#and akechis like ‘THATS NOT WHAT I MEANT’ *kills him*

[miitokii]

ok so imagine if joker killed someone and the guilt stained his hands with blood forever

so he understands why akechi wears gloves all the time lol

btw i traced the hands from an anime called Beyond the Boundary (just search anime bloody hands and it’s like the first result), i wanted to focus more on the effect and the expression

also have some drawings of akechi i did with a different fit. imagine if joker had a dream with akechi in it with phantom thief outfit before akechi revealed his persona to the thieves lol

ALSO if you want more context for the joker killing someone idea, and an edit i did with these drawings to please the instagram algorithm, please see under the cut

ok so i was thinking about the PT’s plan against Akechi, and a common gripe i see is how the cognitions don’t die like that in other palaces, they just dissipate into black smoke. BUT ALSO other palace rulers don’t really see people as actual people unlike Sae.

so Kamoshida sees people as nothing more than dolls/slaves he can use how he wants, hence cognitive Ann just dissipates when sliced (a puppet with cut strings is useless). Okumura sees people as robots so cognitive Haru explodes because she’s a robot. Kaneshiro sees people as ATMs so they just malfunction and break down.

i imagine the cognitions in Madarame’s palace are kinda just like… 3D living statues, just there to admire Madarame’s work, so if they were killed they’d probably dissipate or crumble like Kamoshida’s. and obviously there are no cognitions in Futaba’s palace (apart from Wakaba, who has a whole boss) because she’s a shut in.

anyway, the PT would notice that cognitions have different behaviour even in death depending on the palace ruler, so to confirm the plan would work, they would have to kill a cognition to see what happens in Sae’s palace. Makoto is probably sure her sister still sees people as people so it would work, but she also knows it’s vital they check this. in a way it would ease her too, since it would be confirmation.

and of course Joker being the leader he is would volunteer to do the ‘deed’. so he kills an innocent, harmless, cognitive person, watches them beg for their life as he holds a gun to their head and fires. he knows it’s just a cognition so it’s irrational, but the guilt he feels is all the same, especially as he watches the cognition slump to the floor just like a real corpse and bleed out onto the floor. Unlike other cognitions in other palaces it doesn’t dissipate after a while, it stays there, because Sae, how distorted she may be, still sees people as people, in life or death.

ALSO even when cognitive Ren and the guard dissipate after a while, it’s not because they’re cognitions, it’s because Sae has by then found out the whole thing was a ploy. she now knows both Ren and the guard are very much alive - so then of course the corpses would disappear

leave out the Joker kills a cognition bit (let’s say they were confident enough in their reasoning) and it could basically be canon

lol anyway yeah i wrote that in a fic and wanted to draw it in a sort of quick sketch lol

anyway here’s the edit lol

[ophelia16stufff]

!SPOILERS FOR NOVEMBER!

i think akechi wanted to kill akira but he didnt want akira to die ykwim

like yes he probably only went with the whole 'joker, leader of the phantom thieves should die' thing cuz it was intrumental in his plan to be trusted by shido etc etc but

akechi killing akira is him winning, going all out, without holding back. the planning and conniving, like blackmailing his way into the PT, setting up the police ambush and staging the hit as a suicide, im pretty sure he was cackling like a villain thinking of all that but

after the hit theres nothing.

theres no one to accompany him to jazz jin, theres no one to make a perfect cup of coffee, theres no one to compete against in games, theres no one to have esoteric debates with, theres no one.

i wonder if he felt like his mother, who chose shido's and society's abandonment over goro's love, much like how he chose his hate for shido and society over his love for akira.

because till then it was simple; he had lost the one good thing the world had to offer him; his mother. after that, it seemed like the world was cruel and only had pity to offer on a good day, and hate to offer on others.

this mindset is further reinforced by witnessing the public's palace: mementos. now he had real, tangible proof for the mind of how ugly people's hearts can be. he must've truly lost hope in the good people can offer.

and suddenly joker and the phantom thieves come along and strike back at society not only for vengeance but also for protecting victims such as themselves? thats where i think he and the PT truly differ. not in their methods, but in their goals. killing the body and the self are both equal according to akechi's morals. he likely views murder and a change of heart to be equal punishments. both black mask and the PT are selfish in terms of methodology.

but the PT would never change a person's heart if they weren't a criminal by their standards. that's part of the reason they decided not to change sae's heart, and believed she could change on her own.

on the other hand, akechi had let 'innocents' get harmed for his own goals (e.g.: wakaba isshiki, the train derailment). he had caused mental shutdowns and psychotic breaks on people he had nothing against. he had compromised his morals for the sake of his goals, something the PT would never do. of course, this is within reason cuz towards the end of shido's palace we see him trying to refuse shido's requests of assassinations.

this is kinda what i think he meant by wishing he met them sooner. cuz when i think about it, he was trying to emulate the crushing guilt and pain that a change of heart would trigger on shido. the bigger they are the harder they fall- when shido finally had it all, he would lose everything because of his son who betrayed him, which would theoretically make him regret his actions of using his mother and throwing them away.

and i think meeting the actual people behind the masks of the phatom thieves back then, or anyone who genuinely wanted to look out for him would've given him back a semblance of something that the world had taken away; hope.

if only they'd met sooner :')

[kareofbears]

Ok. . . but can you give an in-depth explanation as to how you feel about akeshu?

yes. 

rest is under the cut since this is going to be a long answer 

im a big big big big big fan of enemies to lovers. love it. loved the initial hate, the heightening tension between two characters with conflicting situations or personality types. i love the anger, the arguments, the sighs from everyone around them because they’re tired of the repetitive beef. during quarantine, i even wrote out and gave a verbal presentation to my beta explaining how an enemies to lovers arc would work through writing and all the needed dynamics in order to justify a person falling in love with their enemy. 

and yeah, the process is the best part of it. i want to be able to see the transition between worst enemy to begrudged partner to lover. that’s the best part!!! the character development!!! the molding around each other and learning to accept their character flaws!! the willingness to defend that flaw in front of other people!! 

but here’s where the problem lies: akechi goro. 

oh akechi. oh akechi goro, the bane of my existence and the object of affection by everyone in this god forsaken fandom. look, i get it. it’s really really fucking hard to resist the charm of akechi goro, i admit it. he’s so interesting, he’s so in-depth, he’s so cool and rugged and he’s such a bastard that you end up kind of being obsessed with him, and that’s fine. I'm also kind of obsessed with him. 

but i don't like him. because he isn’t a likeable character. there’s a huge difference between thinking he’s a fantastic character and loving him. because i don't love him. i hate him. i despise him. he’s caused so, so, so much grievance, so much pain to so many characters in persona that it honestly impossible to give him a redemption arc. it’s not possible. even if you go down the Black Star route (amazing fanfic, brilliant work) it still doesn't redeem him. he killed futabas mom (which literally led her to her spiraling depression and self hatred and manifested intense mental illness that led to her isolating herself from the world and made her lose her mom that she loves so much) and killed haru’s dad (how on earth can you justify that one??? god, haru wanted nothing more than to just see her dad happy again) and killed so many other random people!! and don’t feed me that “oh he had a sad life” shut the fuck up literally everyone in p5 had a sob story and you don't see them killing people. he’s complex, not likeable. 

but here’s the good part: the game doesn't want you to like akechi. i mean it. they never said what he did was okay (never. they never said it was okay), they never said that you had to like him. all they said was that you had to work with him. even in the third semester, the one people are so insistent on calling a redemption arc, isn’t a fucking redemption arc. they just want you to see who akechi really is!! without the facade!!! all they want is for you to see how complex he is, see him spiral and angry and bitter and they want you to see him turn out the complete opposite of akira. 

and here’s where we actually start talking about akeshu

akechi and akira are two halves of the same coin. akira chose the side of justice (by ironically being a criminal) while akechi chose the side of vengeance (which is ironic, since he’s a detective.) see, even with that whole crime vs justice thing, they’re connected. the person who ruined their life is the same person (shido), they both have had hard lives. but they turned out as opposites, with akira having a much better life than akechi--which is why akechi is so obsessed with akira. what does akira have that he doesn't? why did he turn out happy when he’s still miserable? and that creates a tension (which we will talk about later)

akechi and akira are rivals. they are connected, they always will be. it’s a hero/villain narrative that we all love, it’s an interesting character dynamic. it’s fun to see them interact. 

but by god, it does not mean that akechi and akira are good for each other. i would go as far to say it would do akechi a huge disservice as a character if you made them end up together. 

remember how akechi is a complex character? if akechi ends up with akira, you would essentially be ripping out all of his complexity just to have both of them date. akechi doesn't want to be with akira, and if you honestly think akechi is in love with akira id be surprised because he’s not--he’s obsessed with akira, infatuated with him. what he’s feeling isn’t love, it’s the feeling of frustration. he doesn't care about akira, or anyone. he cares about himself, and that’s it. which is what makes him so interesting because this never changes throughout the entire game!!! that's so FUN!!!

and the game never wants you to forget that complexity!! because they never gave akechi a redemption arc!! they want you to remember him as someone who’s willing to die for himself. (and, in a way, that’s the extent of akechis mercy. because before shidos palace, he wasn't even willing to die for himself, you know what i mean? he was willing to die in shidos palace because that’s what he wanted, he wanted to defeat shidos cognition of himself, he wanted to save the thieves because they were the first to listen to him and understand him, but he didn't really do it out of empathy. he did it because he’d rather die than continue living shidos lie--funny because that how he ‘dies’ in the third semester. nice one atlus)

and i get it. the game gives them such an undeniable tension that its super easy to see it as love, but its not. it’s not love, guys. that tension isn’t love, because what it’s actually tragedy. it’s tragic that akechi can’t have happiness (in canon, at least.) it’s tragic that akira, the person who loves his friends more than anything, who would die saving someone he doesn't even know, it’s tragic that he can’t save someone who’s the most desperate to be saved. and that is why i love platonic/non-romantic akeshu, because i think that concept is way more interesting than them falling in love. it’s about akira’s obvious trauma that he couldn’t save everyone, it’s about akechi’s hard-headedness about not wanting to be saved because he’s been let down too many times for him to ever put trust into anyone again. 

it’s tragic. it’s meant to be tragic. persona 5 is a game about fighting for reality, and reality is fucking hard. so the fact that these two people have such a tragic ending despite what we, as an audience, are used to (happy endings), is part of the game. they’re not meant for each other. they won’t work, they don't work. that tension isn't made out of love or sexual tension--it’s stemmed from tragedy and hate and confusion and such a deep rooted sadness from inside of them. 

they both deserve better than each other. akira deserves to be with the friends he made in tokyo, and akechi deserves to be with someone (if he lives) who isn’t associated with the metaverse at all. he deserves a clean slate, he deserves a fresh start. he deserves a reset. 

and another reason is that akira loves his friends too much. he would do anything for them. it’s supposed to be funny--the wildcard, with no vulnerability, no weakness, has the most weakness out of all of them because he cares too deeply about his friends that if one single thing were to hurt them akira would fold like a deck of cards. you think akira would do that to haru? to futaba? yeah, right. he would never. akira can forgive but he would never forget. he’d never compromise. not for his friends.

so going back to the topic of enemies to lovers--akeshu is not enemies to lovers, because there are certain rules for enemies to lovers. enemies should be fun. it should be people on the opposite team with different perspectives. enemies should not be morally horrific. the ‘enemy’ should be forgivable. both characters should still come off likable. they should both be able to stand up on their own legs as characters even if you take away their love interest. for example, hermione/draco wouldn't work because draco calls Hermione a slur on many occasions. that is not forgivable. if draco instead, i don't know, cheats off her test or something and she gets mad and they have a back and forth thing, then sure, hermione/draco could work. 

a fantastic enemies to lovers would be snowbaz from carry on. uh, zootopia? thats a great one. natsume and mikan from gakuen alice is good too!! basically, there’s a lot of actual good enemies to lovers out there. enemies to lovers shouldn't be morally ambiguous. it should be fun. it should be the right kind of tension. the characters should be likable from both sides. and akeshu does not have that. 

tldr stan akiryu and akesumi instead 

[hirokiyuu]

3, 9, 12

3: What’s your favorite line of narration?

hm!!! this is a tough one wwwwwww bc there’s a lot of it that im proud of of so i went thru and pulled a few lines i Really like

“On the third day after his miraculous return to life, Akechi Goro rolled over on his side and considered, for the first time since his miserable failure, getting out of bed.” one of my strongest starters imo, plays well on the expectation of goro’s second chance versus the reality of it which in turns reflects the concepts of goro’s image versus reality that comes up a lot in pef wwww

“All those stolen moments from before -- catching him at the station, sitting at the counter in Leblanc -- none of them meant anything at all. Amamiya had never once let anything slip past his mask of indifference when he looked at Goro. They hadn’t been friends. None of the conversations they’d had had been important. Nothing they’d said ever mattered. In all those months spent in orbit as Goro had put the finishing touches on his master plan, they’d never meant anything to each other, not even a little bit.” i like this bit a lot bc i think it sums up p well the entirety of p5 events from goro’s pov pre-casino in terms of both his view on events and his justifications re:ren. i think a lot of the anger in the ship comes from him Genuinely Wanting a connection but hes so convinced it was all an act on his part that it doesnt matter u kno. and thats an attitude reflected both in pef in general and in this specific section so i like it wwww also the rhythm is good WWWWWW

“The next morning Goro woke up feeling like an abject failure, which was not unusual.” another strong starter WWWWW its got a good rhythm and a good punchline and a good bit of characterization in just a few words so im proud of it

“It felt as though he’d just invited the Metaverse in to sit with them at the table, the strange thick air of it juxtaposed with the bright lights of the diner” notable for being one of hte Very First pef lines i wrote nad also one of hte ones i was desperate to put into the story proper WWWWW  

“Once, long long ago, Goro had heard that certain species of animals saw eye contact as a form of aggression. It was something he thought about, occasionally, when he and Shido came face to face.” another long-lived line. really gets the shido+goro dynamic down i think

ok this is getting long so im stopping there. wwwwwww just know that i am a narcissist who likes her own writing style v much

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

LOL originally each palace was supposed to be a single chapter and it was supposed to switch povs btwn ren and goro. futaba wasnt supposed to be a big focus at all. very very early version was going back in time + meeting philemon meant he was no longer under yaldy’s protection and that exposed a palace, which was rapidly scrapped bc a) its more interesting if him killing ppl wasn’t distorted bc of the implications that has re:his psyche+worldview b) Akechi Goro Is A Fake Name And I Will Die On This Hill

12: What do you like least about this fic?

that im the one writing it and not a total stranger so i cant just enjoy the fruits of someone else’s labor

realtalk there are small errors + things that bother me from a production viewpoint but i wouldnt be writing this fic if there was anything in plot/characterization etc that i didnt think was good

[islelight]

CONT.  //  ♡.  //  @gorot

      AT  TIMES  LIKE  THIS  she  thinks  about  how  cruel  life  really  is .  how  brutal  &  merciless  the  world  &  all  the  people  in  it  are .  they  of  all  people  should  know  this .  they  who  had  both  been  brought  into  this  world  only  to  have  everything  taken  from  them .  they  who’d  lived  their  life  lonely  &  full  of  despair .  kairi  thought  this  connection ,  this  kinship  meant  something .  that  in  even  the  darkest  of  times  they  could  still  depend  on  each  other  to  guide  them  to  the  light .  but  she  was  wrong .  

      SHUT  UP ,  HE  SAYS  &  kairi  feels  the  words  plunge  into  her  chest ,  sharper  than  the  knife  she  held  to  his  throat .  he’s  never  spoken  to  her  this  way .  in  general  she’s  never  seen  him  behave  so  maliciously .  all  this  time  she’d  thought  she’d  gotten  through  to  him ,  that  she  understood  him  &  he  her .  but  it  was  all  a  lie .  everything  was  a  lie . 

      REALITY  CRASHES  DOWN  on  her  like  a  heavy  avalanche .  how  foolish  was  she  to  think  she  was  special .  to  think  she  could  ever  be  important  enough  to  be  let  into  his  castle  of  isolation  &  secrecy .  she  may  be  a  princess  in  name  but  those  words  mean  nothing  to  the  lonely  prince ,  who  preferred  the  company  of  his  secrets  rather  than  other  people .  he  fooled  her  with  his  warm  smile  &  gentle  touch  &  kairi  ever  the  fool ,  welcomed  him  with  open  arms .

      HIS  HAND  GRASPS  HER  WRIST ,  his  touch  once  tender  &  soft  now  foreboding  & unrelenting .  she  flinches ,  her  grip  on  the  knife  faltering  at  the  touch .  the  moment  is  brief  however  as  she  tightens  it  once  more  &  brings  the  blade  closer  to  his  exposed  throat .

      AKECHI’S  WORDS  HIT  HER  from  every  direction ,  piercing  her  &  wounding  her  in  every  way  imaginable .  had  she  not  been  so  determined  to  hold  herself  together ,  kairi’s  sure  she  would  be  crying  at  this  point .  i  guess  you  never  really  knew  me  at  all ?  he  asks  &  she ,  ever  questioning  despite  her  bleeding  heart  wonders  if  his  words  are  true .  had  this  all  been  a  lie ?  was  the  person  she’d  grown  to  care  for  &  look  after  merely  a  disguise  like  the  one  he  wore  now ?  was  the  foundation  of  their  bond  built  from  lies  &  deceit .  she  doesn’t  know  anymore .

      HIS  FINAL  WORDS  wound  her  worst  of  all .  his  provocation  to  end  his  life  sprinkled  with  the  concept  of  her  being  the  worst  of  all  the  people  in  his  life .  the  words  sting  &  bleed  like  they  were  freshly  cut  slashes  in  her  skin .  how  ironic  that  it’s  the  people  you  care  for  the  most  that  end  up  hurting  you  the  most .  but  this  isn’t  a  fairytale .  in  their  story  the  prince  betrays  the  kingdom  &  breaks  the  princess’  heart .  the  princess  finds  herself  forced  to  choose  between  said  kingdom  &  the  boy  she’s  come  to  consider  family .  but  how  all  families  come  to  tear  &  unravel  over  time .  they  should  know  that  better  than  anyone .

      KAIRI  STEADIES  HER  SHAKING  HAND ,  her  expression  hardening  as  she  attempts  to  free  herself  from  his  grip .  closer  &  closer  to  his  throat  the  blade  comes  until  it’s  smack  dab  against  his  skin ,  practically  nicking  him  as  she  still  slightly  trembles .  

      SHE  WONDERS  WHY  she  finds  it  so  difficult  to  take  the  plunge  &  end  it .  he  deserves  it  doesn’t  he ?  he  willingly  strode  down  the  path  of  the  enemy ,  walking  alongside  the  man  responsible  for  her  parents  murder .  how  funny  how  no  matter  how  much  you  call  your  friends  family  &  how  much  they  mean  to  you ,  some  will  throw  it  all  away  for  even  the  slightest  bit  of  acknowledgement  from  their  blood  family .  maybe  in  the  end  everything  they  had  &  everything  they  were  means  nothing .  for  here  they  are  on  opposite  sides ,  waiting  to  see  who  will  kill  each  other  first .

      BUT  SHE  WON’T  DO  IT .  no ,  she  won’t  lower  herself  to  that  level  &  be  like  him .  even  after  every  brutal  hit  this  world  has  thrown  at  her  she  mustn’t  grow  cruel  &  bitter  like  him .  she  must  keep  hope  &  light .  for  what  is  the  point  of  being  a  hero  if  you  allow  yourself  to  turn  towards  the  dark  the  moment  life  gets  too  much  to  bear .  perhaps  that’s  where  the  two  of  them  are  different .  &  thats  why  she  chooses  to  drop  the  knife  to  the  floor  with  a  thud .

      DESPITE  EVERYTHING ;  despite  the  lies  &  the  betrayal ,  despite  the  harsh  words  he  spat  into  her  face  kairi  finds  herself  unable  to  sever  whatever  this  bond  between  them  is .  maybe  it’s  because  he  was  the  first  one  that  she  had  when  she  had  no  one ,  maybe  it’s  because  she  can’t  let  go ,  or  maybe  she  desperately  hopes  that  deep  deep  down  there’s  a  piece  of  him  that  wants  to  do  good  &  be  good .  despite  everything  she  can’t  let  herself  give  up  on  him .  therefore  she  can’t  follow  through  &  end  this  story  for  the  both  of  them .

      ONLY  NOW  DO  THE  TEARS  begin  to  come ,  falling  from  her  eyes  to  her  cheeks  as  she  turns  away  from  him  &  begins  to  walk  away .  it’s  not  an  act  of  mercy  but  an  act  of  hope .  that  maybe  just  maybe  she  can  really  get  through  to  him .  ❛    get  out  of  here  while  you  still  can .    ❜  the  words  are  stony  &  firm  but  the  small  crack  in  her  voice  reveals  exactly  how  effected  she  is  from  all  of  this .  ❛    i  doubt  the  others  will  be  as  inclined  to  spare  you  as  me .    ❜  with  that  she  runs  off  in  the  other  direction ,  tears  falling  unbidden  as  she  wipes  her  eyes  with  her  sleeve .  she  refuses  to  look  back  at  him .  she  can’t  bear  to  look  at  his  face  again .