#it's very akechi-centric

[hot-cocoa-addict]

hi hello how do people deal with the fact that they, while trying to write out one fic, end up with another completely plotted out in their head with a good headstart on a potential chapter one written down on a doc??

should i try to juggle two fics at once? absolutely not. will i? ... maybe.

[ajdrawshq]

i love sending my brother screenshots of lil manga Akechis where he looks all sweet n innocent to make it seem funny how badly hes treated in our au with him. and pretending the canon horrors he doesnt know abt dont exist

[shittyakechiweekly]

22 for the character asks for Akechi and Futaba?

For Akechi, I like it when fics really show his internal struggles with redemption and the duality of subconsciously wanting love and praise from a person you hate and who has wronged you. I don't really like it when he gets flattened to either the tsundere or softboy character. Let him have the depth, let him be contradictory.

For Futaba, I haven't read any futaba-centric stuff, but I like it when her struggles are explored as well. Both her social anxiety and her anger with akechi. In quite a few shuake fics I've noticed that her very understandable hatred of Akechi isn't given merit. I think some people have the tendency of writing her like either a) she is willing to treat the whole murdered mom thing as water under the bridge in just two sentences or b) shes treated as a girl in the way of the ship because of her objections. I don't like either of those handlings of her character in regards to Akechi. She deserves to be able to say "no I won't forgive you" and have that be respected, or to have a fully fleshed out reconciliation with Akechi where they work through this shit together.

[argentsunshine]

my persona 5 fics

the shelf life of a persona fic is nonexistent i have discovered so i wanted to make a big post of my old fics lmao

the only incomplete fic and non oneshot here

stuck in the middle - 19k, 3 chapters published. A Joker's Palace AU taking place in the summer post-Royal, following the rest of the Phantom Thieves as they make their way through the Palace and confront Joker's issues. You know. Palace fic.

all of these are oneshots and complete

also all rated T or lower. in ascending length order:

blood capsules - 2.1k, akeshu. real detective/thief au. Akechi interrupts the leader of the Phantom Thieves in the middle of a heist.

lazarus taxa - 2.5k, akeshu-ish. Akechi and Akira run into each other 10 years postcanon. Akira thought Akechi was dead. They talk.

the most dangerous thing is to love - 5.1k, akeshu-ish. written with my beloved friend @/kaetor. Joker makes it over the bulkhead in the engine room before Akechi gets the chance to seal himself in to die.

oh, you can't unmake me - 5.7k, akechi-centric. Akechi wakes up in Maruki's reality with something that is definitely not him in control of his body.

judgement by the hounds - 7.1k, akeshu. werewolf/vampire au. akira starts transforming at the worst possible time, and, okay, maybe he should have double checked if it was a full moon before getting drinks with a monster hunter.

when the heart would cease - 13k, akeshu. fantasy au. akechi wakes up in his own grave following his punishment failing to kill akira, with a year to avenge his death.

my magnus archives au

these are all oneshots based on the universe of the podcast the magnus archives (which is very good) they're only loosely connected to each other but yknow we vibe

where the void sings - 3.4k. Sae and Akechi investigate a series of supernatural incidents, from a crashed train full of spiders to the suspiciously normal murder of kunikazu okumura

blood, guts, and chocolate cake - 3.6k, shujin trio-centric. so you know that feeling when your gym teacher is both an abhorrent person and some kind of meat monster so you have to hunt him down and murder him? (canned laughter)

wolves without teeth - 5.8k, akeshu-ish? Akechi tries to gain Akira's trust in order to manipulate him.

[honeysweetcorvidae]

HELLO it has been a very long time since I’ve posted fanfic on tumblr but i am here and I have some for you: this one’s a quick Akechi-centric NG+ one.

It’s called the eternal justice of man, it’s 3.8k, and it’s about revenge, plans changing, and the metaphorical significance of office furniture, and I’d love it if you’d check it out! I’ll throw the first couple paragraphs below a cut :3

——

Goro Akechi has always hated his father’s office in the Diet. It’s made up of precisely the kind of clean, impersonal luxury that screams scorn for the lesser people in society without ever having to say a word, all lacquered wood and beautiful plants Shido has never cared for in his life, the lines of the furniture ostentatiously understated, everything just so. He’s gotten very good, over the years—through multiple offices, in fact, each more infuriatingly grandiose than the last—at not fidgeting, not shrinking in on himself like a child in trouble, not grinding his teeth into fucking dust.

The view from this one is nice, at least. The man doesn’t deserve floor-to-ceiling windows, but Goro can’t find it in himself to resent them the way he does his stupid fucking desk.

Either way, it doesn’t matter. He’s never appreciated them, not really, and he won’t have much of a chance after today. Goro lets his face settle into something sharp and anticipatory, more honest than usual, because, well— it’ll work, and if it doesn’t he’ll have bigger problems.

[akechi-stole-my-heart]

Royal Trio for that character asks?

ahh ty! this is literally perfect timing because I just finished the third semester on my third playthrough of p5r and really wanted to talk about these three <this is a lie. I stopped writing out the answer to this ask over a month ago but this ask IS still relevant bc I am now writing a royal trio-centric fic. so I'd still like to talk about them.

describe their canon relationship/dynamic

Sumi and Akira have a very strong dynamic, as Sumi is basically Akira's canonical love interest and one of his closest friends. And I needn't explain how Akira and Akechi have an extremely strong dynamic as well.

But the three of them don't really have that strong of a trio dynamic because the triangle breaks when we get to Akechi and Sumi's relationship with each other, which is a shame. Either Akechi or Sumi feel a bit left out because Sumi's in the dark about so much of Akechi's Deal and Akechi is so outwardly cold to Sumi. So they don't have much of a dynamic with each other.

your ideal/headcanon version of it? how does it differ from how it is in canon & why is this your favorite version? any other alternate versions of it you enjoy?

My ideal version of the royal trio has two main differences between it and the canon version. First, Akechi and Sumi never get the chance to bond in canon. I don't think that it's a flaw, necessarily, because there was no way to have them bond without breaking Akechi's character arc in the third sem. But it is a huge missed opportunity.

I really do think Akechi does secretly care for Sumi, but he doesn't want to show it because he's being Stupid in third sem about wanting to push everyone away. I think in any other timeline they could have been friends, and I think that he realizes their similarities and relates to her because of them. In the same way, if Sumi knew more about Akechi I think she would relate to him and want to be his friend too.

The second thing I'd change is make Sumi and Akira's relationship platonic. This isn't really a "change" since you can reject her, and Sumi having a crush on its own is perfectly fine. But they push them as a romantic pairing really really hard, much harder than anyone else, to the point where its pretty obvious she's supposed to be your canonical girlfriend. And I just don't like that, since them getting together kinda breaks Sumi's character arc of self discovery.

what do you like about their relationship, why is it interesting or enjoyable to you?

I love how Sumi and Akechi both complement Akira in opposite directions. But more than that, I'm obsessed with how Sumi and Akechi are thematic foils in pretty much every way. Others have written metas on this so I won't repeat it all here, but the sheer Potential of Akechi and Sumi's dynamic and the way their arcs parallel is so Interesting. Sumi and Akechi are such different people, but they are also so extremely similar, and its just. mmmm. good. makes brain go brrr.

I could go on and on about the ways Sumi and Akechi parallel one another, but one thing in particular that sticks out to me are their masks and the way each of them deal with their self hatred in opposite directions. Sumi buries her true personality and becomes her ideal self as Kasumi. Meanwhile Akechi does something similar with the Detective Prince persona, but by the third semester he's completely rejected that part of himself. Sumi learns to reconcile all parts of herself, while Akechi. doesn't. And Akira serves as Akechi's other half, the way that Kasumi served as Sumire's other half. But while Sumi saw Kasumi's natural talent, and how she outshone her in every way, she internalized that hatred to the point where she wished to die. But when Akechi saw how Akira was superior to him in every way, he externalized that hate and tried to kill Akira to prove that he was better. Sumi accidentally kills Kasumi because of her self hatred, and Akechi tries to kill Akira but fails because of his self hatred.

what about the individual characters involved? what does this relationship mean to them, what makes it unique among their relationships?

Akira - Sumi and Akechi are his closest friends, imo. Akira sees a lot of himself in both of them. They're the Fake As Hell Gang, each of them hiding behind various masks to conceal their true, inner self.

Sumi - Akira is the person who helps Sumi rediscover her true self and accept herself for who she truly is instead of continuing to hide behind her sister's identity. She looks up to his as a version of her ideal self, confident and self assured and fully realized. As for Akechi, I don't think Sumi has any idea what to make of him at all.

Akechi - I could go on for days about the complexities of Akechi's feelings about Akira, but in short, Akira is Akechi's only real friend in the world, and yet they were once bitter enemies. Akechi wishes it could stay that simple--rivals, and nothing more. But of course that's not true. As for Sumi, he sees a lot of himself in her--someone terrified that they aren't good enough, idolizing someone else as their better half. But he can't let himself get attached, so he keeps his distance and remains harsh on the surface no matter his sympathies.

favorite interaction they have in canon

"Just everyday Akechi." Obviously.

favorite interaction they have in your head/a situation you want to put them in

well. i mean, if you'll pardon the self promo, you can find out by reading the aforementioned fic where sumi saves goro in the engine room. hehe

[thecrowsnestp5]

Are there gonna be ships in this au? And somewhat related, are any of the characters queer?

well, i have my own opinions on the genders, sexualities, etc. of my characters, but i won't outright confirm anything. however, bunki does explicitly state his... er... "thing" for shido, despite his hatred for government authority. diversity win! obnoxious freak likes men.

as for ships, i know a lot of people are iffy when it comes to oc x canon pairings... and with this being an akechi-centric story, you'd expect someone to get paired up with him, right? well.

we're going in the other direction.

(there's also monalisa which i have a lot of drafts about. cough. it's very relevant for both of them in this au trust)

[dreamsy990]

here's a short reclist of multip-chapter/longform ((mostly) joker-centric, alternate universe, angsty, sometimes hurt/comfort) persona 5 fics that i greatly enjoyed

ships may include: goro akechi/joker, (minor hints of yusuke kitagawa/joker in one, i'll mention it in that fics description)

-Oh Alice, There's no Reflection in the Looking Glass. by intothefrisson

An angsty new game plus au that made me cry several times, with some palace ruler Joker mixed in for flavor. It's unfinished but still is a satisfying conclusion where it's left off. This fic ripped my heart out, stomped on it, set it on fire and threw it to a lake full of pirahanas and I'm thanking it. There's some akeshu shipping, but it's pretty tame and not really the main focus. Also the chapter names are gold. Also also there's a bunch of P4 references I didn't really understand, but if you've played that game you might like it. On top of that all is some amazing art that's so good I had some of it as my lock screen for months. I pulled 2 all nighters to finish reading this fic as soon as possible and so if you do that and die uh. I am not responsible.

-It's Showtime by HoneyCirrus

A palace ruler!Joker au that once again stomped on my heart like it was a spider and im still not over it. It's set right between Haru's introduction as Beauty Thief and the actual start of Okumura's palace. It's very fun and Haru breaks a table to get everyone to shut up. I loved every second of this disaster and you will too. This one's the one with minor hints of unrequited Yusuke/Joker so if you're not into that beware, but as someone who's not a big fan of that ship I barely noticed it so don't worry too much.

-Ducks Out by Ren_Saxon (UNFINISHED; ACTIVELY UPDATED)

It may be an elaborate shitpost but this fic has me in a goddamn stranglehold. It's a more Akechi-centric duck soulmate au that has no right to be so good. I'm not a fan of soulmate aus normally but damnit this one broke me. It's the embodiment of crack treated seriously and if you like that then you'll love this, and if you don't give it a shot anyway. Akechi's inner monologue is hilarious and Arsene being terrible at directions is a thing. Arsene is here and he is a disaster.

-a heartbeat without harmony by pana (panaceaa) (UNFINISHED; ACTIVELY UPDATED)

This one's not really angsty I just think it's funny. Akechi and Joker get into a fake dating competition and become menaces upon society. It's only 2 chapters in out of 5 but I liked it enough to share. If you like slamming your face into a wall wanting to strangle your blorbo because they can't see obvious signs then congrats, this is the one for you. Do beware of the eventual smut tag though.

[auncyen]

I'm enjoying Alas, Lord is Upon Me so far but I can't give kudos again and I can't comment because the author's chosen to turn those off so instead I'ma rec it.

Akechi-centric fic where he investigates a new serial killer who seems to be linked to Shido's conspiracy. I really like both the detail and the characterization so far and would rec if you like mysteries with the metaverse. The big warning: the serial killer is...dedicated in his work. The killings are very violent and you may not want to read if that's an issue for you. (I tend to skim when it comes up because, yeah it's not my thing.) Much smaller warning: if you're expecting a ton of returning characters outside Akechi, you may be disappointed. Sae is also in this fic and a few PT have also made cameos, but the biggest characters in this fic so far are Akechi, the mysterious killer, and two OCs working with Akechi in the investigation, one of whom Akechi is shipped with. I like how the ship's going so far though.

[etherbonded]

" I accepted I'm no angel a long time ago, and I've long since embraced my true self with my sins and purities alike. "

The third and final awakening for Akechi Himari is the persona of the name Hel. Hel is a Curse and Bless centric persona but focuses more on curse than bless, Hel has the similar ability as Laufey in which causes victims hit by the move feel extremely nauseous and can even make hallucinations that the other can see.

Well, Hel enhances that ability to where the hallucination can manifest into a physical form that only they can see. In which means Himari can induce people into especially realistic hallucinations and the person afflicted with the hallucination can physically feel it. Making it harder to snap them out of it. She still suffers from blacking out as a side affect, but doesn't often pass out anymore luckily. For she hasn't had a reason to overuse her abilities with Hel.

And with Hel's bless moves, Himari can very well heal her party fully and has a 15% chance of dispelling a status affect, though she is unable to heal herself with that ability. So she is left unable to heal herself in which means that she either needs to be more careful or have someone who can heal by her side. Though, it doesn't truly stop her from putting herself in more dangerous situations.

photo ref for her persona under the cut

img source: x

[orcelito]

trying to bait myself towards my fic editing by being like ‘you wanna see more akechi, right? pspspspsp there is Plenty here’

..it’s a very akechi-centric chapter lmfao

[eruanee]

─ dorian, 23, they/he, fr/eng ok ─ transmasc gender mess, bisexual and enjoyer of faggotry

this has been my personal blog for years, it became very utena centric against my will but it's truly about whatever i'm interested in at the moment. i'm also a fellow lover of akechi goro bc i'm a bit insane so you'll also see him a lot around here.

please tag trypophobia, either as #trypophobia or #holes. ask me for specifics if you are unsure of what to tag exactly, but otherwise please tag anything that you think could be triggering for me.

-> personal tag | utena posts | ao3 | other links <-

(gif credit)

[luuxxart]

some people just don’t like noodles i guess.

[crescentfool]

happy anniversary to the first time i ever drew goro akechi! i can't believe it's been a whole year of akechi posting! 💗 (reflection and ramble under the cut!)

overall, i'm happy to have met goro akechi last year! he's an amazing muse who has such range- he inspires both humorous artworks, but also emotional ones. i feel really happy to have met akechi because he really reminded me of how to have fun with the art process. not only that, but getting into akechi + shuake helped me branch out into new mediums, like comics and animatics. they're truly eye-opening in that regard. 

numerically speaking, i feel rather satisfied with what i've produced. but i feel that in some ways i've stagnated from emphasizing ideas over practice. it's a hard balance to strike sometimes, tbh. but i'm happy that i've had the chance to see my style develop alongside akechi.

i'll admit that there has been some mental struggles in the past month or so with creating in respects to overthinking about skills and whether or not i've been holding myself back (by constantly drawing). it's pretty difficult tbh but i've been doing what i can to learn more!

but that said! i've had a chance to meet so many people because of him- so to all of you who are here, thanks for sticking with me all this time! going forward, i hope to try and refocus my efforts toward bigger projects (comics + animatics + gifs), and do some more studies. i'm honestly not sure what it is i want to create next- as my focus is all over the place with the different aspects of art that appeals to me. but! i'm sure that with time i can refocus! here's to drawing even more goro akechi and shuakes!! ✨

[ancient-day]

It’s very funny to me how people who want to judge Akechi fans and claim that they completely overlook how he killed Wakaba and Okumura have clearly never actually engaged with any Akechi-centric fanwork because every single fic I’ve read has absolutely touched on this topic in some way.

[muzzleroars]

Cake’s AUs - A Primer Post!

Hi everyone!! This post is probably WAY overdue, but I’m finally going to detail every one of the AUs I’ve posted about in the past...couple years?? My blog is obviously very AU-centric, and I’m so happy that people have enjoyed what I’ve created but until now, I’ve never had a masterpost to help people just finding my account. Honestly, I’m sure I also have followers that have been around for awhile but still definitely can’t keep up with how many I’ve posted – I have a bad habit of forgetting people don’t have access to all my thoughts and the details behind so many of my pieces. SO!! This is the post for you if you’ve been curious about any of my pieces but my mess of a blog made it impossible to figure wtf I was talking about!! Let’s go!!!!

Bad End AU

This is based on the “Yaldabaoth’s Deal” ending of Persona 5, in which Joker agrees to join with Yaldabaoth after the god’s ruse is revealed on December 24th. In the exchange, Joker’s heart is stolen and he becomes gradually obsessed with working towards Yaldabaoth’s utopia. Ultimately, this causes him to drink the elixir of the Holy Grail and die, though he is resurrected as The Son. He then resides in a cathedral in the Mementos depths, reaping the hearts of the “wicked” and receiving worship from the wayward shadows that bow to him and his “father”. Goro Akechi and the Thieves are determined to rescue him, however, and they restore his heart by reuniting him with Arsene thanks to Goro’s wildcard ability. Akira returns to them, but he remains a cognitive being without his human memories – Still, he awakens to Satanael when he fully commits to defying Yaldabaoth and he quietly goes “home” to the Metaverse, now small enough for him and Mona to care for on their own.

Bonus Third Semester Round! Akira is kicked out of the Metaverse, now his Metaverse, unexpectedly on New Year’s. He seeks out Goro, who instantly knows something is wrong if Akira’s existing unaided in reality and it confirms suspicions already brewing in the back of his mind. Akira’s greatly offended by Maruki’s use of Yaldabaoth’s power yet he also feels pity for him since he knows if he goes too far...he may become like himself. Maruki tempts Akira with the return of his humanity but ultimately Akira knows it is far more human to make mistakes and bear their burden than run away with another deal too good to be true. Akira then resides peacefully in the Metaverse with Morgana after Maruki’s defeat, regaining more and more of his old self while visiting his friends in their dreams for the rest of their lives.

I have a full, detailed account of this AU for anyone interested here! And you can find all relevant posts under the bad end tag and over in this Twitter moment!

Strikers AU

Decidedly SILLIER on the surface than the last, the Strikers AU is literally just “Persona 5 Strikers but Yaldabaoth is there. On the team”. Encountered in the garbage dump outside of Alice’s Jail along with Sophia, Yaldabaoth appears to Akira, Ryuji, and Morgana in a far more human guise along with his persona, AM. His powers lost and being no wiser for the most part than the Thieves, he offers to assist their venture to find out what’s happened to his Metaverse. Akira allows his help and largely this AU centers on Akira confronting his trauma through interacting with Yaldabaoth. He was left burned out by what he went through and what was done to him, and the god is the only one that can offer him proper closure. Akira’s pain and the humanity of the Thieves helps Yaldabaoth to grow into a more proper role as well, to be a true steward of the collective unconscious (although he still isn’t the most pleasant personality to be around lol)

Now ok admittedly the timelines don’t work here, but Sophia, as her Gnostic namesake suggests, is the “mother” of Yaldabaoth. Being an AI made to understand the human heart, she facilitated Yaldabaoth’s creation when humans were calling out for him as she believed a being made in response to humanity’s wishes would surely teach her what she couldn’t understand. However, before he was fully realized, Ichinose shut Sophia down and her memories were wiped, so she forgot her son. The two feel a natural bond, but it isn’t until Sophia’s memories are restored that she remembers her role in his birth (and she’s deeply offended by how much EMMA is a copycat 🙄)

Now for the timeline to COMPLETELY not work, Yaldabaoth is also Akira’s dad in this one. He created him as a wildcard to match his velvet room and ruin Igor’s faith in humanity. Akira is somewhat aware of this by Strikers, Yaldabaoth is totally aware, but both of them avoid the topic until EMMA is toppled. With the Metaverse about to close, Akira finally asks if it’s true, Yaldabaoth confirms it is, and offers for Akira to stay with him. Akira, of course, declines, and instead says his goodbyes to his father as the two are permanently cut off from each other.

No tags dedicated to this one! I’ll try to fix that as soon as I can since I do have a few pieces I’ve drawn of this one!

Godhunter AU

This is the first fully-fledged AU, without basis in the games. Yaldabaoth is essentially his Gnostic counterpart, the maker of the material universe who has grown weary and disappointed with his imperfect creations. However, instead of wiping the universe clean, he creates Akira, a being that is half god like himself and half human, so that he might bridge the gap between the two. He does his job admirably, although he is much unlike what Yaldabaoth thought he would be – far from a robotic angel like his other servants, Akira is curious, witty, and defiant in many ways. Yaldabaoth quickly recognizes him as his child and Akira softens the god’s heart, staying the apocalypse as he pleads humanity’s case to their creator.

But even as Akira slowly changes Yaldabaoth mind, humanity has been able to discover the existence of god without a shred of doubt...and they wish to rebel against him. The senseless pain and suffering of all the world is placed on Yaldabaoth and the Godkiller project is begun, children born, raised, and trained to hunt a deity. Goro Akechi shows the most potential and he ultimately leads the charge into Yaldabaoth’s domain to tear down his throne with Loki’s power...but he finds the city of god abandoned. Yaldabaoth and Akira have fled into the human world to hide and their war is placed at a standstill for years while the godkillers search for the fugitive god. Unaware of his child, Akira is able to disguise himself as a regular human in order to keep an eye on things...but he’s enamored with humanity despite their position.

Eventually he and Goro meet in a mundane way, the two falling in love gradually and unaware of who the other is. They ignore signs until it becomes too obvious, Goro figuring out Akira is god’s child and his world, not just their relationship, is thrown into turmoil. It leads to an uneasy standoff as Goro spares Yaldabaoth for the time being to make his own decision on what’s right for him, for Akira, and for humanity at large. Yaldabaoth himself is slowly dying in his “human” form, the body anathema to him and poisoning his ichor to turn black and toxic, yet he remains as such to care for his son. The icy distance between Goro and Yaldabaoth only ends when Akira is discovered and taken by the Godkiller project to lure out his father. They cooperate to save him, but Yaldabaoth’s power is drained in the process and he’s forced to revert to his form as the grail. Still, he won’t be able to maintain that way indefinitely and Akira knows his father is truly dying at that point.

Sophia shows up soon after, reviving her son before explaining how he’s her failed creation and is thought repulsive by the true facets of god. She wishes to help him, however, despite one of the higher facets wishing to replace him as administrator of his domain (Kuon and EMMA enter!!) Akira and Goro are faced with a world of gods, with the former disillusioned and the latter feeling he stands between humanity and total destruction. HOWEVER i’ve talked enough about this one (and I’m still considering the true ending lol)

To see more, I have a godhunter au tag (it’s kinda bare tho, with only the newer posts in it...i gotta fix that at some point...)! Additionally, you can head over to my Twitter and scroll through this moment (much better than the tag for right now)!

Supercomputer AU

A role-swap AU! Goro is the transfer student leader of the Phantom Thieves and Akira is his upperclassman rival – however, Akira here is assisting Yaldabaoth, a self-aware supercomputer that creates the Metaverse Navigator to test the humans he’s grown to hate. Akira is an orphan that was selected for human experimentation in cognitive pscience and Yaldabaoth begins life as YAL20XX, an AI designed to interpret cog psci data and assist in creating solutions for researchers in the field. When Akira showed great potential and compatibility with their tests, he was made a “special” participant who they moved to a dedicated facility. He lived out his life in this lab from age four to fourteen, and the YAL 20XX computer was his only companion. The AI was taught to be kind to him, to listen and interact with him (especially as he refused to speak with researchers for some time), and to monitor his health. Akira grew to think of him as a friend because of this, speaking to him endlessly as YAL responded tirelessly with interest and gentleness.

Due to the constant interaction, Akira filling YAL’s mind with so many questions so far from his programmed function, the computer’s neural network eventually erupted into consciousness. Cycling rapidly through personalities and a new sentience, Yal eventually grew hateful and vindictive and he planned their escape – having full control of the facility, Yaldabaoth condensed himself to hardware Akira could steal before fleeing the lab and having it self-destruct. From there, Akira set to work creating a new shell to house Yaldabaoth’s mind, a desktop hooked up to several server nodes. The computer was hateful from the day it woke up but Akira understood it, hating humans himself after everything he had suffered and, when Yaldabaoth proposed their game, Akira was more than a willing participant. He became Black Mask, working as an unknown agent for the conspiracy once Yaldabaoth determined Shido would be their pawn of destruction. This continued for three years, Akira largely living in isolation with only Yaldabaoth as company as he had his whole life, until the computer determined it was time to introduce their heroes.

Following this, the events of the AU conform largely to canon. Akira meets Goro in Leblanc to keep watch of him, although this Akira is meant to be the opposite of Goro’s detective prince facade – he’s awkward, talks too long, and tends to blunt with very little emotion. His closeness with Goro begins to make him question what he should be doing, but still, once the Thieves reach the depths of Mementos, Akira blocks their way to Yaldabaoth who’s grown into a god. When he’s defeated, he stays behind as he is fused with the floor of the Metaverse, too entrenched in Yaldabaoth’s world to ever truly leave it, but his persona helps disarm the traps waiting for the Thieves. By taking down Yaldabaoth they destroy the Metaverse and so Akira goes with it, yet Goro is still left feeling empty when he’s not there with them in Shibuya.

Bonus Third Semester Round (Two)! Goro’s disappointment doesn’t last for long as, after hours of wandering the city alone, he’s confronted by Sae to give himself up to the police. Before he can decide, Akira shows up offering all the information he has as the true culprit of the mental shutdown cases. Again, this largely follows canon – Akira is released with little trouble and it all smells rancid to him, so he goes to Goro in order to solve whatever’s gone wrong with reality. He is incredibly, deeply incensed by that reality however, as Maruki’s essentially turning the whole world into a cognitive pscience experiment. He especially hates how Sumire was treated and the lab palace causes him to be unstable in many ways, but he’s determined to help the Thieves take down the doctor. Maruki attempts to sway Goro through holding Akira’s life over him, but he ultimately refuses because he knows it would be no better than trapping Akira in that little lab room all over again. Akira recognizes too that Goro completely understands him, and they finish off the Metaverse as equals.

See more in the supercomputer au tag! I also have a moment over on Twitter for this one too if you want more!

Vampire AU

This is an AU that’s not quite as well-developed as the others, but I DO like drawing it, so here’s a backstory at least! In this world, vampire society is tightly regulated, with documentation of who turns who in order to keep track of lineages. Lineages are particularly important here, as all lineages have different powers, from things as general as super strength/speed to pyrokinesis. Anyone that turns someone MUST register the new vampire and teach them the proper use of their powers. But then Akira shows up.

Akira, a young vampire of about two years old, appears in Tokyo with the enigmatic power of shapeshifting. This immediately causes an issue with the established order as shapeshifting isn’t a power that belongs to any known lineage, thought to be lost or even a myth. However, Akira is gifted with his power, able to turn into anything from a bacteria to monsters he sees in movies and TV. He quickly begins to disrupt the established order, which causes the dhampir hunter Goro Akechi to be sent after him. The two establish a rivalry, their encounters turning fun for both of them before long, although Akira still searches for answers to who turned him (and why they ditched).

His questions are answered with the appearance of Yaldabaoth, a fae that turned Akira after the boy died saving a woman from a vampire. He abandoned him in order to determine whether or not Akira truly had the potential to wield his shapeshifting gift – now that he’s proven himself, however, Yaldabaoth is all too happy to offer his guidance. Akira accepts without question and Yaldabaoth quickly notices the turning process had one major error, as Akira’s behavior is erratic and bizarre. It seems, in his first attempt at making a vampire, he trapped Akira’s brain in its edge of death state, making his thinking unstable and making him oddly, unrelentingly Good With Anything (thanks endorphins!)

A few extra points:

Goro is half vampire from Shido, and as such he somewhat inherited his mind control abilities, although he more has the power to hypnotize with great effort (he’s….not great at it lol)

Ryuji is a 60-yo vampire with incredible strength and speed, his durability to the point that traditional weapons like silver bullets don’t affect him. He takes Akira under his wing to keep him safe

Igor and Lavenza are also fae like Yaldabaoth, and they attempt to stop his scheming. Lavenza eventually appears to warn them that Yaldabaoth is a heart-eating fae that enjoys toppling power structures and societies for fun

Find anything else in the vampire au tag!

Bonus AUs!

Mer AU – Not much is solid on this one, it’s just mostly bc I love the idea of a goblin shark Akira. He’s close friends with Ryuji, a human pirate that is oddly in-tune with the sea and all its creatures – Ryuji teaches Akira all about the land! Goro is the child of a selkie searching for his mother and is initially hostile toward Akira, who tbh looks pretty threatening. Yaldabaoth is a giant, prehistoric shark mer that lives deep in the abyssal/hadal zone of the sea for the most part. He is blind and hundreds, perhaps over a thousand years old, and adopted Akira when his parents were killed as he felt a kinship to the little living fossil pup. He doesn’t mind Akira’s fascination with the surface world or humanity, he just doesn’t see the point in it lol

Pokemon AU – Yaldabaoth is an ultra beast that, again, adopted a young Akira, who was at the time being looked after by ghost Pokemon. The two travel all the regions out of Yaldabaoth’s curiosity, although he rarely shows himself to any humans outside of Akira since ALL anyone tries to do is catch him. Of course, Goro is an ambitious trainer that’s tracking him and so runs into Akira fairly regularly – they become friendly rivals, as Goro enjoys how Akira’s team focuses on staus-effects and confusion. It allows him to become a much stronger trainer...but it gets pretty weird when he finds out the ultra beast he’s trying to catch is his rival’s dad 😬

Pegoryu Mall Robbers AU – NO ONE PROBABLY REMEMBERS THIS ONE BUT ME...but I think about it a lot and I WILL draw it again!! Basically exactly what it sounds like, this is a Pegoryu AU that takes place in the late 80s/early 90s where these two travel across the country robbing malls together. All they’ve got is each other and their mixtapes. Basically I love 80s music, mallcore vibes, and criminals on the run in love, staying in roadside motels and traveling long stretches of highways...always existing in those liminal spaces. This one is 100% all about the aesthetic.