#but if you pick ricardo its your sisters best friend+kinda your boss in a life or death situation which personally i find extremely funny

[sidesteppostinghours]

pulps law is that whenever i get insane enough about something, i will inevitably attempt to make a persona 5 au, regardless of whether or not i am successful at it.

[sidesteppostinghours]

i am being ENABLED. @idlenight this is on YOU 🫵

#anyways guys youre never going to guess what au ive been thinking of lately .#i know the correct way to go about this is make sidestep the main character but you see#i will not be doing that. and actually in fact i will not be following the storyline of persona 5 in the slightest. because lol#but morgana exists in this au purely because i dont think the others would survive without him explaining what the metaverse is 💀#the rangers are a team of detective for the public sector in this au#and dr mortum is an unassuming everyday scientist that should not peak the rangers interest in any way. at all#in the video game that exists in my head the player can pick between playing julia or ricardo#it doesnt change the storyline that much but it does make the character relationships funky so#in my head chen is best friends with julia and argent is best friends with ricardo#chen and ortega stumble into the metaverse together so if you pick julia its two best friends in a life or death situation#but if you pick ricardo its your sisters best friend+kinda your boss in a life or death situation which personally i find extremely funny#regardless of which ortega you play with the other one doesnt know about the metaverse until id say like. the end of the first palace? beca-#use thats when they start getting suspicious#and because this is ortega they follow them and find out about the metaverse that way#i dont think they become a phantom thief but i think they do end up covering the others asses irl#dr mortum still isnt actually a doctor but i think theyre the one providing medicine to them at the start of the game#theyre extremely wary of the rangers at the start and ortega can barely convince them to sell them things which they still charge-#-extremely high over. i think the turning point comes when they discover the metaverse because holy fuck they are So excited about it#both because of the implications and what the metaverse could be used For#chen is not thrilled about letting them know this but theyre kind of their supplier so its not like he can argue#i think mortum joins the phantom thieves eventually but as a navi#obviously its in their best interest to provide everything for free now that theyre part of the team but they still have to order supplies-#-so i think the way it works out in game is that theres certain days supplies can be ordered and you have to pay for it but the items can be#-picked up at any day of the week#but also i have no idea how that would work practically (its all in my head anyway so it doesnt actually matter but yk)#theres still more thoughts about this but im ✨running out of tags✨ and also i cannot organize my thoughts enough to explain it

my tags from the last reblog because most of the context is there (and also because i got yelled at to put it on post 😔). i ended up changing a few things but theyre gennnerally the same. n e way:

i dont know how to draw cats 👍

the twins!! plus morgana. i forgot to mention in the tags that ortega and chen stumble into the first palace like in p5 canon lmfao. morgana got roped into staying with them after he leaves the metaverse because 1. a detective would be a Massive help with finding his memories and 2. npc!ortega caught him talking with pc!ortega and chen and was charmed enough to adopt him. he couldnt stay with chen because quote, "i already have a pet. i cant deal with another one." morgana was Very offended at the implication he was a pet. like the outcome was Good, it was what he wanted, but come on man >:(

npc!ortega was v happy to have morgana over, i think other than their twin, he ends up being the person they basically rubberduck all their theories to. i kind of wanna make them basically the sojiro of this au, but also. the idea of npc!ortega getting into the metaverse and losing their beloved pet because thats A Person and not actually a cat is so good to me. i think if they do end up in the metaverse though, pc!ortega and chen would have to convince them not to join. gotta protect your sib and all that, but i think chens argument of "we need somebody to be our alibi while were in the metaverse" would actually win them over. theyre a good liar so i think they could keep them hidden for a While.

OH YEAH, speaking of chen, i think after escaping the first time, he Really didnt like the idea of going back to the metaverse. ortega had to be the one to convince him to go back and that was after hitting a roadblock with their own practical investigations.

smth i cant really figure out is if npc!ortega finds out at the end of the first palace, or around the middle, because i have this really clear image of them helping pc!ortega find supplies. theyve built up a pretty shady web of contacts– the result of years of trying to find leads for the twins private investigations– particularly, theres a little known scientist theyve heard about named dr mortum that might be able to lend their services.

concerning dr mortum, i dont think they join the phantom thieves until at Least the second palace, or midway through it. theyd be Fascinated by the metaverse, but id say theyd probably enjoy it better as an observer than being thrown into the thick of it. also, i think theyd find the vigilante work of the phantom thieves as risky and pointless, most likely the first person that really calls into question the morality of what theyre doing (not because they care about that sort of stuff, but as a way to neutrally point out their hypocrisy). ALSO. I JUST REALIZED THE SYSTEM I MENTIONED IN THE TAGS WAS NOT NECESSARY IN THE SLIGHTEST BECAUSE THERE IS SOMEBODY IN GAME THAT COULD ALREADY PROVIDE MEDICINE

the detectives probably have their own medical team they can go to right? but ortega and chen couldnt really go up and ask them for supplies without looking suspicious. but when dr mortum joins the team– well, im ngl to you, i dont think dr mortum would keep quiet about that to one of their closest friends. i have this scene where ortega and chen are getting questioned and about to have their cover blown when dr halabi comes in and saves their ass out of nowhere, after which the three of them have a Very illuminating conversation (wherein ortega gets extremely pissed that mortum kept this from them)

as for the rest of the rangers, i dont really have as much about them :') i havent thought about them as much. this is angie though!

she Knows something is up with chen and the ortegas, she just can Not for the life of her figure out what. oh, and i think daniel is the first one to find out about morgana being snuck into the workplace lmfaooo. he doesnt say anything about it but he Knows. hes the only one i have a persona in mind for– i think his would be hermes!

anyway, thats p much everything i have figured out so far. thank you for reading this far if you have!

...

oh, you wanna know about sidestep and anathema? nothing much to say. anathema was just one of the string of mysterious deaths out of nowhere. sidestep was a private detective the ortegas were fond of that disappeared around the same time it happened. presumed dead, but theres no body, so of course the ortegas are still trying to find them, the paranoid, hopeful fools. something about hollowground? whatever, its not important.

pulps law is that whenever i get insane enough about something, i will inevitably attempt to make a persona 5 au, regardless of whether or not i am successful at it.