#Why does he say goro all the time?

[majimassqueaktoy]

Part of me loves that Makoto was compassionate, that she had a good heart even to the point of not seeing the use in Oda dying at the hands of Shibusawa, more senseless violence that would only beget violence... but then there's another part of me that thinks about how sweet little unassuming Makoto Makimura asked the man who was meant to be her assassin to bring her the heads of the men who killed her brother. The Makoto who ran into Kamurocho alone, still barely able to see, intent on vengeance. Who said right to the faces of those men that she wanted them dead- Only that would be just payment for the torment they'd caused... and I can't help but to wonder if her telling Oda to live, to come with her and Kiryu back to Kamurocho, back toTachibana- hadn't been an act of compassion at all.

[corviiids]

i loved your answer to the ooc question... penny for your thoughts on the Core of ren and goro? 👉👈🥺

rubbing my little bug hands together i dunno that i can capture all my whole... mental Akeshu Bible... in one post... but here are some notes on what i'd consider one of the most key points for each.

basically the way this works for me is ill have like a central piece of understanding sitting at the core of how i work with a character, and then let instinct guide their dialogue/behaviour from there.

i wrote a thesis again. two in fact. jesus christ

goro - sincerity is mystifying, dangerous, and impossible, but alluring.

can i talk about light yagami for a second. are we all going to be okay with it if i do that. that's going to make this easier for me to explain

i think light yagami and goro akechi have almost nothing in common once we get past the most obvious similarities - the cynicism borne of shattered once-upon-a-time idealism, the willingness to turn to radical action, the bad hair. anyway the difference i want to point out arises from another key similarity which i think only exists on the surface - the "evil underside true self" counterpart to the "pleasant preppy perfect boy" persona. looks the same. but the difference is that light never struggles with that falsehood, and akechi clearly does.

what i mean by that is i think to light, his perfect persona is nothing more than a simple disguise, albeit one he's been wearing a while without knowing why. he doesn't really have a fractured sense of self, because it's clear that the light yagami who is kira is the True self. the light yagami who is just a nice young man is mostly a falsehood to the point light sees him as a character to be played. (ok this is also an oversimplification but go with me for now. okay. that's the basic of it. just accept this for the sake of argument. this aint about him)

goro is very different. i think in the lead-up to the interrogation room, goro understands himself in a similar way, but after the interrogation room that perception is called into question. okay, i think about the interrogation room scene a lot, because i really didn't like goro's behaviour in that scene when i first played it, i thought it was a very cheap and superficial way to reveal his identity as the traitor by making him act as cartoonishly villainous as possible. and tbh i dont want to give atlus too much credit for creating a super nuanced scene there so what im about to propose is probably unintentional. but anyway, i eventually came around to it because i decided that that cartoonish villanousness must be a choice to goro. at that point in time, goro's perception of himself is akin to light's understanding of kira: black mask/shido's assassin/evil motherfucker is "the true goro", and pleasant boy detective prince is nothing but a mask.

and here i would like to bring up a complicating factor which makes light and goro very, very different. light wants to live. he refuses the shinigami eyes because he wants to exist in his new world to rule over it indefinitely. goro's plan on the other hand has a fixed timeline. goro is aware, and tells us in the engine room, that once his public reputation is shattered, he has nothing. goro's plan involves outing shido by outing himself. ergo, goro's plan is to take shido to the top and then torpedo them together, leaving them both with nothing.

what does this mean? light yagami's mask protects kira - light's true self and a man who wants to live. goro akechi's mask serves the black-masked assassin, but the black-masked assassin serves shido, a role which is just as deceptive as the detective prince. which means goro akechi's disguise protects a self that isn't real, either. it feels disingenuous to say that the version of akechi who exists to be shido's attack dog is his true self. so that goofy villainous smile in the interrogation room is, to me, goro convincing himself that that evil face is who he really is, not realising it's another facade he's playing up - but while the prince's audience is the public, the assassin's audience is goro himself. after that whole thing goes down, i think it becomes clearer that that evil face was goro pretending to himself that he's just a straight up villain who doesn't care about anything because that's easier than conceding that you might feel some complicated way about the self-loathing and bitterness you've been nurturing since childhood.

but wait, there's definitely also truth to the black mask. there's no way to deny that the akechi who attacks them in the engine room had a ton of truth to him that the detective prince lacked. but, wait. goro doesn't perfectly keep up the facade with the detective prince, either, because there are definitely times where he's being honest even when he's being the pleasant boy.

okay, where does that leave us? light has one layer of falsehood (light protects kira), but goro has at least two (detective prince protects black mask protects ???) so what the hell is goro hiding? where's the true self? is the version of akechi who showed up in the interrogation room the black mask, or is it shido's assassin? are those two different guys who overlap? does this mean everything the detective prince said is suspect? we don't know which one is true, but we know they're both lying.

okay. why? what's wrong with him? i should get to my actual fucking point maybe?

this is the central thesis of his shadows in palacefic btw. rather than being divided into a relatively clean true/false like light, goro's true self is split between his personae. every time you talk to any version of goro akechi, you're getting some lies but you're also getting some sincerity. i think goro doesnt know who he is because he doesn't see any particular use for having a real self at the end of the day, only masks he can use to achieve his ends.

except you can't actually kill your true self. it sticks around. so the most he can do is fragment it. but the consequence is the shards get stuck in his masks. every time he tries to put on a mask, a shred of truth peeks out. i think goro wants to not exist and not be known, but inside every mask he wears is a true part of him that desperately DOES want to be known, but can't allow it, but wants it, but is scared of it, but wants it, but hates it, but will die if it happens, but wants it.

what you end up with is a really self-contradictory guy where every time he talks, the things he's saying are simultaneously true and false. it's the worst with ren, because he's really interested in ren, but allowing ren to know him is suicide. light's really good at playing the part because he has no investment in the part, it's purely fake, and all his investment is in his true self. but goro is invested in each of his masks, because each of his masks contains part of him for real and there's no unified self to return to at the end of the day. so he struggles way more with the act than light does, because there's a part of him, however small, that really wants to drop the mask. but he can't, because there's nothing behind it, so there's nothing he can do

anyway when i write goro's dialogue and behaviour, it's not just writing a guy lying and playing a part because he needs the cover, it's goro injecting himself into mould after mould after mould and trying to keep a balance of how much he can reveal vs how much he needs to keep close to his chest. this is why he talks so fucking much, it's why his speech mannerisms aren't always perfectly polished, it's why the mask slips so often, it's why he's so cartoonishly evil at times, and it's why while light yagami is a popular guy who has everyone around him perfectly fooled, goro akechi is really only able to appeal to the subset of fans who are keen on his particular celebrity style while other people find him kind of annoying and disingenuous. when im writing akechi in xyz situation, it's a process of working out which mask he's wearing, what he wants to achieve, what he's hiding, how much he can or would slip, and what that slip might look like. i think this is heightened because of his circumstances, but i also think goro would be incredibly guarded and paranoid no matter what his circumstances were (although the murder might decrease a little).

tl;dr: goro akechi tries to do away with his sense of self but only succeeds in splitting it into a hundred million pieces covered in lies, each of which is desperate to be known but shies away with equal desperation

ren - in a distant relationship with the sense of self

idk that thats the right word but basically i think in true persona protag fashion, and as alluded to by beneath the mask / the power of the wild card / etc the relationship between ren's personae and his 'true self' is more complicated and detached than most of the other characters. i dont agree that the protags are true "blank slate" protagonists in the meta sense but i do think ren is a "blank slate" person in-text in that simultaneously he has extremely strong core values and beliefs which are absolutely immovable, and traits which shine through even in his limited speech, but the manifestation of his personality is a lot more malleable than say ryuji's is. ren is very flexible and wears a different mask depending on who he's talking to. i think that requires a level of detachment which manifests as basically centering his companion's character + needs in a given interaction over his own. this doesnt just come through in his dialogue but also in the way he internally reflects on what's happening.

the way this manifests most obviously in how i write him is that my ren (in texts especially but also in dialogue) has a tendency to omit his personal pronoun (in subject position).

that gives him kind of a laid-back vibe. he has a habit of omitting the first part of a sentence entirely.

he adds it back in when he's talking about something more serious, very alert, feeling uncomfortable, etc. it happens a lot when he talks to akechi because he needs to be very switched on during those conversations to keep up.

idk i know that for some people the joy of having a protagonist character is being able to make them into whoever you want them to be - so your ren might be extra flirty for example which i think is a really popular characterisation of him because it's fun and it has some basis in his dialogue, and it's a choice i went with for a while before i started shifting away from it. recently i've been way more interested in trying to reconcile this really strong-willed guy with a clearly rich and rebellious inner life with the quiet slouched character who says like 3 words every conversation and who really never reveals anything about himself. like, imagine he's a real person and not just a blank slate protagonist i can push and pull - how do i make his little mousy 8< self work with the fact that he's an international criminal without adding something on top that isn't already there in him? i think there's a way to do it and i think the way to do that is to have him internalise as much as possible. for everything he says, there are a billion things he doesn't say. that makes it really fucking difficult to actually portray him sometimes because his rich inner life can really only come through if we have access to his inner monologue, and if he's not the pov character we don't, but you know, i love a stupid fucking self imposed challenge. ren amamiya is like laying breadcrumb clues in his dumb ass 3 word dialogue options that im crawling over like weevils with a magnifying glass

but he DOES leave clues! so many of his dialogue options are sarcastic and dry or straight up goofy. so he's funny, he's deadpan, he can be impatient. but if you take that too far in dialogue, it gets overplayed, and he loses his taciturn charm, so you have to pull it back, because he's restrained, not overt. he's quippy, he's not wordy. he's a show-off, but in a self-assured way. he will never indicate in any way that he wants you to look at him. he'll just make sure he's so impressive that you can't look away. if he winks, it's like he's keeping a secret between you, not like he's putting on a show. he delivers one-liners only, not full jokes, and the setup and knockdown has to be in the same breath. if his thoughts can't be condensed into one sentence, two or three max, he doesn't say them, he keeps it to himself. whether his emotions show on his face depend on how well you can read him, and it depends who he's with, it depends how recently he's been joker, it depends if there's some extenuating factor in there that's going to make him crack. ren's more likely to crack if he's standing up for someone else.

his inner monologue is just as interesting to grapple with because my ren is pretty repressed. the more upset he is, the more he distances himself from how he's actually feeling. he's very good at deflecting people and he's also very good at deflecting himself - focus on someone else, focus on the environment around him, focus on some physical sensation, don't get too far into his own head, or else

tl;dr: ren handles himself with a mix of internalising and externalising by swallowing down everything he might want to say out loud but outsourcing and distancing from his sense of self to keep himself steady

[skania]

OnK Chapter 150

Honestly, the naive part of me wants to believe Aka is doing this in purpose, because this chapter alone highlighted like half the reasons why I find romantic!Aqua and Kana so poorly written lmao

Compare that to this:

The writing in Aqua's and Akane's is so much better it's unreal 😂

I'm so glad to have confirmation that Goro's regrets were appeased by knowing that Sarina is living her best life as Ruby. Goro acting like an over-protective dad and Aqua reaffirming that Ruby is his precious little sister were the highlights of the chapter for me. Figures that once Aka finally gives us some Aqua insight, he immediately makes it clear where Aqua stands in regards to Ruby lmao

Goro is often personified as the guilt and regrets Aqua carried into this new life, but he is much more than that.

He is an entire framework of thoughts, complexes and experiences right there at the center of the individual we have come to know as Aqua. He is the entire base Aqua is built on, because when he reincarnated, he was just Goro - albeit a Goro thrown into a completely different situation, and a completely different life.

Of course, the longer Goro lives as Aqua, the more Aqua he becomes. He has been developing a new framework of thoughts, complexes and experiences that are more befitting of his situation and based on his current life. This all results in the Aqua we've come to known.

Up to now, Aqua has been simultaneously existing as the man he once was and the young boy he has become. But the man he once was is now feeling at peace knowing that Sarina-chan has gotten a new chance at life, which leaves the young boy he has become with one less reason to cling to a painful past.

But things aren't that easy, as evidenced by the fact that even after being "freed" by his past guilt, Aqua still has his black stars. As Aqua, he has regrets, guilt and issues of his own to overcome.

But it isn't just the revenge and the guilt, really. This, for example, is a confusion that has followed Aqua into his new life:

Which takes me to...

It's so incredibly ironic that it's "Goro" of all people who brings up Kana 😭 I've mentioned before that Kana has a lot of parallels with Ai and Sarina, and I theorized this may be one of the reasons why Aqua seemed so drawn to her from the get-go. And now we have Goro himself, the one who originally admired all of those traits, saying that Aqua likes Kana. It's like clockwork, except the clock may be broken.

The reasons Goro cites are so shallow and superficial, too. Perfectly fitting for an Oshi or a teenage crush, but hard to think of as anything deeper than that (for me, at least).

Which is even more ironic, because we end the chapter with Kana declaring herself as "seriously in love" with Aqua, when she herself does nothing but describe him superficially 😭

Kana has been basically living a shoujo manga in her head and Aqua is her chosen Male Lead 😂 It's like that time she thought Aqua was "straight and sincere", or when she thought Akane was a "goody-two-shoes".

Meanwhile, Aqua and Akane:

Poor Kana is out of her depth in this manga, but maybe that's the point. Kana is perfectly normal and that's just what Aqua needs am I right?

Seriously though, that's why I've always said that to me it doesn't really matter if Aqua and Kana end up together, because their writing is just... not it 😭 It's always just one giant trope without any depth of substance. It's no coincidence that these last three chapters are filled with tropes and forced writing. That's the way this ship has always been written in my eyes, and that's why it does nothing for me regardless of whether it's intended to be canon or not 😭

Even this, for example:

Aqua confirming (yet again) that he has been aware of Kana's romantic feelings all along could back-up what I said here and here. But at the same time, this could just be part of something as simple and unsubtle as this:

It's like there are two wolves within Aka. One is great at subtlety and organic development, and the other completely sucks at it 😂

But enough about that, I'm sure Aka will give me plenty to complain about next chapter so I'll save it until then lmao

Hmmm where have I seen this before?

Oh, right!

Funny how Akane is magically not brought up this chapter. If we assume Aka is just writing obvious stuff without deeper meaning, then Akane isn't brought up because Aka considers Chapters 97 & 98 as their romantic closure. Or maybe all the theories about Aqua being a scumbag that only dated Akane because Kana wasn't available were right. But considering that would make Aqua trash not worth discussing, I can only hope Aka won't stoop that low lmao

If we give Aka the benefit of the doubt (does he even deserve it at this point tho), then Goro not bringing up Akane can be pretty fitting. Because if Aqua likes Akane, it wouldn't be because she fits the ideals and tastes of the man he once was. It would be because of everything they have been through together as Aqua and Akane.

Case in point, when Aqua thought of Kana and Akane back when he first thought he was free, he did so as fully himself. But I digress! 🤡

Another thing that caught my eye is that Aka deliberately changed the number of chapters in the previous volume just so these Aqua-Kana focused chapters can be in the same volume as the Aqua-Ruby focused ones. Ruby, who mainly loves Aqua because he once was Goro and Kana, who just loves Aqua. Maybe he's doing it to contrast them (in favor of Kana, duh), or maybe he wants to show they're two sides of the same infatuation coin. One can dream, at least!

Speaking about not nice though, what the fuck is this 😭 I know Akane is trying to push Kana's buttons, but baby girl is switching from I-only-see-him-as-a-son!! I swear!!! to Haha actually! so swiftly that she's going to give herself whiplash. Plus, can't Aka let Akane push Kana's buttons while saying less OOC stuff? Granted, it's not like Kana knows Akane well, so of course she doesn't think it's weird for Akane to say that she wants to be with a boy on Christmas lmao

Poor Akane has gotten her eyes shut so tightly close that it's a wonder she doesn't walk into walls. She's really acting like a robot on auto-pilot 😂 When in the world will you be allowed to have a chapter of your own, Akane? When will we be able to look into your heart?

[hifugoro]

Picturing Ren eventually distancing himself from Akechi after accepting Maruki’s deal.. Picturing him weighing the idea of them not being friends anymore in his head the night of 2/2—since he figures that Akechi wouldn’t want to—and slowly becoming more resolute to do it himself after seeing Akechi back to detective prince mode….

“Have your regrets begun?” is a scalding line in it’s own context of Akechi being gone but I think it applies twice as much in this scenario. Is Akechi really happy here? Was his TV persona drawing upon a place of real joy, or is this Maruki’s vision of a Happy Goro Akechi? Or, worse, Akechi had an OkumuraMadarame™ pulled on him. Ren’s wish was granted before he spent any time with the “real” Akechi (in quotes because I have other unrelated thoughts on his behavior during 3rd semester) in a way that didn’t end with one of them dying. Therefore it’s an admittedly reasonable assumption that those feelings of closeness came solely from Akechi’s other personality. There’s also the Vey Important dialogue with Maruki where Ren can say his heart aches when he gets betrayed. And I mean. You know.

So, let’s switch him back to the polite Akechi who would never betray anyone. He’s alive because Maruki wants him to live a good life as well, sure, but him being here was Ren’s wish. As messed up as it is it’s pretty obvious who comes first and foremost. Maruki thinks all happiness is real, even if it means entirely destroying who you are, anyway.

And I don’t think Ren would be able to come to terms with that. He’d try to reason it with himself for the first few weeks (maybe Akechi didn’t really think he was too unlovable to show any real parts of himself to the public. maybe this is genuine) but it wouldn’t work in the end. It doesn’t help that Akechi hadn’t even been angry when he said their deal was off, he just looked hurt. Acting like nothing is wrong after betraying someone like that, whether they remember or not, just isn’t something Ren could do forever.

So he doesn’t. He stops going to see him. Stops returning Akechi’s texts. Doesn’t reply to the follow up texts of Akechi being confused as to why they suddenly aren’t speaking anymore. He can’t even imagine going to the jazz club, the real Akechi’s safe haven, after everything is finished. The other thieves may talk about Akechi from time to time since they’re all friends now, which hurts him to hear, but guilt can’t be outweighed that easily.

Damning the entire world to save one person who didn’t even want to be saved is a selfish action born entirely of Ren’s own feelings towards letting Akechi die again. Does following that up with a selfless one—letting him drift away even if he desperately wants to reach out, because Ren knows Akechi wouldn’t realistically forgive him for taking the deal—cancel it out? Does it make anything better? Does it matter?

And at the end of the day, Akechi’s pain over losing the closest relationship he has likely wouldn’t even last. Sadness doesn’t mean anything here. After a while, Ren probably won’t even be missed. Maybe he realizes that this is the case and commits to it anyway. A roundabout apology for something Akechi doesn’t even know he did

[zevrra]

synopsis: just some random headcanons i have for the cyberpunk men! :3

tags: 18(+) only, suggestive content, mention of explicit content, cyberpunk 2077, the reader is ‘v’, includes hc’s for vik, river, goro, & johnny.

viktor vektor—

a man who loves with his entire heart

he gets soooo excited when he talks about boxing

def accidentally falls asleep during movies

cares more about you than he does himself

is so so obedient

the second you ask for something he immediately says yes ma’am/sir

is 100% a fan of cute nicknames

the type to question why you would ever like an old man like him, especially when the two of you are intimate

is far stronger than you would’ve expected from an “old man”

noisy asf when it comes down to it

could care less about his own pleasure, he focuses everything on making you feel good

would let you ride his face for hours

switches between being a service top to a power bottom depending on the day

river ward—

leaves you a sweet/heartfelt message every morning for you to wake up too

his love language is soooo physical touch

but also buys you flowers every few weeks to replace the old ones

would hug/cuddle with you 24/7 if he could

you fell first, he fell harder

wants to have a giant family one day

loves cooking for you

is stressed constantly from work but the moment he’s with you it all melts away

100% has a breeding kink

constantly praises you for taking him so well

also a very, very talkative man

he talks you through every second of it

a soft dom

goro takemura—

hopeless romantic

wants to live a life of freedom but knows he will always be chained to his corpo master

doesn’t stop him from trying to live his life to the fullest and it’s all because of you

will never admit it but he loves getting gifts from you

keeps every gift you’ve ever given him

dislikes PDA as he has a very traditional outlook on life

would 100% save himself for marriage

is vanilla as vanilla can get

wouldn’t say no to trying new things inside of the bedroom, as long as they’re not too extreme, but almost always defaults right back to mr. vanilla

“i read a book on it once”

johnny silverhand—

quality time is his love language

wants to teach you how to play guitar but explains the cords like “so you do this with this finger and flip it over here and yeah for this you do that”

finally has you in his grasp and he’s never letting go

loves teasing you every chance he gets

would never say it out loud but you are his soulmate

gets a matching “johnny x v” tattoo

knows kerry is the better songwriter between the two of them so he asked him once to write some lyrics for a song for you

def sang it to you on your bday or anniversary

oh he so wanted to fuck you the second he returned to his body

a top without a doubt

loves watching you ride his thigh when you’re really needy

shotguns smoke into your mouth when you make out

[thedaythatwas]

I need to know what goes on inside akechi’s head on the evening of october 24th.

like. look at it from his perspective. he comes to leblanc early. he has his priorities straight: he’s going to play some mind games, really get under joker’s skin.

(bear with me while I get serious about a profoundly unserious conversation)

he’s staking his claim on enemy territory. he’s sitting patiently, waiting for akiren to walk through the door. surely, it will intimidate his rival to know that he’s made himself at home in his living space. look how close he managed to slip without akiren noticing! he even went so far as to strike up a conversation with his odd barista caretaker. akechi would drop some quick political jargon here, reference some continental philosopher’s name there— all in the name of making akiren look totally incompetent.

really, joker should be terrified. he should feel violated, even. akechi would! hence:

look— he’s so self satisfied! yes, he totally won this round!

🚨 BUZZER NOISE! 🚨

see, akechi is playing 4D chess. so is akiren! but they’re using drastically different playbooks. we know this because goro akechi procedes to get hit with the following:

I know you as the player don’t need to select that dialogue option (I could go on about the implications of that, but other posts have already said it better). but you can! and I, for one, do.

not to get too deep on what is obviously a joke post, but I think this offers some insight into those little rants that akechi goes on sometimes. you know what I’m talking about— “oh, you’re so special, so interesting, it’s like we were fated to meet each other!”

yes— they were basically fated to meet each other, but that’s not the point.

as silly as it sounds, the fact that dialogue options like this exist proves the oft-stated fact that akiren is the antithesis to akechi’s thesis.

akechi plans his interactions with akiren down to a tee, and still, akiren manages to throw akechi off his rhythm! every. single. time. nobody else does this.

part of this is because akiren sees his interactions with akechi for what they’re worth. it’s all a gamble, a chess match. akechi appreciates that akiren is an equal player in their game. he respects that. it takes intelligence to see a bluff for what it is, and to call it. flirtatiously, too!

that respect is what makes their relationship so compelling. it holds true whether you read what they have as love, hate, obsession, or, hell, even all of the above! you know it isn’t indifference, because that doesn’t make any sense coming from either of them.

call me crazy (I certainly deserve it) but if akiren responds “honey, I’m home” to akechi, he hears another message loud and clear: I see what you tried to do here, I’m calling you on it, and you don’t scare me. you’ve made your move, and I’m going to undo it with flair, because I’m joker, and you love it.

and when you look at it like that, it makes sense why little things might set off akechi’s thoroughly-stated appreciation of akiren. they aren’t “little” to him at all. I’m sure he doesn’t wax poetic just to fuel akiren’s ego, anyway. that isn’t quite his style.

and hey! even if akiren didn’t mean to communicate all of that (he totally did though), it doesn’t make the sentiment any less real to akechi! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. the guy has issues. let him plot the downfall of his enemies (real and perceived) in peace <3

[anika-kanroji16]

Since Aquakana is gonna be endgame in the manga probably assuming if she doesn't die from Hikaru because seems like she would be the perfect target rn for him But anyways Assuming if she doesn't die I am gonna say my reasons why Aquakana is a bad ship or simply the reasons why I dislike it. You are free to like Aquakana don't get me wrong but I don't like it for several reasons and I just want to say why I don't like them and Why Aquakane honestly the better ship and why Aquakana shouldn't be endgame in my opinion.

1: She too dependent on Aqua.

You can call Akane a pick me girl all you want but she isn't the one clinging onto someone saying I need you. Kana is dependent on Aqua she can't move on from him she acts like if she can't have him or if he not around it the end of the world. She be saying I need you Aqua and Mem cho be acting the same way Mem cho said and I quote "She walked on this path because you asked her to to. She became an idol because you wished for it". Kana even said herself "Help me, Aqua". You guys be acting like Akane so pick me girl for wanting to thank Aqua for saving her or wanting to make him happy and for being "dependent" on Aqua but Kana weither you like it or not is basically more dependent on Aqua then freaking Akane ever was. I am not trying to slander Kana in any way and I am not trying to call her a pick me girl either I am just saying Kana's dependency on Aqua is greater than Akane's dependency on Aqua, I'll even say Akane had no dependency on him to begin with because the fact that Akane can move on dispute her feelings for Aqua after the break up while Kana just waiting for Aqua to love her back is saying something.

2: She doesn't know him.

I know you Aquakana shippers are gonna say that they known each other since childhood which is true but that doesn't mean she knows him better. Example Who the one which understands him according to Goro?

Akane.

Who the one which found out that Aqua was Ai's child as well as Ruby

Akane.

Who the one which found out about the Revenge Plan first

Akane.

Kana might of known him longer but Akane is the one which really known him better.

3: She has been there from the start.

Ever since the start Akane have learned about Aqua, Supported Aqua, Comforted Aqua and generally been by his side the whole time. She was there during his darkest days, She was there during his brightest day, she was there from the every start and was always there for him just like he was always there for her. NOT ONLY THAT But in every happy moment AKANE WAS THERE. She was always there. Not Ruby Not Even Kana. AKANE. Akane always cared and supported Aqua from the start and was there supporting him and was in happy moment with him.

4: Kana's jealously

Let be real here Most of the times Kana when Kana jealous it is unreasonable. Like the time she was jealous of Akane and Aqua during the Tokyo Blade Play. She knows they are fake dating but She still acting like a jealous child. And you can argue that during the Tokyo Blade Play that when Aqua starting loving Akane but here the thing Kana didn't know that she didn't know that so the fact she doesn't know that still make her jealously unreasonable.

5: The little development they had in general but I ain't gonna talk about this.

Finally the last one

6: Her reason for liking him.

She said she liked him because he cool... That not love, that is a crush. Love is something like let say you starting to like someone because they were perfect but then you find out their flaws and you love them even more and help them with them. That is love. A crush is something like That person badass I love them. What Akane have for is love He saved her she gain feelings then she found out the truth and his flaws and love him more. Kana on the other hand is a simple crush.

https://youtu.be/yFBFhoIbfe8?si=LtCql40DgZsqjhZC in a basic sense Aquakana is a Fantasy Bond not True Love because Kana doesn't really know Aqua like Akane does.

But yea these are my reasons for not liking Aquakana, and you are free to disagree but these are my opinions and that that.

Note : Credits to @skania because some of the reasons are from her so yea check her out

[senblades]

hello! i was reading shuake fics, as one normally does, and i came across an interesting subject in one of them!

in the fic (it was kinda like a feb 2 fic but with the interaction between ren and akechi happening 2 week early), ren asks akechi:

"if i know that you're not real and that this is just part of maruki's reality, why haven’t you dissapeared like when wakaba, okumura, and makoto's dad did when futaba, haru, and makoto realized?"

i thought it was an interesting point to make so i was curious and wanted to hear your opinion on it! :D

oh ho ho I have thoughts indeed! (and I think I've read that fic actually lmao)

My general, heavily biased thoughts, are that Akechi not disappearing on 2/2 (or earlier, in the case of the fic you mentioned) is because he isn't actually dead. Something of a basic answer, but a girl can dream HA

Other reasons, however, could include Akechi being a wildcard, Ren being a wildcard, Maruki-typical shuake favouritism, the works! Atlus seems to be very insistent on not giving Goro a true death status, given that they've taken to confining him to "that one week in november" in spinoffs (smh can't believe that the Tactica dlc wasn't set in the third semester /j (...mostly))

But, in the end, I think that Akechi not disappearing and subsequently insisting on returning to the true reality and awakening Hereward, is very important in establishing that, whether alive or dead, Akechi in Maruki's reality is undoubtedly real

There are several meta and narrative-based reasons why I think this is important- first off, would something that is entirely Maruki's creation oppose his ideology like that? And can cognitions even have personas? Like. I'm no Metaverse doctor, but-

And for the more narrative and thematic reasons- To say that Akechi in the third semester isn't real is to strip any and all development to his character during that time of meaning. From the third sem jazz club convos, to 2/2 (what a mouthful HA), to Hereward; to turn around and say that all that was exclusively Maruki putting on a puppet show- at that point, what would be the point of Akechi being there at all, narratively speaking, if it doesn't actually add to his character?

...that was something of a slight tangent LMAO- but my thoughts often spiral in different places when I think of the third semester haha (like. Y'all. if I had been a persona fan before Royal came out, I would have gone fucking NUTS when I saw all the shit they added HAHA)

anyways, thanks for the ask! I've been waiting for an excuse to spill all my thoughts like that hehe <3

[mediocreshake08]

This was mostly made for @rabid-raccoontail but whoever wants to get into Mortal Kombat, this is your lucky day. So welcome everyone to the...

Also this is going to be my biggest post yet so if you like to read this is the place for you. If you can't picture the characters I name, look them up on google.

Also this contains heavy spoilers for the ENTIRE series.

So sorry for the wait, I hope you enjoy this

What is a Mortal Kombat?

To get a basic understanding of the series you got 3 canons to work with. You have the Midway games (Original Dev team), you have The NRS reboot (the canon most people are known with) and you got the The New Era ( the one that changed it all).

Classic games

The first game takes place on an Island owned by Shang Tsung, the final boss. The whole premise of why everyone is fighting on an island is because of the Mortal Kombat tournament, which happens every generation, and is a tournament mostly against Earthrealm and Outworld. Basically how it works, is if your realm wins 10 tournaments in a row, your realm gets fused with the winners (but also you can choose not to do that because fuck it). Outworld won 9 tournaments and with this one, one of the biggest villains of the franchise, Shao Kahn, fuses Earthrealm with Outworld and fucks up the entire human race. Our champions, Liu Kang a Shaolin monk, Johnny Cage the actor and Sonya Blade a Special Forces Commander, led by the thunder God Raiden won't let that shit slide. Oh also Kano is here and he's a proper Aussie, ye m8? Anyways, Liu Kang sweeps the floor with everyone, including a four armed hurdling mass of muscle named Goro, kicks Shang Tsungs ass and practically saves the Earth. Bonus fun fact, Scorpion kills Sub Zero because he thought he killed his family and clan and as revenge, he spit roasts him.

MK2 takes place some time after that with Shang looking a little sexier and asking the Earthrealmers to join a second MK tournament. If they don't oblige, they're gonna invade Earth (save that for a little later). Also Sub Zero is back, except not really the one who got killed by Scorpion was Bi-Han, and this is his younger brother, Kuai Liang. Getting back on topic we got some new characters like Jax, Sonya's partner from the Special Forces, Kuai Liang Sub Zero, Kung Lao who's the cooler Shaolin monk and also has a hat that's also a throwing weapon, Kitana, who is the main villains step daughter (sorta), Mileena, who's a test tube baby made by Shang Tsung for Shao Kahn, Reptile, who as you could guess is a lizard, and Barraka, who has Nosferatu's face (but also like, his species is tied to Mileena's creation because she's half Tarkatan. Anyways, some shit happens and Liu Kang beats the fuck out of Shao Kahn.

MK3, instead of being yet another tournament, Shao Kahn says FUCK IT and invades earth with the Outworld armies. Not only that, but the Lin Kuei (Sub Zero's clan) are being turned into cyborgs. All but one of them escaped, that one being Sub Zero. One cop survives New York, Johnny Cage gets killed by a centaur, there's a speedster with swords and fireballs coming out of his face, and boom, bang BING, we got some new characters. There's Stryker the Cop I talked about a few seconds ago, Kabal the speedster because the co-creator really wanted to make a psycho killer flash, Cyrax Sektor and Smoke who are the cyber Lin Kuei, Rain, who appears in like 5 games but only does something in 3 and isn't playable in one of the games he's in, Night Wolf who's a native American, Ermac who uses they/them and Sindel, the biggest bitch in the fucking seven seas. Oh also Bi-Han is back and he's edgy. He now goes by Noob Saibot, which if you read backwards is Tobias and Boon, the creators of Mortal Kombat. No time for that though because somehow Shao Kahn returned after being fisted, Johnny Cage gets brought back to life and Liu Kang kills Shao Kahn once more again, the end.

If that's not confusing enough, we aren't done yet because now we got

3D games

I'm not doing Mortal Kombat 4

Deadly Alliance starts with Shang Tsung and his boyfriend Quan Chi snapping Liu Kang's neck so he can't interrupt them in reawakening Onaga, the king of all scalies and one of the most powerful forces in the realms. And now Liu Kang is a zombie, Raiden kicks Shang and Quan's asses or at least tries. Also we're introduced to Kenshi Takahashi the blind swordsman with a magic sword, and sexy vampire pirate lady, Nitara, more on her later.

Deception takes place right after that, where Raiden is trying to fight the Deadly Alliance (who are literally just Shang and Quan), failing. Raiden dies, Quan Chi kills Shang Tsung which somehow awakens Onaga. Quan can't do piss and trying to fight him, somehow brings both Raiden and Shang Tsung back to life... Okay?? And then Raiden nukes himself and Onaga walks it off. Deceptions protagonist is a little shit called Shujinko, a student of Bo Rai Cho, the same man who trained Kung Lao and Liu Kang. He then gets encountered by Damashi, a glowy ball that tells him he has to help the Elder Gods by retrieving the Kamidogu (which are basically Jewelry that hold the fabric of the universe). And Shujinko, being the gullible idiot he is accepts. And from this point on, the game turns into you fixing everyone else's problems like finding Bo Rai Cho's sodding watch, getting water back from another realm, and beating the shit out of Wesley Snipes. Speaking of Blade we got other sick characters like Kira and Kobra, Black Dragon members and one of them is named after a martial art/movie, Havik who is a klerk of chaos, Hotaru the Policemun, Dairou who's an outlaw loose and runnin', and Li Mei, voiced by Kelly Hu in the latest game. After all that, you find all the Kamidogu, you defeat everyone + Scorpion is the final boss (don't ask me, I don't fuggin know why) and what's your reward? Realizing you've been deceived the whole game and not seeing a final battle between Onaga and Shujinko (even though Shujinko can definitely beat Onaga but fuck it).

Armageddon begins with this schmuck named Argus, an Edenian God who did it with a mortal woman Delia and they had two boys who had to be put in stalagmites because Argus knows the apocalypse is on its way. Thousands of years later, Daegon and Taven, the two brothers wake up. Daegon basically made the Red Dragon clan, named after Caro who's basically Taven's spirit animal and he helps bring about the apocalypse. Taven's character can be summed up to "Who are you? Who's that? Uuuuh..." But that's what I love about him. Anyways, Taven looks for his asshole brother, de-frosts a bad bitch and kicks everyone's ass. Which translates to what Armageddon really is. All the characters choose sides. We get one of the coolest fmv sequences in PS2 history and everyone dies trying to take Blaze's power. Blaze is a demigod-esque creation made by Argus to warn Taven and Daegon about the apocalypse, but also whoever kills him, gains his power and basically becomes the developer of the game. But because Taven is the main character, he has to kill everyone he encounters, a few of those people being one's he was proud to call friends. He climbs to the top, kills Daegon, destroys Blaze and saves the universe, the end.

Yeah I lied lol

Netherrealm Era

After Armageddon, Midway shut down, Warner Brothers bought Mortal Kombat and Netherrealm studios took over the franchise and this is where it all went downhill.

Mortal Kombat 9 starts with the end of the previous game. Except it doesn't, because Taven is somehow not here and Shao Kahn walked all the way back to kill him after being carried away by Onaga. Before Shao Kahn crushed him, Raiden sends a message to his past self saying only three things. "He Must Win.". We are now in the first Mortal Kombat except it's HD and Johnny is down bad for Sonya. Sonya is here just so she can find Jax who's lost on the island somewhere, Bi-Han is a bit of a prick and Shang Tsung is the only character in the game who has common sense. Liu Kang beats Shang Tsung, Jax gets his arms ripped off by Ermac, Johnny only gets to win if he has a suit and Mileena gets the most revieling outfit in fighting game history. Kitana and Liu Kang have an on and off thing, Reptile gets bullied (poor thang) and before Kuai Liang can kill Scorpion for killing his brother, he's taken away by the cyber Lin Kuei because Raiden saved Smoke from being cyberized and he says there's nothing he can do (that's bullshit but okay). Anyways, Kung Lao is doing pretty good in the tournament and then Shao Kahn snaps his neck. Feeling horrible by the death of his Shaolin brother, Liu Kang jumps in the arena and fists Shao Kahn. Sometime later, we learned that Shao Kahn survived because they put him in the Soul Chamber, a place in the Outworld arena that heals any and all wounds. He then gets the idea by Quan Chi to invade Earthrealm which completely goes against the laws of Mortal Kombat. And Shang Tsung knows and wants to stop them, but Shao Kahn doesn't fucking care and erased him from existance. they get guns from Kano, and they start blasting. Army can't do shit and somehow, a single cop (Stryker) is able to fight off A lizard man, a fire breathing cat and the only thing in Outworld that knows what pronouns are. Kabal was here too, but only for the first two fights. But he doesn't get his super speed here because he's just an average dude and maybe dating Stryker? I don't know. Anyways Kabal gets roasted by a big buff cat, taken to the Black Dragon and given a respiratory device by Kano that helps him breathe. He's basically Deadpool - the guns + super speed because the magic atmosphere of Outworld gave him that. Don't ask how anyone else got that after going to Outworld, idk🤷‍♀️. Anyways Quan Chi and Bitch-han bring back Sindel and mind control her to do their biding. Meanwhile, our heroes that consist of Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, Jax Briggs, Night Wolf, Cyber Sub Zero, Smoke, Kitana, Stryker, Kabal, Kitana and Liu Kang sit and do nothing. The Bastard Sektor walks in and with his Cyber Lin Kuei to tire out the heroes until Sindel arrives, the worst scene in MK history plays because the purple bitch kills damn near everyone and kicks Smoke in the nads, and then Night Wolf, the most forgettable Mortal Kombat character kills Sindel by Hail Mary. Raiden looks for help of Quan Dale Dingle, but he instead of helping, brings everyone who died back as revenants, which are basically zombies but with memories of the ones who died and they are pretty strong. Raiden fights three at once, Kills Liu Kang because he fears Shao Kahn is going to kill him and with the power of the Elder Gods, Raiden goes super Saiyan and does a Kamehameha, killing Shao Kahn. Yeah all of that was one game.

Mortal Kombat X (or as dip shits would call it mk 10) starts with Johnny, Sonya and Kenshi fighting revenant Sub Zero (who's a human revenant because of MKX prequel comic nonsense don't worry about it), Smoke who isn't even playable, Sindel who's a bitch through and through and Jax, who in a minute turns back into a human because of unexplained reasons, but I guess by killing his revenant, Liu, Kitana and Lao who are some. it turns out they were going to the Jin Sei chamber (earthrealm's life force that is pure light) where Quan Chi and his boss, Shinnok exact their plan of taking over Earthrealm by putting Shinnok into the Jin Sei, corrupting it and turning him into a super Saiyan but he looks like a devil, so kind of like a ssj4 thing? Doesn't matter because Johnny learns he has God killing powers and uses them to punch Shinnok in the nuts. Raiden seals him and the rest of the game is now a 20 years time skip. And now we have the next gen of kombatants, called the Kombat Kids by the fans. You got Cassie Cage the mc, Jaqui Briggs, who's basically Jax 2.0, Kung Jin, Lao's cousing who fights with a bow and Takeda, who has whips, bombs and a fuckin lightsaber. Anyways other new characters you have are Kotal Kahn who took over the throne, Erron Black who is the Cowboy and D'vorah, a character that absolutely everyone hates because she kills Mileena, who had a civil war with Kotal for the throne. Also Scorpion, now Hanzo Hasashi kills Quan Chi after learning it was him who disguised himself as Bi-Han to kill the Shirai Ryu out of spite I guess? D'vorah betrays Kotal, Almost kills Johnny but does get wrecked by Cassie who does also have the same God killing powers as Johnny, and he uses them to punch Shinnok in the nuts. Raiden puts himself in the Jin Sei Chamber because Shinnok corrupted it. Raiden purifies the Jin Sei and everyone gets a happy ending. Except Shinnok, who gets decapitated by dark Raiden.

Mortal Kombat 11 is a flawed masterpiece, and that flaw is the multiverse bullshit. So basically, Shinnok's mom Kronika who's like the keeper of time, wants to kill the entire universe because it's not balanced (shut the fuck up, ya bitch). Anyways, we got Geras, who can never die because he's a fixed point in time but is mostly known for pounding ass in the next game, Kollector who is the IRS and I hate him, and Centrion who is Shinnok's sister. There's also he Frozen bad bitch from earlier and her name is Frost, who is like Sub Zero minus but she's cyberized like Sektor and Cyrax who are in this game but unplayable (WHY NETHERREALM!). Anyways while remaking the timeline, Kronika accidentally summoned past versions of Liu Kang, Kitana, Kung Lao, Jade (who was dead but I didn't give a shit to introduce her at the start) and also she has maybe done it with Kotal (LITTERALY oc x canon shit) ((Also Jade doesn't kill D'vorah when given the chance, the stupid bitch)), Jax and a past version of Erron Black, even though he's still alive??, and also Shao Kahn with the coolest design of all time. Also Barraka is back, because I forgot to mention the bug bitch killed him too. Anyways, now we're spending the game beating up but rarely killing beloved characters. The cyber Lin Kuei and Frost and old Jax invade their ship that they use to get to Kronika's keep. Young Liu Kang dies, but Raiden fuses with revenant Liu Kang and that turns Liu Kang into a fake Gogeta, aka Fire God Liu Kang (any of this starting to sound like fanfiction?). Anyways they make it to the island where Kronika's keep is and then, everyone but Liu Kang gets Thanos snapped. Liu kills all the leveled up revenants, Glasses Kronika and brings back Raiden to help him rewrite history.

JUST KIDDING RETCONNED FUCK YOOPUUUUU HAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAJ FUNNEE

uuuuuuugh alright I got two more story modes to do, holy fuck it's okay I can do this shit

The MK11 expansion, Aftermath, brings back Sheeva, who is now queen of the Shokan, the same species as Goro and Kintaro (the fire breathing cat from MK9), Night Wolf, Fujin the wind God and brother of Raiden, and Shanga langa ding dong. Fujin, Night Wolf and Shang were all locked away in a place beyond time until just now somehow (just roll with it okay? Okay). The plot of this story expansion is basically, Liu Kang wants to reset the universe, but he can't because he doesn't have Kronika's crown, which is needed to do the universe reset. So our boy Liu takes the two idiots and Shang into the past. I just now realized, Raiden is the only smart person in this game, because he knows Shang Tsung is planning something devious. Liu maybe knows but plays it off. They go back to previous points in the game to get the crown, revive Sindel who says she was mind controlled but later she says she's evil from the start (holy fuck I want to kill her and then myself). They get a boatsman, Kahron, to take them to the keep. In the process, D'vorah kills the poster boy of the franchise (Dominic I will fucking end your bloodline). Sindel gets Shao Kahn, heals his eyes that were sliced out by Kitana, they kill Liu and Lao, Shang reveals that he wants to reset the timeline (Fujin you stupid) , he Soul sucks Sindel and Shao Kahn, kills Kronika, but before he can do anything with Kronika's Hourglass, Liu Kang breaks in, kicks Shang Tsungs ass and reboots the series one more fucking time, which brings us to...

MORTAL 1 KOMBAT (or Mortal Kombat 1

This game starts with Shang Tsung being a failing snake oil salesman because he can barely survive. Then someone who looks like Kronika comes in and he makes this face

Best game of all time.

Anyway, we're introduced to Kung Lao and baby boy Raiden, who are farmers but also train Martial arts under the belt of Madame Bo, this universes version of Bo Rai Cho and she runs a kitchen, what more could you want with a grandma. Later, the Lin Kuei invade and we get the return of my boy Smoke who now has a Karambit and is voiced by Spiderman. He's Joined by Kuai Liang who is now Scorpion, and Bi-Han Sub Zero, the worst he's ever been i hate him. It's like they took his personality from Mortal Kombat 11 and slapped it over a poor man's imitation. Kung Lao kicks all three of their asses but only because they were pulling their punches. They join Liu who is basically Raiden now, and look for Johnny Cage, who's having a one-sided argument with his wife, and then she leaves and doesn't come back. Then, Kenshi breaks in, wanting Sento, the sword of his family which now lays on displayed on Johnny's wall. They fight, and Johnny beats him effortlessly. Johnny ties him to a chair and interrogates him until Liu Kang, along with Scorpion and Sub Zero walk in, which leads to one of the most iconic moments in the franchise

They want to untie Kenshi, but Johnny doesn't want that and thinks this is a prank, so he tries to play along but ends up being tossed into a million dollar statue, which triggers him and Johnny starts beating the shit out of Bitch-Han. Liu intervenes before Johnny can do his second fatality on him.they all go to the Wu Shi monk academy, where they train for the Great Tournament between Earthrealm and the realm of Outworld (that's LITTERALY what they call it, I'm not joking). Raiden beats them all using the one move he has, advance Cartwheel kick. Winning, Raiden is chosen to represent Earthrealm. And for winning, Liu Kang gives him a lightning amulet, which gives him lightning powers so he can fairly combat the Outworld fighters. Entering Outworld through a portal created by Liu, they are introduced by Kitana, Mileena and the palace guard, so-called the Umgadi, featuring two returning characters, one of which does nothing and the other was just a barrier. The one's i speak of are Khameleon and Tanya, the first canon lesbian in Mortal Kombat who has a thing going on with Mileena. Li Mei is back and... She's voiced by Kelly Hu. No wonder I forget she's in this game all the time. but along Li Mei, we have Shao Kahn, who is now degraded to General Shao, and his second in command, Reiko. I forgot to mention that Sindel is in this game and for the first time in the series, I don't mind her. She's a sweet, caring mother who is actually a mother to both Kitana and Mileena. Shao is now jobbing more than ever, from losing to a farmer, to being wrecked by queen. After winning the tournament, Liu Kang sends Kung Lao, Johnny and Kenshi to look for Shang Tsung, as it's word that he's somewhere in Outworld. The tremendous trio find a colony of Tarkatans, Outworlders infected by a disease called Tarkat, which deforms and debilitates. Shang Tsung is there and plans to harvest their marrow for a cure for Mileena, who as we find out, she has Tarkat. After a few fights, Kenshi pushes Johnny out of the way, as Mileena has gone feral, took some sais of the table, and stabs Kenshi's eyes out. As this happens Shao and tiny ass Goro walk in and take them to Shang Tsung's true lab, the Flesh Pits where Reptile works for him because Shang says he has his family captive. But as it's revealed, this isn't the case, as Shang already killed them many moons ago. This makes Reptile (aka Syzoth) have anger. They toxic gas the place and we get a Test Your Might to survive. They escape, but as they walk through the Living Forrest, they encounter Ashrah, a demon from the Netherrealm killing demons and almost killing our heroes. Also she says Demons funny. Like... DEE-MUNZ!

Anyways, she joins the party and they search for Quan Chi, who used to be dead, but is now an escaped cole miner and also black. The way Ashrah knows where Quan Chi is because she has a magic sword called the Kriss, and she uses it to purge evil from her soul, by killing other demons. We then find Quan Chi and his jobber squad consisting of Havik who is horribly lame in comparison to his older version and design from Deception, Sareena, Ashrah's so-so sister, Darius, aka Wesley Snipes' Blade with a dash of A-Train from the boys on the side, and the absolute dog shit tier downgrade of all time, Nitara is back, and nothing that made her cool is here. She isn't cool, her design is mid at best, her head looks like an onion, and the one thing that everyone hates about Nitara in this game, is that she's voiced by Megan Fox. Megan, Goddamn, Fox. Her performance is so goddamn awful that people actually prefer Rhonda Rousey's Sonya Blade from MK11. Anyways enough bitching, because Ashrah, with the help of a Reptile kameo beats the jobber squad, but just too late to stop Quan Chi from making a tornado of souls, which he uses to create Ermac, and then does this "who's mans is this" lookin' pose as he says kill them.

In between this and Ashrah vs Quan Chi and Ermac, Johnny thanks Kenshi for saving his life, and gives him Sento, which he uses to assist Ashrah in the clobbering of Quan Chi. Now they return to the streets of Outworld's capital, Sun Do to look for a way back home. They disguise themselves, run into the Umgadi, get away and now it's Li Mei's turn to shine.

I forgot everything that happens in her chapter.

The Lin Kuei infiltrate a palace where Shang Tsung is, but while they are terrible at being stealthy, they aren't in beating Shang and Quan. But In the process, Bi-Han admits he let his and Kuai's father die, just so he can be the Lin Kuei's grandmaster. Smoke waits outside and does nothing till Kuai Liang escapes. And when Bi-Han comes out and leaves a scar on Kuai's face, even then, Smoke does literally nothing. All the characters who had their own parts in the storyline + Mileena (as it's her time to shine). They head to the Fortress where Ermac almost rips off Bi-Han's arms, fight Ermac, but it turns out the soul of Mileena and Kitana's father, Jerrod is inside Ermac...

That came out wrong... Or did it?

Anyways, they break in, Kitana almost fools General Shao and Shang Tsung right before Shang Bang puts on a crown, that awakens the Dragon Kings army and a a fake Sindel kills the queen, but Jerrod, who is still in control of Ermac, takes her soul before it leaves her body, storing Sindel as a part of Mac n' cheese. They head all come to discover that it wasn't Kronika at the intro, but instead was Shang Tsung from another timeline where he won in MK11,

HOW

DO

YOU

DO

FELLOW

KIDS???!!!

Anyways, 11 Shang, who we will now call Titan Shang, has a plan to rewrite Liu Kang's timeline (the one everything else I just talked about in this entry takes place) and bring absolute fucking chaos with his team of evil time lords. Liu Kang, being the reasonable person he is, summons an army of good time lords and they all fight on the same pyramid that Armageddon's ending took place. For the first time in the entire series, you get to pick your own character for the finale. And based on the character you pick, you get a different variants of characters, most commonly fusions of already existing characters. Finally, you beat Shang and Quan, you get a thanks from Liu, and sent to Madame Bo's, where the Earthrealm heroes enjoy food and tea.

*HEAVY BREATHS*

So, that's the entirety of Mortal Kombat. Any questions?

[sammygems]

One Piece x Genshin Crossover - Straw Hats

I've been thinking about this idea for like, a hot minute, plus i've talked with a friend about it, and i decided to share it. so Vision elements & weapon types for the Straw Hats, plus what nations they'd be from if they existed in the world of Teyvat (plus some additional little thoughts and headcanons)! all 11 straw hats will be included

Monkey D. Luffy

Element: Anemo

Weapon Type: i wanna say Catalyst maybe?

Nation: Mondstadt or Natlan

Reasoning my friend gave for him being anemo: "freedom and dreams"

Roronoa Zoro

Element: Geo

Weapon Type: Sword

Nation: Inazuma

Additional Thoughts: I imagine his fighting style would be more similar to Chiori's in-game then it would be to other sword fighters from Inazuma. He probably would've left Inazuma before the Vision Hunt Decree, so would've been unaffected by it.

Reasoning my friend gave for Geo for him: "constantly looking to be stronger. Is a rock."

Nami

Element: Electro

Weapon Type: Polearm

Nation: Mondstadt

Additional Thoughts: I think originally my friend suggested Anemo for her, but after i started seeing her using lighting with the clima-tact more, plus i learned that (according to Oda in the SBS from Volume 98) if Nami had a devil fruit, she'd have the goro goro no mi/rumble-rumble fruit, which is the lighting devil fruit that Enel has, i decided that electro would probably fit her better.

Usopp

Element: Dendro

Weapon Type: Bow

Nation: honestly i'm not too sure, originally my friend said Mondstadt, but i could also see maybe Natlan or Sumeru (rainforest) for him

Friend's reasoning for Dendro for him: "I'm told that post timeskip he explores botanical things and it just makes sense" (they hadn't reached the timeskip at the time we talked about this)

Sanji

Element: Pyro

Weapon Type: Catalyst

Nation: Fontaine

Additional Thoughts: I imagine his fighting style would be similar to Heizou's, which is why i thought catalyst as his weapon type.

Friend's reasoning for Pyro for him: "Literally does fire kicks from Enies lobby -> onward"

Nefertari Vivi

Element: Hydro

Weapon Type: honestly not sure

Nation: Sumeru - Desert Region

Additional Thoughts: I originally thought hydro, based on just vibes and my friend agreed, saying "she's got a strong sense of justice"

Tony Tony Chopper

Element: Cryo

Weapon Type: Catalyst maybe?

Nation: Snezhnaya OR Mondstadt, but if from Mondstadt he'd be specifically from Dragonspine

Friend's Reasoning for Cryo for him: "Felt unloved for the longest time, came from drum island"

Nico Robin

Element: Electro (but i could also see Dendro for her)

Weapon Type: Catalyst

Nation: Snezhnaya

Additional Thoughts: I have too many thoughts on Robin in the world of Teyvat. First of all, in Robin's pre-timeskip outfits for Whisky Peak, Skypiea, & Long Ring Long Land (underneath the jacket) she wore an armband/bangle on her left arm that had a gold medal on it that had a BW for Baroque Works on the medal in the Whisky Peak outfit and in the Skypiea & LRLL outfits had a N for "Nico", basically, that would be her vision in genshin. She would probably grow up either in or have some involvement with the Fatui, before somehow ending up in Sumeru where she works with Crocodile for a bit.

Franky

Element: Geo

Weapon Type: Not sure atm

Nation: Fontaine

Friend's reasoning for Geo for him: "Franky gives me geo energy because oh my god he and Itto have a lot in common"

Brook

Element: Anemo

Weapon Type: Sword

Nation: Mondstadt

Friend's reasoning for Anemo: "musician, dead friends"

Jinbe

Element: Hydro

Weapon Type: Catalyst(??)

Nation: Sumeru

Additional Things: My friend said "obvious reasons" for why he should be hydro, but now i also know that he has a strong sense of justice, so hydro is even more fitting.

[townslore]

if you're comfortable, i would love to know more about the akechi npd headcanon. i think it's a rlly interesting take on his character and i wanna learn more abt npd bc i have bpd and ig im interested in what people experience with the other cluster b personality disorders? i just kinda wanna know why you think he has it and also maybe some of the mental stuff he has to experience with it. doesn't have to be detailed or personal i dont wanna make u uncomfy! i just cant stop thinking abt this hc haha :)

im actually on a mental health break right now, but this ask intrigued me so im answering it anyway. first off thank you for staying kind throughout the whole thing :)

its kind of hard for me to really describe why i think a character has/is something, because things like personality disorders are still a wide spectrum and every person experiences things differently, and i dont wanna make it seem like theres a one-way to have npd, but im gonna try anyway!

there is a site which helped me immensely throughout my self-diagnosis, so if you want to read more about the topic than what im gonna say here, here u go:

lets start simple and the thing that makes it most obvious to me: the engine room dialogue.

people with npd can heavily rely on other people for their self-esteem, because narcissists usually have a very low one. thats why they take on many tasks ("i was extremely particular about my life, my grades, my public image—so someone would want me around!") and might overwork themselves for more praise and acknowledgement ("you wanted to be acknowledged, didn't you? to be loved?") because its what they need to not constantly crash. a crash is something that happens when you dont get enough supply—which can be words of affection, praise, acknowledgement, etc—and you internalize it, doubt yourself, feel disgusting and generally you get to a really low point. this is just speculation, but i can see goro having a ton of those, especially during the time the phantom thieves get popular and he becomes public enemy nr 1. thats also why i drew him thinking "i really need supply rn but i'd rather die than ask for attention" because vulnerability is also a big thing people with npd can struggle with. we dont want to be seen as weak—our narcissism is essentially a shield, so we're seen as tough, when in reality, our egos can be very fragile.

one thing that the engine room makes very clear and also other interactions goro has with akira, is that hes very envious of others who have had it better than him. especially someone like akira, who was thrown away by society just like he was, was able to move past it, found friends and is acknowledged by many people. goro is jealous of it all, and thats the thing; people with npd can feel like they're supposed to be special ( and to me, with goro explaining how he got his personas, and how he often calls others stupid, its clear that he does feel that way about himself to a certain degree ) and anyone who threatens that status, anyone who seems much more special than we are is seen as a legitimate threat. its an ugly feeling and it can make us hate even those we love for some time.

this attributes to dysregulation of our emotions too. people with npd often feel their emotions, especially negative ones, way more intense than they actually should be and have difficulty calming down due to that. negative emotions often linger for a long period of time and its hard to move on so we hold grudges. now this might come to no surprise to anyone that goro is a very angry and sad person. especially in the engine room its clear that even after the others extend their hands out to him, its difficult for him to comprehend and he still acts rather mean and calls them idiots for trying to "save" him. when someone with npd is experiencing a multitude of negative emotions, it may cause them to avoid other people or act aggressive towards them because they feel trapped. theres many explanations as to why goro is the way he is in the 3rd semester, and i dont think only one of them has to be correct, but i do think that with the knowledge of whats happening ( like: being under the control of someone else again, or having to work with people who are unpredictable and who have seen you at your lowest point ) makes him act out to keep all of them, especially akira, at bay.

in the duel against akira—im sorry i cant really quote it, i just have a general idea of it in my head rn—i read what he says in a way that makes it clear that he struggles with a superiority AND inferiority complex, which sounds stupid at first i know, but its fairly easy to explain. like i already said, a narcissist's self-esteem is usually pretty low and we rely on others to know how to feel about ourselves. theres two traits of npd that are necessary traits to have: being self-centered and feeling entitled to good treatment, and seeking admiration from others/liking to be the center of attention. so there is some kind of superiority complex going on, at least thats what i would call it in goro's ( and my ) case. we can feel on top of the world in one moment, but once we have a crash or experience intense negative emotions, its back to being the worst human being on earth. i dont think its ooc to say that goro hates himself, as some like to claim he only ever thinks hes better than everyone else. i think that just attributes to harmful stigma. with everything goro experiences in life, coping with narcissism to hide a fragile sense of being just makes sense to me.

theres more i could probably add here but this thing is long enough as is. please do keep in mind that many of my headcanons for goro are me projecting—but that doesnt mean theres no basis for it in canon as well, as i've tried to explain here. at first i actually thought he could have bpd, but i dont know enough about it to really judge that—so it could still very well be that, or both, i dont really know how it works! im rather new to this as well, and at first i was scared of doing any research because npd is so heavily stigmatized. i wish there were more people like you, anon.

if you have any more questions feel free to ask them :)

[yakuzacanons]

Hello! How about playing pocky game with the boys? For some guys it definitely would be an adorable clumsiness (or clumsy adorableness?)

OMG I haven't thought about the pocky game since I was in high school lol of course u can, thanks for ur patience btw

Kazuma Kiryu

Either hasn't thought about this game in years or doesn't even know what it is. Learns by trying it out. Kind of blushes every time the pocky stick breaks. When it does break, he just kind of slowly nibbles it in silence.

Majima Goro

Has inhaled the pocky stick in one bite just to kiss you. Ain't no snack getting in the way of the REAL snack. Which is you. If you didn't know. Fun fact.

Saejima Taiga

Knows what it is and kind of chuckles, saying "That takes me back". Totally would stare you down during it to intimidate you because it makes you flustered and he thinks that's cute.

Akiyama Shun

Absolutely down for the challenge and will do his darn best to succeed cuz he wants that kiss dammit! If the stick breaks, he'll just ask you to play again with the now shortened stick.

Tanimura Masayoshi

Kind of has a childish excitement about it as he's known of the game but never really tried it before. Plus, snacks are involved. He loves those. Almost as much as he loves you. He's not good at it though, breaks it a lot but keeps asking for a rematch.

Ryuji Goda

This big-heart-small-brain gorilla of a man will just bite straight through the stick on the first attempt, saying something about how he thought he was supposed to eat it. Turns out he just misheard the instructions. It's totally funny to you until he figures out how it ACTUALLY works, then watch out. He is getting that kiss if it takes him all day.

Nishikiyama Akira

Actually one of the few boys that might initiate the game with you. Also the type of guy if you ask him to play to say something like "Ah, you want a kiss that badly? Hmmm... okay, let's do it."

Daigo Dojima

Our shy and innocent Daigo has heard of the game but never got the chance to try it in high school, likely out of shyness. He looks super calm doing it, as he always looks doing most things these days, but inside he's like "Man, I hope I don't screw this up..." In a way, that classic stoicness kind of only makes him hotter, so it's really just up to who finds the other person hotter more to win at this game.

Mine Yoshitaka

The concept of the pocky game is befuddling and fascinating to him. He's thinking "A game using food? For kissing?... Huh??" But what the heck, he'll try it if only as an excuse to be in close proximity to you.

Tatsuo Shinada

Also one of the few boys who might initiate this game with you. If he knows that you're open to the idea of playing it, then whenever he happens to be eating pocky as a snack he'll just offer the idea up playfully. Loses a LOT though, he is NOT good at it.

Ichiban Kasuga

The last of the boys to likely initiate this game, mostly as a cute means to get closer to you. He'll say something like "Hey, remember that game all the kids used to play back in high school? Wonder if anyone still does that..." Uses strawberry pocky because he thinks it's cuter that way somehow.

Tianyou Zhao

Doesn't initiate but wouldn't turn down the opportunity to try it. After the first time, literally everytime you buy pocky, he'll be like "Ah, are we playing that again?" just to get a flustered reaction out of you. Also the type of guy to hold a piece of pocky dangling out of his mouth at you to tease you. He's a silly head.

Joon-Gi Han

The concept is lost on him, at least verbally and conceptually. Does not understand why you don't just kiss normally and eat the pocky normally. It isn't until he's physically giving it a try that he's like "Oh... I get it".

[manias-wordcount]

Ok so I’d like to request something but even if you’re not open to anymore requests i understand but I feel the NSFW persona community is sleeping on an amazing idea like seriously I can’t find anything of how a threesome would be with yusuke and Ryuji like I see Goro and Ren all the time but never these two I feel it would be a really icy hot situation! So if possible a Yusuke x reader x Ryuji nsfw is possible.

All is Fair (Ryuji Sakamoto x Reader x Yusuke Kitagawa)

𝗔/𝗡: 𝗶 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗿𝘆𝘂𝗷𝗶 𝘅 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘅 𝘆𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗸𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻! 𝗶 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱/𝗮𝘂 𝗮𝘀 𝗦𝘄𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘆 𝗛𝘂𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲

𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚! 𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝘅 (𝗺 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴), 𝘃𝗮𝗴��𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝘅, 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲, 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗷𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲

𝙒𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚? ⇒ 𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩

𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙧?

𝙗𝙪𝙮 𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙚?

You don’t think it’s fair. 

  You’ve had a crush on Ryuji ever since he transferred to your university. He was in a few of your circles, had a really cute accent, and was just so  endearing . Plus it didn’t help that he’s a track star and had the body of one too. So it was inevitable that the two of you would get closer. It was inevitable that a couple of quick glances in his direction when he was hanging out with you and your other friends turned into you waiting patiently for the text to invite you over for a movie or to just hang out at his place whenever you knew he had a free night. It turned small talk about the weather and classes and his events into inside jokes and compliments and making plans for the next time you’ll both meet.

  Simply put, it turned acquaintances into friends. And friends into best friends. And best friends into people are who just can’t help but keep their true feelings about each other secret until the right time comes. Whenever that will be. 

  So right now, you don’t think it’s fair. You don’t think it’s fair that he can just fly over one of his closest friends from Japan to stay at his place for a little visit and vacation. You don’t think it’s fair that Ryuji just insists and insists and  insists  on you meeting the guy because he “wants his worlds to collide!” or something. And you  especially  don’t think it’s fair that his friend, Yusuke Kitagawa, from back in Tokyo is  this  attractive. Enough to take your breath away for a second. Enough to cause you to stutter for a moment. Enough to make you tense up and  freeze  as he brings the back of your palm up to his lips and calls you beautiful in the same breath he kisses your skin with. No, you don’t think it’s fair at all. 

  But no matter what you think, you know that right now? You know for a fact that Ryuji is probably infinitely  more  upset with the way this current meeting is going. After all…

  … that has to be the reason why he fucks you harder every time he hears you gagging on Yusuke’s cock, right?

  “ Kuso…anata wa totemo kireida .” Ryuji mumbles from behind you, slipping into Japanese like he always does when he loses focus or says something you’re not supposed to hear. You wish you could understand him when he switches to his native language. The feeling of him sitting you on his lap while he leans back on the couch and pounds into your pussy is enough to forget what little Japanese you do already know. “ Motto hayaku kore o yarubekidatta.”

  From in front of you, Yusuke groans and utters something in response to your best friend’s words. It’s completely lost to your ears in the mix of his breathy moans. But when your eyes flicker up to look at him from beneath your lashes, the pretty boy just smiles at you a little wider. The hand he has on your chin strokes at your jawline for a second before patting it gently, almost as if to ease the ache you feel and to encourage you to open your mouth wider. It’s a bit of a strain- but you do manage to do it. 

  You’re rewarded with a pleased hum as the man in front of you takes the opportunity to slide his dick further into your mouth- hitting the back of your throat just once before he pulls back… and slams it in again.  You choke, tears stringing at your eyes, but you manage to keep your mouth wide and your tongue still moving to wrap around the underside of his cock. It’s thick and hard, and it’s making it difficult to breathe. But then Yusuke looks down at you from behind the mess of his once perfectly styled bangs and gives you a soft look as he cups your chin to ensure you can take him  deeper than you ever could before.

  “ Utsukushī”  He murmurs, dark eyes meeting with a certain fondness you wouldn’t have expected from a stranger. “ Attōteki ni utsukushī”

  You whine. The sound vibrates around the dick in your mouth as your tongue takes in the taste a bit of precum, and frustration as you struggle to guess what was just said to you. But that’s the thing. You were doing so well earlier though. Recognizing words and phrases here and there. At least, you could understand enough to stay that a fight between the two of them shortly after you arrived. About what, you’re not exactly sure. But you just know that the fight stopped when Ryuji pulled you to his side and asked if he and Yusuke could take care of you for the day.

  To put it simply, it was an oddly phrased request. You’re no stranger to those, of course, considering the fact that you spend most of your time around a boy whose second language is English. But your lack of context only served to make it even odder when you realized the tense looks on Ryuji and Yusuke’s faces had melted away into intense gazes directly solely at you- awaiting your response. But despite it all?

  You said yes.

  You said yes, because you knew you could trust Ryuji. You said yes, not knowing that it would lead to your shorts on layers on the ground and your panties in your best friend's hand and his mouth against yours as his partner for today was taking his time stretching you out nice and good with two long, long fingers tucked inside of you. You said yes, sentencing yourself to probably the best moment of your  life . 

  Exactly as you hoped for.

  “ Son'nani ranbō ni naranaide kudasai. ” Ryuji grits out from behind you again when the main living room of his apartment is filled with your coughs after Yusuke starts getting a little rough with your throat again. This time, the words that are spoken are even less familiar. And they’re just barely heard over the sounds of cock slipping in and out of your warm, wet insides and your muffled moans at the very feeling. A second later, the blonde’s hand is slipping around your chest- groping at your chest before pulling you away from the other man. “ Kanojo wa saisho wa watashi no monodeshita. ”

  Yusuke’s dick falls free from your mouth with a lewd sound. But you don’t have time to dwell before Ryuji’s hands and grabbing onto the underside of your thighs and gripping  hard  all so he can lift you up and then force you  down  onto his cock once more. The impact has you crying out- seeing stars and  feeling  them as he manages to hit a spot deep inside you that instantly turns your mind to mush. From then on, his pace speeds up. His hips shoot themselves upwards to meet the pace with which he fucks you with. His pelvis slaps against your backside, filling the room with another tell-tale sound of the dirty acts now being exactly between the two of you. At least, that would have been if it weren’t for your loud and whorish whines and whimpers and squeals whenever Ryuji makes you feel too,  too  good.

  “Don’t worry so much, she can take it.” 

  You almost don’t recognize the sound of Yusuke’s voice when he switches to English. But you more than recognize the feeling of the pretty boy’s hand on your cheek- guiding your face back forward and easing you into sticking your tongue so he goes ahead and places his cock back into your mouth. Almost immediately, your tongue reaches out and swipes at the little bead of pre-cum leaking from the head of his pretty, pretty cock. That earns you another pleased smile and a warm hum.

  “ Can’t you, pretty girl? ”

  You think you can. At least, you know you want to. You want to be good for him. You want to be good for  both  of them. That’s why you try to turn your attention back to Ryuji- for a reaction, a response, for anything. After all, you’re fucking him while sucking his longtime friend’s dick. You’re fucking your  crush  for the first time while a stranger joins in and has his own way with your mouth. He got to have something else to say, right?  Right?

  But you only manage to turn your head towards him in time to witness him littering your skin with tiny kisses with a half-lidded. From your shoulder to your neck to the underside of your jaw and the back of your ear. And for a moment he stops. He lets his eyes meet yours. A heavy, heavy brown-eyed gaze that you only dreamed of seeing late, late at night when you have no one but your hand between your thigh to keep you sane. But you don’t need that anymore. You have him now. You have both of them now. 

  And judging by the way Ryuji’s smirk can’t help but widen as Yusuke pulls your face back in his direction, you can only imagine that he feels the exact same way that you do. In fact, maybe they both do. And that makes you  excited . So, so,  so  excited.

  “ Fine… ” Your best friend relents with a roll of his hips that sends you whimpering all over again. He apologizes with another kiss to your neck, but Yusuke is already there to wipe away at the old tears across your cheeks with one quick stroke of a delicate finger before letting the tip of his cock disappear past your lips with a simple push. “ Just don’t break her .”

  “I won’t.” 

  Yusuke tells him. And for a second, you wonder if they had planned this in advance. If they had talked about you before. If they dreamed about you before. If they thought about having you- about  sharing  you before they had stripped you down today. And you wonder…wonder if they think it’s fair. You couldn’t imagine they would. You couldn’t imagine they  could . But then again, you know that the two of them are close. You know the two of them have been through a lot together. Laughter. Hardships. Pain. Joy. So who’s to say…

  “Before it’s my turn, at least .” 

  Who’s to say that this isn’t exactly what they wanted to happen after all.

[skania]

OnK Chapter 152

Soooo as someone who reads this for Akane and for Akane only, I have to say that I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about her role in the upcoming arc.

We're entering the final arc and she has yet to get her second volume cover. If she doesn't get Volume 15 (and I'm praying she doesn't), then that should mean that whatever happens in the upcoming volumes (the final volumes!) will involve her enough to warrant saving her second cover to this late in the game.

We're entering the final arc and she just narrated the lead-up to it.

We're entering the final arc and it's happening right alongside the Second Season, which is the season that will cover most of Akane's important chapters. So if Aka wants to deliver parallels, then there's a lot of potential for Akane to be involved.

...Watch Mengo and Aka stick her on the cover of Volume 15 and call it a day 🤡 But for now, I'll keep praying that we get a Goro/Aqua cover so that Akane is free to be used in better volumes.

I don't have much to say about the chapter this time around. I think we all knew that Aka was getting ready to end the manga, so I for one was happy to see that we're entering the final arc. The sooner we're freed, the better!

It's hard to gauge how long this arc will be, but I'd bet on ~30 chapters plus an Epilogue Arc. Coincidentally, there are exactly 28 weeks left until Christmas. In the manga, they are in November right now and Kana's Graduation (the most important moment in the manga, apparently) will take place on Christmas. So I can totally see Aka wanting his fictional Christmas to happen during, well, Christmas.

If he does it, then we could be getting 3 more volumes worth of content plus 1 volume for the Epilogue. Maybe.

Or maybe he will try to rush it and end it even sooner so that whoever gets hurt gets hurt when the anime adapts Chapters 64 - 65. That would be so rushed even for his standards that it would be wild, but anything is possible when it comes to bad writing lmao

Leaving that aside, look at my girl.

I love her. I love her so much. She has got quite a few reasons to be making this face, IMO.

Ruby was able to find a peaceful way to have her revenge and is thus ready to start healing, and the answer she found is healing those around her, too. Like Gotanda and Kaburagi.

Ai's heart was presumably portrayed in an accurate fashion, which is sure to pull at her hearstrings.

And considering that Aqua was the one who edited the movie, I think it says something about his current disposition that he respected Ruby's take and left the movie as it is, so that may be giving Akane another reason to smile.

Speaking about Gotanda and Kaburagi, I feel like their conversation foreshadows a lot of what this final arc will be dealing with.

Making amends, overcoming regrets and moving towards the future...

... people lying to themselves and "bottling themselves up"...

yet still holding out onto hope, deep down, of being able to fulfill the dreams that they have been denying themselves of all along.

This comment in particularly reminded me so much of Aqua lol

Which takes me to: Aka's writing is so clumsy that his star changing colors every other chapter comes across as flip-flopping 😂

Back when his stars briefly became white only to turn black again, it served a purpose. It showed that while Ruby's words pacified the "Goro" side of him, he hadn't fully healed yet. If Aqua having his white star again is meant to signify that Kana's words managed to pacify the "Aqua" side of him, then... why in the world didn't we see his eyes go white last chapter? 🤡 If Kana is the reason why Aqua seems to have hopes for the future now, why not show it?

For my own sanity, I have to believe something happened in the time-skip. Maybe editing the movie was actually cathartic or something, who knows. I'm not even going to theorize anything about this, because the writing is giving me whiplash lmao so I'm just going to take a moment to point out that while Mengo took the time to give Aqua the haircut he is supposed to have here as per the prologue, she left out the piercing.

And I find that kind of funny, honestly, that this is where Aka seemingly draws the line. With all the stuff that Aka off-panels, Aqua getting a random piercing off-panel wouldn't have been shocking at all 😂

Another thing I found funny:

How many times does Aka need to repeat the same thing? Does he think our attention span is that short? 😭 Not to mention these words feel empty right now because he just went on a data with Kana with zero issue. Apparently, for Aka keeping his distance is only a thing if it involves making sure Aqua interacts with Akane as little as possible lmao

Oh, right!

How could I forget the big twist!

Wake me up when Kamiki interviews Akane 😂

[akechi-stole-my-heart]

With one of the most impactful sections of the game with Akechi (in my opinion) being his very emotionally fuelled breakdown during his boss fight, you would think more people would realize just how much of his reasoning for what he does is based on his emotions and not logic

akdbudhehf yeag

It's as if people just block out the engine room scene entirely, tbh. All the most popular misinterpretations of his character are blatantly contradicted by that scene. It's absolutely wild to me when it's incredibly obvious to me that that scene is Akechi at his most genuine/least filtered in the game and therefore the most important one if you want to understand him as a character. But it is so often completely ignored.

Arguments like "Akechi hates Joker" or "Akechi doesn't regret anything." Or "The Phantom Thieves hate Akechi and don't sympathize with him," even. I've even seen people (Akechi stans! in multiple fics!!) interpret Akechi as not giving a shit about popularity or what the masses think of him. Hello??? Guys!! Goro "I was extremely particular about my life, my grades, my public image, so someone would want me around" and "you'll all be heroes. as for me, people will find out my past deductions were just charade. my fame and trust will vanish" Akechi very very much does give a shit what people think about him. That is. actually. kind of his entire thing. (Yeah, after the public turns against him he gets jaded, but he never doesn't care. Having the public turn on him, I would argue, was actually a kind of personal hell for him, because he cares so much.) Anyway. I already wrote that meta.

But yeah, people love ignoring the engine room scene. Maybe they just forget a lot of it because a ton does happen? Or they just aren't insane about Akechi like me and haven't practically memorized bits of it. (Hey, I'm working on it. It'll get completely memorized eventually...) Akechi haters are gonna misinterpret him, that's not surprising. But it is absolutely wild to me when Akechi stans ignore the most important scene with him and understand who he is and why he did the things he did.

I've even been told that the engine room isn't Akechi at his most genuine and actually is him at his most extreme and shouldn't be taken at face value. Which is just......what??? Yeah, he's having a mental breakdown, but as a result all of his masks come off and he says shit that is real and genuine and that wouldn't have come out at any other time. The extreme emotions of the situation are what make it so genuine. That interpretation is so baffling to me, but maybe it's more common than I think, and that's why Akechi stans ignore it, I dunno.

But yeah, anyway, if you wanna know what Akechi actually believes about something, look at the engine room. It's the Rosetta Stone to Akechi's character and the scene through which you should interpret everything else. I don't know why everyone loves ignoring it so much.