surgeworks

24 - January 1 | Table of Contents | 26 - January 3
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Alternate Title: Sledgehammers

Chris: Jeez, we got friendzoned by Junpei. This time, we’re going to ~~finish up~~ get close to finishing the last month of the game, with our only remaining objectives before the climax being to max out Aigis’ and Mitsuru’s Social Links.

Tristram: Portable fixed a lot of things but making the two important-to-the-writers-and-nobody-else characters with new Social Links have such a short time to actually link with was downright rude.

Shinjiro: It’s 1/9, and we hang out with Mitsuru, who takes us to the library because she needs to research.

Chris: She hesitates as she looks at a bookshelf, and we ask if she’s looking for something. She’s not, but she thanks us for asking and says she realized something when looking at the literature shelf. According to her, there’s books for days about romance, but not nearly so many about marriage and family life.

Shinjiro: She’s not wrong. She asks if that means the most exciting part of a person’s life is before marriage, and if it’s worth that sacrifice. She goes on to say that the Kirijo Group is in “turmoil” over the inheritance of the company. If she’s honest, she’s not sure she understands the other members’ expectations.

Chris: But she’s the head’s daughter and expected to lead, regardless of the personal sacrifices. She then comes clean: a “fiance” has been chosen for her. He’s the new president of one of the Group’s affiliates, and a lot older than she is. She’ll be securing the future of the company if she agrees to the marriage. He plans to announce the partnership and the engagement at the same time. This is supposed to present an image of the company stabilizing. Thus, it’s the best solution for everyone involved.

Shinjiro: *bluntly* Everyone except her. We want to be upfront with her and tell her that’s bullshit… roughly. But, instead we says that this is news to us. Yeah, it is, because we’re the only ones she’s told, and she forces a smile. If we chose the former, she’d say that this is happening, and has been set in stone for a long while, it’s just happening sooner than expected. She says she’s fine with it, but she’s obviously not.

Tristram: I will never stop being upset about them arranging a marriage with someone significantly older than her on top of everything else. It may not be illegal but it’s extremely creepy. …There’s a lot of extremely creepy relationships in this game now I think about it, between this and Minato not being able to not date a girl he’s doing a Social Link with and the Ken Romance thing and Ryoji. *shudder*

Empyrea: I didn’t cotton onto that man being a lot older than Mitsuru, but you had to remind me of the Ken Romance... The number of anime with this similar issue cropping up is kinda disturbing, not gonna lie. That said, they did address the dating mechanics in Persona 4...or at least that’s what’s floating about as the reason for the change.

Chris: She says again that this is what her parents did, so she’s not going to turn away from it. We tell her she should reconsider, but she doesn’t feel like there’s any choice for her. Having been confided in, we RANK UP. After that, she laments that she was born a woman, and has made every effort not to be looked down on for it, and yet she’s ultimately gotten nothing for it—she’s still getting locked into a woman’s world and can’t escape her “choice”.

Shinjiro: Marrying a complete stranger, having her name and group stripped from her, and being expected to produce a kid, all of it because she’s a woman and so Kirijo group will prosper. Is there no need for her there as a person? Then she apologizes for “burdening” us with all of this drama.

Chris: We’re at the helm as leader, she says, and she wonders if she forced the position on us, and if she did, wonders if she did it so that we could prove to her that there’s no difference between men and women. Having grown supremely uncomfortable, she takes her leave.

Junpei’s in Great condition again, but we’re not bothering with that today. We spend the evening walking Koromaru.

1/10. We’re sick now. We talk to Mitsuru—she and Akihiko are going to take National Admissions Tests on the 16^th and 17^th—and then get back in bed to make that cold go away.

1/11. It’s Coming of Age Day, so no school. Aside from hearing more bullshit about the cult, there’s nothing to do, so back to bed it is.

1/12. More cult stuff in the gossip. Ms. Ounishi talks about plating and “gold” medals, and how the weird rumors about the supernatural are bullshit. We spend time with Mitsuru again today.

We get out to the Wild Duck burger joint, and she says she’s acquired a taste for fast food.

Shinjiro: *affronted* What is she doing? I know it tastes good, but it’s the furthest thing from healthy! I thought I told you to make sure the group were eating right!

Chris: *soothingly* Calm down, man. I know you’re worried, but let her have a little freedom. This is the seeming end of the world, so it counts twice here. Let her eat what she wants.

Tristram: Seriously, letting loose occasionally and eating some junk food isn’t that bad a thing. Sometimes we just need a cheat day here or there, and her more than most. Stress will fuck you up and if a burger will make her feel better, then a burger she can have.

Chris: She says again that the world’s a lot bigger than she thought, or rather that hers was a lot smaller than she figured, and says that from where she’s standing, ours is brilliant. She discovers so many things about herself, and wishes it could go on forever. She hesitates, and then asks us what we think while we’re with her. A slightly odd thing to ask, but we say we enjoy ourselves, and this makes her smile. We get a rush of affection from her as she says she’s going to treasure the times we’ve spent together, and we RANK UP.

We have a scene when we get back to the dorm. Junpei’s waiting for us there, and says they’re all going to Hagakure, and asks if we want to come.

> “Definitely!” (LESSEAT.)
> “I was just there!” (Untrue.)
> “I’m not paying your way.” (I have 9,999,999 yen, I’d have to be a colossal ass to say this.)

He says, surprised, that that was easy. As he explains, it’s on Akihiko—they made a bet at Yakushima. No details for us, but we’re the one who won, according to him, without even knowing we were playing. So, he’s been waiting to invite us out. Everyone else is gone, so we have to hurry!

Tristram: Nobody won that bet. Nobody.

Empyrea: Especially not that one dude who was placed in as a gay joke. Not a participant, I know, but god, Atlus...

Chris: We lost that bet if anything, since we got stuck with a robot stalker. Aigis, Akihiko, and Yukari are already there when we arrive. I have to question why Aigis is present, since she doesn’t eat. Five specials get ordered, and Junpei’s ecstatic, though Akihiko’s feeling the dent in his wallet. Why’s he gotta treat everyone when his bet was only with Junpei, he asks? Your own fault mister, you’re the one who got competitive.

Tristram: And this is why you set the terms of victory beforehand, buddy. Besides, you’d absolutely do the same to Junpei if he lost, don’t pretend that you wouldn’t.

Aigis asks about the magazine on a counter, which apparently has a disturbing article in it. She points it out, and it’s all about ESJL talking about a messiah. According to him, mankind is “imprisoned” by hate and anger, which are sins. But soon, a savior will descend, blah blah blah. I get Ryoji, but is Takaya supposed to have a mind-melting charisma aura, too?

Empyrea: Wasn’t that Jin’s work, actually? I think Akihiko mentions at one point the guy has quite presence on the interwebs.

Chris: He also mentions Nyx by name, and has apparently seen her and been given power by her. How he does any of those things considering we never heard of any contact Ryoji had with them, or anyone else knowing about Nyx, is beyond me.

Ill Logic: 103

Tristram: *angry cat hiss* Bitch I will reach into the game and end you! And then go after the writers for this latest in a long line of truly massive ass-pulls!

Empyrea: *shrugs* My read on it had always been that you’re not meant to take it at face value. He says those stuff to garner traction like the cult leader that he is.

Chris: He says that Nyx will save the world. Junpei asks what I just voiced, and Akihiko speculates that he’s obviously lying his ass off for kicks. Reading, Aigis continues as ESJL, quoting him talking about SEES, referring to us as others with his power, which he claims we’re abusing.

Tristram: This entire thing about SEES ‘abusing’ our power reminds me of nothing so much as David Miscavige on one of his ‘Suppressive Persons’ rants, and that’s not something any game should ever make me think of.

Chris: I’ve never heard of those, but they sound ominously trashy. Takaya is spreading lies that his power is a blessing from Nyx, and says that we’re the ones causing the scourge of Apathy Syndrome. When wondering about how Takaya got so popular, Akihiko speculates that Jin and his internet savvy orchestrated it.

Empyrea: Oh, there it is.

~~Nah, man. All the internet savvy in the world wouldn’t make sensible people believe this shit. People are just stupid.~~ Hey, it’s future me, and while the Ill Logic point will remain for just how fast he was able to spread this shit, I have unfortunately gained a lot of perspective about the sensibilities of people on the internet.

Ill Logic: 104

Tristram: Sadly I have met a lot of people on the internet stupid enough to buy into this. Add someone with the supposed charisma of Takaya and you have yourself a highly dangerous combination. Personally I really don’t see it but I’ve never understood religion or belief that much anyway.

Empyrea: Never doubted that. I mean, have you seen the stuff on Twitter?

Chris: Again reading as ESJL, Aigis talks about preparations for Nyx’s arrival, and says that Nyx will “correct” our “wrongs”. It ends with a preachy spiel about the blessed who take joy in Nyx’s coming. It seems Takaya’s got sway over the entire city, and Aigis says that most people are afraid even if they won’t admit it.

Tristram: The entire idea of Takaya turning the city into one big cult just makes my skin crawl so hard my bones are feeling it.

Empyrea: Too bad we don’t really get to see much of that, especially not in P3P.

Chris: Aigis wonders why. Death is a part of life. Don’t all humans realize this?

Yes, Aigis, they do. Everyone on the planet does. We’ve been writing books making fun of fictional people who don’t since civilization began. But Atlus disagrees.

DEATH IS INEVITABLE: 71

Remember: humanity are actually all idiots who fear death irrationally. And yet somehow yearn for it in our hearts, according to the other half of the game. Junpei pumps us up about beating down Strega, and we chow down on ramen. The scene ends, we head back to the dorm, we go to bed early.

Empyrea: Then Atlus releases the P3 Club Book which says that Nyx is an extraterrestrial entity that everyone tried to cope with and that the entire “Collective Unconscious” was born from every living beings’ survival instinct...

Chris: 1/13. We hang out with Aigis today, and we head to the roof.

Tristram: It begins. The absolute nadir of this game is Aigis’ Social Link, and the fact that I’m saying that after Ryoji should give you a pretty good idea of how much I hate it!

Chris: Not unlike Akihiko and Junpei, she says that she likes this place, saying you can see the entire town from up here. She directs our attention to Moonlight Bridge, then the dorm, then the ocean. Before she came here, liking or disliking scenery wasn’t a thing for her. She asks about us, and if we like this town. We like it, we say, and she’s happy to hear it. She seems a little down as she mentions that many things she didn’t realize before are becoming clear lately. It’s kind of scary occasionally.

But, if she can change by being with us, she won’t shy away from it. It’s phrased less like “I’ll be with you if it means I can change” and more like “I’ll change if it means I can be with you”.

Empyrea: That never sat well with me. It just highlighted how clingy Aigis really got.

Aigis I’m Stuck With You: 43

Chris: We RANK UP. She apologizes for keeping us up here in the cold, and we head back to the dorm.

1/14. It’s another Mitsuru day.

This time, we head to the theater again. This movie is one she’s been wanting to see for a while, and she’s very pleased with it. Typical road trip movie, but she loved the character expression, and talks about the main character sacrificing everything just to go on a journey with his friends before going back to his normal life. She asks if we’ve ever thought about going far away, where no one knows us.

Shinjiro: I hope she’s not thinking about doing what I did. Was great for avoiding shit, but not really much more.

Chris: We say we have, and this surprises her. She says not to misunderstand her—she’s not yearning to run away and leave everything behind. Just that it’s a little too easy to become “bound” by the things important to you. In her case, the company, and she admits that sometimes her name feels like shackles. Of course, thinking like this isn’t good, and she remarks that she’s become undisciplined. She laughs about being a lackluster senpai, always leaning on us, and we RANK UP. Jeez, we’re already at rank 8?

She sighs about having made her decision, yet only using her time with us to complain about it and run from it. She talks a lot about responsibility, but doesn’t have the courage for her convictions, she says.

“Was I really this weak…? Just a woman waiting for someone to support her…?”

She calls herself a fool, and we tell her that’s not true. Though she chuckles, she just accuses herself of fishing to hear that. She hesitantly wants to know if we’d…run away with her. That’s what she’s asking, when a man whose face screams “asshole” in a way that would make Tanaka proud walks up. Guess who?

As if on cue, the man Mitsuru is supposed to be marrying soon says he was looking for her, and that they’re leaving, all short and strict. Mitsuru frowns, saying she didn’t make any plans with him for today, but he says his business meeting was canceled.

“I’m a very busy man. You’re just going to have to adjust your schedule to mine.”

Mitsuru protests that she can’t, as she’s already made plans, and he brushes that off: nothing she has to do could be more important than spending time with him. He sounds every bit as assholish in the game as in this post. He tells her not to look so sullen: it’s the best arrangement.

“Now, you are to be my wife, and you are to be obedient. *sigh* Why must you and your family always be so difficult?”

Shinjiro: *eyes wide, ready to smash something* If I weren’t in this damn hospital bed—!

Chris: He’s not done.

“Well, at least your father is no longer alive. I am relieved at that. I imagine you feel the same.”

Shinjiro:

YOU WORTHLESS SHIT STAIN, I 'M GONNA TAKE YOUR SKULL AND DRAG IT ACROSS—

*CLANG*

Tristram: Okay Shinjiro was about to implode so that was probably necessary, but also motherfucker I will walk right into this game and kick you in the junk so hard your testicles turn into strawberry jam if you don’t apologise to Mitsuru right fucking now.

Empyrea: *sips tea* Classic. Because Mitsuru is a romance option, the guy she’s supposed to marry has to be a complete asshole.

Don’t take me wrong now. I’d love nothing more than to club this guy to death, but I’ve seen this type of thing so many times, and it’s...irritating, to say the least.

Chris: Mitsuru’s mouth is ajar and she asks how the hell he can say that, shaking with anger. We give him an outraged (if bland) “How dare you!”. Listen, after threatening to beat a bitch on Saori’s behalf, is this the best we can muster? Come on, Persona 3. Shinjiro was doing fine. It gets Mitsuru’s gratitude, though, and her fiance huffs.

He snottishly scoffs at us, and then sniffs at her about how she’ll need him in the corporate management world, and she reluctantly agrees. He calls her a good girl, and says he knew she would listen to reason.

*sound of metal tearing*

Shinjiro: *completely unfazed by being hit over the head, now crushing the guilty wok into scrap*

Chris: That’s it, refocus your anger.

Shinjiro: How dare he say that to her?! What kind of heartless freak actually says that to someone, especially who just lost her dad?!? People like him don’t actually exist, do they? If they do, they need boots up their asses!!

Tristram: This heartless fuck deserves everything you want to do to him, Shinjiro. *cracks knuckles*

Empyrea: *hands Tristram a pair of gloves outfitted with iron spikes on the knuckles* Again, typical harem, uh, antagonist. So, I’ll leave the raging to you guys; I’ve bitten that bait way too many times in the past.

Chris: He’s doing a good job at being a hate-able guy, as intended, although not exactly realistically so. He says they’re leaving now, since he made reservations at a luxurious restaurant. Mitsuru just quietly agrees. She turns to us and says she wishes we hadn’t seen that. She thanks us for the fun she had today, and apologizes. We’re not done with her yet, though.

> “Wait!”
> “Senpai, let’s run!”

She tells us to stop. She knows how we feel, but she can’t. Asshole immediately pipes up, literally calling us a commoner, and tells us to be mindful of the vast difference between Mitsuru and I.

Shinjiro: YOU FUCKING DIPSHIT, THE BIGGEST THING HERE IS MY PATIENCE FOR NOT BEATING YOU UNCONSIOUS!!! SHE’S A DAMN SIGHT MORE LIKE US THAN SHE’LL EVER BE TO YOU!!!!

Chris: He turns to her and tells her to do the same, and not associate with people like us due to her associates being his associates now. If her friends aren’t high society material, he has to suffer for it.

“Bad company ruins good morals, as they say. Don’t worry, I’ve picked out other friends for you. Refined ones.”

He then turns to us with “I advise you never come near Mitsuru again, little missy.”

We tell him, politely, to go fuck himself. He wonders if we’re “simple”, and then turns on a dime, looks at our “pretty face” and in a manner that would make Mr. Tanaka sick, and says he might allow us to sneak our way into high society. Then, he turns around on that, and then accuses us of using our sex as a weapon.

Tristram: I think we just met the father of Haru’s fiancé in P5, fucking hell!

Empyrea: *cringes and groans* Uggghh... Still too fresh in my mind! Don’t remind me...

Shinjiro: He’s smug, entitled, hateful, self-absorbed, toxic, and he flirts with other girls in front of his fiancee and then blames them?! Come on, already!!! Let me rip this guy a new asshole!!!

“Men, however, require talent. I have the Group to look after. A little girl’s burdens are nothing next to mine...”

Shinjiro: YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF—

Chris: Just a sec, Shinji. Hear that? That’s the enemy encounter music.

Tristram: Fuck him up, Mitsuru!

Shinjiro: *frozen* Is she finally gonna kick his ass?!

Chris: Something like it! She tells him that’s enough, and when he asks why she’s getting so angry, she says an insult to us is an insult to her. She brings up his “burdens”, and says he’s right to think there’s no comparison—we, she says, stand on our own feet and fight with our own strength, and we’ve been a pillar for her. We’re dear to her, and she demands he take back everything he said.

Thrown off, he tries to keep his composure and says he supposes she can associate with us from time to time. She shreds that “apology”, and tells him people aren’t things, pawns, and most definitely not servants. And a man like him, who thinks they are? Is nothing like what Kirijo Group needs or wants. A company is made up of its people, and him, barely registering as a person (okay, she doesn’t say that outright, but you get the idea), is worthless to them. From here on out, they’re strangers. Her company can recover and prosper without having to plead for help from “a shabby cretin like you.”

Shinjiro: *mouth slightly ajar* I’m not sure if it’s cool or sad that that’s the most profane thing I’ve ever heard Mitsuru say. Good on her, though.

Empyrea: *typing away* Huh... It’s rated M, apparently. Then yeah, they could’ve done better than that.

Chris: She then threatens him, saying that if he tries some shady shit, she’s gonna use the full power of Kiriji Group to destroy him.

“Get out of here, you snob! I don’t want to see your face ever again!”

He literally runs off yelling for his mommy.

Empyrea: *joins in on the applause* That’s our girl!

Tristram: *wiping tears away* I’m so proud! Destroy him, Mitsuru. Burn him and his reputation to the ground. After all, he has it coming.

Chris: Cooling down, Mitsuru says that “a company is made of its people” is something her father told her many times. People are the basis of everything, and she thinks she fully understands that now. She chuckles, and we go home.

1/15. We get a call from Theodore, telling us about two lost humans in Tartarus we need to rescue. Mr. Ono weeps about samurai and reinforces that the apocalyptic rumors are bullshit. Today is an Aigis day.

She takes us to Iwatodai station, where stray dogs begin barking at her. She recognizes them as ones she’s seen near the shrine. They begin having a conversation of sorts, with Aigis assuring them that Koromaru isn’t being forced to fight with SEES. They’re angry because he’s been more frequently injured lately. Frankly, I think they’re right to be angry. We encourage her to try talking it out, and she stretches out her hand only for a dog to hurt itself trying to bite her metal gun-hand. They run away, and she says it’s no wonder they doubt her, given how unnatural her body is.

Tristram: Their aggression has nothing to do with her being a robot and everything to do with her being a fucking asshole. I have seen dogs snuggle with everything from fenceposts to tin cans, for god’s sake. They’re pack animals and will love you to death with just a little careful body language and affection.

Chris: Well, ‘careful body language’ probably factors into it. She’s made of metal and doesn’t breathe, she probably looks like the epitome of ‘uncanny and threatening’. She thinks about herself, saying that despite her heart getting more human, her body will forever be metal. She’s not strong enough to be a weapon and too rigid to be a human. Neither fish nor fowl, neither machine nor human. We tell her that’s not true.

She wants to protest, but accepts our words and puts on a pained smile. She says if she can stay by our side, nothing should faze her.

Aigis I’m Stuck With You: 44

We RANK UP.

Tristram: You will never be allowed to stay by our sides, you creeper.

Chris: We head to Tartarus to rescue the missing people that night, as Aigis is feeling Great and the clock is cheap today.

1/16. It’s another Aigis day.

We go to Paulownia Mall, where we meet an old lady looking for her cat, whose name is Mewlie. She asks if we’ve seen her, and unfortunately we haven’t, so she thanks us and looks elsewhere. Though she’s gone off, Aigis wants to look for the cat, saying the lady will suffer if they’re apart much longer. Aigis, when given approval to do so, tries out some human phrases and idioms.

She then takes us on a short montage of us going to different places in the mall, calling for Mewlie. We end up at the shrine, having been unsuccessful in finding her. Aigis berates herself for being able to detect shadows, but not a cat. She apologizes for taking us on a fruitless search and again brings up her humanity or lack thereof. We need to get back to the dorm, but she thanks us for indulging her, and we RANK UP. She apologizes for it, but wants to head back alone this time.

Tristram: This is as good as the Link gets. Savour it, because it’s all downhill from here.

Chris: We take Koromaru for a walk with Mitsuru tonight. While he plays around, we and she set to work taking down some of the hundreds of cult posters set up around the neighborhood, and chat in the fresh air about taking down our enemies.

1/17. It’s a free Sunday. Down in the lounge, Aigis informs us she found the problem with the consoles in the command room, the camera was malfunctioning. We head up there and there’s one last new recording, dated 1/15. The camera is on the third floor lounge, and Koromaru is growling at it. Offscreen, Fuuka and Yukari contemplate future consultation. Aigis is also present, and also looking at the camera. She draws their attention to the miniature camera near the ceiling, which has been camouflaged. This creeps them out, due to the possibility there could be cameras in their rooms as well. Though she’s sure none of the guys would dare go and steal a key to use the camera system, she does say she’d kick the crap out of them before Nyx ever got a chance. Aigis senses her vital signs going haywire and wonders if she’s “dying of shame”, which Yukari ignores in favor of recommending going to Mitsuru to have that system removed. She and Fuuka run off, and Koromaru and Aigis begin talking into the camera.

Tristram: Oh look, a friendly reminder that Ikutsuki was a massive creep who was literally spying on teenagers and a child every second that they were in the building. Just in case you’d somehow managed to convince yourself that he had any kind of redeeming feature.

Chris: We go out to pick up our rewards for the missing people: a Soma and a Salvation skill card.

1/18. Mr. Edogawa is teaching today, who in his own way discourages the cult rumors, and asks about Medea and Circe. Aigis comes to us during lunch, concerned about Mewlie and wishing to find her and reunite her with the old woman. So, we do so after school.

When searching the strip mall, we hear a cat meowing. Aigis tracks it down to the back alley, and indeed, there’s an old white spotted cat there, exactly as the lady described.

Aigis asks if it’s Mewlie, she meows, and we go find the old lady to return her to her. She’s extremely grateful, saying Mewlie’s the only one she had left, that she was so lonely, and she doesn’t know how to thank us. Aigis inquires about loneliness, and is told that being alone in one’s old age is a terrible thing. She takes Mewlie back home to her basket and blanket, thanking us again as she leaves. Aigis comes to the conclusion that “living” is something that can’t be done alone. Yeah, she’s right about that. She goes on that it’s important to keep someone in your thoughts, and know you’re in theirs, to be free to contact them at any time,

“And…. to touch them….”

Tristram: God-dammit! I hate how randomly creepy this link gets! Mind you this is nothing compared to how much I loathe the end of this Link.

Chris: Don’t get creepy again, Aigis, you’ve been doing good so far.

Empyrea: In her defense, I think she’s kinda sorta referring to the feeling of having someone close by. You know, what with her having unfeeling metal skin. But, uh, she could’ve worded that better.

Chris: Her expression says she’s still speculating on all of this, but she does get one thing: she feels happy when she’s with us. I’m not giving that a point, because every Social Link does that and half of them say as much. We RANK UP. Afterwards, she wonders how close to “connecting with other people” she can come with “a body like mine”.

Don’t be nasty, Atlus. But she’s just kidding. Though, she does wonder if something’s wrong with her, give how timid she’s been lately. We head back.

Aigis asks at the dorm why people are looking forward to the Fall. We don’t know, man, Atlus is trying to hammer some point in. She speculates that people have either lost the will to live, or aren’t allowed to have one in today’s society. We head to Tartarus tonight to do some more grinding.

Tristram: They’re not, Aigis. The only one looking forward to it is Takaya and he’s being a baby version of L Ron Hubbard and trying to convince everyone that it’s totally a good idea to sign their souls over to his cult for a billion years.

Empyrea: Well, if we take what our cast is telling us at face value, they’re doing a pretty good job. Baby version of L. Ron Hubbard, indeed.

Chris: For a Jesus lookalike he sure does act like the Devil in the flesh. 1/19. On the way to school, we hear students talking about Apathy Syndrome. One person says it’s cold out, and they hardly want to get out from under the blankets in the morning. Another person says that Apathy Syndrome doesn’t sound so bad—you could laze around all day and everyone would get all concerned for you and shit. The other person says maybe they’ll try and become a Syndrome victim.

*stock wheels-screeching-to-halt-noise*

I think the pan Shinji hit me over the head with was more subtle than that.

Shinjiro: I think my grandchildren felt that.

Tristram: I think Aigis’ grandchildren felt that. And now if you’ll excuse me, I need to reach into the game and demolish these idiots for basically wishing for potentially lethal levels of depression.

Empyrea: I’m pretty sure the Collective Unconscious itself felt that.

Chris: In case anyone somehow missed that, that was yet another of Atlus’ flimsy attempts at showing us that humanity craves death. You know, because high schoolers don’t want to go to do schoolwork.

*Sigh* Fine. Let’s talk about it at length for a change.

Let’s put to one side the fact that they’ve already fucked up Nyx’s origin and she’s now somehow both a primordial ancient being and a result of a “big ball of shadows” experiment. What we should make note of for everyone new to Persona is that in this series, and some other SMT games I think, the big bad tends to be a god who always has arisen, or at least claims to have arisen (sometimes how truthful they’re being and how evil they really are is up in the air) from humanity’s collective desires. This is supposedly the case with Nyx. and Atlus is trying really hard to convince us—as was apparent when Pharos smugly informed us so—that most of humanity really do want to die, and this is their latest stupid attempt at doing so.

Tristram: This entire aspect of the plot needs to die in the deepest burning pits of fucking hell.

Empyrea: And again, they contradict that later!

Chris: And this is where things collapse. They should’ve just stuck with the experiment story or not included the “this is what humanity wants” angle for once, because this is not only unbelievable, it’s not possible. The way Pharos phrased it, and the way it has been phrased throughout the latter half of the game, is people losing meaning in their lives and losing the will to live, and wanting an end to their suffering; in short, being suicidal.

You can’t just say that most of humanity are suicidal. It doesn’t fucking work. It’s human nature to desire life and want to continue living, and while depression and suicidal depression may be rampant these days, it is far and away the minority and doesn’t have a chance in hell of overtaking any significant portion of the world’s population. Humanity would not be sustainable and we would not have a population of seven and a half billion (four billion at the time P3 was first published) if we were so endemically depressed!

The entire premise of this game’s climax is functionally a wreck.

And this is the latest way they are insisting on it and trying to get us to believe it. I mean, look at this crap. They’d have you believe that this is what it looks like to crave death in your heart and be sick of living: not wanting to get up and go to school on a cold day. I am going to give this five points because I’m pretty sure this is the fifth time a flimsy insistence like this has come along. And it can have another point for essentially having suicidal people be the cause of the world ending. That apocalypse coming? Congratulations, everyone who’s ever been horribly depressed and thought about ending their lives—this game blames you for it.

DEATH IS INEVITABLE: 77

Tristram: *sharpening a very wicked looking knife* Oh, don’t mind me. I’m just planning what I’m going to do if I ever meet the motherfucker who wrote this plotline.

Empyrea: I wish they just ran with what they wrote in the club book. Nyx, the extraterrestrial being emitting “Waves of Death” and maybe the experiment creating Death reawakened her, so here we are. But yeah, we got what we got.

Chris: And because this game made such a critical combination of mistakes setting up its premise and climax, and this is just one more example of it, it’s getting another one of these points, too:

Bad Game Design: 80

Urgh. Now, let’s get back to the fucking game itself—it’s a Mitsuru day. This time, she takes us up onto the roof. No doubt she has some things to say after that fiasco from last time.

She says we don’t need to worry about anyone coming, arranging privacy being her “first abuse of power”. She becomes another person to show us how far we can see from here, and she says she comes up here to look at what we’re defending. She apologizes profusely for what happened the other day, and how it must’ve upset us—yo, it’s no trouble, you were cool as shit! We tell her so, and she chuckles. The words she said to that asshole have stayed with her, and claims she must’ve been looking at people only in terms of how they could benefit her.

Tristram: Mitsuru, you are so much more than that mentality and you always have been.

Chris: If she’s honest, it was like that with us. We happened along and fit her criteria for a leader, and the others in SEES all fit in as pawns too. She mentions Yukari realizing that, and calling her on it. She says she never tried to realize where she was coming from, even though that was the problem, and she thanks us for opening the group’s eyes and bringing us all back together. According to her, nothing’s harder than looking people straight in the eye, and no one could’ve served as the leader better than we did. She does pat herself on the back for that one, guessing that she has quite an eye for people. Though she self-deprecates some more thereafter, we can sense that she’s trusting us, and we RANK UP.

Mitsuru turns red, as she brings up that she called us by our first name the last time we met, without even realizing it. She’s a bit embarrassed about it, but intends to continue that, though only when it’s just the two of us. She goes on to say that on the outside, we’re an adorable girl, but on the inside, we’re stronger, more courageous, and more charismatic than a man. In the end, it was her who was hung up on the concept of her femininity, and she chides herself for using “because I’m a woman” as an excuse for failing herself. She calls herself a coward in the face of what we’re like, and refuses to allow her sex or family name to shackle her anymore. She’s Mitsuru, and she has things only she can do. And she damn well is going to. She says she’s never going to ask us to run away with her ever again. Rather, she’d like us to fight alongside her. We head back to the dorm.

With that, we have to stop here. We have just ten more days of the game left before the final set of challenges, so it’ll be about one more post left before we do that and the overall review of the game.

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