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gavalaa · 5 years

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>> Back on my AU bullshit today we have my take on Shadow Akechi (which, newsflash, isn’t a very creative take hjfh)

>> I’ll be describing pretty much everything under the cut as to save space and not clog up your dash or explore :)

>> And fair warning, there are spoilers to Persona 5 under the cut. IDK why I have to say this since the games been out for like 3 years, but people ask me to warn spoilers anyways SO

Also warning, it’s pretty much me trying to make Akechi Good so if you aren’t an Akechi fan I would just keep scrolling fjhdsjfh

>> SO BAsically we all know he was planned to have a castle-palace so I played off that idea and scrounged up a page of doodles. I modelled his palace off of Buckingham Palace so I’ve been calling it Akechi’s Palace since there’s already a Castle in the canon game.

>> The shadows are designed off the Queen’s Guard and have blindfolds instead of masks, which plays into Akechi’s Justice Arcana. There would probably be like 2-3 types of shadows, including guard, maids inside the castle, and butlers.

>> The palace is in the middle of a large city which is covered in TV screens and media outlets, all of which would be playing recordings of his TV appearances. The palace itself is surrounded by a tall, sharp, and possibly electric fence which keeps out the general public, which Akechi sees as faceless figures. There are large crowds of people surrounding the palace at all points of the infiltration and are mostly comprised of interviewers, press, and media hosts and fans. (The palace would be post-Okumura when Akechi regains support.) The fence which surrounds the palace is large and creates a large empty space which would insinuate that Akechi feels isolated despite the attention he receives.

>> I had a lot of trouble coming up with keywords for Akechi, but I said “eff it” and came up with some bullshit. The first keyword is obviously his name, Goro Akechi. His distortion plays off his ‘special complex’ and would most likely have something to do with ‘remarkability’ or ‘uniqueness’ or something which would put him in control- something that would also foil off of his canon dialogue before his fate at the end of his confidant. The last word, being the place of the distortion, is Akechi himself. There is no one specific place I feel Akechi would see distortion, except within himself. In Futaba’s case, she was trapped in her room, however, Akechi gets out A LOT. I think he’d see any problems he had and whatever complexes he burdened within himself, and consider them completely self-contained. If it weren’t himself, it would be a concept like the media or press instead.

>> Akechi, the main man himself, is regarded as ‘Prince Akechi’ in his palace and has a very pleasant and almost snarky/childish demeanour upon first contact in the game. He welcomes the thieves into his court and is surprised to find anyone visiting him, and attempts to make small talk with them. Even in his most raw and honest state of being, Akechi is still very two-faced and is naturally a people-pleaser during the first phase of his palace. When you eventually tell him your intentions to steal his treasure, he ushers the thieves by saying “By all means, Thieves, you may certainly try.”

He’s very charismatic, as you’d expect from Akechi, and scarily accurate to the real deal, however when you reach the second phase of his palace he becomes very cold, distant, and vulgar.

>> The palace would begin like any other, and your main infiltration point would be from a side room/kitchen in the back of the palace. You’d run through a good portion of it and see a lot of his distortion when it comes to the media, and how he sees it all wrapped under his finger and submitted to him. You’ll see how he sees the people of Japan who blindly followed the Thieves and his own words, and how little he thinks of people in general, like serfs or plebians. A very prideful display, and how his ego is fueled by the stupidity of the public. It would also insinuate all of the faked investigations that he undertook during pre-game instances.

However, once you reach a certain part of the Palace, you would begin to see a shift due to his two-faced nature. More information regarding his mother, father, and his situation become apparent as you travel further into the heart of his palace. His guilts, regrets, and his chaotic nature would be revealed as you come across his cognitive memories of what happened in his childhood.

This part of the palace would be presided with Loki, and would very much represent all of his anxieties, guilt, and regressions as a person. (I have headcanonned for the longest time that Loki is more or less a manifestation of his anxieties and hatred and therefore only amplifies that- while Robin Hood is a manifestation of his ego and his guilt and only serves to amplify that.) This section of his palace would showcase everything.

Everything beyond this point would be treated in hushed whispers within the whole ‘prince/palace’ theme, like some sort of scandal (think like, gossiping court and such. very European drama) and it might even touch on the Prince being a bastard, and how Akechi sees even those close to him in operation will eventually turn on him, including the Thieves themselves.

Yes, that’s right boys, there are cognitive versions of the thieves in this palace. The cognitive people who are shown to be within the Palace are people Akechi considers to be his own confidants in his own operations, including Sae, the SUI director, Shido, etc. you get the idea. He considers the Thieves to also be apart of this ring, and they are rather close to his heart/treasure, which could play off of what Morgana references in the final rank of the Justice Arcana. The thieves in his cognition, however, are ready to turn on him at any moment and are prepared to overthrow him in all manners of the idea. He doesn’t trust anyone, basically.

So yall probably wondering what the treasure is, since it’s a palace. Well boy howdy, do I have news for you!!! Because I’m like that I decided it would be interesting if Akechi posed a challenge in a different type of way-- in that he doesn’t have a treasure.

The treasure is a physical manifestation of what first caused the distortion, however, I think that what caused Akechi’s drastic distortion isn’t something physical at all. I know he’s always been a little... not great... however, I think what really pushed him over the edge was his awakening to a persona. Due to that, I don’t think it would be as easy for them to just go in and out with stealing his treasure. I think that in this case, they’d truly have to steal his heart in more than one way.

Should the calling card be sent, Akechi is aware that the Phantom Thieves have infiltrated and cleared his palace, and therefore his own heart and mind should be aware of the fact that they are going to attempt to steal the ‘treasure’ however, this wouldn’t make a treasure appear, but make his Shadow more aware and conscience to the events.

They’d have to not only defeat his shadow but then furthermore convince it to change its own heart. They would have to essentially take all that they’ve learned from the palace and attempt to convince Akechi otherwise, i.e. (you can tell I’m an Akechi sympathiser and want him to be happy with friends and a good ending) by trying to get him to understand that he’s not alone and other things like that.

The boss battle would be a little different and would initiate after a conversation where you have the opportunity to talk to him and try to reason with him, and Shadow Akechi would wield some sort of Robin Hood-esque persona/become something similar. Once you beat his first phase, you have another conversation with him before he lashes out, parallel to his boss battle in canon, and that's when the le epic sad times second phase begins when he transforms into a form far more befitting to his Loki/Chaotic side. After the defeat of his second form, you have the final conversation with him. If you were to say all the right things (like the godforsaken persona 4 ending dfjhdj) He would come to a resolve and believe you and the other thieves, and go back to Akechi, which would enact the change of heart, but in the event that you don’t say the right things, he will succumb to the guilt and regression of the second half of his palace/loki and Akechi will remain in the same toxic cycle he goes through in canon, or even has a psychotic breakdown or something similar to.

The palace would occur post-Sae, but pre-Shido, and should you successfully convince him and change his heart, he will lose his Loki persona and POssibly even Robin Hood in favour of an awakened form, and he could rejoin the team under better pretence. Should you not change his heart, he will either have a psychotic breakdown, or he will wait for you in Shido’s palace to confront you on it and attack you like in canon. (Idk, it’s honestly up for debate what happens if you don’t succeed with changing his heart) The end result would be Akechi sacrificing himself as per usual should the latter happen.

I don’t really know!!! But I like the idea and I’ll definitely build on it for fun and continue to draw for it. I’m sorry for any grammar mistakes or weird stuff, I’m disassociating at 2am and losing my last brain cell, so I hope you can make sense of my weird AU drabble that isn’t entirely realistic or good!

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seyaryminamoto · 4 years

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Do you think they could make Azula gay in the netflix live-action? Many people in the fandom seem to think she had a thing for Ty Lee. I don't see it, but do you think they could retcon the show just to pander to shippers?

Somehow I knew this sort of question would pop up in my inbox one day. I just did. Such foresight powers I have (?)

Anyways, the answer got pretty long, but I hope it’s comprehensive enough in regards of why I don’t think it’s likely, why, even if it happens, we shouldn’t freak out about it regardless of if it negates our headcanons, and why, on top of it all any characterization the ATLA cast gets in the liveaction should be judged as part of a second timeline, removed from the first, and analyzed as such.

Alright, first of all... despite what popular opinion these days would have everyone believe, a character’s sexuality and sexual identity are not the only relevant and important factors in them; in fact, I wouldn’t even call them the most important factors unless you’re outright telling a story with very specific socially critical purposes in mind. Yes, you can deal with these subjects in stories that aren’t exclusively about sexuality, and yes, it offers important representation to communities that were largely unseen for the bulk of human history. But making a character’s entire story arc revolve around nothing but sexuality and their struggles because of it is actually a failure at offering good representation? The point in having media featuring representation in the form of diverse fictional characters is based on allowing minorities to see themselves in this kind of content and for majorities to understand these minorities and their stories are just as valid as theirs are. If minorities are reduced to a single aspect of their multifacetic lives, the only thing the story in question would achieve is turning a character with the potential to be dynamic and complex into some flat minority stereotype, throwing away the countless human complexities through which media can tell rich and important stories that do provide genuine, quality representation to these communities.

Ergo, if Azula were written as a gay character in this Netflix adaptation, this aspect of the reworked character should not, and frankly, CANNOT, be the only thing that matters about her. Azula has a large role to play in this story, a role related to the war, her family, her friends and her nation, and a lot of her complexities stem from how she deals with all these subjects, none of which have anything to do with romance or sexuality. Therefore, I’m pretty sure a lot of us loved her character for reasons that had nothing to do with her interactions with potential love interests, whether they’re of her same or opposite sex: Azula has always been SO MUCH MORE than whatever we’ve headcanoned her sexuality to be, and this is something I hope everyone keeps in mind for this liveaction show.

We need to stick to our priorities, to a fault, as Azula’s fans: whatever sexuality or love interests she’s given, if she’s given either thing to begin with, her story isn’t exclusively about that. So, if Bryke decide to alter this aspect of her original characterization by dialing up Azula’s love life, it’s not the driving aspect of the character and it’s not the only thing we should be concerned with when it comes to her new portrayal in the future liveaction show, regardless of whether said sexuality agrees with our headcanons or disagrees with them.

Alright, then. After that particular clarification had been made... I’m of the opinion that Bryke have indeed pandered to shippers and fans in the past, namely in their sequel show and certain later announcements related to it, announcements that were basically the LOK version of “Dumbledore was gay all along but I thought it’d hurt the book sales and that’s why I only said so in a press conference after the final book was a bestseller and my bank accounts were overflowing” (by which I mean, the last-minute sudden “Aiwei (the dead guy) and Kya (Aang’s daughter) are also gay” comments Bryke made post-Book 4 to convince people they were aboslutely pro-LGBT and their world was very diverse despite said diversity only became known in the final scene of the show and was never portrayed positively or properly through these side-and-background characters...?).

So, would I say, categorically, that Bryke would NEVER write Azula as a gay character if they thought it’d make their show more popular? Nope, I can’t. I really don’t trust them enough to think they’ll prioritize top-of-the-line storytelling over pandering to the crowd that will cheer them on most loudly.

THAT BEING SAID...!

The story they told with Azula in ATLA, despite what certain people are convinced of, had a very straight-forward message, one that I didn’t like very much, especially since that message seemed to render irrelevant the character’s incredible storytelling potential and remarkable complexities. Where Azula could have been so many things, in the show’s finale she became some sort of flat, sad warning stating: “don’t try to control people through fear or they’ll turn against you and you’ll end up all alone.”

As much as I have no doubts Bryke will want to incorporate new themes and somewhat “update” ATLA into more progressive times, I really doubt they’ll sacrifice the story they’re apparently so proud of having told through Azula only to pander to a specific part of ATLA’s audience. For that matter, there’s been a growing movement promoting many same-sex ships and trans interpretations of virtually ALL ATLA characters, so if they were to pander to the fanbase through Azula, why her? And if they do pick her, why stop there? If they do stop there, then they’re not being inclusive enough with their fandom. Why satisfy one portion of the fandom and not satisfy the other ones too? :’D

Worse yet, accusations of foul play will absolutely be guaranteed to rise when a potentially gay Azula isn’t given a redemption (because, considering the latest Azula-related comments by the creators and comic writers, they’re not likely to do it this time either), because “irredemably evil lesbian trope, that’s so sexist and homophobic!” And with that, the long, glorious time ATLA has spent as the golden, poster child of western animation will suddenly be overrun with the very same hysterical purity police that has overtaken all newer fandoms and filled them with antis who attack creators, writers, actors and other fans for creating or supporting “toxic” content.

Point and case being... if they don’t stray from the story they already told, they have a slam dunk since a lot of people will love the show if it’s virtually the same as the one they watched when growing up. All they have to do is alter a few events, maybe expand on a few things, stall the story for a few more years so the actors can age realistically and not be overworked... and tadaaaah! You have a blockbuster! Change fundamental aspects of characters by adding new factors to pander to certain fan demographics? You’d basically be poking a wasp’s nest and hoping they will turn out to be honeybees instead, ESPECIALLY if the character being coded as LGBT is either evil or fated to die, as both those tropes are what seem to incense that side of fandoms more than anything else.

If they want to write Azula as openly gay, they’d have to alter her general character message and whole arc to avoid the guaranteed problems I’ve pointed out up here. Paired with this? They’d have to retcon their recently established “the Fire Nation became homophobic in Sozin’s time!” canon imposed by LOK’s comics, so, if they stick with this tidbit of recent LGBT info, a gay Azula would most likely have to be a highly repressed lesbian who can’t even accept herself? It’s not impossible to tell that story... but it kind of feels counterproductive, and absolutely discouraging too for people who are struggling to come to terms with their own sexuality to see themselves reflected in a repressed character who most likely will meet the same depressing end she does in ATLA.

Now, my final point: again, I can’t say it’s impossible that this might happen. But EVEN IF Bryke decide that this is how their new story will work, and the new Azula will be gay, and they change everything so it’s non-problematic and they successfully avoid being chased with pitchforks by the purity police...

A new characterization doesn’t negate the one from the original show in the least. The first ATLA is what it is, a finished product that can be judged and interpreted in a thousand ways, and has been, for the past 10+ years. A new canon does NOT overrule an old one, a thought that I’m sure the very same purity and nostalgia police I’ve mentioned will absolutely adhere to once the new story changes ANYTHING and they don’t like it. Whatever new possibilities they test out with a new story don’t have to be taken as facts that apply to every iteration of the characters. For reference, imagine judging every Marvel comics character for the actions and behavior of their MCU counterparts. Imagine people raging at Peter Quill in the comic books because he’s in love with Kitty Pryde and how DARES he cheat on Gamora with her?!

... Just how would that make any sense? :’) Likewise, it would make no sense to behave this way with ATLA and its future liveaction adaptation. What happens in the liveaction concerns the liveaction. What happened in the original show can serve as a guideline for the liveaction, if anything, a frame of reference, but they can (and will) change elements in the story as they please in the new adaptation. However similar as they might be, they’re TWO stories, and they should work perfectly well as standalone shows.

Let’s look at it from the opposite POV, to further illustrate my point: if the new show SOMEHOW made Sokkla canon, unlikely and damn near impossible as it is: that doesn’t make it canon in the original ATLA. Hence, if I were to run out in the streets screaming Sokkla is real and endgame in EVERY POSSIBLE VERSION OF ATLA, the entire world would have every right to throw rotten eggs at me and tell me to shut the fuck up because it’s not true, it’s only real in the liveaction, and that doesn’t have any bearing on the original show.

Same principle applies with a potential gay Azula :’) Even if it happens, it’s liveaction only. The original show remains what it is, and her characterization there can be interpreted and derived from as we see fit.

To close this answer, I confess that I, personally, have next to no interest in this liveaction remake. I can’t even say I’ll watch any of it. For one thing, I’m really annoyed by the trend there is these days to turn animation into liveaction, because it seriously feels like an underlying way to say that liveaction is somehow the superior choice for audiovisual storytelling and that really grinds my gears. Animation has been fascinating media for me for years, I’ve always felt it’s more versatile than liveaction, and if I ever happened to write something that gets an onscreen adaptation, I’d probably choose animation over liveaction even if I’m not given a choice on the matter :’) So, for starters, I’m not happy with the notion of a liveaction remake for this show. If they wanted to remake ATLA and had chosen to do so with animation, I’d definitely be much more interested. But this way? Uh... not my cup of tea.

So, whatever Bryke want to do with this new product is absolutely their business (same as it was their business with ATLA, frankly). People will criticize it, that’s a guaranteed thing, and people will love it, and people will be angry, and people will be happy. But I’m probably not going to be one of any of these people this time around. The only way I would likely enjoy that show would be if it’s a genuine, critical overhaul of everything they did in the original show, reworking many key aspects of MANY characters, no matter if the main anecdote remains intact. And considering how highly self-critical the recent ATLA-related content has been, I doubt I’ll get my wish. So... good luck to everyone who wants to watch this liveaction, have fun, I won’t spoil it for you by dumping on it this time as I did with the comics, but I certainly won’t be joining any of your parades much either :’D

#anon #the promised polemic subject of liveaction changes #honestly *shrug*#live and let die man #we have the original canon #and I'm way too busy with Gladiator to suffer much about what they'll do with the rest of Avatar #it's highly unlikely the new comics and show will feature anything I'll be dying to see #my optimism with this franchise is basically gone and I'm only here for my corner of the fandom #everything else is other people's business

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dickganseywrites-blog · 7 years

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mini bios;

ali wilcox (subject to change?);

fc; sofia d’elia black

orientation; homosexual

ship; n/a

about; Ali, short for Allison, is an only child and comes from a fairly Catholic household. Her parents, both devout in their religion, always had very strict rules and considered things like ‘magic’ - even the childlike wonder of it so often possessed in Disney movies - to be ‘the work of Satan’, and so wildly frowned upon Ali’s wild imagination and excitement about all things magical, sci fi, and so on. Their endless preaching and their narrow-minded ways never put her off, however, and she stayed consistent in her passion for Disney, eventually going on to work at Disney as their Wendy. Before heading to Disney, however, she was in a long-term relationship with her high school boyfriend, something her parents also disapproved of. While her boyfriend, Trevor, was considered the picture perfect image of everything they stood for, they disdained the idea of her growing close to him. Not because they didn’t trust Trevor, but because they didn’t trust Ali. They believed that women should know their place, and that they should keep to themselves and, often, only speak when spoken to. They deplored Ali’s enthusiasm and love that she spread so openly, and they never understood her openness, or how easy it was for her to approach strangers and make friends so casually and easily. They had always hoped her to be more reserved, and were certain that she would only bring shame to their family name. After getting pregnant at 19 - out of wedlock, and to Trevor who, before dating her, had been everyone’s image of perfect - her parents kicked her out, disgusted that she could be so ‘careless’ and ‘unthinking’. Still, with her sights set on Disney, Ali gave birth to her little boy and went away to live her dream, with her sweet son at her side. After a year at Disney, it became all too evident that Trevor was unhappy. He started belittling her, both in front of her friends and in the privacy of their apartment, and would make her feel small any given chance. When she was busy and had to work, he’d cause arguments about how he always had to ‘babysit’, despite Colin being his son. He begged her to quit her job, even going so far as to threaten to leave with Colin if she didn’t, and eventually Ali split up with him and sent him packing when Colin was only 4 months old. She lived a pretty happy and content life, taking care of Colin and seeing that he was well looked after while she worked, and she loved her job, her friends, and all of the people that she came into contact with all the while. She’d long since forgotten Trevor, and her dreadful parents, and was living exactly the life she’d always wished to. Unfortunately, just after Colin turned 3, Trevor reappeared in her life, begging her to come back to him. With snide remarks laced in faux-compliments, and promises to give Colin the life that he deserved, and a father that loved him, Ali eventually gave in and got back with him, leaving Disney - and, in turn, Sutton - in the wings. 2 years later and she’s still with Trevor, trying to break free from the grips of their toxic relationship and hoping she can go it alone with Colin and take care of her little boy. In all of her struggles between her parents, Trevor, and having to leave the one place she felt safe and happy, she’s also been struggling with her sexuality, and coming to realise that she’s strongly attracted to girls. Having always wanted to defy her parents in some manner, she always put her lack of physical - or romantic - attraction to Trevor down to the fact that, perhaps, she was only with him to make them angry. She’d tried for so long to push through it, eventually convincing herself that she did love him, only to slowly come to terms with the fact that alongside him being vile, cruel, and hurtful towards her, that she had no desire to be with any men whatsoever. Now back in New York and working in a small textiles store, Ali spends most of her time away from work taking care of Colin, and sewing/knitting at home and creating tiny Disney costumes for Colin to wear, as well as designing her own cosplays too. Though she never wears them, and often has to hide them from Trevor for fear of upsetting him, she likes to think that one day maybe she’ll be able to make something of herself and truly be happy again, and perhaps find and follow a new passion away from working as Wendy, too.

cathal murphy;

fc; sean grandillo

orientation; homosexual

ship; evan wilcox

about; Cathal Murphy, brother to Aoife and Rory, cousin to Séamus, Darragh, Taylor, and James. Much more confident than the likes of Aoife and Séamus, he lay somewhere in the middle between those two and Rory. With Rory as outgoing as they come, Cathal often tried to follow in his elder brother’s footsteps to a certain capacity, always making the effort to go out of his way to talk to people and instigate a conversation, eager to make friends and meet new people. Where Aoife would often shy away from the unknown, Cathal tried to force himself to take more risks and try new things and was always eager to get involved in any aspect that he could. A keen soccer fan, Cathal spent the majority of his time out at matches with his da, watching his favourite teams play, and even going so far as to have a Chelsea season ticket so that he could head over to London every so often and bond with his da. Never losing his passion for the sport, he’s also played for school teams and went on to play for Belfast u16′s, and hopes to continue playing in some small capacity when he arrives in NYC. While his relationship with his siblings, his parents, and even most of his cousins is great, Cathal always had a very rough relationship with Darragh - though, then again, who didn’t? At a young age he always found himself on the brunt of Darragh’s moods, and is dreading being reunited with the older man. Having been on the receiving end of many harsh words, and even harsher slaps and punches - all of which resulted in Rory intervening, and paying the price - Cathal has developed a very strong, and very fierce mentality that everyone should be kind, with no exceptions. Always having been one to be nice to others, he’s since amplified this in every aspect and believes that nobody should ever feel lost or alone, or as though they’re any less than anybody else. He loathes bullies, and cannot stand people who hurt others just for the thrill of it. Due to his relationship with Darragh, from a young age he’d started learning how to pick the locks in their home back in Belfast, and used to climb in and out of his own bedroom window at night by way of an escape, always eager to avoid confrontation with the cousin who he was forced to share a living space with. A huge lover of animals, and always open to lend a helping hand, Cathal has spent the last 3 years volunteering and helping his local farmers with a lot of their larger hauls, varying from mucking out horse stables to trimming hedges to helping mend broken fences to feeding the animals. On top of that, he worked at the local donkey sanctuary, which he loved more than anything. It gave him the opportunity to not only work with the animals, but interact with all the people - both old and young - that came by. As someone who loves interacting with others and making new friends, Cathal spends a large portion of his time online and finding new friends on social media, which is how he found Evan. The two became fast friends, and Cathal unashamedly tells people that his best friend is Evan Wilcox, whom he met online. He has no qualms about explaining to people that he met him online, and doesn’t believe in the concept that you can’t be ‘real’ friends if you meet on the internet. Having just worked in New York over the summer and gotten a feel for the city and its atmosphere, Cathal has longed to return and is all too excited to show up and settle himself down in the big city. With a huge love of the arts and theatre, Cathal thinks that being in New York will help further his passion for being on stage, and is excited to immerse himself in the theatre community and get more involved when he arrives in New York. All in all, Cathal has an avid interest in Soccer and likes to keep fit, as well, is eager to get involved in any and all activities where people will have him, and has a slight tendency to flirt. He’s very open about his feelings with those that he’s close to, and not ashamed to point out when he feels as though something is wrong, or to bring up things that are bothering him. And, he’s a Murphy, so he can probably play some sort of instrument, but I have no idea what just yet.

#mini bios;#ch: ali #ch: cathal

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