#SHES NOT FROM SUMARU *STOP*

[starfall-genshin-ocs]

Just saw a "fix it" edit post that included Collei. Not feeling great.

She's not from Sumaru.

She's not from Sumaru.

#hey its starfall #I dont feel like tagging this with the game #people are gonna be weird about it #and angery #SHES NOT FROM SUMARU *STOP* #the urge to unfollow the ~game~ tag is strong right now

[webxgal]

[Ⅱ] ab origine

from the beginning.

There is something beautiful about temporary things. The thought of immortalising something into the film of your camera, knowing you cannot snap a picture of them again both saddens you and fills you with pride. For that reason, butterflies have been your primary muse. Their withering lifespan of a month filled you with sentiment, and you always took care in sneaking a photo every time you saw one. Even if one with similar wings appears next time, it’s still not the same butterfly. It will never be reborn.

People are like butterflies too, you realise after your father’s death. You will walk around Iwatodai and sometimes pass by a middle-aged man with the same hair colour as your father, or a woman will have your mother’s eyes. The fact of the matter was—they were still not your parents, who purposefully chose to move on from the world and you.

Nowadays you take pictures of people too. Rarely, because you still feel so weightless and lost in Port Island. Yet, it was better than being in Sumaru City where ghosts you’d rather forget lay dormant. Even if you couldn’t be surrounded by the familiarity of your hometown, or your friends attending Seven Sisters High School, you rationalised it was better than meeting your ex-landlord as he griped about how the apartment would no longer sell after two people had committed suicide in it.

A year passed in Port Island, and your only friend was Yuko Nishiwaki who had also been isolated by her junior high friends (boy troubles, you recall). You both formed some kind of solidarity for being the two girls who were too absorbed in your own hobbies to give a rat’s ass about whatever else happened at school. Yuko would throw herself into sports, and you’d throw yourself into photography so you both don’t acknowledge how you have nothing in common, other than the need for having someone to talk to when the silence becomes too much.

The second year begins with cherry blossoms, a cliche but charming beginning to an otherwise repetitive school year. You stop at the entrance to take some photos and ignore the bitter grumbles of others about how you were blocking the way. Just as you lower your camera to gently tuck it back in your bag, your eyes land on a figure standing just a little ways away.

He is lean, with a droop to his shoulders. You couldn’t catch any of his features through his blue hair that curtains his face. It is the unfamiliarity around him that catches your attention. Your lunchtime habit of people-watching had helped you be accustomed to the appearances of students in your grade. You easily recognise Yukari Takeba walking next to him and you falter for a bit. If he is a new student, how did he already know Takeba? Are they friends from before? Or perhaps that is her boyfriend? You have never interacted with Takeba before, but you did know she is popular within the student body. To you, in your shallow worldview, it makes perfect sense that someone like her has a boyfriend. The passing classmates did too, seeing as they were practically spinning their heads around to take a second look at the couple with a silent promise that rumours will be spread. Nobody had anything better to do at Gekkoukon High, and you were part of the populace of perpetually bored students.

Your thumb, which had been mindlessly resting on the shutter button, clamps down suddenly when someone briskly bumps past you. The familiar, audible shutter rings through the ambience and you watch in horror as the boy turns in your direction, catching you in your hurried attempt to stuff your camera away. Your breath hitches in your throat when azure eyes meet yours. In between your frazzled panic and the widening of Takeba’s eyes, you can’t help but feel that the world has fallen into silence for that brief second. He is undeniably pretty, and despite his big eyes, he holds an air of neutrality around him, unbefitting the stereotype of someone innocent. His hands are shoved in his pockets and his lack of reaction to you only adds more mystery to him.

But that moment ends quickly and upon the couple’s staring, you knew there was no way you could justify yourself standing like a creep with your camera in hand. Again. So you make a lightening decision. Doing practically the most incriminating thing you can do in that situation—you make a run for it. You let your legs, practically unused over the spring break, take you inside the school building. You are met with strange looks, again which you ignore because it couldn’t even scale to the shame you felt for ogling at the new guy. The new, taken guy who is Takeba’s boyfriend. Your embarrassment does not let you think of the fact that you aren’t even certain of the nature of the two’s relationship, and just wander over to the corkboard in hopes you will be shielded by the bodies of students searching for their names and new homeroom.

2-F.

You read through section ‘N’ for Yuko and let your shoulders drop in disappointment when you notice she is not in your class. It had been comforting during your first year to have her desk propped beside yours, making you feel less alone in a room full of strangers. Thinking of the girl, you wonder if she has arrived at school yet but a quick survey in the corridor didn’t let you spy her familiar visage. You guess you will be seeing her during lunchtime then. The shrill of the first bell causes you and several other students to perk up, realising you have mere minutes to head to class before you are declared late. You haven’t even put your bag away. As you turn around to head back to the lockers, you miss the pair from across the room, who were similarly heading to their first lesson of the year.

(“Huh?” Yukari blinks as she watches you dash away as if the devil itself were nipping at your heels. “You’re asking about the girl with the camera?”

Minato nods patiently.

“Erm…” Yukari rakes her memory for any recollection of you and finds it to be extremely sparse. “Well, she’s in our grade? I haven’t talked to her before so I don’t know much. She into photography, I think.”

There was no particular reason for him to ask, other than the fact he recognises your camera to be a new model from a flyer he read recently. He quickly forgets about you as he and Yukari are distracted by much greater things. Your name isn’t brought up again for a long time.)

-

(Yuko has to hide her laugh by practically shoving a spoonful of ginger rice into her mouth once you finish recounting your humiliating morning and subsequent first impression on the new student. You are frowning, barely touching your iced coffee that is warming up under the spring heat.

“Welcome to the club,” She grins, poking sharply at your shoulder as she teases. “Where we both get accused of being homewreckers.”

Your eyebrows furrow together, your frown only deepening. Your bottom lip catches between your teeth as you contemplate, looking up at your friend with genuine worry flooding your expression.

“That’s terrible! I don’t want gum stuck to my locker just like you…”

She immediately claps you on the back of your head.)

#p3 protagonist x reader #persona 3 x reader #persona 3 #p3 x reader #p3 #persona 3 protagonist #minato arisato #minato arisato x reader #makoto yuki #makoto yuki x reader #p3 protagonist #x reader #reader insert #memento vivere #webxgal writes

[zandik-kidnaz]

Lyney X gn! Reader

Lynette X gn!Reader

Freminet X gn! Reader

Fluff

*~—————————————————————~*

Lyney

You were in Lyney’s dressing room, you could be found on his lap putting some eyeliner and some nude eyeshadow on.

“You almost done hun~?”

“If you stopped moving I would already be done..”

“Sorry love~”

You finish putting eyeliner on his left eye.

“Now I only need to do your tear drop..”

You finished his teardrop and you get off of his lap and right before he was about to leave he pulls you back into the room and he gives you a bouquet of rainbow roses.

“Love ya!” Lyney says before you leave the room

“Love you too Lyn..”

___________________________________

Lynette

Lynette had just finished a show with her brother and she was so tired after it. Especially because she had to listen to the small children who wanted her autograph, she loved kids but sometimes they were to obsessive.

“How was the show??” You ask her

“Good.. I’m soooo tired though.. I’m gonna take a nap..”

“If you’re up for it when you wake up I can make you some tea or we could go on a picnic?”

“Sure.. love cha!”

“Love you too! Sweet dreams baby!”

30 minutes later Lynette comes out and she walks up to you and she taps your shoulder.

“Ah! Lynette, hi! How did you sleep?”

“I slept like a cat…”

“You are a cat though?”

Lynette chuckles and yiu two go on the picnic date.

———————————————————————————————————

Freminet

Freminet had came up for air while he was diving, and when you were walking around the border of the city of Fontaine and you see freminet on the rocks waiting for his air tank to refill. You walk up to him and you tap on his shoulder.

“Hi fremi! Watcha doin?”

“Ah!! [Y/N]!! You startled me there.. I’m waiting for my air tank to refill.. why are you here? I thought you were in Sumaru?”

“I left early! I missed you to much!”

Freminet smiles slightly and you hug him, a ‘ding’ comes from his air tank

“Well I must get going now..” you say

Before you leave you give freminet a bag with some food and water in it.

“Love you fremi!” You kiss his cheek and walk away

“Love you too..”

#genshin lyney #freminet #lynette

[vitamimesea]

(spoilers) P2 Eternal Punishment Ending thoughts...

Finished watching a playthrough of Eternal punishment yesterday and I have so many thoughts about that ending. What happened to Tatsuya after he left? What about the people in the ruined world??

I couldn’t stop thinking about them last night so i wrote my headcanons on how both universes goes on after the ending. 

Eternal Punishment's timeline continues to P3, P4, and P5 (since the P2 gang gets a brief mention in P3’s easter egg TV show it is technically canon to the mainstream Persona games)

EP Maya and the adult gang are the only ones left in their timeline who know of the existence of the Other Side. They have to shoulder the burden of not even dropping any hints about it to the Tatsuya, Lisa, Eikichi and Jun of their universe :”)

Only Maya, Eikichi, Lisa and Jun’s souls transferred and merged to their bodies in the EP universe. This can explain why Katsuya, Baofu and Ulala couldn’t remember any events of IS. 

Now what about the P1 gang? They exist separately from the EP universe’s version of themselves (and are still Persona users except Yukino because she gave her persona to Jun). Katsuya, Baofu and Ulala also still exist in the IS universe (Remember how Tatsuya refers to EP Katsuya as ‘not his brother’?). I’ve read several headcanons that Tatsuya becomes completely alone after returning to the IS timeline but that fate is just too cruel so let him have some company ;_;

And what about Naoya?? I’d like to believe that he survived and got to Sumaru just in time to help his friends with battling the Last Battalion. 

Tatsuya’s decision to return to his timeline mostly stemmed from guilt. He blames himself for ‘helping’ to destroy it, and the fact that the people he knew still existed in his world, so he couldn’t just leave them there. 

After Tatsuya returns to his ruined world, he gathers the party of P1 and this universe’s Katsuya, Ulala and Baofu and find a way to rebuild society. They make a team kinda similar to SEES with Tatsuya as the leader. Demons still roam the city (unfortunately) so it’s also the team’s task to fight them. 

Philemon still watches over the world and assists the team. The velvet room and the Collective Unconscious also exists in this world and is perhaps the only connection to the EP side.

Rumors still hold power in Sumaru City and Xibalba can still make thoughts into reality, and its power is utilized by the team to help the city sustain itself.

They’re trying to find a way to restart the Earth’s rotation and turn the planet back to normal so they can return back to the surface. (So it’s pretty much like Skyward Sword)

#persona 2 #megaten #innocent sin #eternal punishment #theory #persona headcanons

[lightamp]

persona 3 weekly fic recs

SPOILERS BELOW

fics may come from any version of the game

theme: crossovers

Wither and Bloom by minkhollow: Haru, 835, G

Haru sorts through some mail. (Spoilers through early October for P5.)

who i am tomorrow by lavenderet: Kotone & Akechi, 12.668, T

The girl dives out of the way in time, the Shadow’s maw just barely missing her head. Akechi intends to withdraw his weapon, call Hereward, do something, but before he can she’s snatching a broom from the entrance to the ramen bar and plunging the butt of it into the Shadow’s body. The Shadow howls, incapacitated, and she uses the opportunity to barrage it with more attacks, twirling the broom around like it’s her fucking birthright. Akechi is too stunned to move. Eventually, the Shadow slinks away, retreating too far and too fast for either of them to chase it down. “Aw,” she says, puffing out her cheeks, “I wanted to finish it off.” … Maybe he should have intervened earlier. He gives her a long, proper look this time— her wild, red locks, her vibrant gaze, her uniform, now drenched in Shadow blood. “What did you say your name was?” he asks. “Shiomi,” she says, smiling brightly. “Kotone Shiomi.”

The appearance of a retired savior brings light to feelings Akechi long thought he’d buried.

Equal or Lesser Value by Lisse (Archive Locked): Minako + Souji, 6.693, G

The wrong family dies on Moonlight Bridge.

Lost Kingdoms by jackdawq: Aigis & Teddie, 2.279, G

Every girl in Inaba likes Teddie; Port Island's no different.

The Girl Who Fought with Death by VampireBadger: Kotone + P2 Party, 9.482, T

There's a rumor going around Sumaru of a transfer student that fights demon with the help of Death itself. To a group of teenagers trying hard to stop the end of the world, this sounds like exactly the kind of thing that might be able to give them an edge. After all, they need all the help they can get, and rumors in Sumaru have been known to come true lately. Even if some of the details... aren't exactly right.

Impressions (the MARIN=KARIN remix) by bellmare: Souji/Minato, 4.217, G

The only downside to leading the expedition through the Group Date Cafe is the fact that everyone and their dog wants to find out who his destined partner is. (Alternate title: Secret DLC Event: the Big Day edition.)

like two ships, passing in the night by bellmare; Souji/Minako, 4.003, G

Boy meets girl. Girl may, or may not, be a ghost.

#persona 3 #persona 3 spoilers #p3 fic rec week #fic recs

[cutieparadox]

OK PERSONA OC EXPLANATION BECAUSE. YES. I FINALLY FIGURED EVERYTHING OUT. UNDER THE CUT. if you saw me struggle to add a line break no you didnt.

I keep referring to my persona ocs and acting like everyone knows who they are and what I’m talking about, so, yeah here they are.

This is an original story, so this doesn’t happen during any of the games, or have any of the canon characters, this could be an alternate timeline, maybe one where the p2 timelines never split?? That’s not super important, but it does take place in sumaru city.

Or more accurately, it takes place in Yokohama! I’ll call it Sumaru City, but all of the background shots I’ll draw are just Yokohama. So.

The main cast is all based on each persona game, so for example Asuka is persona 3, so she’s blu-themed, and she's coming to terms with the limited time she has and to stop caring about other people because of it. Nana is based on persona 2 so she’s scarlet red themed and her character development is being like “yeah horrible things have happened to me, but I can decide if I become more bitter and angry because of it, or I can become a loving and supportive person instead.”, etc, etc.

So all of these people (Asuka Iwasaki, Nana Akiteru, Mikuru Saki, Ruuna Narumi, and Oka Morishita)

are childhood friends, Oka, Asuka, and Nana being the first to meet, and then Saki and Ruuna move in and meet them after, and they become INSEPARABLE like these 5 are just a package deal. They are split up between the two schools from persona 2, but they just run to the middle point once school ends to hang out anyway.

Ok so for the actual PERSONA stuff!!

In 2022, (when this story takes place), a strange phenomenon has been happening for about 4 years.

People have noticed objects or ideas from their dreams appearing in reality, but only to them. Reflections change to their fantasy self, surroundings shifting for only a moment.

Mental illness diagnosis and hospitalization have gone up tenfold, even if the patient's family history doesn’t have any listed psychosis cases. It’s baffled scientists and other researchers for years, as there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.

More recently, a particularly extreme set of cases has started happening all over japan. People have started suddenly going into a psychotic breakdown, speaking absolute nonsense and parading through the streets, possibly hurting other people or causing property destruction. They also end up admitting things they would NEVER admit willingly while in this trance, I have this vivid idea of a married man falling victim to this, and admitting to his wife that he never actually saw her as anything other than a friend and that he only married her to ignore the fact that he was gay and in love with his best friend. This character wouldn’t be important, just an idea of what happens.

They can not be stopped unless death or stamina runs out. Eventually, they run out of energy and collapse on the spot! Just. Crumple. These patients almost always fall into a coma and die after a month or so. When they are in that coma, their brain shuts off completely. Not even essential brain waves are active, and yet, their heart still beats?? I haven’t figured that part out uh

The apparent cause has been privately researched by two scientists by the names of Lain Hayashi and Ayaka Suzuki, as well as their assistants Ami Iwasaki and Ichiro Narumi.

Ami is Asuka’s Cousin, and Ichiro is Ruuna’s older brother and legal caretaker, as well as the owner of the house they live in. Ami lives there too, her and Ichiro have been dating since they were in school.

Both of them are super cute together. I adore them. the heterosexuals ever.

The “Lab” (I haven’t thought of a name for it, probably something like project blank) came up with the theory of the “Rem cycle” phenomenon, as well as the idea of the “inside”

Only persona users can enter the inside, so out of the research team, only Ami and Ichiro can enter it.

The inside is a HUGE towering hospital with a large labyrinthine courtyard.

I’ll talk about the courtyard first, it’s like mementos essentially. Something like..” forgotten dreams are laid to rest here” so it’s overgrown and stuff. It’s actually off to the side, so it’s like. Out of the way.

The individual dreams are separated into wards. These wards are basically pockets of whatever dream the holder is having. So, for example, if someone is having a dream where they are the Prime Minister, the dream world would be that version of japan. Or if anyone had a dream about being a princess in a Victorian castle then the ward would be that area of the world, and more particularly whatever castle they would live in. Persona users are not exempt from falling victim to this. Using my last example, one of my ocs is actually like that. She is completely aware that she is in a dream, and that her real body will die. She’s able to control everything around her because of that awareness. This is exclusive to persona users. But in most cases, at least the only case I had written which is aforementioned, they have to fuse with their shadow, therefore taking its place. I haven’t worked out all the logistics of that, so come back to me on that later. I just know that fusing causes heterochromia, with one eye being their natural color, whichever one the dominant side of their handsis, and the other being the yellow that shadows are known for. It also causes incredible power shifts that can be very physically dangerous. It doesn’t however cause any split personality tropes, because the shadow is them, so there’s no battle for control type things. Hypothetically there could be if you fuse with a shadow that is not your own, but I haven’t thought about that much.

The goal of these persona users is to kill the shadow and release the holder, or in the case of the fused people, get them to relinquish control and allow the ward to crumble and for them to return to reality.

When in the inside, persona users get their own outfits. Basically the metaverse outfits or magical girl transformations. Small colors change depending on the Ward, however.

Another interesting thing, particularly skilled persona users can bend the inside to their whims, if only in certain ways. Things like weapons appearing from thin air, floating/flying, destroying different structures,etc.

Two shadows end up joining the team as well after the rest of their awakenings. They are completely safe and stuff no like. Betrayal.

They didn’t have a name so they asked the team to name them.

Shadow A ends up asking for “the prettiest cutest loveliest name you can give me” so, she got Kokorohime MajiBaton Loveha. The ultimate KiraKira bs name. Everyone calls her Hime but she insists strangers call her by her full “legal” name, much to everyone else’s dismay.

Shadow B asked for any name that didn’t sound like that. So they got Natsuro Masa. Yay! New team members get. The two move in with Ruuna and Ami and Ichiro! Ami thought they were so cute so she was fine with it, And Ichiro was too tired to care and they had an extra room anyway. He basically just said “whatever kids have fun”

Eventually, they named the team “ dream saviors” or “YumeYumis!” I just call them the saviors in my head.

Other random stuff includes:

All of the saviors' (and Ichiro and Ami's) personas are the muses from Greek mythology! Some of these are super shallow relations but uh. Ignore that it will make sense eventually!! Here is The list of personas and how they connect to the characters are:

Ami has Erato, the muse of Love poetry. She’s like dangerously in love with Ichiro, like. Girly would put her life on the line for that man. (and it’s completely mutual dw)

Ichiro has Clio, the muse of history. Uh. He’s smart! That’s it!! I kind of didn’t have any other ideas for him I’m so sorry my baby boy.

Nana has Melpomene, the muse of tragedy and chorus. Nana has gone through some stuff. Like really. I haven’t exactly decided what. But I do know it’s some STUFF. So uh. Tragedy!

Saki has Calliope, The muse of epic poetry. Saki is a hardcore theater kid. She works for a theater troupe and is their rising star!

Asuka has Euterpe, the muse of music. She’s the headliner of a metal band. Yeah. Kinda clear there.

Oka has Polyhymnia, the muse of Hymns and sacred poetry. She’s a writer. Yet again, that’s it!!

Hime has Terpsichore, the muse of dancing. Hime's inside outfit (or what she wore for her entire life before getting pulled out of the inside) was a ballerina ensemble. Yet again, super shallow, but I feel like she would like dancing anyway.

Natsuro has Urania, the muse of astronomy! She’s space themed, but like 70’s science fiction space stuff??? You know what I meant!!

Last but not least, Ruuna has Thalia, the muse of comedy. Joking and being like, high energy is her coping mechanism. And uh. Yeah. That’s it!!

You might also be asking “why don’t Ichiro and Ami go save these people themselves” because they literally can’t!!

One, they are disallowed by Lain and Ayaka to do anything outside of looking around, and killing any random shadows walking around the hallways. They also just can’t enter the wards. The saviors are the “keys” to the wards because of fate and stuff. If the two followed behind them they could, that’s actually how they found out how they are researching the rem cycle.

Anything past any of this I don’t know. Lol.

#stellas ocs #persona #the dream saviors/yumeyumi #persona 5 #persona 4 #persona 3 #persona 2 #revelations persona

[kationella]

How do you think Nyarly would feel about the other evil gods? Like you said, he probably wouldn’t be able to stand Yaldy.

Yes! Let's talk about my favorite asshole!

Nyarly is such an enigma since he keeps toeing the line between "I seek chaos since it is in my nature, so whatever" and "I seek chaos since it amuses me, fuck humanity". But this isn't what you asked.

The other final boss gods are Nyx, Erebus, Izanami and Yaldabaoth. I see the Demiurge as another face of Yaldabaoth. Does Cthulhu from Tatsuya's Scenario work? Meh, we already have too many gods for one post. Tell me if you want be to discuss Mikuratana-no-Kami, Hi-no-Kagutsuchi, Chronos and Enlil as well.

In my mind, Nyarly greatly values both willpower (to stick to their beliefs no matter what and its amusing to egg that kind of people on) and power (cause you can't egg someone who dies the moment you shove them). He can always acommodate to benefit from any motives others may have.

Nyarly is all in with Nyx and Erebus. His own plan wasn't too far off. Bring about the end of humanity while blaming them for kickstarting it. The only reason Nyarly kept Sumaru (mostly) intact was because that's how the alien rumor ended up working and he was spiteful towards a team of mostly teenagers. Like "ha, ha, now live in the apocalypse forever". Plus, there's a part of him representing self-preservation that was still unsure about disappearing along with humanity.

Even though Nyarly is ok with Nyx, he wouldn't be drinking buddies with her. Nyx is only ending humanity because she wants to become whole again, not because of some worldview of hers. Boo. At least Erebus agrees with him that humanity is shit, but is always busy trying to break the Seal to do anything else. Whatever.

Nyarly would be generally neutral about Izanami herself. She enjoys playing the long game like him (though his big ego reminds him he's the winner in that area) but they don't share anything else in common. Izanami wanted to grant humanity's desire, she was just seriously misguided. Nyarly might find it amusing, but he wouldn't make a move for or against her. Let her unleash his demons/shadows on the planet if she wants, it wouldn't prove anything he already knows. Nyarly is just diappointed by the saccharine ending the entire ordeal had (saccharine for him, at least. My little squidward is fucked up). Now, if Izanami were to challenge him with the worldview Yu gave her, though... well, wouldn't that be interesting?

Here comes that fucker Yaldabaoth. In Nyarly's opinion, the god of order is an egocentric, drama king who believes himself to be smarter than he is (hypocrite much?). This hostility comes mainly from the whole "total order vs total chaos" thing they have going on. Nyarly doesn't get why someone would want to rule over humanity. He's an attention seeker, he says. Any negative adjective you can think of, no matter how contradictory they are, have been used by Nyarly at least once to describe Yaldy ("I swear by Cthulhu he copied by entire Joker plan. Stop smirking, Philemon, it's true! He's so unoriginal!").

This was so fun, thanks for the ask!

#ask #persona 2 #persona 3 #persona 4 #persona 5 #nyarlathotep #nyx #erebus #izanami #yaldabaoth #thoughts #headcanon #analysis

[ifellinlovewithpersona]

Spark AU Explained! Part 2 - Under the Surface

So today I want to present part 2 of my Spark AU headcanons. Today's part will be much darker than the previous one and we will be going deeper into AU's lore, but I hope y'all will like it!

If you want to catch up with my AU, you can find Part 1 here!!!!

Spoiler warning: This post contains heavy spoilers for Persona 5/Vanilla Persona 5 True Ending). If you haven't finished P5 yet and/or haven't seen Vanilla True Ending, I strongly recommend you finish the game and then go read this post (not the other way around!). My AU contains some things that also happened in the canon and I will be talking about these things here, so read at your own risk!

Trigger warning: This part contains much darker headcannons than the other one, so if you are sensitive for things like fictional death or dark/horror themes in general, don't click the "read more" button!

If you are ready for another part of me explaining my AU, the rest of post is under the cut!

So today, I will explain much darker headcanons from under the surface of my AU iceberg. If you don't remember how it looked like, here's my AU Iceberg meme!

To understand the lore properly, I will not start from first under the surface level, but actually from the lowest and darkest one:

Persona Game Ritual being deadly/ Mental shutdowns of people without Spark, that have Personas

Like I mentioned in the previous post, in my AU, Spark is the term used for necessary ability to control and maintain a Persona and it's hereditary, so if one's parents had the Spark, there is high probability that one also is having it. So, if you need the Spark to have a Persona, how come there were people without it that had it (but ended up very badly for them, like you will see for just a moment)?

There is only one answer - the Persona Game Ritual from P1 and P2. Because it was a very popular urban legend in 90's Japan, a lot of teenagers were performing it... and around that time, many strange death cases began to appear. What was happening? In my AU, when someone doesn't have a Spark, that means that you aren't able to control the thing you just awakened. This thing could eat your mind from the inside. So something similar to mental shutdown from P5 was happening - people first stopped responding to outside stimuli and then were dying from unknown reasons. Of course, many people like the scientists or police were researching it, but no one seemed to know the reason for these strange casualties. So who was the one that linked these two things together and what happened next? This brings us to the slightly, higher but still under the surface level of my iceberg:

The Velvet Circle

One day, Maya was researching topics for the Halloween edition of the Coolest Magazine (I imagine she still worked there around this time but around the time Ren was in primary school, she got moved from Coolest to Sumaru's News newspaper and she work there still in my AU). While researching, she came across the news about this strange things happening. Her journalist's curiosity kicked in, and she started her own investigation. The thing she found out, broke her heart. It turned out, the strange casualties were linked to the same ritual she and her friends performed in childhood and she taught so many people about. She felt very guilty and told Tatsuya and the rest of P2 gang immediately and also told Naoya who already was her husband at the time, so he also told his friends about this, since they were performing this ritual in the past too. Everyone met together and decided that the situation is very serious, so they have to do something about it. They understand that this ritual is deadly for someone without certain abilities and they were lucky that they are still okay, so they vowed to each other to never, ever get the ritual spread again and to destroy any mentions of it from the surface of the Earth and in this way, the secret organization, The Velvet Circle (named after the Velvet Room, the place only Persona users know about), arised. In the later years, when they dealed with the ritual problem, the purpose of the organization changed to searching for and protecting new Persona users from people that can harm them for their powers.

Tatsuya as a leader of the Velvet Circle

Along with changing the purpose of the organization, the need for a leader arised. Because now, someone with malicious intentions might found out about them, neither Maya, nor Naoya volunteered, because they had a little, oblivious to all of the things that are happening, child (Ren) that could be put in danger if someone evil would want to threaten the organization's leader. Tatsuya on the other hand, hadn't any children to worry about and his life partner (Jun, I ship them too much to not include TatsuJun in the AU) was also Persona user capable of defending himself in need, so Tatsuya became the leader of the Velvet Circle.

Velvet Circle observing the Phantom Thieves actions secretly

Now, I think we can finally make a timeskip to P5 times, that are times when most of the AU is happening! So like we all know from the canon, the background of the P5 was mental shutdown cases and that was the thing, everyone in the media was talking about. So I imagine, Velvet Circle also heard about this pretty quickly and they immediately reminded themselves of similar cases resulted from the ritual, that was happening before. Around the same time (I think after Madarame mission), the first news about the Phantom Thieves started to spread so of course, Velvet Circle started suspecting them of being new Persona users that want to change the world with their powers at best, or the one responsible for bringing back the ritual at worst (they didn't know about Akechi or Shido or real reason of mental shutdowns of course). The only thing that was certain was finding this Phantom Thieves. After they found out, that everything began in Shujin that is a school that Ren, Ann and Yuuki are attending, they decided to try to gather the information from them. Because Lisa was overseas then and Eikichi was on tour, there were nobody in Tokyo capable of talking with them, so Tatsuya decided to send Maya with an excuse of gaining scoops for Sumaru's News new article. She wanted to suprise Ren, so she didn't told him, so when he arrived to Leblanc after school with Ryuji, Yusuke and Ann, they were very suprised to see her there. When she came closer to hug her son after she haven't seen him for three months, she sensed a Persona, in fact a multiple of them and not only from him but from his friends too (she didn't actually sensed Morgana's Persona, because he was in Ren's bag and Maya thought it was just another Ren's Persona). So she immediately knew something isn't right here. When she tried to asked them about it, she noticed that they were recluctant to give a straight answer and Ren was just roughly lying (which she could tell very well since she is his mother and has known him all his life). She started to suspect they might be associated with all of this, but she decided to not annoy his son anymore. When she left Leblanc, she realized that there were four of them which is number of people required for Persona Game (she didn't know that PT awakened their Personas in Metaverse since Ren didn't told her anything). She started to being worried because she didn't know if Ren and Ann inherited the Spark or not and there is another two boys with them, she know anything about! They might be in danger! So Maya immediately called Tatsuya and he gave an order for everyone in the Circle, to watch Phantom Thieves's actions very closely. PT eventually opened to them but I'm thinking about writing Social Link for Velvet Circle so that's a story for another post!

Couple of more headcannons like 11/20 operation from Velvet Circle perspective etc (11/20 and true ending spoilers here!)

-Because leader of PT wasn’t the ordinary guy but son of Maya that is someone dear to Tatsuya and he always thought of her as a older sister so Ren was always treated as his nephew, he gave an order to protect their 11/20 misleading Akechi mission from the beginning to the end. The other Velvet Circle members were ordered to stay close and kill Akechi on the spot if the mission failed and he ended up killing Ren in favor of “eye for an eye” rule (poor Akechi…)

-The Velvet Circle weren't aware of false Igor, because Ren never told anyone about the Velvet Room until 12/24 happened, so he told everything to the Circle after the fact (if they did know earlier, hoo boy...)

-At the 12/24 when Metaverse and real world became one, every Velvet Circle members Personas appeared and showed them what was happening with PT battle with Yaldabaoth (like everyone had something like vision). Of course Tatsuya called the Code Red in the Circle and everyone rushed to Tokyo, but when they arrived, PT defeated the god already

Whew, that is an end of Part 2! I had really good creative flow today so that's why it is so long, but I hope you all enjoyed it!

Edit: if you want more of this AU, here's the link for some Protagonist Family headcanons!

Reblogs of this post and part 1 are appreciated but not required, but I would be thankful if more people would know about my AU!

#spark au #persona 5 au #my au ideas #ren amamiya #akira kurusu #maya amano #tatsuya suou #naoya toudou #persona 5 #persona 2 #persona 1 #tw: death #tw: mental illness #tw: grief #tw: fictional death #long post #naomaya #naoya x maya

[symphonic-scream]

More ML Genshin Au?

So my boy Ivan is the local blacksmith in Mondstadt, he uses his Geo vision to help him locate rare gems and ores to use in his smithing. He is technically a member of the adventurers guild so the Guild and the Knights come to ask him to help with certain commissions or quests but for the most part he just makes his little weapons in peace these days

Mylene is often asked to gather supplies cause she has some insane luck with finding rare items? Like if the restaurant needs a certain type of mushroom they always commission her. She is a healer and tends to help with sick animals and creatures

Max is the librarian with the knights, and used to be a scholar in one of the other nations called Sumaru. He's all about learning about the gods and Archons and the war and what really went down, so if he were to find out that say, the Anemo Archon was actually in the city in a mortal form he'd want to really investigate them

Kim accompanies him as his official guard knight, despite the fact that Max doesn't need one. It's just for the books and appearances, really. Two vision bearers are less likely to get jumped than one, especially if one of them is rather tall and swinging a claymore

Marinette, Nino, and Kim all came to Mondstadt from the neighboring nation of Liyue, which would be Adrien's second stop on his Teyvat "meet the gods and solve everyone's problems" tour. After meeting the mysterious Anemo Archon of Mondstadt, he thinks he's prepared for what to expect in Liyue

He isn't

Big spoilery plot bit here which has him needing rescue, and Lila comes to his aid. Lila, originally from Schnezneya, and one of the 11 Harbingers working for the Tsaritza (spelling hard), the Cryo Archon of the frozen land of Schnezneya. (They're one of the bad groups) but Lila seems to be helping them?? Huh odd

Anyways a little later they meet the Geo Archon, Longg, the god of Contracts. He's bored after all these years of the same old and has decided it's time to fuck shit up for almost no reason. It's entertainment for him

When finished with the Liyue chapter of his adventure, Adrien would have to find a way for him and Plagg to get into the closed Nation of Inazuma. Kagami would bring up the method she used to escape the country, and tell him she'd try to get them in the same way

--

Mhm there it is, more. I'm excited cause Nation 3, Inazuma, should be coming real soon and I know I'm gonna love exploring a new land again

Let me know if you have any questions, comments, concerns. Anything y'all wanna know, ideas, issues you have with it I guess?? Just shoot me an ask or something I'm down to answer

#ml genshin au #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #miraculous au #ml #adrien agreste #plagg #max kante #kim le chien #longg #ivan bruel #mylene haprele #marinette dupen chang #nino lahiffe #kagami tsurugi #lila rossi

[queen-of-bel]

Some (more) thoughts on Kandori’s true motivations and feelings.

p2ep spoilers incoming

Kandori gets compared to Nanjo a lot, and rightly so. But I think it’s also interesting how he gets compared to Tatsuya.

On two separate occasions, Nanjo compares Tatsuya to Kandori.

“Sometimes, I confuse Suou for Guido and vice versa... ...I wonder why...?”

“...Tatsuya’s eyes remind me of him... Guido’s eyes... ...I don’t know why I feel that way...”

Tatsuya and Kandori are both just puppets in a larger, malicious scheme. They both had a weakness exploited by Nyarlathotep, and they both wanted this scheme to be stopped.

Kandori recognizes that Tatsuzou is on a similar path that he was once on-- driven mad by ambition, and manipulated by Nyarlathotep into destroying the world.

After a NWO meeting, Kandori lingers behind, and has a bit of a cryptic monologue.

“Hmph... Who is the most sinful...? Elders driven by ambition... A human that causes chaos to be chaos... Or is it...”

It’s clear that he disapproves of the NWO’s plans to create a “sin-free” world. He looks down on them with a mixture of pity and contempt.

Chizuru approaches Kandori with the idea of a coup-- overthrowing Tatsuzou (whom she despises), and replacing him with Kandori as head of the NWO. She admires Kandori, calling him “master” and asking “why would someone as great as [him] be controlled by one such as Tatsuzou...?”

However, Kandori ignores her flattery and rejects the idea, prompting Chizuru to comment how he is obsessed with Tatusya and Maya’s group (which includes Nanjo).

Thanks to Nanjo’s words 4 years prior, Kandori knows this is a wrong, arrogant, and weak path to be on. Unfortunately, Kandori doesn’t feel that he has the power to refuse what the NWO demands of him. He is against their actions, but caught in this limbo, thanks to his false belief in the concept of fate. 

He feels destined to work for the NWO, but internally roots for their downfall. He clings to a hope that someone else will stop the NWO’s plans. Someone who knows the truth about Nyarlathotep and the two universes.

This “someone” is Tatsuya.

Kandori talks about Tatsuya to Chizuru quite a bit, as we see in Sumaru TV when she tells Tatsuya upon meeting him:

“Hmph... So you are the Paradox that Master Guido was talking about...”

Kandori views Tatsuya as a stronger version of himself. One who might actually be able to overcome “fate” and thwart Tatsuzou, and more importantly, Nyarlathotep.

While Kandori believes that he has to work under Tatsuzou and fulfill this evil and antagonistic role that Nyarlathotep thrust upon him, he still tries to set up situations where Tatsuya can succeed.

Kandori anticipated that Tatsuya and the others would catch up to him. Once everyone arrives at the Nichinmaru, Kandori comments how everyone is here, and implies that he is happy everyone has come.

“The Paradox... All the players are in place... Let’s go.”

This is something that Nanjo comments on later.

“Did Guido actually know from the beginning that it was going to turn out like this... That we would arrive as well...?”

He still breaks the final dragon seal in the undersea ruins, but still wants them to stop Tatsuzou.

“I’d like to tell you to chase them, but… I’m just a peon… I can’t let you return.”

He encourages Nanjo to continue fighting and not lose sight of what really matters, as Nanjo picks up on and comments to Maya:

“Guido... I thought you were not a fool who drowns in his own ambition and ability... Or are you telling me to walk out of here...”

Still, the most important part of his dying words are to Tatsuya. He encourages Tatsuya to break free from the “fate” that Nyarlathotep weaved for both of them.

Another time when Kandori subtly helps Tatsuya is in the laboratory.

There is something very interesting in the PSP release’s extra scenario that I think is worth pointing out.

Once Tatsuya wins the battle against Kandori, Tatsuya demands Kandori to tell him how to save Shiori, while swinging his blade, hoping to at least hit Kandori.

Kandori, on the other hand, deftly avoids Tatsuya’s blows, and at one point, even catches the blade with his bare hand:

“Kandori tilts his face out of the way, and when my blade grazes his ear, he grabs it with his left hand. All I have to do is pull back, and it’ll cost him his fingers. He gives me a broad, natural smile. However, even when I yank it with all my strength, my sword doesn’t move a centimeter. It’s like it’s caught in a vise.”

What this tells me is that Tatsuya should not have been able to defeat Kandori. Kandori’s grip alone overpowered Tatsuya’s entire strength.

But if Kandori is so much stronger than Tatsuya, why did Tatsuya win the battle?

The answer is simple-- Kandori let Tatsuya win, because he wants Tatsuzou to fail.

When Tatsuya presses for an answer on how to save Shiori, Kandori gives a straightforward answer for once in his goddamn life.

He tells Tatsuya to seek out a “suitable place” for her, which can mean nothing other than the Velvet Room. Tatsuya even comments in surprise that Kandori’s “riddle” was surprisingly easy to solve.

Clearly, Kandori doesn’t care about his research. I mean, how much can he care if he’s straight up just letting people waltz out of the lab with his test subjects?

Kandori’s contact with Tatsuya was limited, but he always encouraged Tatsuya to do the right thing. Yes, they engaged in battle, but it’s clear that Kandori was holding back. With the amount of strength he has, he could have overpowered Tatsuya in a second.

Something else that reinforces Kandori’s strength is his stats in battle. The man is strong to everything. He has no weaknesses and resists or nullifies all types of attacks.

When Maya battles with Kandori in the undersea ruins, his battle quotes are also very interesting to me.

If Maya tries to escape, Kandori asks “Do you have the time for that?” He feels that he is fated to fight Maya, and wants the battle to be over with as soon as possible. In fact, his final quote in battle after he is defeated is “Well done!”, congratulating the group on “defeating” him.

The reason I put “defeating” in quotes is because just as Kandori allowed Tatsuya to win in the laboratory, I’m positive that he gave up fighting Maya after a point. He needed to go through the motions of fighting Maya, but did not give it his all. 

As an aside, I think this superhuman strength is why Tatsuzou put Kandori so closely to him. Kandori was Tatsuzou’s secretary and assistant. If Kandori truly believed in the NWO’s mission, there would have been no way that anybody could reach Tatsuzou. Kandori should have been the invincible stronghold protecting Tatsuzou.

Maya and Tatsuya were actually lucky that Kandori was the one who should have been holding the NWO together. It’s really thanks to Kandori’s holding back and disapproval of the NWO that Tatsuya and Maya could stop the NWO’s plans.

I really like the parallels between Kandori and Tatsuya. They both really wanted Tatsuzou’s plans to be stopped. Kandori felt that fate had trapped him in this box where he was bound to do the NWO’s bidding, but still subtly undermined them whenever he could. He admired Tatsuya’s bold rejection of fate and the role that Nyarlathotep had given him. When he saw what Tatsuya was capable of, Kandori was able to die peacefully (although wracked with guilt that Chizuru would die because of him, but that’s a separate issue), knowing that Tatsuya had the strength to stop Nyarlathotep.

#I JUST LOVE HIM OKAY #AHHHHH #p2 #persona 2 eternal punishment #takahisa kandori #tatsuya suou #amelia analyzes stuff

[individuationfic]

The Soundless Room/An Endless Song

AO3

Summary:  The man with the long nose in the blue elevator calls Arisato the Wild Card.

In 1999, a twin becomes an only child.

Arisato Minato does not look at what horrors surround him. He’s used to it. He just hums to drown out the oppressive silence around him.

Arisato Minako screams when the pretty girl in the pink sweater points a gun at her.

Arisato summons Orpheus a few nights later. Thanatos rips Orpheus open and roars. Arisato collapses.

Yukari tells Minato about her father, how she can empathize with him. He scoffs to himself. She only lost one parents. He lost both his parents and his sister.

Junpei moves into the dorm. Minako can’t stop grinning. She thought he was cute in a dorky way when they first met, and now her chances have increased.

Arisato becomes the field leader.

Arisato sees tarot cards after battle.

Arisato can summon multiple Personae.

The man with the long nose in the blue elevator calls Arisato the Wild Card.

Minato reluctantly joins the kendo club. He’s not really interested in clubs or socializing, but his teacher and Mitsuru won’t stop bothering him until he joins something and it’s either kendo or swim club. At least kendo can help with is sword work.

Minako joins the volleyball team. She wants to get stronger so she can be a good leader and Rio seems nice enough. Plus, the uniform looks pretty good on her.

Igor tells his attendant to not get attached to their current guest. He knows how this fight will end and he doesn’t want more heartbreak than there needs to be.

Elizabeth, Minato thinks, is very much like the person his sister would have been, had she not died many years ago. She’s loud and cheerful and charmingly dumb, just like his sister was when they were children. She finds magic and wonder in every aspect of the world around him. Sometimes, he wishes she was bland and dour, because, like this, he can’t resist the temptation to be near her.

Minako likes taking Theo out. He’s always so intrigued by the human world. Walking with him helps her find her way around the city better, too, and she quiet likes the mystery it surrounds her in. Her friends start asking about the handsome guy they see her with on the weekends and all she does is smile.

They get attached.

Minato hates the way he feels after the July full moon battle. Even though Yukari was absolutely in the more vulnerable position there, he feels violated. He wonders if he would have felt this bad if he was trapped with Akihiko or Junpei instead.

Minako follows after Yukari in Yakushima. Yukari yells at her for always saying what people want to hear, but Minako knows she’s not really angry. She’s just hurt. So Minako tells Yukari about her brother, and the hole his death left in her heart, because she feels like Yukari would understand.

Arisato is just as confused as the rest of S.E.E.S. is by Aigis’s sudden appearance. Agis doesn’t care.

Minato doesn’t really care if Aigis sleeps in his room or not. She’s a robot. But he also doesn’t care enough to fight Yukari on it, so Aigis does not sleep in his room.

Junpei comes home one day with a lovestruck look on his face. No one comments on it, so Minako thinks they don’t notice. She’s not as upset as she expected to be.

The Velvet Room has always been a haven. Guests come and go as they need, and the room changes to suit their hearts. But it is not a destination. It is a pit stop.

Elizabeth is getting on his case about strengthening his bonds, so Minato invites Kaz to the film festival. He hasn’t really talked to Kaz since the summer tournament, and he’s surprised at how happy he is to see his teammate. Maybe there’s something to this whole friendship thing after all.

Minako tries to sneak Koromaru into the film festival. It doesn’t work.

Arisato wants to protest when Ken joins S.E.E.S.. He’s just a kid! He shouldn’t have to fight monsters and see bloodshed! But there’s a strange hardness in his eyes, and Arisato thinks of a lost childhood.

Aigis comes to school. Her blunt words immediately cause a misunderstanding during her introduction. Minato wonders why Yukari always gets so mad when Aigis is around.

Shinjiro isn’t the kind of person Minako expected Akihiko to be friends with. He’s gruff and cold and unwelcoming. He only agrees to join the team when he finds out about Ken. Something about him intrigues Minako. Maybe she’ll try to get to know him.

The journey is more than halfway complete. Igor can tell his attendant is growing restless. He knew this would happen. This is why he doesn’t like it when they get attached. It only ends in misery.

With the school festival coming up, Minato escapes school as quickly as he can to avoid helping with set up. He helped once, at his first middle school, and he hated it. Thankfully, Maiko is willing to put up with his presence as long as he buys her takoyaki, so at least his afternoons aren’t completely wasted.

Minako convinces Yukari to let her and Aigis help her practice her maid routine. Yukari’s face is bright red the whole time. Aigis reveals Junpei has talked to her at length about his maid kink, and Yukari stops being embarrassed and becomes enraged. Her face now promises brimstone and hellfire.

The festival ends up getting cancelled because of the typhoon. Arisato falls into a deep sleep and dreams of another festival, of a fated partner and dark labyrinths and another group of Persona users.

The Lost are increasing. Minato feels like he should care more than he does.

Minako sleeps with Shinjiro because it’s easy. She’s by no means a virgin—the foster system took care of that—and sex is way easier than emotions. She doesn’t feel bad about it until Theo cooly tells her her moon social link is weak due to how she formed it. He’s never sounded more upset with her.

October 4th comes. Shinjiro dies. Arisato wonders how things could have gone differently.

Minato actually likes hanging out with the old couple that runs the bookstore. They don’t push him to talk, content to chatter themselves, and they shove food in his hands when he leaves. Maybe, he thinks, this is what it feels like to have parents.

Minako meets a man at Club Escapade while she’s visiting the old, creepy monk. He has frizzy black hair and five-o’-clock shadow and is staring into the bottom of his glass of rum. He’s just drunk enough to complain about his woman problems, about his current lover and his ex-girlfriend and the children he wants but can’t have with his current lifestyle. He says he wishes he’d just stayed single and warns her to not rush into things. She thinks of Shinjiro.

Igor sees his guest struggling with grief. He remembers his guests from Sumaru, how much they struggled and fought and how many tears were shed. But he knows they’re happy now, raising families and pursuing successful careers. He hopes these children will be similarly content.

Minato isn’t too surprised when the chairman turns on them. He’s never really trusted adults too much in general, so he didn’t let himself get attached. But now he knows Mitsuru has seen two loved ones die, and he finds himself concerned.

Minako forgives Aigis immediately. She didn’t choose to attack them, after all, and her growing empathy swamps her with guilt. So Minako sits next to her on the couch and speaks quietly with her, to show her she’s still a friend.

Mochizuki Ryoji arrives.

Minato is drawn to Ryoji like he’s never been drawn to anyone before. He’s typically annoyed by overly-cheerful people like Ryoji, but Minato can barely stay away from him. It’s like he’s a magnet, not just to Minato, but to everyone around him. He tends to focus his attention on Minato, though. It makes him strangely happy.

Minako is drawn to Ryoji, but she hangs back. Aigis follows her almost everywhere now, hovering at the edges of her vision or clinging to her arm every chance she gets. Aigis doesn’t trust Ryoji. Minako also keeps thinking about Theo’s reaction to her relationship with Shinjiro, how he’d never been so upset with her before, and how most of her relationships with guys eventually lead to sex. So, with Aigis and Theo in mind, she stays as far away from Ryoji as she can.

Arisato, on a trip to the mall, wins a Jack Frost plushie from the arcade’s claw machine. A young boy with frizzy black hair and gunmetal grey eyes watches, astonished. Arisato gives the boy the plushie and ruffles his hair. The boy rushes to two older men standing by the fountain to show off his new toy.

Minato sits by the river with Ryoji in Kyoto. Here, away from their classmates and in such a liminal place, Ryoji drops his ladykiller front and becomes sincere. His voice is soft as he speaks and Minato feels a foreign, unfamiliar warmth fill his chest. When their hands brush together, neither of them pull away.

Theo’s face lights up when Minato gives him a souvenir from Kyoto. He loves getting stuff from the human world, so any little thing, even this stupid little clover charm, makes his day. Igor cuts her an unreadable look when she gives Theo gifts like this. She wonders if he knows something she doesn’t. Then she decides he probably does.

The truth finally comes out. About Ryoji, about the accident, about Arisato. Ryoji gives S.E.E.S. the hardest choice they’ve ever had to face.

Minato asks Igor if he knew about Ryoji. Igor says he knows many things.

Minako brings Theo to her dorm room. No one else is around, thankfully. She doesn’t know how she would explain Theo to them. When they’re in her room, Minato tells him she likes him—really likes him more than she usually likes guys. He lets go for one afternoon, makes love to her, makes her feel like it’s her first time all over again, but tells her the next day that they can’t go on dates anymore. She’s there to see Igor, but she turns right back around and leaves, eyes burning with shame.

S.E.E.S. decide to fight.

Minato kisses Ryoji. It’s not the first time he’s kissed someone, but it’s the first time it’s meant anything. Ryoji clutches at him like he’s an anchor and kisses back with an all-consuming hunger Minato didn’t know was possible. Before they head back downstairs, Ryoji gives Minato his scarf to remember him by when he’s gone. Minato loops it around his neck and buries his nose in it. It smells like Ryoji.

The group climbs Tartarus more quickly than ever. Minako avoids going to the Velvet Room even though she knows she needs better Personae. She just feels so ashamed. She can’t face Theo after everything that happened.

Arisato goes into the battle against Nyx accepting death. The world is worth dying for. Tatsumi Port Island is worth dying for. S.E.E.S. is worth dying for.

Minato’s getting more and more tired every day. No one in the dorm remembers anything about Tartarus or Personae or Nyx. That’s probably for the best, he thinks. The less they remember, the less it will hurt.

Minako spends graduation on the room with Aigis. Her limbs feel heavy and her mouth is full of cotton, so she lets Aigis comb her fingers through her hair and chatter in her ear. She wants to tell Aigis she’s sorry for leaving, but she’s so, so tired. Her eyes close.

Arisato goes to sleep seconds before S.E.E.S. come running onto the roof, ready to celebrate their victory.

The Sea of Souls is black, but not dark. A million stars illuminate the space, revealing swirling blues and purples and pinks, entire galaxies unknown to the eyes of man. It is empty but for two people. A boy with blue hair and grey eyes. A girl with brown hair and red eyes. They stand an immeasurable distance away, facing each other. Each sees a faint recognition flickering in the other’s eyes. As one, they say, “Who are you?”

#individuation #ao3fic #cover #persona series #persona 3 #persona 3 portable #arisato minato #ryomina #mochizuki ryoji #arisato minako #theodore (persona)

[webxgal]

[Ⅰ] memento mori

remember, you will die.

You were born into the world by two callous hands, a mother and father whose eyes were dulled by the colourless world they bore witness to. You were something that had to happen, another meaningless event, before death would greet them in its clammy but welcoming embrace. It was only when you were older that you realised that your parents had no real destination that wasn’t just a grave. They were merely waiting for life to end without the stigma that followed suicide.

You will not praise them for the bare minimum but you can acknowledge the fact that, at the very least, they never forced their monotonous perspectives onto you. They didn’t say a word when you bought a camera for your 10th birthday after you had visited a friend’s house and noted how her hallway was decorated in family pictures that your bleak walls had been missing. You never ended up using it on your parents. Instead, polaroid photos of butterflies, flowers and other things you found pretty had lined up your living space. They never said a word, but your chest did feel a little lighter when you noticed your father pause to look at the photos before heading off to work. In your young, naive mind you sincerely believed that maybe you could change the inevitable highway to death your parents insisted on driving in. So you took more pictures.

It was on your birthday, a year before you found your mother submerged in a bathtub, that she told you that she was happy for you. You asked her why in mild surprise, but she went back to washing the dishes and you never got your answer. The day of her funeral was the same day you ever saw your father express any emotion that didn’t look unnatural and stretched on his face. The tears in his eyes made you uncomfortable, so you refused to look. Thinking back to it now, you never knew anything about your parents or the context of their relationship. So you keep your eyes trained on the coloured sneakers that you clumsily paired with your black dress, the stickers you adorned on it dirty and peeling off. Only once did you look at the framed photo of your mother, missing her deep-seated wrinkles and eye bags that you were accustomed to. She was smiling widely, considerably younger, and you almost wanted to ask if they got a picture of the wrong woman.

Despite the fact you always expected your father to follow after your mother, for all his flaws he stayed. There was barely any distinction between him and a zombie, but he stayed. You think back to your puritanical grandmother, whose dour face is a hazy memory. He was no believer, but the values beaten into him left clear scorching marks in his mind. You think he fears her more than the idea of a God.

You didn’t find any guilt in admitting nothing much has changed in your house, aside from the missing noise of the old radio your mother would play as she cleaned. Your teachers reassured you that you didn’t have to come to school immediately, and to take your time in grieving. You showed up two days after the funeral in your press-ironed uniform, with last week’s homework completed and sitting in your book bag. You ignored their inquisitorial stares and their invitations for you to visit the school counsellor with them.

You will continue to take pictures, with a newer camera you got from the condolence money slipped to you by unnamed faces. This time, your pictures will stay within the confines of your room instead of serving its place to decorate the empty hallways, because you will become older and know there was no one left to stop and look at them before heading to work. Eventually, even your room will become barren of its colourful decor once high school creeps closer and you apply for a school all the way in Tatsumi Port Island. Just far enough from your home in Sumaru City where you can excuse your need to stay in the dorms. On the first night after your departure, your father will sit on your empty bed and pretend you are still 10 years old, fiddling with your camera as you excitedly explain to him about photography techniques he didn’t care for at the time. You will receive news of his death four weeks later. You will not cry.

#persona 3 #p3 #persona 3 x reader #minato arisato x reader #minato arisato #makoto yuki x reader #makoto yuki #p3 x reader #p3 protagonist x reader #persona 3 protagonist #x reader #webxgal writes #memento vivere

[beyondarrest-a]

#5 Saki/Katsuya

mini-fics. || ( not accepting )#05: things you didn’t say at all.

“If you change your mind,” Katsuya says,with an airy wave of a hand, “the offer remains.”

Saki still does not appear impressed, though she has her mouth pursed tightly in thought all the same. Her chin restsbetween cupping hands, elbows propped upon the café table—and while her eyesare on him, she isn’t really looking at Katsuya at all when she speaks.

“Thanks… but no thanks.”

Katsuya hadbeen meaning to take a sip of his drink, but he discards the notion now. Konishi’scurrent existential crisis is far more pressing.

On the table between them are two mugs:deep, fat ceramics, bearing milky coffee and whipped cream. The latter additionwas not Konishi’s idea—Katsuya hadinsisted, because he remembers living on a student budget and knows howpainfully far apart little luxuries had been. At least she hadn’t grumbled too much.

Rather, she apparently reserved her disparagementfor the very reason he’d asked to meet her: to discuss the possibility of shadowing. He has a lifetime’s supply offavours from Sumaru’s prosecutorial office at his disposal, and Saki is a lawstudent. The idea of combining the two hadseemed perfectly natural, but…

“I don’t understand where yourreluctance comes from,” he admits, rubbing idly at his jaw. “It’s merely anopportunity to build experience.”

“But with prosecutors?” Konishi asks. She looks at him, finally, keen eyes rendering him the slightest bit nervous; at least he’s used to that by now. “Defenceattorneys make way more money.”

Katsuya grimaces. He knows her well enough to believe that probably is one of her concerns—but it can’tpossibly be the main one.

“I’m not suggesting you stay therepermanently,” he says. “It’s… something to start you off.”

“But what if I like it?” Konishi says,almost as soon as he’s finished speaking.

It isn’t the kind of urgency thatinspires debate: it’s a call to be talked out of something, though shehas the wrong man for that. He’d like nothing more than for Konishi to enjoy workon his side of the law.

So he frowns, and he lifts his mug, andposes his incredulous question before he drinks from it.

“Would that be a bad thing?”

“Yes,” Konishi insists, flatly, like she can’t quite believe she’s having to explain her reasoning. “If I likeit, I’ll get lazy. I won’t try gettingwhere I want to go—and then I’ll wake up one morning, realise I didn’t live upto my youthful aspirations, and I’ll blame you.”

Perhaps being just shy of delightedisn’t the reaction Konishi had been expecting, but Katsuya’s eyes gleam at herover the lip of his mug. His smile becomes apparent when he sets the mug downagain, soft and assuredly symmetrical.

“No,” Konishi says, before he can uttera word. It doesn’t stop him, though.

“So you think you’d enjoy becoming aprosecutor?”

“That’s not what I wanted you to takefrom that.”

“I think you’d be a good one.”

“Iknow I would,” Konishi says—though thisis one of those rare occasions in which he recognises she’s joking. She’d beenfrowning at him before; now, she’s looking away from him, tilting her cheekinto one palm in an effort to hide a bashful smile. She rests her other hand onthe crook of her raised arm instead. “But… I don’t want any more regrets.”

Oh. Not bashful, then; that smile is rather more self-deprecating.

Katsuya briefly looks down, gaze flickering toexamine his hands still wrapped around the coffee mug.

“Whatever you decide to do…”

“You’llsupport me, yeah, yeah.” Saki lifts her head, her stare unimpressed again. “Didyou know that’s what you always say to me?”

If that’s really a habit of his, he hadn’tnoticed it—but he’s not going to dispute it, either.

Even so, it strikes him as odd, and hewon’t realise why at the time: he’ll do so later, when he goes over theconversation in his head while he tries to drift off to sleep. He’s alwaysthought of himself as mentoringKonishi, easing a bright young student into the world of the judiciary. Thereis a healthy distance between them that way.

But he’s not much of a mentor if hethinks he has nothing to teach her.

In the present, nothing that self-awarecomes to leave his lips. He just looks taken aback, asking, “Is there somethingyou’d rather I say instead?”

It’s Konishi’s turn to display a wearysmile. “I’d rather you didn’t trust me to make my own decisions.”

Katsuya can only smile back. Whether it’ssympathetic or exasperated, though—that’s just another thing Konishi will haveto deduce for herself. She looks tired today, he notes, and it tugs atsomething in him: maybe empathy.

When it eventually occurs to him thatall they’re doing is smiling at one another, he suddenly realises how improper this must seem to outsiders. Italready has the makings of something terrible: an older man buying a youngerwoman a drink—even if that drink is mostly just sugar, it’s scandalous.

So he’s quick to restorea sense of monotony by speaking, presenting the very first thing that comes to mind.

“For what it’s worth, Sumaru is knownfor its—”

“That’s another thing,” Saki interrupts.Katsuya simply lets her, leaning back in his seat to see where it goes. “If I endup liking the prosecutor’s office, I could end up stuck in Sumaru for the rest of my life.”

This is another joke; Konishi must’venoticed some kind of atmosphere too, because this is how she breaks them. Yethe sees something more in it, catching her eye almost hesitantly; if the wayshe bites her lip is anything to go by, she might be thinking the same thing.

Don’tyou want to stay here?

Why,do you want me to?

It dangles there in silence, uncomfortable and proud of it, until Konishi ultimately has a better idea thanhim. She lifts her mug to her mouth and indulges, a more acceptable way tobuy time for formulating a new topic of conversation.

Katsuya scrabbles to join suit, andif anyone were to glance at them now, they’d see something far more respectable.

Work associates, perhaps. Drinking coffeetogether with nothing else dormant in the space between them.

#◤「DRABBLES.」◢ #✗┊ ( SHIP: any ending is all right. )

[recentanimenews]

THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH Has a Large Hairy Son in Episodes 183-189

Welcome to THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH! I’m Joseph Luster, back in record time, and I’ll be your host this week as we barrel on through all 220 episodes of the original Naruto anime adaptation. In last week's episodes 176-182, we spent most of our time in the Hidden Star Village, but that arc comes to a swift end this week. Even more filler lies beyond, though, including the start of the Peddlers Escort Mission arc in episodes 183-189.

  As you may be able to tell by the tone of some of these questions, I'm feeling a little deflated at this point. The filler can be overwhelming at times, but at least we have the occasional one-off to brighten our week. In this case, the highlight for me was most definitely the gag episode in which Naruto has to avoid laughing during a funeral despite every possible attempt to get him to crack. It might be the series' most successful attempt at straight-up comedy to date.

  The rest of the batch was mostly disappointing, but there were a few ups to go along with the downs. As Crunchyroll user OrichalcosTwin1 said in last week's comments, "I enjoyed the Hidden Star Village filler, though as you're about to find out this week, I feel it could've concluded sooner and stuck around longer than it should've." I couldn't agree more. Let's find out what everyone else thought! 

    Do you love Sumaru's Mom's Ghost and her two-hit multi-target attacks? Did the finale of the Star Guard arc surprise you in any way, or was its ending written in the stars from the beginning?

  Paul: It was good that the main resolution to the Star Village story involved the children and the other villagers rebelling against Akahoshi after he went Full Crazy-Eyes and freely confessed his evil plans to everyone within earshot, but for the ultimate confrontation, it should have been Sumaru receiving his mother's spiritual energy to deliver the final blow. This arc was Sumaru's story, and tacking Naruto onto the end like that feels like a missed opportunity.

  David: Agreed. Ending a village’s internal political strife by punching the bad guy is one thing, but letting Naruto do it instead of the character most closely affected by the whole thing is pretty lame.

  Jared: I basically laughed when Sumaru’s mom gave her power to Naruto instead of Sumaru. Way to bury the kid both figuratively and literally. Other than that, the arc ended basically how I expected with Akahoshi getting his comeuppance and being real dumb.

  Kevin: The ending was predictable, aside from the stuff that made no sense. Of course the star was going to be destroyed, that way no one can try to bring it up as a power source later. Also, apparently ghosts exist in Naruto. I guess Orochimaru could’ve had a shortcut in creating the Reanimation Jutsu.

  Danni: The whole thing just fell way off the rails, honestly. I’m so tired of evil villains in this show maniacally cackling about how evil they are while trying to kill a bunch of children.

  Kara: I realized right as we were closing out that the Village Hidden in the Stars was literally just Naruto’s excuse to have fairies, after which point I kind of gave up on it making sense at all.

  Noelle: It’s a very typical villain cliché, but I can’t say it doesn’t work. Some of that fantasy stuff sure did happen though.

  Carolyn: It was definitely… weird. I have to agree with the above, that giving Naruto the power was a very odd choice. It also just feels like really weird and awkward writing. I know we’re in the land of filler, but this series is backflipping over the shark at this point.

    It took putting Akamaru in great peril to make me realize nothing can ever happen to Kiba's sweet pee-spraying baby. Which Naruto characters would you defend with your life at this point? 

  Paul: The easy answer is Rock Lee, who is much more of a good boy than Akamaru. It's weird that Akamaru can have a full-on “An American Werewolf in Leaf Village” episode in which he severely injures numerous shinobi, including his own master, and yet he's allowed to continue his ninja-dog training like nothing happened. I figured they'd pull a trick where Akamaru wasn't infected and there was some other werewolf running around, but nope. Straight up Cujo.

  David: Over the course of all this filler I’ve gotten even more attached to Neji and Tenten. Maybe I should go back and rewatch some episodes of that Rock Lee spinoff…

  Jared: ROCK LEE. 

  Kevin: Anime, if you ever try to hurt my ninja son Rock Lee ever again, the Five Great Nations are going to become the Five Great Craters. 

  Danni: ROCK LEE DEFENSE FORCE, ASSEMBLE! [sfx: Kamen Rider transformation noises]

  Kara: Rock Lee, as the rest of the room says. And Hinata. Dear God, I can’t wait ‘til 50% of her lines aren’t “Naruto-kun…” She deserves better than she gets in pretty much any part of her life.

  Noelle: As with everyone else, Rock Lee protection squad unite.

  Carolyn: Hahaha, did we ever expect anything less than a giant chorus of people loudly cheering on good boy Rock Lee?

    The Hidden Leaf Legend episode about Onbu made me think about all the aspects of the Naruto world of which we're not aware yet. From legends to history and beyond, what are you most curious about, and what would you like to see expanded upon in future episodes?

  Paul: There should be an episode where Naruto and the other young ninja of Leaf Village get sent on a snipe hunt mission by Tsunade in search of the legendary tsuchinoko, only for Kakashi, Might Guy, and the other Jonin to prank the heck out of them. Then they actually find a real tsuchinoko during the third act, and it grows angry over them invading its territory, and hijinks ensue.

  David: I was and am still interested in essentially anything that doesn’t have to do with ninjas. How does the rest of the world operate on a day-to-day basis, and how much, if at all, are they even aware of these ninja villages that seem to constantly be at war with each other?

  Jared: I’m kind of surprised there hasn’t been more backstory on the early Hokage, unless that’s being saved for later in Shippuden. Outside of that, I think it’d be good just to dive into character backstories or just go full slice-of-life at some points.

  Kevin: Honestly, I’m most curious about jutsu creation. We’ll get at least some insight into that later in Shippuden, but even then I’d still like to know a lot more.

  Danni: I just wanna know why everyone in the Hidden Leaf Village loves the SEGA Dreamcast so dang much.

  Kara: Considering weird ninja magic is essentially part of day-to-day life, I want to know what their escapist entertainment is like. What the heck do you read action comics about when you’re already halfway to a superhero? I’m guessing they have, like, Archiemaru or something where the escapism comes in the form of severe normality.

  Noelle: Even knowing some of the stuff that comes later, there’s a lot of things that aren’t really that expanded upon. The discrepancy between technology and how that clashes or interacts with ninjutsu is one, and how ninja society seems to be something both out in the open but not something that everyone can do is another. We might get to why ninjutsu happens later, but what of the people who aren’t ninja, in a world so heavily slated toward magical powers and how those with magic seem to rule society?

  Carolyn: We see villages with normal, non-ninja people fairly regularly, but we have no idea how they live. How do the government and ninja work together? Do they work together or do the ninja sort of work on their own laws/volition? Maybe that’s been answered, but I certainly don’t remember it. 

    As episode 186 reminds us, there's nothing more powerful than a forbidden laugh. Can you recall any particularly gut-busting "church laugh" moments in your life where you really lost it when you shouldn't have? 

  Paul: One time my sister got busted for accidentally cracking up during Christmas dinner because the decorative plates we were about to eat off of had a drawing of a little hobo Frosty the Snowman, complete with patches on his snow-suit. I guess the contrast of cloth patches on a suit made out of snow was too much for her, and she burst out laughing during what was supposed to be a solemn moment. She got grounded, and the Legend of the Hobo Snowman went down in Chapman family history.

  David: I don’t remember the details but I do recall actually being sent to the principal in elementary school for being unable to control my laughter one day.

  Jared: I can’t remember the specifics, but I’m pretty sure mine was an actual church laugh moment. Something must’ve made me have the giggles or I was just in a mood but I did that when I was going to church at the time and got in a bit of trouble for it.

  Kevin: I was watching Dororo, and one episode in particular had a guest animator who apparently is known for his… unique art style. Hyakkimaru “running” (ice skating) uphill between trees forced me to pause the video so that I could stop hysterically laughing.

  Danni: I have a rather subdued laugh usually, so I can’t think of any moments where laughing got me in trouble. However, a childhood spent watching a lot of America’s Funniest Home Videos has led to an adulthood full of instinctively laughing when people hurt themselves pratfalling.

  Kara: I was on a bus in Cardiff a few years ago and there was a guy who refused to sit down or hang on or anything. The driver braked and the dude went sliding comically. A few people snickered but I busted out laughing way too big and He Did Not Appreciate That. I got off at the next stop to avoid having my head punched down my own neck. (As an aside, I’ve gotta express my appreciation for Naruto basing an entire episode around the concept of the Giggle Loop from Coupling.)

  Noelle: Admittedly, I’m not the kind of person that bursts out laughing, even if emotions show on my face. My friends saying particularly wild things in public will always get me laughing, though.

  Carolyn: Actual laugh or defensive laugh? I worked as a ride operator at an amusement park as a teen and some kids tried to run on the ride AS IT WAS MOVING. I had to use the emergency shutdown and started laughing like a maniac. The kids' parents were very angry at me for that, but some co-workers and other customers assured them it was a nervous laugh, which it was. They could have gotten very, very hurt and I didn’t know how to react to that.

As for an actual “wow that was funny” laugh … well, this story is a bit mean but it got to me hard. Outside my apartment one day, I saw a kid that was about 11-13 riding a bike and just toppled over and started laughing immediately. It was the way the bike fell. Usually, you imagine some wobbling, the handlebars going back and forth as they lose control or something. This was literally straight up to straight down in one immediate motion. It caught me by surprise. Also, the kid was fine.

    That Brings Us to the Land of Gree— you know what? Forget these veggie peddlers, we're way beyond the point of no return in Filler Purgatory. I hardly remember what it was like when Naruto was good, and the writing is at an all time low for most of this batch. Could you ever recommend this show past episode 140 or so, and has this changed the way you feel about it as a whole?

  Paul: I'm a completionist, so if I'm going to recommend something, I'm going to recommend all of it. You don't get to skip the boring or mediocre bits if you want to claim you've experienced a work of entertainment. The filler hasn't broken my spirit yet, and there are individual parts of it that I find compelling, although I admit nothing we've seen here compares to Naruto at its apex moments.

  David: I’d just recommend skipping all of it, but if you’re gonna watch any of it, the second best thing is probably to skip the arcs and watch some of the one-off episodes instead. The best part about the filler has been the focus on some side characters who didn’t get much time before, and the mostly silly single-episode adventures get you that without having to sit through nonsense stories that just make you wish you were watching the actual story instead.

  Jared: I might not necessarily recommend watching all of the filler, but maybe some of the better parts if they wanted to check that stuff out. People will watch what they watch and I’m not their dad, but I don’t think it’s necessarily all terrible like some people will lead you to believe. It certainly hasn’t changed my overall opinion of the show, it just makes me want to get back to the actual story. Although, if you want a test of endurance, then yeah, people should watch all the filler.

  Kevin: The only way I can realistically recommend Naruto after Filler Purgatory started was if I was trying to talk about all of the interesting character interactions that come from unique team combinations. Unfortunately, even the filler arcs have turned into the same few teams on a loop, and the plots aren’t nearly interesting enough to carry 100 episodes. So in all honesty, unless you just want to full Naruto experience of waiting forever to get to Shippuden or REALLY want to know everything that happens, even if it’s filler, no, I can’t recommend watching past episode 140. 

  Danni: I refused to listen to anyone telling me to skip certain arcs of Dragon Ball since they were filler. I said that if I’m gonna watch it, I’m gonna watch all of it. That being said, I really wish I could just skip ahead to Shippuden right now.

  Kara: This week of episodes has just been a hot mess. Not gonna lie. I’d been coasting because at least I could joke about them. But between this weird double-bluff veggie ninja story and the episode about Naruto adopting the kind of mascot character they’d add to a cartoon adaptation of a live-action 80s sitcom, I’m feeling anywhere from weak to done.

  Noelle: I skipped over most of the filler in my original run of Naruto, and I’d say-- yeah, I’d still rather do that. Nothing here worth noting. 

  Carolyn: I don’t think I would recommend Naruto, as a whole or just cutting off the filler parts. There have been shows I couldn’t get into and people will say to wait for season 3 or 4. I just don’t understand highly recommending something that has so much not-good in it.

    Finally, let's wrap up with the HIGHS and LOWS for this week.

  Paul: My high point was everyone trying to make Naruto laugh, especially with how the humor-assassins would take one look at him and decide that anyone with such a foolish face would be an easy mark. I appreciate the low-grade shade that reminds us that Naruto is kind of a maroon. My low-point was the end of the Onbu episode, which concludes like a mash-up of the Tribbles episode of Star Trek and Gremlins. That joke didn't so much land as belly-flop.

  David: High point was the preview for next week’s first episode - I’m excited to see Hinata getting to handle a fight on her own; hope that’s as neat as it looks. Low point was the ending of the star village arc for the same reasons I said in the first question.

  Jared: High point for this week would probably be the end of the funeral episode with the ridiculous reveal, fake out, and then reveal of the dad being alive. It was probably one step away from going full “IT’S ME AUSTIN” in terms of that. Also, Shino just getting up in Naruto's face like NEVER TELL ANYONE ABOUT THIS PLEASE. Low point would probably be basically everything else. Land of Greens is just not great and the other episodes were pretty much just there. Glad we finally get to meet Boruto though, even if I thought he came later on in the series.

  Kevin: 

High - The plan to take down the first of the enemy ninja in the Land of Greens. Sure, it’s a pretty short moment and not too difficult to figure out (he’s using his weapons as dowsing rods, so break the weapons and lure him to a place without water), but this is Filler Purgatory, and characters not being completely dumb is enough to be one of the better moments of the week.

Low - The Onbu episode. I like getting some worldbuilding, but like I said in my High, I also like characters not being excessively dumb, and practically every decision in the Onbu episode was some level of dumb.

  Danni: High point was the entire funeral episode. It was such a solid comedic concept and the payoffs all landed perfectly. It’s exactly the kind of stupid I want out of all this filler. Honorable mention to the Onba episode, which was maybe a tier below but still some good dumb fun. Low point would have to be watching another arc end with a villain maniacally cackling while trying to murder a bunch of children with a crossbow. Low LOW point was when that one kid’s dead mom became a ninja ghost who just kind of held Naruto in the air like a limp cat. 

  Kara: High point was honestly Magnet Ninja. Like seriously that’s one of the most resourceful Jutsu sets I’ve seen: just grab those headband nerds by the headband. Secondary high point was the puns in the funeral episode that didn’t get translated in the subtitles (as a former subtitle editor, though, I don’t blame them for not trying). Low point was the wrap-up of the Village Hidden in the Seelie Court.

  Noelle: High point, the funeral episode and how everything in it works pretty well. I wouldn’t say it’s all my kind of humor, but it’s functionally fairly solid. No complaints there. Low point… we’re just not going to address how fantasy elements in the afterlife are a thing now? No? Okay, I guess. 

  Carolyn: The uniforms and Naruto’s not-amused reaction to them were pretty great for me. The low point? I guess the weird ghost stuff. The last Scooby-Doo ghost episode was silly, but it also knew it was silly. They sort of took this seriously and that’s quite bizarre.

    COUNTERS:

  This Week:

Ramen: 11 bowls, 1 cup

Hokage: 4

Clones: 78

  Total So Far:

Ramen: 182 bowls, 13 cups

Hokage: 62

Clones: 789

  And that’s it for this week! Remember that you’re always welcome to watch along with the Rewatch, especially if you’ve never seen the original Naruto! Watch Naruto today!

  Here’s our upcoming schedule:

-Next week, KARA DENNISON returns to guide us through the end of the Peddlers Escort Mission!

-On August 2nd, NOELLE OGAWA shows us the formation of the Konoha 11!

-Finally, the mighty DANIEL DOCKERY returns to explore the mystery of Yakumo! 

  CATCH UP ON THE REWATCH!

Episodes 176-182: Reach for the Stars!

Episodes 169-175: Anko’s Backstory At Sea

Episodes 162-168: The Tale of the Phantom Samurai

Episodes 155-161: Quickfire Curry

Episodes 148-154: The Forest is Abuzz With Ninjas

Episodes 141-147: Mizuki Strikes Back!

Episodes 134-140: The Climactic Clash

Episodes 127-133: Naruto vs Sasuke

Episodes 120-126: The Sand Siblings Return

Episodes 113-119: Operation Rescue Sasuke

Episodes 106-112: Sasuke Goes Rogue

Episodes 99-105: Trouble in the Land of Tea

Episodes 92-98: Clash of the Sannin

Episodes 85-91: A Life-Changing Decision

Episodes 78-84: The Fall of a Legend

Episodes 71-77: Sands of Sorrow

Episodes 64-70: Crashing the Chunin Exam

Episodes 57-63: Family Feud

Episodes 50-56: Rock Lee Rally

Episodes 43-49: The Gate

Episodes 36-42: Through the Woods

Episodes 29-35: Sakura Unleashed

Episodes 22-28: Chunin Exams Kickoff

Episodes 15-21: Leaving the Land of Waves

Episodes 8-14: Beginners' Battle

Episodes 1-7: I'm Gonna Be the Hokage!

  Thank you for joining us for the GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH! Have a great weekend, and we'll see you all next time!

  Have anything to say about our thoughts on Episodes 183-189? Let us know in the comments! Don't forget, we're also accepting questions and comments for next week, so don't be shy and feel free to ask away!

    -------

Joseph Luster is the Games and Web editor at Otaku USA Magazine. You can read his webcomic, BIG DUMB FIGHTING IDIOTS at subhumanzoids. Follow him on Twitter @Moldilox. 

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

[kationella]

Next in the list we have:

Tatsuya Suou

And I thought the others had it bad.

A family consisting of the working father, the housewife mother, the intelligent older son and the spirited younger son. A happy, textbook family. Tatsuya himself used to follow Katsuya around, showing that the two brothers shared a close relationship.

However, kids grow. Even without the events that would follow, Tatsuya and Katsuya would begin to distance themselves as Katsuya finally adopted the role of the "older brother". Everyone can testify that children hate it when a sibling tries to boss them around.

The events that would mark the rest of Tatsuya's life took place when he was ten years old, the day he met his best friends. I believe that Tatsuya didn't have any "close" friends before he met the Masked Circle, which would explain why he latched onto the three kids he met that day so fast.

Jun took a special place in Tatsuya's heart, at first because he was the first friend he met, though later they would click and compliment each other in everything. However, unlike Jun, Tatsuya would never place Maya in a motherly role. She would always be Big Sister for him.

After all, he already has a loving mother to fill that role. And isn't that what big siblings do? Take care of you whenever you go out to play and teach you stuff? Big Sister Maya would come to stand in the same category as Katsuya. The difference between the two would be Maya's gentle hand that would make Tatsuya listen to her easier than Katsuya.

At this point, Tatsuya already developed his dislike for people getting into his business.

We all know what happens next. Alaya Shrine Incident. Tatsuya gets lightly stabbed and traumatized. Lil boy blocks his memories of his childhood friends as self-defense.

The Suous would suffer another tragedy when, in his search for the arsonist, Dad Suou gets fired. Little Tatsuya looks up to his mother to do something. And what does she do?

Nothing.

This would become a changing point in Tatsuya's personality. We can guess from his dialogue that he sees "passive attitudes" in a negative light. If people see an injustice, they should do something about it. I feel that this would be what made Katsuya stand a little higher in Tatsuya's eyes: Unlike their parents, Katsuya immediatly set to work and did everything he could to support their family and at the same time take care of his little brother.

Ironically, this would be the beginning of the strain in the Suou brothers' relationship.

Whenever Katsuya asked about his schoolwork or grades Tatsuya would think him strict. Whenever Katsuya inquired about any friends Tatsuya would think him overbearing. Whenever Tatsuya would try to set some distance Katsuya would get more insistent, making Tatsuya lash out and Katsuya to discipline him. Both get angry and stop talking for a while.

And repeat.

In his eyes, Katsuya took a role he shouldn't have, becoming a third parent instead of a sibling he should have been able to confide in.

Imagine if Makoto talked back to Sae in P5 and didn't do everything she was told. You get the Suou relationship.

The biggest concern is that Katsuya is the closest relationship Tatsuya has at the beginning of Innocent Sin. Without his childhood memories, Tatsuya has no reference of how to make friends while staying as himself, so he doesn't even try. His anti-passive view in life has caused more than one incident which made Tatsuya develop a Bad Boy reputation in Sevens and Kasugayama, which alienated him a bit more.

With no friends or expectations, Tatsuya slowly became indifferent when it came to his future. His parents hadn't moved on from their family tragedy years ago. Katsuya would forever dictate what was right and wrong. He had no other close companions to hang out with or impress. No view of the future except keep living.

Of course, a Bad Boy reputation will always attract certain kind of people, including admirers or people looking for a fight.

Innocent Sin brought an emotional rollercoaster for Tatsuya. He develops a wider support system and has things to look forward to (even if those things are taking down a shady cult).

Then the memories come back and Tatsuya has a purpose. Slowly, he's coming back to life.

In an instant all is ripped away due to two gods' game. Nothing mattered at all and he was just a chess piece in a wider scheme. They lose.

This revelation tears open an old wound that leads to Tatsuya to refuse to forget. He doesn't want to return to his aimless life. After punching Philemon in the face, Tatsuya's mentality changes once again.

By the time he recovers his memories in Eternal Punishment, Tatsuya decides to do things his way. Never again will he play by another god's rules. From now on he will do his best to make up for breaking his promise. And then... well, he will focus on his current goal.

What Tatsuya forgets is that there's people who care about him in this timeline as well. In his mind, Tatsuya is back in square one, so there's no one who would care if he went MIA for a few days (this isn't remotely true, Katsuya was always there).

Hovewer, now there's Katsuya, Anna, the friends he made in this timeline and recently Maya as well.

There was probably a small part in Tatsuya that believed he wouldn't survive this personal mission. He would die making up for his mistakes.

This mentality almost costed him his life at the hands of the Metal version of his friends.

As the game progresses, Tatsuya begins to trust his well-being on other people again, that there are still reliable adults out there and that there will always be something to fight for. Tatsuya must find his own personal purpose beyond his loved ones. Something that is solely his.

We won't see the end of his personal journey anytime soon, since that Tatsuya was sent back to the Other Side. At least now he has a plan in mind to help the Other Sumaru City and make up with his Other brother. He may thread this new path alone, but

Tatsuya cares now.

#persona 2 #tatsuya suou #analysis #meta

[ifellinlovewithpersona]

Some of Protagonist Family headcanons I have, because I'm not over Spark AU yet

So because my two other Spark AU posts (If you haven't read that yet, here's the link for Part 1 and for Part 2!) were more like for explaining the whole AU lore, I decided to present some Protagonist (NaoMaya + Ren) Family headcanons. Because of last Spark AU post had very dark undertones, this time I'll present some cute/heartwarming/funny headcanons I have about Ren's parents and Ren's childhood!

I tried to sort out the headcanons in chronological order so here they are!

-This one is more NaoMaya headcanon than Protagonist Family one, but since they ARE Ren's parents in this AU, I thought I should include this one about how they met: I think they met soon after P2 things happened (like a couple of months after) and Yukino was the one, who actually introduced them to each other, since she knew Maya from work and Naoya from high school. I think maybe because Maya was very overworked, Yukino convinced her to relax a little and go with her for her old class reunion because Maya already knew some of her classmates like Maki or Eriko from P2, so it wasn’t a problem for anyone if she decided to go with Yukino there. And Naoya eventually show up there and that’s how they met. They actually fell in love very quickly, despite differences in their personalities and decided to get married quickly (like 2 years after they started dating ) and Ren was born at some point after that

(edit: I actually wrote full oneshot about that headcannon! You can read it here!!!)

-They live in Mikage-Cho in a house that belonged to Naoya’s late grandmother (Ren was also born in this city, in the hospital where P1 events took place - isn't it symbolic in some kind of way btw?). Maya is still working in Sumaru though, since the cities are very close to each other - she is just commuting for work in the morning

-Maya preferred Ren as a name for their son and Naoya preferred Akira but he eventually back down to his wife’s idea and Akira is Ren’s middle name. So his full name in this AU would be Ren Akira Toudou, but when he is introducing himself, he's only using his first name

-Naoya had to eventually get his earring changed from his golden ring to black stud earring, because baby Ren was pulling his earring everytime Naoya was holding him and almost teared his earlobe because of that

-In my AU, Maya was the one that came with RenRen nickname for Ren and called him that nickname since he was a baby. When she accidentally named him that in front of his friends, Ryuji started to also calling him that nickname just to annoy him

-One time, Ren actually drew Arsené, when he was little and acted like Arsené was his imaginary friend - his parents suspected, that this may be his future Persona but they weren’t 100% sure, so kept in mind he might have a Spark. He found that drawing years later, when he came back home after P5 happened

-Ren grew up oblivious to his parents Personas and didn’t know about it or about Velvet Circle until events of P5 took place. Of course he knew his parents's friends, since for example Tatsuya visited them a lot (and probably babysit him many times with Jun), but Ren didn’t know that besides friendly conversations, they also are talking about more serious and secret stuff. One time though, when he was in kindergarten, he overheard their secret conversation. Imagine the Maya's and Naoya’s absolute PANIC when their son asked them carefree “What is Persona, mom and dad?” during regular family dinner. They were probably scared to let him on that matters in such a young age so Naoya answered with something like “It’s….it’s a thing only for adults”, which led little Ren to believe it’s probably some alcohol or something (since alcohol is “the adult thing”) and stopped asking this uneasy questions. Velvet Circle was even more careful with their conversations from this incident

-Ren actually attended St. Hermelin high school during his first year, but got expelled due to P5 events (you, know the drunk Shido and the woman incident?). The rumor (but normal rumor, not like in P2) got out that young Toudou is violent and crazy delinquent, that is attacking random people on streets after he got expelled and were sued in court, so any other schools, even in Sumaru didn’t want him as a student so that’s why he ended up in Tokyo

-When Ren was a child, he wanted to have a cat but Naoya was allergic so he refused. So when Ren brought Morgana to the house after he came back from Tokyo, Naoya was probably terrified of the cat, because of his allergy, but it turned out, Morgana actually wasn’t making him allergic (maybe because he was NOT A CAT! but a Velvet Room being) so after few weeks they became friends, especially that he understands Morgana’s talking (in my AU, every Persona user could hear Morgana talk) and Morgana is probably terrorizing the whole family into going to sleep now (cons of having talking cat in your home I guess 😂)

So yeah, that's the all headcanons I have for now about this particular family! I hope y'all find it them as funny/cute/heartwarming as I do!

#spark au #persona 5 au #my headcannons #persona 5 headcannon #naoya toudou #maya amano #akira kurusu #ren amamiya #naomaya #naoya x maya #my au ideas #it's 3 am and i'm writing this someone send help lol