#yoshida: VAGUE VAGUE VAGUE

[smilemuse]

NO FRIENDS ARE HIS PREFERENCE, BUT HE DOESN'T EXPECT THE CURIOSITY FROM DENJI. the two of them were having a small conversation, so he can divulge some details. yoshida is particular about the narrative surrounding him & the appeal that he gives off within the school. to a degree, yes he cares about his reputation but only in the sense that he would rather appear like an octopus. he's ready to retreat when the situation is out of his own control or when he knows he's met his match. he's aware of denji's teenage desires considering he wants the typical experience that involves getting a girlfriend. he has no concern for that, in fact he finds it to be too distracting.

there's a shake of his head considering he wouldn't hide the fact either. ❛ i'm rich. most people at school kind of talk about it. mostly my fan club. it doesn't matter to me, but in a way, i do have a sheltered life. ❜ this time he takes the moment to scratch his head as he leads denji towards the right. he listens in on denji's family situation, it was interesting & a lovely gesture knowing that someone was giving orphans a home. ❛ there's no rush to figuring these things out, but i'd like to help you graduate. a personal want of mine.❜ he feels the implications of denji's last phrase, almost like he's taken a bite of bitter chocolate himself.

❛ aki-senpai could never get sick of you. he's doing all of this to ensure you get your highschool education. i'm sure think highly of you despite everything. what older brother wouldn't want their younger brother to suceed?❜ there's the softer indication of a smile, a genuine smile on yoshida's face. he knows he might have overstepped his boundary between tutor & student, but it didn't sit right to see denji bring himself down like that. it was something to bookmark considering their conversation about his current way of learning things.

there's a part of yoshida that goes rigid considering his parents are more of a sore subject for him. the dark haired male makes no mention of them except they often travel leaving him alone in a larger home than most people don't know what to do with. ❛ i have a step-mother and a father. they are usually busy people since they travel a lot. they're business people.❜ it should suffice for an answer & hopefully denji doesn't decide to dig deeper than what he's already provided. the truth is, yoshida has a vague understanding of what having parents are like. to him they were just the title of two people who come & go like a revolving door. ❛ turn the next corner and we'll be there.❜

each new fact denji acquires about yoshida makes him wonder why he's most often spotted by his lonesome outside of the student council or when his fanclub isn't crowding his space. it would take a blind person to be unaware of who he is; yoshida remained a person who wanted to be purposefully untouched despite his popularity. denji wonders why; if he looked half as good as yoshida did, maybe he could get some dates and he would never reject half the letters he gotten from the female population of the school. he would have a new girl on his arm every week, grades be damned. it makes denji a little envious to say the least, but he keeps that tucked deep, deep down within himself.

his brows quirk curiously, “ya jus' got money ta blow like that on eatin' out?” he wasn't that curious, but since their school discourages kids from having real jobs, denji finds himself doing odd bits for scraps of coin and cash to spend on the gacha machines outside of shops. to his next question, denji's head shakes. “we have a little sister we adopted recently too. 'er name's nayuta,” he replies, a bit of a smile on his face. he felt close to both aki and power of course, but there's something about his connection with nayuta that is a little bit more special. the way she looks up to him means everything to him, somehow.

yoshida's words spark a bit of something in him, but not enough to ignite anything serious. he doesn't consider school to be his path at all, not wanting to struggle with it for another four or so years for a degree. he doesn't have any passion in the area. as for doing anything good, well... he has no leads there either. yoshida seems to have life all planned out, making denji pout a little bit. “must be nice to know what ya wanna do in life. i dunno what i'mma do once i'm really an adult, coz i don't wanna bother aki forever. i think he might get sick o' me,” he laughs a little bitterly.

an absent nod meets the sentence at first, “parents, eh? that sounds nice too. i've only lived with aki 'n powy for six 'n five years after i was adopted by ms. makima. howzit like havin' parents,” denji asks, gaze curious. he's not ashamed to speak of where he came from, although his time in the foster system and before is muddled with memories his brain doesn't want to remember.

[fefairys]

THE funniest sequence in csm thus far. i think about this constantly. you can interpret that however you like.

[astrofiish]

TWEWY/Persona 5 Sprite redraws! I love the Primary Color trio (IDK if they have a fandom name but that's what I've been calling them so they're the primary color trio now)

Individual sprites are below!

These were really fun! I did draft up some for the rest of the phantom thieves, but they weren't as dynamically fun as these ones were. Maybe ill finish them at some point?

I also have gone through and matched the Persona 5 characters up with NEOTWEWY/TWEWY characters and I want to draw them in their related sprites! (Cause its fun!)

Phantom Thieves:

Joker - Neku Ryuki- Beat/Fret Fused into a singular being Futaba- Nagi (obviously) Ann- Uzuki Yusuke- Kariya (vaguely) Sumire- Shiki Morgana- Rhyme???????? Haru- Tsugumi Makoto- Shoka (mostly based on aesthetics) Akechi - Josh (However, prefacing quickly that Joshneku in this situation would be a weird swap form of Shuake) Caroline and Justine is Coco No idea who Mr Minami could be tho. Maybe Igor?????????

"Reapers":

Sae- technically she wouldnt be a reaper but Ayano Shido- Shiba?????????????????? Also maybe Haz? Idk. Maruki- Hishima??????????????????????????? (minus the "old" men yaoi ofc) Mishima- technically hes not a reaper but Kaie

Confidants (I missed a lot of Confidants in my playthrough of p5 so I could be really off with these)

Sojiro- Hanekoma Chihaya- ? Did not get to know her Iwai- Ryoji Takemi- Kanon Kawakami- No freaking idea Ohya - Motoi???????? Oda- that Tin Pin Slammer Kid from TWEWY Hifumi- MKN Yoshida- Ken Doi

Im just kinda brainstorming about all this at this point but I think the AU idea is fun!!!

[thebrightsilverlining]

Kawakami’s Confidant Route Analysis (Time Management, Character Parallels, & What Kawakami’s Confidant Says About The Protagonist’s Parents)

Kawakami’s confidant route is one of my favorites in Persona 5. Mainly because of how tightly it is written.

TLDR: The protagonist is designed to be incredibly similar to Kawakami’s former student, Taiki Takase, in order for his words to emotionally resonate with Kawakami. This allows one to make inferences regarding the protagonist’s parents based on the Takases.

The entire route centers around the theme of time management. While some confidant routes will have the theming or focus only apply to the confidant themselves (and not the protagonist or other characters) this route goes the extra mile. Having all three central characters (Kawakami, The Protagonist, and the late Taiki Takase) have issues with time management. The route explores each of their struggles to get things done while not stretching themselves too thin as well as how their problems interconnect. On top of that, they even manage to work the skills into the theme, having all of Kawakami’s skills center around time management and making the most of your time.

While other routes, like Yoshida’s, change/have a different impact depending on how the player chooses to interpret the protagonist (whether the protagonist was interested in politics the entire time, got into politics over the course of the route thanks to Yoshida, or was simply humoring Yoshida in order to get better at negotiations), everything that makes Kawakami’s confidant work is built into the protagonist from the start. His issues with time management as well as the way he parallels Takase all create a reasonable justification for why the protagonist specifically is the one who is able to get through to her and strengthens their bond. In comparison to some other routes which simply gesture to some vague qualities of the protagonist that make him someone others are willing to open up to.

But there’s one part of her route that always caught my eye. Particularly, that parallel to Taiki Takase.

See, Taiki Takase was a former student of Kawakami’s and is a major player in the route despite being dead. He was a delinquent student put into Kawakami’s class that she was essentially told to let fail. After getting to know him, however, she realized that he wasn’t actually a delinquent like everyone claimed. Instead, he simply had a variety of extenuating circumstances that made school a bit difficult for him. Mainly, he had a problem with time management, working multiple jobs on top of school, which often resulted in him missing class and not having time to study. Learning about this, Kawakami decided to use the skills at her disposal to help Taiki and make things easier for him (sound familiar?). In this case, it was mainly offering to help him study or review at unconventional hours. Adapting her schedule to his, rather than the other way around.

Ultimately, the school chastised Kawakami for helping Taiki after hours and forced her to stop. Taiki said he didn’t blame her, but that same day he got into a car accident and died, resulting in Kawakami harboring a great deal of guilt regarding his death. A guilt that is only exacerbated by his guardians hounding her for money as recompense, resulting in her having to take on the maid job to make ends meet.

This all leads to where Kawakami is at the beginning of the game. A jaded and exhausted teacher too tired to care and too jaded to try. That is, until she meets the protagonist.

The protagonist. Who, just like Taiki, is a delinquent student put into Kawakami’s class that she is essentially told to let fail. Who, after getting to know him (despite her best efforts not to), Kawakami realizes isn’t actually a delinquent like everyone claims. Instead, he too simply has a variety of extenuating circumstances that make things a bit difficult for him. His record, sure, but also a problem with time management, as he works multiple jobs on top of school (Flower shop, beef bowl shop, Crossroads, Leblanc, etc on TOP of Phantom Thieving), which often results in him struggling to balance his mess of a schedule.

The protagonist is Taiki. At least, in Kawakami’s eyes. A mirror of the student she failed. Who she let die to save her own skin. Only, this time? Kawakami refuses to let him die.

So she helps him, just like she helped Taiki, using the skills she has at her disposal. Except, this time, it’s not study sessions at midnight after getting out of work. It’s doing the laundry while the protagonist rushes off to do something else. Because sometimes, when you’re tired and stressed and have ten different things on your plate, you just need someone to do the laundry for you. Or make dinner. Or make you a coffee as a pick me up.

Just like how Taiki just needed someone who was willing to meet him where he was. To work with his schedule rather than against it. To understand his situation and be willing to help him catch up on what he missed rather than berate him for not being in class.

It’s this parallel that gets the protagonist’s words to resonate with Kawakmi. Because, when he tells her that it’s not her fault that Taiki died and that she shouldn’t be working herself to the point of hospitalization to atone for something she didn’t do, it feels like Taiki’s saying it. It reminds her of how Taiki insisted he didn’t blame her when she told him she’d no longer be able to help. How likely the last thing he ever told her was that it wasn’t her fault.

And here the protagonist is. So much like Taiki in every way. Insisting that it wasn’t her fault too. How could she not listen to him?

The parallel between Taiki Takase and the protagonist ultimately exists in order for the protagonist to reach Kawakami. That parallel is what fuels their bond and pushes the route forward, but it also lends to some interesting analysis of the protagonist. After all, Taiki and the protagonist are supposed to be functionally the same. Meaning that we can look to Taiki for information about the protagonist. Mainly, regarding his parents.

Everyone has their own headcanons on what the protagonist’s parents are like. But I base my interpretations on more than assumptions and minor lines in the beginning of the game. I base mine on NARRATIVE PARALLELS!

Bear with me here, I’m gonna go on a bit of a tangent.

In Persona 4, the protagonist (who I’ll be referring to as Yu for the sake of not getting him mixed up with P5 protag) is sent to Inaba to live with his Uncle Dojima and cousin Nanako. And, in P4, the relationship between Dojima and Nanako is supposed to directly parallel the relationship between Yu and his parents.

See, the tension in Dojima and Nanako’s relationship comes from Dojima’s work habits. Lately, he’s become more and more busy with work. Spending less time with his daughter and more time absorbed into case files. Their relationship mends when Dojima finally steps back from his work and decides to put more effort into being home. Realizing that his relationship with his daughter would continue to deteriorate unless he actively worked to spend more time with her.

In that same vein, why was Yu sent out to Inaba? Right! Because his parents were busy with work. Specifically, his parents are working abroad for an entire year. And, rather than taking him with them, they’re shipping him off to stay with his Uncle.

Yu’s relationship with his parents is supposed to parallel Dojima and Nanako. To be an example of what would have happened had Dojima not fixed his relationship with his daughter. If he continued to bury himself in his work. Where a few late nights turn into multiple weeks apart which turn into full years away from his daughter. Getting to the point where the protagonist is. Where his parents spend so little time with him that they’ll send him off for an entire year to focus on their own work.

You never meet Yu’s parents. They’re barely mentioned. But, through narrative parallels, you can understand what they are like without the story ever having to show them. This too, can be said of P5.

The protagonist of P5 parallels Taiki Takase. For the sake of Kawakami’s confidant route, they are supposed to be functionally the same. Meaning, we can reasonably assume that the Takases (Taiki’s guardians) are similar to the protagonist’s parents. And, considering the fact that the Takases are Mementos targets, that pretty much confirms that they’re horrible people.

But wait! I hear you say! The Takases aren’t Taiki’s biological parents, they’re his guardians (aunt and uncle)! Just like the protagonist, Taiki isn’t staying with his parents when Kawakami meets him, but with a guardian instead (furthering their similarities). Wouldn’t it be more accurate to compare the Takases with Sojiro?

Good point! However I don’t believe that to be the case. Why? Well, to put it simply, because Sojiro is a good person.

See, remember my P4 tangent? In that, there is a difference between the relationship between Yu and his parents and the relationship between Nanako and Dojima. Mainly, that Dojima fixes his relationship with his kid while Yu’s parents don’t.

That difference is there for a reason. It isn’t a pointless change, it’s an intentional one. Done to show what could’ve been if Dojima didn’t fix his relationship with his daughter.

Say Sojiro is meant to be compared to the Takases. If that was the case, one would assume that the protagonist’s situation differs in some way from Taiki’s due to the fact that he has a kinder guardian that actually cares about him. Showing how the protagonist was able to better handle his difficult situation with Sojiro’s help.

Except, that isn’t the case. Sojiro has little to no impact on the protagonist’s problems when it comes to Kawakami’s route. The protagonist struggles just as much as Taiki does, with only Kawakami being the one to make an impact on either of them (when it comes to the issues Kawakami’s route focuses on). The difference instead coming from the fact that she refused to stop helping the protagonist when she had previously caved and stopped helping Taiki.

Because of this, I can’t believe that Sojiro is supposed to parallel the Takases. Instead, it has to be the protagonist’s parents. Which implies that the protagonist’s parents are garbage and a source of a great many problems for the protagonist (just as the Takases contributed to many of Taiki’s problems). That, just like the Takases, they intentionally put him down in order to feel better about themselves. That they’re the kind of people who, if the protagonist had died only to be proven innocent, would’ve happily accepted the sympathy and recompense despite never actually caring for their child.

So yeah! That’s why I adore Kawakami’s confidant route. Honestly, I expected it to be a trainwreck from its premise alone. But, instead, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s one of the most polished confidant routes in the game and I honestly wish more routes followed in its footsteps.

Particularly Chihaya’s, which had the opportunity to take advantage of certain narrative parallels in order to delve deeper into the protagonist’s past (as well as his relationship with Ryuji), but instead ignores this in favor of the ADP. It’s still a good route, with a frankly fantastic start, but I still wish they did more with her.

But, hey! That’s a discussion for another time. With that said, I hope you enjoyed the analysis!

[greatwyrmgold]

Um. I'm pretty sure "protecting" Denji like this is Yoshida's job. Whatever the shippers say, he didn't tie Denji up because he's into BDSM.

yoshida leave him alone and get a job!!!

[euphreana]

[vague Chainsaw Man ch 174 spoilers]

Okay I'll bite. Why is everyone saying Yoshida is dead?

If the title of the next chapter is indeed a full spoiler and not a red herring (which would be peak Fujimoto), Yoshida just loses his powers. ... Right?

[alpaca-clouds]

(The concept of) Canon is like an Onion

It has layers.

Okay, I just gotta be the fandom elder here, because there is a thing that is kinda bugging me. And that is the tendency of especially younger fans of stuff to point at all sorts of suplementary material (artbooks, interviews with creators/actors, articles in magazines and what not) and go: "See, my interpretation of this and that is totally canon!"

And the thing is that... it is a bit more complicated than that. Because what is and isn't canon... Well, it is something people argue about a lot. But the general thing is, basically this. Canonicity can have multiple levels - and the top level of it is basically just the text itself.

Like, older fans of the Star Wars Fandom might still remember Lucas' five (or was it even six?) levels of canon. And those were just based on actual stories. It had become a necessity back then just based on the fact that a lot of the extended universe stuff was at times contradictory - even with the stuff that Lucas himself had done. So according to Lucas, the main canon was just the stuff he had been a part of creating. And then there were levels of things going from "most canon" to "least canon" basically.

But yeah, generally speaking: Canon is the information given within a story itself. You can argue about additional story material maybe being canon (like tie in novels to a movie, for example), but generally even those are not... necessarily canon to the main-thing itself.

I know that these days there is this big thing happening of creators just being very, very accessible to fans. So, the temptation is big to tweet or mail or comment on a twitch of your favorite media's creator/your favorite character's actor/whatever and be like: "I have this theory/analysis. Am I right?" Which is... fine. But you also have to keep in mind that stuff that people privately say is not necessarily authoritatively.

As some of the followers of this blog might know: My OG fandom is Digimon. And boy howdy, can I tell you stories about Digimon's "Word of God". Because... look people, if it is not a book, there is not a singular creator. And the people who were in charge of Digimon, had at times very, very differing ideas from each other.

With Digimon Adventure/02 I interviewed several of the writers. And guess what: I at times got opposing opinions from them. And those opinions were also differing from what the producer and the director said in official interviews and sublementary materials (like artbooks or the novelization).

Two examples are Sora's age and Hikari's crest. Sora is shown to have her birthday in movie 2, which is set in March. Given how Japanese school law works, this would make her 10 during the events of Digimon Adventure and 13 during DIgimon Adventure 02 (because the cut-off date is April 1st). According to Reiko Yoshida, who wrote that movie, this is true. According to the producer, however, no actually the movie is set in April, she is 11 during the events of the first season. And the other fun one: What does Hikari's crest of "light" actually mean. We asked five different people involved and got five different answers.

And the big thing is, that you cannot assume that someone, who is engaging with media, does also engage with ALL THE INTERVIEWS and FOLLOW EVERYONE INVOLVED ON SOCIAL MEDIA. Because most people don't.

I see this happening a lot especially in regards to people interpreting the canonicity of ships - and character sexuality.

Let me use an example where I totally agree with the person in question: Isaac from Castlevania. According to his voice actor Isaac is queer. I totally absolutely read the character this way, no question. But... technically it is never confirmed in the text. So if you come away from it not reading him this way, yeah, that is totally understandable. You do not need to know everything every voice actor said.

And if stuff within the actually story itself is kept vague, you cannot just go and say: "Person XY who also was involved in creating media X said this, so this is the only correct opinion." Because if the text does not confirm it, it is not necessarily "canon" and either interpretation is valid.

And if there is multiple entries as source material, also try to think of what people will usually think of, when you say "Fandom X".

Like, to get back at my own fandoms: Yeah, no, most people will not know about the novelization of Digimon Adventure. Most people will also not have played the Wonderswan games (that also at times outright contradict the primary text in form of the anime). Or with Pirates of the Caribbean: Most fans have never read any of the tie-in novels. Heck, most people do not even know they exist. Meanwhile, also a ton of people do not consider movies 4 and 5 canonical to the Gore Verbinski trilogy, given that again those movies outright contradict some of the stuff stated in the trilogy.

What I am trying to say: Canonicity is, if anything, a spectrum, not a binary. So for the love of all the gods, please stop the entire: "Well, the guy who did the storyboards for three of the scenes in this show agrees with me, so I am right," stuff. I know it is tempting (believe me, I KNOW). But... If it is not in the text, other interpretations are valid.

Also, headcanons are always valid. Always.

[randommusingsstuff]

Devi, Ben, and the Power of Happy Endings

Never Have I Ever is about to go down in the history books as one of the most thematically rich coming of age stories produced in the streaming era.

While the thought of parting from my beloved, Devi Vishwakumar, makes me want to curl into a fetal position, I’ve been struck with the sudden inspiration to document my predictions. Every wild, outrageous opinion.

Maybe this post will be nothing more than fodder for your morning coffee Tumblr scroll, but my hope is that it will convey a sense of optimism. Not only do I think that Never Have I Ever will have an explicitly romantic ending for Ben and Devi, I think that it fundamentally has to. But we still have a long journey ahead.

1. Devi: T-minus 5 Seconds to Heartbreak

This is Devi Vishwakumar, walking into school for her first day of senior year, smiling like the lovestruck nerd that she is, having finally figured out that she wants to be with Ben. 

I mean, just look at her gloat! This is the gloat of someone who is ready to join forces with her soulmate so they can terrorize the school with their combined obnoxiousness! 

Only to walk in and see this:

Oh Ben... To quote the great Logan Echolls, “no one writes songs about the ones that come easy”.

2. To boink, or not to boink?

I’m not convinced that Ben and Devi had sex.

Now, hold on-

Let me first caveat and say that Never Have I Ever always manages to surprise me. While I can pick out the broad narrative strokes and character arcs they are aiming for, they manage to awe and delight me with the details.

I think that following through on the “one free boink” scene is the more interesting route, but it also makes the writers’ jobs much, much harder.

I cannot fathom Ben and Devi having sex and then Ben immediately rebounding to Margot. That level of womanizing would make Paxton Hall-Yoshida tremble in his tiny swim shorts. In order to keep the audience on Ben’s side, the writers would have to spend a considerable amount of time unpacking his trauma and explaining his perspective. It’s not impossible, but I’m dubious.

The show never rewards Devi for making a decision based on her own insecurities. She wants to have sex with Ben, but her catalyst for getting there is the sext Fabiola accidently sends to her instead of Addison (i.e Devi is insecure about being the only virgin in her friend group left).

Maitreyi confirmed that season 4 would pick up immediately where season 3 left off. Do I think we’re getting play-by-play? An under-the-cover post boink scene? Them starting to make-out then something happening? I’m betting on the latter.

3. The Ben Problem

Picture this:

Mid make-out, Devi casually lets slip that she is staying at Sherman Oaks for senior year. Suddenly, sex with the love of his life is an actual relationship that he has to contend with. All the trauma and pain from season 2 comes flooding back. And it’s important to remember that Ben was deeply traumatized from the events of season 2.

His actual brain catches up with his er… primal instincts, and they agree to see where things go. It's just vague enough that Devi thinks they’re going to be together, but Ben is scared. Scared of being more in love with her than he already is and scared of being hurt again. He goes with the safer option of neglecting his feelings, because his arc of vulnerability has yet to be fully actualized.

This manages to set up the same conflict and angst between Ben and Devi and give Ben a starting point to make amends without having him abandon Devi right after she has sex for the first time.

It’s a much more palatable fallout for the “one free boink scene”, but I digress.

4. Never Have I Ever... Been a Wallflower

We catch up with Paxton in episode 3, narrated by Gigi Hadid, and he’s kind of shy?

He has always used his popularity as a crutch and now has to grapple with his new identity. Much like Devi and Ben, Paxton’s insecurities are an ongoing battle, as he realizes that his choice to go to college was partially defined by his desire to escape the “dumb jock” label. Tucked away in his dorm room, watching life pass him by, he realizes that he doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone else. He can pursue his athletic aspirations and still defy the labels that people have placed on him. By the end of the episode, Paxton makes the decision to come back to Sherman Oaks as a swim coach assistant.

I’ll admit, I think it’s a strange choice to reignite Devi and Paxton’s romance by making him a faculty member at the school. The writers might as well hold up a big red sign that says, “The only reason we can think of for Devi and Paxton to interact is if they are stuck in high school together”. 

But I want to make one thing clear: I do not think this undoes his arc from season 3. To realize that just because you can do something doesn’t mean you have to is a very natural extension of gaining personal liberty.

And I, for one, am proud of him.

Also, I’m getting season 2 vibes from this scene.

Devi and Paxton fans can probably expect callbacks, sweet moments, a kiss, and an emphasis on how important they have been to each other's personal growth.

5. Where are Ben and Devi?

Hidden behind a Michael Cimino-sized red herring. They are going to give us as little as they possibly can about Ben and Devi during promo season. The same way they have in *checks notes* every single season prior.

I’ve written about this before, but it is integral to their individual arcs that they are honest about their love for each other. It is the bedrock of the story. But between Michael Cimino’s washboard abs and closing out Paxton and Devi’s arc in a way that feels satisfying and emotionally resonant, I don’t think we’ll be seeing Ben and Devi’s domestic bliss phase.

Put another way: The love triangle and push-and-pull romance is not a side story, it’s a source of narrative conflict that’s integral to the plot. Would you resolve the final battle in a fantasy series three episodes before the finale? Resolving the Ben and Devi plot early would be like sucking all of the tension out of the story. It would not give us the euphoric high of Ben and Devi blurting out that they love each other at the eleventh hour after trying to suppress their feelings. The show has always saved these big moments for finales, and this season will be no different.

But for anyone worried that Ben and Devi will be fighting the entire season, I think we’re in for our most Benvi-centric season yet, filled with great moments and their trademark banter.

They go to New York to visit colleges. Neither of them admits it, but they are relieved to know that they will remain constants in each others’ lives. 

They study for finals together while bantering, skirting around the topic of prom, and just generally being the only two idiots who don’t know they are in love. *Buries self under 10 pounds of cement*

This time, Ben asks her to dance. The angst, unspoken feelings and tension are palpable.

They fight over valedictorian and it’s practically foreplay. Devi wins, and Ben is proud of her, underscoring his growth and ability to put aside his competitive nature to be supportive.

And that is just a fraction of what’s in store for our obnoxious, loveable nerds.

6. 🎶 It's the circle of life 🎶

“Hey, gods. It's Devi Vishwakumar, your favorite Hindu girl in the San Fernando Valley. What's a-poppin'? It's the first day of school, and I thought we should have a check in. I think we can all agree that last year sucked for a number of reasons. So I thought of a few ways you guys can make it up to me.”

“One: I'd like to be invited to a party with alcohol and hard drugs. I'm not gonna do them. I'd just like the opportunity to say: ‘No cocaine for me, thanks. I'm good.’”

John Mcenroe Voice: Devi, you seem a little drunk.

“Two: I'd love for my arm hair to thin out. I know it's an Indian thing, but my forearms look like the frigging floor of a barber shop.”

The mehndi on her hands symbolizes her love for her family and heritage. Juxtaposed with her western clothes, it signifies her acceptance of her intersectionality.

“And lastly, most importantly, I'd really, really like a boyfriend, but not some nerd from one of AP classes.”

The picture that I want to get my hands on is currently stashed away in Netflix’s top-secret headquarters, but I’ll settle for this one of Ben’s adorable, dopey smile.

7. The Finale: Why Devi and Ben Must Have an Unambiguously Happy Ending

For the longest time, I believed that Never Have I Ever would go the way of its spiritual successor Crazy-Ex Girlfriend and give Devi the “I choose myself” ending” with hints of her ending up with Ben in the future.

It was only when watching the season 3 finale that I realized how wrong I was. In fact, I was so fundamentally wrong that I overlooked the obvious: Never Have I Ever has never done anything halfway. The writers of Never Have I Ever know something about the audience that we often fail to recognize ourselves, which is that we desperately want a happy ending.

Season one could have ended with Devi’s heartfelt goodbye to her father and reconciliation with her mother. What do we get instead? A sweeping, romantic shot of Malibu while Devi and Ben share their first kiss.

In the season 2 finale, Devi proclaims that she will not settle for “some weird secret thing behind closed doors” and that she wants to be “someone's public girlfriend.” And what does she get? Exactly what she wants.

But it’s only in season 3 when this pattern becomes apparent. The season could have easily ended with her deciding to stay at Sherman Oaks. We had already said our farewell to Paxton, and gotten this chemistry-choked, almost-love-confession between our favourite dorks:

And we think that maybe, just maybe, the season will end with Devi single and ready for her senior year. But the show says “subtlety be damned”. It demands a triumphant ending, with Devi showing up at Ben’s door, leading to what will certainly be one of the most intimate moments in the entire show.

Tonally, the story makes bold choices, and the reaction from fans is always electric. In a world of being told “no” and being conditioned to temper our expectations, Never Have I Ever is like a warm hug reminding us that even the most broken people can heal and find love.

And this brings us back to “the Ben problem”, the idea is that he must overcome his fear and confess his love to Devi. And Devi, in turn, must love herself before being able to embrace her narrative mirror.

On a show that prides itself on big endings, escapism, and romance it seems unfathomable, and almost cruel, for Devi and Ben to be in love and not be together.

The writers do not want people finishing the show, shrugging, and saying “that was a realistic ending.” They want us to watch the finale with grins too big for our faces, our hearts bursting with excitement. They want us to know that all of Ben and Devi’s suffering over the past four seasons meant something, that when Devi finally makes the right decisions, she “will find someone who loves her exactly as she is.”

Love, unvarnished and without fear. That is the true narrative promise of Never Have I Ever.

[sorenblr]

thoughts on Akihiko Yoshida? hes done several greatest game of all time contenders but I still don't know how 2 feel about him tbh

I would rank him highly, although I do think his best work belongs to a bygone era. I've always had a lot of affection for Yoshida as the Square-affiliated artist most likely to describe form with profuse hatching. The original Tactics Ogre cover is one of my favorite pieces of game art:

I think he produced his most compelling work around this period, in collaboration with Hiroshi Minagawa, and more generally prior to the onset of HD development. I don't know how deeply involved he was with the process (Minagawa is credited as supervisor in both cases), but between Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy XII, his designs have been treated to the most compelling applications of texture mapping in the medium.

I also love the lush storybook style he adopted for Four Heroes of Light, and I wish that quality had carried more cleanly into Bravely Default.

His contributions to FFXIV are obviously accomplished but they don't really stand out in my mind due to their proximity to so many other artists on that project working in a style that roughly approximates his own. I think that's something that has muddled my impression of his work over the past decade, the glut of designers seemingly trained in his style, or the new prominence of those who simply came up in the industry working in a comparable idiom, usually in the Ivalice games. The deliberately abstracted faces contrasted with baroque or luxuriously rendered dress, the almost exclusive use of earth tones etc. It's evident everywhere from certain of Kazuya Takahashi's key art in FFXVI to Naoki Ikushima's entire corpus of Yoshida-lite emulations, even Hideo Minaba's work on Granblue Fantasy.

At one point this was a perfect triangular complement to the sectors defined by Amano and Nomura, but as we recede further and further from any remaining stylistic imprint of the former and all the appealing extravagance is bled from the latter, a sort of repetitious sameness sets in. It's no fault of Yoshida's, and I think his own work still consistently outshines his "imitators", but it probably accounts for my cooler feelings of late.

As an aside, the guy has definitely indulged his predilections to a greater degree as time goes on. He's settled on an anatomical template for his female characters that I find vaguely disquieting, as evinced in this Tomb Raider illustration. That one has especially chitinous proportions, but most of it is basically just, like... hippy zettai ryoiki shit. A fetish so mild that it's one step removed from being really 'into' big titties. Guys with active accounts across multiple booru image boards will be cranking their shit to 2B for long and silent aeons, when even the memory of man is only a shadow over the wine-dark sea.

I would still like another game where he's allowed a fuller reign over design responsibilities. Like Nomura, he's reached a position of seniority that precludes him from designing anything beyond a few core characters and some key art, leaving the heft of the work to younger artists or middle-talents like Roberto Ferrari. Hopefully he'll be on tap for something other than Nier Automota phone games or FFXIV package illustrations or whatever the fuck Little Noah: Scion of Paradise is supposed to be. Damn, videogames are rough! This shit is not cooking!

[smilemuse]

THE BLUSH DOESN'T GO UNNOTICED ON AN IMMORTAL GAZE. he doesn't say anything but the temptation to take off the mask himself and lather him in affection is calling him. he resists as they aren't acquainted, or at least he's certain the other doesn't remember him from long ago. however, he knows that his features are rather unusual considering he is a fox deity. ❛ they are, ❜ he shrugs as it should be taken as a matter of fact statement. ❛ you can touch them if you like. ❜ he makes the offer so that he can validate that his fox ears are real. the color is a stark contrast to the dark clothes he's sporting, but being an inari the color of his ears & white were pure snow.

denji's reaction to his proposal despite how outlandish it amuses yoshida to no end. the way the other boy's face reddens at the thought of being yoshida's, or even the fact that yoshida himself wants his first kiss as a currency. yoshida truly desires to make denji his, of course he wants the other to fall in love with him naturally. he could handle the stages, however slow they may be. for him, time is nothing but a unit of measurement that changes like the color of trees. yoshida would wait for denji & that much he's certain of.

❛ what issue would i possibly have with you? i'm serious about you.❜ not that being serious meant suddenly popping out of thin air, but he knows it took awhile for him to reveal himself. yoshida had wanted to get to this status within his lineage before coming back to the blonde. yoshida wants the free reigns to do what he likes while also training his next-in-line. ❛ i'm sure you've heard tales of a fox bride, i'm just sticking to those traditions. some can be humans, it's not of unheard of. man or not. ❜ not that yoshida would make his preferences known although the declaration itself should be more telling than what it is.

a smile still graces his hidden lips at denji's statements. ❛ i'll wait until you get out and i'm more than willing to allow you to get to know me. like, i said i want you to fall in love with me.❜ there's a hum from his lips as he reaches out for denji to allow him to know that divinity can exist between flesh & bone. ❛ you can take my mask off, i don't mind revealing myself to you.❜ there's a gentleness to this act, a breeze of cool air that soothes anyone on a hot day. his thumb rubs small circles along the back of denji's hand.

truth be told, yoshida doesn't know a thing about love either.. however, he does know his crush on the other has blossomed into a quiet devotion & the favoritism he's always willing to show within the shrine. aside from denji, the only person he's shown a good side to is aki himself. there is nothing but respect from someone who governs the people of this shrine to making homages to him.

denji's face falls subtly, blush dusting his cheeks as disbelief also settles on his features. he's not used to someone being so bold with him; even at school he doesn't get this much attention unless it's other guys complaining to him about their girlfriends using him as a seat and starting fights. his eyes are wide, searching for something hidden behind the mask beyond the playful lilt the voice behind it seems to give. denji is unsure what to think when he's almost sure he'd never met the other before.

“haah — there's no way those things are actually real,” denji mutters with a tilt of his head, and for once, steps towards the other man to get a closer look. it's embarrassing now, denji notices, how much taller the other man is compared to him. it's the first time he's ever felt small; it definitely doesn't help the blush on his face too, but he can pretend it's not there so as long as it's not acknowledged.

denji is quiet for a moment, taking a generous moment to consider everything. this guy is seriously insane, he concludes. he doesn't know if he should ask for some kind of proof beyond the ears and tail. as for what kind of feats their god should be able to perform, he wouldn't know of either. he's about a good second from telling the guy off for impersonating a god when the name makes him stop. the name yoshida isn't forgotten, but scarce few would refer to the current god by that name. only the priest himself and the caretakers of the shrine know him by this name, or rather the lineage from which the inari come from. denji knew little about the hierarchy, but from what he does know is no one would call him by the family name so casually. maybe there is some proof to his claim.

however all thoughts cease altogether when the big question is answered. denji stares at yoshida for a moment unblinking, face contorting into mortified bewilderment; flustered at the proposition of marriage and having his first kiss stolen away. his face is a furious shade of red, and he can't see anything, but he's pretty damn sure that behind that stupid fucking mask, the bastard has some kind of shit eating grin. “w-what the hell, dude; what's yer issue,” denji hisses, fighting his voice down from his surprised heightened pitch down to normal. “ y-your what? bride????? dude, i'm a man, in case yer dumb mask doesn't make you see well. besides, i'm in school; i can't get married to anyone, and i'm not gunna marry someone i don't even know. i don't even know what your face looks like.”

[thebrokenpaintbox]

An illustration vaguely inspired by the shin-hanga of Yoshida Hiroshi.

I tried my best to research what onsen are actually like for this drawing, since I’ve never been. However, I found a million little details I got wrong only after drawing this, so please take this rendition with a grain of salt!

[batbeato]

so I started playing persona 5 tactica the other day. at the moment I'm finishing up the first kingdom (Marie). I thought I might share my thoughts. I promise I am having a blast playing tactica but I am also a little hater who latches onto what I don't like and must exposit about it for hours before I return to the fun parts.

With that said. I cannot stand Toshiro.

As far as design goes, he's pretty much forgettable. He looks like the standard politician/businessman. He could be in the background of an anime, in one of those scenes where the politicians are reacting to the main cast, and all of the politicians look the same.

As far as character, I have been slightly spoiled, I'm vaguely aware he goes apeshit at some point. However, how he generally acts is... boring. It feels like a recycled, worse version of Zenkichi (they have him being shocked about the Metaverse, they have him being less physically able than the Phantom Thieves) in some areas, but while Zenkichi's personality is compelling, Toshiro's is not.

Zenkichi, from the very beginning, is a character with divided loyalties. He makes himself interesting because he is an adult who believes in the Phantom Thieves' innocence when it comes to what's happening in Strikers, but he is also loyal to his boss. Over the course of the story, we learn more about his history, his struggles as a father, and his struggles with the corruption of the system.

Toshiro starts out as a man with amnesia as to why he's even relevant to the plot. The Phantom Thieves compare him to past corrupt politicians (Shido) that they've stopped, but they are also so willing to trust him and his strategies (which should be entirely unneeded, as Makoto is already the designated strategist of the group) that they appoint him as the bridge between the Rebel Corps and the Phantom Thieves.

Toshiro's gags are about how he's very skilled at negotiating and running away. They come off as flat and get on my nerves constantly.

Rather than a character that fits in well with the Phantom Thieves as a fellow outcast, he's a man with power for whom his easy inclusion in the group - which has had issues with politicians and authority from the beginning - seems ridiculous.

As his backstory with Marie was unveiled, I also found the connection made between him and Haru to be similarly ridiculous. Haru is a young woman, still in high school. She does not have the ability to tell her father 'no' due to her age and gender (as well as years of less than ideal parenting, I'm sure). However, Toshiro is an adult. In Japan, you must be at least 25 to be a member of the lower house (and 30 to be a member of the upper house). He is an adult, a man, and should have been more than capable of telling his father that he would prefer a different spouse for a financial backing.

Marie does seem to be very abusive, and I'm not discounting that, but from how the story is presented, it seems that Toshiro was aware of this from the start. He had the ability to say no. He did not exercise it. The story frames it as Toshiro being forced into an arranged marriage. He is a grown adult. It is infuriating.

Not to mention the fact that while Persona 5 had its first villain be a man abusing his power to torment male students and sexually abuse female students, now Persona 5 Strikers and Persona 5 Tactica have both had their first villains be a woman abusing her power to torment/abuse men. I sincerely wonder why this decision was made.

I'm sure Toshiro has more interesting qualities to offer to the story as I keep playing, but these initial attempts to endear him to me are awful, and I can't help but feel that, if they did want another adult character in the story, they could have reused characters from Persona 5 (Sojiro, Iwai, Yoshida) or even reused Zenkichi from Strikers. Toshiro, as a politician, is a member of the very system that the Phantom Thieves are often fighting against, as it is a system filled with corruption and abuse of power.

Anyway, besides Toshiro, every day I am haunted by the fact that Elle was localized as Erina for no reason except to make me suffer. The Persona localization team is... interesting, and often makes decisions I disagree with that wildly change the meaning of lines.

Otherwise, Elle is a serviceable character who's very fun, and has little charm points like her hilarious names for battle plans. I'm still very aware that she exists to be cute and sell the game, and to ship Joker with (for men who self insert as Joker), but she's cute. I also like that she's voiced by Mash's VA (since they both have purple hair, I think it's cute). I'm going to enjoy learning more about her as the game progresses (unlike Toshiro where I have already mentally checked out of any emotional investment and will need to be enticed back).

The gameplay is really fun. I'm playing on Normal and if I do a NG+, I'll probably play on Hard. The new artstyle also works for the game, since it's cuter but can still look serious when the mood calls for it. I like getting to see the main cast again, even if I already feel like Strikers is the more well-written spinoff.

[possiblylando]

So like the horsemen are fiends, right?

Tumblr is being a shitter with images right now so it'll get them scarce.

Yoru is the first horsemen we see actually take human form in the series. Yoru is absolutely a fiend or some kind of special freak but still within the range of a fiend (I'll talk about Yoru a bit later). This of course raised a question in my mind; Why are the horsemen humans? Well theres no good answer except them being fiends. We know fiends are only really identifiable by having weird traits on their heads. They don't even really have to be huge traits because we see with power it's just her eyes and horns. What do all the horsemen have? Weird eyes. We see in Yoru's bird from she has the same eyes as she does in human form. That's the fiend trait they all take, they're apart of the same 'group' so the idea that their fiend trait would overlap isn't that weird. Additionally Yoru still has the scar relating to how Asa died. It's possible the others have similar scars (or it only stuck on Yoru because it was on Asa's head so the fiend trait carried that over) This also supports one of the weirdest things from part 1.

Nayuta shows up rather quickly after Makima dies. Makima is probably only dead for a few days (maybe weeks) before Nayuta shows up. The control devil reincarnated into a human body in that time obviously. Yet Nayuta is like 6+ years old during the end of part 1. It may be morbid to say but the idea of a kid dying and being turned into a fiend isn't unlikely. Fami just randomly shows up yet she's able to stay in school, infact it doesn't seem like anyone knew she was the famine devil until Yoshida showed up to talk to her about it. Especially because nobody seems to be after he nor care about the fact their classmate is a fiend. A school girl being killed by a devil and then being fiend-ified continues to align with this.

Okay heres the Yoru part. This is a theory I've been conflicted on for a while, I've mentioned it in other posts but I'll talk about it here. Asa isn't real. Yoru is a fiend who constructed an alternate personality on instinct using the memories left in asa's corpse's brain. We know fiends have some level of connection to the body they're in since the violence fiend still had memories from it's past life. As the War Devil conflict is apart of Yoru's nature, so creating a personality to be at odds with herself aligns with that purpose. Additionally having that second personality allows Yoru to create stronger weapons because of the sentimentally strengthening that her weapons undergo. Fiends seem to lose some of their devil memories (its vague so they might not but evidence seems to support their devil memories being hazy) so it's possible the War Devil did it on purpose but then forgot she did it entirely.

[p5x-theories]

Now that Messa my beloved tumblr sexyman is out

Can you give us what you believe is going to happen with Cherish?

As in like what type of character do you think he's going to be what type of damage,what personality traits, how you think he'll interact with wonder and friends all that jazz

And things like what type of weapons he'll use

just your personal theory/what you'd like to see from Cherish since it'll probably be awhile until we get more on him

(sorry for the longer question)

Haha, well, we really don't have much to go off of! I'm assuming you're asking about the new teammate coming in 2.3.2, who's suspected to be Cherish, but we don't know for sure yet?

If the upcoming teammate is Cherish, then we know he's an Ice type Defense teammate, much like Soy, although probably more powerful, since he's a 5-star. I'm expecting him to have more medieval/historical weapons, given his appearance? But who really knows, haha. He just seems to have a sort of knight/paladin vibe to me, so I'm making vague guesses based on that.

We only have two Defense teammates right now (Soy and Yuki), so I'm really curious to see how he'll work. Soy boosts the max health of his teammates and draws enemy fire, while Yuki gives shields to the team, but I have no idea if Cherish will operate similarly to one of them, or do something completely new. I'm trying to think of what new things he could even do; buffing dodge chance, maybe...? Or lowering enemy accuracy or damage...? Helping cover the weaknesses of teammates...?

The most interesting thing if Cherish is the new ice teammate is the implications. The announcement described the new ice teammate as “What kind of different story will this elegant and generous senior have?”, which doesn't match with what we previously knew about Cherish, which is that he's supposed to be the character that appears in Kiyoshi's Confidant (and a first year, like Kiyoshi). If the new ice teammate is Cherish, it means that they repurposed the character, and Cherish is no longer Kiyoshi's friend Take-kun.

Which would be a bit of a shame, but not a complete surprise, since it sounds like the Chinese fandom has complained about Confidants focusing on the character's relationship with another character (and not just Wonder), as is the case with Yaoling and Yukimi, Kayo and Reo, Tomoko and Kotone, etc. and the developers have been moving away from doing that. If they no longer wanted Kiyoshi's Confidant to focus on his relationship with Take-kun as much, it makes sense to repurpose Take-kun's model into a different character entirely.

(Not to get slightly off-topic, but that does then have concerning implications for whether Narumi Nashimoto (from Merope's Confidant), Tamayo Yoshida (from Motoha's Confidant), and Takumi Serizawa (from Shun's Confidant) will ever become Phantom Idols, though it's really hard to say for sure when things are this flexible.)

From such a little snippet of information about Cherish in the post, it's really hard for me to speculate what he might be like, but I do wonder about the word "generous". What's he generous with? Money would be the obvious one, but it could also be his time (helping people), or some kind of item (food, school supplies, etc.?), or it could even be a misleading mistranslation courtesy of Google Translate, haha. I suspect his Confidant might revolve around why he's generous, though, and/or the potential drawbacks of generosity. But that's a bit of a shot in the dark, when we literally have one sentence to base this off of!

Of course, it's also possible that the new ice teammate isn't Cherish, since they only used a real world name for the character, and didn't give the codename yet. In that case, it could be Lume instead, since that codename has been sitting in the files for a bit, or someone new entirely. If it isn't Cherish, that basically overwrites everything I just said about the implications for other characters, haha. But it also means I have virtually nothing to go off of, other than the speculation about what kind of abilities he might have that I did earlier, and my guessing about what "generous" might mean here, so I don't have much else to add.

I hope that's at least sort of the response you were hoping for, though, anon!

[cacaitos]

the movie adaptation of akimi yoshida's sakura sono/the cherry orchard is kinda weird. it's not bad just very divorced from the manga. yes it keeps the vague premise of the girl's school and a play but it's not like it feels like yoshida yk? but it's one of those senior year flower of our youth kinds of stories, which has a nice feeling, tho those can be hit ot miss wheter they resonate with x or y viewers.

[rattled-shadow]

I accidentally made a furry au for persona 5

Well, kind of

It's an au where everything is the same but everyone has animal ears (kemonomimi). So, they're not quite furry lol

I'm unofficially calling it my kemonomimi au or km!au

More details on how animalistic everyone is:

Depending on the animal they are, everyone has the ears, appendages (eg. tail, wings, tentacles) and even teeth and tongue of their creature

It is more common for people to be one animal but hybrids exist

There is a loose rule that if two people are genetically related, they, at least, share some animal traits

They do not have both animal ears and human ears, just animal ears

The characters I've come up with so far:

(If you have any ideas for the characters I'm missing or have better ideas for the ones that aren't, tell me! Also feel free to ask me about my choices (most have explanations lol))

Let's start with the ones who I'm most solid on: Palace rulers

Kamoshida - ram

Madarame - a goat peacock hybrid. He has the wings and tail of a peacock and ears and horns of a goat

Kaneshiro - cat (maaaybe calico)

Futaba - she has the same tentacles as Necronomicon coming from her back. The sclera of her eyes are black and her irises are glowing green. She can disguise these traits to make her look like she's an octopus girl

Okumura - wolf

Sae - crocodile

Shido - lion ears and a (golden) snake tail. He also has teeth similar to a lion and a forked tongue. Humorously, he's still bald

Yaldabaoth - he has a big ol' mechanical serpent tail and vaguely feline ears made out of wings. Mecha dragon <3

Maruki - he has the same tentacles of Azathoth coming from his back. His sclera is black and his irises are glowing blue. Just like Futaba, he can disguise these traits to make himself look like a squid man

Now for ones I'm less solid on: the Phantom Thieves

Ren - black cat

Morgana - the only change is his human form gaining his cat ears and tail

Ryuji - maybe monkey or lemur (either with gold fur or black fur he dyes gold)

Ann - jaguar

Yusuke - fox

Makoto - crocodile

Futaba - see above lol

Haru - wolf

Akechi - he has the tail and wings of a crow but has the same sharp teeth and forked tongue as his dad

Sumire - squirrel

Zenkichi - wolf or dog

And now for confidants (and co.):

Yoshida - sun bear

Iwai - monitor lizard

Kaoru - gecko

Sojiro - probably civet lol