#im sorry i cannot stick to one fandom to ramble about ever

[batbeato]

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

With that said. I cannot stand Toshiro.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[glazelilyy]

hiiii luce ! <3 i saw ur most recent post & i just wanna preface this by saying u don't have to answer this publicly if u don't want to! u can either answer privately or not answer at all -- i just wanted to say some stuff to u !!! <3 sometimes, writers aren't always able to write & that's okay. sometimes, we'll go through phases where we just can't write, no matter how much we want to. these periods of writer's block are frustrating, but you're not alone! i had one that almost lasted for 2 months pretty early in the year (around february/march), but people will always return and show up for your writing, especially writing as eloquent and lovely as yours!

what your followers desire most from you is not fanfiction -- i feel like i can speak for everyone when i say that we desire most for you to feel happy with what you're doing. if writing isn't bringing you that joy at the moment, then take a break for as long as you need! you should run a blog because it's fun and entertaining and not because it feels like an obligation or something that you must maintain so you don't "disappoint" people (and trust me, taking a break won't disappoint anyone -- mental health is more important than fanfiction could ever be).

i'm not really good at this sort of thing, but i basically just wanted to reach out and say that you're lovely, your blog is a breath of fresh air, and your writing is some of my favorite on this site, even if we don't interact much. i personally think you have some of the best characterization in the fandom, but i know how easy it is to hear compliments from others and to just... not believe them. i know me complimenting you isn't going to fix much, if anything, but i just wanted to let you know that i'll stick around and cheer you on, whether you post another fic in a day, a week, a month, or a year from now! please don't push yourself too hard when running a blog -- hobbies should never be arduous tasks! <3

sorry for how lengthy this message ended up being, but i just wanted to send an encouraging message & to let you know that you're not alone & are loved by the community! <3333 :D

(i'm sorry for taking so long to respond to this, and the other very kind asks sent my way!! i wanted to keep them in my inbox for just a little longer because reading them just made me feel so much better and happier :> i wanted to respond to this just to show my immense gratitude hehe <3)

axia, i genuinely cannot tell you both how many times i've read this and how much it helped me :) (sjkgdbdf i keep tearing up while writing this, FRICK) your words are just,,,they've pinpointed exactly how i feel and reassured me in the best way possible and i'm so grateful that you and so many others are willing to stand with me even as i'm struggling :)

you're definitely right, running a blog and partaking in my hobbies should never feel like an obligation and i definitely think i forgot about that, thank you for reminding me!! writing is one of the few hobbies i have left in my life and i'd hate to run myself into the ground by overworking. my mental health was never exactly the best but i've found solace writing here and interacting with everyone and it's genuinely made me feel the best i've felt in a long time :) (if i keep rambling about how grateful i am im definitely gonna start sobbing ajshgfjdgf)

the line "i know me complimenting you isn't going to fix much, if anything, but i just wanted to let you know that i'll stick around and cheer you on, whether you post another fic in a day, a week, a month, or a year from now!" has stayed with me ever since i read your ask. i've always been under the impression that loyalty is fleeting and while i'm aware that i've worked and had to work for my audience, there's that sense of dread that if i slip now all i've done will just go away (and it's a very irrational thought now that i look at it) but it's clear to me that even if i do lose followers or get less notes, i'm still immensely grateful to wonderful moots like yourself and many of my readers (interactive or not) who still decide to partake in my work :)

you don't have to apologize for anything!! i didn't mind the length at all, and trust me when i say your ask did wonders to my mood/pos :) i've always looked up to your writing, your blog actually inspired me to start my own!! to know that someone whose writing i adore and who is a joy to interact with finds pleasure in my writing (and complimented my characterization AAAAA) just fills me with happiness ajsbgfhdfj words can't describe how thankful i am for this message, and i know i'll definitely be coming back to it in the future if i ever feel like this again :)

once again, thank you so much axia!! :D <3