#persona 4 is alright overall

[samkuchingdraws]

The moment man devoured the fruit of knowledge, he sealed his fate... Entrusting his future to the cards, man clings to dim hope. Yet, the Arcana is the means by which all is revealed...

** Reuploaded images with GLAZE

[satrs]

Hiiiii so this is like my first time asking on here and I REALLY REALLY like the stuff you write like it's definition of art at its finest 🤌(idk if that made sense) anywayyyy could I maybe get a lil beach episode scenario of blue lock characters x reader if possible or it could be one dude oh also I don't rlly care abt it being angst or fluff or whatever lol go crazy if you want

K that's all thx for taking the time to read this have a good day or night and random reminder from a random stranger to rest if needed

Have a good one girlllll🤜💥

HEYY I‘m really glad you like my stuff tysm<33!!

I decided too make it with 4 of the „main“ ones‼️ It's overall fluff! I hope that’s alright 🫶🏾

Alright so I tried I hope you enjoy!^^ Hope you have an amazing day/night/morning😘😘‼️

ʙᴇᴀᴄʜ ʙᴀʙʏ!

ꜱ��ɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ; ʙᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴅᴀʏ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ ʙʟᴜᴇ ʟᴏᴄᴋ ɢᴜʏꜱ!

ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ; 1.2k

ꜰᴇᴀᴛᴜʀɪɴɢ; Bachira Meguru. Kunigami Rensuke. Chigiri Hyoma. Nagi Seishiro.

ᴛᴀɢꜱ; fluff, swearing. established relationship. a littleeee bit suggestive. nicknames. a bit aquaphobia(?). (exhibitionism?).

ᴀʟʟ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀꜱ ᴀʀᴇ ᴀɢᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ! // ɴᴏᴛ ᴘʀᴏᴏꜰʀᴇᴀᴅ!

BACHIRA MEGURU.

He is so goofy.

Playing around with the sunscreen while applying it on your back, dragging you into the cold water right after you got out to dry yourself and building big sand castles, as if he was a little child. 

But that was what you loved about him, his carefree and happy persona, shining brighter than the sun itself. 

"Baby~, I'm sorry! Come back, please!", Bachira called out to you. "No, you're not Meguru! I told you I don't like getting my head dunked into the water and you still did it!", you turned around, pissed off by his antics.

But as you saw his little pout, you couldn't possibly be mad at him anymore. Just to keep your pride, you turned back, making your way onto the soft sand of the beach to hide the smile that slowly made its way onto your lips. 

"I was just playing", he whined, quick to catch up with you. He placed both of his hands on your hips in an attempt to stop your movements, placing soft kisses onto the length of your neck.

You turned your head towards him, meeting with his bright orbs, causing you to giggle, hushing him away.

He smiled right back at you, hot on your trail as you ran away from him in a playful manner, the both of you giggling while grinning from ear to ear. 

It didn't take him long to catch you, lifting your body and spinning you around, earning a giggle from your soft lips. “Ha! Caught you~", he played, now holding you in bridal style, sprinting back into the water with you.

Before you could wiggle yourself out of his hold, you felt the cold water surrounding your body, causing you to yelp.

Bachira giggled at your action, holding you close to him with one hand on your hip while peppering kisses all over your face, infecting you with his goofy and lovestruck giggles.

Both of you are so goofily in love with each other.

KUNIGAMI RENSUKE.

"Not so far from the shore, Ren!", you yelped, noticing how the beach seemed to dissapear further and further away into the distance.

"What if there is a shark or something!? This is dangerous!", you panicked, careful too completely be on the floating mat.

Kunigami chuckled at your panicking state, "Don't worry princess. Your hero is here to protect you from all the nasty sea monsters", he stated, causing you to cringe at his statement.

"Yeah, yeah. You wouldn't be able to stand a chance against a big ass shark!", you yelped when he quickly moved the mat, drawing you near him, "I'm hurt. You don't trust me pretty?", he played a soft pout onto his face.

"Not right now when you're almost dragging me into this deep ass water! Let go!", you fantically tried your best to stay on the mat.

"Alright."He let go of you, causing you to fall into the water head first. You quickly swam to the surface, clinging your arms onto the floating mat, desperately trying to get back on it. "You asshole! Get me back on there now!", you screamed, watching in terror as the orange-haired male laughed.

"But you told me too let go?", he inquired while holding onto the mat, mere inches behind you, only irritating you further.

"Kunigami Rensuke!", you threatened him, "Alright, alright. I got you, princess."

With one quick movement your leg swung over the mat, causing you to calm down. But you soon let out a loud yelp as Kunigami's hand came in comtact with your ass, feeling a light sting.

His face drew near yours, earning a flustered look in return.

"You're so hot when you're angry, pretty."

CHIGIRI HYOMA.

"That's enough, Y/N", he joked. "No. I don't want you to catch sunburn. I know how you catch them so easily." Your voice was laced with worry, rubbing the sunscreen on the same spot on his back for the past five minutes. 

He let out a loud sigh, standing up and walking onto one of the sun benches where his belongings were placed.

"W-wait! I'm not done yet Hyoma!" he ignored you, tying his hair into a high bun, making his way into the water. "Hyo!", you called to him in frustration, throwing the sunscreen into the sand, following him quickly. 

He sighed as his skin made contact with the water, dipping his head into it quickly to feel refreshed, swiping some of the hair that fell into his face out of the way. 

You watched him, arms crossed while frowning. He noticed your intense stare, turning in the water to look at you, "and where is your sunscreen, little miss perfect?", he noted, causing your eyes to widen in surprise. You forgot.

He chuckled at your reaction, motioning you to join him, "C'mon, it doesn't matter anymore. Plus, the water is pleasantly warm right now."

You complied, tapping your way towards him, standing in the water, being covered by bits up to the bottom of your breasts.

You wrapped your arms around his neck, placing a quick kiss on his lips, "You're such a bad boy", you joked, a smirk playing itself onto his lips. 

"Am I now?", he teased, hand moving onto your rear, softly squeezing it. You wrapped one of your legs around him, motioning him near you, humming in response.

"Mommy look! they're all touchy-touchy with each other!", a young boy pointed his finger at the two of you, multiple heads turning in your direction, causing you to retreat away from him, face flushed red.

Chigiri chuckled at your action, following you out of the water. He noticed his shoulders slightly burning, also turning a bit red.

Shit, he should've let you put on that damn sunscreen.

NAGI SEISHIRO.

How did you get that boy to the beach? Well, you didn't really know yourself. 

He didn't want to, even after endless begging and pleading with him. But then a thought struck him like lightning:

You. At the beach. Bikini. 

This thought made his sleepy eyes shoot wide open, jump off the bed, quick to walk right behind your trail.

As the two of you arrived, his happy mood threatened to disappear as he noticed that your bikini was nowhere in sight. 

"Where is your bikini?", he bluntly asked, his voice laced with disappointment. You giggled at his words, taking the end of your sundress in hand, lightly lifting it up to flash him your undergarments.

His breath hitched, flashing you an expecting look, wondering when the fuck you would finally-

"You first, then me. I know you, Sei'." What a hassle. You're right. You knew if you would bare your swimwear before him now, he would pull you on top of him, feeling up your body and not letting you go until the sun disappeared behind the moon.

So, to be able to make your day at the beach, you had to get him into the water first. 

Nagi was quick to understand, stripping down into the swim boxers he wore underneath, taking the swimming noodle in hand, waiting for you like a puppy for its owner. 

Finally, you took off that annoying sundress of yours. He was quick to shamelessly gawk at your beautiful figure, only snapping out of his thoughts when you took his hand in yours, dragging him into the direction of the water.

"C'mon! Let's take a quick swim, then I'm all yours~", you purred, causing him to stumble in the sand from your quick steps.

What a hassle.

ᵃˡˡ ᶜᵒⁿᵗᵉⁿᵗ ᵇᵉˡᵒⁿᵍˢ ᵗᵒ k-azus.°

[bad268]

Plot Twist

Breaking News (Part 5/Final)

(Max Verstappen X Reader)

Fandom: RPF/Formula 1

Requested: Nope (I had an idea, Mr. Krabs)

Warnings: cheating mentioned, toxic parents, overall hella fluffy (HERE is a link to the full playlist if you want to hear them all in a row otherwise each individual song is linked later in the story.)

Pronouns: They/them

W.C. 1655

Chapter Summary: The much-anticipated album drop of 'Plot Twist' by Y/n L/n leads to an unexpected plot twist in the end.

As always, my requests are OPEN

MASTERLIST // HITLIST

(^Came from 2 pics on Pinterest)

<- Previous Part

July 24, 2024

~

It is release day, October 16. Plot Twist dropped at midnight, and so far, it’s been received very well! Neither of my previous albums had this much attention, so it was honestly shocking seeing my name and album trending on Twitter. 

I was busy in the kitchen, eating some lunch, and avoiding looking at the feedback. I knew that I would waste the entire day reading every little critique the fans had. My publicist knew that I would try that, so they were holding my phone hostage as they worked on planning a live stream. It was a tradition at this point; day of release, I would livestream listening to every song and telling the story or answering questions between them.

I was just finishing up my food when I felt one arm around my waist as another stole one of my crisps. “Hey! That’s mine.”

“It’s one, you��ll live,” Max whispered, leaning onto my back to place a kiss on my cheek after he at the chip. “It’s not like you’ll starve.”

“I’ll tell your nutritionist that you ate a pack of crisps,” I joked. 

“It was one!” He complained, turning my head to connect our lips in a few small kisses. When we separated, he whispered, “I’ll buy you more if you’re that concerned.”

“Alright lovebirds, I need to steal the singer,” my manager interrupted the moment.

“I’ll be right over,” Max joked.

“Ha ha, Max,” my manager replied sarcastically. “Are you going to be beside them or behind the camera?”

“I’ll stay back,” he answered, already pulling a chair to sit behind the camera that was pointed at the couch. “It’s your moment.”

“Thanks, liefde (love),” I said, taking my spot on the couch. “Let me know when you start it.”

“If you’re ready, I can start it now?” My manager asked, receiving a thumbs up from me as I fixed my appearance one last time. They pointed to me, signaling that I was live, so I smiled and switched on my stage persona. 

“Hello everybody!”  I greeted, scanning through the messages flying on the screen. “It’s everyone’s favorite day; release day! I’m going to play my new album, Plot Twist, which is available now on all platforms, and answer your questions about each song. Let’s get started with the first single.”

Track 1-Ava

“Everyone knows this backstory, but something you might not know is that Max helped me with the melody on this one too,” I laughed as Max groaned in the background.

“I helped on basically every song. I should get royalties.”

“I think you’ll live, Mr. Third-Most-Paid-Sportsman-Under-25,” I mocked.

“Oh fuck off,” He laughed, moving to play the next song.

Track 2-Seven

“Again, another very popular single, “I chuckled, “Not gonna lie, was almost titled ‘Fling’ or ‘Freak Out’, but Max thought 'Seven' was more ominous.”

“I did not! Stop putting words in my mouth!”

“Denial doesn't look good on you, schat (darling).”

“I’m not in denial,” He opposed. “I just said ‘Seven’ sounded better than ‘Fling’ or ‘Freak Out’.”

Track 3-Bigger Person

“Think we all know who this is directed at,” I sighed with a look directly at the camera, “But actually, it was a combination of the breakup and my personal problems with my family, and this is one of my most vulnerable songs. I’ve been working on it for a long time, and it is one of my favorites on the album. I think I did the idea justice, and I hope some of my fans find comfort in this song.”

Track 4-Flowers

“Flowers is another very close-to-home song. I used to have a huge fear of commitment, and with my ex, the very first thing he did was introduce me to his family by saying he would marry me,” I admitted, remembering the details of the night I met the Leclercs. Now, I have no contact with Charles, but his brothers and Maman still text me every so often. Arthur actually called me to tell me how much he loved the album earlier today. I smiled at the memories before continuing. “That actually didn’t drive me away as it normally would have, so I felt safe and comfortable with him right away. Maybe that’s why I put up with everything for so long. And anytime there was a big fight between us, instead of talking it out and resolving it, he would get me red roses. It was always an apology, and I can’t look at red roses the same anymore.”

“For everyone always asks why I get them carnations, daisies, or dahlias, this is why,” Max spoke up. “I’m the man that treats you right.”

“Yes, yes you do, Maxie,” I laughed, looking over at him. “I love you. Now, next song!”

Track 5-Somebody to You (Acoustic)

“When I realized that I loved Max, I couldn’t get him off my mind at all. I knew I wanted to be someone important to him, but I didn’t want to be overbearing and make him think it was a rebound,” I explained quickly. “However, even as a kid, I knew I would be with him because we were just always close like that.”

“They came to me whenever they needed support, and same for me with them,” Max elaborated, “We were just always close like that.”

Track 6-18

“It started when I told Max that I loved him for the first time at the Austin Grand Prix last year. He responded immediately saying he loved me since we were 18 before either of us actually understood love. It all just flowed from that moment. Max was actually able to help me on some of the lyrics for this song, but I promised I wouldn’t say what verses he wrote apart from the obvious.”

“Apart from the obvious? Really?” He laughed.

“Y’know, if you’re going to be so vocal during the stream, why don’t you just come on camera?” I challenged, knowing he didn’t want to be on the stream, but he was acting too involved for someone who didn’t want to be here.

“I’m fine here, thank you. Onto the next one.”

Track 7-That Part

“This is our story in a song,” I sighed as I made eye contact with Max, him winking at me, causing me to smile and drop my head. “ I jokingly told my friends and family that I would date Max at some point when we were like 8, so the end was kind of a ‘haha told you so’ to everyone who said I was lying. It was actually a surprise to Max, and he didn’t know I was writing this. When I played this for him the first time, he cried, but he loved it. I hear him singing it every so often, sometimes it’s in English and sometimes in Dutch, but either way, it makes me happy that he loves it. It means I did our love story justice.”

Track 8-Eternally Yours

“Max and I wrote this together. We wanted a song for our wedding, so we poured everything we had into this song. I also pulled in my friends, Chris and Ricky, to write with us. Chris and Ricky are masterminds when it comes to writing beautiful melodies with strong meanings, so I knew they would be the perfect people to collaborate with. If you know their band, you’d know that their more heartfelt songs like Fatal and Sinematic were written by these two,” I said, going onto a short tangent about my friends and co-writers. Then I remembered that many of my listeners don’t listen to them so I said, “Shameless plug here, check out their band, Motionless in White if Eternally Yours is your favorite from the album! They’ve got new music coming soon, but you didn’t hear that from me. They’re actually covering this on that album but with a metal twist.”

As soon as I saw the chat explode, I knew I messed up somewhere. I looked at the messages and found one that said, “WEDDING?!” I knew I just outed that we were engaged by accident. “Well, cat’s out of the bag everyone. Max proposed when he heard ‘That Part’ for the first time.”

My manager let out a loud laugh as they read one of the comments. I looked at them skeptically, so they said, “Chat wants Max to reenact his proposal.”

“Say less,” Max joked to himself as he walked from the other side of the camera to kneel in front of me.

“What are you doing? I thought you didn’t want to be on camera,” I laughed, moving my hands to mess with his hair. He started shaking his head to get my hands away from the strands as he pulled out a box. 

“I planned this to be a little more romantic than you jokingly messing up my hair,” He chuckled, using his other hand to fix it. “Can’t really back out now with hundreds of thousands of fans watching, now can I?” He reached out to grab my left hand as my free hand to hide my red face. “I think there’s only one thing left to say, wil je mij voor eeuwig de jouwe laten zijn (Well you let me be eternally yours)?”

“Altijd schat (Always darling),” I whispered as I pulled him in for a kiss as he pulled the ring out to place it onto my left ring finger. “That was pretty close to the first time.”

“Minus you messing with my hair, and you cried a lot more the first time,” He chuckled, sitting next to me for the end of the stream.

“At least now I can wear my ring in public,” I said before leaning in to kiss him one last time. I pulled away as my manager announced their presence again, causing us both to laugh. “Ok guys, that’s the stream. We will see you at the next album stream! Bye!”

~

October 16, 2024

~~~

Fin <3 (unless y’all got ideas for more. I’m open)

~~~~~

© BAD268 2023. DO NOT REPOST WITHOUT PERMISSION.

[ammstify]

Alright, crazy Persona 6 concept, hear me out;

What if the Personas our team uses are based either on the Knights of the Roundtable from Arthurian legends, or figures from Gaelic and Celtic stories and mythology?

From what we know of Persona 6 so far, the game's main color is green, which is often associated with nature, growth, harmony, fertility, and freshness. It can also be related to the themes of greed, envy, and wealth, and in Japan, can also be seen as a lucky color!

The code name for the game has also been revealed to be the word "carbon", which if you know, carbon is of course a very important element as it not only helps plants produce oxygen for us, but also regulates our planets temperature!

Many of the Persona games have themed teams of Personas, with each one being related to the overall concepts of the game, such as the theme and setting of the dungeons:

Persona 3's are all themed around Greco-Roman heroes, villains, and Gods, their respective affects on Greco-Roman mythology, and if they traveled into Tartarus (i.e. Orpheus, Castor and Pollock, Cerberus)

Persona 4's are all themed around Japanese heroes and Gods of myth, primarily related to the Izanagi and Izanami myth (i.e. Amaterasu, Susano-o, Take-Mikazuchi)

Persona 5's are all themed around literature and notorious rebellious figures and Gods who have challenged the status-quo, some as outlaws, others as rebels for their own cause (i.e. Arsene Lupin, Milady, Prometheus)

My idea primarily ties with the ideas of nature and the connections that both the Knights of the Roundtable and Celtic/Gaelic mythology inherently has to them. Perhaps our group and protagonist are trying to be heroes by healing nature, or trying to help society become less dependent on technology?

Or maybe, similar to the Phantom Thieves, are trying to bring justice to some individuals by acting as "heroes" or "knights", and protect those that are in need? And our group acts as these heroes, entering whatever shadow world to fight off evil doers in the name of heroism.

But what if this also turns against them too? And forces them to make hard decisions to decide what it truly means to be a "hero" and what it means to be a "villain?"

Of course this is all silly rambles but, if you're a fan of Persona, tell me what you think! What type of Personas or theme would you like to see in the next game? Tell me down below in the notes!

[m0e-ru]

want to take a crowd vote and see how people see Marie. You don't necessarily have to know the game or anything about her at all. Just look at her from her promo art, game screenshots, spinoffs, merchandise, etc. Just pick out the very first color that comes into your mind when you see her. Alright? Thank you foryour participation

[marquisegallery]

I FINALLY managed to finish the Devil theory pics!! Just barely before the end of the week like I hoped I would ;u;

And so, finally, my very rambly set of headcanons for these gremlins. They're my gremlins now I guess, I have hyperfixated too much lol

(This is going to be long. Incredibly long. And very headcanon-y because these guys don't exactly have a lot going for them in canon anyways. I'm warning you now. :u )

There are some of these borrowed from/inspired by @mechanical-magician's excellent Devil Theory and other BRC headcanons, I will point them out when they come up! :>

Starting off with Devil Theory in general:

The crew name is something all four of them came up with to sound threatening yet badass. With their reputation, it works well!

Their aliases come from the types of weapons most commonly associated with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (for the most part). Daishō is named as such because naming him “Katana” probably would have made the connection too obvious.

He was originally going to have them named after famous Japanese swords/swordsmiths (since it would probably fit the samurai-theming of their costumes better), but decided on the TMNT weapon names because he thinks they flow together better anyways. And secretly, he named each of them after the weapon of the TMNT member they're most similar to.

Plus, he finds it amusing to see other people’s reactions when they find out, lol

The other members themselves did not even realize the themeing until much, much later. Sai and Bō were annoyed by it (Nunchaku still thinks it's hilarious), but by then they were all so used to their aliases that they didn't want to bother coming up with new ones. :P

I personally like to think the gravelly voices they have in game is a sort of "character voice" they do to sound more threatening most of the time.

The only person they genuinely respected before the events of the game was DJ Cyber, though they wouldn’t admit it publicly. Also it’s mostly due to the fact that he can kick (and has kicked) all four of their asses in a 4-against-1 fight. In game, it’s mentioned they were kicked out of Mataan, and in a way I like to think they were quite literally kicked out of Mataan by DJ Cyber himself.

After the game, they do have some respect for BRC overall too. But kind of begrudgingly, and mostly because BRC managed to beat Faux and save the whole city.

On that note! Before and during the game's main plot, they just liked to be heels/assholes for the hell of it (not exactly true, but it's what they tell people if asked). It wasn't until get backstabbed (and almost killed) by Faux as Project Algo did they start reconsidering that, hey, maybe they can afford to be a little less assholish. Sucks that it took that much for them to change, but hey, better than nothing I guess??

So they did manage a sort of Heel-Face Turn… but mostly in that they stop pushing the Code of the Street to the limit, and of course they’ve stopped ratting out rival crews to the cops. They still have their own "heel personas” while in costume though, and still continue their activities as writers. Also occasionally still physically fighting other writers anyways, but its fine, probably!

None of them expect the other crews to forgive them for what happened (especially, y'know, the snitching thing), and indeed no one offers any sort of forgiveness. The feelings from most of the other crews and writers towards Devil Theory ranges from "Well, at least you got what you deserved and learned your lesson. You better make good on your promise to be good or else, alright?" to "I don't fucking trust you and I'm gonna keep an eye on you assholes."

Devil Theory have enough grace to accept this judgement, because hey, it's understandable. And on a more selfish perspective, it's either this or stick to being such unapologetic assholes that they get kicked out of New Amsterdam altogether!

Each of them do feel genuine guilt over the snitching thing and working with Faux behind everyone's backs. Sai was the only one who was opposed to it all in the first place, only being convinced by the others and Faux that it would be "fine". So besides guilt in not pushing back harder, there's also a bit of, "I fuckin' called it that this was a bad idea. I only went along with it because you guys said it'd work out, and look what fuckin' happened!!"

Meanwhile... Daishō is the one who feels the most guilty about what happened, since he's basically the leader, and had convinced the others to go for it. So he feels like it's his fault first and foremost for trying to cheat, as well as for trusting Faux in all of this just because he was one of the Big 3. Not to mention all of his friends nearly dying because of Faux, especially with Sai being the one slammed against the statue in Mataan... If any of them died, Daishō definitely would not be able to live with himself after that. He has not admitted this to anyone and is still personally grappling with that guilt. Nobody knows because he's (unfortunately?) very good at masking these kinds of things...

Sai is the member who ends up leaving DT for BRC, though mostly out of revenge against BRC (and specifically Red) for the crew battle back on Pyramid Island. He gets that out of his system eventually, and sticks with BRC as a genuine member (I have a fan fic idea for this bit of story, hee hee). He's still friends with the remaining DT crew of course, they've all been friends for a long time. (I'll touch on this more in a bit)

So then after the events of the game and Sai joining BRC, as a show of good will, Devil Theory let other writers (and especially DJ Cyber) know how exactly they managed to sic the cops on people: Basically hijacking certain police signals to send in false tips. Because otherwise interacting with the cops directly would have just led to them getting arrested too. (It's something that Faux told them how to do in order to gain their trust and make a "deal")

Everyone thinks it might be at least good as last resort free distraction against the cops. Send in a false tip, something like "Ignore those writers, there's a bigger emergency that is conveniently on the opposite side of the city!!" No one's sure if the cops have the ability to actually trace back the false tips to the source (like what happened with DOT EXE finding out about Project Algo), so writers only use it for emergencies. Still, coincidentally, arrests against writers has gone way down after this!

This also leads to a new addition to the Code of the Street: Any writer found to be abusing the false tips in order to get another writer/crew arrested, will be ratted out to the cops themselves. An eye for an eye! DJ Cyber was considering doing this to Devil Theory as well, but figured them getting pummeled by Faux towards the end of the game was punishment enough.

This one comes from a Mech headcanon: Devil Theory has their own hideout in the shipping container maze on Pyramid Island. The confusing (and frankly rather unnerving) nature of that area means their hideout can stay secure from anyone who doesn’t know how to get there.

My personal addition to this: There are different routes to the hideout based on whether or not it’s Tuesday, raining, a bank holiday, or any combination of those factors. Also, the crew (and even the dock workers of Pyramid Island in general) have not ruled out the possibility of there being any sort of Backroom Beasties in the maze. Sometimes you can hear things in there...

Sai is still invited to hang out at their hideout. Anyone else has to have approval from him and the remaining DT members before they're allowed to visit.

Also based on a Mech headcanon: They have pet crabs they keep at their hideout. Me personally, I like to think they're specifically hermit crabs! So then the crew paint designs onto any shells brought for the crabs, and will let visitors paint one too.

Back to the topic of all four of them being friends for a long time, more specifically: Sai and Daishō have known each other since very early childhood, and then they became friends with Bō and Nunchaku during middle school (i.e. around ages 12/13). Nunchaku in particular was living in California at the time, so it was an online friendship with the other three, eventually moving to New Amsterdam after turning 18.

They may or may not have started an anime-manga club during their time in school, which is how Sai and Daishō met Bō (and with Nunchaku as an honorary online member). All four of them refuse to admit to it these days, lol

Truthfully, the main reason all four of them have stuck together for so long is because they have had rough childhoods in one way or another, mostly due to their respective parents. This is what lead to the four of them becoming friends and wanting to protect/defend each other (sort of like a found family kind of thing), and thus forming Devil Theory together later on. However, they are more likely to admit to the anime-manga club thing than any of this.

(I might elaborate more on how rough it was for each on them in a separate post. Or just save it for a fan fic, if I can manage it...)

All four of them learned to fight mostly from watching wrestling shows and martial arts movies. “But wrestling is fake, those moves probably wouldn’t actually hurt someone--” “Only if you hold back.”

Both Sai and Bō have face scars. Sai has it over part of his lips, while Bō has a mark on part of his jaw. Both of them got these from injuries while trying to learn how to skate and freerun in order to be writers.

With Bō in particular, he outright passed out when it happened, causing the others to panic. They had to take him to the Flesh Prince to get him fixed up (hospitals would ask too many questions for their liking).

For Sai, the only people who know about how he got his scar are the rest of Devil Theory (and eventually he tells Rise too). To anyone else, he just tells them he got it from fighting 3 walking tanks at once. Rise says he should tell people it was 5 tanks at once to make it sound more impressive!

All four of them have cybernetic lower legs (from looking at the in-game models, it definitely looks more like cybernetics/prosthetics than just armor, at least to me). Long story short, each of them lost a foot or part of a lower leg (sometimes on both legs) for one reason or another. It eventually got to the point where Daishō went, "You know what?? Fuck this, we're clearly cursed, so let's just get this over with." And paid for all of them to just get what's left of their lower legs upgraded to fancy cybernetics, as seen in the game!

This is at least another reason for them becoming writers ("With these legs we could probably manage it pretty good, right?"), and then of course eventually forming Devil Theory.

Some more specifics on the why for each member:

For Sai and Daishō, it was directly caused by their Respective Bad Parents. (Like I mentioned earlier in this post, I may go into further detail on that in a separate post. Especially since it gets pretty dark...)

For Bō, it was an accident out in New Amsterdam. Basically there was a failed test involving one of the police's walking tank, resulting in Bō and other civilians getting injured. Some of them fairly severely, and of course Bō being one of those. None of them (including himself) know what actually caused the accident, not even that it was caused by a walking tank.

For Nunchaku, it was a factory accident. This was back when she first moved to New Amsterdam and needed a job. That led her to having to work at a shady factory with unsafe work conditions, and which was taking advantage of new immigrants like her who don't 100% know their rights or who to go to for help right away. Her accident in particular was one of the worst at the factory up to that point, with several other employees getting hurt as well. They all of course quite after that, including Nunchaku herself.

Sai's incident was the earliest to happen chronologically, while Bō's was the last one.

Daishō and Sai tried dating each other at one point in high school. Emphasis on “tried”. Turned out they were incompatible, at least in terms of sexualities: Sai is bi, but Daishō is straight.

At the least, it wasn’t the worst relationship either of them have had, just awkward once Daishō realized he's straight. So they broke things off and were able to stay friends afterwards.

And now for each individual member! With bonus head pics. :P

Sai

As previously mentioned, he's the member who joins up with Bomb Rush Cyberfunk in the postgame.

Also as previous mentioned, he at first only joined BRC for revenge against Red, but they sort it out after a while!

Has some anger issues, but since joining BRC (especially after a final serious fight with Red) he’s gotten a much better handle on it.

Eventually after that previous point, he starts dating Rise, there is a whole outline for this I swear…

He and Red still fight each other, but it's more like sparring matches. The rest of BRC end up treating it like actual sport matches, basically cheering on one or the other! Cueball and Bel even act as commentators for these matches, lol

He is fairly stand-offish most of the time, and takes some time to open up to other people.

He can cook, as in cooking without necessarily following a strict recipe. He cooks a lot for his former crew, though it takes him a while to open up and cook for BRC as well. You will not be disappointed if you invite him to a potluck!

He can sing quite well, but he hates singing in front of others, even his own friends (they've only ever heard him by accident when he didn't mean for them to hear him at all). He eventually opens up to singing for Rise at least.

I have a personal headcanon that DJ Cyber will occasionally take suggestions for mixtapes he's working on. Sai suggested several reggaeton songs/remixes, though he expected none of them to be picked. He was super stoked when he found out the DJ actually included one of his suggestions (the AGUA remix) in the particular mixtape that plays on Pyramid Island.

Works as a freelance graphic designer/artist as his day job. He takes commissions on the side. No, he does not take requests and will not draw your OC for free.

He is the one who designed Devil Theory's graffiti in canon, Daishō paid him for it too!

He's Puerto Rican, he moved to New Amsterdam as a kid.

Fluent in Spanish, he has a noticeable Puerto Rican accent when speaking Spanish.

Daishō

He is the leader of Devil Theory!

He let Sai leave the group to join BRC because he started getting sick of Sai’s anger issues (it had been growing worse until the BRC crew battle, at which point said issues were at their worst).

Once Sai gets a better handle on his anger, they go back to being friends, even with Sai staying with BRC.

Fairly chill guy (though also arrogant and snarky at times) out of costume.

While in public as the Devil Theory leader, he can be ruthless (as seen by how the group pushes the Code of the Street to the limit). He can also be dramatic sometimes, almost playing it up like an anime villain/wrestling heel at times. At least he’s smart enough to not let himself get distracted by monologuing.

Though if you genuinely piss him off, he can be incredibly petty and cruel, regardless of him being “in costume” or not.

Daishō wears contacts while in costume, but just normal glasses outside of that

He’s the one who designed Devil Theory’s costumes. He has experience with cosplay before forming DT. Heck, he's still into cosplay, specifically crossplay (i.e. crossdressing and cosplay at the same time).

He’s also the one that came up with their Hip-Hop dance. He’s particularly proud of the “criss-cross hop” part of the dance, but this was also the part that the other members had a hard time getting right. (I say this as someone who has attempted doing the dance IRL myself, and also had problems with that part :P)

On that note, he's a pretty good dancer in general, with both freestyle and "formal" dances with specific steps.

He's a straight guy who's not afraid to be feminine! If the point about him enjoying crossplay doesn't already tip you off. Though, to clarify, he's not afraid to look/act feminine outside of crossplay too.

He supposedly has enough money to just live off of for the rest of his life, but he continues to be a writer for the fun of it (and as an outlet/destressor). He does still work part-time though, as a secretary for one of the companies in Mataan.

He's a theater major and part of a group that holds plays in New Amsterdam. He loves to play as the villains, especially in musicals. Villains always get the best songs!! That being said, his actual singing is about 100% confidence and 65% actual talent. Him singing villain songs is already great, but anything else is usually "just" alright.

Big fan of horror movies, mainly slasher/splatter and body horror. Also the kind of guy who goes looking for director's cut versions and deleted scenes. He will ramble for hours about his favorite horror movies, especially about the acting and special effects! Though he will also rant about genuinely awful horror movies just as much. He has opinions!!

Claims to have a girlfriend, but he never names who he’s dating or goes into any specific details about her, and the other DT members have never met her. They have a running joke about her being his “theoretical girlfriend”. (She does actually exist! But she doesn't know Daishō is part of Devil Theory, and she has a secret herself...)

This one gets its own subsection because it's pretty long lol:

Daishō is terrible with names. In general it takes a while for him to learn other people's names, and he tends to mess up by getting close-but-not-quite with names. And with him being the leader of Devil Theory, most people assume he's just being a jerk and making fun of them. :P

Some examples:

Tryce = Tricycle, Trace, Tracy, Trance, Trick

Bel = Bell, Beth, Bev, Ring (like a ringing bell lol)

Vinyl = Vine, Vino, Vinny, VHS

Solace = Soul, Solis, Crash, Test

He doesn't have this problem with people who are basically celebrities to him (DJ Cyber and Felix being two-thirds of The Big 3, and he knows Rise because he follows her on social media). So then otherwise, the only thing that helps is coming up with mnemonics/associations. "Bel's hair kinda looks like a bell", "Vinyl works at a record store", etc.

One of the rare times he managed to remember someone's name easily is Red. Because, y'know, literal red head. :P

And yes, this also applies to his own friends, at least with their real names. He had no trouble with their street names, but only because he was the one who came up with them, lol

He's half-Japanese and half-Peruvian, born and raised in New Amsterdam. Fluent in Spanish and Japanese. He has a Peruvian accent when speaking in Spanish, his mother insisted on teach him herself (and to avoid him potentially ending up with a Spaniard accent, lmaooo).

As mentioned much earlier, he has known Sai since they were kids in elementary school. Basically Sai latched onto him because he was the only other Latino at their school, and Sai was already being alienated by the other kids because of that. They eventually realizing they have a lot in common anyways (like same favorite manga at the time) and became friends.

On that note! He only got into anime and manga in the first place out of spite towards his dad, who basically looked down on it as "everything wrong with my homeland these days". Dad only very begrudgingly got Daishō stuff in the original Japanese, choosing to see it as at least a way for his kid to learn Japanese more easily.

That leads to a more genuine love for anime and manga, and then forming the anime-manga club, becoming friends with Bō and Nunchaku, and of course eventually all four of them forming Devil Theory. Funny how these things work out!

Bō

Rather stoic while in public as a Devil Theory member, but outside of that he tends to be fairly nerdy and polite.

Arguably the way he acts in and out of costume is probably the biggest difference among the rest of the DT members. Which tends to be rather jarring to most people…

The tech person of the group, bit of a hacker too. He was the one who figured out the false tips thing with the police signals, and frankly he finds the police force's security systems to be insulting pathetic a lot of the time.

His day job is as an IT tech, though he often gets forced into doing stuff outside of his job description, especially since his damn coworkers keep pushing their own work onto him. He even has to take care of coding things as a programmer/engineer, which is even more outside of his job description!

Being a writer is basically a destressor for him at this point. Do not ask him to troubleshoot your tech problems when he’s off the clock, he hates that. The rest of DT know this and don’t ask him unless it’s something genuinely serious (and only after they’ve done their own troubleshooting).

He's a gamer, and especially loves games that he can mod himself.

Related to the previous point: he has strong opinions about how the game industry is going these days (Little-to-no official support for preservation of older games, going after emulators when they won’t even help make their games more accessible, awful dev crunch especially from larger companies, etc.). He will rant about it if you let him!

He can't handle horror content very well, be it movies or video games. And I mean genuine horror stuff, especially with gore. Silly scary stuff like Luigi's Mansion is fine, but getting into Silent Hill and Resident Evil is where he starts genuinely freaking out. He'll at least watch his friends playing through survival horror games, not playing it himself, but he'll insist on having all the lights on.

One time the others did manage to drag him through a haunted house attraction. He ended up freaked out badly, and afterwards got into a fistfight with Sai over it (it was his idea to do that in the first place). Lesson learned!

He has attempted at least once to get a piercing like his friends, but he almost fainted while doing so (he might have a fear of needles). He hasn't tried since.

Knows how to fight like the rest of the DT members, but some people may underestimate him because they assume the tech guy isn’t that strong. Also, Bō is admittedly built more for weightlifting than outright fighting like the others. So he's a big guy with body fat and muscles, though some people assume he's just fat. But that doesn't mean he can't kick your ass!

On that note, he hates when people underestimate him in general, or otherwise think he’s naive.

Inspired by Mech's own CUE.mp4 and Pluto: Bō eventually starts dating Cueball (the DOT EXE member who joins BRC in the postgame). Admittedly at first I was like, only lightly considering something similar in my own stuff, like "That'd be cute, but it probably wouldn't work for these two in my AU/headcanons, ha ha" but eventually after more thinking I realized, "Wait a minute, this could work after all." lol

He's gay, would probably be considered a bear maybe, though he doesn't use that label himself (he doesn't hate it or anything, just doesn't want to use it).

His family has lived in New Amsterdam for generations.

Knows enough Spanish to follow along with Sai and Daishō when they have conversations in Spanish, though not necessarily respond to either of them in Spanish (or anyone else for that matter).

Nunchaku

In case her real name in my headcanons didn't already tip you off, Samus Aran surprise!! Nunchaku is a gal named Roxanne! She can pull off a gravely “character voice” like the rest of DT, and even her normal voice is a bit rough/raspy (think kinda like Rainbow Dash, but maybe a lower pitch).

She goes by Rox as a nickname out of costume/with friends.

"Wait so is she cis or trans--" Originally I handled this by saying, "Would Rox herself be comfortable answering that question? I don't think she would want to answer at all, regardless of being cis or trans." BUT, after thinking it over and discussing it with friends, I've decided to just pick one and stop leaving it up to interpretation.

So anyways, the answer is: she's a trans butch lesbian!

Overall a very positive and friendly (and energetic) person outside of Devil Theory, but can be surprisingly underhanded when in costume.

Though either way, she tends to be very high-energy. She is in fact the team member with the highest gremlin energy!

Her ears are pierced, but that was something her parents forced her into doing. She refuses to use earrings and stuff even as an adult, though she did eventually get that piercing on her nose.

She likes spicy food! Also has a tendency to add hot sauce to certain foods just to kick up the spice factor. Sai and Nunchaku used to have small arguments over her adding hot sauce to the food he cooked for her (Sai sees it almost as an insult, as if she’s saying it doesn’t already taste good enough). By now they’ve come to more of an understanding, and Sai just side-eyes her whenever she adds hot sauce to her food.

Was a bit of a kleptomaniac as a teen, and these days she still steals things on occasion. She’s good at it and manages to not get caught (a lot of the time).

One time she went to steal a new TV for the Devil Theory hideout. She saw the store she was hitting had a buy one get one free deal on TVs, so she stole two and gave the extra to BRC for their own hideout!

She works as a mechanic as her day job, mainly fixing cars, though also other kinds of large machines and equipment (washing machines, fridges, trucks, construction vehicles, etc). She’s in charge of fixing the crew’s skateboards when needed.

Adding onto her job backstory: The shop Nunchaku works for as a mechanic is owned by a guy who originally mentored her back at the factory she worked at (mentioned a lot earlier on this post). Basically he'd seen a lot of violations and other shady crap, none of it getting fixed despite multiple complaints and reports. And seeing so many people (including unfortunately Nunchaku) end up hurt at once was the last straw. So he quit, opened a repair shop, and offered Nunchaku and other former employees of the factory new jobs at his business. They're all happier to be away from that crappy factory, which has since been shut down due to the accidents and violations.

Nunchaku is crane and forklift certified. She figured it would look good on her resume, and hopefully be impressive to the ladies. Hopefully. It hasn't worked yet.

She has been interested in learning about welding, especially given how much money those types of jobs make, but for now she's happy with her mechanic job.

She likes to take things apart in order to put them back together again. She finds it's the easiest way for her to understand how something works!

She has a personal goal of someday taking apart DJ Cyber's spider tank thingamajig in order to figure out how it works. And ideally being able to make one of her own. Basically imagine the following: Nunchaku: "Heeeey, Mr. DJ, do you mind if I take a look at your tank thing? I promise I won't take long!" DJ: "Hell no."

She has a crush on Vinyl, but gets too nervous to actually ask her out. Nunchaku also keeps going to the music shop that Vinyl works at to buy records (she doesn’t even have a record player) just to talk to her. Note that Vinyl working at a music shop is inspired by Mech's headcanons for Vinyl! :>

Nunchaku's impromptu "record collection" is growing out of hand at this point, a lot of it for genres she doesn't even like, lol

She once tried to learn how to juggle knives in order to impress ladies! That ended in a trip to the Flesh Prince (again, hospitals would ask too many questions), and she hasn't tried that since.

She knows how to pick locks though! Most of the time it's just using one tool (more often than not the single-sided jiggler) to jam everything until they open. She gets excited when she has to pick a lock that actually requires genuine work to get open.

American, as mentioned a while ago she moved from California to New Amsterdam a bit after high school

Fluent in Japanese (she learned it due to being a weeb, lol); in terms of Spanish, she’s in the same boat as Bō, knowing enough to at least follow Sai and Daishō’s conversations in Spanish

---

SO THAT'S EVERYTHING!! For now. Maybe.

I'm gonna go hibernate like a bear for a while. Feel free to leave snacks in front of my cave if you want, loool

[glitterpensupremacy]

Alright, you all voted (in spite of my prediction) and so I am more than happy to deliver!

Adrien MTS

His character notes are organized into four categories:

1. General info

2. Personality

3. Key relationships

4. Planned character growth

(This post may be a bit long, so the rest is under the cut)

1. General Info

I‘ll start with the biggest overall changes:

Adrien now has an equal importance to the story as Marinette (they are both the main protags of the show). This is because MTS has certain relevant plot lines that wouldn’t work with Marinette as the POV character. For example, the Agreste family backstory heavily impacts him and his life, so making Marinette the focus doesn’t work. This change was also made because duality and balance are major thematic motifs in the show, and having two MCs was one of the best ways we could implement this idea. (Also he’s just a fun character to write plots around!) On average he and Marinette would get equal screen time, but it fluctuates depending on the particular story (ex: he has a slightly smaller role in season 2 since he has less of a connection to Lila, a major antagonist in that season).

We are also not using the SentiAdrien plotline. This is due to it not being confirmed as canon at the time we began conceptualizing MTS, so we didn’t include it. And now the story doesn’t have room for it and all all the other aspects of the series that are more integral.

2. Personality

Adrien, while still trying to be nice to most of the people he meets, is a lot less mild mannered than his OG counterpart. A bit like the OG show’s S1 Adrien, only slightly more chaotic. He’s generally cheerful, enjoys making jokes (mainly as CN) and trying new things, and affectionate with his loved ones. Freedom is very important to Adrien, and he’ll often go to great lengths to try to hold on to it. Sometimes Chat Noir tries to put on a bit of a “tough guy persona”, but often melts at the first compliment or gesture from his partner.

Adrien does have the tendency to be very assertive and a tad brash (especially in the first season) because he worries that any sign of weakness will cause others to want to make decisions for him to “protect him”. Similarly, he hates being put on a pedestal, especially when it causes others to dismiss any part of him that doesn’t fit the image they have in their head (basically him being a famous model has greatly impacted how he wants to be perceived with others). He also can’t stand it when people close to him (mainly his father and initially his brother) hide things from him and try to control his actions and behavior.

3. Key Relationships

This is actually only a couple of his relevant relationships, seeing as there are a lot of them in MTS. If you want to know about a specific relationship I didn’t mention (or want more detail on a one I did mention, feel free to send me an ask!)

Marinette: The two start off with a casual friendship, as Marinette doesn’t really care that he’s a model. This actually makes Adrien more interested in hanging out with her, as she’s someone who sees Adrien as a person rather than a celebrity. He doesn’t really see her in a romantic light (or at least realize he does) until toward the end of the show, but still values her a lot. He also won’t be as oblivious as the OG Adrien about Mari’s feelings, and even though he doesn’t reciprocate them (consciously anyway), he appreciates that she actually likes him for who he is.

Ladybug: These two sort of get off on the wrong foot. Partially because of their Kwami’s influence (we may have given them some issues for the plot) and partially because Chat initially thinks Ladybug is a lot like his brother, the two don’t really work together, and often quarrel. He gets very paranoid about her wanting him to go along with her plans (due to his fear of being controlled) and thinks she’s bossy. After the midpoint of the S1 though, they get to know each other better. He learns that she is very different from who he thought she was. Realizing that she’s actually a vulnerable girl trying her best to be a hero and do right by others, causes him to become more concerned about her wellbeing. The two will also start to confide in each other about their insecurities, and near the end of S1, he finally falls in love with her. (He’ll be a lot less outspoken about it than the OG though, due to an incident that happened prior to this.) He wants to be the hero partner she deserves first and foremost.

Felix: The twins were very close growing up, especially the death of their mother and their father becoming more distant, but over the years, Felix began to change. He started to treat Adrien more like their father does, which caused Adrien to feel betrayed by his brother. Initially their relationship is cordial, with a bit of resentment on Adrien’s side, which grows until it reaches a breaking point. The two end up getting into a (somewhat one-sided) fight, that Adrien comes to regret. Fortunately the two end up getting a bit closer after this, before finally resolving their issues in the season finale (Felix learns Chat Noir’s identity, which changes how he perceives his brother, and Adrien realized that there’s been more going on with Felix than he thought after he gets akumatized into Calamity). From there the two regain their lost relationship, and do anything for each other.

Gabriel: Adrien’s feelings about his father are… complicated. On the one hand, he understands how hard things have been for his dad after losing the love of his life. In the other hand, Adrien can’t stand the way he’s acted for the past several years: isolating himself from everyone else, constantly trying to keep Adrien locked away and micromanaged, never just being there for his son, which is all Adrien really wants. On the other other hand, Adrien has a much harder time speaking up to him than he did with Felix (because well, it’s much easier to rebel against your twin sibling than your controlling father), and still wants to see the best in his dad (both because he cares about him and because Felix showed Adrien that change is possible). Throughout the third season, Adrien is able to learn a bit more about Gabriel and even confront him for how he’s treated Adrien (and Felix, but that’s another post). His father even seems like he’s starting to change after this, but… let’s just say something goes wrong.

Nino: Adrien is instantly charmed by his new “best bro”, who tries to teach him a bit more about normal kids work. Adrien tries to inspire Nino to apply himself a little more, at least when it comes to things that are clearly important to him. The fact that Nino likes his jokes definitely boosts his spirits. Adrien does start to worry about Nino after the Bubbler, as Nino’s extreme reaction (seeing as people usually can’t be akumatized unless it relates to a core issue that’s been festering for years) suggests that there may be more to his “cool dude” best friend than he thought.

Other notable Adrien/Chat Noir dynamics (for better or worse) include Plagg, Alya, Kagami, Luka, Chloe, Mylene (it’s a long story), Emilie, and Hawk Moth (he is their nemesis after all).

4. Character Growth

Ah yes, the bread and butter of storytelling. Adrien receives two major character arcs in the series. One principally taking place during season one, while the other is much longer. (He also gets minor, non-arc related growth, but I’m highlighting the most important details)

Arc #1: Adrien undergoes some pretty major changes in the first season. He starts off as the usual sweet, sophisticated, “perfect” Adrien who tries to smile through the loneliness and suffocating rules. When he meets Plagg, he gets a change to show how capable he can truly be, while getting the power to free himself from these confines. He especially loves using his Prime Ability, Wildcat (his equivalent to the Miraculous Ladybugs) to do so. It essentially turns him into an unbeatable fighting machine! Unfortunately, this power is more than a mortal being can handle, and slowly chips away at his sanity, amplifying his feelings of anger and determination to be free. Plagg also eggs him on, warning him that giving up on using Wildcats will make him “weak again”, which will cause him to go back to being helpless and submissive (MTS Plagg and Tikki are kinda jerks at first). He realizes that it’s too much for him to handle in the first midseason finale, and renounces the power. This causes his body to fall into a state of withdrawal and fatigue that takes multiple episodes to recover from. During this time, he learns the value of stability, responsibility, and that he can be empathetic while also not letting others control him. His arc culminates at the end of season 1, where he unlocks the power to purify akuma, understanding that destruction can be used for good when maintaining an inner balance.

Arc 2: The seeds of this arc are planted from the beginning, as using Wildcat caused him to unintentionally become destructive and dangerous, but the episode Copycat is what launches the arc. Facing someone who looks exactly like you, has all of your powers, who you (unintentionally) lead to get akumatized does a lot to a person’s self esteem. Even though he hasn’t fallen in love with Ladybug yet, he cares about their friendship, so fighting an imposter who completely obsessed with her causes him to fear becoming the same way. Naturally this causes him to panic when he does fall in love with her, making him take longer to even admit how he feels about her. (He also struggles after she rejects him, but is more worried about her potentially being afraid of him than the rejection itself.) The New York Special also deals with his insecurities, as he almost quits being a hero due to not wanting to hurt anyone else. Fortunately Felix (who he tried to give the ring to instead) talks him out of it. Finally he manages to overcome his fears in the final season, after he faces his nightmare in Sandboy (that being a Ladybug who believes he’s a monster), and acknowledges that he’ll never be that kind of person.

Conclusion:

Alright, that finishes a (general) overview of Adrien’s character in Miraculous: The Series. To anyone who actually had the patience to read all of this, thank you for listening to my ramble (believe it or not but there’s even more details I could have mentioned!)

Marinette is gonna be the next character I talk about (idk when I’ll actually write her notes out, but she is next) as a planned post. After that… I’ll probably either discuss the MTS love square, Tikki and Plagg’s changes, or one of the fabled Season One trio characters (Alya, Chloe, or Felix). As for now… stay miraculous!

[silent-partner-412]

ok i need to vent about a trope in video games (mostly rpgs and visual novels) that i really don’t like, and want to talk about why a lot of games fail at it and give a few examples of how it succeeds. however to do so im going to spoil a shitton of games. so if you plan on playing any of the social sim persona games, the xenoblade trilogy, sea of stars, 9 hours 9 persons 9 doors, pokemon mystery dungeon explorers of sky, chrono trigger, the great ace attorney, or danganronpa 2 and 3 (the anime not the game), do not read this post. i will be spoiling all of them.

so what’s up with characters dying But Not Actually so much?? it’s gotten to the point where whenever a main character dies, i’m almost certain that there’s going to be some funny business to justify bringing them back. it kind of drives me nuts, and i wanna talk about why this plot point fails in so many games (and also a few where it works in my opinion because it CAN work).

to start, the xenoblade games, specifically 1 and 3. i think fiora’s death in xenoblade 1 was my first exposure to this trope and honestly i think it’s done alright. there’s a LOT of foreshadowing about the nature of the face units in the early game, and having her be turned into one makes complete sense. also she’s not the only character who’s presumed dead that ends up in a face unit, so the concept feels more complete than just an excuse to bring back a main character. the main problem with fiora is more that her character pre-death is so much better than post-death, but that’s less to do with the resurrection and more just me disagreeing with the direction they take her character. overall this game gets a pass from me, not a bad use of the trope.

xenoblade 3 however i will not be so kind to. mio’s fakeout death fucking sucks and it ruined one of my favorite characters up to that point. they build up the fact that mio is dying all game, it’s a huge part of her character. the existentialism of it all was so compelling to me, i was excited to see where it was going to go. but the body swap with m during the prison sequence was so underwhelming it hurts. it is mildly foreshadowed in the fight against m, but it still felt like they sidestepped the conflict entirely because they didn’t have the guts to actually follow through on what they had set up. which, to be fair, this would be fine if they actually explored how she felt about living when she was supposed to die, but they don’t. this is pretty much the last major character moment for mio all game, and it was so disappointing to me. not a good use of the trope at all.

persona 3 (portable) and 4 use this trope too and it’s also pretty rough. shinjiro’s death is a big moment in persona 3, and saving him in portable feels super underdeveloped and feels like it was just used for fanservice at the end of the day. nanako’s death in persona 4 is almost insultingly underdeveloped too, it feels like it only happens because they needed to add extra tension during the climax of the game, when it would’ve worked perfectly fine if she was just severely injured in my opinion. having her die and come back just feels cheap and unearned.

persona 5 does it much better with akechi in my opinion but that’s also because him coming back is pretty much a mirage. the only reason he comes back in the third semester is because maruki thought him being back would be part of joker’s ideal reality, and once maruki is defeated akechi goes away too. it’s all pretty fantastic, and the way they explore akechi’s feelings about the whole situation is great too. of course, there is the moment at the ending where you seem him through the window but that’s left purposefully ambiguous and i choose to believe it’s just joker’s imagination lol.

chrono trigger is probably one of the oldest examples of this trope and it didn’t really bother me, but that’s mostly because i wasn’t super attached to crono in the first place cuz he doesn’t have much going for him in terms of characterization lol. i also think that because there are multiple endings including one where he doesn’t come back (and you really have to go out of your way to bring him back) makes it feel a bit less cheap? i don’t know, i don’t really have a strong opinion one way or the other for this case.

now sea of stars i’ve gone on record saying i adore, but i still don’t love how they handle garl’s resurrection. it feels almost identical to crono’s, and feels a bit too fanservicey for my liking especially since i thought garl’s death was so extremely well done. it’s cute, and i do love garl, but i prefer the regular ending where he doesn’t come back.

so… remember how all the characters in danganronpa 2 didn’t actually die? cuz they were in a simulation the whole time and it wasn’t a “you die in the game you die in real life” situation like they implied in the game? yeah that was weird. i don’t remember this bugging me a ton back in my danganronpa phase but like… the deaths in that game in particular were really well done for the series (let’s forget about chapter 3 for now) and having none of them matter in the end kind of sucks. it also doesn’t feel like that was the original vision since this reveal only happens in the danganronpa 3 anime and not in dr2, so it feels like it was probably done for fanservice more than anything.

these next two are ones i don’t think were too bad and that’s because they both happen and you kinda just know they’re not gone for good. kazuma from great ace attorney and snake from zero escape (999) both die so early and so suddenly after being set up to be seemingly important that you sort of just know they’re not gone for good, and if they were you’d probably be disappointed. also they both slap when they come back and their characters would probably feel incomplete without their reveal that they didn’t actually die. if you’re going to kill characters and bring them back, this is one of the better ways to do it in my opinion.

finally, this isn’t really a death but it still really bothered me. i really don’t like the ending of pokemon mystery dungeon explorers of sky’s final special episode. for years i thought that once grovyle and dusknoir returned to the future and you and your partner save the world, they’re gone. that’s how the game sets it up. i’ve thought that’s how it was for years since i didn’t play sky until last year. learning that no, they save the world and all the pokemon from the future are fine actually was so… it just felt wrong. i feel like they didn’t want a sequence that grim to end the episode in a game made for children, but i was like 9 when i beat explorers of time/darkness the first time and i understood the implications of what happened. learning that wasn’t actually the case now that i’m an adult bothered me and i wish they had stuck to their guns.

so what’s the common thread here? well, the times where it doesn’t work are usually because it feels like fanservice or like the story didn’t justify it well enough. it feels like you’re being coddled almost, like don’t worry your blorbo is fine!! they’re still alive!!! and i hate that so much. stick to your guns!!! if you don’t have a damn good reason to bring back characters after they supposedly die, don’t bring them back. it usually feels wrong and hollow. look, in real life, people die (i know big shocker), and there’s nothing you can do about it. i’ve had people very close to me die, and while i would do anything to bring them back, that’s just not how it works. i know games are supposed to be escapism where you suspend your disbelief, but i don’t usually feel happy when characters i love die and come back. it just feels like mildly condescending wish fulfillment. i just wish authors would be more thoughtful about this kind of thing.

[childofaura]

How do you feel about Sam Riegel and Eden Riegel? (I don’t know if it’s possible to do two but I hope it’s alright for the VA Review)

I'm willing to do both of them at the same time, it's not often there's siblings in the voice acting industry. The other ones I know off the top of my head are Brian, Paul, and Michael Dobson (No relation to the infamous Dobson). And I only know Michael and Paul from the Bionicle movies.

So Eden and Sam Riegel are brother and sister, and both are in FEH. Sam plays Stahl, Donnel, and Raigh, and outside of FEH is known as the second (And better, in my opinion) voice of Teddy in Persona 4. Eden plays Genny, Nah (my daughter in law), Sumia, and fills in for the female voice of F!Kana (though for some reason FEH lists her as Claudia Lenz); Not yet in FEH but still in the FE universe, she plays Fleche, whereas outside of it, she's well known for playing Devola and Popola in the Nier series, and Marie in Persona Golden.

Let's start with Sam.

Performance-wise, Sam does a great job as all three characters, and REALLY shines with Donnel's accent. Raigh, from what I can hear of (because I never actually used Raigh and sadly I can't find his voice clips on Youtube, so I'm going off what I remember) comes off as a little more angsty than his brother Lugh, a bit... I wouldn't say surly, but definitely has the tone of a preteen dragging his feet. Stahl, I feel SO BAD for saying this, but Stahl doesn't stand out as much in the Awakening cast, but that's not his fault! He's literally the most normal and balanced of all the characters while everyone else is just overly quirky (but written well at least), so his voice for Stahl is very mild and welcoming. He sounds like the only Shepherd you could sit and comfortably talk to without getting into hijinks, so I'll note that as a positive for Stahl's character. Donnel is... Donnel, the choice for the heavy western accent was so perfect for his character and really adds flavor to the acting. Can't say there's an unsatisfying performance from any of his characters, it's just a damn shame that none of them have gotten alts yet.

I think he fits everyone too, especially because his Raigh sounds VERY close to Michael Johnston's Lugh, which works since they're twins.

I think Sam's got great range! Stahl and Donnel, coming from the same game, are drastically different from each other even if you can hear his voice in them.

For Sam, I'd put him at a 9.999999/10. Just give his character some damn alts so we can hear some updated acting!

Now for Eden:

I think it's interesting to note that in FEH, both Nah and Sumia are not listed with any actor despite it clearly being Eden, while Genny and Kana are both listed under a pseudonym, Claudia Lenz. I don't know if this is another Stanbra case where people assumed it's Eden but let's treat those roles like they're hers for now. Performance-wise, I adore Eden's roles for Nah and Sumia, two of my favorite female characters from Awakening, as well as doing a great job for Genny, and I think she filled in well for Danielle Judovits in Kana's case (being that most of Kana's voice clips were just recycled from one of the Corrin voice choices, and actually Danielle's voice was the one I chose for my Corrin avatar with the flat-chested form). Nah's shrill little dragon shrieks are always fun to listen to, and Sumia sounds just like a Disney princess with how light and hopeful her voice is. Genny is quiet and reserved, and I think it's cute how Kana pronounces "Papa", especially when she talks about missing Corrin and not crying.

I think Eden was a perfect fit for all of these characters, especially Nah, Sumia, and Kana.

Range is... I think it's pretty good, but I don't know if some people would disagree with me or not. It's pretty clear that Nah and Sumia are the same actor, but I think that Kana and Genny sound pretty different from them as well.

So overall, I'd realistically give Eden an 8/10, though she's a 9/10 in my book personally.

TL;DR: The Riegel siblings get a W in my book.

[orthoxrequiem]

Persona 4 Golden Review (Spoilers)

So I promised my friend who got me into Persona (even if he did warn me beforehand) that after I finished Persona 4, I would write an in-depth review of it, and since I stick by my promises, here it is! I’ll separate this into categories, where I talk about the gameplay, graphics, music, characters, and plot of the game before giving my final thoughts about it. So with that out of the way, let’s do this!

Gameplay:

To start this review off positively, I’ll go over the best part of this game. I love the way this game plays and how it handled the battles in it. The battle system is so fucking good and it makes them feel very engaging. I love the whole elemental system that makes up battles as it allows for a lot of strategy for how you’re going to take down certain enemies and how you can defend yourself against said enemies. It’s also always satisfying to knock them down and follow it up with an all out attack. I also love how the social links of your party members affects how they perform in battles as well, which adds more strategy to that as well. Overall, the gameplay is really what made this game so good to me, because IT’S JUST SO PEAK!

Music:

This game’s soundtrack is really fucking good. Even people who hate Persona (reasonable) can admit that the soundtrack goes hard and has them BOISTEROUS TUNES. Some of my personal favourite tracks include:

-Reach Out To The Truth

-Backside Of The TV

-Deduction

-Sauna

-Heartbeat, Heartbreak

-Game

-A New World Fool

-The Fog

-Secret Base

-Heaven

-Long Way

-Corridor

-The Almighty

-The Genesis

-Electronica of the Soul

-Time to Make History

However, I will say that the normal boss theme is pretty mid when compared to the other tracks in the game, but it’s still alright. So basically, WE MAKING IT OUT IF INABA WITH THIS ONE!!!!!

Graphics:

I don’t give a shit about graphics in video games because I’m not a fucking loser, but I will say that this game looks pretty fire. The 3D model’s movements can feel a little janky at times but they’re alright. I mainly really like the sprites in this game, even if I do think that they could’ve be a little more expressive, because it’s a little jarring when a character is crying and their sprite is just “:(“. Either way, this isn’t really that important, but I just wanted to mention it. Adachi’s sprites are also all so peak by the way. He brings that adachilicious swagger wherever he goes.

Characters:

Yu:

Yu, or Reigen Arataka as I named him in my playthrough, is the protagonist of the game and your typical self-insert MC for the “immersive experience” that game developers love to do for some reason despite how fucking stupid it is and how I would prefer if the protagonist was an actual character with an actual personality. Granted, I did hear that he does have a personality in the anime, but I never watched it, so I really only have the game to base it off of. I don’t have anything to say about him because the game doesn’t give him anything to say, so yeah. He’s just your typical self-insert in the game.

Yosuke:

Where the fuck do I begin?! Alright, look, for the first couple of hours of the game, Yosuke is a great character. He’s just this chill bro who you would play Fortnite with, and even if he was a little down bad sometimes, he wasn’t like that too often and it was just him being a goofball. However, around the Steamy Bathhouse dungeon, all of that changes as Yosuke comes out of the closet as…HOMOPHOBIC! Turns out your bro would probably call you slurs during Jackbox vc sessions on Discord which fucking sucks. Even after that section, Yosuke is really homophobic towards Kanji which is NOT funny at all and makes me want to BANISH HIM to the DEPTH of IKEA! However, you don’t need to worry, BECAUSE IT GETS EVEN WORSE! You know when I said that Yosuke was down bad, well as the game progresses, that becomes more and more evident to the point where him being a pervert is just his main personality. Granted, it’s not as bad as a certain character that I’ll get to later, but it’s still really fucking obnoxious how painfully heterosexual he is. If bro was a Danganronpa fan, he would ship KaiMaki. If bro was a Puyo Puyo fan, he would ship SigAmi. If bro was an Angry Birds fan, he would love the second movie. You see what I’m getting at here? However, Yosuke DOES get bullied throughout the game, so that does slightly make up for how annoying he is, but he still sucks in the end. I also genuinely can’t believe that people actually ship him with the protagonist because Yosuke does not deserve an ounce of happiness in his absolutely pathetic life. Overall, Yosuke is a really annoying and unlikable character that fools you into thinking that he’d be your lovable goofball sidekick. Fuck Yosuke! All my homies hate Yosuke!

Chie:

On a more positive note, I really like Chie. Her personality balances out her whimsical silliness as well as her desire to roundhouse kick the shit out of people which makes for a very engaging and fun character that balances off the next character I will talk about very well. Absolute girlboss! She also beefs with Yosuke a lot which gives her extra points because FUCK YOSUKE! I don’t really have much to say about Chie since I got nothing to complain about or anything important that needs to be said, because she’s just a very solid character. Shoutouts to Chie aka Yukiko’s gf!

Yukiko:

Next up, Chie’s girlfriend! Yukiko is very reserved and not as bombastic as other characters but I really like that about her. She just has this calm demeanour and whenever she talks, I’m always really invested in her dialogue. She’s always got some real shit to say. She also really balances out Chie’s personality really well which is why they’re both perfect for each other and I can’t believe they actually got married at the end of the game, can you believe that? However, I will say that she was way too painfully heterosexual during the nightclub scene around Naoto’s part of the game, but that’s more of a flaw on the story then her own flaw. Also, her social link development felt very strange to me because it goes from “I want to be independent from my family” to “Actually, this is where I belong” which I understand the message it’s going for but it still feels strange tbh. I would say I like her around the same level as Chie, which is ANOTHER reason why they are perfect for each other. Overall, she’s very bodacious. Shoutouts to her.

Kanji:

FUCK YEAH TIME TO TALK ABOUT THE BEST FUCKING CHARACTER IN THE GAME! Kanji is the FUCKING GOAT! It may not seem like it from his funny as fuck dungeon, but he is the GOAT! He’s the bro that Yosuke never was, as I would definitely chill and listen to JPEGMAFIA with him unlike with Yosuke. He’s a bisexual icon, even if the game is too much of a coward to lean into the more gay side of his character, but what do you expect from Persona? I love how he’s this tough badass that does deep down have a soft side to him (which reminds me a lot of Onigawara from Mob Psycho who’s one of my favourite characters in that show) and I like how his character development is him learning to except that being a “real man” is by being true to yourself and making cute plushies, as seen in his social link being THE BEST IN THE FUCKING GAME. Absolute ICON! He really makes you wonder why Yosuke is still in the game in the first place because Kanji does everything he does WAY BETTER! Also, him and Naoto are both gay and in love trust me they told me themselves. Anyways, KANJI SOLOS EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER IN THE GAME FUCK YEAH!!!!!

Rise:

I do not like Rise. I don’t utterly despise her like Yosuke or the next character I’ll talk about, but I do dislike her. I thought I was going to really like her from when she’s first introduced, as I really liked her calm and slightly cynical personality and I thought it would be great to have a character like that in the party, but I was so wrong. Turns out, Rise’s development isn’t about her leaving her life as an idol behind, but embracing it for some fucking reason. Turns out, her idol life is actually just how she normally is????? What the fuck????? Rise ends up turning about to be this annoying hyperactive and slightly smug character who’s always flirting with the main character because of Forced Heterosexuality SigAmi KaiMaki Angry Birds Movie 2 style (I already made that joke but I just had to make it again lol), and she’s also like that towards other characters as well. She’s also mean to Kanji, so she can go fuck herself. Overall, she’s annoying and I don’t like her. If she was removed from the game then nothing of value would be lost.

Teddie:

I FUCKING HATE TEDDIE I FUCKING HATE TEDDIE I FUCKING HATE TEDDIE I FUCKING HATE TEDDIE! HE IS THE WORST CHARACTER IN THE FUCKING GAME! If he isn’t making obnoxious bear puns every few seconds, then he is being a disgusting pervert, and when he isn’t doing that, he’s just being extremely fucking obnoxious. He’s also really fucking annoying during battles before Rise joins your party because he won’t SHUT THE FUCK UP! I don’t like Rise, but she is a billion times better then that stupid Freddy Fazbear wannabe. The most unrealistic thing about Persona 4 is the fact that the group view Teddie as a friend because in reality, I don’t think there is a single person who would ever love his pathetic existence. The game tries to give him character development later on in the story, but WHY THE FUCK should I care about the CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, when I fucking hate the CHARACTER that’s being DEVELOPED! Overall, Teddie is the worst character ever, and it’s baffling how the bad ending of the game is labeled as such when Teddie leaving is the best thing that could happen to the group, because his existence is worse then anything Adachi could even do. If he was removed from the game then the world would be a much better place, and yet here we are.

Naoto:

I LOVE NAOTO! THIRD BEST CHARACTER IN THE GAME! HE IS THE FUCKING GOAT! However, Naoto is different when compared to my other favourites in this game because of how utterly dirty he is done by the game. Kanji is disrespected as well and I already mentioned that previously and how it annoys me, but not to the extent that Naoto is. So, let’s talk about Naoto being trans.

The Naoto Transmasc Controversy:

Naoto’s character arc is fine if you just look at it in isolation. It is meant to be a commentary on how women aren’t given a chance in male-dominated jobs such as being a detective, and that’s a based message since women are amazing and I hope every women reading this is having a good day. However, the way the game handles this message is ATROCIOUS! Naoto is introduced as a man. He shows up here and there and isn’t relevant until after Mitsuo’s section of the game. Kanji is also heavily hinted at having a huge crush on him, which is adorable and I hope they live a happy life together. However, all of that changes after Naoto’s dungeon. It is then revealed that Naoto was born a woman and is transmasc, but isn’t actually, and is just presenting that way just because the detective industry is a male-dominated business. Naoto states here and there throughout the game that he wishes he was a man, but his character development involves him coming to terms with being a woman????? What the fuck????? The game is too much of a coward to have a trans character, and also to have Kanji be in love with a character who is a male, which fucking sucks. In my heart, Naoto is transmasc, and him and Kanji are both dating each other because they told me himself. You could argue with me that this goes against Naoto’s development in the game, but I don’t give a shit. So, with that out of the way, back to talking about the rest of Naoto’s character.

Naoto [Continued]:

I fucking love Naoto. He always has some real shit to say for being the only person in the group with an actual brain (Yosuke doesn’t count because anyone who’s homophobic is a fucking idiot). Whenever Naoto speaks, he always has this great way of delivering what he has to say and I love it whenever he spitting facts. He’s also pretty funny sometimes and has a lot of great moments as well (See: Naoto dissing Adachi in the climax of the game). He’s also the perfect contrast to Kanji, and in this essay, I will talk about why they are both gay and- nah, just kidding! I’m sure everyone knows that by now, but yeah. As you can tell, I’m a huge KanNao shipper lol. Overall, Naoto is amazing but the way Atlus treats him makes me want to hit the griddy but in an angry way.

Dojima:

THE SECOND BEST CHARACTER IN THE GAME! THE FUCKING CEO OF DILFS! MY BELOVED! FUCK YEAH! I LOVE DOJIMA! Dojima is the fucking goat! He’s this great older brother figure in the game that keeps the game grounded when compared to the bullshit that happens with the TV world. He also tries his best to be a good father figure to Nanako, even if he is pretty flawed and neglectful, which I do really like about him because it shows that he is human. He’s just some guy who is struggling with the loss of his wife and having to balance detective/police work with raising his daughter, and the game does a good job at showcasing this. You clearly can see multiple times that he is flawed and has a lot of problems with being there for his daughter and the guilt that comes with it, but he grows throughout the game and his social links and learns to be there more for his family. Persona really cooked when they wrote his character and I love him a lot. Also, him and Adachi are both really fucking funny whenever they’re on screen together because they got them toxic yaoi vibes and I just KNOW that Adachi received them Dojima backshots off-screen. There’s nothing to say otherwise, trust me!

Nanako:

Nanako is great. She’s just a silly little critter. She serves her role in the story well and I don’t really have anything else to say about her. She’s just a very solid character. The silly :)

Adachi:

THE FOURTH BEST CHARACTER IN THE GAME LETS FUCKING GOOOOOO!!!!! ADACHI TRUE!!!!! Everyone loves Adachi. Even if you don’t play Persona, chances are you know him and love him from his funny as shit memes, and while that is Adachi-True.png, he is genuinely a great character all memes aside. For most of the game, he’s just this absolute goofball who’s really funny and lovable whenever he’s on screen before eventually revealing himself to be the main antagonist of the game. Even if I already knew that beforehand, the twist is really well-done and I was even wondering throughout my play through how the fuck Adachi could be evil. The way he acts when he’s evil is honestly great, and I think about his big speech at the end of the game way more then I should. Also, the line about him becoming a police officer just to own a gun is an insane af line for a game that is clearly pro-police. It is a true af line through. He really cooked when he said that. Overall, he’s simultaneously a lovable goofball and a great antagonist. Absolute goat. He’s also my friend’s favourite character so extra point for that.

Mitsuo:

Mitsuo is a red herring in the case and that’s all he’s meant to be, but considering how him killing Mr Morooka is a pretty major event, it feels extremely jarring how the game barely touches on Mitsuo’s character. I would really like the idea of a prominent antagonist in this game being an incel kid, but the game barely does anything with that which is disappointing.

Namatame:

Namatame is another red herring in the case, but the game actually treats him more like an important character and I honestly really like him. I don’t have much to say about him because he’s just a really fucking solid character that serves his purpose in the story well.

Mr Morooka:

THE FUCKING GOAT THE MVP OF THE GAME ABSOLUTE GOAT THE BEST CHARACTER IN EVERYTHING EVER KING MORON SOLOS FUCK YEAH LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOO

Marie:

I almost forgot to mention her here which should tell you exactly how much I care about her character.

The Sagiris:

I don’t care about these omnipotent beings. They’re boring tbh, but maybe that’s just my RPG fatigue since they appear pretty late into the game lmao.

Overall, the characters in the game can range from goated to the worst characters ever. They’re kinda hit or miss for me, but the few standouts are really fucking good standouts.

Story:

To easily categorise the story, I’ll separate this section into acts, witch each act being represented by a character that you have to deal with.

Prologue/Act 1 (Yukiko)

Yeah, this game starts off VERY slow. Now, this wouldn’t be a bad thing if it was paced well. I am a fan of slow-burning stuff. I love Better Call Saul, I listen to Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and back when I actually liked the Puyo series, I wished that there would one day be a 50000+ word slowburn AmiEss fic, but Puyo Puyo fans suck and would rather write about the painfully mediocre SigAmi, so that never existed. However, the pacing of the prologue is very iffy. On one hand, the way you become friends with Chie and Yukiko feels WAY too sudden, but on the other, JESUS CHRIST THIS IS TAKING TEN YEARS CAN WE GET TO THE GAMEPLAY NOW!!!!! The story does set up the main mystery well, but it should’ve been condensed, which is a problem that you’ll see throughout the rest of the game. The game does definitely pick up once Yukiko gets kidnapped which is when the gameplay truly begins, and aside from her weird sexualisation in her midnight channel cutscene, it’s a fine first dungeon. I like her character’s motives and the resolution of confronting your problems and not running from them is a solid resolution and definitely better then some other ones (Kid Named Naoto:)

Overall, a decent yet slow start to the game.

Act 2 (Kanji):

This is definitely where the game starts to pick up and get pretty enjoyable. It establishes the main quartet well and I really enjoyed watching them interact (up until Yosuke falls off but I’LL GET TO THAT). Here, Kanji is introduced, with Naoto also having a small cameo. I really liked his introduction as it establishes his badass attitude and the way it portrays his whole closeted homosexual feelings towards Naoto is pretty funny and goofy. However, the dungeon of this chapter is actually fucking insane. Kanji is now almost naked in the TV world and in a fucking bathhouse acting like a gay stereotype and dropping lines that feel like punches to the gut. This dungeon is honestly so out-of-pocket that it honestly makes it fucking hilarious because you have a character who’s hinted at liking men and THIS is the fucking dungeon lmao. However, the end of this chapter is also when Yosuke begins to fall of and reveal himself to be HOMOPHOBIC! So that deducts points for this act, but it introduces the best character in the game which adds those points back so yeah.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable part of the game, but FUCK YOSUKE!

Act 3 (Rise):

This is the worst part of the game. Here, Yosuke is at his most unbearable as the worst parts of his personality (his homophobic and his painfully heterosexual attitude) are amplified by A LOT and this act also has the weakest series of events. The whole “motorbike” scenario with You, Yosuke and Kanji was just so unfun because Yosuke is out here wanting women to press their breasts against him and I’m just hear like SHUT THE FUCK UP! Also I hated having to pick up a girls number, especially since I had to pick up an older women, because in Atlus’ world, liking minors is ok if it’s an older woman and a teenage boy, WHEN IT IS NOT OK AT ALL! Afterwards, there is a camping trip but who the fuck cares about that. There’s an unfunny reoccurring gag about the female characters not being able to cook which runs throughout the entire game and it’s just not funny. Then you meet Rise and she tricks you into thinking that she’d be a cool character before she becomes annoying when she joins the cast. Her dungeon is also the worst one in the game, because it’s a fucking strip club. I know it’s trying to convey the stress Rise felt as an idol but like come on! Her resolution is also mid but I already talked about that so yeah However, Teddie’s shadow was a great twist and I loved that battle so shoutouts to that.

Overall, weakest act in the game. That shit was mid.

Act 4 (Mitsuo):

MR MOROOKA IS FUCKING DEAD NOOOOOOOOOOOO! REST IN PEACE TO THE FUCKING GOAT! Yeah, this act is when SHIT GETS REAL! I really liked how much Mr Morooka’s death completely throws a wrench into the case which adds to the whole mystery of it. It makes things pretty damn interesting. Also, TEDDIE TWINK JUMPSCARE! That shit definitely caught me off guard when I first played the game. I still fucking hate him but that scene was really funny and shoutouts to him bankrupting Yosuke as he should. Anyways, Mitsuo is then revealed as the next person you have to deal with in the midnight channel. He showed up around the prologue to hit on Yukiko and be an incel before dipping so him turning out to be an antagonist was a pretty good surprise. His dungeon is also really fucking good and marks the point in the game where the dungeons increase in quality. I also really liked Mitsuo’s performance for what little we saw of him, even if I wish he had more of a presence in the game. However, his boss fight is impossible on Hard mode which is a pain lmao. He’s one of the three bosses that I couldn’t beat in hard mode and had to switch to normal mode to deal with. Also, I wished he had a unique boss theme instead of just a R-R-RETRO!!!!! version of the regular mid boss theme.

Overall, this was a great act. It was very enjoyable and bodacious. Rip King Moron though. The goat will be missed.

Act 5 (Naoto):

Now, this act may introduce THE FUCKING GOAT NAOTO, but it’s also has some flaws. For starters, I did really like the whole fireworks festival part of the game because it was really nice, and I also liked how the group try to include Naoto in their activities and also Kanji’s crush on him coming back into the plot, which is still adorable. However, I did not enjoy the night club scene at all, and how KANJI’S FIRST KISS WAS TEDDIE GOD FUCKING DAMN IT I HATE THAT FUCKING BEAR IT SHOULD’VE BEEN WITH NAOTO GRAAAAAA also I hate forced heterosexuality like YUKIKO GET THE FUCK OFF OF MY LAP CHIE IS RIGHT THERE YOU BUFFOON!!!!! Anyways, Naoto then enters the TV world on his own will and you have to find him and I fucking love how worried Kanji is about him, like that shit was hype. However, then we reach The Reveal. I’ve already talked about it when I talked about Naoto’s character, so you already know how much it sucks.

Overall, this act had a bunch of great moments but also some not so good moments. It’s a mixed bag.

Act 6 (Nanako/Namatame):

This act is really fucking weird because it was on track to be the worst act of the entire game. While I did really enjoy the whole concert sequence, I did not enjoy the whole school festival part of the game, ESPECIALLY the swimsuit contest and the way the game treated the drag contest (Those outfits were fire, the game is just mean), and then you get THE FUCKING HOT SPRING SEQUENCE! ATLUS HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU I DO NOT ENJOY SEEING MINORS SEXUALISED BECAUSE THAT IS DISGUSTING AND BAD AND HORRIBLE AND STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM NAOTO LEAVE MY MAN ALONE AND STOP FOCUSING ON HIS BREASTS GRAAAAAAAA! HOWEVER, after that, SHIT GETS GOOOOOOD! I love the whole intensity of the situation involving the buildup to Nanako’s kidnapping and the actual incident. Your bonding with Nanako, Dojima finding out about you being tied to the case, and the entirety of the interrogation room section and the buildup to Nanako being kidnapped was top tier. The chase scene with Dojima afterwards was also amazing, and I love how this clearly shows his love for his daughter despite being neglectful and not there for her at all times. The dungeon is also one of the best in the game, and the whole encounter with Namatame is also so fucking good. The game does a good job at making this feel like this is where the case ends, and Namatame’s boss fight is also really good as well. Also, you can really feel Nanako and Dojima’s absence at this point in the game and it HURTS.

Overall, this act started off pretty weak but the climax of it made up for the rest of it, because god damn that was some good shit.

Act 7 (Adachi):

NOW THIS IS SOME GOOD SHIT! The city is now covered in fog and now Inaba has more negative aura then Wet Dry World in Mario 64. Also, Nanako and Dojima are still in the hospital so the isolation you feel is further enforced which hurts a lot. Anyways, NANAKO FUCKING DIES IN THE HOSPITAL!!!!! REST IN PEACE THAT SCENE MADE ME VERY EMOTIONAL but then you find Namatame in the hospital and you’re given the choice to FUCKING KILL HIM! That gets you the bad ending which I got on my first playthrough and it was really fucking depressing. You can also not kill him which also gives you the bad ending, but Nanako lives in that ending and Teddie leaves unlike in the good/true ending so idk why it’s still a bad ending because as I said previously, Teddie leaving is based.

Bad Ending:

I honestly love the bad endings because of how anticlimactic and uneasy they feels without being overbearing. It really makes you feel like something is wrong without outright stating it and it’s really effective. Good shit, Persona.

Accomplice Ending:

I’m gonna mention this as well since even though it’s later in the game, it’s also a bad ending so yeah. I sadly did not get this ending in my playthrough since Adachi was NEVER THERE when I wanted to talk with him and I could only get him up to LVL 4 on the social link so yeah. Sorry Adachi nation. I did watch it on Youtube though and I absolutely love how fucked up it is. Great shit, persona. Adachi solos. Shoutouts to his psychotic laughing sprite that’s only used for this scene fr.

Act 7 (Adachi) [Continued]:

To progress the game, you have to follow this specific dialogue tree which is a little frustrating but once you do so, the endgame begins and Nanako lives! Let’s fucking go! Anyways, you then talk with Namatame who’s actually just a chill guy who went down a downfall arc (literally me) and now you have to find the real killer…ADACHI PERSONA! Look, everyone already knows that Adachi is the main antagonist of the game because he’s practically unavoidable on the internet, but it’s still a really good twist and I love how the game handles the confrontation scene with him getting more and more irrationally angry until he slips up and has to run away, where he reveals his true self. Then you head over to his dungeon and fight him and shit goes hard but also the second phase is a bitch on hard mode and this is the second time I had to switch the game back to normal mode lmao.

Overall, PEAK CLIMAX! ADACHI IS THE GOAT! HE SOLOS! FUCK YEAH!

Act 8 (Marie):

After Adachi is dealt with, the game then has a bunch of silly slice-of-life stuff such as you making a snowman with Dojima and Nanako as well as your ski-trip which is all very epic. However, you then have to deal with Marie (after maxing her social link) and honestly I don’t give a shit about that Sagiri shit but yeah you do some shit and blah blah blah look at this point I was tired as shit and experiencing jrpg fatigue so bare with me and also I don’t give a shit about Marie lol. I thought she would be finally interesting here but no she isn’t lmao. Also, there’s another FUCKING HOT SPRING SCENE I AM GOING TO FUCKING LOSE IT FUCK ATLUS GRAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

Overall, I’m still enjoying myself even if my JRPG fatigue got the better of me lmao.

Epilogue (The fucking Gas Station Tweaker that Ghetto Smosh warned me about):

Alright, the twist was cool and all but at this point I just wanted to beat the game and get the true ending so whatever. I was satisfied with the good ending until an interaction with my friend made me realise that there was a true final boss so yeah lmao. Also the true final boss was the third and final time that I had to switch my game back to normal mode lmao. Anyways, the true ending is also really wholesome and it put a smile on my face. It was really nice and a great way to end the game.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, Persona 4 is a really good game that has amazing gameplay and some pretty cool characters as well as an interesting story. However, weak characters and poor elements of the story hold the game back from being truly amazing. 7.5/10, maybe an 8/10 if I’m generous.

[astroismypassion]

heyyyyy how r you ? 🤍 girll help me like im really curious about this guy and mes synastry chart so i was was wondering if you could take a look real quick and see if the PULL and ATTRACTION i feel is mutual 😭 do you see anything good happening in the future 4 us ? 😭 ofcourse you can skip this ask, id really appreciate it if you can help but if not then its completely alright too !! hope ure having a good year so far 💗 take care byee 🌟

im the red one, 'A' and blue is 'D'

If you already know this person 1+ years, I would more suggest Composite chart. Because there you will see the real push and pull. Synastry energies are so interchanging and one day you can be doing it, but they the other person can.

But if you are ready for an unsolicited opinion and outlook on this particular synastry...I think this person is a WILD card for you. Like this reminds me of that one person when you meet really young and you kinda have a crush on them, because they seem so confident and charming..and just...so sure of themselves. Honestly I feel you will quickly forget about this person later and not even look back with any regret. I also kind of feel like you idealize them. And that this is very physical attraction on your end.

I don't know, I have to ask now, because I'm sensing it more and more based on looking at the chart, are you still both in high school or even elementary school? I swear, this is giving off that energy. Venus conjunct Mars, I get lust-y feeling, like young love based just on physical attraction, but beyond that, you might just lack mutual interests and overall compatibility. Like you could realize you don't even have that much in common in the end.

That Pluto on the 7th also, are you perhaps a bit older than this person? I sense age difference somewhere here, like it could be just 1, 2 or 3 years and not more. Yeah...Pluto over the 7th in synastry, thanks god it's not closely to Descendant, but yeah, again if you are young, like below 20 in early 20s, I would suggest staying away from these sort of connections, because partnership might largely be based on power struggles and power plays. And this person the blue one can actually see you the red on as highly controlling at some point. Like you are constantly try to influence their decisions. But you just have to accept that this person is highly freedom loving, even free spirited, much more than you, who is more grounded, humble, reserved and cautious. But you can't really change the person for wanting freedom so much, you just need to find someone who as equally appreciates being cautious as you do. So it would be like you are trying to tame them before they fully develop their identity and just overall try to make them more like you are. Not to mention Mars in the 7th in the synastry as well, your connection if a partnership, could burn out too quickly. Or there could be some challanges even getting partnership off the ground to start with. The courting phase can be really prolonged here with Venus in the 7th as well. I think Pluto or just Mars in the 7th is enough on its own, but BOTH being in the 7th, it just doesn't give a good vibe long-term. But you probably really allow a lot of space one another. But if the person has too much freedom, you start to control them. I also feel that you might be attracted to this person due to their bad boy type of attitude and persona. Like they seem so reassured, laid back and naturally charming and confident, that you might just be into that a lot. So the future of this synastry chart doesn't appeal as bright to me, more like relationship of growth or lesson due to Sun in the 9th house and Sun in the 10th house, could be even karmic a bit. Ohh, did you meet in university perhaps now that I see 9th house Sun? I still feel like your identities are developing and keep sensing both being young. Maybe Composite chart looks more stable, but I seriously doubt this would work for a long long time. Be more prepared for a short-term connection, but if you are into serious committment, this might not be it. It's fun and exciting, yet not as sustainable it's how I see it.

But yeah on a side note, I really really like YOUR own natal placements. You seem like a very caring, pleasant, hard-working person with great emotional depth.

Take care and have a relaxing afternoon,

@astroismypassion

[saucebou]

Beat Persona 3 (Portable)

That was good

Really good

Prob best story in the Persona series but 4 is also really good.

The gameplay was alright once I turned up the exp gain. But I was getting hard walled by the mini bosses before that. I also found investing in physical skills to be way more beneficial for boss fights then using elemental moves. Also damn the final fight was a real bitch. It was just long and boring with the very big threat of being critted to hell

Mixed ost tho. Some really good highs (Want to be close new favorite of mine) and some mid lows.

The social links where real quick and easy but where fun. But they just don’t give you anything to do at the end of the game other than buff your persona and just sleep since you've pretty much done almost all the links by that point.

But overall a good 7.5/10 I have finally burned my bread

Anyways can’t wait for the remake I probably won’t play for a year.

[meganiumgender]

Forgot but persona watch update 🫡 we finished persona 3 a while back (januaryish)!! They straight up just said ok MC go in the dark :,-) I also heard that there’s a continuation of the story that focuses on aigis? Not sure about that tho……

I’m watching the roommate play persona 4 now and i am enjoying the Weirdness of the characters, the dialogue is generally a lot more fluid now too…but also why is yosuke so homophobic (for what purpose 🧐) also the way kanji and naoto’s stories are covered are a little sus sometimes but overall. Good music and I like the store menu designs :-)

Yes!!! I mentioned it last time I replied to one of ur updates but idk if u remember, but it's called The Answer!!

And yeah p4 is...alright! I'm not it's biggest champion, but the characters are fun and it definitely brought up a lot of things ik people now think of as quintessential to the franchise. Yosuke is my best friend who sucks so bad, iirc there was a rumor that he was meant to be a more intimate social link but atlus went so hard on the no homo he ended up being super homophobic fjsjdjsjdb

Naoto and Kanji are two characters I love for what they could have been but not so much what they got fjsjfjsj like... they're fun characters but what the writing team decided to do with them just....aughhhhhhh pain. Agony.

Kanji does hit my specific soft spot trope of 'delinquent who loves soft stuff'... that's my son

[times-eclipse]

Damage Calculation Is Hard

The thing about damage calculation is you kinda have to feel it out by vibes. You want increasing stats by certain amounts to feel like a noticeable difference in your damage output, whether that's +1 or +10, or anything else. But to achieve this, it feels like you need to write damage formula and then shape everything else around it and hope for the best.

And when you look back at what you've made sometimes it's just like... maybe it could still be better...

I'm presently struggling with looking at Witness To Unity's damage formula and thinking... this thing seems a mess. Too much extra influence on values than there probably needs to be. I'm not sure how to explain this, so I think I kinda need to explain how the stats and all currently works.

Equipment

Attack: Comes from weapons. Affects Attack command damage.

Hit Rate: Comes from weapons. Affects Attack command accuracy*.

Defence: Comes from armour. Affects overall damage resistance.

Evasion: Comes from armour. Usually affects overall evasion, except for certain skills.

Innate Stats

Strength: Affects physical damage of unarmed, most weapons, and physical skills. Does not factor into guns**.

Intelligence: Affects damage of "magic" skills.

Endurance: Affects overall damage resistance. Does not factor into healing. (Obviously.)

Agility: Affects turn-order, rate, and native hit-rate/evasion.

*The Attack command is technically a skill too, that factors hit-rate as well as agility into hit chance. **We'll get to that.

Additional notes: the equipment stats will probably range from about 10 to 320. The innate stats will range from 10 to 128-ish from level 1 to 99. The goal is for damage in early game to be around 10-30 points a hit, and end-game the average attack shouldn't be consistently like, 9999.

...

With all that out of the way, let's get into the damage formula as it currently exists. For my own convenience I'll be using the variable names in the damage formula as follows, with some edits, so I hope that it remains understandable with the above as reference.

First, we work out what kinda skill we're dealing with, and calculate the "base power" before other stats get involved. This might be a little confusing, as skills also have a "base power", so I'll call the following calculated power. Skill types include: Physical, Magical, Unarmed, Weapon, Gun, Healing, and Infinity.

... alright, the last one just returns Float::INFINITY. We can ignore that.

Calculated Power

Physical/Unarmed: ＠a.str * 8

Magic/Healing: ＠a.int * 8

Weapon: (Physical) + ＠a.atk

Gun: ＠a.atk * 2

Calculated Defence

Defence: (＠b.res * 4) + ＠b.def

The damage formula varies a little between types, but the following basically occurs:

Square root (calculated-power - calculated-defence), multiplied by 4.5 for physical skills, or 5 for everything else.

Multiply this by the skill base power. This is a stat unique to each skill. "Weapon skills" have a base power of 1 so as to only use the stats of the weapons/characters themselves.

Divide by 30 for physical skills, 35 for magic, 15 for unarmed, ignore for weapons and guns.

Healing follows things a little differently: square root (calculated-power * skill base power / 3.)

So let's see how say, a physical skill's damage formula ends up looking.

sqrt(((＠a.str * 8) - ((＠b.res * 4) + ＠b.def)) * 4.5) * power / 30

Jesus christ.

So I started writing this for one main reason: what am I doing here. The fact I'm multiplying and dividing a lot of damage formulas feels like I'm doing things totally wrong.

I've referenced Persona and Shin Megami Tensei a lot in my development of this project. A lot of stats and structure to things are shared with those games. But they most certainly aren't doing things like this.

What I'd like to do, is to be multiplying/dividing the statistics as little as possible, avoiding damage numbers shooting into the thousands, and keep the relationship of equipment stats and native stats.

Let's take a look at how P5 does this sort of thing. Note I am using terminology from my own project for consistency's sake

Weapons: sqrt(＠a.atk / 2) * sqrt(＠a.str)

Physical Skills: sqrt(skill base power) * sqrt(＠a.str)

Magical Skills: sqrt(skill base power) * sqrt(＠a.int)

Defence: calculated power / sqrt(＠b.res * 8 + ＠b.def)

I'm not too sure why the calculated power does square-roots separately like this, as near as I can tell combining them wouldn't make a difference. I'm simply following what the wiki is using here.*

*BreezeWiki breaks formula display by putting it black on a dark background, but if you're deathly allergic to using Fandom, you can view it here.

So let's try an experiment. Arin has a native Strength of 15. An enemy has 10 Defence and 13 Endurance. (I know enemies don't have equipment, but I needed to add it to them so they didn't shatter like glass, which might be a factor in problems with my formula.) Arin uses Dragonian Slash, a Physical skill with a base power of 70.

＠a.str * 8 = 15 * 8 = 120

＠b.res * 4 + ＠b.def = 13 * 4 + 10 = 62

sqrt((120 * 4.5) * 62) * 70 / 30 = 37

Let's see what happens if we use P5's formula.

sqrt(70 * ＠a.str) = sqrt(70 * 15) = 32

32 / sqrt(＠b.res * 8 + ＠b.def) = 32 / 10 = 3

Okay I'm truncating things a lot here, but decimal values aren't going to factor into the final damage.

... alright, so we don't really want the final damage to be that small, even for a beginning skill. Heck even P5 isn't that way, so I'm not sure what's going on. If I make this theoretical enemy have basically no defence this skill will do about 11 damage, but I don't really want that either. In a theoretical scenario of characters with about equal stats, it makes more sense to me to be doing a bit more damage.

The more I think about it the more I must be missing something. In the example testing this user did, they are getting a damage range of 22-24 from a 2 Magic/Int Arsene using Psiodyne. Psiodyne according to the wiki has a base power of 160. Near as I can work out, sqrt(160) * sqrt(2) is 17, not... say, 23. If the Full Moon challenge's Level is below 99 enough to take +30% damage from the player, it results in 23 damage. But that's before dividing by defence gets involved!

You can see now why this stuff is kinda hard. It's all theoretical, based on vibes, and there's sooo many factors to consider that shifting one or another thing throws everything else off. I'm also relying on 50-80 being a good value for the internal "base power" of an early-game skill.

I know what I want the numbers to be at the start (the numbers you see, the base power), what numbers I want to end up with as damage, and what kinda scaling I want over the course of the game, but the route there currently just feels dirty.

[dizziiedaikon]

[eddiemunsonrulesmylife]

Eddie/Vol. 2 Rant

Alright, so now that it’s been a few days since the release of Vol. 2 and I’ve had the time to think about stuff, read other people’s opinions, read interviews, etc. I feel like I’ve finally pinpointed the thing that bothers me the most about Vol. 2 or more specifically, Eddie’s death.

TL;DR: Eddie was never a coward so he shouldn’t have had to “overcome” his “cowardice” and if he still had to die, it should’ve been a better written one.

I have a few disclaimers first though:

I’m not mad that Eddie died just because he is my favorite character. If Eddie was going to die regardless, so be it but what I’m upset about is the way his death was handled.

I have many other bones to pick for Vol. 2 that have nothing to do with Eddie (4 is still my favorite season overall, I just have beef with the ending of Vol.2 ) but this is an Eddie blog and that’s what I’d like to focus on for right now.

I didn’t necessarily want a “happy ending”, I actually like it when a show/movie is able to do something different to what audiences may want as long as they do it successfully.

The BS “Cowardice”:

Okay, so my main gripe with Eddie’s death is that it’s centered around this alleged “cowardice” that he suffers from YET Eddie has never once shown any kind of true cowardice. So making his entire character arc about “overcoming” his cowardice just doesn’t line up with the character we get to see.

Eddie is known in Hawkins as Eddie “The Freak” Munson because of his heavy metal interest, D&D interest, being held back twice in school and the Munson name (his father apparently being a criminal of some sort). Yet, despite all that, he has always remained true to himself. He knew the reputation he’d have because of his father and where he lives but still chose to dress how he wanted and engage in the interests he loves because that’s genuinely just who he is and he’s okay with that. His whole thing is to “never change who you are”!!

He’s in fact so authentically himself, that he essentially becomes a sort of shepard for other lost outcast kids and paves the way for them. He’d happily take on the brunt of snide remarks, bullying etc if it means he can provide a sense of belonging for other kids. What’s cowardly about that exactly?

He personally says (in the context of his own D&D game) that “there’s no shame in running” so he doesn’t even view running in the face of danger as an act of cowardice. If anything, I think in that moment he sees it as an act of survival and self-preservation which is 100% okay.

The first time we see Eddie “run away” is when he is literally witnessing Chrissy getting murdered. At that point in time, he doesn’t know anything about the Upside Down, Vecna, curses, demowhatevers, NOTHING all he is seeing is a poor girl being lifted into the air inexplicably while her limbs and jaw are snapped in horrible ways and her eyes getting sucked in. PLEASE tell me who would NOT run in that situation?? He’s terrified that whatever is killing her is going to kill him too!! He doesn’t know that she was being specifically targeted for her trauma (trauma he didn’t know about either). How would he know that? Running in that situation is very VALID.

Then, him being “on the run” because he’s wanted for murder is yet again an act of survival. He knows that the town of Hawkins has already deemed him guilty just because of his “freak” persona. Being a victim of the Satanic Panic of the ‘80s, there was no way they’d give him any real opportunity to prove his innocence or anything. Obviously the UD came in and started to interfere too much with stuff, but I’m assuming the plan was to hide until the group could figure out a way to prove his innocence and clear his name when the right time came. I don’t think there would’ve been anything particularly heroic about turning himself in or whatever.

He jumped in the lake after everyone. Yes, maybe he was more hesitant than the others but hey: it was his first Upside Down Adventure, he’s new to it all, he still didn’t know everyone well, and who the hell wouldn’t be hesitant about diving into a scary lake at night to go into some portal to another dimension?? He still jumped in!!

He didn’t run away from the bats in the first encounter with them, at no point did he “turn heel and run.” He stayed with the group every step of the way.

Lastly, his seemingly random decision(s) to stay behind and distract the bats further felt so out of place. There was nothing pressing him to actually do that. Watching the episode, it was like the character was buffering and just made a random snap decision to continue to draw the bats away. It wasn’t necessary to his or Dustin’s survival. They completed their part of the plan and they should’ve both sticked to just their plan. I know they didn’t know what was going on with the other groups, but as far as they knew, everything was going to plan. Why divert from that for no good reason?

I guess the only thing I can think of would be Eddie’s own personal negative self-view. Like that maybe he views himself as a coward as a result of being ostracized by his environment for his whole life. But if that was the case, the better arc for him to go through would be for him to realize that he is a hero because of exactly who he already is. That him taking other outcasts under his wing and giving them a sense of belonging is noble and brave. That him genuinely caring for Chrissy’s wellbeing and giving her the option to opt out of buying drugs was more than okay made him good. That him staying with the group every step of the way and even helping them on their endeavors was plenty heroic. To me, that would’ve been a far more meaningful character arc.

The Duffers:

Now, I know that the Duffers originally wanted Eddie to be a more menacing character, that he and Steve were supposed to have more of a rivalry and that generally speaking, he was not meant to be as likable as he ended up being. I know that the Eddie we know and love is primarily thanks to Joseph Quinn’s interpretation and performance of the character. I totally get that Eddie was written in as a new character that was not meant to live past his introduction season and that the fan reception was kind of unexpected by the creators, but just from a storytelling perspective, his storyline doesn’t match up with the character. If Eddie wasn’t as likable, his sacrifice could have redeemed him moreso (a la Billy). But Eddie was likable, very much so, and yet his death had no significant impact on the story or the characters (apart from Dustin).

I know that in real life, people just die and it’s usually for “no reason” but this is a story that is incredible in that everything in it serves some kind of purpose. Barb represented the idea that anyone, even the most innocent, could be taken in an instant. But she was not a very developed character. She was very likable character for the little that she was in, but she was not a main character or a significant addition to the main group of characters. Eddie played a part (literally) in the attempt to defeat Vecna and Hawkins could’ve been in more danger without him. So if he was going to die, so be it but it should’ve been for a far better reason/far better way than what was given to him.

The Ending of Episode 9:

My last and final gripe about Eddie’s death was the lack of reaction to it. Eddie dies in Dustin’s arms and then there’s a time jump where the only acknowledgement of him is when Dustin tells Wayne. We don’t get any scene whatsoever of Dustin informing the others, any scene of Mike reacting (and I mean, Eddie was a big deal for Mike so to have NO on-camera acknowledgment of that feels super lame). There’s no payoff for Steve with regards to his “don’t be a hero” line for Steve/Robin/Nancy.

Speaking of, I also resent the inconsistency of the way Eddie died. Steve was also severely bitten by the demobats but seems perfectly fine aside from being a bit chewed up. Eddie didn’t seem that much more bitten to where it was obviously life-threatening. At least not to me. ALSO, Steve, Robin and Nancy were strung up, restrained and actively being choked for like an hour and they were also fully functional after (idk how ones survives being choked by evil vines for that long but died bc of a few bat bites??).

Closing Thoughts:

We see Eleven develop some kind of new power (or at least new application of her existing powers) where she can resuscitate someone like we see her do with Max. Because we learned in 4 that the Upside Down is not fixed in time (and seems in fact frozen in time in some way) and because we don’t actually see Eddie’s dead body after he expires, I am PRAYING that all this can somehow mean Eddie can come back.

Tbh, I highly doubt it but there is a teeny tiny chance that the Duffers will see just how loved Eddie was and that maybe his story isn’t finished like they thought. Even if it means that he won’t be able to contribute to the plot in significant ways (since I’m sure all the major story beats are already planned), but clearly they were open to a drastic change of the interpretation for the character, maybe they can find a way to write him back in. How awesome (and metal) would it be to have Eddie “come back from the dead/Hell.” And imagine the look on Dustin’s face!! Like literally even if it means that he has to go to jail for some time until they can fully clear his name or some shit. Literally anything. I want the biggest, baddest retcon to save our boy.

Maybe I’m so biased for this because I really fell for Eddie in every way but of all the new characters (after Season 1), Eddie is by far my favorite. He has so much heart and deserves so much better (even if just a better written death).

🤍