#everyone in the phantom thieves is a girl boss

[vashtijoy]

haru: "we'll just take him out again"

Ah, this 1/10 line of Haru's, about what they should do if Akechi betrays them all a second time.

I've talked about Haru and Akechi before—she is overwhelmingly compassionate towards him. She shows him understanding he has not earned and does not deserve. She contrasts, in fact, with Futaba, who takes a consistently harsh tone with him—and well may she do so.

Haru is done dirty by the bulk of the fandom with this flanderised crazy axe mean girl schtick, and this translation does not help. So it's time for another big red....

Let's take a look.

tatakau: "to fight or battle"

Haru また裏切るようなら戦うだけだよ。 mata uragiru you nara tatakau dake da yo Plus, if he does betray us again, we’ll just take him out too.

mata uragiru you nara—"if he betrays us again, then we'll...". tatakau dake da yo—"we'll just tatakau him". But what's that verb; what's tatakau?

戦う tatakau means to fight, or do battle, or to make war on someone, or to oppose them. It's a common word. ALC has a number of examples:

戦うか逃げるかの反応 tatakau ka nigeru ka no hannou, "fight-or-flight response";

戦うことを諦める tatakau koto o akirameru, "to give up the fight";

戦う必要なく tatakau hitsuyou naku, "without even having to fight".

It is excessively common in P5:

Ryuji (before one of the robot minibosses in Okumura's Palace) こりゃもう戦うしかねーな! korya mou tatakau shika nee na! Looks like we're gonna have to fight. Haru (when you try to switch her into the party too early) 私も戦えるよ! watashi mo tatakaeru yo! I can fight too! Haru (before a robot miniboss) こうなったら戦うしか⋯! kou nattara tatakau shika...! It looks like we just have to fight!

tatakau is the word we translate as "fight"; "a fight" is often tatakai, from the same root verb. When the PTs fight in the Metaverse, they are tatakau-ing. And when they fought Akechi in the engine room? They tatakau-ed him:

Ann 同じヤツを憎んでるのに、なんで戦うの!? onaji yatsu o nikunderu no ni, nande tatakau no!? We both hate the same guy! Why do we have to go against each other!? Morgana 戦う前に笑ってたの⋯あれ、本心だろ? tatakau mae ni waratteta no... are, honshin daro? That smile before we fought… Isn't that how you really feel?

See? Let's look at Haru's line one more time:

Haru また裏切るようなら戦うだけだよ。 mata uragiru you nara tatakau dake da yo Plus, if he does betray us again, we’ll just take him out too. And if he betrays us again, we'll just fight him again.

the phantom thieves' ghost murder victim

The other key point is this: though this isn't present in the Japanese, the localisation still says "too". "we'll just take him out too". Who's that "too"?

They're not killing Maruki, despite Akechi's efforts. They didn't kill any of their targets. They didn't even kill Shido, who they all held responsible for the murder of Haru's father, and Futaba's mother, and who knows how many others.

In short: nobody is getting murdered in this line—except Haru, by the localisation.

"take him out"

In fairness to everyone who fast-forwarded all of Haru's dialogue and so thinks she's even worse than Akechi, cold-bloodedly planning murder as a form of revenge, "take him out" is a confusing choice of words.

"take him out" means to disable a target. This is how it gets its primary meaning of "kill him". It means to get something or someone out of your way, in a way that corresponds with its death or destruction—or, as in this case, with extreme violence; remember they KO Akechi in the engine room, just like every other boss.

This is why it's common in so many contexts—sport, business, politics. You take out targets in many fields, but you don't kill them! In the same way, Haru intends for them to eliminate Akechi as a threat, if he ever makes it necessary again.

Futaba makes this explicit to him the next day, on 1/11:

Futaba けどまた裏切ったりしたら、絶対許さない。 kedo mata uragittari shitara, zettai yurusanai BUT if you ever betray us again, we'll make sure you regret it.

Futaba says this right to his face: "if you betray us again, don't think you'll get away with it"; "if you betray us again, you're done for." She tells him this is his one and only chance.

(That zettai yurusanai, of course, is the same wording she uses about the men in black suits, and the men who killed her mother—it's fighting talk, blood debt talk. And it's interesting that she has clearly not yet put Akechi into that category. yurusanai is also the word Haru uses to him in the engine room, often translated as "I can't forgive you".)

context matters

Many common misunderstandings of P5's characters and plot boil down to something like this: an overfocus on one memorable line, at the expense of the bigger picture. Again, in fairness, P5 is a huge game, which makes this very easy to do.

But the fact that the Phantom Thieves have chosen not to kill comes up over and over. It is absolutely fundamental to them: their justice does not include murder.

Again: the fact that they don't go in for vigilante killings is what makes them better than Akechi! Part of the essence of their conflict is that Akechi has made bad choices that the PTs avoided—such as Ann's fateful choice to let Kamoshida live:

Just as with Ann and Kamoshida, I don't think the Thieves would stop Haru or Futaba, if they decided Akechi should die. But I also don't think it would pass without question, as Haru's "take him out" line does. Even if nobody else said a word, Makoto would say something. Because the Phantom Thieves are not murderers.

when someone shows you who they are, believe them

On top of that, if you want to read Haru's "take him out" as meaning she wants Akechi dead, you have to ignore everything else she says about him—and, frankly, every other time she's onscreen. Because Haru oozes kindness, compassion and thoughtfulness from her every pore.

Remember, Haru expresses compassion for Akechi, not hate. Here she is on 12/25:

Look at that. Commit it to memory. Show all your friends. Haru is glad Akechi is alive. She's glad he turned himself in and thinks he should pay for his crimes—but she didn't want him dead, and she certainly doesn't want to kill him.

In the engine room, when he's at the point of death, she's afraid for him. She runs forward to call to him; note that Futaba does not, and is at the back of the group, furthest from Akechi.

Even when Haru judges Akechi for what he took from her, she is sympathising with him:

When Cognitive Akechi arrives, Haru isn't just trying to stop Akechi turning on them to save his own skin. She empathises with him, and understands how complex his feelings towards Shido truly are—and why that puts them all in so much danger:

Say it again and say it loud: Haru understands Akechi.

but how does she really feel

Haru tells us her secret feelings in the safe room:

See? Just like Futaba, she doesn't want to be around him; she doesn't want him as part of the group. But she doesn't want to kill him.

That's not her nature. Haru is not a murderer. I'll say it again for the kids at the back: Haru is not a murderer. Her compassion is what makes her unlike Akechi. It's what makes her so much better than him.

She doesn't need to be his best friend to understand him. She doesn't need to hang out with him to see herself in his situation—because the two of them have so much in common. She can acknowledge that he wronged her without secretly (or not-so-secretly) wishing him dead. Haru is a better person than most of us, and her feelings about Akechi are complex.

what is the line actually about?

The sad thing is that Haru's "we'll just take him out" is a beautiful line.

Remember, Haru could be justifiably afraid of the prospect of being around Akechi. He's not safe. He's responsible for one of the greatest traumas of her life. But she shuts that fear down: "if he betrays us again, we'll just fight him again".

She removes his power over her—power to control her, to intimidate her, to make her afraid. Haru can stand up to Akechi and look him in the face, because she's surrounded by her friends. And her friends will stand with her. They prove it over and over in the third semester, when they repeatedly prioritise her feelings and Futaba's. It's made clear repeatedly that if either of them have a problem, Akechi will not be on the team.

So Haru is prepared to work with the scorpion by the river. She understands what made it how it is, and that it can only act according to its nature. But she'll be watching—and she'll be ready. Just like Akechi, who steps forward to fire on Maruki when the rest of them are paralysed.

It's just that Haru's bag of tricks doesn't include murder. Akechi has kept that in his back pocket—but Haru never had it in hers. It's a shame that Haru's clearsightedness here, and her readiness to act—something else she shares with Akechi—is so badly misunderstood as "lol funny murder psycho girl".

Akechi's second betrayal looks like them beating the shit out of him. I'm sure Haru would shoot him in the face a second time, and good luck to her. I'm sure the Phantom Thieves would, each and every one of them, make him deeply regret it before he was again turned in—voluntarily or otherwise.

But murder? No. That's never on the table. That's not Haru, and it's not the Phantom Thieves. And, ultimately, that's why they're the good guys, and Akechi is not.

revision history

Click here for the latest version.

v1.0 (2023/10/13)—first published.

[phoenixcatch7]

I'd love to see a time travel/ng+ fic where all the phantom thieves plus the royal/strikers thieves PLUS all the confidants travel back to when the game starts. Everyone's utterly bewildered.

The core phantoms and kasumi, being already physically close, figure it out pretty quick and regroup, but the rest are left confused and floundering until joker gets there and starts reaching out. But with so many people and everyone so lost and upset, he starts delegating and introducing people to each other so they have more options to reach out in case of emergency and to solidify his own web of connections, and for the better efficiency collaboration brings.

And yes I want to see all the confidants become friends or at least co-conspirators in a grand scheme sharing knowing smiles. I want to see normal people struggling with the reality of having lost a year or two of their lives, the surge of hope or fear as they realise they get to do it all again, feeling confused and alone and with the other confidants and plenty of soul searching build up an eclectic support network with others who share the same goal. As a group they could be so much more, and so many would benefit from joker putting them in touch with each other.

But I mostly want to see people coming to the dawning realisation that the scope of joker's reach he's built up is absolutely insane.

Just about every single named character in this huge game is a tarot confidant. Outside of palace rulers, the (hilariously but sadly rare) acquaintances of friends, and occasional mission target, EVERYONE is a secret member of joker's web. He's got the wildest, 'how did you guys even meet' people in his pocket too.

He's got a sentient AI. He's got a politician. He's got a yakuza guy who sells fake weapons who once took out 50 gang members. He's got a secretly talking cat. He's got a high class lawyer. He's got an underground doctor with like 5 PhDs she got revoked who does human experimentation. He's got a government agent. He's got a fortune teller. He's got a guy running his website and managing public missions for no pay. He's got an up and coming teen model. He's got the second detective prince. He's got a world famous wanted hacker. He's got a ten year old. He's got the REACH baby.

It's so funny. He's got like literally 30 odd people with maxed bonds who all think they're one of very very few who know the secret of the phantom thieves and who would break literal laws for this kid. I just think if they all worked together they'd rule the world. And they'd have a huge support group.

Fortune teller: yeah so then I managed to escape the cult, but it's just been so hard to discover who I am outside of that, you know? And they still want me back, it terrifies me.

Reporter lady: *drunk* girl that's absolutely awful you deserve like sooooo much better listen if I see them sniffing around I'll let you know. You shouldn't have to deal with those guys alone, I know allllllllll about making those kinds of guys sweat.

/Ex yakuza fake gun seller: you remind me of my son. He's a good kid, you'd like him. I can set you up?

10yo gun arcade player: oooh do these have real mechanisms? They look so realistic!

Ex yakuza: joker said you could both do with someone your own age - PUT THAT DOWN-

/Shoji player and art kid (yusuke) from the same school: *sitting in silence doing their own thing during school break, having a fantastic time*

/Akechi: *having a breakdown*

Sae, having hustled him off to an empty room for privacy: you know I can't believe I ever bought your nice act. Anyway do you think I could make a case for getting custody of you?

Akechi, stunned out of his attack: ????? Your sister would murder me.

Sae: yeah but it'd annoy shido and my boss so bad.

Akechi:.... I'll consider it.

/sojiro: I admit it's nice to have an adult to talk to about this... Sometimes I still can't believe it's the kids I know that go out and change the world like this.

Government agent: YEAH even with my own persona it's an absolute Ride. You should be proud. Also your coffee is delicious.

/Government agents daughter and mishima: *having an absolute BLAST designing merch*

The list goes ON its just so many under utilised possible relationships!!! Post games the meta verse is gone and most problems are solved (or dead) but if we put them all together in joker's biggest melting pot it'd be such a ride. All of them just low key scared of how many high ranking connections he has.

Like he just texts someone 'hi I think I know someone you'd like to know. I'm sending them to meet you.' and you're like okay??? I guess we'll see why?? And you round the corner and there's a politician and a previously famous missing teen detective waiting for you and they're here to help you get a restraining order on your stalker if you help predict a lottery number or two. And it just keeps happening. Sometimes you're the 'I know a guy' sent to meet people. Like how does joker even know this many people???? He's just moved here!!

[nkn0va]

you know the western s/o ask for the investigation team? Could you maybe do that same format for the p5 girls?

Hard deadline of a week for requests, I said. It'll be fine, I said.

Won't be doing Sumi due to how late she joins, making it nigh impossible to have an awakening scene for S/O where she's there and this ask was already exhausting enough as it was. Sorry.

Hope it doesn't get too repetitive having to do this for a total of 8 characters.

-Ann had always stood out for her appearance ever since she moved to Japan. Outside of Shiho not many people had every gone out of her way to talk to her prior to the Phantom Thieves. Having another foreigner around was a huge relief.

-You two very quickly bonded over that fact, and eventually started dating. Though the one thing she kept hidden from you was her being a Phantom Thief. She didn't want you to get involved and be in danger.

-However she suddenly had to cancel a date plan. Normally you wouldn't pry but this was extremely unlike her so you decided to investigate.

-Imagine your surprise though when you end up following her friend group and the next thing you know you're now in front of a big ass castle

-You try to sneak behind them without them realizing but it isn't log until the weird cat looking thing with them snuffs you out. Everyone understandably starts to panic to some degree but Ann has it especially bad.

-Before anything can happen though, you're surrounded by shadows that overheard the commotion, led by...is that Kamoshida in a cape and speedo?

-Being caught off guard and compromised, the thieves are not prepared for the sudden onslaught and are quickly overwhelmed and you get captured by a Shadow.

-Kamoshida, if that even is him, soon starts taunting you about how weak and useless you are, recognizing you from his real world counterpart.

-You'd experienced your own fair share of mistreatment from him in gym class, and after some encouragement from the others you decide you've had enough of his shit. Your head flares up in a sharp, intense pain hearing a voice eerily similar to your own. Your Persona.

-It's unlike anything anyone's ever seen before. The western gunslinger aesthetic standing out from everyone else. Once you awaken, you help turn the tide of battle, albeit the weird cat thing seems rather miffed that now they have to retreat for your sake.

-Soon after some deliberation, you're officially inducted into the team. With the form of your Persona and your similar motivations you fit right in with everyone else, and Ann is relieved that she doesn't have to keep a secret rom you of all people.

-Being Makoto's S/O, it was pretty inevitable that you'd eventually end up on the student council with her. You're basically her right hand person. You end up investigating the Phantom Thieves with her and get taken to see the metaverse as well.

-Both of you are naturally taken aback by what the hell you're witnessing right now, but both of your combined brain power are able to figure out the premise of the metaverse pretty well.

-You're rather quickly stopped by Shadow Kaneshiro, the mafia boss Makoto had gotten in trouble with. Upon the revelation of who he really is and his plans to essentially drown everyone in debt or ice them you two unanimously decide to stop this.

-You awaken your Personas at the same time. The couldn't possibly be any different, a gunslinger and straight up motorcycle but you two are a rather deadly duo, quickly dispatching of the Shadows all by yourselves.

-After the Thieves get over their initial shock and awe they remember that they oughta book it since they were busted right out of the gate by the Palace ruler himself.

-The both of you are exhausted from awakening your Personas but once you recover, you decide in an ironic twist of fate to join the people you were hunting down.

-Kobayakawa can go screw himself, you know now that the Phantom Thieves were doing the right thing.

-You were childhood friends with Futaba, having been there to try and comfort her when her mom died, when she was passed around by neglectful family members, and had tried to visit as much as you could after Sojiro had taken her in.

-You're at first completely unaware that she'd asked the Phantom Thieves to change her heart, but upon seeing a bunch of strangers at Sojiro's house talking about doing so you quickly realize what's going on.

-You quickly make your presence known and assert yourself, making it pretty obvious that you're not gonna back down from helping change her heart if that would help her out.

-It's only a lot of convincing later that they eventually decide to take you along, if only because of how important you are to her. You could be a potential source of good intel.

-Fast forward to hunting down the thief who stole the map, with his speed he managed to confuse and cut you off from the rest of the group and cornered you.

-Alone and about to die, your Persona awakens out of self defense. By the time everyone else spotted it and caught up, you'd eliminated the thief and got the map.

-The gunslinger motif of your Persona is quite the surprise, but pretty fitting for you once they thought about it. Futaba of course is not surprised when she finds out during the fight against cognitive Wakaba. You two had played quite a few western developed video games you were particularly fond of, it's no wonder it would influence the appearance of your Persona along with your heritage.

-While she can't be out there on the field fighting with you, she has found some cheeky ways of improving your performance, basically giving you a personal HUD. You are a dangerous shot now with her assistance.

-Haru met you through both your dads owning wealthy companies and becoming business partners. You moved to Japan for the business along with your dad and met his business partner's daughter.

-You were pretty much her only friend, having been sheltered almost all her life, and eventually you grow close enough to date.

-You followed Haru as she followed along an oddly suspicious looking cat, ending up in the metaverse along with her.

-Morgana, albeit miffed, at least has the decency to guide you along so you two don't die, also being more inclined to do so once he learned your relation to Okumura and after you save his life.

-Haru unfortunately couldn't quite fully awaken her Persona properly, but upon seeing her in danger you could. No harm was going to come to her if you could help it.

-Both of them are in awe of your Persona, though Haru mostly because she'd never properly seen one before. Through powerful gun damage and the massively increased agility it grants you, you're able to dispatch of the immediate threat and get both of them out of there.

-Haru is showering you in praise about how incredible you were back there, especially in comparison to her. She has full confidence in your ability to help in changing her father's heart and turning him back to what he once was.

[symphonic-scream]

Okay. Another in a long line of aus that have been coming from my mind lately

P4 but it's P5

Aka, the P4 Tokyo au

Gonna lay it out, but if you just wanna know everyone's roles scroll to the end for the list of the arcana :)

Alright. Let's do this

So, Yu Narukami was walking home one night when he hears a woman scream. He runs over to help and sees a man trying to assault her so he steps in. The man, drunk, falls over and gets hurt. The blame is placed on Yu, who is arrested and found guilty

Now, his parents don't want to deal with him, sending him to live with his cop uncle in Tokyo. Dojima isn't too happy about it, and to keep Nanako safe, he has Yu live in the old Yongen police station, now a storage building. It's dusty and old, but Yu thinks he can clean it up a bit

He's at a new school. Everyone seems to hate him. He spots a boy on the way to school, watches a teacher berate the kid before he pedals his bike faster. It's raining. The water from his tires flies up dousing Yu and a girl chasing after him

She's Chie Satonaka, formally a part of the martial arts club at Shujin, kicked out due to the extreme number of demerits she's earned. All from the same teacher that yelled at that boy

The boy being Yosuke Hanamura, who transferred last year. Kids being blamed for his father's business taking over a whole slew of smaller businesses in another area of Tokyo, just another big supermarket. But then as well, a certain teacher keeps spreading rumors about him and his family's business. It isn't helping

Anyways. Yu and Chie stumble into the Metaverse, find the shadow of King Moron, and a little bear named Teddie. Then they're back in the real world and shit and blah blah

We know the story by now. The third joins the team, they steal the treasure, etc

In the real world, Teddie is one of those Teddie bear dogs. The tiny ones. I think that's funny

Anyways. They save the day and things move forward. They are the Phantom Thieves. They're going to keep stealing treasures and saving people

On to arc two! After the teacher thing, Chie gets approached by a girl in a kimono, as they're walking through Shibuya. A local group was doing advertisement for a special like traditional style decoration event at an inn. And. One of the young designers wants to use Chie for inspiration

After. Having her soul bared to her. Uhm. Yeah.

Anyways there's a senior designer there that keeps trying to convince everyone the inn is haunted or something. He's an asshole. Wants to ruin the inn so he can buy it to be his personal mansion

Anyways Chie nearly has to get nude but before that they convince Yukiko Amagi to join them and defeat the designer

So. There's that

Anyways next arc!

So. Dojima is still a cop. He's on the case of a large crime group in the city, with another detective Adachi, and. A teenager.

A first year at Yu's school. Pretty much a kid. The cops aren't happy they brought the "genius Detective Prince" in cause they couldn't end it soon enough, but. The whole unit is sick of this kid on day one. Doesn't talk to them. Stands there. Uses big words.

The kid doesn't have friends at school. But, they get closer than anyone else does. Aka, they find both the Phantom Thieves and the crime ring. At the same time.

Naoto Shirogane is looked down on for being a kid but also was never allowed to be a kid. Lonely as fuck. Pressured into throwing themself at the crime boss with no backup

The team finds them insufferable at first. Until they're in the palace and Naoto breaks. And then gains their persona

(Genderfluid Naoto here. Some days he, some they, some she.)

So we've got a "criminal", the reason everyone's parents are broke, Shujin's most violent second year, an interior designer, and a young detective. Oh and Teddie

It's. Going great for them

And it lasts a while until, they get a strange request. An anonymous online fan wants their heart stolen. They're worried they'll resort to extremes soon, and don't want to wish that grief on their loved ones. It's, a lot,

And. They investigate enough to find out the request came from within the Dojima house

Former idol Risette has been living with them since she was attacked, assaulted. She doesn't go out, has a fear of being around crowds and, shit like that. She blames herself, she's read too many online comments. She was asking for it, and all. And she feels, gross. So, they go to steal her heart

And she joins the group! As their Navi! Fun!

Then the second years go to Hawaii, leaving only Naoto and Rise behind in Tokyo, and when they return? They have another palace!

This one idk but Kanji joins the team here. It's Kanji he's gay and likes manly things like sewing.

Anyways after that it's, another Palace that's honestly not chosen cause idk who'd be the Judgement (Margaret?? Maybe) and Adachi joins the team and then betrays them and then they're after the prime guy and then God

But yeah. Thief Team

Fool - Yu

Chariot - Chie

Lovers - Yosuke

Magician - Teddie

Emperor - Yukiko

Priestess - Naoto

Hermit - Rise

Empress - Kanji

And yeah. I've got some ideas for it and all but. Yeah. Ask me about it

[specterthief]

so i just finished utena and it rewired my brain, as it does, and as i was watching i noticed some things:

i tweeted about this, but like. i already knew enough to have the impression before watching the series that there was probably a comparison to be drawn between maruki and akio but i can't get over the fact that the exterior shot of his palace looks like they just combined the staircase around the elevator to the dueling arena and akio's planetarium (which are really one and the same already) into one thing

and the whole nature of the planetarium, and what that reveals—that akio was always being dishonest about his work, that the planetarium wasn't about the stars as he claimed to endear himself to utena (and as it holds meaning to anthy, who says she wants to stay in the planetarium rather than see the stars outside in the real world) but about projecting the "fairy-tale illusions" to control the people within his walled garden—the same could be said about maruki's laboratory, and what's revealed about him. using cognitive psience to treat trauma was always a minor part of his goal. for a very long time—back to before he even first awakened his powers and used them on rumi—he wanted more than that, to preemptively control people deemed likely to commit crimes. controlling the cognition of all humanity was his expressed goal—a mission he thought he was chosen for by a god—before he had any idea that the phantom thieves would inadvertently grant him that much power. he can't even deny it when akechi accuses him of brainwashing sumire for his own self-satisfcation, merely argues that the ends justify the means if his reality is better for everyone. the "treatment" of sumi's specific trauma by destroying her real identity (and her being driven to such desperation that she'd attack the person she loves to stay in the false reality rather than face the truth) is just a byproduct, an experiment toward a greater end that places him in a position of godhood, of ultimate power to change the world in his image. to create his own garden of eden.

like, fuck, this certainly sounds familiar:

even on a more surface level—a member of the school faculty who's in the position with an ulterior motive, who the female students find extremely attractive (seriously, it's wild how often NPCs comment on maruki's looks or having feelings for him throughout his entire tenure at shujin—one even remarks on how good he looks in white.) a seemingly benevolent character who has a pre-established relationship with a young girl who's both the greatest victim of his schemes and violently devoted to protecting the fantasy he's created, who singles out the protagonist and bonds with them over time far more closely than would be appropriate for their positions, who uses that bond to try and achieve the power to change the world, only for the protagonist to refuse every temptation and take that power back...

and even looking at other symbols—in utena's duel with kanae, akio's fiancée (and the reason for him being in his position at ohtori,) she's surrounded by bouquets of white lilies that are identical to the one ella carries:

while in kanae's final appearance, she's shown catatonic as akio and anthy feed her apples—

—and apples are something that come up in relation to maruki constantly, whether the obvious presence of them as the fruit of eden in his palace (up yet another spiral staircase that resembles the path to the dueling arena):

or more prominently in the final boss fight:

or in his character art:

or references in various scenes, like in this bit of foreshadowing about making ryuji's "wish" come true:

or at more length with sumire:

and as the apples in utena can be compared both to the forbidden fruit of eden and the poison apple eaten by snow white, sumire, like kanae, is seen rendered unconscious (in a throne befitting a princess) in maruki's palace:

and despite her more obvious connection to cinderella via her persona, she has a weapon referencing snow white:

akio's obviously a much more overtly sinister character, as well an openly predatory one (which, to be clear, i definitely do not think is a supported read of maruki's actions in canon—manipulative, dishonest and terrible with setting appropriate boundaries with his teenage patients yes, acting with any legitimately predatory designs on anyone no) but the similarities are still striking to the point that they seem like they could be intentional, and i just wanted to try and get the coherent thoughts i had on all of this down in one place

and it is known both from statements from the guidebook interviews and from early content left in the final build of the game that significant amounts of maruki's story and palace were changed very late into development with the intention of making him more sympathetic and his deal more tempting, so i do wonder if this connection might have been even more clear in an earlier iteration of royal's story (though given they did have concerns about making him sympathetic from the outset, i don't think it's likely he was ever intended to be as clearly villainous as akio)

[gootrude]

phantom thieves as adults headcanons! i am meant to be working on an assignment but my mind it be wandering.

Ryuji Sakamoto

stay at home dad! he's a very family oriented person, i can see his future wife and kids (and his mum too!) being his passion and what he cares about most. an absolute wife guy + the world's silliest father, he makes everyone laugh when they're stressed. he becomes an amazing cook too and makes sure everyone is well-fed and healthy.

grows his hair out a bit and has that half-ponytail thing going on, he still bleaches it but often leaves his roots to grow out.

no matter how old he gets he's still very into shounen anime and manga, loves a good simple battle shounen. probably a jojo fan.

volunteers as a coach for a local kids sports team.

Ann Takamaki

fashion designer, sometimes models her own work but prefers designing.

social media influencer, yes she uses that exact title. she does her best to be a good influence to young girls.

travels often (and vlogs about it).

marries a woman, maybe shiho or makoto. adopts a child around her late 30's to early 40's.

had a growth spurt in her late teens and is now 6'1 because i think she should be tall. she keeps her hair long and usually wears it down.

Yusuke Kitagawa

teaches art at a university and often submits his pieces to galleries. his students think he's quite funny but this is entirely unintentional, he is trying his best to be the most serious artist ever.

never marries and never has children, but becomes a cat guy.

all aquariums in the area know him well as the strange man who comes constantly to stare at the creatures (this is how he relieves stress).

grows his hair long and keeps it in a braid. fan of abstract fashion.

has a phase where he gets really into miniatures, has a little train rolling around that kind of thing.

visits ryuji's family sometimes, his kids really like yusuke even if yusuke has no idea how to talk to children. ryuji's wife is mildly bewildered by him but still likes having him around, it makes ryuji happy to spend time with his old friend. usually spends new years with them.

Makoto Nijima

develops a punk/biker style of fashion. is often changing her hairstyle.

gym every morning without fail, she is strong as hell.

i think rather than following her father into the police or sae into law, she may become a doctor. she makes this choice during her first year of university and switches to medicine. she's passionate about using her intelligence and skills to help people.

definitely loves dogs. she has the best trained dogs you'll ever see.

married to a woman, perhaps ann. if it is ann then they have to be long distance a fair amount, but their busy schedules keep them distracted.

Futaba Sakura

indie game dev set on making the next undertale. does some website coding stuff for money (sorry i know literally nothing about computers).

cuts her hair super short and leans into androgynous fashion. wacky clothes though, she'd hate to wear something boring.

still close with yusuke, they get together to hang out at least once a month. exchanges memes back and forth with ann but doesn't see her very often.

stays living with sojiro, she's able to go out on her own for trips but always comes back home to her dad. sojiro is happy to have her living with him forever, if she wants.

loves reptiles and has had many as pets over the years.

Haru Okumura

opens her cafe together with her partner ren amamiya. she handles the business side and he cooks and makes drinks. they have some part time help too, haru is a boss who is known to be both kind and intelligent in how she runs her business. it's a popular spot in the area and they have plenty of regulars who keep the place going.

they host a yearly phantom thieves get-together at their cafe where the group will spend a weekend with each other (ann sometimes has to attend over facetime, makoto does her best but has a very busy schedule so has had to miss a few).

her fashion stays largely the same, if not a little more mature. the fancy little lady look is important. she grows her hair out a bit longer and keeps it in a ponytail.

she spends her free time crocheting and playing video games, horror is her favourite genre but she plays a variety of games.

haru and ren become foster parents in their 40's, maybe not adopting entirely but they give children a safe loving environment when they need that.

Goro Akechi

he died sorry.

[vgckwb]

P5R: Rebel Girl (A FeMC Story/P5R Rework) Chapter 169: 5 Targets (And Revelation)

Sunday morning, Futaba was making her way to Leblanc. When she got to the door, she nearly bumped into Haru. “Oh!” they both said, surprised.

“Sorry,” Haru added.

“No, it’s..it’s alright,” Futaba added awkwardly. There was a bit of silence. “So, what are you doing here so early?”

“Oh, well, I was feeling a little listless,” Haru explained. “I felt that since we’re meeting up anyway, I may as well get a head start, you know?”

“I see,” Futaba said.

“Oh, but it doesn’t look like Leblanc is open yet,” Haru noted. “Perhaps we’re a bit too early.”

“Nah, that’s just for customers,” Futaba said. “We can go in.” She opened the door. And walked in. Haru was so puzzled by Futaba’s bravado that she couldn’t say anything. After a split second, she followed Futaba in. When they entered, they saw Ren eating breakfast and Sojiro standing at the counter. “Sojiro, I’m hungry!” Futaba belted out.

“OK, OK,’ Sojiro said. He looked up and was surprised to see Haru here as well. “Oh, um hello.”

“Hello,” Haru replied.

“You’re here early,” Ren remarked.

“I just wanted to get out of my head a little bit,” Haru said. “Father is having lawyers over to discuss his confession.”

“Woah,” Futaba remarked. “Sounds like it’s getting serious.”

Haru nodded. “Very much so. I decided to come down and just…hang out before we head out.”

“I see,” Ren said. “Want some breakfast?”

“Oh, um, well, I ate before coming here,” Haru said.

“Still, this’ll be your first time in Mementos,” Ren replied. “It might be better to fill up while you can.”

“Well, if you insist,” Haru said. She sat down next to Ren.

Futaba took a seat next to Haru. “I’m hungry too!”

“Alright, alright, settle down,” Sojiro said. “I’m on it.” He cooked up some curry for Futaba and Haru.

A little while later, the rest of the Phantom Thieves showed up. They were all a little surprised to see Haru there already, but Hau explained herself to them.

They began meeting about what targets they have. “Is everyone ready?” Morgana asked. They all nodded. “Good. Now let’s go over our targets.”

Ren nodded. “First on our list: Shinpei Honjo, He’s an editor for a newspaper who is currently working to cover up at least one news story, and potentially many others.”

“Man what an asshole!” Ryuji said. “He’s supposed to give us the truth, but he’s feeding us lies? Eff that!”

“While I might not have said it in the way Ryuji just did, I agree,” Makoto said. “Something has to be done!”

“Alright,” Ren said. “Next up: Mitsuyo Togo.”

“She’s Hifumi’s mother, correct?” Yusuke asked.

Ren nodded. “She’s pressuring her daughter to do things she doesn’t want to do: Become a model. Throw her next shogi match. She’s not even listening to reason.”

“Well then, we must stop her!” Yusuke said, determined. “As someone who knows what it’s like to have a parental figure abuse the art you create, I am 100% in favor of intervening here!”

“Well said,” Ren responded. “Next up: Chikara Hada. He’s my parole officer.”

“Um,” Haru interjected, “would that be a little suspect on your part?”

“Maybe not,” Futaba said. “I’m looking into this guy right now. ‘Aggressive’ is too light of a word to describe him.”

“Oh my!” Haru said.

“Plus, Boss asked me to,” Ren explained. “He said that when he stopped by and heard Futaba’s voice that  must be involved in a smuggling ring.”

“WHAT?!” Futaba shouted. “That’s ludicrous!”

“I’ll say,” Ren said. So, I take it we’re onboard then?” Everyone nodded. “OK, next up, we have Yohei Kiritani. He’s been posing as a homeless guy, but has been going around killing people ‘to help The Phantom Thieves.’”

“WHAT?!” Ann shouted. “That’s insane!”

“I agree,” Jose said. “We HAVE to put a stop to this!”

“I take it no objections then,” Ren said. “So then, lastly we have Katsuo Otani and Hachio Tanimoto: A pair of delinquents who are getting out of hand. They lend money to people and demand a lot more than they gave out. And if you don’t pay up, they harass you, violently.”

“Sounds a lot like Kaneshiro,” Sumire remarked.

“And they don’t mind dragging others into it,” Ren explained. “I came across them attacking the boyfriend of someone who needed a loan.”

“What jerks!” Lena said. “We should put a stop to this!”

“Very well then,” Ren said. “It seems like we agree. So let’s head out!” The team nodded.

They started getting up, when Sojiro interrupted. “Hold it!” They looked at him. He approached Haru. “Tomorrow’s a holiday, meaning you don’t have school. I was planning on taking Ren shopping for some furniture for her room, but if you still need some space from your home, you can come along if you’d like.”

“Oh, uh, are you sure?” Haru asked.

Sojiro nodded. “I insist.”

“Well then, thank you,” Haru said.

“Don’t mention it,” Sojiro replied. He went back behind the counter.

“Well then, let’s head out for real,” Ren instructed. Again, everyone nodded, and they left.

Once In Memenots, Haru was awestruck. “Wow! This is certainly different than what I was expecting.”

“What were you expecting?” Yusuke asked.

“Well…I’m not sure…” Haru answered. “But this wasn’t it.”

“Fair,” Yusuke replied.

“It didn’t used to look like this,” Jose said.

Everyone looked at him. “What?!” Makoto said.

“But when we came down here the first time, it looked like this, didn’t it?” Ryuji said.

Jose nodded. “That was when we met. But I’ve been down here before you guys showed up.”

“I…guess that makes sense,” Ann said. “We did find you down here.”

“So, what was it like beforehand?” Futaba asked.

“It was more reminiscent of a subway system,” Jose explained. “Although it was more…warped, I guess is how you could put it.”

“Why did it change?” Makoto asked.

“And when?” Lena added.

“It changed with the emergence of Eris,” Morgana said.

“Wait, you knew this too?!” Ryuji asked. “Why didn’t you say anything?!”

“I figured it wasn’t that important,” Morgana said. “I was only created after Eris emerged, so I don’t know what it used to look like. Besides, it doesn’t change much. Our target is at the bottom of this place. What it looks like is mostly irrelevant.”

The others were a little confused, but Ren interjected “Don’t be mad at him. I knew as well.”

“WHAT?!” Ryuji shrieked.

“Huh?!” Ann yelped.

“How?” Jose wondered.

Ren paused. “When I first came to Tokyo, Eris pulled me into a dream. Well, it was more like a vision. It was her confronting Yaldabaoth, and when she destroyed him, I saw a bunch of things. They were…visions of the palaces and how they’d change. Except for your mom’s palace Cupid, but I think that’s because her palace didn’t fully form.”

“Huh,” Lena replied.

“Anyway,” Ren said, picking it back up, “the last thing I saw was the train system turning into this garden. I didn’t say anything because, well, a lot was happening, and by the time I thought to, it didn’t quite matter as much. Because Mona’s right, it doesn’t really matter what this place looks like, just what it is.”

There was a silence among the team. They were unsure how to react. Until Sumire walked over to her girlfriend and gave her a hug. “It’s OK. I think we understand. All of this is a lot to take in.”

Ren blushed, smiled, and hugged Sumire back “Thanks Violet.” She nested her head on Sumire’s. Eventually, they let go.

“So…what now?” Yusuke asked.

“Well…with that out of the way, I think we should proceed,” Makoto said.

“I agree,” Haru replied. “But this place looks fairly big. Going through it might be tough.”

“Nyeh heh heh,” Morgana chuckled. “Not to worry! I have just the thing. TRANSFORM!” He transformed into a car.

“Oh how WONDERFUL!” Haru said.

“Nyeh heh!” Morgana cheered. “You like?”

“I do like!” Haru cheered.

“Wait till you see the inside!” Jose said.

“Although it might be a bit crammed with all of us…” Yusuke noted.

“Only if you think that way,” Ren said. “Let’s roll!” The thieves entered Morgana and started driving through Mementos.

Once they made it to a portal, they got out. Ren recognized Ohya’s boss. “That’s Shinpei Honjo.”

“The new editor?” Ann wondered. “The guy who’s covering up stories?”

“That’s the one,” Ren said. “Let’s go.” They approached.

Honjo took notice of them. “Hm? Who are you?”

Ren grew determined. “We’re The Phantom Thieves!”

“Oh? Here for an interview?” Honjo asked.

“No, but we have your front page for tomorrow,” Ren answered. “You confessing to covering up stories and letting Ohya investigate!”

“Grr,” Honjo hissed. “So, you’re on HER side, huh. I KNEW she had more dirt! Well, I guess I’ll just have to take you in myself. That’ll show her!”

“Someone’s jealous,” Sumire remarked.

“Of that alcoholic, pathetic, desperate excuse of a writer?!” Honjo shot back. “I’m more a journalist than she’ll ever be!” He transformed into Take-Minakata. “Here’s tomorrow’s REAL headline: Phantom Thieves Found Dead!”

“Now you’re spreading fake news too,” Morgana said. “Pathetic!” They battled Honjo, and beat him hand over fist. “Man, we're getting good!”

“Well, there are eleven of us now,” Yusuke remarked.

Honjo reverted to his human form and looked defeated. Ren noticed something in his expression. “What’s wrong?”

“I…I really am jealous…” Honjo said. “Ohya has such passion, such a drive for her work…I lost it somewhere along the way.”

“Why are you covering up stories?” Makoto asked.

“I’m getting paid to,” Honjo admitted. “Before you ask, I don’t know by who or why. Whoever’s doing it pays the board, and the board pays me. I’ve got a family, and raising kids isn’t easy. Especially with the transitions we need to make to accommodate today’s technological shift.”

“Still, that’s no excuse,” Sumire said.

“You’re right,” Honjo said. “I’ll make things right. Thank you.” He disappeared. Ren grabbed the treasure, and they left.

As they continued further, Sumire asked “Say, do you think that the people paying that guy are involved with the person Kobayakawa mentioned?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Ryuji answered.

“I’m almost certain they are,” Yusuke added.

“Oh,” Sumire said. “I’m a little worried then. If these people go after that guy like they did with Kobayakawa.”

“I doubt it,” Ren said.

“What makes you so sure?” Lena asked.

“For the sound of it, it sounds like a simple exchange,” Ren said. “They get money for saying or not saying things. I don’t think you need anyone high enough on that ladder to do that.”

“I can look into it too, just in case,” Futaba said.

“I think Ohya can look into things as well,” Ren said.

“I think she might even if you didn’t ask her too,” Morgana replied.

“True,” Ren said. “Like her boss said, she has a knack for this.” They continued on.

They got to another portal and entered it. On the other side, they found a woman. “That’s Hifumi’s mother, correct?” Jose added.

“Yup, that’s her,” Ren answered.

“We should put a stop to her abuse,” Yusuke said.

“Agreed,” Ren replied. They approached her.

“Oh, what’s this?!?” Hifumi’s mom. “Paparazzi?”

“Not quite,” Ann said.

“We’re here to free Hifumi from your clutches!” Ren declared.

“WHAT?!” Hifumi’s mom said. “You can’t be serious.”

“As a heart attack,” Ren countered.

“What you’re doing to her is nothing short of abuse!” Yusuke added. “You WILL stop your meddlesome behavior at ONCE!”

“Well, I hate to disappoint a crowd, but no,” Hifumi’s mom countered.

“I’m afraid we aren’t asking,” Yusuke said.

“GrrrrrrrRAGH!” Hifumi’s mom growled. She transformed into Lilim. “Hifumi’s MINE! I can do what I want with her!”

“Pathetic,” Yusuke said. They engaged in a battle, and again despite Mitsuyo’s underhanded tactics, The Phantom Thieves won.

Mitsuyo reverted back. “Why?...Why can’t I have anything? My husband is sick, and I don’t know what else to do to help make ends meet besides making Hifumi an overnight sensation…”

“She’s really good at shogi, right?” Jose said. “I’m sure she’d do enough to help.”

There was some hesitancy on the part of Mitsuyo. “I’ve…I’ve been rigging her games.”

“WHAT?!” Yusuke said, shocked.

“Why?” Morgana asked.

“It helped the narrative,” Mitsuyo said.

“And that’s also why you were pulling her away from it?” Ren inquired.

Mitsuyo nodded. “She really is good at shogi. But I thought if she could face tougher opponents, she’d become more of a household name. But I guess she wasn’t ready for it.”

“She was,” Ren said. “What she wasn’t ready for was this scheme of yours. She enjoys playing shogi, and uses what she can to help out. Win, lose, or draw, she would fight against even the greatest shogi player of all time. Because unlike you, she knows when to admit defeat.”

Mitsuyo looked at the thieves. “Well, I guess I’ll start learning. Thank you.” She disappeared, and Ren grabbed her treasure.

“Very well put, Joker,” Yusuke said.

“But this’ll surely rock the shogi world,” Makoto said.

“Yeah, but didn't you hear Joker?” Jose said. “Hifumi can weather it.”

Makoto nodded. “You’re right Sunshine.” They continued onward.

They got to the floor with the next door they needed to open, and in the way stood a man. “I believe that’s Yohei Kiritani: the guy who pretends to be homeless but then goes and kills people. Be on your guard!” The others nodded as they approached him.

“Eh heh heh!” Yohei chuckled. “Well if it isn’t The Phantom Thieves!”

“What’s with the cheerful attitude?” Ryuji asked.

“Yeah, we’re here to make you confess,” Lena said

“Me? Confess?!” Yohei said, stunned. “But I did nothing wrong!”

“You’ve killed people,” Futaba countered.

“I’ve killed people in the name of JUSTICE!” Yohei said. “You and I are two sides of the same coin!”

“DON’T LUMP THE TWO OF US TOGETHER!” Makoto shouted. “We’d NEVER stoop so low as to kill anyone!”

“Besides, you’re giving homeless people a bad name!” Sumire said. “They already have it hard enough as is.”

“Well, it seems like we’re at an impasse,” Yohei said. “I guess I just have to kill you and take the mantle for myself.”

“I’d like to see you try!” Morgana dared.

“Oh yeah?” Yohei said. He transformed into Rakshasa. “Bring it on!” This fight was a little tougher than the previous two had been, but in the end The Phantom Thieves and their justice prevailed.

He transformed back. “So, you’ll turn yourself in?” Makoto said.

“I guess I have to,” Yohei said. “But just know, there may come a time when you can’t take the pacifist route anymore.”

“That’s for us to decide,” Ren retorted.

“Hm,” Yohei chuckled. “You know, I pray you hold to it.” He disappeared.

Ren grabbed the treasure, and then opened up the door. “Let’s keep moving,” she instructed. The others nodded, and they continued down.

They found the fourth portal and entered. In it, they saw two mean-looking kids. “So that’s Katsuo Otani and Hachio Tanimoto,” Lena remarked. “If I recall, these two are extortionists.”

“Correct,” Ren said.

“Well then, let’s put an end to their reign of terror!” Sumire shouted. They nodded and approached.

The two boys looked at the oncoming thieves. “Who are you?” one of them asked.

“C’mon Hachio,” Katsuo said. “Don’t you know? They’re The Phantom Thieves!”

“Oh yeah, the guys that took down bossman Kaneshiro,” Hachio said.

“You WORKED for Kaneshiro?!” Makoto said.

“Course,” Katsuo answered. “We had a good thing going.”

“But weren’t you blackmailed?” Sumire asked.

“Psh, only if we disobeyed,” Katsuo said.

“Yeah, we were THRIVING,” Hachio said. “But then it all fell apart because of you!”

“Luckily, we’ll rise from the ashes and take his place,” Katsuo said, “one sucker at a time!”

“Like HELL you will!” Makoto declared.

“Aren’t you somethin’?” Katsuo said. Katsuo transformed into Ganesha, and Hachio transformed into Jatayu. “Well, we’ll just have to claim our vengeance!” They proceeded to fight. The duo’s penchant for fighting and cruel tactics made things hard, but just like everyone else, they lost.

The two reverted back and were breathing heavily. “Had enough?” Makoto said, menacingly.

“Or are you thirsty for more?” Lena added.

“GAH!” Katsuo shouted.

“What do we do?” Hachio said.

“You turn yourselves in,” Makoto instructed. “Understood?”

“Yes ma’am!” they both said. They disappeared, and Ren took their treasure.

“Woah!” Ryuji said.

“You’re really cool Queen-senpai,” Sumire said.

Lena nodded. “You really know how to command power.”

“Oh, uh, well…” Makoto said, embarrassed.

Ren giggled. “Let’s keep moving.” They left the portal and continued through Mementos.

They found their last portal and entered it. They spotted a police officer. “That guy’s your parole officer?!” Ryuji remarked. “He seems…uh…a little unhinged…”

“From what I’ve read, he’s a lot unhinged,” Futaba said.

“From what we’ve been told, I don’t doubt it,” Yusuke said.

“Well then, let’s stop him!” Haru said. They approached him.

Officer Hada looked at them. “Well well well, if it isn’t the Phantom Thieves! Come to turn yourselves in to the most brilliant detective mind in Japan?”

“Not in particular,” Yusuke said.

“We’re here to change your heart!” Futaba shouted.

“WHAT?!” Hada said. “Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. Criminal scum such as yourselves don’t go quietly.”

“What makes you think you’re the best detective mind in Japan?” Ann asked.

“Yeah, that title belongs to Akechi,” Lena chimed in.

“PAH! That UPSTART?!” Hada said. “I’m a better detective than he’ll ever be! I’m better than ANY detective will ever be! And I’ll PROVE it by taking you in!” He transformed into Byakhee. “DIE!” This fight was the hardest they’ve had today, but just like everyone else, Hada too fell to The Phantom Thieves.

He transformed back. “...It’s not fair…”

“What’s not fair?” Ren asked.

“I’ve only made a couple of mistakes!” Hada pleaded, crying his eyes out. “And yet everyone on the force treats me as some kind of outcast. I just wanted recognition!”

“So that’s why he’s so aggressive,” Sumire said.

“I’ve heard them talking about some kind of grand plan,” Hada said. “I wanted to be part of it, but they kept me away, saying ‘Oh, you’ll just ruin it like everything else.’”

“I see,” Ryuji said. “Wait, WHAT?!”

“But I guess I’m not that good,” Hada said. “But know this: As long as you stand on the side of injustice, justice will always prevail! But I guess I was on the side of injustice too.” He faded, and Ren took his treasure. Everyone was stunned, and just left silently.

As they were traveling, Lena asked “That thing he mentioned…you think it’s the same as…?”

“Most assuredly,” Yusuke said.

“I don’t doubt it,” Futaba said.

“Still, I can’t help but feel a little sorry for him,” Ryuji said. “He just wanted a place to belong. Even if he’s a piece of shit, anyone can understand that.”

“I agree,” Lena said. “While he may have been going about it the wrong way, I can’t say I don’t understand.”

They got to the next door. Ren approached it, and just like clockwork, it didn’t open. “Oh my,” Haru said.

“We can’t open it yet,” Ren said. “I’m guessing this’ll unlock when your father confesses Noir.

“So, what do we do in the meantime?” Haru asked.

“We go back,” Ren said. “We bide our time, get more requests, and hopefully find another true blue palace to raid.” Makoto flinched a little at the prospect of finding another palace, knowing her sister is on that list somewhere.

“Actually,” Futaba interjected, “before we leave, can we do something else?”

“What is it Oracle?” Ann asked.

“Well, after what happened last time, I’ve decided to scan a few things,” Futaba explained.

“You mean with Kobayakawa?” Ryuji asked.

Futaba nodded. “When we come into Mementos, the station goes from bustling to empty, but the station layout remains the same. But from my readings, outside the station has some major readings that feel at least somewhat similar to Kobayakawa’s.”

Everyone was shocked. “Well let’s check it out then,” Ren said. The thieves headed back all the way up Mementos. Once at the top of Mementos, they headed up the stairs but still remained in the metaverse. After they entered the barren station, Ren instructed, “Alright, let’s have a look around.” The thieves nodded and started looking.

During their search, Haru approached one of the entrances and found something that shook her to her core. “Uh guys?! I think I found it!” Everyone else came rushing to her position, and were equally stunned.

In front of them was a wall of water. Beyond the wall was the Tokyo they knew, but it looked ruinous. “WHAT THE SHIT?!” Ryuji yelped.

“Wha-what’s going on?!” Makoto shrieked.

“How peculiar,” Yusuke said.

“That’s a mild way of putting it,” Ann said.

“Should one of us…go out there?” Lena asked.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Sumire said. “I don’t know if we can even survive out there for starters.”

“Kobayakawa did have a diving suit,” Morgana pointed out.

“Besides, we’ve done a lot today,” Jose said. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I feel tired.”

“Not to mention, this is Noir’s first trip down here,” Ren added.

“Still, THIS IS CRAZY!” Futaba exclaimed. “But I agree, going in there now is a mistake.”

“Well, maybe we can make a plan to try and explore it further when we come back,” Haru suggested.

“Good thinking Noir,” Ren said. “In the meantime, I think we should head out for real. Good job everyone!” Everyone nodded once more, and they headed back to the real world, and to their homes for the evening.

[phntmskull]

sometimes its you and your girl boss gang with authority problems against the world

[inkpens-coffee]

The Phantom Thieves play Genshin Impact! ⭐️

Futaba gets into it first and eventually suckers everyone else into playing.

She has all the characters. Every. Single. One.

Yes that includes all the five stars.

Ren, Ryuji and Ann put in the fucking grind to get all the cool characters. And get screwed over by the gacha multiple times.

Haru, Makoto, Goro and Yusuke only played out of curiosity. It took about a week before they got obsessed too.

Sumire isn’t all that interested in video games. She likes to just watch everyone play with Morgana in her lap :3

Haru and Makoto play casually most of the time. Though they get a bit intense when they’re doing boss battles and domains. You do not want to be in the same room as them when they fight the Oceanid. No you don’t.

Ryuji, Ann, Futaba and Goro are hardcore gamers. They play together often to take on bosses, clear domains and collect level up materials and primogems.

Yusuke and Ren are somewhat the same, but they prefer to explore the map and collect things while looking for secrets and treasure chest and taking one too many aesthetic screenshots

When they’re all together, Sumire and Morgana act as cheerleaders for when their friends are doing tough battles. You guys can do it!!

The characters they play as!

Ryuji will play as pretty much anyone. But his absolute favorite character he has on his team at all times is Bennett. No lie, he took one look at him and went “my son now”

Ann likes using the pyro girls, but she also goes after all the milf ladies like the disaster lesbian she is. Lisa and Xingling are her favorites to play with.

Ren was pretty content with the male traveler (mc boy solidarityyy) until he got Diluc from a 10 pull. Diluc reminded him of his thief suit in the Metaverse. He loves them both dearly.

Goro’s favorite is Tartaglia/Childe because shut up they’re the same person. Also he will use literally any character except Zhongli. Goro hates Zhongli. If ya know, ya know.

When Futaba isn’t flexing on everyone with all her fancy five star characters, she likes using Venti and Diona because she claims she vibes with them. She occasionally plays as Zhongli just to harass Goro

Since Yusuke is broke af he puts up with the four free characters for the longest time. Though he manages to get some characters he likes out of pure luck. Yusuke always has to play as Albedo or Xingqiu when he’s exploring the game’s environments.

Haru doesn’t really strategize with characters. She just likes using the ones she thinks are cute. Barbara and Klee are her go-to’s. She likes when they sing their little melodies :3

Makoto tries to rank up every character she has so she can make use of them in different situations. But no matter what she’s always gotta have Beidou on her team because she thinks she’s cool.

Even though Sumire doesn’t play she really likes the character Qiqi. She’s so little and soft and cute! Sumi gets so excited whenever Futaba plays as Qiqi.

Morgana isn’t really into the game, but he makes sure to remind everyone that he’s a way better companion than Paimon.

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #788: After a Cliff Falling Experience (SSBU X Persona 5)

3:40 p.m. at Smash Mansion's Living Room.........

It was a relaxing, peaceful day at the mansion for the Phantom Thieves (Shiho and Lavenza included) as they watch some TV together. That is until......

'Door Open'

Pit: (Weakly Made his Way to the Living Room While Being Covered in Ashes) I'm.....hoooooome......(Fells Down on the Floor in Exhaustion)

'THUD'

Phantom Thieves: (Eyes Widened in Complete Shock Once They've Seen Pit Lay on the Ground) PIT!?

Makoto: Oh my god! (Immediately Makes her Way to Pit Along with the Others) Are you okay!? (Starts Helping Pit Back Up With Ren's Assistance)

Pit: ('Groans a Bit in Pain') Yeah......I think so....

Futuba: Dude, what happened to you?

Ann: Yeah. And why are you covered in ashes?

Lavenza: Were you hit by a nearby fire perhaps?

Pit: Not exactly.....I was uhh....(Starts Rubbing the Back of his Head Back and Forth While Chuckling a bit Awkwardly) Kind of, sort of got thrown off a cliff......

Phantom Thieves: You WHAT!!?

Yusuke: Who on Earth would do such a thing!?

Pit: I dunno....Some guy name Kazuya or some-

Ryuji: Waitwaitwait! You said Kazuya?

Shiho: As in THE KAZUYA MISHIMA!?

Pit: Uh....I think that's what his me is, yeah.

Ryuji: (Eyes Widened in Complete Shock as He's Almost Speechless) Holy fucking shit.......

Shiho: (Covers her Mouth in Complete Shock) Oh my god.....

Ann: (Turns Ryuji and Shiho in a Not of Confusion) You guys know him or something?

Ryuji: KNOW HIM!? That's the guy from Tekken!?

Shiho: He's the guy with literal devil powers!!!

Lavenza: (Eyes Widened in Genuine Surprise) Oh my.....

Ren: Ah yeah.....Tekken. (Turns to Ryuji) I remember you telling me about it that time school. (Turns to Pit) What makes you wanna go after that guy?

Pit: Well, for starters, we really haven't heard from Ganondorf all day yesterday. So Kirby and I decided to look for him all night. Once we eventually arrived at this....Volcanic Mountain looking place, the first thing we saw was that Kazuya guy carrying Ganondorf to a cliff and throwing off there.

Ryuji: (Eyes Widened in Complete Shock) FOR REAL!?

Haru: (Couldn't Believe What She's Hearing) I-I don't understand! Why would he do such a thing!?

Pit: I'm not entirely sure myself, but he did say something about wanting to fight worthy opponents or whatever.

Yusuke: So he's like Ryu then?

Ryuji: Yes......

Shiho: ......And no..... He's way more cold and ruthless than Ryu is in his Messatsu Form.

Ryuji: And that's all because the whole Mishima Family in general was messed up from the start.....

Ann: (Turns to Ryuji and Shiho) How do you two know all of this?

Ryuji: Shiho and I used to play a lot Tekken growing up.

Shiho: (Smiles Softly at her Girlfriend) You should play it with us sometime, Ann. It's really fun.

Ann: (Shrugs While Smiling at her Girlfriend) Sure. I'm down.

Makoto: Guys, we're going off topic here! (Turns Back to Pit) How exactly did you gotten yourself like this? Did you.....

Pit: Yeah....I tried to fight myself, but...beat me to the punch. (Winces a bit in Pain While Placing His Hand on his Stomach) literally.... And then after that, he tries throwing Kirby off the cliff too-

Everyone: He WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?

Pit: (Gets Startled by Everyone's Sudden Outburst Before Speaking Again) Y-Yeah. After I got beaten up and thrown off a cliff, he immediately grabs Kirby by the head and threw him out there too!

Futuba: (Had Enough) OKAY, SERIOUSLY!? What is with this guy and throwing people off CLIFFS!!!?

Pit: That's what I wanted to know!! It's like he has some kind of sick, twisted enjoyment out of it too! I even saw a glimpse of him smirking while I was falling!

Ryuji: I mean, he was thrown off a cliff when he was six. So.......

Futuba: (Starts Pinching her Nose in Disbelief) Oh my freaking God........

Makoto: (Turns to Pit) Pit, do you have any idea where Kirby must've fallen down to once you were on the ground?

Pit: I.... can't say that I do really. All I remembered is seeing was Kazuya preparing to toss Kirby off there with me. After that, I blackouted....

Ren: Wait a minute. Couldn't Kirby fly or-

Ann: I'mma kill him.

Ren/Makoto/Pit: (Slowly Turn their Heads at Ann with a Surprised Look on Each of their Faces) What?

Ann: (Turns to the Trio With Anger in Her Eyes) You heard me. I don't know who this Kazuya guy is and I don't care at this point!! I am going to find the jackass and pulverize him myself!!

Shiho: (Turns to Ann with a Determined Look on her Face) I'll go with you.

Ann: (Gently Grab Both of Shiho's Hands) No, Shiho. I don't want him to hurt you.

Shiho: (Gently Squeezes Ann's Hands) It's okay, Ann. I may not have Personas like you guys, but I've been training for a while now. I can fight too.

Ann: ('Sighs in Defeat') Fine. But you are staying right by my side in all of this, alright?

Shiho: (Nodded in Agreement) Right.

Ryuji: (Turns to Girls With Anger in his Eyes as Well) I'm going too! I don't give a damn he has crazy devil powers! Ain't no way I'm letting him get away with hurting our friends like that!!! And maybe even Ganondorf!!

Yusuke: You know.....(Puts on a Dark Look in his Eyes) It has been a long time since I've used my blade in action.....

Haru: (Has a Darken Look on her Eyes as Well) Couldn't agree more.....My axe has gotten quite dull as of late.....

Morgana: Normally I don't join in on the violence bandwagon immediately....(Puts on a Anger, Determined Look on his Face) But patience be damn! That devil's paying the piece!!

Haru: Well said, sweetie!!

Morgana: (Turns to Lavenza) Lavenza, you're coming with us?

Lavenza: (Already Has a Darken Look on her Face as Well) Of course.....I will punish thee for his cruel and thoughtless actions that was stow upon our two companions. And I will not hesitate to use my full potential in the process. In other words.....(Summons a Blue Colored Chainsaw on the Palm of Her Hands With a Loud Ripping Sound to Boot) The bastard will pay.

Futuba: (Angrily Pumps her Fist Up in the Air) AH YEAH! Let show that punk who's boss!!

Morgana: (Turns to Futuba) Futuba, you don't even know how to fight.

Futuba: (Pours at Morgana) Oh yes I do! Big sis Sae has already taught me the ropes of Self Defense and everything!

Ryuji: We can talk about that later! Right now..... (Points at the Front Door Fiercely) LET'S GET HIS SORRY ASS!!

Everyone: YEAHHHHHHHH!!!!

Makoto: THAT'S ENOUGH!

Makoto stomps her feet to the ground loud enough to get the rest of the Phantom Thieves' attention.

Makoto: ('Sigh') Calm down and think rationally on this, people! We can't go out there and recklessly fight him like that! He could be powerful enough to stop ALL OF US for all we know!

Ren: Makoto's right, guys. And fighting him is not our main focus at the moment. What we need to do right now is find Kirby and bring him back home.

Lavenza: (Stares at the Couple for a Brief Second Before Sighing in Defeat) The Joker and Queen are right....(Makes the Chainsaw Magically Disappear Out Thin Air) It would be foolish of all of us if we rush in without a proper plan of some kind. We must find Kirby at once.

Ryuji: But how are we gonna him in a huge ass town like this? He could anywhere for all we know!

?????: Poyo!

Ryuji: Hey, Kirby. But as I was saying, I- ('GASPS')

Everyone in the room immediately turns around and sees Kirby happily waving at them.

Kirby: Poyo! Poyo!~

Everyone: (Smiles Brightly at the Smiling Pink Puffball) KIRBY!!~

And with that, everyone (with the exception of Ren, Makoto, and Pit) immediately rushes over to Kirby and express how worried and happy they are about his whereabouts and return.

Makoto: (Watches Everyone in the Background While Sighing in Relief) Well....at least Kirby's back home.

Ren: (Smiles Softly) And not a spec of ashes in his body.

Pit: ('Sighs in Relief and Happiness') I'm so glad......I thought I would actually lose him forever. I would've been really pathetic if that were to happen....

Ren: (Eyes Widened at What Put Just Said) You would've been what now?

Makoto: (Turns to Pit with Worry in her Eyes) Pit, what are you talking about?

Pit: Oh....Well, before or....maybe after Kazuya threw me off of a cliff, he...calls "pathetic".......(Starts to Frown Sadly) And I'm starting think he's rig-

Ren/Makoto: NO HE'S NOT, PIT!!

Ren: Don't believe a SINGLE word from his mouth!!

Makoto: You are NOT pathetic, Pit! And you never will be!

Pit: B-But I lost a fight against him! A-And I wasn't even strong enough to protect Kirby.....

Ren: But Kirby's fine now. He knew he was able to float and use that opportunity to fly away safely.

Pit: I-I mean.... You're right, but-

Makoto: (Gently Place her Hands on Pit's Shoulders) But nothing, Pit. We know what happened to the both of you last night was terrible, but you still did everything you could to stop that man regardless of how strong he was at the time and we couldn't be anymore proud. So please.....(Gently Hugs Pit Lovingly) Don't ever think that way about yourself again.....

Pit: (Almost at a Loss of Words) You guys.....(Tears Starts Falling Down From his Eyes) ('Sniff') I'm sorry.....('Sniff') We didn't mean to worry you....

Ren: (Joins in on the Hug) Hey man, you have nothing to apologize for here.

Makoto: Ren's right. We're just happy that you and Kirby are back home safe.

Ren: We love you, Pit. (Kiss the Top of Pit's Head) Always.

Pit: I....('Sniff') (Gently Hugs Ren and Makoto Back) I love you guys too.....('Sniff') So much.........

@keyenuta

@princekirijo

@caleb13frede

@26shann

@cyber-wildcat

@albion-93

@ma-lemons

[setsuntamew]

So, Persona 5 Royal, huh?

Full disclosure: I had gotten about halfway through November on Wednesday and finished it out Saturday night, which took uhhh about 65-70 hours? Some of that was sitting there waiting for the PS4 controller to recharge or listening to music in the Thieves Den while eating, but I still feel like I need to own up to how extremely bad I am at making good decisions with my life XD

MOVING ON, THOUGH, HOLY SHIT. P5 was a very good game, but Royal’s additions & changes made it incredible. I like the ending way more; I think it’s more emotionally fulfilling and meaningful, especially with everyone’s more defined future plans. Definitely felt like everyone had more growth in the end!! Which is something I’d always thought P5 was lacking.

Snip snip for spoilers and the fact that this post ended up being too damn long, oops! the last third is basically Akechi feels and analyzing his ending, so......yeah XD

Part of why I plowed through SO much of Royal in so little time is....Akechi XD Like okay, this is my stupid fandom blog, I can be excited about him all I want!!! I got to Sae’s Palace and just....I couldn’t put it down. @dragonofeternal​ and I ordered an embarrassing amount of takeout instead of cooking because we just had to see how everything with Maruki and the third semester was gonna go down. I’d already been dying along the way because Akechi’s confidant dates are so good, I just. Fuck!!!

Also, look, for the entirity of Shido’s boss fight and the depths of Mementos/Yaldabaoth/etc, we’d look at each other every few minutes and just be like AKECHI SHOULD BE HERE WITH US, HE DESERVES TO GET HIS VENGEANCE ON HIS SHITTY DAD AND FORCED DESTINY!!!!!

December 24th had to be the longest god damn day in Akira’s life because like. Final exam grades are posted in the morning! He goes to school and then dives into hell, crawls his way back out, briefly dies by fading from human cognition, fights an actual fucking god, and then....ends up dissociating in Shibuya until Sae shows up and is like “oh hey thanks for everything you did, please sign up for being arrested now.” And while he’s still reeling from that, Akechi walks up to take his place, like some kind of bullshit knight in shining armor schtick, and leaves no room for conversation.

AND THEN WE HAVE TO GO ON A DATE

I romanced Hifumi this time around, because I wanted Akria to bang a girl who is just so incredibly out of his league, but....it’s not necessarily that I forgot I was dating someone, more that it had been *so many hours of plot* that I was emotionally exhausted. Like, Hifumi texted me and I was just like. Right. RIGHT. It’s still Christmas Eve, somehow. I was at *school* this morning. The whole world merged with Mementos briefly in the middle of this, Akechi is somehow alive, and I guess I’m going on a date now????

I do appreciate how many “god I’m just dissociating my way through this” conversation options there were for the date, tbh. I feel bad though, I really like Hifumi, but I feel like Akira is not giving a date his full emotional attention at that specific time. It feels a bit like emotional whiplash, more so than I remember it being in P5? Maybe it’s because I played it 4 years ago and there wasn’t the added emotional weight of Akechi’s reappearance, but it was just like....a lot, in Royal.

AND THEN THE NEW YEAR HAPPENED. I’d been spoiled on large parts of the third semester, mostly because Royal’s been out for a year already and I’m too curious for my own good. I’d also somehow lied to myself, saying I didn’t have time to play another Persona game right now, and yet here I am, 171 hours of game play within exactly a month, kicking myself for not knowing how deep in Persona hell I would get XD

Which is to say, as soon as the new year started, it felt I was drowning in anxiety. I knew something was wrong, I knew they were in a false reality, but knowing that sure as fuck didn’t make it easier to go through. If anything, it was somehow worse, knowing that it was all gonna come crumbling down, but I didn’t yet know the exact details, only the broad strokes of it. Just. Every time someone talked about something that was wrong, my heart would clench.

God, I’m so fucking tired, I pulled an all-nighter on Friday so I could get through Royal before having to work on Sunday, and I am feeling it right now. Life tips: don’t do what I do XD

Every moment with Akechi felt like borrowed time, at least for me, because I knew what was coming. I spent so much time in Mementos with him; I ended up putting just him and Akira in my party and plowing through everything, including trouncing the Reaper over and over just for the hell of it. I got his ultimate weapons, I spent so many nights in the jazz club with him that he ran out of dialogue options, and I still took him back for more. I accidentally failed to EVER trigger Sumire’s Showtime because every fight was just Akira and Akechi against the world, because fuck it, I’m playing this for fun!! If I want to play with them in stupid costumes and no one else in the party, I’m gonna. Royal did such an incredible job giving Akechi more depth and development: it was all I could hope for, and it made it that much fucking worse to know what was in store for him.

Somehow, I thought it would be harder for me to make the decision to refuse Maruki’s deal, since fuck, fuck what I wouldn’t give for Akechi to be alive???? But I barely hesitated, only really stopping because I had to emotionally brace myself for it, because a reality where he can’t carve out his own fate would be a disrespect to everything their relationship is built on.

I have a whole shit ton of feelings about post-beating Maruki but they’re basically all Akechi related meta so somehow they ended up at the end of this post, I’m sorry XD

I understand that they had to keep the going to jail bit because 1) Akechi didn’t turn himself in, Akira did and 2) it leads to the final events of the game, but let me just say....the emotional roller coaster of fighting Maruki, almost failing multiple times, waking up in jail, the Phantom Thieves & friends getting Akira out of jail, celebrating that, and then getting thrown into Valentines Day was a LOT for my heart to take. Once again, didn’t forget I had a girlfriend, just got too invested in the plot to really be thinking about her. It’s less than two weeks after the fight with Maruki and somehow, everything is supposed to be okay????

The scene with everyone talking about their future plans is such good character growth, though. Everyone feels like they’ve truly grown and are making decisions that, even though they might be painful or hard at times, are ultimately very important to them. It’s a really good contrast to the “almost everyone goes to Shujin and they all stay in Tokyo forever without doing anything for themselves” Maruki’s perfect reality bad end.

Standing in the Underground Mall on White Day, being told I had to get flowers but finally being able to have control of Akira again was....so bittersweet. The fact that the location of the date is the aquarium is a low fucking blow, and I almost threw the controller across the room I was so upset. Like. THE AQUARIUM IS UNLOCKED BECAUSE AKECHI HAS TICKETS HOW FUCKING DARE SOJIRO SUGGEST IT LIKE MY HEART ISN’T STILL ACHING????? God, speaking of that: The fucking god damn Featherman video game tore my heart out because I ended up playing it WHILE WORKING ON SHIDO’S PALACE and I cried a ton about Gray Pigeon because of course they had to dig the emotional knife in even deeper!! Just fuck me up, it’s fine, I’m just dying!!!!!!!!!!!!

I ended up scrolling through his texts to find the group chats that still had Akechi in them, and fuck, it was a LOT. Like. Maybe it’s because I’m too invested in the two of them, but it was probably the worst emotional whiplash of the whole game. Like, how am I supposed to go play happy with anyone while staring at texts from a reality built of lies? It wasn’t real but the proof lives on in his phone and his heart, and I’m still fucked up over it.

HOWEVER. FUCKING. I SPENT LIKE HALF AN HOUR BEING EMOTIONALLY COMPROMISED ABOUT ALL THIS AND THEN DISCOVERED THE BASTARD STILL HAD ALL HIS EQUIPMENT, INCLUDING THE ULTIMATE MALE ARMOR!!! He returned his shit after Sae’s Palace even though he thought Akira was dead, but this time it didn’t get fucking returned to my inventory, so he must have fucking run off with all his shit!!!!!!! Why the hell did none of it get returned if he was never alive in the true reality? Like I know it'll be returned for a new game+ but I like to nitpick game mechanics for story reasons, because one of the things I love most about video games is the experience of them as another layer to the story. The texts from the third semester shouldn’t exist anymore, since they never really existed, but there they are. Akechi insisted that he has a gap in his memory after Shido’s Palace up until seeing Akira on Christmas Eve, but who can say that wasn’t related to Maruki tampering with reality or some other Persona-related reason?

I mean. I got the full and complete True Ending; I saw him in the train station. If that’s not Akechi, then who the fuck is it? Atlus made sure to put the work in to make him a part of not just the main story but also, especially, the third semester, and for what....to have his final time on screen be as the butt of the joke, squished underneath everyone in the Mona-copter? As much as it hurts, his end in Shido’s Palace matters; it fits his character and he gets to go out fighting- carving his own path, really. In Royal, barring the tiny glimpse of someone who’s probably him in the train station, the last we see of him is when he watches Joker let go of the rope to finish off Maruki. I know we got the heart to heart where Akira agrees to reject Maruki’s deal and Akechi insists that he’d rather be dead than live in a false reality, but.....no one even says goodbye to him. It’s tragic, it’s painfully lonely, but it doesn’t feel right for such a major character.

Also, as undignified as it is, for the first time ever, Akechi looks like he actually belongs in the Phantom Thieves in that final moment. He’s never been the butt of their jokes before; they always kept him at arms’ reach and he took himself too seriously to be included, but for that brief moment, it really felt like he was part of their group. He stopped lying about himself for their last month together, and so even if they don’t all like him, they can make that decision based on the truth, instead of layers of lies. His death is all the more tragic for this; a life cut short just when he’s finally finding a place he belongs. But his death was already painful; why make it so, so much worse?

Final thing: I’m gonna be spending a ton of time in the Thieves Den trying to find Akechi’s opinions on everything, but also....hey. HEY. What do those six stars that Jose (probably?) painted on the wall mean? Is it just a reference to Persona 6???? LIKE????? I HAVE QUESTIONS. SO, SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!!

Anyway, I’ve gotta go cry into my Starbucks and desperately try to focus on actually doing my job at work, but I loved Royal deeply and cannot wait to drown in it ;w;

[hostess-of-horror]

The Stranger

[This is a retcon of my previous story, "An Unexpected Guest." I wanted to start all over because I didn't know where to take the story and it felt rather fast and sloppily written. It will have a similar plotline but approached in a different (and better) way. Also, M.B. is my self-insert OC, the character Jawaii belongs to @strawbunniiee and Phantom belongs to Nintendo/Ubisoft.]

For @strawbunniiee, @salamifuposey, @kindpopstar, and everyone else who wants to read it!

---

Jawaii: "Again, again!"

[Jawaii laughed as she is lifted up and thrown into the air. After a few seconds of airtime, she falls right back into Phantom's mitten-like paws. Her tiny frame perfectly fits into his palms like a little doll. Phantom giggles along with her, and hugs her into his chest.]

Phantom: "Whew! My arms are getting tired. How about we head on over to my theater?"

Jawaii: "Okay!"

[They begin to venture back into the theater. A dense, eerie fog looms over the land of Spooky Trails. The further they went, the thicker the fog became.]

Jawaii: "It's so foggy! I can't see anything."

Phantom: "Every now and then, Spooky Trails would become hidden by fog. And by the looks of things, it appears to be a full moon out tonight. What perfect timing, and how awfully fitting!"

Jawaii: "Yeah, it makes sense, considering how creepy the place is. I'm not scared though."

Phantom: "Heh... For many travelers, nights like this are the reason why so many of them often get lost. Some of them just head back to where they came from. But for me and the other inhabitants, a foggy night is normal. Think of it as like a rainy day for the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom."

Jawaii: "I think it's cool! It's like we're floating on clouds!"

[Jawaii reaches out and waves her hand into the fog. A cool breeze chills her skin as white wisps pass through her fingers.]

Phantom: "It certainly does. I love the fog. It brings such a wonderful atmosphere for whenever I sing. Ethereal and otherworldly. I can blend easily amongst the fog and no one could see me!"

Jawaii: "Really?"

Phantom: "Yes! Despite my, well, rather massive size."

Jawaii: "You would be the ultimate champion of hide-and-seek!"

Phantom: "Oh well, I wouldn't say that... unless the competition is in Spooky Trails."

[Jawaii giggles. Suddenly, their conversation is cut short as Phantom abruptly stops.]

Jawaii: "What is it?"

Phantom: "The gate... I thought I closed it."

[Jawaii turns to see the silver gate that stands guard in front of Phantom's theater. She notices it has been left opened. Phantom gently lets her down to investigate.]

Phantom: "Someone must have pried it open." *turns to Jawaii* "Stay here."

[Phantom floats over through the gate and into his theater. Jawaii watches as he looks around, searching for any more signs of trespassing. She inches forward to investigate as well.]

Phantom: "Thieves... whoever opened the gate must be a thief! I don't know how they did it, though, it's a very heavy gate."

Jawaii: "There aren't any scratches, at least so far. Maybe they... crawled over the gate and opened it on the other side?"

Phantom: "Hmmm... Whatever happened, I do hope they didn't steal anything of value."

????: "Looking for this?"

[Phantom spins around to look behind. Standing across from him is a trio of thieves, grinning and chuckling menacingly. The shortest one in the front of the other two is holding a vinyl, spinning it in his hand. Jawaii runs over to Phantom to stand guard.]

Phantom: "Jawaii, no!"

Short Thief (#1): "Awww, look at dis, fellas! The big guy's gotta lil' baby doll to save his big behind! I think she wants to meet the Bandit Boys in person!"

Tall Thief (#2): "Yeah!"

Middle Thief (#3): "Hehehe, yeah, boss!"

Thief (#1): *mockingly* "Why hello there, little girl! Do you wanna play tea party with us and your friend over there?"

[The Bandit Boys cackle in unison. Jawaii growls and prepares her battle stance. Her hands shapeshifting into long sharp swords, glistening underneath the moonlight. The thieves immediately stop as they notice. Phantom prepares to fight alongside Jawaii.]

Thief (#3): "Da fuq?"

Jawaii: "I... don't..... LIKE TEA!!!"

[As she screeches, Jawaii leaps towards the Bandit Boys in an attack. She lands on the tall thief (#3) and the other two separate in defense. Thief (#1) holds the vinyl close and Thief (#2) goes to attack Phantom, but is immediately met with a musical sonic wave as Phantom belts out a hig note. He goes flying and lands farther back into the ground.]

Thief (#1): "You knucklehead! Get the girl!"

Thief (#3): "Get her offa me! She's poking me!"

Jawaii: *stabbing* "Give! Phantom! Back! His! Vinyl! THINGY!!!" *more stabbing*

[Thief (#1) groans and runs towards Jawaii. He flings her off of Thief (#3), sending her falling on the ground. Jawaii winced in pain; Phantom immediately picks her up to protect her. Thief (#2) gets up and joins the other two. Thief (#3) is covered in wounds but he still stands.]

Thief (#1): "Alright... you two can put up a fight.... Heh, but not for long... We still got our loot!"

Thief (#2): "Hehehe, yeah, we got it!"

Thief (#3): "Hehe... heh... owww...."

Phantom: "Leave this place now!

Thief (#1): "Or what? You're gonna put on a performance? Sing a musical number like some Disney princess? Nah. I don't think so. In fact, you've got something else. Something that is very, very valuable. Inside that belly of yours... is a gramophone. A very expensive gramophone."

[Thief (#1) pulls out a knife. Phantom is taken aback and backs off slowly.]

Phantom: "How... do you know?"

Thief (#1): "I know a lotta things. That's why I'm the leader. Now... where to cut..."

[Before Thief (#1) gets a chance to do any damage, an explosion of shimmering light blinds him. After regaining his sight, he finds himself and the other two thieves surrounded by a strange aura. A magical curse was cast, trapping the Bandit Boys within its barrier. The barrier appears to be strange smoke, fading in between the colors neon purple and neon green.]

Jawaii: "Woah..."

Phantom: "What... on earth?"

[The silver gate creaks. Everyone turns. There standing at the entrance is an unfamiliar face, with her right hand lifted up in the air. In her hand is the same kind of aura the magical circle was emitting. She continues to walk towards the Bandit Boys.]

Jawaii: "Phantom, do you know who that is?"

Phantom: "I've never seen her before in my entire life."

[As the stranger continues to walk, she twirls her hands, bending the aura to her will. As she does, the magical circle twists and contorts into a mass of skeletal spirits. The Bandit Boys huddle together, avoiding their bony grasp. The spirits moan and wail into an anguished cacophony, cornering the thieves as they reach out and crawl towards them. The stranger laughs at their fear. She then bends the aura again, this time having the spirits hold them down while she walks up to them. Soon, raspy voices begin to call out.]

Spirits: "Cut them.... cut them open.... dissect them.... dissect them all.... their insides are valuable.....!"

Thief (#1): "W-wait a minute! Hold on there, now! We're just thieves! And it's only one measly vinyl! Isn't this all a bit extreme?"

Thief (#3): "Y-yeah! W-we.... we can give you money! You can have all of it!"

Thief (#2): *whimpering* "Just... just don't hurt us!"

[The stranger stares at the Bandit Boys, saying nothing. She then motions her hand, allowing herself to walk through the magical circle. The spirits all look at her and bow one by one. The Bandit Boys watch as each one respectfully worship her. Who is this woman, and what kind of sorcery is this? She walks up to Thief (#1) and kneels down, looking at him eye to eye.]

Stranger: "Do you really think apologizing or bribery is going to work?"

Thief (#1): "...."

Stranger: "I'm going to give you a choice. I want you and your 'gang' to leave. Not just them, but everyone. I suggest you give up your greedy ways and actually get a life for once. Or, if you'd rather not..."

[The stranger motions her hand again and the spirits transform into an amalgamation of monsters. They writhe and contort, baring their teeth, clawing their flesh, their eyes wild with hunger. Their howling echoes throughout the theater.]

Stranger: "... then take a chance. I dare you..."

[The Bandit Boys suddenly scurry away in fear. Thief (#1) hand over the vinyl and follows behind, never looking back once. The stranger sighs and stands up, examining the vinyl.]

Stranger: "I hope there aren't any scratches on it."

[She turns around and sees Phantom and Jawaii staring at her with wide eyes. A moment of silence between them all passes.]

Jawaii: "That was... AWESOME! How did you do that?! Tell me, tell me!"

Phantom: "...."

[Phantom remains speechless as Jawaii hops out from his arms and approaches the stranger. The stranger looks at Phantom, her excitement getting the best of her.]

Stranger: "I can't believe it... it's you! You're still here after all this time!"

Phantom: "Excuse me?"

Stranger: "I was looking for you! I heard in the Mushroom Kingdom many stories about you. Some say you were gone after Mario defeated you, and some say you were still around. A few believe that you're nothing but a ghost story. I had to find out for myself."

Jawaii: "A ghost story? But he's as real as I am!"

Phantom: "Madamoiselle, I greatly appreciate your help and for saving me and my friend, Jawaii, here. But, do forgive me, who are you?"

Jawaii: "Oh yeah! What's your name?"

Stranger: "Oh, uh... my bad! Should've introduced myself first... my name is M.B. Consider me as a really big fan." *smiles*

[p5youllneverseeitcoming]

Persona 5 Strikers/Scramble

So! I finished the story of Persona 5 Strikers and I wanted to share my thoughts as I have soooo much to say but cannot share with my friends due to spoilers :’) I am currently playing on a New Game+ as, ya girl wants the Platinum Trophy :o

I will talk about some of the things that I really liked here (Spoiler free don’t worry) AND include spoilery things under the cut so I won’t ruin the experience for anyone else!

The Plot

Obviously this takes place after the original Persona 5 story finishes and as opposed to a whole year, you just get 1 month with the Phantom Thieves. I really liked exploring all the cities you travel to and the character interactions were so cute!! I really like the two new characters introduced (Sophia and Zenkichi Hasegawa). Both of them fit the story so well and their interactions with the other Thieves are honestly so good and pure! Also?? Their outfits? Amazing T_T It was such a nice change seeing everyone in casual outfits as opposed to their school uniforms!

I also loved the fact that you could choose to play with characters that get introduced late game like Haru for example straight away. I for one, always have her in my party as soon as she’s available so having her for the whole game was like a dream come true haha. I’ll talk about Sophia and Zenkichi a bit more under the cut but I will say that it’s so fun to play as them! I personally prefer Sophia more as she has healing skills which are always really useful and she uses yo-yo’s for her weapons which are so fun to use. Zenkichi uses a great sword which is very Final Fantasy of him and I am loving it. I love their Phantom Thief outfits! Sophia looks super cute in her floofy coat and boots and Zenkichi just looks so cool! His hat is goals, I want one T_T

The anime cutscenes in the game are also... Omg... I just can’t help but fangirl over how everyone looks... ESPECIALLY SOPHIA OML, she’s so... Bby... And of course, the dialogue options you can choose are so funny, then again what else can you expect from a game that had the option to say “you jelly?” to Ryuji.

I won’t spoil the main plot but this game works similarly to Persona 5 in the sense of, you still go into dungeons but these ones are a lot shorter and when you leave the dungeon, the days don’t actually move forward, only specific story points advance the days. So essentially if you wished, you can stay and grind for as long as you like!

The Gameplay

I won’t lie, as expected from a hack-and-slash it gets quite chaotic at first if you don’t fully know what’s going on but you get used to it pretty quickly! The game gives you tutorials whenever anything new appears and you get the hang of it pretty well by the first dungeon. You still only have 4 characters in your party and Akira must always be present but here you can actually run around as the other party members when the battles are over! Also? Morgana gets comical sound effects when he does things like jumping and running and I was LIVING for it.

The other thing that changed is, obviously it’s not turn based so if you were like me and wore the SP restoring accessories to get 7SP back each turn, you’re in for a last surprise! In this game you actually use your items quite a lot as there isn’t a limit to how much you can use as you access them mid battle by pausing. Later on you get specific skills that restore your SP after each battle or by performing All Out Attacks and 1 More’s so honestly, SP isn’t really a problem for regular battles. I mainly found it running out quickly when I was fighting some of the optional bosses but I always had SP restoring items so it was all good hehe.

You still do things like All Out Attacks and 1 More’s in this game but you also do something called ‘Showtime’ which is very similar to the ones introduced in Royal only in Strikers it’s for one character, you basically build up the showtime gauge as you battle enemies and, once activated, you deal significant damage to stronger enemies like bosses as well as all of the enemies in the area. The All Out Attacks also have their own little animation with your party posing and just looking really good!

Yusuke being so extra is honestly such a mood omg... Also Mona T_T So smol.

Every party member has their own special quirks such as Ann and Makoto applying Fire and Nuclear affinity respectively to their regular weapons, Morgana turning into the Mona car and so on. I personally always had Haru and Yusuke in my party and kept switching between the other Thieves to see what I like best. Personally, I really like having Morgana or Sophia as they’re really good healers, Morgana obviously having the more powerful skills such as Mediaharan and Salvation.

Also... The menus... Omg... If you thought the Persona 5 menu was stylish then you will LOVE the Strikers menus. They’re so stylish! And I love that all the Phantom Thieves are there too, it’s so cute T_T

The only thing I don’t like is the game doesn’t pause when your controller dies so uh... I may or may not have died during a boss battle when I was like 2 hits away from winning and then just... Stopped moving letting the boss hit me with a killing combo :)

To be honest though the party that I had pretty much all the time was:

But as I said, I liked to change Morgana and Sophia around every now and then.

The Music

Omg the music. Atlus really just said: Hey what if we made Persona 5 music again but like... More epic?

The song that plays right as soon as you have control of Joker is SO. GOOD. I legit had to pause for like 5 mins just to jam out. I don’t think it will come as much of a surprise but in my opinion, Persona 5 definitely has one of the best video game soundtracks, I absolutely love all the songs!

I will discuss some of the dungeon themes in the spoilers but I absolutely love the soundtrack for this game. Every dungeon theme is so fitting for said dungeon, I genuinely listen to them all the time, especially when doing my research for my essays!

The battle music is really energetic as opposed to the jazzy feel from the original Persona 5 soundtrack but it’s very fitting for the actual battle as you often fly all around the area instead of standing in one spot. I will say, Last Surprise made an excellent comeback despite being an already amazing song which is just, amazing, incredible, fantastic...

Other things

Well, I can’t go into detail due to spoilers but they deadass put a JoJo reference as well as a character in the game :’) The moment I saw them I was fangirling so hard!!! Also? The villain designs in this game??? Amazing. Beautiful. Very creative!

The Phantom Thieves interacting with each other is also really cute! I ESPECIALLY liked the fact that Morgana and Ryuji got along a lot better! They still had small fights here and there but they pretty much apologised to one another straight away which I really liked! Also? Ryuji protecting his friends, especially the girls? Amazing. Wonderful. Cannot help but stan.

Well, that concludes the non-spoiler section which.... Is kinda long haha, Below the cut I will talk about the spoilery things so I advise looking at it AFTER you finish the game!

The Plot

The plot of this game is really fun if you ask me. You travel around Japan defeating Monarchs in Jails AND you get to experience the joys of summer vacation with your friends and your new Persona dad. I really like the fact that you don’t advance time when you leave the Jails because this gives you the chance to grind as much as you want before tackling harder fights like some of the optional bosses. The boss designs themselves were so good! Especially Alice?! My God? She’s beautiful?? Look at her!

Persona 5 Strikers said you can be horny on main... Just this once o_o. She literally steps on Joker in the Jail which o_o Ma’am... Plz but she ALSO steps on her manager in the real world.

I really liked all the bosses in this game because they felt so... Real? Obviously I don’t agree with them for brainwashing people into worshipping them, but I really like how the game gave them backstories that showed why they strayed away from the right path. The fact that the Thieves tell them that they understand their struggles because they themselves went through the same thing (Like Ann and Yusuke) honestly made me appreciate the story that much more. I really liked Haru’s little arc in Sapporo because not only did she help Mariko Hyodo and show her that despite mistakes you can always stand up and start again, but she also got to have more screentime, like that cute fountain scene she has with Akira! ALSO? The Hee-Horde?! I was laughing for a solid 5 minutes when I saw it! It was so cute how Haru, Sophia, Ryuji and Yusuke were so into it while Futaba was just there like: ????

I think my favourite Jail out of all of them will definitely have to be the Kyoto one, a.k.a. the Jail controlled by Zenkichi’s daughter, Akane. Despite how short it is, you can learn so much about her. The overall aesthetic of the jail shows her love to the Phantom Thieves and in the actual Jail theme you can hear fragments of ‘Life Will Change’ and ‘Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There’ which I think is absolutely amazing! The boss fight for this jail honestly took me 3 tries to beat as the first time, I died due to not fully getting how Shadow Joker worked, and the second time, I was about 2 hits from beating him but then... My controller died :’) By the time it turned back on I was already c-c-c-c-comboed to death so :’) This is also the jail where Zenkichi awakens to his Persona and honestly? I found the little segment where he has to sneak around in his usual everyday attire so cute, bless him, he really did adopt 7 teenagers, their cat and an AI daughter.

ALSO?! They deadass put Dio in this game? Like when I first saw Natsume’s shadow I was like: Hm looks kinda familiar...

BUT THEN?!

Needless to say I was fangirling pretty hard.

I liked Akira Konoe, very much vibing with his Power Ranger aesthetic however, I have to say, his boss fights was surprisingly... Easy? At least it felt easy to me which was kind of... Disappointing I suppose for him supposedly being “the final boss” HOWEVER, I very much liked how his calling card was delivered, and the fact that Zenkichi could finally get his revenge was very satisfying! 

Now, let’s talk about the end game, mainly the Abyss Jail.  I did NOT see it coming (haha) that it was Ichinose all along! As I’m currently replaying the game, the fact that she doesn’t want to look at Sophia despite specialising in AI technology should have been my first clue that something is not quite right here! 

When she forces Sophia to attack the Thieves, it honestly broke my heart. The fact that she recognised Joker and Skull... And she threw herself off the ledge just so she can’t hurt them anymore... Yo, I love her so much T_T That’s why her awakening to her Persona (her true Persona) was such a satisfying scene! Her Persona (Pandora) has a really cool design, I especially like the fact that she represents the Hope Arcana (as there was hope left at the bottom of Pandora’s box) and that Pandora herself kept the box-y design from her original “Persona” Pithos. I found it quite funny that all the skills Pithos has ended with a “?”. Anyway, the scene where she tells Ichinose all the things she learnt, and that Ichinose herself has a heart despite believing that she doesn’t for so long was so touching. It showed that Sophia deeply cares for her, despite the fact that she literally said she’s the reason so many people are getting mind controlled by EMMA. The ending scene with the two of them laughing and holding hands... My heart T_T

Now then, let’s talk about EMMA.

I. Loved. The. Final. Boss. Fight.

The fact that the game makes you use ALL the characters for the final fight! As I usually switched out characters here and there, my reserve party members weren’t severely under-levelled which made the fight pretty okay! I had quite... Strange groups I would say as I had Makoto and Zenkichi being a team, Morgana, Ann and Ryuji being a team, and Akira, Haru, Yusuke and Sophia being the final team. The final boss itself, has an absolutely beautiful design. I especially loved the angel like wings because it really showed that EMMA saw herself as a saviour. The cutscene that plays after with all the Thieves dealing the final blows before watching all the desires fall around them was honestly so pretty... Man, this game series is just so aesthetic!

When the credits rolled and all the photos started appearing I couldn’t help but start crying. It really felt like you were actually there, living through all the memories and the fact that Sophia called the photo of all of them together “Treasure”... T_T

The Gameplay

I already pretty much said all I wanted for the gameplay in the non-spoiler section but I will say, the Showtimes and the Master Skills each character learns are so good! I love that once you master all of them you’re bascially unstoppable, I especially love Haru’s and Akira’s as it allows them to deal damage even if they’re a safe distance away from the enemy. The fact that you can learn Bond skills that restore SP with every All Out Attack and One More is honestly so helpful because it saves you going back and forth between the real world but then again, by this point you probably have way too many HP and SP restoring items!

I really liked that Zenkichi has no weaknesses and uses Almighty damage but I find the whole Fury/HP consumption combination a bit weird. After a while you get used to it and obviously you don’t have to activate fury at all but as I said before, I prefer playing as Sophia. Although, I will say that gun wise, I think Zenkichi’s are a lot more fun to use than Sophia’s blasters, but then again that’s just my personal opinion!

The Music

As I said, the music was so fitting for each Jail, I absolutely love it.

The first Jail, you honestly can’t help but bop your head to the beat. It really gives you the impression that you’re in some kind of twisted theme park which really fit the overall aesthetic of the Jail. I loved the vibrant neon colour scheme in such a dark looking place.

The Okinawa Jail... My God that theme was so good. I can’t really explain it but the song really made you feel like you were... Alone, like the place was truly abandoned and forgotten. As soon as the violin started playing I couldn’t help but just stop and listen to it. The overall jail was just so... Creepy. The Shadows there resemebled the shadows you would usually find in the previous Persona games, just this black mass slithering around. I think it was very fitting that they put the Reaper in this Jail. 

As I mentioned before, the Kyoto Jail theme is my absolute favourite. The fact that it has elements of other Persona 5 songs due to Akane being a big Phantom Thieves fan was such a good choice! I love how when you take a closer look, you can see the Phantom Thieves logo on the lanterns and the fact that Shadow Akane herself made a Phantom Thief outfit for herself... Big mood. I loved how all the Thieves encouraged her to try and get along with her dad better AND that they taught Zenkichi how to cook just so he can make curry for her, especially when you remember just how much curry means to someone like Futaba. 

I really liked the remix of Rivers in a Desert, then again what did I expect from a Persona game? The battle music is ALWAYS amazing. I really liked how this played when you fight Konoe as it parallels when you fight Shido in the original, supposedly the final fight, only to find out that there is something MUCH bigger than them.

Other things

This post is already way too long and if you read all of this... Thank you so much. Sadly, I cannot share this with any of my friends as it’s spoilers so I hope you guys don’t mind me sharing this here! I would love to see your opinion of this game!!!

Also? Yusuke and Akira are now canonically dating and I think that’s beautiful

And then that scene later on

Why do you think we came here with Yusuke, Morgana?

TL;DR: I love this game

[nkn0va]

I try again. Persona 5 girls expect Sumite react to their S/O scarifice themself to end Yaldabaoth and girls spend their last moment with them.

Alternative scenario of Yaldabaoth final boss fight where Phantom Thieves can't defeat the God or Joker did not have Satanael's Sinful Shell. S/O did the Minato's move but we just Kaboom ourself along with Yaldabaoth to end it result S/O existence being erase as well.

In the wise words of the snake man: "Kept you waiting, huh?"

Yeah the first scenario is what we're going with. Joker not having Satanael means he hasn't completed the fool's journey and thus failed as a Wild Card in which case the world would be fucked. Also coming up with four ways for S/O to die was way harder than it should've been. This doesn't live up to my personal standard of writing but better to get it out than just keep putting it off.

-It was a complete accident, something that was completely unavoidable, especially with the nature of the foe they were fighting. At least that's what everyone had been telling Ann since the accident.

-Ever since then though, she's only able to blame herself. She was caught off guard by one of Yaldabaoth's several weapons, the sword in particular. She was caught up in dealing damage to Yaldabaoth himself to the point she wasn't able to see it coming.

-You tackled her out of the way, and in the process lost an arm. Makoto and Morgana tried their hardest, but there was no stopping bleeding that severe and you died in her arms.

-No matter what sort of reasoning the rest of the group tries to give her, none of it is enough to console the immense survivor's guilt. A loss that she herself believes she could've prevented, but just like with Shiho, she wasn't good enough to save you.

-This time however though, you weren't coming back.

-Things were currently not looking good. Four whole arms had been sprouted out, all carrying weapons that posed their own very real threat. The possibility of death was looming over them more than ever.

-Makoto, ever the caretaker and tactician of the group, was in particular stressing herself about how to get everyone out of the situation safely, at least until you came up with an idea.

-It was stupid, reckless, and would probably end with you dead, but you recognized that it was your best chance at victory, despite how much Makoto was begging you not to do it.

-Channeling every bit of power your Persona had all at once, you leapt right up into Yaldabaoth's face and put everything you had into one final attack. You took out three of the arms he'd sprouted, but one survived and managed to hit you head on.

-The damage was far too much to heal, and it wasn't long until you inevitably succumbed to your wounds. Makoto sat over your body until you closed your eyes for good, and that was how she stayed for a while.

-She should've come up with something better, she should've come up with a way to save you of all people. No matter how much she tries to reason with herself that it was almost impossible for everyone to escape alive against a god.

-Much in the same way as any other battle, Futaba was in the backlines, unable to directly do anything herself. Usually this wasn't much of a problem, however Yaldabaoth did the unthinkable and went after her.

-Being her S/O, you were the one to step in first, taking a full barrage of projectiles all at once meant to take out Futaba instantly.

-In your last moments, you ask for Futaba to lock in as their navigator and make sure no one else has to die, she's too important to go.

-In the moment she has no choice but to say yes. However afterward is an entirely different story. Yet another person she loved dearly has died in front of her while she was unable to do anything about it.

-She goes back into shut-in mode, not coming out of her room for an indeterminate amount of time. It's a while before she can come out again after being re-traumatized like that.

-Being the gun damage specialist of the team, Haru was tasked with dealing with Yaldabaoth's gun in a shootout, however it wasn't long before she'd faced one too many of them and started to get exhausted. This caused her to let her guard down.

-As it took aim at her, you were the first to realize what was going on and leapt into action, jumping in front of her to take the gunshot instead. Yaldabaoth didn't stop at just one shot though, taking a few more at you until you fell to the ground, in shock from the overwhelming pain and quickly bleeding out.

-Tears quickly well up in Haru's eyes as she watches the life leave yours, telling her it's ok. Telling her that she shouldn't feel guilty, and that you only wish for her to finish the fight in your place.

-She tries to get over you, she really does. She knows you wouldn't want her to grieve over you. No matter how hard she tried though, it was too much. First her father, and now you...

-If only she was stronger. If only she was faster. If only she could've done her job right, you would still be here. Now she has to carry the weight of two deaths on her shoulders.

[shadow-scenarios]

Hello~ may I ask for something slightly specific? I wanted to ask about a scenario in which the reader recently obtains the Meta-Nav but instead of the PT finding out first, Goro does. See, the reader and Goro have recently become acquaintances and reader thinks that the Meta-Nav is something related to illegal activity so she goes to consult their detective friend on this mysterious app! Haha, sorry if this is too specific ;-;

Hey there simulationone, this isn’t too specific!! I like creative ideas that change the plot & this has been my favourite request to write so far.

However, I did change the request slightly. I made it so that the Reader awakened to their Persona & gains the MetaNav!! I hope that’s alright with you. If not, feel free to message me again and I can rewrite it.

{ Post Writing Note: Well, I wrote way too much!! Sorry if there’s less Akechi content than you thought, I got hyperfixated on how it would affect the plot. I’d love to write a Part 2 full of angst with this, so feel free to request it!! }

- Nexus.

Dance with Justice | Goro Akechi

Life at Kosei High was predictable. Like a metronome. Constant pressure to be the best & high achievement boundaries, it was a wonder how she was ever accepted without some sort of moonlighting as a prodigy. These stories of mental shutdowns & psychotic breakdowns made the world look grim & everyone seemed desperate to escape it all.

Comfort was found in the Phantom Thieves and how they manipulated hearts. Dancing the line between immoral & illegal, it was a grey area where the who was less significant than the how. Society grasped onto them as miraculous saviours as they solved cases faster than regular forces ever could: Kamoshida, Madarame, Kaneshiro, Medjed. The world was taken by storm, these renegade rogues looking to change the world & it seemed they were no longer an urban legend.

Their downfall was unexpected, to say the least. Okumura was murdered in cold blood, his mental shutdown playing onscreen during an important meeting where he was about to reveal an important factor in solving this buck-wild case. A calling card was found at the residence, the sigil of their misdeeds. Just when the mystery was about to unravel, the threads gave way to a bigger problem: Did the Phantom Thieves cause the very shutdowns everyone was trying to escape?

Swiftly, the media capitalised. Labelling them as criminals, demanding their arrest. Everything shifted so quickly & she was caught up by the egregious claims of both sides. There was one thing for certain: The Phantoms Thieves had killed someone and regardless of their previous deeds, they needed to be brought to justice.

Naturally, the first viable suspect she found was Yusuke Kitagawa.

He was of the eccentric sort, gaining a scholarship through art. Everything the strange man did was usually for the sake of ‘ Finding true beauty! ’, which was slightly melodramatic. Before Madarame’s case, he was fixated on art singularly. Now? He seemed to have other priorities. Whenever someone would discuss the Phantom Thieves in an art lesson, there was a glimmer in his eye & the paintbrush that had been on the canvas stopped in order to listen in.

A victim of Madarame’s plagiarism, which gave a plausible motive. Despite this, nothing was concrete. She thought about her friend, Akechi. Was this how he solved crimes?

Obviously, the next step was to follow Yusuke around. Sneaking around was rather easy, all she had ever been known as by the student populace was ‘ the girl who was friends with Akechi! ’, so standing out was not much of a problem. There was not much abnormal. Despite being somewhat of a social outcast, he had a small circle of friends. Six in total.

Five of them were clearly wearing the Shujin Academy uniform on the day she spotted them. One was tall in stature with fluffy black hair & thick framed glasses. Reserved in nature but he always appeared to have some sort of witty comeback. Soon he became known as Akira.

Another one was a blonde, around the same height. He wore the uniform much like a delinquent alongside a yellow graphic tee. Obnoxiously loud, as it was never difficult to hear what he was saying even from far away. The person closest to him was Ann. She had platinum blonde hair tied back into pigtails & features of an American.

Makoto was next. Clearly more of a calculating type, she wore the uniform immaculately. Wearing her hair in a French-braid styled headband, she had maroon coloured eyes & was around average height. Most of the time, she was commenting on the boy’s behaviour.

Haru Okumura was someone recognisable due to the news about her father’s death, which was saddening. In her uniform, she wore a fluffy pink turtleneck alongside white tights with flower patterns.

Futaba was just as strange as Yusuke. She used a mixture of gamer jargon whenever she spoke and was never seen in a uniform. About middle school age, she carried around a set of headphones everywhere that regularly rested atop her maple coloured hair.

Stuffed inside of Akira’s bag was also a cat that they tried to hide. Key word: Tried. Six of them & a cat.

They frequented a local cafe in Shibuya, LeBlanc. It was a nice location & she had even gone in there once to listen in. Boss was kind, to say the least. He served coffee with a warm smile & the curry combined perfectly enough to encourage a smile out of her.

On a Friday, the cafe was busy. They had gathered at one table & chatted casually. Most of them looked forelorn. Akira eventually gestured for them to take the conversation outside, where they would disturb fewer people.

Following behind them, she paid Boss & followed, attempting to seem casual. They never noticed. Conspicuously trailing into an alleyway, Ryuji pulled out his phone. Listening in was difficult so she opted to pull out her own phone and record. One of them, presumably Akira, simply said “ Mementos. ”.

Mementos. That singular word triggered something & changed everything. As the world began to violently shift in a strange phenomena, hues of vermillion & mauve dotted her vision. It was hypnotic. Eventually, she snapped out of the trance.

Concealed by masks & flashy outfits were the suspicious group she had been following. It was blatantly obvious by their hair colours. However, the animated cat creature was a surprise. It was reminiscent of the cat Akira carried around but even stranger was that it talked. Then it turned into a bus. Which did not seem all that strange.

Inherently familiar with their environment, they sped off down the escalator, leaving her alone with her thoughts. There were so many reds & greys. Thick red veins ran through the sides in mangled forms. The wall behind her was dilapidated & the only way to proceed was the escalator in front of her.

A fatal mistake, really.

Recalling the details of the awakening are fuzzy at best. These lumbering creatures formed entirely out of shadow began to take notice of her unwanted presence. Cornered, desperate and alone. Insurmountable pain; the voice of someone almost familiar; then freedom & rebellion.

With the pact of her Persona, everything was clearer. Life had previously moved in rhetorical patterns, it was now a whimsical dance. Eliminating the so called enemies with a weapon in hand, she eventually found a way back to the surface. The door at the beginning looked to be a way out, so she threw caution to the wind & took the chance.

Fatigue came first in this dingy alleyway. Adrenaline had been fuelling the push to leave alongside her newly granted power and once that was gone, nothing would spare her from raw exhaustion. Checking her phone in the hopes of finding evidence, the video taken was still there, though it cut off as soon as anyone disappeared.

Even without evidence, she knew that this group was doing something illicit. So she texted the one person she trusted with this secret: Goro Akechi. He was a detective, surely he would have answers.

;; I must speak with you in person as soon as possible. It’s regarding the Phantom Thieves, I have some evidence for you. You’re investigating them, correct?

Knowing full well that Akechi lived a busy life, she did not expect a response for a while. After gathering the strength to stand once again, she headed home. It was the most exhausting experience ever, physically & emotionally. A few minutes after returning home, there was a response from Akechi.

I am indeed investigating them. If you have any evidence regarding them, would it not be more convenient for me to receive it via text? ;;

;; Yes, it would be, but I can barely even believe the evidence presented to me. It’s better for you to see it for yourself. Are you attending school tomorrow?

Indeed I am. Pulling away from the public eye has benefits. If you are free during lunch, we can meet on the rooftop and discuss the supposed evidence that you have found. Does that sound like a compromise? ;;

;; Alright. I’ll see you on the rooftop tomorrow.

The next day was filled with trepidation. Everyone seemed to be mulling about & with how slowly the clock was moving, it was if the school was in a state of chronostasis. Although she did not share many classes with Akechi, there had been a moment where she saw a mop of hazelnut brown hair amongst a crowd, so he was likely to be there.

Sitting on the rooftop alone was slightly boring but she understood why he was late. Every time lunch began, Akechi would be surrounded by people who wanted his attention. It must have been rather annoying.

5. 10. 15. Minutes ticked by. During the winter, it was exceptionally cold so not a single soul came up. The chilly winter breeze nipped at her skin & for a moment she wondered if it was Akechi that she had seen. The brown hair easily could have been mistaken—

The creak of the door announced his presence. With a formal apology, he recalled how his teachers were intent on swarming him with catch up work that he would inevitably never complete. Dismissing it all & moving along with the subject, Akechi got straight to the point:

“ What was it you wished to speak to me about? ”, he asked.

“ I believe I have ascertained the identities of the Phantom Thieves, ” was the only reply she gave.

Looking astounded, he shifted his glove via force of habit & looked directly at her.

“ That’s quite the bold claim, ” he returned to a neutral expression as the mask of the Detective Prince slipped back on, “ Do you have any evidence? ”.

Recalling the story to the best of her ability was tedious. From the suspicious behaviour Yusuke had been demonstrating to the video evidence taken from her phone. Throughout the entire story, he maintained a neutral expression so she was never quite sure what to think.

“ Usually, I would disregard such stories as a strange dream or a vision you had & declare your footage as edited. However, I have... also had an encounter in this strange phenomena as well. ”

Everything began to make more sense as it was explained. Akechi rattled off about the cognitive world, Palaces, Personas & even how ‘ stealing someone’s heart ’ was possible. He explained that his plan was to lend the Phantom Thieves a hand in their next assignment & catch them in the very act. Specifically, their leader.

“ That explains a lot. Let me help you. I have a Persona as well & I can fight in that other world. I want to bring the Phantom Thieves to justice. They killed Okumura & many others if they are the ones behind the mental shutdowns. Tampering with the heart of another is wrong... ”

“... Alright. I suppose it will make things easier if it is the two of us. I hope you are a very good actor,” Akechi extended a reluctant hand for her to shake. His gaze was calculated, cold. Much different from his tone of voice. However, she took his hand & shook it.

With that, a contract was signed. Both herself & the detective would bring about the end of the Phantom Thieves.

Word Count: 1.9k

Publish Date: 27.09.20

[snowpeawritings]

omg I love your writing sm 🥰🥰 Anyways would it be okay to request some fluffy relationship headcanons for Chie, Haru, and Hifumi? I’m so gay for them and I crave content

Reader is gender neutral

CW (CONTENT WARNING): None

❄ Snowpea’s words: Quite a different layout from what everyone was expecting! I really wanted to try my hand at spicing up my old writing layout bc while I do like the gifs, I feel like it wasn’t enough. I think using different colored line breaks would be a good change! I’ll be following this layout for the rest of my works! (or you know at least til the next change which my undecided brain will do tomorrow HAHAHADHSF)

| Chie Satonaka |

- Probably the only time you get to see the boisterous girl so timid and shy. In a relationship, she tends to try and listen to what you want and what you like but she realizes that isn’t how a relationship is supposed to go. So now, she drags you around Inaba for either steak dates or your types of dates. She honestly prefers anything.

- If you were leaning more on being a shy type, she takes it in her hands to start conversations. It’s not really a difficult job for her since she has an abundance of topics to talk about: the newest kung-fu movie, new steak meals provided by Junes, Yosuke’s shenanigans, the list can go on.

- She is a bit self-conscious of who she is. She knows she’s not as pretty or feminine as the rest of her girl friends so she wonders what did you see in her. Times like these, you would comfort her that you loved her for who she is and she's her own person. Talks like those boosts her confidence a lot so she's thankful for you.

| Haru Okumura |

-Known to be quite the epitome of femme, she would always be prepared with handy skin care products and make-up. Hence she would always rope you in on her skin care routine and have you wear matching face masks. Healthy skin means a healthy life for her!

-Spoils you rotten. We've seen her treat the Phantom Thieves to an exclusive dinner in the theme park, why wouldn't she spoil you for an entire day having the park to yourselves? You're quite the lucky one to have the esteemed Ms. Okumura as your girlfriend!

-Oh yeah, you killed Sugiura. No ifs, buts and hows, he's thanos'd. Reduces to atoms. Never mentioning him again.

-Of course there would be people who don't agree with your relationship, mostly Haru's coworkers looking for the good of the company. Those times she takes a foot down and upright yells at them to leave you alone. She's the boss now and she won't tolerate anyone trying to tear you two apart.

| Hifumi Togo |

-She's a bit socially awkward but given time, she'll be meme-ing with you to the ends of the earth. She's not as bad as Futaba but she won't hesitate to say pepega when you do something wrong. It's either you die or you live long enough to say poggers at any given moment.

- She teaches you Shoji, regardless if you were great at it or not. Dates usually take place in the church or in a park with some food on the side. If you were bad, she takes time to teach you but it slowly devolves into a spiral of Shoji but in her own language.

- You won't be hidden from the cameras. Ever since the scandal that she won rigged matches, she's been under fire ever since. But she decides that she wants to start anew and with you by her side, she doesn't have any doubts in her mind.