Ohhh for the ask game, 🌙 🌱🖌️ for Kai, and 💝☕💀 for Fross!
Yes!!! Thank you, friend!! :D
Kai
🌙 - What’s their sleep schedule like?
I feel like Kai's sleep schedule is pretty good! He's an athlete and he's always moving around and keeping himself busy, so I bet he sleeps like a rock lol. I also imagine him as a morning person so he must go to sleep relatively early too.
🌱 - Do they have a green thumb or are they a plant killer?
I don't wanna say he's a plant killer but it's hard to imagine him having a green thumb 😭 I do still love the idea that he names plants and talks to them, but I guess that just means he leaves their actual care to someone else 😔 Tbf there's Haru in the P5R AU and Zo in the Horizon AU so maybe they can teach him :)
🖌️ - Do they have any hobbies?
Yes! Well, there's archery, which I guess could also be a possible career path if he's lucky. There's also him singing and playing the drums :) I also mentioned him being into photography in his intro post, which uhm. I never brought up again 😭 But I still think it's a nice thought!
Fross
💝 - What gestures do they really appreciate? How do you get on their good side?
Ah, well, generally he's looking for an escape 🤔 He doesn't like to be challenged, he likes people who'll play along with him without demanding much from him. He does very much like to be coddled and treated like a fragile little thing lmao. As for any specific gestures... idk! Something really grandiose and romantic but comfortable for him lol. Sweep him off his feet. Save his life. Indulging his interests would also be nice, haha.
☕ - Coffee or tea?
Hmmm tea probably 🤔 I don't picture him being too into either but maybe that's just me projecting lol
💀 - How do they feel about horror movies?
Hmm, good question! I feel like he secretly likes the adrenaline (<- see how basically any time he falls in love with someone it can be explained through misattribution of arousal lmao) but he also probably wouldn't want to watch one alone lol. He's so easily scared. But it's fine as long as he has someone to hold him and coddle him afterwards, hehe. Like in that one piece I drew of him and J watching Midnight Mass, you know? ^^
sorry for taking so long with these uhhh no taggign i dont want to deal with that if you see this uh. hi tganks for interacting with that one post haha and me /twirls hair/ tgank you you guys are so cool actually
Uhh... With Personas included, Takuto, but Azathoth might not even be Takuto's Persona so I guess that doesn't count :')
who is more likely to break a bone?
Takuto...
who knows best what to say to upset the other?
Definitely Adachi </3
who is most likely to apologise first after an argument?
ALWAYS TAKUTO
but the second Adachi cracks and apologizes first I'm throwing a party. Character development! :D
who treats who’s wounds more often?
They both get turns, but usually Adachi, actually! Takuto is just very careless, haha. Adachi grumbles about it at first, but he does it of his own volition, and then enjoys feeling useful :')
who is in constant need of comfort?
Listen. Takuto very obviously needs his validation LMAO
who gets more jealous?
AGAIN. HAVE YOU MET ADACHI
who’s most likely to walk out on the other?
Adachi. He loves pushing people away. Besides, Takuto has ALL of the patience in the world, honestly bless his soul T-T
who will propose?
Definitely Takuto and Adachi will turn him down ;;;-;;;
who has the most difficult parents?
I mean. Adachi's parents are out of the picture and that's how I tend to treat Takuto's parents too for simplicity... But Adachi's are canonically neglectful assholes so let's go with that :)
who initiates hand-holding when they’re out in public?
Definitely Takuto! Though I could see it being the other way around when Adachi gets jealous.... :)
who comes up for the other all the time?
Adachi is more famous, so. Let's go with that.
who hogs the blankets?
Adachi lmao
who gets more sad?
Takuto, of course!
who is better at cheering the other up?
Takuto!!! Adachi tends to scoff at him or just say something snarky in response, but you can tell from his tsundere smile that it's working :')
who’s the one that playfully slaps the other all the time after they make silly jokes?
Adachi! He got his fair share of receiving with Dojima, now it's his turn to give :')
who is more streetwise?
Adachi, of course
who is more wise?
Takuto T-T
who’s the shyest?
Takuto. Adachi is definitely more closed off but he's done with the awkward detective act :')
who boasts about the other more?
Takuto! But he just does it more openly and more often, Adachi is very well aware that Takuto is a catch hehe 👀
who sits on who’s lap?
Adachi sits on Takuto's lap. Takuto definitely asked him to but he soon realizes it's not that bad :)
I'm obsessed with the idea of Rumi being awful at cooking. Like everything she makes she burns, and it makes Maruki SO nervous whenever she's trying to make something herself. I feel like Rumi would find it funny... Makes a cake, it ends up being pitch black, then Maruki has to make a new one...
Heheheh, awful cook Rumi!! It's definitely a fun headcanon considering that Takuto is good at cooking like the malewife he is 🙃
I agree, though, she would find it funny! I'm sure she takes it all with a smile, and she's always like "welp. that was a flop. time to try again! :D" and Takuto is like "pLEASE DON'T ;-;"
I feel like she would get tired of Takuto's eyes being on her every time she cooks, but it's kinda her own fault, hehe. Come on, Rumi, sweetheart, he's just trying to make sure the house doesn't burn down! ^^
Poor Rumi tries to make Takuto a cake to surprise him for his birthday but it ends up being pitch black..... Imagine that Takuto smells something burning and finds the cake earlier than planned, while Rumi is outside buying balloons or picking up Takuto's gifts or whatever.... and Takuto is just like "Rumi???? went out???? while she had something in the oven???? o-O"
And then the realization hits him... If he lets Rumi serve that cake, he's gonna have to eat it.... He would never be able to break her heart by rejecting something that she was so excited to make for him...
And so, Takuto just throws the whole cake away and sets out to make his own birthday cake, as quickly as he can, before Rumi comes home! Baking is not his specialty, but this man is about to experience the baking speedrun of his fucking life, lmao. Luckily, he manages to finish before Rumi comes back, so he leaves the cake in the oven and hopes she won't notice the difference.
Poor Takuto is sweating buckets trying to pretend that the cake is a surprise, haha :')
Does Rumi notice? I dunno. Takuto is an godawful actor, but, if he's acting weird about the cake, anyone in Rumi's place would assume that it's because he saw the cake and spoiled the whole surprise for himself, not because... you know... the whole ass cake has been entirely replaced ._.
The kicker is........... Rumi was planning to propose by hiding the ring in Takuto's birthday cake.................
Obviously, when she realizes said ring is nowhere to be found, she has no choice but to ask Takuto about it, and the poor guy is just standing there like
For the ask game, Maruki vs Kai, I need to know if Mookie has it in him to fight his son.. (●'◡'●)
Hell yeah, thanks a lot, Leel!!! :D
Takuto absolutely doesn't want to fight his son, but you've seen just how far he's willing to go to defend his ideal reality, so he would and he does fight Kai in the canon timeline. And whoever wins really depends on the context. Under normal circumstances, Kai would absolutely win because he's trained for it, you know? But if you throw the Metaverse into the mix... well, Azathoth is pretty strong, I don't think Kai could defeat him on his own. Though of course, that would just be unfair. In a fair match, Kai would always win, haha :')
Sorry I'm such a god simp BUT, if Rumi was around in the third semester (and I guess everything would have to be fine for this to happen), I feel like she'd help with watering Azathoth (since... he'd dry out) around the palace. But since Azzie's a bit stupid, he'd get his own watering can and pour it on her too.. I don't know, just a cute idea I thought I'd share (❁´◡`❁)
Oh my god that's so so cute...... 🥺🥺🥺
I'm getting really REALLY into the the idea of Azathoth not understanding how humans work and just repeating whatever the people around him do to him back at them..... Haha, silly Azathoth. Lovable idiot :')
And!!! Rumi and Azathoth interacting!!! YES PLEASE T-T
I've noticed you making more post about your OC, I really wanna hear more about him if you have anything... please ramble about him as much as you want §(*￣▽￣*)§
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING AAAAAAAAAAA
OKAY SO i've been bluescreening all afternoon because I don't know where to start??? This is a P5R x Horizon AU, so do I start with the P5R stuff? Do I start with the Horizon stuff? Do I start with who Artekai actually is as a person?? I was gonna go over the story in chronological order, but when I was midway through my essay I realized it was gonna require me to explain a lot of Horizon stuff I don't really wanna get into, and it was gonna be like 80% Horizon, 10% P5R, and 10% actual Artekai ;-; So I'm gonna try to focus on my boy this time :')
(Just as a heads up, I will be going into major Horizon Zero Dawn spoilers, but I will try to explain so that it makes sense even if you’ve never played it. Also, I'm still brushing up on my knowledge of Horizon lore, so please forgive me if I get the timeline or any other canon details wrong ;-;)
SO. About Artekai. He's a 20 years old (give or take) machine hunter from the Cut (which is what we currently call Yellowstone, except it's frozen over in the future). He's a manwhore, a himbo, an attention whore. He doesn't have the same terms to describe his identity as we do, but, if he did, he'd be a gay trans guy. He's a devout believer of the Banuk tribe's faith and dreams of being a shaman someday, but, deep down, what he truly wants is to be needed. Poor guy feels very disconnected from the world and the people around him ;-;
Artekai, much like his predecessor, is extremely forgiving. Even though the werak that raised him was wiped out during the war with the Carja, he doesn't hold a grudge against any of the other tribes. That is, of course, as long as they don't say anything against Kai's people now, because he can get very defensive very quickly, but, otherwise, he always tends to assumes the best of everyone. He also advocates for diplomacy, migration, and trading between tribes, because he believes that contact with other cultures can only enrich all of their tribes and make them stronger.
Speaking of cultures, you could say that Kai takes a lot of interest in anthropology, haha. He's excited about traveling around and learning all about other tribes, their traditions and their beliefs, showing a child-like wonder when he gets to share his own culture with any outlanders who are willing to keep an open mind.
As protective as he is of his people, however, Kai does find some aspects of Banuk culture stifling, like the emphasis on self reliance or how everything, even survival, is made into a competition. He hopes to be able to get through to the other Banuk and push for a change, but he feels like he needs more authority to be able to actually achieve anything (which ties back to his desire to be a shaman - but it's fine, he'll settle for chieftain if he gets the chance).
On the topic of authority and social change, Artekai isn't very well liked amongst the Banuk, not even within his own werak. They tolerate him because he's a very skilled hunter and explorer, but he's the werak weirdo, who's overly clingy and flirts with the chieftain, who challenges tradition yet somehow believes in the Blue Light more obsessively than anyone else, who thinks he's the second coming of Banukai (an important historical figure in Banuk faith) or something equally insane. And yeah, Artekai's feet aren't exactly grounded on reality. He's a lot more quiet about it now, since he has been shamed for it throughout the years, but the werak he was raised in used to believe he had been born from the Blue Light to heal the world and restore peace to the machines, so he believed it too.
In that sense, I guess he's a bit of an anti-Aloy. And I know that sounds like more of a Carja thing to do, but it's all Azathoth's fault. Let me explain.
Back in the day, about half a century ago, there was this guy called Takuto Maruki (idk, you've probably never heard of him lol) who was part of Project Zero Dawn, because he was the world's leading expert on cognitive psience at the time. What was Project Zero Dawn, you may ask? Well, you see, at the time, a swarm of self replicating machines had gone rogue, so there was nothing humanity could do to save the world they knew. However, Zero Dawn was a project led by Elisabet Sobeck, created with the goal to stop the machines and restore life to Earth even after total extinction.
Azathoth, however, survived. How did he live through humanity's extinction, which would've presumably caused the cognitive world to crumble and be rebuilt later on in completely different ways? I'm not sure. I'm still figuring things out ;-; He's probably an actual deity and not just a cognitive being here. This AU is already very far removed from P5R canon, so that might as well happen, I guess.
Anyhow, Azathoth had to watch Takuto die. He lost his master, his role model, his only friend, his partner in crime... and, as if that wasn't enough, he had to watch the rest of humanity die as well. He watched as plants and animals disappeared, as the world was taken over by machines, and he couldn't do anything about it...
Azzie had a lot of time to sleep while he waited for the world to be repopulated. He might've even unlocked a new whole range of emotions while he processed what was happening around him. But, even when the wait was over and humans came back, he still felt... horribly empty. He needed his master, his chosen human, his friend. Even if humans came back, there'd never be another one as perfect as Takuto, who'd be able to give Azathoth a sense of purpose like he had, who'd help him feel complete again...
(unless...)
Azzie impulsively ordered a Takuto clone to be made. How???? No idea. Did he even have access to GAIA or ELEUTHIA??? I dunno. But Azzie is a deity, nothing was gonna stop him. He was gonna learn how to actualize an AI if necessary, dammit.
As you can see, I'm trying to connect the two things that don't make sense in this AU (The existence of a Takuto clone + Azathoth's survival) to try to fit everything in... but, on the other hand, this was self indulgent from the start, so maybe I can allow myself a few plot holes?
In any case, that's how Artekai was born! It was only then that Azathoth realized what he had done. He really had just made a whole ass baby just because he was sad and lonely... He could practically hear Takuto panicking and banging his head against a wall in the afterlife. Azathoth didn't know the first thing about taking care of a human child, so, for the baby's sake, he scouted the area and chose to hand him over to the Banuk. Why the Banuk, specifically? He probably thought their way of life suited Takuto or something. After all, wasn't Takuto self-reliant and resilient to a fault? Surely his clone would fare well in a society that valued those two traits above all else, right?
But Azathoth either didn't account or didn't care for the way the Banuk would react to his presence (he is the blind idiot god, so I'm leaning towards "didn't account"). This was around the time of the Derangement, which meant the machines that had once been peaceful were turning aggressive towards people without explanation. So, imagine you're a Banuk shaman and, during that period of change and uncertainty, a machine unlike any other (taller than any human, body bathed in gold and hovering over the ground, cables in place of limbs, bright blue light flowing through its tendrils and shining in his eyes) shows up at your werak and places a baby in your arms. For all you know, this baby has no human parents. This machine also seems a lot friendlier than all other machines, even before the Derangement. Are you supposed to not interpret that as some kind of divine sign?
So yeah. If Artekai's name sounds similar to Banukai, that was a deliberate choice. He was loved and uplifted by his original werak, which he misses dearly, but he was also pushed even harder than usual because they believed that the duty of saving the world rested on his shoulders. So that's why he's always so thirsty for validation.
Of course, someday, Artekai is gonna meet Azathoth and find out that he never was some sort of savior, because he's just the clone of some random dude from the old world (whereas his traveling partner Aloy really is the clone of the Scientist that Saved the World) and that he was made just because Azzie got lonely :/ That's not gonna be fun for anyone involved, haha. But hey, Kai still sticks with Aloy and helps save the world for real, so maybe his wish still came true somewhat! ^^
(I must say, though, I find it amusing that Azathoth single-handedly gave both Takuto and his son god complexes to match. King shit)
Ohhhhhh I wanna know what your favourite fic you wrote last year is! For the ask game (●'◡'●)
Oooh, okay, let's see...
Well, I promise this isn't because you're asking, but I'm really proud of Atlas! I didn't think I could write Azathoth, but.... I did...... And, of course, you know Azuki makes me really soft :')
I also really like Some Scars Never Fade! And I'm cheating a little with this one, because, even if I posted it last year, I wrote most of this fic in 2020, but... still, I'm so, so very weak for Dojiruki... ;-; In my humble opinion, this wasn't my best in terms of writing style, but, even so, I think this fic showcased their dynamic and what they each bring to the relationship well, so it has a special place in my heart :')
And I'm still very happy with Tristitia too! I think I managed to condense everything I had to say about Takutaro in one fic, but, more than that, it was very fun to explore what Takuto's emotional reaction would be in such a tough situation where his interests clashed with one another. And, well, I like seeing angry/resentful Mookie, haha ^^
