#rephrase the words

[zerogpt565]

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Original Paragraph:

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Original Sentence:

"Effective communication skills are essential for building strong relationships and fostering collaboration in the workplace."

Rephrased Sentence:

"Developing proficient communication abilities is vital for establishing solid connections and promoting teamwork in professional environments."

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[violettierre]

Shio is in Roppongi ??!!

Haitani father Shio headcanon still on ?

[xskullytonx]

“I had a strange dream… There was a private tutor, or someone teaching me all about plants and herbs. I thought I could recall his face or at least his name, but I can’t. What’s also strange is that I feel Like I know him, or at least I think he looked familiar …”

Lazy doodle nobody asked for or might not make any sense but makes my brain go teehee, dude gives off professor vibes for some reason and I’m all here for it 💀

[alohaasaloevera]

guys I’m honestly happy that klance didn’t become canon because I love how as a collective group of people we utilize our right to explore what could have been and create the most smoking hot scenarios ever and yes I obviously wanted more of their friendship growing into this bond stronger than anything else in the universe especially since Voltron has teamwork and family as one of their main lessons but that’s more of a development issue all around…ok besides that there’s something about klance where it provides this PERFECT environment for shippers to inhabit and FEAST upon. With klance, there’s a solid, engaging dynamic between the two set up, which is this weird one-sided rivalry that stems from Lance’s insecurity and his need to prove himself of his worth and Keith literally being one of the best pilots for his age but since they’re flung into space and chosen to become child soldiers in this 10,000 year old intergalactic war so they have to work as a team which surprise surprise forces them to put aside their differences and work as a team which is shown a bunch when Keith needs to become a leader and Lance steps up as his right hand and and they have some kinda tender moments that won’t definitely drive shippers into a shipping craze (or worse) SO YEAH you could see why people loved it with all the classic tropes and mutual growth all that schmooze (ALSO THEY KNEW EACHOTHER BEFORE THE MAIN PLOT??? Well maybe not like friends or even acquaintances probably BUT HELLO?????? EVEN MORE SHIT TO EXPAND ON????), and they share multiple scenes that could be interpreted as romantic but there’s no explicit romance. This environment is fucking dripping drenched flash flooded cornered by 1000ft tsunamis in all directions with potential for shipping, so when people saw this relationship between two bros with this sort of homoerotic (IM JOKING. Kinda.) unresolved tension towards each other and the POTENTIAL for a good slow burn rivals to friends to lovers, it was to no one’s surprise that they went APESHIT. Klancers made countless different ways where they get together whether it be pre-Kerberos, post-gettingthefuckoutofearth, the start of the show, the end of the show, after the end of the show, right smack in the middle, anywhere, anytime, for who the fuck knows why just ANY REASON DAMN IT it doesn’t really matter because people were pumping out fanfiction or fan art or any fan media of klance faster than I spit out a raw baby carrot after chewing it for one second and now we’re all wallowing about how it should have been KICK but the thing is that if VLD did KICK all the way to Altea, the production of these beautiful stories that so many people have and still are coming up with about klance kissing in midst of a battle, helping each other with their crippling nightmares, smiling for the stars or some other sad premise, and whatever is nestled in his pulse…just like uhhh the amount of fics like these that go into great detail about Keith and Lance in these random situations that end up with them getting together being produced would go down to some degree because of the fact that if the people’s beloved sharpshooter and samurai had ended up together like we had wanted, and the majority was satisfied with the ending the creators had given, people would have shifted from writing about “How could Lance and Keith get together?” to writing about “What could Lance and Keith do now that they’re together?” And like. There’s nothing wrong with that honestly I would be HYPED if klance was ever canon but there is profound beauty in the way the community is able to create more from less and turn a show that went to shit in the last few seasons shine even brighter than it did at its prime. Like I wouldn’t trade my favorite fics 4 anything.

—

Ok another little thing I’m going to put here: With Klance, all I wanted was for them to be great friends 😭😭😭. I tend to prefer klance becoming canon in later seasons or at the end or even an open ending with no confirmed romantic relationships because I am a sucker for character development and the idea of Keith and Lance both harboring these feelings that at first are just admiration and respect but then escalate to yearning for one another or becoming close friends at the end of the show and getting to imagine anything I want post canon is EVERYTHING if you give me S7 Garrison klance I’ll keel over and thank you like I was a second away from dying of thirst and your gift was a truck load of water

[bitegore]

sighs. i dont Like to talk about my own charitable donating or whatever for my own reasons but i have seen one too many posts that frustrate me deeply.

all this is about gaza because of course it is but it kind of broadly applies in general i think. i'm certainly drawing on much longer than one year for this.

if you cannot tolerate the idea of Scammers and it is so serious that it stops you from donating, donate to charitable organizations. There are no shortage of reputable organizations to pick from.

If you are super concerned about your payment information being stolen, you should probably relax, because if you're donating directly to almost anyone you're using either Venmo or GoFundMe and the purpose of both platforms is at least in part so that you aren't handing your actual credit card information to anyone but the processing platform, who does not share it with anyone else. I've seen people talking about how they got their CC info stolen by donating to gofundmes. This is not how it happened and at best they are drawing false conclusions.

if you are particularly concerned that your donation won't be used because you're going to donate it to someone who may die suddenly... haven't got great advice for you, but the money will be useful if they don't. if it's that stressful for you, donate to charitable organizations or fundaisers for large groups of people, like families. if someone else is organizing the fundraiser, that also means they can (god forbid) put the money towards helping other people or funeral costs if the person or people they were fundraising for are killed.

Respectfully, you have to be out of your mind if you think that scamming tumblr users is so profitable people are running a complex interwoven criminal empire off of it. Come on. We don't live in the NCIS TV dimension.

i like to keep my mouth shut about what im doing for the most part because i dont think it does anyone any good to be paying attention to me and what im doing But with the caveat that i have been donating to gofundmes, organizations, and cash funds since i've had a paypal account. I have donated to scammers, even! it is not the end of the world and if you want to donate money to help someone's situation that's a good thing even if you donate it to the 'wrong' person. But like for the love of god stop lying to justify telling other people not to donate their money.

[accio-victuuri]

it’s not a secret that i’m a ttxs bros fan and i love that show! it was my end of week treat and i knew that no matter how stressful the weekdays were, i have ttxs and wyb to watch and be my sunday reward. wyb had 3 performances for 2023 nye and we knew about the 2 and i was excited for it but that night, my fave would be his duet with dls of the song that never ends. aside from the dls/wyb/wh moment, i think that personally, it was the kind of performance i needed that time. nye stages are expected to be flashy but sometimes what we really need is a heartwarming song to remind us of the past year and the people that we love. it was really special <3

so i’m sharing this clip of dls/wh talking about that stage:

DLS: I remember that Wang Han said something casually before, so I wrote it in the song, but he said that there are some things that cannot be said or forgotten, and cannot be even thought about, because as soon as you touch it, you will feel it, and then the feeling will disappear. going back, I have written this song for more than two years. I originally wanted to make this song my own, and I thank Hunan for allowing us to be on this stage. Later, Wang Yibo and I sang this song live. I used to sing it and it felt so good. I sang and performed, and that night, maybe I felt that Wang Yibo didn’t know that we were going to sing this song because of Wang Han, and we both had the mentality that this song is coming, are you sure we should start singing it, because when we sang it, the feeling was... We will come back a lot. When we were together, we kept talking about whether we should watch Wang Han, because you know, we were afraid that we wouldn't be able to sing when we saw Wang Han, and we would start crying. Then later we found out that Wang Han was watching from below.

How can I say that I feel that sometimes there is a relationship or a piece of work that will always end. When it becomes a song, a paragraph, a poem, a painting, it will always be in our hearts. In this melody, Wang Han and I are slightly different in age. But I feel that my friendship with Wang Han is like a song that can never be finished.

WH: Thank you. In fact, the time gap is not particularly long because it was December 31st and today is only March. Da Zhangwei means a lot to me.Every time, I look forward to him coming, and then I'm so afraid of him coming. I really want to see him but i’m afraid cause i don't know what to say. The two words he says the most are, "Just be happy. Just be happy. You'll be happy." So what I especially want to say is that if he wants me to see him happy, I will see him happy. If one day he wants me to see him unhappy, I just need to use my eyes to see him and my ears to listen to him. Wang Yibo is cold and he is warm. They are my cold and warm life.

THEY ARE SO PRECIOUS 🥹🥹🥹🥹

[ninyard]

I have this hc that Kevin Day- As great as he is at press and interviews- is actually kinda bad at good phrasing of serious, non exy tweets/social media posts. Like your earlier post about him being so awkward at being an all that people think he’s either super homophobic or closeted.

Like he doesn’t realize how much his looks/voice/face-to-face charm are more captivating than say… his articulation of anything outside of technical exy talk

YESYESYESYESYES

He’s so perfect in front of a camera. He’s so charming talking to interviewers. He’s such a gentleman talking to fans. He has the most perfect, beautiful, coached answers to any and every question about Exy, about his teammates, about the other teams. He has a stunning smile and a wonderful way with words and everyone falls in love with every word that leaves his mouth.

Ask him what he’s doing over the winter break. Ask Kevin Day what his favourite food is. Ask him what his thoughts are on [insert movie here], or ask him to explain how he feels about [any topic that isn’t exy].

As much as I joke about Kevin being dragged on social media constantly, and as much as I don’t think any of those tweets are in character or would actually happen, I DO think he frequently has to delete tweets or apologise for things online because he’s so bad at wording things when 1) his agent has told him what to tweet or 2) it’s not about Exy.

What Kevin means to say: There is beautiful diversity of LGBT+ people in exy, it’s a sport that already breaks down barriers by being mixed-gender, and having so many out and proud queer players in the sport is really refreshing and good to see

What Kevin tweets: There’s too many gay people that play Exy

What Kevin means to say: I want to be clear about my own struggles with anxiety so people are aware that they’re not alone; that talking about mental health is becoming de-stigmatised, and it’s important to remember that “celebrities” have mental health problems too, that they’re just ordinary people at the end of the day. They’re just like any other person with mental health issues.

What Kevin tweets: Nobody cares about celebrities with mental illnesses.

Something like that. Poor guy can never say anything right.

I learned something recently about accepting that sometimes people “speak in draft”. They get the thought out of their head before it’s fully formed, and sometimes they’ll need to go back and revise what they’ve said because it’s not exactly what they meant to say. People speak in draft because they’re not always going to say the perfect words to perfectly convey their points all the time. Kevin tweets in draft. But he… can’t really take it back. He tries to reread and reread things over and over again to make sure it’s okay to tweet but he is so terrible for tweeting things and having to delete them because nononono I didn’t meant it like that.

[kyouka-supremacy]

BSD Official Guidebook Gongeroku - Uemura Yuto & Ono Kensho interview

※ As usual, I'm heavily relying on automatic translators for this, so if you notice any mistake, please feel free to bring it to my attention! I'll be posting the original text in reblogs.

Thank you for your hard work in recording seasons 4 and 5. The story has now come to an end, with the story left “to be continued”¹.

Uemura: In “Two Hours Later,” Atsushi (Nakajima) and Ryunosuke (Akutagawa) trust each other; the exchange “Just the two of us?” "Do we need more?” also occurs in episode 53, but this time Atsushi is smiling a little. He says “Let's go, Akutagawa”, and takes on the challenge. I think it was a very hopeful ending, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the relationship between the two will develop. Also, I'm curious about Akutagawa's outfit. He had something on his head… Ono: That's right. (Akutagawa) looked strong. It seems like he's regained his sense of self, so what will happen next? What are Akutagawa and Atsushi fighting against? I'm curious about it all. I felt like the 5th season ended on an interesting note.

The story ended with Atsushi and Akutagawa fighting together, but looking back at the first season, what do you think has changed about Atsushi and Akutagawa?

Ono: I think the biggest thing is that now they're able to have a conversation. Uemura: That's right. At first, the two of them couldn't have a conversation at all. Atsushi said “I don't understand you at all” (Episode 23). Ono: The relationship started out with each saying “this is what I think'”, not listening to what the other person had to say, and then fighting, so that's where the biggest change happened. I really felt this change during the conversation on the ship² at the end of Season 3 (Episode 37), where they say: “Don't kill anyone for six months. Then you will come to see the truth in its simplest form”. Uemura: Atsushi started out thinking “I can't survive like this”, but then he joined the Armed Detective Agency and found himself in a position to save people. In the process, he made various choices, thinking about what Dazai (Osamu) would do, and what his colleagues at the Armed Detective Agency would do. He was finally able to accept himself and think that maybe there was a meaning to his life. In particular, the movie Bungo Stray Dogs: DEAD APPLE and the conversation with the headmaster (episode 31 part 2) were major turning points for him. He was able to face his inner self. I think that it was through these experiences that he was eventually able to make that “promise” with Akutagawa. Ono: Akutagawa is always one step ahead of Atsushi. But Atsushi is grows up really fast, right? He is the main character after all (laughs). So I think that Atsushi is gradually beginning to see Akutagawa³. Uemura: That's right. I think Atsushi originally had a very narrow vision. But after going through various experiences, his vision has finally broadened. And I think he's now able to see Akutagawa clearly. If you have a narrow vision, you can't accept any way of thinking different from your own; but as your vision gradually broadens, you start to accept that there are other ways of thinking, too. I think that's why he was able to have a dialogue.

On the contrary, what do you think remains the same about Atsushi and Akutagawa?

Uemura: Atsushi has grown and become more confident, but he still panics when he hits a wall. I've been playing Atsushi for a long time, so I'd like him to be to take a decision more quickly, but Wakabayashi Kazuhiro (sound director) would tell me, “It's too early, not yet” “It's not time yet”. When you can see what's ahead, you just want to move forward, but Atsushi takes many detours and puts his full effort into each step. I think that's what makes Atsushi unique, so I always try to cherish it. Ono: One thing that remains unchanged about Akutagawa is that he is always aware of Atsushi. I think that the relationship between Akutagawa and Atsushi, with Dazai in the middle, has not changed at all, and Akutagawa is the one who is acutely aware of that. In Season 5, Akutagawa says that fighting alongside Atsushi is “a trial (that was given to him by Dazai)”, but even though he says that, the fact that he's also aware of Atsushi has not changed.

The “trust” between the two was evident in their deadly battle against Ochi Fukuchi (episodes 53 and 54).

Ono: When Akutagawa was wounded by Fukuchi Ouchi's Amenogozen, and he says "You fool, get out of here" as he lets Atsushi escape, in the original comic Akutagawa has a sad expression on his face. However, in the anime, he has a desperate expression during the fight. The difference is very striking. I felt like the expression in the anime was an expression that matched the visual flow. That left a strong impression on me.

Afterwards, Akutagawa, who has turned into a vampire, faces Atsushi at the airport (Episode 60).

Ono: By this time, Akutagawa had completely become a vampire. I was able to record the scene with Uemura-kun, but… Uemura: Ono-san seemed to have a hard time. Atsushi tries his best to talk to Akutagawa, saying “It's me, don't you recognize me?”, but he can't get the conversation going. When he called out “Akutagawa!”… Ono: “Shhhh”. Uemura: That was all. But there was a moment when he regained a little sense of self. Ono: That was the toughest one. I put a lot of thought into how to express it. Uemura: In that scene, Atsushi was hoping that he would regain his sense of self. I think that was a kind of dynamic that had never existed before.

Having performed for so long up to season 5, what does “Bungo Stray Dogs” mean to you two?

Ono: This is a project that I'm putting my life on the line for. Akutagawa also puts his life on the line, so I feel like that is something we have in common. I think there is something I can learn from Akutagawa's desperation and his approach in facing challenges. When Akutagawa first appeared in the first season, Wakabayashi-san told me: “He doesn't sound strong”. It's a statement I still recall. The recording of Akutagawa started from there, so I hope I have been able to improve on that now, and I would like to continue to do my best without letting my guard down. Uemura: After recording the scene with Atsushi and Akutagawa, Wakabayashi-san said: “It looks like both of them have a lot more to scream”⁴. Ono: Oh, did he say that? Uemura: That's right. I'm so grateful for receiving such words. “I want you to go even further”, isn't that what they meant? I feel that if Bungo Stray Dogs will continue from now on, I will have to do something even further than that. Ono: I see. I guess I'll have to give it my best as well. Uemura: Personally, I would like to see what happens to Atsushi in the future, so I'm looking forward to the next developments.

In the fifth season, Dazai refers to Atsushi and Akutagawa as “the soukoku of a new era”⁵. In season 5, there was a scene where the soukoku duo of Dazai and Nakahara Chuuya played an active role; do you think the two of you can lead a new era?

Ono: Uhm, neither Akutagawa nor Atsushi are as smart as Dazai (laughs). Uemura: Right. I would like to see more of Atsushi and Akutagawa joining forces… But Chuuya and Dazai are both still very active (laughs). Ono: Yes. Both of them are still amazing. I don't think Akutagawa and Atsushi can realistically compete. Well, let's try our best to achieve that goal. Uemura: As the story progresses, I think it would be great if the two of them could become a duo known as Soukoku. It's different Soukoku from Dazai-san and Chuuya, it's a Soukoku that is unique to the two of them.

¹ The 「未了」 of the episode 11 ending ² This bit confused me, but they are indeed using 「船」 ship. They're probably referring to how the scene was showed as flashback while Atsushi was on Fitzgerald's ocean liner. ³ 「それでだん だん敦にも、芥川が見えてきたんだ なと思いますね。」 not sure about this one. Began to see Akutagawa in his own eyes? Began to see Akutagawa in himself? ⁴ 「まだまだ2 人とも叫べそうだな」 not sure about this one either 😔 Is it “it looks like both of them can scream even more”? ⁵ Unless I'm widely mistaken, this is a misattribution; Dazai says this in episode 24, not in season 5 (please correct me if I'm wrong). I don't remember Dazai saying anything similar in season 5.

[gunstellations]

"お前は失ってばかりじゃねえ"

"you haven't only received loss"

[deus-ex-mona]

when you look at lipxlip...

The Charm Points of LIPxLIP, As Seen Through the Eyes of Those Around Them

Film live, anime, new songs, MVs, novels, etc… In the 4 years that have passed since the release of their previous album, the world around LIPxLIP has been portrayed from many angles via all kinds of media developments. Let’s check out the charm of the pair, as seen from the eyes of the people around them!

The People at their Agency

shito: The President is a person who knows what Yujiro and Aizo are like deep down inside, so she is the one who spoils the two of them, even when they selfishly say “No means no!”. I think that she’s able to treat Yujiro and Aizo that way because they trust her wholeheartedly.

Yamako: The President is the only person with whom the two of them can be selfish without having to act cool, isn’t she?

Their Fans

Yamako: Yujiro and Aizo, as seen through the filtered lens of Chuutan, are truly the epitome of “perfect idols”. I tried to be extremely conscious of this when I was drawing her MV in order to portray them as perfectly cool as she sees them.

shito: However, from the perspective of Yujiro and Aizo, Chuutan is just one of their many fans. Aizo doesn’t like women, so if she got too close to him, he would inevitably grow to dislike her. Their relationship will not go anywhere, no matter what she does.

Yamako: Yujiro and Aizo put on an act even when they are at school, despite being off work. They are not truly off work when they’re attending school, having to play the role of “idols during their downtime” so that they do not disappoint the fans around them.

shito: That’s probably why Chuutan views them as “perfect idols”, huh? She doesn’t know what they’re truly like, after all.

Their Family (Brothers)

shito: They don’t pay much attention to their family so they don’t take the initiative to converse with their brothers all that often. However, the two of them do trust their brothers from the bottom of their hearts. I guess it’s something like that sense of distance that can be found between family members in general.

Yamako: They have a realistic sense of distance with their families. They don’t encourage each other with simple words, but I think a bond that can be conveyed through the atmosphere, like the one they have, can only be found in families that trust each other. And I’m sure that there is love at the root of the bonds that the two of them have with their families.

Same-Aged Peers Who Know What They Are Truly Like

Yamako: For Hiyori, oh gosh… (laughs) They don’t express their gratitude nor consolation directly to her, with their intentions peeking out through their not-so-honest sides. For Nagisa, they have shown a tiny glimpse of jealousy with regards to him. For instance, in the anime, when their manager asked Nagisa “Would you like to be an idol?”, this very feeling of theirs surfaced in their response to her of “Why are you scouting a guy like that? You already have us.”. I find them very cute when they’re trying not to show their cheeky and twisted sides in front of others, only to be unable to hide all kinds of things about themselves.

shito: I think Yujiro and Aizo try to play it cool in front of Hiyori and Nagisa. The fact that they get along seems to be the very thing that makes the two act cold and put on airs with them, which may be linked to that feeling of wanting to overachieve, which is distinctive of High School students.

Their Co-Performers in the Entertainment Industry

Yamako: Minami is mainly an entertainer, so he is not a rival to Yujiro and Aizo, who are both idols. As such, I get the impression that they get along as pure boy friends. On the other hand, they do not have good relations with mona… They look down on her with a sense along the lines of “Well, if you’re gonna give it your all, go ahead and try.”.

shito: From the perspective of Yujiro and Aizo, mona is just like any other idol. mona is trying to catch up to them, but it seems like they don’t see her as a worthy opponent yet.

A Unit of Their Seniors

shito: Despite being respectful to FT4 because they are their seniors, the two of them are eagerly awaiting their chance to surpass them, like “One of these days, we’ll really let you have it!”...

Yamako: FT4 and LIPxLIP sing together in Shin Jidai, though that song itself is close to the settings that FT4 are familiar with. I think LIPxLIP were cool when they were desperately trying to break out of their norm to keep up with FT4. It was nice to see a different side from the usual LIPxLIP.

[literary-potato]

Finally, mankind has an answer to the question "what if you could generate every possible heresy by running through statistically probable and grammatically coherent combinations of words involving the Trinity, Jesus, or salvation, and you could do it with an avatar that looks straight out of Civilization VI?"

[skrunksthatwunk]

ohhhh this essay was like. definitely plagiarized at least a little bit (<- peer reviewing in the club tonite)

[danthropologie]

Christian Horner via NPR | May 26, 2023

[rasticore]

i will not accept lectures saying Angel Dust is a bad character from people who could not handle Lapis Lazuli

[unproduciblesmackdown]

(genderly) chill as hell if i was only ever glimpsed / detected like this

[ingoodjesst]

seeking the permission to be weak: on the themes of goro akechi’s arc

vulnerability, isolation versus connection, resentment, emotional immaturity, sunk cost fallacy, constructing and confronting oneself, and what it means to be acknowledged.

for context, these are my semi-connected thoughts after playing through the game’s seventh palace for the first time. it left me feeling like i'd been hit by a goddamn truck, and suddenly all these damn words erupted from me. haven't actually finished the game yet, but i needed to get these feelings off my chest before i could keep going LOL [late-game spoilers for persona 5]

the akechi confrontation in shido’s palace has earned its right to reside in my head rent-free forever. i mean, it’s mechanically brilliant. all i’m looking for was a place to SAVE like normal after a mini-boss; instead i am ambushed by a boy who, frankly, could’ve used someone to save him. which is to say, i enter this fight fuckin bedraggled because i haven’t even healed up from that last encounter. three of my current party members are under 100 hp, and only a third of joker’s sp remains. it’s looking kinda ugly.

and yet, even though akechi had all the preparation on his side and demonstrated three full phases of power… he still loses. purely on the basis that mechanically, joker has so many powerful abilities gained through his confidants and all of his phantom thief friends fighting by his side–friends who could tap in when the others were exhausted. it’s entirely because of those bonds between joker and his party that they could beat the sole, sad akechi.

i LOVE how thematically resonant that is. for all his talents that even the phantom thieves begrudgingly admire, akechi still comes up short. not because he himself is deficient, but because he has no one else to rely on once he’s given his all.

when it comes to the thieves, this is the sorest part for him. akechi mocks their friendship, calling them “pieces of shit… who lick each other’s wounds…!” but what he really resents is that they help each other when they’re weak. growing up, when he was scared and lacking, he had no comfort but himself. it kills him to see them supporting one another because deep down, he’s always longed for the permission to be weak, yet still looked after.

this resentment is especially interesting when you examine how much akechi’s circumstances reflect those of the phantom thieves. having your life turned upside down by masayoshi shido. enduring the superficial judgment of your peers. betrayed by your father figure and haunted by your mother's death. performing perfection and compliance at the expense of your ideals. believing you have no choice but to obey your dad's orders while holding out for any shred of remaining affection. even being orphaned and hiding yourself from the world, feeling as though you have no power to escape your pain on your own. akechi and each of the phantom thieves have all been victimized by cruel adults and ostracized by corrupt systems. society had deprived all of them of a place to belong. but only akechi remained disconnected from other people, and only akechi took irrevocable actions that anyone would rightfully revile.

yet despite what could reasonably be expected from anyone, the thieves still choose to sympathize and plead with him to join their cause, properly this time. even futaba and haru, who have both been most directly harmed by akechi’s actions, try to acknowledge him and the isolation he’s felt all his life. it’s kindness he may not even deserve. but maybe it’s because, within akechi, they catch a glimpse of a much lonelier path that they might’ve stumbled down if it weren’t for their fellow outcasts… particularly joker.

joker is the foil that slices deeply into akechi’s pride and sense of self. just look at what they share: their unjust treatment by adults, their insightfulness, their quick wits, their charm, their competitive drive, their metaverse powers, their thief personas. hell–they’re even the same height. but despite their common ground, joker is stronger than akechi. which forces akechi to admit that his counterpart might have something special that he lacks. there’s something missing from his life, a void he’s never been able to fill but others can. and though there are material ways in which joker was simply luckier than akechi, the most important thematic difference between them is the strength and number of joker's bonds–things that akechi never learned to nurture and thus could never rival.

so akechi hates him. he hates him because joker and his friends stoke his sense of inferiority. joker isn't an empty phony. joker became acknowledged and supported without sacrificing his justice–in fact because he upheld it. joker found a way out of the misery when he couldn't. maybe worst of all, akechi hates joker because joker could've changed the course of his entire life, if only they'd met a few years earlier.

which makes it ever more tragic that in the present, akechi refuses the thieves’ extraordinary kindness. perhaps he doesn’t believe their show of grace to be genuine, rankling under sympathy that he mistakes for pity; perhaps he cannot fathom being equals in a non-transactional relationship; perhaps he just no longer considers himself worthy after all the awful things he’s done. whatever it is, he rejects what’s possibly his last chance to desert his path of self-destruction and embrace the camaraderie that has always escaped him. he thinks them fools, believing they should just get rid of him, because that's the only thing you can do with people who get in the way, right? it’s in this manner that his inability to move past his pain condemns him yet again.

the thing is, despite the cruelty he inflicted on the world through his childish temper tantrum, it's hard not to mourn the fact that akechi got here largely because he didn’t know how to grow up. if love is a safe space to be vulnerable–to mess up and mature–then with so little of it in his life, no wonder he got stuck stewing in his lies and hatred. that’s why he ends up standing before you as a kid burdened by trauma and loneliness from a young age. a kid whose parental figures abandoned him to bounce from foster home to foster home. a kid given great power yet no one to steer him away from his bad choices. a kid manipulated and molded into a mentally unstable weapon. a kid who committed to a rotten path until he felt he could do nothing else but continue tearing down it. i mean, by then, who was gonna want the real him? who was gonna save him? who was even gonna help him?

by the time he could feel the regret sink in, it was already too late. if only he’d been given the necessary love and direction beforehand, if only he’d met joker and the phantom thieves sooner… his mistakes are still his to own, but no one stepped in to show him how to wield his powers responsibly, how to rely on others, or hell–just how to make friends. when left alone to fend for himself with hardly any resources, he doubled down with the cards he was dealt. how surprised can we be?

instead this “undesirable child” grew desperate to become someone others could rely on��someone so undeniably special that even a person with a blackened heart like shido would have to acknowledge him. with such demanding standards to toil under, he could never be anything less than perfect; he could never entrust his whole broken self to anyone.

ironically, while freezing everyone else out, he grew dependent on external validation. he sought academic honors because it was an “objective” measure of his worth. he sought fame because he craved even the most mercurial of affections. he sought shido’s praise, not just because he thought he could take revenge on him one day, but also because deep down, he was a wounded kid who just wanted love from the father who should’ve loved him from the start.

his life became ruled by an immature revenge fantasy, leading him down the most counterproductive path possible. he worked so hard to construct an ideal version of himself. yet inevitably, every trait of his that others came to envy, every trait that made him “special”–his academics, his celebrity, his charisma, his strength in the cognitive world–is utterly wasted on a man who would never appreciate any of it. like akechi, shido never trusted a soul either, and he never hesitated to crush a pawn whose utility was used up–even if it was his own son.

if only subconsciously, maybe akechi already understood some of these realities. but it isn't until he is confronted by shido's cognitive akechi that the full weight finally sets in. in that moment, filtered through the eyes of the man he hates most, he experiences a reflection: an akechi who is twisted by self-serving logic, who quite literally hates himself, who would mindlessly self-annihilate for shido in a heartbeat. now it's clear: in the process of seeking futile validation, akechi has thrown away his immense potential and, ultimately, his sense of self.

the truth is, akechi admitting that he ever needed or wanted teammates would be admitting that all the suffering he endured and all the blood he spilled–things he defined himself by for lack of anything else–weren’t necessary. it would be admitting that he didn't have to be a perfect prince. he was worthy of acceptance–weaknesses and all–this whole time. that's why, after all the time and energy he's squandered, he can't do it. not even in the face of the phantom thieves’ exceptional compassion.

maybe he could’ve admitted it earlier, if he had just found real friends or familial figures to accept him. he never should have had to be “special” to deserve love. nor did he have to be an honors student, nor an ace detective, nor shido’s puppet. he just had to be akechi.

he just had to open his heart to other people long enough to realize. he just had to put his faith in those who–against all odds and beyond all reasonable expectations–still wanted to save him. but he couldn’t. the myriad complexes guarding his heart wouldn't let him. so even at the very fucking end, although he helps them escape, akechi still closes himself off–metaphorically and physically–from the phantom thieves.

not all is lost, though. at last he makes a choice in defiance of the pathetic self who shaped his entire life around shido’s will. by claiming this agency, akechi may well have elected to destroy both versions of himself: the shadow self that shido cast and the real self that he finally asserted. yet with this pyrrhic action… at least he would die not as his father’s miserable puppet, but as his own person.

if that were the end of akechi's story, it might be bittersweet enough. but before slipping away, joker extends him one last kind gesture: a reminder of akechi’s promise. his promise–perhaps the epitome of how, despite insisting that he hated joker, akechi consciously and unconsciously offered so much of himself in joker's presence. with just a few words, joker recognizes everything akechi has shared with him. perhaps it's notable that there is no sympathy expressed. he just acknowledges who akechi is to him. a rival. a phantom thief. a friend.

finally, this is the unconditional acceptance akechi has been seeking all his goddamned life. and even if he can't comprehend why on earth joker would offer him this… for once, an unguarded smile slips onto his face.