#I have the most mixed feelings about P5

[lovingmattysposts]

Eastside Part 2

P1 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 P11 P12 P13 P14 P15 P16 P17

summary: growing up in the outskirts of Boston wasn't really pretty. Life wasn't that great for most people, most people. You had Matt and no one fucked with you when Matt was standing by your side. The chief's daughter and the bad boy deliquent. A perfect love story?

warnings: suggestive, cursing, fighting

i love this series I hope yall can get into it

xoxo, autumn

“thoughts?” I smiled looking up at Matt as I slammed the locker closed. He just looked down at me and raised his eyebrows.

“You are ridiculous” he shook his head. I rolled my eyes. “No, I’m practical” I explained as I pushed off the lockers and turned to walk down the hallway. He followed after me throwing his backpack over his shoulder.

"We've been dating for almost six months, and now we have to pretend we aren't together?” he asked looking down at me. I sighed as I looked away from him, spotting a school officer looking at us. I stopped before grabbing Matt and pulling him down the hall.

"Y/n" He sighed looking down at me. "I'm not hiding, I do that shit enough as it is, i'm not doing that shit with you" He said shaking his head. I looked down feeling a pit in stomach. I knew where he was coming from, this wasn't a fair ask really.

"You can't even go to the Eastside, and you want to meet there every Friday?" He asked leaning back. I shrugged. "I don't know Matt. I find a way. Maybe a job?" I said shaking my head. He raised his eyebrows as he looked down at me.

"You're getting a job?" He asked. I shook my head. "No I'll say I got a job, maybe voulnteer work? That way he won't be suspiscious on the no-income part" I smiled. He shook his head smiling.

Matt was shoved slightly from behind and Chris appeared behind him wrapping one arm around his brother's shoulder. "Heard this one was off limits aye?" Chris said smiling down at me. I shook my head as I looked at him. Matt pushed him off of him.

"Do you need something?" He asked looking over at Chris. "Yeah" He breathed. "Nick said there was a mix-up with the packaging? I don't know, some bullshit. But he's on my ass about it, which means i'm on your ass about it because you were suppose to deliver it on Saturday" He said pointing into his chest.

My eyebrows furrowed as I looked between them. Matt looked at Chris and then to me. "I'll take care of it" He said looking towards Chris. Chris nodded. "Yeah you better" He said shaking his head and walking away. Matt sighed and looked down at me.

"What package?" I asked looking up at my boyfriend. He shook his head as he wrapped one arm around me shoulder as we walked down the hall. "Don't worry about it" He sighed looking forward. "Matt" I stopped. He sighed looking up.

"God, I'm gonna kill Chris" He mumbled as he placed a hand against his forehead. He stepped forward. "Listen if I thought you needed to worry about i would tell you, okay?" He said leaning down to me.

"Now get I've got to get to class, I love you" He said kissing my forehead and turning to walk down the hall. "Matthew!" I yelled as he walked away. He turned slightly as he walked.

"You made me come to the shit hole!" He yelled as he continued down the hall, earning some disapproving glanced from teachers. I smiled and shook my head as I turned away.

-

"So about the package Matt was suppose to deliver" I said slidding in next to Nick. He looked down at me and shook his head. "Y/n" he sighed. I pushed his shoudler.

"What was it?" I asked looking up at him. Nick looked around and then back down to me. "Does Matt know you're asking me about this?" he asked. I bit my lip and looked down. Nick shook his head scrolling back through his phone.

"Why is it some huge secret?" I asked pushing him. He glared over at me. "Y/n, this doesn't concern you. You shouldn't even know about this situation and you shouldn't even be brought into this" He said looking down at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Nick come on" I sighed. "You can preach about eastside this eastside that, but you're not from the eastside. You're the chief's daughter and I shouldn't even be talking to you about this" He narrowed his eyes at me. My confidence wavored slighlty.

"You know i'm basically Eastside blood Nick" I whispered. He shook his head. "But you're not" He said standing up from the table. I just looked up at me.

"And if Matt was smart he wouldn't even be assioating with you, but you've had that boy whipped since middle school and their's nothing I can do---and i get that. But family buisness is not your buisness, and you're overstepping whether you're Matt's girl or not" He said looking down at me. I glanced down at my lap.

"The only reason I treat you with a decent amount of respect is because of how much Matt does" He sighed shaking his head. "If it were up to me you wouldn't be in the picture, but i'm not getting in Matt's way and neither should you" He said before turning and walking away, leaving me annoyed and angry.

It's always eastside blood with him and Chris. They never look at me like one of them because we come from different parts of the town. It's ridicilous, but I get it. It's a thing that I have to deal with it.

Maybe I just shouldn't have asked.

-

"I'm taking you home right?" Matt said as we walked out of the school. I shook my head. "Grounded remember?" I sighed. Matt shook his head smiling. I stopped and looked at him. "Not sure my dad would be too happy if you pulled up to my house to drop me off" I smiled. He hummed leaning down and kissing me softly.

"Why does that make me want to do it more?" He smiled leaning back. I rolled my eyes. "You're trouble, Matthew" I sighed stepping back smiling. He shrugged. "You already knew that" He sang before turning on his heels and walking away. I turned and paused seeing Officer Petey standing by his car, staring at me.

I sighed as I walked slowly up to him.

"You're dad asked me to escort you home ms. y/l/n" Petey spoke as I walked up to him. I smiled sarcastically up at him. "How sweet of him" I sighed grabbing the door handle to his police car. He slammed it back shut. I looked up at him with narrowed eyes.

Officer Petey, my dad's partner. A family friend. He's been in my life as long as I could remember. He cared about me and I hated it. I wish he would stop pretending to be my second dad, I already have one and I definitely didn't need another.

"You know he told every cop in town to make sure you stay away from that boy right?" He breathed as he took off his sunglasses. I rolled my eyes. "Yeah I'm sure" I sighed looking up at him.

"I'm serious y/n. Those Sturniolo-"

"Those Sturniolo boys are no good. Yeah Petey i've heard it all before. Can I get in the car now?" I sighed shaking my head. He sighed before nodding and walking over to the other side of the car and getting in.

I looked out the window as he pulled out of the school.

"Your dad is just doing what he think is best for you, you know" He said, making me shake my eyes. "No one knows him like I do, everyone just looks at him like some criminal" I mumbled not looking over at him.

"He's been in the station more than a few times, y/n" He said looking over at me. I groaned throwing down my bag. "And that makes him a bad person?" I asked looking over at him. He raised his eyebrows.

"No, that makes him a criminal. A criminal with a not-so-clean record" He said back making me cross my arms. I looked down and cracked my fingers, I did that whenever I was stressed.

"Can you not tell him that you saw me with Matt today? He's been on my case and i'm already grounded. I don't want to hear anything else from him" I said quietly looking down at my lap. "Then maybe you shouldn't be hanging out with that boy and you wouldn't hear it from him" He sighed looking over at me. I just sighed and looked at the window.

"I won't tell him" He said making me look over at him. I smiled. "I don't want him asking me a million questions" He smiled slightly. I smiled and shook my head as we pulled up to my house. He put the car in park and I reached down and grabbed my bag.

"You're acting like I have no idea where your mind is at y/n" He said looking down at me. I closed my eyes sighing. I hated when adults did this. Pulling the whole 'I was a teenager once you know'.

"You love the boy" He stated. I looked up at him with narrowed eyes. "I'm just asking you to be careful. You're a good kid" He said softly. I shook my head before opening the door and slamming it shut without another word.

I walked into my house, throwing my bag onto the ground. I didn't even reach the stairs before I heard my dad calling my name. I sighed hanging my head, stepping down from the only step I managed to climb. I turned walking into the living room

My dad was sitting at the table with about three laptops open, staring down at them. "How was school?" He asked not looking up at me. I shrugged. "It sucked" I said crossing my arms. He smiled and shook his head. "You still mad at me?" He asked glancing up at me. I rolled my eyes and turned on my feet.

"I'm the one with your phone" He said making me pause and turn back towards him. "Officer Hale said he saw you two talking in the hall at school" He said closing one computer and looking up at me. I shrugged.

"So you're stalking me at school now?" I asked looking at him. He crossed his arms over his chest. "I've got eyes everywhere sweetheart" He smiled. I rolled my eyes. "I told you you couldn't see that boy anymore" He said dropping his smile. I swallowed looking down at my feet.

"I'm not, I told him it was over" I lied. He stood up walking over to me. "You told him it was over?" He asked looking down at me. I nodded looking up at him. He hummed.

"He's bad news, you were right" I sighed. He raised his eyebrows. "You could have lied a little better than that" He chuckled. I shook my head. "I'm not lying. We're over. Now can I go to my room? I'm going through a breakup" I said looking at him.

He stared down at me, as if were deciding if he was going to believe me or not.

"I thought about what you said and I agree. I need to get my shit together--"

"Language" He stated. I glared at him.

"I actually applied for this volunteer thing my school is hosting" I smiled up at him. He mummed. "Did you? And where is this volunteer thing? The Sturniolo's house?" He said walking into the kitchen. I scoffed.

"Dad, can you take my side for once? I'm trying to be better" I sighed shaking my head. He grabbed a coffee mug out of the cabnit and looked at me sighing. "Okay, what is it?" He asked grabbing the coffee pot.

"It's this animal shelter, they need more workers but they can’t afford to pay anyone” I explained. He hummed nodding his head. “Where is it?” He asked. I bit my lip and turned to the side. He looked up at me.

“Y/n”

“The Eastside?” I said closing my eyes. He shook his head. “No, pick another one” he said shaking his head. “Dad” I whined looking at him. He lifted the cup of coffee up to his lips.

“I said no, that’s final” he said looking at me. I scoffed. “I’m almost 18 dad, don’t you think you’ve been a little hard on me lately? I’m trying to give back to the community. Sometimes I feel like I can never do anything good enough for you” I yelled at him.

He sighed looking down and walking up to me.

“When is it?” He asked softly. I smiled. “On Friday’s from 6-midnight” I explained. His eyes widened. “Midnight?” He asked. I shrugged. “They need someone to feed the dogs at night” I said. He sighed putting down his coffee.

“Okay, I trust you. But—“ he said holding up his finger. “You have to bring pepper spray with you. I don’t want you out there by yourself unarmed” he said reaching in his belt and handing me pepper spray. I looked down at it.

“Seriously?” I asked.

“Do you want to go or not?” He asked. I smiled before hugging him. “Thank you” I breathed. He chuckled and patted my back.

-

I winced as a branch cut my leg slightly. “Fuck” I said looking down at my leg. I reached up slightly knocking on the window trying not to focus on how cold I was.

A few seconds later the window opened slightly revealing my boyfriend. He raised his eyebrows as I smiled up at him.

“Sorry I don’t want any Girl Scout cookies” he said starting to close the window. “Matt” I said making him chuckle and open the window all the way and pulling me into his room.

I sighed as my feet landed on the ground.

“I thought I was suppose to be the one climbing through windows?” He asked looking over at me as he closed the window. I shrugged. “Thought I’d switch it up, keep you on your toes” I smiled walking up to him and kissing him softly.

“I missed you” I hummed. “You saw me this morning” he laughed. I rolled my eyes and frowned. He sighed and bent down picking me up and then throwing me on his bed, making me giggle. He smiled as he climbed over top of me and looked down, hovering over me.

"Hi" I smiled up at him, his blue eyes scanning my face. "Hi baby" He whispered before kissing me. He pulled away. "How'd you get out?" He asked mentioning my house. I shrugged. "My dad goes to bed early, thought I could come and suprise you" I said running my hands over his shoulder.

"So you just walked out?" He asked smiling down at me. I nodded. "That's my girl" he whispered before leaning down and connecting our lips this time slipping his tongue and running his hands up my body. I sighed from his cold fingertips against my body.

He reached down pushing hair out of my face as we kissed. I loved kissing him. It was one of my favorite pass times. Just his lips on mine, everyday, anywhere, anytime.

He pushed up my shirt slightly gripping my hips with his hands, slightly digging his nails into my skin. He bit down roughly on my lips.

Something was bothering him. I could tell from the way he was kissing me. Not that I didn't like the way he was kissing me or anything, I found it hot. But he only kissed me like this when he was stressed and had something on his mind. Before I had the chance to pull away, the door swung open making us pull apart and glance at his door.

Chris looked up and paused looking between us and his eyes landing on Matt. "Are you busy?" Chris asked looking at him. Matt looked from him to me, then back to his brother.

"Yeah Chris. I'm busy" He spat looking at him. Chris looked down at me and I felt my face go red. "I need to talk to you" He said looking at Matt. Matt just blinked at him.

"Can it wait?" He breathed glaring at him. Chris just stared at him with an expression I couldn't understand. He sighed hanging his head before rolling off of me. I sat up as he stood up and walked over to Chris. Chris's eyes on mine. I just looked at Matt.

"I'll be right back" He turned to me before walking out into the hallway with his brother

-

matt pov

I closed the door softly before pushing Chris back. He glared at me. "What the fuck was so urgent?" I asked glaring at him. He stepped forward, shaking his head. He placed his finger against my chest.

"Need I remind you the fuck up last weekend? Nick is this close to ripping your head off. The package needs to be delivered to Slim tonight" He said through gritted teeth. My eyes went wide and I sighed, placing my hand against my forehead.

"Fuck, I was just about to leave and then y/n-" I said looking at the door. Chris shook his head. "It's always y/n that y/n this, Matt get your head out of that girl's ass and wake up" He said harshly I glared at him. I grabbed his shirt.

"Don't talk about her like that" I said glaring at him. He pushed me off of him. "Dude" He said shaking his head. "You're losing focus. Is y/n becoming an issue?" He asked making me look down at my shoes.

"You know it's not smart to do what you're doing. One look from the wrong person and Slim or Landon know that you care about that girl and-" He said shaking his head. "I know I know" I sighed shaking my head.

"I know you love her, but you're putting her in danger been seen with her now" He sighed. I turned my head. "You agreed to do this, Matt" He stated, making me shake my head. "I know, I know" I said rubbing my face.

"I'll be more careful" I said looking at him. He raised his eyebrows. "I'm not breaking up with her if thats what you're suggesting. I love her" I said looking at him. He nodded. "I know you do, that's not what i'm saying" He said holding up his hands.

"I'll get the package out tonight. Next time, knock" I said before turning and walking back into my room. I sighed as I closed the door and tuned back to y/n who was sitting on my bed, her knees pressed to her chest looking at me.

I smiled.

Sometimes I thought she was too pure to be in a world like this. She's a badass, don't get my wrong. But the way she carries herself and the way she cares about things and the way she touches me--makes my head spin. I've never met a soul as pure as hers before, and there was nothing more I wanted to do that protect that. But from what I just agreed to, it was going to be a lot harder than before.

But I would dare anyone to try to even touch her.

"Hey, is everything okay?" She asked looking as I walked up to the bed. I smiled down at her, pressing my hand against her jaw and running my thumb across her chin. She smiled as I nodded.

"Yeah everything's fine" I whispered down at her. She smiled as she pulled my arm and pulled me back to her and connecting her lips to mine briefly. I almost melted back into the kiss before she pulled away.

"Now, tell me what's wrong" She stated, my face in her hands. I furrowed my eyebrows. "What?" I asked. She rolled her eyes sitting up. "You think I don't notice you kiss me differently when something's on your mind" She smiled pushing my hair back with her hand. I sighed. I had to get that under control.

"Nothing's bothering me" I sighed looking away from her. She rolled her eyes. "Nothing's bothering you?" She asked. I shook my head. Lie. "Then why aren't you looking at me?" He smiled, tilting her head into my view. I smiled and shook my head.

"You're impossible" I sighed leaning my head against her knee. She pushed me over before straddling my waist and ran her hands up my chest. I quite literally felt my dick twitch.

"If you aren't gonna tell me" She smiled leaning down kissing the base of my neck. I sighed leaning my head back. "Then let me help you destress" She whispered against my ear. I let out a hard breath.

It was close to impossible to say no to her, but if I didn't get that package out I wouldn't even have a dick to get hard. She leaned up and connected our lips kissing me slowly. She pushed up my shirt feeling my bare chest before her finger slip below the waist band of my pants. She kissed my jaw before snapping my underwear against my skin.

I sighed, slightly pushing her. "y/n/n" I sighed. She leaned up looking down at me with dark eyes. I could have busted at the sight, but i contained myself.

"What?" she tilted her head smiling. "I can't" I sighed. She frowned. "Why?" She asked running her hand over my growing bulge. "Y/n/n" I sighed leaning forwards slightly. She hummed before kissing me again. I kissed back for a second before grabbing her hips and throwing her next to me and stood up.

"I have to go" I said shaking my head. Her face dropped as she looked up at me. "What?" She asked her eyebrows furrowed. I sighed looking at the door.

Just imagine Chris or Nick literally chopping your dick off.

"I-I have to do something, I have to go" I explained poorly looking down. She sighed standing up. "Okay, then I'll go with you" She said looking at me.

"No" I said firmly looking at her. Her eyes widened and she dropped her hands from her hips. "Why not?" She asked walking over to me. I just looked down at her.

"I'll walk you home" I stated as she looked up at me. She just looked up at me in state of shock, before shaking her head and walking out of my door.

-

"Why did you bring a gun?" She asked looking down at her feet as we walked. "I didn't" I lied looking down at her. She just glanced up to me and then back down at her feet.

I made her upset.

I sighed closing my eyes, stopping her. She just looked up at me. "Y/n, stop" I sighed. She just looked up at me. "I'm sorry I didn't make you upset" I said placing my hand on her face, which she moved away from.

"Since when do we have secrets?" She asked looking up at me, crossing her arms over her chest. I closed my eyes. I hated hiding things from her I really did. If I could tell her I would, but I can't. Not if it means her saftey is a risk.

"We don't" I said looking at her. She just stared at me before turning on her feet and walking down the sidewalk. I sighed hanging my head. "I'm good from here, you can go fuck your other bitch now" She said as she walked.

I groaned putting my hands against my face. "Y/n" I said but she didn't turn around. I walked up to her before grabbing her arm. She looked at me with glossy eyes. I sighed.

"Y/n, If i could tell you I would. I promise. I just need you to trust me on this okay? I love you" I whispered looking down at her. "You come home with bruises all over your body and you have to do something at midnight that I can't come to? Matt come on" She said shaking her head.

"Can you just trust me?" I asked looking down at her. She looked away from me. "Matt-"

"Can you trust me?" I asked again looking down at her. She sighed. "Of course I trust you Matt" She said looking up at me. I smiled and pulled her against me in a hug. "But don't lie to me" She mumbled against my chest. I closed my eyes and kissed the top of her head.

oooo long chapter what yall think??

tag list: @rac00ns-are-c00l4 @miastromboli @secret-sturniolo @sturnsclutter @sturniolodreamz @paper-crab @chrisolivia4l @mwah0mwah @recklesssturniolo @ejswift @kitaysworld @meg-sturniolo @nickmillersn1gf @fr3shl0ve @adrianaturnedpretty @oversturn @ghostgurlswrld @flowerxbunnie @ilytrinsworld @lustfulslxt @kiarastromboli @gemofthenight @blahbel668 @haunted-headset @sturnybabes @bethsturn @d3adlyclassrat @sturnybabes @mattsbitch @chrisluvbot

[takeyourheart]

gonna talk about a lil thing I noticed in p5/p5r about joker and akechi that I think everyone knows but nobody's really mentioned yet.

when it comes to confidants, we sort of make our own opinions about them outside of how joker actually is with them in game (example: mishima. so many people hate him but that's a topic for another day)

but the exception to this is akechi. sure, in p5r's confidant, we still get to choose what to say as part of the Silent Self Insert Protagonist™ shtick, but to my knowledge, we never see joker explicitly have dialogue in the form of thought bubbles revealing his (and not our) thoughts about his friends.

you know who he does acknowledge in his thought bubbles? akechi.

specifically, I'm thinking about 2/2 ("this isn't trivial!" "but akechi will...") and when you go to jazz jin after the palace, to realize joker has kept akechi's glove in his pocket this entire fucking time. and yea sure joker has tons of shit in his pockets, that's how inventory works, but keep in mind he's just having his hands in his pants pockets at this moment. he literally carries around akechi's glove in his regular ass clothing pants pocket.

what I'm trying to say here is that with all the other characters, you're expected to grow to like them. joker doesn't have special dialogue because you're expected to see them as his/your friends, and he doesn't need to establish anything different.

but with akechi, you're most likely going to have mixed feelings about him, and joker is making it very clear that no matter what the player thinks, joker loves akechi, and he wants to do everything in his power to help him. because he's joker, and that's what he does, and what he must do. (another discussion for a different time tbh.)

tldr; joker loves akechi even if the player doesn't. people who think joker dislikes or hates akechi can't read

[real-life-cloud]

18 and your choice of ship?

hiii sorry this took so long!! i decided to pick momojirou ♥ i listened exclusively to rain ambience mixes of animal crossing music and p5 music while writing this lol

you can real the drabble on ao3 -> here

you can see the prompt list -> here

⛅

Prompt 18: Walking Home wordcount: 1.4k

During their final period for the day, Kyouka started to hear raindrops on the roof of UA. She doubted the others heard it—aside maybe Shouji—but her sensitive ears certainly did.

Internally, she cursed. She didn't bother checking the weather that morning, and didn't have an umbrella. 'Hopefully,' she thought, 'if I'm lucky, the rain will pass quickly.'

Jirou Kyouka wasn't known for being lucky.

That rainy, gloomy Thursday afternoon was no different. By the time she was about to leave, it had turned into a full-on downpour.

She could ask a classmate to share, or see if anyone had a spare. But an anxious and uncomfortable feeling swirled around in her gut at the thought of doing so. It was the first week of school, she barely knew any of them. What if they thought she was being too familiar with them? She fidgeted with her audio jacks as she watched the rainfall.

'No one is going to hate me for forgetting an umbrella.' She mentally reassured herself. It did nothing to get rid of the feeling.

"Wow, it's really coming down…" A voice to her left startled her out of her thoughts.

She turned to see Yaoyorozu staring out into the rain as well. A folded umbrella lay in her hands, as she was a smart person who probably checked the weather every day.

She really was so smart. And beautiful, and competent, and tall. Not that that was all it took for her to get a crush. She did not have a crush. Probably. She barely knew the girl. They hadn’t properly talked outside of a brief introduction. Who knew if she even remembered Kyouka’s name.

Yaoyorozu cocked her head to the side, her pretty black hair swaying along with it. It looked so glossy, yet never greasy. "Did you not bring an umbrella, Jirou?" 

"Ah, well." Kyouka faltered, feeling embarrassed. That answered one question. "I forgot to check the weather this morning, heh." She laughed.

Yaoyorozu's brows knit together, "You're a highschooler now, you really should be remembering things like this!" She chided, sounding more like a teacher than a student.

Kyouka's eyes fell to the floor. Of course it was one of her most responsible—and gorgeous—classmates that found her like this. She felt her face heat up.

A beat of silence, then, "Sorry, I didn't mean to, um, what I meant was-" Yaoyorozu sighed, clearly flustered. "You… walk to the nearest station, don't you, Jirou?"

Kyouka nodded dumbly.

"I could walk you there; if you wanted, that is."

Kyouka nodded again, more enthusiastically. Then, she finally remembered to speak, "If you don't mind."

She smiled, "Not at all." Then she opened up the umbrella and they stepped into the downpour together.

She was so close to her. She even smelled nice—like fresh cotton. Kyouka inhaled sharply when their shoulders brushed. God, this was so stupid. Was this really all it took for her to get a crush?

Yaoyorozu closed her eyes and inhaled, "I do love the smell of rain, though. Don't you?" She suddenly asked with a smile.

Kyouka fumbled for a moment, but only a moment. "Uh, yeah! Yeah, though, I think it's even better in the fall 'cause it, like, the leaves-"

"It mixes with the smell of fallen leaves! I feel exactly the same." She cut in excitedly. She was so cute that Kyouka couldn't even be upset at being cut off.

Kyouka giggled. Giggled. In what world did she ever giggle? “Yeah.”

Okay, it was definitely a crush.

They walked slowly, and Kyouka was glad for it. In part because her legs were much shorter than Yaoyorozu's, but also because it gave them more time together. Students around them were walking home, too. Some slowly, others running without umbrellas with the hope that if they were fast enough, they wouldn’t get too wet. Kyouka was almost one of them, a few minutes prior.

Green leaves poked through the pink cherry blossom trees, it would be summer before they knew it. She much preferred spring. As she looked around, she noticed the rain getting lighter.

She looked up at Yaoyorozu only to find her already looking back. They both quickly looked away.

Was Yaoyorozu just as curious about her? She bit the inside of her cheek at the thought—no, she shouldn’t get her hopes up like that. ‘Seriously Kyouka, you just realized you even have a crush on her…’ She chastised herself.

The rain, much gentler than before, filled the silence between them.

Yaoyorozu spoke up first. She cleared her throat daintily, “I apologize for earlier, I didn’t mean to start scolding you like that. I’m not your mother, or even your upperclassman! Sorry about that.” She said, sounding formal even when she looked embarrassed.

She was still worried about that? God, she was cute. “Hey, it’s fine, dude. I mean, I should know better by now—this used to happen all the time in middle school!” Kyouka laughed and tried for a reassuring smile, but Yaoyorozu just looked even more troubled. Her pace slowed then stopped.

“Goodness, would you just run in the rain? Didn’t you get sick?” She asked with a hand clutched on her chest.

Kyouka’s laugh turned more awkward, “Yes and yes.”

Even Yaoyorozu’s appalled face was cute. Her brows scrunched together and her hand shot up to cover her mouth—like a worried little granny, except she was a pretty, teenage girl. “Well, I’m glad I ran into you, then.” She huffed, then began to walk again.

Kyouka hummed as she followed suit, “Me too.”

“If you ever forget in the future, I can walk you to the station again. We can’t have you getting sick—every day of training is important!” She scolded, sounding older than she was yet again.

Kyouka laughed, “You sound like a teacher.”

The taller girl blushed at her teasing, “I don’t mean to…”

Kyouka continued to giggle, and the tension between them softened.The rain was slowing down to a drizzle, but Kyouka silently, selfishly hoped they stayed under the umbrella anyway.

Yaoyorozu changed the subject to schoolwork, and Kyouka found that talking to her was actually pretty easy. Especially when none of her other classmates were there to make fun of how obviously infatuated she was with the girl.

The train station came into view, and Kyouka repressed a sigh. Had they really gotten there so soon? On any other day, she’d be thankful for the short trip. But she worried—what if this easy closeness was confined under their umbrella? What if Kyouka came to school the next day and suddenly she didn’t know how to talk to her anymore? She didn’t want it to end.

But eventually, they made it to the train station doors. The two of them ducked under the covered entrance, but Kyouka noticed Yaoyorozu lag behind her. She turned to give her a questioning look, “Aren’t you coming inside?”

“Oh, no.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, “No, I get picked up by car, actually, so this is where we part ways.”

For a moment, she just stared. Then it set in.

“You didn’t have to walk me the whole way!” She blurted out, waving her hands in a flustered motion. Why didn’t she think of that? Everyone knew Yaoyorozu was a rich girl, of course she got picked up by car.

Kyouka was so busy in her own head that she didn’t notice the other girl step forward, and jolted in surprise when she grabbed her hand. Her hands were so soft, her nails perfectly manicured. Her fingertips were cold.

“I wanted to.” She said, oddly serious. Her expression melted into a smile that had Kyouka’s chest swirling. “I never get to walk home with friends, it was nice. So don’t worry about it, okay? I already texted my chauffeur to pick me up here instead.”

A sleek black car pulled up, perfectly on time. Yaoyorozu gestured to the vehicle as if to say, “See?”

A mustached man in a suit emerged from the driver’s side to open the backseat door for her with a bow. She was rich rich, huh? Yaoyorozu thanked the man politely, then turned back to Kyouka one last time. “It was nice talking to you, Jirou. I hope we can get to know each other better.”

Kyouka stammered out a, “Me too.” And then she was driving away.

She decided right then: she was never going to bring an umbrella to school again.

[brionnne]

HC that Sebastian SDV listens to a very broad range of music, like he's kind of all over the place. He likes classic emo stuff (MCR, Panic!, PtV, La Dispute, Movements, [Nineteen is a big one,] etc.)) with goth and new wave stuff in the mix, as well (Depeche Mode, Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, Sisters Of Mercy, etc.) Lots and lots of instrumentals in his catalogue (HOME, LUNE, etc., the sorts of songs you find on YouTube searching for playlists); just a bunch of things to play while he works (ex. Isolation by Ichika Nito). Listens to jazz, lo-fi, ambiance, etc. It doesn't have to be when he's working, but that's most of it. If he's writing, coding, probably even if he's reading, honestly. Real thinkin' music. Listens to the music that plays when you take exams in P4 (Specialist) P3 (During The Test...) and P5 (Life Goes On) unironically. Type of person who needs music on to work, so he's almost always got headphones on and something playing lightly in the background. Also listens to dream pop and darkwave. Coldwave, as well, definitely. Them Are Us Too. Molchat Doma. Can see him liking Gost, Carpenter Brut, and similar things; likes the horror inspo. Tons of video gamey things, of course; OSTs and covers aplenty. Listens to songs with titles like for when i feel better (zenshou) or lonely again (Ichika Nito) or fool (frad) or sleep it off (leon chang) or i need to be alone (girl in red). Freaks (Surf Curse). Sleep Through Ur Alarms (Lontalius). The whole of Youth by Citizen. When You Die (MGMT). Feel like he listens to Vocaloid, as well. Kikuo, mostly. Dark Festival, or Song of the Night. Things that are kind of freeing, if spooky. Probably Utsu-P. For the angst. When he's happy, listens to things like Friday I'm In Love (The Cure), Til Now (potsu), or It's U (Cavetown).

Goes easily towards mood music in general. If he's listening to music that sounds happy, then he's happy, and if he's listening to music that sounds angsty, then he's likely to be upset. Enjoys immersing himself in whatever he's feeling, and also feeling as if someone understands. I think he only starts listening to the sweeter stuff, especially in the sense of relationships, after meeting the farmer, though. Before that, I think he kind of cringed at it and wouldn't let it touch his playlists just because he was very cynical about all that. After he gets to know them, I think he definitely changes his mind; finds himself gravitating towards that stuff. Makes a couple playlists that make him think of them. Things he feels or things that remind him of you.

[semi-imaginary-place]

My initial impression of Maruki's persona Azathoth was that Azathoth did not suit Maruki, the persona was far too sinister for such a kind man even as misguided as he was. So I started thinking about it and the more I thought about it the more odd and out of place it seemed. As noted by others there are several peculiarities with Maruki’s persona: Unlike all other palace rulers, Maruki has a palace and a persona, “Not only can it use its powers from within the real world, it is extremely unstable when used to do so, as seen in its ability to cause memory loss and cognitive dissonance as drawbacks to its powers. It also displays an initiative and sentience somewhat separate from Maruki's” (the megaten wiki). That last part is of particular notability, that Azathoth seems to display a will independent of Maruki’s along with its appearance and Maruki’s strange awakening, makes me speculate that Azathoth‘s manifestation was the result of Nyarlathotep’s meddling.

Maruki’s persona awakening was also unusual in a number of ways. Leading up to his awakening Maruki started hearing Azathoth’s voice and had worsening headaches. For all the other P5 persona users they only heard their personas’ voices during the awakening, not before, implying something else was talking to Maruki or that Azathoth was forming abnormally, and separate from Maruki. For the other awakenings (with some variations) we see the awakening happens because the character resolves to do something, after great pain a mask manifests, the character’s eyes turn yellow, and when that mask is ripped off the persona and metaverse outfit manifest. None of this happens for Maruki, instead the sky turns red, the metaverse starts bleeding into reality because of the Demiurge, and Maruki just turns around and Azathoth is there. For Maruki's persona awakening there is no resolve, no yellow eyes (shadow self merging with the real person), and no mask at this point. Additionally this awakening is happening in reality instead of in the Metaverse (the closer to reality you get in the collective unconscious the harder it is to manifest a persona). Which all supports that it wasn’t Maruki that awakened Azathoth, but something else.

As noted by others many parts of Persona 5 seem reminiscent of or call back to Persona 2. In all 3 games rumors are a recurring motif that play a large part in the game, greatly affecting the main cast, and late in the games rumors/what people believe start replacing reality. Various similarities between the main cast include a party member with complicated feelings of admiration and abandonment by their father who has an older sibling working in the justice system, girls facing simultaneous social ostracization and fetishization for being mixed race, mysterious trickster Jokers, rival characters who are antagonists but also party members, lots of daddy issues.

Unlike most of the other personas in P5 Azathoth is particularly creepy looking containing none of the usually recognizable human features, and instead having a gold cross with human brain and spine entwined in tentacles. Now Futaba’s inhuman personas look like alien spaceships because she feels alienated and separate from other people, but why would good boy and very social Maruki’s persona look like... that? What Azathoth does look like is something wrong, something reminiscent of Nyarlathotep's appearances in the Persona 2 duology. Azathoth’s black tentacles with blue/green accents remind me of Nyarlathotep’s appearances in the Persona 2 games where they also were a mess of black tentacles with blue/green accents. Like Nyarlathotep, Azathoth is also deity out of H. P. Lovecraft‘s Cthulhu Mythos, but not only that, Azathoth is the progenitor of Nyarlathotep making a direct connection between them in the Persona universe.

Now it could be argued that Azathoth’s spoken lines are because of Maruki’s internal conflict but think about what Azathoth says, it is pushing Maruki to make choices that lead to a worse outcome and a distorted world. Along with how strange a persona Azathoth is and all the above connections to Persona 2 and Nyarlathotep, I find Azathoth to be very suspicious. And yet Maruki took Azathoth, merged him with the palace treasure, and in Morgana’s words “evolved” Azathoth into Adam Kadmon. In the transformation animation Azathoth’s tentacles form muscles and organs (mesoderm) around the gold central nervous system and then the whole thing is wrapped in a gold skin. Adam Kadmon follows the trend in ultimate personas where the initial one is a fictional character and the ultimate is an actual mythological figure. So Maruki (despite whatever Azathoth really was) managed to make his persona real when he combined it with his reason for doing everything (the treasure).

[acacia-may]

Rose Garden Headcanons [Valentine's Day 2023]

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! A fun fact about me: my family has run a florist shop for nearly five generations now, so I have a lot of random flower-related knowledge which tends to pop up in my writing and which has inspired this event! 💐I hope you all enjoy it! 🥰

Please choose a character and build a bouquet from the flowers below by following these few rules:

You may select up to 5 headcanons per character, per request

You can mix and match from the various categories (i.e. Noelle Silva: Y3, Y4, P2, R3, and R5) or choose all from the same category (i.e. Leopold Vermillion: Pink Roses).

You may request more than one character and/or can submit more than one request.

Requests may be may anonymously if you wish.

Any characters (or OCs) from any and all fandoms I've previously written about are fair game for this event so please pick whatever you'd like!

Requests can be submitted from now until midnight on February 15th. Headcanons will begin to be posted on February 14th.

🌹🌹 Thank you so much for your requests! 🌹🌹

YELLOW ROSES [Friendship Headcanons] 💛

Yellow roses symbolize friendship and joy so choose from the list below for some friendship themed headcanons

Y1. What do they consider the most important quality in a friend? What qualities do they bring to a friendship?

Y2. Do they make friends easily and have a lot of friends or are they more selective in their choice of friends and only have a few?

Y3. Have they ever had a best friend? Was there a specific moment when they knew this person was their best friend?

Y4. How do they most like to express love and affection for their friends? Is it the same or different as how they most like to receive affection in return?

Y5. What role do they take in their friend group (i.e. "The Mom-Friend," "The Troublemaker," "The Glue that Holds Everyone Together" ect.)? Is this different than the role they think that they take?

PINK ROSES [Family Headcanons] 💗

Pink roses symbolize admiration and gratitude so choose from the list below for family-themed headcanons (Note: Found Families can and will also be included in this category)

P1. When was a time they felt truly loved by someone in their family?

P2. What is one of their fondest family memories?

P3. How does their family express love to each other in general? (For instance, are they particularly doting, complimentary, or touchy-feely? Do they go all out for birthdays and other special occasions?)

P4. Do they particularly look up to or admire someone in their family? What do they admire about them? On the flip side, does anyone in their family particularly look up to or admire them?

P5. Do they want a family/children of their own one day? What kind of parent would they be, and how would they express love to their children if they had them?

RED ROSES [Romance Headcanons] ❤️

Probably the most iconic of all roses, red roses symbolize romantic love and affection so choose from the list below for romance-themed headcanons

R1. Are they a particularly romantic person? What do they consider to be the ideal romantic gesture?

R2. How would they tell you they loved you? (For instance, would they use words--planned out in a speech or accidentally blurted out? Or would they prefer to show you they loved you through their actions?)

R3. What do they look for in a romantic relationship? What would make them feel the most loved and supported by a significant other?

R4. How would they react to being in love? Would they want to keep it a secret--would they even be able to? Would they be awkward about it or take it all in stride?

R5. What is a love song that really suits them and why?

[quilna]

Currently obsessing over the persona series you know how it is and i was thinking up on my persona au for tgs and brainstorming some ideas while listening to music you also know how it is but then i remembered! Theres also ANOTHER person who is equally as insane as i when it comes to the persona games and also has their own persona au for tgs! Hello! I wish to hear your random headcanons and facts and just random bits and bobs on your au. Even stuff that is probably considered barely important or noticeable. Give me it all! Feed me knowledge to satisfy my brain! (Please)

Persona aus are just so fitting for jekyll and hyde! I'm honestly extremely surprised that theres not really any persona aus out there considering how well the series fits with the whole... well everything of the main themes of jekyll and hyde! Hiding parts of yourself and having them take personification and be uncovered whether you want to or not is mostly the two main themes of both persona and jekyll and hyde so why not mix them together?

Hello fellow Persona enjoyer!

First of all, YEAH! Persona aus go with Jekyll and Hyde just incredibly well for two completely different medias. Physical incarnations of all the inner feelings that you repress and don't admit to anyone, not even yourself? Having to face them and maybe even fight with them? They just work very well.

I've already said most of my ideas for the persona au and, unfortunately, I haven't come up with anything majorly new since then but I can think about smaller headcanons and stuff that I haven't considered before

Here's the past information I've given in case you haven't read any of it before:

And with that, onto headcanons

Major Plot Headcanons

Comic Occurances

The Persona au does follow a lot of the comic. Aside from Jekyll's experiment to split the human psyche having a different result, they're still dealing with mad science and society at large hating them, Moreau still comes chasing Frankenstein (But the situation ends without a fire because there's no Hyde around), and Jekyll still gets very stressed over the exhibition. But great news! Jekyll's mental state is now connected to a whole separate world so a poor mental state for Jekyll means a horrific and dangerous imbalance between worlds that could destroy both worlds as we know it rather than just an imbalance between his two forms!

Whoopsy. Let's hope he doesn't get back together with Lanyon, letting him become happy and creating the final crack in his mental state that could cause the end times themselves.

...Whoopsy

Hyde's Powers

As I've mentioned before, Hyde is a shapeshifter - his form as 'Hyde' isn't his original form but one he made up because he wanted to separate himself away from his identity as Jekyll as much as possible. Perhaps even from seeing Eli in the other world once and copying his appearance, not knowing what that form would come to mean to Rachel.

Hyde can shapeshift into any person, whether made-up or real. His clothes remain the same when he changes and his eyes are always yellow so he tragically can't mess around with Lanyon and the gang too much with his powers. However, he does use his powers to relentlessly mock people, turning into them and doing impressions. It can also be used in palaces - other shadows don't tend to be bright enough to be suspicious about the changed clothes so he can change into other cognitions to sneak into places.

He can't change into anything non-human - However, if the shadow ruling a palace views people in some different way (For example Rachel's palace cognitions tend to be a lot of cute, little, helpless, and very fragile animals), Hyde can turn into that form solely in the palace due to the owner's cognition of humans.

Lanyon and the Wild Card

Lanyon meanwhile is the least willing Wild Card in existence and probably the worst you can be at it.

He gets freaked out at the Velvet room and Igor and probably does his best to avoid needing to go there. He also probably sucks at talking to shadows to convince them to join his party. Overall, it takes a long time before he picks up more than one or two persona at once out of his sheer reluctance. If he wasn't forced into the other world every night, he probably wouldn't go at all.

Bonus points if I include the headcanon where people's personas can talk to them constantly because Lanyon would just be having the worst time in that case.

Rachel: I think it's very nice that we have our Personas to talk to, it's like we're never alone!

Lanyon, listening to about 10 voices bickering in his mind over whether or not to tell Jekyll his feelings: .............Yeah, sure thing Rachel.

Jekyll, with only one persona but that persona is Hyde: ................

Hyde in Jekyll's body

When Hyde ends up in Jekyll's body by accident, it goes about the same as the comic right now with Hyde causing mayhem. Jekyll is also in there for the ride and, while he's not having the best time, he also gets to be incredibly confused on top of this.

For fun, since the connection between the two of them is already very messed up by Jekyll's experiments, Hyde can possibly continue taking control of Jekyll's body when he pleases even after he's become a proper Persona and everyone who knows about it has to constantly try to stop him doing anything weird. After all they're still dealing with the comic-typical mad science hatred from society and, if anyone catches on to the other world (and especially how dangerous it is) or Hyde, they'll all be in a lot of trouble.

The moment Jekyll's eyes go yellow, about 10 people tackle him at once.

Navigators

Hyde gets to be the navigator first because he doesn't have a persona to fight with like everyone else - he's basically the Teddy of the group - but that will eventually get replaced with someone with a proper persona for it. I'm not sure who the navigator will be yet but perhaps Ito? Or maybe Jasper since he's very good at reading people and all? Unclear.

Minor Headcanons

Rachel has absolutely brought her sewing supplies to the other world to attempt to dress Hyde. If there wasn't such a time constraint to their visits, she would have succeeded.

Hyde's favourite place to visit is a palace in the other world that takes the form of a bar which can give you any drinks you could possibly dream of. He's been kicked out numerous times but keeps shapeshifting into new forms to get back in

Frankenstein is definitely bitter that Lanyon gets the super cool powers and not her. She probably got even more ticked off to find he actively avoids using them as much as possible. (Worst of all is when she finds out that he does his utmost best to avoid using any persona with the same arcana as her. That probably leads to an outright fight)

Most of the lodgers inventions probably work in the other world whether they work in the real world or not due to the cognitive nature of it. As long as the frightened society believes they would work, they do. Unfortunately, this usually means they're more on the dangerous, weaponry side than anything useful because that's how society sees them but, hey, at least the lodgers can have whatever cool weapons they want.

Speaking of the lodgers, they would absolutely swarm on the cognitive world to check out what it can and can't do, hauling inventions over to find out what they do in the space of another world. The main gang have to keep the other world a secret just to stop someone running off and getting themselves killed in the name of discovery

Rachel's cooking and baking definitely has a healing effect in the other world. If it wasn't for Jasper, the lodgers would be curious over why she can be seen hefting around tables-worth of pastries, cookies, and chicken legs around at near-midnight. (Lanyon, tragically, doesn't get such an excuse as he buys bulkloads of weapons and armour off lodgers in exchange for the weirdest things that he just seems to keep obtaining like multiple busts of Frankenstein (?) or piles and piles of birdcages (???) or plants literally nobody on earth has ever seen before (?!?!?!) The gossip mill is certainly churning.)

Arcanas

Arcanas aren't something I've considered in the past because I wasn't sure what determined each arcana for each person but they are a major part of Persona and, therefore, a fun thing to fill in for the au. Possibly less interesting from the perspective of someone reading this, hence why I've left it to the end but you did say you wanted all the little bits and bobs so...

Fool - Lanyon

Obviously, as the wildcard, Lanyon gets the Fool arcana. Looking into it some more on the Fandom wiki, "The Fool is often called a fool because of his lack of understanding of the world, yet that is also his greatest strength, as his actions are so radically different from others that it impacts the world in ways no one would imagine." I never thought about it before but it does fit Lanyon in other ways too as the character in TGS who is less involved in the mad science side of things. He's more of an outsider to the world that he is currently in and holds less understanding of it than the other lodgers but it also makes him more open to making different decisions.

Yes, this role could fit Jasper much better but I like Lanyon a lot and, therefore, I am gifting him Protagonist privileges and that means the Wild Card. Favouritism.

Magician - Hyde

Next arcana needs to be the Magician since they are generally the right hand man to the Fool. "Characters of the Magician Arcana are normally bright and ambitious yet arrogant. They lack purpose or a dream, which they normally find through the help of their friendship of the respective protagonist." in the Megami Tensei wiki which would probably fit Hyde. He's arrogant, ambitious but lacking purpose besides running around having fun.

Moreover, Magicians are "strong in magic and illusion." which is fitting for how I've made Hyde a shapeshifter. Given that he's Jekyll's shadow and Jekyll himself tends to hide himself and project whatever version of himself he thinks people want to see, an illusionist seems fitting indeed. (Also, Magicians apparently get an innate boost to fire magic and, uh *cough* Hyde's arson *cough*)

Lovers - Rachel

Next is Rachel who I think would fit the Lovers arcana? Though it might be more of a stretch. "The theme of the Lovers Arcana revolves around choice, but the concept normally leaves them in what is secretly a dilemma with no right choice. With the help of the protagonists, the characters take a step back and find a balance between both options, or outright change their perspective on the choices they need to make, reconsidering what truly needs to be sacrificed." Which I think would fit Rachel's dilemma with her brother Eli - needing to find a balance between smothering the people around her and dealing with the pain of her loss? She does, after all, voice in the comic that she always seems to end up going too far and driving people away, wanting to stop but being unable to because then she has to face "the hole" where Eli used to be again. A perspective that is outright changed in the comic by finding Ito, someone who genuinely wants to be fussed over.

Moreover "A commonality among individuals of the Lovers Arcana is their popularity, cheerfulness, and their emphasis on social interaction. Lovers characters are almost always the "popular" ones, if not, then they are the "spirited" ones." which seems to fit Rachel? She's certainly spirited.

Death - Frankenstein

Then, of course, Frankenstein is the Death arcana, no question. She's associated with death because of her experiments and all and Death arcanas' "lives have a strong focus on someone that they care for dearly, but are separated from due to some form of tragedy. They carry great guilt inside for this tragedy, despite carrying little to no responsibility for causing it. It's through the bond with the protagonist that they're able to forgive themselves and look to the future with hope." Which, yeah, Frankenstein and Elizabeth. Admittedly, Frankenstein is very much involved in causing Elizabeth's death but I feel like I need to make some stretches here. She has the guilt, she has the tragedy, and she has the death.

Hermit - Jasper

Jasper I think should be the Hermit arcana? "Hermit Arcana characters share the commonality of placing themselves in situations that hide them from the public eye. Hermit individuals hide away from others or act in more supportive roles rather than putting themselves in the spotlight." Jasper supports Jekyll in many ways but dislikes putting himself in the spotlight. Admittedly, I think Frankenstein's Creature could also be this arcana but I also don't think they would get involved at all in anything going on.

Empress - Ito

Ito I think would be the Empress arcana? "They are often stoic, but still present a high degree of care and concern towards others, and like queens, they are mature, elegant, often wealthy, and dangerous when challenged." Ito is stern but still caring towards others and I can imagine her being dangerous when she wants to be but I'll admit that I'm less sure on this one if anyone else has a more fitting suggestion.

"The Empress Arcana often find ways to break out of their strict authority by opening up to their personal, normal and emotional selves; organic traits that do not conform to their responsibilities, expectations and image." Which I could relate to her opening up to Rachel and wanting to do girly things with her?

Lucy could also fit the Empress arcana, being wealthy, mature, and dangerous. Heck, she's even called Queen Lucy. However, she doesn't seem to have any journey she needs to take about opening up to herself - she seems pretty comfortable as the person she is and she seems pretty able to open up without help.

Temperance - Jekyll

Then, of course, Jekyll. I'm going with Temperance for him but I'm sure there are other fitting arcanas. "Characters of the Temperance Arcana are often struggling to find a balance in their lives and in their hobbies, dealing with severe stress but putting great effort into hiding it. This imbalance and stress come from the absence of someone that they greatly cared for, usually through death." Hiding severe stress and balance, huh? The absence of someone they cared for which I'm arguing could be Lanyon and their relationship.

Sure, nobody died but it's an arcana about balancing one's life, it fits very well with Jekyll.

Social links

From there, arcana gets a bit more difficult because we have a lot of lodgers and I don't know who would and wouldn't be involved yet. Neither do we know a lot about them so there would need to be a few headcanons involved.

However, the tarots come from social links, from whoever has a bond with the Wild Card, that being Lanyon, so I suppose throughout the au, Lanyon would need to slowly befriend a bunch of people. Which would be interesting because I don't think Lanyon would want to befriend them. Another way that he is very reluctant to be a Wild Card.

I think with the whole mystery going on with the other world and such, Lanyon would be reluctantly forced to ask around in the society to try to figure out what is going on, accidentally forcing him to befriend people along the way and learn more about them and whoops, you're friends now.

Further than that?

There's a lot of gaps because my focus lies mostly on Lanyon, Hyde, and Rachel and I'm willing to hear other people's ideas if anyone has any! Palaces, party members, headcanons, personas, arcana, just anything anyone has ideas on. Persona has a lot of ideas that one needs to fill to the point where I'm learning that making an au for it is so expansive that it feels like a multiple person job.

Moreover, if you ever want to talk about your own persona au, anon, I would be very excited to hear it too!!! I would love to hear what other ideas people can come up with because there's a lot of room in a persona au for ideas! Just the question of who takes the role of the Wild Card opens up a ton of possibilities, not to mention which Persona games you want to take the most inspiration from!

Anyway, thank you for the chance to ramble, anon, this was fun! There's probably even more I could think of if left for a few days to stew but I don't want to leave this response too late

[mrmallard]

I'm probably about to have a Real One bc I had a lot of caffeine earlier, but. persona 3, 4 and 5 party members ranked from favorite to least favourite

Beware of spoilers for all three games, I'm tip-toeing around big story spoilers but smaller stuff and broader inferences are left in.

---

Before I start, the process I used was ranking the individual game casts, then deciding who I liked better out of the three #1 picks, then the three #2 picks etc. etc. Because of that, the list starts off a bit formulaic, but I did arbitrarily raise and lower some entries based on gut feeling.

Also, I would say that I outright dislike 2 party members between all three games - or rather, there are aspects about their characters that rub me the wrong way. I like, or am otherwise ambivalent about, the other 21 people I considered for this list.

Thirdly, I didn't include Akechi or Kasumi because I didn't play P5 Royal. Akechi is an interesting character, I like him a lot, but them's the breaks - and I just outright wouldn't know what to say about Kasumi.

Lastly - this isn't an Objective Quality Ranking of the characters. It's a list of my own preferences, and the reasons why I picked them. The reasons why are going to vary, I'm gonna have some hot takes and stuff. Chill and hear me out.

Okay, so from favorite to least favourite:

1. Naoto

Naoto fucking rules. I know that the spin the game puts on her storyline ends up being about gender inequality and internalised misogyny and feeling like you have to mask feminine traits to succeed in a field that's predominantly seen as a "male" profession - it's a solid point to make and I feel like most games wouldn't touch that topic with a ten foot pole, so either way that's a surprisingly big win for Persona 4.

But Naoto's story also hems extremely close to a transgender narrative, and I love it. Like legit, I feel like the game goes out of its way to shoot down the trans narrative and goes with internalised misogyny/surprise cross-dressing woman partly so that they can make oppai jokes and do the whole "see Naoto you had inner beauty and femininity all along" story beat. And like even as the game does that, Naoto has tons of moments that can be read as trans, so it's just like this crazy mix of stuff y'know.

I'm referring to Naoto with she/her pronouns bc that's ultimately the path that the games take, but with her entire narrative about finding strength and security in her gender performance, and OUTRIGHT SAYING "why wasn't I born a man...?" at one point, I headcanon Naoto as a transgender boy. I'm doing a bad job of selling it, but even with P4 choosing to steamroll right past the queer narrative, I find Naoto to be an incredibly well-done and, arguably, pretty prescient and forward thinking character. But trans headcanon Naoto is like a 12/10 character.

I love Naoto. I also love the idea of Naoto being like a closet key for Kanji, then being found out as AFAB is like a "oh shit I guess I do like girls after all" moment for Kanji, but then being a closet key for Kanji again after coming out as a trans man. Best character in P4, almost certainly best Persona party member.

2. Aigis

I love emotional robots, fuck you. When I was replaying P3 a year or two ago, I thought that Aigis kinda hijacked the plot halfway through the game - and as much as I like her, I thought it was a wrinkle in the game's pacing. But on the other hand? Emotional robot. I love Aigis's story progression, and like getting to watch her open up and become more accepted and stuff. I do think she ends up with a bit too much of the spotlight in a way that's super noticeable and not super great, but also I really like Aigis's character and storyline so that shit panders directly to me.

3. Makoto

I'm absolutely a Makoto truther. She has the coolest Persona in P5, I like the juxtaposition between her biker thug/delinquent presentation and her role in the real world as like the student council president, she plays a big part in the plot with the flash drive and stuff and I disagree with takes about her introduction being poorly done character shilling.

With her initially being an antagonistic force, I didn't like her very much to begin with. I think Persona 5 does a great job with the character writing, because she spends most of the early game being an active hindrance, and then she just steals the entire frigging show. It's a total "let's fucking gooooooo" moment and it sets her up as one of the most practical and pragmatic Phantom Thieves.

I like her throughout the entire rest of the game, and it helps that she's tied to Sae because it brings Sae into the story a bunch more than her initial presence in the framing device. I really like Makoto's arc, I like her personality and I think she was used really well to drive other elements of the plot with her relationship to Sae. And again - coolest Persona in the game, outright.

4. Ryuji

Ryuji is the best "bro best friend" character in any of these games. Like he's just a friendly dude who's gotten caught up in this stuff with the protagonist, and him summoning his Persona sets the tone for the entire game: the mistreated and undertrodden finding their inner power and accepting what makes them a reject to fight corrupt authority figures that's been keeping them down. His design with the skull mask, leather punk jacket and the pipe? Badass.

It's been a while since I played P5, but I feel like he probably gets less of a personal arc than like Junpei, but the character writing for everyone in P5 is so good that he stays relevant the entire game. He looks and slinks around like a sketchy bastard, but he's a total bro and he always has your back. Ryuji fucking rules.

5. Yukiko

I initially liked Yukiko for being a slightly more grounded, aloof character who balances out Chie's jock energy. She's got a good design, she's got this whole thing with the Amagi Inn and balancing her dreams with her responsibilities, and overall she helps balance out the early team with Yosuke's kvetching and pratfalls and Chie's chaotic energy and kung fu nerdery. The game plays with that regarding her reputation among the student body, as well as her being the first gameplay victim of the Midnight Channel.

And then the game cracks her wide open with the swirly glasses and her deep, prolonged laughing fits.

And as much as her initial characterisation complements and fills out the vibe and dynamic of the team, Yukiko's silly side elevates her to one of the best characters in the game. Like she's so weird and silly, and she's so thoroughly tickled every time she cracks up that it's infectious. She's the serious one, except she's arguably the most stupid and easily amused one out of all of them (except for maybe Teddie), and it rules.

6. Futaba

I actually swapped Futaba and Ryuji around in this list. I really like Futaba and her gremlin video game personality, but I think her appeal has been overinflated by the amount of players who want to date her, and I'm honestly pretty cool to the idea.

She's a great character and I really like her in Persona 5; she isn't in the top third of my favourite Persona characters for nothing. But I fall into the camp where my P5 protagonist sees her more like a little sister, and the Futaba fervor has cooled me on the character a little bit y'know.

She's funny, I like her social link and she's one of the more oddball characters in the franchise. But compared to some of the more intense Futaba fandom, I'm just not in that camp y'know. She's my guy's goofball little sister. She's just a funny little guy. You can date her in the game, but like some of y'all need to chill.

7. Fuuka

Fuuka is underrated.

She's not that bad, I like her whole thing about being ostracized and slowly socialising and being accepted. It's a bit lightweight, but I thought she had a bunch of good scenes with the other SEES members and I'm just not as bothered by her character as other people seem to be.

Some of that stems from projection on my part, because being a shy, awkward bullying victim resonates with me. I've only played FES and Portable too, where I'm pretty sure they recast her VA. But yeah, Fuuka's fine.

8. Akihiko

Akihiko's a cool character. He has one of the most standout scenes in the game - I can't spoil it, but it's the part where he gets a power upgrade if you're hip to the P3 plot. I feel like he has some of the more fleshed out relationships in Persona 3 with Shinjiro and Mitsuru, and his whole calm, collected pugilist thing is just good. Akihiko is always on my Persona 3 team.

9. Chie

Chie took a while to grow on me. I'm not a big fan of how her lines are delivered, and the whole "dumb jock who beats up the butt monkey character" thing was a bit ehh. But she won me over in the end. I really like her character design with the green and gold jacket, I thought the kung fu angle of her character was really well-done and fresh, and I thought her friendship with Yukiko was one of the strongest aspects of the homey vibe of the game.

I have this whole fanfic/headcanon thing happening with Chie, Kanji and Naoto that I won't get into, but the ultimate point I'm trying to make by bringing that up is that they're immensely likeable characters who I connected with a lot. Chie's great, I feel like she'd be a good delivery driver for the liquor store in Inaba and keep up her love of kung fu movies well into adulthood.

10. Yukari

Another P3 hot take; Yukari is a perfectly adequate party member at worst, and while the contentious nature of her depiction in The Answer is understandable, I think that's more of a cultural/dubbing mishap than it is her being Objectively Wrong or like a shitty, unlikable character.

Like it seems to me like they were going for Yukari as this aloof, standoffish person because she's traumatised by the events of Persona 3, and she's meant to be wrong and off-kilter before the culmination of her character arc. I think it's more common in Japanese games and media and stuff, and I think it was poorly conveyed in The Answer's localisation - conceptually, I think Yukari's character arc and motivations in The Answer were sound.

Otherwise, I thought she had a fun dynamic with the protag and Junpei. They were like a three man band, and I liked seeing her play off of Junpei.

11. Kanji

Kanji is another character who I elevate in my mind through headcanons and stuff. Like Naoto, this is partially by viewing his story through a queer lens - it's more up in the air than how I feel about the queer overtones in Naoto's story, but it's still there. I think Kanji's still figuring a lot of stuff out, and he uses his tough exterior to get him through what he needs to get through.

I love Kanji's weapon style, and his Persona is one of my favorite ones from Persona 4. He also got the biggest laugh out of me during the gang's beach episode. So yeah, Kanji's pretty cool.

12. Mitsuru

Mitsuru is a good character who I don't remember too much of. I thought she had an interesting dynamic with her dad, and while you're expecting that to go a certain way due to like preconceived notions of the whole "oujo corporate princess has issues with dad" trope, I thought the game treated that aspect of her character in a much more down-to-earth and interesting way.

I remember Mitsuru having a lot of range and depth in Persona 3. I like her a lot.

13. Shinjiro

Shinji is a fine character, and I thought he and Ken had a pretty good storyline. The reason I'm ranking him so low is mostly because of his screentime.

Shinjiro might be the first glance at Persona 3's focus on grief. He's certainly not the last character to touch on the concept, but there's a sort of hulking inevitability to his character that really introduces grief into the mix, and from that point grief becomes a core pillar of the Persona 3 experience. He has a big impact and he drives the story along, but I can't say I like him more than Yukari, Akihiko or Mitsuru.

14. Junpei

I actually just bumped Junpei up from #17 because I thought I cut him a raw deal. I'm actually going to defend him here: I thought he had a pretty good storyline with the Strega girl, and I think his storyline is surprisingly candid about portraying jealousy and bitterness. It's a testament to the friendship between the protagonist and Junpei that he can just say "I'm sorry for being a dick, I've been dealing with all this jealousy and negativity shit, you're my friend and I've got your back" y'know. It's a surprisingly mature portrayal of jealousy, and I really commend the game for going there with him.

Junpei is like Ryuji-lite; I'm not 100% with him, but I think he's a great buddy character and I like his storyline.

15. Ann

Ann is a fine character, being a part of the founding party and all, but I just don't have a lot to say about her. She's fine. Outfit is definitely interesting, and I thought her plot with her modelling career, the story details of her parents, the whole thing with the first Palace of the game and her friendship with Shiho were all pretty good. I just don't have much more to say about her. No hate.

16. Morgana

I don't dislike Morgana. I'm not a fan of using him in the game, and I thought the subplot about him running away and recruiting Haru was a bit drawn out. I'm also not a big fan of his whole one-sided crush on Ann. But honestly, that's the worst I could say about him. I like his dialogue and his role in the story, I like how he travels with you as an actual cat, I like how he can turn into a bus for you and your buddies to drive around in. Mona is a great character, and as far as non-human mascots go, I think he has a leg up over Koromaru and Teddie.

17. Rise

I like Rise, but there are two aspects holding her back. The first aspect is that the whole lovey-dovey thing can come off as one-note and kind of out of nowhere - I don't dislike it, it just comes on a little hard and fast. The second aspect is that I thought she was gonna have a bigger role in the story, and I was disappointed when she didn't. But that's not the game's fault - that's a me thing.

I think Rise is a great feelgood character, and I liked her social link.

18. Koromaru

I love spending time with Koromaru in Persona 3. I like taking him for walks and getting to strengthen my other social links, and he's just a really likeable dog character. The only reason I'm rating him so low is because... well, he's just a dog. He's a great dog, and he has a bunch of charisma and character, and frankly being a total oddball party member strengthens his appeal - but ultimately, dude is a dog y'know. It limits your character options, and I think that's why P-Studio have been making their animal mascots talk since Persona 4.

19. Yusuke

Yusuke has one of the funniest social links in Persona 5, and I actually really like his Palace storyline and his screwy personality. That being said, he has a voiceline in Mementos where he's like "A treasure chest! Maybe we will get ~money~", and the way he says "money" makes my skin crawl. Literally the only thing that outright bothers me. I'd even say that the Palace storyline that focuses on him is one of the best storylines in the game, with one of the best emotional payoffs in the game. But that voice line is just such an ick, y'know, and ultimately I think he becomes more of a comic relief character as the game goes on while the rest of the cast (sans Haru) stay relevant.

20. Ken

Ken is an interesting character. I don't hate his plotline, I feel like "younger kid misplaces blame and swears revenge on character who doesn't necessarily deserve it" is a trope that Hardcore Gamers just tend to hate - look at Hope Estheim from Final Fantasy XIII. I also think that he and Shinjiro are the first characters in Persona 3 to address grief, which becomes a running theme from that point on. There's also an interesting angle to Ken as what basically amounts to a child soldier, and the broader group trying to balance his regular adolescent life with the work they do with the Midnight Hour.

The Ken hate is overdone - frankly, I think a lot of people have bad takes about Persona 3, and I hope the remake helps pave the way for new discourse and a re-evaluation of these characters.

That being said, I don't use him in battles. He's this low mostly due to apathy. He's better than people give him credit for, but I don't really use him in the game itself.

21. Haru

Haru is this low on the list mostly because of how late she's introduced in Persona 5, which affects her impact on the plot and leaves her a bit short on characterisation. I don't hate her, I just think she falls by the wayside a bit too much, and rather than it being a Haru problem I think it's an issue with the game and how it's paced. Honestly, Haru not getting enough screentime is probably the biggest complaint I have with Persona 5 - but even then, considering the structure of the game, it feels almost inevitable that it would happen y'know.

What I'm trying to say is that Haru is ultimately a victim of circumstance, and her placement on this list is out of her own control. Which is more than I can say for the next two gormless freaks:

22. Yosuke

Okay - I get that Yosuke is meant to get better over the course of Persona 4, and his social link apparently helps that along. Apparently it unpacks a lot of the toxic things he says or does during the course of the game. But outside of the first few dungeons, I feel like Yosuke is a millstone hanging around the game's neck, and because of the multiple times that he says or does something that just completely and utterly lets me down I avoided his social link like the plague.

One of the most popular posts on my other blog is "Homophobic Yosuke Moments Vol. #", because he just says the most bafflingly insensitive stuff about gayness that it's embarrassing. Apparently this is addressed by his social link, but I have to ask: does it reduce the amount of homophobic ribbing he gives Kanji over the course of the game? Does it tone down his machismo, like shaming Chie and Yukiko to dress in swimsuits?

He's comic relief, sure - his stuff gets broken, people spend his money and he gets his comeuppance a lot. But he also comes across like a tightass who's complaining all the time. It's justified sometimes, but I feel like the three biggest takeaways I got from his character is that he's a perv, he's a homophobe and he's a bellyacher. I don't like Yosuke.

23. Teddie

Teddie, as a mascot character, is whatever. I think he overstays his welcome, but just as himself, he's fine. It's like watching an American primetime show like the Blacklist, you've gotta accept the main character is gonna be kind of a bland audience stand-in - Teddie's gonna be Teddie. That's fine.

But Teddie's storyline is probably one of the weakest aspects of Persona 4, which I can probably only say because I played Persona 5 years before this game and Morgana's arc feels like Teddie's arc done right. There's not really a payoff, the reveal about his past is a wet fart that comes and goes with a gust of wind. I don't get the human transformation, except to make Teddie into an absolutely unlikeable perv. He's worse about the perv shit than Yosuke, and Yosuke bullied two of his closest friends into wearing bikinis so he could ogle them. Teddie is somehow even worse than that.

Ultimately, I think Teddie is just a bit too wacky for me. He and Yosuke were my least favourite parts of Persona 4, and having played P5 years beforehand I couldn't help but compare the two games. That's a me thing, and I guess Persona 4 has just aged a bit more than I might have liked - but man, between Yosuke and Teddie, Persona 4 has so much extremely sus shit in it. It's a great game, and Naoto is GOATed, but Jiminy fucking Christmas, man.

[videoplanchette]

I'm having a lot of mixed feelings about the Persona 3 Remake and how it is still not the definitive edition. It's just a remake of base Persona 3 with not even the compensation of the Female protagonist like the PSP rerelease got.

(which if you didn't know, you actually can't talk to a majority of your party without the Female protagonist so objectively p3p's female route has more narrative focus and weight than BASE Persona 3. So if new players want to know Akihiko, Junpei, Ken, Or Shinjiro ((arguably the most important narrative beat in the whole game that jump-starts everyone's character arc)) like they can with their party members in P4 and P5-- that's just a let down.)

Instead they're getting a remake of an incomplete game from over decade ago. For, I assume, a new game price of 70-80 dollars upon release where they would then leave it hanging on for dear life at 50 dollars for the rest of eternity.

Regardless of my own opinion of the bonus campaign offered in Persona 3 FES-- it's at least more content and more story. It's more canon context that people need to understand the other spin-offs. It also would have been a great opportunity to tweak things about that campaign that a lot of players had issues with.

[cuntstable]

top 5 jojos and why

1. josuke….. i think jolynes better written honestly but HES MY LITTLE GUY…… if you followed me in early 2020 you would have seen how attached i was to him and i still am….. hes just so fun to me and endearing like thats all. i like the way he contrasts kira as his total opposite and the quote jotaro has about him having the ”kindest most generous gift of all” or whatever with his stand being able to heal others…. hes just my little guy :) and also hes funny i love every time he and okuyasu are on screen

2. jolyne… like i said i think shes THE best written jojo the same way puccis the best written villain…. or at least theyre both the most INTERESTING to me thematically…. i mean shes the final jojo of her world, the inheritor of the will (both real and thematic) thats been passed through each part of the story so far and she grows so much as a person through the story, from a scared girl into a woman literally willing to sacrifice herself so that one small child she loves might escape (also the parallers she has to jonathan…the first and last jojo….. aaaah). i also love how she connects to the idea of memories as a driving force in stocean with her whole character development hinging on her recontextualization of her memories of her father and his abandoment of her… perfect protagonist for her story. love her i could rant about her forever. also shes silly and fun :)

3. hmmm…….. i think overall jotaro maybe. i liked him ok in p3 and i liked him a lot in p4 but after stocean i really love him…. i think he definitely slowly became not only one of arakis best characters as the parts went on but also hes so tragic to me…. like every jojo was affected by their journeys but his whole life really was just ruined by dio and he never got over that…. and the way that ties go jolyne….. im thinking about it always

4. johnny!! i like him…. similarily to jolyne i love how he changes and learns through out the story…… hes absolutely not a static character and i found his pain over his past (and of the abandonment and betrayal he felt towards his dad) and the fear of faith cathing up to him to be really heartwrenching… also i love how absolutely ruthless he is like some other joestars are also Quite Brutal (giorno..) but the killing instinct he had…. whoah. cool. also ik it wasnt handled 100% perfectly with the way the story ends especially but it was just really cool to have a disabled character as the lead!! hes cool

5. giogio…… i have a lot of mixed feelings about him but i do care…… cant get into it rn but much like everything else in p5 i feel like hes SOOO interesting but kinda unsatisfyingly written…. but i do like him. breaking faith and gaining god like powers through a funny ladybug stand :)

[samarecharm]

Realized that i really havent gone and talked about my shuake hcs/dynamics like. Ever. Which is a shame bc i Do like them Alot i just never interact w the (p5) tags. For reasons.

(mandatory disclaimer that i have Not played Royal 😭)

I think like w any ship that includes akiren, the depth of the relationship depends on how you present Your akiren, and how he would address/respond to the diff plot points of the game. Ignoring the way the game has an a linear path (storywise), how does your akiren deal with meeting ryuji? Meeting ann? Confronting Makoto? The pressure of high school and the reputation thats been placed upon him? Everyones got a different answer for these and i think its really interesting!

But w shuake i think it also depends on like. How you interpret Goros background and what led to him being an underage hitman for one of the most powerful men in the country. And i think the best way to determine how people characterize (woobify) him is by determining how much of his situation is his fault. The entire game is “adults failed the children/teens in their life and children/teens are traumatized because of it” and so by default, Goro is never going to be put in the same boat as the adults in this game; he is never going to be as guilty as the adults in his life. But like. He is still. Bad…hfjdndkdk

Theres like Two ways ive seen him characterized (and LITERALLY only these two ways) from people who like Goro, and its “he is my cinnamon roll and hes done NOTHING wrong” and *insert meme* “oh hes such a nice young man! Oh wait hes actually a little fucked up…”; hes my poor little meow meow…

Its this HUGE discrepancy in the way people approach his character that makes him the most susceptible to appearing ooc to almost anyone that looks for content of him. If you think hes a sweet muffin that also regrettably, occasionally, participates in murder because he Has to, you will be VERY upset to see him characterized as the literal opposite; as someone who thrives off of violence and relishes in the misery he causes. And on the flip side, if you see Goro as a fucked up creature, its wildly ooc to see him as anything BUT that.

I genuinely could not tell u what percentage of fans fall in each category (i dont go in the tags and i dont actively use twitter) but so far it feels like a healthy(?) mix of the two. I tend to fall in the latter category; reblogging art that emphasizes alot of the internal struggle he seems to be grappling with at all times. But i also see just as much art of him as your typical blushy tsundere. Which like ISNT bad obviously i feel like i need a disclaimer for that too( MOST of my goro art is him just being red in the face and gay !); there is nothing worse that fandom policing for shit that is hurting no one. Sometimes u just want to wrap up the main antagonist and go “this is MY boy….i will take care of his delicate heart…”. I just. Prefer to Not see that dhdkdnkddk

[jester-creates]

This is where I am putting my posts for my creative writing stuff like aus or original works.

My main account is @jester-writing

Ocs

aus i have here:

Pokemon legends: Arceus/persona 5 crossover au

a persona 5 retelling au with rei as the protagonist

PLA frequency au

Ingo gets yeeted with a radio that is magically connected to the future and more specifically to Johanna (dawn/Akari's mom). they have to work together to make sure Dawn/ Akari doesn't die. timey wimey bs happens

PLA pirate au (somehow this got mixed with dnd)

heavily inspired by JRWI: riptide. Pearl clan are pirates (but don't exactly know what pirates are). Diamond clan is Navy. Galaxy Clan is neutral. Rei is the protag and got isekai'd to the world of hisui and turned into a seal (selkie) by a crab (Arceus)

pokemon/Magnus archives crossover au

post mag-200 au where as the Fears are being spread out into the multiverse, they accidentally get snagged on Akari getting taken to hisui. Arceus notices and tries shaking them off, but that only results in separating Jon and Martin, with jon landing in hisui alongside Akari and Martin landing in Gear Station in modern day.

(also annabelle cane and oliver banks also came along landing in Cogita's house and Modern galar respectively)

the fears are anchored in this world by the Red Sky Incident

au where i put a bunch of funky podcast people in a p5 au

self explanatory read the post to see more details

Mechanism Ingo au

Ingo becomes a mechanism after a zoroark attack thanks to Dr. Carmilla being nearby at the time. he goes on adventures with the mechanisms. plays the cello

(also Gunpowder Tim may or may not be AZ)

Mechanisms/p5 crossover au(s)

not too detailed ideas

Experiment au (pokemon)

easily my most self indulgent au yet

mad science, main ones to blame being Colress, sada, and turo (i love those two but they're evil here) , happens resulting in some people becoming hybrids of pokemon.

trauma abound for everyone

people affected in order: Oliver(Ditto)(he's an oc), Atticus (ditto), Arven(ditto), Akari (eevee), Rei(Honchkrow), Hop(Corviknight), (time passed to next group), Hilda (serperior), Nate(Braviary), and Emmet(eelektross/ a bit of galvantula), (skip to different group), Juliana(Miraidon)(i made enough personality changes that she's now an oc), nemona (slither wing), and Penny (iron moth)

surprising amount of ships (don't ask me when it happened, I don't know)

ghost hand au (totk)

when Link gets his arm cut off and replaced with raruu's, it's a bit ghostly

aka only he and the sages can see it and he can't physically touch things with it

he can still use the abilities though

Origins au (pla)

pla characters suddenly got Origins from the origins mod for minecraft. except for kamado. he's normal

Au where joker (p5) is a Mechanism. (P5 Mechanisms crossover au)

He's an immortal alien, and has never aged past 16 since he was mechanized.

persona and remedyverse crossover au

Dark place is a thing like Metaverse or tv world. Mr. Scratch is a corrupted version of Alan's Shadow. The Treasures are Objects of Power. Christmas eve was a AWE.

feel free to ask questions about these. The inbox is always open for questions

[auncyen]

ooooh for the trope thing, that one specific kind of canon divergence AU where canon characters are swapped around :D

This is a tough one lmfao I want to rate it higher because I think it's an interesting concept, but my general experience with it has it sitting at D for me in persona fandom. Black Mask aus in p5 fandom usually make me pause, read the summary, and then keep scrolling. I just don't usually find them convincing about why the other character became Black Mask and how they're a threat without the conspiracy or alternatively why they're working with the conspiracy. (ex. one of the most convincing AUs for Akiren's Black Mask/Akechi's PT characterization tacked on new metaverse powers way bigger than what either Akechi or canon Akiren has to explain how Akiren was a huge threat working truly solo.) So I feel like that counts a D. Every so often I'll read the summary and tags, think "sure I'll give that a try" and browse, and I don't think they're all bad... I just still don't have a Black Mask au that's like YEAH, THAT'S TOTALLY HOW IT'D GO DOWN. I'm not the biggest fan of arcanaswap, either, which usually does the entire cast and seems to make characterization shifts to fit what the arcana's usually been associated with. When you examine each character, sure, there are different arcanas you can associate them with (and I've argued for swapping Ann, Makoto and Caroline/Justine around!) If I see the entire cast being changed I assume I'm not going to like it.

That said in general with fandom I find "what if" interesting, and "what if this character ended up in completely different faction because someone else reached out to them (or similar)" interesting. Hell I've toyed with the idea of an AU where Akiren is functionally the Black Mask but working directly with Yaldabaoth, an AU where Haru was fumbling through the Metaverse and giving people something close to psychotic breakdowns but not quite (between it being Haru and her element being psi I wanna say like. she just gives them waking nightmares, some of them might actually look like changes of heart with the victim screaming confessions to the people they've hurt pleading for it to stop) before her father discovered what she was doing and directed her targets with a mix of "see how corrupt this guy is?"/"you must do your part to help the Okumura name too, Haru (UNLESS YOU WANNA GET MARRIED OFF)" until it goes too far. So like I'm not completely opposed, I'm just... skeptical.

I think the best way to sum this up is that I'm more likely to like a roleswap if it's kind of incidental/secondary to the "what if X's life went differently in this way, how would things work out", with a big focus on characterization, and the more characters that are being shuffled around the more likely it is I won't be interested.

[jaqfrost]

my feelings on p5 fujiko (and therefore fujilup) are mixed bc when fujiko’s there, she shines but most of the time, it also involves her relationship with lupin and the story really didn’t convince me that they should get back together. if anything, I was like yeah it was good she left him. guy was forgetting dates and when she tried to directly ask him what she was to him (after saving his ass), he doesn’t even answer and just kinda coldly walks away. I get that they want to keep lupin as an enigma but the story really would’ve benefitted from a little pov on his end abt the breakup. the most he can say is ‘things aren’t like that between us anymore’. and when he finally decides to step up, the gesture’s so vague all you can say is ‘ok I guess’. 

I can believe that they aren’t suited for a long term relationship like marriage and they’d probably get bored if they ‘retired’ but that’s not what was in the story? the only time we say them (presumably) in a committed relationship is the gift episode but even then lupin’s implied to still be a thief since he’s operating out of hideouts with goemon and jigen. he doesn’t even know how fujiko found the place lmao. it almost seems like he forgot they were in a relationship. fujiko only relents in giving him the gift when he demonstrates that he does care about her. maybe this was toward the end of the relationship and their domestic life had already broken down, but if it was ‘nothing happening’ that broke the relationship then they should have shown that instead of always focusing on the roles fujiko plays in lupin’s life and her wondering if he actually cares for her. why did we see fujiko being sidelined after a heist with the guys and later being treated like an outsider when she shows up at the hideout instead of lupin and her getting bored while furniture shopping. 

sometimes I wonder if the nothing line was smokescreen for fujiko’s vulnerability but then I feel like I'm giving the writers too much credit. there are moments where he does care about her but I don’t know how intentional the writers were with his actions or if they hinged the whole thing on the eventual return to the status quo. the breakup/makeup plot had the potential to be a creative shakeup and it was interesting at times, but it gets bogged down by the ambiguity, the changing writers, the season’s wonky timeline of the implied relationship, ami’s arc, fujiko’s diminished role and lupin coming off as out of touch with the gang. but whatever at this point. ✌️

[god-of-a-thousand-demons]

Bored so here’s all my ideal p5 romance dynamics bc I have very specific tastes. Just joker x [ ] for now bc that’s A Lot all at once

Pegoryu: when they’re passionately best friends in love. Truly “you’re my one and only” vibes. I like when they get so overwhelmed with their crush and when their angst feels like the world is ending bc they love each other so much. Also love when they’re being complete dumbasses both as friends and when pining

Shuann: their canon dynamic tbh. I really value their friendship and how they talk about their emotions and confide in each other. They are very romantically in love in my ideal dynamic, like crying bc they look at the other and feel so happy and grateful to be together type thing. Also kinda cheesy and flirty and dorky

Shukita: them as partners, equals, comrade, companions. Most joker ships have a “baby” and “the one who takes care of the baby” vibe and normally joker is the one taking emotional responsibility of the relationship but with yusuke I feel like he can relax and be himself and not have to worrying about as many things because yusuke is always on his side and he’ll take care of him too. Yusuke gives joker a chance to let his walls fall and I also love how much devotion respect and love he has for joker so when I find those vibes it’s >>>>>>

Shumako: I actually do enjoy shumako but in a very specific “senpai and kouhai” kinda way. Not in a weird way but similar to shukita I like joker being makoto’s baby. She is the younger sibling so her getting the responsibility to take care of someone seems really important to her, she’s really good and reliable and capable of being responsible for someone else + enjoys it, and I just think it’s so cute how much respect and admiration joker has for Makoto, which absolutely makes her melt. It’s very much half shameless flirting to make her blush and half embarrassingly sincere reverence and then Makoto gets to take joker out on dates and guide him as a mentor and be his companion? That’s the good shit right there

Shuharu: a mix of Shumako and shukita but also different. Again with the senpai / kouhai thing but very much so the equal partners thing but also just Something Else. Their canon relationship tbh. Haru and Joker have SO much respect for each other it makes me dizzy. They are both in this strange place of feeling like outsiders in the group, not in a bad way, but just somehow separate. Observers watching around them instead of actively participating and they find comfort in each other for having that same feeling. Shuharu’s relationship is so great to me it’s hard to put into words I love them so much

Shuyuu: how do I even begin to explain the very specific portrayal of shuyuu I enjoy. I guess “I am thou thou art I” ??? I really vibe with them just having this Understanding. I love yuuki’s canon respect for joker and I really really love imagining joker slowly finding himself in love with a boy that is so hurt and yet so kind. I love them being friends, I love them being partners in what they do, I love them valuing each others opinion and feelings and thinking of them in everything they do. I just love them being super in love basically lmao

Akeshu: good god okay how do I do THIS ONE? It’s not. *sighs, groans, throws up* it’s not exactly like how everyone else likes them, which is the deranged and fucked up and such which can be fun but that’s not what They Are to me. If shuyuu is I am thou thou art I through a shining mirror, akeshu is I am thou thou art I through a murky puddle. It’s about the what could’ve been and how similar yet different we are and the betrayal of putting everything into something and getting nothing and against all odds some bastard still trying to understand you. Honestly I mostly see akeshu from akechi’s side. His feelings are so interesting that they take up all my thoughts about them. And then from jokers perspective it’s just. Sad love. He knows he can’t do anything for akechi and it depresses him so much and yet he loves him anyway because he can’t help it. They are souls meant to be together and yet they keep being ripped apart, is how I see them basically

Also no one really cares but shufumi: I think they’re really cute as competitive dorks and also kids who understand full well what it’s like to be under an adults thumb and the things you do that don’t change things because you can’t but help you stay sane. They kinda feel like abused kids bonding over that in my head and making a friendship in spite of their lives

[semi-imaginary-place]

started watching p5t consensus seems that's it's on par with other persona sidegames so alright but not good on its own. seems like its taking the worst of p5 aping on the language of revolution while not engaging with any sort of actual rebellion. with its like middleschool understanding of the french rebellion nobles evil rebels good. shame i like grid tactics games guess it'd time to watch a playthrough and see for myself.

lavenza looks older. like in p5 she was like half joker's height. but she also looked like a child because yald was messing with her power so maybe this is closer to her true appearance.

wtf. why does his chibi make him look older. his chibi looks like 45 but his full sprites make him look like he's in his 20s.

wedding ring as slave collar. huh.

...this is all an elaborate capture the flag game.

Toshiro acts like he's 45. but he's the youngest diet member so i think he's between 28-36.

Getting the impression toshiro is the main character of this game. Everything in the collective unconscious related back to him. The thing i cant figure out is how erina relates to him.

I do like how the war general is going around looking like buddha and talking like a love cult thats christianitys deal.

Been wondering the party treats the little hat dudes as normal so I've been wondering if they see them as humans and the generic sprites was for the audience or if they actually are little hat dudes and everyone is cool with that.

Hmm so erina is some version of toshiro's highschool classmate that explains why she's phantom thief age. But why was she in the first world?

Yeah this is all toshiro all the way down. Finished with the school and so far tactica hasn't really impressed me.

What is UP with makoto's characterization in this game. The others are mostly fine but for her the violence anger gag is like half her character here damn tactica writers hate makoto.

Oh eri lived thought she was dead dead for a minute. What with erina's whole deal.

And since eri isnt actually here to affect things this is all from how toshiro sees things. That means he forgot or couldn't accept what eri actually said (rude).

Huh this shadows eyes are white (inverted). Weird because in the first curscene they were yellow but every appearance afterwards has been white.

Oh i like that take for erina. Whats interesting is this is the only example i can think of where the user and persona are different genders. In most instances if the persona user is female the persona is feminine and if the user is male the persona is masculine, with a few more gender neutral persona designs in the mix.

Look im all for fighting gods but this feels a little forced.

P5T is meh. It's mid for persona side games which themselves are not as good as the main games. Tactica has fun interactions if someone already likes the p5 cast but beyond that it doesn't have much. Story is kinda weak i mean it's ok but there's also not really anything really engaging about it. I did like how it was essentially a toshiro vignette instead of trying to juggle multiple characters and stories, nice and focused.

It seems dlc is another entirely separate side story (a side story to a side story) but maingame didn't impress me with it's writing so i probably won't look into this. I kinda want to play tactica because i like tactics games but no way is this game worth $60? 70?, It's worth like 15$ maybe 20.

Hold up you telling me toshiro's persona is THE CHE GUEVARA. and they queered his gender and turned him into a woman.