i love makoto so much but fanon does her so much better (the good parts of the fandom) because in the game her character is so lack luster. they butchered her confidant it is so borning and not even about her. they made her a cop. A COP. they pushed this "canon waifu" role onto her (before sumire came along and did it Even Worse). and it SUCKS because SHE IS SO MUCH MORE!!! SHE IS SO MUCH BETTER!!!! SHE COULD'VE BEEN SO MUCH BETTER!!! the way i feel about canon makoto is the same way i feel about the canon ryuji events post komoshida where he's horribly mistreated and used purely as comic relief: i ignore them <3 my game now <3 never happened <3 my ocs <3
You are so right. I generally apply this to all characters in p5 bc the game does such a shit job of staying consistent with character arcs and personalities. Theres a desperate need to throw in perverse jokes at the expense of female characters and a need to show that the police (as a whole) are reliable people who are not influenced by things like money and power; only the BAD cops do that. Not to mention this obvious fatphobia and homophobia but i feel likes thats a given.
But back to Makoto. Shes a victim of bad writing just like everyone else. Ryuji during the kamoshida arc was fighting with self loathing and genuine anxiety, and aside from the like. One comment on Panthers outfit in the metaverse, hes more than well behaved. All of that is shelved as soon as Kamoshida is gone and replaced with him being weird comic relief (and the focus of alot of sexual jokes that were nonexistent in the beginning of the game). Anns arc about self love and empowerment is completely dropped as soon as the nasty bad guy is put away (so that its good to be weird about her w the Good Guys). Makoto loses her a chunk of her personality to be the mature waifu which is INSANE to me bc shes like. Not okay or normal at all 😭😭😭 she THINKS shes responsible and so does everyone else on her team, but its an act! She doesnt know shit! And she doesnt know that she doesnt know shit bc shes respectful and adults dont care about anything as long as u respect them!
Its very telling that for literally every single thief (and goro), you can see the exact moment the writers gave up on adding anything of worth to their characters outside of the social links. Its like they didnt know what to even do w the characters at their disposal after their main arcs were complete. No mention of friends hanging out without you, no mention of having group hangouts. Everyone is treated as a core, important member of the friend group DURING their arc, but outside of it, they are acquaintances at best. Theres nothing in the game that convinces you that these guys are legitimately friends who care for each other and do Friend Things. And i describe it like that bc there IS a game that treats them all as friends, and its strikers! Strikers/Scramble genuinely feels like the game p5 wanted to be; a road trip w your team where they stay up at night talking to each other and hanging out and doing things together that dont necessarily include you, the player. Its refreshing and lovely but it sucks that u get that kind of attention to detail in a ‘spinoff’ title
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Hello!! I really love your writing! I like the way you write interactions between characters and how well you maintain their personalities! Sometimes, after I read these, I need to take a few moments to realize that they are not actually canon. (For me, they still are <3).
If it's not a bother, I would like to request Compliment + Yuno and any other character that you think will fit well!
Because of Yuno's past work, I always thought that the compliments her clients would give didn't truly mean much to her. At first, maybe these words gave her some warmth, but with time, she realized that these words were nothing more than superficial. And I think it would be nice to see Yuno actually being happy with the sincerity of a compliment addressed to her!
Thank you!!
Hi hello?? This is like the greatest compliment a writer could dream of thank you??? I have been very normal about this ;__;✨ And thank you for the request, I absolutely love that concept -- it's perfect for Yuno! I think between being so used to shallow/physical compliments combined with the fact that she has a lot of self-love already, a new type of compliment could really affect her. I debated on a few characters, but ended up setting this late T1 with Kotoko
Yuno was always complimented on her smile. It was beautiful, she was told. It was pure. Sweet. Innocent. Her lipstick looked nice. Her lips in general looked nice. She was just so… nice. Yuno was glad to have such a bright smile; it hid how much she was wanted to pick up the cards from her solitaire game and throw them as hard as she could at Shidou's face.
“Don’t worry, when you get to be my age, you’ll understand,” he was saying. “But I do love your optimism…”
She stretched that smile as far as it would reach. Shidou kept talking as he stood to leave, and she answered as politely and simply as possible. Once out of sight, she allowed herself a single, dramatic eyeroll. Everyone older than her thought they knew more than her. Men always thought they knew more than her.
But she wasn’t about to let it ruin the rest of her day. She turned her attention back to the cards, already working to forget the whole conversation. She’d nearly lost herself in new thoughts when a voice startled her at the end of the table.
“You’re strong, Yuno.”
She looked up to find Kotoko staring. She smirked at the comment -- she knew she had nothing on someone like her. The woman exuded strength, and had made more than one comment about the other prisoners’ physical fitness. Yuno flexed her right arm. “I didn’t do very well in the tournament, but thanks, I guess!”
Confusion flashed over her face. “No, not the arm wrestling thing we did the other day.”
“Oh, when we all jumped rope after dinner last week?”
“No, no. I mean… as a person.” Kotoko scooted closer. She always had a calculating look on her face, studying everyone around her. Yuno had expected to feel uncomfortable under such a gaze, (many of the other prisoners had voiced the sentiment,) but there was something almost pleasant about the way Kotoko stared. Yuno couldn’t put her finger on it.
She waved her hand dismissively. She knew the best way to accept praise was to play it down, just a bit. “Eh, sometimes it's gotta be like that, you know? I just do what I can to make it through the day, I wouldn't call that strong or anything…”
“Well I would.” Her gaze was level. “I think the way you handle everyone, never compromising on your own values, is very impressive. I’ve seen the way the others talk to you here. I can only imagine, with the line of work you’re in, what utter scumbags you’ve had to deal with on a daily basis. And yet,” she tipped her head, and Yuno suddenly understood. Kotoko looked at people as if she actually saw them. “You’ve never once raised your voice. Or scowled. Or even cried. Being sent to a place like this, after what you’ve done, it’d be enough to infuriate anyone.”
She surveyed the room, adding, “I'm still figuring this place out, but I can tell it's designed to break us. Which is why we need to stay strong. I just wanted to tell you, from one woman to another -- I'm glad to have someone like you fighting with me.”
Yuno’s smile had faded to surprise. At that moment, she did something that she hadn’t in an awfully long time.
She blushed at the compliment.
Maybe it was the way Kotoko said it. She wasn't the type of person to say anything she didn't mean. Maybe it was the fact that it was something new, not another comment about her lips or her laugh or her body. Or maybe it was because Yuno was tempted to believe it.
She’d heard so many voices lately, whispering how weak and helpless she must be to end up in this whole mess. The other prisoners, too, treated her according to her small build and unbroken nails. She suddenly realized how close she’d come to falling into the same mindset.
Getting a hold of herself, she made her voice light. “Well, I'd say the same to you, but I think you already know that, heh. But… thanks for saying all that.”
“Of course.” Kotoko’s smile was neither sweet nor innocent, but it was certainly honest. “I mean it.”
Yuno nodded. “I know.”
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Not reblogging it for reasons, but I really agree with that person on here who said people are reframing depression and generally feeling shit all the time as a good thing because of the horrors of Gaza. There are people on here heavily implying that you feeling bad and finding it more and more difficult to live with yourself is actually an appropriate response to war and genocide. In some way, it might be. But the thing is, where does that lead? Does it lead to decisive action in accordance to your values, or to nihilistic stewing and self isolation from your community?
The post went on to call it anti-recovery culture- I don't know if I would call it that, because I get why people don't like recovery culture, especially in relation to addiction, but mental illness also. I think that's something I'm not qualified to speak on. So I wouldn't call this anti-recovery culture. Instead I would call it pro-burnout in activism culture. Do you honestly think people who are the most productively working in their communities and participating in actions to help overseas are feeling like this? Or do you think they have learned to use self-accountability and community support to reign themselves in when they begin to burn out emotionally, and rest and recuperate their mind in order to come back stronger? Ask yourself, is that wrong of them to do, because they should be feeling bad, because after all that is the appropriate response....does it mean they don't care, because they don't spend all their time feeling shit? Or perhaps, the truth is, they do care, and are demonstrating it all the time, but they also understand that them feeling shit literally doesn't help anyone. Why can we not talk about or acknowledge this?
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