#3rd semester arc

[skylarsolaris]

For me the deal breaker for marukis reality was Akechi and Yoshiziwa. Because bro I still wasn't over that shit I wanted to beat his ass into getting better, it was out of love. And Akechis lack of control and to take away that last inch of it for a false reality where he is not dead (still think he's alive) and friends with Joker made me go "...hell nah. But also I WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY BUT DAMNIT"

Also Maruki never did give Goros mom back for this didn't he? I wonder if it would've been different if Goro had met Maruki. If he had seen his mother's living breathing puppet. Would that have pushed him farther in wanting to beat the shit out of Maruki, or would he have caven in?

[trifargo]

proposing some kind of alternate 2/2, where the thieves decided to check on joker just to make sure he's not tempted by maruki's deal, barged in to the cafe, and found out that akechi's life on limbo. more in cut

so if you ask me, i actually enjoyed their rivalry relationship a lot! but i also think it's placed in an awkward situation: the thieves don't hate him, especially because he wasn't fully at fault, but also i'm sure some of them will hold grudge or mixed feelings about him (and i think this bleeds into the writers too*). or in case of royal trio (which interactions i also enjoyed, but have a catch:), it's kinda funny how sumire doesn't actually know what happened to akechi in depth.

it makes sense for their relationship to be more "secluded/secretive" from the team, but also this is why i find it to be rocky if their relationship continue further, be it platonic or romantic, whatever you prefer. i can't imagine how will futaba feel if she found out, for example – given how much she seems to not care much about akechi**. and the game (understandably, for pacing reasons) keeps on avoiding to explore the nuance of akechi-joker's relationship effects deeper in the game.

the concept is not only for joker to be even more torn seeing his friends arguing & akechi's fate, but also to see the polarization among the thieves, akechi being conflicted between disgusted and teammate care (boiler room but worse?), and maruki regretting seeing that he's not making things any better or easier for everyone, especially joker (hoo may be interesting to see how the thieves feel about maruki too after this).

well, i still wish for a P5RST game that reunites them all, one of them because i want this to be explored..... oh well. i know his arc has a closure already, but... yeah. i'm honestly more of a platonic akeshuake guy because of this (i've also always been a platonic guy in general, though), but i also don't like the crowd who thinks the PT hates him and thinks they only see them as a killer. and i think resolving the awkward situation between the PT and akechi could make more players open up about the dynamics between them that can be explored, instead of being stuck thinking the extremes.

* a prominent example of this was ryuji. ryuji brought up akechi a lot as one of the reasons upon confronting shido (he even banged the boiler room door), but then said "uh it was for joker" when akechi thanked them for taking shido down in 3rd semester mementos. while i think this is possibly because ryuji has a bigger affinity for joker because well, he's the team leader, close friend, and akechi is still at wrong, i thought it was a bit... backlashy tone wise? i was under the assumption that he did it both for akechi and especially joker, but the mementos dialog made it sound like he only did it for joker. just felt kinda rough in showing the nuance on how he feels.

** like the talk when they all found out the effects of maruki's reality wearing off. when the topic was about realizing akechi "dies" once again, she ignored it and brought up about her mother instead. though, i think this is still more of the consistent examples in writing how each thieves feel about akechi. she has always been bringing up about her mother more often in shido arc, while still can understand where akechi came from.

[smolstarthief]

*Plops* I survived...

This is how Viktor would appear in 3rd Semester and courtesy of a certain therapist giving him another corruption arc...

Motherfucker Krita is a learning curve but it was fun!

"You waste your life to gain power, you shift the game rules... How does it feel to reach the line that no one ever got to cross? Does it make you a god now?"

Bonus (blood tw): He's seen better days huh?

Another bonus! A better look at his hand (which is basically his hexcorized hand but with Azzy coloring)!

Also yes, "To Ashes and Blood" would be his boss theme as the Herald of Eden!

[extensionallydefined]

It's time for a sequel! My last essay post was about the thematic relationship between standard Persona 5 and the added Royal content, and there I said that I'd do another little writeup on individuality in that context. I'm going to assess it especially regarding the Royal Trio. So here it is! As always, spoilers, you've been warned.

(This is post-finishing-the-writeup extensionallydefined here - this one's a long one, get ready! It gets into character study territory, yay!)

So, I wanna approach this topic from the lens of the characters of Akechi and Sumire. They're two characters whose individuality and autonomy are heavily put into question in Maruki's desired reality. But before we discuss them.

In Maruki's reality: 1. Your suffering is eliminated. 2. Your wishes are granted.

These are its two basic precepts. In the case of people like Akechi and Joker, it's stated that reality has been rewritten in such a way that they didn't commit any crimes. If we follow Morgana's logic of the world being a product of cognition only, then we can assume that this was done by altering everyone's memory to remember a world where the mental shutdowns and changes of heart never happened.

This means that people's prior actions and lives can be altered via perception, and we can see that this can happen to the individual themselves too - It follows that if Futaba fully believes her mother to be alive, she does not remember anything that happened during, at the very least, her Palace arc during the game - including the choices she made during it.

This means that Maruki's reality fundamentally alters people's perception of their own identity. It's no secret that people's memories are one of if not the most constitutive part of their identities, so if Maruki can change someone's memories, he can change their identity itself.

I wonder, if Maruki deems that someone's identity causes them too much pain and suffering in relation to their desires, is he willing to change it? And if someone desires their identity to be overwritten, will he do it? The answer is yes to both: Akechi is the first case, and Sumire corresponds to the second question. Oh hey! It's like the Royal Trio have very relevant thematic connections!

Let's do Akechi first, since my posts here are thinly-veiled Akechi propaganda in the end. Akechi's whole "thing" is that he's been under others' control his whole life, and he's been putting on different kinds of masks to achieve his goals. Personally, I believe both "Detective Prince Akechi" and "Black Mask Akechi" are not "the real Akechi".

Detective Prince Akechi corresponds to his public persona - the Ace Detective, the celebrity. He goes on talk shows and acts nice, he's a hero of justice, and his sole purpose is uncovering the truth.

This is a mask, of course - He doesn't have that much regard for the truth, and although he does seek his justice in a way, it is not the one he preaches online. His Detective Prince mask is the one that, as he says himself, he uses so that someone will want him around.

On the other hand, we have the Black Mask persona (Holy shit Persona reference?) he utilizes. This one is definitely more genuine than the regular Akechi, but I think his ruthlessness when acting as Black Mask, especially before 3rd semester, is forced as well. I think too many people forget what Ryuji says before his fight:

I actually agree with Ryuji's theory here. I think Akechi needed to force himself to go psychotic to fight the Phantom Thieves after losing the first time. His Black Mask persona is one where he lets himself be controlled by his anger and his thirst for revenge, it's his mask of *Spite*. It's the one that pretends to hate Joker (which is partly why Morgana telling him that he doesn't hate Joker is one of the things that prompts him to use Loki on the PTs). Maybe I'll write more about this if I ever do a deep dive on him, but for now, know this: Akechi's Black Mask is what it says on the tin, a Mask.

The real Akechi is somewhere in between, and somewhere else entirely at the same time. I think the fully genuine Akechi is the one we see in Joker and Akechi's interactions during the Third Semester. He's more than just Robin Hood and Loki. He's the Akechi that can awaken to Hereward.

The thing is - the real Akechi is the way he is because of what led him to develop those masks. Even if they are his "personas", they're still parts of him, born of his pain and suffering and his struggle to get what he thinks he wants.

And that's the thing, isn't it? Maruki denies him that. He takes away his crimes - So he at least takes away Black Mask Akechi. During 3rd Sem, Akechi is aware of this, but in the "accept Maruki's reality ending", the PTs and Akechi are totally chill, described as friends - like nothing bad ever happened.

That's not our Akechi.

That's a sanitized, perfect little version of Akechi that Maruki thinks is the best one for Akechi. But in a way, he's taking away the life and identity that Akechi built for himself - He doesn't think that the flawed Akechi deserves to live. And if you, Joker, decide to take Maruki's reality? That's the ultimate betrayal. You tell Akechi to his face that you prefer the perfect version of him. You're just like the foolish masses that rally behind the Detective Prince - you want the version of him that's happy all the time and can do no wrong. Choosing Maruki's reality is an affront to Akechi's agency, that much is obvious - but it's also a betrayal of his wishes and a violent attack against his very sense of identity.

It's ironic, isn't it? Even if Maruki presents his reality as the one where Akechi lives, that's not our Akechi... So he dies either way. Except if we fight Maruki, he maintains his autonomy til the end, and if you ranked him up to rank 10... his death is still ambiguous.

(And if you're a Shuake enjoyer like me, be it for their platonic, romantic or whatever-they-got-going-on-over-there dynamic... This is just perfect angst material. Chef's kiss.)

After this whole Akechi rant (Goodness me this is turning out Really long I hope I can keep people's attention sksks), let's take a look at Sumire.

Sumire is someone who wants her personality to be overwritten. She does not want to live as someone who led her own sister to die. She wants to be the vessel through which Kasumi's goals are fulfilled. She wants to be Kasumi.

But what does it mean for Sumire to be Kasumi? If we follow our logic, it means that Sumire has to die. She disappears. Her self-perception has to be altered to such an extent that she will not exist anymore, but rather an amalgamation of what Sumire thinks Kasumi is like, what Maruki thinks Sumire wants and Sumire would be born out of the actualization of her wishes. In a way, what Sumire is saying is... she wishes she was the one who died that day instead of her sister. But she still wants to help her sister fulfill her wish. So, instead of just telling Maruki "I want my life exchanged for my sister's" she says she wants to become Kasumi altogether. Kasumi can live through her, bringing the sisters together.

Sumire wants to lose her individuality. Akechi does not. This makes them clash directly. But in the end, Sumire accepts that 1. Her sister was more flawed than how she saw her. 2. She should carry on her sister's wish because it was their collective wish. 3. She should do it as herself, because she has as much worth as Kasumi. So, she ends up carrying on Kasumi's wish, but without losing her identity and creating the "Kasumire" that we meet during the base game. "Beauty in devotion", as they say.

So, in conclusion, what does Maruki's reality do for individuality? It prioritizes the reduction of suffering and the fulfillment of wishes above the subject's self-perception. In the end, Maruki's actualization works through changing cognition - And if cognition is a part of ourselves, well... In a way, we could say that the person whose wishes Maruki grants disappears in favour of a version of themselves whose wishes have been granted. Autonomy-wise, even if Maruki grants people's conscious wishes, it's not like he asked: "Hey, would you wanna live in a new reality with all these philosophical implications?" I think he realizes this to an extent, which is why he allows the Phantom Thieves and Akechi to challenge him.

First, he prioritizes dialogue, but he knows conflict may be unavoidable. "May the strongest will decide our fate" - something like that.

Maybe my point of view is very anti-Maruki, and I'm not trying to hide it. I was against Maruki from day 1, just like Akechi. (To be clear, I don't hate the guy, I love him as a character, but we have vastly different worldviews). I highly value individuality and autonomy and I don't subscribe to Maruki's brand of utilitarianism/hedonism. But I think these rough kinds of trains of thought are the ones that P5R demands from us, and I love it for that. I think my next essay will be about Maruki and death, relating P5 to P3 and Maruki's utilitarianism to Nietzschean ideas of life-denying slave-morality. Yeah, we're going deep into the philosophy sauce in the next one. I hope you'll stick with me for that!

(Btw I added images by popular demand - I hope they help with reading!)

[twilovesshuake]

Goro: [In Sae's arc] Nice to meet you all.

Goro: [In 3rd semester] You're leader calls me daddy.

[peden0tes]

April 2025 Update

——

2/3rds of the way through the second arc. With this semester coming to a close, I very much look forward to having more time to work on the story!

I was aiming to get it done this month, but I’ll have to move my UI tweaking to May. Hopefully these screenshots will start looking a bit different next time!

[sexybritishllama]

after many, many, MANY hours, i have finally completed persona 5 royal and am now presenting my thoughts. overall i think i have to rate it a 4.5/10, with a note that rather than being generally mid, it swings so wildly between the good and the bad that it evens out just below average for me

spoilers for ALL of the game under the cut including 3rd semester

the good:

this game is STYLISH. that is probably the first thing everyone says about this game but it's true and it has to be said. everything from the hud to the settings menu is themed, it's slick and fun and just really well done

the music slaps. again, gets said a lot, but has to be acknowledged. so good

in theory the gameplay loop is fun. the swapping between dungeon crawling in the palaces and the daily social links is interesting, and for the first good 40 hours of the game or so i found it really addictive and well balanced (yes in spite of the tutorial)

the characters were (mostly) likeable and there were some good social link stories- notable mentions include futaba, sojiro and yoshida

i loved walking around tokyo, it felt very immersive. i used to travel to shibuya all the time for work and it was a lot of fun recognising the spots and even the way you walk out of the train station!

the bad:

IT'S TOO LONG. it's just too long. my save file is at 119 hours after completing the game. i spread this out over an irl year of playing the game. i was still so burnt out when i got to the end my main emotion was RELIEF. you could cut this game down to like half of this run time and it would only benefit it. there is so dialogue spent just repeating points you already know, or scenes that you have to play on a regular basis (eg me spamming through doing affinity readings or kawakami making coffee or WHATEVER), and it is not to the benefit of the game at all

the excessive length also makes other parts of the game that would otherwise be forgivable into absolute slogs. stuff like the combat being mostly way too easy (with the exception of random frustration spikes like okumura), or the fact that so many of the confidants follow the exact same pattern down to which rank you’re going to be asked to arbitrarily go to mementos to solve their problem- these would be much less annoying if i didnt have to do it SO MUCH AGAIN AND AGAIN

on that note oh my god mementos. i fucking hate mementos. most boring content in existence and when i found out they made more of it in the third semester i screamed out loud

ren/akira/joker as a self-insert main character did not work for me and that negatively impacted just about every character relationship with him for me (especially the romances) because it just felt like there was nothing for people to connect to. he’s just so… nothing, but at the same time wasn't enough of a blank slate for me to feel like i could fully project onto him as a self-insert

i think joker could have worked better for me if they either a) made him a more defined character (my preference), OR if they insist on sticking with a self-insert, make the dialogue options were varied. i don’t expect branching options but i do appreciate it when you at least pretend to give me some agency about the replies my character gives, it can mean a lot in a roleplaying game to actually feel like you're, yknow, roleplaying

i generally like the bombastic wild designs persona has for enemies and stuff but i really struggle to take some of the characters seriously when their masks look like this

IN PARTICULAR why is futaba's whole metaverse outfit so ugly. do my girl justice

akechi is a character who i feel will make for very compelling fanfiction but unfortunately i found his actual canon depiction underwhelming

the entire way they handled kawakami as a confidant and the fact you can choose her as a romance option. INSANELY uncomfortable and negates the point of her entire story arc about deciding to care about her students again and not get extorted anymore, but then you as the player character can date her, can continue to get her to do your manual labour for you and give you massages, which you're heavily incentivised to do because it's so useful as a gameplay mechanic. it is SO UNCOMFORTABLE

maybe i'll make a separate post breaking down my thoughts about each confidant because i have other issues with other peoples arcs but kawakami was the most egregious. as if people havent heard me rant enough already

in general that thing of the game undermining its own messages for the sake of either very bad comedy or fanservice is a reoccuring issue. unfortunately very anime in that sense. as well as kawakami: - you spend the entire first dungeon of the game talking about how shitty this perverted teacher is for his treatment of ann and trying to assault her and then i have to spend the rest of the game sitting through MULTIPLE fanservice jokes about ann (this underage girl btw) being really Hot and Sexy and forcing her to strip for yusuke - ryuji risked his life to save the others and then the girls... beat him up for it? it was clearly meant for comedy, but god did it land flat - the game proves over and over again that the police and justice system is corrupt and ineffective but they never actually seem to... want to do anything about it? makoto literally says she's going to become a cop at the end of her confidant arc!!! girl!!!

their solution to the justice system being shit is to get people to confess to their crimes and Feel Bad, where the villains then proceed to.... be handled under the same justice system we have i guess? as though the issue here was just the fact that bad guys wouldn't confess, and we don't need to look at, hey, why do these people commit the crimes they do, how do we handle punishment vs rehabilitation, etc.

it's weird because they do sort of dance around this topic sometimes (like with akechi's fucked up upbringing) but it always feels like they're scared of diving too deep into it. i don't expect a full marxist re-examining of society from highschoolers but idk man, for SUCH a long game i feel like it was a weirdly shallow reading of the societal issues around authority and crime

also: why does the 'rebel against social norms!' game still not let me romance same-gender confidants. let me date ryuji you cowards

[mutipede]

A funny thing is.

I never knew my dad - parents got divorced too early to have anything but the vaguest of memories. Then my mom told me my whole life he was abusive specifically towards me, but she subsequently made herself known to be an incredibly unreliable narrator and abusive + neglectful herself so I don't know what's true and what's not. I found out he died in I think 2018? And only found out because my mom happened to find an obituary a couple years after the fact.

I was in trade school in 2018, and I learned both welding and machining, although I ended up going with machining as a career I still FUCKIN' LOVED welding and maybe someday if/when I can afford a place with a garage or something, I want to try basically every other form of metalworking, like casting stuff and welding for sculptures and personal projects and stuff like that. TIG welding was so incredibly meditative. And I think trade school was the last time I remember feeling... like, belonging in a group of humans IRL.

The first semester there was one guy who was a jackass. If you picture going to trade school and you imagine the guy you would want to avoid encountering there you'd probably land on that guy. Grew up on a farm and therefore stick welded shit before and therefore thought he knew everything and wanted to be a big badass pipefitter and therefore it didn't matter if his welds were shitty.

When we were in 1st semester and just starting out learning how to weld in a straight line, the 3rd semester students had an assignment to make new quenching tanks for the whole shop. They made them with a valve to easily drain the water and refill them. He loosened the valve on one. Got water all over the floor in a shop involving electrical arc welding. Made the instructor think the 3rd semester student who had made that tank had leaky welds. Aaand they did the whole Full Metal Jacket "one guy does something, the whole class gets punished" and had us spend a full day cleaning the shop. Everyone except for a couple of guys who decided to play the toadies latching onto a bully game like holy fuck guys we are preparing for careers here are you 12? - Everyone else hated him.

And then he got kicked out of the school after threatening to fight a guy in the parking lot. And then everyone in the entire rest of the class had a great camaraderie time.

The instructor made us all little customized can coozies with either the nickname people had gotten over the course of the year, or a little catchphrase. There was a dude who made a custom tophat he wore every day and kept a deck of cards to do random magic tricks and got a coozie with "STEAMPUNK". I'm pretty sure I got through trade school entirely due to a hyperfixation on metalworking and people actually fucking... came to me with questions and I suggested things that helped them weld better. And the instructor got into the habit of saying something about metallurgy or something, and would ask ME "Is that right" and I'd either confirm or I SWEAR I kept noticing things wrong or missing on blueprints or he'd do some math wrong, and I'd actually explain it and I'd be right so mine's got my name and "IS THAT RIGHT?" and man, people... trusting that I am not an incompetent dumbass lol that felt really nice.

Anyways, my dad, who I never knew my entire life and died before I could meet him, was a welder.

[akechis-special-case]

As I plan out the 3rd semester fic from Lukanja's Point Of View, I noticed in what direction I steered their relationship with the Phantom Thieves.

At first I believed that having them as platonics sounded far fetched and self indulgent (maybe it still is to some degree) but perhaps it could work out.

I will explain / ramble why below the cut. It contains spoilers for an upcoming fic of mine but I doubt anyone minds that. So here we go!

Essentially they are made aware that they don't have to choose. The point is that they never did anything to hurt anyone of the Phantom Thieves. In fact, I might add a scene / moment where it is pointed out that they know Lukanja wasn't involved or involved in anything Akechi did. And he vouches for them too I imagine, should it ever be questioned.

Another important point is that the Phantom Thieves do not hate Akechi. They do not pardon him or condone his actions but they do not hate him! Sure, there will always be a certain awkwardness for Futaba and Haru but not even they hate him. And that is what irritates Akechi.

So the relationship between Lukanja and the Phantom Thieves could be more nuanced. It turns into a tiny arc of "I want to get closer but I am dating Goro. I have to choose!" – Which is a bit of a nonsensical mindset to have here. The Phantom Thieves do not resent Lukanja, especially not by association. The first fic I wrote shows just as much. They all bond with them and show no distaste for them whatsoever.

It is also their decision, something Akechi tells them. I don't think that he would stop them or get in the way. Besides, they are no longer his enemies so why would he do anything about it? And even if that was the case he wouldn't want to hold them back. They never hold him back, they show it early on during the 3rd semester. "Even if I choose to embrace Maruki's reality... If you want to stop him, I won't get in your way." (for context, Lukanja's father is back alive for a bit and they are conflicted at first. They end up rejecting Maruki's reality too of course yet needed time to think this through) – It is mutual. They would only stop another if it was a stupid decision… But they won't stop another for mere selfish reasons. Especially if it's their own decisions. They respect and trust each other.

Thanks for coming to my pep talk.

[siroctobass]

tell us about your persona 5 oc

hmm... where do i start....

he's probably the oc i've put the most time and effort into recently. i haven't posted about him nearly as much as i should bc i hardly ever have any drawings of him i wanna post. if things work out then i SHOULD have a drawing of futaba and him to post at some point.

anyways! he is so awesome! his first persona is literally joan of arc and his outfit as a persona-user is literally a full suit of armor. uhhh he's also transgender and aroace!!! he also has a palace in 3rd semester (if his confidant is brought to rank 9 at least and if im remembering my notes right that also requires rank 3 iwai)!

picture of him ↓

BTW HIS NAME IS FRANCISQUE BEAUCHÊNE I NEARLY FORGOT!!!!

he always looks pissed that's just how he is! uhm. he also does not like makoto they just cannot get along! but he is best friends with futaba!!!!!!!!

his toyhouse page btw i wrote so much

i think about him so much.

also it's not in his confidant art but!!!!! he's always wearing a gecko necklace that he got from iwai. they're basically family at this point.

[kinaesthetiqueer]

(clearing out some drafts. condensing a couple of jnpr vs rwby into one post here)

August 1

i still haven't decided who wins rwby v jnpr

given me, there's an obvious answer. for plot reasons, i could convince glynda to skip it altogether. for canon reasons [post ends there, presumably i got distracted]

August 3rd

thinking about how i backed myself into a corner with rwby vs jnpr and how i don't really wanna write it so i might just skip it _(:3」∠)_

spoiler alert. processing rambles below.

if it does happen, rwby will probably lose because of weiss. unless rwby can convince me otherwise. they have the semblance advantage and canon on their side (food fight). however jnpr has non-canon on their side bc they're god's (my) favorite and also the way ive worked this volume favors them being more cohesive as a unit

i am thinking about ways to communicate even clearer when something from canon does or does not happen but i hope it's thus far clear that some things have yet to happen.

as Nora points out in her pre-jnpr vs crdl thoughts, she and jaune lost their duos demonstratory match. while it's yet to be mentioned, jaune still lost to cardin in his one-on-one as he does in canon.

i just rewatched jaunedice and forever fall before i decided to get tooooo far into JNdice planning. massively surprised that pyrrha becomes the target of cardin's ire simply because of being a know it all??? i knew i had my events mixed up but heavens that's hella extreme. makes dove's reasoning for going after Nora in ssvau seem... reasonable... good heavens. (hint: it's the jnpr vs crdl knockout)

for context's sake, and my own personal rambly timeline needs—

at the end of the rwby vs jnpr week (a week from current chapter), forever fall happens. which places jaundice taking place slightly to the left because i've adjusted cardin's asshole motivation in this au to crest with jaunedice, not quite originate there. giving a shorter time period of jaune torture. thankfully, because nora is our only pov that keeps track of jaune, i won't have to completely rehash canon-two-steps-to-the-left for this arc, only allude to what she notices. unfortunately for me, i do have to know everything that is happening. hence this ramble.

anyways i think the issue with jnpr vs rwby is several fold

i have a favorite team

nora is well rested

weiss is exhausted

jaune is not great at thinking on his feet

like they still prep and plan for rwby but they know damn well rwby has been more cautious about showing off than crdl ever was

pyrrha and nora and ren are gonna kick ass

blake and yang are gonna kick ass

ruby learns from earlier in the week after [spoilers] and can definitely kick ass if/when she stops pouting about weiss

the outcome has implications for the end-of-semester rankings which i am also still deciding

damn they might just have to fight until a draw due to time. because i think jaune and weiss would go down faaaaaaast.

----

bringing us to now....

okay SO since early august, i did some pretty intense problem solving and actually came up with the funniest solution possible. good news, i'm not going to skip it! bad news, im keeping the solution to myself until we get there.

it is my hope that my fight scenes are okay and fun to read, but i will be SO real with you they are one of my least favorite things to write. however, i think this one will be pretty fun

[justasmallbloginabigklainefandom]

A while ago I spent 2 hours or so watching a playthrough of the Maruki arc and yeah good game. I started crying when Lavenza confirmed that Akechi's gone. ".... Everything." I KNOW LAVENZA.

So ANYWAY I booted up the game to chill in the Thieves Den and here are the things I am still missing:

(Info from https://www.reddit.com/r/Persona5/comments/g37pay/persona_5_royal_thieves_den_guide/)

Video

Yaldabaoth Arc - Phantom Bonds, His Return, Welcome Back, Journey to Freedom: All are gotten by Achieving the original Persona 5 ending.

Maruki Arc - Neverending Dream: Accept Maruki's Deal in the third Semester

Joker and Violet's Showtime CAUSE I APPARENTLY NEVER SAW IT IN-GAME???

Gallery

5 cut-ins, including from Lavenza and Twin Wardens. Not sure if that's all of Lavenza or the Twins, or if I am missing more characters.

All photos of Maruki's ideal ending.

I am missing the concept art of the 3rd level Personas of Yusuke, Futaba, Haru and Akechi

I am also missing the concept art of the Confidants I did not max out, aka Chihaya, Ohya and Yoshida.

I am also missing concept arts of 3 metaverse denizens: José, the Twin Wardens and Lavenza. I need to beat them for that.

Music

Story - Hoshi To Bukura To: Get the Original Ending of Persona 5

Story - Ideal and the Real -end version-: Accept Maruki's Deal during the third semester.

Palace Maker

Metaverse - Jose's Car: Defeat Jose in the cognitive control room in momentos.

I didn't max out Ohya, Chihaya and Yoshida, so I assume I am missing locations that are relevant to them.

Daily Life - Laundromat: Do some laundry at the laundromat near leblanc.

Daily Life - Bikkuri Boy: Go to the diner in Shibuya.

Daily Life - Fishing Pond: Go to the fishing pond in Ichigaya.

Daily Life - Vending Machines: Buy something from a vending Machine.

Daily Life - Capsule Machines: Use the Capsule Machines in Akihabara.

I only got Arsène and for Velvet Room and Adam Kantor for Enemy. Not sure if this is correct.

I am also confused about the daily life ones, because I have been to all of those locations apart from the diner.

[mycomicbox]

Random Thoughts on Persona 5 Royal - Part 2

[Progress: July 9th, 3rd Palace conquered]

<<< Part 1

One thing that this game does better than previous Persona titles is the satisfaction upon beating a boss. Taking down a Palace ruler feels so much more rewarding than beating a Shadow Self or a Full Moon Boss, especially watching them break down from guilt.

Speaking of rewards, Social Links (now called Confidants) have way more rewards for ranking them up. This is such a nice change, but I'm surprised that it didn't make its way into Persona 3 Reload. Granted, I think it's because Confidants are, lore-wise, slightly different from Social Links, as they're based on accomplices in crime rather than just bonds.

THE PERSONA COMPENDIUM CAN BE SORTED ALPHABETICALLY. Where was this feature two games ago?

Who let this small child into the magical catacombs?

Yusuke might be my favorite Phantom Thief so far. I feel a slight kinship with him, being an artist myself. Plus, I like his voice.

The Madarame arc gives me somewhat similar thoughts and feelings to the real-world AI art debacle. Y'know, with the whole plagiarism-for-profit thing. Someone smarter than me could probably word it better, but you get what I'm saying, right?

From what I've seen, I think that this is the most a principal in a Persona game has been relevant to the story. I don't know about Persona 1 or 2, but the principals in 3 and 4 were just no-name whatever guys.

Okay, the hot pot scenes were really sweet, with the squad just hanging out at Leblanc and talking.

That one Shinjuku scene is one that I've heard horror stories about, and... yeah, even after it was altered in Royal, it's still bad. At least it's brief.

As it turns out, I am far better at video game darts than real-life darts.

Makoto had it rough before she became a Phantom Thief. Glad that she did, since her Persona and costume are dope.

Fusion Alarms are way better than Persona 4's Fusion Forecast.

⚡️ Confidant Lightning Round:

Chihaya is too goddamn cute. She scammed me out of ¥100,000 with a block of salt and I couldn't even be mad.

Imagine if you were shopping for medicine and the pharamacist asked "Why do you have such a serious look on your face?"

I think Kawakami deserves a hug. And also five billion yen.

Yoshida's got my vote.

I remember reading somewhere that it's possible that Kasumi was planned to be a female protagonist, but was scrapped? Like, if you hack the game to give her Joker's guns, she can actually wield them (unlike other party members, who will just freeze the game). I could be wrong, though. Anyway, I can't wait to learn more about her.

Mad sus that I have to rank up Maruki's Confidant or else miss out on a whole third semester. He seems pretty nice so far, but I'm keeping my eyes peeled...

Overall, the story and gameplay loop have me hooked, even more so than previous Persona titles. Can't wait to see where the story goes next.

[misty-wisp]

I ront know your oc but your new art popped up on the p5 tag and scratches my brain right, it might be the composition but its giving me "She is gonna make the 3rd semester even more psycological horror :)" energy, loving her hair color too

Also, about your Kasumi's post, i don't deny that Atlus tropped the ball about Sumire's arc at some point but I think Kasumi was a good sister, but also flawed. She probably had more pressure on her shoulders for being the 'oldest one' due japanese's standards, despite being just some minutes older than Sumi, so she probably also wore a mask of perfection to trick society she was what they wanted. Plus instead of just being insensitive, i read her last moment more as her being one of those people coping with humor 'my sister is sad im gonna say a joke to cheer her up :)' and it went BAD. And when Sumi belives to be her sister, she is not a 1:1 copy of the real Kasumi, she is Sumire's own cognition of Kasumi.

Tldr: i think both twins loved eachother deeply but there was a huge lack of comunication a bit due the fact they were 14 at the time and a bit due japanese norms. Also sorry for the ramble 😅

hey!!! first off i am so sorry for answering so late, i've been going through it a little as of recent😭

secondly EEEE TYYYYY i'm really normal about my oc and i can and will talk about her a LOT!!! if you're interested it should be really easy to get a good grasp on her character if you check out her ref and my many posts abt her chronicled in this tag

okok onto the sumi thing--gonna put that under the cut bc of royal spoilers

i think a lot of projection went into my post talking about the sumis tbh bc i have a LOT of issues regarding jealousy and self worth and hoo boy do i project all that onto sumi. so i end up going "grrr everyone better than me is actually awful grrr" as like this weird but natural reaction.

i do think kasumi really did love her sister!! she was just caught up in both fame, praise, and possibly expectations like you suggested. and abt her treating sumire in an insensitive way, while i'm sure she didn't intend anything malicious behind any of her actions, i'd still read what she said as fairly insensitive, albeit unintentionally. she knows sumire's got issues with self worth comparing herself to her but doesn't really try to listen and understand--sumire even points that out.

and while i also think sumire did love her sister, i still stand by my opinion that she should've bore some kind of anger or grudge toward her out of jealousy. and naturally, because she thinks kasumi's so perfect (and out of love), she'd internalize that grudge onto herself just to further her own self loathing. but even with that, i think it's okay if she did harbor that grudge--it only makes sense for you to be mad at someone you constantly compare yourself to, even if you love them with all your heart. it's really something else for her to work through and feel emotions about, bc i really don't think ATLUS let her be emotional enough in third sem.

tl;dr, i'm sure both sisters did love each other very much, one's just unaware of how to handle someone with a crumbling mental health and the other has jealousy issues she internalizes as self-loathing

[toyintrance]

Have you played Royals? What did you think about if you did?

I did and I liked it a lot! 3rd semester akechi was PEAK characterization. And that arc in general was really nice to see the kind of things that Could tempt the thieves into accepting the sort of brainwashed acceptance that they rejected outright from yaldabaoth. I paused on writing out a longer thing about yaldabaoth vs EMMA to answer a different ask of yours but if you've played royal too then I will add my thoughts on royal to that as well.

Other more fandomy thoughts: I love sumi but I think Royal Trio (either shippy or platonic) kind of mischaracterizes her and akechi's dynamic. I feel like they only really get along well pre-sumi's proper awakening and while akechi is in Pleasant Boy™️ mode. Once either of those masks fall away I feel like they don't get along at all. like sumi would get tired of how abrasive akechi is and akechi Does get fed up with sumi's attitude when they interact at the beginning of 3rd semester. I feel like if they're ever in the same room post game they're both just thinking "why does joker like this weirdo"

[chaos-cousins]

⚡ might as well ask you this. What are your honest thoughts about Akechi?

PERSONA 5 3RD SEMESTER SPOILERS

...I wish I could say I hate him. Arc, it would be so much easier if I just hated him.

It's complicated. It's so fucking complicated! I want to hate him. I can't bring myself to. He was used and manipulated like the rest of us. He was just another pawn in Yaldabaoth's shitty game, same as me.

But he still killed Futaba's mom, he still killed Haru's dad, and he still tried to kill me. I can't forgive him. I can't forgive him for that. Maybe I could forgive him for that last thing, but not the other two.

...I wanted to be friends with him, at one point. I really did. Dist, I spent most of my second loop trying to stop him from going in that engine room.

...And I failed. I mourned. I accepted that I couldn't change that.

And then he had the fucking NERVE to show up, alive, in January. And help. And I hate to say it, but with how amnesia'd I was, we probably wouldn't have gotten anything done without him.

And then when it was all over, when we found out that everything went back to normal, we thought he died again. That made sense. I mourned again. I grieved for a year and a half. I took his glove with me to the other worlds I went to.

AND THEN THE MOTHERFUCKER HAD THE AUDACITY TO SHOW UP IN LEBLANC WHILE I WAS IN EAGLELAND. HE WAS ALIVE. THE WHOLE TIME. HE WAS IN THE LOOP. THE WHOLE. FUCKING. TIME.

That. PISSED. ME. OFF. I GRIEVED, FOR NOTHING. AND IM STILL. STUCK WITH HIM.

And the worst part? Some part of me wishes he was still dead! It was easier when he was dead! Grief is so much easier to deal with than these complicated feelings!

...I'm kinda an asshole to him. If I'm not an asshole to him, I'm afraid that I'll like him again. And if I like him again, he could betray me again, and it'll hurt just as bad. Or worse, I'll be betraying Futaba and Haru. I. I can't do that. I can't betray them.

And I know I'm in the wrong sometimes. He tried helping me out of a depression spiral once, and I bit his hand in return. I don't regret that. Maybe I should.

I don't know how to feel about Goro Akechi. It's complicated and messy.

...Fuck, there's just as much wrong with me as there is wrong with him, huh. Why the dist did I even type all of this...?