#sumire... a maruki behind you...

[hypogryffin]

Ur sumi art reminded me but have you read a fic called "Faith for the Second Run" ? It's in AO3

Basically, Ren accepts Maruki's deal of a false reality, and Sumi going back in time to try save the world

Ita a really good fic!! You should give it a read

finally sat down and binge read this and im sooooo obsessed with black mask trio now

{Image ID:

Digital drawings of Goro Akechi, Haru Okumura, and Sumire Yoshizawa from Persona 5. Goro is a tall young man with light brown hair, pale skin freckles, and red eyes. Sumire is a young girl with slightly tanned skin and long red hair that she wears in a ponytail adorned with a bright red ribbon. Haru has fair-toned skin, curly light brown hair, and brown eyes, and she's shorter than both Goro and Sumire.

The first image has the three of them in their normal uniforms - in order from the left to the right, Haru with a white turtleneck and giant pink sweater, Goro, a fawn-coloured double-breasted overcoat and a striped black-and-white tie, and Sumire, a white turtleneck with a black ribbon embroidered on the collar and a black blazer with red buttons. Sumire and Haru are both smiling, and Goro is rolling his eyes.

The second drawing is of all three of them in their summer uniforms. Sumire wears her glasses and a pale yellow cardigan over her polo shirt, and Haru has a sleeveless purple turtleneck with a black ribbon cinching her waist. Both of them wear their uniform's skirt, which is black with a dark red and grey checkered design. Goro has a plain white dress shirt tucked into black slacks, the same black-and-white tie, and leather gloves. His arms are covered in various scars, and he has them crossed as he glowers at the "camera". Haru is smiling with her hands on his shoulders behind him, and behind her, Sumire is laughing with her eyes closed, her hands on Haru's shoulders as well in a line.

End ID.}

[leonawriter]

Thinking (again? Has anyone done this?) of Joker saying Akechi's name during Fear status and literally everyone assumes it's because he's flashing back to the interrogation and his near death experience.

Those present try to push Akechi away from him, when the affects seem to linger, and Akechi himself at first assumes this is the case as well.

They assume that the way Joker is looking around frantically is because he's still sure Akechi is "after him."

Except when Crow loses patience and slaps him out of it with a clawed hand and everyone (aside from Sumire) expects the worst, Joker doesn't freak out and run.

No, he relaxes and instantly, sheepishly, starts to calm down.

Akechi brings it up again when he self-destructively tries to push Akira away by reminding him of it, saying "a part of you is still scared of me, don't deny it-" only for that to make Akira laugh, angry.

He isn't scared OF Akechi. He isn't saying he never had been - it was terrifying, potentially facing death while powerless. But no.

When he's hit by Fear, the worst thing it dredges up is how he felt after Futaba said she couldn't find his signal, that he'd just heard Akechi die behind a barrier he couldn't get past.

It's the worst possible thing for Akechi to hear. It scares him, that trying to push Akira away won't work, that Maruki has his life as such a high value bargaining chip in Joker's eyes and Joker doesn't even know it, and it scares him in general that someone might actually care about him so much.

It means that Akechi outright knows that on 2/2 he's forcing Akira to create another new worst memory of losing him again.

And when he wakes up alive, it adds even more pressure to the idea of letting Akira know he's fine - because if he admits it, then he has to face the ordeal of being loved so much, so powerfully.

[emmajh97-mumaji]

Dr. Takuto Maruki: The Embodiment of LIGHT

Been contemplating writing this for a while, but after posting my Colors Flying High theory I feel the need to finally get it out there.

You ever see a character and think "Every aspect of this character embodies [thing]?" (i.e. every aspect of Elsa from Frozen is icy, every aspect of Spider Punk from ATSV is rebellious)

Well--

I look at Doctor Takuto Maruki from Persona 5 Royal and think... every aspect of him is 'LIGHT'.

"Well no shit. His treasure is a torch and he literally says he wants to be the 'guiding light' for humanity."

OKAY BUT JUST HUMOR ME. Because this goes way deeper than you may think!!

First of all, let’s go over all the obvious light symbolism relating to Maruki...

His Tarot card, The Counselor, having an illustration of what appears to be a sun giving off light beams. 

The predominance of white in his color scheme. His white lab coat at school, his white sweater during third semester, his boss form’s white cape, and of course his pristine white suit in his palace. (Interestingly, his blue/white combo makes him a straight-up inversion of the Phantom Thieves’ red/black.)

Maruki's glasses reflecting light, whiting out his eyes in the classic anime-mad-scientist fashion.

The oppressive, blinding white light prominent throughout his Palace. (Pay attention to how Maruki’s lit in cutscenes; both times he confronts Joker/Crow he has bright light behind him.)

The rainbow lights and crystals in the Psientific Model of Eden-- literally the gimmick of the puzzles is combining light to make certain colors. The fact that the spiral stairs up the tree are made of clear glass to let the colored light through. 

The fact that his palace even has a model of Eden with bitten apples in it, hinting to Maruki having symbolic ties to the fallen angel Lucifer-- the morning star.

The bright chromatic aberration effect that happens when Maruki uses his Actualization power.

The prominence of cameras and surveillance (not just throughout his Palace/Mementos, but also in his final act of the Stay Ending being to take a group photo)-- devices designed to capture light.

The symbol on Maruki’s medallion (and plastered throughout his palace) being three mutated eyeballs/irises. Organic cameras.

Conversely the use of projections-- the projector he shows Sumire’s memory on, the CRTs we watch Maruki’s memories on, all the screens/monitors and hologram doors throughout the Palace.

Maruki’s final boss form being all gold -- the alchemical color of the sun, and very shiny (reflects light). Said form also wields a golden wand with a star/sun (light source) on the top of it.

His evolved persona being Adam Kadmon-- mythologically different from the original Adam because he was constructed not of earth, but of 'heavenly light'. (Even Azathoth/Adam Kadmon's shadowy tendrils have lines of blue/rainbow light coursing through them.)

Maruki's Treasure being a torch, because he desires to make the world a 'brighter' place and be their ‘guiding light’.

The iconic lines of "You are the guiding light of my research" and "Your eyes are as bright and honest as ever... so bright..."

And ALL OF THAT is just the surface level stuff!

Metaphorically speaking, the rabbit hole goes even deeper.

Think about when the player is first introduced to Maruki. You witness firsthand how the other students find him appealing, inviting. His outwardly friendly, clumsy, sometimes even goofy nature brings levity to a situation that was otherwise extremely heavy. It makes the aftermath of the Kamoshida incident lighter.

As a guidance counselor, Maruki’s aid brings enlightenment for his patients. He learns people's innermost secrets and brings their feelings to the light.

Throughout his palace, Maruki is constantly trying to get the Phantom thieves to come to an understanding-- to the point of begging them to see things his way. He doesn’t want the conflict to become serious, heavy. He wants it to be resolved amicably, lightly.

“That’s true, but--” I can hear you saying, “You’re ignoring the giant-tentacle-monster in the room... the fact that all of this is a facade.”

The darker corners, storage rooms, and research facilities of Maruki’s palace. The fact that he even HAS a Palace, filled with Shadows to fight. The fact that the final battle against Maruki takes place in the middle of the night. The grand deception and manipulation tactics Maruki uses against Sumire and Joker to get his way (even if done unintentionally, still shady).

While he may be gilded brightly-- in reality Takuto Maruki is made of darkness. Just like how his ultimate Persona Adam Kadmon’s guts are made of Azathoth’s dark tendrils.

“Maruki is not a avatar of light” you say, “He’s just masquerading as one. He’s the Ruler of Sorrow. An agent of despair in contrast to the hope represented by the Phantom Thieves.”.

Which is not wrong.

HOWEVER.

 HEAR ME OUT-- because this is where it gets really interesting-!!

What truly makes Takuto Maruki an embodiment of light isn’t a complete and total lack of darkness... it’s his overarching story of overcoming that darkness.

Remember that detail about how the Counselor Arcana card looks like it has a sun in it? Well, in a previous post, I’ve discussed how that’s not actually the Sun... but Mars. Mars being the planet associated with the Tarot card The Tower.

The Tower also has an element of light to it, but it is very different from the light of The Sun card. This isn’t a comforting warm light of goodness-- it’s a shocking bright revelatory light of destruction. A lightning bolt.

It is the light of the truth. Of change.

In the Tarot, the card sequentially before The Tower is The Devil-- representing the beautiful lies we chain ourselves to in order to blind ourselves to the painful reality of the world around us. Those vices are the bricks that make up the actual tower depicted in The Tower card. The tower that HAS to be destroyed before we can move on to the next card in the sequence... The Star.

The Star-- which represents rejuvenation. Finding the strength to be vulnerable and face the truth with no pretenses. After losing everything... finally finding true hope from within. Finding the light at the end of the tunnel.

Takuto Maruki may not have died falling off that ledge, but a part of him was killed that fateful night. His delusions of grandeur, his martyr complex, his despair... they all had to be destroyed. Struck down, along with his Palace.

Maruki did everything in his power to resist, but the Phantom Thieves would not let him. They were the lightning bolt that came in to strike down Maruki’s Devil tower and free his soul so he could finally move on to The Star. To show him that they’d rather live in a painful truth where Maruki gets to be someone, than a beautiful lie where Maruki’s life is forfeit. That he, like them, could overcome his hardships and grow.

The Phantom Thieves lifted the self-imposed weight Maruki had on his shoulders. Helping him become his true self.

Someone less hellbent, less hopeless... someone lighter.

“You can start over, like me.” 🌟🔆✨🤍

[darrx-moon]

Artwork Analysis time!

I went though the P5R design works book and uhhh I already thought there was a lot to analyze about the cover art, and after seeing the scrapped design it made me want to analyze it again^^

P5R spoilers ahead:

Joker

• Him being the only one sitting in both versions kinda feels like he’s comfortable with where he’s at in life, a good balance between Akechi and Maruki’s views, but closer to Akechi.

• Joker’s actual shadow being hidden (probably there because that’s how light works but I wouldn’t know cause I’m terrible at knowing where shadows go-) made me think of P4 and that he’s come to terms with repressed parts of himself basically.

• One hand reaching up to his glasses and the other in his pocket in comparison to the scrapped version where both hands are out, tells me 2 things-

That the one in his pocket parallels with Maruki who also has his hand in his pocket, probably about how the two of them have a past that isn’t shared with others (for Joker it was shared with Sojiro, Sae, and the PT by his own choice, the rest of it being shared with all of Shujin outside his control), and that they’d rather keep it to themselves. For Joker, it’s not like it’s kept to himself out of shame or guilt, but more so that his past didn’t really need to control his life and thus doesn’t need to constantly be brought up to anyone.

And secondly, the hand reaching up alludes to the ending where Joker takes off his glasses (and mask in the reflection of the bullet train window). It also keeps Joker looking confident while also adding a deeper meaning compared to the original design of his pose for the cover art.

Akechi

• In the scrapped version he appears more sinister (mostly thanks to the shading choice and tilt of his head), though the decision to have him look confident but in a calm(?) sort of way could indicate the more nuanced Akechi seen in Royal as opposed to the more antagonistic force seen in Vanilla.

• His shadow is most likely behind him and thus can’t be scene, and it’s also due to the fact that his face has the most focus while the rest of him is less seen compared to everyone else. I’d like to think it’s because you only need to see his face and positioning on the stairs to understand that he’s made his decision to be in control of his life and not making any exceptions, so there’s no insight into potential uncertainty in his pose or hands since they aren’t in frame.

• It’s also very fitting that he’s the furthest away from Maruki, seeing as he wholeheartedly rejected the Maruki’s ideals.

Sumire

• She’s the only one actively walking on the stairs, signifying both her deliberation over the decision she has to make in third semester and perhaps a false sense of moving forward. It could be that when she made the decision to ask Maruki for her to become Kasumi, as well as when she actually thought she was Kasumi, that she believed she was moving forward in life, getting better. But going up the steps would lead her to where Maruki is, actually running away instead.

• The difference in Sumi’s literal shadow in the 2 versions is drastic and tells a bigger story in the final version imao. The shadow can be seen as her repressed self again, or as the actual Kasumi, reaching out to either catch up with Sumi or to try and keep her back where she was near Joker. Where Sumi is looking tells that she would only be able to see it in her peripheral at most, also connecting to the fact that part of her was aware what she was running away but she didn’t want to admit it.

• I take her staring in the same direction as Akechi and Joker to just mean that she’s unintentionally fooling the audience, unintentional because she thinks of herself as Kasumi most of the game, and fooling because she’s giving the impression of like “yeah this is me!” sort of thing.

Maruki

• He’s both the furthest away and the only one whose eye’s aren’t visible, his head turned to face elsewhere too- all of which signify the emotional distance he keeps from everyone.

• In the scrapped art, his pose is almost similar but is a lot more carefree and slightly more open with the hand behind his head. In the finalized one, he keeps up the unbothered pose while subtly keeping to himself with not just distance but with his ankle crossing over the other, still having a hand in the pocket, and drinking apple juice with the arm closer to him instead of up-

• Which leads me to the apple juice, immediately thinking of the fact that he likes the drink but also that it could illustrate drowning out sorrows like one can choose to do with alcohol (he’s done it before). It’s just an apple juice here because uhh apple juice and also because it signifies the pure bond he had with Rumi seen with his talk about sweet and salty snacks with her from his past- just 2 lovebirds ^^

• Not only does him being at the top of the stairs provide him with distance, but it also parallels to the fact that Joker and the PT have to climb a staircase to get to Maruki to fight him. This also connects back to Sumi going up the stairs and how Joker had to fight her and save her.

• As for his shadow, it’s not too far away from him but just enough to indicate that while he’s steadfast in his ideals, he hasn’t come to terms with his inner self and past yet due to never taking a proper moment to settle with himself and stop running from the past.

In conclusion? Probably overanalyzed all this tbh-

Ya’ll can ask me what to analyze next…I love focusing on all the little details!

[smolstarthief]

Ok I need to get this ramble off my chest before I forget: I feel like people completely misunderstand Sumi's motivation and breaking point for her first/false awakening. Why? Well let's dive in!

I've seen people complain about it and how seems like it's all about losing her scholarship but dialogue after that awakening actually painted a different picture. I can see WHY it seemed that way but then this part happened:

She WAS upset about it but even she admitted that the school wasn't exactly wrong in this (As assholish as the VP was, he wasn't entirely wrong either sadly).

Instead, contrary to popular belief, she was more upset that she caused trouble for and dragged Maruki into this mess to begin with.

Not only that but she overheard the vice principal basically insulting her behind her back:

Now keep in mind he had a point and didn't know she was in earshot but still it was completely out of line for him to even say that, about a student who already lost her twin not too long ago no less.

On top of that not only did she feel horrible for Maruki but she also horrible for even Joker getting dragged into her mess...

She felt useless and a huge burden to everyone. A failure... Even to her deceased twin sister. Now regardless of which sister died, it had to be a massive blow to her mentally. Especially when you consider that Shujin might have aware of who she really is but still said all those things and did all this to her... Now with Sumi's overall mental state combined with the filter occasionally slipping... Little wonder she finally snapped during that awakening. It's even showcased after it too:

So while the dialogue leading up to her awakening can seem like it's all about the scholarship and losing her special treatment, it really wasn't. She really didn't care about the treatment at all as she had said previously, it's just that she feels that she's hurting and letting people like Maruki, Joker, and her sister down.

Hell, even this dialogue is less about the scholarship too! It's mostly about she's been treated and how much the school is pressuring her and how it's effecting her loved ones and it's valid! Fuck Shujin!

Now the only downside is that she's awakening as a fake, a fraud, not Sumire Yoshizawa but Kasumi Yoshizawa and that was the biggest thing she was missing hence Cendrillon's words during that one:

"So adamant... Rather than accept a life in cinders... You'd strive towards splendor-- you know the risk... Well, if those really are the shoes you've chosen... Then we'll dance to the end. Iam thou, thou art I... Accept this contract... The spell cast upon you."

Regardless though, to boot: She wasn't actually being "whiny," she was just being empathetic and felt worse about herself and this was when she was being Kasumi! It later perfectly ties into her dynamic with Maruki and why she felt empathy towards him after regaining her true self as Sumire!

She had been in his shoes and understands! She's a strong girl! She had FUCKING EMPATHY!! And that's even when she was being someone else. Her awakening as Kasumi wasn't about a dumb scholarship, it was more about her feeling like she's a burden and letting people down... Especially those she cares about like her sister, Dr. Maruki, and Joker to name examples!

[swordsfaires]

Nothing Golden Can Stay

Chapter 2: Tangled Threads of Fate

rating: M

pairings: Yu Narukami/Yosuke Hanamura, Yukiko Amagi/Chie Satonaka, Kanji Tatsumi/Naoto Shirogane (all minor/background)

characters: Yu Narukami, Yosuke Hanamura, Yukiko Amagi, Chie Satonaka, Kanji Tatsumi, Naoto Shirogane, Rise Kujikawa, Teddie, Tohru Adachi, Takuto Maruki, Persona 5 Protagonist (Akira Kurusu | Ren Amamiya), Morgana, Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki, Yusuke Kitagawa, Makoto Niijima, Futaba Sakura, Haru Okumura, Goro Akechi, Sumire Yoshizawa, Lavenza, Igor, Adam Kadmon, Azathoth, other minor canonical characters

tags: Persona 5 Royal Bad Ending, Persona 5 Royal Sleep Ending, Post-Persona 4: Golden. Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Action/Adventure, Persona 4 Spoilers, Canon-Typical Violence, Minor Canonical Character(s). The Phantom Thieves are defeated by Maruki and the Investigation Team steps up to the plate, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Strap in this is gonna be a long one, POV Multiple, I can’t think of more tags at the moment but just read it and trust me, They/Them Pronouns for Shirogane Naoto

After reuniting in Tokyo, the Investigation Team sets out to track down the potential cause of the changes and look into another unusual phenomenon: the rise of the Phantom Thieves.

—

Yosuke leaned back where he was seated on the sofa, crossing his arms behind his head. “Man, can you believe it though? Adachi being let out of prison? And now he’s coming here?”

Rise perched herself on the armrest next to him. “I guess if whatever caused this made it so his victims never died, then it makes sense he was let go.” She frowned. “I’m not sure I buy that he wants to help, though. It feels weird.”

“He seemed to be helpful over the phone.” Yu scrolled to read back on Chie’s texts. “Chie said she went with him to the police station too and he didn’t do anything.”

Kanji folded his arms. “I don’t trust him. He’s already burned us before, what’s to stop him from doing it again?”

“I agree it would be unwise to trust him, but I believe it would be equally as unwise to refuse his help,” Naoto pointed out. “Other than us, he’s the only one we know who isn’t affected by this and has any knowledge of the Midnight Channel.”

“I hate to admit it, but that’s true,” Yosuke said. “Don’t get me wrong, I still can’t stand the guy, but we gotta take all the help we can get.”

[a-nick]

Final Heist: Chapter 5

Just wanted to real quick apologize about something-- I am new to Tumblr, therefor completely overlooked the "read more" feature. So my deepest apologies to those that have just been trying to scroll the tags but have had to go through an ENTIRE block of text. I have now remieded that on all past posts! Now onto the show-- (second disclosure. Chapter 5-6 kinda take a dip in quality due to loss of motivation. But I still REALLY wanted to finish this project-- so it is finished! Just probably not as good as it could have been...)

"Back in the Metaverse with no real answers," Akechi sighs and shakes his head. "Tell me, Joker. What exactly is your plan here?"

"Hey, we may not have gotten any answers. But the others have, guys?" Joker looks to the rest of Thieves. "Who wants to go first?"

Sumire clears her throat, sheepishly raising her hand to get Joker's attention. "If you don't mind, Senpai, I'd like to." Joker gives her a nod to go ahead. "Dr. Maruki told us he thinks someone's keeping the Metaverse alive. That this person is the reason why it keeps coming back. Maybe whoever it is, they're behind all this?"

Morgana makes a proud stance in front of the Thieves. "And this is where our information comes in!" He places his hands on his hips as the Thieves stare with a growing curiosity. "After meeting Jose here, he confirmed that this place is a Palace.

"He also said the Palace ruler wasn't evil though..." Futaba's voice shows a tone of sadness. "He said he was lost."

Futaba's words resonate with Joker. He can almost feel a tugging at his own heart.

"So whoever this Palace ruler is might be the one keeping the Metaverse alive?" Adds Makoto.

Morgana nods, "bingo! That's the working theory at least."

"Where does that lead us now?" Zenkichi makes his voice known.

"To me it just sounds like the same 'ol same 'ol. We find the Palace ruler's treasure and change some heart!" Says Ryuji has he confidently pounds one fist into the other.

"Then we can all finally go back to our normal lives," says Toshiro, a hint of relief in his voice.

His normal... Life? But what if Joker didn't want to go back to his normal life? A sick knot twisted in his stomach. Back to living alone and being denied. Back being boring old Ren Amamiya? Joker's lips didn't move, but the sound of his own voice pierced the air has each pleading word came into his thoughts.

"Your normal lives you say?" Echoes the voice.

Everyone instinctively looks Joker's way, because, well, it was his voice. "Did you say something, Ren?" Inquires Morgana. Ren... Why did he say Ren instead of Joker? And why did it make the knot in Joker's stomach only grow?

"Ren Amamiya is a man who has nothing to offer. Ren Amamiya is nothing without Joker," and with a blast of smoke, 'he' made his appearance. Standing before the Thieves with a shadowy distortion of Joker. "I'm nothing without the Metaverse! And you all... You all want to take that away from me? After EVERYTHING I've ever done to help you, you can't just let me have this?!"

Everyone's jaws dropped. The realization that Joker was Palace Ruler hit like a truck. Him not being able to summon Arsene, it all made sense! No one had the words to reply. No one except...

Akechi had to stifle an amused chuckle, "so my theory was correct. You're the Palace Ruler," he casts a glance Joker's way. Not Joker's Shadow's way, but Joker's way. "Here you've been, pretending to be some grand hero! But in reality, you've been just as messed up as the rest of us!"

Joker stares, there's so no words to escape his mouth. Well, maybe not directly. But Shadow Joker storms up to Akechi and says what needed to be said. "At least I'm not pretending to be better then everyone, like you. Just admit it, Akechi. Deep down your scared, pathetic and alone."

Futaba had almost begun to cry. How did she let this happen? Ren did so much for her, yet she never knew... "Ren, please...!"

Shadow Joker looks her way, "I'm not Ren, I'm Joker!"

"You've really become so delusional, you've let that mask of Joker completely consume you?"

"Joker's not the mask... Ren is," confesses Joker meekly.

Morgana's ears twitch as his fur stands on end. "Just what are you saying, Ren?"

"I'm sorry..." Joker slowly backs up to stand shoulder to shoulder with his shadow self. "I *can't* lose the Metaverse. I can't lose the only thing that makes me worth something!"

"What are you talking about!? How can you not he worth something when helped all of us?!" Futaba hardly every raised her voice. But she was so emotional, everything sort of just poured out.

"I was only able to do to that as Joker..." Spoke Joker, now quieter than before.

Now it was Shadow Joker's turn to speak. "How is Ren Amamiya supposed to help all of you if he can't even get a job?"

Makoto frowns at Joker in a remorseful way. "Ren..."

"I don't need your pity!" Snarls Shadow Joker, "I'm the leader, I'm supposed to be the strong one! The Metaverse, it *makes* me strong!"

"Ren, please. We can talk through this!" Morgana takes steps closer to Joker, but he steps back.

"You guys... Should go. I... I need some time to think."

Each and every thief exchanges weary glances. But ultimately, they respect Joker's wishes. They give him some time to tackle with his own heart, and they leave the Metaverse.

--- So there sat every thief, all gathered in LeBlanc without the charming presence of their fearless leader. Mostly everyone had felt defeated.

Ann almost feels ashamed of herself, wanting to curl up in a little ball. "I don't get it... If Ren was struggling that bad, why didn't he talk to any of us?"

Morgana, in his cat form, was curled up literally speaking. "He didn't want to burden any of you. He knew you were all so happy, he just didn't want to ruin that."

Akechi stands the far side of the coffee shop. Closed off and distant from the rest of the Thieves, as usual. "Typical. Amamiya trying to play hero, as always."

"Dude, can you can it for once? We all know you're just jealous of Ren-Ren!"

"Jealous of a man who's so wrapped up in his own fantasies he makes it everyone else's problem? Hardly!"

"Why, you little--"

"Will you two stop!" Cutting in between them was Toshiro, surprisingly. "Screaming in each other's faces won't help anyone. We all need to sit down, and talk through this rationally."

Futaba's phone buzzes and Sophia pops up onto her screen. "Think about it, would Ren-Ren really want us all to give up so easily?"

Zenkichi stands up to get everyone's attention. "Sophie's right guys. Ren wouldn't give up so easily on us, so we shouldn't on him!"

Now Yusuke stands up, shoulder to shoulder with Zenkich to also garner attention. "Then it is settled, we give Ren time to think tonight. Then tomorrow we revisit his Palace!"

With a new determination, every thief nods. That was it then. Tomorrow, they were saving Ren.

[lolo3hwriting]

Persona 3/4/5 Fic Recommendations

A list of persona fics from ao3 that I particularly like and highly recommend to others. Not in any particular order

Daredevil, You’ve Hit A Wall - P5 Strikers where Sumire and Akechi appear in the story. One of my favorites, mostly focuses on Joker but has perspectives from all of the phantom thieves and lots of introspection. Also has a sequel for P5 Tactica

By @/ez-cookie on tumblr

Pleasant Boy - P5 Royal where Akechi gets taken by Maruki and turns into the polite detective prince, with the phantom thieves trying to revert him.

By @/ez-cookie on tumblr

The Definition of Insanity - P3 Timeloop where P3 Protag is stuck in a timeloop with Ryoji. One day, Kotonoe shows up and throws everything off

By @/BkZa555 on twitter

Double the Hope - P5 and P4 crossover where Yu helps Akria by erasing his criminal record and they take down the conspiracy together 

By Novirp13 on ao3

Is That Really How the World Should Be? - P5 and P4 crossover, Ren took Yaldaboath’s deal and the Investigation Team/Shadow Operatives comes together to figure out what’s going on

By Aurelius_Carlan on ao3

I’m Sitting Right Behind You (And Definitely Not Peeking) - A P4 and P5 crossover chatfic/regular fic where Rise is Joker’s classmate and watches the events of the P5 game unfold, with a few twists

By @/prettypinklass on tumblr

Someone Else’s Soul - Joker summons DLC personas and speaks with their original owners in his dreams. Sweet and hilarious at the same time

By @/prettypinklass on tumblr

Marigolds - P5 Akechi gets sent back in time to get another chance at life after dying in the boiler room. Has his own fool’s journey complete with new social links and palaces. A very long fic, but all of it is very good

By Colbub on ao3

Leave Out All The Rest - Part of a NG+ protagonist au where the P3/4/5 protags go back in time. In this instance, Ren is genderfluid and adopts Akechi and tries to be a good parent. Also part of a whumptober 2020 collection that is also pretty good

By Missingwings on ao3

Life, Death, and the Events Between - Collection of fics from Ryomina week 2023. I particularly like Days 3/5, themed around a flower gifts leading up to a date and a school drama play respectively

By Missingwings on ao3

Can Shadows Find Love in the TV World? - P4 Shadow Kanji and Yu have a sweet conversation with each other. Author also has several other fics about the shadows interacting with each other 

By Unknown_Art on ao3

[yusuke-of-valla]

This is why I was praying for Strikers DLC story that was like

Kasumi missed the Vacation so she grabs Joker and takes them to Gymnastics National Meet and Goro is there, and maybe Maruki is there, and they have a case to solve, and you relegate the rest of the PT to voice calls or text.

I'm still surprised there was 0 dlc for Strikers, Koei usually throw a season pass in everything

I mean sure but like the joy of Strikers and Tactica for me is seeing the other Thieves interact and bounce off of each other, and I think the fact that we don't get to see Sumire with anyone OTHER than Joker, Akechi, and Maruki is a flaw. I don't want it to be the Royal Trio and then The Rest Of The Phantom Thieves, I want them to all hang out together

There's also the fact that to have Goro in Strikers you need to establish the fact that he survived, how, how no one knew about it, and why he hasn't contacted Joker until now.

That's the problem with putting him in ANY DLC post royal, it's all good and fine for fics to just skip over this but for the vast majority of players they're gonna want answers (and also putting them in DLC is another layer of shitty)

This is what I mean when I said they wrote themselves into a hole (and that I think most fans in fandom spaces take it for granted that like. Goro being alive will need some sort of actual explanation) Goro being alive doesn't really square with what we or the thieves know, so you have to establish how much he knows about third semester, and give the other PT a chance to react to his not deadness

That's a lot of set up to be the subplot of another game, much less something you walk behind a, what, 10 hour DLC? At most?

I'm sympathetic to WHY they haven't done it, it's a pain in the ass. It's just they're the reason it's a pain in the ass

(Also this is completely unrelated but I respect the Erina profile pic)

[akechi-stole-my-heart]

Sumire pulls her arm behind her back. "I…I guess I just started…freaking out a little. I get too caught up in my head sometimes, and I let myself spiral, and I started to wonder…if maybe Maruki-san is right. Maybe I can't do this after all."

Silence. Then Goro-senpai laughs, raucous and loud. Sumire looks up from the ground, startled. His canines gleam in the light, and she finds herself staring at his grin. There's something beautiful about it, despite the mockery it holds. Perhaps because of it. "Maruki? Right? Do you even hear yourself? And how exactly do you think Maruki might be right about you, Sumire?"

"Um…" Sumire rips her gaze away from his smile, trying to focus. "I don't know. I just…what if I can't do this? What if Sumire can't do this, and…" Her eyes start to water. She bites her lip to hold the tears back. "What if being Kasumi is the only way to get rid of the voices in my head that tell me I'm not good enough?"

"You don't need Kasumi."

"How can you say that?"

"What do you want, Sumire?"

She blinks, taken aback by the question. "What do I want? I want to honor my sister. I want to become a world champion in gymnastics, just like she—"

"No. Not your sister. What do you want?"

-

new chapter of code violet is out!

this one brings us to 2/2! no, i will not apologize for that cliffhanger……..

[andtheyreonfire]

ev'ry mem'ry i'll keep - 2

2 - that i could die

ao3 Part 1

Wc - 5481

AN: Happy hug a tiny day! Idk why I'm mentioning this. No one gets hugged in this chapter. Kind of the opposite tbh

~

Sumire was captured, Amamiya tells Goro, looming over him like the sword of Damocles.

Goro remembers the stadium, the palace, Maruki gazing at them with an expression of pure pity. He grits his teeth, forces himself to stop shaking where he’s cornered in the subway alley. He asks the giant what happened after, how badly they lost.

An ultimatum, Maruki gave them. Spend winter break watching Amamiya’s friends in pure, artificial bliss. Tell him, in a week, how they’d like to see that happiness shatter.

And, of course, Goro's situation. Amamiya recounts Goro going unconscious next to him, some muttered comment from Maruki about “forgetting a wish.” He recounts Maruki disappearing, just as Goro's newfound curse was bestowed upon him. He recounts walking out of Maruki's palace, the tiny form of a serial killer in his hands.

A wish. That was lead to this, hm? Goro having to clutch his ears every time a train enters the station; having to crane his neck back just to see a glimpse of Amamiya's eyes; having to steady himself every time Amamiya moves, because even the slightest shift jostles Goro like an earthquake. Being powerless, completely at the world’s—at Amamiya's mercy. All because of a single, fucking wish.

Amamiya’s voices faces into a dull roar. Goro’s hands ball into fists. If he thinks Goro will sit there and be a good little instrument to their savior complexes, he's dead fucking wrong.

Goro will make sure of that.

~

Akechi Goro stumbles off Ren’s palm, knees slamming against the wood of his desk.

Ren winces, hand twitching forward him—but, no, he's the reason Akechi flung himself off so quickly, isn’t it? Akechi doesn’t seem to mind the bruises. His tiny arms brace under him, and he blows a microscopic—to Ren, anyways—strand of hair out of his eyes. In one fluid motion, he stands, shuffling back so Ren’s completely in his vision.

Akechi cranes his head back, and Ren schools his face into something resembling indifference. It’s still—a lot, to see Akechi look up at him with visible fear.

Ren hunches down, trying to put himself near Akechi's eye-level. All it succeeds in making the boy jerk back like he’s been burned.

Ren opens his mouth. Nothing slips out. Akechi only looks at him, impossibly tiny eyes narrowed in distrust. Not even a comment about catching flies escapes him. It’s too quiet, without his stream of comments.

Ren sighs. He stands, ignoring the violent flinch Akechi gives at the motion, and walks over to his shelf of nick-nacks. He calls over his shoulder, “What do you want to sleep on?”

A beat passes. Two. Ren looks back towards the desk. When their eyes meet, Akechi calls out, “I don’t care.”

Ren bites his lip. He doesn’t know the right thing to say, or what would stop Akechi from looking at him like Ren’s some kind of predator. And yet, it’s still easier to fil the silence. “In the event this doesn’t wear off, we should probably set something up.”

Akechi's eyes harden. “In the event this doesn’t wear off, sleeping arrangements are the last fucking thing I care about, Joker.”

Ren’s fingers drum against his shelf. “Alright,” he says. “Hang tight for a minute, I'll be right back.”

Ren hears a huff behind him, almost lost to the wind. Akechi's still there when he returns from the bathroom, carrying the fluffiest washcloth LeBlanc owns. It’s just—odd, for Akechi to be stagnant, to do nothing but stare. Ren expected him to be halfway off his desk, sliding down a makeshift rope, by the time he came back.

Akechi only watches him, watches as Ren dumps some bracelet from a shallow box. Watches as he rummages around for a blanket and pads it inside. Watches as he sets it down on the desk, inches away —but what must feel like the length of a room—and folds a makeshift pillow, laying the washcloth flat. For lack of a finisher, Ren gives a pair of jazz hands.

Akechi flinches away from the movement, and jolts like he’s been electrocuted when Ren’s phone—resting on the edge of the desk—vibrates.

“Shit—sorry.” It’s Ryuji, tone weirdly—artificially—fake as he offers Ren an invite to hang out with his track team. Guess Ren’s found a target to try to break through to, but...

“I need to get my friends back,” Ren says. Akechi's gaze snaps up from where he’d been considering the box. “I don’t know if...No, what do you want to do?”

He expects Akechi to put his foot down and take the reins that Ren’s giving him, as he’s always, always done. Akechi only gives a brittle smile, and his voice turns sour. “It’s up to you, is it not? Whatever’s in your best judgement, Joker.”

Ren sits down, not particularly feeling like crouching. His floor’s too hard for him to kneel comfortably on. Maybe it would’ve been easier for Maruki to have shrunk them both. “I want to hear your opinion, too. I'm not the deciding factor in this scenario. We’re still a team.”

“Are we? Are we really?” Akechi backs up further, his steps barely putting a few inches between them. He bares his teeth in a grin. “Excuse me for not seeing the level playing field here, Joker. Or did you forget which one of us is the size of the other’s finger?”

“Just because you’re—“ He gestures at Akechi's reduced scale. The boy’s sneer sharpens into a snarl. Ren can’t find the energy to do more than sigh. “It doesn’t mean your autonomy’s been thrown out the window.”

Ren thinks he can see Akechi's hands fist at his sides—it’s, admittedly, a little hard to tell. Akechi licks his lips. “So, if I wanted to walk out of LeBlanc right now, find my way through the streets of Tokyo on my own, you would let me?”

He winces. “I...don’t know if that would be the best idea—“

Akechi raises a hand, cutting him off with a laugh. “And there you have it. Don’t fucking lie to me next time, Joker. You’re better than that.”

Of all the things to respond to, that’s the easiest. “Why do you keep calling me that?”

Akechi doesn’t answer him, hands moving to untie his scarf. His movements are jerky, at least one eye still trained on Ren. Ren leans back, exhaustion washing over him like a cold shower, and mutters a warning before standing up and leaving for the bathroom to change.

He’s messed up—he knows that. This situation is messed up, but he needs some sleep before he can begin to unravel his thoughts. He’s tired. They both are.

When he comes back, Akechi's already sitting in the makeshift bed, curled into the corner with his back facing the wall. His tiny hands clutch his knees. He flinches, just like he always does, when Ren approaches.

This time, Ren kneels.

“I'm sorry,” he murmurs, “We’ll talk about this more in the morning. I just...” Don’t want to lose you again. “I don’t want to see you hurt.”

Akechi shakes his head. He seems to subconsciously huddle into the fabric, as if shielding himself from the world. Ren’s heart tightens. “What did I tell you about lying to me, Joker?”

His eyes drop to his knees, and that’s the end of that. Ren’s brow crinkles, but he stands, turning off the light and draping the covers over himself. Even with exhaustion clouding his thoughts, he finds it difficult to fall asleep.

For once, the blare of Tokyo is silent, absent of even the sounds of another body. Akechi’s breathing is too tiny for him to hear. Unlike with sleepovers with his friends, he can’t tell if the other party is unconscious. There’s nothing to fill Ren’s ears.

It’s awhile before Ren drifts off, but when as does, he wonders if Akechi’s still capable of dreaming.

~

Ren pulls himself out of bed to meet a pair of tiny, narrowed eyes, scrutinizing him from his desk.

He blinks. The memories of yesterday flood back to him—trying to get through to Makoto, Akechi finally waking up, watching the boy flinch every time Ren so much as breathed. Akechi didn’t run, which is great, because the thought of him trying to brave Tokyo's foot traffic makes Ren’s stomach churn. Hell, Ren doubts the boy would even end up a smear—

“Are you going to keep staring at me all fucking morning?” Akechi snaps, voice barely reaching Ren’s ears.

Ren reaches for his glasses, if only to prevent Akechi from noticing the next time he spaces out. Although, it’d be...fairer, in a sense, to take his mask off. Akechi never thought of his gaze as intense, right?

He stands up, stretches his back, and caches the perfect glimpse of Akechi flinching away from him, as far back as his make-shift bed would allow. His expression oozes with fear. Ren schools a grimace, and slides his glasses on in one fluid motion.

He crouches next to the desk. Akechi's neck probably hurts from staring up at—god, Ren’s probably the equivalent of a skyscraper to him, isn’t he? He’s so small. Ren hesitates, and Akechi growls, “What?”

Is this real? Ren doesn’t say. Is your reaction? Do you hate me? Ren doesn’t say. I'm sorry. Ren doesn’t say.

Instead, he murmurs, “We need to talk.”

Akechi bears his teeth, like a Pomeranian attempting to be territorial. “About what?”

“A battle plan,” he says, in lieu of something Akechi'd scoff at. “Maruki gave us a week.”

Akechi mutters something under his breath, voice too quiet for Ren to make out anything but a mocking tone. “In case you haven’t noticed, this is a public restaurant. There are people here.”

“I'll deal with them.”

Akechi stares at him. His body is still, but tense, like a bird poised to flight. Ren’s not stupid enough to think he wouldn’t run the second he could.

Akechi was the best at acting, out of all of them. He wonders where his masks have gone, now.

Ren counts the seconds in his head. After 20, Akechi says, “Fine.”

It takes him longer to climb onto his hand, and even longer to slide into the breast pocket of Ren’s shirt.

Ren keeps his steps steady as he descends the stairs, one hand clinging to the rail like a lifeline. He can’t help but watch his feet, wish for the lithe grace of Joker to carry through. He almost runs straight into Morgana, his too-blue, human eyes sparkling. He blinks when their eyes meet.

“Futaba missed you last night,” Morgana purrs. Ren schools a wince. It’s like looking at the mid-way point between a shadow’s human form and transformation. Ren keeps having to slide his eyes off him, wanting to look but struck by a visceral wrongness every time he does.

And yet—this was still his wish. Tall; broad; handsome; with opposable thumbs, and a rich baritone instead of a meow. To stand on eye-level with the rest of the Thieves, to be every bit the human they didn’t care he wasn’t.

He’ll buy Morgana so much fatty tuna once this is over.

But, first— “I think Haru's been missing your presence,” Ren says.

The-thing-that’s-kind-of-Morgana perks up. “Oh?”

“Yeah. You were the first one she knew. I know she’s been spending a lot of time with her dad—“ Ren steps forward to hide the violent flinch from his pocket. “—But she probably misses you, too.”

“Yeah, you’re right! I should hang out with her. Ren, you should—“

“What about a sleepover?” Ren searches for a mask. Joker? No. Wingman? Uh. Helpful, logical friend, who only wants what’s best for his other friends? It’s something. “Winter break’s almost over. Why don’t you take the week to stay at her place?”

“I mean,” Morgana responds, uncharacteristically hesitant, ”I wouldn’t want to impose...”

“I think she liked your help with gardening more than she liked mine.” He yawns, stretches, switches masks as he assesses the former cat before him. “‘Sides, it’s winter break, there's so much time. A guy needs his privacy, y’know?”

“Gross.” Morgana wrinkles his nose, but it seems to do the job. “Alright. I'll talk to her about it. No funny business while I’m gone, lil’ bro, alright?”

Ren stifles another grimace. “Aye, aye.”

Morgana pads out, the door jingling behind him. Soiro, thankfully, is an easier job. All it takes is putting on an apron, a wistful mention of Futaba and her mother, before he’s out the door, his keys in Ren’s hand.

There’s no customers. Ren flicks off the stove, the TV, and the kettle. Subconsciously, his free hand drifts to his pocket, over the tiny, curled form against his chest, moving—

Moving?

Moving. Vibrating, really, against his fingers. It’s a small action, repetitive, existing even as Akechi stays still. It gains in intensity as Ren’s hand stays.

Akechi’s trembling.

Ren snaps his hand away like it’s been burned.

After flipping the sign to ‘closed’, shuttering the blinds, and locking the door, Ren bites his lip. His hand hovers over the pocket. He’d let Akechi climb out on his own—but, with what? It’s faster to bite the bullet. Ren approaches the counter.

“Brace yourself,” he mutters, before plunging in and sliding his fingers around Akechi's form. Akechi goes rigid in his grasp.

Slowly, he sets him down on the counter. He tries to put Akechi’s feet under him, but he stumbles to his knees the second Ren’s hand leaves. Ren winces, hand twitching forward to help him up, but stops when Akechi shoots him a withering glare.

He takes his own seat, adjacent to Akechi, leaving him the long, wooden expanse of nowhere to run.

“I'm not going to hurt you.” Ren exhales through his nose. He’s starting this, if Akechi's unwavering glower is any indicator. “I just want to fix this, please.”

A beat. Two. Akechi's glare burns more intense. Eventually, he grounds out, “Why should I believe you?”

”We’re trapped in this together. You’re the only ally I have right now. I—“ Ren’s brow furrows. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Akechi scoffs a laugh. “Try again. Why the fuck should I believe you?”

Ren’s fingers clench around his seat. He stuffs his building frustration in the same place he shoves his doubts on the front line, leading a group of high schoolers to the one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. “I want to help you.”

“Of course you do.”

Ren waits for more. Akechi picks at the skin around his nails, his glare never leaving Ren. When his gaze slides towards the near-microscopic digits, they still. Ren feels like he’s having this conversation halfway underwater, “What does that mean?”

Akechi stares at him in disbelief. “Are you really too much of a coward to even admit it?”

Going a million miles at once, and absolutely nowhere. “Goro, please.”

“Don’t fucking—! Maruki granted everyone’s pipe-dreams.” He grounds the words out, as if speaking to a toddler. “He could defy reality, the very laws of nature to do so. Everyone’s dreams, Joker.”

Ren finally picks up the damn cue. His stomach drops.

He rasps, “Are you saying my wish was to shrink you?”

“Don’t deny you wouldn’t like it.” Akechi prowls forward, eyes absolutely livid. His four-inch tall form seems to shake with either anger or fear—no, both. “Me, tiny and helpless in the palm of your hand. You could do anything you wanted. No one’s watching us, correct? No one cares, if you keep me as a pet, or take out the trash, or use me as some kind of—“

“Akechi.” Ren interrupts him, stomach churning. “Do you really think so little of me?”

Akechi looks away, silent. His body trembles as it did in Ren’s pocket.

He takes in the terrified, livid form in front of him, starting to curl in on himself. Before Ren can think twice, he stands up—ignoring Akechi's flinch—and runs up the stairs.

He returns with a tiny, thin piece of metal. One end wicked-sharp, the other dull and smooth. It's about half the length of Ren’s thumb. He was lucky to find it, almost tempted to use a shard of glass before he looked in his forgotten pile of infiltration-tool failures. He holds it out to Akechi, who stares at it with unrestrained suspicion.

“If you ride on my shoulder, under my collar,” Ren blurts out, “You’ll have the perfect access to my vital veins. You’ll be hidden, too.”

Akechi continues to stare.

“If you feel like I'm about to do something to you, take this and kill me before I can get the chance.”

It takes 10 seconds, this time, before Akechi wraps his hands around the makeshift weapon. He scurries back the second he’s done, away from Ren’s hand. He strains to hear Akechi's mutter. “I'd hardly be able to kill you without getting killed, myself.”

Ren forces a grin. “Well, I don’t think Iwai sells tiny guns. You can’t shoot me in the head, again. You’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way.”

Akechi looks away, running his hands over the piece of metal. Ren begins, “Akechi, I don’t know how to convince you that this isn’t my wish. I just want to figure out what’s going on and fix it—But, to do that, I'll need your help. You’re my only ally. You’re smarter than me, your deduction skills are unparalleled, and you know the Metaverse far better than I do. You were a star detective. I need you.”

“My work was largely fabricated,” Akechi points out. He shines a little at the praise, either way.

“The second this is over, we never have to see each other again. I don’t want you to live like this.” Ren hunches down, keeping his distance from Akechi, but contorting his body so he's eye level. “Can you help me?”

Akechi runs his fingers over the point of the weapon. He stares at it, at his hands, at Ren.

His gaze hardens. He holds the weapon at his side, and nods. “Fine. deal.”

Ren bites back a grin, and the inane, instinctual urge to hold out his hand to shake.

~

Ren had just finished talking with Makoto when Akechi awoke, he tells him. Akechi hesitantly perches on his shoulder as he leaves, Ryuji decided as their next target. Ren removes his scarf so he has room to hide under his collar. He prays Akechi doesn’t decide to stab him on a whim, and sets off.

They do Ann next, then Morgana, then Yusuke.

Morgana takes a little more convincing, both for his memories to shine through, and to convince him to stay at Haru’s for as long as possible. After Yusuke, he treats Goro and him to oden. He bought Goro his own, separate bowl, and offered to help him, so he didn’t have to struggle with picking up his chopsticks. Goro looked sick at the idea. It wasn’t until Ren turned away from him, keeping his eyes trained on his phone, that he heard the boy begin to eat.

Reluctantly, Akechi teaches him how to comb government databases. Ren’s learned a few tricks from Futaba, which means he doesn’t need to go breaking into Akechi’s apartment just to access his computer. The police database is theirs, too. He manages to find Maruki’s past, his research, and his failings. Most of which he already knew, but Akechi’s questions leave Ren with a half-dozen floating around in his own head.

They also discover that, by all accounts, Okumura and Wakaba are completely alive. This and then some is why they save the conversation with their children until the end.

Wakaba is every bit the person Ren imagined her as, and Goro shudders against Ren’s neck every time she speaks. Akechi clams up when their group walks away, remaining silent and stiff for the rest of the night. It hurts, to see Futaba fighting against giving up her own happiness, to have to move on once again. Ren can’t help but feel sympathy for Wakaba’s murderer, having to process the blood re-appearing on his hands.

Today’s target was their last: Haru.

Ren thinks it went well.

Ren’s greatest skill is lying to himself, and it certainly hasn’t failed him yet.

~

Ren winces as Goro, again, slides off his hand like he’s been burned.

But it’s—progress, in a way, how Goro doesn’t immediately back himself into a corner. It might be their negotiation, or the aftermath of the week they’ve spent together, or a sign that Goro's becoming less terrified.

Goro flinches when Ren sits at his desk, his hands spasming from where they were untying his scarf, and that hope is thrown out the window and right in front the oncoming train that is this situation.

Ren turns away. It feels weird to talk about Haru, but even stranger to deflect and pretend that he didn’t just show a murderer the still-breathing corpse of their victim—Hey, Ryuji isn’t here, someone’s gotta be blunt. For lack of anything to distract himself, Ren drums his fingers against the wood of his desk.

He realizes his mistake when he looks back to see Goro frozen, watching Ren’s fingers—inches away from him—like they’re made of the same dynamite in a Showtime attack.

Ren pauses. “Sorry. I—forgot you’re still getting used to things.”

Goro’s face settles into a sneer. “Oh, forgive me for not using the adjustment period that you’ve so graciously blessed me with.”

Ren blinks. Okay—he deserves that. He leans in, only to freeze when Goro backs up a few steps. Ren sighs, and asks, voice low, “What can I do to make things easier?”

Goro’s hands tighten from where they’re wrapped around his sides. “Stay at least 50 yards away from me—you’re awfully good at distance, aren’t you, Joker?”

Ren takes a breath. Don’t rise to his bullshit—it’d be a distraction, at least, to ask him what the hell he meant by that, but no shut up—and keep calm. Ren wills his voice to stay level. “I'm sorry, you’re stuck with me until we fix this. Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable, at least?”

Goro snarls up at him, “For as self-centered as you are, I would’ve thought you’d take the goddamn bait.”

Ren’s fists clench in his lap. “What bait?”

Goro throws his arms up. If he were normal-sized, the action might’ve been wild enough to clock Ren in the face. Ren can see the slightest tremble in his hands. “No, you know what? Use your fucking brain, Joker. Stop lying to me.”

Ren sighs, taking the silence Goro offers him as the smaller boy picks at his nails. He’s tired—something about the artificial sunlight, about seeing his friends so happy, of facing a terrified face every time he checks his shoulder is getting to him—

And that’s it, isn’t it? This isn’t about their day, or Okumura, or even Maruki. Goro spat out the word bait like it was—

Personal.

Ren looks at Goro, at a frame barely the size of his finger, and shoves away his frustration to murmur, “I'm not going to take advantage of this, Akechi.”

Goro cranes his head higher, fists clenching at his sides. He seems to grasp at whatever regal composure remains. “Do you honestly expect me to believe that?”

“Akechi—“

“No, tell me exactly what’s stopping you.” His eyes are burning, body tensed, taut like a drawn bow. It’s painfully easy to imagine how he would snap the second Ren tries to approach. “I don’t want to play this game anymore, Joker. Stop lying to me.”

Ren stays still, makes his voice level, keeps his hands secured in his lap. “I'm not lying to you. I'm benefitting from this as much as you are.”

“Bullshit!” Goro snarls, stumbling back a few steps. There’s the black mask, the traces of Loki hovering behind him. “You know what this is, don’t you? Don’t say things like that with a straight fucking face! You know how this world works as much as I. Tell me—“

Goro unsheathes his weapon, pointing the tiny piece of metal at Ren. The fire in his eyes is on full display, the heat of a distant supernova. He growls more than speaks, “Tell me what you fucking want from me!”

He doesn’t even fill a fraction of Ren’s desk.

“I want you to co-operate with me.” Ren steels his voice. Maybe that’ll make things easier, for one of them. He’s so tired. “I've said this already. I want to fix things, with you. I don’t want to see you—I don’t know, dead in a ditch somewhere.”

“Why me?” His teeth are still bared, as if they were even capable of breaking flesh. With how violently his makeshift weapon shakes in his grip, he doesn’t think that would fare any better. “After all the things I've done to you, why the hell would you waste a single tear over my well-being?”

“Because I don’t want you to go through that,” Ren pleads.

“Aren’t you a harbinger of justice?” He’s grasping at straws, even if he doesn’t realize it. The best actor out of all of them, but hardly the most composed. “Believer in a grand world where everyone gets their just desserts? You’re a noble Phantom thief, a hero. I—I don’t see how you could possibly ignore the monster before y—“

Ren closes his eyes, bites the bullet, and cuts Goro off with a soft, “I wanted to kill Kamoshida.”

Goro makes a strangled noise in the back of his throat, the disposal of whatever he was going to say. Ren creaks an eye open to see him staring back with tiny, wide eyes. He doesn’t open his mouth, so Ren continues, “He was a piece of shit. He hurt Ryuji, Ann, Shiho. We found Morgana trapped in the dungeon of his palace. He made people’s lives a living hell.”

Ren smiles, an echo of the mask he wore when he awoken Arsène. He mutters, staring at nothing, “I wanted to kill him.

“But it wasn’t my choice to make, so we changed his heart. Now, thanks to us, he’ll suffer for the rest of his life under the weight of his guilt. Every day he’ll wake up in agony and every night his deeds will haunt him until he falls asleep. Heroic, isn’t it?”

Goro doesn’t interject, so Ren continues. “You never asked me if I cared. You asked if I thought we were just, and I said yes. You never defined your terms.”

Ren takes a breath. Something wiggles past the depths of his heart, slips past his lips. “I never said I didn’t want our targets to suffer.”

A beat passes. Two. Goro asks, voice barely drifting to Ren’s ears, “How does that make you any better than me, in your eyes?”

Ren shakes his head. “It doesn’t.” A brittle smiles splits his lips. “There was just—nothing stopping you, from pulling the trigger. I got lucky.”

“...And why didn’t you? Pull it, I mean.” Goro shifts, interest replacing the heat in his eyes. If he wasn’t so obviously apprehensive, he might’ve taken a step closer. “When it came down to it, why didn’t you finish the job? Kamoshida was yours.”

“It wasn’t my choice to make.”

Ren slides off his chair and shifts into a crouch, back against his desk and head resting on the surface. He looks straight up at his ceiling, deciding to ignore Goro's presence beside him. He can’t see Goro's tiny, fearful eyes like this. It's an adequate bonus.

Ren continues, “Ann was the deciding factor, but everyone was on board with just changing his heart. I’m their leader, not their dictator. You’re the first person I've met who wanted—planned for the person who wronged you to die.”

Ren can hear the mirth in Akechi's voice, even with how quiet it is. “You’ve met him. I don’t think I was entirely in the wrong.”

“No,” Ren whispers. “You weren’t.”

It’s painfully calm, in Maruki's reality. Any other time, the streets would be filled with the blaring of horns, with shouting, with the rush and chaos of Tokyo nighttime. There’s nothing to fill the air between them but the hum of Ren’s heater. It’s far from enough to drown out Ren’s thoughts.

When Goro speaks, his voice is closer, as if he decided to take a few steps forward to the boy twenty times his size. “So, underneath that honest, pure-hearted exterior, you’re just as rotten as me. Is that right?”

“Did you expect me to be better?” Ren asks.

Goro huffs a mirthless laugh. He shuffles, and a flash of tan appears at the corner of Ren’s vision. “I guess not. So, then, do you think I deserve to suffer as much as the people I've wronged?”

Ren closes his eyes. Honesty’s worked so far, so he snaps the bullet between his teeth. “In my opinion, you deserve to suffer far more. More than I could give you, whether you were willing or not.”

There’s the faint, small sound of shoes against wood. Ren allows Goro a second to catch his balance, before he asks, “Were you willing, Akechi?”

Goro's voice is steel. He’s lived with his crimes longer than Ren’s even been aware of them. He knows his answer. “I was.”

“And there you have it.” Ren opens his eyes, but keeps them trained on the ceiling. “Whatever your circumstance, it doesn’t change what you’ve done.”

Even after everything, the air is, somehow, more bearable. Ren resists the urge to jolt when Goro walks completely into his line of vision. He asks, a tiny eyebrow raised, “So, why aren’t we having a conversation with me in a jar? Why aren’t I a smear on the pavement, if my just desserts are long overdue?”

“Because, that’s...that’s not for me to decide. That’s Haru's decision, and Futaba's, and yours’.” Ren gives a strained smile. “We only ever responded to explicit requests, y’know.”

Hesitantly, Goro steps forward. “Even so, there’s...no one here but us. No one’s been present to stop you since I shrunk.”

“You’re right.”

When Ren doesn’t continue, Goro huffs a laugh. “So?”

Ren takes a breath. Slowly, he swings his gaze over to Akechi. The boys stands—more than close enough to touch. It’s...

It’s the face of when Goro was recognized on their first meeting. It’s the face of Futaba as she stares into a crowd, of Ryuji after their confrontation with the track team, of Haru every time she recalled how her company’s treated her. It’s the face of a kid—of a boy that didn’t deserve anything that happened to him—staring into the darkness of their closet and trying to be brave.

“You killed dozens. You hurt countless individuals. You hurt my friends, but...” Ren’s eyes crinkle. “You were my friend, too. If things had been different, you could’ve been one of us. The game was rigged from the start.”

Goro's hands flex at his sides, minuscule skin twitching. Eventually, he rasps, “I tried to kill you, too.”

Ren can feel the bags under his eyes deepen. He tilts his head up towards the ceiling. “Yeah. You did. So listen to me when I say I don’t want to see you hurt, alright?”

Ren knows he is fucked up. He can’t put a name to all the complexes he’s seen this year, but he knows one of them is dampening his feelings towards Goro. Ren’s tired, he’s a dead man walking, but the idea of doing anything to the tiny, fragile form of the boy who killed him sends nausea shooting up his throat.

Goro gives something that could be a nod—it’s hard to tell, with him still barely in the corner of his vision. Ren doesn’t hear him move until a head of chestnut-brown hair appears next to him, and a tiny, warm weight rests against his temple.

Is he—sitting against Ren? He doesn’t dare shift to check, not when Goro's slowly relaxing against him, not when it’s the closest he’s willingly, freely been since he woke up in Ren’s palms.

They sit there, while Ren tries to get his heart rate back under control. Goro murmurs, the sound almost at normal-sized volume with how close he is. “Nothing about this is fair.”

“‘Course not,” Ren breathes, “What better pawns to play the game than us, huh?”

Goro snorts. He’s fully relaxed against the side of Ren’s head. After a beat, he asks, “You said you wanted to know what you could do to, ah, accommodate me, Amamiya?”

Ren whispers, “Yeah?”

“I—“ He struggles to imagine Goro's face crumpling, of him losing his composure. After a moment, that tiny voice gains its steel. Ren lets the ghost of a smile split his face. “If you truly don’t want to hurt me, there are a few things you could keep in mind...”

~

[vilonnie]

[ID: A comic with Goro Akechi and Sumire Yoshizawa from Persona 5 Royal in their third semester casual outfits. They are in Café Leblanc. Goro says, "I find it quite silly that you're still so formal with me after all this. Defeating Dr. Maruki, destroying an entire false reality." Images of Black Mask Crow, manic and bloodthirsty, and Violet, furious and desperate, appear. He says, "Not to mention that we've seen and dealt with each other's worst sides in the process. So why don't we try being on a first name basis, Sumire?" Sumire looks at him and thinks, "... (Is this a trick question?)" Akira Kurusu says, "Or perhaps you need some stepping stones. 'Akechi-san first, and so forth." Goro says, "True. I think she’s still getting used to Akechi-senpai over Crow-senpai." Irritated, Sumire thinks, "...?! (Seriously, is this a trick question?)" Sumire says, "No, that's fine by me, Goro..." She hesitates, and then turns to him, beaming. "...senpai!"

Goro tilts his head a little and looks at her in neutral contemplation. Then he turns away and says, "You're hopeless, Yoshizawa-san." Akira smirks and says, "He's smiling, though~" Behind them, Sumire grins cheerfully and says, "No way! He's smiling?" Goro says, "Not at all. Akira, stop lying to your underclassman." Akira is right. He is smiling. End ID]

force of habit – which, all things considered, isn't such a bad thing.

[toxx-apex-727]

[AN ODD VIDEO. WATCH IT?]

[RECORDING START]

Joker and Sumire's fight is over. "Why..? Ngh..." Sumire falls to her knees. "Looks like you lost." "...Why?" "Our fight's over." "Ren-senpai... No... I can't... I can't go back to being Sumire... You saw it all for yourself, Ren-senpai... It's my fault that my sister's... Why don't you understand!? Please, I beg you..." "Yoshizawa-san..." Maruki walks down towards Sumire. "I can give you strength... So you don't have to suffer." "Doctor..." "Tell me: if you want your pain to end... and desire to live as Kasumi... I'll actualize it!" Maruki raises his hands, summoning a bunch of black tentacles which wrap around Sumire's limbs. They raise her into the air as she struggles, screaming. She falls limp, her mask disappearing in a flash of blue fire and summoning Cendrillon. "Did he-!?" "Sadly, she has lost sight of herself... She's in pain. Now, be her guide... and together, escape from the nightmare!" Cendrillon writhes in pain. "No, I... I can't... I don't want to go back to my life in cinders, ever again!" "What the hell... This so-called 'kindness' of his disgusts me. Let's do this quick." "I refuse to go back! I'm happy here... THIS is where I belong!" Joker and Crow get ready to fight Cendrillon. "I'll rescue you... the only way I know how!" Maruki snaps his fingers, summoning two shadows on either side of Cendrillon. "Tch, it's gone totally berserk... We need to stop her Persona!" Cendrillon destroys one of the shadows, absorbing it and healing herself. "It ate the smaller one!? What a pain... We'll have to beat it before it heals itself again..." Joker and Crow seem to be struggling. Maruki keep summoning more shadows for Cendrillon to consume, and the two of them alone can't out-damage the healing. "Dammit, there's no end to this! Just what the hell is this thing!?" "I refuse to return! I will never go back to being such pathetic, soot-covered garbage!" "You can't tell? It's her refusal to accept the truth..." "Tch... We can't afford to waste time on this shit!" Cendrillon charges up an attack. "Here it comes!" "I don't think so!" Skull runs in front of the pair, blocking Cendrillon's attack. "Dammit, Skull, I told you not to rush in by yourself like that!" "At least it seemed to work out in our favor." The rest of the thieves run in as backup. Cross looks notably a bit disheveled. "You came..." "Our apologies for making you wait so long." "Cross kinda passed out and we weren't gonna leave him behind." "Is that..?" "Akechi-kun and Dr. Maruki!?" "Yoshizawa's trapped by- Why's her Persona doing this!? What in the world is going on here!?" "So much of this shit makes no sense, but we'll cover it later! We've gotta stop her first- right, Joker?" "All right! Let's get in formation!" Everyone gets ready for the fight. "Okay guys, leave the navigation to me! Let's push 'em back!" "Unbelievable... Why did they come here?"

[RECORDING END]

[xxxairheadedangelxxx]

Throwing this little baby rant about sumire under a readmore just for brief mention of grooming and 3D headcanons

Saw someone call Sumire waifu bait unironically and I think I’m gonna lose it. They also lost their shit over how atlus “ruined” her character bc of how gracious she was to Maruki.

Guess what happens when someone is groomed and hand molded by someone they trust complicity especially at a young age? You are desperate to believe in any good that could come out of the situation. That they didn’t do it to hurt you. That even if bad stuff happen there’s still good that happened too so it’s ok.

I do wish we got more of her grief and anger for sure but her reaction was extremely expected and to pretend it destroyed her character is fucking insane.

Personally I would’ve preferred to see sumire pull away from gymnastics entirely. It’s clear thru the entire game that she’s not as good as she “should be” and she reiterates time and time again how it’s “their dream” and not her dream. I feel like her continuing with gymnastics isn’t letting her fully face and work thru her trauma at all and instead just gives her an easy out to pretend that she’s doing better when really she is continuing to hide behind something that she isn’t 10.% committed to bc she “owes” Kasumi for it.

I also wish we went literally anywhere w the 3D plot crumbs that they kept laying down for her. Even Sae comments on it at one point how she eats an astronomical amount of food and it’s not normal for a girl her age or size or activity level. I absolutely believe homegirl has MIA exercise focus b/p subtype or even Ana b/p subtype. Is this projection?probably but I feel like there was way too many flags raised about her eating habits and how small she is for it to have meant nothing. So I’ll just write my own depressing head canons about it like I do w every bitch I project on.

Anyway insulting a character in the guise that you just feel so bad for how they were written makes you sound and look like a fucking idiot especially when you are explicitly incorrect. But everyone is entitled to their opinions I suppose

[noxshade]

For the Record.

This is about my fanfiction, so I don't know why I feel weirdly anxious about this.

So I just posted chapter 32 of Things You Cannot Forget, and it had some issues. I sort of swerved into this super-fanservicey crossover territory that made no sense in the story, but satisfied the nerd in me.

I sort of knew going in that it would be a leap from the rest of the story, but the real problem is that it was done mostly to amuse me. Which is fine, it is just fanfiction, but I want to make a cohesive story that flows naturally. The fic itself is already a crossover of two different series, it doesn't need me hinging major plot points on references to further other works.

So surprise, surprise, it was not a terrific chapter. It's not a piece of writing I'm not proud of, but it's also I realized I had made some pretty big writing errors and just introduced shit that was of no consequence to fill time when I should be moving towards the conclusion of this story. After getting feedback from a few different sources, I decided to totally re-write the offending scenes. Not all of it is different (the intro and outro scenes are almost untouched), but the middle parts where I dump SMT and Lovecraft lore with little-to-no explanation was Not Great.

All in all, I do like the new chapter much better. It flows better, it focuses on the right things, and it feels more in tone with the rest of the fic. I do want to keep the old chapter up somewhere, and a random ass Tumblr post is as good a repository for this as any. So below the break is the original version of chapter 32, titled Sand Dune.

After a day to recover, the Phantom Thieves reconvened at Leblanc, with the intent of exploring the bottom of Mementos.  Makoto, ever the stickler for efficiency, pointed out that there were a few requests they could handle while they plumbed the depths.

“I’m surprised that there’re any requests at all,” Ryuji said, scrolling through the Phansite.  “Figure’d Maruki would have gotten all these desires sorted.”

“There are some things even he can’t fix,” Sumire said, her tone worried as she also scrolled through the page. “But these requests are really dire.”

“Some of it might actually precipitate from Maruki’s perfect world,” Akechi commented. “This mother who abandoned her child might be fulfilling her ideal life.  Or perhaps Maruki’s brainwashing just missed a detail or got a wire crossed in her mind.”

“Do you send calling cards for these little missions?” Rin asked, standing behind the counter and staring up at the jars of coffee beans.

“No,” Haru explained. “Futaba-chan usually just messages the target in the real world.  We found that method simpler and just as effective, provided they don’t have a Palace.”

“Then Chika was right,” Rin said, turning back to the group.

“Your friend?” Yusuke asked.

Rin nodded. “She said that a bunch of people claimed they got a calling card after posting on the internet.  She didn’t believe any of them.”

“Wait…” Ryuji said, leaning back in the booth, staring at the ceiling. “Does this Chika go to Kosei?”  

“Yes,” Rin answered. “She’s a super-Phangirl.  Runs the school newspaper.  Or maybe she did.  I haven’t been able to check in Maruki's world.”

“Is she datin’ a Shujin boy with short black hair?” Ryuji asked.

Rin thought for a moment. “Yes.  They met in Hawaii.”

“Huh.  And here I thought Mishima was just lyin’,” Ryuji said, then explained: “He said he had a girlfriend he was spendin’ Christmas with when I texted him, and I called him out, but he said she was a Kosei student, and a Phangirl.  I just kinda figured he made’er up.  I was going to ask Yusuke about it, but then we got all caught up in this bullshit.”

“Mishima with a girlfriend…” Ann mused. “I guess the world is just full of surprises.”

“I think we should get going, if you’re all quite done gossiping,” Akechi said, a familiar venom in his voice.  Akira reluctantly agreed, and they gathered their things and took the train to Shibuya, then passed into the Metaverse and down into Mementos proper.  They all gave Rin and Sumire a run-down of Mementos, and answered the odd question that followed.  Akira gave a nod to Lavenza, who stood by the door to the Velvet Room, still invisible to the others.  They noted the gray, metallic strands that snaked across the ceiling, so similar to what they had seen in Maruki’s lab.

“That has to be the good doctor’s work,” Yusuke said, gesturing up as they all sorted out items and equipment.

“It’s certainly new,” Haru commented. “Oracle, can you scan it?”

Futaba looked all across the pattern of material, her goggles humming slightly.  “Nothing special.  Whatever he’s doing with this, we’re so far away that my Persona can’t pick up anything.  If we follow them deeper, we might get some clues.”

“Well, they will probably lead back to the Prison, if what he told Witch is true,” Ann said.

They finished their preparations, and Morgana was eager to show the two newcomers his amazing transformation, but when he bounced to the ground in van form, neither seemed that surprised or enthused.

“Really?  Nothing?” Morgana whined at Sumire’s quiet ‘Oh,’ and Rin’s stone-faced reaction.

“With everything that’s happened, and everything we’ve seen, I guess a talking cat turning into a talking automobile just isn’t surprising,” Sumire admitted.  Morgana moaned his disappointment.

Rin was quiet, her eyes squinting behind her mask.  “Does the air conditioning smell like cat breath?” she asked, finally.

“Wha- No!” Morgana protested.

“A little bit, if we drive for too long,” Makoto added.

“Are the seat cat fur or cat tongue texture?” Rin continued.

The headlights that served as Van-gana’s eyes bulged, and the purring engine seemed to sputter before he responded.  “Gross!  They’re fine leather, I’ll have you know.”

“It’s not fine at all,” Yusuke commented. “It's passable, at best.”

Rin didn’t seem to notice, and continued her barrage of questions: “Do you have to eat or fuel up?  How does your exhaust work?”

“It just works, okay?!” Morgana shouted back, becoming increasingly flustered.

“Do you get hairballs in your engine?” Sumire asked, joining the inquiry.

“Just get in!” Morgana huffed, rearing up back, then back down on his front tires, as if putting a foot down. “Jeez.”

They all piled in, only to find it cramped with their two new members.  Eventually, Makoto opted to step out of the van, and ride on her Persona, which was newly awakened into the vehicle Agnes.  Akira took Morgana’s wheel, and the two of them descended into the depths.  

After a few minutes of driving and some light banter made awkward by the cramped interior, the Thieves arrived at the entrance to what used to be the Prison of Regression.  The gray metallic threads had been woven into the fabric of Mementos, and they had grown thicker as they descended, eventually looking more like roots of a plant.  They passed the enormous black stone slabs that marked the beginning of the Prison and disembarked from their modes of transport.  The area beyond the entrance was no longer an overwhelming red, but a pale blue color; not at all dissimilar to Maruki’s laboratory.  They found the panopticon-like temple not far from the entrance.  Instead of the veins of red desire and a enormous red chalice, the space was now filled with cables and wires; with massive lenses and blue floodlights.

“I think we can safely assume Doctor Maruki is behind this change,” Makoto said as she gazed about at the lines of neon cyan and reflective metal that criss-crossed the space.  Akira looked up the thread of gold woven into sheets of wires and fiber-optics that held camera lenses the size of large trucks above them, each shifting its internal mechanism in a way that made Akira feel distinctly… observed.

They scaled the root-tentacle-cables down the space, past the now-empty cells and down to the floor of the space.  A massive pillar of neon cables rose from the floor, then split apart into separate, glowing streams of energy, bounced between hexagonal plates and leading away from the entrance, to a new hallway at the back.

“This is almost certainly the ‘lynchpin’ Lady Elizabeth mentioned,” Morgana said as they approached.

Akira looked at the structure that had been created… or perhaps grown?  It struck him that this was a particularly powerful location: the nexus of thought in Tokyo.  From what Elizabeth had said, they were not the first to fight a mysteriously powerful cognitive being.  This space had either been created by the Holy Grail or had created the Grail in turn, and now Maruki had been drawn to it by his own Persona, if Rin had interpreted his words correctly.  What other beings might it draw from the Sea of Souls or beyond?

“So all the threads he wove through Mementos are anchored here?” Yusuke asked, glancing about.  Akira was also shocked by the transformation the space had endured.  He recognized most of it, including the plaques on the ground with the Latin names of the deadly sins on them.  They had fought the Holy Grail here. They had defeated Yaldabaoth here, in a way.

“Not quite, Inari,” Futaba corrected, scanning the mass of cables and metallic mesh. “It’s the other way around.  They don’t converge here; this is where they begin: the stuff we’ve seen all around Mementos starts here and spreads like roots.”

“This must be what he made on Christmas,” Rin said, staring up at the space, her eyes lazily following the glowing lines of the cables.

Ryuji wandered closer and gave the cables a smack with his bat, to no effect. “Doesn’t seem like we can cut it off here,” he said.

“It all looks really similar to his Persona,” Ann said. “If he created this, it makes sense.”

“Meaning we probably have to deal with Maruki to get rid of it and separate the two dimensions,” Akechi added.

“It seems that he may have expanded the space since we were last here,” Haru said, having walked to the side.  She gestured to the hole in the wall where the lines of energy were directed out, there were a series of escalators out of the space now. They all circled the central structure with her and approached the dark moving stairs.  “I doubt the escalators were something the Holy Grail decided to include.”

“You never know,” Rin said, as they stepped on the moving stairs and traveled beyond the panopticon.  The area behind that looked like another floor of Mementos, but… infused with Maruki’s Palace.  The subtle white glow, the posters talking about happiness, the blue-veined metal roots burrowed into the ceiling.  The Metanav buzzed in Akira’s pocket and notified him of the new area they had uncovered as they did, and a massive new section appeared on the map, one that had them ascending, but on a new path, parallel to the original descent.

“And having reached the bottom of the Inferno, we must climb our way to Purgatorio,” Akechi commented.  From the looks other Thieves gave, it seemed only Makoto, Yusuke and Akira had understood his reference to Dante’s work, but Akira’s rebuttal was cut off as a toy car honked its way up the escalator, trailing balloons.  The tiny Jose waved at each of them, driving his one-child car.

“Hello, Jose,” Ann greeted with a wave.

“Oh, hello,” he commented to the Thieves. “Are you exploring this new area too?”

“We have some business here,” Akira said, glancing over to see Sumire utterly lost, and Rin tilting her head. “Have you been following us, Jose?”

“No, but I thought it might be a good idea to try this area’s new flowers,” he said. “I’ll see you later!”  He honked the car’s toy-like horn again, then sped off down the train tracks.

“Anything else I need to know about this crazy place?” Sumire asked. “This is so weird, it’s like Alice and Wonderland,”

“Alice in Wonderland,” Akechi corrected. “The mental world is bound to not make sense from our rational perspective.  That child is no stranger than any Shadow.”

“Why does he have yellow eyes like Elizabeth and Margaret?” Rin asked, to which Akira simply shrugged.

“I don’t really think it’s any of our business,” Akira said.  Rin seemed to accept that, and they set off into the new layer of Mementos that the Metanav had labeled the “Path of Da’at.”

They found the targets of the requests with relative ease and handled them.  As they ascended the floors of the path, the Shadows grew more and more powerful, each battle chipping away at their resources.  New, strange Shadows appeared; not just the ones from Maruki’s Palace and the Qliphoth World, but others; ones that had no interest in negotiation.  There were pairs of Obsidian Gargoyles with unnaturally long arms and no faces that hovered in midair, along with bright red crustaceans with wings that Al Azif called Crimson Fungoides.  They each had odd, bizarrely powerful attacks that caught the Thieves off-guard, but the hardest fight was the pack of five dog-like Shadows they fought close to the top, each called Canine of Corners.   They were oddly immaterial creatures, each with a long, bladed tongue and their solid outlines trailing away into geometric, fractal smoke.

They stopped to rest on an empty floor right before the end.  Akira passed out snacks, coffee and medical supplies.  The climb had been pretty taxing.

“What’s with these new Shadows that don’t wanna talk?” Ann asked as she helped Rin with an energy drink.

“They all feel like those bizarre things we fought in the warehouse,” Haru commented.  Akira shared a brief glance with Rin, neither wanting to bring up that they had discussed this exact scenario.  

They packed their snacks and moved on.  The further they moved into the Path of Da’at, the more Mementos resembled Maruki’s lab.  Eventually, following one final set of escalators, the Thieves found themselves in a large, metallic room.  Glowing cables snaked back and forth across the floor, all feeding into a large glass tube that rose all the way to the extremely high ceiling.  There were futuristic workstations all around, each with a holographic screen that showed some part of Mementos.  The group surmised that they had reached the heart of Maruki’s data-gathering effort.  Futaba moved to try and see what could be done about it, but from behind them, they heard someone walking in.  They turned to see a human figure approaching.  Yusuke and Ryuji readied their weapons, and Akira even caught Makoto pulling the hammer back on her revolver, but when they could see who it was, they were all surprised.

“Lady Lavenza?” Morgana asked.  The small girl approached them with a smile on her face, her expression calm. 

“I thought you could use some assistance in this matter Trickster,” she said, bowing slightly.  Her yellow eyes flicked between the different members of the Thieves. “This place has become exceedingly dangerous, after all.”

“I thought…” Akira began. “What changed?  I thought this world was too taxing for you and your siblings to manifest.  Why-”

“It’s not her,” Rin said, taking a step forward.  Lavenza stopped short, her smile dropping to worry.

“Your confusion and distrust is expected, but-” Lavenza began.

“Witch is right,” Futaba cut her off, her goggles glowing a faint red as she scanned the short figure. “It’s not Lavenza.  She and her sister registered like Mona.  This is some kind of Shadow.”

‘Lavenza’ dropped all pretense, the emotion sliding right off of her face.  Her kind yellow eyes suddenly looked dead, and her voice changed to one of an indeterminate gender, but with a Shadow’s distortion.  “You all continue to surprise me.  I settled on this form after much debate as the most trustworthy and the least suspicious, and you still saw through it.”

A dark haze began to gather around the thing that looked like Lavenza.  In a blur, its form changed to Sojiro with yellow eyes, then to Sae, then to Wakaba, then finally to Maruki in his old lab coat and sandals.  The Shadow stared at them from behind his glasses and flop of curly hair.

“Good thing we’re not that stupid,” Akechi said, drawing his serrated blade. “I assume you’re some security measure Maruki put here to try to protect this area?”

“You are very wrong, distorted echo,” the Shadow said.  Akira raised an eyebrow at the term it used for Akechi, but pushed past it. “I am here of my own free will, as the doctor’s goals and mine align.”

Rin’s eyes narrowed and she shifted in place, brushing her combat sandals on the metal floor.  “If you’re here to stop us, then you’re too late,” she said.

“Far from it,” it replied. “You are too late to stop the world that is to come.”   It darkened, abandoning the shape of a human, growing to monstrous size and adopting a new form.

“I prefer to use intermediaries for this kind of base violence,” it said, its voice deepening and growing in volume. “But you have defeated the other roadblocks I created.  So I shall show you all the truth.”   Its form resolved into a massive, three-legged monster.  Its head was nothing but a mouth, shrouded by tendrils and contorted into a permanent scream, its head a wriggling, serpentine tentacle.  Blue orbs dotted its black body as its green-tinted hands dripped with dark oil.

The entirety of the Phantom Thieves lined up against the creature Futaba’s Persona labeled the Moon Howler.  Cornered as they were, it would be hard to not use the whole group in battle.

Looking back on what Akira would remember of this battle later, he would pinpoint that as their mistake.  

“Hahaha!  Perhaps the time for pawns has not yet passed after all!” it boomed, then raised its hands and unleashed a deep magenta pulse of energy from its gaping mouth, its shroud of tentacles parting.  Akira recognized a status effect attack, but his fears were soon exceeded as Ryuji turned and swung at Akira with his mace.  It was a brainwash attack.

“No!  It got Skull!” Futaba shouted over their mental link from within her Persona.  “And Queen, Noir and Fox!”

Ryuji branshied his weapon again, trying to bring it down on Akira’s head.  Akira blocked with his dagger as he saw the entire team descending into chaos.  Ann was desperately dodging a series of ax swings from Haru, Morgana and Sumire were trying to restrain Makoto as she thrashed about wildly, and Akechi squared off with Yusuke in careful sword duel.  Akira looked back into Ryuji’s eyes, only to find nothing there, just a dark void.

“Skull!” Akira shouted, trying to hold back Ryuji’s attack.  “It’s me!  Snap out of it!  It’s just another trick!”

Rin ran full-tilt at Ryuji, tackling him off Akira, and quickly putting him on a kind of leg-lock where she held both his arms behind his back with her legs.  Akira was momentarily impressed by her ingenuity, but looking over the internal battle tearing his team apart refocused him on the threat: the Shadow.

“I’m working on something to help, Joker,” Futaba said. “But… It's fighting back.  This isn’t just another Brain Jack.  This Shadow, it’s different.”

Akira summoned his metallic angel Persona Sandalphon to blast the Moon Howler with a bless attack, but it just laughed at him.

“You face me alone, Akira Kurusu?” it asked.  Joker reeled back.  How on Earth did this Shadow know his name?  “Yes, I know you.  I am the darkness of the human heart.  I know all humanity, and I know your soul.  Nothing you will do here can possibly matter.  Free will is an illusion.  You think you have escaped the doctor’s prison, but there is no freedom, only larger and smaller cages.”

“You’re wrong!” Akira shouted. “I know we can make a difference.  We can’t… we can’t…”

“Fail?” it said, completing his thought. “Hahaha!  You already have.  I have seen it.  This world is one of many, and I have seen the world where you fall.  In this, and all others.  Nothing you do can ever matter, because in the future of another world, you have already made the opposite choice.  There is no hope!”

“That’s bullshit!” he and Futaba shouted together. 

“Don’t hit us with that ‘multiverse’ crap, you overgrown tripod!” Futaba said.

“I don’t care about other timelines- I’m still here, and I’m still going to stop you!” Akira shouted.  He swapped Personas over to the robed and spear-wielding Odin, who called down lighting on the Shadow.  It seemed to injure it, but only a tiny fraction.

“No, you can’t,” the Moon Howler taunted. “Your mind already cracked when it touched oblivion.  Let me show you the futility of your actions.”

The Shadow raised its hand at Akira, and suddenly his mind was assaulted again.  He screamed and doubled over as images and sensations crashed through his mind.  He felt burning heat, smelled decay, and could taste the void.  He saw Tokyo.  A dozen different Tokyos; each with something terribly wrong with them.  The red-veined Mementos Fusion they had averted was there, but then there were more.  One where a yellow fog shrouded the entire city as a multi-colored eye gazed down as the citizens slowly disintegrated into mist, then one where the people on the street were replaced with crystal coffins as the moon grew larger and larger in the green-blue sky.

He tried to shut them out, keep his wits about him and remember the techniques for mental control that Maruki had taught him, but the screams of an entire city dying filled his ears.  He saw Tokyo turned inside out, the souls of its inhabitants consumed to birth a new god as angels and demons warred over the sand-blasted hellscape that the city had become.  Then a chillingly un-fantastical vision of Tokyo: missiles raining down and vaporizing the city in a mushroom cloud.

Each of these visions were compressed with dozens more, like individual frames of a film that made no sense, but played so loud as to drown out all else.

“This is no time to keel over, Joker!” he heard Akechi say at the same time he saw the world end.  Vision, after vision, after vision cascaded over him.  He wanted to scream; he might already have been screaming, but he couldn't hear his own voice over the thousands of lives being ended as Maruki smiled at him and the world faded away into the roar of the void.

“Joker!” he almost heard Futaba shout. “Something happening… I can’t see… I can’t…”

The rest of what she said was lost as Akira’s entire world became the thrumming laughter of a malicious god.

---

Futaba Sakura looked around herself.  She was supposed to be at the bottom of Mementos, supporting her team, but she wasn’t.  Instead, she was standing at the top of a ruined building, in a lifeless, ruined Tokyo that was buried by sand.

Her mind raced as she looked around.  Her goggles were gone, but she was still in her Metaverse outfit, with its skin tight bodysuit and neon green lines.  She gazed out over the city around here.  There wasn’t a single living thing in sight.  The building she was on was slightly askew, leaned up against a massive hill of sand that was so tall that the top of it spilled over onto the roof, just a bit.  All around her were the sand-blasted ruins of Tokyo.  Gone was the sea, gone was the horizon, like the city now existed in a permanent sandstorm.  She could see the Tokyo Skytree past another row of office buildings, partially destroyed.  

She tried to think back.  She’d been trying to support her teammates after several of them had succumbed to a powerful brainwashing spell.  She had just prepared a special cleansing effect, but then her vision had begun to dim, and Al Azif had warned about… what was that warning it had given her? “Dimensional…” something.  Futaba swore, not used to not remembering something.  And now here she was, trapped in some kind of dream or hallucination.  She was still not quite over spending a week with her dead mother, and now whenever the hell this Shadow was had trapped her in another illusion.  Al Azif had given it another name beyond Moon Howler, something Egyptian-sounding.  Was that related to the sandy expanse before her?  There were no pyramids here, just her memories of her own tomb, and a blazing, dry heat.

Was there anything here?  It felt like a post-apocalyptic landscape, like those Australian action movies with the cool cars.  Was this nothing more than a figment of her dying imagination?  Or had she been-

“Hello, Oracle.”

Futaba spun around to see a person on the roof with her, where there had been no one else moments ago.  He looked to be a man of perhaps twenty or thirty.  He was tall, with an slender, almost androgynous figure and well-coiffed blond hair that was carefully slicked, but feathered in the back.  He was dressed in an immaculately tailored double-breasted black business blazer, with an orange tie and spotless black dress pants and shoes.  Everything about him was far too clean and slick to fit in with the sandy surroundings.  Futaba focused on his eyes, and saw that he was heterochromatic: his left eye was a deep red, and his right was a rich blue.

“Who are you?” Futaba found herself almost shouting.  “Where am I?  Are my friends… Did you do this to me?”

“You have so many questions, but only some of them are relevant,” he replied, his voice smooth and even.  He was unnaturally calm.  Futaba knew instantly that he wasn’t human.  He couldn’t be.  If she was even still alive.

If any of this was even real.

“My name… well, I suppose you can call me Louis,” the man said, scratching his chin with a ringed finger. “As for where you are, it’s Tokyo.  But not your Tokyo, in either the past or the future.  You might call it a… possible Tokyo.”

“I know what a parallel universe is,” Futaba responded, slightly annoyed. “I’ve seen movies before.  You dragged me to some apocalyptic timeline… for what?”

Louis smiled. “To save you,” he said, turning and walking down the slope of sand piled against the building.  Futaba was annoyed, but hurried after him, sliding past him down the bank of sand.

“Are my friends safe?” Futaba asked as Louis finished walking down the slope, the sand sliding right off his dress shoes.

“That depends on a great many things, Oracle,” he said. “They were attacking each other, and at the mercy of an Outer God, so I would say no, but you were preparing to aid them.  So perhaps the answer is yes.”  Futaba was quickly burning though what little patience she had.  This cryptic super-being was more annoying than any Shadow they had faced, but she had to go along with him if she wanted answers.

“What do you want?” Futaba asked.

“I want a certainty of outcomes,” Louis said as he passed Futaba and kept walking.  Futaba followed after him.

“What outcome do you want to make certain of?” she asked.

“Your victory,” Louis said. “Your world is one I have always treasured, because He was unable to influence it.  And even though He is unable to directly affect your world, His design and intentions can still manifest.  Patterns propagate, regardless of intent.  You handily defeated His shadow in the Grail, but now this doctor with the Idiot God in his heart is trying to carry on a dream that will bring about a vision of the world very close to His.”  Louis stopped and looked back at Futaba.  “Too close.”

“Can you just skip to the part where you help me?” Futaba asked, frustrated by his rambling.

“My, the children are impatient these days,” he said, snorting a small laugh. “I had to convince Stephen to help me contact you like this, in this imaginary pocket space, and you just can’t wait to leave.”

He kept walking, and Futaba was forced to follow him as he made his way around the ruined city.  “Your world is important to me, Oracle.  More than you could ever know.  But I can see that you are concerned for your friends, so I will keep this brief.”  They arrived at a clearing, what might have been the Shibuya crosswalk, buried under sand.  It was hard to tell where they were with so many landmarks eroded.  “The location you are fighting at in your world is one of immense significance.  It can empower lesser, banished Shadows like the unwelcome guest currently making a mess of your group, but it can also allow those outside your world to cross over, if they are powerful or interested.  And I am both of those things.”

“Then you can help us fight that… thing?” she asked, remembering the other name her Persona had assigned it. “That… ‘Nyarlathotep’?”

Louis shook his head, his blond hair fluttering slightly.  “Each transgression across borders invites a reaction and reprisal.  Even I dare not interfere beyond this chat.  But this fact can be used against your foe, for he is an interloper.  He should not be there.  If you can attract the attention of higher powers, then the reprisal he deserves will deal with him and remove him from your world.”

“So I… call his bosses and tell them to come deal with it?” Futaba asked.  It couldn’t be that simple, could it?

“If it is helpful to think of it that way,” Louis said. “I can give you a phrase that will summon a being that will ‘deal’ with him.  Though it will only work once, and only at your current location, as that is the only location where such a summoning can occur.”

“And you’re sure you can’t come back and help more?” Futaba asked. “You’re clearly some kind of big-shot metaphysical super-boss.”

Louis smiled and chuckled. “My aid and power is available in your world to those who have cultivated the power of the Star.  Your Joker can call upon me, but he has chosen to avoid summoning me, as he is frightened of what my power may represent.  If you make it out of this mess, tell him this from me: it is not the effect of great power he should be concerned about, but what those with power will do to those without.”

Futaba swallowed hard.  That particular sentence felt ominous.  The wind picked up and pelted her with sand; she felt it was time to go, but she had one last question to ask.

“Why me?” she said. “Why not tell this right to Joker if you know him?”

“Because I want to minimize my involvement,” Louis said, reaching into the pocket of his blazer. “And you hold the tome of forbidden knowledge in your world, so you are much easier to contact.”  He withdrew a small, rigid rectangle of black paper: a business card.  He extended it towards Futaba, between his index and middle finger.

Futaba reached a hand out, but felt herself recoil with doubt. “And there are no catches for this help?  No fine print?”

“Normally, there would be,” Louis said. “But in this, I offer only knowledge, and I offer it freely.  Our objectives align.”

Futaba reached forward again, and tentatively took the black business card from his fingers.

And before she could form another thought, she was gone.

---

Akira’s head felt exceedingly empty.  The visions had stopped, as had the screaming from his party.  He stood, shaky at first, but was helped to his feet by Ryuji and Yusuke, who had apparently been cured of their brainwash-effect.  He looked around, and saw four of the Thieves lined up against the Moon Howler.   Morgana, Akechi, Sumire and Ann held the line against a wave of Almighty attacks from the Shadow.

“You feelin’ better, bro?” Ryuji said as he steadied Akira and helped him stand.  Rin, Haru and Makoto were a few feet away, hiding behind a computer console and patching each other up with their medical supplies. 

Akira was about to respond, when he looked up and noticed that Futaba’s Persona was glowing with… unusual colors.  The runes on the underside of the triangle shifted and changed, and Akira could have sworn he heard… chanting?  What was happening?

“Oracle, what are you doing?” Akira asked, his throat sore like he had been screaming.  (Had he been screaming?  He couldn’t remember.)

There was no response as the droning, chanting sound from her Persona and shifting lights reached a fevered pitch.  Then, without warning, the metallic triangle stopped and a noiseless pulse of sound emanated from her Persona.  Everything in the room stumbled at the sudden lack of noise, even the Shadow.  It seemed to look around, its green tentacles writhing.  It seemed… shock?  Anxious?  Akira could hardly be said to be an expert in its body language.

“No!” it shouted. “No human has had that knowledge in a century!” Akira looked back up at Futaba’s hovering Persona, but something else caught his eyes instead: an eye.

On the impossibly high ceiling of the cavernous room they were in, was an eye.  A human eye had opened, and it was the size of the entire room.  Akira blinked, and it wasn’t an eye anymore, it was a glowing, luminous ball of energy.  Akira blinked again, trying to make sense of it, and the ball had multiplied, and not instead of giving off light, they looked like bubbles filled with swirling nebulae and stars.  Akira glanced down at his teammates, only to find each of them also staring up at the sight unfolding above them.  Akira looked back up only to see even more spheres, but instead of bubbles they now resembled spheres of flesh and blood, with fibrous tendons holding them together and black ichor flowing across their surfaces, dripping upwards.

At that moment, Akira knew what it meant to see something your mind could not comprehend.

The spheres grew and multiplied downward, each time shifting and changing, until the entire space some ten meters above them was occupied by human eyeballs, each wildly swinging about.  

Then, each eye turned on the Moon Howler.

The Shadow seemed to shrink under the pressure of the many-eyed gaze.  “Guardian-Gate, I-”

You have transgressed beyond your role, Crawling Chaos.

The voice came from everywhere and nowhere.  It was a deafening silence that reverberated in every fiber of Akira’s being.  

You can not remain where you are not permitted.

“All-in-One, no!” the Shadow protested. “If this world ends then, our kind may be free again.  I have aligned the stars, you need only let me fulfill-”

You will not remain where you are not permitted.

Akira glanced down from the unblinking eyes to see the Moon Howler be rent apart, shredded by invisible forces down the green and black dust.

It didn’t even have time to scream.

The eyes turned to look at the Phantom Thieves.  They all tried to prepare themselves for whatever might come next, but Akira still felt exhausted.  Instead of any attack or another thunderously quiet voice, the orbs shifted again, rapidly shrinking and multiplying until there was nothing but a sea of light brown specks suspended above them.  It was sand, he realized; an inverted sand dune.  The sand began to fall in a narrow column in front of all of them, like it was the top of hourglass.  The frontline backed away, but they were all too exhausted to put up any real defense if whatever this thing was turned out to be hostile.

The falling sand reshaped itself into a human figure.  Tall, but completely obscured by a pure white shroud.  As it emerged, Akira noticed Futaba touch down on the ground next to him, her Persona recalled.  

“Greeting, children of men,” the white-robed figure said to them, his voice strangely accented, but smooth and pleasant.

“Who are you?” Makoto asked, standing up from behind the console.

“Do you mean to harm us?” Yusuke asked.

“I am called ’Umr At-Tawil by some,” the figure said. “And I mean you no harm.  The Crawling Chaos was banished from this world, and as a relation from the other side of what you understand as the Sea of Souls, I was bound to hold him to the law.”

“So that thing is gone?” Akechi said, his sword still drawn.

“And you’re not going to harvest our eyes or anything?” Rin added.

“The Crawling Chaos can no longer access your minds, or the minds of mankind,” the figure said.  It made some indecipherable gesture beneath its shroud.  “Your destinies are your own to shape.”

And with that, the figure vanished in white mist.  

“That was fucked up,” Ryuji said.

Akira agreed.  They all wanted to talk, but no-one had much to say.  They were all injured from the battle, and Akira could feel that most of them just wanted to get this over with.  Futaba hacked the system controlling how Maruki gathered data, which cleared a path forward back in the Palace.

On their way out of Mementos, Futaba slipped Akira a small black business card.  There were dark gray characters that looked like Arabic on one side, but it was what was on the other side that shocked him.  In silver letters he saw a name:

LOUIS CYPHER The Morning Star

Akira recognized the pseudonym.  He swallowed hard and looked back at Futaba, who shrugged at him. “Where did you get this?” he whispered to her.

“I think my Persona gave it to me?” she said, her brow creasing in confusion. “I don’t really know what happened.  It’s hard to remember…  But something tells me you should have it.  Like the star Jose gave us: it feels like it’s for you.”

Akira wondered what force could possibly evade Futaba’s near-eidetic memory, and felt a chill roll down his spine considering that question.  He still felt sick from the Shadow’s assault.  They’d have to take some time to recuperate.  Hopefully things would be smoother for them in Maruki’s Palace.

---

Nyarlathotep is ejected from the Metaverse.  His no-quite corporal form that he projects from his exile is spat out on a rooftop in Tokyo, one that overlooks Shibuya.  His disguise is failing, so he reverts to an older form: the man with long gray hair and a red suit, the one with the monocle.

How dare that brat call upon the All-in-One?  How dare the One-in-All banish him?  This is their only chance to return.  There is no other way.  The Crawling Chaos seethes, rapidly pacing on the deserted rooftop, trying to put together a new plan.  He overstepped his bounds, directly confronting Persona-users like that, but he needed to stop them soon.  It was a calculated risk, and the math is rapidly changing now.  The odds of them being able to overcome the doctor and his expression of Azathoth are too slim.  But he needs to hurry.  This transgression will attract the attention of his opposite, and in his weakened state, he is no match for Philemon’s tools.  If he-

“There you are.”

Nyarlathotep stops as he hears the voice behind him.  No, no, this is not the end.  Even those who rule over power can be tempted, after all.  He turns to see which of them has tracked him down.  The man suddenly sharing the rooftop with him is tall, with platinum hair slicked back under a blue cap.  He is dressed in a blue outfit reminiscent of an elevator attendant’s, a thick tome with a mauve cover held in his arm.

“You evaded us for some time,” he says, his yellow eyes staring into Nyarlathotep’s illusory ones. “But you must leave.  You were defeated and banished.  Your interference is unwelcome.”

“You’re not looking at this right, attendant,” Nyarlathotep says.  “You’re not thinking of the possibilities.”

“There are no possi-” the man begins, waving a hand.

“You could bring her back,” Nyarlathotep says. 

The man freezes.

“Oh yes, Theodore, I know about her”, he continues, sensing opportunity. “I know your sister left her duties when she lost him, but you chose to stay when you lost her.  In this world, humans’ hearts are being mended and even the dead may live again.  She could return.”  The man called Theodore takes a step closer as Nyarlathotep continues: “The barrier between desire and reality has never been weaker.  If you stay, keep this world in place, you can finally save her.”

“And what would you know about her?” Theodore asks, his voice low and dangerous.  He waves his hand, and Nyarlathotep’s human guise falls away.  Where the red-suited man with a monocle stood, now there is a thin humanoid with black, stonelike skin.  It has no hands or feet, only sharp claws at the end of its spindly limbs.  Small red wings spread out behind it, motionless as it floats just off the roof.  There is no face on its head, but black orbs set all around its head are surmounted by a golden crown made of endless spines.

“You are the darkness of the human heart manifested,” Theodore says. “You misjudged their potential when you thought humanity would destroy itself.  Because of that, you have failed to grasp why she made the choices she did, because you cannot understand sacrifice.  You are selfishness, greed, spite, nihilism and misery, given form.  Nothing more.”

“You cannot destroy me,” the mouthless creature says, its voice calmer, more accepting.  It knows what comes next. “I am undeniably part of the human heart.  I am eternal.  Where there is darkness, there are Shadows.”

“And to the shadows you shall return,” Theodore says, opening the book in his arms.  “You do not belong in this world.”  He thrusts his hand forward, and the crowned creature disappears in a flash.

His quarry finally banished back to beyond the world of humanity, Theodore sighs deeply.  He looks over the edge of the roof, to the busy street below, where humanity remains enthralled.  Shutting the Crawling Chaos out of the world won’t undo the damage he has done, but now he can do no more.

Theodore feels his arms grow weak.  This reality has already worn him down, he can’t handle much more of it.  He needs to return to his master and report.  Then he and his sisters can return to their duties.  

The fate of the world falls to a group of young Persona-users yet again.  Perhaps that is how it is meant to be.

Wearily, Theodore opens a door back to the Velvet Room, and disappears.

[detective-pancake]

I agree with this completely, but I want to add some things. I think something that I've seen people not realize is that in this framework Maruki has no care for the dead. He never cared about Kasumi, or about the sibling's bond with each other, because if he did he could have just brought Kasumi back or tried even a little bit to understand the underlying truth behind Sumire's grief stricken warped perception of her late sister. Instead, Maruki facilitates what she claims she wants, which is to become this warped perception of her sister. To match the strength she idolized. It's the same with Akechi. Akechi's wishes don't matter, Maruki wants to repay Ren for unintentionally giving him the key to accomplishing his goals, and to an extent he sees himself in Ren. Just like how Maruki didn't attempt to understand the truth behind the bond of the Yoshizawa siblings, he didn't attempt to understand the bond between Ren and Akechi. It's not enough that Akechi is alive and """"happy"""" with Ren, they had a unique dynamic fueled by their experiences, and Maruki's shallow understanding of them and what they "want" could never accurately replicate it. He thinks sanding off Akechi's jaded worldview and trauma will make him easier to love, and we know that's not true. Not to Ren. Akechi's autonomy is not granted to him because it would in Maruki's eyes, defeat the purpose of bringing him back as the perfect companion he thinks Ren always wanted but could never have.

This is a big reason why I have problems with people who claim to love shuake but also believe Maruki is right or prefer the bad ending narrative wise. It's feeding into the same toxicity Maruki does. Maruki doesn't value Akechi individually, he is only present as a ghostly giftwrapped puppet for Ren to love. People tend to fall into the trap that Maruki's reality provides, and that's that "look at this character you have grown attached to. Don't you want them happy?" So they are forced to deal with the cognitive dissonance of safe comfort for the character, or what the character would want. Anyone who claims to love Akechi and Ren together but prefers the bad ending doesn't actually care about the bond they have. It's because they play as Ren and they want his "happiness".

Adding onto this because I've yapped for this long so I might as well, I could apply this to any of the other thieves as well. Someone might spend the entire game wishing for Ann to be happy with Shiho, and then when Maruki provides that of course they would consider accepting the deal. But they seem to forget that the only reason they became attached to Ann in the first place is because of the experiences she went through in the course of the game. The Ann they grew to love is NOT the Ann that has Shiho in Maruki's reality. It's an important distinction to make.

forever thinking about royal’s bad ending. my thing with it is that maruki doesn’t necessarily give anyone what they want most, he gives them what’s most appropriate for them to want within a maruki-approved framework. iirc there’s a really interesting text sequence in the game where he just straight up changes someone’s career because they’re not “good” at it, regardless of whether that’s what they actually want. why struggle at all? ever? right?

and so ultimately i don’t think goro akechi’s greatest wish is necessarily ren. i think it’s a wish for sure, but his greatest wish is his own agency. despite any regrets he has and the fact that shido and yaldabaoth treated him like a pawn, he's generally pretty adamant about owning his choices and their consequences. he doesn't want that erased. and instead, you end up with pleasant boy™ if you take maruki’s deal. maybe maruki (incorrectly) thinks sanding off all of akechi’s rough edges will make him easier for ren to love. but the crux of it is really that maruki has to essentially lobotomize him to preserve the illusion of his perfect reality, because their ideologies are so diametrically opposed that akechi would spend every waking moment fighting back.

this isn’t to undermine ren’s importance to akechi btw — he explicitly acknowledges that he wishes they had met earlier, and there are countless moments throughout their confidant that underscore how much it means to him that they mirror each other so well. he absolutely does want more time with ren, just not under these circumstances.

and that’s also what makes ren’s choice on 2/2 doubly devastating. he knows that either way he loses akechi. and if he takes maruki’s deal, he loses him knowing that his last moments with the real akechi involved the two of them being unforgivably out of sync.