he learns Essence of Blade Biting count tho because that's a favourite for a DIFFERENT reas-. (But also his intro in Kiwami was my actual introduction to him and I fell in love with him then so *shrugs*)

3 favorite headcanons: How to narrow it down to just 3? Hmmm. Actually now I think about it suddenly Every Headcanon I've Heard Has Vanished gvbhnjmbhjn. I'm not very good at making my own or ranking them so uhhhhh. Okay okay:

Trans man Kiryu is canon in my head. Idk man it just feels right.

OH I REMEMBER!! So I don't give a FUCK what canon says, too many people tower over Kiryu for him to be 6 foot. So my actual height headcanons are that Nishiki is 5' 8" (good height) and Kiryu is 5' 10", whereas Majima gets to remain his full 6' 1" glory, however, he slouches a fair amount so people sometimes people forget how fucking tall he is, so when he straightens to his full height people are like oh FUCK. These heights also mean that Nishiki, Who Is Not Short, looks quite small compared to the two men lmao

Sure he's willing to hide in empty trashcans, giant traffic cones and potholes to get the jump on his Kiryu-chan, but Majima actually can't stand being dirty. (1 year of constant torture probably does that to you) He has about 10 different products in his bathroom, a very thorough and regular hair-and-skincare routine. Probably has a floral or citrussy undertone hiding under the smell of smoke, sweat and blood he usually has.

3 least favorite things about it: *sighs*. Okay: 1. Its treatment of female characters. See Exhibit A) Yuko. As we introduce more female characters I fear it'll only get worse. And the thing is, I quite like the women we get!! They just Keep Being The Same!!! Like can I have something beyond Hostess/Bar Employee Who Is Nice To Kiryu and preferably DOESN'T die with little fanfare or just get written out? Makoto probably got out of this the best but even then, not really imo?? She still had her agency taken from her in that last choice. Idk man that's the crux of it ain't it, these women having little agency beyond how to serve the men in the story.

2. I Do Not Care For These Main Plots. By that I mean I am FAR less interested in these bits of political intrigue/conspiracy and plot twists about who works for who because I simply forget who half of these cunts are and I don't actually care. I care about the relationships between the characters, which granted is a more personal taste, but it always feels like....they have something there, and they kinda know it? But not enough to give it the rich and in-depth exploration it deserves because it'd rather throw a twist my way that someone's actually Korean or something about Jingu. (NO SERIOUSLY WHO THE FUCK IS JINGU WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN KIWAMI?!?!?) It leads to Substory Kiryu and Main Story Kiryu being two different men in my head, and I much prefer one over the other

3. Kinda related to the treatment of female characters but like. The softcores. The telephone club minigame. The catfight club. MesuKing. Please stop. They're not sexy, they're not fun, they're just really uncomfortable. It doesn't help that the girl in the background for telephone club game is the fucking same but with a different bikini colour like would it KILL yall to get some body diversity?? Actually if you did that the joke would be she's fat and ugly hahahahaha so funny I loooove this I'm Having Fun Playing the game alongside bae and/or bestie honestly makes it more uncomfy, but watching softcores on my own for the sake of a substory somehow feels sadder. We started fuckin' reviewing them lmaooooo like "Okay THAT'S a pretty tasteful and sexy pose, I'll use that for ref. And now I don't know what she's doing. Please stop looking at me like that" etc etc. Basically anytime the game tries to offer me a 'sexy surprise' or a minigame with tits in it I'm just very uncomfortable. I visited that catfight club ONCE for the uh. Wait which Billionaire was it? GAMBLING KING!! Yeah him and then I never went back because why the hell would I, this is MesuKing But Even Worse. So yeah. Please stop. (I feel like they won't)

That was very long and rambly and probably more in-depth than ya wanted/expected, I'm sure others just write their faves and leave it at that lol. Despite my little experience with the franchise overall and my many issues and criticisms, I do actually quite like this franchise so far. By that I mean my brain has decided to adore Two Characters so I have a feeling I know what games will be my faves overall lol.

HOWEVER I'm actually really looking forward to playing 3 because it's got Mine in it and I've heard it's good, 4 gives us my boy Saejima who I'm excited to learn more about (and Akiyama?? I think?? Idk I'm pretty sure he sings Baka Mitai in 5 aka The Best Version of The Song). 5 introduces us to a Ms Mirei Park and BEFORE YOU ALL START: I'm reeeeally looking forward to making my own judgement because she's SO divisive as a character I cannot help but be fascinated. Ooh same with Yasuko in 4. I think I'm gonna like her, but I might not. Who knows?

And of course from the Entire Hour we played of 7 I already love Ichiban and I think he's gonna be my best friend ever, what a cutie. I'll even sit through turn-based combat for his sake (I KNOW SOME OF YALL LIKE IT AND I'M HAPPY FOR YOU I'VE JUST NEVER BEEN INTO JRPGS THE CLOSEST I'VE GOTTEN WAS POKEMON MOON WHICH I NEVER FINSIHED BUT THAT'S A STORY FOR ANOTHER TIME)

Anyway uh. Hope yall enjoyed my ramblings lol

[boypussydilf]

not strictly a question about akechi but i did realize about 2 days ago that persona 5 and persona 5 royal might be different video games with different stories. i thought p5r was just like, a remaster. woes of learning through osmosis and never googling a single thing about persona

WELL THE THING ABOUT THAT IS. IT IS BUT ALSO IT IS NOT. 85% of persona 5 royal is just. Remastered Persona 5. the same stuff but with a handful of like. gameplay changes and new scenes. but with the original ending Changed a little, in order to segue into 30 hours of New Story after the original end. it’s like. a remaster with a significantly shorter sequel tacked on. (Now Persona 5 Strikers, THAT’S an actual completely different game!)

going on a tangent now because this made me think of it. i have. such mixed feelings on how they did p5r. it’s like… why not just make the new story an actual sequel? but then, in concept at least, i LIKE sumi being someone you know and interact with throughout the year, i just wish she was better integrated, not to mention that royal’s third semester plot….. would be weird as fuck if you didn’t Know Maruki through the year? PLUS royal’s completely overhauled akechi confidant is. God. what were we even doing before the royal akechi confidant. It’s SO good and SO important and does a WAAAY better job of what they were trying to do with his character than the original game does. But like…….. the fact that they introduce this new stuff and then leave all of the original story Untouched just makes things. Very Weird sometimes. it feels natural for sumi to come along for shido’s palace but she can’t because The Existing Plot Doesn’t Allow It. also just dumb silly stuff like how funny it feels for the phantom thieves to make makoto their method of communication with akechi bc hes work acquaintances with her sister even in a timeline where. akira has his phone number. they have been hanging out. for months. Uhh anyway I guess I just wish royal had been allowed to fiddle around with the original story, rearrange and rewrite it a bit to make it more cohesive? P5R’s new content, like all of P5, just….. shows incredible amounts of promise, and gets, like, 92% of the way to being excellent, and then when you’re least expecting it trips and fumbles and just spills shit everywhere, absolute mess, complete failure, it’s gonna take us weeks to clean this up, what the hell.

Anyway yeah p5r is a remaster. And yeah it has a different story. It’s just that it’s like a quarter the length of the original story and added to the end of it <3

[bengiyo]

Don't Care for an Old Man's Underwear Ep 9 Stray Thoughts

This watch made possible by @isaksbestpillow.

Last time, Mika recognized that Kakeru felt bad about how he snapped at them and opened up to his dad after talking to Daichi. As a result, she sent Makoto with Kakeru to the local festival with Daichi, and they all managed to make huge progress. Madoka followed them because he thought Daichi was seeing Kakeru, but Makoto cleared that up and the two gays are back together properly. Kakeru and Makoto understand each other better, and got to have a great moment where Makoto taught him how to use a pop gun to win a cute prize. Also, Makoto confronted his senior properly, and urged him to update after they solved a big problem.

I'm with Hasegawa on wanting to resolve the core issue that Kakeru hates the baseball team players.

I kinda wanna see what Furuike taking over for Shimura looks like now.

I'm glad the boys listened to Kakeru and tried to receive what he was giving them.

DON'T MIND 👍

I do feel a little for Furuike and am happy that he's trying. I'm glad Makoto started to change before he reached that age.

Oh shit! Is Moe family??

Look how far we've come. Moe is trusting Makoto with a big emotional ask. He didn't flub it, and was even able to offer praise!

The sign is coming down!!

I love these boys coming back a few days later after reflecting on what Kakeru said to share what they've learned. That's one of the kindest things one can do.

These girls walked in ready to fight these boys for Kakeru, and I fucks with that for real.

So much for that ship! Ookubo is already seeing someone.

DON'T MIND 👍

Not surprised that Madoka was an athlete at all.

He's holding Daichi's hand in public!!

I continue to love Daichi more than any other man we've met in these shows in a long time. I just love the way he cut through the bullshit and asserted that neither of them was giving up on building a future they want together.

I'm so ready to see Makoto at a concert!

Kakeru and Moe teasing Makoto about going on a date with Mika is such a lovely reward for all the effort everyone has put in.

I love Mika teasing Makoto for walking in the side of traffic after copying Daichi.

Wow @lurkingshan wasn't kidding. It does look like Kakeru is gonna fuck that bear.

I do love the siblings checking on each other.

I'm getting so emotional about Mika's explanation of how RANDOM gave her an outlet for something to be passionate about when she was in a dark place and feeling alone. It was so important to remind ourselves how Makoto used to be, and I'm glad he reflected on what role he played in that, and is able to thank the band for helping his wife and partner.

I'm really glad we've seen two shows this year that have women in the 40s and even 60s loving and enjoying boy bands.

I adore Makoto. Of course his bias would be Kanata, the one helping the others.

I'm so glad Mika has fandom friends her age to hang out with after a concert. I'm going to be thinking about how Mika described Makoto growing into someone unlikeable.

He did research! Look how happy she is!

Kakeru is such a little brother.

This family is fun again, and can let Makoto do dad things. They can trick him into a treat, and then Makoto gets to do fun dad things now like limit them to one parfait to share!

I am undone. Madoka recognized Daichi's backdoor proposal earlier, and seeing Daichi yearn for what the Okita family has pushed him to propose directly. I'm so happy for Daichi, and I'm so happy for the Okita family that they could be part of that moment after everything we've been through. Makoto didn't say anything this time and only applauded at the end. I know that parfait tasted great that night.

I'm so happy for Mihoko, too. You know she has worried so much about Daichi, and is thrilled by this engagement.

Oh boy, Daichi's dad is coming back next week.

I love love love how so much of this is about how there's always enough love to give. The end of the date was an opportunity for some out of house family time, and of course Daichi and his partner are welcome. And it's that yearning for that which pushed Madoka over the edge. I love that the Okita family got to be part of that moment. So much of this episode was just constant payoff for all the work everyone has put in. Kakeru has a place for himself at school. Makoto has the respect of his team. The kids like their dad again. Mika likes her husband again. We are a team now. We can face whatever comes next in these final two episodes.

[karlachgale95]

Hearts of the Multiverse-Chapter Four: The Ghost of You

               “But Amity would love one!”

              Luz held up an orange kitten to Rei’s face. Rei, unimpressed, shook her head. “I’m not risking Phobos and Deimos’ safety to adopt a cat.”

              “But what if we got two cats?” Luz suggested. “They’d be so busy hanging out with each other, they wouldn’t even bother your birds!”

              “Cats are a lot of work, and you’ve already got Stringbean,” Rei said pointedly.

              The girl, Miharu, who had been taking care of a bunch of stray cats giggled at their interaction. Miles wasn’t overly fond of cats, especially since that one furball spit web in his face. But it’s not like he actively hated them, either.

              Today, he, Giorno, Luz, Hunter, Arven, Zuko, Sokka, and Katara had decided to come check out this place Usagi had hyped up. They had originally thought she’d found some way to fix her brooch, but no. It was cats, because of course it was cats.

              “They are pretty cute,” Hunter said, gently scratching one of the cat’s chins.

              “I doubt Mabostiff would get along with them, either,” Arven spoke up.

              “Oddly enough, they’re making me thinking about Appa and Momo,” Sokka added in.

              “Oh? Who are they?” Giorno asked.

              Before Zuko could cut him off, Sokka said, “Our—well—our friend’s flying air bison and flying lemur-bat.”

              “Every animal in your world is a combination of two things here,” Giorno noted. He gave them, what Miles thought might be an attempt at a friendly smile. “Neat.”

              Sokka looked creeped out, Zuko still looked very guarded, and Katara smiled back politely, but was probably in the same boat as her brother. Miles leaned over to Giorno, “Dude, you’re really bad at socializing.”

              “I have people for that,” Giorno whispered back. “I’ve never been very good with small talk.”

              “Just…chill. Look at me. Do you see me sweating? Nah. You just gotta loosen up. Don’t take casual convos so seriously.”

              Giorno nodded. “Sure.”

              “Ami,” Katara said, out of earshot of Miharu. “I’ve heard you’re also a water-bender. It’s always nice to meet another water-bender, especially another girl!”

              Ami smiled shyly. “I was surprised there was someone else like me out there, too. But I’m glad we’ve had this opportunity to meet. Zuko said you’re extremely powerful and smart.”

              “Aw! Isn’t that sweet, didn’t know Zuko could be the gushy type.”

              “I was stating a fact,” Zuko said sternly.

              “Well, whatever the case may be,” Ami said. “I hope we can be good friends and perhaps learn from each other.”

              “Definitely!” Katara agreed.

              “I can’t believe the people who can control lightning in your world do such terrible things with it,” Makoto said, sidling beside Ami.

              “Luckily there are ways of combating it,” Zuko said. “My uncle taught me how to redirect lightning; he learned it by watching waterbenders.”

              “A way to repel lightning via water techniques,” Ami smiled. “That’s ingenious. Could you teach us this method?”

              “Maybe, if we have time,” Zuko said. “But we need to focus on getting rid of those monsters and getting home.”

              “Fair enough,” Makoto said. “I wonder what those creeps are after, anyways.”

              “We won’t know until we go after them,” Giorno said.

              Arven shook his head. “I’m still not sure that’s such a great idea. What if we go out there to look for them and one of us gets hurt or something?”

              “And if we don’t go out there, a lot of other people are going to get hurt,” Giorno pointed out. “Inaction is as good as rolling over and letting them screw you over, so yeah, we might get hurt, but that’s going to have to be something we’ll need to be prepared to do.”

              It was silent for a moment before Sokka spoke up, “Kind of kills the good mood, but I guess that’s a good point.”

              Miles was about to say something to the effect of, “But we’ll look out for each other,” when something small bumped into his sneakers. He glanced down and saw a small creature that resembled a cherry. It looked up at him and smiled. “Cher!”

              “Hey, Arven, is this little guy yours?” Miles asked, picking up the small guy as carefully as possible.

              Arven shook his head but smiled at the pokemon. “No, but he’s a cutie! Where’d you come from, little guy?”

              Heels clicked against the concrete path leading up to the house. “I’m sorry, I’m afraid he got away from me.”

              A quick glance startled Miles. The first thing he saw was very red hair, but he realized soon, it was another boy in a green school uniform and brown flats. Another boy followed closely behind him. His hair was platinum blonde and weirdly layered and trimmed, as if he’d done it himself. He also wore a black hoodie, pants, and shoes.

              “That’s alright!” Arven said, handing the cherry-mon back to the red-haired boy. “What’s his name?”

              “Sting. I really enjoy the Police,” the red-haired boy said (I don’t know if they cover that in the anime, but they do in the manga). “And you are?”

              “He’s Arven, the son of Professor Turo and Sada,” the blonde-haired boy said. “We’ve met before.”

              “Yeah,” Arven nodded. “It’s been a while. How are you?”

              “Better than I was. And you?”

              “Relatively the same. I made a few friends.”

              “I made a few not enemies,” Gladion said with somewhat of a smirk. “Good to hear.”

              “And you?” Miles asked the red-haired boy.

              “Kakyoin Noriaki,” the other replied. “And you?”

              “I’m Miles Morales.”

              “I’m Luz Noceda! This is my brother, Hunter.”

              “I’m the cool one, Sokka. And the guy with the scowl is Zuko,” Sokka said.

              “Hino Rei.”

              “Mizuno Ami.”

              “Kino Makoto. Your Pokémon is adorable! I love him! I wonder if I can get one like him?”

              “Well, this little guy just started following me one day. Led me to Gladion and the rest of our group, actually.” Kakyoin peered over Miles shoulder. For a split second, Miles thought he saw the red-haired boy’s mouth hang open in a sort of shock. But he quickly regained his composure. “And who are you?”

              Giorno peered up, not much interest in the conversation. “Sono Giorno Giovanna.”

              “Ah. I see.”

              That was weird. Not a way you’d usually greet someone. True, they’d had their suspicions about Giorno, but why did this guy, off a first glance? Why the interest?

              “So, uh,” Miles began.

              “Just call me Kakyoin—for now. We’re not very familiar with each other, Morales.”

              Being called by his last name was an ick. Miles was Miles. But proper was proper, right?

              “Alright, Kakyoin, you said you had other people with you?”

              Kakyoin nodded. “Yes. They’re all probably out looking for their own friends. One of the people I knew from…before is. He’s with us. Though, he’s probably gotten lost.”

              “Cool! Maybe we can help you guys out,” Hunter suggested.

              “Maybe,” Kakyoin spoke nonchalantly.

              Gladion dug something out of his pocket and handed it to Arven. “Here. It’s an updated Pokenav. It will display an image and location of the callers—slightly. It can probably show you the trees and buildings surrounding you. One of our members updated Mr. Stone’s tech to do that.”

              “Must be pretty smart and tech-savvy. Penny is like that. I’m no good with technology.”

              “Oh? Then let one of your tech-savvy friends handle the communicator,” Gladion suggested with a bemused look.

              “I’m not THAT bad with tech,” Arven argued.

              “In any case,” Kakyoin said. “We’ll see you around. I’m sure.”

              “Right,” Zuko said a weary look on his face. Miles was beginning to wonder if he trusted anyone. Then again, he was one to talk.

              “Make sure you and your friends watch out for those monsters!” Luz said. “They attacked us the other day.”

              “And they’re still looking for one of us,” Hunter said glumly.

              Gladion folded his arms. “They’ve been giving you trouble?”

              Arven nodded. “Yeah.”

              Gladion clutched his fist. “I need to find my sister, then. The quicker the better.”

              “You’ve got a sister?”

              “Yes. Lillie.”

              “Wait,” Miles said. He turned to Arven. “Did you really not know this dude had a sister?”

              It was obvious in hindsight. Their Lillie looked a LOT like Gladion.

              “We’ve only met once,” Gladion said. “It’s not like we’re best friends or anything.”

              “I think what Miles is chastising me for is that we actually have Lillie with us,” Arven said, rubbing the back of his head. “Uh, sorry about that. I didn’t know.”

              “You do?” Gladion asked. “Well, then, we’ll definitely come to visit you soon.”

              “Just visit the Hikawa Shrine,” Rei said. “They’ve been staying with me.”

              “Thanks. I won’t forget this.”

              With that, the two of them went their separate ways.

              “I guess I’m going to have more visitors later,” Rei said with a sigh.

              “It might not be so bad. Maybe some of us will have friends with them and go with them,” Giorno said.

              “Maybe,” Rei said. “Maybe not. Until then, I don’t mind helping you all. But with this new enemy, I’d rather not attract more attention to us, especially while Usagi can’t…”

              Rei glanced over to said girl who was talking enthusiastically with Miharu and holding a kitten up in Minako’s face. “I can’t let anything happen to her.”

              “We won’t,” Zuko spoke up. “We’ve seen some pretty terrible people, and we’ve managed to win against them.”

              “So, we’ll make sure you guys don’t get killed by these monsters,” Sokka added. “After all, we’re pretty much expert warriors now.”

              “Our brave heroes!” Luz cried out, pretending to dramatically faint in Hunter’s arms. “Where would we be without you?”

              “Well, we DID take care of that monster yesterday,” Sokka argued.

              “But Josuke was the one who healed Luz,” Hunter countered.

              Miles’ attention was pulled away from them as he sensed they were being watched. He looked around, but he couldn’t see anyone. Whoever was watching, they might have disappeared or ran away at a speed way faster than his own.

              And that was worrisome.

              …

              Phoenix, Maya, and Bruno walked into the lobby of the giant, chrome, and definitely not-at-all intimidating Kaiba Corp headquarters. Security detail was posted at every corner, there was no dirt, no smudges, no imperfections at all in the building.

              “This place is amazing!” Maya said. “I wonder if we can get any free booster packs?”

He turned to Bruno. “I still have no idea how you got us in here.”

“Magic,” Bruno answered with a small grin. He shook his head. “It turns out I do have a connection within this company—a somewhat unexpected connection.”

“Really? Who?”

“Just an old friend.” Bruno paused and stopped in the middle of the lobby. He turned sharply. “I don’t think we’re alone, Mr. Wright.”

Phoenix turned around; he didn’t see anything, but he heard someone giggle. In an instant Shauna, Toph, Wally, Hop, Hau, and Gus turned visible.

“What are you all doing here? Aren’t Eda and BB supposed to be watching you?” Phoenix asked.

“Well, Eda thought she spotted someone she knew. And so did BB,” Gus explained.

“And they chose to leave us alone for two seconds,” Toph added in with a grin. “So, we thought it’d be more interesting to see what you guys were up to.”

“Besides, you might need help, Mr. Wright,” Hop said. “I’ve actually helped my friend go through an entire evil corporation before. Believe me, they’re right skeevy.”

“Says the failure of a trainer,” a sharp, young voice hissed.

Hop tensed and scowled. Phoenix turned back to the receptionist’s desk and saw two young children. One had white curly hair, was decked out entirely in pink, and sneered at the group. Likewise, the other kid did the same. Only he wore darker clothing and had long, red hair.

“Bede,” Hop said. “Of course you’d be here. Cozying up to another CEO, eh?”

The white haired boy grit his teeth. “At least I’m not an embarrassment to the entire Galar region.”

Hop bawled up his fists, but Hau stepped in. “Hey Cous, no need for us to get into a fight. Let’s take it down a few notches, okay?”

“Ah yes,” the red-haired boy said, stepping up now. “Hau. The champion of the Alolan region for all of five minutes.”

Hau grinned and shrugged. “You win some, you lose some.”

“No wonder you lost. That’s a loser’s attitude.”

“Well at least he got to be a champion and isn’t the son of a criminal, Silver. That’s right. Everyone knows who you are,” Hop countered.

“You—!” the red-haired boy, Silver said. He folded his arms and smirked. “Well, if you’re so tough, why don’t you two face us in a double-battle.”

“We’re not—,” Phoenix started to object.

Hop cut him off. “Don’t worry Mr. Wright, this will be quick. Hau and I accept.”

“Sure,” Hau agreed, with the same casual smile he’d been wearing all throughout their conversation.

“You’re on!” Bede said. “Follow us.”

The four rushed off before Phoenix could say anything. Shauna shakes her head. “I’ll go watch over them, Mr. Wright. I’ll make sure they don’t get into any fights. I swear boys are the worst!”

Phoenix looks to Toph, Gus, Wally, Maya, and Bruno. “Guess it’s just the rest of us then.”

“If you’ll follow me,” another child’s voice speaks up.

In front of them is a child with dark, black hair, striped shirt, yellow vest, and jeans. He wore a trading card around his neck, interestingly enough.

“Who are you?” Gus asked.

“My name is Mokuba Kaiba,” the child said. “I came down to get you. Seto knows you’re here. He’s kind of busy right now, so I thought I’d help out. Silver and Bede were supposed to retrieve you, but, I had a feeling after Bede saw you on the surveillance, he wasn’t going to take kindly to that one kid being here. He kept rambling about that one boy.”

“Grazie,” Bruno said.

“Follow me, please. You can get lost in this place, so it’s essential we keep together.”

The group followed the small child to the elevators. As the elevator went higher, Phoenix had to look away from the one-way windows to avoid being reminded of terrible heights, terrible falls, and burning bridges. He couldn’t think about that case—about her. Not about the person who had taken so much from him, from Mr. Armando, from all of her innocent victims, about what she’d almost taken from Pearls, and from Maya.

“Mr. Wright, are you coming?” Bruno asked.

The elevator doors had opened. And everyone was looking at him.

“Sorry,” Phoenix mumbled. “Just not good with heights.”

“It’s understandable,” Mokuba shrugged. “Just try not to look out the windows.”

They continued to the main office. Mokuba knocked.

“Who’s there?” a gruff voice barked more than asked.

“It’s the defense attorney,” Mokuba said.

There was a sigh from the other end of the door. “Bring him in. His friend’s here. Might as well make it an event.”

Mokuba unlocked the door and gestured inside. Inside was a young man behind a desk. He had long brown hair that almost covered his harsh eyes. He wore a long, white coat with an upturned collar and black clothing and boots. He wore the same trading card necklace Mokuba wore. To his side was a security guard with long purple hair, coat, pants, and flats. His eyes looked past Phoenix and at Bruno. Bruno silently regarded him; it was barely noticeable. But during his years as a defense attorney, Phoenix could pick up on those kinds of things. A little bit towards the entrance were seats, which were currently in use by two people. One had long, green hair tied into a ponytail tucked under a baseball cap. He wore a long white shirt, pants, and strange necklace that glowed like the magatama. The other was a silver-haired man Phoenix was quite familiar with.

“Edgeworth?”

“Wright,” he regarded him. Though, he seemed more upset than usual.

“I’ll cut straight to the chase,” the kid behind the desk spoke up. “You’re here because someone convinced me to give you the chance to talk to you. If you start speaking nonsense, Mokuba will show you out. Understood?”

Phoenix nodded. “You must be Seto Kaiba, correct?”

“And you’re the famous ace attorney, Phoenix Wright. Yes, Edgeworth has told me all about you.”

All good things, he hoped.

“Why are you in my office? I have a lot of work to do, so spit it out.”

“He believes Mr. Graves may have been falsely accused of stealing your—” Edgeworth began.

Seto cut him off. “I asked him.”

Edgeworth stiffened and scowled. Phoenix shook his head. “It’s like Mr. Edgeworth said. Look, you’ve got to admit Mr. Kaiba that these are extremely weird times. I’ve seen a woman turn into a harpy just to protect a child. A boy turn into a rhino just to knock out a monster who was chasing my assistant. It’s not too farfetched to say that someone framed Mr. Graves.”

“I’ve considered that,” Seto admitted. “But if not him, who? Who has reason to take my tech? As I’ve been informed, he’s been looking for new ways to get revenge on a rival.”

“Can your tech do that?” Gus asked.

Seto looked at him and nodded. “Potentially. It’s risky to be in the hands of anyone except myself. It’s ardent I get it back or jail the person who stole it so they can’t do any damage. Do you understand?”

Wally coughed. “That sounds reasonable. There were some people in our region who tried to use a lot of other peoples’ tech for what they thought was the greater good, but it got out of control and almost destroyed our region.”

“Hmph. These kids get it. So, why can’t grown men?”

“With all due respect,” Edgeworth said. “Wouldn’t it be wiser to go after who might have actually stolen it?”

At least Edgeworth could be counted on for trying to find the true culprit.

“With what?” Seto scoffed. “That scruffy detective who can’t find his own left foot?”

Seto glared at both of them. “You two are professionals. You should act like it rather than trying to play detective.”

“I’m not trying to play detective,” Phoenix said. “I’m committed to finding out who really stole your technology. You convict an innocent man and your tech is still being used for nefarious purposes as you suggested, what are you going to do?”

“He’s got a point,” the green-haired guy spoke up. He spoke fast. “In my region we have Pokémon called Zorua. A Zorua can transform into any other Pokémon—even a person. Not to mention Dittos.”

“You should at least give them time to investigate,” Toph suggested. “I’m good at telling when people lie.”

“Oh really?” Seto asked bemused. “And how’s that?”

“When you grow up blind, you’ve got to find other ways to detect that people are cheating you or trying to sell you something. With my earthbending techniques, I’ve learned how to pick up on people’s pulses, see if they’re lying. And you haven’t believed a word you’ve said this entire time. I don’t think you think Mr. Graves did it. You just want a culprit. An answer.”

Seto snorted and leaned back in his chair. “Impressive. But I’m not dropping this case.”

“Then do as the girl suggested,” Bruno spoke up. “I’ll help them run an investigation. Just give them enough time to find the real culprit.”

Seto paused. He turned to the purple-haired man. “And you vouch for him?”

“Absolutely.” The man had a deeper voice than Phoenix thought he would.

“Then you’ll be investigating with them. This makes us even now.”

Even? Why would they need to be even?

Seto turned to Edgeworth next. “You’ll be working with him. Seems you two are too buddy-buddy for this case anyways. If nothing is discovered I may have both of you removed entirely.”

“And if they find the guy?” Toph asked. “What’s in it for them?”

Seto stared at her. “I don’t ruin their lives and reputations?”

“I think you can do better than that,” Toph said. “I mean, they are finding your invaluable technology, after all. So, why not sweeten the deal? Are you really a businessman?”

Seto pointed to the door. “Out.”

Toph shrugged. “Worth a shot.”

“You’ve got two weeks. Two weeks and then the case is back on. Feel free to pass on this information to Mr. Graves.”

…

As soon as they were downstairs, Edgeworth took a deep breath. “Why is it when you get yourself involved in a case, you make my job ten times harder?”

“Well excuse me for trying to look out for both of us. That Graves guy is a piece of work. He didn’t just threaten my rep, Edgeworth.”

“What’s done is done,” the purple-haired man said flippantly. “You two should stop acting like babies and grow the hell up.”

“You’re defending him, Abbachio?” Bruno asked.

The man, Abbachio, apparently, shook his head. “No. But you don’t see me complaining about it. Let’s just get this done and over with. That tech might help us get home, Bucciarati.”

              “How do you two know each other?” Maya asked.

              “Prior acquaintances,” Abbachio mumbled. “I suppose I’ll be travelling with you guys now.”

              Oh good. More mouths to feed.

              “How’d you end up in the company of a CEO?” Bruno asked.

              “Saved his brother.”

              “Really?”

              Abbachio nodded. “Weird monster thing, you know? It was launching an attack on one of the kids he took under his wing. And it was launching weird fire attacks at everyone. I got teleported here when it was about to hit the kid, so I saved him. Someone else defeated the monster.”

              “And,” Bruno said quietly. “Do you remember the last thing that happened to you before you were teleported here?”

              Abbachio paused and nodded. “We’ll talk about it later.”

              “Cryptic,” Maya teased. “C’mon, let’s find the others and get out of here. We’ve got some investigating to do!”

              At that moment, Hop, Hau, and Shauna ran back into the lobby. The two boys looked happy while Shauna seemed a little embarrassed.

              “You should’ve seen Bede’s face when I sent out Zamazenta,” Hop bragged. “He was a right mess!”

              “You really shouldn’t have rubbed it in,” Shauna chastised.

              “He had it coming.”

              “I’m just glad they learned not to doubt an Alolan Raichu,” Hau said. He looked up at Abbachio, Edgeworth, and the other, probably teenager, Phoenix hadn’t been introduced to properly. “Hey, who are they?”

              “My name is N,” the green-haired teen spoke quickly. “I can hear your Pokémon. They seem to like being your friends. That’s good.”

              “You can hear Pokémon?” Shauna asked. “That’s so cool!”

              “I’d always hoped they liked hanging out with me,” Hau said thoughtfully.

              “And I hope mine are happy,” Hop said.

              “They seem to be.”

              “You won’t be so lucky next time!” Bede shouted from across the lobby.

              “Sure! Whatever you say!” Hop said shaking his head. “What about you two?”

              “Leone Abbachio. Just call me Abbachio. It’s fine.”

              “Miles Edgeworth. Please refer to me as Mr. Edgeworth.”

              “Humans are so weird about names,” N said, shaking his head. “Well, we’ve got a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in. Let’s head out.”

              …

              Rei had asked Miles to keep an eye on Usagi. It was for the best she’d done that. One of those daimon had ended up attacking Miharu, and Usagi had charged into the building, without powers, to help her. True, Mamoru had been right behind her, but Sokka and Josuke were right. What in the hell were roses gonna do against one of those things? As of now, he’d already been clawed pretty bad while protecting Usagi.

              Miles punched the monster again, splitting it back into puzzle pieces. It split into multiple piles. Miharu was on the opposite end of the building. She looked so pale. As pale as death. He needed to get that crystal from that monster!

              However, the piles holding the crystal reformed into several cat-monsters. It smirked at Miles and lunged at him. He grabbed the main monster’s wrist and flung it backwards, but he was tackled as more and more started to reform and grab at his ankles and arms. The main monster held the crystal out triumphantly.

              “Looks like you three were too late.”

              A wave of bright blue and yellow struck the monster, causing it to toss the crystal high into the air. Luckily, those two girls from before caught the crystal—and stared at it.

              “Give it back!” Miles shouted. “She looks like she’s going to die without it.”

              “Luckily she won’t,” the blue-haired girl said. “She’s not a talisman holder.”

              She placed the crystal near Miharu’s chest, letting it sink back into her body. She began to breathe again. Thank goodness for small miracles. The two girls turned to leave.

              “Hey!” Miles called out. “You don’t think you can help with this?”

              “We accomplished what we came here for,” the blonde said. “We’ll leave you to it.”

              Miles didn’t have time to process the blase attitude of the girls, as he tried to bat the cat monsters off him. One of the monsters extended their claws and held them just above Miles’s face. Crap!

              “Hierophant Green! 20 Meter Emerald Splash!”

              All of a sudden, holes were ripped through the cat monsters as someone jumped down from the balcony above. It was that Kakyoin guy from before!

              The red-haired boy walked over to Miles and held out a hand, “You called for help?”

              Miles grabbed his hand, gladly accepting the help. “Yeah. Thanks, man.”

              A huge wave of pink light encased the room, causing both boys to flinch and shut their eyes. Suddenly Usagi and Mamoru were in some royal-looking regalia. Like a dress and armor. A new heart-shaped wand appeared in front of Usagi; the second she grabbed it, she transformed again into the fuku Miles had seen in magical girl animes Luz had shown him.

              “Moon Spiral Heart Attack!”

              A wave of pink hearts hit the main cat-monster, causing it to disintegrate and turn back into a cat puzzle.

              “You couldn’t have done that earlier?” Miles asked. “All it took was some lovey-dovey crap and you get your powers back?”

              Usagi scratched her head, “It’s not like I knew. Sorry.”

              “It’s not a big deal.”

              “But those girls are,” Kakyoin said. “They just stood by and let you guys fend for yourselves.”

              “No offense, and I’m glad you were here,” Miles said. “But why are you here?”

              “I was making sure that one guy who’s with you isn’t causing trouble.”

              “Giorno?” Miles guessed.

              Kakyoin nodded. “I wouldn’t trust him, if I were you, Morales. He’s too akin to someone I knew. Someone dangerous. You could be in great danger.”

              “I’ll keep that in mind.”

              “You should. Your life could depend on it.”

              Kakyoin looked around. “I’ll talk to you more at a later date. Just make sure if he does anything you think will threaten you or anybody around you to reach out with that thing Gladion gave you. The channels are locked. It should be safe.”

              With that, he walked towards the door. “Monsters come in a lot of forms, Morales. Remember that.”

              He walked out, leaving Miles with a lot more questions to his question pile. Miles sighed and looked at Mamoru and Usagi. “You two okay?”

              Mamoru nodded. “Only a little dinged up.”

              “Josuke should be able to help with that. C’mon, let’s head back to the shrine.”

AN: Sorry this took longer than usual! Please read and review! I love seeing what people have to say!

[crime-bot]

okay so i definitely recommend you search what ken looks like because he looks like goro (& shido) a lot (i've always thought shido had browner-yellowy eyes and ken has brown eyes, shido's goatee? is spiky and so is ken's hair (& we can assume shido had spiky hair), its just a lot of that. ken looking more like their father and goro looking like their mom is also so real.. theyre identical twins regardless cause the differences seem tiny when theyre next to eachother (theres actually a fic called the sword & the scale and it goes into them being half-siblings its whatnstarted my ideas and its so good. the latest chapter has them talking to the PTs and everyone unable to tell them apart because they keep doing everything the same) ANYWAY. ken lore time.

ok, basically in p3 .. do you remember that dude with the rogue persona i told you about whos NOT a villain? that's shinjiro aragaki. hes really important to ken lore. ok so basically his persona's rogue: 2 years before p3 takes place (takes place 2009-2010,) on october 4th, 2007, shinjiro's persona went rogue and killed ken's mom (& made their whole building collapse.) shinjiro felt bad and quit the SEES and went back to living on the streets (he was previously at an orphanage before the SEES but that was burnt down) and shinjiro keeps taking the persona suppressors (which are killing him. he starts wearing a beanie and heavy jacket bc hes cold all the time bc he cant regulate his temp anymore.) fast forward to 2009, where ken gets a persona called nemesis (greek goddess of revenge) and learns how to use .. i forgot what its called but its kinda like a pole? ykwim. anyway. he plans to kill shinjiro (bc he doesnt know it was an accident) for killing his mom and almost does it on october 4th 2009 when takaya (also rogue persona haver. villain. extremely gay for shinjiro & his fellow villain jin tbh. takaya makes me sad anyways) shows up and goes to kill ken, but shinjiro blocks it and gets shot and dies instead. sound familiar to one persona 5 boy? ken never kills again ( hes literally 11 in 2009 btw. goro turned 16 in 2014 when he killed wakaba. these kids were YOUNG. goro started working with shido when he was 15, since in nov he says its been almost 2 & a half years of working w eachother) and instead basically gets adopted by the kirijo group? idk its never explained but in p3 the kirijo group stages ken's mom death as a car accident (bc it originally happened in the dark hour) and the main makoto-ish girl is mitsuru kirijo (who is an icon and hates the group so we love her) but anyway we never really get an explanation with who ken is staying with, he just stays with the SEES? so im saying the kirijo adopted him.

anyway.. them as kids together would be ... very odd. hectic if they were deaged to after their mom died (& in the au goro sees she killed herself but then a few mins after the house gets fucking destroyed by castor/shinjiro's persona so ken never knows she killed herself. boy who doesnt know any jp/doesnt speak having to help his little brother who knows jp/speaks drag their mom & themselves out of the rubble of the house immediately after seeing his mom hang. doesnt say anything to his brother abt it 💔💔)

Ayy I survive! Thanks for the patience man

The wildest part is that I've Seen Ken before, multiple times, and I never really made these connections. I could definitely see them as twins, and oh man I wanna check out that fic later!

God that's wild, to be fair I've known of bits and pieces about Ken and his backstory, but nothing in great detail, so it's wild to see the bigger picture (and some more about Shinjoro! This poor guy!). A hot temper and steady will really seems to run in the family.

Dude that would be so wild!!!! I'd love to see the shit they'd get up to, as well as witness the kind of emotional processing they should've been allowed to have, with the support of the PTs and Akria's confidants. When it comes to traumatic experiences, it is crucial that there are multiple people of different kinds that the person is able to turn to after the fact to talk to and have support from

[peachmuses]

shuuzou hums -- yes, he's seen that; and really, japan has a problem with how it treats females -- or female-adjacent people, really. so none of that is surprising to him. there's a brief frown when makoto mentions auntie ko, before it dawns on him that the other two don't know, and he nods, in confusion. okay. so they don't know. " you're hanging out with older people ? " he asks, stupidly, still confused. he doesn't like it. he doesn't, he doesn't. he frowns, deeper. ( does makoto like them ? scratch that, do they like makoto ? probably, if they're dragging him places; and not just places -- but parties. shuuzou doesn't like that thought either, so gaze averts and feet tap against concrete. ) " i didn't know you had other friends than us. how often do you hang out with them ? why are they taking you to parties ? how come we're just now learning about this ? what if something had happened to you ? " a pause, " nothing's happened to you, right ? " okay, look. he's fine with sharing makoto with kazuya. sort of. fine with sharing him with tatsuya, because well, something about two similar magnetitic poles tend to repeal one another and apparently he has a type, so there is no way nothing there could happen. and he's fine with kazuya. begrundingly. he thinks something is going on there - but that's fine. it's whatever. they're not together. but other people he's never met ? he has some lines, makoto ! whatever, it's not his business. tatsuya nods, " totally get it. it's something about the passion, right ? " his head tilts, " or the possessiveness. both actually. it's having that level of control over someone that you make them lose their sensabilities. " " seek help. " " i have. you try it. " " fuck you. apparently, i'm the most sane person here. do you know how unsettled that makes me feel ? "

" i've never seen them get shot up, but fight, break ins, and stabbings happen. it's not all that uncommon for someone to get picked up off the streets around them and go missing, especially if they get mistaken for a hooker -- but, " makoto pauses, shrugging at the thought, " if we had looser gun laws, things would probably be different. "

kazuys is not getting enough answers soon enough, actually. still, he leaves his questions for a moment, attention shifting as tatsuya flashes pictures and videos. afterwards, he's turning back to makoto and shuuzou -- .... who's looking far more confused than kazuya would have assumed he'd be.

it's only when shuuzou falls from his peripheral does makoto stop walking, turning to look back at best friend. " aya, " a split second's pause / eyes moving towards tatsuya and kazuya, " one of my mom's really close work friends. " he still hasn't told them what his mother does for work, but that's a thing for another time, " has two kids, her daughter hikari, who's just a year older than me, and her son hibiki, who's like three years older than me. " he's turning back to shuuzou here, " hikari's been looking into being a stripper and hibiki and i tried to tell her not to. she went and did it anyway -- about.... around the winter cup? just before it? either way, she's always going off to whatever she gets invited to and she'd invite me from time to time. " then again, that hardly answers the questions at hand, so he shakes his head. " but i've more or less being going to parties here and there since i was sixteen, " shuuzou's face changes and makoto waves a hand, " after you left, not while you were still here. aya and her friends started getting bored with spoiling me, so they started inviting me out to other places and i didn't really have anything better to do, so i went along with them. it sort of escalated from there? "

" but you just said that aya is you mom's friend? "

" i did. "

" and she was inviting you out places? "

" yes. "

" a grown ass woman? "

" yes. "

" ..... aaaaaaand? "

" she's harmless. pretty sweet, prone to being bored, constantly needs to be stimulated. "

" are you a sugar baby? "

makoto shakes his head, " no, but i could be if i wanted to be. " he sighs. " it's less so the arguing that i like and more the jealousy that i like. " he says this as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. " it's nice, watching what people would do for me - because of me. "

[pandamoniumvibes-27]

Hello this is the very much delayed release of the Ei x reader part 2!

Link to part 1 is on my Masterlist!

Part 2 might be worse written because of this though but I’ll try my best!

———

“Ei!!!!”

You and Ei had this routine now. You would sneak into Ei’s place, hang out, and leave just before her sister would get back from fighting or training.

Ei technically wasn’t supposed to let mortals into her abode. It was dangerous on multiple levels. But you refused to ever leave Ei.

You and Ei how to say grew to appreciate each other more and may or may not have started to date…

The first kiss was very spontaneous with you kissing Ei just before you left leaving her to look like a tomato when Makoto saw her.

“Yes?” Ei popped out from behind a cherry blossom tree. Your meeting place was the Grand Narukami shrine. From there it was a spy mission to sneak into Tenshukaku.

You say spy mission but it is really just Ei threatening the soldiers to keep their mouth shut. But it works so you go with it.

“You ready to head to your place?”

“…”

“Ei?”

“You look pale.”

You froze for a moment. This past week you were feeling sick. It started off as a cold. It turned into something worse as time went by. You did your best to hide it but Ei always knew.

“Oh I have a small cold!! You know allergies from the… cherry blossoms!!! You know pollen and all that!”

For what it was worth Ei didn’t pry further.

“Hey so let’s go!!!”

———

Your cold has gotten worse but so has the war. Thankfully it meant Ei couldn’t see you get more and more sick as you kept visiting her place keeping it tidy.

On the downside Ei was fighting in the war now and slowly her friends were all dying one by one. You and Miko had grown to be pen pals. Keeping in touch but you refused to meet in person for fear of Miko telling Ei you were sick.

Ei just needs encouragement and small bits of happiness that you could provide. Is what you told yourself. But you knew this wasn’t good as doctors didn’t have a cure.

But suddenly you started to get better. You were practically glowing!! You felt stronger and soon you were able to go about what you used to do. Helping out the townsfolk and fixing things that were broken. Helping with the children of the town. Small things. But things you missed.

But you wanted to help more. And soon you were on the same battle field as Ei. Her not knowing of course. Fighting a mile away against a enemy know as Khaenri’ah. You didn’t realize how bad the war was. But soon you had 3 of their robots on you shooting missiles. You held your sword with worry but kept going. After beating the 3 of them you continued to fight and soon your captain came to you with a question.

“Y/N what do you want to do with your life?”

“Me? I never thought about it…”

“Well what are you good at?”

“I- I was just helping around at my village before I joined in the war.”

“I see. Well Y/N I think there is something that might be better suited for you.”

“What is it?!”

“I want you to be our informant.”

———

That’s how you got here. Spying on Khaenri’ah and sending information back to Inazuma. You started to learn everything that you could about Khaenri’ah. About their military about their government about there culture. Once you mastered Khaenri’ah you moved on to Liyue and then Mondstat and one day you found a hydro vision in your pocket. That day was also the day you had to run away from Khaenri’ah.

Having a vision was a dead give away you were working for the other side. You ran across the war field to the Inazuma base it was there where you saw your gods talking with their other god friends.

“Y/N?”

God how could you even ignore her. You two have been talking in only letters for years. You turned to Ei and smiled.

“Surprise?”

———

“So you joined the war ,became a double agent, and dated Ei. While that was going on and before without me knowing?”

“Basically?”

This was bad this was real bad. You were meeting your in law sister and she did not look happy. Granted her little sister didn’t look happy but that was for future you to deal with.

“You say you’re mortal yet I don’t sense any mortal energy from you.”

“I’m sorry what?”

“I’m sorry?”

You and Ei looked at each other before looking away blushing.

“I’m surprised you didn’t sense it before Ei. You seem to have this unchanging energy about you similar to gods.”

“Similar to eternity?”

“Not quite. Unchanging and eternity are not one and the same Ei.”

You started to get nervous while you have been feeling different recently and while you are glad to see Ei and meet her sister. This was not the ideal way of meeting.

“Have you been sick recently Y/N?”

“What no she would tell me if she was extremely sick.”

Blush came up on your face as you began to stammer.

“Well…. You know… maybe I had sugar coated it a little…”

“I’m sorry what?”

“Well you know you get worried and with everything going on you need to have a good mental state! If you don’t have a good mental state then you know you can’t think well! If you can’t think well in war you get hurt! That’s bad-“

“Have you ever thought about how much more painful it is for me to know you were in pain for so long with out me knowing?”

You began to sweat not looking anyone in the eye.

“Well um no. I was just thinking about you being alive and ways I can help. And then ways I can make sure you stay a live which did lead me to being a double agent.”

“So you put your own preservation on the line for me an immortal god.”

“Well… Yeah okay it does sound pretty stupid when you put it like that but not all the way stupid!!!!”

“I do agree with the former mortal.”

“Excuse me former?”

“Even gods don’t last forever Ei. To show so much care and dedication. While it is reckless I do find myself at ease knowing you’re in good hands.”

“Makoto what do you mean by former mortal stop avoiding the question.”

“Why Y/N is a god now Ei. Congrats you have become a god.”

———

“Umm hey…”

Ei has been ignoring you since then. While it is cute that she acts like a toddler when angry it is not when you need comfort.

“Are you okay?”

Ei’s back was facing you she was look at the wall. She always did this when she was in deep thought.

“What about you?”

“Me? Im fine!”

“As much as I want to stay mad at you I have learned it is no use. Unlike eternity war creates uncertainty and unstableness.”

“Sometimes I wish things could stay the same forever.”

“It is the wish of eternity.”

“Ei. I missed you a lot. Every time I received your letters I wanted to comfort you and be there so you could comfort me when I was sick. I- I just- the thought of you getting hurt was to much for me to say anything.”

“I would have rushed back to you if I knew.”

“But what about your friends Ei? What about the war around us. You do know how important this is?”

“It’s all fleeting. You are eternal. As gods we don’t change. We forever stay the same. In every sense we are eternity. I cannot say I’m not glad you are one now.”

———

You and Ei have been fighting beside each other for months now. You saw Makoto’s death. It was right before the end of the war. You were all so close to being alive and well together. But when her and the dendro archon died. Everyone was scared and when the Cryo archon died. Ei decided to send you back to Inazuma so you can be safe. War beaten you headed back home and for Tenshukaku. The children ran up to you to say hello but the elders pulled them away. They seem to know just by looking that you had become a god.

It was odd to be treated like a god now even though you have been treated like one for the past months.

Miko visited you and you were able to explain everything to her.

When Ei returned she was quiet. She had brought something with her a exact replica of herself. It was almost scary at first you thought it was a dead body.

She kissed you and asked you one question.

“Will you carry out eternity with me?”

You agreed not know at the time what eternity had in store. You job was simple enough. To preserve Inazuma’s culture. It’s festivals it’s games it’s clothes. But it wasn’t fun at all. Ei had disappeared soon after and what was know as the shogun was all that was left.

The shogun would instruct you how to do when you didn’t do you job ‘properly’. It was then when you realized that a gods idea of Eternity was not the same as a mortals.

You became sad and had taken to visiting Miko every week to help. All you could do was carry out your gods commands. When they asked for everyone visions though. That’s when you drew the line. You fought it but no matter what you did you couldn’t get through to the Ei you knew long ago.

———

“A traveler has come to Inazuma.”

“Have they realized their mistake?”

“Hehe~ Inazuma is not kind to travelers but this one is different this is the one that helped Liyue and Mondstat.”

“You don’t seriously think-“

“I do hope you don’t plan on insulting the Guuji.”

“I have tried multiple times how can one mortal change her will when I a god has failed multiple times?”

“We just have to wait and see~”

You sighed.

You hoped this traveler was as good as they say.

———

Sorry this is so bad this has been a long time coming but I lost a lot of motivation and Interest after part 1 but I want to fully finish the ask. I hope you liked it I haven’t edited it or anything but I don’t want you to wait any longer.