1/11 training and breakfast

[citta]

[ As last minute prep for the dungeon, everybody has been called to get together for a training session during midnight at Lockdown, with promise of a light breakfast at the clubhouse afterwards and the suggestion that people take it easy during the day before they split up into their respective teams and head to the castle and the mountains.

Training is largely done in the school shrine, on the second floor where there's wide empty space without the maze to account for, where you can practice tactics together, or take on the Minato challenge where he has Messiah blast you apart in half a second and then immediately heals you and asks if you want to go again.

Breakfast at the clubhouse is split between western and traditional styles, whether you crave fluffy pancakes, or are more of a miso soup and grilled fish on rice sort of person. If you want anything in particular for lunch, Kido is on lunch duty and promises to make whatever you want, so long as you go out to the store and bring the ingredients back.

Thanks to everybody's efforts so far during the month, whether it's interacting with the townspeople or talking with the mayor or donating gemstones to the mountain shrine, the effects can already be seen around town, with the townspeople less wary of the Persona users, allowing them to purchase what they want in the stores if they want to have their own supplies to take into the dungeon later.

Now go out there and get along and learn to work together or is2g ]

Comments

ii

[flowerclips]

[ The kotatsu is also Rei's favourite place so she will claim the lesser-than-half side, which is covered completely with plates of breakfast. She will take both traditional and western breakfasts :9 ]

Umm, will I ever get taller?

[ Spoilers: no ]

[parhellia]

[ Rei eats so much, but she never gets taller because she's dead... Ala shuffles her cards and considers the question while she spreads them out face down on the table. It's not a typical tarot spread— she just spreads them out so they're a complete mess at all different angles. ]

Do you want to be taller, Rei? I think you're small and cute like this!

[ Which is fine when you're a kid, but, yeah. Kano also desperately wanted to be taller, so Ala knows the struggle, even if she doesn't fully get it. ]

[flowerclips]

Ehehe, thank you, Ala-chan.

[ She's gotten better at handling compliments. She used to get all flustered, but she can now take it like a champ. ]

I don't want to be a lot taller, but it'd be nice if I could kiss Tokidoki without having him to always bend down for me.

[parhellia]

[ The demon in her wanted to say something terrible, but she likes Toki so I'm not going to write it. ]

There's lots of other ways to get taller! You can pad your shoes, like Shuuya does, or walk around on stilts!

[flowerclips]

[ Write it, Card, tell me. Was it to cut off Toki's legs ]

You can pad your shoes?

[ She understands what stilts are, but padding shoes? Like... sticking napkins in there so you're a bit taller?? ]

[parhellia]

[ ASDLFKJH YES you already knew so I didn't need to write it ]

Mmhm! You can stick lots of napkins in there so you're a bit taller!

[ Yeah! Or buy actual boots that do the same thing, like Kano does, or Naoto. ]

You want something soft and squishy so your feet don't hurt, but you can add that sorta stuff inside your shoes, and you can also make the bottom thicker underneath too!

[flowerclips]

[ LMAO goddammit. Go ahead and do it, Ala, chop off his legs. ]

Oh, I see! I'll have to try that then!

[ It won't make a difference at all. ]

Then I'll ask a different question. Ummm, will Tokidoki and I be always together?

[parhellia]

[ I need to figure out where Minato's axe is first, I can't remember if Terry or Sasuke has it or if it's lost somewhere else.

It's another yes or no question, but it's a relationship question and that's what these cards are best for. ]

"How do we keep Toki and Rei together forever?" Okay! [ just subtly changes the question so it's less yes/no ] First, I need you to choose three cards, but don't flip them over yet! Just point to them. The first card represents the past, the second is the present, and the third is the future~

[flowerclips]

[ Haki won't tell us. Just have Ala raid Terry's belongings. ]

Ummm, this one, this one, and that one!

[ She just randomly points to whatever cards. I will leave the fortunes to you, Card. ]

[parhellia]

[ The real reason Ala and Jiro are late to the dungeon is because Ala needed Terry out of the house so she can steal his things.

rng gives me the upright Chariot as Rei's first card, which is a great card and has Ala grinning ear to ear. ]

Ooh, Chariot~ Relationships are all about choices, and sometimes you face real hard ones. But Chariot means you made your choices and you stuck with them, choosing to be together, choosing to get married, choosing to stay even when you're having problems. Right now, you and Toki are happy together, right? It's not 'cause of luck or anything like that; it's through your own choices that you can guarantee your own happiness, and Chariot wants you to remember that.

[ So when things go south, make a choice to turn thing around. When things are good, hold on tightly to that. It's not all fate. You're always in control. ]

[flowerclips]

[ That better be the actual game canon reason or I will be very upset. ]

Mmhm! I chose to stay with Tokidoki forever so I'll keep making happy choices for us! Ehehe, what's the next card?

[ This is a very good start. Don't fuck this up now, rng. ]

[parhellia]

The next card is... Reversed Judgement! In other words, judgement turned upon the two of you, questioning those choices you made. That's not to say they're right or wrong choices, but a nudge to reconsider them, and learn from what people are worried about.

[ Getting married so quickly, marrying somebody you know barely anything about, whether they should have eaten soap that one time, etc etc. ]

Sometimes people make mistakes and find it hard to admit, so when something's bothering them, they hide it and don't look at it. That's how Shadows come to be, so don't do that! If there's anything you're worried about between the two of you, it's good to talk it out! But you're the one who knows best, so don't let anybody tell you your choices were absolutely wrong.

[ Essentially, fuck the haters. ]

[flowerclips]

Tokidoki and I promised that we'd always be honest with each other, so we'll always talk about what we're worried about!

[ Rei is really not interested in having a third Shadow, so she has learned. Hopefully, Toki won't ever have a Shadow, but before she can bug Ala into flipping over the final card, she's confused about one thing. ]

But people are questioning our choices?

[parhellia]

Yep, people are questioning your choices! The cards say so!

[ She doesn't know who they may be or what they're questioning, but if the card says Reversed Judgement, then there must be something to judge. ]

Looks like you should make that promise with other people too, so you're always honest with each other~

[flowerclips]

I will, but they should be honest with me too! If they have questions, they could just ask!

[ Communicate with her!! ]

[parhellia]

Yeah, they should, but people suck at asking questions~ Maybe they don't want to upset you? I watch people all the time when they're outside- sometimes they just wanna be friends, and keep things to themselves instead of making the other person mad.

[ Find people who don't care and will be honest to you. ]

[flowerclips]

I can understand that, but we should talk honestly to each other, especially since we're a team...

[ And double especially since everyone is having a Shadow because no one is talking, holy shit, guys. ]

Would asking each person if they have any questions about my choices be a good idea?

[parhellia]

Hmm... That'd be kinda weird, I think! Like, if you asked me, I don't care either way.

[ It's none of her business, and it probably goes the same for a handful of the people out here. ]

Ask people whose opinions you really care about. 'cause if you don't care about somebody's opinions in the first place, there's no point asking them, right?

[flowerclips]

Mm, that's true...

[ Time to have a talk with Kido and Terry later... but moving on! ]

U-Umm, what's the last card?

[parhellia]

[ Ala flips the card over, and it's the upright Devil. ]

Um. Hm.

[ Give her a sec to work out a narrative. ]

The Devil is sorta like doing what you want? Yeah. The most important thing is doing what you want, and taking what happiness you can.

[flowerclips]

[ This explanation is far shorter than the previous ones so Rei is rightfully concerned about getting the Devil. ]

I-Isn't that bad?! The Devil isn't good and doing whatever you want is also not good sometimes!

[parhellia]

[ Ala: "there are no bad cards!"
also Ala: drawing the tower, death, moon, devil, etc cards ]

As long as you're aware, isn't that the point? It doesn't mean your future is selfish and no good, but rather, it's a reminder for you to be aware that your actions affect everybody else around you. Humans look after themselves first and foremost. That's natural. But sometimes doing what you want is no good, you're right! So if doing something you like hurts somebody else, you either do it and take responsibility, or choose not to do it. It's that sort of reminder!

[flowerclips]

[ She slowly nods as she tries to wrap her mind around Ala's description of arcana. It's just a reminder, right. Her actions will have consequences. Maybe she should carefully consider everything that she'll do after this, though this is just a tarot card reading. It's not like Ala is correctly predicting anything. ]

I think I get it... thank you, Ala-chan, that was really helpful!

[ Someone should probably tell her that these things aren't really real and that she shouldn't take them so seriously. ]

I didn't know that Arcanas were so important and said so much!

[parhellia]

[ Souji and Minato really did no Persona education on these guys, huh? ]

Mhm! They're meant to guide you, so whenever you're troubled over something, you can always come find me and we'll read the cards together~

[flowerclips]

[ Why go through that trouble when Ala can just do it for them? ]

Okay, I will! You're the best, Ala-chan!

[ She will certainly bother her for more tarot card readings in the future but for now, she has to devour everything. She needs to eat as much as she can before Minato sucks all the food into that black hole that he calls a stomach. ]