#i loved how the p4 characters feel like they’re on stage because they ARE ON STAGES

[a-sketchy]

man the lack of appealing stage design or visual effects or lighting or significantly interesting camera work completely kneecaps the dances from p3/5d as compared to p4d. i think the dances themselves are completely fine, if not better than p4d in a some cases, but there’s so little charm in the presentation that i can’t bring myself to care nearly as much

[zhongrin]

[Part 3/3]

- I've seen you write/interact with characters on some other blogs, but I imagine the deluge of asks during EBG week kept you busy. That being said, do you prefer long form stories and interactions or shorter, one-off style ones? Both have their place. But do you have a preference?

- Are there any particular scenarios or ideas that you wish to explore for future EBG's?

- You've done this twice, to very good success. What is your advice for someone who may want to (in the future) create an EBG plotline similar to how yours turn out?

- Since you've been on both sides, what advice do you have for someone who may be interested in participating in future EBG's? (Either as a participant who has an "assigned bias" or as someone who may want to interact with a participant who has "an assigned bias?)

- As someone who's done this event twice, do you have any particular advice for people who want to send in asks to participate? Any particular way or ways you would like asks phrased?

- Lastly, I give you the stage. If there's any aspects about this particular EBG or EBG in general that you would like to talk about, but haven't had the chance to, feel free to talk about it here.

Thank you again, Meirin, for creating such an engaging storyline and event. I hope you don't mind the questions!

[ p1 ◆ p2 ◆ p3 ◆ p4 ]

✼ I've seen you write/interact with characters on some other blogs, but I imagine the deluge of asks during EBG week kept you busy. That being said, do you prefer long form stories and interactions or shorter, one-off style ones? Both have their place. But do you have a preference?

i love both equally! shorter asks gives me more room to play with and longer asks gets my brain juice going (especially if it described the thoughts and actions of my friends’ oc, because i am not 100% familiar with most of them)! i just feel a little sorry for people who sent in longer asks, because i had a very limited time to reply to them (most of them are answered the same day, or the next day they were sent in - with a few exceptions, like the gardemek ask), hence i couldn’t reply with longer answers.

i think i struggled more with the continuous ‘silly’ asks, especially those which didn’t have any relation whatsoever to the storyline. because to answer them i need to kind of take my mind out of the more ‘serious’ mindset and forget about it momentarily and just be silly. which means that it would disrupt my thinking process. this is why i think you might notice how i tend to answer the ‘sillier’ asks in a group/batches; either before or after i answering the storyline asks.

✼ Are there any particular scenarios or ideas that you wish to explore for future EBG's?

i have a few! …… that i won’t share because then it would be just me spoiling the plot now for everyone hahahah

but yes, i do have some thoughts in mind. they’re very generic as of now, though. one of them is a little similar to kopi ansy’s idea, heh.

✼ You've done this twice, to very good success. What is your advice for someone who may want to (in the future) create an EBG plotline similar to how yours turn out?

hskdjskdj i don’t know about it being ‘successful’ or not (because i mean… i know some people had fun but also i lost like 50+ followers, so there are clearly people who didn’t have fun too) but really, just have fun with your friends! i think i’m just very lucky that i have supportive friends & followers who are willing to go the extra mile to accommodate my shenanigans and actively participate in the event. so bring your friends and go wild. don’t be afraid to do stuff outside your comfort zone; you and everyone else might end up liking it in the end (e.g. i am not confident in making ocs and coviello is quite literally the first oc i have in….. years lol)

also, don’t stress on planning it all out. sometimes you need to just wing it and trust your instinct. i didn’t have any idea of what ending i wanted when this all started, and i certainly didn’t think of creating coviello a whole story quest. sometimes the best ideas come to you when you least expect it.

✼ Since you've been on both sides, what advice do you have for someone who may be interested in participating in future EBG's? (Either as a participant who has an "assigned bias" or as someone who may want to interact with a participant who has "an assigned bias?)

again, just have fun - it's a game, after all. and try to do both sides if possible. i’m a big believer on “you’ll eventually receive double of what you give if you’re persistent enough”. so if you’re participating as a participant with “assigned bias”, get out and sabotage! to as many blogs as you can! and remember this is all just a game — don’t take things personally, don’t be afraid of being striked, don’t be afraid to murder strike someone, and remember to pace yourself!!

and if you want to send asks to the participants, just remember to not be rude (there is a real human behind that blog name) and read their rules before interacting. also go through their blog for inspiration if you’re unsure of what to send in!

✼ As someone who's done this event twice, do you have any particular advice for people who want to send in asks to participate? Any particular way or ways you would like asks phrased?

hmmm. i think everyone has their own preferences for this, but personally, i favor storyline-related ask. it doesn’t have to be long (in fact, it would trouble me if you sent me a whole long novel ;;;). there’s a balance in there and i will usually try to make do with what i’m given.

and since that's the case, naturally, the common rp rules apply:

✅ bring in your s/i or oc (but please remember to put yourself in my shoes, especially if we’ve never talked before — i might not respond as you expected if i know nothing about your character) with their f/o. bring in my og bias if the storyline permits. bring in third parties if you want.

❌ controlling ‘my’ characters’ actions and thoughts (i.e. in the last ebg this would include: meirin, coviello, childe). sending in multiple asks before i can answer your previous one (please be patient, i'm just human and i work 9-6 on weekdays).

✼ Lastly, I give you the stage. If there's any aspects about this particular EBG or EBG in general that you would like to talk about, but haven't had the chance to, feel free to talk about it here.

what do i want to talk about…. oh! yes!

so in my first ebg, we had an ‘ebg afterparty’ where the ebg somewhat ‘extended’ for the whole weekend, where rubedo basically goes full-on yandere…. yeah don’t ask hskdjskjd BUT ANYWAY

originally, i had an idea to do something similar. so the original ebg event was just going to be something much lighter, without the god remains and everything else, because when childe confronted coviello, i had planned for him to ‘put a stop’ to coviello’s action. then, on the last day of the ebg, i had the idea of doing this:

(excuse any spelling mistakes or incomprehensible-sounding words, this was such a rough draft hahahah)

where it’s basically a ‘what-if’ or a spinoff of “what if childe agreed to help coviello”.... at this point i didn’t have the idea of their actual motives yet, so in my head it was just childe going full batshit insane yandere like albedo.

...... but then i think i realized it felt too similar to the last one, so i scrapped the idea :p

ALSO. when will someone host an ebg where you can acknowledge your og bias but you have to pretend you hate them? i feel like it would be extra painful but extra funny because you’re gonna have to roast your favorite character. also might be a good opportunity to delve more into that character because... you know. sometimes when we adore something/someone, we close our eyes to their flaws, when those flaws are actually what makes that character feel more multidimensional.

[chibimyumi]

🍵Japanese Reactions☕ Kuromyu 2021

Dear everyone, I received overwhelmingly many questions about Japanese audience reactions, so here you go!

Methodology:

For this post I logged out from Twitter to avoid any bias because of my own user algorithm, and just simply searched the term “kuromyu” (生執事) , and selected “latest tweets”. As you can see, all posts have the word 生執事 in bold, meaning that was my search term.  There are a LOT of reactions, I can’t possibly discuss them all. What I did was just search at any random point of time, and take every other comment. I censored the usernames of the commenter to protect some (ceremonial) level of privacy.

I watched the Kuromyu costume rehearsal and cried, this is not it���，I think it might be better to go to Osaka [performance] without expecting too much I shouldn’t expect the Kuromyu of until last time

Honestly no matter how often I watch [the musical] this time’s Kuromyu is fantastic... as someone who knows the energy of the original comics, I really enjoyed it...

In Kuromyu Violet and Chesslock were the real thing

Like Violet’s way of walking being so slothful it was like the real thing, and the rapping of Chesslock in the cricket scene was cool

The reception of this time’s Kuromyu is entirely polarised, and indeed [this production] has a very different taste than the ones until now so I also understand the people who criticise it, but I think that’s fine.

Click “keep reading” for (a LOT) more reactions. Don’t lie to yourself and not click it, I know you all want the tea. Here’s the tea (ÒvÓ)ノ☕

There’s so much thought going on now I have seen the PV of Kuromyu. Eh? Because he [probably Konishi (Ciel)] has roots in Tennis [Probably prince of Tennis] once he holds the cricket it just looks like he’s swinging a tennis racket.

Bocchan is just too big, I’m not sure about that.

I only watched until half way ー

Calling it the Prince of Cricket is too befitting😂 Such singing and dancing, the youthfulness is exploding. They sure have stamina. #Kuromyu

Ah ーSomehow a lot of memories just popped up tears really are welling up... even though my deep-seated grudge has now passed, my obsession for Kuromyu surfaced, and it felt like it got beaten to a pulp by its big brother...

My heart is recovering through the Kuromyu DVD but the big brother is still the big brother... sob...sob (the dirty wailing of an otaku)

TLN: Big brother here means something’s superiour or better.

It became this production that made me think: Never mind the actors but is it the problem of the makers? Erm. I think it’s a waste. Is it because it’s the footage of the first day performance?

I don’t have the feeling that it’s not that, but that it somehow became cheaper? Is a really strong thought I got from this performance. With this line-up [of cast/staff] it should have been able to create the high quality of Kuromyu, but the impression is that it was a mess.

I finished watching kuromyu. Erm... somehow... it was a theatre production that strongly reminded me of the first Lycoris (the cheapness of the set), felt like they tried to create the feeling of🎾but failed, and tried to do something trendy (🎤) but then the production lost the sense of unity.

Well Mr. Tate’s [Tateishi] Sebas was good, and Undertaker’s acting was good (make up...)

I’ve watched the stream of Kuromyu countless times and gotten used to the songs, and even though I miss the old Kuromyu, maybe it’s not so bad that somebody who can’t let go is rewatching something countless times. If next time they will do the Cult Arc or the Witch Arc I’d be pursuing it. Honestly I want them to stage Lycoris again ←

Kuromyu was this place where I got stimulated by Yuta’s TOHO quality, Ms. AKANE [Madam Red] and Ms. Son [Akisono, Frances]’s Takarazuka quality. The synergy of everything, the original manga’s story, actors, music, directing all were so perfectly done in the past three productions they sure have become a tremendous bar. Once again Yuta, thank you for playing Sebas for us for three times 🥺✨

Kuromyu really was too fun, I’m in trouble

Honestly ------------- Kuromyu was so fun !!!!!!!!! Yasue-kun, you also go watch soon!! Ah, you going tomorrow???

It might be quite unsatisfying for people who only watch Kuromyus that are like Imperial Theatre grand musicals, but I think it’s good that it’s a bit like the Kuromyus of the beginning of before when they adapted the manga arcs

I watched Kuromyu and had fun 😊

I cried, I laughed, it was amazing anyway!

It was the first time watching a musical for me but I think I’ve been sucked into it...

Shall I buy the DVD, I’m indecisive 🌀🤔💭

Now I’ve seen the PV of Kuromyu I don’t think it’s worth going at all... Even in the PV the vibe of 2.5D was ridiculously strong...

My friend went to watch Kuromyu and gave me the review: “I’ve seen all sorts of 2.5, why did they do this for Black Butler. It’s trivial.” I’ve only seen the PV so I won’t say anything, and I really get what I’m refraining from saying. But Mr. Kuma once tweeted the descriptions of Black Butler, I guess it’s fine that the Boarding School Arc feels like this 🤔

Click here for the translation of this tweet. The description of the Weston Arc is as such:

(To the people who will be going to see it I’m sorry)

They did say that the staff along [with the cast] would entirely be renewed, but I feel like they’re actively trying to shake off the fans of Kuromyu until now   I’m a bit sad but I guess I won’t be watching [Kuromyus] anymore... I feel like      But I am buying the stream    I’ll think about it after I’ve bought it...

Anyway about Kuromyu, my mom said she wanted to watch it too so I watched it again with her yesterday, and she sure had a lot to say 😶 My father pulled this weird face of “what is this even” and I had to see him off halfway 😑 I thought about buying the stream of the final performance, but I guess I don’t need a second viewing. I don’t feel like watching the archive either. I really liked the Kuromyu of until now, my shock is too big.

At the beginning [of the musical] we looked back on Lycoris, Circus and Luxury Liner... kinda like some sort of recap, but I thought “huh?”... now I just want to watch that. I used to like Kuromyu, I really have trouble accepting it this time it’s painful.

But honestly when talking about Kuromyu it’s the Sebas with the superb voice who sung about the dynamic with the little lord full of emotion and built the world view, and for better or for worse the world view of Kuroshitsuji is maintained through Sebaciel, the songs, the directing of Sebaciel, but what happened there. Whether you should watch it or not. The past 3 productions were masterpieces、、、

But Sebas is not Mr. Furukawa, Ciel is not Reo-kun and even Mr. Izumi’s [role] of Undertaker was unfortunately changed, this is the new Kuromyu huh...

I watched the stream of the first performance.

I liked the songs so I checked, and I knew it.

This time has a lot of laughing factors, and I thought it was good it had a fresh cast.

I didn’t expect the cricket scene to be taken that far. I thought it was Tenimyu.

Kuromyu, this time be it the story, script, directing or casting, I thought: “it’s more enjoyable to take up this [musical] while temporarily erasing the memories of until now ～🎶”, and I watched the theatre piece without looking back to the past productions, and that was the right decision   To the people who came to love Kuromyu of until now, it’s safer to watch it while temporarily erasing the memories.

Did Kuromyu turn into Tenimyu half way?! I thought,

and the Elite Musical → 2.5D Musical transformation I also felt

Konishibocchan being cutesy was cute, and the P4′s desperate faces resonated all went by in a flash

Above was the report from the theatre ☺️

I went to Kuromyu

I went into it knowing it’d surely be something different from the past productions so it indeed turned out to be so

There were parts that made me go “erm the script....” and also this part that made me go “was it really necessary to make Undertaker descend into that dream in Act 1 just because you wanted to give him stage time??”

I went into 2 shocks gradually

Sebas doesn’t sing He only sings properly at the very beginning of the beginning Even though he’s Sebas There’s no ending solo Even though he’s Sebas

You’re the ♪ah~a~a~ number-one main character though!! That’s why this one!!! Is the N・E・W production--!!!!

I am in shock

I   A M  I  N   S  H  O  C  K  ANGER!!!

I watched the Kuromyu stream!

It was TOTALLY 2.5D~❕❕😁It was also a school setting and the Tenimyu vibes were strong (laughs)

It’s a bit of a shame that Ciel isn’t played by a child actor anymore, but because he has more stage time than Sebas has this time I caccept it.

Sebas and Ciel’s visuals are also good ~ ☺️ 

It’d be even cooler if they increased the fight scenes with Sebas though.

@ivvy_toshiki [Tateishi Toshiki (Sebastian)’s Twitter account]

Thanks for the hard work in the performance.

Today I saw the “first viewing of Kuromyu” of my dreams 🥀😆 Regardless of what I could say Sebastian’s beauty is from beginning to end spellbinding ☺️  My eyes were very happy. moreover, the songs and the killing were also AMAZING 😍 my eyes were nailed to Sebastian. I want to watch it again 💕☺️  I wish that the performances will go without a hitch until the final performance ❕

I was so happy to see the recap of the past productions

I really liked the Circus Arc (original comics), and even though it was comedy it really dived into the darkness! That was the story I also didn’t expect to see the Luxury Liner Arc So Undertaker, for real... for

Up to the last time there weren’t that many songs in total, but there were songs like I shall become your pawn and sword and the contract that made me go BATHUMP--- I have to rewatch this number!!! It’s a shame that this time there were no songs like that.

#Kuromyu

Calling it the Prince of Cricket is too accurate 😂 They sang and danced so much, the youthfulness was bouncing off it. What stamina they have. #Kuromyu

What’s different from the last time is the strong 2.5D vibe...... Until now the ages [of the characters] were fairly faithful [to canon] and in a good way there was no 2.5D-ness and I could just enjoy it as a proper theatre piece This time both the casting including the music had a strong 2.5D vibe for better or for worse #Kuromyu

Very personally! Matsushita’s Sebas was “heavy as the evil of evil and beautiful”, and Furukawa’s Sebas was  “evil, strong and unapproachable and beautiful and gorgeous”, and Tateishi’s was “light hearted and beautiful and a florid kind of evil”!! (My vocabulary is failing me) All Sebastians have a different aura about them it’s fantastic!!! #Kuromyu

The new Sebas is good

Overall

It’s this arc so that it’d get a chit-chat idol? vibe was within the expectation The cricket of the second half had a bad vibe and I was sick of it It might have been different had I watched it live I don’t like the Boarding School and Green Witch arc that much to begin with I am looking forward to the appearance of the real Ciel That's it for now

I don’t know why I’m mentally dead but it must be that, I watched the Kuromyu stream and I am thoroughly dead, mentally dead, but as I managed to say this I’ve reached a level that I recovered a bit??? I am too tired but I don’t feel like sleeping, but if I doze a bit then I realise my fatigue and feel like sleeping unnecessarily

This time’s kuromyu... erm I guess I’ll quit 🤔

I’ll be rant-puking for a bit

I’ve seen a lot of Tenimyu and A-stage [Mankai A3] but it’s not like I wanted to see that in Kuromyu... What I wanted to see was Kuromyu...

I watched the video of the Kuromyu PV? but it’s impossible. Watching the PV [I thought] children should be played by children... and as I watched their interaction it’s not the character building I had in mind... and there’s no wound on the vice principal’s forehead. I planned to watch the stream of the final performance, but I’m hesitant about spending more money to watch that... If I can’t accept Ciel and Sebastian I can’t watch this, that’s just me...

Now I’ve read the reviews of Kuromyu all are saying it went back to 2.5D, and I think that it’s not worth going after all. It’s probably because the Kuromyus until now far surpassed the quality of 2.5D... I guess it’s fine if one were to go for the cast, but I really loved the Kuromyu of until now.

[artekai]

Wait just saw ur pinned post and now I HAVE to ask how maruki is being inserted into p4 ABDHDJFJ

SO GLAD YOU ASKED

ASDFSHFG OKAY where to start?

I must have some kind of curse because whenever I try to write a fic I cannot physically resist the urge to put Maruki in it. So every time I start writing a P4 fic it feels like the how do you do fellow kids meme except it’s Maruki going “how do you do, fellow Persona 4™ characters?” This is funny in my head.

I also have tons of crossover ships involving Maruki and P4 characters (okay, they’re only three, but three crossover ships are three sources of pain too many), so it makes sense to put him in P4 so he can interact with them, right?

Usually, the way I put him where I want him to be is very basic. I just say that, after P5R, he moved to Inaba to get a fresh start in life. There, he meets Dojima and falls in love and gets married and becomes Nanako’s father and has a family of his own and they LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER. 

(Hi there, hello, I’m the CEO of Dojiruki, nice to meet you :] )

But, well, using a post-canon setting ensures that neither him or the P4 characters can interfere with the main plot of the games.

HOWEVER, one of my fics, Tristitia, takes place during the main plot of P4 in an AU where everything is the same except Maruki is there and is dating Namatame. Well, they’re not dating, but it’s not really platonic either, it’s complicated. To be fair, though, Maruki doesn’t really affect the plot there, because he’s not close to any of characters (besides Namatame) and the whole fic is basically just Maruki reacting to Nanako’s kidnapping, combined with a bit of a character study and comparing and contrasting him and Namatame.

So, moving on. I do have an AU where Maruki plays a huge part in the plot of P4 and that is the Adaruki Roleswap AU, which is exactly what it sounds like. Maruki and Adachi are swapped, so Maruki is Dojima’s partner and the Inaba murderer while Adachi is Shujin’s counselor and can bend reality to his whim during the third semester. It’s the most elaborate AU in this list but it’s pretty half-baked, mostly because I cannot figure out Maruki’s motives for murder and Adachi’s motives to NOT murder the Phantom Thieves during the third semester.

Still, it’s a fun idea to toy around with, and I’ve written two fics about Maruki interacting with the P4 setting in this scenario, Credit Where It’s Due and Pink Alligator in a Forest of Green. I don’t consider any of those as strictly “canon” to the main plot of the AU, because that was just me playing around and seeing what I could do with the idea of Maruki being Dojima’s partner, but he gets to interact with six year old Nanako in the second one, so that’s nice :3

A similar AU that I haven’t talked about but that has been on my mind for a long time is the Dojiruki Roleswap AU. That one doesn’t change much in P4, only the Hierophant SL, but it’s also half-baked because I have no clue what to do with Nanako’s kidnapping since she’s not in Inaba but in Tokyo with Dojima. And, when it comes to the P5R side of things, Dojima’s reality bending shtick is a whole other can of worms. He should be easier to figure out than Adachi because at least he cares about people’s wellbeing, but that doesn’t mean it’s not gonna take a lot of planning too.

Maruki is still a counselor in this one, but I was thinking that Dojima could maybe be Akiren’s probation officer? We’ll see.

Oh, and I know we’re talking about Maruki and not Rumi, but I thought this might be relevant since we’re talking about P4 x P5R crossovers. In the Phantom Thief Rumi AU, the plot kicks off when Rumi moves out of her grandparents’ and moves to Inaba. But this AU is in its very early stages so I probably shouldn’t say much because else I might end up spoiling the whole plot :)

Anyways, I guess I just have a thing for putting Maruki and Rumi in Inaba and seeing how they interact with the setting and the other characters. Probably because P5R came out right in the middle of my P4 phase, haha :)

[it-will-not-last-the-night]

PQ2 - End

As I did expect; making sure I was able to comfortably beat the Velvet Rangers first did mean Enlil, though visually impressive, wasn’t a difficult fight. I simply equipped Ryuji with the Omnipotent Orb and had him All Guard every turn and this left Enlil unable to do anything whilst the Joker, Mitsuru, Chie and Ann wailed on them.

The ending was honestly good though, very emotional, heart-tugging, I honestly haven’t had this much fun finishing a game since J.J. Macfield and the Island of the Missing. 

PQ2 is honestly a gem I feel. Beyond fun mechanics that I found easy to get back into even after long gaps, it balances the character development of an enormous cast very successfully, with only some issues.

Even though I knew nothing of P3 or P4 the game conveys their characters in a way I found enjoyable and easy to sink into, and that is really no small feat considering that the cast is, honestly, just insanely large by the end. 

I enjoyed Enlil as an antagonist for the most part, though they could definitely have used a little more substance in the plot, but this game, overall, was less focused on it’s villain and more on it’s protagonist, and that’s fine.

To that end Hikari: the game is honestly the story of her character development and I loved her. It’s a pity we don’t see much of her in the fandom, because I honestly adore Hikari and find her enchanting and relatable in a number of ways.

Her farewell to the friends she made at the finale of the game was genuinely touching.

In general the farewells at the end are emotional, and I enjoyed them all, event he little nod to Akechi’s own mixed feelings, clearly dealing with something, as he is the most hesitant of the Phantom Thieves to finally exit the theatre after they have learned they will forget everything once they are outside. A nice touch!

Of course, because it is me, I do wish to gush briefly about Ryuji: OH MY GOSH I love his dynamic with Hikari? But, also, I just love him in this game? He comes across in PQ2 as if he has matured from his incarnation in the vanilla game. Not only is he the character, along with Futaba, who spends the most time supporting and speaking with Hikari, but even in the ending when most of the Thieves all express varying degrees of excitement or forced enthusiasm about returning home, Ryuji is the one who most noticeably feels sad about the whole affair, expressing how he suddenly misses everything they’d gone through.

On the note of Ryuji and Hikari’s bond: I had thought it mostly just an accidental outgrowth of Ryuji’s common role as an externalization of Joker’s words, but when I watch the ending perhaps it is more intentional than I thought. Noticeably Futaba and Ryuji deliver the closing lines to Hikari, Ryuji is the one who, as she tears up, tells her to remember to keep her promise to invite them to see her movies and in the post-credits scene Ryuji is the character who feels they NEED to see her movie when they find a flyer for it, going so far as to clutch at his head because he, without knowing why, just knows he HAS to go do this. Furthermore, the cutscene as Hikari says her final goodbye and leaves, is framed around a small group of characters: Ryuji, Futaba, P3FemPC, Yukari, Mitsuru and Morgana. Among those Ryuji, Futaba and P3FemPC are the characters with the largest interaction with Hikari throughout the game, and I honestly have adored those four together.

I honestly have no idea why I am typing this, the game is dated and I believe interest in it limited, but I’d recommend any fan of Persona who hasn’t given it a try to do so, if only because the story and characters are honestly well executed, better in many ways than Vanilla.

To be frank; whilst Vanilla has moments that legitimately make me depressed, the scene in Shinjuku and the scene after Shido’s Ship, even at it’s worst PQ2 never has it’s characters be that mean to each other. Even when they jibe or insult they never cross a line to abusing or accosting, and they never all single out one character to relentlessly, constantly, deride.

A breath of fresh air really!

Anyway; I loved the game, I had fun, now I guess I wait for Scramble to become available, and I hope we get to see more of the P5 cast still in future (ALSO ATLUS JUST LET ME HOOK THE PT’S UP WITH EACH OTHER OR DATE THE BOYS PLEASE I WANT TO GIVE THEM LOVE TOO THEY DESERVE IT).

For fun below the divide I’m just gonna mention the relationships, romantic or platonic I’m not going to bother much with a distinction, I really have come to like following this game even though, I am sure, they are all crack.

Enjoy:

Chie/Yukiko: Whether best friends or girlfriends no pair of characters in the P4 cast seemed to, from the outset, come across as obviously as if they are close. The two seem to complement each other well, know each other well and play off each other well and are always delightful and entertaining to watch.

Mitsuru/Junpei: I talked about this one before; I just honestly loved their Ticket and found it endearing how both, in their interactions with each other, were almost Tsundere-ish in admitting to private desires to get along, and take care of each other dearly, but struggling to break through the shell of the other to confess this. 

Ryuji/Hikari: Talked about this one at massive length already; suffice to say I honestly loved their interactions so much and, along with Ryuji’s interactions with Sophia I have seen now in Scramble, Ryuji radiates enormous, powerful, Big Brother/Father energy. Which I think is great? What better arc for Ryuji than, a person who’s life is overshadowed by his awful father, to turn out to be a wonderful father himself.

Yusuke/Yukiko: These two just get each other. Honestly they just click. They tune in to the same cosmic wavelength and leave everyone confused as they naturally just synch up. It is a pity as the game enters its later stages we see less of them, in the early game they are a treat.

Ken/Akechi: Ken and Akechi just are perfect, wonderful, foils to each other and it’s almost a pity the game can’t actually go the full way with it because Akechi’s secret can’t come out. This leaves it as a tease, the suggestion, of what could be, but that’s still plenty good. I also find it always interesting to see Ryuji and Akechi, two boys heavily formed by an abusive father, both in their own explicit words state outright they relate themselves to Ken in some way. With Akechi, because he is so good at wearing masks, I wonder how true it is when he relates himself to Ken, it’d be interesting to know if this is one of his lies to maintain his façade, or a bit of his true self creeping out as it often does. 

Joker/Junpei: I don’t know why I like these two? But Joker comes across as really fond and supportive of him with his consistent chances to shout out “Junpei! Master Detective!”

Yukari/Junpei: As I said in my head I go back-and-forth whether this would be endearing or a toxic hate-love relationship. There’s no denying, though, that these two interact more with each other than anyone else in the P3 cast, they’re the Yukiko/Chie in that sense, if Yukiko/Chie consisted of a lot of barbs and harsh words. We actually get a glimpse of what, I feel, is a healthier dynamic for the two in P3FemPC’s world in the epilogue, where Yukari is still barbed but rather than deflating Junpei ripostes back, this automatically makes it seem less mean-spirited heckling and more two people, comfortable with each other, bantering.

Futaba/Hikari: This one is the obvious choice since the game is obviously going out of it’s way to make this an important relationship. Futaba sees herself in Hikari and appoints herself like an older sister to help her. It is adorable and amazing character development as the socially reclusive and shy Futaba clearly forces herself out of her comfort zone to prove to Hikari that she can change and that she is not a lost cause. Along with Hikari it is, perhaps, Futaba who is the true MVP of this entire game. 

Futaba/P3FemPC: Futaba gets some lovely Sister-like sequences with the incredibly fun and social P3FemPC, who Futaba is clearly in awe of. It is a pity that these really only happen in the early game, I’d love for them to continue, but P3FemPC as the big, fun, sister figure of Futaba is fun.

Ryuji/Yukiko: This one is just because the ending of Haru and Yukiko’s ticket has one of the funniest bit ever when Haru and Yukiko decide they want to ‘play’ with Ryuji and Yosuke. Yukiko’s ‘Will you devote all of your being to the name of the Amagi Family?’ is wonderful and I can just imagine Ryuji’s reaction to such a frank proposition. 

Mitsuru/P3FemPC: This one was actually surprising to me but Mitsuru really has something of an almost maternal instinct for P3FemPC. She seeks to console her and let her know she is valued, even if Mitsuru is poor at expressions of affection, as seen in Junpei’s case as well. In many ways it strikes me as a more sympathetic Sae/Makoto. Mitsuru clearly cares for the P3FemPC and is aware of her disconsolate feelings, but struggles to find the words to comfort her, but doesn’t let that stop her trying. 

[soprone]

Some notes on my characterisation of Teddie

retreading some old ground from previous blogs but hopefully it’s better than before because i’m always getting better grasps on my muses as time goes on so pwease read with an open mind  .✫*ﾟ･ﾟ

So while my characterisation is mostly based on the english localisation of the games and anime because that’s what i’m most familiar with, i feel like teddie comes across differently than may have been intended due to dub changes. i kind of viewed him the way i do when i first played, learning about the dub changes mostly just confirmed some things about my interpretation. like of course i changed my mind about some things but so you know where I’m coming from

So something that didn’t translate very well was Teddie’s humor. He’s constantly making bad jokes that the rest of the Investigation Team doesn’t respond to. This isn’t because they’re uncomfortable with his jokes, even when they’re a bit perverted. He’s not a jerk who keeps making bad jokes that make people uncomfortable, and the Investigation Team aren’t jerks for not explaining to Teddie that it’s not okay or anything, since he’s new to human customs. It’s because he’s looking to bring others into his comedy routine with any kind of reaction, positive or negative, and the only way to discourage him is to not respond. When someone makes a bad pun, groaning and complaining about it is part of the humor they’re going for. It’s like that.

The reason this was translated poorly is because Teddie was specifically mimicking a Japanese comedy style. I kinda always saw it as dad jokes kind of humor, but learning about the original intentions made it click.

This isn’t to say Teddie never does anything perverted. Almost, honestly maybe every, Persona male acts like a pervert, contrives scenarios to provide fanservice to the player/viewer, sexually harrasses female characters for comedy or just because the writers think it’s normal. What I’m saying is, this isn’t a Teddie problem. It’s a Persona problem. I’m not excusing his actions but I don’t think he should be held to a different standard than other characters who do the exact same things. I also really hate when people call Chie (and/or the other girls) an abuser because she physically hurts the boys, because again that’s not a Chie (or other girl) problem, it’s a Persona problem with how the comedy tries to be this slapstick thing on occasion. Like I hope where I’m coming from makes sense when I say that?? No I’m not say it’s okay for Teddie to try to grope Rise, or for Chie to kick Yosuke, and similar moments. I’m acknowledging that these moments are part of the game’s humor, they’re anime characters engaging in anime nonsense in an 11 year old game. It’s bad faith criticism to judge a single piece of media or a single character by ignoring the tone of the work they’re in, holding them to the standards of the real world and also ignoring the same problems exist within similar works (for example w/ persona 4 you need to consider it within the context of other anime, other video games, all forms of media that may have directly influenced it, the state of the world (politically & pop culture wise) at the time (2008), etc., persona 4 does not exist in a vaccumn) and that exist in other characters within the same work. It’s not helpful in explaining why their behaviour and/or why making light of it/normalising it can be harmful because you aren’t examining why it’s written the way it is. Oof this bullet point got long sorry

Teddie’s character arc is not linear. He doesn’t consistently get better, and he is in fact at his most obnoxious in my opinion during the Yasogami High Culture Festival. Since his arc is about maturity, this is like his ‘rebellious stage’ where he’s a brat before growing up more, after having grown up a lot in the months before the festival. However, I can’t accept his characterisation in Persona Q. He’s pushed too far and ‘flanderized’ ike a lot of the Persona characters are in spinoffs. I adore his group date marriage event (&accept him believing he fell for the protag at first sight as a headcanon (it’s just a crush, not ‘true love’/’destiny’, though)), think the love potion quest where he downs some love potion believing it will make girls love him only to fall for Akihiko is hilarious, but that’s about it. I haven’t finished Persona Q2, but his characterization in that game is a lot better from what I’ve seen.

I believe that Teddie went through the events of Persona 4 believing that when the investigation was over, he was ‘supposed’ to go live in the midnight channel permenantly and say goodbye to his friends. A lot of his antics during the year are him pushing for some cliche high school fun experiences in order to make some memories to hold onto (he’s kind of like a player avatar in that way ?? this kind of thing is why the latest 3 Persona games are set during high school over just one year, right??). His perverted antics can be explained with the idea that he doesn’t actually expect any of these girls to fall in love with him, if he wants anything he wants a movie-style ‘summer romance’ so he doesn’t really take them / flirting with them seriously (I’m not justifying it, only providing a possible explanation). He may have just gotten lonely and came back to visit anyway, but his intention really was to leave the human world for good at the end of the game. It’s only when the IT laugh off the suggestion that he realises he was the only one who believed this, that they really think of him as part of the team and weren’t just humoring him this whole time. 

I headcanon that his perception of his friends changes and he starts to respect them (+Yosuke’s wallet) better over time after this. It’s gradual (old habits die hard!) but noticable if you pay attention. Naoto notices his maturing during the game, she’d probably be the first to catch on.

He’s bisexual and nonbinary. Though, his feelings on gender maybe can’t be compared to a normal human, he takes on an androgynous male body because he wants to be loved rather than because he feels like a man, dresses as a girl because again he wants to feel pretty and loved rather than because he feels like a woman... In Persona Q2 he volunteers himself and Chie for the power team despite struggling to lift the weights that team needs to, because Chie is insecure about being the only girl on the team and he wants to comfort her. So he’s not exactly bigender or gender fluid, he’s nonbinary and presents whichever way feels right at the time, and what feels right is based less on his own feelings and more what will hopefully make him loved or sometimes help/comfort his friends? He did not grow up like a human in a society of binary gender, it honestly doesn’t mean much to him.

He believes Kanji is attracted to him (which I see as untrue aha I sort of ship it but if he’s got a crush it���s not in the way Teddie thinks), &mimics Yosuke’s attitude about it, not seriously scared of him being predatory or anything (not realising the problem w/ Yosuke’s homophobic comments, which Yosuke quietly gets over later &is probably embarrassed about his own behaviour so he’s not gonna explain), just thinking it’s a funny way of teasing him, seeing Kanji denying him (or not knowing what the fuck Tedd’s talking about) as being tsundere. I feel like this would die down as he gets older

His one-sided rivalry with Akihiko in the Q games (ahh I know they have a hostile relationship in the Arena games but I haven’t played them so don’t know if I wanna make that canon to my Tedd, it seems like they’re too hostile) is because Akihiko is hot, has lots of fangirls, but it’s not just jealousy, he’s swooning too

I think he flirts with Goro in PQ2 because he’s told Goro is a detective prince like Naoto, it’s kinda similar to Akihiko, he follows the crowd and fangirls too. But also, Goro is a Wildcard, he doesn’t know it at this point but he may subconsciously sense it? I’ve always headcanoned him having an attraction to Wildcards, of course the P4 protag is his #1 but he’s pretty flirty with the others in the Q games

that’s it for now because this has gotten SO long, if you made it this far I love you. if you didn’t i still love you because i love humanity as a whole but i’m a little disappointed because i crave attention not gonna lie.

[kingjinxii]

The Persona Waifu Rant

Since so many of you can’t seem to get it through your thick skulls...

ALL ROMANCES IN ANY GAME ARE NOT CANON

(This includes Yukari, Rise, Marie, Makoto, Ann, Futaba, Maki, and, unfortunately, Jun.)

Let’s look at the details.

What is canon?

Canon is defined by anything as is confirmed to happen in a fictional universe. (For example, it’s canon the the Persona 4 Protagonist goes to Inaba, it’s canon that the Persona 5 Protagonist’s codename is Joker, it’s canon that the Persona 3 Protagonist, at the end of the game...well...uh...you know.)

In the universe of Persona, the games are considered canon. Nothing outside of the games is considered canon, and even then, canon begins to blur.

To put it on a timeline:

Persona 1, obviously, happened first, followed by Persona 2: Innocent Sin. Due to the destruction of the world in P2:IS, a new world is created, the world of Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. That is followed by Persona 3: The Journey (aka the main campaign from Persona 3 FES), Persona 3: The Answer, Persona 4: Golden (with Persona Q in the middle), Persona 4 Arena, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Persona 4 Dancing All Night, and finally, Persona 5.

Simplified:

P1 - P2:IS

[Timeline Recreated]

P2:EP - P3:J - P3:A - P4G (PQ) - P4U - P4AU - P5

What is NOT canon?

Here’s a short list of things that are DEFINITELY not canon.

Anime adaptions

Manga adaptions

Manga anthologies

Stage shows

Word Of God

Essentially any work that is not the games themselves

Why are these things not canon? To put it simply, it’s because they were written and usually directed by someone else, and as such, they are largely ignored by the canon of the games. Adaptions are just that: interpretations of a work, of the way things could have gone. Now, some things from adaptions may become canon in later works (such as the Persona 4 Protagonist being named “Yu Narukami” like in the anime in Arena), but for the most part, you can cross those off the list.

Some of you may be calling me mad for insisting that only the games are canon. And, in a sense, you are right. There can be multiple canons.

For example, in one, Naoto grows her hair really long and gains a new Persona. In another, adults lose their Personas at a certain age. And in yet another, a protagonist gets together with a love interest.

But those are all interpretations of the same source canon (the games).

Heck, even a person on staff claiming that one character is the canon relationship does not mean that it is. That is one person’s opinion, and unless canon reflects that, it will stay one person’s headcanon.

Think of the anime adaptions, manga adaptions , and manga anthologies as legal fanfiction. Just because it happens in one author’s interpretation, doesn’t mean it happens in another.

And, when we get into the context of the games, the line is still blurry. And that’s where the problem with “canon waifus” starts.

Social Links Aren’t Canon.

This is a very controversial statement, but I feel it needs to be said. 

Why do I say this?

To put it in short, it’s because most of them are optional. If they’re optional, it means that they can be ignored, that you don’t have to pursue them. It’s all according to taste.

Of course there are ones that are canon: the ones driven by plot.

Plot-Driven Social Links By Game

[Note: P1 and P2 did not have social links.]

[Note 2: I am only including canonly completed Social Links. Social Links that are started by plot, but not finished by plot (or vice versa in the case of Tohru Adachi’s Social Link) are not included.]

[Note 3: The World/The Universe is not listed because they are not Social Links.]

Persona 3

S.E.E.S./Nyx Annihilation Team (The Fool and Judgement)

Pharos (Death)

Persona 4

The Investigation Team/The Seekers of Truth (The Fool and Judgement)

Teddie (The Star)

Persona 5 (A.K.A. Canon Confidants)

Igor (The Fool)

Morgana (The Magician)

Goro Akechi (Justice)

Sae Niijima (Judgement)

Now, there is evidence to suggest that the P3 and P4 Protagonists did complete other social links, as evidenced in The Answer and Arena but the difference is that none of the girls’ Social Links they were implied to have completed was acknowledged as romantic.

Rise still stays in the idol industry, Chie decides to become a police officer, Yukiko stays at the Inn, Marie finds out about her true self, but none of them are called Yu’s girlfriends.

Even in Eternal Punishment, while Tatsuya, the protagonist of Innocent Sin retains his memories, never reveals how he responded to Lisa’s feelings, whether it was to reciprocate, or turn her down in favor of someone else.

But let’s discuss one of the girls many people cite as the only “canon” romance...

The Answer and The Friendzone

Yukari Takeba is often cited as the only canon romance due to the existence and canonicity of Persona 3: The Answer.

For all of you who don’t know, The Answer was a short extension of Persona 3 in which you play as Aigis, who has inherited the power of the Wild Card from the protagonist after his death and must destroy a time loop trapping S.E.E.S. on March 31st.

This leads to them discovering the Abyss of Time and the only two exits.

One leads to the present.

The other leads to the past, before the protagonist sacrificed himself.

Only one can be opened.

Of course, the majority of S.E.E.S. agrees that the past should be left alone. Yukari, however, does not, for a single selfish reason.

She wants to see the protagonist again.

Many people cite this as being because she was dating the protagonist at the time of his death. But, I have watched the entirety of The Answer (as I have not played it myself) and I have found no mention of her and the protagonist ever dating.

Does she possibly have a crush on him? Absolutely. But crushes do not equal canon...

What qualifies as a canon relationship?

How many of you have played a Persona game, played through a girl’s social link while planning on dating another girl, only for, uh oh, her to confess to you.

Now, you have two options: reciprocate or don’t.

That option right there declares the romance non canon.

Let me explain my personal Two Points Of A Canon Relationship:

One character must be interested in the protagonist.

The protagonist must reciprocate without player prompting.

That means that there cannot be a choice in the matter. That character is who you must date. It’s quite a simple concept, yet every Persona love interest fails this test.

Now, many of you might point out that, in P3, you do not have a choice in dating a girl if you want to complete her Social Link.

For that answer, look back to my “Social Links Aren’t Canon” section. The player can simply choose not to enter their Social Link. There’s your choice.

Some of you might continue to insist that certain characters receive more attention than others in their games and may use that to argue their canonicity. But if it does not follow those two points, then it is not canon. A character could have the biggest crush on the protagonist, confess in every Rank Up event, and have twice as much screen time as everyone else, but if the protagonist doesn’t automatically say ‘yes’, then unfortunately, it’s not canon.

Persona 1 and Pandora

Let’s talk about a character like that: Maki Sonomura.

Here's a fun fact: Maki and the Persona 1 Protagonist do not necessarily end up together.

Now many of you may be shocked, and cite the cutscene at the end of Pandora’s battle, but there are a few things I want to point out.

The one confessing was Maki’s Shadow, not Maki herself

The protagonist himself did not respond to her kiss or her confession

Their friends did not once say anything about their relationship in the ending

Then some of you may point out that the epilogue stated that Maki was seen with a man who appeared to be her boyfriend...but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the protagonist is that said man.

In fact, I think his epilogue perfectly describes the point I am trying to make.

Why does this matter?

To put it bluntly, it doesn’t. I’m not saying you can’t ship any protagonist with anyone, I’m just saying that the wars over who is canon and who is not are utterly irrelevant. Not a single girl (or guy, in the case of Jun), is considered canon.

Of course, this does not mean you have to like all ships either, just respect that everyone has different tastes and leave it alone.

There are multiple canons.

There are people form all walks of life playing the game.

Everyone will have a favorite.

In other words, you can put down your pitchforks now.

Bonus: Resources for getting rid of your NOTP

For desktop Tumblr:

New XKit

Tumblr Savior

For mobile Tumblr:

Washboard (In Browser Only)

For Ao3:

Ao3rdr

[crazy-grrrl-on-the-computer]

For the really long number ask: questions by 10. :D

Oh boy, so many questions! Thank you, Speedy~ XD

There is a lot oftext (mostly rambling) below the cut. I would have had this posted sooner, but I’ve beenpreoccupied lately. ^^’

Feelfree to send me more questions~

~.~

10:The word that I use all the time to describe something great?

Hmm, probably “awesome” or “amazing” getoverused by me a lot. XD

20:Favourite video games?

FFFFFFFFFFF THERE ARE SO MANY!!!!!

Of course, you know me and how much I love HatofulBoyfriend. Those games will forever have a tight grip on my heart. >vBut also the Persona games I’ve played. *sobs* There are so many versions ofPersona 3 and Persona 4 by now, including their crossover sequels and whatnot.I love them so much. And Persona 5 is currently breaking my heart, but it’s sogood~ Also, we’re finally getting P3 and P5 dancing games to accompany P4:Dancing All Night, and I am so ready for that!

I’ve only played through Hakuouki: Demon of the FleetingBlossom so far, but I really want to play some of the other games at somepoint. I keep seeing stuff about them and I need it because the story andcharacters are so good. XD

Dream Daddy is also shaping up to be a pretty good game,from what I’ve played of it, so I can toss it on the list here as well~ ;P

There are way more games I could mention, but these ones areespecially important to me right now, so I’ll just leave it at that for themoment. =P

30:Eye colour?

My eyes are hazel. It depends on the light, but sometimesthey look more green and other times they look more brown.

40:What do I think about most?

I don’t actually know what I think about most. o-o

I try not to be this self-aware because paying too closeattention to my thoughts tends to stress me out. But, I mean, I do very oftenhave moments where I stop and go “oh my god, I love my girlfriend so much,she’s so cute, how is this possible” because I’m a sentimental dork and mybrain won’t stop reminding me. Also just as often over the last year, I’ve hada lot of thoughts about how I miss my dog and my cat, too. But I’m one of thosepeople who stops and notices/remembers really cute things and then has anemotional moment about how cute they are, so I tend to think about how cute myfriends are or how cute an animal is or… similar cute stuff. Because I’m anemotional sap.

Also, I’ve pretty much always got magical boys or birds onthe brain, but literally no one is surprised to hear that. XD

50:How do I destress?

I either play a game I like or listen to music (unless whatI need at the time is to shut out the world and all the noise that comes withit); try to read something or work on my writing; watch a show or movie thatmakes me happy as a distraction; or sometimes scroll Tumblr or just the tagsfor a thing I like a lot, mindlessly Liking/reblogging things.

You can tell I do that last one a lot from my various wallsof spam on everyone’s dashboards. ^^’

60:Pet peeve?

I have a lot of little pet peeves, but the one that comes upa lot is grammar. More specifically when people write “defiantly”when they mean to say “definitely” or when they incorrectly abbreviateet cetera as “ect” instead of “etc” aaaaaaaaaaaaah whydo people do this?

I mean, I understand that auto-correct is a thing and willmake you regret every typo you ever make, and I understand that mixing upletters and confusing words is common for a lot of people. So, I don’t get tooupset when I see it, but. How on earth did“defiantly”/“definitely” become a thing? Like… why? Idon’t understand. It drives me nuts just thinking about it.

But the “etc”/“ect” thing will alwaysbother me because it may have started as a genuine typo somewhere out there,but then people started thinking that “ect” actually WAS theabbreviation for “etc” and… no… Seriously, click on that link upthere and read the definitions of both abbreviations. There is a very cleardifference and it makes me want to rip my hair out that people don’t realize.*sobs*

70:Can I sing?

Actually, yes. People really like my voice, but most of thetime I’m really shy/awkward about it. To think I once wanted to be a singer ina band. ;;-;;

I remember going to a sleepover for a classmate’s birthdayparty in 6th grade and I casually mentioned that I liked to sing, so all thegirls in my class who were there wanted to hear and they kinda coaxed it out ofme. They were all super impressed and wanted me to sing them a lullaby beforewe all went to sleep, but I ended up singing them some 60’s RocknRoll musicinstead because I was really into it at the time and that’s all I knew off thetop of my head.

And then in 8th grade, the music teacher at our schooldiscovered that I had a perfect singing voice for the school musical and sherearranged an entire scene in the script just to give me a song so she couldutilize my voice. I had kind of resigned myself to it at that point, so thefirst time I had to sing in front of everyone during rehearsals I justpretended like I was singing for everyone at that party again. And after I hadfinished the song, everyone in the auditorium who hadn’t heard me sing beforewas speechless and I got a freaking standing ovation because they didn’t expectthe quiet kid to be hiding that kind of voice. //dead

Unfortunately, I don’t have a very powerful singing voice,so it didn’t project very well. No matter how much vocal training I was putthrough for it. But because my speaking voice is so loud, I didn’t need to weara body mic for my voice to project to the back of the auditorium. You know thatrule of the stage about how you’re not supposed to turn your back to theaudience while you’re speaking because it muffles your voice? I was told Icould act in any direction I wanted to if it worked for the scene because, evenif my back was turned, everyone could still hear my voice loud and clear evenin the back row. *sigh* So, the one song I had seemed kind of pointless in theend, but the music teacher (who was also the director of the play) refused togive it up. She apparently just really loved my singing voice that much.Instead, she told me to talk-sing the parts of the song that were too high forme to sing loud enough and I thought that was kinda silly, but I did it anywayand it turned out alright. I can sing lower notes quite loudly, apparently,just not the higher ones.

So, I guess that answers the question. I like singing bymyself, though. Sometimes, I’ll sing around people I’m close to or feelcomfortable with. But generally I’m still awkward about it.

80:Can I drive?

Not yet. *sobs* But I’ve been taking driving lessons and Ihave a road test coming up soon-ish. So, hopefully I’ll have my license beforethe end of the year. I mean, technically, I guess you could say that I can drive at this point, but… I’m really not that good at it.

Up to now, the only vehicle I’ve been able to drive is atractor. A car is a whole different creature, though, and I’m having troublefiguring it out… especially since I’m apparently too small to see over theback seat properly and I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to deal with that,since it’s kind of a pretty important thing for backing up. =/

Tractors are way less terrifying and I would much rather usethat as a mode of transportation if given the opportunity. XD

90:Favourite sporty activity?

When I was a kid, I used to like playing soccer and baseballa lot. Now, I enjoy badminton more on the rare occasions that I get to play it.^^

100:Do I have more girl friends or boy friends?

That is a very difficult question to answer because I don’tactually know. I… don’t really think about that much, so I don’t “keeptrack”… and, besides, gender is a weird and relative thing, so who evenknows? ^^

110:Do I like selfies?

I hardly ever take pictures of myself anymore. I used to alot when I was younger and I kind of wish I still did now, but I just don’thave the energy and I feel weird about it. I don’t dislike it, though. I justkeep putting off doing it because I lose interest almost immediately after Ithink about it. This is why I struggle every time someone asks for a picture ofme because I just… don’t have any recent ones… generally. o-o

120: AmI much of a daredevil?

That really depends on the situation. I don’t mind tryingnew things even if they’re a little out of my comfort zone. But I won’t go outof my way to seek out dangerous/crazy/adrenaline-pumping experiences. XD So, Iguess I play it safe more often than not.

130:Favourite piece of advice?

Aaaaah, I think one piece of advice that can be applied tomany situations and is very important to me because it keeps being relevant inmy life is this…

If someone hurts you (whether they intended to or not) andyou don’t know if you can trust them again, you are not obligated to give thema second chance even if they come back to you and ask for one. If you’re notready to risk putting yourself out there for someone who hurt you before andrisk the chance of getting hurt again, you do not have to. Even if they seem tohave changed or say they miss you and want you back in their life, you owe themnothing. You are not obligated to take them back. You are allowed to say no andprotect yourself. It doesn’t matter if that person who hurt you is“family” or someone you used to be best friends with. You don’t haveto open yourself up to risk getting hurt again just because of your previousrelation to them.

140:Do I believe people are capable of change?

That depends on how you define “change” when itcomes to a person.

Personally, I don’t think people can fundamentally change any part of themselves, but I do believe people can grow. In which direction we grow (positively or negatively) determines who we areat any given time, but deep down on the inside, we are, have always been, andalways will be the same person we were born to be. Personality-wise andwhatnot, that is our identity and it’s how we learn and choose to channel thatidentity that makes all the difference. There’s always room for growth, butoftentimes the results are permanent and it’s easy to spiral in the oppositedirection of our desires because we are still affected by our environments andpersonal situations. You know, the whole nature vs nurture thing. That’s howyou get people who used to be good becoming rotten and people who used to be terriblemaking a positive turn around.

I think this growth is what people refer to as“change”, though, and I’m just being nitpicky with semantics becausethe two words technically mean different things in this context. I justdistinguish between them when it comes to this sort of thing because of whatI’ve observed in different people throughout my life and this is the way I’vemade the most sense of it so far. Humans are complex creatures and it neverceases to confuse and amaze me.

150:What is the best decision I have made in life so far?

I… really don’t know. Clearly, the choices I’ve madeleading up to this exact moment in my life have been a mix of good and bad, butthey still all resulted in me being exactly where I am today. And a lot of goodthings have come from it, such as meeting most of the people in my life. Ican’t really say what the “best” decision I ever made was. I’m justliving each day trying to survive, so I don’t consider each individualdecision. As morbid and depressing as that sounds. I guess I’m grateful forwhatever decisions led me to meeting so many wonderful people. ^^

160:What colour mostly dominates my wardrobe?

*looks at the pile of clothes I still need to fold and putback in my closet* I have a lot of pink, black, and white clothes, but I don’tthink either of those colors can be considered the majority of my wardrobe? Ihave a pretty decent mix of colors to choose from.

170:One of my favourite quotes?

I was always a fan of Adam Savage’s “I reject yourreality and substitute my own” because Mythbusters is cool and I liked thecontext in which it was said. XD

180:Do I like shopping?

It really depends on my energy levels. Most of the time, I’mjust not in the mood to go shopping anymore. I used to love it a lot when I wasyounger, especially when I’d get to go shopping with my grandparents and mycousins. But I do still enjoy hanging out with my mom’s side of the family andmy friends, so going shopping with them is more fun than exhausting. So, Isuppose it also depends on who I’m with, too. ^^

190:If I could time travel, where and when would I want to go?

Honestly, I never have an answer to this question, so Icouldn’t even begin to think of one. This may sound like a cop-out, but I thinkI would rather not mess around with time travel even if it were possible. Although,if I did have that ability, I’d probably use it in such a mundane way as tofind out about things (like social events or awkward encounters) before they happenso I could make sure to avoid them like the awkward potato that I am. XD

200:Dragons or wizards?

*slams hands down on table* BOTH!!!! Or even better! Give medragon wizards! >v

210:What is on my bucket list?

Um. I don’t have a bucket list anymore. Well, I mean, thereare a few conventions I’d like to go to eventually, so I guess that. ^^

[doktorpeace]

in Persona 5 for me it’s July 11th, meaning I’m exactly 3 months into the game. I’m going to assume I’m getting to about the third way point, both previous games lasted 9-10 months and I’ll assume this one will last until January on the end game Calendar. Here’s my thoughts so far, spoilers inside:

Well I’ve spent a clean 44 hours on the game already so there’s that. I haven’t even been fucking around a lot, I completed Madarame’s Palace in just the 3 required visits and I completely cleaned out Kaneshiro’s Palace in just one discounting Makoto’s joining visit and the re-visit to defeat the boss. I’m really digging the story so far, it feels well paced and everything’s progressing at a reasonable, steady rate but the tension keeps building. It also REALLY breaks tradition, but in ways I’m finding refreshing. I’ve already formed my Judgement Confidant in spite of being only a third(ish?) of the way into the game, and I’ve formed a Confidant relationship with someone I know WILL be a party member even when he’s not a party member yet. Though I don’t trust Akechi as far as I could throw him. I’ll have to play farther into the story to write a real feeling piece about it, I’ll probably do that once I complete the game. Igor’s got me scared though, and I really loved and trusted Igor wholly in the last two games. My social stats are progressing well, I’m at rank 4 on Knowledge, 3 on Guts (promoting to 4 soon I think), 3 on Charm, 2 on Kindness, and 2 on Proficiency (also promoting soon). I knew Knowledge and Guts would be the most important ones going in, they always are so I’ve given them a special priority. So far I love this game, it’s really stellar and it’ll be my game of the year for certain. Everything works really well, my sole complaint at this point is that one time I had a shadow not join me after giving two good answers to its questions during a negotiation and I wasn’t told why not, but whatever it’s fine. The dungeons are getting steadily tougher and I really like the variety in design approaches they take. Kaneshiro’s was incredibly long but could be done all at once if you had enough items and good enough pacing, Madarame’s required more involvement and opting into scripted events since you had to get stuff done in the real world as well, and given it was a tutorial dungeon Kamoshida’s was also good. Honestly the level design in the Palaces has all been really good and I’ve liked each more than the last by quite a bit. I even got unlucky with some Onis getting crits and hitting my whole party with Rampage near the beginning of my run through Kaneshiro’s Palace and I still made it through so I was pretty happy with that. The main plot and characters are very much enjoying that the game, while fairly lighthearted so far, takes itself seriously and handles its themes maturely. They don’t make jokes about serious things and they let things have the weight that they should. The Party Member’s social links going on lockdown if you advance them too fast to wait for another moment in the plot is also a great idea since it means they can build in some of the character’s development from the plot into the social link and vice versa. This, combined with how the social links each focus on them growing as a person from the issue that caused them to be socially outcast and ostracized in the first place gives it a more down to earth feel. The party members have noticeable growths of character and mindset in both components of the game’s writing side by side, and it’s good to see them finally address this issue the series had been having. Rather than being like Persona 4 and making each of them a HUGE LIFE CHANGING EVENT THAT HAS A MASSIVE EFFECT ON THEIR PERSONALITY but then that having no bearing on the plot so the whiplash of maturity is really immersion breaking, this game’s focus on a more personal push towards growth and change. Be it making amends for past mistakes like Ryuji, finding a new source of strength with Ann, or pushing forward and grasping his future in spite of his situation like Yusuke, they all have to deal directly with what caused them to become an outcast in the first place, and feel like strong bits of development that don’t completely change them as people. I personally like and relate to Makoto’s being about being more honest with oneself and living for you, and not for the expectations others have for you. This sense of giving situations the gravitas and seriousness they require extends to side social links as well, of which I’ve liked all the ones I’ve found. One that sticks out to me is Kawakami’s social link. She is your teacher and you happen to hire her through a maid service because Ryuji and Mishima are fucking dumbasses who want to see a hot maid do chores for them and the situation you find yourselves in is naturally a little sexually charged, something which the game does not ignore or distract from. It owns up to the awkwardness of the situation it sets up. As the social link progresses (without Ryuji and Mishima there) it even gives the player the option to try and hit on her in a sexual manner, but she turns you down on the grounds that A) You’re her student B) the age gap is gross and C) specifically sites it would make her no better than Kamoshida, who was your first target as the Phantom Thieves in no small part because he sexually harassed and in one case raped a student. The fact that the game doesn’t just walk the walk of saying ‘oh yeah sexually assaulting minors is bad’ which is obvious to anyone of decent moral standing, but further drives the point home and WON’T make an exception for you because you’re the player is very good and not something many games are willing to do.  The variety of characters you encounter during social links is also nice, from a washed up politician genuinely trying to improve the world after learning from his mistakes, to the owner of a model weapon shop doing illicit business, to just the guy who runs the Phantom Thieves’ Forum they’ve all got a charm to them and feel well written. One that worried me initially was one where you meet a news reporter in a bar and the bar happens to be run by a drag queen. I was worried cause I had heard this content was transphobic, but seemingly that was a misunderstanding from someone playing the japanese version with less than a perfect understanding of the language. Lala Escargot as she goes by, is voiced by a man in both versions and is referred to with ‘-chan’ and female pronouns, however this is proper etiquette for drag queens while playing their stage persona. Further, Lala Escargot is shown to be of good moral standing and isn’t made out to be a joke, two things I was glad to see happen. This game’s schedule also feels good. Like I said, I’m about a third of the way in and I feel like I’ve been able to make comfortable growth with both social stats and social links, and I was worried about that because the game really railroads you a lot in the first two plot arcs, but it’s working out comfortably. Combat feels really good, while spell animations feel a tiny bit less flashy than previous games I’ve still only seen a handful of them, and the combat animations are all still really good. The balance is great, I feel challenged but not overwhelmed, but it is noticeably getting a lot harder with each main palace. Your Teammate’s in combat abilities they gain from social links are definitely nerfed compared to P4 or P3 Portable, but honestly that’s welcome in my opinion. In the previous games they were flat out overpowered and could carry you through the game. As is they feel like nice bonuses that happen just often enough you don’t forget they’re there, but not so often that they take away any feeling of depth or strategy, particularly in P4 where they were extremely ‘Win More’ mechanics. Particularly the ‘Save the main character from death once per battle’ is reduced to a chance, but can happen more than once per battle if you’re lucky, and requires the relationship be at rank 9 instead of rank 5. A hefty but welcomed nerf that doesn’t eliminate any feeling of danger. Oh also! The fact that your non-party member Confidants confer permanent benefits, some in combat, some out of combat is a GREAT incentive to level them up. I know that I’m focusing on Kawakami’s so hard because it frees up so many phases in the game, not having to waste my own time brewing coffee or doing laundry is a huge boon, plus 1 point in knowledge from lecture (assuming I get the answer right) can be exchanged for two lockpicks and two points in proficiency, or a book read and its bonuses which is a great bonus effect. Eventually she even gives you the ability to go out at night after going dungeon crawling which in and of itself is an ENORMOUS benefit. Finally, as for the party members it’s really cool the variety this party has and their variety of motivations. They’re a very fun group whose personalities work together dynamically an in a fun way, I know I still have 3 party members left to get, so we’ll see how they affect things. I’m just loving how much we get to see them all interact, between how many plot events there are and that there’s at least one text chatlog a day with everyone talking together, it gives you a ton of dialogue with them and time to see their party dynamic.  Ryuji’s a good boy. I like him a lot, he reminds me a lot of myself in terms of behavior. His social link has been a little slow, but cute, and his date sequences when you aren’t actively going up ranks are also cool. One big improvement he has over Yosuke in particular is that after being hit on by a couple of gay guys he just expresses distaste for the situation and leaves it at that. He was uncomfortable with it, but he doesn’t hark on it and veer off into being a homophobic shitbag like Yosuke. But Atlas, blease let him be gay in the expansion I know you’re going to make. Let me date the vulgar boy he’s such a cute good boy. Really though his growth as a person is already tangible, he’s gone from feeling like a total outsider with nothing to work for and nothing to lose to being a fairly responsible guy who owns up to his mistakes. He’s still not smart but he’s grown enough that he’s the party member to remind the others to keep it calm and lay low after a major operation, which is a really cool role for him to play. Ann is fucking great, her force of personality and strength as a character is immediate right from the start. I was worried for her, but she’s an explosive character, a lot of facets to her personality and situation are revealed to you quickly and then elaborated on over the course of her social link and when you hang out with her or go on sunday dates together. She’s obviously a kind, strong individual but she questions her own genuinity and strength as a person, and is exploring different ways to broaden her horizons and improve. I was a little worried she’d be a generic spitfire angry girl, but really she’s only super pissed off at injustice and sexual harassment. A big part of her character comes from her staunch hatred and opposition ‘of men who treat women as sexual outlets’ (literally word for word something she says) and it’s a really strong, cool way for her to be. I’m very grateful for the game’s writing for having such a staunch, unmoving stance in opposition of treating women like objects especially in a series like Persona where fans have an extremely gross tendency to do just that. It’s a good lesson and message to put out there. In other cases she’s actually really level headed and willing to admit when she was wrong or when someone’s outplayed her. I like Ann a lot. Yusuke’s a really deep and interesting character who I sadly keep blowing off for Makoto and Ryuji, but I’ll hang out with him more soon. His circumstances are really fucking difficult, first of all he’s an orphan, which sucks. Secondly his adoptive father is abusive, which really sucks. Third off he’s autistic. Seriously, think on his dialogue and tell me I’m wrong. We directly get the line ‘not many people will deal with my eccentricities’ which is as close as Japanese media ever gets to saying ‘yes I’m autistic.’ His dialogue often hints to how people ostracize him for being autistic even though he’s a great guy and I’m sure it’ll come up in his social link in the future. I’m glad the game paints it as a negative thing for society to treat him bad and not that it’s bad he’s autistic, it’d be very easy to slip into that but they haven’t fucked up yet. And finally, he’s fuckin gay dude. Don’t fight me on this one, I know a gay when I see one. He specifically dodges the idea of being attracted to Ann ‘as a member of the opposite sex’ and the way he says it isn’t ‘oh I’m interesting in girls, just not Ann’ it’s much more ‘I’m not interested in girl, and thus not interested in Ann.’ He’s got a lot going against him, but unlike with Kanji nobody acts like it’s weird he isn’t attracted to Ann (though Ryuji will rib the player for saying the same thing) and everybody’s doing their best to be supportive of him. I’m excited to see more of his character and see how he overcomes the ways society is stacked against him. You can even take him on dates and he comments that it looks like you’re lovers. I hope he gets a nice boyfriend. (also atlus please make him a romance option in the expansion as well.) Finally Makoto is the character I’ve most been suspicious of how she fits in. She’s an honor student, lives in a nice house, has a sister in a high paying job, was born into a good family, what’s bad about her life? Well, she’s outcast from the average student because she’s ‘just a robot’ and she has these obscene expectations thrust upon her, yet people still call her useless. She has to constantly wear a face and be who people expect her to be and not who she really is. It’s a more subtle kind of outcasting and she certainly doesn’t face the negatives the other members do like being an orphan or having their best friend hospitalized after a suicide attempt, but she’s got her own set of issues which are playing out alongside these things. The game also doesn’t frame her situation as equally bad, it’s just a very stressful, difficult situation for her and she really needs an outlet and somewhere she can genuinely just be herself. The fact that her rebellion is just having a space to express herself normally in is kind of fucked up, she had a really suffocating life and now she doesn’t and I like that. Her Confidant relationship is also really fun so far, I like Makoto even if she’s not an outcast in as strong or the same kind of way as everyone else. I don’t have a lot to say about Morgana so far. I like him, he’s an enormous step up from Teddie, but I think I’ll only be able to write how I really feel about him once the game is over. All in all I fucking love this game and it’s a huge improvement over all of Atlus’ old products in all the ways I’d hope it would be. I’d still prefer there be a gay romance option in the game, but the fact that you can take guys on dates and that you have a gay party member who isn’t treated as weird for it is great. 10/10, my personal game of the year already.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

if there was a p3p manga adaption of the femc route whould you like the femc from the game or her have an independently personality like shoji from the p4 manga?

Sorry for late response, had to think about it (and the post gets long cause I have to work through my thought process sorry ;w; but if you don’t want to bother with that go to the very end with the tldr; 8U). Hmmmm tbh I thought that Minato, Makoto, and Souji (still salty they spelt it differently in the US release >.>), and I guess Anime!Yu (both original and golden, to an extent), and even their Drama CD/Stage play counterparts (note I only know a little about these) reflected the game MCs in ways that reflect certain choices you can make (so like they’re personalities can all be sourced from the game but the media chooses to only focus on select personality traits). Like:

(under the cut cause length my bad)

P3 Male MC:

Minato: reflects the laid back choices, doesn’t really talk unless spoken to

Makoto: Originally reflects the asshole options before getting character development that gives him more humble personality (he was originally going to be more of an asshole but they felt no one would like him and I say it could’ve worked tbh). 

DramaCD: Weird mixture of the above, He’s aloof and will be a little sarcastic, but he’s also laid back.

Sakuya Shiomi (stage plays): tbh I can’t really say considering they aren’t subbed, but he comes off as similar to the Drama CD (his facial expressions remind me of Movie1!Makoto tho)

P4MC (I will paraphrase Souji/Original Anime!Yu as someone already did this more in depth, but there’s the link I recommend reading it):

Souji: (his personality reflects a lot of how I play the game haha) He mature but has insecurities, he’s serious, professional, cool and independent, but can also joke around. He’s also a manly man (how some people view him) who is also very motherly (and fatherly). So he reflects those choices in game (ngl Souji and FeMC had a lot more vast personality choices than P3Male)

Original Anime!Yu: Socially awkward, very prone to his loneliness, he’s more the joking choices (but his are treated more of “Oh he’s being weird again” than with Souji it’s like “haha look at this cool dude crackin’ jokes! XD”) 

Golden!Yu: More confident person of OA!Yu, I think has some aspects of Souji in him (but that could be more because he’s more confident cause it’s an NG+ for him). (I won’t lie I didn’t finish this anime so hard to judge). I dunno how to explain it, I guess it’s if OA!Yu tried to act like Souji?

Arena/Ultimax/PQ!Yu/MC: Despite the name he’s actually more like Souji’s personality. 

Drama CD: From what I sped read for this, he’s more like Souji again.

Stage plays: Same as Souji from what I could tell (again don’t really know his personality that well).

So if I’m being honest, I’m a fan of Souji’s (and also means game!Yu) adaptation of the P4MC, and with P3…..I…kinda like Makoto more (I like Minato’s name more tho)….it might be because I hold a soft spot for asshole!P3MCs (which I’ll get to in a bit) like with Movie1!Makoto. 

Now for FeMC. Well P4MC had a lot more personality choices than P3MC (I mean their only options were “decent/nice comment” “…./silence” was “asshole response” 8U), and the same can be said for FeMC. She has a very broad personality setting ranging from hyper, to happy, to sad, to silence, to angry, to sarcastic and/or asshole, to serious, to overwhelmingly positive (aka Maya-like), to “I will cut a binch.” That’s….much broader than P3MC’s 3 options tbh (ok to be fair he kinda has a 4th one and it’s “just tell the person what they want to hear” which can sometimes-usually fall under the original 3 tho 8U). There is one general consensus with her is that she has been known for being a stepford smiler to some (which if she ever gets an adaptation, would really be a great thing to explore. It feels like it sets her positivity apart from Maya). But from media we have gotten from her….

FeMC:

Anthology comics: (I know I didn’t include this for P3/4MCs, fight me) Depending on the story/artist they’ll heavily cover each of said personality options listed above. Tho interpretations that stand out a lot is “too pure for this world” and “cracks (bad) jokes” (and sometimes “is very perverted,” which tbh I’m always down for perverted FemC 8U)

Drama CD: Is upbeat and nice and will do anything for her friends, but at times will cut a binch (and I think they have to hold her back when she goes into that mode). (oddly enough this is how I usually play her too 8U)

Kotone Shiomi (stage play): From what I can tell……she’s similar to the drama cd counterpart? 

So yeah…..going off of this….I’d say I’d be fine with a DramaCD type manga adaptation (as long as they explore that stepford smile trope really I’ll just be a happy little monkey). But, if I had to be REALLY honest…. I’d want an Asshole!FeMC. 8U I mean it wouldn’t be out of character, she has those options, and it’d be different (and maybe appeal to moe gap people, I think). I think it comes from two fanfics I read, the first one was waaaaaaay back when P3P came out, Persona 3 Portable: Minako’s Story and was the only novelization recap I’d read of either P3/4 (never read a Fairly English Story cause…I dunno, and I never read P4: Split Personalities cause it contained my NoTPs). And while it’s been awhile since I read P3P:MS (can barely remember  any of it tbh), I really liked how the FeMC was an asshole (even if it was mostly in her mind). It was just unique to me, it never crossed my mind….similar to how the FeMC and MaleMC maybe not being fraternal twins never crossed my mind and now to segue into…. The Fools’ Tournament. Ohhhhh my gawd. Just 3 years later I would find this fic (and this one is a full retelling of P3 to boot, and the only full retelling fic of Persona I’ve ever read/finished that’s been completed), and it’s consumed my soul since 2013. O_O This….this fic, it’s what really made me love the idea of asshole P3MCs (whom, btw aren’t related hence my segue). But no, no, Minato and Hamuko in this fic are freaking horrible to each other (and then they are super sweet and then super horrible and on goes this roller coaster), but it’s not like they’re karma houdinies. If they screw up they have to pay for it (as the author describes them, “they are very bad people trying to do good but keep screwing up”). I’m sorry I just….love this fic. ;w; Anyways, basically this fanfic is the reason why I think if they wanted to make Movie1!Makoto more of an asshole, it still would’ve worked if they worked it the right way. 

Tldr; So yeah. I’m down for a well rounded FeMC (similar to Souji from P4 manga and game!Yu). But I’d be on cloud 9 if we get an Asshole!FeMC adaptation. (and I’m always down for her being a bit of a pervert. 8U

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

How I want PQ2 to go down.

(note hade to retype this cause it got deleted in the middle of publishing somehow so yeah round two! 8U)

Ok so this is going to be part of a series of connecting posts on how I think certain games should go down. Things to note with this game is I’m thinking it’ll be P3PxP5, so yeah I know you’re probably thinking “*gasp* Spoilers?!” And no I will try to make this post as spoiler free as possible, I might allude to something but it’ll be really vague so that only people who played the game know what’s up. So yeah you’re ok if you haven’t played P5. Also I will do a separate post that is like a Q and A and it’ll explain my reasons as to why in more depth, but it’ll also be a very spoilery P5 post so yeah if you want spoilers for P5 stay tuned for a separate post. With that lets get started

Note before reading: I will be referring to FeMC as Hamuko, P3 Male MC as Minato, and P5MC as Akira (his manga name) in this, you can still name them later just for typing purposes I’m doing this. Also you should note that while I did type a main plot for this, and tbh I think it came out fairly well considering I’m not well versed in one of the mythos and I did that after 2 hours of research, it’s not the thing I’m really concerned about beyond it setting the stage for P3PxP5 to meet. So if you don’t like the main plot and think you have a better one I’d love to hear it!

Name of the game: PQ2: Oasis in the Abyss as @kazusakai​ came up with it (and i love it cause it fits so well! ;w;). It fits since P3P had Vision Quest/Desert of Doors, and P5 has a desert dungeon and a song called River in the Desert (DON’T LOOK UP THAT SONG’S LYRICS THO AS IT CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS).

Themes: We know P3’s themes, death yada yada. P5’s being fighting corruption and justice yada yada. There’s also going to be a big theme with deserts and things associated with that as well as oasis/rivers (hence the name). (note this is to keep in mind that I tried really hard to make the plot revolve around these specific themes so yeah)

Setting: Just like PQ2 it involves the whole ripping out of your timeline stuff from PQ, tho in this case it involves an alternate universe as it’s Hamuko instead of Minato (from what we can tell by the easter eggs in P5, P5 seems to be in the same universe as P3/4 but later in the timeline like 2016). Like with P3 in PQ it’s right around the time of their cancelled school festival that they get pulled out. With P5 it happens around their school festival too (maybe actually a little later as this way all characters are officially on your team, like Haru). The world they get pulled into might actually take the setting of P5’s school, with the dungeon portion actually being part of the Desert of Doors.

Main Plot: Ok so like PQ, there’s a mysterious duo. They have no memories (except for the vaguest of vague), can’t summon a Persona, look foreign (like Zen does, aka they have darker skin), look somewhere around the age of a 3rd year in high school or a 1st/2nd year in college (they don’t wear school uniforms so that’s why it’s hard to tell), and have to fight as a duo. The boy’s name is Seto (世登, means the world) and the girl’s name is Nori (義 means Righteousness/justice). The boy’s appearance: white hair (Seto means white in Javanese, not the mythos I’m using but still neat), red t shirt with a weird dog on it (note following the link will spoil my surprise 8U), his weapon is a book or staff that casts healing magic (he’s very similar to Rei’s role). His personality is very easy going and happy go lucky, fulfilling Rei’s role in that regard as well. Nori has long brownish hair, with a blue t shirt with a falcon like bird on it, she uses bows and arrows and uses offensive magic (similar to Zen). Her personality is more serious, but not to the same point as Zen, as she can still take a joke and goof around. There will be ship feels with Seto/Nori just like with Zen and Rei, tho it should be noted that Seto has a tendency to flirt with Haru, not that he understands why, but it makes Nori jealous (note she’s upset with Seto not Haru, she likes Haru) and Seto comically has to apologize every time he does it (don’t worry there’s a good reason I’m having this kind of trope or else I wouldn’t have in here in the first place).

Ok so Seto and Nori have amnesia, but they do seem to remember just a little bit more than Zen and Rei, that being they know they came there themselves and have something to do there but just can’t remember what (Zen and Rei don’t have that memory back till their first dungeon I think). They also know that they’ve known each other for a long time and they think they remember that Seto and Nori are their names but yeah. Seto and Nori are really close, Nori likes to brag about how she’s always by Seto’s side and how she wants him to lean on her. Seto is shown to be upset that he always leans on her and wish she would lean on him once and awhile. Also like PQ, they start off pretty happy only to then get darker and more serious as it goes on.

(now to power though the story portion) Ok so we get through the 1st dungeon and we find out that the reason why they’re here is because they’re looking for someone. We get to the 2nd dungeon and we find out that it’s connected to Seto’s brother they are looking for, they can’t remember why still and theorize maybe he ran away and are trying to get him back. 3rd dungeon is where they find out that Seto’s brother was murdered (paralleling the doctor in PQ, also Death theme), and they realize that they might be there to find the killer and to avenge his brother (justice theme for P5). 4th dungeon we are confronted by a Shadow/Cognitive Existence (this is a term from P5 and while this concept has been used in past Persona games without having a name to it, it’s basically a Shadow or something that looks like a Shadow Self but isn’t and that’s your spoiler free explanation) find out that it was Seto who killed his brother (or so it seems). They fight a boss called “Osiris” (some of you might be connecting the dots now). The 5th dungeon revolves around Seto’s judgement and fight the goddess (c’mon there’s always a god) Isis (*gasp* Yukari control your Persona 8U Jk).

“Oh ok so it’s Egyptian myth” Ahaha nope not exactly, I want to make it more complicated than that (because spoiler reasons I can only say complicated). Like I could just go with only the Egyptian myth, but I feel the need to mix it in with another mythos (think Jun’s Chronos/Cronos from P2). Again sorry if it’s not mixed very well, I didn’t put more than an hour’s thought into it so there could be a neat way for them to do it. Ok so like, if you connected the dots or followed that link above, you’d find out that Seto is actual Seth/Set (spelled Seto in Japanese) the Egyptian god of storms, desert, chaos, violence and war (this also explains why he hits on Haru, if you still don’t get it stay tuned for a spoiler post). This guy is the one who killed his brother Osiris. BUT he’s also Seth from Gnostic/Christian mythos, who is the brother who “replaced” Abel after his death by Cain (hence why Seto wanted to seek vengeance). It turns out that in like a bonus boss fight (like with Zeus in PQ) that you fight Cain and thus connecting the two Mythos. As for Nori, while her name I derived from Seth’s wife in Gnostic lore, Norea (so I guess Norei would’ve been more accurate but alksfdklanf;a leave me alone ;w; 義 was too good to pass up), though in other lore his wife’s name is Azura (which reminds me of azul which means blue and that’s why her shirt is blue lafndsl;fna word play 8U). As for who she represents in Egyptian lore it’s Nephthys, Seth’s wife there too.

As for why they had their memories confused, it could be the fact that they fused together or the shock or whatever. Again I’m not too concerned with the main plot as long as I get P3PxP5 feels and it helps with their character I’m fine. Ok phew that’s over. I think I got everything from when I originally typed it. (I do go into some more detail on this in the endings later, and maybe splitting the two mythos into two routes could work). 

Cast Make up: Ok before I get to B plot I should talk about how the cast will be made up cause it’s important to me. I think we should have a game where we only have the whole P5 cast and Hamuko (aka not the rest of the P3(P) cast except Velvet Room people). Ok like maybe I’ll have Aigis and/or Pharos there too (reasons stated later), but I’m mostly focused on Hamuko herself in relation with P5 kids. I have reasons, one is that we don’t’ get possible rehash of PQ’s plot. I say possible because unlike Minato, Hamuko SLs with her whole team and is in turn closer to them. So like P3’s side B plot could possibly not take place because of this, or it could but…yeah. As for the revenge B plot on the P4 side, while I’d LOVE to see how the P5 kids would talk it over I don’t want a rehash of the plot tbh.

The other thing this’ll fix is screen time and writing. Ok, PQ was a pretty great game but the way the characters were written was a little wonky (same with Ultimax but that poor thing got shafted so hard and let’s just focus on PQ). Like everyone was mean (dunno why they were, but the characters didn’t seem to offended by each other’s comments…still confused why this happened) and reduced to quirks (the main point). With just having Hamuko, Theo, Liz, and Margret (and again, maybe Pharos and/or Aigis) with the P5 cast it’ll make it easier than having to balance aaaallll the characters in from SEES and IT.  

But I also think this make sense in a meta sense too. Like, PQ was part of what I dub the Labrynth Trilogy (PQ/Arena/Ultimax), PQ was made to explain how the P3/4 kids could trust each other so easily and work so well together, and that’s because they subconsciously remembered each other form that time. Now for P5? Say in Arena 3 the P5 kids meet the P3 team, but the problem is that it’s not the same P3 team (different universe with P3P remember?), P5 kids might feel the need to help P3 team but P3 team wouldn’t trust them (cause they don’t subconsciously remember them, only the P5 kids do), and then the P4 team def doesn’t know the P5 team and vice versa and alkdsfnkl;af it’d just be a real mess. I mean I can see them making it work but why make it so hard? But what if it’s just one person the P5 kids care about? What if the P5 kids do get in a tussle with the P3/4 kids over said person? That person being Hamuko. She’d be the Hamuko from the P3/4/5 timeline, she wouldn’t know the P5 kids, she wouldn’t know SEES, she’s not the same Hamuko from the P3P timeline (probably has a different name too), so she’s a different person, but it would be interesting to see P5 kids trying to help her because they knew another her from another universe (Oh hey P2 people am I getting you attention? 8U). It’s also easier to juggle only one person like that instead of a group of people. That’s my little preview for Arena 3 and/or 4, back to PQ2.

B Plot: Ok so like I said above I didn’t want a rehash of the plot, but if they did change it a bit…..it would be similar but different. Like, ok, so Hamuko is technically closer to her team than Minato. Instead of Yukari saying stuff like “we’re not that close”, Hamuko would muse to the P5 kids saying “Man looking at you guys I can see you’re all are really close as a group….makes me realize just how close my team might actually not be as I originally thought. Up until now I thought we all kind of got along, I thought we were close… But maybe it was only me that they’re close to….” She’ll later talk about how she might’ve instinctively known it all along, and so that’s why she tried so hard to get everyone to be closer to her. She realizes she’s the glue that holds everyone together and is afraid that if something happens to her they’ll all fall apart. She’ll then worry that maybe she’s actually not that close to everyone as she thinks she is, those reasons are: Yukari goes behind everyone’s back to ask Fuuka to get info for her, Fuuka doesn’t treat Hamuko the same way as she treats Natsuki aka her best friend, Mitsuru and Aigis can’t be SL at that time yet (tho Mitsuru does praise Hamuko and Aigis is always by her side so it’s like they’re strangers), Junpei/Akihiko/Ken all have a roadblock at some point so you can’t become closer to them, Shinjiro is fairly reluctant to SL with you even during ranks in the beginning, Koro is a dog (and also doesn’t want you to replace his owner) (so basically they’re all closer to her than Minato, but yet there’s still a barrier for her that she can’t seem to get over). And maybe the last B plot being that she hates how she has to be perky and a stepford smiler, as it puts a lot of pressure on her and she’s actually really stressed out. And also maybe how she feels like she’s usually stuck in the middle of everyone’s drama (ie Yukari vs Mitsuru cause she gets pulled along during the beach scene, Ken vs Shinjiro via SLing with them)

On the P5 side they could have their ideologies throw into question, maybe they start to second guess themselves on how they’re “heroes” considering they’re going about it shonen like and are peacocks about it, while Hamuko and SEES kind of have no choice in the matter (on top of not being recognized either). Or the ethical question on how they actually change the heart of their bad guys, did they really reform the person or did they force them? And other stuff relating to that.

Edit: Also how maybe hinting that if Hamuko hadn’t gone to Gekkou she would’ve been worse off than if she had gone (aka her living without the events of P3P is worse than her dying at the end of P3P, aka hint hint I might be foreshadowing another one of my “How I want Persona ___ to go” 8U)

Mechanics: Ok so it’ll basically be like PQ, fool arcana gets split up so everyone can use a secondary persona yada yada. The only difference is that I think there should be spell fusions (I have a very good reason for this, I won’t list it here but it’s a very good reason). Now how they go about the fusions depends, is it going to be like P2’s (or maybe like P3’s but with two people instead of one) and you can manually do it? Or will it be like P4G’s and it happens randomly. I kind of want the former but the latter would work fine (as long as they have a lot more combos, like everyone can have a different fusion spell with everybody).

Also Justine and Caroline will be in charge of the fusions (Igor isn’t there again btw), I think Caroline will do the fusions while Justine does whatever Marie’s job was (street passes). Theo and Liz have the same jobs as back in PQ. Margaret is here again, but she’s not the same as the one in PQ (she’s her P3P self), so the interactions between her, Theo and Liz will be different. Also the siblings interactions between the twins will be…..interesting. XD

Endings/story structure: Ok so this why I think we might need to have Aigis (and/or Pharos, but really Aigis). We could probably have 2 routes even if its’ only with fewer people on the P3P side, but we need some characters to bounce convos off of so that’s where Aigis comes in (other than her and Pharos having a special connection to Hamuko, Hamuko would need to be by herself for her to be pulled away, that place is probably her room, and Aigis and Pharos are the only two who would probably be in her room at that time…..cause Pharos does what he wants and Aigis would be taking care of you at that time. So yeah that’s why they’re the ones that would be there). Anyways we could have that. But I’m thinking more along the lines of having both MCs speak but having dialogue options that are similar to the ones Arena got (And P4D I think, anyways Yu had them and I know Kanji, Chie, and Yukiko had them as a way to get the gag endings, you chose and they just spoke the lines). And so because your choices matter maybe that leads to different endings, heck maybe we get two routes of the story (one being the Gnostic side and the other being the Egyptian side, depending on your choices up to that point), and then we get a true ending (where they’re mixed together) if you clear both story sides.  8U Or you still have the Gnostic/Egyptian routes, but it’s more connected to which MC you choose (like you play as Hamuko then you get the Egyptian route, you play as Akira you get the Gnostic route, you clear both then the true route is open to whichever MC you choose to play as only a few lines will be changed between playing as one or the other in the true route).

Dungeon: I’m thinking of having more dungeons in this game. Either be it more story dungeons (I know I did the 5 dungeon story structure up top but yeah) or just a lot of bonus dungeons. I think we should bring back Vision Quest (cause P3P is involved of course we should), be able to refight bosses but stronger, be able to fight PQ bosses but stronger. I think we should get the Group Date Café back as at least a mini dungeon (c’mon it was THE BEST part of PQ, and I know shippers are hungry for it).

 And so yeah that’s basically all I have. I’m open to ideas. I hope Atlus does make this game (like legit just P3FeMC with P5 crossover is all I ask for). XD

Also here’s the spoiler Q and A post, feel free to ask questions I’ll answer them there.