#makoto acts | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

full-moon-full-team · 2 months

Text

Fortune Favors the Bold

(Persona 3 spoilers)

A sound of acknowledgement. The Ralts chirped gently, tilting its head upwards towards Makoto. He adjusted one of his earphones to not cover the ear facing them entirely, giving a soft, but undeniable nod in response to the small creature. His nose had a bandage on it and his lip was still a bit cracked, but he was still relatively alright despite his. Forceful meeting with the ground the night prior.

Faintly, the young man hummed, peering upwards. The Ralts didn't annoy him. Desperate as it seemed to be to stay around him, he didn't exactly seem all that bothered by its presence. He had no clue about what gender it was or why it had such an affinity for him, but. He could mime these little "conversations" just fine. They weren't as annoying as people. He actually had to think of how to word things around them.

With how bright the moon was in the sky, it lit up Sandgem almost as much as the general streetlights were. A small town, sleepy at this time of night. But according to the night clerk at the Pokémon Center, the professor of the region had a rather unorthodox habit of staying up far too late for his own good. Professor Rowan, who specialized in Pokémon evolution, apparently. Night time evolutions were apparently a thing, and he was seemingly raising two Pokémon kits at the moment to make sure that he could see exactly how that played out.

Makoto, ever the pragmatist, figured that would have been his best bet to learn a bit more about what Pokemon as a whole were and potentially even get a good grip on what this Ralts even wanted. If anything. It wasn't like they would just want to share space with him, they were a wild monster and he was just some high schooler. A shift of his earbud back onto his ear a bit better as he reached for the door to the lab, grasping--

"Thanks again, I'll keep in touch once I--"

THWUMPH--

The door was swung open as Makoto grasped onto the door handle. It caught him just off guard enough that he had no real way of reacting to having an entire other person slam straight into him. There was no fanfare, they both simply tumbled to the dirt road with Makoto on his back and this new mystery person upon his chest, coughing. "A-ah, man, I'm sorry...!" A masculine one, similar in tone to Makoto's own, a tinge of yellow crossed the floored guy's eyes. And eventually, white matched it, the undershirt of what looked like a school uniform donning a yellow scarf above it. And the other, slicked back hair of a black hue, finally stood himself with a blink of gray eyes that matched Makoto's own. A smile crossed his lips, almost on instinct.

And in them flashed a notable amount of excitement as he glanced down at them. "Oh, there you are! I was getting kinda worried you wouldn't get here in time." Out came a hand, and Makoto stared at it for a curt few seconds. Long enough for the one standing to begin to lose his smile. It fell entirely when Makoto began to stand on his own. The earphone he had been fiddling with fell off his ear entirely, allowing the song, Burn My Dread, to calmly play from it as he brushed himself off.

"Please watch where you're going." Curt. Calm. Not a hint of anger or annoyance. But a distinct lack of something else that the other was expecting: recognition.

"... Really, Yuki-kun? The cold shoulder? Ouch. I know the last time we met wasn't the best of terms, but that's harsh." He rubbed the back of his head, one hand sliding down into his pocket as it happened. Embarrassment flashed across his face as he glanced up a bit sheepishly from a lowered gaze. "You're gonna blow my goodwill with that kinda talk."

"I don't see how--"

"Ah, yes! Was this that 'Makoto' you were speaking of Ryoji?" An older fellow's voice, soft but audible enough to be heard. There was a moment of pause as the one with the scarf was addressed, and he reached out to grasp Makoto's arm to abruptly yank him inside. There was a moment of almost fake protesting, though the furrow in his brow stated it was genuine. However, as the door was soon closed, the white-shirted young man stepped to the side with a bow and a motion straight to who he had yanked in. Which allowed Makoto to notice who had been speaking.

An elder man. White hair, a practical mullet of it on his head and muttonchops to match. The mustache stretching his entire face as well, the sideburns, the hair all matching the snowy appearance with much lighter gray eyes peering out towards them. However, the warmness in his gaze helped to emphasize the other notable trait. Underneath of his sweater-vested upper body was his lap. Which held two very small creatures.

One, brown fur mixed with the cream of their rather cushioned scarf of fluff, peacefully sleeping while the other looked over with a curious gaze as their fur had a pointedly different coloration: silver with white. Two very young, but very healthy little Eevee. "Do forgive me for not coming to see you. I had heard you were in the local doctor's care, but I had been out of town until just the last few hours."

"... It's fine. I was coming here anyways," mused Makoto, his bored expression completely contrasting the other two beside him. Ryoji gave another embarrassed grimace, wincing slightly at his tone while the Ralts... well. They were giving Rowan quite a prompt look of wonder before, as per usual, grasping right onto Makoto's pant leg.

Rowan was not ignorant of these occurrences. This so-called "friend" was seemingly a walking plank of wood... that a Ralts of all things seemed attached to at the hip? And with a lack of a Pokéball anywhere on his person... He stroked the silver-furred kit in his lap, smiling warmly at Makoto. "Your friend here tells me you're a recent arrival in Sinnoh and that you had an inkling to learn a bit more about Pokémon, is that right?"

"I came for that reason, yes, but--" A hand wrapped right around Makoto's shoulder as he attempted to dismiss the 'friend' comment, Ryoji tugging him right into a half-hug with a bright grin.

"Told ya, Professor! He's a real--" "Personal space." "--passionate fellow underneath all of that sulking and brooding."

Makoto's expression was just. Tired. Completely deadpan, not a hint of malice or anger. He was just dealing with this with one of the most bored faces one could wear. Which juxtaposed hilariously against the bright smile his "friend" was displaying... and the equally as excitedly smiling little Ralts, who was looking up with a light clap of their arms together. And poor Rowan couldn't help but laugh in pure amusement at this matching. "Well how can I refuse such a heartfelt plea! Makoto, your expression belies your good heart. A Ralts does not approach someone like you without getting a good feeling from you."

"Can you explain Ryojis?" The scarfed teen snorted at the comment and gave Makoto a small pat on the back before resting a hand on his shoulder a bit more casually, the opposite hand sliding right into a pocket once more.

"All this after I told you to remember? A dagger straight to the heart." This caught Makoto off-guard. Enough that his eyes showed a bit more consideration to the concept of knowing them, even going over to look at Ryoji. This time... he smiled a bit more warmly. And nodded gently in response. This gave a moment of pause, one that Ryoji egged on. "Go on."

In that same voice as the night prior.

Makoto looked forward. He let his hands slide into his pockets. And he glanced to Rowan with a gentle nod.

"... What can you tell me about Pokemon?"

#makoto acts #pokemon platinum #pokemon roleplay #pokemon rp #persona 3 roleplay #persona 3 rp #persona 3 spoilers

7 notes · View notes

azuries · 5 days

Text

12/31/09

original post

767 notes · View notes

happyshippingnoises · 13 days

Text

Everybody's like, wonder what will happen if saikis friends find out and not WONDER HOW THEY WOULD FEEL 😞😞

I kind of rushed this comic but I feel like teruhashi's feelings should be considered more. I feel like she'd kind of burst out crying if she found out saiki knew all of her struggles and still chose to stay close to her. I feel like through her shame, she'd avoid Saiki until finally accepting Saiki's power.

Also She never had anybody glimpse into her actual personality, so the fact Saiki had secretly been there to help her or support her even when he knew her feelings.. yeah she'd cry. Just out of the stress of being perfect and all.

I also think that she'd likely get over her feelings for him or atleast accept them (?) Depends how you interpret it. I'm fine either way (THERES A SKIP AND LOAFER REFERENCE IN HERE BTW)

#saiki k #saiki no psi nan #kusuo saiki #ao3 saiki #saiki fanart #teruhashi fanart #saiki x teruhashi #makoto teruhashi #teruhashi kokomi #saiki k comic #saiki k fanart #teruhashi and saiki #platonic soulmates #i feel like if she really liked saiki and confessed..hed be like “you attract too much attention sorry”#and then in an act of love shed just shave her head or try to look ugly.. to no avail but still #comic art

526 notes · View notes

samarecharm · 3 months

Text

I miss goro. Bring his bitchass back

#chattin #thinking of him in strikers is funny #local hermit and murderer out in the sun and living free #i think he would like sophia. not a whole lot but like. maybe hes a lil attached #thinkin about him having to be in a camper w the thieves is so funny #my mans is NOT sleeping in that fucking tent. hes finding some rocks to huddle under for warmth #but also. him and makoto riding up front #hes prob got his license too so they share driving duties #this is purely based off of my hcs for him since i didnt play royal but still wanted him alive #maybe his connections w shido also make him a suspect? i dunno #so by saes suggestion; he begrudgingly goes along w them #i think. it would be healing for him to see monarchs and their reasons for being so cruel #to know that they were in a bad place and acted out maliciously bc of it #and to see them grapple w the consequences of their actions #they did awful things even if they thought it was worth it. and now they have to start over #and guess what; life doesnt just end or stop; they gotta keep going #obviously this would make goro gag and block it out. he would hate it.#but it would still be healing #the guy at the boiler room who believed that maybe…..he could change……..hes still there

94 notes · View notes

graveyard-society · 8 months

Text

i keep forgetting to post a comic thingy i made but i'm out right now and have no way to access the files, have a hajime air guitar

#his design is actually atrocious it hurts me #why? i love hajime #like im sorry hes SUCH an upgrade from makoto #im so osrry makoto naegi likers but hajime is just better in terms of personality #makoto drip > hajime drip #but hajime's sass and voice acting?? >>>>>>>>>>>>>#such power in that NO! THAT'S WRONG!#unlike mr naegi over there SIR PLEASE SPEAK UP WHY ARE YOU KINDA.. idk makoto gives sunny idiot #not necessarily a bad thing but its really frustrating at times #danganronpa: goodbye despair #danganronpa 2 #dr2 #dr2 goodbye despair #hajime hinata #danganronpa hajime #aiden.png

130 notes · View notes

galaxy-of-me · 1 year

Text

the thing abt romantic killer is how it leads u in w this typical romcom style concept and proceeds to follow that for the majority of its run, but its characters and their relationships r filled w so much heart that it shines through the Haha Funnies and instead just makes u cry and think abt how everyone needs a friend like anzu. it doesn’t even become abt romance anymore it just becomes abt love and kindness in general

#romantic killer #original posts #…i liked it a lot #esp kazuki and anzu’s friendship even if i am meh abt how kazuki developed romantic feelings for her #their friendship means sm to me. he needed someone who would believe in him so he could believe in them #i also rlly like the bg character friendships that are not necessarily romantic coded at all #the scene w makoto and saki was rlly nice. they’re both such great ppl and it was sweet how makoto saw she needed help and acted right away #honestly need more makoto that guy is the best and he’s totally crushing on junta lol #and saki. ily. i wish she was more relevant earlier on #100

481 notes · View notes

p5informantau · 1 year

Text

"Officer Kurusu" gathering info with Detective Niijima

(Also Joker and Mona for the Oscar)

I got this idea when I rewatched this old Jdrama Ouroboros and there was this one episode they trying to extract data with this plan. Basically I just wanna try drawing Ren in that uniform *cough*

There's probably no full comic for this one but maybe some more doodles later.

[Part2]

Single images in case it's easier to see

#informantau comic #informant au #shumako #niijima makoto #amamiya ren #kurusu akira #informantau #The dialogue from the first two panels are from the show #I keep saying I create this AU because I wanna draw people in suits #but also #A showcase of Ren's closet #Makoto listening in their Cat Chasing act and wonder how the team last this long #In this AU Mona can communicate if he has a device #as to how he got the device or how he is not a normal cat #uh #let's just say it's from a being with high power of some sort?#i just don't want to keep Mona as a normal cat #asdjkghj

155 notes · View notes

hotcuppacocoa · 5 months

Text

Every persona game I’ve played, I’ve had a “right hand” character that I refuse to not have in the party for whatever reason.

In Persona 3, this was Takeba.

In Persona 5, this was Makoto.

In Persona 1, there’s two characters. Namely, Nanjo and Ellie. I have them in both the Snow Queen route and the Main Route.

Can’t wait to meet my right hands for 2 and 4!!

Persona 2 update: It was Maya.

#persona 5 royal #persona 3 #persona 5 #persona 3 fes #Yukari Takeba #Makoto Niijima #Kei Nanjo #Eriko Kirishima #persona 1 #megami ibunroku persona #revelations persona #persona #persona series #I chose persona 3 fes because that’s the version I played #considering Persona 2 comes in two acts #I wouldn’t be surprised if this repeated #and I had a left hand as well as a right #I consider Nanjo my left hand and Eriko my right

40 notes · View notes

seth-burroughs · 7 months

Text

Hot take incoming but Makoto is one of the characters where everybody focuses on only one of his crimes, which is arguably actually the most justified out of all his actions, while ignoring pretty much. Everything else.

Like sorry but I don't think turning people into food was That Bad considering homunculi need human meat in order to live, they literally die if they don't eat it - it's either A. no humans get killed, and in turn all of Kanai Ward dies, or B. humans die and get turned into meatbuns, and Kanai Ward gets to exist. You could argue that the defective homunculi weren't really supposed to exist anyway but like, they do now so what. Makoto is also a homunculus, of course he probably sympathizes more with the other homunculi instead of the humans (that put them there in the first place) of course he's gonna choose KW over approx. a million humans.

If that was me in that situation I'll do the same thing fuck them bun filling lmao sorry I'm not saying it would be the best choice but it's one literally most people would choose anyway because like. What can you do, it sucks, moving on.

Substitutes for human flesh are possible to create (thank you ramen guy) but it'd require him to seek help from others which would require him to tell them the truth which fuck no. Like in that regard I believe he should be allowed to kill whoever he wants actually!

What actually makes me go 🤨 about him is everything else he's doing. Or not doing - aside from providing food and rain clouds, aka only a portion the bare necessities, he's doing absolutely nothing for Kanai Ward, especially Dohya District. He lives in the most expensive looking penthouse I ever laid my eyes upon, there is so much he could do with all of his billions, like, I don't know, at least unflood the Dohya District do you remember the Dohya District it appeared once in chapter 3 I believe.

Also your city has a poverty crisis the population's like 10% rich bitch working for ✨Amaterasu✨ 90% i live in a sewer i have like 8 shien. Please stop saying you love KW like every othet sentence and actually do something I'm begging you I'm poking you with a stick right now.

Say what you want about Yomi but he was so real for telling Makoto he's not doing shit, only ever instance in rc where the guy is like.... somewhat correct. I was about to say something else but I stopped myself because I have a healthy amount of Fear.

Apparently Makoto's love for all homunculi doesn't extend to Kurumi though, a teenage girl, after he just dumps her along with Yuma in the restricted area for no reason whatsoever, endangering her severely. He also risked her finding out she was eating human flesh for three years straight, the only reason she didn't go into the freezer was because Yuma was there to tell her there was nothing there. There was no reason for Makoto to drag her along to be the audience to his epic showdown with his DNA donor.

I'm not mad at him for that though, that was so fucking hilarious, the fuck?? What is wrong with him <3333

Since I know somebody is going to say that Yomi existing severely limits what Makoto can actually do, which is fair to some extent, but like... Was Yomi holding a gun to his head and telling him he's gonna execute the hostages if he tries to unflood Dohya? Was he? Yomi controls the peacekeepers, he doesn't control where Amaterasu money gets donated. Yomi (and by extension, the peacekeepers - Yomi is, as I see it, the personification of everything wrong with the Amaterasu Corporation cops peacekeepers anyway) can be blamed for a large portion of everything wrong with Kanai Ward, but not the entirety of it; and Makoto can't be, either. Blaming everything on Yomi is not only just wrong, but also the most boring answer possible.

Speaking of -- Makoto didn't even care about all the abuse of power Yomi was commiting the entire time. According to him, "If all Yomi did was throw his weight around, that would have been fine, but [forgot the exact phrasing, but he says him trying to leak homunculus information was where he had to step in]", so you can't even give him points for being a Yomi hater! Sad. Anyway here's how makoyomi worsties can still win

Do I dislike Makoto? No not really. I don't really care about him as much as other people tend to, but he's fun when you let him be his silly (ominous) self. The atrocities are a part of him and I decided they're funny. Actually wait I changed my mind I love him now.

#cool motive still billionaire! now if you'll excuse me (starts daydreaming makoyomi one sided hate sex)#I don't even think Makoto hates Yomi nor does he lie about loving every citizen of Kanai Ward-#Which means Yomi is included in that. It'd be hypocritical otherwise to claim that. Besides Makoto doesn't even act like he despises Yomi #He's just very mad with him. For a good reason.#Oh wait actually he DOES have an exception to the ''i love all of KW'' and it's Kurumi #How DARE she stand next to Yuma in that one scene. THROW HER INTO THE DAMPEST DARKEST PIT IN THE RESTRICTED AREA!!!!!!!!!!!!#mine #rain code #makoto kagutsuchi #I did not proofread this at all hope the words here actually mean something👍👍

65 notes · View notes

majimassqueaktoy · 1 year

Text

#girl i made these gifs but nah. Nah.#I'm postin the whole scene it fuckin wrecks me #the voice acting is so. so. so.#ITS SO #they way he like cries makoto Ough #yakuza 0 #y0edit #yakuza #yakuzaedit #majimako #majima goro #makimura makoto #makoto makimura #ryu ga gotoku #goro majima #rgg edit

205 notes · View notes

full-moon-full-team · 2 months

Text

Thou wast I. I am still Thou.

[A video is posted. The phone had slipped from Makoto's hand, falling onto the grass underfoot as the young man gripped onto his head. His eyes were wild, but he was otherwise quiet. His manic expression, looking harrowed to a point of it either being fear or unhinged glee... it was hard to really tell what he was feeling.

The Ralts that had been following him, however, seemed to be right up against his leg, tugging at his pant leg frantically. They didn't like this. They were very much on the side of the spectrum that led to panic, because this was an emotional strength they weren't expecting from Makoto. Pain flared across the Ralt's face from above the phone in waves, and they winced down slightly for a moment before promptly taking note of the phone. They looked up. Then down. And with a grasp of it with their arms, they lifted it.

They called out to Makoto. He didn't react. They tried again, their small voice carrying out. One day was all they needed to try and pull their new friend back to reality. But something seemed to hit the ground. A clink, and a following settlement of metal on grass. And finally... Yuki blinked.

His face was covered in sweat. He was barely holding onto whatever sense of self he assumed he had. But there was a flash of recognition in his eyes. He gradually reached down, and the sound many would recognize as the settling of a chamber on a pistol was caught by the phone's microphone. The Ralts fell completely silent.

Yuki's expression was still faintly manic, but it had a faintly diminished edge to it for just a moment. Wonder was writ upon his face. And he gradually glanced up at the night sky above them both. No other humans around. Pokemon nearby sleeping quietly and serenely.

A voice was heard.

"Go on. Remember."

It did not come from the Ralts. It did not come from Makoto Yuki. It permeated even the video, sounding like it was said from a person in the watcher's own presence.

Makoto glanced up, his eyes practically shimmering in the moonlight above him. It was a pristine, starry sky. A white, full moon. It wasn't dark here. It was bright here. And one more light deserved to join the chorus of shimmers in the night air.

A silver pistol, raised up to his head. His expression shifted again. A grin passed by his lips. He cocked the hammer. He took in a nice, deep, drawn out breath...

"Per.... so... na...!"

CRACK!

A snap of bright light from the muzzle of the pistol. Smoke escaping from the chambered round as it was lowered slightly. And the vision of glass SNAPPING outwards from his skull, that same manic grin on his face as if pure, blissful euphoria finally escaped from a violent outburst.

It was almost silent. But right behind him. Right above him, shimmering ever so slightly... was a pair of red eyes. A hand reached down, strumming along a harp to settle upon Makoto's shoulder. Matching hair was brushed by as the strange visage whispered to Makoto quietly. It was inaudible. It noted the Ralts... and nodded gently towards them.

Makoto let out a sigh, smiling almost serenely. "... Orpheus..."

He quietly stashed the gun into his jacket. His eyes wandered to the Ralts. His smile stayed soft, gentle even. He took a step.

The entity above him strummed gently, vanishing with the pluck of the string.

Makoto promptly collapsed, still smiling. He didn't even hit his knees, he simply went limp. And as the Ralts frantically tried to shut the phone off, tapping with panicked squeaks, not a single sign the gun did any damage was on his head as the feed abruptly cut.]

#makoto acts #pokemon platinum #pokemon roleplay #pokemon rp #persona 3 roleplay #persona 3 rp #persona 3 spoilers #tw gun #gun tw #suicide tw #tw suicide

4 notes · View notes

friends-to-lovers-tournament · 9 months

Text

Friends to Lovers Tournament: Quarterfinals, Match 1

propaganda under the cut!

Makoharu:

They are the first ship that comes to mind when I think of friends to lovers. I know Free! hasn't been popular since 2013, bug I just love them so much... Makoto's devotion to Haru. There's even a movie that flashes back to when they're kids when Makoto says "I love swimming and I love Haruka". Soft...

Fuyupoly:

Submission 1:

they're from the winter troupe of the mankai company, and unlike the other troupes they're all adults. that said, they all have varying degrees of trauma and emotional stuntedness. it takes them some time to fully open up to each other bc they're all very cautious of each other's boundaries and don't want to cross any lines which initially led to some issues in the group's formation. over time they've learned to bridge the gap while still being mindful of hard boundaries. at one point they have a discussion about what exactly their relationship is (gay) cuz they were talking about how the other troupes have clearly defined dynamics (spring=family, summer=besties, autumn=rivals & teammates) but they don't,, and homare deadass says they're "people bound by a common destiny" which in and of itself sounds very Gay (like why are you as a man bound to other men by a common destiny), but it goes even further because homare starts spouting WEDDING VOWS: "In sickness and in health, for better or for worse, we shall share our laughter and our tears as those with an intertwined fate... How beautiful we are!" THIS IS A DIRECT QUOTE FROM THE GAME AND THE MC EVEN REMARKS "i can already hear wedding bells in the distance..."

gradually they become closer, in individual sub-units based on who's paired up as co-leads for a play, and as a troupe overall. also two of its members are childhood friends who had a messy 'divorce' in their young adulthood and it took the game breaking its genre to introduce a timeloop for them to finally make up if that means anything to you. one of their troupe songs "precious to us ~bokura no kisetsu" has some pretty beautiful and fruity lines: "The many kindnesses born in me here / Never fail to breathe life into my chest / Even all the pain and bitterness / Have now become dear to me (Ah…Stay with me)", "No matter how many times our season passes / Let us keep living together / Holding our hands, without ever letting go / Let us open up the curtain of tomorrow", "There is no need for words, because once our gazes meet / Joy sparks a light in your eyes", "Our journey, may it be a brilliant one / As our breaths overlap as one"

a lot of their plays has a LOT of homoerotic tension between the two leads too. their first play has tsumugi and tasuku play angels, and it's heavily implied that tasuku's character has an unrequited crush on tsumugi's character. their third play has azuma play a vampire and tasuku play Just Some Guy and it's generally agreed in the fandom to be one of the gayest, if not THE gayest, play A3 has ever written. obviously the vampire thing is very fruity, but there's also how the vampire was longing to bite the human but was holding himself back, and when the vampire left the human in the end, the human was absolutely HEARTBROKEN over it and was swearing they would reunite one day. the stage play of this takes it even further by having the vampire embrace the human from behind and BITE his neck. the fourth play is a watered-down adaptation of Phantom of the Opera where they genderbend Christine into Chris among other things and change the relationship between Chris and the Phantom to one of friendship.... ostensibly so, because there's still a lot of homoerotic undertones in their interactions. i could go on but this should be enough of a sampling taste

Submission 2:

the writers rlly said "let's take 2 normal guys who are childhood friends and have been into theatre since their school days and have them go through a pre-canon messy divorce, an eccentric poet with a potentially controversial haircut, an amnesiac sleepyhead who can only be awoken with marshmallows but is also somehow extremely athletic despite doing nothing but sleeping and eating marshmallows all day, a man who is so beautiful and mysterious he breaks gender, and a supposed android from a fictional south asian country, and throw them into a blender, oh and for good measure let's throw in some theatre and angst and gay and angst and gay" and the end result was marriage. i mean it took them a lot of awkward fumbling around and conflicts to get there but they got there and thats what matters. ok *technically* in-text they're all rlly good friends and kinda found family BUT they are found family via marriage papers i do not make the rules chief

Submission 3:

The reason why they are so friends-to-lovers to me is because their relationship is founded on quiet and unconditional acceptance of each other—regardless of how flawed they may be or how heavy their burdens and trauma may be. When the troupe first formed (sans Guy who was in another country at the time), they didn’t have any major clashing personalities at the very beginning and generally they were mindful of each other’s boundaries, unlike the other troupes that came before them. However, it’s BECAUSE they were too mindful of said boundaries that it was difficult for them to break down their walls and bond as a team—and there were a LOT of walls to break down, as all of them had varying degrees of emotional baggage and trauma.

In fact, it’s only three plays in that they finally truly start opening up to each other, with Azuma getting the ball rolling by opening up about the deep loneliness that haunted him ever since his childhood. It’s during this conversation that they also discuss what their relationship as a troupe is, because the other troupes have defined their relationship as a team (Spring is family, Summer is best friends, Autumn is rivals & teammates), and Homare goes on to declare that they’re “people bound by a common destiny” and goes on to spew wedding vows: "In sickness and in health, for better or for worse, we shall share our laughter and our tears as those with an intertwined fate... How beautiful we are!" I mean… it can’t get any more obvious than this, really. They are married.

But anyway, Tsumugi says he wants their relationship to be one where while they respect each other’s need for space, they’ll also be there for each other and share their pains and burdens—or in his words: “supporting each other when our burdens become too heavy to bear on our own”—which I think is really sweet because it carries this idea of quiet, unconditional acceptance; they don’t push each other to share more than they’re comfortable with sharing, but with whatever they ARE comfortable with sharing everyone carries the load and pain because pain is easier to bear when you’re not bearing it alone <3

A later part of the story focuses on Hisoka, a mysterious amnesiac, being terrified of regaining his memories and facing some “sin” from his past that has led to another character, Chikage, trying to take revenge on him. When he confesses this to the rest of the Winter troupe, Homare asks, “How heavy is this sin you bear?” and Azuma suggests, “Perhaps it’s just heavy enough for the five of us to carry together.” (at this point Guy hasn’t joined yet). The stage play adapts this scene into a song called Key to Memory. The key (pun unintended) part is 1:27 where there’s a back-and-forth between Hisoka and the other Winter troupe members (sans Tasuku because he wasn’t in that particular play)

Hisoka: “I’m scared…”

Tsumugi, Homare, Azuma: “It’s okay.”

Hisoka: “My unforgivable sin…”

Tsumugi, Homare, Azuma: “Let’s carry it together.”

Hisoka: “I might not be me anymore.”

Tsumugi, Homare, Azuma: “It’s all right. We understand and we accept you, so let’s go together.”

And it ends with Hisoka singing: “I was afraid to open the door of my locked memories. But if everyone is here, I believe I can do it.” In both the game and stage play, Hisoka fully regains his memories and reconciles with Chikage (long story). He tells Fuyupoly he can’t go into detail about his past with Chikage because it’s dangerous but he’ll tell them when the time is right, and they accept this saying that no matter what his past is, they know and love him as their Hisoka which obviously is a very sweet thing for friends to say, but it’s also very Marriage-coded to me.

Later, Guy is introduced as an android from Zahra (a fictional South Asian country) and joins the Winter troupe as a temporary member—because he’s stuck in Japan for the foreseeable future—until they find a permanent member to replace him. The other Winter members have a conversation among themselves and agree that regardless of whether he’s really an android or a human they’ll accept Guy for who he is and help him improve his acting, which again harkens back to the idea of ‘unconditional acceptance’. Eventually it’s revealed that Guy is in fact a human who has forgotten his memories of the past and his emotions. He recovers his memories all at once which shocks his system and causes him to pass out. When he wakes up in his room, he finds the rest of the Winter Troupe asleep around the room—which I believe is symbolic of their whole theme of “quiet acceptance”: they don’t want to push Guy to share beyond what he’s comfortable with, but they’re always there to listen to him and share his load if that’s what he wants. He opens up about the memories he recovered, and they don’t treat him with pity like he’s a lost child, but still extend gentle empathy and understanding. They also emphasise that it genuinely doesn’t matter to them whether he’s human or android because he’s Guy first and foremost. It’s at this point that Guy truly lets himself become part of the Winter troupe/Fuyupoly and not just as a temporary stand-in member, because he’s found a place where he’s found himself again and people who will accept who this “himself” is, whether that be an android devoid of emotions or a human brimming with vivid beautiful emotions.

[Mod note: There’s a LOT more but we’re afraid of crashing the post. I (Deli) summarised it the best I can since I’m familiar with A3, but if you want to read the full thing you can check it out on this google doc)

#friends to lovers tournament #a3! act! addict! actors!#a3!#fuyupoly #tsumugi tsukioka #tasuku takato #hisoka mikage #homare arisugawa #azuma yukishiro #free!#makoharu #tachibana makoto #nanase haruka #tournament polls #polls

53 notes · View notes