karezaru

[karezaru]

AGAINST THE NIGHT ,

a sentence starter prompts list comprised of quotes from the novel a torch against the night by sabaa tahir. please be advised that this list may involve topics including, but not limited to, murder, death, and violence. change verbiage as needed.

how did they find us so fast?

if your sins were blood, you would drown in a river of your own making.

you ask what am i, but what are you?

stay out of the way. no matter how bad it looks, don't interfere, don't try to help.

when the fear takes over, use the only thing more powerful, more indestructible, to fight it: your spirit. your heart.

we have to keep going. we have to get out of the city.

if something happens to me, don't fear.

you took long enough. i’ve waited hours.

if you think i need an army to destroy you, you are mistaken.

don’t falter now, fool. you’ll regret it.

bad luck to lie to a comrade-in-arms.

do you enjoy it? the hurt you cause? the pain? i can see it. you carry it with you. why? does it bring you happiness?

i don’t mean to–i don’t want to hurt people.

you destroy all those who get close to you.

you are dead, you just don’t know it yet.

you’ve been blacked out for hours. i thought you might not wake up.

don’t you dare fade out on me again.

i can’t do this without you.

stay. don’t go back. i need you.

i’m going to hurt you. i hurt everyone. 

try to stay. you were gone for so long last time, and i need you to stay.

tell me another story. tell me another memory. something good.

if you care for [name], then do not let [name] care for you.

like the poison that rages within you, you have no antidote.

willpower alone cannot change one’s fate.

thirteen fractures is nothing.

i’m about as good with tears as i am with declarations of love.

every time i stare into your eyes, i see my nightmares.

now you seem older and harder and, perhaps most terrifyingly, wiser.

he insisted that killing you would lead to my doom.

to be honest, i’m tempted to slit your throat just to see what happens. perhaps i still will.

i’m yours to command, my lord.

i don’t have allies. i have people who owe me things and people who want things and people who use me and people whom i use.

you swore to be the sword that executes my will. now is the chance to prove your loyalty.

i need him dead and i want you to be the one who kills him. 

i want you to watch the light die in his eyes. i want him to know it’s the person he cares for most in the world who shoved a blade through his heart.

i want it to haunt you for all your days.

he’s sly enough to escape the bounty hunters quite easily, but you and i both know that he would never be able to escape you.

how do i kill the man i love?

forgive me, but how can you speak to me of obsession?

small victories have made you daring. do not let them make you stupid.

you have your orders. carry them out.

it will destroy you if you’re not careful.

would you care to hear my theory?

your injuries tell me you’ve seen battle.

the problem with greedy people is that they think everyone is as greedy as they are.

we’re surrounded.

i’ll catch you.

almost there. stay with me now.

i’m glad you’re alright and i know you’re risking so much to do this for me. thank you.

you kept me alive. you kept yourself alive. 

you’re as brave as your mother. don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

i can’t help the people i’ve hurt. i can’t change what i did to them. 

if i do this, then perhaps i’ll make up for some of the evil i’ve brought into this world.

how sure are you?

as long as you want to save him, then i will help you. i made a vow. i’m not going to break it.

i swore fealty. you made me swear fealty.

i trusted you. i believed you. i did what you wanted.

do not let despair take you. hold true to your heart.

this is what it means to have faith, to believe in something greater than yourself.

the blood, it won’t come off. it’s–it’s everywhere. 

most successful missions are just a series of badly averted disasters.

either we lost them, or they’re being very clever about keeping themselves hidden. i’m thinking the latter.

you want to talk now? after weeks of not even looking at me?

i look at you even when i shouldn’t.

i am the last person who will judge you for killing in your own defense. look at what i am. look at my life.

i left you alone because i thought you might find comfort in solitude. 

so much death. it’s everywhere. what’s the point then of living? will i ever escape it?

your emotions make you human. even the unpleasant ones have a purpose. don’t lock them away. if you ignore them, they just get louder and angrier.

why do you do that? you close yourself up. you shut me out because you don’t want me to get close. what about what i want? you won’t hurt me, [name].

i don’t trust you, not about this.

do not pull rank with me.

don’t take offense, but i don’t know you. so you’ll forgive me if i don’t trust you.

how long until they kill each other, d’you think? and who strikes first?

i won’t hurt you, but you can’t let fear take you.

i’m hurt, [name]. you’re not nearly as friendly as the first time we met.

if you do betray me, i will not go down without a fight.

even your ally is helping us. more reason for you to do the same.

you didn’t get to where you are by breaking promises. grant my favor. fighting it is a waste of time.

it has changed you, [name]. it does matter.

always so afraid of the darkness within. don’t you see? so long as you fight the darkness, you stand in the light.

i’ve been looking all over for you. stay with me! we have to get out of here.

i’ll distract them and meet you there.

you were my best friend. i can’t just throw that away.

don’t. don’t call me that. everybody calls me that. but not you..

i wouldn’t expect you to understand.

i have to leave, but i don’t want to hurt you. i’m so sick of hurting people.

i miss you. i’ll always miss you. even when I’m a ghost.

keep your head down and stay.

family is worth dying for, killing for. fighting for them is all that keeps us going when everything else is gone.

i know what it is to do things that you don’t want to for a greater good.

you are my temple. you are my priest. you are my prayer. you are my release.

we both know I’m not long for this world.

exhaustion makes for failed missions.

i’m the reason he’s dead.

sleep where you wish. i will not disturb you.

atop all else, are you an oathbreaker too?

keep your vow to me, and i will bring order to this empire. betray me, and watch it burn.

i hope i see you again.

forget that you did not say goodbye–you did not even give me a chance to object to your decision.

secrets are a snake’s way of doing business.

the vow I made to you, it was all for nothing.

most people are nothing but glimmers in the great darkness of time. but you, [name], are no swift-burning spark. you are a torch against the night–if you dare to let yourself burn.

you see assurances. i can offer you none.

breaking your fealty will have its cost, as will keeping it. only you can weigh those costs.

you think knowing will make it easier, but knowing makes it worse.

knowing is a curse.

stay alive. protect them. help any others you can. that’s the only payment i expect i’ll get.

what honor is there in a useless death?

how’s this for a trade: you tell me what i want, and i don’t gut you.

in the cold, you don’t realize how much you’re pushing yourself. you’ll collapse if you’re not careful.

we won’t get anywhere if we’re dead.

you’ll exhaust yourself into illness.

pain is how you know you loved her.

i wish didn’t remember. i wish i didn’t love her.

what point is there in being human if you don’t let yourself feel anything?

you’re not afraid. why aren’t you afraid?

true suffering lies in the expectation of pain as much as in the pain itself.

are we fools for finding comfort in the midst of such madness?

what is there to live for if not the moments of joy? what is there to fight for?

give me your guilt, i’ll hold it for you.

why didn’t you listen to me? look at you.

you always think everyone is your responsibility, but we’re not.

you are loved, you are not alone, and you deserve to know that.

you said i didn’t have to do it alone.

you brood and make questionable choices that put your own life at risk, but you’re a good person.

failure doesn’t define you. it’s what you do after you fail that determines whether you are a leader or a waste of perfectly good air.

what did we fight for if it was just going to end like this?

it is as if your very fate is to leave a trail of destruction.

you have repented long enough.

[karezaru]

happy monday. u know what else starts with an m? mafuyu... thinking about the loml today

particularly thinking about her cut content. like it's insane that there's refs of another model of mafuyu and all this exploration of her character but y'all wanted to scrap it + proper exploration between her and yagami's relationship when it was originally supposed to play a bigger part, keeping things in limbo just so u can shove the subpar dating minigame in the player's face and not make them feel bad as they do it (and yet they still give u the ability to cheat on the girls within said minigame...? despite yagami...?? being against infidelity...???)... it's the fact these decisions end up hurting her character bcus they obvs didn't rly know what to do with her after cutting most of her content from the 1st game. by the 2nd she has, like, ~4 appearances in total? underused as HELL even tho she's just as vital to the cast</3 she has smmm potential... esp with her backstory (part of a hit-and-run alongside her mother, who she loses as a result). we could've gotten more into it and her legal philosophies as a prosecutor and how it'd contrast with yagami. same with her and saori since they're also oppositions in court... ykwim.... but no let's just keep her on the periphery.... don't even get me started on her and yagami and how complicated and delicious their shit could've been. rgg just loves fumbling things all the time. drives me freaking crazy... [spits in their eye]

[karezaru]

@wampirszy: i wasn't expecting company.

“oh, is this a bad time?” rows of herbs, flowers, and vegetables lined wooden tables, their colors vibrant and contrasting with deep green foliage. the scent of damp and sweet earth lingered in the air as yagami stepped further inside, accompanying regis at his stool and workbench— a space for quiet thought, steady hands, and the slow magic of patience. he toyed with a half-filled watering can, observing the greenhouse in its vast glory. “didn't mean to intrude.”

[karezaru]

@giriure: i can get you whatever you need except time.

of course. the one thing i actually needed, he thought as he slumped back in his chair. files were splayed out between them— a list of possible suspects, narrowed down to three. “that's fine. sleep's optional anyway,” catching how bitter that sounded, yagami raised his hands, half-hearted. “kidding.” ...mostly. “i'll take what i can get. appreciate the help,” he met with mana's eyes again, now gesturing to the faces circled in red. “we're close. just need the last pieces. how fast d'you think we can move?”

[karezaru]

yagami needs to laugh more i swear

[karezaru]

time to post my favorite edit again

[karezaru]

there's always something new, always something crazy, in a city that never sleeps; even after a case like the mole's. their neon paradise is bustling more than usual as yagami waded through the streets, shaking off the remainders of a nap cut short. he's got alps coffee in one hand, phone in the other, checking chatter with the bitter tang of caffeine. another attack, it seems— a woman, mid-twenties, found bleeding out in front of her assumed building block, now in intensive care with slim survival chances, perpetuator(s) still at large. the cogs are already beginning to turn in his head as he made a sharp left off shichifuku and towards hills garden, then the hotel district. maybe a stalker? someone (more than one person...?) with a grudge? relationship troubles? or was it just a random hit? he took another swig of his drink. whatever it entailed, he's getting a head start, fully expecting his phone to ring up anytime now. he'd have to catch kaito up to speed later.

it doesn't take him long to find the crime site, what with the yellow tape closing it off and several persons, authorities and citizens alike, surrounding like vultures. he side-stepped to get a clearer view, until he's met with a familiar face— shams, in the flesh. a conundrum in the shape of a woman; something he couldn't solve, no matter how hard he tried in the few years they've known each other. they haven't met up in a good while. not since the events with the addc, if memory served right; all that happened thereafter. he inched closer to the tape separating him from her, the encompassing scene, letting out a chuckle as she spoke, dried and quiet.

“heh. i'd say i'm still relatively unlucky.” he looked past her, eyed the pools of scarlet staining the asphalt. it's stark under the evening sun. at her proposal, he nodded with a sure, tossing the now-empty paperboard cup into a nearby bin (and took note to check there, too, as well as nearby areas when he had the chance; didn't hurt to, you never know what might spring up) and carefully stepped inside. his turn to take in the details. no one protested against his entry, either. they knew who he was by now. yagami pulled out his phone, listening to shams' recount, taking pictures, jotting down things of importance— every inch of this place mattered, barren as it was now.

“i agree,” he met her gaze half-way, thumbing through his gallery, double-checking his photos. “curious if there's any skin trapped under the victim's nails, too— given she put up a fight. trace it back to her assailant.” and if there was, he hoped it's scraped off and sent for analysis while she's still alive, and not in the morgue. hoped it wouldn't reach to the latter outcome. hoped she'd pull through. he does one more look-over of the bordered space, and as if satisfied with his findings, which isn't much, really, yagami shoved his phone back into his pocket. he turned to shams fully now, hand placed on his hip. “genda'll be happy to see you. saori and hoshino, too.”

there's something elusive about you.

man had a limit to their longevity and a waste of time had been a waste of life itself.  or at least, that's what she always said to herself and everyone in her old line of work. shams, and the girl she once was, tumbling over her twenties with the embrace of the life that never leaves her, would’ve scrunched her nose at the thought of wasting away her time debating on what to do. now, she thinks otherwise. that being said, she hadn’t quite reached the right age to have been able to find comfort in absolute, deafening silence. the years she spent in organized crime had been nothing of that sort and the change of scenery after years between guns and trenches was a little… unsettling. luckily enough, perched on the other end of her sanity, kabukichō had been a blessed touch between normalcy and unorganized activity for her. and truthfully, it reminded her of the sadeghiyeh district in tehran at times.

now she can be found crouching before the apartment complex where the crime had happened, unaffected by the background noise this had caused, noticing how this was part of the reason why she had pushed for these legislative and institutional changes as much as she did. it is in moments like these that she perceives how she carries an allusion of her personality when she was back home. she may not be in the mafia anymore, but her body language remains the same. it's not easily detected by the regular civilian, but the people in the same lifestyle will always see through her. her head tilts at the sound of @karezaru's voice, a hint of a smile on her lips as she stands up. ❛ elusive, is it? you flatter me, yagami. ❜ she turns after making a mental note, eyes leaving the clues in front of her and instead glancing over at him. ❛ what about you, then? you're always at the scene of the crime. if you were anyone else, i'd call you the universe's unluckiest bystander. ❜

she hums, then, her eyes drifting away for a second when an idea pops in her head. ❛ care to join me? i believe there's some information that will help clear things up, starting with the victim's call log. i have an itch she's made calls to the police, most of which were not taken seriously. ❜ a pause. it's a reoccurrence in situations like these, but she needs more than a gut feeling to develop the interventions further. ❛ might as well head over to the law office after, before i begin the case review. ❜

[karezaru]

YOUR MUSE IN BATTLE.

fights honorably / fights dirty

prefers close-quarters / prefers ranged combat

chats during / goes silent

low pain tolerance / high pain tolerance

attacks in bursts / attacks steadily

goes for the kill / aims to disarm / fights defensively / strikes first

gets visibly frustrated / shouts while attacking

uses strategy / focuses on the battle / experiences conflicting thoughts during battle

rushes in recklessly / tries to read their opponent before engaging

fights wildly / fights calmly / fights apathetically / fights with anger / fights with excitement

fights because they have to / fights because they want to

fights without regard to wounds / runs away when wounded / hides wounds / takes a blow to protect another

prefers a blade / prefers a gun / prefers hand-to-hand combat / prefers a bow / prefers a shield / prefers a personalized weapon / prefers magic or spells

their greatest weakness is physical / their greatest weakness is mental / their greatest weakness is emotional

transforms for battle / fights as they appear

relies on strength / doubts their strength / relies on speed

uses everything they have / proceeds with caution / hides their full potential

exhausts quickly / has high stamina

behaves arrogantly / brags after landing a hit / belittles their abilities

uses psychological tactics / uses brute strength

avoids civilians / strikes down civilians

damages surroundings / avoids damaging surroundings

signature fighting style / makes it up as they go

mastered skill-set / learning their skill-set

fancy footwork / sloppy footwork

messy fighter / elegant fighter

accepts defeat / refuses defeat / begs for mercy

compliments their opponent / insults their opponent

uses unnecessary movements / moves efficiently / barely moves

prefers to dodge / prefers to block

defends their blindside / has no blindside / leaves blindsides vulnerable

uses all available advantages / strictly uses one main method

plays around / holds back / fights ruthlessly / shows mercy

waits for an opponent to be ready / strikes when opponent isn't ready

fears death / fears pain / fears killing / a secret fourth thing

has ptsd / avoids fighting

has killed / refuses to kill

wants to die standing / would succumb slowly

tagged by: @baroviana ehehe thank u 😼 tagging: i'm p sure most have done this alr, but if not? steal it!

[karezaru]

me when i talk about yagami

[karezaru]

📂 if we can give examples i wanna hear random ones abt things like trust, sentimentality, memories ... or also anything u wanna talk abt

so what you're saying is to go insane. jumpscare walls of text once again below the cut<3

trust 🤝 truth

i love love loveee exploring this part of yagami bcus he's a very haunted multifaceted person who is/who knows how to be civil and cordial and play his cards right (ignore that he's a bit of a dickhead Despite that), granting him many connections in his line of work, but his trust ultimately doesn't come easy, there's a calculated distance that he puts out, esppp in his relentless pursuit for the truth. there's a saying that's like... "without truth, there's no trust"?? which is very in-tune with the nuances of his character n overall story, if that... makes sense? like truth as a currency of trust is fundamental to yagami, both as a pi and as someone still trying to reconcile with old wounds, reclaiming trust in Himself and his moral compass (esp after seeing firsthand what betrayal, negligence, moral compromise, etc can lead to), trying to make sense of a world that failed him and sm others, and he's doing it by going after the one thing that hasn't completely done him wrong, whcih is the truth. he chases the truth as hard as he does bcus he wants to believe in ppl/believe the truth matters/believe justice can heal (and maybe that's foolish, but that's part of his character, part of being human), to "fix the world," so to speak, to earn back the right to believe in it. there's so many fucking layers to this, man, like:

following his parents' death, yagami's left with no support system, faced with so much anger and grief that no kid should be bearing alone, doesn't Know How to handle alone; and as a result, he opts to let those emotions ruthlessly eat him alive and trust no one back then. didn't know Who to trust in kabukicho's dog eat dog world (to a degree he at least trusted masaru, who he briefly worked part-time under and now takes pi jobs from), until he's picked up by matsugane, who helped him grow as a person alongside genda, breaking him out of the trajectory that his life was teetering towards, becoming far more agreeable as they helped him pursue his law profession

then flash forward to the entire case with okubo, where at this point yagami's put full faith in his client's innocence, only to watch as that's spat right back in his face after emi's death and okubo's found "responsible" for another murder, thus yagami becomes disillusioned, riddled with guilt and grief and so many emotions it's like he's right back at zero again (esp when u consider his dad Also let an alleged killer free and how thaht verdict's met with more death), the system failing him (+others) at every turn, him struggling to trust his own judgment (badum tss), thinking he can't discern an innocent from a murderer, struggling to retain his ideal of righteousness and justice, etc etc. u get the gist...

we don't see how bad of a spiraling episode that he went through after he stepped down, but you can imagine how shutdown he was and how that walks with him as we play. it's even stated by mafuyu at one point in the first game where she's like "wow yagami u don't look like a zombie anymore. there's finally a spark in ur eyes" in reference to him hunting down and unveiling the conspiracies surrounding the mole and ad-9; which is where we watch yagami's character progression as he seeks for the truth from both sides, as it's the only grounding force he still believes in; and because, again, truth, to him, is proof of sincerity, of integrity, of smth real. he's making sure his (+others') faith isn't misplaced again

and then there's lost judgment... 🚬where instead of building upon yagami's worldview as we know it, we watch as it's dismantled, exposing the cracks in his philosophy and forces him to face the consequences of his own convictions and whatnot; how clinging to that moral framework isn't gonna hold up as much as he thinks this time. the narrative and its characters and sensitive topics (bullying, suicide, vigilantism, vague gestures at more political conflict) challenges him bcus it's not just about good vs evil anymore, it's about how painful and messy it is to do the right thing, how even that right thing is subjective, unstable, even brutal, the consequences of being afraid of discovering the truth, how deeply people have lost trust in the systems in place, in people, in institutions, in any promise of fairness or safety, how truth can also destroy trust, by revealing failures, betrayals, any corruption beneath the surface, how lies and secrets are also poison and how it further damages the lives around them (like in the first game, just executed differently), etc. ykwim... it's sooo interesting to get into and we watch as yagami grapples with his ideals and judgment another time, mhm mhm... i can go more into it like how lj pits him against people who have arrived at radically different conclusions about how to fight injustice and whatnawt and how kuwana serves as the perfect foil to yagami in that regard, how this directly targets yagami's parents who died to vigilantism too (wish that was addressed in-game but tch...), but this is already long as HELL and is treading into other topics. u get the spit that i'm flapping

sentimentality

i alr kinda got into it a lil bit, but yagami's someone who Is deeply sentimental, even if it's not smth worn openly on his sleeve... it's a quiet, complicated strength; a buried emotionality that drives him<3 and while ppl might say it also blinds him, i'd argue the opposite, that it allows him to see the world for what it truly is, insists on believing that ppl r worth saving despite, bcus as it's been established, yagami's sentimental about justice. it's smth worth believing in even after it's failed him n others, holds onto the belief that the system can change, no matter much he's burdened by what he sees, it's what keeps him fighting with a world that doesn't always care abt what's right, just what works... he's sentimental about ppl, believes they too can change and he treads w this quiet dignity that comes from empathy, not just obligation. his sentimentality is shown in how he rmbrs the pain ppl carry, how he listens to them, how he fights on their behalf even when they push him away; and this is where i can bring him up proper, but enter kuwana, who is haunted by the same failures of justice as yagami, but instead of staying in that bubble of emotional tension and uncertainty, he turns toward control, burned out on belief and making his own version of justice, operating on a cold-eyed realistic approach about how justice actually works, who forces yagami to confront the possibility that maybe his own beliefs is just naivety in disguise. wants yagami to admit that this world doesn't deserve mercy, and/or that change is a lie, empathy is a waste, so on so forth, but yagami refuses. not bcus he's stubborn or whatever but bcus he knows that the second HE gives up that belief in ppl, in the possibility of (more) change, he becomes part of the same system thaht failed everyone else. it's so so so good... rahhhh

memories

i sound like a broken record, but with someone like yagami who's shaped by tragedy at a very young age n continues to face tragedy as he grows, u can imagine the emotional scars. how deep they go. how quiet and corrosive the impact is; he remembers everything in the finest detail, even as he actively tries to pretend that he doesn't. the past never stays in the past with him, it's always on the verge of re-entering the room; he's gotten in the habit of seeking better coping tactics after the first game, but it used to be a p bad trauma-loop case where like. if he slows down, he feels, and if he feels, he breaks and spirals Viscerally. that's the last thing he wants to do. he's said it himself in-game, he can't stand still for too long, doesn't Want to stand still for too long, so he builds himself around motion, and it becomes very self-destructive in the way he represses and overworks, forgoes eating most of the time, not allowing himself to rest, let alone heal. rinse and repeat<3. and it's not just a way for him to escape, but also a sort of punishment, as he's denying himself any comfort bcus he doesn't think he's earned it; of course, the entire point of the first game is him confronting his past and there's catharsis in the end with that as they unveil the truth, and helps him (+ other parties involved) move forward. this also makes his emotional relapse in the second game all the more poignant and brutal, bcus sawa's death makes him fall backwards on his ass as it reopens those wounds, represents a new kind of loss that rhymes too much with emi's (another innocent becoming collateral, how they try to sweep their death under the rug). Yeah. [slaps yagami's head] this bad boy can fit so much long-term trauma. it's a fucking mess n a half<3 ofc he has happy memories too, there's plentyyy of those and he rejoices in them v often. but at least, as i said, he looks for better coping methods. just not therapy<3

miscellany

bare minimum cooking skills. if he doesn't have a step-by-step guide, he's blowing up the entire fucking kitchen. usually relies on cup noodles or takeout... which is all funny to think about as he's very opinionated about food; but if you criticize his food if he ever cooks, he'll crumble and die 🥀

he likes to collect lil trinkets to put on his shelves. for example, the small toys from the capsule machines at higashi's arcade (he's very adamant on collecting all variations u can get, no matter how many dupes or how much it eats up his money), or plushies from any ufo catcher (notably the kitty kats, koro-nyans, and bun-chans). there's other collectables he has too, some of which r rare and hard to get now

similarly to kiryu, yagami loves pocket circuit. he's not as into it nowadays and kinda went into drone racing instead, but 1) he still has an old car build that he used to race with and 2) i like to think both protags have ran into each other once or twice at the pocket circuit stadium (forgot to add this specific bit to the previous hc ask but it's Here now)... this is kinda inspired from when takuya kimura played with mini4wd some time ago

leaning on the previous 2 points, but whether it's at the arcades, batting center, karaoke, drone/pocket circuit racing, the system he has in his office, dice n cube, etc. yagami can get very competitive. and that competitiveness only worsens depending on who he's up against

[karezaru]

that trend on tt where cat owners r buying a slab of concrete for their cat(s) to lay on... yagamicore

[karezaru]

Takayuki Yagami in JUDGMENT (finale)

[karezaru]

this is crazy

[karezaru]

📂

so because both judgment + yakuza r within the same universe, yagami's aware of what happens in yakuza from 1 and so on. he moved to kabukichō in 1998 so like. c'mon... he's lived through it all since 15; i'm not going to go into every specific event, we'll be here 4ever, but i do want to go into some dynamics yagami could've had and how i personally view them, so the rest of this is gonna be in bullet form<3:

since yagami was taken in by a patriarch from the tojo clan (major crime syndicate based in kanto and is the root to a lot of what happens), even if matsugane's family is a very miniscule subsidiary, yagami's def heard things privy to the tojo pre-2018/2019 through them, esp when he's helping other smaller crime families outside of matsugane's as well, as a lawyer and investigator. n seen like. underworld legends like kiryu, majima, saejima, etc in passing on the street, whether that's coolly or they're fighting for their life for the millionth time. < in my delusions he's at least briefly interacted with two of them cus of his connection with the tojo and his reach to other communities. yagami would admire kiryu too, to a degree (ik higashi and kaito idolized him) (in the same vein they're terrified of majima, maybe in-between with saejima). i also think it'd be funny if yagami and kiryu reminisced at some point about how they BOTH had lookalikes of themselves trying to ruin their reputations... can also see yagami briefly interacting with daigo when he had his lil gang (before he was roped into becoming chairman)

def met date. they could've met while dealing with serial killings, major conspiracies, gang wars and whatnot, n even through ayabe, since they're both dirty cops (different types, though; date's willing to rebel against the police to help those in need and/or those he cares about despite the consequences (still wished he stayed as a investigative journalist...) vs ayabe's selling info mostly for his personal benefit). given how fucked things get, date showing up in yagami's games would've been such a good lil nod...

another good nod is yagami and tanimura. their dynamic's potential is astronomical… i do believe besides takuya kimura’s roles, yagami was partially? inspired by tanimura's character (+shinada) too, like. both were disgraced, both use their opponent's strength against them (staring directly at yagami's snake style), both r kinda in that independent mindset of "i do things my way" and are willing to occasionally break the rules for their justice... yagami's 100x more idealistic than tanimura tho, and i can see SOME clashing of ideals between them... they're also both snarky asshats... it's all right there. esp with tanimura being a co-worker of date's and ayabe's at one point. also adachi's

def met akiyama and hana... i see him meeting them specifically because of akiyama's own ties with the tojo, and how he could've lent money to the matsugane + when yagami's starting out as a pi. both can coexist! possibly even lent money to yagami himself when things got particularly tough juggling his finances; i don't see yagami seeking the services of loan sharks Ever since 9 times out of 10 they're scummy as hell, but akiyama's different in that he's not the traditional type and has a unique approach to how he lends money (testing the desperation of his clients and offering loans with "no interest"), so there's potential there too... even if yagami'd take forever paying akiyama back (i can see it getting to a point where akiyama feels so bad he's like "ykno what . u can stop paying me back actually💔") as for hana, they're passing besties<3, since she deals with akiyama's clients most of the time. n helps yagami out w investigations he's on in her own way if it happens to cross paths with sky finance, whether it’s a job They assigned or otherwise. she also beats him over the head like she does with akiyama. that's my girlypop<3

enter yakuza 7 where yagami witnessed firsthand the omi alliance's (another syndicate that's based in osaka, and is often clashing with the tojo) “invasion and overthrowing the tojo clan”... ik it pissed him and his buddies awf. 100% became a hindrance to his work every now n again... witnessed the tojo's + omi's disbandment... def met ichiban a couple times, esp post-7. they'd hit it off, as that's what naturally happens when you meet ichiban most of the time, his heart of gold is infectious... tho ik they'd kinda butt heads when smth ridiculous happens. the usual. i love imagining yagami at first hearing about him and his crew stirring trouble, even saw bits of it in-person. like when aoki (governor of tokyo) comes to kabukichō for his rally and ichiban makes a surprise appearance after pretending to be dead (cus aoki tried to kill him), that's. all happening right around the corner from yagami's office. CRAZY... and since like. yagami goes to isezakichō, it opens more potential for him and ichiban (+co) to interact as well, esp if he stops by kashiwagi's bar (off the job this time) and with ichiban (+co) being a regular... bonus points if zhao's there, as well as sugiura and tsukumo since they’re operating as detectives now in yokohama...

and on the topic of zhao, who at this point in the story is a former leader of the liumang (another syndicate), since yagami meets him through tesso, a member from said group, and in my head r besties, it'd've been cool too if yagami met seonhee and joongi through both zhao and tesso in the second game, considering yagami’s had minor run-ins with the group THEY run...

enter infinite wealth where yagami also def saw everything unfold on the news re: ichiban, kiryu, and so on getting dragged through the mud by a vtuber (yes u read right. a vtuber...). or heard more privy deets through sugiura and tsukumo, esp when zhao's asked for their services later in the story. oh my god and him + kaito recognizing kiryu on tv??? ik kaito n higashi r calling each other dumbasses for not recognizing him when they met him in sotenbori during that one substory in kiryu's gaiden, and only realizing Now.

all of this can be vice-versa'd btw, where some of the main cast Has at least heard about yagami and the events from his games... how could u not have... which opens up to funny interactions. even heard about him through sugiura and tsukumo personally... yaurrr

[karezaru]

also since i've been getting new oomfs, u all should send me prompts

[karezaru]

making bios… urghhghuh

[karezaru]

📂

i know this is because nagoshi (the creator) loves cats, cats are big in japan, small-time detectives r often having to deal with catching cats, stray or not, etc etc... but with such an emphasis on them throughout both games, i like to think that yagami keeps his office readily available as like. a temporary safe haven for strays as he's well-known within their networks in kabukichō and isezakichō (yes the cats have their own network). they trust him.<3 backing this up with how they can randomly show up after you max out the friendship meters, or how we can place some around yagami's (+yokohama 99's) place, like so:

bonus image of kaito + yagami after finding someone's cat cus i had to include it... anyway i'll go as far as to say that it all symbolizes yagami being a stray cat of sorts himself, helping others that r lost and/or abandoned. it brings them tgt like this🤞