I guess the only character in anime I've truly related to is Rune Balot from Mardock Scramble. When almost everyone gives up on you because of labels/piles on you to avoid being the next target, then having to be reborn as a person through a hard road that is painful but worth it - that I can. I don't think I've ever found a male character in anime that's ever come close.

In creative mediums in general, there is only one male character I ever have related to - Gregory House from House M.D. I don't speak like him for the greater part or jerk people around, but I understand the endless battle against physical pain that others can't unless they've also been afflicted with it. Also the aspect of what you're best at can also be bad for you if taken too far. Staying afloat in that battle requires a lot of strength of will and some form of relief. And when you are able to harness reason to be able to see what most can't, some become fearful while some become envious. While yourself, emotion is something you shelve out of necessity. And I also identify with the fact the extreme majority of his family brings him nothing but negativity, which is exactly how it is for me.

And yes, I guess both characters have a penchant of making other people uncomfortable.

If LiS2 actually did mirror real life that much, I'm sorry to hear that because...if that kind of behaviour really is the norm...well...I guess for me I did sense that, but it's very with or against, as a sheer majority of titles are. I'm a person that believes that you can make people change their stance by action. Not as in entirely but that they can see where someone else is coming from.

Road 96 goes across the whole spectrum and showed that if you get too heavy-handed from any side, you lose the others for good and adversity will result most of the time. But that if you do try, by action, to show where you're coming from, you can make some people meet you part-way. That is a rare thing to show these days and I found it very refreshing. As well as that it could take people from all sides, show you why they are who they are and what they want to achieve. The general mantra of the game is 'keep moving forward.' Also, any game that manages to combine Zoe, Stan and Mitch, Sonya, Jarod, Fanny, Alex and John and make it work has my respect.

The Last of Us - I was never intrigued that much by 1, I consider 2 to be a land mine that resulting in one of my favourite VAs ever, Laura Bailey, getting harassed to heck and back because of the character she voiced, resulting in the Game Awards giving her an awards she should have won years ago and multiple times beforehand, when Logan Cunningham was shunned yet again.

One thing that's major for me with characters - I generally don't want to relate to them. My favourite characters tend to be nothing like me. I want to be convinced about who they are and why. Self-insertion fantasies/rack off to another world isekai-style because this one is too hard - those are instant dealbreakers for me.

Looks like Joe Mixon just ended his career. What a scumbag.

Okay, something I need to point out. I did play Life Is Strange 1. I enjoyed episodes 1-4. I utterly despise episode 5 and it almost permanently killed my interest in its universe. Its villain was pathetically constructed and then the game decides to guilt you for wanting Pricefield. I appreciate and respect the overall message of the game, but guilting players over Pricefield is something I can't abide by. The prequel was just insulting. As for 2...it seems to care more about the message than the content and I gave up pursuing it after I watched all of the first ep. I gave up on LiS for good after that.

Road 96 is what I feel Life is Strange should have been. It's a balanced take, has far better characters, more innovative gameplay. And most of all - the choices actually matter. Really looking forward to its prequel coming out in a few months. I would also say very similar things about Citizen Sleeper although it is more VN + dice rolls. Those two games helped me get over the decade-long bitter aftertaste Life is Strange left me with.

Texans have loads of picks for a few years, they have no excuse to not improve. Aside from McNair being scum, but most owners are. It would be hilarious if the Waltons end up being worse for Denver than Tepper has been for Carolina.

I've always been intrigued by Fire Emblem but it never comes out on a platform I can play, so...yeah.

It's now September, on a Tartarus session after the summer holiday stint. Cleared three Social Links now (Justice, Hermit, Tower), several others are at 8-9. Academics is one off max, had a fusion accident happen to get that flukey achieve off the list. The XP gains are finally getting big thanks to the cards being significant enough in rank. Didn't expect Ken, Koromaru and Shinjiro to all join in such a short span though. This is more already than everyone who joined in P4 so this is going to be an awkward balancing act in levelling.

Ryans officialy HC of the Texans. But that quickly got overshadowed by...Payton to the Broncos with a 3rd for a 1st and 2nd.

In August now in P3P. Tartarus grind on the agenda after work. The reveals that happened during the summer events certainly ramped things up. Aigis has certainly made things more...amusing? Kind of necessary given how heavy everything else was.

The Cowboys continue to be a circus. They seriously forced Kellen Moore out? He's the scapegoat? Yeah, Sean Payton won't have anything to do with that mess, even if McCarthy was somehow outed. People says Ryans is likely to get the Texans job but...is it really a good idea to put a first-time head coach into that dumpster fire of an organisation?

Fair, I understand why Reid would bring up a lot of conflicting stuff. Cincinnati...some of their players and fans got very arrogant in the leadup, especially their mayor. 'Burrowhead' was also a really dumb idea. I think this lineup will be the one that gets the most attention. If Cincinnati did make it, they had next to no O-line left - you'd have run rampant even more than Jones did. Which kinda sucks for you, but if the Eagles are the best team, they should have it. I'll be working from home on Superbowl day, so I will get to have it on and my worktype allows it.

Have reached a point in Persona 3 where I'm really beginning to enjoy it. Once Fuuka joined the fray, things got WAY more interesting. Mamiko Noto voicing her is sublime to boot.

GL in the Reidbowl. The narratives for the next fortnight will be plentiful.

I finally have my hardcovers of Summertime Rendering. They look so damn good. I don't see what the complaints are with the Udon Entertainment adaption either. Also had volumes of You Like Me, Not My Daughter and The Elder Sister-Like One arrive.

It seems as if Dak is getting the majority of the blame. Yes, he did have two harsh interceptions, but...are people seriously going to just laugh off the McCarthy/Moore gaffs and forget that these kind of results have been commonplace post-1995 because Jerry Jones refuses to let anyone have enough control to do the job properly? It's a sad thing to say but maybe Jones no longer being alive is what would lead to Dallas getting over the hump. Can we really think of any coach post-Jimmy Johnson that really should have had the job, aside from Parcells and that didn't last long.

I think I've accepted that P3P will be a very slow grind. Technically, P4G certainly was yet...it didn't feel it as much.