#taro's about

[kadiumz]

she's trying to tell you something important

[25shadesoffebruary]

I've missed you so much.

[shadowduel]

origin story.

[t-u-i-t-c]

@userdramas ♢ event 18: music ♢ only the moon knows

So will you take my hand, or just stay silent? Only the moon knows the answer that we seek. Only the moon knows...

[dailykeiji]

my favorite thing about q-taro x keiji is that you would probably think that the man named Q-Taro Burgerberg would be the weird one in the relationship but you would be wrong. it’s keiji

[i-hear-a-sound]

It’s the next big gaming event. The screen cuts to black, and Yoko Taro walks onto the stage. or into frame. whatever.

There is no Drakengard 1 port announcement. There is no Drakengard 3 remaster announcement. And shockingly, there is no announcement for a 50th Automata collab.

Yoko Taro clears his throat and announces calmly, “Angelegna is now in development.” He walks off the stage, or out of frame. Fade to black once again. Thirty nine dead, sixty eight injured.

[might-be-a-potato]

Baby's first time shootin' the curl ;_;

(@acceleracers-baby had a post on the teku's core memories and this one is based on Vert's)

[gojosatorailme]

I’m desperate for Nagumo from Sakamoto Days so might as well take the initiative and write a fic myself. I’m now taking over this hashtag, this man shall be KNOWN.

Lovesick

A blood tainted battlefield. This is the life you chose the moment you entered the JCC. It wasn’t going to be “sugar spice and everything nice” oh no, it was gonna be hell and you knew it. The longer time passes, the more comrades were bound to fall..bound to die. It was inevitable.

But that doesn’t stop the racing of your anxious heart when you saw them fight.

It doesn’t stop your heart from worrying about him.

Nagumo. 

Sakamoto, Akao, Nagumo, and you. The four of you were tasked to infiltrate an enemy from Thailand, the four actually meaning three.

You were only a first year, you tagged along as an observer. The three were the strongest in the assassin class, you wanted to experience their missions first hand.

Before the mission, you didn’t exactly know much about the three nor did you have a strong opinion on them.

“Taro Sakamoto. Strong.. does he talk??”

“Rion Akao. Totally a hot babe”

“Nagumo…. dunno?”

None of them caught your interest, you just wanted to see them fight and maybe steal a few signature moves for your own benefit.. with your own tweaks of course.

None of them caught your eye, besides him of course. Who the hell is he? I mean, he was attractive sure. He had big eyes, remotely long lashes, long shaggy-ish black hair and.. his tattoo’s. His tattoos were what got you, it was like he was a canvas. Works of art were painted throughout his entire body, it was beautiful. Not to mention his physique, he was so your type.

But he was just so mysterious? There wasn’t much about him that you could pin point, he wasn’t as readable. He’s smart and strong yeah but what goes on in his head you don’t get it? What even is his surname? Meaning to his tattoos? If he wants to fu- he was a mystery.

That’s why he was so captivating. His movements were smooth and quick, you barely saw it as he sliced open an enemies head. Then down another, and another, then eventually there was a pile of bodies that littered the floor accompanied by the reeking stench of blood.

You were supposed to only tag along for one mission, but after meeting Nagumo, you practically begged to tag along again. Then you became a permanent member of the team.

At first, you wanted to see what you can learn from them in order to be stronger. But now, it’s for him. You wanted an excuse to see him. It didn’t take you long to realize that this interests developed into a crush.

You couldn’t help it, the more you hung around him the more entranced you became. You wanted to believe he was using a sort of assassin technique to seduce you, maybe his dark eyes were the culprit? Everytime you gazed into them you couldn’t find yourself looking away.

He’s so silly, he’s pretty cool too. It was strange, you thought he was kinda weird but his laugh never fails to make your face feel warm. The room felt hot when he was there, at one point you wanted to escape.

At one point the feelings made you feel trapped, suffocated maybe. Seeing him made you anxious, you made a fool of yourself. Fumbling over your words and avoiding his gaze, he’s a smart guy so your sure he’s caught on by now. It got so bad you began throwing up in the morning worried you’d see him, what does he think of you?? Your stomach would always feel funny at the thought.

His laugh began to make you feel dizzy.

Why was he so cute?

It didn’t help that he smelled sooo good, a cold blooded assassin that smells GOOD? You don’t hear that everyday.

These feelings stop you from reaching your full potential as an assassin, even limiting you from your original powers.

Even now, as Nagumo is on the ground with a bloodied stomach, you can’t protect him. The others were in another building and it was only you two, being overcome with the tension, you messed up and he was forced to take the blow.

He could’ve easily taken on the enemy on his own, he was strong after all, but he had to save you. Why? You don’t know. You don’t even want to bother deluding yourself with the thought that he’d like you back.

The enemy was eventually killed but what do you do with a bloodied Nagumo? You don’t know either. He’s just laughing.

“It’s okay I’ll be fine in a bit, that guy was a small fry anyway!! He barely stabbed me no worries.”

Oh but you were worried. You were so worried, you felt disgusted about yourself, he was bleeding from the stomach and your getting butterflies from the mere thought of his hand touching your shoulder. Gross.

The butterflies remained as Akao and Sakamoto helped you carry Nagumo back to base where he can get proper treatment.

The butterflies remained when you got back to your dorm at the JCC.

The butterflies remained for a long time.

You cant possibly continue like this could you? your an assassin, a killer. That’s your purpose here, there’s no room for love.

with trembling legs, you walked to the infirmary where Nagumo layed.

His stomach was recovering quickly, the doctor said he’d be able to go on missions by next week.

“Hey y/n! ya here to visit me?”

He waited for your answer as you sat down near his bed side.

“You look pretty serious, something wrong?”

first, an apology.

“I’m sorry, I was weak so you had to save me. I’ll be better, thank you.”

and before he could answer, with a shaky sigh and eyes tightly shut you took in a deep breath.

“I love you.”

It came out as a whisper, barely audible. You were worried he didn’t hear you and you were dreading the thought. You seriously didn’t want to repeat it.

His expression was blank.

It scared you.

The atmosphere was choking you, you wanted to cry.

Noticing his expression, you took the hint and turned to leave. How silly right? You almost git the guy killed and you have the audacity to confess? hah!

“I know.”

You stopped in your tracks. He knows? He knows what?? That your stupid? That someone like him was out of your league? That you were weak and almost killed hi-

hm? whats this?

Your lips feel warm.

Oh. He was kissing you.

he was.. HE WAS WHAT?

you froze still, eyes wide. You were sure you looked like an idiot. Even after he pulled away and a small string of saliva was visible, even after he smiled at you. You couldn’t comprehend what was happening? The situation seemed foreign to you.

It wasn’t until you heard loud cackling that you snapped out of your trance.

“I love you too stup- y/n.”

[crusaderguy]

Saw this on a community post on YouTube.

"Oh hey, that meme is pretty funn- IS THAT FUCKING ULTRAMAN!?!"

[babbimetal]

MOMOKO SINGING LEAD VOCALS FOR META TARO AT LEGEND MM - NIGHT 21 (DAY 2)🍑

[tbartss]

honestly i could talk endlessly about frieren and how she means so much to me as a neurodivergent with time processing issues, like frieren spending ten years saving the world with himmel and the others and then parting ways with them and telling them she'll see them again in 80 years as if it's next week, and like cause it is for her !! how after 80 years nothing has changed for her, she is still the same, she sees them the same way as she did when she left, and it isn't until much later that she starts thinking about how their company has affected her and influenced her in a deeper way than she realized and how the time that's gone by, the time she can never get back, was taken for granted and her saying she wished she had gotten to know himmel better while he was still alive like !! i've been through that!! i've felt that, i've seen that !! and her non-romance with Himmel is also just so perfect exactly BECAUSE of her time blindness, because she can only ever love him in hindsight, his love for her is frozen in her memories, she is carrying his love with her forever and ever in her immortal life, and it doesn't matter if she realizes that she loves him too after all these years because his memory is frozen like that forever that's how it was always going to be exactly because of the nature of their respective lifespans like AUGH i'm tearing my hair off my head does any of this even make any sense

[adachimoe]

Random tidbits from Hashino's interview in the Persona Club P4 book

At the back of the Persona Club P4 fanbook, there's a 6 page interview with Katsura Hashino about the making of Persona 4. This interview is spoilerific and you have to cut the pages of the book to even read it lol. I have 0 desire to translate the entire thing (I don't trust myself with that, ngl), but here are some fun highlights from it related to Adachi. This interview/book was published in 2009, so before the anime aired, before Golden, before Arena, etc.

The identity of the true culprit - who filled Adachi's role before Adachi?

While developing the story, it originally had Izanami (Hashino very specifically mentions Izanami was planned since the start) and Namatame, and one of the themes was "how the characters get info". From what Hashino says, Namatame's role during this earlier stage in development sounds very similar to what we got in-game. Back then, he was considered the true culprit and he was well-meaning, but he lacked some pretty critical info. After Namatame, there would be the feeling that there was still someone out there, but that someone was Izanami, not Adachi.

The staff felt the plot was lacking, so they wanted to add in a stepping stone between Namatame and Izanami as an extra plot twist - a true, true culprit. And the first character who they considered for the role of the true culprit was................... not Adachi.

The very first candidate for the true culprit was Yukiko. Yup. This came from a half-serious, half-joking convo between Hashino and Soejima. Their reasoning for picking Yukiko was because in the Kindaichi Case Files, whenever there's a murder in the sticks, it's always the lady who runs the ryokan who's the culprit.

The next person who they considered was.......... Yosuke. They thought that because of how his character was shown as a decision maker with a good head on his shoulders, maybe he'd have a relatable reason for devising everything? They talked about making him a villain who would still be adored by players regardless. But Hashino was against the idea of having one of friend group as the culprit.

Ultimately, the reason why neither Yukiko nor Yosuke became the culprit was because their motives for murder would be too personal. Hashino thought that if it's murder driven by personal motive, then players won't be as invested. A personal motive would be too much like the "Tuesday Mystery Theater", a Japanese mystery TV show that was - from my understanding - character driven drama.

Hashino went back to the theme of "how the characters get info". At the time, there existed a person in the plot who's function in the game was to give the main cast information from the police's side. This character just so happened to give you info, and seemingly consequence free on their part - after all, what you did with the info after had nothing to do with them. They were careless. And Hashino followed this train of thought, thinking that kind of carelessness went well with antagonism.

Originally, Adachi was the aforementioned character. He was not the culprit, and he gave the characters info about the police's investigation. Following Hashino's train of thought, then the person who was giving away information would become this new culprit between Namatame and Izanami.

But there was an issue - if he was giving the main cast info about the investigation, then he would stand out among the adult cast, and him standing out might spoil that he's the true culprit. Thus, Hashino changed directions during development and started to create Adachi's character.

(See bottom of this post for a footnote about Adachi's old character design and some ramblings about his old role.)

The Thousand Curses and the Myriad Truths

Per Hashino, Persona 4 is about media literacy (no seriously it says media literacy in katakana wasei-eigo even). Izanami's Thousand Curses represents the lies of the media that humans believe in. The protagonist's Myriad Truths represents how, in this sea of misinformation and lies, you can only trust and believe in the words of those who are close to you.

(I suppose now is a good time to mention that the Japanese name for Myriad Truths is "Tens of Thousands of [Mantras / True Words]". A mantra is a phrase/word you repeat over and over, so it seems the Myriad Truths is a visualization of the protagonist unleashing all of the truths from his social links and bonds. All 10,000+ of them.)

Adachi's Given Name

Adachi's given name was not always Tohru. At first, it was Tamotsu, which is written 保. Hashino changed it to Tohru because the character for Tamotsu 保 could also be read Yasu when used as a name, and at the time, the staff was trying not to spoil who the culprit was.

Why would Tamotsu / Yasu spoil the game, though? Because "Yasu did it!" is an old ancient ur-spoiler meme thing from the 1983 adventure game the Portopia Serial Murders. Think of like... "soylent green is people", "Darth Vader is Luke's father", "Sephiroth kills Aerith", etc. Not only that, but the main character of Portopia is a detective, and Yasu is your buddy cop sidekick.

Hashino was already aware of the Yasu comparisons because one of the staff who read the script reacted by going, "So Yasu did it, huh?" But Hashino thought that Portopia was so damn old that gamers wouldn't know about it. Only turbo nerds working at Atlus know Portopia, right?

Wrong lmao turns out a shit ton of people knew about the Portopia spoiler. After character art of Adachi was released in a magazine promo for Persona 4, people reacted with, "Yasu did it", so Hashino very quickly changed Adachi's given name.

They had already recorded the audio for the game at this point, which included a line of Adachi saying, "I'm Tamotsu Adachi" when he introduces himself. Hashino had the audio team cut out him saying "Tamotsu", and this is why Adachi says, "I'm Adachi" and not "I'm Tohru Adachi" in April.

I'm sure there's an alternate universe where his name stayed Tamotsu and in that universe I am instead blogging about how you can read it as "Yasu" while explaining the Portopia Serial Murders. :')

Footnote Commentary

If you're familiar with the Persona 4 Design Works, Adachi's page mentions that originally during development, he wasn't the culprit but rather a misdirect. After his role in the story was revised to be the true culprit, Adachi's design was also revamped to be the design we know of today. But this red haired design was his original design back when he was apparently just a leaky faucet. I suppose since we know his name used to be Tamotsu, we can call this version of him "Tamotsu" lol.

Hashino doesn't really go into what he meant by "create Adachi's character", but I'm assuming since the Adachi character already existed in the plot, he meant like... "re-create" the character to fit this new role as the true culprit with this consideration about how he'd come off in the plot.

Hearing that the character originally gave you legit info about the police investigation is interesting, cause in the Design Works, opposite this page of Adachi's old design, Soejima also mentions that Adachi was originally a red herring. I can see how those go hand in hand - a guy feeding you accurate info? How would that not be suspicious?

I also get the impression that Hashino is indirectly saying that the Adachi we got in-game also feeds you bullshit, as to make him seem *less* suspicious, if him giving you legit info would make him more suspicious. Which, well, considering the first thing he says is, "Yukiko did it!" ...Hmm yeah okay lol.

I was pretty amused to see that Yukiko and Yosuke were names being tossed around to be the true culprit. Wild to see that the ancient internet rumors are actually true. Notably, Dojima is still not true. Very funny to read that the real origin was some partially nonsense convo between Soejima and Hashino where they're like, "Hey, so, about the Kindaichi Case Files."

The real moral of the story here is that Adachi is truly no one's first choice. Even his role as the true culprit was originally just a confused Namatame.

[rosehippiefield]

I love that no character is one-dimensional:

Sara is not goody two shoes protagonist with unwavering hope (I like Makoto it's not his slander I really promise I love kind guys), she has the highest chance of winning. It can't happen to ultimate cinammon roll. The balance between her caring side that wants to protect everybody and using charisma to her advantage is so tricky and yet it works (though I am a bit baffled at how she changes without Joe in AI simulations).

Joe is not only cheery cheesy best friend that dies just so you can cry about it (even if it's true as well). Joe is distrustful, he is scared and he kind of wants to escape with sacrifice card knowing what it entails. So he came up with a plan where good people being majority would live, and if not he can feel less guilt. Amazing idea! And we all know how he returns in second chapter. A sing of ungrounded guilt that doesn't correspond to reality whatsoever but can't be combated with logic alone. In best case scenario it is defeated with reminder of how real Joe behaved, showing how faulty our perception can get from trauma.

Keiji is not just sexy detective that supports Sara, oh no. This guy gets close to our heroine on purpose and I dare say kind of uses her for own gain. Then, his trauma doesn't equal all of his character nor it magically justifies killing Megumi, it simply explains his current actions. And of course I really want to believe that he is not some creep flirting with people in most suspicious way. He just needs excuse for evading akward questions. This man, deprived of sleep because of his sins, is both cunning and kind, capable of cruelty and striving to be like his idol.

Kanna and Gin are not annoying children that constantly need saving or exist to evoke sympathy. In Kanna's case sympathy is natural, but it is not the only thing going for her. Kanna is about giving a chance, letting go regrets, making thought-out sacrifice and when it fails moving on to make sure it doesn't have to happen. She develops constantly, bringing ideas to the table and trying to get all group stay united. Kanna makes conscious choice to spend time with Shin to get information, so while she can be manipulated it's not always the case and she's not all naїveness. Her arc of overcoming trauma and insecurity may seem familiar to characters from other media, but it is unique and distinctive.

Gin is autism representation without making him vilain or weird. He has some pecularities, for example, wearing animal-like clothes and repeating animal sounds, and yet nobody bats an eye, so surely he's no outcast or useless (on the contrary, he is quite useful remembering names in the bar, using scent, helping morally etc). Gin's the least morally gray of the cast, but it doesn't mean he is cardboard nice support kid either: he has his dislikes or his own thoughts (he is quite distrustful toward Kanna because he's younger and doesn't use age as justification for her actions).

Reko seems simple enough, a hot-tempered rock star, emo/punk lady many would like to date. Strict to the strong, kind to the weak. She had a lot of changing in the past and it continues here, she is becoming softer. But it's not her only trait: she's a talented singer that was interested purely in music and it's perfection. She ignored to some degree her happiness, her band, her beloved brother for the sake of art. She wasn't indifferent, but appeared as such. And now, finally having a better understanding of what's important and bright future ahead she ends up in a death game with Alice. Their plotline is prominent in second chapter and is devastatingly tragic.

Alice looks like comic relief with his exaggerated reactions and bizzare choice of words (personally I love this type of speaking it's cool). But he is actually not only a scaredy cat: he is a person without a purpose. He searched for it in a path with sister, but no happiness came, only murder of Midori. Alice hides his soft side to not be hurt, he on purpose builds a wall and appears so arrogant because when he was openly kind the close ones were indifferent (not to mention prison, I admire how Alice kept his sanity at all).

Shin is a prime example of morally gray character done right (majority here are morally gray but with him being antagonist it's far more prominent). I have seen various post about fandom interpreting him either as "totally evil manipulator", "Kokichi/Nagito kinnie", "cinnamon roll he did nothing wrong" or "what a loser". But he's not just good or bad, him having antagonist status doesn't make him Ouma copycat or Komaeda's successor, and while I get him being a loser is funny it's not the only thing to define him (though it's more of a joke than serious interpretation). Shin is very insecure and distrustful guy who "sees shadows where there aren't any" (quoting Sara) due to 0% and wants to live, using all methods... until he gets attached. He plots mainly against people he considers his enemies (to tell the truth, with 0% anybody could be classified as enemy), and I think he wouldn't abandon those close to him like Kanna, perhaps partly due to guilt of using her. In general, his actions, while obviously not the best (and he knows it perfectly well), come from fear of death and paranoia rather than pure malice or craziness.

Nao may appear as mentally weak girl you constantly have to help and can't rely on. Yes, Nao has problems with dependance on other, but she has her own aces up her sleeves. She's creative, smart, open-minded. For me her advantage lies in unexpectedness: who knew she saw through AI's lies? For her own sake and for the group Nao is capable of difficult actions like puching fake Reko. This girl is about growing more responsible, learning to trust your own judgement (she has great intuition by the way) and becoming independent.

Kai is quite too unique for stereotypes in my mind, a mysterious but awfully suspicious man. He looks so feminine but don't let that deceive you: he's assasin. Assasin that doesn't kill. Kai is the person escaping from his bloodied, horrible, traumatic past into right, calm, tranquil future with only householding chores and not killing attempts to protect... wrong people (Sara is not bad person, but her father is likely to be tied to Asunaro). So poor househusband is leaping from one abusive enviroment into another, but now being genuinely loyal and unaware of all skeletons kept in closet.

Q-Taro is certainly not only kindhearted big muscular guy (that dies in certain chapter) or stupid. Yes, he looks like parody on American, yes, all his accents make his speech a bit silly and stereotypical. No, he's not dumb. In fact, many plot twists involve him in some way (especially the banquet). Also, he could sacrifice his life for somebody, but he is equally capable of doing the opposite. Q-Taro is quite honest but not above tricks to leave this place, he cares for th group (taking into accout his team-spirited profession) but prioritises himself until later; he knows how sinful people are including him and that allows him to forgive quickly.

Finally, Mishima dies so early you don't hope to see him after 1.1. But if you think he's the shock value first victim that dissapears after, you are not quite right. Mishima, being dead, yet has influence on story as well, either through mystery of his head or AI that appear three times (maybe something is really up with him). Not to mention Ytts where his character shines and not burns. Him being almost perfect doesn't ruin anything, it motivates to become better as well because he wasn't always like this. Plus, he's no ideal, Mishima understands how world works but is passionate to a fault, not to mention his suspicious behavior. He is example of a person that matured, overcame his main faults and inspires the same in others.

Of course, everyone can interpret these characters differently and it's great, those perseptions can be true all at once. They are so interesting and captivating thanks to many layers of depth where everybody can see something unique.

[spaced-out-muses]

I’ve been thinking about it since watching @tres-fidelis play more P5R two nights ago, but I think it’s extremely funny how I ended up putting Taro and Mishima on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Like, I’m probably a broken record by now, but Taro Knows™, at least when it comes to our dear protagonist. Mishima figured it out, being one of the first ones to do so. Makoto figured it out. Yoshida figured it out, and I don’t doubt there could be others we just don’t see/I’m not currently aware of. In my mind, it doesn’t seem too far fetched that the guy sitting behind the protagonist would figure out his big ol secret. And honestly, in terms of the game specifically, I’m (lovingly) surprised no one else figured it out bc of Ryuji “GUYS WE’RE PHANTOM THIEVES” Sakamoto.

This group ain’t nearly as slick as they try to be and I love them.

But anyway, Mishima, once figuring out who the Thieves were, went all in on trying to help. He set up the Phansite, he actively contacts the Protagonist to give info, he should have been a thief himself and he’s always so enthusiastic about it. He has full faith in the Thieves, they’ve got his full support, nothing could shake that. Like, even the shit with Okumura didn’t faze him!! Even when knowing the Protag’s record, he completely throws it out the window, puts his trust in the Phantom Thieves, and was the first one to go “This is BULLSHIT I know you guys didn’t do that.” He’s also the first one to suggest the damage control of taking on smaller requests to regain the public’s trust, like!!!

Boy is doing the best he can to help, he realized he's in control of his own fate after a few bumps in the road, and I adore him for it.

Taro… does Not do any of that. He didn’t even intend to find out, he just happened to get unlucky enough in seating placement. He wants NOTHING to do with the PT as things stand. This does put him in a difficult position since they’re students like him and knows he shares a class with at least one, and like. He doesn’t like, want to be an asshole, doesn’t want it to seem like he’s actively avoiding anyone. Hell! He doesn’t even disagree with what they’re doing, doesn’t care at the very worst. But at the same time he is acutely aware he’s a loose link and therefore assumes the larger the distance, the safer both parties will be.

You could probably argue he's helping by not snitching but that's the bare minimum.

His entire plan for surviving Shujin revolved around keeping his head down and staying out of trouble. While Mishima enthusiastically broke out of his shell once the Phantom Thieves showed up, Taro is aggressively retreating into it. He just wants to get through high school with as little excitement as possible, and though he’s technically failed step one we will perservere, damnit.

This is especially the case once Okumura kicks it, because like... Mishima is one case. He actively works to help the thieves, and is one of the people who was most impacted by their first heist. He has a reason to keep faith in them.

Taro doesn't. At least, not to the same extent.

Sure, the Thieves have changed hearts without issue plenty of times before. Sure, they saved the school from a tyranical PE teacher, outed a art thief, etc. etc. etc. But unfortunately, after Okumura, Taro is forced to remember the Protagonists record. And that... grinds things to a halt. Anxieties and a fresh wave of doubt bubble up. Any progress that could have happened on a personal scale is likely pushed back.

He wants to put faith in the PT, he really does. But until he can think things through or something, he's going to go back to keeping his distance for a while.

[hayleylovesjessica]

I'm screaming!

[utilitycaster]

I'll admit Pâté's introduction as a familiar was a lot, but I think that's the point. Laudna was able to bring him to life...but by the time she could do so, she had real friends - friends who traveled across the world to resurrect her. So now she's grappling with the fact that he's extremely useful, but when he's not scouting or helping her in combat, she can't just stop him from talking about how horny he is to random strangers anymore. His original purpose as a companion no longer makes sense, but the vestiges of it, some of which are, well, a lot, can get really grating. I think that's why she's come off recently as a little irritated with him.

It's funny, because earlier Laudna was portrayed very much (and said as much by Marisha) as having somewhat arrested development and ever since her resurrection she's sort of speedrun that and is acting much more like an adult. I don't think she's played with her dolls in the same way since, and I wonder if Pâté being real is part of it: she got the living puppet she'd dreamed of, but that means she doesn't totally control what he's saying anymore. I mean, he's a familiar, she can dismiss him or give him commands, and she still clearly cares about him, but bringing him to life was probably something that, years ago, she dreamed about. And now she has it, and it's got its drawbacks. And when you consider it in the context of her having the rest of Bells Hells to lean on, it's just something she's started to outgrow a bit.

It's also interesting because Laudna tends to swallow her irritation and perform for the audience - even many of the members of Bells Hells. This is a woman who, upon being brought back to life after several days trapped in the afterlife, tried to deflect the focus from herself as much as possible, and who as we're seeing now isn't letting herself cry no matter how scared and worried she feels. Letting herself be openly annoyed with aspects of Pâté is a small step, but it's an important one.

I also wonder - and this is more of a long-shot - if Pâté reflects some of Laudna's own worries. The thing is, he is more annoying now, but he's also more useful. I wonder if she asks herself if that's the case for her. It's not, but she has felt a bit like a burden as of late. Which in turn would complicate things with Pâté, if he serves as a reminder of some of her own (unfounded! but possibly very real to her!) insecurities.