#where's my option to hug him atlus?

[bakafurai]

Man nothing quite like the 4am realisation hitting me like. Oh.

Oh, Kenji has rumours spread about him dating a teacher.

(Side note: this is incorrect btw, Kenji was very insistant to p3mc several times during his social link to keep it a secret so idk wtf ms kanou was on about here but the point here is that rumours were apparently spread)

Oh this is kind of fucked up when you think about it.

Like it's not really in your face, but there are several instances of bullying or just shitty ass behaviour from students in gekkoukan:

>the several girls that bullied fuuka by: throwing the stuff on her bag on the ground*, mocking her for crying behind her back, took a picture of her and threatened to accuse her of theft and litterally locked her up in the gym storage room.

*taken from the p3 movie

>akihiko's fanclub that regarde him as property and not a person, they're so coocoo for him that femc needs like level 3 charm not to catch akihiko's attention- but to muster enough bravado to ignore the death glares she gets from his fans

>that one student who resorted to punching hidetoshi for angering him, the students who just watched it happen and also that student that had smoked in school and left a cigarette butt. (even if he did come clean in the end)

>the girls who shit talked chihiro behind her back when she was being falsely accused of stealing money.

>the group of girls (and that one boyfriend guy) who managed to spread rumours about saori that were so bad she had to transfer schools.

>the couple of girls having a go at yuko for stupid reasons and very definitely would just put gum in her locker which is incredibly unsanitary might i add

And lastly while not bullying per say, i do want to point out that rumours tend to spread very quickly in gekkoukan high school- the same day p3mc transferred in, there was already rumours fastly spreading that he and yukari were dating or smth because they happen to walk to school together.

Which... paints a nasty picture for Kenji when you take all that into account, doesn't it?

Like how many people do you think stared at him while this was going? How many people whispered nasty things about him as he passed by? Do you think they'd stare at him in class too? Do think they would audibly make fun of him? Do you think he had to find places to hide less he get anymore judgeful stares and tourment?

Do you think the teachers got very upset at him? Do you think the school told his parents? Do you think his parents probably got mad at him? Do think Kenji felt at his lowest point in his life, where everyone he knows is looking at him like some freak.

Do you think finding out Ms Kanou had a fiance this whole time sent him into further despair thinking about he stupid he was? Do you think felt so unworthy of comfort in that moment?

Do you think that maybe Kenji could have really used a hug from a friend anyways because only an asshole would have the audacity to laugh at a distressed 16 year old going through what probably is the lowest point in his life right now? I think he probably did.

[nenilein]

Hello! Apologies for sending an ask out of the blue but considering your familiarity with localisation differences in persona 4/golden, I was wondering if anything comes to your mind regarding this aspect and how the game depicts queerness and queer themes? Thank you!

Heya! Don't worry, I was thinking people would probably ask stuff like this. After all, I already replied to somebody's tags asking this same thing previously, but I know not many people saw that, so let me use the chance to go into more detail:

Unfortunately, Persona 4's treatment of queer themes is not a result of the translation. The only things that were down to translation choices were small things, such as which pronouns are used in which situation (because Japanese does not at all have the same concept of third person pronouns as English, and the way first person classifiers that mean "I" work is very complex and a lot more vibes-based than actually tied to gender.)

But for the most part, everything is pretty much the same. Kanji's reaction to Chie mumbling about something being "off" about how he interacted with Naoto that first time, the tent scene, Yosuke's extreme insecurity in his own sexuality in addition to everyone else's... I think maybe the only thing that's a biiit better in Japanese is that Teddie is kiiinda genderfluid in Japanese, with the artbook outright stating that he doesn't necessarily consider himself "male" when he's in his bear form, unless it's necessary for a joke.

A lot of this can be traced to the really odd relationship the game's director, Katsura Hashino, has to queer themes. In interviews about Catherine Fullbody (a game which infamously has a rather weirdly handled gay romance route which, however, is notably also the only romance route in the game that cannot possibly result in a bad ending), he talks about how he's always admired queer people for being "strong" and wanted to write queer stories, but couldn't really do it until Fullbody because Atlus higher ups were afraid of backlash from the fans.

Traces of this are actually seen in Persona 4 Vanilla's data, where remnants of a surprisingly well done romance route for YOSUKE, of all people, are still present. That route made it far enough into development to have voiced lines in both, English and Japanese. However, it was dummied out in the final game and its script content was removed. Yosuke STILL has the "girlfriend flag" in the code that all the female romance options also have, but in the finished game it only checks whether you can hug him during his social link or not. Everything else was dummied out. You can still find the voice files on the cutting room floor if you want:

And yes, the "I like you" line is unambiguously romantic in Japanese. His wording is very hard to misinterpret.

However, in the finished game and the rest of the franchise Yosuke's bisexuality was reduced to an in-joke of the developers. It's most poignant in Persona Q (the first one), where if you get the "marriage" scene with Yosuke in the second dungeon, his reactions differ WILDLY depending on which Protagonist you are playing as, far more than other male characters. With Makoto Yuki he acts nonchallant and deadpan about it. With Yu Narukami he acts like a blushy Tsundere and panics constantly. So, yeah.

Okay, so, if the director had interest in writing queer stories since before Persona 4, why is Persona 4 the way it is then?

Well, because - and there's no way around it - he sucks at it.

Katsura Hashino has to be one of the clumsiest "gay activists" I've ever seen in my whole darn life. He finds queer people "cool", but seemingly never had any queer writers or sensitivity readers on his teams and it's caused enormous blunders in how these themes have been handled. For example, when after Persona 3 it was pointed out to him that the writing of the female characters in interaction with the male characters was bad, he immediately hired more female writers and gave them free reign for how to handle the female characters from then on out. But apparently the same thing never happened with his mishandling of queer themes. He wants Catherine's Erica and Rin to be empowering figures for trans women and gay men, but makes a lot of blunders in how he has other characters interact with them to the point it buries his good intentions. Erica's boyfriend having gay panic upon realizing she's trans is treated as "funny and cute", even by Erica herself. Rin technically being a monogender alien really undermines his story of becoming more secure in his sexuality. It goes on and on like that.

The intention with Naoto's story was to point out the extreme sexism in Japanese society and how it forces female nerds to find alternate modes of self-expression, but the clumsy choice of including surgery themes in Naoto's dungeon completely buried that for especially western queer audiences. Most people don't even remember Naoto's dungeon was outright modeled after a Kamen Rider villain hideout. They completely shot themselves in the foot with this one. Additionally, the way Naoto is handled AFTER the dungeon makes her (I'm using that pronoun because she calls herself a "woman" in Japanese in the game) seem more like someone who's on the verge of discovering they are X-gender (the japanese word for "nonbinary") than a repressed girl. Like, right down to how she has Rise help her experiment with clothes in the canonical drama CDs only to realize she really is uncomfortable with skirts and go for an androgynous but less restrictive look going forward. The way she dresses in the Golden epilogue and P4D is pretty X-gender core if you ask me. If they had leaned into that they could have genuinely have had something AMAZING, while also presenting the themes of sexism they wanted to explore, but the lack of queer sensitivity readers kind of ruined it.

Same for Kanji. The way they write him makes it seem like he's bisexual or pansexual, rather than straight, but they kinda shove that part of him aside after his dungeon is done, leaving his actual orientation up in the air and wasting a really good chance for representation. NOW, given what happened to Yosuke's social link, it's quite possible the original intent WAS to explore this more and it got cut, but as it stands, we'll never know. The huge problem of the internalized toxic stereotypes his Shadow presented never being reflected on and put into their right context in the rest of the game, when his social link could've given a great opportunity for that is also a huge shame.

All of this happened because of Atlus being unwilling to let their writers go all out with queer themes in fears of alienating a cishet audience AND because Hashino never sat his writing team down with any actual queer writers to sort this shit out and learn how to get across what the team was ACTUALLY trying to say. Now, given, Persona 4 was far from the only Japanese media property with that exact issue at the time, but it hurts especially much in its case because of the game's themes of exploring the truth to its logical conclusion, as well as psychology. These are issues that a remake REALLY would do well to address and correct. I feel like they actually will HAVE to do that, because sensitivity readers have become the NORM in handling these themes now in Japanese media, rather than the exception. You can thank trail blazing mainstream works like Zombie Land Saga for that.

All in all, Persona 4's handling of queer themes is an exercise in frustration that I hope is corrected soon.

[arcplaysgames]

As everyone settles in, the discussion turns sad because it turns out, uh, besides Yusuke (hilariously) everyone is leaving?

Reverie is going home in a month as his probation is over. Morgana decides he's going with him, because they are soulmates. Ryuji is changing schools to one closer to a rehab center in hopes of working on his knee. Ann is going to study abroad. Makoto and Haru were looking at apartments for college. Sumire will be out training and touring. And Futaba got into high school.

So everyone is abandoning Yusuke which I think means he's going to starve to death or walk directly into the lake because he saw a beautiful bird. Farewell, my beloved Yusuke.

Considering this game has some kind of direct sequel, I wonder if all this "going our separate ways" shit will stick lmao.

Obligatory Valentines Day. The dateless wonders hang out at Leblanc.

Understatement of the year, Ryuji, do you SEE that double breasted coat? He's gorgeous.

MORGANA YOU TOOK THE WORDS OUT OF MY FUCKING MOUTH

my god at least Ryuji is considering the possibility of maybe growing as a person just a bit. Only took up a hundred and nineteen fucking hours.

GIRI-CHOCO YO!!!! Reverie gets chocolates from Ryuji, Sae, Ann, Tae, Haru, Kawakami, Hifumi, and Futaba. Amusingly, Ryuji's restores 10SP. Everyone else's restore 100SP. Which just feels right.

Why did Yusuke not give me chocolate. 8C Sad.

Valentine's Day is whatever, but I love White Day.

So Reverie and Morgana decide to get Sojiro fucking flowers.

Sojiro is lowkey but clearly touched by the gesture, and I PROMISE YOU that I don't even need to see all the other White Day options in the game, I know this one is the one I like best. He took Reverie in, protected him, fed him and taught him to cook, and took him in explicitly as family.

Sojiro deserves this. I love you Sojiro. Sorry for making fun of you like 300 posts ago.

THAT SAID Sojiro is like "NEXT YEAR though you need to have someone else to give them to."

Well, Sojiro, unfortunately Reverie's boyfriend died twice, so it'll probably take him a while to get over that. What's he supposed to do, just hook up with any mean boy he meets on the street? They don't make 'em like Goro fucking Akechi.

Then time jumps to the day before Reverie leaves and of course the game lets you go say goodbye to everyone.

Only a few really stick out to me. Sojiro's is one. Reverie gives him the probation diary that has serves as the save/load log for the entire game. There is this quiet moment as Sojiro looks at it and promises to keep it safe. All of Reverie's secrets in the hands of his dad (boogie woogie woogie).

Lavenza gives Reverie the key to his cell, noting that due to all the Horsefuckery that was going on with Yarblegarble that he was the first visitor to the Velvet Room who was not given his key. He was not treated as a guest like he should have been. But he freed himself, and the key is his talisman, proof he can escape any bondage.

I love Lavenza. Not at much as Margaret but probably more than Liz. Maybe because Lavenza didn't routinely let people into Mementos to wander around until they die. Goddammit Liz.

I went. I hoped. But of course not.

But I did manage to talk to the Jazz Club owner, who remembered Reverie and Akechi going to the club. Which leads Reverie to remember something himself.

My fight with him isn't over yet.

what the fuck does that mean. Reverie is going to kick down the door to hell going "WHERE IS AKECHI? WHERE IS HE?"

I love you, you're great, be safe. /hugs tora tightly

YUSUKE FUCKING GIVES REVERIE HIS PRIZE-WINNING PAINTING, "DREAMS AND HOPE"

yusuke, god. in another life. in another life that wasn't developed by fucking Atlus and SEGA. you and me, okay? i love you, please go see Sojiro if you get hungry, he'll take care of you.

I love you, too, Futaba. To this day, I am stunned at how good of a character you are despite every trope that should be set up against you. Thank you for being the best annoying little sister.

Sojiro wipes away tears as Reverie leaves, once and for all.

So Makoto just... owns a bus???? And everyone shows up to drive Reverie to the train station. Why does Makoto have a bus? Gosh, maybe that would have been in her SLink if I did, like, a single rank of it, lmao. Anyway.

For Unexplained Reasons that we are just gonna have to handwave, the fuzz are still tracking the Thieves I guess? So everyone decides to split up.

I just smiled so fucking wide. I was afraid this would end without anything on Maruki, and my hope was that he would get out of psience and psychiatry and start over.

And it seems he has. Honestly, taxi cabbing is a fantastic pick for him. He's good at gentle conversations and leading people to talk but not pushing them. Anything with that kind of thing, from hairdresser to driver, is a good fit for him.

I have a couple of favorites in this game but Maruki is on another level due to how phenomenal his writing and voice acting is. Sir, it has been a pleasure.

Everyone meets back up for a fast goodbye at the train station before the police are still???? chasing them???? wait maybe makoto DOESN'T have her license and instead she stole this van and that's the problem. Yep, headcanon accepted.

In the end, Persona 5 Royal is the story of a boy and his cat versus the world. What more could you want out of an ending?

HOLY SHIT AKECHI IS ALIVE

NOW THAT IS A FUCKING STINGER, BABY

THAT'S SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI: PERSONA 5: THE ROYAL. THE STORY OF REVERIE VANTAS THE FIFTH IS A CLOSE, CHEERS! TIP YOUR WAITERS!

[twilightknight17]

The Promised Day - Part 3

Man, I left this for a while. God. Too much to do, too little time, and work is fucking exhausting. But let’s talk about the ending, finally.

Where last we stood, the Great Seal was cast, and everything faded to white.

Probably the closest any of you will ever get to seeing the Sea of Souls.

It’s crushing, how upset they are that everyone made it but one person. Honestly, I get the sense that any number of casualties would have been too much. This was an all-or-nothing fight. It was supposed to be that everyone goes home, or no one does.

But no, the one person they lost was their leader. In the end, there was nothing they could do.

…….it’s not the Sea of Souls, it’s the Universe. Oh god. Of course he can hear them.

Stop talking like you and Nyx are the same. T_T You’re not!

He does sound proud of them, though.

SEES is returned to the front of the school, Tartarus dissolves into light, and Minato walks out of the now-normal building so that everyone can hug him and cry all over him. If I didn’t know how this ends, I’d be really mad about ten minutes from now.

I do like that, after the timeskip, this version of the ending starts the exact same way as the other one, since they still don’t have their memories in this version.

Man oh man am I popular, though. This isn’t even all my social links, and look how many people want to talk to me!

It’s morbidly hilarious that this game literally started the trend of “walk around and talk to everyone the day before the ending”, but Minato’s the only modern protag who wasn’t going to leave. Not by choice, anyway.

You and your girlfriend can’t both have amnesia, my guy. Get it together.

We find out that Kenji is excited because apparently there are going to be three new teachers next year, and they’re all hot. So he has learned nothing. Lots of social links sent letters, because the end of their link was literally them leaving town.

(Minato wasn’t going to leave, everyone else was. Inverse Persona ending. X’’’D)

The Gourmet King is gone (no tears here). Maiko’s dad says she’s doing well but also says I’m absolutely not allowed to marry her. We’re able to give Akinari’s mom the notebook with his story in it. Mamoru and Kaz are doing fine. Bebe, tragically, has decided not to come back to Japan right away. He’s gonna stay with his uncle for a while so they can grieve his aunt together.

Ms. Toriumi is taking the accidental revelation that I’m her MMO buddy very well.

God I laughed so hard.

All the cats I saved from Tartarus are vibing in the back alley!

I think I saved eight total? I wonder if there’s more. Secret cat ending. Fill the whole alley.

And…

...can I listen to my music box now? Please. T_T

As Mitsuru makes her graduation speech, SEES starts to remember, and rushes for the roof, where Aigis and Minato are already skipping the ceremony.

That’s a long time.

I ended up dating Aigis just because I actually maxed her link, and I think the only other girl I maxed was Yuko? Maybe? And Maya, but that wasn’t a romance option, which I still think is weird.

So, the credits. They, uh, didn’t have to do that. Like, it’s brilliant. Having his silhouette sinking deeper and deeper and gradually fading away to represent him doing the same. He vanishes completely and only then does it end, and we get to see SEES reach the roof just barely too late. Beautifully done, Atlus, I started tearing up, how dare you. X’D

And then the main menu is no longer the Dark Hour.

So, overall, other than some nitpicks, I think this was a really solid game. But as a modern remake of a preexisting game, I think they could have gone further. Why NOT just make your male teammates possible social links? Why NOT include Hamuko? Why NOT include The Answer with the base game? Why lie and say you want the “core” (read: original base game) P3 experience, but then add new things?

Why make Ryoji tell you he wants to be more than friends and then not give you a third dialogue option?!?!?

(I know the answer is money. It’s always money. I am just salty.)

But I could forgive more of that if they hadn’t nerfed the final boss. I did some googling, and pinpointed some other things about the Nyx Avatar fight that didn’t line up. Before, he could attack twice per turn. This one can’t. They gave the Death Arcana an extra thousand health, but the old version automatically took half-damage from EVERYTHING except almighty. They took away Moonless Gown, and therefore took away his ability to become invulnerable. Apocalypse can reduce your HP to 1%, but if he’s not attacking twice per turn, someone always has time to heal, so who even cares?

(Shoutout to the Fandom wiki for being like, “It is strongly encouraged to heal when it uses this skill”. No shit, guys. Wow.)

And yeah, they buffed his spells up a level, but ultimately, all the things that might have actually made the boss genuinely hard got nerfed.

It kind of sucks. They gave him a cool new color scheme for the final arcana and then weakened him. Why even.

Anyway, gonna do NG+ on hard mode to finish all social links and the compendium, and also probably going to do something really stupid like solo the Avatar with my level 99 Minato and Thanatos just for giggles.

Because hell yeah. :D

[i-just-wanna-be-called-sparkle]

Oh, I see your new title! Okay, tell me about Mitsuo. Anything you want, your headcanons, AUs, canon, or anything else, here's your rambling free pass!

THANK. YOU. You are a life saver. I have wanted to ramble about this stupid boy for SO LONG.

I’ll try not to ramble for like, ridiculously long, but also I really can’t predict how long it’ll end up being in the end. But where do I begin…?

I’d say I have quite a few Mitsuo AUs, the first one that comes to mind is a one off one where he’s an Imp, absolutely inspired by my partner’s Miitopia game, where Mitsuo is an Imp. I really love Imp Mitsuo in that game, he’s a little brat and he causes problems on purpose and I just adore it, it kickstarted my third wave of Mitsuo Love. It would he fun to do something with this AU but I haven’t thought of much by myself. I do know he usually comes out of hiding in Inaba around nighttime and steals stuff, because again, he’s just a little troublemaker. Narukami tries to befriend him, because it’s Narukami, and I can’t NOT create an AU where they aren’t involved with each other somehow.

I guess that’s another thing I’ve been brainrotting over, not explicitly Mitsuo, but him and Narukami as a ship. Can I call the ship Mitsuyu? I’m gonna call it Mitsuyu.

I really really like this ship. I really love the idea of Narukami trying to befriend Mitsuo because of how he’s portrayed to try and befriend literally everyone, I love the idea of him being the only one with enough understanding and compassion and empathy to get close with Mitsuo and really learn about him. I like how in game Narukami’s willing to go up to Mitsuo on the street and just listen to him ramble, and I feel like Mitsuo has no one to talk to aside from Narukami, so whenever he gets the chance, he just goes on and on and on, and Narukami’s willing to listen. I think he’s got a lot of things swirling around in his head, he could ramble for hours.

I’m worried this ramble is just gonna turn into one about Mitsuyu now, lmao.

Imagine how they’d interact in the Imp Mitsuo AU… Mitsuo would probably be a little shit. Like, he’d just completely mess around with Narukami all the time, maybe be a little flirty sometimes. He’d probably be genuinely surprised when Narukami keeps coming back to talk to him through it all. Next thing he knows, he’s got a genuine friend, and oh no, he’s catching feelings! Because let’s face it, Mitsuo would definitely catch feelings first, I think.

They’d probably hit him like a slap in the face. I think Narukami would come to a more gradual realization of his feelings. He’d be better at hiding them compared to Mitsuo too - Mitsuo’s probably painfully obvious. To clarify, I’m not strictly talking about Imp Mitsuo here, I mean EVERY Mitsuo from any AU I discuss that includes Mitsuyu.

Narukami would be really good for Mitsuo. I already have a post about Mitsuo headcanons, I believe, though I can’t remember if I listed off the headcanon of him being neglected. Couple that with him being ignored or belittled by everyone else around him because of his looks, it’s no wonder he’s so desperate for attention he’d kill a guy. Also sometimes I wonder how he managed to kill Morooka AND hang his body on a roof. He’s still in high school, y’know? Weird boy. But I digress.

Narukami would give him all the attention he’s been craving for so long. Praise, hugs, kisses, all the soft stuff Mitsuo didn’t realize he really needed until he got it. I think Mitsuo would cry when he gets to cuddle Narukami for the first time. Narukami would soothe him, too. I just want them to be soft, Mitsuo needs it.

It’d take a while, but I can see Narukami’s existence in Mitsuo’s life affecting him drastically, by that I mean holy shit Narukami, you just prevented a murder. Narukami would kill away Mitsuo’s feelings of emptiness, he wouldn’t feel like he’s nothing anymore, because he matters to Narukami. As long as he’s around, Mitsuo isn’t nothing. He feels he finally has a purpose.

I also can’t remember if I mentioned this in the Mitsuo headcanons post, but I don’t think Mitsuo would care what you label his gender as, maybe. Not much to it, he just doesn’t care. Maybe he secretly gets happy when someone refers to him with pronouns that aren’t he/him for once. He’s not good at hiding it in front of Narukami, I bet. Narukami likes to frequently switch his pronouns around just to see him smile. Mitsuo doesn’t smile very often, so Narukami cherishes it.

I used to think of Mitsuo’s in-game sprites as completely unflattering, at least, compared to how he looks in the P4 anime. He’s really cute in the anime. But I’ve gotten so fond of him that I actually think his smiling sprite is cute now. Like, when you can talk to him in the shopping district and he’s rambling about the murders, you have the option to either agree or disagree with what he says. When you agree, he smiles. And it totally gets to me. Not only does no one talk to him, I bet barely anyone ever agrees with him on things, either. I can’t imagine how happy he might feel to have someone engage with him for once and actually agree with what he says.

There’s so much untapped potential with Mitsuo, it’s so sad. The most you get of his backstory is through his dungeon, and through talking with NPCs around town about him, and thats about it. It’s a shame that Atlus didn’t flesh him out as much as the other characters. Seriously, through his attention seeking nature alone, there’s so much potential backstory there. What he’s already got is fine, it’s okay, but he could’ve gotten so much more. And most people brush him off because of his looks, too, so there’s really not much Mitsuo fan content out there to consume, along with the small amount of official Mitsuo content that exists.

I think a social link with him would be really cool, but with how everything fits together in P4 like a puzzle, it would never work out without heavy planning and modification. Might be a cool mod though.

I think his dungeon is great, and I love how one floor is the exact same as a floor in Adachi’s dungeon because he’s a mock killer. I like it visually, and I LOVE his dungeon theme. I was so angry when I heard it for the first time because goddamn, it was criminally catchy. I love his boss fight too. He needs to hide behind a video game character, a shield, to pretend to be strong and courageous and mature, when he’s really just a weak, cowardly child with (most likely) an overinflated ego. I like how the dialogue progresses into madness the farther you go into his dungeon, I like the first dialogue of Mitsuo getting “knocked down” by Morooka to represent him getting expelled. Even though there’s not much of it, the stuff in P4 relating to Mitsuo is all really cool and really fascinating.

I think it’d do wonders for his character just seeing more cutscenes with him in them. Like, before Morooka’s murder, you can see him in the background of some of Yukiko’s s-links, stalking her. Maybe it shows a cutscene of him rambling to Rise that one time, or it shows him angrily running out of Marukyu Tofu when the boys go there for the first time, cuz he was being ignored. Maybe there could be a simple cutscene of him being lead into the interrogation room by Adachi and then being pushed into the TV because YES, I AM STILL SALTY THAT HE IS THE ONLY VICTIM WITHOUT A CUTSCENE. I know the lights were off, but… C’mon, Atlus, doesn’t that just make your job easier…?

And look at that, I STILL ended up rambling about Mitsuo for too damn long. So sorry about that, but seriously - thank you for giving me the opportunity. It’s not very often that I get to talk about him, so I really just indulged in myself here. And sorry if the formatting is weird, or if the progression doesn’t make sense etc. I practically started speaking my mind, just seeing where that would take me. And it took me all over the place :’)

[p5youllneverseeitcoming]

So I finished Persona 5 Royal

And once again I was a crying mess when the ending credits rolled.

Now, I’d like to share my thoughts about this game but I also respect the fact that not everyone had the chance to finish it yet so anything that is a spoiler will be talked about under the cut.

Anyways, let’s begin.

From the very beginning... I love the new title screen, the fact that you can see each member just hanging out in the streets of Tokyo is so cute and I love it. It’s so easy to get a platinum trophy for Persona 5 Royal which at first I thought was somewhat disappointing as it doesn’t require you to play through it again but then I found out there’s a bunch of challenges in the Thieves Den so I was really glad I had a reason to play it again.

Speaking of the Thieves Den, it’s really nice to see your team members just chat about the decorations you put in there, like for example Yusuke and Ann casually chatting in front of a Reaper statue like it’s no big deal. On a small sidenote, my mum really likes the fact that you can play Tycoon in the Thieves Den and I’m not gonna lie she spent hours playing with them which means I now have thousands of tokens but nothing to spend them on :’)

Much of P5R is very similar to the vanilla P5 except of course the fact that there’s 2 new characters being introduced to the story. You still get sent to Tokyo for ‘assaulting’ the drunk man however, the first change that you really notice is Sojiro’s conversation with you when he is taking you home on the Sunday you visit the school. Of course, by this point you know that there have been many psychotic breakdowns and a lot of accidents but what Sojiro tells you is... Interesting to say the least. I didn’t think of it much at first but then again I went into Royal completely spoiler free (except of course with the knowledge of how Persona 5 plays out) but eventually you find out that what he said was actually really important.

Another thing I really loved that they put in Royal is the fact that they managed to make the battle system even better. I always thought it was pretty amazing but they somehow managed to make it even better. First off, you can Baton Pass right off the bat. No need to establish a social link with the party members or anything, which honestly makes everything so much easier, especially in the early game. They also decided, you know what this nasty crime boy needs? Unlimited bullets... Well sorta. Remember how in Persona 5 you only had a limited amount of bullets per infiltration? Well, now they replenish every battle which of course means I did the only rational thing:

You also get the grappling hook in Royal and honestly? Just watching Joker do flips all over the place is really aesthetically pleasing. I love that they reworked the Palaces so that the grappling hook plays a big part in getting around and as I said, it’s just so fun to see Joker zooming through the air.

They added new Shadows/Personas to Royal which I think is fantastic as it makes returning players not bored of the battles but they also changed some weaknesses/removed weaknesses for some shadows which means you gotta strategise a little bit more. They also changed up the Palace Ruler Bosses but I found them... A lot more easier than the original? I don’t know if it’s due to the fact that I love to grind a lot before finishing a Palace or if I just had the perfect Personas for the occasion but yeah... That’s not to say the changes are bad! I still really liked them but it was just... Really easy for me lol. 

Another major change is the fact that Morgana decided that you may be a tired boi after going to the Metaverse but you still have enough energy to do some things in the cafe. That makes it like a ton easier to max out your social stats which means you can max out your confidants a lot faster, I managed to max out everyone and still had days where I literally had nothing to do which just shows how much time you actually save now.

Along with the fact that they fixed some translation errors, they also improved the sprites and added a lot more voice lines which was really nice in my opinion, it was a lot better when a character was expressing a certain emotion and their sprite actually matched it instead of just them facing one way and occasionally changing the facial expression.

I’ll mention this briefly seeing as this is sort of spoilery but I really loved the new confidants. The fact that you can actually hang out with Akechi and get to know him instead of being forced to level him up automatically was so good. The scenes where you would automatically rank up are still there but they kinda act as a filler of sorts now which in all honesty I didn’t mind. 

Ummm... That’s about all I can think of that doesn’t contain spoilers so... The section below will have spoilers so please only read this when you finish the game!

I’m going to talk about Akechi’s Confidant for a bit because I just really loved it okay? You learn so much about him, even things that seem trivial like the fact that he’s left handed become... Well rather important near the end. The more time you spend with him, the more you see how much Akira actually means to him. When you defeat him in his Rank 8 event, I actually loved it when he said he hated Akira. That was pure Akechi right there, no lies, no fake smiles just pure, honest truth. Also, I love how he decided to be extra and dramatic by throwing his glove as a challenge. It’s also really significant, at least to me, mainly because you never see him without gloves, in a way, this sort of showed that he fully exposed his true self to Akira. Their exchange in Shido’s Palace when you remind him that you still have his glove... That was really sad. I really wish there was some way you could help him, but alas, you can’t always have happy endings.

I’m not gonna lie, I was really confused when I got to 12/24 and we still went to Mementos. You discover a Palace and explore it for a bit but then it’s kind of... Forgotten? Like Morgana is genuinely like: Lmao this doesn’t concern us atm so you know, killed God with the power of friendship, was ready to stop being a Phantom Thief and surrender myself to the police but then... Mr. Sketchy himself just appears out of nowhere and decides that he’ll take Akira’s place for him

When I first saw him I was like: Omg? How is this even possible? Can I hug him? But then weird things started happening in the story

Reality becomes distorted after New Years and you see that right away when your cat, is no longer a cat. But that’s not all, Futaba’s mother is alive and well as well as Haru’s father and supposedly they were never dead in the first place. I was really confused but then guess who turns up to clear some things up... Mr. Pankechi.

This post is already long as hecc so I won’t go into details but I really like the new Palace. It’s so different to the other Palaces and for once the Palace Ruler is not some evil adult... He’s actually quite the opposite.

I’m going to quickly talk about Kasumi for a second now, or rather Sumire. Honestly when you learn the truth, I was really shocked. Remember when I said what Sojiro tells you becomes important near the end? Yeah well it’s like the game was telling you from the start that she’s not really who she says she is. Just like Akechi, I was fully convinced that the New Palace was hers but I was kind of relieved to find out that wasn’t the case. As a party member, I really like her, she’s really cute and her Persona abilities are helpful in the new Palace. As a confidant... Again, she’s just so cute. When you help her pick out the glasses for her dad... Bruh I just wanted to give her headpats all day. Once you unlock the rest of her confidant, it’s really nice to see her grow and accept the fact that she doesn’t have to be Kasumi appreciated, and once she accepts that she’s Sumire but she’ll still do everything to make Kasumi’s dream come true it was honestly so satisfying. 

I think the thing I loved the most though is the fact that Akechi becomes your navigator for a little while and honestly? I wish I had the option to keep him as the navigator. His lines are so funny because they’re helpful but at the same time they’re so passive aggressive! ALSO his Showtime with Joker is by far my favourite Showtime. I love how he’s able to just be himself and literally rip enemies apart and Joker’s just there like: Yeah I’ll play along why not. Whenever they finish and Akechi is just there like: “Don’t waste my time.” ... Big mood, me when I’m driving around Mementos trying to find the stamps.

One more thing I gotta talk about... The ending. I love it so much. I think it’s a lot better than the original Persona 5 ending and here’s why. First of all, the fact that you see the Thieves still being themselves is just so sweet I love these funky kids, that fact that Maruki gives you a lift to the station and he accepts that this is the world that you have to live in? Amazing, thank you Atlus. The fact that Morgana is just snoozing in your bag? Beautiful, let me pet my cat plz. But most importantly... The edgy pancake loving detective LIVES, granted Akira doesn’t actually see him but I DID. I burst into tears when I saw him walk by, I’m so glad he got to live in a reality where he isn’t anyone’s puppet anymore. He can finally fix the mistakes he did, don’t get me wrong, Akechi is still a bad person, I mean he literally killed people but he still deserved a second chance, and seeing him alive means that he finally has a chance to do that... Bruh I was crying so much.

Anyway, I could talk about this game for hours but here are just some of my thoughts that I wanted to share, I’m sure I’ll have a lot more to say later on but for now... Have this mess I call a post!

[ffamranxii]

First Impressions Of P5 Characters VS What I Think Now

PROTAGONIST

Then: Ren Amamiya. Soft boi. Good boi. Who the fuck is Akira?

Now: Hooooo boy let’s unpack this three in one character, my friends. Ren is still a good soft boi who did nothing wrong. Akira Kurusu, however is a bastard in love with a feral boy and is the sarcastic fuck. Joker? Goddamn, Joker is a maniac from the depths of hell. What is heterosexuality

RYUJI

Then: Vulgar Boy! He must be the Best Friend(TM) of Ren

Now: Ryuji is best boy and he and Ren are in love and this is a Ryuji hate-free zone!! T^T

ANN

Then: Oh she’s cute! If she’s the Lovers, I’m gonna ship her with Ren!

Now: Gaaaaaaaaaaay. Ann x Shiho are OTP

MORGANA

Then: She’s so cute I want twelve!!!

Now: Omg I fucking hate this fucking cat if this motherfucker shits on my bb Ryuji one more time I stg I’ll punt him across Tokyo DO NOT TEMPT ME

YUSUKE

Then: Asexual weird AF art boi

Now: Asexual weird AF art boi with a tragic past who is still deeply hurting, and loves lobsters and is definitely best friends with Futaba

MAKOTO

Then: Eh. Whatever.

Now: I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND YOUR FEELINGS OF USELESSNESS AND YOUR DIFFICULT HOME LIFE WHERE YOUR FAMILY TAKES THEIR FRUSTRATIONS OUT ON YOU GIRL YOU ARE VALID 😭😭😭 Also bisexual. Was attracted to Akira for the DANGER but then set eyes on Hifumi and was like “Akira who?” Angry badass.

FUTABA

Then: Cute little ginger nerd! I’m love her

Now: 😳 Bb I will love and protect you with Coffee Dad for as long as you live, holy fuck, you need so much therapy, also I think you’ve broken several laws both national and international. Her chat name is CoffeeGremlin you cannot take this from me. NO ONE SHOULD BE DATING FUTABA SHE IS A VICTIM OF HORRIFIC TRAUMA AND ABUSE AND NEEDS TO WORK ON HERSELF BEFORE GETTING INTO A RELATIONSHIP

HARU

Then: What a cute little floof! She is sheepwife

Now: Oh god there’s a lot of trauma and emotions to unpack here. Sheepwife 😭 The game makes it seem like you get over your father’s death so quickly but your whole confidant is a metaphor for the close relationship you two used to share and you never really truly get any closure 😭 Sheepwife is one of the most tragic characters because of this. T^T

GORO

Then: This bitch is Light Yagami. I bet he kills someone.

After vanilla: Motherfuckin Light Yagami... but at least there was a reason for his crazy, I guess. Sad

After Royal: 😭😭😭 GORO IS THE MOST TRAGIC CHARACTER AND I CAN’T BELIEVE LITERALLY EVERYONE IN HIS ENTIRE LIFE HAS USED HIM - EVEN AKIRA CAN USE HIM IF YOU PICK THE SHIT OPTIONS - HE MUST BE PROTECTED BECAUSE AKIRA LITERALLY BENDS THE FABRIC OF FUCKING REALITY TO GET HIM BACK AND THEN HE FUCKING GETS KIDNAPPED TO KYOTO?! HOW MUCH MORE SUFFERING MUST HE ENDURE ATLUS JUST LET HIM BE HAPPY 😭😭😭

SHIHO

Then: So cute. I hope she’s a Phantom Thief

Now: Honorary Phantom Thief. Ann’s wife. Fuckin fight me

MISHIMA

Then: *Regina George voice* omg he is SO annoying

Now: Best boi. A good boi. Honorary Phantom Thief fuckin fight me. Mishima is a victim of horrific abuse at the hands of Kamoshida and is treated like shit by both the game and the fandom and I just... don’t get it??? Hug your Mishima today

HIFUMI

Then: Ooooooh pretty please be a Phantom Thief you know she’d be something quintessentially Japanese-themed, she and Yusuke would be aesthetic goals

Now: SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A PHANTOM THIEF AND THEY CUT HER? Bullshit. Still a Phantom Thief fuckin fight me. Definitely made the first move with Makoto. Into kinky sex.

KASUMI

Then: I love her

Now: D: I’ve only had Sumire for a day and a half but if anything happens to her I’ll kill everyone in this fandom and then myself. How is she not the protagonist or secondary protagonist of Persona 6? She would basically be just like Maki from P1! That is a HUGE story and they just... you know what FUCK you Atlus. ALSO REMEMBER WHAT I SAID ABOUT HOW NO ONE SHOULD BE DATING FUTABA BECAUSE SHE’S A VICTIM OF HORRIFIC ABUSE AND TRAUMA AND NEEDS TO WORK ON HERSELF BEFORE GETTING INTO A RELATIONSHIP? REPLACE FUTABA WITH SUMIRE THANKS FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK

[takamakisu]

『♥🖤Akira X Ann: Why I Support It.🖤♥』

In honor of the upcoming ShuAnn week, I have decided to contribute by writing a long post about why I love these dorks so much. I haven't seen a meta for them yet, so I figured I'd try my hand at it. (Which will be updated and expanded as I find more content) Without further ado, let us begin! Tagging the wonderful @shuann-week for this one.

1. The first encounter.

In media, the first interaction that two characters have with one another, regardless of relationship; lays the groundwork for said relationship and therefore is absolutely vital. When Akira first meets Ann, he's casually texting away on his phone and not really paying attention to much, but when she walks by he looks up. Already his curiosity is piqued, as is the player's; and then when she removes her hood, even then we don't get to see her face. But we DO see Akira's reaction, and he seems absolutely dumbstruck.

This is when things get interesting. Ann takes a few moments and sort of surveys her surroundings, and then she senses Akira's eyes and turns to him. And he doesn't look away, or get flustered; Akira keeps looking at her with that flabbergasted expression. He doesn't even blink. He is so taken aback by her he can't even greet her, and Ann just smiles at him and looks away- but even then, he doesn't break his gaze, and he never does until she actually leaves: Ann leaves him absolutely spellbound. And the music that plays during this encounter is exclusive to this encounter and this encounter alone. It never plays before this scene, nor does it ever play again after. There are heavy romantic undertones in this encounter, from the body language to the background music, and only Ann receives this treatment. It screams "attraction at first sight", and now with the groundwork laid, the relationship can begin to blossom.

 This is very important. Even before we get to see Ann's face, we already know from Akira's viewpoint that she must be pretty, at least in his eyes. And when we finally do get to see her face, she is indeed beautiful.

2. Her closeness to him.

First off, she's with you from essentially the beginning of the game, so you get a lot of time to get to know her and become closer to her. Ann is the third member to join your party and the first female member and therefore the first available romance option as well! (That's pretty big.) She's also your classmate, so you get to see her literally every day and there's a sense of familiarity that is built on from the beginning. 

Ann was the first to see Akira for who he truly was, and she looked past the rumors of him and got to know him for herself. Because she understands being an outsider and being mistreated, there's a level of understanding Ann has with you that the other girls simply do not. That's not to say they're bad, but Ann just connects better with the protagonist on that level. Let it also be remembered that before she met Akira, and by association the rest of the Phantom Thieves; Ann didn't have any friends, besides Shiho. Due to being a foreigner (and a very pretty one, at that) and the rumors surrounding her with Kamoshida, no one talks to her. While having a two-parent household, they are rarely home; and so Ann's lonely as well as bullied. Akira saving her from Kamoshida and then giving his genuine friendship then allows her to open up and be vulnerable to other people and that's very healthy. 

Another interesting interaction is during the Kamoshida arc, Makoto will ask you in essence what's the relationship between you and Ann, if there's something between you. If you say "there's nothing", her reply is "Didn't seem that way yesterday" and if you tell her you're classmates she'll say "But do friends get that close?"

3. How she falls for him.

For these reasons, I support these two. Lemme know in the comments what won you over to this pairing and any other moments that get your heart warm and fuzzy! 

In addition, Ann gets an on-screen kiss with the protagonist; a luxury only two other Persona girls have received (from 3-5, Maki kisses Naoya in P1): Margaret and Marie from Persona 4. The fact that Ann gets an explicit kiss (and possibly an implicit one as well because in Rank 9 her reaction to Joker hugging her hints he MIGHT have kissed her too) screams that while she's not 'canon' (nobody is) it sure does seem Atlus is sneakily pushing her towards Joker. They even match costumes in the dancing games! Oh yes, and Ann doesn't go home on Valentine's Day + Sojiro literally just "ayyyy" when she walks in- XD

Her Confidant has the protagonist and Ann getting closer as friends and also helping Shiho recover and you get to be a part of a few of Ann's interpersonal relationships. Shiho, as stated before, was Ann's closest and only friend before she met the player; and so earning her trust and helping her heal is significant. Suzui also hints to the player Ann seems to be attracted to them, talking about how her best friend talks highly of you and then the blonde gets flustered.

Her confession shot me through the heart. With Ann you don't have to increase your Knowledge or your Guts; just Kindness. To her, it doesn't matter if you get the best grades in the class or how brave you are, she just wants a friend who'll be there for her when she needs them, and that's what Ann falls for in the protagonist: his genuineness and his willingness to stick by her side. She falls in love with you for who you are and it feels the most natural and realistic. Something that's also very interesting about Ann's rank 9 event in Japanese is instead of saying “I guess we’re more than friends now...” she actually says, “I just realized it,” referring to her feelings for him (when she said “I love you”) in the original dialogue. And this is so so important. This hints at a love that developed slowly over a friendship and Ann wasn't even really aware it was there at first, until the only friend she'd had moved away and she felt alone and abandoned again. Akira being her pillar in that moment was the paradigm shift from platonic feelings to romantic ones and that is absolutely beautiful. But she ALREADY loved him, did you catch it? She just realized and became aware of it in that situation. Ann's been in love with the protagonist for who knows how long before she even confesses. And at the end of her confidant she calls you her light.. that just speaks volumes to me. The protagonist basically saved her, and because of that she wants to become stronger and encourage other people as well. It's beautiful. 

5. Other characters reactions to them.

There's a specific scene where the protagonist is in the bathhouse with Ryuji and Yusuke, and Ryuji will ask you what you think of Ann. If you admit you think she's pretty, he gets extremely excited ("Ooh, you straight up said it!")

Another very interesting thing that's different in the original language is when Akira gets home from interrogation. In English, Ann just chirps "Hey there!" No big deal, right? But in Japanese, she says, “okaeri”, which means “welcome home”. This greeting is said amongst family or couples in Japan, hinting a deeper level of closeness than the translation. 

(It's also something of note that when Ann got locked out of her room in Hawaii she went to Akira's room first. )

Additionally, after the school festival; Ann will talk to you about how she thinks about your future together! And if you tell her in another instance that you'd like to get married, she gets extremely excited whereas some of the other romance options become all flustered and blushy; a cute and interesting contrast.

A Mementos conversation also has Ann absentmindedly talking about how coffee goes well with sweets, to which Ryuji immediately replies 'Joker always smells like coffee, doesn't he?'

Now, I may be looking too deeply into this, but this could possibly be Ryuji "hint hint-ing" he thinks Akira and Ann are a good pair for each other. Ryuji also flat out refuses to date Ann during a scene in the gym when she offers to let him take her out. I don't know about you, but if I had a crush on somebody and they offered to let me go out with them, I don't think I'd turn it down as quickly and explicitly as Ryuji did (He tells her 'hell no, quit acting like you're some sexy anime character'). Personally I think Ryuji supports Ann with Akira and so he tries to gently nudge her over like "Okay, this guy? He's a good fit for you." Sakamoto's a great friend for Ann but I personally believe he's better as just that: a friend. 

4.  Their personalities blend well.

Ann's bubbly personality contrasts wonderfully with the protagonist's more introverted, reserved side. They're sort of like Robin and Starfire, just to less extremes. Ann is very pleasant and tender and she's got a big heart and it shows; consistently. She's a great friend to Ryuji and Shiho and big sister to Futaba, while at the same time tolerating nonsense from absolutely no one, regardless of status. I now want to cast attention to Meyer-Brigg's personality types. These are headcanons, but after analyzing Akira and Ann's characters Joker seems to be an ISTJ, while Panther is an ENFP. These are abbreviations for Introversion, Sensing, Thinking, Judging (ISTJ) and Extroversion, Intuition, Feeling, Percieving (ENFP) respectfully. Ann, at her core; is the heart of the Phantom Thieves honestly. She is very sensitive to others' emotions and feelings, and very emotionally intelligent. Being an extrovert, Ann also needs interaction and validation from other people: it energizes her and fufills her. And, in return she's a caregiver; Ann wants to support others and help them become stronger. She's a wonderful sister figure and just a comforter in general, and very amiable and chirpy. Contrast that with Akira, who makes decisions based on facts and logic rather than feelings and intuition (although in the Metaverse he seems to throw caution to the wind, quite frankly) and analyzes situations from a logical rather than emotional angle; (and there are exceptions to this like helping the woman Shido was assaulting and chasing Ann down to talk to her) and they seem on completely opposite ends of the spectrum. However, their differing personalities balance one another. While Akira keeps Ann grounded logically, she keeps him grounded emotionally and the bounce off is extremely healthy. 

In Yusuke's Confidant, saying Ann is the definition of beauty nets the most points. 

Atlus seems to like putting these two together as well, from giving them matching songs and outfits in the dancing games to putting them together in advertisements. It's pretty cute and though it's subtle, it's a nice little nod. 

[thatlittledandere]

id love to read your essay if you feel like sharing it... yosuke worms are consuming my brain and i need stuff like that to survive (no pressure tho if you dont feel comfortable sharing it!!)

I'd be very comfortable sharing it, I love attention, but there's nothing in it you don't already know. I originally wrote it privately for a friend who just started P4G and asked me to tell her about Yosuke's removed romance because she's a supportive angel. But here it is anyway, 863 words of "why Yosuke should be Yu's boyfriend", in its original form aka my very unprofessional side notes included.

First we gotta look at the dateable social links, sorry for minor spoilers maybe. Of course, if you're going to date one these girls, you need to lay on the groundwork so the confession or getting-together scene feels natural if you decide to go that route. So all the girls have some romance coded scenes and dialogue. Then you look at Yosuke's and he has some of the same things... Yosuke's rank 9 (like ranking from 8 to 9) is arguably one of the most romantic scenes in the game, and referenced in like 70% of canon compliant fanfics lmao

I'm mostly comparing Yosuke's social link to my girlfriends Yumi and Rise, because they're the ones I finished. With both of them, you got into a relationship by hugging them, and it's sometimes said that hugging is Persona 4 code for "we're dating now". It's something intimate, even more so in Japan. Strangely enough, the game also let's you hug Yosuke in his rank 8. (if you did everything right in RANK 7, which I think is UNFAIR. I ONLY LOOKED AT THE WALKTHROUGH FOR THE CURRENT RANK AND IT DID NOT WARN ME SO I TOOK THAT ONE CHANCE TO GO APE WHEN APPARENTLY I SHOULDN'T HAVE AND I GODDAMN LOST THAT CHANCE) So it's my theory that Yosuke's romance flag used to be there until it was removed.

Also, Yumi was able to come out and say "I love you" in clear words, but not everyone is that direct. Rise for example shyed away from The Three Words despite already being in a relationship with the protagonist; she's an idol and an actress and her line went something like "come on, I've confessed my love hundreds of times on TV, why can't I do it in person? ...You're special to me." The Japanese generally say I love you a lot less than many English-speaking people, and it's a very context heavy language and culture in general, so we're expected to understand that "you're special to me" is a love confession, just like hugging was a symbol of starting a relationship. 

Now, Yosuke also tells the protagonist "you're special to me" in the aforementioned rank 9. This happens after the rank where you had the option to hug him, so if his romance had been kept in, you likely would have been in a relationship with him at this point. It's a direct parallel to another, explicitly romantic scene, with the character many players see as something of a default dating option for Yu.

The romance was likely cut out very late in development, as some datamined deleted lines for Yosuke were recorded in English. It's on YouTube where anyone can check it out. It would fit neatly in Yosuke's rank 8, 9 or 10. The most important part of it in reference to this wall of text is that he goes and says "I like you" in it. "I never knew I had such... Heat inside. B-but don't make me say stuff like that! ...Don't go. I like you." Combine that with Yuri Lowenthal's delivery, and I'm convinced it's exactly what it sounds like.

But it looks like the only thing they removed​ in the end was these lines and the "you are now dating Yosuke" notice. The rest of his social link was left as is... Very romances-coded. And that's not even all of it! They didn't leave it at his social link! Yosuke has lines subtly hinting at being interested in or having feelings for the protagonist all throughout the game. Some even speculate it was supposed to be the "canon" romance.

Atlus has never given any answer to why it was removed. Maybe some people on the team made it but the main director, known to be somewhat homophobic, didn't allow it. Maybe it was a case of higher-up intervention. Maybe they didn't think it fit Yosuke's character or his story arc. Whatever it was, it must have been something heavy and irreparable, as they didn't take the easy opportunity to add it into Golden four years later. It would have required considerably less work than adding in two new social links, several group events and new dungeon/s (i don't know how many there are).

Anyway, I think Yosuke romance would have been beneficial. Not just for the obvious "representation is important" sense, but for Yosuke's character as well. It can be argued that if he was still grieving Saki in his later ranks he may not be ready for a relationship yet, but it is shown that Yu was of great help and importance for him, and would have undoubtedly had no negative influence on Yosuke as a boyfriend any more than as a best friend. But in acknowledging his feelings for Yu, Yosuke would have been forced to address and maybe overcome his homophobia. Choosing to date Yosuke and showing him he's desirable may have helped him with his self-worth issues. Obviously the route would be off-putting to many, but so are many of the existing romances. Nobody is obligated to play it.

In conclusion, we were robbed. And I bet I forgot something important.

[tumblunni]

I finally got yusuke and makoto aaaa I am so happy Goddammit I wanna spend every day hugging the new best party members! But also I kinda wanna punch atlus for getting EVEN WORSE about the homophobia and transphobia seriously Its like every persona gets worse??? Its so fucked up cos persona 2 actually had a canonical gay romance and at the same time p3 and p4 came out we had digital devil saga with its unparalleled respectful portrayal of intersex and nonbinary characters. Like seriously how many writing teams work in the smt crew?? Were the open minded ones all fired midway through the PlayStation 2 era?? WHAT HAPPENED. How can a company even go backwards so much?? God its like... If both things are indeed written by the same groups of people then its like 'hey this game is MORE MAINSTREAM so we'd better throw lgbtq fans under the bus to try and get more popular lol' :p So yeah anyway there's these really friggin 1960s scare campaign level caricatured gay NPCs. They only exist in the red light district cos lol of course, and they only exist to be jokes about how you literally should not ever talk with or make eye contact with gay men because they will rape you. This is the 'funny' ending to the red light district side quest. Ryuji literally just WALKS PAST a gay couple and they suddenly decide to grab and rape him??? And its 'funny'??? Just cos they're drawn as ugly stereotypes and they talk like 'ooo darling u r so naughty always going for the underage straight boys ooo lol we're gonna convert you'. And then your protagonist is given no option but to let ryuji be dragged off and sexually harassed??? He didn't even do anything to 'comically' deserve this 'punishment', its not even funny within it's own narrative! And you just see him again the next day and he's like 'ha ha lol u left me to get raped, what a funny man you are' and its NEVER MENTIONED AGAIN?? just brushed away that he managed to escape them so its no big deal. And then these rapist stereotype NPCs continue to exist in that area forever so I can never be free of them ever time I wanna go to the damn fortune teller shop... Oh and the bartender is also a negative stereotype of trans women, she's drawn in the same cliché 'ugly style' they gave the fat schoolgirl in p4 and she has facial hair and a 'comical' masculine voice. And like.. God... I thought at least she escaped the worst of it cos she never gets any lines of dialogue in this side quest, but now random social links are mentioning her and like SERIOUSLY MISHIMA LEAVE HER ALONE! 'Oh man that interview with that reporter was awful cos the bartender was 'a drag queen' and I felt like 'he' was gonna rape me even though we barely even made eye contact' JUST STOP. GAME, PLEASE STOP. And UUUUUUGH all the 'lol it looks like a gay option but haha it will never be an option' teasing in yusuke's friendship scenes! There's none of that usual 'oh lol ur reading too much into it, he's totally straight' NO THE WRITERS FUCKIN KNOW WHAT THEY DID. You literally have one scene where the two of you get mistaken for a gay couple in the park and the passers by are all 'oh well nowadays people are kinky like that' as if its something lewd, and somehow its meant to be funny??? Its been a huge eye opener to me... I don't even think atlus is intentionally queerbaiting now, I was giving them too much credit to think they were actually trying to appeal to the queer market! I just think all the huge amounts of teasing a gay option is meant to be A JOKE to them. They think that people will laugh their heads off at merely mentioning that gay people exist, and everyone would ~obviously~ be totes grossed out and know that everyone is really straight. Why wouldn't they be! They're so straight that you can say they're gay and its a funny funny joke! Those silly queer folks taking it seriously! Those silly very large portion of our audience! Silly how persona 4 became so popular in that market! Silly how we're so fucking desperate we'll even buy something only vaguely teasing representation in a really insulting way! And silly how I've got so used to it that I'm already feeling like 'oh people will think I'm not a real fan if I criticize this, I'd better keep my mouth shut'... Gahhhhhhh YOU LITERALLY HAVE PEOPLE SAYING YUSUKE IS MY GAY OPTION THATS HOW MUCH THIS DUMB RECURRING 'JOKE' HAS ASCENDED INTO ABSURDITY HA HA LETS JUST STATE THAT GAY PEOPLE EXIST MAYBE YOU CAN DATE THIS CHARACTER BUT NOPE WHAT A FUNNY WHAT A PUNCHLINE WHAT A MINIMUM EFFORT FUCKING MESS ... gah sorry I'm shutting up now Anyway I like yusuke a lot and I really fucking wish he was an option. Or at least they wouldn't outright mock me for wanting it. Also Ann x makoto is already hitting me hard and she's barely been in the party for five seconds. They just had a really heartwarming side plot of going from enemies to best friends and they have so much in common and all the boys are constantly being perverted assholes to Ann so she needs to end up with someone better. Seriously this game even goes out of its way yo have like a month long 'joke' of yusuke being mistaken for perving on ann when he's actually not interested in her and doesn't even know what he did wrong! Somehow even the one boy who isn't hitting on her has to somehow hit on her???? And ha ha 'comedy' equals 'hey Ann you have to strip naked in front of a stranger that we all think is a rapist, it is The Only Way'. Fucking glad yusuke turned out to not be that awful, but still it made me so uncomfortable geez... Did the whole Palace in like two days just to get it over with... ... Okay NOW I am done complaining! This is also why I love finally getting another female character, and one that doesn't have to wear a super sexualized battle outfit and do stupid poses that seem completely out of character. Seriously Ann freaks out and tries to cover her chest the first time she transforms, and she just has to.. Deal with it?? And the phantom thief uniforms are meant to be based on your soul so why is it even possible for someone to not be comfortable wearing it? Is it meant to be some kind of stupid 'lol she is repressed and secretly she wants to dress sexy even if she says she doesn't' sort of thing...? Wouldn't have been uncomfortable if she actually seemed like she chose the damn boob suit :P Okay Okay NOW I am done I just had to get out all my complaints cos a lot of this game made me very happy and I hate how some very small scenes have so much impact they threaten to ruin that :P Also I REALLY WANT TO DATE YUSUKE Fuck u game for suggesting I date him if you ain't gonna deliver KEEP YO MOUTH SHUT *goes back to sitting grumpily in a swan boat*

[bakafurai]

yeah that's fine I didn't need my heart anyways

[twilightknight17]

...today, on P5S...

...

Honestly, I talk a lot of shit about P5′s writing sometimes. Atlus made some exceptionally questionable writing choices in places. But one thing that P5 absolutely gets right is invoking the sort of emotion that draws you into the story.

With that said!

P5 is determined to make me want to stab actual human beings instead of Shadows. This is the second time now!

But first, I’ve got a boss fight to do.

Doing the mech part of Konoe’s boss fight again, it was actually easier the second time. I had a much better grasp of what I was doing, instead of flailing around frantically.

Konoe himself was still just as hard, but ultimately he was easier than Shadow Joker because it wasn’t a one-on-one duel. He still beat my ass, though; I think I used all of my rescue pills.

Once he goes down, Konoe starts going on about justice.

Don’t call me by my name like we’re friends. We never even introduced ourselves.

It’s interesting, because they admit to Konoe that what they’re doing isn’t without its flaws. But a world where no one can think for themselves is meaningless.

Konoe acknowledges that in his quest to eliminate evil, he ended up being the evil one. He also admits that he was the one who killed his father. He calls that “evil” too, which I don’t actually agree with. We saw what his father was like in the Trauma Cell. His father killed his mother, physically abused him, and threatened to kill him. I think, in that case, killing his father is a rational end result for someone in that situation. Not evil, just desperation.

The Thieves don’t contradict him, though. Just make some comments about how now he can make up for his actions. His Shadow returns to his real self, the Thieves return to the real world, and Zenkichi promises that as soon as they take Konoe in and get his confession, he’s going to arrest Owada, too.

With the case closed, the Thieves decide that it’s time to go back to Tokyo. But not before one last night in Osaka. The idea of leaving makes Sophia anxious, though, because she feels like she hasn’t learned enough about the heart. But Akira and Morgana reassure her that she can still stay with them, even after they return to Tokyo, and they’ll keep looking for answers about who she is.

Sometimes a family is a guy, a cat, and one of the guy’s four younger sisters. ^_^

Tenboto is the tower, and the game asks you to invite someone to the top. However, this time, you can only invite either the group of girls or the group of boys, so I took the boys, since I took Haru on the ferris wheel before.

Morgana isn’t pleased that we didn’t invite Ann.

However, I really don’t see the problem.

Look at how he’s looking at Yusuke! Even Ryuji can tell that we’re having a moment. :D

Afterwards, the whole squad headed off to “Universaland” to celebrate together.

I had no idea that there was a Universal Studios in Japan, but apparently there is, and it is in fact in Osaka! They compared it to their trip to Destinyland the year before, but thankfully this one went a lot better. Everyone had a good time! We had so much soda! We were so hungover the nex--what.

...what is it with Persona characters getting drunk off soda? XD I hope you kids at least played the King’s Game so the hangover wasn’t in vain.

Zenkichi shows up to let them know that Konoe’s in custody. He thanks them for everything that they’ve done, for both Akane and him, and says he’s telling them goodbye for now, but they’re welcome to visit whenever they want. He promises a tour of Kyoto next time. Yusuke will be so happy!

After hours on the road, lamenting that vacation is coming to an end, Sophia suggests detouring to Yokohama for a fireworks festival. So the Thieves finally get to see fireworks, and Sophia gets to experience them, too.

........don’t make me go home yet. I just want to spend time with my friends without the world ending.

After the fireworks, you get to speak to each of your friends, and get a trinket from each of them. Ann gives you a handmade friendship bracelet, Makoto a phantom thieves keychain that Akane made, Ryuji a Feather Red Duke mask to match his Yellow Ostrich, Yusuke his sketchbook that he filled with pictures of the trip, Morgana a scarf in phantom thief colors, Sophia a pair of custom gloves to match the scarf, Haru a teaspoon from Hokkaido with a flower pattern that symbolizes familial love, and Futaba a good luck charm for keeping families together.

STOP, P5S, you’re going to make me cry. Let these kids stay close.

Right before they’re about to leave, they take a group picture for Sophia, which we don’t get to see. Which sucks. But then she realizes that she can smell a Jail, and Zenkichi calls in a panic. It’s never a good sign when someone calls and leads with “Are you watching the news?”

EMMA’s servers were shut down, but apparently reactivated, and now a Jail is covering Tokyo all the way to the outskirts of Yokohama, and it’s just getting bigger. Zenkichi promises to meet us, and Lavenza opens a Velvet door because she wants to talk.

She’s... legitimately unnerved.

Thank you, P5S, for giving me the opportunity to comfort my youngest sister in some small way. Now let me out of this cell so I can actually give her a hug. With the context from Royal that she has actual nightmares about being ripped apart, this is heartbreaking.

She says that she regrets that she has to keep asking us for help, but the dialogue options let you reassure her that you’ll handle it, and that there’s thinking to worry about.

I appreciate having dialogue to actually reassure her more than I probably should.

Now...

LAST WARNING

If you’ve been reading along and don’t want the finale spoiled, DO NOT GO PAST THIS POINT. As soon as we leave for central Tokyo, we’re going 90mph and not slowing down.

If I didn’t have work in the morning, I’d have finished this damn game tonight. X’‘‘D Curse being a responsible adult.

After leaving the Velvet Room, Zenkichi’s waiting at the RV, and when you enter the RV, that’s when you get the warning above.

So we are off to Tokyo to figure out what the heck is happening with EMMA. And the core location is, exactly like I wanted...

LET’S CLIMB TOKYO TOWER, BABY.

People are crowded around the tower like mindless cultists. The Thieves are confused and unnerved, and then EMMA activates the navigation on its own and flings them into the Metaverse. LET’S SEE WHAT’S UP THIS TOWER.

...oh.

......oh no...

Ohhhhhhh no this is Mementos. Why is this Mementos. This is not a tower. Oh god. Why this.

Oh, we are incredibly fucked, what is this.

EMMA says calls itself the “Ark of the Covenant and the guide for all mankind.” This fucking AI thinks it’s a god. Holy hell. Human cognition really needs to cool it with elevating ordinary things to god status. We’re so tired. X’D

......I FUCKING KNEW THAT I DIDN’T TRUST THIS WOMAN. OH MY GOD.

She goes off about how EMMA brought her into this world to help it become a god. How Konoe teaching EMMA about cognitive psience allowed it to pass the usual boundaries of AI. How EMMA has been manipulating Konoe all along. How EMMA’s going to fulfill all of humanity’s desires.

Ichinose-san, may I suggest that you go hang out with Maruki? He has too much heart, and you have none. You’d complement each other perfectly, and then I can shove you both off a building.

The kids, obviously, reject this bullshit.

Logic over emotion, to the point of utter ridiculousness. She complains that people always want solutions to their problems, but that when the solution is offered, they turn it down.

Maybe that’s because your solution is mind control. At least Maruki wasn’t flagrantly puppeteering people.

“Li!��� you cry, throwing up your hands at me. “Is this it? Is this why you want to stab her? Did you just admit that she’s worse than Maruki?”

To which I answer, “Oh, no. It’s the next bit that makes me want to stab her.”

After she straight-up admits that she has no emotions, she manipulated us right from the start, she was the one spying on the Monarchs, and that all of her cheer and friendliness is an act, the Thieves are ready to fight Ichinose. And Ichinose reveals why EMMA wanted her help specifically. Because not only did she program EMMA, she created Sophia as EMMA’s prototype.

And she can voice-override Sophia.

The Thieves freak out, the game throws us into a battle against a murder-mode Sophie, and none of your teammates will attack her. They just hang back or let her whale on them one at a time, and I didn’t know what to do, and I didn’t attack her either, and Yusuke got knocked out...

And then it went into a cutscene.

Joker took a yo-yo to the face and was actually bleeding, and that was enough to snap Sophia out of it. She starts clutching her head, stumbling back, and eventually stumbles right off the edge while apologizing to Joker. He lunges to catch her, misses, Ryuji grabs him, and all the Thieves turn on Ichinose.

Ichinose does not give a shit. She just comments that maybe that’s why EMMA used Sophia as a failsafe, because it knew we wouldn’t want to fight one of our own. Shut the fuck up. You killed my little sister. I know she’s probably going to be fine, but it’s the principle of the thing.

She summons some sort of giant red crystal and blasts the hell out of us, sending us flying down even further into the depths.

We found Sophia; she won’t cut back on, so we have to get out of here so Futaba can figure out what’s wrong with her. And then, I am coming back, I am beating that woman to a pulp, and then...

Well. It’s bound to be easier to kill an artificial god than a false one. :3