#this is an exaggeration btw lol

[creampuffiemina]

theres 30 minutes left and the only thing ive been doing for the past 1 hour is stare at the questions and internally screaming

[iwoulddieforienzo]

Something really great about the persona 2 cast is that they all individually fucking SUCK to talk to casually. Every single one of them. They are all infuriating. We have:

Tatsuya, who will stare at you blankly if you try to initiate conversation (IS) and will dip without saying a word afterward (EP)

Batsuya, who will scoff and brush you off/otherwise act dismissive

Eikichi, who might honestly be the best to talk to in the IS crew and that is not saying much, who WILL talk extremely loudly over you (probably not on purpose?) and will not be paying particularly close attention to the conversation beyond whatever he wants to say (gets points for talking about his gf. gets points taken away for constantly talking about his gf)

Lisa, who will automatically assume bad faith and will be rude to you the entire conversation unless you manage to defuse her temper (good luck)

Jun, who is uncommunicative at BEST and requires an encyclopedic knowledge of flowers, metaphor and body language just to get a HINT on what he’s thinking, and who will be extremely polite but completely unhelpful. If you tried asking him what he wants for dinner I guarantee it will be the longest 30 minutes of your life as he goes “oh I have no opinion :) whatever you want. :))” EXCEPT HE DOES HAVE OPINIONS. He has SO MANY OPINIONS. He is Expecting you to be able to pick up on his “obvious” clues. He will be passive aggressive if you don’t. (Jun babygirl you suck so bad I love u)

Maya, who is a delight but will very quickly become grating if you try to talk to her about anything serious as she hits you with the white suburban mom's "how to live a happy, healthy life" lifecoach slogans. You can’t even mention, like, stepping in a puddle or something without her hitting you with the positivity beam.

Yukino is great actually. 10/10. She’s fabulous we love her. Incredible conversationalist, chill and fun and easy to get along with. But she’s from Persona One, she doesn’t Count.

Ulala, who WILL bring up her relationship problems in every conversation within 10 minutes at least once. Any longer and she will start talking about Maya.

Do I even need to explain Baofu. Have you seen him.

And finally, Katsuya, who is a cop and a kiss ass and Very Obvious about these things. Also he can't talk to women. He can barely talk to men. Help Him.

And yet they all work wonderfully as a group. They are so annoying I love them

[buwheal]

woah. actual thought out reference?

Completely disregard wtf the reference from a couple weeks (a month?) ago looks like. Completely inaccurate. not sure what I was thinking w/ that one. This time I thought this one through, lol. wahoo!! Ive been kind of lazy and totally leaving out features the past few times Ive drawn him and I dont want that to happen again because he loses all the fun features.

notes written out for those who need it (glances behind my shoulder at the mobile app) under the cut. be warned, its long, lol.

starting from the top left, going across to the right side in rows.

-TURN-AROUND -opt grey hairs/grey stripe. he keeps it evenly colored with car oil. -eyebrow crease opt. -head lifted for convenience (for the pose. Also spelt that wrong on the image whoops) -5" when slouched. -neutral expression. Teeth always visible. -eyebags NOT opt. (Except in certain circumstances.) -"Tail" not usually visible -HORRIBLE posture* -black bottom lip pokes out a little -hands reach knees in reg. posture -Gnarly mullet -Overbite -Constant slouch. -Warped lens/frame -Sweaty & jittery a lot - \___ misc. extremes ___/ -BJD body -Motherboard cover -Plush tummy :-) -wears heart boxers underneath. Not shown. - |dissociating-----|-------disconnected| -sensitive eyes w/o glasses. Squints. - :arrow: Sparratically ejects -overdramatic - *except when actively interacting with someone - 5"1 when standing straight - |forced--|genuine--|?----|???---|

[callsthefaithful]

wip. ive banned myself from working on this further until ive got my draft done for my essay so. have this as an incentive for me to want to finish it </3

[maxthesillyy]

and if you kick every gay person out of your target audience by purposely trying to make the LIS games not “the gay games” then WHO is going to be playing LIS, decknine?

[marcmorrigan]

its @wh0rehound 's birthday and since he is the gaymer to my mafia slut obvs i had to draw our boys 🍫💕🎮 everyone say hbd sam!!! 😤🎉🎂

[ofindigoskies]

while I do agree that it is funny to assume the characters in the fell xenologue are simply personality flips I also think it would be so much more fun to take it as an examination of the characters, what changed to make them different from their counterparts, and how it reflects on the ones that we know in the main story

so with that said….. here's my essay on why despite the fact that it looks like personality flip with no basis, alternate Alcryst (Altcryst) is actually not that unbelievable, just a version taken to the extreme due to the nature of the alternate world

"must I do everything for you, my pathetic excuse for a brother"

a good example that it is not simple swaps can start with Celine, I have seen many point out that the alt version of her is not necessarily a personality swap, just her ruthlessness to do whatever it takes for the benefit of her people taken to the extreme in a harsher world

"if they must suffer in order for our people to live, so be it"

(and this is just from her B support with Alear)

Celine cares deeply for her brother, and by extension the nation of firene.

(A support with Fogado)

Now this version of her has grown up in a world where peace isn't a norm and has to be fought to assured, pushing her ruthlessness to achieve it to the front.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if alt Fogado turns out similar to alt Celine

(A support with Celine)

ultimately they are willing to do the extreme for what they believe is for the benefit of their family and kingdom, but since they have grown up in relative peace, they do not often have to act on it and as such this side is rarely shown.

Due to the world fell xenolgue presents which is much less peaceful, this tendency and side is pushed to the forefront. This I believe can be applied to Alcryst as well

(images you can hear)

From just one line, it is already a shocker that 1. Altcryst is extremely harsh and 2. he is demeaning alt Diamant (not giving Diamant a funny nickname sorry)

regarding the first point. (slapping alcryst like a car) this guy can fit so much rage and hate in him. This negative energy in general is primarily seen directed towards himself but we have seen it directed at others before, mainly towards those he does not respect and consider his enemy

(chapter 11 where being a hater overrides respecting diamant)

this cold brutality also can be seen in his introduction scene, he has an aggressiveness that is quite fitting for a country of might, and has a very attack first, apologise (profusely) later policy

this is also seen towards Ivy and Hortensia who used to be his enemies and he does not drop that attitude towards Ivy until their C support when he realises that she no longer needs to be considered a threat

Camilla notes in her bond conversation with him that he is different on and off the battlefield. She also says that they are similar in their duality of kindness to their allies but lack of mercy to their enemies

(from their A bond conversation)

this is especially shown in how his critical lines are quite different from how he normally speaks, in the eng version this comes across as him being confident and assertive and in the jp version he comes across as being steadfast and serious. (I enjoy both and I'm not trying to pit them against each other but think there is enough difference to point it out)

I was going to insert clips but tumblr doesn't allow more than one video per post :/ you can look at the eng version here and the jp version here

notably, Alcryst's attitude and manner of speaking while in battle is similar to the personality Altcryst shows in the trailer. This leads me to believe that this is the aspect of Alcryst more prominent in the universe

so while Alcryst is a sopping wet cat, he has absolutely the potential to snap and bite, the gap moe is vital to his characterisation even

which brings us to the second point, that Altcryst does not seem to have those boundaries and is able to berate even alt Diamant. so. why?

first let's look at why Alcryst has low self worth in the first place, and why he puts Diamant on such a high pedestal.

Conveniently, Alcryst's B support with Fogado lays it out because Fogado straight up was like hey Alcryst can you tell me about your childhood so I can understand why you are Like This

which, in short, Alcryst was born with a significant age gap between him and Diamant, and as such grew up hearing everyone praise Diamant and compare him negatively in regards to Diamant's achievements, ultimately making him internalise it as having no worth at all. which. uhm. why are you comparing a child's achievement to someone probably in their teens.

(support B)

Alcryst has put Diamant on such a high pedestal that he is flawless in his eyes. (this also isn't helped by Diamant's own issues that is afraid of showing weakness) He seems to have his world blown when he learns that Diamant actually has fears and weakness.

(Support B with Diamant)

It is important to note that Alcryst in fact does have a good relationship with his family, we see Diamant and Morion be nothing but supportive towards him and his mention of his mother in his support with Saphir imply a good relationship there as well.

the impact that outside influences can still have on someone should not be underestimated though. I imagine this dissonance of being doted by his family and criticized by outsiders (who are likely nobles and private tutors who he still interacts a lot with) complicates his feeling of self worth and exacerbates his imposter syndrome

and the thing is that Alcryst is actually pretty skilled! It is straight up stated in his Ally notebook

(from serenesforest)

and in his A support with Diamant he scores 8 out of 10 in their archery competition while Diamant scored 9 out of 10

(A support)

which, you can take at face value like Alcryst that Diamant performed better than him, or note that it is actually pretty impressive for him to be so closely matched with Diamant considering their large age gap and thus the amount of experience they have

he is also very strategic that is noted in both his solo and paired endings, as "brilliant yet humble strategist" and "unrecognizably composed and powerful force in government" respectively. he also seems to naturally note the strategic effectiveness of areas he's in based on some of his exploration quotes

(from serenesforest)

lastly... regarding inner strength...... Alcryst may be far more stronger in it than Diamant. He is more decisive than Diamant, who is more hesitant and struggles with self doubt and his readiness for the throne. Ironically this may be due to the expectations Diamant has experienced since young, leading him to be far more reserved and careful due to potential repercussions. Meanwhile Alcryst already thinks he's at the bottom and as such has no qualms making a potential mess to fight for what he thinks is right. Basically:

diamant: oh I asked for no pickles :/ ah well

alcryst: EXCUSE ME !!! he asked for NO pickles !!!!!

this particular decisiveness is actually what makes Morion say this:

(chapter 8)

actually this whole part shows a pretty important glimpse into what kind of enviroment the Brodia Bros grew up in so I'm going use my singular video embed on it.

(girl I did not notice the promos at the top until I downloaded it and clipped it on my phone I am not going to bother redownloading another video)

someone out there in Diamant Nation has probably dissected this more thoroughly than me but when Diamant expresses his worries, Morion does not outright dismiss it, but still brushes it away, not taking it very seriously. Morion is still a pretty good dad! both his sons clearly love him deeply but he also unknowingly contributed to a lot of their mental health problems, which Morion himself likely acquired from the environment of Brodia as well. he straight up says that he does not fear death, but fears being known as a king who runs from battle.

Diamant is similar to his father in that way, carrying a fear of not being a proper ruler and king for Brodia. Diamant struggles to uphold the values he was taught with but to instead use it to bring peace and separate it from a nation that uses it to wage war. and amidst all that he worries and worries and is told yet again that fear has no place in Brodia.

and despite all of Alcryst's low self worth, he does not hesitate or worry, he is decisive and quick to make harsh decisions. He does what he believes needs to be done, including dealing the killing blow at their father to spare Diamant from the guilt of having to do so

(and the tone of voice he says this in both eng and jp is the same one in his crit lines and therefore what Altcryst uses YESSSSS I am COOKING)

also this is a bit [guy with conspiracy theory strings] moment here but it may very well reflect in how they work as units as well. fe engage's gameplay encourages the player to go on the offense, which Alcryst excels at, Diamant on the other hand is has sol and geared more for defensive play (and the sol barely activates due to his low dex oof) while alcryst with luna that scales off his high dex is activating it every other attack. this is also an excuse to link a funny video I found

so!!! due to the environment Alcryst was raised in, he grew to believe that Diamant was better than him in any way and as such placed him on an incredibly high pedestal. He in return perceives himself as having very little worth, when in truth is very skilled and possesses many traits that one could argue are very "Brodian"

well what kind of enviroment did Altcryst grow up in?

we can see that Altcryst is harsh to alt Diamant, Diamant is no longer on the high pedestal our Alcryst has placed him at (or arguably never there at all? there's not enough information to know)

so what's going on with alt Diamant? from the trailer, the way he speaks sounds much meeker to the Diamant we know. from a surface glance of that, it might be assumed that the brothers simply swapped personalities, but you have already read my argument on why the world is not a simple swap, just a change of circumstances that brings sides of the characters we know that is not so easily seen pushed to the front. and the same can be said of Diamant, who we've already seen struggles with anxiety, self doubt, and hesitance on his readiness for the throne.

Morion notes that Diamant has increased worry lately, from what I can assume is from the threat of a full war. I don't find it difficult to believe that alt Diamant, who grew up in a much less peaceful world, will be much more anxious. as such, the anxiety and fear that Diamant keeps buried is brought to the forefront in this world.

Altcryst interestingly says "must I do everything for you" implying that he believes he can do a better job than Diamant and take over the task, that he has done this multiple times before, and maybe even a frustration that he has to do so. If it's difficult to imagine Alcryst believing he can be better than Diamant he actually achieves this in their A support!

in this context he follows it up by saying

(which is another important part of Alcryst's character, that he will push past his boundaries for the sake of his loved ones)

there's no direct connection, but I do find it interesting how he says this after he realises that Diamant isn't as perfect and flawless as he thought

going back to Alcryst and Fogado's B support, this very interesting idea is brought up:

and Alcryst's response to why he wouldn't is:

which poses the question of, how would Alcryst have turned out if he realised much earlier that Diamant isn't as flawless as he thought?

well the fell xenologue is right there

half joking, while I do think that is part of the reason, the other reasons that I have mentioned play a role as well. along with the fact that due to the restless state of the world, Altcryst is put into "battle mode" more often bringing out that side of him more

okay so here comes my own interpretation that has less of me pointing back to canon and more of me going a bit delusional (I say as if I am not over 2k words deep in this)

In this world with more prominent conflict, alt Diamant is unable to cope with it like our Diamant can. As such, the worries and anxiety that our Diamant already hides is brought to the forefront for alt Diamant, making him come of as much more meeker than the one we know.

Due to this Altcryst does not place alt Diamant on such a high pedestal that our Alcryst does. I won't be surprised if the comparison still happens though, because it was already illogical in the original world. However, instead of taking it lying down and internalising it, Altcryst instead channels the rage and anger that our Alcryst is already capable of to prove them wrong. and from the competency already seen in our Alcryst, this is entirely doable.

I also believe that due to the state of the fell xenologue world, there are more conflicts thrown at them. and compared to Diamant's hesitance, Altcryst's quick thinking decisiveness often leads to him stepping in and taking charge. (much like how alt Celine is more ruthless in this world and alt Alfred, while reluctant and hesitant, still calls for the invasion to Brodia)

"must I do everything for you"

and while Altcryst's harshness to alt Diamant probably adds to alt Diamant's list of Problems (tm) it is likely a compounding addition. with their large age gap alt Diamant didn't grow up with this and likely developed his meeker personality from the other factors previously discussed

I still think that Altcryst cares in some way for his brother. much like how Celine and Fogado's ruthlessness is tied to the love for their family, Alcryst's capacity for rage and lack of mercy is strongly tied to how much he cares for his loved ones

(rotates this comment from their A support in my head in contemplation)

IN CONCLUSION

the fell xenologue world is not a simple swap but the aspects of the original counterparts that were not so obvious being brought to the front due to the harsher world they are in

the aspect that is brought out in Alcryst is his rage, brutal competency, and cold decisiveness

due to not placing Diamant on such a high pedestal, Altcryst does not suffer from as much lack of self worth and is able to channel his rage more easily (because this guy cannot cope properly in either universe)

Alcryst's capacity for harshness and lack of mercy goes hand in hand with his capacity to love, and I think Altcryst still cares for alt Diamant in his own way

thank you for coming to my TED talk

no seriously if you read all of this thank you so much

[incorrect-web-novels]

I really enjoy criticizing media, but I need you to know that stories like Scum Villain, DPA, and other "cringe" novels are actually SUPER good - so good that it's a lot of fun to deconstruct and joke about them. Same with characters I tease or make fun of - we're psychically connected

[Image ID - a photo of a woman putting a box on a high shelf while an upset child looks at her. The box is labeled, "my favorite characters and stories." The woman is labeled, "Me, who criticizes them constantly." The pouting child is labeled, "Ppl who actually hate/misunderstand the story/character (and are dicks about it)." End ID]

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

I have a really hard time empathizing with my characters 80% of the time but then the other 20% of the time I create a chapter title so sad I start having emotions

[napping-sapphic]

I’m not cut out for even slightly more intense health issues than my usual stuff yall so here’s my will for when i die of feel too bad disorder: i’d like to dedicate my few life achievements to all the sapphics out there and also they can have all my stuff i guess

[cerullos]

genuinely thrown by all of this. is drag an inherently binaristic artform? what knowledge do we have of chappell’s own gender to confidently make the call that her methods of engaging w/ drag culture only “count” if she dresses as a drag king?

chappell has publicly expressed that she is doing drag (or attempting to, apparently-ymmv) and this conversation does seem to enforce the idea that when (presumed!) women do drag, their efforts are subjected to greater scrutiny by others in the community because why do multiple aesthetic hallmarks of drag amount to “drag inspiration” on chappell when they would most likely be accepted as drag on a gay man? not being facetious here, i truly don’t understand

[crunchycrystals]

i need to be on like mood stabilizers or something bc if i think about the percabeth content in the new ep for too long i get a little sick

[ttaibhse]

i feel like i do generally pretty well at seeming normal and functional on the surface so people maybe like don't believe me that i find certain things as difficult as i do find them. or i might be just making this up in my mind out of paranoia lol. or i may also be overestimating how normal i appear and maybe i do actually come off like a complete freak

[trillgutterbug]

welp,, just finished watching band of brothers for the... 19th? time..? honestly............ why bother doing anything else ever. gonna go lie down on the beach and let the tide take me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[gengarpng]

Luv that my work can keep buying shit like flat screen tvs for the offices but cleaning has to beg for years for new toilet brushes and shower mats 😍

[dragoncarrion]

logging into toyhouse and shaking my head and sighing as i like the pretty drawing of a bought 300 dollar adoptable