#What does Metaverse mean for businesses?

[intelisync]

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[mostlysignssomeportents]

Mark Zuckerberg announces mind-control ray (again)

I'm on a 20+ city book tour for my new novel PICKS AND SHOVELS. Catch me in PITTSBURGH on May 15 at WHITE WHALE BOOKS, and in PDX on Jun 20 at BARNES AND NOBLE with BUNNIE HUANG. More tour dates (London, Manchester) here.

Mark Zuckerberg has told investors how he plans to make back the tens of billions he's spending on AI: he's going to use it to make advertisements that can bypass our critical faculties and convince anyone to buy anything. In other words, Meta will make an AI mind-control ray and rent it out to grateful advertisers.

Here, Zuck is fulfilling the fundamental duty of every CEO of every high-growth tech company: explaining how his company will continue to grow. These growth stories are key, because growth stocks trade at a huge premium relative to the stocks of "mature" companies. Every dollar Meta brings in boosts their share price to a much greater degree than the dollars earned by companies with similar rates of profit, but slower rates of growth. This premium represents a bet by investors that Meta will continue to grow, which means that the instant Meta stops growing, the value of its shares will plummet, to reflect the fact that it is a "mature" company, not a "growth" company.

So Zuck needs to do everything he can to keep investors believing that Meta will continue to grow. After all, Zuck's key employees and top managers all take much (or even most!) of their compensation in Meta stock, which means that the instant the company stops growing, those workers' pay will plummet and they will seek employment elsewhere, depriving Meta of the workers it needs to successfully create or conquer a new market and once again become a growth stock.

This is why Zuck keeps telling stories. The most important story Zuck tells is about himself, the boy genius who converted a tool for nonconsensually rating the fuckability of Harvard undergrads into a social media monopoly with four billion users. Zuck's cult of personality isn't the product of mere narcissism – it's a tool for creating the material conditions for ongoing investor confidence:

https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-shirt-latin-what-does-it-say-explained-words-2024-9

If Zuck is a boy genius, then Zuck's pronouncements take on the character of prophesy. When Zuck announced the "pivot to video," investors poured tens of billions into Facebook stock and into video-first online news production, despite the fact that Zuck was obviously lying:

https://slate.com/technology/2018/10/facebook-online-video-pivot-metrics-false.html

The "boy genius" story is an example of Silicon Valley's storied "reality distortion field," pioneered by Steve Jobs. Like Jobs, Zuck is a Texas marksman, who fires a shotgun into the side of a barn and then draws a target around the holes. Jobs is remembered for his successes, and forgiven his (many, many) flops, and so is Zuck. The fact that pivot to video was well understood to have been a catastrophic scam didn't stop people from believing Zuck when he announced "metaverse."

Zuck lost more than $70b on metaverse, but, being a boy genius Texas marksman, he is still able to inspire confidence from credulous investors. Zuck's AI initiatives generated huge interest in Meta's stock, with investors betting that Zuck would find ways to keep Meta's growth going, despite the fact that AI has the worst unit economics of any tech venture in living memory. AI is a business that gets more expensive as time goes on, and where the market's willingness to pay goes down over time. This makes the old dotcom economics of "losing money on every sale, but making it up in volume" look positively rosy:

https://www.wheresyoured.at/reality-check/

Now, Zuck has finally described how he's going to turn AI's terrible economics around: he's going to ask AI to design his advertisers' campaigns, and these will be so devastatingly effective that advertisers will pay a huge premium to advertise on Meta:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-ai-revolution-is-an-advertising-revolution-morning-brief-100001467.html

This narrative is especially galling because it's literally the same story Zuck has been telling for decades: "Facebook has built a mind-control out of Big Data, and we can sell anything to anyone":

https://pluralistic.net/2021/09/30/dont-believe-the-criti-hype/#ordinary-mediocrities

This is a facially absurd proposition. After all, everyone who's ever claimed to have perfected mind-control – Rasputin, Mesmer, MK-ULTRA, neurolinguistic programming grifters and pathetic "pick up artists" – was a liar. Either they were lying to themselves, or to everyone else. Or both.

But many of tech's critics helped sell this narrative (and thus helped Meta sell ads). Many critics have fallen prey to the sin of "criti-hype," Lee Vinsel's term for critiquing the claims of your adversary without bothering to ask whether they are true:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/02/euthanize-rentiers/#dont-believe-the-hype

The project of convincing investors that tech's "dopamine hackers" had perfected mind-control with warmed over, non-replicable Skinnerian behavior-mod techniques and mass surveillance sold a hell of a lot of ads. After all, if there's one kind of person the advertising sector has always been able to sell to, it's advertising executives, who are the easiest of marks for a story about how easy it is to trick the public into buying whatever you're selling:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/10/05/florida-man/#wannamakers-ghost

Every ad-tech sales-bro who takes a meeting with an advertising executive finds himself pushing on an open door. Advertisers desperately wants to believe in mind-control rays. Think of the department store magnate John Wannamaker, who said, "half my advertising spending is wasted – I just don't know which half." Imagine: some advertising exec convinced John Wannamaker that he was only wasting half of his advertising spending!

I've long maintained that the threat from AI to workers isn't that AI can do your job – it's that an AI salesman can convince your boss to fire you and replace you with an AI that can't do your job:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/18/asbestos-in-the-walls/#government-by-spicy-autocomplete

The corollary here is that it doesn't matter if AI can design ads that work, not so long as an AI ad salesman can sell this proposition to an advertisers, and not so long as a tech CEO can sell it to investors.

AI keeps passing the worst kinds of Turing tests – for example, it's great at helping people who are prone to life-destroying hallucinations that they are talking to God:

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ai-spiritual-delusions-destroying-human-relationships-1235330175/

Zuck kept up his growth story with this mind control narrative for more than a decade, got caught committing a string of spectacular frauds, and then lured investors back into his stock offerings by telling the same story. This isn't just an indictment of Zuck, it's a stinging rebuke to the whole idea that markets are a kind of infallible computer for assessing and operationalizing information. The market's "thought process" demonstrably lacks the object permanence that most babies acquire by the time they are a year old. You can tell when your child has acquired object permanence by the fact that they cease to enjoy "peek-a-boo" (object permanence means they understand where you have gone when your face is hidden).

In claiming that AI will give him an infinite growth mind-control ray, Mark Zuckerberg is challenging the market to a game of peek-a-boo – and he's winning.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/05/07/rah-rah-rasputin/#credulous-dolts

Image:

Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[strialternatives]

You mentioned in the tags of I think your comic of Akira and Akechi traveling that Akechi is first-aid certified in multiple countries. Does this mean something to any headcanon’s you have about what his adult life would be like? I love your palace au and i’m really interested in how he recovers afterwards!!

If it was just a joke then you don’t have to answer :)

that actually wasn't a joke! :D it started off as a "taking care of akira" investment that got outta hand ya see-

some background first! in my head shuake wind up traveling after Akechi's physical therapy and Akira takes an "extended leave" from uni then just. never goes back.

they travel China, then Thailand--near all the countries in east asia. at first, its about putting some distance between themselves and tokyo and all that metaverse ptsd baggage no one wants to acknowledge or talk about-

not that they don't have talks. they talk a lot, they have a lot of hard talks in hotel rooms, during quiet moments, about everything and nothing at all. akira is devastated to learn that his future husband is a dog person.

then, literally as they're about to book the plane back to tokyo, after months and months of travels and late night talks--akira offhandedly, mentions that he's always wanted to visit paris.

there's no reason for them not to. akira has an absurd amount of metaverse money, akechi has the key to a good chunk of shido's offshore assets. akira picks up languages quickly thanks to his personas and so does akechi.

and it kinda spirals from there. after that they only drop by tokyo for holidays and planned thief get-togethers.

akira's the type of wild card that picks up confidants everywhere he goes, he likes to help the people he connects with, and sometimes that comes with dangerous situations and hospital visits.

(the two of them are nosy, reckless and don't know how to mind their own business to save their lives. and akira is so kind to others and willing to help and his and akechi loves and hates him for it so, sooo much.)

at first akechi learns how to patch (his) idiot up for his own peace of mind, its manageable, he's used to patching up real world wounds. his initial mementos explorations were full of trial and error, after all.

--then there's this awful business with the russian mob that akira's gotten involved with during that part-time bodyguard gig protecting some small time lawyer's child during a court case and, well. he's two years in, somewhere between learning how to suture a stab wound from an underground doctor and looking up tameki-san again,

akechi realizes he's in this for the long haul. that he has to--unfortunately--lock in.

and he's GOOD at it, akechi likes being good at things.

he's not planning on being a doctor or anything, can't stay in one place long enough for a degree. but, picking up certifications still scratches an itch he wasn't aware he had. to heal instead of hurt--it helps that it starts with akira.

anyway, sometimes when he's bored and they're in one place for more than two weeks he'll go hit up foreign clinics who need a temp helper.

[vashtijoy]

haru: "we'll just take him out again"

Ah, this 1/10 line of Haru's, about what they should do if Akechi betrays them all a second time.

I've talked about Haru and Akechi before—she is overwhelmingly compassionate towards him. She shows him understanding he has not earned and does not deserve. She contrasts, in fact, with Futaba, who takes a consistently harsh tone with him—and well may she do so.

Haru is done dirty by the bulk of the fandom with this flanderised crazy axe mean girl schtick, and this translation does not help. So it's time for another big red....

Let's take a look.

tatakau: "to fight or battle"

Haru また裏切るようなら戦うだけだよ。 mata uragiru you nara tatakau dake da yo Plus, if he does betray us again, we’ll just take him out too.

mata uragiru you nara—"if he betrays us again, then we'll...". tatakau dake da yo—"we'll just tatakau him". But what's that verb; what's tatakau?

戦う tatakau means to fight, or do battle, or to make war on someone, or to oppose them. It's a common word. ALC has a number of examples:

戦うか逃げるかの反応 tatakau ka nigeru ka no hannou, "fight-or-flight response";

戦うことを諦める tatakau koto o akirameru, "to give up the fight";

戦う必要なく tatakau hitsuyou naku, "without even having to fight".

It is excessively common in P5:

Ryuji (before one of the robot minibosses in Okumura's Palace) こりゃもう戦うしかねーな! korya mou tatakau shika nee na! Looks like we're gonna have to fight. Haru (when you try to switch her into the party too early) 私も戦えるよ! watashi mo tatakaeru yo! I can fight too! Haru (before a robot miniboss) こうなったら戦うしか⋯! kou nattara tatakau shika...! It looks like we just have to fight!

tatakau is the word we translate as "fight"; "a fight" is often tatakai, from the same root verb. When the PTs fight in the Metaverse, they are tatakau-ing. And when they fought Akechi in the engine room? They tatakau-ed him:

Ann 同じヤツを憎んでるのに、なんで戦うの!? onaji yatsu o nikunderu no ni, nande tatakau no!? We both hate the same guy! Why do we have to go against each other!? Morgana 戦う前に笑ってたの⋯あれ、本心だろ? tatakau mae ni waratteta no... are, honshin daro? That smile before we fought… Isn't that how you really feel?

See? Let's look at Haru's line one more time:

Haru また裏切るようなら戦うだけだよ。 mata uragiru you nara tatakau dake da yo Plus, if he does betray us again, we’ll just take him out too. And if he betrays us again, we'll just fight him again.

the phantom thieves' ghost murder victim

The other key point is this: though this isn't present in the Japanese, the localisation still says "too". "we'll just take him out too". Who's that "too"?

They're not killing Maruki, despite Akechi's efforts. They didn't kill any of their targets. They didn't even kill Shido, who they all held responsible for the murder of Haru's father, and Futaba's mother, and who knows how many others.

In short: nobody is getting murdered in this line—except Haru, by the localisation.

"take him out"

In fairness to everyone who fast-forwarded all of Haru's dialogue and so thinks she's even worse than Akechi, cold-bloodedly planning murder as a form of revenge, "take him out" is a confusing choice of words.

"take him out" means to disable a target. This is how it gets its primary meaning of "kill him". It means to get something or someone out of your way, in a way that corresponds with its death or destruction—or, as in this case, with extreme violence; remember they KO Akechi in the engine room, just like every other boss.

This is why it's common in so many contexts—sport, business, politics. You take out targets in many fields, but you don't kill them! In the same way, Haru intends for them to eliminate Akechi as a threat, if he ever makes it necessary again.

Futaba makes this explicit to him the next day, on 1/11:

Futaba けどまた裏切ったりしたら、絶対許さない。 kedo mata uragittari shitara, zettai yurusanai BUT if you ever betray us again, we'll make sure you regret it.

Futaba says this right to his face: "if you betray us again, don't think you'll get away with it"; "if you betray us again, you're done for." She tells him this is his one and only chance.

(That zettai yurusanai, of course, is the same wording she uses about the men in black suits, and the men who killed her mother—it's fighting talk, blood debt talk. And it's interesting that she has clearly not yet put Akechi into that category. yurusanai is also the word Haru uses to him in the engine room, often translated as "I can't forgive you".)

context matters

Many common misunderstandings of P5's characters and plot boil down to something like this: an overfocus on one memorable line, at the expense of the bigger picture. Again, in fairness, P5 is a huge game, which makes this very easy to do.

But the fact that the Phantom Thieves have chosen not to kill comes up over and over. It is absolutely fundamental to them: their justice does not include murder.

Again: the fact that they don't go in for vigilante killings is what makes them better than Akechi! Part of the essence of their conflict is that Akechi has made bad choices that the PTs avoided—such as Ann's fateful choice to let Kamoshida live:

Just as with Ann and Kamoshida, I don't think the Thieves would stop Haru or Futaba, if they decided Akechi should die. But I also don't think it would pass without question, as Haru's "take him out" line does. Even if nobody else said a word, Makoto would say something. Because the Phantom Thieves are not murderers.

when someone shows you who they are, believe them

On top of that, if you want to read Haru's "take him out" as meaning she wants Akechi dead, you have to ignore everything else she says about him—and, frankly, every other time she's onscreen. Because Haru oozes kindness, compassion and thoughtfulness from her every pore.

Remember, Haru expresses compassion for Akechi, not hate. Here she is on 12/25:

Look at that. Commit it to memory. Show all your friends. Haru is glad Akechi is alive. She's glad he turned himself in and thinks he should pay for his crimes—but she didn't want him dead, and she certainly doesn't want to kill him.

In the engine room, when he's at the point of death, she's afraid for him. She runs forward to call to him; note that Futaba does not, and is at the back of the group, furthest from Akechi.

Even when Haru judges Akechi for what he took from her, she is sympathising with him:

When Cognitive Akechi arrives, Haru isn't just trying to stop Akechi turning on them to save his own skin. She empathises with him, and understands how complex his feelings towards Shido truly are—and why that puts them all in so much danger:

Say it again and say it loud: Haru understands Akechi.

but how does she really feel

Haru tells us her secret feelings in the safe room:

See? Just like Futaba, she doesn't want to be around him; she doesn't want him as part of the group. But she doesn't want to kill him.

That's not her nature. Haru is not a murderer. I'll say it again for the kids at the back: Haru is not a murderer. Her compassion is what makes her unlike Akechi. It's what makes her so much better than him.

She doesn't need to be his best friend to understand him. She doesn't need to hang out with him to see herself in his situation—because the two of them have so much in common. She can acknowledge that he wronged her without secretly (or not-so-secretly) wishing him dead. Haru is a better person than most of us, and her feelings about Akechi are complex.

what is the line actually about?

The sad thing is that Haru's "we'll just take him out" is a beautiful line.

Remember, Haru could be justifiably afraid of the prospect of being around Akechi. He's not safe. He's responsible for one of the greatest traumas of her life. But she shuts that fear down: "if he betrays us again, we'll just fight him again".

She removes his power over her—power to control her, to intimidate her, to make her afraid. Haru can stand up to Akechi and look him in the face, because she's surrounded by her friends. And her friends will stand with her. They prove it over and over in the third semester, when they repeatedly prioritise her feelings and Futaba's. It's made clear repeatedly that if either of them have a problem, Akechi will not be on the team.

So Haru is prepared to work with the scorpion by the river. She understands what made it how it is, and that it can only act according to its nature. But she'll be watching—and she'll be ready. Just like Akechi, who steps forward to fire on Maruki when the rest of them are paralysed.

It's just that Haru's bag of tricks doesn't include murder. Akechi has kept that in his back pocket—but Haru never had it in hers. It's a shame that Haru's clearsightedness here, and her readiness to act—something else she shares with Akechi—is so badly misunderstood as "lol funny murder psycho girl".

Akechi's second betrayal looks like them beating the shit out of him. I'm sure Haru would shoot him in the face a second time, and good luck to her. I'm sure the Phantom Thieves would, each and every one of them, make him deeply regret it before he was again turned in—voluntarily or otherwise.

But murder? No. That's never on the table. That's not Haru, and it's not the Phantom Thieves. And, ultimately, that's why they're the good guys, and Akechi is not.

revision history

Click here for the latest version.

v1.0 (2023/10/13)—first published.

[82mitsu]

{18Trip} <CHAPTER 001 SIDE-A: Sun will R1ze!> 001-A04 Dependable(?) founding employees

A translation of 18TRIP's CHAPTER 001 SIDE-A by 82mitsu. ENG proofreading by sasaranurude.

TL Note:

As mentioned in Kafka’s interview: The dog is named Shumai which is Siu Mai, a chinese dumpling. 

Kaede: (The first day of work is finally here! The other new employees will be here too, right… I’m nervous.)

Kaede: (That reminds me… I ran into Renga-kun here last week—I wonder if he turned out to be okay. He wasn’t looking too good there.)

Kaede: (Not that I can do much just sitting around and worrying! Alright, time for work!)

Daniel: Nah, what’cha making all these faces for. Someone’s a busy fella as always.

Kaede: !? Eh, Da-Daniel-san!? What are you doing here!?

Daniel: Ah? ‘Cuz this is my workplace, duh.

Daniel: Lemme take it from the top again, I’m director of HAMA Tours, Iwabuchi Daniel Hiroshi. Nice to meet’cha~

Kaede: …! …! …!

Kaede: (Y-you have got to be kidding me… Does that mean he’s my boss again…!? This guy who doesn’t lift a finger…!? Kafka, why did you hire him of all people…)

Daniel: While it’s our new workplace, you better be working till ya drop~ Chief-san♪ ‘Kay, I’mma head off first.

Kaede: D-Daniel-san, you are one of the founding employees, remember!? So please actually put effort into working this time around, okay!?

Daniel: Wahaha, I’unno ‘bout that.

Sakujiro: A good morning to you two, Chief, Director.

Sakujiro: Chief, we received the flowers you ordered. Thank you kindly for your consideration.

Kaede: Sakujiro-san, good morning to you too! So the flowers arrived safely then.

Sakujiro: Indeed. Young Master… Pardon, the President is most delighted with these.

Kaede: (...Oh, I see now. Sakujiro-san’s also one of the founding employees. Working together with someone who has been looking out for me since I was a kid—it does feel a little bit strange…)

Sakujiro: I am no more than a mere newbie of an ordinary employee, so please do give me orders regarding anything, even miscellaneous affairs at work.

Kaede: Eh… that’s really a bit too…

Daniel: Gotcha, Sakujiro. I’ll let ya take charge of all the annoying things.  

Kaede: Daniel-san… Don’t you have any common sense…!?

Daniel: Gotta use whatever’s at your disposal~

Kafka: Good morning. Everyone’s in high spirits already. Chief-chan, thanks for the flowers ♪ Could it be that you got these arranged in my image?

Kaede: Ah, Kafka, goo-

Daniel: Top of the mornin’ to ya, Bossman. 'Nother day of you looking all spiffy there.

Kaede: (Daniel-san, your tune sure changes with Kafka…) 

Kafka: Good morning. The other two who will also be founding employees are already here. Allow me to introduce them.

???: Good morning, Chief-san and Director-san if I’m right. 

Kaede: (Wah… A calm, proper looking fine young man!)

Kafka: He’s Kitakata Nayuki. He’s an old friend I connected with back in the investor community. This time I brought him on board as the manager for accounting.

Nayuki: If there are any problems related to accounting, please don’t hesitate to ask me about anything. I will properly follow through with you.

Kaede: (Woah, a genuine guy who has it all together…! Thank god…)

Kaede: (Hm? I kinda… feel like I’ve seen him before… Where was it again, like a magazine interview or something…)

Kafka: By the way, Nayuki also has experience establishing JPN’s biggest metaverse service mahorova under the role of COO under his belt. He’s your go-to guy to rely on. 

Kaede: Ah…! You’re the boy genius who created mahorova at the tender age of 12…!?

Nayuki: That is something from 11 years ago. Currently I’m a mere section manager for accounting so please treat me as such without reservation.

Kaede: (Such an amazing track record, yet so friendly and humble… Kafka, you actually hired a respectable guy…!)

Kaede: (...Honestly, why come to our company with a background like that? is what I’m thinking, but… maybe it’s because he’s friends with Kafka?)

Kaede: (...That also reminds me, something’s telling me I heard “Kitakata” somewhere else… What was it again?)

Kafka: Well, Nayuki will be taking on another job besides accounting sometime soon. Leaving that aside for now…

Kafka: There’s one more person, a guy that I employed as an intern but…

(Sounds of glass breaking and rattling)

???: Wah, uwaaaaah, I fell over and the flower vase is………..Guh! Hweeehsorrysorrysorrysorrysorry—--!!!

Sakujiro: Oh good heavens. The flowers we received from Chief are a mess.

???: P-picking them right now!!! Ouch!!! There’s blood from touching the vase shards… bloooooood~!!  

Kafka: Sigh… Sakujiro, lend him a hand, and put the flowers back together.

Sakujiro: I shall wrap this up within three seconds. 

Sakujiro: SWISH, SHWIWIWIWIWISH!!

Kaede: (T-they’re the perfect picture of a clumsy boy and overpowered butler…!?)

???: Ah, awawawah, I blinked and there’s band-aids… G-God, was that you~!?

Kafka: Yachiyo. Come here. Those flowers are VERY! important to me so you better not be coming near them ever any time soon, okay?

Yachiyo: S-s-sorry… I won’t ever be in the same room as them ever again… 

Sakujiro: Fuefuki-kun, if I may. Once you open the door first look to your right, and then to your left. Then proceed to keep a one meter distance from anything that seems breakable on impact. 

Yachiyo: Ye-yeshhhh!!! I’ll write it down!! I’ll make a memo of exactly every single spoken word!!!

Daniel: Oooh, whatta hard worker, takin’ proper notes and all. Intern-kun fella.

Kaede: (It’s kind of like… another unique person joined the bunch…)

Kafka: This is Fuefuki Yachiyo. The details of his application form were unusual and funny so I hired him ♪ Do get along with him.

Kaede: (Hired because it was funny… Kafka, your bad habits are coming out again!)

Kafka: And~ last~ but~ not least~ Ta-daaah, our poster dog Shumai.

Shumai: Borf!

Kaede: Eh, where did Shumai pop up from!? Wait, why did you bring him here!?

Nayuki: What a cute little doggy. Are you acquainted with him, Chief?

Kaede: Uuh, more than knowing him, we found him injured in the courtyard of the hospital Kafka was staying at back in the day…

Kafka: Chief-chan and I rescued him and looked after him at the hospital. I took him in my care when I got discharged from the hospital. Since he came running after me, and all.

Kaede: Really? It’s been so long, I’m glad to see you again, Shumai.

Shumai: Pant pant, boworf!

Kafka: Ah~ so unfair. Only wrapping your arms around Shumai. You should embrace me like you used to in the past, Chief-chan.

Kaede: W-what are you saying, geez…

Nayuki: Fufu, the president and Chief sure are good friends.

Kaede: Eh, no no it’s because we’re childhood friends…! Sorry for messing around at work…!

Kafka: It's not like we're messing around for the hell of it, this is how good friends act ♪ Manager Nayuki, don't go making eyes at Chief-chan, okay.

Kaede: (No, but seriously, what are you going on about, Kafka…)

Yachiyo: Do not make eyes at Chief… I-I jotted that down!!

Kaede: Yachiyo-kun, you don’t gotta take notes of that!

Kafka: Now then, given how all founding members have come together… Suppose it’s time to hold our first strategy meeting.

<<previous chapter / next chapter>>

chapter 001 side A directory: TBA upon completion

[thecrowsnestp5]

my persona 5 ocs: the crow's nest (aka a glorified pthieves hate club)

THIS IS A BIT FOR APRIL FOOLS ITS A JOKE A BIT HGFSK.

WARNING READ THIS NOW OR YOUL DIE!

this post contains SPOILERS like akechi being the black mask and causing the mental shutdowns and working for shido and being a murderer and dying in the engine room and coming back in the third semester because he was revived by maruki who was evil and had a palace all along which you saw abck in october thats where kasumi got her persona and btw kasumi is actually dead and thats just sumire pretending to be her sister. yeah. spoilers like that

by clicking the "read more" button, you are giving me legal permission to mine data from you

will you sign the contract?

cool, thanks.

the crow's nest is an au of mine featuring my super fucking awesome radical ocs who are all EDGY AND MISUNDERSTOOD and BEST FRRIENDS with goro akechi ,,,, because theyre all just edgy,,, and they kill people... and its EDGY did i mention its edgy because it is.

let's start with the first one, who isn't actually EDGY, but akechi's PREPPY coworker.

that's right. a ROBOT CAT. with CANNIONS built into his ARMS. akechi felt the same way, don't worry. i'm being self aware so that's COOL.

his name is lysander. like akechi, he was made to be a hitman sneaking around in the metaverse. but unlike akechi, he was made by rich people. i dont wanna change this line wtf is with the dig on akechi

lysander is a robot and his personality is robot but who cares about personalities. hes a HOMOSEXUAL for mrogana and hes a soffttt boi....,and gay

akechi fucking HATES HIM because hes GAY and SOFt. akechi HATES GAY PEOPLE

lysander has a persona, and for the people who dont know persona 3 and therefore dont know how a robot can have a persona, I AM AN ELITIST AND I HATE YOU AND IM GOING TO GATEKEEP LIKE AN ASHOLE@!!

it's not like they're ALL robots anyway. onto our next—fleshy—ally! WAS THAT A FUNNY JOKE PLEAE TLEL ME IT WAS UFNYN HNJTJKDFHG

this is ロキシー Okanoue. shes a BAD GIRl, and shes SMART but a BITCH. and akechi met her on the INTERNET where they bonded over wanting to BRUTALIZE AND MRUDER the pjhantom thieves

ロキシー preteneds to be a sweet girl whos cute and nice... but shes a BIOTCH!!!!!! she3s an egocentric fuck and she hates you personally and will put a curse on your entire family for fun. also, shes meant to be attractive, but i drew her so bad here that she looks nothingburger

akechi is the real leader of the crows nest but she despises him just as much as the pthiebes and wants him dead so she also tries to be the leader so akechi and roxy i mean ロキシー are just the most annoying incompetent people in the world

meet bunki kuboyama, i am madly in love with him.

bunki is so handsome, smart, honest, and kind. he loves the environment and always stays out of peoples business because hes just such a good guy. he loves women but hes not attracted to them because he is also a homosexual, feminist ally!!!! hes just so slayyyyyayay

akechi hates him for NO good reason!!! i mean its probably because bunki deliberately makes people feel like shit and manipulates their feelings for his own benefit and also openly talks about wanting to mack on shido who literaly ruined akechis life but IDK HES JUST SUHC A GOOD GUY!!! i am not biased

all of bunkis traits are good. i am in love with him

nest is chifuyu oishi who is... sniff... EDGY.... emo bad boy....

his personality is the angry one. idk. i had nothing planned for him at this stage in development

aechi hates him too because he hates everyone. but chifuyu breaks into his house at 3 am every night to steal 5 billino dollars from him and then punches him in the nose 87 times. thats what he does. but hes just so edgy and misunderstood... you dont get it... heh...

he was in a human trafficking ring OK NEXT CHARACTER

this is kiyoe hino shes two feet tall

kiyoe is RICH, snd thats enough to know she sucks major ass. shes a childish petty ASSHOLE!!!!!!!! but she thinks shes sthe shit, also daddy issues

akechi hates her because she is annoying and doesnt listen to people which is kinda like him and roxy but idk hes not a hypocrite all of these people are super ncie and good just EDGY and MISUNDERSTOOD.... heh... eyes glow red

if she stopped being such a stupid idiot for once she could be smart but shes not. L-ING MY A OFF

and the one who i put last because i HAAAAAAAATE her, etsumi fukunaga. she is like haru

shes basically just haru.

etsumi acts exactly like haru from the cute outer shell to the murderous tendencies, there is literally nothing original about her shes haru.

akechi feels the same way about her as he does haru, becuase shes haru

she's also an ex-ballerina with an eating disorder and she killed her dad which leaves her with a perpetual guilt that eats at her evrey day but WHO GUVES A SHIIIET

i have sto0len all of your personal information now ok bybebebbtbybebebyebe

[dream-meister-translations]

PERSONA 5 : THE PHANTOM X

PERSONA 5 : THE PHANTOM X BETA - PART 10

━

RUFERU : To think you’re spacing out in a place like this… What’s going on?

WONDER : …Like an idol group…

RUFERU : That… Doesn’t answer my question…

RUFERU : Or maybe you’re just speaking a language far beyond my comprehension? …Or you’ve given up on talking to me entirely…

RUFERU : You looked tired…

RUFERU : Spending all day at school only to be attacked by Shadows the second you get out… Must be tough…

RUFERU : In that case, lemme do you a favor.

Ruferu does a backflip, landing in a cool guy pose with his arms, uhh… wings? Crossed. 

RUFERU : Consider this an honor.

RUFERU : ‘Cuz you’ll be the first human to ever lay eyes upon this form, Wonder.

RUFERU : Trans… Form!!

A gust of wind seems to envelop Ruferu as he leaps into the air, a flash of light wrapping around him before a small Renault 4 lands between the rails of the train track.

RUFERU : Phew! All set!

WONDER : Ruferu? Is that you?

RUFERU : You remember what I told you, right? About how people’s perception can impact the metaverse?

RUFERU : Well, there’s actually a very prevalent notion around here that animals also serve as a means of transportation.

RUFERU : As for why I look like this in particular… I have no idea…

RUFERU : Come on, get in. Even a living car still needs a driver.

Wonder gets in.

WONDER : I’ve never driven a car before…

RUFERU : Oh, it’s easy. Just start the engine, hit the gas, and steer til we’re where we need to be!

RUFERU : Don’t worry. I’m always here to help!

RUFERU : See! Exactly like that! Okay, let’s get going!

RUFERU : Next stop! The deepest depths of cognitive space. Once we're close to our destination, I'll let you know.

They set off deeper into the tunnel, following the train tracks until another group of Shadows spawns from the ground to block their way ahead.

RUFERU :  Shadows ahead! And so is our destination, so get ready. We’re gonna have to blast our way through.

RUFERU : Their numbers are fewer than before but that doesn’t mean we can let our guards down!

As the fight begins, the newly manifested Phantom Thief Idol appears alongside him in the battle, much to the confusion of Ruferu.

RUFERU : Who’s that? A new kind of enemy?!

WONDER : They’re my Phantom Thief Idols.

RUFERU : Seems you have it all figured out. So I’ll leave them under your command. For now, let’s take down these Shadows!

With the aid of the Phantom Thief Idol, Wonder and Ruferu make short work of their assailants.

RUFERU : Okay, coast is clear.

RUFERU : So what did you call them? Your idol?

WONDER : Phantom Thief Idol, yes.

RUFERU : Hm. You say that like they hold some significance to you. Oh, well, not like it’s any of my business.

RUFERU : Oh? So you’re saying they’re a Cognitive Entity with powers akin to that of a Persona user? Have to say, I didn’t expect you to employ such a creative strategy..

RUFERU : In any case, it’s as I said earlier. I’ll leave the management and command of these Idols to you.

With that, Ruferu turns back into a car. Beep. Beep.

RUFERU : Okay, let’s keep pushing forward…

━

Meanwhile in Shibuya, Motoha and Tomoko are standing in the town square, next to the statue of Hachiko, a Japanese Akita whom, for nine years following the death of his owner, Hidesaburō Ueno, continued to wait for Ueno to come back home.

MOTOHA ARAI : Is this about a guy?

TOMOKO NOGE : U-Um…

MOTOHA ARAI : Who is it? Anyone I know?

TOMOKO NOGE : About that…

Tomoko clasps her hands together nervously, as if in pleading prayer to Motoha.

MOTOHA ARAI : I knew it. You’ve always been easy to read Tomoko. So you’ve finally found someone you like half as much as you like baseball, huh?

TOMOKO NOGE : I-I wouldn’t go so far as to say I like him! I just said I’m KIND of interested in him… That’s all!

MOTOHA ARAI : Okay, then why don’t we find somewhere to sit and chat rather than standing here?

Tomoko follows Motoha’s lead as she guides them to one of the benches in the town square… However as the camera pans, it reveals Kiuchi, who catches sight of them…

TAKEYUKI KIUCHI : Oh?

TAKEYUKI KIUCHI : That girl… It’s her…

━

Meanwhile, back in the Cognitive World, Wonder and Ruferu can be seen approaching a miasma of black and crimson energy.

RUFERU : If my intel’s correct… Then it should be right around here…

WONDER : And if it’s wrong?

RUFERU : I was born in this world. I’ve learned a thing or two about its structure in my time.

RUFERU : I can hear their heartfelt desires calling out to me from the rest of society’s collective consciousness.

RUFERU : Of course, as a part of that collective consciousness, you can’t hear these voices, but I can use them to gather vital information that will help us in our investigation.

RUFERU : And the voices are telling me… It’s right around… Here… Oh?

RUFERU : There we go! Kiuchi’s Palace should be right up ahead.

WONDER : Palace?

RUFERU : Even in the vast expanse of the Metaverse, it is possible for one's distorted desires to materialize in this realm, given enough power and influence over society.

RUFERU : From the perspective of the human Shadow driven by the cognition of their own desires, they may also see this as a ‘stronghold’ for seizing and protecting themselves from the erroneous desires of others.

RUFERU : Within the grounds of his Palace, Kiuchi is an absolute tyrant, ruling over even the Shadows manifesting within.

RUFERU : As such, this Palace is our destination. That is to say… We have work to do.

RUFERU : Come, Wonder.

Continuing to lead the way, Ruferu steps inside the miasma. Wonder follows as they step inside the Palace of Takeyuki--

[chosen-hero-inari]

Whumptober Day 19: Bloodtrail

A/n: This one got a little away from me, Yusuke and Makoto friendship really gets me going, I love them

Overzealous

Makoto limps into the shadows of the nearest row of bank locks as soon as she hits the ground, ears still ringing.

They’d already secured the route to Kaneshiro’s Palace, but Joker still wanted to train a bit to make sure they were all sharp.

Makoto and Kitagawa swapped out for Takamaki and Sakamoto, and hung back while Joker’s main team fought shadows.

Normally that front team takes the brunt of Shadow fighting, but in this case, Makoto was an idiot and didn’t cover their rear well enough, too busy feeling entranced by how effortlessly the original four Phantom Thieves worked together, and missed a shadow sneaking up on her and Kitagawa.

Before she’d had a chance to react, the Shadow blew itself up, knocking Makoto through the glass floors of the laundering room and into the bank vault below.

Now alarms are squealing, everyone’s on high alert, and she has to get back to the others but she has no way to contact them. Why hadn’t she thought of that? Why hadn’t she been paying attention, isn’t that her role? The smart one? The strategist? What’s the point of getting them into the Palace (completely on accident, putting them all at risk in the process) and figuring out a lock if she still gets them killed.

Makoto’s still dizzy, so has to lean against the row of safes to keep her footing. Even the short dashes across the gaps leave her chest burning. She can’t get caught here, what would Sis think?

She’d be thankful you weren’t a burden anymore.

Makoto bites the inside of her cheek to bury the thought. She has to figure out where the others are, and where how to get by without setting off the shadows, and how to get to the elevator and-

A chill runs down her spine as Makoto realizes someone is behind her. Without thinking, she spins and points her gun at the assailant.

Kitagawa throws one hand up quickly. “It’s just me.”

“Ki- erm Fox!” Makoto breathes. Of course, he was with her, how could she forget that? Of course he’d have been blasted down here too, where is her head at right now? 

Kitagawa is staring at her, and Makoto swallows. “How did you find me?”

Kitagwa points at the wall Makoto’d been leaning against, and there are smears of blood along it in the direction she went. Makoto looks down and sees a giant bleeding gash she’d missed with all the rest of the throbbing pain her body is in.

“Shit,” Makoto mutters. “This is just perfect, if you’d been a shadow I–”

“Can I bandage your arm?” Kitagawa asks.

“Huh?”

“Your arm, it needs to be bandaged.”

Makoto nods. “Right, I–” Joker has their bandages. Actually, Joker has all their supplies. Why does Joker have all their supplies, what if this exact thing happens why didn’t she think of this sooner?

Kitagawa takes part of his belt and rips it off, awkwardly wrapping it around her gash with one hand and pulling the knot with his teeth.

“Ok we have to get back up the elevator to the others before one of the shadows find us because if we die then it’ll be bad and what happens to our bodies if we die in the Metaverse anyway?” Makoto starts, and great now spots are dancing in front of her eyes she cannot let the blood loss get to her right now she’s the smart one figuring out a plan is her job.

“Queen!” Kitagawa says sternly. “Take a deep breath.”

Makoto gulps in air, and Kitagawa’s tail twitches, like an annoyed cat. 

“Slowly, with me,” Kitagawa says, and Makoto follows him as he takes in a deep breath and lets it out in a long exhale.

Her vision has cleared a little bit, and now that she’s looking, Makoto realizes Kitagwa’s left arm is limp.

“Did you dislocate your shoulder?” Makoto asks. 

“I believe so, yes.” 

Makoto’s way too drained to try a healing spell, so that means she has to do it the old-fashioned way.

“Ok, I can set it just—” Makoto’s taken a first aid class, she does know how to set it, she needs Kitagawa distracted. “Uh… tell me about school? What’s Kosei like?”

“The each department is planning their exhibits for the school fair,” Kitagawa says. “It’s not for a few months, but there’s a competition to see who has the best exhibit and each department takes it very seriously.”

“What’s the art department thinking of doing?”

“I’m not sure, it’s a big debate, but I’m excited to be able to take part this year because last year I was busy helping Sen– AHH!”

Makoto pops Kitagawa’s shoulder back into place. “Sorry! Sorry, it’s supposed to hurt,” she says, tearing off part of her scarf to make a makeshift sling for him.

“It’s fine,” Kitagawa says. “We should stay put until we can find the others. I’m sure Morgana can track us with his nose.”

Makoto shakes her head. “There are too many shadows here, and they’re too high alert, we’ll be caught and we’re in no shape for a fight.”

“A distraction then?”

“Yes, I want to at least get out of the vault, it’s the most high security area.” Makoto says. Which leaves her back where she was before, just with Kitagwa here. 

Wait–

“I have an idea,” Makoto says.

-

One of Kaneshiro’s guards is observing the entrance to the Treasure room, extra careful. 

Suddenly there’s a chilly blast, and the guard whips its head around. A large wall of ice is blocking the entrance to the treasure room.

“Stop slacking you idiot! They sealed themselves in the Vault with Ice!” someone snaps. “If you don’t break it down, Kaneshiro will have your heads!” 

The guard tries to find who gave the order, but someone snaps again. “THE ICE, DUMBASS!” The guard hurries and joins the others at hacking away at the ice wall.

-

The guards are completely focused on trying to break down the wall, so Makoto gives Kitagwa a nod and they both make a break for the elevators.

Some guards notice them, but not enough to stop them before Makoto can slam the close doors button and they’re riding up back to where the others were.

“Very impressive,” Kitagawa says.

“I mean, it was risky,” Makoto blinks. “I was banking on the psychology working well, most people if given an order from what they perceive of as a figure of authority will at least start doing it without thinking so I hoped the shadows would be the same.”

“And you conveyed that authority with just your voice. I think they truly feared repercussions.”

“Well I, just made my voice deeper,” Makoto says. She’d actually been trying to imagine how Sae would say it and hoped that would work.

“It’s more than the pitch, it was your tone,” Kitagawa says. “No one would have believed you were panicking just minutes ago.”

The elevator falls into awkward silence.

“I’m sorry,” they both say at the same time.

“I shouldn’t have panicked when you were hurt–”

“I didn’t mean to imply there was anything wrong–”

“I’m still getting used to this–”

“It’s perfectly normal to be stressed, I was worried myself and–”

“I promise I’m going to be a better strategist, so–

“I know sometimes I can say things without thinking about how they come across and–”

“I’m very sorry,” they both finish.

They reach their stop, and with a quick look  both brace themselves for guards on the other side.

Instead, it’s Sakamoto. “Holy shit!” he says. “Panther, get over here! We need healing!”

-

After they’ve returned to reality, Kitagawa is stretching his both his arms, and Makoto keeps feeling where her gash had been.

The others had already left, so it’s just the two of them.

“Thank you,” Makoto says. “If it weren’t for you I probably would have just been freaking out the whole time.”

“No need, you’re the one who came up with the plan,” Kitagawa says.

“How do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Stay so calm?” Makoto asks. “I-I mean, I’m supposed to be the strategist but I keep panicking and doing stupid things but you’re just–”

“If I’m able to stay calm, it’s only because I’ve had a lot of practice,” Kitagawa says. “I don’t know what’s been reported about the Madarame case, or what he was like towards his pupils, but I learned from a young age to control any outbursts or school my emotions. It’s… not particularly a skill.”

“Oh,” Makoto says. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up anything unpleasant, I–” Makoto swallows. If there’s one thing she’s observed about the Phantom Thieves, it’s that taking Kitagawa out for food is the best apology. “Want to grab ramen?”

Kitagwa doesn’t say no, so they get a corner booth at a ramen place, and Makoto orders extra toppings for both of them after Kitagawa picks the cheapest option.

“Can I ask you something?” Makoto asks.

“Anything.”

“Do you think I’m still useless to you?”

Kitagwa pauses, food halfway to his mouth. “... I shouldn’t have called you that.”

“You were right,” Makoto says. “I’ve been nothing but a nuisance to you, and even as strategist I came short today.”

“Someone’s worth isn’t determined by their usefulness to others,” Kitagawa says. “The others taught me that, and it was wrong of me to turn that around on you. You’ve been nothing but helpful, certainly more helpful than I was on my first palace.”

“I threatened to turn you in to the police.”

“So did I.”

“Huh?” Makoto asks.

Kitagawa takes a long slurp of his ramen. “When the others were asking too many questions about Sensei, I wanted them to leave before someone got hurt, either them or myself. So I threatened to call the police on them for trespassing if they didn’t leave.”

“Oh,” Makoto says. “But, you were under a lot of pressure,”

“I also added that Ann could come back if she promised to model nude.”

“What.”

“I didn’t think she’d actually do it, even when she texted me about it, not until she was wearing strange clothes in my studio and I was rapidly realizing I still didn’t know what to draw, I just wanted something I’d never drawn before, and we don’t have a nude modeling workshop until we’re third years at Kosei.”

“N-nude modeling?” Makoto repeats.

Kitagawa looks askance. “At the time, I was annoyed that anyone would take it in a sexual way, nude art has a long history and having the full extent of the human form on display can have more meanings than simple base desires. Then after I joined Ryuji took me aside and explained to me Ann’s history with Kamoshida, and I apologized profusely. I spent most of money that month on a proper gift to try and make it up to her.”

Makoto does not know what to say to that.

“So combine that with my not being necessary to enter Madarame’s Palace and you being necessary for Kaneshiro’s, and the new strategies you and Joker have come up with, your joining has overall been much smoother than mine. There’s nothing for you to apologize for, and you’ve more than proven yourself.”

“Thank you,” Makoto says. “And for what it’s worth, I’ve never gotten a sense that Takamaki’s mad at you still.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that,” Kitagawa says. “It’s simply another in my long list of social faux pas.”

“H-hey, Kitagawa?”

“You can use my given name,” he says.

“Oh, well, Yusuke? Do you ever feel… separate from the others? Like you’re not really part of the group?”

“All the time,” Yusuke says. “I don’t think I ever will. They swooped in out of nowhere and saved my life, simply based on a comment on a forum. I can’t see myself as one of them, not really. They’re my saviors, I owe them.”

“Ah,” Makoto says. “I get it, I owe them too. I feel like I need to make up to being blind to Kamoshida, to letting the principal and teachers bully me into teaching them like a bunch criminal delinquents.”

“It’s quite the dilemma, isn’t it?”

Makoto nods. “Maybe, you want to try and repay our debts together?”

“I’d be happy to, Makoto."

[digitalstackbybinary]

Web3 & Decentralized E-Commerce: What It Means for D2C Brands

The e-commerce landscape is evolving, and Web3 is at the forefront of this transformation. As decentralized technologies redefine how businesses operate, Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) brands must prepare for a future where transactions, ownership, and customer relationships are no longer controlled by centralized platforms. But what does this shift mean for the world of online retail?

Understanding Web3 & Decentralized E-Commerce

Web3 refers to the next phase of the internet—powered by blockchain, smart contracts, and decentralized networks. Unlike traditional e-commerce, which relies on intermediaries like marketplaces and payment processors, decentralized e-commerce eliminates middlemen, giving brands direct control over their operations, data, and revenue streams.

How Web3 is Reshaping D2C Brands

Ownership & Control: Web3 empowers brands to own their customer relationships without depending on platforms like Amazon or Shopify.

Decentralized Payments: Cryptocurrency and blockchain-based transactions reduce dependency on banks and lower payment processing fees.

Smart Contracts for Automation: Agreements between buyers and sellers can be self-executing, reducing fraud and ensuring seamless transactions.

Enhanced Data Privacy: Customers have greater control over their data, fostering trust between brands and consumers.

Tokenized Loyalty Programs: Brands can use NFTs and tokens to create exclusive membership benefits, driving deeper engagement and repeat purchases.

Challenges of Web3 in E-Commerce

Adoption Barriers: Many consumers and businesses are still unfamiliar with blockchain and decentralized systems.

Regulatory Uncertainty: Governments worldwide are still developing frameworks to regulate cryptocurrencies and decentralized transactions.

User Experience: While Web3 offers transparency, its technical complexity may create friction for non-tech-savvy consumers.

The Future of D2C in a Web3 World

Decentralized Marketplaces: Platforms like OpenSea and Rarible are paving the way for decentralized product selling.

Metaverse Shopping: Virtual storefronts could redefine the online shopping experience, allowing customers to interact with products in digital spaces.

Community-Led Growth: Web3 enables brands to build loyal communities through decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), where customers have a say in brand decisions.

Seamless Global Transactions: Cryptocurrency adoption will allow brands to expand globally without currency conversion hassles.

Is Your Brand Ready for Web3?

While Web3 is still in its early stages, D2C brands that adapt now will gain a competitive edge. Whether through tokenized rewards, decentralized payment systems, or blockchain-backed supply chains, the shift toward decentralized e-commerce is inevitable. The question is: Will your brand lead the change or struggle to catch up?

[beechaotic]

So, I went back to work…

Hood called me into his “office” (it’s literally just a fucking walk-in closet he put a shitty IKEA desk in) for a meeting. Along with all of my friends.

Now, something to know about my friends and I: we’re all metas. It’s one of the reasons we work for Hood instead of other criminals/rogues; he offers protection for metas who work for him. He also gives us a vague semblance of an education by giving us textbooks and shit. (He heard we didn’t have much in the way of schooling and decided to teach us what he could (he’s shit at math; very good at English though)). We owe him a lot, since he’s kind of the reason we don’t have to steal to survive. So, we were all obviously nervous. Except our “strong tough man”, whom we call “Mars” on the field. He wasn’t nervous (probably).

So, we were all just standing there, very awkwardly. Then, Hood spoke.

“So, why didn’t you decide to tell me you were still squatting?”

We all kinda looked at each other, mostly because none of us wanted to talk first. Then, our youngest who we call “Technus” (cuz they can manipulate technology of any sort on a whim) spoke up.

“I mean, it didn’t really seem important. We have somewhere to stay that’s���kinda safe? I mean, it isn’t gonna collapse on us in our sleep, so…”

Hood sighed and shook his head at that, and put his head in his hands.

“And why don’t you stay at one of the shelters I’ve put up?” I might have scoffed at that, but nobody needs to know if I did.

“I mean, those are prone to gang break-in’s, vigilante attacks and police raids, so a group of meta kids on the run from the Foster Care system wouldn’t be too keen on staying there.” I was the one speaking, and my friends refer to me as “Mx. Metaverse” on the field. So does Hood.

“Metaverse, you know as well as I do that that is just a list of excuses. What’s the real reason?”

We all kinda shuffled around a bit, not wanting to answer. Then, a boy we call “Fire Fists” (he’s really fast and likes to punch things) decided to speak.

“You’ve already done a lot for us, and we’re really grateful for it! We don’t want to take advantage of stuff when we have what we need. We have a couch, sleeping bags, a mattress-that one’s new-and a good supply of money thanks to you and what you give us. We have food, a place to crash that’s safe, and a steady income. What more could we ask for?”

I’m gonna cut the rest of this short, because the conversation was really long. Basically, we tried to talk Hood out of whatever he was planning, but he just handed us each a key and told us that it was to our apartment. He gave us the address and sent us on our way. We tried to argue, but he just stopped responding and pretended to be busy.

So, now we have an apartment, and I’m kinda weirded out. Like, I knew Hood took care of his own, but we had a place to stay that wasn’t crumbling around us! Mostly. Apparently that wasn’t a good enough answer for Hood though, because he just gave us an apartment I guess.

We went over there after work, and it’s actually a nice place! No furniture, but it is in good condition, and there’s a room for everyone. We’re gonna move all our stuff over here tomorrow so it feels more like home, so, wish us luck!

Also, it comes with a fridge. Bougie, I know. We’re living in the fucking Ritz up here.

[weloveakechi]

As Dreamers Do Chapter 7

Hello everyone! It’s later in the day than I like to post, but I was busy baking some delicious coffee buns and that distracted me quite a bit…I also had to re-work part of this chapter because it didn’t feel right on a re-read.

The boys finally dive into Kamoshida’s Palace in this one, I hope you enjoy the ride.

First Chapter | AO3 Link

~

Akira’s hands tremble as he taps the Metaverse app on his phone to pull up recent searches. He scrolls past the Mementos listing and smacks Kamoshida’s result. The tremble is so slight he’s sure no one noticed. Well. Akechi might have. But Akechi notices everything and if Akira tries to account for every second of every day he spends with him, he thinks he’ll go mad.

So his hands tremble in a way he can’t stop even as the school and alley melts away, his vision goes red for a moment as the Metaverse slips over reality. They tremble as his old outfit and mask settle over him. They tremble as the castle comes into view, standing tall and in desperate need of being knocked back down. 

This is where Akira should feel better. He’s untouchable as Joker. The unflappable leader of the Phantom Thieves, no matter which timeline he finds himself in. Clothed from head to foot in his thieves garb. Even his hands wrapped in red gloves. 

Red. What an apt color to describe the blood on his hands after his abject failure. 

He can’t stop seeing Shiho in his mind’s eye. How determined she’d looked when he’d spoken with her and Ann. How she’d caught him even after Ann left their impromptu study session and thanked him for his words, for the warning. 

He’d thought–He’d tried—why hadn’t things worked? He was supposed to have the answers now, having seen it all happen before. She’d listened, they both had. And still things had turned out the same.

He shoves his hands deep in his pockets, feeling the stitching strain against his curled fists. He needs to look composed, the same way he always does, body relaxed, not attempting to hide a tremor. 

If going back in time means key events still happen, then what’s the point? Why live through it all again only to experience the same heartache and tragedy over and over and—

“Are you ready?” Akechi’s voice is soft as he asks the question. 

It rings so wrong. It should be acerbic, sharp, a hint of anger lacing every syllable and breath. He should be wit and fury simmering together behind red piercing eyes that challenge Akira’s every move and breath. That’s the Akechi he wants to hear from. 

Not this one who’s actively lying to him, and stuck so deeply in his own need for revenge he doesn’t realize he’s drowning himself. 

His heart aches just looking at him. A mix of sorrow in missing the Akechi he knew and heartbreak over just how lonely and isolated this one is. He’s desperate to crack through that veneer, to slow down all this infiltration business and work at getting to know the Akechi standing before him. 

“Kurusu?” Akechi’s eyebrows are turned down in concern, reading the turmoil Akira can’t hide, cataloging it, and reacting to it in a way that feels genuine. 

Akira knows he’s no saint. He’s far from it. He’s not a hero either if his current track record of failure tells him anything. He’s horrible, and a liar, and terribly, terribly, selfish. Because even as ruined as he feels over failing Shiho, he feels a thrill at how genuine Akechi seems asking after him. It’s so much more than he expected already, miniscule as the change is. He’ll fail a hundred more times if he can just drag Akechi out of the tragedy fate has in store for him and make it out of all of this alive.

“Sorry.” He lets half a smile slip onto his face, “Just thinking about what’s ahead.” 

Akechi nods, “Let us get moving then.”

“There you all are!” Morgana’s voice interrupts them.

“Morgana! You’re back.” He lets the relief he feels at seeing his old friend seep into his voice, he was wondering why they hadn’t seen him at school yet, but as Akira was learning, his meddling had already started to change some events. 

“I’m sorry.” Akechi sounds like he’s trying not to choke on the words, “Is Morgana a cat? I thought he was human?”

Akira thinks for a moment and then realization hits. No one had actually explained Morgana’s situation to Akechi when they’d filled him in the other day. Oops. Though, it might have been worth it to feel the burst of humor he gets seeing Akechi’s shocked face. He can’t seem to take his eyes off Morgana. 

“I am not a cat!” Morgana declares, before preening a bit as he faces Akechi, “Your first assumption was right. I am in fact a human. I’m just temporarily stuck looking like this because of a distortion.” 

“Fascinating.” Akechi steps towards him, curiosity taking over, voice dropping in that way it always seems to when he’s actually trying to solve a puzzle instead of lie to Akira about one. It’s terribly endearing, how he can just fall into thought like that, turning inward as he works out the mystery. 

“And this distortion, it is a result of the Metaverse? Were you gravely injured while exploring? Or perhaps—” He considers, “You spent an extended period of time in Mementos and the general cognitive field from so many desires changed your makeup?”

He crouches down to get a better look at Morgana who eyes him warily. Akechi gives him once over, eyes trying to find an answer in his form, but not reaching out. Morgana allows it for a moment, squirming a bit under the scrutiny before he darts off. He ducks behind one of Akira’s legs, who can’t stop his own amused look at the entire exchange. It’s a relief, to have something so silly interrupt his own spiraling thoughts. 

“You’re a little too curious, you know that?” Morgana glares, “I don’t know what happened. I lost my memory of it. What I do know is that I’ll find answers within the Metaverse.”  

Akechi stands, brushing himself off, and nods, “I see. You require the help of other Persona users to further explore your condition, correct?” 

“Yes!” Morgana jumps out now, pointing at him, “I like you, even if you’re a little too eager about all this. You at least aren’t asking stupid questions, unlike someone.” He shoots a pointed look at Ryuji who returns it. 

“I apologize. It is in my nature to investigate and ask probing questions. I will refrain for now, as we have other matters to attend to.” Akechi says, despite obviously not wanting to let the matter drop. 

Akria decides now is the time to step in before they get far too off track, “We’re here because we are going to change Kamoshida’s heart. You said you’d help us with that, right?”

Morgana straightens, hands going to his hips, “Of course! I don’t go back on my promises!”

Akira nods, his chest is starting to tense again as he considers their next moves. Just how quickly can they get through the Palace with Akechi helping? 

“Good, then let’s go.”

Instead of moving, Morgana shakes his head, “Not just yet. I want you all to understand just how serious this is.”

Akira’s heel taps out an impatient rhythm against the ground, “Go on?” 

“A Palace is a manifestation of a person’s distorted desires. In order to make those desires disappear you’d naturally have to–”

“Make the Palace disappear,” Akechi fills in.

“Exactly!” Morgana points at him, “Erasing a Palace means erasing those desires. Their wants disappear, but what they’ve done in reality stays the same. Without his palace to sustain him, Kamosida will be unable to bear the weight of his crimes and confess!” 

“For real? You’re not joking with us right?” Ryuji cries. 

Akira doesn’t really care about the explanation this time around, he just wants to get moving. His heel keeps tapping against the not quite real floor of the Palace. He knows it’s important, but this aspect of time travel has already gotten very old. He wants to be ripping through Shadows, not having a conversation about ethics that won’t even matter. They’ll succeed anyway.  

“Would I lie to you?” Morgana asks. 

“Might I ask how we are to get rid of the Palace and change their hearts? Is there something physical we must do, like defeat the ruler?” Akechi interjects, eager to keep the topic from spiraling into an argument.

The feline shakes his head, “No need to go that far. All we have to do is steal his treasure.”

“Steal?” Ryuji asks. 

“Yep.” Morgana all but purrs, “How to do it is my secret. I’ll only tell you if you all promise to help me. What do you say?”

“You are referring to your desire to cure your own distortion, correct?” Akechi asks. 

Morgan nods, the action emphatic, “Yeah!”

“That is a fair enough trade.” Akechi agrees, “Besides, we cannot help you with your issue without understanding the finer points of how distortions work within the Metaverse anyway.”

Akira smiles over at Morgana, this time at least he knows he’ll be more supportive of Morgana’s worries. He doesn’t want a repeat of how his friend had felt so dejected before, “We’d be happy to help you.” 

Ryuji shrugs, “It’s not like we have any better options.” 

“Excellent. I do have one final word of caution. A person’s desires are directly tied to a person’s survival, like the will to sleep, eat, and even fall in love. If those desires were to vanish, they could turn into a person who has shut down entirely.” 

Akira sees the moment Akechi stiffens, realizing the similarities in what Morgana is describing and his own actions as the Black Mask. His mouth tightens, lips going into a line, as his hands curl by his side. 

“If you are saying to change Kamoshida we have to strip away his will to live, I don’t know if I can agree to that,” Akechi says, tone clipped, “The goal is to bring him to justice, not force him to die.” 

Akira looks over at him, not quite able to totally mask his own surprise. He sounds serious about it. Like the idea upsets him. Which is unbelievable. Akira knows he’s still doing his whole Detective Prince charade, and attempting to be a paragon of justice, but even he must be furious at Kamoshida. Akira had seen it yesterday clearly enough. Of all of them, he should be chomping at the bit to take him out one way or the other, not standing around here, and what? Trying to keep them all from becoming accidental murderers? If anything, that might get them more on his side when the time comes. 

“His actions lead someone to try and kill themselves, Akechi.” Akira keeps his tone careful.

“I know that!” Akechi almost shouts, then sucks in a breath and repeats, quieter this time, “I know.”

The steel in Akira’s own eyes breaks for a moment. He takes a step forward, placating with his next words, “We’re not doing whatever we want. We are stopping an evil man. Desires can take many shapes. When you lose one, others grow to fill that hole. We changed Takashi’s point of view, Kamoshida will be no different I know it.”

Akechi’s lips purse at that, eyes searching Akira’s face, “Then, will you take responsibility for his death if things go wrong?”

Akira’s resolve does not waver, “He’s going to keep hurting people with every minute we waste. Or do you want to wait until someone actually dies as a result of his abuse?” 

Something wavers in his voice with that challenge, the littlest bit of despair slipping into his tone. They can keep circling each other, raising new tragedies to pin on the other, being unnecessarily cruel with their words. But he doesn’t want to, he hopes Akechi doesn’t either. Hopes his friend will realize that no matter what he says, they’re doing this. 

Akechi lets out a tsk of disapproval, but says, “Let’s go then.”

~

“Eiga!” Akechi’s shout comes at the same time as Ryuji’s, “Persona!” 

The spells explode out from them, air crackling with energy, and sparking the scent of ozone in the air as darkness and electricity dance towards the Shadows ahead of them. They land, striking the remaining Shadows they’ve been facing off against, vaporizing them in an instant. 

“That’s the last of them for now.” Morgana says, as the hallway settles back into quiet at last. 

They’ve moved through Kamoshida’s palace with a level of efficiency Akira has only ever experienced one other time, back when he and Akechi had been battling their way through Dr. Maruki’s Palace. 

Akira can’t get over how nice it is to have not one but two experienced Persona users by his side. Between Akechi and Morgana, the Shadows that had caused Akira and Ryuji no end of trouble when they’d first stepped foot in this Palace are hardly any trouble this time around. Even Ryuji is picking up on things quicker, a benefit of both Akechi and Morgana tossing advice at him. 

He’s tried not to be too distracted by Akechi. He’s still not over how well he manages to balance being experienced, and holding back. It’s amazing to watch him fight. 

Loki’s always been a rougher, more vicious, Persona than Robin Hood. Akechi’s own fighting style matches that, unimpeded by having to fake his Detective Prince role in exactly the same way he had back in Sae’s palace. While he’s certainly softer and more controlled than he was in Dr. Maruki’s Palace, he’s still physical, and brutally efficient, even as he calls out support suggestions to the group.

Akira moves to stand by Akechi, even as Ryuji and Morgana wander off to explore further up the hallway. Ryuji stops to pick at a trophy shelf, searching for a bit of treasure. 

“Good job with that.” Akira says, “You and Ryuji work well together.” 

Akechi shrugs off the compliment, “He benefits from someone keeping an eye on him. He’s got a lot of raw strength, it just needs to be directed properly.” 

Akira nods, “Ryuji’s unpolished, but he’s got a lot of heart.”

He’s happy to see Akechi acting as a team player. Not that Akira thought he’d do anything contrary to that. He’d worked with them well enough in Sae’s palace, and in Dr. Maruki’s. He’s good at working in a team, even if he leans more towards fighting on his own, preferring to take Shadows out quickly with his saber, he understands how important it is to have others by your side, and support them. 

“You’re really good at navigating for us.” Akira adds, “You know the Shadows' weaknesses even better than Morgana does.” 

In fact, he seems to relish the idea of teaching them, of walking the team through the finer aspects of exploring the Metaverse. Morgana has been happy to let Akechi step in, which is a relief. Akira had been a little worried they’d butt heads over tossing out directions. 

Akechi’s attention has been on the Palace while they’ve been talking, but now he turns his eyes on Akira. His gaze has always pierced right through him, it’s like he can see everything that makes him tick.

“You seem to know them pretty well yourself.” He says. 

It’s all but an accusation. One Akira’s eager to skirt away from. He knows he’s been sloppy. It’s one of the reasons he can’t stop focusing on just how good Akechi is at managing to hide his own skill, he hasn’t even called on Robin Hood yet, sticking to Loki. But Akira’s own mask has slipped in his anger and frustration at everything. 

It’s intoxicating, letting himself fly into battle and tear apart the Shadows they’re facing. The feel of his dagger finding its home, of the pressure beneath it releasing as the Shadow dissipates. Or the rush of firing off a spell that targets a foe’s weakness just right. Each moment has worked its magic to stop the buzzing in the back of his head. The guilt pooling in his stomach. 

So of course Akechi had noticed. 

“I guess I’m just a fast learner.” Akira shrugs.

A smile quirks up on Akechi’s lips, “I see.”

Akechi shifts at last, looking down the hallway, attention slipping past Ryuji and Morgana. Red carpet runs the floor, and tacky paintings of Kamoshida adorn the walls. Doors litter the hallway, half of them look open as Morgana and Ryuji have poked their heads inside. 

“Loki feels a safe room nearby.” He says, “We should probably take a break.” 

The last thing Akira wants is to take a break. He would much rather keep pressing forward. They could get almost halfway today, and finish locking in their route soon if they keep up this pace. He wants Kamoshida taken care of now, rather than later. 

“We could keep going a bit longer.” He suggests. 

The look Akechi shoots him is clear, even through the red lenses of his mask: No.

Akira is well aware they need a break. The first time he’d done all of this, he’d spent so much time keeping an eye on everyone’s stamina levels and making sure no one pushed themselves too far. He was always more likely to call a stop to a day earlier than they might need it. And breaks? They stopped at every safe room, and revisited many. 

It’s obvious, even as Ryuji and Morgana poke around the hall, that they’re exhausted and need to sit for a while at least. Ryuji will never complain, but Akira’s noticed the slight limp in Ryuji’s stance as he favors his bad leg. It’s obviously aching, even here where they’re stronger. 

It’s simply not fair to keep pushing them.

“You’re right. Let’s go.” 

He can feel the safe room too, hovering near where they’d stopped. It’s not just Loki who can point things out or direct them, after all this time Akira’s got a sense for them too. He wonders why Morgana didn’t point it out earlier. Perhaps he is more tired than even Akira realized. 

With a call down the hall, he waves the rest of his friends over, and they all trample inside the room, flopping onto the various chairs and couches scattered across the room. 

Even with as emotional as he’s been, Akira is still a competent leader, and packed adequately for this trip. Before he takes his own seat, he passes around drinks and snacks to the group. While they don’t get hungry in the Metaverse, making sure everyone has something to eat and drink helps keep everyone’s health strong, and tops off their energy for skills. The last thing he needs is to be so run down he can’t get off a heal when it’s critical.  

Akechi is last, leaning against one of the walls instead of sitting. Akira resists the urge to drag him to one of the couches to join the rest of them. He does somehow look relaxed, standing there, with his head tilted back and eyes closed. The flicker of candlelight from the chandeliers glitters off the polish of his mask as it sits atop his head, shoved away from his face for the first time that trip. 

“Here.” Akira says, handing him tea and a pack of mixed nuts. It’s nothing too special, but something he remembers Akechi grudgingly accepting in the past. 

The other boy cracks an eye open and examines the items for a moment before he sighs and reaches a hand out, “If you insist.” 

“I do.” Akira grins, “As leader, I say it never hurts to have a little boost, even if you’re still feeling pretty well.” 

After watching Akechi a moment longer to make sure he actually does at least pick at the mixed nuts, he settles on a plush couch. It’s so soft, Akira can’t help but smile as he leans into it, letting some weight off his own aching feet. For as tacky as Kamoshida’s decorating is, he does at least have good taste in comfort. Akira’s never sat on anything in this Palace that isn’t comfortable and luxurious. 

“Since we’re taking a break, I wanted to bring up something.” Morgana says, breaking the silence that had fallen as everyone dug into the snacks. 

Akira glances up at him, over his own drink bottle, “What’s up?” 

“If you all intend to spend any more time in the Metaverse, it would benefit you to use codenames. You are Phantom Thieves after all.”

“Is that what we are?” Akechi asks. 

Akira turns to look at him, and really looks him over. From this angle the light hits his face in a way that makes Akira realize he’s got circles laying heavily under his eyes. Makeup and Akechi’s mask have concealed it to this point, but the flickering lights flicker against the obvious puffiness and make it stand out. 

He’s tired. Not just tired, but drained. Akira can see it now, in his shoulders, and how he’s holding himself against the wall. He’s been great in battle, but the Shadows they’ve faced are probably all much weaker than he’s used to dealing with, and he’s being supported by three others. 

A wave of guilt washes over Akira as he remembers why Akechi’s so tired, his mysterious absence the last few days. When he canceled on them, it was all Akira could do not to message him back with a plea against performing any shutdowns or mental breaks. He hadn't been able to hold off watching the news constantly, or checking the internet for anything. Two people he’d never heard of suffered breaks, and one tech CEO had suddenly decided to back out of a major business deal he’d been pushing for the last year. 

There had been no deaths, thankfully. 

The thought of Akechi being forced into any more work for Shido than he had last time makes Akira sick. Especially when he is the cause of it. His whole goal had been to save lives, save Akechi from having all those deaths on his hands. But looking at him, he has to question if he’d done anything better. Or just made things worse for his friend. Nausea rides the guilt, the two close friends in his stomach and chest, stealing his breath and clouding his mind with even more doubt. He’d only been trying to help. 

He’d tried to help Shiho too, yet the outcome hadn’t even changed there. 

“You cannot save everyone, My Thief.” Arsène reminds him, tone gentle. 

Akira knows that. And still. 

Morgana’s voice brings him back to reality, full of pride Akira’s not sure he’ll ever feel again, “Of course! You’re here to steal Kamosida’s treasure after all! We’re gonna do it with style.” 

Ryuji nods, “That makes sense.” 

“Of course it does!” Morgana jumps up, upsetting the bag of chips on the couch beside him, sending a bunch tumbling to the ground, “What kind of Phantom Thief would use their real name? Putting that aside, we should probably use code names here anyway, it’s just safer.” 

“That is sensible,” Akechi agrees, “We are exploring someone’s heart after all. It would not do to have our identities slip into their cognition.”

“Oh, oh, I should be Skull!” Ryuji says, just as excited as Morgana, “You know, because of my mask and all.” 

“An apt selection.” A wry smile plays across Akechi’s lips, before he turns to Morgana, “And you?”

Ryuji ignores Akechi’s pointed question and jumps in, “How about Mona?” 

Even as Morgana’s face scrunches up to argue, Akira finds himself saying, “I like that.” He really doesn’t want to deviate from the past with something like this. It’s too easy to slip up and use the wrong name in the heat of battle. 

It seems Akira’s praise is all Morgana needs, he preens, “If you like it, I don’t mind either. Now, for Akechi…”

Ryuji’s next words threaten to make Akira dissolve into a pile of giggles, “He should be Stripes!” 

“Not on your life.” Akechi says, not even bothering to move. 

The blond whines at that, “Fine, what about, The Beak?” 

Now Akechi runs a hand over his face, exasperated, “All you’re doing is pointing out the obvious.” He glances at Akira over spread fingers, “What do you think?”

Just to be contrary, Akira grins and pokes the tiniest bit of fun at him, “I don’t hate the obvious ideas—” His grin widens as Akechi shoots him a scowl that seems to say ‘stop being an idiot’. 

He hesitates just long enough to make it seem like he’s actually thinking, but not so long Ryuji gets another shot at a name, “What about Crow?” 

Akechi’s brows knit together as he murmurs, “Crow?” It comes out like he’s testing it on his tongue, trying to feel the name and it’s fit. Then he nods, “Yes. I like that.” 

Ryuji throws his hands down on the couch, making some of Morgan’s spilled chips fly up, “How come you like his obvious pick? Your mask looks just like a crow’s face!” 

“I ask you again to consider just how terrible Stripes is as a name.” Akechi raises an eyebrow. 

“Alright!” Ryuji kicks a foot against the ground like he’s morally offended that Akechi didn’t like either of his name suggestions, but glances up at Akira all the same, ready to move on, “That leaves you.”

“Joker.” Akechi says before anyone else can respond. 

Sharp pain catches in Akira’s chest, like lightning. Panic? Fear? Joy? Does he know? How can he?

No one else has found themselves shocked by this revelation, instead Ryuji’s already pushing back with a, “Why that?”

Akechi grins at Akira, eyes glittering, “Because he’s—”

‘A fool.’ Akira’s mind helpfully fills in, the voice in his head identical to a past version of Akechi, one who is angry and furious, sneering at him and all his plans.

“—our ace in the hole.” Akechi finishes, to his surprise. 

Though, perhaps he shouldn’t be so surprised. Akechi is still playing the Prince. No matter what rapport they’ve built up he’s not going to be directly rude or snappish with Akira unless it’s legitimately warranted. 

He finds his own voice again, “Why not Ace then?” He hopes his tone is confident, tinged with sass, and not the panic still running its course through his chest. 

Akechi shrugs, that same nonchalant shrug Akira’s missed so much, “An ace might be powerful, but a Joker? They’re the deck’s wildcard, and defy expectations. You meet that criteria to a T.” 

Again, it’s like he knows. Like Akechi can remember. Like he’s the one who’s been playing Akira for the fool he hadn’t named him. 

“I like it.” Morgana nods, “He’s certainly something special.”

When they head back out and continue their Palace exploration, Akira physically cannot stop himself from giving Akechi side glances. Why him? What made Akechi of all people pick the name Joker? Morgana had chosen it last time, not Akechi. Never Akechi. But the way it slipped off his tongue, the sound so natural from his lips? For a moment Akira had felt like he’d been back in a different time. Dropped into a quiet corner of Mementos, the others chatting some distance away on a train platform, Crow leaning beside him, grabbing his attention with one single word: Joker.

“Hm?” He’d answered. 

Crow hadn’t looked at him, red mask pointed in the direction of the trains that occasionally brushed past them, “Good work out there. That last critical hit you landed was particularly neat.” 

In Akira’s memory, Crow’s voice was fonder than it had been in the moment. Then he’d been instructive, mere moments away from bookending the compliment with a correction on his sloppy footwork. Praise layered over lessons, the same way he’d point out a missed shot in billiards, or suggest Akira raise his elbow just so when they played darts. Of course, each lesson was just an excuse for him to show off his own superiority. 

Akira wonders if somewhere under the haze of his jealousy, Akechi ever realized he’d been a key part of helping him grow so quickly. 

He’d always been a fast learner, add to that a capable teacher and the Velvet Room–Oh. Akira almost stops dead where he’s walking, the realization hits him so hard. His eyes shoot to Crow, walking just a few steps ahead of him, shoulders tight as he focuses on the area around them.

An idea sparks in his mind, something he needs to try. To see. Hopefully he’ll get the chance to test it soon enough. 

[frickin-sumi-from-persona-5]

i need to get p5r post-canon headcanons (some of these aren't really headcanons they're just me making my own b plots lmao) off my chest. i finished royal last night and i have so much i wanna talk about. its headcanon dump time i guess

(obviously huge spoilers for persona 5 royal)

fyi- these are all super unorganized and some of them don't make a lot of sense without the others. Sorry this is a mess lmao i just wanted to throw my thoughts out there.

also! i named my mc Ren

- akechi didn't die that's not canon. when the wish star thingy turned mona into a helicopter it did so because of ren wishing hard enough for all his friends to be safe. this extends to akechi & maruki and both of them made it out alive

- when he goes into the velvet room after grabbing maruki, ren thinks akechi geniunely did die and starts having a full on breakdown and then akechi just says something to the effect of "you never change" and ren turns around to see akechi leaning against the wall in the velvet room and ren is relieved

- meanwhile akechi is just like "well. i'm alive and i have to accept the consequences of my actions long term now. what the fuck. i hate this guy" but is secretely happy ren cared that much

(fwiw i ship ren/sumi/akechi as a poly trio but they aren't together as of the end of royal, just ren/sumi with akechi kinda third wheeling from time to time)

- after maruki's palace, he still has azathoth as his persona but decides to discontinue any further research.

- on that note, the metaverse wasn't erased. lavenza hand waved that well enough the first time. it takes a little bit for it to get back to normal though. the new path in mementos is still there and mementos just kinda changes gradually over time anyhow

- ren actually did let maruki go through with his plan originally, but lavenza was able to help him go back and make the right choice. because of this ren deeply wants to see a future where him and all his friends are alive and happy

- after the battle with maruki he begs sojiro to let him stay at leblanc and sojiro really does try but ultimately joker has to leave

- Akechi being revived after everything went to normal means he's basically homeless, ren makes sojiro reluctantly agree to let Akechi stay in the attic.

- Akechi has to work at the cafe at first but he can't make coffee for shit so Sojiro just lets him off the hook.

- Ren is heartbroken on his return to his hometown (somewhere close to but not specifically Inaba, maybe Okina?)

- Futaba and Sojiro make a good case for him to come back, and Shujin academy actually backs this up because of his performance last year (also Kawakami)

- after a few months away Ren moves back to youngen. The metaverse has kinda settled and it's back to normal, and the phantom theives resume business as usual

- im. basically just writing fanfic here lmao

- Haru and Makoto move in together to save on costs. Is this gay? time will tell

- Ryuji transfers to a different school due to the move but still hangs out with the gang

- Ann does study abroad after all, and she's sad to go but she wishes the theives luck from wherever she goes (maybe Los Angeles?)

- Haru keeping Okumura foods never happened either. She was able to mostly dissipate the company in an effort to try to distribute the wealth better. Of course, this didn't actually work completely and there are still many powerful ex-okumura foods executives out there, but Haru is happy she did her part.

- Around the time or Ren returning, the phantom theives go through a big transformation of trying to determine their values (as well as who they are).

- Ren makes Akechi stay around with the phantom theives and the entire team kinda hates him except Ren and Sumi, although eventually people start warming up to him.

- Ren convinces the Phantom Theives to let Akechi stay around because he thinks that the phantom theives of all people should believe in letting people change. They agree on the condition that they check if Akechi has a palace. He doesn't and so he stays around. He does come to geniunely regret his actions and tries and makes up for them.

- After spending YEARS not dare letting anyone see any flaws with him, Akechi becomes just kinda burnt out. He's just a pathetic little failboy now and he knows it and hates himself for it. He's not good at asking for help

- Also Akechi 100% has some kind of trauma disorder/personality disorder. I don't know too much about it but from what I know i wanna say i headcanon akechi with npd

- ren is transmasc. there's not much of an in-universe explanation that would make sense here but he's trans. he has tboy swag.

- ren is kinda fucked up but has grown used to the horrors(tm) and doesn't give a fuck anymore.

- there's no good headcanon i can make with ryuji. like he's just a guy and we love him for it

- ann absolutely has a crush on shiho and i ship them. ann thinks she's "just an ally lol" until one day it hits her and she's like. oh. i'm gay.

- yusuke is probably bi or something. you cannot tell me he doesn't like men in some capacity. actually wait maybe he's aro/ace spec. i don't even know with him i just think my man's funky.

- also yusuke is 100% autistic. i think most of the phantom theives are kinda neurodivergent in some way, but Yusuke & Futaba stand out as being the Autistics of the bunch(tm)

- Makoto wanted to be a police commissioner but kinda comes to the realisation that won't do anything so she kinda just has a crisis. Both hee and Haru spent their lives accepting oppressive systems and they're kinda just recoiling at what they'll do now.

- Futaba doesn't make any new friends in school but she's happy things are back to normal. She's in the same class as Sumire.

- Haru has no idea what to study in college and neither does Makoto. She ends up taking Psychology and Makoto ends up taking intro to law even though neither of them are sure what they want for the future.

- Akechi ultimately resigns from going to school but helps Ren & Sumi out with homework when they ask

- Sumire and Futaba get Kawakami's class as their homeroom. Futaba calls Kawakami a "milf" and it annoys Sumi. Futaba knows it annoys her and she does it on purpose.

- Sumire is trans. Kasumi isn't. Sumire looked up to her sister and wanted to be a girl so when she finally got the chance to be someone she looked up to and erase her guilt of course she took it. A big part of the reason why she didn't want to stop being Kasumi was gender dysphoria. Sumire wasn't her name prior to this I can only assume she had a deadname. Maybe she chooses Sumire to honor her sister.

- Hifumi becomes a phantom theif eventually. I've speculated about this too much and now I want it to be real.

- Akechi and Sumi have a showtime attack. I'm not sure exactly what It would entail but I can picture Akechi saying something like "I can be elegant when I want to"

- After Hereward forms, Akechi is no longer a wild card. As Akechi grows and recovers as a person, his metaverse outfit changes, and eventually it looks like something along the lines of his White Suit, but with a different color palette. The top mask part of his helmet/mask is the only part that sticks around, now my boy has his hair out and can breathe (and take off his mask dramatically like the theater kid he is)

- The Royal Trio probably become a proper trio like sometime in the early fall (after ren comes back to yongen). Akechi and Sumi are initially very jealous of the time they spend with Ren but come to realise that the time spent with the three of them is the time that matters most of all.

- The Phantom theives ultimately decide that because of the money and treasure they get from Infiltrating Mementos/Palaces, most of them don't need jobs. They spend their money cautiously so they don't like. Fuck up the economy and/or tip off law enforcement.

- Eventually members who were undecided with their lives ultimately resolve to be one of the phantom theives and just do that full time. Sumi, Yusuke, and Ann are exceptions right now, with Sumi chasing her dreams to be a Professional Gymnast. Somewhere much later down the road I think the phantom theives decide to follow these goals as a team. Sumi and Ann traveling for work could probably make a great cover for the Phantom Theives.

(although i'm not thinking about their characters beyond ren graduating high school. this is more their POV and what they aspire to do for the future)

- I imagine the phantom Theives kinda just become like Tokyo's superheroes in that they have threats come up from time to time and just kinda deal with it as necessary

- People can talk to their personas at any time, but can only summon them in the metaverse. A lot of Personas have things to say throughout the day that they make some commentary on. Most of them are fairly reliable for advice, but don't technically know any more than the person they're apart of.

- Joker is a bit of an exception to this rule, due to having more than one Persona. If he wants to talk to them he kinda has to tap into his mind and see them all. It's not particularly difficult it just requires a little bit of focus, and there's usually not much of a reason to do it.

- Also his personas manifest physically in the velvet room as well.

- At a certain point Mona just kinda comes into the velvet room too and just fucks around while joker is working his ass off to fuse the most overpowered persona

- i don't really know anything about strikers but quite frankly if i ever get around to playing it i'm gonna disregard half of it as not canon and then just take the most important story elements and also sophie and just incorporate it into my perception of persona 5

- Maruki considers teaming up with the Phantom Theives, and ultimately decides against it, although he helps them out every now and again.

- Personal favorite. Maruki was able to manipulate mementos to his will and create a whole new path, and The Phantom theives are curious in seeing if they can do the same thing. After a bit of work, they end up creating a safe room that takes on the appearance of theives den. This has the effect of the cognition believing the Phantom Theives are safe and out of the way, making it easier for them to slip by the radar.

- If Futaba is ever really busy Lavenza subs in for her and does the navigating.

It's kinda funny how canon-divergent all of this is. Because I'm normally someone who religiously sticks to canon and doesn't like it when fanworks stray too far from the established canon. That said, Persona 5's ending felt kinda sad and I want some copium. not me casually rewriting their reality in my mind the day after beating dr maruki

anyhow now i gotta play strikers :3

[dentwy]

number 6: persona 5 tactica

i got this game a week before it came out because atlus in their infinite wisdom just so happened to release it a week before it was supposed to be out. genius! finished the game yesterday, so that's like, a month and 12 days for 30 hours of videogame. probably not too horrible considering i've been a bit busy, the thing is that it also felt like i've been playing this game for years. i did not feel like writing anything for this game originally, but since it ended up taking so long and kinda wanted to post one more thing before the year is over, guess this is it.

persona 5 tactica feels mostly feels like a nothing game. i wasn't expecting a lot before the game came out, i went in fully expecting it to be mediocre at best and i suppose my expectations were met. the unfortunate part is that a side of me feels disappointed this is what we're getting after scramble already set a good standard. if you're making a spin off it should at least add something to the original material (in my opinion). we already got a full-blown sequel with a different gameplay style that did all it had to do, and pulled it off right. tactica on the other hand is a game i honestly couldn't play for more than an hour straight at a time.

i love persona 5 so i can't complain too much about getting more out of it, but it obviously does increasingly feel like they're milking it as much as it can. joke's on me i guess since i'm still buying whatever they release and joke's on me when i play the phantom x if it ever does get translated. such is life.

tactica starts right after the events of royal, meaning the metaverse is supposed to be gone, joker is going back home in a couple of months and everyone's shit has already been dealt with. from the very start there is essentially, nothing to add to what we already know or to the characters we've already spent countless of hours with. i don't want to make this a constant comparison with scramble, but considering that game happened a bit further into the future, we got to see what was going on with their lives, how they're doing after a while of not seeing each other, how things have been treating them and how it feels to reconnect with those you care about (even if it's not like they've lost contact or anything). meeting with friends you haven't seen in a while is already nice as it is. what tactica has to offer is 2 new characters and like, xcom gameplay.

erina (or "elle" i guess but the localization team just picked a better name) is really fun. i like her design, she's a rebel, she's always been fighting for her freedom and you can tell. fiery spirit and forever confident attitude. even if she can get a bit too rash at times, she never means wrong and tries her hardest to help others, even at the cost of her own safety. toshiro while an entertaining character, he doesn't really leave a big impression on me. more often than not he feels like he's a plot device rather than an actual character. damn! it seems like he lost his memories, just like morgana. his rich fiancée is an asshole? haru can surely relate. his father is corrupt and strict; yeah, futaba and yusuke get that. ryuji too while we're at it. this is something i've noticed tactica loves to do. initially it seemed logical to have the phantom thieves share their past grievances with the characters going through the same as they once did. they understand what it's like and they are able to help them out, but as it keeps going it just underestimates what those moments actually mean to them and it mostly starts to seem forced.

however, if we're gonna talk characters, seeing futaba at the peak of her character arc might be one of the stand out points of the game. she gets along with toshiro really well and it's kinda just nice to see. also, lavenza, because since she only shows up nearing the end of p5 always getting to see more of her is cool.

the gameplay itself is fine? i think overall it's not that interesting. the enemies aren't challenging, you have way more options to do things to them than they do to you which always ends up balancing it towards your favor i believe. having 8 characters at your disposal from the start of the game while only being able to select 3 at a time is not something i'm fond of. in the end, i ended up using the same 3 guys throughout the entire game. joker is kinda the dude i'm used to always having so i like having him, erina seems appropriate to have on since she's the new one and most relevant to the plot, and then i just like yusuke so he stays on. the game does reward swapping out characters with extra hp and sp bonuses for the characters you haven't used, but it was never something that would make me feel i should change anyone. maybe if hp and sp were more limited level after level i'd have more of a reason to swap them out? but with the skills you have it's a bit hard to get low on either, and it just resets anyway after the level is over. i'm also not particularly into this kind of games so there's that too, take it as you will.

every character has a gun you can buy or create, every character has a persona you can assign to them and should probably fuse (even though fusion in this game is way less interesting as they can only have 2 skills at a time), every character has their own skill tree to upgrade and unlock stuff. added to the fact the ui feels cluttered and unintuitive, it doesn't really make the experience that much fun. you have a "prep" menu that has an option to select party members, another to change weapons, another to upgrade skills and another to change personas. it also has "quests" which is to view quests, not start them. the "hideout" menu you can replay missions, view a report of your stats or whatever, buy weapons, and, of course, a second quest button for actually starting quests. there also a "v. room" button because velvet room wouldn't fit. inside the v. room you can disassemble weapons and make new ones which you can't do in the same place and you also have to press the button at the top instead of the one at the bottom to disassemble because otherwise you're just gonna equip the weapon. obviously selling the weapons from the shop button wasn't logical, so instead you need to go into the v. room and do it from here every time you buy a weapon.

to add salt to the wound the quests aren't even good. there are really only 3 types of quests which imply killing everyone in one turn, getting to the end of the stage in one turn, or moving an object to the end of the stage. the one turn missions are specially bad because it's a bunch of trial and error until you figure out what the hell they were expecting you to do. some of them are fine to be fair, they need a bit of thinking but it usually takes so long for you to do and you only have one chance anyway that you simply have to think 12 steps ahead. first ever quest was specially bad because i just so happened to buy a skill that made my eiha stronger, thus, more expensive, which meant i simply didn't have enough sp to keep going. i had to leave the quest, go to the skills menu and remove it to then go back into the quest. delightful.

another thing that completely irks me off is the "memo" which you can open at any time just in case you forgot who the characters are. it is blatantly obvious that this is exclusively for the people that have never played persona 5 already so they wouldn't know who these people even are or what they're talking about. i am fully on board with accessibility, but, to me, it feels like they're spitting on my face. more often than not it gives you the sense that they're targeting first timers, rather than people that actually want to experience the story and want something extra from the game they already enjoyed. i'm not that naive i know they rather get more people to buy the game than limit it only to already established fans, but still.

something i must mention is that i do really enjoy the style of the game. the art and character designs are cute and work well in their own right. they don't particularly stand against the full body sprites and models of the regular game, but they manage with what they have. the places, backgrounds and cutscenes look good. the special event art that you get is really nice and i wasn't even expecting to see the animated segments so that's awesome. to my surprise, there's seemingly more blood in this game than in regular p5! i will always love seeing these little guys talk to each other, even if maybe not for long in the case of this game. the scene where joker has to imagine who he would marry is a bliss, and the same goes for later on when they have to disguise themselves as samurai and geisha. if there is something atlus will prove themselves to do well, is to fill these games with a unique style that stands in its own right.

here is where i start getting into spoilers for tactica (and some persona 5 royal later on!). if you haven't played either for whatever reason and happen to read this, no idea what you're doing here so whatever, i have to talk about the plot.

the "kingdoms" in this game happen to be inside of toshiro's head. i suppose everything in p5 always takes place inside someone's head, so not much surprise there. we get to learn that, wow, this guy's life sure sucks, but i don't particularly have a lot to say about the first two. his fiancée is bad, his dad is bad. it was nice getting the backstory with his mom, and again, seeing futaba connect with toshiro over it, getting him back on his feet and getting him out of the toxic mindset he's starting to develop, just how she once did.

the third kingdom is where things actually get going. mind you, this is 80% into the game already. so toshiro used to have a friend in high school, eri natsuhara. with her help, they tried to take down the shady vice principal of their school, way before the phantom thieves were even a thing. it ties well into the same scenario that presented itself into joker, ann and ryuji less than a year ago. however, it didn't turn out as well for them. they exposed his crimes, but then everyone's lives just turned for the worse. eri almost died and everyone blamed toshiro for it. now the thing that gets me about this is 1. she almost died because she got pushed into a moving train by the vice principal, toshiro didn't really have anything to do with it and 2. she didn't even die. i get that they insinuate that the students just latched the blame onto him for how the situation inside the school turned out as his actions did technically lead to it, but it wasn't even just him. he may have led the students to expose the guy, but never really forced anyone did he? in fact they came to them first to talk about it. besides, eri almost dying is surely traumatic, a life changing moment for her; yet she doesn't really regret their actions. all of this added up to him probably just blaming himself for everything more than everyone else did. you know, the mind plays tricks with us and he surely feels like it's his fault more than anything else. she still didn't even die though which like makes it less impactful? she proceeded to tell him he should not regret it and to stay strong. i suppose the fact his memories being hazy in this world means he doesn't recall her words until a bit later, but the fact they present it as such a turning point in his life to only show that she's fine and that nothing really happened after that puts a bitter taste in my mouth.

it would be fine if toshiro himself simply felt bad for it himself, and it meant so much that it changed him as a person. while some of this is true, the issue stems from this entire world being created by a god that really just felt like fucking with him. salmael, the god of stagnation, who was bored on a sunday afternoon and targeted toshiro of all people. i quote "he envisions a world of tranquility and peace for all mankind, but its utter disregard for agency threatens to amputate the possibilities of the human will." why toshiro? if it's supposed to be peace and tranquility for all mankind why is he doing it for this guy alone? even if persona always just needs to make the final boss a god, i like the idea of a god trying to break their will of rebellion, but he just made an entire world to fuck with his mind alone. why are the phantom thieves even here if that's the case? never explained.

as it turns out, erina is the memory that eri natsuhara left in his head all those years ago. which is nice. she also turns into toshiro's persona and now you have an extra party member for the remaining 12 levels of the game. which are really boring, and reuse the 3 bosses you've already fought. having a persona that is also a conscious being is a really neat idea, i dig it. it also does make it sad when she has to go once the battle is over, only leaving her will of rebellion behind. that is cool, i can't hate that.

i don't think there's much else i care about to talk in the main story, so i'm moving into the dlc. those motherfuckers at atlus knew that they could put the two most popular characters behind paid content and people would still buy it, and so i did. however, to be completely honest, the dlc was probably my favorite part of the game. besides the fact the royal trio will always be my favorite thing, it seemed a lot more put together at least.

to get stuff out of the way, i, again, do not enjoy the focus they put into making it as spoiler free as they can. i understand some people still haven't played p5r, but in the year 2023 i think persona fans can just get a game where kasumi is called sumire and akechi is his real self. akechi is a bit more complicated, i'll give them that, considering his ass is dead (duh). sumire i don't find much excuse. i suppose having to fit both them in the dlc asked for a moment in the story where they were both present and could actually fight alongside you, so before sae's palace it is. so pretty much, we have an akechi playing the role of the detective before he betrays you, and a kasumi without any memories of who she is, with her persona already awakened, while having turned down the invitation to join the phantom thieves. a bit of this creates huge plot holes in the story since neither of them knew the other one had a persona and was in the know of what the other one had to do with phantom thieves, but worry not, this is solved by amnesia, as once the dlc ends they simply forget everything. convenient!

another aspect of this that gets really weird is sumire talking about her sister while in this world, because as i mentioned, tactica loves to make the new characters relate to the ones we already know in one way or another. i believe you would know she used to have a sister by this point in the story? but not the details about it and having her reflect over it like that gets iffy within the timeline of the game, but i digress.

either way, the plot here isn't anything that exciting. you get transported into a different world; you need to help this girl fix her sister. what's fun about this is how there's actually some tactics involved into the stages (no way!). they apparently saw splatoon has been doing well and decided that's what should go for this mode as well, but it works surprisingly well. you shoot enemies and cover the zone in paint, if they're in your color you can hit them and get an extra turn, if they do it to you, they get an extra turn. there's no more covering here, just focus on where you stand and how you get the enemies in your paint. the fact you also can't even do anything while you're on enemy paint also adds an interesting factor to it. it's a lot more challenging and positioning actually matters here, so props to them for that. at the same time, you only have 3 characters to use which now makes complete sense, you don't need to buy to make any weapons as they simply give them to you, you only change personas you get from battles and you level up faster and can unlock skills much faster. the dlc is considerably shorter so it makes sense, but it at least makes everything way more straightforward and enjoyable.

the boss sucked though; it was not fun. as i was getting close to the end i thought to myself, "watch how they're gonna reveal this parrot is actually an evil god" and akechi says "don't tell me you're some kind of god?" and it was really funny. i also want to note that fairouz ai doing both sisters in the dlc is really fun, good for her.

let it be known #akechibouldering

in the end, persona 5 tactica is less than i expected it to be. not a cash grab, although it is $80 with the dlc you're simply gonna have to buy if you like these guys. i hope this marks the end of persona 5 spin offs, as much as i love the characters and i would play anything else they release (looking at you the phantom x), things have to stop at some point. even if this may not be the best ending, it may just be better than nothing. that, or just play persona 5 scramble for an actually fun experience.

[beesandwasps]

Well, what did you expect? I really hate that this is making me defend Meta, but: Meta wants their software to run on the largest group of machines they can possibly target, and they don’t want to tell people “just go out and buy a new machine” because their target market is ultimately businesses, and a majority of businesses buy the cheapest machines they can get away with and use them until they literally stop working. Metaverse does have a minimum hardware requirement, but it includes CPUs from over a decade and a half ago (2008), because businesses are still using those machines. At this point, a game company would be telling you “go get a new machine” instead of trying to rig up support. That means Meta literally can’t do anything complex, because it would make the software unusable on machines they claim they support. They’re trying to write software which will run on machines which are only somewhat better than the Wii and the PS3, and I’m not even sure about that. (Their minimum CPU requirement is better than the Wii, but on the other hand game consoles tend to have specialized hardware for 3D graphics which is not guaranteed to be present on PCs. It’s possible that a Wii version of Metaverse would be more functional than Metaverse running on minimal PC hardware.)

Furries who are doing this stuff, on the other hand, are willing to drop money on new hardware. Of course they can do more stuff and get better results. If you’re willing to buy a race car every few years and modify it, you will win more races than somebody who is using their company car purchased from the lowest bidder 14 years ago.

All these billionaires who invested in the metaverce and Neuralink must be questioning their life choices looking at what what furries are doing in VR chat.

[flutterdevelopment]

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[dream-meister-translations]

PERSONA 5 : THE PHANTOM X

PERSONA 5 : THE PHANTOM X BETA - PART 8

━

RUFERU : There’s only one thing to do…

RUFERU : We have to go to the Metaverse and steal something from Takeyuki Kiuchi. 

RUFERU : That is to say… Become a Phantom Thief.

WONDER : Define “something”...

RUFERU : I call them Secrets. But first thing’s first…

RUFERU : As you know, there are many mysteries hidden deep within the Metaverse. As well as the existence of Shadows which are dangerous in and of themselves.

RUFERU : The only way to truly understand and put an end to this…

RUFERU : Is to go into business with me as your partner.

RUFERU : So how about it? Will you become a Phantom Thief?

WONDER : You’re asking me to…

RUFERU : Forget it… I knew you’d react this way…

RUFERU : After all, just yesterday you were yet another ordinary high school student. And now an owl is asking you to take on a job that puts your life in mortal danger.

RUFERU : But please remember this…

RUFERU : The masses being impacted by Kiuchi’s selfish desires are slowly losing their own desires in turn…

RUFERU : In the worst case… This can even lead to death…

RUFERU : You, on the other hand, managed to awaken your Persona through your abundant desire to live.

RUFERU : It is only by relying on the mask of your Persona that we can defeat this Shadow.

RUFERU : The only human capable of taking action in the Metaverse… Is you.

RUFERU : If Takeyuki Kiuchi is a being that leads others to death…

RUFERU : Then you are a being capable of leading others toward survival.

WONDER : Just what are you trying to do here, Ruferu?

RUFERU : We can discuss the details once you’ve become a Phantom Thief.

RUFERU : For now, I’ll leave it at this… It is my belief that possession of one’s desires is one of the most crucial aspects of human existence.

RUFERU : No… Not quite… That would be to force desires upon you…

RUFERU : The free will to make one’s own choices is another important aspect of human existence.

RUFERU : Please, forget what I’ve said here. You must make this decision of your own volition.

RUFERU : Perhaps a stroll around the central street area will help clear your mind?

RUFERU : You can also take the time to stock up on healing items if you so choose to join me.

RUFERU : I’ll stay here a while. If you wish to join me in this endeavor, please come and tell me.

━

After some time, Wonder returns to Ruferu and talks to him once more…

RUFERU : So, have you thought it through?

RUFERU : Am I to trust that you understand that you coming back to me means you’re willing to take the job?

Memories of what he’d just witnessed. Women being pushed and bullied around, fleeing in terror at threats of physical violence… His vision of the mother and her baby tumbling down the stairwell… All the while, questions tore at his mind…

WONDER : (If I turn a blind eye now…)

Echoes of the mother’s cries, the woman screaming in search of the baby… The man’s somber voice…

WONDER : (Then the worst may come to pass…)

Ruferu spoke up once more, breaking him from his reverie…

RUFERU : So… Have you come to a decision?

Yes, Wonder had…

WONDER : I’ll do my best to help…

RUFERU : Now that’s what I’ve been waiting to hear.

RUFERU : Well, now, let us set off for the Metaverse! You should have your navigator intact.

WONDER : Navigator?

RUFERU : Ah, yes, that’s the icon on your phone that looks like an eyeball.

RUFERU : If you click that it should transport you to the Metaverse.

Wonder does as Ruferu says and true to Ruferu’s advice, one tap of the icon has the world around them warping before their very eyes… Twisting into what was quickly becoming an all-too-familiar hellscape…

━

RUFERU : So, now our work has officially begun, first order of business: From now on, we will refer to each other by our code names.

WONDER : Code names…?

RUFERU : Right, I mentioned before that the Metaverse is the materialization of humanity’s collective consciousness…

RUFERU : That means that people knowing our real names will impact their perception of us.

RUFERU : And that risks them finding out our true identities.

RUFERU : As such, I want to use code names during our work as aliases to conceal our real identities.

RUFERU : And calling everyone by their fake names and their real names, don't you think it's a pain?

WONDER : Um… What?

RUFERU : Wait, you don't know what “a pain” is?

RUFERU : It means... like, a problem, an inconvenience… oh, c’mon, all the cool kids say it!

RUFERU : As for your code name… You’ve succeeded all my expectations thus far. In fact, you’re a human who surpasses my wildest dreams…

RUFERU : Let’s call you “Wonder” then, how about it?

WONDER : Wonder?

RUFERU : I’m trusting my gut on this one, and my gut tells me to call you “Wonder”.

RUFERU : As for me, you can call me Cattle.

WONDER : …Cattle?

RUFERU : I’m not sure I fully understand it myself… But I feel it in my gut. I’m “Cattle.”

RUFERU : So shall we get going, Wonder?

With their code names decided, Ruferu and Wonder set off down the tracks, deeper into the Metaverse. However, before they’d even taken five steps, a strong wind billows through the tunnel, the ground shaking as Shadows crawl out from pitch black holes forming in the ground.

RUFERU : Tsk. I can’t believe I didn’t sense them approaching…

RUFERU : If I had to guess, I’d say these Shadows were triggered by Kiuchi’s twisted desires.

RUFERU : Well, looks like we gotta mop the floor with these mooks, first!

Wonder and Ruferu swiftly deal with the attacking Shadows.

RUFERU : Okay, four shadows taken care of, let’s keep up the momentum!

On cue, three more Shadows crawl from the abyss.

RUFERU : Oh, come on, more of them!?

More Shadows spawn behind Ruferu and Wonder.

RUFERU : They’re jumping us from behind, as well? Oh, this is bad…

WONDER : Should we retreat?

RUFERU : Wish we could… They’ve blocked off our escape!

RUFERU : Cheaters! …Urgh… There’s nothing for it. We gotta hit ‘em hard!

RUFERU : I’ve got the Shadows at our six. You smash through the front!

Wonder is seen fighting off several Shadows, but nothing seems to keep them down. Behind him, Ruferu acrobatically dances around his own attackers. One of the Shadows manages to sneak through Wonder’s defense and knocks him back. He falls to his knees, the constant assault draining on his energy. As he looks up, three more Shadows burn their way into existence, stalking toward him. One of the shadows roars out and they charge to strike him in unison… 

RUFERU : Wonder!!

And then… As Ruferu calls his name… In a blur of energy and motion, each Shadow is swiftly ripped apart one by one. They don’t even have a chance to react. And Wonder doesn’t have a chance to blink. A single blow to the back of the final Shadow has the creature crying out before dropping to its knees, and shortly after, crashing to the floor, revealing…