#if makoto were ever to make him a matching mask

[pixelatedraindrops]

The Masked Twin CEOs ☔🎭

[dreamzghostz]

TELL ME ABOUT THE TALENTSWAP AU NOW!!!

OKAY, I'M SO GLAD SOMEONE FINALLY ASKED ME ABOUT THIS.

So, this Talentswap AU, it's like the average killing game

*Oh no, Celestia (the protag) got kidnapped and forced in a killing game with 15 other students. She finds Kiyo (the support), and they have to escape, waaaah*

To be honest, what inspired me to make this are Danganronpa V3 (I like how they have features like Scrum Debates, Argument Aranments, and Mass Panic Debates), and the Danganronpa: Another series

So, yeah, everyone's talents are swapped. If you click on the "Danganronpa: A Dice of Despair" tag, you can see everyone's designs and talents. So, what I mainly want to talk about are the characters, their talents, and their personalities, backstories, etc.

There will be a LOT of yapping below, so keep reading if you wanna

‼️‼️TRIGGER WARNING FOR MAJOR SPOILERS IN DANGANRONPA, DARK IMPLICATIONS, AND PERSONAL/SENSITIVE TOPICS‼️‼️

Celestia Ludenberg - Ultimate Lucky Student: So, in this AU, Celestia is the protagonist. She has a mix of her and Makoto's personalities. She can be cold and a douche at times, but she does care about everyone. Here, she has a mix of good luck and bad luck, but they both work at the same time... Somehow? Her real name is still Taeko Yasuhiro, and she made up her fake name to hide who she really is since her family has very dark secrets that could easily crumple her reputation if spilled. Hence why she also doesn't believe that she's really the Ultimate Lucky Student.

Korekiyo Shinguji - Ultimate Swordsman: Here, Kiyo is the support/deuteragonist. Celestia runs into him after escaping into the gym. In this AU, he's aloof, smart, but also starts showing kindness after a while. In Chapter One, he's the one to snap Celestia back to reality after she has her initial panic. He can come off as a bit hostile, but that's because growing up, he didn't have many friends as he spent most of his time training since his family are mostly famous warriors.

Sayaka Maizono - Ultimate Gambler: In this AU, she's more of an anti-hero then an antagonist. She's pretty rude and demanding, and she uses Kiibo to her advantage since he's the Ultimate Butler, and growing up, she had many butlers and maids to her aid whenever she needed them. Eventually, in Chapter Two, Sayaka starts to see that Celestia isn't a bad person, and starts to open up to her. Sayaka's cruel and sadistic personality stems from her childhood where her mother was killed by being burned, and her father basically abandoned her, so Celestia's really the only person she likes. Also, she ALWAYS wins every gambling match (Always? ALWAYS.) As well, she's a bit narcissistic, and thinks she's above everyone.

Byakuya Togami - Ultimate Gamer: Here, Byakuya is more of like an AI (like Chiaki), because his father wanted an heir, and none of his kids were "fit for it". So, Mr. Togami got a friend to create Byakuya. Though, Byakuya was never interested in the Togami Corporation, and took an interest in video games instead. He's a bit insensitive, but does mean well. He doesn't express much emotion, but is protective of the people he cares about, and he has a deep sense of justice. He knows his father doesn't love him, but as long as he has video games, he'll be happy.

Chiaki Nanami - Ultimate Pop Sensation: In this AU, Chiaki is a human. She's a lot more energetic then her game counterpart, and is like who she was in Danganronpa 3. Ever since she was a little girl, Chiaki had dreamed of being a famous star, despite her parents' wishes. She loves to write songs and sing with her group, even though after Chiaki gets trapped in the killing game, her girl group gets killed by the Ultimate Despair, which sends Chiaki into despair, though she masks it well. She'll write a song for everyone in the place, and she'll sing it as loud as she can. She's a great friend to have, like a golden retriever!

Gundham Tanaka - Ultimate Traditional Dancer: So, growing up, Gundham's home life was pretty bad. His family was VERY strict on what he ate, what he wore, and what he said. His house was near a street, and every afternoon, he would sneak there and feed all the tabby cats, making him gain their trust, and making him feel a sense of comfort. He's kind of an asshole in the AU, since he had a bad home life, and it left a huge mark on how he viewed people. Unfortunately, he doesn't want to warm up to anyone, as he's secretly scared they'll just use him, so he closes himself off, and he only trusts the tabby cats.

Hajime Hinata - Ultimate Inventor: Hajime's mother was rarely in the picture, causing him to develop a very close relationship with his father. When his father got ill and passed when Hajime was ten, he found all his father's unfinished inventions. Determined to finish them, Hajime worked for hours, nights even, to make his father proud. Hajime gets his vulgarity and bluntness from the highschool he was at before Hope's Peak Academy, since the crude and rudeness was basically the norm at where he was. Also, yes, Hajime is Izuru in this AU, though I'm still trying to figure out how to write that.

Mahiru Koizumi - Ultimate Astronaut: She's the Antagonist of the AU, so I probably should have placed her up way higher, but I'm too tired to change it. So, Mahiru's mother was an astronaut, and Mahiru has always been intrigued by space. In the village she lived at, she would tell the younger kids stories about space and amazing astronauts, forming a close bond with them. Unfortunately, a few months before Hope's Peak, Mahiru's village was burned down, leaving Mahiru homeless. When she saw the advertisement for Hope's Peak, she took it in a heartbeat. She's kind, a little naive, and protective to make sure she can keep everyone as safe as she can.

Mikan Tsumiki - Ultimate Pianist: School was a very tough time for Mikan, as she was always the targeting of bullying, though she felt safe in her music class. After a very traumatic event, Mikan basically clung to her piano, playing it every day, as many times as she could. She's shy, but also very determined and kind, and she's quite skilled at the other instruments other then piano! Which she personally finds to be very cool!

Nagito Komaeda - Ultimate Anthropologist: Nagito's house was very close to a library, so every day, after school, he would stop by the library and find a book. The ones about culture and evolution were the ones that intrigued him the most. He spent most of his childhood in the hospital, so the library was like a safe space for him. He's also aloof, but somewhat disturbing and also mature. He has to keep a close eye on Hajime, so he's basically Hajime's babysitter (lol).

Sonia Nevermind - Ultimate Detective: Sonia was always very smart, even as a young child, so she didn't have very many friends as she got frustrated by people who weren't as smart. One day, the detectives brought her in to see if she could help them with a case, and she solved it, pretty quickly. She can solve cases quicker then the average detective can. She's pretty quiet most of the time, but she also has a strong sense of justice, is no-nonsense and quick, and she really doesn't have as much empathy as she probably should.

Kaede Akamatsu - Ultimate Princess: So, Kaede is the princess of Japan, so she also has to follow strict and unfair rules. She often but heads with her parents since she wants to actually be her own person and not follow their rules. Her parents had arranged a marriage for her, and when she found out about this, she quickly signed up for Hope's Peak to escape this. She's kind, charming, curious, and always willing to learn. She may not give the best advice, but she tries her best!

Shuichi Saihara - Ultimate Artist: Shuichi here seems like your average Joe. He doesn't really talk highly of himself, and he just does art as a hobby, so he wasn't really expecting it to become his actual talent, lol. Despite all of this, he's fairly nice and pretty chill, but can also be pretty morbid due to the fact he was born and raised in an unusual church. No, he isn't religious. Also, he loves art, but he doesn't draw eyes when he draws people, as he finds it difficult to do (this will come in handy later).

Kirumi Tojo - Ultimate Magician: Growing up, Kirumi always loved magic. She was a street magician for a while before being allowed to enter a school that allowed her to embrace her interests. She's kind, energetic, and kooky since she had been seen as a "weird kid" by most people growing up. Despite this, she's incredibly loyal to those around her, and she can be scarily serious when she needs to.

Kiibo (Idabashi) - Ultimate Butler: So, in this AU, Kiibo is also human, so I will refer to him as Kiibo Idabashi. He always loved helping people, despite what they asked him to do. His father, Professor Idabashi, spent a lot of time on robotic engineers, so that led Kiibo to wander off... a LOT. He always enjoys to serve people, and he enjoys Celestia's company. He doesn't like Sayaka much though, as she uses him. There are also times where he feels empty, like a robot. Though, he's hardworking, devoted, and can take on even the hardest of tasks.

Rantaro Amami - Ultimate Photographer: Rantaro still has twelve sisters in this AU, and they always loved for him to take pictures of them, to where they would even ask him daily to take pictures of scenery they liked and outfits they liked. Rantaro found himself enjoying photography, even in the darkest of times. At first, he's bossy and a bit stubborn, but he eventually learns to trust his classmates and even befriends most of them. After that, he's kind, still a little stubborn and bossy, but more willing to hear others out. Also, him and Korekiyo become quite close very quickly!

I'm SO sorry that I talked more about the characters and their backstories then their roles!! I'll make a relationship chart of them in a post eventually. Also, this took a long while and isn't my usual content, so my bad! Also, if you read all of this, thank you 💕

[pugs-cats-bb-8]

P3 Reload Part. 1

The new opening song gets better as it goes on. It doesn't match the vibe of the game.

The opening reminds me of Dancing.

I guess peaceful is the new safe?

You can't change off Merciless? I think Q2 does that. I know Strikers does.

They tell you right up front. You will die. Imagine living with that weight for an entire year.

Cut scenes don't look like shit. 🤣🤣

Who makes someone take a train at midnight? Doesn't Japan have curfews?

Did you always have control from the beginning?

They went overboard with the 5 graphics.

Makoto isn't fazed by the coffins or blood. 🤣🤣

Wasn't the walk to the dorm longer?

Creep who escaped from prison.

If I didn't know they replaced the whole English cast. Mitsuru sounds like she hasn't changed.

Yukari can't lie🤣🤣

Looks like 4's calendar.

I like how Yukari's hair is more like Ultimax.

Yuko and Kaz🤣🤣

The teacher sounds older.

I think they redesigned the principal. He looks like his bangs are going to become wings. 🤣🤣 🥔

Ren😍😍

Their faces are very smooth. Like too smooth.

I swear to god I thought those sinks were unrinals. 🤣🤣 Who puts sinks in the hallway? They are asking for someone to piss in it.

Big ass school.

Why does everyone have their first and last name pop up every time they talk? Is this left over from the original? Or did they think people would forget someone's first or last name unless they saw it every time somebody talked? Like I'm bad with names but I'm not that bad. And if I am then I most certainly hate you.

That old man looks like King Bumi.

The old lady looks like an alien 🤣🤣

I think he has dementia.

The shoes lockers look like filing cabinet drawers.

The carpets? look like putting greens.

I like the clock time of day screen.

I still don't trust Ikutsuki. But now he reminds me of Maruki. And Maruki is trustable in the beginning.

I'm not the authority on Japanese culture but Akihiko Sanada-kun is a bit of a mouthful in English.

Still breaking so many laws.

I don't like the new dark hour animation.

I don't like the new Velvet Room animation.

Igor and Elizabeth look like they came from MMD.

Igor looks creepy and he's giving me evil Igor vibes. Did they change Igor's VA again?

'Da bomb' 🤣🤣 I haven't heard that in Years.

Goh.

Karaoke box?

Poor Junpei. 🤣🤣

I love how everybody is immediately suspicious. They telling you to go to sleep. Like I know the plot. But if you don't it's very suspicious.

"A loud noise woke me up". I sleep through anything. I would not be getting up. "I should check what's happening". Where I come from you don't check what's happening. That how you get hurt or killed.

I like the chase music.

I like the original one 'here's a shadow' scene better.

How many knives does it need?

Nice scream.

Coffin boy.

I like how the Shadow turns his mask to look at you. 🤣🤣 Is that how he sees?

I don't think I ever used Thantos in Royal.

I still don't like Mass Distruction.

I love how it sounds like Orpheus was the only Persona who wasn't lazy. Like you could get anyone.

I wonder how many times Igor has to explain this to people.

You sleep for 8 days. Woo! Coma!

I like the new dorm theme.

I think them being in a club makes them more suspicious.

Aren't you supposed recruit new members?

Akihiko looks like a fashionable grandpa. 🤣🤣

The back of the chair looks like a lyre.

I like the fool's little winer dog.

Poor Akihiko's fan girls. He just brushed them off. 🤣🤣

Did Junpei always have his sentaces trail off?

I was not sold on Akihiko's new voice at first. But I like him.

There's so much equipment! So, either the equipment is dirt cheap or it rains money.

The fusion menu looks like doormats.

The cards attack you? I like animation for failing the fusion. 🤣🤣 They smack you in the head.

Kenji's like Mishima. He justs worms his way in and I don't like him. I think I know who voices him but I can't think of his name.

"It might look weird". How about it's totally illegal and hella creepy.

Disco teacher with a tooth sticking out.

Always nice when the class doesn't turn against you for getting a question wrong.

Everybody seems to be enamored with you to a creepy degree. I'm used to 5, where they largely ignore you. (Which, for me, is the way to go).

"That takes care of everything that was damaged. Except, of course, Akihiko's rib cage". 🤣🤣 Poor Akihiko.

Ren🥰🥰

That dude is going to break his knee.

There's nothing to do at night.

So, baton pass.

That looks like Heracross.

I misread Bufu as beef.

Jack Frost goes up to the shadow and starts a fight. 🤣🤣

They sometimes come with an item? Is this Pokemon?

I like the yeah, yeah song. Although, it sounds like it should be in Kotone's path.

Tartarus is big, empty and boring. Making it bigger just empathizes how empty it is.

I like driving down every single floor in Mementos. Also, how the fuck many floors do you have to do at a time before Mitsuru tells you that you're done for now?

She types like a 12 year old. 💀 Like when I was 12 I didn't type like that. Rule of thumb for bad typing. Would you English teacher kill over? If so, you might want to fix it. Like I'm not saying you have to type in full on proper grammar. But if you type like a 12 year old swearing in Minecraft then. It just makes you look immature and might cause people not to talk to you.

Those fuckers are frozen. I thought they were air people like in 5.

We just bought a URL from a shady man in a club we're not ever supposed to be and we're going to go look it up? Does nobody have common sense?

Your wage can increase?

Pretty teacher 😍 She reminds me of K-pop idols I've seen.

Lots of stuff takes up a time slot that shouldn't take up one.

No octopus and low chance of status ailment? Then how is it takoyaki? Also why would I want that? It sounds like mystery food. 🤢

The kid extorts you.

You just poisoned the child. Now she wants a red bull? What kind of child is this?

Also a "nice cold one" that's usually how beer is described.

[drtenebres]

who are the most developed/most focused on characters right now??

Thanks for the ask!! It’s hard to say who is the most developed character right now, due to so many brain cells trying to work together, but we’ve all got our own individual ones we’re working on that we feel the strongest about !

@shslstraws :

blah blah blah this is where jude talks about oumota -Snelly (SHAAAAADDUPPPPP -Straws) 

Kaito (My beloved) - A commonfolk who was oblivious by the magic world around him until he inevitably is pushed to it, by living his new life as a Tenebroso werewolf. The cause for how he became a werewolf is unknown, and he tries to keep away from his friends and family to protect them from this “curse”. Kaito gets in a mix of mages and eventually meets with Kokichi, a plague doctor who claims he can cure him. He slowly realizes and comes to face the reality that is Tenebres. 

Kokichi (Most developed??) - A mage who lived in an orphanage until he gets adopted by two mages, Nagito and Hajime. Kokichi dreams of being far powerful than both his dads and going back to recruit the other orphanage kids to his upcoming organization. Until he gets a set back when he takes things too far with the magi academy, he gets demoted to a Plague Doctor; a low status of a mage. It is until he meets Kaito, on one of his duties, and believes if he figures out the mystery behind Tenebrosos, he will earn the right to regain his place back in the academy. 

Shuichi (Most Focused on ATM) - Born from the great Kyoko Kirigiri and Makoto Naegi, there are a lot of expectations put upon Shuichi since he was very young. The expectations were too high and too heavy to carry that Shuichi decided to leave behind that life and the Kirigiri name. He meets up with Rantaro who gives him the ability of a werewolf, and thinks he can finally start anew. Until he faces the same problems with being a werewolf and being part of a pack, Shuichi decides to live amongst the commonfolk with his new friends Kaito, Kaede, and Maki by his side. 

@baylardian-1 :

Kyoko (Most focused on) - A detective who grew up working under a large magefolk entity in the specific branch that deals with magic-based crimes. Kyoko is telepathic with a hindered use of magic due to a strange curse covering both of her hands. Because of her ability to read minds and the overwhelming loudness many voices can create in her head, Kyoko prefers working alone. Eventually she retires from her occupation and becomes a private investigator alongside her husband Makoto.

Hifumi (Most developed) - A hamster familiar most closely resembling a smitten patsy for Celestia Ludenberg. Not having many friends he impulsively chose to follow a pretty girl one day and has never ceased. Initially out of threat, Hifumi would perform healing spells for Celestia after her hunts in addition to take care of her every beck and call. Nowadays their relationship takes on a more unspoken respect and fondness for one another.

Mukuro (My beloved) - A Tenebroso werewolf nearing closer to being 400 years old in age. Born a mage alongside her younger twin sister Junko, many events surrounding their past are shrouded in mystery. As a Tenebroso she has an unnaturally extended life. Mukuro is naturally covered in scars and physically looks to be reaching her mid 50's-early 60's. She is most often however seen to be disguising herself as a young girl.

@snellymain :

Kiyo (Most developed) - A socially reclusive vampire with a guilty conscience and a sworn duty to feed by killing swiftly rather than turning anyone else into a vampire; since he hates his vampirism and his sister that cursed him with it. Has a huge fondness for humans and anthropology after his controlling sister's hatred for them caused him to have extremely limited interactions with them. Ends up committed to a mage named Angie while the unwanted spirit of his sister began haunting him after many years of being dead.

Mahiru (Most focused on) - A standard mage with very little powers and a high respect for her non-mage mother, matching her disdain for her mage father. She got into photography as she had no attachment to her underwhelming magic, until her mother urged her to go to an academy so she wouldn't let her powers go to waste like her father did. After doing so, being out in the world more, she met Hiyoko and Hiro; in which she happily adopted the former and angrily married the latter.

Angie (My beloved) - A healing-based blood mage raised communally on an island, she heals others wounds with their own blood and often secretly takes their blood for her own use while doing so; mostly to feed her partner Kiyo, but she also has a fascination for blood of her own, initially being a result of her village's blood sacrifices and now a result of her blood magic. Generally a loud nuisance, though a medically helpful nuisance, in her academy.

@samsquatchem :

Doodle + blurb done by Snelly ♥

Yasuhiro (Their beloved) - A nomadic powerful mage with a wide variety of powers, mostly focusing on clairvoyance and near-limitless telekinesis; generally wanders around getting money wherever he can but spending it horrendously, ending up in a constant flat circle of time. He’s basically homeless; not out of poverty but what he considers convenience and tax evasion, for the most part and bums around Mahiru’s place. Close friends and a father figure to Hiyoko, (much to Mahiru’s initial dismay) the two bond over their shared tendency to wander and be in a new place every week + magic that neither know how to use properly, she became quickly attached to him due to him being the first person to talk to her after she ran away from home. Hiro is able to see the future but unable to speak it verbatim or else the opposite outcome will come to fruition, he can only nudge clients in the right direction of his visions. Most people think his magic is a scam and he’s the most useless mage ever.

@sutexii :

Chiaki (My Beloved) - A wooden mask enchanted with a human soul, powered by dream juice and magic robotics. Created by Chihiro to live in the dream realm (where u go when u sleep + also where the killing games take place) to gather data on it for Chihiro’s research, and help those in it travel safely. Has a deep fascination with the unpredictable and strange, and enjoys seeking out new knowledge wherever she can. Still likes her games, and while originally given access to some to help entertain those she’s traveling with, she just ends up hoarding them herself.

Tenko (Most Focused On ATM) - Commonfolk w/ a smidge of monster that comes out when her anger peaks. Abandoned due to said anger issues as a child, and taken in by Aoi and Sakura. She had a very Ghibli idyllic childhood, having adventures with friends and delivering donuts for her mom. Learned martial arts from her mom, taking a particular liking to Aikido, and through it learned to control her anger. Follows childhood crush Himiko around to protect her, leading to her entering the less than legal artifact smuggling trade with her later in life.

Aoi (Most Developed) - Water elemental with a love for baking donuts and raising/rehabilitating carp. Married to Sakura, having met when she wandered into the pond in her family’s abandoned dojo and decided to stay to fix it up, motivating Sakura to fix the rest of the place up in turn. Very carefree, friendly, and laid back, loves kids and taking on the “fun auntie” role. Never worked on her humanoid appearance much at all until motherhood, Tenko enters their life and it became hard to hold back a feral monster baby with fins.

@Soupcifer_ :

Nekomaru (Franken-maru) (most developed) - A reanimated corpse who was brought back to life thanks to the help of Kazuichi and Mikan. Unfortunately, he has amnesia and thus no recollection of his past friendships and family. He's a lot more quiet and mellow in comparison to his old self which makes him seem pretty dull, but in actuality he's being rather attentive and simply trying to understand everything that's happening. He does a lot of behind-the-scenes work when no ones looking like cleaning up after Kazuichi and setting reminders for Akane (still a team manager at heart).

Gonta (My beloved) - A vampire raised by werewolves. He only recently came to terms with being a vampire as he lived most of his life assuming the form of a wolf. He has an obsession with bugs, classic literature, and vintage clothing. Gonta likes to follow around a few of his friends, Angie and Korekyio (wink), and be of assistance whenever he can. He unfortunately has trouble dealing with his vampire nature sometimes due to only having lived with werewolves, so he often turns to Korekiyo for help.

Chihiro (most focused on) - An electric elemental! Chihiro is the creator/parent of Chiaki and Monomi. They have a passion for creating things that run on electricity and magic and as a result created their two lovely daughters (that and to investigate the dream realm). Chihiro also has the ability to possess electronics and machinery! Despite being incredibly small, they can emit a surprisingly large amount of energy which makes possessing large or complicated machinery an easy task.

[sonofanumbranwitch]

P5S Seven Heavenly Virtues PT.5. Akane Hasegawa and The Jail of Kindness.

So the next few Jails are kind of different from my last few because I actually feel like they match their sins rather well. Akane is supposed to be the Jail representing Wrath and this actually fits her perfectly with her anger towards her father and the injustice of the world. But we’ll need to change a few things to make her fit my concept for Akane “Jophiel” Hasegawa.

So the first changes I want to discuss are the aesthetic and design changes to her Jail because they are the more blantant ones. The whole shrine aesthetic of the original are cool and all but they don’t really have anything to do with Akane’s monarch aesthetic. Perhaps in the sense on how it relates to her mourning for her mother.

But her Monarch’s whole thing is she wants to be a Phantom Thief. So instead of the shrine the Palace is a dark city for anti-heroes to run around in. Think the aesthetics of the early 1990s Batman animated series.

Also the Jail has been expanded to be a full jail with Prison Keeps and everything. A Chekhov’s Gun that was never triggered is the fact Akane has over 50,000 subscribers to her Phantom Thief stream. So the first thing she did when she was changed into a Monarch was give all her subscribers her keyword and steal their desires. Now people all around Japan are dawning masks and capes and are throwing themselves into dangerous situations in order to be “Heroes of Justice.”

I also was having a hard time trying to figure out how to make kindness as a virtue a bad thing. But then I remembered how kindness can be harmful toward one’s self if they allow their kindness to make them forget about their own needs.

So our next change for Akane’s story is her relationship to her father. It’s still rocky but she doesn’t open express her anger towards her father. Instead she’s been bottling up her feelings. Trying to put on a strong face for her father instead of allowing herself to work through the trauma of losing her mother. A lot of inspirations come from Riley’s journey from the Pixar film Inside Out. By denying her feelings she’s only getting angrier deep down but she does it because she doesn’t want to burden her father.

Zenkichi of course is aware that his daughter isn’t doing as well as she pretends to be. But given how shaky their relationship is he isn’t sure how to address the problem. In comes Makoto who is able to connect with Akane given her own experiences having a police officer for a father.

Makoto will be playing a larger role in this Jail overall. She acts as the mediator for Akane and her father. Helping them to communicate their struggles and start towards rebuilding their relationship.

“Akane I understand how you feel. You put on a strong front for your father, but deep down your in terrible pain. You both are! You’re father has tried his best to endure the pain of losing your mother just like you. But two need to be honest with each other or you’ll never stop having that pain. Once you lose someone, it’s too late to say the things you need to. I waited too long to tell my father how I felt and I lost my chance. Please learn from my mistake. I would give anything to have the opportunity you have.”

Akane’s boss form is inspired by the Joy angels from Bayonetta. Akane wants to be a phantom thief so her boss form has her copying the move sets of the thieves. She splits herself into these Phantom Thief clones and there is now a series of one on one match ups instead of just fighting Shadow Joker. The thieves eventually figure out they beat the shadows by switching opponents with each other. Ex. Ann and Yusuke switch opponents because they can take advantage of each other’s elemental weakness and so on.

The Jail ends much the same with Zenkichi finally having a real heart to heart with his daughter. Akane finally lets lose all her pent up feelings. Her sorrow at losing her mother, her frustration with the justice system that failed her, and her complicated emotions surrounding her father.

“I know you want me to be happy dad. But I’m not. I haven’t been for so long, ever since mom died. I knew what really happen but no one believed me. And then I saw just how sad and angry you were. I felt like I was going crazy. I didn’t want to make you feel worse and I didn’t want feel anything at all. So I just forced myself to smile. Please don’t be mad at me.”

“Oh honey. No. No no no. I could never be mad at you for that. I’m sorry for all this. I never should have let you feel like you had to hide your emotions for my sake. I was afraid of losing you, so I buried ideas of justice for your mother. So I’ll set things right. I swear I will find the criminals that hurt my family and I will bring them to justice.

“So you’re really going after him?”

“Yes. I promise you… and your mother.”

At this point I would just be retyping the dialogue from the original version, which just goes to show how good Akane’s Jail always was. I actually felt conflicted about changing the nature of their relationship at all, but I feel like the core idea here is still the same. Namely how trauma had strained this relationship between a father and daughter and how they need to come together to face it head on instead of pushing it down.

[auncyen]

Ok ok so I'd been idly thinking about updating "Chats with Joker in Mementos" for Royal for a while, except as far as I know there aren't any transcriptions for the Royal Mementos chats like there is for Vanilla...

So...after some questionable use of my time, I now have a list of a good chunk of the starters in Royal. Only starters, not responses, since the point of the fic is having Joker be the one to respond, and I didn't transcribe ones I didn't think would be interesting for him to respond to, but still, if anyone does ever look to do a complete transcription, this might be helpful as a start? Or just interesting if you want to see what some characters talk about. Spoilers for third semester below cut.

Ryuji: Man, we really bust our asses to get stronger in here. I wish it meant we got stronger in the real world too.

Ryuji: Man, I had this horrible dream last night… Can’t remember a thing about it, though.

Ryuji: Ya know what? I guess Mona does have a mask, technically.

Ryuji: Yo, the way he jumps behind Shadows is so sick!

Ryuji: Yo, is it just me, or is fallin’ asleep getting tougher every night? At this point, I’m outta ideas of what to do.

Ryuji: Kinda fiendin’ for some ramen right about now… Maybe I’ll hit up Ogikubo when we get back.

RyujI: So lately, I’ve been tryin’ to work some training into my nightly routine before bed.

Ryuji: Hey, is it just me, or is Morgana’s sword basically the same size as Joker’s knife?

Ryuji: My mom made gyudon last night! My fave! Now I’ve got, like, fifty times more energy than usual!

Ryuji: This phantom thief stuff feels real as hell whenever he’s flyin’ around with that grappling hook.

Ryuji: Dude, that grappling hook is awesome! He looks like a freakin’ superhero with that thing!

Ryuji: Aww man, I just can’t get enough of those Akihabara maids…

Ryuji: Aren’t knives kinda hard to use ‘cause of their shortness? I definitely prefer my own shit.

Ryuji: I always thought darts looked easy—just aim for the board, y’know? But, it’s waaay harder than that.

Ryuji: Every try the monja in Tsukishima? That stuff is LEGIT.

Ryuji: Yo, does this outfit really make me look like I’m part of some biker gang?

-

Morgana: Listen, it’s not that I look like a cat. Cats just happen to look like me.

Morgana: I repeat: I am not a cat. To prove it, I took an actual bath yesterday.

Morgana: So, cats love to chase mice, right? I don’t get it—where’s the fun in that?

Morgana: I’m always so entranced by Panther’s whip technique!

Morgana: Panther, we have matching tails!

Morgana: You know, I’ve never actually been in a car before. Is it anything like I am now?

Morgana: I definitely made the right decision giving him the code name “Joker.”

Morgana: I’m willing to bet Joker’s skilled enough to use throwing knives.

Morgana: Anime, books, movies… Phantom thieves sure are popular.

Morgana: Last night I dreamt that Phantom Thieves were kicking some serious butt—let’s bring that dream to life!

Morgana: I can teach you everything you need to know about being a phantom thief. Relax—you’re in good hands!

Morgana: *yawn* I didn’t get enough sleep…

Morgana: I couldn’t fall asleep at all last night. I just laid there with my eyes open…

Morgana: I like Yongen-Jaya; it’s a great place for a stroll.

Morgana: Is Shujin Academy the only thing in Aoyama?

Morgana: I was vegetating in front of the TV last night, and I have to say, there are some pretty decent shows on now.

-

Ann: The bakery had a sale yesterday and I ended up buying everything they had!

Ann: The Ferris wheel is a must for me at theme parks, every time. I love being able to just relax.

Ann: I have an upcoming shoot at a theme park, but what sucks is how I can’t go on any of the rides.

Ann: Last night I dreamt I was eating a chocolate bar, then all of a sudden, it got mad and started chasing me!

Ann: Every once in a while I have a dream where I get chased by a Shadow…

Ann: I’ve been sleeping really well since I started getting all this exercise.

Ann: I was up late watching TV last night, so I might be a little sleep deprived…

Ann: I tend to do my clothes shopping in Kichijoji—it’s fun looking through all the resale shops.

Ann: I hate when people ask me to say stuff in English just ‘cause I lived overseas.

Ann: It always bothers me when foreign movie subtitles leave stuff out or take too many liberties.

Ann: I was talking to my overseas friend the other day—her straightforward attitude was really refreshing!

Ann: I was talking to Shiho on the phone and before I knew it, three whole hours had passed!

Ann: Joker seems like he’d make a good cook, doesn’t he? I mean, he’s great with his knife and all…

Ann: It’s actually quite exhilarating to attack with a whip. I wonder why that is…

Ann: Whenever my foreign relatives come to Japan, they always rave about how much they love Japanese food!

Ann: Do you think there’s anything I can do about my outfit? I feel like I stand out too much in this…

Ann: Is there a difference between a whip and a grappling hook?

Ann: Ya know, Skull’s always been into skull designs and stuff.

Ann: Wouldn’t a grappling hook be awfully handy in the real world?

-

Yusuke: I wish to paint the world as only I see it. The best way to succeed at this is through practice.

Yusuke: It’s fun to walk around and inspect different temples and shrines. The architecture is always impressive.

Yusuke: If Shadows are sentient, do you think their being moved by a painting would invoke a change of heart?

Yusuke: There have been times where I was compelled to create three-dimensional art.

Yusuke: I’m quite curious about Mona’s Western-style sword…

Yusuke: I hear whips are quite difficult to use. Where did you learn how to wield one?

Yusuke: Joker using a grappling hook…. That would make for a picture-perfect composition.

Yusuke: Mona, what exactly do you have in those pouches?

Yusuke: Creating a piece of art is pointless unless I can convey the full essence of the subject.

Yusuke: Art museums stimulate my creativity like no other place—I wish I could live inside one.

Yusuke: Skull and I both use long melee weapons, but they’re total opposites of one another.

Yusuke: Why does my outfit have a tail? I don’t understand…

Yusuke: I considered growing my own bean sprouts, but it seems to be more expensive than buying them grown.

Yusuke: I once had a dream that I washed up on a deserted island. I painted as much as I pleased… So wonderful.

Yusuke: I may specialize in Japanese-style painting, but I’d like to learn some Western techniques as well.

Yusuke: That grappling hook is very useful. I should find a way to utilize one in my daily life.

Yusuke: The other day, I went into the mountains to gather vegetables so I could cut back on food expenses.

Yusuke: I tried to paint a landscape of the starry sky once, but it’s quite difficult to do so from within the city.

Yusuke: India ink isn’t my specialty, but I’ve been experimenting with it in some recent work, just for fun.

-

Makoto: I may have stopped being a doormat for adults, but people are still calling me a “teacher’s pet.”

Makoto: A phantom thief’s body is their most vital asset. We need to make sure we eat balanced, nutritious meals.

Makoto: Do you enjoy visiting theme parks? I’ve rarely been to one myself.

Makoto: Fox looks cooler using his katana than I had originally imagined.

Makoto: I had the weirdest dream… I was at school, but I was wearing my phantom thief outfit.

Makoto: Would anyone care to learn how to drive, while we’re here? This place seems as good as any for practice.

Makoto: I know it’s not very healthy, but I do enjoy eating ramen from time to time.

Makoto: Once I’ve graduated, I’m going to buy a motorcycle and go on a road trip.

Makoto: I’ve been working on my grades because I still want to attend college, despite being a phantom thief.

Makoto: I want to read a certain book, but it’s out of print. Where do you suppose I could find a copy?

Makoto: Maybe I’m just burned out, but waking up has grown awfully difficult lately.

Makoto: The grappling hook’s cable seems pretty strong, but it’s scary to think what could happen if it snapped.

Makoto: Once my sister brought home some sushi for me. It was indescribably good…

-

Futaba: I heard rhythm’s an important part of fighting, sooo… I started playing a rhythm game!

Futaba: There’s going to be an event tonight in the MMO I play. I can’t wait!

Futaba: This MMO I’m hooked on is really cool. Do you wanna play with me? Oh—it’s in English, though.

Futaba: I’m about to beat the game I’ve been playing. Wonder what I should play next?

Futaba: I’ve been going outside a lot more, so now I’m sleeping way better than I did when I was a shut-in.

Futaba: Guess what? I’m making a game called “Hungry Hungry Mona”!

Futaba: You know who’s a really good driver, is Sojiro. He can parallel park with his eyes closed!

Futaba: If you could shoot grappling hooks from your hands, you’d probably be able to get around just using those!

Futaba: Ya know, I’ve thought about workin’ out and fighting alongside you guys.

Futaba: You guys should try playing shooters! It could help you improve your gun skills.

Futaba: Last night I had a dream my hard drive failed… That was scary.

Futaba: Wouldn’t it be cool if you could mod the grappling hook so it was electrified?

Futaba: Sure, the internet’s convenient, but it’s not like it can do everything. Don’t overestimate its capabilities.

Futaba: I wonder if I’d be okay going to some place by myself if it wasn’t crowded. Inokashira Park seems nice.

Futaba: Yesterday Sojiro bought me my favorite instant yakisoba!

Futaba: Maybe I should get a gun too, just for self-defense… Nah, my hands need to be empty.

-

Haru: I found this cafe in Kichioji with phenomenal tea—would you care to try it sometime?

Haru: I ordered kusaya but they refused to make it—they said they couldn’t get the smell out of the kitchen.

Haru: I feel like I need to learn more about the world, but I’m not sure how to best go about it.

Haru: Recently, I’ve been finding rare delicacies rather enticing…

Haru: Even lately, I sometimes dream about doing phantom thief things with Mona.

Haru: If you’re having trouble getting yourself to relax, I recommend herbal tea.

Haru: Asakusa is a wonderful area—I love how it’s this blend of the old and the new.

Haru: Ever since I started high school I’ve been taking the train in the morning, but I’m still not used to it…

Haru: Queen, your mask looks like it’s made of iron. Doesn’t it get heavy?

Haru: Joker’s so acrobatic! He’s really got the hang of that grappling hook.

Haru: I don’t think I’ve gotten this much exercise since I was in ballet.

Haru: Let me know if you ever get a tear in your clothing—I’m good at sewing, so I could most likely fix it.

Haru: I dreamt that the vegetables I’d been growing all died… I was so sad.

Haru: Your weapon seems fun, Skull. Do you want to swap sometime?

Haru: Sometimes it’s impossible for me to fall asleep on days that we’ve been to Palaces, no matter how tired I am.

Haru: You know, before this, I’d never considered using an axe for anything other than chopping firewood…

Haru: My hands have gotten all calloused… I supposed it comes with the territory in gardening.

-

Akechi: I have no intention of changing my stance on matters, no matter what anyone may say.

Akechi: Pancakes... I don’t want to hear that word again for a long, long time.

Akechi: We don’t have much time left. Please do what you can to avoid getting sick.

Akechi: The enemies are stronger than ever. Don’t let your guard down.

Akechi: A world that panders to your every whim is so mundane. Where’s the thrill if there’s no competition?

Akechi: Do you prefer my previous outfit or this one? Moving around’s become much easier for me.

Akechi: This place is immense. If there weren’t train tracks everywhere, I’d bring my bike here.

Akechi: We’re working under the constraints of a time limit, so I’d appreciate it if you could be more efficient.

Akechi: If you’re looking for a way to train both your mind and your body, I highly recommend bouldering.

Akechi: You think I’m frightening when I fight? Well, I’m afraid you’re just going to have to accept it.

Akechi: I meant to tell you, regarding Shido… Thank you for keeping your promise.

Akechi: You may not like working with me, but I’m counting on your assistance until our goal is achieved.

Akechi: When we’re riding in the car like this, it’s easy to forget that we’re actually inside Mona.

Akechi: The Shadows here behave differently from the ones in the Palaces, don’t they?

Akechi: I’m getting a bit hungry. I should’ve eaten beforehand.

Akechi: I enjoy spending time in Kichijoji. It’s not very big, but there are plenty of trendy shops.

Akechi: Riding in the car may beat walking, but it doesn’t stop my legs from growing stiff and sore…

-

Sumire: I have a few different superstitions for good luck in my routines… They get sort of hard to drop.

Sumire: It was already hard for me to believe Palaces existed, but to think there’s such a massive one under Shibuya…

Sumire: It’s a bit cramped in here with this many people…

Sumire: I get stiff all over from just sitting in the car.

Sumire: Why is the one desert you get to eat during the week so delicious?

Sumire: A phantom thief outfit represents a person’s image of their rebellion, right?

Sumire: I wonder if I should try incorporating another sport into my gymnastics training.

Sumire: I wonder what I could use as inspiration for my performances…

Sumire: Swords are actually pretty hard to wield.

Sumire: Whenever I travel, I always end up buying some sort of good luck charm.

Sumire: Your outfits are all so unique. I can see coordinating them wasn’t a priority.

Sumire: This time of year, a heating pad’s an absolute must for keeping warm.

Sumire: Sometimes people will just walk up to me and ask me to show them a standing split.

Sumire: I’m in top shape today! Let’s keep going.

Sumire: Do you all stretch beforehand? You could pull a muscle if you don’t.

Sumire: It’s too bad gymnastics competitions aren’t on TV more often.

Sumire: Fighting makes for a pretty good workout, doesn’t it?

-

while I didn't transcribe responses, I did notice something a bit disappointing: neither Sumire nor Akechi seemed to have responses for anyone else. It's possible I missed one?? But not being able to remember any, they must not have many if they do have some. A bit odd.

[bokutosbiceps]

Hi! I hope you're doing well. I can ask for the reaction of Hanamiya, Seto, Hara, Akashi and Nijimura to the words of their fem s/o: "Kagami is hot!"during the viewiof Seirin's match in the Winter Cup. Please.

i gotchu, i hope you enjoy )))

ps. IN NO WAY DO I THINK KAGAMI IS AN UGLY IDIOT THAT’S BENEATH ANYONE. IT’S JUST FOR THE STORY LOL. but i mean ,,,, he kinda is an idiot ya know ?

akashi stays calm. he’s confident + sure of himself. he knows that you love him + that you’d never even consider cheating on him,,,especially with kagami taiga. he might feel a small pinch of jealousy + it bothers him that he’d even feel jealous of such a huge idiot. he knows he’s way better than kagami in every single way + he knows your tastes are refined.

“Pardon me?” Akashi turned to you slowly, his eyebrows raised in slight surprise.

“Kagami’s kinda hot, don’t you think?” You said again, a grin plastered onto your face. Akashi feels the jealousy leave almost immediately upon the realization that you were trying to get a rise up out of him.

“Not particularly. I’d prefer you.” He chuckled, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and pulling you close to him.  

hanamiya is so amused. he’s like pfft kagami ? hot ? in her fucking dreams. this girl wouldn’t know hot if it hit her in the face. he can’t deny, though, that he’s a little bit jealous. he starts to wonder if you like tall guys or less intelligent guys, and he hates that he’s even started to think about it. he’d probably make fun of you for it to make himself feel better

“Bro, Kagami? Seriously, you could do so much better.” Hanamiya scoffs and puts his hands behind his head, refusing to meet your gaze and keeping his eyes on the court below. He watched the aggressive red-head dunk on Yosen’s center and wrinkled his nose in disgust. “God, he just...sucks.”

You turned to him, an eyebrow raised in amusement. “He sucks?”

“Yup.” 

“Is that the best you could come up with?” 

“I mean, can you really have a crush on an idiot who sucks?” Hanamiya folded his arms over his chest and angled himself away from you ever so slightly. You rolled your eyes.

“Oh my god, Makoto, I don’t have a crush on him. I was just being stupid.” 

“I know.” He turned back to you with a wide smirk playing on his lips.

“Then why’re you acting like a baby?”

“I just wanted to hear you say that you were stupid.” He poked your cheek before stretching an arm out on the back of your chair and leaning into you. “Stupid.” 

hara could not bring himself to care. he didn’t give two shits about kagami or your opinion of him. he knew that if you had a real interest in kagami, which you couldn’t possibly, you would be with him. plus, hara and kagami were so different, hara knew there was no way in hell you could be interested in the both of them in the same lifetime

“Kagami? Sure. If you like idiots.” Hara blew a bubble and continued to watch the court with mild interest. You scowled at him and poked his bubble, popping it on his lips.

“Aren’t you at least a little jealous?” 

“Not at all, babe.” He smiled lazily. 

“Why not?”

“Because I know that if you’d like an idiot like him, there’s no way you could like a fine man like myself.”

nijimura, frankly, doesn’t know who the hell that is. he gets a little bent out of shape thinking that you think some dude on the court is hot enough to say it out loud in front of your boyfriend, but he doesn’t show it on his face. he just calmly keeps watching the game on the court below him. but his curiosity gets the better of him + he can’t help but ask

“So...who’s Kagami?” Nijimura asked, a lilt in his voice. He was trying his best to mask his jealousy in the form of teasing, but he wasn’t too confident in his ability to keep up the charade.

“That amazing power forward with the red hair. Look how high he jumps! It’s probably because of those amazing legs he’s got.” You pointed down to the court where Seirin’s number ten was currently making a fast break for the opponent’s basket and dunking the ball. 

“Amazing power forward, huh?”

“Yeah. Not better than you, though, baby.” You leaned over to press a kiss to Nijimura’s cheek and he relaxed, splaying his fingers out on your thigh. He’d let it go this time. 

seto unfortunately has his sleeping mask on and appears to be snoozing. your attempt to make him jealous goes totally unnoticed. you decide to leave him alone. but little do you know that he secretly hears you + sees your tiny hissy fit as you return to watching the game peacefully

“Wow, Kagami’s so hot!” You said, keeping your eyes on Seirin’s sweaty power forward. You give it a few minutes to let the words pierce Seto’s heart before turning to him to see the damage you had done. Or the damage you thought you had done. 

Seto’s arms were bent behind his head and cradling the back of his head comfortably. A small, satisfied smile was on his lips as he snoozed. You huffed and turned back to the game upon realizing that he did not hear you, and, therefore, your attempt to make him jealous was completely thwarted. 

A couple of minutes later, unbeknownst to you, Seto carefully unbent one arm and lifted up one side of his sleeping mask to peer at you. His smile grew wider once he caught sight of your pouting face turned toward the court, and he peacefully dozed off, satisfied with his work.

[violet--crown]

The Supposed Audience Surrogate And His Confidants

I believe that Ren (/Akira/Joker/Inmate/Haremfucker249/Whatever you want to call him) is a much more interesting character than the game presents him as in the Confidants. Although he does have his moments, in the Confidants he serves to be the shoulder to cry on for all the characters and through player choice reflects back to them what they want to see. Although this is never truly elaborated on, I do think it’s very interesting, but it doesn’t change the fact that in the Confidant routes Ren is reduced to a boring audience surrogate. I do believe he can both be explored as a character in the Confidant routes while also being careful with his words to make others like him. I want to examine how the Confidants could potentially be altered to make Ren less of a brick wall and to make the relationships feel more two-sided.

The except to the rule is the Justice Confidant. When paired with Akechi, Ren truly gets to shine as a character.

(P5R Spoilers Ahead)

Justice 

Akechi’s Confidant stands out from the others. All the Confidants follow a similar pattern where the subject of the Confidant has to struggle with an internal and/or external conflict (usually both). Ann and Makoto are two good examples. Ann’s internal struggle is with finding her inner strength and drawing strength from those around her and the external conflict focuses on her job as a model and Mika’s antagonistic interference. Makoto struggles to find direction in her life when she’s no longer following anyone else’s plan and the external conflict is helping Eiko.

Akechi can’t follow this pattern. The external conflict, getting revenge on Shido is interwoven into the plot so that it can't be solved in their Confidant. And his myriad of personal issues also can’t be solved if the plot is to progress. So a problem arises: What is the focus of Akechi’s Confidant? And the solution is the relationship between him and Ren, which will later become vital to the plot in Royal and makes Yaldabaoth’s plan a lot more interesting and tragic. While Akechi is better fleshed out as a character in his Confidant, it’s not the sole focus; one primary focus is the relationship between him and Ren and it can’t exist if it’s one-sided. Ren has to be an active member in their relationship or the premise of their Confidant falls apart. We see that Ren is extremely perceptive, being able to pick up that Akechi is using his non-dominant hand when playing billiards after only meeting him once. Another important trait is his confidence and competitive streak. While him being cocky is established in the first scene of the game, his competitiveness is something established in the justice Confidant. All these traits draw the two together. As I just mentioned, Ren plays a very active role, while (as is in character for both of them) Akechi does most of the speaking, Ren is not just a brick wall listening to him walk. Ren forces the disguise on Akechi, showing he is not afraid to poke bears with sticks. He challenges Akechi, not wanting him to go easy on him in their billiards matches. And most obviously their debates on The Phantom Thieves, the thing that draws them together in the first place. Their relationship is filled with conflict which grows to be more serious as Yaldaboath’s plan comes into action, but it’s clear they care about each other. The importance of their relationship is part of what motivates Akechi to sacrifice himself and it’s what makes Ren’s ultimate wish for Akechi and him to “have a fresh start together,” according to Maruki. It’s clear their relationship has a profound effect on both characters and means a great deal to each even if there are clearly conflicting and complex feelings. This is only possible because both parties are equally involved without Akechi being the only focus. 

Akechi and Ren hold a mirror to each other and their traits are explored through their similarities. One of the most interesting aspects explored is that of a dual identity. For Akechi this is extremely overt with the detective prince persona masking the bitter orphan who paradoxically craves both revenge and love. For Ren, this is a lot more subtle. His fake glasses are a symbol of his mask. He uses them to appear less threatening and make himself blend into a crowd. While this is nowhere near as extreme as Akechi’s facade, similarly to Akechi he does don a persona (you know what I mean) to make himself appear more presentable and to shed the bad reputation that’s been unfairly attached to him. He also hides the more passionate side of himself, the side he shows off when he’s allowed to be Joker. Their relationship is very dynamic, switching from argumentative to childish to serious to fun to antagonistic to caring. This relationship between them can’t exist if Ren is not playing an active role. 

While their Confidant is easily my favourite, I don’t actually believe every Confidant should mirror theirs. The pattern exists for a reason and each Confidant does tell an interesting story. Additionally having every Confidant be like theirs could lessen the impact of Maruki’s final offer in the third semester. So if that’s the case, then what needs to change? I think Ren as a character needs to be able to shine through more often in the Confidants and at least one trait or aspect of his character should be explored. 

The Hierophant

Sojiro is great. You’ve played the game (I’m assuming) so you know this. And Sojiro is a great dad. But how many kids does he have? That’s the real question. Ren—at the start of the game, when first under Sojiro’s custody—is not his son. Sojiro is simply his legal guardian for a temporary amount of time. But this changes over the course of the game… kinda. Ren hangs awkwardly at the side of the Sakura family, not quite a part of it but not not a part of it either. Multiple times the player has the option to have Ren refer to Futaba as his sister or as family, but she also has a romantic route. This leaves their familial status in a very awkward liminal space.

It’s clear Ren sees Sojiro as more of a parent than his own biological parents, even if Sojiro can’t keep custody. At the start of the game, Sojiro recaps what happened, telling Ren and the player “the courts ordered you to transfer and move out here, which your parents also approved.” And then rather cruelly remarks: “In other words, they got rid of you for being a pain in the ass.” While it is a harsh way to put it and Sojiro doesn’t personally know Ren’s parents I’d argue his assessment is essentially true. The typical parent would fight tooth and nail to keep their children from being taken away, yet it’s implied Ren’s parents were content with Sojiro’s temporary custody. This leaves a parent shaped gap in Ren’s life. 

In Royal’s bad ending, Ren has three wishes: 

Having Akechi back.

For his friends to stay together.

To stay with Sojiro.

For now, I’m going to focus on that third one. Sojiro asks Ren "Would you maybe like to keep staying at the cafe? And maybe, even after graduation, you could..." and then trails off, waiting for Ren’s response. The two options the player is given is "Yes, I'd love to." and "I want to stay forever." Sojiro approaches Ren about this, indicating this isn’t just Sojiro being brainwashed by Maruki so Ren’s wish comes true, it’s clearly something wanted by both of them. Royal’s bad ending indicates that the two very much see each other as family and they want to remain that way.

I propose that a way this Confidant can be improved is to have Ren admit to Sojiro in one of the later ranks that he’s been more of a father then his actual parents. What Ren’s home life was like could be elaborated on in this Confidant. Then in rank ten have Ren welcomed into the family. I’m not suggesting massive changes, just that Ren’s family life be elaborated on a little bit more. 

Please just let them be a family and cut the Futaba romance route. Please ATLUS I’m begging you just let hi—

Faith

Sumire’s Confidant is one I have many feelings and opinions on. I love Sumire as a character, but the Faith Confidant needed to be better. To me it seems as if Sumire was intended to be very close to Ren. She is one of two characters to have a show time with him and then no matter your personal feelings on the matter, it’s impossible to deny Sumire is pushed as the main love interest for Ren (just look at the marketing). Given their Confidant, this is undeserved. Don’t get me wrong I don’t think it’s any worse or better than any of the others, but if it’s going to be the main route and if her feelings are going to be canonical regardless of out route the player chooses, then their relationship regardless of whether it’s platonic or romantic has to be more two-sided. I think their relationship should be important. As I mentioned they have a show time together and a lot of the advertisement for Royal pushes them together. 

Let’s take a quick look at Haru’s Confidant, while personally, it is not my favourite as I believed Haru could have been written better, her feelings for Ren make a lot of sense. She’s been very isolated her entire life and it’s clear that Ren is the only person who has ever just listened to her without ulterior motive so it seems natural that feelings would develop even if their relationship isn’t two-sided. I don’t want to sound cruel or malicious but in this situation, as long as Ren listens and is kind, the rest of his personality doesn’t matter.

Now, let’s return to Sumire. Ignoring romantic feelings for now, why does she like Ren? Because he inspired her and she wants to show off and impress him which drives her to complete and be her true self. This works as a premise but why Ren? She could want to impress her father or her coach. So why Ren? To answer this question you have to make their relationship more two-sided. She has to get to know Ren as he gets to know her.

The first five Confidants should focus on fun and showing off. The first five Confidants are, in my opinion, very boring. Sumire wants to get out of her slump and Ren offers to help her, I propose that Ren’s idea of how to get out of her slump should be having fun together. For example, they could go to the amusement park together or Destiny Land. I think the fourth Confidant where Kasumi’s bad cooking skills are established is important as a) it sets up the later reveal that Sumire is a good cook and just how far Maruki has influenced her that she’s losing skills and b) it establishes how much work she puts into being a gymnast, that she has to carefully consider everything she eats. But the rank itself is boring. My solution is to make it an eating competition between the two of them. We know from Akechi’s Confidant that Ren is competitive and of course from The Big Bang Burger Challenge that he wouldn’t lose automatically. Additionally, it’s a fun way to set up that Sumire likes showing off and impressing people, even if it’s at something as silly as an eating competition. These changes could also establish that Ren is one of the only people Sumire feels like she can relax and have fun around. While she wants him to have high expectations of her, those expectations aren’t crushing, they’re welcomed. I’m not saying the specific changes I’ve laid out 100% should have happened, but it’s an idea of how it could make their relationship more interesting.

Now the second half of their confidence is a lot more important, and already better written than the first half. I have two ideas for how to improve it to make their relationship more dynamic. Number one is the theme of futures. Sumire is one of two characters that Ren makes any hypothetical plans with beyond a general, we’ll remain friends, even if we split. (Though this number could technically be moved to three if you want to count Ren’s incredibly depressing refusal to move past Akechi’s death and holding onto the glove thinking he’ll come back). That’s incredibly important. 

Sumire jokingly asks Ren to “join [her] on [her] tour.” The player doesn’t actually have the option to say no with a joking “give me a break” being the closest to it. (Oddly enough Sumire’s proposal only happens in the platonic route.) While this is purely hypothetical and Sumire only jokes about it, it is a possibility for the future that is more specific than a simple “no matter what we’ll remain friends.”

So I propose that the second half of the Confidant could focus on Ren’s future too. We never see what his future ambitions are and I think that Sumire’s Confidant is the perfect one to explore that in. Although there are other characters who question their futures, I believe Sumire’s fits the best as she’s driven and ambitious like Ren, and while she does question who she is because of her time as Kasumi, she’s always confident about being a gymnast which I feel clicks with Ren’s confidence.

Now I could stop here, but I also think Sumire’s Confidant could also have the potential to explore Ren’s mirroring nature. Sumire’s is one of the last Confidants the player will complete as the last five ranks are locked so this trait can be established prior to her Confidant. Additionally, she has a similar dual identity.

Due to how he’s written as a semi self insert protagonist, Ren adapts himself to each person he knows. To progress through the Confidants, as a player you have to choose and consider the right answers and this transfers onto Ren as a character. And at the beginning of the game, one of the first tasks you are given is not to stand out. I could write a ton on this but it’s going to clog this up so I want to keep it short. I think his friendship with Sumire could be an interesting way to explore this trait and how the two of them hide behind masks. Potentially Sumire could confront him about this and tell him she wants to get to know the real him like he got to know her over Kasumi. I’m going to move on now before I bring Akechi into this and start droning on and on about the Royal Trio and masks. 

At Sae’s palace, Sumire says to Ren "My weak self relied on you so much... that ends today.” “It's my turn to come to your aid, Senpai." Sumire never truly follows up on this new promise. She helps him in that battle and in following battles against Maruki, but she never helps him emotionally as he helped her. She says she doesn’t want to rely on him anymore but she only becomes more dependent. I don’t think relying on one’s friends is a bad thing, of course it’s not, but when it’s only happening one way something is wrong. And there is a big difference between Ren helping Ryuji help the track team and Ren helping Sumire through her trauma relating to Kasumi’s death and her identity. I’m not trying to villainise Sumire or anything like that, but I really wished their reliance on each other was more equal.

I’d suggest that Sumire should say to Ren she feels guilty for always relying on him without ever giving anything in turn. Then either have them talk about their identity or have her ask about his future and ambitions. Either way, have her keep her promise to help and support him as he has done for her.

To be honest, I could go on and on about alterations to Sumire’s Confidant and her Confidant in general, but I’m gonna leave it as this (for now).

All in all, it seems as if Ren’s relationship with Sumire was supposed to be extremely important, but it doesn’t stand out from any of the other Confidants as being so. So in conclusion, their showtime is cool but ATLUS you gotta work to sell me on how close they are.

Conclusion

It’s a shame Ren’s treated as an audience surrogate for most of the Confidants when he’s more interesting as a character. While I think it makes sense that he is closer to some Confidants then others, for example, his bond with Mishima isn’t nearly as close as his bond with Ann, it would have been cool if his character had been explored at least partly through each and his relationships with each Confidant.

[purpli-writes]

Two Wild Cards can Never be Happy

Summary:

Goro Akechi has horrible luck in love.

You can read it on AO3 here

Life for Goro Akechi had been less than fair, a mother who didn’t love him and killed herself only out of pure disdain, a father who abandoned him and used him as a tool, and a country who used him as their latest celeb craze. He had accepted that the world was cruel a long time ago. He wore a mask, like any other person, and hid his feelings of betrayal deep inside his heart. He had planned to end the world a long time ago. That was until Kurusu Akira crashed into his life.

Akira was the complete and total opposite of Goro. Akira had taken every bad thing that happened in his life with stride. People viewed Akira as a criminal, something to be thrown away, someone who was purely irremediable, yet Akira didn’t care in the slightest. Goro relied on public opinion and fed off of it, while Akira shrugged it aside. It didn’t help that Akira was the other wild card, someone who was supposed to be his rival. Perhaps it was only natural that they should hate each other.

But Akira never followed what was natural.

“Ah, Kurusu-Kun, I hope you don’t mind me stopping in. The coffee here is-”

“Akechi-Kun, you’re allowed to say you visited here just because you wanted to see me.” Akira interrupted, teasing him, as if they were good friends.

“Ah! That’s not what I meant,” Goro stammered out, his cheeks suddenly started to flush.

“Relax, I was only teasing you. Besides, what would bring you to Cafe Leblanc if it wasn’t Sojiro’s amazing coffee?” After Akira said this, Goro couldn’t help but find himself shocked. Was Akira like this to everyone? He had to be, right? No one was ever nice to Goro.

“So,” Akira began, filling in the silence that began to permeate in the room “what are you having?”

Things continued like this for a week, and Akira was always the barista whenever Goro came over, and they had started to settle into a routine. As Goro visited, he started to become familiar with Cafe Leblanc, as if it was his home.

That realization scared him, as he hadn’t felt that way in a long time.

“Akechi, you’ve been quieter than usual.” Akira noted, as he idly cleaned coffee cups that hadn’t been used in a long time.

“Ah, I have? I suppose I wouldn’t make such a great guest. I should be going anyways.” Goro replied, beginning to get up when he felt Akira grab him. He looked at Akira, who’s expression was concerned, making Goro feel confused and another unknown emotion.

“Goro,” Akira began. Were they on a first name basis now? That wasn’t right, was it? “It’s alright to not be okay, you don’t have to put up your facade around me.” Put up his facade around Akira? Oh how wrong Akira was, every moment spent with Akira was a damn facade.

“I don’t get what you mean Kurusu-Kun.” Goro responded, no longer attempting to get out of his chair.

“We’re friends Goro, and friends help each other.” With that statement, Kurusu Akira confirmed one thing for Goro Akechi. Akira was a damn idiot.

After that conversation, Akira started including the teenage detective in more and more activities. With each moment they spent together, unwillingly Goro felt himself grow closer and closer to Akira. With each interaction, with each passing breath, Goro’s walls broke down and more. Yet, Yaldabaoth and Shido were cruel and could no longer wait. Goro had an original plan to end the world and all the worthless people on it, and it was too late to stop now. No matter how much his heart cried in grief.

That led him to where he was now.

After Sae handed him the phone he readied himself to finally dispose of the Phantom Thief leader. End their rivalry with him as the clear victor. As he walked into the interrogation room and saw the state of Akira, he almost thought he was doing him a favor.

As he killed the guard and aimed the muzzle straight at Akira, his heart screamed and his mask almost broke. When he pulled the trigger, he was sure he was as dead as Kurusu was.

As news broke that the Phantom Thief leader was dead, he did all he could to zone it out and work on something else. It was almost time to betray Shido, to ruin him as he had ruined Goro’s whole life. Shido may have been cruel, but Goro was crueler.

As Goro forced himself through Shido’s palace, he found himself reminiscing about the past. He decided that he would avenge Akira, and bring an end to the world as a whole. Just as he snapped himself out of the reminiscing, he saw the Phantom Thieves and they were not missing their leader Joker.

“You,” Goro began, “you’re supposed to be-”

“Dead,” Akira replied, “yeah I know, but things don’t always go to plan.” Akira didn’t seem to have his usual charm. He lacked the cockiness that Goro had grown to love hate.

“No matter, this is a hitch in my plan that can easily be rectified. And what, pray tell, do you know? I can get rid of all the Phantom Thieves, leaving no loose ends.” Goro said, as a grin grew on his face.

“You don’t want to do this Goro.” Akira told him, and Akira was right of course. He didn’t want to do this.

“You’re wrong, Joker this is exactly what I want to do. Scum like you are supposed to be crushed by the best, which I am.” Goro replied, coldly. But inside his heart was screaming: Please don’t die, please I don’t want to do this, please don’t leave me.

“I hope you can see the truth when this is all over,” Akira replied finally, readying himself to fight “we’re your friends, we don’t want to hurt you.”

As the first battle ended, Goro simply smiled.

“End of the line, Akechi-Kun, there’s no way you can win this.” Makoto told him, like Akira, her voice was softer than the other accusatory tones. Was she pitying him? He wasn’t sure anymore.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Makoto,” Goro murmured. “Are you really underestimating me? Have you forgotten what I’ve done for two whole years?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Makoto asked, suddenly more alert at the danger in front of her.

“This form, Crow, is pathetic. It’s not even my true Persona. In fact my true Persona is much more powerful.” Goro laughed as his new outfit covered his body. “You’re fools, Phantom Thieves, believing in helping each other and forgiveness. I’ll show you the truth about this world!” As Goro readied himself again, he saw Akira’s sad glance, it made him feel cold even under the pounding adrenaline. I’m sorry Akira, his heart screamed. “Well Phantom Thieves, lets see what you’ve got!”

He still couldn’t beat them, even when trying his all, he was no match for them, to him.

“It seems the Captain was right about you.” Goro’s voice droned. This caused all of the Phantom Thieves to look at the cognition.

“Akechi?” Ryuji asked, “What the eff?!” The Goro cognition ignored Ryuji’s outburst and stared straight at Goro himself.

“You really are pathetic, aren’t you? The Captain has no use for you, at least not anymore.” As the Goro cognition pointed his gun at the wounded Goro, he smiled. “Isn’t this ironic? Killed by your own self because you were too weak. You were only a puppet, in everyone’s lives. Perhaps it is for the better.” Goro couldn’t help but agree with his cognition. He deserved this. After all, the one person who had shown him a shred of humanity was his enemy, someone whom he swore to destroy and attempted to kill at least twice now. “I’ll tell the Captain you accepted your place at least, if that makes you feel better.” Goro’s cognition laughed, pointing his muzzle straight at the real Goro.

As Goro heard the gun fire, he realized he couldn’t feel it. What he could feel was the black leather of Joker’s coat as a new weight covered his body. At that moment Goro couldn’t feel anything but cold.

“Joker?” Goro whispered, “Joker, please can you hear me?”

“Huh, this- this isn’t what I had in mind.” Akira replied, softly, as if each breath pained him.

“Why? Why me, why are you such an idiot?! Why didn’t you let me DIE?!” Goro screamed at the hero, his rival, his friend, his one light in the never ending tunnel.

“Don’t you,” Akira began, “remember- what I told you?” Akira suddenly smiled, as if ignoring the blood, the pain, the tears building in Goro’s eyes “We’re friends Goro, and friends help each other.”

“You idiot! We were never friends! I hated you!”

“You and I know that’s not true, you wouldn’t be here right now if it was.” Akira said as he reached out and put a hand on Goro’s face. “I want to make a deal with you, Akechi Goro, make Shido pay for his crimes.”

“What?”

“Avenge yourself and those who have fallen. You still can be a Phantom Thief if you just try.” Akira muttered, his strength growing weaker and his eyesight straining.

“I, I… promise.” Goro whispered at once.

“And never forget this, you are loved.” Akira’s voice slowly trailed off, as his eyes began to dull.

I am thou, thou art I. Thou has turned a vow into a blood oath. Thy bonds shall become the wings of rebellion and break the yoke of thy heart. Thou has awakened to the ultimate secret of The Fool Arcana, granting thee, infinite power.

[wallstoothin]

A Bouquet Instead of a Goodbye

fixed up one of my fics

Akechi Goro’s body was eventually found, it was tucked away in some bush near the diet building. His eyes wide, broken, and very very dead. A proper autopsy showed a bullet hole on his forehead and a matching exit hole at the back of his head. There were also small cuts and bruises all over his body, their origin unknown. Some speculate that the detective was held hostage and eventually killed due to the lack of cooperation from the police department. Others said that it was from an old grudge from a case he did long ago. A situation like these happens in movies all the time. Who's to say it can’t happen in real life.

The one who found him was an ordinary gardener, the bush was growing wild and it was about the time to trim it. Based on the news the gardener ran all the way to the police station unable to utter a word and completely forgetting about the phone in his pocket, dragging the poor rookie all the way to the body. It was said by some sources that the young man almost threw up on the dead body.

The world mourned before they started pointing fingers because that’s what society does best. But the search for the culprit ended as soon as it started. His father, the disgraced politician  who had abandoned his son long before his birth, has admitted in prison that he had plans of killing him. The news ate it up. 

Akira found out from the comfort of his home, watching the evening news as he brushed Morgana’s hair. He could only stare at the dead body on the screen as his phone rang beside him. The news censoring the blood and gore as an announcer talked about Akechi. Later announcing that there would be a short thirty minutes special celebrating the life and accomplishment of Goro Akechi coming soon. There will also be a live funeral for him, his remains would be going under Shido’s family tomb for the sake of tradition. No one cared over the fact that it was Shido who ruined the young man’s life and set him up for a path of self destruction and ruins. And the fact that Akechi would most likely protest. But no one heard him, he’s dead after, and the dead don’t speak.

He can feel Morgana’s paws clawing at his shirt trying to get his attention, his phone just as whiny as his feline friend was also going off. Akira let out a sigh, reaching towards the remote and turning off the television with a small ‘click’ from the power button. He ignored Morgana’s questions of ‘Are you ok’ and the constant calls and messages from his friends. He stood up and brushed off any lingering cat hair that stuck to his pants and legs making a mental note of vacuuming sometime later before he get in trouble with his parents and head to his room.

He needs to do some research.

Akira has never attended a funeral before, he’s been invited to a few sometime during elementary and middle school but he never went. He wondered if his sister in heaven hates him for never going to hers. Akira also wonders what Akechi would think when he told Morgana and everyone else that he has no plan of turning into Akechi’s public funeral or when he decline the invitation Sae-san send him through email an hour after. 

That funeral is for the detective prince, a mask that Akechi wore in order to feel some semblance of love. But in the end that love was too distant for the dead man. Akira can see it right now, thousands of young girls watching as the black car pass by as they cry, some holding on to their handkerchief while others scream their confession out loud for the world but not Akechi to hear. Akira feels that he would not be able to stand going to a funeral like that. From what he heard, Haru and Futaba also decline going to the event. He hasn't heard from everybody else but he suspects that Ryuji might skip as well. 

He let out another tired sigh as he stared at his old laptop screen, he still had things to do. But at this rate he’ll be up all night. Akira can hear the rant Morgana have in store for him later but maybe if he play his card right he should be able to stay up late. He later watched Morgana eat his fatty tuna, his wallet clutch in his hand. His wallet was looking slightly lonelier but at least he got what he want.

A week passed and life went on as usual. The public forgot about the incident until the funeral where the name Akechi Goro is once again trending on the net. On the day of the funeral Akira left the house at five am, making sure to leave a note behind for Morgana to read. No need to leave anything for his parents. 

The walk from his house to the train station was long but he was unsure if the bus even operate at this time and like hell is he going to leave his bike near the station. Even in the city there are times where the train comes few and the buses fewer so he can’t really complain about it being just a ‘countryside problem’. He have no choice but to take the long route.

 It gave him even more time to reflect. Since he’s been back in his sleepy hometime that’s all he can do without being given a strange glance or an ugly look. Everything was quiet in his hometown even during the afternoon where everyone would be out of school and shopping around but it would still be quiet, no sound this town could make would ever compare to the Shibuya crossing and for some reason it irks him. Which led to a new habit of wearing headphones around his neck in case things get too quiet around, of course another good substitute is Morgana who enjoys chatting about the things he sees or other small topics that he demands Akira pay attention to. 

By the time he made it to the train station the sky had turned from a murky blue to a bright and sunny one. The train station was empty save for the workers and a few people in suits. It was still early after all. Had Akira decided to leave the house two hours later the station would be filled with people and many more inside the train. He did not want to be seen today. Akira checked his phone to look at the time. He still have another two hours before he reaches Shibuya, still a lot of time to spare. It was probably best to check the group chat before the rest of the gang do something stupid. 

Akira:

I’m alright guys don’t worry

The replies he got were all the same asking if he was really alright and if he need someone to come over. He’s been offline for days and now that he gets a good look at his notification he can see that his messaging app has over a few hundred unread messages.

 He softly smiled, the feeling of warmth covering his chest. He loved his friends. They cared for him more than anyone else in his life and he will do anything for them. 

Akira:

I’m sorry for not answering all you calls

And texts. My family has been busy.

He added a cute frowny emoji for good measure.

Akira:

I won’t be online for the rest of the day

Sorry! Talk to you all later

He felt bad lying to his friends. But today he’s on a solo mission. He doesn’t want anyone else to be with him. He hopes they can understand. Akira slips his headphones back on and lean back in his seat, his hand reaching out and pulling the blinds so they fully cover the window and for the rising sun light stays out of his eyes. His destination is still a long way. A quick nap before then couldn’t hurt. 

===

The news mentioned him once today. It was more of a passing comment from a news channel that barely talked about him when he was alive treats him just the same dead. The big screen on the building creates white noise behind the already loud Shibuya. He knows he shouldn’t dawdle, who knows how everyone will react if he takes too long to answer back. He doesn't want to worry them ever again. 

An aggravated sigh escaped his lips. Today is not about him. He shouldn’t be selfish today of all days. He needs to quickly transfer trains before someone spots him and distracts him from his task. 

He reaches into his pocket expecting his train pass to be in there, he doesn't have any money in the card at the moment but it should make entering and leaving the station much easier as soon as he refills it.

And his pocket is empty. 

Guess in the end he has to buy a ticket. Yippie. 

Putting paying extra aside-he still have some metaverse money that he split evenly between the team long after their last heist and a short while before his departure. In the end everyone received a good amount of cash and after a long lecture from Makoto went mostly to saving so wasting five hundred yen for a round trip shouldn't hurt his bank account at all. 

The train in Shibuya is much busier than the one he took from his hometown. He scoffs, Of course it’s busier everyone here is always busy doing their own thing and living their own lives. It was almost disturbing to see how quickly city folks move from one topic to another especially after seeing the public’s one track mind on the Phantom thieves and Akechi but that was all due to the influence of the false God. Now that everyone is free, everything went back to the same boring way it was before. 

The city charm has long died out somewhere along his journey. But it was better than the countryside for sure, as a third year he now have to worry about college and future plans. Whatever it is he hopes he can do it by his friends’ side and not alone. 

There was a soft melody on the overhead, that must be his train. He stepped aside as the people leaving rushed out, and as soon as the last person exited he made his move. He quickly glanced around the cart, there’s no empty seats how unlucky considering he’ll have to stand for another thirty minutes . The train was filled with sleeping salarymen and bored elderly. He knows he’s not getting a seat anytime soon. He pulled out his phone and opened the music app. He never liked the waiting game but hopefully music can make time go by faster.

-

Akira also dislikes being squeezed to the point he can feel his ribs but being in Tokyo comes with a price. The train was not that packed compared to the early morning rush that he dealt with every morning for the past year. But not being able to pull out his phone to change the song, has made the trip much longer than expected, when Akira pushed his way out of the train he let out a huge sigh in relief. It was a good thing he decided to buy the supplies on this stop, the last thing he need is to feel the glares of fellow passengers over spilt water and crushed petals all over someone’s over expensive suit.

A sponge, a small box of incense, small candles along with two canned coffee . He ignored the sad look the cashier passed him as she was ringing him up. Did he have everything he needed? He thinks he does but if he did forget something then there are sure to be a convenience store nearby. He still have some time before the next bus comes, maybe he can buy a triple seven chicken and gobble it down. 

As he step out of the store he paused in his step. Flowers ! How could he have forgotten about the flowers especially since he was complaining about it earlier. He open up his metaverse free navigator. It was still too early but there should be one place that’s open right? He grin widely after finding out that yes there is a place nearby that’s already open. A small family run store instead of the big corporate one that he worked in once before. Hopefully they can help him pick up the perfect bouquet for him. 

An hour later and a few thousand yen emptier, Akira finally reach the grounds.

The hike up the hill was just as stressful as the trip getting there, he nodded to the monk who was sweeping and headed over to the sink and grabbed one of the available pail filling it with water and started making his way up the hill. It took awhile for Akira to find the right grave, he did not have an exact location and it was not like the monk at the entrance knew each place by heart, so Akira had to walk pass each individual family grave until he found one that was covered with dirt and weed. 

Here it is. Abandoned and left alone like the people who’s spirit left there. He put down the bucket gently on the floor and reach for the sponge making sure the sponge took up as much water as possible before reaching toward the grave, the name which was hidden after years of abandonment shine in the sun. He smiles as he dip the sponge in the water again. 

--

Cleaning the grave back to its former glory took about an hour, cleaning around the graves like pulling out the weed and disposing of old flowers took about half. By then Akira was covered with dust, dirt and sweat and in need of a good soak. But it was far from over, setting up the candle and incense shouldn’t have been a problem. He done it many times before, but it took a few broken one and a sip of water before he was satisfied with the white smoke in the air. Akira then reached for the flowers and carefully placed them in their placeholder. ‘Done’ he thought to himself. After seeing his parents prepare the family grave each summer he thought it would be easy but it was a lot more work than what he expected. It must be the heat.

He then took out the canned coffee already lukewarm from staying in the heat the whole time and placed it right under the engraved name. Akira then put his hands together, closed his eyes and talked. 

When he opened his eyes again it was already dark and his neck was burning from standing outside for too long. His voice was hoarse from talking too much but it was not like he talked much in the first place. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tie that was frayed and wrinkled with the lack of proper care.  

Akechi’s body was long gone. His ashes spread over a name he hated all his life. By spreading the last part of him to a place where he wanted to rest would make him happy, right? He pulled out a lighter and slowly moved it towards the tie.

Akechi loved his mother didn’t he? So Akira should do this one last favor and help guide him to her. But- his hand shake as the fire slowly touched the end of the tie. He quickly turned off the flame before it take more of the tie than it already had. 

He can’t

Akira bit the end of his lips internally scolding himself. This is not about him, this is about Akechi. He shouldn't be selfish . It was selflessness that saved the world before, the options he had before when he was allowed to be selfish would have ended up in ruins. Even now after defeating the false gods, the golden rule still applies. He should hurry up and burn it up already !

He drop the lighter on the floor and clutch the tie in his hands tightly. One day, one day he’s sure that this decision is going to bite him back. It might even haunt him for the rest of his life. But it was unfair, he was still a kid, he should be allowed to grieve the way he wants to. He stare sadly at the grave in front of him. Akechi is probably mocking him. A sentimental fool. He wouldn’t mind hearing him sneer one last time. 

Akira let out a wet chuckle and wiped his eyes erasing any evidence of tears that was forming in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, I’ll try to visit again soon.” He said as he stood up, making sure to grab the bucket and sponge, leaving no garbage behind as he walked back down the hill and back home. 

A03 Link : https://archiveofourown.org/works/24458830

[kamisamawrites]

Like the Sun and the Moon

Chapter 12: He’s Why

Chapter Index

Inosuke and Makoto were left alone as Aiko quickly pushed Jun’ichi out of the room. Being left alone together, the setting sun tinted their surroundings in warms hues of orange as Makoto stood nervously nearby. 

She was already a little unsure of what she was going to do, but the way Aiko practically dragged Jun’ichi away confused her. Especially since she didn’t remember asking for any privacy. 

She couldn’t help but feel like Aiko was misinterpreting something, but she was far too tired by being dragged around all day to ponder on it.

“Oi, Monpocho? How long are you going to stand there?” Inosuke asked, snapping her from her thoughts.

Sheepishly apologizing, she made her towards the engawa before sitting down next to him. Noticing the way he eyed the plate of food, she couldn’t help but chuckle.

“What’s so funny?” he snapped, his eyes narrowing at her.

Shaking her head, a warm smile pulled at her lips as she handed him the plate. It was large and the pork cutlet on it was still hot and steaming. Taking it without hesitation, the smell made Inosuke’s stomach growl and caused his mouth to drool.

“I made this for you,” Makoto smiled.

“Really?!” he grinned, eyes glittering in the light.

Nodding her head, he wasted no time digging in, completely missing the way her eyes softened in his hurry.

Placing his mask beside him, his face lit up as he took a bite. The food tasted just as good as it smelt.

“This is really good, what is it?” he asked between mouthfuls.

“I’m glad you like it. I wasn't sure if I made it correctly, but it’s Tonkatsu. It’s been rising in popularity recently, so I thought I’d give it a try,” Makoto explained, taking a second before saying, “This was… also the best idea I had…”

Pausing, Insouke’s confusion was evident as he stared at her. His silent question was soon answered however when she continued.

“It’s my way of saying thank you, for everything. You’ve done a lot for me these past weeks and… I’m grateful,” she said, her head falling to the side ever so slightly as the corners of her mouth tugged upwards.

Swallowing thickly, Inosuke found himself unable to tear his gaze away from her. Her happy smile seemed brighter than the setting sun, and he found himself feeling strangely giddy. Looking down at his food, his conversation with Jun’ichi popped back up inside his head.

“Hey, Monpocho,” Inosuke called, whipping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“What… does being in love feel like?” he asked, placing this food down.

Staring at him in surprise, Makoto wasn’t sure of what to say. His sudden interest caught her off guard and the topic left her feeling antsy.

“Why… Do you want to know?” she asked.

“The rich kid was talking about it with me earlier. He was saying stuff about how painful it was now that “whats-her-name is married”, but when I said love sounded horrendous, he shut me down saying it wasn’t,” Inosuke explained.

“It sounded like he was just talking nonsense to me though,” he sighed.

Waiting a second for her response, Inosuke looked up at her confused when she didn’t say anything. Taken aback by the look on her face, he was at a loss for words as the two sat there. He had seen her upset, mournful, and even angry, but this… he didn’t have words to describe this.

“Uh… Ma…” Inosuke tried to call out to her, but his voice died in his throat.

Taking a deep breath, Makoto’s gaze stayed cast down as she folded her hands in her lap.

“Love is… a very broad and strange thing,” she finally said.

“There are many types of love. Love for a hobby, love for a particular object and… love for someone else,” she said, voice soft, soft, and airy.

“When you love something or someone, it goes beyond just “like”. Your feelings are stronger than that. The type of love you’re talking about is romantic love. Although it’s similar to platonic love, which is between family and friends, I’d say romantic love is more… intense. Some even say it turns people into fools…” she explained.

“That’s what the kid sounded like to me,” Inosuke said, leaning back a bit.

Softly chuckling, Makoto’s smile never reached her eyes.

“Even so… when you’re in love with someone, those feelings aren’t simply “good” or “bad”. Strangely, it’s both. Your love might make braver or make you take chances you wouldn’t have otherwise; but it can also make you blind to people’s actions, leading you to make excuses from them… or yourself even…”

Watching her carefully, Inosuke just couldn’t quite place his finger on it. The look in Makoto’s eyes.

“So… Love’s like a double-edged sword then? It either makes you stronger or it makes you dumber,” Inosuke asked.

For the first time since he asked the question, Makoto looked at him. She smiled her usual awkward smile when she couldn't think of an argument, even if she wanted to disagree. 

“You… could say that,” she chuckled softly.

Silence fell between them as Inosuke took in her words. Processing the new information, he found himself understanding it a little more, even if he still found it a little foolish.

Eyeing Makoto again, Inosuke found her staring off into the distance. She still held that look in her eyes. A conflicted, bittersweet stare that seemed so tired, but was unable to stop longing for something. It was full of a hopeless regret that seemed to only fester inside her.

Having already finished his food, Inosuke pushed the plate to the side before scooting closer to Makoto. Staring at him curiously, she cocked her head in a silent question.

“Makoto… are you in love?” he asked, causing her eyes to widen.

Instead of responding, she turned back to her view. A few seconds of silence passed and frustration quickly crept up inside the other demon slayer.

“Hey! Don’t ignore me!” he shouted, his fits clenched.

“Sorry, I was… just thinking…” Makoto mumbled. 

Despite sitting right next to him, Inosuke couldn’t help but notice how distant she sounded. Almost as if she were a million miles away.

After a minute more, she finally mumbled, “I’d like to think that everyone’s been in love at least once.”

“But that’s not answering my question…!” Inosuke pointed out.

It was clear to him that she was trying to dodge the subject. But why? Grumbling softly to himself, he tried to wrap his head around it. It was a simple yes or no answer, so unless it was shameful or embarrassing he didn’t see a point in avoiding it.

“Why do you want to know?” Makoto suddenly asked, turning to him quietly.

Meeting her eyes, he noticed a subtle edge to them. A wave of quiet anger that hid behind the curiosity. 

“Because I want to? You’ve been acting strangely since you’ve woken up,” Inosuke snapped, his glare matching hers.

“Strangely? Have I?” Makoto repeated, blinking a little in confusion.

“Yeah. You’ve been having this weird self-interrogation thing going on every time I look at you. Wait, don’t tell me you actually fell for that shitty frog demon?!” Inosuke demanded, causing Makoto’s eyes to widen in horror.

“N-No! I already said I was taken! I didn’t like him that way at all!” Makoto sputtered, waving her hands in defense.

Scoffing, Inosuke snapped, “Lair! You totally stiffened when I said that!”

“What?!” she gasped.

“That’s because you just accused me of something!” she argued back.

Pointing an accusing finger, he growled, “That’s because it’s true!” 

“It isn’t!” she shouted.

“Then why’d your face look so guilty?!” he demanded.

“Because the one I married wasn’t him!” she screamed.

Snapping her eyes open, Makoto’s blood ran cold as her words loudly echoed in her ears. Her breath hitched as her fingers trembled.

Staring at her with wide eyes, Inosuke was left stunned. The last time he heard her raise her voice like that was when she was possessed.

Staring at each other, it was almost as if time stopped. Trapping them in a frozen winter, despite the humid air.

The silence was suffocating.

Opening his mouth to speak, Makoto cut him off when she suddenly stood up.

“The sun’s almost completely gone. We should go to bed now,” she said, her voice panicked behind its stillness.

“Wait- Hold on-!” Inosuke called out, but Makoto was already out of the room before he could stop her.

Lowering his outstretched arm, he turned back to the spot she sat just a few seconds ago. It felt like the world was spinning as his mind ran wild with questions and concerns.

What did her marriage have to do with that demon? Why did she look so… frightened? 

Thanking Aiko for the spare room, Makoto reassured her nothing was wrong once more before closing the door. Quietly standing in front of it, she waited until she knew Aiko had left. Feeling the girl's footsteps grow distant, Makoto finally turned to face the dark, empty room. Moonlight spilled in through the windows, casting everything in a cold blue hue. 

Mindlessly walking forward, she suddenly found herself collapsed on her knees as they gave out on her. Looking down at her hands, it took her a second to realize what she was doing as she took off her hairpin.

It was surreal. It felt like she was suddenly living in the past, and the world was constantly two steps ahead of her.

Staring at the hairpin, her mind continued to replay her conversation with Inosuke. His words loudly echoing in her ears.

“...Love causes you to make excuses…” she whispered, her eyes narrowing.

“He wasn’t… the one I married…” she croaked.

Makoto’s fingers shook as her grip tightened on the hairpin, her stare burning into it.

“Why did I say that?” she asked, voice hoarse.

Hunching over herself, a hand came up to grip her head, tugging her bangs.

“Why did I-?” she repeated.

She knew Inosuke was perspective, so why did she even say anything?

“I haven’t even told-” she started, but her voice quickly died in her throat.

What was wrong with her? Why did she say that? After years of keeping quiet, why did she have to blurt it out like that? And to Inosuke of all people! Not even Yuuki knew the truth…!

Makoto’s vision quickly began to blur as her breath caught in her throat. Her body trembled violently as she desperately gripped onto the old, white, patterned fabric on her shoulders. She clung to it as if it were the only thing keeping her afloat. 

She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t see, she couldn’t hear anything, let alone think straight. Despite her mind running with a million thoughts, she couldn’t think of anything. Her body was shutting down on her and she couldn’t stop the tears from overflowing.

Curling into herself, her cries stayed trapped in her throat despite desperately trying to scream. The heavy shadows of the room seemed to swallow her whole as her mind ripped her apart.

Alone, in that cold, dark room, her only comfort were the ghosts from dead memories. The same ghosts of the people she had failed. 

Finishing his breakfast the next day, Inosuke was still stuck on what happened the previous night. He just couldn’t wrap his head around it, and it pissed him off. It didn’t help that he hadn’t seen Makoto all morning. He wouldn’t have cared if it didn’t cause him to feel so antsy.

Putting his mask back on, Inosuke paused for a second, watching Aiko gather the trays.

“Hey Poncho,” he called, earning a tired sigh from the girl.

“It’s Aiko, but is there something you need?” she asked.

“Do you know where Monpocho is? She didn’t come for breakfast,” he asked.

Pausing, Aiko seemed to take a second to think before responding.

“She’s in her room but, I was wondering… Did something happen between you two? Makoto seemed a little… distracted… last night,” she said, concerned.

Standing up, Inosuke made his way to the door. Sliding it open, he simply shrugged before leaving, much to the young girl's dismay.

Sitting quietly in her room, the sun shone in through the windows as Asuka ate off of a handkerchief. Reading the letters he had delivered, they helped ease the weight in Makoto’s chest. There was one from Shiro and Yuuki, as well as one from the Butterfly and Rengoku Estates. They weren’t very long, but all wished her well. Chuckling at the doodles on Yuuki’s letter, Makoto’s eyes softened in adoration. 

Neatly folding and putting the letters away, she snickered, “I wonder when Shin-san’s going to send me his letter? Maybe I should send one first?”

Asuka merely scoffed at this, only causing the demon slayer to laugh more. 

She wasn’t expecting him to actually send one. He was a busy man, besides, it wasn’t as if she was unaware of his walls. If anything, it was in understanding those walls that somehow brought the two of them together.

Completely lost in thought, Makoto couldn’t help but scream when Inosuke suddenly kicked the door to her room down. Staring at him flabbergasted, she hadn’t even noticed that Asuka had flown out of the room. He was shouting something, but she was unable to comprehend what thanks to the initial shock.

Somehow managing to get him to calm down, Inosuke sat across from her. 

Taking a deep breath, she mentally prepared herself. He was currently the last person she wanted to see, but she knew that was an unattainable wish.

“Inosuke, good morning. You’re quite rowdy this morning aren't you?” she smiled. 

Inosuke on the other hand stayed silent, quietly studying his fellow demon slayer. Despite her best attempts, she couldn’t hide how disheveled she was from him. He immediately noticed how dark and sunken in her eyes was, or how pale and dry her skin was. 

Watching her fidget with her fingers, it was clear that she was growing nervous the longer he started, but he didn’t care. He was upset, and he wanted answers.

“Did something bad happen to the person you love? Is that why you didn’t want to talk about it?” he finally asked, causing her to frown.

Breathing out a sigh, her gaze shifted away from him.

Opening her mouth to speak, Inosuke cut her off.

“I won’t ask anymore if you tell me,” he said.

Makoto’s lips pursed as she eyed him suspiciously. 

“Why do you want to know so badly?” she asked, voice low.

“Did you already forget? I said I’d look out for you!” he grinned as he pointed to himself triumphantly. 

“An awesome boss looks out for those under him,” he chuckled, his laugh rumbling from within his chest.

Staring at him for a few seconds, Makoto couldn’t help the giggle that slipped past her lips. Despite knowing she was laughing at him, Inosuke couldn’t help but feel lighter at the sound. Watching her try to hide her amusement, it seemed like she was almost mocking him. He would have been upset if he wasn’t so intrigued.

“Alright, you win,” Makoto sighed, her laugh still lingering in her voice.

Turning to look at him, she took a deep breath, bracing herself before answering.

“I don’t want to talk about it because… in a way… he’s the reason I became a demon slayer,” she explained, gripping her hands tightly.

Taking a second to process her words, Inosuke nodded.

“Okay,” he said roughly patting her shoulder.

“I don’t know what happened, but it’s okay cause I’m here now!” he grinned, a boisterous laugh leaving his lips.

Looking up at him, Makoto couldn’t help the way her eyes softened.

“Thank you Inosuke, that’s sweet of you to say…” she smiled.

Flying back into the room, Asuka was accompanied by Inosuke’s crow as they landed.

“Northeast! North-Northeast!” his crow cawed, drawing their attention.

“Inosuke Hashibira, head North-Northeast!” it said.

“All right! Let’s get going!” Inosuke shouted, excited to finally be doing something again.

Softly laughing at his enthusiasm, Makoto made to stand when Asuka suddenly jumped into her lap.

Staring daggers at Inosuke, he bluntly said, “Just you. She needs more rest.”

Not liking his tone, Inosuke started shouting at the bird, causing the said bird to shout back. Breathing out a heavy sigh, Makoto simply turned to Inosuke’s crow.

“Is this a solo mission?” she asked, earning a curt nod.

Moving Asuka so that he sat on her shoulder, she stood up, cutting the two’s argument off.

“He’s not lying, Inosuke. This is a solo mission,” she said, causing Inosuke’s shoulders to droop.

“Oh…” he mumbled, clearly disappointed.

“Don’t look so down, this isn’t goodbye forever. I’m sure we’ll meet again, we’re both demon slayers after all,” she said. 

Smiling sweetly at him, Makoto’s head fell to the side as the morning sun bathed her in its warmth. Inosuke could feel his cheeks heat up as his heartbeat quickened.

Swiftly turning away, he scoffed, “I know that!”

Hearing her chuckle, Inosuke couldn’t help but feel giddy at making her laugh. The sound of her voice was like a sweet melody to his ears.

Making his way out of the room, he suddenly stopped in front of the door. Standing there for a second, he turned his head to look over his shoulder at her.

“Don’t go getting yourself killed until we meet again,” he said, voice oddly soft.

Staring at him with wide eyes, Makoto’s face softened as she nodded.

“The same goes for you.”

Next Chapter

Previous Chapter

Authors Note (to be deleted later): Thanks for waiting so long! Take both these chapters as an apology. I'll do my best to keep posting updates, but now that school's back, it may not always be consistent.

[twilightknight17]

Forgetting to buy more SP patches before taking on the final boss was probably a mistake.

Forgetting to sell the items I can’t take into NG+ for cash that I can take into NG+ was probably a mistake.

Forgetting to get Arsene out of Lockdown so that I can record his awesome new stats for NG+ was probably a mistake.

In my defense, I was really excited. I wonder if the game will let me make a side trip while I’m out...buying flowers. Because that is what it has come to.

Buying flowers.

Shinya is a terrible brat and wasn’t in Akihabara at ALL until the day before the deadline. Thanks, Shinya. There goes my max confidants. Blugh. At least I got some other things done. Got the award for the maid cafe, so I don’t have to go back except once to open the Twins field trip. I still suck at batting even with third eye. But I am a champ at fishing, it only took me like five trips to the fishing pond to catch the Guardian! I could have done it in less if I’d figured out how to manage my bait properly sooner.

Smile, Akira, we’re awesome! ...still not even halfway to enough fish points for the award, though. :/

I am also awesome at the crane game in Akihabara, and by that I mean I am persistent and have enough yen that it doesn’t matter how many tries it takes.

Ryuji truly knows the way to my heart. <3 I missed two episodes of Featherman; one I forgot to check the TV, and the other I was laughing so hard at the title that I forgot to write it down. But I know where they are, so it’s something else for NG+. ^_^

So I romanced Sumire, and I’m...slightly off-put. Only slightly. Not because of her, but once again, because of the writing. Sumire is cute, but the game is singling her out as “special” again.

She is the only one who confesses to you, and you explicitly have the option to turn her down, rather than the implications of a confession that you can shoot down indirectly (Haru’s, Makoto’s, Futaba’s), or the absolute fucking galaxy-brain leap of logic that is Ann’s dialogue choices. X’D

If you ignore that, though, they’re stupidly cute. Akira’s a little shit, as usual. Sumire asks you to “look at her”, based on her whole confidant thing of realizing that having someone you care about watching you makes you want to do better.

And so Akira looks.

And looks closer.

Dorks. XDDD

They’re sweet. Not my favorite romance route; that still goes to Haru. I think in the end I still prefer Akira adding another member to his army of younger siblings. He’s gotta be better than Yu. XDDD

So I got Kasumi’s rank 10 and literally the next day was February 2nd, and I spent the afternoon getting her third-tier persona. So I didn’t even get to see...Vanadis? in battle. Vanadis matches a little too well to Arsene for my tastes, and Ella is pretty, but I’m not sure how I feel about it looking kind of bride-ish when Maruki’s running around in a wedding tux.

.

Anyway...what do we do the night before the meeting that will decide everything?

We make curry and we pretend everything isn’t about to go to hell.

.

So, Maruki. Let’s chat.

Does no one die in your world? Or move away? What if someone’s dream is to move abroad, and someone else’s dream is for that person to stay with them forever? If what we saw in your Palace is any indication, both of them would be tortured into accepting new dreams where they wouldn’t hurt each other. Dreams that you deemed acceptable. And that’s why you’re wrong.

So you’re giving up your happiness to make sure everyone else is happy? Why can’t you just use your powers to make her remember you, without the trauma? Are you not all-powerful?

Or are you running away from the person that reminds you how helpless you used to be? You’re not moving on, you’re dwelling, and using it as an excuse to be terrible. For all of your kindness, you know Akira is a threat. And benevolent or not, you’re being manipulative. You’re using Goro against him. You’re hoping that he makes the decision you didn’t, and chooses the person he cares about over the reality he wants.

Every time he says something like this, I feel exactly the way he says he didn’t want me to. Newsflash, asshole, that’s exactly what it seems like. If we break your reality, you’re heavily implying he won’t be here afterwards. And you’re gambling that it will be too much pain for Akira to bear, because you know how important they are to each other.

Goro, meanwhile, is both perfectly determined and perfectly stupid.

“Don’t tell me you think dangling my life before us is going to have any impact on our decision.”

Goro. Honey. Do you really think he cares so little that he wouldn’t hesitate for just a moment?

Akira practically throws the calling card at Maruki before he leaves, which I think sums up his feelings pretty well.

I appreciate that Morgana understands that this is something between them.

Goro doesn’t want to be controlled or manipulated ever again. Which... I get it. He’s never had a chance to have full control of his own life. But that doesn’t mean Akira isn’t going to be upset by the idea of him dying. Again.

Two out of three dialogue options are basically “hang on one fucking second,  your life matters to me.”

“Don’t oversimplify this.”

“Oh, but it IS simple. Do you think I’d be happy with this? Being shown mercy now of all times? I don’t want to be pitied-- this isn’t something I’m debating with you! Your indecisiveness is essentially a betrayal of my wishes.”

It’s not pity, you stubborn, idiot boy. ...and I hate that you see it as a betrayal.

Maruki is...very confident. And very kind. And part of the reason he upsets me is because he isn’t wrong, in many cases. But he uses that to justify imposing his will on everyone.

And being kind doesn’t mean that you are free from sin. You can be kind and still be manipulative. And selfish. In the end, that’s what separates him and Akira. Akira, despite all of his hesitation, refuses to be selfish. Even when he has every right to be. He will not hurt someone else to prevent himself from being hurt.

He will not hurt Goro by refusing to fight Maruki, even if it will rip his own heart to pieces.

Oh, I like you. At first glance, the silhouette was very similar to one of Mordred’s original pieces of concept art, though, and I was ready to Yell before I looked closer. XD

And so, at 11:30pm, having completely forgotten the several things I needed to have done before the meeting with Maruki, we head in to steal the Treasure.

This man needs to stop. How dare he know how much I love Cool Stairs?

I find it very concerning that the core of Eden is a writhing mess of tentacles. The metaphorical worm in the apple? X’D We were so close to getting Nyarlathotep, but Azathoth is suitably intimidating. And I appreciate that he’s using the same concepts as the Thieves: his will to rebel against what he sees as an unfair reality, and removing his mask to summon his distorted persona. Thanks for validating all of my headcanon meta about Adachi and Palaces all in one go.

But...

I can’t do this. What the fuck are you wearing?

At least Azathoth is cool.

Somehow I managed to bring exactly the right team to get consistent four-person baton passes for the whole first round. That one was about half an hour.

...the second round was an hour and fifteen minutes because holy shit this thing was a tank and had entirely too many arms and really needed to stop healing.

The torch is very pretty, at least.

And then before we can completely book it out of there, he steals the torch back and literally forces his second awakening so he can keep going. And at that point...what is he even hoping to accomplish? What is he going to do? Are you really willing to kill us to maintain this illusion?

The answer is apparently yes because it was a surprisingly poetic battle as each teammate in turn got a chance to fling themselves in the way and stop it from crushing Joker to death with it’s big giant hand.

And THEN he goes even further and validates some canon meta and me all at once by fusing with his own persona in a continuing last-ditch effort to... I really think he’s trying to kill us. I think he’s that far gone. Or at least his persona is. Because after the fusion, it’s specifically called “Adam Kadmon”, not Maruki. The persona is in control. It’s canon that if you try to summon something stronger than you, it can overtake and possess you. I know Maruki seemed to willingly give up control, but it’s also possible that forcing his second awakening like that left him with a persona that was entirely too strong for him.

(Nevermind that him being that strong in the first place is kind of ridiculous. That’s a discussion for after the final credits. I’m just hyped that someone fusing with their persona was a thing that actually happened!)

He’s so big. Where’s Satanael so I can fuse with him and we can have a megazord fight in Collapsing Ideal Tokyo? XD

The kids up the Holy Shit Quotient by a mile by catching the giant fist all together so that Joker can deal the final blow.

And what a final blow it is.

I really like this, because I don’t know if it was deliberate, but I read it as a callback to Daybreakers. Which came out before the game, iirc, so the first real piece of content. It’s just on a bigger, grander scale.

Everything comes full-circle in the end.

I really like the Mona helicopter. XD I just wish it was a little bigger, because poor Goro squished into the bottom. And poor Akira not managing to make it into the helicopter.

And this asshole WILL NOT STAY DOWN.

What is the point of punching it out on top of the collapsing Palace? Are you trying to kill us both? Do you just want to keep going until neither of us can stand? Dude.

And of course Akira won’t let him die. I think the upsetting thing about this, though, is really that you don’t get the chance to say a proper goodbye to Goro. Or anyone, really, but mostly Goro. The Palace crumbles, Akira wakes up in jail, the Thieves wake up the next morning after fighting all night, and Goro is...gone.

At least the Thieves seem properly sad this time. Even if it’s only for one scene.

Lavenza calls it “ironic” that “your wish for other’s happiness prevailed over your own.” I just call it unfair. Once again, hasn’t he done enough? At least he was only technically in jail for nine days from his perspective, but that must have been a whiplash of an adjustment.

Out of jail, Sojiro acknowledges he was Terrible at the beginning of the year, it’s 2:30am, time to do Valentines and then go to bed before the final walkaround.

And then Valentines passes. I spent it with Sumire. They’re cute.

And then it was February 15th and all the rest of the girls gave me chocolate?? It was just a constant ambush of being given chocolate all day?

And then it was March 3rd, and the Thieves are all splitting up and moving away? Are we sure this isn’t Scramble’s timeline? I get it, narratively, they’re taking the opportunities to move forward that Maruki’s reality would have denied them, but it still hurts.

And then it was March 13th and I still can’t save and now it’s 3am and apparently we get to play out White Day and Sojiro is giving me advice for the perfect date because captain idiot here forgot to plan anything and what heckin’ restaurant is getting this flustered that just mentioning Sojiro’s name is enough to get a table when they’re fully booked and---

Now it’s the 14th and I have to go buy flowers for my dinner date and I have finally been given control and saved and I am free.

Now next time I play I have to see if I can go sell my leftover items, because I’ve got a couple-hundred-thousand yen worth, and also rescue Arsene from prison. X’D

More thoughts on Maruki and everything after I see the ending, most likely.

[kareofbears]

day 21: hands, wrists, teeth

"God—fuck!"

"Language! We're in public, Ryuji."

"Easy for you to say—you're next, Miss Prez."

"It's not even that bad, you're just a baby."

"Pain is subjective; what hurts for you may not hurt for him. That is the complex relationship of human interaction."

"In other words: eat shit, Ann."

"I'm so excited!"

"You better be excited, making us wait just for you to turn 18. I still don't understand why we all had to wait and get it at the same time, this lineup is taking forever."

"Things like these are monumental. You wouldn't understand—you haven't felt emotion that isn't anger in years."

"Not true. We watched Sound Of Music yesterday and he cried when Captain Von Trap and Maria got together."

"Akira."

"Sorry."

"And done," the tired tattoo artist says. It must not be easy, doing six tattoos in a row and another one. "The redness will go away after a few days, and be sure to apply a layer of antibacterial ointment twice a day."

"Awesome! It looks great, dude!" He exclaims, peering closely at his wrist; a simple, black outline of his Skull mask now permanently etched into his skin.

The tattoo artist gives a small smile. "Thank you, but it isn't my design."

"Oh yeah," Ryuji looks at Yusuke and offers a thumbs up. "It looks great, dude."

"I gotta say though," the tattooist says, cleaning his needle for Makoto's turn. "These designs sure aren't common. Never seen anything like it. Care to share the story?"

They all exchange glances at each other, unsure of what to say. It isn't easy to explain that, yup, the global phenomenon Phantom Thieves of Hearts really, really wanted to get matching tattoos of their respective masks and Futaba's age was the only thing holding them back.

"Just wanted something to connect all of us together," Akira replies, eyes drifting down to his own wrist—the Joker mask that he hasn't seen in years, not since that day in Shibuya. It's a miracle that Yusuke remembers it all; he supposes that's what made Yusuke cut from the rest in his own field.

"Fair," the tattooist shrugs, and points at a slightly trembling Makoto. "You're next."

She swallows before sitting in the chair that Ryuji was in moments before. "Nee-san is so gonna kill me." Makoto winces as the needle first pricks on the surface of her skin.

"Are you kidding? Sae loves us!" Ann explains, still inspecting her own Panther tattoo with heart eyes. "Well, loves Akira, tolerates the rest."

"True." A strange outcome that arose in the three years of disbanding the thieves is that Sae and Akira, of all people, had kept in contact with each other. When Makoto asked why, Sae gave her a coy look and said something along the lines of 'having to make sure that Makoto's future partner is decent.' Makoto didn't have the heart to tell her that Akira and Ryuji have been dating since their second year. Still, it's nice to see her sister get along with her friends, even if their friendship was formed in an underground interrogation room. "Also, Ryuji, this doesn't hurt. Are you okay?"

"He's sensitive. He cried when he played one of my dating sim games," Futaba grins, goggles printed onto her wrist—a perfect rendition of Oracle mask.

"Can you guys please stop exposing me?"

"Yes, we should stop teasing poor Ryuji-kun," Haru says, sympathetic as ever. Her tattoo came out flawless as well; her Noir mask has always captured Haru's personality: elegance with an edge. "He is very kind and attune to the feelings of others. Just last week, he was laughing while talking to my plants."

"That is so weird," Morgana scoffs. After a discussion-turned-argument-turned-yelling match that lasted nearly three hours (Ann and Ryuji's voices were destroyed, Makoto was nursing a migraine, and Futaba had fallen asleep forty minutes in), they all finally agreed on tattooing the inside of his ear with his iconic scarf. It had taken a lot of convincing to ask the poor tattoo artist that 'this cat won't fuss' and 'don't worry he wants to, it's not animal abuse, please believe us.' "Talking to plants is fine—laughing with them is pretty worrying."

Before Ryuji throws hands with a cat in public, the tattooist leans back into his chair, relieved. "Finally done."

They all rush to peer around Makoto's wrist—cleanly drawn on her wrist is her Queen mask.

Yusuke smiles, pleased with the outcome. "They all turned out beautifully."

"Yeah, these are awesome!" Ann grins.

They all pay for their tattoos, making sure to leave a massive tip to their skilled (and exceptionally polite) tattooist.

"Wait!" Futaba yells, before they go out the door. "I want pictures!"

Haru gasps. "Yes! I would love to commemorate this moment for the future!"

"Okay," Akira says, fishing out his phone. "I can take it."

Everyone boos, Ryuji going as far as to throw a crumpled piece of paper at his head. "Be in the picture!"

"I can take it," the tattoo artist offers, clearly energized by their ludicrous tip. A chorus of 'thank yous!' go around, and they all huddle around each other.

"We should throw peace signs with our wrists out!" Ryuji exclaims, and they all do so. Together, they collectively smile at the camera.

A click goes off. "Here, how does it look?"

Akira takes his phone back and peers at the photo. They're all smiling at the camera, wrists red but visibly showcasing their new tattoos. His smile was soft, while Ryuji's was bordering manic. Haru's smiling so wide that her eyes are practically closed. Ann's in the background, lifting up a yowling Morgana so he can be in frame, and Yusuke, strangely enough, went for jazz hands.

He feels his heart swell. The fact that they were all willing, excited even, at the prospect of having a physical reminder of their time together from their high school days fills him whole, making him light and heavy at the same time.

"Wouldn’t change it for the world."

[kayleen756894]

Danganronpa Celesgiri Commission

Here is a commission I wrote for someone who wishes to remain anonymous. Thank you so much for supporting my work!

Title: (Currently Untitled) Fandom: Danganronpa Characters: Kyoko, Celestia Ships: Kyoko x Celestia Rated: T Tags: Gambling, Smoking, Romantic Tension Word Count: 2,918 Summary: Celestia invites Kyoko over for a game of poker and it quickly becomes the most intriguing game Kyoko has ever played. Trying to read Celestia was difficult enough normally, but trying to read her with the only light in the room coming from her lit cigar was near impossible. But she was the Ultimate Detective for a reason.

If you are interested in a commission here is my Commission Info!

---

Kyoko wasn’t sure what to expect when Celeste invited her to her room that evening and felt her reasons for being suspicious were justified. Celeste usually didn’t take visitors—well, until recently. She’d been inviting a few people over lately, presumably for card games or other forms of gambling.

That’s what Makoto told her anyway, but it wouldn’t have been hard to guess. Kyoko was more intrigued by the other thing he mentioned yesterday when they met up for lunch.

That Celeste had been asking him questions about her.

It wasn’t that she was bothered by Celeste’s interest but she was certainly confused. Celeste must have known Makoto would tell her, so why the attempted secrecy in the first place?

Or was that her roundabout way of capturing Kyoko’s attention? Celeste never approached things simply; she always had to stay one step ahead and predominantly in an exaggerated manner.

It worked though, because Kyoko spent longer than normal searching for her cleanest suit jacket before heading over. She knew most people wouldn’t care about her appearance, she hardly cared herself, but she had a feeling Celeste would appreciate the extra effort.

The door swung open and there stood Celestia Ludenberg in all her glory. Fake hair, fake eyes, black lipstick, expensive dangling jewelry, and stunning as always. She wasn’t in her usual gothic getup today, instead clad in an extravagant red and black dress, as if this meeting was a special occasion. Crimson eyes roamed her form and suddenly Kyoko felt underdressed.

Celeste looked beautiful and Kyoko was looking forward to spending time with her, but Kyoko wanted to spend time with Taeko, too—wanted to see the hair lacking the drills, the true eye colour, hear her say more than one sentence at a time—and had to hope that Celeste would trust her enough to let her walls down one day.

Maybe today if Makoto’s luck rubbed off on her.

“You look as dashing as ever, Kyoko,” Celeste said, charm oozing off her thick accent. She stepped aside and made a sweeping motion with her arm. “Please, come in.”

The doorway may as well had been a portal to a different world, or a different time period, from how much the atmosphere shifted from the hallway; the dark colour scheme, the Victorian style furniture, the way Celestia’s spicy perfume clung to the walls. If not for the size of the room matching all the other dorms, it would be easy to forget they were still on campus property.

But Kyoko didn’t realize just how dark it was until Celeste closed the door behind them. Several tall candles adorned a table in the middle of the room—the table looked ridiculously large in the cramped dorm space—and the flames dancing at their tips provided the only source of light.

“Why have you invited me here?” Kyoko asked.

“Suspicious of me already, Kyoko?” Celeste giggled, holding her hand to her mouth, her silver fingerbone ring gleaming from the flames. “I just wanted to spend my evening with my cherished friend. It’s been far too long since you and I have chatted. Relax those shoulders for awhile and let’s play some poker. What do you say?”

Kyoko’s eyebrow rose. “In the dark?”

“It adds a layer of intrigue, wouldn’t you say? Playing the usual way has become dreadfully dull.” Celestia gestured towards the table. “Please take a seat.”

The chairs were cushioned and, now that she was closer, Kyoko noticed the heavy white tablecloth covering the table. It was too dark to see any intricate designs but the material alone was enough to prove its worth. Several unopened packs of playing cards lay on Celeste’s side of the table.

No poker chips, though.

“Are we gambling or not?” Kyoko asked, adjusting to get comfy in her seat. “I do have some money on me.”

Celestia’s eyes sparkled like rubies in a dark cave. “I thought we could just play for fun, but I adore that you came prepared. Maybe towards the end I’ll swipe that yen from you.”

Confidence dripped from her tone but Kyoko knew she had the skill to back it up so she didn’t bother defending herself. She accepted her defeat in this game against Celestia long before she accepted the invitation to actually play.

“Tea?” Celeste offered, not waiting for Kyoko’s reply before pouring them both a cup and placing them on the table. That was probably the first time Kyoko had seen her pour her own tea and that was enough of a clue for Kyoko to know something was up with Celeste.

The question was how to go about asking. Celeste hid herself and her feelings behind a mask and it was rare for anyone to catch a glimpse underneath.

Kyoko wanted to see her.

Kyoko took a sip from her cup. It was warm and delicious and... actually her favourite flavour of tea. Did Celeste prepare this blend on purpose?

“Thank you,” she decided to say instead of asking what was on her mind. Celestia smiled at her and suddenly Kyoko’s belly felt warm from more than just the tea.

Celeste took her seat on the opposite end of the table and used her finger ring to cut open a new pack of cards. “Just so you know I’m not cheating,” she clarified, shuffling them.

Kyoko shrugged as she watched her deal them each five cards. “Wouldn’t matter to me if you did. In fact, it may have been entertaining trying to figure out how you were.”

Celestia smirked behind her teacup, taking a delicate sip. “The detective hat never comes off, huh?”

“It’s a permanent addition to my wardrobe.” Kyoko matched Celestia’s look. “Couldn’t you tell?”

Celeste’s smirk softened. “You’d look cute in a detective hat.”

Kyoko’s expression fumbled and suddenly she was much more thankful for the dim lighting in the room. Of all the things she prepared herself for tonight, being flirted with was not one of them.

Celestia laughed at her but it contained no malice. “Now,” she picked up her cards, “let’s begin.”

Forcing herself to calm down, Kyoko’s expression renewed neutrality as she glanced at her hand. Even with the decent amount of candles on the table the numbers were difficult to recognize.

“I can barely see my cards,” Kyoko said, squinting until she recognized that she had a pair. She threw the other three cards onto the centre of the table.

“Tell you what,” Celeste said, exchanging two cards of her own. “Every time you win I’ll light another candle, but every time you lose I’ll snuff another out.”

The cards Kyoko received were no better than her old ones and Celestia’s face betrayed nothing concerning the state of her hand, but Kyoko assumed it was stronger than her own. “We both know I’m not going to win any rounds.”

“Have some faith in yourself, Kyoko,” Celestia purred, revealing her cards one at a time. It was cocky and excessive and it suited her. Two pair.

Kyoko sighed, laying down her pair of 5’s. “You’ve won tournaments for games you’ve never even played before. How am I supposed to beat you?”

“Precisely my point. Just because you haven’t won before today doesn’t mean today won’t be the first day you win.” Celestia licked her fingers—Kyoko stared for too long—and snuffed out a candle. “That’s what gambling is all about, my dear.”

That’s how Kyoko would lose all her savings if this were a serious match. Playing with Celeste was entertaining, but Kyoko would stay far away from actual gambling halls.

Well. Perhaps she would go if she could witness Celeste playing in a professional match. Trying to catch Celeste’s opponents in their lies would be an interesting way to test her detective skills, too.

Celestia pulled out something from her pocket but Kyoko couldn’t make out what it was until the tip ignited thanks to a candle. When Celeste leaned forward to gather their old cards the candlelight prominently illuminated her face, which now included the ludicrously large and fancy cigar that hung between her black lips. It glowed brighter than any of the candles.

Kyoko’s mind was reeling but she kept her face passive; Celestia was apparently full of surprises tonight. “I didn’t know you smoked.”

The smoke emerged from Celeste’s lungs in spirals, swirling above their heads. “A girl’s allowed some secrets, isn’t she?”

“You shouldn’t be smoking in the dorms.”

Celestia didn’t look threatened or impressed as she shuffled a new deck and dealt out their hands. “Please repeat that to Hiro if you plan on lecturing me.”

She had a point. That man’s room was a constant hotbox. But he shared with anyone who needed a hit so no one could really complain.

“What about the smoke alarms?”

“Not to worry. I unplugged them.”

Kyoko’s hands twitched, feeling a brief phantom burn, and she resisted the urge to rub them together. “Not that I don’t trust you, but you’re risking burning down the dorms.”

“Putting your trust in a liar like me?” Another string of giggles. Kyoko had made her laugh a lot tonight without even trying. She wasn’t sure if she should feel proud of that or not. “I’m flattered by the gamble.”

After an exchange of garbage cards Kyoko laid down her pair of 8’s. Better than last time but, unsurprisingly, no contest for Celestia’s pair of 10’s. The room became darker once again.

Celeste smirked and gently blew smoke in her direction that was expertly shaped like a spade. She was showing off even though she had no reason to, but it was still impressive.

“What’s with that giant cigar, anyway?” Kyoko decided to ask. She was going to stay quiet about it but there was something so ridiculous about seeing that massive cigar in Celestia’s mouth that she just had to know. She looked like a mafia boss or something. “You could have gotten a cigarette off Mondo or Leon if you needed one.”

“And talk to them willingly?” Celeste’s face scrunched up, the first chip in her mask that night. “No, thank you. I have better ways to spend my time.”

Kyoko met her gaze. “Like with me?”

Celeste giggled. “Like with you.”

It was several rounds and just as many snuffed out candles later that Kyoko realized Celestia avoided answering about the cigar, but sometimes avoidance was just as revealing as an answer itself. Maybe she wanted to feel fancy. Maybe she wanted to feel more like a gambler.

Maybe she was using it to hide something?

And on that note. “Makoto mentioned you asking about me.”

“Did he now?” Celeste didn’t seem surprised or offended. “What questions did he say I asked?”

“About my preferred tea, for one,” Kyoko said, finishing her cup and setting it aside. “It wasn’t the type of questions that bothered me, rather that you were asking them to him in the first place.”

“Oh?”

Kyoko already knew she wasn’t winning this hand but squinted at her cards anyway to buy time and consider what she wanted to say; to consider her feelings.

It wasn’t quite betrayal she felt, nor mistrust, but there was some measure of hurt pulsing in her chest.

“Why didn’t you just ask me?” Her voice was quieter than she intended.

“And lose my shroud of mystery?” Celeste gave a sly smile, using a card to slice off the elongated glowing ashes of her cigar; they disintegrated in the darkness. “I have a reputation to uphold, you know.”

“Celeste, I’m being serious.” Kyoko threw down her abysmal hand. She didn’t care about the game, not when there was something that mattered so much more. “You know you can talk to me, right? You don’t need to pretend in front of me.”

Celeste paused. It was hard to see her expression in this lighting but her smile fell away a little too swiftly. “Pretending is all I know how to do.”

It was painful hearing that for some reason and Kyoko frowned. “Is your interest in me pretend, too?”

The crack in Celestia’s mask deepened. It didn’t take a detective to notice that.

And before Kyoko could truly analyze her, Celestia pressed the tip of her cigar to the cards in her hand, setting the edges ablaze. She let them burn a second more, just long enough for Kyoko to worry, before blowing them out and dropping them on the table.

Royal flush.

With the final candle extinguished, Celestia’s cigar was now the only source of light in the room. It lit up her lips, her eyes, her jewelry, and not much else. Kyoko knew she’d have no chance of seeing her own cards. Kyoko also knew she had little chance of winning, especially considering how well these games had gone for her so far.

And yet...

“One last round,” Kyoko proposed. “If I win, you tell me honestly why you’re smoking that cigar.” She knew there was no way Celeste would be honest with her unless she used Celeste’s own game against her. Gambling was the only effective language here.

Smoke further tainted the air. “And if I win?”

“I’ll answer any question you want and it won’t leave this room.” Kyoko paused. “Or I’ll leave the room, if that’s what you’d prefer.”

Smoke blew from Celeste’s mouth in the shape of a diamond this time. “After tossing me that yen in your pocket, I presume.”

“Of course.”

Celestia, with no hesitation, broke open the umpteenth pack of cards and dealt them out.

Kyoko didn’t even look at her hand.

“A bold move,” Celestia stated, glancing at her own cards.

“I thought you’d appreciate the gamble.”

Celestia smiled. “I do.”

Celeste exchanged three of her cards and Kyoko’s eyes never left hers. Once it was clear Kyoko wasn’t planning to trade in any of her cards, leaving everything to the chance of the initial deal, Celeste laid her cards on the table.

Kyoko held her breath and flipped over her hand.

Both were high card, but her ace beat Celestia’s queen.

Kyoko’s deep exhale temporarily propelled the fog of smoke out of her face. It was possible Celeste simply let her win, but in this case there was nothing Kyoko could complain about.

If Celeste was willing to open up about her feelings then that was a win in every book.

Celeste sighed, standing from the table and walking to the other side of the room. Kyoko used the lit cigar as a guide and slowly followed. Celeste was silent for a long time, the only sounds being her inhaling and exhaling of smoke, but Kyoko was patient.

The words that eventually came were soft and vulnerable.

“I... have feelings for someone.”

Kyoko’s heart pounded in her chest. Was this related to their gambling condition? “I don’t see how that’s an issue.”

Celeste winced. “Falling in love is something that Taeko would do, not Celestia.”

So that’s why she’d been gambling so much lately. That explains this atmosphere, the secrecy, the cigar.

She was afraid of her feelings because she was afraid of being Taeko. She didn’t know how to be Taeko anymore. She didn’t think she could be both so she was forcing herself to be Celestia. She probably thought that the harder she pushed herself to be Celestia, the more extravagant she made Celestia out to be, the smaller Taeko would become until she was nothing but ash in the wind.

Kyoko wouldn’t let that happen.

“Taeko and Celestia are one in the same,” Kyoko said softly. “One would not exist without the other, and one could not fall in love without the other also doing so. It seems to me like Taeko has accepted her feelings.” Kyoko reached for her hand. “It’s Celestia’s turn.”

Celeste stared up at her for a moment as if lost for words. Did Kyoko overstep? Normally she would not be concerned with something like that, but she knew Celeste was struggling with this and she would never want to upset her.

And then, just as Kyoko began to worry, fingers laced with hers.

Celeste removed the cigar from her lips and replaced the empty space with Kyoko’s own. Kyoko sighed into her mouth, her free hand immediately going to Celeste’s waist, finally feeling the tension in her shoulders release. Her mind was blissfully silent for once as Celeste’s smoky breath mixed with her own. The sweet heat of the tea still lingered on her tongue and Kyoko was determined to absorb the remains of every drop.

They both were breathing heavily when they pulled away. Kyoko knew her cheeks were warm and wondered if Celeste’s were the same. Even when standing this close it was impossible to see anything in this darkness, and maybe that was for the best.

It made things more... intriguing, as Celeste stated earlier.

“Was I kissing Celestia or Taeko?” Kyoko asked.

Celeste pressed her cigar against Kyoko’s mouth until she succumbed and wrapped her lips around it. Then Celeste retrieved a long, fancy cigarette holder from her pocket, elegant and gothic in design, sticking a cigarette in the end and capturing it between her lips. She leaned up and used the tip of Kyoko’s burning cigar to light her own. Kyoko’s heart throbbed, her lips tightening against the black lipstick stain on her cigar.

“You’re the detective, Kyoko.” Celeste breathed out smoke shaped like a heart, grinning as it pressed against Kyoko’s lips. “Maybe you need to re-examine the evidence.”

[wondr18360]

Hints at who the traitor was in Persona 5

To be honest, I always had a gut feeling that this person would be the traitor partly because I had seen the teaser images for PQ2 with them included as part of the Phantom Thieves and given their background before they “joined” the group, they certainly seemed suspicious, but still that’s not really proof that this person was the traitor, so here’s a list of things that really helped prove that they were the culprit behind the mental shutdowns and the one who sold out the Phantom Thieves!

(I haven’t revealed their name or gender yet cuz I don’t wanna spoil anyone by accident, so select ‘keep reading’ at your own risk!)

1. Lurking at Okumura Foods

The first time the Phantom Thieves enter Okumura’s palace, Akechi is spotted nearby, and we can see him actually notice the Thieves gathered in front of the company building before the scene cuts to the Metaverse. At this point in the game it could be just a way to make us nervous since it’s already been established that he’s suspicious of the Shujin kids + Yusuke and Futaba, and him seeing them go into the Metaverse in front of a potential target’s property could make him even more suspicious and maybe even give him solid proof that they are the Phantom Thieves, but really, why is Akechi by the Okumura company building in the first place? Maybe it’s a coincidence, or maybe he’s just doing his job investigating Okumura as a suspect? In any case, it is quite convenient, especially that he happens to be there at the same time that the Thieves are, and more importantly, that this just happens to be the one palace that they infiltrate whose owner dies of a mental shutdown because the true culprit appears after the boss battle and kills his shadow. I’m probably grasping at straws, but in hindsight this does seem a bit fishy...

2. Interest in the Shujin Kids + Yusuke & Futaba (and Haru)

During the Shujin Academy panel, when Akechi reveals that he knows their identity as the Phantom Thieves, he tells the group that he was curious about them ever since the Madarame case. This could have been because Yusuke started hanging out with Ryuji, Ann, and Akira (and Morgana) around the time of the Madarame case, and not only would that have been odd because he didn’t go to the same school as them, but after a bit of digging it would have been known that a former pupil/victim of Madarame was hanging out with three Shujin students who had been victims of Kamoshida, who was the first target of the Phantom Thieves; logically that would have made for a pretty interesting group and it would have been a strange coincidence that Yusuke just happens to join those three when his tormentor gets a change of heart. But remember, Madarame’s shadow was the first one to mention the true culprit behind the shutdowns, and talked about a Persona-user with a black mask. Kaneshiro, the next criminal to get a change of heart, also mentioned the culprit. It’s a bit odd that the time around which Akechi grew interested in the group coincides with the time that we first heard about the true culprit, who most likely could have even been in the palaces at the same time as the Thieves and maybe even saw them as they were exploring, particularly since in the Okumura palace, the culprit kills Shadow Okumura right after the Thieves defeat him and leave him behind, indicating that whoever they were, they must have been waiting inside the palace itself for the Thieves to weaken him and then leave so that they could finish the job. Again, probably grasping at straws, but it’s kinda suspicious.

3. Sudden Thieves fan??

Okay he doesn’t really become a fan of the Phantom Thieves, but Akechi’s stance towards them does soften somewhat after Okumura’s death when he adamantly says that they aren’t responsible for the incident or for any of the other mental shutdowns. This is a bit suspicious since before he seemed very convinced that the Phantom Thieves were connected to the mental shutdowns, and when his stance suddenly changes to the opposite, even Sae Nijima calls him out on it and points out the same thing. Not only that, but on his television appearance, he even comments that there may be more going on than originally thought, which is similarly suspicious and even indicates that he may actually know more than he’s letting on. In addition, when he later runs into Akira at Leblanc again, he says something about how is goals are probably not so different from theirs, which a) hints at a possible collaboration between him and the Thieves, and b) indicates that he may also have his own agenda to get rid of scummy adults. The latter is actually confirmed later when he’s talking with the Thieves in Leblanc, when he mentions wanting revenge against sickening human beings and having a grudge against someone, which puts more emphasis on the fact that there is some darker force behind Akechi’s actions and motivation. 

4. Genius, or experienced?

During the Shujin Academy panel when Akechi confronts the Thieves and reveals how he found out their true identities, he says that he has the same power as them and that he gained that power around the time of the Okumura case, about a month before the panel. However, when he’s talking to the Thieves, he seems to know quite a bit about the Metaverse, even mentioning it by name, which is odd because even members like Makoto and Futaba, who either pick up knowledge quite quickly or may have already had some knowledge of the cognitive world, needed time and guidance from Morgana and the veteran members of the Thieves in order to figure things out. And yet here’s Akechi, who was on his own the whole time, talking as though he’s already an expert on the Metaverse- and how exactly did he know that that’s what the other world was called? It’s a bit strange, and even when he’s exploring Sae’s palace with the Thieves, he seems to know quite a lot already, or picks up on things abnormally quickly for someone who’s supposed to be an “amateur” as Morgana would say. Speaking of Sae’s palace, it’s also a bit fishy how he was able to find out so quickly how to use the Meta-nav to find it, since he is the one who reveals to the group that she has a palace, and evidently already has a plan to change her heart. Basically, his intelligence aside, the only other viable reason I can think of for Akechi’s extensive knowledge of the Metaverse is that he has more experience with it than he made it seem to the Phantom Thieves. 

5. Bad storyteller

I don’t know about you guys, but when Akechi was telling the Thieves about how he saw the real culprit behind the shutdowns and somehow survived their encounter by awakening his Persona, I wasn’t buying it. First, there's no proof that what he’s saying is actually true, and also, if he's really going to be a bona fide monafide member of the Phantom Thieves, wouldn’t we actually get to witness his awakening the way we did with all the other members? Even Haru, who was in her Persona clothes already when we first saw her, got a real awakening scene for us to see, but there’s none of that for Akechi. That’s not all though- it’s already established that the true culprit is quite strong, in fact, back when Shadow Kaneshiro mentioned the culprit, he said that the Thieves would be no match for them in terms of strength. If that’s the case, how would Akechi have survived? Maybe the trauma of a life-or-death situation triggered his awakening and his Persona momentarily saved his life, but still the culprit could have taken another shot or two and killed him because he’s still supposed to be relatively unfamiliar with his powers, and logically it would also be in the culprit’s best interests to make sure to get rid of Akechi because he actually saw them and this could come back to bite them later. In any case, Akechi’s story is only slightly believable at best in my opinion, and for me at least it definitely was a big hint.

6. Sae’s calling card

Am I the only one who thought it was kind of weird that Akechi was so specific about the date that they should send out the calling card for Sae? I mean, yeah he gave that whole analysis of her character and why based on that it would be good to send the calling card closer to the deadline, but still, why did it have to be on the 18th? Why not the 17th or the 19th? After all, those dates are pretty close to the deadline as well. This just makes it more likely that Akechi’s monologue about Sae is a clever ruse to hide the fact that he is planning his own “mission” to mobilize the police to capture the Phantom Thieves in her palace on that date. 

7. The deal

One of the biggest indicators (in my opinion) that Akechi wouldn’t be a true member of the Phantom Thieves was his condition for cooperating with them: they disband after dealing with Sae’s palace. If he genuinely was interested in joining them or working together towards justice, he wouldn’t be giving them such an ultimatum. He does say that he wants to work with them because the mission would not be able to succeed without their cooperation, but even that comment is a bit sketchy because his referring to a “mission” could even mean that he has an ulterior motive, some other “mission” that he’s trying to carry out besides taking away Sae’s distorted desires. Anyway, because he generally did not approve of the Thieves and his motivation for working with them was questionable at best, it makes sense that he would have been the one to betray them.

8. Delicious Pancakes:

Finally, the most meme-ish canon hint that Goro Akechi is the traitor! This is basically the incident that tips off Akira and the Phantom Thieves that they should be suspicious of Akechi when he wants to make a deal and work with them later in the game. It’s one of those hints that you can catch when it happens (which is far earlier than the deal and whole traitor business), but it’s subtle enough that you do need to be paying some attention to what’s going on at the time, especially since it’s covered up well by Ryuji’s convincing response to Akechi that nope, no one was talking about pancakes, and the fact that no one actually addresses it afterwards until months later when the story is close to its climax. But even if you did forget that Morgana was the only one talking about pancakes and how delicious they were, you would have to wonder why Akechi was so specific about having heard someone say “delicious pancakes” when it sounds nothing like what Ryuji and Ann were talking about before he arrived on the scene. From the early-game standpoint, it’s an indicator that given the fact that he heard Morgana, Akechi probably isn’t the normal high-school detective that he appears to be, but after progressing to the later part of the game, it’s proof that Akechi could hear and understand Morgana from the very beginning, and therefore was another Metaverse user; he was the true culprit behind the mental shutdowns. 

Welp, that was long, but if you got this far, thanks so much and I hope you enjoyed reading! :D

Bonus hint: Akechi literally is a long-haired alternate dimension version of Light Yagami, I mean of COURSE he’s the crazy criminal masquerading as a detective/ordinary student! XD 

(Also no one asked but Futaba sits a lot like L so it really is like Light vs. L again except this time L WINS!!)

[broken-clover]

ACC Day 25- Freebie (Scents)

I cannot blame anyone but myself for my own lateness. Still, this was fun!

This one’s kinda weird because I just wanted to do an AU where everything was sorta okay. Ragna, Noel, and Jin are trying to reconcile, nobody’s dying, and Jin’s getting the mental help he needs. It’s self indulgent as hell and I am not even going to try and justify it.

Using Noel today! Which might be odd, since I realize I forgot to put her on my headcanons list in the first place? Which was very silly of me.

Graduation day had finally come to a close, and Noel gladly retreated to her dorms to escape the hustle and bustle. Of course it was a special day, for her and for all of her friends, but after a full day of talking and socializing, Noel was long passed being burned out, and she needed time to let herself cool down and just be by herself.

The dorm was half-dismantled when she returned. She, Tsubaki, and Makoto all had a lot of packing to do before they moved out, and the ship to Kagutsuchi was heading out first thing in the morning, so none of them had very much time left to put away everything.

It was going to be strange to be stationed out somewhere else. Torifune had been her home for such a long time now, and Noel wasn’t really sure if she was ready for so many changes all at once. At least both of her partners had been stationed in the same place. It was relieving to think that she’d still have that bit of familiarity, and since they’d all decided to share an apartment together, Noel would always be able to see them at the end of the day.

She could still feel Bolverk’s pull on her thoughts, keeping her emotions in line and helping her stay relatively composed. She left her guns on the desk and sprawled out on her bed, pressing her face into the pillows and letting out a deep sigh.

Noel was exhausted.

When she found the energy to move, she rolled onto her side and grabbed a teddy bear that was slumped against her sheets. The soft fur was comforting to the touch, and as she wrapped her arms around the toy, the smell of mint and lavender filled her nose. It was a gift from Tsubaki, in an attempt to help her girlfriend with her anxiety. In addition to the soothing smells, it was also weighted, which helped Noel ground herself and have something to focus on when she was nearing a panic attack.

Scents were nice. Noel liked using them to remind her of places. The smells that soothed her now always made her think of Tsubaki. Every time she was upset and clung onto her bear, it reminded her of one of her favorite people in the world.

”Whenever you feel upset, just focus on that, alright? Just take deep breaths. You’re going to be just fine. I’ll help you the best I can.”

Maybe that would be a good place to start on packing. She grabbed a small box off of the floor and gently placed the stuffed animal in it. After taking one last whiff of mint and lavender, Noel moved over to grab another toy that tended to stay on her bed.

It was a stuffed squirrel, another gift, handmade by Makoto. The seams were a little wonky, and it tended to flop over from the lack of stuffing to support it, but the material was nice to the touch, and the sachet sewn inside of it released the smell of walnuts. After hearing about how worried Noel tended to get when she was away for long periods of time, Makoto had made the plushie as something to keep her company while she was away. Now the scent of walnuts always made her think of her girlfriend’s bright smile, boundless confidence, and kindness.

“So you’ll always have someone looking after you, okay, Noellie?”

She tucked the squirrel away beside her teddy bear.

Recalling a sudden memory, Noel pulled open the drawer on her nightstand. A little red backpack clip was nestled in between forgotten hair-ties and other little accessories. It looked and smelled like watermelon, though the scent was just slightly faded. She’d won it at a festival game alongside the rest of Team Remix Heart. It was little more than a consolation prize, but she kept it for the sentiment of spending time with her friends.

”C’mon, Noellie, you’ve got this!”

“You’re going to stress her out, Makoto, calm down.”

“Don’t be such a buzzkill, Kajun, it’s a festival!”

“Not you too, Mai! Honestly…”

She wasn’t sure how often she was going to see any of them now. Kajun had gone back to Sector Seven, and Mai had left the academy early, without any sort of mention of where she was headed or why.

Before her emotions could well up, Noel put it away and moved on.

The one she pulled off of the dresser was the most recent, only unwrapped yesterday. It was a special present from her beloved big brother, a big chubby bunny doll that smelled like vanilla. Ranga had traveled out so he could see her graduate, and he’d passed over a shiny wrapped package that he’d claimed was supposed to be a housewarming gift for their new quarters once all three of them moved out. They weren’t sure how often they’d be able to see each other, but Ragna promised to keep in touch even if they were both busy. He’d given her a rare genuine smile, and a tight hug.

”I’m really proud of you, kiddo. You know that, right?”

Noel gave it a hug of her own, felt the smile come back to her face, and put the rabbit in the box.

With the memory of Ragna still vivid, she pushed aside her slaved-over study papers until she found a little pink blob lying on her desk. She hadn’t ever actually played a Kirby game before, but she could still admire how absolutely adorable the creature was, especially in the form of a strawberry-scented squishy.

She was pretty sure Jin hadn’t, either, but that hadn’t been the important part. It was meant to be an object of reconciliation, a small token given alongside one of the first conversations Noel had found herself in with him in over two years.

They’d always been estranged, but aside from knowing that the impressive major Kisaragi had let his position, he might as well have vanished off of the face of the planet. Noel wasn’t sure if she was worried or secretly relieved, but after being sent a sent an odd letter from Yamatsumi in his handwriting, she’d arrived to find that he’d checked himself into a psychological facility almost a year ago, trying to address his issues instead of masking them with brusqueness and anger. She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting. There was a definite softness to him that there hadn’t been before, but Jin was quick to mention that even after he planned to live independently again, he was still going to be taking regular therapy sessions. He wasn’t suddenly perfect, but Noel could tell that he had been trying incredibly hard.

When the nurse arrived to let them know that visiting hours were almost over, Jin had passed her the little figure, and given her hand a light squeeze.

“I want to get better, Noel. I’m going to make myself better. For all three of us.”

As much bad blood as they’d seemed to have, Noel really did want them to be a family again. As soon as she could, she wanted to visit him again.

The last toy she grabbed was distinct in not only being the oldest, but also the only one to have no intentional smell to it. It was a little doll, modeled after the Torifune Pandas that lived around the city. Edgar and Claire had given it to her shorty after her adoption, as a sign of their love and acceptance of her. It matched the tiny size of the real pandas, small enough that Noel could put it in her uniform pocket and gently pet it whenever she needed something to calm herself down. While it was supposed to be just a simple toy, it had managed to cling onto the lingering scents of home- the furniture cleaner her mother liked to use, with just a bit of her dad’s cologne. It was weird now, to stay in contact with her birth siblings and her adopted family at the same time, but they had loved her unconditionally, and in Noel’s mind, they were just as much her parents as anyone could be.

The little box was almost full. Noel held it close, taking in all the scents all at once, flooding her mind with memories of all the people she loved. Once she was sure she’d had enough, she folded the cardboard ears down and reached for the packing tape.

Maybe moving wouldn’t be so bad after all. Hopefully her new home would bring more special memories for Noel to cherish.