#i'm trying to move away from the metaverse

[cosmogyros]

What's the best alternative to Facebook currently? I really need to get off that site, but I also need to somehow convince everybody I'm connected with on FB to follow me to whichever new platform I choose, so it's gotta be good. And hopefully not too confusing for older and less tech-savvy people to join 😅

(Obvs I'm not telling most of my FB friends my Tumblr URL. These are two separate worlds, and separate they shall remain.)

[writers-reach]

Hey! Can I have headcanons of persona protagonists [ Yu,Minato,Ren] kissing SO for the first time? Thank you!

persona 3/4/5: first kiss headcanons (minato arisato, yu narukami, ren amamiya)

notes: no spoilers, gn!reader, fluff, ren amamiya for persona 5 protagonist

minato arisato

a bit nervous, but shows it by being a bit more quiet and shy than usual.

hides his gaze under his lil emo bangs as he asks to kiss you!

probably in his room after hanging out all day at the strip mall

"hey, um, do you want to, like... kiss? maybe?"

you're ecstatic and your heart quickens at his cute look and shy demeanour. he was just adorable!

you agree, and he leans in with his hands on his knees. he's about to press his lips to yours when he brushes his bangs from his eyes (just so they don't get in the way)

his lips are decently soft, if not a bit chapped (in his defense, it's been a cold autumn so far). he's a bit tentative when kissing but overall he's just a bit nervous about your boundaries!

gives you the cutest look when pulling back.

"...you're cute."

NO HE'S CUTE

yu narukami

probably asks you to kiss him first while on a walk on the hill overlooking inaba!

he stops walking, his hand in yours, and turns to look at you. he grabs your other hand and smiles as his eyes meet yours

"it's been a great day so far. thanks for going out with me." he flashes you one of those charming grins - god, they melt your heart!

"of course," you reply, "i love spending any time with you."

"yeah." yu replies, seeming a bit... out of it. like something else is on his mind.

"what's up?" you tilt your head and yu can't help but find it super cute!

"it's just-- i... okay, listen, you're super cute and i'm so lucky to be your boyfriend, may i kiss you?"

wow. that came out... all at once. after recovering from his quick word vomit, you nod with a blush on your cheeks. with that affirmation, yu moves in slowly.

he lifts one hand to cup the bottom of your chin and leans in. his eyes shut gently and he presses his lips to yours.

he's firm yet gentle, definitely sweet. he's probably kissed people before, but none of that matters when he pulls back and looks into your eyes with the most adoring gaze you've ever seen

ren amamiya

he's been acting strange all week. walking you to and from places, stammering and trailing off his words... hell, he's even been acting fidgety in the metaverse when he usually dons the persona (heh) of the confident joker, leader of the phantom thieves!

eventually, it gets to be so much that you confront him after an excursion to mementos.

as you two are walking back from the subway, you pull him aside.

"hey... is something up? you've been acting weird all week, and i'm getting worried. you know you can tell me anything, right?" you ask.

ren glances aside, not really feeling like being honest. instead, he only mutters, "can we go to my room?" in response.

it makes you start a bit, but you understand the sentiment. he wants to talk alone.

so, you two go to the attic above leblanc and sit down on the edge of his bed. he, once again, starts to fidget.

"what's on your mind, ren?" you ask.

"i just... uh..." ren's lip trembles slightly as he tries to explain. he eventually gives in with a sigh. "we've never, like, kissed, have we?"

you pause. "no...? no, we haven't."

it's a moment before ren responds, smiling. he pushes up his glasses.

"i think we should." wow, okay. smooth ren is back. but he's still a bit of a dork, especially with those glasses.

"like, right now?" "right now. if you want to, that is." "duh i want to, idiot!" you scoot closer to him and smile softly at him, waiting for him to make the first move. he suggested it, after all.

ren moves closer and soon closes the distance with a kiss. his hair tickles your forehead. you kiss back as one of your hands finds its way to hold his, your fingers intertwining.

when he pulls away, he's still smiling, but he isn't trying to hide his blushing cheeks.

"...you're free all evening, right? wanna do that some more?"

a/n: i tried my best! my writing chops for the protags are a bit rusty, but i hope you enjoyed! i tried my best to not fall into tropey pitfalls with these guys (aka trying not to write yu as a chad or w/e)

[lagunapoint]

I finished Vows and Vengeance, and below is a stream of consciousness, thoughts, tears, and spoilers for the podcast. Sit down next to me oh I have so much to tell you

I cried at the end of the podcast. And I was putting off listening to the last episode I didn't want it to end. Silly, right? I got attached to the podcast, to the characters, the atmosphere, to the way I could just disconnect from the world and not use up almost any energy.

I was just sitting there with a cup of chamomile tea, hoping it and the podcast would help me reach nirvana, but instead of peace and the reunion of the main characters, I was wiping away tears and gave up any hope of going to bed early. This is why I love the Dragon Age plots and characters.

And it’s so familiar, that bitter acceptance at the end… when you're wiping away tears but realizing that life goes on? That evil was defeated, but your heart is lying in pieces in the corner? And you just have to move on?

She tried so hard to save him. Nadia. She did everything she could. She learned to accept herself, the people around her, others' care and help. Do you think the Nadia we heard in the first episode would have trusted Lucanis or Emmrich so quickly? Or left him alone to perform the ritual? She deserved happiness. In my metaverse Nadia and Elio were supposed to be together, and Solas spanked. But something went wrong. As always. And I don’t understand. Is there a Solavellan context here, or my rambling become completely incoherent?

Solas is stuck in the Fade. He needs to be saved, right? Lavellan will worry and try to save him. We’re counting on a happy ending.

Nadia's beloved is stuck in the Fade. She worries and tries to save him. And what? He’s dead. She couldn’t save him because he died almost immediately and there was never any hope, to begin with. haha thanks a lot.

I’m trying, trying, I really am trying not to connect things that have no connection. But. But I can't help but stir up this storm inside me and project the story onto Solas and Lavellan. And I'm vibrating and shaking because it’s tearing apart my canon, my heart, and I can’t think about it anymore.

Yes, it was a great story. I want a second season. I want more of these audio dramas. I’m waiting for the game, but I loved listening and doing little rituals before each session, whether it was a cup of tea, a box of chocolates, or a short post here. It was awesome. How about you? :)

[emmajh97-mumaji]

MuMaJi’s Postgame TakuRumi Agenda 🩵✨❤️ 

(AKA 'How I think Takuto Maruki and Rumi would Fall in Love with Each Other All Over Again after the events of Persona 5 Royal')

DISCLAIMER: This is heavily based on my own interpretation of Rumi's character [read more on that here]. Since we don't get very much on her other than hearsay from Maruki, wild speculation is all I'm going off of. So please don't take it personally if this isn't how you interpret Rumi!

I also acknowledge that Maruki ending up with Rumi again sorta goes against his character arc, and the overall message of P5 Royal. I'm not saying this should be canon, I'm just saying it's fun to imagine and makes me happy.

If you don't like it, feel free to stop reading at any point and mosey along! :) Have a great day!

First of all, and most importantly-- Maruki may be toxic, but my interpretation of Rumi is that she is JUST as unhealthily obsessed with him as he is of her. Maruki believes Rumi is too good for him, but that's just his rose-tinted view of her. If Rumi had her own Palace-- she'd have golden statues of Maruki in it. They are perfectly crazy for each other, and that's what makes them great.

(more under cut) [WARNING: LONG READ IS LONG]

PART 1: “Who is my heart waiting for?"

Azathoth may have rewritten Rumi's cognition, but it couldn't rewrite her heart. She LOVED Maruki, she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. That doesn't go away so easily...

Brainwashed Rumi is happy living with her grandparents in the countryside after leaving her life in Tokyo behind, but she can't help but feel like something is missing.

Rumi keeps having recurring dreams of Maruki-- who to her is just a mysterious man in glasses that she recognizes but can't identify. Sometimes it's her carving statues of him that crumble away to dust before she can finish. Sometimes he's a ghost haunting her house that she cannot exorcise. Sometimes he's a siren calling to her and she jumps overboard trying to reach him only to drown. Her heart yearns for something it cannot have.

Rumi tries to fill the hole in her heart with new loves-- dating around with everyone in her rural town. But nothing feels the same. Even after she gets into a serious relationship and accepts a proposal, she can't shake the lingering feeling that something's wrong. 

Rumi finally gets some clarity after the Metaverse collapses and Azathoth loses its power over her. She regains nearly all her memories of her long-lost ex-fiance... how much she loved him... and how he left her in the hospital room right before she dissociated from reality. But unfortunately, due to her trauma coming back, Rumi's memories don't return to her clearly. She still can't recall Maruki's name or how to contact him, and it drives her even more insane than the trauma does alone.

After his Palace Collapse/Change of Heart, Maruki does in fact worry about Rumi, if her memories came back, and how she's doing. Unfortunately he's so preoccupied with starting his own life over and finding a new job that he doesn't have time to look into her situation. By the time he finally figures out where she was living and contacts her grandparents-- she's already dealt with her trauma on her own and moved out. He feels bad that he was too late to help, but forces himself to move on.

PART 2: “And Just Like That, My Head Still Takes Me Back”

The fateful day occurs-- Rumi, now back in the Tokyo area, decides to take a cab... and runs into Maruki.

Rumi is elated-- 'THERE HE IS!!' It's like a key has turned and her memories are unlocked. She remembers his name, she remembers everything. She can FINALLY talk to him again! Tell him what's happened! Ask him what's happened to him and, and...

Maruki is mortified. There she is. The woman he failed over and over. The woman he made a pact with the devil and nearly brainwashed the whole world for. The former lover he was terrified to get close to. The pain in his heart he thought he could finally move on from-- and she was sitting right there in his cab. Asking for his phone number and when he's free to meet up.

Maruki tries his best to dodge the questions, but fails. "No, I'm definitely not mistaking you for someone else." "Well my job makes me pretty busy too, but maybe you could at least give me your phone number? Or social media account?" Rumi wasn't going to let him slip away, not this time, not again. Maruki finally relents, and they exchange contact information. They agree to meet at a park that weekend.

When Maruki and Rumi meet on that park bench and tell each other how they've been... they quickly realize that they're both completely different people than the ones they remember. It pushes them apart at first... But the more they talk, the more they realize that they know each other's pain better than anyone else possibly could. They've both been broken by trauma, and they've both picked themselves back up from it multiple times. It might not be the same as before, but there's still something there connecting them.

Rumi explains her plight with her memories. How she missed Maruki for so long, how the faint memory of him haunted her, how much it means to her to finally see him and remember him again.

Hearing this, the guilt overwhelms Maruki. He can't take it anymore... he tells her the truth. The entire truth. Everything-- his cognitive psience research, Azathoth, what really happened that day in the hospital, his ill-intentioned medical practice after losing his research funding, what he did to the world, "...and if it weren't for The Phantom Thieves changing my heart, I never would have realized just how delusional it all was."

Rumi takes a while to process this... in disbelief at first but, after pressing him for details, she finally comes to accept it as true... and when she does...

To say she was disgusted is an understatement. She was furious. she slaps him in the face, "How dare you-!" Leaving Rumi behind on PURPOSE?! Screwing with her memories, making her forget about him, and forcing her into delusional happiness? Invading people's privacy, removing their autonomy, not to mention the medical malpractice against minors-- it went against everything Rumi stood for. Everything she and Maruki used to believe in. This wasn't the man she fell in love with all those years ago!!

Maruki winces and rubs his cheek, "Yeah, I probably deserved that..." She hated him. Good. As she should. It doesn't matter that he had a change of heart, it doesn't matter that he started his life over... he's still Takuto Maruki. The neurotic idiot who screws up everything. Rumi deserved better than him, and she should know that before trying to associate with him again. Hopefully, this would be the end of it.

'It's OVER' Rumi thinks when she gets home. Maruki wasn't just her former fiancé, he was her EX fiancé! She looks forward to never talking to him again.

But... as the days go on, Rumi starts to calm down... and starts to think. She remembers something. That day, when Maruki took her memories, she had said something to him... she had asked him to "Stop this..." that she "wanted to forget". It wasn't a sentiment she agreed with now, but she was in so much pain back then that it was what she wanted. That's when Rumi realizes... Maruki didn't tell her everything. He left out some important details..... damnit, she needed to talk to him again.

'Why does she still need to talk to me?!' Maruki panicked as they met again, this time out front of a cafe. Rumi gives him a serious look, "Why?" "...huh?" "You told me the terrible things you did... but not why you did them. So why? What drove you to mess with people's brains?" "......oh."

Maruki struggles at first, but eventually is able to explain. How he couldn't stand watching people suffer. How he hated the cruelty and unfairness of the world. How he wanted to protect people from it. How he wanted everyone to get the happiness they deserved. How he wanted to be a guiding light that saved them. To save her. To give her what he thought she wanted.

"But that doesn't justify what I did." Maruki finished, resolute that this explanation wouldn't change anything, "Not a day goes by when I don't regret my actions... No matter how noble I thought they were, at the time..."

Hearing all this, Rumi comes to a realization. The person Maruki is describing wasn't him... it was her. Rumi, the always kindhearted girl who helped others before herself to the point of forgetting to eat sometimes. Rumi, the hot-headed girl who insisted the pathetic nerd Maruki grow a spine and take charge for the greater good. Takuto was desperately trying to be this idealized version of the woman he loved, the person he believed Rumi wanted him to be... and in typical Takuto fashion, he fumbled it. Big time.

This man in front of her wasn't just the megalomaniac he had tried to convince her he was. He was also a hopeless romantic corrupted by grief. A neurotic idiot who assumed he had made the most logical plan for the greatest good, and executed it diligently. And now? He knows he screwed up everything and regrets it wholeheartedly. He’s a man who takes accountability so earnestly that he'd rather make pennies as a cab driver than dare stay in some sort of well-paying scientific or medical career. A man who likes to help people in the small ways Rumi often overlooked-- giving you a snack when you're down, or a ride to where you want to go. He was still Takuto Maruki. He was still the man she loved.

Maruki looked at Rumi expecting her to be just as cross with him as before... but is caught off guard by her having a sympathetic smile. ‘...oh no.’

Part 3: “Can We Start Over? Can We Get Closer?”

When Rumi tells him she forgives him for what he did and wants to see him again, Maruki is dumbstruck. Why? How?! It took him so long just to forgive himself and yet she does it just like that! She's illogical, she's being too kind for her own good, she's... amazing. He agrees to see her again. Goddamnit.

Rumi can tell that Maruki won't stop blaming himself, even after she's told him she doesn’t blame him. It's frustrating, and she realizes she's probably going to have to brute-force her way into being his friend again. Challenge accepted.

They spend time at parks, boardwalks, book stores, city landmarks, and coffee shops.

At first they talk about banal things. How Shibusawa and their college friends are doing. How much better the government is without Masayashi Shido. Maruki tells Rumi about how he's taken an interest in music, since he listens to the radio so much during his job. Rumi tells Maruki about how she's taken up flower arranging, and how she posts photos of them online.

Slowly but surely, the discussions get more intimate. Rumi talks about how hard it is to get by every day. Maruki talks about how he's haunted by his regrets. She shares how much she missed him. He asks her why she ever fell in love with someone like him in the first place. Etcetera...

Several times they plan on meeting, or are even in the middle of hanging out, when Rumi's PTSD gets in the way. Dissociative episodes, panic attacks... she's gotten used to them every so often, but has also gotten used to them putting off her friends. Maruki is emotionally intelligent enough to understand what they are... and to give her space without judgement. Rumi tells him she appreciates it, Maruki says it's "no problem". He doesn't realize just how much it means to her. To still be cared for even with her setbacks... it makes her appreciate him even more.

At one point, Rumi is feeling nostalgic and decides to visit the old flower field she and Maruki used to go to in high school. She is surprised to find Maruki there. He admits he frequents this place when he's feeling down. She thinks it's incredibly sweet.

They are close friends, now. Sending 'Good Morning' and 'Good Night' texts to each other every day. Meeting in person at least once a week, if not several times.  

Part 4: “Cuz We Belong Together Now, Yeah”

Rumi can't ignore her feelings anymore. She tells Maruki she wants to get closer. She wants to be his girlfriend again.

Rumi confesses, "I don't need anyone, but I want you. I love you, Takuto! All over again." "....." "But you don't love me back, do you...?" "No..." "I knew it." "No, you're wrong." "?" "Rumi, I..." He looks her straight in the eyes, "I never stopped loving you." "?! ...then why-?!" "Because I'm afraid." He admits, "Afraid I'll lose you again..."

Their relationship was going so well, but now it's strained again. Rumi tries to get closer to him, Maruki pushes her away. Rumi tries to be romantic with him, Maruki shuts the conversation down. Rumi concedes and gives Maruki his distance, he frets over her and seeks her affection. Neither of them realize that the other is fantasizing about them while laying in bed at night. It's an agonizing tug-of-war.

Rumi convinces Maruki to let her see his apartment. Maruki relents, and they spend a relaxing day together watching movies and such. Rumi asks to spend the night... Maruki gently refuses, escorting her home. 

One day... Maruki's guard breaks. Rumi leans in to kiss him... and he lets her. He even kisses back-- although he is very slow and awkward about it. After the kiss, he's in denial about it even happening-- much to Rumi's frustration.

Another evening, Maruki walks Rumi home, dropping her off at her apartment. She offers to let him spend the night. He declines, and fully intends to head straight home. However, after making it quite a ways, he feels a lump in his throat. 'No... I can't go back, I can't get close to her, I can't... I can't take this, anymore!!' he turns around-!

Rumi is surprised when she opens the door and sees Maruki there, out of breath. "Did you forget something?" "YES." he composes himself, "I- I forgot to give you something." He gently grabs her chin. Rumi feels the butterflies in her stomach as she realizes what he's doing. The kiss is heartfelt-- not held back like before. "...does your offer still stand?" he asks, face flushed. Rumi hooded her eyes, smiling eagerly, "Of course~"

The flood gates open from there, and the two are relentlessly passionate for one another in a way they haven't been since college.

"So you still into weird kinky tentacle stuff like you were back in the day?" Rumi asks nonchalantly as they sit up in bed together. Maruki chuckles nervously, "N-no, not really--" but then he stops. Thinking back to his Persona, Azathoth. He blushes madly, hiding his face in shame, "--okay, maybe a little." Rumi smirks smugly at him, "Called it."

"Oh god it was so embarrassing," Maruki recounts his fight with the Phantom Theives to Rumi, "I was wearing this skin-tight golden body suit-" "Oh?" "It had some armor plating in the front and-- I think a thong in the back?" "A thong, you say?" "I think so? It was very reveali-- why are you smiling at me like that?" Rumi blushes, "No reason~"

One day they go on a date to Le Blanc and the Phantom Thieves are there, having a big reunion. Comedy ensues. "You're the teenagers Takuto told me about?!" "You're Doctor Maruki's ex-fiance?!" "Was. As of right now, I'm his girlfriend again~ 😏" "😮😮😮"

Maruki and Rumi’s relationship continues to have ups and downs, but overall they are very mature about it and are able to work things out and keep things steady.

Part 5: “I’ll Love You for a Thousand More”

After at least a year back together, Rumi asks "...should we get married?" Maruki replies, "Excuse me--" going over to his bookshelf. He comes back with a HUGE binder of papers, slamming it on the table-- 'Wedding Plans'. His glasses glint menacingly. Finally, the time has come. (This man's Palace Ruler uniform was a wedding tuxedo, I like to think he's a Groomzilla lol)

"Aren't you glad that you don't have to get my parent's approval anymore?" Rumi grimly jokes. Maruki gives her a disturbed stare. She coughs awkwardly, forgetting he's more sensitive about it than she is, "...sorry."

In spite of Maruki's fantasies, he and Rumi's budget only allows for a very modest (perhaps even underwhelming) wedding. Rumi fears Maruki might feel bad, but he reassures her that the only thing that matters in the end is that she's there with him.

The nights leading up to and after the wedding are hard on both of them due to their past, but it's especially rough for Maruki. Multiple times he wakes up in the night crying, tightly gripping Rumi and desperately asking her if this is real or just another dream. She reassures him that it's really her and yes that wedding actually happened. It takes time but his brain eventually learns to accept it.

Finally married, the two live a simple honest life together.

Maruki and Rumi both like kids, but due to Rumi's mental health and their meager incomes they decide against having any.

They do, however, enjoy playing an aunt/uncle role to the assorted members of the Phantom Thieves, whenever they cross paths.

Perhaps some sort of Plot goes down and the two wind up in the Metaverse together and have their own adventure with their own personas-- who knows.

Through thick and thin, they listen to and love each other very much.

....and so they lived HAPPILY EVER AFTER, THE END!! 👏👏👏

If you've made it this far, thank you! I hope you enjoyed this hypothetical love-rekindled story as much as I enjoyed coming up with it!

Feel free to use this as inspiration for your own TakuRumi fics or art! Do tag me if you make any tho, I wanna see it 👀

Have a wonderful day 🩵❤️🩵❤️

[a-nick]

Final Heist: Chapter 5

Just wanted to real quick apologize about something-- I am new to Tumblr, therefor completely overlooked the "read more" feature. So my deepest apologies to those that have just been trying to scroll the tags but have had to go through an ENTIRE block of text. I have now remieded that on all past posts! Now onto the show-- (second disclosure. Chapter 5-6 kinda take a dip in quality due to loss of motivation. But I still REALLY wanted to finish this project-- so it is finished! Just probably not as good as it could have been...)

"Back in the Metaverse with no real answers," Akechi sighs and shakes his head. "Tell me, Joker. What exactly is your plan here?"

"Hey, we may not have gotten any answers. But the others have, guys?" Joker looks to the rest of Thieves. "Who wants to go first?"

Sumire clears her throat, sheepishly raising her hand to get Joker's attention. "If you don't mind, Senpai, I'd like to." Joker gives her a nod to go ahead. "Dr. Maruki told us he thinks someone's keeping the Metaverse alive. That this person is the reason why it keeps coming back. Maybe whoever it is, they're behind all this?"

Morgana makes a proud stance in front of the Thieves. "And this is where our information comes in!" He places his hands on his hips as the Thieves stare with a growing curiosity. "After meeting Jose here, he confirmed that this place is a Palace.

"He also said the Palace ruler wasn't evil though..." Futaba's voice shows a tone of sadness. "He said he was lost."

Futaba's words resonate with Joker. He can almost feel a tugging at his own heart.

"So whoever this Palace ruler is might be the one keeping the Metaverse alive?" Adds Makoto.

Morgana nods, "bingo! That's the working theory at least."

"Where does that lead us now?" Zenkichi makes his voice known.

"To me it just sounds like the same 'ol same 'ol. We find the Palace ruler's treasure and change some heart!" Says Ryuji has he confidently pounds one fist into the other.

"Then we can all finally go back to our normal lives," says Toshiro, a hint of relief in his voice.

His normal... Life? But what if Joker didn't want to go back to his normal life? A sick knot twisted in his stomach. Back to living alone and being denied. Back being boring old Ren Amamiya? Joker's lips didn't move, but the sound of his own voice pierced the air has each pleading word came into his thoughts.

"Your normal lives you say?" Echoes the voice.

Everyone instinctively looks Joker's way, because, well, it was his voice. "Did you say something, Ren?" Inquires Morgana. Ren... Why did he say Ren instead of Joker? And why did it make the knot in Joker's stomach only grow?

"Ren Amamiya is a man who has nothing to offer. Ren Amamiya is nothing without Joker," and with a blast of smoke, 'he' made his appearance. Standing before the Thieves with a shadowy distortion of Joker. "I'm nothing without the Metaverse! And you all... You all want to take that away from me? After EVERYTHING I've ever done to help you, you can't just let me have this?!"

Everyone's jaws dropped. The realization that Joker was Palace Ruler hit like a truck. Him not being able to summon Arsene, it all made sense! No one had the words to reply. No one except...

Akechi had to stifle an amused chuckle, "so my theory was correct. You're the Palace Ruler," he casts a glance Joker's way. Not Joker's Shadow's way, but Joker's way. "Here you've been, pretending to be some grand hero! But in reality, you've been just as messed up as the rest of us!"

Joker stares, there's so no words to escape his mouth. Well, maybe not directly. But Shadow Joker storms up to Akechi and says what needed to be said. "At least I'm not pretending to be better then everyone, like you. Just admit it, Akechi. Deep down your scared, pathetic and alone."

Futaba had almost begun to cry. How did she let this happen? Ren did so much for her, yet she never knew... "Ren, please...!"

Shadow Joker looks her way, "I'm not Ren, I'm Joker!"

"You've really become so delusional, you've let that mask of Joker completely consume you?"

"Joker's not the mask... Ren is," confesses Joker meekly.

Morgana's ears twitch as his fur stands on end. "Just what are you saying, Ren?"

"I'm sorry..." Joker slowly backs up to stand shoulder to shoulder with his shadow self. "I *can't* lose the Metaverse. I can't lose the only thing that makes me worth something!"

"What are you talking about!? How can you not he worth something when helped all of us?!" Futaba hardly every raised her voice. But she was so emotional, everything sort of just poured out.

"I was only able to do to that as Joker..." Spoke Joker, now quieter than before.

Now it was Shadow Joker's turn to speak. "How is Ren Amamiya supposed to help all of you if he can't even get a job?"

Makoto frowns at Joker in a remorseful way. "Ren..."

"I don't need your pity!" Snarls Shadow Joker, "I'm the leader, I'm supposed to be the strong one! The Metaverse, it *makes* me strong!"

"Ren, please. We can talk through this!" Morgana takes steps closer to Joker, but he steps back.

"You guys... Should go. I... I need some time to think."

Each and every thief exchanges weary glances. But ultimately, they respect Joker's wishes. They give him some time to tackle with his own heart, and they leave the Metaverse.

--- So there sat every thief, all gathered in LeBlanc without the charming presence of their fearless leader. Mostly everyone had felt defeated.

Ann almost feels ashamed of herself, wanting to curl up in a little ball. "I don't get it... If Ren was struggling that bad, why didn't he talk to any of us?"

Morgana, in his cat form, was curled up literally speaking. "He didn't want to burden any of you. He knew you were all so happy, he just didn't want to ruin that."

Akechi stands the far side of the coffee shop. Closed off and distant from the rest of the Thieves, as usual. "Typical. Amamiya trying to play hero, as always."

"Dude, can you can it for once? We all know you're just jealous of Ren-Ren!"

"Jealous of a man who's so wrapped up in his own fantasies he makes it everyone else's problem? Hardly!"

"Why, you little--"

"Will you two stop!" Cutting in between them was Toshiro, surprisingly. "Screaming in each other's faces won't help anyone. We all need to sit down, and talk through this rationally."

Futaba's phone buzzes and Sophia pops up onto her screen. "Think about it, would Ren-Ren really want us all to give up so easily?"

Zenkichi stands up to get everyone's attention. "Sophie's right guys. Ren wouldn't give up so easily on us, so we shouldn't on him!"

Now Yusuke stands up, shoulder to shoulder with Zenkich to also garner attention. "Then it is settled, we give Ren time to think tonight. Then tomorrow we revisit his Palace!"

With a new determination, every thief nods. That was it then. Tomorrow, they were saving Ren.

[killian-whump]

Okay... so there's a new Colin interview here. It's a joint interview with Rothberg, so be warned of that if he's someone you can't stand. Like all of us. We all can't stand him.

ANYWAY. Moving on. I'm going to put my thoughts about it here, because I have a lot of thoughts - some good, some not-so-good, and I like to share them. Plus, I'm a little bored.

Colin says this about the TSR show: "I love music, I love acting, I love film, and it was an opportunity to get to speak to some really incredible creators and stuff like that, so it was a lot of fun." Which is exactly what I've thought all along - he's in it for the fun of talking to some rock stars about topics he loves. No news there.

He talks more about the interviews and interviewing and the interviewees and... if you're seeing a trend here, I don't think that's on accident. It's obvious this is what Colin's involvement is about. I don't honestly think he could care less about the tech aspects of the project.

Which is why, predictably, as soon as they start talking tech nonsense, they switch to talking to Rothberg. He babbles some bullshit, throwing tech buzzwords around like confetti, then tries to drag Colin into his bullshit by reminding everyone he's a producer on the show: "Having his tutorage, you know, and I've worked in the industry for many years, but his insights into producing is mind-blowing. It was something I was actually shocked to actually see the levels of his knowledge and his foresight, and it has really kept the team going."

Now listen. Being a "producer" on a project can mean anything from nothing to everything, and we don't know where the truth lies - but I don't see Rothberg giving Colin much creative control here at all. Maybe - Maybe - when it comes to the actual interviews and the people/subjects they choose to focus on - you know, the interview stuff Colin's interested in here that Rothberg doesn't seem to give two shits about. But the rest of this project, all the parts we don't like, I highly doubt Colin's leading the team on that front. But nice try at trying to make it sound like he's involved in your tech bro nonsense, Rothberg. Nice try.

And then Colin interrupts Rothberg with, "I only played it down so that he'd say something nice about me. That’s all." Classic Colin being Colin and saying Colin things. But... we also know why he played it down, lol. We know, baby. It's okay. We love you.

So then they start talking about Colin's music career and Rothberg says, "We have very big exciting plans for Colin’s music stuff."

NO YOU DON'T.

BITCH, YOU DON'T.

Don't you touch my baby's music stuff. Don't you even breathe on it. Don't you look at it. It's not for you. I swear to God, if you taint his lovely musical offerings with your money-grubbing douchebag ways, I will hunt you down and do terrible things to you. I'm so upset right now, I cannot even think of terrible things to do to you, but believe me, I will think of them and do them and you will be sorry.

O'Donoghue just laughed, "I’m saying we’ll see. That’s what I’m saying." Oh. Oh, okay. That's Colin-speak for no. Whew. Do not let that man have anything to do with anything he doesn't already have his hands on, Colin.

I need a moment. I need to calm down. Dear God. I need a drink. Maybe a long vacation. I'm too old for this shit.

Anyway, so Rothberg goes on some more about the Metaverse and all these big plans about immersive games and meet-and-greets and a bunch of other things that are on the "roadmap" - a word that basically means nothing in meta-speak, because 95% of the things on it will never, ever happen. Tech bros are basically selling you the idea of things they could do - even though most of them are impossible and/or not financially feasible. He adds, "Of course, there'll be all kinds of wonderful retail opportunities." because of course there will be. If he could get away with it, he'd stick Colin in a box on a street corner and charge people a grand a pop just to look at him.

Then the interview gets to something actually interesting - Once Upon a Time. Even Colin gets visibly interested at this point: 'I also shared that I had purchased a prop from Once Upon a Time a few years ago. It wasn't particularly exciting (Liam Jones' enlistment papers from "Good Form"), but O'Donoghue instantly lit up.' This is why we love this precious cupcake. He wears his heart on his sleeve and when he loves something, you know it.

He takes the interviewer on an adorable tour of the stuff he took from the Once set that I think we're all jealous of. And he goes into what the interviewer calls a "passionate description" about the show and what it means to people and how much it means to him that he was able to be a part of it and... You know what? I'm just gonna say what I already said: When he loves something, you know it.

They talk about the possibility of a reunion (and nothing he says here is indicative of one in the works, so settle yourselves down) and Rothberg chimes in that they could do the reunion in the metaverse and Colin replies, "Or a reunion in the metaverse. But, look, what was great about Once Upon a Time..." which translates to:

Have I mentioned lately that I fucking love him?

The interview continues with more of Colin talking about his experiences on Once and... Look. It's obvious where his heart is and where it isn't - and overall, this is a good and fun interview with Colin, minus the parts where Rothberg and his dumb ideas have any part in what's going on.

And yes, we're going to keep dunking on Rothberg forever, because he's a coward who never once addressed those of us who were speaking out about the n-f-t nonsense for months - but then attacked someone speaking out for the first time because he thought he saw weakness in her that he could exploit and mock. In doing so, he exposed himself as an ableist asshole to us all, and I have no respect whatsoever for him. Also, you fuck with one of us, you fuck with all of us. We don't put up with bullies in this fandom.

But we sure do love Colin, and that hasn't changed.

And this project is all about using Colin's likeability, Once's popularity, and Colin's already-existing fanbase to prop up and fund Rothberg's tech bro fantasies. That hasn't changed, either.

But Colin knows what's up. We know what's up. We can enjoy the Colin goodness where it shines through and toss the rest.

[godbirdart]

; w; Sorry saw you reblogged that post about neopets making the rounds and as a long time Neopets player I'm trying my best to combat the spreading of misinfo. Feel free to ignore this!

we did NOT ditch the NFT bros on neopets, the head of the NFT project bought the site from Jumpstart and while the neopets metaverse project has been cancelled they only said there's "No Current Plans" when asked if they were still going to make NFTs/Crypto. The team behind the metaverse project also had huge issues with bigotry.

While the neopets team did state they would have more freedom and control they've made plenty of false promises and themselves spread misinformation about the NFT project in the past. We're not out of the woods yet I'm afraid.

oh sure they're still offering support for the digital collectibles that are already out there. they won't shut down any of their NFT projects abruptly cold-turkey. i don't think anyone really expected them to, either.

still though, according to the email update they are transitioning away from metaverse at the very least;

sure they don't expressly state there won't be any NFTs at all but i think it's still a W that they're moving away from metaverse and crypto bs. ik we've been burned by TNT before but any step away from crypto/NFTs/meta should still be encouraged and met with loud, positive reception. they're goin through a major transitional phase and this is a pivotal opportunity to say: [this] is what we, the userbase / fans, want.

not waving off the bigotry issue either i just haven't kept up with TNT / neo and don't know much of what's been going on so i really can't say much on it.

[frickin-sumi-from-persona-5]

i need to get p5r post-canon headcanons (some of these aren't really headcanons they're just me making my own b plots lmao) off my chest. i finished royal last night and i have so much i wanna talk about. its headcanon dump time i guess

(obviously huge spoilers for persona 5 royal)

fyi- these are all super unorganized and some of them don't make a lot of sense without the others. Sorry this is a mess lmao i just wanted to throw my thoughts out there.

also! i named my mc Ren

- akechi didn't die that's not canon. when the wish star thingy turned mona into a helicopter it did so because of ren wishing hard enough for all his friends to be safe. this extends to akechi & maruki and both of them made it out alive

- when he goes into the velvet room after grabbing maruki, ren thinks akechi geniunely did die and starts having a full on breakdown and then akechi just says something to the effect of "you never change" and ren turns around to see akechi leaning against the wall in the velvet room and ren is relieved

- meanwhile akechi is just like "well. i'm alive and i have to accept the consequences of my actions long term now. what the fuck. i hate this guy" but is secretely happy ren cared that much

(fwiw i ship ren/sumi/akechi as a poly trio but they aren't together as of the end of royal, just ren/sumi with akechi kinda third wheeling from time to time)

- after maruki's palace, he still has azathoth as his persona but decides to discontinue any further research.

- on that note, the metaverse wasn't erased. lavenza hand waved that well enough the first time. it takes a little bit for it to get back to normal though. the new path in mementos is still there and mementos just kinda changes gradually over time anyhow

- ren actually did let maruki go through with his plan originally, but lavenza was able to help him go back and make the right choice. because of this ren deeply wants to see a future where him and all his friends are alive and happy

- after the battle with maruki he begs sojiro to let him stay at leblanc and sojiro really does try but ultimately joker has to leave

- Akechi being revived after everything went to normal means he's basically homeless, ren makes sojiro reluctantly agree to let Akechi stay in the attic.

- Akechi has to work at the cafe at first but he can't make coffee for shit so Sojiro just lets him off the hook.

- Ren is heartbroken on his return to his hometown (somewhere close to but not specifically Inaba, maybe Okina?)

- Futaba and Sojiro make a good case for him to come back, and Shujin academy actually backs this up because of his performance last year (also Kawakami)

- after a few months away Ren moves back to youngen. The metaverse has kinda settled and it's back to normal, and the phantom theives resume business as usual

- im. basically just writing fanfic here lmao

- Haru and Makoto move in together to save on costs. Is this gay? time will tell

- Ryuji transfers to a different school due to the move but still hangs out with the gang

- Ann does study abroad after all, and she's sad to go but she wishes the theives luck from wherever she goes (maybe Los Angeles?)

- Haru keeping Okumura foods never happened either. She was able to mostly dissipate the company in an effort to try to distribute the wealth better. Of course, this didn't actually work completely and there are still many powerful ex-okumura foods executives out there, but Haru is happy she did her part.

- Around the time or Ren returning, the phantom theives go through a big transformation of trying to determine their values (as well as who they are).

- Ren makes Akechi stay around with the phantom theives and the entire team kinda hates him except Ren and Sumi, although eventually people start warming up to him.

- Ren convinces the Phantom Theives to let Akechi stay around because he thinks that the phantom theives of all people should believe in letting people change. They agree on the condition that they check if Akechi has a palace. He doesn't and so he stays around. He does come to geniunely regret his actions and tries and makes up for them.

- After spending YEARS not dare letting anyone see any flaws with him, Akechi becomes just kinda burnt out. He's just a pathetic little failboy now and he knows it and hates himself for it. He's not good at asking for help

- Also Akechi 100% has some kind of trauma disorder/personality disorder. I don't know too much about it but from what I know i wanna say i headcanon akechi with npd

- ren is transmasc. there's not much of an in-universe explanation that would make sense here but he's trans. he has tboy swag.

- ren is kinda fucked up but has grown used to the horrors(tm) and doesn't give a fuck anymore.

- there's no good headcanon i can make with ryuji. like he's just a guy and we love him for it

- ann absolutely has a crush on shiho and i ship them. ann thinks she's "just an ally lol" until one day it hits her and she's like. oh. i'm gay.

- yusuke is probably bi or something. you cannot tell me he doesn't like men in some capacity. actually wait maybe he's aro/ace spec. i don't even know with him i just think my man's funky.

- also yusuke is 100% autistic. i think most of the phantom theives are kinda neurodivergent in some way, but Yusuke & Futaba stand out as being the Autistics of the bunch(tm)

- Makoto wanted to be a police commissioner but kinda comes to the realisation that won't do anything so she kinda just has a crisis. Both hee and Haru spent their lives accepting oppressive systems and they're kinda just recoiling at what they'll do now.

- Futaba doesn't make any new friends in school but she's happy things are back to normal. She's in the same class as Sumire.

- Haru has no idea what to study in college and neither does Makoto. She ends up taking Psychology and Makoto ends up taking intro to law even though neither of them are sure what they want for the future.

- Akechi ultimately resigns from going to school but helps Ren & Sumi out with homework when they ask

- Sumire and Futaba get Kawakami's class as their homeroom. Futaba calls Kawakami a "milf" and it annoys Sumi. Futaba knows it annoys her and she does it on purpose.

- Sumire is trans. Kasumi isn't. Sumire looked up to her sister and wanted to be a girl so when she finally got the chance to be someone she looked up to and erase her guilt of course she took it. A big part of the reason why she didn't want to stop being Kasumi was gender dysphoria. Sumire wasn't her name prior to this I can only assume she had a deadname. Maybe she chooses Sumire to honor her sister.

- Hifumi becomes a phantom theif eventually. I've speculated about this too much and now I want it to be real.

- Akechi and Sumi have a showtime attack. I'm not sure exactly what It would entail but I can picture Akechi saying something like "I can be elegant when I want to"

- After Hereward forms, Akechi is no longer a wild card. As Akechi grows and recovers as a person, his metaverse outfit changes, and eventually it looks like something along the lines of his White Suit, but with a different color palette. The top mask part of his helmet/mask is the only part that sticks around, now my boy has his hair out and can breathe (and take off his mask dramatically like the theater kid he is)

- The Royal Trio probably become a proper trio like sometime in the early fall (after ren comes back to yongen). Akechi and Sumi are initially very jealous of the time they spend with Ren but come to realise that the time spent with the three of them is the time that matters most of all.

- The Phantom theives ultimately decide that because of the money and treasure they get from Infiltrating Mementos/Palaces, most of them don't need jobs. They spend their money cautiously so they don't like. Fuck up the economy and/or tip off law enforcement.

- Eventually members who were undecided with their lives ultimately resolve to be one of the phantom theives and just do that full time. Sumi, Yusuke, and Ann are exceptions right now, with Sumi chasing her dreams to be a Professional Gymnast. Somewhere much later down the road I think the phantom theives decide to follow these goals as a team. Sumi and Ann traveling for work could probably make a great cover for the Phantom Theives.

(although i'm not thinking about their characters beyond ren graduating high school. this is more their POV and what they aspire to do for the future)

- I imagine the phantom Theives kinda just become like Tokyo's superheroes in that they have threats come up from time to time and just kinda deal with it as necessary

- People can talk to their personas at any time, but can only summon them in the metaverse. A lot of Personas have things to say throughout the day that they make some commentary on. Most of them are fairly reliable for advice, but don't technically know any more than the person they're apart of.

- Joker is a bit of an exception to this rule, due to having more than one Persona. If he wants to talk to them he kinda has to tap into his mind and see them all. It's not particularly difficult it just requires a little bit of focus, and there's usually not much of a reason to do it.

- Also his personas manifest physically in the velvet room as well.

- At a certain point Mona just kinda comes into the velvet room too and just fucks around while joker is working his ass off to fuse the most overpowered persona

- i don't really know anything about strikers but quite frankly if i ever get around to playing it i'm gonna disregard half of it as not canon and then just take the most important story elements and also sophie and just incorporate it into my perception of persona 5

- Maruki considers teaming up with the Phantom Theives, and ultimately decides against it, although he helps them out every now and again.

- Personal favorite. Maruki was able to manipulate mementos to his will and create a whole new path, and The Phantom theives are curious in seeing if they can do the same thing. After a bit of work, they end up creating a safe room that takes on the appearance of theives den. This has the effect of the cognition believing the Phantom Theives are safe and out of the way, making it easier for them to slip by the radar.

- If Futaba is ever really busy Lavenza subs in for her and does the navigating.

It's kinda funny how canon-divergent all of this is. Because I'm normally someone who religiously sticks to canon and doesn't like it when fanworks stray too far from the established canon. That said, Persona 5's ending felt kinda sad and I want some copium. not me casually rewriting their reality in my mind the day after beating dr maruki

anyhow now i gotta play strikers :3

[insomniac-astronomer]

Strange Situation: Episode 2 - First Morning

Series Masterlist

WARNINGS: none!

Description: The young avengers are living in an apartment together. However, they have no idea that each other are superheroes. They begin making ridiculous excuses for their injuries and being out late.

America's POV

I wake up to the sun shining through the blinds on my new window. My heart feels very accomplished this morning. I got to wake up in my bed in my apartment. I finally have a home.

Running through the metaverse is great, but I'm tried of trying to find the ones with free hotels every night.

Suddenly, something in the sunlight catches my attention. It almost blends right into the brightness, but there is a different way it shimmers.

It is long and a silvery-white see-through wisp of . . . air?

For a moment, I can't look away. My eyes are glued to its strange shine. My whole body feels warm and relaxed.

It starts drifting toward me-

BANG!

"Ow, shit!" Kate yells from somewhere. My eyes dart to the door, then back to where the wisp was a second ago, but it is gone.

I take a breath and shake my head. I must be imagining things.

Kamala's POV

I am awoken by a loud bang from outside my room. I groan and roll over to my side, but a slit of sun smacks me right in the eyes.

"Ugghh," I turn to the other side, no longer feeling tired.

Cassie's POV

I was in the middle of stashing my Stature suit under a pile of clothes in the closet when I hear a loud bang, causing me to jump backward and slam my head against the closet door.

I blink away the couple of tears that came to my eyes and walk to the kitchen.

"You good?" I ask, seeing Kate with a scattering of trays around her feet.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." She angrily kicks a tray. "I was trying to make breakfast for everyone and instead I woke them all up."

"Nah, I was already awake." I give her a comforting smile. She shares one back.

"So . . ." Kate purses her lips and clicks her tongue. "How'd you sleep last night?"

Oh, you know, just vivid dreams of the Quantum Realm, nothing too spectacular. "Pretty alright, you?"

"Yeah, these mattresses are comfy, right?"

"For sure, comfier than the one I had at home actually." I brought my own mattress and traded out the one that came in with the apartment, but she is clearly struggling to find a topic.

"Yeah, it was crazy. Haven't been that comfy since the mattresses as my fifth grade getaway camp." She laughs and almost drops the pan she's trying to fit in a cabinet.

"Yep, great mattresses." Oooookay, this is going well. I don't think I've ever talked about mattresses more in my life. "Sooo, what do you do for a living?"

"What?" She turns around, very alarmed.

"Sorry, if that's . . . not okay to ask."

"Oh, no. No, sorry, just caught me off guard. I, um, just got expelled from college so . . . undecided." Kate awkwardly shuts the cabinet and turns to face me. "You?"

"I work at a little coffee shop a bus ride away." I give her a smile, trying to help her feel more comfortable.

I hear footsteps from behind me and turn to see . . . America, I think, entering the room. She looks lost in thought.

"Good morning!" Kate says brightly.

"Huh?" America snaps back. "Oh, morning."

Great first morning.

Kamala's POV

As I'm struggling to find a matching outfit within the what seems like hundreds of moving bags to go through, I realize I forgot to put my bangle on.

I hop back up on my bed and reach under my second pillow to grab—my bangle? Where is it?

Shit.

First day and I already lost the one most important thing I needed not to lose. I frantically look through bags until I find it hidden under a box of poptarts in one of my food bags, right where I put it. And then promptly forgot.

I step out of my room with my toothbrush, headed for the bathroom when I hear the front door unlocked. I'm nothing if not nosey so I have to go see who is leaving already.

To my surprise, a confused looking boy is standing in the doorway, holding a backpack.

"Um, maybe I got the wrong apartment?" He mumbles to the four pairs of women's eyes staring him down.

"Yeah, uh, our other roommate is supposed to be a . . . Petra I think." Kate looks around for confirmation.

"Oh, um, okay. Bye." He shuts the door.

We look at each other for a moment.

The door reopens.

"Okay the landlord gave me a key that works on this door. Maybe it was a typo? I'm Peter." He fiddles with the key.

"Oh, okay." Cassie says warmly. "You can come in."

"Well," he freezes, "if you're not comfortable living with a guy . . . I didn't know who I'd be living with . . . it was last minute and—"

"Hey," Cassie smiles. "It's all good. We don't bite."

"Yet." America says from a dark corner of the room.

We look at her.

"Sorry, bad joke." She smiles sheepishly.

". . . Okay then. Um, sorry." Peter walks in. "I'm Peter."

"Hi Peter, I'm Cassie." Cassie is already such the mom of the apartment.

"I'm Kamala." I smile.

"Kate." She awkwardly waves.

"I'm America." She emerges from the shadows and shakes his hand.

"Well." Cassie claps her hands together to get our attention. "Now that we're all here, I propose we go to dinner tonight to get to know each other."

There are a few vague head nods, so I say "yeah, that sounds okay."

"Great!" She smiles. "We'll go a five then."

This is going to be a long lease.

Buy me a coffee?

I need ideas lovely readers. I would love comments on some events you would like to see happen in future episodes!

[moodymeangirl]

also something that is hard about choosing to be more present is feeling everything constantly. lately, we're disassociating/shifting between alters seemingly day to day. some people, esp Merri who was hurt bad this year, are missing from the front a lot more. sometimes i feel her in my control room, hanging out while i front (which is nice i love her). but she's weakened and needs time to heal. it's basically just been me ( @mmgdaisy )and @mmgbump lately. and the occasional jump forward by @mmgemma , @cuntghost , or The Maintainer (who doesn't blog). @mmgnexgenn and @mmgdead r also a lil more close to the front than usual. but @mmgmeredith , @mmgmarcus are way less around. which ik seems like not huge but both of them had been deeply involved on managing the fronting. Merri was, along w me and Bump, one of 3 main fronters. And Marcus (they/he) had previously been around in the control room to help Bump w processing emotions while she fronts, which is crucial because her anxiety is so intense. Maybe I'm so tired bc I'm doing my shift and parts of her shift. I'm also trying to make space for Merri to appear / heal. I think that's why Emma and Maintainer and even CuntGhost have been helping w tasks from the front. Fuck even DeadEmma came forward and helped process some emotions (that's wild bc she's like years dead from grief and heartbreak*.) And like, all this was a result of emotional upheavals, not the recent change away from feeling numb.

The change away from numbness Has increased the brains switching and dissociative states, and destabilised our pattern. We're unable to numb out the feelings from any angle:

The malaise of how the world is and has been, the melancholy of lesbian and otherwise romantic loneliness, the shame and guilt of trying my best to pray on time, the adhd stress of all tasks, the cptsd stress of deliberately entering a growth stage in spite of symptoms worsening, the autistic stress of having black n white thinking so vivid i can't physically see sometimes, the identity stress of feeling like if I just consume better ill be a fixed identity**. And much much more probably.

I didn't know how much feeling we were managing thru suppression and hiding behind the lil dopamine hits on the doomscroll. A lot, it turns out. I'm so, so glad to be deliberately moving away from numbing, defining, and living inside the instagram app. Soooo glad to be actively making efforts to re-install my sleep hygiene coding. Proud that @mmgbump and I recognised we couldn't get to sleep without our phone any more. Glad we happened to leave our phone at Jambo's 11 days ago, and that we embraced those circumstances. That we felt what freedom from the metaverse is actually like and immediately knew we our normal needed to be separated from it.

I'm pround that inside those 10 days, we've suddenly been capable of our best most frequent praying habits, we've eaten more veggies than we have all year, and despite feeling more intense uncertainties, our existential anxiety has disappeared. We r doing the work. We are also doing the existing and we are doing the loving life and people.

It's just that going from a created comfort zone of numbing and suppression into a better world of complete feeling stays hurting. I am constantly scared and emotionally in pain, which is significantly disabling for a brain that is a DID system and also has cptsd, plus other disabling conditions.

**something i do not want. i want system. but as much as it's also a blessing and the joy of all joys - truly my soul sings - like living in this Dunya with any disabiliy, every single difference makes daily life socially and emotionally terrifying.

*and no, idk how she's here if she's dead. maybe cos there's all of us she needs to wait till Allah takes us all ie something to do with soul and brain being tied to the dunya still, maybe she's just an imprint, maybe she's more zombie than ghost idk.

[dragondemoness]

Please do part 3 of Jack Frost request on the day the phantom thieves sent the calling card Jack Frost accidentally found skill card psiodyne on joker bag during the boss fight with mariko shadow the phantom thieves are having a really hard time then they thought they gonna be defeated Jack appear and full of bravery he attack shadow mariko with psiodyne saying after very attack hee ho that for yelling at me that for making me and my fiends frost almost pass out and that for hurting my dads

I have to say, I'm having way too much fun with this series~ I hope we can do a part four

Our Little Buddy - Ryuji Sakamato x Male Reader Part Three

It had been a day since your last encounter with Mariko Hyodo. 

Since then, you and Ryuji made sure to keep Jack Sakamato (Last Name) away from her. Nothing was gonna upset your little buddy on your watch.

Now you had the calling card written, and all that was left to do was post it. While that was being done, you and Ryuji took Jack on a walk, wanting to give him some fresh air.

It was late at night, so nobody else was around. While you were walking, Jack found an empty card on the ground.

"Ho?" He tilted his head, curious.

He had seen Joker give these cards to Yusuke, and he could apparently make these cards useful.

So after returning to the camper, he gave the card to Yusuke.

Yusuke took the card from him and inspected it.

"Ah, I see. Where did you find this, little one?"

Jack pointed to one of the windows.

"Out there, ho!"

Yusuke nodded.

"I see. Well, it may not be from the Metaverse, but I should still be able to make something with this. I will have it to you tomorrow."

Jack nodded and thanked him before heading back to his spot in the cooler and going to sleep.

Next morning, it was go time.

The calling card had been posted, and now it was time to enter the jail

Yusuke gave Jack the card he had found, now containing the powerful Psi move Psiodyne

Jack hadn't told you or Ryuji that he had found it, wanting to save it for a later date 

He wasn't sure why, but he felt like he needed it for something

When the Phantom Thieves entered the Jail, Jack walked alongside you and waited while you fought your battles

He still didn't want to attack his former fellow Shadows

He understood them, after all

After all was said and done, the Phantom Thieves arrived at Mariko Hyodo's castle

Jack felt disturbed at seeing his former boss again

You could detect his fear, and kept your hand on his shoulder to help calm him down

Eventually, Hyodo grew irritated with the Phantom Thieves trying to reason with her, and her shadow grew into a larger, even more disturbing one

Now, it was time for battle

It had been almost half an hour, and you had gotten nowhere.

Every time Hyodo swallowed someone, you dropped a chandelier on her and made her spit them back out, only for her to swallow someone else again.

Eventually, you ran out of chandeliers.

Haru's Persona was the most effective in causing damage, but her Persona was well out of energy, as were the others.

You and Ryuji tried to tag-team her, but you both only ended up tired and hurt.

Hyodo's shadow laughed tauntingly at you and your fallen comrades.

"Come on! Is that all you can do?! You're all so weak!"

Haru winced at her words, hating what had become of her old friend.

Jack seemed to have the same reaction, remembering what she had said to him and his former fellow shadows.

He looked at you and Ryuji, supporting each other to the best of your ability.

He hated to see his new family hurt, especially the two of you.

He knew he could stand by and watch no longer.

He reached into your bag and took out his Psiodyne card.

Now was the time, and he used it and learned the move. 

As Hyodo prepared to finish you and your friends off, Jack ran up to her and used his new move.

It was incredibly effective, and it caused a great deal of damage to Hyodo's shadow.

She recoiled, and she faced him with an angry glare.

"Well, well. If it isn't the absolute failure of an employee that once worked for me. You couldn't do your job right back then, but you can now, for this sad little group of thieves? How pathe-"

Jack cut her off with another Psiodyne attack.

"Hee! Shut up, ho!"

He landed another attack, and another.

"Hee! That's for yelling at me every day, ho! That's for hurting my friends, hee!"

And he landed another one, hard on Hyodo's face.

"And that's for hurting my dads, ho!"

You and Ryuji exchanged a proud look.

You watched your little buddy, happy to see how far he had come.

Jack kept attacking Hyodo until eventually, she collapsed, and returned to her original Ursula-lookalike form.  

You stood up and ran over to Jack Sakamato (Last Name) and gave him a big hug.

"Jack! I'm so proud of you! You did an amazing job!"

Jack looked up at you.

"I did, ho?"

Ryuji joined you and ruffled Jack's hat.

"Hell yeah, little guy! You really kicked that ugly hag's ass!"

Haru stood up and gave him an uncomfortable look.

"Um, please don't call her an ugly hag... But you did amazing, Jack!"

Your fellow Phantom Thieves also stood up and congratulated Jack.

"Hm. I see you made good use of that card. Well done," Yusuke said with a smile.

Jack smiled widely and jumped on you.

Never in his life had he ever felt so important, so significant.

Now that Hyodo was down for the count, you, Haru and your fellow Phantom Thieves finally got her to listen to reason.

She finally admitted her wrongdoings, and took her crown off her head.

She turned to Jack and weakly smiled.

"And you, little one... I'm deeply sorry for all hardships I've caused you. You truly are a brave little soldier. I do hope you can forgive me."

Jack looked up at her in shock for a moment, before nodding with a smile.

"Hee! No hard feelings, ho!"

You and Ryuji smiled at each other, proud at how far your little buddy has come.

With Joker and the Phantom Thieves, you retrieved the Desires and exited the Jail, happy to put yet another mess behind you.

After arriving back to Sapporo, you watched Hyodo's apology speech with the rest of the Phantom Thieves.

In the middle of it, you realized something that was bugging you.

"Jack, where did you get that Psiodyne card, anyway?"

Jack thought for a moment before he looked up at you.

"Hee, found a card on the ground, ho! Mr. Yusuke made it for me, ho!"

Yusuke nodded proudly.

"It was an honor to use my artistic talent to assist in our otherworldly adventures once again!"

You sweatdropped at that.

"Right... Thank you, Yusuke."

Then you remembered something; the Sapporo Jail hadn't disappeared. So Jack Sakamato (Last Name) could go back in if he wanted to.

You dreaded to ask him, but you loved him, and would support anything he wanted to do.

Ryuji seemed to sense your anxiety, and rested a reassuring hand on your shoulder.

You cleared your throat before speaking.

"So Jack... The Sapporo Jail is still intact. With Hyodo gone, you can go back and live with your old friends, right?" 

Jack's eyes widened for a moment.

"Ho?"

"I-I'm just saying, if that was something you wanted to do... I'm not stopping you."

Jack looked away for a second, before throwing himself against your side while laughing.

"Hee hee, don't be silly, ho! Jack wants to stay with his dads and his new friends, ho! Jack would never leave family behind!"

You couldn't say how happy you were to hear that. You smiled widely and lifted your little boy into your lap and hugged him tightly.

"Hee! I love my dads, ho!"

You chuckled and patted his head.

"I love you too, Jack. My little buddy."

Ryuji flashed a grin and patted him on the back.

"Yeah, I love ya too, bud. I'm real glad you decided to stick around."

You smiled as Hyodo finished her speech, solidifying that the Jail infiltration was successful.

You planned to tell the Phantom Thieves about Jack's experience with Mariko Hyodo, but decided to wait for the right moment.

You weren't sure what the future held, but you couldn't be more glad your little buddy would be a part of it.

[indoorcoyote]

with all respect this is kind of like saying the ~metaverse~ will inevitably replace the regular 2D internet just because it's shitty and corpos like it; the fact that virtually nobody ever used it despite the billions spent on development suggests new technology that is worse in certain critical ways does actually have to have some features that are both new and widely recognized as good to be adopted by the general public

the advance of small, thin, light phones and tablets over brickphones and laptops isn't out of some conspiracy to make them fragile on purpose, it's happened because people find low size, thickness, and weight to be explicitly desirable qualities for their portable computers! it's nice to have something that's not a pain to carry around and that can fit comfortably in your pocket (for phones), or in a normal-to-small bag or purse (for tablets); when you hurt your back lugging around a too-heavy laptop or try to shove a too-thick rectangle of a device in your pocket you feel this. and on top of that, subjectively, many people think they look cool or are, like, technologically impressive for being so compact.

it's all these readily apparent and widely agreed Good Things about these technologies that lets bad but less obvious things about them, like their fragility and gated OSes and privacy violations and planned obsolescence, slip under the radar or be blamed on the customer: you know, it's clumsiness to drop and break your phone, you totally could've anticipated and knew where to look for the settings that keep official spyware from running on it, it's your fault for not upgrading such an outdated device, and so it goes. people do tend to get mad at these when alerted of their existence, but very many, like, normie laypeople are either never alerted or are willing to put up with what they know of the bad things for the sake of the good things.

and then you have holographic screens. unlike the fragile but pretty smartphones and tablets, the bad things about them are glaringly obvious. it's like, plusses:

the "screen" itself isn't breakable due to being immaterial

improved compactness over normal screens, assuming the projector is relatively small

looks cool and ~sci-fi~. dipshit venture capitalists love it!

minuses:

image quality is automatically worse because it's fucking transparent; details are harder to make out unless you have it in front of a plain background, colors are faded and altered by what you see through them, and most examples in media are grainy and relatively low resolution, with conspicuously old-fashioned minimalistic vector-based uis to try and cover somewhat for this. contrast this with real life tech's promotion of, you know, like, fucking ludicrous 8k UHD shit that brags about its color depth and viewing angles.

it's a privacy disaster because it's fucking transparent (!!!), people can see what's on your screen even when it's facing away from them, and it's a privacy disaster in the most obvious possible way, not some abstract-seeming "anonymous megacorp stealing my data for ads" way but literally "anyone nearby can see exactly what i'm doing at all times, no matter how sensitive".

if we assume the holograms use some sort of technology that's conceivably achievable in real life rather than straight magic, what we're talking about almost certainly becomes once again a display with a physical screen (onto which images are projected), at which point it becomes breakable and not "really" 3D and the transparency becomes a horrible deliberate choice

if we're being really generous and assuming the holograms are a descendant of modern free-space volumetric displays, real life's closest approximation of star wars-type "holograms", then even if a reasonable amount of compactness is achieved, displaying anything at all is computationally intensive and requires a lot of moving parts, and if you touch the image it's disrupted. other technologies like "using a powerful laser to turn molecules in the air to plasma" and "handwavey nanobot swarms" are even more ridiculous and impractical

if the holograms are literally magic then sure, i guess there can be no downsides, they're made of hard light forcefields and look exactly like real life and are self-contained computers and ai brains. but that ceases to be science fiction imo

like. do you see what i mean. sorry this reply is so fucking long by the way

(postscript: as for laptops losing ports and drives, it's a matter both of compactness/lightness again and of that like: cheap laptops are usually targeted at people who couldn't afford a full desktop and so have financial incentive to be feature-light, while pricey laptops either are ceo sludge for people who don't know shit about computers which is meant to look expensive and little else, or are for gamers, in which case they often do keep a lot of features at the cost of being bulky and heavy. computer professionals and serious hobbyists usually have desktop computers with plenty of ports and drives and what have you already, and so aren't considered as a special market!)

hater opinion before i go to sleep: the ubiquity of holograms makes me so fucking mad, the way they're depicted in scifi is pure inexplicable magic. like genuinely physically impossible. but no they've gotta be everywhere replacing all screens (a role in which they're obviously inferior no less!!) in all media. and having all sorts of properties ascribed to them that are even more physically impossible. grumble grumble grumble grumble

[nexttrickanvils]

Ryuji and Akira Misc 3?

I'M SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! ;_;

And I'm sorry this is kinda dumb but then again with the prompt: "I think I just ripped my pants" I guess there was no other way. 🤷‍♀️

---------

“Hey where’s Skull?”

“What do you mean where’s Sk…”

But Joker’s question was dropped when he looked behind him and realized only Panther, Mona, and Fox stood before him.

“He was just…”

“Perhaps he’s still upstairs and didn’t hear you announce that we were moving on?” Fox suggested

Joker sighed and looked at Mona.

“Mona, go ahead and transform. Panther, Fox, you two stay in the van. I’ll go up and check for Skull.”

They all nodded and Joker made his way back up.

He couldn’t help but worry a bit, he liked to think they were all adjusting well to the whole Metaverse thing but then again sometimes there were… blanks in Mona’s memory that could be concerning.

Thankfully when he arrived on the floor above, Joker immediately spotted Skull sitting on the bench looking no worse for wear. Though he could hear him mumbling to himself…

“Dammit I can’t believe this shit. What am I supposed to d-”

“Skull?”

“EFF!”

Joker winced as Skull practically jumped off the bench in surprise.

“O-oh, it’s just you man. Save that ninja thing for shadows, dude. I don’t think my heart can take it.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Joker said as he chuckled

“With that said, are you alright? Why didn’t you follow us downstairs?”

Skull then suddenly turned red and looked away from Joker.

“I-it’s stupid.”

“You’re not hurt then?”

“Nothing but my pride.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Skull hissed and put his head in his hand as it looked like he was trying to figure out the best way to explain this.

“...I think I ripped my pants.”

A silence fell between the two and Skull just kept getting redder and redder.

“Dude please just say something and put me outta my misery. Dammit this is why I stick with baggy clothes!”

“Are you sure?”

“Eh?”

“About the rip because I don’t see anything…”

Skull frowned, “I. Felt it, man! But if you don’t believe me, I’ll sho-”

As he turned around and tried to feel for the rip, Skull realized that his pants had seemed to fix themselves like magic… or

“...Wait what did Mona say about these clothes again?”

“That they’re our cognition’s view of a rebel. In other words…”

“Technically not real…”

Once again silence fell between the two young men but this time, Joker was the one to break it with raucous laughter.

“Sh-shut up, you asshole! I forgot okay!? I was too busy worrying about accidently flashing my underwear at Panther and Fox. And you know that damn cat would have had some stupid comment.”

“Ha hahaha, okay, okay. Let’s head back, Skull. Your secret’s safe with me.”

“It better be, you jerk or else the pants ain’t gonna be the only thing I’m ripping.”

The two came down and reunited with their team. With Joker reassuring the others that Skull was okay.

However the rest of the Mementos run didn’t last long due to Joker occasionally breaking into fits of giggles and Skull getting weirdly angry to everyone else’s confusion.

[mistresseast]

can you explain in more detail why you think the PT weren't good friends for akiren? i'm not asking out of hate or to start drama, i just never interpreted things that way and i'm genuinely curious. i don't think them being brainwashed by maruki makes them "bad friends", but i don't know if that's what you meant either. i'd love to read a proper explanation on this that isn't just people arguing in the notes of that post.

Hi! Yeah, I know the ~discourse~ climate is pretty touchy and not a good place to exchange ideas, so I’ll do my best to put my thoughts on this matter into words. 

Settle in, bc this one is long.

I’ll start off by saying I don’t dislike the PT, nor do I think they’re bad people, and honestly I think they love Joker a lot! Ryuji calling Akira after his fake death and talking about how his ideas on what makes a hero have changed because of Akira genuinely makes me emotional, along with dozens of other scenes with the thieves! They’re good kids who could be really good friends to Akira but that’s not what’s shown in the game. I don’t think it’s controversial to say Akira’s relationships with all of his friends are transactional. That’s kind of the point, all of his confidants arise out of deals, give and take, and in the metanarrative of the game, that’s how it works. You as the player help these characters solve their problems, and through ranking their confidants up, you get access to more gameplay perks. So it’s pretty even!! But like,,Akira, the character, isn’t the player. There’s no in-story mechanic by which he can cash in friendship points for being-good-at-killing-things prizes. Yes, he uses those abilities to not die in the metaverse, but there is no literal, in-universe way to explain how hanging out with someone translates to [insert gameplay perk here]. So you have to look at what is physically happening in the story. Akira hangs out with the PT, stands there while they have drama with another irrelevant character, and then one way or another their problems get solved and they swear to be Akira’s blood brother or whatever. Akira is a crutch for these characters, and they say multiple times that they wouldn’t have been able to do what they did without him. So all of their shit gets handled and Akira gets?? Like actually gets?? What? Inquiries about his well-being? Offers to help him? Questions about his life, his interests? No,,,not really,, But he gets access to a super powerful persona!! Yay!!! Bc everyone knows he’s just a little shadow-killing machine, right? And even the relationships he does get something tangible (as in separate from the mechanics of the game) out of, like Kawakami’s, are built on the notion that if Akira stops providing for whatever reason, the relationship will end. So essentially, Akira is under the pressure of filling whatever role his friends need him in for however long at any time, and he’s been led to believe that if he stops or fails, he will stop receiving any reciprocal care and acceptance.

(And I know this is all gameplay stuff, I know it has to be like this to codify the complicated process of human relationships, I know all of that, I’m just trying to find a deeper layer bc that’s what I do.)

This whole thing comes into pretty clear focus for me during the third semester when you visit everyone in the false reality. Everyone is happy to see him, of course, but they’re clearly wrapped up in their own happiness. Which is understandable, again, I’m not saying the PT need to be attached to Akira to be good friends, but it all still feels off to me.

If they know Joker, then they’d know it’s weird that he just shows up and starts asking these pointed questions while they’re in the middle of something. All of their other interactions with him have been led by them. Yeah, Joker approaches them bc the player has decided to hang out with them, but the other character always chooses the activity and leads the discussion. Akira showing up out of nowhere and asking them to “remember” and “move on” and whatnot should be raising some major red flags. And it clearly does, since their memories do start to return, but they’re all too scared of losing their happiness that they nope out of the conversation as soon as possible, without stopping to consider why Joker might be trying to reach out to them like that. They’re his friends; they should know he wouldn’t just be trying to hurt them or make them unhappy. After all, their entire relationship with him up til that point has been exclusively about Joker trying to help them. This doesn’t make the PT bad people, running away is a totally natural reaction in that situation. They’re just kids, and their minds have been manipulated to a point, but it’s not like they don’t remember Joker or the way they’ve grown since meeting him. In fact many of them mention how much they’ve matured recently, but they never actually relate that back to Akira, despite him being the primary driving force behind most of their personal arcs, even though they definitely remember him. Translation vagueness or deliberate nod to the idea that the PT don’t actually credit Akira with all the hard work he did after their initial lip service? Hmmm. Anyway, their failure to recognize that Joker is struggling just demonstrates to me what was set up all throughout their confidant links, that their relationships are transactional and that they don’t necessarily consider Joker and his individual needs outside of what he provides for them. And when they no longer need him bc that hole has been filled, he simply doesn’t occupy the same place of importance in their lives. 

Makoto’s flashback in particular stood out to me, bc it was from a moment where she was specifically talking about feeling like she finally found a place to belong with the Phantom Thieves (and by extension, with Joker), but then she desperately tries to brush it off. Obviously that sense of belonging wasn’t meaningful enough to her for her to want it back. And I’m not blaming her, of course, any teenager would choose to have their father back over being in a vigilante group lmao, I just thought it was telling that the devs decided to show us a scene that was originally meant to be heartwarming as an example of the harsh reality Makoto wants to forget. All of the flashbacks are from defining moments for the thieves, but that one specifically got me like *thinking emoji*

So his friends are hesitant, despite the fact that they must know something is wrong. It’s understandable, they all stand to lose a lot if someone messes with the status quo. I genuinely don’t think I would react any differently. But there is someone who reacts differently and against his own self-interest. It’s Goro, the one who has arguably the most to lose, who doesn’t turn away from Akira. He seeks Akira out and teams up with him to uncover what’s really going on, even though he has every reason to believe that prodding too deep will literally mean the end of his life. He forces Akira and himself to face the truth because he knows anything else would just be an insult to what they’ve suffered so far. He’s the only one who never flinches, and that, more than any of his friends’ come-to-jesusing (which Akira still has to initiate) is what Akira needs in that situation. For the first time (outside of the brief instances in the tutorial levels), we see a situation where Akira is actually the dependent one, the one who needs help, who needs support. And the only one who has ever provided that, unconditionally, without demanding anything in return, is Goro. I could go into how Goro’s confidant blows all of the others out of the water in terms of building both himself AND Akira as characters, but it’s been said already and by smarter people than me. But basically, despite competition being a core theme of their relationship, Goro is the only character who is portrayed as Akira’s equal. Their contests are all in the name of improving not just Goro, but Akira too. Goro is the only character who expresses an interest in Akira’s inner life and development, and as such he knows Akira better than anyone else. So when Maruki tries to trap them all in a gilded birdcage, Goro won’t stand for it and he knows Akira won’t stand for it either. That’s why he’s so betrayed if you choose to accept the dreamworld. You’re negating the basis of your entire relationship with him and going against your own principles. Out of every character in the game, the one who knows Akira best and refuses to abandon him even when that could mean his own death is Goro Akechi.

I want to reiterate: I do not hate or even dislike the PT!! And tbh I don’t really think they “abandoned” Akira. That post, imo, is supposed to be kind of hyperbolic. Unless it’s referring to how many of them literally sprint away when he comes to talk to them lol. I look at it more like a commentary on how thoughtlessly the PT act as soon as their wishes are granted. I know it’s set up linearly for story purposes, but isn’t it kind of sad how no one checks up on Akira in the week he’s going around talking to people? Especially after he’s been acting so comparatively weird? It’s not unusual that they might be caught up in other stuff, but while you’re going around and visiting everyone, you don’t get a single text or call from ANY of the thieves, for a whole week!! Goro even comments on it directly with his pointed little “I’m sure you’re just as close as you were before” comment. God, he’s such a bitch. Ultimately, the PT do get their acts together, and it’s partially out of the realization that Akira is struggling alone against something and needs their help, which I love and appreciate. I think they are good friends who want to support Akira, but they can’t understand him past the role they’ve placed him in, and until they do, they’ll never be able to be what he needs. Akira loves his friends and knows he can rely on them in most ways, but those relationships will always be dogged by the pervasive fear that he must constantly earn the right to have the relationship at all. What he needs MOST is someone he doesn’t have to perform for, and from what we see in the game, none of the thieves fit that bill. Except Goro. 

I know this was long and rambly and probably pretty disjointed but I wanted to be as thorough as possible and all of my thoughts just sort of gushed out. Obviously ymmv about all of this depending on how you interpret the game, but this is what I arrived at thanks to my analysis so this is what I have for you! Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk

[webbedphantom]

He hadn't noticed the substance move... but that could've just as easily been because he was too focused on getting it in the bag.

Her suggestion of taking the sample to her sister caused him to facepalm.

"Sae, right! Why didn't I think of that-?"

Probably because thinking is not your strong suit. Not when you're away from your desk, at least.

"Hey, that's-!!"

"... That's fair, yeah."

Her concerns at his plan were valid, and might've been ones he'd share if he took the mask off and thought about it a bit longer. But as is, he was confident in the idea.

"Well, ideally we catch the thing off guard. That way we can pull it in before it even knows we're there. But failing that-"

"-I think I can handle it. I mean, I may not be as strong as I am in the Metaverse, but I'm still pretty tough. Plus I've fought a walking tank with rocket launchers, so compared to that, this'll be a breeze!"

You haven't even seen the creature yet. How can you possibly be sure??

"I can't, but I have faith that I can at least press a button before it can take me down."

That's not faith, that's overconfidence.

"Eh, same difference."

Unbelievable...

That said, while he could be more than a little reckless when it came to his own safety, he wasn't going to do the same with hers.

"But just in case... Keep your distance, and your MetaNav prepped. If it takes me down before I can pull it in, you hit that button and get out of here. There shouldn't be any shadows this far away from the subway, so you should be safe in there."

"I mean, that's not gonna happen, but it never hurts to have a backup plan. Now... let's see if we can find this thing-"

He started slowly walking towards the other end of the warehouse, lenses flashing yellow as he used his third eye to scan every inch of the place on his way through.

"Haha! Got something-"

There were faint traces of that blue substance along the floor, small little drips that were difficult to see in the darkness of this side of the building. But with his third eye, it was as easy as following a trail of bread crumbs.

However, the trail came to end sooner than he expected, with a small pool of the stuff forming in the middle of the floor.

"Oh, c'mon!" He whispered in frustration, keeping his voice down as to not attract unneeded attention. "Already!?"

Drip

He scanned the area again, trying to find any trace of their target-

Drip

-but no luck. No matter how hard he searched he couldn't find any more leads.

Drip

"Where the shock is this thing?? It couldn't have just disappeared!"

Drip

Aaron.

"What??"

Do you hear that?

Drip

"Yeah, so? It's an old, abandoned warehouse. It's bound to have some leaks."

That's not what this is-

Drip

"How do you know!?"

Look. Up.

He turned his attention towards the ceiling, and it didn't take long to see what his Persona was talking about. There was a large black... thing hanging from the ceiling, with a white scaly head peaking out from the bottom. The way it was hanging was almost... bat-like. But the head of the creature was certainly reptilian.

Its eyes were closed, so it was probably sleeping. And upon closer inspection, the blue substance was trailing down from beneath what appeared to be its wings, dripping down into the puddle on the floor.

"... am I crazy, or is that a shocking dragon on the ceiling?"

You do talk to yourself a lot-

"Dude!"

But... yes, that is... definitely a giant reptile with wings. Which... technically makes it a dragon. A European dragon, anyway.

"... cool, cool. Just checking-"

She watched as he pulled some of the... whatever it was into the small plastic bag and for a moment she could have sworn she saw it twitch but surely that was just her eyes playing tricks on her. He had moved it after all and it was likely to move slightly... there was no chance whatever that was was alive... right?

Pushing herself to her feet she watched him before holding out her hand. "My sister can probably help us get it looked at. Given everything she's done for us so far I'm sure she'd be willing to help keep people safe from a potential monster and getting it somewhere with people that are equipped to handle it would be for the best." She explained before he brought out his phone.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? It sounds a little dangerous... if you're off by even a second this thing, whatever it is, could seriously hurt you." He was good at what he did but even he had his limits and if he was taken out before he could get them into mementos she would be in deep trouble as well.

Lowering her hand she supposed they could decide what to do with the sample they'd taken once they'd gotten a better look at what had left it behind. "Let's just be careful. It's just you at the moment and if you get taken out I'm going to be in danger as well."

[the-silver-peahen-residence]

~~Blazing Blitz's Palace/Metaverse~~

"Combine them huh? Hmmm..that should work but we gotta be sure they count. Judging from how Oblivion sounds, were running out of time." Skull was worried as Fox and Morgan goes to see if she was alright but the bloating was swelling or getting dark as they look seeing Blitz shaking her head.

"Tch, you little idiots..why can't you just learn to not meddle in something that don't involve you. Just hand her over and I might not think of killing you." she warns.

"Fat chance lady! You're not getting our friend." Skull said seeing captain kidd fire at her but she sighs to deflect the attack hitting the wall.

"You....really are starting to annoy me!" she said having the tendrils fire at him as two stabs Skull's shoulder and leg as he winces.

"Skull!" Fox quickly goes to cut the tendrils as she winces to pull them back while Skull was wincing shaking his head.

"I'm good, I'm good.." he said wincing with one eye but he was fine.

~~ADA Office/yokohoma~~

"She seriously shorten the time. Shit, we got two minutes in counting now.." Dazai was worried seeing this but he saw the flashing gun fire and hearing some things slashing. Seems both Hellmare and Yoshihiro was trying to keep the main computer safe while Fosh worked. Their was more noises before hearing something crashing while seeing another dim light. Wait, was that a fire!?

"Those stupid things are trying to cause a fire..." Dazai heard Yoshihiro's voice as he slashes the flames with his blade covered in water but saw more parasites appearing or some falling on the ground while some was screeching even louder to try attacking Hellmare. Yoshihiro quickly cuts the parasite in half panting to see it squirming on the ground.

~~Real world~~

Blitz was tried, angry, and annoyed as she was limping to get into town. If she can find a spot to hide, she can head into the metaverse again. She didn't know of her blood trail but their was not many out because of this but she was angry while limping. More blood leaves her but she was panting. She wanted to murder the others for this. Her plans being ruined but she only remembers Iron Titan but he still was always too hardheaded for his own good.

As she gets near, she winces to look around while trying to see some of the parasites moving to try covering the wounds and heal her.

"Tch..I guess it can't be helped..I'll just have to make everyone suffer for ruining my plains. I am so close..I just need to...find a way to get back at them....well..no matter. I already have a back up plan I just need to get away from this damn crash site."

~~Blazing Blitz’s Palace/Metaverse~~

She giggled still shoving them back but looks to have some try and grab Oblivion. Right away, Skull hits the goo away from her using a metal bat but he was looking seeing the guys fighting them off from grabbing her.

“I know! We need to find a way to get through those trendils of hers. It’s keep us away from even getting close to her.” He said. He could have their other personas summoned but seeing how their own was being distracted was a little hard.

Now that was the real question: Working together.

The boys then heard what Gerald said. “Team attacks?” they said. As Blitz was about to attack, she winces from a sudden pain. The hell? She held her head but had a feeling something happened in the real world.

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