#but aside from that akechi has friends and a loving mother | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thesoundofmadness · 2 years

Note

Cognitive Thieves? *grabs comfy blanket* you've intrigued me, friend. Tell me more.

ASLFKJSDFFG OH BOY MOTHER FUCKER YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU JUST UNLEASHED. strap the fuck in bc this is gonna be Long

Spoilers for P5R Third Semester btw.

Okay so the cognitive thieves are my idea of what Joker's Palace could be. I'm thinking the palace can act as a recap of the story before the ending. ya know, to make the ending hit a bit harder.

The palace is the very last, yet longest, palace in the game. I'm not sure exactly when it formed. It's not very hard, especially compared to the Momentos palace, it's just super long. The real world equivlent is Leblanc, of course. The reason Joker formed a palace is... complicated. There's multiple reasons.

A big part of it is the trauma he's endured throughout the game. Having to deal with getting your entire life uprooted, people talking shit about you at school, and just being Not Like The Others is rough.

One of the reasons it formed is imposter syndrome. Joker has spent the whole game learning how to wear a mask, changing himself in order to help others help him. The mask of a concerned friend, a loyal lover, a vigilant hero who doesn't know how to quit... He's lost his sense of identity and doesn't know who he is. He feels like a massive liar for it.

Another reason is, well, he just doesn't want to leave. His probation is almost over. He likes being a phantom thief and loves his friends. He's finally found a place to belong and simply doesn't want to lose it.

Another reason is.... resentment. He's pissed off at, unforuntely, everyone. He's pissed at Shido for ruining his life, pissed at his peers at school for talkin' shit, but most of all.... he's pissed with his friends. He's upset that no one has come to help him despite him doing all he can for them. He doesn't want to be angry at people who don't deserve it, especially not those who mean so much to him.

He's also grieving over Akechi's death. He feels awful he wasn't able to save Akechi. If Akechi accepted his help, he could have become another Phantom Thief and be welcome in their found family. He feels like it's his fault that Akechi is dead.

Joker couldn't handle all of this. So he just pushed it aside, almost forgetting about it entirely. This self neglect resulted in his palace being formed.

After Maruki's palace, Joker gradually stops coming home, and eventually outright disappears all together. He wanted to deal with the palace himself, not wanting to push the burden on his friends.

In order to avoid them, he told everyone he was doing something else whenever they asked to hang. He told Sojiro he was going with Ryuji, he was with Ann, he told Ann he was with Yusuke, etc. He even went as far as telling non-thief confidants lies.

One morning, Morgana wakes up and sees Joker just, gone. He asks Futaba and Sojiro where he might be, only for them to have conflicting awnsers. They bring the team together and it seems he's lied to all of them.

They decide to go out looking for him. Futaba takes a look at the MetaNav, only to see that there's a new palace. Immeditately she calls everyone.

After some fucking around, they say the right keywords and, oh no. the palace belongs to their dear leader. They instantly decide they have to tackle this palace and save their friend. The deadline is two weeks.

From this point on, you can't play as Joker. Instead, you have to choose a "temporary" leader from one of the remaining thieves. The only one you can't choose is Futaba, because navigation. Each character has their own "leader skill" that can be used in the palace. The game defaults to whoever has the highest confiant rank (in the case everyone is maxed, it's whoever you maxed first)

You still have all the money, items, and confidant skills from before. However, you can't fuse personas (bc only joker and akechi can wield multiple personas), or raise confidant levels.

The palace itself is a mix between a theater and a circus, and it's big enough to span over the entire city. It's filled to the brim with puzzles, illusions, and shadows of all kinds. It's EXTREMELY unstable.

You won't ever actually see Shadow Joker until the boss fight. He uses illusion to shield himself. He'll show up as spotlights, a disembodied voice through a speaker, and maybe even various figures from previous palaces.

The palace has 4 areas, each area resembling a different palace from before. First Area is Kamoshida's palace, 2nd is a mix of Madarame's and Futaba's palace, Third area is Kaneshiro's and Okumura, and the 4th is Shido's and Maruki's.

Each area has a different Cognitive Phantom Thief that acts as a mini-boss. The more you've leveled your teammates up, the stronger their cognitive counter part.

Cognitive Ann, Makoto, Haru, Futaba, and Sumire's fights will be different depending on if you romanced them or not.

Joker genuinely doesn't want to hurt his friends. He loves them more than anything. The cognitive thieves goal ISN'T to kill you, they just want to Kick You the Fuck Out. However, Joker's anger is likely to shine through. If you don't take them out quickly enough, they may use a few one-shot moves and kill you instantly.

The only cognitive thief who won't try to kick you out is Cognitive Morgana. Cognitive Morgana genuinely wants to help you save Joker. He will heal you completely and give you hints if you ask. Though, he tends to give misinformation.

Your goal with the cognitive thieves is to take their masks and return them to Cognitive Morgana. If you do, Cognitive Morgana will open the backstage door.

Im thinking theme for this palace is a distorted version of Last Surprise.

I'm not TOO sure on the initial meeting with Shadow Joker after the phantom thieves enter the palace. I have a few ideas but none of them are concrete.

I also have an idea on the Shido portion of this.

If you wanna hear those lmk

#persona 5 #persona 5 royal #p5 #p5r #persona 5 spoilers

14 notes · View notes

ruki--mukami · 2 years

Note

Just wanted to say that I love you writing style. Not only how you depict Ruki and how you build interactions around him but literally the writing style: the choice of words, the flow of text, how you play with words...

I wish I could create something similar...

🧩 Awwww, Anon, that is so sweet of you. Thank you so much for the kind words from the bottom of my heart. It's messages like these that really help my motivation.

WARNING ⚠ LONG RAMBLINGS AHEAD:

Honestly, I just write Ruki from how I imagine him to be in my head. It's very fun to write for him because he's one of the more "proper" DL boys, not only in his mannerisms but also his way of speech from time to time. He has his moments where he is formal, but then he also has his moments where he loses his temper and drops the proper speech, which I find very fascinating. Interacting with so many intricate OC's who arguably have more development than Ruki himself has also stretched my way of thinking quite a bit. It's thanks to them that I have to imagine him in scenarios I never would've dreamed of, but being the Ruki fanatic that I am, I absolutely love love love seeing him thrown in new situations.

Might I add, it also helps that I'm a native English speaker and I've pretty much been exposed to all kinds of writing styles from birth, so there's that too. I only feel the need to add this since I notice much of the DL community is from all over the world, and most people who do happen to write phenomenal English, despite it not being their mother tongue, have to go out of their way to interact with English material most of the time. Not trying to use this as a bragging point or anything, but I thought it'd be good to disclose that I know the language like the back of my own hand at this point, so it definitely takes me less effort to apply what I learn since it's the only language I know fluently. I also really like to show certain idioms, large vocabulary words, and figures of speech through Ruki as well. He's a smart man, so he's the perfect character for me to practice new words I learn which I am very thankful for.

Another element I find interesting about roleplaying as Ruki is that it allows me much room for artistic liberties with his character. The only content we have for his "English" speech would be translations from the original Japanese script. Other than this, the only official English localization I can think of for DL would be the English dub of the anime, but we don't talk about that fiasco on this blog. In the anime Ruki has a very cold, yet proper demeanor (e.g., "There will be consequences," or "I am mystified by you"—they're kind of "big" ways of talking, if that makes sense?) but here I try to take it a step further.

Aside from DL itself, if I'm being transparent there are also a handful of other characters from other franchises who I take lots of inspiration from when writing for Ruki. Some notable ones who really inspire me are Goro Akechi from Persona 5, and many Fire Emblem characters such as Leo, Berkut, and Hubert. Even King Arthur from Merlin (BBC) has inspired me with his way of speech, haha. As you can see, Ruki really acts like royalty sometimes...

Okay, sorry for the long rambling. I want to wrap this response up by saying: Of course you can create something similar, Anon! Writing is not only something we are forced to learn in school to interact with the real world, but also a creative outlet and hobby for us to express ourselves. Whether it's with Ruki, DL, or even another franchise, I'm sure you can improve your own writing style and create something fantastic. Practice, practice, practice. Don’t forget to take breaks from writing and read a lot too. That's a secondary reason why I run this blog. To practice my own writing and stay in touch with articulating my own thoughts creatively. Since I'm not in school anymore, the only other writing I do outside of this blog is my work emails and direct messages with friends. That's it. Not much room for creativity and thinking outside the box because with those, I am forced to write either professionally or casually. However, thanks to Ruki, I can write things I would never say in real life, hahaha. 🧩

#ruki mukami #mukami ruki #the admin speaks #long post #ask #memento

11 notes · View notes

salexectrian-heir · 4 years

Text

ragged edges and sharp teeth

Pairing: Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist

Fandom: Persona 5, Persona 5 Royal

Rating: M

Word Count: 3,305

Tags: Hurt/No Comfort, Canon Universe, Implied Sexual Content, Non-Consensual Platonic Affection, References to Underage Drinking, Referenced/Implied Suicide (Goro’s Mother), References to Depression, The six times someone kisses Goro Akechi, and the one time Goro Akechi kisses someone, Shuake Week 2020

Summary:

But in truth, in reality, Goro is selfish. Always will be. He is all ragged edges and sharp teeth, he is rough and all consuming and unrelenting.

And ruining Akira is perhaps his most selfish desire of all.

Shuake Week 2020: Free Day (a six and one prompt)

i. his mother

Goro is six years old and he is crying.

The water is scalding against his skin but that he doesn’t quite mind. He tries to fight the tears but they fall despite his brave efforts to not let them roll down his cheeks. Normally, he likes this place. The bathhouse is usually calm and comforting, and feels a little bit like an adventure when he’s sent here on his own. But tonight, he knows something is wrong .

One of her “ friends ” is over. One of the many he doesn’t like. His mother had that look on her face when she ushered him outside, the kind of look that made him want to stay rooted to the spot, clinging to her leg and begging to not be sent away.

He doesn’t know how long he’s been in this place, time almost doesn’t feel real in the bath. But it’s been long enough for his fingers and toes to prune, for his tears to have (finally) run out, and everyone else to have left. He runs his wrinkled fingertips over the tiles of the tub that are smooth and sleek, and wonders if anyone would come looking for him if he stayed in the water all night.

Probably not.

He sinks another few centimeters so that the water reaches his chin, and thinks about staying.

But he would miss his mother too much, and his eyes sting immensely, and all he wants is to fall asleep with her curled up next to him on his futon. He wouldn’t even mind if she hogged all the covers. It would be enough to know she was with him. That he wouldn’t be alone anymore.

He fumbles his way out of the tub and into his night clothes with clumsy, pruned fingers. The street is empty as he walks back to the complex where he and his mother live. The door is unlocked, but he vigilantly locks it behind him like she taught him. She must have forgotten. Again. But that’s okay! Because Goro can reach the top lock now and knows she must be tired, that’s all.

There are no lights on except for the glare from TV, a forgotten channel making ambient noise he barely notices. He creeps towards her bedroom and slides the door aside to find it empty, to his relief. No strangers left to linger in the space he covets. The next place he knows to check is the bathroom, which is where he finds her laying on the ground. Her head lifts at the noise and her eyes widen when she sees he’s standing in the doorway.

“Go-chan?”

He’s seen his mother like this before. He knows she’s hurting but doesn’t know why (a much older Goro would understand and curse himself for not noticing sooner. But he was six, and a six year old wouldn’t know what to do. He would blame himself anway.). He lays down beside her on the floor and she tucks him underneath her chin. He pretends he doesn’t hear her cry, pretends that he hadn’t just been crying himself, and buries his face in her neck. Her hair is damp but smells like home, floral and fresh in the way that makes his heart ache. He is grateful it's not the lingering scent of cigarettes and sweat that sometimes would stain her skin in ways that would make his stomach churn.

He thinks she’ll be okay this time when he feels a tender kiss on the top of his head, on his temple, on his cheek when she finally pries him away from her throat.

He thinks she’ll be okay when she whispers I love you , against his forehead as she carries him into his room, and helps him get ready for bed.

He thinks she’ll be okay when she leaves a chaste kiss on his lips when they are finally curled up on his futon together, as she brushes away the tears that somehow, some way, had found themselves running down his puffy face again.

But he doesn’t hear her when she says I’m sorry with soft lips pressed to his damp eyelids. After his fingers have woven into the locks of her hair like a lifeline.

Because Goro is already half asleep, and doesn’t have the energy to kiss her goodnight.

ii. a relative

Goro is nine years old and he is numb.

It’s freezing outside and no one thought to give him a heavier jacket. So he stands there shivering, hands fisted under his armpits as he tries to breathe normally. The air burns his lungs each time he takes a hiccuping breath, and wishes more than anything that someone would wake him up. Because this has to be a dream. A cruel one.

Then someone grabs his face and kisses his cheek, starling him out of the haze that had settled upon him like a wet blanket. They had meant it to be a comforting gesture he would come to realize much later in his life, but his traumatized nine year old brain couldn’t handle it and he violently recoils.

The shove isn’t strong enough to deter this woman… an aunt? A great aunt? A friend of his mother? Goro doesn’t know. He’s never met her before. Or maybe he has? If so, she clearly wasn’t important enough to remember or leave an impact on his life before this moment.

All he knows is they violated his space and as he remembers what his mother--he chokes on the protest that formed on his lips as he repeatedly pushes himself farther from the person trying to hold onto him--he remembers what his mother had always told him.

“ Don’t let anybody touch you unless you want them to .”

He holds those words close to his heart, hoping the punches he’s throwing get his message across.

He didn’t want to be touched by anyone.

Anger bubbles up from somewhere in his gut. Why didn’t his mother do the same when all those “friends” touched her when she didn’t want them too? Why couldn’t she be strong enough? Why wasn’t he strong enough to protect her ?

Why wasn’t he enough?

Bile rises in his throat when he finally breaks the hold of the hands that were gripping his chin, his elbow... blatantly ignoring the affronted scoffs and whispers of what a disgrace, such a rude child, that circled in the wake of his outburst.

The only person he wants holding him is his mother.

But she is six feet under the dirt at his feet, and won’t ever be able to hold him again.

iii. a girl in the orphanage

Goro is eleven and is taken completely by surprise.

One moment he is huddled around a board game in his room with a classmate, and the next she is suddenly leaning into his personal space, pushing her face into his. His eyes go wide as he braces himself on the edge of the desk so as not to fall out of his seat.

He never really thought about kissing girls before it happened, and knew immediately after that he probably would never think about kissing girls again.

His body reacts faster than his brain and shoves her off. She gasps and stumbles back, her expression twisting in confusion at his rejection.

“Why,” he says, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, “did you do that?”

“Because I like you, and I wanted to kiss you…did you not like it?

He had never been kissed like that before. He thought first kisses were supposed to feel special. But this...felt empty. And bluntly says as much to her.

She looks at him like he had slapped her across the face. “I-I thought...you liked me back?”

“What gave you that idea?”

Guilt only starts to settle in his gut when he sees the tears welling up in her eyes just before she mutters something akin to an apology and bolts out of his room.

He glares at the spot she had been standing.The longer he thinks about it, the angrier and more justified Goro feels. He doesn’t regret telling her the truth but… he drops his head on his arms.

He can’t even make friends right. Maybe he really was broken, like all the other kids say he is.

She gets adopted two days later.

He doubts she even remembers that kiss.

iv. a hook up

Goro is seventeen and it's a means to an end.

Goro hates these events, but has to attend to keep up airs with Shido and his... associates . To be available for Shido to both dangle in front of and threaten his inner circle with. The fact Goro fits in with them at all makes his skin crawl, and he drowns the urge to peel it off with the complimentary wine he’s (illegally) being served. It’s the least offensive crime he’s committed by a landslide.

Goro just needs to be seen and not heard. To both impress and intimidate. And it works every time.

But tonight, it works perhaps a little too well. Or Goro is a little too drunk to care anymore, and wants to get something, anything out of this hell he’s stuck in. Which is how he finds himself pressed up against a bathroom door by the son of some sycophant politician dragged along by his father hoping to get in Shido’s good graces.

The boy is his age, maybe a little older. Far too eager, excited, and sloppy. He kisses Goro hastily, before Goro could stop him (it’s not what they're in this bathroom for, and they both know it). The boy’s mouth is clumsy, and the kiss is full of inexperienced tongue and tastes of the sickly sweet moscato they’ve been chasing. When the boy tries to deepen the kiss, Goro takes a fistfull of this boy’s hair and yanks. It earns him a yelp.

Glaring down at him, Goro simply states, “On your knees.”

And the boy obeys without a second thought.

The boy doesn’t like him . He likes the image he carefully manufactured to be desirable. Even if the boy claims he went down on the Detetive Prince in a bathroom in some fancier hotel in Shinjuku, no one will believe him.

Back at his apartment, Goro slams down the mug of tea he had made to wash out the taste of the boy from the party. If that boy really knew what Goro kept buried underneath the layers and layers of masks he wore, what he was truly capable of, he would run away screaming.

But it doesn’t matter, it’s not like the boy’s affection was really for Goro . And Goro held none for the boy. It means nothing. A release, an excuse to feel something other than seething rage for a few minutes. A pitiable excuse for human connection Goro so desperately craved. How pathetic.

Goro begins to laugh.

And when his manic laughter breaks into sobs he can’t quite tell.

v. his rival

Goro is eighteen and it stops his entire world.

Stepping out of the Jazz Jin, Goro is quickly enveloped by the brisk November chill that finally settled itself in the streets of Kichijoji. It seeps through his clothes and makes him shiver, craving the warmth and atmosphere of the lounge they just left.

He shouldn’t even be here with Akira. Against his better judgment, Goro had reached out, invited him here one last time before…

Akira ducks around him as the door shuts, effectively cutting off the only exit out into the street.

“Akechi, can I ask you a question?”

Goro raises a brow. “I suppose.”

Akira removes his hands from his pockets, and suddenly seems unsure of what to do with them. Turning them over and flexing his fingers as he says, “Um, I’ll need you to close your eyes first.”

“Akira, we don’t have time for games,” Goro chides in that manufactured plastic tone of voice the Prince uses to let his fans down easy.

(Thinking Akira will probably try to shove some stupid trinket in his hands like last time. And Goro will have to repeatedly decline said trinket until Akira inevitably shoves it in his pocket while he’s not looking and only for Goro to find it later when he takes off his coat back at his apartment).

A soft laugh pulls him back to the present. And then, “Indulge me, detective . Please?”

Maybe it was the poorly disguised desperation hidden in Akira’s voice that made him cave to the delinquent’s whim, or Goro’s realization that this was perhaps the last time he would ever get to feel like a normal teenager before...

Goro rolls his eyes and gives in to Akira’s request with a sigh. “Alright.”

The sounds of Kichijoji’s nightlife are amplified when his eyes flutter shut. He becomes hyper aware of the cold clinging to his skin, the idle chatter of the passerby at the top of the stairs, milling about down the street.The welcoming scent of coffee that never seems to fade from Akira’s clothes.The sound of Akira stepping closer into his space.

Suddenly, alarms are going off in Goro’s brain as he register’s Akira’s hand cupping his cheek, skin to skin.

“May I?” Akira’s question is whispered so quietly, Goro thinks he feels it more than he hears it.

Goro swallows, unable to get his tongue to work to form words. It’s the first time anyone has ever asked Goro for his permission, for his consent, and he has no idea how to even voice how that makes him feel.

It’s blindsiding him.

A thumb traces over Goro’s bottom lip, and his eyes snap open. He’s peering right into irises of silver, sparkling from the string lights that hang around them in the stairwell of the Jazz Jin’s entryway.

“You said you would keep them closed,” Akira whispers, gaze dropping to where his thumb is still idling tracing Goro’s mouth.

Goro’s prolonged silence seems to unnerve Akira, for he begins to pull away. Without thinking, Goro’s hand shoots out and grabs the lapel’s of Akira’s coat, holding him in place. Goro wasn’t even aware he moved until Akira let out a small gasp.

“I never said that,” Goro murmurs, but his eyes fall shut anyway when Akira leans in again.

Akira’s lips are so soft, so delicate and gentle when he presses them against Goro’s mouth. They are everything Goro is not, and Goro is melting . It’s so much kinder than he deserves, far more genuine than Goro is even capable of being.

“To remember me by,” Akira breathes when Goro parts his lips to taste more of him, “since we agreed to stop seeing each other after this.”

Too soon the warmth from Akira’s mouth is gone, and so is the dark haired boy. Having assimilated into the shadows to leave Goro alone in that stairwell.

It changes everything and nothing at the same time.

Goro still puts a bullet in Akira’s brain two days later, but it's his own head that explodes.

vi. a kiss met halfway

Goro is still eighteen, and living on borrowed time.

“ Your life isn’t trivial! ”

Goro has never wanted to believe anything so badly before. But knows in the shell of his empty heart, that Akira is wrong.

That he’s just being a brainless, sentimental fool, giving Goro’s life more meaning than it ever had the right to have.

Yet the thief’s words echo in the recesses of his mind, with each step he takes away from Leblanc for them only resonate louder. By the time he reaches the main road, the words are deafening screams and he has to--has to--

Akira is just where he left him. Sitting there stupidly at the cafe counter with his face in his hands.

The door to Leblanc is ripped open. It shakes on its hinges as it absorbs the aftershocks of being slammed into the wall by the force of Goro’s hand. The jingle of the bell is drowned out by the roar of Akira’s voice in Goro’s ears.

Akira startles and whips his head in the direction of the noise. Goro can see the thief’s eyes are swollen and red, brimming with unshed tears as he pulls his hands away from his face. His mouth falls open, brows furrowed in shock or confusion, Goro isn’t keen on differentiating at the moment because he’s too busy closing the distance between them.

Goro is so sick of other people defining what his life is meant to be. So sick and tired of being manipulated, following orders like some kind of marionette on a string. And for nothing in the end. Because Goro is his own worst enemy the cards were stacked against him from the beginning.

So fuck it. Goro decides for the first time in a long time that he wants to be touched. To be held. To feel the weight of someone’s desire for him pressing in from all angles. He wants to drown himself in Akira until he can breathe nothing else.

And Akira meets him halfway.

They don’t speak of what they’re doing, as they tumble up the stairs to Akira’s room.

They do not name the desperate feeling they are chasing through each other’s clothes as they fall to the floor.

They refuse to acknowledge the truth that is passed between each other’s mouths, secrets they had kept buried beneath flesh now exposed.

But everything left unsaid hangs in the silent spaces between their bodies as they move as one.

+1 a kiss goodbye

Goro is (still) eighteen, and he is dying.

It takes less than a minute.

Goro does his best to keep the desperation out of his eyes but can’t keep it from his hands.

Hands that reach for Akira to roughly pull him into the helicopter after Maruki, who had been tossed aside like a ragdoll.

Goro drags the beaten and bloodied thief into his lap, and no one seems to pay them any attention, too focused on either watching the unconscious therapist in the back, the collapsing palace around them, or the brilliant white light they were heading for.

Akira goes to unhinge his helmet, and Goro lets him. It clatters to the ground, next to where Akira abandoned his own mask.

He lets Akira drag fingers drag across his chest, to travel up and bury themselves in his hair, to cradle the back of his head like the most precious treasure he’s ever laid hands on. So much of Goro yearned to be touched, and there was so little time.

Goro slides his own hands, still encased in clawed gauntlets, along Akira’s battered face. He uses the pads of his thumbs to trace the angle of Akira’s jaw as he crushes his mouth against Akira’s for the last time. Akira’s blood is sweet on his tongue.

For a split second, Goro wishes he could have been a stronger, more selfless man in his final moments. One who didn’t covet things that were never his ( would never be his ), or ruin the things he touches.

But in truth, in reality, Goro is selfish, always will be. He is all ragged edges, and sharp teeth, he is rough and all consuming and unrelenting. And ruining Akira is perhaps his most selfish desire of all.

Goro knows Akira deserves better, but Akira allows it willingly all the same. Letting Goro lay claim to everything Akira is, everything Akira could be for a moment. For a moment, it all belongs to Goro.

And in return, Akira takes everything from him. His revenge, his anger, his envy, his loneliness, his heart. Devouring what is left of Goro Akechi as the false reality shatters around them in a blaze of white light.

#Shuake #Akeshu #Shuake Week 2020 #Goro Akechi #Persona 5 #Goro Akechi x Akira Kurusu #forgot to post this here

40 notes · View notes

thepancakeboi · 4 years

Text

Corrupted Desires

ShuAke Week 2020

Day 2: Corruption / Masks / Games

November 27th should have just been a normal Sunday for Goro. Go to work, do an interview or two, and try not to think about the dead face of someone who could have been a potential friend in another life. However, the thieves he betrayed are out to steal his heart, and he refuses to let them succeed. Even if means having to kill Joker again.

Contains: swearing (no effs though), Goro Akechi Palace AU, (most likely) angst

“So, you came, despite my warnings.”

I turn around. The world may be tinted red by the lens of my mask, but I don’t need color to know who these people are. I’m face-to-face with the very thieves I had worked with for a short time before betraying them and shooting their leader in the head.

At least, that’s what I had thought happened. Something had felt...off in the interrogation room that held Ren Amamiya, leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. I had brushed it off at the time as being an unwelcome feeling from murdering someone in the real world.

I only realized Ren was still alive by the sight of him outside my bedroom window last night, six days after I had “killed” him. The sight of him unnerved me more than I care to admit. He was lucky I didn’t have a gun in my apartment. Otherwise, I would have shot him then and there. The thought of stabbing him with a kitchen knife came to mind, but that idea got shoved aside. Against my better judgment, I had simply opened the window instead of trying to murder him for the second time that week. “How the hell are you still alive?” I snapped. Ren knew my detective prince personality was little more than a façade, anyway.

“Hi to you too, detective,” he replied with that devil may care attitude, courtesy of being Joker, and a side of flirtatious annoyance. “Can we talk?”

“You didn’t answer my question,” I said as an answer, though I once again ignored common sense by stepping back from the window. Ren had taken the silent invitation, opening the window the rest of the way as he jumped through it. Even outside of the Metaverse, he had to be a showoff. “You should be dead.”

“Yeah, but I lived.”

“I shot you in the head. I watched you die.” There was no way he could have normally survived taking a bullet to the face at point-blank range. No chance whatsoever.

The smirk that pulled at his lips was nothing short of smug. It pissed me off. His tone matched his expression as he asked, “Honey, did you really kill me?”

“Yes! I-” I stopped mid-sentence. It was then that it had dawned on me; he somehow had used the Metaverse to escape and cheat death.

That little shit.

“Figure it out, detective?”

I refused to dignify the slight taunt with an answer. “Damn you. I should kill you right now.”

“You could.” He didn’t sound concerned. “Besides, murder is so intimate,” he added with a wink.

I gave him a withering glare as I asked, “What do you want? You didn’t come here just to gloat, did you?”

That seemed to jog his memory. For the first time that night, he wasn’t being a cocky son of a bitch. If anything, he looked almost somber as he reached into his bag, devoid of a certain black and white feline. It was jarring. “Here. This is for you.”

I stared at the proffered item: a calling card. “Is this a joke?” I scoffed.

He shook his head. This wasn’t something he was enjoying. “Just read it. Please.”

I don’t know why I had obliged. Maybe it had been how hurt he seemed. I had carefully read each word aloud, punctuated with my own comments, to make sure he knew I did as he wanted. “Sir Goro Akechi, - was the sir truly necessary? - the traitorous sinner of wrath.” Ren flinched at that second part. “You have lost yourself in your desire for revenge - bullshit! - and have committed many atrocities to advance your plans. Thus, we have decided to change your heart. We will take your distorted desires without fail. From, the Phantom Thieves.” I looked back up at Ren, snapping, “What is this supposed to mean!? Are you implying I have a Palace?”

“Yes.”

“That’s impossible! My heart isn’t distorted. I’ve accepted who I am! I’m not hiding anything from myself! All you’re doing is getting in my way!”

“I will steal your heart.” Even with the potential flirty double-meaning that was normal for him, the words were clearly painful for him to say.

“If you have any sense of self-preservation, Joker,” I snarled, emphasizing the codename, “don’t provoke me.”

He turned away from me, apparently so spineless that he couldn’t even give an answer to my face. “I can’t ignore this, Goro. You asked for my help yourself.” I didn’t even get a chance to question him on that. Without another word, he left the way he came, leaving me alone to mull over what he said. I was about to throw the calling card away until I saw something written on the back. Ren, the utter fool that he was, had given me the keywords for my own Palace:

Goro Akechi, Tokyo, castle.

This morning, I had pulled up the Metanav to see if any of this was true. This couldn’t be real. It wasn’t possible. I had to check, though, to make sure that whatever they were planning didn’t come to fruition if it was true. To my surprise, there was a hit on the Metanav. Ren’s words had held merit to them after all.

Now, I find myself here, prepared to fight the Phantom Thieves in my own Palace. The grand castle behind me will serve as a fine backdrop for these events, although if it’s any reflection of me, it isn’t so pretty on the inside. My gaze is focused solely on Joker. The rest of the thieves mean little to me. Without Joker, they would crumble and fall into despair. “You should have known I would stop you.”

I’m surprised when the rest of the thieves stay silent. I would have expected them to have something to say to me, especially Haru and Futaba. I did murder people close to them. Instead, Joker steps towards me as he says, “Goro, listen to yourself. You want our help.”

“I do not require your assistance. What makes you so sure that I even want your help?”

“Your Shadow told me.” Joker is now right in front of me, slightly taller as always due to his heeled boots. He’s not being cocky. For once, he’s taking things seriously. “You want acknowledgment, right?”

He is right, but I refuse to admit it to anyone, least of all him. “You can’t be serious. That’s what you believe?”

“I know it’s true. Something happened to form this place. Skull had said your name before and nothing came up.”

“My desires aren’t corrupt if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I know. But you want someone to want you around.” I jerk back. How the hell did he-? “And I do, Goro. I’ve always wanted to be with you. Please, just let me help. We can take Shido down together. Your mother w-”

“Enough!” I yell, turning my back to him. I won’t. He’s trying to change my heart, and I can’t let him do that. “That’s impossible.”

“Goro, please-”

“If you’re so desperate to help, then leave.”

“No. I love you too much to leave.”

Love. Does he think that’s all it will take to stop me? Ha, what a joke.

You love him too, though, don’t you?

I force that thought as far away from consciousness as possible. It’s too late for love, even if I deserved any. He can’t save me any more than he could stop someone like Shido with his methods. “If you won’t leave, then I’ll have to force you all to leave.”

He chuckles humorlessly. “You’ll have to find them first.”

I blink, turning around to realize we’re alone. Joker, being the menace that he is, smirks. The expression doesn’t reach his eyes. “Damnit! You Phantom Thieves are really starting to piss me off!”

“I said I would steal your heart,” he says, grabbing a hold of my wrist as I move to go hunt his friends down myself. His grip is surprisingly strong as he prevents me from leaving. “I don’t want to fight you, but if I have to...I will.”

“Fine, then!” I snap. “If it’s a fight you want, then it’s a fight you’ll get. You may have outsmarted me before, but I won’t lose to you! I will prevail!” My voice suddenly gets eerily quiet as I rest my free hand against my mask, summoning Loki as I finish:

“And this time...I’ll make sure you stay dead.”

#ShuAkeWeek2020 #titles are just not my thing okay #akeppi writes #p5 #persona 5 #p5r #persona 5 royal #goro akechi #akechi #ren amamiya #akira kurusu #akeshu #shuake #i wish i could have explored the idea of his palace more #alas time constraints made that impossible #this idea hurt so much #but this idea had been brewing in my mind for weeks after i saw the prompts #and it wouldn't be me if i didn't use it to gut-punch myself in the feels

23 notes · View notes

saiki-in-jsl · 4 years

Text

No Powers Saiki AU (3k)

Where he also has anxiety and selective mutism. (But also, nobody has powers. And that volcano issue never happens because I SAID SO.)

Uhm uhhhh, in no way am I a doctor, so this may not be very accurate. Sorry!!

TW: Panic attack, I don’t think this one needs a skip so I’ll just leave it as that (but if you need one, tell me :eyes:)

Also on my ao3!

Also well shit, I do like myself some good Kusuo and Akechi friendship :,)

Also also, ugggghhhhhh, the italics stuff don’t go through when I copy and paste from my docs rip. This is why I prefer ao3 more (and because their tagging system is HEAVENLY) so if you wanna read with all them proper italics I suggest switching to my ao3

ALSO ALSO ALSO, RIGHT WHEN I FINISHED THIS, I DISCOVERED ASL AND JSL ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SO D A R N H E C K I’M SORRY. I did a big oopsie,,,let’s,,,pretend that asl,,,is,,default,,?

Saiki Kusuo was not your typical boy.

Since he was young, it had been painfully obvious that he was a gifted child, surpassing his brother by intelligence and strength. This had drawn many curious scientists to him, and after several tests that went on for hours and hours, he finally broke. He stopped talking and he stopped wanting to be around people.

His mother, equally as tired of the scientists as her son was, decided to hide his identity away from the public, constantly moving from location to location to avoid the people who knew of her son’s abilities.

This barely helped with Kusuo’s social development as a child, so the more he moved, the more he decided that he would much rather live in an isolated world than a world filled with people with prying eyes and loud mouths.

He did make a friend once though, but it barely lasted due to unforeseen circumstances that involved a few beat up bullies, and it had surprisingly hurt when he had to move away again. Akechi was his first real friend, and realizing that he won’t be seeing him again felt weird.

As much as he loved being alone, a friend would’ve been nice.

So the night before they moved away, he had pushed open his parents’ door, gripping his pajama top tightly, and whispered really really softly to his mother, “Mama. Will I ever make a friend?”

It was the first time he had spoken in a very long time, in fact, his mother couldn’t remember the last time he had spoken to her without pointing and hand gestures. So predictably, she cried and hugged him tight, mumbling how sorry she was for ruining his chance at making a friend, too caught up with trying to avoid those nosey scientists.

Middle school went by like a blur, aside from the occasional school switch that still happened, yet not as often as elementary. He didn’t remember a single thing that happened during those school days, maybe a few anxiety attacks in the bathroom and a sad attempt at trying to socialize, but that was it. Maybe it really was easier to be alone, at least he wouldn’t have to worry about losing his breathing from the sheer amount of stress he got from the assembly hall.

Highschool came and Kusuo had a new plan: Accept that having friends are not necessary and speaking with your mouth is dumb.

He quickly learnt how to use ASL, much preferring that language over vocally speaking, and made sure his grades were as average as possible. He had excelled through middle school and elementary school like it was nothing, but it had led him to be placed on stage many times because of this. So no more of that, because that was a recipe for disaster to him.

Kusuo made sure everything was in perfect place before heading to school. He made sure the school knew about his condition, and he also made sure to let them know he didn’t want to be publicly known as the school’s “mute kid”, so he’d definitely blend in without an issue.

Kusuo couldn’t believe what was happening. He hadn’t even fully registered his first year of highschool properly and his second year was already here.

To start off, he had friends, something he did not expect to have. He could predict many things, the weather, what people were thinking, and if he tried hard enough, he could even predict who would walk by his classroom in the next second. But he did not see this one coming.

He didn’t even know how. Nendou was a dunce who went from copying his homework to hanging around and inviting him out for ramen and Kaidou was a chuunibyou who thought Kusuo’s hand gestures was some sort of secret language and ended up perceiving Kusuo as some ally to Jet Black Wings.

Yumehara, for no reason other than the fact that Kusuo looked cute, decided she was meant to be with him. A lot of effort was taken to avoid her, but just as she lost interest in him, the class- no, the world’s idol decided she’d have a crush on him too. Then there was the class representative, Hairo, who constantly screamed and moved and how does he not get tired?

Then there was Kuboyasu, Toritsuka, Aiura, and so many people it made his head spin.

But they all had one thing in common when they communicated with him, and that was the fact that they all thought he was deaf. Granted, people who use ASL were commonly deaf, so he wasn’t blaming them for assuming so, and it did help him a little since this made them talk less around him and gave him a good excuse for ignoring them half the time.

Two years he spent in this highschool, and not once had he fired rapid ASL before. He never got the chance to, and he didn’t have much care for doing so. Mostly because most of the people around him didn’t even understand sign language.

But sometimes, listening to Toritsuka talk on and on about some cute girl could really put you on edge. Especially when he kept egging Kusuo on about the type of girls he liked.

The thing was, Kusuo didn’t like romance. He liked observing it and the idea of it, but he would never want to be a part of it. Frankly enough, he didn’t find any joy in it, he much preferred a life of solitude.

“C’mon, I know you can understand me, Saiki,” Toritsuka poked, grinning widely. “What kind of girls are you into? Or perhaps are into boys? Seriously, tell me, maybe we can go on a double date sometime. What about Teruhashi--“

Kusuo scowled, taking a step back and suddenly flying into fast ASL that roughly translated to several insults and long explanations as to why Kusuo wasn’t going to tell him. Toritsuka only blinked in surprise, because he swore he just saw the middle finger between those fast hand gestures, and he took a step back, raising his hands in defeat.

“Relax! Alright!” Toritsuka said, dropping the subject for good. “Next time fling me a note or something, that is seriously intimidating!”

Kusuo winced, feeling the third piece of paper Kaidou had just flung at him hit his head. This had been going on for the whole period, and Kusuo wondered why the teacher hadn’t noticed it yet. Most of the notes Kaidou sent weren’t serious anyways, and clearly not worth writing back to him.

He barely understood the references the boy was making anyways.

“How about we hang out after school? Do you like cake?” The last note read.

Kusuo smiled softly. “Yes, I do like cake.” He wrote, and with ease, he strategically threw it back so it would land perfectly on Kaidou’s table.

Being around Teruhashi was not ideal at all, because wherever she went, many people would follow. Kusuo hated crowds more than anything, it made his throat close up and his face a little sweaty, though his facial expression would never express his discomfort.

It would always remain blank and devoid of emotions.

Which always peaked Teruhashi’s interest. She found it a challenge to make the “deaf” kid who barely spoke gasp at her beauty, it would be a mighty achievement, yet no matter how hard she tried, it just never worked, which only pushed her to try harder. It resulted in her falling in love with him, unfortunately.

“Saiki does have a cute face though,” Teruhashi mumbled under her breath right as she walked along with Kusuo. She assumed he couldn’t hear her, so she regularly said things like those quietly to herself whenever he wasn’t looking her way. He appreciated the compliment at times, but sometimes, they do get a little creepy.

Nendou probably didn’t understand the idea of deaf people, or perhaps he thought his idea was pretty smart. Either ways, Kusuo sometimes couldn’t understand why he had to shout at him to communicate.

Did Nendou think deaf people just had very very poor hearing? Probably. But it often got annoying when they were in public places, and Kusuo couldn’t even tell him to quiet down because he couldn’t tell when exactly he was actually shouting.

Both his shouting and talking volume were around the same range.

But, it was rather nice of him to go out of his way to learn a bit of sign language just so he wouldn’t have to shout at Kusuo anymore. It was actually pretty nice having an ASL buddy.

Note to self, do not use ASL around Kuboyasu too much. He will and can mistake them as gang signs and get either sappy or angry. Kusuo said in his head as he watched Kuboyasu stare off into the distance with his fists clenched, reminiscing about his gang days.

Several times Kusuo had mistaken Hairo’s sad attempt at ASL as actual words and once spent half an hour straight wondering why the boy had signed refrigerator geese to him during that dodgeball game.

Saiko had once walked up to him and declared that whatever “nonsense” Kusuo was going to sign, he’d know right away what they would mean. At first, Kusuo found it hard to believe that the rich boy had taken time to learn ASL within his one day of being in this school, but as it turned out, all Saiko did was hire a translator to follow him around to translate Kusuo’s words.

That was possibly the most amount of effort he’d ever seen from Saiko, and it was good enough.

Kusuo wondered if learning ASL had magically made him more attractive. Aiura would not leave him alone, with her blonde hair, tanned skin, overly accessorized things, and bubbly personality. She wasn’t like Teruhashi, who attracted more men than Kusuo could count on his fingers, so she wasn’t as annoying to be around with.

But then again, she was more forward than Teruhashi too, so it didn’t make her more appealing either.

Seeing Akechi again resurfaced too many feelings. He hadn’t really realized how much he missed his first friend, but then again, the same boy was probably very aware of Kusuo’s high intelligence and may accidentally reveal his secret with that blabbering mouth of his.

Though, Kusuo had to admit, Akechi hadn’t changed one bit since the last time he saw him. Besides the haircut of course, and some other details, like how good he was at deducting now.

Being around Akechi was always strangely comforting back then, there was just something about listening to him talk that made Kusuo feel comfortable. You could say his talking was like white noise to Kusuo.

“Why does everyone assume you’re deaf? You’re not deaf, you just don’t like talking a lot, right? Why don’t you tell them that? Is it because you find it easier to pretend to be deaf? I can understand that, you were always really quiet, which was nice because you were a great listener too. I never found out why you up and left our elementary school without saying goodbye, but you were crazy sma--” Okay, that was when Kusuo made him stop talking, and Akechi took this as a hint to keep it a secret. There was a pause before Kusuo finally signed something to him.

Sorry.

“Nothing to apologize! I don’t think it was your fault anyways, but your plan worked like a charm honestly,” Akechi smiled. “I hope you missed me, because I know I missed you. We have a lot of catching up to do, I’ll start! So basically…”

Kusuo did. He really did miss him.

A play. Their class was doing a play.

After all that effort of trying to stay off the stage, he still couldn’t avoid it.

He’d feel bad if he didn’t show up to contribute, so he definitely couldn’t just ditch them. The most he could do was play a background role, but even then he’d still be painfully aware that he would be in front of the whole school, and he just couldn’t handle that.

But seeing everyone giving their all to make this play work, Kusuo couldn’t help but join along, regardless of his own condition.

Practice for the play went smoothly, and he found himself being able to cope with it. All he did was sway around like seaweed, since that was his role, and then walk off when his scene ends. Easy, nothing too complicated, he would be fine.

Until Saiko got his sensitive feelings hurt and decided to pull their budget on literally everything, including the costumes. Now, Kusuo couldn’t care less about that issue if it weren’t for the fact that; if the other cast didn’t have their costumes, they wouldn’t stand out as much, and there’d be a higher chance of the audience staring at him.

Yet there wasn’t much time to do last minute preparations for props and clothing, so everyone was encouraged to try their best in making their own costumes before the deadline. Kusuo predicted that no one would actually follow through, and for once, he wished he was wrong.

Apparently he didn’t wish hard enough, because that was exactly what had happened during the play. Everyone mostly came in their gym clothes, some with small props to make it look like they’ve tried, and some who just didn’t do anything at all.

When Kusuo’s scene finally came up, he and the rest of the people who played as seaweed scrambled onto stage, making waving motions with their arms to simulate seaweed underwater. Things went well for the most part, Kusuo did as practiced and waved around just like his other seaweed playing classmates, but the longer he stayed, the more aware he became.

Eyes, everywhere, in front of him, staring too hard, too long. Their mouths are moving, but he can’t hear what they’re saying, it was like they were on the other end of a glass wall. Were they talking about him among themselves?

Had it always been this warm on stage? Was it normal for his hands to shake? Was he breathing? He didn’t remember exhaling, nor inhaling. His throat went dry, his whole body rigid from...fear?

Someone was pushing him, someone else was pulling him, but he can’t properly grasp what was happening.

The world went a bit blurry before he completely went dark.

Kusuo woke up in the nurse’s office, body aching and throat dry. He wondered how long it took for him to wake up, but depending on the sun outside, it may have been an hour or so. He sat up slowly, groaning slightly from the pain, before suddenly being attacked by a hug from a familiar person.

“Pal! You’re okay,” Nendou cheered, finally pulling away from the hug to double check on his friend. He lifted his hands, proceeding to sign to him, You just suddenly fell over after they pulled you off stage.

My bad, Kusuo signed back tiredly. Sorry.

“What’d he say?” Kaidou nudged Nendou. Did he really have to ask? It was quite obvious.

“He says he’s fine.” Nendou answered, completely leaving out Kusuo’s apology, which he found strangely comforting yet offensive.

“He literally had a panic attack on stage, what do you mean he’s fine?” Kaidou argued, then he looked over at Kusuo with a deeper frown. “Why didn’t you tell us you were having an attack?”

“He wasn't being attacked,” Nendou said blankly.

“A panic attack, it’s different,” Kaidou huffed. “Saiki, not to be intrusive, but do you have anxiety?”

Did...he? He honestly never thought about it properly. Sure, he did have anxiety attacks every now and then when he was a kid, but this was the first one he had after a long time, so he never really considered he might’ve had anxiety.

Actually, it was starting to all make sense to him now that he thought about it.

“I’m going to take that as a yes but you didn’t know,” Kaidou said slowly, concern laced in his tone. It made sense that Kaidou would know, it did seem like he used to have the same issue.

“Oh for sure, can’t you tell from the way his eyes had widened just now by half a centimetre?” Akechi piped up from behind.

Good freaking grief.

He knew his mother didn’t trust doctors, but Kusuo really needed to see one after literally fainting in school. Not only that, it wasn’t his first time having an attack either, this was just the first time it had gotten this bad.

Sitting in a psychiatrist's waiting room felt odd, because it seemed a lot more homey than a regular doctor’s waiting room, with paintings hung on the walls and carpeted floor. He wasn’t particularly nervous, but he knew his mother was, because the hand she was using to hold onto him was shaking.

It’ll be okay, he reassured, squeezing his mother’s hand tight.

And it was okay. The lady was really nice to him, gentle and understanding, she barely pried and most of the questions she asked were pretty normal. She was a little surprised to learn that Kusuo could speak, but not in a way that was obvious, only Kusuo could tell that she was.

Communication with her was sorta slow. He had to type onto his notes app on his phone for her to read to answer her questions instead of hand signing, which he didn’t really mind all that much.

His mother, who had been waiting outside for them to be done, immediately got up when Kusuo was finished and asked several questions, one being: Did he need to take medication now?

Fortunately enough, it seemed like his case wasn’t too severe yet, mostly because he could still handle being around people without an issue, so he didn’t need to take any meds for now. Although his selective mutism was pretty serious, it wasn’t too bad either in his case, due to the fact that Kusuo spoke through sign language rather than verbally, so he wasn’t completely mute per se.

He came back next week, and the next, and many more weeks after that. He really liked this therapy thing.

“So your friends think you’re deaf, so you’re using that as an excuse to ignore them sometimes?”

Oh, when she put it like that, it just made him sound like an asshole. But yeah, he pretty much was doing that.

“Is there a particular reason why?”

Kusuo drummed his fingers on his lap. There were many reasons why, but those reasons had long lost their meaning. At first, it was because he didn’t want any friends, but now that he did have friends, there wasn’t any reason for him to keep following them through. No matter how many times he told himself he didn’t like them, they were still his friends.

“And why do you not want any friends?”

“Making friends was hard, keeping friends was hard, and losing them was even harder.” Kusuo typed out. “I guess I stopped trying. But then they started coming to me, and it was weird because I had already accepted it.”

“So you got scared?”

She could say that.

She uncrossed her legs, only to cross them back moments later, and adjusted her glasses, leaning forward, “It’s okay to feel scared about losing your friends, but if you’re going to push everyone who wants to be with you away, then how are you going to know if they’ll truly leave you? There’s nothing wrong with wanting space, but people do need other people to survive.”

One of the many things he did like about his friends was the fact that they all knew he enjoyed sweets. It was pretty obvious that he did, with the way his face would smile softly and soften at the taste of coffee jelly.

Surprisingly, they never notice that he’d much rather be left alone. Either that, or they don’t care.

It was a small outing event, they were mainly just eating and talking, but also trying their best to include Kusuo as much as possible, even though he didn’t mind being left alone with his coffee jelly and cakes.

“Man, I feel bad not including Saiki in conversations sometimes,” Kaidou mumbled, assuming Kusuo didn’t know what he had just said because he wasn’t reading Kaidou’s lips. “Since it’s hard to talk to him sometimes.”

“I’m sure we’re trying our best,” Teruhashi beamed, making Kaidou flush red.

“We should probably just learn sign language like Nendou did.” Kaidou hummed, rolling a fork between his thumb and finger. “It’d be a lot easier.” Though possibly soul crushing for him, considering Kaidou had cram school and such already on his schedule.

“Sounds fun,” Kuboyasu commented. “I’d be down. Maybe we can surprise him.” Oh that was just too much, too nice, Kusuo didn’t even know what he did to earn this much love.

Nendou snorted, grinning widely as he pumped his fist on his chest, “I can teach you all!”

“That would save a lot of money.”

Kusuo stopped eating, a rare sight to see despite him being undisturbed, and he placed his spoon down. Everyone stopped talking, looking over at him in confusion before he finally opened his mouth, surprising them even more.

“I can hear you,” Kusuo managed out. “I always could.”

Teruhashi was the first to react, eyes widening and her face turning bright red. All those comments she muttered, he had heard them all.

Nendou blinked, smiling widely with his arms spread wide, “Congratulations on learning how to hear, pal!” Not quite there, but appreciated.

“Uh, uhm, OF COURSE! I knew the whole time,” Kaidou flashed a charming grin, which would’ve worked if it weren’t for the awkward pose he was doing.

Kuboyasu only stared, and drank his tea, “Oh. Well.”

“Sorry.” Then Kusuo paused, and raised his hands to sign. Felt more comfortable being like this, but you all are too nice to me. So the least I could do was tell you the truth. I don’t talk because I have selective mutism.

Nendou translated for them, and they all softened hearing this. Kusuo pressed his back against the booth seat and fiddled with his spoon before taking another bite. That felt easy, and weight lifting. Now that they know, he didn’t have to feel so bad about them going out of their way to do things for him just because they thought he was deaf.

“Of course I knew from the beginning,” Akechi boasted slightly, eyeing Aiura and Toritsuka with a smug grin. Aiura rolled her eyes at him, but pointed at Kusuo with a narrowed look.

“So you, like, could hear us the whole time,” she confirmed with him again. “I always thought you were just stupid smart, or something, at figuring things out despite not being able to hear, y’know?” Well, she wasn’t wrong about the smart part.

“That is so annoying!” Toritsuka blurted. “You’re annoying! Jeez! Would’ve been so much easier! Did you not tell us because you want an excuse to ignore us?” Kusuo recounted the number of times he avoided Toritsuka running towards him from behind, pretending he couldn’t hear him.

He proceeded to shake his head, very very slowly.

“He’s lying, by the way,” Akechi whispered. Kusuo clicked his tongue at that, earning himself a cheeky grin from Akechi.

Well that was that, now they all knew Kusuo wasn’t some deaf kid, even though that info might’ve spread throughout the school, which he really couldn’t care less about.

It was really nice, though, having friends he could trust.

#the disasterous life of saiki k #saiki kusuo no psi nan #saiki kusuo no ψ nan #saiki kusou #saiki kurumi #nendou riki #teruhashi kokomi #kaidou shun #aiura mikoto #toritsuka reita #akechi touma #kuboyasu aren

101 notes · View notes

lokiarsene · 5 years

Note

Isn't it better if Akechi doesn't have a palace, though? I like the idea of it, but I also find the idea of him having a change of heart on his own and not through his shadow-self really meaningful.

Mod Krist: No, I don’t think it’s better. Just because he has a Palace (which exists in the original game’s coding) doesn’t mean the Phantom Thieves will be the one change his heart. And he definitely has a Palace. It’s in the code.

Akechi can easily come to that decision on his own, similar to Futaba’s Awakening. The difference here is that instead of Awakening, Akechi will have to decide to change. Not so much “steal” his heart as confront it and be given a sufficient reason to change it. That reason, IMO, is Ren.

Even if you don’t ship them, Ren’s impact on Akechi’s life is undeniable. Ren means so much to Akechi that the dude spends his final breaths lamenting how they didn’t meet sooner. The OVA “Proof of Justice” is written entirely around the relationship he and Ren have, how much both boys meant to each other, and how it hurts Ren to think about how unfair life was for Akechi. Ren even sees Akechi as a friend–he tells Sojiro the chess game is between him and a friend.

So again–even if people don’t ship them, they have a clear deep bond that’s a mix of rivalry and affection (with some good ol fashioned spite mixed in, because villain/hero romances are GREAT). And as Ren is really the only person in Akechi’s life that leaves any lasting, significant, healing impact, I can’t see how anyone or -thing else could convince Akechi to change his heart.

Akechi has to have a good enough reason to abandon his entire life’s planning of proving that he was a valuable, worthy, and important person to the one man who ruined his life and cast him aside. If he’s going to throw away all those years of his life, he’d want to do it for something that deserves it. And I think the only thing that would get through to him is if Ren accepts Akechi at his lowest and ugliest, and offers to help Akechi get revenge on Shido. Hell, Ren himself might end up being Akechi’s “treasure.”

The game’s code has his Palace after Sae’s and before Shido’s–which means it’ll take place during the period of time when Ren faked his death. Which means Akechi will believe Ren’s dead. What’s the one thing he would want back, bitter mixed feelings and all, but the one person he saw as a worthy rival and a friend? What else does Akechi value so highly besides his desire for revenge? Ren. Everything else in Akechi’s life was simply a tool leading him to the goal of revenge: his popularity, his public persona, his usefulness. All these things were part of the long con. But the two sincere things he cherishes are his desire for vengeance and his relationship with Ren.

Right now, in P5 vanilla, Akechi’s desire for revenge overrules all else and destroys him. We’re seeing him with his heart unchanged, unable to accept his other sincerest wish (Ren). His Palace doesn’t necessarily have to change Akechi or have anything to do with his redemption, it could just mean he gets a chance to balance out both his wishes (which is what that scene after his fight was very likely meant to do). He’ll join the PT after making the conscious decision to want to belong with them. The PT won’t “steal” his heart so much as just like, look on while Akechi decides what his heart should be.

I speculated a few weeks back about what I think an Akechi Palace might look like, and what they might base it on.

To quote from the link above:

This edda is the second part of a larger work that talks about a son resurrecting his mother from the dead. The band Heilung recently did a song about the very same thing (with the female vocalists singing the mother’s magic spell, and the men singing the son’s chant to bring his mother back to life). After the hero’s resurrected mother chants a protective blessing on him, he has to go to a castle to play a “game of questions and answers.” The hero then must give his true name so he can go inside and rescue the person within. That person is the hero’s bride and true love.

It’s worth noting that in the code for Akechi’s Palace, they refer to it as a castle. Ain’t that something?

And:

The bride threatens death as a punishment for lying about something she’s been longing and waiting for (”the hero is come to my hall”). Goro’s stance towards justice lies heavily on the “punishment” side, as well as a quest for truth. She then questions the hero about his true name and his past so he can prove he’s really the one she’s been waiting for. The hero gives her his true name, they kiss and embrace, and leave the castle. She has the final words of the poem:

“Welcome thou art, | for long have I waited;The welcoming kiss shalt thou win!For two who love | is the longed-for meetingThe greatest gladness of all.

49. Long have I sat | on Lyfjaberg here,Awaiting thee day by day;And now I have | what I ever hoped,For here thou art come to my hall.”

50. Alike we yearned; | I longed for thee,And thou for my love hast longed;But now henceforth | together we knowOur lives to the end we shall live.“

Akechi’s breakdown in Shido’s Palace is very likely what they intended to have his breakdown be for his Palace, and that entire argument hinges on one thing: Ren, what Ren has, how he and Ren compare/contrast, and how envious Akechi is of Ren’s life. Akechi doesn’t really break until Mona says, “You really like Joker, don’t you?” That’s the entire crux of his downward spiral: his feelings to Ren.

None of Akechi’s breakdown dialogue would need to be changed so much as where it takes place. They can have a fight like his breakdown in the hold of Shido’s ship, Akechi decides to “change” his own heart, and they leave the Palace. The only thing that is really left out in the wind here is Shido’s Cognition of Akechi–but he can still exist in Shido’s Palace if that’s how they want to handle it. They already put Cognition!Mishima into the P5R version of Kamoshida’s fight, so maybe Cognition!Akechi still exists in Shido’s Palace, too.

So to sum up: the only person capable of making Akechi change his own heart is Akechi himself. Akechi values his free will, desires, and his beliefs over all things. No one else is more qualified to change his heart, or balance it out, than Akechi himself. That’s probably why his new AOA phrase is (likely) “I decide the truth”–no one else will be in control of the truth but him. And the only person capable of making Akechi want to change his heart is Ren. If Akechi’s Palace is back in P5R, Ren is Akechi’s treasure and their friendship/rivalry will be at the crux of Akechi’s Palace, much like the hero’s quest in the castle mentioned in the edda. Once the fighting’s over, they’ll reunite, Akechi will move forward with his new resolve, his Confidant maxes out, and that’s that.

Wait, no: you meet up with him after his Palace, he and Ren makeout on the upstairs couch, and that’s when his Confidant maxes out.

And that’s that.

Side note: You are all now imagining a scene where Akechi gets his “calling card” is just Ren showing Akechi he’s still alive, and then quickly tapping on the Metaverse app to go into his Palace. You are all now also imagining that Akechi’s Palace is Leblanc, made to look like a castle. I mean, he does welcome you back home as if it’s his home, too.

Addendum: This excellent post by @loki-friggason (I love your url btw!) gives in game proof that made me change my stance on Akechi’s revenge plan (which was always either muddled to me, or I filled in the blanks by assumption). The post accurately points out that it was acknowledgement and acceptance that Akechi sought, which would be a bitter pill for Shido to swallow after having cast Akechi and his mother aside.

Because of this, I feel even more strongly that Ren will play a big part in Akechi’s survival and change in P5R. Even if Ren isn’t Akechi’s treasure, and even if Akechi’s Palace isn’t put back into the game, there’s no denying that Ren’s friendship--his acceptance, his support, his interest in Akechi’s life, him seeing Akechi as a worthy rival with talent and skills--left such a lasting impression on Akechi and thus will have something to do with Akechi’s change. The validation and acceptance Akechi bitterly craved from his father was everything he had in his relationship with Ren, and a manual Confidant link will very likely show this in ways an automatic Confidant link could not.

#Anonymous #this is the ask tag #mod krist #speculation #meta #persona 5 royal

39 notes · View notes

tren-fraszka · 5 years

Text

Hate Exchange Letter

Dear creator,

Thank you for taking your time to check my requests. I know my requests can sound a bit tricky, but please don’t be discouraged. I wish you will have good time writing first and foremost!

My AO3 is Tren, if you wish to check it out.

Likes: comedy, casefics, canon compliants, AUs, time loops, bodyswaps, roleswaps, “being hoisted by your own petard” plotlines, snark, pettiness, rivals, enemies to friends to lovers, violence, friendships and character bonding,

DNW: explicit sex, A/B/O, mpreg, rape depicted as positive (so no “it’s okay, because the other person enjoyed it/it was what they truly wanted”), trans headcanons, soulmates, stories ending with surrender to fate/destiny, fourth wall breaking in canons where that doesn’t occur.

Also, I included what ships I’m okay with in each fandom. Please do not include any ships that aren’t canon and I have not allowed in those sections (if you feel really strongly about a ship, you can ask through mods just in case, if I didn’t include my opinion on it).

Additionally, while I almost never request fanart as possible medium, because I prefer my main gift to be fic, I would be very okay with receiving fanart treats.

REQUESTS

PERSONA 5

Hate that ends

Hate that exists and continues

Hate that starts

Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira

I’m a big sucker for party traitors, so it isn’t really a surprise that I walked out of my Persona 5 playthrough with a new shiny ship. I love how messed up it is with both of them planning to outplay each other in a deadly game and yet still forming an emotional attachment. I also really love how they are mirror images of each other. They are extremely similar, and yet they are also each others opposites. There’s just something fascinating in watching them interact.

I’m okay with all takes on hate for this ship. Akechi has canonically very love-hate relationship with the protagonist, so you can spin this however you want. You are also free to make Akira as bitter about the whole thing as you want. I’m always a game for Akira having all the regrets about Akechi’s death and hating Akechi for leaving him with all the emotional turmoil.

For the story, I’m very okay with some in-between the canon flirting with the obligatory dash of scheming and mind games. I’m also all about different ways their confrontation could go down. Maybe it’s Akira who dies and Akechi lives through with his hateful feelings not coming any closer to being resolved? Or Akechi can’t keep his feelings in and slips at some point?

AUs

I don’t mind AUs, just be aware that the messed up relationship between the two of them is a huge draw for me, so I would definitely opt to preserve that part in some form. You don’t have to do the exact same scenario, but at least make them childhood friends, who ended up on the opposite sides of some conflict. Or undercover spies who got in relationship without knowing each other true identities and they really should kill each other since they work for different clients. The exact setting is of secondary importance to me, so choose whatever you feel would work best. AU Divergences are also welcome. I’m always a game for Akechi surviving. Especially, if he gets to shoot the final boss in the face.

Akechi Goro & Self

He has so many issues you are practically spoiled for choice. Bastard by birth, believes himself to be a reason why his mother died, spent years in foster home system which just enforced his belief that he isn’t worth of love, became a supernatural assassin despite having strong sence of justice. And did I mention having to kill the only person he had formed a legitimate connection with? Yeah, just one of those things would be a great self-hatred fodder, but all those things together mix to create a true picture of self-hatred. You can’t go wrong with it.

There are so many prompts you could potentially use for this in Akechi/Kurusu segment above (just take out the potential shippiness if the pairing is not your thing), I don’t think there’s much point in repeating myself. You are free to AU as much as you want and have fun.

Hate that ends

Sakura Futaba & Self

I loved the chilling exploration of Futaba’s problems in her palace and further revelations we get through Sojiro’s social link. I would love insight into her deteriorating self-worth post her mother’s death and then followed by slow improvements once Sojiro takes her in.

I would love insight into Futaba trying to figure out the truth about her mother’s death, her initial refusal to believe that it is her fault, followed by slow acceptance over the time, as she fails to find any evidence to the contrary.

I asked for Hate that ends, because I would prefer a take that is compliant with the canon story. I know this is pretty constraining, but at the same time it means that you don’t need to concentrate on the improvement factor. As long as the story ends heavily implaying that Phantom Thieves are about to help her with her issues I will be satisfied.

However, if you do dig the hope aspect I will love some quality Sojiro & Futaba family interactions and her slowly acknowledging that maybe she deserves more than a slow death in seclusion and decides to seek help form Phantom Thieves.

Ships

I ship Akira and Goro, and don’t want them shipped with anyone else. I’m okay with including pretty much any other ships, except for the ones between the characters who are still students and adults.

GOLDEN KAMUY

I’m reading manga chapters as they come out, so you are free to incorporate any new developments into the story. I will definitely be caught up.

Hate that exists and continues

Ogata Hyakunosuke/Sugimoto Saichi

If you know this canon I probably don’t even need to explain to you what I want. They hated each other from the very beginning of the story and the world may end, but their hatred would still live on. You don’t have to be too shippy with this, if you don’t want to, I mostly want to just get more off their passionate hatred we get in the canon.

For the prompts, I would love if they had to work together (just the two of them, or maybe with Shiraishi as a suffering third wheel), because someone kidnapped Asiripa and they had to get her back. Or chasing someone who stole the skins from them.

Alternatively, I would love petty matches over Asiripa’s attention when they act perfectly nice to each other, because she is there, but keep competing for her attention to annoy each other.

Also, this canon is ripe for tropes like huddling for warmth, or sharing one blanket, and would definitely encourage the hate-filled take on those. Also time loops with those two nd how much of a disaster it would be.

AUs and ships

I’m all for canon divergences or changed settings. You want Sugimoto and Ogata as coworkers in modern setting? Go for it. I would love any messing up with the story, because there are so many things that could have gone differently here.

I have no strong ship preferences here as long as Asiripa is not shipped with anybody. Also I prefer Sugimoto to have no romantic experience, aside from his canonical one-sided crush, before he started to have feelings about Ogata.

THE RISING OF SHIELD HERO (ANIME & MANGA)

I watched anime and read manga, but have not checked light novels. So please, no spoilers for anything beyond manga.

Hate that starts

L’Arc Berg/Iwatani Naofumi

Naofumi spends a lion share of the plot having terrible trust issues after Myne’s betrayal and you can’t convince me that he isn’t extra salty about L’Arc.

L’Arc is literally the first person Naofumi willinglu opens up to after spending majority of the plot avoiding trusting anyone, so the fact that this person turns out to be his enemy must sting. While L’Arc isn’t a type to keep grudge, Naofumi certainly is. Which is why I just want Naofumi being all bitter about his feelings for L’Arc after the betrayal.

I would love some more adventures of those two before the Wave happens and everything goes to shit. Or maybe they meet after the Wave with Naofumi having been separated from the party and struggling with something, and L’Arc runs into him and helps him out (because he’s not the type of guy to stab someone in the back). Which just prompts Naofumi to be even more bitter, because he wants to really hate L’Arc, but unlike Myne he can’t just label him as completely evil.

Or Naofumi going through all the memories he has of L’arc wanting to find good reasons to hate him more, but just coming with more reasons why he loved him in the first place.

AUs and ships

Setting changes and canon divergences are all fine, as long as you keep the element of betrayal.

I’m okay with Naofumi also having some feelings for Raphtalia for an awkward romantic triangle, as long as his complicated feelings for L’Arc are the focus of the story. Other than that I don’t want either of them shipped with anyone else.

GINTAMA

I have watched anime up to Gintama': Enchousen, so please no spoilers beyond that season.

Hate that starts

Hate that exists and continues

Hijikata Toshirou/Okita Sougo

I loved their vitrolic relationship from the very start and the more we got of their backstory, the more I loved it. I would be okay with the story not being very shippy, as long as I get plenty of their amusing interactions.

I love how well they understand each other, including the reasons why they don’t get along, but somehow it is easier for them to maintain that animosity than to try and repair their twisted relationship.

I always enjoy small tidbits of how terrible they are at working together when it comes to solving anything that isn’t Shinsengumi-threatening emergency. I loved that episode which was just showing Hijikata and Okita attempting to do normal police stuff and utterly failing to have any sort of law-abiding integrity while they were at it.

If you want to go to the backstory and how they already didn’t get along in the dojo I’m also all for it. Any involvement of Mitsuba to add oil to the already bright flames of mutual dislike is welcome. I love how her presence mellows both of them when she’s there, but in the long run it just made their relationship even more of a mess, because they both wanted the best for her in their own way.

For shippier request I would love a date attempt by those two homicidal idiots. There are just so many ways this could go wrong. Or Gintama staple of handcuffed together with Hijikata constantly having to stop the dismemberment attempts.

AUs and ships

I’m open to any sort of setting or canon divergence. Then again, I dare you find a cooler setting than samurai police in alien infested Edo.

I don’t want the two of them shipped for anyone else, except for maybe acknowledging Hijikata’s canonical feelings for Mitsuba (because that just makes Hijikata and Okita’s relationship even more of a trainwreck). For other ships I enjoy Gintoki shipped with either Otae or Tsukuyo, and Kagura and Shinpachi as two characters who are not yet ready for relationship, but would make a nice match once they grow up more.

BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA

I read the manga chapters as they come out, you can assume I’m caught up on all new developments.

Hate that ends

Bakugou Katsuki/Uraraka Ochako

I love how different the two of them are, but at the same time how well they compliment and understand each other. Also, while I love them as a pairing I won’t mind if you write them as friends, as long as you don’t pair them with other characters.

For this exchange I would love a more conflict driven beginning of their friendship. Bakugo says a few words too much about Midoriya? Uraraka tries to talk to Bakugo about how he treats Deku or just about how he acts in general and accidentally pokes his terrible inferiority complex? Or they run into each other before the UA entrance exam and somehow end up having a more bitter relation? All of that is good.

I would love if then they were forced to then acknowledge each others strengths as heroes, but possibly still feeling somehow bitter. Maybe they end up working together when UA is attacked? Or incorporating their duel during the sports festival (which I love, it’s what started this ship for me). Or maybe Uraraka gets kidnapped together with Bakugo during the camp and she ends up revising her opinion of him while they are in captivity together.

For more prompts I would love having them complete some sort of exercise or exam together. I would love to see them pretend to be villains for the sake of exercise and butting heads, because they dislike each other. Or they work together on something for school festival. Like making a perferomance together. Alternatively you can go for a future fic where the two of them take part in an action to stop villains as full-fledged heroes, but they can’t let go of all the hang-ups they have about each other from when they went to school together.

AUs and ships

I would very much encourage any future fics for this pairing. I love seeing characters as fully-fledged heroes. I’m okay with other setting changes, though I would prefer for the competence aspect to still come in play somehow in them (with Bakugo being stupidly talented and hard working, while acknowledging Ochako’s potential). I’m also very okay with canon divergences.

I don’t mind past Midoriya/Ochako if you want to incorporate it into the story, but I’d rather not get any love triangles for this pairing. Either have Ochako’s feelings sizzle out or have them date and break up at some point in the past. When it comes to other pairings I like Midoriya/Todoroki and Eraserhead/Mic, but have no strong feelings on other characters pairings, so you are free to do whatever I guess.

FATE/ZERO

I’m well versed in Fate franchise so if you wish to expand beyond Fate/Zero to include either some parts of Fate/Stay Night or El-Melloi II Case Files I will be very fine with that.

Hate that exists and continues

Kotomine Kirei & Self

Kotomine Kirei and his self-loathing is unironically one of my favourite ships in Fate. I loved Kirei’s internal monologues in the novel, as he slowly inched toward the self-discovery that he is in fact the very thing that he was taught to hate the most.

Give me all the religious guilt. All the nagging thoughts that follow Kirei’s enjoyment of ruining other people’s lives. Kirei already thought of himself as lacking before the events of Fate/Zero and watching his doomed pursuit of finding something meaningful in his life was great.

Kirei was basically doomed to suffering, either by continuing his empty life or by embracing his true self and plunging himself into depth of self-hatred. And I’m all about that freefall, sponsored by the ancient king Babylon. So give me Kirei struggling within the confines of Holy Grail War, trying to find himself, yet suspecting that nothing good will ever come out of it.

AUs and ships

I’m okay with canon divergences, less about setting changes due to how deeply Kirei’s issues steam from his specific situation, but if you can make it work I will be for it. I would be very excited for canon divergences. Maybe Kirei making slightly different choices during the Holy Grail War? Maybe alternate timeline when he decides not to betray Tokiomi, but somehow still ends up on path of evil despite his efforts. Maybe he summoned a different servant, who influences Kirei differently? I’m always surprised by how interesting alternate scenarios people come with for Holy Grail Wars, just give me your take.

For alternate timeline takes, you can make my day by including wreacking Matou’s mansion and/or killing Zouken. Even if it’s just a footnote.

I very much ship Kirei both with his dead wife and Gilgamesh. You are free to incorporate both of those ships.

Hate that exists and continues

Waver Velvet & Self

Another contender for the biggest self-loathing in the franchise. El-Melloi II anime reminded me just how much I enjoyed that aspect of Waver.

I would love an alternate take when Waver and Keyneth actually had a more proper face-off other than their first meeting on the battlefield. I would love if Waver saw Kayneth wheelchair-bound and blamed himself for that.

Or something more canon-compliant exploring Waver’s feeling of uselessness and guilt he has. Either is good. For extra self-loathing you could get the family Waver is staying at caught in the crossfire of one of the fights. Or Waver gets used by some other master to attack another and only belatedly realizes that he was nothing more than a tool used for murder.

Just give me some quality Waver suffering and self-blame whether dislpaced or not.

AUs and ships

Similarly as above, I’m stocked for any canon divergences. Maybe Waver summoning a different servant? Waver making different choices as to how proceed with the war. Maybe making an allience that doesn’t work out for him in a longer run?

For alternate timeline takes, you can make my day by including wreacking Matou’s mansion and/or killing Zouken. Even if it’s just a footnote.

I don’t ship Waver with anyone, so I would prefer no romantic plotlines for him. I find his relationship with Rider interesting and definitely important, but can’t see it as romantic.

#exchange letters

1 note · View note

xathia-89 · 6 years

Text

Raising the next Generation

I lifted a tray of baked goods as small feet were running about impatiently to get to the training rooms. I was still surprised at how much life had changed in general, the majority of the warlords were now married and had their offspring, which meant that any visits to Azuchi were chaos. As the next generation, they were expected to surpass their fathers as I spied a very sheepish looking Hideyoshi who was following in the wake of his two sons, Hidekatsu and Hideyori, and shook my head at him before heading for the kitchens.

Masamune was trying to hide in there, apparently, Tadamune and Hirdemune had developed his battle ability, and were determined to protect Irohahime without failure. Unfortunately, it meant they wouldn’t leave their father alone, and it really didn’t help that Megohime thoroughly encouraged it. The kitchen was his only reprieve as I was greeted with an affectionate head ruffle and an exchange of goods on the tray for the now prepared rolls that Masamune was trying out as I then headed for the main hall where most of the men were gathered.

I was treated with the utmost respect throughout Azuchi, and many of the vassals had placed me aside from their lords as I ensured that sake levels weren’t running low as Ieyasu appeared with Nobuyasu, his eldest son that was the spitting image of the man. Asahi was currently pregnant with their second and had retired to their room early as I made a mental note to check that she was comfortable. Nobunaga was looking bored as he was constantly fawned over, though I piqued his interest as I came to replace his empty sake bottle.

“I’m surprised your husband hasn’t cornered you yet,” he humoured.

“Makes two of us. Where’s Nohime? It’s unusual for her to be hiding,” I frowned. Nohime was like a big sister to me and would smother me in motherly affection whenever she could, and then protect me from the mother hen Hideyoshi whenever I was working through a tough project or workload.

“She’s gone to keep Asahi company since pregnancy and Ieyasu aren’t very compatible,” Oda humoured, gesturing his head towards the irritable blonde with a smirk.

“I have no idea how she puts up with him,” I laughed. “If you see Mitsu then let him know I’m still alive,” I grinned, waving the now empty tray at my boss.

Gracia, our only daughter so far, was running in the corridors as she collided with me, and then clung to me as a koala would to a tree, and had turned on the same doe eyes I would use with her father. “Gracia,” I warned, folding my arms and raising an eyebrow.

“Mitsuyoshi was being mean,” she pouted, as I resigned myself to playing referee between two children.

“You have all of Azuchi castle and our manor, do you have to rile your brother up?” I scolded as the aforementioned son appeared. He was the eldest of the offspring of the next generation of warlords and was apparently taking straight after his father in his snake-like techniques. His network of spies and information was impressive, but I didn’t dare tell him that. His pride needed knocking down on occasions and Mitsuhide would spend long enough away that it was usually down to me.

“She was eavesdropping,” he whined, as I was starting to regret finding my children and rubbed my forehead with my fingers.

“Look, you have everyone else here, Gracia, I’m sure Irohahime would love to play dolls with you, and I heard Tatsuhime is here as well,” I said, pushing Gracia in the opposite direction and waiting for her to clear the scene before turning expectantly to my eldest. “Stop playing innocent. I know exactly what you are doing, why are you covering for your father and where is he?” I demanded, glaring at the boy.

“I bribed him far too easily,” Mitsuhide slipped his arms around my waist from behind and kissing my cheek in greeting. “I was just curious to how long until he’d be able to give himself away to you. I should really remind myself that mothers that are also chatelaines tend to know everything,” he humoured.

“Nobunaga was finding it strange that you’d be letting me move so freely after last week’s surprise,” I commented before turning back to Mitsuyoshi. “Stop baiting your sister. Or I’ll tell Masamune you want to learn cooking from him.”

The boy scrambled at the thought, and my husband was struggling to hold his laughter in. “Well, I’ve been busy making sure you’ll be well relaxed as things start changing,” he smiled as I was spun around to face him.

“I’m still surprised this is only our third,” I admitted, our lips hovering over each others as though to tempt the other to bite.

“It’s like Ieyasu and Asahi are only just having another, though I heard a rumour Nene is pregnant again,” Mitsuhide shrugged, and then looked annoyed when I pulled out of the game.

“I have things to be sorting, go and talk to Nobunaga,” I laughed, resuming my route to the kitchen as I heard Masamune shouting about things being done.

A few weeks later, Ieyasu and Asahi had returned to Mikawa, Nobuyasu was staying behind to train with Oda’s troops, whereas Masamune had sent Megohime back to Oshu and channelled the children’s love for fighting into training with the troops as well. I wasn’t use to the castle being so full of vassals, and everything was tiring me out. I decided to head back to my room in the castle, I had made Nobunaga keep it as is for me for those long trips where Mitsuhide wasn’t nearby, and then with each pregnancy, it also gave me a small hiding spot as I went to find Gracia for a nap.

Mitsuhide and Mitsuyoshi were both frowning as they approached Azuchi castle. There was a buzz in the air, something was amiss, especially when as soon as they were spotted, they were immediately summoned to go and see Nobunaga.

“Gracia and Natsuki are both missing,” Oda confirmed, a deep frown on his face. “If you’ve upset anyone recently then now would be a good time to let me know.”

Akechi was surprisingly straightforward and shook his head, before turning to look at his son, who wasn’t looking quite so certain.

Gracia was clinging to me tightly, we were tightly bundled in some cloth and were on the back of a cart. A small tear in the fabric allowed for some fresh air to come in after I’d forced it to rip, but otherwise all I could confirm is that it was nighttime. Our captors were strangely silent, suggesting that all of their communication was being done visually as I tried to calm my little girl. Getting both of us worked up in this situation wouldn’t help, as the chatelaine of Azuchi then it wouldn’t take long for me to be found missing.

“Let me get this straight,” Nobunaga was rubbing his eyes in disbelief, whilst the entire hall was hanging onto the conversation. “You were expanding into Kenshin Uesugi’s territory, and IGNORED his warnings?”

Mitsuyoshi merely nodded. He’d never seen his adoptive uncle so fuming, and he was almost certain that his father was about to blow the cool exterior over the consequences.

“You do not realise how lucky you are in this situation,” Nobunaga gravely warned him. “Your mother has friends on the opposing sides, they are rather fond of her. But this will be your only warning from them.”

I was surprised to see Sasuke with a wry smile once we arrived. I immediately relaxed as Gracia beamed to see the ninja, and leapt at him for a hug. “Okay, Kenshin ordered for us to be kidnapped?” I suggested as Sasuke helped me off the cart, Gracia happy to have her ninja hugs and stay attached to the man as Uesugi, Takeda and Sanada all appeared at the entrance.

“Do you know Mitsuyoshi?” Kenshin calmly asked, bending over to give Gracia a flower that had just been picked and put it behind her ear.

“Let me think, do I know my own son?” I returned, “Okay, I’m pregnant, can I have a futon and some food and maybe even a bath and we all go through things tomorrow?” I suggested with a sigh.

Shingen chuckled and let me know where to go for a bath and organised for all the changes of clothes.

Yukimura’s daughters were thrilled to have a new playmate as Chikurin-in appeared with their newest baby, and I cooed over the little boy, Daisuke. Kiku and Ichi quickly disappeared with Gracia, as I marvelled at how different my two children were. Mitsuyoshi was the replica of his father, whilst Gracia was quickly taking after me in making friends all over. Shingen had recently married Goryanin, a rather stubborn young woman I had come to understand from the letters I exchanged with Sasuke, and I was looking expectantly at the warlord, who then pouted.

“If I’m staying here until my son arrives to apologise, then I’m meeting the woman who tamed you into marriage,” I laughed. Kenshin purposely stayed out of the idea of marriage and children, though Gracia was definitely the exception to the child rule. Sasuke was then blushing furiously at my comment. “Seriously? You got married and never told me?” I was gawping at the ninja, as a slight young woman ‘attacked’ him from behind and jumped onto his back.

“Oh, you must be Natsuki!” She gushed, beaming brightly and forcing Sasuke to move forward so we could greet each other properly. “He mentioned that you were coming for a visit!”

“It’s a pleasure, unfortunately, he never told me he was getting married or even considering it,” I laughed.

“My name’s Kikuhime,” she hopped right off the ninja. She was full of energy and wore every emotion on her face. “I was hoping we could spend time together sewing,” she batted her eyelashes at me and paired with doe eyes.

“If you don’t teach my daughter that move will work on me, I’ll do anything,” I joked. “But yes on the sewing. Even with all of the Oda warlords bearing down on him, it will take Mitsuyoshi time to be prepared to come and apologise.”

Kasugayama and Echigo were always a second home to me. The place made my husband on edge, the warlords were friendly with me, but not him, and I never pressed that line. My daughter appeared to be quickly following in my footsteps, and then I heard the strangest of rumours that Kenshin had adopted a boy a little older than Gracia, as I went to pester Kikuhime for any kind of confirmation.

It was almost exciting as we both peered around the corner, and spotted the pair of them acting awkwardly adorable in their first meeting. Kagekatsu had just picked the same sort of flower that Kenshin had put behind her ear on our first night, and I swore I saw the slightest of blushes on my daughter’s face, and then Uesugi coughed loudly enough to attract the two children’s attention, as we grumped at him.

“I was enjoying watching that, I thought you didn’t want children,” I pouted, folding my arms across my torso.

“Kagekatsu was abandoned nearby a few years ago, and he shows considerable talent so I’m merely showing him the way,” Kenshin was aloof, but I caught the blush on the tip of his ears, I was one of the few who could and would call him out on his contradictions, I was certainly treasured on both sides of the forces.

Everything seemed to be running normally as Goryanin would frequently join me and Kikuhime in the sewing and tea circle we’d inadvertently created, and Chikurin-in would join whenever the baby would let her. It reminded me of home, where I would forever be running into Megohime, Asahi, Nohime and Nene, and we would always be having mini-meetings much to our husbands’ annoyance as my modern way of asserting myself spread like wildfire. I was almost beginning to think I wouldn’t be going back to Azuchi until after our child had arrived when a distinct noise alerted the guards to the towers.

Mitsuhide had an instant change of expression as I appeared on a balcony overlooking the gates, and Mitsuyoshi was next to him with a very sulky look. Nobunaga was also present, and if looks could kill then I wouldn’t have a son that was certain. My whole life had been turned around with the wormhole, then shortly before the chance to return to the present had arrived, I was strongly suspecting I was already pregnant and decided to take the chance to stay here. Now the two reasons I wasn’t 500 years in the future were both in front of the barred gates, as Kenshin leisurely approached. He had sent a messenger dictating where the talks would take place, just outside of Echigo the following day.

“No you can’t,” he stated before I could even open my mouth. “Letting you go and see Mitsuhide defeats the object, I let you two see each other.”

“I hate that you can read my mind at times,” I grumbled, but accepted his point. This was all a technical negotiation, and just handing me back over without talking would negate the whole point of teaching my son a lesson.

“The offer to stay here is still open,” Uesugi’s approach was soft and unexpected, as he kissed the back of my hand. I realised why he wasn’t married, as his eyes were desperately searching mine whilst I shook my head.

“I don’t want to give you false hope,” I smiled sadly. “I know I am always welcome here, and I know I am safe. Should anything change, you will be the first to know. But I am going back to Azuchi if I have to leave my son tied up for your troops to deal with.”

Shingen assisted me the following day to the negotiation tent, whilst Yukimura held back and kept Gracia entertained with Kagekatsu as ‘personal guard’. I knew Mitsuhide was going to baulk at that idea, but time would tell how things went. Kenshin was already glaring at Mitsuhide who wouldn’t let me sit anywhere but next to him, and was trying to hide his excitement at my growing bump. Mitsuyoshi was the focus of the tent, and he was already facing various punishments once we got back to Azuchi.

“Stop trying to get Sasuke to join you,” Uesugi opened sharply, leaning forward with his sheathed sword openly in his lap.

“You were going after Sasuke?” I interrupted, my anger showing as Kenshin sat back with a slightly smug look on his face, this had all been planned, but my fury at my son outweighed any I had for the heterochromia. “I told you that he may be an adopted uncle to Gracia, but you promised you would never twist my relationships with the enemy to your advantage,” I snapped. “My relationships have been built up over your lifetime, and they are the only reason right now me and your sister are still alive. Anyone else would have us killed in an instant for your insolence. You were caught trying to recruit from the enemy, you are an idiot for doing that!” I raged, standing up and yelling straight in his face as Mitsuhide even paled a little at the sight. “Now, the right thing to do is actually hand you over to Kenshin for punishment, but I think everyone right now is just enjoying watching you be put back where you need to be. If you are trying to recruit from the enemy, then you don’t get caught!” I lectured. “I daren’t actually imagine what it was like when your uncles found out I was kidnapped along with Gracia, but that was knowing I was safe as well. What if I wasn’t? Do you think everyone would just let life go on?”

Mitsuyoshi was sufficiently leant back as my husband brought me back to ground, and made me sit back down. All of the men looked at the boy, a serious look on their faces as my words sunk in. I sighed angrily.

“When you all were my age, you had your own territories and armies,” Mitsuyoshi sulked. “I just wanted to live up to it.”

“We built our armies up ourselves, and we didn’t poach from the enemy, we trained them ourselves,” Nobunaga calmly spoke up.

“If that’s what you want to do, then go out and find a place to get training and recruit your own soldiers, don’t go after the God of War,” I pointed out, trying to fight everything I had been brought up with as I was reminding myself this was an entirely different time period.

“I’m sorry,” he finally uttered to Kenshin and stunned the whole tent into silence.

“Fine, I return one Lady Natsuki, chatelaine of Azuchi, and one Lady Gracia, on one condition,” Uesugi calmly added, locking eyes with me. “Lady Gracia and Kagekatsu are to be betrothed.”

“And you told me off for ‘interfering’,” I side-eyed up the rather smug looking God of War, before turning to my husband. “It’s seriously cute when they’re together,” I smiled. “I’d accept the terms with the understanding that they will keep meeting and staying with each other as they grow up,” I suggested to my husband, who was struggling to keep his lid on at the thought of his daughter marrying anyone.

Nobunaga was smirking. He came along solely for the entertainment value it seemed, knowing that I was a wildcard to play at any point and could even upset the coolest head in his armies. Mitsuhide finally agreed once he had spied the two of them, though he kept the sulky look once all agreements had been made and glared at Kagekatsu as Gracia was escorted down the field to us.

“Relax, he’s a good kid,” I murmured, wrapping my arms around my husband’s waist from behind, as the baby kicked us both firmly. “Besides, you can test his worth on the next visit,” I reminded him as we all went to return home.

#ikesen #ikemen sengoku #Ikémen Sengoku #Mitsuhide Akechi

42 notes · View notes

shuttershocky · 6 years

Note

do you have more ideas for makoto as the protag of p5? :eyes:

You shouldn’t have asked that anon. You’ve opened the floodgates.Do I have more ideas for Makoto as the protag of P5? Hell yeah I do.

Some spoilers for Persona 5 below!

The challenge with having Makoto for the protagonist is that it’s harder to recreate the absolutely stellar introduction that Persona 5 did with Kamoshida’s palace and Morgana as Joker’s guide to the supernatural. But here’s what I’ve come up with. So I think a Persona 5 with Makoto as the protag would start with Makoto discovering the Metaverse the way Joker and Ryuji did, through Kamoshida’s palace. But instead of awakening, she hides from the guards and Kamoshida’s Shadow and doesn’t get caught before managing to flee home. She wonders if she’s finally gone mad after endless work from both the faculty dumping their workload on her to calming down the students of Shujin panicking that a supposed criminal transfer student was soon going to be their schoolmate, but a wound she sustained during her escape convinces her what she saw was real.Sae, hearing that her sister just played hooky, brings home work that night so she could keep up on her load while scolding her younger sister. She’s furious at Makoto’s bullshit story about a castle filled with these strange monsters, before taking it down a notch and concluding Makoto’s simply breaking under the stress and scolds her about needing to be tougher than that to make it in the real world. But bringing home work also means bringing home her assistant to help her work out her cases, an assistant who is most intrigued by what he hears...Enter our guide, Goro Akechi.The two are not on friendly terms, with Makoto seeing him as her rival for Sae’s attention, but after Sae’s done belittling her, Akechi’s takes her aside and believes her story. He asks her if she would like to know more, because if she managed to step into the Metaverse on her own, it would mean she has the potential.Understanding literally nothing about what he just said, Makoto reluctantly agrees then heads off to bed exhausted, and we have her first visit to the Velvet Room.The next day Akechi meets her at the front of Shujin and shows her the Meta-Nav, asking her for the name of the person that ran the place and if what she saw really was a castle. With Kamoshida’s name and castle stated to the Nav, the Metaverse opens up to them... and Akechi fires his gun into the air and flees.Makoto is quickly caught by the guards and imprisoned, before being met with Kamoshida’s shadow. He’s not interested in her like he is with Ann, but he does take the time to mock her as the faculty’s incompetent slave before she’s executed. All the suppressed anger and indignity comes out at once, fueling her awakening and summoning Johanna. She gets busy ripping the shadows in two, and gets so drunk on the violence she barely hears Kamoshida muttering “Not again...” as he flees.It’s then that Akechi reappears, and after recovering from getting his deserved punch to the face, he explains that it would have been useless to show her around until she has had her awakening. He then navigates the castle with her, teaching her about shadows and combat, before watching her claim her first new mask from a shadow and being genuinely shocked.The two don’t have much time to process what just happened however, as the sounds of a fight ring out from the distance. Makoto and Akechi head to the opposite wing, and find two boys and a cat-like thing in the middle of a brawl in the lower floors. The boy with messy black hair and a black trenchcoat wields a knife and a gun with deadly ease, ripping through a hallway of guards like a whirlwind.The two continue to watch from their hidden position as the cat-monster explains to the two boys about what a cognitive being is and how the classmates they just saw weren’t real, before they head deeper into the castle.“Oh dear.” Akechi exclaims. “This has gotten quite interesting.”_______________________________________________Other things I would love in a Makoto-led P5 and general thoughts:- Haru would be the third character to join after Akechi and Makoto, introducing her far earlier than in the original game. She would have approached Makoto in the student council room, complaining about headaches and short visions of the school as a castle. Makoto is concerned and ropes her in, although she will not get her full awakening until she confronts her father specifically. Instead, her surprisingly strong sense of justice and her thirst for rebellion inspire a partial awakening in her, allowing her to fight and use Milady’s weaker abilities.- Instead of immediately skipping to after school, there would be two extra time slots, lunch time and late night, available for Makoto. However, she will also receive work from the faculty and the student council that she MUST complete weekly or suffer a heavy penalty. Since a lot of this work can only be done in the school library, this is where she meets the supposedly dangerous transfer student: an unassuming underclassman with glasses and a mild-mannered attitude, the only person in the school unafraid to share a table with her.- It’s still a (hypothetical) Persona game so obviously you can’t force a Shumako pairing, but just like with the actual game the two would still end up close friends, closer than her other bonds. This is necessary to give impact to both the twist of him turning out to be the Phantom Thief she keeps chasing through the palaces (this happens earlier on, but then we get a sizable period of “does he know that I know” stress when they study together), and the second twist that he’s only been helping people and would like her to join him.- A Makoto-led P5 would give a bigger emphasis to her repressed rage issues. See, Ryuji’s temper is nothing. The guy has no self control and flares up with righteous anger at everything, but he’s never gotten physical and he’s never truly gone berserk. Makoto however, is different. She’s bottled up and when she blows she gets very violent. I didn’t like that P5 never explored that again after her awakening and kept her dangerous temper to battle quotes and some idle Mementos dialogue with a terrified Ryuji. If Makoto is the protagonist, we would definitely see more of it. It would explore how that anger helped her by awakening her powers, and how dangerous it would be for her to keep indulging in it, to the point where she goes full berserker even. I think a few scenes of her going way too far and having to be physically restrained by her teammates, her brass knuckles running red all the while, would be great for that.

- Futaba’s palace would serve as the turning point of the story. Makoto would see that Joker’s quite serious about only helping people, and she begins to really doubt if he’s the man in black who has been causing all the mental shutdowns. She reluctantly helps him out in curing Futaba behind Akechi’s back and discovers how Futaba’s mother was assassinated for researching the Metaverse, deepening her doubts about everything she knows. - Akechi’s more prominent role in the story means we learn more about him and his back story earlier as opposed to getting infodumped. Since he’ll be Mako’s first teammate, the player will have a much longer time to get used to him too. - Akechi and Makoto’s relationship will improve somewhat and she does eventually trust him, but I don’t think they should ever truly see eye to eye. Makoto is simply too bitter about Akechi getting more time with Sae than she does, and she’s willing to go behind his back if she thinks its the right call. Meanwhile, Akechi and Joker’s relationship develops like it does in the original game, down to their meeting in the TV station.

- For the first few palaces, Makoto’s group ends up fighting the boss who stops them from chasing the Thieves while Joker uses them as distractions and steals the treasure. The two groups continue and develop this cat and mouse dynamic until Futaba’s palace. - I really want Joker to actually earn his name of ‘Trickster’. He’s sly, cunning, and ridiculously fast on his feet and his wits. He should get really close to getting caught in the first three palaces and squirm out each time. - I am aware that this story format somewhat messes with the pacing of introducing one new party member per palace, since Joker still has his own Phantom Thieves with Ryuji, Morgana, and Ann and combining the two groups would pull a Persona 3 on the player. I’m not quite sure how to fix this.- This also removes the narrative device of having most of the game be told by Joker to Sae in the interrogation room. I’m.... actually ok with this. I know this might make some people mad though. It will obviously still keep Joker being interrogated by Sae since it’s such a huge part of the story. Now though, since he’s no longer the protag Sae won’t interrupt the game every few moments to ask how the grandma Joker said hi to aided the Phantom Thieves.- The Casino would be one big OOF moment.- Joker’s social link gets ranked up automatically for the first few ranks (like Futaba’s Hermit 1 in the game), but the rest of it is up to the player. His social link would be around how caged up he feels from his unfair sentencing (which he reveals to you in private in the higher ranks), and his bad reputation in school making it harder than it should be for him to adjust. You help him accept that while what happened was unjust, he does actually have friends he can count on now, and the social link ends with Makoto vowing to help him find justice and nabbing the guy who sued him on false charges. Also he asks you if you would like to come by for coffee more often at Rank 8 or 9 to start his romance. - TL;DR = I want Haru and Akechi to get way more screentime and development than they did in P5, while also further exploring Makoto’s violent temper that we only get hints of in P5. I also feel that putting Makoto as the protagonist further helps segue into Yaldabaoth’s explanation that his game was pitting two wildcards against each other. It didn’t make that much sense to me in the original because the battle of wits ended up being between Akechi and Makoto (it was her plan after all) rather than between him and Joker (who, to his credit, could have totally died going along with this plan).

#Persona 5 #Makoto Niijima #Protag Makoto AU #Anonymous

53 notes · View notes

vitalpen · 7 years

Text

A criticism of Persona 5

So I’m gonna preface this diatribe with three disclaimers:

First off is going to be the SPOILER WARNING. This post spoils the game all over the place as it needs to given the nature of the discussion. That’s why the read more is there.

Second, this post is long. Coming in at a lover 2000 words. So if you ready this, get ready for an essay.

Third: I love Persona 5. I played through it twice, did every social link, filled out the compendium, and beat the secret boss. It is a fantastic game with a fantastic story, loveable characters, beautiful art, and menus stylish enough to have their own fashion show.

That being said, there are things that it does with each character that I can’t help but sigh at in frustration. There are a few running themes for all of these that I’ll expand on at the end.

A lot of the issues come down to how a character is treated after their “important thing” is resolved. I’m gonna run down them in order of people entering your party.

Starting off, there’s Mona. Leaving behind how happy I am that he was not just another Teddy, there are points with Mona that make him out to be such a whiny little brat. Mainly, the section where he leaves the party because he thinks they’re getting too greedy. Rather than try to get them back on track, he drops them after one bad conversation with mostly just Ryuji (the rest of the party is pretty unclear on where they stand), thus leaving them with no supervision when they seem to need it the most. There’s also the whole constant insulting of Ryuji to the point where it’s eyeroll-inducing and the fact that backstory wise, he does end up being part way to a rehash of Teddy.

Actually, speaking of Mona insulting Ryuji, man that guy never gets a break. Despite the fact that he has a compelling backstory and motivation, after the first palace, he starts to lean pretty heavily toward the “punching bag” type of joke character. He’s the one that everyone (especially Mona) calls an idiot, he’s the butt of nearly all the slapstick, and he’s the one that gets harassed by the gay stereotypes with some really uncomfortable cutting to black (and that one’s an large issue all on its own). At the point Mona leaves (with poor justification) Ryuji, understandably, doesn’t want him back and is treated like the bad guy for it. Even when you aretrying to get him back, suddenly Ryuji is uncharacterisitically cold toward him. Even near the end of the game, when Ryuji does something incredibly brave and selfless, seeming to sacrifice his life, the game completely undermines it by having the girls beat the ever loving shit out of him when he makes the mistake of... surviving, I guess.

Now, Ann, aside from the way they pronounce her name. She is a straight up different character in her Social Link than she is in the main story (which is actually connected to another problem that we’ll get into later). In the story she is typically caring, usually level-headed, if easily annoyed, and loves sweets, whereas her Social Link turns her into little more than a ditzy blond with a penchant for competition that we don’t see anywhere in the main story. It creates this disconnectio between the two stories that’s really hard to reconcile.

Yusuke is window dressing. He does nothing substantial for the main plot after the second palace is done. The majority of his unique contributions could be summed up with deadpan, straight-faced joke moments (that are legitimately amazing every time they show up), dialogue that any of the characters could have said, and saying “yeah, that’s right” in the “every party member gets to say something” moments.

Makoto’s issue involves another theme that we’ll expand on later. Her relationship with her sister is incredibly unhealthy and never realistically addressed. It gets to point where she’s actually afraid of her. It isn’t helped when the rest of the party guilt trips her into installing a virus on her sister’s computer (one of the few moments that I think is legitimately bad in this game). How is this resolved? Once you do the palace it’s all just gone, despite you not stealing Sae’s treasure. No counseling, no baggage, no promises to do better, not believable progression, nothing. That’s not how that works.

Futaba has a similar issue. After her palace, she is just magically cured of her crippling social anxiety, as far as the main plot is concerned at least. She hangs out in front of LeBlanc, plain as day, totally fine, never having any issue in the main plot with other people ever again. No therapy, not even the slightest relapse or difficulty, no believable progression, nothing. I repeat: that’s not how that works.

Haru... poor, poor, Haru. She gets nothing when she should have had so much. She’s introduced at about 3/4 of the way through the story, doesn’t get a proper awakening to her persona and reveal of her thief outfit, never gets a moment of catharsis for her father and arranged fiance treating her like an object in the real world, nor any catharsis about dealing with the emotional trauma of her losing her father in a way that is as crushing as it could ever be, and eventually just ends up kinda telling the one who killed him that it’s no big deal. Everything about her just gets buried until you’re left with a Persona Q character, which is a game that has a serious problem with reducing complex, multifaceted characters to one-note personalities.

And then there’s Goro “I have daddy issues disguised as an interesting take on personal justice” Akechi. A character that was waaaaaaaaaaay better before the heelturn. The switch from morally aligned but methodologically opposed antagonist to mustache-twiddling, muhahahing, train-track-damsel-tying villain sucked all the depth out of him. They had a three-dimensional character that portrayed an interesting foil in both personal beliefs and public opinion of the party. And by the end, all of that was stripped away because you have to have a bretrayal in a Persona game, and he gets with nothing resembling a satisfying sendoff. The fact that he has essentially disappeared from the real world is never even addressed (this is yet a third thing that we’ll get into shortly).

All of these issues culminate in three specific themes.

The first is that the Social Links feel very disconnected from the plot. P3 escaped this because the party member Social Links were specifically tied to events in the main story and sometimes couldn’t be progressed through until certain events occurred. P4 didn’t have this problem because the Social Links all resulted from the personal issues that came up in their dungeons with their shadows, so there is connective tissue to the events.

But the Social Links in P5 feel so distant. Ann’s modeling stuff, Ryuji’s track team, Yusuke’s painting, Makoto’s friend, and Haru’s arranged marriage and coffee stuff, all have nothing or very little to do with the story. The only one who didn’t quite have this issue, is Futaba, who got the P4 treatment, complete with confronting and accepting her shadow to gain her persona. But even that deals more with her social anxiety than her acceptance that her mother’s death wasn’t her fault but actually an assassination. Because the Social Links, which are literally “character development as a game mechanic”, are separated from the story, it gives the feeling that they’re inconsequential. We never see the fruits of the character’s labor as they try to better themselves. As far the main story is concerned, they may as well have not happened. This is especially salient if you do the Moon social link, wherein you have to teach Mishima not to let the power go to his head, only to later have your party let the power go to their heads (or Ryuji at least, like I said earlier, it’s not super clear where everyone stands during that part of the game).

The second issue is that, for a series whose core themes are based off Jungian psychology (personas and shadows), it’s really bad at handling psychological stuff. They want to have the drama of things like:

“a character who has social anxiety and intrusive thoughts of guilt about her mother’s death that have haunted her for years”

“one of your party members has an older sister who’s her legal guardian, but is neglectful of her duties in that role and verbally abusive of that party member, thus creating a dependent relationship that revolves around trying (and failing) to gain her sister’s approval”

“After thinking that she may have helped turn her father into a better person who might love her as a daughter rather than an asset, in mid-celebration, a girl sees her father die on live TV and she may have been the cause of it”

But they aren’t prepared for the fallout that comes with those kind of elements. Social anxiety severe enough to keep you in your room is typically going to take more than just support from friends to rehabilitate from. Sae’s abusive tendencies toward her sister are explained by her palace, but they are not excused by it. The palace’s are physical manifestations of the point where someone can justify anything to themselves, not a mind control device. Nothing about Sae’s resentment toward her sister (that is doing everything she can not to be a burden) is given any kind of proper follow up. It needed more addressing than the NOTHING it was given. And don’t get me started on the rush job that was Haru.

Her father is killed in gruesome fashion, eyes literally rolling back into his head and leaking blood, after she thought she had saved him from his own cruelty, and for a period of weeks, it seems a lot like it’s her fault. She is left orphaned, and being pulled every which way by members of her father’s company in the void of power that’s left behind, once again turned back into an asset just after she thought she had escaped that. This should have been the mother of all gut punches. This should have been something that took her out of the game reminiscent of Shinji from P3. This should have given her a hate boner for Akechi twice the size of Aegis’s for Ryoji. This ruined her life just at the precipice of it getting better. In one fell swoop, victory was ripped from her and replaced with bitter defeat and loss. There was so much set up for her to have a character arc. But we never see her react to it. No crying, no depression, just back to her sweet, gardening self. To top it all off, like a month later, she forgives the person who killed him and betrayed your party in a passing comment during one of those “every party member gets to say something” moments. This is the pinnacle of emotional blue balls.

(Edit: @lightybulb brought it to my attention that Haru doesn’t actually forgive Akechi. She, in fact, specifically says that she can never forgive him. While it’s swept under the rug, I totally misremembered on that one. My bad.)

Pretty much all of this fits into the third main issue that Persona 5′s narrative has. It has a bad habit of not sticking the landing or following up afterward. Which sucks for stuff like Akechi, where he was built up the entire game, and personal traumas like Haru, Futaba, or Makoto. It sucks when it takes away a lot of the character’s depth like it did with Yusuke. It sucks when the villain backstory and plan is literally just told to you in an exposition the likes of which I haven’t seen in years.

This is not to say it never sticks the landing, as it very often does (more so in the first half of the game in my opinion), but there are a lot of key points where plot threads just kinda peter off into nothing or are wrapped up way too conveniently with a little bow on top.

There are ways to fix these issues.

You wanna connect the Social Links to the main plot? Lock ranks of party member Social Links behind story events. This intrinsically ties the personal growth to the main plot and lets them talk about story events. Events from the story can be used to kick of a conversation that moves it to the next level or draws a parallel to the personal situation they’re dealing with.

You wanna have satisfying and believable treatment of psychological issues? Understand that they are not just something you deal with in a few days or weeks. Understand that “the power of friendship” (Copyright Anime 1962, please support the official release) is not a substitute for counseling or medication. Understand that the road to recovery is long, arduous, and sometimes loops back on itself. It’s anything but a straight line.

There is no set remedy for sticking the landing and following up other than a pretty general good writing tip: don’t leave plot threads hanging and don’t introduce plot threads you don’t have adequate room to include.

Now as previously stated, I love Persona 5 and nothing I’ve said here takes away from that fact. But I also want to see the things I love do even better for themselves. That’s kinda the point of this post.

That’s pretty much all I got for this. If you agree or disagree, feel free to add your own arguments to this, I’m always down for a conversation. Cheers.

#random thoughts #persona 5 #persona 5 spoilers #criticism #discussion #persona 3 spoilers #persona 4 spoilers

131 notes · View notes

apostasypromessa · 3 years

Text

Name: Jiro Henningquald Alias: Goro Akechi, The False Prince Detective Race: Human Affiliations: Supernatural Investigation Department (S.I.D.) Tutuoh’s Fourth Empire Relationships: Tenka Hennigquald (Father) Unknown mother Akira Kurusu (Boss) Yuta Gamon (Cousin)

**Note: He isn’t the real deal sis! or maybe

Jiro is the body double of Goro Akechi, hired by one of the Shimotsuki twins (Dia) to cover up what really happened to the real Goro Akechi.

Although he isn’t Goro, he is directly related to him by blood, possibly being cousins.

When Akira first meets him, he taunts him by saying “Why did you betrayed me? I thought we had a special bond.”, to which Akira instantly causes to hate him. However, as the two spent time together, Akira’s feelings towards him changed and soon they became good friends.

Both being in the same high school during Akira’s third year (Shigeaki High School) and under Minato Arisato’s class, often caused trouble for their young teacher. Jiro is also the one who got Akira and his group of persona users into the blog about the super natural, which was ran by his late cousin, Yuta Gamon, and later on by himself.

Jiro eventually opens up to Akira about how he felt like he started losing his true self after becoming Goro’s body double, making him feel like he was emerging into the character he was forcing to play off, becoming less and less Jiro and more Goro as time went by. When Akira asks why he doesn’t just quit, Jiro tells him that he made a deal with Dia who told him he could help him find his father.

Goro’s father, Tenka, was an exorcist who worked along side with the supernatural investigation department in south Korea. He was half German and half Japanese, however after turning thirteen years old, he moved to Germany with his father and lived there for a few years before returning to Japan and then living in south korea for another few years and finally once again returning to Japan, where he had Jiro and raised him alone till Jiro was twelve years old.

According to Jiro, his father was very handsome, incredibly cringy and often made references to anime or memes. He also says he was very smart, mastering four languages but was also very violent when coming to the supernatural and incredibly rude for ancient traditions. However, he says that in overall, he was a very kind and loving father.

Before he disappeared, Jiro says that he was acting extremely overprotecting and often was wary of his surroundings. Jiro says that before Tenka left him, he gave him his precious sword and told him to hold on to it whenever he was feeling lonely, that it would protect him in his steed till he was able to return home.

Jiro learned that his father would never return when he received a call from S.I.D. telling him that his father was involved in an accident but that sadly they couldn’t find a body. This caused Jiro great grief which turned into an obsession with the idea that his father could still possibly be alive due to how they never found his body.

Extra Goodies

While living as Goro, Jiro came to respect him and often felt sympathy for him. The lost of their family members was what was able to help him connect with him.

He enjoys bugging Akira during his free time by clinging on him or calling him names.

He has been mistaken as Goro by Philemon.

He has a persona named Shirnaui and his arcana is the Justice arcana.

He slowly stopped making appearances in shows till the real Goro returned.

Although he often has his hair down, he prefers to wear it on a ponytail.

Aside from his appearance, his intelligence is what also lead Dia to hire him.

He actually is a real detective but often his findings are taken credit by the police.

He works with the fourth empire’s intelligence department to help out Akira.

According to his father, his mother died because of an evil spirit who consumed her thoughts.

Big spoils:

During a mission, it is revealed that Jiro is infact the real Goro and that the real Jiro had never existed to start with.

Before the death of Goro’s mother, he was living happily with her and with his new step-father, Tenka. However, after the death of his mother, he was to move to Seoul with Tenka but they were both involved in a large accident where Goro was severely hurt and hospitalized. His memories of Tenka become hazy and he is lead to believe many lies through some evil person, making him only crave revenge for his mother and take down Shido.

Even after finding out the truth, Goro still wishes to find Tenka whom is still missing and found no records of what happened to him after the accident.

#The Lying Golden Crow;#important;#Muse Stuff;

1 note · View note

nonsensical-rants · 7 years

Text

Thoughts on Persona 5

The persona series is one of the biggest influences to me and who I am within recent memory. I’ve played every game and anticipate the idea of exploring every nook and cranny the game has to offer, across hundreds of hours. Both three and four were games that I cherish and the same can be said with five. But just like with any game I've played there are some gripes that get to me whenever i think about them for too long. This is my personal opinion but i do like hearing different viewpoints since it will always add insight to a discussion. I am prone to rambling and sometimes getting of topic but i shall do my best. Spoilers ahead for anyone who has yet to beat/see the game in its entirety.

During the “anticipation” for the games release, I didn’t really look up a lot about the game because i wanted everything to be a surprise. Aside from some trailers that hooked me in with an amazing story about Phantom Thieves who steal peoples hearts and jump out of Casinos, everything would be a surprise for me. So when i started up the game and reached Kamoshida’s Palace. I was having a grand time with all the mechanics, the music, and the different characters that were being presented too me. Personally, Morgana is one hell of a upgrade in comparison to Teddy. Both as a character, and as a mascot.

During the game play, I was always looking forward to what would come next and how it would be done. Hanging out with Ryuji and seeing Mishima change as a person were some early game highlights. Of course i went through the dungeon as fast as possible because i wanted to know the characters as much as possible. Ryuji filled a good role as a partner and as comic relief, but I felt towards the later end of the game he could’ve had another spark to get him excited (other than being pissed at corrupt adults). And no. The confrontation between Morgana and Ryuji does not count. I felt like that could have been so much better of a scene, but it was executed poorly with Morgana basically getting away for his constant belittling of “Skull”. Everyone just laughs it off, except for me because its actually just unwarranted and unnecessary rivalry between characters who just started off on the wrong foot. Morgana is a know it-all and Ryuji may need a second explanation sometimes but he has more heart that anyone in the gang.

But, i’m getting ahead of myself. The original four were interesting characters who had good traits to bounce off one another whether it be through bickering or bonding. And as the story progressed, i really found myself hating Kamoshida because of how much of an asshole he truly was behind his public mask (haha). Shiho’s involvement only strengthened that belief. As sudden as her introduction was, it still meant something to me. So taking him down, and seeing him crying while confessing everything was great satisfaction.

But this is where something started occurring to me that would constantly present itself to me throughout the course of the game and it was bothersome. Climbing up the confidant ranks of Ann, and later Makoto made me ask a question to myself over and over again. Why am i not learning more about THESE characters, but instead about Chiho and some random girl from Makoto’s class. I understand that they are being used as catalysts to show traits and ideas about their personality, but i would rather observe those traits for myself while also learning more about them. I found myself to be learning more about these characters during story cut scenes (in-game or otherwise) then i did in the confidants. And that’s a problem in my eyes.

It almost felt like they were flattening themselves like Persona Q did for the casts’ of three and four. Ann is a female model who loves sweets, cares deeply/respects herself and her friends, and can stand up for others but not so much for herself. I could’ve learned this through different scenes in the game like with different encounters of Kamoshida, the Shido cruise, and just how she carries herself. And Makoto is a whole other basket case with how shes supposed to be this “badass” who only reveals herself when she is pushed too far but she is also motherly and wants to protect what is right in her eyes. Those are the only defining traits i can think of when i think of Makoto and they are mostly shown in her Awakening scene. Maybe also when she defies her sister to download the case files and slaps her friend. Other than that, she felt very robotic to me, wanting to help this nameless individual.

We could of had a scene where Sae is worrying about her sister and wants to see one of her friends, and thinking you are the best option. She invites you (the leader of the phantom thieves) to come over. More interaction with Sae, more personal depictions of Makoto, rather than seeing the problems of someone we aren’t invested in. Or hell maybe even Akechi could show up during a confidant session. This is my first pet peeve with Persona 5. In comparison to the previous games, we learn so much more about the characters personality and problems through hangouts. Junpei isn’t a social link/confidant but we learn about his experience with Chidori and feel for him during a later confrontation (He’s a social link in Persona 3 Portable i know but im refering to three and FES). Or Kanji being a “delinquent”. We see others belittling him for his appearance and what they perceive to be his personality, but we know better as his friend. We learn about his mother and his desires through the rank ups. Moving on though.

Yusuke has one of my more favorite social links as he is overflowing with personality and (in my opinion) humor. Even if accidental, all the posing, painting and quirkyness from Yusuke is what i expected from everyone. After Madarame is taken down he goes from being defensively aggressive to shaken up and finally angry at the man he once cherished. We learn more about him both in and out of confidants, like how he doesnt have much money so he rarely gets to eat, and also didnt have a place to stay for a while (even though that was brief. I would’ve loved seeing Daytime scenes with him). He has almost a brother like relationship with Futaba Sakura, who i believe to be a well executed hermit character. For me, her backstory was very developed and believable for someone to shut themselves inside when they dont have all of the answers to a problem/life event that has become essentially the bane of their existence. Her social link developed her bond with Sojiro and shows of traits of herself through another person in a way that didnt completely focus on them instead of the person im hanging out with (*cough* Makoto *cough*)

Seriously though, I think all the characters were written well for the most part with only a few exceptions. Atlas really knows how to write their characters. Haru is actually one of my top picks for a favorite character because of how she was portrayed in having to deal with stress and how we kind of lead to the demise of her father. Though that was completely unavoidable as most things are in a supernatural franchise such as this. One last thing that urked me about the game was Akechi and how blatantly obvious the whole traitor aspect of his character was depicted. Atlas had it right with Adachi, making him one of my favorite characters in general and showing off a hopelessly Nihilistic perspective of the world when we as a player are seeing the world as happy and carefree. He didnt have a social link (until Golden), while Akechi did. The difference is that Akechi’s was progressed through story events while Adachi’s was an optional relationship that led you to learning more of his quirks earlier in the story. He could have been so much more but was thrown aside for a nameless “big bad” who we (as a player. Not the protagonist) have no relation too. I’ve seen discussions saying how Akechi could have been the one to have the River’s in the Desert battle, with a shadow realm showing his perspective of the world as a kingdom with him as the hero who protected everyone. He is the best in his own eyes and could not be defeated.

If there is one thing i hate in story telling, it is wasted potential. And Pancake Boy has a lot of that to spare. From the moment he blackmailed the Phantom Thieves to show them Nijima’s Palace (also with just how GOOD his moveset was), it made it so much more obvious he wouldn’t be a mainstay.

Those are my main comments with Persona 5, but they are mostly nitpicks compared to the grand scheme of things. I invested 200+ hours and two playthroughs into this game. My regular play through and a Fresh Merciless playthrough (with the help of a guide for 100% sake). I love this game to pieces and i wouldn’t be talking about it otherwise. Maybe there will be a P5Crimson Edition that adds more context to Akechi’s character and fixes problems other people have with the game. Maybe not. Who knows.

#Persona 5 #p5 #Persona 5 Spoilers #P5 Spoilers #goro akechi #ren amamiya #akira kusuru #ryuji sakamoto #ann takamaki #futaba sakura #haru okumura #yusuke kitagawa #morgana #atlas #NoksNonsense #Nonsensical-Rants

11 notes · View notes