#p3? hard to say. koromaru definitely.

[doctorweebmd]

okay i really AM working on the path to paradise. if all goes according to plan i'll have chapter 15 this weekend AHHHHHH

[skrrtscree]

SEES playing Splatoon HCs

(If you ignore the fact that splatoon came out 6 years after p3 happened, just pretend it's a everyone lives AU or time just doesn't matter)

I know damn well that minatos either a splattershot main. Don't ask me how i know i just do. His favourite special is the crab tank, again don't ask I just know these things. Also he's definitely X rank or bordering on S+ and S but stopped caring to rank up once he hit that.

Hamukos prolly a roller main or smth. I can't rlly think of any other weapon rn. Her fav special is either the ultra stamp or the inkzooka. She's definitely in X rank and is fucking terrifying in clam blitz (like most ppl are).

Yukari mains the tri-stringer, enough said. But b4 splat 3 came out she was probably a inkbrush user. Her special is the booyah bomb and gets mad when the others dont ink their spawn (even at the others on the enemy team).

Junpeis would main splatana in 3 and would always be the player to charge to the enemy base as soon as the match starts. He's the guy players mean when they say ink your spawn. Also imagining him struggling to use the zip caster (like me cause using that shit is hard)

I imagine fuuka being a pretty good charger main that it's scary. But even in videogames she prefers being the support rather than being at the front.

If there were fist weapons in splatoon akihiko would main that shit. But since there isn't then blaster main or whatevers quicker. He definitely protizes splatting the enemy team, which doesn't do well in turf war lol.

Mitsuru doesn't play videogames that much but she's probably a brella user cause I can't think of anything else for her but shes pretty good at ranked, mainly tower control. I think her main thing would be stealth, sneaking up on enemies and when they least expect it attack them from behind. And yes she has fallen off the edge more times than she would like to admit.

Aigis is either a dualies or e-liter main and is the poster child for scary tenta missles players. And since their an anti shadow weapon they probably have like an auto aim installed in them that sort of messes up splat matches sometimes.

Kens a splattling main due to it being able to fire continously so it's like a endless onslaught. He likes the inkjet special as it makes him higher than the others so he can easily pick them out.

Shinjiro is either a splatana stamper main or doesn't know how to change his weapons so he's stuck using the splattershot Jr. Him and aki get VERY heated when they get put on opposite teams, they always gotta beat eachother and mitsuru is sick of it. Imagine this: aki kraken vs shinji kraken.

Whenever SEES has game nights it's hell, especially pvp games. They get through 5 matches before one of them gets pissed off and picks a fight. This usually ends in mitsuru scolding them and any wounds getting patched up.

Koromaru is just a bystander in all this, wondering what he did to be stuck with these people.

[casualotptrash]

Why the Persona 3 FES vs Portable Debate Makes Me Want to Fly Into the Sun Pt. 3

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Da da da daaa!

Part 3 of this lovely emotional rant is here, for anyone who wants to spend their time reading these. With the last two posts, I have mostly tried to be informative or just complain a bit about why this debate makes me want to fly into the sun, but for this post it’s going to go a little different. Perhaps a bit more subjective than the others.

In this post, I’m going to go over everyone's favorite clusterfuck...a definitive version of Persona 3.

Now, as we established in the previous post, we know that the argument of FES vs Portable is essentially pointless because everyone’s opinion on either game is subjective. However, I have neglected to bring up this topic that puts a huge ass nail into this dusty old coffin: the fact that there is objectively no definitive version of Persona 3.

Everyone can argue all day and night about which version of P3 is better, but no one can deny that either version are “definitive.” By definitive, I mean that the game has the most content that is offered, like Persona 4 Golden or Persona 5 Royal. The reason none of the P3 games are definitive is because base P3 lacks stuff from FES and Portable, FES lacks stuff fro Portable, and Portable lacks things from FES. It’s a gamble of whether you want to experience cutscenes, an overworld, and The Answer, or a whole new route with the FeMC and the brand new option of dating male party members and saving...you know who.

One might be able to say FES is definitive because it has The Answer, which I believe is considered canon according to the Arena games. Another could say Portable is the definitive version because it came out after FES, added the FeMC (who is technically canon as per the second Persona Q game), and removes The Answer (which a lot of people said The Answer messed with the core theme of P3). However, the definition of definitive in this case, and with all of the other games, is that the game offers the most content. Arguably, FES and Portable provide the same amount of content, just in different ways. This is why this whole conversation of which one is better, or which to play first, spawned in the first place.

The reason I am bringing this up in this post, about why this whole discussion physically pains me, is because having a real, definitive version of the game could finally put this discussion to rest. At least, it somewhat would. People would probably still argue that FES is the best for some reason.

Now, the argument becomes...well, what does a definitive version of Persona 3 look like?

I have seen quite a bit about this topic, and people seem to really miss some common sense points. For example, they get caught up in whether it would be considered a remake or a remaster. I know some use those terms interchangeably, but the “official” definition for each is that a remake is a game that is made from scratch, while a remaster is made by updating the existing assets and engine. For example, the upcoming Nocturne HD release is a remaster. Personally I find it difficult to neatly fit the typical persona definitive editions, like Golden and Royal, into either of these categories. It may just be me not fully grasping the differences between the two, but I believe they would fit into more of the “remaster” category. It is true that there are new assets and content being added to the game, but it’s so minor that I’m not sure it could be considered a remake. On the other hand, because new content is added it couldn’t just be defined as a remaster because typically the effects and such aren’t even changed that much. It’s just gameplay and story content that is tweaked.

When people get so caught up in what it would be considered, logic seems to...go out the window? For example, in a debate between a P3 remaster or remake, a person made a comment that if a remake was to happen then people would demand that all of the social links be available to anyone. Now, that just isn’t possible for a variety of reasons. There’s no way we could ever mix and match social links to get a preferred grouping. Another issue with this is that if just a remaster was made, then one of the two games would be left out.

This is why I don’t really think about whether a definitive edition is a remaster or remake, because using such strict labels make it harder to judge what could, or should, be in one. This is why I’m just referring to this process as making a definitive edition. That being said, I would consider a definitive P3 game to be more of a remake (not that it really matters) because my ideas would essentially combine FES and Portable, in a way?

So here we go, into my idea of what a definitive version of Persona 3 would look like. (Warning: This will contain spoilers for all of the P3 story and *gasp* may be a bit biased toward Portable because I like it more)

1. Presentation

In simple terms, I would want the game to essentially be Portable...but with updated graphics, cutscenes from FES, and an overworld. It’s easier to use Portable as a base because it’s already closer to the format of P4 and P5, so then adding in the good parts of FES with the cutscenes and overworld are par for the course. As far as graphics go, I would like the models and environment to look more like P3D (aka whatever engine they used for Persona 5?) because damn did the characters get a glow up.

2. Gameplay

Along with the format of Portable, I would also want the gameplay of Portable to be in this definitive version. That means no jealousy system, no fatigue until after you leave tartarus, the vision quest, and the other changes I mentioned in the first post. Sorry FES fans, but yes...I would still want the option of controllable party members. However, a new change that should be added is backup members earning exp. I don’t think baton passes or anything should be added, we don’t want a clone of P5, and the combo attacks in P3P kind of fill this role anyway. The idea of having social links give certain perks with ranks, like how confidants work in P5, is interesting but I don’t think it would be necessary. I would also say that the soundtrack should be exclusive for each side, like how it is in Portable, and that there should be an option to choose which skills are inherited.

3. Social Links

The stance I would take with social links would essentially be how Portable did it, but with a slight tweak. No matter how much it would be cool to date Rio or Saori as the Male MC, or vice versa with Kaz or Keisuke and FeMC, I don’t think any mixing of the two sides would really be feasible. However, I would love to see cameos of those characters in the opposing routes. For example, you see Yuko and Kaz in the female route, but in the male route you could see Saori and Rio at school. That being said, and this is probably one of the biggest issues, I would want the male protag to be able to have social links with the entire party, men included. This brings up the issue of what social links you would cut out because you can’t have two social links be the exact same arcana. Unless they want to add more arcanas to the game, which would probably not go over well either, the best option is probably to prioritize the male party members and then have who would usually be in their place just show up sometimes. For example, Kenji would show up in the social link with Junpei instead of the magician social link just being about one or the other.

I know this seems weird, but it does kind of avoid shafting one or the other. If it was too hard to fit the two together (such as Chihiro and Ken both being Justice), perhaps a few more school scenes could be added where the MC interacts with the school friends that are not seen as much (Kenji, Chihiro, etc.) However, and this might piss off 1% of people but whatever, but the moon arcana with Nozomi (Gourmet king dude) could just be completely taken over by Shinji. Nozomi is a meme, but he is not needed in any way. Also, I would prioritize Yuko in the male route over Koromaru since, although he is a very good boy, he is still a dog. Also, please get rid of the option that you’re forced to romance every girl in the male route, and personally I would say keep in the fact that you cannot date Junpei. In a headcanon sort of way, I totally dig the idea of the MC being able to help Junpei through his rough time after Chidori dies (if she dies?) and feelings grow from there, but from a story perspective I think it’s integral to his character that he friendzones the player if they try.

So TLDR; who the social link is about would mainly stay true to the original route (male route with Kaz, etc. and female route with Rio, etc.), however in the male route the party members would take priority (so Akihiko would take the star arcana place and Mamoru (track guy) would just be featured in the link sometimes), and in both routes Shinji would take Nozomi’s place as the moon. Important note that besides including the other character, the main substance of the social link shouldn’t be changed; aka they should not change the format of the social links to operate more like P5 social links where the MC is just solving all of their problems.

(Sidenote: This is imply my idea on how to include party members into the social links for the male route, however if they just decided to keep the social links the exact same as Portable with no male party member social links with the male route then I’d be fine with that too. It wouldn’t really take away from the game as a whole for me, personally.)

4. Romance Options

Riding off of the social link talk...and I know this is like the least likely option of happening, but please make some gay options Atlus? If we can romance every single girl in the male route, why not just add the romance option for the men too? Yes yes there’s the whole argument about the issue of “making everyone bi” (thanks for erasing sexuality that care more about connections rather than gender?), but I say look no further than how Dragon Age 2 did it. Every romanceable option in that game can be romanced be either the male or female main character (barring a DLC character who is only romanceable by females), and it works just fine. Turns out, no one really gives a shit if it’s “realistic” enough (aka only having one or no bi/gay people apparently?) because it’s a video game and people want to romance whoever they want...because it’s a video game. Even if you really, really don’t like this approach there is also the option of going the Dragon Age Inquisition route, where characters are able to be romanced by certain genders and not by others (race also plays a role in this in the game, since there are elves and other fantasy races and such, but this is not applicable to Persona obviously). This is simply a hypothetical example, but how this would work is that like Fuuka can only be romanced by the Male MC, Akihiko and Yukari could be romanced by either MC, and Mitsuru could only be romanced by the FeMC. Obviously social links specific to a run would be a romanceable option to the MC in their route (as in Yuko would only be romanceable by Male MC because she’s only in her run, and social links like Saori could be a romance for FeMC because she’s specific to her route). I have a gut feeling this would cause an even bigger uproar with the fandom, so having any romance option (barring route specific social links for the route they’re not in) be available for either male or female MC is the best option in my opinion.

Take out Ken’s romance option altogether though. I know some of the language is different, so it doesn’t say you “spend a long night together” or whatever, but that doesn’t really make it any better. I do think it’s fine if Ken has a crush on the MC, and maybe has a whole Kenji thing of thinking they are together cause he’s 10 and kids can be like that, but the MC wouldn’t actually act on this and the player could be given the choice to actively dissuade Ken. The only good thing that came out of Ken’s romance option was the fact that him and Akihiko can argue in Tartarus if you romance them both, and I don’t want to lose that hilarious dialogue.

5. Tartarus

Tartarus...uh...to be honest I’m not really sure what to do with this beast. It’s boring and tedious in the first place, probably by design for symbolism in the game, but I’m not sure how to make it interesting without copying the dungeon/palace format. Perhaps the blocks could be restructured to act more like a big puzzle that needs to be solved, like certain sections of palaces in P5, but also have bosses and shadows thrown in. For example, perhaps one block could be more reminiscent of hide-and-seek stealth tactics while another is formatted like a series of arena-esque gladiator fights. Also probably lower the number of floors you need to climb? It gets a bit ridiculous when you realize there are 264 floors of Tartarus and 99% of them are the same but just with more funky music and slightly different decorations. This job is suited for someone with actual video game making experience though, and not me.

6. Awakenings and Pacing

Let’s talk about some quick fixes to awakenings and pacing of the game. Now, since this is a definitive version and not a true remake, I wouldn’t want them to rewrite the entire story or something. Most of the party member’s original awakenings happen off screen, which can be kind of lackluster. The MC’s and Fuuka’s are the only two we really see, and those moments were really cool in my opinion. Obviously we wouldn’t see Mitsuru’s, Akihiko’s, or Shinji’s original awakenings, but that is fine. Yukari and Junpei also fall into this boat because Yukari awakens before the MC gets to the dorm, and it would be hard to show Junpei’s awakening while also having his whole “reveal” moment when he comes to the dorm to live there. I don’t know if it’s ever mentioned when Ken awakens to his persona, but making a scene to show both his and Koromaru’s would be helpful instead of just saying Ken has the potential and he’s joining, and hearing about Koromaru awakening but not actually seeing it. As for the pacing, I’m mainly talking about the summer time where you can’t hang out with a good number of social links. I would just change this so that you can hang out with school social links during this time more readily, like if they’re just hanging out somewhere in town if they’re not at school. Like I said, this isn’t a remake (and I’m not a video game designer) so I didn’t want to get into how to fix the overall pacing of the story, which can be pretty slow until October or so. My one suggestion is maybe adding in a few extra scenes with Strega before October so it’s not like we run into them a couple times and suddenly they’re a major villain.

7. Shinjiro

(Spoilers for after October) I know certain people will definitely not like this point, but I think the option to save Shinji should remain in the game (and Chidori too). I’ll go into this in another post, but my main reason for keeping this in is because some people really do like this option, so it would be kind of unfair just to get rid of it because other people don’t like it. However, I would suggest a change to his social link so that there is the option to save him or not while also being able to complete the social link. Perhaps after rank 10 would be when you could give him the pocket watch, so that people could get the rank 10 and not be forced to save him. 

8. Extra Content

(Spoilers for the ending of Persona 3 and The Answer) Each definitive version has extra content in the “third semester” (because Persona 4 and 5 both essentially end after December), but in Persona 3 the natural game ends in January. I am not sure if they would try to add another whole months or so on, but because The Answer already exists, but I assume they wouldn’t add extra content in February or something for the MC. For The Answer, I would keep this in the game as sort of the “extra content” but add a FeMC version of this. Obviously it would be largely the same, except with the FeMC and perhaps the male party members could get more of a focus since the female party members get a larger focus in the male route (ie. Yukari breaking down with the keys. Maybe Junpei or Akihiko could take on this role as the people who don’t want to let go). Also, as a possible new addition to The Answer, Shinji could be a part of it if he is saved during the main game. In the NG+ run of Portable FeMC route, if you romance Shinji he comes to the rooftop for that final scene, so in a way it could be possible for him to recover by the time The Answer happens in March.

Now, if Atlus decided to add a more typical “extra content” thing, I hope they wouldn’t try to cram The Answer in on top of that unless they were able to do it cohesively. It might be a lot to have the whole ending of the game in January, come up with a reason to have extra content in February (presumably with the MC still alive, but also combat would need to be a part so then the issue arises of Tartarus coming back or something?), and then have the answer take place right after near the end of March.

Well that’s the end of that I think. This will also be the last post in this little “series” because I pretty much went over everything about this debate that makes me want to fly into the sun. I know the things I talked about in these posts will probably never stop, but I really hope that if a definitive version comes out at least the discussion will change to saying what is good or bad about each game rather than FES supremacy or whatever. That being said, above all I really hope this debate doesn’t discourage new fans from Persona 3 or the series in general, because that would probably be the worst outcome from all of this. It’s a great game, and it’s a shame that the game itself is kind of held back by being split into two (I’m not counting base Persona 3) different forms.

[daily-rayless]

favorite games of the 2010s

Games with an American release within the 2010s. Arranged roughly in the order I played them, because figuring out favoritism is hard. Spoiler-lite. Also, in case it needs to be said, saying a game is my favorite doesn’t mean I endorse everything the game endorses.

Also important: this is about favoritism, not quality. I’m not saying these are the best games.

Okay.

Persona 3: Portable (Atlus)

P3 was always secondary to P4 to me until Persona 3: Portable came along. This isn't everyone's experience, but being able to play games as a female character is a big deal to me. FeMC's positioning as a capable, respected leader who isn't temporary and isn’t just some guy’s love interest is so wonderful. And I love that the game allows her to social link the entire main cast. While Ken's romantic option was a terrible choice, many of the others benefit: her friendship with Junpei is rich, touching, and believable, even when it devolves into resentment; Akihiko's and Shinjiro's arcs are sweet, but also melancholy; Yukari, Mitsuru, and Fuuka are supportive best friends without all the baggage of the male MC's love routes; even Koromaru gets his spotlight. Ryoji's social link adds important depth to his character, reframing the later stages of the game. As wonderful as Elizabeth is, I find I like Theo even better. The battle system is vastly improved, and while the visuals suffer in the PSP transfer, the story's still told well. P3P remains one of my absolute favorite games and was a great start to the decade.

Nier: Gestalt (Cavia)

Something you’ll see repeated across this list is that I love strong, complex character bonds. The emotional core of a game is really important to me. In combination, this game has one of the most unique main casts, and, in their closeness, one of the most powerful. The jaggedness of Nier, Kainé, Emil, and Weiss fit together as an intense and sympathetic whole. You want so much to see them all safely escape the dark stories surrounding each of them. Nier's secondary strength is its New Game +, which is wrenching, but reminds the player that you never see the whole story in just your first glance.

Fate/Extra (Type Moon & Imageepoch)

For seven weeks, Hakuno fights her way through a blood tournament; the story never spares her from it. Most often, a repetitive story structure is a liability, but in Fate/Extra, it builds the drama. Knowing from week to week that most of the cast is going to die – understanding, increasingly, that Hakuno may not have a happy ending waiting for her – the repetition and inevitability adds to the experience. All three of her potential Servants are interesting, funny, lovable, and morally troubling, and each plays well off of Hakuno's personality. Which Hakuno, despite being a silent protag, has plenty of. The game falls short in a number of areas, but for me, intercharacter relationships are always a big deal, and Hakuno's bond with each Servant is detailed, compelling, and develops across the entire game.

Tales of Xillia 2 (Bandai Namco Studios)

The original ToX is the richer, more complete, more epic game, and definitely the place where you should first meet these characters and this world. But for me, ToX2 edges out its parent for the uniqueness of its premise, its endearing silent protagonist, and the shattering twists and turns of its later plot points. I don't usually like kid characters, but Elle is a useless sidekick worth fighting for, every inch of the way.

Resonance of Fate (tri-Ace)

Set in a broken post-apocalyptic city, this game feels like a combination of Wild Arms and Xenogears. The story is intense and cryptic with a carefully controlled delivery to the player. The three main characters hide their wounds as well as their strengths – until circumstances force them into the open. There's some regrettable juvenile humor, and the story remains too shadowy in places, but Vashyron's, Leanne's, and Zephyr's bond kept me wanting to know more about them and the punishing circumstances they've been left in.

Nier: Automata (PlatinumGames)

Nier: Gestalt taught me that not everything would be as it seemed, and Nier: Automata fulfills that warning a second time. But what makes me love it are the three protagonists, 2B, 9S, and A2. Throughout the different story paths, each one sees their role change from hero to antagonist or antagonist to hero relative to the others' positions. This is such a stand-out concept, and it's written very well. Even when a character shifts from hero to antagonist, they still keep your sympathy; perhaps you don't agree with them, but you still feel for them so much. Incredible music and rideable moose are also a plus.

Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerilla Games)

I can always find room for improvement, but, for me, there's just too much to love about this game. Traveling over the gorgeous environments is wonderful by itself. The gameplay is engrossing, allowing you to try so many different strategies across different fights. The npcs are intriguing. The setting is unique. The monster designs are fantastic. The game gives you reasons to want to fight the villains, yet doesn't leave them unrealistic or ludicrously unrelatable. The hero, Aloy, is no-nonsense but not invincible, practical but also tender, and it's so satisfying building her legend alongside her. The story ends satisfyingly, but leaves the world wide open, just waiting for a sequel. This is a horizon I want to cross again and again.

Transistor (Supergiant Games)

People complain about the story being too obscure, and that's justified at times. But the heart of the game isn't about plot – it's about emotions. Specifically, the emotions Red and Boxer have towards the city, and the emotions Red and Boxer have towards each other. The game organically builds both of these relationships across five hours of gameplay, latching right on to the player's heartstrings and making you worry and fight every step of the way. The gameplay is deeply customizable, the art direction is velvety and lush, and the music is not only gorgeous, but sometimes subtly intermixed with the narrative. The world is shrinking around these characters, and you want to see them through to safety – and you wish you had more time to know them better.

The Banner Saga (Stoic Studio) (all three games)

Its narrative overlaps different plot arcs. There's more than one hero. The story is mature and serious, often threatening you with despair, but still urging you to believe that somehow your brave characters can make it through safely. Your decisions directly influence who lives, who dies, and where the story turns. The music is haunting. The game evokes Lord of the Rings, from its art style to its Norse influences to its focus on the significant actions of humble people. But it still shoulders its way out of that shadow with its giants, centaurs, and multiple central female characters. A game you want to play repeatedly, if you can stand the responsibility of having so many characters’ lives in your hands.

Pyre (Supergiant Games)

Purgatory Basketball sounds like a nightmare premise for me, focusing on the kind of gameplay I'm terrible at. However, the game is accommodating enough that I not only won my rites, I enjoyed the process. Even when I was bad at it. But what makes me love the game is its cast. While not all characters can get equal focus on a single playthrough, each is interesting, some very outside the typical RPG character cast. The main villain is handled atypically, and the story avoids many of the tired plot beats I've gotten sick of over the years. The main character, the Reader, is given a surprising amount of flexibility, and they're just another one of Supergiant Games’ protagonists who are silent, but still make a definite impact on the game's story and playing experience.

In short, this was a good decade for me, game-wise, especially in the last two years. Hopefully there will be lots of stand-outs in the 2020s too.

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

PQ2-Persona 3 Characters

I play this game slowly for a number of reasons: (1) I like drawing games out because I enjoy them more that way and (2) I played it intermittently, put it down when FE3H came out, then picked it up again, then got DLC for TW3K and put it down again etc. etc. I find it an easy game to put down and get back into.

However, I am now at the end, only Enlil remains and the Velvet Rangers. Since I want to complete the game fully I’m now doing the monotonous and boring task of farming the Reaper to get to Lv 89 with Ren so I can Wild Growth my core party to his Level, get Huang Di, and finish off the Velvet Rangers. Seriously though, who thought I’d reach a point where I’m bullying the poor Reaper and getting bored of the fight? He doesn’t even get me halfway to a full level now!

Anyway. So, with the end approaching, I thought I’d do for the P3 cast what I did for the P4 cast. I decided in the end to actually not watch/read anything about P3 or P4 till I finish PQ2, to form opinions based around it purely from PQ2, then once I’m done with it I’ll go watch LP’s of P3 and P4 to see how wrong (or right!) I got things.

Without further ado my feelings towards the P3 cast solely as they are presented in PQ2:

Exceptions:

I’m starting us off with exceptions. What are exceptions? Exceptions are characters who, for whatever reason, I feel their are circumstances that make them difficult for me to really discuss as a fully-fleshed character. They aren’t necessarily bad, but something about them means I don’t really see them as a fully rounded or developed character like the rest.

P3 Protagonist: Like the P4 Protagonist and Ren I just struggle to form any feelings or attachments to this character. I’ve said before I *suck* at self-insertion. I just do. In FE3H my least favourite character is Byleth, wish I could get rid of them, as I find the relationships between characters with more detailed and fleshed out characteristics and dialogue far more interesting. The P3 Protagonist isn’t bad but, compared to the rest, just feels shallow and uninteresting. He also shares the same problem as all four Protagonists in that I am sick and tired of how much their own teams have to constantly shill them like they’re the greatest thing ever. Ugh. It’s the most annoying thing to me about these self-insert characters, everyone has to stop every ten minutes to remind the player how they’re better than everyone and worship the ground they walk on. I hate it. Anyway; so, yeah, ultimately I find the P3 Protagonist, like Ren and the P4 Protagonist, just not as fully developed or realized in PQ2, and so see them as an exception.

Koromaru: He’s a dog. He’s cute, fun, a great mascot, but he doesn’t have detailed characteristics or interesting personality and dynamics with the other members. But he’s a dog, so, that’s not strange. So I see this as an exception.

Favourite:

These are the P3 Characters who I enjoyed most of all in PQ2.

P3 Female Protagonist: So can someone explain to me why the creators decided to give the Female Protagonist alone a detailed personality and demeanour? Not to mention something like double the amount of spoken dialogue as the other protagonists? Unlike Ren and the other two male Protagonists who barely say much at all and are difficult to define personality-wise beyond ‘cool, loved by all, sometimes make sarcastic remarks’ the Female Protagonist is heavily fleshed out: she’s an energetic and over-enthusiastic type, the ‘charge in head’s first’ type who doesn’t show much in the way of the stoic ‘cool’ calm of the others, and is very effusive and evocative in her mannerisms. She’s dealing with an internal feeling of isolation and inferiority, which she tries to hide from others, and is highly sociable in her engagement with her peers. She was a lot of fun and makes a big impact early with her ‘let me dress up as a policewoman and then karate chop this guard out cold’ routine. Her interactions with Futaba early on are great, almost like an older siser, although sadly those do taper off. Junpei and Yukari have quite good interactions with her as well, the most consistent people involved in her ‘am I out of place’ feelings, and I enjoyed that. I was surprised how there is so little interaction between her and her male counterpart though, would have thought that would be a good well of inspiration. 

Mitsuru: So what I love about Mitsuru is that she and Makoto are not just clones of each other. With Mitsuru also being a ‘older, colder, intelligent, authoritative’ figure I feared that the two would be very similar. But they aren’t. Mitsuru is vastly more secure in herself and confident than Makoto, who still has severe issues with her self-esteem. Indeed Mitsuru is actually kind of awesome in how confident she is. Similarly whilst Makoto is far more an advisor Mitsuru, quite honestly, comes across as if actually SHE leads the P3 cast and the protagonists are just their trump cards. Mitsuru almost always calls every shot for her team and makes the decisions, with their own respective protagonists usually just providing power. I do also enjoy that Mitsuru seems not to have the ‘I’m smart so the stupid member of our team I will always harass’ trait as her critiques of Junpei tend to purely focus on him not taking their situation to seriously and never go to the point of insulting his intelligence as Morganna does with Ryuji in the vanilla game and Royal. I also really liked Mitsuru’s interactions with Junpei. I know he has a girlfriend, he says so in the game, but I see nothing of her so I’d be lying if I didn’t say I somewhat ship the two after her nervousness inviting him to have tea with her and his desperation to protect her when he found out how hard she was trying to get along with him.

Junpei: Junpei has one thing that Ryuji and Yosuke do not have: confidence. Though Ryuji and Yosuke both front confidence it’s often incredibly easy to see the weak points in their facade and to deflate them. Junpei is able to far better stand his ground even when he’s being belittled. He is definitely more reckless than the two as a result, confidence is a double-edged sword, but he’s learned better than them the lesson of feeling good about himself. I do love how Ren can consistently support his ‘Greatest Detective Ever’ declaration and basically took every chance to do so. He luckily seems to lack any of the perversion tendencies, although as I’ve said in PQ2 the same is true of basically everyone, although I do sorta wish we got a bit more on his girlfriend if she’s so important to him. I get because she won’t appear and you won’t see her the game doesn’t want to waste time on a character we learn nothing about, but at certain points it felt off that Junpei doesn’t comment on her at all. 

Interesting:

These are characters I found interesting, easily as interesting as the ones above, but for personal reasons just don’t like quite as much.

Yukari: Oh boy, Yukari. Let’s start with my problem with her before I move on to why I find her so interesting. Put simply Yukari is mean. Whilst with both Ryuji and Yosuke I was pleased to see that despite being the ‘bro’ characters, PQ2 avoided constantly haranguing on them. Not so for Yukari and Junpei, yeesh! Junpei can barely open his mouth without Yukari insulting him, sometimes really rather severely. My problem is that she often insults Junpei just cause he’s too boisterous, or  confident. It just gets...well it gets like Ryuji in the vanilla game or Royal, it feels mean-spirited, particularly since Junpei never reacts by laughing or quipping back, but always by just deflating and sorta whimpering. I didn’t like it. With that said Yukari is still a very interesting character too me because she has an incredibly well-defined character. She is intelligent, emotionally so, perceptive to other’s feelings and has a very sharp wit and tongue, both to put down others and help them. Her interactions with the P3 Female Protagonist are interesting and she is often very insightful actually. I will also confess, to a slight extent, the sheer extent of her nastiness towards Junpei did make me, somewhat, feel as if the two must at least be close, they rarely ever say anything without the other chiming in, so I can see a bit of myself shipping it...but as a terrible mistake the two swear to never tell anyone else and eventually realize is just overall unhealthy for them. 

Ken: Ken plays a pretty well-worn archetype and he plays it fine: the earnest young boy with an edge, wise-beyond-his-years in some senses, but wet-behind-the-ears in others, with a strong hero complex tainted by a bit of an extreme edge. Ken is interesting but less fun to me just because he is somewhat predictable in the role he fulfills, which just isn’t my personal preference. I think he has amazing chemistry, and potential, with Akechi and Futaba and wish he got to interact more with both. His interactions with Ryuji, Ann and Morganna in their Special Ticket together is also absolutely great and again I wish him and Ryuji had more consistent interaction over the course of the game. But a lot of Ken’s interactions come down to Koromaru, which is fine, just not exactly thrilling. I do think Ken is adorable though, he’s very well-meaning and clearly very hard-working, and I’m a bit surprised that some more of the compassionate PTs, such as Ann, don’t actually regularly comment on or find him endearing. 

Aigis: So I feel like Aigis can come across to players of PQ2 as uncomplicated but that’s only at a surface glance. The thing with Aigis is that she clearly HAS already overcome her primary character conflict, her feelings about being an artificial construct and the meaning of her existence. Throughout the third dungeon she expounds heavily on the conclusions she’s already come too. For many a character completing their character arc becomes boring, but not for me. I found Aigis fascinating and LOVED a robot who, rather than repeating the old and tired song-and-dance of ‘do I feel? do I will?’ already has her answers and also avoids the cliche of ‘robots have no emotions’ by, in her own way, being very emotional. 

Fuuka: I enjoyed Fuuka quite a bit, and find her character a nice counterpart to Rise’s and Futaba’s. Although on the surface she seems to be the ‘shy, shrinking violet’ style of character this isn’t really true. She’s soft-spoken, by comparison to most, yes, but she’s not really shy. What she is, is the more calm and analytical of the three Navigators, less prone to exuberant emotional outbursts, but at the same time clearly more innately compassionate than the other two who are more prone to teasing or mocking. I felt her established interest in technology and mechanisms wasn’t integrated as fully as it could have been, alas perhaps because Futaba seemed to occupy more of that role, but did find that, if you look closely, Fuuka actually does offer some of the best advice to Hikari, and is consistently, along with Ryuji and Futaba, Hikari’s most verbal and ardent supporter and defender.

Uninteresting:

First, note, this does not mean I dislike the characters, I like them all, but these are characters who, in PQ2, I found the least interesting.

Akihiko: I feel so bad for him. So PQ2 really does avoid, for the most part, reducing it’s characters just to gags but Akihiko, man, they really do that with him. He basically only ever says one of two things: (1) I want to fight X (2) Protein-joke. It gets...old. I feel sorry for him because I feel he has potential there but the game seems determined to never explore it. He does have a VERY fun interaction with Chie and Makoto, all three I enjoyed and I can easily see Akihiko as Chie’s mentor and teacher, the two blend together well and have fun chemistry. His interactions with Makoto are also nice since it reveals his deepest character, as he is the one who tells Makoto to acknowledge herself more and sometimes realize that there is more to existence than regimented preparation. I enjoyed his chaotic energy, despite seeming a bit like a leader and an authority figure he’s actually very chaotic and impulsive, living in a more ‘go as the current takes you’ way which makes him adaptable and reactive. Now if only they’d used that for more than protein-related jokes. 

Shinjiro: Poor Shinjiro feels to me like he fell into the trap Kanji avoided. His main problem is just he spends so much time brooding and making tiny statements that we don’t get a feel for him. His other problem is that his most consistent dialogue partner is Akihiko and every single one of their conversations, almost, breaks down into: Akihiko says something about protein or fighting, Shinjiro calls him dumb, repeat. Shinjiro clearly has wisdom and common sense, but he seems to restrain himself from actually imparting it compared to the likes of Makoto, Haru, Ryuji, Naoto or Akechi. The result is he makes less of an impact because he’s the character of the main cast who most visibly feels like he’s withholding himself from the group. He’s like Akechi but more so. Akechi also, in the game, can come across as if he’s minimizing his interactions, but he doesn’t do it quite as much as Shinjiro. 

[artikgato]

half-crazed 1am ramblings

About P3D and P5D

So it seems like Atlus is trying to keep an equal number of dancers in P3D and P5D. The next two dancers to be announced are definitely going to be Elizabeth and Caroline/Justine - this isn’t news or anything, they’re on both game covers, and Margaret was in P4D so of course they will be. I’m pretty confident that Caroline and Justine are going to be treated as one dancer/character, so the numbers are still even. If they ARE treated as two separate characters, Theodore will be added to balance the numbers. He was narrating the first trailer, so it makes perfect sense for him to be in the game anyway. (And if they treat Caroline and Justine as one character and add Theo...they can just add Lavenza, to keep the numbers balanced.)

It won’t surprise me at all if the only news from the stream on the 21st is that these new characters are Elizabeth and Caroline/Justine, because it’s pretty standard for Atlus to hype us up and then deliver almost nothing. But if they really wanted to surprise us and get us hyped for the games, they’d have to announce characters that we aren’t sure are going to be in the games. Characters that aren’t on the box art or hinted at in the trailers. 

Dancers/characters that get added to the games all share some common traits - they’re important to the story and have a lot of possible interactions with other characters (and aren’t a dog...sorry Koromaru). From Persona 3, the remaining un-announced characters that could be added are Shinjiro, Minako/Hamuko, and Ryoji. None of the other characters are important enough or make sense to add (well, maybe as DLC...I’d pay for Strega, is all I’m saying). So that’s 3 left from P3. Here’s where the problem lies: there aren’t that many characters left from P5 that make sense to be added, unless you really think hard about it.

Shinjiro and Akechi make sense to add. They’re actual party members from P3 and P5. Atlus might not add them, but I honestly can’t see them doing that, because they’re both popular characters (I think the Akechi fans would riot if he wasn’t in the game.) 

Here’s where my half-crazed 1am ramblings start: what character could they possibly add from P5 that would keep the numbers balanced and allow them to add Minako/Hamuko to P3D?

Well, think about this for a second: Shinjiro and Akechi have more in common than just being late additions to their respective parties that also (spoiler alert) end up dead. They both have a story-important female character intrinsically linked with them. For Shinjiro it’s Minako/Hamuko of course; the one and only way to save him is to play the girl’s route in P3P and complete his social link in time. So, what female character is linked with Akechi?

Sae Nijima.

Sae would be perfect to add to P5D. Out of the non-party member social links she is one of the most important and memorable, and she also has meaningful and plot-relevant interactions with more than just the protagonist, being Akechi’s boss, Makoto’s sister, and involved in both Futaba and Haru’s storylines. And Shadow Sae’s design just screams “this woman can dance” to me. “Whims of Fate” is absolutely her song. 

I don’t think for a second that Atlus is actually planning on adding Sae (or Minako) to the dancing games, but now that I’ve thought about this, I really want them do. How cool would it be?

Other, less cohesive thoughts: if they wanted to add Ryoji to P3D, they could balance with Mishima. This is a bit less substantial - I just really think that Mishima is the best candidate for this for similar reasons to why Sae could balance Minako. You don’t have to complete his social link, but Mishima is involved in the plot quite a bit, and has interactions with more than just Akira/Ren/the protagonist, albeit not too many. And plus they’re both moon boys

[achorusofcleris]

Luna, Shinjiro, and Snow

Luna:

favorite thing about them: I like just how mentally strong she is. While she does mourn her situation, she does realize that she has to keep moving forward with her role as the Oracle, even if it means that she has to give up her own happiness.

least favorite thing about them: Not really about Luna, but I wish that she was given more screentime. I feel like so much more could have been done with her character had she been given more focus.

favorite line: “I do not fear death…What I fear is doing nothing and losing everything.”

brOTP: Ravus/Luna, Gentiana/Luna, Prompto/Luna, Regis/Luna

OTP: Noctis/Luna

nOTP: Ardyn/Luna, Glauca/Luna

random headcanon: She and Noctis would often have picnics together when they were little.

unpopular opinion: I actually like that she isn’t a badass in the traditional sense of the word. While she isn’t on the battlefield kicking ass and taking names, she still gets stuff done.

song i associate with them: “Song to the Moon” from Dvořák’s Rusalka.

favorite picture of them:

Shinjiro:

favorite thing about them: I like that he doesn’t try to justify what he did to Ken’s mom. He’s fully willing to accept the consequences of his actions.

least favorite thing about them: The fact that his social link is really hard. While it definitely is rewarding, it’s nearly impossible to max out if you don’t know what you’re doing.

favorite line: “Adios Asshole”

brOTP: Shinjiro/Akihiko, Shinjiro/Ken, Shinjiro/Koromaru

OTP: Shinjiro/Minako

nOTP: I can’t find it in myself to ship him romantically with Ken, for obvious reasons.

random headcanon: He would always prepare homemade meals for Koromaru.

unpopular opinion: Can’t think of one atm. I haven’t played P3 since 2011 and I haven’t seen the anime movies yet, so I’ve been a bit Shinji deprived.

song i associate with them: I guess “Bohemian Rhapsody”

favorite picture of them:

Snow:

favorite thing about them: His devotion to Serah is really sweet.

least favorite thing about them: Having to fight him after the fifth day in Lightning Returns is a pain in the ass.

favorite line: “I couldn’t protect the world, don’t you get that!? Let me have this! Let me get it right just this once! … Say what you want, but nothing changes the fact that I promised to make Serah happy, and I couldn’t even keep her from dying! This is what I deserve! I know it, and you know it!”

brOTP: Him and the rest of the party and him and NORA

OTP: Snow/Serah

nOTP: I’m not much of a Snow/Lightning fan. While it’s not a bad ship, and I like how their relationship develops in the story, the fact that he’s engaged to her sister kind of makes it hard for me to ship.

random headcanon: He bought Serah a moogle plush on their first date.

unpopular opinion: I don’t mind his recklessness as much as other people do.

song i associate with them: “Let it Snow” (I’m sorry, it’s the first thing that came to mind.)

favorite picture of them:

[artificervaldi]

Velvet Apartments [3/?]

Characters (this chapter): Akira Kurusu, Caroline, Justine, Goro Akechi, Ryuji Sakamoto, Koromaru, Ken Amada, Morgana, Sojiro Sakura, Futaba Sakura, and Yusuke Kitagawa

Ships (this chapter): Super barebones start to Goro/Akira/Yusuke

Summary: Akira Kurusu was under probation and Velvet Apartments wasn't where he wanted to have to spend it. The fact he'd met with creepy twins and a talking cat didn't help much, either.

Previous Chapter | Ao3 Link | Next Chapter

A/N: Chapter 3 finally crossposted. Finaly more P5 characters and like 2 P3 characters.

Akira Kurusu looked up at Velvet Apartments and frowned. A lot had happened in the past couple of months and he wasn’t sure how to feel about any of it. Helping that woman had been the best thing he could do in that situation, right? If he’d left her be, who knows what could have happened to her…

He closed his eyes and shook his head, a headache coming on. That had been a constant the last few months, headaches. Headaches of his own, headaches of his parents, just headaches in general. There was no way around it and it was making everything hard.

“I shouldn’t worry too much about it right now…” He looked down at his phone and frowned. Velvet Apartments was where Sojiro Sakura was supposed to be, right? He looked at the last message his mother sent him.

Yep, third floor of Velvet Apartments, last door on the left of the first hall off the elevator. That shouldn’t be too hard to get to, right? If he didn’t take the elevator it might take a little longer, but that wasn’t so bad. At least his parents shipped his things ahead of time, right?

Time to go, anyway. He had to be there before it got too late, that would just make him seem like a delinquent. He didn’t want that to happen, he’d already switched from contacts to glasses in order to blend in better. He didn’t want that to be ruined on the first day.

So he started off, opening the door to the apartments, only to pause. Two young girls were standing in the lobby, quiet.

What is this? The Shining?

The girls seemed to notice him, and in silence, turned towards him. Was this a horror movie in the making? Akira felt like it was a horror movie in the making. The fact their eyes were yellow of all colors didn’t help matters at all, either.

“Who are you?!” One of the girls, her hair pulled into two buns, spoke up and the fear died down, just a bit.

“Not many people have been waiting for Theodore to do his job.” The other girl spoke up with less, well, emotion in her voice.

“Uh…” Akira blinked and fixed the bag on his shoulder. Of all the things he could run into when he walked into the building, it was this? “I’m moving in today.”

“Where’s your luggage, then?” The first girl spoke again, crossing her arms and frowning. “Someone doesn’t just move in with one bag!”

“Well, my parents sent the luggage ahead…”

“Are you moving in with your grandparents, then? Perhaps an aunt or uncle.” The second girl seemed more calm about this all.

“No, not really.” He shook his head. He could just feel the problems that’d come from this.

“Then what--”

A woman walked from behind the front desk at that point, standing behind the girls and putting her hands on their heads as she said their names. “Caroline, Justine, what are you doing?”

“M-Margaret!” Caroline turned to look at the woman and shook her head. “We were questioning the weird man!”

Margaret sighed and shook her head. “Now, now. I know you want to help with the apartments, but harassing people isn’t helping.”

“Elizabeth thought it was a good idea.” Justine glanced at Akira before turning to look at Margaret as well.

“And what do we say when Elizabeth thinks it’s a good idea?”

The twins looked at each other, both frowning, before looking back to her. “To not do it.”

“Exactly.” She ruffled both of their heads a bit and made her way for the desk. “Now, go along and play, alright?”

Caroline huffed a bit and looked back to Akira, giving him a glare. “Come on, Justine! Let’s go.”

Justine nodded and began following after her, only stopping for a moment to give Akira a small wave. Akira risked waving back before watching them walk off to the elevator. Looked like he would definitely take the stairs, then.

He made his way to the stairs and sighed, maybe he’d just run up them and cut time as much as he could. Here he went, hopefully he wouldn’t be too out of breath when he made it up there. He wasn’t exactly the most athletic guy around…

He shook his head and started up the stairs. Here he went, hopefully Sojiro would be there when he made it up there. He should be, right? It was pretty late in the day, so most would be off work by now.

Soon enough he was on the third floor and he looked around. Where was the elevator now…? There it was! So the door he needed was…

Here! He knocked a few times and waited. Was no one home? Maybe Sojiro worked a different shift than he was expecting? Well, that was just making this shitty year even worse. He was going to have to sit out in the hall for who knows how long.

“Guess I could get some reading in.” Akira looked into his bag and pulled out the first one he saw there. Arsene Lupin, well that would be interesting enough to keep him busy for at least an hour.

He opened to the first page and began reading. A good novel was always--

“Oh? Are you alright?” Akira looked up and saw a boy smiling down at him. He was pretty, to say the least. His hair was kind of messy, bangs hanging in his face.

“I’m fine.”

“Oh, I see!” He smiled and nodded at him. “I just thought I’d ask, seeing as you’re sitting in the hall.”

“Just...waiting for someone.” Akira shrugged, he wasn’t really expecting this conversation to go anywhere, so no need to go into detail.

“A friend?”

“No, my guardian for the next year.” Looked like the conversation would actually be going on for a while, huh? Maybe he should’ve included more information to start, then.

“I see! So you’re moving in?” The boy seemed to think for a moment. “I suppose I should introduce myself, then!”

“Oh, yeah. I’m Akira Kurusu.” He looked down at his feet for a moment before looking back at the boy and smiling just a bit.

“I’m Goro Akechi, nice to meet you, but I should be going.” Goro turned to the door across the way. “Bye now.”

“Ah, yeah…” Akira gave a small wave and turned back to his book. There went that small break from the slog that was time currently. Too bad it hadn’t lasted all that long.

Well, time to get back to his reading, then. Now, where was he--

“Shit, shit!” He looked up at the expletives and saw a bag flying towards him.

He didn’t know how he did it, but he caught it. He caught the bag and now his hand hurt. What was in this?

“Oh man, thank you!” A blond guy came running up to him. “I tripped and if that broke…”

Akira blinked a few times and handed it to the boy. “It’s something important, then?”

“Yeah, it’s something for my mom…” He rubbed the back of his head and smiled a bit. “Mother’s day is coming up, you know?”

“Oh, that’s right, it is.” He nodded and frowned a bit. He wasn’t sure if he should do anything for his mother…

“Uh, something wrong?” The guy tilted his head to the side, now frowning as well. “You look kind of upset.”

“Oh, it’s nothing, just a bit sad I won’t be seeing my mom this Mother’s Day, that’s all.” He shrugged before giving a little smile. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Alright, well...Still, thanks so much for catching this! You’re a real lifesaver, man!” The guy gave him a pat on the back. “You new around here?”

“Ah, yeah, I’m moving in today. I’m Akira Kurusu. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet ya! I’m Ryuji Sakamoto. Maybe I’ll be seeing you around, then?” He was smiling again and Akira couldn’t help but give a more genuine of his own.

“Yeah, that would be nice.” This guy seemed nice, maybe a future friend for Akira? That would be nice, he just knew the criminal record thing would make it hard later on.

“Well, I gotta get going, see you later!” The guy waved at him and ran off down the hall, now holding the bag carefully. He’d seemed vulgar at first, but hey, he still seemed like a nice enough guy.

Akira sighed a bit and sat back down, looking back to his book. Maybe no one else would show up and he’d be able to just read now? As long as Sojiro wasn’t planning on showing up soon, that is.

 --

 Akira had started to doze off when he felt a tongue on his face. Why was there a tongue on his face? At any normal apartment complex there would not be a tongue on his face.

“Koromaru!” He opened his eyes when he heard someone call out. Oh, it was a dog licking him.

The dog noticed his eyes were open and barked happily, his tail wagging.

“A Shiba Inu…? Do you live here?” Talking to an animal? Yes, he was indeed talking to an animal.

“I’m so sorry!” A boy about his age ran up and picked up the dog. “Koromaru sometimes gets excited about new people.”

“I see,” he fixed his glasses, “it’s no big deal, really. He wasn’t hurting me or anything.”

The other boy smiled a just a bit and looked away. “Ah, well that’s good. Still, I should probably be going. Come on, Koromaru, Shinjiro-san is probably worried.”

He put the dog down and he barked happily, his tail wagging. Without a moment’s hesitation, the dog darted off and the boy followed after him. As he watched them go, Akira realized he’d learned the dog’s name but not the boys. Well, that was too bad.

Maybe he’d see him around later, though? That could be nice, he’d met quite a few decent people already. Maybe his luck would keep up--

“You talk to animals a lot, buddy?” Akira blinked and looked to the side. Was...was someone sitting next to him?

Well, yes, there was someone sitting next to him. However, this someone wasn’t a human, but a cat. A very cute black and white cat. Was he so tired that he was hallucinating that this cat was talking? That seemed possible.

“Uh…” He reached out a hand and ruffled the cat’s fur. “Good kitty.”

The cat bristled at that and hopped back. “Don’t play dumb! I’ve never met a human who can’t understand me when I speak!”

“Meow?”

“Don’t get smart with me, either! Besides, I’m not a cat!”

Akira frowned and looked him over. “You look like a cat, though, you even have a little yellow collar--”

His hand was swatted away as soon as he reached for said collar. Well, someone was touchy about that collar, then?

“I am Morgana, and I am not a cat! I’m cursed!” Morgana moved to hop into Akira’s lap.

You seem pretty cat-like to me…

“Cursed? Who cursed you?” He would play along for now, he guessed. If nothing else he’d have something to do until Sojiro showed up.

“I’m not sure, that’s what I’m trying to figure out! All I know is it must be linked to this apartment complex in some way!” Morgana nodded his little head surely, standing up on Akira’s leg. “And I’ve just decided, you’re going to help me get to the bottom of it!”

Akira blinked a few times, registering what was just said to him. “E...excuse me?”

“You heard me, didn’t you?” Morgana looked back at him and sighed a bit. “I said you’re going to help me!”

“Why?”

“Well, you just got here, right? You’re new meat! And young enough to have free time.”

Akira thought for a moment, the being new and thus less likely linked to the “curse” thing made sense, but the other part... “Is that free time part really that important?”

“Yes it is,” Morgana nodded a bit, “if it wasn’t I’d have just used one of the others who moved in today. That blue haired man or red eyed woman. Maybe even the grey haired guy!”

“So are they not useful, then?”

“Oh no! They could still be useful, just not as often. If anything, they’re going to be your allies!” Morgana seemed proud of himself, as if he felt he’d come up with a great idea.

“Allies? Is this so intense--”

“Are you the kid?” Akira felt like everything he said or thought was being interrupted that day. Great.

He turned and looked up, a man with his hair slicked back and some pointy facial hair looked down at him. Was this Sojiro, then? He kind of wished his parents had told him what he’d look like.

“Yes, I’m Akira Kurusu.” He stood up and fixed his bag, noting that Morgana climbed in while he had been busy. “I’ll be living with you starting today, correct?”

“Not exactly. You’ll be living near me is a better way to put it,” Sojiro sighed, “you’ll be living in the apartment next to this one and I’ll be checking up on you at least once a day.”

He handed Akira a key and he took it, looking it over. So he wouldn’t be living with Sojiro? That was...more lenient than he was expecting, seeing as he was under probation. A probation bad enough he couldn’t even live in his hometown for now.

“Do you trust me enough to live on my own?”

“What? Of course not, your parents and I are only paying half the rent. You’re going to have a roommate covering the other half.” Sojiro sighed, shaking his head. “So don’t think you can go and do whatever you want.”

“Understood. Who exactly is my roommate, though?” Akira wanted to at least know who he was going to meet.

“I only met him once, but he’s about your age, a little odd, but a good kid. Might be a good influence on you.” Sojiro didn’t seem very interested in this conversation, looking towards his apartment door. Was Akira really that boring?

“Alright, well, I’ll let you go then. It’s late tonight…” He turned to walk to the door, only to notice Sojiro’s apartment door opened.

He paused in order to get a little look at whoever had opened the door. Who was living with Sojiro…? Oh! A girl who looked around his age, if not a little younger. A daughter? Akira wasn’t told he had a daughter…

Well, maybe that was why he was being pushed into another apartment. He finally shrugged and made his way to the door, placing the key in the lock.

“I suggest you knock before you go in, it’s late and I doubt you want to scare your roommate.”

Akira jumped a bit. “Oh yeah, thanks…”

He watched Sojiro disappear into his apartment and Akira sighed, knocking once. When there wasn’t even a sound in reply he decided that his roommate must be asleep and tried to open the door. It...it was locked? Has his roommate left it unlocked?

Turning the key once more, Akira pushed the door open and entered the apartment. As soon as he made it in he let out a sigh, closing and locking the door. His roommate wasn’t the most careful, good to know.

“Wow, who leaves their door unlocked like that?”

“Shhh…” Akira held a finger up to his mouth and glanced back at Morgana, who had decided to pop back up again. “I think my roommate is sleeping.”

“Then why are the lights on?”

That...was a good point. Why were the lights on if he was asleep? Was he careless about lights too, then? Akira felt like this was just a recipe for things going really bad really quickly…

“Alright…” He slipped his shoes off and walked into the living room, blinking in surprise. His roommate was up, there was no doubt about it, but he was focused on what looked like a painting.

An artist roommate that had no sense of when someone was at the unlocked door, huh? That seemed a bit dangerous, was this roommate thing really just to be cheaper or was it so this kid could have a babysitter?

“Excuse me?” He moved up behind the artist and placed a hand on his shoulder, only to be knocked back a bit when he turned around.

“Who…? Oh. You must be the roommate I was told about…” The artist rubbed his eyes and yawned. “It’s nice to meet you… Akira Kurusu, was it?”

“Yeah, and you are…?” He tilted his head to the side.

“Yusuke Kitagawa, it’s quite late, isn’t it…?” Akira watched Yusuke’s head drooped forward a bit. “You must be tired…”

“You must be too.”

“Oh no, I’m fine,” Yusuke shook his head, “I’ve stayed up for longer amounts of time than this, this is nothing!”

“That’s not a good thing.” Akira sighed, fiddling with his bangs. “You look like you’re falling asleep at your canvas.”

“I do that often, though.” Yusuke blinked at him a few times and looked confused, as if he didn’t understand the issue.

Akira sighed a bit and moved over to him. “You probably shouldn’t do that. Sleep is important.”

“Many people on this floor tell me that.”

Akira frowned, he wasn’t getting through to him at all, was he? Yusuke really thought there was nothing wrong with staying up when he was basically falling asleep where he sat? That was...worrying to say the least.

“Well, good night then.” He’d worry about it tomorrow.

“Yes, good night.”

As Akira walked away he glanced over his shoulder, watching Yusuke’s head droop towards his chest yet again. This was going to be a long year.