#//So meet Loki; Robin; and Hereward!!!

[kingspuppet]

––––This is for OUR justice! But this isn't you...

(Picrew)

[denizenhardwick]

akechi's entire life is built around getting other people to like him to such an extreme degree that he really has no identity of his own. everything, down to the minutiae of his hobbies, what he eats, how he dresses, how he stands, it's all in service of that same goal.

because he was brought up under the weight of so much societal shame and personal rejection with absolutely no reprieve or chance to see himself as anything other than a worthless, unlovable burden that shouldn't exist. and then he's suddenly given this otherworldly power, and with it, the chance to be... something. literally anything other than what he is. special.

but he doesn't have any real power. he's vulnerable and easy to exploit, because of a multitude of social factors and also this craving for praise, attention, acknowledgement. and he's thrust into the spotlight and made a celebrity as a teenager, something that is infamously terrible for anyone's mental health, and he has literally no support system at all, no one who can prepare and protect him from being famous.

he goes from a lifetime of being told he's worthless, he's a burden, he's a curse, to suddenly being adored by who-knows-how-many people he's never even met, told he's smart and handsome and important. how do you reconcile that? he didn't, he just once again became what other people said he was. he became perfect. but his prior self-image didn't go away, of course not, but if he wants to feel good for once and bask in the newfound euphoria of finally being wanted, he has to suppress all the shameful, ugly feelings and parts of himself. something that is impossible to do when you are also being manipulated into killing people and ruining lives on a regular basis.

when we meet him, his self-image is unstable, and entirely reliant on how people saw him. there's no consistency because no one really knows or loves him, he has no personal connections. that's why he tells joker his past after medjed, when the media hates him, because he can't maintain his perfect self-image to feel okay and is confronted by the one person he knows who actually wants to spend time with him and might like him personally.

that's why he has two personas, why they each have a different outfit, and why they're so far removed from each other that it hurts for him to switch between them. robin hood is the idealized, perfect akechi, the person he's wanted to be since he was a kid playing hero with a toy gun, that he really thinks he is as long as that's how others around him treat him. loki is how he sees himself beneath all that, as an evil, crude monster, a mystery even to him. but they're both him, and that's really important. and when he can reconcile these two extremes, when he's ready to try to move on to form a healthier view of himself, they fuse to form hereward, who is importantly named for a historical figure who may have inspired the robin hood stories. because while akechi isn't a pure hero of justice, he's not a monster, either.

[complete-idiot-inc]

So, because my friends want to submit asks but I can’t find a way for the account-less to submit an ask (help for this would be appreciated) here’s what two friends of mine asked for but couldn’t submit.

Spoilers for Persona 5 btw.

(Random image to create spoiler line)

Goro Akechi - 1

I like how Loki and Robin Hood fuse into Hereward.

Any P5 character I’ve meet so far in-game - 5

He broke my leg!

And it effin’ hurt, a lot!

I was benched for months because of something he did to me, and just because of his stupid effin’ volleyball team!

Self defense bullshit, if I had my way with him I’d blast his smug ass face of his with a shotgun before he could do anymore damage to anyone else.

I hope that new transfer student isn’t into sports, for their sake.

[strangefellows]

Akechi and Rise for the ask meme!

First impression

Akechi: Oh you little fucking bitchboy :knife emoji: cmere i'll kick your princely ass (and then the reveal happened)

Rise: Oh, she's an idol type! interesting! I didn't have too many opinions at first, tbh.

Impression now

Akechi: MY BABY MY LOVE MY BOY MY CHILD I LOVE HIM I LOVE HIM SO MUCH HE'S SO INCREDIBLY GOOD, he's my favorite by far

Rise: I really like her! I don't have as much general opinions on P4 as I do P5, but I really do like Rise, she's pretty cute.

Favorite moment

Akechi: The big dramatic climax, of course, but also everything in Royal's final semester arc after his reveal and he stops pretending to be the Prince.

Rise: I...can't really vividly remember the plot of P4 all that well. But I do remember I liked her dungeon and Shadow interactions, she had a good backstory and well done issues.

Idea for a story

Akechi: LET THIS BOY BE IN STRIKERS LET HIM BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF KONOE!!! But also, just exploring the leadup to him going to Shido, or him getting to survive and come back and breathe in general would be fun.

Rise: Hmmm....her meeting Ann would be interesting and cute, as modeling + idol work can overlap sometimes!

Unpopular opinion

Akechi: I know there's a lot of different opinions, but while I do think Robin was the original Persona and I like the idea of Loki being induced by experiments -- I definitely also think Loki is still part of him, just a part that was warped into what it is now. However, I also really, really dislike Hereward as a final Persona, I have NO IDEA where it came from it's barely properly tied to Robin or Loki, it's dumb and they could have done better.

Rise: She's cute, Yu/Rise is cute, let them be cute!

Favorite relationship

Akechi: AKESHU LOL, but I also absolutely adore the Akechi+Futaba siblings theory, and their relationship is potentially really fascinating and fun to play with.

Rise: Yu! But thinking about it, the juxtaposition between Rise and Naoto would make the two girls very cute friends, as would the similarity between Rise and Kanji.

Favorite headcanon

Akechi: He needs glasses and has freckles, but would wear contacts and concealer as the Detective Prince to hide both so he could be 'perfect and unblemished' as part of his mask. Also, his final/'true' Persona I headcanon as Puck. (A good overlap from Robin Hood -> Robin Goodfellow + Loki )

Rise: I don't have very many headcanons for her, unfortunately :( Hmm...she wears stuff Kanji makes during concerts and it's a hugely debated mystery who makes her cute accessories, but she always winks and says its a secret.

[systematicallycapricious]

P5R/P4AU role-swap AU (black mask)

Spoilers for Persona 5/Persona 5: The Royal and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax below!

Role-Reversal: Sho takes Goro's role in P5/P5R

Sho Minazuki’s side of things:

Sho would still have Minazuki, although there could be a different version where he’s a singular entity akin to the ‘true’ ending of Ultimax.

If he’s on his own, his Personas would be Kuro Ikazuchi (Robin Hood), Tsukiyomi (Loki), and Kokkuri (Hereward). If he has Minazuki, Sho would take up the ‘prince’ side of things, so to appear more harmless he’d perhaps have Kokkuri as his Robin Hood. Minazuki meanwhile would be the ‘assassin’ side of things and continue to have Tsukiyomi as his Persona (and in place of Loki). I’m not sure if they would gain a joint or third Persona later on or not.

If he still has his face scar, he’d probably cover it up with makeup while in public to lessen his notability.

If Sho’s a celebrity like Akechi was, he’d probably be more like a playboy or an idol than a detective, lest Minazuki takes over the role of the social spotlight. Then I could see him potentially being a detective still, although he could probably pull off an ‘aloof idol’ persona as well. Though I could see Sho being some kind of stunt-performer as well perhaps?

Otherwise, he could potentially be a shadow-agent of sorts. Combined with having little-to-no legal record of himself out there, he would be pretty hard to track down, I’d think. It would depend on who’s playing the role of Shido and what their goals were I suppose?

Both Sho and Minazuki could use the gun and melee weapon types, but Minazuki would favor the gun, while Sho their swords.

The two of them would have separate Metaverse outfits and masks. Sho’s would probably be flashier or “cooler”, while Minazuki’s would be more refined or elegant with dark red or blue, black, and white or silver accents maybe? Mask-wise, Sho’s would be colorful or ‘loud’ while Minazuki’s would be at least somewhat intimidating (think like Queen’s), if not still refined? Also not sure if either of their masks/attires would cover their hair or not yet, as that would probably be a dead giveaway to their identity when combined with their height, eye color, and pale tone of skin. I haven’t thought too much about it yet.

Minazuki might keep their secret of being an assassin by doing the assassination work himself, so Sho can't have any (direct?) memory of the methods/hits themselves? Not that Minazuki's doing it against Sho's will, but in the face of the power of Shido, it's safer for them both that way, as if they don't get caught, Shido can't send people to kill them. It also helps ensure that Shido doesn't get found out any sooner, as that's not something they want either. Though Sho may or may not have exposure to/experience with the Metaverse still beyond that, he just doesn't do the hits himself?

On Goro’s side of things:

Goro could potentially become a Sumire-esk addition to the team? Or just a full-time extra member? Or else he's taken Sho's old role in this AU-verse, and thus is more associated with the IT and ShadOps instead?

Orrrr he could be a secondary Wildcard that Yaldabaoth brings into the game, maybe having Ren and Goro meet in the VR before irl (since Goro lives in Tokyo already, but Ren is just arriving?) or guiding them to meet in a chance Metaverse encounter at somepoint, as Yaldabaoth sees it kinda as evening the playing field due to Sho and Minazuki being 2 people technically?

Goro in that instance would be a bit less traitorous, but still keep a lot of his traits such as not wanting to live under someone else's thumb, or perhaps maybe just wanting to prove society wrong for mistreating its orphans? He might still be Shido's son in this, but maybe never learned his name first, and only got his powers when Ren did?

His starting Persona would probably still be some form of Robin Hood or Loki? Since changing-up societal order and all, like by wanting to bring up those like orphans while bringing down those who would look down on them, or throwing all of society's castes and stuff into disarray so everyone has a chance? Maybe more the former since the latter might be too much like wanting to destroy and rebuild everything that the antagonist is supposed to have in Yaldy's game?

He would be studying to become a detective, lawyer, or politician or something maybe, but not yet be the Detective Prince in this/not at all be that in this?

He'd probably still be The Justice, but not sure what that'd make Sho and/or Mina. :T (maybe collectively The Devil? Sorry Ohya. xP)

[cowardlybean]

My thoughts on certain AUs that I have something to say about.

Flock of Crows: Christmas Carol but all the ghosts are Akechi’s Personas. Robin Hood is past, Loki is present, Hereward is future.

Dead Crow: Akechi Generations, featuring Classic and Modern Akechi

Pokémon: I always imagined Haru and Morgana doing the Team Rocket motto when you meet them in Okumura’s.

Haunting: Throw in Kasumi and we got ourselves a deal.

Amnesia: Into The Akechi-Verse

Space: Is this just Outertale but Persona 5?

Shared House: AND THEY’RE ALL BIOLOGICAL SIBLINGS.

My answers :D

Flock of Crows- basically yeah, but the akechis are a bit more specific (younger Akechi, detective, prince costume, black mask, 3rd semester)

Dead Crow- jdkdkdjn yep :) it’s gotta be hard to tell them apart sometimes

Pokemon- oh you’re right 👀 morgana basically takes the place of meowth in this au so close enough I’d say :,)

Haunting- after reading that fic of yours I gotta say I’m very tempted :0 (did I mention morgana can see Akechi? Because that makes adding kasumi even better lmao)

Amnesia- into the Akechi-verse except it’s a horror story ;)

Space- jdhdkjdjdhsn kind of?? I’m a huge science nerd so I basically created a space universe where the general events of p5 happen (plus a Lot of information about Dyson Spheres which are a special interest of mine lol)

Shared House- they ALLLL have a sibling dynamic here >:) it’s chaotic and it’s great

[pleasant-boi]

ShuAkeSumi (Royal Trio) Royalty AU

Goro as the Prince of the generic fantasy Kingdom ™

His mother was a commoner that run away after she got pregnant with the King's son

Magic (instead of Persona) exists in this universe, although it is rare. When Goro develops magic (light magic ™ for Robin Hood) at age 6-7 she comes back to the King.

Shido takes the opportunity to have a heir without all the trouble of actually taking a wife and use the kid because magic, that's useful

I'm torn between Shido making up a fake, low Royalty status for Akechis mom for appearances sake or just keeping her around as his unofficial concubine or something.

Anyway she still kills herself maybe a year or two after they get to the Palace.

Goro is still devastated and hates his father but he can't do anything.

He barely has time to think the first few years, when his schedule isn't packed with lessons (magic and just general royalty stuff and education) Shido makes sure to personally test his progress.

Failure to live up to impossible standards means severe punishment.

It wasn't so bad when his mom was alive, he thinks, because at least then he knew no matter how tired he was or how much it hurt he could fall asleep in her arms and she would stroke his hair to make it better.

Now he didn't have even that.

He blames himself for her death. If he done better/ if he never existed maybe she would still be-

Akechi developing another kind of magic (dark magic ™ for Loki) from his despair and hatred.

Shido going full Frollo/Mother Gothel because oh shit, two types of magic? That's extremely rare. Not to mention dark magic would be useful for eliminating anyone in his path

For the purpose of this AU, let's say that there's like a coalition of Kingdoms and Shido wants to be the emperor/ruler of them all

So he manipulates Akechi into thinking that the dark magic is a curse and no one would accept him/people would straight up murder/torture him for being a monster if he ever tried getting away and well as long as he obeys and does what Shido wants...

Maybe this is true to an extent, dark magic users are generally seen as evil but its nowhere near as bad as Shido says.

Akechi believes him because at that point he's like 10 and extremely traumatised.

Maybe dark magic leaves some sort of mark from overuse (Shido ofc tells him it is because he's cursed and pushes him harder)- hence him always wearing gloves and relying even more on Shido because now he can't even deny what a monster he is.

When he gets older he becomes Shido's hitman, killing brutally people for his father and his conspiracy, in a Black Knight helmet to mask his face

So Akechi has two "personas":

The sweet, frail (gotta do a cover story for all those bruises and injuries right?) Prince, charming and intelligent, with beautiful light magic

And the ruthless mysterious black mask, leaving a trail of corpses and darkness and dissappearing into the night.

The publics fear of the black mask only makes him more sure he's a monster and if its ever revealed he has dark magic he's going to end up having his head cut off by a mob at best

Maybe Goro is still planning to kill Shido after becoming emperor (or whatever)

Featuring small cameos of human! Robin and Loki (and maybe later Hereward) as somewhat distant but concerned bodyguards / teachers, being the closer thing he has to friends, being basically locked in the tower where his quarters are, only getting out for official Prince business ™ and when he is sent to kill someone. Or maybe they're his horse and a little Robin Bird hanging out in the tower, just so we go full Disney Princess hahaha

Anyway - As the Phantom Thieves a mysterious group of masked vigilantes arises, taking down smaller targets and a lower member of the conspiracy (Kamoshida, a general with some land on a huge power trip) Shido is starting to get more ruthless towards Goro.

So Goro does a thing he's been afraid of for years - he dresses up in some commoner - esque clothes and he sneaks out. Only for a few hours, just to get away because he can't stand it anymore.

It's not easy, but he manages.

The town is preparing for a festival and is so full of life that he ends up almost getting lost looking around in awe because its nothing like the cold Palace halls or the emptiness in the middle of the night when he's sent to kill someone.

He bumbs into Sumire, a dancer from a traveling troupe, dealing with her sister's death.

They end up talking for hours, Goro panicking a little when he realised because shit what if he notices -

Shido didn't of course. No one did. That made him a little sad but -

He ends up sneaking out more often.

He meets again with Sumire, but he just likes walking around, looking at the shops, pretending that one with a smashed window, blood still not cleaned off wasn't his doing the night before.

One day it stats to rain and he stumbles in a small coffee shop, with a barista with frizzy hair who is easy to talk to, even if he doesn't say much.

[semi-imaginary-place]

here’s a real dastardly au, the akechi you meet in 3rd semester was joker’s actualization and in destroying maruki’s reality so too is he destroyed.

2/2: wait. i was joking about this.

how did maruki find out what happened in shido’s palace

maruki wants people to take the easy path in life and avoid suffering. but discomfort in life in inevitable and inescapable. that said there’s a difference in pain between say trying a new hobby and feeling a little uncomfortable at the newness of it and being coerced into sex by your teacher to save your friend from the same.

sumire and akechi’s third tier persona evolutions felt a little forced. sumire’s i’ll give a pass on but akechi didn’t reach any sort of new resolution, he’s the same as he was as the start of the year. also robbed! we were robbed of seeing akechi’s room!! given this is a new form of robin hood, it would have been more appropriate if he had reconciled with some part of the lie of the detective prince. i think im also a little sad because loki is one of my favorite persona designs in this game and hereward cant compare. my other favorites are arsene, cendrillion, and ella. vanadis and hecate are really good too. sumire just got all the good persona designs.

the actualizations weren’t necessarily what might have been best, but instead the thing each of the cast was hung up on. an aspect of the past that continued to weight down their present. and we see that in the maruki’s reality ending. the interesting part is joker and akechi who we don’t get as explicitly told what they want and then bam end card with the spending as afternoon together playing chess and drinking coffee.

schodingers akechi. jk... unlesss? lol. but as much as the devs say each ending is equally valid, the game itself doesn’t treat them as such. in the maruki ending there’s multiple points where the game prompts you to doubt your decision. the argument by the game to choose maruki’s reality is half hearted, the game is clearly judging you if you choose it. that maruki’s reality is less real that the original one is not questioned by the game at all. and that true to an extent as i said in a previous post. maruki’s reality is fragile and easily shattered if the person thinks just a little too hard. And given the game’s strong assertion that maruki’s constructed reality isn’t real, how it handles akechi is very interesting to me. so let’s go back to schrodinger’s akechi. if akechi did die in shido’s palace than the akechi we see post red sky is no more real than wakaba, or makoto’s dad, or okumura. yet unlike every other part of maruki’s reality, the game intends for us to see this akechi as real. or it could be that akechi did miraculously survive and all maruki did was yoink him into the right place at the right time. that timing with sae was too convenient not to be planned. i thought it was akechi’s planing but i was wrong, it was maruki’s planning. still doesn’t explain how maruki knew what happened in the palace, he didn’t fully awaken his persona until after shadow shido was defeated.

so i wonder how much was 4rd semester akechi a recreation of joker’s cognition of him. on one hand by that point akechi no more need to play nice so he really can cut loose, on the other hand feral and unhinged arent the only aspects of his personality but they were what joker saw last he saw akechi. also unlike adashi, akechi’s confidant/social link wasn’t fake. there’s something there of note, that joker and akechi reached max confidant despite a double way deception, assassination plot, and other lies.

[philliamwrites]

i could make it holy, make it fine (pt.1)

Fandom: Persona 5

Pairing: Akira/Akechi

Tags: #domestic fluff, #kissing, #wedding, #persona 5 royal spoilers

Words: 1.7k

Summary: Goro can't believe his first marrital dispute will be about the plastic cat dolls in front of their café whereas Akira is a simple man with simple needs like laying out black napkins and wearing a dress. 

Note: Part 2 (work in progress) | Inspired by ‘Make it Holy’ by The Staves.

i could make it holy, make it fine

    “Quick, don’t think. Black or red?”

    “The napkins stay blue. Now shut up and don’t move.”

    Black curls fall to the ground with each snip snip of Goro’s scissors. He tips Akira’s head back with a knuckle to check that his hair is the same length. Not that anyone could tell if it wasn’t once his hair dries into its usual curly mess. Goro assumes Akira gave him this task just to have an excuse to stare at his face from close-up—as if he doesn’t do it at any given chance anyway regardless of day or time.

    That is the luxury of living in a place they feel comfortable enough to lower their defences. Goro is still trying to learn calling such a place home.

    Warm hands roam over his legs, demanding his attention. “What are you thinking about?” Akira asks and presses his chin into his belly, looking up. After seven years, his features have grown sharper and more elegant like the dagger he used to wield. Sometimes Goro looks at him and the sight of beautiful, beautiful Akira Kurusu steals his breath.

    “That you look like a twelve-year-old after shaving.” He pushes Akira’s wet hair out of his face and flicks his forehead, then steps out of his grasp. He crosses their bathroom to take the broom leaning against the wall in the corner, only to unceremoniously drop it in Akira’s lap. “Now clean your mess. I’m done.”

    He leaves the room before hearing a response, brushing off stray black hair from his shirt and pants. Now he has to vacuum again. Why Akira asked him to cut his hair instead of booking an appointment with a professional is beyond him, but it does remind Goro, as he tugs at the end of his ponytail tickling the nape of his neck, that he might need a cut as well. The shop stays closed anyway during their preparations, so now seems the best time to get things done they usually can’t while tending to the café. Repairing the creaking floorboard behind the counter, washing the dark, vintage curtains hanging in their back office. Even though Akira is against it, they need to sort out which maneki-neko lining the front of their entrance they want to keep and which to throw away. He can’t believe his first marital dispute will be about dusty plastic cats.

    The blow drier starts in the bathroom. Akira’s head peeks around the corner, the hot air whipping his hair left and right. “Goro, can you check the mail? Ann’s postcard might have arrived.”

    Goro shoos him away like a fly. On his way to the stairs leading down to the café—a feature Akira insisted on during their apartment hunting to pay homage to his old home—he passes their kitchen where he puts a kettle on the stove for another round of coffee. So far, he’s only had benefits to be engaged to one of Tokyo’s most popular barista.

    Leblanc is abandoned and quiet. He won’t ever admit it oud loud, but he’s glad Akira didn’t change the name after inheriting the business from Sojiro. Anything different would have been blasphemous. But while it is the same name, Leblanc’s replica lives with touches that scream Akira’s name. Bookshelves line one wall opposite the entrance, filled with every book he’s read during Highschool. Customers come and pick one and in return leave a book they have at hand, constantly switching up the collection. Then there’s people complimenting the amazing replicas of famous contemporary artist Yusuke Kitagawa on the walls, asking Akira where he bought them. But if Akira is known for his delicious coffee, he’s famous for his secrets.

    Opening their post box, bills and two cards fall out. The first shows The Louvre lit at night. Ann’s curly handwriting is unmistakable, leaving a short message that she’ll arrive a day before the ceremony. The other card has a simple flower design and one word on its back.

    Congratulations. — M.

    Goro stares at it for a solid minute. It’s been long since he’s seen this handwriting, but he does remember it from torn-out diary pages inside a place that had blindingly white walls and tasted of despair and bitter endings. He takes everything upstairs where he finds Akira with dried, adorably messy hair.

    “I didn’t know you still hang out with Dr. Maruki,” he says, voice neutral as he drops the cards and bills on the table where Akira has already spread out coffee and biscuits from Haru’s shop. He considers the card, absentmindedly stirring his cup. “I don’t. Sumire might have told him.”

    “Not that I really care.” Goro drinks from his cup, eyeing Akira from the side. He’s draped over his chair like a Pre-Raphaelite painting. “He’s not invited.”

    “I doubt he’ll come. Wouldn’t be too much fun if you stabbed him with the cake knife.”

    Goro snorts, but the image does bring a faint grin out of him. It is a time though he doesn’t think too fondly of; a time when he’d felt too much at once and too little words managed to express that. He remembers when Loki and Robin merged into Hereward and the surprise that Robin never really left his side, always with him; the light, the good, the innocent and childlike fantasy to become a hero one day. The night he spent under Akira’s covers; limbs entangled, secrets and fears shared in quiet whispers, thumbs wet from drying tears both pretended were never shed.

    After they defeated Maruki and destroyed the Happy World, Goro woke up in his bed, dizzy and disoriented, still sore from the fight. While staring at his white ceiling, he counted his heartbeat. Every thud in his chest was like a bird trying to take flight out of an ebony cage no one built a door into. He’d only have to tear his chest open and it would be free. It would return to where it longed to be, a little café tucked away in Yongen-Jaya.

    Instead, Goro got out of bed, donned his winter uniform and went to meet Sae Nijima to discuss the terms of proving Shido’s guilt and his arrest. Again. He spent half a year in juvenile hall until Akira paid his bail with the remaining savings from their Mementos ventures.

    “You’re crazy,” Goro had said when he met Akira outside, everything he used and owned during those six months shoved into a single plastic back.

    “I missed you,” Akira had replied and now, seven years later, they’re doing what Goro never allowed himself to dream of; never showed interest in until meeting Akira Kurusu.

    “Will our suits be ready?” he asks now, downing the rest of this coffee. He usually hates when it gets cold, but Akira’s blend is still enjoyable.

    “I’ll check my e-mails later. They should have replied by now.” Akira watches him, tapping a slender finger against the kitchen desk. “I still think one of us should wear a dress.”

    “You also think we need a champagne pyramid which we can’t afford.”

    “Okay, perhaps not that,” says Akira. “But I would make a radiant bride.”

    Goro doesn’t doubt that. If he takes an afternoon off and searches long enough, he’ll surely find the drag cop outfit somewhere in the attic—a real attic, this one—from all those years back. Maybe he can ask Akira to wear lipstick again when it’s time to seal the deal during the ceremony. He can’t think of anyone who would object to that.

    “That’s your cue to say ‘Truly’.” Akira carries both empty mugs to the sink, a slight pout adorning his face. Goro rolls his eyes. He waits until he passes him on his way out to hook a finger through a belt buckle and pulls Akira with a sharp tug on his lap. He blinks in fake innocence. “Oh?”

    “I prefer you looking good in a dress stays between us,” Goro says, shimmying his hands under Akira’s shirt—wrong, Goro’s shirt—where they rest on warm, soft skin.

    Akira thinks about it. “What do I get in return?”

    “No divorce papers.”

    Generous as always.”

    “It’s a deal then.”

    On cue, Akira’s head bends and finds Goro’s mouth. Kissing Akira is still the same as seven years ago: hot, addicting. Like breathing air for the first time after staying underwater for hours. His hands roam over spots he knows where bruised long, long ago and Akira reacts like they never disappeared. Like they never left the Metaverse. Still sixteen and eighteen and too busy bruising their knuckles and knees fighting for their own justice instead of settling down and taking their time unravelling each other. It still manages to untie a tight knot within his chest. He could spend all day kissing Akira. He should spend all day kissing Akira.

    One, two, three tugs on his ponytail and Goro reluctantly relents to free Akira’s bottom lip from between his teeth.

    “We should give you a cut as well,” Akira says, curling the end around a finger. Goro shows his surprise by raising one eyebrow.

    “You’d be okay with that?” he asks. He’s started to believe Akira’s fixation on his hair—drying it after a shower, braiding it when he’s bored, burrowing his hands in them when he cums—is a religious thing, though the prospect of it being short, feeling the cool breeze on the back of his neck during summer and not bothering to brush it every hour to untangle any knots, is appealing.

    Akira wears a dreamy sort of look—though, no. That’s just him being horny, probably imagining Goro with shorter hair and all new discoveries it might bring as he gently scrapes his scalp. It’s as good as any answer. He pushes Akira off his lap and rises as well, turning left and right to stretch and make his joints pop.

    “Fine, but if you mess it up, I’m going to shave you bald.”

    They share a single look, thinking of the only person they know with a bald head and Goro regrets his words already, hates the face of the man he never wants to remember flashing before his eyes.

    Akira takes his hand and squeezes. “I’m going to make you the most handsome man alive, promise.”

    He allows Akira to lead him to the bathroom, the objection that his task will be hard so long as he breathes on his lips.

    Five more days. Five more days and the most handsome man alive will be his.

[secretturtletim]

@cowardlybean gets a gold star for being the first person to speculate things and making my day! 🌟

You’re right about this being post-Maruki. It’s post-Maruki by a good 20 years.

The reference to Akiren killing him is a bit more broad than that. It’s reference to a sort of death of self. Meeting Akiren changed him. He isn’t who he was. The Goro Akechi that existed prior to their meeting and becoming friends is dead.

However, Goro’s been separated from him for some time by this point, but hasn’t been able to let go of the love he still feels for Akiren, and has actually developed a deep, deep fear of having to face him again. It’s eating away at him. It’s killing him. Akiren (in Goro’s cognition) is killing him.

You’re right about it not being Hereward. And it’s not Loki or Robin Hood either. But I’ll give you a couple hints. He’s a famous traitor, and in some of the legends surrounding him he impaled himself on a lance just so he could land one last strike at his father/former king’s head.

You’re also right about it being Goro’s palace. This metaverse is a different iteration than the one Goro got swept up in when he was younger, though. But I’ll get into that more once I’ve got more fleshed out.

[ancient-day]

Robin Hood and Loki chronological order is difficult to pin down, but I refuse to let go of the theory that Robin Hood came first despite Goro telling Shido that he came to him those two and half years prior with the Call of Chaos power already in his arsenal. Usually, a comment like that would tell us Loki must have come first, but I’m stubborn.

Robin Hood represents such a childlike ideal, literally a big super hero action figure (I don’t know if it’s intentional, but behind Robin Hood’s cape, there seems to be this hole in his back that resembles those on a posable figurine), so it seems like something a kid would summon as his idea of “justice.” But even if Robin Hood came first, that doesn’t mean he used it much, and that could explain why he levels up alongside the party during Sae’s palace and still has a lot of moves left to learn as opposed to Loki, who is already very clearly mastered.

So then, how does he get Loki and Call of Chaos before approaching Shido? My main question is how does he even get in direct contact with Shido as a nameless (likely homeless) 14/15-year-old orphan? Why would any of Shido’s underlings allow him to approach him, let alone let him in as far as his office? How did they even meet?

Royal introduces the possibility of human experimentation through the new Featherman game that clearly summarizes Goro’s life, and Persona 3 told us that the Kirijo group laboratories would take orphans off the streets and experiment on them to induce Persona awakenings. With this already in the Persona-universe’s lore, it’s not unthinkable that something like this happened within Shido’s conspiracy.

And if that’s the case, then Robin Hood could have been his organic awakening, and perhaps when he tried to approach the Diet or Shido’s men, they at least acknowledged that this kid had awareness of the cognitive world, and perhaps they took him in for research purposes. This could explain Wakaba’s concept art depicting her experimenting on someone, as well, but that’s not all too important here.

So then, by this timeline, he could have awakened to Loki under these forced circumstances. And that could also explain the deliberate design choice in the parasitic eyes to show that there’s something lacking control in Loki, as well as the original concept for Loki holding Goro by a chain. And if Shido’s scientists could back up Goro’s word on being useful, then Shido would actually have interest and reason to listen to this absolute nobody kid.

Because honestly, I don’t understand why Shido would listen to him otherwise.

But if Loki did come first, then the idea of experimentation goes out the window because why would they try to get another persona out of him if Loki already did everything they needed? Robin Hood doesn’t have anything particularly useful that Loki doesn’t, and if Robin Hood awakened around the time of his detective prince debut, then the only reason I can think of would be that part of him clung to those childhood ideals that maybe he can still do something good and just in the world despite his ongoing revenge scheme. He doesn’t only work cases related to the rampage incidents and mental shutdowns, so he could say he’s doing some good in the world.

Cendrillon proves that a persona isn’t a lie, even if its user is lying to themselves when awakening to it. If Robin Hood came out of Goro’s heart, then that’s a true, genuine part of him just as much as Loki is. Hereward also backs this up. To me, it just makes the most sense if Robin Hood came first.

[lokiarsene]

Just want to say thank you so much for all the Akechi-centric translation & meta! (≧◡≦) It really brighten up my day with so many great posts on Akechi & Joker interaction in p5r! I'm super excited with all the new contents related to Akechi, though I'm confused on whether Loki or Robin Hood is Akechi's first awakened persona since I saw comment that mentions all the third tier persona used the birth name of the first persona.

As far as I can tell from what I’ve seen of the game (and I’ve only personally translated his Confidant and plot-relevant parts of the third semester so far; I’ve seen the whole game but haven’t like, sat down to translate it), Goro does not mention which of his Persona came first, only that he and Ren are Wild Cards.

We do have two important context clues to work with, however: (1) Goro had the psychotic breakdown and mental shutdown abilities before he met the PT–this is an ability only Loki can do, and was taught to him after he joined Shido. (2) The description of Robin Hood in My Palace (which is just Ren’s Palace) says that Robin Hood is born from Goro accepting his true dedication to justice. This indicates that this came later in Goro’s life, and very likely only recently. Some people choose to interpret this as him gaining it after establishing a bond with Ren.

Personally? I’m of two minds here. Occam’s Razor says the most plausible answer is that he got Robin Hood later, and because of Ren. But for me, everything I’ve noticed about Goro and everything I’ve translated shows that there’s a very dramatic split in Goro even long before Ren shows up.

The conflict at the core of Goro’s Confidant isn’t “does he want revenge or justice?” but “how much does this rivalry-ship with Ren mean to Goro?”. That’s splitting hairs, however. Like I said, the simplest explanation is Robin Hood manifested because of Ren, which is why it’s Ren’s answer in the third semester that allows Goro to achieve his third tier Persona and awaken to his true power. He’s no longer “split” between revenge/justice. The person he values most has joined with him to realize he can have both.

But to continue with my theorizing. Two incongruous, impossible things are always true for Goro at the same time. He is always sincere and honest with Ren while also cloaking it in layers of nuanced meaning, because that’s the terms of the game when you’re rivals. He throws a glove at Ren and says it’s a gauntlet for a duel/rematch, and yet it’s also a gift vowing that you two promise to meet again–which is a pretty heavy thing for Goro to swear right before he’s meant to betray and kill Ren. He’s essentially giving Ren that glove perhaps in some hope that by holding onto it, Ren will find some (no doubt frustratingly fascinating) way of surviving it to get a rematch later. So to me, asking which Persona came first is like asking which is Goro’s “true” nature–they both are.

So, you have Loki and you have Robin Hood–neither are his “true” Persona, nor did one necessarily come “before” the other–because to me, Goro has always had two important, personality-defining desires in his heart: getting justice for his mother and himself, getting revenge on the father who abandoned and hurt them. Loki fits the latter, and Robin Hood fits the former. This is why his third tier Persona, Hereward, actually fits both. Hereward rebelled against his father, was exiled, almost died twice, and then was eventually pardoned and allowed to return to his homeland, where he lived the rest of his days in peace.

But, like I said–the simplest explanation is that it went Loki -> Robin Hood, and until the game is translated fully so we can see if they do address it in an overlooked scene, we don’t yet know for sure.