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sentofight · 3 months ago

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ooc. brain squeezed a little bit of energy and wrote this. I wouldn't say this is a properly proofread and stuff but I kind of give up. It is considered a draft lol but hey i want to reward myself and my brain so good job brainy. my bs down here got hint of headcanon (leaning to the canon divergent area once i add Ai.Ni stuff so you are warned.)

also copy past what i had on the first post i drafted--my rant.

ooc. it is something i kept on the shelf for a while because help my brain it is getting so slow with stuff like this. timeline for date--aka ha/yato y/agyu. ofc it is headcanon thing since we dont perceive A/iNi for the crap they pulled about him. look it gave us older zuki and thank you for it but otherwise ... that heap of garbage fire about my man date no thanks. stop making everyone wait for him. lets face it, he is not worth the wait. everyone should've moved on and not 'wait' for him. and the whole lol i forgot, again~. please. stop toying with ppl like that. i feel bad for hitomi but i feel even bad for boss. the woman risked everything for him the first time you know. but the one who got actually devastated is zuki. he said he would be there for her--the new family, the new safe home and YET HE GOES MIA. damn i hate it. it's like they wanted to pull the 'let us kill the mentor move so the pupil can go on this self reflecting journey and grow stronger'. no homie it does not work like that. feeling abandoned is different. anyway. my attempt at this timeline thing. again, mostly headcanon and ofc canon divergent because of A/iNi crap.

Down the cut, yehaw.

Birth

Born in 3rd of August, 1977 to unnamed parents and was placed in an orphanage his whole teenage years. In the orphanage, Hayato was treated badly there. There are no actual stories or incidents but knowing how bad some orphanages can be in the real world, I’d headcanon he was beaten because of the simplest mistakes. I’d think there might be some sexual misconduct but I wouldn’t go that far, perhaps to some other orphans but maybe not Hayato due to how resilient and unyielding personality from a young age. It would be troublesome to try to tame someone like him in that way. It won’t break him but what would break him is seeing something like that is inflicted on someone weaker than him. Probably this is how he was ‘punished’ back then. The more stubborn he is, the more someone is going to get the end stick to penalize Hayato indirectly. Hence, why he grew up to lust and crave for justice. As we were told by Rohan Kumakura, prisoner 89 wanted to seek justice on ‘evils of the world’ whatever they are. if you fit the evil image in his mind, you are to be punished for it.

School days

During his time in the orphanage, Hayato went to school but due to the stigma of being a “throw away child”, he was not given that much of a chance to enjoy school life. He had a strict curfew so there was no chance for him to join a school club or hang out with ‘friends’ which he didn’t have. Despite that, he made sure to focus on one thing; how to get justice for himself and for everyone who were wronged, thus researching and figuring out his path after school and after leaving the orphanage—going to the police academy! Luckily, with enough school credits and doing his best to not get into fights, which at times were unavoidable due to how some would keep instigating the fights because of his upbringing. However, Hayato is smart. He’d know how to end the fight in his favor. It is something he had to learn in the orphanage (or actually he learned FROM the orphanage whenever any inspection coming, no one would see the abuse. They know how to hide the marks and injuries.) With that, Hayato managed to score enough to send application to the police academy to ensure his place is booked by the time he can leave the orphanage and no moment wasted. Not all orphans from his place got the chance to go to school, so whenever he is free, he’d teach the kids there what he knows. Mostly, how to protect themselves.

Leaving the Orphanage

On the 3rd of August 1995, the same day he turned 18 he immediately left the orphanage. There was no hesitation, no second thoughts. He was literally dying to leave that hellscape. To make sure his plan worked efficiently, he made sure all the steps were taken properly in his high school years. Hayato had saved up enough money to rent a room but because of the whole legal papers and all, he had some troubles but worked them out with some persuasion. After that, Hayato kept working part time jobs here and there waiting for his letter of acceptance. Hayato would join the police academy at the age of 18.

Police Academy

Being young and with little experience of life under his belt, he had to be careful around everyone. He kept everyone at an arm length and more. Being from an orphanage, he learned about the hierarchy the hard way. In there, who got the absolute word in any matter was the orphanage manager, then the workers, then the orphan seniors. Upset any of these and you’ll get one ticket to hell time. The seniors in particular were the toughest on the other orphans. The more they kept the ‘order’ the more rewards they get themselves. After all, they are most likely handpicked by the workers to make the work easier on them. You go against the seniors, then you are basically going against the workers. Hayato tried to understand the hierarchy in the police academy first then work his way up the ladder to be the highest. Technically, Hayato was accepted as a student not a cadet when he was 18 for two years he learned various things which he was not privileged to learn in normal school or from the orphanage [from character building to laws.] Officially, he joined when he became 20 about the legal age in J.apan. During these two years, Hayato spent it studying and working to achieve his dream. Just going into the police academy was not enough. He had to know which position he should aim for if he wants to ‘punish’ evil doers in the world. It was hard for him to figure out if he wants to do it by his own hands or through others. Though being fueled by nothing but anger and hatred, he had to go with the former—punish them himself. It wouldn’t feel right if someone else did it. Though at this point what he envisioned was through the law or he wouldn’t go through the trouble with going to the police academy.

Now he is in the ranks, he kept his same pace—work hard, keep everyone at a safe distance, and mark your targets. The training in the police academy was honestly a joke at first to him. What he had to go through in his orphanage years prepared him for the worst. Mental games the officers would pull on the cadets didn’t work on Hayato. If anything, it made him scoff and entice the anger of some officers with his snarky remarks. He excelled in whatever they thrown at him, after all he got a goal he works for. He was not liked among his peers but no one can hate him because they see him working twice harder than anyone because of his ‘background’. It did come to moments where he would bash someone’s head but is saved by none other than the new [friend] he managed to acquire—Shizue Kuranushi. Even if he was over his past, there were times certain flashbacks would get him.

Rivalry with Shizue Kuranushi

As mentioned before, Hayato didn’t have friends back in the police academy because to him, they are all rivals aiming for the position he wants. Though one in particular was almost head to head with his achievements and at times, surpassing him—Shizue. Their first meeting was not strange occurrence but she did leave a great impression on someone who does not even care to remember his senior officer’s name. The two would often challenge each other whether shooting, running, physical training etc. Sometimes she would come up over him and sometimes he would. That to say, these two dominated every training with unbreakable records for the poor peasants in their same class year. As they bonded together, Hayato confined to Shizue about a portion of his ‘plan’ which is to seek justice. That did resonate with Shizue’s own wish to climb the ladder to seek the same thing. However, she knew he had more to tell but there was nothing she can do to get the whole truth out of him--not even getting drunk at an ungodly hour on their day off. Hayato was careful to not let his inner thoughts slip for a second. It was dangerous. Years passed and the two graduated, Hayato went to his suitable job being a detective, and Shizue who conquered all odds and became a squad leader. Going by this chart,

we see that Shizue is ranked above Hayato. Because this is the right way they chose to go by. Perhaps Shizue figured that Hayato was not going to fight her for this position thus made sure to keep him around her as a detective of her precinct. Honestly, Hayato might be ambiguous and enigmatic to all but Shizue; she could read him like an open book. Perhaps due to their shared struggles and all.

Rookie Detective

Hayato was the type to work on any case thrown at him. Being a rookie, he was belittled at first, especially with his background. He knew he had to gain the trust from these idiotic old farts who sit on their chairs and do nothing properly to get the big cases. It is the ‘play nice to get what you want’ kind of act. There were cases where he had seen the senior detectives give up on because it is pain in the ass to keep searching for evidence which didn’t help his inner passion for justice and society reform. He did get into trouble with bickering with senior detectives over cases but he had to dial it down at times. Though his hot flaming hot Cheetos brain would get the better of him and whack a detective or two yelling at them to do their job properly. That leads him to a couple of days out of service and cut in his salary but that didn’t bother him. If anything, whenever he comes back he has this smug face like ‘try again’. Even if someone wanted to take him out of the force, they couldn’t. One, his record at solving crimes is impressive and kicking him out would make everyone turn at them for questions. Two, the man got the squad leader as a friend. Do you know how that elevate his ‘social’ position? Shizue, even if she didn’t do anything, just people figuring out that she is Hayato’s friend would make some things easier for the detective. Who would want to cross the squad leader, huh? Little did they know that Shizue would never give a fuck about Hayato (because he is a big boy he can do his own ass wiping) and he would never ask her for a favor even if his life depended on it.

Downfall

Hayato Yagyu’s downfall happened when he was pursuing a criminal and followed him to the Harbor Warehouse District. This criminal is wanted for assaulting and murdering multiple women. This would be the breaking point for Hayato why? Because the criminal did something similar to what used to happen back in the orphanage. If a senior orphan hit a young orphan just because he wanted, the senior could get away from any punishment because he is on good terms with the workers. Basically, he got the connection to escape from any crime he committed or is committing or will commit. The fact that the criminal gloated that no matter what Hayato will do, the criminal’s connection will get him out in no time. The man didn’t choose the right time to rub that salt on Yagyu’s wound because the detective was holding his gun at the criminal. Feeling that the cycle is repeating over and over, the strong and with connection will come on top no matter what and the weak will be stepped on, Hayato didn’t feel himself but emptying his gun on the criminal. And as per usual, something of this scale would be reported heavily on. A detective becoming the judge, the jury and the execution, that is unheard of. Obviously, the police force had to cover this up whilst it sweep the whole force and by default open up some cans of worms which no one want to be opened. Thus, covering Hayato Yagyu’s case and manipulated and forged the evidence to present it as self-defense.

Hayato always knew he wanted to serve justice by his own hands but now, he is now sure than ever that justice is not served through the mainstream mean he thought he would do it—through the police work but ACTUALLY by his OWN hands. What he envisioned first was to do it via the proper channels and get it recognized by the legal system but now … pretty much fuck the legal system we bring justice by his own means. Hence, doing all the work by himself—killing the criminals he deem unworthy of a trial or a jail cell. Knowing how to cover up for his tracks, Hayato managed to kill more than 17 criminal. However, his gig was found by a group, a yakuza mob syndicate called the Kumakuras.

From Detective to Hitman

The reason why Hayato was found by this group is because he targeted one of their people. A guy called [X] and is important part of the Kumakuras. That did not go well with the chairman of the group and at that time it was Rohan. The chairman ordered that Yagyu to be brought in front of him. The faithful location of Yagyu gaining his new moonlight job and alias was the Kabasaki Chemical Plant. There, Rohan with his henchmen had Yagyu restrained and questioned about his strange and impressive past. Knowing Hayato kills the criminals yet when he looked over his record, there was no mention of these said killings. It means that this Hayato is the piece of pawn Rohan wanted for his group. Hayato was offered a position as an assassin and he had no choice but to accept since the other position is being 6 feet underground. His new moonlight job earned him the codename [Falco].Hayato would work normally in the morning as your local detective and by night when he is given an order by the Kumakuras, he’d turn into the assassin Falco. All this started in 2010ish so then Hayato Yagyu was in his thirties. This did a huge blow to his mindset, his values and certainly his ambition.

Breaking free?

His first hope of breaking from this vicious cycle he got himself into was his meeting with Hitomi Sagan. Their faithful meeting was when Hayato was following a target but he got the better of him and shot him in the stomach. Hayato assessing the situation, it would be foolishness to pursue in this case so he opt to escape and finally collapsed nearby Ikume Shrine. At that time, he thought that this is the end of him. All the things he had done is coming to bite him in the ass when someone came to his aid. The elementary teacher, Hitomi came to his rescue. She brought to a mob doctor called Dokuta Yogano after managing to flee the men pursing Hayato. (let’s not mention that he assaulted her by a kiss smh.) This was the spark Hayato needed to regain in 2013.

Because of their faithful encounter, Hayato became to meet Hitomi in secret because of his position and her position. It would look unfavorable for Hitomi’s look—a single mother suddenly bringing a strange man to her home. Not to mention her job as an elementary teacher, bad rep will affect her job. However, he never told her his real name just Falco. The little she knows about him, the less harm she can come her way, and if he managed to pull himself away from her, she… couldn’t find him. Though all that said and done, he was falling deeper and deeper in this peace and warmth that Hitomi had given him. The two went on dates and Hitomi realized how soft and adorable Falco actually is. Sharing another kiss and it is implied that the two grow closer about their backgrounds; Hitomi telling Falco about her best friend. Afterwards, Hitomi decided to introduce Falco to Iris who was 12 at that time. The two bonded quickly and she kept calling him uncle.

The Cyclops Serial Killings

Detective Yagyu was assigned to a new case which they dub as “Cyclops Serial Killings.” Four bodies of women were found missing their right eyes. During this time, Falco grew even closer to the Sagan family to which Iris suggested he marries her mom so he can become Dad and it was non other than Falco who gave Iris the idea of the name A-Set.

Because of this newfound feeling in his heart, Falco decided to do something almost crazy. He went to Rohan and asked him if he can stop being an assassin—to walk free from his job for the Kumakuras. Rohan was surprisingly ok with it but he asked him to do one last job which is to kill the Sagan family. The reason he wants to walk away from this life is the key to it. Of course, Falco had to accept because knowing his refusal means someone else will do the hit. To save his family, he finally gave up and went to seek Shizue’s help. He confessed to everything from A to Z. Surprisingly, as well, she was on his side. She told him about ABIS and the Psync Machine. The plan was simple, switch places with Rohan, issue command to leave the Sagans and then Falco would be able to save his family which he has now to …abandon them.

The plan was set in motion, Shizue brought Rohan to HQ, drugged him and took him to the psync room to swap with Hayato. The thing they didn’t expect was that Rohan and an accomplice—Saito Seijima were the killers they are looking for. To their shock, Rohan escaped in Hayato’s body and went to kill the Sagans. In the confrontation, Hayato (in Rohan’s body) shot at Rohan (in Hayato’s body) but Hitomi stepped in to save Hayato (Rohan.) That led to shooting Hitomi in her left arm and side which after the surgery made it unusable. Guilt eating him up, Hayato left them.

To finish what he started, Hayato went to the Kumakura to pose as Rohan and issue that the hit on the Sagans is off. Next, he went to meet up with Shizue so they can trick Saito Sejima for their investigation. Saito did confess of his crimes to Hayato/Rohan but then finds about that Rohan is not Rohan so he captures him and sends him to the Abandoned Chemical Plant. There, they tortured him and used truth serum to fess up with everything. Saito now knows about the Psync machina, the prototype in Chiba. He orders for it to be brought to him and after a while the machine is in Saito’s hands to abuse.

Not only Saito tortured Hayato but he forced a swap on him to take over Rohan’s body. For the swap to happen, Saito removed his own eye and Rohan’s and made the swap. Tragically, an error occurred and the body swap went through, however, the memories part didn’t transfer successfully. Making Hayato in Saito’s body and waking up with no recollection of what happened, he escaped after seeing a lot of men around him.

In his escape, Shizue found him but thought he was Saito himself but talking to him she realized that it is none other than Hayato but without his memories so she took him in and faked or made a new family registry for him with the help of someone you wouldn’t think of but So Seijima himself, Saito’s father and MPD. Then, Hayato who was Falco who turned to Rohan then swapped with Saito is now called Kaname Date, the new Psyncer for ABIS.

New Identity, new connections

With Hayato now being in Saito’s body and gaining a new identity which is Kaname Date, he is to the world the funny energetic detective that house the artificial intelligent aiball in his left eye—Aiba. The two met in 2014 (counting Hayato’s real age would be 37) and started working together. A problem come with being in Saito’s body is that Aiba had to keep an eye on his oxytocin level and supply it to his brain directly otherwise, well… he goes nuts. Allegedly. Because the game plot for saito is that he is born with this defect and not having oxytocin means he does not feel love. Funny thing that I looked over this and well. I was surprised by the thing I learned about oxytocin and what it actually means to have low level of it. 1) empathy in social situations and 2) and hanky panky. Actual segs stuff which leads to babies and breastfeeding and all that jazz. So where did the love for murder and not having it makes him nuts? Anyway plot potato thing.

During his time as Kaname Date, unlike his previous life, he made friends—Renju in particular and his wife Shoko. Hence, later on befriending their daughter Mizuki. This turn of personality be due to Saito’s influence and also Hayato’s deep need of connections—true and honest connections.

Renju

Renju confessed to Date about his past but that didn’t stop Date from being his friend. Yes, what he did was wrong but Renju had no hand in the actual murders themselves. Date admires the perseverance of Renju, something he needs to push himself to do.

Shoko

I honestly, for my interpretation I see Date ‘tolerating’ Shoko. She may be not a strong friend to him but he can understand that she is going through a lot. But he does not understand that the need to resort to violence and against non-other than her daughter. Honestly, had Date is still Hayato, he might have done something to separate Mizuki from Shoko early on. No one knows what abuse is more than Hayato himself, no family, no friends nothing, just alone and he had to face lots of hardships on his own. Meanwhile, Mizuki got parents but they don’t love her properly like any parents should??? That’s crazy. She deserves better in his eyes. Thus why Date is trying to come around and understand Shoko a little bit. Yes, still no excuse to hit a child even if you are feeling like the whole weight of the world on you—you chose to give birth to her. She didn’t choose this life. Deal with it.

Mizuki

Being the daughter of his good and ok friends, she obviously was special to him. Again, just because he is in Saito’s body and without his Hayato’s memories didn’t mean he found himself always weak to kids. Date got a soft spot for her, perhaps due to what he knows about her parents and due to how she always presents herself as strong and capable of handling herself. It nags something inside of his soul deeeep inside. A soft voice saying ‘that’s you’ at one point in his life. The struggling, the pretending, the putting up fronts etc. Date just can’t help but look after her even if Renju didn’t ask him to take her if things were to go south.

A Guardian

When Renju and Shoko divorced in 2015 (38 years old Hayato), Date was automatically tasked with watching over Mizuki. Honestly, he had his doubts. If Renju couldn’t have time to be with her when they were living together and he is her father, what does he think that Date would have time to be with her? He’s a detective. He could go all over the place in search of evidence and clues and she would be all alone all over again. It bothered him but thankfully, Boss does not give him more than one case to work on so he can come back home on a reasonable time and be with Mizuki more.

True that their relationship took a while for it to develop with how hurt Mizuki is. Date cannot hope to win her trust that easily but he never gave up and kept pestering her day and night. Slowly, they come to accept each other. For her birthday he gave her adorabbit which she didn’t like at first but then grew attached to it. The adorable fact between them that they make each other like stuff the other didn’t know about or care about. Mizuki started collecting stickers which Date started helping her then she grew less interested in but Date kept collecting them for her.

Her time in school was rough for a young girl whose parents got divorced. Date suggested, with obviously calculated plan, to teach her the art of defending herself—martial arts. Of course, he just unlocked the beast inside of Zuki and since then she kept breaking his kneecaps. (jk)

The New CK

Since his new identity, it has been 6 years. The new case he got is the murder of his friend, Shoko—Mizuki’s mom, November 1st, 2019. Hayato is 42 and it has been five years since Mizuki started living with him.

Imma just summarize the routes because we know the true ending is the one so.

For Oda’s route and Mizuki’s route the only thing I can take from is his relationship with Mizuki growing up; befitting the found family image. [crying about zuki in date’s somsom]

For Iris’ route, it showcase that Date again got the soft spot for kids. Not to mention, the background that Date (Hayato) and Iris shared, it might influence Date why he would believe Iris even though she spit out hot flaming garbage about the Nianiaxtlolnonlon organization and the wadget system and brain wave take over or something. The fact Date just accepted Iris words and worked together to prove her claims. But in the end, losing her. Ouchie.

Destruction route…hello pain and suffering. Idk what to say except date is an idiot and he had a chance to fondle boss’ chest and he missed it lmao. Listen!!! Like that route is mind blowing like what happened to Hitomi okay? The fact that most puzzle pieces are coming together and voila you are not you is just big brain move. Kind of reminds me of the Delta ending in ZED—shooting the screen lol.

True ending..wonderful, amazing, immaculate we got our body back. God bless, now we can go back and date that wonderful teacher and seg---. Anyway. BODY is back. Hayato is back. No more Saito’s body because god forbid trying to hijack that body again without that handsome head which was …fireworked. This sit us at the end with Hayato in his real body and he is old fart of 42 years old (I’m thinking about that his birthday is on august and the case on November so he is 43?)

That’s as far as the first game. Quick recap

3rd of August 1977--Born

3rd of August 1995—Left orphanage, age 18

1995 ~ 2000—Police Academy years, age 23

2000~ 2010—Working as a Detective, age 33

2010~2013—Falco time, age 35

2014—New life, [Kaname Date]+ meeting Aiba, age Hayato 36, Saito 30

2015~2019—Living with Mizuki, age 39

2019—the start of the New Cyclops Killings ~ true ending, Hayato got his body back, age 39

#ooc.| faty speaks #building up.| date #[here i am.........this is me.........................dead.#[goodbye world..

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normal-thoughts-official · 3 years ago

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What do you think of Raphael and Camille's relationship?

not much i guess? at least not much i havent said before. i think its pretty clear that raphael has no loyalty for her and if anything had been waiting to dethrone her for a long time. i think rapha had been working to earn her trust and get rid of her for years now

first of all because like i know that's sh's writing being bad but his little coup over her was just so easy? it sounds to me like he had been getting ppl on his side and ready to overthrone her when the time came for quite a while. plus it's obvious that he was never in accordance with her shit - he went behind her back SO MANY TIMES and it was always for ppl he doesnt even know and has no reason to help? in fact has reasons to hate, since theyre shadowhunters

plus rapha knows about magnus and camille's history (remember how he deliberately didn't involve magnus in the clan thing because he didnt want magnus to have to deal with her? yeah) so of course he fucking hates her lmao. it is one of my treasured hcs that he joined her clan Exactly To Dethrone Her. rapha can play the long con, and i dont see a reason why hed join her clan as opposed to any other when she wasn't his sire and he had a home with magnus. i mean sure being in the NYC clan is convenient but ur telling me theres one (1) vampire clan for this entire town???? im calling bs like sorry

anyway yeah thats it. as for Camille's feelings towards him, i think she thought she had him wrapped around her finger and that he was no threat, which is a testament to how well rapha managed to play the long con, ESPECIALLY since he was going behind her back and freeing simon and giving his body back to the shadowhunters and all that crap. again he didnt even know him. like i know he did it because rapha believed it was right and he didnt want that to weight on his conscience but still, its obvious that he had to do a lot of shit he doesnt agree with for camille because shes a weirdo like that, and still he managed to go out of his way to help her victims AND have her trust pretty much until the end while organizing an uprising against her. like we have to stan

not that like camille liked him, by "trust" i mean mostly that she believed he was harmless which is why he was her second-in-command imo. not like, something meaningful udndidndod but still. and god knows how many years or even decades hes spent in her clan, so like. props to him? yeah

and to some point i think this has to do with rapha's moral standing. i had always thought that hes one of the most complex characters in shadowhunters because we got this guy who at the same time is obsessed with attoning for his Sins™ and self harms on the regular and blames himself for everything but whos also like. willing to kill and even turn on the ppl he loves to do that (like when he basically held magnus down and tried to kill clary during the soul sword thing)

and like once again! rapha was right lmao like im sorry but he was, her existence was a threat to millions of ppl and she was being so reckless like she didnt CARE and choosing to save her over millions is just. some MC bullcrap. but youd expect that someone with so many guilt issues and a sense of loyalty as strong as rapha would at least have a hard time taking that decision

and like i know it's the racism and the need to villainize him because hes a vampire! but in the good shadowhunters that exists in my head, it's because living with camille for so long he was forced to do a lot of shit that he would rather die than have to do, shit that compromised his moral standards to their very core, and in doing that he was still helping keep the world safe because he was no good if he didn't earn camille's trust so he could get rid of her and save the vampires. and also a part of him already feels so tainted by all the things he had to turn a blind eye to, i think its kinda like. might as well add another sin. better him than someone who still hasn't had to compromise, know that pain. and at the same time that only makes his obsession with atonement stronger

(because this is the good sh that exists in my head, mandatory disclaimer that im ignoring the heidi plotline because it was not only ooc nonsense but also like... nonsense plot-wise? i am once again asking why the fuck hed experiment on heidi who wasn't a daylighter when he could have gone for simon since he's so evil and willing to do terrible things for his sister or whatever. also this post is about the show not the books and idc what happened in the books)

anyway no wonder he was ready to fucking kill simon when he freed her like could you imagine spending decades compromising ur own beliefs and moral standards just so in the end you could get rid of an evil dictator and then some MOTHERFUCKER just fucking frees her because of his stupid childhood crush?????? bruh id be fucking livid. and thats not even considering what it meant for those he loved - his clan, magnus, etc

but anyway yeah those are my thoughts basically. i think rapha had always intended to take her down because 1- she was fucking terrible and hurting so many ppl including vampires: 2- he knew of her past with magnus and he was Protective. and he was very clear headed about it and managed to play a long con in a mind destroying game pretty well and just like damn we stan. thats all hdbdjd

#sh #shadowhunters #raphael santiago #camille belcourt is an abuser #meta #i guess #sh meta #raphael santiago meta #ask #anonymous

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seasaltmemories · 4 years ago

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Persona 5 Royal Review/Analysis

So I didn’t have a ps4 when the original persona 5 came out, so royal was my first experience with the game, as a result, I will be talking about spoilers for both the original content and Royal bc a lot of the additions seem mixed in aside from just the third semester stuff

let’s get the summary

Prepare for an all-new RPG experience in Persona 5 Royal based in the universe of the award-winning series, Persona! Don the mask of Joker and join the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. Break free from the chains of modern society and stage grand heists to infiltrate the minds of the corrupt and make them change their ways! Persona 5 Royal is packed with new characters, confidants, story depth, new locations to explore, and a new grappling hook mechanic for stealthy access to new areas.

So one of the things that I picked up really early on into my playthrough was that Persona 5 feels like a very adolescent piece of media, like yeah it is about highschoolers, but more than just its cast and setting, it seemed really fixated on capturing and adolescent mindset, there is this fresh awareness to the injustices of the world and a burning desire to fix it without much understanding of how to even began to tackle those problems, and the fact it stuck so hard to to that worldview made me a lot more forgiving of its flaws then I might have otherwise been, not that there isn’t stuff to critique about the way it tackles controversial issues, but at the same time i just had this mindset of, “well of course they aren’t going to get everything right, what can you expect from teens?”

Anyone who knows me knows I am a pretentious blow-hard, but I think P5 is a perfect example of just how important style is to anything. So much of the pure glee and joy I got when I booted up the game came from the fun presentation and commitment to the phantom thief aesthetic, I have a lot of thoughts on gameplay that seem to be contradictory to the general consensus but to keep things brief, all the “sneaking’ around a palace, grappling from places, ambushing enemies, and performing all out attacks just all gave this sense of being cool and stylish that was great, even if the writing stronger, without those fun flourishes I don’t think I would have enjoyed my experience as much

I also think the more than any other game, persona 5 does a great job of making me thinking “just one more thing” you got a lot of confidants to fill and stats to raise to fill them so there is always something to do, at most during the story sections things sometimes dragged, but i was eager to finish them to get back to finishing my goals, for as long as the game was, this made it feel so much more manageable

Unpacking an entire 110 hour playthrough is kinda an overwhelming task, so instead I’m going to talk about my four favorite characters and hopefully that will cover some good amount of material

1) Goro Akechi- one of the first things I knew about this game was what a controversial character this bastard was and it turns out I fell on the side that loves him bc I think I have a thing for traitor characters, I have to say though for most of the game I wasn’t sure how I felt about him, I knew his true role going in, so it was hard to get attached to Detective Prince Akechi as most of his interactions with Joker felt like an act, however his Rank 8 confidant link, when he not only pulls out a gun on you and challenges you to an one on one fight but also freaking throws a glove to challenge you in a duel I was like “oh so you’re a little bitch boy then!” and never turned back

To me part of what makes him so compelling is just how stubbornly he is set on his path straight to Hell, a lot of ppl were moved by his tragic backstory but honestly it does little for me, I think it is important to consider, but you have to remember he approached Shido about his powers first and basically volunteered to be his personal assassin, still it is hard to ignore that sense of lost potential, in a way I can see how getting to pretend to be a part of a safe and welcoming team environment almost made things worst because he just kept feeling like, “why wasn’t I allowed to have this earlier” and just too tied to his current path of self-destruction to waver from it, like even the fact the Phantom Thieves and he had the same goals regarding Shido in the end, he couldn’t side with bc that would mean acknowledging all the murder he did was for nothing, so they just continued to be another target on his list, made all the more dangerous bc of the affection he held for them

That said I don’t think I would have liked him so much without Royal’s updates, I mentioned Rank 8 being a key moment for me but aside from that, the fight with him in Shido palace had so much going on, it kinda dulled the weight of any one of the numerous revelations, 3rd semester kinda brought in the perfect amount and balance of the different sides of Akechi, the minute he appeared I swear me and my brother cheered in joy, obvious spoilers for the rest of it

I had seen 3rd semester Akechi called “feral” and while he is still as horny for murder as ever, i don’t really think that fits, there is still a sense of restraint to his actions, yet he doesn’t mask his true intentions and feelings so much, what I like is that his rudeness and outbursts come off as very deliberate and planned, as if he enjoys exposing the contrast between his “pleasant” reputation and his true bitterness, and with the reveal that oops he is supposed to be dead, you still have that determined “don’t be a fucking pussy, just pull the trigger,” attitude, I really like the dynamic that forms between a Joker that just wants the best for him and an Akechi that just emphatically refuses to be saved in anyway, he is an easy character to woobify but I love how canon just at every turn doesn’t let you ever see his true vulnerability even if we all know it exists down there, also just something about hearing him curse is always so much fun and delightful

TLDR: I have a lot of feelings about this edgy bastard and may or may not already have a playlist for him

2) Makoto Niijima- another character I had an interesting relationship with, while from the start she seemed like my type, the overwhelming love for her kinda made my hipster side apprehensive, however predictably I was won over and I did romance her in the end (what can I saw my Joker is into brunettes)

Part of what makes her stick out so much to me, is how the game felt much less afraid to show her unlikable in comparison to other characters, i usually don’t complain or really notice this but more than any other game series I’ve played, there is definitely a lot of self-insert fantasy elements involved, ppl rip the newer FE games apart for that, but I never really saw it as the terrible as the cast had dozens of life changing interactions with other characters, the fact most of the interaction we see are through Joker’s eyes, and the fact that he is the catalyst to changing several adults’ lives made this element a lot more noticeable

But not only does Makoto take an antagonistic role at first, but they let her be so smug and annoying that I probably hated her with the same passion as the characters themselves, yet even when she comes over to or sides, her flaws are still pretty open, like when trying to help out Futuba, she definitely had that air of, “neurotypical trying too hard to make you normal” that was understandable but still annoying, and I appreciate it bc it made the contrast between her good points all the sharper

I kinda wanted to roll my eyes at first at her archetype as an honors student, bc yeah i was a nerdy student who didn’t know how to connect with my peers and just kinda subconsciously sucked up to adults bc I didn’t know what else to do, but in comparison to the teeming tragic backstories involved, you can see a stark difference in scale, yet Makoto is just carrying all this familiar teenage girl anger that reminds me a lot of Serena from Arc V, and getting to see her embrace it is very cathartic, I also really enjoyed her confidant which was surprising after seeing everyone tear into it so much, I feel like a lot of ppl’s confidant’s centered around other ppl and it didn’t just start off with the Eiko stuff, you see her Makoto want to change from the sheltered snobbish life she has kinda trapped herself in and rediscover her dream of being a police commissioner, I also found it fitting for her to also kinda figure that out through her own little investigation and to see that exploration of justice explored through her acting with a third party

The fact she is related to Sae also gives her interesting relationships we get to see from a different POV, and a greater investment in arcs outside her own, it just naturally gives her the feeling of being more well-rounded to have it spread out, and while her romance stuff did have the same sort of fantasy elements (that I greatly self-indulged in) overall I never felt like Joker was “saving” her in some way but growing and exploring along sides her

Overall, a great character and while i think best girl debates are dumb, I will not stand for hearing her described as worst girl

3) Ann Takamaki- honestly before I got this game I expected her to be the “main girl” with a lot of popularity and focus so seeing how little love she gets was heartbreaking for me, bc she is part of what made the early phantom thieves so enjoyable

I’ve heard the discussions about the issues around her sexualization and I think things on that access come out to be a wash, the developers kinda brush near some interesting ideas about the struggles women face with sex and attraction but don’t really know what to do with that, and so I think trying to trace and overall arch one way or another about her and her body issues is kinda a lesson in futility

in the end though what made her click for me is just how much fun her personality is, like I feel like in other stories her cheerfulness might come off as generic, but the fact that she is introduced so depressed and sullen makes her attitude shift come off as refreshing, like we know she can be serious, but the fact she isn’t being repeatedly sexually harassed by her teacher gives her like plenty of reason to goof off and enjoy herself

Again despite all the criticism I really enjoyed her confidants, the Mika stuff was honestly barely a blip in the thing and most of it alternated between her shooting the breeze and just having fun and still dealing with that lingering guilt and issues surrounding Shiho and just not having been able to save a close friend when she really needed her, I think the contrast is very much needed, especially to keep things from feeling like wallowing, which i felt was a problem with some other confidants

In the end though the main reason i didn’t romance her was bc as much as I liked her as a character, I didn’t want her to be with Joker specifically, i wanted to support her and see her finally confess her feelings to Shiho and the two of them go ride off into the sunset lol, still there’s a reason I reached rank 10 with her first

4) Takuto Maruki- lol so in this section I’m going to basically go into all my 3rd semester thoughts, again the first leg of his confidant was kinda dull, but I was prioritizing him bc of the deadline, once we got into his personal past that is where I got interested

On one hand part of the charm was just getting to see a more adult story, while there are other adult confidants I found the grad school and like academic stuff relatable, plus like the little moment with the steamed glasses was very funny, he’s just a down to earth guy and his kindness is genuine

However when he stepped up as the antagonist in the third semester, that’s when he got interesting, I found the conflict itself of a dream world to be kinda simple, aside from the fact obviously we need to oppose this for a plot to happen, Persona 5 is all about this humanist approach to personal growth and change, most of what I found fascinating about Maruki was the kinda self-martyring narcissism to his approach, like aside from treat the phantom thieves with kid gloves at time and just doing his best to avoid being a bad guy, there is this simmering resentment he masks and tries to replace with his desire to basically save the world, rather than deal with his own drama and baggage he tries to invest his energy into solving other problems

And you can see some of the parallels between him and the phantom thieves that points out some of hypocrisy of themselves, calculating the exact risks and harms of altering ppl through the Metaverse is hard to do due to a variety of factors, personally I don’t even have other Persona games to look to, but in general while it is for the greater good, the phantom thieves basically impose their will onto ppl who didn’t consent to that change, and in the end they decide to oppose Maruki purely based on their desires to not live in it, the game doesn’t do much with it, but I found the contrast more interesting than the Holy Grail one, plus his boss battle was more fun bc you actually got to use the main mechanic of the game, exploiting weaknesses and baton passing

But yeah all this comes to a head at the latter half of the boss fight where he just is so desperate and refuses to lose, it is like abundantly clear that this dream world is much more for himself than it is for anyone else, it is a desire to turn all his trauma into something more meaningful than just pain, and nothing shows that more clearly than the fact he fistfights a high schooler even after he has basically lost and tries to let himself die rather than face the consequences of his lost. All in all I think he was the my favorite antagonist and palace holder

Some last thoughts I couldn’t fit elsewhere: Casino was my favorite palace, while weak story-wise, Okumura was far from my least favorite palace gameplay-wise and his boss fight as frustrating as it was might be my favorite for engaging with the player, if anything my least favorite palace was Futaba’s, my favorite showtimes are probably Morgana/Ann, Makoto/Ryuji, and Joker/Kasumi, Caroline and Justine are a delight and I really miss them, Tycoon is addicting and distracted me from being able to beat the game for a while

I got more hot takes I might elaborate on in length in the future, but in conclusion this is another rec where I can see and understand ppl being disappointed in some of the writing and its quality but at the same time i think there is still value ppl are too quick to dismiss and definitely multiple reasons to still enjoy it, I think this is going to stick with me for longer than I first thought it wound

#persona 5 #my reviews #p5 royal spoilers #mutuals feel free to discuss this with me more #bc those hot takes are real but at the same time i wanted to keep this focused on what I enjoyed #rather than drown ppl in nitpicks

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