Persona 3 Portable 20 - November 3

[surgeworks]

19 - November 2 | Table of Contents | 21 - December 1

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Alternate Title: Bad Executions All Around

Welcome back. This post contains mentions and discussions of death, murder, self-harm, suicide, and generally creepy behavior towards women. There's also something rather important at the end of this post, so even if you aren't into Persona 3, please have a look. Before that, though, let me introduce another guest sporker: Tristram!

Tristram: Hello there! You may have known me in the past as littlecaity, and Chris has very kindly invited me to help him with the rest of the sporking. Since this is the point of the game where things get absolutely ‘tree full of drunk monkeys’ wild, I absolutely had to say yes! And also because, despite everything, I genuinely love this game. I could never turn my back on a chance to talk about it.

Chris: We just got back from doing a bunch of Social Linking and Persona-fusing in the aftermath of the betrayal of Ikutsuki and the murder of Mitsuru’s father. Yukari was shown the truth about the tape of her father, and her Persona ascended as a result.



Shinjiro: And now we’re on the trip to Kyoto, right?

Chris: Right. It’s 11/17. We wake up and head to school, from where we get to Kyoto station, having ridden the bullet train. Junpei complains that Kyoto is a cliched place to go for a field trip, despite being a ball of fun last night. Ryoji gushes about it, and Junpei says he sounds like an old man sometimes. Up with the seniors, Mitsuru is radiating depression, but Yukari’s just glad she came. The sun’s already set by the time we get to the inn we’re staying at, the Godaigo Inn at Higashiyama-Sanjo.

Tristram: Sadly even in the original versions of this game we don’t actually get to SEE anything much of Kyoto. Kind of a pity we never got a ‘Not on the Page, Not on the Stage’ kind of count for incidents like this and the island trip where everything is supposedly amazing but we don’t get to see any of it!

Chris: SEES and Ryoji comment on how nice and fancy and expensive it is. Ryoji uses the most innocuous object in the room, a decorative umbrella, to use to flirt, and Yukari advises us to be careful around him—he just ramps up the flirting tenfold in response, and Aigis reaffirms that Ryoji is a problem. Junpei asks where he was going to go for a field trip at his old school, and he claims not to remember. Aigis’ attention is drawn to an ‘open-air hot springs’ nearby, or that’s what we tell her it is, in truth it’s just a pond. Ms. Toriumi advises us to get to our rooms, and Junpei and Ryoji both flirt this time, and Aigis is about to mistakenly go to the guys’ rooms when Yukari angrily cuts that nonsense off.

We’re handed control, and we find a vendor that’s selling items to equip. We spend 6,000 total yen buying them all since we can’t see what they do until they’re bought, and they’re all pathetic. Our rooms are up on the 3^rd floor to the right, same as with the dorm. On the second floor, we see a vending machine, and buy all of the drinks inside it. We save at the trip itinerary, then head to our room, whereupon we’re already at the second day without even an option to click on a bed.

Shinjiro: 11/18. They go visiting historical sites, and there’s a couple photos taken.



After that, it’s late afternoon at a riverbank, and we see Mitsuru and Takeba hanging out on it. Takeba wants to get up and go, and Mitsuru asks why she’s still concerned about her. Their days of fighting together are over, she says. They’ve got no common goal to fight for, no enemies to defeat, and no reason to be friends. Takeba rejects that, but Mitsuru wants to know why they should bother continuing on. Haven’t they reached their conclusion?

Tristram: As someone who’s had to deal with life-long depression, I really wanted to hug Mitsuru all through this scene. Honestly, depression after losing someone she obviously loved as much as she loved her dad is normal, as is her inability to handle it alone after a lifetime of being the one who everyone else relies on. This scene is one of the few times this game handles mental health really well.

This being Persona 3, the Game of Death, it doesn’t last, but it still deserves commendation.

Chris: Mitsuru says everything she believed in was a lie, and she couldn’t… She trails off, but she was about to say she couldn’t protect her father, is Yukari’s guess. Yukari insists that while Mitsuru says she’s atoning for what the Kirijo Group did in the past, it isn’t true. She was only fighting to protect her dad. She bursts out that yes, she was, and look what happened! Her trust for Ikutsuki blinded her, she fell right into his trap, and then there was nothing she could do! Her dad placed the responsibility on himself, she says, sounding like she’s going to cry, and ever since the incident he’s looked as if he was dead inside.

Shinjiro: Mitsuru says she was fighting so that her dad would be able to let go of all that shame and guilt… This shuts Takeba up, and she continues that her efforts were futile, and now her life has no meaning! Takeba does something that earns her some good regard from me and responds by slapping her across the face. All that weeping…get ahold of yourself, girl.

Chris: Yukari apologizes for it, but continues that we don’t know all of that for sure yet. When Mitsuru doesn’t respond, she goes on to say that she used to live around here. After her dad passed, her mom spent all of her time throwing herself at random men, which would tick Yukari off and she’d come out to the river bank here to get away. Her belief in her dad was all she had…

Shinjiro: Mitsuru responds that Takeba’s dad was only doing what he thought was best. Takeba goes on that while that’s true, it was still wrong, so he fought to the end to make it right, and never gave up. Even if it meant losing his life… So, that’s why she fights. To fulfill her dad’s final wish.

Chris: Mitsuru contemplates this, and Yukari goes on to say that doing so is all she—no, [we]—can do. Mitsuru turns this over in her mind before finally agreeing. Some courage returns to her voice, and the music changes to something a little more hopeful, as she agrees that it’s not over yet and nothing has been decided. For both their fathers, they have to put an end to this. She asks Yukari to stand with her to the end, and Yukari says she agrees.

Shinjiro: *voice cracking* I’m proud of her…

Tristram: *rubbing eyes* Shut up, you saw nothing, I’m just having some very intense feels right now! Honestly, this scene makes me wish Yukari’s Social Link was better on both sides of the game; here she proves that she’s a damn fine friend and we never really get to see that side of her in a one on one situation with us.

Chris: That settled, Yukari suggests heading to the outdoor hot spring back at the hotel. And really, they do need to get going, it’s past curfew. She gets up and heads off, and Mitsuru watches her, then looks up to the sky. She tells her dad there’s no need to worry. She’s not alone, and she’ll never look back again.



Her Persona ascends, transforming from Penthesilea into Artemisia. She then asks her dad to watch over her, before the scene ends.

Tristram: As far as I’ve been able to determine, Artemisia is a reference to either Artemisia I of Caria, who ruled in the stead of her young son after her husband’s death and served Xerxes of Persia so well during a naval rout that he is said to have declared “My women are as men and my men are as women”; or Artemisia II of Caria (who also ruled after the death of her husband, although this one was a brother!) who was renowned for her cunning tactics that included taking over Rhodes after thoroughly routing their attempted invasion by sea. Possibly both, even! History, and Personas, can be complicated like that.

Chris: A fine parallel to Mitsuru taking charge in spite of the loss of the man she depended on. We’re handed control again, back at the hotel, and told we’ve changed into a bathrobe and have some free time before bed. Out in the hall, Aigis and Yuko have noticed Mitsuru and Yukari looking cheerful. On the second floor, Akihiko’s noticed too, and is looking fine in his yukata. Yuko isn’t wearing hers, claiming it...looks odd with her darker skin. *squint* I don’t know if I like that sentence.

Tristram: Yikes. Just… yikes.

Chris: In the lobby, Junpei is also looking fine as hell. He’s worried about Mitsuru, while Ryoji still hasn’t figured out how to turn off flirt mode. There’s...literally nothing to do besides talk to people, so we head back to bed.

11/19.



Mitsuru seems to be having a better time today, and is more social. We head off with Ryoji to walk around with him at his request. We’re back at the riverbank, eating crepes. We literally just met this guy last week, isn’t it a little early for introspection and late-afternoon river talks?

Shinjiro: They’re really laying it on thick with how much they want to you to cherish this guy. *Grumbling* It at least took me a month, not two weeks…

Tristram: Anyone else creeped out by the combination of him going all in here and the way he was dragging us around last time?

Chris: Yes, definitely. Ryoji doesn’t like the look of green tea crepes, so fuck him. He says [it’s] good though, and it makes him happy. Again, we guess correctly that he’s talking about us, not the damn crepe. He laughs about enjoying new experiences with us, and remarks that the light glimmers off the river in a different way than at the ocean. We wonder openly if it’s because it’s flowing water, and he serenely says the water is on a journey, too. *deadpan* How profound.

Shinjiro: *Barely hiding his anger* Then he coincidentally notices all the couples around. He gets happy, and asks what lovers talk about. Determinedly trying to ruin the mood he’s trying to set up, we say ‘depressing topics’.

Chris: This little earthworm winds his way around that, wondering openly if you can only discuss the most heart-breaking topics with those closest to you. He gazes at us “intently”. He asks us what’s the matter, and he looks down and says “Why you, I wonder…?”, suddenly voiced. Sure, we’re nice and pretty, he says, but he doesn’t think it’s that.

Shinjiro: *Also deadpan now* So he’s not even going to pretend he’s not in love with you at this point.

Chris: Us. You’re behind the driver’s seat of this character too now, ya know.

Shinjiro: *Snorting* Fuck that, you take him!

Tristram: I don’t want him, he’s a creeper!

Chris: He’s a parasite! Ryoji mumbles to himself, and we RANK UP. After, he wants to know if we’ll meet with him again like this after the school trip, a Sunday. We agree.

Shinjiro: I love how they just blatantly give you chances to stop the Social Link. Even Atlus knows you won’t be able to stand this guy. Anyway, they leave.

Chris: We get control back at the hotel. Junpei and Fuuka want to go to the hot springs, so we head back to our room to get ready and go do that. In the male route, this would be a little mini event, but it’s a bit more passive here. We head into it with the other girls, Aigis included despite gaining no benefits from it.

Tristram: Serious question, why is Aigis able to swim and bathe in hot springs anyway? Her chassis has massive seams that have plenty of places for water to get in and damage everything. Especially salty water or the sulpher you get in hot springs!

> …?
> You hear splashing from the hot spring…

Chris: Yukari gets alarmed and asks if someone’s there. Mitsuru asks what’s up, and Yukari asks if she heard something, but she didn’t. Fuuka asks if we heard something, and we say it’s just their imagination. Yukari insists she heard something and asks Fuuka to check another spot, wondering if it’s a ghost.

Shinjiro: *stunned* ...She seriously thinks it could be a ghost? She can’t think of anything else that might be hanging around a hot springs while naked women are enjoying it? And she’s that afraid after walking brazenly into the back alley of TPI station?

Chris: *dryly* Haunted hot springs, yo, write a movie about it. If you haven’t been informed, the guys are in here, Ryoji included. They dozed off and stayed in past their due to leave, so now they’re trying to sneak back out without being caught. On the male route, you guide them yourself. In this route, it’s up to you whether you catch them or don’t. I really do want to let them get away with it, since it was an accident and not born of perverted intentions, but I have something to show everyone.

Shinjiro: Can’t Fuuka sense presences? Can she not do it without her Persona if it’s not the Dark Hour?

Chris: Probably not. Anyway, we set out to searching. Fuuka heads left while we head right. It finally dawns on Yukari that other guests could be here, and she wonders if we might cause trouble walking around.

Shinjiro: What sort of trouble? What would anyone be doing? I don’t think they let you screw people in their hot springs, it’s unsanitary.

Chris: If only that were what the boys were up to. We call out, but there’s no answer. Yukari tells herself there’s no ghost or reason to worry, only for more splashing sounds to ring out. She doesn’t see anything suspicious. But, we push her to continue searching, and we go to the hollow in the nearby rock. She wonders if a person might be hiding there, and moves to check it out.

Shinjiro: Kinda glad I wasn’t around for this part, man. The guys are definitely hiding there. Fuuka walks up with us just in time to discover them, and Iori, Aki, and Ryoji desperately try to explain themselves. Mitsuru is pissed, and says she’s going to “execute” them all.

Chris: For anyone not caught up, “execute” is Mitsuru’s term for the punishment she inflicts on people who get on her bad side, which while not shown in the game, is stated as being frozen alive. Aigis, as if to hammer the point home that the boys are screwed, says it was nice knowing them. Execution is also implied to be what she did to Mr. Ekoda for covering up Fuuka’s disappearance. And yes, she does execute them. Ryoji included.

I’ll remind everyone that while some Persona abilities that are passive can be used without summoning them (like Shinji’s regen skills and High Counter, or the resistances and nulls that make other Personas immune to elements carrying over to their summoner), actual elemental attacks can’t be done without it—and in either case, attacking someone with ice kind of rings of supernatural powers. Mitsuru, implicitly, has now shown her Persona in front of two people who are completely normal and ignorant of what SEES does—or at least who she thinks is a normal ignorant person, on the subject of Ryoji.

Ill Logic: 89

One each for Ryoji and Mr. Ekoda, because I’m presuming Atlus forgot about them when writing her “executing” them, but maybe they didn’t.

Tristram: Someone on the writing staff obviously thinks that Mitsuru overreacting with extreme violence is funny, since this scene is played for laughs in both the male and female versions of the event. Violence isn’t funny, ATLUS. Especially not violence that puts people’s long-term health at risk for the sake of an out of character joke.

Chris: Oh boy, I second that.

11/20. Ms. Toriumi is rounding us up to go back to Iwatodai. The boys walk up, seemingly tired or in pain. The girls ignore them, and Junpei curses Kyoto. When we’re back at the dorm, we talk around, and Yukari mentions she really did freeze them alive. Aigis “commenc[es] ignore mode” on them as punishment. We give Ken the namayatsuhashi we bought as a souvenir snack, then go for a walk with him and Koromaru. He talks about his time alone in the dorm with Koromaru, where he’d stay up late to watch shows with him and doze off.

11/21. Gossip on the way to class tells us that Monday is a day off, and Tuesday starts Career Experience Week, which is internship. No, they didn’t forget Ryoji during the execution bit, because he mentions the punishment after school. So I guess it wasn’t that Atlus forgot, they just didn’t fucking care.

Bad Game Design: 63

What’ll we do today? Well, we only have two team members left that we haven’t Social Linked, and one just opened up. Before we do that though, let’s go to that chick by the persimmon tree that is enamored with drinks. She notices the ones we got from Kyoto and asks for it, and she’ll trade Oden Juice for one of ours and 5,000 yen. We take the juice back to Theo for Aigis’ maid outfit. Then, we go to check on Mitsuru, and she wants to walk somewhere with us, with our status as Genius helping her to ask as much before we agree.

We head out to the ramen shop, which seems to be pretty new to Mitsuru. She whispers to ask us what the etiquette here is and what customs she needs to follow. A bit baffled, we let her know to eat before it gets soggy, and she presumes this shows appreciation for the chef. Well, in a manner of speaking, yes. We eat, and apparently never having had ramen before, she finds it delicious, asking the confused chef what he uses for bouillon. He doesn’t even know what bouillon is, but says he can’t tell her the recipe, as it’s a secret. She has more questions, about meals with ramen and rice, and before we know it she’s recommending he patent the recipe and sell it. She apologizes to us for getting lost in her imagination, and says she’s been wanting to try ramen for a long time before asking if that makes her strange.

Shinjiro: *silently mouthing* Never eaten ramen before?

Tristram: It doesn’t make her strange but given she’s been living with Akihiko the ramen lover for so long it does make me deeply confused. Has he seriously never once in the literal years they’ve known each other brought some home to share or something?

Chris: We tell her no, and she’s glad. She felt really awkward coming to this place alone, so she’s happy to have us here with her, and asks to eat here again sometime. Boom! We now have a Social Link! As anyone could’ve guessed, this one is the Empress.

We get to the dorm, where everyone talks about what Junpei, Koromaru, and Aigis are up to. Aigis herself is thinking about Ryoji, and is worried she might overheat, and is consulting Koromaru for help. We go up to the command room consoles and watch a new recording, dated 11/13. The camera shows Ken in his room, practicing combat moves with a cleaning brush and making karate sounds. We wince seeing Ken accidentally whack himself in the shin with the cleaning brush. This is apparently not the first time this has happened, and he hopes he gets taller soon. He then grabs milk and starts chugging to the point of upsetting his stomach, where the scene ends.

Tristram: You know I never heard of this whole ‘milk will make you tall’ thing until I started playing JRPGs. It was always ‘milk will make your bones strong’ here and lots of warnings not to drink unpasteurized no matter how much you really want to drink it straight after milking a cow. – Look, lots of the students at my school came in from farms, okay? I learned stuff about sheep that no city-dweller should ever have to know.

Chris: I’ve heard both. But I think I stopped attributing that much importance to milk before I was ten. Speaking of Ken, we need to talk to him for a Featherman R doll. He gives one to us, pretending he’s too old for it and begging us to keep it a secret. We take it back to Theodore for a spear we don’t need. Then, we talk to Fuuka and go to Tartarus.

All our other requests cleared, we take the ones for Harabah and take our party up to explore. The top floor of Tziah, formerly a room open to the sky, is back to being a closed room leading up.

Shinjiro: What’s Harabah like?

Chris: Cool, but a pain in the ass. It’s dark with a red atmosphere, and hard to see the shadows, but there’s cool rotating light patterns everywhere and the whole place looks like a disco stadium or something. The beat is now funkier than ever.

Tristram: The music is fantastic but I have to say I couldn’t see a damn thing in this block before I needed contacts to see. It’s not exactly the pinnacle of floor design.

Chris: Akihiko and Junpei, rather than comment on our maid outfit with surprisingly good stats, are still shivering from Mitsuru’s punishment. We pull out Odin and blast the shadows we see with Maziodyne. Akihiko’s Evil Gloves don’t look nearly as cool as the Sabazios, but they shred anything they hit. The Musha enemies are dressed like Yoshitsune, a persona you can fuse in Persona 4.

Akihiko levels up and gains Marakunda, Mitsuru gains Diarahan, Yukari learns Garudyne, Ken learns Vile Assault, Koromaru gains Mudo Boost, Yukari gains Wind Break, and Aigis gains Diarahan and Matarukaja, ending her skill line. We find leg parts for Aigis called the Cermet Legs.



The first miniboss is on floor 171, and it’s three Judgement Swords. They drain lightning and have Maziodyne, but Mitsuru’s charged Mabufulas eat away at their health quickly. They leave behind three cash items and an SP item. The next one, on floor 180, is three Stasis Giants. They resist wind and fire and null slash, and have Diarama. Side note, I used Mara for the first time just before this fight, and found out that that spell it’s carrying isn’t Maragidyne—it’s ‘Maralagidyne’, one that’s unique to it, and it deals “severe” damage, and costs more. Too bad it wasn’t useful here. We get three physical reflect items and a revive item for our win. The third miniboss on floor 190 is the Phantom King, which Fuuka informs us is the Hermit Arcana.

Arcana Believe It: 26

It knows Mahamaon, Mind Charge, and Megido. We finally get to use Maralagidyne, and it turns out to be a sickly-looking greenish version Maragidyne. We get a soma and an SP recovery item from it. The fourth (yes, fourth!) miniboss is on floor 201, and it’s three Royal Dancers. I knew before going in that this fight would be hell, as they have every ailment skill under the sun, Heat Wave, and fucking Primal Force. They also have Patra, in case you reflect their Pulinpa back at them. They’ll try to charm anyone they see charging. Too bad for them, they didn’t last long anyway, especially with Aigis resisting Pierce. We get a Broken Heart and an SP recovery item for taking them out. And no, that’s not it either. Rather than two segments of one floor unlocked after the full moons, Harabah is one long trek upwards fully available from the start—there’s a fifth miniboss on floor 211. It’s the Reckoning Dice, which Fuuka lets us know is the Fortune Arcana.

Arcana Believe It: 27

It nulls all magic and alternates between Tetrakarn and Megidolaon. We get a stat-boost card, two mirrors, and a Soma for its defeat.

We turn in our Moon Tablets to Theo for an HP-regen item, take our Pink Feathers to him for an item that grants High Counter, and we turn in two gold medals from the golden hands here to get a rocket fist for Aigis. We bring him the last old document, available on floor 214, for 650,000 yen. The last thing we do is fulfill the last Persona request, which requires Loki at level 63, and for fusing it, we get an item that allows fusion of Masakado.

Odin finally gains Thunder Reign, something we’ll need for the future, which deals severe lightning damage to a single target. It also has a 100% chance to inflict shocked, which turns any hit against the afflicted into a critical. Attis, having three levels to take before getting the skill we want instead of one, takes a lot longer. We fuse Siegfried with our Koromaru Link, and he gets Vorpal Blade (one of the strongest multi-target physicals, and which has bonus damage on Great condition), as well as Arms Master, which halves HP cost for physicals, and we also fuse Hell Biker, Seth, and guess who else?

We hit level 82. It’s time. It’s time for him. It’s time for goddamn Shiva.

Shinjiro: …? Shiva? Isn’t that the God of—

Chris: Destruction, yes.

Tristram: If you thought Shiva was broken in Devil Survivor, you ain’t seen nothing yet! This might actually be the most badass version of him in the series, and that’s saying something.

Chris: Well, I hear he’s whooping copious amounts of ass in Shin Megami Tensei V, but that’s as a boss. If you’ll remember from the Social Link, Shiva’s not the ultimate Persona of the Tower Arcana in this game—Chi You is. Shiva, however, is the most gloriously overpowered motherfucker you’ve ever seen in this game. You can only get him by fusing Barong and Rangda together, so he’s not going to inherit many good skills, but that doesn’t matter, because the skills he gets on his own are incredible. He starts with Maziodyne, Enduring Soul, and, err… Sexy Dance. Enduring Soul is what we’ve been working so damn hard to level up Attis for. Then is goddamn motherfucking Pralaya. Pralaya is the single most OP skill in the game, consisting of basically launching Primal Force (same strength, crit rate, and attack type) at all enemies on the field, and whatever it doesn’t kill has a high chance of being afflicted with fear (which makes criticals, so yanno), and it costs less than Primal Force. You don’t even have to worry about it reflecting back at you because Shiva blocks Pierce. Then is Invigorate 3, to save SP, always valuable. But his last skill is what sells the whole thing on its own: Victory Cry.

Victory Cry, aka the Most Broken Passive Ever, refills both your health and SP to max after every battle. Thanatos doesn’t have Victory Cry. Most of the other MAX Rank Personas don’t either. Not even the last Persona you can gain has Victory Cry, and in fact I think only three other Personas in the game do. And by utterly abusing the system, I’ve given Shiva Primal Force, Power Charge, and Absorb Ice to cover his weakness, too. Shiva is how I all but one-shotted the Royal Dancers. And when I level him to getting Victory Cry, he also gives us the Rudra Ring, which grants Arms Master. I mean, why bother leveling anyone else at that point? Just have fun murdering everything in the game without even trying or having to heal. You can spam Pralaya all you want.

Tristram: Shiva is also really good for getting Victory Cry onto a few other end-game Personae, as if he wasn’t busted enough on his own! The game is begging for mercy and it will be shown none.

Chris: A fact we’ll be taking advantage of later. We also fuse Chi You once we hit level 86, who outdoes every other Persona in the limbs department with no less than eight arms and four legs. We could wait to fuse Vishnu (who’s the Sun Arcana in this game), but why not go for it? He’s a balanced one, having two -dynes and Akasha Arts on top of God’s Hand (strongest physical attack in the game alongside Primal Force) and Salvation (fully heals party and removes all ailments).

All of that done, we leave.

Shinjiro: Jesus. You don’t kid around, do you?!

Chris: No, I fucking don’t, thank you for noticing. Ahem.

11/22. We are immediately greeted with another scene of Chidori’s hospital room. May I ask why she’s still here? She’s not injured or unwell, and it was said that she’d stopped cutting herself a while ago, so I don’t see why she has a room here.

Tristram: And Mitsuru does NOT have the power or influence to keep a healthy(ish) person permanently locked up there, either. She should’ve been discharged weeks ago. Even with the self-harm I’m pretty sure they couldn’t keep her there against her will without a court order of some kind. Even with her consent it’d be hard to keep her there because there’s never enough beds for mental health patients.

Chris: There’s no Junpei this time. Chidori’s sitting there, wondering what she’s drawing as if she shouldn’t know. Suddenly, the lights go out! The sounds of glass breaking and the intruder alarm going off ring out! Chidori gasps, and we hear a voice—ESJL’s voice. Didn’t he and Jin jump off a damn bridge, literally?

Shinjiro: How the hell are they alive?!

Chris: Because the game wants them to be. There’s no other explanation ever given, just so that’s clear to everyone reading this.

Ill Logic: 91

Bad Game Design: 65

One for each of them, as Jin is also here.

Shinjiro: Add Calm Down points, seeing as them committing suicide and jumping off a fucking bridge was pointless except to be edgy.

Calm Down There, Edgelord: 48

Chris: You’re right. They toss Chidori an Evoker, and Takaya says she needs to come with them—there’s nowhere else for her to go, after all. He reminds her that death is not to be feared. He also reminds her of what she does need to fear, but she agrees before he can finish the sentence. Without needing to be restrained, she goes with them, though she turns around to look at her room before she exits. She then says it’s all [Junpei’s] fault, and that she’s experienced nothing but pain since they met, and she’s become afraid of dying. Ya’ll hear that? That’s the sound of Atlus-brand chemistry.

Romantic Plot Cancer: 44

Tristram: Bitch, please. Junpei didn’t do shit, you didn’t do shit, literally the entire ‘relationship’ is a combination of hatred on your part and massive character derailment on his. This isn’t some profound love story, this is the biggest case of ‘please don’t get together’ I’ve seen since I read Twilight. *sigh* Sorry, I really needed to let that out before I exploded.

Chris: You aren’t alone. She talks to Medea and leaves. No rest for the weary, as when the scene ends, we get a reminder that it’s Sunday and we promised to meet Ryoji today. Great, more forced rushed romance.

We get to the cafe, and he says going to Kyoto was fun. We agree, and he says we were laughing a lot despite us doing no such thing when he was around. Ryoji shows off a ring he bought at a souvenir shop there, and we say we didn’t notice. He waxes poetic, calling rings mysterious and natural yet constricting at the same time, and says they bind memories of good times to the ones who wear them.

Jesus, Hashino, get off my dick with this.

We say we don’t get it, probably with our head resting on our hand to communicate total disconnect, and he says it’s a treasure.

Tristram: Don’t forget it’s a cheap glow in the dark ring like you buy for little kids! I had one of those when I was seven, it fell apart after an hour and made me cry because I thought I did something wrong. That is literally the least romantic ring ever.

Chris: Lorde, play “Mood Ring”. He’s sure he’ll be able to find more treasures if he’s with us. We RANK UP.

Shinjiro: Again, I’ll say that I don’t have much room to talk seeing as my Social Link only happens over a single month, but did Atlus not realize that having a guy flirt and express “sincere” romantic feelings from day one and constantly act like a lovebird throughout every single meeting with you doesn’t make you like him? Aki’s Link was the most romantic-laden overall before this guy walked in, and he’s a distant second place now. Imagine if within the first one or two link meet-ups, Aki made glazed-over eyes and talked about how special and important you are and what a treasure you are and then just never talked about anything else, ever. You’d hate him.

Chris: Excellently stated, Shinji. And you’re fine, at least you met us a couple times before you joined up properly, compared to this guy showing up late-game out of nowhere. Suddenly voiced, Ryoji looks down and wonders aloud if we’re “the one [he’s] been waiting for all this time?”

GOD, SHUT UP.

He says he knows us, and feels like he’s known us for a very long time, and he seems distressed.

For fuck’s sake, we know he’s Pharos! Anybody with half a brain cell could’ve figured out he’s Pharos from the moment he showed up!!! He walked in barely a week after Pharos said goodbye, sat next to us in class, and has been making heart eyes at us ever since!!!

Tristram: Not to mention very obviously sharing the same voice actor! Yuri Lowenthal is very good at what he does, but his Pharos voice is very poorly disguised. Kids are not in his range.

Chris: We’re handed control in the evening. Right off the bat, we talk to Junpei and he wonders if Chidori will ever be able to live like a normal girl. We encourage him again, and let me just say that this will be getting a Bad Game Design point later. For now though…

Romantic Plot Cancer: 45

Tristram: And for the record, none of this ‘encouraging Junpei to keep harassing and stalking a girl who tried to kill him’ crap is in the male route. It shouldn’t be here either but someone (coughHASHINOcough) is convinced he is the greatest romance writer who ever wrote romance. And the payoff for all this… Oh boy am I going to have some things to say when we get to that disaster!

Chris: It’s what he does, it’s why he made Catherine.

Tristram: God, I keep forgetting he made that disgusting excuse for a game. Suddenly so much is explained.

Christ: Before we go to bed, some weapon fusion things. Ken has three spears he can get: Cu Chulainn produces the Gae Bolg, which adds Evade Wind and does wind damage; Odin produces the Gungnir, which does electric damage and adds Electric Boost; and Shiva produces the Pinaka, the strongest one with +10 to all stats. There’s also bows—Vishnu produces the Sargna, which adds Wind Boost, and Chi You produces the Quintessence bow, which does the same thing the Pinaka and Evil Gloves do. Masakado, which we fuse just then, does the same thing for Junpei, and Beelzebub produces the one for Shinjiro. We also got Skadi from a fusion accident earlier, and she produces the Snow Queen Whip, which again does the same thing, +10 to all stats.

Shinjiro: Damn, the Tower Arcana makes up half the best weaponry.

Chris: It does sort of figure that it would, since Tower is the arcana heralding disaster. We go to bed early, and then get a Dark Hour cut-in...?

An alarm is sounding. Fuuka chimes in, telling us to hurry to the 4th floor. When we do, Yukari asks what's going on, and Mitsuru says that Fuuka's sensed something: other Persona-users outside Tartarus. The rest of SEES realize Strega are alive, making them yet another thing that was supposed to leave that won't. As a matter of fact, Fuuka only senses one, but it's Chidori, who was supposed to be in the hospital. There's a flash of something, and Fuuka says she's "inside". Fuuka yells out, and we hear Chidori's voice. She's hijacked Fuuka's Juno, and is communicating through her. Chidori says she can't stand the sight of us anymore, so she's going to do something about it. She taunts SEES to come to her, apparently challenging us to a fight.

Chick, judging by how pathetic your cronies were, how you're alone, and how we've already risen ten levels since then, I don't think that's a wise challenge. Her hold over Fuuka breaks. Oh, by the way, that gets a point—if Chidori needed to speak to us, she could have been shown doing so with powers possessed by her own Persona. The only reason that she instead takes hold over Fuuka is because she’s evil, you see.

Calm Down There, Edgelord: 49

Villainous Cancer: 32

It also gets an Ill Logic point. Presumably, she targeted Fuuka because she's the navigator. A) Takaya thought Ken was the navigator, and he's here, so why didn't she posses him? B) Unless she can tell who's the navigator and who isn't with her Persona? C) And if she can, why didn't she communicate and/or possess one of the active SEES members during the Hermit mission and tell them directly to call it off or risk Junpei’s death? That probably would’ve saved her a lot of trouble. That's three Ill Logic points right there.

Ill Logic: 92

Fuuka's alright, but distressed. Yukari angrily asks Junpei if he has any idea what just happened or that it was going to happen. And he denies it. Look how well he knows his quote-unquote girlfriend, guys! He didn't have a clue she might do something like this!

Romantic Plot Cancer: 46

He runs off, yelling for them to leave him alone.

Tristram: Because that’s totally a mature and responsible reaction to have to his supposed love interesting literally taking over the body and possibly mind of his teammate. Sure, Junpei, Fuuka just got bloody puppeted against her will there, but we must all be caring about your precious fee-fees right now instead of making sure that she’s relatively unhurt! That’s what we want to be doing right now! Twat.

The rest of this entry is honestly the reason why an absolutely massive part of the fandom hates Junpei’s guts. Strap in, people.

Chris: Not a big enough part, if you ask me. Mitsuru says this is probably a trap, but it's Strega, so we have to take the bait. No, Mitsuru, it's not a trap. It hasn't been a trap since Chariot and Justice, it's just a one-on-eight fight, straightforward, and we might actually be threatened if Strega ever actually bothered to set a trap, or set one that consisted of more than sealing us in with our target. She also thinks that if we confront them, they might know something about our mission to end the Dark Hour. Fuuka urges us to be careful, as even though she only sensed Chidori, the other two might be nearby.

Why is she alone in the first place? Didn't the other two free her? You'd think they might try fighting with all three of them. I'll hold off on the Ill Logic point for just now. We're given control with which to choose the party we'll go after Junpei with.

Shinjiro: *Sigh* I ought've talked some sense into that kid when I had the chance.

Tristram: I don’t think anyone could have talked Junpei down from this mess, because the Junpei from the first half of the game and from his Social Link is a completely different person from the Junpei we’re dealing with now. They were so desperate to turn him into the star of a tragic romance that they’ve basically replaced our friend with an alien doppelganger.

Chris: Not that it matters considering how pathetically easy this is, but if you were worried, Koromaru is a good choice for this. We’ll also take Mitsuru and Yukari. That done, we head to the entrance of Tartarus, where we find Junpei confronting Chidori.
 

“Chidori! What’s going on!? Why are you doing this!?”

Tristram: “Doing the exact same thing you’ve been doing this entire game! Including to me that one time when you threatened to kill me on the roof of my own dorm?”

Romantic Plot Cancer: 47

Chris: What exactly did he think? That the chick who kidnapped him and was about to kill him was suddenly docile and a good person? It’s not like he even saw her change. He seems to have just dreamed in his head that despite her digging her heels in and refusing his ideas and cutting off his visits, that she’ll be perfectly okay to go on her way and forget about her goal. Why would she? You ain’t that cute, Junpei.

Shinjiro: Don’t get petty, man.

Chris: I’m irritated. I’ve never seen someone so willfully blind. Of course, it’s not just Junpei, it’s Katsura Hashino that’s to blame, because we’re going to see how this turns out despite all we’ve been shown.

Anyway, she ignores him, and he yells that it doesn’t make any sense. Maybe in your fantasy world, Junpei.
 

“I mean, I know I’m not that smart, and I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff...”

Say it again for the people in the back. You’re a goddamn idiot, Junpei.

Tristram: “And that I was much better in my Social Link where I actually cared about my friends and their wellbeing!”
 

“But we shouldn’t be fighting like this!”

Chris: Well, we wouldn’t be if two villains had stayed dead like they were supposed to. But that aside, you’ve not given her any reason to consider abandoning her goal or changing sides, Junpei. You haven’t even bothered to discuss that with her. You’ve just been butting your way into her hospital room and kissing her ass hoping she responds, because you think you’re in love with her, and then assumed she’d join SEES for it.

Yes, think. Aside from showing a mild interest in her drawings, and showing alarm that she’d be cutting herself like any sane person would, Junpei has not given any sort of indication that he actually likes Chidori as a person. Because he doesn’t know her as a person. Asking “hey whatcha sketchin’?” is not knowing someone. You might call it a relationship, Junpei, but as far as I can see, nothing has changed from when you first met her, when you saw her and got horny.

Romantic Plot Cancer: 48

Fuuka tells Junpei to watch out, right in time for him to dodge the fucking axe on a chain she swings at him.

Romantic Plot Cancer: 49

Just in case any of you tried to cling to a hope that Chidori might, in fact, have grown close enough to Junpei to hold off on attacking at least him. Nope! Junpei, like a goddamn moron, informs her that she could’ve killed someone just now.



Tristram: Never mind that she’s been in a hospital bed for the last few weeks, and didn’t even have the build to properly wield a normal axe before that, she just has to be given a weapon that is so heavy and impractical that you’d have to have the muscles and training of the average carthorse to use properly because it’s ~dramatic~.

Chris: Is being a literal axe murderer what you want in a girl, Junpei? When he tries to talk to her again, she just gets annoyed, and Akihiko and Fuuka wisely tell Junpei to cut this crap out. Chidori simply calls Medea, starting the battle. She doesn’t belong here, she says, and she’s always known that.

Chidori and Medea will use fire and darkness attacks, and neither one works on her along with light. They also have a passive called Spring of Life that basically acts identical to Regenerate 3. She’ll throw out dialogue throughout the fight, and when she gets low on health, she’ll ask of Junpei why, why won’t he just leave her alone?

Romantic Plot Cancer: 50

Tristram: Because Hashino is a hack, Chidori, and nobody escapes his black hole of suck intact.

Chris: It takes her until she’s on her last sliver of health to actually throw out anything that hurts us, and even then barely a scratch. Otherwise, she goes down with nary a fight. Koromaru and Yukari level up.

Ahem. Some points.

First, how easy is Chidori? She has 1200 health. That’s less than either Strega member before her and less health than the Heirophant Shadow we fought back in July, almost five months ago.

Bad Game Design: 66

Does she have high stats to accommodate this crap health? No.

Bad Game Design: 67

Can you at least fight her alone to try to increase the challenge? No.

Bad Game Design: 68

Do either of her teammates join the fight to mitigate the ease of it? No.

Bad Game Design: 69

Does she get two turns to provide challenge to an otherwise absurdly easy four-on-one fight the way some Persona bosses, including several in this game, do? No.

Bad Game Design: 70

Does she even start out with dangerous attacks to eat away at your party? Nope, she starts out with Agilao and doesn’t start throwing out Mind Charge, Mamudoon, or Maragidyne until she’s an inch away from death.

Bad Game Design: 71

Does she use her powers as a navigator to sense and target our weaknesses to abuse them, the way some Persona bosses do? No.

Bad Game Design: 72

Does she use her recently-revealed in-story ability to possess people against us during the fight? No.

Bad Game Design: 73

Despite me being overleveled, it still didn’t go as pathetically as the last time I fought her, when she opened by trying to swing on Akihiko with the axe, missed, stumbled, and opened herself to an All-Out Attack that one-shotted her.

Tristram: I think they were aiming for some kind of ‘tragic inevitability’ with the fight, with the competent and united SEES defeating her because circumstances and really shitty teammates forced her to fight alone, but honestly it just doesn’t work.

And the sad part is that it can work, and be an incredibly hard fight, as long as you know what you’re doing. Just look at Sif from Dark Souls. The sorrow of not wanting to fight the loyal dog, but being given no choice because our path necessitates desecrating the grave of her fallen master, and the absolute heart-wrenching tragedy of watching her limp over to die by his side, all told without words. THAT is how you do tragic fucking inevitability, Hashino. Not this… mess.

Chris: As soon as she’s beaten, Junpei runs over to her, helping her up. She recoils and says that she told him not to touch her.

Romantic Plot Cancer: 51

Junpei begs her to tell him why she’s doing this. She reiterates that what she fears most isn’t death, it’s attachment. Once you become attached to something, you fear that you’ll lose it. …Is that supposed to be some sort of confirmation that she has affection for Junpei? If so, why did she just try to “lose” him by taking his goddamn head off? Whether she’s nursing affection or not, that’s bad.

Romantic Plot Cancer: 52

She then accuses Junpei of bringing her pain, pain she didn’t want and never asked for.

Romantic Plot Cancer: 53

She describes fearing everything when she’s with Junpei. Loss, death, that her time with him will end.
 

“That’s why I...”

Before she can finish her sentence, Fuuka interrupts, having sensed the other two Strega members. They walk out, Takaya sighing evilly, and declaring Chidori “poisoned” by us. Junpei yells at him, asking what he means while calling him a ghost. Takaya says he isn’t a ghost, just that fate permitted him to live despite him not being attached to life.

So, to translate, you’re alive because Atlus are dumbasses and didn’t fucking care.

Bad Game Design: 74

Ill Logic: 93

Even if he survived falling off a bridge from that height, he’d be in no condition to be getting up and walking around like he was absolutely fine less than a month later. Especially considering none of Strega except Chidori have healing powers, and she was locked in the hospital.

Tristram: Even if they had some combination of Endure and Regenerate that would keep them alive after that fall – and we have definitive proof that they don’t – they’d still have died from drowning in the water they jumped into!

Chris: Why even have them jump off of the bridge if it was going to be irrelevant later? This isn’t hard, Atlus, just go back and edit. The writing here looks like it was submitted on the first draft!

Angry and ferocious, Junpei declares he won’t let Takaya “do this to her anymore!”

Do what? So far, all he’s done is free her. I’m a bit curious as to why neither he nor Jin bothered to help her fight, seeing as she showed enough dedication to their cause to try and kill us all. But somehow I imagine that Takaya and Jin have known her far longer than you have, Junpei, and would be just as displeased as we are right now if one of our supposed friends allied with the enemy.

Junpei will protect Chidori with his life, he says! Despite her just trying to kill him a second time a minute ago! Chidori murmurs his name as he holds her, and he begs her to come with him instead of staying with them. Well, Evil Shirtless Jesus Lookalike isn’t going to take that lying down! He pulls out his gun, preparing to cutscene Junpei to death like he did with Shinjiro. Bam!

He gets Junpei in the stomach, which sends him to the ground, despite Junpei having a Persona with Counterstrike. Welp, that’s it. He’s dead. Sorry Junpei, but rules are rules, and if you’re shot in a cutscene all the Persona powers in the world won’t—

> Chidori gently shook Junpei, who fell over.
> Junpei isn’t moving…

—why are we in a hospital? Why is Chidori smiling and saying she’s so happy he’s awake?

Tristram: And here comes both the height of bullshit and the absolute nadir of Junpei’s arc in this game. Ugh.
 

“I… I was wrong. I was scared and I blamed you for my heartache… I never felt that way before I met you, Junpei… And for the first time in my life, I… I realized what I wanted… ”

“And… what is that?”

“I… I want to be with you, Junpei. Forever.”

Chris:






Shinjiro:



Tristram:



I survived the Mists of Avalon sporking and that’s still the actual stupidest ‘romantic’ moment I’ve ever seen!

Chris: *irate* Blushing, Junpei responds that he wants to be with her, too. She says it could never last. She’s different from him. Since the moment she gained her power, she’s known the day she was going to die. Junpei’s alarmed, and she says knowing that scared her, because she’d never really thought about dying.

I mean, it sounds like Akinari, but you seem to be a lot less physically constrained than him. Some special pills, and you’re good to go, is that not how it works?

Tristram: Plus, you know, Akinari is genuinely sympathetic and openly struggles with his impending death, as opposed to… This emo bullshit.

Chris: Akinari’s not a murderer for hire, either.

“That” made her realize she wouldn’t be with him anymore. So, “this” is the way it should be, but what’s she referring to?

Bam! We’re back at the entrance to Tartarus! Why the fuck did we need a hospital dream scene to establish this?!?

Alright, alright, let’s count. A point for Junpei assuming Takaya was badly influencing her instead of himself being in a fantasy world the way he is. A point for Chidori confessing she wants to be with him despite her knowing nothing about him and him nothing about her and them being enemies with two attempted murders between them, both on her side. A point for it being fucking forever that she says she wants to spend with him, despite that presumably being a rather long time to promise to someone you’ve known for three months regardless of how long you have left to live. A point for her apparently having hid her real feelings behind walls despite not having had much time to develop them in the first place, unless all of it happened offscreen.

Romantic Plot Cancer: 57

So what’s happening now? It worked, Chidori says, it being her using her life force/Spring of Life to heal Junpei’s gunshot wound.

…

……

………

ATLUS, YOU SHITHEADS, CAN YOU HEAR ME?! EXPLAIN YOURSELVES!!! NO LESS THAN SIX PEOPLE FAIL TO USE THEIR HEALING POWERS WHEN IT WOULD SAVE SHINJIRO ARAGAKI, BUT WHEN JUNPEI’S BEEN CRITICALLY INJURED, SUDDENLY SOMEONE REMEMBERS SHE CAN HEAL?!?! YOU HACKS, I’M COMING UP TO YOUR OFFICES AND—

*CLANG*

Shinjiro: *standing with a frying pan in hand, having hit Chris over the back of the head and into unconsciousness* Yeah, that’s bullshit. I died because nobody remembered they could heal me, and the game lost a party member as a result, but here I guess that doesn’t matter. A point for Takaya nearly killing Iori in a cutscene, and Chris would’ve awarded it five points, but…

Well, how many storyline fights are there after my death that I could’ve participated in, not counting Strength and Fortune? A boss per month, so it should be five… yeah. So, with there being two months of game and two fights left after this point, we’ll give that two points for Iori living to fight another day on top of the first point. So, three total.

Bad Game Design: 77

Hey, quit growling. Do I gotta whack you too?

Tristram: *slow, deep breaths through their nose* No. I’m taking this rage and using it to fuel my spite fic at the end of this post. How dare they. How dare they do this?! They ensure that the character who they have made us thoroughly hate by now gets to keep on living and even gets something like a happy ending, but you? The character who has actual depth and kindness and likability? You get screwed!

*another deep breath* Please, carry on.

Shinji: As Yamagishi describes, though, she has to give up her own life force to do it. Doesn’t really make sense, since Spring of Life is her only healing skill and she uses it on herself plenty, but whatever. So, she’s just traded her life for his. She collapses, he holds her in his arms in the classic pose, she says she can hear the life pulsing through him…



She claims that this way, she’ll live inside him and they’ll be together forever. He’s confused and scared and tries to ask what she’s saying, but she just goes on that she’ll protect him forever. Considering five minutes ago, that little axe thing happened, I’m givin’ it one of these on principle.

Romantic Plot Cancer: 58

Tristram:



I still maintain she shouldn’t have been able to use that goddamn thing, but the point is absolutely deserved.

Shinji: Iori says he’ll protect her too, and begs her not to go, but it’s too late for that. She thanks him, and says she loves him before dying.

DEATH IS INEVITABLE: 49

Romantic Plot Cancer: 59

I never tried to murder Chris. Just sayin’.

He wails, I mean he literally wails, and Takaya ambles in to mock her death as meaningless.

Villainous Cancer: 33

This makes Iori fly into a rage, and he points his Evoker at himself and summons. Rather than his Persona ascending, it fuses with Medea, and becomes, ahh, ‘Trismegistos’.



Tristram: As far as I can tell, Trismegistos is a reference to or mis-spelling of Hermes Trismegistus, the Greek version of the Egyptian god Thoth. He was the inventor of writing and the patron of all arts that sprung from it. His ‘Hermetica’ was part of the foundation of Hermetic Alchemy before its general discrediting in the Renaissance when it was discovered to have been written in the period between 200-300 BC instead of its supposed more ancient origins.

Shinji: Iori yells at them to burn in hell, and attacks them with Agidyne, blasting them both. Shirato’s Persona is immune to fire, by the way.

Ill Logic: 94

The effort makes him collapse, but seems to have mostly gotten Shirato and not Takaya, despite that whole immunity thing. Takaya mocks them again, and prepares to attack, but Shirato tells him not to, as it’d take too much energy. Dude, he hasn’t even fought yet, I—whatever, moving on. Taking the advice, Takaya backs off, seeing as SEES don’t have any means of eliminating the Dark Hour anyway. For now, at least, he’s gonna scram, but he threatens to come back. Iori tries to go after them as they leave, but can’t, and the others hold him back anyway. He touches the girl’s cheek, and says that since it ain’t just his life anymore, he won’t throw it away.

> ...Everyone was silent as you walked back to the dorm together.
> No one could find the right words to say to Junpei…
> ...

Tristram: Oh I have the right words for Junpei. Well, my high Intelligence low Charm autistic lass Sofie does, my most special of Minakos. We’ll even be nice and hold off on the obscenities.

This time. I’m saving all my really good ones for Ryoji.

 

I stop everyone when we get back to the dorm. The elephant in the room almost makes it to the stairs before Akihiko grabs him and pulls him back to the group. When I look around, I see the same thing I’m feeling in everyone’s eyes.

“Junpei,” I say, because I’m the leader and this is my job, even though I hate it. “You’re out of the team.”

Mitsuru nods and I think her brief tiny smile is approving, but it’s gone before Junpei can turn to her. “I agree.”

“What?!” he practically shrieks, but when he looks around to find support it isn’t there. We all know what just happened makes him too dangerous to trust. How do we know it’s even our Junpei in there any more?

“You’re compromised,” I tell him instead, because despite everything I remember those trips to the ramen store and him getting beaten up to protect me from a pervert. “You don’t have to go back home, but we can’t afford to involve you in our operations.”

“I thought you were my friends,” he says, he whines, dripping desperation. When I force myself to look him in the eye I see someone I don’t recognize, and it makes me cold all over.

“A friend would have gone to see Shinji,” Akihiko says, his voice grating with anger I hadn’t realized he shared. “At least once. But I checked, you never came."

“A friend would have listened when we begged you to stop spending time with her,” Fuuka says, and Yukari puts a firm hand on her shoulder.

“A friend wouldn’t have teased me for watching Featherman,” Ken says. Koromaru yips and then growls, loud and angry enough that Junpei steps back in shock. “Especially when you were watching it too.”

“I don’t know who you are anymore,” I finally say. Fuuka’s hand slips into mine, and the rest of SEES comes to stand around me, their support giving me the strength to say what I’ve been feeling for a long time. “But you’re not our friend.”

Shinji: ‘Compromised’ is a succinct way of putting it.

Now’s a good time to stop. By my notes, we’re on the longest post of the spork yet, and I think it’s because Chris was expecting this in December, not the tail end of November, but he didn’t want to stretch a single month to four posts. Next time we’re here, we’ll finish this month off and do the first part of December. See ya.

Counts:

• DEATH IS INEVITABLE – 49
• Calm Down There, Edgelord – 49
• Villainous Cancer – 33
• Romantic Plot Cancer – 59
• Ill Logic – 94
• Arcana Believe It – 27
• Bad Game Design – 77
• WISTLH – 71
• Aigis I’m Stuck With You – 27

____________________

19 - November 2 | Table of Contents | 21 - December 1

Oh, hey, you made it this far, thanks. I'm in a bit of a pickle.

I work for a company contracted to a warehouse. It was supposed to be good pay, decent hours, and for a while it was. But for whatever reason, the work has just not been there recently. The supervisors have been sending us home half a day in or even as soon as we get there, because they have no work for us to do and can't pay us. This has made it increasingly hard to save money--I can barely make back what I spend in a week just to survive, let alone pay rent.

That would be bad enough, but I found out in January that the company's contract with the warehouse ends March 18th, 2022. That means that by about the time this post goes up, I'll be out of work. I'm searching for another warehouse job in the meantime, but there's a strong chance I could end up unemployed and, in that case, rapidly losing money until broke.

I got bills. Food, gas, rent, phone, Medicare. When spring comes around, I'll have to start paying the lawn and the kid's daycare, too. I haven't been able to buy birthday presents for my loved ones.

I'm not in danger of starving to death, as of yet. But, I do want to move out. This house has been an unpleasant place to grow up and I have wanted to leave for years. I think I can save up the money I need on my own, if I just find a high-paying job, but in the meantime, I'm gonna need some assistance.

I have a Cash App here.

I've also been trying to think of projects people might pay to see me produce. Let me know what you guys think of a full-length video retrospective on Supernatural.

Thanks,
Chris