01 ★ video

[clusteringstars]

[Good afternoon, Hinoto-Ri. It seems like many new arrivals have decided to introduce themselves on the network after settling in, and Yuusei here does follow the trend, although... in a slightly different manner. The feed opens to show the young man sitting on the bed in his apartment, staring at a single card in his hand with a thoughtful expression. The silence may be long enough to make one wonder whether he's actually aware he's being recorded, but any doubts should be resolved as he addresses anyone who might be watching this.]

... "Persona Duels"...

[He finally lifts his gaze from the card to the camera, curiosity visible on his face.]

Does anyone know more about those?

[... Apparently introductions can wait in this one's mind, and he has much more interesting things to investigate.]

Comments

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[deathbylipstick]

[Whooooa that sure is a grey-skinned girl on the other end.]

Not personally, but I have seen several Persona Duel arenas around the city. Perhaps you could start there?

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[clusteringstars]

[... Well, he's probably seen weirder, thanks to the encounter with people from different worlds, Persona and everything, so... he's not going to give it much thought. More likely assume it's because of the different worlds.

Yuusei nods at the suggestion, making a mental note of it.]

I'm planning to.

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[deathbylipstick]

[She nods.]

If I may ask, why are you interested in using the Personas for dueling?

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[clusteringstars]

[He doesn't answer right away, looking down at the card in his hand instead.]

... I want to know if the duels here are anything like those played where I come from.

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[deathbylipstick]

You had similar battles on your world?

That is interesting. Battling monsters was popular on my world as well, but I never had any desire to raise them.

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[clusteringstars]

Seems that way. [He's not completely sure if they can be compared yet, hence his question to the general public.]

... In your world as well?

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[deathbylipstick]

Oh, yes. It's possible to dedicate one's entire life to the raising and care of fighting beasts. In my world it is a very popular pastime.

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[clusteringstars]

Actual beasts, then.

[If he understands that correctly. It won't surprise him if the answer is positive -- after all, Duel Monsters are real as well, though few people are aware of that fact.]

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[deathbylipstick]

Yes, actual beasts.

Are yours not the same?

[They have video game versions, of course, for people whose living situations can't handle the real thing. But Kanaya never particularly liked either variety.]

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[clusteringstars]

Not quite.

[He turns the card in his hand around so that its front faces the camera.]

We duel with cards like this one.

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[deathbylipstick]

[...Oh. Well, it seems like she was misunderstanding the situation greatly. He was only talking about a trading card game.]

I see.

[oathofdevotion]

[She frowns a little.]

It seems a little...violent, using our Personas to duel.

[clusteringstars]

Not all duels are violent.

[And he seems certain of it, even though a good number of duels he's been involved into had rather violent outcome...]

[oathofdevotion]

True. Dueling is necessary for training, and I can understand dueling for that. But with such powerful creatures like the Personas at our command, it seems that things could get dangerous very easily.

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[empressive]

[The duels, in her opinion, are an absolute insult to everything she's worked for and everything SEES stood for. Persona were tools, they could be used as weapons if the user wished, but by no means were they games for amusement.]

Are you looking to participate in them?

[Not a challenge, just a curious question. Mitsuru wouldn't mind trying to keep track of just who is involved in these.]

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[clusteringstars]

[As for Yuusei, he doesn't really care about the show that is apparently a part of the duels; it may or may not be a slight inconvenience, but nothing to concern himself with at the moment. And the concept of a "duel" that would be a battle of two people's very souls (quite literally, in this case)... well. It certainly isn't unfamiliar.]

Possibly.

[It's why he's looking into the whole thing in the first place, but from what he's gathered so far, it's very likely he will be interested in doing that.]

... Are you?

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[empressive]

[That's what I'm saying dude.

Persona Duels on Motorcycles.

We gotta make it happen.]

No. Although I may not mind being involved with one for curiousity's sake... [To measure the level of damage caused, number of injured, etc. But those are all factors that can be easily observed as well.] ...I don't find it a very appropriate way to utilize a Persona.

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[clusteringstars]

[We're doing this

BETTER BELIEVE IT

For now, the duelist chooses to believe such things would not occur during a monitored duel hey let the man hope.]

Any reason for that?

[And just like Mitsuru's one from a moment before, it's simply a curious question. He'd like to hear any opinions on the subject.]

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[empressive]

[No hope allowed, Yuusei. Them's the breaks.]

It... stems from some personal beliefs. [it's the best way she can phrase it without being outright rude to him.] I'm used to Persona being tools that beings can use, but normally for the betterment of the world, not necessarily for sport.

[Sport. Goddamnit, Akihiko better not become suddenly interested in this himself.]

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[clusteringstars]

[There is always hope for this one. Always.

He frowns a bit at the part where she calls Persona "tools" -- while he's new to the concept, if they're truly a part of a person, he wouldn't call them that, much less after discovering his own happens to be a monster he's considered a partner for a long time.]

... There's more to dueling than that. One can grow to understand other people better in a duel, as well as themselves.

[At least in ones he's used to, but he assumes these work in a similar manner. All evidence points to that, after all.]

I take it you were a Persona-user before coming here?

[Not many people would claim to be "used to Persona" otherwise, right?]

[otakuro]

It looks like the dueling ring is in Aries. I don't think they're too picky about who participates, so I picked up a flier when I went by earlier.

[clusteringstars]

Aries... [He gives the camera a small nod.] Thanks, I'll check it out.

[otakuro]

It's not a problem.

I was going to check out a few matches. I'm not sure if it's actually a real sport or all faked, like... American wrestling or something.

[clusteringstars]

[... Huh. For some reason, most people seem to perceive dueling as just a sport. It's somewhat odd how differently one can see things when they're from another world... but not really surprising.]

There seems to be more to it than that.

[otakuro]

What do you mean? You've seen some of these already?