#i think about shiho having a persona a lot

[taitavva]

yaldabaoth couldn't help but make his whole team overpowered huh ... how are the phantom thieves supposed to survive ?? "oh noo akechi ur so hot haha .. please don't kill me" brilliant strategy pego (entire ask under cut)

[ACTUALLY UR PUTFITS WERE SO ON POINT. I HAVE 2 OUTFIT IDEAS 4 HIFUMI & SHIHO (MINUS MASKS) & 1 mask idea for yuuki but idk what else. i was thinking for the leaders it would def be chaotic but goro has most metaverse experience so hes the leader. ken kinda acts like mona in giving useful tips abt personas etc and hifumi takes on the role of makoto where she gives out different strategies (her, ken, & goro debate over these tips & strategies but usually end up doing them anyway). I have an urge to show u these outfits omg. i can ramble abt these outfits & their personas for forever .. i chose jormungandr for yuuki, skadi for shiho hela for hifumi, and persephone for eiko. ik its not very in the literacy scene for them to all have deities as personas but... goro breaks it with loki anyway, so ..

explainations:: hela & jormungandr are 2/6 of loki's kids in norse mythology, aiding him in the ragnarok/end of the world, and hela is sentenced down to the underworld to be the goddess of that realm since she was born half alive half dead, and she's sentenced to it by odin (basically. kinda the zeus of norse mythology, like the "king" of all of them) because she's the daughter of loki & all this other stuff .. chose her for hifumi because hifumi's mom basically forces her to be a shoji star after hifumi's dad and yeah. jormungandr i chose because hes kinda just a sleepy little guy: in norse mythology he's known as "the World Serpent" and he wraps around the entire ocean with his tail in his mouth kind of in a constant sleep until the ragnarok (all of loki's kids --aside from 2, one being dead & the other being a gift to odin-- including loki himself, are kinda trapped somewhere before the ragnarok happens) and he's not talked about a lot but he aids in so much and he's important (like how yuuki is kind of ignored by the pts, the dialogue options being horrid, despite him aiding in them. also yuuki is the bm's navi in the au & he runs a "revenge site" like how Strega/takaya sakaki, jin shirato, & chidori yoshino do in p3-- strega also does death calling cards , mainly shown in the novels which is p cool.. first ppl to use mental shutdowns despite not beinf called that then either. i love strega sorry. they all agreed to it because shiho wanted to deal with more people like kamoshida, goro wanted to deal with more people like shido, hifumi wanted to deal w more people like her mom, etc).. i chose persephone for eiko because in greek mythology, persephone is (most commonly accepted form of the myth) kidnapped by hades and forced into marriage with him by eating a pomegranate out of the underworld .. point blank, persephone reminds me of eiko being trapped and persephone's shown to overcome it , ( honestly eventually making the underworld & hades her Bitch. she kills the goddess/nymph of mints and creates the mint plant because she got too handsy with hades).. also hifumi and eiko are a little gay for eachother so why not have their personas be, too? anyway. SHIHO!! i chose skadi for her because skadi , in norse mythology , is both jotunn (giant) and a god like how loki is, but she's an accepted form of it because she was given over to the gods as a peace treaty, and thats pretty important to norse mythology i'd say (like how rooftop scene is important to kamoshida arc), and skadi claws up the aesir (council of gods) thru both her marriage (ann? ann. hehe.) and her own sheer will (shiho's recovery and goro's ..... questionable aid.) and skadi just fits. the goddess of mountains and winter? sign me the FUCK UP.

Anyway . this was long I apologise]

#ken 🤝 goro: can totally b trusted w/ the lives of others #im so shuake brain rotted that #I dont know characterization #not enough but yes !!!! #ken what do u say #Koromaru is old. but #to me he lives forever #shiho & goro r my fav homme fatales #femme fatales. Ann + pego will never know peace #sorry this took so long #firefox has been fighting me + preparing to travel rn orz #persona 5 #p5 #persona 5 royal #p5r #persona 3 #p3 #procreate #2024 #goro akechi #ken amada #koromaru #shiho suzui #yuuki mishima #eiko takao #hifumi togo #3.5 hours #taitavva sketches #sorry if this doesn't show up in tags #I definitely know how to use this website

[symphonic-scream]

Okay hear me out

Persona 5 Stardew Valley au

So we've got the animal seller, Haru, who's parents divorced when she was young. She spent her teen years in the city with her father, but once an adult she decided to live with her mom, and has fallen in love with country life

Makoto has lived in town her whole life. Her older sister left to have a fancy city job, and thinks Makoto is wasting her talents and smarts by staying to keep up the family tradition. Makoto knows someone has to protect the town, and gladly draws her sword to do so. She trains by cutting down trees for the local artist and for town projects

Ryuji is a former golden child. He was going to be a star athlete, but an accident took it from him. He's not really doing anything at the moment, just working on loving life again. His Ma is the bus driver

Shiho moved to town after a similar incident to Ryuji, only she puts all she is into work, to have a place so when they're adults, her girlfriend can leave her family behind so they can be together. She only recently took over the carpentry business from her mentor, and her girlfriend Ann helped expand the business to include furniture and house decor, with design input

The pub in town in Leblanc. While the owner, Sojiro, specializes in coffee, he'll accept local foods to make dishes by request of the townspeople. His daughter Futaba is a recovering shut in, and his wife Wakaba runs the town clinic, with her med student Tae

Yusuke appeared one day, having sold all he had to find a font of inspiration. He fell for the valley, and at first lived in a tent near the mountain. Makoto, who nearly mistook him for a monster, invited him to stay on her family's property. He mostly paints, but does sculptures for order from the nearby city to pay his share of living costs

The town blacksmith is named Munehisa Iwai. He's the broody type, but cares for his son a whole lot. He's just, not good at showing it. He often requests things his kid would like

The town store used to belong to an older man, but he passed it on to a wayward boy and his younger brother, both whom he met by chance. The boys, then in foster care, lived with him until he became too old and ill go run the store. Akira and young Morgana still keep the Velvet Room running, even if old man Igor is living in Hospice

And, the mayor, Lavenza. She's very new to the position, which used to be Igor's. She's hoping to improve the town a lot, and is caring for her younger twin sisters

A strange man lives on the beach, with a strange talent for fishing. Goro doesn't talk about who he was before he moved there. It's behind him.

The library is run by Hifumi, who wants to reopen the museum portion after her parents sold the artifacts to keep it from closing. Hifumi thinks a museum would inspire tourists to donate,

And, finally, our farmer.

Sumire feels lost. Her sister died, her parents can't speak to her without crying, and she feels, trapped, so she impulsively quits her profession. She finds a letter from her grandfather, with the deed to a farm. Needing a reset, she leaves the city and life behind to live in a small town in the valley, where no one knows her, or her sister.

To clear things up, Makoto and Ryuji both grew up in town, have been friends the whole time. Futaba has been in town since she was 6, Hifumi was born there, and Akira and Morgana have been there since they were 14 and 6, now about 21 and 13. Shiho and Ann were in Ryuji's class at school, since they had to travel to a nearby city for school. Haru moved there when she was 18, Yusuke and Goro appeared around 19-20.

Anyways. Talk to me about this

(I'm open to any ships for it pretty much, but I will say I have Okujima in it.)

#persona 5 stardew valley au #makoto niijima #haru okumura #okujima #yusuke kitagawa #ryuji sakamoto #ann takamaki #goro akechi #futaba sakura #akira kurusu #morgana p5 #hifumi togo #sumire yoshizawa

[argentsunshine]

I am so crazy about the idea of Ann being Ryuji's sun confidant as there is something so wholesome there and um yes please speak of this Ryuji wild card au!! The UI screens you made are so freaking cool

yeah i wanted to shift people around the arcanas to make things more interesting and i let my Loving Ann Takamaki brain choose. also its a Thing that ann and ryuji share to me when I'm writing them -- a general sense of fun/levity/looking on the bright side that other more generally anxious or cynical members of the thieves don't share

(all this for ann being boosted by having shiho around and healthy)

i have arcana for some people and not others - i might make more confidant screens if people are interested! the only thief i probably will leave in their original arcana is futaba. some are kind of weird fits for their canon arcana anyway (yusuke is emperor because he's....... a guy in your team???? who didn't have an obvious arcana?) some had to change because au (ryuji and akira obviously, and the fool-magician relationship (bestfriendship? partnership, even?) in persona feels like enough of a Thing that i felt like akira Had to be the magician to Ryuji's fool, so i had to move mona, etc, etc.)

so the thieves are ryuji fool, akira magician, ann sun, shiho chariot, futaba hermit, makoto justice, yusuke undecided but maybe temperance?, mona star, haru undecided but maybe lovers?, akechi probably tower (persona wants to make the tower arcana lame so badly but i won't fall for it)

and the ui screens were a lot of fun I'm now thinking about how I'd do them for other thieves... i think it's pretty obvious ryujis is based on his all out attack finishing touch with graffiti and comic book influences. it hurts my eyes which i consider task completed

[fleetwood-cheese]

Persona thief outfit breakdown: pt 2

This is a continuation of my previous post and series regarding my opinions on the phantom thieves' metaverse costumes, prompted by a poll by @waywardsalt. I will like all of these together as they're finished.

Akechi - Makoto - Sumire - Futaba - Yusuke - Akechi 2

Next up is Ann, because she was in the lead on the original poll (but not my personal pick).

Firstly, I want to come out and say that her design isn't actually all that bad; in fact, from purely a design perspective, it's one of the more solid thief outfits, and its a nice callback to the idea of cat burglars and batman's Catwoman without being a copy-paste of the idea. It's the costume's treatment and relation to her character that make it so egregious and so hated (fair enough).

With this in mind, one of the first things to change about this design is its relationship to the character. Obviously, Ann is sexually harassed, and her standing up and saying that no, she doesn't deserve that and neither did Shiho is her inciting incident to awakening a persona and becoming a phantom thief. The game tries to play her character arc as her reclaiming her sexuality, but not much of this is actually seen in how she interacts with her costume. By introducing the costume as something she's comfortable in, starting off nervous but becoming accustom to quickly, having her compare it to the anime villainesses she says she's inspired by the her confidant, and having her express this confidence in her interactions with the other thieves would go a long way for the reception of this outfit overall.

On the actual design of the costume, the most obvious things I'd change are the tail and the zippers, particularly the zipper sliders. For the tail, I HATE the way it falls perfectly between her butt cheeks, its just so uncomfortable and tasteless. I think by having it wrap around her as a belt that turns into a tail, although I'm not 100% certain how you would execute this, would be significantly better. While I do appreciate the way the zippers break up the monotony of the red suit and create a sort of visual lengthening, the way the slider and pull tabs rest directly on her nipples is incredibly tacky; i would either remove/minimize them entirely (definitely change them to a different shape instead of that awful ring) and/or change the boob window to more of a keyhole neckline. Keyholes, like the one pictured below, still allow for the color break up in the chest (and the stylish/sexy look), but raise the line so its less stopping directly in the middle of her boobs and thus directly above her nipples and instead covering more surface area of the breast.

If you wanted more of major change, I would add a jacket to her design. I'm thinking a cropped jacket in a darker red to match her boots, but a similar material to her bodysuit to keep that texture and shine; I adore the way the fabric catches and plays with the light in the in cutscenes (the in-game model ones, not the anime ones). You could also have some fun with patterns on it, perhaps of roses or some sort of feline motif. The only downside to this would be that you would have to change her gloves to accommodate it, presumably either making them wrist length or disappearing under the sleeves, and I love the long gloves as an homage to Carmen's operatic origins (although they're too short to be true opera gloves). If a jacket is incorporated, you could change the catsuit to more of a halter top-esque neckline, as it would cover her and you'd never actually have to see the open back.

Other than this, I really don't have a lot more to say about her outfit; again, I think it's a pretty solid design with a poor introduction that's been incorporated into a character that the writing does dirty in a way it helps emphasize when it could encourage her arc. Overall, I placed Panther's phantom thief outfit as 7th place out of 10 and a rough 5/10 overall.

#ann takamaki #persona 5 #persona 5 panther #redesign #persona outfit critique series #again if I ever draw out redesign ideas I'll add them to these posts

[littleshysheep-at-da]

All my Persona Series Ships!

(Felt like Posting this here, keep y’all Updated. I made this as Google Doc to send to people when I know they also like Persona so I don’t have to say it everytime)

I actually am a crazy Shipper, strongly dislike when people don’t Ship or break my Pairings, and am OTP/OT3 for life. I just also have Self Restraint and Common Sense, so I understand Shipping's all about fun (and doesn't have to be Canon Compliant or make sense) and to not be an asshole to other people having their own fun.

Also adding Sexuality/LGBTA+ Headcanons for ones I have them for (but I don't have them for every Ship or Specific Character). Also yes I am caring about Name Order here.

-Persona 5 (and it’s many Spin-Offs):

Akira (Gay) x Goro (Demi)

Ann (Lesbain) x Shiho

Haru (Bi) x Ryuji (Bi)

Futaba (Ace) x Yusuke (Ace Pan)

Makoto (Lesbain) x Kasumi (Bi)

Toshiro x Eri

Sojiro x Wakaba

Sae x Kawakami

Tae x Chihaya

-Persona 3:

Hamuko (Bi) x Minato (Bi)

Aigis x Hamuko or Minato

Ryoji x Hamuko or Minato

Fuuka x Natsuki

Mitsuru (Lesbain) x Yukari (Bi)

Junpei (Straight) x Chidori

Shinjiro (Bi) x Akihiko (Bi)

-Persona 4:

Yosuke (Bi) x Souji (Pan)

Yukiko (Bi) x Chie (Lesbain)

Naoto (Nonbinary) x Kanji (Pan)

-Persona 2:

Tatsuya (Bi) x Jun (Gay)

Eikichi x Miyabi

Ship Numbers (because Autism)

P5 = 9 | P3 = 7 | P4 = 3 | P2 = 2 | Total 21

Gender Breakdown 18/21 Ships

(not counting Kannao or Aigis and Ryoji)

M/F = 7| M/M = 4 | F/F = 7

Other Ship Notes:

I personally DO NOT see the Protags as self inserts. I think they all have their own personalities. So I don’t really have any self insert ships were I ship them just because I want to date a character, but I do understand some people have those.

Akira and Goro are a massive call back to Tatsuya and Jun from Persona 2, and Tatsuya and Jun are written with the intent to be romantic. Though I think after the third semester I usually don’t have to explain why I feel like Akira and Goro is an obvious Ship, it’s one of those you can totally have a different preference but you understand what I'm getting at right?

I reeeally hope I don’t have to explain that Futaba and Akira are in sibling dynamic so Shipping them would be gross.

Kasumi’s infatuation with Akira makes ZERO SENSE. The only people who see through your delinquent deguise is Goro (because soulmates narrative foil) and Ryuji (who doesn’t see through he’s just a good boy who trusts everyone), so Kasumi seeing through it makes NO SENSE. If she were to follow anyone around saying “Senpei” I think it would be Makoto.

Rise’s feral one sided thirsty crush on Souji is very funny to me (and I love playing it for comedy) but I don’t think he would ever reciprocate it. Her love just feels a bit too superficial, and Souji has too many issues of not being seen for himself for me to like it as a Ship.

I do think Yukari had a crush on Minato and I think Minato would be willing to try dating her, but I feel their love languages would be too different and it would end in disaster. Minato seems like the little actions and subtle comfort where Yukari seems like she would want big romantic gestures (something Mitsuru would do for her).

I will say with all Persona Romance Routes I am very much not a Fan of the Pandering that is “Girl likes you for no real reason” (it’s honestly just a boring Romance to me) and would’ve liked if more of the Girls just weren’t Romanceable so we could just have more Male/Female Friendships. I feel (aside from the stand out VERY BAD ones) a lot of the Romance Routes aren’t that bad, just don’t mesh well with the Tone and Tension of the rest of the Game (they’re kind Mundane and Boring in comparison to the Relationships I ACTUALLY Ship). But my Opinion on Persona Romance Routes as a whole would be a completely different discussion than Ships.

#trash meme #persona 5 ships #persona series #I’m not tagging all the character names #I don’t know all the ship names (or some don’t have one) #only tagging the ship names I know #ShuAke #RyuHaru #yutaba #ShihoAnn #yukamitsu #KitaHamu #souyo #kannao #yukichie #tasujun #Headcanons and opinions

[fangirlingpuggle]

Ok so I couldn’t sleep and started thinking what if Shiho became a phantom thief and now I have a whole ass very dumb AU...so here is the don’t you want to go apeshit AU.

So Akira has an umbrella doesn’t wait but does see Ann get into the car he arrives at school and see’s Shiho overhearing other students talk about Ann the keywords get spoken both are in the metaverse, standard plot happens Shiho freaking out especially when she sees Kamoshida’s shadow but also getting angry.  When the two end up in the metaverse again and Shiho sees a cognitive version of Ann she goes full beast mode and awakens her persona. She refuses to go see Kamoshida when he tries to confront her oh so angry over someone not following his orders Akira’s there and the pair confront him, he gets pissed and basically says he’ll get them both expelled and that he’ll up the ante on he rumours about Ann and other horrible things. Shiho and Akria are ready to murder him.

Kawakami storms in overhearing everything and PISSED she is ready to end him when he reveals he knows about her side job and not say anything or else. She is shaking with rage and gets caught up when Shiho and Akira re-enter the metaverse. She awakens her own persona. The group then leave with Morgana and deliver the calling card that she plasters everywhere.

Kawakami having a persona doesn’t really help because Shiho pretty much single handily charges through the palace and beats the shit out of Kamoshida’s shadow. Morgana steals the treasure and comes back and Akira just standing there cheering her on while Kawakami’s just stealing other treasures.

The only reason she doesn’t kill him is that that’s too easy in her opinion he’s going to live with it and suffer, he dies now his reputation survives even if the truth comes out the school could bury it she wants his reputation dead and buried and him to live the rest of his life suffering.

The group start exploring the mementos, Kawakami especially loves the treasures like no need to be a maid I can just steal all this shit from mementos... until finds out about the other shadows and finds Takase’s guardians and well... her turn to go beast mode.

She still goes for the treasure a lot she’s as bad as Morgana and is the one who sells stuff at Iwai’s... he’s pretty convinced she’s a secret crime boss with the amount of stuff she goes in to sell.

Akechi turns out is watching as black mask as they’re in mementos and honestly kind of impressed. When the groups traveling, they actually see black mask destroying shadows and Akira falls hard and fast he is a pining mess.

Morgana ends up staying with Kawakami because he can not deal with the PINING! Akira is waxing poetic about the guy they saw tear apart shadows with his bare hands.

Kawakami: I mean it’s fine it’s not like I’m a crazy cat lady, it doesn’t count if the cat talks back right?

Shiho:…

Akira:…

Shiho:…should we tell her that no one else being able to hear Mona and her holding full conversations with them it’s literally going to make her the definition of a crazy cat lady?

Also Ann and Ryuji started hanging out as he didn’t believe the rumours about her and defended her, and Mishima thinks that they are the phantom thief’s and keeps talking to them about it and Akira and Shiho overhear which is how the website happens. Ann and Ryuji are just very confused.

Ryuji:… dude we aren’t the phantom thieves

Mishima: Rrriiigghhht I gotcha

Ann: No we really aren’t

Mishima: Right I get it

Ann:…I don’t think you do

All other palaces under the cut... sorry this is very long

Palace 2

Shiho and Ann are on a date, Akira is sort of third wheeling when they meet Yusuke and then Madarame. When they get to Madarame’s palace they run into black mask and amongst Akira’s awful pining they end up agreeing to work together. Black Mask is basically just seeing how dangerous they are and if he should deal with them… but he seems the entire time flirting with Akira in their weird competitive way.

Black mask is ready to end Madarame when Shiho talks about how change of heart makes him suffer more that he has live with everything falling apart and death he’ll dies and the truth may never come to light and people will still respect and admire him but if he admits everything, he has to life his life with everything gone….

Akechi starts thinking after that. He agrees to help with a change of heart. Just to see.

He also agrees may help out other times to. Akira is beaming and Shiho regrets everything later that night when Akira won’t stop texting her!!! He doesn’t even what the guy looks like under the mask but still keeps texting about his eyes. HE HASN’T EVEN SEEN HIS EYES!

They steal Madarme’s heart no real problem.

Yusuke actually kept hanging out with Ann and the also Ryuji… Mishima is now even more convinced they are the phantom thieves.

As is Makoto whose following them around.

Ann, Ryuji and Yusuke have no fucking idea what’s going on.

Palace 3

Akira actually figures out who Akechi is as soon as he starts calling the thieves out, he has spent the entire of the last palace listening to the other talk and bantering with each other and as soon as they call on him and they start bantering lightly he knows. Shiho also knows she’s just sitting there paling like ‘Oh god no not in the real world to Mementos was bad enough not here to’ she doesn’t even care he’s a detective she cares that she’s not going to get any sleep from 3am pining texts… especially now Akira has actually seen his eyes.

They meet in the corridor and Shiho nopes out as they start flirting and Akechi realises, he knows and then freaks out and runs for it… now Shiho has to deal with moping Akira.

Kawakami actually decides for them to go after Kaneshiro after she’s focusing more on teaching and notices students acting odd and see’s some at Iwai’s shop while she’s selling loot. So, she decides they’re going after him. She finds out who he is with Iwai’s help.

They don’t actually get into debt Shiho using her volley ball skill and pretty much downing the bank. Which catches Black mask’s attention and he meets up with them Akira pretty much says he knows but doesn’t care and trusts Akechi even though said will catch them. Akechi is full of guilt.

Kawakami is ignoring the teenage bullshit and her and Mona are stealing everything.

Makoto ends up realising they’re not the phantom thieves but has got adopted into their friend group. She’s tried show Mishima the evidence they’re not phantom thieves but he just says he’s really impressed how dedicated they are to secret identities… they’ve given up trying to talk sense to him at this point.

Palace 4

Futaba still contacts the group as Alibaba and they figure out about her but well they’re in LeBlanc and Sae and Sojiro are there and they both end up there in the palace Akechi’s there to…

Best way to describe the palace is fucking trauma… it’s in this one that Akechi working for Shido as an assassin, Wakaba’s death, Akechi being Wakaba’s subject of her research, Shido being Akechi’s father and maybe Futaba’s father as well is all revealed it’s a lot…

Sojiro awakens his own persona with everything especially the monster Wakaba that gives Akechi a fucking panic attack and has him unable to fight. Sojiro goes full dad mode. Sae meanwhile is with Futaba’s shadow and helping Futaba remember what actually happened.

Pretty such Sojiro is like ‘I have now adopted my future son in law and will be arranging therapy for him’ when they get out as well plotting Shido’s downfall.

Futaba is much better after and deals with medjed also starts hacking into Shido’s systems to fuck with him because they may not be targeting him yet but she will be fucking with him.

Also, Futaba, Sae and Akechi end up debating feather man episodes and lore so much… Sojiro closes the café and turns the lights off and none of them realise.

Palace 5 not 4 yeah orders a bit different because Sae knows about the metaverse and in Futaba’s palace Akechi revealed Sae has one and she is not happy with that at all.

While Kawakami, Shiho and Akira are on school trip Sae decides FUCK IT she’s dealing with her palace and basically demands a calling card that Sojiro and Akechi end up scribbling on a napkin that she grabs and then demands they let her into metaverse.

Sae is beating the shit of her own shadow while Sojiro and Akechi just watch on awkwardly… at the end Sae awakens her own Persona and the group come back with a new target.

Palace 4 now 5 Akechi reveals he’s been ordered to kill the target and that Shido will know somethings up those leads to

Akira: Hey Sae… how hard would it be to fake a death?

They handle the place without issue change his heart there’s a fake announcement of his death Shido thinks he’s won as Akechi mentioned killed thieves in the palace… not knowing they are getting ready to end him… Sojiro is ready to 1v1 him.

Maruki palace

No one is happy, Sojiro and Sae have coffee broken coffee mugs and try to shank him when he walks into LeBlanc

End is him getting kicked the shit out of by team mom and dad while they’re yelling

“THIS.IS.NOT.HOW.YOU.DO.THERAPY!!!!”

Bonus dumb ideas

Mona tries flirting with Ann one time even though she can’t understand him Shiho threatens to have him neutered.

In mementos Sojiro insists on driving and has on numerous occasions threatened to turn this cat around if they don’t quiet down.

All palaces end up with Akechi and Akira doing their competitive flirting. The rest of them just ignore the two.

Futaba still helps out team and knows everything even if she doesn’t go in to the metaverse.

Sojiro meets Caroline and Justine and is just like well I’ve already adopted three kids what’s two more.

Sorry this is very very long and dumb I need sleep. Sorry.

#persona 5 #p5 #au #fic prompt #akeshu #shuake #shiho suzui #ann x shiho #sojiro sakura #sae niijima #akira kurusu #akechi goro #persona 5 protagonist #mona #sadayo kawakami #this is very very dumb #and very very long #phantom theives

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #1148: Shocking Coffee Discovery (Persona 5)

10:45 a.m. at the LeBlanc Café..........

Ann: (Has her the Side of her Cheek on the Palm of her Hand While Letting Out a Sad (Slightly Exaggerated) Sigh) .................

Ren: (Sitting Right in Front of Ann) Wanna tell me what got you looking so gloom there, buddy?

Ann: Shiho and I just came back from dropping Lucas off at the cruise entrance this morning.....

Ren: Oh is today the day he starts going on his little vacation trip with Ashley and Co.?

Ann: Yeah, it's today. ('Sniff') (Eyes Starts to Sparkle and Water in Pure Sadness) And I miss him so much already, Ren!~

Ren: (Gently Pats the Top of Ann's Hand) I miss the kiddo too, Ann, but you gotta let him go out and explore the world sometimes, with supervision of course.

Ann: ('Sigh') Yeah, I know. I'm just being a worrywart of a big sis as per usual is all. (Smiles a Bit) I do hope he has a good time out there though.

Ren: (Smiles Back at Ann) I'm sure he'll have a blast there. It's not everyday you get the opportunity to spend a week or two at an island resort.

Ann: (Starts Pouting) And yet here we are facing everyday adulthood. Can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I'm actually starting to miss high school for once.....

Ren: Yeah, but at least we got a lot of freetime in ours hands for once today.

Ann: ('Sighs in Relief and Relaxation') Thank, your merciful goddess mom~ We finally got the chance to hangout like we used. Just you, me, and, Ryu-JIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!? (Eye's Begins to Widened in Complete Shock at Whay She's Seeing in Front of Her)

Ren: What? (Turns to See What Ann's Looking At) What's going on with Ryuji- HOLY!!

The duo sees their two friends, Ryuji and Haru, kissing one another outside of the café, much to their already shown surprise.

Sojiro: (Walks By Ann and Ren's Table) What are you kids freaking out about now- (Notices What's Happening Outside) Huh. Was not expecting those two get together. (Smiles Softly) Good for them. (Looks Down at the Duo Beside Him) You two are surprised by this, aren't this?

Ren and Ann nodded in silence and with their surprised looks still in tact.

Sojiro: ('Sigh') Just try not to make a huge fuss about it, will ya? (Walks Away) Still have a business to run.

Meanwhile Outside.......

Haru: (Continues to Kiss Ryuji on the Lips Before Lovingly Hugging Him) I'm missing you so much already, but I do hope you have a wonderful time out with Ren-Ren and Ann today.

Ryuji: (Chuckles Lightly) Aww~ Thanks, babe! I'll miss you and hope you have a good day as well. Also, try not to overwork yourself with that business project of yours, yeah?

Haru: I'm close to completing it entirely, so I'll be just fine on my end. It'll give me plenty of time to prepare for our special evening together later on~ (Winks at Ryuji)

Ryuji: (Smirks at his Newly Found Girlfriend) ('Heh') Can't wait~ See you by then?

Haru: (Gives Ryuji One More Kiss on the Lips) Of course, dear~ (Happily Waving Goodbye at Him Before Walking Off) Have a great day!~

Ryuji: You too, babe, see ya! (Waves Back at Haru Before Walking in the Café)

'Café Door Bell Rang'

Ryuji: Good Morning, my one and only compadres!~

Ren and Ann stares at their best friend with their eyes widened in silence.

Ryuji: Uh......You guys.....looking okay or-

Ann: (Points at an Empty Seat Right Next to Her) SIT DOWN!

Ryuji: Alright, alright, I'm gonna! (Quickly Seats Next to Ann) But you gotta tell me what's going on with you guys. Starting to creep me out a little.

Ren: (Crosses his Arms Together as the Lens of his Glasses Turns Completely White) Oh it's nothing to major. (Lowers his Glasses Down a Little) We just noticed you smooching on a very certain Noir outside seconds before you came in.

Ryuji: Smooching on a- (Eyes Suddenly Begins to Widened at the Realization) Ohhhhhh.....You guys.....(Slowly Points at the Door in Front of Him) Saw all of that, didn't you?

Ann: HELL YEAH WE DID!~ (Punch Ryuji in the Arm) You damn stud, we didn't you and Haru had a thing for each other!~

Ren: Yeah, when did this all happened?

Ryuji: (Winces Bit Before Rubbing his Punched Arm) A little while ago, like.....weeks ago maybe? We we're both free at the time and realized we haven't really interact with one another as much as we thought we did, so we started hanging out more often 'till eventually, I....(Starts Blushing a Little While Rubbing the Back of his Head Back and Forth) started having feelings for her. A lot.

Ann: (Clasps her Hands Together with a Dopey Smile on her Face) Awwwwww~ You became a lovesick puppy this entire time?~

Ryuji: ('Sigh') If you wanna call it that, then sure I guess. And it's weird too, cause....most of the girls I fell for either came and went for a few minutes or so or gave up entirely whenever I get shot down by any of them. But with Haru, it's different.....I-It's like the very first moment I had her in my mind, I could never get her out of if for the life of me!

Ren: (Chuckles Lightly) Damn. You really had it bad for her, huh bad?

Ryuji: Yeah but could you BLAME me at this point!? She's cute, kind, classy, devoted to her work and dreams, hella smart than me obviously, doesn't take shit from anybody that provokes her, and complete badass to boot. Like, I've always thought she was cool beforehand, but God DAMN does she does it with style and grace! And if seeing her dominating that Big Bang Burger didn't proved me that ten-ful, then I dunno what will!

Ren: (Eyes Begins to Widened) Wait WHAT!?

Ryuji: Ohh right, forgot to tell you about that....Yeah, Haru beated yours and Makoto's record in under a minute or two at ease. Didn't even get sick from it afterwards.

Ann: Not too surprising really. That girl has an iron stomach for days on end. I never see her get a stomach ache from anything.

Ren: (Snaps his Finger) Damnit! Really do need to step up my game....

Ann: (Pouts at Ren) And have Makoto worrying about you twice as much when you're taken to a hospital? I think not!

Ryuji: You gotta accept the terms of being 2nd and 3rd sooner or later. Also, your health is super important, man. Can't be wasting that.

Ren: Well, yeah, but-

Sojiro: (In the Counter) Ren, don't even think about planning or doing something stupid over there or I'll have Makoto and your mothers on speed dial!

Ren: (Stays Quiet For a Brief Second Before Pouting and Crossing his Arms Together) Wasn't planning on anything to begin with......

Ann/Ryuji: (Completely Unconvinced) Mmhmmm....

Ann: You better not plan anything. (Points her of her Fingers at Herself and Then Towards Ren) We got our eyes set on you, mister.

Ryuji: Anywho, after the challenge was done and over with, I decided to man up and ask her out for the first time and well....we'll.....

Flashback

Haru: (Eyes Widened in Genuine Surprise) You want.....to go out with me? As a couple?

Ryuji: (Puts on a Bright Smile) Yep! Just the two of us! (Rubs the Back of his Head Back and Forth) I figured since our friends has always been hooked up with another that we try doing the same, ya know?

Haru: (Stares at Ryuji in Silence) ..............

Ryuji: ('Sighs in Defeat') No, no. Sorry, that's......nor the reason at all. It's just.....(Takes a Deep Breath Before Speaking Again) We've been hanging out a lot lately and since then, I realize how really cool and amazing you are and how much i enjoyed your company. So much so that I....(Starts Blushing) .....Started having feelings for you, like.....genuine, mushy stuff or whatever. I know the dating scene was rough for you in the past and I know I'm not the most smartest or....even richest guy in the world, but if you say yes, I'll do whatever I can to make you happy and feel loved and appericated like you always should.

Haru: (Starts Sniffling)

Ryuji: (Flinches at What is Happening Right in Front of Him) Ah shit! I made you cry!? I-I'm sorry, Haru, I didn't to-

Haru: (Giggles Softly as She Uses a Napkin to Wipe a Twar ir Two Away From her Eyes) No, no there's no need apologize, really~ I know you didn't mean to, dear~

Ryuji: ('Sighs in Relief') Well, if you really say so-(Eyes Suddenly Widens) Wait, time out. "Dear"?

Haru: (Happily Nodded) I would be honored to date you, Ryuji-San~

Ryuji: F-F-For real!?

Haru: (Giggles Softly) Yes, very for real!~ (Starts Twirling her Hair a Bit Bashfully) To tell you the truth, I always thought about the idea of us dating and how thankful I am for all the times we've spent together as of late.

Ryuji: (Smiles Back at Haru) Yeah, same here! I'm really glad we get to hang out too, babe.....You don't mind if I call you that, do you?

Haru: I don't see why not. We are officially dating now after all.

Ryuji: Right, right. I just.....(Let's Out a Single Chickle) Damn, I just couldn't believe this all happening.

Haru: Same~ But Ryuji.....

Ryuji: Hm?

Haru: I want you to know that it doesn't matter to me how rich or smart you are in the slightest.

Ryuji: You sure? Cause I feel like they're the two traits most girls would go for in a guy.

Haru: (Simply Nodded) Positive. Contrary to popular belief, I think you're much more unique and wonderful than you ever give you credits for.

Ryuji: (Snickers a Bit) Okay, unique, I get, but wonderful? You do know who you're talking to, right?

Haru: (Gently Grabs Hold of Ryuji's Hand) Oh I know who I'm talking to exactly. The most lovely, wonderful, handsomess young man whom I will forever the pleasure of falling in love with for the rest of my days, Ryuji Sakamoto. (Tenderly Kisses the Top of Her Newly Found Boyfriend's Hand)

Ryuji: (Blushes Like a Bright Cherry by this Welcoming Affection) ........Huh. Cool.

End of Flashback

Ryuji: And just like that, we've been together ever since. (Proudly Uses his Knuckles to Rub his Chest) One of my many happiest moments in life I must admit.

Ann: (Happily Hugs her Best Friend) And we could NOT be anymore happier for you two!~ You are more than welcome to ask us for any relationship advices, I'm serious!~

Ren: (Smiles Softly) We'll help you out the best way we know how, bud.

Ryuji: (Smiles Brightly) Thanks, guys. Now that ypu mentioned it, I do have something I need to ask from you guys.

Ren: Sure.

Ann: What's the question?

Ryuji: How exactly were you guys to go through the month without.....(Rubbing the Back of his Head Back and Forth Once Again) You know......Having your partner persuade into seductive temptations or whatnot.

Ren: (Eyes Widened Once More) Oh god, please don't tell us your trying to do that Triple N challenge this year.

Ryuji: No!....Yes. Thought about giving it a go for once and I figured who better to give me helpful tips than two of the biggest love dorks in all of Shiyuba.

Ann: Okay, first off, rude, and second, hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we're the LAST people you should go to for those kind of advices.

Ryuji: Why, you guys failed the challenge already?

Ren: Yep.

Ann: ('Sighs in Defeat') Our honeys were way too irresistible to ignore entirely.......

Joker and Panther: Mission Was a Busted Failure

Ryuji: (Burst Out Laughing) Oh my God, you two really are love dorks!

Ann: (Glares at Ryuji) Oh yeah? I like to see you try completing the challenge yourself now that you have Haru to worry about!

Ren: Heard the girl's full of surprises, especially in the romance department

Ryuji: ('Scoffs') Please. Unlike you guys, I have the endurance and willpower of a giant bull. I'll ace that challenge in no time.

Ryuji failed the challenge later that night during his special date with Haru at her mansion. And as short lived as his attempt was, he will proudly admit that it was one of the best failures he has achieved in his entire life.

Skull: A Proud Failure

@princekirijo

@caleb13frede

@ma-lemons

@cyber-wildcat

#persona 5 #ryuji sakamoto #ann takamaki #ren amamiya #haru okumura #sojiro sakura #humor #cute romance #pure friendship #ryuji x haru #shumako (mentioned) #ann x shiho (mentioned) #no nut november #fluff #coffee morning #lucas (mentioned)

[general--winter]

Could we please get general relationship headcanons for Ann from Persona 5?

author's note: Ann my beloved. My best friend in the whole wide world. I see a lot of myself in her actually, if I wasn't so reserved lol. I bestow upon you the headcanons. Please, enjoy and thank you for the request!

rating: general

fandom: persona 5

pairing: ann takamaki x gn!reader

warnings: mentions of objectification of women's bodies

word count: 671

summary: What would Ann be like in a relationship?

Oh gosh Ann, I love her with all my heart. There’s a reason her element alignment is Agi (fire), she’s a passionate and driven woman who will stop at nothing to see her way to her goals. So, I imagine that when her mind is set on pursuing someone romantically, she would be the one to pull out all of the stops, but only if she’s already comfortable around them. Perhaps as a friend or acquaintance she has a positive history with, that she can trust. I definitely don’t think she would want to be in a relationship before being friends with someone, just to make sure their vibes are proper.

Chocolate on Valentine’s Day? She’s suave as all hell about it. Flowers? Any time you meet up to hang out, she’ll sneak to the florist and get you a single rose (or whatever your favorite flower is when she figures it out). A nice night out? I’d imagine once her modeling career takes off, and why wouldn’t it, she would treat you to a delectable and fancy all-you-can-eat buffet and take you on a walk through Inokashira Park.

Her love language is acts of service and gift giving, these two especially going hand in hand. She loves to do things for people, to show them that she cares about them through what she does. That doesn’t mean that she doesn’t also appreciate a good gift though. Perhaps buy her that makeup collab set she’s been talking about all month? Or the new album from her favorite band that just came out? Just to show you listen to her and care about her interests as much as she cares about your own!

Despite her forward nature when pursuing a romantic interest, she’s pretty shy about physical contact. The first time you hug her, she’s stiff as a board and takes a minute to relax into it. You initiate your first kiss together, and it flusters her beyond all belief. This stems from her negative experience being objectified as a model, especially as a woman with traditionally Western features (naturally blonde hair and blue eyes) in Japan. She definitely has to be eased into it very gently, and reassured consistently along the way that you’re not there just for her physicality, but for her as a complete person. Either way, she’s not really touchy-feely, but if your love language is physical touch, I guarantee you that she will do her best to make sure you feel as loved as you make her feel.

I think the Phantom Thieves would all really enjoy your presence when you’re introduced to them (if you don’t already know them), except the way you make Morgana bicker way too much. If it is your first time meeting Ann’s friends, their opinion is incredibly valuable to her; she trusts their instincts as much as she does her own. It would be best to make a good impression! Especially with Shiho too, I imagine that she’s Ann’s personal shadow defender and will hurt you if you do anything to Ann. (Don’t let the kind and outgoing facade fool you after her recovery from depression, Shiho can and will throw hands for Ann for playing such a huge role in saving her life.)

Overall, day-to-day with her I imagine to be very exciting and fun. Ann is always down for an adventure to the beach or the amusement park to spice up the day, but she’s more than content staying bundled up inside or just hanging out at Leblanc all day with you. Her personality is unpredictable and she can have an incredibly short temper, but overall it's usually in jest. It’s easy to tell when Ann is being sarcastically pissed off for comedic effect or when she’s really angry by the tone of her voice. She’s incredibly impatient, and you catch yourself teasing her until she’s incredibly flustered and “enraged” about her overreaction to the crepe stand’s wait times. She secretly enjoys it, not that she’ll ever admit it.

#persona #persona 5 #persona fanfiction #persona 5 fanfiction #ann takamaki #ann takamaki x reader #request #headcanon #gender neutral reader #GOD i love ann she's so awesome #i want to be her when i grow up.

[arcplaysgames]

i am mainlining this shit like coke what can i even say, i love a good mirror ANYWAY

Sumire literally begging you to leave her to this fate is agony. This is so much and it's awesome. I felt so goddamn uncomfortable with this traumatized girl sobbing and asking Reverie/Me to just let her fix her pain.

I love when games make be feel like garbage but in an earned way! I have literally been cogitating on the Phantom Thieves and how they alter people's mind for the ENTIRE game! Bring it back in the endgame armed with some teeth! Good!

I actively like that the game is wrestling with this. Like, the Bad End, right? How different are Maruki's methods than the Thieves? Shiho's attempted suicide finally incentized me to roll with the entire idea of stealing Kamoshida's heart, but as evidenced by my unrelenting and endless bitching about Ryuji and Mishima and the Phansite, I never bought into the idea that the Thieves were justified by default.

I love to have all that shit thrown back in my face. Delicious.

HILARIOUSLY I WAS RIGHT, SUMIRE COMES DOWN TO FIGHT US AND DEFEND HER RIGHT TO HAVE MARUKI RE-RIG HER BRAIN.

Akechi: "I mean, I could stay and kill her but then you'd me, like, mad at me and frankly I am too tired of this shit to deal with your pouty face too, so you can fight her solo. I'll stand over here looking smug."

Akechi is a gift.

I have some absolutely batshit bonkers personae at this point and start every fight with all three stat categories boosted, so this wasn't even a fight.

Maruki watches all this and when Sumire starts begging for it all to stop, he comes down to join us.

I could put, uh, 15 screencaps in here but here is a timestamp, you GOTTA see this fucking sequence. Should start at 2:48

okay yeah Maruki is a better villain than Adachi, we are there.

Getting upset at Sumire's pain and so using his fucking weird-ass power to tear the Persona out of her heart and ask it to fight to defend her, I.... holy shit. Holy shit?

SO YOU WANNA FREE SUMIRE FROM THE DELUSION THAT SHE IS HER SISTER? THEN FIGHT HER PERSONA AS IT RAGES AT YOU AND SCREAMS FOR YOU TO LEAVE HER ALONE.

this! this! this is better than the base game! where was this writing the entire game! fuck!

Finally, the gang shows up, all carrying starbucks, and are here to help pacify the blackout rage of Sumire.

Morgana, I love you. Have I mentioned I love Morgana?

This entire game is about a boy and his cat in my heart.

honestly even if I'm cold on Sumire, the Cinderella motif is awesome.

WHAT A FUCKING SHOT! CINNAMON TOPOGRAPHY!

Also through this entire sequence, the whole thing while everyone talks, Maruki never raises his voice, his composure never cracks, his resolution never breaks.

He's even like "okay. come at me." but he wants to talk first. He wants everyone to live in this world until February 3rd, when he will show up to talk this through. And then, if it comes to a fight, they can all fight.

Everyone catches up outside the Palace and decides its time to head home and they'll talk tomorrow, because Oof there's a Lot to think about.

Back at the cafe, things are back to normal for Futaba and Sojiro. Wakaba is gone.

That's the part that really throws a wrench into the ethics for me. Maruki is able to undo the murders of good people, and by resetting everything, they are dead again. The implications of this are a lot. He absolutely should not have the power to restore life like this, but he does and already has.

It makes it all the more interesting that Akechi is here. Because logically, it feels like if you somehow deleted him from the timeline, it would undo the deaths of Wakaba and Okumura. And yet, he's still here.

My theory that Akechi is here because of Reverie's desire is gaining more traction.

Thank god there is a fun moment of levity here int he flashback where Morgana does his usually I Am Not A Cat from pure instinct but then is like oh wait i am a cat lmao nvmd. It's a good chuckle.

Futaba goes home to presumably cry into Sojiro's chest as he awkwardly pats her head and tries to figure out what the fuck is wrong. Just gutting.

Also she confirms that she lowkey knew the whole time something was wrong but ignored it. Oh, Futaba. I'm so sorry.

SCREAM LAUGHING.

ugh yeah OBVIOUSLY i was hot as a human, have you MET me? idiot. moron. dumbass.

i love morgana the most, have i mentioned. just for real, imagine your cat looking in the mirror and going "man if I were a human I would get so much action, it's unreal," with absolute confidence.

that's comedy.

#pr #persona liveblog #Youtube

[p5x-theories]

I know you posted something similar to this but, since both Persona 5 and Persona 5 X take place in 2 different universes then do you think that each Phantom Thief and/or Phantom Idol matches with someone else in the other universe if so then who with who. And how do you think they would interact with each other.

By "matches", do you mean the idea that the P5X cast are counterparts of the original P5 cast? I've talked about them having similar roles a lot, even on some of their information posts, but I don't think it occurred to me they might literally be the alternate universe versions of characters, like the female P3 protagonist is with the male P3 protagonist.

To say it again though, at least role-wise, I'm of the theory that besides the obvious ones (Wonder and Joker, Cattle and Mona), Motoha's role is similar to a mix of Ann and Ryuji, Tomoko is Shiho, Shun is Yusuke, and Riko is Makoto. For the Confidants that aren't directly involved in the story, it's a bit harder to say, because it really just comes down to what their Arcana is.

As for how they might interact, I got an ask about that after the second beta, so it's a little outdated, but I'll direct you there!

#personaphantom #theories #closer #moko #soy #wind #let me know if I significantly misinterpreted your theory by the way! #I'm not completely sure I understood your ask correctly

[haus-mom]

1,6,10 and 25

1. the character everyone gets wrong

i hate to be cliché'd but TSUKASA. i admit i used to be partly guilty of it before i realized that tsukasa isn't really empty inside, he keeps being a parallel to mafuyu by not only being actually full (? inside but being like. really full inside. tsukasa has several personas and he acts very differently depending on who he's interacting with and they're all sorta tsukasa to a degree but they're also not really? tsukasa please stop being worrying or be but have this acknowledged pls

anyway, people tend to portray tsukasa with no nuance at all, he's either a happy careless guy or so sad that he could put every N25 member combined to shame. as i said he's REALLY worrying but he genuinely really likes what he does and has passion and drive. he's just team "i can't be sad if i don't acknowledge i'm sad so i'll just leave the issue there until i forget it :)"

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

i am inclined to say kanade x mafuyu because i still genuinely can't see how they'd have a healthy romantic relationship, so when i see content of the ship while i'm on misc tags i'm like

and they make every single thing kanade does about mafuyu. i mean, canon already sorta does that, but even when it's not about that, they MAKE IT about mafuyu. do these guys even like kanade? do they see her as her own character? i wonder...

10. worst part of fanon?

TSUKASA ADOPTING EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER EVER. they took him saying toya is like a little brother to him (more on that later) and ran. a marathon. and a half. around the moon. and back.

are we forgetting this convo?

tsukasa only has one sister, and it's saki! toya tenma is a sweet sentiment, really, but that's where it should've stopped.

everything i've seen about kanade tenma is super mischaracterized too. i know they haven't talked much, but i feel like their dynamic wouldn't be like that at all if they were to live together. and i was right about the mafuyu-tsukasa dynamic way before they even met, which obviously means i'm always right (?

minori tenma is the least frequent, minori shinonome is something i've seen a lot and that i don't really get either, like, is it because minori's hair is brown-ish? is it? and what about minori tenma? is it because tsukasa cheered her up that one time? i'm the first one asking for more actual leadersquad interactions, but hc-ing them as siblings just because of that...

people who go "yeah minori tenma/shinonome real because she's marrying tsukasa/saki or akito/ena" are the backbone of this fandom

25. common fandom complaint you're tired of hearing

please stop treating toya x tsukasa/saki shippers as if they're the scum of the earth i promise you they're perfectly good ships

i feel like i say this a lot but just because tsukasa sees toya as a younger brother, it doesn't mean that toya feels the same. he has never said it in the game (afaik) and he actually changes the subject rapidly whenever tsukasa mentions it. saki has never said anything regarding seeing toya like that, so it's safe to say he's just a childhood friend to her.

speaking of! i've also seen people proclaim that nene and rui are "sibling coded" which. doesn't make sense either? like if you see them like that, it's fine! same with toya tenma and the rest of the sibling hcs, don't let this rando on the internet stop you, i'm not the biggest toya x tsukasa fan myself, but one thing is that and other is going around people's posts policing what they do or don't post. i don't think you're going to get anything more than annoy the op, really.

really curious that i've never seen people say this about leo/need! i wonder why! except this one time someone asked if it was okay to ship shiho and honami because of that one 1koma where shiho almost calls honami "sis" which is also its own can of worms

can we bring back ship and let ship i miss ship and let ship

anyway, thank you for the ask!

#proseka #alma answers #alma rambles #i did not expect to get a second ask for this lmao #thanks again!!! #minori shinonome makes me super sad bc minori's parents are good and you're putting her through shin'ei. the poor girl #i know 'ship and let ship' can quickly lead into gross territory but you know what i mean

[folkloristico]

🥀 favorite angst quote from a published work

🌻 favorite funny quote from a published work

🍒 favorite sweet quote from a wip

tysm for the ask mari! 🫶

🥀 favorite angst quote from a published work

Shiho doesn’t retort—she feels close to Shinichi but feels even closer to the client. Her heart aches at the thought of the mother who’s still looking for a culprit who doesn’t exist and of the father whom Shinichi has never even spoken of. She will never be able to fully understand Shinichi, but if there’s one thing she knows is that he will never give up on living. Where she would’ve just let herself drawn, he’s fought with dirty nails and cracked teeth just to keep going—breathing is exhausting but doesn’t scrape his throat like sharp breaches. He doesn’t sense the hollow at their feet—and Shiho, with her soul black as night screaming at her, envies him. Because ignoring is a more acceptable fate than knowing and not being able to do anything about it. The idea of erasing the past scares her because letting go of her memories means changing herself, losing her persona to create a new self. Shiho believes she would if she only could—to get rid of the hollow emptiness expanding beside her feet, she would give up everything she has been and be twenty years old, for real. Not even the drug she created could do this much. Whether it’s Sherry, Shiho Miyano or Ai Haibara it does not matter, she remains the same wretched, little girl who’s afraid of the monsters under her bed, and no fake name on Earth can change that.

From if it’s hollow on the inside. 

Sorry it’s so long, lol, but I feel like sharing all of it. I still prefer the Italian version because, well, it’s the original, and not being a translator myself, I’m sure there are some things that could be fixed. Still, despite the fact that it’s been almost two years since I originally wrote the story, and I usually come to loathe my stories after, like, two months, I still like it very much. As for now, it’s the closest I could get to depicting Shiho and Shinichi as I see them.

🌻 favorite funny quote from a published work

“Chloé, are you alright?” he asked. “We’ve been looking for you everywhere!” “We?” Chloé echoed, glaring over Adrien’s shoulders. “Don’t look at me,” Alya said, her arms crossed over her chest. “I was fine with thinking of you dead somewhere—no, wait, actually, I wasn’t thinking of you.” Chloé shot her a nasty glare, but didn’t respond. It was something, right? “Funny you’d say that. I thought a car had run over you while you were trying to get a picture of Ladybug and Chat Noir.” “At least I was able to get out.” … Anyway. Progress takes time.

From fire meet gasoline.

Sadly, I don’t care about Miraculous Ladybug anymore, but I’m SO HYPED for the movie and I had a lot of fun writing this story. Sassy!Chloé is what I live for.

🍒 favorite sweet quote from a wip

I had a hard time choosing the snippet because I’ve been writing a lot of Winx stuff in the last few that I didn’t even remember what my other WIPs were about lol

“You look…” Matt tilted his head a little to the left. “Older?” “I was gonna say, different. Better.” To be fair, he hardly looked any day older than last time she’d seen him. “I wish I could say the same about you, but, you know…” He left the rest of the sentence hanging in the air on purpose, pointing at his face, and there was something so genuine about the way he did it that Claire couldn’t help cracking to a laugh. Matt Murdock had her wonder how could a body be so full. How could a person contain multitudes without exploding from the paradox of it—the same man being the kind lawyer and the tormented hero. Last time, the vigilante seemed to have prevailed, and at that very moment Claire knew she couldn’t do it. Not with Matt, not with Luke. Not with anyone. But seeing him now, so changed to his very core as if he were a different man, but, in a way she couldn’t put her finger on, still the same man—seeing him now, her feelings of distrust and fear couldn’t be renewed. “Not to brag,” Claire said, “but judging from the men asking me out, I think I’m still a good match.” Matt smiled again, wrinkles forming at the corners of his eyes as if to confirm that time had passed for him. But to Claire, he had never looked better. “I am sure you are.” Her heart skipped a beat or two, then raced faster, and Claire wondered if he hadn’t been aware of it because he added playfully, “Just to be sure, I’m not hitting on you.” Would it be so bad, Claire wondered, if he did?

From the same Clairedevil fic I talked about here, which doesn’t have a title yet because I suck at choosing titles.

#writing #writing ask #my fics #mari--lace #ask

[razzmothazz]

random thoughts with razz

i saw some people talk lately abt who would get abnormality dancin girl in pjsk and i get why most people say n25 should have it because of mafuyu.. uhhh nah i disagree heavily on that one

[rant below]

like most people say the song should go to mafuyu but it doesnt work for her at all imo, shes not getting rid of her nice girl persona because its like a safety net for her she can fall back on [im not sure how to explain what i mean here exactly but you get the point], if anything many parts would fit ena more especially the ones about feeling like youre average at best at anything you do, but even then the rest of the song doesnt really work besides that. some parts may fit mizuki better as well, rejecting normality etc. but definetly not mafuyu

since the song has a pretty clear theme of school the obvious group would be l/n, which i think somehow works! they got the lost ones weeping already which deals with similar stuff as this song, tho im not sure how well the lyrics fit them exactly.. the sound of the song in itself definetly fits them imo, i could see it being another ichika and shiho cover maybe [i just love their voices together sorry im biased]

my next best pick would probably be vbs tho, an and akito seem to work pretty well since theyre not doing the best at school and often mention how tired of it they are, im not sure if the sound of the song itself fits them that well but i can definetly see it. the theme of feeling like youre never good enough work wonderfully for them as well, most clearly for akito but an deals with that too.. but even then i dont feel like the lyrics themselves fit them that well, but thats kind of the case for every group when i really think about it, the parts about going absolutely bonkers insane is especially difficult to place for me

i also saw someone say they can see wxs covering this one which i didnt even think about tbh.. i can kind of see certain lyrics fitting tsukasa, especially with the context of whatever the hell was going on with him in his latest focus event..a lot of them fit rui as well, the theme of rejecting being perceived as normal works with him just as well as it works for mizuki, tbh i can even see nene singing it somewhat, but im not sure about the sound of the song.. doesnt really have a wxs vibe but thats not a huge issue

anyway rant over if u have thoughts abt it please share because i actually love speculations like these !!!

#random

[cookiecomics]

sorry it took me so long! stuff wasn't registering for awhile.. stuff to ramble about. hmm. so far i've decided that shiho will also have 2 personas (not for the same reason as goro's obviously, since one of goro's stems from experimentation/yaldy.. (red flamed personas = experiments. takaya sakaki, chidori yoshino, jin shirato, sho minazuki, etc)) but because she's a person of many justices. shes not enough to be a wildcard, but she's relatively close.

since i like the idea for the norse personas and there aren't many norse persona users (goro being the only one to canonically have a norse persona as a starter, the others being the fully evolved versions of their personas), i gave her idunn and skadi. i primarily gave her these two because of these 2 excerpts of text i found on them,

for Idunn, “Idun's role might not be as expansive as some of her counterparts, but her importance cannot be overstated. Without Idun's golden apples, the gods would age and their reign would falter, highlighting her essential function within the divine realm.”

which.. also fits shiho. without shiho's attempt, ann would've never fully acted and it is a primary driving force for the whole kamoshida arc. the phantom thieves wouldn't have happened without shiho's attempt, i believe. neither would have ann's character development. she is a primary driving force for the attack and almost-killing of kamoshida and his change of heart.

“renowned as the goddess of winter, mountains, and hunting, Skadi is a symbol of rugged self-sufficiency and strength. She embodies the harsh, unyielding nature of winter and the mountains, illustrating the resilience and adaptability required to survive in such a challenging environment.”

this represents shiho during and after kamoshida: in the hospital and in her new school and in kamoshida's trap. in the hospital, in rehab, it is difficult. it is challenging. it takes a lot to get through, and going to a new highschool after all of these events can't be any better. (especially when your new highschool is the same one the infamous 2nd detective prince goes to,) i think shiho is extremely strong, thus, skadi.

outside of these 2 primary texts, idunn is also associated with loki in one particular myth where he saves her, and skadi made her own way up to join the other gods.

“One popular tale involving Idun is when she is kidnapped by the giant Thjazi. During her absence, the gods begin to age rapidly, revealing their reliance on her restorative fruits. With the cunning of Loki, Idun is eventually rescued, and she returns to restore the gods to their youthful state. Idun's symbolism extends to the earthly realm as well, reflecting the rejuvenation of nature after the harsh winter and the rejuvenating powers of good nutrition. In essence, Idun is a beacon of renewal, her story a testament to the cycles of life and the renewal that follows decay.”

i think, that instead of loki/goro saving idunn/shiho, idunn/shiho saves loki/goro in return. in this au, she would be the reason he even makes it out of the engine room. she is the reason goro doesn't attempt on his own life after realizing achingly that he has to hurt the boy he loves. she is a friend, and she is there, regardless if it helps goro fully or not. one friend can make a lot of a difference, after all. shiho helps goro renew himself, and in return, she renews herself.

for skadi,

“Skadi, also known as Skathi, is a unique figure among the Norse goddesses. Her origins lie in the Jotun, the giants, a race often at odds with the gods of Asgard. However, through a combination of marriage and her own formidable spirit, Skadi took her place among the Aesir, the principal group of gods.”

a lot of people seem to just see shiho just as kamoshida's victim or as ann's girlfriend: skadi was thought of as the same way, being married to her husband as a deal between the jotun and the gods of asgard. skadi fought her way up there, through both her marriage and her own determination, and i think shiho does too: ann is a driving force for why shiho continues on, but shiho also finds her own determination and slowly, slowly climbs the rope to normal life after what kamoshida did to her.

AHHHHHHH THIS WAS SO INDEPTH AND I LOVE IT, love the part about you expanding on Shiho's true whole in the story ;3; love the suggestions for her persona <3

[soulcluster-moved]

⭐!!

multimuse meme >> accepting!!

oh this is hard

fire emblem

ephraim for eirika - I adore the twins and want to write them more. before the war when ephraim struggles with his studies, when he and eirika spend time riding together to go watch sunsets and chat, during the war when they have brief moments of respite together and can lean on each other, after the war when they're both shouldered with the responsibility of rebuilding renais, maybe sneak out for some sunsets for old times sake, just... them

ephraim for myrrh - is she coming to live in renais castle afterwards? pls say yes

rhys for titania - going deeper on their bond, reminiscing about times in the greil mercenaries, her watching out for him, idk just...it's good stuff

gerome for any 2nd gen kid cause I honestly cannot get enough of the kids

FREDERICK AND RUYA need more be said???

frederick for chrom! I just think their relationship deserves more depth than a naked recruiting poster joke

may I tempt you with some olivia/helbindi? we never started writing them alskdjasd

*picks up your entire 3h cast* WHOOPS I WANT THEM ALL

but seriously uhhh....I think I asked you once about hanneman/seteth, and of course seteth and flayn, hnnngh there's a lot of good ones so it's hard to put them all here especially cause im not sure who would work best, but I know we have talked about some of them already

citrinne and lapis!!! nel and/or gregory with zephia? and kagetsu with anyone tbqh

persona

kotone for any p3!! i'd cry

shinji/minako :eyes emoji:

ken for my phantom thieves!!! pls and thank

my shiho or ryuji or ren or futaba for ann!! I love ann so much pls....pls let us write shiho needs the encouragement to recover and get through what they both suffered from. her and ryuji go back a bit too! and my ren is very into skateboarding and graffiti, maybe we could do something fun with that

when I replay p4 i'll come back for nanako dont think i wont (or we could have her meet one of the other characters)

and of course, zelda/link, I love what we've talked about with them

#ooc #answered #heartwilled #how to say: everyone

[writerofjourneys]

Hi hi! I'm back. I kind of shocked you took your time answering me, I'll be honest. I thought you'd just dismiss everything I said (specially with such a lengthy text). So thank you, really!

I'm going to answer you back as well, if you don't mind. And once again, I'm not attacking you, just giving you my honest opinion. And once again, I'll tackle your points in order.

- When I get my anxiety attacks and depressive episodes, I act just like Sumire on her slumps. Maybe that's why I can resonate so much with her on those first ranks. Maybe it's a difference in our life experiences and how we tackled it? You think it's lackluster, I think it's subtle enough. And I agree with you on how she slowly was trying to regain herself but Maruki's actualization kept in check. I think that's how we got the little snippets of the real Sumire inside (the bento incident).

- I think the other athletes thought she had lost it and she was going crazy. In Japan, mental health issues is a real sensitive topic and people try to avoid "different" people. It may be a little graphic, but if you have time read about the Sagamihara stabbings. Also, that's the issue. Sumire had her Shiho. Her Eiko. It was Kasumi, and she lost her. And we, in fact, get to talk to her trainer twice so there's our "person in the area".

- About the phone: I don't think it was really broken, nor it was Kasumi's phone. It was Sumire's phone. The lag, the malfunctioning, it was all due to Maruki's interference. When she calls you and we get to listen to her first call ever, her voice is all Darth Vader like. Plus, Joker calls her Kasumi because Sumire carries Kasumi's student id, issued before her death. Joker being Joker and helping out is the reason we can reach the true Sumire. After all, if you don't advance her confidant you can't reach the Royal route.

- I think you're partially right on your point about the Phantom Thieves and their friendship. I do think their friendship get the usual flow: meet, persona time, join the team, funny banter. They like her, they are friends. But you're right, it isn't a rank 10 friendship between them. That's evident with the last cutscene. The gang joins up to help you get to the station, but she arrived there first? Why didn't she go with them? And what the fudge I HATE THAT SCENE. It's so lackluster for her character. A disservice.

- I think BOTH of her awakenings show a Spirit of Rebellion, yes. First time she's rebelling against common sense. About the fact she has to accent she isn't Kasumi and never will be. Hence, the dialogue about "these are the shoes that you chose". The second awakening, rebellion is against MARUKI'S SOCIETY. Remember, he had already changed the entire world at this point and he's saying "it's okay, you can keep on dreaming. Your pain will go away." At this time, she rejects this version of the world, thus finally embracing herself and achieving the "true glass slippers": her own self.

- About connection with the player, well, even with the new brief Haru scenes I still couldn't like her and her confidant. Both of them suffer a LOT by being the last kids on the bunch, and after you get her rank 5 there's not much else you can do together until Sumire becomes relevant again. Thinking about it, Akechi sometimes disappears as well aka you can't raise his confidant in some months. Now, about the goals, the only ones I think it can trully compare are Ann and Yusuke. She does decide to be an international model, but only AFTER you do her confidant. She wasn't serious before. It was a hobby. Ryuji goes back to track at the end of the game. Haru is busy with the company, but at the same time she always has time for you. She's always tending her garden. I don't know.

- Is she the only well known athlete? Yes!

Remember, the star of the school was Kamoshida and the volleyball team. After he confessed, Shujin's reputation was in shambles and only the Yoshizawa twin(s) were left. And about the dance... they did say they were busy/going home. And her dance is even after you have a romantic rendevouz with a love interest and Ryuji, so they really don't have a reason to stick in school.

- Giving you once again the point that Cendrillon (and her clothes for that matter) should have changed after her true awakening. Specially with the knowledge that Personas have the form of one's true psyche. And Cendrillon fits like a glove -- or, rather, a shoe -- in the themes. Your argument is that "[Cinderella] doesn't fight for a cause for other and themselves." That's true. But so doesn't Carmen. Or Milady. Or Captain Kidd. So what does a pirate, two femme fatales, a legendary thief, two vigilantes and fairy tale princess have in common?

They're all tricksters!

Yaldabaoth made two Main Trickers, Joker and Akechi. But the other personas are just as much tricksters as them. Milady is a femme fatale that doesn't have a clear side. Captain Kidd was a corsair. Robin Hood and Goemon stole from the rich to give to the poor. Arsene Lupin was a gallant thief and Zorro fought for his people.

Why is Cinderella/Cendrillon a trickster?

Because she disguised herself to go to the ball, so much so her family could recognize her. She TRICKED them and the prince, making him think she was noblity!

- The eating trope. I dind't mind it, but I read a lot of shounen. What made me cringe was the beach scenes, yukata scenes, fhe fanservice. But again, japanese game.

- Romance: You can avoid their romance, but Haru already loves you by the point you reach rank 9. And if you say you're only friends, she asks to be left alone and goes to her room. Plus on many moments on her confidant other people ask if you two are a thing or not. Other than her, I THINK Chihaya? She reads her cards? I don't know she's the second worst romance I rushed it.

- Getting new glasses for her dad deserves a rank? Yes because it's not about the glasses. It's about Sumire choosing something by herself. She was ready to leave that responsibility to Joker, but he gave her his moral support and she did get to choose it. She even lampshades it.

- When you like your therapist, you develop this bound in which they become kind of like your second family. You can talk anything to them. Maruki did say, at the beginning of the game, that she was a former patient of his, we get to see when and how he changed her cognition. And, remember, she was depressed because her sister had died and suddenly after only one t

visit she's all better. It's a miracle! He's THAT good! He helped her on her worst moment! Maruki is as important for her as Joker.

- Effect of her student status: in what way? I mean we saw how everyone acted before and after she started underperforming. Other students gossip she can take tests whenever, skip class all the time with no repercutions. I think it's enough. She's special. More explanation would go into exposition territory.

- About her processing about her twin death, I just thought about something reading your point. Maybe her recovery was fast because she was already processing the death. It IS a reach but, say. Sumire, pretending to be Kasumi, came to terms to her sister's death. Okay. Once Sumire went back, since she was already processing the loss, the shock went full on "wtf who am I really?" And I think most of her trauma came with the guilty that she contributed to her sister's death.

- What was Maruki doing? I think it's what we saw. He helped Rumi. Kept his research in secret while taking care of some patients. One of them was Sumire. She was a drastic case so he helped her. I don't think he helped more people at this time, and if he did, they were extreme cases like Rumi and Sumire. They were irrelevent, tho. Because they were like Rumi and Sumire. If he did help more people, they were unremarkable to him. Sumire was his second successful case. His Persona wasn't fully awakened yet, keep that in mind. He got the job at Shujin to keep an eye on Sumire while finishing his paper and keeping up with the kids.

- The blue butterfly: only the persona users could see it. And the party members did get invited to the Velvet Room and talked to both Lavenza and Igor, with the exceptions of Akechi (probably went before tho bc Yaldabaoth) and Sumire.

- She stalking him and the important job: Mona knew amd talked about it, so most likelly it was Phantom Thieves business. Why else would a talking cat care?

- But it was for the betterment of society and saving it from injustice. Maruki wanted the world to like by his rules, he had good intentions but his views were flawed, as seen by that part in his palace where you answered quizzes with what was right and wrong. Plus, remember, at first Sumire didn't agree with the Phantom Thieves changing hearts because she wishes for people to be able to solve their own problems by themselves. People should be able to stand on their own, without relying to a god, a group of teens or someone dictating their lives and take away the pain. Free will and struggle are too important for her, which is also a shock when you realize Maruki's meddling with her cognition. BTW I think this is also one of the moments where we can see, deep down, this is Sumire's view of the world. If she was only mimicking Kasumi, when we explored the palace she could have agreed to Maruki or wouldn't feel unconfortable on the quizz part. The question about "give up on your dream and get a new one" really hurt her.

- Marinette is a static character. Her views get challenged, she gets more roles (being the new guardian and everything) but at the end of the day she's still the same old Marinette. They even get TIME TRAVEL ffs Astruc. On the other hand, the Sumire from the start of the game is not the same from the end, the whole "stole identity act" aside. She gets braver, she stands up for herself and what's right, she finally can reach international competitions, comes to terms with her sister's demise and even gets her self confidence back.

OOF! DONE!

Sorry if I made any spelling mistake, english isn't my first language, it's 1 am over here and im tired.

Once again thank you if you took your time reading, I'm loving our talks.

NOTE: This will be my last post over this discussion as I will not be accepting messages regarding this debate topic anymore. My original post that led to these exchange of views was just meant for me to let these bubbling thought go, leaving it behind and moving on with my continuation for writing. An outlet. And while I appreciate the responses of different opinions, please understand and respect my choice that I am done with it and am moving on.

Your long discussion is something else, I’m impressed by you making an extended analysis and outlook. And it’s kind of hard to dismiss a message from my inbox with such a lengthy text. I feel like I’m kinda overwhelmed seeing the time you take to message me again regarding the topic further. Though I have to admit that this subject has brought burnout for me, as I am brought to think about her again when I was going for moving on from her. But I’m not pointing fingers at you or anyone else. My opinion on her has hasn’t changed much, she is a poorly written character who is still my least favourite, but she had potential to be something if under the right circumstances.

Though I can see your point of view, I can’t help but diverge from them as well. There are gaps where we probably won’t totally look at things about the character the same way, which I understand and mean no rudeness by it.

Also, thank you for the follow. Though I’m not sure if my regular posts would be appealing to you following me based on our discussion, considering I run a storytelling blog, aside from the inbox discussion which is not actually my preference to do on Tumblr. I thought the other debate would leave a different impression but I’m glad it didn’t.

Anyways, back to my point of view.

For the slumps, I suppose I just view them from the writing perspective for the most part. I can see it being subtle as well, but perhaps too subtle to the point where it’s not elaborated enough for her story. I think Atlus should’ve done more to link her connection with Maruki further, like her routinely going to his sessions so he’d keep her cognition in check, more showy in being off putting if not, etc, since it felt like she stayed the same when acting as her sister until the reveal happened. Everyone has slumps, but her’s can’t be different she is not introspective enough that there’s more to it then that. If she was more about the loss of her sister when acting as Kasumi then there’d be a reason for the difference in her slumps.

It makes sense for Japan to walk around topics from mental health as a country who thinks about it differently from others. I’m not going to put a label any more than that as these subjects are never to be defined by others as one thing or be something that everyone agrees on. I wouldn’t put Kasumi as being Sumire’s Eiko or Shiho since I was actually meaning about her association currently instead of the past. Especially when we know more about those two unlike the real Kasumi. I would say she was more like Sae for the sister aspect, including the predictable similarities the Yoshizawas have with the Niijimas and the grief and loss of their father, and Futaba’s mother Wakaba. Her trainer wouldn’t be quite the same as she’s only in Yoshizawa’s life when it’s about her training and classes but nothing so familial. When the real ‘person in the area’ should’ve been her parents after losing one of their kids. And their lack of involvement is disappointing. Her words spoken when choosing to battle Joker and Akechi show that she hadn’t accepted her sister’s death with healing and affirmation during the times she impersonated her. That is not how a person overcomes grief. Acting as a deceased loved one and ignoring the reality of it is not acceptance, it’s avoidance and a coping method of blocking out the truth. It’s unhealthy. And her parents are pretty crappy because of how they respond to that situation. Her father makes only a rare appearance, they aren’t being constant figures in her life, and they let her parade around as Kasumi when they should’ve sat her down and talked to her about what she is doing to herself and to them as a family. Sumire’s cognition only affects her, so they know the truth. It’s not how anyone should go about loss and sorrow when it doesn’t resolve anything but a painful reminder. If they had bothered to care more about their daughter’s situation and be more present and involved in her life, Sumire wouldn’t be so pushed to the edge of her inner struggles when she could talk to them about it. And a point that you’ve mentioned on how people had distanced themselves from her is saying that, aside from her parents, coach, and obviously Joker and Maruki, there has apparently not been a single decent person at all in her life besides the obvious four where two are not around enough. This just proves that whatever so called bond she has with the thieves is so minuscule and inconsistent when she doesn’t even consider them. They’re the ones out of the other confidants of Joker that she interacts with, yet those interactions have no substance as she discredits them compared to Joker, who she only gives her real attention to when it should’ve been in fair amounts in regards to having anyone decent in her life.

To have her phone be malfunctioning by Maruki is a bit strange to me since his powers are a little confusing. That detail doesn’t happen to the other thieves when he grants their wishes and affects their mentality. It may be the side affect of her cognition, but if that were the case then only Yoshizawa would’ve been the only one affected by her phone malfunctioning. But we can notice the malfunction, too. So it has to be that she took her sister’s phone or her phone was broken herself from the impact of the traffic accident. But that would depend on if the twins had their phones on their person in their bags. Yet that is also iffy when her phone goes back to normal, so she’s either gotten herself a new one or something. It’s just confusing and weird. Yoshizawa’s ID is all Joker had to go off of in identifying her anyways, but there’s creative opportunities in finding out her real name. Since everyone apparently knew what happened and her backstory, it must’ve landed on the news. I’d think that advancing her confidant didn’t need to be the reason to reach the royal route when Maruki is the star of Third Semester, a confidant, and has interactions with everyone that can leave a more interesting opportunity for royal’s route. It revolves around him like Nyx, Izanami, and Yaldabaoth. And he is similar to Nyx and Yaldabaoth in the sense that the three are both responding to what people wanted. While she answers to humanity’s desire for death and extinction, while he and Yaldabaoth are about granting deepest desires, which compensates for their own benefits.

Maybe the point Atlus made for the end meeting of Yoshizawa was that she’s fine to go back to her life as nothing ties her to the thieves anymore. Because her one true objective was defeating Maruki, and having achieved that, went to continue her career as a gymnast. Which would majorly diverge her path from others due to absences, different goals, that kind of thing. Since the only thing she cares about is gymnastics, it’s her priority that she holds above all else. Which could even transcend the thieves. It makes sense that her and Cendrillon are the odd ones out.

I feel like her first awakening needed more than just ‘going against common sense’. Her failings of gymnastics other than for her own personal goals mean nothing else to her. The dialogue for her first awakening explains that that’s the reason for her rebellion, what others have said about her. When, in contradictory, she factly states that she does not care for her special treatment, the school’s approval, or her honour student status, who she herself is opposing the terms upholding said status that she also doesn’t care about. All of her ‘potentially losing her status’ is just by a result of her own actions and self-knowledge. She is fully aware that keeping the honour student-athlete status all depends on her only and that the consequences of it taken away are the results of her actions. Not anyone else’s. Like being in third place. That all came down on her alone. Yet she spins it as if it’s unfair and that she’s being wronged. Making a commotion because she is unable to deal with her slumps that she claims is affecting her gymnastics, which is not delved upon further detail, is not worth the attention of storytelling when there is nothing off about the school staff warning her about the loss of status. There’s just no injustice. She won’t let anyone speak ill of her dream? Why when she doesn’t even care about anyone has said. Does she tell every person what she wants to be when she grows up? Nothing about her getting third place was rigged, it’s just the result of her performance that she failed to meet in the end. That’s it. And fake Kasumi’s reaction over losing her younger twin is not impactful. She brushes pass her “death” with mild sadness and grief and continues off on her merry way. Even Sumire’s fake appearance in the Palace was small. If fake Kasumi had cared about her sister more, and the situation around her, then we’d have something more interesting to go off of. To say that her awakening was just about her identity crisis doesn’t fit because that wasn’t what was presented in the dialogue or the scene leading up to her gaining a Persona. And she said that her name was Kasumi, she was still in firm belief that she was the older twin, not that she accepted that she couldn’t be her sister. If that were the case, then we, as the player, would’ve known her true identity sooner as a result because her lines would’ve given evidence. The reveal of her actual sister shows that she genuinely thought it was the other way around. Cendrillon’s words like “Rather than accept a life in cinders, you’d strive towards splendor, you know the risk. Well, if those really are the shoes you’ve chosen.” works with Yoshizawa’s, albeit rather poorly, motive for awakening. Cinderella had strived to have the freedom to do what she wanted without being held back, to be something a little more than what she really was. It aligns with Yoshizawa’s goals when as fake Kasumi: to reach the level of gymnastics on a higher level for herself, since that’s the only thing that matters to her. The student status goes with the athlete status, but she doesn’t even care for it. She wants to be a star, to be the best of her club and proceed bigger goals. Her ‘Risk’ is being stripped of her honour student status title as the result of her inability to meet the requirements of first or second place tournaments that come with the athlete terms she is consciously aware of. There’s no fowl play, no rigging, no unfairness. It’s simple understanding and consent by both parties. She knew exactly what to expect depending on the outcome.

The ‘shoes’ she’s chosen can be more than just her filling in her sister’s place. Cinderella puts no effort to be someone else, she’s just perceived by that impression from others after her fairy godmother makeover. She stays the same person as when she attended the ball and never had to put on an act. The thing about Sumire achieving Kasumi’s dream for her by being as her is obviously a major flaw, that’s not how life works. Sumire is aware that to accomplish a goal like reaching to the top, to want to put oneself in a higher position requires the person themself to truly reach that dream. She knows that that’s what Kasumi wanted, not only with her but also for herself by her own efforts. And being in Kasumi’s position was the most notable thing about what Sumire wanted, she wanted what her sister already had. But for Sumire, her inferiority complex and jealousy isn’t simply a mild thing, it’s pushed to the edge to the point where it’s so unhealthy that it consumes her and her treatment of the people in her life. For fake Kasumi, the shoes can be a representation of her ideal objective, because it’s a symbol of success like how Cinderella got her happy ending from those shoes, which she keeps to the end. So fake Kasumi’s version would be to reach gymnastics on the global scale that she’s mentioned before. Because that’s the only thing she cares about. How Sumire and fake Kasumi think are an interesting comparison. And it’s also only based on Sumire’s interpretation of her twin, but still a sort of instinctive reflection of herself. Judging by Maruki’s powers, it’s clear that what the wisher desired is a likelinesses of oneself. Unlike some of the other thieves, Sumire never wanted Kasumi’s return. And I don’t think it’s because she “accepted her death” when that can be open to a different meaning. She literally confessed when opposing Joker and Akechi that she couldn’t stand remembering the truth. Her being Kasumi is not a way to heal from grief. She could’ve viewed it as “Kasumi’s gone. I was the cause and I don’t want to remember that. I’ve always wanted to be like her, to move like her, all of it. I can be rid of my guilt and be the person I’ve always wanted to be. And I can reach the top like we had strived for. As the twin who had everything.” kind of mindset. To her, Kasumi and Sumire cannot coexist, there needs to be only one that remains. While it can be seen that her desire to be Kasumi is of survivor’s guilt and that her sister should’ve been the one who lived, it can also be for herself. She envied Kasumi to an unstable amount, and it’s implied that the two lacked communication about each other’s feelings. She wanted to be Kasumi, to be in her position as the best, to be thought of as such by her peers, and a spotlight dedicated for herself. This can be viewed as the unstable selfish side of Sumire regarding her inferiority and possible resentment towards her sister, because that also stems to jealousy. Her growing issues and struggles not only affects her, but also the people in her life. It isn’t just one defined thing that she believed Kasumi should’ve lived when she has a layer of internal issues that can’t be simplified.

To say her second awakening is about her rebelling against Maruki’s society is off. Including Maruki “changing the world”, because that is a doubtful outcome. Nyx is an exception since she’s an ancient being that’s been around for eons. She was brought up to answer humanity’s wish, death. Which has been their growing desire that’s been built up after thousands of years. And she was to bring the end to the entire world. Yaldaboath and Izanani, on the other hand, are different because their powers only stretch within Inaba and Tokyo. As far as we know anyways, Yaldaboath’s influence has only been over Tokyo. Like how the Dark Hour only happens in Tatsumi Port Island. The Dark Hour happened from the broth of the Kirijo Group’s meddling and failed experiment. Inaba fog and TV world was an experiment by Izanami who pinned P4 Protag and Adachi against each other to see who’d win. Yaldaboath made a bet with Igor over similar circumstances. Him with Akechi, Igor with Joker, and who’d be victorious with their own morals. It sets the reasoning behind the other world’s locations being in these places. It is an improbable chance that Maruki’s abilities are capable of affecting the whole world when he is a human being with a Persona and a Palace. Yaldaboath is the one with the obvious possibility of affecting the world into distortion and twisted desires, he’s a supernatural entity with inhuman abilities. Maruki’s may be amplified by his Persona with his Palace to back him, that doesn’t mean his powers are unlimited. They would reach to the extend of his own location. While Personas are capable and grow by strength, they are not invincible or superiorly godlike. Like taking over the globe. So the idea that Maruki took over the world in comparison to the true antagonists is inconsistent.

Yoshizawa had willingly agreed with his empathetic, yet misguided view that everyone can be happy. She wanted to go back to being Kasumi, not only so she’d forget her cause of death, but also to continue in a happy place of ignorance and position where she was the elder twin who had everything. Maruki’s Actualisation focuses on the deepest desire of a person becomes true. But that is not forced on everyone; aka, Joker and Akechi. Joker is easy to understand, he’s in a place where he is fine where he is, the present. He has no lost loved one, he’s free of his record, he’s made allies, he’s released the chains of fate tied to him, freed the city from corruption, he’s just in a good place where his life was already on track. Akechi has never been one to bow to false happiness and accept deceiving fantasies of having his own mother return or anything like that. It works for them beu see they are a mirror of each other that went down different roads in life. Though Sumire’s second awakening is at least a little more consistent, as she embraces her real identity, it doesn’t align that she’s rebelled against Maruki or rebelled at all. She has no will of rebellion in either awakenings, yet her both awakenings didn’t really matter. Atlus just added it for audience sake. Because deep down she’s already made that choice when returning to the real world and living as herself. Maruki’s powers weren’t forced down her throat, she wished for it and got what she had wanted like the thieves. But she already had this figured out when returning from his Palace. Her sister’s death is still fresh, her internal struggles haven’t gone away, her selfishness is still there, she accepts that Kasumi is dead but hasn’t made peace with it before her mind was blocked for fake Kasumi, something that was by her own choice.

Sumire and fake/real Kasumi had always wanted to be gymnasts as their profession before they even met Joker. And despite absences of confidants like Akechi, she was always the one with the least amount of appearances. Akechi plays an important key role for Joker, they are two similar yet different individuals who go as two sides of the same coin. Yin and Yang. Rivals. Haru only being relevant until Yoshizawa’s return is just one of many script changes by Atlus so that we’re reminded that Yoshizawa is actually supposed to be important.

It’s obvious that Kamoshida and the volleyball team were considered the ‘star’ when volleyball was the most mentioned sports in the school, with track second. And that was the case because of the Kamoshida drama. With the reputation of volleyball being under fire just as the school’s. Yet it is baffling how out of an entire school, Yoshizawa is the well known athlete when there should be absolutely way more recognized athletes that isn’t just defined by the volleyball team who do other sports. It’s a plot hole. It’s like saying she’s the only honour student in school, when Makoto and I’m sure other star students fit the slot, too.

The reason for Joker’s friends not attending the dance is a pretty lazy excuse. A plot hole. Saying that they’ve all unavailable for going home sounds so inconsistent. Especially since almost all the thieves attend the same school, including even Mishima, and with the number of them, at least one would’ve made sense to stay. And of course the dance scene is mandatory, even after a romantic event with someone else, because it’s too literally focus solely on Yoshizawa. That’s the whole reason Atlus made the dance interaction in the first place when it doesn’t happen in vanilla p5 during the festival.

The thing about me going about “Cendrillon doesn’t physically change” is the matter that Sumire, being fake Kasumi, carried the cognition that she was in full belief that she was someone else with a different conscience mindset. Even if Sumire’s mind may have been repressed and kept as a form of subconscious, what fake Kasumi believed in was real to her. As I’ve stated previously, fake Kasumi truly thought that she was the older twin until the reveal. Persona; the physical representation of a psyche, leaves some gaps. Because things like identity crisis, amnesia and other similar situations can affect and influence a person’s psyche greatly. It’s about knowing yourself, knowing who you are and what you stand for and stand by. Personas are foreshadowings and representations of the characters’ stories. They don’t change because the stories fill out all the way to the end.

Another thing, Cendrillon doesn’t fight, period. Not for others, not for a cause, not even for herself. Carmen and Milady are not the same as the fairytale damsel. Also because they are not damsels, they’re femme fatale oriented characters who do more in their stories. They’re fighters, in personality wise and mentally. They do not let men or anyone walk all over them. Carmen’s death goes with the lines that she will always be free, tied down by no one. She’d rather choose to die than be bounded in life. While Milady, made as an antagonist with no remorse for her actions, is executed for her crimes. The two women share many traits like deceit, sneakiness, cleverness, living their lives by their own rules with no regrets, even with the consequences. Cinderella can hardly be considered a Trickster. When, as I’ve mentioned before, aside from her fairy godmother makeover, she does not change in any way apart from her appearance. She didn’t even try to trick anyone when no body but her stepfamily would recognize her, and yet the stepfamily don’t even interact with her at the ball. The only characters (excluding animal friends depending on what version) that do anything in the whole story, are the prince and fairy godmother. The prince just lets her identity slip by him because of physical attraction and “love at first sight”. He’s the reason for how Cinderella ends turns out in her life, he made the decision to test every woman am with the glass slipper and put it into action. That’s really the glory of the slippers; her doing nothing and him doing something by hormonal attraction by first meeting. She can hardly even try to lie because he doesn’t bother getting to know her enough like a rational person when he immediately sees her and instantly decides she’s the one to marry after a dance and a conversation, which wouldn’t be much from a first meeting. She looks just like everyone else at the ball, so of course nobody would notice. This was all the fairy godmother’s doing in the first place.

Remember, Persona 5’s whole theme is about Tricksters, rebellion, and characters who stand by free will. That’s the entire point of the game’s story and symbolism. It’s Persona, all the games in the series have a theme with Personas basing off them.

The romance thing with Haru isn’t really anything new. In vanilla p5, Atlus pushes Joker and Makoto more as a couple, and they even had to act like one for Eiko, and have scenes in Futaba and Sae’s Palaces, or the other girls in a more mild way. But in Royal, it is so blatant that they changed things to ship Yoshizawa instead since she’s the poster girl. Okay

How does getting her father’s glasses have Sumire making her own choice when she was actually Kasumi? Her mindset was from her cognition when that event happened. It wasn’t actually her being herself. Her making her own choice can be the case for any scenario, but one that she’s always made was letting real Kasumi do what she wants. That was a choice. They’re twins, supposedly meant to be close, so she’d had to let her sister make choices for her when she could’ve spoken up about it at any point. And her being ready to leave the responsibility up to Joker can just be seen as consideration since he came all this way for a simple task. That’s normal for politeness and matters. It’s not that significant.

Her friendship with Maruki is normal, it’s not abnormal. But Maruki gives small amounts of manipulation and gaslighting to have her and everyone else under his powers. Maruki, you’re a considerate guy and all, but please NEVER counsel anyone ever again. To say that he’s “just that good of a therapist” by getting her all better is, ludicrous. How does this obvious shift of transition from her turning into fake Kasumi a sign that he’s a amazing at counseling when EVERYONE can see that she’s masquerading as her sister. The school knows this, her club, her teachers, her trainer, for the love of god her parents. You’ve also mentioned this that they do. She even vocally calls herself Kasumi and carries her sister’s ID. It’s clear to everyone, minus Joker and maybe others who don’t attend Shujin, that she is not fine. It’s such a weird contradiction that the people in her life are fully aware that she’s pretending to be her sister and yet act like that’s a completely normal thing when it’s her cognition, by the power of Maruki, that’s actually being affected. I feel like I’m repeating my points again, but parading around as a deceased person who has been in your life, is not how a person healthily recovers and heals from loss. That is not natural or normal. People should know that! Especially her parents! It doesn’t make any sense why it’s going this route other than another plot hole that Atlus made as an excuse so Joker wouldn’t find out about her identity sooner. It’s absurd.

I’ve mentioned the effect of her student status in the other points I’ve made a few times. It’s not about the gossip, the tests, skipping classes when she does not care for any of that unless it involves her personal goals of gymnastics. Otherwise, she doesn’t care for it at all. And I also talked about her processing of her sister’s death.

Which of her stalkings? Because Morgana did not even know about both these cases. Her confessing to tailing them thieves left just as much of shock to him as Futaba and Joker. The same for when she pops up in Maruki’s Palace on her own.

Joker has been the only person to see the blue butterfly. He’s a wildcard, he has the fool arcana, he’s contracted to the velvet room. Of course he can see it. Morgana can as well because he was created by Igor. Velvet room attendants can alter their appearances based off the other games. They are capable of turning invisible to the human eye when going into the human world or be apparent. But they are always viable to their guests. The thieves’ reason for being in the velvet room in the first place was because of Yaldoboath, the false god took them to repress their strive for justice and tried to manipulate Joker for a deal because he cheated on his bet with Igor and infiltrated the velvet room so he’d win. Impersonating Igor and splitting Lavenza so she wouldn’t recognize his true identity. None of that was Igor or Lavenza’s doing. It’s a similar scenario to P3’s the answer. Where it was that SEES reached their conclusion and conviction and were able to follow Aigis to the velvet room, just like the thieves when they reach their resolve and are able to leave their cells. Lavenza even stays in the nurse’s office as Joker recruits everyone to meet, but not all of them appear at once. The entrances to the velvet room are all in various locations between the real world and the supernatural. Public places that can by stumbled upon mind you. And nobody in SEES, Investigation Team, or the Phantom Thieves have been able to actually see the entrance. The Persona-Users. They just think the leaders are lost in thought or daydreaming. And as I’ve stated before, the interaction of the thieves being in the velvet room wasn’t even by the residents’ choice because of Yaldaboath. He infiltrated the velvet room.

The Phantom Thieves were put as a public symbol of inspiration for society to solve their own problems if they could help it. Of course everyone knows that the thieves can’t fix everything and make everyone hunky dory. Maruki’s rules aren’t necessarily by his rules, as the power of his actualisation depends on the person he can affect if they have a wish so deep, like bringing back the dead. It feels like Yoshizawa undermines the meaning of solving one’s own problems when there are times solving things on your own just isn’t enough.

That’s the thing with Sumire on the Marinette similarities. They get no consequences from the result of their actions, it’s excused and passed off, or the repercussions are light. While Sumire gets self confidence, no matter the little amount of time it happened, she goes back to being the same character as we saw her in the beginning. And wardrobe and hair are a big part of visual representation on characters. Her hair goes back into a ponytail with the red bow, and her glasses are gone. She looks exactly the same as when Joker first meets her in the ending. Everything’s the same. Just like her thief attire where she had truly sought for herself to be her sister. There’s nothing that differentiates them apart. Regarding Marinette, most of my opinions over her are similar to Youtuber Cyrus the Great’s analysis videos on the show if you’re curious. He’s pretty detailed and makes interesting notes about her and the cast.

#persona 5 #p5 #sumire yoshizawa #kasumi yoshizawa #persona 5 joker #p5 joker #akira kusuru #p5 protagonist #p5 violet #persona 5 royal #p5r #ren amamiya #p5 royal #phantom thieves of hearts #ramblings #opinions and commentary #inbox #inbox response