OPEN POST: Yusuke Kitagawa (Fox) - Persona 5

[wantsnudes]

Permanently open post! Come help me voicetest/pose for Yusuke's art/feed this starving boy idk. Or if you need inspiration, roll a prompt from the random scenario meme.

EDIT (FEB 2021): Yusuke is vanilla, Royal, or PQ2 compliant! Let me know what your preferences are if you have any. I haven't played Strikers yet, so please hold off on tagging me with any new characters or spoilers for the time being.

Comments

[jokered]

[sometimes, it just takes a nice cup of coffee and a plate of curry on a cold winter's day to draw a bit of inspiration.

or maybe akira's just getting a little kitchen practice in leblanc while sojiro runs around the corner to get cigarettes. yusuke gets a free meal today, leader's treat. though as he sets down the plate in front of yusuke's spot at the counter, he glances towards the door.

oh.]

...It started snowing.

[well, that could draw a different sort of inspiration, he supposes.]

[afailedmurder]

[On a pleasant* November day, here in pleasant** Shinjuku station, Yusuke is approached by a pleasant*** boy.]

Hello there, Kitagawa-san. I thought I saw you over here. Doing some people-watching?

[FOOTNOTES:
* It is not pleasant, it's cold and awful and the weather is so dry that breathing is less like inhaling air and more like the air on the outside is just sucking out any moisture you might have wanted in your lungs.
** Shinjuku station is also not pleasant, it's a horrible labyrinth and there's always a gajillion people and construction detours everywhere, all the time.
*** It's possible I just don't know what pleasant means]

[wantsnudes]

[Yusuke's stomach had been growling up a storm and his mouth was watering more and more at the smell of curry while it was cooked. As soon as the plate is set down in front of him (with an extra helping of rice he requested, of course), Yusuke is already tucking in.]

Yes, the rice is so light and fluffy, it is almost like snow. And then the curry, which makes the rice melt like snowflakes in my mouth...!

[...He's so busy waxing lyrical about the food, he hasn't noticed the actual weather outside.]

[wantsnudes]

[Shinjuku station is so pleasant, in fact, that Yusuke has stayed here all day. He only pauses his people-watching every now and then to add a rough idea to his sketchbook, or to check his phone for any updates from the Phantom Thieves.

He's so focused on making the nearest group of tourists as uncomfortable as possible with his staring that he doesn't spot Akechi until he's addressed.]

Ah, that's correct. Ordinarily I prefer Shibuya, but I wondered if a change of scenery might provide me with further stimulation.

[afailedmurder]

You're always on the hunt, aren't you? I admire your tenacity.

[Akechi spent his day in line to attend the opening of a fashionable new sweets shop, so that he might buy a box to bring to the police station, thereby receiving attention and praise. He's carrying that with him now.]

Have you seen anybody interesting?

[wantsnudes]

For an artist, the hunt for inspiration is one that never ceases.

[Despite himself, he looks pleased that Akechi understands that much. Though perhaps it's to be expected, that a detective would appreciate the importance of observation.]

Today, I have been focusing less on individuals and more on groups, and reflecting on how their aesthetic presentation conveys character and meaning.

[brewinthunder]

[Kushi doesn't want to intrude, but she can't help noticing what he's painting as she walks by. She hopes she doesn't startle him.]

Excuse me, but your work is lovely.

[afailedmurder]

Does it make that much of a difference to put people in a group? Though I'm sure it must be excellent practice to draw so many at once.

[And theeere's the limit of Akechi's understanding.]

[jokered]

Maybe you should go outside and get some real snow on your tongue to compare.

[since the actual snow outside is what he meant...

though it's not like akira can really be surprised that yusuke has his own take on the situation—even if it never ceases to catch him a bit off-guard when it's just like that.

but it's fine.

he imagines it's probably only a matter of time before yusuke puts the pieces together and starts waxing poetic about the aesthetics of snow, anyway.]

[wantsnudes]

[Yusuke is anything but startled; in fact, he's so absorbed in his work that he doesn't immediately realise he's being addressed. His painting is a highly stylised landscape of the park lake, combining both traditional Japanese techniques as well as more modern, abstract forms for the plants and trees, all painted in hues that suggest twilight.

After the longest of pauses, he finally halts his brush and looks up.]

Ah-- thank you, but this piece is far from finished. I ask that you withhold judgement until you see it in its completed form.

[wantsnudes]

[He takes a few more bites, considering, and finally spots the snow outside.]

Oh! Perhaps that could be a good idea. The curry is so hot, snow would be ideal for cooling one's mouth down.

[????? where does he get these ideas...] When I am finished, I will have to try it.

[wantsnudes]

[ART WAFFLE INCOMING]

If you wish to convey a larger mass of people, rather than individuals in a portrait, you must be able to show the key identifiers of who they are at a glance. Their clothes, who they associate with, how they carry themselves, and their actions. All can serve as a kind of artistic shorthand.

[Which was why a group of tourists was his unfortunate stalking target just now.]

I wish to be a painter who is able to capture the heart of society. That is why I must study it in all forms.

[paintbrushes]

That doesn't look like a person at all. It's all pointy.

[ IT'S A CRITIC. Just gonna STICK HER FINGER RIGHT HERE IN THE STILL-WET PAINT to point at what she's talking about. ]

Do you have pointy eyes that only see pointy things? It's all like that. I don't like it.

[wantsnudes]

S-stop that at once! How dare you! [He slaps her hand away, and jumps to his feet, outraged. No one touches his paintings.]

There was nothing wrong with the figure, or with my eyes. But now you have smudged it!

[paintbrushes]

I did not! It's not a smudge, it's a nose. He needed one. I made it better.

[ LUCKILY Yusuke on his feet is significantly higher up than Relm can reach, so that sketchbook is at least somewhat safe as she stands on tiptoe and wiggles her arms at it furiously in an attempt to will it into reach. ]

Let me see it again. I have to fix the dog, too. If you're gonna make it look funny anyway it needs at least one more head.

[wantsnudes]

I refuse. Your unclean hands have besmirched my art enough!

[He's holding it way up above her now, just in case she jumps up and tries to snatch it.]

I do not mind receiving criticism, [yes he does] but to change another artist's work without their permission is unforgivable.

[jokered]

[well, that sure is some logic. okay, yusuke.]

Live your best life, Yusuke. [it seems like it won't work at all, but akira's not about to discourage him, for whatever that's worth.]

[wantsnudes]

[At least he has someone to enable his ridiculous life choices.]

As a purveyor of curry, you'll have to join me and try it yourself, of course. [Because Yusuke is clearly on the cusp of a culinary breakthrough for Leblanc! Maybe. Sort of.]

Then, if the snow settles before I head home, I would like to take a walk around Yongen to view it.

[humanhopes]

[Morgana has a proposition for Yusuke. A proposition so big, in fact, that he's badgered Joker about it for the past week about the next time Yusuke's coming to Leblanc.

Alone, that is. As logical as it would be to ask him when the thieves convened upstairs, or even in Mementos, he's... well, not embarrassed, but it's a delicate subject, okay! He can't allow anyone to overhear! Not even Joker!

That, too, was logical up until the point Yusuke arrived and now he's been struggling with a way to break the ice. Sat on a stool at the bar, he's grumbling out meows at high speed, along with frequent sighs. Even the dish of fish Joker left behind before heading out to do laundry has been untouched.]

Yusuke? I uh. [Come on Morgana! You can do this!] I need a favour--!!

[actually it comes out so fast it sounds more like "i need fur".

he tried.]

[afailedmurder]

It's all about an eye for detail, right? That's not so different from detective work.

[Spoken as if he has any goddamn idea whatsoever what Yusuke is talking about.]

[wantsnudes]

[Yusuke isn't particularly observant of strange moods amongst his teammates at the best of times, so he's oblivious to Morgana's struggles. Maybe he just has a hairball or something, and Morgana doesn't really like it when people point out his cat habits. Either way, Yusuke is sitting beside him at the bar with an espresso, quietly reading a book until Joker returns.]

Hm? Did you say something, Morgana?

[He looks down at him, not quite catching that.]

[wantsnudes]

[Just smile and nod. It's what their leader does, and it works well enough.]

There's more to it than that, but yes, more or less. [Then Yusuke spots the package of sweets Akechi is carrying, eyeing it curiously.] I take it you've been shopping today?

[humanhopes]

[How could you miss that he said something?!

Or tried. Whichever. Morgana's bubble of courage has been burst, and he's avoiding Yusuke's eye, the cat wishing to sink lower into this stool and perhaps into the floor. For half a second he's tempted to say no, it was nothing, to go back to his fish, to wait for Joker and pretend he never even tried to go ahead with this.

But he also knows he won't be happy if he does that.

Morgana lets out another sigh, and finally looks at Yusuke. He's quieter, but at least his voice is also clearer.]

I want to ask you to do something for me. Something... something that only you can do.

[wantsnudes]

[Oh. This seems to be quite serious compared to Morgana's usual bossy nature, so Yusuke finally gets the hint. He sets his book down to show he has his full attention.]

Then by all means ask, and I will see what I can do. I owe a great debt to you and the others, after all.

[afailedmurder]

Oh, yes! I'd heard that a new patisserie was having a grand opening event, and I had a little free time, so I thought I might check it out. As you can see, I had a fruitful investigation.

[please don't ask to eat one please don't ask to eat one]