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[gorobo]

Hello there! It looks like I'm currently unavailable, so please call back later, or leave a voicemail after the tone. If it is truly urgent, please message me at (XXX) - XXX - XXXX.
Thank you, and have a nice day!

You have this number, so feel free to leave a message. 

(OOC: Inbox is open for messages, calls, and general interactions. Just specify which one it is!)

Comments

[gorobo]

_{[Falcon rolls his eyes.]}

Indeed, that's what I'm thinking too.

Again, however, it's your name, so it's your choice. You don't even have to stick with one, if you don't want to.

[fogbornphantom]

That's the problem. Choice.

I believe I'm experiencing choice paralysis, if anything. So many options, and I'm still at a loss for which suits me best.

[gorobo]

I can't blame you I guess. I didn't have to pick my own name. My codename, yes, but I suppose that isn't as high stakes as your actual name.

Again, nobody says you have to stick with one.

[fogbornphantom]

But wouldn't using multiple names confuse people?

Plus, I do think there's some significance in having a personal identity in that respect.

That, and Goro believes it wouldn't be right to have a relationship where only one of us has a name.

*Crow, I mean Crow

[gorobo]

<sub>[Falcon starts to reply to Hiro's first statement, going to agree that yes, a name is significant, that he understands that-

Wait. Back the fuck up.]</sub>

Relationship?

You're talking about the way you are connected to him as a Persona?

_{[Please, please just be a misunderstanding on his part.]}

[fogbornphantom]

Oh, well.

I approached Crow regarding my feelings. It's something that had been troubling me for some time, but Ren encouraged me to talk about it.

[Though, come to think of it...]

Though he had been trying to urge me to better solidify my identity even before that, so I suppose it's just as applicable to what you described.

[gorobo]

What feelings? Solidify your identity before what?

_{[But it's no use hoping, isn't it? He isn't stupid.]}

Hiro, tell me you aren't pursuing a romantic relationship with Crow.

[fogbornphantom]

I realize it's a little unconventional, but ours is a very unique sort of bond that goes beyond what a normal Persona and their user share. It always has been.

And I suppose, somewhere along the way, I unwittingly developed feelings for him.

Rather hard not to when he repeatedly asserted my identity and individuality as something special, did everything he could to give me a chance at a life beyond serving him in battle, and spent years training so that he could summon me outside the cognitive realm.

[gorobo]

_{[It takes quite a long time before Falcon replies again.]}

And you are absolutely certain this is of your own free will?

[fogbornphantom]

Yes.

Crow hadn't said anything to compel me to do this. I had spent several months agonizing over my feelings, trying to discern it for myself.

There was no coercion. I talked to Crow about it. He kept stressing things like the power imbalance. He had concerns over my lack of name. There was nothing exploitative about how he conducted himself.

That's just not who he is.

[gorobo]

<sub>[Falcon stares at the words. Stares at them so more. Closes his eyes. Opens them again.

Nope. Still there. Fuck's sake.]</sub>

Well, part of free will is allowing others to make decisions that are... questionable, I suppose. Congratulations.

Back to the matter at hand; your name is your decision, try them out if you like them, see which one sticks. Just maybe don't go for something that might as well be 'Crow the Second'. That'd only make things more questionable.

[fogbornphantom]

If it makes you feel any better, he shared in your apprehensions. But thank you.

Still, it's been hard to find other options that feel remotely as 'right.' I think that's a factor as well. Perhaps if I had more confidence in my individuality, it'd be easier to know what best suits me.

And even "Hiro" has so many different meanings based on the kanji. To factor in other names, then have to consider their myriad other meanings...

[It's daunting, to say the least.]

[gorobo]

_{[He fucking better. He may not like Crow, and he'll take Hiro's word for it for now... but he'll have to do a little investigating on his own, later. If Crow seems a little too eager...]}

I'd say I understand, but in this case, I truly don't. I was named by my mother, and I was always happy with it. It was special because it was her that gave it to me.

_{[His name before that was Unit #018... but that's hardly a name. He didn't even know any better, back then.]}

I'd say firmly asserting a name for yourself is a first step to individuality. Something to call yours, and yours alone, even if it was a gift from another initially. Despite my going by Falcon here for the sake of clarity, it is still the name 'Goro' that I feel is what gave me my individuality, back then.

_{[It kinda stings that he can't just ask to be called as much, here.]}

[fogbornphantom]

I imagine it's much the same for most Akechis.

Perhaps not those who have a... complicated relationship with the name "Goro." Raven really only permits it from Nanako-chan and Dojima-san. Even his closest friends use "Akechi." I believe for him, it's partially due to his mother naming him.

A name he can't bear to have used so casually. A name he can't bring himself to use for himself, when he couldn't save her.

Crow has moved past that point, but it took time. Regardless, if you would rather I use Goro during one on one conversations, I'm willing to oblige. The purpose of codenames is to prevent confusion, but there's little confusion when others aren't involved.

[gorobo]

<sub>[Well, that's their problem, isn't it? Goro was stripped of his name, of his identity, only granted it back when it became useful to Shido. Even then, it didn't feel like his anymore. It felt like a mockery.

He wants it back. He wants it back. He likes his name, dammit. It's special, to him.]</sub>

That would be... nice, I suppose. If you wanted to do that.

[fogbornphantom]

You deserve to be referred to in a way that brings you happiness, Goro.

Even if it's only in private, even if it's only with a select few. For as much as you've tried to assert the importance of my identity, yours is valid, too.

[It's only fair. It's something meaningful to him, and yet he's been forced to cast it aside.]

[gorobo]

<sub>[That's so... nice of him. It's just- Goro doesn't get it. He doesn't understand Hiro at all.

He doesn't understand why he's suddenly so- over just a text.

It takes a few minutes for him to reply.]</sub>

Thank you.