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Shin Persona Evangelion [NGE/Persona Fusion]

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Beware uncharted lands, for there be spoilers afoot!
  • Informational
    • This may seem like it's overdue, but based on a comment I recently received elsewhere, apparently the fact that there will be spoilers to both the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and the events of various games in the Persona Series (including but not limited to Persona 3, Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4, and Persona 5) wasn't made clear just by how the plot has unveiled.

    So I'm placing a sticky post for this message: if you have not watched the original Evangelion anime, or if you have not played the Persona games — especially P3, P4, P5, and their updated re-releases — then take note that this story contains spoilers to all of them. Read at your own risk.

    /that should do it
    //right?
    ///right??
     
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    8/30 - Evening (Japan)
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    • It had only taken a brief text to Ren Amamiya, once Shinji and Mana had gotten back from the Metaverse.

    S. Ikari: is it possible to meet Arisato-senpai later?
    R. Amamiya: what for?
    S. Ikari: Kirishima-san wants to talk to him about something
    R. Amamiya: about what?
    S. Ikari: stuff involving LABRYS and AIGIS
    R. Amamiya: hol' up

    After a few minutes, a response came back.

    R. Amamiya: senpai looks vaguely annoyed with me C.C
    S. Ikari: sorry
    R. Amamiya: eh, it's more of an expression than his normal apathy
    R. Amamiya: I count that as a
    R. Amamiya: FLAWLESS VICTORY :D
    Shinji stared flatly at his phone, wondering what exactly Amamiya was referring to.

    R. Amamiya: anyhow, he's going to grab some take-out
    R. Amamiya: go to this spot near Lake Ashi [MAP ATTACHMENT LINK]
    R. Amamiya: he'll have food for you and Mana-san
    S. Ikari: that's kind of him
    R. Amamiya: You've been a working man! It's only natural that you have dinner waiting for you. :P
    S. Ikari: why does that sound like it has connotations?
    R. Amamiya: only if you intend on poking fun at him >:3

    And that was how Amamiya left off the chat log. "...I guess we go here," he said aloud, looking at a scenic location along the northwestern edge of Lake Ashi. "And apparently Arisato-senpai will have dinner for us?"


    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI-X0sAInzA

    "That's fine by me," remarked Mana, preparing to fast-travel through the Metaverse; a hand on the shoulder stopped her motions flat. "Hm?"

    "Maybe we should...go by foot?" he remarked, stepping out of the alleyway they had manifested in. Using NERV HQ's looming tower to the east as a landmark, he added, "I think it's around thirty minutes away by foot...it'd be rude to get there before Arisato-senpai, wouldn't it?"

    "...not sure how it would be 'rude', but whatever."

    Thus did the duo make their way on foot, departing the busy Sunday evening streets of Tokyo-3 proper and walking along the trails bordering Lake Ashi's shores. Though much of the forestry surrounding the lake had been cleared away to make room for numerous residential developments, the immediate boundary of the lake still bore many trees; one such trail took them onto a somewhat rocky protrusion overlooking Lake Ashi, where a Shinto shrine was located; despite the oaks surrounding the shrine, there were enough gaps to see the rest of the lake.

    Sitting near the edge of the lakeside knoll was Minato Arisato; adjacent to him was a large plastic bag, containing bowls of rice, meat, and vegetables. "Only been here for five minutes. Not a long wait, all things considered." Before Shinji and Mana could ask a question, he handed them chopsticks. "It'll be easier to think if you're full."

    "...I usually feel sleepy when I'm full," admitted Shinji.

    "Better to feel sleepy than to feel fatigued." The emphasis he placed on the last word spoke of old pain, born of frustration he could barely fathom.

    Eating in relative silence, the three teenagers quickly finished their meals; the last light of the sun was about to vanish, leaving only the cool shades of twilight. It was still enough for them to see each other. "So. Amamiya said you had something to talk to me about."

    Before Shinji could even open his mouth, Mana surged forward without delay. "You know about the Velvet Room, don't you?"

    Shinji balked at her audacity. MANA-SAN?!?

    Minato, to his credit, only responded with a raised eyebrow. "Mind elaborating?"

    Mana bluntly said, "The stuff you pulled off with AIGIS and LABRYS during the July New Moon wasn't normal. Then, a couple weeks ago, a woman by the name of Elizabeth said something strange about AIGIS and LABRYS; about a bond that she had...and I'm thinking there's a connection, somehow. Just the way you talked about bonds being a 'two-way street'...it has that same sort of vibe." Placing both her axe and shield flat on the ground, Mana continued, "and though you don't feel quite like Ikari does...there's something different about you, now that I can focus."

    Minato stared quietly at her before glancing towards Shinji. His expression must not have hid much, because the older teen merely sighed. "Pretty bold move, all things considered...Amamiya told us about your decision, to show them that place."

    ...well, not like I can deny it. "...yes," admitted Shinji.

    "So Amamiya knows about it too, huh?" murmured Mana. "Figured as much...Aida was thinkin' that Amamiya was pretty suspicious, with the way he acted during the road trip."

    Shinji grimaced at the quiet revelation that Aida had probably deduced Ren Amamiya's connection to the Velvet Room.

    (August the 17th: after winding down from an exhausting yet enlightening day with the members of the Emporium, he had been cornered by Ren Amamiya in the hall of Sakura-sensei's home. When confessing that Team Statherós knew that there had been other Guests before him, Amamiya had only smirked. "Probably won't take them long to connect the dots. I figure at least one of them already knows or suspects, and is just being quiet out of courtesy to you.")​

    Turning towards Minato with no small amount of trepidation, he asked, "You're...not mad, are you?"

    His Wild Card senior calmly shrugged. "From my understanding, we have a window of opportunity to talk about matters more directly. No point in beating around the bush...even though there aren't any bushes around here," he added, looking around the trees and the shrine with a detached ease. "Why waste time when every moment counts?"

    "Now you're speaking my language," said Mana with an enthusiastic grin. "So, how'd you do that thing with Big Sis and Little Sis? How do you know 'em?"

    "First things first," Minato said as he placed their empty rice bowls into the plastic bag and sealed it tight. "Why did you seek me out?"

    Shinji remained silent, letting the girl mull over Arisato's question with a severity that was quite solemn. "...I have people I need to save. But as I am now, I can't reach them. I...I need to know more about myself, before I can do that. And with how you established a connection with AIGIS and LABRYS...at least, enough of one to kill an Acolyte in one swing...I have a feeling you might have some insight."

    "A fair enough answer," remarked Minato. "What I did was sort of like cheating, though."

    "...eh?" chorused both Shinji and Mana.

    Minato quietly ran a hand along the rim of the shield; Shinji didn't know if it was a trick of the fading twilight, but he swore the red gemstone in AIGIS flickered with...joy? "Without going into too much detail...I was able to forge a partial connection with her soul, which provided the channel I needed to use the power of the shield and the axe like I did."

    "And what's this 'partial connection' all about?" asked Mana.

    "Just a term to describe a bond-that's-not-quite-a-bond...but it's a useful one, because it helps with keeping a sense of perspective about one's self." Turning towards Shinji, he added, "you should pay attention too, Ikari-san."

    Shinji blinked, pointing dumbly at himself. "Uh...me? Why?"

    "Because the principles behind how I use 'partial connections' are also how, once upon a time, I used Fusion Spells to summon more than one Persona at a time."
     
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    • OH SHOOT SHINJI GETTING EVEN MORE STRONK TIME LES GOOOOOO!!!11!

    But for real, super neat to see that you're bringing Fusion Spells into the mix, really wish P4 & P5 had them, as it added a bit of depth to your Persona lineup besides just "What's the optimal Persona/s to bring to this dungeon/boss fight?"
     
    8/30 - Evening, Part 2 (Japan)
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    • View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm5HnzBtMuM

    "...Fusion Spells?" repeated Shinji. "What do you mean?"

    "And what do you mean by 'partial connection'?" asked Mana.

    "Well, in a certain time and place, it involved the owner of an antique shop and gems found in another dimension...but that's besides the point." Resting his hands on his knees, Minato gazed up at the canopy about them, his face set into a small frown. "The idea of using more than one Persona at the same time...is to understand the facets of yourself: the contradictions, the complementations, and everything in-between...to think and ponder about who you are at a given moment of time..." Despite his outward apathy, his eye seemed to shine with emotion of every type and kind. "They're the sort of questions that sound weird, if you say them out loud: how does my temper battle my patience; would my sense of humor get along with my stoicism; can love bloom from apathy; and things like that. To truly understand your bond with other people...you have to understand yourself...and the more you understand yourself, the more you're able to call forth every aspect of yourself to face the world..." Looking back down at them, he added, "it's been a while since I've done anything like teaching. Does it make sense?"

    Shinji pondered the words, trying to apply them to everything he had learned since awakening his Persona, and establishing bonds with other people. "...I'm not sure if this'll make sense to you...but would it be like trying to establish two Social Links at once?"

    "The hell is a Social Link?" bluntly wondered Mana.

    Minato, ignoring Mana's confusion, nodded. "It's...a similar concept. Working on two Social Links at once...hmm. It would be like being yourself, but in two different senses, simultaneously. For example..." Glancing towards Mana, he pointed a lazy finger at her. "She perceives you in a different way than I perceive you...but that's normal, because the things you've experienced with her are different than the things I've experienced with you...which isn't saying a lot, since we haven't interacted that much. Using her and Amamiya as examples would be more meaningful...but you get my drift."

    "I...I think I do." What would it require, to actually try and utilize different parts of himself at the same time? (What would it feel like to summon, say, Hamlet and Kuchisake-onna at the same time?) How would he even practice that? "...does it require a lot of meditation?"

    Minato shrugged. "There was a lot of winging it, to be honest. I remember feeling very tired whenever I used a Fusion Spell, because it's not something we're able to naturally do. But to have the self-awareness to do that...it pays off. But start small: trying to make yourself use 'opposites' is begging for failure, because forcing 'A' and 'not A' together is...really difficult."

    "Wouldn't it be impossible?" Shinji asked.

    "Only if you're dealing with strict logic," he calmly replied. "But people aren't so discrete and separable. We're kind of messy...so maybe start with something simple. Think about bringing together 'a little less than A' with 'a little more than A'...like different kinds of hot sauces. Or maybe mixing 'A' with 'B who really wants to go out with A'...like a duck burger. Because would think of duck making for a good burger?"

    "...what the hell are you talking about?" asked a befuddled Mana. (Shinji was privately grateful that she had asked first.)

    Minato calmly remarked, "Sometimes, I'm not really sure. But you would apply the same ideas with the bonds you have with your weapons. You called them AIGIS and LABRYS, right?" When Mana nodded, he sighed with a strange sort of melancholy. "What are the odds," he whispered under his breath. "Think of the relationships you had with them...and how they differed, in the ways you interacted with them, in the ways you felt about them. What would they say about you? And if you were someone else, looking at you interacting with AIGIS and LABRYS...what would they think?"

    Mana's face scrunched together, as though irritated and confused by his request in equal measure. "...not sure I follow..."

    "And that's part of the point," he bluntly said, rising to his feet. Holding the plastic bag full of take-out trash in one hand, he stuck his other hand into his pocket. "I could explain everything to you about all the stuff I learned the hard way...but some lessons have to be experienced to be learned. That's especially true, when it comes to figuring out more about yourself...and maybe at the end of it all, you'll know enough about yourself to reach out to other people." Looking towards Tokyo-3, the downtown area was already serving as a beacon amidst the approaching night. "It's getting dark. Think about what I said: it'll provide a good start for you both."

    Shinji watched as Minato walked away, wondering what sort of lessons Minato Arisato had learned. "Thank you, Arisato-senpai-"

    "Hold up," demanded Mana, rising to her feet. "The bond you had with Little Sis...what was it? How did you get it?" When Minato didn't immediately answer, Mana stubbornly continued onward. "It's just...the connection I have with the souls in my weapons...it's taught me so much about them...but the way Little Sis reacted when you struck down the Acolyte...it was unlike anything I had ever seen. So how?!"

    "...not the time or the place," casually remarked Minato, not even turning around to answer.

    Naturally, this didn't sit well with Mana. "We know about the truth of the world, from that Room...if you have a connection, then I bet you know as well, right?!"

    Grimacing, Shinji finally decided to intervene, reaching out towards her shoulder. "Kirishima-san-"

    Mana stepped beyond his grasp, striding towards Minato. "Look, we're all in the know." Grabbing at his arm-

    With sudden violence, Minato rebuffed her motion, parrying her arm with his own. Though his expression didn't change, the intensity in his eye actually frightened her. "Don't. Tempt. Me." With a snappy motion, he shoved his hand back into his pocket. "Not now. Maybe not for a while...but eventually. Right now? I can't. So just...leave it." Turning his back towards them, Minato made one final remark. "We all have our own struggles...attend to your own, and you'll be able to more readily help others. But if someone is unwilling to open up...don't be so stubborn as to think that cracking them open will make them receptive to your feelings. It may only result in stubborn bitterness...and then you'll probably find yourself having to start over again in a worse position than before." With those words said, Minato walked away, leaving them by the shrine in silence.

    "...what was that about?" wondered Mana with honest bewilderment, looking almost...confused, yet hurt, by the visceral response from their senpai.

    ...whatever burden he's carrying...is a heavy one. His eye revealed a glimpse of the man behind the teenager: beneath the apathetic shell was someone who felt all too strongly. "Maybe he'll tell us, one day...but Arisato-senpai told us enough."

    Mana gazed back at her prone weapons, their gemstones glimmering amidst the night. Finally, after several moments of indecision, she settled for a frustrated sigh. "I guess..."

    And thus did Shinji return toward Tokyo-3 proper alongside Mana, feeling as though he understood Minato Arisato just a bit more...

    xxxx

    /Judgement
    //now at Rank 4
     
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    • Ultra Sonic 007 said:
    With sudden violence, Minato rebuffed her motion, parrying her arm with his own. Though his expression didn't change, the intensity in his eye actually frightened her. "Don't. Tempt. Me." With a snappy motion, he shoved his hand back into his pocket. "Not now. Maybe not for a while...but eventually. Right now? I can't. So just...leave it." Turning his back towards them, Minato made one final remark. "We all have our own struggles...attend to your own, and you'll be able to more readily help others. But if someone is unwilling to open up...don't be so stubborn as to think that cracking them open will make them receptive to your feelings. It may only result in stubborn bitterness...and then you'll probably find yourself have to start over again in a worse position than before." With those words said, Minato walked away, leaving them by the shrine in silence.
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    Man Minato has it really rough.

    First, he finds out two of his friends die. After learning that there is someone else who they have a connection with then the Link with Aigis was offered towards him.

    No wonder he snapped.
     
    Introverted said:
    Man Minato has it really rough.

    First, he finds out two of his friends die. After learning that there is someone else who they have a connection with then the Link with Aigis was offered towards him.

    No wonder he snapped.
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    As was revealed in Yu's Sidestory, he's ironically had a tougher time at letting go:

    Ultra Sonic 007 said:
    "...so it's real then," muttered Ren, looking a bit queasy. "The stuff Lavenza and Igor told me..."

    "I know it's unbelievable, but it fits our observations," remarked Yu.

    "No choice but to believe it. What other options do we have?" asked Minato. "After you found out the truth...what then?"

    "Spent a lot of lives making the most of it. Usually finding my old friends and trying to enjoy whatever came my way. Was a bit of a long slog, near the end...but it was a relief, to see Margaret again."

    Minato looked soberly at him. "...you must be pretty strong, Narukami-san. To intentionally seek them out, knowing they have no memory of whatever came before..."

    "...it's not that I was strong. Without them, I'd have been too weak to go on." Turning towards the blue-haired boy, he asked, "how about you?"

    Minato's recollection was far more terse than his had been, covering the bare essentials only of his tribulations in the Dark Hour. The subsequent lives after his 'first' had been largely glossed over, since he considered the whole affair to have been too depressing to go into. "I tried, early on, to live like you did: establish connections, live life...but I can't ever forget. That one year, in my 'first' life...it's like it's burned into my brain, like it's always fresh. After a while, the moment I became aware of the past in any future timeline...was where I decided to disengage, and detach myself: just waiting for the inevitable reset to happen. It was easier, than trying to establish connections which were destined to go away."

    "...did killing yourself ever come to mind?" wondered Yu aloud, ignoring the look of alarm from Ren.

    Minato shrugged. "It would've saved time...but no. It felt like it would've disrespected everything that happened in my 'first' life...even if I gave up on a lot of other things, that's one line I couldn't cross." With a bitter smile, the boy looked tiredly at his fellow Wild Card. "Wish I'd had more of your analytical mindset, Narukami-san. Maybe I would have been able to find some answers of my own."

    "The only reason I tried as hard as I did was because I couldn't live without my friends, even if they didn't remember," admitted Yu. "If I had your strength of heart, to live without connections...I don't know what I would have done, ultimately."

    "Not exactly sure I would have called it a strength, but whatever floats your boat," said Minato.
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    8/30 - Late Night (Japan)
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    • In a move that Shinji Ikari would have empathized with, Minato Arisato slipped his headphones on. A quick trip to a convenience store to throw away the garbage from dinner — a privilege proverbially obtained with the purchase of some chocolate Pocky — allowed Minato to walk around with both hands in his pockets. It was the status quo, of sorts...even if he disliked the ramifications.


    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UieCoHm91E

    It was strange, at some of the parallels between times; what were the odds, that a similar version of a song he had once listened to would exist? "Burn my dread," he whispered to himself. Time never waits; it delivers all equally to the same end...except that's not true, is it? In a world where death was not final (save for the poor unfortunate soul chosen to be the proverbial fuel for a reset), what dread could truly exist in the long run? (But oh, there were plenty of things to dread; he knew that more than most.)

    (Temptation is never far away from you.)

    Practiced apathy and forced detachment had kept it all at bay, for the most part.

    At times, he couldn't help but envy Ren Amamiya for his relative youth, and Yu Narukami for his capacity to seek out new experiences during his long pursuit of the truth. Such novelties...had long worn thin, to him.

    Yukari Takeba. Mitsuru Kirijo. Fuuka Yamagishi. Isako Toriumi. Chihiro Fushimi. Yuko Nishiwaki. Maiko Oohashi, during the times she was of age; he couldn't quite recall when romance with them had lost its luster. There had even been a few other women whose names he had long forgotten, as horrible as it felt to admit; those who hadn't been bound to him by a Social Link had been all but cast aside in the abyss of memory, lacking the tangible connection that had been anchored to his very soul. (The fact that he had the capacity to remember from one life to the next...had made such relationships hazardous to pursue.)

    (You can vaguely remember the sheer novelty of actually trying to have a relationship with true strangers...and that's no foundation for building a bond.)

    After long enough, such relationships had soured and become like ash in his mouth; the mere fact of getting with them had made him feel like a liar. (It was good that staying away had become so easy, because otherwise...saying 'no' to such precious people was too difficult.)

    Perhaps it was because he still couldn't get over his 'first' life, as pathetic as that sounded. No matter how much time had passed...he couldn't forget. The thought of forgetting was an impossibility. (You remember just how bizarre it felt, for Narukami to describe having to write things down to try and remember details of his 'first' life.) "Tear up your fear, the end is coming near," he absentmindedly muttered, speaking the lyrics aloud. "Spit it out like a spear, I'll burn your dread..."

    Despite it all, he was unsure as to why his bond with Aigis persisted with such strength. Was it because of her brief connection with the Velvet Room, when she had borrowed his power as the Wild Card? Was it something fanciful, like being star-crossed lovers? Or maybe...it was something simpler.

    (July the 16th: As he tried to deliver a lesson to Mana Kirishima, the sensation from her shield was...all too stark. Limited though it was, the yearning from the soul bound within had nearly sent him over the edge. Had it not been for Kirishima's presence, long practice at detachment, and the focus required to get on LABRYS's good side...would he have given in, to such honest devotion?)​

    Maybe you both still love each other, after all this time...trying to make sense of it is a fool's errand. He would endure for just a bit longer...and then, in the world to come, he would once more live without regrets, and without holding anything back. "I will burn my dread..." he whispered, gazing up at the pale light of the full moon. "...I will..." he resolved, turning to make his way back to Hakone Academy.

    The sounds of city life echoed in his wake: a lively cacophony that couldn't match the song in his ears, and the steady beat of his heart...

    xx

    As Minato Arisato crossed the road, a somewhat younger student — walking on the sidewalk perpendicular to Arisato's vector — watched him go from behind. "Hmm," murmured Kaworu Nagisa, gazing at the retreating form of the blue-haired human. "You still walk as one burdened..." he mused. "So have we all..." What would Minato Arisato do, at the culmination of all their destinies? What would the others do, in the end?

    Would they struggle? Would they be swept away by the tide? Would they persevere?

    "Well...I suppose that's for fate to decide. I can only focus...on what I can do, at this point..." Humming to himself, Kaworu continued onward, basking in the heat of the summer night and the full moon's radiance...

    xxxx

    END OF 8/30/2015
     
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    Art: "Bear Witness!" (Commission by Renu)
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    • So.

    There was a particular scene from the August 21 chapter that I wanted drawn, from the Fog of Desolation in Tokyo-2.

    As we went back-and-forth, @Renu was like, "what if I use the art style from the All-Out Attacks instead of the normal one?"

    And I was like: "FUND IT."

    And this glorious bit of memetic madness was born:



    /the pun was also his idea :V
     
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    • jj_789 said:
    Badass picture. I had no idea Teddie wore glasses and had bright blue eyes, though.
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    They were mentioned in the very first scene he was introduced in, when coming across Toji in the Metaverse:

    With purposeful slowness, Toji tried turning around...only to pause. And look up...and up. Oh. That's why they ran. A bear with blue fur and a tan snout stood at twelve feet on its hind legs, clad in what looked like a red and white clown suit with red roses for buttons along the torso. None of that did anything to detract from the fact that it was a freakin' giant BEAR! "Uh...good bear...nice bear..."

    The bear - looking like some cross between a grizzly and a polar bear in terms of its structure and build - looked quietly at him, setting down onto all fours. With surprising dexterity, the bear lifted its right front paw...and with a strange flick, manifested fancy eyeglasses which it then put on. The bear peered at him with stunningly clear eyes colored a crystalline blue...and then, with a satisfied snort, the bear walked forward.

    Toji impulsively got out of the way, letting the bear lumber down the hallway. All of the other creatures seemed to shy away from the ultramarine ursa, seemingly terrified of it. Well...I ain't gonna complain.
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    Same as when he came across Joker and Sae:

    "Boy, that sounds beary tough!" chirped an excitable voice.

    Joker and Sae both yelped with surprise, spinning around to see...a blue grizzly bear...in a red and white clown suit...and wearing fancy eyeglasses. "What the hell are you?!" exclaimed Sae.

    "Oh, I'm so sorry! You can call me Teddie!"
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    The eye color reflects what they look like from his human form:

     
    It might have been mentioned before, but Joker and Teddy teaming up is a match made in madness.
    Joker's snark and Ted's bearpuns potentially combine into a power more maddening than elder gods.
    I suspect Sae has been marked deeply by her exposure to them.
    She might goes full-on vigilante to cope with it.
    ~sexy leather catsuit Sae, prowling the meta-verse
     
    8/31 - Early Morning
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    • Within the Velvet Room, Sokila frowned as Elizabeth waxed poetic about her Guest. Literally: the older Attendant was slathering wax over a blank canvas, forming a haiku of sorts.

    "-but d'ya feel...jealous?" she shyly asked.

    "Oh?" Elizabeth smiled impishly, gazing over her shoulder at Sokila. "For what reason would I ever be     jelly? Jam has much more sustenance!"

    "...does it?"

    "But of course!"

    "Huh..." Shaking her head to get her thoughts back in order, Sokila asked, "It's just...I could sorta feel what your Guest felt for...Aye...Eye-ga...Ay-gee...the shield lady!"

    "Yes. And?"

    "...I dunno. Don't you love him...?"

    Elizabeth calmly hummed, even as waxy fingers darted over the paper. "Love...devotion...passion...adoration...there are a lot of words I could use to describe what I feel. Those are things my Guest helped me to learn, and understand for myself...for that, I will always be grateful. Though I would be overjoyed...over the the moon...over the rainbow...an aircraft carrier? Something to that effect."

    Sokila blinked dumbly. "Uh..."

    "Anyway, it would be quite interesting if my Guest's affections were mine, and mine alone...but he would probably be quite a boring person if he could only have a bond with one person..." She paused, struck by insight. "Although...if he were the kind of person who would only have a bond with the likes of me...perhaps that would make him even more interesting than me...? I'm not sure how to feel about that."

    Sokila fiddled with her fingers, looking around with a strange uncertainty. "...I guess...I've just been wonderin', about Mister Ikari's bonds with other people...he's gotten a lot, and they're getting strong..."

    "Worried about being left behind?" asked Elizabeth with a wry grin. "And you think you shouldn't be feeling in such a base way, hm?"

    "...if that means 'feeling yucky', I guess," admitted the younger Attendant. "I'm happy for him...I     really am...and I know he won't leave me...but I still can't help but wonder-"

    "Ah, the worries and fears from the mouths of babes...babies...baboons...babadook? No, that's not quite right..." Elizabeth grumpily punched the canvas, disintegrating with Almighty-tinged fingers. "Ah, how perfectly artistic!"

    "...Elizabeth-senpai?"

    "As one grows, and as one learns...you become more aware of what you have...and what you can lose. You become all too aware that your capacity for caring is not infinite...and that in the grand scheme of things, some relationships become a higher priority than others. To become wise is to become aware of one's limitations...and you are unused to thinking in such a grown-up way, aren't you?"

    Sokila's fragile nod was answer enough.

    "Do you still have faith in your Guest?"

    "Always!" cheered the younger girl.

    "Then that's your answer. Persevere to the end, little one; giving up before the race is over is hardly sporting behavior! Though, to be fair, the feelings you have for your Guest are assuredly different than     mine~"

    Sokila puffed her cheeks out. "You're teasing me, aren't you?"

    "Why ask a question if you know the answer already?" The older Attendant wiggled her fingers, dabbling wax droplets over another canvas. "Though, your Guest seems to be following standard procedure...he has quite the bevy of beauties around his person, hm?"

    "...I guess they're all nice," admitted Sokila, looking thoughtfully at her bare feet. Gazing over at her sandals in the corner by her bed, she added, "But...I don't think they're right for him..."

    "And I'm sure you're not biased at all," said Elizabeth with a smug grin.

    "But you know what my answer is!" retorted Sokila with a pout, slapping her heel into the ground with ineffectual anger. "Why ask then?"

    "Because teasing my little     kouhai is so very much fun~"

    The faint haze of blue began to brighten-    ​

    xxxx

    /Monday: August 31, 2015/

    /Room 23, 2nd Floor, Izanagi Dorms, Hakone Academy/

    Shinji Ikari wearily sat up, looking down at his phone with an instinctive impulse. It's...just past 3 AM...?

    HEROD: WE HAVE ANOTHER QUERY FOR YOU.
    HEROD: OF THE FOLLOWING 'KINDS' OF LOVE, WHICH DO YOU THINK IS MOST IMPORTANT?
    HEROD: PLATONIC? FAMILIAL? FILIAL? OR ROMANTIC?
    HEROD: THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG ANSWER.
    HEROD: PLEASE RESPOND WITHIN 96 HOURS.

    ...it was WAY too early to think about anything.

    So Shinji lay back down and went back to sleep.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Excuse me if this was shown before or something but I just found this really wholesome to me.

    With Billy Kametz having been diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, the Persona series artist and illustrstor, Shigenori Soejima drew this to support him.



    View: https://mobile.twitter.com/Atlus_West/status/1526978423029084160

    idk i just found it wholesome that a persona series staff is wishing well for an english voice actor for a persona character
    I wish Billy "I am Ferdinand von Aegir" Kametz well too.
     
    Ultra Sonic 007 said:
    HEROD: WE HAVE ANOTHER QUERY FOR YOU.
    HEROD: OF THE FOLLOWING 'KINDS' OF LOVE, WHICH DO YOU THINK IS MOST IMPORTANT?
    HEROD: PLATONIC? FAMILIAL? FILIAL? OR ROMANTIC?
    HEROD: THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG ANSWER.
    HEROD: PLEASE RESPOND WITHIN 96 HOURS.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Shinji: "Platonic maybe?"

    HEROD: "This is why you don't have a girlfriend yet. Seriously. You are a wild card and you still haven't even gone on a single date. Get it together. You are an embarrassment to your senpai."

    More seriously, this is something I feel the answer is "It depends." Growing up, my parents and siblings were my most important relationships so familial love would be the most important then. After I got married though, I would say that Romantic love (my wife) and then my kids are the most important. It is just something that changes depending on your current situation in life.
     
    lockdownspartan said:
    Shinji: "Platonic maybe?"

    HEROD: "This is why you don't have a girlfriend yet. Seriously. You are a wild card and you still haven't even gone on a single date. Get it together. You are an embarrassment to your senpai."

    More seriously, this is something I feel the answer is "It depends." Growing up, my parents and siblings were my most important relationships so familial love would be the most important then. After I got married though, I would say that Romantic love (my wife) and then my kids are the most important. It is just something that changes depending on your current situation in life.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Kensuke: So basically Shinji...you want to know 'what is love'?

    Shinji: That's right.

    Mayumi: *muffles a giggle*

    Shinji: What's so funny?

    Mayumi: It's an American meme, that's all...
     
    8/30 - Late Morning (America) to 8/31 - Early Morning (Central Asia)
  • Threadmarks
    • As the early darkness of August the 31st lingered in Japan, the sun loomed high over America's western shores on August the 30th...

    xxxx

    As their chartered jet soared into the sky, Asuka Langley-Sohryu quietly watched as California's Pacific Coast fell away from her field of view; before long, it would slip beyond the horizon entirely. "This sucks," she murmured. "Gonna have to deal with jet lag because of a bunch of paranoid jackasses..."

    Mari was sleeping in a chair across the aisle, electing to try and mitigate the jet lag as much as possible.

    Asuka...wasn't in the mood. Not yet. The sheer stupidity of how the 'authorities' were behaving still galled, even over a month after the fact. I hope Mitsuru executes them all.

    Her Other arched an eyebrow.

    "Figuratively, right?"

    The Beast leaned in close.

    "...right?"    ​

    Sighing, the redhead wondered why this phase of her journey was so vexing. Was it the fact she couldn't teleport? Was it the fact she was going to be in Japan for an extended period of time? Or was it...

    xxxx

    Another place. Another time. Somewhere...bearing the sweetness of triumph, before the bitterness of despair.

    Her foes were monstrous: clad in white, with crimson lips and angelic wings.

    Yet she towered over them all, ripping and tearing; the song of victory pulsed with every beat of her heart.

    However...she had miscalculated.

    She reached out to stop a wicked spear, but it pierced her defenses, and then her left eye-!

    HER     EYE-!!!​

    xxxx

    ...something else?

    Asuka shivered, wondering why it sometimes felt she lived in a world not worth saving...

    xxxx

    Meanwhile, in Central Asia, midnight had passed...and the first hours of August the 31st were greeted by a scene of destruction...

    xxxx

    /The Metaverse/

    /Somewhere in Kyrgyzstan/


    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54Vkam58YoU

    Takaya Sakaki watched, satisfied, as the facility containing three MAGI — the only MAGI that the country of Kyrgyzstan had at its disposal — went up in a technicolor pyre. "And so, one-by-one, they are deprived of their tools..."

    "If they're smart, they'll just find other means to get into the Metaverse," remarked Jin Shirato, passively analyzing the data transmitted into his brain by Moros. The robotic Persona's UFO-esque head spun about with excitable chirps as it observed the tumultuous rip in reality. "Desperate fools will resort to means illicit and illegal for the sake of survival."

    Sho Minazuki snorted, sticking one of his blades into the torso of a dead A.T. Agent. The landscape around the discreet MAGI facility had been rendered into a proverbial wasteland, littered with the bodies of Anti-Terror Task Force members and Cognitive Freelancers that had been under the direct employ of the local government. "Like crushing ants...not worth my pants that you'd wear for dantsing..."

    Jin glared irritably at Sho.

    "...I got the joke," said Keita Asari, his smile seeming somewhat creepy on his monochrome face; the lightning scarf of his Persona, Phobos, wavered amidst the winds of the cognitive world.

    "Thank you," said Sho. "Seriously, why do people hate puns...?"

    "Don't know," murmured Musashi Strasberg, his body emitting numerous nanites that scoured the battlefield for anything of interest. His Persona, Deimos, was calmly turning the remaining cognitive buildings into rubble. "...got a strange feeling though...like someone's heading towards Japan...?"

    Takaya chuckled. "Well, Iruel is your patron; it is only natural that you would glean information that the Angel claims for itself." As he spoke, the moldy veins on his chest throbbed. "Ah...it would seem that the Second Child has left NERV's facility in Nevada...no more use to Shuji Ikutsuki, perhaps...?"

    The mere mention of Ikutsuki elicited an angry snort from Sho. "Tch. Figures." As Tsukiyomi's black fire crackled with irritation, Sho added, "you know, stomping on these morons was entertaining...but it wasn't that fun."

    "If Ikutsuki's little creations start showing up, that might change...but if you'd like to return to Japan to check in on the Third Child, I'm sure he would be most appreciative. He must continue to grow, after all..."

    "...if we run into our sister, we're going to try and recruit her," solemnly said Musashi. "It's been more than a week since we last saw her...I think she's had time to think about it..."

    "And if she disappoints you?" snidely said Jin with a skeptical sneer.

    "Then we put Mana-neesan down, and give her more time: as long as she needs," answered Keita, his eyes gleaming with power. "We owe her that much."

    "It is of no consequence," assuaged Takaya, establishing his authority. "So long as you do not forget our grand purpose, you may do as you please."

    Sho Minazuki's toothy grin was way too cheerful. "Nice." Sheathing his swords, Sho turned back towards Keita and Musashi. "Let's hope those brats are in the mood for some Japandemonium...heh heh...HAHAHAHAHA!!!"

    (Quietly, Jin glared at Takaya. "I despise him.")

    ("Your complaints have been noted," dryly said Takaya, under his breath.)
     
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