#but all my thoughts about p5 have for the most part just been me talking to myself- so I wanted to get this one down in writing lmao

[senblades]

I've had a realisation,

So, we all like to dunk on Akechi for having a stupid plan- which, well, yeah; but I think that a lot of people (whether they like Akechi's character or not) tend to miss the point:

That being, that the holes we all poke in his plan; "Why didn't he just kill Shido at the start?" "There's no way he'd live/be free after that," "His plan to ruin Shido's reputation would never work," are actually far more revealing as to Akechi's priorities, than they are of him just being 'stupid'.

For starters, "there's no way he'd live/be free after that." -as a fandom I think we've all already come to the conclusion that Akechi's regard for his own life is spotty at best. I wouldn't necessarily say that he wants to die by the time of the third semester, which really just adds to the tragedy of the whole situation, but I digress. Point is, the kid needs therapy, moving on.

"His plan to ruin Shido's reputation would never work," Ah, now this is where I think some cultural differences start to come in to play- I won't say much, since I'm relatively uninformed, but by the sounds of it, revealing that Shido has an illegitemate child is actually the kind of thing that would make a lot of people raise their eyebrows. And, more importantly, the kind of thing that would really throw his "easy election win" into some serious jeapordy. (AND, it's never exactly stated that "revealing himself as an illegitemate child" was Akechi's tactic to ruin Shido- more of a "hey, Shido, guess who it was that ruined you, you piece of shit?"- which, well, more on that mindset later)

Next, "Why didn't he just kill Shido from the start?" This is where I think a lot of people get tripped up. To my memory, there is not a single point in the engine room where Akechi says that killing Shido is the cornerstone of his plan (localisation differences notwithstanding. I'm sure someone will come yell at me (/lh) if this is the case). Now, to be fair, Akechi in the engine room is really just him giving a very desperate powerpoint while he sharpens his sword- so I don't doubt that he's skimming over a couple points. But, you'd think that Akechi would remember to mention that if that really was his main goal.

Okay, so Akechi doesn't want to kill Shido. Cool, follow-up question, "Why didn't he just give Shido a pshychotic breakdown from the start?" That's the kind of thing that would have ruined Shido's reputation, too, right? And, it would have been before he would have had the means to try and cover it up. Well, finally, I can get to my point:

Akechi needs Shido's disgrace to be loud, because he needs everyone else to care, too. Akechi's revenge isnt just against the man who left him and his mother for dead, but also against the society that continued to leave him for dead, again and again; the society that only lauded him as something special if he slapped some pretty wallpaper over the past he had absolutely no control over.

Looking at it like this does a lot of things:

First, it really amps up the whole "the PT's justice and Akechi's justice foil each other". Akechi's revenge is also a vehichle for revolution, since it is, in essence: "Look! Look at the man who you lauded as a saviour! Look at me, the man who brought him down. Aren't we both disgusting, in your eyes? Take a look at yourselves. Aren't we all the same?"

That leads pretty nicely into Akechi as a pawn for Yaldabaoth, too. Akechi wants to make sure he and Shido go out with a bang, and leave a shitshow in their wake. That's prime God of Control real estate! It's also prime "metaphor for Ruin" real estate; you get the point.

And, finally, an interesting point comes from all of this. That being, that, well- the only reason that Akechi's plan wasn't going to work, is that he placed too much stock in the idea that Shido has any concept of loyalty or gratitude. Shido, as we all know, is an absolute piece of shit- and still, Akechi had believed that maybe, just maybe, his father would feel bad for being terrible to his son.

(I'm not going to go on too big of a tangent, but that is an interesting insight into Akechi's idea of Justice, and into what his personas might represent. Contradiction, as ever, is the name of the game, and Akechi simultaneously believes that there's no way to get anywhere in life without force and violence, and that there is also a fundemantal truth of what is good and fair within human hearts)

The message of this, I'm pretty sure, is not: "Akechi failed because of that lingering belief in humanity" (wouldn't that be one hell of a heel-turn lmao), but rather: "Akechi, with his distorted (ha) priorities, was never going to be happy in any quest for vengeance, even if his plan succeeded entirely"

tl;dr, Akechi needs therapy. Wait- Maruki, no! Not that kind of therapy!

[nana-au]

𝐈 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐍'𝐓 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄...

 𝜗𝜚 Satoru Gojo Prince AU ♡ part four

 𝜗𝜚 Summary: satoru has an announcement to make to the royal court. you don't think you could've ever prepare yourself for what it could be. the two of you see each other after months of no contact and the result is bitter sweet. story summary based off of this drabble

𝜗𝜚 Warnings: forbidden love, unspoken feelings, heavy angst, intense emotions, suggestive flirting, heated make out, cussing, depression symptoms, misguided anger, jealousy.

 𝜗𝜚 wc: 4,323

𝜗𝜚 an: there is a surprise guest from the jjk cast being introduced.. heh. dw he is just for the story and holds no interest in reader.

┊p1┊p2┊p3┊p4┊𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠... p5┊

“How do you like kitchen duty, my dear?” the Queen asks, the royal blue wallpaper of her study behind her head seems to shift like the ocean waves; rising and falling - dancing in the reflection of your pupils as your tea is poured for you. With a wave of her hand the Queen’s servant is dismissed and it’s just the two of you alone. The silence is unsettling as much as it is intoxicating. The kitchen is noisy - pots and pans clanging together, the repeated motion of knife hitting cutting board, and the bubbling sounds of a roiling boil. But then there is your room at night; the bed you climb into is decently soft and the covers keep you warm enough but you’re missing the noise of Satoru’s words. Before everything changed you would lay awake and replay every conversation with the Prince; your heart would pound remembering every brush of his hand or intense gaze he didn’t bother to hide. Instead now even your own thoughts have quieted, leaving your night void of any stimulation. 

“It’s been pleasant,�� you respond, blowing on the hot tea you’ve brought to your lips. You don’t try very hard to sound convincing but if the Queen notices she doesn’t comment on it. 

“I’ve heard you have been getting pretty close to one of the men in the kitchen,” she wiggles her eyebrows, like you’re her girl friend and she’s genuinely interested in your potential love life. You’re not entirely sure where she got such information from; but it’s been clear to you for a while now. She has eyes and ears everywhere. 

“Forgive me, I’m not quite sure who you are referring to,” the tea is hot as you sip it, burning the taste buds you’ve barely been using these days. 

“Well, Nanami, of course,” she takes a moment to sip her own tea. “He’s handsome… quite burly too for working in a kitchen,” she’s smirking describing the man like it's the most entertaining gossip in the whole world. You guess it's not the worst thing she could potentially hear about you. All though, the worst had already been said. 

“He’s knowledgeable,” you tell her, stoic and devoid of any real emotion, “I enjoy learning what I can from him,” it’s a boring answer but your life is boring now. She frowns, almost a little disappointed that you won’t bite and indulge in ‘boy talk’ with her, but she continues on anyway. 

“That’s how your parents met, you know,” another long sip of her tea, “your father used to volunteer in the kitchens just to see your mother,” she’s obnoxiously giddy again and you can’t fight the sour taste of disgust. It feels more like she’s describing a silly little romance novel and not real people’s lives. It’s almost amusing knowing that as soon as your ‘silly little romance’ got too close to her son it was no longer exciting to her. You kept silent - having nothing worth commenting aloud as you waited for her to get to her point. She didn’t invite you here to gossip, your life had hardly been entertaining since 3 months ago when you were banished from Satoru’s presence. Her lips purse for a moment before she talks, “Well that’s not why I invited you here anyways,”

No shit. 

“I wanted to say thank you. I’m sure you’ve heard of our upcoming event in which Satoru will announce who he is courting,” you could have choked on air if you were not incredibly aware of yourself around the Queen. Instead you sucked in a quick breath. You had obviously been preparing for the event seeing as it was tomorrow and everyone in the kitchens scrambled around to get everything set for it - but you missed the part where it involved Satoru and his new potential partner. “I was incredibly worried for the future of our kingdom, and I appreciate your diligent work in securing that,” her words danced around the true meaning - but you weren’t a dunce. She was thanking you for hurting Satoru - and yourself in the process. A truly noble sacrifice indeed. You had to fight the desire to strangle yourself in front of her.  

“Of course,” is all you muster, not bothering to put on a brave face. 

“Remember the blonde Princess I talked about all those years ago?” she says, observing her pristine nails, “I knew Satoru would warm up to her if he tried,” your tea was gone by the end of her sentence and you lacked the stimulation now required for this conversation; your uneasiness eating away at your insides. 

“I’ve heard she’s lovely,” your throat is dry despite downing an entire cup of tea. 

“Oh more than lovely, if you could even imagine. I’ve never seen Satoru more at peace than when he’s listening to her playing piano. She’s quite the pianist!” 

𝜗𝜚

Satoru did indeed enjoy the times she played for him. The melody left no room for chatter. It was the only moment the two of them were together that he could close his eyes and rest; shutting down after hours of struggling to be present. He didn’t need to pretend to listen to how her day went or care about her childhood. He didn’t need to make up details about his day or share stories of his own youth that he struggled to edit you out of. He could just be. And that’s how Satoru preferred it. 

You would never know about it because ‘how could you?’ - but Satoru was a new man. Gone were the days of acting out or scoffing at his lessons. Gone were the days he preferred fencing to etiquette lessons. He now spent his time indoors because that’s where his bed was closest. His new favorite activity was painting. It was quiet and kept his mind occupied. He enjoyed painting with the new Princess the most - she would play while he would paint and as her hands created beautiful melodies Satoru’s created melancholy works of art

She peers a glance at his canvas over the piano, eyebrows furrowing as she notices the brooding blues, “You do realize this song is meant to elicit joy?” she inquires playfully, and Satoru apologizes. 

“Forgive me, I don’t have much experience with music theory,” his brush dips into the blue oil paint before dabbing it onto the course fabric. 

“Blue seems to be your favorite color,” she comments, her hands walking over each other as the keys come alive from her touch. 

Satoru nods, “I do enjoy reds too. Deep reds,” he murmurs. 

The color of his bleeding heart. 

𝜗𝜚

When the King and Queen announce a new ball, Satoru already understands the reason without being told. He had to fix his blunder - the one where he abandoned his duties and prioritized the pleasure your presence gave him. He hadn’t seen you since that day - but he was sure your face would bring him anything but pleasure nowadays. He was agreeing to the expectations of this new event without listening. It didn’t matter to him anyways. His life wasn’t his - this was a fact he could no longer be gullible about. 

That’s why he stood there in the center of the ballroom, fingers interlaced with the Princess as he smiled down at her like she meant something to him. Because his life wasn’t his and there were worse women in the world to be arranged to. The Princess really wasn’t all that bad. She was intelligent, respectful, charitable and incredibly humble. She knew there was more to life than her appearance all while being a sight for sore eyes. Satoru couldn’t have expected anyone more perfect for the role of his wife. With his heart now out of the picture - there was no better option than her. He could see that clearly now.

She nuzzled her head against his shoulder, hiding her blush as Satoru talked about the first day they met to an inquiring older man and that is when you finally see the two of them together. Surprisingly, you’re allowed out of your metaphorical cage - the King and Queen now fully entrusting you in the same room as Satoru after you successfully stomped out his light. You’re with the kitchen boy, Nanami, who was the Queen’s new show pony she liked to trot around; insisting he was there to describe the new hors d'oeuvre he created himself. Neither of you were entirely convinced the Queen thought that highly of the dish - rather than the idea of having such an esteemed cook now residing in her royal kitchen. Your jaw drops seeing the two of them next to each other. You had only seen paintings of the Princess, and even those did not prepare you for the intensity of her eyes and the silkiness of her hair. You were right all those years ago; next to Satoru wearing his family’s signature blue - she fit perfectly. 

And Satoru. Your Satoru. He looked so sorrowfully beautiful. His jaw was sharper and his eyes were darker but he was still Satoru and that fact alone made it impossible to look away. You had no right - but your watery eyes threatened to spill over watching the Prince hold hands with the Princess. A pitiful feeling fell over you once you realized you couldn’t read his expression. There had never been a day that you couldn’t skim his face like the pages of a book and pinpoint exactly what he was thinking - but now being in the same room with him after so long - you realized you were no longer privy to his thoughts like you used to be. Perhaps that ability was now reserved for the woman who held his hand. If it wasn’t so devastating you might have considered thanking the Queen for what she made you do. You had to have looked so silly beside him seeing the Princess in front of you now - appearing to be a piece of the same puzzle by his side. 

“Are you doing okay?” a deep voice prods your ear and you turn to see Nanami, standing by your side with a look of worry. The Queen wasn’t entirely wrong when she spoke of rumors that the two of you were close - you were in a lot of ways. Just not in the way she found most interesting. Nanami taught you a lot of skills in the kitchen. He showed you the best ways to cut vegetables and the importance of never looking away from milk boiling on a stove top. He told you stories of his travels in search of the best ingredients and his experience being raised on the country-side of a faraway nation whose people were dying of hunger. How his life as a child shaped him into who he was to this day: a seasoned cook who the highest of society paid a pretty penny to grace their kitchens. For some time you spared him the details of your life and he took it well - waiting for the moment you decided he was someone you could trust - and once you did it seemed to flow out of you and never stop. He knew all about your childhood with Satoru and how things became the way they are now. He didn’t scoff at you for daring to imagine yourself next to a Prince or gawk at the audacity it must take to delude yourself into believing your life could possibly be different than those before you. He just listened while he prepared a snack for the two of you. It was cathartic being around someone who carried as much baggage as you. The two of you were stronger than ever by each other’s side, and that is why you stood with him while he talked to the snobs he couldn’t stand and he stood with you while you watched the Prince make his love interest known to everyone. “Go take a moment for yourself, I’ll cover for you,” he offered and you shook your head.

“I promised I wouldn’t leave you alone with these assholes,” you say, earning a chuckle from the blond man next to you. You look up at him and all though he’s laughing his eyes don’t contain humor - more concerned for you while witnessing the same display you had to. He knew it couldn’t be easy.

He leaned in once more, “Well if you change your mind, I won’t be mad,” you smile at him, grateful that you weren’t entirely alone in your new reality. 

𝜗𝜚

Just like the two of you could see the royal couple they could see you too - if they knew what to look for. You caught the Prince’s eye while he took a sip of his champagne, using it as a moment to take in the scene around him until he spotted you. He didn’t know what to expect when he first considered the possibility of running into you again; you two inhabited the same estate and though it was big you had your whole lives to bump into each other. Originally he thought his anger would get the better of him once he finally laid eyes on you. Or he considered that given enough time had passed, looking into your eyes wouldn’t elicit any kind of emotion in him - completely indifferent to your role in his life, like all other servants. What he didn’t expect was for his heart to fail him, the once slow pace now jump started with adrenaline. His heart rate was wild and his pupils dilated. The bubbly drink that usually burned on the way down had effortlessly passed his throat and entered his stomach that grew weak with just one look at you. If he wasn’t careful the Princess beside him would take note of how he completely removed himself from their conversation - but careful he could not be. He wanted to curse his cheeks for warming up at the mere thought of breathing the same air as you… how could he be present? Satoru wouldn’t have even noticed the man standing next to you if not for the way his tall form towered over you, blocking you from the Prince’s view. That’s when Satoru began to grow just a little more aware of his surroundings - or more so your surroundings. While he repeated the words you said to him that day like it was a prayer he couldn’t help but retell before bed - lest he forget - he still fought the logical side of him begging him to accept your words as fact. But he couldn’t because he couldn’t accept your own interpretation of your feelings while you shook and sniffled in the stables. He believed you wanted nothing more to do with him - but he thought the pressure of fighting for your rightful place in his life was one you could no longer stomach. That was what caused him the pain he felt each passing moment. That you lost your fight because Satoru wasn’t worth it. But how could he believe you lost your fight when you had no one in your life pressuring you to move on like he did - yet there you stood seemingly cozy next to the tall man beside you. Perhaps the thought of you giving up on Satoru hurt his heart less and that was why he settled on that thought, instead of the earth-shattering possibility that you could have actually wanted nothing to do with him.

So why would you have kissed him?

𝜗𝜚

It was a quiet afternoon when the two of you decided to stroll through the garden’s after Satoru’s tea break. You often found it beneficial to have Satoru spend time outside inbetween his lessons - he would have a new found focus when given the chance to allow his mind to wander in the cool air that the spring time offered. His fingers would busy themselves with the petals of a flower and you would walk in silence beside him, listening to him ramble or letting him bask in the tranquility nature offered. 

That day was one of those times Satoru pondered silently and you let him, enjoying the unique flowers the Gojo’s had planted from all across the globe while you walked by his side. His face was scrunched in thought and his hands were busy with the stem of a lily, using his thumbs to pry the plant open to feel around its sticky insides. You two were deep in your walk, the garden trail extending surprisingly far on the Gojo’s lawn. The estate was now hidden by the yards of thick bushes that separated the trail from other parts of their extensive property. Satoru let out a breath you didn’t realize he was holding, and you turned to look at him. 

He seemed anxious, the tips of his ears were deep red and his face was scrunched with worry. “Did you get a sunburn, Satoru?” you ask him, stopping him in his tracks to get a better look at his ears. They were hot to the touch as you inspected them but he was antsy rather than in pain from the grip you had on his cartilage.

“What do you think about kissing?” he asked, his cheeks turning as red as his ears. You giggle at him, not because it was random - no that was normal for Satoru - but the topic was a bit suspicious.

“Why do you ask?” you all but flirt - finding the confidence to since you had the upper hand.

“I don’t know… it just kept coming up in the book I’ve been reading,” he puts simply, trying to end the conversation he brought up. It was rare for Satoru to embarrass himself like such, and it was going to be hard for him to get you to ignore it. 

“You've been thinking a lot about kissing, haven't you?” you continue to tease, and he scratches the back of his neck. 

“No!” he scoffs, “Just.. nevermind,” the flower he was dissecting was discarded for a new one - his fingers plucking the petals before tearing into the ovule roughly. 

“I don’t know what I think about kissing, I’ve never kissed,” you answer his original question, engaging him back into the conversation. 

“Me neither,” he responded, defiling the poor flower a little less since you had his attention. ‘What do you think it’s like?” It’s your turn to blush and he definitely realizes his newfound control over the conversation - turning the tables on you as he begins to poke you about it. “It’s probably wet, right? Well if you used tongue,” you’re a blushing mess listening to your best friend describe something such as tongue-kissing and he’s smiling at you. His pearly white teeth sparkle under the sun while he continues his torture, “I’d imagine it’s warm too - and soft. Your lips look soft,” he comments and you could feel yourself struggling to hold back your bashful reaction. He knew how to work you up just like you knew how to work him up. Unfortunately he was a little bit better at it than you - or you were just more susceptible under his gaze. He comes in closer to you - you think just to tease you further and get your heart to racket against your chest and you’re not entirely wrong. It’s hard to focus when his broad shoulders contrast yours and when you feel the palm of his hand touch your sternum to feel the pounding of your heart - you can’t fathom how you’re still standing on your own. “Your heart rate is fast,” he comments, pretending he has no concept as to why that could be. 

“You flirt too much, Satoru,” you grumble at him, trying and failing to steady your heart beats with him so close. His breath smells sweet like the candies he eats and you can’t protect your nose from the pleasant musk that clings to his skin. 

“I’m not flirting. I’m just asking you a question,” he’s somehow closer and his hand won’t leave the spot between your breasts. 

“Yeah. Kissing is probably warm and wet and whatever else you said,” you mumble, desperate to crawl away from him while simultaneously scared of losing physical contact with him. 

“Maybe we should test our hypothesis,” he’s still smiling but his eyes don’t match; half lidded while he observes the twitch of your lips at his words. You gulp, unable to keep yourself from looking at his own pair of lips. You note that they look soft too, even when he bites at them upon noticing you’re doing the same as him. “It can just be a quick one,” he says, almost like he’s trying to convince you now like he’s already convinced himself years ago. Unbeknownst to him you needed very little convincing. 

“Just a quick one,” you all but breathe out, and the two of you are leaning in without realizing it until your lips meet. Your lips feel plump against his, soft like the pillow he lays his head on at night and he doesn’t want it to end. His hand meets your jaw, holding you still while his lips get used to the feeling of yours against them. Your hands come up to grip his shirt, bracing yourself while he slowly deepens it, testing the waters by slowly poking his tongue inside your mouth. You pull back, yelping at the unexpected intrusion. 

“Do you trust me?” he asks, voice sultry and deep and you nod at him, going back in for more. He starts slowly again, pecking your lips softly before working his way up to prodding his tongue cautiously against your sweet lips. You let him in and he all but groans, gripping your waist with his other hands so he can feel you pressed up against him. You both have no idea what you’re doing, teeth and tongues hesitantly clashing as you explore each other’s mouths. His pulse quickens when you let out a weak moan muffled by his mouth hot against yours. His hand on your jaw slowly works its way down your neck, across your collarbone, before hesitantly stopping at the start of your breast. You’re both clouded by the haze created between the two of you, unaware of your surroundings until you hear the scurry of an animal. You both pull away - scanning the area with no luck of finding the creature that caused it. You clear your throat and try your best to pull yourself together - but it’s hard when his eyes are so dark and his lips are so red and glossy from your spit.

“Let’s get back, Satoru. Your teacher will be expecting you soon,” and off you go, with Satoru trailing behind you.

𝜗𝜚

Satoru had never felt the foreign concept of competition in regards to you. It must be the reason he felt such vitriolic jealousy seeing you next to another man. He had no time to consider himself a fool. He wanted nothing more than to see his nose smashed in and your eyes on him again. 

But Satoru had to remind himself he was different. He was no longer the old Satoru whose emotions reigned over his logic. While the new Satoru was born through pain, it would do him good to act on the new things he learned; like patience. 

And patience he needed when later that night he found himself wandering into the kitchen for a glass of water - expecting the room to be empty and overcome with shock when he saw you there. You’re not alone either. The man from earlier guided your hand as you two fileted a fish. And what an odd sight it was - seeing your back pressed up another man’s chest as he carefully guided your knife against the belly of a salmon. Nanami notices the Prince first, respectfully removing his guiding hands and you look up, mouth agape at the sight of the unimpressed Prince in front of you. “Prince Gojo,” you both say, bowing respectfully at him. “How can we be of service?” Nanami asks, still stuck in his bow to Satoru. For the first time in your life you see Satoru ponder his next words and it is almost as shocking as being in the same room as him for the second time after going no-contact all those months ago. You aren’t used to him thinking so long about what to say; you’d always known him to speak his mind unfiltered. It made you incredibly uneasy.

“Are they aware you two occupy the kitchens after they’re meant to be closed,” he asks and you’re even more confused. Satoru? Becoming a stickler for rules? Your jaw hung open just for a moment when you remembered to pick it back up. 

“We’re very sorry, your royal highness. We will be sure to clean up and head off to bed,” Nanami is nothing short of respectful but Satoru still can’t hold back a scoff, turning his head to glance your way. His eyes miss their softness you’ve always been used to and you cower under his eyes, keeping your gaze on the ground until he finally turns around and leaves. 

𝜗𝜚

That night is the first night you let yourself think about Satoru again, now having many things to think about as you lay awake in your bed. 

He looked… almost disappointed in you? You try to fight the idea of him caring what you chose to do, chalking it up to your hopeless wanting that he was as stuck on you as you were stuck on him. But you saw him tonight with the Princess; getting close to her like he only ever did with you and you know you can’t let yourself get caught up in misguided optimism - Satoru had moved on and did exactly what you needed him to do… So why did that realization have to be so unbelievable to you?

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┊p1┊p2┊p3┊p4┊𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠... p5┊

(ty for all the support! comment to be added/removed)

[proxythe]

i haven’t played p5/r in a while so forgive me that this entire thing is mostly off dome.

what i mean when i say “ryuji is the heart of the phantom thieves” is that i do genuinely believe that he is the glue that holds them together. without him, the group inarguably loses its charm, and would simply not function without him there. he’s outspoken, protective, and might be the only one who i feel has a genuine love toward every member of the group.

i need to replay to do a whole thinkpiece, but for now i do want to share the ryuji moments i remember the most, and why they are part of the concrete evidence that shows ryuji is the most important piece of the phantom thieves.

first of all:

such a casual dialogue that is amplified by a thousand simply because of ryuji’s unadulterated love for his friend… i am moved to tears by this interaction. i love him very much, and he is near and dear to the deepest parts of my heart.

secondly:

i admit im not in the know about a lot of persona fandom stuff, but i personally don’t see a lot of people talk about this? ignore joker on the right this ain’t about him. this is, i think, the first of many instances in which u notice how quickly ryuji jumps to defend his friends, namely his female friends, and it’s a huge part of him that draws me to his character.

since it’s atlus, it’s not hard to miss that ryuji is definitely victim to their “perverted male character” trope, but for me, the moments where ryuji is having genuine thought put behind his character, are the moments when he so intensely - and is usually the first to - defend the other phantom thieves.

another example:

the phantom thieves are each others biggest support system, as they’re a team, but ryuji is definitely the one we see show that off the most. i will not be going into details as this is all off the top of my head, but trust me i am thinking about his confidant and backstory as i write all of this out.

more:

this has always been on my mind as well, because not a day goes by where i don’t think about how quickly ryuji reassures his friends, since they r the most important people to him in his life.

more and more:

a less serious one, but i do genuinely enjoy the thought of ryuji just bragging about his friends because of how cool he thinks they are. when i say ryuji is the most obvious about how much he loves them, i am deathly serious. that is his family.

was excited to include this as well, as it goes to show even people ryuji has only known for a month are still worth going to war for. ryuji holds such an affection for his friends that it’s like i don’t even have to say more. he is literally speaking for himself here. i will never understand how anyone could dislike someone so passionate for the happiness of their own friends?

lastly:

i am personally not a huge fan of the negative dynamic atlus likes to portray between ryuji and morgana a lot of the time, so this is why this frenzy(?) is one of my favorites in p5d. morgana is the character ryuji fights with the most, and yet when morgana is feeling dejected, ryuji is there to pick him back up. obviously i know this is how the dance works and whatnot, but u cannot lie and tell me ryuji making him happy again didn’t make u almost cry a bit… it’s okay, i did too…

conclusion:

this ryuji shit gets serious, be prepared to die behind it.

[philistiniphagottini]

HIIII!! found your blog recently in hsr tags :3 and I also saw your talks doing for P5!!1

Akechi Goro with 🚿 ?

Hi Anon. I'm curious which fic you found me through :)) And thanks for the request. This was a little self indulgent for me because my stupid foot has been acting up the past couple of days cause of the cold weather. I hope you enjoy.

cw. fluff, bathing together, gender neutral reader, minors DO NOT interact

Domestic Bliss

A contented sigh blew past your parted lips as you let your body sink further into the warm, relaxing waters of your bath. You struggled to keep your eyes open as the scent of expensive soaps curled in your lungs with each deep breath you took, bubbles clinging to your skin as the suds danced along the rippling surface of the bath water. Your mind swirled in a blissful haze of serenity and your body threatened to drift off into the sweet embrace of velvety sleep. That was, until you felt someone lightly squeeze your foot and snap you out of your stupor. 

You jolted lightly as a soft noise rumbled in the back of your throat and you snapped back to attention. A warm chuckle breezed past Akechi’s lips as he watched you on the other end of the tub, cradling your foot in the palms of his hands as he continued to rub his fingers along your sore muscles. 

“You were drifting off” he said with a soft hum. “It’s dangerous to fall asleep in a bath.”

A lackadaisical smile graced your lips as your shoulders dropped and you relaxed once more. You wriggled your toes as Akechi worked the knots out of your tired muscles, the smooth touch of his hands a soothing balm against your heated skin. A flicked a stray bead of water out of your hair, tussling your frizzy locks as the tips of your fingers started to prune from how long you had both been soaking in this bubble bath concoction. 

“I can’t help it” you replied with an airy tone to your voice. “You’re really good at giving foot rubs.”

Akechi’s lips twitched into a small smile as he pinched your big toe between his fingers, hands holding firm as laughter bubbled up your throat and you tried to jerk your foot away from the ticklish brush of the tips of his fingers. A thoughtful hum stirred in his chest as he kept his eyes trained on his task, thumbs drawing repetitive patterns into skin as he paid extra attention to the scars around your ankle. You tried to contain the grimace when he pressed his fingers into the round ball of your ankle, fingers pressing into the scars until he could feel the metal that lay just beneath the skin. Another soft noise drifted past his parted lips. 

“Have you been moving around enough lately?” he inquired. “You know how sore your ankle gets when you don’t.”

A puff of air blew past the seam of your lips, flicking a stray strand of hair out of your eyes as a small pout tugged at your lips. 

“It’s hurting because it’s cold” you replied. “Did you know metal and cold weather don’t mix?”

You lightly pushed the heel of your foot into his chest, tapping on his skin as a warm smile lit up your features. It touched you that he was so concerned for your health but you had been managing just fine this winter. Although, he wasn’t wrong about moving around. It would help lessen the pain if you were a bit more active and stretched your muscles a bit more. But most mornings, you didn’t even want to get out of bed. 

“Yes, I know” Akechi replied. “You tend to remind me. You complain that you can feel the rain coming with all that metal in your foot.”

You rolled your eyes playfully in response. “Enough about my bum foot” you announced. “Just keep talking or I might fall asleep again. How’s work?”

Akechi ran his thumb over your ankle as he pondered. “It’s the same as usual. You know I cannot go into too much detail about the cases.”

You waved your hand idly through the air. “Yeah I know. Confidentiality and all that.”

Akechi chuckled softly as he squeezed your foot. “And how about you? Tell me about your day.”

“Trying to change the subject?”

“Is it wrong of me to ask about my partner’s day?” Akechi shot back.

You huffed loudly. “Just keep rubbing my foot and I’ll let you know.”

At this rate, you’d both turn into prunes before you even got the chance to wash your hair. But, neither of you seemed to mind and continued to bask in this simple piece of heaven as long as you possibly could.

[npd-goro-akechi]

Yoshizawa, and what I would have liked to see from her character

P5R spoilers, to no ones surprise

I'll be honest, when i first played through P5R I very much did not enjoy Sumire. Didn't hate her, I just could not get myself to engage with her character. Which was a shame, because I saw what they were trying to do, I just think the game did it badly lol. Since then, I've started liking her significantly more. But, again, in no thanks to the game. Every few weeks I feel like I see a post somewhere discussing Sumire so I wanted to put all my thoughts in one coherent post. This mostly covers the direction I wish Atlus had taken to integrate her into the game better, based off completely my own opinions. First, I would have loved for them to lean further into the mysterious, possible-antagonist type I feel like they were teetering on the edge on in the P5R opening scenes in the casino. I think it would have been cool if you saw her hanging around members of the PTs during school, or had cutscenes of seeing Sumire and any of them together as if she was purposely befriending them, or any other small scenes that could have made her look suspicious if you were already coming from that angle, but then looking back after you finish the game, she's just some guy making friends. Of course, players who had played through the P5 vanilla would likely be a bit less suspicious, but with the addition of the 3rd semester I think it would be enough to keep people guessing about her role. I really don't have any detailed and well thought-out examples, though, so maybe it's not fair of me to criticize this part too much

However, I would revamp her fight with Joker in Maruki's palace completely. I feel like it comes off too much like it's Maruki's fault; she gets kept in his palace for a week and then when you meet her she fights you. To me, personally, even though I know she's choosing to do so, it really doesn't feel like it - it just feels like more of Maruki's influence. I think it would be infinitely cooler if she went back with the Phantom Thieves and then while they were all going through the palace she did something to sabotage their progress or try and stop them. It would feel so much more like her own decision and also highlight that desperation to stay as Kasumi - that she would be (apologetically,) willing to do something to halt or possibly harm her friends to avoid going back to how things were. I think if the Phantom Thieves managed to talk her out of it here, it would also work well for her actual awakening - it would likely be more impactful after a fight rather than in P5R, when the PTs are just going through the palace. It pisses me off how agency is a major theme of the game and yet one of the few times Sumire makes a choice, it's so easily brushed off as "Maruki's influence," because the game did not do a good job at portraying otherwise. In a fit of desperation, Sumire decided to fight Joker; she made that choice. But, especially with how the fight goes, with her persona then taking over, that choice is just washed over completely. I want her to be so desperate to hide from her trauma that she goes against the Phantom Thieves, and I want it to be unquestionably her decision.

There's probably more I could write, especially more about just the horror of her character, the whole taking on the role of your dead sister, but really that second part about changing her and Joker's fight is what I really wanted to talk about and dedicated most of my thoughts too lol

[gayf1hoe]

Part 6

“MoneyGram Haas F1 Driver Y/N L/N to join Red Bull Racing next season replacing Sergio Perez”

I still can't believe this is real. A few weeks ago my career looked dead and all things were pointing at me joining Williams which would have been suicide given the way they are performing this year. But, out of the blue one day during the week off I got a phone call from my manager saying that Christian Horner had asked to speak to me and within the first 5 minutes of us talking he offered me a Red Bull seat for next year. He said that he had been impressed with my efforts at Haas and that I was the ideal candidate which I'm sure it is a massive blow for drivers like Yuki, Liam and Danny but it wasn't my decision and I can't say I'm annoyed that they picked me, but can already tell there might be some jealousy.

The second it was announced my phone began blowing up with messages and calls from everyone. I am a bit nervous about driving with Max, but I won't be intimidated and as George Russell once said “I'm not going to wave him by because he's Max Verstappen in a Red Bull”.

We are here in Monaco after the Miami Grand Prix where I got P8 and Carlos P11 and Imola where I secured P6 and Carlos P9. The team have brought some major upgrades to Monaco including a new front wing design, a new rear wing and a supposedly stronger monocoque.

“Y/N how is the car?”

“Down force is good but this car is just too big for this circuit”

For many years as Formula 1 has developed there has been much questioning as to whether Monaco should still be on the calendar as the cars have gotten bigger and the track has pretty much remained the same size since the 1950s, a safety car or Red flag is always a possibility here at any point.

In the engineering meeting before Quali there is the usual tense atmosphere but I keep getting distracted by Carlos who keeps messaging me. We have sort of made up and he's only texting me things like:

“This is so boring”

“I can't wait for this to end”

We are on speaking terms but we are nowhere near besties, if anything I'm just keeping my head down for the next 14 races and never looking back at my time at Haas and maybe finally I can save money by stopping the therapy meetings I have had to attend for stress.

There are many reasons as to why I'm sad and happy to leave the team and as I'm sat in the car I look around and see all the engineers that I have got to know so well over my F1 career and realise that I am on my last few races with them. Alex of course gives me the usual fist bump and warm smile. When he found out I was leaving he was the one who was most upset and he promised to try and get a job at Red Bull.

But as I become too transfixed on his light blue eyes I am quickly snapped out of my thoughts:

“Green Light, the car is ready to go”

We wait a few minutes before going out and by this time there's so much traffic on the track and during my first flying lap I encounter a sleeping George just sitting on the track in the way which impedes me and means my lap is only good enough for P16.

“Yep, fucking George was just sitting on the track not looking behind him, that should be a penalty”

“Yep copied we are reporting it"

Thankfully on my second run I didn't encounter a sleeping Brit on the track and my second flying lap put me in P4 seeing me through to Q2. In the interval between Q1 and Q2 we make a few setting alterations and the mechanics do a little dance routine to the songs that are playing in the garage to keep me entertained.

I only manage to pass the pit exit line when I hear:

“Red Flag, Red Flag, Verstappen has had a shunt”

As I pass Max I pray that this isn't a sign as to what my future at the team will be like and if it is I would like to scrap my contract now.

Both me and Carlos make it through to Q3 without much pushing of the car, and with Max out of the session everyone feels a lot calmer. By the end of the session I qualify P3 and Carlos P5 which is probably the closest we have been together on the starting grid all season. Normally one of us is towards the front (normally me) and the other is to the back of the grid.

Me and Carlos agree to go for drinks after qualifying and as we have been seen together in public a lot recently it put people's minds at rest that we don't hate each other despite the accurate rumours that have somehow made their way to the media.

The bar is relatively quiet as you have to be a member to get into and after a while of talking Carlos changes the entire tone of the conversation.

“I have something to say”

“Sure, go ahead”

“Me and lando have started speaking again”

He looks at me as if he's expecting me to have some sort of reaction to it.

“That's great, why are you telling me though?”

“Well I didn't want things to be awkward and for you to be confused if you randomly saw us talking ”

“Whatever you do is your business”

“So are you talking to anyone?”

“No,” I reply.

It's probably the biggest lie I have ever told, I don't really want to tell him I'm seeing a Formula E driver. I just don't see how it's any of his business and I know he told me he's speaking to Lando but I really couldn't care less.

After a while of speaking we head back to our hotel rooms and I rest my phone against the wall as I take a seat at the desk and start a FaceTime call.

It doesn't take long for him to pick up.

“Hey Dan”

“Hi love you were awesome today”

I'm sure the last person people would expect me to be dating is Dan Ticktum. He's quite unpopular, many people say he has personality issues and is a bit of a dick but the people I have dated in the past all had one thing in common, they are dicks, it's just my type obviously which would explain why none of my relationships last.

“Thank you I didn't think you would watch”

“Of course I would watch you. I am meant to support you and plus you watch everything to do with Formula E so it's only fair”

We chat for hours talking about the last 2 days as we haven't been able to speak as we have been so busy. When I attended the Chinese E - Prix I wasn't aware that I would meet Dan and we would end up dating, he came to the Italian Grand Prix after we started dating and he said he enjoyed watching me race but he was also pissed off he never made it to F1 but I assured him that he shouldn't discount himself and to keep on pushing.

I eventually clamber into the bed after coming out of the bathroom from my shower and find a random TV show that I don't even get to watch as I fall asleep as soon as it starts.

In the morning I am awoken by my assistant knocking on the door with my outfit for today that I had sent down to be dry cleaned. The early wake up call isn't something I'm majorly overjoyed by and my groan of annoyance makes it obvious. There's an engineering meeting in 1 hour so I have to rush to the track but as the F2 feature race is taking place the paddock is overwhelmed by a tumultuous sea of people.

“So we have the engineering meeting, some fan engagement and interviews and the race” my assistant informs me.

I take my seat in the engineering room next to my engineer and some other team personnel and don the headset which connects us to specialists back in the factory. To make things much more worse Gene is here and as he owns the team me and Carlos have been told to be on our best behaviour.

“Y/N and Carlos do you have any concerns or questions about this weekend?” The racing director voices.

“If me and Carlos end up next to each other and we are trying to attack the car in front will there be a driver swap or is it just race until you overtake” I ask knowing full well I won't be participating in any driver swap.

“Well we of course will make that decision based on who has the better pace and what position we are fighting for”

I collect my cap and head out the back into the fan area where Haas has invited some fans and given them special access, so me and Carlos spend some time talking with them and signing some stuff all whilst the sound of the F2 cars engines dominate the air.

Monaco has always brought out a lot of pageantry with hundreds of celebrities and fans on the track as we start preparing for one of the most esteemed races in motorsports. I have a lovely view of George (who didn't get a penalty for impeding me in quali) and Lewis, the ex-teammates, in front of me in P1 and P2 and Checo who is in P4 next to me.

“Radio Check”

“It's really hot in here”

“Yep, loud and clear Y/N” my engineer replies.

“A quick compound run down everyone has gone hard apart from Ocon, Tsundoa and Verstappen who have gone soft”

“Thank you for that very precise information, it's greatly appreciated ” I reply with a very strong suggestive undertone.

My eyes dart to the 5 Red lights after the formation lap, concentrating on getting the best start I can.

I get off the line well whereas George encounters some wheel-spin that enables me to pass him. And all is going well until turn 3…

“Red Flag, Ocon and Gasly have shunted they have also collected Zhou with them”

“Copied. Are they all OK?”

“Yep all are fine”

In the pit lane we essentially get a free pit stop and Monaco is the track where you can make the tyres last as you aren't pushing flat out at any point really so your tires can last pretty much for the entire race.

“Y/N just to let you know the restart will be the grid order you started in so we are back down to P3”

“Yep regards to the FIA for making things harder for me”

It's just my luck to make up a place in Monaco and be denied that place after a red flag. It's like the FIA are working against me, but It's not like I've tried to be nice to them or make them like me.

On the restart both Lewis and George have a good start and I can't get ahead of them but I see Carlos coming into my mirror and I have no intention of letting him pass. My engineer must notice as he randomly starts talking in the middle of the turn which is a big no.

“Y/N we want to conserve tyres we are looking at Plan C”

Plan C is running the tires to the end of the race without stopping.

Lap 55 and I'm in second and I have a 12 second gap to Carlos behind and a 0.4 gap to George ahead, Lewis had to retire due to a hydraulic failure. I attempt to overtake George as we approach the Nouvelle Chicane but he defends aggressively and my front right tyre comes off.

“I have a puncture guys”

“Copy, box, box”

Me and George both pit but my stop is quicker as he has to replace his front wing and thankfully there was a massive gap between Carlos and Checo behind and I came out in between the two.

“Y/N we are thinking of boxing Carlos if he pits you will have to give back the space.”

“We didn't discuss that in the meeting”

“We said it would change depending on the situation”

Carlos boxes making me the race leader and having Checo trailing behind me. When Carlos exits the pits he makes numerous attempts to overtake Checo and on much newer tires it's not much of a challenge for him.

“Y/N we have 15 Laps to go. Please return the position”

“Why?” I ask.

“It's would be best for the team if you give back the position”

“You want me to do what's best for the team that screwed me over”

“Y/N I am trying to protect you”

I don't listen and continue to push on. Increasing the gap to 3.1 seconds.

10 Laps to go: “Y/N we need to do it now, if there is a safety car things are going to get really awkward”

8 Laps to go: “The way to do well in this sport is not by yourself it's by playing the team game, please let Carlos by”

4 Laps to go: “Y/N you have proved your point just let him by”

On the last lap I am sick of hearing the constant yapping of my engineer and concede to their demands and let Carlos by at the Nouvelle Chicane, incredibly pissed.

“Yep don't say anything to me or I could be liable to say something I will regret”

As we cross the line the team are hanging over the pit wall cheering both of us on and whilst Carlos drives close to the wall like most drivers do I go to the complete opposite side. Many could argue I'm being petty but willingly letting someone else pass you to win goes against every racer's natural instinct.

“P2, P2 good job”

“Yeah whatever”

I step out the car and head over to the FIA weighing scales and Valtteri comes over to me and says I did the right thing but it doesn't feel like it, because unlike when Valtteri had to follow team orders he was at the top of the standings any way whereas I'm in a mid tier team where every point for me is showing my potential to bigger teams, but I'm off to Red Bull so it doesn't really matter in that sense but my ego is saying otherwise.

In the cool down room I take a seat and watch the race replay making small talk with Checo.

“You were really fast today” Checo comments.

“Thanks you were flying at the restart though” I retort.

After watching the incident between me and George it's clear we are both partly to blame so I hold no bad blood against him.

At the conclusion of the podium ceremony I head over to the reporter who I have been told I must speak to:

Reporter: So good result for the team the first 1-2 in the team's history, how does it feel?

Y/N: It feels pretty good for the team we have somehow gone from being a back marker to being in the fight for a top midfield position.

Reporter: Now the question we are all asking is how has Haas, previously a back marker notorious for having an unreliable car with bad pace, managed to secure such good results this year?

Y/N: It's been a lot of hard work and even this year we have had our struggles, in Imola and Miami we had pace issues and only managed to get a few points which wasn't what we wanted. We have been constantly developing the car and talking with specialist departments. And it has been difficult to improve whilst staying within the FIA cost cap but we have somehow managed to stay on track.

Reporter: Now I'm sure you know what's coming next. The team orders. Do you feel it was unfair to give the position to Carlos?

Y/N: At the end of the day it's racing. I don't see why I should just give up the places just because he's my teammate. The team didn't need to pit Carlos but they wanted to get the fastest lap point as well. In my opinion the team got a little bit greedy for points and that's what caused the conflict. But the team obviously wanted Carlos to get his first win with the team and move him up in the standings.

Reporter: Many people have said your attitude over the race sounds a lot like the way Dan Ticktum in Formula E talks. Now you have seen a lot with him so has he influenced your attitude? And what's your relationship there?

Y/N: Well yes we have spent quite a lot of time with each other but I would say he's explicitly influenced the way I talk or act. In terms of our relationship we are just good friends, we have known each other for 4 weeks and have gone out a lot together and got to know each other very well.

Reporter: Some people would call that dating. Do you disagree?

Y/N: Everyone has their own interpretation.

As usual at the end of the race we have the debrief meeting, some race weekends we do it the next day it just depends on the time the race finishes but as the race has finished in the afternoon we get the joy of sitting through a debrief.

Walking into the room there is a load of data on the screens and Gene is standing at the front with Guenther. After everyone arrives he does a massive speech about how well we have done and made changes from last year and how good it is for Carlos to achieve his maiden win with the team.

“I can't believe they didn't even acknowledge the fact Carlos wouldn't have won if you didn't give the position back” Alex says in a whisper.

At the conclusion of the meeting Guenther asks me to stand behind, I get deja vu from being at school when I would have to stay behind from class more than likely because I fell asleep after being up all night travelling back from a karting race.

“Look I appreciate you eventually following the order but you can't do that again. It's overshadowed Carlos’ first win and with all due you respect you acted like a child”

“I think you forget Guenther I turned down a Sauber offer that would have seen me go to Audi when they join. I turned that down because you practically begged me to stay. I stayed with the team even after a crazy Russian driver drove into me on track and his mad father who was practically threatening to set half the fucking Kremlin officials on me for outperforming his son and you stood by and did nothing because he was the main investor if you had come to me I would have told him to “fuck off” for you. So please don't lecture me about being mature and doing what's best for the team when I have always put this team first despite it giving me nothing in return apart from a very expensive therapist bill, probably being on some Russians's hit list, and a contract termination ”

As I'm packing my bag with my stuff Carlos enters my room holding my folder that I must have left in the garage. Genuther has gone mad at me for losing that thing before as it contains lots of documents about the car, the team and other confidential stuff we don't want other teams getting a hold of.

“Ah thanks you're a lifesaver” I say reaching to grab the folder from his hands, but he retracts his arm.

“Why didn't you tell me that you and Dan Ticktum were dating?” he asks.

I again go to reach for the folder and he moves his arm further back.

“I just didn't see how it's any of your business and before you say that you told me about Lando, I never asked.”

“That's not the reason, it's something different than that.”

“There really no other reason Carlos you are just paranoid”

“There's no reason someone like you would date Dan Ticktum”

“What's that supposed to mean?” I say, raising my voice slightly.

“He's a dickhead who's going to break your heart and you know it, if you want attention you could at least date someone who cares about you at least. Fuck, even Alex would love you more than Dan”

“Carlos just leave”

“Fine but don't say I didn't warn you”

Guenther’s talk and Carlos’ rant has pissed me off so I head back to my hotel and make a few calls to get out of here. We have another week's break before Spain and I intend to just spend it at home. I eventually manage to arrange a flight with the charter company that is sponsoring Haas and make my way to Nice to the private airport.

Before I leave George manages to catch up with me and evidently Carlos has spoken to him by the trajectory of the conversation where he is evidently hinting at something but is too scared to say it outright.

“Are you heading back already?”

“Yeah I just need to spend some time at home”

“Are you OK?” he questions.

“Yes I'm fine” I reply bluntly.

“So you and Dan huh?”

“George, what do you want? All these small talk questions really aren't amusing me?”

“I just want to check you're fine and doing the right thing with Dan?”

“George I am fine and I don't know if I'm doing the right thing with Dan but I'm an adult and I will learn from my mistakes if it isn't right. Now if you don't mind I have to catch a flight”

I was hoping to join a team that would have meant I didn't have to spend so much time in England because the weather is as Bipolar as me. But being with Red Bull means that's not happening.

I feel a sense of relief opening my apartment door that has become kind of stiff to open, elucidating how little time I have to come home.

There is a mountain of junk mail on the floor despite the very clear sign on the door saying no junk mail but apparently the people who work for the post office in the UK can’t read, and my assistant here promised to come by and check my mail but obviously she has been slacking but I don’t really care it's not like anything important comes by post anymore.

It's only early morning so I head straight to bed and the pattering of rain starts hitting the window.

“Great” I sigh, turning over.

I have no idea what I'm going to be doing whilst I'm here but I know I have some legal meetings with Red Bull and Haas regarding contracts which will be a lot of fun. Just kidding, it will be hours of banal meetings listening to tedious talks, from tedious people about tedious things.

I drag myself from my bed and decide to go for a run which is out of character for me but there is nothing more freeing than a run in the rain. I turn my headphones on and started playing a random saved playlist on Spotify. I live really near Silverstone like a 20 minute walk or a 15 minute run at my incredibly slow running pace . As I run past the track I can see some of the grandstands and other features that have been set up for the Grand Prix in a few weeks time.

During my run I happen to spot the same car drive by me 3 or 4 times as I run along one of the main roads but I don't think much of it as it isn't easy to get lost around here so I assume they are just looking for their destination and even when I start heading back home and see the same car I don't think much of it.

As I walk up to my apartment I see my door open and as much as in this situation I'm sure I should turn around and call the police I enter the apartment with the utmost caution. It's empty and nothing has been taken. Not that there's anything to take as all my valuable possessions which are literally my trophies and helmets are stored in a secure unit.

There is a single note on the kitchen side and it says….

[hazardworld]

It’s season finale time!!! This is a doozy, guys. 

Content warnings: The same Jason dickery covered in Part 5, plus what Andy does to Erica in S4 is more than just mentioned. 

Stick around as I figure out where to go from here!

WB: 1.2.3

Season 1: P1.P2.P3.P4.P5.P6.P7.P8

———

Darkness.

Darkness consumed him.

Thick oozing liquid through his scales.

A voice in the distance, calling his name.

Commanding him.

Shock went through him as he split in two…

and two…

and two…

For once, he’d follow willingly.

After all, they had a common goal.

———

“I am so confused!” Max groaned, draping herself over a chair. “This is going completely nowhere!”

“I hate to say it, but Max has a point,” Eddie commented, “we’ve been consistently circling back to the same points over and over again. What is it gonna take to try and make this a path instead?"

"I hate to say it, but Steve needs to leave the kitchen," Erica sighed. "As much as I desperately want whatever he’s making right now, I also want to know what this damn book means," She gestured to Jason’s red magic book at the center of the table.

Nancy sighed, looking towards the kitchen as her face settled on her fist.

"STEVE," Dustin yelled, clearly exasperated, "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING IN THERE,"

"Practicing Erica’s birthday cake!" Steve responded, "She’s here, and I didn’t think I was all that important since you guys were figuring stuff out on your own, so I thought I’d just check things off my list!"

"Steve, you are literally the most important person here!" Nancy called, shaking her head. "How much time do you have left on that timer?"

“…like 10 minutes? I just changed the rack,”

“Get out here, you idiot!” Erica chided, “My birthday is in like 11 days! It’s not even Bastille Day yet!”

“Oh my god Erica, enough about your fucking birthday,” Dustin groaned as he complained. Erica had been mentioning her birthday ever since school ended, and it had been pissing him off ever since.

“Dustin, we both know you’re exactly the same come November,” Will smiled, raising an eyebrow, and Dustin flipped him off.

Will wasn’t…entirely wrong.

He got excited, okay??

“Yeah Dustin, maybe I won’t invite you to my summer Barbie beach extravaganza,”

“Wait, Dustin, you actually like Barbies?” Max grinned, eyes passioned like wildfire. Immediately, Dustin felt his ears flatten and his cheeks grow bright red in embarrassment.

“It’s not lame…” Dustin muttered, frustrated, though the words only fell to Erica and Max’s ears.

Dustin thought Barbies were cool, okay? When he was little he got a lot of his parents’ old toys, which included his Ma’s old Barbies. Usually, he’d make up they were his older teenage sisters, and dress them up in late 70s fashions as if they were the 'coolest popular kids at school' and were super intimidating and made him popular by proxy. Now he had Steve for that, but he still liked keeping some of them around as experiment models, or to talk through science stuff to, or in the rare times he sewed, to prototype what he was thinking.

"I never said that," Max smiled, "I just didn’t expect it, is all. Barbies are a girl’s toy,"

"Gender is a social construct, kid," Argyle grinned, "Take me for example. I look like a guy, cause this is just how I naturally exist. Just because I look like a guy doesn’t mean I couldn’t be a girl," Argyle shifted to resemble the form of a girl, "Or even something in between," Argyle shifted in between the two, then back to his natural form.

"Here here!" Eddie cheered loudly, before awkwardly quieting when he realized it wasn’t the time.

"What are we cheering about?" Steve sauntered into the dining room, wiping his hands on a washcloth, grinning. He was wearing his baking apron, and to Dustins glee, had kept his half form the entire time. Steve had said he wouldn’t show it in public quite yet as to not jeopardize the party, but it was reliving to see him taking care of himself regardless.

"Nothing, don’t worry about it," Eddie waved it off, and the table made eye contact agreeing to just move on.

"Steve, we need you to open this book Max found," Nancy pushed the red book towards him as Steve took his seat.

"Max, is this…?" Steve looked at her in bewilderment, but she nodded.

"I think it’s Jason’s, I found it in his bedroom—OH! Eddie, I have something for you after," Eddie grinned and nodded as Steve looked over the book.

"Guys, I can’t open this," Steve pursed his lips. "If Jason was descended from Melusine I could use his direct ancestor’s magic since my lineage connects higher, but he’s from the youngest sibling. I’d need the Great Father or Great Mother’s magic to unlock it, and both of those are under lock and key in Atlantie,"

Well fuck.

Wait…

Dustin leaned over to his stack of books as the table discussed further options above him. There was that one book Will found that was extremely useful, and didn’t it go further into the idea of siren sibling magic?

Eventually, Dustin found the purple leather-bound book in the stack, and flipped around until he found the page he was looking for.

'A Siren’s magic could be placed in 4 separate Houses:  

The House of Theliore is the magic of water. Calm, cool, and mature, this magic is in the heart of Atlantie. It can be found in the hearts of most underwater sirens, though every siren, no matter their House, is always connected to it. Sirens in the House of Theliore are typically creative, bubbly, and more emotional than other sirens.

The House of Melusine is the magic of air. Witty, spirited, and impulsive, this magic represents the thinkers of Atlantie. Typically found on land, Sirens in the House of Melusine are typically more thoughtful than other sirens, though they can also be somewhat too-faced to those they don’t care about.

The House of Cerina is the magic of earth. Controlled, stable, and strong, this magic represents the doers of Atlantie. These sirens can be found anywhere, though most still reside underwater. Most sirens in the House of Cerina are grounded and less objective, though this can lead them to being seen as less unkind as other sirens.

The House of Gerane is the magic of fire. Active, vivacious, and energized, this magic represents the spirit of Atlantie. Sirens in the House of Gerane are typically driven more by their heart, leading them to sometimes make brash decisions. They’re rarely found underwater, and are the rarest type of siren due to the clash between their House and their nature.’

"So, this isn’t just a magic submission potion," Unfortunately for Dustin, he’d been reading so long the table had moved on, and Eddie was now analyzing some sort of small potion bottle, "This is a general submission potion."

Instantly, Max’s eyes went wide.

"He said 'no one wanted to get fucked at parties anymore,' in reference to it." She whispered, horrified.

"Eddie, how strong is it," Nancy asked, blue eyes starting to glow just slightly in her anger; the little tell-tale of Valkyrie in her veins.

"I don’t know, Nancy, gimme a second!"

Dustin looked to Steve, who was following the conversation with a frown and a furrowed brow. He gave him a little tap on the thigh, and the older teen looked to him.

In all honesty, Dustin wasn’t the best at following nuance. Upside Down coding was one thing since he knew what all the codes meant, but something like this, where everyone at the table was talking around the blunt truth? Absolute shit.

Luckily, where Dustin lacked in people skills, Steve usually could fill in.

"Dust," Steve leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Jason was using the potion to make people submissive and weak at parties, like a roofie, and then—"

"OH"

Steve nodded once before leaning back to his seat.

Dustin despised Jason Carver.

"Do you know who made it?" Erica asked, and Max pointed at her as if to validate her point. "Because whoever made it—"

"Had to have known what he was using them for, I know," Eddie murmured, turning the bottle over in his hands in contemplation.

"If they were smart, they didn’t sign anything on the bottle," Will countered. "Is there any magic surrounding the bottle?"

Eddie nodded once. "Yeah, all potions have magic around the seal,"

"We could get El to analyze it if you can’t find anything," Will proposed. "She can tell us what the magic looks like, and we can find them from there probably,"

Suddenly, Dustin caught a whiff of something unfamiliar, something sour…

It came from out front.

"Actually, this one wasn’t smart!" Eddie grinned, looking up from the bottle. "On the bottom there’s a little—"

"Dustin, man, are you okay?" It was Argyle that keyed into Dustin’s manic sniffing, "You’re sniffing up a storm, there."

The scent was vaguely recognizable, something he knew he’d smelled before.

There were hints of something similar to Lucas, though it didn’t carry any of the notes of lavender and Lucas’ woody cologne, just the sweat…

The sweat which was far stronger after basketball rehearsals.

Oh fuck.

"The basketball team is outside," He blurted out.

There was a deafening silence before all hell broke loose.

"GET THE BOOKS OUT" (Dustin)

"GET EVERYTHING OFF THE TABLE" (Nancy)

"I CAN’T CARRY EVERYTHING, SOMEONE FUCKING HELP!" (Erica)

"I NEED TO HIDE" (Eddie)

"WHY ARE THEY AT MY HOUSE" (Steve)

"EDDIE NEEDS TO HIDE" (Will)

"WHY ARE WE YELLING THEY CAN PROBABLY HEAR US" (Max)

It was Argyle who calmly walked to the front door and waited for the inevitable knock and call of Andy.

Yet again, everyone froze in anticipation.

"Hey there, can I help you young gentlemen?"

"Where’s Steve?" Andy. Dustin heard their feet move into the main entrance, and Argyle shut the door. He felt himself constrict in anger, and Max put a hand in front of his now-bared teeth in case he started to growl.

"Why?" Argyle asked, “Is everything okay with him?”

Silently, Dustin watched Steve sigh and calmly shift himself back to his human form.

Damn, it was fun while it lasted.

Steve beckoned for the group to follow him, and slowly, they all walked out.

"Hey!" Steve gave his publicity smile and a wave. "Can I help you guys?"

"Mind if we take a look around?" Andy asked, smirking as if he had an upper hand. "We have reason to believe you’re plotting against Jason."

"Sorry, but I know my rights." Steve tilted his head in fake sympathy. "You’re not the police, and even they can’t search my parents’ home without a warrant. Besides, all you’ll find is the makings of a birthday cake tasting session," Erica smirked and nodded, puffing her chest out slightly.

"With Eddie Munson here?" One of the team members asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Dammit, Steve, I told you I needed to hide!" Dustin could feel the anxiety reeking off of Eddie from every angle. The man couldn’t stop fidgeting to save his life, currently!

"Andy, isn’t that the kid that was so easy to stop this spring?" A werewolf from the group said, cracking his knuckles.

Wait, was that how Erica broke her arm in the Hellkins 4?

Erica bared her teeth and Dustin did the same.

This was his pack, dammit.

Dustin was snapped out of his anger as a phantom breeze went across his skin.

Weird.

"What?" Steve’s faux enthusiasm broke, and Eddie looked at him with wide eyes.

"I wonder how easy it would be," The wolf stepped forward, towards Erica. Dustin tried to block her with his arm, but the older wolf easily pushed him to the floor.

Another phantom breeze, stronger this time.

"To pick you up," The wolf picked Erica up. "And throw you down just like my witch friend," He pointed to Andy, who smirked.

Erica didn’t hit the ground.

Instead, she started to glow dandelion yellow.

Soon, everyone in the Party did, and the winds Dustin had been feeling started whipping around in the same color.

So were Steve’s eyes.

His half-form was back, thankfully, but this time Dustin was legitimately frightened.

Steve was right, sirens were fucking scary.

Subtly, Dustin could hear a song playing in the background, sad and melancholy.

The basketball team were hovering high in the air, their hair and jackets whipping around them.

(Why weren’t the Party’s hair whipping around, too?)

Dustin didn’t look when he heard the thumps of the team’s bodies hitting the mansion walls at full force.

Steve’s trance was broken when something beeped.

"Oh shit, my cake!"

Instantly, Dustin shot up, and with the rest of the party, watched Steve calmly take out the prototype cake as if nothing strange had ever happened. Soon, Steve made eye contact with the group.

"Guys, is everything okay? You’re all looking at me like I’m doing something weird…"

Well yeah, no shit. Erica had almost gotten thrown and Steve lost his shit, were they not going to be looking at him like a crazy person?

"Steve…" Nancy pleaded, and Steve sighed. He wiped off his hands and walked towards the group.

"What? What could have possibly gone wrong that…" Steve’s eyes widened when he saw his main room, and the hopefully unconscious bodies along its walls.

"Eddie, Argyle, get the kids and go." Steve said sternly and all too quickly, and Dustin froze. "Nance, stay here. I’ll need you whether or not they wake up."

Dustin wasn’t leaving.

"What, Steve—" Eddie protested, but Steve put a hand on his shoulder, shutting him up.

"Eddie, I need you to take the kids to the Byers’; that’s where everyone else is. Fill them in. I’ll tell you when to come back. Keep them safe for me; I trust you."

Will and Dustin made eye contact.

OH.

HOLY SHIT.

GO STEVE, APPARENTLY??

"O-Ok. C’mon kids," Eddie and Argyle made for the door, and the rest of the younger party followed.

"Dustin, c’mon!" Max beckoned for Dustin, but he shook his head.

"Dustin, go," Steve said, stern. Dustin’s head throbbed—was Steve using sirenspeak on him?—but he was too stubborn and too pack bonded to care.

"Fuck no. You die, I die Steve," He gave a nod to Erica; she understood the reference. "I’m not leaving you here, and you can’t convince me to leave."

Steve looked him once over, and sighed.

"Go to John’s, guys." Steve nodded to Eddie and Argyle, and they nodded back. 

The door shut behind them.

"You’ll be safe there,"

----------

Season 2!

The fact that some people think Dustin is homophobic when he canonically enjoys cartoons for little girls for their plotline value. That one saw gender and said ‘fuck that’ and ran. Anyway it just so happens my fan birthday for Erica is the Barbie movie release.

Edit: I realize I said ‘basketball rehearsals’ and currently hate my cringey theater kid self. That being said this is Dustin’s pov and he canonically is also a cringey theater kid so it stays.

Tag List:

@estrellami-1 @cookies-and-doom @beckkthewreck @dbquills @impeachy

[twilightknight17]

Today on P3R, we spend at least 3 days playing an MMO, let a small child steal our food, and head to The Club for a night of… well, actually we just popped in and then went home to go on the computer. Minato is me, for real. XDDDD

So it’s the start of Golden Week, which means days off school! Which means I can barricade myself in my room and play the game Junpei gave us!

We’re off to a great start. EP starts in October, and IS starts in August, so, close enough. I wonder what the plot is gonna be li--

...

......

.........

WELL. I guess he’s here in some small way, at least.

Of course, even when it’s a fake version of Phil, he’s just giving his vague speeches.

Thanks for the enlightening intro about anything that’s going on in this game, Phil. No other info is forthcoming. We just load into an area called Shinagawa Dungeon (which is not P2) and are immediately approached by another player.

...it’s 2009. It’s 2009. It’s 2009. I’m fine. X’D

Did people really ask “ASL” on MMOs?? I thought that was like a chatroulette/omegle/etc thing.

At least she’s nice, even if she talks like the most LOLSORANDOM 2009 Internet Girl.

...You can’t call me Tatsuya the whole game. You can’t. Aaaaaaa.

I’m having a stroke. Oh my god.

Anyway, Golden Week vacation is not a whole week, so it’s back to school on Thursday to guess my way through another class. At least I guessed right this time. But all my teachers continue to be completely ridiculous. None of them want to teach.

My education is suffering! Let’s go to track practice instead and worry about my physical health instead! Except wait, shit, Kaz has fallen down.

You are NOT fine! You collapsed!

He told his teammates he has anemia, but he confesses to Minato that his knee is fucked up. But he’s supposed to take over as team captain next year, and there’s a big national meet next year, so Minato has to keep it a secret.

Now I’m keeping secrets for TWO classmates. Good lord. Because Kenji wants me to keep it a secret that he’s gonna ask out the ethics teacher, so… grife. I guess I’m too used to P5, where most of my links involved making mutually beneficial deals. You guys are just… guys. XD Which isn’t bad, it’s just very different.

Anyway, Atlus, stop putting dudes on the track team and then giving them knee problems.

I’m also attending to my student council duties, and this dude needs to chill so bad.

Like… dude. The teachers at this school don’t give a shit, and you’re walking around like an army general.

My guy, it’s a single cigarette butt in the boys’ bathroom. This is not treason. Calm down. You’re gonna give yourself high blood pressure.

The manager of the track team walked home with us, and Minato got a new social link out of it. Which was interesting mostly just because it happened after track practice, so I got to do two things in one afternoon. Yuko is very nice, though.

I also went to the shrine to see the little girl, Maiko, and she pickpocketed my weird takoyaki and Mad Bull without actually asking. But I think that means that next time she’s there, she can be a social link too?

It’s been a day for social links, and the usual weird drinks.

I don’t know what happiness tastes like, but I’m suspicious as hell of that lemonade. It’s trying too hard to convince me. XD

The last thing I did around town was finally become courageous enough for Club Escapade! We are rocking out completely motionless up in the club.

I do like it here, though. And it gives me great reference pictures to use. XDDD I wish you had the option to dance, but nothing is perfect. I do wonder why the fortune-teller is in the nightclub, though. And the expensive accessory store???

The funny part is meeting the guy here so we can purchase URLs that lead to the dark web… and the first two lead to a random city rumor board, and an unofficial forum for the school. With… do we think this was renamed, or was it called this before and it’s just a call-forward?

SO. Now that we’ve stopped running around town, it’s the full moon, which means Mitsuru has detected another massive shadow! This one is camping out on the monorail leading to the island, so it’s going to be interesting getting there.

...like father, like son, lmao.

This was actually a pretty cool sequence. You do actually get to run down part of the tracks, but not before Junpei gets all pissy that Minato’s been put in charge again. As soon as you encounter the lesser shadows, he runs off to fight on his own.

It’s pretty clear what Junpei’s character arc is gonna be. We save his overconfident ass, and head for the front of the train.

Literally my worst nightmare, dude.

All the way at the front of the train, the Priestess shadow is driving it out of control, and looks… much more chill and tolerable than the Magician. XD It gives you a 30 minute time limit for the fight, which is fine… and then cuts that in half and in half again partway through. X’’’’D

I don’t do great with time limits. But we made it!

And did not die on the runaway train.

Hehehehe

Pharos promised to come see me afterwards, but he hasn’t yet. :(

Ah well, I guess, since I saved the world last night, I deserve to play my MMO all day on Sunday~

...I’m going to die. :’’’D

It is kind of funny how 2009 this is. You meet some random person online, and whoever they are, you just end up talking about random generic shit from your lives, no matter who’s an adult or who’s a teenager or whatever. In some ways, it was the best thing.

But now, time to log off. The phone is rin--

...never going to understand how the Velvet residents even have phones to call me with.

Anyway, I have been introduced to the Velvet door in Paulownia Mall, as well as Elizabeth’s requests. So next time, I guess it’s time to see what kind of nonsense she comes up with for me. But that’s two full moon shadows down, which means that barrier in Tartarus is down, too. So there will be lots to do!

[makangerous]

Yusuke Hawaii Date

As part of my Persona 5 female protagonist confidants project, I'm writing date events for the existing P5 characters as well! I have a really cute one of these for Ryuji too on my blog. Hope you enjoy some cuteness! Default FC name: Emi Yukimura

You receive an IM from Yusuke!

How are you doing, Emi? I had a list of spots I wanted to draw in LA, but sadly it was never to be. I’ve heard about some ideal locations here in Hawaii, but I don’t have the time to make anything now. In other words, I’m bored. If you’re not busy, would you meet me at Waikiki?

You meet Yusuke at the beach.

Thank you for coming. I’m usually fine by myself, but when I don’t have any projects to work on, I start having unsettling thoughts. So, would you like to walk around the area? Or do you have a particular activity in mind? I’m all right just being with you.

>Let's build sandcastles!

In that case, let me run back and grab some sculpting supplies! We shall create a masterpiece!

A while later, Yusuke has built a huge sandcastle.

So I based the layout on some of the Palaces we’ve been to. I used seashells to simulate some furniture, and carved plenty of windows and other details into the exterior. I’m more used to canvas than sculpting, but I think I did a decent job. Let me take a picture with my phone.

He finally notices the crowd surrounding the castle.

Emi, where’d all these people come from?! They’re all taking photos of my sandcastle. Excuse me! Can you please back away a bit? I need a wide, clear shot!

(Nobody’s budging…)

>Everyone, please move!

Tanned woman: Hey, that girl’s yelling at us!

College student: I don’t know what she’s saying, but she looks pissed as hell!

Middle-aged man: Gah, all this yelling is hurting my ears!

The crowd disperses.

Ah, thank you, Emi. I can finally hear myself think. I did manage to get a lot of pictures once everyone started leaving. There’s one more I do need. Emi, pose naturally in front of it. Great! Now smile!

He stands next to you and snaps a pic.

Mm, that turned out excellent! I honestly haven’t seen myself smiling that wide in a long time… I’ll send it to you.

(Obtained Beach Photo x1)

This is my favorite picture from today. Sure, I put a lot of effort into that castle, and I’m proud of it. But most importantly, I had an immense amount of fun today working and talking to you. I’ll treasure this day forever. Oh, I’ll get prints of this photo once we go home! That way, we can both easily look at it and remember. Actually, allow me to take one last picture of the two of us. Scoot in a little closer. Good. One, two, three!

He wraps his arm around you and kisses your cheek as the camera goes off.

Hmm, I think I have a new favorite photo! Do you see how cute you are? T-that wasn’t too forward of me, was it? I’ve been wanting to do that for so long now… Oh my, your cheeks are still flushed! I wish I could just take you back with me. I’ll be good and walk you to the lobby instead…

[catchyhuh]

i like your pfp

but on a similar topic, what's your favorite design of the lupgang?

My favorite is usually just all of the shin lupin manga designs, because I'm biased as hell, but i am a fan of fuma, cagli, and dead or alive's style as well!

ty!! it's kind of funny, initially i was weary of the dead or alive designs but (as evidenced by the icon) THEY KINDA GREW ON ME! i imagine the fucking cool as hell animation and ole helped too BUT ANYWAY!! DESIGNS! IM GOING TO PUT MY ANSWER UNDER A CUT TO BE POLITE

okay my favorite lupin design. this one is probably the hardest because i love a lot of different ones for different reasons. i would say it's not a stretch to say lupin has the most consistent design across everything, and that's even compared to a guy who's face is half covered 90% of the time. um this is very basic but every time i like, envision the guy in my head, i'm thinking about part 2. his angles are sharp enough to convey that he's up to no good, but he's got huge expressive eyes without being too cutesy either. if p3 lupin is laffy taffy than p2 lupin is like. silly putty. moldable but slightly more solid. i think it'd be easier if i talked about lup designs i DIDN'T like but that's negative and we're talking POSITIVES. so yes. part 2.

for jigen i mostly base it off of his eyes. i collect jigen eye peek frames like they're pokemon cards. and based on that alone i'm half tempted to say det conan vs lupin but then i thought, hey, that might just be because. jigen was the main highlight of those for me. there's many good eye peeks so i have to observe all my collected studies. and then i went through everything and decided yeah this is probably still my favorite jigen. the insanely fluffy hair combined with the twice as spiky beard probably doesn't hurt in just creating a fun design either yknow

god picking one specific fujiko is ALSO going to be difficult because they literally just invent a completely new insanely beautiful woman every time. which is kinda the point but ANYWAY there's so many and i'm thinking like OH I LIKE THAT FUJIKO but only cuz of her hair. I LIKE THAT FUJIKO but i think it's just because this dress is pretty. stuff like that. so i went through my whole excessive catalog of screenshots and i think my answer is operation return the treasure. aside from just being a nice, if standard, design, i like the way she doesn't have drawn in pupils at some points, which is very small and subtle but kind of like. a visual shorthand to tell you something is Wrong with this woman and i love that! but my final answer is. so strange. it's this figure. this figure is THE fujiko to me. the sick as hell outfit, the charm, the way her smile is equal parts standard fujiko flirtiness but also looks like she's sincerely just in a happy mood. this fujiko ROCKS

goemon's design in princess of the breeze was kinda cute, like the middle point between his old look and the p4/p5 shorter haircut, and i also LOVE fuma but that's just because it's the quintessential goemon experience. i think my FAVORITE favorite is hemingway papers. he's so pretty but still Shaped and solid. a good balance of cool and mysterious but also silly enough to get in on the fun. plus he makes this face and that kinda automatically makes him the best

ok god help me i've been talking way too much about tokyo crisis i'm not going to talk about tokyo crisis. by this point as i'm writing this i've spent multiple hours going through all of the shit i've seen and making a mental list of all the best parts of each design and i've determined you can use the same basic design thirty times but it will FEEL different based on how you let their personality come through. so. because i'm forcing myself out of tokyo crisis mode. i think episode 0 is an ehh level special (with way too muted colors i should add) with a LETS GO!!! level zenigata. look at this guy! final answer: this guy.

[frauleinandry]

finished persona 3 portable... as expected the ending killed me asdfghk... I’ll talk more under the cut, but ultimately, I really had a good time! it had its faults, of course - some characters and the lore in particular could have been developed a lot more, and obviously parts of the gameplay were dated - but it hit all the right emotional beats, and I think that’s the most important thing here. probably a 7/10 experience, and I’d be very excited to see a remake of it.

I’ll speak about gameplay first, since that’s obviously the weakest thing. there were a couple of bosses which were pretty memorable, like the wheel of fortune/strength battle, and the first part of the nyx avatar fight (where their arcana keeps changing), but ultimately, most of the gameplay was kind of a slog. given how old the game is though, I was sort of expecting that, and therefore wasn’t disappointed. not being able to choose the specific skills your persona inherited though was particularly annoying asdfghjkl

onto the plot/characters, while there were obvious faults, the way the theme of endings/death was implemented was fantastic. I think this shone through in particular during the social links - while some of the school ones were a bit boring sans saori’s, the rest of them really hammered home the game’s central theme. I think this is why I dramatically prefer the social links in P5 and P3 over the ones I’d done in P4 - they really resonate with the story a lot more.

I liked most of the members of SEES, even if I’m not quite as attached to them as I am the phantom thieves. junpei, yukari, and akihiko were great, and I don’t have any fuuka criticisms, even if I’m less attached to her. ken is an interesting character on paper, but I wished they fleshed out his revenge murder/suicide scheme a bit more. koromaru is cute, and while his general concept is a bit silly, the fact that he’s literally Just A Dog means that he doesn’t embrace some of the tedious tropes teddie/morgana do. 

ironically enough, given I thought they’d probably be my favs, I found aigis and mitsuru to be the weakest playable characters. while aigis gets a lot of very good development near the end of the game, I wish her opening up to the team/becoming more human was a bit more gradual, y’know? like, the fight with ryoji/death should have been the turning point in her development, not its start. meanwhile, I think mitsuru is really hurt by her confidant being so late game, in conjunction with her being pretty sidelined during the ken/shinjiro arc, even though the events there should have affected her nearly as much as akihiko. 

speaking of shinjiro, him, ryoji, ikutsuki, mitsuru’s dad, and the non-chidori members of strega each suffer from a terminal lack of screen time/development. while shinjiro’s social link was cute, he really doesn’t do much otherwise except get murdered - fuck, I never even used him in tartarus since he was way overleveled compared to my team. meanwhile, while ikutsuki and strega are interesting on paper, ikutsuki’s whole deal is super rushed, and strega’s whole schtick is all over the place. on the other hand, while I get why ryoji only appears when he does, I think him being around for an extra month really would have given his character a bit of an extra punch. 

in fact, the lore in general is pretty underdeveloped, and I think it’s the main thing they should flesh out more if/when they remake this game. while I know FES’ postgame gives it a bit more depth, that’s sort of like slapping a bandage over a leaky hole. 

still, like I said before, despite its faults, most of the emotional beats resonated with me. when the game wanted me to feel happy, I felt happy, and when it wanted me to feel sad, it punched me in the guts without hesitation. 

[spamsmcgee]

What’s your thoughts on qualifying. I’m so happy for Zhou he did so good. And the McLaren boys did good too

In summary:

I’m satisfied with the quali results. McLaren is remembering who they are. Guanyu is a talented driver and deserves that p5. Albon is gonna crush it. I, despite my saltiness, am glad that Daniel is here and will be able to push both AT and Yuki to their limits. I always feel a bit better whenever Yuki qualifies low; gives him a little more time to take positions, rather than getting passed up and then having to recover. And then an analysis about Yuki and Daniel at the end. As a treat.

Honestly minus Yuki’s p17, which I’m not worried about, it looks pretty good.

I don’t have the means to actually watch the qualifying, so I’m just looking at everyone’s quotes and the places, but it looks like it could be a good starting grid.

It’s looking like McLaren is remembering who they are, which I am delighted by. They’ve been my brother’s favorite team forever, and they’re quickly growing on me as well and I’m excited for what they do in the future.

Been telling my brother that next season could be the type of season we get a movie about in some 20 years. I can see it now: McLaren V. Red Bull, the story of a legendary racing team finally remembering who they are in the midst of the domination of a fired up newer team with the absolute machine that is Max Verstappen.

But that’s just my delusional side coming out.

And Guanyu really is a talented driver, he absolutely deserves that p5. I know he’ll drive the tires off of the AlfaRomeo tomorrow.

I am kind of surprised to see Albon so low as well, but yknow how the Williams is. He’ll crush it tomorrow I’m sure.

Daniel qualified high, and I’m not so low that I won’t appreciate it. The AlphaTauri doesn’t deserve to be that high up on the grid, but now that we have two drivers capable of pushing the car to its limits, maybe AT will get their act together and improve their car with some upgrades that actually matter.

And my Yuki, he qualified low, but I have noticed that he tends to do better in longer sessions. He’s been better at making that slow climb up the grid and being able to defend. I mean, he’s in a tractor, it’s what he has to do.

I always feel a little bit better when he does qualify low.

So assuming he can have a good strategy with the tires and they don’t start him on softs and pit him three times again, we could see a good race. And he and Daniel can bring the AT back from the dead so to speak, which I’ll admit is much more important than my deep desire to see Yuki tear Daniel apart. Nothing personal, I just want something to blow up in Helmut Marko’s face. If it was the other way around and Nyck replaced Daniel I would be saying the same thing.

Before all of this with Nyck happened, I was telling my brother that I thought Yuki still needed a lot to learn, and that if he had a solid experienced driver to work with he would be able to do amazing. I even brought Daniel up as my personal idea of the perfect driver to work with. And seeing him almost constantly talk about how he’s learned from those around him, even Nyck who is watching from the outside wouldn’t think there could have been anything to learn from. He strikes me as the type of person who is using his time right now to learn and build up his strength as a driver rather than just racing the tires off and burning himself out before the race even ends, which is what he was doing for the most part in his past seasons. I don’t see him trying to be such a hot shot that he would try and fight Daniel to a destructive degree, he’s shown an insane amount of maturity through this season so far, and especially through this teammate switch up, where every time he gets a chance he’s talking about how much he has and could learn from everyone around him. I hate to sound redundant, but yeah. As much as I hate to admit it, and want to see Helmut Marko get his egg in your face moment, I think Yuki is right when he said he can learn a lot from Daniel and in the long run this will be good for him and will help to build him into an amazing driver.

However, Yuki taking every opportunity to learn from Daniel does not mean he won’t be trying to beat Daniel for everything he’s worth, and that should be noted. Because there’s a Redbull seat at stake, and while I don’t think Yuki is ready right now for that seat, he’s gonna be doing what he can to take it sooner rather than later.

[b66clematis]

those 2 P5 spinoffs (and its old men faceoff), pt. 1: "spoiler: P5S still on top for me"

now that tactica's out... of course, people will be debating on which is the better persona 5 spin off: strikers or tactica? and as an old men enjoyer, which is the better one: zenkichi or toshiro? well, to me... you can just read the title again and scroll away. your question has been answered! (LMAO)

but, you know i'm here to write long thoughts. so if you're curious on why, hop on. because while i still personally* liked strikers more. there will also be a follow up for this post, talking about 1) why i still like zenkichi more than toshiro, and 2) what i liked better in tactica than strikers (and could learn from), because this one surprisingly gets too long.

so, why do i prefer strikers above tactica?

i loved strikers for carrying most of the features the base game has: walking around cities, friend hangouts (actually i liked strikers' hangout system more than base game for not being too calendar-dependant), cook (!), and all that. i like hearing my friends' thoughts on the place they're in, live on the spot! i like hearing the dumbest, smartest, and edgiest comments the masses NPCs have! also, i don't think strikers' nonbattle things makes strikers the more "true" sequel like people say (hey, tactica isn't even a sequel, it takes place inbetween P5R). but i like the interactivity.

another thing i liked more is... i think the UI/UX in tactica feels slower than strikers? the menu moving animation is noticably slower. and i can only access both the persona selection, skill tree, and stats via the persona selection menu, weird enough... i thought it's going to be in the stats/team (forget the name) menu. but all you can do there is see stats and access the skill tree, you can't change the persona. i think the stats menu should be the place to all seeing stats, reorder skill tree, and change personas - especially in a game that may require different set ups on each battle.

also, why can't i sell weapons in the weapons menu? i kind of get the feeling that they want you to primarily use the velvet room to get your weapons via crafting, but i still think it's kinda a hassle. and speaking of velvet room... when the story prompts you to visit it, i think the game should just redirect you to there immediately, instead of having to access it via the menu. strikers does this, even when lavenza is just a walk away. why can't tactica?

story wise, the story written for the new characters feels more balanced. the end game of strikers may be about sophia, but zenkichi's arc doesn't end until the very end of the game either. while in tactica, most of it is for toshiro. and i'm not sure on this one, but i think tactica's pacing feels too slow. not sure what causes it, though. might be from the UI/UX, the game format being "you either battle for a somewhat long time, or you read a semi-long text", the game having less dungeon than strikers for the same amount of hours needed to complete it, or something else. strikers' pace is kinda slow and inconsistent either (see: the comparison between sendai-sapporo and okinawa-kyoto's arc pace) though, but i still feel that strikers is less... prolonged?

this was originally meant to contain both why i like P5S and zenkichi more, but the later one makes this post way too long. so this will be continued on part 2/3.

*i write this post with a subjective mindset. i don't see what i'm going to write here as an objective thing, because i think some of these fell into "eventually, that's the best the game can do with its situation". i write this not to recommend you (or not) any of these games like critics.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

the thing is all you do about p3re is salt about it. I'm disappointed by a lot about p3re too but I don't go as far as you do and be a downer all the time. you've been accusing it as a p5 game with the p3 skin which i think is disingenuous, because they were giving p5-esque updates to a 2002 game, a game over 2 decades old

im just happy that you're not one of those people who are hoping that p3's ending would be changed.

there are people saying that the answer is a retcon to the p3 game because mc did not die in p3vanilla and the answer retconned that.

but anyways... im just sad that everytime you post about p3re its all just salt.

Kinda feeling bad for P5 atm, since I've been dragging that dead horse for much longer. TT0TT But I think you're right, even tho I don't talk about it as much, but I've been mostly dragging P3R......

I'm going to be honest........as they come out with stuff, I haven't found a whole lot to be happy about:

(addressing the P5 point here since it goes hand in hand The P5 comparison, and the one I have the most issues with are portions of the UI (I still never published that damn asks did I? shit damn it, well it's buried I'll have to get it at a different time). There's def gameplay features they've added (but more or less I expected them, and actual gameplay changes I'm.....a bit more lenient towards tbh, battle systems will evolve and I accept that). Plus there's the new SEES outfits which are.....very P5 coded....and a strange "we gotta add this!" type of change (aren't we "honoring P3"? why do they NEED a new outfit? Why can't we just have a costume called "PT costume" like the PT got a "Shadow OPs" costume?). THAT BEING SAID....I don't think I've brought up the P5 comparison since the SEES outfits tbh. At least...I thought I was more focused on P3R itself lately...... I should go back and compare it and see just how much influence of P5 I think is on there now that the initial shock has wore off. (that being said....I tried glancing through my blog and....I don't talk about P3R often on here ;w; It's like maybe 70%neg, 30% pos/neutral? I think the last big blow up was the lack of the concept art being on the train? I feel like I've been very passive and silent about the game for the most part....not even talking about a lot of the ad art/trailers/interviews I dunno I just don't find I'm interacting with it much so TT0TT I get I'm being salty but I think P5 deserves to say "maybe ease off a bit yeah?" than P3R atm? sorry if it's been overly salty for you tho anon 😔)

They removed my fav MC. I love P3MC don't get me wrong, but I prefer FeMC. That being said, I love seeing them as a packaged deal. The work off each other so well. I hate how Atlus treats her fans it SUCKS. And IF we are lucky, she might be DLC???? I'm pissed at Atlus' DLC practices already, but this is a kick in the teeth. ;w;

They removed the Answser and Metis. Do I think the Answer is perfect? No. Do I have some issues with it? Yeah. But I love Metis, and good and bad, it's a big part of P3's story. And us not getting that is......really bad imo. Plus the possibility of MORE DLC???

They removed key gameplay features. Tired mechanic and split up mechanic being the biggest two (possibly reversals? I'm not sure on that, I don't mind reversals or even a play on the jealousy mechanic, I just think it needs to be reworked TT0TT). Two mechanics I loved and wished were in P4/5 tbh..... so yeah a bit salty, I've always felt it was a key feature of P3.

Still fucking DLC (not just P3R's fault, but still not a plus...or should I say negative?). And then the costumes aren't as good? TT0TT Thank god for the in game ones. orz At least they aren't making me pay for THOSE. DX

I....am not a fan of the new models and lighting. Soejima got me into Persona (I prefer the 25th anni art styles over this P3Rs), it's not that it's shit I just have a preference..... The lighting however.... and I've always kinda like Vanilla/FES's lighting scheme. There's parts of P3 that I just really love (the ones where they have special lightening and the rainbow). And P3R's.....just hurts my eyes ngl. TT0TT It's flat or bloomed, and then the models will look plasticy, it's just an assault on my eyes orz

Music.....I think I'm the kindest to the music, esp when covering the legacy songs. I don't mind covers. As long as I get an option to play the OG (I like options) then I'm fine. Edit: LOL NEVER MIND APPARENTLY THAT'S NOT THE CASE???? TT0TT WTF ATLUS??? I have some mixing issues (or Azumi's cursive singing) but even tho I labeled it as "salt." It's more of a "minor complaint" compared to other stuff on the list if I'm honest (maybe it'll sound better on my TV who knows)

Still no definitive version. It's related to FeMC/Answer, but really.....the damn questionnaires always listed Vanilla/FES/P3P. I know the biggest argument for a P3 remake was a definitive version. We still don't have that! I've been wanting one since before P3P was released! I knew this would be an issue! TT0TT

Maybe my salt is a bit more apparent because.....I love the originals......I mean I do have issues with them (Yukari/Junpei my be-loatheds), nothing's perfect, everyone has gripes about something even if they love it (*motions to the P4 fandom*). But with the new voice cast/possible translation (and new events) I'm willing to give them a chance (again.....like I always do orz).

I def don't want P3's ending to change. That being said, I'm not gonna be surprised if it does. "This might as well fucking happen" is my mentality atm (at best it's confirmed P3R is a new timeline, which I can dig but......is it really so hard to have one definitive ver???? orz). TT0TT If atlus really wants to keep using P3MC in future games (or heaven forbid FemC to an extent!) they really should play into the multi timeline. Might not be the P3MC we know as the SEES leader, but it's still a variation of him. (this way we keep the OG message in tact, explore/expand the lore, and still get to see an old face without "time warping/travel dream sequence" for the 1000th time, love those but moving forward is also good too TT0TT).

The answer.....didn't..... retcon..... TT0TT Ahhhh this is why the made the Answer, because people were confused. orz C'mon Atlus bring back the Answer! You've been screwing it over both in anime/movie and the manga like c'monnnnnn!!!! ;w;

*inhales* All that being said. I'm just weary. I'm hoping the end product is going to be a lot better than than it looks atm (and that's why I'm going to give it a chance, the complaints I have are from the previews). P3R has been in the perpetual state of "we're so back/it's so over" for me TT0TT It's tiring. And I'm just trying to keep my expectations on the ground (I've already been kicked and then kicked while I'm down with FeMC/Metis, I'd rather stay down until I know it's safe to get back up ;w;)

But there's been a few things that have been......highlights.

Hermit seems to be the same with all the emojis and such (I don't think they are voiced which is both sad and fun, cause I like trying to act out the L33T speak myself)

I think Female SLs have had a strong/confirmed leak that they have a friend route (please! TT0TT god I've wanted this so much!)

While I didn't get the option of SLing my male teammates ;w; I am getting episodes (which is in the vein of that and other stuff I've wanted!) AND there might be some big stuff with Strega which is also something I wanted! (as afraid as I am for flanderization, at least we're getting this!)

More Aigis/MC good stuff (at least in full 3D)

Midori's tweets are unfortunately giving me SOME hope for FeMC/Answer DLC. (unfortunate because it's DLC and cause I dunno if me hoping is good for my health atm)

There's some new songs that I like (even with my minor complaints)

we're getting a BMG randomizer???? Yay????? (I'm excited just confused TT0TT)

Tartarus looks decent, I'm hoping I like the gameplay loop even tho they've cut stuff I love! I'm hoping it's fun to explore!

I like the new upgrades to the presentation for the minor stuff (going to the arcade and such).

I like SOME of the design/UI choices (the white figures remind me a lot of the opening)

OP song is.......ok, pretty visuals. I like the visuals the most. (FES's song is still my fav tho)

As much as I'm resistant to idea (lots of pros and cons, so I'm very conflicted), a part of me is kinda hoping it's a new timeline ngl. I'm just afraid of what.......that entails tho. Like if it's a new timeline, it would explain some....differences and that would be cool. But at the same time I'm....afraid of them changing the ending. I guess I'm preemptively trying to soften the blow in case it happens?

I guess the confliction is "exploring something new" vs "actually honoring the original work????" (which I'm not really feeling they are doing atm).

I dunno, if they wanted to just do a new timeline experimental thing I'd rather they ruin/mess with P4. As someone who prefers P4 Vanilla and can easily just play that as my definitive version, I would've been more down with them messing with P4, and keeping P1/2/3 more faithful and creating a definitive version. Wait...."new timeline"....uhoh *opens up new post* Theory time ;w;

But...yeah I'm sorry anon. I didn't think I was posting about it THAT often tbf (I think the most I've said is on twitter and it's mostly been about the models/lighting fksjkldja but even then I don't think it was THAT often either).

Who knows, maybe I'll like P3R when it releases! Or maybe I'll ignore it and jus stick with FES/P. We'll find out later I guess. TT0TT

[jicklet]

Finished the Persona 5 Anime, and I ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would!

I definitely wouldn't recommend it to someone as their primary P5 experience, but if you've played the game and are hungry for more, it’s worth checking out!

Most of the fun is in how they connect all these various plots together into a coherent narrative, linking the confidant progressions into what’s happening with the overall plot or character development.

My favorite example of this is in the episode with Yusuke's confidant where he makes his speech at the end about his friends keeping him on track. Ren clearly learns from that, and so later when he gets into a discussion with Akechi about the Phantom Thieves being dangerous, Ren is able to echo Yusuke when he says that as long as the Thieves stay true to their justice, they'll stay on track. It’s a nice way to keep everything moving forward.

Another nice thing is that two infamously problem scenes got (imho) massively improved: the Mona-Ryuji fight, and the Ryuji scene at the end of Shido’s palace. I’ll go into more detail on how after some other stuff under the cut.

Cons 😅

They also threw in some weird extra fanservice moments in the first half, along the lines of generic anime “Ah yes Ann’s ass is talking” moments. Thankfully they seem to drop that in the second... season? half? whatever it is. Basically midway through there’s a new intro and they stop pulling that shit.

Yeah so the animation quality is notttt good, they seem to have been working off Yusuke’s food budget and everything went into making the fight scenes look almost decent. If you watch video essays, this can almost be treated like that; if you have a project to work on it’s nice to have this on to mostly listen to and occasionally look up at. BUT they do some nice stuff with stills, that's how we get things like baby Yusuke and Makoto and Haru, and some extra time of them all actually having fun at Destinyland. ♥

Ren 🙋‍♂️

So our protagonist is both helped and hindered by the medium shift. He does get things to say and I enjoyed that! Overall though he definitely feels less main-character-y with so much else to focus on. He shines in one-on-one scenes, over time you can see him become more comfortable and confident over time, especially once Futaba joins and we get some more time with Sojiro. But in group scenes I honestly tend to forget he's there.

Shippy stuff 💗

You could easily headcanon Ren as ace or gay or just shy. They keep all his relationships platonic and he never really reacts to being flirted with any way except being uncomfortable.

Oh, though if you’re an Akechi or Joker/Akechi fan... yeah just go watch this, trust me.

Most of my Yutaba moments got skipped or cut short, alas but it’s understandable. The real win here was for Ryuann! They're always rushing over to check on each other, and oh man Erica seriously brought it for Ryuji-possibly-died scene. And, speaking of...

Improvements!! 🌟

Mona-Ryuji “fight”: I was dreading getting to this part as I always do, and then... I actually ended up kind of enjoying it?

Part of it was just due to the medium switch, you don't have all that excruciating in-game time as Joker where you're forced to do nothing while something is CLEARLY bugging Morgana. The tighter timeline and focus of the anime does a better job drawing a line directly from the dream/Morgana’s growing insecurities to Morgana lashing out at Ryuji, making it more obvious how much he's projecting.

The game also splits the focus between “The problem is Mona being insecure but also Ryuji’s ego” which muddies things. In the anime, you didn't get everyone crawling up Ryuji's ass about apologizing; Ann could tell Ryuji was worried because they've been friends and she knows him. Ryuji apologizing was his own choice, which put the focus less on “it’s Ryuji’s fault this isn’t getting solved” and more towards dealing with the actual problem of Mona feeling unappreciated. The lesson was more clearly “You weren’t wrong to feel that way, what was wrong was how you handled it,” which made it all hit stronger when everyone came together to be like “hey man we’re sorry we made you feel like that, you absolutely belong here.”

Shido’s palace: They cut the end off!! 🎉🎊🎉 It only showed Ann, Haru, and Futaba crying and yelling at Ryuji, which is fine and believable as them being emotional and worried, cut to Ren, Makoto, and Yusuke watching them, then it ends! Bam, fixed, we’re good.

Conclusion 🎉

So yeah, think of it as supplemental material. If you’re already a Persona 5 fan, I recommend checking it out! If you have a friend who hasn’t played the game... either have them play the game or show them a let’s play or something, don’t use this as an intro, we all know it could be better 😅

[hopeymchope]

Persona 5 Royal musings after two months

For all both of you who are curious where I’m at in my first playthrough of Persona 5 Royal, I’m at the point where I’m extensively dealing with two of the most irritating “Confidants” in the game — Sae and Akechi. In other words, I’m at the “Casino”-themed palace. 

It’s pretty wild that I’ve been playing this for two straight months every single night and still have lots left to go. I think I must’ve forgotten just how HEFTY these mainline Persona games are. They constitute a *commitment.*

Sae is more surprised to see her sister and colleague in the courtroom than she is to learn that the supernatural is real. Seriously.

Various thoughts at this time:

I really liked the structural and puzzle elements of the “Pyramid” palace the most of the ones I’ve experienced so far. I’ve gotten the most lost in the Casino — I wound up doing circles in one area like three times before I found my way out. And it’s interesting to me how the first two palaces had this whole “the closer you get to their treasure, the more distorted and insane the palace becomes” thing going, but they totally dropped that aspect after the second one.

I’m not really sure they justified the “space” palace very well. Every other palace has something to do with how the target perceives/interprets their location/reality, right? But there’s never any talk of that target perceiving his world as being in space or being a spaceship or anything like that. He’s just... really into space-themed stuff, and that’s it. *shrug*

Speaking of that palace, OH MY GOD THAT BOSS FIGHT. I had to attempt it four times, and I had to keep referencing strategy guides and tips online to optimize everything about it. I finally beat it on the fourth try with a whole 28 seconds to spare. Anyone who is coming into this game? I strongly recommend you look up how you can best prepare for that fight LONG before you reach it, because I had to spend a load of time creating special move cards, fusing various personas to reach perfect balance, leveling up specific characters to get them to have the moves I needed, etc. It SUCKED, but apparently this is a known issue with the “Royal” version among players. Evidently, he’s considered the hardest boss in the game now. So I guess it’s all downhill from here, at least... ? Maybe. (ETA: Yes, it was smooth sailing from here.)

Is it me, or do some of the lesser targets within Mementos really seem like they should have their own full-blown palaces? From a story perspective, that is. Take the leader of the “ADP,” the person you have to target for the “Fortune” confidant: This dude’s influence spreads pretty far, and he’s done a ton of messed-up things to lots of people over the course of numerous years. It sure seems like he’d be palace-worthy... he just doesn’t have one because he’s not part of the MAIN storyline. You get me?

Considering that they are now Japan’s Most Wanted, the Phantom Thieves sure suck at keeping a low profile. The team’s roster has grown to TEN friggin’ members with the addition of Jerky Akechi, and that’s not even getting into how everyone whose confidant I max out suddenly knows I’m a phantom thief... even if it doesn’t make any sense for them to figure that out. (I’m looking at you, “Sun.” There’s just no way, dude.)

Oh, good! I’d been worried that my disdain was one-sided.

Ever since the two protags of Persona 3 Portable brought us such distinct personalities for our heroes via their dialogue options, it’s been downhill for the series’ protagonists. P4′s leader - Yu Narukami - and P5′s “Joker” (a.k.a. Ren Amamiya) are basically blank slates as presented in the games. Their dialogue choices make it clear that they are both largely unflappable, but otherwise? Their personalities are pretty malleable. The subsequent spinoffs and (especially) the anime adaption of P4 helped shape Yu into more of a clear character, at least, but... Joker seems to possess the potential to be largely the same dude? His sense of humor is quite similar, at least, but I guess we can’t say for sure how much he uses those options. I’m just starting to watch the P5 anime — which I’m hoping will more clearly delineate who he is — but I don’t have any kind of handle on him yet. EXCEPT...

Mishima is a wonderful boy who deserves NOTHING but friendship and respect. However, more than once I’ve been handed a list of dialogue choices that are nothing but demeaning towards him. I seriously can’t even believe the outing to the theme park with Mishima, in which Joker is a) invited there by Mishima, b) comes across entitled pissant Shinya Oda, and c) promptly decides to ignore Mishima in favor of Oda. What the FUCK. This leaves me thinking that if Joker DOES have any clear personality, it’s “guy who treats loyal friends pretty shitty.” ........Damn. I guess you only get kindness and attention from Ren if you’re either actively helping him in the Metaverse or might potentially fuck him. Otherwise, he ain’t got time to care about you. COLD.

"Whoaaa! Looking like a dick, Joker!” - Morgana, probably

No matter what I may gripe about above, I’m still addicted to this game. Can’t help but still love the series in its P3-and-onward incarnation. And much like previous games, I tend to find the day-to-day choices of how to spend my time to be more addictive and enjoyable than the actual dungeon-crawling play.

Yusuke may not be a party member I use all that often, but as a character? He’s absolutely a favorite of mine. Funny and weird and delightful. And Ryuji is STILL a wonderful guy who deserves a ton more respect from his friends. 

Yeah, so I opted to romance the sexy goth doctor who always calls me “my guinea pig.” ........... Don’t judge me.