#sort of because ryoji loves life and he is life | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

leonawriter · 3 months

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One of my favourite ideas with regards to Ryoji is this sort of... thing where he can just exist outside of time somehow, because of how short a time he's allowed to exist in reality.

(massive spoilers for P3 onward past this point, obviously, if you haven't already gone through the game.)

[EDIT: I've cleaned it up a bit and edited and put it on AO3. So, if you want like... an entire extra scene plus some, go here.]

Which is great in theory, but a bit more complicated if you wanna put it into practice, other than going "well, he's here because... oh, a wizard did it." There are possibilities and plausibles, but they're frankly limited if you have (like me) a logical mind and a need for something to suspend your disbelief.

Except then I had a thought - Ryoji is also known as Death, or Thanatos. He takes on that role at the climax, even. So, I started thinking along those lines, and wound up with-

Ryoji the psychopomp. Ryoji, the grim reaper.

Not "the Reaper" as in the one that roams dungeons (he exists during P3 and is implied by design to be connected somehow to Tatsuya Sudou, anyway).

More like, that it's a case of "Life gave her creations to Death, no matter what they both knew would happen the moment he touched them."

Minato (or Kotone) dies on the school rooftop, and there he is, able to talk to them, and they're able to tell him that everything worked out, that everything will work out. Their spirit lingers at the Door, and they talk like it's passing notes in class.

A young girl finds herself on the receiving end of unwanted advances, and then she's somewhere strange, confronted with uncomfortable and unwanted truths, and then- then, there's a boy in a yellow scarf wanting to know all of the things that she loved about her life. At first it's strange, and more than a bit hard to think of things for this weird guy who she's never met before, but the more she talks the more she realises that she really did have things she treasured.

He thanks her for telling him, and as she makes her peace with the fact that this is it, he tells her that he'll keep them in his heart now, too.

Wakaba Isshikki knows about the cognitive realm - a little too much, perhaps, but not enough to stop. Enough, perhaps, to see the shadow of a boy following her for a day or two. Enough to feel as though she's already living on borrowed time, when she feels that surely she knows what's happening, and she simply... doesn't care.

She's a little wispy, still, when he leads what's left of her toward the Sea of Souls where she now belongs. He's concerned, and rightly so, about what that means. Wakaba's more worried about the kids.

(A few people don't get Ryoji. Those unhappy few get the floating mask of Death and a series of coffins to tell them that their time has come. For some it's because even in death they have no humility, and for others still it's simply easier, that way. Easier to not be Ryoji wile dealing with it, even if it would have been easier still to simply walk away and let them find their own way to the Sea.

But Kunikazu Okumura had sent so many his way, that it was only right that Death came to meet him personally.

"I didn't even get to finish my speech," the man said, blubbering after the towering figure that Death made.

You had a daughter, Death reminded him, and he was silent the rest of the way.)

Goro Akechi comes to, and the first thing he sees is a bright yellow scarf.

The first thing he does is swear, because boys with slicked-back hair wearing yellow scarves aren't supposed to exist when you're dead. The second thing he does is look around, and realise that you aren't really supposed to exist in a sea of stars and sit on nothing when you're alive, either.

"Please tell me this isn't the afterlife," he says, mostly because although he figured it could be worse - he could have found himself in hell, or surrounded by all of the people he'd killed over the years, all of the ones who had every reason to make his afterlife hell if it wasn't already - it could definitely be better.

"It is and it isn't," comes the cryptic answer. "Usually it is, more or less. Each of those lights represents a soul, after all." And there were so many of them. "But you're a special case! You're both dead and not dead right now, which, usually that doesn't happen? People can almost die but not actually die, but they aren't usually both at the same time, I mean."

"Maruki," Akechi practically spits out. "In that case, I'm surprised you're not inundated right now."

Blue eyes - far too blue to be human, they almost remind him of Morgana, and he was neither human nor a cat, apparently - duck down, glancing away.

"I felt what happened. Everyone caught up in a lie, completely oblivious... if the one controlling that power had wanted to bring ruin, then..." But he shakes his head, bringing himself out of his own thoughts. "It's a good thing that didn't happen, really! And- you're wrong, by the way."

"What?"

"Like I said, you're a special case. I've been able to talk to a lot of people, but I've never been able to ask anyone to send a message back before!"

"Back?" For a moment, Akechi is reduced to parroting back words. Surely they mean something, but the obvious meaning is impossible, and he can't think of anything else. "Who would someone like you even want to send a message to, anyway?"

"Would you believe me if I said they were old enemies, who were also old friends? But, I guess you've had a few of those yourself, right?"

"What would you even know about me?"

Akechi got a lopsided, bittersweet smile in return.

"I've been following you for a lot longer than I think we'd both have liked," come the words that send a shiver down his spine as instincts and senses that were rusty from disuse told him what that meant even as his more conscious mind shied away from the idea of it. "But I hope that after this, we won't be able to talk again for a long, long time."

Something tells Akechi that he's both in no danger whatsoever, and also that he really shouldn't refuse. He expects to be on a strict deadline (ha, dead) but time moves differently here, and apparently they have exactly as much time as they need. No more, and not a second less.

When he opens his eyes again, he can remember everything-

Someone really wanted you to live, Ryoji had said, with a teasing smile, and bright eyes.

It makes him feel small. It makes him feel indebted - to Akira, to Ryoji, in ways that he can't even begin to examine or think of how to repay. It makes him want to give it all back, so that he doesn't have to deal with it, but that would be purely theoretical and besides, he has promises to keep.

First, a debt to Akira, something that to Akechi feels like barely a drop in the ocean and that hopefully Akira and his friends will feel the correct amount of gratitude for.

Secondly-

"Hello- yes, this is Goro Akechi speaking. Is this Mitsuru Kirijo-san? I have a message to pass on to you. Are the names Ryoji Mochizuki and Minato Arisato familiar to you, at all?"

#p3 stuff #p5 stuff #Leona fic #ryoji mochizuki #goro akechi #look I had ideas and then they spilled?#and somehow it worked past my block

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arcplaysgames · 1 year

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Man do y'all remember when I was sad at the start of P4G because the game did not adequately pat my head and feed me soup and give me friends on day one like P3P did

that was fucking little leagues. I'm gonna light everyone in this game on fire.

Anyway, we are in the tutorial stages so lemme sum up except with there's weird shit I wanna pontificate on.

Reverie missed a bunch of school on his first day with frankly doesn't look amazing for him. We met Ryoji GODDAMN RYUJI on the roof, because all Persona games love the school roof, and he wants to go back to the App World so he can poke around on Kamoshida.

There is palpably some Beef between Ryuji and Kamoshida. There is some fucking t-bone 3-inch cut that I have seasoned in mushroom salt and fresh ground pepper and left to air-dehydrate for three days, there is soooo much beef between them.

In the Not-Velvet Room-- Look, I am gonna start calling it the VR for efficiency's skae but be aware I do not think this is actually the Velvet Room, or if it is then someone has booted Igor and is pretending to be him.

But yeah Notigor says our rehabilitation can begin and I just wanna claw my hair out. What's funny is I know for a lot of fans, Persona 5 was their entry point. Did they know this was as severely fucked as it is? I feel like the game is pushing Fucked As Hell vibes pretty well, so maybe it was obvious even to the initiated.

Oh so Notigor is the one pushing the unauthorized APK onto my phone. I think Reverie is rocking a Samsung, it's got that Chonk to it.

Also, I dunno what it's called in the Japanese... hang on, to google!

Isekainabi, or "Otherworldnavi" that's pretty good. Which, the adjustment of "navi" to "nabi" reminds me that Japanese doesn't use 'v' does it? Or.... wait.... R is also a no, right?

(That is shit I learned from fucking Metal Gear Solid 2 actually, because my beloved Problematic Fave Kojima called the big villains the La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo, because they were 'invisible', they weren't even a part of the language, metaphorically speaking, which when I understand that I thought was fucking smart as hell, though I imagine the original voice actors who had to say it a lot and rapidly did not agree.)

ANYWAY I AM GETTING DISTRACTED, POINT IS, I picked a hilariously un-apt name with Reverie Vantas. That is a tongue-twister and I am sorry.

what the fuck was i even talking about OH YEAH Netscape Navigator, yeah. That's our Dark Hour/TV World, the Metaverse. I find it cursorily interesting that Persona has many different manifestations of the whole Jungian Collective Subconsciousness. P4's TV World was fully separated and impossible to access without the power of Persona. But Reverie and Ryuji stumbled like idiots into the....

wait, that cutscene from the start, that was Reverie's awakening to Persona. So what caused it. Also: Is that relevant to the mystery here like it was in P4, because in P4 that was super important, and I would prefer it wasn't Super Important again lmao.

God the Izanami thing was dumb. ANY FUCKING WAY.

I briefly meet THAT ONE GIRL FROM THE INTRO on the train, and her personality traits seem to be "worryingly doormat-ish" and "thin'

Like man, P5R is not hitting me over the head with DIET SODA ADS but we are still fatphobic, don't forget! BTW if you want a Persona game that doesn't do that shit, P3P Girl Route baybeeeee best Persona.

I am apprently ribbon girl's senpai and she bows to me twice nad runs off to school. Later, gator.

holy shit this game doesn't fuck around with its classroom questions, are you kidding me

also I am sitting behind Moot in class. how's your life been since relinquishing 4chan, moot? I hope it's better.

Mitsuru would use her rapier to carve you like a chunk of roast.

Kamoshida's influence over everyone is kind of baffling to me. It's a VOLLEYBALL TEAM. Oh is that the Japanese equivalent of a football team? Because then I TOTALLY GET IT, CARRY ON.

Like, I understand sort of academically that having sports teams is good for students but also I fucking hate school sports culture. Dunno if its as vile in Japan as in America but if its even half as bad, yeah, abolish it.

Ryuji is so far not the brightest bulb on the tree, bless him. He keeps trying to locate a castle and getting frustrated. Finally, we put him out of his confused misery and use the app to make castle happen.

HE IS JEALOUS! In almost every jock there is a theatre kid's soul, crying to get out.

Ryuji has like no indoor voice, Morgana, I am sorry.

Also, I have so far zero indication of Morgana's gender, which I do like. 8) Gender don't matter, just don't call me a fucking cat.

There is a huge tutorial section, and I immediately understand why this game is +100 long, these sequences are much more complicated now. There's psuedo-stealth mechanics? Blurgh.

Ryuji wants to save the volleyball slaves and Morgana explains that these aren't actually them, they are cognitive copies that are.... essentially the projection Kamoshida has of each person in the school.

I don't wanna be a jerk Persona but this is adding more and more complexity to your already complex world. But maybe I am still in P4G mode, where every aspect of how the Midnight Channel worked was a clue. At this point, there is no central mystery.

hey yo what the fuck

Somehow Kamoshida broke Ryuji's fucking leg?????

What the fuck happened there? Also yeah, Ryuji, I don't know you super well yet but I'm with you, we can wreck this guy. Holy shit.

boy howdy getting your persona stings a bit in this one huh

Ryuji has Captain Kidd as his, with is pretty fun NGL. So our theme is literally Various Types Of Thieves in this game, huh? I'm cool with that.

#p5 #persona liveblog

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petorahs · 1 year

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☀️ anon

"I like girls that are mean to me" - not me but dude I get it

And i live persona 3 Portable. i think they really give you a completely new perspective with Minako and the social link with Ryoji is fantastic, best one, they are so cute. I know a lot of people dislike Minako bc they say she completely negates the theme of Memento Mori, but I think she is just the flipside of the coin. Like that meme about "nothing in life matters" where one is a depressed emo (Minato) and thr other is a sunglasses-wearing party man (Minako). She does fit the theme but /differently/ and that's rhe whole point of it. That's why I long for Atlus to do that again, give us femc with a different perspective on the same theme!!!! And yes, I know it was easier in p3p bc the cutscenes were basically a narated slideshow, so it just needed a modelswap and some new social links but honestly it was so damn good QwQ

I guess thats also why I took kind of an issue with Kasumi. When she was shown there was the hope she might be a Femc, but no Atlus proceeds to be a male protag waifu game-

Tangent: the fact you can date Kawakami but not your bros Ryuji-protects-women-daily-Sakamoto or Yusuke who is just a sweet nice guy living his best artist life, is a crime and I am personally pissed about it. I really hope that future games do shake things up and dont go down this path further. You can't just give Ryuji a line that's basically "my place is by your side/right next to you" and NOT expect me to see a budding romance.

i like how that's your takeaway LMAO what can i say...... me when im just a bisexual mess. girls can be mean to me. guys too im never picky but... girls. <3 obv my appreciation for yukari and her character goes deeper than that like i think shes the realest ever but thats another analysis for another day. for now hehe heart choker go brrr

?!!!!!!! PEOPLE SAY THAT ABOUT MY GIRL FEMC?!?! who what when where Why!! let me at em!! throwing hands!! i havent experienced minako/kotone in her entirety because well. p3fes the answer depression slump. but a large part of why i chose to p3 as my backwards dive into persona series and not p4g is because its arguably the only game to have a FeMC (maya p2 counts but also doesnt? cause she has the benefit of speaking in innocent sin that future silent protags don't). the sheer novelty of an unabashedly cute, girly girl in a social sim rife with the theme of death... her presentation alone could've told you how she's on the 'toxic positivity' side of the spectrum when dealing with grief? your description fits so well LMAO p3 MCs are so nihilistic love them both fr....

the glorified slideshow thing, their choice to port p3p instead of giving us a revamped, definitive persona 3 with fes' benefits (The Answer, control over team members, animated cutscenes) is just proof that they need to remake persona 3 with p5-level graphics now. god what are they doing over ther...

oh man now that you've got me started on it. kasumi, kasumi... she had So Much to Her that they just kinda. fumbled. do you want me to get into it? i kinda want to get into it. but it'll turn into a whole rant and these asks get long enough as is (not that I'm complaining! bro i love these back-and-forths theyre a highlight of my day fr) so i'll save it for another time I think LMAO. just know that im sharing grievances right there with you in the "kasumi-should-have-been-a-FeMC-of-sorts" camp.

lastly. OH for sure for real i get you like i feel the guy party members in 5 (aside from akch since. hes a special case) are kinda so agreeable to the point of simpery but like in a good way. in a dateable way. i feel like yusuke is so obvious about it too... shakes him affectionately. for a series not afraid of social commentary they really are afraid of blatant yaoi arent they. it couldve been baby steps like how fire emblem series did it... the time was right anyhow. scratches head... little known fact about me is that pegoryu and shukita kinda have my whole heart, almost as much as shuake does!! something about boys... just let them love, ATLUS!!

#☀️ anon #aishi.txt #ans #persona 3 #persona 5 #i may have been into persona for a month or so but if anything happens to p3 feMC im going unalive everyone in this room and then myself #for makoto/minato ive just been acting like a regular ol grieving widow. nothing that unusual for me

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crowlore · 1 year

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lucian’s comfort character compilation (i will be cheating)

i have been instructed by @huginsmemory to “List Five Comfort Characters And Tag Five People”. helpfully, i was already recently provided with a handy list of characters perceived to be Mine™, seen here:

what can i say. i have a brand to maintain and apparently it’s deeply mentally ill characters that spark needless discourse on twitter. i own this. i will be cheating by pairing characters together per listing. order doesn’t particularly reflect anything. i don’t typically tag specific people for these things so consider this post an open invitation to anyone reading to overshare about your favs. GO FORTH

nicholas d. wolfwood. my fucking god. to lead with him feels the most transparent i can stand to be. what is there to even say. he has everything. he's the foil. he's the love interest. he's introduced with one foot in the grave and the other in the church. he's a hitman. he's a priest. he's a bodyguard. kids and single mothers love him. he's an orphan. he's a chain smoker. he shoots first asks questions never. he's screaming and covered in his own blood and hunting you down with a concussion and temporary blindness. he was drowning in foot deep water with seven broken ribs three minutes ago but he's fine now. as a man who once fractured his spine on a rock because of a comical tightrope walking incident and was walking it off two hours later, i relate. something something i could fix him but whatever is wrong with him is way more interesting

minato arisato and ryoji mochizuki (do not separate). uhhhhh persona 3 remake when? please? the earliest installments of this series may have been a bit before my time (not that i even got to play 3 when it was fresh since i didn’t really get a lot of freedom with video games until 2012) so i understand my bias but p3 is still my favorite main series entry to date. and you get TWO depressed moon themed bitches for the price of one with this game? one of them is death. the other becomes an interstellar gateway. i’m a sucker for characters who know each other for a tiny fraction of the larger story but instantly connect like they’ve been waiting lifetimes to meet again. characters whose presence in the narrative is brief but infinitely impactful. one is literally made from the other. what can i say.

goro akechi. while we’re on persona. sorry, we have to get into my Problematic Fav. let me tell you. i’ve been in the fucking trenches. this character is easily 50% of the reason i don’t engage in persona fandom spaces (wrt 5 especially). i love crazy bitches. personally, i love and encourage his violent mania and psychotic tendencies. can’t help being a gemini. can’t help being a foil. he didn’t stop at biting the hand that feeds him; he wanted to chew the whole thing off the arm regardless of who else he had to sink his teeth into on the way. y’all are just still mad that part of that means he can be a pretty unlikable person. at least he was honest with his motivations when you caught him. i get him though. goro’s role in the third act of royal saved the game because you and i both know that new story content wasn’t any good otherwise. he’s there to be a BITCH and keep things REAL. shout out to goro akechi for helping me identify my own dissociative disorder. thanks king

uldren sov and crow. this is a different people, same character sort of situation. sometimes you die and come back with no memories and get to be the same person at heart but placed into a life of extremely altered circumstances and see where that takes you. now i’m aware these characters are kind of divisive in destiny circles (mostly for the wrong reasons). i’ll give it to the people who think he’s being pushed waaaaay too hard into the narrative spotlight in a lot of seasons; that’s totally fair. but he’s had a lot of super compelling arcs surrounding his trauma across two lifetimes. his grief really becomes him. i’m also sincerely just so weak to stories centered around siblings, especially ones dealing with the really harsh and ugly truths regarding emotional abuse in the family and the complexity of familial love.

dimitri alexandre blaiddyd and the blue lions. SORRY. CONTRACTUAL FIRE EMBLEM MENTION. fe16 is the reason i completely left the fire emblem fandom space, even though it’s been a toxic cesspool for the entire decade i’ve been in any way involved with it. dimitri’s another of my twitter assigned problematic favs (the fandom faction wars surrounding this game were insane) and the reason i’m not even on the platform anymore. i have miles wide weak spot for the blue lions’ found family dynamic and was instantly in love with the way these characters played off of each other in established relationships right from the start of the game. their route tells a very complete, grounded character driven story that hit all the right emotional story beats to make the ending really feel rewarding. it was often times uncomfortable, but it was done well in a way that didn’t shy away from a lot of the ugly parts of mental illness that allowed me to feel very seen. i think it held truest to the standard formula of the fire emblem story structure and did so very well, even if silver snow was written first as the intended canonical story route. still my favorite after four years. classic.

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greysfall · 3 years

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My 4444-word review of NEO TWEWY (with personal illustration + heavy spoilers)

My overall critical score for the game is 7.5/10, while my personal enjoyment score is 8.5/10. This review is posted as I have 80% completed the game, got the secret ending and achieved the Angel psychic rank. I’ll first start with the main pros and cons as follows.

PROS:

- Enjoyable as a whole, still upholding the first game’s spirit in world building and sharing the same backbone - which was mostly revealed in the Secret Reports, it’s impossible to grasp the story without reading them.

- The new cast and new game is charming in their own way

- The old cast’s return is one of the biggest highlights for sure, it was fun and impactful. Everyone stays true to themselves and also had their own stories wrapped up nicely.

- Boss designs are cool, new pins are fun to use and collect

- The connection between the old and new cast is well written and executed, including but are not limited to the tension between the old and new protagonist, the weird but fun interaction between the 2 Composers, the new friendships revealed and formed

- Sho being in the main cast is something so uniquely TWEWY and uniquely Sho

- Still good music

- Still many fun side quests, some of them really uphold the same quirky spirit of the old game and some are surprisingly touching

- Many new nice stores and yummy looking foods to explore

- The map is really easy to memorize for me, it’s fun to travel around the “current” Shibuya to see all the differences compared to the past

- The social network is crazy and interesting to read through

- Has an anti-frustration system to help 100% complete the game more easily and earn money faster, so post-game is relatively managable.

- Overall, I really feel the efforts the team poured into making this as their passion project, not just during the development process but for all the last 14 years. They showed the vision of what they wanted to make, at the same time giving something to both the old as well as new fans.

CONS:

- The biggest problem with the game is scenario writing. The story is so heavily back-loaded. The director himself thought it would be better to balance out the tension flow by adding more at the beginning but gave in to the scenario writer in the end, probably due to time pressure. This results in an underwhelming execution of characterization and lots of wasted potentials for the first half of the game.

- I struggle to view it as a stand-alone game, since the backstory and the old cast both play such an important role in the core of the game. If someone plays this game without having played the OG, they can only enjoy it on surface value at best.

- The new cast is nice but most of them aren’t quite as intriguing as the old cast, maybe it’s cuz they’re all too nice deep down that they lack a little bit of an edge, of that batshit craziness that everyone in the OG used to have? I think some characters (Fret, Nagi) ended up weaker in terms of characterization because the writer is too afraid of making them unlikeable – which kind of backlashed cuz they only became likable in the most expectable way to cater for a specific group of fans. I would have wished for the other team leaders to be more crazy too, had they not suffered 30+ loops of the Game…

- The CAMERAWORK IS HELL.

- Gameplay does get tedious at certain points with all the time travels.

- Shiba is so badly written as a villain, some Shinjuku characters should be given more screentime cutting into Shiba’s– like Hishima or Kaie or even, Hazuki (though his limited presence also solidified his importance).

- Some of the main character designs, for example Beat’s hairstyle and his food reactions are hilariously bad. What’s the point of covering up most of his unique facial features?

- Some of the minor/side characters’ design are too cool for them to have such a small role (eg: Ayano, Eiru). Ryoji did get much screentime but is nowhere as fun as Makoto was.

- Overall the scope of this game is made a little too big for the team to handle as perfectly as the last game that was very compact, it felt somewhat rushed in development too so the missing pieces are clearly there in the final picture

The entry fee versus paying for it all in the end

An important difference between the Neo game and the original Shibuya game was that the Shibuya rule asked for an entry fee that is the Player’s most important asset, stated as a chance the Composer gives them to reexamine themselves. Meanwhile, the Shinjuku rule neither encourages nor allows personal growth and ultimately aims to erase as many Players as possible. It’s a pity we were never introduced to the full Shinjuku rulebook, as it seems like the system there focuses more on building up power and a grand government to compare with the individuality-driven system of Shibuya.

When you have to compare the new game and the original game (OG), this is an important factor to consider. Also, the OG has a serious storyline running through and through, locked with a different partner/GM creating unique atmosphere for each week and you don’t get to see your old partners again until the end. NEO’s team system does not allow such deep insight and communication between the Players. All of your teammates are always there throughout, the dynamic does change with each new addition but it is not as prominent as a partner change.

Another important factor is how the OG was built from scratch for a new platform as “something no one has ever seen before”, while Neo recycled a lot of old unused ideas from the previous development (check out this interview for more details). The development team for NEO lacks 2 key members and had a change of writer so the final product is not as strongly bound together as the last game.

The new cast is definitely inspired by today’s teenagers (from the view of creators), compared to the old cast they’re more sociable and always seem to take whatever works for them despite feeling unstable inside. They are all innocent and genuinely nice kids, avoiding to hurt each other to a degree that they end up keeping some sort of distance. They’re also unable to communicate at deeper levels, always stagnant at this half-baked stage of equilibrium without any motivation to get to the core of things. That is the cost of entering the game without an entry fee, without even dying or having a reason to be there/to fight seriously. These kids were stolen from the RG into a Game that was decidedly the worst environment for them to change or develop, just wandering around cluelessly to find a way “out” until tragedies started to unfold one by one and they ended up being charged the total sum of the price for their actions – ultimately losing everything in the end.

That is, I believe, a story arc which can resonate more to the youth of today rather than of my generation. If the message of the old game was to “listen”, enjoy life to the fullest and accept to trust others, the message of the new game is to “speak up” from the inside, trying to understand yourself and take actions instead of just going with the flow and finally, to take responsibility for such actions.

If Neku was handpicked by the Composer for being the special one with an all-dense soul to ensure victory of the game then Rindo was just a normal kid chosen out of random by Kubo to be his back-up plan, who just happened to have a high enough imagination to awaken the incredible power from his pin. Rindo was then officially chosen by the Composer as Josh picked up and handed the pin to him again, this time not as Josh’s personal Proxy – but as the Proxy to represent the normal people of Shibuya and via whom he could gamble if humans can fight for their own fate.

The underworld heroine and the hero with little of his own

Shoka is for me a refreshing and layered heroine. She’s the kind of character that took at least 3 trials of creators to form as a complete individual – that included Nomura who gave her the base design and Reaper background, Gen who gave a more cunning touch and the writers who made her English dialogues more punchy. Dishonesty equals “tsundere” is such a cliché, so the English writers tried really hard to avoid that trope in my opinion, while still letting her good intention come through.

She serves as the character who is informed of everything the players should have known, and there was almost nothing she could do about it. Almost. Until she met Rindo.

They were drawn to each other by sharing a state of “not having anything of their own”. They both started out with not being able to truly know themselves, Shoka even hated her RG life but also managed to mature from that stage before Rindo. She must have vibed with Shiki’s love and passion in the Gatto Nero threads, initiating her connection with Shibuya and understanding herself more. With Shoka as Swallow, they were able to open up to each other and offer mental support… but was still not getting to the centre of their problems because for all this time, Shoka could not tell Rindo the most important things about herself.

How did Shoka feel when she met Rindo at the UG? She probably didn’t want to hope that he would live the day until she witnessed the Twisters’ potentials. From the very beginning, they were both incredibly conscious of each other and also constantly frustrated that the person they happened to “notice” was such a condescending bitch/a clueless loser. The Shinjuku Reapers are overall quite drunk in power and uncompassionate to Players, Shoka included. She is also a master of dissociation, which results in her constant boredom, tone swings, haughtiness and subconsciously distancing herself from the friend – the boy she cares about – from false hope, as she judged from facts that it was a hopeless situation where nothing could ever be. Maybe she is naturally a bit of a chameleon just like her name suggests (Shoka 紫陽花 = hydrangea, the color-changing flower), so putting on an act and always dissociating herself from what’s important was easy, while hiding her contradiction was impossible. It was the ex-Reaper Beat who broke it out to her, that she should decide whether she really cared and wanted to do something for a change. He knew how it felt like to cross that line, and knew she wanted to too.

Shoka is endeared by many of the Shinjuku Reapers and has shown independent acts of kindness (the Shinjuku ghost), proving that her kind and truthful side is as real as her harsh and dishonest side – which makes her a nice mirror to the previous heroine Shiki, who also embraced a dichotomy of self-complex and self-love within her character. In the end, she was the first of the new cast to ultimately accept all that is important to her and independently made the decision to help save Shibuya despite all costs.

She was jealous at Rindo’s interaction with Tsugumi and Kanon but remained silent cuz she wasn’t at a place to have any say about it. She also didn’t reveal about Swallow because that would only add an awkward irrelevance to their current situation, as she was too ready to face erasure at the end of the Game. She only wished to “play a game” with him, be it FanGo or the Reapers’ Game. The tension that the team could only feel at the end, she’s felt it the entire time. The song “DIVIDE” is applicable to not just one bond in the game, but it always makes me think of theirs. There is always a “divide” between her and Rindo throughout the course of their journey, as the living and the dead, as a Player and Reaper, as someone who has a place to return to and someone who doesn’t, someone who knows little but wields too much power and someone who knows a lot despite not being able to do much.

“If only I had the chance to connect with you on the other side

But time goes on, and without us realizing it

The battle is getting heated

Time goes on, and without us realiazing it

Divided again”

To be honest, maybe I didn’t grow any affection for the new main cast from Rindo’s perspective but from Shoka’s. Since I started to sympathize with Shoka, I started to see the boy in a more “real” way. The real Rindo, behind his peaceful façade with others, would lash out on Shoka for her unfairly harsh attitude while none of the others cared. He could also subtly feel that mantle of unspoken secrets from her, her own contradictions, the unresolved chemistry between themselves – and not knowing what to do with it rather than to feel angry with all the unfairness he could not process. (As a Libra too, he’s triggered the most by unfairness!)

It is actually a positive development as he’s at least “reacting” to something strongly now rather than to keep evading his problems. During my replay, I clearly saw the difficult situation Shoka was in, her remaining harshness after the Motoi incident was due to her internal struggle with a mission to save her own life, versus a chance to really be with the team. Her decision was to do both at the risk of losing favour from both sides. Rindo started to accept her layer by layer, as the person who resonated the most to her contradicting nature from the start and knew that via learning her resolve, he has learnt his too.

Later into the game, she even got too much of his attention. Maybe even without knowing she’s Swallow, he’s familiar with her thinking direction and Swallow had always been closer to him than any other friend. It was only after she had to betray her important ones twice that she could start being truly honest. The scene when she died a 2nd time left a strong impression in me, the little reveal let Rindo know that he is also losing Swallow as he’s losing Shoka – and that only death could drive the last secret out of her. Her final “Later, loser” echoed through Rindo as it was the final truth, with only him remaining to hear it: they had actually, already lost everything.

Rindo was the boy who never dared to face all that matters to him until he lost it all, fighting an unfair battle in the faith that they would somehow still win. Shoka was the girl who always knew what was dear to her, but never dared to think she could be together with them ever after and still threw her all into a battle she knew was losing. I think they stir each other on naturally to fill out their gaps, similar to what the Shibuya game partner systerm would have aimed for. The end reward was a little divine intervention to help close up the divide between them once and for all.

During the game there was not enough space to process anything personal so at the ending when they officially became “friends”, it was an important affirmation of their bond. Some people complained it was friendzoning but it’s not, they just have arrived at the perfect place to start something more. “From now on, we will truly be together” – I read it as that kind of message.

The heroine from a lost battle, with her story taken away

After reading the secret reports and playing the game to be surprised of how small a role Tsugumi had in the main game despite being the “Hype-chan” thought to be a major character of the next TWEWY installment, many fans would feel sad at a missed opportunity to see the Shinjuku arc in full depiction.

It was shown clearly that, a Shinjuku arc was very carefully planned out and is a vital part of the whole story, yet it could not be made due to various circumstances behind the development scene. I would assume, that the team were not able to make a TWEWY game that ended on a despairing note, but it already happened in their mind, thus becoming a mental burden that forced them to break away from it and started the game anew with NEO. A significant part of NEO became the healing arc for the Shinjuku characters, especially for Tsugumi though I really wished more emphasis should have been placed on her rather than Shiba. We didn’t even get to see her brother – Shinjuku’s Conductor who had a vital role and instead was given the clueless Shiba, who had absolutely no idea what’s going on all the way until the last day in NEO. It’s as if Tsugumi has had her story stolen away from her, because her own battle ended with a saddening loss.

I think every time the game creators look at Tsugumi, they would feel that sadness too. Maybe to them, she is a bigger character than what is seen by the fans, as despite their failed effort to depict her story, she’s lived in their mind for all these years through periods of destruction, healing and rebuild. Though it is a pity we could not get to experience the full scope of the Shinjuku story, the creators was clear about the place they wished for it to arrive at.

Individuality, connection and the social network

The team system adapted from Shinjuku rulebook does not allow much room for personal development, as the team dynamic is closer to a work relationship forced to bear results, than a spiritual bond to max out all corners of understanding as found in the partnership system. The old Shibuya system allowed only 1 winner and 1 week limit per game, while the new rule declares for a 1 winning team and only the team at last place will be erased – the other teams will enter another loop. Furthermore, whichever team to challenge the unwinnable Ruinbringers will face the risk of ending up dead last followed by erasure. As a result, the longest-standing teams are most likely not the strongest ever recorded, but the ones who have figured out a strategy to simply survive until something changes, enjoying their newly found social constructs while they are at it. Basically, it is a system to hypnotise players into the illusion that they are still “living”.

Therefore, we as players would not get to the core of each Player individually as fast and directly as we did in the last game. The Twisters were able to stand out not because they’re powerful, they only started to have a real chance after growing enough to each form a meaningful and personal connection to another teammate. It did not come as a team, nor did it intiate from the existing friendship between Rindo and Fret. In fact, I did not find much solidity or anything truly note-worthy about the main team and new characters within themselves until they started clashing with other team members, Reapers and new recruits from week 2 onwards. Rindo found his personal development with Shoka (via a clash with Motoi and pretty much a mini dating sim between them), then via the confrontation of his role with Neku; Fret found his with Kanon then Nagi, the team learned about the real Neku via Beat, Neku entered the UG via Coco’s wish to save Tsugumi… it was not the team but their personal links that empowered them to fight and solve each of their problems.

The other team leaders may have failed because they did not form such personal links, after 30+ hopeless loops Fuya’s team all fell apart to pursue their own interest even at the cost of erasure, Motoi quit his KOL façade to work like a dog for the Reapers (probably to save just his own ass not his team), while Kanon dropped her tricks to find changes via honest cooperation in acceptance of a fair loss. The despairing note in that is huge without making much of a scene because their failure didn’t happen at their best effort to “win”, but in their last attempt to find a way “out”. Even Shiba got his way “out” in the end thanked to his personal friendship with Hishima and Tsugumi.

Something has shifted in the mindset of the game creators in the last 14 years, as both games are about “connection vs individuality” but the last game focuses more on connection between just individuals and this one on the overall network that is formed out of those individual connections.

The introduction of Beat into the main cast was truly the bridge between old and new, they helped each other out in several turns before officially recruiting him. Beat is a character whom a lot of fans including myself have felt somewhat concerned about after Neku disappeared from the RG, so when the new kids welcomed Beat with warm and organic interaction and Beat seemed happy, I started to feel like I wanted to help them out too! I think the overall team chemistry is enjoyable enough for new players, but I could warm up to the new kids more from the pov of a returning character – whom I’m glad to be Beat, as the older brother figure who is genuinely kind, fun, serious and upbeat at the same time; who is needed and needs the kids in return.

The social network is a fun and refreshing feature. You can read all of the crazy tidbits about Shibuya and the links each character have formed with the town people, it’s also fun to visualize how the characters act off screen. Characters’ profiles provide extra insight into their background too, like how it reveals Tsugumi has been friend with Coco during her time in the RG. During the game when not all characters have showed up, you can sometimes guess which empty spot will belong to whom. For example there is a 1 character linking to Neky that is not linked to anyone else, so I could guess that was Joshua, and that another character linking only to Joshua was probably Hazuki, hinting that the 2 Composers are related before either of them even showed up.

Hazuki only showed up for 5 minutes, but his presence is so vital and true to the game that I think he is the most memorable out of the new cast. The two Composers have such an intriguing bond, with their yin/yang or phoenix/dragon themes, opposite color design, the sempai/kouhai tone and the way they keep some sort of distance/work relationship as if it’s mandatory between Higher beings, yet at the same time they can talk so casually because they are truly equal – and different from one another. I have written a separate meta on them here.

Some people pointed out, that all Shinjuku characters’ names and themes are based off Hanafuda cards and the Phoenix in Hanafuda belongs to the Paulownia suit – which is Joshua’s name flower. This is so interesting because it feels like the creators somehow saw it as a sign to interweave the Shibuya and Shinjuku storylines together. Though it doesn’t come out much on the surface, it’s fascinating nonetheless considering both Josh and Haz had at some point interfered with the other town’s affairs.

“Shibuya tour with Haz” was such a special scene, as it happened between 2 characters who do not/no longer have a reason to care about Shibuya, on the subject of what is worth saving about Shibuya. Hazuki carried out the purification of Shinjuku and stepped in to restore Shibuya just as part of his job and unlike Hanekoma or Joshua who both possess profound understanding of humanity, he really didn’t know humans at all. Rindo’s irrational wish invoked in him a sense of curiosity, to try gambling on something irrationally and learning a bit of what his senior have experienced. With all the pieces put together, it provides an overview on Higher beings as a whole, and that Joshua and Hanekoma are really the odd ones out with Hazuki being somewhere in between them and the rest.

The old friends

It’s easy to have returning characters overshadow the new cast as they have already matured out of their personal story arc and stayed in our hearts for all this time. In the end, I have managed to enjoy both the old and new cast separately and altogether, and they will both find their own place in our memory of this game for the long term.

Sho is truly as crazy as ever, the game wouldn’t be the same if Sho is any less of what he is. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like Neky or Beat is younger than Nagi at all, with moments when it seems like Neky has aged 14 years instead of 3 years. His friendship with Coco surprised me pleasantly, and their interaction together with Beat was fun to watch. Rhyme’s found a new dream and her friendship with Kaie is precious too, especially considering that she can still talk to him online after the game ended. Josh and Neku’s interaction suggested that they have resolved the past and are on equal terms now, they even parted ways in good spirit and I don’t feel any worry about them like I did before.

Neku and Shiki’s reunion scene was beautiful, theirs is such a special bond that it has grown and supported them even without being able to see each other. I am so happy to see them all again and that they stay true to who they are, albeit looking more grown up, cooler and happier than ever before.

Overall, NEO can’t become a classic on par with the OG, but is definitely a good sequel and a good game in its own rights. I’m happy with whether or not there will be a 3rd game to complete the 3 monkeys theme, but if there will be – I hope the creators can really find the time to learn from the last 2 games and start over with a fresh mindset and strong core.

#neotwewy #neotwewyspoilers #ntwewy #ntwewy spoilers #neo the world ends with you #twewy #review #meta #neo twewy #shoka sakurane #rindo kanade #tsugumi matsunae

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crescentfool · 3 years

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that ryomina knitting scene (and some headcanons)

i love this screencap of ryomina knitting together as a part of the helper’s club montage.

one of the immediate observations one can make about this scene is how ryoji and minato are knitting with the color that’s central to each other’s design. ryoji is working with minato’s blue, and minato is working with ryoji’s yellow.

but my personal favorite takeaway from this tiny moment is seeing how proficient ryoji is at knitting. i feel that it just offers some nice food for thought about ryoji and some soft ryomina headcanons.

i like to interpret knitting as a peaceful type of hobby- one that is soothing and comforting. so in my eyes, knitting could be a comfort hobby for ryoji! when placed in context of his relationship with minato- i can see ryoji treating it as a love language of sort, in which he likes to give minato personalized gifts that affirm his existence.

and as such- i like to think it could’ve been possible for ryoji to knit a matching scarf for minato (he could have possibly knitted his own scarf, perhaps!). none of minato’s outfits featured in the movies feature any scarves to keep him warm, and maybe this is just my own bias toward winter fashion, but it’d suit minato! nothing beats ryoji going to the effort to make a personalized gift for minato to help him stay warm.

on a tangentially related subject- i also think that if these two were to live together, it’d be really cute for them to adopt some kittens/cats. and ryoji’s proficiency with knitting could also extend to them as well.

now, lastly, some december ryomina thoughts (continued under the cut for anyone who would like to avoid spoilers):

with the headcanon that ryomina have matching scarves (courtesy of ryoji’s very wonderful knitting), i like to think that the scarf that ryoji knitted for minato would act as “tangible proof” that their relationship existed and was real. as ryoji disappears on the full moon at the start of december- the scarf becomes the only remnant of ryoji that minato has.

and as such, minato decides to safeguard the scarf by wearing it at all times. this way, it’s as if ryoji is still with him and at his side. i find that handcrafted items and the like often carry a personal meaning- it’s the essence of love as there’s no other item quite like that.

when ryoji finally returns on december 31st to ask minato what his decision is- i think it would be a heartwarming from his perspective to see that minato has still held onto the scarf. it’s one of the ways that their relationship has manifested itself into a physical form, and proof of their bond.

and that’s all! i love the knitting scene even if it only lasts for a few seconds. please let ryoji knit to his heart’s content because the dude honestly seems like he’d enjoy stupidly simple things in life. he’s so earnest and i think he places a lot of value in the beauty of humanity thanks to his time spent inside of minato as pharos! i think he’d enjoy being around humans and learning the simple pleasures of life.

thanks for coming to my ryomina ted talk, this had no right to be this long but alas it is. feel free to hmu with your own hcs too or share posts with me! i’d love to see them and i’d definitely like to make more posts like this in the future. 💗

#persona 3 #ryomina #minaryo #meta #hello ryomina nation i watched the p3 movies last week and im not over it #i don't really know how ppl format their meta posts or hc threads on here so please bear with me!!!#ive been a twitter person mostly up until this point but i wanted to throw my ryomina brainworms onto tumblr #and also because tumblr is a much more permanent site than twitter and i'd like to look back at all my ideas easier lol #anyways this is a double post from twitter but i modified some of the wording for it to be better formatted on tumblr #twitter is basically like my draft and then tumblrs like yah this is my final essay OR SOMETHING #oh and feel free to talk to me in ask box if you like?? how do ppl talk on tumblr im confused LMAO but i like it here #i just wanna vibe over ryomina man i dont wanna spoil ppl on twitter and its so much easier to tag shit appropriately on tumblr smh #im sorry for the crappy title im not very original and i never title things most of the time LMAO #can u tell im from twitter? can u?#hc and au nonsense #lizzy speaks

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mingmingfufu · 3 years

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Lmfao I’ve been too deep into drawing life studies that I sort of embodied AUs or even post Eva stuff. I’m kind of either wanting to write fanfic or draw a mini comic. But here goes this synopsis:

Proposal #1. Shinji is nervous, today he has to go to work alone as Mari takes a sick day off. Shinji is nervous because he’s still not used to his new work environment, the thought of it makes him a bit nauesous. Though, to calm his nerves, Shinji starts to plug in his air pods and listens to classical music.

It was sparsely crowded, but Shinji had his own seat on the car. He clutched onto his backpack and whilst thinking about the music, and eventually drifted into a state of unawareness. Closing his eyes as he knows the ride home will take half hour, he’d hoped to get shut eye and wake up in time. Though as soon as the first song ended, he didn’t realise the presence of another person next to him.

“Was that ode to joy?” The person who sat next to him said.

Shinji’s alertness was displayed in a jolt, a little disorientated from being half asleep he turned to his left. His eyes widened without saying anything.

A tall white hair man dressed in...Shinji knows him, though Kaworu doesn’t realise it. Without another second to think, Shinji asked, “would you like to listen together?”

Kaworu was boldly surprised, and his shyness was displayed, something Shinji knows he’s never seen before.

“I little surprised by your question, but I just wanted to tell you about your tapping.” Kaworu said with his hand on his face and looking at the floor.

Shinji traced the direction of his eyes and saw his foot slightly lifted, which meant he tapped unconsciously. Embarrassed for himself now, Shinji apologised and offered to find another seat. Flustered he was thinking of moving until Kaworu pulled him arm sharply to make Shinji forcibly sit.

“I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

“Is that so—?” Shinji replies, looking away (still embarrassed of what just happened).

“Yes, that song is my favourite, you often don’t find people who know classical music” and he points to Shinji’s foot, he continues “do you play the piano?”

Shinji’s face turned to from dumbfounded to a small smile.

“No but I play the cello actually, though I do know someone who played the piano and they introduced me to some pieces”.

Kaworu smiles back and he takes out his phone and asks for Shinji’s number . A bit flustered Shinji exchanges information with him. Within moments, he texts “hello 👋 “ and Shinji looking at the screen in disbelief; he takes a slight look at Kaowru who scrolls thru his phone and then a bzzt notification notifies Shinji of a new message, it’s a playlist.

I guess I never introduced myself, but my name is Nagisa Kaworu, he smiles gently. And Shinji stares in disbelief and returns with another smile, my name is Imari Shinji, but you can just call me Shinji

The bus stops and calls out the destination and Kaworu says oh this is my stop, I have a younger sister and she’s actually starting to get lessons on the violin.

“I’ll see you later Shinji-kun let’s meet again.” Kaworu says with an ease-ful smile before heading out.

Shinji smiles and replies with, “Mmh (yes)” with a small nod.

Proposal #2. AU Where Kaworu is a student from the countryside and lives with adopted relatives a.k.a Ryoji and Misato; his “brother” is Misato’s son younger Ryoji. He goes to Tokyo to study agricultural engineering but he really wants to be a music producer. He enjoys the piano a lot and tries to find the music room and stumbles across Shinji who is playing the cello.

He’s a math major and wants to be a home room teacher. He’s childhood friends Asuka who has a one sided crush on him but he doesn’t feel the same way. Asuka later actually goes out with Kensuke. Rei and Kaworu are classmates but find themselves to share similar interests which leads them to be friends.

Rei is later introduced to Shinji as a initial love interest by her going to a university “mixer” party (more like all the students in their year/grade go to party). Rei and Kaworu actually go together, though Kaworu is very stubborn until caves in. With his looks, he attracts a lot of attention from everyone. Though he enjoys the interaction, but he sees Shinji and remembers the piano incident.

Shinji did have a crush on Rei, though he later realised he likes her for the wrong reasons/for mistaken reasons and both stay good friends. Sometime later Rei discovers she and Kaworu are siblings but separated at birth. Kaworu also realizing he likes Shinji a lot and the more time they spend together Shinji also reciprocates.

In this AU Kaworu wants to be a music producer lol tho he still likes environmental engineering; Rei wants to save earth so she’s a environment science or a human resource/social services major cause she likes kids and people, Asuka is an civil engineer/or computer science i guess and that’s how she meets Kensuke🤷🏻‍♀️. Toji is premed/prenursing/pre-PA he’s unsure and Shinji is a math major though considering engineering just like his father. However he still wants to be a home room teacher. Mari I think I’d put her in chemical engineering 😴 cause ig she’s the “Mary sue” of the series.

#Kawoshin #evangelion #nge #au #fanfic #fan fiction idea #fanfic ideas #comic ideas #nagisa kaworu #shinji ikari #rei ayanami #asuka shikinami #kensuke aida #toji suzuhara

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rjr1396 · 4 years

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The Tragedy Behind Almost

Throughout all 16 years of Makoto's life, he never really gave his soulmate and the topic in general much thought. When he was younger, it was just something his mom would mention whenever he got a new bruise he didn't remember the cause of. After his parents died, the idea of having a soulmate gave him some comfort despite being passed around from relative to relative once they got bored or annoyed with him. His soulmate became more of an annoyance when he started his teen years, who in their right mind gets this injured this often? He did suspect abuse for a while but something told him that wasn't quite right.

The moment he saw Akihiko get injured, it all made sense.

At first he was miffed, out of all people why him? Granted it wasn't fair of him to say something like that about his soulmate, the universe had to have a reason, right? The main thing he dreaded was dealing with an overgrown energetic puppy with an affinity for fighting, but the more he observed his senior, the more he started to like the boxer.

There came the other problem: feelings. He had never dealt with them before which he was grateful for at the time, but now he was clueless and filled with a cluster of emotions that he didn't sign up for. The only sort of comfort was that Yukari seemed to be having a similar problem when it came to a certain redhead.

"You know when I first met Kirijo-senpai, I was awkward around her because of, well you know, but I got used to it, now I can't look her in the eye without blushing!" Yukari whined as they had lunch together on the roof.

"Look at it this way: at least you're gonna be set for life." He stated bluntly.

"Makoto!" She gasped before smacking his arm. She looked out into the distance before turning back to him with a sad smile. "You know, we might not end up together..." He raised an eyebrow for her to continue. "Some soulmates don't end up together. Apparently senpai's parents weren't soulmates, it was an arranged marriage. Knowing that, I'd guess that senpai will probably end up having one too."

"And you're ok with that?"

"Of course not! It honestly feels like such a slap in the face, like 'here's your soulmate right in front of you, but you won't ever get to have her.' It's not like she knows anyways..." She sighed. "Even if she did know, kinda doubt she'd want me."

"Who knows, she might. She does seem to take what you say to heart." He tried reassuring her. She shrugged.

"Well, I still won't tell her just yet. I need to sort out my own feelings." She nudged him. "So are you gonna tell him?"

“God no. The only thing he loves is getting stronger, fighting, and protein. I mean c’mon, how can I possibly compete with that?” he deadpanned causing her to snort.

-----

Akihiko wasn’t sure why he kept looking after his leader. He thought it was because he admired his strength, but that didn’t seem right. He knew about soulmates, however, getting stronger is what mattered more to him than some random fantasy. Then came the full moon mission at the love hotel when he felt someone slap his face despite Mitsuru having not touched him, but when he saw the hand print shape on Makoto’s face, he didn’t know how to feel.

“What do you think about soulmates, Mitzi?” he asked Mitsuru one day when his thoughts wouldn’t shut up after having seen Makoto hang out with the foreign exchange student, he smiled at him! Sure it was a small smile, but that’s more than he’s ever shown to me. She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Have you met yours?”

“I have my... suspicions. Have you?” she sighed and looked away.

“I suspect that it’s Takeba. I had a small hunch when she got hit by a shadow the first time I went with them, and I had confirmed it when she was hit with a Mudo spell because it was the worst thing I ever experienced.” her jaw clenched as she remembered the dread and pain she felt watching Yukari fall to the ground.

“I’m pretty sure mine’s Yuki.” he admitted. She turned to him surprised.

“Our leader Yuki.” he nodded. She chuckled. “Honestly, it’s not that surprising considering your tastes, Akihiko.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You would only go for someone if they were as strong or even stronger than yourself. Yuki is one of the strongest on the team, if not the strongest. So do you plan on telling him?”

“Are you gonna tell her?” she pauses.

“I did consider the option. Having her so close, and with Yuki’s help, it allowed me the courage to reject my arranged marriage. However, I don’t know if she’ll want more than the friendship we have now, I mean, it took us almost the entire year to get to this point.”

“I feel like we’re both hopeless, aren’t we?” she glared at him.

“Speak for yourself.”

-----

‘Makoto, wait!’

Seeing Makoto lie in the coffin was one of the hardest things Akihiko had to ever endure. Every could’ve been, would’ve been, should’ve been moments, wannabe fantasies played in his mind as he looked at his almost lover. He wishes that they had had more time to spend together, to cross the line and become more than just friends.

‘Don’t go, please!’

“I never told you. I was a coward and never said anything!” he punched the pillar nearby. “It isn’t fair! Miki, Shinji, and now you, why?!” he punched it a few more times before collapsing.

Don’t go where I can’t follow...

-----

“Tell Yukari.” Akihiko burst into her room after the funeral. “Don’t make my mistake.” and as soon as he came in, he left. Mitsuru sighed as she hugged herself. She couldn’t imagine what he was going through.

“Makoto was his soulmate, huh?” Mitsuru turned to see Yukari at her door.

“Yes, he was.” she sighed. “I don’t know how to help him, if I should. When it came to Shinjiro, he mourned in his own way and took it in stride, but this is different. He’s filled with regret, and frustrated with himself.” she gestured for Yukari to join her on the couch. “How are you feeling? He was your best friend.”

“Well...” she took a deep breath. “I miss him, I’m frustrated that we don’t even know what happened to him. He was fine one day and the next he’s gone.” Mitsuru hesitated before pulling Yukari into a hug. The junior pulled back and pressed a kiss to Mitsuru’s lips. “I don’t want to regret anything.” she whispered. Mitsuru smiled before pulling her back for another kiss.

-----

Akihiko woke up in the early morning in unexpected pain. It took everything in him to not scream out since he was in the woods nearby Inaba and the last thing he needed to do was attract unwanted attention. Once he settled, he checked to see if he had any injuries, but was confused to find none. He hadn’t felt any phantom pain in over 2 years, so what was that.

-----

Yukari wasn’t sure what to expect when she heard banging on the door to Mitsuru’s place, the sun hadn’t even risen yet.

“Alright alright, I’m going.” She swung the door open to find a bewildered Ryoji with an unconscious Makoto on his back.

“I know you probably have questions, but I don’t really have many answers.” he panted, seemingly tired having to carry Makoto. They both looked thinner than they did back in high school.

“Who was at the door?” Mitsuru came around the corner and stopped dead seeing the boys.

“Can we come in, please?”

-----

Watching Hanamura and Seta work together was quite a sight to behold, and an excellent challenge for his training. The only bittersweet thing about it was seeing them be soulmates, it just filled Akihiko with daydreams of what could’ve been, but he buried it. He was glad they at least managed to come together before it was too late.

It was slightly annoying and unnerving how Seta figured out very quickly about his soulmate issue, and Hanamura was just as fast, but at least they didn’t say anything out loud knowing he wouldn’t appreciate it. Suddenly his knees started to ache as if he landed on them, causing them to buckle.

“You alright, Sanada-san?” Hanamura caught him before he could fall. He grimaced.

“I don’t really know what that was.” His phone started ringing and he answered before seeing who it was.

“Akihiko, you need to come to Iwatodai as soon as possible.”

“Did something happen?”

“You... you could say that.”

-----

“Hey, Akihiko-senpai.” Makoto greeted him as he walked through the door to Mitsuru’s apartment. It took him a moment to realize that it was Makoto, Makoto alive, greeting him like it was any other day.

“Uh, hi, Sanada-senpai.” Ryoji, holy crap Ryoji, stuttered making himself known. Akihiko just stared at his ex-leader, thoughts going a mile a minute and not knowing which direction to go to. Mitsuru placed a hand on his shoulder causing him to flinch.

“Akihiko?” she said softly. He took a step back, looked at Makoto one more time, before turning around and walking out.

-----

He didn’t stop running till he ended up in Inaba again. He turned off his phone after the third time it rang, Mitsuru is gonna kill him once she finds him. He didn’t know what to think. Makoto was alive again, so was Ryoji for some reason, and he being the coward he was, ran off. Give him a hundred shadows to fight, no problem, but have him face his feelings, and now he’s terrified.

“My soulmate died 2 years ago.” he blurted out when he joined Hanamura and Seta as they fished. “It was to save the world, and he pulled off a miracle at the cost of his life.” They both patted his back and gave him their condolences.

“Yosuke almost died on me once, it was the most terrifying moment of my life, I could only imagine how painful it must be for you.” Seta said.

“Mitsuru called me back because somehow he’s alive again. I saw him with my own eyes, and the first thing I did was run.” his head fell into his hands.

“I mean, you thought your soulmate was gone forever, seeing him again was probably overwhelming.” Hanamura reassured him. “If I was in your shoes, I would probably do the same, thinking that there was no way that it was my partner, that it had to be a trick of some kind.”

“So what do you plan to do?” Seta asked, but Akihiko shook his head not knowing how to answer.

-----

“Hanamura said that I’d find you here.” Mitsuru said as he came back to his tent after finding some food. He looked around. “No, Yuki isn’t with me, but he is here in Inaba. He doesn’t know that my meeting today is with you.” he nodded slowly.

“Here to lecture me, are you?”

“I had thought about it, but why waste my breath. I came to tell you what happened and what’s going on. I would’ve waited for you to come back on your own terms, but it’s been over a month, Akihiko. I realize that this is a strange situation, one that you may not be ready for, but it’s the reality now.” she crossed her arms. “Now sit down so I know you won’t run off on me.”

“I wasn’t going to run off...” he grumbled as he made himself comfortable. She raised an eyebrow clearly not believing him.

“Ryoji said that due to his connection with Yuki, he was able to break away from Nyx, and afterwards he decided to keep him company while he was the Great Seal. One day a woman in blue appeared, did something, he’s not entirely sure what, and they woke up alive. Yuki was awake at first, but suddenly cried out in pain before collapsing, so Ryoji had to carry him to my apartment. I suspect it was either his body coming into shock of being alive again, or it was all the cumulative pain you’ve endured for the past 2 years transferring onto him. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the latter considering how reckless you’ve been.”

“So that’s what that pain was...” he stated.

“What pain?”

“I woke up in a lot of pain the same day you called me, I didn’t know what it was since I hadn’t done anything to warrant it.” he explained.

“I see. Regardless, since they’re both technically 17 and haven’t finished high school, I’ve decided to enroll them. I can’t do it at Gekkoukan since there are records of them having attended years ago, so I thought it’d be better here. With Hanamura and the others looking after them, I think they’ll be fine.” She tossed him a small briefcase. “I got them a house with a big backyard and a loft in the back, and I made you their guardian.”

“What?! I never agreed to that!” she glared at him causing him to shut up.

“I don’t care, Akihiko. You can either stay in the house or stay in the loft for all I care, but you will be taking care of them. It’s the least you could do after you made him distraught when you walked out and didn’t come back.” he deflated. “Everything you need to know is in the case. And answer your damn phone!”

-----

“You want to work at Junes?” Hanamura seemed surprised by his request. He would’ve been shocked too, but he didn’t want to solely rely on Mitsuru’s money if he was going to take care of Makoto and Ryoji.

“I’m sticking around longer so I need some source of income, and I thought this would be my best bet.” he explained. Hanamura shrugged.

“Alright, when can you get started?”

-----

When Makoto awoke to the land of the living, he felt like he could either laugh or cry. Unfortunately neither of those things happened. He gasped, yelled out in pain (Ryoji claimed that he was screaming bloody murder), and passed out. At least he woke up in a nice bed.

Seeing Yukari and Mitsuru again was nice, even better now that they were together, although seeing Yukari pine was fun, at least they were happy. When he tried walking, he fell to his knees, still sore from the onslaught of pain he awoke to earlier.

“Junpei’s off coaching his little league team, I hear they’re doing well, so he’ll be by in a few days when he’s free. Aegis and Fuuka are in the lab nearby, but since they’re working on a project, they’ll be by tomorrow. Ken and Koromaru will be by this weekend since he's busy with summer homework.” Yukari explained when he asked about everyone else.

“And Akihiko?” she shrugged.

“I don’t know, probably off fighting bears.” he looked at her confused.

“Bears? Are you serious?” she nodded. "That idiot..." He muttered as he rubbed his chest unconsciously.

"Funny enough that's where his scar is." She pointed to where he was rubbing. "I'm sure you'll see it when he gets here since he doesn't exactly wear a shirt."

"...What does he wear exactly?"

"It's kinda like a cape." He stared at her hoping that she was joking, but groaned when he realized that she wasn't.

"Is it too late to switch soulmates?"

When Akihiko finally arrived, Makoto couldn't help but smile. He had the urge to tackle him into a hug, but he was too sore and that required too much effort. He expected Akihiko to be shocked to see him, he didn't expect Akihiko to run out without saying a word. Yukari tried reassuring him that Akihiko was probably overwhelmed since he was the one most devastated when he died, that maybe he needed some time to process.

After a few days, Mitsuru confirmed that Akihiko was no longer in Iwatodai and still refused to pick up the phone or respond to her.

Seeing everyone again did lift up his spirits somewhat, even if it was odd seeing everyone older. Amazing how much could change in 2 years, but he was glad. Having them all enjoy their lives was the reason he never regretted his sacrifice. He'd gladly do it all over again if he had to.

After 2 weeks, Mitsuru gave him and Ryoji some textbooks and told them to study cause she planned to enroll them in school again.

"I feel like it'd be awkward if I ended up bumping into Ms. Toriumi." He noted.

"Which is why you won't be attending Gekkoukan. I plan on enrolling you two at Yasogami high." She explained.

"Where's that?"

"A little town called Inaba." She answered.

"And where is that?"

-----

He had to admit that the house was nice, even if the town was smaller than he was expecting. He and Ryoji didn’t have much in possessions since anything they did have from before wasn’t much to begin with. Yasogami was different from Gekkoukan in many ways, but it wasn’t that bad. Mitsuru even introduced them to some people who would be in their class while she went off to talk to their “guardian”, whoever that was.

Starting school was easier than he thought it would be, Mitsuru made sure they were prepared. He befriended Yosuke quicker than the others due to their love of music, he helped him catch up with what he missed the past 2 years. After a week of nothing but takeout, Makoto was surprised to find the fridge full of proper food.

“Where’d the food come from?” Ryoji looked like he swallowed a lemon and looked to the loft in the backyard. Makoto saw that the light was on. “Is that our guardian?”

“Yeah. Um, it’s Sanada-senpai.” Makoto's eyes widened. “I wouldn’t bother trying to talk to him, the most he did was text me that he was bringing food. He didn’t say a word to me.” Ryoji explained.

“He... texted you?” he nodded. “How does he have your number?”

“Mitsuru-senpai. He has yours too, in case of anything.”

“That bastard.”

“We both know that emotions were never his forte.” Ryoji smirked. Makoto glared at him. “I’m not defending, just saying.”

-----

Two weeks after finding out that Akihiko was living in the loft, Makoto decided to try talking to the bastard. He knocked but no one answered. The light was on, so he had to be home.

“I know you’re in there, Akihiko!” he growled. Growing more impatient, he started banging on the door harder. “Open the damn door, you coward!”

“Makoto?” he froze, not expecting to hear Akihiko behind him.

“Hey, Makoto.” he turned to see Akihiko carrying some bags with Yosuke standing alongside him. Makoto was suddenly filled with jealousy seeing them so comfortable together. “What are you doing, buddy?”

“I wanted to talk to him.” Makoto glared at Akihiko. Yosuke laughed and swung an arm around Akihiko’s shoulders. Makoto clenched his jaw while contemplating punching his friend in the face for being too affectionate with his soulmate, and that wasn’t even starting on the list of things he wanted to do to punish Akihiko for allowing it. Since when was he this willing to allow affection?

“Oooh someone’s in trouble!” he poked at the older male causing him to become flustered.

“Shut up, Yosuke!” Akihiko lightly smacked him.

“I guess I’ll have to come around some other time for our training session. Later.” Yosuke left them. Makoto took a deep breath.

“How do you know Yosuke?”

“The same way Mitsuru does, we had a mission here and he, along with his friends, are Persona users.” Akihiko sighed. “Look, let’s just talk inside.”

They walked into the loft. Makoto didn’t know what to expect, but he was surprised to find the place so bare. Once they were both settled in, Akihiko even got him some soda to drink, his favorite (did he know or was it a lucky guess?), the boxer just stared at the floor.

“Well?” Makoto growled.

“What do you want from me?”

“An explanation would be nice, for starters! I was excited to see you again for some reason, and I thought you would be too, but I guess not. Why would you be?! Your soulmate just came back from the dead, why wouldn’t you be ecstatic for that!” he yelled.

“Cause it’s that simple, isn’t it Makoto!” Akihiko yelled back. “During that fight, you left me! You left all of us, but you left me! That entire month where we forgot, I couldn’t help but think that there was something I had to tell you, but I couldn’t figure out what. Then when I finally remembered, I raced up to the roof to tell you that we were soulmates, to see if you wanted to start something between us, only to find you asleep. And then you never woke up again. I sat by your side begging, freaking begging Makoto, for you to wake up! For you to come back to us, to me! But it was pointless since you were gone before they could even do anything. Did you ever think of that, Makoto?” he was breathing heavily as he clenched his fists.

“Aki-”

“You know I tried to be careful of my injuries at first, only to remember that there was no point, you were gone! The only pain I was ever going to feel was my own. I wasn’t strong enough to protect you, I was useless in trying to save you! Imagine my surprise that after 2 years, after I finally drilled it in my head that I would most likely be alone cause you were the only person I ever loved, I see you alive, greeting me like nothing happened. Like the past 2 years of grief and mourning and loneliness didn’t happen. Oh wait, they didn’t happen to you, they happened to me!” the anger that Makoto had melted away as tears started streaming down Akihiko’s face.

“Akihiko...”

“What do you want from me, Makoto? Cause I don’t know if I’m strong enough to give it to you right now, if I’ll ever be.” he deflated. Makoto cupped Akihiko’s face.

“I’m sorry.” he whispered as he kissed his forehead before wiping away his tears with his thumbs. “I never meant to hurt you.”

“I know.”

-----

Akihiko moved into the spare bedroom, but left his workout gear in the loft. Things weren’t magically better after their talk. There were days where Akihiko wouldn’t look at him. Sometimes he wouldn’t speak to him, using Ryoji to relay messages to him. Luckily those instances were very few, but it still hurt. He knew that this was his punishment for inflicting grievous wounds on Akihiko, even if it wasn’t his intention. They both were trying to move forward at the very least.

Makoto never saw himself as the jealous type, especially after having to witness the Akihiko Sanada Fan Club chase after his soulmate for almost a year. Granted back then, Akihiko barely spared them a glance if anything, but now he still wasn’t the most touchy person, but he was clearly affectionate. He barely patted his back/shoulder on good days, Chie would get multiple head pats when they trained, Kanji and Akihiko would bump shoulders constantly, and Yosuke... freaking Yosuke would hang off of Aki any chance he could. Sure Yosuke was affectionate with him too, but he guessed that he knew about his thing with personal space since he would limit how much he clung to him (which thank god, it took Junpei ages to remember how much Makoto liked his space, and he allowed Yukari since she was more considerate to ask if it was a bad day to get close).

Today was one of the few days where their friends didn’t come over to hang out with them. Akihiko was lounging on the couch, relaxing from a shift at Junes, as Makoto and Ryoji were at the coffee table doing homework. Well Makoto was doing homework, Ryoji was trying to find anything to do but work.

“You know, this town isn’t that bad, but boy is it boring.” Ryoji commented as he got up and plopped himself on one of the recliners.

“Tell me about it, if it wasn’t for those kids being enthusiastic about training, I’d probably lose my damn mind.” Akihiko sighed. “Can’t wait til you guys graduate so that way I don’t have to stick around anymore.” Makoto looked over at the boxer.

“So you’re just gonna up and leave once we graduate?” A weird mix of irritation and dread started to fill Makoto as he directed all his attention to Akihiko.

“Not right away, but basically yea.”

“Where would you go?” Ryoji asked.

“Probably Tokyo. There’s-”

“So you’re gonna leave everyone behind? All of our friends here?” Makoto snapped, becoming more and more angry.

“I’m gonna visit! Besides, Tatsumi will be in this third year and Satonaka will be training on becoming a police officer so I wanna come back to see their progress. Yosuke already told me that he was gonna go to Tokyo too-”

“Are you kidding me?! You’re going to Tokyo because Yosuke’s going! So you’re gonna chase him around and leave me behind!” Makoto yelled as he stood up.

“What?!” Akihiko also stood up. “What are you talking about?”

“I mean, it should’ve been obvious since you let him hang off of you all the time and you guys talk all the time too. Don’t think I don’t know about your late night conversations!” Makoto was seething. Akihiko stared him down before smirking.

“Are you jealous, Makoto?” He bristled. “Holy crap you are!” Akihiko laughed. It was the first actual genuine laugh he ever heard from the older male, which would’ve been nicer if the reason behind the laughing wasn’t so infuriating.

“Are you being serious right now, Akihiko!”

“You know Yosuke has a boyfriend, right?” Makoto froze.

“What?”

“Yea, they’re soulmates, I met the guy, kinda reminds me of you actually. I’m surprised you don’t know this since one of Yosuke’s favorite things to talk about is his boyfriend. Honestly, ask him about him and he’ll talk for hours and still not be done.” Akihiko chuckled before placing a hand on Makoto’s head. “Reassuring to know that you like me, part of the reason I never said anything before was cause it was so hard to tell.” Makoto blushed but allowed the touch.

“If that wasn’t the reason, then why would you go to Tokyo?”

“Well I was going to explain, but you interrupted me.” Ryoji snorted and the two looked at him having forgotten that he was in the room. He was smirking at them as he ate popcorn.

“What the hell, Ryoji! And where did you get popcorn?” Makoto glared at him. He shrugged.

“Don’t worry about it.” he got more comfortable in his seat. “Now don’t let me stop you.”

“RYOJI!”

“Fine fine, I’ll go to my room.” he grumbled before leaving them alone.

“Anyway, I wanted to go to Tokyo because Mitsuru said that there’s been some strange things going on there, she suspects shadows might be involved, and since I technically work for her, I should go check it out. But I’m not gonna make any definite plans until I hear what you plan on doing. Your input will determine if I go with you or go somewhere near you cause the Tokyo thing is still a problem I have to look into. I’d like to stay with you, but if it’s a serious problem, I’m gonna have to move closer to the city.” Akihiko explained.

“Oh...” Makoto hadn’t thought much about the future. He hadn’t during his 2nd year either, back then thinking that he’d sort it out during his 3rd year, but then he died so he didn’t have to worry about it. “You think Mitsuru has any openings?” Aki smiled before grimacing.

“I’m sure she does, but...” he looked away before staring into his eyes and cupping his face “promise me that you won’t leave me behind again. Please. I don’t think I can handle losing you again.” Makoto looked into his eyes and he could see the pain, fear, and desperation lingering in them. He decided to be bold and pressed a kiss to Aki’s lips.

“I promise.”

#AkiMina #akihiko x minato #Persona 3 #minato arisato #makoto yuki #akihiko sanada #had an idea #sorta got away from me

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startingtodayyouareahost · 4 years

Note

Head canons for the hosts and they mothers?

I was so excited when i got this asks! you have no idea, i squealed.

Haruhi

We know for a fact that Haruhi’s mom died when she was about 5. but i do have some headcanons for her.

She loved to keep Haruhi on her hip while she cooked for the family

she would have normal conversations with Haruhi like she was a full adult and not a toddler. no baby talk. . . that was her fathers job.

When she started getting sick and was in the hospital she had Haruhi sleep with her on the bed sometimes. she had a bad feeling about the future and wanted Haruhi to remember what it felt like to be held by her mother.

She had Ryoji (Ranka) collect letters she wrote to Haruhi in a box. she gets a new letter for each of her birthdays and a big milestone.

Tamaki

We know Tamaki’s mom is very sick. and we knew that he played the piano just for her. so obviously. . . they love each other a lot i don’t think thats up for debate ha!

Tamaki was the light of her life when he was born. she made sure that he will never EVER not feel loved by her in his lifetime.

on the days she felt well. he sat on her lap when he tried to play piano. she would just rest her chin on his head and enjoy the moments.

she sobbed her eyes out when he left for japan, it threw her into another sick episode. she was so angry with herself.

she hears little things about him through the grape vine. she considers his personality a blessing from god because despite his situation he’s still kind and there is no way in hell thats not some sort of divine intervention.

Kyoya

A lot of people assume he and his mom got along or that she died. i have this headcanon that she was alive for a while and put just as much pressure on him as his father. so more angst. woot!?

She was happy having two boys and expected to have a 3rd boy. she got Fuyumi. she was furious.

Kyoya was the mistake fixer she wanted to be the perfect wife who had given 3 perfect boys. she put herself through a lot of stress during his pregnancy. kyoya was also a little shit of a fetus. her hardest one yet, which didn't help.

She had nannies watch him and all of his siblings. she went right back to work shortly after each pregnancy. no rest for an Ootori Wife

Kyoya has only a few good memories of her before she died. one of them was late and night she just came in, held him and cried. to this day he thinks it was her guilty conscious. but he never looks down on her.

Hikaru and Kaoru

They get along swimmingly with their mom. the whole Hitachiin dynamic is a very loving family. and you all can pry this from my cold dead hands. not enough animes have happy WHOLE families.

When she had the twins she couldn't not hold one without the other. if one needed feeding screw it she picked up both.

When she had Ageha when the twins started highschool she has a family picture of the boys and her all squished on the hospital bed with the biggest grins. she carries it everywhere to show off.

she can tell them apart and loves to act like she doesn't. that’s cannon! but despite it irritating the hell out of the twins they know she knows.

when shes home they absolutely have all night movie nights as a family. shes very active in their life when shes not busy. she was worried about their standoff nature toward other people though.

Honey

Honey’s mom is very short in my head. a beautiful short blond woman who looks so dainty and loving, which she is, but shes also the only other one who can win against honey’s dad. she yeeted his ass when they first met (haha how i met your mother)

She loved the bunny her mom made Honey on the day he was born. usa-chan was with honey since birth. wherever Honey went mom made sure usa-chan was there.

will flip anyone who makes fun of her sons size and Honey knows this. it terrifies him.

they sit weekly and have tea. its tradition to spend time together. they talk about everything and anything. if Honey really has something on his mind its her he asks. not his dad and that man completely agrees. unsure about something? lets go ask your mother.

she hates the anger Honey’s little brother Yasuchika grew to have for him. But honey requested that she let them work it out.

Mori

His mother is a very tough woman! she his Honey’s moms sister after all. (in my head anyway since THEY DON’T EXIST!) she’s not the tallest either but her presence alone is very intimidating.

was the one who trained Mori in Kendo along with her husband as a team. they wanted to show him the meaning of a loving team relationship. . . though swords?

she helps him take care of his pets because seeing her son with cute animals is a weakness and its an excuse to see him with them.

she once got so mad at him that she cried. he almost hurt himself during practice (i headcanon he has a nasty scar) he swore he never would do that to her again. ever.

When she learned he joined the host club and he told her. . . she laughed in his face. he was so embarrassed and she still uses it to this day to mess with him. its a running joke.

#Anonymous #ohshc #ouran high school host club #ouran highschool host club #kyoya ootori #takashi morinozuka #hikaru hitachiin #kaoru hitachiin #tamaki suoh #mitsukuni haninozuka #haruhi fujioka

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twilightknight17 · 4 years

Text

Goodbyes! Endings! Fish! Yelling!

This ending wraps up better than the original, but still leaves some things.

There is so much in this game that one loop is absolutely not enough to see and do it all.

Where last we left our intrepid idiot, he was buying flowers for his White Day dinner date.

Surely I will be allowed to leave the mall and sell my stuff and visit the Velvet Room. After all, what if I spent every last yen on items to use against the final boss? I would have no money for flowers!

But no. I am imprisoned in the mall and Morgana somehow pays for the flowers. Hanasaki has no comment on this except to wish me luck on my date. Wow.

Sojiro, who the heck do you know that your name got us a table at a fully booked formal restaurant??

Okay so this isn’t the Skytree restaurant, but SOJIRO??

....yep. That’s me. Even when someone else’s wishes mean destroying my heart. Probably hypocritical to say that while I’m on a date, though.

So it feels like there’s more people you can talk to on the last walkaround. Not just your confidants, but random people in the street, and other named characters. Mika’s at Seaside Park, Takakura, from Haru’s social link, is in Kichijoji, Dietman Matsushita is in the Scramble, the little girl from Takemi’s social link is in Yongen with her dad...

.......you’re so poetic, Yusuke. That’s lovely.

Finally, an ad perfectly tailored to me.

Maruki’s friend is in Kichijoji, and wants to know if we’ve heard from him. We have not. We are not friends. But apparently he’s still alive, which... hm.

I’m tired of his crazy stuff, sir. I just want to see my friends and go on a roadtrip in peace, thank you.

I’d never noticed before that Morgana’s eyes glow if you use third eye.

.......

So if you go to the jazz bar, you can basically have the conversation with the manager from Proof of Justice.

He’s surprised when Akira says he doesn’t know, because he never saw Goro with anyone else. He’s also worried, because he hasn’t seen Goro in a while, and wants Akira to tell him to stop by. Akira is briefly melancholy, thinking to himself, “But Akechi is already...” But then he finds Goro’s glove, still safely in his pocket, and reminds himself that their fight isn’t over yet. The jazz manager says he’s looking forward to seeing you both come in together again.

It is, Morgana! I really want this sofa. This is my sofa. It was made for me; just look at it!

ARSENE. IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, I’M SORRY FOR FORGETTING YOU IN LOCKDOWN. IT WOULD TAKE TEN HOURS TO REVERT TO A PRIOR SAVE AND COME BACK. LAVENZA GAVE ME A KEY AS A GIFT BUT WON’T LET ME IN. IT’S NOT MY FAULT.

....is this why Ryoji’s Arcana is Fortune? XD

So you can talk to a random idol singer from a Mementos mission in Akihabara and

what the fuck is this. what bonus does this give me?

Sumire is not present for the final walkaround, which is...weird. No relationship trinket? That’s disappointing. Especially considering I got a gift from some random idol.

And now it’s time for the ending. The kids are worried about being watched/pursued by the suspicious black car, which honestly, I’ve had enough suspicious black cars in relation to Persona to know that whoever this is, is not good news, police or not. ;)

But instead of sabotaging their car, don’t worry, a taxi is here to take Akira to the train station while his friends distract the men in black!

......did you dye your hair??

Anyway Akira has no sense of self-preservation because here he goes getting in a car alone with this guy.

We are not friends. I am not fistbumping you.

He does drop Akira off safely. Akira’s friends swing by for one last speedy goodbye and then are off again on a merry chase, and Akira goes home alone except for Morgana, which I have...several feelings about. The game goes out of its way to demonstrate that Goro is still alive even if Akira misses seeing him, because the whole world is based on what each person sees and feels, and Akira fucking feels in his heart that Goro is still alive and will come back to him one day.

Time to open up the other save and burn two weeks to see the Palace failure condition!

...I still sort of want to do this over and rescue Arsene. It’s not like I have much else to do these days. I just want my unholy powerhouse Arsene for NG+...

Heck.

Anyway, I’ve also learned that having two weeks to burn with no other responsibilities is great for grinding stuff for the awards. I spent like a week straight at the fishing pond and have become a Fishing God. Did you know that there’s an even bigger fish than the Guardian? Fishing pond guy was like, “In this weather, you might see...him.”

Look at this ridiculous fucking fish. XDDDD

I also went to the batting cages and I still suck at batting, but I made it eventually. The home run award is terrifying.

Okay, still a few days left, lets go play billiards, since I never went and did that during the game. I guess I’ll pick up this billiards book this guy recommends, too. I dunno why I need to be better at billiards, though, it just gives everybody social link poi--

....what the fuck is this??? This only unlocks after you read the book? You can guarantee a knockdown if you have max technical rank?? You need at least four days, 2 books, and a really expensive pool cue for this??? Akechi’s only response to you pulling off some ridiculous curved shot is, “That was pretty good”???? I made it through the whole game thinking billiards was just some way to increase everyone’s social link at once????? Aaaaaaaah??????

Morgana gets very upset the closer you get to the deadline. “We HAVE to go to the Palace tomorrow!” Okay, but have you considered...going to the temple for meditation?

...oops. He’s already mad. X’D Meditation?

Now, now, honey, don’t worry, we can technically still go tomorrow afternoon and just send the calling card when we get back. It’s fine. Today I’m gonna hang out with Shinya. Everything is under control.

....Akira, NO.

Anyway, for all of Goro’s grumpiness, he doesn’t turn down an invitation to the jazz club. Hey, it’s only fair, darling, you took me out for drinks the night before the interrogation room.

It’s only right that I return the favor the night before I betray you in return.

You showed me this place, dingus. XD

...I am. Sorry, Goro.

Akira goes to sleep the evening of 2/2 wondering if he made the right decision. That’s the problem, ‘Kira, you didn’t make a decision at all.

“I wanted you to accept my reality of your own free will.”

DON’T LIKE THAT.

Lavenza trying to reach him and just...fading away is painful.

I will say without hesitation that this is the worst ending. To copy-paste what I said elsewhere:

Akira's sleeping in the attic. Presumably for months, given the cobwebs. Where are his friends? Fallen back into their own dreams? Did they just give in without him, forget about him, never wonder where he went, because they have what they wanted? And Goro didn't even have a dream, so he's presumably left alone in a world that he can't stand but can't do anything about because it's permanent now. Maruki can't even give him Akira, because Akira's asleep, and Goro probably feels betrayed anyway. Akira's going to sleep forever, forgotten by everyone who was supposed to care about him. Even if he regrets choosing the dream world in that ending, at least he's there.

I think what's throwing me off is Maruki's absolute insistence on not changing Akira and Goro's cognition without their consent. Putting Akira to sleep feels like a loophole, but if he really believes that Goro is just a creation of his power, maybe Akira's consent is the only one that actually matters to him.

He's only ever really concerned with asking Akira. He even says on 2/2 that he knows Goro's not going to be fazed by the idea of his life being in danger. But if Akira agrees to stay in the fake reality, Goro's happy along with the rest of them, even though there's no way he agreed with Akira's decision. Maybe Maruki's willing to alter Goro to match Akira's wishes because he thinks he's not the real one. As long as Akira wants the real Goro, he doesn't have to worry about being overwritten. But if Akira's sleeping...

Maruki’s so kind, isn’t he?

The true ending feels so much more like it would lead into Scramble than vanilla. Still being chased by the police? Yeah. Everyone splitting up and therefore being out of touch for months? Yep. Seeing Joker in the window? Meta-space is still there and ready to warp into a Jail at the slightest nudge. I don’t understand Atlus’s writing decisions.

That whole thing with Goro does mean they owe us an actual sequel. The game literally says their fight isn’t over.

Beating the game means everyone is in the Thieves Den now, so we get some lovely interactions like Sojiro contemplating the Mona copter, and Makoto warning Ann not to tell Goro that she thinks Loki looks like a zebra.

Also that idol CD is some kind of ridiculous bubblegum idol pop song on my music player now. For one coin. Oh my god.

So... I guess the last thing I want to mention is Maruki. Because he’s a great character. I want to punch him more than I got to. But, and I’ve talked about this with a friend, I cannot wrap my head around how powerful he is. Takuto Maruki is a human being with a persona, just like the Thieves, and there is no explanation for how he got that strong. Yes, his persona is an elder god that evolves into some kind of creation deity, but it’s still just his persona. It’s not like Nyarlathotep acting as someone’s persona while still being a separate, ridiculously powerful entity. There’s no indication here that Azathoth or Adam are independent from their user. So I’m expected to believe that this man awoke to his persona and was able to use a power on-par with the God of Control...just from himself? No deity or monster backing him up? Really? I know he made a career studying cognitive psience, but this is...a little much. Having Nyar around would have cleared that up just from his general presence. XD

Anyway, I loved it. I loved absolutely all of it even if Okumura’s boss fight was a bitch. I think I’ve unfortunately made the decision to go back for Arsene, so I’m definitely going to play NG+ after I take a break to play something else first.

There’s three bonus bosses and the Reaper left to fight, after all. ;)

#Li plays P5R #I'm only missing one trophy #the one for beating the Reaper #meanwhile the ingame award wants me to beat the Reaper FIVE TIMES #ugh XD

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eatpotatobepotato · 5 years

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random persona 3 headcanons and things

For some reason, I can’t imagine Shinjiro raising his voice. I just get the impression that he’s incapable of actually being loud. Is that weird? Dude can say all the mean shit he wants, but he doesn’t have the volume to really enforce it.

Shinji literally can’t say no to Ken for any reason due to his crushing guilt.

Minato and Hamuko are twins and shared the burden of the seal and each had to give up half of their life points in order to save the world, therefore they did not die. But they were hospitalized and needed to recover for a bit. I mean, Thanatos is still only in Minato the whole time, but their both wild cards that unlocked the secret of life and killed a death god with friendship and love. Basically, just some bullshit that doesn’t make sense. Nobody dies. Nobody.

When Mitsuru and Yukari get married, Akihiko’s the best man. Junpei is the maid of honor literally just because he wants an excuse to say, “always a bridesmaid, never a bride.”

Shinji isn’t dead either, because he was dating Hamuko. Shinji’s romance with Hamuko was the only one that felt natural, so he’s the only one I ship her with.

Akihiko is asexual and aromantic

Minato is in a relationship with Aigis. Both are ace and happy together. Aigis is also bi, which is practically canon. I honestly ship Ryoji with him more, but how the hell is death incarnate supposed to be resurrected when pretty much all magic was destroyed? In the event that does happen through some more bullshit, Ryoji and Aigis would pretty much share Minato. Sort of a polyamorous relationship but also sort of not because I can’t see Aigis being into Ryoji even if she did accept him as a friend in the end, and Ryoji’s feelings for Aigis would only be superficial. But in the long run, they both love Minato and Minato loves both of them, and they trust each other to not hurt him so that’s good enough for it to work I guess.

I know a lot of people ship Ryoji with Hamuko, but it just seems a bit too forced in the game with no pacing or development. The movies are why I ship Ryoji and Minato.

I’ll add more stuff if I get any ideas.

#shinjiro aragaki #persona 3 #potato talks #shit post #ken amada #minato arisato #makoto yuki #minako arisato #hamuko arisato #junpei iori #akihiko sanada #ryoji mochizuki #aigis #yukari takeba #mitsuru kirijo

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randomly-random-stuff · 5 years

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Name: Ryoji

Age: Thirty

Personnality: He is essentially a teddy bear. Kind and soft, usually optimistic, he is very friendly, generous and outgoing, probably too much sometimes. He is extremely emotionally sensitive, his mood changes very fast, but not without a cause. He tends to overreact to things, but that’s just because he cares a bit too much. About everything.

He is super talktative, can babble nonsense for hours if no one stops him, especially when he’s nervous. He’s also clumsy, forgetful, very anxious and has a hard time believing in himself and his capacities. He’s a terrible liar and generally an open book. Whatever goes on in his mind is pretty easy to guess. Also he’s pretty dumb, unsubtle and childish. He’s a lazy boy, tends to fall asleep everywhere and all the time.

He’s no hero, he’s actually a pretty big coward and a scaredy-cat, but he’s ready to do anything for his friends and loves ones, even those he hasn’t known for very long. He is extremely forgiving. His abnegation runs deep, he considers others as naturally superior to him.

Talents include: art! Especially painting, he’s ridiculously good at that. He also sings relatively well and has a nice voice, and he’s a very good dancer too (though his moves are a bit chaotic). But he’s a bit shy when it comes to those things.

What he is not good at: Oh boy, where do I even begin. Socializing (he’s very awkward), cooking (he creates disasters), sports of any kind, all things that rotate around “adult responsibilities”. It’s not that he *doesn’t* want to pay his bills, it’s just that he forgets. Also, fighting! Boy is he terrible at that.

In most universes he works as a history teacher. He’s passionate, but not good at keeping his authority intact. Students give him a rough time.

About magic: Ryoji is a magic man! This is linked to a complicated thing about a magic stone he found, but we don’t care about that. Basically he can heal (through hugs), ease the mind or pain of an individual, create protective shields, seal a door, create light, etc - all kinds of things, but no agressive powers. He is completely harmless, unless angered, which never happens. Also, it’s important to keep in mind that his powers are extremely tiring, so he can’t use them all too much. If he crosses the line, he can even wound himself, or die.

He’s also a wereboof! Kinda like a werewolf, except he turns into a huge bear-dog of some sort (see image above). He can shift at will, and even talk when he’s in his boofer form, but he feels the strong need to shift when the full moon comes, and tends to forget how to speak during those nights.

He has dog instincts when he’s in his boofer form, but there’s a risk: if he stays a dog for too long, his human mind can fuse with the dog’s, and he’ll just disappear, basically staying a dog forever. And well, he isn’t aware of that fact, so that’s problematic.

Backstory: Let’s make this short, because I’ve been rambling for a while. He’s the third son in a family of five, but his parents never really cared about him, which led him to having strong attachment issue and a permanent fear of abandon. His brothers tended to beat him up regularly, and he never knew how to defend himself. He’s had a two boyfriends in his life, one disappeared without saying goodbye, and the other cheated on him.

A lot of more messed up stuff happened in his past, which I won’t bother explaining, but he has been tortured for experiments a few times, and manipulated through memory wipe.

#character sheet #my oc #Ryoji #Guil rambles #sorry for the long ass post #I hope I didn't forget anything lol

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recentanimenews · 7 years

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Off the Shelf: Not entirely unanticipated

MELINDA: Heeeeey, look at this, it’s been less than two months and we’re already back again. That’s a huge improvement on our recent record, no?

MICHELLE: Considering that there was a two-year gap before our last column, I’d certainly say so!

MELINDA: Heard any good jokes lately?

MICHELLE: Hmm.. Here’s one! Why did the old lady fall in the well?

MELINDA: Wow, I don’t know! Why did the old lady fall in the well?

MICHELLE: She didn’t see that well.

MELINDA: Hey, that was actually pretty funny!

MICHELLE: Your reaction was unanticipated!

MELINDA: Speaking of “unanticipated”… no, wait, this is totally anticipated. Wanna talk about some manga?

MICHELLE: Sure! I’ve just finished the third volume of Hiroaki Samura’s Wave, Listen to Me!, a Kodansha digital exclusive.

It’s the story of Minare Koda, a waitress with a gift of fluency that catches the attention of a local radio producer, Mato. After secretly recording her drunken rant about her thieving ex and playing it over the air, he eventually takes the chance of giving her her own weekly show in a late-night time spot where she has the freedom to do some really kooky things. The first episode, for example, is a surreal audio drama about murdering said ex, Mitsuo. The next week, it’s time to bury the body on Mt. Fuji!

In this volume, Koda finds that going through those crazy plotlines has actually helped her set aside her bitterness about how Mitsuo done her wrong, and she must think about what she wants the show to be going forward. I really like the scenes wherein Mato mentors her about radio and the relationship between host and linstener. “TV viewers are guests. Radio listeners are participants,” he says at one point. This proves to be true when one of her listeners sends a fax that leads ultimately to the discovery of… well, perhaps I’ll play coy about its exact nature, but it definitely proves that reality is sometimes stranger than the occult.

Minare is a fascinating character. Full of energy and charisma, capable of selfish acts that she’s later thoroughly horrified by… She finally found a goal in life and she’s going for it, but doesn’t exactly know what she’s doing. I like her very much.

MELINDA: Okay, I gotta admit this sounds fantastic. It reminds me a little of a time when I played a lot of Quake so that I could imagine I was repeatedly blowing up my ex, only much more creative and generally productive. Is this series as delightful as it sounds?

MICHELLE: It’s delightful, but it’s also really a genius concept, since letting Minare do many things in many genres allows Samura the same liberty. So, on top of watching Minare’s skills and career progress, there are also wacky happenings to enjoy, too. I very heartily recommend it.

MELINDA: It’s hard for me to resist a Michelle recommendation, especially when it is something so obviously up my alley. You especially got me at “reality is sometimes stranger than the occult.” I mean… I have to know more. I just have to.

MICHELLE: Oh, that reminds me of another fun aspect… because Samura has already drawn out a couple of the audio dramas as if they’re actually happening, when strange things start to happen, it made me question whether he might have started another one without telling us. This is the sort of manga that would totally do that.

Anyway! What have you been reading lately?

MELINDA: I’ve been reading the first volume of Gengoroh Tagame’s My Brother’s Husband, just released by Pantheon Books. If, like me, you’re primarily familiar with Tagame’s work as a bara artist, this slice-of-life seinen manga is certainly a departure, but it feels so natural in his hands, you’d never know that it wasn’t a genre he’s always drawn.

Yaichi is a single dad, earnestly raising his young daughter, Kana, whose life is upended by the arrival of Canadian visitor, Mike, husband to Yaichi’s estranged twin brother, Ryoji, who has just passed away. Yaichi greets Mike with awkwardness and not just a little homophobia, but is forced to invite him to stay after Kana, blissfully unaware of her father’s discomfort, insists that he must be welcomed into their home. Mike, stricken with grief, but anxious to connect with Ryoji’s family and childhood, gratefully accepts Yaichi’s grudging hospitality and settles into Ryoji’s old room.

As the manga continues, we watch Yaichi confront his preconceptions about Mike (and gay people in general), with considerable nudging from Kana, who adores their new houseguest. It’s rough going at first, but as Yaichi gets to know the man who so deeply loved his brother, he is increasingly able to see past his prejudices, to the point that, by the end of the volume, he’s defending Mike’s snoring problem to Kana and fighting the desire to rage at a neighbor who declines to let her child visit Kana’s house, fearing “negative influence.”

True to expectation, this is a pretty moving manga, made all the more poignant by its quiet, slice-of-life atmosphere, The artwork and visual storytelling are downright adorable, as somehow Tagame has managed to create something that wouldn’t look out of place on the shelf alongside, say, Yotsuba&!, without sacrificing his own artistic sensibility. But, of course, it’s not the artwork that makes this book so important.

As a westerner, I’m always wary of imposing my own cultural expectations on books like this, and I’m very much aware that queer culture in Japan is as different from what I’m accustomed to here as is Japanese culture in general, and with that in mind, it’s pretty great to know that a series like this was run in Monthly Action, which, despite its “indie” aspirations, is clearly aimed mainly towards straight men (so many boobs, my friends, so many). Perhaps because of that, it was difficult for me to warm to Yaichi, who is obviously intended as the stand-in for the reader, in all his discomfort over the concept of gay people and how he’s supposed to interact with one. Watching Yaichi’s progress is painful and, yes, eventually heartwarming, but what is most striking to me, as a reader, is Mike’s patience, kindness, and general agreeability throughout. Watching this sweet, hulking man smile with gratitude in every moment, even when he’s being treated with barely-concealed suspicion, is just… heart-wrenching. I can only imagine how this must read for someone who has experienced the same.

MICHELLE: Oh, man. I knew the general premise of this but not that Yaichi would be quite so awful at the outset. And it’s bad enough that Mike’s being treated this way, but when he’s grieving and so desperate for any scrap of his beloved that he’ll take it. From how you describe him, it doesn’t sound as if Mike tries to stand up for himself at any point.

MELINDA: I feel like I should rephrase, perhaps… I mean, yes, from my perspective Yaichi is being awful, but that’s where my western perception is failing me, I think. I think we can all agree, however, that’s astonishing and awesome about Mike (also a westerner), though, is that he seems to be naturally accounting for differences in culture, and is just ceaselessly kind and giving. And when Yaichi becomes moved by that, it is what really changes his perspective, perhaps even more than Kana’s influence.

There’s obviously a lot more here, too, than just Yaichi overcoming homophobia. We find out a little about his estrangement from his twin brother and also about how his own marriage broke down, and I think in the end they are going to be strong healing influences for each other, and probably also for Kana, who didn’t even know she had an uncle!

MICHELLE: That does sound reassuring. I’m about to begin reading My Brother’s Husband this evening, in fact, so I’ll do my best not to get too riled up. Especially since I’m so very grateful that Pantheon has brought it to us!

MELINDA: Oh, go ahead and get riled up! But I really think you’ll love it in the end. It’s one of my favorite manga I’ve read so far this year.

So, we also have a mutual read this week… do you want to do the honors?

MICHELLE: Sure!

From Rei Toma, whose Dawn of the Arcana I liked and also featured a protagonist whose unusual red hair is viewed with suspicion, comes The Water Dragon’s Bride.

Asahi is spending a pleasant afternoon with her parents and she’s just about to go in and have some cookies when the backyard pond reaches out and ensares her, transporting her to another world. There, she meets a friendly boy named Subaru who unfortunately has some very ruthless parents, who immediately decide to offer Asahi to the water dragon god to obtain prosperity.

Asahi meets the dragon god who is, of course, a bishounen. He decides she’ll do for entertainment and shows off various tricks, but she’s unimpressed and protests so much that he steals her voice, promising to return it when she becomes his bride. Subaru mounts a valiant rescue, but the villagers prove to be just as crappy the second time around and the god decides to intervene.

How’s that?

MELINDA: That’s about the size of it! So. Okay. Honestly, I’m having a hard time coming up with a lot to say about this series so far. It’s definitely kind of adorable. Asahi is a spunky, likable heroine. Subaru, the obvious love interest, is sweetly earnest, and the bishounen water dragon god is pleasantly crusty. But man… haven’t we read this book before? Like a thousand times? Am I too much of a bitter, old schoolgirl-in-another-land fogey to enjoy this… again?

MICHELLE: It was certainly a very lightweight volume! I do think there’s potential, especially in the character of the water god. He’s cold, distant, and uncaring. At one point he simply watches as she wastes away in starvation. And he only intervenes at the end to preserve his entertainment. I’m sure he’ll feel love eventually, since that sort of thing always happens, but he’s definitely the most interesting character so far. Too, at least with the fish imagery and the pond, I had a little bit of Moon Child feels, and that’s always welcome.

MELINDA: I hadn’t thought about Moon Child, but I can see where you’re coming from, though the artwork isn’t nearly as beautiful as Shimizu’s, nor does it hold up well to what was the obvious comparison for me, Yun Mi-kyung’s Bride of the Water God, which, whatever you think of the series in general, I think is objectively visually stunning. Of course Bride of the Water God is a much more serious take on the sacrificial maiden theme, and Moon Child is weird and darkly whimsical like no other manga I’ve ever read. So it’s not really fair to hold this sweet little volume to either of those standards.

That said, I agree that the bishounen god has some possibilities (even if the long hair and excessive lounging just made me wish we were getting a new volume of Loveless anytime soon), and I expect there will be more substance as we go forward. But I kinda hope it hurries.

MICHELLE: Me, too! I did think of Bride of the Water God, but I although I did collect the volumes for a while, I never actually read them.

MELINDA: Well, perhaps this little manga will fare better on your shelves! I guess time will tell!

MICHELLE: I will least give it a few volumes to see how it fares. But it won’t assuage my sorrow that volume four of Wave, Listen to Me! is not even out in Japan yet.

MELINDA: That is a tragedy, indeed.

By: Melinda Beasi

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

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