#same deal for naoto; they’re kanji’s so

[acepalindrome]

Okay, I caved in, it’s nostalgia time. I’ve never played Golden but Persona 4 has such a special place in my heart. While the dungeons in Persona 5 are all about different problems with society, the P4 dungeons are largely about unpacking your buddies’ personal issues. One dungeon is just about your homie having a sexuality crisis. Another is about a different character struggling with their gender identity. It’s not perfect but god the concept is fantastic. A game about having group therapy with your friends via fighting monsters in the magical world you access by sticking your fucking head in the tv. You can get stat boosts by eating questionable mystery leftovers you found in the back of the fridge. 10/10 game.

[holyitsquiverrflynn]

Time to make a somewhat more cohesive lore summary about the ST!AU yayyy

This takes place in a bad ending where they were not prepared for Adachi at all, which ends in them all losing horribly. Adachi is of course, being an absolute dick but then gets an idea to mess with them.

He basically throws them into a dungeon with “seemingly” normal looking shadows, and tells them to find the exit and they escape and fight him again. (He is lying)

It goes well at first, the shadows are easy to defeat and they’re pretty confident that they’ll get out and defeat Adachi. Then of course, it all goes to absolute shit.

During a fight, one of the shadows manages to attack Naoto. But instead of a normal attack it basically seeps into her from the wound. But sooner or later nothing really happens so everyone is somewhat assuming this is fine while keeping a watch on Naoto.

Suddenly Naoto drops on the floor, unresponsive. Completely unconscious. Everyone is worried but after a few moments she gets up. But something is deadly wrong.

Her eyes are a very familiar shade of yellow…and the wings of her Persona are now on her back, seemingly attached.

And her first instinct is to shoot at them. One of the bullets catches Yosuke in the leg, and another hits Rise in the shoulder.

Naoto hasn’t become a shadow, nono, he’s become something so much worse. And the shadows are listening to him. Why?

At that point everything goes to shit. One by one they all fall to the shadows, Kanji and Rise being first, then Chie and Yukiko, before finally Yu, Yosuke, and Teddie are left. And they’re almost at the exit.

Until Yosuke finds himself being dragged into a wall of shadows, Yu screaming for him to hold on as him and Teddie desperately try to pull him out. And he laughs.

“Make sure to kick his ass, ok Partner?”

And he lets go, becoming the final victim as Teddie drags him out of there and they’re free. But as soon as they see a hand come out of the portal they know they have no choice but to leave Inaba.

Teddie stays, as he doesn’t want to leave Sensei alone. After leaving, they have a relatively peaceful year.

Teddie eventually gains a new, more anthropomorphic mascot appearance during it. His human appearance is relatively the same, tho he wears more of a sailors outfit now.

Yu still feels like he could’ve done more but he’s semi-healed from it. He still misses everyone, especially him.

Of course, peace can’t last forever, however.

Adachi never anticipated that the shadows could have a greater effect on the thorns in his side, but hey, he no longer had to deal with them. Besides it was spiffy what they’d done with Inaba.

Warped and Twisted, they were instead corrupted into a mix of Shadow, Persona, and person.

And they wanted their leader and mascot home.

Luckily they do find the mascot, Yu alarmed to find Teddie deflated and in his first costume, saying that they needed to run and that he tried his best.

Yu was panicking, as they ran from them until they somehow found safety, Teddie recovering.

Now they knew that they needed to find a way to stop their friends…

Maybe with the help of thieves…?

//AHAHAHAH HOLY SHIT THAT TOOK A WHILE ANYWAYS YEP PREMISE FOR THE SHADOW TAG AU

Ask me about it or stuff yes yes nods

[danggerine]

i made the mistake of reading the notes on a lot of trans naoto posts so now y’all get responses to some of the bad takes i keep seeing. buckle the fuck up

• “naoto���s arc is about sexism specific to the japanese workplace and calling her trans erases that to fit it into a western lens!!!”

you guys do know that there are japanese trans people right. like i agree that there are lots of issues with workplace sexism and gender roles in japan, but there’s also lots of issues with transphobia. y’all do know that you do not have to be white and/or live in a western country to be trans, and that queer stories and issues are GLOBAL stories and issues right.

• “naoto isn’t a man, she just pretended to be one to get respect in a male-dominated field, if you say she’s a trans man you’re ruining that whole character arc about accepting your true self!”

here’s the thing! the way that character arc was done was fucking transphobic! the trope of a woman going into disguise as a man for safety/respect/etc is tried and tested, it shows up literally everywhere, and the trope itself is not inherently transphobic. HOWEVER, when persona 4 incorporates Really Obviously Trans elements into that trope, like chest binding and literal gender reassignment surgery, then we have a problem, because now you have a cis character going through a trans narrative in the name of insecurity.

p4 does everything it can to embody the typical narrative of a young transitioning trans guy: binding, changing your name, revising official documents to be known as a man in work and school records, dressing masculine, and forming a shadow literally based on transitional surgery. plus the stuff naoto’s shadow says isn’t about being “a weak little girl” or “no one will ever take you seriously when you’re just a little girl” like you would expect it to be for someone who’s arc is supposed to be about dealing with misogyny, it’s all “you’ll never be a real man,” “you can’t cross the boundary between the sexes,” “no one will ever see you as you are” comments. you know, textbook trans guy insecurity. but the game backtracks on that and says naoto was just insecure about being a female detective and wanted people to take them seriously, and that they should get rid of these feelings and accept their true, female self.

and this is where the problem lies. when you write an obviously trans-coded narrative, but make the character experiencing it an insecure cis person or someone trying to avoid discrimination, you say either 1. trans people are really their assigned gender and are just insecure, but accepting the gender they were given at birth will make them happier and more confident or 2. being a trans man is a way for cis women to escape misogyny. 1 is obviously stupid and has been talked about by plenty of people, but 2 is a BIG problem and a wild assumption to me. being a trans man is seen as an “out” for naoto, or a solution to a problem, as if once they’re a man they’ll face no discrimination whatsoever, when in reality things like getting their gender marker changed in official documents that would allow them to go by “he” and wear the boy’s uniform at school and passing well enough to be seen as a boy in public would be a HUGE ordeal that includes a lot of stress and rejection and danger. realistically, naoto is putting themself in a really precarious position, because if they are exposed as actually afab to the media, to the detective agency, or to the school, they are set for a hell of a lot of ridicule, discrimination, and potential physical danger. but persona 4 doesn’t reflect this at all, because it’s transphobic and thinks that being trans is the easy way out for cis women experiencing misogyny!

• really any argument that boils down to “naoto is a cis woman in canon whose struggle is about sexism, not being trans”

like i already addressed enough of this, i think, but what really gets me is that kanji’s arc is fucked up in a lot of the same ways naoto is and no one is clowning on posts about kanji being gay? his shadow is a very clear (and offensive) gay caricature, and his narrative is very much one about a mlm guy experiencing homophobia from his peers and acting out because of that. and yet the game backtracks to saying “oh no it’s not about liking men, kanji is insecure about his femininity and softer hobbies because of toxic masculinity” and then literally uses naoto to refute his queerness because “look the only guy kanji was ever shown as attracted to was ACTUALLY a woman all along and now that kanji knows she’s a girl he can be openly attracted to her!” in canon, naoto is about as cis as kanji is straight, and yet EVERYONE is on board for portraying kanji as gay in fan works like it’s not even a question, but there has to be a huge debate anytime anyone wants to call naoto trans. legitimately, i think i’ve seen someone argue about kanji being mlm on a post...once? ever? meanwhile every post about naoto being trans has to have a horde of discourse, i’m literally already prepping for the bad notes this post will get because y’all cannot leave this ALONE

in conclusion, i am not saying that everyone has to think naoto is a trans man or forcing anyone to stop liking a character in the way they want or anything like that. i am saying that the naoto’s canon character arc is transphobic and if you’re trying to fight with trans people about how they want to reclaim something that uses a lot of their experiences, don’t.

[daxieoclock]

{h} VANE I HAD A COOL THOUGHT. u have to mix up the persona protags (3-5) and put them with a different group. up to u if this is for the plot of their game or with the group established. who goes with who and why and how do they fit into the dynamic

!!!! That’s such a cool idea!!! I’m gonna do what comes to mind and just swap from the very start, cut and paste sorta dealio

Hm hm hm…I’ll assume that Minako and Minato are a package deal, so they’d both get moved to that other group. And speaking of! Let’s start with them.

I think the Arisatos would both fit extremely well in the phantom thieves. Whether they’re siblings or a system, either way I think p5’s themes of rebellion versus sloth works really well for minato’s difficulties with moving forward, tending towards passivity and acceptance for a while, while minako’s upbeat personality could get them both through those early couple palaces but she would struggle more with the pervasive anxiety and depressing during the thieves’ kinda downswing from the end of the okumura arc until midway through the yaldy arc.

I would also really love to see their foiling with Akechi. Like. It wouldn’t them be the same as ren’s, but I think they could have some real fascinating interactions. Oh, and imagine how jazzed Futaba would be to have TWO cool and dorky older siblings. Dual wielding key items dhfhfg

Yu is probably the hardest one to fit in any persona game outside of his own, since he’s just…the most terminally unaffected character in the modern trilogy. The only other place that made sense for him would be in a game where he could be a background character, since he already kind of is in p4. So, even though it would probably be to the detriment of the game and story, I think he could manage alright enough in p3.

The thieves could operate autonomously if joker were a cardboard cutout, but ren’s role as leader is tantamount to their success, unity and continued ability to find new thieves. SEES on the other hand…I mean, it would be a less compelling game, but Arisato isn’t a linchpin of their ability to actually function. They’re important to the members of SEES, but not necessarily to the existence of the team itself.

So I think Narukami could do fine enough just standing in the background and being a bland motivational speaker. Like we didn’t need or even want a second Junpei, but at least he could help by being the one trauma-free ally in the friend group who helps make sure things get done.

And now. The fun one. Ren in Persona 4. This could go one of two ways. Either nothing significant changes and Ren is fucking miserable the whole time like Naoto and Kanji and Rise but at least he’s a good mystery solver, cause he’s smart and clever and in his own game was set up as a foil to a literal actual detective.

And! The fact that the “foil” style villain of p4 is a COP makes a ton more sense for Ren than yu. Like Adachi still doesn’t foil Ren directly, but he’d be a great fakeout final antagonist, the avatar of the primary villain being a police officer makes sense and would push Ren to his limits. So that’s already an improvement. He’d also be a fantastic big brother to nanako, even though his bond with dojima would be a lot more strained.

But assuming some aspects of the story would change to cater to this new protagonist…g-d the game could be so good actually. Like Ren helping be that emotional core for the investigation team, bonding with naoto (transmasc to transmasc communication), helping both support and defend his new friends without allowing any of their occasional bullshit, it could really lead the team towards an ending where they all are happy and comfortable in themselves and feel genuinely at home in this new found family unit, rather than how canon feels where everyone is all smiles and good times and then as soon as they drift apart even a centimeter the entire team fractures in half irreparably.

[rjr1396]

Fake Dating AU

Based/inspired off of this 

So I know very little of Persona Q so bear with me. Souyo + Akimina

Imagine that somehow, the events of both persona 3 and 4 are going on at the same time (don’t worry about the logic) outside of the events of persona Q

When Minato/Makoto’s partner ended up being Yosuke, he didn’t mind. Sure he did hope for a certain boxer, but a fellow music lover is the next best thing he figures. Hell Yosuke seems all for it, so this shouldn’t be that bad.

The moment Yosuke said that he and Minato/Makoto were destined partners, Souji/Yu tried to not visibly wince, weren’t they partners? He had to remind himself that it didn’t mean anything, it was just the gimmick for this part of the labyrinth

Akihiko on the other hand didn’t expect the sudden flare of irritation of seeing his leader with Yosuke. He didn’t even realize that he was clenching his fists until Mitsuru grabbed his wrist and gave him a look that somehow said ‘Calm down’ and ‘Don’t do something stupid’. He tried calming down, but the moment he caught Shinji’s knowing smirk, he resorted to glaring at the ground trying to figure out why he’s acting like this. 

Minato/Makoto and Yosuke seemed to hit it off well, a little too well for Souji/Yu and Akihiko’s liking. The music lovers stuck together after that. Minato/Makoto noticed that Yosuke was a pretty good strategist and quite level headed when he needed to be, he was the second in command of the IT for a reason, he needed to be whenever their leader was too impulsive. Plus with how well he worked with Souji/Yu, they were a hell of a unit and asset to the team as a whole. Even Akihiko had to begrudgingly agree that Yosuke was strong, he still didn’t like the guy being a little too buddy buddy with his leader.

After everything was said and done, before each group went their separate ways, Yosuke and Minato/Makoto swapped info/numbers to keep in touch. They text every day.

Souji/Yu tried not to get too upset with that development, Yosuke didn’t have any friends outside of the IT so this is good for him, makes him happy, right?

Mitsuru kept telling Akihiko that it was good that Minato/Makoto have friends outside of SEES. They had to admit that he was smiling more now and Yosuke’s friendship was helping him open up more. Still, it didn’t help with the irritation or the bitterness he felt when he caught a smile that Yosuke help make. He may or may not have punched threw a few punching bags imagining they were of his face.

Minato/Makoto helped Yosuke realize that he may not be as straight as he thought he was, what do you mean I have feelings for Partner? For Souji/Yu?

Once Yosuke fully accepted himself, (Yes Yosuke you’re not straight, No this isn’t a phase, Yes you are somewhat socially inept at times, but this is more than that and you know it, No you can’t keep denying it unless you want to deal with another shadow, now get over yourself) he decides to come out to his parents

It goes well, though they are now convinced that the main reason he came out was because he had a boyfriend and after trying to tell them otherwise, he accidentally says that Minato/Makoto is his boyfriend who lives in Iwatodai.

“So I may have messed up a little.” ‘What did you do?’ “I may have told my parents that we were dating since they refused to believe that I didn’t have a boyfriend since I was coming out to them.” ‘….’ “Please.” ‘….’ “I’ll buy you beef bowls for a month.” ‘*sigh* Fine.’ “Yes! Thank you! AlsotheywanttomeetyouI’lltextyouthedetailslaterkthanksbye!” ‘…Wait what?’ *Hangs up*

Fuuka: Hey, how was your day? Minato/Makoto: Apparently I have a boyfriend now. Everyone: WHAT?!

The moment Minato/Makoto makes that announcement, says that Yosuke is now his boyfriend, everything falls into place for Akihiko. He had romantic feelings for Minato/Makoto and he was jealous of Yosuke. Shinji calls him an idiot. Mitsuru is a little more sympathetic but she still calls him an idiot too.

Teddie, busy with work doesn’t know the whole story, just that Yosuke’s dating someone, so he proceeds to tell the rest of IT, starting with Sensei. “Sensei, Sensei! Did you know that Yosuke’s scoring?” ‘…What?’

Minato/Makoto goes to Inaba for a visit the next holiday, staying with the Hanamuras. Yosuke’s parents end up loving him. They urge the couple to enjoy themselves in town which they do, Where’s my beef bowl Hanamura?

The IT decide to ask about what Teddie’s been telling them, C’mon Teddie, we’d know if Yosuke were dating anyone. They all meet up at Junes, Minato/Makoto hanging nearby out of sight for everyone but Yosuke in case he needs backup.

Yosuke comes out to the group (’I KNEW IT!’ “Shut up Chie!”) and they’re all okay with it, though the punch in the arm by Kanji was to be expected (”I really am sorry, man” ‘ts cool, but I will kick your ass if you bring it up again’ “Understood!”). Naoto and Yukiko applaud him for his bravery and willingness to open up to the group, Souji/Yu smiles and says that he’s happy for him (Internally crying for joy, he may have a chance!) Rise is the one who asks about him ‘scoring’. Yosuke waves Minato/Makoto over and announces that they’re dating. Something in Souji/Yu breaks a little.

The IT all accept Minato/Makoto. Souji/Yu pull him to the side to be alone for a bit Souji/Yu: You better not hurt him. Minato/Makoto: Wouldn’t dream of it. Souji/Yu: I’m being serious! Minato/Makoto: So am I.

Souji/Yu had never been more tempted to throw someone into the TV world til now, Yosuke was his best friend, his Partner, who did Minato/Makoto think he was getting in between them? (but he makes Yosuke happy, isn’t that what matters?)

Minato/Makoto: Yosuke, how long are we gonna keep this up? Yosuke: We’ll just wait til you go back to Iwatodai and then say that we broke up because of artistic differences, but decided to stay friends. Minato/Makoto: Did- did you just quote Chicago? Yosuke: ….Maybe.

Yosuke’s parents suggest that Yosuke go to Iwatodai for the 2nd half of the holiday break, so he does. When they arrive at the dorms, SEES welcome Yosuke amicably

Mitsuru: If you hurt him, know that they’ll never find your body. Yosuke: UH…

Akihiko maintains his distance from the couple (’It’s your fault for not figuring it out sooner, Aki.’ “Shut up Shinji!”), but it’s a bit harder to do when Yosuke joins them during the Dark Hour and into Tartarus. Everyone finds it sweet when Yosuke goes to help Minato/Makoto up when he gets knocked down, snaps him out of a status effect, or just full on takes a blow for him (”I could do that too.” ‘Yea, but you don’t’ “Shut up Shinji!”)

The truth comes out when Yosuke is about to leave for Inaba Minato/Makoto: Well, it’s been fun being fake boyfriends with you. Yosuke:  I guess we’ll just have to settle for just friends. Minato/Makoto: Maybe friends with benefits if we get bored and both single. Yosuke: Sure why not. Everyone: WAIT WHAT?! Minato/Makoto: Oh, did we forget to mention that?

They explain the whole situation and boy has Akihiko never felt more relieved. 

The moment Yosuke leaves Akihiko: Hey Minato/Makoto, you wanna get some beef bowls with me? Minato/Makoto: Is this a confession? Akihiko: Y-yes! Minato/Makoto: Thank fuck. 

Souji/Yu goes to pick up Yosuke from the train station. The moment Yosuke gets off, he gets a text from Minato/Makoto: ‘Man up and go get your man’ Souji/Yu: Get a text from your boyfriend? Yosuke: Ex-fake boyfriend if we’re being honest. Souji/Yu: Wait what?

By the time Yosuke’s done explaining everything they’re back at the Hanamura residence and they’re all alone. Souji/Yu: So it was all a lie? Yosuke: Yea, my parents just wouldn’t listen to reason. I do feel kinda bad for dragging hi-

Souji/Yu pulls him for a kiss, and Yosuke just pulls him closer.

They plan to have a double date the next day off

[mx-shirogane]

Persona 4 and LGBTQ+

Ah yikes, an opinion piece. These are just my thoughts and I’m more than open to hearing other people’s opinions and thoughts on the matter. 

When I first found the Persona Fandom, I was introduced by Game Theory. Not the “Teddie is Yu’s Shadow” video, rather their video on LBGTQ+ represention in video games. MatPat threw around the word “Persona” and as someone who was just learning about the LGBTQ+ community, I became interested in what I thought to be a game with character development around sexuality and gender identity. While I can understand Kanji’s shadow being used as an example for this in their video due to Persona 4 being recent and how it appears at a first glance, I think a better example would have been Jun and Tatsuya from Persona 2: Innocent Sin. In this post I’ll be covering Yosuke, Kanji and Naoto.

Sexuality, Kanji and Yosuke: From the beginning, there were created issues with the idea of Persona 4 being an LGBTQ+ game, this was with Yosuke being removed as a romance option. Had they kept him as a romance option, I personally feel they could have explained his behaviors as internal homophobia and suppression of his own feelings for the protagonist. However, with this removed, Yosuke’s cracks at Kanji’s sexuality lack the reasoning of insecurity and projection and instead comes across as ignorance and fear. The anime made no attempt at fixing this, having more negative connotation around Kanji as the party is hesitant to save him. Another scene that comes to mind is the camping trip, where Yosuke asks if they’ll be safe alone with him. In the anime, the protagonist also joins in on this interrogation. Kanji’s clearly uncomfortable as he eventually runs off to sleep in the girl’s tent at an attempt to defend himself. In the game, Yosuke does express concern for Kanji as he fears he might be expelled. This at least shows that Kanji is a friend regardless of the feelings Yosuke harbors towards his sexuality. This exchange portrays Yosuke as quick to flip sides from being worried about Kanji to worried for Kanji and still maintains their friendship. This does have a bit of karma as Chie insinuates the same thing when the girls sneak into their tent. Where as in the anime, Yosuke and the Protagonist just watch Kanji leave and there are no later comments made on the matter. Overall, Kanji’s homosexuality becomes more of a punchline than a sexual orientation and was more so fueled by hyper-masculinity and Naoto. A later scene in the game that shows his perception change of Naoto from male to female is during the group date cafe when describing his ideal girl and Yosuke calls him out sarcastically for being obvious. During this same event, if you choose to be on the girl’s side, you have a few options. If you pick Yosuke, he’ll freak out but then begin flattering himself, the protagonist noting that he seems “proud for some reason.” Meanwhile if the protagonist picks Kanji, Yosuke will note that they’re a perfect match to which Kanji refuses and even threatens Yosuke if he keeps bringing the matter up. Instead of there being any snarky remarks following from Yosuke, he compliments Kanji saying it’s due to his manliness which Kanji does take well. This could come across as Yosuke trying to protect himself, however his remark is more positive than that in the tent and does signify a growth towards trying to understand. If you sit on the guy’s side and ask if Yosuke likes any of the guys, he’ll respond saying the protagonist before stuttering and calling him out for making him play along. With factors like Naoto’s reveal taken into account, Kanji’s shadow becomes less focused on his sexuality and more so on bullying and hyper-masculinity. As for Yosuke, he comes across as ignorant and fearful. Had he remained a romance option, this could have been played off as an internal conflict Yosuke was dealing with and projecting onto Kanji.

Gender Identity and Naoto: I’ll be using They/Them pronouns to refer to Naoto. Naoto Shirogane was originally thought to be a male which greatly fueled Kanji’s Shadow. However, Naoto’s arc referred more to sexism in the work place and their struggles with being a child detective and idolization. Side note: Props to Kanji in the shadow scene for realizing Naoto had to confront their shadow in order to stop hurting. After the fight, Yukiko asks Naoto if they dislike being a girl and if that’s the reason they dress like a man. Naoto responds saying their sex doesn’t fit their ideal image of a detective and notes that the police department is a male-oriented society. They express that if anyone knew Naoto was biologically female, they wouldn’t be needed anymore. Kanji and Yukiko both make remarks on this, Kanji saying that they didn’t know how others would react, and Yukiko remarking that Naoto didn’t want to become an adult or a boy. This is followed by Naoto saying “What I should yearn for... No, what I must strive for isn’t to become a man. It’s to accept myself for who I really am...”  From this point on, Naoto is referred to with female pronouns terminology, even by their close friends. While Naoto continues wearing the male uniform, they say it’s what they’ve become comfortable in and are show to be generally shy about their body, key examples being in the bath house and the beauty contest. My opinion on how to portray them as LGBTQ+:  These are small notes on how I would portray and shape them based on contradictions and hints in the game.  Yosuke: Have Yosuke identify as bicurious. It’s cannon that he likes girls and there are scattered remnants of him liking the protagonist littered throughout Persona 4 and the other spin offs. His internal conflict over liking guys as well as girls could prove to be an interesting story premise when done properly. As well, him projecting his insecurities onto Kanji would shift his character from being ignorant and fearful to being insecure about his own feelings and not knowing how to deal with them. If you want to have someone in Yosuke’s life that shaped his views on homosexuality, create someone like a friend, parent or even bully who caused him to see homosexuality in a negative light. Try to avoid having him instantly fall in love with the protagonist and present more of a struggle as to figure out what’s right and what’s wrong. Even if you end up having him identify as straight in the end, allow for some wiggle room for experimentation due to the small hints throughout the games.  Kanji: Have Kanji identify as pansexual and focus his shadow around him questioning his sexuality and not hyper-masculinity. Keep in the fact Kanji was called queer by female students because he liked cute things and knitting. This would serve as a starting point for him questioning his sexual orientation. However, when it comes to his shadow, have the repressed self trying to figure out who he likes whether it’s guys, girls or if sex just doesn’t matter instead of flat out calling him gay. That way, when it comes to the reveal of Naoto, his entire shadow arc doesn’t get cancelled out.   Naoto: Have Naoto identify under the transmasculine umbrella. As much as I love Trans!Naoto in fanworks, Naoto does say that they should strive to be true to themselves and that what they want wasn’t to become a boy. Transmasculine, acording to the nonbinary wiki, is an umbrella term that refers to those who were assigned female at birth, and whose gender is masculine and/or who express themselves in a masculine way. Transmasculine people feel a connection with masculinity, but do not always identify as male. This way, you can still have Naoto identify as male for the first majority of the game and have the shadow reveal Naoto felt pressured by the police force to negate any feelings they had and portray themselves as strictly male. They said themselves that both their parents were detectives, which contradicts Naoto saying that they’d get tossed aside if the department knew they were biologically female. Focus less on their age and have the repressed feelings focus on how they felt like an outcast for not fitting in the gender norm which contributed to an anxiety of shutting people out and obsessing over masculine stereotypes as an attempt to fit in. Naoto identifying as masculine would allow for more wiggle room in terms of pronouns and the variety of honorifics used (Chie and Yukiko use Kun, Rise, Yosuke, Kanji and the Protagonist don’t use any, and Teddie uses Chan) whilst further supporting Naoto’s preference for masculine clothes and body insecurities, mainly their chest.

[misedejem]

I wrote 75 headcanons about Kannao

25 for Kanji, 25 for Naoto, 25 for them as a couple

Why?

Why not.

 Kanji Tatsumi

1.     He does actually need glasses, but he was hesitant to ask for contacts, so he spent most of P4 struggling to see until Naoto brought up that he looked like he was having a hard time. He wore contacts for a bit, but eventually he just stuck to glasses.

2.     The scar on his head was a source of speculation for the other members of the Investigation Team for years, because he never cared to explain, resulting in some very wacky theories. Eventually they found out it was just from a fight with a gang member, but considering he got it when he was twelve, the story is still pretty interesting.

3.     He hates mentioning medical stuff to anybody, but he’s prone to fainting spells out of nowhere. Thankfully, it never happened in the TV, which several members of the IT very angrily said to him when he blacked out in front of them one day.

4.     He’s the spitting image of his father, only with shorter hair. He could never let it grow out for that reason.

5.     He’s the only one from the Investigation Team B to go to college. He studies textiles and trains to become a teacher in Tokyo. He ends up being an art teacher at a middle school.

6.     He’s actually pretty good at literature and humanities subjects, though he struggles applying those skills in a school setting until a teacher who hasn’t given up on him yet helps him through them.

7.     Rise forced him to take dance classes the minute he moved to the city because he was ‘super good at it dammit’. Ditto the drums. He can sing too, but she’s not allowed to know that.

8.     He actually just tends to go along with Rise’s plans a lot, partially because he knows her well enough to know stopping her is futile, and also because she understands his tastes very well once she learns what they are

9.     He doesn’t dislike the way he used to dress in high school, but it wasn’t quite him. It needed more cuteness, and softer colours, which is how he started to dress once he graduated high school.

10.  The black hair and glasses stay forever, but when he’s sewing, he still wears his hair pushed back. Yukiko gave him a hairband for it when she noticed him growing slowly more irritated with it getting in his eyes.

11.  As well as his nose and ears, he also gets an eyebrow piercing in college.

12.  He manages to make a small group of friends in college, with his course being the perfect way for him to find likeminded individuals who applaud his skills rather than shunning them

13.  Kanji is the best cook in the Investigation Team. His baking skills, especially, are exemplary.

14.  He has an online, worldwide store where he sells his plushies and the occasional drawing and outfit. He’s semi-fluent in English by the time he graduates college, so when Naoto travels abroad sometimes he goes too and hits up the conventions.

15.  Ann is his go-to model once they meet. He helps her with outfits for a college final once and they work together so well that she sticks with him.

16.  The reason Koromaru dislikes him is that he can tell he’s kinda rough with physical affection. He doesn’t realise it for the longest time because nobody points it out. He is really good with animals otherwise though, and he’s also really good with kids.

17.  He’s a back-up fighter for the Shadow Ops should they need him, by virtue of being married to their resident detective.

18.  The main reason he keeps training his body though is actually because Chie is determined to beat him at arm wrestling one day, and he’s too proud to let anyone win without a fight.

19.  When Naoto’s cat, Mochi, had kittens, he got to name the one they kept. His name is Pocky. He has a little leather jacket that Kanji painstakingly crafted one night when he couldn’t sleep.

20.  He needs a lot of alcohol to get drunk (which makes nights out with the IT interesting for him, given that the others are all serious lightweights)

21.  If you give him a life sim, especially that one with the cute animals, you will not see him again for days at a time. He’s not huge on video games, but life sims will take over his life

22.  Even if he does retreat into a cave to build a pristine village though, he will still probably emerge with a smooth face because he doesn’t grow facial hair very easily. He can, but it takes a while.

23.  He can’t sleep as easily unless he’s holding something soft.

24.  The easiest time to get him to speak his mind about certain things is when he’s sick and more vulnerable, which doesn’t happen very often. For example, the IT had no idea their jokes at his expense bothered him until he confessed it while extremely out of it on cold medication one time. He doesn’t remember saying it either, but he did notice they were more sincere with him after that.

25.  Everybody in the Investigation Team ends up facing their Shadow again in their adulthood, but by the time Shadow Kanji returns, Kanji has become so accepting of the self the Shadow had represented in the past that he takes on a completely different form. Naoto is the only other person with this same experience.

Naoto Shirogane:

1.     By the time they stop growing, Naoto is nearly 5’1” and they absolutely make it a point to let their friends know

2.     They don’t really know how to look after their hair at all, hence the cap and general messiness. They tend to forget about it until it becomes too long and gets all tangled.

3.     They’re very accident prone, and are covered in a lot of scars from their childhood. The worst one though is one on their back from that time Sho stabbed them at Junes.

4.     One of said scars came from their neighbours’ huge dog biting them when they were five. To this day, they’re still absolutely terrified of big dogs.

5.     They’ve experienced panic attacks for most of their life, though they occur less frequently as an adult.

6.     They resemble their mother more than their father, but the height comes from the Shirogane side. Grampa Shirogane was quite small as well.

7.     They are the only member of the Investigation Team who can tolerate Rise’s cooking. The others suspect potential spice immunity.

8.     As well as piano and ballroom dance, they were also trained in a choir as a child, but fell out of favour with it in their teens. The Velvet Siblings hold a final Theatre Showdown with their guests in 2019, and this is when Naoto fully rediscovers their musical side again.

9.     If you ask Naoto how much those specially tailor-made clothes cost, they will mumble and then change the subject

10.  Naoto returns to Yasogami as a full-time student in third year after Mitsuru enrols Labrys in the school out of nowhere, intent on investigating her motives.

11.  They hold the school’s record for highest graded paper for decades. It was on Sherlock Holmes.

12.  Naoto has written a lot of Sherlock Holmes fanfiction as a kid. The others are aware this exists, but are not allowed to read it.

13.  They don’t attend college after graduation, but don’t have much time to figure out what they will do. The mental shutdown incidents begin the same year, and Naoto decided to help the Shadow Operatives with it as much as possible.

14.  Naoto hates the title ‘detective prince’, and actively tries to shed it. Akechi was a godsend in that light.

15.  They actually hate the media’s attention in general but figured that they may as well use the platform they have for a good cause. They want to be the kind of person they needed to see on TV as a kid, but they very vocally opposed the ‘detective prince’ crap until it ended – which it did quite abruptly when the truth about Akechi came out.

16.  Much of what Goro Akechi likes, he got from Naoto’s indirect influence, from the way he dresses to knowledge of that jazz club in Kichijoji. They’re more of a regular there than he is.

17.  Rise set them up on social media, but they don’t really get how to use it. Their fans discovered it though, so they still have a fair number of followers.

18.  Naoto has a slight friendly rivalry with the people who run a local escape room place. Their goal as a company is to one day leave Naoto stumped.

19.  Naoto doesn’t actually like coffee. Too bitter. Tea is their go-to.

20.  They got a standard-size motorcycle at eighteen but doesn’t drive a car. Yakushiji and Kanji refuse to let them behind the wheel.

21.  After becoming comfortable with their childish side once again, they became openly enamoured once more with Neo Featherman, and have a lot of very expensive figures on display in their house. They even cosplayed at a convention once with some of Kanji’s college friends (though it was difficult to convince them to do it)

22.  Yosuke was paid back all the money the IT owed him shortly after Naoto joined the team and discovered they were mooching from him. Yosuke doesn’t know for certain where it came from.

23.  They adopted a kitten they named Mochi in 2017, who they found abandoned outside a supermarket (in an old box that had contained a shipment of mochi, hence the name). She’s an orange tabby, and she became something of a comfort animal when Naoto was at their lowest.

24.  Their grandfather died from an illness in early February 2017. They didn’t handle his loss well, and they ended up falling into a depression that they never really came out of, though they weren’t able to admit that they weren’t okay. It was an encounter with their Shadow that eventually led to them seeking help.

25.  While they’re still a Private Detective in theory, most of the work they do following the events of P5 are Shadow-related. The Shirogane Agency became one of the Shadow Operatives’ closest allies. Makoto Niijima is currently doing an internship there (they met after the Phantom Thieves helped the SOs deal with another incident in Tokyo in 2018)

Kannao

1.     Naoto ‘came down with a fever’ around the time of the Love Meets Bonds festival that had absolutely nothing to do with their friend Kanji suddenly seeming way cooler than before.

2.     The ‘fever’ got worse when they started having classes together in school, and Naoto agreed to help Kanji with his college entrance exams.

3.     At this point Kanji had kinda accepted his feelings existed, but were unrequited, and that he didn’t want that to interfere with their friendship. Naoto was one of the only people who really got him, and he didn’t want to lose them so soon after building a rapport with them. Little did he know.

4.     Naoto was the first one to eventually confess, once Rise, Yu, Grampa, Nanako, several books and google searches, and a random stall vendor at the summer festival in their hometown had convinced them that the weird feeling in their chest wasn’t actually an illness. They did it in the summer of 2013, at said festival.

5.     They were also the first one to say they were in love. The realisation hit them one day as they were watching Kanji play a cute life-simulator game in his college dorm.

6.     While they’re no longer awkward around each other all the time, there are ways they can still make the other very flustered. For example, with Naoto, it’s any time Kanji is wearing a suit.

7.     They got married at Christmas in 2019. Kanji had a proposal planned. Naoto misread the vibe and proposed early and spontaneously on the day he had planned to, though he still got to go ahead with his as well.

8.     Kanji doesn’t really like PDA. They get a lot of people staring at them anyway because of how they look, or because Naoto is recognisable from the TV, and he doesn’t want to make the stares worse. In private though, he’s the more affectionate one.

9.     Naoto accidentally fuelled the rumours that ‘Kanji Tatsumi is in a biker gang’ again when they first started dating by parking their motorcycle outside the textile shop. Ma Tatsumi was quick to tell anybody who questioned it that it belonged to her son’s significant other long before she was supposed to know they were dating

10.  Kanji keeps forgetting to specify which number in his phone is for Naoto’s personal phone and which is for work, which has lead to such wonderful anecdotes as ‘I accidentally hired a private investigator to fix my broken car’

11.  They’re both used to the other bolting upright in bed at 3am because they’ve had an idea for a new pair of socks for the cat, or another hypothesis for a case. Naoto also wakes up quite a bit due to nightmares.

12.  They lived together with the rest of the Investigation Team since 2016, but they don’t get an apartment as just the two of them until the year they get married. It doesn’t take long before there is an entire room in that apartment filled from floor to ceiling with toys.

13.  Kanji is much tidier and more organised than Naoto, even though Naoto isn’t bad, so he’s the one who figures out where things should go. Decorating the house is his favourite thing

14.  They are the unparalleled board-game kings. Somehow, they’re an unstoppable force of nature when paired together for them.

15.  Surprising everyone, Naoto is the more likely of the two to use pet names. They are the only person who won’t be threatened if they call him ‘Kan-chan’.

16.  Before it became common knowledge amongst Naoto’s fanclub that Kanji was their boyfriend, they thought he was their bodyguard. (The Risette fandom had the same idea)

17.  Kanji never helped that rumour die, considering that when the media tries to shove cameras into Naoto’s face, he yells obscenities and gets in the way until the footage is unusable.

18.  They have a daughter in 2025, when Naoto is 30 and Kanji is 29. She’s named Chihiro, mostly because it’s like a phonetic portmanteau of Kanji’s father’s name (Koichi Tatsumi) and Naoto’s grandfather’s (Yasuhiro Shirogane). But also, that was the name of the actor who played Naoto’s favourite version of Feather Swan. Naoto isn’t creative enough to come up with a portmanteau.

19.  They are each 80% of the other’s impulse control

20.  Naoto couldn’t care less that Kanji isn’t the brightest, despite common misconception. The Shirogane family, and the people who work for it, always placed emphasis on a person’s intelligence (hence Yu’s requirement for a lot of knowledge to start the Fortune link) but Naoto is strongly opposed to that mindset. To them, it’s freeing to have somebody around who doesn’t want to be an intellectual 95% of the time.

21.  They are very private when it comes to their relationship, to the point that sometimes even friends or colleagues have no idea what’s going on in their lives until it’s let slip somehow. When Junpei and Yukari – the Shadow Ops Naoto worked with the least - found out they were expecting, it first had to be explained to them that they’d been married for five years.

22.  They sometimes get mistaken for father and son at restaurants until their early thirties, to which point Naoto will make a scene of ordering a lot of alcohol to prove they’re old enough. Naoto can’t really handle booze.

23.  They’re really bad at making face to face announcements about anything big to their friends, so they always find some way to do it elaborately instead. They told the IT they were having a kid, for example, through a series of puzzles put together by Naoto

24.  Kanji loves making couples costumes and outfits, but then gets too embarrassed to wear them

25.  Naoto is a fiend for stealing Kanji’s clothes as pyjamas. They are large and warm, and when they’re travelling for work, they remind them of him. It got to the point where Kanji would pack a shirt of his secretly in Naoto’s suitcase, knowing that’s why his clothes always went missing.

[raguna-blade]

So thinking bout persona, which as far as this blog is concerned is basically all I do, and I got to thinking.

So the Metaverse/Mementos, Shadow Time/Tartarus and The World in the Tv/Midnight Channel are all basically the same thing right? Not PRECISELY the same thing, but the overlap is immense and real. I'd be willing to bet that the various spinoff games Including Q and such would also count towards this in that they're kinda worlds in the sea of the Unconscious (and with at least Two Users of the Universe Arcana sleeping to keep the world secure right now, who knows what weird funky things are going on there.)

But they're generally the same thing, and part of the rules that are generally established have to deal with perception and one and all seem to exist as a rule in weird liminal spaces.

Forgive for innaccuracies it's been a while for P3 and P4, but with that out of the way.

Tartarus is a transformation of a school, and has strict limitations on how long it is active (not unlike a school really) and not only that is made up of discretely aesthetic but also very uniform locations. The Persona Users only have their one Extra Hour to make their way through (or at least in story that should be the case) and reach their final destination.

Tartarus is, without question, one of the most confusing nosense places because of course it extends up and up and up some 300 floors (apparently) which is weird, but what's perhaps weirder, at least in context of the Persona 3-5 Series of games is that there isn't really an effect upon the users precisely. Oh to be sure it effects people, it changes them into coffins which, considering the Tower's Purpose and all makes sense. The place is all about death and that great change, and the way that persona are summoned via Evoker I suppose would explain their not being coffins. There's an awareness of death there I suppose, and so an additional awareness of this special time given.

Ok. Cool.

The Midnight Channel though, it's a world more or less made up of the endless distorting fog, which alters shape to take the form of those who fall into it's greatest fears and concerns writ large and obnoxious, seemingly in an effort to have them confront themselves. At least, in theory, once the fog lifts, but formed in such a way that almost seems tailor made to have people freak the absolute hell out.

And of course, the place it exists/accessed is a television, turned off at midnight which, frankly is a pretty strange space if you're expecting anything to show up on it, or rather expecting NOTHING to show up on it right?

Everything blown up the way that it is, it makes sense that the world is endlessly foggy, not as stable as it initially appears, and all that, but as to the persona users themselves, they're...more or less just as they are. They're granted glasses by Teddie that allow them to see better, but they are otherwise not fundamentally changed.

Which...Leads us to Mementos. A Place that is explained as not only a direct connect to the sea of the unconscious, a rather different statement from the other major locales even if they too are a direct connection, but it also...changes the persona users.

The liminal space (and this is, I think admittedly, somewhat of a stretch) is more or less just any old random place, but you, distinctly, not a part of it. Well, that's the metaverse as a whole, but Mementos itself is a train station, which tracks as far as I understand the subject. It's a place of coming going, and just an endless sea of people who you really are just kind of one of.

But...Why does it change them so much? It's explained that the form that the phantom thieves take is their form of rebellion against the world. Very literally, the manifestation of their Rebellion (Of which Their Transformed Selves are paired with their Persona's with whom they made a contract).

Alright, that tracks, it's consistent to an extent, but this raises the question of why don't we see that in the other shadow worlds? Part of that, I've said before, is Because I think the Phantom Thieves are more or less playing at their Shadows as opposed to the other Persona Teams. The Shadows that We see in Persona 4 seem to be in line with what we're seeing in the Phantom Thieves, in that they are the version of their relevant person pushed to their extremes and distorted, pushed into a state of otherness for one reason or another.

Not all of them get fancy duds of course, and certainly that's at least as much because of the circumstances of their Shadow's formation (with them being dropped into the situation fully conscious as opposed to just kinda dropped int), as well as the nature and degree of their alienation. I expect that for those who didn't quite get the full transformation, they didn't quite feel that degree of alienation that you see in everyone else that develops a Full Dramatic Shadow.

Or perhaps another way to say it is, their personal view of themselves had yet to become distorted in any major way just yet.

Now the Investigation team get's to reintegrate into the world so their degree of isolation never get's to develop but it's worth pointing out that in the case of the Thieves that...doesn't actually happen.

Without fail, they're still outcasts one and all, if now outcasts that now cling together in friendship love and understanding of their circumstances.

But...

I don't know how to phrase this, but I suppose by the line of logic that I'm following here, the Phantom Thieves never quite Cohere as a group.

Like I recall hearing some folks talking about how the games seem to kinda abandon some of the character's personal plot points in rapid succession to focus on different issues, especially seen in their social links. Like the one that immediately pops to mind is Anne and Shiho and the hot nonsense that happens to them early on. Her social link instead of dealing with that at all beyond briefly touching on it as a thing that did happen, focuses instead on her modeling career, and a degree of taking that more seriously.

Which I agree is kinda bullshit. I'd love to know more about how Haru is dealing with the fallout of her dad beyond the lightish touch it gets, or more about Yusuke's relationship with his shitty dad, or more about Makoto's relationship with her sister and her parents and the like.

See, these things aren't NOT touched on, by no means. Haru's entire social link DOES deal with the fallout of her dad's death...In relation to the Company that she now holds a massive share of and not precisely related to her personally.

But they aren't really a thing that the Thieves, as a group, actually touch on. It's not a thing that get's directly dealt with constantly in the storyline as opposed to what goes down in Sees which is damnably intimate despite their initial desires. They do after all live together, and their job has just thoroughly run in and kicked them in the teeth on every front.

Hell, despite how uh...well badly(?) but definitely at least clumsily and obnoxiously (I am assuming, for a moment it's supposed to be awkward and kinda just...not great, for effect. It probably wasn't, but it's what we got, and at the very least I think it deserves an examination in that light.) The Issues that plague the Investigation squad one and all come up constantly. Kanji's issues with masculinity/homosexuality, Naoto's problems with gender/gender roles, Yukiko's princess status, Teddies Emptiness and attempts to fill that void, etc etc. It get's played with, rather directly, it get's shouted from the mountain tops, and for all that people very definitely fuck up and say some shit (Yosuke) this stuff comes up, and frequently I think.

But not with the Phantom Thieves. They're in fact, extremely guarded with each other, despite being on the same side and all that jazz.

Which leads me to Maruki, and the True End antics.

Cause see, Maruki also get's a Rebellion outift. It's not thief themed, no, it's more a kind of messiah. Or rather, A torch bearer. Whatever his means, his objective is and always was to lead people to being happier and better versions of themselves, although It's plainly obvious that he loses sight of doing that well with the method he chooses given how it's a thing that applies the same cure to every single person when that obviously wouldn't be a good idea.

Sumire says it herself, If not for him there's a good chance that she wouldn't have lasted long enough to make friends as is. And I don't think she's wrong considering how....well absolutely fucking done she was. That was not a healthy mental state that she was in BEFORE her sister died, and it wasn't much better after.

More importantly though, is what happens during that Third Semester. With the Third Persona's that everyone gained, every single one, WITHOUT FAIL, addresses the major concerns, the major events that they've all been staunchly ignoring and refusing to talk about. Ryuji's track desires, Haru's dad pain, Morgana's still burning desire to be human, all of it.

And he fixes it, and he makes, at least for a little bit, better. And in doing so, he absolutely changes the course of their lives, let's them see the way things COULD be, actually sit down and acknowledge one more part of themselves that they want to achieve, and in doing so unmasks, without fail, literally every single one of their persona's.

Well, I say unmask, but they also obviously have face coverings still going on or a degree of inorganic/ambiguous heads and faces, but the degree of difference is stark I think between that and their second persona's or their first.

Also, at least, if you actually bother to max out the social links, and just let someone actually IN, such as it is.

But back to Maruki, it's actually rather interesting that his Metaverse Outfit arguably makes him the HARDEST to identify of everyone. Yeah it's a big golden outfit with an obnoxiously huge helmet and cloak but...

The Helmet is far more interesting to look at than the person wearing it, and even looking at his face it's only really recognizable as him if you can get a clean side view. The Outfits is bright and Golden, but is otherwise unidentfiable if someone else were to be wearing it. The Cloak further makes it harder to see anything between being huge, fluttery, and covering basically anything of note body wise (and potentially facially since it again just flutters all over) In addition to his staff/torch it's...

If we're going through the Shadow Cosplay as looking at the person in questions distorted view of themselves, It's interesting that Maruki's distortion basically does everything in it's power to make him a non entity. Which, I suppose makes sense given his ultimately goal.

[waystobuild-blog]

Going Back

So I've had an idea for a Persona 4 sequel sorta deal in the same vein as P2 is to P1 but I have absolutely no intention to write it. Earlier today, I was listening to Heartbeat, Heartbreak and I guess it spurred me to get this scene I've had in my head for a bit written out. So… Let's do it.

Yosuke looked at the others, grinning from ear to ear after the conversation they had had. There was no questioning it. With someone throwing people into the TV world again and the police unable to do anything, someone had to do something.

"Looks like the Investigation Team is back in business!"

The room was a bag of mixed emotions.

Teddie was right on the same boat as Yosuke, absolutely beaming with excitement at the prospect of adventuring with his friends again.

Naoto and Yu, the two officers, were comforted by the idea that the team had agreed to get back together for this case.

Kanji had a scowl stretched across his face, not at all liking that they were endangering their lives like this.

Chie and Rise, who were both present via video chat, were looking concerned for their friends on the screen. Both of their minds turning on when they could possibly get back home as soon as they could.

And then… There was Yukiko who did her best to give a warm smile to the group, but Yu could very much tell that she had a lot more on her mind than she would want to admit in front of the entire group.

"This is excellent, I can't wait to get started!" The young manager of the inn they were all sitting in smiled. She left the statement hanging for a moment before directing her eyes at her partner. "Darling, would you come with me to our room? I'd like to talk to you for a moment."

All eyes were on Yu at that. Each of them were giving varying looks of concern except for Teddie who gave a sort of knowing "you're in trouble" sort of smirk while Naoto and Yosuke gave him both sympathetic smiles.

Yu nodded and took Yukiko's hand. The two left the conference room leaving the others to their own devices. They knew to lock up and even if they didn't, the staff would.

When they were all alone in their room, Yukiko looked Yu in the eyes, a blistering fury the likes of which he hadn't seen since he had cancelled a date for a case during their engagement all those years ago.

He was quick to avert his eyes.

"Are you out of your mind?!"

Yu let out a low sigh. "Yukiko…"

"No, don't "Yukiko…" me!" Yukiko snapped. "You want to go back into the TV and start all of this back up again after we closed that chapter in our lives to take on new things! College! Love! Careers! You're gonna give all of that up to chase a killer through that place again!"

"Yukiko, we don't have another choice. Naoto and I tried with the squad to find the culprit. We even spoke to Adachi again but we've come up with dead ends. The two of us talked about this for a very long time and would not be asking all of you if we didn't believe this was the only way."

"And you think that uprooting all of our lives is the best option?"

"No. We thought that the two of us going into the Shadow World alone would be incredibly dangerous, so having the old team by our side would be our best possible option."

"And it's still dangerous!" Yukiko shouted. "Back then, we were just children! Chasing after an impossible goal in hopes of being heroes when any of us could've died at any point during that journey."

"And we've grown and changed since then and are more than capable of braving whatever may come our way. Naoto and I are both deputized detectives now."

"You and I both know that doesn't matter much in the world of shadows and Personas." She furrowed her brow and scowled. "Yu… We can't do this again, not after everything it did to us. What if that happens again, what if we don't make it out alive this time?"

Yu looked down at her and tentatively placed his hands on her shoulders. She looked up at him. Anger was the most eminent emotion on her face with her low brows and clenched fists. But he knew her and he saw what was present in her eyes. The anger was there, sure. But amongst that anger was fear and sadness over the times to come.

"Yukiko… you don't have to come along."

Yukiko softened at that, as if all the anger had been washed away with just those few words.

"Of course I'm coming with you… We don't abandon each other, not in this group and not in this marriage." Yukiko was quick to wrap her arms around his waist in a hug.

Yu was quick to return the hug. He planted a light kiss on her forehead to which she smiled and the two stood there in each other's embrace.

Yukiko sighed. "I just don't want think we should go back… Not after all these years and how it all caught up with us…"

Yu did the same. "I know…"

"All those nights I would wake up, thinking I was back in that castle again with that thing… The nights that you would wake up and I would have to stop you from rushing out there because you thought Nanako was kidnapped by Namatame. We've been sent back there so many times over the years without actually going back there. What if it messes us all up even more than it already has?"

"I think we turned out pretty okay."

Yukiko looked down at the floor.

"And… Maybe… Maybe it might give us a little more closure." Yu mused. "Think about it, maybe going back after all this time will be good for us."

"Maybe…" Yukiko pulled him closer to her. "But I'm scared… Every day I have to watch you go out there and do your job. I know you're just doing what you need to do to keep people safe. That's what makes you a good detective. But… I worry about you a lot."

"I know… Kanji's the same with Naoto."

"And if they haven't already left I'm sure they're having a similar conversation right now…" Yukiko mused.

"Or they've skipped talking and are already making up." Yu chuckled. "Those two never stay mad at each other for long."

Yukiko couldn't help but fall into one of her classic giggle fits at that one to which Yu couldn't help but smile at her. That infectious joy of hers was one of the main reasons he had fallen in love with her over the years.

"I love you…" Yukiko smiled. "And I will always be by your side."

"I love you too." Yu returned the same. "And I promise I'll do everything I can to stay safe and I'll protect you too."

"We'll protect each other in the times to come, no matter what happens."

The two continued to share their embrace, taking each other in as they knew there would be difficult times ahead.

[oreganosbaby]

...talking abt my r63 persona 4 au (where like its like everyone in the IT except naoto),... i remember reading abt the class S genre on wikipedia once and its a kind of lesbian until graduation deal with a focus on senpai and kouhai. i feel like yosuke wud probably try to write her crush on saki as that and she wudnt even admit its a crush to begin with, so her shadow wud probably have to bring that shit up lol. with a souyo scenario, it wud probably be her wondering

a) why hasnt she "grown out of" having crushes on girls

b) is she using yu to replace saki? (theyre more obviously comparable since they're both girls)

and if she were to come to terms with her feelings for yu,

c) would she eventually grow out of it and does she want that for herself?

its obviously a topic thats been explored so many times and probably even in yukichie fics ngl. given how in canon, yosuke acts abt even hugging yu or sleeping in the same tent as kanji, i wonder how it would work in an r63 au since that kind of intimacy is more socially acceptable among girls.

[yusuke-of-valla]

More Blueberry Sibs Gameplay Headcanons but this time it's the PQ Series

Yusuke isn't playable in PQ1 because his Awakening isn't until October 4th at the earliest and SEES getting dragged in September during the culture festival is kinda the point.

So instead, Yusuke does skill cards and helps with the map, and basically is the same as Marie in terms of role.

But since Shinjiro lives in this AU, SEES is free to come from after Yusuke's awakening in PQ2, thus he's playable there.

In PQ1, if Yu ends up getting partnered with baby!Naoto in the second dungeon, they're super flustered and wonder why Yu's destined partner isn't their older self since that's the version Yu knows. If Yu gets Yusuke, Yusuke will just spend the whole time talking about the scenery instead of commenting on anything that's actually there, like the photo.

If Minato ends up paired with P4!Naoto, Naoto will say they wanted to spend some one on one time with Minato, but not like this. Baby!Naoto just goes "oh so this entire thing is bull crap. I bet you could go through it again and change your answers if you wanted. Destined partner, my ass." Yusuke will panic about being pulled somewhere suddenly, but be gald Minato's there too. "Wait what do you mean destined partners,"

When the rest of the party bursts in to stop a wedding between Minato and any of the other blueberries, Junpei will comment "no stop! that is so wrong."

For both games, to prevent baby Naoto and Yusuke from just being like, shitty versions of their older selves, they just have different builds. Like baby!Yusuke is faster than his older self but more geared towards magic, while baby!Naoto is a bit sturdier but with no access to curse or almighty skills.

The Velvet Sibs justify this by saying a) you have a different mindset as you age and your personas strengths change and b) Space is Warped and Time is bendable it's magic, deal with it.

Minato, P5!Yusuke, and P4!Naoto have a unison together, while Hamuko has a unison with the baby versions.

Baby!Yusuke also gets a unison with Yukari and Ann, meanwhile Baby!Naoto gets one with Yosuke and Kanji

Once you've unlocked them, to avoid confusion in menus and stuff Baby!Yusuke is listed as Kit while Baby!Naoto is listed as Conan. They get called this in dialogue too.

Not really a gameplay thing but Yusuke is still like. Starving and all of SEES is greatly concerned.

Also not a gameplay thing, but Yusuke and Naoto both guess what's up with Hamuko and Minato right away but neither say anything because like. They have no way of knowing it isn't going to be her SEES they find, maybe that was even the point. Like to avoid causality issues a SEES from a different timeline where there was Hamuko instead of Minato got called here.

They don't get Unison with Ham because quite frankly that's too many unisons for her from a gameplay perspective but they do get a quest with her and Minato at some point.

[shadowtarot]

Painful Truths

Another Shadow Pain update in the same day? Here’s the previous one

The group begins their walk through the twisted city in search of Yu. The cramped buildings make the area out to feel more maze like then any other area they’ve been in before. 

But despite this, Yosuke seems to be having an easy enough time leading the others through it. 

“This area has shadows crawling everywhere...and lots of them too...” Chie gulps a bit. “Yu pretty much lost his Persona right? So he’s in here without any way to fight them...”

“Well doesn’t he have like...a whole bunch of Persona? If he lost one...he should still have the others, right?” Kanji suggests.

“I don’t think that’s the case, Kanji...” Teddie sighs. “If a Shadow rebels against it’s former Persona user, then naturally the others would follow like a heard. That’s how Shadows are, after all.”

“So in other words, Izanagi took all the others with him.” Yosuke sighs, shaking his head. “No wonder this place feels like the Reaper every step we take.”

Rise suddenly gasps, making everyone freeze. “Guys, look at the ground here..”

Taking a close look, they see blood splatters and a clear sign of a struggle.

“Did he fight here?” Yukiko asks, covering her mouth with her free hand.

Naoto crouches down and takes a closer look. “It’s recent. Senpai couldn’t have been here any sooner then twenty minutes prior to our arrival.”

Yosuke nods, hands folded on his chest. “Is there...a trail anywhere? As confident as I am as a guide, I think it would be best to speed up the process as much as possible.” 

Naoto shakes her head,adjusting her hat. “There doesn’t seem to be. But maybe Rise or Teddie can check?” 

The both nod and check the splatter themselves.

“But...normally these places resemble the feelings of the Shadow’s owner right? But a twisting city like this...it feels out of place...” Kanji sighs, shaking his head. “It’s not nearly as straight forward as any of ours, that’s for damn sure..”

“That’s just it.” Yosuke realizes something. “It’s not straight forward because...whatever Yu’s dealing with is a complex issue. Just like how the city we’re both from is complex..”

Chie nods, tapping her left foot. “Yeah, his shadow didn’t really offer any sorts of clues either. He mentioned this place being ‘Hell’ right? And the way he destroyed that camera...something tells me fighting that Shadow isn’t gonna be easy.”

“I’m picking up a faint trail!” Teddie suddenly announces. “Sensei seems to have been bleeding a lot after whatever happened here, so there’s enough for us to take the direct path he took!” 

The group follows Teddie as they begin to take a much more winding area, before they’re greeted at a gate by a large hulking humanoid Shadow.

“Ugh! We don’t have time for you!” Yosuke yells, drawing his Kunai in rage. “Let’s make this quick, guys!”

Yosuke moves around the shadow to keep it’s focus away from the others and dodges downward punches as he goes. 

Chie runs up to Kanji. “Throw me!” 

“Wait what?!” 

“If you throw me, I’ll be able to nail it in the head.” 

“Oh..guess that makes sense.” Kanji shurgs and gives her a boost into the air. 

“Taaaaaaaake this! WAAAA TAAA!” With a strong strike, she manages to nail the shadow in the head. 

“Nice going you two!” Yosuke smiles, laughing. “Alright we gotta take advantage of this opening!”

They rush the shadow from all sides.

“PERSONA!”

It collapses, close to death. Without a second thought, Yosuke throws a kunai right into the shadow’s ‘skull’ and watches as it dissipates into black and red mist. 

“Wow..we actually managed to win that..” Kanji sighs. “Shit’s a lot rougher when we don’t have Senpai...”

“That just means we have to keep training.” Chie exclaims. 

“But do you know what’s odd? Normally we would have encountered the Shadow by now. Yet we only found a guard.” Yukiko folds her fan and messes with it. 

“Yeah...Yu’s Shadow isn’t playing by the typical tropes we’re used to...”  Yosuke sighs. “Well, the stairs are here, so let’s keep moving.”

Descending deeper into the area, Teddie starts sniffing again. “That scent...I know that anywhere! Sensei’s on this floor!” 

“Seriously?!” Yosuke looks at Teddie. “Where is he?” 

“I’m beary sure he’s...this way!” 

The group follows Teddie, now almost sprinting. They had to, they needed to find him. And as they keep going...they see a figure hunched over and gasping for breath.

“Yu?” Yosuke runs straight over to him. “Dude, are you alright?”

Yosuke kneels down and puts a hand on his friend’s shoulder. 

But Yu doesn’t speak.

“Hey, Senpai...is everything okay?”

A laugh erupts from him...and it brings with it signs no one saw coming...

“Of course I’m fine...” ‘Yu’ stands, and faces the group...his yellow eyes telling all that they need to know.

“It’s his Shadow! But how were you able to mask yourself from my nose?!” Teddie growls.

“I didn't, that pathetic child you call your leader is over there...” The shadow gestures with his head to Yu...torn clothing with multible slashes scattered around his torso showing clear signs of a fight. 

“YU!” Yosuke tightens his grip on his kunai. “Wait...does that mean he already denied his shadow?” 

The shadow laughs, as a dark smirk spreads on his face before turning into a fang filled smile. “You really do care, don’t you? How unfortunate. This child is nothing more then a desperate smuck who clings to the first sign of affection or admiration he gets! As soon as he saw me, he denied everything I’ve been telling him since I was forced into cooperation! Such a weak spirit...yet you call him a LEADER? Pathetic.”

Yu struggles to stand. “Don’t you ....dare lay a hand on them...”

“Or what? You’ll be alone again? I thought you had resigned yourself to being a loner for all your life once you finished Middle School.” The shadow laughs.

Yu stands, wobbling just a bit before attempting to fight his own shadow.

“Useless...Persona.” 

A Jack Frost freezes Yu’s legs in place, and with no strengh to break himself free.

“Did his shadow just use one of Senpai’s Persona?!” Naoto exclaims.

“It’s like I said...the other Persona fled to whoever was the stronger of the two...”

“I guess this explains why his shadow didn’t transform. It’s powerful enough with just Yu-kun’s Persona...”

“We’re not dealing with your average shadow fight then...this really is on a different level.”

“Please everyone...just get out of here! I don’t want any of you to get killed just for my sake.” Yu pleads, trying his best to free himself from the ice. 

“Don’t be an idiot!” Yosuke shouts. “You helped us face ourselves...now it’s about damn time we repay that debt!”

[vicsep7250]

@ren-amamiyaa and their (he/she?) Golden Heist, Thief Nanako and Cryptid Chaser aus flooded my brain and now Im making this post bc I cant fit all of this in asks!!!

All right, so, idea. Cryptid Chasers, Thief Nanako and Golden Heist are all connected righr???

CC acts as a prequel, TN becomes the inbetween starring Nanako and Akechi, and GH stars a broken and older IT and slightly jaded PT.

So far CC has Yosuke and Naoto forming the brotp that fanon wanted through silly Saturday Night Ghost Chasers Shenanigans, Akiren is bein' a lil shit at midnight bc he needs an outlet and exercise to Phantom Thief. While this goes on, Akechi's ghost/spirit/rement/heart/whatever pulls pranks and shenans along with Joker (hiwever that happens).

As the Cryptid Chasers keep going out of their way to confront Joker about Arsene (bc even he likes to mess around) the other IT in Inaba start to try and stop them from disrupting the peace (read : harassing a known criminal) and this somehow leads to a falling out. Mayhaps Naoto and Yosuke break a few laws and Chie busts them, Kanji wants to know why theyre stalking his student/protege, and Yukiko just wants to keep the rumors about the inn in check bc jfc Yosuke STOP SCREECHING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT IN THE LOBBY THERE IS NO GHOST ON THE TV!

Maybe eventually they call it quits or dont bc Naoto dug this hole too deep to climb out themself and Yosuke is having the time of his life since Partner isnt around and hasn't come back to visit yet (Not sayin' souyo is canon and there but-). And the Cryptid Chasers arc probably ends here with there being some animosity towards their shenanigans , but the IT are all still friends.

Now fast forward to like, uhhh (*flings dart at wall of calendars*) 2014 during winter and Akiren's cryptid acts are now fully accepted and maybe exposed, who knows. Nanako is like 10 ~ 12 (P5 is maybe three/five years post P4 I believe) and is just going through the motions of public education. I.E. go to class, do work, get good grades. Dojima is still the same as he was before Yu came but is at least doing better at being a dad, not much but better. Yosuke and Ted aren't around as much bc Junes, Chie is transferred to Tokyo, Yukiko is busy managing the Inn, and Kanji is busy with work (as a teacher and crafts business owner). Rise unfortunately cant come visit and Big Bro now visits every other year.

Nanako starts to look back and wonder how things started to fall apart amongst the group and recalls that "delinquent" who came back at the same time the Cryptid^tm showed up and ruined the group. So now she starts to remember the good times when Big Bro came by and starts to notice some blanks around winter... Why was she in the hospital when she got kidnapled? Why does she remember these weird flashes of Big Bro and his friends and some monster?? And how come she tried to ask them anything about it they brushed her off each time???

The TV in her room flashes and soon she starts hearing things. She starts to move closer to the tv, as if she was in some sort of trance, as the sounds start to become voices to her. When she's directly infront of the screen she sees something... someone on it...

Nanako doesnt show up for breakast, or to school, and nobody seems to have seen her.

A full year passes on after that day. It starts off with a big search party of the IT and Social Links for the first two months, then after ankther three something stange happens... are people forgetting that Nanako existed or something? Everybody's starting to act like completely different peoplw than who they are too, some even end up hospitalozed due to severe headaches and such, and start claiming that Nanako was never around when she vanished or that she left Inaba or was already deamed dead or missing. This rings alarms in the IT's mimds as they search for answers, eventually all fully reuniting for the first time in years/months.

Naoto and Yosuke blame themselves bc they piece together her disappearance with the Cryptid + Ghost case and immediately get scolded for trying to pin their stupid kids game on a missing person's case - especially now with Nanako missing and possibly in danger again! Afterwards the IT are a bit on edge and a bit broken with the whole thing. Meanwhile Akechi can hear the tale ends of "missing person" and "literal disappearnace" and starts looking into this weird limbo metaverse he's in bc some shit is kinda fucked in here now for some reason. They're pretty much only together as a team to rescue Nanako.

GH in the PTs POV starts when Akiren invites the group to the Amagi Inn thanks to licrative money grin- I mean training. He comes clean into having seen something weird on the tv one late night and wants to let the gang know.

Midnight rolls around and Akechi shows up on the screen and the Thieves losing their shit is an understatement - numerous noise complaints were filed that night. Anyways Akechi decides to just play the role of "hey moron, some shits fucked come help fix it" and ends up informing them of a missing girl and this weird TV Mementos world he is in.

I would like to note that Akechi is not at all bitter or confused at everyone's circumstances in life, no of course not Joker stop crying I know its been a while but shutup theres a kid in trouble rn and youre the only ones who can possibly help her.

When the PT figure out a plan to reach this other world Goro is in (Arsene : THOUARTTHEESTICKYOURHANDINTHETVDOITDOITDOITDOIT) the IT eventually come to the very sad conclusion that Nanako moght be in the TV world and that opens a whole can of worms and burnable bridges to cross.

While in the TV world, I'd like to imagine that due to Akechi having been there for a good while it has been shaped to reflect his heart and be the new overall theme of that world. It all still looks like Inaba, but it all holds themes to Akechi and his no good terrible life. However due to Nanako having been in that world as a kid, and now for an uncertain amount of time, the world now holds motifs to the Heaven area from P4, but it's all sorta ruined and kinda darker.

When both teams get together and enter the weird Tele-Mentos world (IT in a Junes storage and PT at either Ren's pad [bc he moved out obvi] (OR bith teams enter from seperate TVs at the Inn so SHENANS!)) Yu and the IT go through Akechi's influenced world/TV Palace, finding out about his tragic backstory and involvement with the PT, but anything that can and could reveal their true identities is blurred and staticy or missing bc Akechi aint gonna snitch out who ruined his sperm donors life (also I guess saved the world too yeah). While going through the Palace the Team starts to think that finding Goro will just be an "if it happens" sort of deal bc he's been missing for years already, what if we just leave him here bc M U R D E R E R.

Cue a sudden appearance by someone in some sort of fallen angel garb who starts whipping out a full on Metal Gear Villain monologue about how hypocritical the IT are when they find the truth about Akechi's life and disappearance - they claimed to want to live in a world where no one hides in the fig, was that all a lie? Are they going back on their word, and hiding behind a shriud of lies and falsehoods once more? "You've gone and lied and hidden the truth already, what's to say you won't continue?"

Meanwhile Akiren and the Thieves enter at the very top of the Heaven TV Set and have to climb all the way down. As they do so they start seeing little murals or epitaphs about memories and people in this girls life. They see all of these memories of a happy girl who had such a loving family - both found and by blood. As they go further and further down the ruins start to look like an actual Heaven, and the scenary becomes more bright and colorful. Eventually they might run into Crow in his Black Mask clothes and give the bastard a slug on the arm and a group hug or two, bc man he doesn't deserve to suffer anymore like this.

Now that the Phantom Thieves have been reunited (Akechi : I can't leave this world The PT : FUCK, MORE PLOT) they end up thinking up ways to get Akechi out until this weird angel priest looking dude shows up and starts babling about how they are criminals and how they've done more bad than good and blah blah blah. Everyone is just all "We're the good guys, we do the right thing even if its morally grey/ambiguous!" and oh look! Another crazed maniac wants to kill us for our "injustice" *Crow has the decency to look away and not say anything* annnnnnd Heaven is locked off. Perfect.

Now maybe the Phantom Thieves and Investigation Team run into each other somewhere in Akechi's Palace and "You have Personas?!?!" "The hell is a Palace?" "YOU'RE THE CRYPTID OF INABA!!?!?" "And Im the 'Ghost' that follows him." "Wait you followed me as a ghost?" "WAIT WHY ARE THERE TWO AKECHIS??!??!!"

Oh yeah, Shadows... Akechi is still kinda in denial about the whole friends and justice thing...

And now the Dark Priest is back great ("Good name Skull" "Well I've got my moments right?").

Annnnnnnd now I have no idea what happens next and Im all burned out but AAAAAAAAA this entire AU crossover thing is so GOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!

[individuationfic]

Seeking to Seize Chapter 17

AO3

‘Is this really the time to be worrying about a school festival?’

Yosuke has the nerve to look offended. ‘The team needs the morale, Partner! As long as we keep checking the Midnight Channel, what’s the harm?’ They’re in Yu’s uncle’s living room doing homework, and even though Nanako is taking her bath upstairs and his uncle is at work, Yosuke keeps using sign language. It makes Yu feel warm. ‘You could use a distraction, too. I can tell how stressed you’ve been lately.’

Yu sighs, because Yosuke’s right. All this waiting makes him antsy. He almost wishes the killer would make a move so they could get a lead. But that’s probably a bad thing to hope for, so he doesn’t bring it up. Instead, he signs, ‘Is that why you signed the girls up for the pageant?’

‘The only other two people signed up were Hanako and Kashiwagi-sensei.’

Yu makes a face that makes Yosuke laugh. ‘Are teacher even allowed to do that?’

Yosuke shrugs. ‘There’s no rule against it. I think Kashiwagi-sensei is the only one who’s ever tried.’

‘How does she even still have a job?’ Yu asks. ‘If she were a male teacher, she would’ve been fired a long time ago.’

‘King Moron didn’t exactly give the school a lot of time to find a replacement. Besides,’ Yosuke adds, ‘we just have to deal with her for a few more months. She won’t be teaching third years next year, so we’re safe there.’

Yu’s heart almost stops. ‘Yosuke,’ he signs, fingers heavy, ‘I won’t be here for our third year. I’m going back to Tokyo.’

Yosuke’s face falls. “Oh, yeah,” he says aloud.

Lighthearted conversation effectively ruined, they return to their homework.

The group date café is just as awkward as Chie thought it would be. She doesn’t even get to sit across from Yukiko because the class rep is here, so she has to look at Kanji instead. At least Kanji’s trying, she thinks, suppressing the urge to glare at the class rep.

Then Yukiko answers a question with, “My favorite hobby is defeating Shadows,” and Chie’s stomach drops. Yosuke rushes to cover it up and Chie, to change the subject, says the girls will ask the next question. Yukiko asks, “What kind of girls do you like?”

Yu, who has been a little downtrodden, looks Yosuke in the eyes and signs, ‘Yosuke.’

Yosuke goes red and averts his eyes.

‘You didn’t seem too surprised about the crossdress pageant,’ Yukiko signs to Yu as they walk to the home ec. room to ghim changed. They’ve already done his make-up (not that he needed much—he’s pretty for a boy) and borrowed a silver wig from the drama club room. All that’s left is finding the perfect outfit.

Yu signs, ‘I figured some revenge was coming. Yosuke really railroaded you guys, and Kanji and I didn’t try to stop it.’

‘What were you thinking in terms of costume?’ Yukiko asks as she pushes the door to the home ec. room open.

Their eyes fall on it at the same time and they know.

Yosuke feels exposed in a way he really doesn’t like. “How do girls wear these?” he hisses at Chie, tugging at the bottom of the pink skirt he’s been forced into. “One wayward breeze and everyone will be able to see my nads!” He bends at the knees to scratch at his shins. “And these socks are itchy as hell!”

Chie gives him a quick smack on the arm. “Cut that out! You’ll flash everyone!”

“Well, you should’ve given me a longer skirt!”

“Stop complaining! I have to wear a bathing suit in front of the entire school thanks to you!”

“You’re scaring the emcee,” Rise says,  a laughing tone in her voice, and Yosuke and Chie turn around and see her walking up the short set of stairs leading from the floor to the stage, leading Kanji who is, for some reason, dressed like Marilyn Monroe. His knees are slightly bent and he keeps swinging his hips to watch the white skirt of his dress swirl around him. Yosuke can barely keep  himself from laughing.

Chie cranes her neck to look around them. “Where’re Yu and Yukiko?”

Rise shrugs. Kanji says, “Amagi-senpai says it’s gonna be a surprise,” in his usual deep voice, which is extremely inappropriate for his current appearance.

Rise’s phone buzzes, and she laughs when she reads the text. “Teddie is giving Naoto-san some trouble,” she says. “He wants winged eyeliner and they don’t know how to do it.” She flips her phone closed and tilts her head up to look at Kanji. “Do you mind if I run and help? I’ll be sure to vote for you even if I’m not back before the whole thing starts.”

Between the layers of makeup and the dimly-lit backstage it’s hard to tell, but Yosuke things Kanji is blushing. “Go help Naoto-san,” he says. “No one should stand alone against Teddie.”

Rise laughs again and scurries away. Chie glances at her own phone and says, “I better go, too. I gotta save a place for Yukiko when she finally shows up.” She levels a glare at Yosuke. “Don’t flash anyone!”

The emcee doesn’t wait much longer before he starts the pageant, even though Yu and Teddie still haven’t arrived. From his place off stage, Yosuke hears him ask “Kanji-chan,” “What would you say is your best feature?”

“My eyes,” Kanji replies, and the crowd laughs.

“An eloquent heiress of thee noble Junes,” the emcee says, “she’s pure disappointment from the moment she opens her mouth!” Ouch. Rude. “Presenting Yosuke-chan of the second year class two!”

Feeling more awkward than he’s ever felt in his life, Yosuke walks to stand next to Kanji and, meek, says, “Hi.”

The crowd gets noisy again, and Yosuke wants so badly to retreat. Calm yourself, Jiraya says in his mind. This moment will not define you unless you let it. Relax. Let yourself have some fun with this.

He takes a deep breath and nods, mostly to himself. When the emcee asks if he normally dresses like this, he giggles and says, “It’s not my usual style. The skirt is a little too short for my taste.” And this time, when the crowd laughs, Yosuke somehow knows they’re not laughing to be mean—they’re laughing because they think he’s funny.

“We’re laughingstocks up here!” Kanji hisses in his ear over the din.

“No,” says Yosuke, “we’re the only ones with enough balls to go through with this.”

The emcee suddenly brightens. “She has the mildly bitter tang of the city,” he says, “and her lack of a voice has only made her more endearing! Presenting our transfer student who’s been breaking hearts in the second year class two, Yu-chan!”

It’s instinct that drives Yosuke to turn his head, so seek Yu out, and his heart drops when his partner comes into view.

Because Yu looks goddamn beautiful.

It’s obvious he and Yukiko took this more seriously than the others. He’s wearing a light colored kimono detailed with a likeness of Mt. Fuji, and his silver wig has been styled and pinned into place with an ornate hair ornament. He carries himself with a dignity Yosuke didn’t think was possible when crossdressing. How is he so pretty? he asks himself.

Jiraya says, You should tell him how you feel before someone else takes him away from you.

Him being gay doesn’t mean he’ll like me! Yosuke retorts. You’re the one who told me that!

If you think this is the same kind of situation, you are far more oblivious than I thought.

You’re supposed to be on my side here!

I am. You just don’t see it yet.

Then Teddie blazes onto the scene dressed up like Alice in Wonderland, and Yosuke is jarred from his thoughts for the time being.

No one’s particularly surprised when Rise wins the real pageant. She knows the boys and Naoto-san tried to spread their votes evenly between her, Chie-senpai, and Yukiko-senpai, but the rest of the school didn’t care. And, sure, maybe she used some of her Risette charm, but she’s a competitive girl. So sue her.

She and the other girls put their school uniforms back on and they meet up with the rest of the team. Rise grabs one of Kanji’s arms and one of Naoto-san’s, linking them together in a chain. “The festival’s almost over. What should we do now?”

Before anyone can answer her, Yu-senpai’s uncle drops Nanako-chan off with them. She’s delighted; she loves Nanako-chan. Everyone on the team does. It’d be hard not to love such a cute, innocent little girl. Nanako-chan hangs onto Yu-senpai’s pant let as they discuss what to do next, and when Yukiko-senpai offers the inn and hotsprings to them, she smiles hard and wide enough to shame the sun.

Kanji-kun swings Nanako-chan up on his shoulders as they walk to the bus stop, with Naoto-san walking on one side and Rise on the other. “Do you want to take a bath with the girls or with the boys?” Rise asks Nanako-chan.

Nanako-chan screws up her face to think and says, “The girls. Onii-chan already takes a bath with me sometimes if I’m really sad, so I wanna try taking a bath with girls for a change!”

A thought suddenly occurs to Rise and she leans forward to look at Naoto-san. “Who do you feel comfortable bathing with?”

Naoto-san opens their mouth to reply, but Nanako-chan interrupts. “Naoto-niichan should take a bath with the other boys!”

Kanji-kun looks ready to say something when Naoto-san speaks instead. “Nanako-chan,” they say, “I look like a girl, and I dress like a boy, but I don’t feel like either. Since the Amagi Inn only has girl bath times and boy bath times, Rise-san wants to know when I would like to take my bath.”

Nanako-chan seems confused. “If you’re not a boy, I can’t call you Naoto-niichan, and if you’re not a girl, I can’t call you Naoto-neechan. What can I call you, then?”

And Rise can’t help but laugh, because of course that’s what Nanako-chan would be worried about.

There’s something a little strange about Onii-chan’s friends, Nanako thinks.

They’re all very nice! They treat her well, not like a nuisance like her dad’s work friends do sometimes. But none of them really look like they should be friends. Nanako has never seen a TV show where a delinquent becomes friends with an idol, or where the son of a big store like Junes becomes friends with a detective. But her teachers always say not to judge based on looks, so maybe this is actually normal.

Then she gets in the bath with some of them.

It’s the girls’ turn first, so Nanako lets Onii-chan help her into her yukata when they get to the big room everyone is sharing. He smiles at her like he’s saying “Have fun!” and she’s whisked off by the girls and Naoto-san. (Nanako doesn’t like calling them “Naoto-san.” It makes them sound old, like someone her dad would go drinking with. She has to find something else to call them.)

After they wash, Yukiko-neechan helps her put her hair up so it doesn’t get in the hot water. “You can wear your towel in the water,” she says as she tucks one corner of Nanako’s fluffy white towel against her skin to keep it secure, “but you don’t have to.” Nanako notices that Yukiko-neechan’s towel is a lot looser than her’s. She probably won’t wear it in the bath.

Rise-neechan doesn’t even bother wrapping her towel around herself. She just holds it against her front to hide her bathing suit parts. Her skin is really pretty, Nanako notices. Pale, no moles or freckles. Is her skin nice because she’s an idol? Or is she an idol because her skin is nice?

Nanako pauses at the edge of the bath, and, after some deliberation (seeing all the other girls doing it), drops her towel.

Rise-neechan, she sees, is the only one with perfect skin.

It’s not as obvious with Naoto-san, because they’re still wearing their towel, but everyone but Rise-neechan has scars. They’re small, for the most part, little silvery lines almost completely faded. If they weren’t all naked, Nanako would have never noticed. Chie-neechan has the biggest; it’s in the middle of her chest, where a bathing suit that wasn’t a bikini would cover it, and it looks kind of like a burn mark.

No one talks about the scars. They talk about how soft Naoto-san’s skin is, or exams, or the school festival, but no one mentions the scars.

Anything but the scars.

So, yeah, Onii-chan’s friends are a little strange, because the girls and Naoto-san are all so pretty and pretty people shouldn’t have scars.

[tubbotums]

Capcom I know did, but I’d like to talk about the difference between Injustice 2 and CTB by throwing in Smash Bros and another Arcsys fighting game, FighterZ

Smash and FighterZ I believe both had their complete DLC cost $35 (technically it’s the Season Pass, but it’s basically the same thing). Now, It was 8 characters for FighterZ and 7 characters for Smash 4 all for $35. Your first question might be “But in Cross Tag Battle I can get 20 characters for $20-$30! That’s a better deal!” To that I say you’re wrong. Dead wrong.

Injustice, FighterZ and Smash 4 all have one thing in common with their DLC

All of it was made post release. These characters were made and put into the game after release, which means extra time working on it and lives up to the fact that it is indeed extra content. Ryu, Cloud, Bayonetta, whoever the add in FighterZ, TMNT, Hellboy, all those peeps were made after the fact and not beforehand.

Now Cross Tag Battle has : Blake and Yang who are basically confirmed done (Blake definitely is, but no confirmation on Yang, but it’s really fair to assume she is), Naoto, Teddie, Kanji, Rise, and any of the other DLC characters are all characters from other Arcsys fighting games. This means their models, animations, movesets, hitboxes and all that are done since they’re just being ripped and optimized for this game. There’s nothing being made post release, it’s all there on the disc, just locked behind a paywall.

Arcsys is not being grateful for this, even if they are releasing the game at a lower price for it. I’m still paying $20-$30 extra for characters that should be there already.

Sure, it might be the price for some (it is partially for me), but mainly it’s the principle. It;s wrong to do that, and it’s even worse to basically say “Hey if you want Persona 5 Arena you better buy Cross Tag Battle! Or else you won’t get it!”

Yeah Arcsys, lemme support your shitty business practices so I can get a fighting game I actually want

[pokelolmc]

I’ve been reading through the rest of your DP/Persona AU posts and keep finding out that your Shadow!Danny ideas are more and more like what I had in mind by total coincidence lol.

I’ve had DP AU ideas for Personas 3, 4 and 5 (I’m fleshing out my P3 one a ton now that I’m in the middle of a P3 Portable runthrough since that’s brought my interest back to it), but my P4 AU was going to have a setting in what is basically DP canon (as in, Danny is still Danny Phantom and fights ghosts with Sam and Tucker), but someone else at Casper High is the Wild Card and Danny plays a role similar to Naoto from P4 canon (I was almost thinking of making Wes Weston the protagonist because of his conspiracy theorist character, except he would have to not suspect Fenton is Phantom in this AU—contrary to his most common fanon portrayal—for the sake of the story’s mystery elements).

The idea started when I thought, “Hey, if Danny wasn’t a Persona-user, but the TV World was in Amity, would he be still be able to get into the TV World by using his ghost powers to phase into the TV screen, the same way he phased into the computer screen to get to the game world in “Teacher of the Year” (essentially an unwanted non-Persona snooper in the TV world who gets in by “cheating the system”)?”

This then spawned an idea of the main trio thinking the murders are caused by a ghost early on, watching the Midnight Channel, and Danny using his ghost powers to attempt to get inside the TV using the same logic as entering the computer to get inside the video game; he thinks that, since Tucker can’t trace the strange transmission that appeared on TV at all whatsoever, going into the TV might put him in the TV show or make it easier to find where the show came from (since TV broadcasts work differently from computers/video games, he’s not entirely sure, but it’s worth a try, he thinks), and he accidentally ends up in the TV World. He leaves through one of the TVs Teddie has left out randomly and ends up on the other side at the mall, leading him to tell his friends what happened and investigate the world inside the TV further, thinking it has a connection to the murders and a ghostly culprit. So he’s investigating it before joining the Investigation Team kind of like Naoto, but a Naoto who knew about the TV World a lot sooner. The Investigation Team gets more members (I was thinking members of the A-List to give them character development; I think Dash’s character would be a lot like Kanji’s though imo), and then later into the plot, the Investigation Team see Danny stick his hand into the TV and freak, thinking Danny must be a Persona User and connected to the murders. Danny’s Shadow catches up to him after all of the building stress, the next time he goes into the TV World he’s trapped and he shows up on the Midnight Channel; like with Naoto in P4 canon, the Investigation Team go into Danny’s Dungeon in the TV World (which I originally thought of as a more labyrinthine, twisted version of FentonWorks, because that was where Danny spends most of his time, but that’s probably not very symbolic for a P4 Dungeon so it’s subject to change) and Danny’s Shadow spouts his secret identity to them.

Hilariously, some of my ideas turned out to be pretty similar to yours long before I found out about your AU: Danny isn’t half-Shadow in mine, but Shadows in my Persona AUs are ectoplasmic beings like ghosts, kind of like evolutionary cousins, except they’re more closely connected with living humans than ghosts. It also means that Danny’s Shadow has the ability to temporarily “steal” Danny’s ghost half/ghost powers off of him in the Shadow Boss Battle, rendering Danny helpless for its duration and justifying the Investigation Team having to deal with the boss. I had several ideas for Danny’s Shadow, and a few of them happened to be pretty similar to yours; one was that he was based on Danny’s fear of being morally bad and straight on the path to becoming Dan (a fear of Dan’s inevitability), so his Shadow took on the form of Dark Dan symbolically in the boss battle (my TV World in this AU does use some of the prominent elements of P5’s Metaverse in its lore—things being tangibly altered/influenced by the power of cognition, mostly—so the Investigation Team just needs model weapons for the TV World and Danny’s Shadow looks like Dan in Battle because Danny’s subconscious cognition is that he’s already becoming evil or three steps away from becoming Dan). He’s afraid that he can’t be morally imperfect lest he become Dan, so he desperately denies his own normal human aspect of selfishness out of a fear that expressing it with his powers will make him a destructive villain. He takes the “with great power comes great responsibility” trope too far and thinks that since he has been given these powers, he MUST avoid being selfish or irresponsible at all cost because his mistakes have such deadly consequences. He tried to be morally perfect while not realising that some selfishness is a normal human trait. His Shadow is the one spouting all of Danny’s selfishness and irresponsible desire to use his powers—how he should be allowed to use his powers just for his own gain and do whatever he wants because he is on his own, he’s going to ruin everyone else’s lives anyway and he’s already turning into Dark Dan, how he knows Danny beats himself up because he thinks Dan’s creation is all his fault, how part of him is resentful that he still gets shitty treatment despite saving the town (the work without thanks, or at least little thanks) when he’s sacrificed his grades, family relationships, and lifelong dream down the toilet to save the town. The Investigation Team have to go back out, find out about Dark Dan from Team Phantom (explaining their own association with Personas and Shadows in the process), then come back in with Danny’s friends and sister in tow and they all explain to Danny how he’s not about to turn into Dark Dan, how being slightly selfish with his powers isn’t going to turn him into a villain, how being selfish and irresponsible is a normal human thing and how Dan isn’t actually inevitable (or for that matter, solely Danny’s fault).

My original idea for Danny’s Shadow (its humanoid appearance outside of battle) was going to be able to shift between Danny’s human and ghost forms; the Investigation Team would see human Danny on the Midnight Channel, then get into the dungeon and be like “Where’s his Shadow? We’ve been everywhere and haven’t seen it yet?”, only to see Danny’s Shadow in ghost form and think “Oh, the ghost boy is here to save him! That’s cool...” until his dialogue to the real world Danny throws off the Wild Card (Wes or whoever) because it sounds like a Shadow’s speech, only for “Phantom” to pull on Fenton the classic Shadow words “I know...because I AM you!” and the revelation to the Investigation Team that “Phantom” is actually Danny’s Shadow, and Danny Fenton is actually Danny Phantom. The Shadow transforms from Phantom to Fenton when Danny denies it, cementing the reveal before the Shadow battle, and I actually also used the idea of Danny’s Shadow in the white jumpsuit like you, under the impression that it’s what he wore when he got his ghost powers and everything started. I also had another idea where the Shadow was just based on his fears of being morally imperfect because he was afraid of people hating him—not because of a fear of becoming Dan—and the Shadow had an in-battle form that wasn’t Dan, but I couldn’t pick between the two. And, although Danny is kind of a Naoto parallel, his Shadow boss still comes before Teddie’s, because I wanted Danny to use his own lessons about trying to apepear funny and appealing just to hide his (partially) non-human true nature as a way to comfort Teddie when the latter confronts his Shadow.

For Danny’s Arcana, my idea was stuck between the Hanged Man and the Temperance, based on their Tarot symbolism and their typical tropes/roles in the Persona Social Links. My idea for Danny’s character was about duality—two halves, two species, a double life, the qualities of selfishness vs selflessness—so I thought maybe the Hanged Man (because in the Persona games it has some meanings of survivability and the individual being in a predicament where they’re torn between two sides or parties), but then I decided on the Temperance Arcana because it’s all about learning to balance the different aspects of oneself and one’s life, and in Persona the Temperance characters show this a lot (like Kawakami in P5 learning to juggle and balance her double-life as a teacher and maid).

So, my P4 AU’s Danny is the Temperance because of his whole Shadow-related character arc being about learning to accept that his selfishness and selflessness need to be in a balance (that he can’t just eliminate one quality so being responsible means maintaining an equilibrium), as well as learning to get his unbalanced human and ghost double-lives back in balance—finding ways to repair his family relationships and improve his grades while coping with his ghost fights and trips into the TV World, so one side of his life is not neglected. His Social Link’s plot probably ends with him finally finding the courage (and safe way) to admit his secret identity to his parents.

Thinking about that Persona Verse again. Danny may be half-shadow, but that doesn’t mean he gets his own shadow off on the sidelines.

Danny’s true shadow is a lot more cold hearted and snarky than the real one. He knows he’s never going to be normal again despite how much he wants to be, and believes himself a monster able to do whatever he wants.

Although Danny does want to hide his powers and use them for good, his shadow reveals that the temptations to use them for more selfish reasons are more than present.

Also this is his boss form:

“I am a shadow, the TRUE self. Who cares what people say? I’ll let loose my powers and do whatever the hell I want with them!”