Hi! I'm Nat/Snorp, a young writer who is Super Normal about my favourite books, movies and games especially. This blog is home to my more coherent ramblings, as well as perhaps some original work, too!
I challenged myself to make one fan alt of each character in Skullgirls Mobile! Click readmore to see em all, and be wary that there are quite a few based on the Sun and Moon show!
In order: Ragna The Bloodedge (Blazblue), Dimitri Alexander Blaiydd (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Phantom R (Rhythm Thief)
Milady (Persona 5), Nikki (Love Nikki Mobile Game), Shez (Fire Emblem: Three Hopes)
Maka Albarn (Soul Eater), Iris Wilson (Great Ace Attorney Chronicles), Kim Diehl (Soul Eater again)
Everything is slow with this damn creature, as though a sense of urgency was reserved for people beneath him. He sighs like it’s an imposition just to explain himself. "This. Do you suppose it's a nightmare, all of this?"
Powerful demon of the First House. When he was first created, Grimm focused his energy exclusively into whatever took his fancy-- which was usually some variation on parties, food and...other simple pleasures. The power and status afforded by his blood set him up for a somewhat cushy life of extravagance. When the Nightmare King was lost, however...Grimm stepped up to accept the mantle, becoming the new king and vessel.
At first, he largely saw the power of the Heart as another source of entertainment. He appeared before humans in the Victorian era, and persuaded one or two to follow him home (Isaac Bennet, for example, who became Belphegor). He found their ideas of demons and devils endlessly amusing, and adopted the horned look as a jab at the whole silly idea.
His trips to the human world did prove to be for the best, though. When seeing how their world worked- and where it failed -he gained a new compassion and a greater appreciation for the sheer power he had been entrusted with.
A demon has limited experience, though, and there was only so much he could do. Only so much he could understand. A human, on the other hand- one with a strong sense of justice and firsthand knowledge of suffering - would they be able to do more?
Now it's Persona-l: Escapism and Freedom in Tokyo Mirage Sessions and Persona 5
On the surface, Tokyo Mirage Sessions seems about as Diet Persona™ as a game can get. With a cast of colourful teens out to save the world using their Stands Persona Performa, some critique of our society, and the same amount of clueless running around Shibuya, it would be easy to write the game off as a quick cash-grab by their respective studios. But when giving TMS another look, you might be surprised at the depth that lurks beneath the pastel-coloured waters. Today we’ll be taking a deep dive into two specific themes that persist across both games.
For those who somehow missed an originally Wii-U exclusive JRPG which didn’t include the Fire Emblem or Shin Megami Tensei tags in its title, Tokyo Mirage Sessions: FE is a collaboration between Atlas and Intelligent Systems to bring a little Fire Emblem flavour to the familiar Zio-spamming recipe of the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona series. The game follows Itsuki Aoi, a nineteen-year-old with dark blue hair who has therefore been recognised by the universe itself as the main character. He discovers his ability to summon a Performa— a Fire Emblem character turned to a Persona – and joins up with other Performa users to battle mirages (i.e Shadows), pursuing their dreams and growing stronger as they do. It’s a setup that requires no further introduction if you’ve ever picked up an Atlas game before. They have a rightful confidence in this formula that allows them to focus on refinement and improved storytelling, the benefits of which absolutely shine in Persona 5.
Tokyo Mirage Sessions predates its more successful cousin by two years, but I argue we see the same brilliant attention to detail, themes and realism across both, and nowhere is this more apparent than in how both games handle freedom and escapism. For those still working through these eighty-hour behemoths, not to worry! There are spoilers for the first few story dungeons and other aspects, but not the endings of the games.
The two player teams present an interesting dichotomy, partly because of how similar they seem on the surface. Take their publicity situation. Posters of the Phantom Thieves’ logo plaster every building in P5, and Shibuya 106 is always displaying posters of Kiria or Tsubasa’s newest production— a very nice touch for TMS’s story, considering how much focus is placed on the nitty-gritty, mechanical aspects of building a career in performing. But there is one key distinction. While neither group is recognised for their heroic work in the Metaverse or Idolasphere respectively, the names Kiria Kurono, Tsubasa Oribe and Mamori Minamoto have gathered everything from a cult following to a full-blown fan frenzy. This has fascinating ripples throughout the rest of the story that feel fully considered by the writers.
Within the P5 cast up to Okumura’s Palace, many members join the Phantom Thieves because they feel backed into a corner. In Joker’s case, the corner is very literal. For Ann and Makoto, they could, in a purely technical sense, do the bidding of the villain and escape physically unharmed, but nobody in their right mind would suggest submitting to Kamoshida or Kaneshiro is a good idea. Imagery of imprisonment is everywhere, through promotional art and cutscenes and every line of dialogue. But this imprisonment is rarely a physical thing. Even in the literal jail of the Velvet Room replaces one wall with a huge portal back to the real world, albeit obscured by the camera angle. Restrictions on the Phantom Thieves are often nebulous or even self-imposed, and I find it fascinating that their problems rarely evaporate after they awaken their Persona and gain a new outlook. While the pressures of society are given a face for each Thief, the writers never make the mistake of treating it as if these singular persons are the only issue— instead, they represent a wider imprisonment.
Conversely, the Mirage Masters don’t seem to face these same issues. Not to say they have no conflict, but there is a sense of freedom that permeates every aspect of the game. It’s an interesting approach; their lives aren’t ruined or ended by failure, but their dreams will crumble before them if they can’t push on in their professional journey, and the world will be worse off for the loss of talented creators to the mirages. The Idolasphere may not feel of much import. Obviously there are consequences to leaving it unchecked, otherwise there would be no driving plot force to have the characters enter at all. But the Idolasphere and its adventures seem to be an inconvenience to most of the TMS cast. They aren’t actively seeking out new Idolasphere locations, excitedly searching for new equipment and attempting to train their Performa in their off time, the way the Phantom Thieves do. These are driven young professionals, yes, perhaps with the exception of main character Itsuki Aoi. But not driven by anything the Idolasphere offers- they already have their career aspirations, and it isn’t to fight shadows mirages for the rest of their lives.
This is even reflected in gameplay. Where leaving the palace in Persona 5 ends your day and has you missing out on a limited timeslot, TMS allows the player to jump in and out of any Idolasphere location, at any time. You could say that this is because TMS lacks the limited time frame mechanic that appeared in all three modern Persona games, but I would say the lack of that day-by-day mechanic is, itself, another way to show the freedom the TMS cast enjoy.
For the Phantom Thieves, the metaverse is their escape. Even in official art, you can see the grins as they jump into action:
Regular life, for the Thieves, is a tedious Sisyphean battle, where they feel like they have little power and little control. The power of a Persona is one thing that elevates them, makes them special, in their minds, anyway. Right from the flash-forward at the start of the game, it’s clear that the world is hostile to them. While Joker bounces around with a grin on his face and heaps of style, crowds react to him with fear, scorn, and derision. This in spite of the fact he has seemingly done little more than nab a prize and disappear, in true phantom thief style. And when Joker is caught by the police, the prospect of the truth being discovered becomes more and more unsettling, the closer the Phantom Thieves grow to each other. Beside the criminal charges: Ryuji is separated from his single mother, Ann loses her career and support network, Morgana loses the only people who understand him, Makoto loses her best chance at individuality and self-expression. The world is out to get the Phantom Thieves, and if that happens, they lose everything. They won’t die, presumably, but their lives are likely to become hollow and empty. This again emphasises the idea of their imprisonment being a less tangible thing, hard to fight and much harder to escape from.
I could probably go on for another few pages but we’ll draw things to a close for now. Escapism has always been a less talked-about motif in Atlas games, rarely the ‘point’ of any one story, but it’s often there, an interesting compliment to the main theme. Persona 3 delves into mortality, and I believe escapism is a fascinating part of that, as a way to distract from it and try to live a happy life in spite of the inevitable end. Persona 4 focuses on finding the truth, despite a society that tries to force conformity, and they discover comfort and freedom by finding people who let them be their true selves. Persona 5 was merely the first game to push these themes into the spotlight. But let’s not forget the lesser-loved Atlas games, either!
And hey, maybe if you see Tokyo Mirage Sessions on sale? Give it a go. I promise it’s pretty good.
Major spoilers for the Miguel/Across the Spiderverse (and some headcanon)
Warning for potential eye strain too
Little disclaimer, this is just meant to be a little emotional character study with Miguel— not trying to justify or coddle him for events in the film
This is how I interpreted a part of his motives where his multiverse mission is to make sure everything is in order, and to stick to a certain script in order to cling onto what he (and he assumes everyone else) still has out of fear of losing them due to one miscalculation. (honestly I’m not even sure if his alteration alone caused the collapse of the universe— maybe it was an outside cause, and he took the blame for himself out of survivor’s guilt). I think he’s still essentially wrong in the film (with Miles especially), but I do kinda see his reasoning for why he stresses about keeping the multiverse together by any means necessary, so this comic is a little elaboration on that?
Some extra headcanon context: Miguel and his brother Gabriel (whom he likely named his daughter after) are child abuse survivors in his 90s run, and I feel like him wanting to be a good dad is trying to break that cycle. I also personally imagine him being a single father, so it makes his want to jump dimensions to be there for the other Gabriella more urgent, assuming he’s a single father in that universe too. It’s ambiguous, but I also feel like he lost Gabriella in a spider-man related accident— like a building collapse during a fight with a villain or something along those lines, and he couldn’t get her out in time, so he still blames himself for that. Guilt is a huge part of Miguel’s character for me, so I hope they retain or expand on that.
Feel free to ask to tag for any of the subject matter
AGRHFRNEKFM foaming at the mouth rn, I love this kind of content where it's an explanation, not an excuse. There's a lot to dive into with Miguel's character and I'm praying they capitalize in the next film!
Younger twin of Adrik Ruzumovsky, Aberthol hides a great many secrets of his own. But it's fine- what's the worst that could happen?
Following the death of his parents, he and his brother went to live with their aunt in America. Her legal work sparked a fascination in Aberthol, and he decided to pursue a legal career of his own.
Through school, work, and relationships, Aberthol maintains a high standard of decorum, carrying himself in a way that would make his family proud. And that would all be relatively painless, if not for the interdimensional, chaotic entity that he's also trying to keep sealed within himself.
Adrik was born as the older of a pair of twins somewhere in Russia. They were raised in a wealthy family, tutored and sculpted as young prodigies. However, when a suspicious home robbery ends in both parents killed, the boys are taken in by their aunt in America.
While growing up with their aunt, Adrik comes into contact with a suspicious man named Grimm, who seems to appear from nowhere and possess other strange powers. Grimm confesses the source of his power, and offers Adrik a deal which changes both of their lives:
Give up the power of the Nightmare King to a human for the very first time.
me when someone drops the most lengthy, several paragraph long in-deph dissection of my fic including several theories, thoughts, and analyzation in the ao3 comment section
someone: hey I noticed this thing you did in your writing!
me, kicking my feet up flirtatiously: oh??? do you want to hear my thoughts on why I did that? do you want a play-by-play of the language choices in every related sentence? do you want an exhaustive breakdown of The Themes???
Greetings! I am Natalia, a young writer with a lot of Feelings about games, and a whole multiverse of characters to share. On this blog I'll be hosting my rambles, as well as my more coherent work, snippets of upcoming novels, and art from various stories, like you see above. Thank you for checking out my tumblr!
hi there. just curious about what u guys are writing about. u can link ur work here if u wanna. tell me about the new character, the plot, the vibes. go ahead :) reblog if u like (I also wanna follow some active writeblrs, go ahead and like this/reblog if ur doing ur thing)
Ngl, I rebooted my whole blog to turn it into a proper writeblr, sharing my rambles about the writing in other media but also for teasing my own stuff because there is A Lot
I am Very Normal about Media, Guys @ghostlymonade - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
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