#this one is spoiler free i think? spoiler lite def

[letsplayballet]

think all the ppl who would care about this have already heard my thoughts in the discord, but it's tradition at this point so. p4g thoughts (up through about-to-start the second dungeon)!:

starting off with a full confession of i have not been letting myself have high expectations for this game? p5 was extremely up my alley in terms of aesthetics/music/themes, and i could tell long before i really considered getting into it that p4 was not going to hit that same chord of yes-good-but-also that has made me obsess over p5 for the last 5 years. it would be unfair to compare it to p5 (they're different games with different stories and different goals) so i've been really trying to go into it with an open mind and appreciate it on it's own merits!

that being said... i was def right and while i've been enjoying the game (for the most part) it hasn't caught me the same way, and i keep finding myself thinking "where the fuck are my kids" lol

i am getting more and more into it the further i play tho! played for nearly 10 hours yesterday and was already more invested by the end of the day than the beginning, so i'm hoping that continues

mentioned this in another post but as much as i hate the "best friend (who is a perv and an asshole but we treat it like it's funny and likable)" archetype, yosuke is so far more tolerable than ryuji. he's been weird about yukiko, and an ass to chie, and i can tell he's gonna be weird about kanji, but he's at least focused on and dedicated to solving the case instead of being a huge glory hound, and occasionally has any self-awareness whatsoever

i really like chie tho! hate the weird focus in her confidant social link so far about "am i girly enough? :(" but she's very sweet and funny and crits a lot

haven't spent a lot of time with yukiko but i have a hunch i'll enjoy her fine

as much as these kids are starting to grow on me, they def shine... solo, which is unfortunate. all of the team "banter" so far that isn't directly about the case is chie and yosuke seeming to really hate each other, which uh. sucks. i want friends, please tell me they become friends.

also frustrating is the mid-00s gender essentialism and homophobia, which is becoming Prominent as we get into kanji's part of the story

p5 def had its moments (looking directly at you shinjuku gays) (and at ryuji) (and at the beach scenes) but Fuck

anyway. side characters! love em.

nanako is precious and i would kill and die for her

i also really love yumi!! her rank 3 was Rough and i loved it. i'm going to try to wait on romancing decisions but she's an early lead (if she's even allowed? no idea what options are available here tbh)

sorry dojima but acab, you don't deserve the hierophant

the combat is quite a bit simpler than p5, but also way simpler than nocturne, just in very different ways. it's still smt/persona combat, so i still love it, but i miss the complexity from p5r specifically (tho appreciate the more streamlined nature compared to nocturne, especially given the fewer quality of life mechanics)

all in all, general fewer quality of life mechanics, which is annoying but expected so it's not really detracting from my enjoyment

still having fun! hope to keep having fun

[the-evisceration-station]

I like your commentary! I found Colette's relationship to Addy to be way more intense and multi-faceted on the show than in the book. What is your take on book!Colette versus show!Colette in terms of Addy? Feel free to point me to an old post if you've already answered a question like this.

Hey dude! Answering under the cut for potential book spoilers! 

They certainly upped the homoeroticism up in the show and I think that contributes a lot to the intensity. I think it’s more obvious in the show than in the book that Colette is taking advantage of Addy’s affection for her. Both because of the increased homoeroticism on screen and because since we’re no longer seeing the story exclusively from inside Addy’s head, it’s easier to draw conclusions about how Colette is, rather than how Addy sees her. 

I personally believe that book!Colette’s relationship with Addy was just as multifaceted as in the show, but that it comes off as more simplistic because it’s dyed by Addy’s perspective. But hey, YMMV for sure! If you feel like it’s objectively less multifaceted, that’s also completely understandable and I totally see the trajectory of that conclusion. I personally, just like, get the vibe that Addy presents it to us more simply because Addy likes things simple. Simple and pretty. Addy tends to obscure/ignore/lie when she’s confronted with things that are difficult. Complex and ugly. 

Colette is more blatantly predatory in the show though, for sure. That sauna scene. Dude, what even the fuck. She really invited Addy to chill with her nude in the sauna. Alone too. I can’t believe she’s too oblivious to realize how inappropriate that is. 

But okay, book!Colette vs. TV!Colette, what differences do I feel here...I’d say TV!Colette is more composed than book!Colette. Book!Colette seems more disturbed by what went down with Will, at least to me. But then, how much of that was real?? 

She whines to Addy about how she’s slipping up, not sleeping, hitting her daughter because she’s so stressed and traumatized, but was that true? Or was she just telling Addy that to get her to feel bad and soften up? And being that Will didn’t get killed off until episode seven, it’s totally possible that scene would’ve been a thing in the series too, only we didn’t reach it. 

Oh, I think book!Colette might be somewhat less private than TV!Colette. I get the impression from the book that Addy hung out a lot more with Colette and Will, rather than just Colette. Which is...still predatory (especially considering book!Will canoodled with Beth) and pretty fucking weird, all around. There’s one moment (forget which page, but it’s def in there) where Addy describes this: 

“Watching them kiss, watching the way he opens her mouth with his, her sneaky looks back at me, the pleasure on her, I feel myself go loose and wondrous inside. I want to be a part of their kiss, and maybe even they want it too.” 

I mean, Addy is a weird kid and kind of a voyeur-lite, and an unreliable narrator, so maybe her feeling like they wanted her to be apart of it was just all in her head. But whether or not it was, it’s still pretty damn strange they just bringing a teenage on their dates like that. 

 But I don’t think they hung out as a trio that much in the show. There was the one date in episode three, I could buy possibly a few offscreen that didn’t hold any narrative significance, and then Will showing up shitfaced at Colette’s place where they just kinda got forced to deal with him. TV!Colette seems more private to me in that sense, she seems to keep her interactions with Will and Addy more separate in the show than in the book. 

I think TV!Colette likes her kid more than book!Colette. There’s that part where (again, forget the page and I’m paraphrasing) where Colette is like, “what? my daughter whomst?? lmao, maybe she’s drinking poison under the sink rn, idk” whereas in the show, Colette seems more bemused by her child’s existence than outright indifferent. She even inquires about why she had a bandaid to Matt...but there again, I wonder. Does TV!Colette actually care about her kid?? Or did she just ask Matt about the princess bandaid because she wants him to think she gives a shit and stay on his good side? 

I think both TV!Colette and book!Colette find themselves boxed into domestic places they don’t want to be in, and that’s partly why she’s drawn to Addy. She’s manipulating her, yes, but she also likes being her bestie, and being a gal pal to the squad because it’s a way of shrinking her adult and domestic responsibilities. She gets to let loose and act like their peer, like she herself is a teenager without all those responsibilities she doesn’t want to have. I think it’s more obvious in the show she regrets some of the life choices that contribute to her being boxed in. 

I can’t believe I’ve typed this much and still failed to really give you an answer. Um. I guess Colette is a bit harder for me to pin down, since she lies so much...and I just fucking scrolled up to realize I wasn’t even answer the right question, oh SHIT. Smfh, I really did that. 

You asked specifically in regards to Addy, and I went on about a whole bunch of other junk. Oh well. Too late to delete now, I’m just gonna chug along here and...

Colette and Addy. Hm. The homoerotic subtext is absolutely more mutual in the show. I did have an ask a little like this before, but I’m still of the belief Colette isn’t actually attracted to Addy. I think the subtext on her part is all a farce, because indulging Addy’s crush gives her even more power over her. I don’t think she actually wants to roll around in the hay with Addy, even though she’s teasing her with little touches and batting bedroom eyes her way. 

I think book!Colette is less blatantly inappropriate in part, because she seems to keep her interactions with Addy relatively less separate than her interactions with others. Like Will, Probably the squad girls too, I think she has them over to her place a bit more in the book than on the show. 

I still think the crux of the relationship is the same for TV!Addy as well as book!Addy. I think it’s mostly that the homoerotic subtext has been elevated, rather than the relationship itself that’s changed. And that we get a different view of that relationship as it builds and unfolds, because we get to see it without exclusive Addy goggles. And maybe they are somewhat closer in the show, because Colette spends more solo time with Addy.

tl:dr; I don’t really think anything’s changed about the relationship itself, but more so the presentation of it and translation of that relationship to screen. Except that TV!Colette is potentially an even bolder, better manipulator than book!Colette and more willing to be inappropriate with Addy to keep Addy close to her. I also think the homoerotic subtext is intensified, because TV!Colette spends more time one-on-one with Addy, while book!Colette spends more time with Addy and Will, and the squad girls at the house parties. I don’t think any of Colette’s motivation is different, however. But again, YMMV! All of the above is just my personal take, and I started to ramble and repeat myself halfway through, probably.