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thedoctorfat · 3 days ago

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How The King Wears Her Crown

I wanted to talk about Naoto’s relationship with masculinity, and how she initially wears it as armor, but then decides to simply wear it as comfortable clothes. My friends read this and all knew this was coming.

Initially Naoto’s relationship with masculinity is rather repressive. Naoto disguised herself as a boy to fit the image of the hardboiled detective that’s so idealized in detective fiction. Now, why didn’t she openly act as a girl?

Well, Naoto would be highly isolated in multiple aspects if she were openly a woman. Being a female detective, and a teen detective, deeply isolates her. Actually, she points this out pretty immediately when she’s asked why she disguises as a boy, but it runs really deep when it comes to police culture and its domination by men in both reality and detective fiction alike.

First, let's start with women's relationship to detective fiction, and how classical detective fiction sets these standards. Most major classical detectives are men. C. Auguste Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, are all male detectives, with women pretty much always solely being murder victims. Some detectives are even outright misogynistic. Anthony T. Farah brings this up in his thesis The Mystery of the Missing Half: The Developing Female Investigator Trope in Detective Fiction.

After Dupin, Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes precisely follows the male-dominated, female-bereft milieu of detective fiction. In his original incarnation, Holmes has little regard for women (save, of course, the one-and-only Irene Adler). Rather, Holmes actively disparages women, remarking in The Valley of Fear, “I am not a whole-souled admirer of womankind” (“Sherlock Holmes”). Holmes, whose entire modus operandi rests on the bedrock of logic finds “the motives of women … inscrutable ….How can you build on such quicksand?" (“Sherlock Holmes”). After all, Holmes considers that the “emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning” (“Sherlock Holmes”). Thus, the genre of detective fiction, if birthed by Poe and reinforced by Doyle, follows a rigid pattern—marginalized and silenced females, a dénouement which ties up all loose ends narrated by a male, and a solution made plain by the pure logic employed by the male detective. Since mainstream scholars believe the genre is defined by Poe’s example, it was clearly conceived as a male-only game, a “gentleman’s club.”

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Furthermore, he discusses how a lot of the men strictly adhere to this standard of masculinity, to the point it can be to their detriment.

A genre where the female population is victimized, silenced, and marginalized by men can only lead to an unbalanced, dysfunctional realm. And the male detectives—who not only lack but despise any female traits—are themselves deeply flawed. A deep inner turmoil experienced by male detectives is manifest throughout the genre, and one can only wonder whether such flaws spring from the repression of the female half of the world. Consider: C. Auguste Dupin (social recluse), Thomas Magnum (ne’er do well grifter living from paycheck to paycheck), Sherlock Holmes (cocaine addict and social misfit), Hercule Poirot (“funny little man”), Mike Hammer (alcoholic misanthrope with anger issues), Dave Robicheaux (recovering alcoholic with relentless PTSD), and so on. These characters consistently deny half of their world by relegating a woman’s role to that of the silenced, marginalized victim and devaluing any contribution a woman might make, unless such contribution springs solely from logical deduction. The half-world/half-truth/half-person perpetuated by these detectives excludes the female from their sphere, except as silent victim. They are unbalanced characters inhabiting an unbalanced, patriarchal world. The Anglo-American tradition of detective fiction, with its imbalance in gendered roles, has not traditionally received serious critical attention. Poe himself considered his creation, Dupin, to be an unbalanced character lacking in diversity.

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Now, let's discuss reality. Female police officers are, first of all, far less common than their male coworkers. An article from Asahi Shimbun dated 2021 states that the record high number of female police officers was that at 10.6%. Only one in ten officers were women in 2021, and one in 20 in 2011.

The National Police Agency said women accounted for a record 10.6 percent of all police officers in prefectural police departments across Japan as of April 2021. The leader was the Hokkaido prefectural police at 12.2 percent, followed by the Ibaraki prefectural police, runner-up at 11.9 percent, and the Saitama prefectural police, which was third at 11.8 percent. The figure had been growing from year to year from about 550, or 5.1 percent of all police officers, in 2011, but Fukuoka still had the lowest percentage of women among its police officers of all the 47 prefectural police departments across Japan.

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I also want to note that the game takes place in 2011. Naoto states that her parents were both detectives who died in an accident, implying that Naoto's mother is the only female detective who was around, and she died before Naoto could remember her.

Furthermore, around the world, there's a fairly misogynistic culture within the police force. In Sexism and misogyny in police culture: red flags, problems and solutions, there's a documentation of such an issue, and the article goes into possible solutions to this problem.

What is apparent however, is the existence of particular traits which form part of this [police] culture. Examples of these cultural traits will include sexism, machismo and solidarity (Reiner, 1992). According to Fielding (1994, p.47), the existence of machismo originates from a culture of ‘hegemonic masculinity’, existing within a predominantly male workplace, where patriarchal views and misogyny are used against women, within a culture identified as physically demanding and one which is perceived as only being able to be performed by men (Waddington, 1999). According to Adisa et al (2019), these patriarchal views are constructed by males and reinforce the view that men are more dominant than women. As a result, the disparity displayed via gender stereotypes and inequality between the sexes, becomes embedded (Adisa et al, 2019). According to Lila et al (2013), a powerful male police culture will support the existence of sexism and will reinforce perceptions that policing is only for males (Wilson et al, 2001). According to Charlesworth and Robinson (2012), the perception that a man can conduct the policing role better than a woman, has also extended to male hostility being displayed towards female officers who have requested to work part time.

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We actually see a little bit of this in-game, with a conversation between her fellow detectives Ryotaro Dojima and Tohru Adachi, both men, where they discuss the murder of Mayumi Yamano, and Adachi says something rather eyebrow-raising, which Dojima does not challenge.

Which is a very concerning thing to not challenge. Getting fired and losing your reputation is a terrible thing to have happen, but it is not nearly as severe as being murdered with your killer running free and nobody knowing their identity.

Furthermore, women are frequently infantilized, which would compound Naoto's predicament of not being treated well as she's only a teenager.

As time progressed, the infantilization of women has become far more apparent in societies around the world. To infantilize someone is defined as treating them as a child, primarily through demeaning actions. Women are usually infantilized by men and treated as children often concerning sexism and misogyny. The most common manifestations of infantilization are through linguistics, such as overly simplifying explanations or using demeaning nicknames. However, it can also be physical such as offering a woman a hug when offering a man a handshake. The infantilization of women often includes policing their appearances and which social spheres they’re allowed to occupy. Infantilizing a person generally conveys a sense of superiority. As a gendered practice, women’s infantilization is related to patriarchal structures that situate men in the default position of power.

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So, it's not that much of a wonder that Naoto chose to pose as a young man. Even if her age could not be hidden, her status as a teenage girl instead of a teenage boy could be. At this point, Naoto's masculinity and perceived maleness is meant to protect her, so that she will not be discriminated against in the workforce. Especially since toxic femininity is a powerful force that would put down women as masculine as Naoto is, but we actually mention that later when we cover her being female out in the open.

But Naoto is forced out of the closet and revealed to be a girl by her own Shadow, Sukuna-Hikona, to which she explains this situation much more succinctly than was explained here. How she heavily implies she has no female detective role models, fictional or real. Not even Aimée Leduc, who I compared her to in an earlier writeup, and would break the image that a detective like Sherlock Holmes had to be a guy, and the elephant in the room of police misogyny.

But Kanji points out she doesn’t know that she won’t be accepted if it’s known she’s a girl. And that’s a good point. Naoto’s own mother was openly a female detective, and there are female detectives in fiction as Anthony Farah and I have pointed out, even ones who fit Naoto’s masculine idea. Furthermore, Naoto's a teenager, and is still hired despite that. So, what does she do now? Well, she openly lives as a woman, but remains decidedly masculine in her demeanor and clothing choice, choosing to keep wearing the male Yasogami uniform. Now, Naoto’s masculinity isn’t forced, it’s just a part of who she is. She doesn’t conform to gender norms because that’s what causes her discomfort—whether it’s the forced invulnerability she puts on while acting as male, or the femininity a woman is expected to have. She is neither, she is a young gender nonconforming woman. More proof of her being comfortable in her masculinity is in the animated series, where when the Investigation Team visits the Amagi Inn, she is depicted wearing the men’s nemaki jacket rather than the women’s.

Now, Naoto states explicitly that she prefers it this way, which portrays a shift in her relationship with masculinity, slowly becoming much more positive. Instead of a mask, her masculinity is simply part of herself as a person. (I’d like to call this her coronation!) Female masculinity is a topic that barely ever gets covered by scholarly literature, but it rarely gets celebrated, often being criticized as attempting to run away from the woman's gender. But this is entirely untrue. A study by Heidi Levitt and Katherine Hiestand interviewed multiple butch lesbians (to my understanding, these are lesbians who are gender nonconforming) and asked about their relationship with femininity versus their relationship with femaleness.

Many respondents described discomfort at the thought of being feminine, which was experienced as a betrayal of their butch gender. Dress codes or external pressures that forced them to appear feminine evoked feelings of embarrassment, weakness, and vulnerability—just as many women might feel if made to wear clothing (e.g., pink frilly dresses) that was discordant with their own sense of their femininity. Despite the high levels of discomfort with femininity, however, all participants expressed contentment with being women. Indeed, their identities as butch enabled them to identify as women by allowing them to be female yet still prize their internal sense of gender. One woman described this process of realization: I was just watching them [other butch women]. I was just like, “Wow. She’s a woman.” You know, she was—but she also was a woman who would get mistaken as a man. … But when I looked at her, I was like, “Yeah. She’s a woman though. She’s a woman.” And that meant something. It wasn’t like sexual or anything of that nature. It was just like, “Wow. I can be a woman and be who I am. I always thought that being who I was meant that I was trying to be a guy; and I get mistaken as ‘sir’ often. But it doesn’t bother me like it used to. Because I know that I am a woman. Just a different kind.” (P-04) By owning their butch gender, participants were able to identify strongly as female and still be authentic to their sense of self. Although a number of participants had considered a sex change at an earlier point in their lives, because they had found a community that supported the expression of their butch gender, these considerations now seemed unnecessary.

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Which is also supported by Naoto herself in that she feels comfortable acknowledging herself as a woman while still wearing the boy's uniform in the game as her link is maxed out. (I note she can wear the girl’s uniform if you meet criteria to romance her and do something specific, but this is a deeply exposing act that she only is willing to do around Yu purely because of her deep trust in him. This is not her natural state.)

This writeup is going to discuss butch lesbians very frequently, despite Naoto's romantic orientation being unknown, as they are the most commonly documented group of women to have their masculinity expressed in adulthood. (If I had to guess, I would believe Naoto to be on the aromantic spectrum, specifically demiromantic, as she is the hardest female character to romance, and for strikingly different reasons than Ai Ebihara, the second-hardest.) There's a history of female masculinity in Japan, and it actually is related to how Naoto is treated by her female peers. Many of them actually express romantic feelings towards her, as shown in Rank 3. This was shown before her unveiling herself, but is still shown afterwards such as the scene where she joins the Investigation Team, where she’s described as genuinely cool for being such an individual.

I'm actually going to touch upon the beauty pageant, of all things, as her victory there covers another piece of how her female peers perceive her because of her masculinity. Her female peers almost universally vote her as the winner of the beauty pageant, likely because of her masculinity (and also willingness to apply but never appearing on stage).

And you notice that Naoto, out of the Investigation Team members, is the most popular with her fellow female students, even more than Yu is. Naoto is, in a sense, a symbol to the girls of Yasogami. And now I'm going to talk about theater. Have you heard of the Takarazuka Revue? It's an all-female performing group in Takarazuka, Japan, in Hyogo Prefecture. There are two major roles: "otokoyaku" (male roles) and "musumeyaku" (female roles. Albeit, the translation is "daughter roles.") The reason for this is the ideals of the creator Ichizou Kobayashi, who wanted to emphasize a daughter's loyalty to her parents, especially her father (he would ask to be called "Father" by the actors.)

A note about Takarazuka is that it is incredibly popular with women, and otokoyaku in particular are widely praised and adored. Chisato Natori, who is a critic, mentions why these otokoyaku are so beloved, and why she enjoys their work.

When I see female actors trying to approach an ideal image of femininity on the stage, I sometimes feel painfully like I am looking at myself. But when I see the otoko-yaku actors in their endless struggle to distance themselves from [their] femaleness, I enjoy the refreshing thrill of seeing the delicate balancing act between possibility and impossibility (1990: 113)

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Which is likely related to why Naoto herself is so beloved. She represents to the girls around her a masculinity beyond what the boys around her can portray, much like an otokoyaku, as Ichiro Kobayashi himself believed, as is quoted in Jennifer Robertson's Gender-Bending in Paradise: Doing "female" and "male" in Japan.

The otokoyaku, Kobayashi argued, participates not in the construction of alternative “female” gender roles but in the glorification of “maie” gender. He proclaimed that “the otokoyaku is not male [sex] but is more suave, more affectionate, more courageous, more charming, more handsome, and more fascinating than a real male." One of the subtexts to his statement is that “real” (that is, anatomically correct) males need not be suave, charming, etc., in the real world, where patriarchal privilege compensates for aesthetic deficiencies. Another subtext is that “male” and “female” gender account for processes of representation and not for the historica! realities of males and females.

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Naoto represents something more to her female peers than most guys around her, being seen as more bold and confident thanks to her willingness to be out in the open. But Naoto isn’t an actress, she is a detective and a student. Her masculinity has always been part of her face. However, Takarazuka’s history does cover how gender nonconforming women partly expressed themselves and their masculinity as otokoyaku, even when Kobayashi (and the Japanese government itself, actually) tried to fight against it, also covered in Gender-Bending in Paradise.

Females acting on their own behalf outside the household were regarded by the state as socially disruptive and dangerously anomalous. The public vocation of the actor, however, reversed the usual association of females with the private domain and, consequently, distinctions between “private” and “public” were neither incumbent upon nor possible for Takarasienne: “One result of this is that although [the actor] is aware of the dominant rules governing the society of which her small dramatic world is a part, her experience permits her to fuse the value-systems, and to bring the naturally secluded private interpersonal sphere of women in the home into the light of public scrutiny." The fusion was manipulated in a number of ways. Whereas Kobayashi sought to use the actor as a vehicle for introducing the artistry (geijutsu) of the theater into the home, some Takarasienne and their fans used the theater as a starting point for an opposing strategy, including the rejection of gender roles associated with the patriarchal household and, as I discuss subsequently, the construction of a style or mode of sexuality. [...] Kobayashi envisioned Takarazuka as a world of “dreams and romance” and named the early tneater complex “Paradise” to emphasize symbolically its idealism. He was inspired by a new genre of literature, shojo fiction (shosetsu), most tenaciously associated with Nobuko Yoshiya (1904-1973), an influential, prolific author and a lesbian. Her widely read stories framed female couples in a dreamy, sweetly erotic lignt. Unlike her fiction, Yoshiya's own life-style was patently political, even subversive, in that she openly rejected marriage, motherhood, and the compulsory heterosexuality of the Civil Code. Kobayashi shared Yoshiya's romantic vision but colored it heterosexual: his dream world was one in which gallant males were sustained by adoring femaies. The irony remains that this idealized vision of heterosexuality was enacted by an all-female cast. (Of course, it is not ironic in the sense that females were regarded as the main vehicles for the representation of masculinity.) It was an irony that, initially at least, was lost on Kobayashi but not on either the performers and their fans or on the critics. Contrary to Kobayashi's original intentions, Takarasienne inverted the image of the shojo and in the process inspired an enduring style for a Japanese lesbian subculture; namely, “butch/femme.”

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Takarazuka, and the nonconformity that came with being an otokoyaku, ended up being a huge place for GNC women to be present, even against the will of Kobayashi, the inventor, as shown with the case of Kuniko Ashihara. A lot of otokoyaku were very much suppressed for nonconforming behavior as toxic femininity is a very powerful force, but Takarazuka ended up being a place where nonconforming women would attempt to express themselves anyways, even with the surprising attempts to restrain their gender expression and have them conform to the standards of toxic femininity.

Top otokoyaku Kuniko Ashihara was reprimanded severely in 1933 by Kobayashi for not discouraging her fans from calling her “older brother.” Ashihara was revered by her fans as “being as refreshing and gallant. and as assertive and resolute as an older brother.” Although these were the very qualities Kobayashi attributed to the otokoyaku, it was not the kind of filial symbolism he had in mind. He argued that the nickname ultimately compromised her offstage femininity (onnarashisa), not to mention the Revue’s reputation.* [...] The naturalization of “male” females continued with otokoyaku Ashiko Kadota's sudden decision to cut off her hair in the spring of 1932. As reported in the press, Kadota was irked by the unnaturalness of having to stuff her regulation long hair under every type of headgear except wigs, for the all-male management had deemed that wigs would give otokoyaku an overly natura! appearance. Takarazuka fans and moga, on the other hand, had sported short hair at least a decade ahead of their idois. [...] The naturalization of “male” females gathered momentum with leading otokoyaku Kaoru Tachibana’s proclamation in February 1932 that “I just don't feel ‘female’” (watashi wa onna to iu ki ga shinai). She went on to dismiss marriage as “the vocation of boxed-in gals” (hako-iri garu no shigoto). One male journalist likened Tachibana to Nobuko Yoshiya, the author of shoujo fiction, whom he claimed “lived like a garçon (garuson).”

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This is very similar to the situation of Naoto, who is a girl that acts and dresses masculine. We can also see through Chie’s arc and through the treatment of otokoyaku takarasiennes that masculinity in women is often shunned. This makes Naoto’s masculinity honestly subversive and powerful, as her masculinity cannot be removed from her as a person, as her passions, she points out, are more masculine than feminine, such as her love of mainly male-oriented media such as tokusatsu and detective novels.

Furthermore, her fellow Investigation Team members are highly supportive of this, such as when Rise calls out when Naoto is injured or ailed, she never uses "Naoto-chan," but the more masculine "Naoto-kun." This is repeated by all of the Investigation Team except Teddie, who funnily enough doesn’t ever actually use “kun” for anyone.

Maleness may not make her happy, as shown by the events of the game. But masculinity does--it's a part of who she is as a person, after all. Her love of detective novels and her aversion towards what is seen as typically feminine. Her Persona, Sukuna-Hikona, is even a male deity, emphasizing that this part of her cannot be taken away as she is the only character whose gender does not align with the inspiration of her Persona. Naoto isn’t trying to make a statement, it’s simply that Naoto’s masculinity entirely deserves to be celebrated and not suppressed. Her masculinity wasn't her enemy, albeit toxic masculinity (the way that police culture is misogynistic) and toxic femininity (the expectations put on women and girls) both played roles in her disguising herself as a boy. But now that the disguise is taken off, we find out that she is simply masculine as is and should be allowed to explore herself however she likes in pursuit of her true self. Which is what her grandfather and butler Yakushiji help her do in her social link.

I do like this message considering that it's a reinforcement of Kanji's arc, where he learned that his traits perceived as feminine do not deserve to lead to discrimination, and that he should allow himself to express himself in whatever way he likes as a man. Naoto is a reversal of this, as her masculine traits do not deserve to be suppressed either as a woman, and she should also be permitted to express herself however she desires.

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thedoctorfat · 3 days ago

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😶

#raphoooooo!#this is gorgeous #souyo

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thedoctorfat · 3 days ago

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One fact about Yu Narukami: He is hopelessly and utterly in love with his best friend.

It started as nothing more than a classroom crush, developed after helping him out of the trash. Despite being hurt, the guy had still thanked him, still amiled and introduced himself. Yosuke, he had said. As they walked to school together, Yu repeated the name in his head. Yosuke.

It was really just a nosedive from there. After the murders started up, the two partnered up to try and solve the case. They had discovered the TV world together, and Yosuke had had to face his Shadow- the manifestation of all of his worst thoughts and feelings.

And yet Yu hadn’t felt an ounce of desire to run, to abandon Yosuke. No, instead he had felt the inexplicable urge to hug him close, promise they’d stay friends even if that awful thing came back. They’d stay partners.

Fast forward to now, early September, and Yu is trying not to freak out, because it just so happens that he’s sharing a goddamned futon with his best friend- the guy he definitely doesn’t just have a crush on anymore.

He holds Yosuke close, praying his heartbeat doesn’t give away how he feels. Earlier, in the spur of the moment, he had pulled Yosuke into a hug outside. Of course, he’d played it off as trying to warm Yosuke up- he had forgotten his jacket again.

But Yosuke had tried to hug him again after he pulled away. Maybe Yu was (and still is) reading too far into it, but it’s still nice to pretend.

Now, of course, Yosuke has been cuddling him for the past ten minutes and hasn’t made a single move to pull away except to shift occasionally. He seems perfectly content to lie here, but Yu feels himself growing restless. He’s debating saying something into the darkness, just to see if Yosuke is still awake, but his partner beats him to it.

“Did you know your eyes change colors sometimes?”

Yu, admittedly, has to take a moment to process what Yosuke just said. Of all the things he expected to leave his partner’s mouth, this... wasn’t one of them.

“Do they?” He replies. They’re both murmuring, as though exchanging secrets that they only want themselves and the heavens to hear.

Yosuke nods against him, the movement pressing into his chest. He hugs Yosuke just a bit tighter.

“Yeah. Different shades of grey. When you’re happy, they’re this really pretty light shade. When you’re upset, they get all dark. I think it’s kinda cute.”

Wait. Waitwaitwaitwait pause. Did Yosuke just call him cute? Just... tossed the word out there. He isn’t even backtracking, but Yu feels like every cognitive function has come screeching to a halt.

And yet, he’s still functioning just enough to tease Yosuke. He can’t pass up a perfectly good opportunity, after all.

“Really? Do you give that much thought to the rest of me?” He asks as Yosuke shifts himself again. Unfortunate timing for Yosuke, perfect timing for Yu- he comes up to eye-level with Yu just in time for him to see the blush bloom on Yosuke’s cheeks.

“Wh- hey! I’m trying to be nice here!” He says, but Yu know he isn’t really angry. Just flustered. It’s cute.

Yu smiles, his best ‘I-love-you-partner’ grin that he saves specially for Yosuke, and it works like a charm. He huffs, looking anywhere but at Yu as he settled down back into his arms.

They’re still at eye-level with each other, though, and even the darkness of the room can’t hide the way Yosuke’s gaze flicks to Yu’s lips. For a second, Yu forgets how to breathe like a human person.

“...Your smile,” Yosuke finally provides. Yu tilts his head into the pillow. His... smile?

“Don’t look at me like that, it’s just- You have a lot of smiles for people, partner. You have this, like, default smile that you give people you don’t know, but with Chie and Yukiko and everyone else, it’s... softer. And-”

He stops talking, face now bright red. Yu goes to pull away, give him some space to breathe, but Yosuke’s hand flies up and clutches his shoulder.

“...And, uh... Sometimes it feels like you have one for me, too. Just for me,” he finishes off with a mumble. Yu can’t help the smile that creeps up his face. The one specially reserved for Yosuke. His best ‘I-love-you-partner’ grin that always works like a charm.

“Well, you’d be right. I do,” he says, his voice not much more than a whisper. He can’t bring himself to speak much louder than this, scared of breaking whatever spell has caused them to spill their hearts like this.

Yosuke brings his gaze back to Yu’s face. His expression is unbelievably soft, and Yu allows himself to think, even for just a moment, that this expression is just for him, like his smile is just for Yosuke.

“You’re doing it. The smile,” he mutters. Their faces are close- for a moment, Yu wonders what it’d be like to kiss him.

He drags his mind out of the gutter just long enough to reply. “Of course I am. It’s you.”

Yosuke looks like he’s struggling for words. He opens his mouth for a moment, then closes it again.

“Can I, uh... Do something?” He finally asks, and Yu doesn’t waste a second in nodding.

“Go ahead. I trust you, partner,” he answers easily, and he’d swear on his Persona that Yosuke seemed to blush even more at his response.

And of all the things he expected Yosuke to do, he didn’t expect him to tilt forward, pressing their lips together in a kiss.

It isn’t magical or heavenly, but it’s Yosuke, his partner and best friend since what feels like forever. It’s Yosuke, and that’s more than Yu could ever ask for.

After what feels both too short and too long a time, Yu has to pull away. His lungs are burning, as though Yosuke stole all the oxygen out of them. He doesn’t go far though- just rests his forehead against Yosuke’s, both panting.

“I love you, partner. A lot,” Yosuke whispers, and Yu feels like his air has been stolen once again. Nevertheless, he replies in earnest.

“I love you too, partner. A lot.”

YAAAYYYY OMFGH HSHSBBHBSHEJRJDNOWNNDHRJSNSHEJDEJBDJENDJENDJDNWNWJSBDJKSMWNEBFIDIEHSJSNWKNWOMSBXJZJENDJSNENDJSOWNNDIXNEJDNRNFISNWNSBEKFNJRKAKWKDODNEJSJWKEKDOEJJDJDNSJXNSJKAKALEOXJNRUXENEIIDOEKEJRIKFJCKRORIWOUQOFNFNFBJSHEHWNDKENKSNDKENSBOSHNEHSKSBDB

THE SOUYO GET TO KISS AAHEBEEVEVBEBSBSBSJJDNJ823$:'nsken&£{~!~££+¥'AISHHKMEB&$&&&!/?/?!$@9288/$&&/! I FUCKIGN LOVE SOUYO SOUYO IS MY LIFE

IM EATING THIS UP AND LICKING THE PLATE LEAVING NO CRUMBS THEY KISS AND THEY REALIZE THEY HAVE MUTUAL FEELINGS!!!!!!!! GRRRAGHHH!!!!!!! "I TRUST YOU PARTNER" WHAT IF I FUCKING EXPLODED INTO 18 PIECES AND YU TEASING HIM WHILE ALSO NKT KNOWING IF HE HAS MUTUAL FEELINGS KMFBFBDHDNJDJEN

THANK YOU FOR THE FOOD CLAIRE

#persona 4 #souyo #re-reblogging these because I love them

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thedoctorfat · 3 days ago

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Of all the people Yosuke would be expecting to get a call from at 10:14 at night, Yu is decidedly not one of them.

And of all the reasons he can run through that his partner could be calling him, the real answer is decidedly not one of them.

“Hey, partner. Wanna sleep over at my house tonight? Nanako-chan is staying at a friend’s house and Uncle is working late again,” Yu’s voice says. He sounds cheerful enough, but Yosuke’s known him long enough to hear the undertone of anxiety hidden in his words.

Yosuke knows Yu hates being alone. The guy can’t stand it, even if it’s just for a night or two. Hey- Yosuke isn’t making fun of the guy or anything, god no. It’s just... Something he’s picked up on throughout their time together.

Investigation Team or not, Yosuke still considers Yu his partner. And it’d be pretty damn cruel if he said no to what’s really, in all logic, a very simple request. And besides, it isn’t as though they haven’t slept at each other’s houses before.

So Yosuke grins as he grabs his keys from his locker and tosses his apron inside like always. Far be it from him to subject their leader to more suffering.

“Sure thing, partner. Want me to grab some clothes from my place?” He asks, shifting his phone to his other hand so he can clip his keys to his jeans. Thank god for carabiners.

“No, no need. You know I always keep spares for you here, Yosuke,” Yu says. He sounds a bit excited now, as though the idea of spending time with Yosuke is something worth looking forward to.

Yosuke would never admit it, but it gives him a bit of an ego rush. His beloved partner, the cool and untouchable transfer from Tokyo, the kickass leader of the Investigation Team... Is excited about a sleepover. With him, Yosuke Hanamura- Trash Prince of Junes.

It really does wonders for his ego.

“Yeah, yeah. I don’t know what I was thinking asking that,” Yosuke says with a small laugh, brushing off the warmth that spreads to his cheeks as a bodily reaction to the chill outside. It’s September, which naturally means it’s getting colder out. Dammit, why didn’t he grab a jacket?

Yu laughs on the other line, and Yosuke yet again feels his cheeks warm up. He did that. Hemade Yu laugh.

A quiet part of him wonders if he laughs that way around the others. If Chie’s snarky comments get the rumble of a chuckle, or if Teddie’s bad-but-well-intentioned bear puns make him snort.

He wonders if this laugh, soft and breathy and quiet, was reserved just for him. He wonders how many other things are meant for him too, if any.

Do his eyes sparkle like that when he talks to one of his plethora of friends? Do his lips quirk when they make a bad joke like they do around him? Does he laugh like that around anyone else, like he’s shy of how his laugh sounds even though it’s one of the best sounds in the world-

Woah, Yosuke. Reel it in a bit. Thinking about a guy’s general physique is one thing (nothing wrong with appreciating a nice build!), but thinking about smaller details like that? That’s a bit far.

Details like his lips and how they take on a soft smile whenever Yosuke talks. Details like his hair and how soft and perfect it always seems to look, even on the days with the worst weather. Details like his eyes and how their shade of grey seems to shift with his mood. When Yu is happy, they’re a light grey. When he’s angry, they’re stormy grey. When he’s focusing, they look like steel.

...Jesus fuck. What is wrong with him tonight? Why does it seem like no matter what he does, his thoughts always seem to shift back to Yu?

It’s now that he realises that he’s still on call with the guy- and that neither of them have spoken a single word since Yosuke left Junes. He shivers again, and breaks the comfortable silence.

“Hey, partner... Don’t suppose you’d be willing to turn on the kotatsu? It got colder than I thought and...”

“And you forgot a jacket?” Yu responded with an airy sigh. He doesn’t sound annoyed, thankfully. More like... Exasperated. Yu’s long-since become used to Yosuke’s antics, and treats it like another classic Yosuke Blunder.

“Sorry,” Yosuke responds automatically. He doesn’t know particularly why he’s apologising, but it slips out.

He can almost picture Yu shaking his head as he grows closer to the Dojima household, and as Yu’s voice drags him back from whatever stupid wild fantasy Yosuke was about to cook up again.

“Am I going to have to start texting you every day to remind you?” He asks, and Yosuke knows he’s joking, he honestly does, but he can’t stop the blush and defensive splutter.

“Wha- hey, now, I’m not that forgetful! It was just this once, honest!” He says, and he sees the door of the Dojima residence slide open and shut. Yu’s figure stands there, staring him down. As always, he looks poised and perfect.

Yosuke hangs up, breaking into a jog to reach his partner.

Yu stuffs his phone into his pocket and extends his hand. Yosuke is confused at first, but then-

Yu tugs him into a hug, his slender arms muscled from so much time in the TV world-

Good lord, he can’t even do something as simple as hug his partner anymore without his imagination running wild with fantasies about being picked up and carried like some girl-

“You’re freezing. Let’s get you inside and warmed up. The kotatsu should be heated by now, and I made us both some hot chocolate. Don’t worry, there’s extra whipped cream on yours.”

Yosuke swallows harder than he means to. Yu’s voice is soft in his ear, his body warm against Yosuke’s own. If not for the bitter chill outside, Yosuke could fall asleep here. Yu always did have a talent for making him feel safe.

“Thanks, partner. You... Really know me well, huh?” He manages to choke out. If Yu noticed, he doesn’t give any sign.

“Well, I’d hope so. I think I’d have failed as your partner if I didn’t know things like this,” Yu responds with ease. It makes Yosuke’s throat feel even tighter.

“Like knowing how I like my hot cocoa? That’s such a little thing, dude,” he says, laughing to lighten the tone. In reality, he can’t understand why Yu would make such a big deal out of such a small thing-

Scratch that. It’s Yu they’re talking about. Sometimes there is no ‘why’, like when he befriended that detective Adachi for no other reason than he wanted to.

Yu shrugs, slowly pulling away from the hug. Almost entirely subconciously, Yosuke finds himself chasing Yu’s warmth, leaning against him again.

“Come on, Yosuke, you’ll catch a cold. We can cuddle more inside,” Yu says, and brings him inside. It isn’t until he settles under the kotatsu beside Yu that he realises what was said.

...He supposes they are, technically, cuddling. They’re leaning against each other watching some shitty movie on a local channel, and Yosuke has never felt more at peace.

Or, at least, until they settle down for bed. They’ve already changed into their pyjamas, and Yosuke is frankly exhausted. His shift at Junes was brutal, and he’s ready to crash.

Unfortunately, he might have to sleep on the sofa in Yu’s room. There’s no spare futon.

“I can sleep on the sofa, Yosuke, it’s fine-” Yu hurries to say as Yosuke stares at the room in general, trying to riddle out a solution to the predicament.

As he ponders, he notices a few things about Yu’s room. Scattered about are various keepsakes and treasures from his friends and their adventures.

A little knit rabbit sits on his desk- no doubt a gift from Kanji. A Jack Frost doll stands watch over the room from atop the shelf like a shrine’s liondog. It’s oddly comforting, despite the doll’s unsettling appearance.

There’s no sudden trigger for his idea. It hits him like a kick to the gut and leaves him just as dizzy and breathless.

“I have an idea,” he says slowly, “but you might not like it.”

Yu frowns, brows furrowed under his fringe. He looks almost like he’s pouting- it’s cute.

“What’s your idea, then? I’m all ears,” he says regardless. Always willing to hear others out even when he has his doubts- that’s the Yu Yosuke knows. His partner.

“We share the futon,” Yosuke says. Yu visibly relaxes, his expression smoothing into one of almost-relief. His eyes shift from a stone-grey to a light grey. Nervous to happy.

“Oh, okay. That’s not too bad. Of course, if you get uncomfortable in the middle of the night, just wake me up. I’ll move to the sofa.”

Yosuke resists the urge to shake his head. He feels dizzy enough as it is, for some reason.

Yu turns the bright overhead off, clicking on his small bedside lamp as he crawls into the futon. The light from the lamp bathes the room in a soft, warm glow. It makes Yu look particularly squishy, his hair falling into his eyes. Yosuke doesn’t want to keep him up much longer, so he slips into the futon beside him.

“Goodnight, partner,” he says. Yu smiles at him, soft and sleepy, and it sends butterflies into his stomach.

Oh.

Oh, no. This is why he’s been thinking these things, this is why he’s been focused on Yu so much.

Oh. He owes Kanji a massive apology.

Yu shifts where he’s laying, and suddenly Yosuke is being held close against his partner’s body. He can hear Yu’s heartbeat, steady and calm as ever. The sound helps calm him, somehow.

This sudden realisation is a problem for tomorrow’s Yosuke.

For now, he’s content to simply lay in the arms of his partner, safe and loved.

LETS FUCKING GO!!!!!!! SOUYO FLUFF!!!!!!!!!!!! they're so sweet its rotting my teeth out ghhgggaahhh... yosuke's slow realization that he has feelings for yu... he DOES owe kanji an apology. i feel like souyo is a yu fell first and yosuke fell harder situation. i think yu loves yosuke and purposefully puts him in situations to see if yosuke likes him back, like the hugging. yosuke realizing how he feels warm and safe with yu, how they both see super small details in each other like how yosuke likes his hot chocolate or how yu's eyes change. i love the way you added yu's people pleaser traits to when he says he'll take the couch for yosuke. ugghhhh they're so stupid and i love them they should cuddle and kiss a million times thank you so much for the food

#persona 4 #souyo #re-reblogging these because I love them

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thedoctorfat · 3 days ago

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Mona and Yuuko should go on more Calvin and Hobbes style adventures. You made a yosuke us like Calvin’s dad joke and now we all can see it

#this is so good!

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thedoctorfat · 4 days ago

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Btw id prefer you people treat me like the stranger that I am and not elevate me to pseudo-friend just because you overhear my e-conversations and see my e-diary entries. Mutuals however are allowed to attack and kill me in multiple different manners, if they can catch me

#*taps sign*

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thedoctorfat · 5 days ago

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You’ll Destroy Me

It’s still spider summer so I’m thinking about Adachi’s relationship with connection. I covered it in my Magatsu Inaba writeup (which you should read. Bar none my best work) but didn’t go completely in-depth, which, I want to since it’s pretty important to his character. I mean, it’s deeply connected to why he bears the frankly apt title of Midnight Channel Killer.

Content warning in place, I do talk about an unsuccessful sexual assault attempt and analyze it, namely the motives behind it. It doesn't come until late in the writeup, so just telling you now.

So, Adachi has a weird relationship with connection. Really weird. He pretty obviously portrays that he doesn’t think highly of it in is Rank 6, which has a few lines of dialogue that pretty succinctly cover his dynamic with it.

He describes that behavior as “cold” but “smart.” He believes it’s better to not attach to anyone. Which he shows a lot throughout his social link. Look at his relationship with the old woman, who he pretty much consistently complains about, and we see him use Yu as an excuse not to visit her.

But when her son, who shares a name with him, returns, he’s not actually as pleased as he states he is, but tries to cover it up. (I also want to point out Adachi never states the woman's name. He might not actually remember.)

He actually does have Dojima as a friend, which he points out during the Nanako arc to poorly excuse why he is not the Midnight Channel Killer and therefore did not throw her in. (He of course had no way to throw her in, but the reasoning he gives points to him being the Midnight Channel Killer. Which he IS.) But he even pushes him away after being revealed.

This is most importantly because he’s too prideful to actually accept help from others, as well, so he just never lets anyone get a chance to attach if he can help it. Furthermore, due to being a diehard misanthrope, Adachi is aggressively distrustful of people, and therefore is hypervigilant as to any ulterior or malicious motives that might be present in a given action, and sees anyone without that near-paranoid vigilance as naive, as Yu gets to learn.

Dropping my professionalism for a moment: I’ll never not be impressed by how bewilderingly naive this question is. He completely ignores his relationship with Dojima being highly connected to Yu's trust in him. He doesn't even have any ground to stand on when he later points out Yu is projecting onto him. All social link options that Adachi likes best tend to be ones that portray Yu as more cynical and detached like himself. Ranks 5 and 6 are most obvious, but it's as early as Rank 2 you can see it. But it does show how Adachi's distrust ruins him, as he pretty much doesn't acknowledge his own best friend in this scene, when said best friend later makes sure that if he goes to prison, he goes safe and healthy. Another thing is, Adachi's projection of his own insecurities amplifies this distrust, as you'll see through the Midnight Channel Killings that I analyze later.

This misanthropic distrust damages any relationships he has, as he consistently pushes others away and seems to firmly believe most actions where he can't discern the motives are malicious and meant to act against him. A study at Bhayangkara University actually showed the damage that trust issues like Adachi has can cause for relationships.

There are only 163 out of 401 students who have trust and confidence in their friends and the rest tend not to feel the power of attachment and trust in friendship so they are not interested in relationships (Sima and Singh, 2017). Another study by Azmitia and Cruz (2017) also showed that the most commonly mentioned breach of obligations in friendships is distrust (trust problem). Trust problems arise from suspicion of each other, exclusion and even the breakup of friendship relationships (Azmitia & Cruz, 2017). Trust problems that arise can have a serious impact on the quality of one's relationship, ranging from the emergence of differences of opinion, difficulty trusting friends and even hatred this is related to the way one thinks of others, the existence of negative thinking patterns (negative thinking) to friends can damage trust and hurt friendship relationships (Soenens et al., 2008). Someone [who] has trust problems when in a relationship, tends to become restless and more careful in acting so that the friendship is uncomfortable (Dewi &; Minza, 2018). According to Kartikarini et al. (2022), trust in friends and trust in friendship relationships are drivers for someone to interact in building friendship relationships. Relationships are characterized by trust and commitment from both parties, individuals will feel valued when given trust so as to bring up the desire to commit in the relationship (Clark et al, 2017). Based on research from Pratiwi and Satiningsih (2022), in making friends, a sense of security and mutual trust is needed to build friendship quality. Warris and Rafique (2009) also mentioned that friendship and trust relationships are closely related so that relationships cannot last if trust in someone is lost because friendship grows from trust in each other. Research from Matsushima (2016), shows that students make adjustments to attitudes with their friends in terms of situational changes in their friends, whether there is a tendency that there is no trust or whether there is a feeling that they are trusted by their friends. Trust creates a sense of security and support in friends, so that when trust is disturbed, feelings of security become threatened and the quality of friendship can be affected (Suharweny, 2022). Based on research by Zimmermann (2004), states that friendships with low expectations regarding trust and emotional support represent low friendship quality.

[Source]

But this is actually pretty contradictory to what Adachi does as the Midnight Channel Killer. His motivations were attachment-based motivations. So let’s talk about his status as the Midnight Channel Killer, and his motivation for the Midnight Channel Killings in the first place. Adachi, for his part, cites boredom and a desire for stimulation as the reason for the murders.

But this is not actually the full picture. Adachi is posturing in this scene, to make himself appear less bluntly pathetic than he is. His actual reasoning is betrayed by his emotions during the actual Midnight Channel Killings, which are very closely related to the Midnight Channel itself. I’m not going to completely cover it as I’ve already done that, but I am going to cover how it’s linked to his relationship with social connection.

So, I want to talk about Adachi’s interest in the reporter Mayumi Yamano. He only explicitly states this in the animated series, but is heavily, heavily implied in the game to be romantically attracted to Yamano, and considers her dating Namatame to be “having an affair," voice dripping with bitterness. He's so entangled in this resentment over not being able to be Yamano's partner that it bleeds into his initial realization the Investigation Team is present, snapping at them before realizing who they are and proceeding to tease them, and it constantly bubbles back up whenever he talks about Yamano, cursing her out even as he explains the events that transpired.

When we actually see Yamano's death, we notice Adachi is asking Yamano a question--whether the rumors she was dating Namatame were true or not. She doesn't answer on account of him being a stranger to her. But I want to take note of one thing--when Adachi proposed the question, he approaches her, slowly backing her into the TV, which also likely added to Yamano's stress. However, Adachi's response to this lack of an answer is violent. He expresses disappointment, which gives way to rising anger that leads to him physically lunging at Yamano, pushing her into the TV.

There is a lot going on in this scene. So I want to ask: Why Yamano? Why is Adachi so possessively attracted to Yamano?

Well, first I want to note that unless you count Nanako, Adachi does not have any female friends. Whatsoever. His only close friend is Dojima, and later he has a more distant friend in the form of Yu. So he barely has any male friends either. But, put a pin in that.

During the animated series in his dungeon, Adachi comments on how mostly what he did in Inaba when not working was watching TV, and notes that Yamano was a fairly consistent presence when he watched.

Tohru Adachi: This hick town is so damn boring I had to whittle away my hours away watching TV...I watched [Mayumi] every day and developed a little crush on her.

He mentions developing a parasocial attachment to her, which became romantic attraction. Now, he's lying when he calls his attraction a "little" crush, but as you can tell by him in part lying about his motivations to be the Midnight Channel Killer, this is something Adachi does a lot. He's not an honest man by any stretch of the imagination. Parasocial relationships aren't inherently unhealthy, but they can be.

And something to note about the Midnight Channel is the rumor about it. The legend of the Midnight Channel is that if you stare at a turned off TV alone on a rainy midnight, you’ll see your soulmate, as Chie explains in the opening scenes of the game. As this is quickly proven to not be the true situation behind the Midnight Channel, it’s easy to dismiss as irrelevant, but it’s not even remotely so.

Adachi's statement that he frequently watches TV, and his complaints of the boredom of the town make it incredibly likely he saw the Midnight Channel, especially since he notes that he often gets calls over conspiracies and urban legends due to being a police officer, so it's highly likely he heard about the Midnight Channel from a weird caller and decided he had absolutely nothing better to do.

Adachi makes it fairly clear he’s attracted to women, turning down Yu’s dinner invite mainly because he wishes a girl would do that instead.

Another thing is that the only woman who is a frequent presence in his life aside from sort-of Yamano is the old lady whose son he shares a name with. Unless you count Nanako, but I don’t think she counts yet. Either way, way out of his age range and one of them acts like she’s his kid while Nanako is. His best friend’s daughter. She’s more like a niece or a really young sister.

Meanwhile, Yamano is 27, Adachi’s exact age. The only woman in his age range that he sees frequently, though not in person. But he does not personally know Yamano, which makes this attachment parasocial. Now, I noted previously Adachi's notable dearth of friends. A study at Sarjanawitaya Tamanisiswa University in Indonesia tested the relationship between loneliness and the intensity of parasocial relationships to celebrities (which would include Yamano, but they specifically bring up idols) in their students.

Based on the results of the research that has been done, the parasocial relationship variable obtained data that new students of the Faculty of Psychology, Sarjanawiyata Tamansiswa University have a level of parasocial relationship in the moderate category, namely 55%. In the loneliness variable, 52.1% of new students of the Faculty of Psychology, Sarjanawiyata Tamansiswa University have a level of loneliness in the moderate category. Meanwhile, the results of hypothesis testing show a positive relationship between loneliness and parasocial relationships. The higher the loneliness, the higher the parasocial relationship. Likewise, the lower the loneliness, the lower the parasocial relationship. The correlation coefficient value obtained rxy = 0.328 with a coefficient of determination of 10.7%, the remaining 89.3% is influenced by other factors not examined in this study. [...] After conducting empirical tests related to whether parasocial relationships in new students are determined by loneliness, it can be concluded that between the variables of loneliness and parasocial relationships have a significant relationship of p = 0.005 (p ≤ 0.05). So, there is a correlation or relationship between loneliness and parasocial relationships. Thus, the hypothesis proposed in this study is that there is a positive relationship between loneliness and parasocial relationships in new UST psychology students. The higher the loneliness, the higher the parasocial relationship. Vice versa, the lower the loneliness, the lower the parasocial relationship, so the hypothesis is accepted.

[Source]

And, Yamano, albeit being parasocial, is the only relationship he has with a woman before the old lady shows up, and Adachi even admits that he experiences feelings of loneliness, likely amplified by his distrust in people. Thanks to her being the only one, Adachi's attachment to her in particular is intensified. So, when the Midnight Channel came on and Yamano showed up, Adachi, having no female confidants whatsoever, was interested and wondered if he had a genuine chance, as Adachi's attachment was genuine. Especially since if Namatame’s affair was fake and this was slander, he’s a police officer. He could be of some assistance as an agent of the law, and that could help her opinion of him. So, in short, Adachi is desperate for social connection and a romantic relationship, and picked a woman who was just some kind of consistent presence and somewhere around his age.

However, this isn’t what happened. We saw what happened. But an interesting thing to note is that Adachi is still upset about Namatame being with Yamano, accusing Yamano of being the cheater instead of Namatame, citing the fact he “saw [her] first,” which… isn’t even a remotely good reason.

This suggests Adachi has some serious entitlement issues when it comes to romantic relationships, but what the hell even prompted this entitlement? The answer’s got some insanely complicated roots, and it isn’t able to be solely chalked up to his misogynistic views. Though some of it can be chalked up to that. But it is actually related to the Midnight Channel as well and Adachi's parasocial relationship with Yamano. The motif of romantic soulmates is an archetype that permeates media from all around the globe, and Bjarne Holmes' study In Search of My One and Only proves that a lot of people turn to media to look at what romantic ideals should be.

Television, motion pictures, novels, and magazines seem saturated with messages, such as the one above, that either directly or indirectly suggest that a “one and only” predestined soul mate awaits discovery. Yet, we know very little about if such messages, in addition to personal experiences and observations of the romantic relationships of others, are related with people’s beliefs about relationships. The notion that one can find a romantic partner that fits perfectly with preconceived standards is an unrealistic view that fails to take into account the work required to develop and maintain a healthy and loving relationship (Baucom, et al., 1996; Eidelson & Epstein, 1982). Yet, Bachen and Illouz (1996) found that 90% of young people look to movies and 94% to television for information about love, while only 33% turn to their mother and 17% to their father. Given this popularity of media for information about love, we need to begin to explore if ideas about romance and relationships portrayed in media are related to ideas held by individuals.

[Source]

Which is very connected to why the Midnight Channel is so popular, and is also likely why Adachi decided to try it. This is entirely related to the whole disdain Adachi has for society, something I covered in my best writeup ever where I covered Magatsu Inaba. I will not go into it as in-depth as I did there, but in short, I pointed out how Adachi’s misanthropy and controlling nature stemmed from his overwhelming pride, something I also suggest in my original writeup on him shedding light on his hypercontrolling nature. This pride is namely the pride he had over being capable of being successful (as he states he was his university’s valedictorian) entirely on his own through his studies.

Adachi shows multiple times throughout the game that he despises the reality he lives in. He complains of boredom in Inaba, he frequently insults the town and expresses jealousy towards anyone he perceives to be doing better than him. Note that in this rant, Adachi puts "marry[ing] a cute girl" as part of the "ideal." And the reason Adachi was willing to try the Midnight Channel was in part because of his lack of satisfaction in being present there. He is trying to find some form of satisfaction based on the "ideals" he clings to. This is something that influences Adachi a lot in his prideful, fruitless pursuit to prove that he can get anywhere he wants himself. However, citing a partner to be near is a contradictory desire to his proud determination to do everything alone. However, Rozzana Sánchez Aragón and Rolando Díaz Loving speak about the relationship between social connection and happiness in their essay From the Individual to the Romantic Relationship: In Pursuit of Happiness.

Authors like Argyle (1987) and Javaloy et al. (2009) have given a special weight to social interaction as an important predictor of happiness, this is due to the fact as individuals possess a significant other, such as close friends, family and couple relationships, they present higher rates of happiness. And it is not only the presence of intimate relationships that is important, Myers and Diener (1995) show greater personal happiness as interpersonal relations become more close and intimate, thus, couple’s relationship are fertile ground for this experience. The basis for the relationship of well-being and intimacy is derived form the inevitable union between happiness and love, not only in how the emotion is experienced, but also in their expressions and fazes (Carrasco and Sánchez 2008b). So it is no surprise that happiness is an emotion or feeling that cannot be separated from the romantic experience of love, becoming meshed and complementary in the subjective assessment of the quality of the relationship known as marital satisfaction. That refers to an index that indicates how happy the members of a dyad are regarding their partner’s characteristics and their romantic relationship.

[Source]

Adachi knows this, as is shown by his citation in his rant, yet he denies it to be true. I asserted in my Magatsu-Inaba writeup that Adachi, in part due to self destructiveness and in part due to being genuinely clinically depressed, struggles to feel true happiness or pleasure entirely, even when near others. But, despising the truth that the ideals he chased are not real, he attempts anyways.

So I want to talk about the murder of Saki Konishi. This is the moment that unnerves me the most in the whole game. Something interesting about Adachi and Saki is that he makes no indication he knew Saki Konishi existed before the Midnight Channel Killings. And yet he’s livid when he sees her interacting with Namatame, to the point he is, far, far more brutal towards her than he was towards Yamano, despite there being no reason to drive this anger! He didn’t know her before she became the only real witness! Why?!

The implied answer is that it’s the Midnight Channel. Again. He’s implied to have been trying again to find a “better” partner, saw Saki, and decided she was definitely attractive enough to be worth going for. He was going off of the soulmate idea again, and decided to pursue her, despite Saki being too young (17 years old) and a relationship with her having the potential to land him in jail. Again, Adachi still wanted a partner because he felt having one was a benchmark of having a decent life, so he's willing to break the law he's supposed to enforce in order to get there. Furthermore, he’s a human, and humans are social animals. Even people who do not have the mental faculties to emotionally connect more often than not still have the drive to, since it is vital to their survival.

Again, Adachi still knows that connecting with somebody can provide him some joy, even if he doesn't acknowledge it's possible platonically.

I actually also want to argue that his misogyny, which is about to come into play, is in part related to his sense of pride. Adachi makes it clear he is attracted to women and does not indicate any attraction to men (in fact, I'd argue he implies that he is not). But again, Adachi wishes to succeed on his own, so he just does not want his romantic partner to have much influence on his own success. He still overall wants to operate alone, even with his desire for affection.

However, it is also driven by Adachi’s misanthropy, as he constantly sees the worst in humanity and will never give you the benefit of the doubt in any given situation. Which is why he interpreted Yamano's actions as malicious rather than neutral. But with Namatame, he assumed Saki and Namatame were dating because he always imagines the worst-case scenario for himself.

The scene where he confronts Saki is a vivid depiction of both this facet of his misogyny and his controlling side. Adachi does not have an issue with the idea of a couple where there is a large enough age gap to hinder the relationship. After all, he is trying to pursue Saki, who is seventeen, and still in high school, while Adachi himself is twenty-seven. But Adachi violently confronts Saki and not Namatame, and when recounting her death, he curses out her, not him. He says this is because he's certain she flirted with him and not the reverse.

Adachi is jealous of Namatame, but actually cares more about Saki and is more invested in what she does, mainly because he wants affection from her after Yamano fell through very literally, and still wants to believe in the soulmate idea. Which would mark himself as the only partner Saki should have at all. If Namatame was victimizing Saki, this would not be the worst case scenario for Adachi, since he could get her out. But her willingly going with Namatame is much worse for Adachi, since that means there's no way for him to connect in the way he wants whatsoever.

And since he feels possessive over Saki, in part because of his desperation, and her being “out of his hands” is something that infuriated him. Adachi does not feel like he has control over his life and desperately tries to take and exert any power he can. But in his eyes, she’s with Namatame and therefore in a sense, lost to him. No chance at genuine intimacy. But he wants to believe she belongs to him and that she has to give him intimacy in some way because he is that desperate for connection, and that controlling of a person.

So… Adachi’s solution is to try and force her into intimacy. Easily the single most disturbing thing he does in the game. It is partly so disquieting to me because this isn’t at all an unheard of phenomenon, where people out of extreme cases of jealousy will use intimate violence as a way to control the person they’re interested in.

Within the context of romantic relationships, aggression has been argued to serve three important functions: (1) to deter intrasexual rivals from pursuing one’s partner, (2) to prevent long-term relationship partners from committing sexual infidelity, and (3) to reduce the probability that a partner may defect from a valued relationship (Buss 2012). [...] Preventing and anticipating a partner’s sexual infidelity. One troubling reaction to suspected or actual sexually infidelity is men’s use of intimate partner violence, which can take several forms (Arnocky et al. 2015). For instance, men may use psychological aggression such as attempting to reduce their female partner’s self-esteem, perhaps in order to decrease how attractive and desirable she feels to members of the opposite sex (Arnocky et al. 2015). Men may also forcibly initiate sex or emotionally manipulate a partner into having sex (i.e., sexual coercion) if they are suspicious or know of their partner’s sexual infidelity.

[Source]

In Saki’s case, in the final game he just physically attempts to pin her to the TV, which fails as she cathartically slaps him in the face. But the animated series adds a little bit more, bringing back an unused voice line where he actually attempts to blackmail her using the fact he’s the only other person who saw her talk to Namatame. He tells her he won't let anyone know she dated Namatame if she "listens to what [he says]." Saki figures out what he means quickly and protects herself, to which Adachi, in a moment of incredible audacity, takes offense. (It doesn't help that Adachi expresses jealousy towards Saki over her perceived freedom (well, up until he ruined it) that he states he lacked at her age, which probably made his hostility even more intense.)

So, Adachi does want connection and is affection-self-starved, and is violently desperate to the point he’s willing to force intimate behavior on another person if he believes that’s the best he can get. But he rejects connection overall because of his pride and wish to believe he’s able to do whatever he wants on his own, as well as his misanthropy. And his controlling personality, which is spurred by his pride as he firmly believes he’s the most intelligent officer in the Inaba PD, which influences his behavior when he acts on that desire to connect, as we saw with Saki and to a lesser extent Yu.

And I want to point out Adachi can absolutely get emotionally attached to people. He is not a case of someone who genuinely can’t emotionally attach to others but is trying and failing. Because those people are real. He's not one of them. And it’s shown pretty well in his relationships with every Dojima family member. There’s a moment for all three.

First let’s cover Yu. All you really need here is to look at the scene where Yu confronts him alone, where he attempts to intimidate Yu away from fighting himself on his own. He threatens to shoot Yu but never does, purposefully missing—but I want you to note that Adachi literally never shows up, actually. That’s an illusion. He’s not there.

He couldn’t bring himself to show up. There’s no genuine way to hurt Yu unless he literally collapses the mindscape over his head. And he doesn’t do that. That would make his life (well actually his death, Adachi's goal is to die) so much easier, Yu’s his most powerful foe and Adachi knows this.

Dojima? Rank 7. Easy. He stays alone with Dojima in the hospital while he’s recovering for the whole night. And can’t bring himself to answer Yu’s question about Dojima when Adachi mocks him over choosing to have faith in him.

Nanako? Bit harder to tell. But it’s the second threat letter. (The first was simply Adachi being a sore loser.) And here’s why I assert this: Namatame in his account of his involvement in the Midnight Channel, mentions that the images of Yamano and Saki became clearer when he realized it was them, implying he had to know who Yamano and Saki were. Adachi does know Nanako, of course, they even get along. And furthermore, Adachi, even without the newspaper causing everyone to know who the girl the politician spoke to was, knew Nanako well enough to suspect her. Which probably gave him a way more vivid image of her on the Midnight Channel since he figured it out. And why would he send that letter if he wanted Nanako in the TV? It would prompt the IT to try and prevent her from going in at all since they'd probably figure it out. Yu's her brother, after all. Which fails, but it was worth a shot, right?

Adachi can totally connect, he just refuses to because he’s a prideful, misanthropic, distrustful wreck. And yet he does want to. But he doesn’t listen to himself and goes into this contradictory destructive mess that is the Midnight Channel Killings.

I don’t have a finisher for this. It’s roughly the same conclusion as the much better Magatsu Inaba writeup. Adachi’s absolutely just his own worst enemy here. Being alone is not the smart way to be, the entire game disproves that, and Adachi doesn’t even fully believe it. But he's still too damn proud to listen. He's too afraid of confronting the truth and facing himself. He could be in a way better state if he did.

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