so i was thinking about the dynamic of souyo in p4 and realized something about yosuke specifically (a thread)

when introducing himself to new people (in mostly other games like p4d and blazblue crosstag) he almost always introduces himself as yu/souji's partner. it's a very interesting dynamic because (imo) not a lot of people introduce themselves like that- the other person does it

plus, yu wasn't always around, so yosuke didn't always introduce himself in association with someone else (im vaguely citing the magician manga that talks about yosuke when he first moves to inaba)

i think the reason for how yosuke introduces himself as yu's partner is because he thinks that's the most interesting/least disappointing part about him. in his social link yosuke says that of all people, he wanted yu to recognize him the most

and i think that's where the whole "partner" thing comes from. i'm not saying this is, like, yosuke being solely dependent on yu, because that definitely isn't the case, but yu does seem to be the only person who treats yosuke with any hint of legitimate respect.

(not to say the others in the IT don't respect yosuke, but they're definitely a little more aggressive w/him than yu is)

souyo, whether romantic or platonic, is probably the biggest example of a relationship that has SO much trust built into it.

plus, if you look at other source material (p4 manga) and just in general gameplay, yu isn't exactly... extroverted? yes, he's the IT leader, but he's very quiet (yes he's the protag but he's similar in the anime/manga/etc) and i do think meeting yosuke helped him forward a bit

uhh my point is, yosuke and yu make each other better people. yu gave yosuke something to aspire to (that's not totally worded properly but you get the idea) and yosuke gave yu a chance to, y'know, express himself and make other friends in inaba. (end thread)