#its like. i know what you are akechi. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

megaderping · 13 days

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I had a random thought this morning... (SPOILERS for Persona 3, Persona 4 Golden, Persona 5 Royal Below) But is it really so hard to believe that a blood oath with Akechi would save him from his fate when there's a shit ton of precedent in the Persona series for miracles like this? o.o Persona 3 Portable: Shinjiro lives if you maximize his Social Link. Persona 3 FES and onward, Chidori's life can be saved if you do the right tasks. Persona 4 Golden: Maximize your bond with Marie, she gets to continue living in the human world. I don't think it's a coincidence that only if you maximize your bond with Akechi does he appear in the postcredits. And I hate all the excuses like "we don't know that it's him" because, guys. There is no other character in Persona 5 who wears that outfit. He only appears if you max his link. Why would Atlus tease Akechi's survival, which only happens if you go out of your way to bond with him, just for it to be a rando? They've stated Akechi's survival is up to the player in interviews and that the ending where he walks by is the kind of ending a player who wants him alive would see. And in the Persona world, a strong bond or wish can make miracles happen. You see it with Morgana, too, as his bonds to the Thieves are what allows him to stay in the real world as a cat. If anything, it's a testament to the strength in Akechi and Joker's bond if you have seen it to its conclusion.

I don't think it's a coincidence that when you speak to Muhen on the final day, with a max bond, Joker remembers the glove, remembers their promise, and is adamant that they'll meet again.

This is just a pattern in Persona. A really interesting one. You really don't need a deep, intricate reason for Akechi to live post-Royal (though that can be fun to explore). Sometimes it's just as simple as "a bond can make miracles happen." He gets the endure skill at Rank 10, which lets you survive a fatal attack, and this was only added in Royal. ;)

#goro akechi #persona 5 #p5r spoilers #persona 3 spoilers #persona 4 spoilers #persona 5 royal #p5 akechi #akechi goro

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vashtijoy · 7 months

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

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

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

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

Let's take a look.

tatakau: "to fight or battle"

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

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

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

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

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

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

It is excessively common in P5:

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

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

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

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

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

the phantom thieves' ghost murder victim

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

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

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

"take him out"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

context matters

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

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

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

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

when someone shows you who they are, believe them

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

but how does she really feel

Haru tells us her secret feelings in the safe room:

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

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

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

what is the line actually about?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

revision history

Click here for the latest version.

v1.0 (2023/10/13)—first published.

#persona 5 #p5 meta #japanese language #haru okumura #goro akechi #long post #justice for haru

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discotenny · 6 months

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I need more of Akechi fluff....

So how will he react to his lover suddenly griping his face and showering him in kisses while muttering sweet words only for him to hear and it's all gentle and soft my boy needs some love yk 🥹

What... are you doing to him?

Akechi sits there, utterly confused at your actions and affection. Staring into space as you lean on his bed, peppering kisses all over his face. Your lips are soft on his nose and it's strange. Your hands are gentle with his cheeks and it's odd.

His face scrunches and his mouth perks out in confusion- but you just take the chance to give him a smooch on his lips too.

Why are you doing this to him?

His mouth sputters at the sudden contact, mumbles of bewilderment and wonder leave his lips. You go back to kissing his face, whispering your own words in reply.

You're so beautiful. It makes me so happy to be called yours. You're one of the best things to enter my life. I love you, Goro.

Your words leave him all the more flustered. "Hey- hey- wait-" hands weakly grab at your wrists at an attempt to get you to stop your motions.

Who is he to deserve such sweet, sweet actions?

Your hands are so nice and your words are so lovely. They make him feel funny inside and he doesn't know how to express it because he never does. You've done this for what feels like hundreds of times in the past and yet his surprise always makes it feel like its the first.

The feeling you bring out inside him is incredible, he thinks. A spark of warmth and overwhelming care for another- a light of love and safety deep in his core. Your hands, your warmth, the wonderful whispers of affirmations, and the absolute joy he feels when he's around you.

Moments like these- he hopes he never gets used to it. Akechi wants to feel the spark, the light, the surprise, and the love again and again with the same intensity like it's the first time all over.

-----

I feel like I write worse when I write on my computer compared to my phone ?? Srry guys ajfjafeawjfewa. Thank youuu for requesting !! I love my boy sm sm sm I wish I can do him justice.

#persona 5 #p5 #persona 5 royal #goro akechi #goro akechi x reader #akechi x reader #persona 5 x reader #persona 5 royal x reader #persona 5 imagines #persona 5 royal imagines #persona 5 x reader imagines #persona 5 royal x reader imagines #goro akechi imagines

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immortalmsmoon · 6 months

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Hello:) I just discovered into your in blog and I love your work of persona I hope you don't mind me requesting even after you just drop a post :')

Akira and Goro (separated!) Going to some formal party w Fem!s/o and they got separated later in the party when he is trying to find her he sees her with a girl who was flirting with his s/o and his s/o is oblivious to that even tho the girl is holding her arm and pressing herself to her she thinks it's all friendly talk but the girl is trying to hint she wants a relationship with her that is more then friends and s/o not getting the hint and how will he going to react seeing this sight?

Sorry of it's bit to much or you don't understand that request:')

Have a nice day :3

What A Flirt!

Akira Kurusu and Goro Akechi

A/N: thank you so much for the request, and sorry i got to it so late! i hope you enjoy it!

Warnings: mentions of third semester in Akechi's, other than that, nothing!

Word Count: 830

Akira Kurusu~

he's trying his very best to stay calm.

He can see that your uncomfortable so he tries to get to you as fast as possible

Honestly his reaction depends on his mood

if he's in a bad mood, or is maybe a little less confident with himself, he is quick to take his place beside you, his arm wrapping around your waist.

he chats with you, completely ignoring the person who was trying to flirt with you

if the person finds the courage to speak up, he sends them a death glare. seriously, if looks could kill this person would be 6 feet under

showers you in affection afterwards, and pouts if you don't return his affection :(

if he's in a good mood, and confident (most of the time), then he strides over to you, pressing a kiss to your cheek before politely telling the person bothering you that the two of you are together and you are NOT looking for a partner

kind of a gentlemen about it ngl

Even with that silver mask adoring your face, Akira could still tell that it was you. You stood out to him, even in a room full of masked faces.

The two of you had been invited to a masquerade ball, and you were both incredibly excited to go, to the point that the two of you decided to match outfits.

you looked so gorgeous, that even the person beside you seemed in awe.

the person beside you....

at first, he continues on with what he was doing, gathering drinks for the two of you. He trusts you...its not like you would prefer this girl over him, right?

the slight moment of hesitance has him glancing back over to you, only to see your awkward smile, and the women pressed up against you, with her arms wrapped around your arm.

that's all it takes for Akira swiftly walk over to your side, eyeing the girl who was chatting up a storm with you, before gently yanking the arms of the women off you. he turns to you, pressing a kiss to your cheek. You giggle, pressing one to his cheek in return.

the women beside you cleared her throat, obviously embarrassed. Akira raised an eyebrow, daring them to say anything. The women gulped, before turning away, face burning.

Akira turned back to you, flashing you his charming smile and enjoying your attention that was now only on him.

Goro Akechi~

his response also depends on his mood, and also which version of him your dealing with (before or after 3rd semester)

if your with Akechi before 3rd Semester, then he puts up his princely facade and deals with it in a responsible manner, cheerfully letting the person know that you have a partner.

appears seemingly out of no where

his charming smile puts them at ease

does tell them off in a condescending way about touching things that don't belong to them

not a big fan of PDA, but he will rest one of his hands on your lower back, and occasionally he will lean down to press a kiss to your cheek or whisper something in your ear

3rd semester Akechi is a whole other deal

even more condescending and patronizing

he makes them feel TERRIBLE, and then smiles about it

acts the same way PDA wise, but allows a smirk to rest on his face, and is kind of a tease, whispering about how adorable you are

either way, he stops this person before they can get close enough to touch you

Akechi finally had a break from work.

it had been weeks since the two of you were able to truly spend time together, so he figured a date between the two of you would be perfect. he let you choose.

thats how the two of you ended up at an outdoor ice rink, his brown jacket wrapped tightly around him as the cold nipped at him.

His scarf was wrapped around your neck, and he couldn't help but think how cute you looked, the scarf nestled up against your soft pink cheeks.

he looked away for a second, going over to put on his own skates, before standing back up and searching around to find you. it didn't take long.

You were skating slowly beside another girl, and Akechi tried to think nothing of it, until he saw a flirty smirk cross the girls face, and saw them slowly moving closer to you.

he got over as fast as he could without looking weird, coming up between you and the other girl just before she could come to close to you. he turned to the girl, asking if the two of you new each other. when you said no, he introduced himself, stating quite clearly that the two of you were together. she got the hint, and made up a quick excuse before leaving the two of you alone.

he reached for your hand, and the smiled. Finally the two of you could have some alone time.

#persona 5 #persona 5 x reader #p5 #goro akechi #akira #persona #ren amamiya #goro akechi x reader #ren amamiya x reader

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nenchainzz · 9 months

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those prompts are all so good and cute omg i love them!! can i request prompt 2 'Kiss So That One of You Shuts Up' with saiki kusuo? i just think its so fitting lol

Hiii Cami!! Thank you!! I'm glad you like them!! It is very fitting with him, lol

For your sweet kiss with Kusuo <3

Your mind has been going a mile a minute from talking and your thoughts. Kusuo thought Akechi was good at thinking and talking in paragraphs but you? You could have Akechi beat. Of course, Saiki wanted to listen to every word, but hearing you speak and your thoughts simultaneously made his mind spin. He knows that you’re discussing many topics with him, and he’s trying to keep up. He would never try to tune you out or lose interest in you. Maybe everyone else in this world, but never you. He tried to say something or communicate with you using telepathy, but those proved useless.

“So, then he went down to the basement and tried to use his flashlight, but it was out of battery,” you continue to patter on about the latest horror film you saw. “Of course, I knew a jumpscare was coming because I mean – duh – it’s in the dark, and it’s a horror movie.” He thinks of a way to get you back down to earth. There was something that Mikoto and Yumehara said about a way to get someone to stop speaking. He searches his mind quietly and remembers what they had said. When he remembers the method, he goes into full effect.

As you’re still talking, you feel Saiki grab your hand and bring you closer to him as he kisses you. Your eyes widen in complete surprise, but you’re about to deny a kiss from Kusuo Saiki. You close your eyes as you realize Kusuo is continuing the kiss. He leans his forehead against yours when you break apart as you relish the kiss.

“You were rambling, sorry,” he mutters.

“It’s okay, it was nice,” you smile.

#\^o^/ Answered!!#thecaminator #sweet kisses drabble event #kusuo #saiki #kusuo saiki #saiki kusuo #kusuo x reader #saiki x reader #kusuo saiki x reader #saiki kusuo x reader #the disastrous life of saiki k x reader #tdlosk x reader

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thedaythatwas · 20 days

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TW: Hegel.

So, what’s up with Shuake and dialectics? Click below to watch this user (who is not a philosopher) give this (frankly too invested) analysis a shot!

Something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is the fact that most– but not all– of Joker’s confidant routes involve some sort of transaction. Joker does something for someone, Joker gets a favor in return. Joker’s identity revolves around what he can do for others. He’s got a different mask (haha game mechanic is narrative device etc.) for everyone in his life.

Getting a little bit in my head about this led me to a (not-all-that-novel) realization: Akechi’s confidant route is largely non-transactional. Sure, he says that he wants to meet with you to talk about the Phantom Thieves, but that more or less directly translates to just wanting to hang out with you. The “favor” that you're doing for Akechi, if we follow the logic of some of the other confidant routes, is spending time with him. (Which is of course also about getting close to Joker for metaverse recon purposes… But I’d argue that amounts to more or less the same thing in the long run anyway). Really, that’s what your relationship with him is, up until you realize the heart he needs you to change is actually one of the big-bads of the game. And at that point… Well…

Where am I going with this? I’ve also been thinking a lot about Hegel (I’ve seen some really fun posting about Akechi and Hegel on here this past week– thank you philosophy P5R tumblr!). Akechi’s paraphrasing of Hegel goes a little something like “advancement cannot occur without both thesis and antithesis.” Hilariously, this is how he frames his desire to talk to you more, his flirting is just like me forreal I understand him etc. etc. BUT! The interesting thing here is that the game is cueing you to view your relationship with Akechi through the lens of Hegel’s dialectics.

More on that to follow, but first, I want to plug the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy’s page on Hegel’s Dialectics here– If you haven’t used it before, SEP is a reliable, peer-reviewed source. It’s great. I use it like. All the time. It’s good for getting the gist of big ideas when you don’t have time to read full texts. (Also if I get any of this wrong please know that philosophy is not my field and I’m totally open to constructive criticism.)

Hegel’s dialectical process revolves around three key moments: the moment of understanding, the dialectical moment, and the speculative moment. These moments can also be referred to as thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. The moment of understanding, thesis, is the point at which an idea is seemingly stable. In the dialectical moment, antithesis, this idea “sublates” itself– the idea is challenged and destabilized because an inherent contradiction in the idea has been made apparent–importantly, part of the idea is preserved. The speculative moment, synthesis, negates the contradiction. A new idea takes form, containing elements of the original idea that was sublated (Marx’s theory of history, anyone?)

This process continues on and on. Ideas naturally reveal their contradictions, are destabilized, and resolve their contradictions through the creation of a new idea, which is challenged again. This is because the dialectical moment does not come from outside an idea. Antithesis is not an external push against thesis, but rather, the moment when thesis is forced into instability because of its own tightly-bound restriction.

So back to what I was saying. The game kicks off your relationship with Akechi with a nod to, uh, all of that. Could this be a throwaway comment? Of course! But it’s much more fun to work under the assumption that it isn’t. So bear with me. Akechi is framing himself and Joker as thesis and antithesis. What does that mean? Why do I think it has something to do with Akechi and Joker’s relationship being non-transactional?

Previously, I’ve thought that in the context of their relationship, Akechi represented thesis, and Joker antithesis. This isn’t exactly true (at least per the criteria above) but I do think I was on the right track.

At the beginning of his story, we can think of Akechi’s worldview as thesis. The world is a stage, and he is a performer. His entire life is dedicated to destroying Shido. It’s a key narrative element of P5 that Akechi doesn’t have confidant relationships (as contrasted by Joker, who has many confidants and becomes stronger through building up those bonds). He views himself as deceiving literally everyone in his life for his goals– his “fans,” his father, the Phantom Thieves. He doesn’t trust, because to him, trust is failure.

Still, he’s starving for approval, and not just from Shido. You can see the inherent conflict between his desires and beliefs in just about every interaction he has with Joker, particularly those where Akechi overshares about his past. He desperately wants someone to hear him. I don’t think his (primary) aim in that was to strategically win Joker’s trust by showing vulnerability– if that was all he was going for, I doubt Akechi would have been so honest. He omitted information, sure, but he gave Joker the honest-to-god broad strokes of his childhood.

When Joker comes into his life, Akechi comes to realize that his stable worldview might be wrong. Watching Joker and the rest of the Phantom Thieves reveals the cracks in his own internal logic. Joker has friendships and he is stronger because of them. When Akechi sacrifices himself for the Phantom Thieves on Shido’s ship, we see his moment of synthesis. If Akechi really still internalized all of what he said in his “Teammates? Friends? To hell with that!” monologue, he wouldn’t trust Joker to change Shido’s heart in his stead. To be clear– he probably would have reached this point with or without Joker’s intervention. Joker just happens to push Akechi towards self-sublation a little bit faster.

In Royal, we see a new iteration of Akechi. He doesn’t really regret his actions, and he is still very distinctly Akechi, but we can see that his original perception of the world has made a shift. He is willing to team up with Joker. While he may not place a great deal of faith in all of the PTs, he certainly has real trust in the protagonist. He’s learned that he can be recognized (dare I say loved?) without being perfect, and accordingly, his driving desire for approval has been displaced by his desire to never be so completely under anyone else’s control again.

But ok— that’s kind of an old take. Perhaps a hotter one: I’d also like to propose that Akechi does the same for Joker.

As mentioned above, Joker’s identity for most of the game is defined by what he can do for the people around him. While a large part of this has to do with the fact that he is a playable character, this is a game, and a game needs to have things for you to do– it wouldn’t be very fun otherwise– it also seems pretty clear that this is part of his characterization. Joker is selfless to a fault. Like Akechi, he is a wildcard who can take on multiple personas. Unlike Akechi, instead of having a handful of personas directly linked to the core of his character development, Joker has as many personas as you want him to. He literally has a mask for every situation. You can equip a persona of the correct arcana to level up your relationships faster– a game mechanic, but also, an interesting meta statement about how Joker bonds with his confidants.

In Royal, however, Joker has the option to do something for himself. His greatest wish isn’t for someone else's happiness– it’s to have Akechi back, for selfish reasons, I would argue. Joker can sacrifice reality to keep him in his life, and depending on the actions you choose to take, sometimes, he does.

Loving Akechi teaches Joker to be selfish. This is especially poignant when you think of how adamantly opposed Akechi is to staying in Maruki's reality. Giving up the true reality to keep Akechi is a wholly selfish act on Joker's part, nothing altruistic about it. And if he doesn't make that choice? Well, don't forget about how Joker spent his wish.

He would have learned how to do this without Akechi– one tends to realize that neverending self-sacrifice is unsustainable sooner rather than later. Again, Akechi just pushes Joker towards effecting that self-sublation a little faster.

By spending time with Joker, Akechi learns that there are people he can truly trust. By spending time with Akechi, Joker learns how to put himself first. Their confidant relationship from this perspective is not only transactional, it’s actually one of the most transactional relationships in the game. Joker actively impacts how Akechi sees himself and the world around him, and vice versa. Their relationship is profoundly transformative for the both of them. To paraphrase Akechi, advancement cannot occur without both thesis and antithesis.

But also, we can forget dialectics for a second. Even without a fun analytical lens, Akechi’s confidant route centers two misunderstood people who find understanding in each other. That’s enough for me!

#persona 5 royal #p5r spoilers #shuake #goro akechi #akiren #time allocation decisions were made today

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