#and !!!!!! i missed futaba so much i love her.....

[ajdrawshq]

i love looking at very specific details from canon/source material of medias n being like. thats not real actually <3

[rekino2114]

Could we please get some Halloween headcanons for Ann, Makoto, Futaba, and Haru? Stuff like how they'd celebrate it, costumes they'd wear, activates they'd do with their s/o? Up to you on what you want to cover. Thanks!

the phantom thieves girls celebrating Halloween with you

Halloween post #7

Ann takamaki

Ann enjoys celebrating holidays, especially when it's with you, and Halloween is no exception. She'll go all out to have fun together

She really likes dressing up in costumes. She'll ask if she can do a Halloween themed photoshoot so she can wear a lot of costumes, and when she can, she'll definitely get you to dress up with her (her personal favorite couple cosplay is catwoman and batman) she'll also post the photos online and just smile at all the comments saying how cute you look

She likes to lightly scare you so she can tease and kiss you. She'll jump out of a dark place and hug you from behind and later kiss you while giggling. She'll never go too far, though

Trick-or-treating with her is a must. She'll ignore anyone who tells her she's too old for it and give you puppy eyes until you say yes. She loves sweets too much to miss this opportunity

"Boo! Eheh, did I scare you? Sorry sweetie, would some kisses make you feel better?"

Makoto nijima

Makoto isn't as into Halloween as ann is, but she's still happy to celebrate, and even more to spend time with you

She actually likes watching horror movies while cuddling on the couch, mostly because she particularly enjoys holding you close when you get scared

She didn't really have any ideas about what costumes she should wear, so you recommended she'd be a classic vampire since she already has the eyes to pull it off

She'd also enjoy going to haunted houses if you suggest it, partly because of the same reason she likes watching horror movies together, being able to hold you when something scares you and also she just likes going around exploring the place

"Hm? Are you alright y/n? Don't worry, I'm here. I'll protect you, I won't let any monster or anything hurt you"

Haru okumura

Haru really loves holidays, probably even more than ann. She looks forward to every Halloween so she can celebrate with her favorite person

Pumpkin carving is definitely her thing. She might even grow the pumpkins herself if she feels like it and choose her two favorites so you can carve and decorate them to put them outside your house

She won't just decorate your porch, though, but she particularly loves decorating your house, while you help her of course, she loves going shopping and choosing the decorations you both like and putting them all over your home

She does enjoy dressing up, and this Halloween, she decided to go for a classic witch costume. With the hat and everything, she blushed but really appreciated it when you told her she looked adorable I'm that too

"Oh y/n, you did a wonderful job with that pumpkin, it looks amazing. Oh y-you think I did a great job too? T-thanks darling, I appreciate it"

Futaba sakura

Futaba does enjoy celebrating.....in her own way, she won't really go out to celebrate but will just stay inside with you and just have a good time while staying on theme

Playing horror video games is definitely the main activity. She doesn't handle them that well, so there will be moments where she'll cling to you after a jumpscare, but you'll mostly have fun together

When it comes to costumes, she doesn't love dressing up, but she'll still do it in this special occasion, she'll probably cosplay as an horror game character and would love it if you do the same so you can match

She also likes watching horror movies while munching on snacks and cuddling. In this situation, the instances of her clinging to you become more common since you're already so close, but you always let her since she looks cute like that

"Woooh y/n, this game's pretty scary, right?...I-I mean, I'm not saying I'm scared just....I wanted to make sure you weren't...y-yeah"

[sea-of-dust]

Joker,Akechi,Futaba,Haru x GN!Reader

You made a doll out of them, time to make them think they're one with it

N: I need those idv skins bro every ask is 5 bucks/heavy j. This post shall multiply my luck by 10 fold no 100 fold!!! I WILL GET FUTABA I WILL GET HARU I WILL GET FUTABA I WILL GET HARU RAAAAA

"That doesn't look like me" you pick up the doll and widen it's arms "where my hug at?" Imatating his voice, he goes to wipe his eyes, hitting his glasses, yet still doing the gesture. "Son?"

He would smush his face, twiddle with its hair, all the gestures you'd do to him. "Is my face really this smushable?" He pinches the cheeks of the doll. "Yea" you pinch his actual cheeks

He'd actually treat it like his son. "Why are you doing his laundry?" The doll stares at you with a towels wrapped around its head and waist it's clothes swashing around in a small kids washing machine. "Where did you even get that?" "A friend sent me an address on where to find em" it's silent as you watch the washing machine whirr. "Sooo" "soon I'll teach how to do it himself" he goes to wipe his eyes, only to hit his glasses again and still going through with the gesture.

Don't make him new clothes...either of them. His first thoughts when you show him the dolls new outfit is ask where to find the human sized versions. "It's just clothes you already have" you put headphones around the dolls neck "I don't have those" you find them instantly showing them to him. ".." "you can match with him" he would send you pictures of him smiling wider than a cartoon character with a matching outfit to the doll

Morgana would accidently talk to the poor doll instead of him. "He's so werid right mini joker?" The doll stares into oblivion "I know right" he'd have deep conversations with that doll, you accidently made Morgana a ride or die partner

"How amusing" you show him the doll holding it up by its hands. "It's you" "it isn't it dosent have any physical resemblance to me" you look at the doll and look back at him. "I think this is your long lost good twin"

He'd stare at it if you weren't in the room. It's soulful little eyes it's little smile. "Akechi why are you in a roll of tape?" He turns thinking your speaking to him only to see you pull his imposter out of the tape.

He'd wouldn't interact with it much besides tying it to celling fans, eventually he did examine it. The attention to detail was top notch, the parting of his hair the details on his clothes. He caught himself smiling at these features. "I see you're growing fond of him" he almost throws it but instead hides it behind his back. "I don't know what you're talking about"

You can't be away from minikechi, the life sized one would bring pictures of you three. Either to use as proof as you mearly breathing near the doll, or because he misses you and the doll was just in frame. "I wasn't touching him" he smirks "really now?" "Yea really" he pulls out a picture of the doll falling on your face. "He fell on me that's gravity"

He's gonna open a seam at one point. Maybe a lot depending on the saw traps he gets put through. He takes this as an opportunity to try and learn how to sew. "Okay wear this" you place a thumb cap over his finger. "What's this?" "It's so you don't poke yourself" he'd take what he's learned from you fixing the doll and minor clothing repairs to "pay you back" by fixing torn things that could be fixed via stich. Would complain after and that's how you know he did it. "That took too long for just a few stitches" "don't use a whole wingspan worth of string next time"

"NOOOOOOO" her scream of anguish would have vibrated the house "I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT" "right about what?" "REN SAID YOU CAME INTO HIS ROOM AT MIDNIGHT TO STEAL MY HAIR AND PUT IT IN A DOLL" "I wasn't there for your hair" "oh" "I was there for answers he forgot to send them to me so I put whipped cream on his hand"

She loves it, convinced to make it a tiny ufo. She'd look up a little too many paper 3d sites to make one, finally finding one and barely able to put it together, she had to call the one person she knew!! "INARI!!" "I'm a painter, I'm afraid I may only be able to help with design and not overall structure" he still comes over to help tho

UFO SET UP, mini futaba put in! Yusuke praising it to God, and the mini futaba totally not being held up by string so she doesn't stress out the paper (suggested by you) "it's cute" your famous last few words before seeing a white spot on the ufo "oh you missed a spot-" "INARI NO"

She'd try to make her own doll of you. "3d printing y/n!!" She giggles to herself as she stitches carefully around the dolls head, she's continue to hype herself up, and then come to leblank like a zombie

The doll replaces her at video calls. Sojiro calling? "Dolltaba speaking!" "Can you tell Ren to get up" "Okey doki!" Sojiro had to get used to it, not like he could tell her to stop either she just went harder taping a printed paper with her face onto the doll so she could keep using it for Webcams.

"Really?" Her eyes widen when the doll looks at her. Touching its features. As long as she doesn't look down you can convince her the doll and her share consciousness

You'd catch her trying to tone her skills with it. "Haru?" "Yes?" "Why are you glaring at the doll like that?" "To practice my skills" she stares even harder at the mini haru. "You're gonna pop a vein" "all in a days work" without a secound of hesitation you speak up once again "are you trying to explode her with your mind?" Her eyes widen, her head nearly snapping to you and back at the doll staring even harder. "Alright that's enough no mind explosions" "but y/n!" "You don't have powers"

"Would you like tea?" The dolls 1000 yard stare answered for it l, you pouring it pretend tea. "Truely a spleaded tea party" "indeed" you both extend your pinkeys to a painful degree. You two would enjoy actual snacks while leaving nothing for a doll, this would sadden her. "We should buy doll food" "Haru her mouth is string how is she gonna eat?" "Are you familiar with the plastic food for kids toys?" Finally the doll could join in being an estimened guest

There's hair matienece..for both. At the same time. "You have more curls than a lala loopsey doll" you carefully comb its hair "I should stop using yarn" finish it up with a plastic hairclip that totally wasn't from a discount store and she'd nearly instantly ask for the same thing. She'd come to school with a diffrent sweater to match the hair pieces making Ryuji think she had been switched with ghost

The only person with a near perfect condition doll. Because she keeps mini haru in a case. "Haru I appreciate the fact you care to keep her clean, but she's being held hostage" "your right.." You sigh, thinking she's agreed with you. "I'll need to buy her a home!" Your eyes shoot open, too late now you're already assembling mini Haru her own home. Atleast she lives rent-free

[golfishwiththebigeyes]

A lil Futaba because I missed drawing traditionally and I love her so much

[symphonic-scream]

I have more of the Okujima Fake Dating thing

(summary; Makoto and Haru are uni roommates (and friends w/ benefits but that's not something they address) and to avoid her relatives finding her a partner, Haru lies and tells them she's gay (not a lie) and has a girlfriend she's serious with (mega lie))

Like. Makoto takes this job so seriously

She asks Haru for the guest list and photos so she can remember who is who and she studies, and by the time they arrive she's figured out which relatives to bow to, or shake hands, or offer a fist bump

Haru: you didn't have to do all that,

Makoto: any partner of yours should put in this much effort. Otherwise, they're not worthy of calling you theirs

The room booked for them has one bed, a real nice shower, and a jet tub. They go to bath houses together with their friends, so it's not as awkward as either assumed when they spend a night soaking in the tub together, jets turned on the lowest setting. It's even less awkward when they share the bed, since, well, they've done worse. And besides, Haru has learned over the last two years that she's hella touch starved and has abandonment issues, and Makoto? A very cuddly sleeper. It's, almost like they were designed to work well together (ehe)

Haru's relatives also adore Makoto. Both as a person, and for Haru. They all met Haru after her dad died, before she went off and made friends in uni. They met sad high school Haru. And she's so different from the lady in front of them, not hiding the little snort in her laughter as one of her cousins close to her age teaches Makoto a goofy dance, and she makes it look sillier with how stiff and awkward she is

Haru's cousins from her aunt are three boys. One is married with two kids, one is getting married, and one is her age. The middle and youngest get along with her best, the youngest being a musician, the middle a dancer, and the oldest a gym teacher, former athlete

She's got twin cousins from Uncle 1, her mom's twin. Both just younger than her. A boy, who's going to be an aerospace engineer, and a girl, who wants to be a lawyer. Overly smart little seniors

And uncle two? Two daughters. One older, one younger. The older one is married and about to have a son, and the younger one just started a business ethics degree

There are two more aunts. One, married no kids, the other? Single as hell

Haru's grandparents are there too, and they love Makoto so much. They missed out on so much of Haru's life cause they lost contact with their daughter after she married Kunikazu, and, they're just happy to see she found someone that's as respectful and loving as Makoto

Makoto: do you think your family would mind if I wore a suit?

Haru: nope. My aunt is gay, after all. Her wife will be wearing one too

Makoto: seriously? That's so cool!

Haru: mm! They're the mothers of the groom, so you'll see plenty of them this trip

Makoto: amazing,

Oldest cousin: hey, Haru? Can you watch these two for a moment? I have to go talk to my Mama

Haru: oh- Uhm, okay?

Makoto: here, hand me the little one. Hey, bud

Haru: *gay staring*

By the wedding itself they're fully together. Acting the exact same, but they acknowledge why they stare at each other so tenderly

They'd call the others, their friends from uni, from time to time

The opening of it would be Haru having to admit she fucked up to her bestie Ryuji, and Ann

All head in arms, asking either of them to help her out and Ryuji says he would but he's not exactly a gal, and Ann is spending the summer with her fiancee in Europe, checking out venues for a wedding

Ryuji: why don't you ask Makoto? She's single, and your roommate. It'd be way less awkward than asking anyone else

Haru, not willing to admit the "Friends with Benefits" thing: ...do I really have no other option??

Ann: there's Futaba-

Haru: ugh. I'll ask Mako-chan,

Makoto keeps panic calling Joker or Yusuke after things on the trip like: DOES THIS MEAN SHE LIKES ME??? DO I LIKE HARU?? SEND AN AMBULANCE SHE KISSED ME AND IT FELT REAL I THINK IM DYING

At one point Goro picks up and just growls at her to "woman up, go the hell to sleep, or die. Whichever I don't care stop calling my boyfriend at 2 am"

No weird jealousy plot either just. Them realizing on their own

Like. The way Haru asks, too

She comes home, finds Makoto cooking and humming, a box from the campus bakery on the table, and Haru knows her roommate picked up her favourites, probably just because she *noticed* how off she's been, and. She knows Ryuji is right. Makoto is the best choice to help her with this fuck up,

She walks up behind her, wraps her arms around her hips, grunts in a way that's nearly a whine, plants her head between those strong shoulder blades

"Hey, welcome home, Haru. How was your day? You had your advanced statistics class today, right?"

"Mm. Mako-chan, I, have to ask for your help."

"What's up? Oh, is it that time? I can get the hot water bottle, run out to get more pain meds for you-"

"I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend."

...

...

"Huh? Haru, what-"

"My cousin is getting married. And, I may have lied to my grandparents, about dating someone, so they wouldn't try to set me up with someone. And, they want to meet her. The tickets and hotel are paid for already, just, I don't want to have to tell them I lied,,"

"Well, I wasn't planning to go anywhere but visit my sister, so I'm free for it."

"What."

"Yeah, tell me the details after dinner? The ramen is nearly done."

Makoto is secretly having a mini panic attack inside

She texts Yusuke later like "I CANT SAY MUCH BUT GOD IM GAY"

And Yusuke just texts back a photo a counter on his wall that reads "Makoto says she's gay; 1026"

The wedding is in Okinawa, where the bride is from, so they have to bring bathing suits for the beach, and, Haru does ask Makoto to help her pick which one to bring

Makoto sits there, face red, hands digging into her knees as Haru makes comments about one of them maybe making her look more chubby, maybe she should stick to a one piece-

Makoto: you're gorgeous. Every part of you. If you like how it looks on you, screw what anyone says

Haru: ...but. do you like it?

(Reminder. They are "Just Friends")

Makoto coughs a bit, looks away: y-yeah. I like it,

Haru: ...LETS PRACTICE KISSING

Makoto: R-RIGHT

Makoto *was* wearing her bathing suit top and swim shorts. Haru did get a chance to admire her muscular thighs in the shorts. She's a sucker for how muscular her roommate is

Just. When they get home and have to tell all their friends they're dating now and

Morgana, Joker's little brother, age 16: YOU WERENT TOGETHER???

Just. Man. How they were just naturally domestic from the start, and how naturally being affectionate comes to both of them, but differently than with their other friends, and

Makoto: hey, since we're "dating", does that mean I have to tell you I've slept with Ann?

Haru: you WHAT

Makoto: it was over a year ago! And Shiho knew and agreed to it!

Haru: you SLEPT WITH ANN TOO?!

Makoto: TOO?!

and they both laugh, cause they've known this, it's a bit they do, and Haru nestles back under Makoto's chin, and they go back to snuggling. They're in Makoto's bed in their apartment. It's later the night Haru asked, and, okay yeah they maybe did *it* again, but. Things feel weirdly right between them as they lie there together, softly talking out the details of the plan

Like. There's a reason so many people already thought they were dating, and why it sells so perfectly to Haru's family

I'm attached to this already dear lord

[renatogpadilla]

THOUGHTS ON CR3E92 IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

- FIRST EVER CR CROSSOVER EPISODE?!

LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

- Dariax said "This Flute doesn't play itself anymore." Doriax canon offscreen?

- "After all the handjobs, this is what we mean to you?!" Damn... I mean, I'm glad Opal and Cyrus found a way to relieve stress, Gods know they're both stressed, but damn.

- Ending the episode on Opal Twice-Crowned hitting phase 2 of the boss fight was EVIL!

I love it, @quiddie ! I feel like when this gets animated in a decade or so, we'll get this fight and the fight with Otohan Thull overlayed one on top of the other for a Season Finale or something!

- Raven Queen going two for two on Rogues turned Paladin! Which is great, but now I have to replan Morrighan's moveset for that imaginary Critical Role fighting game that only exists in my head (somebody ask me about it please, I NEED to talk about it!) but at least she gets some Smite options out of the Bunny Hop command jump!

- Dariax is a Bard now too! That's honestly so perfect for Matt! And the fact that both Sorcerers and Bards are Charisma Casters makes me feel like the Synergies are gonna be great!

- Oh, Dorian, wonderful blue king... That's a lot of strength that your Dice will never agree to let you use for anything cool. I missed you SO MUCH!

- Speaking of that imaginary CR fighting game, this just solidified Opal as a puppet character. The tag combos with Ted would be WILD! Think Kenshi from MK1!

- Fy'ra Rai... Just... FY'RA RAI! Gods, I've missed Anjali at the table! Her memory with Opal, her tug-of-war with her thoughts about her sister... THE LAVA WHIP! Nothing sexier than Monks! Except a pissed off Wizard or Druid.

- On the other side of the table, I LOVE the moment the girls all collectively remembered they had to break the news to Frida... Oh, that's gonna hurt BAD!

- Anyone else noticed that Ashton is BURNT OUT and laying on the ground after his Titan form wears off, but Fearne just says she's really tired and just KEEPS GOING? Ashton is DONE for now, but Fearne needs to keep moving forward... Fuck, I love these two.

- Orym... Just... Orym. If you take a level in Barbarian after this, I wouldn't blame you.

- Side-Note: This means Dorian DID get Orym's last message before they went to the moon! He just didn't/couldn't answer! Which means, through the static and everything, Dorian COULD hear Orym! And now he's probably gonna get this message once the battle is over... Jesus, if they get to Zephra and Keyleth went to the Lodge next to the lake that's gonna be a problem...

- Side-Note Side-Note: Anyone else hoping to GOD that Allura called the Nein to help? Cause Beau and Caleb were involved, but now it feels like an "All Hands on Deck" situation, and we could use Kingsley's small army of pirates right about now...

- So much happened this episode between the grieving and the flashbacks and the rolling for handjobs that I didn't have time to process the splinter cell of Xhorhasians that split their soul in twain until I woke up... Opal may have forgotten, but maybe Ted hasn't? Though if they're the same person, maybe they both forgot...

- Aabria, the corrupting of the Memories was FOUL, I LOVE IT!!!

- Somebody needs to tell Essek about the soul-splitters. In fact, let's get to that while we deal with Ashton too!

- IF OPAL DIES, AMY CAN COME OVER AS DENI$E! Like, I don't WANT her to die, but Westruun isn't that far... 👀

- I just realized this is the first ever FULL episode of CR without Sam at the table... Fuck, man, when it hurts it hurts. Glad Marisha brought back the fan.

"Forgot the Consonants?" "No Letters." OUCH, MISS RAY, WHAT THE FUCK?!

- Raven Queen Paladins hasting themselves first thing in the fight. Vax is back, and he's a Bunny Girl now!

- I like that the Crownkeepers are a two-way Overwatch reunion (McCree Cassidy and Symmetra) and a three-way Persona 5 reunion (Yusuke, Ann Futaba and Akechi).

- Everything was so fucked this episode that everything with Liliana got knocked to the background for me, THAT'S how good it was!

- The SECOND Evoroa said Ludinos was on Exandria I knew EXACTLY where he would be! Now we HAVE to get the Nein involved, right? Unless the bastard makes the city float again...

I cannot WAIT for the next episode! And if Sam brings a new character when all the groups are together, it would be SPECTACULAR! I'm guessing he's going to play one of the moon races, because that just sounds cool... Either that or Tary!

[quietbooklion]

Thoughts on: Aoi

When I was first introduced to Aoi, I wasn't really sure I was going to like him. The tsundere types are a hit or miss for me because their behavior can either be fun and cute sometimes or downright annoying. Thankfully, Aoi is the former because when I had played his route years ago, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I did like him. But I kind of forgot most of his storyline and after replaying it, I can confidently say that I think his story, along with Kuya's are the best of the Dawn faction. And Aoi himself is such a compassionate and caring guy.

*This review will contain spoilers, you have been warned.*

I think what really sold me to Aoi was how he reacts to others emotions and how he in turn tries to understand said emotions while also coming to terms with his own internal demons. Aoi's route definitely has a huge emphasis on accepting and overcoming your emotions, now matter how difficult things are.

His personality won me over because of how cute he reacted to any ounce of a compliment coming from Futaba or the others. The dude fits the tsundere trope to the T and he makes it work. I lost count the number of times he blushed throughout his story. He's so babygirl coded.

His story highlights how much he and Futaba have an internal struggle with their emotions all while trying to deal with external factors that make things more challenging for them. Whether it's Futaba coming to terms with Akiyasu's betrayal and Aoi not wanting to get hurt again, it shows how vulnerable they can be. What I liked about this is that while the story is fantasy, their emotions are grounded in reality which makes their struggles all the more real. Aoi has seen the dark sides of many people, believing that no one truly has a pure heart. You as the player can see how he doesn't want to wear his heart on his sleeve even though he truly wants to believe the good in people. And with Futaba, she is slowly spiraling into despair after what happened to her father, it's honestly surprising to see a protagonist go through a bit of a deconstruction arc even if it only lasted for a moment.

But even so, I loved how Aoi not only came to terms with his own emotions and feelings about Futaba, he was able to reach out and be vulnerable in order to save Futaba. He laid his emotions out there in the open and it was satisfying to see how victorious both of them came out in the end.

One thing I do want to point out is that while I think a majority of the routes have very little romance, I think Aoi's route probably has the most since he does love the MC no matter what route she is in. Their love and affection felt more genuine than everyone else and I have to give props to the writing for actually having some romance, even if it was a slow burn type.

I'm so glad I got to experience this story again.

5 out of 5.

[0heartangel0]

PERSONA 5 TACTICA IS NOT GREAT: A VERY ODDLY-CONSTRUCTED RANT

Pt. 2: The Phantom Thieves With No Heart

We'll start things off by bringing up what I said earlier about the characters and how I don't think the vast majority of them are any good, with only the three exceptions mentioned previously.

"But wait," I might hear you ask. "You said two out of the three were Futaba and Yusuke. Does that imply that the rest of the thieves aren't as good by comparison?"

And to that, I say, ".......yes."

I don't know what happened here, but the Phantom Thieves aren't Phantom Thieve-ing. And by that, I mean, not only are they written rather bland, but they contribute almost *nothing* to the plot, outside of the obvious combat segments that are just there for gameplay's sake. They might have a *few* moments here or there, but when I say "few", I MEAN "few".

To make things easier in order to get my point across, I'm gonna go down the list of Phantom Thieves that aren't Futaba and Yusuke, starting with:

ANN TAKAMAKI

I'm gonna be honest here: I can't think of a *single* moment Ann had any relevance or contribution to the plot or any character development outside of when she was brainwashed by Marie at the beginning of the game, and even then, you could make the same argument for every other thief that wasn't Morgana or Joker.

There's also the aforementioned Samurai scene, but it's there to run the same joke of, "Ann's a terrible actress". I will admit, it is funny, and Yusuke saves it by spinning it, saying she's wasted, but my point still stands. And as I've stated, this is one of two optional scenarios, so you might not even see this scene.

At least in Strikers, Ann gets the first arc, where she relates to and sympathizes with Alice Hiragi, our first antagonist. Tactica leaves her out to dry.

Also, in the first arc, Toshiro constantly brings up her leather suit, and it gets old and uncomfortable real fast.

So, yeah. Ann gets nothing. She loses.

MORGANA

Morgana is the same old same old, but that isn't saying much, because....it's Morgana. He serves as your tutorial guy for the beginning, while constantly correcting people that he is indeed not a cat (except that he is, don't deny what is the truth).

The only thing I can compliment him on is how he calls Lavenza "Miss Lavenza". I don't know, it's cute. It shows how much he respects her (don't know if I should call them siblings, considering Morgana's origins).

Aside from that, I really have nothing else to say about Morgana. I never liked Morgana to begin with, and that still holds true in Tactica.

MAKOTO NIIJIMA

Makoto has never really been my favorite Phantom Thief by any stretch of the definition, but even I can tell that they did her dirty here.

Once again, she does nothing for character growth or plot, and is left for some cheap jokes that usually result in her threatening someone's life. I can only think of *one* time she did something for the plot, which was ask Futaba to hack into Yoshiki's cameras to show the citizens what the camps have been doing to the people taken there.

But aside from that, that's all Makoto really contributes....

...which makes it all the more aggravating when you remember that Makoto's supposed to be the TACTICIAN of the group!

EVEN THE GAME SAYS SO!!

But you want to know the real kicker here? While Makoto doesn't do any strategizing, you know the characters that DO?

Toshiro and FUTABA!

Okay. To an extent, I get Toshiro. But Futaba? She's the HACKER. I mean, in regards to what she should hack and the timing of it, I understand, but not full-on strategy on the WHOLE operation! And even if you want to include Futaba into this, why not include Makoto as well?? If you want to push the idea that she's the strategist of the Phantom Thieves, then have her participate in this discussion!! I love Futaba as much as the next guy, but it's clear to me the writers or someone on the writing team *really* liked Futaba.

What I'm trying to say is, just give Makoto her role back, man! Because apart from that one moment (plus her losing her cool at an aizen during the Samurai/Geisha scene), she really has nothing else.

HARU OKUMURA

Okay, in all fairness, even in the first game, Haru really didn't have much going on. There's a reason "Haru Didn't Get Enough Screen Time" became a meme. She was only ever relevant for the Okumura arc, where she teams up with Morgana during his split with the PT, and after some running around and whining, he makes up, and Haru joins, wanting to change her father's heart. Then he dies, she gets sad over it, and she then proceeds to just fade in the background for the rest of the game.

That isn't to say Haru wasn't a good character. She was decent. The problem is, due to her lack of screen time and contribution (and Morgana), she never really had a chance to develop as a character, especially with her comrades. I'd argue that if you took her out of the original game, the thieves' dynamic and the story as a whole wouldn't change by much.

Then Strikers swooped in and saved her character. Due to the nature of it being a sequel, the game understands that we don't need to reintroduce the characters again, and just lets them have fun. And boy, did they have fun with Haru. Not only did she get two funny running gags - one of which being paid off through means of her almost killing her friends - but she gets an entire arc focused on her, where she reconnects with an old friend that has lost her way due to guilt and blackmail. It's so touching, and shows just how much Haru has grown as a character from the first. Screw the Okumura arc, replace it with the Sapporo arc! Also, she's terrifying.

I was then expecting Tactica to follow through with this, giving us a very adorable, yet sadistic floof ball. But... no.

Just like everybody else here, she serves no purpose to the plot, she's been soul-sucked, giving zero laughs or character development whatsoever-

Okay, that's a semi-lie, because she actually has one scene.

While infiltrating Marie's castle, the gang come across a room, where a projector plays a video of real-life Marie treating Toshiro like crap, even calling him her "puppet". It's here where Toshiro remembers that Marie is his fiance arranged to him by his father, who only did it to boost his political career (and money) due to Marie being the daughter of a rich ceo to a conglomerate.

Marie, however, as shown in the video, has never cared for Toshiro, and only agrees to marry him in order to gain the status and power as a wife to a prime minister.

It's here where Haru begins to empathize with Toshiro's plight, having also gone through the hell of being forced into an arranged marriage with a horrible human being for the sake of the family business.

It's great that the game acknowledges this similarity and uses it to have two of our characters relate to their hardships and grow together as a result.....for this one exchange.

Those four screenshots I showed? This is the only time Haru ever talks about this with Toshiro, or has a moment like this with him. 'Cause after she says this, it's never brought up again. It's such a waste, too, because they could've done something here, but they chose not to. And for what?

Okay, okay! There's ANOTHER moment Haru has in this game. And it's in a Quest she has with Yusuke, where she tries to test Milady's psio powers to drag enemies to her so she can easily take them out due to her axe being heavy to carry around. After the quest, she reveals that when she was a child, she used to try chopping wood in the garden. When her father found out, he got angry and told her not to do it again. In an act of rebellion, she continued in secret. She later found out through one of her helpers that her father had known she was still doing it. Yusuke and Joker conclude that it was probably her father's way of showing his affection and kindness towards her, with Haru agreeing, saying that that's why she's attached to her axe, for it's a reminder of her courage and when her father wasn't a crazed lunatic was kind.

I honestly love this quest for this story. We get to learn more about Haru, and even add a little more nuance into Okumura before he formed a palace, making Haru's determination to change his heart, and sadness when he died make more sense.

I just wish we got to see more of this in the main plot rather than a side quest. Can-

Can we just stop being mean to Haru for once?!

RYUJI SAKAMOTO

*Sniff* Ryuji....what did they do to you, man?

I keep beating a dead horse here, but Ryuji serves no purpose outside of being the comic relief half the time when Toshiro isn't available to be the resident punching bag. And even then, I can't think of a single funny moment Ryuji had in this game, apart from that one quest, where him and Makoto bring back a box from town square, only for it to contain a bunch of Yoshiki merch, and everyone pawns it off on him. BUT THAT'S IT!

And it saddens me because it's RYUJI! If not for Zenkichi, Ryuji would be THE best boi to me. Both P5 and P5S gave him so much, usually being the best part of both games for me. And it's not just because he was funny (although he is). He always had the gang's back and would risk everything for them, like when he almost died when trying to get the thieves a lifeboat when Shido's palace was collapsing (we don't talk about the aftermath of that). In Strikers, he stands up to and screams at a disembodied voice in order to defend Sophia, whom he considered as a dear friend, especially given the voice was calling her worthless and purposeless - something he's heard other people call him all his life (I hate it when people boil this scene down to, "He sAiD tHe F-bOMb, gUys!", 'cause there's more to it).

So, with all that said, these examples puts more a perspective of just how butchered he was in this game, since he's never given a moment like this. The closest we get is of a Memo stating he's like this, but we don't see it in action. He's just....THERE. And that's the worst you can be as a character.

Much like everyone else, he gets nothing of importance. Nothing, except some Yoshiki merch.

REN AMAMIYA / AKIRA KURUSU / PEEPEE POOPOO / BABY GIRL / HARRY MOBUS-

(You know what? For the sake of no discourse on the canon name, we'll be referring to him by his codename, ironically the only canon name he has.)

As the silent protagonist, you might think I wouldn't have much to say about Joker. But that's where you're wrong.

Ever since P3, despite their roles as the silent protagonists, each one always gave an air of personality.

Makoto Yuuki (P3 Protag) always went with the flow, giving off an "I don't care" attitude, with a side of depression, for he didn't seem to fear death.

Yu Narukami (P4 Protag) was a friendship-loving chad, who'd do anything for his little cousin, Nanako, and always strived to unveil the truth.

And then there's Joker. While appearing to be an average student, he's really a showboating trickster (God himself even gives him the nickname of 'Trickster'), who isn't afraid to joke around, even when the situation is dire. He'd do anything for his friends and strives to change society for better, even if society views him as the villain.

This personality carries over in Strikers, as you can see in both the way he acts in cutscenes, and a vast majority of his responses throughout the game:

(Watch it - you won't regret it)

So, when transitioning to Tactica, I guess Joker lost his personality along the way because, my God, is he boring in this game.

While I can tell you almost every funny dialogue option Joker has in P5 and P5S, I can't think of a single one here. Almost all of them boil down to the same generic answer, with no charisma or back-talking Joker's known for.

But, nothing, flippin' NOTHING, holds a candle to the most annoying thing they added to Joker. It was something I noticed the first hour or so into the game, and then proceeded to play a little game with myself to see how many times it happens. And it happened EVERY DANG TIME!

You see, at the end of every cutscene Joker's involved in (so, almost all of them), he does this nodding animation to close it off, and I don't know if I should find it funny or annoying.

That's all he does. He NODS!!

JUST-

....how did you butcher Joker?

WHY ARE THE PHANTOM THIEVES HERE?

No, really. Why are they here?

Heck, the game throughout constantly asks the question of why the thieves were dragged into the world of the Kingdoms, but at the end of the game, never provides a concrete answer.

Salmael does state that his offer of salvation "is not limited to [Toshiro]", but the fact he's doing all of this in Toshiro's mind tells me he had no intention of dragging the thieves in to begin with, and was only ever focused on Toshiro (I'll complain about that when I get to Toshiro).

You could make the argument that the reason they were dragged in was because they were in LeBlanc when it happened, and LeBlanc is supposed to be Toshiro's safe haven in his mind. But then, why drag Lavenza and the WHOLE VELVET ROOM then?? Doesn't that just give the thieves more firepower, since Lavenza can provide Persona fusions, and later, FIREARMS?? Why didn't he also drag in Igor, since Lavenza states she was intentionally dragged away from him when it all happened??? WHAT'S THE POINT OF THE THIEVES BEING THERE, APART FROM JUST BEING TOSHIRO'S UNPAID THERAPISTS?!

I'll tell you why! It's so they could label this as a Persona 5 game! And that's all she wrote!

It just disappoints me, because I like the PT, and to have them be watered down to this leaves me feeling...empty. And sad. And depressed.

And this is just the OLD characters. I haven't even gotten to the NEW ones! I won't be discussing them for the next few parts, but just know: I have a lot to say about them, and none of it is good.

Pt. 1

Pt. 3

[kneelbeforeclefairy]

@bestnoncannonship and I are continuing our Sherlock Holmes obsession..and we just finished the most underrated Sherlock adaptation, Miss Sherlock. It's a Japanese production set in modern day Tokyo with Sherlock, Watson and Moriarty all played by women. Yuko Takeuchi has fast become one of my favorite Sherlocks, next to the incredible Jeremy Brett. And one of my favorite things about her is she always seems to be eating something that looks delicious. There's seriously so much food in this show, it makes you hungry.

So we celebrated finishing the show by taking a late night trip to H Mart and making a Miss Sherlock inspired Japanese dinner. We had a very Sherlock Futaba approved chocolate roll cake for dessert but we made way too much food and were stuffed, so guess we'll have to eat it tonight! Anyway, if you haven't seen this show get on it! This fandom needs a revival and more love.

[unpopularshipbracket]

Round 1a Match 16

Touko Kirigaya/Tsukushi Futaba/Mashiro Kurata (Bandori/BanG Dream!)

AO3 fic count: 0

Death/Bunnymund (Puss in Boots/Rise of the Guardians)

AO3 fic count: 2

Propaganda under the cut!

Bandori OT3

"Okay, so with these three, my shipping logic asks the question of whether it is gay to start a band with your two besties who you just met but immediately became attached to you and the idea of bands alike. The answer is yes. Mashiro, Tsukushi and Touko saw exactly one concert together at the very start of Morfonica's band story, and, after Mashiro began trying to start a band, Touko and Tsukushi immediately jumped on board, despite the facts that none of them had even touched an instrument before (except Tsukushi, who I think had played taiko drums before, but this isn't important), and this made them all super close. Later, when they'd recruited another member, the band had a bit of a fallout which caused Mashiro to briefly leave, and Touko and Tsukushi were both so upset by this that it interfered with their practice, and it was super obvious to even their new bandmate that they were just missing Mashiro. Then Mashiro apologized for the whole fallout and was happily accepted into the band again. This leads into a ton of events, since Bandori operates by progressing the story through different in-game events, which opened the story up for a lot of focus on their dynamic where Touko and Tsukushi's dynamic is pretty teasing from Touko's end but they still care for and respect each other a lot, Touko and Mashiro's dynamic is pretty similar since it's easy to poke fun at the mess that is Mashiro but for some reason Touko somehow ends up saying much gayer things to Mashiro all the time and helping to get her out of her comfort zone, and Tsukushi and Mashiro's dynamic, which I know is the most popular out of these three, is very devoid of this gentle teasing and is more based around mutual understanding, respect and shared experiences, since, instead of it being one of these two with an ever-confident Touko, it's somebody with super obviously low self-esteem (Mashiro) and somebody who seems very confident (to the point where the band story fallout I noted involved Mashiro being frustrated at Tsukushi because she saw her as somebody who was infinitely more talented and confident than her and that she was expecting too much from her) but also loses her confidence super quickly and very frequently loses faith in herself. Their dynamic is a little more focused on because a lot of their stories involve them taking inspiration from each other (such as in band story 2, which takes place after Tsukushi got a part-time job, and involves Tsukushi telling Mashiro that she wouldn't have even done that if she wasn't inspired by how confident Mashiro had grown). That being said, there is the underlying theme between the three of them just having a lot of admiration and trust in each other even if Touko rarely expresses it."

Deathster:

"I mean, life and death. Two hot furry men. What else is there not to love?"

[samarecharm]

Really loving how chatty futaba is; i missed her so much 💚

[haejjoon]

Recently I was brain-rotting with someone about Joker's sexuality and we both concluded that... He seems kinda uncomfortable in the game. Mostly because of the "There's no turning back..." Msg afterward. Like, Atlus? Why is this so menacing and dreadful? And then you have these several moments of Akira jokingly flirting/or openly flirting with his Bros (gobro included<3)

It's just that nothing happens in relationships... I know you can interpret anything as you want *ahem* Curse Atlus for making silent Protagonists. But I couldn't feel like Akira enjoys it. It is as if he felt that he has to be in relationships with women (I forgot the term name but it's like when you question your sexuality because of heteronormative everywhere)

Of course, it may be just because romance is purely optional so there is no need to write it that in deep. But some romance routes are showing disapproval through Sojiro or Akira's face in model change.

It's just... Seeing Akira smiling after the friendship route with Futaba was such a whiplash for me. He doesn't do it when saying he loves her. I never even KNEW he CAN change his face on a model!!! That made me so curious if his face changes with others by he always facing away from the camera</3

Let me study you, Jokerrrr

(if someone is curious about Futaba, you can find screenshots on @/leonawriter's blog)

So uhh... I am really curious what are your thoughts on Romance in P5 :D

Because there are several posts about some translation misses in Persona for a variety of reasons as well as THESE. DAMN. FLOWER. KEYCHAINS.

Atlus can "queerbait" me as much as Capcom(Ace Attorney) but it is not my fault they have written these characters with homoerotic tension!!!

...or maybe I am just deluded AroAce V.V

So, yeah, sorry for my rant about not well-written romance :'D

HOL ON LETTER COOK???? U HAVE A POINT.

i always saw the romance options as... you know, options, which was why i always took them with a grain of salt. like its kind of ridiculous how little romancing anyone affects the overall plot. i romanced haru my first run through because i thought it'd somehow give her more screentime via plot (jun hhaeyeun u poor, poor fool.)

but you're so right??? whats the in lore reason as to why joker seems so aloof?? from his various options in main plot we know that hes pretty memey, cares a lot for his friends, etc etc. but when u have the option to romance the Girl Of Your Dreams you're suddenly about as emotional as a rock? i think ur onto smth...

not to mention he DOES seem to be super uncomfortable with the options... idk he always seemed like he was just going along with whatever the girl wanted to make her happy, bc he was her friend. one thing in particular that i wanted to point out was ann's romance route, where ur choices are either "you can rely on me" or "you can rely on the others" .... WHAT. like obviously you'd say "i'm here for you", right?? obviously akiren would say that he's here for ann, right?????? personally i think that akiren doesnt even know when hes dating a girl. the horde of girls who castrate him on valentine's day absolutely took him by surprise. he was just being a homie.

(which i think is prettu sad if you think about it... half of the dialogue options to toggle the romance route just sounds like akiren's trying to be friendly. "you can rely on me" "i came here to see you" "you've got me" arent romantic in the slightest. these poor fucking girls... a guy is decent to them One Time and they're over the moon .......... pls u all deserve better)

[navi-sakura]

( Futaba was doing some work when a familiar voice came out of her computer's speakers. )

"Futaba? Are you feeling alright? You seem a bit downcast."

I've been pretty swamped. I get one thing done and another thing takes its place soon after.

"..."

( She doesn't say anything. Futaba gets the feeling that she's being judged. )

Okay, maybe I shouldn't have played games so much.

...One second.

( Futaba changes system windows to something else, enters a few commands, and... )

Hm?

There you go, I missed you being on my screen. Now you can shoot judgy looks all you want!

Aha!~

Speaking of games, actually...I detected a foreign installation on your PlayStation 5, but no source pointing to the store or your machine.

What?

( The PS5 was on, just in sleep mode. Weird... )

( When Futaba wakes it, the connected monitor flashes to... the title screen of Persona 3 Reload, except the silhouette was of Aigis holding a butterfly in her palms. )

Huh...?

Episode Aigis...

Does that mean we're seeing more of her? I loved her!

Guess I know what I'm playing later.

Yes, "later" being the operative word there.

Finishing your work is priority one. I can contact Makoto if you'd like her help.

I know, you don't need to.

Sophia is now available for asks!

[arcplaysgames]

I just get the impression that Akechi is Reverie's Mean Bitch Boyfriend and everyone in the Thieves is baffled that they are going out because what the fuck does Reverie see in this guy. And all the girls are like "ooooooh. Okay."

But Akechi just speaks to Reverie on another level. So much of Reverie's life is being contained and not causing too much trouble because his probation thing, but Akechi is like a total fucking asshole and responds best when Reverie is an asshole right back, and like. Man. I get it. I really get it lmao.

Its easy to imagine Reverie hanging out with the gang and saying something just a little too Fucking Mean and they're like "did you have lunch with Akechi" and he's like ".... Oh. Yeah. Whoops. Sorry, I'll dial it back."

MEANWHILE out lil sister is having a hard time. Like, man, not to diminish the pain anyone went through because Maruki's deal, but Yusuke and Futaba and Haru in particular have it really goddamn rough and it's painful.

I love every moment that the game lets you be understanding and empathetic with Futaba.

This moment in particular should be stamped on the brain of everyone who has mental illness. Futaba tries to tell Reverie he should be mad at her, because she's angry with herself and wants to sublimate that emotion onto others. She wants him to be mad at her because then it's almost easier to deal with all of this happening. It's a situation where kindness almost hurts more than the reprimand, but kindness is still what's needed.

persona 5 royal where has this writing been!!!!!! i'm yelling

Anyway, Futaba pops her final persona. Glow down. I want A Dark Planet Lit By Daft Punk again. 8C It's fine, it's not terrible, the reference is neat, but also sigh.

I do like the Technomancy vibe of Futaba. The framing of her work that way is neat.

Next up is my man Yusuke and okay, one: Yusuke's winter outfit is FLY AS HELL, look at that. Look at how gorgeous that jacket is, with the ink bottle teal and the bold buttons and the skinny jeans. Amazing, truly.

Two, this room makes me want to scream. There is a cardboard box of fruit that makes me think he walked through a park and just picked stuff to eat and then decided it was all too photogenic so its set aside for a still life. The supplies on the floor, the canvases blocking his fucking storage space, this is all just pitch fucking perfect.

Love that he's a prospit dream honestly.

I'll be real, going to every Thief and having them apologize to Reverie for falling for Maruki's trick is a little bit blah, but the extra details for each is fun. The moment when Yusuke is so ashamed he won't even look at Reverie is nice and heartfelt.

funny how when i talk to futaba the game always gives me the exact options i wanna say but never with yusuke

sigh

oh my dear fucking god

i mean. wow. i don't really see Yusuke's soul in the Pimpdaddy Maestro of the Techno Goth Club?

This one is even more baffling than the Susano-o persona for him, so I'm just. Yeah. OKay.

To be clear: This design is amazing, I love it, I LOVE THE SHOES, LOOK AT THOSE FUCKING SHOES. but wow. Yusuke huh. Okay. I miss Goemon.

that said he gets Heat Riser But For The Whole Party and wow holy shit that's so powerful

Ryuji time. Once again the game gives me the option I want.

Listen. I am mad at how not gay this game is. If Ryuji was the only gay option, I'd still go stag. Or date Haru. (man i shoulda dated Haru)

anyway Ryuji's is particularly blah but the only amusing moment is when he decides his punishment is to do standing squats until Reverie says he can stop

opens mouth

shuts mouth

Nah I'll save my thoughts on Ryuji for later.

anyway Ryuji's persona has joined the 1% i guess bc he's on a yacht now.

That or he won a free boat ride for three. Where is T-Pain.

Haru confirmed for Prospit, as if there was any doubt.

Her room makes me nervous tbh, like, I feel like I'm in a southern furniture showroom. Did HGTV do this, Haru?

LOVE THIS SENTIMENT. I love that when kindness is offered she is flat out like "Thank you but that's not what I need right now." That's powerful tbh, I love it.

HARU GETS TO SAY THE THESIS OF THE PLOTLINE OUT LOUD.

So fucking what if you put a band aid on everyone's fucking problems? New problems will arise. Do you intend to delete each and every one?

This shit reminds me of rich and powerful people who are born into it and haven't experienced hardship for the majority of their lives, so when something mildly inconvenient happens, they treat it like a federal fucking issue because they have no skills to handle anything.

Maruki's plan is to basically eviscerate everyone's personal growth in perpetuity. Like, as you walk around Shibuya and stuff, you do actually overhear people concerned about all this happiness and the lack of contrasts.

I mean, I'm a depressed poor sick queer who grew up in a trailer park. There are moments in my past that define me and they are Not Good moments. I would still not take Maruki's deal.

Maruki needed to meet Toranosuke honestly and talk about societal reform. You know Tora is one of those "what if we gave addicts places to live for free and created a UBI" people.

GLOW DOWN. There was nowhere to go but down when you have the literal best persona in the main cast. But also that Life Wall is amazing.

I overwrote Psy Amp for it. I am dedicated to my build on Haru. She walks up and its time for the Gun Show. I wish she got Akechi's Riot Gun skill, you have NO idea. She'd tear shit UP and give Myriad Truths a run for its money.

anyway here is Futaba and Ann petting Morgana. shout out to Akechi all the way in the back trying to ignore everyone.

ANYWAY we're at the end of this post and I'm gonna complain about Ryuji, feel free to peace out.

So Persona really likes having the one party member who is kind of stupid. Just... not book smart and always doing poorly in class and always missing out on vital information. It's good joke fodder, I get it.

In P4, that was Kanji and Chie, and in P3 it was Junpei. I respect and love these characters, and I have been banging my head against why I just! I just hate Ryuji! I really do! I have never disliked a persona character this much yet!

And I think the thing about Kanji and Junpei and the other Kinda Dumb characters is that they have low book smarts but they are often the most empathetic and emotionally intelligent characters in the game. Kanji was the fucking HEART of the party from the moment he joined onward, was always coming out and says profound shit, was the one who stepped up and was like "hey lets let Naoto and their shadow hash it out, we can handle the fight and this is going to help them." He was the kindest person in the party.

And Junpei, I still think that was some apex of writing, the time when Junpei was like "hey, I apologize for this thing I did to you, it was disrespectful and I'll do better." And his connection to Chidori was the rocket strapped to his arc. He was emotional and kind and he fucked up several times and he apologized for it.

Ryuji just. LACKS THAT ENTIRELY. He doesn't have that. He's not the emotional heart of the team, he struggles to be empathetic, he upsets people and gets off scott-free without an apology. He's treated like the Best Friend and its so completely unearned. I would not tell Ryuji shit about me because I have no confidence in him being cool. He is Yosuke Hanamura without the rebound, it's Joker Mode all the time.

The ball was so thoroughly dropped with Ryuji I'm kinda baffled, because Atlus is usually good at the Token Best Friend guy and making him one of the more complex characters in each game.

Maybe its because Joker himself is such a strong character that Ryuji doesn't need to act as the stand-in protagonist like Junpei and Yosuke did. Or, maybe it's because functionally Morgana fills Ryuji's role in the party instead so those emotionally intelligent moments are given to Morgana instead.

It's weird and frustrating and I am annoyed at Ryuji both in a Watsonian sense and a Doylist sense.

Okay that's enough hateration holleration in this dancery, lets do the Palace.

[twilightknight17]

All right, I said I was going to do the DLC, but I realized I should probably like, learn to play the game first.

Goro would be very disappointed in me if I didn't do well.

So, we're starting off with the proper story mode. Let's see how they've justified both this madness, and the inevitable lack of Satanael. XD

I will say, it's neat that Goro and Sumi get their own title screen, with cool music.

Also, shoutout to Atlus for actually having enough space for the canon name this time! They’re learning from past mistakes~ “Akira Kurusu” fits no problem, but “Amamiya” fits with like, 2 spaces to spare.

Anyway, we start off with two mysterious figures in a government office, listening to a report about a politician who has disappeared and talking about how “he” would have to defy them in order to stop them, and “he” won’t do that. Good thing that “he” is probably going to meet my gaggle of children, who defy people as a job. XDDDD

Speaking of my gaggle of children, they’re hanging out and watching the same news report. Apparently this missing dude is a solid candidate for Prime Minister, and an election is coming up. Is this an emergency election because of what happened to Shido? Futaba mentions that it’s cold, and no one has graduated yet, so I’d put this somewhere at the end of February. I guess we won’t know for sure, because goodness, we couldn’t possibly discuss Shido or any prior events with any specifics. No, instead, we just get Futaba being mildly self-aware, after Makoto says that she hopes nothing weird is going on.

Yes, Futaba, we do, because that’s where they’re hiding Goro.

The TV goes weird and they get yoinked into the Kingdom, which is some kind of distortion in meta-space. Literally as soon as they go exploring, they immediately run into soldiers and the “ruler” of the Kingdom, and everything goes to hell.

This is Lady Marie (which they pronounce "Mar-ee-ay"), and she's very Ojou-sama. And she’s kind of terrible. But I like the style. And the spike-tread tank.

Anyway, this lady has the strongest brainwash spells I've ever seen?? Like, Yaldabaoth hit people with that brainwashing Lust attack and I don't even think it ever did anything while I was fighting him?? But she gets hold of every single Phantom Thief except Joker and Mona, and it's bad.

And then, because she can’t get those two, she just… attempts to torture them into submission. To be honest, like, I know they’re in the metaverse and can take more damage, but this is pretty close to the interrogation in terms of brutality. I think the cartoony artstyle (which I do love), is the only reason it doesn’t seem as bad. Because she catches them by their necks and drags them behind her tank. And that’s savage.

Yeah. Violence!

Fortunately Erina comes to save them, and I like Erina so far. She’s pretty cool, and she lives in cogntive Leblanc, much to Akira and Morgana’s surprise.

Erina makes a deal that she'll help them save the brainwashed Thieves if Akira and Morgana join the rebels and help her get rid of Marie. Which, yeah, I want to beat this bitch senseless now, so... Let's do it. Leblanc is the rebels' hideout, so all the menus are there. We have skill trees for each person now that let you upgrade your personas and passive skills (and Erina's... magic? She can do light magic, but it's not kouha). Lavenza is there, and appears to be having a good time in the new Velvet Armory, though she does mention that she made some kind of "mistake" that caused her to get dragged in with you. So that's a little concerning.

I'm glad Morgana gets to come with you, because that's just proof that the third semester actually happened.

Yes, sweetheart, you're doing great. <3

She also offers to make you weapons with the forge, with one caveat:

I love her so much. XDDDD

So, we get some intel from the other rebels that there are new prisoners being held at the prison on the edge of the city. So we head over to rescue our friends! We do not find our friends. Instead, we find up-and-coming young Diet member Toshiro Kasukabe, who has been missing from the real world and was clearly tossed in here by… someone. He’s taking this rather well, though. Hasn’t screamed at us like a certain other adult. :3

...sir, I’m the only one here who’s NOT a magician.

We end up having to fight brainwashed Panther and Oracle to escape, which was a hell of a fight. I learned that Joker getting womped doesn’t end the battle, which is good, but also, people who get KO’d get removed from the field, and there doesn’t seem to be revival skills in the skill tree, so I’m assuming once they’re out, they’re out.

Marie tried to bait me into attacking my own damn sister, which is not helping my desire to kick her face in. Did I mention she’s doing all of this to obtain the “perfect wedding”? Like, ma’am, calm the fuck down. Fortunately, Erina learns a new skill and we’re going to take this bitch out and undo her brainwashing with extreme capture-the-flag.

Or… replace-the-flag. Whatever.

We make it back to Leblanc with the unbrainwashed Panther and Oracle in tow, and Toshiro is taking things really well! And by taking things really well, I mean complaining about us breaking the laws of physics, admitting that he doesn’t remember much of anything other than his name and being a Diet member, and being disapproving of the Phantom Thieves directly to their faces. Which goes over great!

He still wants us to help him get out, tho. But doesn't want to actually fight, so like... eh. Right now he's a bit of a wet blanket. But I do have my suspicions already, because he kind of almost recognized Erina. So depending on how old she is (since I can't really tell), I'm guessing either daughter or wife. Especially because, completely independently of each other:

That’s where I stopped, so, some final few random thoughts:

You can re-bind some of the control buttons, but you cannot invert the camera controls, so I am constantly spinning the camera the wrong way. Thanks, Atlus.

I find it interesting that the first boss is once again some kind of Lust/Love-obsessed person.

There’s a memo function that keeps track of people, concepts, and locations, and apparently it’s okay to mention Yaldabaoth in the notes, but we cannot acknowledge anything out loud in the actual story. X’D I bet we’re never going to allude to Maruki at all even though this is after Royal.

It’s a little annoying that we’re once again knocked down to initial personas. Like, for Scramble, you could have left the ultimates alone and just made the flimsy excuse that it’s been six months and they forgot all their spells. But they didn’t lose all of their character development, and this time around, it’s just silly. This kid killed a god two months ago. He punched another god three weeks ago. He should not have just Arsene who knows only eiha.

(Eiha inflicts despair now, which would be cool if I knew what despair did in this battle system. At least it makes sense for that to be a side effect of the curse element.)

The game tries to justify it with there being some sort of “force of negation” on both the Velvet Room and the Kingdom as a whole, making it so they aren’t at full strength, but that feels even flimsier an excuse than mine for Scramble. X’D Time to break into Atlus HQ and follow the sage advice of Lavenza’s sister:

…...I just finished Mario Odyssey why are there MORE hats???

Every sprite of Morgana is adorable.

And finally, I can’t stop laughing at VROOM. :D

I like it so far! I’m excited to see where things are going. ^_^

[symphonic-scream]

Okay. Formal post for

Persona 5 D&D au

So this post has three parts, and the part headers are gonna be colour coded so if you wanna skip to a certain part, it's easier!

Overall Plot is Blue, Campaign Plot is Red, and everyone's Characters are Orange

Let's get litty in this bitch

Overall Plot

So, this au has a plot. Surprise!

Everyone but Morgana is university age, and they don't all know each other before the game. The idea to start the game comes from Morgana, 16, bonding over a mutual love of D&D podcasts with his tutor, Haru, 24

So the plan is to get a bunch of people together to play! Morgana asks his older brother Akira, 22, to invite some of his friends. Their two roommates, Ann, 22, and Ryuji, 22, agree to play too. Akira brings everyone else

Yusuke, 23, he met by simply noticing him sketching strangers in the university quad every day. Makoto, 24, is his own tutor and a PhD student. Sumire, 20, and Akira are in the same social work class. And Futaba, 19, is the legendary Library Hobbit. Akira once gave her an energy drink and they became besties

So the "plot" is the gang all coming together as they play, and slowly becoming friends outside the campaign. And because I'm me, it includes a Haru and Makoto romance plot.

Which, is Haru flirting and failing, so she tries to get Makoto to notice by romancing her character in game. There's more details but. Y'all can ask about that

Anyways the important part is, Morgana is the DM, and only he and Haru are really familiar with D&D.

Campaign Plot

Their game starts with the end of the world. The cataclysm, a dark figure laughing over them as the world burns around them. Each of them has a "sign", like Makoto's character is missing an arm, Sumire's character is marred with burn scars, etc

They get sent back in time by a few months. Their goal is to change the future, with their starting guiding ideas are to keep those "signs" from happening to their characters

Originally, Goro isn't in the campaign. His character is the big bad, but the gang somehow ruin that. Morgana comes up with another big bad and panic asks a different tutor to play that character and. That's Goro

Anyways. Here's the big part

Everyone's Characters

Not too much detail for everyone, just names races and classes, y'all can ask me for more details or can suggest some

Anyways.

Akira - Eladrin Rogue named Joker (he/they)

Ryuji - Half-Orc Barbarian named Nux (he/him/

Ann - Human Sorcerer named Constance LeBeau (she/her)

Yusuke - Drow Warlock named Faeryl (she/her)

Makoto - Tiefling Monk named Just (he/they/she)

Futaba - Tabaxi Artificer named Ford F-150 (he/him)

Haru - Half-Elf Paladin named Ulyssa Noir (she/her)

Sumire - Halfling Ranger named Cinder Earthdancer (she/her)

Goro - Aasimar Blood Hunter named Judas (he/him)

-

The pronouns listed are for the characters, at the moment the Thieves all use, the ones in the game. That's the best way to put it

Anyways. I have so many thoughts about this au ASK ME ABOUT IT SUGGEST THUNFS TALK TO ME ABOUT IT