#just Dude Who Wants Power. which yeah in a franchise about yakuza makes sense but they're not interesting about it despite being the REAL

[smol-tired-binch-blog]

It baffles me sometimes how Yakuza 0 is about the weight of taking a life and how death and killing is a big deal and then the rest of the series it's like lol no.

Female character? Kill her off with little fanfare and development. Helpful side character? Dies for the protag. Antagonist? Have them off themselves.

Characters whose deaths could've and probably should've carried more weight but we don't get enough focus or development on their character. Potential is often squandered. And yes, there is something hard hitting about losing a character before they truly had the chance to flourish, but when it keeps happening? We can't build on character bonds, that'd mean cutting down on substories!! What do you mean we've done this one before it's different now!!!

Not to mention when the franchise decides that completely fatal wounds Are Fine Actually They're Alive And Well All Along. And, y'know. The Heat Actions. Akiyama has kicked many men to death and you won't convince me otherwise.

Idk I like the franchise but I feel there's a bit of lack of tonal cohesion here and there. Notably.

#smol speaks #smol plays yakuza #you are free to disagree but i cannot take the idea the franchise treats death with weight seriously #every one so far has ended with an antagonist who's actually really interesting and could have so much more done with them only for them to #fuckin kill themselves whilst taking out the ACTUAL villain who is far less interesting and basically always just 'Bad Man In Suit' #just Dude Who Wants Power. which yeah in a franchise about yakuza makes sense but they're not interesting about it despite being the REAL #mastermind or w/e. and then Yakuza 4 switched things up by not even giving us an interesting secondary antagonist so very brave move there! #and of course wasting Yasuko's potential but that's fine I'm not bitter. and before you go 'but what about Sayama/Makoto' they get shipped #off to the States and Hana-chan got made skinny so shh. There's a greater pattern at play here and we can talk about the #writing for female characters another time. i'm just saying there gets to a point where death in the franchise doesn't shock me #it does often disappoint me though. if it's not Kiryu or Majima or Haruka or some other protag don't get too attached cause even if they #don't die you likely won't see them again. also they likely will die because fuck you actually. or rubber bullets. as a double fuck you

[perelka-l]

Do you have any HCs about Proton or Petrel? Weirdly, I have brainworms abt them today, akin to hurt/comfort shipping, but idk if I consider their relationship platonic or what. I definitely think of them as close. Proton is an evil little freak who’s gone through the wringer, and Petrel is so laid back + morally grey that he literally doesn’t care what an evil little freak Proton is. (Other people read it as Petrel being THAT dumb and unaware…but that ain’t it, he’s just consciously giving Proton a pass because Whatever)

I’ve been playing around with this HC that Proton lowkey hates Giovanni because he more or less wants to BE him (power-wise - like he’s just got so much rage in there, and subconsciously, he has decided that having MEGA-CONTROL will fix it), but it’s starting to..become apparent + difficult to suppress. Like he’s toeing the line of like bEEFING with Giovanni which is obviously incredibly stupid…but Proton may be incredibly stupid…like that is not going to work out well for him, but he’s such a spiteful dude that he can barely help himself

I like to think that if you squint, all Executives are at the very least platonic towards each other. They've been through some proper shit together and there is definitely some bonding stemming from that. Brothers in arms, so to speak. But you know. More mafia/yakuza-ish. They maybe wouldn't die for each other, but kill? Sure.

With Petrel, 100% of my headcanon about him stems from this fic on pokanon kink meme (which, as a side note, nicely matches Pokemas portrayal as well. I like his consistency). Well, ok, 80%. I have some more thoughts about him that stem from nowhere.

First thing is that I see him as oldest out of the bunch. Maybe not as old as Giovanni (maybe) but old enough to possibly even remember Madame Boss. I like to think him getting as far in the ladder as he did stems from survival instincts and capabilities but also that he just was in TR for quite a while, and his slow climb just happened over time. And yeah, he is very morally grey, he can be nice but it would be dangerous to assume he is nice.

And Proton is... yeah. Youngest of the bunch and I saw him once described as a both a rabid dog to sic at target and most spoiled little cat which both match him, I think. He does feel a bit spoiled, but I think it is tied with the fact that he can be quite violent (I also have a Formative Kink Meme Fic for that, but this one I will not link. It's Proton/Silver and ngl, it was one of the most uncomfortable things I have ever read for sheer amount of triggers. Formative but MAN was it uncomfortable. Feel free to ask me but. Uh. Yeah.) and TR serves him to satisfy that. In some other fic, don't remember which one now, I saw someone theorize that possibly Proton's loyalty sides more with Archer, since Archer know how to use him well, as well as after when Giovanni was gone.

By the way, what do you mean by "gone through wringer"? I know what it means but I am unsure what you mean by that.

Proton, in pokemas at least, claims that he admired Giovanni due to him being "ruthlessly decisive". But at the same time Proton is made a bit more into a joke which... I can see why they would do it, it's easier to make him funny than make him serious in that particular franchise, and I politely ignore that bit while nodding in understanding. Though OK, bootlegs is vile shit. But back to main point - I can see where you come from and I think following that line of thought that what would make Proton envious of Giovanni is his, in a sense, freedom.

Giovanni has plenty of responsibilities that, I would imagine, Proton wouldn't ever wish to shoulder (I like to think his executive task first things first is to be a scarecrow to keep grunts in check...) but at the same time Proton could burn for the way Gio has enough power to handle it all and control and decide freely what to use, even with Proton, and do so effectively. And Proton could probably wish to have that, freedom to do as he wished, to decide what to do. He is young (I wouldn't say he is older than in his early 20s), so he wants all the power without responsibilities coming from it (gah, sudden spiderman!). I could imagine that when Giovanni leaves, Proton is hit with injustice of it. Giovanni can just leave. Can just go, drop everything that Proton thought he desires and vanish into thin air. And Proton is tied to TR because this is his protection and this is where he can do what he wishes to do (as in, violence) and be protected for that from police and such. He wished for that. He can't ever have that.

Everybody being aware of Protons issues could be amusing, and Petrel being the one to keep him in line is a nice thought. Petrel seen it all, knows how TR works better than most, Proton being a bitch is honestly not the worst he's seen but he is aware what the result can be, maybe saw such a few times. And he likes Proton, he's a skilled kid, would be a shame to have him disappeared if Giovanni's amusement over his antics turn into anger (And that would probably fall to Archer and Petrel knows Archer likes Proton as well but Archer's loyalty overrules literally everything else and wouldn't even blink if Giovanni decided enough is enough). (Also, now I ponder on Giovanni personally manhandling Proton when he gets a bit irked a bit and whoa oh erm whoa)

Thank fuck Proton is as reliable as he is, dangle a task in front of his nose and he'd follow, a rabid dog eager to sink his fangs into something. Petrel though knows how to handle the leash so Proton won't bite the hand that feeds him.

#oops I wrote a lot #I shall tag bc maybe someone will enjoy those thoughts uwu #rocket executive proton #rocket executive petrel #I didn't touch much on shipping here but I was like thinking emoji #I didn't have a chance to throw that in but I 100% see petrel as genderqueer and ever since I saw that one art with Gio #I just can't resist drawing him with piercings and such www #He burrowed into my brain quite a bit ngl #Proton ummm i would have to ponder on him #But admittedly he infuriates me bc I can't figure out how his hair works lololololol #*wheezes and spits lungs out* #answers #anon #anonymous