#we me and p5 we also like to call it “my cds are still in his truck”

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Decided to reorganize my Avatar (what i have with me atm) collection. I needed to spread it out to a second shelf 😭😭😭

[benisasoftboi]

Unorganised thoughts on Trails of Cold Steel II:

they still haven’t told me why it’s Class VII

So I liked this WAY more than CS1, thumbs up

I am annoyed that the only new location was Ymir (WHAT A COINCIDENCE that all the important places in the war were specifically ones Rean had been to already)

I just really wanna go to Parm idk

Bless Anton for showing up right at the end and giving me just enough AP to make A0

(fav Anton and Ricky subplot yet, god I love those guys)

I LOVED how tactile all the reunions were! I love it when fictional characters hug it makes me happy

I found it extremely funny that the final boss straight up tells the characters ‘hey, there’s literally no point to fighting me, you’ll gain nothing except closure I guess’ like that’s VERY on the nose and meta for a final boss

The game does have some real ending fatigue though, I don’t think we needed the epilogue

I did like the final boss though - up until that point, I had become so good at using my Dream Team of Rean, Elliot, Machias and Jusis (or Nuke-sis, as I call him, for his insane levels of arts damage output) that everything had got kinda dull for me. But final boss was actually a challenge, I had to think rather than just using the strategy that had worked on everything else

Which was Rean delays, Elliot heals/deals arts damage, Jusis drops arts nukes, and Machias does miscellaneous support/uses his link ability to keep Jusis’s EP topped up

Oh yeah I had them linked through pretty much the whole game and they hated it and it was super funny

So OH MAN, in their linked victory battle ending screen thing, Jusis goes ‘not bad, you actually held your own for once’

And it’s a little muffled, so the first time I heard it I swear I thought Machias responded with ‘you know what you can hold? Your damn top!’ and I dropped my controller. Had to go out of my way to win another battle with a link attack because no, no way-

He

Um

He said ‘tongue’

Anyway, characters!

Rean: Immediately upon starting up the game I found Ride Along Estelle in my DLC inventory and equipped it in the hopes that it would inspire Rean to be a better protagonist. It... kinda worked? I don’t hate him anymore, and I was pretty hyped to learn he was Osbourne’s son

And then Lloyd showed up immediately afterwards and I was like ‘oh wait here’s a protagonist I actually LOVE, nvm bye Rean lol’

Alisa: I literally never use Alisa unless the game makes me lol she was there and I don’t hate her but also I cannot remember a single interesting thing she did. Even during her one bit of plot relevance she was overshadowed by Angelica it’s hilarious that the marketing makes her out to be the deteuragonist 

Elliot: A GOOD BOY who served me incredibly well with his off the charts healing crafts, I can’t believe I started CS1 not liking him much and thinking him useless. I love the little dance he does in his idle animation

Laura: I still like Laura, I wish she was more plot relevant. I don’t feel strongly about her, but she’s always a welcome addition to any scene

Machias: Unpopular opinion probably but I really like him, even if his outfit in this game was awful. So are his alt outfits. Fashion disaster. I bought him contact lenses from a shady highway business man because he looks better without glasses. I made him ludicrously bulky, if he’d just had some kind of taunt craft to protect Jusis (squishy mage) with he’d be a perfect tank

I’m a fan of him in a ‘this is my trash son’ kind of way lol

Emma: Uhhh kinda boring which is impressive since she’s actually important and pseudo-related to Vita and all. Btw I guessed she was a witch in chapter goddamn three of CS1 after reading the folklore book, and I find it extremely wild that it’s either a dragged out, foregone conclusion if you have read the book, OR witches even existing is completely out of nowhere if you haven’t

Jusis: My favourite, because I’m basic. But like, he’s seriously the most interesting of the guys, and I made him Rean’s best friend (only one I got to rank 7 with lol). And his bonding event in Bareahard was so gooood!

I find it incredibly funny that he insists he and Machias aren’t friends because 1. Yes you are and 2. Do you even have any other non-Rean friends, guy? You literally never hang out with anyone else unless it’s plot related

Still low key ship it. Enjoy that Rean does too, apparently. Still reeling over their Trial Chest’s quote

His second S-Craft is ridiculous looking

Fie: Most interesting girl, love how she just doesn’t get flustered ever, funniest character, best girl in the game, what the HELL was that outfit

Gaius: I keep forgetting Gaius exists lol. I don’t dislike him, but he’s not very interesting to me. He’s Zin, or Noel

Millium: Man do I want to know more about Millium. Her whole thing about learning to cry... so sad and SO fascinating. What is the deal with her and Altina?!?

Sara: I hated Sara at the start of CS1. Now I adore her. God she’s just the best. Please let her interact with Schera please please please Falcom

Towa: Cutest! She’s so cute and I still love her and I did her final event even though she is TOO GOOD for Rean! She got to be a captain! I love her!

As for more minor characters - still think Angie’s great, just wish she wasn’t kinda creepy about her love of girls, deeply dislike that the game ship teases her and GEORGE, who I still otherwise find inoffensive but also, you know, male, Alfin is great, Toval is great too and I still can’t get over him being Toby, stop teasing Claire with Rean let there be one woman who isn’t into him please, oh good Sharon’s here and they don’t do that with her and she’s awesome also can’t believe I used to not like her, more Olivier always please, same with Mueller, Celine is Morgana from P5 except better in every conceivable way, Crow :(, all the Ouroboros lot are great as always, and Elise is easily my least favourite character in this franchise and can get in the sun for all I care 

I read a transcript of the drama CD and hey Rean’s dad can also get in the sun for saying that his adopted son isn’t good enough to marry his biological daughter like where do you even start-

I love that I’ve gone from reacting to Ouroboros appearances like ‘oh shit oh no’ to going ‘oh shit it’s these fucking clowns (affectionate) again’

Still love Beryl. Also love Lambert

When they mentioned ‘Mueller’s friend’ I thought it would be Julia and I was so excited and then so disappointed that it was Neithardt who I still don’t like

Elliot’s dad looks ridiculous riding on top of that tank

I loved riding the bike around SO MUCH, even if it took me a while to get a hang of the controls  

Aurelia Le Guin is just Edelgard Fire Emblem, right? And Bardias is Claude? Except I guess this game came first, so like, other way around

Man I loved flying around on the Courageous. Also I FINALLY got a map, all I wanted in CS1 was to see a map of the country 

However, Act 1 was definitely my favourite part - the sequence where the kids have to sneak through the railway lines under the bridge to get to Garrelia is one of my favourite parts of this entire series. I kind of wanted the whole game to just be this group of teenagers trying to lay low and survive a civil war while also travelling and helping out from place to place

I uh... I want JRPG Life is Strange 2

Why is there a snowboarding minigame. I mean, I loved it, but... why is it there?

I still really miss the old battle orbment designs from Sky. The ARCUSs just aren’t as cool :(

I watched the secret Black Records scene on YouTube and I am so happy to finally have an explanation for Rosine, it was really bothering me that she seemed so out of place at a military academy

I’m very very hype to play CS3 based on the spoilers I have for who will be making appearances...

:D

Seriously why is everything in these games azure though just say blue-

[winterune]

A Persona 5 Fanfiction - Something Perfectly Normal

Word count: 3838

Summary: The second week of Ren’s transfer, the second Sunday. It’s his birthday and he doesn’t know what he should do.  

A/N: a self-indulgent fic I write for my birthday. So, this is a present from me to me, featuring Ren^^ (since Ren doesn’t have an official birthday). Set right after Ren transferred to Shujin Academy, so he’s still adapting to his new environment. It also contains some allusions to another p5 fic I’m currently writing about Ren’s past (the mentions of his mother and foster parents), and it’s my headcanon of who Ren is (helps me in writing his character too). I don’t delve too deep about them here though. 

The hum of the television filled the background. Another recap news of the recent psychological breakdowns. Ren was sitting on the counter with the usual serving of curry Sojiro gave him every morning.

“Do you have plans for today?” the middle-aged man asked from behind the counter.

The same question he posed last Sunday. Ren wasn’t sure if he meant well or he just wanted him away from café every day he had off. But his reluctant guardian hadn’t once looked at him, and he had his back to him. Indifferent. As long as Ren didn’t create any trouble, Sojiro didn’t care less what he did.

Ren shrugged. “I’ll go somewhere,” he said quietly.

Sojiro gave a noncommittal grunt.

Ren brought another spoonful of his curry into his mouth. It melted immediately and it was a struggle not to finish everything so quickly. Despite his attitude toward him, Sojiro’s really was the best curry Ren ever ate. Not to mention the coffees he brewed.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Sojiro seemed to notice Ren’s reaction to his breakfast. His lips stretched into a small smile though he didn’t comment on it.

On the floor to the side, Morgana was eating his own breakfast from a bowl Ren had bought at a nearby pet store. Filled with more of Sojiro’s cooking, of course. The cat had also preferred it to the cat food Ren had bought.

“You know…” Morgana said between mouthfuls. “I can never…get tired of this.”

Ren grinned. “Don’t talk while you’re eating, Morgana,” he said.

“Yeah…”

Sojiro chuckled. “Seems like he loves it.”

Ren’s grin faded. “He does.”

Sojiro glanced at him. “Make sure you bring him with you when you go out.”

“I will.” Ren finished his food and drink. “Thanks for the food.”

***

“Where are you going?” Morgana asked from inside Ren’s bag as they headed outside. The café had just opened but it was still too early for anything else to be open—except for the local stores.

“Somewhere,” Ren mused.

“Aren’t we going to head to the Palace today?” Morgana asked again.

“Not today.”

Morgana was silent for a moment, before asking again, “Then, what are you going to do today?” just as Ren stopped before the stairs up to a batting cage in the neighborhood. Morgana popped his head from Ren’s bag and peaked his head over his shoulder. “A batting cage,” he read the sign. “You’re going to a batting cage?”

Ren shrugged. “No harm in it.” He walked up the stairs, only to find the door to the batting cage closed.

“It’s closed,” Morgana commented.

I can see that, Ren thought to himself. There was a sign posted on the door.  “Opens at noon,” he read.

Ren didn’t move. To be honest, he didn’t have anything in mind—where to go, what to do. The Palace? They hadn’t prepared enough. Maybe he should just spend the day preparing for their infiltration.

“So, what are you going to do?” Morgana asked again.

Ren glanced at the cat staring at him from behind his shoulder. “Do you have fun riding in my bag?”

“Wha—”

Ren smirked.

And maybe because Morgana wasn’t exactly a cat, but Ren could see the slight stretch of his mouth to a reluctant smirk as he huffed. “Well, I’m going wherever you go,” he said and went back inside the bag.

“You’re heavy, Morgana,” Ren commented again.

“Shut up!”

***

His phone vibrated as Ren waited at the station for a train to Shibuya. It was Ryuji, asking when they were going to go to the Palace. Why was everyone asking him that?! Ren replied it wouldn’t be today.

“I’ll be hanging out in Shibuya if you changed your mind,” Ryuji replied Ren’s text.

Well, good thing Ren was going to Shibuya too. Maybe he’d see Ryuji for a while.

It didn’t take long to reach Shibuya and even in the morning, these parts were already so crowded. It had been two weeks since he moved here and he hadn’t had the chance to explore much of the city. With everything that went on at school, Kamoshida, and the discovery of the Metaverse, not to mention how everyone kept bugging him when to go, when to go, when to go every single time they saw him… Maybe he should take the time to explore today.

The stairs from the subway led to an underground station and somewhere in it, Ren saw a crowded drink stand. He had noticed the drink stand a couple times but it was never as crowded as it was today. As he approached it, he saw how the people behind the counter looked so busy and the queue was so long. A sign read “Sunday Special Drink”—and it was expensive. Not worth it.

Ren spent most of the day wandering aimlessly, Morgana sometimes giving unnecessary comments on whatever caught Ren’s interest. Unnecessary, but still a welcome nonetheless. It made him feel less lonely. He hadn’t felt this lonely in years. On this particular day. Maybe he should just buy something and be done with it. He could spend the rest of the day in his room. Sojiro wouldn’t mind that, right?

He did just that and went inside the first store he saw in the underground mall. A music store. Racks of CDs lined the wall. The store clerk greeted him as the door slid open for him. There were only a few customers beside him inside. He took a look around, but didn’t find anything that interested him.

“Do you have somewhere you want to go, Morgana?” Ren asked as he exited the store.

“Hmm… nothing in particular,” Morgana replied. “Though I wouldn’t mind going to Mementos.” Even from behind his shoulder, Ren could feel Morgana narrowing his eyes at him. “You promised you’d help me recover my memories.”

Ren sighed. “I promise, but not today, okay?”

“Hmph, yes well, it’s still a while before your expulsion. There’s no harm in taking a break once in a while.”

Ren nodded. “It doesn’t do well to rush things.”

Still, that didn’t answer his initial question. Where should they go? Ren wandered around the mall for a while, checking every store. Everything was so expensive. He had noted a store that sold things that might be helpful for their Palace infiltration. But he didn’t have that much money. Maybe he should look for a job? There was some part-time job adds outside if he wasn’t mistaken.

He was just finished looking around a flower shop when he spotted a familiar face walking down one of the corridors. Ann… in casual clothes. At the same moment, Ann noticed him there and her face broke into a grin.

“Hey!” she exclaimed, right hand reaching high in a wave.

Ren smiled and wove back.

Morgana, hearing Ann’s voice, immediately popped his head from the bag and climbed onto Ren’s shoulder. “Lady Ann!” to which Ren cringed slightly but couldn’t help the grin on his face every time he saw Morgana reacted to Ann.

“Hi, Morgana,” Ann returned his greeting with a bright smile, then shifted her gaze back to Ren. “What are you doing here, Ren?”

Ren shrugged. “Just walking around.”

“This guy can’t make up his mind where to go,” Morgana added.

“Oh! You haven’t had the time to explore, have you?” Ann asked. “Want me to take you around?”

“Where do you have in mind?”

“Umm… well…” Ann thought for a moment. “There’s a sweet shop, and a diner in Central Street… a buffet that’s rumored to be super good but super expensive, so that’s out of the question. Oh! They sell the best crepes just outside the diner! It’s really good. You have to try some!”

Ren chuckled. “Everything you’ve listed are all food.”

“Sweets, mind you,” Ann corrected. “And deserts.”

“Aren’t they the same?” Ren laughed.

“I’m interested in those crepes,” Morgana said. “What are they?”

“Oh, they’re—”

“You just ate, Morgana,” Ren said. “You’ll get fat if you eat too much.”

“Say what?!”

Ren laughed again. Really, it’s so easy to forget everything and enjoy himself when he was with his friends. “Do you know some place where you can just stroll around?”

“Hmm… there’s this park that I like to go to,” Ann began. “But it’s a ways away. Not anywhere near Shibuya. You need to take the train there.”

“Oh…” Ren thought for a moment. A park sounded good. “What’s this park called.”

“Inokashira. Want me to go there with you?”

Going there with Ann… if anyone saw them together, no doubt more rumors would spread. Half of him thought adding more false rumor to the already existent false rumor wouldn’t change his situation. But another half of him just wanted all this crap to die down soon and for people to leave him alone.

“I’ll pass. Maybe I’ll look around Central Street.”

Ann nodded, but she looked unconvinced. “Well, I’ll be here if you need anything. Just text me.”

Ren nodded. He waved her goodbye.

“You okay, Ren?”

Her question caught him off guard. Did his face betray his emotions? Or was Ann that observant?

Ren put on his usual smile. “I’m fine.”

***

Central Street was as packed as ever. Ren monitored his way through the sea of people and found himself in front of a bookstore. Just the thing he was looking for.

“Don’t you still have that book you borrowed from the library?” Morgana asked.

“I’m just going to browse,” Ren said before he entered the store.

That was indeed his initial intention. But being in the bookstore itself was another thing all together and in no time, he already had several books he wanted to buy in his hand.

“Aren’t those too many?” Morgana asked.

Three books. Not really. But maybe Morgana was right. He didn’t have that much allowance to begin with. It was easy to lose himself when he’s shopping for books.

“Why don’t you choose this for the moment?” Morgana asked, nodding at the cheapest one. It was thin—probably not even two-hundred pages. He’d finish it in a day.

“Nah, I’ll choose this one,” Ren said, going with a book about a dog. He didn’t really know what present to give himself. This should do.

***

“Oh! An arcade!”

Ren eyed the building, then eyed Morgana. “You can’t even play it.”

“Shut up, Ren!” Morgana snapped, but his eyes glowed again as he looked at the building in red. “Let’s go inside.” His eyes were practically bulging out.

Ren sighed and did as he was told.

Well, Ren had never played in an arcade before either. Never wanted to. Never had the time to. Never had a friend who asked him to. He never went inside one—had only just looked at it from outside. And… inside was exactly as how he imagined it to be. Aisles of game machines, children and teens of all ages—even adults—were using every single one, loud.

He didn’t like the place. Morgana didn’t seem to.

“Let’s go,” Ren said. And Morgana nodded his assent.

And just as they turned around to leave, they spot a slouched figure leaning against the vending machine. Purple jacket, blonde-dyed hair.

“Ryuji?”

Ryuji looked up at Ren’s voice. His eyes grew wide.

“What are you doing here?”

Ren approached his friend as he shrugged. “Just walking around.”

“He’s been walking around since morning,” Morgana popped up from the bag.

Ryuji jumped in surprise. “Dude! You’re still carrying the cat in your bag?!”

“Mor-ga-na!” Morgana emphasized each syllable of his name. “I’m not a cat! How many times do I have to tell you until you understand, blondie?”

“What was that?!”

“Can you two please quiet down?” Ren hissed. “Look!”

There was a sign on the wall that clearly said no pets allowed. Both boys looked at Morgana simultaneously. Despite what the cat said, it was still a cat, and it was meowing quite loud. So Ren decided to pull out before anyone could catch them and Ryuji followed suit.

“You shouldn’t have yelled so loud, Morgana!” Ryuji complained.

“What? Who was picking a fight in the first place?!”

“Gaahh!! Now they’re going to keep an eye on me for sure!”

“You weren’t even playing anything in there!”

“What were you doing there?” Ren asked.

Ren noticed Ryuji’s slight stiffening of his body. “Nothing.” His voice was unusually quiet.

Morgana poked his head over Ren’s shoulder again. “Let me guess!”—and he was grinning from ear to ear in a way a cat would grin—“You were bored so you just decided to go someplace in random.”

“Hey! I wasn’t—” Ryuji shouted, to which Ren immediately shushed. “—bored…”

His voice trailed off and Ren could detect the desperate attempt to hide his embarrassment. He couldn’t help the slight laugh that escaped his lips.

“Oh, come on! Not you too!”

And that just made Ren laugh louder. Ryuji looked exasperated, but no sooner did he join Ren’s laugh and even Morgana was chuckling.

Both of them had nothing to do and it was nearing lunch time. Ren had actually planned to go to the Inokashira Park alone and enjoy his present, but Ryuji invited him to go have lunch. A ramen restaurant he knew that had the best ramen Ren just had to try it. The price was also very affordable for a high schooler’s wallet.

Morgana was hungry too, though he wasn’t that enthusiastic for ramen either. “They probably won’t allow pets in there, either,” he mentioned. He was right.

As they were musing where to go and what to do, a call drew their attention to an incoming figure, rushing down the street and through the crowd, blonde pigtails flying in the air.

“Heeeeyyy!!!”

Ann was running toward them, waving her hand high up.

Ann had a sudden craving for those crepes she’d talked about when she spotted them across the street. Hearing their story and their plan to go to a ramen restaurant, Ann agreed they wouldn’t let Morgana inside.

“I think there are no pet restrictions at the diner,” Ann said.

“The one in Central Street?” Ryuji asked.

Ann nodded. “Want to head there together?”

***

The diner wasn’t much, but it was a really nice place to hang out. A nice place to study too, Ren noted. The warm atmosphere, the polite hummed background noise. It would be the perfect place to retreat when it rained too, said Morgana.

It was fun being with them. This was probably the first time the four of them ever hung out like this. And Ren watched as Ryuji and Ann laughed and joked about as if nothing weighed their mind.

His phone vibrated. It was his foster mother.

What are you doing? Are you having fun? Did you get our present? Happy birthday again! We love you.

Present…

Even after what Ren did to them, the trouble he had caused… they still thought of him as their son. And they went to all the trouble to send a present to him. And despite the guilt he was feeling, he couldn’t help the smile spreading across his face.

He didn’t realize Ryuji and Ann had stopped joking around. He didn’t realize they had a funny look on their faces. And he didn’t realize Ryuji had sneaked up beside him. And just as Ren was about to type something, Ryuji grabbed his phone from his hand and flipped through the email.

“Hey—”

“Let’s see, what made our leader smile so bright like that…”

But Ren was too late and his phone was already in Ryuji’s hand and Ryuji had already read his foster mother’s email.

He caught the word Ryuji was mouthing.

Birthday.

Saw the understanding clicked in.

Saw the surprise registering as he whipped his head at Ren and Ren wanted to shut his eyes and turned back time.

“Is it your birthday today?”

“What?” Ann whipped her own head at him.

“Birthday?!” Morgana did too.

And Ren would have laughed but he had no energy to laugh and he wanted to hide from the embarrassment.

The silence stretched on.

“Dude!” Ryuji exploded. “Why didn’t you tell us it was your birthday?”

“Because there’s nothing to tell,” Ren said, grabbing his phone from Ryuji’s slackening grip to hide his embarrassment. “It’s just a birthday.”

“Just a birthday?” Ryuji was aghast. “Dude! It’s your birthday! Of course we should celebrate it!” And he called in a waited.

“So that’s why you didn’t want anything to do with the Palace today,” Morgana mused.

“Happy birthday, Ren!” Ann said, beaming.

“Yeah! Happy birthday!” Ryuji was clasping his shoulder and beaming too.

Everyone was beaming and Morgana was grinning and the aura was toxic and Ren found himself beaming back.

The waiter came and asked for orders.

“We should splurge a bit,” Ann said as she scanned the menu.

“Don’t worry. We got it covered, okay?” Ryuji was following Ann’s example.

And Ren wanted to stop them, because this was embarrassing and there was no stopping them both as they began adding one order after another.

He never had friends. The only celebration he had ever done was with his mother, and his foster parents after his mother passed away. Even then, they had always had a simple celebration. More so when his mother was still alive, because his mother was always busy though somehow she had managed to always be there with him on his birthday with a small cake and slightly more extravagant dinner.

And seeing Ann and Ryuji doing this, as if they had done this countless times, as if this was perfectly normal…

He felt something small pressed against his side when the waiter finally left. Morgana was pressing his body against him, a small warmth, the most comfort the cat had ever given him ever since they met.

And Ren couldn’t help the smile as he said, “Thanks, guys.”

And he meant it.

***

Even with the splurge, they still had a lot of money to spare. They insisted to buy him a present, to which Ren declined because them being with him that day was already a present for him. Ryuji consented, but Ann wouldn’t take no for an answer. So in the end, Ann brought them to the underground mall and there was a photo booth there. And Ryuji was reluctant though and Ren was just watching from behind as Ann forcefully pushed Ryuji into the box.

“Ren?” She looked back and Ren grinned at her scowl. He rose both hands and entered the box without a fight.

They took some photos, which turned out surprisingly good.

It wasn’t much. But really, this was the best thing he had ever received from a friend.

***

He arrived at LeBlanc that night, exhausted from being dragged around by Ann. There were still customers inside—the old couple and someone who claimed to be a critic—so Ren immediately made his way to the stairs at the back of the store after greeting Sojiro. But Sojiro called him back before he got past the counter and said there was a package for him today.

“Your parents sent you something,” Sojiro said.

Foster parents, Ren wanted to say, as he set his bag down and Morgana poked his head out.

“Thank you.”

A small box. Seemed fragile. He’d look inside it later. But then he noticed the letter written on the box. And they were clearly spelled “Happy Birthday”.

Damn it. Does that mean Sojiro now knows too?

Well, he probably wouldn’t care even if he saw it.

He took the box upstairs without another look at his guardian.

He set the bag on the table and Morgana leaped out. He stretched his body. “Finally I’m free!”

“That’s why you should walk on your own once in a while,” Ren commented with a laugh.

Morgana acted like he hadn’t heard and Ren scoffed.

“What did they send you?” the cat inquired as Ren took a seat on his bed and began unwrapping the simple brown box.

A locket. And inside was a photo of his mother, his real mother, tucked neatly into the crevices. And his mother was smiling. Beautiful.

There was a note inside.

You may have only been our son for four years, but we have watched you grow since you were small. We love you, Ren. And we want you to know that it wasn’t your fault. It never was. You did the right thing helping that woman. And we want you to remember that. Just like your mother would have wanted you to.

It had broken their hearts when they found out about Ren’s trial. And it was the only thing they could do to stop him being sent to the detention center. Sent to probation. And Ren couldn’t stop feeling guilty yet grateful for all they had done for him.

“Hey, kid!”

It was probably an hour or two later when Sojiro suddenly called him down. All the customers were gone and Sojiro had cleaned the place up. Yet on the counter was a slice of cake and a candle on top. And Ren stopped on his tracks.

Sojiro noticed his pause. And a rare smile graced his lips.

“What are you doing? Come on and sit down here.”

“What…is this?”

The old man scoffed. “Today’s your birthday, isn’t it? Have a sit and have your birthday cake.”

Ren was still unsure. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. At least, he didn’t think it was.

Noting Ren’s hesitation, Sojiro sighed. “For the love of—sit down!”

The stern tone caused Ren to quicken his footstep and take the seat before the cake.

“How old are you today?”

“Seven...teen,” Ren replied warily.

Sojiro grunted. And maybe it was because of the sudden change of attitude, but Ren suddenly found the grunt was Sojiro’s way to show his affection.

Ren didn’t do anything. His gaze kept shifting from the cake to Sojiro to everywhere else, wondering if maybe this was a dream or he was imagining things.

“Well? Make a wish and blow the candle.”

“Oh—uh—yeah…”

Ren stared at the glowing candle. The fire dancing. It was a simple slice of chocolate cake with a single candle. Feeling nothing would go wrong with blowing the candle, Ren did just that.

And as the fire sputtered out, Sojiro smiled. A genuine beaming smile Ren hadn’t seen before.

“Happy birthday, kid.”

“Uh…thanks…”

Sojiro snorted. “What kind of response is that?”

“It’s just… not like you.”

“Did you think I was some kind of cold, heartless bastard?” his guardian asked with a scoff.

“I…did, actually.”

A silence. Then Sojiro laughed. A hearty laugh that came from his stomach. And it made Ren want to laugh too because maybe this was who Sojiro really was.

“I’m sorry if I gave you that impression, kid. But a birthday is a birthday. It’s perfectly normal for us to celebrate it.”

And Sojiro smiled again, a warm smile this time, and maybe, Ren could learn to love this place.

~ END ~

Thanks for reading^^

More of my Persona 5 fanfic here 

[dlamp-dictator]

Allen Rambles About Persona 5

AKA Allen’s Ramblings XVI, but... well, you guys know by now how I do things when tagging fandoms and everything. Anyway, I’ve played about 30 hours of Persona 5 and wanted to give my thoughts so far.

Now, I have been waiting to get my hands on Persona 5 for years. This game was suppose to come out years ago and we in the States finally have it. I gotta’ say, I was salivating when my preorder came in on time for once. The artbook, the CD, the Morgana Plushie, it just felt so unreal to have it all in my hands... but enough gushing and onto my thoughts. I’ll try to keep spoilers vague, but keep in might I’m at the third main dungeon by now. I know the Persona series is really big on not spoiling story-related matters, so I’ll be polite and tried my best to keep things general. Like when I talked about Tales of Berseria I’ll be breaking this down into the good points and not so good points, but first I need to talk about...

The Aesthetics

Oh Lord the aesthetics of this game. The cell-shaping, the red motif, the slickness of movement, the music. Everything just feels so smooth. Hell, this is gonna’ be a new tag for the blog now these are aesthetics are so good. I can’t just stick this one category and call it done, I need give this its own header to break down all I love about how this game looks and feels.

Relateable Topics

I have to say, I’m surprise how much I connected with a lot of the events happening in the game. This isn’t a story about accepting death, this isn’t a story about solving a murder, this is a story about kids trying to fix what they believe is a broken, corrupt world, and dammit you can just relate to that. Before you even begin the game it tells you none of the events in it are related to real life or real people, but Atlus is lying through their goddamn teeth if they think I couldn’t see this stuff happening for real if it hasn’t already. I won’t say what exactly happens, but every scandal that’s uncovered, every problem that’s seen, every case that’s been discussed in this game you can actually see happening in real life. Hell, I’m sure you could look online and see some articles talking about this stuff even here in the US. I won’t spoil anything yet, but... just trust me on this on.

Character Designs

The character designs look fantastic. I love everyone so far in both casual and Phantom Thief attire, with Ryuji and Morgana having my favorite designs. And I have to say, I’m rather surprised how much I like these two specifically, but I’ll get more into that later. Despite having a large amount of black for most characters, the designs really pop out. I’d say that’s due to a lot of the backgrounds being brightly colored, but still. I can’t wait to see other party members and how they look in game. The art book only does so much.

The Artbook

Not much to say here save for making a pun. The Aesthetics art book is... just a really good artbook with a lot of sketches, concept designs, and references in it. It’ll totally help for if I want to do fan art of these characters. And unlike SOME GAMES *cough*trailsofsteel*cough* this game doesn’t have blatant spoilers in their artbook and interviews. So yeah, points for the artbook, real nice.

THE MUSIC

I. Love. This. Soundtrack. I’m not music elitist, but the one thing that just makes me go nuts for any song is solid, audible bass, jazz, and brass. It’s why Persona has always had good music to me, and this entire soundtrack just hits every note in just the right way. This soundtrack is so good I could just... just... [RETRACTED] all over these songs. My favorites so far as Last Surprise, Layer Cake, and Rivers in the Desert... not that I’m far enough in the game to hear that last one, but... y’know.

Okay, so that’s it for the aesthetic, now onto the good points about the game as a whole.

The Good

The Intro

Thankfully, the intro of this game is not hours of hand-holding like in Persona 4. You are right into the action, and even after the intro stuff you still get a bit of freedom to move a little. I think only after a second play-through will tell how long your hand is held and how much freedom you truly have in the beginning, but for now I say this is leagues better than P4.

The Voice Cast

I haven’t heard the Japanese dub since I’ve always been dubs-over-subs, but the voice cast in English sounds great so far. My favorite so far has actually been Morgana and Ryuji, characters I didn’t think I’d like as much as I do right now. Ryuji is just the right mix punk kid and emotional softy that makes me really warm up to him, and Morgana’s cute, but confident sounding voice goes well with her personality. Major props to Cassandra Morris for voicing her. Wait a second... didn’t she do Asahina in Dangan Ronpa? No wonder I like her performance. And special shout out to Jamieson Price as Sojiro. I may not have gotten to hear him as Tager in BBCF, but at least I have hear him in this game. And while I’m talking about the voice cast I must admit that I have mixed feelings about Igor’s voice actor, I know why his voice was changed, but... I still prefer Dan Woren. Hopefully I’ll just get use to it.

Smoother/Faster Combat

The combat has definitely improved in both animations and overall feel. On the fly Persona swapping, lightning-fast menus, flashy as hell attack animations, this game has really improved in terms of quality with it’s combat. As someone playing this game since P3, the combat in that game was fine for turn based, but with this game I’m going to have some higher exceptions for future Turn Based RPG games, and the next SMT game especially in terms how combat feels.

Improved Social Links

The Confidant system is sooo much better than the other two games. Non-Party member social links finally have a higher purpose than just giving you better Personas during fusions. It feels so good to know that my allies don’t just help me with my fusions, but in the actual story as well. From selling you health items and weapons, increasing non-active party members EXP growth, improving the Phantom Thieves PR (and making dungeons easier to traverse through), and so on. It really feels like every person gives me an edge as a rebel of society. And the stories they’re telling so far have me interested. Again, spoilers, so I won’t go into detail, but just trust me on this one.

The Not So Good

Like with my Tales of Beresia Rambling, there are still some issues/critiques I have of this game as a fan. Again, I’ve played Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 4 Arena, Ultimax, and small handful of SMT games outside of the Persona series so these might just be nitpicks, but I still think they’re worth saying. And for the folks that have seen my Berseria rambling, these points are going to be much longer and more in depth by comparison. So... let’s get started with that.

Demon conversations are still hit-or-miss with me. I like the idea of convince my enemies to my side, when it comes to fusing and hunting for the right Persona in those dungeons it can be a huge pain.

Money management is still balls hard in this game. I’d recommend demanding money every chance it comes along if you already have that particular persona and you don’t need the extra EXP. Trust me, it’ll disappear in a flash.

The early game is brutal. Story dungeon take longer that in past games, and with the small SP pool you have it’s gonna’ take several days to beat it. If you’re struggling through the first non-scripted major boss and even the boss of the dungeon, that’s normal as far as I’m concerned.

Social stats are back and they’re as annoying as ever. It was fine in P3 because their were just three and only effect you near mid/late-game. It was annoying in Persona 4 because they controlled not only social links, but better paying jobs as well (and again, money management is balls hard), as well as prevent certain dialogue options (which SUCKED). And again in this game certain dialogue options can’t be chosen if you don’t have the right stat level. This starts happening in the early game when all your stats are low, practically taunting you about your low level. That’s drives me up a goddamn wall. It doesn’t help that it took me until the second dungeon fully grasp which places upped which state and how. It took 15 hours to realize this shit... goddamn...

After playing Devil Survivor 2, seeing physical attacks that cast from HP for you not apply to your opponent annoys me to no end. This makes physical enemies very unfair and it’s part of what makes the early game so hellish. Those guys take out half your health and are still good to spam that crap.

The dungeons are a daytime option only, and that’s something that’s annoyed me since playing Persona 4. Persona 3 had this done best by having the dungeons at nighttime access, making balancing social life, grinding social stats, and grinding levels so much easier. I was hoping that’d be the case in P5 since “student by day, thief by night” was the tagline, but apparent it should be changed to “student by day, thief by the afternoon, too tired to grind social stats by night.”

As of the third dungeon, I feel like the game is really pushing me to clear the Palaces when I’m not prepared to. All my party members keep pushing me to hurry and clear them, and while that makes since in the story, it makes doing the actual prep work really hard. Also, the third dungeon/arc feels really hand-holding until the dungeon unlocked, which annoyed me a little.

Though not directly effecting the game, the whole Atlus-Streaming thing just... leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It’s a shame that those without access to the right system can’t enjoy the game with their favorite streamers/let’s players.

Yusuke’s inclusion and joining the party could had been written better, and that’s all I’ll say on the matter since I’m trying not to spoil the game past the first dungeon. Message me if you want the details.

The localization is... not good. I’m seeing a lot of “Mr., Mrs., and Miss” thrown in along with Japanese honorifics and it’s a bit emersion-breaking. A lot of the pronunciations could had been done better too. I still stand by the voice acting being good, but the directing and instructions feel a little... off. Maybe that’s because the game is based in Tokyo, which might be a little more culturally mixed, but compared to the other two games this feels messy.

A real minor nitpick, but I still have mixed feelings about the dungeon lair/prison theme of the new Velvet Room. I mean I get it, but it feels a little forced and heavy-handed to me.

So yeah, a few nitpicks aside, I’ve really been enjoying this game. If anyone has any advice for getting through the rest of the game or just some tips in general that don’t spoil the game too much please reblog and add them here. Personally, I’d wait for a guide to social linking and stat grinding before getting this game, but as a Persona fan, I say this game is good so far. Hopefully it gets better as I continue to play it.