#p5r spoilers in the tags

[caitas-cooing]

Shining Nikki: Sanrio collab event! 💕💖

Shining Nikki: new story update has existential horror, body horror, and the death of many unnamed explorers, including a couple and their newborn child

Shining Nikki: get ready for Nikki's birthday on the 6th 🥳🎉🎂

Shining Nikki: I buy the new UR designer's reflection in the arena because I don't have any UR reflections for that color and It's about Modric's ability to steal sad memories from people if they want it, which is kind of messed up, but they do ask for it so idk, but it's still weird, because the first time he did it he was 16 and his mom became dangerously depressed after his dad died so like after months of having to take care of her he figured out how to take some of her memories and she went back to normal. So like I'm not saying it's the best solution, but what else is 16 year old supposed to do with that? Also the reason why Joy forgot about the whole thing where her father experimented on her at the end of whatever chapter it was in volume one where she forgot is because he took her memories so that's one mystery solved I guess

[softausterity]

sweeter poisons

[graegrape-art]

we might be battling against the end of the world as we know it but we can at least be respectful of peoples preferences

[artianwen]

You're in "the good place".

[easyaesthetics]

Persona 5 Royal + The Onion & Reductress headlines 2/?

[poisned]

I've been reading Faith for the Second Run by @senblades/senblades on AO3 and absolutely loving it. I had to sketch a few of the scenes I found funny.

[la-venz-a]

[personishfive]

in which there's starting to be a pattern

[amari-atelier]

Hiding worry in anger

Shuake week day 6: Wound Tending

[deeryaku]

That time when Akechi asked me to fight him with lethal intent, but I forgot I had Joker's swimming trunks equipped.

[softausterity]

the sincerest form of flattery

[sparklepoint]

thesis statement about people from different games who need to talk

[foccaccia]

ive been thinking about persona 5 again

[easyaesthetics]

3rd Semeser + The Onion & Reductress Headlines

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Ok, I think I have a pretty good idea of why a lot of Akechi's dialogue is... like that.

So, even before his confidant truly started, I noticed that he has a real knack for directing the flow of a conversation. This is very fitting for someone who is both a detective and skilled at interviews - when there is a topic and a goal, Akechi is in his element.

All this to say, he's actually kind of controlling when it comes to conversational flow. He probes for information, or turns the conversation around to a particular topic, usually the Phantom Thieves. He manages to take a few of Joker's dialogue options and spin them so they sound mildly incriminating in the context he's placed them in - the only way to truly get around this is to pick answers that feign indifference, and even then, that's more than a bit telling. He's clearly very good at this kind of thing.

But then, we get conversations where either Joker does something he didn't expect, or else he doesn't have a particular goal in mind - and the conversation stutters. In the first instance, Joker does something (a particularly egregious example is putting his glasses on him and fluffing his hair in rank 3) which both leaves him wrong-footed and no longer in perfect control of the situation. He just kind of... freezes, for awhile. It's hilarious. He has no idea how to respond.

He picks up control again in the phone call afterwards, having chosen to play into it, turning this "fooling the crowds" into a kind of game or secret between them. Nice save.

But in instances where there isn't an obvious topic and the goal is somewhat nebulous, for instance, that one Leblanc scene, it becomes pretty apparent that Akechi doesn't have the right "script" to go off of. Again, it's particularly notable in that scene, because I'm fairly sure he didn't have any specific reason to be at Leblanc, other than him looking for a quiet spot now that public opinion has turned on him. And because there isn't anything specific he's digging for, he kind of just ends up throwing things at the wall to see what will stick. Probing for any kind of recognizable reaction that he can jump on and work with, and that just doesn't really happen in this scene.

He references Sae, a woman in a respectable position, to Sojiro, but instead of that netting a welcome, it earns his ire, given Sae's recent actions against him. He then tries to greet Joker, his... rival? friend? enemy? person who at least seems to somewhat enjoy spending time with him? But Joker's responses are somewhat short, and Akechi practically wilts. He tries to commiserate by oversharing. He tries to involve Futaba and reaches out for the only topic of interest he can think of around "young people". He compliments the coffee. He compliments Joker. He tries to invoke that connection between them. None of it is really sticking, nor does it serve as a jumping off point for him to steer the conversation, or even really start one.

So, he basically just ends up having a one-sided chat with himself and then leaves. Hilarious. Also a little sad, if I'm being honest. It's really giving "guy with no friends who only knows how to speak to adults" energy. If there's no specific purpose to the exchange, or he is not in control of its direction, he seems to be kind of out of his depth. He succeeds only in being a little awkward and confusing, more than anything.

[netherknit]

Choice.