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c-is-for-circinate · 3 years

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I'd love to hear more of your thoughts about why P5R didn't quite land for you. I had the same reaction to it, but I've never quite been able to properly articulate why the last section fell so flat.

God okay so I've tried several times to answer this, and it seems like the answer is 'I still have way too many feelings, personally, to say this in anything less than thirty pages and fifteen hours of work', because Persona 5 the original is a game I loved a lot and care about a great deal. And most of the reasons I disliked Royal feel, in my head, like a list of ways it broke some of the things I liked best about P5--which means explaining them feels like I need to explain everything I loved about the original game, which is a book in itself, complete with referents to P3, P4, Jungian psychology, the Joseph Campbell mytharc, and fuck all even knows what. And that is too much.

But today I realized that I could instead describe it from an angle of, Persona 5 Strikers succeeds really well at doing the thing I think Royal was trying to do but failed at. And that I think I can talk about in a reasonable amount of wordspace, hopefully, behind this cut because I have at least one friend who hasn't played Royal yet.

Note for reblogs/comments: I HAVE NOT FINISHED STRIKERS YET. I got through the jail that pretended to be the final jail and have not yet gone into the obviously inevitable 'ohshit wait, you mean there's something more than simple human machinations behind all of this?' dungeon. (I got stuck on a really frustrating side quest, put the game down, and then dived into Hades to avoid throwing the Switch across the room for a while--and anyone around this blog lately knows how THAT'S been going.) Please no spoilers past Okinawa!

So, one of the many, many things I really appreciated about Persona 5 was its straightforward and unashamed attitude towards abusers and their acts of violence. Because, while yes P5 is a story about the use of power and control to make others suffer, it fundamentally isn't about those abusers themselves. It's about their victims, those that survive their crimes. And this shows up repeatedly over the course of the game.

We do not give a shit why Kamoshida wanted to beat and rape his students. We really don't. Kamoshida does not deserve our attention one moment longer than it takes to make him stop. Because, ultimately, that's the goal of P5, start to end. We don't know for sure if what we're doing is fair, if it's justice, if it's questionable. What we know is that people are being hurt, badly, actively, right now this second. What we know is that victims are suffering. What we know is that we, personally, us-the-protag and us the Phantom Thieves at large, are in danger. And in those circumstances, we don't care about the abuser's side any more. We don't. We don't have the space or time or capacity to care, because that is not the point.

The point is to help the weak. To save the people who need saving, right here and now. To give others the courage to stand up on their own behalf. We're not even out to change society, not really--that's a byproduct. We are reactions. We are triage. We are important.

There's something so empowering and validating about that as a theme, y'know? In a media landscape so full of "sympathetic villains", the idea that, you know, maybe sometimes you don't have to break yourself to show compassion that might possibly heal the bad guy--that sometimes you can just make the bad guy stop hurting people--feels both refreshing and satisfying. I really appreciate it as a message! I liked it a lot!

And yes, there's nuance to that theme, and the game is not without compassion. We save Futaba, because 'make the bad guy stop hurting people', in that case, means 'make this person stop hurting herself'. We give Sae a path forwards, help her fix her own heart. Yet it's worth pointing out that in both of those cases, while we were very glad to do those things, to save those people, we also went into both of those palaces for extremely practical reasons to begin with. We needed Futaba's help. We needed Sae's help. The fact that we chose to talk Sae into a change of heart rather than simply stealing her treasure, while ultimately a very good thing for her, was absolutely a practical choice predicated on the need for her palace to still exist to save our life. And yes, we wanted to save her, for Makoto's sake--yes, we wanted desperately to save Futaba. But Sae and Futaba let themselves be helped, too, and that doesn't change the overarching themes of the story itself.

Akechi (and to some extent Okumura) would not let himself be helped. Akechi's another interesting nuance to this theme, because of all our villains, we do learn the most about what drove him to the cruelties and crimes he's committed. He's at that intersection of victim and villain, and we want to help him, as a victim--but we also know that stopping him as a villain is more important. We'd like to save him from himself if we could, because we save people from their sources of trauma, it's what we do. We regret being unable to do so. But in the end, what matters to the story is not that Akechi refused to be saved--it's that Shido and Yaldabaoth need to be stopped, for the sakes of everyone else they're hurting now and may continue to hurt in the future.

The thing is, there's space and maybe even a need for a corollary discussion of those places where victim and villain intersect. It's an interesting, pertinent, and related topic. Strikers made an entire video game about it, a really good video game. It's centered in the idea that, yes, these people need to be stopped, and we will make stopping them our priority--but they're not going after us, and that gives us some space to sympathize. Even for Konoe, who specifically targets the Phantom Thieves--compare him to Shido, who actively destroyed the lives of both Joker and Futaba, who ordered Haru's father's death, who's the entire reason the team is still dealing with the trauma of Akechi's everything. Of course the game can be sympathetic to Konoe where it can't with Shido. There's enough distance to do that.

But right--Strikers is a separate game. It's a separate conversation. It's, "last time, we talked about that, so now let's take it one step further." And that's good writing. (It's something Persona has done before, too, also really well! Persona 3 is about terrible, occasionally-suicidal depression and grief. P4 is about how you can still be hurting and need some help and therapy even if things seem ok. Related ideas, but separate conversations that need to be separate in order to be respectful and do justice to either one. P5, as a follow-up to P4, is a conversation about how, ok, changing yourself is great and all, but sometimes the problem is other people so how do you deal with that? Again, still related! Still pertinent! Still alluded to in P4, with Adachi's whole thing--but it wasn't the time or place to base a quarter of the game around it.)

So one of Royal's biggest issues, to me, is that it tries to tack on this whole new angle for discussion onto a game that was originally about something else.

Adding Maruki's palace--adding it at the end, which by narrative laws suggests that it's the true point that everything else should be building up to--suddenly adds in about a hundred new dimensions at once. It wants us to engage with "what in this abuser/manipulator's life led him to act this way?" for basically the first time all game (we'll get to Akechi later). It wants us to engage with, "if the manipulator has a really good reason or good intentions, does that mean we should forgive them?" It requires us to reflect on, "what is the difference between control and cruelty?" It asks, "okay, but if people could be controlled into being happy, would that be okay?" (Which, based on the game so far, is actually a wild out-there hypothetical! Literally not a single thing we've seen in the game suggests that could ever happen. Even the people who think being controlled is safer and easier are miserable under it. Control that's able to lead to actual happiness is completely out of left field in the context of everything we've encountered all game so far.)

That's too much! We don't have time to unpack all that! We only have an eighth of the game left! Not to mention we are also being asked to bring back questions we put to bed much earlier in the game about the morality of our own actions, in a wholely unsatisfying way. Maruki attempts to justify his mass brainwashing because "it's the same as what you're doing", and we know it isn't, but the game didn't need Maruki calling it out in order for us to get that. We already faced that question when we started changing hearts, and again several times throughout the game, and again when we found our targets in Yaldabaoth's cells. The fact that we change hearts does not mean we think "changing hearts is fine and kind and should be done to everyone, actually." Changing hearts has been firmly established in this game as an act of violence, acceptable only because it prevents further systemic violence against innocents that we must prevent. The moral question has never once been about whether it's ok to change the hearts of the innocent, only about how far it's ethical to go against individuals who are actively hurting other people. Saying "you punched that guy to keep him from shooting a child, so punching people is good and I will save the world by punching everyone!" is confusing! and weird! and not actually at all helpful to the question of, how much violence is it acceptable to use to protect others! So presenting the question that way just falls really flat.

(And right, I love Strikers, because Strikers has time to unpack all that. Strikers can give us a main bad guy who wants to control the whole world for everybody's own good, because Strikers has earned that thematic climax. It has given us sympathetic bad guys who started out wanting to control the world to protect themselves and ended up going too far. It's given us Mariko Hyodo, who wanted to control the world to protect other people and went too far. It's given us a long-running thread about police, the desire to serve, and the abuse of power that can lead to. And since we are actively trying to care for the people whose hearts we're changing in Strikers, we can open the door to questions about using changes-of-heart and that level of control to make other people happy. We can even get a satisfying conclusion out of that discussion, because we have space to characterize the difference--Konoe thinks that changing peoples' hearts means confining them, but the Phantom Thieves think it means setting them free. We have seen enough sympathetic villains that we as an audience have had the space to figure out how we feel about that, and to understand the game's perspective of "stop them AND save them, if we can possibly do both." And that message STILL rests firmly on Persona 5's message of "it is Good to do what you have to do to stop an abuser so long as you don't catch innocent people in your crossfire.")

It's worth noting that the general problem of 'asking way too many new questions and then not answering them' also applies to how Royal treats its characters, too. P5 did have unanswered questions left at the end! The biggest one, and we all knew this, was Akechi, and what actually happened to him, and how we should feel about him, and how he felt about us. That was ripe for exploring in our bonus semester, and to Royal's credit they did in fact try to bring it up, but by god did they fuck up doing it.

Akechi's probable death in the boiler room was absolutely the biggest dangling mystery of the game. It was an off-screen apparent death of a key antagonist, so all of the narrative rules we know suggested that he might still be alive and would probably come back if the story went on for long enough. So when Royal brings him back on Christmas Eve, hey, great! Question answered. Except that the situation is immediately too good to be true, and immediately leads to another mystery, which leads to a flat suspicion that something must be wrong. We spend several hours of gameplay getting sly hints that, oooh, maybe he's not really alive after all, before it's finally confirmed by Maruki: yup, he really died, if we end the illusion we'll kill him too. Okay, at least we know now. Akechi is alive right now and he's going to be dead if we do this, and that doesn't make a ton of sense because every other undead person disappeared when the person who wished for them realized they were fake but at this point we'll take it. So we take down Maruki, and okay, Akechi really is dead! Probably! We're fairly sure! Aside from our lingering doubts!

And then we catch a glimpse of maybe-probably-could be him through the train window, and I just want to throw something, because come on.

Look, it is just a fact of storytelling: the more times you make an audience ask 'wait, is this character dead or aren't they?', the less they will care, until three or four reversals later you will be hard pressed to find anybody who gives a shit. Royal does this like four different times, and every iteration comes with even less certainty than the last. By the end, we somehow know even less than we did when we started! Did Akechi survive the boiler room to begin with and Maruki just didn't know? Or was Maruki lying to try and manipulate us further? Or was he actually dead and then his strength of will when Maruki's reality dissolved was enough to let him survive after all? Is that even actually him out the train window?

Where is he going! What is he doing! How did any of this happen! What is going on! We all had these questions about Akechi at the end of the original P5, and the kicker is that Royal pretends like it's going to answer them only to go LOL JK NO. It's frustrating and it's dissatisfying and it annoys me.

The one Akechi question that Royal doesn't even bother to ask, though, let alone leave ambiguous, is how does the protagonist feel about him? The entire emotional weight of the third semester rests on the protagonist caring about Akechi, Sumire, and Maruki. Maruki's the person we're supposed to sympathize with even as we try to stop him. Sumire's the person we're trying to save from herself. And Akechi is our bait--is, we are told, the one thing our protagonist wished for enough to actualize it in this world himself. Akechi's the final lure to accept Maruki's deal. Akechi's survival is meant to be tempting.

For firm Akechi fans, this probably worked out fine--the game wanted to insist that the protagonist cared for Akechi the same way the player did. For those of us who're a little more ambivalent, though (or for the many and valid people who hated him), this is a super sour note. Look, one of the Persona series' strengths is the way it lets players choose to put their time and emotional investment into an array of different characters, so the main story still has weight even if there's a couple you don't care about that much. It has always done this. The one exception, from P3 all the way through P4 to here and now, is Nanako Dojima, and by god she earned that distinction. I have never met a person who played Persona 4 who didn't love Nanako. Nanako is a neglected six-year-old child who is brave and strong enough to take care of herself and all of the housework but who still tries not to cry when her dad abandons her again and lights up like the sun when we spare her even the tiniest bit of time and attention. It is impossible not to care for Nanako. Goro Akechi is not Nanako.

And yet third semester Royal doesn't make sense if your protagonist doesn't feel linked to Akechi. The one question, out of all the brand new questions Royal throws out there, that it decides to answer all by itself--and it's how you as a player and your protagonist ought to feel about an extremely complex and controversial character. What the fuck, Royal. What the fuck.

In conclusion, I'll leave you with this. I played the original Persona 5 in March and April of 2017, as an American, a few months after the 2016 election and into the term of our then president. It felt painfully timely. A quick calendar google early on indicated that the game's 20XX was almost certainly 2016, and the closer our plot got to the in-game November leadup to an election destined to be dominated by a foul and charming man full of corruption and buoyed up by his own cult of personality, the more I wanted to laugh/cry. It felt timely. It felt important. It felt right.

I went through Royal (in LP form on youtube, not having a platform to play it on) in summer of 2020, with a hook full of face masks by my front door and protests about racial tension and local policing that occasionally turned into not-quite-riots close enough to hear at night if I opened the windows of my apartment. The parts of the game that I remembered felt as prescient and meaningful as ever, if not even more so. The new parts felt baffling. Every single evil in the game felt utterly, painfully real, from the opening moments of police brutality to the idea of a country led by a guy who probably would use his secret illegitimate teenage son as a magical assassin if the opportunity presented itself and he thought he could get away with it. Yaldabaoth as the cumulative despair of an entire population who just wanted somebody to take over and make things be okay--yes, yes, god, in summer of 2020? With streets full of people refusing to wear masks and streets full of people desperate for change? Of course. Of course that holy grail of safety should be enticing. Of course it should be terrifying.

And then Maruki. Maruki, who was just so far outside the scope of anything I could relate to the rest of the game or my own life. Because every single other villain in the rest of Persona is real. From the petty pandering principal to the human-trafficking mob boss. The corrupt politicians and the manmade god of cultural desire for stability. And this game was trying to tell me that the very biggest threat of all of them, the thing that was worse than the collective force of all society agreeing to let this happen because succumbing was easier than fighting back--that the very biggest threat of all was that the world could be taken over by some random nobody's misguided attempts to help?

No. Fuck no. I don't buy it. Because god, yes, I have seen the pain and damage done on a tiny and personal and very real level by the tight-fisted control of someone trying to help, it never looked like this. Not some ascended god of a bad therapist. All the threats to the world, and that's the one I'm supposed to take seriously? This one man is more of a threat than the fundamental human willingness to be controlled?

Sorry, but no. Not for me. Not in this game. Not in this real-life cyberpunk dystopian apocalypse.

#c plays persona #driveby meta attack #p5 royal spoilers #p5 strikers spoilers #holy crap I did it #I actually wrote a semicoherent essay of a length I'm willing to put on Tumblr #about my problems with this game #I have been trying on and off for MONTHS #I wanted to like Royal SO BADLY #it makes me SO UPSET #anyway #now back to your regularly scheduled Hades blogging #asked and answered #Anonymous

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phoebehalliwell · 3 years

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Prue gets together with Mitch (reincarnated Micah) and lives. How does their relationship evolve over the rest of the series?

okay so fr because like i've been thinking about this I've Been Thinking About This. WHY give us that connection if we're not gonna do anything with it??? WHY make it worse my literally giving us the guy THE EXACT SAME GUY and then never mention him again What is the motive?????? okay okay okay so here's what i'd do: 2.6 undercut lmao

because prue has really only had two boyfriends in the series so far: andy & jack (bane doesn't count as he was more of a tryst and also he's in jail :'( could have been fun tho! he could have sacrificed himself for somebody else and become a whitelighter he already knows the ins and outs of the underworld like. could have been something there. but as they were only together twice, once when prue was posing as a hitwoman and then again when he kidnapped her, he, tragically, does not him boyfriend status.) so here me out andy is a cop he represents protection and familial ties / ties to the past (prue's childhood best friend, already friends with the sisters, he's also a third generation cop so like there's that too). he represents prue's early stage, where she feels like she has to be the protector of the whole family, of which she is basically the matriarch. she doesn't get to have fun, she has to protect her sisters and now the whole world, and her past is having some very real effects on her life right now. that's her andy era.

jack era is at buckland's, it's her breadwinning era. we even saw in morality bites (which, i am once again bringing up, is fake) that she goes on to be superbillionaire whatever. so jack kind represents professional ambitions, amplified by the fact that the fonet also served as a blatant metaphor for their relationship (prue, the world is made up of almost perfect. it's nothing but near misses and necessary compromises. in this case, i think we got a little bit of both. that's okay, i know how you feel. i'm just asking you not to look so close. nothing bears up under that kind of scrutiny. are you talking about the monet? yeah, that too.) and that their relationship ends when she decided to leave bucklands to pursue a career in photography.

so now we enter season three, which is prue's artist era, her passionate like zeal for life era she finally seems to have a weight lifted off her shoulder for the first time in a long time like you can tell she like. trusts her sisters more than she ever has before she sees them in a new light and knows that they are strong and smart and independent and she doesn't need to protect them every waking hour. this era's for prue. so i'm pitching that micah mirrors this by being an artist, too. i wouldn't say the same medium (photography) as prue because like. prue's definitely someone who would compare herself to him just like subconsciously constantly that's the type of woman she is, but maybe like a painter. not a writer because they're all insufferable. lmao 🤙🤙. but someone who lives in a hella nice studio type loft filled with art and just like life. passion. something prue hasn't really allowed herself in like. a hot minute. and i would make micah (mitch??) a witch. haha it rhymes. scratch that i'd make him a warlock. or a darklighter i'm cashing in my half-darklighter character. it's mitch now. idk how this would fit into phole narrative foils maybe or we scrap phole but they're really coming from two different perspectives where cole is entering the joint like i am evil and here to murder and then he catches feelings whereas mitch would be like yes i have some dark past but i'm not letting it define me bonus points is prue is able to piece together the clues of his origin just by looking at his paintings. this also adds to the rift between prue and phoebe on prue's cole stance like oh your evil boyfriend is fine but mine, for some reason, is still evil? yes. oh you know what we keep the source's heir in this au let me continue.

instead of introducing mitch in p3 because like WHAT WAS THAT, we instead, parallel their first meeting. mitch's origin story is

his mom was a future whitelighter knocked up by a darklighter this was not intentional on anyone's part mom wasn't trying to become mom dad wasn't trying to become dad Nor did dad know mom was a future whitelighter. because well he's not great at being a darklighter in spite of maybe being like the. head darklighter's son he's like the fucked up son who doesn't wanna run things. he doesn't know he has a kid!! until something something an oracle or something tells him he has a son But he can't find mom because she's cloaked by her whitelighter. mom dies doing something heroic idk (maybe mom was a firefighter??) and then cloaking on mitch is lifted when he's in his late teens his dad finds him his dad is now like proper leader of the darklighter clan and is trying to bring mitch into the fold which initially he is game for because mitch has all these powers black orbing touch of death that he doesn't understand and finally a community to explain that to him! he gets a crossbow (which is lit) but um. quickly catches on to how blatantly evil the whole thing is. he's secretly teamed up with some whitelighters (not his mom tho. friends of his mom, but he's not allowed to see her :'/ ) to help get other halflings like him out and cloaked.

leo's been taken hostage by the darklighter something something something a plot a plot a plot we do some solid pleo angst we maybe have cole drop some thinly veiled advice about the underworld without coming out as a demon, something that will help the sisters later. but what's really important here is they're sneaking through the underworld maybe they've been split up and they need to find leo so either they're looking for him Or they're looking for a darklighter to interrogate. and prue hears shifting behind a rock and goes over to look and it's mitch and some kid and the kid immediately summons his crossbow but mitch knocks it away just like prue did with piper in the past and piper's like prue u see anything and she's like no nothing here and then mitch and the kid blackorb away which just leaves prue with this sinking feeling like what the fuck?? because. what the fuck??? a) that was the same guy from puritan times and b) she still feels the same she felt back then and c) it's clear he does do but d) --and this is the crucial one-- D) he's fucking evil????? so blah blah blah we save leo but now prue is left with one crucial question what the fuck is going on?

so what she's gonna do is research the town the colony whatever that melinda warren was born in she astral projects to salem or whatever and steals. maybe the mask mitch wore at the party she recognizes it from all hallows eve. and she brings that home and scrys with it. and she finds him!! and um bonus points looking at his place she sees he's an alum of the college she went to because backstory!! when prue was in college back when she was still pursuing photography before grams got sick, they had met before! once before, at a party, and it was this instant spark, this instant connection, but then something pulled them apart be it one of them was already in a relationship or their ride was leaving something but like. again! this connection has always been there. so like blah blah blah prue has broken into mitch's place she sees their college connection she sees his art and starts to pull together a life story he sees maybe some paperwork that just says like in bold letters like saving kids: good person activities something real obvious you know and that's Right Next To his crossbow. ~juxtaposition~ so like. what the fuck is this. but whatever that'll be dealt with later she has to get to work! but!! at the magazine her boss is like hey prue some guy came by here earlier asking for you you know [description of mitch], [description of mitch], [description of mitch], you know him? and prue's like ummmmmmmm. no. ?. and her boss is like ?? i don't really care. photography! but now she knows that while she's been digging up on him, he's been doing the same with her. so that night at p3 prue's like okay i've got to come clean with u guys remember micah and phoebe's like oh yeah that hottie from the past who was like . spiritually in love with you? and prue's like yeah i found him. and piper and phoebe are like 🤗🥳😃 and prue's like. and he's a darklighter. and piper and phoebe are like 😳😶👎 and prue's like yeah remember when like we were trying to save leo and you asked me if i saw something? well i did. it was him and and this kid and i think he was trying to save him and phoebe's like wait you think? and prue's like well i mean yeah phoebe like. it was like the same thing when he saved us in the 1700s. and phoebe's like well no because we're good witches and he saved us you saved a darklighter? and prue's like he's more than that phoebe and phoebe's like but how can you know (flash forward to her sparing cole in about three episodes and being like hmm 😐 those words are gonna bite me in the ass).

the point is they're hashing it out phoebe's devil on the left and piper's trying to be angel on the right But he is in the clan that kidnapped her husband so like..... but prue is explaining the good person papers she found on his desk, the fact that she went to college with him, she's like. she thinks he's only half darklighter and he's helping others like him and piper phoebe are like ....................do you just want him to be half darklighter and helping others like him but prue's not even listening but look who's coming down the stairs!! so she beelines over and phoebe's about to follow but piper holds her back bc wait let this play out they'll watch from afar and piper will freeze the room if she has to.

and something something something blah blah blah they tal and there's this tense like. what now. because like. What Now? you're evil and i'm a charmed one but this invisible string pulling me here whether i want it too or not. and i think prue kinda shifts back into her earlier seasons self where. it's family above all else. like i need you to steer clear because if i see you again i will vanquish you. and mitch knows she's bluffing. because he know that if he tried, even if he really wanted to, he couldn't harm a hair on her head. and it's clear she's like. suffering from the same ailment so to speak.

something something something maybe they have a couple quick brushes but not actual meetings And Then we get another time travel/past life episode where!! as it turns out. prue and mitch r soulmates cursed by a spurned lover to always be on opposite sides. meanwhile we just got cole demon reveal/cole's still alive reveal so prue's like hi mitch you're. evil. evil-adjacent. what do you know about belthazor/cole turner. and mitch does his due diligence and like. the stuff on belthazor is appalling. genuinely terrifying. but then there's some stuff on cole turner that's like kinda okay. this is were mitch does is big tragic backstory reveal, kids born of dark magic falling in with the wrong crowd blah blah blah and this kind of. supports our theory moving forward it's not really a theory. our endgame moving forward of healthy!cole. also prue and mitch still have not gotten together through all of this in spite of the cosmic pull and the past evidence of like. soulmatism. because they're both a bit too pragmatic they both think it's kind of a lost cause. blah blah blah pining we give prue a mini love interest here someone to keep her mind off mitch and we do make him good. kind, attentive, caring, smart, hot, but like. it's so painfully obvious she's not all in. so he calls it off. heart to heart with piper because piper's like hi you're in love. and prue's like yeah with a doomed relationship i think i'd rather not and piper's like hello you're talking to the queen of doomed relationships you wanna know the secret? and prue's like yes :( and piper's like just go for it. the time you have together is. it's better than anything else you'll ever have. there's gonna be heartbreak, but hell there's always gonna be heartbreak in the halliwell family. wouldn't you rather spend your time with someone you love?

something something something leo/mitch/cole buddy episode b plot. leo/mitch/cole/DARRYL buddy episode b plot. :D. prue and micah get their big first kiss in a very tv show build up way my heart is saying new years and all the fireworks go off around them.

we're bringing in paige because i love her she's first introduced by some seer oracle whatever as your other sister and the girls are like respectfully, bullshit. but micah's like hey......... she's half whitelighter. because he can sense those kind of things, being a darklighter. and piper and leo are like patty's affair....................... and all the pieces are falling together and in this one. paige either gets a witch love interest a cupid love interest or we keep henry because fwiw i do really like mortal love interests. if we do do the witch love interest it won't be richard i love him to piece i do but he sucks <3. source!cole time.

oh we introduce paige thru mitch trying to help one of his kids and that lands him at social services.

source!cole. idk what happens here but like. using our nifty-difty tool box the squad has been assembling over the years helping all of these wayward souls born from evil, things mostly work out fine. source's heir is born, a girl, but since prue isn't dead her name is either colette or victoria. depends if cole died or not.

prue moved out at some point and lives in a hella nice studio apartment with mitch they r both artists (who the fuck is paying for that?) phoebe moves back in the manor post-source fiasco paige moves in the manor but spends a lot of time with her sister prue and soon to be brother in law (??) mitch. (paige is like fr dude when are you gonna pop the question and mitch is like woahhhh pump the break because paige is new here and when she saw them she's like oh. married couple. but then they're not married. engaged? nope. no just loosely dating? okay. lame. bad idea. but as it turns out one of them always dies so they're just trying to avoid that for as long as possible) but paige spends a lot of time at pritch's place because not only is it The Art Zone it's also the rehabilitating kids zone, of which paige is a grand help. prue jokes about how much paige reminds her of phoebe as a kid, and since we're already muddying the timeline, we're having paige enter and solid advice columnist, married phoebe and paige is like haha what the fuck??

source's heir born twice blessed born magic school located under the charmed & co squad becomes integrated with children born of all magic and like our season 8 wrap up saccharine finale is like how magic has reached a new era of peace n understanding. <3

#its stream of consciousness plot pitch time again!! idk if i love it if i'm sold on it #i might come back with an entirely separate mitch pitch #because there's really nothing there the world is my oyster at this point #but i think this could be a fun one #charmed #prue x micah #💌#margaretsminiessays

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sillyfudgemonkeys · 4 years

Note

K now you got me curious about that. I kinda assumed P5MC would’ve been stronger then P4 MC (P3MC beats them both no doubt from me) so why do you say that P4MC is stronger?

Was gonna make a separate post when I had time but now is a time as any XU (btw I still dunno why people think P5MC is stronger, is it cause of the gym? His Phantom Thieving? The gun? Stanael’s gun? The Yaldy scene? I really wanna read people’s reasons but I have a feeling it’s those and.....if that’s it then no one is paying attention to poor P4MC then ;w;)

So that post was more lore driven than gameplay driven just a heads up (gameplay it’s a lot more complicated because we have to look at like.....a bunch of different entries and lay down ground rules for those, cause like P3P!MC/FeMC vs P4MC vs P5MC is.....a lot more fair considering the former can’t use fusions due to them being items....assuming we can’t use items). Just want to clarify before I explain what I mean is lore wise (I’ll compare the Personas down below but I’ll try to keep it from crossing to much into the gameplay meta line). And this is excluding Royal/Scramble (cause....not everyone knows that stuff yet, and I need to reevaluate things myself and I just haven’t been able to yet XU). But man, people really do underestimate P4MC ;w;

Now then, without Personas they are probably about even, like if they got into a fist fight they could probably end in a tie (but my money is still on P4MC if I had to choose cause he gets back up). P4MC seems to be taller (by a few in) and a more buff build, while P5MC is more of a slim build (but is probs more agile). And this is regardless if they are in the Metaverse, TV World, or the Real World (cause he should get an outfit in the Metaverse, plus Personas seem to give the user great physical strength regardless if it’s a Metaverse setting or not). That being said, P5MC does have akido(?), but it’s self trained and that’s if he goes to the gym. But, P4MC trains with Chie (which he probably did cause they all probs maxed their SLs/CoOps, but Ren might not have gone to the gym), and also stays in shape thanks to 1) fighting Shadows and 2) his sports club SL (this is assuming we are only looking at their school time selves, Adult!P4MC is unknown atm), so it’s not like he’s out of shape himself. P4MC also has crazier and bigger fish too (also needed to complete an SL), so that could be deemed as a work out compared to P5MC’s fishing.

If we’re looking at initial Personas (which is what they are most likely gonna run with cause of how the spinoffs handle P4/5), P4MC has the upper hand thanks to resisting Dark (aka curse) (btw Minato/Hamu would probs go down first in an initial only Persona fight, cause they’d be weak to P5MC and then P4MC could/would probs beat P5MC thanks to resisting the other’s attack).

Ultimate Persona is a bit more....I wouldn’t say even, but there’s strengths and weaknesses to both sides. Satanael has the upper hand with a “survive one attack” ability, resists everything but almighty, heatriser, and can harm INO via physical (and maaaaybe psy/nuke...it’s unclear how Atlus wants to treat INO in this regard). INO has better stats (and can achieve better stats than Satanael), can deal BIG almighty damage (thanks to mine charge, Satanael doesn’t have a charge), and while he doesn’t resist Light/Dark/Alimighty he does have a big evasion ability. I’d say INO could also be hit by PSY and Nuke thanks to PQ2 (which still makes no sense???? why didn’t they add resist in those categories to all the other ult Personas ??? XP) but P5R shows INO resisting those now so we gonna go with that....because that makes more sense (it makes sense for them to resist Psy and Nuke because they resist all elemental damage but since those didn’t exist, you could assume they could resist it cause it falls under elemental damage...but PQ2 fudges it up for some reason XP), I mean P5R also made him more of a beast since it seems like INO resists Phys too but I won’t include that. I mean if you wanna say he can be hit by Nuke fine, one more thing INO can be hit with....BUT INO also has a ult attack and Satanael doesn’t. Which, while Satanael and INO could be going toe to toe for awhile, INO might be able to deliver the final blow that Satanael can’t.

Which leads into why....P4MC should win. He’s just shown he’s stronger in his stories. He wins because of his own power that made him stronger. P5MC doesn’t win via his own power. He wins because he receives outside help more often than not (which isn’t bad, I’m not saying having help is bad, but in a hypothetical 1v1....it doesn’t bode well for him). Against Yaldy he got a freaking buff from the cognitive world....A TEMP BUFF MIND YOU! THANKS TO COGNITION! It’s such BS! Yes, P3/4MC they received their power because of their bonds, their connections, MC’s are their friends’ power as much as they are power for the MC’s. P3/4MC could only get that strong because of their friends. It’s because of their own effort and will to protect the ones they care about is the reason they win......P5MC it’s because of the public cheering for them for like 5 min for a temp buff cause of cognition (and it def doesn’t continue to last cause of how the meter goes down to 50% later irl). Even with cognition on P5MC’s side, it’s probably not a whole lot to actually do anything beneficial for him like with Yaldy. P3/4 is about power of friendship and relationships. P5 is about the power of convenience and plot devices. Buncha bullshit that he gets handed the World Arcana like that, not even his own power saved the world (he doesn’t even have a World Arcana Persona! No one ever talks about that what’s P5MC’s World Persona?! P4 has INO, P3 has a finger 8U What’s P5′s????)

There’s also the fact P4MC can use Myriads of Truth outside of Izanami, and it can hurt people outside of her too (we know this thanks to Arena). Satanael can’t use his Sinful Shell (at least at this point in time, watch Atlus jk my post when Arena 3 comes out, I’m already prepared for it >8V I bet Atlus’ reason won’t even make sense because->) because it’s only used in the 100% cognition scene! Satanael can only be that powerful and can only use that move thanks to cognition! But you see, P4MC is Mr. Bond Master, he’s strong cause of his bonds, every handshake with a new person=him getting more powerful (half jk). 8U But this drive also shows that even if he loses a fight, he gets right back up because he wants to protect his friends (as seen post-Liz fight in Liz’s route in Arena). Like this is a big thing P4MC has that I think people overlook, this bastard has A LOT of willpower. Whenever that word is brought up, only Tatsuya (you know defying time and reality to keep his memories) and P3MCs (staying alive for like two months to keep their promise) are ever mentioned (and don’t get me wrong, those are amazing feats too! All three/four, FeMC/P3MC are technically two people, of these people deserve the top 3 will power spot), but gd P4MC has it too. After getting his ass handed to him by Liz, he got right back up and was like “round two!” and power starts to flow through him that it takes Liz aback! Or his most amazing feat, coming back from the freaking underworld (aka basically death), just will his ass right back in front of Izanami and then Izanami is unable to freaking kill him (he hangs onto 1 HP like a boss, hell if he can do this against P3MC it’s possible for him to even come out on top of that fight). Izanami literally says “can the will of so few surpass that of all mankind?!” His (and IT’s) determination is one that surpasses all of mankind! Compare that to P5MC, who defeated Yaldy because of his bond with his CoOps-oh wait no it’s cause of a BS temp power buff the public gave him my mistake. P3/4: “We know what’s best for mankind! And it’s not freaking death! Our will power will surpass mankind!” P5: “Y-yeah same! But we’re gonna not succeed on our own and get bailed out by the public, only for them to half revert back to their same old ways despite....changing for us for a hot second...wait what?”

P4MC (depending on where in the timeline we have him and P5MC facing off), he’s had more experience too. Not only has he beaten 7ish gods/god avatars (to P5MC’s.......looking at all the P5 entries and without spoilers....possibly 3ish/4ish gods/godly avatars/god level stuff), he’s also faced off with 2 robots and what is basically a super soldier (aka Sho), he’s also fought against a lot of SEES who are seasoned fighters and had ult personas vs his initial persona (and won in some cases, or held his own A LOT, depends on the timeline/route). Oh and has fought more VR people/the VR people more times (P4/G, PQ1, PQ2, and...maybe Arena/Ultimax depends on the route). While P5 is catching up (kinda, we aren’t comparing how a lot of those final battles were won with the final blow), P4MC still has the most experience.

The only way P5MC can win if it’s 1V4+, P5MC has access to the VR and can use multiple Personas and P4MC can’t, P5MC has 100% cognition on (not possible, and would be a real ass pull), P4MC is crippled beyond belief (even then I’d still expect him to win cause he doesn’t give up).

So yeah. P4MC has more willpower, his Personas seem to have an advantage (either elemental advantage with initial, or stat+final blow for Ult), and doesn’t get up/gets right back up after a beating (so even if P5MC gets P4MC down to 0 hp, its possible P4MC will get right back up without the need of a skill like P5MC).

That being said I need to reevaluate some stuff with Royal. I still think P4MC is stronger tho (but I think P3MCs are the strongest, that being said P4/5MC haven’t been put in a situation where they need to die to protect everyone, aka get the universe arcana, so I wouldn’t 100% count them out because I think P4/5MC have the potential to go as far as the P3MCs if need be...well....def P4MC.....not sure about P5MC he still needs to prove himself imo).

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characteroulette · 5 years

Text

Hey PQ was pretty good!

so I’m having trouble getting into PQ2 because of several factors, so I thought I’d write a half-think piece, half-essay on why I think the first PQ gets more flak than it deserves. So here’s that.

------

I genuinely don't understand why, when talking about Persona Q, people are always saying things along the lines of, "The gameplay was good, but the characters were trite and the story wasn't that great." Like, as a fan of the Persona series, I genuinely don't understand that assessment.

Not saying PQ is flawless, oh no. There are PLENTY of things in PQ that I have an axe to grind with (the small door scene with the P4 gang, for one), but the overall story? The characters? They're both fine. Good, even, dare I say. And here's my argument as to why:

The returning Persona series characters (from 3 and 4) in PQ do a good job of representing their games and their own personalities, even if a little more light-hearted than their source material,

AND

The story is genuinely in-line with the rest of the Persona/SMT series, even if it ultimately doesn't matter due to time shenanigans (and I'm okay with that).

These are my two points. Just those two. Because these are the two most contested parts of PQ, as far as I can hear, since we all agree that the gameplay is the real breadwinner here hahaha

Anyway.

First, let's talk about the returning characters, since they seem to be the ones who matter most. The P4 cast are generally less griped about (save Chie and Teddie) and I believe this is largely due to the brighter, more hopeful tone of P4 as a whole. (Aaand, in my opinion, they're done a MUCH BIGGER disservice in the Arena games, but no one ever talks about that so let's not bother with those right now.)

P4 was a game about making friends, the hijinx that come from that, and finding the truth about a string of murders and confronting the worst parts of yourself in a harsher world in the process! And it executes this with the appropriate amount of balance between serious moments and comedic relief. The theme colour for the whole game is bright yellow/gold, a happier and more friendly colour which helps remind you that this game is all in good fun.

(Side note here: I honestly think that P5 really failed in this respect, despite my liking its tone slightly more. I just personally like darker-themed games, but P5 was a little too dark and oppressive right out the gate, with hardly a friendly face, which helps make your gradually growing group of friends much more appreciated but also a harder atmosphere for jokes to really land well. Most of the 'funny' sequences felt very undeserved and really dragged because uh guys we literally just fought a rapist, an abusive father figure, and some other fucked-up shit. Can we please acknowledge that a bit more instead of pretending it never happened by laughing at the expense of Ann's autonomy of her body? Especially when she was a target of said rapist??) But that's its own discussion for later.

Really, the fact that most of the P4 gang get out of this with little criticism shows how accepted their caricatures have become. I guess? At least, except for Teddie and Chie.

Teddie being a wannabe Casanova must've been a huge hit with the Japanese audience, because it's just the hill he's going to die on for the writers. There was more to Teddie than his hitting on the girls in P4, believe it or not! (And there's a whole thing about it being brought on by him mimicking the type of behaviour he saw Yukiko's shadow exhibiting, which has a lot of really interesting undertones, but it makes him more swappable with Junpei, so whatever, I guess.) Meanwhile, Chie's not as meat-crazy, either, but I guess it's a better trait for them to roll with than her (cut in the translation) glossed-over sexism.

Both work fine, however, and aren't really too annoying enough to be that egregious. (Though they both go right up to the line sometimes. Teddie more so, but none of the girls playing along really helps show how gross his actions are. Most of the time.)

No, the real complaints I see directed at the characters being 'too cartoonish' are usually reserved for the P3 gang.

P3 is, really, such a bizarre game to go back to now when compared to its two successors. It's dark and hopeless, like P5, but formulaic and mystery, like P4. It's actually a natural progression when looking at its two/three older siblings (both P2s are bleak. As. Hell!), but, at least to me, it's the odd duck of the bunch, being the first to implement this winning formula of being caught in a time limit of a school year and managing spending time exploring this other world. It adds Social Links and social stats with this new time limit and this idea that the Persona and Shadows you fight don't just happen out on the streets in 'normal' circumstances for everyone to see. It pretty much went from an RPG to a management game with RPG elements.

And its emotional, impactful story, like P5, had a lot of tonal whiplash due to the attempts at comedy!

I feel like a lot of people forget this about P3 (and maybe I think more about it because I haven't actually beaten the whole game yet myself), but the story is actually a goddamn mess of tonal confusion. You got kids shooting themselves in the heads and a Social Link dealing with a classmate's crush on his teacher. You got wacky foreign exchange student and kids taking experimental drugs to suppress their Persona and slowly poisoning themselves to death as a side effect. The protagonist is an orphan who lost his parents in a huge, plot-relevant accident... But he's able to date every single girl at the same time and be the most wish fulfillment charming guy if the player so desires.

P3 being messy isn't a bad thing. P4, P5, and even P2 and PQ are all a little messy in their own rights, too. But because P3 was a lot of fans' first in the series, and PQ is just a spin-off, it gets way more flak for this than I feel it deserves.

(I mean, hey. Both P3 and P4 have those classic anime scenes of the boys walking in on the girls while at a hot springs. All PQ's got is an awkward group date scene and the implication that Yosuke and Kanji kissed each other while getting knocked out.) (They all. Have. Problems.)

And I know a lot of this comes down to personal preference. I'm not saying you're wrong for liking P3 or P4 more than PQ. I'm just saying I feel like PQ is often wrongly accused of being worse and less well-written when, really, they're all pretty much on par with each other. (And someone on the team really doesn't understand how to handle large casts of characters sharing the same space...)

But, personally, from everything I've seen from P3, I don't like the way most of the characters get presented to me in the source material. Junpei is way more insufferable in P3 than in PQ and Yukari is way more uninteresting in P3 than in PQ. Really, PQ helped me appreciate these characters more than P3 itself did. And, yes, they're more funny when they're trying to be, too. Because PQ is set up better for comedy than the 'remember you are mortal' tone of P3.

(Which makes dramatic moments hit all the harder when they happen) HEY check that segue! It's time to talk about the story and the two original characters of the game!

So, second point: people say the story isn't very good. To which I wanna ask... "Did you stop playing before defeating the fourth Boss?" Because it really sounds like, to me, everyone who says that didn't actually finish the game and reach all that juicy character development that happens for both sides around the fourth dungeon, where all the issues they've been building up (like Yukari's issue with Mitsuru for the P3 side and Kanji and Ken's awkwardness in the P4 side) start getting resolved in a satisfying way. And it comes with a reveal for the two characters we've been getting to know, Zen and Rei, as well.

(And, from here on in, there be spoilers. You've been warned.)

The two new characters to this game are Zen and Rei, who were in this place before the P3 or P4 gangs were called to the scene. Zen is quiet and a bit unsettlingly dense, but devoted to Rei, who is bubbly and full of life, but terrified of the dungeons you have to traverse. The two have been in this place for (what's implied to be) a very long time and enlist the help of the P3 and P4 teams in order to find a way out through defeating the bosses of each Labyrinth/dungeon. Simple enough, as it also helps the P3 and P4 team's goal of getting out. With each new dungeon, it feels more and more like something about Zen and Rei aren't quite right, but the length of the dungeon and all the team chats help you put it out of your mind each time. Rei can even get kinda annoying with her loudness and big appetite if you don't find her cute (which: how dare you. But yeah, I get it).

And then, at the end of a fiery festival fourth dungeon, you find yourself in a dark tomb at the bottom level. The boss awaiting you is Rei's shadow (a nice callback to the way P4 works) whom she still doesn't accept after you defeat it.

All the locks are gone and the P3 and P4 teams can return to their worlds if they wanted. Except Rei gets kidnapped after Zen reveals that Rei has been dead all along and it was him who trapped them here. It was he who created this place and even he who called both teams here.

And this was a plot twist that I friggin' loved.

It definitely had more impact on me because Zen and Rei easily became my favourites out of the whole cast, to the point of having them on my team for the whole game, but to find out such a fucked up twist is wild! (Seriously! Go watch the cutscene and tell me it isn't super fucked up!) You can say the P3 and P4 twists were shocking (or P5s I guess), but for my money, this is the best reversal of expectations I'd ever seen in a Persona game. In any game, really!

Zen was, in effect, the villain the whole time. His true identity as Chronos, God of time, makes sense with displacing the teams from their own times and the time here being erased once you reach the end. His own power that he sealed away growing impatient and taking matters into its own hands by drawing the teams to this haven displaced from time also makes perfect sense! And the entire climb through the last dungeon is his redemption arc and it makes for a super emotionally investing final dungeon all the way. (Which is great, because I hate every single one of the enemies that appear in this god-forsaken place.) (Even P4 and P5 can't really boast that, I felt very little investment through Izanami's dungeon and Baldabaoth's distortion.)

Of course, if you found Zen and Rei to be annoying and pointless, I can see how this would fall flat for you. The fact that they hinged such an emotional climax on these new characters, characters that don't even matter outside of this game!, was such a risky move. Especially when you consider this is just a fanservice game made basically under the promise of seeing the P3 team interact with the P4 team. But, for me, it really paid off.

And whatever complaints you had with the P3 or P4 characters, I feel like the resolutions to those character moments I mentioned earlier get explored even further during the climb through the final dungeon. From the P3 gang coming together to finally communicate with one another to the P4 gang reconfirming their bonds with one another, it's a really investing and emotional journey. I do wish the writing had been this tight and impactful through more of the game, but I believe it's worth it in the end.

Perhaps this moment comes too late in the game, though. I can definitely see others giving up before reaching this point due to the repetitive nature of the dungeons and the tidbits of character development that are meant to build up to this moment that can be too sparsely placed. (But, really, it's the same from P3 to P5, Social Links don't really add much variety when they can be just as repetitive and boring, just saying. Especially when you get caught in waiting to rank up hell, ugh.) For me, however, this really sealed the deal on this game being an incredible experience that I adored from start to finish. 7/10. Final score.

....

(7 outta 10?? Not perfect??) Well, it's not perfect. Japan's blatant homophobia and sexism really ruins a lot of scenes for me. I'm super salty especially about how the fake marriage scenes are handled so differently from the girl choices to the boy choices. (But you just argued in its favour for 2000 words!) Listen. ALL the Persona games wouldn't receive perfect scores for me for this aspect alone. There are a lot of other factors as well, but they vary from title to title and PQ in particular is guilty of spending too much time focusing on Teddie and Junpei being girl-crazy. And Marie is in this game more than she really should be. UGH.

But I digress.

In conclusion, this game's story and characters are better than most give it credit for. Hopefully, my argument helped you see why I believe this and why I think claiming that both aspects are just 'bad' is lazy.

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velvetroom--imagines · 7 years

Note

First off, it's nice to see another imagine blog. I really enjoy your writing so far and wanted to tell you good luck with your blog ^^!! Can I ask for a imagine of the protags from P3, 4, and 5 in a love square with the same crush? Thought that would look pretty funny since they all would be trying to social link them.

I took way too long with this because so many ideas for this imagine came up.I was halfway through writing an actual oneshot when I realized I may never finish it. I probably wrote way too far than intended. I seriously love this idea too much ;-; Please send more asks about P3/P4/P5 mashing in together. I could’ve gone on and on about this, but I’m afraid it would be too long and this would’ve been overdue.

Minato/Yu/Akira in love with the Same Person HC

Mentions of Spoilers of all 3 Games

Goodness, just what kind ofmess did you get into?

Being the center of these boys isgoing to be a hassle. It’s just a recipe for either disaster or a veryfulfilling relationship.

For a quick backstory, you werefirst involved in the world of Personas during P3. For the sake of this story,Minato just falls into a coma. Through the previous games,you knew that Shadows existed but didn’t have the right circumstances to fightwith them.

Initially, you were in Tokyo forschooling and by then, you had become fairly acquainted with Akira Kurusu. Itwas no secret to you that he was the Phantom Thief ever since you foundyourself in the Metaverse. You never did tell him how you managed to survive inthere for a long time. Months passed, and it was still left unexplained.

You were having a quick snack with Akira in the morning, waiting for him to finish brewing coffee. He had been itching to ask you for a date at the Seaside Park for ages, and he finally had enough charm to do it. Looking at you straight in the eyes, he took in a breath. “Hey, S/O, what do you think about going to the Seaside Park with—”

Suddenly, some kid with a silver bowl haircut comes into Leblanc. ”How may I help you–”

“S/O, is that you?”

just who interrupted my proposal?

That was exactly how this little started, quietly and dangerously.

After you introduced Yu and Akira to each other, the atmosphere was already tense.

Yu wasn’t upset, but found this situation to be a challenge to your heart. Akira, on the other hand, was hoping he had enough Charm to keep himself composed. “Oh, so you’re the one who’s been looking after S/O?” Yu asked with a small smile. Mirroring his expression, Akira nodded. “I’m so glad that they have such a nice friend.”

Obviously, Akira wasn’t going to let this Inaba Guy stop him from asking you out. After regaining confidence, he looks at you. “S/O, I was wondering if you would like to come to Seaside Park with me.”

“… Of course, I’d come! Can we bring Yu with us?”

Ah, look at that little smirk on Yu’s face.

“I haven’t seen him in a long time, Akira.” The Phantom Thief couldn’t deny you with that small pout on your lips. “Fine.”

Yu was very lucky indeed. How could we not forget how confident he was after the King’s Game Incident? He had a small crush on you during his stay in Inaba. However, your paths were forced to split up at the end of the year. While you two even exchange numbers, it would never compare to being able to see you in person.

On the way to the Central Street in Shibuya, there was a large crowd. Akira and Yu would try and get you to hold hands with them, but it would often end in silent arguments between the boys. Whenever you would look back, they would always be smiling at each other. You couldn’t help but notice Akira’s lip twitch out of irritation.

Somehow, they were too busy glaring at each other to notice you got lost in the crowd.

“Well, I’ve got the Knowledge to impress her.”

“Akira, is that so? At least I have maximum Charm to win this little game of ours. What do you think, S/O? …S/O?”

This was one of the only moments when Yu and Akira would chill out. They suddenly start looking all over the street to find you. Deep down their calm faces, they were freaking out. What if you got kidnapped or hurt?

Little did they know that someone else had you in their grasp.

Sitting down on the pavement, the two boys looked at each other in desperation. They knew that they were in big trouble if they couldn’t find you. Akira glanced at Yu, seemingly apologetic. “I think we got off on the wrong foot.”

The silver haired man looked equally as apologetic. “It was partly my fault. I’m sorry.” He sighed, hanging his head low. “Man, if that guy found out I let this happen, we’ll never get out alive.” Akira looked at him in confusion. “Who’s that guy?”

“… We meet again.”

Shivers ran up the two protagonists’ spines as the chilly voice processed through their ears. Yu couldn’t help but pale, recognizing the voice.

You stood beside a shorter blue haired man, clinging onto his arm for dear life. You smiled at the two boys. “This is Minato, my friend from Iwatodai. Don’t you remember him, Yu?”

God, have mercy on Akira.

Minato looked at you with a gentle gaze before nodding. “I believe we have met before. Who is this?”

After introducing everyone to each other, Akira couldn’t help but feel a click. Something just felt odd about these people, sensing some familiar energy within them.

Introduction’s over, now with the General HCs.

Akira would be the most cautious and fidgety. Not only are they older, but they’ve known S/O way before he did. Towards Yu, he would be less tense. He sees Yu has a playful guy, sly but somewhat harmless. Minato was a different case, similarly to an overprotective brother. He wouldn’t show it, but he is a bit scared of him. Akira wouldn’t dare play an cheeky tricks on the eldest.

Yu wouldn’t be tense around these two. He takes this situation very lightly, and doesn’t really give a fuck. He’s in for the fun, and isn’t up for breaking hearts. He treats Akira as a little sibling, and treats Minato as a boss. Rather than disliking the two, he actually becomes fond of them. He loves teasing both of them, though.

Minato was somewhat aloof to this whole situation. He’s already used to Yu’s weirdness. He’s much more interested in Akira’s reasons of liking S/O, but it doesn’t matter. He’s sticking around to make sure Y/N doesn’t get hurt because of these two.

This love square would consist of a lot of rivalries. Unknowingly, they would start up ‘friendly’ arguments about their stats. Akira does the best in intelligence, Yu is good at charming others while Minato wins when it comes to Guts.

Divided, it becomes a war zone. Each of the three would never go far to using violence, but they will try to annoy each other in subtle ways.

Yu is fond of sabotaging dates with his presence, often making situations awkward. Whenever you are on dates with another Protagonist, he would pop up out of nowhere. “Me? I’m just shopping for clothes. Yes, it’s perfectly normal for people to buy clothes at a beach, thank you very much.”

Akira looks innocent on the outside, but that small smile is just a front. Luckily for him, the S/O comes to Leblanc on a regular basis. If any of the other guys came with her, he wouldn’t hesitate on adding an extra spoonful of salt or pepper into their coffee. Like Yu, he may also sabotage dates with his presence. Sometimes, he would team up with Yu to bother Minato. “Is that a bit too sweet? Oops, I thought the curry would taste better with sugar.”

Minato wasn’t as immature as the other two. Rather than focusing on sabotage, he likes to make them jealous. Since he knew you the longest, he tends to be much more touchy with you. He starts off with the small things, like holding your hand or wrapping an arm around your shoulder. Then it gets more sweeter, especially when he pulls you closer when walking in crowds, or wiping that whip cream from the side of your lip. He’s got some guts. Another way he annoys the other two, is when he purposely makes up situations to shoo them away. “Is that your friend over there? You should go and check up on them, Akira.” “That’s not my-” “Hush, I know you must go. It’s okay.”

When they realize they are Persona Users with the Wild Card ability, everything gets intense. Not many people have his ability, and it rose tensions. They still try to compare each other in this sense.

“I steal the hearts of the selfish and force the unjust to admit their crimes.”

“Oh really? I hunted down a serial killer and saved my town from turning into shadows.”

“Heh. I faced death without complaints. I saved the world from ending.”

“…”

In secrecy, these three would try to test their abilities. Yu would drag the two into the T.V world, Minato would make them stay up into the Dark Hour and Akira would take them to the farthest edges of Mementos.

At some point, they would want to challenge each other, one on one. Minato would have the greatest advantage since he was trained as a Shadow Operative and had the longest experience out of the three. Normally, Yu and Akira would have to battle it out first before taking Minato on.

They are usually neck-to-neck at the end of the battles, and often stop out of exhaustion. While they are rivals to your heart, they respect each other in terms of battle.

Being love rivals is hard, but it makes a fulfilling friendship. Whenever you are together with the Protagonists, expect them to act as your bodyguards. Yu would follow from the back, and the other two would walk with you by your side. The only people who could ever compete for you are those three, no one else.

United, they are very protective of you. Usually, it’s up to Minato to deal with anyone who bothers you. When it comes to people who are actually messing with you, Akira won’t hesitate in bringing these two to the Metaverse to deal with the problem. Yu, on the other hand, would also shield you if Minato wasn’t available.

When they’re not in the mood to bicker, they’re really sweet altogether. A favorite memory was when they went to Seaside Park together. You were always holding one of their hands, smiling at them. What mattered the most at that time was to make this a good experience for you.

It gets pretty tiring to constantly fight for your attention, but at the end of the day, they know you’d have to pick someone, whether it’s one of them or not. They will support your relationship with little complaint, and will protect you nonetheless.

That’s unless someone proposes a reverse harem. Now that’s another story. Actually, I wouldn’t mind writing something about this.

#persona 5 imagines #p5 imagines #p5 headcanons #persona 5 headcanons #persona 3 imagines #persona 4 imagines #persona 4 headcanons #persona 3 headcanons #p3 headcanons #p3 imagines #p4 imagines #p4 headcanons #akira kurusu #yu narukami #minato arisato

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hiruma-musouka · 7 years

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This is kinda random, but I've had this in my head for a couple days now. Something really, REALLY bugs me about the Uchiha Massacre. Was Sasuke REALLY the last remaining Uchiha? Are you telling me that there was no Uchiha that was having an affair that lead to a bastard child? In a family of Trained Military Police, there was not a single person who was able to minimize at least a LITTLE damage, hid, or who played dead? Root didn't have an Uchiha member (*stares suspiciously at Sai*)? (P1)

(p2) Also, was not a single Uchiha on the mission roster/on a mission, at the time? Or outside of the district for whatever reason? Kids sneaking out to play, teens going to visit a sweet-heart, shinobi out for some late-night training? REALLY? And the Uchiha was NOT A SMALL FAMILY. They were spared the losses of Kurama’s attack due to Danzo. People slip through cracks with those kinds of numbers. Sorry for the rant, but this has been bugging me lately.

(p3 an apologies for further comment) Also, was not a single medic able to do SOMETHING? We have blood replenishers, soldier pills, organ transplants, and so much more. Did not a single medic TRY to save the wounded they found? And someone HAD to have noticed the smell of GALONS OF BLOOD and/or have heard Sasuke SCREAMING, so medics would be called. The premise of the IN-VILLAGE massacre is believable with several individuals. Not with a major clan of 100-200+ members like I think they had.

Welcome to reason 27543782 for why that segment of the manga doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I wonder about these things. Canon tends to handwave things like logic which exasperates me, but on the other hand, this train wreck of weird writing decisions is partly why we linger on it so much as a hobby.

So let’s have fun going over a few of the points you brought up.

Bastards: this… actually might not be an issue in kekkei genkai clans as much? Or rather unclaimed bastards might not be. If your trump card that lets you stay ahead of the competition is tied to your blood, there would be a lot more emphasis on keeping track of or preventing bastards than in many societies. It’s not only a matter of legitimacy and determining inheritence (practical reasons they’re historically disapproved of) but… it’s weirdly akin to preventing corporate espionage, enforcing copyright laws, and preserving state secrets. So it’s possible that the taboo against bastards is strong enough that there weren’t any unclaimed bastards outside the clan. You could swing it a few ways depending on worldbuilding and cultural norms.

(Of course, if the sharingan is genetically recessive then you might never know a bastard if the bloodline didn’t manifest. Yet I’m sure future canon will retcon whatever they want as soon as they need an Uchiha for a Dramatic Reason.)

As for no one living through it, yes, that’s weird if we stick with implication that it was really ONLY Itachi and Obito-as-Madara pulling it off. Two people versus a clan of a few hundred in what should have been an area close enough to call for help in a village which should have internal security? Lots of questions. From all signs, they should have been caught in the act since they weren’t going for subtle.

Tbh, I kind of headdesk and sigh over this arc because there are several things tied into all of this that I would have found more satisfying to change. Like, Danzo’s Root not being made up of brainwashed victims but instead of patriotic volunteers, but that’s another topic @elenathehun is welcome to cover. Part of the problem is likely that none of this was planned in advance, so in Arc 1, Root as it is in canon likely didn’t exist given that the original idea for Itachi was as an actual villain. Also, power scaling - sort of an issue in Naruto. The relative powers of all the players involved don’t work really well…

It’s all very messy. And the rational behind it all is all very messy. People should have slipped through cracks. Not to mention the lack of sense in the motivations of the people influencing it. Like Danzo: let’s presume for a moment he still wants to deal with the coup through death. Why wipe out an entire clan while you’re already suffering a manpower shortage? Danzo wants to preserve the strength of the village? Arrange for key “accidents” for the major Uchiha players. Leave the fighting force mostly untouched. Done sloppily it might have alarmed the Uchiha themselves, but you already have an internal problem. This would leave you manpower and a better face to present to foreign powers than your only remaining founding clan with one of your famous trademarks being wiped out in a single night by your own people. How weak does that make Konoha look to do as canon did, especially after the Kyuubi attack!

Like seriously. Seriously. If it wasn’t for Konoha being the protagonists (and thus game-breakingly buffed) then let’s relook at the Hidden Villages to compare issues as of canon volume 1. I might be forgetting things but:

Konoha = Kyuubi, Hyuuga Incident, Uchiha massacre

Suna = resource limitations due to deserts, economic issues

Kiri = long term bloody civil and martial strife

Iwa = recovering from mass manpower hits in the 3rd war

Kumo = …currently looking not too terrible?

Seriously. If Konoha keeps making odd decisions, it might have been very interesting to replay the series from the perspective of them having shot themselves in the foot repeatedly with Kumo being the primary major power.

Anyway, I got off topic from your asks. As for saving people, I’m pretty sure the Drama of the massacre was supposed to be that they were all found dead on scene. They have magic medical abilities in Naruto, but Tsunade and Shizune are MIA at this point and while biological realism is rare in a world with exchangable limbs and eyeballs, there do seem to be some things which are genuinely more difficult to heal than others. Nerves and the chakra system being examples. Not a great thing since clinical death (the cessation of breathing and blood circulation) is followed very quickly by the increasing spread of brain injuries to the point that full recovery of the brain after only a few minutes at normal body temperature is rare. So if we accept that somehow Sasuke was the first person to find everyone (???) and that no one found him for awhile, I’m actually not surprised that they couldn’t save anyone.

RE clan numbers: I feel like I once read a post that had deduced the likely population statistics for Konoha, the Uchiha clan, and different shinobi ranks, but I cannot find it.

It’s a few hundred people?? I think at least in WSE they had to have 300+ to maintain a functional population if endogamy is a primary strategy for large clans?? And birth rates have clearly decreased (to the current/future detriment of Konoha’s military forces) after the village was founded but we don’t know which generation that actually occured in. So yes, I would assume a minimum of 200 members at least given the Uchiha didn’t get whalloped by the Kyuubi.

#uchiha clan #shimura danzo #konoha #naruto #critical thinking #lithe cloud #asks

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neni-has-ascended · 7 years

Note

Since everyone else has been bombarding you with questions about what you dislike about Persona 5 in comparison to Persona 4 and past games, now, is there anything you LOVE about Persona 5? You claimed that you like Persona 5 in one of your responses on your asks, but it seems to me that isn't really the case.

FINALLY.

By god, yes! Yes, I DO love Persona 5! It’s a brilliant game, the best in the series objectively seen, even! I could never dislike it!

Let me explain!

The hands down best Dungeon Design in the series, not even a contest. This has previously been my biggest complaint with the series, and I am SO GLAD they addressed it finally! Dungeons were always supposed to have some psychological symbolism behind them, but due to them all looking like they’d been created of a tileset of 5 individual pieces, this never really came out before. Up to Persona4, all story dungeons were bland, boring, and a slog to get through. Now, I said that back when I played Persona Q, but I also praised the dungeon in that game and said that I hoped this game has been used as a training exercise for Persona 5 and BOOOY HAVE I EVER BEEN RIGHT! Persona 5′s dungeons are beautiful, interesting, a joy to play. Every item placed is there for a reason, the dungeons are like characters in their own right, sparking with personality and truly seeming like an extension of the Shadows who rule over them. The puzzles are fitting and smart, they are paced perfectly, and story bits are handed out naturally during them, rather than just in randomly appearing textboxes. These dungeons really DO live up to the series’ psychological themes, and I ADORE IT.

The battle system is streamlined to its logical excellence. Oh gosh, is the battle system beautiful! It’s fast paced, versatile, perfectly mapped to the controller in a way that seems natural and all its most annoying aspects have finally been dealt with; Swapping between Personas is a lot less frustrating now and the “Baton Touch” Mechanic not only fits the game’s style, but actually makes One Mores a JOY like never before. I actually went briefly back to P4 and played some of Yukiko’s dungeon during my playthrough of P5. You have NO idea how tedious P4′s battle system felt in direct comparison! The inability to baton touch over to Yosuke after downing a Hablerie made me feel awful.

Best. Social Links. EVER. I am not kidding. This is the first time the Social Links (Confidants, whatever) did NOT make me feel bored or like I am wasting my time at ANY POINT during them! There were no characters I didn’t wanna link with after trying Rank 1, I loved all of them! Everyone was so powerful and full of personality, and I wanted to be with all of them constantly. Nothing like the Tower SL in P3, which just depressed me or the Temperance SL in P4, which made me want to smack Eri Minami in the face. I was actually looking forward to the longer stretches of nothing but Linking between story parts and I am genuinely upset for every single link I didn’t complete! Not to mention that the Confidant Abilities make it all even more worthwhile! Fusion bonuses were always a neat thing at best, but stuff like cheaper weapons and baton touch and more time to read REALLY make the whole system fit so much better into the game proper! Plus, the ability to see all your SL possibilities for the day right on the map. It is marvelous.

The organization of the main cast. This is an advantage especially towards P4. In P4, the entire IT felt incredibly incompetent at what they were doing, to the point it was laughable. Even Naoto’s competence was questionable at best. Compare Naoto’s actions before she joins to Makoto’s actions before she joins and tell me, in all seriousness, and Makoto is not the more competent investigator. The Phantom Thieves always feel like they have at least a semblance of a plan, with the except of Ryuji, they think their actions through, they scheme, they gamble, they aim for flawless victory. Compare that to the IT, who usually seemed to be LUCKY if they ended up achieving anything. Any and all attempts to plan ahead on their part were doomed from the start, which is nowhere as evident as in--- Actually, strike that, it’s evident EVERYWHERE, from how they dealt with Kanji, to randomly attacking a fanboy to “safe” Rise, to just believing the bullshit about Mitsuo being the culprit, right down to Naoto pretty much throwing herself into a TV, risking to get herself killed, just because her ego had been bruised. The PT feel a LOT more competent and it is VERY refreshing.

The scope of the game. There’s always something to do. The game world NEVER feels “empty” or “dead”, as it often would on rainy days in P4 or on random days in P3. The possibilities for what you can do or how to raise your stats are endless, and it actually *does* feel like you have a choice in how to spend your time, rather than there being one single true “walkthrough path” that will get you everything in one go. Despite how the individual areas are cut off, it really does feel like you’re exploring Tokyo, and that’s just a great feeling, especially if you’ve been there before.

The general aesthetic of the game. It’s breathtakingly detailed and awesome. Every inch of the scream exudes the love the designers put into it. A far cry from the dead-eyed models and lazy animations in the PS2-era games and uselessly clunky menus in the PS1-era games. This game has a personality and a flair from the moment you boot it up, and that’s definitely worth for something.

Forshadowing. This game is GREAT at setting up all the pieces in the plot so that they’ll fall into pieces perfectly and it will make flawless sense, but without making the workings of some things too obvious. There were a couple “AHA!” moments when it really felt like I had a lightbulb lighting up in my head. In P4, it still often felt like stuff was pulled out of nowhere. That’s no longer the case and I love it.

The overall themes of the game. Without saying anything specific and giving away spoilers, the social critique in this game is probably the strongest and most biting to come out of the series in a while, and it actually makes you feel guilty and reflect on your life as you play, which I find really powerful. By the time you’re fighting the final boss, you’re actually wondering if you, as the player (NOT the protagonist) aren’t just as bad as the NPCs in this game, which is something none of the other Persona Games ever managed to make me feel. It was pretty great.

So? What can I say? I LOVE this game. No amount of gripes I have with it is ever gonna change that!

#Neni Replies #Persona 5 #reverse-vampire

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davidegbert · 8 years

Text

Wacom MobileStudio Pro 13 Review

I got to try out the new Wacom MobileStudio Pro for a little while back in October of 2016, but now that I’ve been using it for some real work, it’s time for a full review. I’ll start off right away with letting you know that if your career has anything to do with visual creativity, this is the tool you need. Notice I said tool instead of tablet. That’s because the Wacom MobileStudio Pro is almost entirely designed for creating all the things that everyone else uses in their daily lives. This tablet PC is made for professionals. The “Pro” in this tablet’s name isn’t just tacked on to make it sound better like some other electronic gadget manufacturers do. It is genuinely deserving of the “Pro” moniker.

This tablet isn’t for people who play cartoony games that everyone loves to play on their iPads, it’s for people who create those games. This tablet isn’t for handing to your kids to watch an animated movie in the back seat on a long drive, it’s for the people who create those animated movies. It’s not for taking selfie videos with cute cartoon filter overlays, it’s for the people who design those filters. If you’re a comic book artist, architect, 3D texture artist, video editor, story board artist, sculptor, fashion designer, animator, engineer, photographer, retoucher, graphic designer, illustrator, or a student trying to learn any of those disciplines, the Wacom MobileStudio Pro is what you’re looking for.

It sounds like the Wacom MobileStudio Pro is a lot like Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4 or Surface Studio, both of which are drewl-worthy products aimed at creative professionals as well. Keep reading to find out why the MobileStudio Pro is a much better choice for digital artists. With all this praise right up front in the intro paragraph, some of you might be ready to find the order button on Wacom’s website, but despite all the power of Wacom’s MobileStudio Pro, there are a few drawbacks that you’ll want to know about, too.

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Specs

The version in this review is the DTHW 1320H model which has the 13.3″ screen, Intel Core i7 CPU, Intel Iris Graphics 550, 512Gb SSD, 16Gb of RAM, and the Intel RealSense 3D model scanning hardware. The is number 4 out of 6 on the scale from cheapest to most expensive in terms of your model choices for the Wacom MobileStudio Pro. If you want to spend less money, the cheapest model has a 13.3″ screen, Core i5 processor with 4Gb RAM, 64Gb SSD, and a regular 8Mp camera. If you want even more power & want to spend more money, there are two models of the larger Wacom MobileStudio Pro 16 which include NVIDIA Quadro GPU hardware. The top of the line model has a Core i7 processor, Nvidia Quadro M1000M 4Gb GPU, 512 Gb SSD, 16Gb RAM, and Intel RealSense 3D scanning camera. Also, the larger 16″ models have 8 programmable hardware buttons in the bezel as opposed to 6 in the smaller 13″ model.

Screen and Pen

If you’re thinking about the Wacom MobileStudio Pro, the biggest selling point is going to be its screen and pen interface. I was fully converted when I first got a Wacom graphics tablet back in the mid 90’s and today using a mouse or trackpad to interact with a computer feels like using a hammer to put together a watch (especially when it comes to design work). The pen-to-screen interface gives you a direct connection for manipulating computer controls. It’s not disconnected like a mouse or trackpad. Furthermore, you can build motor-memory since the location where you place the pen tip is always going to have the same relationship to the dimensions of the screen you’re looking at. That’s never true with a mouse or trackpad so often you’ve got to spend a couple seconds looking at the screen and moving the pointer around to figure out where it is. With a Wacom pen, you place it and it’s there. I can even do this without looking at the screen and have accurate cursor control.

A touch screen also gives you direct interactivity with graphic user interface controls, but fingers are big. Each finger is going to cover from 100-300^2 pixels worth of data and buttons need to be that big to be activated. That’s a huge waste of space and a huge crutch for efficiency.

The Wacom MobileStudio Pro 13 includes the new Wacom Pro Pen 2 and its digitizer supports 8,000 levels of pressure sensitivity, plus pen tilt sensitivity, and pixel level pointing accuracy. You may remember in my Surface Pro 3 review where I compared the pressure sensitivity to the Surface Pro 2 which used Wacom’s digitizer technology as opposed to Microsoft’s new N-Trig based digitizer technology. I said that the Surface Pro 3’s 256 levels of pressure sensitivity wasn’t noticeably different from the Surface Pro 2’s 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity. The Surface Pro 2 used some of Wacom’s older & cheaper digitizer tech, and I have to say that the digitizer tech in the MobileStudio Pro 13 is far superior! Noticeably far superior!

Wacom’s Pro Pen 2 doesn’t require batteries at all. It has two buttons on the side and an eraser. Yes, the buttons are customizable too though they need to be within an inch of the screen to function (no auto-launching OneNote from afar like the Surface Pro 3 can do). It also includes interchangeable pen nibs if you want to change the feel a bit or you wear one out. The pen is so comfortable to hold. The buttons are easy to feel and find. The pen feels like the perfect weight. It makes the Surface Pen feel clunky and cold.

Putting the pen to the screen feels like coming home. The display is so close to the surface, it’s almost like you’re touching the pixels directly. If you look really really closely, yes there’s a bit of space between the top layer and the pixels, but in normal use it’s going to feel like you’re drawing directly to the software’s graphical user interface. The accuracy is excellent as well. Older pen computers often don’t place the pointer quite as precisely on the screen as you would want. Many have digitizers that calculate the positioning in clumps and that’s why some will have a jiggle to the line strokes if you move the pen too slowly. The Wacom MobileStudio Pro actually has pixel-level positioning accuracy and it is awesome. You can hold the pen still on the screen, move it as slightly as you possibly can, and you’ll see the cursor move one pixel in that direction. You are not going to get this level of precision control on any other pen computing device. What about the corners, you say? Yes, it’s true there is often fall-off of pen accuracy in the corners of the display for many pen digitizers. Wacom solves this by extending the digitizer beyond the display area and deep into the bezel. That brush cursor or pointer is going to remain pixel accurate all along the edges.

Your pointer appears on the screen when the pen tip gets to a little less than an inch from the surface of the screen. At that point, the touch screen is disabled and you can rest your hand on the screen for a stable platform. If your touch screen is not responding to your fingers, that might be why. This range is a lot greater than the vertical range before palm rejection in Microsoft Surface N-Trig technology and that means you’re less likely to invoke touch screen actions accidentally.

The exterior layer of the screen is actually a matte material too. This is much better than those glossy glass screens that you see on things like the Microsoft Surface devices, iPad Pro, Macbook Pro, etc. The matte material doesn’t give off nearly as much glare, which can interfere with your ability to see your work properly. Often you see professional photographers with Macbook Pros covered in a black hood to reduce the glare on those terribly shiny screens. This doesn’t require that kind of work-around as much. The matte finish also reduces the fingerprint grease problem. Yes, you’re still going to get fingerprint grease on the screen when you touch it, but the interference and notice-ability is greatly reduced compared to a glossy glass screen. By the way, you get a nice screen cleaning cloth in the box.

The screen actually subtly flexes when you apply pressure. You might think that would be a durability problem, but bendable things are less breakable. So I’m imagining this won’t shatter as easily as a glass screen. It also feels much more natural to interact with and that’s a huge plus. If you’ve used a Microsoft Surface Pro/Book/Studio or an iPad Pro with Apple Pencil… yeah, they have great pressure sensitivity and you can write on the screen and accurately control the thickness of the stroke, but it still feels like plastic on glass. The Surface Pen variable texture nibs help improve that feeling to some degree, but the Wacom MobileStudio Pro brings the feeling of drawing on a computer to a higher level. It doesn’t feel exactly like writing with a pencil on paper, but the matte screen texture, the flexing, and the practically perfect pen easily offer the best pen interface on the market.

While a precise pen interface is very important to anyone in the visual creative fields, so is color accuracy. The Wacom MobileStudio Pro’s screen does not disappoint. It actually supports 96% of the Adobe RGB 1998 color gamut. That’s a much wider color gamut than the usual sRGB that most computer screens display. Most photographers and print designers are going to want to use this color gamut. For video, the new color gamut standard is heading towards DCI-P3 which extends more into the reds & purple ranges while Adobe RGB extends into the greens & blues. Unfortunately, the Wacom MobileStudio Pro does not have a quick-action button for switching between color gamuts like the Microsoft Surface Studio does.

Hardware & Tactile Buttons

We’ll start with the big silver-rimmed hardware buttons in the side bezel. On the 13″ model, you have 6 flat black buttons while on the 16″ model, you have 8. There’s also a 4 way circular button in the middle that also has a center button and the circle is touch sensitive for scrolling through functions. One some models, the center button within the circle doubles as a fingerprint scanner compatible with Windows Hello. The fingerprint scanner didn’t work at all on my first MobileStudio Pro. Windows 10 kept waiting for a finger appear, but the scanner just wasn’t sensing anything. A replacement MobileStudio Pro fixed that minor issue.

At first I thought that these would be a usability issue since none of these buttons are labelled and I had no clue what any of them would do. However, the Wacom MobileStudio Pro is a device for professionals and as it turns out the unlabelled buttons are much more powerful than first glance. They are all customizable! And the capabilities that you can program into these buttons is practically limitless. You’ll see a lot more info about this below in the software section, so keep reading.

In terms of tactile usability, these hardware buttons are very good. You can see the center button has a small nub on it so that you can easily find it without using your eyes.

The side edges of the tablet PC house some other buttons. Here you see the power switch. It’s not a button that you press but a spring loaded switch that you hold down to power on or off. This slight complexity to the switch makes it difficult to accidentally put the tablet to sleep mode while you’re working, and that’s a very good thing.

On one end of this edge there’s a volume toggle button and another spring-loaded switch. This switch toggles the screen rotation lock on and off. Also notice that all of these buttons on the edge are in a concave recessed area. This makes it difficult to accidentally press them while you’re holding the tablet, and again that’s a very good thing.

Still on this same edge, we’ve also got a 3.5mm audio port, and a full-sized SD card slot. Having the full-sized SD card slot here is fantastic since you can easily start working with photos or videos just shot on a high-end camera without any dongles or adapters.

On the opposite edge you’ve got 3 USB-C ports for peripherals and charging along with a Kensington Security slot for locking the device down. In the above photo, I have the included pen holder mounted inside the Kensington Security slot. Most laptops and tablets that have USB-C ports these days only have one, so it’s great to have 3 here. Everyone says it’s going to be the new standard, but personally I don’t think USB-C is nearly as forward-thinking as it should have been. There are no full USB-A ports on the device and that’s unfortunate since USB-A is still very widely used. You’ll need a USB-A to USB-C adapter (or three) to use most peripherals. The long top & bottom edges simply taper smoothly to a rounded edge. You can also see the 5 Megapixel front-facing HD camera in the middle of the bezel above.

The pen holder is surprisingly well designed. It can hold the pen either vertically for easy access while you’re working, or the pen can be attached horizontally parallel to the edge of the tablet for transport.

On the back you’ll see two big rubber ledges on the sides. Both of these have a tilted lip to them that raises off the back. This lip is inset from the edges so there’s a bit of space there, and the rubber acts as a little foot to set the tablet flat on a table. What’s really genius about this rubber lip is that it also hides vents for the fans. The raised lip keeps the fan airflow going out the sides while it’s sitting on a table and the fact that theses are slightly inset from the edges of the device means your hands aren’t going to cover the vents if you’re holding it. There’s no heat in the middle of the back either, so you can safely keep it on your lap while you draw.

You can also see two big slots on the back here with four screws. Those are for mounting the tablet to a stand that will let you set it up on your desk and tilt it at different angles. Wacom will have a special stand sold separately that should be available in February of 2017.

Also on the back of this model is an Intel RealSense 8 Megapixel 3D scanner and camera. Only two of the MobileStudio Pro models include this 3D scanner while the others have a normal 8 Mp camera. You’ll read more about how this works a little further down the page.

The pen also comes with a heavy duty protective case. The flat end slides out and there’s form-fit padding to hold the Pro Pen 2 securely. On the flat end there’s also a cap that contains replacement pen tips and part of the sliding mechanism has a hole that you can use to remove the pen tip.

Incidentally, Wacom does not include a special keyboard for the MobileStudio Pro. There’s no detachable keyboard case option either. They do make a wireless keyboard for the older Cintiq Companion, but there’s nothing particularly special about it. You can use any Windows-compatible keyboard that you may already have or might like to buy (that includes pretty much all keyboards, even Mac keyboards). Above you see it works fine with Microsoft’s Universal folding keyboard connected via Bluetooth. Wired keyboards would need either a USB-C interface or a USB-C adapter/port-expander.

Software

First of all, the Wacom MobileStudio Pro runs Windows 10 as the operating system. The four most-expensive models come with Windows 10 Professional while the two least-expensive models come with Windows 10 Home edition. Windows 10 is really the only choice for a high-end pen-computer with a touch screen. MacOS has pretty poor support for touch interaction and Apple doesn’t allow anyone else to license the operating system for use on 3rd party hardware anyway. You might be able to “hackintosh” macOS onto the MobileStudio Pro if you’ve got the skills, but Windows 10 has a much better tablet UI and much better handwriting recognition so I wouldn’t recommend that. It’s not really worth it and there isn’t any real advantage.

By default, the MobileStudio Pro loads Windows 10’s desktop mode even though there’s no keyboard or mouse attached. That’s good for people who are familiar with the Windows 95 through Windows 7 style user interface, but personally I highly recommend switching into the Windows 10 tablet mode UI using the quick action center in the bottom right corner button. It’s much more touch-friendly and enables some nice snapping and application closing gestures. I even set the bottom taskbar to auto-hide to make more room for the real programs.

For the most part, the MobileStudio Pro includes generic Windows 10 with no bloatware. There are some default games pinned to the start menu, but those are easy to uninstall. There’s also an “Intel RealSense Camera Calibration Notifier that loads on startup, and if you’re in Tablet Mode, that shows as a big blank white window which is pretty annoying and useless. I disabled it by going to the Task Manager > Startup tab > selecting and and pressing disable. Wacom also included a Wacom Desktop Center app, Wacom control panel, and a first-run experience to introduce you to everything. This is where it gets pretty interesting and if you’ve used professional Wacom pen tablets or pen displays in the past, you probably already know what you’re in for.

Above is the Wacom welcome screen which introduces you to the “ExpressKeys” hardware buttons in the bezel as well as setting up a Wacom Account (not necessary) and calibrating the screen digitizer. It’s not hugely necessary to run the calibration since it’s pretty accurate out of the box, but people often hold the pen differently so it’s good to get it set up for the way you work.

The Wacom Desktop software is basically a dashboard with links to the Wacom Driver control panel, but it also has an interface for checking for driver updates as well as a method of backing up all of your custom settings. That’s going to be important because as you’ll see below, there is a lot that you can do in terms of customizing the Wacom driver software.

Here’s the real meat of Wacom’s software and it is extremely robust. Just about everything imaginable is customizable here. The first row at the top allows you to select which device you’re customizing. I only have the MobileStudio Pro 13 listed here, but if I had another Wacom device like a Cintiq pen display or an Intuos pen tablet plugged in, then it would show there. The 2nd row lists the tools associated with that device. The Wacom MobileStudio Pro has a series of tactile hardware function buttons, so that’s listed first, then touch is listed second, and “Pro Pen 2” is listed third. Selecting one of those will change the options below it for further customization. The third row is labelled “Application” and this is where you can customize the preferences and behavior based on which application is in the foreground. Yes, seriously. The little plus button on the right side of that row is where you can add whichever applications you want. Generally it’s easiest to add the preferences here based on running applications, but you can dig into the file system and select a specific executable if you need to.

So we’ve got customizable settings for the hardware buttons in the bezel, the touch screen gestures, and the pen with its pressure/tilt sensitive tip & eraser plus its dual hardware buttons… AND all of those can be further altered based on which program you’re working with. That’s pretty big, but how customizable are these functions? They are very customizable.

First you’ve got the hardware buttons in the bezel. They’re called “ExpressKeys” in the Wacom software. By default, these are generally assigned to modifier keys such as Alt, Ctrl, Shift, Spacebar, etc. The top button defaults to “Settings” which shows an overlay on the screen pointing out and labeling the functions you currently have assigned to each button. This is extremely useful if you’ve forgotten what you assigned to which button, but if you want to assign that settings button to something else, of course you can do that. By the way, it is possible to press more than one button at the same time, for example when you need to do Ctrl + Alt + Shift to invoke a modification for whatever tool you’re currently using.

The Touch Ring is next. That’s the big circle in the bezel and rubbing your finger around it in a clockwise or counter-clockwise motion will invoke whatever functions you want to assign to those gestures. The ring also has up/down/left/right buttons that can be pressed in order to change the touch ring’s functions on the go. In the above image, you can see that if I press the top of the touch ring, that will set it to scroll/zoom, the right side sets it to cycle between layers, the bottom sets it to change the brush size, and the left side sets it to rotation. All of those default functions don’t work the same way in all programs, so you’ll want to customize them based on your most-used software.

For example, my RAW photo organizational tool of choice is Adobe Bridge, so I customized one of the touch ring functions to increase or decrease the rating level depending on whether I rubbed it clockwise or counterclockwise. The default “speed” for this was too high, so I easily changed the interaction to a slower speed so that I could very accurately set rating levels on selected photos without having a keyboard attached and without having to open menus.

There’s also an “On Screen Controls” tab in the functions section, and this is pretty excellent as well. Basically you can set whatever you want, be it the pen’s hardware button, a bezel button, or a touch gesture… to invoke a radial menu on the screen. And yes, you guessed it, the radial menu can have buttons for whatever you want it to do, and you can make it have different buttons for whichever program you’re using.

That’s not all folks. You can also create any number of custom touch-screen panels with whatever buttons you want to create. Each of those panels can be activated using any of the other custom options in the Wacom Tablet Properties dialog box as well (and that’s a lot).

Next is the touch screen gestures. Naturally, you can disable this completely if you want to use only the system or application built-in touch screen gestures, but you can also add a few gestures here that aren’t commonly used in other programs. Above you can see a listing of all the touch screen gestures that are customizable. The “three finger swipe left/right to navigate” and “four finger swipe left/right to switch applications” gestures can only be enabled or disabled, while all of the others can be completely customized to activate whatever command you want. Again, the default functions are available in all applications until you add another application to the application listing in the 3rd row. Then with that application icon selected in the Wacom Tablet Properties dialog, you can choose completely different touch gesture functions for when that particular application is in use in the foreground. So for example, maybe you’ve written a script for InDesign CC that converts all text to outlines. You can assign a keyboard shortcut to that script in InDesign, and then assign the ��Five Fingers Swipe Down” gesture to that keyboard shortcut when InDesign is active in order to run that script very easily. By the way, if you don’t have a keyboard connected, you can use the “Standard Layout” on-screen keyboard to specify or activate keyboard shortcuts (enabled in the keyboard settings).

The Pro Pen 2 customization options allow you to fine tune the pressure sensitivity as well as customize the two hardware buttons on the pen. There are sliders for most functions, but if you want more granular control over the tip feel, the “customize” button above will give you a pressure sensitivity curve graph. Again, all of this is customizable on both a system-wide and application-specific level.

3D Scanning Camera

Two of the high-end Wacom MobileStudio Pro models include an Intel RealSense 3D camera sensor on the back and they include a 1 year license for Artec Pro 3D model scanning software. This is high-end 3D scanning software that you’d normally use with dedicated handheld 3D scanners like the Eva or Space Spider to create 3D models of things like Arnold Schwarzenegger for Terminator movies, but the software also works with Kinect for Windows and, of course, the Intel Sense 3D camera built into certain Wacom MobileStudio Pro models.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get usable results from scanning 3D objects with the Intel Sense 3D camera set-up. It only works on objects between about the size of a basketball up to about the size of a couch. Anything with detail or gaps that are too small (baseball sized?), won’t render very well. You have to get the lighting just right, too. You might be able to get a nice model of relief sculptures on a wall, but a 360 degree view of a model is very tough to scan with this hardware.

The scanner does however automatically add RGB color texture mapping to the 3D object, which again requires your lighting to be just right. It’s not going to be a highly detailed image map though. The results might be good enough for a video game background that nobody’s going to look too closely at, but it’s hard to imagine what else this 3D scanner would be useful for.

Incidentally, the 1 year free subscription to Artec Pro 3D Ultimate Edition should activate automatically when you install the trial on a Wacom MobileStudio Pro who’s serial number indicates that it includes the Intel RealSense 3D camera hardware. This worked perfectly on my first MobileStudio Pro, but it did not recognize the hardware on the 2nd one, so Artec tech support had to enable a 1 year subscription manually.

Personally, I don’t think cameras belong on the back of tablets at all so if Wacom decides to do away with the camera completely on future versions, I don’t think anyone will mind. I know many people even put tape over the front facing cameras on their laptops too. Using a standalone camera or a dedicated 3D scanner would be a much better tool for the job.

Pro Graphics Software

The Wacom MobileStudio Pro doesn’t come with any professional graphics production software, but it’s clearly designed for use with many of them. Most of the default express key and touch ring functions are really made for Adobe Photoshop. So I installed a good number of my favorite graphics, photography, video, and 3D software to see how it worked and to actually use it for some content creation.

Firstly, just about all of the Adobe Creative Cloud 2017 applications work beautifully. GPU acceleration is flawless in Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Illustrator, Bridge, and Lightroom on the Wacom MobileStudio Pro 13’s Intel Iris 550 GPU. Adobe AfterEffects CC 2017 uses the GPU with OpenGL, but it cannot use the GPU for Ray-tracing. If you’re using AfterEffects, you’ll probably want a CUDA compatible GPU and for that, you’ll need the more-expensive Wacom MobileStudio Pro 16 which includes an NVIDIA Quadro M600M 2Gb GPU or a M1000M 4Gb GPU.

In terms of touch screen features, Adobe has made some huge improvements in the last few years to the touch support in many of their high-end Creative Cloud programs. Lightroom now has touch support that works pretty nicely for scrolling, panning, zooming, though you’ll still need the pen for some precision controls. InDesign and Illustrator both include their own full-touch workspaces which have a completely different UI design from the normal workspaces, although they do have many limitations due to their simplicity. Premiere Pro has some great touch gesture options integrated with the various panels. You can scrub playback in the Project panel for selected videos in thumbnail view, you can set in/out points, drag/drop, and even pinch to change the timeline view scale. Photoshop supports multi-touch zoom & panning as well, and they’ve got a new touch panel for modifier keys (though you won’t need that with the MobileStudio’s Express Keys). Of course, Photoshop supports tilt sensitive controls in the brushes as well as the pressure sensitive control it has supported via Wacom drivers for decades. Incidentally, the Adobe Character Animator CC 2017 Preview does not currently work with any of the hardware cameras on the Wacom MobileStudio Pro 13 at this time, so watch out for that if you like to do real-time character animation.

Capture One is not touch friendly in terms of UI design, but multi-touch panning & zooming works beautifully, as does the Wacom Pro Pen 2 and wow… my photographs look great on this screen!

Corel Painter 2017 is another program that really shines on the Wacome MobileStudio Pro. I’ve been using this paint simulation software since it was Fractal Design Painter 4 back in the mid 1990’s, and it is extremely comprehensive. It’s got some a lot of excruciatingly complicated natural media simulation tools that interact with your chosen paper textures, wet/dry status, brush tilt angle, pressure, bearing, etc. Corel Painter’s multi-touch panning & zooming could use some speed optimization, but the Wacom Pro Pen support is excellent. This program is very powerful though, so it’s easy to get some lag to happen with a complicated brush and a high resolution canvas.

3D animation software like Maya 3D, Lightwave 3D, ZBrush, etc. run pretty nicely, but programs like these are heavily dependent on keyboard shortcuts so the customizable express keys in the bezel may not be enough. The pen works beautifully however, and if you’re a Zbrush user, you’ll especially love the 8000 levels of pressure sensitivity support.

Wacom Link

So far you’ve read about how extremely powerful the Wacom MobileStudio Pro can be as a visual creative tool on its own and it is very powerful, but what if you’ve got a desktop workstation in your office that is just rediculously powerful? As it turns you, you can plug the MobileStudio Pro into another computer and use it as a pen display just like the other normal Cintiq Pen Displays that Wacom makes. You’ll need an accessory called the Wacom Link to do this though. Basically it has two ports on one side that get wired into your big computer, and one port on the other side that plugs into one of the MobileStudio’s USB-C ports. The accessory includes a USB-A cable to go to your PC/Mac, a Mini-DisplayPort to go to your PC/Mac’s GPU card, and a USB-C cable to go to the MobileStudio Pro.

This can come in very handy if you spend most of your time in an office in front of a powerful desktop computer. A few things you need to know however, you will need the Wacom software drivers installed on the PC or Mac that you’re plugging the Mobile Studio into. You’ll also need to plug the Wacom Link USB-C port into the center USB-C port on the MobileStudio Pro. Apparently that one is enabled for the special Pen Display conversion feature.

Incidentally, the Wacom Link also goes the other way, meaning you can plug the MiniDisplay port directly into an external Display if you want your Wacom MobileStudio Pro to drive another monitor. Unfortunately, the Wacom Link is not able to provide electrical power to the MobileStudio Pro at the same time. So you’ll need to connect one of the other USB-C ports on the MobileStudio to the AC adapter and plug that into an electrical outlet. By the way, the SD card reader in the MobileStudio Pro becomes readable on the desktop PC or Mac when connected via the Wacom Link. The MobileStudio Pro’s internet storage does not show up as another drive, but that’s understandable. Being able to access the SD card is still very useful.

Yes, the Wacom Link works fine with a Mac. Wacom’s drivers handle all the pen input capabilities and the MobileStudio Pro’s Express Keys, Touch Ring, and custom on-screen panels are all configurable here.

The Wacom drivers even add a little bit of touch screen support to a connected Mac. Don’t expect to move windows around, launch apps, or access menus with your finger though. You’ll need the pen for that.

You’ll have to tweak the resolution on the Wacom MobileStudio Pro when connected to a Mac as a secondary display too. By default everything shows up extremely tiny. The Mac OS automatic scaling features don’t seem to work very well either.

Of course the Wacom Link works on Windows 7, 8, and 10 as well. I connected it to my HP Z440 Workstation which has quite a few processing advantages over the MobileStudio Pro on it’s own, but obviously it’s not as portable. It took some work to get everything running though. The first 3 USB ports that I plugged the MobileStudio Pro’s Wacom Link into didn’t recognize the hardware quite right. The first 2 didn’t recognize it at all and the 3rd recognized the Express Keys but not the touch screen or pen digitizer. The 4th USB port I tried had everything working perfectly. I’m not sure if this is because I’ve used other Wacom hardware on those other USB ports in the past and didn’t clean out those drivers completely or I have some other USB host driver issues.

When you have the MobileStudio Pro plugged into a desktop PC, the Wacom Tablet Properties on the desktop also show a “Toggle Display” settings tab. You can set the “Toggle Display” command to just about any of the shortcuts, gestures, and hardware keys that are customizable on the Wacom MobileStudio Pro and the settings tab allows you to configure exactly how that behaves. One option toggles between using having the pen control only one display and then both displays via a stretched out pan. This option feels weird because it changes the aspect ratio of the pen digitizer to span two displays. It’s also strange that on my version it toggles between the desktop display and both displays, which is opposite of what I’d expect. I’d want the Wacom MobileStudio display to have a full 1 to 1 relationship. The second option toggles between each display, meaning that the pen can only control one full display at a time. This seems ideal to me, but it also makes it difficult to move windows between monitors. I wish the Windows 10 “Task View” had multiple monitors listed at the bottom like it does virtual desktops so you could very easily drag/drop windows onto different monitors instead of having to drag windows across the whole screen. Personally I’ve been using the Wacom Link and MobileStudio Pro as a duplicated display instead of an extended display. Yes, some would say that defeats the purpose of having two displays, but in my opinion in beats the learning curve awkwardness of the “toggle display” command in the Wacom software.

Interestingly, via Wacom Link there’s a special display control for specifying the color space and other settings for the MobileStudio while connected as a Pen Display.

Using a Windows 10 desktop tower with the MobileStudio Pro attached via the Wacom Link accessory is the same as if you were using the MobileStudio Pro as a stand-alone tablet. All of the same touch screen gestures work, Windows 10’s touch apps work the same, even the ink input panel shows up. The only difference is that you now have the full power of whatever high-end processors, tons of RAM, and many terabytes of storage you’ve packed into that desktop workstation. I really wish the backup/restore for customized settings would work between devices so that all my Express Keys were the same though!

Battery Life

Yep, this is one spot where the Wacom MobileStudio Pro needs a lot of improvements. With very light use, you could probably get it to last up to 6 hours, but really we’re talking about maybe 3 hours. All of this high-end hardware really eats up the battery, so be prepared to pack the charger or bring a big external battery or buy two MobileStudio Pros. Average phone USB-C chargers don’t work, by the way. You’ll need the big beefy USB-C charger that comes with it.

I really wish this could have had a user-removable battery. It seems like Wacom thought of everything to make this a genuinely useful tool for creative professionals, but its utility is decreased by its short battery life and when that internal battery starts to wear out, it’s going to be even worse. The ability to carry a spare battery and pop it into the tablet as soon as the first battery died would have been a great option.

Pricing and Availability

The Wacom MobileStudio Pro 13 and MobileStudio Pro 16 were released in the fall of 2016, but you may find that some models are still hard to come by. Keep an eye on the Wacom Online Store, Amazon, and high-end photography videography stores like B&H Photo and Adorama.

The DTHW1320T has an Intel Core i5 processor, 64Gb SSD, and 4Gb RAM for about $1500. The DTHW1320L has an Intel Core i5 processor, 128Gb SSD, and 8GB RAM for about $1800. The DTHW1320M has an Intel Core i7 processor with 256Gb SSD and 8Gb RAM for $2000. The DTHW1320H has an Intel Core i7 processor with 512Gb SSD, 16Gb RAM, and the Intel RealSense 3D scanner camera for $2500.

The larger 16″ versions are available in 2 pricing options. The DTHW1620M has an Intel Core i5 processor with NVIDIA Quadro M600M GPU, 256Gb SSD, and 8Gb RAM for $2400. The DTHW1620H has an Intel Core i7 processor with NVIDIA Quadro M1000M GPU, 512Gb SSD, and 16Gb RAM for $3000.

The Wacom Link accessory for plugging the MobileStudio Pro into a desktop computer costs an extra $70 and can be found on the Wacom online store.

Conclusion

There are some good reasons that this review of the Wacom MobileStudio Pro 13 didn’t get published as soon as the tablet was released. First of all, this is a real digital creative’s tool and its extensive set of features requires some time to learn and really understand. Secondly, the first model I got had a couple minor defects. The fingerprint scanner didn’t work and its center USB-C port didn’t work with the Wacom Link hardware. If you look at the reviews on Amazon, you might see some other minor defects noticed by early adopters. For example, some of the hardware buttons may not have activated properly. The dedicated stand still isn’t available either, so there may be some things Wacom is working on. The second device I got fixed all of the fingerprint scanner and Wacom Link problems, but the free year of Artec Studio Ultimate Edition didn’t activate properly. That was fixed pretty easily by Artec tech support though.

The 3D scanner software and fingerprint reader aren’t really integral to what the Wacom MobileStudio Pro is made for though. The real reason for buying a Wacom MobileStudio Pro is its amazing pen interface and screen along with the ability to plug into a high-end workstation while you’re in the office, and throw it in a bag when you’re on the go. The extremely customizable software combined with the hardware express keys interface is another huge selling point. Wacom’s method of making the hardware keys, touch ring, and screen gestures capable of activating any keyboard shortcut in any program is far superior than what Microsoft has done with the Surface Studio and Surface Dial which requires each software developer to add specific controls to the dial. With Wacom’s touch ring (etc.), all I have to do is tell it which keyboard shortcuts to run. Most professional programs have customizable keyboard shortcuts, so the possibilities are really endless. Apple’s MacBook Pro touch bar has the same limitations whereas each developer needs to actively add support. Wacom’s hardware & touch software already supports everything.

The amazing pen interface, gorgeous screen, and immensely customizable software interface are probably enough to make this tablet worth the price of admission, but for an extra $70, you can plug it into a tower PC (or Mac) and give that premium pen & touch interface an extra boost of let’s say… 44 Intel vPro Xenon cores, a terabyte of RAM, multiple 12Gb GPU’s, or whatever else you want to throw at it.

The Wacom MobileStudio Pro is truely the most professional quality tablet computer on the market today.

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