#//I just think it really says a lot about Goro's mindset.

[kingspuppet]

Something else I want to touch on in regards to chess symbolism is the pieces being black and white. In both the anime and in the image from the end of the false reality, Goro is playing the white pieces and Joker is playing the black. And awhile back I had seen someone ask if there was any meaning behind it. I didn't see what the response was, but I do have a theory of my own. Goro's thought process in itself is a very black and white mindset. That there can only be one or the other. It's how he views his plans against Shido and the Thieves themselves. There's a right and a wrong way in his mind, and you can see how he struggles with that concept when he's asked to join the Thieves after their fight in the engine room. Because there hasn't been a way for him to deviate from his plans and ideals before. He never thought that was a possibility for him so he never considers it. As for the pieces he uses, I think a similar concept follows. To Goro the white pieces are the heroes and in turn the black ones are the villains. It's a very cut and dry thought process that follows the one or the other thread. So in his games against Joker he plays the "heroes" because that's what he's always wanted to be. He needs to be that hero. He wants to be that hero. It's his justice, which he thinks is right, against Joker's, which he thinks is wrong. That's not to say that Goro actually thinks of Joker and the Thieves as villains. He knows that they're similar, to a painful degree. But it all falls back to the black and white thinking of there can only be one or the other, and that anything in between is useless.

[yakuzacanons]

hiiii!!! I think I read your posts pretty much everyday and am loving absolutely everything you write!!

This one thought has been bothering me for a while: what would our boys think of their s/o being a foreigner? I guess some of them would pay no mind, some of them would be bothered at first, maybe some of them would even use their s/o as a token! What do you think?

Good question! Sorry for taking so long to get back to you. Last post of the night kiddos, see y'all tomorrow eve.

Kazuma Kiryu

Doesn't mind and doesn't care. People are people. He likes you because he likes you. It's that shrimple. Seriously though, it never phased him. He doesn't ask questions about it either. Feel free to share exactly as much or as little about your culture as you'd like.

Majima Goro

Similar mindset as Kiryu but he would ask some questions. Somewhat interested in cultural differences, like the fact that Americans don't take off their shoes before going inside. It's not always aimed at YOUR culture specifically, he's just curious.

Saejima Taiga

He's a little resistant at first. Saejima's a little more old school and likely always saw himself with a more traditionally Japanese spouse. Mildly confused at some of your cultural differences but gets used to them. His affections towards you are more powerful than his confusion. Besides, he's easily confused anyways by a lot of things.

Akiyama Shun

Thinks that it's really cool that you're a foreigner. Might even think that's what makes you so interesting in the first place, at least when you first meet. Tries to learn words in your language but never pronounces them well.

Tanimura Masayoshi

As a mixed race guy, he kind of relates to you. He's pretty respectful of your culture and enjoys sharing his with you but he would never pressure you to do the same. Mostly just accepts it as is, no questions asked.

Ryuji Goda

Like Akiyama, he likely finds your cultural differences enticing when he first meets you. Finds himself actually caring about your cultural and is pretty respectful of it. Goes out of his way to try to remember important holiday events from your culture. Would punch anyone who makes fun of you.

Nishikyama Akira

Generally prefers an Asian spouse but he's open to other possibilities. Kind of guy to dumbly ask "Why" or "Huh" when you do certain things that relate to your culture. Little bit dumb about it all. Doesn't exactly judge you though but he can be openly confused at times.

Daigo Dojima

Honestly he has never thought about dating a foreigner and probably thinks it's expected of him to have a Japanese spouse but doesn't let that stop him. Daigo's a big sweetheart when in love so where you're from or what culture you partake in doesn't bother him none. Genuinely supportive and loving all the way.

Mine Yoshitaka

Might be a little guilty of fetishizing your culture or using it as a token point of interest. What can I say, Mine really does want to look cool in front of everyone, even more than Nishiki. If you tell him, he'll immediately knock it off. He likely just didn't realize that it bothered you or offended you.

Tatsuo Shinada

Also guilty of making your culture or foreigner status into a token subject, but more so in the way he just asks a LOT of questions. He doesn't realize it makes you feel like you're a zoo animal or like a science project. His intentions are well placed though, he just doesn't know when to stop asking.

Ichiban Kasuga

He'll just be like "Okay, cool!" with a thumbs up. That's how much you being a foreigner affects him. Bless his gentle heart, he could never fathom how anyone could judge you or treat you differently just because you're a foreigner.

Tianyou Zhao

Sympathizes with your struggles and is really understanding. Would be down to share cultural foods or holidays with you, either from his culture or yours. He's just generally really chill about it.

Joon-Gi Han

Similar vibe as Zhao but would whoop the ass of anyone who made fun of you. He knows all too well what it's like to be outcast just because of who you are and how much that hurts and he'll be damned if you ever feel bad for being yourself.

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

The discourse about Emperor Belos from The Owl House and Goro Akechi from Persona 5 makes me think that some people don't want to analyze these pieces of media and characters in a logical and nuanced manner.

I've seen people uncritically accept the Titan's words in "Watching and Dreaming" and ignore the entire Wittebane lore being built up from Season 2 to the first two episodes of Season 3.

Akechi haters seem to ignore the central theme of Persona 5 about the oppression of youth by corrupt adults. They also don't seem to care about the context of his backstory; illegitimate children are subject to more stigma and mistreatment in Japan than in the West from what I've heard.

Why are some people like that?

You're basically asking me why people don't think logically about the media they consume, which has a lot of possible answers. The thing is that most people just passively consume media and only really think about it if something egregious sticks out. Fans, by their nature, are passionate and will become obsessed with their new favorite show and will defend their interpretation to the bitter end. This is how discourse starts.

The main reason why is that if you're truly, madly passionate about something, it becomes an important part of how you see the world and even your identity, and anyone who criticizes your passion is by extension, criticizing you.

I can't speak for Persona 5, but The Owl House has a very young, very impressionable fanbase that is filled with queer, neurodivergent people and the show has themes and topics that are relevant to that audience. Because of this, they will be very attached to it (just look at how many people thanked Dana for making a show that meant so much to them). So naturally, they will not be analyzing the show in a logical, detached manner. They will look for things that validate their worldview and anyone who threatens that will be labelled as "freaks" or even harassed, which is highly ironic when the show itself preaches acceptance and "weirdos sticking together."

Having such an extreme attachment to any form of media is dangerous because you end up mistreating real people over entertainment (just ask any Belos fan how the wider fandom views them). Now, there is nothing wrong with loving a show and having it form an important part of your life, but the logical side of your brain needs to kick in and say, "it's just a show, there's no purpose in getting upset over how other people interpret it."

Fortunately, most people grow out of that toxic mindset but others, regrettably, do not.

For my part, I try to avoid discourse, stick to my corner, and privately vent to friends. :)

[s-talking]

14﹕ what is your preferred genre of plots ? fluff , angst , smut , etc …?

15﹕ what is your favorite dynamic trope to write ?

18﹕ which of your verses or arcs is your favorite to write about ?

21﹕ what is one thing you love about your muse , & one thing you dislike ?

31﹕ what hobbies do you have outside of roleplaying ?

35﹕ is there a character you consistently have muse for ?

o6﹕ is there something about the roleplay community that irks you ?

𝑬𝑿𝑷𝑬𝑹𝑰𝑬𝑵𝑪𝑬 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹𝑺𝑬𝑳𝑭 .    (   a  collection  of  40  questions  for  muns ,  with  assorted  questions  directed  towards  both  single - muse  &  multi - muse  blogs!   )

⌘ 14﹕ what  is  your  preferred  genre  of  plots ?  fluff,  angst,  smut,  etc… ?

even though horror & angst are pretty much up there for me, i really enjoy writing old-school romance & those emotionally ' deep ' threads where both muses end up really digging into each other. smut is also a guilty pleasure. ~

⌘ 15﹕ what  is  your  favorite  dynamic  trope  to  write?

forbidden love ( mutual or unrequited ), enemies-to-lovers, hero & villain, partners in crime, yandere x yandere, opposites attract, soulmates / reincarnated lovers, friends-to-lovers & stockholm syndrome.

⌘ 18﹕ which  of  your  verses  or  arcs  is  your  favorite  to  write  about?

hands down, the ' ashes to ashes ' verse ( which revolves around the new eden sanatorium ). as much as i love writing envy's main verse, this one is basically the twilight of his story where a lot of stuff happens, like how certain quirks developed, why does he view people as butterflies or how the name ' envy ' even came to be, leading up to the main verse. it's also fun to see how other muses fair in new eden & the staff, as well as these various stages of min-jun / envy.

⌘ 21﹕ what  is  1  thing  you  love  about  your  muse ,  &   1  thing  you  dislike?

the one thing i like, is that he is a very dynamic character. 9/10 times he will surprise even me with his words or actions, & I'M THE ONE WRITING HIM! lmao it's a difficult process to describe but, long-story-short, i always need to step out of my own shoes & think from a completely up-side-down perspective, relying purely on my research of psychosis, obsession, & whatever the other character actually says or does, sometimes having to go as far as reading headcanons of the other muse whenever envy is actively stalking them. he just takes the role-play engagement to a whole new level * wheezes *. now, for the one thing i dislike, he is indeed unhinged & it takes a certain headspace for me to write him out, & that's coming from someone who wrote characters like goro akechi, lawliet, dottore & even dr. ratio. he can very much fry my brain with how much i need to rewire my mindset & think from a perspective of a man who is haunted by not only the parasitic horror, but also by his own mangled-up view of the world & the ever-fleeting emotions. i have to always somehow balance everything out according to what happens in each & every thread, because envy is as random as the f*cking london weather lmao.

⌘ 31﹕ what  hobbies  do  you  have  outside  of  roleplaying?

art of course, it's actually pretty time-consuming as i also do a lot of studying which, in fact, makes part of my hobby / work. i love anything art-related. aside from that, i like to play switch / pc games & ride a bike, especially through a massive park on a cloudy day. i also do cosplay with friends, but alas, don't have much time anymore for that atm.

⌘ 35﹕ is  there  a  character  you  consistently  have  muse  for ?

envy, duh. but canon-wise, i actually have a lot of beloved muses that i can just hop right into, but izaya orihara ( drrr!!! ) & alhaitham ( genshin ) ring the loudest atm. i'm just being very slow due to irl things.

⌘ o6﹕ is  there  something  about  the  roleplay  community  that  irks  you ?

the whole unfollowing / blocking shtick, & how people, often role-players, lose their minds when they see you leave ( let it be by accident / on purpose / or because of an error that tumblr occasionally does ). it happens so often that majority now opt to '''' re-make '''' their blogs instead of simply unfollowing / blocking that 1 person who is giving them grief or just doesn't click in terms of writing. it's sad. i've personally had strangers vent about me after i silently unfollowed them for breaking my rules, or due to tumblr doing so for me during my hiatus / days of being away. & it gets even sadder when it's the role-players who have ' i'm not interested in drama ' or ' i have the right to block anyone for any reason whatsoever ' in their rules. like guys... have you ever thought of maybe, just maybe re-following or shooting that person who unfollowed you an ask? or if they don't really matter, ignore them entirely? xDD literally me every time this happens:

[caffernnn]

I've been binge reading fics a lot lately and I find it funny that it is rin who almost always thinks that "an evil makoto is threat to humanity" like it appears in at least 5 separate fics that I've read where rin ponders that the world would be in danger had makoto been a bad person- or something like that- because of his charm alone and his ability to unconsciously make people bend to his requests, and it's good to see where despite makoto's insecurity about how he'll never be good as rin, rin acknowledges makoto's "power" that he is unaware he possesses and his authority that he never puts to practice but is absolute when makoto needs or wants; i mean rin caved in to a smiling makoto in a drama cd and they were just dealing with CATS!!!

Talking about the possibility of an evil Makoto is always interesting because he uses so many of his skills already to make people trust him that purposefully using those for chaos could be messy. We’ve briefly talked about Makoto as a powerhouse and a villain before, and I can agree with the take that he could be manipulative and devastating in the wake of getting what he wants; we’re lucky that most of the time, the things he wants are positive, or he prioritizes peace/people over those other desires. I’ve noticed that trend in a few fics too, where Rin makes note of how scary-good Makoto can be at persuading and convincing others to do things. I think that comes from an important part of Rin and Makoto’s friendship in canon that gets overlooked: he recognizes Makoto as someone with so much potential for individual greatness. His friends and other people around him express gratitude and have faith in him, sure, but a lot of the compliments he gets relate back to how good he is at helping others (being a good brother, a good friend, a good leader, a good teacher, etc.). Besides Haru’s whole “Makoto is Makoto” speech and that phone call with Goro from DttF (need to rewatch it, but the one where he talks about being proud of Makoto), Makoto isn’t specifically recognized as somebody powerful until Rin talks about Makoto needing to consider scouts looking at him in ES. Even after Makoto has started letting go of any hopes of swimming competitively beyond high school and is looking more and more into a dream built around supporting others, Rin steps in to say that Makoto could be a contender in that world, if it was something he wanted.

This might be something to talk about in a separate post, but Makoto’s insecurities and jealousies regarding Rin get interpreted into fics in… somewhat weird ways?? Like I get how it was so vaguely referenced in the show that it became a detail for people to latch onto in Makoto-related ship fics (I see it in older makoharu fics a lot, but I’m sure it’s in soumako or makorin fics as well). It’s a fine interpretation to use in stories, the idea that Makoto is envious of Rin’s importance/position in someone’s life, but I personally don’t see that jealousy in canon as really having to do with Rin specifically. It feels removed from jealousy aimed at a specific individual, and more of this confusing feeling of “I wish I could have that self-assured nature, I wish I could have a clear direction to take, I wish I could have a path that aligned more with what my friends will end up doing… but that’s not in the cards for me right now and I need to make peace with that.” People who’ve taken steps towards majors or career paths that are supportive in nature (teachers, social workers, caretakers, etc) can probably relate to that sort of internal struggle, where it’s not like you don’t want to have a dream that helps people, but the whole “those who can, do; those who can’t, teach” mindset grates at your self-esteem a little more than usual, and you wonder what it’d be like to take on a path that involves a little more personal glory.

Many thoughts, many thoughts. Makoto is a puppet master and it’s fun considering what he can do with such power.

[theexistentiallyqueer]

It’s been a while, what with me being being more active on Twitter these days, but I had some thoughts churning around in my brain and this felt like a better place to post them rather than threading them over there.

This is a post about Persona 5 and restorative justice. Before I go any further, though, a note: this is meta about restorative justice and prison abolition as ethical philosophies only, how it can be expressed/structured in works of fiction, i.e., Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal, and what the importance of doing so is.

I should also note that I am not a philosopher, a legal scholar, or an activist, I just like to read, and I strongly encourage you to look into the topics I’m discussing in this essay. If you want specific recommendations you can DM me; again, this being meta about a video game, I think linking those titles here would diminish their importance regarding what they’re actually about.

Ready? Okay. Let’s get started.

what is restorative justice?

‘Restorative justice’ is a concept in ethical and legal philosophy that holds itself in contrast to two other kinds of justice: punitive and carceral. Punitive justice is justice as punishment, i.e., an eye for an eye, while carceral justice involves justice as the confinement of criminal offenders. While both have heavy overlaps with one another, they’re distinct in the generality vs the specificity of their outcome: punitive justice can involve the death penalty, property seizure, permanent loss of rights, etc., carceral justice refers strictly just to the incarceration of criminal offenders in institutional facilities (jails, prisons, etc.).

Restorative justice, in contrast, roots itself in the understanding of closing a circle: the best and most holistic way to heal harm one person inflicts on another is to have the person who inflicted the harm make reparations to the person they hurt in a tangible and meaningful way. This can take many forms, and if you’re passingly familiar with restorative justice already, you may have heard about it involving the offender and the victim meeting face-to-face. This does happen sometimes. Personal acknowledgement of the harm you’ve inflicted on someone is important, and direct apologies are important, but these need to also be coupled with actions. The person behind a drunk hit-and-run of a parent could help put their orphaned child through school, or a domestic abuser could be made to take counseling and go on to help deter domestic violence in other households, and so on. 

The vast majority of states across the world use punitive/carceral models, though small-scale community trials of restorative justice have been attempted, to varying degrees of success. No one is going to argue that it would be easy to implement, but it is important. Restorative justice is about recognizing that crime, specifically crimes against other people, are fundamentally still about two people: the perpetrator and the victim. And we have to look beyond the words perpetrator and victim to recognize that they are both human beings and challenge ourselves to build a society where our concept of justice means healing hurts instead of retaliation.

It’s not easy, but it is possible. It requires changing your own perceptions of justice and humanity and society and the big wide entire world to have the kind of mindset that allows it to be possible. But it is possible, and I know that from personal experience, because it’s my own mindset and I’ve been through trauma too.

prison abolition and the god of control

Persona 5 has an authority problem. By which I mean, Persona 5 has a problem challenging authority in any way that functionally matters.

The game is drenched in heavy-handed prison imagery, from jail cells to wardens to striped jumpsuits to cuffs and chains to an electric chair. Throughout the long build-up of the main storyline we’re treated to a confectionery delight of punitive justice, stick-it-to-the-man justice: the Thieves find a bad guy who coincidentally has personally hurt or is actively hurting one of their members, and they take it upon themselves to make the bad guy miserable and then send him off to jail. By the end of the arc you’re meant to feel like you accomplished something heroic, that by locking someone up you’re balancing the scales of justice. In the Kamoshida arc Ann even frames this in restorative justice terms, telling him he doesn’t deserve the easy way out of ending his own life and needs to live with his mistakes and repent, but he’s still sent off to jail regardless and Ann and Shiho are left to struggle through the trauma he put them through without anyone to really support them. This repeats itself, over and over: Madarame, Kaneshiro, Okumura, Shido--expose the bad guy, bring him low, publicly shame him, and then send him away (or, in Okumura’s case, watch him die on live TV to riotous cheers from the public).

And what does this all accomplish, in the end? You get to the Depths of Mementos on Christmas Eve to find the souls of humanity locked away in apathy, surrendered willingly to the control of the state, and your targets right there with them, thanking you for helping them return to a place where they don’t have to think of other people as people any more than they did before. In prison, they can forget that they are human beings and that all of the rest of the people in the world are too. The Phantom Thieves march upstairs and defeat the Gnostic manifestation of social control, that being that masquerades itself with lies as the true Biblical god. And then you go back home and the adults tell you that everything is okay now, the system itself isn’t rotten, and you just have to sit back, stop actively participating in the world, and let them take the reins.

It’s one of Persona 5′s most ironic conceits. “Prison abolition....good?” the player asks, and Atlus swats you on the hand and says, “Silly kids, prison abolition completely unnecessary because you can trust the state to not fuck up anyone’s lives anymore ever.” All while using prison imagery to present prisons as institutions inherently divorced from what might constitute actual justice.

Prisons exist because hierarchies exist, and so long as hierarchies exist, inequality will exist and people will commit harm who otherwise likely would not. But you can’t have your cake and eat it too, Atlus. You can’t frame prisons as an inherently unjust institution used to control people because you didn’t do anything to get rid of the hierarchy. You just gave the hydra a few new heads.

restorative justice and rehabilitation

Rehabilitation is Persona 5′s favorite buzz word, and for all that it’s used the game never really clearly defines what it’s supposed to mean. Yaldabaoth uses it as a euphemism to describe the process by which he creates his ideal puppet, but Yaldabaoth bad, and by the end of the game, Yaldabaoth dead. We get barely any time with Igor after that for Igor to define rehabilitation properly on his terms, which is notable in that Igor is the one who’s supposed to be the spiritual mentor of the wild card within the Persona universe. 

We can only infer from that that it’s the player who’s meant to define what rehabilitation is by the end of the game, but because the game fails to take any concrete stance on its themes that could in any way undermine the idea that society isn’t functionally broken, it’s hard to figure out what conclusion we’re supposed to draw. As I stated above, the game immediately walks back any insinuations that it’s the institutions themselves that are rotten by having Sae and Sojiro step in and assume responsibility for making the world just by continuing to operate within the rules society itself has created. If you can’t beat them....join them?

If anything the closest we can get to coming up with a definitive understanding of what the game wants us to understand rehabilitation as is when the protagonist is in juvie. During those months we’re treated to an extended cutscene of all of your maxed out confidants taking action to get you out of jail, but because you can trigger this scene even if you haven’t maxed out all of your confidants, and because the outcome (getting out of juvie) is the same even if you haven’t maxed out any besides Sae, then we’re right back where we started.

But that cutscene still has a sliver of meaning to it despite it being largely window-dressing, because the game does push, over and over, the argument that it’s through your bonds with others, through building a community, that you’ll rehabilitate yourself and find true justice.

And that’s what restorative justice is about: community.

the truth: uncovering it vs deciding it

I can’t find enough words to convey how infuriating it is that Atlus comes so close to telling a restorative justice narrative and then completely drops the ball on displaying it at all in Goro’s character arc.

Goro’s concept of justice is fundamentally punitive, the textbook “you hurt me so I’m going to hurt you back.” In doing so he goes on to hurt a whole bunch of other people: orphaning Futaba, orphaning Haru, triggering a mental shutdown in Ohya’s partner Kayo, and also killing countless millions other instances of mental shutdowns, psychotic breakdowns, bribery, and scandal that caused people material harm and, in a handful of cases, killed them.

Yes, Shido gave him the gun, but Goro pulled the trigger. And in a restorative justice framework, you don’t bypass that fact: you actively interrogate it.

There’s been a lot of really great meta about what the circumstances of Goro’s life were like, including the Japanese foster care system, the social stigma of bastardy in Japan and the impact it has on an illegitimate child’s outcomes, and the ways in which Shido groomed and manipulated Goro into being the tool of violence he made him into. These things aren’t excuses for what Goro does, however: they’re explanations for it. They are the complex social issues that create a situation where a child feels his best choice, indeed maybe his only choice, is to take the gun being offered to him and use it on other people. If you want to prevent more kids from slipping through cracks into those kinds of situations, you need to understand the social ills that made those cracks appear in the first place and you need to fix them. Otherwise there will always be another kid, and another recruiter, and another bad choice, and another gun. Systemic problems require systemic solutions.

Even so, none of that bypasses the fact that it was Goro’s hand on that gun, that it was Goro who performed the physical action of killing Wakaba’s and Okumura’s shadows, and that, as a result of Goro’s direct actions, Wakaba and Okumura died. You can say Okumura deserved it all you like, but Haru doesn’t deserve to be an orphan. Haru deserved to repair her relationship with her father. Okumura deserved the chance to learn and make direct, material amends to the employees he hurt and the families of those who died on his watch, and they deserved to have him give them a better way to heal.

But this isn’t about the loss of Okumura making amends to his family or his victims: this is about Goro Akechi, and the fact that even in Royal his fraught relationship with Haru and Futaba is never explored, barely even addressed. There’s not even any personal, direct acknowledgement from him of the pain he put them through.

You can say he doesn’t care, and that’s fine that he doesn’t care. And it is. He’s a fictional character, this is a video game, they are anime characters.

But Persona 5 flirts with the idea of restorative justice and never fully explores it, and it’s a weaker game for that.

the thin place, the veil between worlds, the line in the sand

This is the last part, I promise, and I’ll be short and brief here, because the truth is that none of this matters, at least not in the way that you think. Persona 5 is a story. It’s a lie that we buy. It’s all zeroes and ones and electrical signals and optical images on a blank black screen.

But art can be powerful. Art is like magic, the deepest magic, the oldest kind. We human beings are creatures of art and poetry, of images and patterns, of music and words. Good art, really good art, can allow us to explore new ideas and critique our internal assumptions about how the world works.

No, fiction doesn’t affect reality, not the way that you think it does.

But if you’ve gotten this far, I just got you to read an essay on restorative justice and prison abolition in regards to a Japanese role-playing game, and that is something to think about.

How do you define rehabilitation? What kind of justice do you believe in? Is the way you conceive those things really the best way?

And how much more interesting could a story that challenges those concepts be?

[twilightknight17]

So I almost disqualified these anon asks for using “every single [fanfic]”, but honestly the fact that we’ve moved to actually looking at the game itself feels strangely like progress. Plus, this is technically at least halfway to a new topic. You’re still harping on about Goro, but at least there’s a second target.

I have given you homework, though. Hope you don’t mind. You lot really need to start providing some evidence for the things you’re claiming.

I might jump around a bit while answering this, because three asks worth is a lot to cover, but let’s talk about Okumura along with the usual bullshit, under a cut!

P5 really doesn’t delve as deeply into the nuances of its morality as it could. They definitely gloss over a few things that could have been really interesting explorations of character motivations or potential conflicts in the group. (Conflicts that would have been a lot more interesting than Morgana throwing a temper tantrum.)

Not exploring those things leads to a bad habit in the fandom of black-and-white thinking when it comes to characters, instead of making the slightest effort to read past the surface level. People seem very quick to assign labels of “good” and “evil”, instead of accepting that maybe characters can be morally grey.

That’s what you’re doing now. So:

Homework: Please show specific examples from the game:

- where it’s implied that we are supposed to “want them to hurt Akechi.”

- where it’s implied that Akechi wanted to kill Ren “out of fun”

Because why would the game need to disprove something it didn’t say in the first place? It’s not the story’s fault that you’re making wild assumptions.

.

Anyway, let’s jump and talk about Okumura!

I think the issue is that, when looking at the situation around Okumura, all the nuance is eclipsed by the fact that he didn’t deserve to die like that. Okumura received disproportionate retribution for his crimes, and between the media immediately turning on the Phantom Thieves (because it was being manipulated), and the kids panicking and worrying about Haru (because they never wanted to kill anyone), the rest gets set aside. Hell, it took them two days to remember that there was a possibility that Black Mask got him, they were so freaked out.

And there’s not really a moment to go back and discuss, “Well, yes, he shouldn’t have died, but he did still do horrible things”, because at that point, that would just be disrespectful to Haru. She’s mourning her father, and the lost chance to get back the man he used to be.

(Which is a different issue, because Haru wasn’t going to get him back. He was going to go to jail. There wasn’t going to be a happy family afterwards. But... I’ll chalk that up to teenagers not thinking ahead. It’s not like they think about what becomes of their other targets, either. I did read a really good fic once where Akira had to admit in front of Haru that he thought she was better off with her dad dead. She didn’t take it well.)

Homework: Please show specific examples from the game:

- where it’s shown that Haru actually, specifically forgives her father. The third semester does not count, because that’s an idealized version of her father.

However, Goro does mention that his targets were doing the same thing as him during the engine room confrontation. While Goro doesn’t name Okumura specifically, the implication is there. And Wakaba isn’t mentioned, but considering how many people support the theory that Wakaba experimented on Goro...

I kind of want to write a oneshot of Akira/Goro and Haru/Futaba arguing about this now. Can’t really hit harder than, “You killed my mother!”/”Your mother tortured me with illegal experiments for a year!” X’D

Anyway, when I wrote Cascade, Okumura not being killed by Goro was meant to be a result of the Thieves getting to Goro earlier. He hesitated, because he was with the team. He’d been with them for an entire Palace, he knew how a change of heart worked, and his sunk-cost-fallacy mindset was starting to change, even just a little. It wasn’t because Okumura was a “tragic figure”, and you can’t really compare that to canon when the situations were different.

.

Now. Regarding this bit:

“the writing and the tone is that he, not Shido, is to fully toblame for the worst stuff. Why else do people still say he approached Shido intending to kill from the start?”

Shido’s perception of Goro is literally a soulless puppet that does whatever it’s told. Shido is ordering people killed just so he can become Prime Minister, and lets other people request targets in exchange for political favors. Shido has no qualms about having his allies killed when they’re no longer of use. That’s right there, in the game. How do you get “Goro is to blame for everything” out of that unless you’re a brain-dead idiot just looking for reasons to hate him? A powerful man orders a teenager to do horrible things, with the implication that there will be consequences if he refuses, and it’s the teenager’s fault??

During the confrontation with Shadow Shido alone, you get:

Shido mentioning that he “controlled” Goro

Haru saying specifically to Shido, “You even killed my father.”

Shido admitting that “It was thanks to me that Akechi was able to properly use his power to begin with.”

And then there’s the SIU Director before Futaba’s Palace, saying that the plan to trap and frame the Phantom Thieves was “too brutal to be [Akechi’s] own idea.”

Homework: Please show specific examples from the game:

- literally anywhere where it’s implied that Goro’s offer to Shido was specifically about killing people

- literally anywhere where it’s implied that any of this is Goro’s fault alone

Because as far as I can tell, the only reason people claim that Goro showed up at fifteen years old and offered to murder people is because they’re idiots, interpreting the character in the worst way possible because they already hate him. The most likely scenario is that Goro showed up with a pitch of, “I can use these powers to get inside information and make your opponents embarrass themselves.” Shido is the one who started using him as a supernatural hitman, the “”“proper””” way to use his powers.

If the SIU Director thinks the Plan was too brutal to be Goro’s idea, and Goro himself refuses the order to kill the rest of the Phantom Thieves, I find it very hard to believe that he started out as a killer. Technically, he never says he wants to kill Shido, even. In the end, what he wants is basically a change of heart.

Because really, as the Thieves point out, they’re not so different.

[itsa-lie]

Birth Of A Liar Part Three

||Part One||Part Two||Part Three||Part Four||Part Five||

Oh boy, I have some angst in store for you today let me tell you. This poor boy has been through a lot.

Trigger warning for murder, taking care of babies, bl**d, and cl*wns

DICE...everyone liked the sound of that. Hanako gloated that it was like she was in one of those secret spy organizations like in the movies and, well Kokichi couldn’t agree more. He did sneak into a cinema once or twice so he knew a thing or two about evil organizations. Not that he thought he was evil, hell no, couldn’t be farther from the truth. But from Maki and Goro’s comments about stealing being evil it was kind of hard not to have that mindset.

So he went with it. Even practiced making evil faces in the mirror a few times. Practice makes perfect after all.

And would you know it the young boy actually loved having company. Sure Goro was quiet and always apologizing for the dumbest things, Maki scared the shit out of him, and Hanako cried for almost everything, but it was fine. Besides, Hanako taught him a really great trick to guilt-trip adults. All he had to do was cry. That easy. Just cause a scene and everyone would go to your aid. Plus with extra people they were able to get more things like televisions and game consoles. It wasn’t stealing, it was giving to orphans and that wasn’t evil...right?

However it really wasn’t an organization with only four people...in the movies they had more members. So once as Kokichi was sitting in front of the store he usually steals or guilt-trips people to buy from he sees something odd going on in the street. A woman carrying a bundle in her arms while another man chases her from behind. He seemed to have a gun in his hands, the woman was running for her life! A headache filled the boy’s head as a memory crossed his mind. He was smaller. A woman with black hair holding him. A man with purple hair knocking a gun out of the hand of a man pointing it right for him. Cringing at the slight pain Kokichi held his head. He didn’t know why he did this but he got up and chased the man. 

His feet were not as fast as the man however and out of no where there’s a loud bang. Then a baby crying. Kokichi quickly hid behind a brick wall. It was a good thing he did too, since the gunned ban came out of the alleyway with a handful of cash leaving a crying baby at his wake. Should he dare look back there? He definitely wouldn’t like what he was going to see. Still he turned around slowly into the dark alleyway. The woman was face down in a puddle of blood while the baby cries brokenhearted and afraid beside her. Cautiously Kokichi approached the woman and checked for signs of life. There was none. Also for a second he could see the woman being that black haired woman carrying him in his memories which made him gasp and fall back.

“N-No...t-that’s not mama...” He consoled himself. She’s probably okay and will come back for him, after all the body was gone the next day, who’s to say an ambulance didn’t pick her and his father up and bring them to safety? Now they’re just looking for him! But this baby...what if something happens to it? It was much too young to take care of itself like he was. Ooooh but what would Maki and the rest say? He has to decide quickly, the sounds of sirens were coming closer and closer.

-------------------

“YOU BROUGHT HOME A BABY?!” Maki’s loud tone of voice made Kokichi jump and the baby cry even louder. “Yeah! It’s our new pet! Surprise!” Maybe if he pretends it’s a gift they won’t get so mad. He was wrong. Goro smiles politely, even if it was easy to see the baby just made more worry on him. Maki was very angry, angry enough to beat Kokichi to a bloody pulp and she probably would have if he wasn’t cradling a baby in his arms. Hanako was very excited though, jumping up and down to try to see the baby.

“Babies aren’t pets, dipshit.” Maki growled holding her temples. She does her best not to curse in front of little ones but by God was she in a bad mood. Even Goro could see the steam rising out of her. Maybe he should try to heal the situation a little bit.

“Now now, Maki. You did the same thing when Hanako was in danger.” Goro tries to put a hand on his sister’s shoulder before she pulls away. “That was different! You can’t just STEAL a baby! What if the parents find out? What if they find out about us?”

Kokichi was silent, he shows the blanket with a bloodstain on it.

 “They won’t...it’s mom is dead.”

“D-Don’t call them an ‘it’! And what about their dad?!”

“I-I dunno! W-Why are you yelling at me? You’re scaring the baby!”

Maki quickly took the baby from Kokichi’s arms and examined them. Their cries getting louder and louder, the baby thrashed and moved. Finally Maki looks at the others, her eyes closed. “They need a diaper change.”

“W-What?!”

“N-No  way am I doing that again! I already used to change yours, I’m not doing THAT again.”

“Ewww hehehe!”

“You don’t have to. You just need to get me some diapers and diaper cream. You steal from the store all the time, right?” Maki states, bouncing the baby on her shoulder. That oddly seemed to calm it down a little. How was she this gifted with kids? “Fine, but don’t let it barf or poop or whatever on our stuff. Hana, stay with Maki and help her with the baby. Goro, come with me.” True to his leader form Kokichi gives orders imminently and the rest follow. Perhaps what Maki said was right. Being a leader does run in his “jeans”. As ordered Kokichi managed to snag a bag of diapers and diaper cream as Goro distracted the workers as usual. Man Kokichi hopes he doesn’t grow much taller because stealing is way easy because of his height. At long last they arrive at the abandoned building they lived in.

“We got the-”

“Give me that.” Maki practically took the supplies out of his arms. She must be really desperate to stop the infants crying. Even Hanako was covering her ears. Swiftly Maki places the baby on a table and begins working. Curiously Kokichi looked over Maki’s shoulder to see what she was doing and then quickly regrets it, his face turning green and close to dry heaving. That was a horrible idea. Yet Maki seemed...unbothered by it? It was almost mesmerizing at how fast she changed them. Once she was done the crying...stopped?

“Did you fix it?” Kokichi asked, now feeling better from the peace and quiet without the baby yowling.

“Did you fix him. He’s a boy.” Maki corrects him as she cradles the child. “And yes. He’s fine now. Also his name is Kenji...” The baby quickly falls asleep in her arms finally making the place quiet.

“How do you know?” asked Goro tilting his head to the side. Maki simply shows Kenji’s tiny chubby arm to reveal a hospital bracelet on it.

-Kenji Date, DOB: 7/6/20XX, Paitent ID: 11037

So the baby was probably born recently given how close the dates were, maybe about one month old. Still Maki was looking angry with Kokichi, but didn’t do anything. “C’moooon you can’t stay mad at me forever can you? Look at this faaaace. It would be sad without my ultimate assassin friend.”

“Call me that again and you’ll be the next victim...” she warns, her eyes narrowing again. “But aren’t assassins and murderers different things?” Kokichi asks, honestly confused. “They’re the same thing, dumbass...” Well shit he didn’t know. Another awkward silence. 

“I guess everything worked out in the end though. And hey! We can add more members with other orphans! Think of this, a whole network of orphans working together to protect each other!”

Maki shook her head. “That sounds like a cartoon...”

“But you’d watch it, wouldn’t you?”

“Fine, I guess so...but no babies okay? They’re really hard to take care of as it is.”

And with that promise, DICE gained more and more members. In about a few years the whole place would be practically crawling with orphans or kids who wanted to be away from abusive homes. In fact so many orphans had lived there that they even had to move some to upstairs rooms. And with more members came cool new stuff! More toys, books, games, anything they could steal they would. It was like running their own little orphanage. However they did have to have some other leaders in power too making sure the other’s stayed in line. Kokichi picked nine others to “co-star” as he put it in his operation. Of course Maki was one, so was Goro, but because he was immature only the tall kids get to be the co-leaders.

“But you’re shorter than all of them! How are you leader?” Hanako asked one day as everyone was making masks to wear for Halloween to play their usual pranks and to hide their identity. “Because I came up with this idea so, as it’s so plainly obvious to see, I should be leader!” Kokichi grins booping the girl on the nose. “Hmph! Well I thought only tall people could be leader so...”

“Nhyhehehe, oh Hana. Tell you what, if anything ever happens to me, you become leader okay?” He tips his leader hat and flaunts his cape as if he was trying to be dramatic. Though how dramatic can you be with an old baseball cap and a tattered old bed sheet flowing behind you? Hanako looked hopeful as her eyes sparkled. “I can have the hat and cape too?” Kokichi dramatically held the bed sheet in front of himself like a vampire would. “Any perks of being DICE leader you can have. But I won’t be leaving any time soon you know~”

As the children drew their masks, Kokichi starts the meeting.

“Hello my fellow crime syndicates! As you know, today is Halloween. We’ve been waiting for this day all year my friends. And finally it came!” The whole building filled with applause which made him laugh. Maki just shook her head. If he keep it up they’ll be found out but he kept everyone so...so together. “Now I know what you’re thinking...’why would we be making clown masks for?’ Well I’ll tell you! Bring in the boxes!”

Hoards of boxes came rushing in being displayed in front of all the children eliciting “oohs” and “ahhs” This was probably their biggest heist yet! Never have the kids seen so much stuff come in before, not even food. What sort of wonders awaited inside those containers? “Now, open!” The bigger kids opened the box to reveal the most amazing thing! Costumes and prank supplies covered the ground. This was the year! This was the year they have an actual, real Halloween! All the kids went forward to grab some stuff but the co-leaders organized them into a single file line to make sure everyone got a costume and supplies.

“Sorry, all the costumes are clown costumes but, hey that’s why I made you all make the masks!” Kokichi exclaimed. Everyone didn’t mind. This was a fun activity and now they had something they can do that normal kids with parents usually do! However Maki was the only one to speak up. “You got crates of costumes? How do you expect not to get caught?! You know they have security cameras, right?” Kokichi shrugged his shoulders and places his hands behind his head. “So? Look at their faces! Even Kenji and Hanako are smiling! Worrying about that stuff will just ruin the moment so just reeeelax a bit Maki.” It was true. The kids looked more happy than ever. But something inside her seemed like this was going to be a bad idea...

Once everyone was dressed they all hit the streets. Each child knew about their one rule: no killing. Their leader was against murder in any way possible teaching the children how horrible death was and how they should avoid it. All of the kids got a costume, as well as eight of the Co-Leaders, but Maki and Kokichi were left without one. “I don’t mind. As long as the kids have one I will just go as Kokichi Ouma for Halloween.”

Boy was this the most fun these children have ever had, With their clown suits and masks on their faces they made mischief in the city. Toilet paper rolls on houses, chalk graffiti on walls, water buckets on doors, the whole place was crawling with little clown gremlins causing mayhem in their wake. It was enough to make Kokichi proud. “Oh this is enough to bring a tear to my eye~!” The leader claims dramatically. Maki just rolled her eyes and said nothing, however she was happy to see the children having the time of their lives. However she stops as she was walking, looking like a deer in headlights at the televisions in a shop window. Kokichi waves his hand in front of her as to get a reaction. All she could do was point.

A newscaster on the screen started talking, a picture of a clown at his side, underneath the headline states: “Clown thieves hit the streets”. Kokichi could feel the lump forming in his throat.

“Good evening.” The newscaster began as he bangs his stack of papers on the table once to align them. “A group of pranksters? Or a group of kidnappers? A hoard of clown suit wearing children hit the streets today causing panic and anger across the city. We have no idea where they come from or what they want, but they continue to wreak everything in their path. We go live to our reporter, Michiko Nakajima.” The screen changes to a woman in a dress with a microphone in her hands. Kokichi could have sworn that the woman was behind him somewhere.

“Thank you, Natsumi-San. I am standing here on the very street where young Kenji Date was taken from his mother’s arms seven years ago. His mother shot dead in an abandoned alley. They couldn’t find the killer or the child’s body, however one clown who has been taken into custody had Kenji’s hospital bracelet in his pocket!” The screen shows a picture of Kenji, his mask off, looking sad and disappointed. The two leaders could feel their souls about to fly from their body.

“I like where I am! You’re not gonna take me to some stinky orphanage!” Kenji exclaimed on the screen as two men take him away. “Luckily the father was still alive to bring little Kenji back home to his rightful place.” The reporter finishes as it then cuts to a man who has red puffy eyes. It seems he had been crying. This makes Kokichi feel immense guilt rise up in the pit of his stomach. “I’m just happy I can finally see my son...these clown people took seven years of me getting to know him.” The man looks like he could break down at any second. “He won’t even call me ‘dad’, he just says ‘where’s Kokichi and Maki’ or ‘Kokichi will save me’!”

The name “Kenji” meant “an intelligent child” but also meant “ public prosecutor”. It all made sense in a way. Just like his own name, “Kokichi”, meant “little luck”. Right now he was having no luck. Maki was beginning to sweat too. From the corner of her eye she could see the news reporter and camera crew come closer. “This makes it even more curious. Years ago another child had been lost after his parents death. Kokichi Ouma, then three years old, was deemed lost as both his parents were killed by his father’s own gang. Another, Maki Haruwaka, the youngest of many children, killed her father in cold blood before leaving with her older brother Goro Haruwaka. Both these children have yet to be found, but law enforcement is still on the look out.”

Without warning Maki began to run. She knew this was a horrible idea! No one would even know their secret if Kokichi just did an inside Halloween party instead like they usually do. 

“M-Maki wait-”

But it was too late, she already ran too far. He tries to catch her, but was stopped by a big brawny man who held him by the shoulders. Kokichi kicked and thrashed, but the man had no trouble taking him to where he wanted him to go.

“Maki!!!”

The newscaster looks back at the camera, obviously excited by this rise in the story she was reporting.

“We have word that we might have just found the lost children Kokichi Ouma and Maki Haruwaka! Could this be a clue to find more missing children? We will give updates as soon as they’re avalible. Michiko Nakajima, Tokyo news.”

[seasaltmemories]

Persona 5 Royal Review/Analysis

So I didn’t have a ps4 when the original persona 5 came out, so royal was my first experience with the game, as a result, I will be talking about spoilers for both the original content and Royal bc a lot of the additions seem mixed in aside from just the third semester stuff

let’s get the summary

Prepare for an all-new RPG experience in Persona 5 Royal based in the universe of the award-winning series, Persona! Don the mask of Joker and join the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. Break free from the chains of modern society and stage grand heists to infiltrate the minds of the corrupt and make them change their ways! Persona 5 Royal is packed with new characters, confidants, story depth, new locations to explore, and a new grappling hook mechanic for stealthy access to new areas. 

So one of the things that I picked up really early on into my playthrough was that Persona 5 feels like a very adolescent piece of media, like yeah it is about highschoolers, but more than just its cast and setting, it seemed really fixated on capturing and adolescent mindset, there is this fresh awareness to the injustices of the world and a burning desire to fix it without much understanding of how to even began to tackle those problems, and the fact it stuck so hard to to that worldview made me a lot more forgiving of its flaws then I might have otherwise been, not that there isn’t stuff to critique about the way it tackles controversial issues, but at the same time i just had this mindset of, “well of course they aren’t going to get everything right, what can you expect from teens?”

Anyone who knows me knows I am a pretentious blow-hard, but I think P5 is a perfect example of just how important style is to anything.  So much of the pure glee and joy I got when I booted up the game came from the fun presentation and commitment to the phantom thief aesthetic, I have a lot of thoughts on gameplay that seem to be contradictory to the general consensus but to keep things brief, all the “sneaking’ around a palace, grappling from places, ambushing enemies, and performing all out attacks just all gave this sense of being cool and stylish that was great, even if the writing stronger, without those fun flourishes I don’t think I would have enjoyed my experience as much

I also think the more than any other game, persona 5 does a great job of making me thinking “just one more thing” you got a lot of confidants to fill and stats to raise to fill them so there is always something to do, at most during the story sections things sometimes dragged, but i was eager to finish them to get back to finishing my goals, for as long as the game was, this made it feel so much more manageable

Unpacking an entire 110 hour playthrough is kinda an overwhelming task, so instead I’m going to talk about my four favorite characters and hopefully that will cover some good amount of material

1) Goro Akechi- one of the first things I knew about this game was what a controversial character this bastard was and it turns out I fell on the side that loves him bc I think I have a thing for traitor characters, I have to say though for most of the game I wasn’t sure how I felt about him, I knew his true role going in, so it was hard to get attached to Detective Prince Akechi as most of his interactions with Joker felt like an act, however his Rank 8 confidant link, when he not only pulls out a gun on you and challenges you to an one on one fight but also freaking throws a glove to challenge you in a duel I was like “oh so you’re a little bitch boy then!” and never turned back

To me part of what makes him so compelling is just how stubbornly he is set on his path straight to Hell, a lot of ppl were moved by his tragic backstory but honestly it does little for me, I think it is important to consider, but you have to remember he approached Shido about his powers first and basically volunteered to be his personal assassin, still it is hard to ignore that sense of lost potential, in a way I can see how getting to pretend to be a part of a safe and welcoming team environment almost made things worst because he just kept feeling like, “why wasn’t I allowed to have this earlier” and just too tied to his current path of self-destruction to waver from it, like even the fact the Phantom Thieves and he had the same goals regarding Shido in the end, he couldn’t side with bc that would mean acknowledging all the murder he did was for nothing, so they just continued to be another target on his list, made all the more dangerous bc of the affection he held for them

That said I don’t think I would have liked him so much without Royal’s updates, I mentioned Rank 8 being a key moment for me but aside from that, the fight with him in Shido palace had so much going on, it kinda dulled the weight of any one of the numerous revelations, 3rd semester kinda brought in the perfect amount and balance of the different sides of Akechi, the minute he appeared I swear me and my brother cheered in joy, obvious spoilers for the rest of it

I had seen 3rd semester Akechi called “feral” and while he is still as horny for murder as ever, i don’t really think that fits, there is still a sense of restraint to his actions, yet he doesn’t mask his true intentions and feelings so much, what I like is that his rudeness and outbursts come off as very deliberate and planned, as if he enjoys exposing the contrast between his “pleasant” reputation and his true bitterness, and with the reveal that oops he is supposed to be dead, you still have that determined “don’t be a fucking pussy, just pull the trigger,” attitude, I really like the dynamic that forms between a Joker that just wants the best for him and an Akechi that just emphatically refuses to be saved in anyway, he is an easy character to woobify but I love how canon just at every turn doesn’t let you ever see his true vulnerability even if we all know it exists down there, also just something about hearing him curse is always so much fun and delightful

TLDR: I have a lot of feelings about this edgy bastard and may or may not already have a playlist for him

2) Makoto Niijima- another character I had an interesting relationship with, while from the start she seemed like my type, the overwhelming love for her kinda made my hipster side apprehensive, however predictably I was won over and I did romance her in the end (what can I saw my Joker is into brunettes)

Part of what makes her stick out so much to me, is how the game felt much less afraid to show her unlikable in comparison to other characters, i usually don’t complain or really notice this but more than any other game series I’ve played, there is definitely a lot of self-insert fantasy elements involved, ppl rip the newer FE games apart for that, but I never really saw it as the terrible as the cast had dozens of life changing interactions with other characters, the fact most of the interaction we see are through Joker’s eyes, and the fact that he is the catalyst to changing several adults’ lives made this element a lot more noticeable

But not only does Makoto take an antagonistic role at first, but they let her be so smug and annoying that I probably hated her with the same passion as the characters themselves, yet even when she comes over to or sides, her flaws are still pretty open, like when trying to help out Futuba, she definitely had that air of, “neurotypical trying too hard to make you normal” that was understandable but still annoying, and I appreciate it bc it made the contrast between her good points all the sharper

I kinda wanted to roll my eyes at first at her archetype as an honors student, bc yeah i was a nerdy student who didn’t know how to connect with my peers and just kinda subconsciously sucked up to adults bc I didn’t know what else to do, but in comparison to the teeming tragic backstories involved, you can see a stark difference in scale, yet Makoto is just carrying all this familiar teenage girl anger that reminds me a lot of Serena from Arc V, and getting to see her embrace it is very cathartic, I also really enjoyed her confidant which was surprising after seeing everyone tear into it so much, I feel like a lot of ppl’s confidant’s centered around other ppl and it didn’t just start off with the Eiko stuff, you see her Makoto want to change from the sheltered snobbish life she has kinda trapped herself in and rediscover her dream of being a police commissioner, I also found it fitting for her to also kinda figure that out through her own little investigation and to see that exploration of justice explored through her acting with a third party

The fact she is related to Sae also gives her interesting relationships we get to see from a different POV, and a greater investment in arcs outside her own, it just naturally gives her the feeling of being more well-rounded to have it spread out, and while her romance stuff did have the same sort of fantasy elements (that I greatly self-indulged in) overall I never felt like Joker was “saving” her in some way but growing and exploring along sides her

Overall, a great character and while i think best girl debates are dumb, I will not stand for hearing her described as worst girl

3) Ann Takamaki- honestly before I got this game I expected her to be the “main girl” with a lot of popularity and focus so seeing how little love she gets was heartbreaking for me, bc she is part of what made the early phantom thieves so enjoyable

I’ve heard the discussions about the issues around her sexualization and I think things on that access come out to be a wash, the developers kinda brush near some interesting ideas about the struggles women face with sex and attraction but don’t really know what to do with that, and so I think trying to trace and overall arch one way or another about her and her body issues is kinda a lesson in futility

in the end though what made her click for me is just how much fun her personality is, like I feel like in other stories her cheerfulness might come off as generic, but the fact that she is introduced so depressed and sullen makes her attitude shift come off as refreshing, like we know she can be serious, but the fact she isn’t being repeatedly sexually harassed by her teacher gives her like plenty of reason to goof off and enjoy herself

Again despite all the criticism I really enjoyed her confidants, the Mika stuff was honestly barely a blip in the thing and most of it alternated between her shooting the breeze and just having fun and still dealing with that lingering guilt and issues surrounding Shiho and just not having been able to save a close friend when she really needed her, I think the contrast is very much needed, especially to keep things from feeling like wallowing, which i felt was a problem with some other confidants

In the end though the main reason i didn’t romance her was bc as much as I liked her as a character, I didn’t want her to be with Joker specifically, i wanted to support her and see her finally confess her feelings to Shiho and the two of them go ride off into the sunset lol, still there’s a reason I reached rank 10 with her first

4) Takuto Maruki- lol so in this section I’m going to basically go into all my 3rd semester thoughts, again the first leg of his confidant was kinda dull, but I was prioritizing him bc of the deadline, once we got into his personal past that is where I got interested

On one hand part of the charm was just getting to see a more adult story, while there are other adult confidants I found the grad school and like academic stuff relatable, plus like the little moment with the steamed glasses was very funny, he’s just a down to earth guy and his kindness is genuine

However when he stepped up as the antagonist in the third semester, that’s when he got interesting, I found the conflict itself of a dream world to be kinda simple, aside from the fact obviously we need to oppose this for a plot to happen, Persona 5 is all about this humanist approach to personal growth and change, most of what I found fascinating about Maruki was the kinda self-martyring narcissism to his approach, like aside from treat the phantom thieves with kid gloves at time and just doing his best to avoid being a bad guy, there is this simmering resentment he masks and tries to replace with his desire to basically save the world, rather than deal with his own drama and baggage he tries to invest his energy into solving other problems

And you can see some of the parallels between him and the phantom thieves that points out some of hypocrisy of themselves, calculating the exact risks and harms of altering ppl through the Metaverse is hard to do due to a variety of factors, personally I don’t even have other Persona games to look to, but in general while it is for the greater good, the phantom thieves basically impose their will onto ppl who didn’t consent to that change, and in the end they decide to oppose Maruki purely based on their desires to not live in it, the game doesn’t do much with it, but I found the contrast more interesting than the Holy Grail one, plus his boss battle was more fun bc you actually got to use the main mechanic of the game, exploiting weaknesses and baton passing

But yeah all this comes to a head at the latter half of the boss fight where he just is so desperate and refuses to lose, it is like abundantly clear that this dream world is much more for himself than it is for anyone else, it is a desire to turn all his trauma into something more meaningful than just pain, and nothing shows that more clearly than the fact he fistfights a high schooler even after he has basically lost and tries to let himself die rather than face the consequences of his lost.  All in all I think he was the my favorite antagonist and palace holder

Some last thoughts I couldn’t fit elsewhere: Casino was my favorite palace, while weak story-wise, Okumura was far from my least favorite palace gameplay-wise and his boss fight as frustrating as it was might be my favorite for engaging with the player, if anything my least favorite palace was Futaba’s, my favorite showtimes are probably Morgana/Ann, Makoto/Ryuji, and Joker/Kasumi, Caroline and Justine are a delight and I really miss them, Tycoon is addicting and distracted me from being able to beat the game for a while

I got more hot takes I might elaborate on in length in the future, but in conclusion this is another rec where I can see and understand ppl being disappointed in some of the writing and its quality but at the same time i think there is still value ppl are too quick to dismiss and definitely multiple reasons to still enjoy it, I think this is going to stick with me for longer than I first thought it wound

[rainbowplane]

Hiya! 13, 15, 20 & 21 for ask thing ples! (:

Hey there! Very glad to see that even after all this time, you’re still here asking me the stuff. I dont think I ever said it, but I appreciate you, a lot~

13. What fictional character do you identify with the most?

Oh god, I have a lot of characters I identify with in several aspects like, I can see parts of myself and how I am within them up to a point I relate to them quite a lot. But if I had to pick one I might have to say Goro Akechi from Persona 5. *spoilers* Not the actually murdering people part, but the way he acts around others, the issues to trust anyone, I know all of that very well. The search for validation... And lastly, the shitty dad. I can relate to a lot of aspects of his deeper side of his character as well as the keeping up the facade of being perfectly fine. I have learned to get out of that, that mindset and way of acting, but that doesn’t mean I dont still relate and identify with it very well.

15. Where would you rather live – a big house in the suburbs or a tiny apartment in a great location in the city?

I like the ideas of apartments a lot more tbh. I dont need that big amount of space and just being able to walk right outside and be within reach of anything you need does sound really really nice. Smaller space means less cleaning too

Though, on the other side having a big house with a garden would be really nice for keeping lots of pets, I would love that too.

20. What’s the nicest thing you’ve ever heard about yourself? What do you WANT to hear about yourself? 

It might seem as not that much to some people, but having had someone say that they sincerely cared for and liked spending time with me was rather impactful, especially since I could sense it was completely genuine. It’s really all I want to hear as well, hearing people care and wanna spend time with me. I guess if I want anything I just want to hear that more.

21. What do you want to have going on in your life in 5 years, or 10, or 15?

In any amount of those years, I definitely dont have a specific one in mind, I would want to be in a comfortable life. One where I’ll have a stable financial situation while still having time and energy to spend on the things I love. It doesnt have to all be perfect, but I just want to be comfortable and happy.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Who’s worse and why: Futaba or Makoto?

I mean if you’ve read this blog you probably know who I’m gonna choose, but as for why….welp under the cut

I’d have to say Makoto, both as a person and as a character. I know my bf ranks Futaba as the worse solely because of her BS hacking. And listen, for me Makoto and Futaba are both freaking close, and me saying “Futaba’s hacking isn’t as bad as Makoto” is more an opinion than fact, and shouldn’t boost any positive feelings/pride for Futaba fans because I chose her hacking over Makoto. Her hacking is HORRIBLE I was to make that clear, I still hate it. I’d probably hate Futaba more if it wasn’t for the fact that Makoto gets a single amount of criticism that we all have to come and explain ourselves (that’s the only good thing about Futaba is that her fanbase doesn’t come for my throat, but it also doesn’t mean I think about how crappy she is/think as critically about her as much as Makoto). 

With that out of the way I’ll give reasons for disliking both of them:

Makoto:

She never gets dragged. So you might know that I hate the P5MC, I think he’s an asshole and never gets called out on it (and not just he has asshole options, but he does asshole things we can’t not do). One thing I hate is that he drags like Anne, Ryuji, and Yusuke a lot like you wouldn’t believe (like people who are very dedicated to him). But I don’t recall really ever getting a single drag options for Makoto, WHEN SHE WASN’T ON THE TEAM AND SHE WAS AT HER WORSE (even when she drove off our only lead). It was mostly neutral stuff, defiant (not the same as asshole), or begging her not to tell on us. It’s just weird that a lot of other characters will get dragged for not really doing anything wrong, but she DOES screw us over and we don’t get to drag her at least once?

Gets away with A LOT of shit. Like she victim blames Anne, and Anne apologizes? And then has the audacity to say Anne and her are the SAME?! No boo, Anne didn’t know about the abuse, but YOU DID. Anne didn’t report the abuse because she didn’t know, you admit you didn’t report it because YOU DIDN’T CARE ENOUGH. You stalk us, take photos and video recordings without our permission (btw illegal in Japan and would be thrown out in court), but then get surprised when we (mostly Anne/Ryu/Yusuke since they can talk obvie) get mad at you? Complain about how people don’t know your struggles when they yell at you, but you are literally the one causing their grief (so of course they’d yell). Was literally an asshole from the get-go from introduction(she literally insulted Anne from her first words, no wonder Anne didn’t like her) , and pretty much the reason why every scene started to go to shit (only time she didn’t come in like an ass was the scene they called her useless in, and 1) considering her track record they probs assumed, and rightfully so, she was coming to put more pressure on them, which they didn’t need, and seque into 2))

Number 2, she was being useless to the PT! She didn’t do shit while investigating, instead just hovering over us being like “did you get the info? You know will happen if you don’t do this. SO you better do this!” And it’s like???? Bitch, you didn’t even bother to help. You’re useless in the one thing you can do (cause we know you won’t help in the Metaverse). Hell she wasn’t even the person who broke the news about Kaneshiro! We heard a rumor about it on the train as the MC/Mona before Makoto did! But the game made us freaking wait cause we needed the illusion of her doing like…ANYTHING. She also drove away our one gd lead, like WHAT THE FUDGE?! We’re all out here busting our asses and you are just sitting on yours, you really are useless. And she also withheld vital info…..

Withholding info. She does this twice, once during the Kaneshiro arc where we have to waste time investigating this one kid (and we know she knows cause he goes to her after we talk to him, upset cause she might’ve blabbed, oh if only, but like she could’ve asked him questions and she could’ve relayed the same info but NO!). She also doesn’t tell us about Sae’s Palace, and like….that would’ve been FANTASTIC considering we were all like “oh man wish we had a Palace we could go into” the entire gd game.

Her actions and words about her don’t line up (wow awkward sentence XP). People keep describing her as “scary” and “oh man you better not make her mad” and like acting like I should be scared of her. But like???? She’s really such a pushover, she needs to be saved countless times, she showcases no hidden fire-y side (in fact Anne shows that off more, but no the game is too busy dragging her through the mud for some reason). Hell even in the dance games, her and Anne’s reaction of Futaba trying to grope them is different. Makoto is shy and tries to run away iirc, Anne looks like she has the face of murder (Futaba better sleep with one eye open, like jesus what was that game thinking, 1) poor taste to do that to Anne, 2) doesn’t seem like she was having fun and…..that’s so out of place). Just….it’s just really annoying to hear it over and over, and then she needs help over and over. Like she puts up barely any resistence to the guys hitting on them at the beach, all while Anne is ready to throw down and raising a shit fit (understandable, but why isn’t Makoto????) and then if you say “you guys did well” MAKOTO is the one that responds and is like “Oh thanks but it was getting dicey” like bitch you just stood there, Anne was ready to cut a bitch, why are you responding you didn’t do anything????

She takes up too much screen time doing nothing. Her big job is to connect the player with Sae…..and she does a shit job at it. We learn pretty much nothing about Sae or her relationship, except it’s strained (but not TOO strained). She explains easy to understand stuff, but like we already had Mona for that so no need for her. She’s shit at her role as a strategist, 1) she doesn’t do a whole lot of it, 2) the few plans she’s come up with, the majority have failed, 3) her role is useless in a game where we already have a leader and choices are supposed to “matter” so why sin’t the MC just a double duty strategist? 4) Her CoOp ability should’ve already been a part of Futaba’s/Mona’s skill set (like with past Navis). She adds nothing, instead takes screen time away from other characters, as well as removing choice from the players (and possibly coming up with their own plans as well as ideas to utilize everyone). 

Futaba:

Her hacking is unrealistic and OP. Just….it’s just bad in and of itself.

Her hacking removes choice and other means to get around a problem. So many times it’s just “*points at something* Futaba hack it” and it’s done. Like Sae’s dungeon, a lot of people say it showcased Goro’s abilities, but all I remember is him saying “Futaba I choose you! Use hack” and that’s how it mostly went down. So like Makoto, her role screws the player out of a more enriching gameplay experience. 

Also takes up too much screen time. I mean it’s mostly for her stupid hacking too, but if it wasn’t for that and her it could’ve been utilized for other characters. It’s also weird cause she takes up a lot because of her mom, but we don’t get a whole lot about her mom…..it’s mostly just a plot device rather than a character. It just leaves you unfulfilled. 

Her mental illness is horribly written, pandering (in a sense of people thinking it’s cute and you should date her cause of it, not them having a character with mental illness in and of itself is pandering just the……fetishization of it is), and inconsistent (her gameplay and story segregation, aka CoOp and main story segregation, is just so appalling). I think I did one rank of her CoOp and she was all like “MC only you helped me. You’re the reason I started to get better! I can only go outside if you are with me MC! MC MC MC! PT who? Only MC!” and then literally the next f****ing day the main story progresses, she’s waiting outside with Yusuke and everyone is like “You went outside by yourself?!” and Yusuke’s like “nah I picked her up” HMMMM YOU SEEM FINE WITH THE PT WHAT’S THIS ABOUT MC ONLY?! It’s also…..I hate her crush, it’s soooooo unhealthy. She starts to become SO DEPENDENT on you, and is saying some very worrying things like “I don’t think I can do this on my own without you” like all the time. And apparently if you romance her she suddenly becomes more independent, which I don’t think would happen….romancing her route sounded more like I’d encourage her behavior rather than her deciding to just suddenly not do that. The friendship route was the only time it felt like it was realistic, we turn her down and we help her make one more step by herself and let her walk around Akihabara alone within a safe distance and then she gets used to it so it’s possible for her to leave all by herself later. Only time it was semi realistic, because any other time they just bring the freaking mental illness up whenever they freaking please. That’s also doesn’t take in the fact how they “cured” her so they could have a beach episode. A crash course and friendship isn’t gonna cure you suddenly (and it’s not like they actually stole her heart, which I hate she keep saying they did), and that’s an unhealthy mindset and unfair to a friend who wants to help but isn’t fair to put the burden on them to cure you. 

She’s kind of an asshole, like Makoto is an asshole before she joins, but Futaba…..I just dunno how most people even get along in the PT. It’s not social awkwardness, she’s just a straight up douche sometimes and I don’t like it (esp when you can’t call her out). It’s not just her, Yusuke is too and so is Mona (and Ryu is to Mona but he’s not an asshole, but he’s not 100% a good boi, but MC is also an asshole too, but sometimes he can be good). 

I also just don’t like her dungeon. Like how it’s written. But I could say that for most of P5′s dungeons. It tries to imitate P4 but…..doesn’t do what P4 did right. Her’s just steps on my toes even more cause it’s more closer to P4 than any other dungeon, and it’s a gd shame they didn’t expand on P4′s way of doing it (aka you don’t get the info basically handed to before going into the dungeon, there’s actually a revelation as you go through XP)

(Not points against either, but I find it weird that it feels like Futaba is closer to Makoto rather than Anne…..like nothing is special between Futaba and Makoto for them to be kinda like that, but like Anne was the one to technically appealed to Futaba to get her out of the closet…..You’d think she’d cling to Anne more….Sorry more of a confusing writing issue but since we were talking about these two and my mind wandered 8U)

Edit: I think I answered all my points (albeit it’s the abridged version), but god forbid I missed a couple.

[yakuzacanons]

Finally, inbox is open! ✨ So, boys finding out that their s/o works at the maid cafe? "Okaerinasai, master ~ You can relax here ~ What will your order be ~ ? Omuraisu made with love or fuwa fuwa pancakes ~ ? ♡ " D A M N ! I just imagined the whole situation 😆😂🤣

Heeheee make brain go BRRRRRR

Kazuma Kiryu

Outwardly, isn't phased and honestly doesn't care what your profession is as long as you're safe. Inside, he can't help but imagine what you might look like in your work outfit or the things you say and do. It makes him blush a little. Maybe he'll stop in sometime? Maybe.

Majima Goro

This man has two modes and two modes only. He's either super cutesy about the whole thing, sometimes even greeting you with a phrase you might say at work in a cutesy voice, or he's very protective, saying things like "Tell me if a guy creeps on ya at work, okay?".

Saejima Taiga

For the most part, he just thinks it's really cute. Also probably one of the only guys to ask how your job ACTUALLY works. Like do you come up with the cute phrases yourself or is there a script? Things like that.

Akiyama Shun

Most likely of all the boys to actually visit your work just to get the adorable special treatment from you. Knows how your job works and will gift you little accessories to wear to work. He secretly think it's really hot.

Tanimura Masayoshi

Kind of surprised but not bothered by it. It's just not a job he would've really put at the top of his list of guesses as to what you or anyone would do for a living. Likes to stop in on rare occassions to share an adorable dessert with you.

Ryuji Goda

As long as you like the job, he's content. He just wants you to know he could easily financially support you and that you don't have to strain yourself to work if you don't want to. Silently cheering you on. In his heart, you are the number 1 maid at the maid cafe and anyone who tells him different can chew on his fist in their face for all he cares.

Nishikiyama Akira

Secretly a little jealous and he hopes customers don't get the wrong idea or try to get too close to you. He tries to work through it himself as he doesn't want to make you feel bad. Might be a little physically clingier than normal, like walking around with his arm around your waist more often.

Daigo Dojima

Similar mindset as Ryuji. He just wants you to be happy and to know that financially you're both quite secure. He does secretly think the outfits look very adorable on you. He won't ever say it though, he just avoids eye contact with you every time he sees you in a new outfit.

Mine Yoshitaka

Actually probably totally gets off on the idea, more so than Akiyama even. He'll definitely visit you at work at least once just to get a feel for it. Of course, he'd much rather it be just the two of you at home.

Tatsuo Shinada

Also sort of the jealous type like Nishiki, although he might actually say something about it. Not necesarily in a way to make you feel bad or that even needs something to be done, he just wants to get the thoughts off his chest and in the open. Totally supportive though, says things like "Knock 'em dead!" a lot when you leave for work.

Ichiban Kasuga

He turns red as a tomato every time your work comes up. Poor man can't help himself, he just thinks it's so adorable! He'll totally help you practice your cute phrases at home. Ichiban can get very into the spirit of things, but for the most part it's not sexual. He just thinks it's that cute!

Tianyou Zhao

Honestly neutral, even more so than Kiryu to an extent. Wants you to do well and hopes no one tries anything that makes you uncomfortable. Packs you work lunchboxes before each shift you have, sometimes with little cute notes inside.

Joon-Gi Han

Probably has the most of an opinion about which accessories go with which outfit. Lots of times he'll be outside and be like "Ah, those shoes would be good... I should get them" and most of the time he's almost scarily spot on with his taste for your work clothes. Seldom stops by your work but when he does, he usually brings you a gift.

[theexistentiallyqueer]

Hoes are just mad because akeshu is basically canon now

I started answering this and it started getting really long and I realized I have a lot to say about topics of lateral violence and this was probably not what you were expecting when you sent me this ask but oh dear oh god the floodgates are fucking open.

That’s really it in it’s most basic simplicity. Atlus poured a fuckton of money to expand Persona 5, to give us more time and another chance to experience the story they wanted to tell us, and what Atlus wants to tell us is that it’s Goro loving hours up in this Big Bang Burger tonight. 

But they can’t get their rocks off anonymously harassing a corporation, so they go after fans instead, and they couch their harassment and their attempted bullying in explicitly moral terms with absolutely no self-awareness that their behavior is categorically abusive of real people while they’re raining hate on fictional ones.

And this is also starting to get deeply personal so I’ll put the rest under a cut just to spare your browser if you’d really rather keep on scrolling.

I do understand the mindset, because like I said, I’ve been there. And I do actually feel pretty bad for that anon. I think their behavior is disgusting, and I’m lucky that I’m immune to that shit, but I’m sure for plenty of other people who’ve been getting hit by them today it’s emotionally taxing to have to deal with that. 

But I understand it, because when you’re self-isolating and spiraling, you know what such a quick fix is? Using fiction as a coping method. Which can be healthy and can be unhealthy but when you’re angry on top of everything else, and you’re specifically angry at yourself for being so sad and miserable all the time and at other people for not giving you a chance, you tend to find excuses to lash out and unleash that anger on other people.

People are like soda bottles. We can only handle so much pressure, and when there’s too much it has nowhere to go but out. Crack the seal us a little and the insides spray everywhere.

And the reason I feel bad for people like that so specifically is because all of that is an act of psychological self-harm. Being that full of anger all the time is harmful to your own health. Hurting other people like that just because you need to feel something is a double-edged blade.

Which!!! Leads me to Goro. Because I think that’s what he does and who he is at the start of the game and what makes it so deeply ironic is that this person who hates Goro so much they feel the need to spam his fans with verbally violent hatred is acting exactly the same way Goro acts, but with less guns involved.

Another thing I’m always very open about, especially where the topic of Goro and how much I love him as a character comes up: my dad was murdered in an armed robbery when I was nine, and I went through a lot of really hard work and a mess of feelings and plenty of very justified hurt and rage before I found myself in a place where I actually forgive the man who killed him.

And if anyone is reading this far, I want to stop you now before you say you’re sorry or tell me how strong I am or that I’m so brave. That’s not what this is about. I’m not digging deep into my personal trauma so that you can feel like you have to go through all of those social platitudes that feel so necessary. They’re not needed and I feel like they’d detract from what I’m trying to say here. What I’ve gone through is a simple fact of my life to me. I was nine when it happened. I’m thirty years old now.

None of it came easily, and it took so much hard work. And on the other side of it was me sitting with the growing understanding that violence has a kickback effect. Causing violence has a kickback effect. The vast majority of people are fundamentally decent, and sometimes decent and kind people do fucked up things and hurt other people for complex reasons. Reasons that need to be understood, because violence is structural, violence is systemic, etc., etc.

But doing those things is both an act of violence against another person and an act of harm of your own self. Deliberate harm, if that action is premeditated.

To focus this back onto Goro: killing people is a a traumatic act, and trauma spreads like ink in water. It doesn’t just touch the people who loved the victim but the person who killed them too. Goro isn’t a serial killer, Goro is a kid out of options who was pressured into joining a gang and I think it’s pretty clear that he was way in over his head but had no one to help pull him out.

Radicalism doesn’t happen on accident. Interpersonal violence doesn’t happen on accident. Teenagers acting out violently doesn’t happen on accident. There’s always a story, a system, and countless people who failed.

And I’m at the point where I was in the middle of writing this and I had to leave because I have social things to do, and I’m getting back to this now and I forgot half of what I wanted to say.

But I’ve said what I’ve said up until now.