#one of the most beautiful things about p5 to me is the way everyone around giorno slowly starts to believe in his dream

[godborn]

i think a lot about that scene after the fight with tiziano & squalo where narancia ran to giorno & held him in his arms & thought “you’ve become our leader.” like we know narancia feels like he needs someone to show/tell him what to do deep down, he’s not really convinced he can survive on his own & bruno has largely been that person for him. i think when you consider that the scene is just so significant & really shows how deeply narancia trusts giorno & is starting to believe in the vision of him as a leader. like he knows that if they make it through to the end, giorno is the one that will carry them there & the one who will become the new boss.

[petorahs]

because i will protect him.

Persona 3 FES/Portable/Movie/Reload: Closing Thoughts.

When I first experienced Persona 3’s story last year, it was at a time that I was beginning to figure out my life. It broke down my walls and seized me by the heart, but it cradled it lovingly as well. It reaffirmed all the personal philosophies I held at the time - in other words, my values.

Going into it I only had a vague idea on what to expect. I’ve only recently played Persona 5 Royal the same February before that, so I knew instead of its themes of ‘rebellion’ it would be themed around ‘death’. Instead of fallen ‘stars’ like in P5, P3 would be based around the ‘moon’ and all its phases. What also convinced me to play P3 so soon after just finishing P5 was its main character- Makoto Yuki. He was voiced by Akira Ishida in the japanese version which I immediately caught on to… I had to see it for myself since I was in an Ishida phase at the time (lmao). I expected to love him as far as liking silent protagonists/player avatars would go.

What I didn’t expect, however, was how deeply I latched onto the characters and main character in particular. I think it’s the way the friendships are a bit complicated and none of SEES really like eachother at first but learn to care and help despite that. It’s the way its messages are written in a clear thesis. I’ve written about them before, but it’s the way the only thing Death ever yearned for is life. That life and death can’t exist without the other. It has life palpable everywhere in the game. 

And Makoto Yuki. It’s the way that Makoto Yuki symbolizes the apathy one experiences in life but learns to find so many things worth living for anyway. I wouldn’t say I related to him because I’ve always enjoyed life while he was content to throw it away, so it’s another thing: Pure unbridled affection. To me, he’s someone I would devote myself to. To me, he reminds me of my little brother a lot. Shy, introverted, deadpan. To me, he’s every beautiful thing in this world. He’s like the moon, pretty and distant. Deep and emotional. He’s also like sakura blossoms. Transient. But still, so, so beautiful and precious. He represents a life worth protecting no matter what.

It’s in Aigis. Someone who echoes my sentiments with Makoto so perfectly - I didn’t understand anything about life and thought it was all about being “optimal” and that it can be replicated, replaced, redone. But I know now that it’s so precious; that life is so precious. I never found Aigis latching Makoto to be out of place or particularly fanservicey. To me, it’s like a natural progression of both of their character arcs. She didn’t have anyone in her life before. As someone who struggles making deep relationships out of my own nature/how I was built, I understood it. She delivers one of my most favorite lines in media ever, that “philosophy” I held so dear - "You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life... Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of.”

And that’s literally it to me. There is no grand meaning behind it all. What matters to me is to hang out with my friends and family and be the kindest I can be to them. I want to be a light in their life, however small - kinda like how Makoto was to Aigis and all his other friends. I, too, would spend my whole life by his side just to follow in those footsteps. It’s pure and beautiful. An actual bond,

But then he dies. 

The thing about Persona 3 is that it never once romanticized death to me. Them shooting themselves in the head represents resolve, yes, but it’s always but gratuitous and framed in an unhinged way. Nyx Avatar, the final boss and actual symbol of Death in the game, has the face of a nightmare that made my heart drop when I first saw her. It knows that death is scary to everyone, so it represents that well. But it was clear what exactly it wanted to portray to its players: that despite death being scary, it’s not something to be feared. It can be peaceful, so long as you remember to live your life to the fullest. To quote my own post, “the meaning of life is hanging out with your friends on a mundane, sunny day during a graduation ceremony”. 

But that doesn’t stop the grief.

I can’t explain what it’s like to see my favorite character’s corpse rotting in real time. It’s actually horrifying. But the thing is - it wasn’t done without purpose. I accepted it, just like how I accepted everything about “The Answer” or, “Aigis’ Story” in JP. 

I quite literally put myself in the shoes of the one character who mirrored my own sentiments so clearly as she fought with the grief of losing the one person she swore to protect as he died in her lap. I was kinda crying the entire time. It’s so fucking real to me. The way that she reverted back to her “robotic state” but it was literally just her numbing herself to the pain. The way that Yukari had to escape by acting indifferent. The way that Junpei tries to act upbeat for everyone’s sake. Mitsuru’s quiet grief. Akihiko's respect. Ken and Koromaru's silent strength. But most of all, Aigis… and the way she’s so lost and confused. 

I lost so many family members in the recent years prior to playing P3. It’s never easy. Playing The Answer especially (and all of P3) put it all into perspective. I don’t know how, but all of these elements and plot beats in the game represented my feelings so perfectly.

Seeing its remake announced in June was actually serendipitous. I basically got to relive it quite recently. A year’s worth of nostalgia is still nostalgia. I loved a lot of the changes, and hated some others. 

But every time I experience Persona 3’s ending, I end up crying though. Unfailingly. And I’ve experienced it many times by now. Every time I think I’ve “gotten over it” I literally do not. Prior to P3 the only media that started making me cry was The Good Place’s ending. 

I think Reload’s was the worst. What they did with player proxy death in this one felt way more insanely real I think. Or Maybe it’s the sea. How Ryoji says in FeMC’s route and in Reload to Makoto how “the water is going on a journey, too. It must be having fun”, “The waters all converge to its source, like us.” Maybe it’s how the sea and moon are so intimately connected. Just like how life and death are. Maybe it’s the way that even nihilism represented by Strega isn’t actually wrong as framed by Reload, it’s just not the message this time around in this game. Or maybe it’s hearing the voices of everyone (social links) who loved him and was touched positively by him also echoing my thoughts. Maybe it’s the way that the ending felt way more personal when you choose to not romance any of SEES, especially Aigis. That platonic love goes beyond any of that and makes every act of devotion and speech about bonds feel actually real (despite how cheesy it seems!). 

All I can think about after playing it every time is that I will love the people in my life so, so hard from now on. So much that they wonder why. For a game about death, it sure does make me live my life more fully. 

It’s just… real. This game and all its themes was perfectly concocted. The moon, the sea, spring, rebirth, and the sakura blossoms. And you. It’s all so precious and beautiful. I want to remember and protect it, always. I want to live for it all.

[muzzleroars]

What do you think if the Phantom Thieves (except Futaba) all had Shadows they had to confront and fight (like in p4), and what would they be?

OK this one is super interesting and it’s taken me MONTHS to get to, so let’s gooooooooo (will include p5r spoilers!)

i think all of their contracts sort of give us an idea of what their shadow selves may be (meaning goro is more up in the air), and i like to go with the idea that in p5, their shadows are how society has forced them to act. they have incorporated that into the self and conformed to it, but they don’t wish to acknowledge that they do so, instead making themselves believe they have no choice. futaba’s shadow, as the example, wishes for her own death as she was a burden and a curse to her mother...but she also made futaba aware this was a lie concocted by adults that took away her agency and her anger. SO with that in mind, here are the takes!!

akira - the bystander, the boy told to keep out of the way and to keep his head down. he’s determined to live a quiet and peaceful life, to get through his probation and swear to turn the other way when evil happens in front of him. akira is ashamed of the impulse because he knows what’s right, he knows he needs to help, but his shadow is all about self-preservation and avoiding further punishment. so he protects himself and only himself by feigning ignorance and closing his eyes, his ears, and his mouth. his shadow says “i already got mine, they’re on their own”

ryuji - the traitor, the boy who ruined the dreams of the track team and wears it with pride. he destroyed their hopes of the future and now has become a delinquent, free of the responsibilities he once had to himself, to his mom, and to his school. he can be rude, crass, and vulgar (lol) to his heart’s content because no one expects any more of him after enacting such violence. his anger runs deep and he doesn’t care about how he hurt his old team, they deserved it for never standing up for themselves.

ann - the sweetheart, the girl always there with a kind but seemingly empty word for her friend, supportive but distant. however, she instead tries to work within the confines of the world, trying to save the ones she cares about by using her looks and the reputation everyone puts on her because of them, pretending to be a flirtatious airhead to please those that may hurt the only person she cares for. she hurts herself over and over again, breaks down her own sense of self worth to sacrifice endlessly in ways others never see. she takes the pain forever with a smile.

yusuke - the student, the boy who knows the lies his teacher tells to him, but he is forever devoted to preserving the image his superior has both to the world and to himself. he believes his debt extends to worship, faith in the teacher who is a genius, who knows best, who is so much older and so much wiser and so must be doing right. in fact, he should be so lucky to have his work considered good enough to carry his teacher’s name instead of his own, he should happily produce for him because his teacher’s reputation has no price too high. surely he at least must return the cost of caring for him when no one would.

makoto - the role model, the girl who is quick-witted and resourceful, she can juggle every task the incompetent, lazy, or uncaring adults entrust to her. after all, their responsibilities are so much greater than even hers, just a silly high school student with all the time in the world to perform their lowlier tasks for them. she accepts every ask with grace and tact, she turns down no request and will work herself past the point of burn out for praise, for recognition, for the promise of her future. this is just the way the world is, she must get used to it now if she wants to survive.

haru - the princess, the girl who’s always charming and polite, perfectly prim and never a bore but her words are always shallow. she seems to only exist at gatherings and galas, always smiling, introduced by a beaming father and complimented on how beautiful she is, how she will make a most wonderful wife now that she’s blossoming into a young woman. she worships her fiance, she has captivated his whole family and, most importantly, his father with how delicate and vapid she is. a wonderful spouse up for trade, the loveliest business venture her father ever pursued.

goro - the orphan, the boy who is helpless and was left abandoned by his family and by society. he has no will of his own that he can inflict on the world, instead he is battered by fate and by an actively cruel reality, a curse, unwanted and unneeded by anyone. he elicits disgust in whoever he meets, yet he yearns deeply to be loved and to be accepted, he begs for it and everyone he meets that will give him any time of day are his “friends”. he believes there is no such thing as unconditional love and no matter what he tries, his struggle will be rendered futile.

sumire - the doppelganger, the girl that believes she is only a shadow of a sister far more talented and determined than she could ever be. she only had worth defined by another, one she followed around like a weight, dragging her down with her incompetence. a burden for her sister, pitied awkwardly by parents, an inconvenience that grew increasingly irrelevant and irritating with every passing day until she botched her own death. now she is a shadow without a body, the wrong girl taken in her attempt on her own life, the ultimate blunder ever committed by another human being. she pantomimes her sister more and more poorly, although she’s tricked herself into believing she really is her in her house of ashes.

morgana - the monster, the boy that can’t face who he really is for he fears what he will see in the mirror. he lives happily in ignorance, never wanting to remember his origins or his duties and he indulges in his freedom without worry of where he comes from. after all, if he has no idea of his past, he can imagine himself as anything he wants - a dashing rogue, a swashbuckling hero, a gallant thief, he is whatever he makes himself to be without the burden of his history. he never turns around too quickly, never wanting to catch a look at himself because every now and then he sees jail cells, black ooze, darkness. but that’s not him.

[p5youllneverseeitcoming]

So I finished Persona 5 Royal

And once again I was a crying mess when the ending credits rolled.

Now, I’d like to share my thoughts about this game but I also respect the fact that not everyone had the chance to finish it yet so anything that is a spoiler will be talked about under the cut.

Anyways, let’s begin.

From the very beginning... I love the new title screen, the fact that you can see each member just hanging out in the streets of Tokyo is so cute and I love it. It’s so easy to get a platinum trophy for Persona 5 Royal which at first I thought was somewhat disappointing as it doesn’t require you to play through it again but then I found out there’s a bunch of challenges in the Thieves Den so I was really glad I had a reason to play it again.

Speaking of the Thieves Den, it’s really nice to see your team members just chat about the decorations you put in there, like for example Yusuke and Ann casually chatting in front of a Reaper statue like it’s no big deal. On a small sidenote, my mum really likes the fact that you can play Tycoon in the Thieves Den and I’m not gonna lie she spent hours playing with them which means I now have thousands of tokens but nothing to spend them on :’)

Much of P5R is very similar to the vanilla P5 except of course the fact that there’s 2 new characters being introduced to the story. You still get sent to Tokyo for ‘assaulting’ the drunk man however, the first change that you really notice is Sojiro’s conversation with you when he is taking you home on the Sunday you visit the school. Of course, by this point you know that there have been many psychotic breakdowns and a lot of accidents but what Sojiro tells you is... Interesting to say the least. I didn’t think of it much at first but then again I went into Royal completely spoiler free (except of course with the knowledge of how Persona 5 plays out) but eventually you find out that what he said was actually really important.

Another thing I really loved that they put in Royal is the fact that they managed to make the battle system even better. I always thought it was pretty amazing but they somehow managed to make it even better. First off, you can Baton Pass right off the bat. No need to establish a social link with the party members or anything, which honestly makes everything so much easier, especially in the early game. They also decided, you know what this nasty crime boy needs? Unlimited bullets... Well sorta. Remember how in Persona 5 you only had a limited amount of bullets per infiltration? Well, now they replenish every battle which of course means I did the only rational thing:

You also get the grappling hook in Royal and honestly? Just watching Joker do flips all over the place is really aesthetically pleasing. I love that they reworked the Palaces so that the grappling hook plays a big part in getting around and as I said, it’s just so fun to see Joker zooming through the air.

They added new Shadows/Personas to Royal which I think is fantastic as it makes returning players not bored of the battles but they also changed some weaknesses/removed weaknesses for some shadows which means you gotta strategise a little bit more. They also changed up the Palace Ruler Bosses but I found them... A lot more easier than the original? I don’t know if it’s due to the fact that I love to grind a lot before finishing a Palace or if I just had the perfect Personas for the occasion but yeah... That’s not to say the changes are bad! I still really liked them but it was just... Really easy for me lol. 

Another major change is the fact that Morgana decided that you may be a tired boi after going to the Metaverse but you still have enough energy to do some things in the cafe. That makes it like a ton easier to max out your social stats which means you can max out your confidants a lot faster, I managed to max out everyone and still had days where I literally had nothing to do which just shows how much time you actually save now.

Along with the fact that they fixed some translation errors, they also improved the sprites and added a lot more voice lines which was really nice in my opinion, it was a lot better when a character was expressing a certain emotion and their sprite actually matched it instead of just them facing one way and occasionally changing the facial expression.

I’ll mention this briefly seeing as this is sort of spoilery but I really loved the new confidants. The fact that you can actually hang out with Akechi and get to know him instead of being forced to level him up automatically was so good. The scenes where you would automatically rank up are still there but they kinda act as a filler of sorts now which in all honesty I didn’t mind. 

Ummm... That’s about all I can think of that doesn’t contain spoilers so... The section below will have spoilers so please only read this when you finish the game!

I’m going to talk about Akechi’s Confidant for a bit because I just really loved it okay? You learn so much about him, even things that seem trivial like the fact that he’s left handed become... Well rather important near the end. The more time you spend with him, the more you see how much Akira actually means to him. When you defeat him in his Rank 8 event, I actually loved it when he said he hated Akira. That was pure Akechi right there, no lies, no fake smiles just pure, honest truth. Also, I love how he decided to be extra and dramatic by throwing his glove as a challenge. It’s also really significant, at least to me, mainly because you never see him without gloves, in a way, this sort of showed that he fully exposed his true self to Akira. Their exchange in Shido’s Palace when you remind him that you still have his glove... That was really sad. I really wish there was some way you could help him, but alas, you can’t always have happy endings.

I’m not gonna lie, I was really confused when I got to 12/24 and we still went to Mementos. You discover a Palace and explore it for a bit but then it’s kind of... Forgotten? Like Morgana is genuinely like: Lmao this doesn’t concern us atm so you know, killed God with the power of friendship, was ready to stop being a Phantom Thief and surrender myself to the police but then... Mr. Sketchy himself just appears out of nowhere and decides that he’ll take Akira’s place for him

When I first saw him I was like: Omg? How is this even possible? Can I hug him? But then weird things started happening in the story

Reality becomes distorted after New Years and you see that right away when your cat, is no longer a cat. But that’s not all, Futaba’s mother is alive and well as well as Haru’s father and supposedly they were never dead in the first place. I was really confused but then guess who turns up to clear some things up... Mr. Pankechi.

This post is already long as hecc so I won’t go into details but I really like the new Palace. It’s so different to the other Palaces and for once the Palace Ruler is not some evil adult... He’s actually quite the opposite.

I’m going to quickly talk about Kasumi for a second now, or rather Sumire. Honestly when you learn the truth, I was really shocked. Remember when I said what Sojiro tells you becomes important near the end? Yeah well it’s like the game was telling you from the start that she’s not really who she says she is. Just like Akechi, I was fully convinced that the New Palace was hers but I was kind of relieved to find out that wasn’t the case. As a party member, I really like her, she’s really cute and her Persona abilities are helpful in the new Palace. As a confidant... Again, she’s just so cute. When you help her pick out the glasses for her dad... Bruh I just wanted to give her headpats all day. Once you unlock the rest of her confidant, it’s really nice to see her grow and accept the fact that she doesn’t have to be Kasumi appreciated, and once she accepts that she’s Sumire but she’ll still do everything to make Kasumi’s dream come true it was honestly so satisfying. 

I think the thing I loved the most though is the fact that Akechi becomes your navigator for a little while and honestly? I wish I had the option to keep him as the navigator. His lines are so funny because they’re helpful but at the same time they’re so passive aggressive! ALSO his Showtime with Joker is by far my favourite Showtime. I love how he’s able to just be himself and literally rip enemies apart and Joker’s just there like: Yeah I’ll play along why not. Whenever they finish and Akechi is just there like: “Don’t waste my time.” ... Big mood, me when I’m driving around Mementos trying to find the stamps.

One more thing I gotta talk about... The ending. I love it so much. I think it’s a lot better than the original Persona 5 ending and here’s why. First of all, the fact that you see the Thieves still being themselves is just so sweet I love these funky kids, that fact that Maruki gives you a lift to the station and he accepts that this is the world that you have to live in? Amazing, thank you Atlus. The fact that Morgana is just snoozing in your bag? Beautiful, let me pet my cat plz. But most importantly... The edgy pancake loving detective LIVES, granted Akira doesn’t actually see him but I DID. I burst into tears when I saw him walk by, I’m so glad he got to live in a reality where he isn’t anyone’s puppet anymore. He can finally fix the mistakes he did, don’t get me wrong, Akechi is still a bad person, I mean he literally killed people but he still deserved a second chance, and seeing him alive means that he finally has a chance to do that... Bruh I was crying so much.

Anyway, I could talk about this game for hours but here are just some of my thoughts that I wanted to share, I’m sure I’ll have a lot more to say later on but for now... Have this mess I call a post!

[thejusticearcana]

Thank you @dvclis for tagging me!!

rules: name 10 favorite characters from 10 different things and then tag 10 people

You don’t need to give a description of your favourite characters like I did, I just felt like it! 

10. Kageyama Tobio (Haikyuu!!) 

I’ve always loved Kageyama from the first time I ever watched this anime back three and a half years ago. I connected the most to him out of all the boys because of his awkwardness and his bad temper.

9. Nishimiya Shouko (A Silent Voice)

Nishimiya is one of my favourite characters in any anime I’ve ever seen. Her strength and loyalty is so amazing. And her ability to forgive those around her who have hurt her in the past is so commendable. If you don’t get triggered by certain heavy and dark subjects, I suggest everyone should watch this beautiful film. 

8. Mikaela Hyakuya (Owari no Seraph)

What else can I say about this boy that I haven't already said on this account? He's easily one of the best characters in this manga and I think a lot of people would agree with me on that one. Then again, there are a ton of amazing characters in this story! I adored him from chapter one and still do to this day. 

7. Marshal (Animal Crossing) 

He’s an adorable, smug squirrel? Do I even need to say more that that? He’s so precious and if I need to spend hundreds of nookmiles tickets to get him, I will!

6. Prompto Argentum (Final Fantasy XV) 

Oh boy, I can’t even describe how much I love Prompto. I have a love hate relationship with FFVX. Always have, probably always will. However, despite my anger towards the games development or lack there of, I will always love Prompto. His cheerful, fun attitude, despite his backstory, is something that’ll always tug at my heartstrings. His adoration and loyalty for Noctis is another thing that I loved about this game. I’m glad we managed to get Prompto’s DLC before the story was basically discontinued. Can’t say the same for Noctis though... 

5. Goro Akechi (Persona 5)

This is a controversial one. If you haven’t played P5 and plan to, don’t read this part... 

In no way do I excuse his actions or am ok with what he did in vanilla P5 (I have yet to play Royal), however there was always something about his character that always interested me. I don’t know what that something is, but it’s there. His backstory and his reasonings to do the things he did were very sad and even though I’m not okay with what he did, he does make for a very interesting character. Especially when he’s around Joker. I don’t excuse his actions, but he's easily my favourite in the main cast of characters. 

4. Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII)

I played the original FFVII last summer, mostly so that I could compare it to the remake. I thought I loved him back then, but the remake only managed to make me adore him even more. For those who are new to the series and haven’t played the original, you will grow to appreciate Cloud even more. Not only as a character but as a protagonist. 

3. Felix Hugo Fraldarius (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

I have a funny relationship with this boy. When I first started FE3H, I was determined not to like him. I can’t tell you why, I just didn’t want to like him. Maybe it was his mean attitude or the fact that most of the fandom was obsessed with him that made me not want to like him, but clearly that plan didn’t work out for me all too well. I fell for him almost instantly when I started the blue lions route. He may have a hard exterior, however there is a soft spot inside of Felix that I just adore. His backstory just really drove my love for him deeper. 

2. Prince Zuko (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

I needed to put Zuko on this list, because otherwise it wouldn't feel right. Like a lot of people, I use fiction as a coping mechanism to deal with hard situations or stressful days. Ever since I was little, I’d turn on Avatar as a way to unwind and forget my life, even if it’s only for twenty minutes of the day. Even now as someone who’s almost 19 years old, I still resort to this show as a way to feel better. Zuko is a character that I relate to probably the most on this list. He didn't have it easy. His relationship with his Father clouded his vision of what is right and wrong because he was desperate for Ozai to love him, to accept him. That is something that even at a young age, I related to heavily and unfortunately I think a lot of people can relate to that. 

1. Roxas (Kingdom Hearts)

This is a similar instance as Zuko. I grew up playing KH and it was always used as a coping mechanism for me, to escape from my life during my darkest times. However, kingdom hearts brought me more than an escape. It brought me to gaming. KH2 was the first game I ever beat on my own without my parents help, and I still remember as a little kid being confused by the plot, but despite that, absolutely adoring Roxas. It also brought me to fandoms. The first ever fanfiction I tried writing, I was twelve years old and it was KH. Thank goodness it’s not online or else I’d never live that one down... I love this boy with all my heart and I can't wait to see where this story takes him. 

Please don’t let him disappear Nomura. I know you like doing that, but please don’t. I swear to God. 

Again, no one needs to make massive descriptions like I did, I was just bored and wanted to type a bit! Anywhoo, I’ll tag: @framandi, @aeris-s and @vector-totheheavens

[curejunereblogs]

An Extensive List of Phantom Thieves (怪盗)

but first the criteria:

The boundaries for what makes a thief a phantom and whether it's different from a gentleman thief are wobbly

We can't really just allow everyone who calls themselves "kaitou" to qualify, because there's Kaitou Sai from Nogami Neiro who is a serial killer which is A Very Bad Thing. most good examples of thieves have a "no kill" rule

If we set that they have to steal for Good Reasons, we cut off Kaitou Joker, who is very much a phantom thief, so we have to allow "thrill of the chase" as a valid-ish reason for stealing. no bonus points though, it just not instant disqualification

I found that "sends a calling card" is a good rule to stick to so I trimmed my original surprisingly long list based on whether I know for sure they send announcements or cards or letters or such. If you don't say "come and get me" to your target, you're pragmatic, a realist and also a coward

Which led me to a conclusion that to be a proper phantom thief, the main thing you should be after is the spotlight. You have to steal the show. Otherwise you're just a thief, maybe a gentleman, but not a phantom. Contrary to the name, you have to be seen. Good phantom thieves have a give-and-take relationship with their audience - they take the treasure, and give back a performance or some other form of entertainment (or purpose in life in some cases).

The following compilation doesn't include: books, hentai, eroge, BL, things where i couldn't translate the title into English, the ones that don't send calling cards(as far as i know) and in general a bunch of media i most definitely missed

Phantom Thief Hall of Fame:

- Kaito Kid(1987), Kaitou Saint Tail(1994) and Kaitou Joker(2007) are all brilliant examples of the genre, and if you don't know any of them, they all have a bunch of passionate fans each and they can all be googled really easily

- Joker and his gang from Persona 5(2017); i'm consiously placing him in the second/fourth place because even though he's really cool, very popular and is The phantom thief to a lot of people unfamiliar with the genre... he doesn't have a tophat (his persona is not enough)

- ... I'll just mention that Lupin the 3rd(1967) exists and go on

- and of course, Lupin III and about a quarter of all phantom thieves are in some way based on Arsène Lupin(1905) by Maurice Leblanc

- ex. there was a french-canadian cartoon about Lupin called Night Hood(1996)

- Cat's Eye(1981), cited as an inspiration for Saint Tail, is about a trio of sisters who steal stuff in order to get closer to their dad and it's epic

- Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne(1997), like Saint Tail, doubles as a magical girl series and is about magical stealing and the clothing is eastern and the manga swerves into weird territory in the end but it features one of the precious few phantom thief & phantom thief romances

- King of Bandits Jing(1995), while doesn't have the aesthetic, has the weirdness, the charm, the calling card (i think) and is generally cool enough to steal his place on the list whether he’s a phantom or not

- The Acrobat/Man of Twenty Faces(1990), also known as Akira Ijyuin; charming child somehow without most of the problems the CLAMP protagonists tend to suffer from

- Phantom R the titular Rhythm Thief(2012), a great example of a dancer show-off, has a dog

- The Black Rose from Ashita no Nadja(2003) is a tuxedo mask-esque character

- Kaitou Kiramekiman(2000) is a cool retrofuturistic-looking duo trying to save the world in a show that is tragically more about their police counterparts Doing Absolutely Nothing because the villains tend to be more popular in that franchise

- Pacricon(1999) takes place in a world where money has been cancelled(?), has a hella cool calling card

- Shadow Lady(1995)... well, there's a lot of fanservice - like, a lot, and it's tiring and i warned you - but there's also some genuinely funny twists like cancelling her heist on live tv just because she didn't feel like doing it. it also got very unceremoniously axed

- Kaitou Alexandrite(2006) owns/co-owns/frequents a bordel so there's some nsfw to be seen on occasion but it's tolerable and could be described as tasteful i guess. she stole someone's voice once. it also features one of the best identity reveals

- Chat Noir from Granblue Fantasy(2014) is a fighting unit; he has a "calling card" skill and i think that's beautiful

- Phantom Skye from Harvest Moon DS Cute(2005), a not-very-secret character, is an absolute cheese but it loops right back into being charming

- Kaito Rousseau(2006) for Nintendo DS, where a tiny thief boy is horrible at going unnoticed unless he disguises his face as whatever you draw on your ds screen

- Mask DeMasque from Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations(2004) is a thing?

- Sly Cooper(2002) is known as Kaitou Sly Cooper in Japan so he fits the bill

- PxP(2006), short manga about a girl thief in high school

- Sweet Kaitou Vanilla Moon(2010), pastry-themed phantom thief? hell yeah!

- Kaitou Reinya(2010), a short comedy that is not to be taken seriously but you might get a few chuckles from it and i don't regret giving it a second chance (warning: cartoonish animal abuse)

- Cat's Eye(s)(2010), a remake of the original tale of three sisters with different PoVs

- Kaitou Jack from Nishikida Keibu wa Dorobou ga Osuki(2013); it's a gag manga about a cute phantom thief boy and an old man detective that acts like a schoolgirl around that boy. ... I'm only mentioning it here because I like Jack's costume and "i'm-SO-done-with-this" faces and it's mostly intended to be funny. mostly.

- Kaitou Okami-Zoku Shonen(2013), a oneshot about a werewolf who eats people's hearts (metaphorically! through kisses) but is really stylish about it. Think P5 protagonist but alone and a werewolf

- Phantom Thief F's Scenario(2013) is a vocaloid song about a diamond heist on a luxury liner

- Kaitou Le Vin(2014) is about six people stealing wines and it's epic but they can't shut up about wine for one second

- Gaitou Alice(2015) is about a guy looking like Kaito Kuroba going into people's hearts to steal stuff before P5 made it cool. Features amazing artwork but kinda gross stuff closer to the end so it's kind of understandable why it got axed but it has a kind of weird charm to it

- Mystic Thief X from a mobile dating game Miss Detective's Undercover(2017) (i'm scraping for phantom thief content) is honestly excellent at his job. he might only be showing off for one person but damn it's romantic af and i love him

- Kaitou Shounen Jokers(2017) is a sequel to Kaitou Joker, and is directly about the previous protag's kid going to a phantom thief school (i have no hard evidence he sends calling cards but if he doesn’t take after dad i’m-)

- Kaitou Saint Tail girls!(2018), a sequel to Saint Tail, is very cute and has two new Saint Tails working together! i wish i knew more about it

- Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger(2018), live-action series that is a must-watch for anyone who loves phantom thieves because it's a masterpiece of a tv show; besides the three thieves it also features the best police officers in the genre (it kind of has to since they're protagonists too but boy does it deliver)

- Secret x Warrior Phantomirage(2019) is also a live action and it's all about girls stealing enchanted hearts! i actually don't know if they send cards but it feels right placing them after lupinrangers and they're definitely show-stealers

- Kilroy(2018) is a western comic about a guy who broke an unconventional mirror and has to do unconventional repairs

- Kaitou Kamaitachi(2018) has a cute reporter boy and a lot of butterflies

- Destined Memories(2019) is another mobile dating game, there are thieves (called the Crows) in victorian england and they send notices and it's way better at being a phantom thief story than an actual phantom thief story by this company that i'll maybe mention later if i get to compiling a list of thieves that don't send cards

- I really want to put Majo Kaitou Lip☆s(2019) in this category, I want her to send calling cards, but there's like two chapters out so there's still time. The artwork for this series is GORGEOUS and the idol imagery is amazing and i love it so much I just want her to be popular

i might've ignored some phantoms you may have heard about, but 50% i've checked and they don't send calling cards. If they do, additions are welcome!

[zero-heather]

Persona  Main Cast Arcana Swap (Spoilers!)

I wasn’t really paying attention to ships and stuff like that while making this, more-so what was interesting to switch. It occurred to me in the planning of the P2 cast that some crushes are canon. But, here we go anyway!

Persona 1

The Emporer - Reiji Kido (Protagonist): A silent boy who lost his older half-brother during his younger years. He carved an X on his forehead using a knife to make sure his parents don’t treat him like he was his brother. The Chariot - Naoya Toudou: The partially-spoiled son of a manga company. An occasional troublemaker, but also a nice person. His crush is in the hospital. The Hierophant - Masao Inaba: A rich young boy who will soon inherit control over a large group of companies called the Inaba Group. He’s spoiled, intelligent and has no tolerance for stupidity of any kind. The Strength - Kei Nanjo: A father-like figure that almost everyone St. Hermelin looks up to. He is an ex-yanki who was reformed by one of his teachers, to whom he has great respect for. The Justice - Yukino Mayuzumi: A girl who likes to make jokes and prank people for attention. Her parents were never really around for her and she was laughed a lot during her childhood. The Hermit - Hidehiko Uesugi: A young boy who has been hospitalized for a little over a year. His childhood friend, Reiji Kido, occasionally visits him and he gets more frequent visits from Naoya Toudou. His father is too busy to visit him. The Judgement - Maki Sonomura: A beautiful and intelligent girl who has come back to Japan from studying abroad. She aspires to travel the world, but wants to stay in her hometown for the rest of her studies. The Magician - Eriko Kirishima: An airheaded girl who hates hearing anything that displeases her. She likes to live in the moment and doesn’t think about her future too much. The Devil - Yuka Ayase: A delinquent who doesn’t have much care for anything or anyone other than her parents, who are poor. She usually plays hard to get but is a really nice person inside.

Persona 2 Duology

The Sun - Katsuya Suou: A delinquent type adult. His younger brother gives him lectures on how he should try and be a better person but he doesn’t care. Hates his brother and his father. The Justice - Tatsuya Suou: Katsuya’s younger brother, a high school student who wants to join the police force to clear his father’s name. Also has an obvious crush.

The Death - Kaoru Saga: A narcissistic young man in his early 20s who runs a band, in which he is called Baofu. He rejected his parents constant complaining on how he should be a ‘Traditional Japanese Man’, but he still has a very low self esteem. The Hanged Man - Eikichi Mishina: A high school boy who is able to wiretap and hack into any known database. He hangs around Tatsuya’s friend group, despite remaining a mystery to even them. He goes by the name Michel. The Wheel of Fortune - Maya Amano: A young woman who was the childhood friend of Katsuya. Her parents are both deceased and she works for COOLEST Magazine. All that aside, she’s calm, collected and likes flowers.

The Moon - Jun Kurosu: A high school boy whose motto is ‘think positive’, even in tight situations. He makes friends easily and happens to forget a lot of things, but is a good person. Also doesn’t believe many people like him. The Lovers - Ulala Serizawa: A hyper young woman who knows martial arts and is a fan of Bruce Lee. Her parents wanted her to be a ‘Traditional Japanese Woman’, but just like Kaoru, she rejected their wishes.

The Star - Lisa Silverman: A high school girl who has bad luck with men and can never seem to find someone right for her. She’s a professional boxer and also sneaks out to drink, despite being underage.

The Strength - Kei Nanjo: A photographer for COOLEST Magazine who was involved in the SEBEC incident. He works with Maya Amano, and with the help of her and his old teacher, he’s comfortable with who he is now.

Persona 3

The Fool - Aigis/Metis: A high school student who came back to Tatsumi Port Island 10 years after their parents died on the bridge due to a fire. Canon is Aigis, which is female, and optional is Metis, who is male. The Lovers - Minako Arisato: A young bubbly girl who likes big crowds. She’s a popular girl at school, unknowingly, and also stays in the Gekkoukan High Dorms. She has a gun holster on her belt and has a brother. Somewhat loud and “obnoxious”. The Magician - Minato Arisato: A young blunt boy who hates big crowds. He’s a popular boy at school, unknowingly, and also stays in the Gekkoukan High Dorms. He has a gun holster on his belt and has a sister. Reserved and introverted. The Empress - Yukari Takeba: A wealthy individual and next in line to inherit control of the Takeba Group. She’s a very intelligent person and many people look up to her, as she is also the student council president. The Emporer - Junpei Iori: A second year that runs the boxing club at Gekkoukan High. He takes boxing very seriously and also finds it a good stress reliever. He’s determined and courageous, and also a good mentor. The High Priestess - Mitsuru Kirijo: A quite and kept-in girl, she serves as the navigator for SEES. Her best friend would have been found outside Gekkoukan High with Apathy Syndrome if not for her. She’s a bookworm and likes sci-fi. The Hierophant - Akihiko Sanada: A shady third year who hardly shows up at school. He only joined SEES for personal reasons which he refuses to share. Has a soft spot for Fuuka, and is good friends with Junpei. The Justice - Fuuka Yamagishi: A little girl who seems to know Akihiko from her past. She’s well behaned and a good role-model for others her age. Despite being 11, she lives in the Gekkoukan High Dorms. The Chariot - Shinjiro Aragaki: A robot made to destroy shadows. He can only develop human feelings through contact with those feelings. He is enrolled in Gekkoukan High as a second year, despite being a robot and seeming more like a third year.

Persona 4

The Fool - Teddie: A transfer student from Tokyo who came to live with his uncle for a year. He’s very anxious in social situations, and arguments between his friends makes him nervous. Has a weird obsession with bears. The Magician - Rise Kujikawa: A goofy and fun young girl. Her parents are the managers at Junes, and she works part-time there. She’s also in Teddie’s class.

The Chariot - Kanji Tatsumi: An intimidating young boy with martial arts skills. He may be buff but he’s not really aggressive. Suggests eating more meat a lot and is good friends with Rise. The Emporer - Yosuke Hanamura: A badass who was able to take down an entire biker gang by himself. Feared by his classmates, but he is a good person. He likes knitting and has more feminine hobbies, he also questions his sexuality a lot. Despite being skinny, he’s a lot stronger than the buffest one in the group. The Lovers - Yu Narukami: A model who is famous for his cross-dressing and his way to charm crowds. He’s very blunt about his thoughts but he means no harm. He’s a fun person to have around, but he already has a crush.

The Star - Yukiko Amagi: A strange woman who came from the TV world. She makes a lot of puns, albeit sometimes doesn’t know what she’s talking about, and is fascinated with the human world. The Wheel of Fortune - Chie Satonaka: A detective who acted like she was male for most of her life. Is only now getting used to being able to freely act like a woman, and is still coping with her identity. She’s logical and the smartest in the group.

Persona 5

The Fool - Morgana: A young boy who was arrested on false charges and sent to Tokyo for a whole year as ‘probation’. Despite all the rumors surrounding him, he’s a good person and probably the most lenient friend you’ll ever find. The Chariot - Haru Okumura: An ex-track and field runner, she hates how adults think they can just lie their way through life and not have any consequences. A good hearted person with a somewhat goofy attitude. The Magician - Futaba Sakura: A young girl who was found trapped in Kamoshida’s Palace. She eventually decided to come over to the human world and take the guise of Futaba Sakura. Kind of annoying but overall understanding and polite. The Lovers - Akira Kurusu: A young boy who was being sexually abused by Kamoshida, as for a while he kept telling everyone and himself he was female. He eventually came out as a male publicly, despite being a bit nervous about it. A strong-hearted individual. The Emporer - Ryuji Sakamoto: A young painter who seems to think Akira is still a girl, despite him publicly stating he was male. He’s polite but also poor, so he starves himself a lot which explains his slim yet tall figure. The High Priestess - Ann Takamaki (P5)/Kasumi Yoshizawa (P5R): The student council president of Shuujin Academy. She keeps up her polite and obeying act in public, but when she’s with the group she’s an absolute unit that no one dares cross. The Hermit - Goro Akechi: His father runs the coffee shop which Morgana is in, and he also has an obsession with video games. He serves as the navigator for the group. He is reserved and hates going out in public. The Justice - Yusuke Kitagawa: A young and upcoming detective. He may be polite in public, but he’s really a sociopath who will murder anybody and anything that upsets him. The Faith - Ann Takamaki (P5R): An elegant and intelligent young girl, who gets the top score at Shuujin, which is why she was offered a scholarship there. She’s actually very stressed out and often becomes depressed for no reason.

[magliettagialla]

RyuAnn headcanons:

Important: Of course these are all nothing more than mere personal opinions of mine! Please don't read this if you don't like the ship. Thank you ♡

At the beginning of P5 Ryuji and Ann used to refer at each other with their surnames, even after having been apparently really close in middle school. Why so? We see how Ryuji would rather push people away to protect them, many times in the game (i.e. when Kamoshida is about to kill him and Joker during the latter's first day at Shujin; when Ann is trying to get involved with their plan against Kamoshida), saying rude things or even screaming angrly at them. What if he started to distance her after his reputation was ruined? He knows how Ann's been struggling with bullying all her life and probably didn't want her to get labled "the problem student's friend", so what if, after Kamoshida broke Ryuji's leg, she tried to visit him at the hospital but he said something very rude to her so they stopped talking and started to refer at each other with their surnames?

I had a hunch, more than one time while playing this game, that Ann has a huge crush on Ryuji. She openly flirts with him (i.e. inviting him on a date; seeking attentions from him and caring about his opinion of her, trying to improve it by looking sexier; out of the blue asking him who his type is; not to mention the way she panics when he is apparently dead; plus another thing I noticed in Scramble...) but he often doesn't go along with that or even asks her to stop. I believe he likes her too though: he compliments her looks even when she's not around, he looked desperate to know who Ann's type is as well and, most importantly, he has been shown to be really overprotective of her (i.e. he gets extremely angry about Kamoshida's cognition of her and, when they fail to save the real Ann when she gets kidnapped, he shouts her name in desperation; he gets mad at all the guys who try to take advantage of her or try to harass her; and yet another thing from Scramble). What if he just doesn't feel "enough" for Ann? He doesn't have a high opinion of himself and he's seen by everyone as nothing more than a delinquent and a problem student so maybe he knows Ann can have better than him and wants her to have it. He is also terrified about turning up like his father and he surely doesn't want to hurt her. At the same time Ann doesn't speak clearly about her feelings because she feels like he's not interested in her.

Although everyone among the Thieves openly ships them (especially Yusuke <- SPOILERS FOR SCRAMBLE IN THE LINK!) I like to think Ann is a little jealous of Makoto since she's one of the girls Ryuji has shown the most interest in. Ann gives me the vibes of being the jelly type. Like that time Ryuji asked her to introduce him to Mika she replied with "... You dick! Of all the girls you could have been talking about, it just HAD to be Mika! Urghhhh, I'm so pissed!" and in PQ2 we find out Ryuji is a big fan of Rise to which Ann reacts by telling him: "... Hey, Skull. I think you and I need to have a little talk." She got angry even when Ryuji was attracted to the girls in yukata.

When the Thieves have to decide a name for Makoto, Ann comment's Ryuji's behavior with a sad tone: "I bet Skull's definitely the type that'll be under a girl's thumb". She looked genuinely concerned about that. It reminded me of the way Ryuji turns her down: "Eff that... Quit thinkin' you're some sexy character in an anime. It's sad watchin' you like this". I headcanon they get each other so well that they notice in no time each other's weaknesses and wrong behaviors: she notices that Ryuji can get easily manipulated by women, and somebody could take advantage of that, and he notices that Ann sells herself away like nothing because she thinks that's where all her self-worth is. Knowing this, they try to help each other out.

They are Shujin Academy's most notorious pair. Everyone in school thinks they are a couple, everyone but the two of them.

Ryuji is not really fond of the idea of Ann trying to make way in the entertainment industry as either a model or an actress. He knows about all the scandals that sometimes come out, about girls getting sexually harassed or even assaulted and stuff, especially since she's already been a victim of this in the past, but he doesn't say anything because he sees how much she loves it and wants her to be happy with what she does. And this is the reason why he often warns her about getting fat: he doesn't want her to give up her dream of becoming a famous model or actress, just like he had to do with running for a while, because he knows how harsh beauty standards are.

When Ryuji goes through rehab and gets better, finally reaching or even surpassing his "golden times" record and starts competing again on a national level, Ann is just so proud of him she just stops understanding his self-esteem issues. Everytime he says anything bad to himself again she would go: "??? Shut up! You're the man who reached the top with a broken leg, there's nothing you can't do or can't become" and tells that to everyone, even during magazine interviews because she is just SO proud of him.

Ann loves Ryuji's mom and vice versa. After Ryuji and Ann got together, Ryuji's mom literally adopted her ("I always wished I had a daughter" - Ryuji's mom, probably) and Ann, with her parents travelling who-knows-where around the world, leaving her behind for at least 6 months every year, is super happy to spend most of her time cooking with her, go shopping with her, etc. Ryuji often feels left aside.

Ann has PTSD from the time Ryuji almost died at Shido's Palace. Ryuji has the tendency to risk his life for his friends (i.e. jumping in front of a taxi to rescue Makoto; offers to bait Shadows away; risks his life to get that lifeboat; P5R SPOILER: shields Joker and Akechi from berserk Cendrillon alone) so, whenever his "hero instinct" shows up again during battles, Ann tries to stop him in every way she can out of genuine fear of losing him.

SUBSECTION Middle school headcanons:

Very Self-Indulgent Headcanon Warning: They got close because Ryuji would protect her from bullies. Due to her looks she was often called an "alien" by other kids so, one day, Ryuji told them something on the line of "aliens don't have blond hair and blue eyes, that's the look of princesses". Shiho ships them ever since that day, sometimes teasing her calling Ryuji "her knight" and Ann "his princess".

He was super popular in Middle School, receiving letters in his shoelocker and being called "Sprintmaster Sakamoto" (he tells us so in Dancing in Starlight). Ann had a crush on him but she felt like she didn't have any chance with him since he was that popular. She would still, always, come to cheer for him during his races at school. She was a big fan and Shiho has been teasing her for a while about how overjoyed she was when he beat the school's speed record.

They both play games and read manga. I like to think they started together picking them as presents to each other, discussing their favorites and landing/exchanging titles and series to each other.

Ann says in a Mementos dialogue that "Skull's always been into skull designs and stuff". How does she know that since, well, he started wearing shirts at school after bleaching his hair (this is not necessarily canon)? Did they hang out a lot? Ann says Shiho was her only friend before meeting Ren and the others but what if Ryuji was her friend as well in Middle School? Now, tying back with the very first headcanon in this list: it must have been horrible accepting the fact Ryuji suddenly didn't want to be her friend anymore. She must have been so sad and angry at him for leaving her alone like that.

[callunavulgari]

TOP 25 FICS OF 2019

1. these roads will take you into your own country by @notbecauseofvictories | American Gods | Laura Moon/Mad Sweeney | WIP | 33k

Here’s a joke for you: a Muslim, a zombie, and a leprechaun walk into a bar in Misery, Indiana. No one stares, because no one in the puckered, shitty asshole of Misery, Indiana gives a fuck. The Colts are playing.

Heather Says: So. It’s funny that another of @notbecauseofvictories‘s stories is at the top of my list again this year. Keep in mind this list is sorted by when the fic was read rather than favorites (because that would get real complicated real quick). Clearly there must be something about January. There’s just something about the writing that is easy to slip into, be it a Star Wars fic or a Labyrinth fic or even a fic about Johnny and the Devil. This was lovely and I can’t wait until it’s finished.

2. eighteen wheels on an uphill climb by @honkforhankcon | Detroit: Become Human | Hank/Connor | 91k

Hank is going to die. He’s going to die right here in Kentucky, 53 years old, halfway to broke, and tragically sober. Survived only by a nine-year-old St. Bernard and the 31-year-old twink who delivered the fatal blow.

Heather Says: I don’t think that this is the first DBH fic that I sought out after beating the game, but it is the first that I loved enough to make it to this list. I didn’t think that I would go for a modern au for this fandom, certainly not a modern au wihere Hank is a truck driver and Connor is a sex worker (albeit briefly?) but here I am.

3. Fuck pride (pride only hurts, it never helps) by ImogenGotDrunk | Detroit: Become Human | RK900/Gavin Reed | 41k

After the android uprising, Connor becomes a permanent fixture in the DPD. That’s fine. Gavin can accept that. The dipshit’s more human than he used to be, and a decent detective to boot. Gavin can deal with him being around. What Gavin cannot deal with is Connor’s replica; two inches taller, blue-eyed, and with a mouth that Gavin doesn’t know whether to punch or take between his teeth. The RK900 model has been assigned as his partner for the foreseeable future.

Heather Says: I also never thought that I’d like a fic with Gavin in it. But I got curious about all the Reed900, and well, this fic really won me over. The writing is fantastic, and it softens Gavin while still keeping him believable. Also, well, I like the enemies to lovers thing.

4. Almost Cool by @blacktofade | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane | 30k

While filming the Yuma Territorial Prison episode, Shane gets bitten by what he thinks is a bat. Spoiler alert: it's not.

Heather Says: This is actually the first thing that I read for this fandom. In fact, this is the fic that got me into Buzzfeed Unsolved in the first place. I’d seen a lot of art and gifs and fics pass my way, but I was only ever slightly interested in what I saw until this fic came through my inbox and piqued my curiosity. 

5. Pride by @astolat | Game of Thrones | Jaime/Brienne/Cersei | 22k

Jaime didn’t understand why Cersei suddenly insisted on trimming his hair and shaving his beard, but he also didn’t care to fight her on it, even though he’d just as soon have kept the beard: it was bitterly cold in the small tower room with its arrow-slits. 

Heather Says: Wowza. This fic was intense. I’ve always loved Jaime and Brienne. I’ve loved them since the second book, which was read at least a few years before I started loving them in the show. Adding Cersei to their dynamic would have probably been almost impossible to pull off if it was anyone else, but @astolat lives to surpass my expectations.

6. Skin and Scales by Ernmark | The Penumbra Podcast | Lord Arum/Sir Damien/Rilla | 18k

The man glares, and this time, Damien is certain it isn’t a trick of the light: those eyes are violet as amethyst. He wears disdain like a second skin–- or, perhaps, like the scales that he is missing. “Lord Arum?”

Heather Says: I was one of those people who skipped through all of the Second Citadel episodes during my first listen through of Penumbra. The stories were good, but the pull of Juno was too great. A couple months after I finished, I went back and listened to everything I didn’t. And let me tell you. Lizard monster. Honorable knight. Bookish girlfriend. Poly. It hit every single button I had and then some. This fic really hit the spot when I ran out of story.

7. someone you like by caela | She-Ra | Adora/Catra | 5k

catwithabat u think ur so hipster but u just look like a lesbian 27m she_ra @catwithabat bc… i’m a lesbian. lmao 5m

Heather Says: Noooot usually a big fan of high school fics. Namely because I’m not in high school anymore and well, after you read so many in your teenage years they sort of lose their luster. This one was phenomenal enough to change my mind.

8. Sands of Time by @tirsynni | Legend of Zelda | Ganondorf/Link | WIP | 98k

Link awakens in the desert with no idea how he got there, to encounter his worst enemy...except it was the King of the Gerudo, not the King of Evil, he faced.

Heather Says: I have seen a lot of really good Link/Ganondorf art over the years, but never really stumbled across a fic that didn’t have judicious amount of non-con involved. But the Breath of the Wild 2 trailer happened, and everybody started drawing really pretty art, so I went looking. And lo and behold, @tirsynni saved the day with this gorgeous time travel/fix-it fic. 

9. killed with kindness by veterization | Persona 5 | Akechi/Akira | 52k

Goro can't quite figure out why so many people keep acting like they're his friend. (Or: the one where the Phantom Thieves decide to know thy enemy, befriend thy enemy, love thy enemy, crush on thy enemy).

Heather Says: I’ve read a couple of veterization’s fics over the years, and to date they have never disappointed me. They published this in June, and I think I clicked on it mostly because I was bored and hadn’t read any good P5 fic yet. This was basically just what the doctor ordered, and I was really happy to find something where Akechi’s story went ever so slightly different.

10. paper thin by @ebonybow | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane/Sara | 9k

Shane’s new neighbors are a morning-sex kind of couple.

Heather Says: So I went into this one knowing very little about how Sara fit into things. I didn’t know she was Shane’s girlfriend. I’d never even seen her, but I clicked because I like poly and I trust the author. I was 100% not disappointed. There’s also another fic with a very similar dynamic here, which is also aces.

11. damn.nation, now available on itunes by @kaikamahine | Good Omens | Aziraphale/Crowley | 11k

When lowly tempt-pusher Amphora (formerly of Stairwell 7B North, before she Fell,) gets the notice that end times are nigh, she gleefully quits her job and cancels her Netflix subscription and takes her place among the legions of hell. This, it turns out, was a bad plan.

Heather Says: Elizabeth may have only written one fic this year, but she made it a damn good one. I’ve always loved her OCs especially, so I was pretty tickled that this is 10k+ of outsider pov. Also, demons! Demons are great! This demon is great! I want like 9 seasons and a movie about Amphora, just saying.

12. The Dragon and Her Wolves by hapakitsune | Game of Thrones | Jon/Sansa/Daenarys | 60k

When the truth of Jon's birthright is revealed, control of the North and Daenerys's claim to the Iron Throne are both called into question. To preserve their tenuous alliance and secure her rule, Daenerys puts aside her personal feelings to arrange a marriage of political convenience between Jon and Sansa Stark.

Heather Says: What do you mean season 8 didn’t exist and the show totally ended with a three way relationship between the two most powerful women in Westeros and Jon Snow? Never been a big fan of Jon/Sansa before this, but this is another of those writers that I would literally trust if they wrote a fic about a fork and a spoon.

13. never tell me the odds by @wildehacked | Wolf 359 | Eiffel/Hera | 9k

“I tried Star Wars," he says, adjusting the phone under his neck, "and it was way underwhelming.”

A shaky breath from her end. “Well, where did you start?”

Heather Says: I don’t remember which of @wildehacked‘s fandoms I started reading first. Most recently it’s been The Magnus Archives (more on this later). The point is, they’d written Wolf 359 fic and it had Hera and Eiffel and it was literally everything that I’ve been looking for since the series ended.

14. Find Me Somebody by raiining | Good Omens | Warlock/Adam Young | 11k

“You left me,” he said. “You both left me, for him. And I can’t even blame you, because I’d have left me for him too.”

Heather Says: There was an Art. The art was lovely. So I went looking, because that’s what I do when faced with beautiful art depicting a rare pairing. And I found the holy grail. Like, possibly my favorite Good Omens fic? Ever? 

15. flirting with fire by @brawlite | Stranger Things | Billy/Steve | WIP | 7k

Steve's a cop, Billy's a firefighter. It's not a grudge, it's just a regular old small town rivalry.

Heather Says: Okay so brawlite has written a lot of great stuff this year (more on that later), but I read this in bed at the beach house this August while I was reeling from both a horrible sunburn and like seven hours of mild to moderate day-drinking while everyone else was still throwing back shots right outside my bedroom door. Jaws was playing on the tv and I wasn’t even paying attention to it, because THIS. Long story short, I’ve been thirsty for more ever since.

16. gold, when you find me by mmtion | The Flash | Iris/Barry | 53k

It's not that Iris hates The Flash, per say - more that she hates writing about The Streak in a weekly, pun-heavy comic based on The Flash.

Heather Says: I never would have thought that a canon pairing would make it to my Top 25 list, but here we are. I like Iris/Barry a lot better when they don’t grow up together and spend a lot of time playing the Superman game, apparently. Also, this was really well-written, and sexual tension has never been something I’ve felt from Barry and Iris, but I felt it in this fic. Just. Damn.

17. never gets old by @brawlite & @toast-ranger-to-a-stranger| Stranger Things | Billy/Steve | 78k

Falling in love with a cam boy named KingSteve isn't the smartest thing Billy Hargrove has ever done, nor is it the most healthy -- but the good choice is rarely ever the fun choice, and Billy is all about living life fast and loose.

Heather Says: Told you I’d come back to it. brawlite and toastranger are a fantastic team. last year was cherry pie and under the covers, this year it’s camboys and cop/firefighter dynamics. Also, I have a really strange fascination with fics where a character has an instragram. It’s really, incredibly strange. Also also, every time I see this fic title I get that one Discovery Channel song stuck in my head. And no, it probably isn’t the one you’re thinking.

18. ways to save the world by @wildehacked | The Magnus Archives | Martin Blackwood/Jon Sims | 19k

“I left you,” Martin says softly.

Heather Says: And we’re back at wildehacked too! The Magnus Archives was a thing that happened to me. This is I think the first fic I read for it while listening, and it was so very close to what we got in canon. I think when it comes down to it though, I still prefer this fic, even if the ending of this season was pretty fantastic.

19. The Denial Twist by beethechange | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane | 35k

“This is kind of surreal,” Shane says, taking a sip of his tea. It’s piping hot and delicious, except it tastes like hot chocolate and not like tea at all. “Sort of—Wonka-esque, right? Or Alice in Wonderland.”

Heather Says: While the vampire one is my favorite both because it is excellent and because it was my first, this one was bizarre and sexy and also I read it like only a month or so ago! The dancing was my favorite part, but having dreams to work with made this story fantastically interesting and I loved every second of it.

20. silver in our lungs by taywen | Spinning Silver | Miryem/The Staryk Lord | 4k

The marks had been with Miryem for as long as she could remember. There were a number of them, all the same shade, following one after the other around her left wrist. They were pale as old scars, though they felt no different from the rest of her skin, and her mother claimed that Miryem had been born with them.

Heather Says: I really like soulmate aus. There’s so many different ways to twist them and the way they can sometimes change the dynamic entirely and other times not change them at all is just fascinating. I’ve been hoping there would be more Spinning Silver content on ao3 and running into this while I was trying to decide what I wanted to do for yuletide was a real treat.

21. you got me begging, begging, i'm on my knees by plalligator | The Queen’s Thief | Attolia/Eugenides/Costis | 5k

Costis has a particularly enlightening evening. (or, that struggle when you're a guard who's in love with your rulers and it turns out you would kind of like it if they bossed you around a little)

Heather Says: I accidentally re-read the King of Attolia and it made me consider ships I had perhaps not previously considered. This was really lovely and just steamy enough.

22. something more alive than silence by pageleaf | The Queen’s Thief | Attolia/Eugenides/Costis | 21k

It was a good thing that six months after the king had promised to halve the guard, he still hadn’t done it, because since then, there had been two attempts on the king’s life.

Heather Says: I want to only type the words AGONIZED NOISES to describe this fic because that’s basically my headspace when I get 21k of a shiny new ot3, but I mean. Really. This is super good and maybe my favorite yet? Why didn’t I start reading this fandom when I first read the books?

23. Timing it Right by DragonBandit | The Bright Sessions | Mark/Damien | 14k

The dragon chooses, Mark knows that as well as any boy born in a weyr. He'd never considered what that would mean if the dragon picked someone you hated. He's starting to think that was a mistake.

Damien's gold rises at Whitney. Mark tries to make things right.

Heather Says: This should actually be somewhere back in March, but I apparently closed out of the tab at some point. I never really got into Pern much. I have the first three books, but got most of the way through the first one a long time ago and then never picked it back up. I didn’t think I would like this, mostly because of the fact that I hadn’t gotten into the books, but was surprised to find that I absolutely loved it.

24. Keep It In Your Sights Now by LuckyDiceKirby | Shades of Magic | Lila/Kell/Holland | 9k

Holland travels with Lila and Kell. Somewhere along the way, they reach an equilibrium.

Heather Says: I love the new things I’ve discovered during my yuletide trompings. I don’t think I ever actually considered this pairing when I first read the books, but I am just so enamored with the idea of the three of them together. Like, why did I not realize that potential back then? This was lovely, and I loved it, and I want so much more out of this pairing than what ao3 has to offer me.

25. Charioteer by petrichoral | The Queen’s Thief | Gen & Costis | 13k

Captured in battle and stuck in the Mede capital, Costis has given up all hope of seeing his country again. But Eugenides has a habit of turning up where he's least expected.

Heather Says: Technically this shouldn’t be on here because I only read it today, but it was really wonderful and so canon typical. Gen and Costis were perfect in it, Irene was perfect in it. Everyone was perfect and nothing hurts.

[svtmatokis]

Mingyu Office AU! P5

Hi guys! As promised, here is Part 5 of the Mingyu Office AU! We’re getting to the point of the story now where things get interesting so I hope you enjoy the next few  chapters ;)

Part 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

Pairing: Reader x Mingyu

Words: 3125

“So where are we going?” you asked Mingyu as he drove towards the mystery destination. He had picked you up about fifteen minutes ago and now the two of you were on the way to your mystery location that Mingyu had carefully picked out.

When he arrived at your apartment earlier that evening, he was dressed in a blue dress shirt and grey suit jacket. In his hand, he held a large bouquet of various flowers (he knew you weren’t a big fan of roses).  He looked good enough to eat and when he grabbed your hand, the spark was undeniable. When he told you how good you looked in the navy cocktail dress, he really meant it and was currently having issues keeping his eyes on the road.

“A really good restaurant near my hometown, I hope you don’t mind.” he smiled at you from the corner of his eye as you shook your head. 

He took your hand in his and kissed your knuckles before resting them on his lap. He didn’t get to talk to you much the day today and the day before and the two of you weren’t able to talk much even at the new project meeting so he wanted to explain things. He had seen the unsure look on your face earlier that day and he had a feeling it was because of him. He was waiting until tonight to explain things.

“No, not at all.” you answered blushing at your connected hands.

You knew he had a lot on his mind and could tell by the look in his eyes though you didn’t want to pry. He’s had that look since yesterday and even at the office today, he was running around trying to tie loose ends with Jihoon and it wasn’t until he dropped you off at home to get himself ready that he seemed to finally relax so you were unsure what this night would transpire to be.

The rest of the drive was left in a comfortable silence which both you and Mingyu didn’t mind since you were each lost in thought. 

When you got to the restaurant, Mingyu handed his keys to the valet and guided you in by the small of your back. You looked around the lavish looking restaurant as Mingyu spoke with the maitre’d regarding your reservation and soon you were lead to a small candle lit table with an ice bucket and you looked at Mingyu as he pulled out your chair before taking his own.

Once the two of you were settled, Mingyu called for a bottle of champagne instead of a bottle of wine which left you confused. 

Noticing the confused look on your face, Mingyu decided now was the best time to explain his behaviour within the last two days. 

“So outside of our date, there’s actually another reason that I invited you out tonight…” he started as the waiter came and poured two glasses of champagne while leaving the bottle in a bucket of ice.

“What is it?” you asked and noticed how the candle light emphasized his brown eyes. 

“I wanted to ask you out to celebrate  with me today. I found out yesterday that I got the Tier 1 Associate promotion.” he grinned and you almost jumped out of your seat in excitement. You knew how hard he had been working these last few months towards the promotion and was glad that it was all paying off.

“Congratulations!” you said with a big smile as the two of you raised your glasses to toast. After taking a sip you asked, “Don’t you want to celebrate with everyone else though?” 

Mingyu shook his head, “The only person I want to celebrate with tonight is you. Jihoon will be making the announcement on Monday so we’ll celebrate then but tonight, its all about you. Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?” 

Your blushed deepened as you nodded your head and you realized what Minghao had once said was true.

“Mingyu’s someone who won’t make a commitment unless he knows he can put 150% into it. That includes his work and relationships.”

“Well, you look extremely beautiful tonight.” he complimented, “And I am extremely lucky to have had someone as beautiful and smart as you to agree to go out with me.”

“Mingyu stop.” you said as your face got redder that you were sure that your blush was no longer existent. 

Mingyu grinned, happy that he was able to have this effect on you.

Throughout the night, he had taken care of everything. From ordering the food to leading the conversation,he played the perfect gentleman and by the end of the night, you were completely smitten. You got to know each other on a personal level and though you were sure that the champagne played a big role in you opening up, you knew that you would’ve eventually.

As you talked over dessert and coffee, you heard someone call your name and you turned around and gasped.

“Luhan!” you said quickly standing up and giving the man a hug before pulling away, “What are you doing here?” 

“Did you forget that the China office is visiting for the next two weeks? I’m heading the operation so obviously I have to be here. I would’ve told you but someone had to change their number without notifying me” he responded while pushing your head with his finger. He then looked at Mingyu who was staring straight back at him. “And this is…” 

Suddenly your eyes widened and you silently cursed over the fact that you completely forgot about your date because of an old friend. Turning around, you quickly you introduced the two to each other.

“Mingyu, this is Luhan the VP of the China office and an old friend.” you said motioning to Luhan..

“Han, this is Kim Mingyu, a Tier 1 associate with the Seoul office and my bo-” you caught yourself as your eyes widened and you slapped your hand over your mouth. 

Luhans ears perked at your almost slip up while Mingyu felt a swell of pride as he stood and made his way over to the two of you.

“Sorry, Tier one associate and…?” Luhan asked looking between your now extremely red face and Mingyu.

“Y/N’s boyfriend, it's a pleasure to meet you VP Lu..” Mingyu said as he wrapped one arm around your shoulders letting you know that it was okay while shaking Luhans with the other.

Luhan looked between the two of you and realized that this was most likely fairly new and that he was probably intruding on a date. Something that he knew you had not been on in a very long time so he decided to cut things short.

“Likewise Mingyu.” Luhan replied with a smile, “Congratulations. Y/N is a very special girl.”

“That she is” Mingyu responded with a grin as he squeezed your shoulder to comfort you. It was definitely doing the job as the smell of his cologne and his presence alone made you relax.

“I won’t keep you two then. I’m sure you have a full night planned.”  Luhan said then turned to you, “Y/N, there’s going to be a luncheon on Sunday if you’re available. A few of the associates heard that you had transferred and wanted to catch up so they had asked on the off chance that I run into you to invite you..” Luhan explained as you caught the hidden meaning. “It’s going to be at the Japanese restaurant across the street from the Seoul office at noon.”

You give Luhan a tight smile and nod, “I’ll have to check my schedule but I’ll be there if I can make it.” you then pulled away from  Mingyu and went to give Luhan a hug. “It was nice seeing you again.”

“You as well and once again congrats. Maybe you should tell him about you know what before he finds out himself.” Luhan whispered in your ear as you slowly nodded knowing he was right. With that, Luhan made his way back to his table leaving you and Mingyu alone once again.

The two of you looked at each other and smiled, glad that there was no awkwardness after what was said.

After Mingyu paid for the bill, he asked if you wanted to take a walk by the river before he took you home and you happily agreed. 

The two of you walked hand in hand through the park in a comfortable silence both thinking about what transpired over dinner.

For Mingyu, he was extremely happy. He was planning on asking you to be his girlfriend after he took you home that night but things worked in his favor and you let it slip yourself. Knowing that you did feel the same way made him want to pump his fist in the air and scream at the top of his lungs. He had wanted to ask you a while back on a date but he also wanted to show you that he was a hard working person and that what people told you about him being a flirt and not serious about his work was not true. It was the main reason why he worked his butt off for the last three months.  

You on the other hand had other things on your mind and it was mainly what Luhan had told you earlier on. At first you were worried about how Mingyu would’ve reacted over the boyfriend comment but when he confirmed it, things seemed to work out. Now it was about telling him about what happened in the past and why you transferred over.

“So that was VP Lu…” Mingyu said suddenly breaking you of your thoughts and you nodded your head. “You two are friends?” 

“Great friends. He was a Tier 1 associate when I was just an intern. He was promoted about two years ago and when that happened, he brought me along with him to his team. Most of what I know about our industry I learned from him.” you explained with a small smile thinking about all the years of friendship you had with that man.

“It must’ve been hard for him when you didn’t get promoted to an S.A then…” there was an empathetic tone in his voice and you suddenly stopped in your tracks figuring now would be the best time than ever. If the conversation changed his opinion of you then so be it.

“Y/N?” Mingyu looked down at you and there was a lot of uncertainty written all  over it.

You let out a breath before telling him, “There’s something I need to tell you.”

 Mingyu lead you to a bench so they two of you could sit down and he wrapped an arm around your shoulders while his body was turned slightly towards you, letting you know that you had his full attention.

You had to think about what you were going to say first before you looked up and asked, “Did you mean what you said earlier when we met with Luhan? I know I let it slip but I wasn’t sure if you were doing that to save face or…” 

Mingyu chuckled at your question and pinched your cheek slightly. “What kind of question is that Y/N? It’s the sole reason I asked you on a date tonight.” he let out a breath while a blush was evident on your cheeks and he knew that now was the best time to let you know of his feelings.

“When you walked into the boardroom three months ago, everyone was expecting you to be someone who was at the same level as the person that they fired from Joshua’s team. What I didn’t expect was for someone who was as beautiful as you to walk through the door. Minghao was the one who told me about your Tier I Associate position and the way that your team had adapted to you so well so fast it amazed me. So under all that beauty was a set of brains too. I knew from the first day that I had, no needed to get to know you. When Jihoon put up a challenge for the Tier 1 associate position, I jumped at the chance hoping that you’d notice me and I was so happy when you did. As we got to know each other more, I found myself liking you more and more.” Mingyu started then his face turned serious, ”I never had an interest in dating because I was so career focussed but after meeting you it all changed because you challenged me and made me want to be better. I asked you out tonight because the kiss two nights ago was all I could think about yesterday and I had every intention on asking you to be my girlfriend by the end of the night. When you unintentionally let it slip to Luhan, I honestly felt like I was cloud nine knowing you felt the same way.”

You looked down after he more or less poured his heart out to you and you felt guilty for not telling him the truth about your transfer and knew that if you wanted this relationship to work, you had to come clean.

Sensing your uneasiness, Mingyu said your name as you played with your hands in your lap as you let out a breath.

“Is everything okay?” he asked concerned and took one of your hands in his. “You know you can tell me anything right?”

You nodded your head silently before opening your mouth, “I need to tell you something... “ you started slowly, “I haven’t been completely honest with you…”

Mingyu pulled back slightly, eyeing you warily. You were biting your bottom lip,a nervous habit he knew you were trying to break and suddenly he was feeling uneasy as well but urged you to continue.

“Yanan wasn’t the first choice for the S.A position….” you explained and Mingyu took a breath, “I was…”

You went into detail about your history with the China office and how you were more or less forced to turn down the S.A position (though you left out why Yanan got the S.A position in the first place) and how Luhan helped you break your contract and transfer you to the Seoul office with only the knowledge of the China head.

Mingyu listened intently as you told your story and couldn’t believe what he was hearing. So his gut was telling it right when it told him that you were special. His mind drifted to why you rejected the position in the first place and part of him was thankful that the transfer happened or else he wouldn’t have met you. On the other hand, he had to stop his blood from boiling as he thought about the people that made you leave in the first place and he suddenly wanted to commit murder though he hid it well.

Instead, he ran circles with his thumb on top of your hand and chose his words very carefully.

“Y/N...those guys are idiots and what they did was wrong. The fact that there were others involved doesn’t mean that it was okay either.You and I both know that shit like that wouldn’t happen here and if it did, Seungcheol would kick whoevers ass personally. We both know that whenever a promotion happens that we’re all happy for one another and we celebrate together and I hope you understand that’s our culture here. No competition because everyone has their own goals.” He looked at you meaningfully, “We all support each other in and outside the office.”

He then thought about the site visit on Monday and quickly added, “And if anyone tries to pull anything, they will not get away with it.” his gentle voice carried a dangerous understone with it. ‘I will personally make sure of that’ he thought to himself as he squeezed your hand.

You were also thinking about the site visit that coming Monday and you wondered who would really be present if it was just the Senior Associates from the China office but you never knew when it came to that group. You also thought about the luncheon and debated on going at first but realized that you in fact did have some friends you left behind in order to take this position and they would definitely want answers. 

Noting your lack of response, Mingyu gently tilted your chin up so he could look in your eyes and he saw uncertainty. 

“Hey, I’m serious. Our floor will never let anything happen to one of its own. Even if it involves another office.” He stated before gently pecking your lips and rested his forehead against yours, “I won’t let anything happen. As my girlfriend, you’re under my protection now. Do you understand? If anyone wants to hurt you, they have to go through me first.”

You could hear the reassurance in Mingyu’s voice and that seemed to comfort you quite a bit and you nodded your head.

Pecking your lips once last time, he grinned. 

Suddenly, it started to downpour and Mingyu attempted to cover you with his suit jacket as you two ran towards his car laughing the whole way but by the time you two got there, you were soaked to the bone. 

“Sorry about that.” Mingyu said as the two of you stood in front of your apartment door, “I swore the forecast said no rain today.”

“It’s okay, I had fun.” you said sneezing. “Thank you for a wonderful night.” you smiled up at him as he grinned down at you.

“Me too. The girl of my dreams finally agreed to be my girlfriend.” he responded in turn making you blush. 

“The guys and I are going out of town tomorrow so I probably won’t see you till Monday.” he continued, “Are you going to that lunch on Sunday?” 

Thinking for a moment you nodded your head. “It would be polite to do so.” you responded and Mingyu nodded.

“Okay then, contact me if anything happens. Have a great weekend Y/N. I’ll pick you up on Monday.” and with a lingering kiss and a goodnight, Mingyu made sure you got into your apartment before he went on his way. He had to wake up early as he agreed to drive for the guys weekend. 

“I hope she doesn’t get sick from the rain today.” he muttered to himself with a frown, “She said she was having headaches all week.” he made note to let the others know to keep an ear out just in case.

[tristis-333]

Ideas for Shadows of the Phantom thieves

So I’ve been replaying Persona 5 A LOT in anticipation for Royal coming out next year. So I’ve been thinking a lot about what P5 would have been like if it had went the P4 route of having the main group going against their own personal shadows. I’ve seen a few ideas swimming around but I thought I’d share my own ideas on what the shadows of the P5 cast would have been like. Some of the themes they all have is that these shadows would be distortion forced on the cast by the world around them. They aren’t like P4 shadows where the cast has to learn to accept their shadows as a part of themselves but rather realize that the shadows isn’t their true self and that its just a distortion. They are also are all based around the seven deadly sins. It kind of bothers me that most of the palaces in p5 are just loosely based on the seven deadly sins. Really only Kamoshida, and shido fit their sins for me. Madarame is supposed to be vanity which isn’t even a capitol sin anymore and just redundant with pride. Kaneshiro is supposed to gluttony but with the bank theme he fits greed better. Likewise Okumura is supposed to be greed but he runs a food company so gluttony would have fit better. Sae isn’t so much envious of anyone as she is obsessed with winning. So I’ll be making each shadow more overtly themed around the sins.

The first palace would be Ryuji’s representing the sin of wrath. It would be a ship lost as sea in the middle of a storm, representing his electric element. His shadow in the captain of the ship, a blood thirsty pirate obsessed with pillaging and causing destruction. The shadow would have a peg leg representing Ryuji’s broken leg, and an eye patch with a skull and crossbones on it. As you go through the palace you’ll have to dodge cannon fire, and lightning strikes. The boss would be similar to an early concept of Captain Kidd, with the upper body trapped in a cage with a blade in its mouth. The peg leg has become a cannon and will fire at its ultimate attack. After the battle Ryuji confronts the shadow, saying even thought he acted in anger when he hit Kamoshida, he’s not the thug everyone has painted him to be. He might be mad, but he’ll aim that anger at the people who deserve it and not just thrash around hurting the people around him. Ryuji then rips the eyepatch off the shadow and the shadow becomes Captain Kidd and the eye patch becoming Ryuji’s mask.

 The next palace would be Ann’s representing the sin of lust. The palace is a brothel with Ann’s shadow as the Madam of the house. The shadow wears a low cut dress and a large leopard spotted furcoat with a cigarette holder, think Cruella De Vil. The shadow also wears a lace and silk mask. The shadow is very flirtatious and makes claims that her body “is yours to take”.  When you go through the palace you’ll meet the cognition of Shiho, who is the shadow’s “best girl”. The shadow throws Shiho to costumers of the brothel so she doesn’t have to get her hands dirty. The shadow accuses Ann of doing the same with the real Shiho, throwing her to Kamoshida so she wouldn’t have to “give up the goods”. The boss form would be of Carmen’s main body tied to the same post Kamoshida had Ann tied to. Roses and thorns cover her body like a revealing dress and she can summon “gentlemen” to assist her in battle. After she’s defeated Ann confronts the shadow and acknowledges that what happened to her and Shiho isn’t her fault. Her appearance is not an excuse for the way Kamoshida treated them, and she certainly didn’t abandon Shiho. Her body is hers and she’ll do with as she pleases. She rips the silk mask off the shadow, allowing the Shadow to become Carmen, and the silk mask turns into Ann’s.

 The next palace is Yusuke’s representing greed. His palace is a museum ,very similar to Madarame’s except where Madarame’s museum was flashy and gaudy Yusukes is broken down and filthy. The windows are broken and open to the cold so as you go through the palace you’ll have to be careful of being blown away but gust of wind and frozen from the cold. Yusuke’s shadow is a shogun like Madarame’s but his make up is run down by tears. The shadow is stuck in artist rut and spends its time trying to make art. It doesn’t do this for the sake of art, but it wants income. It is desperate to cover the windows and to block out the cold but any art it tries to produce is meaningless and poorly crafted. The boss form is the portrait of Yusuke Madarame had in his palace but Yusuke’s face is stuck in the face of The Scream by Edvarch Munch. Yusuke confronts the shadow and his fear that he’ll lose sight of why he became an artist. While he may struggle to support himself he will persevere and continue to pursue true beauty in his art. He wipes the make-up off the Shadow with his hand and the shadow becomes Goemon, and the make-up on his palm becomes his mask.

Next palace is Makoto’s representing Envy. Makoto palace is a train station with her as station master. She wears a uniform and pair of tinted glasses. Despite the title, Makoto’s shadow has no control over anything that happens in the station. The trains depart without her approval and she has no choice but to follow the predetermined schedule. She is envious of the thieves who are free to come and go as they please. She feels much like a train. Impressive in its own right, but stuck on a track she can never escape from. The boss form is that of demon train with Johana’s face enraged and blindfolded. Makoto faces the shadow and vows that she will no longer allow others to control the path of her life but will decide it for herself. She takes the glasses from the shadow and crushes them in her hands. The shadow becomes Johana and the broken glasses become Makoto’s mask.

Next is Futaba’s palace representing Sloth. This one remains relatively the same only Futaba’s shadow is much more hostile. Her design now has more bandages like a mummy with them covering her face leaving only her eyes exposed. The shadow is now the distortion of Futaba’s memories and fully believes she’s responsible for her mother’s death. She wishes to just lie down and rot away, to be left to die in her tomb. Instead of fighting Futaba’s cognition of her mother, you fight the shadow. It takes the form of a large sarcophagus with a gargoyle face, and tentacles trying to push themselves out from the edge. Futaba confronts her shadow after the battle and it plays out much the same as in the original. She unwraps the bandages from her shadow’s face and the shadow becomes Necronomicon and the bandages become Futaba’s mask.

Next is Haru’s palace representing gluttony. The palace is a wedding venue being held in a giant wedding cake. You’ll have to make your way up the stacks of the cake to face Haru’s shadow who is the bride at the top. Haru’s shadow wears a wedding dress with a veil covering her face. Haru’s shadow sees herself not as bride, but as a gift to the groom. She exists to be given away and she’s fine with that so long as she can indulge in the pleasures her life gives her, even if that pleasure comes at the expense of her father’s workers. The bride gorges on wedding cake and ignores the cries of the workers and guest who suffer at the hands of her father and betrothed. The boss form is giant empty wedding dress bound in ribbons and bows like a gift. Since the dress is empty, there is no head instead a large ribbon. When Haru confronts the shadow she vows to not ignore her father’s corruption, or to allow herself to be used as a bargaining chip. She tears the veil away from the bride and it becomes Milady and the veil becomes her mask.

Last is Morgana representing pride. Since Morgana was created in Mementos it serves as his palace so to speak. When you reach the beginning of the end of Mementos, a yellow eye morgana is waiting for you. It reveals that Morgana is not a human but, as it puts it, a creature born within Mementos. Morgana is unable to handle the idea that he’s some creature, a beastly thing with no semblance of humanity. His pride won’t allow him to accept it. He pleads that he has to be human. He tries to summon Zorro to destroy the other Morgana but Zorro loses control and begins to shift and change. It takes the form a large black tiger with velvet blue stripes. It is chained around the neck and guards the gates to the depths of Mementos. The thieves manage to defeat it and Morgana reclaims his memory finally. He manages to find peace with his existent, not human, but not some wild creature either. The beast shift back into Zorro, but then immediately becomes Mercurius.    

So those are my ideas for the shadows of the phantom thieves. The protagonist doesn’t get one as ,like with P4’s protagonist and Adachi, I feel the role of the protagonist’s “shadow” goes to Akechi as he represents a lot of the opposites to Joker. But what do you guys think?

[eggoreviews]

Playstation All Stars 2 - Dream Roster! (PART 1)

I love Smash a lot. And I really wish that PS All Stars was a bit, you know, better. A few mechanical tweaks and the addition of some sorely missed character could turn All Stars into a genuinely awesome fighter, so here’s my dream roster for if Sony did ever attempt to clean up the slight mess they made the first time.

Note: I’ve cut a few from the first game. I’m keeping it to one character per franchise. There’s 42 altogether (because I don’t know when to stop) so here’s the first 21!

Aloy (Horizon Zero Dawn)

Here’s a fairly obvious pick, with Horizon being one of the Playstation’s most recent flagship RPGs. The star of Sony’s answer to Breath of the Wild but with added machine animals, Aloy’s tale of discovering her place in her beautiful, post-apocalyptic world is certainly a heartfelt one and it’s easy to get attached to. Plus, she has her bow, spear, traps and focus chip, so the moveset just sort of makes itself.

Astro Bot (Astro Bot: Rescue Mission)

The arguable mascot of Playstation VR, I think Astro Bot would be an unusual fighter, yet a perfect fit into an All Stars sequel. I’m sure they can think of a cool moveset from Rescue Mission and his brief cameos in the VR Playroom! I mean, if Nintendo can weaponise the Wii Fit Trainer, Sony have it easy with Astro Bot.

Big Daddy (Bioshock series)

The first character I’m carrying over from the first game, I think Big Daddy is just such a surprising character that I didn’t have the heart to cut him out. He’s a cool looking robot and I really liked Bioshock Infinite. So Daddio stays.

Cloud (Final Fantasy VII)

In an act I can only describe as ‘big oof’, Nintendo managed to swipe up Cloud to appear in a certain other fighting series, despite the fact that Cloud is most heavily associated with Playstation. And his home game is the most iconic game on the PS1. Hey, I’m not saying I don’t want him in Smash (he’s my main I love my big sword twink), but can’t they share? He’s gotta be here too, come on.

Colonel Radec (Killzone series)

Being 100% honest right now, I know basically nothing about Killzone. But what I do know is this guy has a cool helmet and probably uses a lot of guns. So he can stick around I guess. Plus, I’ve been meaning to try Killzone out for a while.

Crash Bandicoot

As the previous mascot for the PS1, Crash was one of the most glaring omissions from the first game. He’s got enough different ways of jumping around and riding motorbikes to make for a cool moveset, so if they’re doing another one, Crash really does need to be onboard.

Dante (Devil May Cry series)

Dante is heckin cool and his moveset potential is awesome and that’s kind of all there is to it, so I think he kind of needs to come back. In terms of design, it doesn’t matter too much, but it would be REALLY cool if they either went back to the original PS2 design or to his new DMC5 model. Either way, Dante would be one people would miss.

Deacon St. John (Days Gone)

The protagonist in Sony’s upcoming zombie thing Days Gone seems like he’d pretty cool in a crossover fighter, that is if they can make him unique. I doubt having him run everyone over on his bike would quite cut it, but it seems like Days Gone is gonna be pretty good, hopefully good enough to justify his place here. Bring on the bike dad.

Delsin Rowe (InFAMOUS: Second Son)

I’ve replaced Cole MacGrath with the series’ most recent protagonist, Delsin Rowe. I feel like this chaotic rebel with big ol superpowers would fit just as well as Cole, but seems a little more recognisable due to him being a little more recent.

Doom Slayer (Doom)

A lot of people have been speculating that we could be seeing Doomguy in Smash, but I think there’d be much less need for censorship if we saw him in a PS All Stars. They wouldn’t even need to tone him down at all, he can just go full out gun. You can’t tell me that wouldn’t be fun.

Ellie (The Last of Us)

I mean yeah, there’s Joel, but I think Ellie would be the much cooler pick, especially now she’s all grown up in Part 2. Not the most obvious choice for an over the top crossover fighter, but The Last of Us is Playstation royalty, and by extension, Ellie. And hey, she has enough usage of cool weapons to keep her place on the roster so I would be more than down for this.

Emily Kaldwin (Dishonored series)

I think Emily is pretty much my most wanted character. I love Dishonored and I toyed around with Corvo in my head for a while, but ultimately settled on Emily because I think her powers are a bit cooler. Such an obvious fit if you think about it, with her cool shadow reach thing and all her weapons. Basically, she needs to be here.

Fat Princess

Who is Fat Princess? Does anyone actually know? Because I don’t. The pure enigma around her keeps her on the roster.

Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher series)

Monster hunter by trade. Wields two swords and a crossbow. Has access to several magic signs that allow to create magic traps or set things on fire. Plus, he’s the protagonist of one of the best RPGs of this console generation. Put him in pls.

Heihachi Mishima (Tekken series)

Another veteran I’m keeping, as I think the sequel would still need its representation from an actual fighting game. I mean, Nintendo got Street Fighter so it’s only fair Playstation get to keep Tekken. And no one’s gonna be mad, he’s from a fighting game so of course his moves would be cool.

The Hunter (Bloodborne)

It was either this guy or Solaire of Astora, so I thought I’d stick with the one that’s the PS exclusive. I imagine the Hunter as a fast-paced fighter who’s a bit jumpy, which would be a good contrast to some of the other heavier fighters. He’s got plenty going for him and he’s from a great game, so he seems an obvious choice.

Isaac Clarke (Dead Space)

Everyone’s favourite janitor who’s in way out of his depth, Isaac Clarke, is here to stay. Access to fun weapons and would probably be a nice break for him to fight Fat Princess rather than the necrofuckery he normally has to deal with. Oh, but don’t make him DLC this time.

Jak and Daxter

The poster boys of some of the best platforming on the PS2, these guys were clear picks for the first game and it’d be a little sad if you cut them from the sequel.

Joker (Persona 5)

I am BEYOND excited for my best boi to get into Smash, but it also makes a little too much sense he join in for an All Stars sequel. After all, P5 started life as and still is a PS4 exclusive, though I suppose that’s likely to change soon. Still, let him and Cloud join the fun too!

Kat and Dusty (Gravity Rush)

I have never played Gravity Rush, but I’ve heard that it’s pretty much amazing, so I thought I’d leave a spot for these two and carry them over. Plus, their designs are cool so I’m here for it.

Knack

Yeah, yeah, I know. Knack was kind of rubbish and Knack 2 was more rubbish. But how cool would Knack be in a fighting game? He could be a really technical fighter, switching between two separate movesets for his bigger and smaller forms, a bit like Pokemon Trainer in Smash. And he’s owned by Sony so he’d be easy to slot in. Sure the games weren’t great, but as a character concept, yes please.

So there’s the first half! Curious as to my other 21 picks? Drop in next week to see who they are! If you’ve got characters you’d like to see, let me know down below and we can all talk about a game that will probably never happen. Have a gr8 day.

[avergavi]

LOVE #LUNESDELUNATICAS

Love.

Love continually evolves and is always changing, is a dynamic thing, especially couples love. 

Family love, social love, work love, love, in general, is that thing we really like to feel, but basically is that thing that motivated us to keep doing the things we do.

Few of us are the privileged ones, that we can find love in life, I mean, everyone works, study, live and makes certain efforts for a basic necessity or survival, but we just don’t start loving what we do, we just simply do it because we must do it.

We do it in the automatic mode without paying attention to our privileges, without giving the value to our comfort or easy access, from small things like breading or walk, those things we take them for grounded, we don’t think or imagine even a parallel reality where we don’t have those small things in our life.

There are few of us that we manage to developed conscience and find that joy and eventually that love in what we do.

We all start by doing a minimum effort in what we must do, like dress up, eat, work, study. Then the necessity evolves to comfort, in this point, we don’t mind that from time to time we feel a little discomfort (long hours of transportation, bad lunch schedule, ‘normal’ harassment etc)  then we feel joy in what we do, that small feeling of tranquility even when we are in a discomfort part (extra hours, an argument, a gossip, etc)  then, there are only few that manage to eventually find love, that awareness of valance in what we do.

Awareness of your “efforts”, makes you feel good with you and with others around you, harmony around your daily-life a sense of happiness. 

There always discomfort moments that might make you rethink but end up deciding, not to stop, you to keep doing it, complaints are overcome by acceptance, injustice is overcome by actually find and apply that solution, the surviving pass into the thriving, that point is when you find individual love in life.

If you have achieved that feeling, means that probably family is also sorted out, (acceptable -no perfect idealistic- relation with mom, dad, sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts, cousins) almost work-love helps to finds balance and happiness in other aspects of our individual life (in this point is where humanitarian feelings start to grow) and is beautiful. 

For couples-love is almost inevitable that women face more difficulties in to find that love, evolving, acceptance, kindness that type love we all deserve.

The societal and cultural establishment even in 2019 still impose and picture “standard” of what is “romantic love” between the couple regardless of gender (general public still thinks that is nothing wrong to ask you about your loved ones, or ask you if are single, divorced or have a relationship. personal details are only ok, when you delivered them by your self without being forced to share it) a lot of general population believes that 14 of February is a special romantic day, that we are obligated to spend it in a couple. 

Tons of feminist movement (there are hundreds+ types o feminism or gender studies lines of research) have empowered us to not follow a stereotypical romantic kind of love, but still, we face tons of challenge trying to evolve and grow in a couple relationship.

With this I mean, yes we know arguments and disagreement are part of our human interaction, everyone has bad days or months or years, we are all have individuals efforts and in different circumstances, that we try to solve them in the most logical or rational way possible, by different ways of communication channels (still, we are the most, those who face trouble in keeping our mouth shut and listen more) but in the best circumstances, the growing up type, we developed humility and acceptance to the other person arguments, we developed understanding and set our limits.

Setting limits is never easy, cause that implies, a recognition of mutual feeling but different goals, that after mutual understanding realize that are never going to be compatible and then the letting-go part must be involved with acceptance, in that part is where we must set limits and those limits have a “never cross” warning on it.

Violence is defined by the World Health Organization as “the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person (...) that results in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation” (WHO, 2002, p5 ) three parts are really important for me, the intentionality is going to be explained later, but the psychological harm and maldevelopment are the most important.

In the same report the WHO, recognize that “certain behaviors may be regarded by some people as an acceptable cultural practice, but are consider violent acts cause also have implications for the individual health” (WHO, 2002) here factors as culture or social background play a major role when victims (especially women) who are inside the relation are not having a clear understanding of what psychological violence and they are not having clear limits, that only helps to blurry the real aggressor behavior.

Justifying, exempting and accepting circumstances are only the first part to move out a violence circle, interpersonal violence ( intimate partner violence) can be also psychological, again the WHO understand the root of violence from an ecological model, divide by individual, relationship, community and societal, they take into account the following

Individual - behavior according to biological info, demographic, impulsivity, education, substance abuse and prior history of aggression.

Relationship - proximal social relations. 

Community - contexts in which social relationships are embedded, residential mobility, heterogeneity, population density, and geographical context.

Societal - factors that create an acceptable climate for violence, those that create gaps between groups. (norms that support violence, attitudes, health education, social inequality)  - (WHO, 2002, p 13)

In the relationship part, the inform mention that “in the cases of partner violence, interacting on an almost daily basis or sharing a common domicile with an abuser may increase the opportunity for violent encounters. Because individuals are bound together in a continuing relationship, the victim will repeatedly be abused by the offender” (WHO, 2002) here is why is really important to set limits by our self. 

Been aware of a certain situation and understanding the causes of violence might lead us to justify, exempt or accept violent behavior, especially from our partner, therefore from a public health model, a tertiary prevention model of violence are us, we are the one who set clear limits.

To criminal law, violence is related to a crime and in most of the “simple” cases implies an offender and a victim, the offender is pointed out to have committed a type of conduct that is punishable by law.

Then by the term justifying circumstance means, that the offender did commit an act against the law, but his context and motive made him/her react at “self-defense, defense of relatives, defense of stranger, state of necessity, fulfillment of duty and obedience to superior order” (Gregorio, 2012, p2) in general this type of causes lead the offender to less hard punishment. 

The term exempting circumstances implies “imbecility, insanity, minority, accident, the compulsion of irresistible force, impulse of an uncontrollable fear of an equal or great injury, lawful or insuperable cause” (Gregorio, 2012, p33) these cases also means less hard punishment, of course, the evidence of both require specific characteristics and circumstances that the jury and the judge will determine if it’s true or not.

The term acceptance means consenting to receive or undertake the action. these means that we fully know and we are aware of the causes, we know and recognizes the mistreatment but we still accepted. 

Then there is the question. let's picture a typical situation where two persons what to be together in a romantic-couple way, they are both grown-ups, they are both professional with a certain level of education and similar economic backgrounds.

Then one hurt the other, the one that is being offended and even is aware that it’s being hurt, keep contact, then eventually the one that commits the offense asked for an apology and a second chance, the 'victim' agree and try to forgive, then the other hurting situation happens again, committed from the similar way.

The offended argue that even she/he understand the motives and the facts of the hurting situation, is just a growing stage for them because they are trying to reconcile their difference and no there is nothing to be justified is just a different type of love.

Here is an example where the victim doesn’t set limits and the causes of that are because according to sociology slippery concepts of low self-esteem, Stockholm syndrome, codependency or traumatic bonding, learned helplessness (Krupka Zoe, 2016)

But then again we are blaming the victim, without recognizing the aggressor violent behavior or the Ecological-structural model that the WHO uses to analyze violence. 

And the point of this is, that we the “victims” should use this type of information to make the point to our aggressor, use this as evidence to analyze yourself, question if we are actually setting limits? we are blurring his/her behavior or we are again, repeating physiological patrons.

Para: Ti

[vitalpen]

A criticism of Persona 5

So I’m gonna preface this diatribe with three disclaimers:

First off is going to be the SPOILER WARNING.  This post spoils the game all over the place as it needs to given the nature of the discussion.  That’s why the read more is there.

Second, this post is long.  Coming in at a lover 2000 words.  So if you ready this, get ready for an essay.

Third: I love Persona 5.  I played through it twice, did every social link, filled out the compendium, and beat the secret boss.  It is a fantastic game with a fantastic story, loveable characters, beautiful art, and menus stylish enough to have their own fashion show.  

That being said, there are things that it does with each character that I can’t help but sigh at in frustration.  There are a few running themes for all of these that I’ll expand on at the end.

A lot of the issues come down to how a character is treated after their “important thing” is resolved. I’m gonna run down them in order of people entering your party.

Starting off, there’s Mona.  Leaving behind how happy I am that he was not just another Teddy, there are points with Mona that make him out to be such a whiny little brat.  Mainly, the section where he leaves the party because he thinks they’re getting too greedy.  Rather than try to get them back on track, he drops them after one bad conversation with mostly just Ryuji (the rest of the party is pretty unclear on where they stand), thus leaving them with no supervision when they seem to need it the most.  There’s also the whole constant insulting of Ryuji to the point where it’s eyeroll-inducing and the fact that backstory wise, he does end up being part way to a rehash of Teddy.  

Actually, speaking of Mona insulting Ryuji, man that guy never gets a break.  Despite the fact that he has a compelling backstory and motivation, after the first palace, he starts to lean pretty heavily toward the “punching bag” type of joke character.  He’s the one that everyone (especially Mona) calls an idiot, he’s the butt of nearly all the slapstick, and he’s the one that gets harassed by the gay stereotypes with some really uncomfortable cutting to black (and that one’s an large issue all on its own).  At the point Mona leaves (with poor justification) Ryuji, understandably, doesn’t want him back and is treated like the bad guy for it.  Even when you aretrying to get him back, suddenly Ryuji is uncharacterisitically cold toward him.  Even near the end of the game, when Ryuji does something incredibly brave and selfless, seeming to sacrifice his life, the game completely undermines it by having the girls beat the ever loving shit out of him when he makes the mistake of... surviving, I guess.

Now, Ann, aside from the way they pronounce her name.  She is a straight up different character in her Social Link than she is in the main story (which is actually connected to another problem that we’ll get into later).  In the story she is typically caring, usually level-headed, if easily annoyed, and loves sweets, whereas her Social Link turns her into little more than a ditzy blond with a penchant for competition that we don’t see anywhere in the main story.  It creates this disconnectio between the two stories that’s really hard to reconcile.

Yusuke is window dressing.  He does nothing substantial for the main plot after the second palace is done.  The majority of his unique contributions could be summed up with deadpan, straight-faced joke moments (that are legitimately amazing every time they show up), dialogue that any of the characters could have said, and saying “yeah, that’s right” in the “every party member gets to say something” moments.

Makoto’s issue involves another theme that we’ll expand on later.  Her relationship with her sister is incredibly unhealthy and never realistically addressed.  It gets to point where she’s actually afraid of her.  It isn’t helped when the rest of the party guilt trips her into installing a virus on her sister’s computer (one of the few moments that I think is legitimately bad in this game). How is this resolved?  Once you do the palace it’s all just gone, despite you not stealing Sae’s treasure.  No counseling, no baggage, no promises to do better, not believable progression, nothing.  That’s not how that works.

Futaba has a similar issue.  After her palace, she is just magically cured of her crippling social anxiety, as far as the main plot is concerned at least.  She hangs out in front of LeBlanc, plain as day, totally fine, never having any issue in the main plot with other people ever again.  No therapy, not even the slightest relapse or difficulty, no believable progression, nothing.  I repeat: that’s not how that works.

Haru... poor, poor, Haru.  She gets nothing when she should have had so much.  She’s introduced at about 3/4 of the way through the story, doesn’t get a proper awakening to her persona and reveal of her thief outfit, never gets a moment of catharsis for her father and arranged fiance treating her like an object in the real world, nor any catharsis about dealing with the emotional trauma of her losing her father in a way that is as crushing as it could ever be, and eventually just ends up kinda telling the one who killed him that it’s no big deal.  Everything about her just gets buried until you’re left with a Persona Q character, which is a game that has a serious problem with reducing complex, multifaceted characters to one-note personalities.

And then there’s Goro “I have daddy issues disguised as an interesting take on personal justice” Akechi.  A character that was waaaaaaaaaaay better before the heelturn.  The switch from morally aligned but methodologically opposed antagonist to mustache-twiddling, muhahahing, train-track-damsel-tying villain sucked all the depth out of him.  They had a three-dimensional character that portrayed an interesting foil in both personal beliefs and public opinion of the party.  And by the end, all of that was stripped away because you have to have a bretrayal in a Persona game, and he gets with nothing resembling a satisfying sendoff.  The fact that he has essentially disappeared from the real world is never even addressed (this is yet a third thing that we’ll get into shortly).

All of these issues culminate in three specific themes.

The first is that the Social Links feel very disconnected from the plot.  P3 escaped this because the party member Social Links were specifically tied to events in the main story and sometimes couldn’t be progressed through until certain events occurred.  P4 didn’t have this problem because the Social Links all resulted from the personal issues that came up in their dungeons with their shadows, so there is connective tissue to the events.  

But the Social Links in P5 feel so distant.  Ann’s modeling stuff, Ryuji’s track team, Yusuke’s painting, Makoto’s friend, and Haru’s arranged marriage and coffee stuff, all have nothing or very little to do with the story.  The only one who didn’t quite have this issue, is Futaba, who got the P4 treatment, complete with confronting and accepting her shadow to gain her persona.  But even that deals more with her social anxiety than her acceptance that her mother’s death wasn’t her fault but actually an assassination.  Because the Social Links, which are literally “character development as a game mechanic”, are separated from the story, it gives the feeling that they’re inconsequential.  We never see the fruits of the character’s labor as they try to better themselves.  As far the main story is concerned, they may as well have not happened.  This is especially salient if you do the Moon social link, wherein you have to teach Mishima not to let the power go to his head, only to later have your party let the power go to their heads (or Ryuji at least, like I said earlier, it’s not super clear where everyone stands during that part of the game).

The second issue is that, for a series whose core themes are based off Jungian psychology (personas and shadows), it’s really bad at handling psychological stuff.  They want to have the drama of things like:

“a character who has social anxiety and intrusive thoughts of guilt about her mother’s death that have haunted her for years” 

“one of your party members has an older sister who’s her legal guardian, but is neglectful of her duties in that role and verbally abusive of that party member, thus creating a dependent relationship that revolves around trying (and failing) to gain her sister’s approval”

“After thinking that she may have helped turn her father into a better person who might love her as a daughter rather than an asset, in mid-celebration, a girl sees her father die on live TV and she may have been the cause of it”

But they aren’t prepared for the fallout that comes with those kind of elements.  Social anxiety severe enough to keep you in your room is typically going to take more than just support from friends to rehabilitate from.  Sae’s abusive tendencies toward her sister are explained by her palace, but they are not excused by it.  The palace’s are physical manifestations of the point where someone can justify anything to themselves, not a mind control device.  Nothing about Sae’s resentment toward her sister (that is doing everything she can not to be a burden) is given any kind of proper follow up.  It needed more addressing than the NOTHING it was given.  And don’t get me started on the rush job that was Haru.  

Her father is killed in gruesome fashion, eyes literally rolling back into his head and leaking blood, after she thought she had saved him from his own cruelty, and for a period of weeks, it seems a lot like it’s her fault.  She is left orphaned, and being pulled every which way by members of her father’s company in the void of power that’s left behind, once again turned back into an asset just after she thought she had escaped that.  This should have been the mother of all gut punches.  This should have been something that took her out of the game reminiscent of Shinji from P3.  This should have given her a hate boner for Akechi twice the size of Aegis’s for Ryoji.  This ruined her life just at the precipice of it getting better.  In one fell swoop, victory was ripped from her and replaced with bitter defeat and loss.  There was so much set up for her to have a character arc.  But we never see her react to it.  No crying, no depression, just back to her sweet, gardening self.  To top it all off, like a month later, she forgives the person who killed him and betrayed your party in a passing comment during one of those “every party member gets to say something” moments.  This is the pinnacle of emotional blue balls.

(Edit: @lightybulb brought it to my attention that Haru doesn’t actually forgive Akechi.  She, in fact, specifically says that she can never forgive him.  While it’s swept under the rug, I totally misremembered on that one.  My bad.)

Pretty much all of this fits into the third main issue that Persona 5′s narrative has.  It has a bad habit of not sticking the landing or following up afterward.  Which sucks for stuff like Akechi, where he was built up the entire game, and personal traumas like Haru, Futaba, or Makoto.  It sucks when it takes away a lot of the character’s depth like it did with Yusuke.  It sucks when the villain backstory and plan is literally just told to you in an exposition the likes of which I haven’t seen in years.  

This is not to say it never sticks the landing, as it very often does (more so in the first half of the game in my opinion), but there are a lot of key points where plot threads just kinda peter off into nothing or are wrapped up way too conveniently with a little bow on top.  

There are ways to fix these issues.

You wanna connect the Social Links to the main plot?  Lock ranks of party member Social Links behind story events.  This intrinsically ties the personal growth to the main plot and lets them talk about story events.  Events from the story can be used to kick of a conversation that moves it to the next level or draws a parallel to the personal situation they’re dealing with.

You wanna have satisfying and believable treatment of psychological issues?  Understand that they are not just something you deal with in a few days or weeks.  Understand that “the power of friendship” (Copyright Anime 1962, please support the official release) is not a substitute for counseling or medication.  Understand that the road to recovery is long, arduous, and sometimes loops back on itself.  It’s anything but a straight line.

There is no set remedy for sticking the landing and following up other than a pretty general good writing tip: don’t leave plot threads hanging and don’t introduce plot threads you don’t have adequate room to include.

Now as previously stated, I love Persona 5 and nothing I’ve said here takes away from that fact.  But I also want to see the things I love do even better for themselves.  That’s kinda the point of this post.

That’s pretty much all I got for this.  If you agree or disagree, feel free to add your own arguments to this, I’m always down for a conversation.  Cheers.

[toezi]

KCON

Hello friends so I went to KCON this past weekend……… Here’s my story.

HELL ON EARTH i made a cute kcon vlog and made vanessa sit down with me for a kcon chat about the first day but its too long and do i have time to reedit that? No. so here’s my kcon experience my bros.

KCON DAY 1

Wowie so we had like p5 tickets so we kinda just walked around the convention. We sat in on Joan and Edward’s panel for a while and then we stayed for GoToe and Sunny’s panel and GOTOE IS SO CUTEEE I honestly only used my camera to record him he was…. Adorable. But the panel was so quiet and awkward bc of the language barrier and Sunny wasn’t even talking she was just quietly doing his makeup. And there were only… like 30 people there? It was interesting. Then we bought a few albums (Vanessa bought 2 svt albums and a poster and I got Eclipse and we got AL1 for a friend). We went to this photobooth where you could take a picture with a drama background and they had this wall to vote for your fave dramas and leads and INNOCENT DEFENDANT DESERVED BETTER IT HAD HARDLY ANY VOTES. Anyways we were in line for the picture and we chose the Strong Woman background. As we were walking towards the green screen for our turn we were cut by a bunch of Korean businessmen and they turned around and apologized “I’m so sorry. He’s the president of __” and we honestly didn’t hear what company we kinda blacked out from the shock of these men talking to us. Anyways we were at the green screen to take out picture and I motioned to the photographer like “I am going to pick her up like a baby” and his eyes got so big he was like “Y O U?”. now let me tell you, Vanessa is 5’8 and I am 4’8….. He was like “There’s not much time…. How long can you hold?” anyways we took the worst/best picture ever and he was not amused at all lmao he looked so done with us. So we sat down at food street to wait to be picked up and I opened my EXID album to look at it. Two girls were sitting at our table and were like “Did I hear EXID?” so we started talking about the gorls then they asked if we were here to see VIXX (I was wearing a VIXX shirt) and we were like “No, seventeen” and one had an epiphany and said “WAIT i have a seventeen audience pass” AND WE WERE BOUTTA CRY she only had one tho bUT she also had a red carpet pass so I Took svt and vanessa took redcarpet for $20 each (People had been selling them for $200….) AND WE WERE SHAKING SO MUCH it felt so unreal we were both going to SEE SVT and honestly Eclipse it… the bible… a sacred album tbh, blessed. Then we got some FOOD and ended up sitting with these 3 ladies and they liked my pants and BECAUSE THE LIKED MY PANTS they offered us a bunch of free passes!! They had like 2 oh my girl, 4 Astro, 2 SF9, 1 Kard audience passes and this was literally like 20 minutes later we were SHOOK. We took Oh My Girl and gave them to Mely and Vanessa :^) But honestly we went in expecting NOTHING and the day was so crazy Its been a few days and I still can’t believe how kind people are and how lucky we were it all feels like a dream.

KCON DAY 2

I MET KAYLA WHAT A SWEETIE HI KAYLA IF U SEE THIS UR CUTE AND YOUR DRESS WAS CUTE!! ALSO I MET MELY LIKE UUUHHHHHHHHH ITS BEEN 5 YEARS AND VANESSA DIDNT FIGHT ME THANK GOD. SO we didn’t have many workshops we were planning to attend so my Vanessa and I watched Mely and her Vanessa learn how to dance DWC and Mely was talking up how she wanted to do all these dance workshops AND SHE DIDNT EVEN TRY Mely u looked like a limp noodle. Vanessa was better than u. Then Vanessa and I got some food with Kayla and Sophia (HI SOPHIA NICE MEETING U) and we noticed that it was about 12:30 and the line for SVT’s artist engagement was already forming so we waited a bit and ate as we watched that damn line grow. We eventually got in line and waited for an hour in the sun and it was abuse KCON im suing u. But Vanessa waited TWO HOURS in her line for saturday’s red carpet but she’s got more melanin than me. AND we talked to some really nice people in line IDK who ya’ll are but I lvoe you!! Anyways. We were like? In the 3rd row in the audience and there were a few people letting me get in front of them because I’m TINY and one really nice girl who was just a bit taller than me was trying her best to help me get by tall people and she was so sweet I wish I could have thanked her a million more times ;-; So there were like 3 people from a fansite to my left that wouldn’t let me by (of course) and then THESE TWO LADIES who when we asked they just looked down on me and shook their heads AND THEY WERE SO EXTREMELY TALL I WAS EFFENDED. I didn’t tell anybody this but they were playing DWC mv and i actually almost cried bc after all that anticipation I thought I wasn’t even going to be able to see them and I was so hurt. BUT After a few minutes I decided it wasn’t worth being so hot to not even be able to see SVT so I went to the back and watched from the projectors and WOWIE were they beautiful. Everybody was screaming so much /literally/ the only thing I heard was Joshua say “number two!”. But Scoops was so bubbly and had such prominent dimples, Vernon was a sweetie pie, Blond Jun looks better irl, Mingyu: an angel, Jeonghan????? BEAUTIFUL and dainty he really did look like an angel, Joshua is fkn pretty boy nerd he was just happy to be in LA. DK was his sunshine self and Mingyu…… is so cute?? I wish I coulf give much more descriptions on all the boys but I didn’t have a very good view :^( But let me tell you…. Lee Jihoon…………….. The most beautiful man I’ve ever laid eyes on like he honestly made it all worth it he’s absolutely drop dead gorgeous and I felt bliss amongst the chaos he’s truly a walking miracle on this earth. And omg he’s so tiny.

While we waited for Vanessa to finish the red carpet we got some bomb ice cream i loved that man. And OH BOY WAS VANESSA ZAZZED WHEN SHE RETURNED.

And now here are Vanessa’s thoughts about the red carpet: Ok so the red carpet was really GOOD but I was talking to the girls I met while waiting in line we all kind of agreed its kind of not worth it if you’re in the way bc fansites (I think I saw Jihoon’s fansite mintbreeze there). Also it was really cute seeing all the different fans there. I had a VIXX stan standing in front of me and she was just adorable. SF9 were really cute and one of them said “ITS LIT” before they left and I was like wow same. Donghae and I made eye contact for like 1 second and it was so awkward I had to look away. Cosmic girls were ADORABLE and Xuan Yi kept smiling and waving at fans which made all the fangirls scream and that made Xuan Yi smile even more. When VIXX greeted they greeted and all of them bowed except for Leo who had his hands together as if he was praying and I was like wow that is the most Leo thing i’ve ever seen. Girl’s day…. When I saw Minah’s outfit the girl I met while in line offered her hand for emotional support and i took it so fast bc oooooooh man I lost it. Minah kept posing so….. Suggestively like she knew what she was doing. Also I was super gay for Yura. When SVT came out ho boy I almost fell to the floor bc Jun was first and he was fcknin handsome and really tall????? Vernon is a work of art and Seungkwan is an actual baby. Mingyu was gorgeous I legit couldnt take my eyes off him man. I witnessed Wonwoo be a meme. He just looked at Minghao and had his hand on his shoulder, nodded a few times and looked away and Minghao just laughed to himself. Woozi saw some girls next to me who kept going crazy for him and I could tell he tried so hard not to laugh out loud and looked kind of embarrassed or shy about all the fangirling they were doing for a few seconds it was so cute. But tbh out of everyone except for Mingyu and Jun, Woozi kind of stood out to me the most. He was just so?????? Unique looking??? Idk how to explain it but he was beautiful. Chan was almost the last one to leave the stage bc he kept waving at the fans and doing the finger heart thing and he just looked so happy :’)))) Like Jun had to push his arm a little to make him go forward since Chan was the second to last. Also I had my banner up while they were about to leave and I saw Woozi look up a bit when I did and did a half-smile laugh mainly bc of the way I was holding it and doing a :| face ya know what I mean. So he basically laughed at me and it was an honor.

So the concerto. He was a good man. The venue wasn’t as huge as I thought it was going to be so our seats actually felt really close! Preshow: Of course Jun Curryahn was a good man when isn’t he. Then Korean Effects did some BEATBOXING and he was SO GOOD I felt the bass of that man’s voice in my chest. A girl that I do not know the name of came and sang blood sweat and tears to his beatboxing and that was the first time that night that Vanessa turned to me and screamed “IM SO GAY”. The show: Leo and Minah sang a song from Lalaland and it was beautiful. THEN JOSH VERN AND MINGYU came out as the MC’s and I was SHOOK I didn’t expect those boys. I don’t know SF9 but they were good I was amazed they got the stunts! Cosmic Girls were OF COURSE adorable and amazing. Then the screen was showing 17’s intro and we were like “OH SHIT BOY” but THEN it said “special unit performances” and we SCREAMED We didn’t think they would perform unit songs!! It was sad seeing Swimming Fool without Hosh but they did very well those boys. Habit OF COURSE WAS AMAZING I CRY THINKING ABOUT HOW I ACTUALLY HEARD THOSE ANGELS. And OHHHHHHHH BOYYYYYYYYY the day came. As soon as the first notes of Check in played Vanessa and I held on to each other and started screamiING. Check in is oUR JAM OOOOOOHH YEAHH. Then Girls Day performed and they were T H E hottest group there honestly these girls were RUDE. During their stage vanessa informed me 3 more times how gay she is. She was so angry at Minah for doing that^™. Then Cosmic Girls performed I Need U (boy) and SF9 & Cosmic girls performed Sorry Sorry AND GUESS WHO WAS NEXT THE KINGS EUNHAE. Now let me tell you a story. Super Junior was the first group I ever learned and I became friends with Vanessa and Mely because of them. Oppa Oppa? Vanessa and I have been dancing to that for 5 years and u bet we went HARD when they performed that. I’m still so angry that Eunhyuk made us say “LA oppa”. AND THEY PERFORMED I WANNA DANCE I WANTED THEM TO PERFORM IT BUT I DIDNT THINK THEY WOULD SINCE IT WAS A JAPANESE TRACK!! But the whole time they performed I was screaming about how much I hated their hair. Then Vixx performed and I could tell that a lot of fans were there for them (as well as Eunhae) they got the loudest screams. HYUKS ENGLISH WAS SO CUTE I HAD TO HOLD VANESSAS HAND MY BABY BOY. Im really lowkey glad they didn’t perform chained up tho I was blessed that night. And then………...it was SVT’s stage. I had no idea they were the headliners and OH BOY did those boys rock it. There was one VERY RUDE FOCUS ON JIHOON DURING DWC AND I CRIED INTO VANESSAS SHOULDER. I never didn’t think I was going to scream during this concert… but wow did I surprise myself. Even Vanessa was like “WOah”. But SVT performed a super sick remix of Rock and AND they had a little random play dance time which tbh they didn’t even try that hard but then they shot some tshirt cannons and I saw Jihoon rush over for one and honestly I was terrified for my life. He exudes such a different aura on stage that Jihoon really is “El Woozi”. AND HE STANDS WITH ONE HAND ON HIS HIP BOY WHAT IS THAT SASS FOR. During their ment Boo was being his lil Diva self he was so funny and Dino……. A man? He was so handsome I can’t believe. And Minghao got so many screams I was so proud and happy he deserves them all!! Really all the boys Looked amazing and performed so well I could go on for hours. I heard Seungkwan do the Boo airhorn sound effect and i shed a single tear. Dino was so stunningly handsome like??? He really actually does look older than Mingyu he does not look like the youngest at all what are they feeding him. At one point Vernon was like “Wow Josh, I can tell why you hype up your hometown so much” And JOSH gave him THIS LOOK it was so funny he looked offended, disgusted, and sassy I don’t even know who that man is. Good news: I personally caught no signs of butt touching but I /could/ have missed something. But really the whole concert was absolutely amazing, even if you don’t know all the groups the stages are all so great and I think it was just an excellent concert overall. And the next day we dropped off Mely and Vanessa at 11 for their Oh My Girl audience.. That started at 11. Im sorry Chicas but I’m glad u made it in time. ANYWAYS this has been my kcon experience I had a very good time and TBH I would probably consider going again if Seventeen never fkn comes to california.

[lovehotelreservation]

Aflame

Summary: The livelihood of your village is put in turmoil when communication from the spirit Inari falters with the disappearance of one of its messenger kitsune, Yusuke. His body possessed by a heat that goes beyond merely the sun, there is only one way to ease and extinguish the fire consuming him from within, and that method relies only with you. Feudal Japan/Kitsune AU

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Reader/Kitsune!Yusuke

HELLO EVERYONE! And thus this lovely request from an even lovelier Anon shall close things up for our weekend of requests! ^^; As you can see, I enjoyed myself thoroughly while fulfilling this prompt out, and I can’t wait to post more P5 works, especially in the weeks to come, including this one~! I hope you all enjoy!

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Kitsune, kitsune,

what does Inari say?

Kitsune, kitsune,

what ails you today?

Kitsune, kitsune,

how may I make your suffering go away?

Such was the shared philosophy of the residents of your village. Renowned across the land for the renowned quality of the weapons and tools that the blacksmiths of your hometown produced, it wasn't much surprise that Inari was worshipped and revered dearly by your people. For without the blessings of the great spirit, your village wouldn't have been able to flourish as greatly as it has. Though, to truly appreciate the blessings and properly pay respects in thanks, the kitsune were heralded on an equal level.

Thus came about that passage--an excerpt to an even longer saying--of being sure to revere Inari and its messengers, the kitsune.

There was one kitsune who was a frequent visitor to your village. As soon as you caught sight of white fur streaked with blue and red, you became eager, as it meant that the faithful messenger to Inari by the name of Yusuke, had come to deliver some news to the village, whether about weather, the acceptance of a blessing, a warning of trouble that may come, and more.

Though you were not properly trained to interpret the often stylistic wordings of Inari's message--that was more for the main village priestess, Makoto--it was clear to everyone in town that Yusuke was fond of you. Haru, the daughter of your village's daimyou, often giggled to you how amusing it was to see the fox stride up to the entrance of your town, only to break out into a full sprint whenever you came by to welcome the majestic creature before escorting him to the temples.

As your father was among the most famous blacksmiths in the village, it was an honor that a messenger of Inari would be attached to you. And you cherished the fox just as much, always so happy and joyful to greet him and always so reluctant and saddened to see him leave. He seemed to starved during every visit, whether for the food of the Takamaki bakery or for the touch of your hand, the latter which he yipped and wagged his tail with gleefully whenever you stroked his fur. It truly made you wish that he could stay, to be like a pet that you never got to have. However, knowing his importance to Inari and to your village, you accepted that this was simply how things were meant to be, how Yusuke would just be a frequent guest to your home.

It was why it was so alarming and worrying to you when Yusuke seemed to stop coming to your village.

As summer had finally come at long last, the people of your town became concerned, as the kitsune had yet to bring forth any messages for the season. Without any communication to Inari, there was worry that proper thanks wouldn't be given to the spirit, whether by food offerings or festivals, which in turn could imply ungratefulness by your people. The anxiousness increased as time passed, with Makoto receiving an influx of visitors, you being asked constantly if you were aware of Yusuke's disappearance, and even Futaba--the village astronomer--dealing with a barrage of inquiries whether the stars were aligned unfavorably to your town.

You were left to sit out upon the engawa right before your room, looking wistfully up at the sky as you wondered just where Yusuke could have gone to, whether he was safe and sound, if the Inari was suddenly displeased with your village and not, and so on. This evening was no different, with the moon looking so bright and full. It was looking to be a lonely night, as your family had traveled to Edo to sell the new wares your father had produced in one of the city's bustling marketplaces. Thankfully, you were instead accompanied by your dear friends in the comfort of your room, the shoji left open to let in the cool evening air: Makoto, Futaba, Haru, and Ann, the daughter of the Takamakis.

Seeing how distraught you were over the missing kitsune, the girls thought to treat you to a special dinner of your favorite meals and snacks that they prepared or prepared for you, with Makoto and Ann in the former, and Haru and Futaba in the latter.

Before you was a small plate of inarizushi that Ann just presented to you.

"Take a bite of this, and I'm sure he'll come right back!" She chirped happily, just before pausing, a pout forming as she then huffed "...He better because I pounded a lot of care into the rice!"

A small smile appearing, you offered her your thanks and reached for a piece to do just that. Truly, it would be blessing if that were the case--

One bite into your food and you tensed from a sudden rustling noise. It was took all of you off guard, surely, but it could have just been a rabbit passing through the bushes and other fauna that grew by your house.

Another bite. There it was again, except louder.

Alarmed and cautious, you set your food down while the others wondered out loud what it could be--though Futaba proceeded to hide herself under the table--looking outside in curiosity.

But then the sound occurred once more, right as you caught sight of a blurry mix of white, red, and blue.

You gasped, "Y-Yusuke...?"

Without another thought, you hurriedly pulled on your slippers, grabbed your lantern, and set out to follow after the blur in your yukata, too focused on what was before you to fathom the worried cries of your name by your friends. Though it was night, you often played around with the kitsune in the forest clearing by your home, especially tag and hide and seek. While the blur weaved in and out of your vision--made easier since all you had to go by was the light of your lantern and your moon--you were determined, desperate to see your dear companion once again.

By the curve of certain trees and the appearance of certain flowers, you anticipated to soon arrive at the small meadow where you and Yusuke would often have lunch together.

What you absolutely did not expect was to find the pale, lithe and naked form of a man sprawled across the colorful sea of petals and blossoms.

You shrieked initially in shock, one hand reaching up to cover your mouth. There wasn't even time to consider him to be a full human however, given by the slender but utterly fluffy navy blue tail that was protruding from his backside. As you cautiously lifted your lantern, your eyes moved up to his head, where you could make out ears that matched the color of his short, silky hair and tail.

It had to be Yusuke.

There was a widespread belief that kitsune had the ability to shapeshift into humans. However, it was a theory you never considered to be true, especially with Yusuke, simply because he never changed out of his fox form, even when delivering messages to Makoto.

But to consider just what was going on was something to be debated later, for what was important now was to attend to him. He looked to be feverish, his skin damp with sweat, flushed even in the summer heat, and panting heavily for breath as he remained on the floor.

As strange and bizarre as this situation was, you mustered up the courage to meekly query, "Yusuke? Is that you?"

"Stay...stay back..."

You were alarmed at the sound of Yusuke's speaking voice, a low tone marred by ragged exhaustion. Slowly, he pushed himself up from the floor, all the while he turned back to face you. While you noticed his body tense as his eyes fell onto your form, you were taken by how utterly handsome and beautiful he was. Though you only had the light of the lantern and the moon, the latter cast a heavenly glow down upon his face, which in turn made him look ethereal, like a true being of the heavens.

However, attractiveness aside, for your darling companion to ask that you keep away hurt you deeply, even more since he had been gone for so long.

Noting how disappointed you looked, he gazed at you wearily and shook his head. "Please I only say this for your sake...I am...not well..." Your name fell from his lips and he let out a content sigh, even amidst his present agony. "I would...want nothing more than to be by your side but I...I am unworthy, especially with this...depravity swelling within me. I cannot let you get to close, for I fear of what I...of what I may do to you."

"'Do to me?'" You queried, confused by his word choice, though relieved that he wished to remain around you. Taking a step towards him, you continued to speak, worry evident in your tone. "Yusuke, what do you mean? It's clear that you're in pain, so please tell me what I can do to help!"

A gentle, cool evening breeze brushed by you, rushing past Yusuke, who proceeded to clench his teeth, wrapping his arms around himself as he shuddered, his eyes rolling back in pleasure. "G-Gods...I...your scen--"

"Eek! Na-Naked man! Makoto, Ann, Haru! There's a weird pervert here about to attack...!"

The shrill squeal of your name had you twisting your body back in surprise to see a stupefied Futaba holding a lantern up defensively, all the while eyeing Yusuke with complete, utter terror. Though, what was truly terrifying was to see Makoto, Ann, and Haru leap from the bushes, all brandishing bamboo sticks that seemed to have been ripped from the ground along the way, their eyes exuding nothing by protective fury.

"Aaah! It's fine, everyone! It's fine!" You sqwaked, immediately stepping in right front of Yusuke protectively. Though you held a hand up as a gesture to calm, you were caught in a flustered ramble over all this sudden turn of events. "The man behind me is Yusuke, one of Inari's kitsune messengers! He can actually shapeshift into a human, but he still has his blue ears and tail!"

"Shapeshift?" Makoto remarked with utter bewilderment.

"Tail?" Haru repeated with awe.

"He can't even find clothes to cover his shame?!" Ann heaved with anger.

From behind, you could hear Yusuke's breathing worsen, along with the sound of him shifting in place. However, what stood out to you the most was Futaba squealing out "Aaah! He's-- He's going to attack!"

But before you could fully comprehend what she said, you were suddenly enveloped in the tight embrace of Yusuke as his arms wrapped around your body from behind. With the kitsune now in sight, your friends noted his dark blue ears atop his head and the glimpse of a wagging tail. You let out a startled noise, your body freezing in place even if the heat emanating from his skin was just so hot--an inviting heat like that of an onsen. But much like the result of relaxing in a bubbling hot spring, you instantly became flushed when you felt something hard and stiff press against your backside. "Yu-Yusuke--? What are you...?"

"You--!" Ann snarled, gripping her bamboo tightly as she readied to strike. "I'll have you know these hands pound some really good mochi, you freak!"

"Withdraw your arms now, kitsune," Makoto warned dangerously--even as a priestess, she was feared around the village as someone to never cross.

"Or face the consequences," Haru giggled, brandishing her makeshift weapon with expertise. Similarly, the daimyou's daughter had the same reputation.

Gripping her lantern, Futaba put on a brave face while swinging it around in an attempt to be intimidating. "You'll be seeing stars, demon! We'll make sure of it!"

You felt conflicted. On one hand, you understood that your friends simply wanted to protect you from his bizarre actions, but--even stranger--you wanted to understand and ease whatever was distressing your friend.

To feel the rumble of his chest as he spoke was actually quite soothing, even if his voice remained strained. "My...my apolgies for my actions and absence, fair maidens." He too lifted his hand up as a gesture of a reassurance. "It is as your friend says--I am indeed Yusuke, kitsune messenger to Inari. I realize that your village has yet to receive Inari's messages regarding the summer festival. There is reason for my absence, which I desire nothing more than to explain."

While your friends refused to let down their guard, Makoto--still wielding her bamboo stick--remarked with a narrowed glare. "...Go on."

"Though kitsune are messengers to Inari, the merciful spirit allows us to live our lives freely as we wish. Some remain foxes, others masquerade themselves as humans whenever there are no messages to deliver," Yusuke began, trying his best to remain coherent even if his voice remained shaky. His eyes shut as he ended up leaning further against you, which in turn caused his bare, erect cock to press deeper against you. "Unfortunately, a condition that kitsune must endure comes around when the moon is at its fullest--namely, a period where their bodies are overwhelmed by this...hellish heat from within. While I usually was able to fulfill my duties before the time of my heat, I usually sought the mercy of Inari to eliminate it. But it was not the case this summer..."

Yusuke paused, clinging to your body even tighter as he inhaled, a shudder going through him as he continued, "...by mating with another."

You were speechless.

Your friends looked to Yusuke.

Then to his arms.

Then to you.

Who was in his arms.

Then back to Yusuke.

Makoto reached into the sleeve of her white haori, pulling out a ofuda strip before wrapping it tightly around her bamboo sticking. Glaring furiously at Yusuke, she remarked in an utterly terse tone. "Messenger of Inari or not, I will not allow such perversions to sully the good name of my friend! I will pray for forgiveness for the next hundred years for this if I must!"

Ann and Haru mirrored her expression--though the former was scowling while the latter was smiling--all the while they tapped their bamboo sticks on their hands repeatedly. Futaba swung her lantern around as she cried out, "We will burn this forest down and take you with it, you weirdo!"

"Everyone, please...! I wouldn't mind!"

It was strange to find some comfort in Yusuke's embrace. The way he held you--even as constrictive and needy as it was--felt adoring and affectionate, much like how he enjoyed curling up beside you when you decided to take an afternoon nap. There was no true difference between his human and fox form. This was Yusuke through and through.

Really, there was something both touching and alluring to being desired so greatly, especially by a divine messenger. You wondered if the gracefulness that left you awed could also leave you quivering with pleasure.

The small but fearsome mob that was ready to fight on your behalf looked at you aghast.

Ann fumbled with your name and the words she screeched, "Don't you see that he's just using this as an excuse as a way to sleep with you?! He was using his fox form to lure you in and think he's so cute, when really he's a no good trickster!"

Futaba cried out your name, her face twisting with despair. "I didn't know you were into the kind of thing! Who's the weirdo now?!"

Looking mindful, Haru pressed a finger to her cheek as she mused, "Actually, I know of the wives of some daimyou who go to the red night districts of Kyoto and Edo for this sort of thing--"

"Haru, please refrain...," Makoto interrupted with exasperation. Focusing on you and Yusuke, she eyed you with concern and him with disdain. "You, kitsune...so if we are to understand this correctly, your current...bodily state is what's preventing you from returning to Inari to receive its message for delivery to our village?"

"That is correct," he affirmed with a nod, having been far too wrapped up in your scent and body being so close to him to really mind whatever anger was flung his way.

"And if our friend were to..." Her red eyes narrowed in a suspicious glare. "...relieve you of this heat, then you will be able to return to Inari, receive its message, and deliver it to me at long last?"

"I swear it this to you, Lady Makoto. Were the circumstances different, I would've have brought the message to you weeks ago. But my body just...and your beautiful companion..." He shuddered once more, your scent becoming just too much to take. As soon as you stood close by to defend him from the wrath of your friends, whatever scraps of his restraint were burning away in the wake of his heat. For you to be right within his grasp, your scent so intoxicating, all while you were just as compassionate and sweet to him as you always have been even with all of the bizarre twist of events, there was nothing he craved more than you at this moment.

"Oi, keep it in your pants!" Futaba hissed, waving her lantern around in warning.

Ann nodded vigorously, her arms folded across her chest. "Find some already, would you?!"

Makoto held up her hand, motioning for the two to remain quiet. Her gaze softened as it shifted to you, even if they remained worried. "I apologize for having to put you up to this. But as you've seen firsthand, the village is growing restless without hearing word from the Inari--and I know your father is especially concerned too. If you are truly up to taking this task, then go ahead. But...please tell us whatever you may need to make this as pleasant as possible."

"Just say the word, okay?" Ann urged, even if it was clear that she was still unsettled by the situation.

"I can have some of the finest, most comfortable futon brought in from Kyoto by the end of the week if you wish!" Haru added with a wide smile.

"Would kitsune over there even make it until then?" Futaba speculated, while eyeing him and the night sky above.

You offered a wide smile in thanks, bowing your head with gratitude, "All of you, thank you so much. Knowing that you hold me in such regard means a lot. Though I don't think I will need anything els--"

"Rope."

Alarmed, the five of you turned to Yusuke, whose expression was serious.

"What for?!" Ann demanded, the look on her face hardening once more.

"For me--consider this as security for your friend," Yusuke clarified, even if it only brought forth more questions, more suspicion, more anger.

Clutching her head with one hand, Futaba proceeded to yell out to the sky, "Why are there so many kinks being discussed tonight?!"

It was a question that rang out into the night, the answer to be debated for another time. But with Yusuke legitimately minutes from having his way with you right in front of your friends, Makoto thought it would be best to return to your room to prepare for what was to come. He was escorted back to your home, your friends walking in front while he hovered behind you, his hands gently holding onto your waist.

As soon as your house was in sight, Ann was seen running out of your room, a sheet in hand as she chucked it right at him with the cry of "Cover up if you want to get inside, you perv!"

Certainly this evening was progressing along well.

Per his request, you retrieved some rope from your father's workshop, which was quickly taken by Makoto and Futaba, leaving you to be given a pep talk by a giggling Haru and a huffy Ann on the way back to your room.

"If he tries anything that makes you uncomfortable, just yell okay?!" Ann demanded with her arm wrapped around your shoulders. "We'll be in the dining room, but you can bet we'll come running!"

"Mm, perhaps we should see if there are any leftover weapons around the house. Don't you think so, Ann?" Haru queried thoughtfully while walking alongside of you.

"Completely!" She grinned, reaching forward to clasp hands with Haru, leaving you in the middle of a makeshift but pleasant group hug.

By now, you were standing right in front of your room. The confidence and assurance that you carried while easing the worry of your friends waned as your heart fluttered for what was to come. This wasn't even your first time either, but considering the stakes, considering who Yusuke was, there were just so many layers going into this that were as daunting as they were exciting.

The shoji to your room slid open and out came a red-faced Futaba--who seemed to have her abacus in hand--and a calm, satisfied Makoto.

Turning to you, the priestess, once more, eyed you gently as she rested her hands on your shoulders. "I'm sure Ann and Haru said enough, but again, truly...if you feel uncomfortable at any point, tell us and we will be there immediately, alright? Though, I feel confident that he should remain in place with how I did the knots."

Futaba waved her abacus around. "There was no way I could do any of that, so I just calculated the probability of when a riot breaks out in the village if this doesn't work out."

"Futaba--!" Ann and Makoto exclaimed admonishingly.

"It will be fine," Haru reassured soothingly. "Sure the circumstances are odd, but at the very least we can ease the worries of the village. If anything, we should trust in our friend to save the day!" Stepping forward, she took Makoto's and Ann's into hers, all the while gesturing to Futaba with the nod of her head. "But with that said, let us seek out some weapons so we may offer our full protection to any devious beings!"

"Haru, are you a rich kid, or a samurai?" Futaba queried while trailing after Haru as she dragged Makoto and Ann along, the two looking back towards you, at first with worry but then relief when you smiled confidently to them both--even if, again, your heart raced.

With nothing else to do or say, you inhaled deeply before you stepped inside your room, shutting the door behind you.

Though the shoji that lead outside closed--thus minimizing the amount of moonlight being allowed inside--the andon that was present in your room provided enough lighting to see the newfound centerpiece of your bedroom.

There, upon your futon, with his arms stretched out wide and bound to your table by his wrists while his legs were tied securely together with rope, was Yusuke. Restrained, naked save for your thick blanket covering his lower torso and pelvic area, he was there, lying in desperate need for your touch. As soon as he heard the shoji slide open, as soon as your magnificent scent wafted into the room once again, he immediately turned his head towards you, his expression becoming relieved upon the sight of your face.

From beneath him, you could see his tail wag with excitement.

"You're here," was how he greeted you with a blissful sigh.

"I meant what I said, Yusuke." You smiled in return, reaching to undo the ties that held up your yukata. "You mean a lot to me, so no matter the form you're in, I wish to help you."

Seeing you begin to undress, Yusuke's tongue flittered out to run over his lips, unable to contain himself at this point. His mouth had been hungering for you for so long--honestly, even far before this evening, before his heat even began. "Truly, you are divine. Both in spirit and in beauty. I am grateful that you would help me in this pitiful time of need."

Once more you reassured him. Once more he eyed you with desire.

As your yukata and your underclothing fell to the floor, the wag of his tail intensified and his desire intensified, all as your skin was exposed and laid bare for him to behold and marvel. Though you felt a fluttering from within from his unwavering stare, you felt emboldened by his attention, feeling yourself become slick and wet between your legs as you realized just how much he yearned for you.

His body certainly had no shame in telling you once you lifted your blanket off of him, his cock--just so painfully erect at this point--springing up. The moan he let out was only followed by an amused, gentle chuckle as he noticed your awed expression. "I take it that you are fond of what you see."

"Fond would be an understatement." You wanted to touch it. You wanted to lick it. You wanted to ride it.

You wanted it.

Your fingers reached forward to grab at his cock, only to stop midway when you heard him murmur out, "Don't."

"'Don't?'" You were astonished. "But I thought--"

"Sit on my face."

He sounded and looked so serious.

"Yusuke...?" There was that rush of heat towards your face again, aching even more severely between your legs. Your thighs pressed close together, which he noticed--almost wanting to tsk at you because he wanted to part them with his head.

"I do not want to be selfish. Please, let me indulge you before we begin," he murmured, motioning you over with a flick of his head.

You did as he instructed, touched that even in his own suffering, he still had you in mind.

Though, despite him being sincere with his words, the way he feasted on you couldn't be greedier.

The ethereal creature that left you speechless with his grace was not to be seen--or heard--with the way he planted his mouth against your core. Between the quick, hungry laps of his tongue and the noisy suction of his lips, it was impossible to refrain from moaning out loud and grinding down against his touch. He said this was for your pleasure, but with a look to how his wrists within their rope bindings, it was evident that he wanted to indulge himself further with his hands free, to savor more of the honey that was trickling down his chin.

However, he minded to himself, the need for rope was his requests, and surely with how the intensity of his heat has gone right to the extremes, he struggled to maintain his dwindling self-restraint.

With every quiver of your body, with the arch of your back, he was motivated to lick and taste you further until he had his full. Noticing that the rock of your hips was becoming more frequent, he was compelled to intensify the flick of his tongue, only to be left panting out the aghast remark of "W-Why are you pulling away...?"

Your body shivered in response--he sounded legitimately in despair that you withdrew your hips away from his mouth. In response, you didn't wait to press your hand against his cheek, stroking his face adoringly as you smiled, a deep blush of scarlet on your face. "Don't worry, Yusuke. I simply don't want to be selfish. But rather..."

His throat hitched as you proceeded to position and straddle yourself above his hips. He threw his head back with a whimper, feeling your slippery, wet heat glide against the full length of his aching erection, the soft touch of your hand wrapping around the base. "Gods yes...!"

"I want to do this--" You bit your lip, moaning as you eased yourself onto his cock before slowly sinking all the way down. "--with you...!"

Yusuke shuddered violently with a loud cry, his back arching off of the futon, a burn felt on his wrists and legs by how much he strained against them in that very moment. However, he was left stunned when he felt your lips meet his in utter tenderness. The sweet words of "Don't worry, Yusuke. I'm here" were murmured, even if the delivery was breathless.

Such compassion.

Feeling your hands position themselves against his chest, he watched and felt you began to lift your hips up and down his cock, working yourself to a steady rhythm. He wished to shut his eyes in pleasure as he could relief the beginnings of relief slowly trickle down to extinguish the fire pent up within him, but he fought against the urge, for he wanted to instead marvel at your beauty, your sensuality, everything.

Not just for this moment.

Ideally, forever.

However, though you were slow and reserved as you worked yourself down onto his cock, it was clear that you had some experience.

And so he groaned out the following question. "From-- From what I recall...there was a young man before me, wasn't there?" His teeth clenched tightly--whether it was from pleasure or to hold back a hiss was only for him to know. "Your first lover?"

It was a question that seemed out of the blue for you, understandably so. Still, as you continued to ride his cock, you confirmed. "A-Ahh, yes. The son of a daimyou from a neighboring village that once held ties with Haru's father." What an odd time to reminisce. "Goro A-Akechi...I really haven't thought about that name in a while."

"You were...gods...heartbroken when he left, didn't you?" Yusuke continued, recalling vaguely of that young man who he saw hanging around you a few years back, all the while his legs and wrists were yanking and tugging against their restraints even more. Though he never had any bad experiences with the daimyou's son--a charming and kind individual--there was something off-putting, almost sinister about him.

But that could easily have just been his own jealousy, especially since Goro was almost always successful in keeping you to himself whenever Yusuke came to the village for a message delivery.

Though, with Goro no longer around the village...

"We honestly didn't know what we were doing that time. Young love and all," you clarified with a pant. "But-- But I have to admit, he was quite charming and not too bad of a lover...!"

Snap.

That was the sound you heard.

You jaw fell slack at the sight of ruined rope being thrown aside.

Obviously, that was what caused the sound.

But for Yusuke the source was something different.

Namely the last bit of self-restraint he had.

Surely you didn't expect to be hoisted off of Yusuke--along with the noise of even more rope being ruined and tossed away--nor to be suddenly positioned on your hands and knees, with him situating himself right behind you.

"M-My apologies, I know this is...not the most romantic position but--" He shuddered, becoming so wrapped up in pleasure and his own desires and envies that he couldn't think straight. "I-It is the most ideal for mating during heat."

He was rambling again--apologies for going against his request to be bound, apologies for bringing up Goro, apologies for even putting you in this position of helping him solve his problems.

But he was interrupted by your gentle murmur of "Yusuke, face me."

Surprised at first, he did what you said. In turn, you looked towards him as well, proceeding to kiss his lips--softly with assurance. He groaned against the contact between your mouths, even more when you drew back with a tranquil smile on your face.

"Yusuke, please don't worry. Just do as you want to. I said I would help you at this time, right?"

He inhaled sharply.

Then seized hold of your hips.

"You did. And for that I am thankful."

To possess, to claim.

Yusuke considered himself to be above that of other spirits--one closer to humans while still carrying himself in an elevated, refined manner. And yet, to feel the molten heat of your core wrap around and squeeze his cock so tightly as he proceeded to fuck you ravenously, to hear you mewl out his name with euphoric bliss, there was nothing else that could satisfy the primal cravings lurking deep within him.

There was barely any space between your bodies as he hunched low, taken by not an urge, but a need to kiss along your spine and mark at your neck.

Not too bad of a lover, you say?

At this moment, he would make it clear that there would absolutely no one else who could satisfy and cherish you like he could. All those scattered moments across the years spent by your side, wishing to be beyond a mere messenger for Makoto, to take the place of that unscrupulous Goro. Long had he desired you, only to feel restrained by his existence as a kitsune.

But here you were, moaning for him, begging for more of his touch and affection, despite his absence and how he was unable to hide the physical traits that denote him to be a fox.

Acceptance and compassion.

What more could he need out of life?

"Be mine, be mine." He chanted desperately as his hips pounded against your backside over and over. His face buried into your neck, his mouth and teeth seeking your skin while his hands squeezed your hips, feeling just so close to finally achieving release. "Gods, please be mine...!"

"I will, Yusuke! I will!" You responded before your body tensed for a moment before arching, his name released cried from your lips noiselessly until you soon bowed forward, falling against your futon as you felt his warmth seep and pour into you in white, hot spurts.

There was an expected emptiness when he pulled out of you, replaced instead by him curling against your side and pulling you right against his chest, of which you could faintly hear his heart race. So much to take in and fathom, with the only thing made clear and coherent was that you were being embraced ever so lovingly.

Kisses were bestowed upon your face, followed by the enraptured sigh of your name. Your eyes met his, and you could see at long last that he was finally at ease. "I will uphold my duties to Inari to receive its message." He cupped your cheek with one hand, his thumb feathering over your skin. "But when I come back to the village, I intend on staying here, where..."

He paused, wondering if it would be best to continue. However, seeing the trusting and affectionate look in your eyes, he chuckled gently and affirmed with full confidence, "...where my gorgeous mate is--if the feeling is mutual, of course."

This night was truly full of unexpected turns and twists, with no end seemingly in sight until now. Amidst this stability, with all that was confessed, said, and done, you felt at peace as you moved to kiss him once more as confirmation.

And while the two of you savored this feeling, wondering where the two of you would go from here, neither of you noticed the shadow of a small physique coming from outside scamper away.

Hurriedly, towards the dining room, where Futaba, Ann, and Makoto were still discussing how to best make use of the kitchen knives that they managed to salvage, the shadow--or rather, Futaba--burst inside, her arms stretched open wide for dramatic flair as she declared,

"Summer is saved!"