Persona 3 Reload - Blog Posts

local teen struggles to hit stationary object with sword

To protect the world, he must sleep... At least he's not alone

ryoshu doodles

Shinjiro Promare au

[05/03]

fold your wings and sleep peacefully

I'm so grateful to have met you.. it seems so insignificant, but maybe there was some meaning in it, for both of us

I'm on a roll! Made two more digital paintings with my tablet set to greyscale so I had no idea what the colors would be when it popped out, I'm pretty happy with em!

They were made with two different color noise images and obviously one of them was a LOT more vibrant than the other, but I'm very happy with em! Specifically the Ryoji drawing, I like that quite a bit.

Have a mediocre painting of my favorite twink that I made at like,, midnight last night. As a treat.

Alt versions, because I'm indecisive

I need more people to write Aigis and Ryoji as friends, post-game or in some canon divergence au. They are made to be opposing forces, to clash for the fate of the world, but the purpose designated for them by their creators is not the purpose they chose to follow. They become friends in both because and in spite of what they are, because who would better understand their struggles? Neither is truly human, but they are both people. People who doubt their own humanity. They validate each other's struggles in a way no one else could, before affirming that yes, you are a person, you worked so very hard to be a person and I recognize that struggle and say that it is ok if you don't understand all the nuances of humanity right away, I won't judge you, because I am the exact same way.

Yes, Aigis initially saw Ryoji as dangerous, and he was, but I want them to grow past that. I want them to be able to look back at their first clash and think about how much they've grown since then. I want them to tell each other that the fact that they feel remorse for the lives lost is a clear sign of their newfound empathy for others, and that yes it's difficult, grappling with those feelings, but they should face them head on for the sake of those lost lives. I want them to come to see the other as one of their closest friends, the one they can turn to whenever they need.

Aigis and Ryoji should be friends, because they chose to be more than the enemies they were when they first met.

I think all the modern persona protagonists deserve to be a little bit of a God, as a treat. We already have Makoto being a door, maybe Yu could be a wall, and Ren is a carpet. But like, a really special wall and carpet, you know? Ones that could kill God.

Adult Ryoji because he deserves to grow up but also I punted all my headcanons onto him

Ryoji ends up becoming a photographer after high school. I imagine he'd really enjoy photography actually, preserving special moments for people to remember. He's actually really good at getting people to genuinely smile too, so being a photographer would be perfect for him.

He also runs a moderately successful blog to share his photos (he uses way too many emojis.) The blog's fans are mostly people who think he's hot (I know I'm not good at making attractive characters but I'm doing my best) even though only like, 15% of the blog's content includes photos of himself. Still, he has fun with his blog, and likes to travel around a lot to see new places and meet new people. That's what the other 85% of the blog's content is, photos of places he's been. Not necessarily tourist destinations, though he definitely adores those, just places he thinks are beautiful. A nice sunset, or a peaceful view. Ryoji loves just.. preserving those moments.

He's a bit of a fashion disaster honestly, wears the loudest, brightest colors unless someone (usually Makoto or, if she's around, Yukari) tells him to go change into something more sensible. The scarf is a staple in every outfit though, he wouldn't be himself without it.

And finally, of course he still flirts with pretty much everyone. The only thing growing up did was help him learn to read the room, but even then he's kind of a menace.

Headcanon time!

Ryoji, being whatever the fuck he is™ is constantly swarmed by shadows during the dark hour. But not in a 'they're trying to kill him' way, more in an 'involuntary cuddle pile with goop' way. Shadows are completely docile towards him, even friendly, because he's one of them and also stupid strong so he can protect them. He can order them to do simple tasks if he wants, though he probably never would because Ryoji either doesn't understand the goopy monsters that really seem to like him, or he's ashamed of himself and refuses to use his authority over shadows that way (y'all have no idea how much self-loathing I can slap into this little blorbo I swear to Nyx.)

You guys have no idea how upset I am that we didn't get a Thanatos theurgy.

Pair him up with Saturnus, have a theurgy where the culminations of your bonds with Death work together to wreak absolute havoc.

Or maybe leave him alone, unlock the theurgy through story events and let Ryoji's ghost appear Chidori-style, because even if he's no longer present in the world, there's still a piece of him left behind within your soul.

It would be especially poignant in Episode Aigis, where after such a long period of hostility Ryoji always remembers her final words, that he was her friend. There is no longer any bad blood between them, they will fight side-by-side even after Makoto is gone.

We deserved a Thanatos theurgy is what I'm saying

Ryoji Mochizuki palace where it's not Tartarus but actually a Cathedral.

Everywhere you look, it's dedicated to the Great Seal. Stained glass windows made in their image line the walls, statues carved into a familiar teenager hung by chains. Their story is depicted like a religious text, with Ryoji himself as the devil. There to trick the seal into pursuing the full moon shadows, to lie his way into being the seal's friend, to tempt the Great Seal away from delivering salvation to the world. It does not matter that Ryoji was missing his memories, that he was doing whatever he could to help his dearest friend, he was always a monster. One that was unworthy of the Seal's forgiveness, of their mercy.

Ryoji's shadow can always be found crying in front of a depiction of the Great Seal. He begs for someone to please take their revenge, to punish him for what he's done, it's all his fault, he killed the Great Seal, they would still be alive if not for him. He cannot let you take his treasure, he cannot let you take away his guilt. When you fight Ryoji, he appears as a grotesque replica of the Nyx Avatar. There is no more elegance, no more ethereal beauty to be found in Nyx's Appraiser, he is simply a monster.

Ryoji's treasure is the protagonist's evoker. A representation of how they fought to save the world, and how they accepted death to do so. Ryoji could not accept that death, so he clung to it. He clung to their memory instead of facing them himself, because he felt too much guilt.

Name: Ryoji Mochizuki

Location: Gekkoukan High School's rooftop

Distortion: Cathedral of Grief

Y'all my brother snatched my phone out of my hand earlier during the SINGLE, SOLITARY TIME I was writing a Ryomina kiss- not even anything spicy, just a kiss, and he was like "nope" and gave me my phone back. I was both mortified and annoyed because he said Ryoji's name was a typo because apparently he doesn't know anything about persona 3. I made this to cope.

Y'all it was literally the first time I ever wrote two characters just kissing, how was that when he decided to read my work for the first time????

Y'all ever find a fic that just latches onto your brain and refuses to let go? I have definitely spent a healthy amount of time thinking about Otherworld Messiah I promise. Have some art for this amazing, wonderful fic!

I had a lot of fun drawing this. This style actually feels really comfortable compared to my less cartoony style, it's certainly a lot more fun to doodle in during work!

Here's the timelapse if any of y'all wanna see it, slight flash warning because it goes really fast and switches backgrounds.

I wanna tag the author but idk if they have a Tumblr so just go read the fic, it's a lot of fun!

Various persons 3 reload prompts and things I want more of because I have been inhaling persona 3 fics at the speed of light and I have ideas even if I don't want to be the one to write them (yet, maybe I'll get around to it, don't worry about that.) May include crossover suggestions because those are half my life.

Nyx isn't necessarily a bad mom per say, she's just.. a goddess. She neither understands nor tries to understand humanity in all its intricacies, being so above them all. But.. she did try to offer Ryoji some small kindness as he existed as human. (We're basically going so hard on the strange family?? dynamics between the weird god-things. I think it'd be fun!)

Ryoji and Minato couldn't really claim to be gods, (well, maybe Ryoji could - Thanatos was the Greek god of death after all) but they're definitely not mortals anymore. They're.. powerful, otherworldly. (Potential badassery or potential angst, depending on how you interpret that. There are some fics that touch on this but not nearly enough)

Minato Arisato had existed during the dark hour for ten years after the accident. Every day at midnight, the world would be enveloped in green and shadows would roam the world. After living through the horrors of the dark hour, it only made sense that Minato would have something to show for it. (More slightly op Minato fics please. Again, I've read a few but not nearly enough! It doesn't help that none of them were finished 😔)

Percy Jackson crossover y'all. Come onnn, it's too easy and I have only found 2 so far. Isekai persona characters in or let Minato and Ryoji be kinda gods.

Follow up to that, it's so easy and fun to chuck characters into unsuspecting worlds via the power of I'm the author and I can do what I want. Isekai the shit out of your favorite characters. BNHA is my go-to because it's such a fun place to chuck people but like,, why not Undertale? Why not pokemon? Just fuckin yeet them into your favorite media franchise.

Ah. Nevermind. Started episode Aigis.

Smh I thought I was supposed to die at the end of the game, credits are rolling and I am not, in fact, dead. How dare I be misled so, either by the game faking me out or by the internet.

Smh I thought I was supposed to die at the end of the game, credits are rolling and I am not, in fact, dead. How dare I be misled so, either by the game faking me out or by the internet.

I finished Kamiki's social link, and uh

what

WHAT??

Did they just not wanna show him dying or is he secretly a magic being or smth?? Wtf?? I was having a moment and they just,, I'm so confused.

Sooo I was fighting the reaper bc I heard that's how you unlock the final Monad door within the passage. I failed the first time, got everyone confused and waffling about till the reaper finally killed us, but the second time?

Junpei said he's got my back, and he actually had my back! Koromaru ran away after being inflicted with fear, so I thought we would definitely lose. Like, only 3 party members? No way I could win. But Junpei, my boi, my bro, he landed a critical hit, letting me get in an all out attack that ACTUALLY DEFEATED THE REAPER!!

Anyway this pixie just did 9999 damage I'm going to cry

Can Yukari not learn Salvation?? I swear I thought she would be able to she's like,, the healing person.

Sooo.. I got to January 1st in P3R. Man the music and atmosphere suddenly just,, wow. Is that the Tartarus theme I hear? Everything is slightly desaturated, it seriously feels incredible. I'm just taking a moment to hang out in the lobby, listening and exploring the slightly dreary grey world I live in. People may not know the end is coming, but the world feels it. The only spot of color I've found is the Velvet Room, the one place unaffected by Nyx's approach.

It was a bit hard to take the jumble of vocab words that got spit at me seriously, but the art and music really know how to make me care, to make me take this seriously.

Y'all should see how my face positively lights up every time I see the dark hour cutscene when I didn't decide to go to Tartarus because that usually means I get to see Pharos and I love this strange eldritch child. He just shows up, says something vague and ominous, smiles about being friends, and dips. It's amazing, thank you for making sure I know when the full moon is. It's completely redundant because I see the deadline constantly but your efforts are appreciated because you're trying to help you strange eldritch child.

Mmm ok ngl P3R has *not* been doing a very good job with it's supposedly impactful moments so far. Like, some of these moments just don't have the vibes to make them feel like they're actually important, when logically I know they're supposed to be. The characters are all standing around in their basic poses in a basic shot, the music (while amazing) doesn't fit the emotion (like, did they seriously just go straight back to default dark hour theme on 9/5?) and as good as the animations and voice acting are, they're undercut by the pauses from waiting for the player to finish reading.

I watched the first persona 3 movie, and the contrast between the game moment and the movie moment for Fuuka's persona reveal revealed to me just how good it could've been but wasn't. Idk, I keep hearing how P3 has the best story but I'm just not seeing it. Was it better in portable? The story moments just haven't been hitting right.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M NOT COOL ENOUGH FOR YUKARI?? I'm going to riot and return to the only person in this entire school I respect, uhhhhh what was his name again? Scott the woz?

Oh my lord what is up with Ken Amada's dialogue in Tartarus boy I know you're a child but no one speaks like that all the time it's so weird. Amada, are you planning to murder everyone? Lull us into a false sense of security and stab us in our sleep? Because you're doing a really bad job, I feel the furthest thing from secure.

On the upside, he's a really good party member like, Light *and* elec coverage? Combined with Koromaru's Dark and fire I feel like P3 is spoiling me. Slap Yukari in there with my beloved Black Frost and I feel like I could murder the crap out of anything. Throw in my Clotho to buff/debuff the shit out of everything and an ever-changing physical attacker (presently Dakini) and we're decimating.

I ask this dude why he's not wearing a shirt and he calls me stupid and I think that's amazing dialogue. I probably should've asked something responsible like what their goals were but when faced with the option to finally get an answer as to why this dude is letting his nipples out constantly regardless of temperature I just had to take it. I didn't even get a straight answer it's incredible.

SOMEONE HURT THE DOG I'M GOING TO RIOT

Also they said the dog might be a persona user so.. are we going to give the dog a gun?

Ikutsuki just brought us a literal child what the fuck. He's moving into our dorm what the FUCK THIS IS AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILD

Like I knew this was going to happen because I've been spoiled for like.. half the game maybe? But I DIDN'T EXPECT HIM TO JUST,, BRING A LITERAL CHILD TO SCHOOL AND SAY "oh yeah he exists now, this is all of y'all's problem I'm not going to be taking care of him"

Ikutsuki is supposed to be the adult man we're a bunch of high school child soldiers I've suspended my disbelief so far but Ken Amada is where I'm drawing the line