#joker out battle royal

[sparkles-oflight]

JOKER OUT SONGS - BATTLE ROYAL (FINALE)

The so awaited battle begins (I'll give you one week to have time to think about who your winner is)

Battle 24

[dragondemoness]

Ultimate Cuteness Reader - Persona 5/Royal Edition - The Mansion of Grief (Part Two) (The Boys)

It was a long and difficult battle, but your partner finally managed to defeat the demented cognition of your grandmother.

After defeating her, she let out a shrill roar and sunk back into the ground.

Your partner took a moment to catch their breath before looking over at you. You were completely silent and you fell to your knees, staring at the ground with a blank expression. The tears didn't fall physically, but dark tear streaks appeared on your face.

"So... She really is gone."

Ren Amamiya/Joker

He wasted no time in running over to you and pulling you into his arms

"(Name)... I'm sorry I had to do that. But it was the only way."

"I finally found her... She wasn't dead after all. But you killed her."

Hearing you say that made his heart broke

How could he have let your heart reach this state?

"(Name), this place isn't real. I'm sorry, but she's gone. Once you leave this Palace, it'll fade. The only that will remain is your memories of her, hung up on these walls. And I know it hurts, but running away from it is only going to hurt worse."

His words finally seemed to sink in, and the tears started falling for real

He pulled you closer and guided your head to lay against his chest

"I know you miss her. And I know she was truly a parent to you. But she isn't all you have left. You have me, and you have our friends. Please, remember that. If you feel lonely again, you can come to any of us. It doesn't have to be me, but I am always available for you. Understand?"

He wiped the tears from your eyes and paused to hold your face in his hands, hoping you would see the sincerity in his eyes

It seemed to work, and you nodded

"Okay."

He smiled and gave you a kiss on the forehead

"Good. Now, would you happen to know where the Treasure is?"

Behind them, your bunny plush appeared

He picked it up and handed it to you before lifting you into his arms and carrying you back to the Palace entrance

The Treasure was a photo of you and your grandma dancing in her garden together, as he expected

The wait was agonizing

Morgana warned him that your change of heart may take a long time, and the two of them waited outside of your house to see if you'd come

When you did, he ran to you and gave you a tight hug

Morgana jumped off his shoulder and into your arms, purring as you pet his head and scratched his ears

He climbed up to your shoulders and Ren took your hand with a smile as you walked to Leblanc together

Ryuji Sakamato

"Hey..."

He cautiously but quickly approached you

"Listen. I know that wasn't easy to watch. But you gotta understand... She's gone, hun. She's not comin' back. And you can't keep runnin' away, y'know? It's just gonna hurt worse."

When the tears started falling, he immediately took you into his arms and held you until you calmed down

"I know I ain't the brightest, but you don't gotta keep holdin' all this in. If you're feelin' depressed, you can tell me. Or the others. I'm not gonna judge ya. Ever."

He lifted you up to your feet and took the Treasure before making a run for it

He waited outside your house patiently for you to come out

When you did, he flashed his signature stupid grin at you and gave you a tight hug

Then he slung his arm around your shoulders and took you to go get ramen

He knew the grandma thing needed to be addressed later, but for now, you could relax and enjoy your time together

Yusuke Kitagawa

He walked over to you and kneeled down in front of you

"My dear... This Palace is a manifestation of your grief for your grandmother. It does not exist in the real world. These beautiful memories, however, very much do. But I'm afraid that once we return to the real world, your grandmother will not be there."

Once the tears started falling, he rested a gentle hand on yours as he murmured words of comfort

When it finally sunk in, he took the Treasure and left a soft kiss on your hand before leaving

He awaited your change of heart and once it came, he walked to you and pulled you into his chest

Then he took your hand and brought you to Leblanc, so you could take your mind off things for a bit

And so he can finally show you the artwork he was so excited about

Goro Akechi

He kept a safe distance from you as he recovered from the battle

He was used to killing people, not changing hearts

He didn't want to anger you or make things worse

But this had to stop

"(Name)... this place isn't real. Your grandmother is gone. This Palace is nothing more than a manifestation of your distorted desires caused by grief."

He doesn't mean to sound dismissive, but he really needs you to see the truth

Once you break down crying, he finally decides to get closer to you

He kneels down in front of you, trying to find a way to better phrase his emotions

"I... I should have noticed sooner. I was completely blind to your grief, and I allowed your heart to become distorted. I'm sorry that this happened under my watch. I didn't imagine that I would resort to the Phantom Thieves' method of doing things, but... As long as it works, I suppose."

Once you recover, he helps you to your feet

"So, erm... Is that all? Is there anything else I must do to finally put this behind us?"

The rabbit plush appeared behind you, and he gave you a sheepish farewell before taking it and leaving

He waited outside your house and gave you his signature charming smile before hugging you

He then offered to take you on a date to Kichijoji to help take your mind off things

He never thought he would find himself changing someone's heart, let alone his significant other

But he's glad that it all worked out

[kirabook]

I noticed they changed Makoto's battle stance.

In FES he's much more crouched down and feral while in Reload, his posture is A++ and he's holding out his hand in front of him. (Reminds me of Aqua Kingdom Hearts actually)

I wondered if they took his stance from the Persona 5 Royal DLC but no, that stance is different as well. He is standing up straight, but he also has his hand in his pocket/on his belt in a much more relaxed fashion. He doesn't really look like he's fighting a 4 on 1 battle.

I started to wonder, "Did they copy Joker's stance onto him or something???" But no. His stance is not like Joker's at all. In fact, Joker's stance is a lot like Makoto's stance from FES.

Feed wide apart, left side of the body facing forward (for the most part). What probably happened is they took inspiration for Joker's stance from Makoto originally. Now in the remake, they needed to give Makoto a new stance to differentiate him from Joker again. Haha.

All of this is very irrelevant but fun to think about. I still think Makoto will only be able to use swords in the Reload sadly, but it does cut down on development time to program all those weapons and animations to work with him. Just kinda sad a bit of Persona's 3 uniqueness will be wiped away with history.

Also I must say, P3R is looking amazing. Just comparing Makoto's current model to his P5R one?? I'm in awe of how good he looks. It's so detailed and expressive in comparison. Even compared to the dancing game.

I'm so happy they didn't just stick with the P5R engine and went a little above and beyond to craft something unique. I'm also willing to bet everything they've learned for P3R will be used for future Persona games.

[generic-anime-boy-bracket]

Round 1, Group A: Matchup 4

Yoichi Isagi vs Ren Amamiya

Reasons for being generic + Propaganda below

Yoichi Isagi

Reasons:

he has black hair and blue eyes and looks sooooo generic because he looks like every other black hair and blue eyes anime character (etc kageyama from haikyuu) hes got the v shaped bangs and all 

hes the blandest looking little guy of all time. sports anime protag no less. mans is hello kitty in the sanrio collab even though his character colour is green and his design is all blues, because he doesnt have defining characteristics other than his status as protag.

Propaganda:

listen. hes bland. hes generic beyond belief. he has the bangs triangle. he got hello kitty in the sanrio collab. hes also a leetle unhinged and it wouldnt phase me if he started canonically eating people (this is not the kind of sports anime that includes such violence) (this IS a battle royale/danganronpa killing game style media though) he says the most off-the-wall wild shit on the pitch, and then someone will say something just like it while theyre Not playing socer and he'll just be like "alright um bye then" and leave? he sees everything as puzzle pieces and recently tried to refer to another players ability with a name he made up.. in his head.. and didnt tell anyone before..... the other player was understandingly just left like '??? wtf is metavision' hes my silly !!!!!

Ren Amamiya

Reasons:

He's got messy black hair and simple clothes. He's also got fake glasses in order to look less supsicious and blend in. His personality is also fairly bland bc he's a player character 

He’s a Japanese teenager with messy black hair and glasses. He literally only wears his school uniform or grayscale. I’ve never seen an MC look so much like I could’ve put his model at another desk in the background and noticed nothing.

Fairly normal high school kid who happens to get caught up in the fate of humanity and stuff. He did get in a minor altercation with a fascist politician before the game starts, which kicks off the entire plot. 

When he’s a high school student he just looks like. a fucking guy. I’ll be honest I haven’t played persona I’m just in love with him so if any actual persona fans find this bracket and submit him I bet they’ll have something better lmao - smashy bros fan

messy black hair with bangs. designed to appear basic and unassuming, especially when he is in school and doing other normal high schooler activities (rather than when he’s in the meta verse as Joker). wears fake glasses to seem even more generic and unassuming

He's got messy brown hair and is the only character of the main cast of teens to wear his uniform in the most proper and normal way. He is just A Guy. That's his whole thing, is to look generic and to not stand out.

he's got that slightly messy black hair swag grey eyes average tall-ish height normal outfits normal uniform swag. the most interesting thing he has going on appearance wise is normal ass black rimmed glasses. i wish we could put pictures so i could show you how normal looking he is.

To be fair this is more of a stretch! But he still has the black scruffy hair, and also he has glasses, boy looks generic. But that's actually kinda the point! He's supposed to "fit in" and all that!

i hate this man he is everywhere i havent played the game but hes a mostly silent protagonist with like a possible harem and i want him wiped from this earth. unfortunately theyve announced yet another p5 spin-off. god save us.

Propaganda:

He's already the hair down and then he purposefully dresses more generic in order to blend in how fun is that?

His whole schtick is hiding in plain sight and never letting anyone see his true self. He was traumatized by the Japanese legal system when he put himself out there to save a woman from assault, and so now he does everything he can to blend in. He doesn’t even need glasses; he wears them to be more generic and unassuming. He slouches for the same reason, to minimize his height and come off as another disaffected teenager.

his generic anime guy-ness actually matters to the plot. he was falsely accused of assaulting someone and has been branded a dangerous criminal, so he tries to make himself as unnoticeable/unassuming/generic as he can, hiding his true self in order to avoid further trouble from people that already assume the worst of him. it is a shackle society placed on him, and working in the meta verse as joker allows him to be his true self 

he is sooo special to me and very pretty. it's a good generic design that doesn't just look like an npc. extremely ordinary but not boring nor bland. cutie pie.

Already gave it but, it'd be funny for both Akechi and Joker to end up tied cause they both look pretty generic

[ccherlush]

(THIS IS EXTREMELY INCOHERENT HOWEVER I AM CORRECT)

Let’s start with the center. Akechi Goro is our ace detective/black mask. The ALIVE???? Above his head is to represent my insanity and act like a detective in a movie. He is the star of this theory. That’s abou all I will say about him as of right now. I am going to truly begin with the photo in the bottom right corner. In this photo you can see a screenshot from within the game. This is the point ingame that Akechi reveals his “true form” as the black mask. I put true in quotations because, like joker, he can also hold multiple personas at once. This is only the second person in game to be shown to be able to do that. Whether or not he can hold as many as joker is simply unknown. I also put true in quotation marks because both Robin Hood (prince side) and Loki (black masks) were formed within him. This means they both represent his true self in a sense. You must battle with him twice(?) I believe in the game before he is defeated. Your first fight with him is against Robin Hood, once you defeat that he has a monologue. This monologue is quite funny and the start of it is shown right below akechi. TEAMMATES????? FRIENDS???? TO HELL WITH THAT. WHY AM I INFERIOR TO YOU?? I would type out the whole thing, but I don’t have time for that. (every single website with it is also blocked on the school computer sighhhhh) In this whole spiel he goes on to talk about how he worked so hard to maintain his perfect image. He talks about how he was an ace detective, a celebrity, and how did you, a criminal living in an attic, defeat him. As you continue to try and calm him down, he starts going crazier. In the midst of it all he explains that Shido is his father, and that he was working with him. (Shido does not know that Akechi is his son.) He goes on to say he wanted to be the one to defeat him, and he was not about to let you take that away from him. As he gets crazier and crazier (I <3 my crazy gf) he soon reveals Loki and the black mask. Triggering mental shutdowns is a capability that only black mask can do. He triggers a mental shutdown within himself and then you get launched into battle with him again. After you defeat him again you begin speaking with him. During this speech it seems he has a slight change of heart and he wants to join you but his shadow counterpart interrupts this conversation (as see in bottom right photo).

In palaces there are sometimes shadow versions of people. These shadow versions are not the actual people, just how the palace ruler sees them. This shadow version of Akechi is like Shido’s lapdog. He calls real Akechi pathetic and worthless for not being able to complete his mission in killing the Phantom Thieves. He proceeds to threaten Akechi, so Akechi shoots a button in the room you are in with him and it causes a wall to come up between the two of you. Behind this wall you can hear two gunshots go off. After those gunshots Futaba (the navigator of the Phantom Thieves) claims to see no singles on the other side of this wall. This would hypothetically mean that both the shadow and Akechi are dead. HOWEVER I DO NOT THINK THIS IS THE CASE IN ONE SPECIFIC UNIVERSE WITHIN THE GAME.

In all the previous persona games there have been errors with navigation in the game. (Error that are canon within the game, Not mistakes with the creators.) In Persona 5 Royal this could be the navigation error. If we look at the photo in the top left, you can see MAruki. Maruki comes into the story soon after you defeat Kamoshida, the first palace in the game, he is a therapist and will be working as a school counselor to help students cope with the abuse that they endured with him. (Assuming you’ve played the game I am not going to explain further). He is one of the confidants you can up your friendship with within the game. You do that by hanging out with him after school for counseling. If you reach the max level with him before he leaves the school you will unlock the 3rd semester and a new palace. You unlock this palace after you defeat the god, Yaldabaoth. Typically this is the end of the game. You defeat the evil, mementoes disappears, and society is mostly reformed, but not in this timeline. In this specific timeline Maruki finds the remains of the dead god and absorbs its power. With this power he “reforms” society to his ideals. He makes the world perfect for everyone and grants their greatest wish. In this scenarios Sumire becomes her dead sister Kasumi, Ryuji is still on the track team, Shiho is perfectly okay, and Futaba’s mother is alive. There are more examples, but that’s all I’m going to say right now. I’m going to rewind a bit again.

Back to right after you defeat Yaldabaoth. It should be Christmas Eve when you defeat it. No later than that. And on Christmas eve it starts snowing, you adire the snow in towns square in Tokyo, but then Sae approaches you. (Sae is a detective much like Akechi. She was building a case against the Phantom Thieves, but at this point in the game she is on your side.) When she approaches you she requests that you admit that you are the leader of the Phantom Thieves. Doing this would incriminate you and send you to prison but asks that you trust her. In the timeline where you do not max out your friendship with Maruki, you will be sent to jail and used to help in trial to incriminate Shido. In this timeline I presume Akechi is dead because he is MIA the entire time. So he is either fleeing and taking on a new identity (which is something I really don’t see him doing) or he is dead. HOWEVER, if you DO max out your friendship with Maruki, right before you accept Sae’s offer Akechi comes out and say he will take your place for that.

I say this is the strongest evidence for his survival in Shido’s palace because this is before Maruki fully absorbs or even absorbs the power of Yaldabaoth at all. This means that Akechi was physically there on his own. MAruki’s weird perfect world powers don’t kick in till at night on New Years Eve. This is known because you have a dream the night before, a very vivid one. It takes you through the school and to Maruki’s office. When you wake up the next morning, you go into the cafe part of LeBlanc. You woke up without Morgana, but you ignore it. When you get downstairs Futaba and HER MOTHER????? Are here. That’s when you first realize something is wrong. (that was all kinda off topic). My point of this is that none of Maruki’s freaky shit triggers until New Year’s day.

Now to disprove anything that may prove me wrong. (I physically can’t be wrong. I’m always right) The first thing that may make my theory seem untrue is the Confidant cards. In Akechi’s, after the altercation in Shido’s palace, it says, “He sacrificed his own life in order to save you…in the end your wishes become one.” In this we can INFER he is dead. HOWEVER THIS CAN”T PROVE ME WRONG. These descriptions are based on what YOU think of the person. What Joker himself knows. This means some information may be inaccurate. It would be accurate for the point of time in the game, but can change in the future. At that point in the game Joker THINKS Akechi is dead. Therefore this can’t prove me wrong. The other thing that may prove that I am wrong is the fact Akechi disappears after MAruki’s palace with all the other delusions. If you think i’m wrong L + ratio

[megaderping]

Persona 5 Royal Spoilers!!

I think there's a lot that can be said about whether Akechi should live or die, but at the end of the day, I feel like where Royal leaves him is just too nebulous to really be satisfying as it is. To start... - His last line of dialogue in Royal is complaining about the helicopter being cramped. - The interaction with Muhen, where Ren reaffirms that their battle isn't over yet. - The postcredits if you max his confidant. Who are the men in suits?? What is going ON?

There are just too many hooks. And so while I can definitely see an argument for poetic and thematic poignancy, because the game leaves the door open, it just leaves too many dangling loose ends. To that end, I think they might as well just run with his survival instead of relegating him to November stories that'll just be forgotten by the end. I think there are also a lot of really interesting angles you can explore with him like... - Expecting for it all to end, only for it not to. Now he has to live, has to find new purpose, and has to figure himself out. What do you do when you expected a dignified death, but in the end you're left alive? - The men in suits... where are they taking him? Are they related to Mitsuru? Toshiro? Something else? Because they left us with an unresolved cliffhanger, I'd rather they do something with it, and I genuinely think a Persona 5 Arena game would be the perfect way to give Akechi a proper sendoff by way of a duel with Joker and finally answering that question. - There's just a lot you can do with him in terms of interactions with other characters, e.g. Zenkichi, Toshiro, and others to a point where, if Atlus really wants to be able to keep using him, I think there's still room for cool stuff. I think the biggest issue is that Atlus just... didn't commit one way or the other, and because of this, it's just not clear-cut. I mean, the devs even gave this rather ambiguous answer:

So it's just... yeah. Ultimately, because of how the game handled it, without really sticking to a conclusion, it's just a dangling thread, and that irks me personally. There are a lot of interpretations, like the mentioned endure skill shown in the interview, or Jose's star keeping him around, or any number of explanations, but a straight up confirmation one way or the other would cut back on a LOT of discourse, if P5 is to continue getting spinoff sequels. If Royal were the final Persona 5 title, I think Akechi's ambiguous fate would be less of an issue. But since we live in a reality where games like Tactica exist (and debatably Strikers, but that one was in development alongside Royal and thus couldn't acknowledge it as much), it just makes the lack of resolution more awkward.

[icespur]

P5R Third Semester Spoilers

Please skip if you haven't beaten the Third Semester of Persona 5 Royal or haven't played the game but plan to, you have been warned.

So I looked up videos of the boss fight and aftermath, and noticed like other people that there's no proper scene of Akechi disappearing. The last we see of him he's in the Monacopter with the rest of the group. Akiren gets transported to the Velvet room after a one on one battle with Maruki, then he comes back to reality and Akechi is already gone.

So I'm here to imagine a proper heartbreaking goodbye scene

Upon seeing the final battle sequence play out, my original imagined scenario was ruined so I'll give a couple versions.

First scenario is Akiren and Akechi defeat Maruki together. The other thieves aren't present, this is a personal mission with our boys.

Once the treasure is taken and Joker has a convo with shadow Maruki and he disappears, Akechi IMMEDIATELY starts to die.

And because I'm a sadistic freak,  I don't mean he just slowly vanishes, oh no---

First all his injuries and wounds from his original death start reappearing along with the pain. All the blows, ailments and magic damage from the battle on Shido’s ship, ending with the bullet hole on his forehead from his cognitive self that ended his life in the first place. Once Joker hears the first pained grunt and sees Akechi fall to his knees he's right there, rushes over crouching by his side (or alternatively, catching him in his arms before he can fall face first and cradling Akechi's slowly dying fading body)

Joker frantically goes through his pockets and tries to get Akechi to eat a HP healing item or a Revival item but Akechi refuses to take it and scolds him for worrying about him and tells him to leave him before they both die in the palace collapse.

1: Joker refuses, and stays with Akechi throughout the whole process as more wounds reappear and he slowly fades away from feet to head until Joker is cradling air.

2: Joker ignores Akechi's insistence to leave and runs for the exit, holding Akechi in his arms or carrying him on his back. Akechi weakly complains the whole way, berating Joker for being so sentimental and weak, and says he's too heavy and is slowing Joker down and going to cause both of them to die in the collapse but Joker persists on. All the while feeling Akechi's body getting lighter and lighter.

Once they make it out and back to reality, Akiren says they made it, and is about to put Akechi down when he realizes there's no weight on his body, he's talking to no one.

More canon way to fit with the Palace boss layout and everything, is Akechi starting to fade in the Monacopter or right when Maruki's final phase is defeated and one of the PTs point out Akechi's condition so Joker rushes to get them out, despite everyone trying to reason it's not going to work. (In this scenario though Joker wouldn't leave to punch it out with Maruki because his main worry would be Akechi)

Having the full canon scene play out though, I—can’t think of a way to fit a heartbreaking goodbye in there. Maybe Akechi fades once their back in reality so they have a bit more time to say goodbye.

Point is it's disappointing Atlus didn't give us a proper final goodbye scene between the two.

[moreofthatdrowse]

Joker Out Survey

Inspired by @mariamourayoutuber's battle royal, I decided to make a survey on the band like I once did in the Beatles fandom. I did it in five minutes and I have a cold so it's not my most intelligent and thought-through work but it would be fun if you filled it out :)

To the survey

[commenter2]

"Hello Rosie" episode review

We see the aftermath of Charlie’s visit to Heaven, and it sounds like Rosie will be in this episode. SPOILERS.

Though it hurts, Husk bringing up if Charlie is actually helping is a reasonable understanding given the things that have happened, some fans have even brought this up in theories. I still wonder if the reaction we quickly see from Charlie is still related to some kind of trauma she has based on a time she didn’t help someone and it ruined that person’s life.

Vaggie said she and Charlie share a room, again like I said for “Dad Bead Dad” it’s still adorable to know they sleep in the same room.

Apparently fans were arguing if Charlie had hooves or not after a sneak peek of the upcoming episode was posted. Since we’ve seen angels/demons change their forms and its confirmed that Lilith and Lucifer and shapeshift, Lilith with her horns and Lucifer was seen in the first episode transforming from a snake to his average appearance, I say Vivize should retcon this a bit and say Charlie also has shapeshifting powers, in this case she can have hooves for walking on harder surfaces but regular feet for whenever she is on the beach or wants to enjoy the grass between her toes. This is one of the few chances where everyone can be right in a (odd) debate, while also being a free pass for the artist if they ever forget this fact. Plus this gives Charlie the power of transformation, good if you are like me and wouldn’t mind Charlie being in an episode of Death Battle one day. The fact that there are shoes near her bed seem to confirm this. That and/or there is shoe wear in Hell for people with hooves, which could explain an old theory I read about Blitzo since people had a similar debate about him since he wears cowboy boots and being possibly a hybrid demon.

Oh here we go. It’s been regularly brought up that Al is up to no good and wants to use Charlie to advance his plans, Alastor even tried to make a deal with Charlie in the pilot, but now that Charlie is emotionally vulnerable and Vaggie isn’t there to stop her, its likely she will make a deal that will come back to bite her later in the series.  This is even scarier ever since it was reveled in the Helluva Boss episode “Oops” that deals with sins are “everlastingly binding” and like I said in my review of the episode, this likely means a deal with the royal family of Hell are taken even MORE seriously.

Nice to see Razzle and Dazzle caring for Charlie.

I wonder what would have happened if we got a scene of Charlie getting emotional when she realizes she is in a blanket cocoon, since cocoons tare associated with butterflies and moths.

Woah, even though it’s been show that Charlie will curse I’d never imagine her calling Alastor an asshole…at least not in this season.

I know Charlie is beating herself up, but I think she is overreacting about comparing herself to Overlords, especially after dealing with Val. I think it would have been better if she had said something like “how am I any different than any other evil person/corrupted person/demon out for souls?”

CHARLIE SAID “FUCK YOU’ TO AL XD

Al’s speech about smiling sounds like some The Joker would say. I’m also hearing some clear hints that Alastor is up to something, but luckily for him Charlie is too bummed out to noticed.

Charlie brings up a good question, how long have Charlie and Vaggie been dating at this point? Was there ever a confirmation on this? I mean they met when they wore their outfits from the pilot so it probably isn’t that long, but it would still be good to know. Also before it was revealed she was a former Exorcist, did Vaggie use a made up backstory related to the old ideas of her being sinner who died in an accident/suicide? 

I think this is the first time we seen Al’s shadow form take over his body.

For those that recall, in Alastor’s prequel comic he plucked a flower that instantly wilted in his hand. It’s odd that the leaf didn’t do something similar unless it only works when he wants it to or on pretty flows.

I know Al is asexual, but he is getting to Adam and Val level of creepy pervert on Charlie. If this keeps up Lucifer and Lilith will have another name on their list of people they have to beat up for making Charlie be uncomfortable.

I’m loving how assertive Charlie is to Alastor, hopefully we can see this side of her more often soon mix with her nice personality.

Al definitely wants Charlie to hurt someone, though I bet he will trick her into getting someone in a position where they can get hurt.

I knew this deal was coming, but it still terrifying to see.

LOVE that Charlie isn’t THAT mad/holding a big grudge at Vaggie for not telling her she was an Exorcist, as I agree with others who saw the last episode and thought her doing so on a major level would have made her a hypocrite. At least the negativity she is feel is more logical/fair given its still a big shock to her. I also have something to say related to the topic but I’ll save that for the end of this review.

Let’s keep an eye out on the Eggboi’s statement about bank accounts. I strangely feel like it’s going to be related to Mammon. Maybe its foreshadowing something for Helluva Boss as I like the idea of an episode where Mammon tries to get Fizz back and maybe does so by threatening Ozzie’s finances who Mammon owns to a degree through one of his banks.

It was touching seeing Vaggie show care for the others safety. It shows how much she has grown to love them in her own way, and how good of a leader/ 2nd in command she really is.

Confirmation that Charlie and Vaggie have been together for 3 years now. Admittedly not that bad when to keeping secrets, plus can you really blame Vaggie that much. Even if Charlie was okay when she found out Vaggie’s past, there is the chance this could have increased the chances of Vaggie’s identity being caught and make both of them targets by anti-angel haters or worse a hellborn demon in charge of taking care of problems like this, such as my Agent t OC.

You can see that Alastor is totally bored with Charlie’s little rant XD.

We have seen Charlie in Cannibal district a few times, so it’s kind of odd that she doesn’t know how pleasant it can be. Then again last time she was there she got corpse blood in her eye, but I might count it as very small continuity error. Maybe if they had her say a line like “I don’t come here much due to the well..cannibalism”.

ROSIE! The voice is good but I’m surprised they didn’t go for a British/Mary Poppin like voice, mostly cause it would have been another nice difference if we ever get a scene of Alastor hanging out with both Mimzy and Rosie and the same time.

So Rosie is a “butcher” in a way.

Wait was Rosie flirting there for a minute? :3 Eh it’s okay but, I rather/still hope to see a bit of Almimzy next season.

I just want to point out how Alastor identifies Charlie as the child of Lucifer and heir to the throne of Hell, and how he doesn’t bring up Lilith. Yeah I can see it showing that he might want a way to the power related to the throne but I’m more focused on him not bringing up Lilith as there might be something there.

Alastor and Rosie have likely known each other for so long that Rosie probably knows what Alastor really means even from just a few of his words. 

It’s a pretty smart writing move to have Charlie deal with Rosie while Vaggie deals is Carmilla, as they are very similar to each other which of course is why they click better than if one went to the other Overlord.

Carmilla has a ballerina like fighting style. Her dialogue also makes it sound like she is going to teach Vaggie on how to fight the Exorcist “Karate Kid” style.

Heh “Cannibettes”

insert “Susan equals Karen” joke here but who cares about that, the bigger question is if she is Rosie’s mother.

I laughed when I heard Susan said Charlie had big eyes, as this reminds me of a Star Trek Lower Decks joke about how the characters there also have big eyes, and it’s the same with Charlie here XD.

Looks likes Charlie took her dad’s advice of “take no shit from demons” a little too hard here XD. I also want to point out that Charlie lost it when Susan called her showmanship mediocre, fitting given her and her father’s ringmaster theme XD.

“Carmilla training Vaggie” confirmed. We also clearly see how Carmilla defeated it (if she really did, I’m still not 100% convinced yet) cause if she can beat Vaggie then she can beat an Exorcist.

I did have a feeling Vaggie would be a bit rusty with fighting, but the idea that she hasn’t fought since she got her long hair is a bit odd. Then again with Charlie not being big about violence, it makes sense that she hasn’t honed her fighting skills as much.

Carmilla looks nice with her hair down. I also noticed that she doesn’t have horns unlike her daughters making me still wonder a bit if her kids are biologically hers or if they were adopted. Odette “horns” do seem to be some kind of hair tie so I could see her being Carmilla’s biological daughter.

 Carmilla was channeling Hazbin Hotel theorist energy there for a minute XD.

Carmilla again backs up my old idea from “Overture” about how the writers should have made it so that there were usually casualties in Exterminations but the one from the season premiere was the worst one yet thus leading Adam to exterminate earlier than usual.

So Carmilla is telling Vaggie to “go for the head”. Also again Vaggie supports my previous statement.

Carmilla did kill the exorcist, which is okay to me. Unless she is still lying to a degree, like what if she did wound it but it was only killed when the person Carmilla is covering for came to help. Not all flashback in cartoons/anime are true after all. I mean must I remind Avatar fans of “The Great Divide”? Hopefully not.

Damn “Out for Love” good :D

Now I’m liking the idea of Vaggie and Carmilla being friends.

VAGGIE’S WINGS ARE BACK! I mean it was expected but still damn that scene was intense. That or she always had them but hid them for so long that maybe she forgot how to summon them. Dumb follow up but could this strangely lead to a scene of the exorcist head just regrowing a body Deadpool/Alucard style? Probably not but it would be an interesting twist.

DON’T TELL HER ANYTHING CHALRIE! SHE’S A GOSSIPER! NOOOOO!

By the tell of Rosie’s tone, I’m guessing she did something that hurt someone she loved. Could she have had a hand in the death of the Franklin character from the pilot/Alastor comic and regrets it to this day?

Ooo Alastor is allowing Charlie to use his cane. I once heard that the cane was an extent of Alastor himself, so is this the equivalent of holding hands to him XD.

I wonder if that spotlight is foreshadowing something, like maybe an angel is showing other angels what Charlie is doing. Hopefully it’s a good thing.

Was Charlie saddle comment her flirting? She is canonically bi but I haven’t seen much of that so far.

(Cannibals start singing) There’s the Mary Poppins vibe!

Again did Charlie not hear what Alastor (and Rosie) were just saying?

Aww Chaggie is so PURE!

I don’t care at this point, I’m counting Niffty’s stain friend Fred as a von Eldritch reference.

Love that the episode ended with Charlie and Vaggie holding hands.

Wait we never found out if Rosie and Susan are related or not! 0 out of 10!

That was a good episode. Things are building up to not only the finale, but also in general like Alastor is advancing his still enigmatic plans which is definitely going to bite back at Charlie likely next season.

It was fun seeing the main character interacting with more of the reoccurring ones especially fan favorites.

I really liked how they still had Charlie and Vaggie make amends while also advancing the story for the finale. I mean I do agree that the first season of Hazbin Hotel should have had more episodes, more on that in the finale, but it’s great that they didn’t do a whole episode dedicated to them getting back together. Besides such an episode should be saved when they have a proper fight like Vaggie is tired of Charlie not listening to her or Charlie gets mad when Vaggie keeps trying to warn her that her mother Lilith (or the Imposter posing as Lilith) is up to no good.

The only downsides are minor things like not learning if Rosie and Susan are related, which I’ve headcanoned for a while now or taking some time to explain more about Cannibal Colony like why the citizens there all dress in old timey clothes. The artist also missed out on the chance of having Martha and her family from Helluva Boss making a cameo unless she did and missed it.

I’m also 50/50 on Carmilla killing the Exorcist as I still think it could have been more dramatic if she was lying about it. Maybe she still is and we later find out that someone told her this info as part of a plan in exchange for not telling the truth.

Next time it’s the season 1 finale! Get ready for a review of that VERY SOON! What did you think about the episode.

[hopeymchope]

How the Phantom Thieves Became the Bad Guys (OR: A long-ass essay that’s likely to irritate any P5 fans that bother to read it)

PREVIOUSLY: I came to the sad realization that “Joker” — a.k.a. the Persona 5 protagonist, a.k.a. Ren Amamiya — is canonically an asshole.

...so I suppose the logical extension of that is for Joker to become a villain. 

And as it turns out, thanks to the third semester of Persona 5 Royal, he can! They WANT you to. 

I guess you could say the warning signs were always there.

...of course, alternatively, he might not. Because thankfully, the freedom of player choice still gives you some ways out. But sadly, the “True” (i.e., canonical) ending of the game requires Joker to lead the Phantom Thieves into a very dark place indeed. 

Before I delve into why that’s the case, though, I have to give the devs at Atlus credit for creating an ethical scenario that really challenges the player and makes them think. But uh, if you want to feel okay about pursuing the “True Ending,” you definitely shouldn’t think too much. It’s best that you just take the words of the characters at face value and try not to apply real-world morality, okay? Because applying serious thought to the moral debate in the third semester swiftly makes the Phantom Thieves into bigger baddies than some of the palace rulers they’ve previously battled.

Enough of the buildup, however. Let’s back up and dig into the core issue I’m talking about: Takuto Maruki’s quest to make the world a better place. 

The Setup

Maruki is a psychological counselor and cognitive researcher as well as a Social Link/Confidant that’s unique to the “Royal” version of the game. He’s also the central figure behind the new storyline that takes place after the ending of the original Persona 5. Said storyline involves Maruki leveraging his work as a psychologist and his studies of the cognitive world + Yaldabaoth’s merging of Mementos with the real world to rewrite reality, creating a new world where people’s innermost wishes are made real. The result? People who lost loved ones in traumatic ways see them now returned to life. People who experienced horrific injuries have had them undone. Rape victims were never violated in the first place. People who lost their dream jobs are suddenly re-employed by them. And so on. This is Maruki’s way of helping people move past being haunted by their traumas and worst experiences; now they can simply never have had such experiences.

Maruki is a very kind-hearted soul from the moment we first meet him. There’s never any doubt that he’s simply trying to make the world a happier, kinder place. And when he first triggers the change into a new timeline, most of the Phantom Thieves are blissfully unaware that the world has been rewritten around them. No less than three of our teammates are reunited with parents who died recently or years ago, although from their perspective, it’s not a “reunion” — it’s just the way things have always been, because those people were never murdered in the first place. Our lead character, Joker, and his rival/ally/antagonist, Akechi, are initially the only ones who remember the old reality. But Joker is soon triggering the rise of conflicting memories within his allies that make them call their new existence into question, even if just slightly...

(It’s cool how well this all aligns with a major area of current psychiatric research. Medical researchers have been seeking a way to target and delete traumatic memories from PTSD sufferers for well over a decade now, moving ever-closer to success. Traumatic memories can be debilitating to a level that millions of sufferers never can recover from their worst experiences even after living many decades more, frequently driving people to suicide; what if you could stop having to relive them? Granted, this wouldn’t literally undo them as it does in Maruki’s solution, but I think the core concept is similar, and that’s pretty neat. Though I have no idea if it was all intended and the devs actually knew about this... )

Concerns?

When I first entered and swiftly understood Maruki’s “new reality” in the game, I immediately theorized TONS of ways in which this could be a very bad thing. And even as I went through the initial phases of his palace/laboratory and slowly learned more about the situation, I continued to come up with new possibilities for why this could be a problem for the world.

...so what’s amazing is how, though a combination of main story dialogue and optional side dialogue, the game successfully addresses EVERY possible problem and erases ANY doubt regarding Maruki’s solution. I assume they were going for a more nuanced moral debate, but in practice wound up in a situation where Maruki’s solution carries only the slightest ambiguity as to its righteousness.

So! Let’s go ahead and break down EVERY concern I had... and how the game either dismisses them or muddies them up quite a bit.

Concern #1: Maybe this reality is fake, and the resurrection people are just illusions/cognitive beings? ANSWER: No, this is not the case. During their first couple of discussions, when Akechi asserts that this reality is phony, Maruki assures him that it’s every bit as real as the one they remember. Moreover, Akechi himself confirms this in his next phone call with you; he investigates the possibility that Wakaba Isshki is either an illusion or cognitive existence, and he confirms that she is indeed the real Wakaba. In fact, his research confirms that she simply didn’t suffer the incident the vehicular accident that previously ended her life... and history was rewritten from there. Per his testimony, this isn’t a false reality at all — it’s an alternate universe or new timeline with its own distinct history. Think of it like we just jumped to a new “world line” in Steins;Gate or something. 

The dark side implication of this fact is that it means that if someone WERE to revert reality back to its previous state, that’d be effectively the same as killing them yourself. 

Concern #2: Does this mean that people will never undergo loss or pain of any kind? No, negative experiences definitely still exist. Note that Yoshizawa still has endured the loss of a close sister who was killed in a vehicular accident! And the Niijima family is still missing their deceased matriarch. Ann specifically mentions how she was “so sad” when Shiho transferred away to another school. In fact, even Shido is confirmed to still be under arrest for multiple confessed crimes (courtesy of the Phantom Thieves) in this reality! But that last one could be an example of how people who don’t accept this new reality can continue to be trapped in their old struggles. You can see that particular problem in the homeless man in the subway... and even more blatantly in Akechi. He’s very open about his hatred of this new reality and his opinion that he needs his miserable life experiences. He literally defines himself by his trauma, which is... uh, not a good argument. In fact, Akechi is so messed up (and historically has been such a hostile, malevolent force) that his hatred of the new reality feels more like a ringing endorsement than something we should agree with. HOWEVER... it’s worth noting that later on in the “true” story route, Maruki continuously refers to his reality as one where nobody has to suffer. So perhaps the lingering tragedies/problems I’ve mentioned are actually imperfections he intends to iron out? Or it’s possible he’s just simplifying the situation, boiling it down to the essence of his argument even if it’s not strictly the case. UNCLEAR.

Remember: If Akechi thinks something is foolish, it’s probably a very good idea. 

Concern #3: Is everyone just going to live incredibly easy lives, then? Everybody gets whatever they wish for now? First: That’s literally impossible. It is inevitable that people’s wishes will conflict with one another. Second: It’s pretty clear that goals/wishes which logically require effort to be actualized will STILL require that effort. Sae Niijima is still said to be working late nights in her job as the district prosecutor ever after the new reality emerges, and Ryuji is literally doing laps around the school EVERY DAY in order to stay in shape and keep his track skills strong. So NO, it’s not like everything just comes on a silver platter without even trying for it. Third: In all other situations beyond ONE thing on January 1st (the first day of this new reality), it seems like the new world isn’t going to just give out every desire you might think of. See, the narrative waters are muddied by the fact that Yoshizawa wishes to not encounter a crowd at the shrine on New Year’s Day... and then, shockingly, it’s mostly empty. But for the rest of the story, this trick is never again employed. In fact, there are situations in which people would OBVIOUSLY be thinking or desiring something other than what they have, but they still aren’t magically granted the perfect life. Just look back at Concern #2: Are you telling me that it never would’ve occurred to Yoshizawa to NOT have such a tragedy in her past? In fact, just rewind back to my second point under this very concern - are you going to tell me that Sae never once wanted to have a lighter workload? And why the helld did Shiho EVER transfer away from Shujin in this new reality, huh? So the most logical conclusions here are either that A) The new reality was still forming (this was its first day after all), finding its footing and still in flux, but immediate fulfillment of random frivolous wishes won’t apply after this point. OR! B) One-off wishes that are specifically spoken aloud might be granted, but otherwise the focus is on granting the SINGLE deepest wish of each person. 

Concern #4: Wait, what if some real assholes/terrible people make destructive wishes? In the real world, somebody casually thinks “ugh, I want to die” all over the world at every second, and a few people probably think “Jesus, just blow up the planet” every few minutes, but it’s not like we see random citizens keeling over or the world exploding under Takumi’s new reality. But this is a fictional world, so maybe those kind of thoughts/statements don’t exist there. In which case  the fact that Shido is currently still imprisoned for his crimes seems like evidence enough that destructive wishes being granted isn’t going to be a concern. Does anybody really believe that Takumi would hand someone like Kamoshida his greatest (...and probably dark and perverted) wishes? Nah. No fucking way.

Concern #5: If Kamoshida never was at Shujin and never abused/violated anyone, and Madarame was actually an honest and supportive “master” to his apprentice, and Okumura is a caring boss and devoted father... does that mean the Phantom Thieves never existed in this world? Does that erase the special bond our characters built? ANSWER: No, it doesn’t mean that. I already mentioned that Shido is behind bars in this reality just as he is in the preceding one, and this is (as ever) courtesy of the Phantom Thieves. The Phan-Site is still running and putting out polls, and they’re still viewed as heroes to the masses. The Thief squad still possesses the same special connection they always had. 

The Stickiest Wicket: Kasumi and/or Sumire

Ultimately, the BIGGEST concern for many people about Maruki’s actions is what’s happened to Yoshizawa. She no longer even knows her real name (Sumire) or who she was born as. She’s living her life entirely as a deceased person (her sister, Kasumi). She fully believes she is that person, and she acts and thinks and feels just like them.

A lot of people find this creepy or weird, but Maruki originally triggered this change without even knowing he was doing so. Furthermore, it happened because that’s what Sumire wished for. It’s her own desire! 

But once Maruki realized Maruki’s argument is based in the trauma that got her here. Because, you see... Sumire is responsible for her beloved sister’s untimely death. Not in a direct “I literally killed her” sense, but I mean... Sumire picked a fight with Kasumi in the streets and then ran away upset, Kasumi naturally/obviously pursued to try and calm her down, Kasumi screamed out to Sumire to not run into the street because vehicles were coming, Sumire ignored her and ran into the street, Kasumi catches up to Sumiere JUST enough to shove Sumire out of the way of an oncoming truck... and Kasumi pays for that with her life. 

We are made to live out this experience in first-person view, and it’s harrowing. Afterwards, Joker and Maruki make some effort to calm and/or comfort her. Maruki gives her the opportunity to live her true self from then on and help her move forward... or to revert back to  Understandably, Sumire can’t comprehend having to live with this deeply traumatic experience in her mind.

No shame.

I come at this storyline from an unusual perspective because a very similar story happened near where I live when I was growing up. The story of a man who accidentally wound up causing his wife’s death while they were on their honeymoon.. it absolutely shook me to my core when I was a young teen. I won’t get into the messy details because I’d prefer to not pass the horror of a real-life tragedy on to a bunch of people, but suffice it to say that it was absolutely, undeniably an accident. Even so, he was similarly wracked with guilt. The area community watched that man’s psychological state completely collapse. He never recovered, and it was hard to blame him for that.

I can’t imagine how I’d ever recover if I accidentally caused a loved one’s death, either. And hopefully, very few people will ever have to know such horror. If I knew someone in such a situation, of course I’d be there to support them while simultaneously encouraging them to get professional help they can lean on. I’d encourage anyone in such a situation to seek out help and try to support them, naturally. And Joker does do that! But holy shit, when we see flashbacks to the aftermath of the tragedy, Sumire is DEEPLY miserable. She can barely go through the motions If Sumire believes that she is Kasumi, it does more than just help heal her feelings of inferiority —  it also means that she endured a tragedy in which her little sister died because of said sister’s own actions As we’ve established - tragedy still exists. Either sister being gone is a tragedy. And Sumire who died - not because of Kasumi but because of her own fault? Its still tragic (once again, reminder: hardships and tragedy still occur here), but it’s not completely debilitating in the same way.

In light of what I saw happen so close to home, I don’t blame Yoshizawa for choosing this life at all. It’d be preferable to just have both sisters alive and together, but it does not appear that Maruki has control over what people wish for. If he did, then maybe he could restore her sister and help build up her confidence from there... that’d be greatly preferable. But if this is her biggest wish — to simply BE her sister and live life with Kasumi’s confidence — then I’m with MarukI: At least this lets her live her life happily and at peace. 

I get that it’s not the perfect solution. But I’ll take whatever option is available that prevents a situation like the doomed, self-destructive widower I mentioned three paragraphs earlier.

Maruki is Doing the Same Thing the Phantom Thieves Did... But Better

Based on the above, this seems pretty win-win for everyone (although Sumire is certainly a debatable case). Well... it’s a win-win for most everyone except Akechi; he interprets any change to the current timeline as a removal of his free will. (Which obviously isn’t completely true; we watch a whole load of characters making clear decisions and choices during this arc, even before they are ‘awakened’ from this reality and, if they accept Maruki’s reality? Even AFTER that, too. So Akechi is full of shit, ofc.) In fact, Akechi is so dead-set on following the path he already chose that he’s still grimly adamant about doing so after finding out that he’s dead in the original timeline. Akechi insists that only HE can choose what is the truth, which is very much aligned with how he used to frame people for crimes in order to get credit for their arrest :P .... AND also not at all far removed from Maruki’s stance. Except Akechi’s “truth” is self-destructive, and Maruki’s “truth” is a positive for goddamn everybody.

Explained another way: The Phantom Thieves as a whole are doing the same thing as Maruki, just on a smaller scale and without actually addressing the societal problems that create such unfairness. The Phantom Thieves have spent this entire game forcibly changing the hearts and cognition of criminals and awful people, but they’ve never bothered to examine the root of such problems. Maruki is simply taking a single swing at erasing systemic injustice and sudden-onset cruelty in the world. The Phantom Thieves are firefighters; Maruki is an architect. The Phantom Thieves are whacking down whatever moles may pop up, but Maruki? He’s dismantling the whole rigged-ass game.

And y’know, considering how much Joker and the Phantom Thieves talk about carving their own future and free will and stuff in the “True” ending.. they sure do strip a whole lot of people of THEIR free will during the game’s campaign, don’t they? 

But look, I’m sure they don’t care about that. Because somewhere along the line — and it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where —the Phantom Thieves stopped caring about other people. As in: Anybody outside of their own group.

The Phantom Thieves’ Great Big Selfish Dick Move

In the “True” route, once the Phantom Thieves remember their past lives, they struggle for a bit with the idea of whether they’re doing the right thing by opposing Dr. Maruki and the new timeline. He’s only trying to help people, after all. Including all of them.

But Ryuji gives a little speech that gets everybody on-board with changing Maruki’s heart and returning to the former reality.

WOO! FUCK everybody else who is living their lives happily! FUCK all the people who are now LITERALLY ALIVE in the new timeline! Let’s re-murder them, re-traumatize people we know (umm wasn’t Shiho literally raped in the original world? but not in this timeline?................... so WTF are you fucking doing you fucking monsters??????), because ONLY WE CAN DECIDE ON OUR REALITY! And we remember the old, shittier one right now, so let’s .... default to that one I guess! Despite the fact that this is one is already established to be EQUALLY FUCKING REAL.

Shockingly, the rest of the team chooses THIS is the time to finally fucking respect Ryuji. (NOTE: The time to respect Ryuji was, in truth, every single damn day BEFORE this one. He’s an excellent human being. Or... he was. Before this moment.)

BUT NOT EVERYBODY BELIEVES IN IT, YUSUKE! What about all those people who are happy here? And what about the fact that this reality isn’t any less real than your original one? Remember: This is LITERALLY happening. This is a valid AU. There’s no trickery employed. No illusions. This is a new timeline that is VERY real.

So, why?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!?!

.........................towards the end of the chapter, there’s an argument made that humanity has to suffer and overcome trials and struggle in order to develop and grow. Of course, we’ve fairly well shot down the idea that there’s zero suffering in this reality (see Concern #2 above) or that there’s no effort required (see Concern #3 above). But even if we hadn’t, there’s a bigger question to face here: Is there any evidence to suggest that people WON’T grow or evolve without struggle and suffering? Can we actually back that up, this idea that we have to “overcome” in order to become better people? 

I submit that we cannot. I further submit that this is the argument of the downtrodden; the argument of the sufferers who wish to justify their own misery to themselves. But in reality? They can’t say for certain that loss and trauma are “good.” 

In fact, let me argue right now that such things are inherently BAD. People who suffer from PTSD are far more likely to have suicidal ideation, and a 2021 study showed that suicide rates are more than four times higher for people suffering from PTSD than without. If we could really erase trauma and PTSD from our world, I think we can safely say it’d make a VERY lasting impact that would be EXTREMELY worth doing.

It seems that the “spirit of rebellion” within the Phantom Thieves extends to “any decision or idea any adult has ever implemented regardless of merit.” They’re teenagers, after all... and not a single one of them is as mature as someone like P3′s Mitsuru, so I accept that their knee-jerk rebellious instincts might be overriding their ability to think logically. 

Or, let’s be more charitable about it. MAJOR DIGRESSION: This could be a situation kind of like writing Star Trek: Insurrection. (I know most of you won’t understand what I’m referencing here. I’m sorry.) That movie presents a sticky ethical debate: Is it OK for a government to forcibly relocate a population of 600 people if their current homeland contains some natural healing mojo that could be used to save *billions* of people across the galaxy? Patrick Stewart once said that he was forced to make Picard very narrow-minded in order to serve the needs of the movie’s story. Because if that same story was presented in the format of multiple TV episodes, there would’ve been time to explore a bunch of alternative solutions that weren’t as binary as “force them out and take all the healing mojo OR leave them be and don’t take any of the healing mojo.” There would obviously be multiple negotiable middle grounds that just aren’t discussed because of time constraints. (To his credit, Picard DOES try to throw up a bunch of alternatives during his confrontation with a superior officer. They’re all shot down with hand-wavey explanations, but at least a few are suggested.)

DIGRESSION OVER. My point? Maybe that’s how it is here, too. Maybe the Phantom Thieves just can’t afford to sit around and discuss this matter in a serious debate because the game is already SUPER long; they need to get the fuck on with it and not just pump you full of non-interactive cutscenes, so Ryuji simplifies everything. ............. It’s just that he does so in a manner that makes the squad look really short-sighted and selfish.

In Conclusion

I took Maruki’s deal. That was MY ending to the game. And it might very well be the best ending available! Although I’d be willing to at least consider the original Non-Royal, didn’t-completely-Maruki’s-Confidant ending as a semi-contender... but DANG, yo. It’s tough to beat the Mega-Happy New Reality Ending. (I subsequently watched the rest of the “True” ending only on YouTube playthroughs, which is where I nabbed these screenshots.)

Taking Maruki’s deal results in basically everybody getting a fulfilling, beautiful life. Although I admit that I have no idea how Akechi is now part of the new reality... because he was never going to accept it, right? And we established repeatedly that those who don’t accept it can’t really reap the benefits, so... why is he now a legitimate “detective prince” whose external behavior from the first few chapters of P5 is now actually who he is inside? How’d THAT ever happen? Not sure about that shit.

Even so, it’s a long and beautiful ending full of gorgeous art of the squad all living their best lives. Morgana is relegated to just carrying “Miss Ann’s” bags while shopping, and he doesn’t even care - he’s just happy to be there. Makoto and Sae get to have dinners with their father again. Haru is more directly involved in the “Big Bang Burger” business, working to keep it ethical and respectful of the neighborhoods where they open as she prepares to carve her own path after high school. Makoto and Haru even get to graduate.

The whole thing wraps up with Sojiro inviting Joker to finish his high school experience in Tokyo. That’s right - he’s asked if he’d like to stay at the cafe and Shujin for his third and final year. Naturally, he’s happy to accept the offer. That means he’ll even be there for an overlap with Futaba’s FIRST year in high school. (Plus he no longer has to return to his small suburban town and his parents who NEVER ONCE CALLED OR MESSAGED DURING THE YEAR, WTF??? ............ or uh, maybe that happened offscreen?) 

It’s really weird how the writers of Persona 5 Royal SO THOROUGHLY argued against any possible downside of Maruki’s new reality. I get that they wanted a complex issue to grapple with, but if they really wanted us to choose to reject the new world and pursue the True Ending, they should’ve given us some kind of good reason, right? Even if it’s just a small reason, there’s got to be an argument that’s better than “I don’t like the idea that the timeline has changed”... which is ultimately all they’ve got. But I listed all the possible concerns above, and... they didn’t leave a single one of them standing. If they’d put just ONE of those potential problems in place, maybe I’d find the matter more debatable. 

Well, probably not Concern #5. That’s not really enough to justify erasing all this societal progress.

In the end, I’m left to ask you this:

[sparkles-oflight]

[heyholmesletsgo]

Out of context wips

Rules: Pick a bunch of your WIPs and summarize them as badly as possible, then ask your followers to vote on which one they'd be most likely to read. Multiple/all/none options are completely optional.

Tagged by @alectoperdita, thank you :D

Here are WIPs that have been languishing for up to three years, eek. Hoping this gets me to pick these up again soon!

Tagging @galauvant, @thesilversun, @apocrypha73, @snarkivistfic, @zaidnovi and @silverstark if you'd like!

[callmearcturus]

Out of curiosity, what would the premise of your dream Persona game be?

Well, let's see. What were the strong points of each game?

Persona 3 Portable: Girl Route. Team members have important relationships with each other instead of just orbiting the MC. Extremely strong theme. Structured in such a way that the player doesn't control what day they have a mandatory dungeon/plot event, making for better pacing. Best final boss. Best music. Greatest of the Best Friend guys. My favorite UX by far.

Persona 4 Golden: Best cast. Most interesting mystery. Was extremely queer, especially for the time. Most naturalistic writing. Best villain (not final boss). Easily the most polished script. Combat had the best balance of things to do and friction without being overcomplicated or simplistic.

Persona 5 Royal: Most interesting, sprawling location. Social link bonuses that matter. Jawdroppingly good bonus campaign. Best exploration. Only MC that fully feels like his own person. And I'll admit it, it has the best social links for NPCs.

So, the best Persona game would have:

A protagonist with as much personality as Joker but not gender locked. For the love of god just make a gender neutral protag.

Set it in another city that's based on a real place since it feels like real life designs better locations than Atlus does off the dome.

Honestly at this point I would love to see Persona do a game that doesn't take place in high school. I wanna see some young adults getting up to shit. If you absolutely need the school structure, then have it set in university/college. But the need for structure for the calendar can come from anything.

When everyone is cishet, the cast suffers. P5R proved it. (Okay, it's also because P5R literally has more teammates so no one gets properly developed but the cishetness does not help.) Lets get some queerness back in the cast, it does absolute wonders.

Morgana should be in it again. I don't know why or how, but I do know that carrying a cat around everywhere made Persona 5 was part of why I finished that fucking game.

I personally like the structure of having a central mystery with uncertain mechanics to solve, I think that's really engaging and helps with the episodic nature of Persona. However, once the mystery is solved, DO NOT ADD IN ANOTHER MASTERMIND CHARACTER WHO IS "REALLY" BEHIND IT ALL. JUST FUCKING STOP! GOD I HATE IT. Stop having a really cool set up and then deciding in the last 5 hours that a Mean God Did It All, I'm so DONE with that shit. Fuck Izanami and Fuck Yarblegarble.

While we're at it, if one more Persona game turns out to be a parable on how them kids are on their phones too much, I'm done.

Regarding music, either: A: Create multiple main battle themes so if they Fucking Suck again like in P4 it doesn't make your players want to scream by hour 30. B: Just use "Wiping All Out" again for the main battle theme. We're never going to surpass it, why not accept that.

LET THE PLAYER START A ROMANCE SEPARATE FROM SLINK RANKS. If I hit level 10 on someone and decide later I wanna date them, I should be able to do that. That way I can actually meet everyone, THEN decide who I wanna kiss.

Just gimme back Igor using shiny key of solomon shit to combine personae, fuck P5's edgelord bullshit. Also Margaret bc she was funny and also really hot and flirty.

Bring Maruki back just for funsies.

there we go, the perfect persona game

[karliahs]

guys i'm playing the royal third semester for the first time and i like it SO much

i think i have been grinning for like 3 hours straight now, this is all so JUICY. like i've enjoyed my replay but idk i wasn't expecting to be this into the new (for me) content!

highlights

the absolute fucking comedy of akechi taking over doing the battle commentary. and he's just. an absolute loon. practically dripping villain energy. cannot stop screaming about bloodshed. and yoshizawa is just there like hm so? this is fine? he is just? like that? all the time? and we're all fine with it?? joker? joker tell me this is fine?

honestly post-villainy villain content is truly top tier in every iteration. tbh i started out inherently biased against akechi bc of sheer fandom oversaturation but i am eating all this up so contentedly. look at that little freak go

i just played the bad ending to see what it was like and also bc this was the first bad ending offshoot where i could genuinely see ren as i imagine him being tempted to take the deal and omggggg. everything about it is so much but i can't believe sojiro asking ren to stay at leblanc after the year ends is part of his canonical dream reality? i have so many thoughts about ren defining himself around his friends and being unable to continue on with what he thinks is right when it seems like they'll be happier if he doesn't. and akechi watching this happen when he did a whole plot based on the idea that the PTs would fall apart without joker...and it turning out that joker falls apart without the PTs...OOF

i was spoiled for the core part of the sumire/kasumi stuff but even then i still managed to get surprised bc i had assumed that like...everyone thought sumire was kasumi? like that she was fully pretending to be kasumi/pretending that sumire was the one who died and everyone believed her? so it did manage to genuinely get me when i fucking realised that EVERYONE ELSE has been calling her yoshizawa-san the whole time...fuck

[tojifushigurowhore]

The new king of hearts; Banda Sunato specialices in Psychological, mind fuck twisted games. He became a Borderland Citizen at the end of Alice In Borderland season 2.

New Queen of hearts; Sakurada Kiyoshima a total psychopath like Sakura Aoi from Death Note Light up the new world, specialices in Psychological mind fuck and bloody twisted games. She became an Borderland Citizen after season 2. She's an OC new character that would fit well in Alice In Borderland [She's potrayed by the Actress Ko Shibasaki who played Mitsuko Souma on Battle Royale]. Sakurada will be the new Urumi Akamaki and Mira Kano but more psychopath and fucked up in the head.

New king of Diamonds; Ouki Yaba, specialices in Diamonds. [Far as I know Yaba speciality wasn't mentioned in the Manga or TV Show unlike others but he proved to be really inteligent and astute so I think Yaba's speciality would be Diamonds games]. He became a Borderland Citizen at the end of the season 2.

The new and mysterious face card that appeared at the end of the last episode of season 2 who could either signify a new beggining for those who survived Borderland and the line between death and life that occured during the meteor incident or that they weren't out of clear yet but who knows. In the show they omitted the existence of The Joker regardless he was shown in the Manga a couple of times so it is a possibility that he could appear in a future season or a movie if they ever decide to adapt the new Manga.

New character; Sayumi Arisu aka Ryohei Arisu's niece, daughter of his brother who I forgot what was his name. Sayumi plays videogames like his uncle Ryohei did back before being in Borderland. Sayumi and his best friend; Kenji Nakahara decided to go and spy on Arisu while he was going to his work only to suddenly get involved in the whole building fall down and they wake up in Borderland only to find her uncle there who had a similar situation with the meteor incident and got dragged back. Now Sayumi had to survive in Borderland to go back to the real world with his best friend and uncle Arisu. Sayumi's speciality is Spades games physical strenght and battles.

New character; Kenji Nakahara. Kenji speciality would be Diamonds intelectual games, his inteligence reach Chishiya's and Arisu's level. Kenji has been in love with Sayumi even before they were dragged to Borderland. He became an incredible fast learner in Borderland and his games and is incredibly fast and strong even though spades games aren't his thing. He used to sport in boxing back then. Kenji loves to annoy Chishiya and Niragi.

Old experienced player; Ryohei Arisu. Now Arisu's an adult and he married Yuzuha Usagi and is now on the wait for their children to be born. Arisu's speciality are now; Hearts physchological and Diamonds intelectual games. He's really inteligent and clever, he knows how to analize and resolve things. He's still the Main character. He forgiven Chishiya and Niragi for what they did back in Borderland.

Old experienced player; Shuntaro Chishiya. Chishiya became a better person and change for good after the meteor incident. He still works as a Doctor but works at a different hospital. Back now in Borderland he helps Arisu and the others to defeat the new facecards and return to the real world. Chishiya's speciality is: Diamonds intelectual games.

Old experienced player; Akane Heiya. Akane still practices Archery and now she became a profesional Archery athlete and graduated from highschool and finishes her university college as an teacher of Archery and physical education. She finds herself back in Borderland and gets scared to die in there so she makes a promise to return to the real world and to find Aguni and win the ganes beating down the facecards like a Queen.

Old experienced player; Suguru Niragi. Niragi became a better person after the meteor incident and change for better. He worked as an videogame engineer and became a profesional gamer player and won the cup of gaming tournament and got himself an athlete star girlfriend who loves him for the real him. Niragi and his girlfriend finds themselves in Borderland and Niragi freaks out that he could loose his girlfriend so he makes the promise to protect her till the very end even if it means sacrifising his life to save hers.

Alice In Borderland characters.

[samasmith23]

I’ve gotta say, Persona 5 Royal’s penultimate boss battle with the corrupt politician & candidate for Japanese Prime Minister, Masayoshi Shido, was FREAKING phenomenal!

Not only did I love the unique music for this fight, but the symbolism embedded in Shido’s golden lion & pyramid statues comprised of hundreds of regular humans was brilliant in conveying his distorted desire to both ride & subjugate the masses towards ruination for his own self-gain, and his Bane-like roided out second form showcases just how deep his ultra-nationalist “might-makes-right” ideology truly goes! And getting to fight Shido one-on-one as Joker in the final stage was so intense that I had to constantly stay on the defensive whilst timing my offensive techniques just right in order to avoid fatal damage from his powerful arsenal of special attacks!

You better believe that beating the royal crap out of and changing the heart of this dirtbag Donald Trump-wannabe fascist was oh so satisfying! Yes I know that Shido was meant to be a pastiche of Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe, but every time I heard Shido’s dialogue I got some seriously uncomfortable “Make Japan Great Again” vibes from the bastard! I mean… Shido might as well wear that ugly red MAGA cap, he gives off the same kind of hatable energy…

Plus, it was satisfying getting revenge on Shido since he was also the one responsible for giving the protagonist Joker a false criminal record at the start of the game because the latter rightfully tried to stop a drunken Shido from sexually harassing a random woman on the streets, but Joker accidentally broke the Shido’s nose when he tried to pull the latter away from the woman. Unfortunately, Shido then used his powerful political & police connections to try and ruin Joker’s life by falsely accusing him of assault & battery, even blackmailing the woman he previously harassed to publicly testify against Joker.

So having the opportunity to beat the living crap out of Shido's shadow-self in the Metaverse was unbelievably cathartic!

And as I previously alluded to, the soundtrack for this fight, “Rivers in the Desert,” only serves to elevate the tension & atmosphere of this boss battle! BOTH the instrumental & vocal versions!