#from left to right: Ann from p5

[spacepatrolhana]

what does ur farmer dress up as for spirit's eve 👁️

its all cosplay 😭

#nerd (derogatory) #from left to right: Ann from p5 #adachi from p4 #lucifer from helltaker (with shane forced as a couples cosplay) #ty for the ask :]

[semi-imaginary-place]

p5 thoughts

P5R is such a strange game in that narratively it comes out of the gate sprinting with the first dungeon hitting hard with actual heavy stuff and good writing. Then the tension and writing stall in favor of bad jokes and anime tropes and being unable to commit to its themes so its constantly shooting itself in the foot thematically or going back on its themes or flattening it down to "adults bad". But then 3rd semester Royal content is the best arc in the game.

Persona 5 just can't stop thematically shooting itself in the face, constantly. P5 wants all the aesthetic window dressings of being a rebel outcast without any of the actual struggles of marginalized people. Ann's initial story is about her having to deal with a sexual predator every day who assaults her best friend to the point that she attempts suicide, and then the rest of the game is about sexually objectifying her because the writers think its funny. P5 is afraid to really engage with the stories of marginalized people like what about an undocumented Indonesian immigrant (like how Japanese Immigration starved to death a young woman last year), or how students will be heavily bullied for even the rumor of being gay. We get hints of this like Joker's bad reputation or Ryuji being from a single parent household but neither have a lot of real impact. The player never suffers gameplay wise for the reputation of Joker's criminal record and Ryuji isn't shown to be all that affected by his family's financial situation (for example what if he couldn't always go to mementos because he has to work an odd job to help pay rent).

P5 simplifies complex ideological and politics struggles to kids good adults bad making class struggle a matter of age and not any of the actual things that make people left or right wing. The game spends a fair bit of time showing how the police are corrupt and by the end instead of like citizen regulatory oversight or overhauling the justice system, and then concludes Makoto should be a cop and perpetuate the police system. Royal and musou spinoff get more into it but the Phantom thieves getting to unilaterally decide the fates of other people and force their decisions on them isn't well addressed, even when brought up it gets hand waved away as the Phantom Thieves no matter the methods are just and doing the right thing or even worse justified it as them being the game's good guys. P5 uses the word rebellion a lot but the cast doesn't rebel against much, they all follow conservative traditional norms whether that is with gender, sexuality, or any of the actual problems of Japanese society (from immigration, to human rights, to environment, to racism, toxic work culture, or the high stress students face, the high suicide rate, fascism). Nothing of the social order is upended, there's no real institutional or systemic change.

#persona 5 #p5 #p5r #persona

[deareststars]

Hello *echoes* if you're still using this account can you give us some headcanons on Ryuji and Akira growing up in Inaba together?

whoa! long time no see! i basically all but abandoned tumblr & have since come back because…well, headcanons and stuff are more fun to write than actual stories lmao :,) this is in celebration of me finally starting to play p4g!! i will NOT promise any headcanons about anyone until i finish that game…currently in kanji’s dungeon so that will be a long time dkfnskfnkd without further ado…!!!

i think ryuji and akira's friendship would be much like how ann and ryuji's was said to have been in-game. that really feel-good, "as long as we're together we can do anything!" sorta thing, y'know?

their moms totally grew up together, too. hana and...akira's mom omg i've never written about her what the hell is a good name—anyway those two were as thick as thieves, so naturally when they happened to get pregnant around the same time, they were like "our boys are gonna be bffs" and THEY WERE

i mean, let's face it, even if their moms never met inaba is such a small town they would've stumbled across each other anyway but this is so much cuter okay

akira's mom absolutely threatened ryuji's dad with violence when she found out about him abusing the sakamotos

akira too. she knows she raised him right

ANYWAY

i like to think that both akira & ryuji were kind of shy, polite boys growing up, but when ryuji's dad left them behind (probably around 7 or 8?) suddenly akira was suspiciously more protective of ryuji

i mean, this kid managed to perfect his wolf stare within a few months. i hc kid!ryuji as soft, probably cries a lot...so when bullies come along and are unlucky enough to stumble across akira too (which is a given, they're attached at the hip), akira sends them running

he lets ryuji pretend that his "big, strong muscles" scare them off

this ends up becoming ryuji's motivation to get stronger, so he can protect akira the same way

people are now terrified of messing with one part of the duo. bullying decreases by 99% in inaba because these two feral children will not let ANYONE bully someone under their watch

after school, when ryuji & akira aren't busy helping out their moms or generally being angels, they like hanging out at junes (p5 definitely takes place after p4, so junes has always been a staple growing up) or going to get steak skewers

this is how ryuji finds out about his love of meat

akira buys. it's like the 10 year old version of a fancy date. 600 yen is a lot okay—

study dates as they get into middle school are a MUST. ryuji's always been as dumb as rocks. akira is the dumbest smart person you will ever meet. study dates consist of 50% studying, 50% trying to figure out how to parachute off the second story with a trash bag.

pegoryu vibes start happening as study dates become more frequent. ryuji starts noticing how soft akira's hair and hands are as they become more comfortable with physical affection. akira has always known that ryuji shines like the sun, but never that he was so handsome

cue adolescent pining until and during p5 events

SPEAKING OF P5 EVENTS

idk why shido is in inaba. maybe he's trying to secure support from EVERYONE, so he lowers himself to the peasantry and decides to take his campaign to inaba a year early

akira is by himself, miraculously, so everything happens as normal...

but when the case happens & he's sent on probation, ryuji absolutely follows him to the city. it breaks his heart to leave hana behind (she's supportive of it, she knows those boys are gay for each other (platonically OR romantically, she doesn't care)) but he knows akira won't last a day

since no kamoshida means no broken leg, he's got that track scholarship going for him, but it's a lot of training on his own (and with akira, pegoryu as gym bros will always make me soft) since kamoshida still would've screwed up the track team

still, when he and akira run late to school because of the rain and spotting their soon-to-be-classmate (aka ann) get in the car of some sleazy asshole, there's absolutely no reason why ryuji wouldn't be golden-hearted and loyal as always

akira awakens to his persona because they will NEVER leave each other behind

ryuji awakens to his persona for much the same reason, but also because kamoshida = shitty adult = DAMN I'M GETTING PISSED AT MY DAD TOO LET'S FUCKING GO

the rest of the game is not changed. if this were to actually happen, ryuji's confidant would be 100% maxed out because??? how do you grow up with someone and NOT have a blood oath???

anyway childhood friends!pegoryu now owns my heart thank you

#akira kurusu #persona 5 protagonist #ryuji sakamoto #persona 5 #persona 5 royal #headcanons #pegoryu

[caliburnabsolute]

Whose fucking idea was Kamoshidaman from Persona Q2 oh my god. I mean this both as a boss fight and a character design. Rant under the cut.

Conceptually, I like that his first phase is just you kicking his shit in while he can't do anything back to you, but like. Why does it last five turns. Why does he have Sukukaja. What is the point of him buffing his evasion when the fight's a foregone conclusion in your favor.

And then his second phase is an actual fight, and I don't mind the gimmick of it on paper, but the carrot guns can overwhelm you so easily. I'm playing on hard mode and I know what I signed up for, but every time you lose, you have to spend two minutes fast forwarding through dialogue and two minutes rushing through his first phase just so he can wipe your party out because you weren't Line Guarding with Ryuji one turn and he one-shot Morgana with the bazooka carrot (and also FeMC right when she was gonna revive him).

Pictured below: me on my fourth attempt at this fight

On top of that, he kept putting Akechi to fucking sleep immediately after he could wake up and. man. The statue heist cutscene was cool, but the Queen of Hearts from Q1 was the better first labyrinth boss, I think. Kamoshidaman was actually a decent fight after the carrot guns were out of the picture, but the Queen of Hearts' gimmick was just much more tolerable, as I remember it.

Anyway yeah I just beat Kamoshidaman after a few tries and seeing Makoto and Haru join at level 11 when I'm at level 15–16 feels like a bit of a slap in the face. Is it because I left Ann and Yusuke underleveled? They're both level 10, so it can't be that, right?

I also wanna ask why they used Kamoshida specifically (y'know, the sexual and physical abuser whose crimes were treated with the weight they deserved in P5) as their goofy evil Superman spoof, but whatever, it's Persona. You get used to the good ideas being counterbalanced by bullshit.

#persona #persona q2 #rant #kamoshida #kamoshidaman #Youtube

[muzzleroars]

What do you think if the Phantom Thieves (except Futaba) all had Shadows they had to confront and fight (like in p4), and what would they be?

OK this one is super interesting and it’s taken me MONTHS to get to, so let’s gooooooooo (will include p5r spoilers!)

i think all of their contracts sort of give us an idea of what their shadow selves may be (meaning goro is more up in the air), and i like to go with the idea that in p5, their shadows are how society has forced them to act. they have incorporated that into the self and conformed to it, but they don’t wish to acknowledge that they do so, instead making themselves believe they have no choice. futaba’s shadow, as the example, wishes for her own death as she was a burden and a curse to her mother...but she also made futaba aware this was a lie concocted by adults that took away her agency and her anger. SO with that in mind, here are the takes!!

akira - the bystander, the boy told to keep out of the way and to keep his head down. he’s determined to live a quiet and peaceful life, to get through his probation and swear to turn the other way when evil happens in front of him. akira is ashamed of the impulse because he knows what’s right, he knows he needs to help, but his shadow is all about self-preservation and avoiding further punishment. so he protects himself and only himself by feigning ignorance and closing his eyes, his ears, and his mouth. his shadow says “i already got mine, they’re on their own”

ryuji - the traitor, the boy who ruined the dreams of the track team and wears it with pride. he destroyed their hopes of the future and now has become a delinquent, free of the responsibilities he once had to himself, to his mom, and to his school. he can be rude, crass, and vulgar (lol) to his heart’s content because no one expects any more of him after enacting such violence. his anger runs deep and he doesn’t care about how he hurt his old team, they deserved it for never standing up for themselves.

ann - the sweetheart, the girl always there with a kind but seemingly empty word for her friend, supportive but distant. however, she instead tries to work within the confines of the world, trying to save the ones she cares about by using her looks and the reputation everyone puts on her because of them, pretending to be a flirtatious airhead to please those that may hurt the only person she cares for. she hurts herself over and over again, breaks down her own sense of self worth to sacrifice endlessly in ways others never see. she takes the pain forever with a smile.

yusuke - the student, the boy who knows the lies his teacher tells to him, but he is forever devoted to preserving the image his superior has both to the world and to himself. he believes his debt extends to worship, faith in the teacher who is a genius, who knows best, who is so much older and so much wiser and so must be doing right. in fact, he should be so lucky to have his work considered good enough to carry his teacher’s name instead of his own, he should happily produce for him because his teacher’s reputation has no price too high. surely he at least must return the cost of caring for him when no one would.

makoto - the role model, the girl who is quick-witted and resourceful, she can juggle every task the incompetent, lazy, or uncaring adults entrust to her. after all, their responsibilities are so much greater than even hers, just a silly high school student with all the time in the world to perform their lowlier tasks for them. she accepts every ask with grace and tact, she turns down no request and will work herself past the point of burn out for praise, for recognition, for the promise of her future. this is just the way the world is, she must get used to it now if she wants to survive.

haru - the princess, the girl who’s always charming and polite, perfectly prim and never a bore but her words are always shallow. she seems to only exist at gatherings and galas, always smiling, introduced by a beaming father and complimented on how beautiful she is, how she will make a most wonderful wife now that she’s blossoming into a young woman. she worships her fiance, she has captivated his whole family and, most importantly, his father with how delicate and vapid she is. a wonderful spouse up for trade, the loveliest business venture her father ever pursued.

goro - the orphan, the boy who is helpless and was left abandoned by his family and by society. he has no will of his own that he can inflict on the world, instead he is battered by fate and by an actively cruel reality, a curse, unwanted and unneeded by anyone. he elicits disgust in whoever he meets, yet he yearns deeply to be loved and to be accepted, he begs for it and everyone he meets that will give him any time of day are his “friends”. he believes there is no such thing as unconditional love and no matter what he tries, his struggle will be rendered futile.

sumire - the doppelganger, the girl that believes she is only a shadow of a sister far more talented and determined than she could ever be. she only had worth defined by another, one she followed around like a weight, dragging her down with her incompetence. a burden for her sister, pitied awkwardly by parents, an inconvenience that grew increasingly irrelevant and irritating with every passing day until she botched her own death. now she is a shadow without a body, the wrong girl taken in her attempt on her own life, the ultimate blunder ever committed by another human being. she pantomimes her sister more and more poorly, although she’s tricked herself into believing she really is her in her house of ashes.

morgana - the monster, the boy that can’t face who he really is for he fears what he will see in the mirror. he lives happily in ignorance, never wanting to remember his origins or his duties and he indulges in his freedom without worry of where he comes from. after all, if he has no idea of his past, he can imagine himself as anything he wants - a dashing rogue, a swashbuckling hero, a gallant thief, he is whatever he makes himself to be without the burden of his history. he never turns around too quickly, never wanting to catch a look at himself because every now and then he sees jail cells, black ooze, darkness. but that’s not him.

#A NOVEL...I WROTE A NOVEL.... #i know there's lots of ideas on their shadows #but this is my take on all of them!! #this was really fun to write tbh.... #i'm so sorry it took a thousand years to post aha.... #p5 #phantom thieves #p5r spoilers #Anonymous

[allykakamatsu]

Hypothetical P5A

Okay, gonna make this clear right up front, I wanted to make this post for a while but the main reason I decided to do it now is because the Atlus announcement thing is almost here, and also cause I saw a video on this topic by Thorgi’s Arcade (go watch it btw it’s good) and while I agree with a lot of what he said, there’s also some things I’d change, not just cause I disagree, but also cause I think it would be fun. Anyway enough beating around the bush, let’s do this

Gameplay

I’m a firm believer in the phrase, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and the Arena games are already really good so not much to change. That being said, I still wanna change some things. First off though, we are keeping this 1 vs 1, no tag team matches. The arena games already have a lot of Mechanics going on and trying to keep everything as well as some new stuff WHILE adding a tag team button, yeah no let’s not outside of maybe a bonus mode.

This means I can’t add Batton Pass in as a new mechanic to represent P5, but I have a solution, that being Technicals. Status ailments already exist in this game, so how about when you inflict one and do a specific combo you do more damage, also providing risk vs reward as the player with the status will have a better idea of what the opponent will do making them more predictable. Also as for Persona’s, mostly everyone’s will be fully evolved, minus Yu cause him getting a final boss persona normally is a tad to OP, meanwhile the P5 characters will have their starting Persona’s, but they will evolve for big moves, like awakened mode supers and instant kills

I’m also borrowing Thorgi’s Arcade idea of having supports giving a slight buff in battle, like if you pick Fuuka your meter can build faster for a bit, meanwhile if you pick Futaba you’ll get an attack and defence buff. It’s the fairest way to include them without having to make them playable. I know Rise is already playable but this roster is going to have to be small as it is, and being a support doesn’t mean you can’t be DLC later.

Also, we’re not bringing back the Shadow Characters, just, we are not dealing with the likes of Shadow Naoto again.

:readmore:

Story

I am about to cop out a bit here, but Thorgi’s Arcade video had a really good idea for the story so I’ll just link it here https://youtu.be/yyB5rEM9UVU

To summarise for people who don’t want to watch, Nyarlathotep, the main villain from the Persona 2 games, has been gaining strength from all the suffering humanity has gone through due to 3, 4 and 5, and has gained enough strength to create a new Joker to try finish what he started and destroy the world. Mitsuru might think the Phantom Thieves are behind it cause this is clearly persona related and the fact that the leader of the PT’s is also named Joker is public knowledge, Naoto gets largely the same idea, Katsuya and Maya decide to have their own investigation, meanwhile the Phantom Thieves are trying to prove their innocence and help save the world. Nice excuse to bring everyone together, but who will the everyone be?

Base Roster

Okay, I know the dream is getting everyone from Ultimax back plus the new P5 characters, but given Arc System’s standard for small base rosters, I’m not holding my breath. The ideal would be everyone plus who I’m about to say for P2 and P5, but I’m keeping it… somewhat realistic. Anyway onto the actual size, 16 seems fair enough. One more than the most recent Guilty Gear game for a series that had pretty big success so that sound fair enough. Let’s get the obvious out of the way though, all the base 8 Phantom Thieves besides Futaba are making the cut

Okay so that’s obvious but how will they play? Starting off with Ren/Joker, Smash Bros already laid a great foundation with him being very fast on the ground and in the air plus being great at combos, so I see no reason to change that. Also no need for him to be a Jack of all trades either cause spoilers, Yu is coming back and he already fills that role.

As for the others, Ryuji I can see being a slugger charge hybrid. Basically starting out he hits pretty hard but is a bit on the slow side to compensate, but just like any good athlete, give him a chance to warm up, ie do a charge input, and he becomes a lot faster and has better combo potential. Or we could make him a toned down version of Little Mac where he’s great on the ground but he’s in trouble the second aerial combat is involved. Then there’s Morgana who with his ability to turn into cars and the fact he introduces thief tools like smoke bombs, I can see him being a faster but frailer successor to Teddie.

Then there’s Ann who, no doubt, she’s a Zoner, and with her fire she’ll be Yukiko’s sort of successor. However instead of healing, I’d implement the fact that she learns concentrate and have it so the more she charges it up, the stronger her attacks get, but the Meter will gradually go down over the match. Yusuke, as tempting as it is to cop out and say ‘have him play like Vergil in Marvel vs Capcom’, I have a different idea. Namely, take advantage of the fact that Yusuke can learn counter by having him be the defensive specialist, set up ice traps to freeze the opponent, and if they get close, he can either counter or go for some combos.

Then there’s Makoto who would definitely be a grappler. I mean, she practices Aikido and is really strong, she can 100% pull it off. Finally Haru…… TANK! I mean come on, Haru wields an axe, has a grenade launcher, and Melady is literally a dancing tank in a pink dress, it just makes too much sense. I’d also give her a bit of armor cause if she’s slow she at least needs a chance to get her attacks in.

Okay so that’s 7 out of our 16 slots down, and given that one slot will have to be saved for the Evil Joker who would be the villain, we’re halfway done with 3 games to go, lord help me.

Okay, starting this off with P4, I’m gonna give them more than the others purely because they were the focus of the originals and there’s less realistic cuts I can make compared to 2 and 3. To make things simple, every returning character would play the same, and as for the ones I’d bring back for the base roster, we’ve got Yu, Yosuke, Chie and Naoto. Why them specifically? Well Yu is the main character, Naoto being a detective would basically mean she’d be the one getting everyone involved in the first place, Chie is currently training to be a cop as confirmed in P5 so her getting called in makes sense, and Yosuke is the best investigator after Yu and Naoto, he’s always up for a mystery and the second he learns Yu is involved he’s joining in. I just couldn’t cut him.

Now before the really painful cuts, Persona 2 is really easy. Out of Innocent Sin party members, by the end of the series Maya is the only one left with a Persona, and Katsuya is not only older brother of Innocent Sin’s protag Tatsuya, but he’s also pretty important and a detective so he’s definetly the one Maya’s dragging into this. As for how they play, they both use guns like Naoto, but how I’d mix them up is with Katsuya, I’d let him attack while moving (unlike Naoto who has so stay still to fire) at the cost of less combo potential, meanwhile Maya dual wields her guns so she’ll probably play like Noel Vermillion from BlazBlue where she’d more or less just use the guns to get longer reach melee attacks instead of shooting.

Now, for the hard part. There’s only 2 slots left, one of them basically has to go to Mitsuru (not that I’m complaining I’d probably add her anyway) meaning now I have to choose between the rest of the Shadow Operatives/SEES for the last slot. I narrowed it down to the 3 that were in the original Arena cause they’re the most plot relevant, but that still meant I had to choose between Akihiko and Aigis. I ended up deciding on Aigis though cause A, with Labrys not making the base roster someone has to represent the robots of the series, and B, with Akihiko currently pulling a Ryu by travelling to get stronger, it makes more sense that Aigis would be closer and easier for Mitsuru to call up. Honestly I was tempted to bump the roster up to 17 so I could have both of them on the base roster, but this is ArcSystems, 16 is already kinda pushing it.

DLC

Given that this is a modern fighting game, DLC is inevitable. However since this DLC will likely be like Ultimax where the story acts to wrap up loose ends and have a new story, it’s going yo be big, especially since there’s going to be a fight with Nyaraloptep, so go big or go home in this case. Okay so first order of business, anyone who was in the previous arena games who wasn’t in the base roster is getting added back in, it’s only fair. That out of the way, the new faces I’d add are Futaba actually being playable now and the big 4 P5 characters I skipped, Akechi, Yoshizawa, and Sophie. Before anyone asks though, Sophie was added into a Dragalia Lost collab with Koei Techmo not being credited so she’s likely Atlus’s copyright so she's safe to add.

With that out of the way, how would they play? Starting with Futaba, I’d think she’d be the resident puppet fighter, sitting on top of Necinomicon and only occasionally adding in some of her own attacks like a projectile. Also she'd also probably act as a bit of a grappler cause her Persona has tentacles (no hentai jokes please) which have long reach so that'll be perfect for it. Next up is Akechi who I can see as semi being two characters in one. My basic idea is that at first Akechi will be fighting with Robin Hood and he'll be a solid jack of all trades with a slight focus on rush down. However once he goes into his awakened mode he'll gain Loki, which will increase his speed and attack strength, at the cost of his defence, turning him into a glass cannon.

Next is Yoshizawa, or 'Sumi as I like to call her, and her thing will be she's the mobility focused fighter, namely constantly moving around the stage and poking at her opponent while doing it, at the cost of being frail. Finally there’s Sophie who would be a combo focused zoner, as in her standard projectiles (the yo-yo’s) wouldn’t hurt that much on their own, but she can string them together into the fancy yo-yo tricks to potentially do big damage. As for how much this DLC would cost, it’s going to be very big, so €25 to €30 sounds fair

I think that more or less covers my thoughts. I could keep going on about this for a while, but I think this is a good place to stop. Hope you like my idea!

#Youtube #persona 5 #persona 3 #persona 4 #persona 2 #persona arena #phantom thieves #investigation team #SEES #shadow operatives #happy 25th anniversary Persona!

[wallstoothin]

Revolution (P5/PJO)

A warm up fic that I'm too nervous to put on A03. Unedited.

At age sixteen, Akira never expected to be part of a war. But then again, life as a demigod is anything but normal to begin with. He’s not even...he’s not even anything in the eyes of the gods but for some reason he was the child of the prophecy, whatever that meant. Akira always considered it a death sentence in waiting. Aren’t prophecies once in a lifetime opportunities?

Since the age of eleven, Akira has been forced to go on all sorts of different quests ranging from petty things such as being an over glorified uber eats for a god or something like preventing a war between two different monsters. Now it was a war.

A war that could be easily prevented if the gods or even some of the camp managers and leaders just opened their eyes and look. Akira would know. He was the son of a minor goddess after all, a mother who never bothered to claim him and a camp that force him into a cramped cabin of a god who is “so kind and merciful to let someone like him inside.”

Children of minor gods are usually one that can live in the outside world without major trouble. Apparently their scent is thinner and are less appealing than children of major goddesses such as his bunkmate Ryuji, child of Hermes and sweet Ann from Aprohidites. They are his best friend and he does not envy them at all. Both Ryuji and Ann has been through s much trouble because of their parent lineage. Left alone to single parents and their own human trouble combined with their demigods' trouble. He would do anything for them. Still, it would be nice to have someone to call as family. The only reason Akira even found out about his parentage is because of Goro.

Goro.

Goro had high expectation placed under him. As the son of Zeus it was expected. But he was never chosen to be in any important quest and spend most of his time training or in his cabin. Goro was one of the first people Akira met when he first came to camp. According to gossip, Goro has been in camp since the age of seven after his mother killed himself, overpressed by the idea of raising a child of god and especially after how lord Zeus practically left the two on their own. Goro was a loner on the outside and very bitter on the inside. When Akira got his first quest a month later, Goro practically ignored him. It was heartbreaking for the eleven year old for his new friend or at least someone he consider his friend to suddenly hate him.

He really wanted to go to the outside world with him but instead went with Ryuji and Ann. When he came back, bruised and bloodied, filled with new fears and deep hatred for salt water. He hoped his time away would have let his friend cool down enough for them to talk again but as soon as Akira laid eyes on the other the boy ran straight for his cabin. It wasn’t long until Akira got his first fetch quest. This time with Yusuke, son of Apollo and Futaba the quirky daughter of Hephaestus. It was a strange team, filled with dumb fights and hiding in the bathroom but it was successful.

Goro still won’t talk to him. Instead he ended up with two Ares girls on his twelfth birthday.

It was after this quest when he was finally given a small break. At this point he was desperate. He was tired,scared and most of all he wanted his friend back. So once he was left alone after dinner, he dragged Goro by the arm from the archery ring and into the Zeus cabin.

“We need to talk.”

They talked and talked and talked way past curfew, maybe they could have reconnect months ago. If only Akira was given a chance to settle down. But now he did.

It was Goro that figured out who his parent was, Goro always did say that whenever he was around Akira he always felt safe, at home. Other people told him that too. Even Akira felt the sense of family whenever he’s with his friends.

They hit the book soon after and came up with an answer.

Epione, the goddess of soothing pain.

Akira’s power seems to work with mental pain and after going on a quest with Goro and Hifumi, he can soothe small physical pain. Anything bigger than a small knife wound would leave him passed out on the ground. But it was better than any ambrosia or nectar, it was a rewarded feeling and an especially tiring one.

It made the quest after a lot easier.

Everything breaks down around the age of fifteen, it was quiet and sudden. Akira knew of camp deserters, they all did. It is often talked about in late night horror stories. Akira may have made one or two up on his own as well. But there has been an increase in unrest between the minor god and goddess children.

“The gods are using you as their playthings aren’t they?” Ten year old Nozoki told him one day. “How long can you keep winding yourself until you break?”

He still hasn't told anyone of his talk with the gods, yet.

It was after that day that people started leaving the camp in groups.

Yukki

Nozoki

And Goro.

The older boy didn’t even say goodbye.

Was it something Akira has done?

Their last talk was another late night one. This time hanging out on the roof of Goro’s cabin. They were talking about school. Akechi was close to finishing high school and Akira was on his way to his last year. When Akechi asked of his future plans, Akira hesitated. Was there a future for him? Akira never thought he would make it this long, even then, he did not have the time to develop any hobbies or focus on school work compared to his peers. Who cared about school when the world was ending.

Maybe it was his defeated tone, he hated it at first he really did. But now Akira just accepts it as another part of life. Demigods don’t get to live long, everyone knows that, that’s why the camp was created in the first place to provide children a safe place to live and to teach them to survive. Akira who's been in and out of the camp in almost all of his teen years has a higher chance of an early death compared to his friends.

“What if everything change.” Goro talked in a low and deep voice. A tone Akira rarely hear outside of anger and battle. He must be serious. “What if we had a chance to go out into the world without any fear of getting killed or being forced by the gods to do whatever they want.”

“That’s a dangerous thought you have there.” He replied.

“Humor me Akira.”

“Well,” What kind of answers would satisfy Goro. He honestly never really bothered to even spend time daydreaming about this. What are somethings the seasonal campers talk about during dinner time?

“I think I want to go somewhere populated.”

“Somewhere populated, Kurusu-kun?”

He nodded. “Yeah like the scramble or Kyoto, maybe even destinyland.”

“Those are tourist traps Kurusu-kun.” Goro replied wirily.

“So? What I want my wallet to get tricked by the many faces of capitalism. Aren’t they places of memories. I don't mind spending my whole day in these places. It seems like fun.”

“You know, I expected someone like you to want something more dramatic. For someone who always lives in the danger zone.”

He shrugged. “Normal is Ok, I think I would like to be that mysterious man behind the bar.”

Goro actually snorted at that. “Are you even able to stay in one place for that long?”

Ok, so maybe Goro has a point. There no why he can stay in one place for so long. But if he gets to meet new people everyday it sure to be just as fun.

“-beside, I can’t see you handling alcohol.”

“Geez Goro, way to crush my dreams. I was thinking of running some kind of underground coffee bar. “

“An underground coffee bar. That sounds like you. I think I might have isted everyday.”

“Oh? A loyal customer ? Thank you for your patronage, good sir.”

“You’re very welcomed overworked barista.”

They sighed.

“Goro is everything OK?| He finally asked. “What you have been saying lately has me worried. You know the people upstairs can hear everything here right?”

“Of course, please do not worry about me Akira-kun, I’m sure you already have lots on your plate right now.”

“But I always have space in my heart for you. Please ‘kechi, I won’t tell anyone no matter what you tell me. On my life.”

“You really shouldn’t be putting your life on the line so easily.” Goro mumbled, mostly to himself but Akira heard it all anyway.

“It’s all part of the job.” He chirp back.

The next day he was gone.

A traitor everyone called him, someone who abandoned the gods to join the wrong side historically and morally. It did not take long for the rumors to start around camp.

“I’ve always knew he was evil.”

“He was always acting so creepy around Akira I wonder if he was ever planning on killing him.”

“It’s good that he left, who knows what he would’ve done if he stayed. “

It was getting harder and harder to face each day with a smile without Goro. His other friends at least one that has yet to publicly disowned Goro stayed by his side comforting him telling him that everything is alright.

But war, war is coming and Akira is expected to be in the front line as a leader. He can’t. He does not want to do this any more. Oh godly parent please give him a sign.

But nothing came.

Nothing but ruin for Tokyo.

They were

Winning

Losing

Dying

...fighting.

They were fighting for their life, each of his friends split up into different groups to try and take back different parts of the city.

Akira was tasked to find the leader of the resistance and to put an end to it once and for all, a fitting task for the hero.

It did not take long to find him, he was exactly where Akira expected him to be and exactly where Goro wanted him to be at.

“Goro,” He mumbled, approaching his enemy with his dagger clutched in his hand tightly. “I came to stop you.”

Goro turned around to face him. Instead of the camp t-shirt and ripped jeans that Akira normally sees him in. He was instead wearing a leather jacket and a collared shirt underneath his regular jeans. It was a strange combination but Akira can’t help but to think it suits Goro well.

“I’m happy you came.”

“This is our meeting place after all.”

Enough with the banter, Akira can’t afford to stall now, not when everyone is fighting for their lives.

“Goro, surrender now. I can get the gods to put you on probation or something bu-”

“You know that’s not true. Do you really think that will pay attention to a mortal even someone like you, since when have they done anything for you.”

“I-”

“Think Akira.” Goro shouted, holding on to his shoulder for dear life. “You’ve been used over and over again. We were just kids. You don’t even have a childhood doesn’t that upset you?”

It did, it still does but Goro knows that he does not like to think about that.

“I used to be so scared.” Goro’s volume went down all the way to a whisper as if talking about this of all things would finally get him stuck down by lightning. “Everytime you come home your eyes would grow darker and darker. I used to have nightmares that the darkness would eat you alive. The trauma you endured. As a son of one of the big three it should have been me.”

Akira shook his head vigorously, he could even feel some of the hair strand stabbing his eyes. It burns a bit, but that’s not important.

“No Goro! I would never wish this life on anyone. The quest, the glory. It’s not worth it! I wanted you to be safe and happy but you ignored me.”

“I know.” Goro’s hand slowly trailed down until they came right above his waist putting the two in some sort of half hug position. “I’m sorry Akira.”

Akira swallowed back a sob threatening to come out. His dagger was right there and Goro was so close and vulnerable. He could end this, he can stop this war once and for all.

“Goro please, end this war. That way everything will go back to normal.”

“You know that’s not what’s going to happen. The gods will use you again and again until you one day burn out and they choose the next unlucky kid to be the hero.” Goro paused. “Akira...why don’t you join me.”

“Hu-”

“Lots of our men need healing. With your powers you can save them! Your mother may not recognize you but we do. We can stop this cycle and give everyone a better future. We would no longer live in fear or worried over someone’s temper tantrum. Akira, I know I haven’t been a good friend to you but I can make it all up now so please.”

Goro reached out his hand and dropped his weapon.

“Join me.”

Akira dropped his dagger as well.

He knows this isn’t the right choice, if they were to fail both Akira and Goro would face harsh unimaginable punishment. But Goro along with everything he ever wanted was right there.

Akira reached out his own hands and-

#persona 5 #goro akechi #akira kurusu #PJO AU #accomplice au #Not much PJO just using the rules

[stargazer-balladeer]

Songwriter Reader [Phantom Thieves]

anon: ik u got so many p5 asks but um what about the phantom thieves with a songwriter reader? like reader plays piano and sings an orginal; the other thieves definitely KNOW who it is for. It depends if *target* will get it instantly, turn into tomato, or dense and need a forehead flick 👉👈

Characters Included: Akira Kurusu, Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki, Yusuke Kitagawa, Makoto Niijima, Haru Okumura, Futaba Sakura & Goro Akechi

Note: Don’t worry love, you can request p5 over and over again. No need to be shy :) I’m also very creative with the title :)))) (note: sarcasm). Hope ya’ll enjoy this!!

Reader’s Gender: Neutral

Warning: None

Akira Kurusu

-Oh, he knows the song you are playing is for him. He has the smuggest look on his face. But this boi is so proud of you and is falling deeper in love with you. 

-He loves how you can compose a song, play a piano and sing. He is in-love with your voice though, he thinks Kamisama (God) has given him an angel in disguise. 

-He’s so supportive of you that he cheers you on if you want to make a career out of this. He’ll be there when you need a shoulder to cry if someone (mainly your parents or the adults) criticize your future. He’ll comfort you as he whisper comforting words in your ear. He’s not allowed to pick fights since he’s under Probation ;-; poor bby boi

-He might help you in composing some songs, but don’t expect much. He’s not really a newbie in the Music Department but he’s not in your level, yet. If you’re willing to teach him how to play piano, he’ll be elated. 

-It was a Talent Show in Shujin Academy when you suddenly show up on stage with a nervous smile on your face. He was shook. Why was his s/o there? Don’t they have stage fright?

-It isn’t until you play your first note in the piano when he relax himself, but he was astounded when you started to sing as well! He was surprised yet proud of you at the same time.

-When you finish, he’ll run to you going downstairs and pick you up and spin you around in pure happiness. He doesn’t care if everyone’s watching as he kiss you in the lips, you either super embarrassed or flattered at his action. 

-Hey, atleast the whole school knows that you belong to him :)

Ryuji Sakamoto

-He’s confused yet proud that you can compose, play and sing. I can see him being oblivious to the fact that the song is about him. Because he’s not really paying attention to what you’re singing, he’s just watching your figure in amazement. Yeah, someone may need to snap him out or else he’s drooling at the sight.

-Like Akira, he loves how talented you are (sanaol). He full-on support you if you want to make a career out of this. If he ever finds out someone is criticizing you, he’ll pick a fight with them. But if its either your parents or adults who criticize you, he’ll be so mad but do nothing. He’s still just a teenager, he don’t want to end up in jail!

-Don’t expect him to help you though, he has no music abilities whatsoever. He might help you when it comes to writing lyrics, but other than that? Just.. no.

-If you stand on stage with your music notes and piano, he’ll be that guy who cheers the loudest for you. But when you start to play, he’ll shush anyone who’s making a sound. 

-He didn’t get what the lyrics has since he wasn’t listening but the melody was good! He’ll congratulate you but when he notices you being pouty, he’ll be hella confused. What did I do?

-Just flick his forehead and explain to him what you sang about, and you’ll have a apple-faced Ryuji :)

Ann Takamaki

-I believe she knew that the song was meant for her, but is still unsure. Please tell this bby girl that the song was meant for her because she might not look like it, but she’s insecure. But when she realize its for her, she’ll have a big and happy smile on her face.

-She’s proud that she has a s/o that is so talented. Be prepared for her countless compliments towards you. If you ever feel insecure about your talented abilities, don’t worry! She’s already here by your side, complimenting you left and right. You can’t help but believe her though, I mean, how could she lie with a face like that?!

-I can totally see Ann knows how to play an instrument, hopefully a violin so you two can play together and have loads of fun! But if she plays something else, like recorder or flute, then you two can still play together. 

-She’s supportive towards you, telling you to believe in your dreams and don’t let other people get in the way in achieving your dream. But if she sees you crying because someone is criticizing you, you bet your ass that she’s ready to fight them. No one says that to her s/o without getting away!

-Ann wants to burst into tears when you started to play and sing at the same time, she was already beyond surprise when you appeared on stage, but when you started to play? She just wants to cry because because she’s being too emotional. Makoto has to calm her down as the others sweatdropped.

-Everyone basically knew it is directed to Ann, which made her giddy and embarrassed at the same tme. She’s so proud of you that after your performance, she drags you to spoil you.

Yusuke Kitagawa

-DENSE AS A ROCK :) Like everyone knew it was for him, but he sits there, listening to the music with a content smile on his face. He doesn’t know that the lyrics was for him really :( Poor bby.

-”That was a magnificently beautiful performance you had!”

-”Yeah! And the lyrics is about you!”

-”...”

-”...”

-”... eXCUSE ME?!”

-He’s very proud that you have something you are passionate about and enjoys listening to your music while he’s painting. He’s glad to have a s/o that is passionate about the art of music. If you want, he can teach you how to paint and you teach him how to play piano.

-He’s interested in learning to play since he believes that if he’s passionate enough, he can learn how to play the piano. I think he’s also interested learning how to compose a song, probably composing a song immediately after you teaching him how.

-He’s also supportive if you want to make a career out of it, because it’s also how he feels with his artistic skills. If someone criticize you, he would be so angry that he goes into a rant about how beautiful your music is and how disrespectful that person is towards you, regardless if its an adult or a parent. He also doesn’t like people using you for their benefit so he shy you away from people like those, who were “seeking talentful people”. Yeah, no thanks.

-He’ll be surprised to see you standing on stage though, and watching you play and sing so animatedly amaze him to no end. Futaba would probably tease him because of his awestruck look on his face while they watch you play. 

-Once you finish, you can bet that he will run up to you and rant about how gracious and beautiful your performance was. He wouldn’t realize the lyrics were meant for him until you told him. He became a happy boi after that :D

Makoto Niijima

-She knows that the song was meant for her but she doesn’t know whether to be embarrassed or flattered by it. But she’s so proud of you that she can’t find the big smile on her face, despite her embarrassment. When she walks up to you, her face was so red that she fumbles her words around. Please pull her into a hug and she’ll calm down :)

-She’s proud that your gifted in the music department, and will help you if you need some help. Yes, I can imagine Makoto being good at music, mainly violin or piano as well. You two can play together in the piano as you sing.

-She helps in composing some songs, adding or switching some words here and there. It also helps her relieve some stress as she hears you playing the piano. Sae is also thankful for you if you ever play in their house.

-Makoto is supportive of you, of course. If you want to pursue being a pianist or a singer, she’ll be your cheerleader. But if someone criticize you, she’ll tell them off before telling you off as well to stand up for yourself. 

-Makoto almost had an heart attack when she saw you on-stage. Like no joke. She’s sweating and pale white, she’s nervous than you were -_-’ But she means well. 

-When you started playing though, she knew instantly that this song you composed was directed at her. She was blushing all throughout your performance. She’s still blushing even when she’s coming near you. Please hug your mommy ;-;

Haru Okumura

-Another girl who instantly can tell that the song you’re playing is for her, but instead of being embarrassed, she’s flattered as she hums along your song. This girl also has no shame in declaring her love for you as she pecks your lips after your performance, watching as your face burst in red while giggling softly.

-This girl has some skills in music as well since her father wants for her to be a perfectionist, and it comes with her training since it requires patience and grace. She can totally play the violin, imagine Kaori and Kousei from Your Lie In April (without the dying part whOOPS--), that’s you two.

-She’s so helpful whenever you suddenly got music block and couldn’t find any inspiration to make music. She’ll drag you outside so that you could be inspired. She even helps you in composing some music, I swear this girl knows so much than you -_-’

-Haru’s also very supportive towards her s/o’s dream in pursuing music as their career and would help them make their dream a reality. If someone criticize your choices, Haru would just pull you away from them. She doesn’t like dealing those who criticize other’s ideals, it’s best to just walk away.

-She would be so surprised when she sees you on stage, she cheers the loudest for you. When you began to play, she listens intently, not wanting to miss anything you do. It’s almost scary for the group as they watch Haru watching you intently with a easy-going smile on her face.

-You bet that she’ll give you a bouquet of flowers (don’t ask where they came from though) and lots of kisses from Haru :D

Futaba Sakura

-The only music she knows is Vocaloid and Anime Openings and Endings. She actually finds classical music to be boring, but when it comes to you, she’ll be excited to hear it. Be proud that you’re an exception :D (if ever you play classical music though)

-Futaba wouldn’t know that the music was directed to her until someone pointed it out or she hears her name in the lyrics, then she’ll be beet red at once (much to the amusement of the group). Futaba would be so shy that it would take time for her to come up to you and congratulate you. So you need to be the one who approach her in this scenario.

-She has little to no idea about composing music like you do. But she’s willing to learn about it, as long as she can see that happy smile on your face. Be aware that it takes patience to teach though, since she can throw a tantrum or two if she doesn’t get it.

-Futaba’s also supportive (I think all of them do, lol) about wanting your hobby to turn into career and cheers you on. She may or may not have also upload a video of you playing piano and singing in YouTube :) If she hears any criticism (DANCE SO HARD THAT IM CAUSING A SENSATION-- *slap*), she’ll hack into their phone and practically make it die and unusable :)

-Futaba practically lets out a shriek when she saw you on-stage, which made her embarrassed since people are starting to look at her. She shrunk into her seat as she watches you in wonder as you take a seat and began playing. The song was relaxing for her as she started to enjoy it.

-it isn’t until Akira (her big bro) tease her about her s/o singing about her. Futaba’s face turned even more red in realization as she buries her face into her hands, wanting to disappear already. (Mommy Makoto is glaring at him for stating that).

-When you approach her after the performance, she could hardly talk. You need to hold her tight so that she could calm down. Poor NEET bby girl ;-;

Goro Akechi

-He’ll know it at once when you started to play, he also has the smuggest look on his face, but not as much as Akira’s though. He’s so proud of you that he wants to kiss you right there and there, but he has a reputation to hold. Opted instead to handing you a bouquet with your favorite flowers in them. But he would also resort to kissing your forehead.

-I can also see him playing the piano, atleast some. Since he rarely has time for himself, so he knew only little about playing. But you could teach him! If you suggest it to him, he’ll be ecstatic that he’s already pulling you to the piano.

-He loves hearing you sing though! He already loves your voice, and you singing? It’s a dream come true for Akechi.

-He’ll also be useful in helping you coming up with lyrics and melodies in the song, he knows a selection of melodies so he’s very useful for you if you get stuck.

-Though at first he’s against the idea of you wanting to continue playing and singing and make it your career, but soon enough, he warm up to the idea of it. He’ll then keep supporting you from here on end. If someone criticize you about it, then he’ll step in and use his sharp tongue to avert their attention to him. In his mind, it’s better if its him being criticized instead of you, so he’ll do just that.

-Akechi would be surprise to see you on-stage though, but when you started to play, he’ll relax and smile. He’ll listen contentedly to your music and singing voice. But he’ll have that smug smirk on his face.

-When you finish, you better expect Akechi waiting for you to get down the stage (hOW DID HE GET THERE SO FAST--?!). He gives you a genuine smile as he gives you the bouquet and kiss you on the forehead. He’s cherishing the moment while he still can, afterall it’s only a matter of time before...

[x] Main Page || [x] Persona 5 Page

#persona #persona x reader #p5 #p5 x reader #persona 5 #persona 5 x reader #akira kurusu #akira kurusu x reader #ryuji sakamoto #ryuji sakamoto x reader #ann takamaki #ann takamaki x reader #yusuke kitagawa #yusuke kitagawa x reader #makoto niijima #makoto niijima x reader #haru okumura x reader #haru okumura #futaba sakura #futaba sakura x reader #akechi goro #akechi goro x reader #goro akechi #goro akechi x reader #req ans❣️

[cinnamonest]

Yes! That's exactly! This also leads into nsfw category too! Yan Joker/Akira knows all about her kinks, knows all the right places to touch to leave her begging for more. Knows about ahem fantasies she has, even the more darker ones like cnc and kidnapping. But he knows that he has to ease into it. We agreed that he's definitely fantasized about taking her in a palace, perhaps her own and he's fucking her cognition of herself, and it's very noncon but Joker's cooing softly at her that he knows how much she's fantasized about being taken by him (Joker/leader of the phantom thieves) and be used by him. Loving how she's giving in to him, meeting his thrusts, she looks so cute. Pls hggjfgf I'm gonna scream into the void I love this stupid bitchhhhh

Anon hear me out. Oh my God. (Big p5 spoilers for anyone who hasn't played)

You know that second bad ending, the whole "evil Joker" ending - not the Akechi one where you die, but the one where you can just take all the glory for yourself by accepting "Igor's" deal, and it's kinda implied that you left the other phantom thieves in the velvet room to rot forever because Akira wants the sole glory for himself? (Since only he is seen in the ending and not even morgana is there)

Akira's personality can undergo significant differences based on how you play him y'know? (I took the snarky asshole route lmao) That ending is so good to me bc it makes Joker out to more or less be a sociopathic narcissist and... It's hot ngl

Imagine a very selfish and narcissistic Joker who wants the glory of the phantom thieves all to himself, but he loves one of his little phantom thieves too much to let her go... So instead, he takes the true good end and defeats yaldabaoth, but then? He goes back and reruns. Starts the story over again once it ends, does everything over again, but this time, he prevents her from ever becoming one of the phantom thieves. That way he can ditch the other thieves and take their glory after the main events of the game, while still keeping you. And once he's the only phantom thief, he'll become like Akechi, killing the powerful through their own palaces. Really, he never had anything against killing, you know? It was Ann and Ryuji that were so concerned about accidentally killing the palace holder at first iirc... Who says he really cares?

Alternatively, Joker forms his own palace - one based in his vice of obsession. Maybe that was why he needed to get rid of the other thieves to begin with - they knew something was wrong with him. So when he gets the opportunity, of course he'll throw them to the wolves and leave them alone forever in the velvet room. They were trying to take you away from him. They told him that he was going too far. They were in the way. And that's why he decides to get rid of the other phantom thieves, he goes back to get rid of them and keep you at the same time, getting rid of all the people who dared tell him he was doing something wrong.

Ultimately he doesn't really care about the others, you're what's most important to him. That's why he doesn't feel guilty. He blames them for getting themselves killed, really. They chose this path when they crossed him. He can sit there at their meetings, form fake bonds with them, go through the motions of all the adventures with his "friends" without feeling a thing, knowing full well he's gonna get rid of them in the end.

It's worth it. He's gonna be like a king in the metaverse, and he needs you by his side forever.

I'm gonna write it ahsahaksh

#brainrot thoughts #Akira thirst #lena's asks

[chrismerle]

what’s up i spent way too long typing up a post about my thoughts on P5S, and it isn’t even all encompassing. i guess if you’re curious about anything i didn’t mention in this trainwreck just ask.

my spoiler-heavy thoughts/pseudo-review below the cut

THINGS I LIKED:

The characterization, broadly speaking. If you, like me, loved the Thieves in P5/P5R then you’ll be pretty happy with them here. There are a couple moments that made me roll my eyes (lookin’ at you, hot springs) but on the whole, the main cast are unchanged.

The new characters. Sophia and Zenkichi are great. Sophia is precious and Zenkichi straddles a very fine line of ‘realistically out of the loop, but gives as good as he gets.’ I don’t even care how silly their costumes were. Sophie looked like the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man, though I did like her little emoticon visor, but also she had no pants. Wolf’s mask was badass but the fact that his stupid pointy hat was riveted to the top of his stupid disco high collar killed it and I wanted to see someone grab his hat and pull it back to see it fling back into place like a drinky-drinky bird. Even so, the characters were great, and when I noticed that all the attacks for Sophie’s initial pseudo-Persona had question marks after them (Kouga? Dia?), it made me laugh, and Wolf’s a good all-purpose party member because he hits like a fucking truck and nothing is immune to Almighty. Plus in some of his post-battle dialogue he calls them all ‘kiddos’ and they consistently call him Gramps.

The gameplay. I mean, yeah, it’s VERY different than P5, but you all know that. And hey! The game no longer immediately ends if Joker gets knocked out (unless he’s the only one left in the party, obviously). It ran pretty smoothly, there’s something weirdly charming about the other Thieves showing up perched on cover points, and the only consistent issue I ran into is that in segments where the camera gets forced into a certain angle, it can switch back so abruptly at the end that you accidentally go walking right off a ledge.

I’ve never really played a Dynasty Warriors-type game before, so it took me a Jail or so to get used to it, but then I was just cackling as I mowed down swarms of Jack Frosts like a weed-whacker in a flower field with a knife the size of Joker’s torso. Honestly, it took me the longest to get used to the fact that the circle button became the all-purpose ‘interact’ button than anything else.

Actually, that’s a lie. It took me the longest to get used to the fact that if I left a Jail, I wouldn’t be losing any time. I’m very used to Persona games having the calendar constantly counting down, which wasn’t the case here.

The story, broadly speaking. It had some hiccups and some issues, which I’ll get into, but for the most part, it was fun. I’m...not going to outline every detail of the story here, but it felt very P5-y and I enjoyed it.

THINGS I LIKED BUT THAT NEEDED WORK:

The writing. It was a little inconsistent, beyond just the usual weirdness that I have accepted comes along with Persona games. (//patiently clicks through numerous conversations of the gang going ‘did this super obvious thing that this memory threw in our faces happen? Let’s debate about whether the most likely answer by a huge margin is the answer’ and several conversations of ‘are we sure this person is bad? We saw them playing nice, like literally every other villain we’ve faced’) A lot was great! Like, the bit with the Okinawa locals breaking into the RV while the kids hide in the bushes? Genuinely unsettling! Akane’s Jail and the fake Thieves was fun, and seeing Zenkichi scuttle from hiding place to hiding place without Thief powers was funny, and his Shadow’s glowing eyes watching him before becoming his Persona was both badass and unsettling. The realization that EMMA was actively lying to Konoe was nice. Character interactions were great and I loved that Sophia went with Ichinose at the end. There was a lot that was good. But there were also a lot of missteps.

Like, it kind of felt like the direction for the writing changed partway through. It started out as if each member of the Phantom Thieves was going to get their own time to shine, identifying and empathizing with a Monarch. Ann realized she could have been Alice. Yusuke realized he could have been Ango and also saw redeeming him as sort of like redeeming Madarame by proxy. Mariko was a link to Haru’s childhood and her father. The ghost Jail on Okinawa lured Sophie in and by the end she realized how much she meant to her friends ryuji said fuck. Akane was Zenkichi’s literal daughter. And then it went to Konoe and then EMMA, so Ryuji, Futaba, Morgana, Makoto, and Joker didn’t get a chance to shine in that regard. The switch from ‘a Jail for everyone to identify with’ to ‘whelp here’s the decoy and the end boss’ felt like they came from two separate drafts of the script, and it’s not like they had to watch the time; I got through P5S in about a third the time it took me to get through P5R. It took me about 35 hours. Considering the game kind of relies on you having played P5, they already knew their target audience has a longer attention span than that.

Owada was talked up as kind of a big deal, but he had like two scenes on-screen and otherwise was an entirely off-screen character. There’s a lot of mid-combat dialogue that is very difficult to focus on, which was sort of annoying when some of it was actually relevant. Ichinose’s reveal as a villain is very info-dump-y.

Plus, Joker wasn’t utilized particularly well as a silent protagonist. He’s got more implied personality than basically any other Persona protag. Which means he’s actually pretty expressive throughout the game, but I can probably count his lines of dialogue outside of combat with fingers left over. No one expects Yu Narukami to actually react to anything, so it doesn’t feel odd when he doesn’t. But the combination of Joker being reasonably expressive and having a demonstrated personality means you’re perpetually EXPECTING and WANTING him to say something about the shit going on, and when he doesn’t it feels like mentally missing a stair.

THINGS THAT I DIDN’T LIKE:

The cut corners. Like, a lot of things just seem lazy. There were scenes that really should have been included that weren’t, like how the Thieves escaped from the hotel after the police showed up; it cut from Zenkichi warning them and getting arrested to them arriving at the temporary hideout, so we never even got to see how the Thieves reacted to realizing the cops were outside. Requests to bond with the other Thieves only got a couple of text boxes, when they could have shown a tiny scene of them hanging out like they had all over P5. Rather than having Sae actually on-screen for her brief scene, the camera instead very unnaturally switched to an angle as if it was from her point of view, which was literally the only time the camera did that in the entire game. All of the Sentries look the same from Jail to Jail, instead of being unique to each Jail. Igor is completely absent for the entire game, and other than a throwaway ‘my master can’t be here’ from Lavenza it’s just not really acknowledged.

The missed opportunities. Like, there is no way to look at this except to assume that Joker was a horrible friend to literally everyone in this world state. Like, I can pass off the fact that everyone has their baseline Personae as being because they haven’t had access to their powers for a while, but when you combine it with the fact that NONE of Joker’s other confidants show up or even know he’s back in Tokyo, it leaves little to assume except that in this world, no confidants got maxed out. On top of that, the Personae are all basically pointless. They could be Pokemon or Stands or Digimon or fucking YuGiOh cards, and it wouldn’t make a difference; NOTHING about the game says ‘these entities are integral to this world and important to these characters.’ Also they could have had Akane actually realize who the Thieves were and it would have been hysterical, but that’s just my personal sulk.

The Requests. I liked the Mementos missions in P5/P5R. They felt like they had a point. Requests in P5S are all basically just fetch quests. ‘Go to Location A, fight so many of Enemy B to get so many of Item C. Turn in Request.’ Hell, one of them bugged out on me, I swear. There’s a Request to teach Zenkichi how to cook a simple meal, and Haru gives you a recipe including beef. I had no beef on me at the time, because if you want SP restoratives you gotta cook a fair amount and I used it, and I could find literally no beef in the city I was in at the time so I had to abandon the Request. On top of that, outside of getting food or a few moments where another character specifically asks for Joker’s attention, character-specific Requests mostly replace the ability to bond with the other characters individually.

The restoratives. Or, more specifically, the disparity between HP restoratives and SP restoratives. There’s essentially one cookable recipe to restore SP for every four recipes to restore HP. Even if I stopped at every store and vending machine, I’m pretty sure there were a couple cities where I could find NO SP restoratives for sale, while most stores and vending machines had at least two or three HP restoratives. And while it is true that you can go in and out of a Jail whenever you please to restore SP, that doesn’t help you if you run out during a boss fight you weren’t expecting (mini-boss encounters are virtually identical to regular monster encounters) or during one of the times where you CAN’T leave the Jail for reasons XYZ.

The final boss, and not just because I died and had to start over a few times. As a concept, EMMA could be cool, but in reality she just seemed like the writers threw Yaldabaoth and Maruki in a blender and poured the results into the game. Like Yaldabaoth, she is a false god who seeks to control humanity, claiming it’s what they want. Like Maruki, she seems genuinely deluded into thinking it’s for the best and that she’s not doing anything wrong. Her Jail looked like a slightly sci-fi reskin of the Depths of Mementos. The shtick with the multiple platforms and getting to actually SEE an all-out attack at the end were nice, but for the most part the fight itself was nothing special. Ultimately, EMMA had nothing unique going for her except her name.

Plus, EMMA’s entire rationale was that the majority of humans want someone else to control their lives for them, essentially out of convenience. And she’s presented as being more or less right, but that just being one of the hurdles of being human. It seemed a little dour and far-fetched. Like, the Thieves repeatedly point out that struggling allows people to grow, and they’re right, but in my experience, I’ve never actually met anyone who, upon hitting a roadblock, decided ‘Jesus take the wheel.’ Considering the greed with which her weird tentacle arms snatched up the solidified Desires, the pettiness of the complaints she used as a “gotcha,” and the fact that she just kind of reiterates her ‘people want to be controlled’ point over and over, I think it would have felt a bit more true to life and given her more agency if, instead of presenting her as largely correct, it instead acknowledged that everyone at some time or another hits a wall and wants someone to tell them what to do and had her capitalizing on those individual brief moments to hook people in, despite her having reams of data that for most people, those moments are temporary.

#persona 5 strikers #persona 5 strikers spoilers

[huxianposts]

Hi! Sorry for an outta the blue ask at (hopefully not for you) buttz o'clock, but I was wondering if you have an AO3 account or anything else for any fics you've made and posted, and if you have recs for a pegoryu, shioann, yutaba and okujima nerd. I loved seeing those snippets of your WiPs and got curious if you had anything posted somewhere. I hope you've been enjoying yourself and staying safe during these times, and I want you to know that your a great writer from what I've seen!

Hey, no problem, it’s not outta the blue at all, I’m the one sorry for taking a while! I’ve been stressing about attending grad school, so that’s been taking up my focus and I haven’t read a lot of new fics ;-; I HAVE been writing on the DL, but they’re no where near finished since I have the terrible habit of writing snippets here and there for like, 25 wips lmao. There are some that are close to being complete, but the editing and formatting takes a while and I’m procrastinator extraordinaire. 

I do have an ao3 and I’m a bit shy about sharing it, but if you look up Huxian, that’s me. I just have two pegoryu fics up atm, but I am hoping of posting more fics soon!

I don’t have many fic recs since I haven’t read a ton of p5 fics, but here are some that’s caught my attention/remembered fondly:

Pegoryu; I have a lot of pegoryu fic recs but I’ll limit them alkdjfal again, as you can tell from this blog, I have an intense fondness for them:

Lost and Found by nuuneyraegon, rated T-- it’s the most recent one I’ve managed to read, since Rae is my bud, and it’s a really introspective and sweet fic. Very intimate and vulnerable, and it makes me feel emo in both sad and good ways! It gets heavy though when the boys talk about their own backstories, so if you like a good dose of angst, this is the place for you :’)

monochrome by kareofbears, rated T-- I’ve read this months ago but like, the character study and the analogies are so good, I’m still floored and rolling around about it. There’s this underlying quietness to this fic that feels like the dawn breaking the horizon, and it’s just really beautiful.

if it’s all for you then it’s worth it by hellodenihere, rated G-- i’m a shill for Ryuji and am also forever freaking livid about his broken leg. This fic is a balm to that rage, and really showcases the team’s care and love towards Ryuji, like thank you bless, I want to bequeath Deni with flowers

as essential as sunlight by canticle, rated T-- The impact of reading this still astounds me. The writing, the tenderness, and like the connection written in this fic is so heartaching and good, like take my wallet, please. I don’t have too much to say about this since I’ve read this a while ago, but the sheer emotion I feel just seeing the title speaks for itself.

Yutaba, I haven’t read many, but I’ll probably start hunting again after I post some works, but there’s one that I first found that sold me on the ship lol:

Futaba and Yusuke Make a Doujinshi by OpheliaDusk, rated T-- I tend to avoid chapter fics due to time constraints/patience issues, but this one was. Really good, and funny, and it felt like something that would happen in-game as a mini subplot lmao. It felt like it’s own little world, and I got sucked in. The characterization is really lovely, and the pacing feels good. This was def a feel-good read for me.

Okujima I don’t have a ton of fics I’ve found that focus JUST on them, or is written in a way I’d like, but again, I’ll go hunting soon lol:

Fleeting Starlight by MarsFlameSniper, rated G-- it’s a p5d fic, and like, the dreaminess of that game really shows in this fic. It’s written with this happy feel, but with an underlying angst that honestly surprised me because the pining felt so real. I really love Makoto being shown as soft and awkward, and this fic really delivered in how she watches Haru dance

Standing on her Own by LyriaBlackFrost, rated G-- I love Haru very dearly, and while this fic is short, it feels like a prayer for her. The game did her spectacularly dirty, and this fic really showcases her quiet strength and endurance through gardening and team support.

Annshiho, man, they are def one of the big otps and I have not hunted enough solo fics for them ;-; granted, like Okujima, there’s not a lot of solo fics for them hhh:

star-crossed ain’t the right word for it by obstinateRixatrix, rated G-- this one is a picture-embedded fic of Ann and Shiho texting one another. It’s really cute, Shiho is sassing Ann left and right, and it just honestly feels like a part of the game itself, a sneak-peek into Takamaki Ann’s life with her best friend, hhhhhh

harbor by obstinateRixatrix, rated G-- this one. Killed me. So good. It takes Ann’s canon care and devotion to Shiho and paints the step by step on how she got to that point. You see Shiho’s side and her actions in befriending Ann, and showing us WHY Ann falls for her. Ann’s fiery optimism and Shiho’s steady care is a staple of this fic, and every time I read this, I fall in love with their dynamic all over again.

Sorry for the long post, I just want to cover all bases fkdsjfalksf but thank you so much for your sweet words, like, it means a lot to me that you like what I’ve shown! Thank youuuu!!

#thank you for the ask! #asks #anon #long post #fanfiction #i have so many snippets and wips and i need to compile them properly aghhh

[p5youllneverseeitcoming]

So I finished Persona 5 Royal

And once again I was a crying mess when the ending credits rolled.

Now, I’d like to share my thoughts about this game but I also respect the fact that not everyone had the chance to finish it yet so anything that is a spoiler will be talked about under the cut.

Anyways, let’s begin.

From the very beginning... I love the new title screen, the fact that you can see each member just hanging out in the streets of Tokyo is so cute and I love it. It’s so easy to get a platinum trophy for Persona 5 Royal which at first I thought was somewhat disappointing as it doesn’t require you to play through it again but then I found out there’s a bunch of challenges in the Thieves Den so I was really glad I had a reason to play it again.

Speaking of the Thieves Den, it’s really nice to see your team members just chat about the decorations you put in there, like for example Yusuke and Ann casually chatting in front of a Reaper statue like it’s no big deal. On a small sidenote, my mum really likes the fact that you can play Tycoon in the Thieves Den and I’m not gonna lie she spent hours playing with them which means I now have thousands of tokens but nothing to spend them on :’)

Much of P5R is very similar to the vanilla P5 except of course the fact that there’s 2 new characters being introduced to the story. You still get sent to Tokyo for ‘assaulting’ the drunk man however, the first change that you really notice is Sojiro’s conversation with you when he is taking you home on the Sunday you visit the school. Of course, by this point you know that there have been many psychotic breakdowns and a lot of accidents but what Sojiro tells you is... Interesting to say the least. I didn’t think of it much at first but then again I went into Royal completely spoiler free (except of course with the knowledge of how Persona 5 plays out) but eventually you find out that what he said was actually really important.

Another thing I really loved that they put in Royal is the fact that they managed to make the battle system even better. I always thought it was pretty amazing but they somehow managed to make it even better. First off, you can Baton Pass right off the bat. No need to establish a social link with the party members or anything, which honestly makes everything so much easier, especially in the early game. They also decided, you know what this nasty crime boy needs? Unlimited bullets... Well sorta. Remember how in Persona 5 you only had a limited amount of bullets per infiltration? Well, now they replenish every battle which of course means I did the only rational thing:

You also get the grappling hook in Royal and honestly? Just watching Joker do flips all over the place is really aesthetically pleasing. I love that they reworked the Palaces so that the grappling hook plays a big part in getting around and as I said, it’s just so fun to see Joker zooming through the air.

They added new Shadows/Personas to Royal which I think is fantastic as it makes returning players not bored of the battles but they also changed some weaknesses/removed weaknesses for some shadows which means you gotta strategise a little bit more. They also changed up the Palace Ruler Bosses but I found them... A lot more easier than the original? I don’t know if it’s due to the fact that I love to grind a lot before finishing a Palace or if I just had the perfect Personas for the occasion but yeah... That’s not to say the changes are bad! I still really liked them but it was just... Really easy for me lol. 

Another major change is the fact that Morgana decided that you may be a tired boi after going to the Metaverse but you still have enough energy to do some things in the cafe. That makes it like a ton easier to max out your social stats which means you can max out your confidants a lot faster, I managed to max out everyone and still had days where I literally had nothing to do which just shows how much time you actually save now.

Along with the fact that they fixed some translation errors, they also improved the sprites and added a lot more voice lines which was really nice in my opinion, it was a lot better when a character was expressing a certain emotion and their sprite actually matched it instead of just them facing one way and occasionally changing the facial expression.

I’ll mention this briefly seeing as this is sort of spoilery but I really loved the new confidants. The fact that you can actually hang out with Akechi and get to know him instead of being forced to level him up automatically was so good. The scenes where you would automatically rank up are still there but they kinda act as a filler of sorts now which in all honesty I didn’t mind. 

Ummm... That’s about all I can think of that doesn’t contain spoilers so... The section below will have spoilers so please only read this when you finish the game!

I’m going to talk about Akechi’s Confidant for a bit because I just really loved it okay? You learn so much about him, even things that seem trivial like the fact that he’s left handed become... Well rather important near the end. The more time you spend with him, the more you see how much Akira actually means to him. When you defeat him in his Rank 8 event, I actually loved it when he said he hated Akira. That was pure Akechi right there, no lies, no fake smiles just pure, honest truth. Also, I love how he decided to be extra and dramatic by throwing his glove as a challenge. It’s also really significant, at least to me, mainly because you never see him without gloves, in a way, this sort of showed that he fully exposed his true self to Akira. Their exchange in Shido’s Palace when you remind him that you still have his glove... That was really sad. I really wish there was some way you could help him, but alas, you can’t always have happy endings.

I’m not gonna lie, I was really confused when I got to 12/24 and we still went to Mementos. You discover a Palace and explore it for a bit but then it’s kind of... Forgotten? Like Morgana is genuinely like: Lmao this doesn’t concern us atm so you know, killed God with the power of friendship, was ready to stop being a Phantom Thief and surrender myself to the police but then... Mr. Sketchy himself just appears out of nowhere and decides that he’ll take Akira’s place for him

When I first saw him I was like: Omg? How is this even possible? Can I hug him? But then weird things started happening in the story

Reality becomes distorted after New Years and you see that right away when your cat, is no longer a cat. But that’s not all, Futaba’s mother is alive and well as well as Haru’s father and supposedly they were never dead in the first place. I was really confused but then guess who turns up to clear some things up... Mr. Pankechi.

This post is already long as hecc so I won’t go into details but I really like the new Palace. It’s so different to the other Palaces and for once the Palace Ruler is not some evil adult... He’s actually quite the opposite.

I’m going to quickly talk about Kasumi for a second now, or rather Sumire. Honestly when you learn the truth, I was really shocked. Remember when I said what Sojiro tells you becomes important near the end? Yeah well it’s like the game was telling you from the start that she’s not really who she says she is. Just like Akechi, I was fully convinced that the New Palace was hers but I was kind of relieved to find out that wasn’t the case. As a party member, I really like her, she’s really cute and her Persona abilities are helpful in the new Palace. As a confidant... Again, she’s just so cute. When you help her pick out the glasses for her dad... Bruh I just wanted to give her headpats all day. Once you unlock the rest of her confidant, it’s really nice to see her grow and accept the fact that she doesn’t have to be Kasumi appreciated, and once she accepts that she’s Sumire but she’ll still do everything to make Kasumi’s dream come true it was honestly so satisfying. 

I think the thing I loved the most though is the fact that Akechi becomes your navigator for a little while and honestly? I wish I had the option to keep him as the navigator. His lines are so funny because they’re helpful but at the same time they’re so passive aggressive! ALSO his Showtime with Joker is by far my favourite Showtime. I love how he’s able to just be himself and literally rip enemies apart and Joker’s just there like: Yeah I’ll play along why not. Whenever they finish and Akechi is just there like: “Don’t waste my time.” ... Big mood, me when I’m driving around Mementos trying to find the stamps.

One more thing I gotta talk about... The ending. I love it so much. I think it’s a lot better than the original Persona 5 ending and here’s why. First of all, the fact that you see the Thieves still being themselves is just so sweet I love these funky kids, that fact that Maruki gives you a lift to the station and he accepts that this is the world that you have to live in? Amazing, thank you Atlus. The fact that Morgana is just snoozing in your bag? Beautiful, let me pet my cat plz. But most importantly... The edgy pancake loving detective LIVES, granted Akira doesn’t actually see him but I DID. I burst into tears when I saw him walk by, I’m so glad he got to live in a reality where he isn’t anyone’s puppet anymore. He can finally fix the mistakes he did, don’t get me wrong, Akechi is still a bad person, I mean he literally killed people but he still deserved a second chance, and seeing him alive means that he finally has a chance to do that... Bruh I was crying so much.

Anyway, I could talk about this game for hours but here are just some of my thoughts that I wanted to share, I’m sure I’ll have a lot more to say later on but for now... Have this mess I call a post!

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

[crackimagines]

Prompt: “you’re like a little brother to me” -> Ann and Ashe?

P5 AU Masterlist Here

—

(Ann) “Jeez, moving those was harder than it had any right to!”

(Ashe) “Yeah, I thought my arms were about to give out...”

(Ann) “Well anyways, thanks for helping me out, Ashe!”

(Ashe) “Anytime!”

- Ann waved goodbye to Ashe and headed back to the dorms before a cat hopped in her way.

(Morgana) “Lady Ann!”

(Ann) “Oh, hey Morgana.”

- Ashe was headed the same way and noticed Ann was talking to a cat.

(Morgana) “What was that Ashe guy doing?!”

(Ann) “Uh, helping me move supplies to the stables? Why, is something wrong?”

(Morgana) “Yes, there’s something wrong! Did he try swaying you or anything like that?!”

(Ann) “What are you even on about?”

(Ashe) “Uh, Ann?”

(Ann) “Hm? You need something, Ashe?”

(Ashe) It’d probably be rude to ask if she was okay considering how she’s talking to this cat... “This cat a friend of yours?”

(Ann) “Yeah, this is Morgana. He’s a good friend.”

(Morgana) “LISTEN YOU, YOU BETTER STAY AWAY FROM LADY ANN! YOUR BOYISH CHARMS WILL NOT MAKE HER FALL FOR YOU!”

(Ashe) “Hah, he seems talkative! It’s like he’s responding to us. Reminds me how Marianne talks to Dorte-”

(Ann) “FALL FOR WHAT NOW?!”

(Morgana) “...W-Wait a second, can he not hear me?-”

(Ann) “LISTEN HERE, MORGANA! ASHE IS JUST A FRIEND OKAY?! NO ONE’S GONNA BE MAKING ME FALL FOR ANYONE!”

(Morgana) “Oh....crap, might’ve let that slip out!”

(Ann) “He’s like a little brother to me for god’s sake! And when are YOU interested in my love life?!”

(Ashe) “...Ann, are you feeling alright?”

- Ann took a second to realize what she had been shouting at the top of her lungs, and her face started to burn red.

(Ann) “Haha...N-Nothing, I’m just messing with Morgana...! J-Just ignore what I said!”

(Ashe) “O-Okay?”

(Ann) “Come on, let’s go get some lunch!”

- Ann took Ashe by the hand and left Morgana by himself.

(Morgana) “Wow, he didn’t even have to do anything, I just sabotaged myself...Damn that Ashe!”

#fire emblem three houses imagines #fire emblem three houses headcanons #fe3h imagines #persona 5 imagines #persona 5 headcanons #blue lions #ann takamaki #morgana #ashe ubert #phantom thieves

[hetyra]

So I’ve been concocting a NG+/time travel P5 story idea where both Akira and Goro remember the original timeline in my head for like the past week, and since I’m terrible about finishing multi-chapter fics I’m just gonna ramble about it in a very long post instead lol

The reset doesn’t apply equally to them.

Akira goes to sleep one night weeks or months after the events of the game and wakes up after what feels like only minutes later on the train bound for Shibuya just like he does at the beginning of the game.

Goro on the other hand goes from exchanging bullets with the cognitive version of himself in Shido’s palace to waking up in bed in the blink of an eye. It takes a few minutes, but he realizes he’s 14 again and it’s the first day of his last year of middle school – which is also the day the meta-nav appeared on his phone.

He winds up not using the app at all. Nor does he approach Shido and offer his “services”. He’s extremely shaken up by all the memories or dreams or whatever the hell they are. He decides he doesn’t care, but he’d rather avoid becoming that kind of person and meeting that fate.

By pure happenstance, he eventually ends up meeting Wakaba. Feeling guilt for being the original cause of her death, Goro feels the want to help her this time around and ends up expressing an interest in cognitive psience (which isn’t a total lie) that results in them making a sort of confidant deal.

Through Wakaba he also meets and gets to know both Sojiro and Futaba.

Realizing that his lack of involvement with Shido could have potentially prevented Akira’s original arrest, Goro chooses to attend Shujin for high school; intent on forming the PTs himself if need be.

It’s right around this time that Sojiro suddenly offers to adopt him.

He starts attending high school as Sakura Goro, and everything is going great. Until it’s not.

Wakaba dies. In the same exact manner as when he had been the one behind it.

Up to this point in time, Goro occasionally had PTSD symptoms when things reminding him of his actions in the previous timeline came up. Wakaba’s death affects him terribly, and all his symptoms get worse from there on out.

Sojiro moves them out to Yongen and eventually gets custody of Futaba, and Goro not wanting to deal with or think about what’s going on or what happened before, instead focusses on preventing Futaba from developing a palace. He succeeds.

Around this time, Sojiro starts worrying a lot about Goro. He knows he’s been… off ever since Wakaba’s death. Even now it seems like her death is weighing heavier on him than it is Futaba.

Right about the time Futaba passes her entrance exams to get into Shujin, Sojiro is asked to take in Akira for his probation. Goro, who was helping out at Leblanc at the time of the conversation, practically bullies Sojiro into accepting.

Back to Akira now.

His arrival in Tokyo goes exactly as it did before. The next day goes much the same, up until they’re in the car on their way back to Leblanc. For the hell of it, Akira asks Sojiro again why he took him in. Sojiro’s answer is the same, except instead of saying “I was already paid for it too.” He says “My son was rather insistent I do, too.”

Akira in shock and confusion asks “Son?” to which Sojiro explains: “Oh right. I have two kids; adopted both of them and they happen to go to Shujin too. My son, Goro, is a 3rd year while my daughter, Futaba, is a 1st year. Hopefully they’ll be a good influence on you instead of the other way around.”

Cue Akira’s brain short-circuiting at the mention of Goro.

Upon arriving back at Leblanc, Futaba and Goro are there waiting for them. Futaba wastes no time commenting on how Akira doesn’t look all that tough while Goro is standing behind the counter making everyone coffee – and wearing jeans and a hoodie to Akira’s continued shock.

Sojiro doesn’t let them talk long after he feeds them, saying they should all go to bed since they have school in the morning. Futaba leaves fairly quickly but Sojiro stops Goro to ask if he’s alright, having noted the bags under his eyes. When Goro says it’s nothing to worry about and leaves, Sojiro sighs and mumbles just loud enough for Akira to hear “Is it because there was another subway accident?”

That night, Akira’s dreams put him in the velvet room. He’s happy to see Lavenza and the real Igor but surprised when he hears Goro in the cell next to his.

Lavenza explains who she and Igor are to Goro and that despite their collective freedom from Yaldabitch, he does in fact still exist in this timeline and must be dealt with. Akira helps fill in Goro on how they dealt with him before but that’s all they have time to discuss before they’re being woken up by their respective alarm clocks.

Futaba goes to school ahead of them with the excuse that she doesn’t want to be seen with her dorky older brother and the guy with a criminal record, giving the two of them time to talk.

Akira is quick to demand answers regarding the mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns, which elicits a rather desperate denial out of Goro. He insists it’s not him causing them and he doesn’t know who is, and Akira realizes quickly that Goro isn’t lying and is legitimately anxious about it.

The knowledge that someone else seems to have entered the “game” makes Akira uneasy, but assures Goro that things will be fine. They’ll stop whoever it is, Shido, and Yaldabitch. But first they need the Phantom Thieves.

This is when Goro admits he has yet to use the nav, despite having had it for 3 years at this point. Before Akira can comment on that, they exit the station to the rain and he instead opens the app and maneuvers them both so that they encounter Ann, Kamoshida, and Ryuji.

When they arrive at the castle instead of the school, Goro levels a look at him but simply sighs and goes with it when Akira tells him to trust him.

Everything goes the same as before, awakening and all, even with Goro there. That is up until Morgana just walks up to them. He’s not in a cell.

It turns out Morgana also remembers everything and it takes some improv acting on both Morgana and Goro’s parts to cover for Akira’s stupidity when Ryuji asks “Wait, you know this monster-cat?!”

 When they get home that night, Goro tries to take the blame for them being late but Sojiro doesn’t bite – turning to Akira and telling him that his son is a good kid and he won’t have Akira influencing him into bad behavior. Sojiro isn’t quite as angry a few minutes later when he comes upstairs to find Morgana chilling on Akira’s bed.

Goro asks Akira the next morning to text him when Ryuji asks to go back to the palace, to which Akira agrees with the full intention on not doing that.

The day of the volleyball rally, Akira is on his way to the next abuse victim he needs to question when he‘s suddenly yanked around a corner by a very miffed looking Goro. Akira apologizes and explains why he left him out, receives a grumpy “Ok, I forgive you” and continues on his mission.

Akira again does not tell Goro they’re going into the palace the day Ann follows them in and awakens to her own persona, despite Ryuji and Morgana both telling him he should.

It’s later when they’re exchanging their contact info with Ann that Goro appears looking very pissed off at certain someone. After that, the group chat is established with Goro in it so he will in fact know when they’re going to the palace.

Goro sticks to back up and surveillance due to still not having awakened to his persona yet, but throughout their infiltration he notes Joker’s watchful eye on him and the constant reminders to stay safe.

Come the gym-turned-church Goro decides he’s had enough of the other tricksters incessant worrying over him. The two of them start to argue, Akira never quite saying it’s because he doesn’t want to witness Goro die again, when the angel shadow appears and interrupts them. Akira quickly turns his attention to it and tells Goro to get to a safe distance, which cause the latter to yell back angrily.

Cue Loki’s voice and Goro ripping off a mask.

Goro’s has a new outfit, though it’s sort of a mix between his two previous outfits and Jokers

He discovers he still has Robin Hood as well.

And that’s about as far as I’ve figured out.

I haven’t decided whether the events of the new semester in Royal happened in the original timeline, but I really want to stick with the “from being shot to waking up in bed” thing so if they did I’m rolling with Goro’s memory of the events feeling disjointed and out of place.

There’s one scene I actually animated (because I was bored and in the mood to animate) that takes place later, when they go to the airsoft shop for the first time. Ryuji tells Akira about the shop over the phone, and Akira doesn’t tell Goro what they’re doing, only to meet up with them in Shibuya and that it was important. Akira thought it’d be funny if Ryuji were to ask Goro if he knew anything about guns with absolutely no context – and he does indeed finds Goro’s “overreaction” quite funny. At this point, Akira still isn’t aware that Goro actually has PTSD because of the events in the original timeline, and so thinks it’s just a funny inside joke. Goro’s anxiety meanwhile is through the fucking roof.

Here’s a link to the video of the scene.

#fic idea I will never write #feel free to steal I would 100% read it #p5 #persona 5 #Futaba and Goro aren't half siblings in this but they are adoptive siblings #NG+ story #Things Ai Made

[dragonsinkwell]

P5 AU Week Day 3

Day 3 I think has been one of my most anticipated days because (and this irony is not lost on me) three of the prompts are right up my alley. However, I decided to go with the one I’ve already done the most in: my beloved Palace!AU.

Again, as I’m gonna remind you daily, don’t forget to both check out @p5auweek for more AU fun but toss them a thanks too for organizing this!

It is around the fourth or fifth cargo car that tips you off that you are not making your way out of the Palace. No, instead you're being herded, like a wandering sheep, because as you move on you haven't been finding less cargo, but more. Not to mention you have not seen a single of your little markers that you left as part of your original mapping of the train, so you are clearly in new territory. It takes a long moment to realize, between trying not to panic due to being chased and attempting to figure a way to escape, but it does eventually hit you that the only uncharted territory left is the final stretch to the Treasure Room itself.

Despite your well-warranted state of frantic fear, you're almost curious still as to what his Treasure might be. Ren's shadow, or, equally accurately, his persona, joked once that you were, but given that neither you nor Ren had confessed feelings for one another (a very large 'not yet' on your part, for certain) and that he'd only mentioned that after you tried to fight back against him in trying to buy yourself more time, you don't put much weight on that statement. Though Arsene does recognize you for who you are, as most Rulers have, he's only really used that to bait you and you'd bet that is what it was, an attempt to trip you up. Though, even without having real knowledge of what you might find, you've begun forming ideas; for Ren to consider small trinkets and gifts, like the silly ramen bowl he got with Ryuji, the enormous chocolate fountain with Ann, those adorable star stickers with Yusuke, and that signed movie poster with you, equally as precious as gold and jewelry says a great deal.

Whatever lies beyond that door when you reach it will hurt.

You don't have to wonder about how badly for much longer, however. You don't even notice at first, ready to keep running, until your brain processes what you see before you and you freeze mid-step. This is not the train you've been running through for hours now, no, this is Ren's room. You're so stunned you can't even find the strength to look behind you, can't even yell in surprise. Here you are, standing at the peak of the staircase, and before you is the tiny little attic you've come to find heart-warmingly familiar, full of your friends. Ann and Makoto sit on the couch, Morgana perched on the table that's been dragged out into the middle of the room; Ryuji's got a chair right in front of you, facing the window, and Yusuke has one of his own opposite the couch. New to the team is Futaba, crouched on a chair of her own closer to Ren's little workbench, still acclimating to such company.

D-did you get kicked out of the Metaverse? You can't really check without your phone, and you'd already lost the classification as a threat when your phone was destroyed, so no help there either. “Guys? Guys is that you?” you manage to stammer out, taking one tiny, cautious step further into the room. No one noticing you, especially Futaba since she's facing you, is a little weird but at this point if you've made it out you will not question a single thing. Today has been far too long for questions.

And yet, the group continues their conversation which, now that you're taking the time to listen, you cannot make out at all. It sounds like Japanese, there's words here and there that sound familiar, but none of it makes any sense at all, and this is where the hammer strikes. You did not escape, neither from the Metaverse nor Arsene. This is the Treasure Room, and though you cannot spot the Treasure itself, the scene before you is enough to make you not want to see it. More than anything it is you, the Phantom Thieves and his friends that he covets the most, enough that your cognitions are here, in the core of his heart.

Or, well, not your cognition, now that you've taken the time to process what's here. The others are, but there isn't even a spot where you would have been and this realization stings until you remember Arsene calling you Treasure. Oh. He wasn't joking, not exactly, now was he? You can feel the blood in your body drop to your feet as your fingers go cold and your stomach twists in knots. If coming here, and alone, was a bad idea in the first place, which it very much was and still is, this makes it a horrific one.

In a blind panic you turn on your heel and go to speed out, desperate to get away from this place now that you know what danger you have truly entrenched yourself in, only to slam directly into something, which quickly reveals itself as a body when a pair of hands catch your wrists. Startled, you try and pull yourself away but don't make it more than a single step back, merely far enough away that you have to face him once again.

Cruelty meets your eyes; Ren's face greets you, interrupted only by the sharp marigold gaze that has replaced his cool steel, but instead of wearing Ren's Joker outfit, it is his school uniform. Barring the eyes themselves, he's the very picture of the young man you waved goodbye to earlier today when you passed each other at the gate. Arsene cocks his head to the side slightly, sly smile gracing his mouth. “Leaving? So soon? You've only just arrived.”

You tug back, but though his grip on your wrists isn't bruising, it is too strong to break without a fight. “Please,” you beg softly, no longer scared, per se, but you don't like where this situation is going. It's not as simple as escape anymore. Your only answer is a quiet chuckle and you swallow thickly, trying to keep yourself composed. “At- at least tell me this, then? Was it me the whole time?”

“Only you?” Arsene asks before a gentle laugh. He releases your left wrist and gestures further into the room. Your gaze follows and you see something new, yourself, sitting comfortably at the edge of Ren's bed, elbows on your knees and happily chatting away with your friends. “While you have a different price to him, any of the others would have become the Treasure themselves had they been foolish enough to fall into my hands. A strange turn of events that you chose to come alone, one even I could not have foreseen, but enjoyable, nonetheless. Do not worry, however, now that you are here, back where you belong, I will see you well cared for, my dear.”

#persona 5 #ren amamiya #arsene #reader insert #alternate universe #palace au #persona 5 au week

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

uhhh isn't the whole 'slapping some sense into them' thing from Makoto's confidant a pretty common trope though? like there's Mitsuru and Yukari, Yu and Yosuke in their 10 rank, Louis and Legosi's fight in Beastars, various shounen series, etc. Are those examples different or do ya just not like the trope itself?

Bad trope, but specifically handled bad in P3/5′s case. Makoto and Mitsuru/Yukari event are bad examples of it. Yu/Yosuke....it’s not really a “good” example but it’s not bad. Louis and Legosi/shounen in general....(I’m assuming we’re just talking first season) it’s a bit....yeah....different....Former two bad (and the trope I dislike the most), latter two “good” (not as problematic, usually)....cause they are different tbh......probably cause they are diff tropes.

Under the cut cause length

So let’s go over the slap thing. I might refer to each Makoto/Yukari/Mitsuru/Yosuke stuff as P5/3/4 so just a heads up. 

(I will say I think if I compared the two girl slap scenes between YukaMitsu and Mako, YukaMitsu one is “better” due to it being in private and not as....big of a slap, it’s still shitty tho) I’m not a fan of Yukari and Mitsuru as friends (let alone as gfs) tbh, mostly impart of this scene. I do not think that slap was a good foundation, and I think it should’ve gone in the opposite direction. Tbh I think it should’ve made things worse. Mitsuru is at her lowest point, she’s literally had 14 goddamn days to process her father’s death ON TOP OF her student council duties, and dealing with her company (on top of stuff happening behind the scenes such as apparently being engaged). She has all these adult responsibilities thrust onto her, and she’s had 14 days to deal with it. She’s processing her grief and she’s in a “what’s the point phase.” Then Yukari comes along, a girl who’s....kinda been giving her grief up to this point, yeah Mitsuru has a right to say “what’s the point in us being friends” or even being friends in the first place, you’ve been kind of an ass to her the whole game Yukari, regardless of you apologizing (no one needs to accept an apology). You haven’t been close. So with all that context, pretend you’re the one who’s stressed, in the middle of a fresh grieving process, with someone they aren’t exactly close to, and when they question if their life has meaning.....How would you feel if someone slapped you? I’d be like “Ex-fucking-scuse me????” Like it comes off as Yukari feeling Mitsuru isn’t grieving fast enough for her, like she hasn’t had a decade to process her dad’s death (which is a fault of Yukari’s character that’s never addressed, it’s her way or the high way, she forces her emotions on other people and her being friends with Mitsuru after this feels like a reward for bad behavior). I’d be livid if I was Mitsuru, a slap is not what she needs. You can just passionately shout her speech to Mitsuru, it’s a helluva lot better than literally hitting someone while they are emotionally vulnerable. Her speech is freaking just fine without a gd slap to the face, and ruins the scene. Esp when Yukari gets to have a hissy fit earlier in the game for a similar crisis (but you know, with the context she’s already come to terms with his death for the past 10 years, while Mitsuru’s only had about 14 days), but you don’t see anyone slapping her to get a hold of herself? Even tho, she’s even more emotionally unstable at a certain part, and lashes out, but no we can’t slap her. But she feels justified in slapping someone else? Bullshit. (btw yeah she says sorry but it’s so blase I’m like “really? just a quick ‘srry’ and that’s it?”) 

Then there’s Makoto just....freaking....this girl. Giant walking contradiction, will be characterized opposite of previous characterization just to fit the freaking scene. Makoto will be “hot headed who doesn’t think” for the Kane arc and Slapping eiko, but she’s like 100% chilled to the bone for the rest of the game. Which is it? Which is it P5? Can she make plans and think calmly or can she not? You can’t have both, and if it’s the latter she shouldn’t be in that position. *inhales* ANYWAY! Let’s look at this whole thing from Eiko’s perspective.

Eiko’s feels like she has nothing going for in her life but Tsukasa, she loves him, and she thinks he loves her. She has a friend in Makoto, the perfect girl who has everything Eiko wants. But now that friend wants to take away the one thing SHE has and that SHE cares about??? She keeps saying things but doesn’t show proof iirc (except when she tricked Tsukasa, but she doesn’t give Eiko enough time to digest it and it’s all happening so fast, I think she mentions the text she gets from him but she doesn’t show the texts to Eiko, regardless Mako has another avenue to explore...which I’ll get to). Of course Eiko is confused, why is the girl that is perfect want to take something from her? She’s at her lowest, yeah not the same kind of low as Mitsuru, but she’s not in a good place. So how do you think it feels, to be slapped HARD and IN PUBLIC? And this isn’t like news to Makoto, she told her all this shit in the previous rank. Makoto’s had time to mull it over, so on top of all that, Eiko also feels like “She knows how I feel yet she’s still trying to ruin the one good thing I have??? I don’t understand.” And yeah she’s starts lashing out, but Makoto isn’t exactly handling it well either. Mako’s speech is just fine withtout the gd slap, but the slap brings it down for her character (which I’ll get to after the plan) Which brings me to her plan.....

So then there’s Makoto’s plan.....she really doesn’t have a back up plan? An obvious one? One that actually doesn’t go against their MO....you know changing his heart (INB4 ‘but silly they need his yadda yadda” yeah and we’ve done mementos bosses where we need to dig up dirt, it’s not exactly that hard esp with like Ichiko and Lala and just the general area, we know where he is we just need a full/real name, we know more info about him then most targets it’s not that bad). So why do this whole public thing? Why not meet privately with the receipts? WHY EVEN BOTHER WITH THAT AT ALL WHEN YOU CAN JUST CHANGE HIS HEART! And no this isn’t “you can’t rely on heart changing all the time” the game is ass at that message to start with so why beat around the bush??? Futaba gets help 3 gd times (I’m not saying they shouldn’t have, but if it’s a personal thing I don’t think the thieves are against it). Like listen, why.....don’t we change his heart? This isn’t about “oh why do that when we can solve it another way” no we’re past that, this guy is and has been preying on girls. Why the hell are we letting him run around???? Y’all give Mika shit (and tbf I’ve seen people give Mako’s CoOp the same shit for what I’m stating now), but 1) we didn’t find out about her shitty behavior till the last min and 2) she was caught and the situation was resolved without the need of a change of heart.....Tsukasa is neither of these things, he’s 1) a main antagonist throughout the CoOp 2) while he gets away from Eiko, he’s left to his own devices to hurt other people later (except the anime apparently? but we are talking about the game). Like seriously, change his heart, you help all the girls+Eiko, you can then comfort her without you know the public embarrassment. Hell if you want to keep the freaking speech from the slap scene you can! At least she’s not slapped! Just don’t slap her! Both P3/5 can get by with these scenes without NEEDING the slap! It’s not necessary and god freaking forbid people imitate it IRL (I’ve seen it happen first hand, people are not friends after that kinda BS).

There’s also the fact she and Eiko make amends after off screen and it’s like???? I don’t believe Eiko would go back to Makoto after that sort of public humiliation tbh. I need to see this “apology” (esp since Mako was soooo great at hers the first time with ANne after you know dragging them into the Mafia.....of course I’m being sarcastic, her apology was so gaslighty and her trying to get them to drop it like??? no you are being called out for good reason) And then there’s Makoto post slap, and she’s like ‘oh man was that ok???” like no bitch it wasn’t and the fact you get POINTS FOR ENCOURAGING HER???? Like I always say a negative thing and make her know what she did was wrong. And yeah she’s like “oh geez I didn’t mean for that :(” just.....sigh....doesn’t matter what you mean, you did it.....you have to own it......*inhales*

Now for the unfortunate implications, which if I was a Yukari/Makoto fan I wouldn’t be happy with how Atlus handled them. Already talked about Yukari (her way or the high way, butting in, gets rewarded for bad behavior yadda yadda), Makoto is similar. She’s just more bossy about it (cause she’s older probably, Yukari had it reign it into going behind Mitsu’s back cause of the whole senpai/kohai thing). But the slap reinforces Makoto’s....a bit.....physically abusive with her friends..... I don’t think that was the intent, but it’s an unfortunate implication. Who does Makoto hit (that’s not a shadow)? Ryuji (twice counting Royal), and Eiko (former for “comedy~!” and the latter for drama, yes she’s joined by the other girls in one of the events but she’s still been physical more than them). She also is known for threatening violence on top of that or just being ~intimidating~ (which hits differently when you’ve develop a streak of hitting friends rather than just someone who doesn’t do that?) And yeah it’s for comedy.....but after awhile.....ergh....(esp when they do it once for drama). It doesn’t help she’s also the damsel a lot, and literally can’t fight back against people who have ill will over her (told you she’s a contradiction), or just doesn’t bother putting up a fight tbh. Which.....then sends a message she...only hits her friends cause....she can take them on? kinda thing..... it just....makes me feel gross tbh. It’s just BS that Chie gets labeled a physically abusive person cause she “hit Yosuke in the balls” when she DIDN’T, it was all a misunderstanding! But when actually Makoto does it’s ok???? 

Yukari and Makoto have a lot in common, they get away with a lot of shit, their way or the high way a lot of the times, esp when they do things that’s....really rude and mean and shitty but hey I guess it’s ok with Atlus~! (for a game series that’s like “you are responsible for your own actions and the consequences it brings” it sure likes to let certain chars slide with their actions~! :D :/) It’s such a shame with P3 that we have Fuuka and Natsuki, while not explored a lot (such a shame) is written a lot better than YukaMitsu/MakoAnne/MakoEiko friendships. And they do it without the need for a slap, and the aggressor actually gives a legit and sincere apology??? All on their own??? All because they feel guilty and want to make amends ON THEIR OWN!!!! And actually takes responsibility too???? I’m usually neutral on them but seriously they handle this issue like fine wine compared to the other three. 

Ok let’s go over Yu/Yosuke. So when I say it’s not good but not bad, I mean like....you shouldn’t do it irl cause it’s dumb....but like....the message is a lot better. P4, it’s consensual. Yosuke ASKS to be hit. See “ASKS!” And they knowingly go in for a brawl/sparring match. Because they want to. Eiko and Mitsuru didn’t ask to be slapped, this isn’t an equal footing. P4′s is. P3/5 is someone who’s emotionally vulnerable getting slapped by someone that claims to care (and the friendship is rocky at best and barely formed at worse) and then somehow coming out as friends???? P4, strong bond, very good friends, consensual.

As for Beastars.....again I’m assuming we’re talking about their fight in S1 after the one person (vague for spoilers) gets kidnapped.......here’s the thing.....they....aren’t exactly friends. I guess if I had the beat up/slap trope as a spectrum, this would be on the opposite side of P4 (with P3/5 being in the middle). You don’t want to be in the middle, I think it leads to unfortunate implications (only time I can think of it being ok is if they deal with the fact they were slapped realistically, calling the person out). 

So on one end we have P4, strong friendship, it’s a consensual fight, it’s even (there’s no ....I guess the best word would be “power imbalance”). The other end is Beastars, they aren’t exactly friends, this fight is like....a brawl cause there is bad blood now, tbh it’s just a normal fight fkldsajflkjf; which like is fine, they become friends later, but in a similar sense this fight is even too (I mean not physically but like they are both like “LET’S GOOOOOOOO!”). But in the middle it’s the “we’re new or kinda friends but I’mma slap them when the person is down because I think they need a ‘wake up call’” is bullshit, it’s not even, one person gets slapped and the slapper somehow gets the friendship??? Like how does any of this work??? Only good ending to that is the person really giving a good ass apology or there not being a friendship. 

The only real time I can think of slapping someone to legit have them get a hold of themselves, is if there is a life and death situation, and they are too shell shock to move, and you need to bring them back. Or if they are unconscious and you are trying to wake them up (usually cause there’s bad stuff happening around). And it stems from fearing their safety and you tried everything else and it was the last resort. None of these fit P3/5 scenes tho. P4/Beastars/Shounen is just “dumb bois brawling” (which dumb girls brawling is valid too), they’re different tropes. Slapping for slapstick is closer to P3/5′s trope than the P4/Beastars/Shounen one.....that one is a veeeeery fine line tbh (the more over the top the better, because it’s more distant from reality, the less over the top the closer it is to the drama one and the closer it is to reality and........it ironically becomes unrealistic). 

but yeah there’s just a couple things......that’s wrong with the scene than just the slap, but really those slaps are so unnecessary???? Like the majority of the scene is the speech, just focus on that. I think it takes more skill to metaphorically slap someone with your words than with your literal palm.