#masked!hifumi

[kurayamineko]

[avas-wonderland]

Danganronpa x The Mask (Class 78 Design Update 1/2)

(Reblogs are encouraged, pr0ship/C0mshippers dni)

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Dangancember 2024 - Danganronpa Top 24 Class Trials: Number 21 Danganronpa 1 Case 3

//Can I say something that I think is gonna be a little controversial with people?

//I actually think this trial is overhated!

//Obviously, this trial is no good either, because it's so low down on this list, but even so, it is by far the best third case of the lot.

//Just goes to show how bad these cases are that ALL of them are right at the bottom of the list, and trust me, I still think this trial is bad and I definitely have ISSUES with this case, in SO many places.

//But I still think there is quite a lot to redeem it. And if nothing else, this is easily the best double murder case in the franchise.

//To change it up a bit, let's actually start by explaining everything that happens in this case before I actually start to break down the reasons why I like or dislike it.

//Shortly following Case 2 and the deaths of Chihiro and Mondo , tensions among the students are high as the stress of the situation mounts. Relationships and rivalries continue to develop, with some characters showing signs of mental strain.

//This is especially doubled down on with the discovery of Alter Ego, an AI copy of Chihiro that exists after his death. Particularly because Hifumi and Taka start fighting over the AI. Hifumi because he falls in love with it as a 2D specimen, and Taka because Alter Ego serves as one last connection to the late Mondo, who he had a genuine attachment to.

//Monokuma soon enough reveals the next motive. He promises to "flood the school with money," offering ¥10 billion to anyone who commits murder. This incentive creates unease but initially doesn’t lead to immediate violence. Definitely not as immediately impactful as Cases 1 and 2.

//However, the stakes are raised significantly when not one person dies, but TWO do. Hifumi is found dead in the Nurse’s Office (He is later discovered to still be alive but ultimately dies in the repository) and Taka is found dead in the Physics Lab.

//An investigation happens, and it's INCREDIBLY convoluted. It reveals oddities such as Hifumi’s movements before his death, the use of Justice Hammers (large, cartoonish hammers used as weapons), and a “Robo-Justice” costume found in the Rec Room, apparently belonging to a masked assailant who attacked both Celeste and Hifumi, and presumably killed Hifumi and Taka.

//Yasuhiro is implicated due to the costume, but his involvement is quickly questioned. And a series of notes and plans for a meeting seem to implicate multiple people.

//It’s eventually revealed that Hifumi and Celeste, who's real name is Taeko Yasuhiro, collaborated to kill Taka, intending to share the money reward. Celeste also kidnapped Alter Ego, and framed Taka for the crime, which goaded Hifumi into it more because he thought he could save his beloved program.

//Hifumi killed Taka, but Celeste betrayed Hifumi and killed him to tie up loose ends. Celeste is eventually exposed as the mastermind behind the murders due to inconsistencies in her testimony and the evidence.

//Alright *claps hands* to START with...I HATE the way this case treats the characters.

//Three people die in this case; Taka, Hifumi, and Celeste, but their deaths lack the emotional resonance of the other cases in Danganronpa 1, PARTICULARLY the GUT PUNCH that is the case that precedes it.

//Hifumi is a divisive character to begin with, and Taka’s recent development following Mondo's death feels cut short, making his death particularly frustrating.

//For the record, "Kiyondo" or "Ishida" or whatever you want to call it, is one of the single most detestable things in this entire series, and it...

Takes away ALL investment in Taka's development following Mondo's death

Completely changes the sad and tense atmosphere into something hopelessly corny.

Assassinates the entire character that Taka was set up to be, and the potential growth he could have experienced after the trauma he had been through thanks to the killing game.

//To make matters worse, everything I've mentioned above is pointless anyway, because even if it DID somehow matter, Taka gets waysided anyway. Not NEARLY as bad as Ibuki and Hiyoko do in the second game, but aside from the immediate shock of finding Taka's body, no one appears to care about him.

//Hina outright MOURNS Hifumi as if she had just witnessed the murder of her brother. And Hifumi's death is generally prioritized while Taka's is mostly treated as like a DISTRACTION!

//To be fair, yeah, Hifumi's death is more integral to the trial when you try and solve the murder, because he was an accomplice. But it irritates me that no one seemed to care about what Taka was going through before any of this, OR just after he is killed. Only Makoto does, and even then, it's subtle. Hell, practically everyone seems to have forgotten that he ever existed at all after this chapter.

//Speaking of Hifumi's death and his role in the case, one thing I DO really hate about this trial is the way that Celeste coerces Hifumi into helping her. Holding Alter Ego hostage and trying to pin it on Taka being responsible for it is reasonable enough. After all, as I said, Taka had an equal obsession with Alter Ego that sparked a rivalry between Hifumi and himself.

//But she goes to add on that Taka threatened to rape her if she went and told anybody about this, and Hifumi, blinding by his obsession with Alter Ego, believes her without question.

//I cannot FATHOM how that worked! OR why Celeste even WENT that far! All she had to tell Hifumi was that Taka was holding Alter Ego hostage, and THAT would have been believable! Adding the fact that KIYOTAKA FUCKING ISHIMARU of all people did something like that is where it becomes INSANELY doubtful!

//And no, the fact that Taka wasn't himself these chapters isn't an excuse, because while his personality WAS different, it specifically was written for him to adopt the personality traits of Mondo, like the two of them were sharing a spirit.

//Mondo, who is afraid to even LIGHTLY GRAZE a person of the opposite sex!

//This is single-handedly the dumbest thing Hifumi does in the entire series, and it's the BIGGEST reason why he's one of the most universally despised characters in the DR series. And what's worse is that Hifumi himself ISN'T dumb!

//The first two chapters actually establish him as something of a team player and investigator, because he actually SEARCHES the crime scenes and pulls his weight in the investigations!

//N-No pun intended.

//He's astute, observant, and is careful when it comes to analysing the clues, and brings up possibilities even if he knows that they might not mean anything. So this is just MASSIVELY out of character for him, and the only explanation is that he his mind was screaming, but his dick was screaming louder.

//And while Hifumi WAS established to be kind of perverted, I HATE this. Not even TERUTERU goes this far to get his rocks off! And that guy once had access to drugs that he could use to incapacitate anybody he wanted! He never did it, because somehow, this character who is established to be the most perverted degenerate in the main cast of the series has more self-control than this!

//I still like Hifumi a lot, but this is easily him at his worst, and I can't say I don't understand why he's so unpopular because of this.

//And THEN...there's CELESTIA LUDENBERG GODDAMMIT herself.

//To be perfectly frank, Celeste’s guilt is TOO OBVIOUS from the start. Mainly due to her suspicious behavior during the investigation. She acts WAY too unnaturally out of character for me not to notice that she's cooking up some bullshit.

//Celeste spends most of the game for the time that she is in it advising everyone to adjust to their new way of life. Yes, this is ultimately a mask for how she really feels, but what she generally doesn't hide is that she typically doesn't care who dies or how they die. She even sometimes blames the victims for being murdered (i.e. Chihiro) and kind of establishes herself as this unfeeling goth queen with a slight superiority complex.

//But here, she suddenly starts leading everyone back and forth through the entire school in search of a masked killer because she's suddenly afraid?

//What I think hurts the most about Celeste in this chapter and how badly her character is fucked over by the narrative is, again, something that is commonplace in ALL the Chapter 3 killers.

//Celeste, Kiyo, Kinji, and Kanade are all established in the story to be among the more intelligent, realistic, and pragmatic students among the cast; in Kanade's case, more than she tends to let on. But during their actual trial, a switch is flipped, and these characters all shown to not be nearly as deep as they're supposed to come across. And it's usually because they do incredibly dumb shit that gets them busted, that probably wouldn't have happened had they decided to go a more simple approach.

//Mikan, ironically, is the complete reverse of this, since she's established to be a dumb and incompetant character, but is shown to be hypercompetant in a way that is stupidly unrealistic.

//But in the case of Celeste, it's really bad because there are so many problems with her already convoluted plan that just feel like mistakes that shouldn't have been made!

//Firstly, why would the murderer opportunely leave out numbered hammers to keep count of their attacks? It's so blatantly a red herring, and a non-factor.

//Second: Of ALL people that she tries to frame for the crime, she tries to frame Hiro. HIRO! Hiro does not have the mental capacity to kill ONE person, let alone mastermind a convoluted and confusing case where TWO die! I mean, the guy is a bastard, no doubt about it, but with how idiotic and simple-minded he is often presented as, any trap where Hiro tries to kill somebody would probably kill him first on accident!

//Third: Celeste claims that the person wearing the Robo-Justice suit is extremely agile, and managed to take out her and Hifumi with ease, which is almost immediately negated with the fact that it is really difficult to move in. So why even try? Why didn't everybody else rule this out immediately upon finding Hiro wearing it, which, might I add, he was doing after being STUFFED FORCEFULLY into a LOCKER!

//I've made it clear already that 11037 is a pretty dumb clue that I don't like, but I actually don't blame Leon at all for not noticing it. Sayaka not only positioned her body in a way that Leon couldn't see it, but he was far too panicked thanks to the circumstances to take a closer look. But no, Celeste didn't even think about that.

//And fourth, and funnily this one actually isn't really Celeste's doing, but Celeste actually tells Hifumi her real name, because in the case that he DOES live and squeal about it, she anticipates that he will use that name instead of the name that everybody already knows her by. I don't understand the point of this gambit, but most stupidly, this does work out for her, because she JUST SO CONVINIENTLY happens to share a surname with Hiro's first name "Yasuhiro," and Hifumi just stupidly calls her that with his last breath.

//I don't even wanna TRY discussing this part.

//Then there's her motive. Yes, as I said before, Celeste was after the money, but there's more to it than that. The ultimate reason that she set up this plan is because she has a burning desire (again, pun not intended) to live in a European castle with butlers who dress as vampires, and serve her for the rest of her life.

//Suffice to say, this is by far the most shallow and underwhelming motivation in Danganronpa 1. Even Sayaka and Leon's motivations tugged at my heartstrings more.

//And it is SERIOUSLY concerning how Kinji Uehara is the only killer in Chapter 3 of any of the games on this list that murders people for a reason other than "they are horny."

//And just in general there is SO MUCH of an emotional disconnect in this chapter compared to literally every other chapter in the game (with the exception of 5), and it's ESPECIALLY noticable compared to the chapters that you played previously.

//In Case 1, Sayaka’s death feels deeply personal due to Makoto's connection to her.

//In Case 2, Mondo’s breakdown and Chihiro's gender reveal, as well as what he was trying to do about it, pack an emotional punch.

//Case 3, by contrast, has less of a gut-wrenching or heartfelt impact, making it less memorable, and leans very heavily into comedic moments, especially with Hifumi's behavior and obsession with Alter Ego.

//While humor is a staple of the series just as nightmare fuel is, I don't like it when the trials prioritise the humor aspect because the tone can clash with the serious and dark nature of the murders, generally diminishing the emotional impact.

//And now comes the most difficult part. I've just explained all the reasons why I, and so many, think this case sucks complete and total ass.

//Now it's time to defend it!

//I think for starters, I want to talk about a point in my negatives that I didn't cover fully, which is the complexity of this case, and the just general overload of information that comes about as part of Celeste's plan.

//Again, this is strangely a problem that ALL the Chapter 3 cases have. The double murder and the sequence of events can feel overly complicated and contrived. Celeste's plan, in this case, involves manipulating multiple people, staging a convoluted sequence of murders, and relying on precise timing to ensure it all works.

//Many people feel the complexity of this case makes it less believable compared to other trials.

//But I personally think that this one does it right.

//What's important to remember is that compared to later entries, DRV3 especially, Danganronpa 1 is by far the game that is the most grounded in logic. Obviously, the cases would still be near nigh impossible to pull off, but given the limited assets available in Hope's Peak, it ultimately leads to cases that are rather straightforward and easy to understand, with very few reason to doubt the circumstances behind the possibility.

//If you think about it, if this case happened in real life, it would be NOWHERE NEAR as easy. Because as simple as Celeste's plan is, it's complex to the point that it's really not easy to figure out, and it does make sense.

//Sure, we all hate the reasons behind WHY they were this way, but the fact was that Taka was an easy target, and Hifumi is insanely gullible. In a game where your life is on the line, manipulating said gullible person into killing the vulnerable one, then killing him before he has a chance to spill the beans...is actually a sound strategy!

//Obviously, I would never endorse murder or complicated plans to commit it, but this plan of Celeste's, and the way it's executed, is not NEARLY as bad as people make it out to be.

//The point is that this is the only time in the series where the double homicide actually MAKES SENSE! And it's the one case that actually BENEFITS from it, instead of coming across as contrived and pointless.

//Mikan did not need to kill both Hiyoko and Ibuki. Kiyo did not need to kill Tenko after killing Angie. Kinji didn't need to kill Kanata after fulfilling his murder quote with Kakeru. But all of them did it anyway for no good reason.

//Celeste's plan actively NEEDED to kill off both Taka and Hifumi to make it work. So it doesn't feel like the double murder shouldn't have happened this time.

//And think about it for a second. It's this fairly realistic murder compared to Mikan's legitimately impossible murder from the second game, and Kiyo's "I'm-going-to-purposefully-fuck-this-up-for-no-apparent-reason" case from the third game.

//Yeah, I don't like how many mistakes Celeste makes in this case, but for a case that's DESIGNED to be convoluted as a means of confusing the main cast, mistakes are inevitable. And these one's are at least sort of realistic.

//Even the typically intelligent and level-headed characters like Kyoko and Byakuya are unable to immediately comprehend what the hell is happening when the murders occur, the bodies start to be moved around, the Justice Hammer is used, and the the Robo-Justice suit appears. And unlike any of the other third cases on this ranking, THIS ONE feels INTENTIONALLY confusing.

//Which means I forgive it a little bit more, but...there's more to it than that.

//Celeste's motivation being the money, and what she ultimately plans on doing with said money, is far less sympathetic a motive than any other killer in DR1, sans ONLY Junko, but it's NOT nonsensical, or hard to wrap your head around.

//It's DEFINITELY not quite as ridiculous as "undead incest" or "maaaagic disease."

//Especially considering who Celeste is and who she was established to be. This case is full of random moments where everyone's established characters are betrayed horribly, but for me, this is the one thing that stays pretty consistent.

//Mikan was established as a timid, shy, soft-spoken, mentally and physically weak girl who could barely stand on her own two feet. In Case 3 of DR2, she becomes a stupidly overpowered character just out of nowhere, all because she happened to remember her life as a remnant.

//Kiyo is a mostly creepy, but wise, intriguing figure, with lots of wisdom as part of his character, and many an interesting conversation that you can genuinely learn stuff from. He is then revealed to be a psychotic serial killer with almost 100 people on his body count, all killed for the sake of sending girls to the afterlife so they can meet his long-dead sister, whom he was in an implied abusive sexual relationship with; which...ruins everything.

//Kinji is a stoic, but kind character who wants the best for people, and is pretty down to earth and comforting with people, and even though his motives are sympathetic, he brutally kills two people, injures more, and then goes completely batshit crazy during the trial, which is a complete betrayal of his previous characterization that kind of just gets turned back to normal after the trial ends.

//And then Kanade is kind of all of the above.

//But Celeste? As I said already, Celeste is almost IMMEDIATELY established as a cold-hearted bitch who only looks out for herself, and asserts her opinions as fact over everybody elses. She shows NO sympathy for the dead, and no GENUINE concern for the wellbeing of the people around her.

//Plus...She's a LIAR. That is LITERALLY her main premise as the Ultimate Gambler. Just as it was with Kokichi, though she doesn't lay it on as thick.

//Unlike every other Chapter 3 killer, I genuinely do NOT think Celeste is above this.

//If you told me that a character like her; someone who isn't particularly nice in the first place and who possesses a certain amount of greed and deceit in her role as Ultimate Gambler; killed two people in order to obtain a ton of money, I would not have a hard time believing you.

//This is why Celeste is a traitor and a villain in Survivor. Because it MAKES SENSE for her to be. She doesn't fit into the Future Foundation because regardless of what level of psychosis you put her on, the indisputable fact is that she cares about nothing in the world other than herself and her own happiness, and she is almost never shy to admit that.

//And also, as many dumb mistakes as she does make, and as easy as it is to pin her down as the killer, I do still think that Celeste's plan for this murder was universally solid, and FUN to solve. The idea that she could not have committed the murder because she was in a room with multiple people at the time is a classic mystery trope, and in this case, it’s done well. The use of the alibi system as a red herring creates an additional layer of complexity to the investigation, and it forces you think critically about how the murders could still be connected despite this apparent proof of Celeste's innocence.

//Celeste is also the first killer in the whole series who's murder plot is sophisticated and involves a lot of detail that goes beyond simple violence. She uses her knowledge of the other characters' personalities to manipulate them into participating in the scheme,

//And while I know that people might generally disagree with this, because this trial does have a few pacing issues, I generally thing it's well-organized, and is one of the better examples where you as the player can engage with the details of the investigation and solve the mystery through logic and deduction.

//Every detail in the trial, from the timeline of events to the discussion of the crime scene, is essential to uncovering the truth, and in the end, feels notably more rewarding.

//Which is why, despite its faults, I still think this trial stands above all the other third cases in the series.

//And as one last point I would like to make, this case has one of, if not, THE BEST killer breakdown in the entire series!

//Not just from the way it's actually portrayed, but for how it does really encapsulate Celeste's character in a nutshell.

//Throughout the game, Celeste presents herself as a calm, collected, and almost regal character, always composed and in control. She maintains an air of elegance and superiority, manipulating others with her polished demeanor and sharp intellect. Her image as a "European princess" with a perfect plan is central to her character.

//However, during the trial, once her deception unravels and her true involvement in the murders is exposed, the stark contrast between her cold, calculated persona and her desperate, emotional collapse is jarring. This makes her vulnerability all the more striking, as she’s no longer the untouchable, elegant mastermind, but a person who has lost everything.

//And this is very clear in the voice acting, which is FLAWLESS.

//For the record, I played Danganronpa in the English version, which I will stand by being the superior dub of the game because of how many amazing deliveries the voice actors put into it. And to be fair, if there's one good thing about the Chapter 3 cases, it's that the killers voice actors go hard for their breakdowns.

//Stephanie Sheh and Todd Haberkorn as Mikan and Kiyo respectively are actually pretty tight. But that's NOTHING compared to Marive Herington as Celeste.

//Observe!

//It's an incredibly creative decision to have Celeste speak with this fake French accent through most of the game, and then have her lose that when she gets irate, enraged, or defeated.

//I am pretty sure the Japanese version did it as well, but I have a harder time distinguishing Japanese accents since...well, I'm NOT Japanese.

//But in the way that Marieve portrays it, it’s not a simple act of guilt or shame. It’s a full emotional breakdown that combines a mix of anger, fear, and frustration. Her outburst is overdramatic, sure, but also deeply human, showing her desperation as she realizes that her plans have failed and that she will face the consequences of her actions.

//Her words and actions are driven by more than just her fear of execution. It’s tied to her shattered illusions. She invested so much in her role and the idea of being above everyone else that the realization of her imminent failure overwhelms her. Her pride, which she held onto so tightly, comes crashing down, and her true, raw emotions finally come to the surface.

//Celeste’s breakdown is also tied to the nature of the crime itself. She didn’t just commit a murder out of desperation or circumstance like Leon, Mondo, and later Sakura did; she masterminded a complex plan to create the perfect murder and use others as pawns in her game. When that plan fails and she is exposed, it’s not just her guilt over the murders but the realization that everything she worked for has unraveled. The sense of failure in such a grand scheme makes her emotional collapse feel more significant, and that is reflected in the breakdown itself where she straight up loses her fucking mind.

//And this is FURTHER amplified by the fact that, at the end of it all, rather than attempting to escape or fight back, Celeste resigns herself to the fact that she is defeated, and just forgoes the accent entirely.

//While other characters in the series, with Leon from the same game being the prime example, lash out or try to justify their actions, Celeste doesn’t. Instead, she breaks down emotionally, unable to accept the reality that her carefully crafted image and plans are collapsing, and after she's out of options, despite all her manipulation, she is ultimately a person who, when cornered, is unable to face the consequences with grace.

//And what I like most of all about it is that it subtle hints to other aspects of Celeste as a character that are never outright talked about, that leave a lot for people like her fans to interpret from. Something that I take full advantage of in Survivor.

//While Celeste’s breakdown is primarily triggered by the exposure of her crimes, it also reflects her larger sense of desperation for a life of luxury and escape from some kind of troubled past.

//I have always interpreted Celeste that her obsession with becoming a noble European figure stems from a desire to escape her true identity. In her mind, the murder and manipulation were justifiable because they would provide the wealth and status she so desired, and what makes the breakdown BRILLIANT is that it underscores the emptiness of this pursuit, highlighting how hollow her dreams truly were.

//All in all, it shocks me that there can be such blatant character assassination in this case, while also containing some groundbreaking character moments at the same time.

//Of the Chapter 3 killers my favourite character of their group in general is Mikan, because despite Case 3's issues, it wasn't enough to make me hate her. But AS a killer specifically, Celeste is the best one in the series, and the most emotionally gripping for me.

//Because of its well-planned and complex crime, deft deception, and chance for players to exercise critical thinking through the use of alibis, forensic evidence, and psychological manipulation, Case 3 is still a genuinely complex and interesting mystery despite all its complications.

//It's one of the more interesting trials in Danganronpa, especially for those who really want a challenge aspect to it, even though its intricacy can be divisive, and its culprit bleedingly obvious. But if you look at this as a "Howdunnit" rather than a "Whodunnit," I still think there's something good here.

[taitavva]

yaldabaoth couldn't help but make his whole team overpowered huh ... how are the phantom thieves supposed to survive ?? "oh noo akechi ur so hot haha .. please don't kill me" brilliant strategy pego (entire ask under cut)

[ACTUALLY UR PUTFITS WERE SO ON POINT. I HAVE 2 OUTFIT IDEAS 4 HIFUMI & SHIHO (MINUS MASKS) & 1 mask idea for yuuki but idk what else. i was thinking for the leaders it would def be chaotic but goro has most metaverse experience so hes the leader. ken kinda acts like mona in giving useful tips abt personas etc and hifumi takes on the role of makoto where she gives out different strategies (her, ken, & goro debate over these tips & strategies but usually end up doing them anyway). I have an urge to show u these outfits omg. i can ramble abt these outfits & their personas for forever .. i chose jormungandr for yuuki, skadi for shiho hela for hifumi, and persephone for eiko. ik its not very in the literacy scene for them to all have deities as personas but... goro breaks it with loki anyway, so ..

explainations:: hela & jormungandr are 2/6 of loki's kids in norse mythology, aiding him in the ragnarok/end of the world, and hela is sentenced down to the underworld to be the goddess of that realm since she was born half alive half dead, and she's sentenced to it by odin (basically. kinda the zeus of norse mythology, like the "king" of all of them) because she's the daughter of loki & all this other stuff .. chose her for hifumi because hifumi's mom basically forces her to be a shoji star after hifumi's dad and yeah. jormungandr i chose because hes kinda just a sleepy little guy: in norse mythology he's known as "the World Serpent" and he wraps around the entire ocean with his tail in his mouth kind of in a constant sleep until the ragnarok (all of loki's kids --aside from 2, one being dead & the other being a gift to odin-- including loki himself, are kinda trapped somewhere before the ragnarok happens) and he's not talked about a lot but he aids in so much and he's important (like how yuuki is kind of ignored by the pts, the dialogue options being horrid, despite him aiding in them. also yuuki is the bm's navi in the au & he runs a "revenge site" like how Strega/takaya sakaki, jin shirato, & chidori yoshino do in p3-- strega also does death calling cards , mainly shown in the novels which is p cool.. first ppl to use mental shutdowns despite not beinf called that then either. i love strega sorry. they all agreed to it because shiho wanted to deal with more people like kamoshida, goro wanted to deal with more people like shido, hifumi wanted to deal w more people like her mom, etc).. i chose persephone for eiko because in greek mythology, persephone is (most commonly accepted form of the myth) kidnapped by hades and forced into marriage with him by eating a pomegranate out of the underworld .. point blank, persephone reminds me of eiko being trapped and persephone's shown to overcome it , ( honestly eventually making the underworld & hades her Bitch. she kills the goddess/nymph of mints and creates the mint plant because she got too handsy with hades).. also hifumi and eiko are a little gay for eachother so why not have their personas be, too? anyway. SHIHO!! i chose skadi for her because skadi , in norse mythology , is both jotunn (giant) and a god like how loki is, but she's an accepted form of it because she was given over to the gods as a peace treaty, and thats pretty important to norse mythology i'd say (like how rooftop scene is important to kamoshida arc), and skadi claws up the aesir (council of gods) thru both her marriage (ann? ann. hehe.) and her own sheer will (shiho's recovery and goro's ..... questionable aid.) and skadi just fits. the goddess of mountains and winter? sign me the FUCK UP.

Anyway . this was long I apologise]

[sankatsuka]

Joker (and Akechi) Character Discussion - Emptiness, Desire for Love and A Choice to Live Imprisoned

Warnings:

This is only based on P5R canon.

My evidence can be interpreted in many ways - this is just my own interpretation based on my own experiences.

This is from a Joker fan so I may be biased.

My knowledge of Makoto Yuki and Yu Narukami mostly comes from the animation (I intend to start P4G soon).

I don't fully recall information. If it helps the reader's understanding, I'll search for the the actual text and insert it later on.

Very heavy on Akeshu, their dynamic is very important to their characterization. I am a romantic shipper, but it can be interpreted as platonic too.

The core of this discussion is the theme of depression and emptiness that I believe both Joker and Akechi struggle with. Another theme that I believe is an important foil between the two is Joker's struggle with self-expression and Akechi's over-expression—

Joker’s Way of Living - Playfully Going with the Flow

To me, Joker's character in P5R was shaped the most by his social link with Akechi. It's the only social link where Joker expresses strong emotions without the player making the active choice to or being pressured by outside forces. Joker has always been portrayed as someone who is quiet and keeps his distance, but does still participate in fun and festivities with his friends. Point being, only when people ask him out to do something fun/he feels inclined to as a social gesture, he will participate. In Akechi's social link though was my favourite moment of the entire game - Joker unapologetically disguising Akechi. This was a really small moment but it was the only time he did something just for fun, unprompted, which I really appreciate. 

There's also Hifumi who’s his age and has the same celebrity aura and aloof personality as Akechi. You can choose to mess with her, but it isn't as huge an effort as what Joker does to Akechi. Joker's character to me is someone who CAN poke fun at others, but taking the initiative to do something fun just because it’s fun? Never. Except for around Akechi, which I found incredibly cute: when he says it was fun, Akechi seems slightly amused too, as if he was pleased to see Joker having fun when he normally just goes with the flow. This is something the P3 and P4 protagonists share as well, that they always structure their days to be productive, have no hobbies and only respond wittily to people as a personality. It's silent protagonist stuff, but I like to think it's a good portrayal of depression. A Wild Card is a person who can summon multiple persona - which means they have many masks they use to face hardship, and so these masks are a manifestation of their many personalities. For me, the protagonists are Wild Cards because they are so used to 'acting' to seem normal around other people, to hide away their emptiness and lack of real self desires.

One of P4TA's episodes really stood out to me for building Yu's character in that he resonated with Mitsuo who felt emptiness in his daily life. Yu struggled with being accused of being 'empty' because he has no bonds once you took away his supernatural powers from him. I was really surprised by this episode, because what? Actual characterization for a protagonist with no personality? DEPRESSION?!?!?! He was able to shout that he wasn't empty when Yosuke reached out for him, and this makes me believe that Wild Cards are Wild Cards because their bonds define them - what fills their hearts is this love. These supernatural events give something for Wild Cards to identify with for people to love them, that if you take it away from them then there’s nothing left of them for their friends to stay around for - but Yosuke and the P4 cast prove that they would never leave Yu alone. That's why Wild Cards are not malicious in their 'acting', rather they just have no personality, nothing they care for or like etc, so they can only adapt to the people who want to reach out and care about them. At first, the act is superficial, but with time it becomes a real part of them (MAX Social Link). It’s not unhealthy but just… a way of life you have to embrace and acknowledge if you were dealt the depression card, unfortunately, or else you would be running from yourself. 

(Also, on a side note, I love how the topic of depression isn’t understood by the cast because they aren’t aware they have felt it/just don’t experience it - and they’re all just ‘what-the-hell’ about Mitsuo’s motivations. But Yu knows, keeps it a secret and just plays along - there’s no need for anyone to know, he wants to protect this happiness. How Rise asks him about how he gained his Persona in the same episode as if to point attention to how Yu is similar to Mitsuo, needing something badly to fill the void, but had already acknowledged his emptiness from the start. God, thank you Persona for portraying high-functioning depression so well)

And if P4TA wasn’t enough a portrayal of high-functioning depression and the importance of love, then Behind the Mask’s lyrics are all about that too.

Love for Oneself and Others: What Makes Akechi Wrong and Joker Right

To emphasize on the importance of love to the protagonists, if I’m not mistaken Akechi states clearly how he wanted to be loved and Shido points that out too about Akechi. The fact he's able to summon multiple Persona goes to show how he's empty as a person, and that he has the potential like the protagonists to create new personas. Akechi's lack of trust however is what makes it impossible for him to manifest more than two Persona, as Futaba points out. However, unlike the protagonists, his other Persona Robin Hood wasn't born from a bond, but rather from the love of himself and his past ideals. OK, hear me out, although Akechi suffering from being unwanted does very much affect his ability to truly love and accept himself, the ability to acknowledge his suffering is still self-love in itself, proof that he cares about meeting his own needs. This isn't like the protagonists who go on with life accepting the cards that are dealt to them. Akechi however fears opening his heart to people because of his circumstances growing up, so it was natural for him to only trust and care about himself and nobody else to survive - this is his love, making Robin Hood’s existence possible.  

But being selfish like this makes you lose sight of your morals, of what it truly means to love and be loved - because you will do whatever it takes to survive and be happy in what you believe to be just a shitty strong-eats-weak world, which is how Akechi wound up as Shido's accomplice - now he can use his new powers to tip that cursed power balance. But it’s obvious to Shido that Akechi’s actions screamed wanting to be loved, because he could have used his powers for anything else, yet his first instinct was to reach out to someone who should have loved him and use that power to be relevant to him. And then he decides to build a reputation as a celebrity with what he enjoyed doing best (solving cases) when such a thing was just an unnecessary effort. In fact, wanting to be a celebrity could be said to be the cause of Akechi’s downfall in the first place, because he doesn’t even care about sweets but had to pay attention to fads as a celebrity - then pancakes. Someone who grew up unwanted and unloved would naturally end up being driven by a desire to be loved, even if they believe they’re being ‘strong’. Akechi probably always knew, because after running away from the label of ‘unwanted child’, what else could he do when he was an empty husk of a shell? The only things he could remember is what he wanted as a child - a father, to be a hero and friends. Friends were outside the question now though, because he learned he can’t trust anyone. And his father was a scumbag, so he would never love him normally - but with this power, Akechi had the power to beat adults in power into submission, too. So it made sense that was his first instinct, a revenge to fill his emptiness - and then, so as to not feel alone again, Akechi became a celebrity - because friends were out of the question.

But this corrupted Akechi meets Joker who's living the ideal life he wanted as a child, being surrounded by friends and playing hero despite having shitty circumstances. And not giving a damn about his real family who threw him out here. This infuriates Akechi, because he believed it was impossible and so he worked hard for a less ideal future of being a celebrity with an unknown past. He never believed he could live a normal life overcoming the label of an unwanted child put on him, and here Joker was so effortlessly surrounded by friends while still being labeled a criminal. The label on Akechi is also interesting because it isn't something that everyone knows yet he still feels haunted by it - I love how this portrays that your past will always follow you everywhere, UNTIL you decide to accept it. Akechi probably realizes that Joker is happier because he accepted that label of a criminal and lived with it, and Akechi made a mistake. And this creates the foundation on which he hates and envies Joker, why did Akechi have to be in the wrong when he worked this hard? Akechi already feels incapable of doing anything right from the circumstances of his birth alone, and making more mistakes reinforces this idea that he will never do anything right, makes him more spiteful at his own birth and this frenzy of self-hatred makes it hard to grasp what’s right and wrong to him again. Akechi HATES Joker because of how Joker was able to make the right choices - in a way, this means that Joker's justice beat his.

Joker’s Desire for Perfection (Power) to Love

But that's on Akechi's side. I love that you have the option to make Joker say, 'I'm jealous of you too', to Akechi in his social link. Joker expresses a desire not to lose to Akechi, in billiards or in battle, despite not having any real reason to honor the rivalry. Joker clearly just plays along with Mishima because he has no reason to see Mishima the way he wants to be seen, nor does it benefit the two of them. Here, being rivals could easily be interpreted as a nonsense talk, especially since Akechi was a celebrity, so there was no room for pleasing people either. Even how Akechi gets surprised that Joker remembers the whole rival thing shows Akechi didn’t expect to come off so seriously from the start. Joker wanted to beat him for his own personal reasons. I took this as an implication that Joker admires and envies the perfection and capability Akechi demonstrates. Metaverse Joker’s pompousness and show-off nature does reflect how it’s Joker ideal to be that way, too. This further builds on Joker's feelings towards people, that there's a desire to be perfect and capable for them, and it's reflected in his interactions with them - how he tries to be their best supporter. 

But Joker's way of supporting people isn't consistent. It depends on what he believes is in their best interest, even if it's not what the other wants, like with Mishima - it goes to show he doesn't have an actual personality, but rather his conversations with people are adapted to their needs like his masks that they create in him. This personality of caring about people's best interests and getting involved is why he acted in the harassment incident. But I do think he never initiates friendships of his own accord, and rather has people as confidants, because the trauma of the incident still lingers - that staying indifferent is far better than getting close to people (because he'll just let them down like he has his family and friends). It doesn't stop him from speaking up when things are clearly wrong though (every social link), so it's only that that trauma has hampered his ability to form new relationships. 

I like to HC that he keeps his distance because of how his decision to rescue the woman ruined his relationships with his family and friends. And he doesn't want this to happen again, but he still wants to act when he believes it's right. He needs people so he can fill his emptiness. If he was perfect and capable like Akechi, maybe he could have both saved the woman and somehow not end up with a criminal record. The fact they never talk about his past relationships in canon and Sojiro brings up how he’s troubled his parents does make me HC that it's something he strongly suppressed. His inclination to care about others and get involved goes to show he has always been a kind-hearted person, and his emptiness has likely always been there since before the incident as he accepted the outcome of it without much spite. In fact, it’s the PTs who get angry for him about Shido. He lets people shape his personality, with how after the incident he chose to lay low as people told him to, but he couldn't because he could never change his love and concern for other people. There is also how Joker started wearing spectacles without actually needing them (not confirmed though) and changed his fashion to appear more ‘presentable’. One could deduce it was motivated by the anxiety from disappointing his loved ones with the person he had been and moving to a huge city all on his own where he knew nobody. 

Joker: A Willing Prisoner of His Own Heart

If Akechi closed his heart out of fear, then Joker opened his heart to people. Far too much, that he allows them to dictate who he is - and the only emotion he lets slip is his concern for their best interest, even if they push him away. Other than that, there’s nothing else. This is what I like to think makes Joker a prisoner, because unlike the P3 and P4 protagonists, his heart is never free to truly develop as himself and reach his true answer. Makoto’s answer was growing from apathetic to believing in himself and humanity, Yu’s answer was embracing the happiness that friends bring him… and Joker still hasn’t defined what happiness is for him. Playing hero for the whole of Tokyo twice is still just acting in humanity’s best interests. In fact, playing hero itself can be considered escapism that blinds you from your true desires even more (Ryuji), unless you’re aware of why you want to play hero. Joker never had this epiphany like Ryuji had, nor does he have strong motivations to do what he’s doing like the rest of the PTs, so it can’t be said he’s actually following his heart.

This is reflective of P5's themes too, of the final boss being the manifestation of people's desires to stay prisoners to society. And humanity's worst, most dangerous inmate is Joker himself, which can be interpreted as him being the one who wants to free prisoners but wants to stay imprisoned (LOL). His desire to be that someone who frees other prisoners may be a result of his own projection, that he can’t save himself so he’ll save others. Yaldabaoth comments how Joker's psyche manifested as a prison, and Lavenza talks about how the Velvet Room was originally planned to help Joker develop as a person in the very same prison rather than rehabilitate him. If the Velvet Room is a representation of the guest's journey in P3 and P4, then Joker's journey is as a prisoner to society. He is only trapped behind the bars in prisoner garments when he remains unaware of Yaldabaoth's influence, but even in his Phantom Thief costume the form of the prison doesn’t change even once he’s free from the bars. To me, I interpret this as Joker's ideal that he believes he will forever be trapped in the prison of never expressing himself, but he is at least free to live for the sake of others. At the start, he’s behind bars because he struggles to accept that it is right for him to live for others, but confronting Yaldabaoth is a pivotal moment where he unapologetically makes the decision to save humanity. And the moment he truly feels ‘free’ to live that way.

I'm inclined to believe that his upbringing is what shaped him to be the way he is today - my theory is that he was loved, but not for being himself but for being "someone else". It is something common: Hifumi, Makoto and Haru were seen in this way by people they loved. But the difference is that they recognized these expectations were wrong, so they were unhappy. Makoto, though, agreed with some of her sisters' expectations, until she met PTs and suddenly she wasn’t meeting anyone’s expectations, and this led her to realize she never needed to. The way she was content staying ignorant goes to show how that prison is bearable and comfortable to live in if you're capable of meeting most if not all expectations. I like to think Joker was this kind of person, until the incident with Shido happened. Both Makoto and Joker's reactions when they're suddenly not living up to the expectations of people around them are to try harder - Makoto rushing recklessly for Kaneshiro, Joker changing himself after moving to Tokyo. Or else people will leave them and not care about them anymore, except Makoto has decided that that's a false belief now.

However, unlike Makoto, Joker loves people too much to even think that they were wrong for placing expectations on him. When he awakens his Persona, he’s judging whether he was right or wrong in his choice to act, whereas Makoto’s awakening represents her letting go of the weight of people’s expectations on her. You can even pick the option of ‘I may have been wrong’ when Joker awakens, but he still awakens - going to show his ‘true mask when facing hardships’ is one who wants to keep supporting and protecting people, even if he’s wrong and it hurts him. I like to think Makoto was able to criticize other people and her sister because her father taught her her self-worth by loving her unconditionally in the past and showing her she didn’t have to live to satisfy anyone. The same goes for Hifumi and Haru. But Joker likely never had this unconditional love to realize this, so his only choice is to push forward to keep meeting people's expectations while wanting to protect them, even if it means becoming a villain and outcast. He has to meet people's expectations, or else he has no reason to live - the only Joker who exists is the Joker someone needs. 

But it's because of this, that the desire to be perfect to meet people's expectations is strong in both Makoto and Joker, and hence they view Akechi as their rival. Akechi is very clearly the pinnacle of perfection on the outside. But Joker's feelings for Akechi are stronger, because Makoto no longer needs acknowledgement - her rivalry with him just continues because of the past. For Joker, if he had Akechi's perfection, it would be far easier to live the life he's chosen for himself. What Makoto and Joker don't realize is that Akechi is only able to achieve this state of perfection because he does it selfishly for himself, not to meet the expectations of the people, so it's impossible for them. They will never have his confidence and pride because they are never living entirely for themselves. In fact, Akechi's way of living for him and only himself is a total foil to Joker himself, who entirely lives for other people. It's because of how different they are, that after meeting Joker, Akechi was able to realize what he truly wanted and where he had gone wrong - the 'requited love' Joker has for the people around him who celebrate him as a hero. But it's only because Joker is on such an extreme Akechi is able to see it - being on extreme clearly means there's something wrong with it, though.

Joker’s Numbness to His Own Emotions, and Akechi Awakening Them

I absolutely love the ship for how they complete each other. The game focuses a lot on what Joker means to Akechi, but their relationship vice versa is way more important and personal to me. BE WARNED IT'S JUST MY DELUSION THOUGH. Let’s first talk about Joker's reaction to Akechi's death, that was either to forget or to hold onto the glove. I'm inclined to think forgetting is even an option because Akechi hadn't fully wormed his way into Joker's heart like the latter did. It’s as if deciding to forget something painful so you can keep functioning as normal, even if you want justice/closure for it (like with Shido). Because Akechi’s influence wasn’t strong enough for Joker to grow out of his society-conforming attitude, it’s still an option (and more about how Akechi may have reinforced and justified this attitude later on in the Boiler Room discussion).

Honoring their promise, to Joker, is still something he does out of caring about the other's best interest. As shown in how opting to talk about the glove when Akechi tells you to leave at his last moments makes Akechi happy. It did show Akechi that he still mattered to someone in his last moments, after all. But not expressing his grief about Akechi's death goes to show nothing has changed with Joker. Maybe he wasn’t that sad, but Third Semester proves that wrong. It seems more that he doesn’t realize how much he cares about Akechi, as he never expresses what Akechi means to him even when Maruki clarifies that his decision to revert reality would mean Akechi would be gone.

He did react with apprehension in making the decision, probably because 1) he was deciding whether to kill someone off right in front of them 2) Maruki's words were implying how important Akechi is to him, that he's been ignoring his emotions and he should carefully make a choice. For himself. Even if he knows the right answer, the reality is that Akechi is dead and that he has to go back to that. The way he doesn't seem to care about Akechi's words on 'finding a way back' goes to show he never trusted Akechi to survive in the first place, and only talked about the glove to appease him. That moment of hesitation was important to his characterization for me, as it was like a moment when a numb character has finally been told to feel for himself and be selfish. People pleasing does reign, but it doesn’t change that Joker was told to think more about it for himself.

I would like to think that although Joker’s reaction to Maruki dangling Akechi’s life in front of him could be considered his people-pleasing, the tidbits from their social link shows Joker just isn’t aware of how much Akechi matters to him and that moment makes him just, realize. From the start, he was surprisingly perceptive about Akechi - I interpret this as the surprise of being acknowledged by someone so popular, perfect, in an entirely different league from him and/or initial attraction. Then there’s how Akechi had single-handedly showered Joker in love in the way he makes it a point to talk about every small thing he notices about Joker - being so highly scrutinized like that if you grew up being unseen/seen as someone else is so goddamn satisfying. Especially by someone you perceive as superior and/or have an attraction to. How Joker then felt safe to be pushy and playful around Akechi, because he felt Akechi would accept it and find it to be yet another amusing side to Joker. Joker was able to show glimpses of his real self to Akechi, even if small. To me, it’s why Joker cares so much for someone who lied to him all this time: it doesn’t change that Akechi paid such close attention to understand the real him when everyone else chose to see him the way they want to. 

Then there's how he’s also nothing like the real Akechi, someone who can survive alone and be so unapologetic about his emotions no matter how deviant they are. It’s a form of freedom Joker has never had nor considered, that seeing it at first makes him feel nothing because he’s content where he is. If he were to ever run into a wall because he couldn’t express himself, Akechi would be the first one he would remember. Like how Akechi approached Joker and had an interest in him, sharing more about himself - as if because he wanted Joker to save him. It's the same for Joker, too, that Akechi serves to remind him of his absence of emotional freedom that he doesn’t realize because he’s numbed himself far too much. 'We love other people because they have something we don't have', something along the lines of a quote in my favourite romance manga (Skip and Loafer, pls go watch). Akechi's selfishness and ability to act alone for his own sake, even if misguided, is something Joker can never bear to do if faced with his own happiness and the happiness of many more.

Joker’s Justice VS Akechi’s Justice - The BOILER ROOOOOM

If not for his friends, if not for Akechi’s small mistake, Akechi would have won and killed him. Akechi might have been able to achieve his goals that way, without having to let go and compromise on what he wants, or he may have failed entirely. It's only because Akechi was human and Joker was surrounded by people that Joker was saved from his demise, and Akechi's happiness was robbed from him - showing how Joker's way of living, his justice, is superior. 

Does that mean Akechi’s way of living has always been wrong?

It's still hard for me to interpret how Joker felt in the Boiler Room, but these kinds of thoughts that start from how Akechi could have gotten his way are likely the strongest as it involves Joker's own wellbeing and Akechi's grand goals that were the focus of the situation. Of course, the exchange in the Boiler Room can be interpreted as just Akechi's one-sided spite for Joker, but it's better if it's mutual. Joker never reaches out to save Akechi as desperately as the other PTs do, and I like to think it's because it’s another numb moment for Joker. This was their promised battle to the death, and Akechi lost. Joker’s justice won - a justice where you should live in society doing your best to support other people without bothering anyone, even if you’re suffering and suffocating. This reinforces the justice that dictates Joker's true self has to stay trapped forever. Even if you can meet expectations and accept suffering, no matter how much people love you… it'll still be a difficult and empty life if you can't freely be yourself. Yu is able to break out of this because he knows he has a safe place with his friends to express himself, that his emotions are ‘normal’, but Joker still doesn’t feel entirely safe - not when the PTs describe their group as a place where misfits can feel at home. It isn’t a place where you can feel ‘normal’ - the PTs just reinforce that your true feelings are deviant in society. Seeing an opposing justice lose so badly… a justice that dictates you to be yourself and free, when Joker knows he isn't happy deep down, would stir some feelings of nihilism in him. There is just no place in the world for deviants like them.

But it doesn’t bother Joker so much because he’s already taken ownership of the fact that he’s a deviant, as with his awakening. He can’t be saved, and he’ll just keep plowing through if so.

Both ends of Akechi and Joker's justices are flawed. Akechi's justice disregards the wellbeing of the people around you, Joker's justice disregards your own wellbeing. Akechi is able to give himself a second chance because of the kindness that Joker's justice displays– Even if you stepped out of bounds of society from the pressure, you should still live and take responsibility for the good of both yourself and other people. The gentleness and open arms of this justice, or at least the people practicing it, allows Akechi to integrate it into his own and properly complete him as a person with the ‘love’ and ‘selflessness’ he was missing. In the end, it was the PTs who saved Akechi, but it was Joker who opened his eyes to it - to living with an open heart to people, as happiness cannot come without trust. That's why Akechi knows what's right for him now, because the two justices have come together.

However, Joker continues on his justice, disregarding his own wellbeing. It's fine as long as he's around people who acknowledge his presence, as long as it takes a shape Joker agrees with. Because his way of living has always been centered around playing a role and meeting expectations. But at home where these expectations have become increasingly unrealistic, especially because of the incident with Shido, it's a different story. Joker is likely aware of his fear, but pushes himself to face it like the PTs have decided with their own dreams -  I interpret the message of Joker's Metaverse self in the mirror in the True Ending of P5R as representing his determination to tread reality with that same, self-sacrificing justice, no matter how difficult - the same way he dealt with Maruki’s reality. I find it exciting to explore how the story would continue after Joker returns home because of that. 

He doesn't grow like any of the PTs or Akechi in the canon events because his way of living isn’t wrong nor does it bring him any pain (because he’s not blind, he’s aware of his choices from the awakening of Persona). But his way of living only brings him happiness when he’s with people who have reasonable expectations/unconditional love for whoever he is. As long as he can meet their expectations. But the people who shaped him to live being someone else - his family - won’t have reasonable expectations for him, especially after the incident with Shido. They say the people who can hurt you the most are the people who love you, because they have a vested interest in your happiness, but have ideals of what happiness is and can grow unreasonable in controlling you for you to be happy. It’s normal and parents get over it after their kids have their rebellious phase, but it’s another story of worse if you can’t express yourself properly - and that’s why as you grow up it’s necessary to better understand yourself and have boundaries. I do HC Joker has a hard time expressing himself properly out of anxiety/autism, which is why he speaks so little. And he accepted whatever the people around him wanted without much resistance because it was more difficult to express yourself for him. I feel like this is where Akechi’s justice serves to complete Joker, to break him free from the silly bonds that trap and define him and give him a good wake-up call to not give up on expressing and understanding himself.

Akechi and Joker represent selfishness and selflessness deviants of society to me, two emotions that have to coexist in perfect balance to be happy. What more, they also go to show that choosing to grow up selfish or selfless happens when you aren’t loved for being yourself - you know that you have to co-exist with people who don’t love you, so you survive by either beating them down or pleasing them. I find there’s a lot more to talk about Akechi-Joker foils over Adachi-Yu, that it discusses the whole concept of living in a society which rejects you. Exploring Joker’s character does add a lot more to the discussion, but that’s just me.

Dynamics of two people that complete each other are always, always my OTPs… P5 has its problematic writing but thank you very much for Akeshu Atlus (This is beyond delusional but how Justine (J=Joker) and Caroline (C=Crow) complete each other to create Lavenza (L=Love)??? How Justine has Joker’s composed sassy demeanor and Caroline has Crow’s aggressive behaviour????? Justine seeming to be in charge of the Compendium containing all the Persona born from Joker’s bonds???)

[oraclefreak]

Thinking about how Hifumi's backstory is often joked about in the Hypmic fandom, which fails to realize his fear of women comes from a very serious sequence of events that marked him for the rest of his life, which then lead to him trying to mask his panic when being near women.

CW: Mentions of SA and Hifumi's backstory below the cut.

Hifumi's fear has to do with a phobia he developed because of traumatic situations. The women that were present in his life either made a fun out of him, manipulated him and or abused him and marked his life forever. The women in his family weren't present when he developed his fear. Why is it funny for a fandom to be just like characters in the canon universe who make fun of Hifumi for being a SA victim?? Why did so many fans water his character down to a "loser because he can't speak to women"??? Hifumi is a victim. It pains me to see people in the fandom not recognizing that even after such a long time since his backstory has been properly introduced (and an even longer time since hypmic was released also)

I had to ramble about this because it has been in my head for as long as i can remember (<- used to be a casual hypmic fan 3 years ago and suddenly isn't casual about it anymore, and still sees this stuff happening. what the frick. werent 3 years enough to get fandom development). But. yeah. I don't find jokes that ridiculize Hifumi for being afraid of women funny, and I'm sure it's not a me-problem.

[kkatastrophic]

Sorry, same ask as the fanfic one but I want to continue telling more about this fic so basically the plot is they were teleported to a place to watch the future and after the 1st chapter Kyoko confront Sayaka about her framing Makoto, and got mad at her and stuff and she didn't even mention what she did to Leon. So basically they've also change lots of dialogue... And about the bath scene, Makoto thoughts about the bath scene wasn't mentioned and how the scene also changed of instead of him willing peeking through, he was dragged by and force to see the girls. Also apparently Sayaka in the fanfic purposely flirts with Makoto and give the other girls with crushes 'sly smile' and giving them a 'murderous aura of jealousy' and Mukuro called Sayaka a 'vixen' and they always defend Makoto even tho what the others said were a bit of teasing (etc Leon teasing Makoto about him referring Sayaka as a doll and Sayaka suddenly quips back)

WHAT THE FUCK BRO HELP

Please remember, no hate to the original creator of the novel!

Okay so this is literally one of those "gacha life danganronpa reacts to the future" with more plot. Alright let me break this down word by word. /hj

"Kyoko confront Sayaka about her framing Makoto, and got mad at her and stuff" - Okay so that's OOC for both of them because 1. Kyoko wouldn't be the one to try and change the course of the future, unless she really liked Sayaka, but later it's shown that Sayaka is mean to her and the others. and 2. Sayaka isn't mean? She knows the future, and it must mean she knows she's on national tv and being watched, she wouldn't let her idol mask drop just like that for being accused of a murder she is later to attempt.

"she didn't even mention what she did to Leon." - If Kyoko was trying to save Sayaka who she wasn't close with why would she not try and save Leon too?

"And about the bath scene, Makoto thoughts about the bath scene wasn't mentioned and how the scene also changed of instead of him willing peeking through, he was dragged by and force to see the girls." - ooc because he did it in canon, it's fine if it's like... Hifumi being reluctant to see ("I'm only into 2D!") <- but it would work because he has so many other flaws. Throughout the course of THH we get to see like... 3 flaws from Makoto. Number One: The bath scene, which is his biggest flaw. Number Two: "he's too trusting" <- that's not even a fucking flaw bro and Number Three: He's willing to let Byakuya step all over him and bully him. Removing the bath scene removes his biggest flaw, and if girls are around him all the time Byakuya won't get a chance to be a little bitch. So techincally, Makoto is a Y/N self insert character.

"Also apparently Sayaka in the fanfic purposely flirts with Makoto and give the other girls with crushes 'sly smile'" - Okay goddam. Take a look at this sprite set.

DO ANY OF THESE GIVE YOU "mean girl vibes" OR "She's sly" OR "boyfriendkisserIthoughtshewasmyfriendwehadagoodtimebutnowI'mgonnamissherBOYFRIENDKISSER" (<- TDWT) vibes??? NO. NONE OF THESE PORTRAY SAYAKA LIKE THAT! NONE!

"'murderous aura of jealousy'"

Ah yes, a murderous aura of jealousy!

"Mukuro called Sayaka a 'vixen' and they always defend Makoto even tho what the others said were a bit of teasing" - WHY WOULD MUKURO START BEEF WITH ANYBODY IF SHE HAS SEEN THE FUTURE AND KNOWS SHE'S GOING TO DIE TO JUNKO?! WOULDN'T SHE WANT TO STAY SAFE?!

Okay so this whole fic is OOC and they turned MAKOTO into the dating sim protagonist. (Like I was watching a stream yesterday at the streamer was like "Oh I thought it was a dating sim, chat how old are these people?") like, they're teenagers they want to survive and see their parents again, NOT FAWN OVER A GUY THEY JUST MET-

[symphonic-scream]

Hey guess what

More details for the Shadow Twins au

(P5 au where Makoto and Goro, as twins, are Shadow OPS, Niijima siblings raised by NaoRise)

I worked out the thieves! And the palace order!

The first two remain the same. Kamoshida and Madarame happen pretty much as it does originally, but around school there's talk of those "really smart third years" or something

Palace three is where things change. In game, it's Kaneshiro. Here? It's Okumura. He lives! But he mentions seeing the "Black Masks" and feeling threatened, fearing for his life at the time. Anyways this means Haru is the fifth party member instead of Makoto

Futaba's remains the same, but then in place of Okumura, theres a palace for Hifumi's mother. Togo palace! I'm working it out but yeah Hifumi joins after Futaba

This is where things change a lot more. The next palace would be Saw normally, but that's not happening when she's a defense attorney. The investigator here? Zenkichi Hasegawa. He's the one interviewing the Wild Cards the whole time. He's been hunting down the duo responsible for everything, and at one point, he gets a little, less legal with his investigations

He goes after Makoto and Goro. He presses Sae for info, why the went back to Shujin if they've already graduated, isn't the timing funny? You wouldn't want your job put at risk should this come out, right? Naoto goes to "set things straight" with him after, and he lays off. But, the twins are concerned. They don't want their family to suffer or lose their jobs protecting them from something they didn't do

So? They finally contact the thieves. After explaining what they are and that they aren't killing people, they ask for help. They want Hasegawa's heart stolen, and they haven't done one themselves. Changes of heart in mementos? Old news. But Palace stuff? They don't want to mess up. So, they make a deal with the Thieves to get this done in exchange for helping clear their name through Kirijo's network

Then it's Shido and then the YaBoi stuff. But, after that, in the third semester? Instead of the Maruki deal there's another new spot in Mementos. Beneath the Holy Grail. The thieves and Ops enter a train car, go down a tunnel, and at the other end? The levels start going up.

Cause they have to fight Nyx again the seal was broken by Yalbasshole when he swiped Minato and Minako to be his pieces in the game with Igor (Igor's wildcards are Akira and Ren)

So there's that! Akira would be transfem, and Ren would have a slow burn romance with Goro that comes to a head on Christmas, whereas Makoto and Haru move a little faster, getting together in Hawaii.

Also, I've made up my mind. The Shadow Ops as a whole have been raising Koromaru's puppies for a bit, to see if any would have the potential. The two boys of the litter end up assigned to assist with the special task the twins have, so. Yeah they got doggies

Hoshi and Kumo, with their personas Balto and Laika. Helps add to the family environment in the Shirogane house. Hoshi and Kumo don't join them when they search for targets in Mementos, but have helped Makoto and Goro track the movements of the Phantom Thieves, and with general exploration

(it's. Because they can't fit on Johanna too. Only room for Makoto and Goro)

But here's some stuff on Naoto and Rise since I haven't said much on them

Naoto is only a part time Shadow OP. He works as a detective on retainer for the Tokyo police most of the time, but takes private cases, mostly from Kirijo directly, now and then. He sometimes travels for work, and makes sure that if he can't bring his family, that he brings home gifts for them all

This is a trans man Naoto. Cause I'm weak. QueerHet NaoRise my beloved.

Now, Rise has retired as an idol years ago. She's a vocal instructor at a music and dance studio focused on youth, and she uses some of her idol money to help pay for students who need help paying for classes or music gear. She hasn't been involved in persona business since Inaba all those years ago. She was given the offer, but she didn't take it. Using Himiko that much back then really tired her out, made her feel like a zombie sometimes. She'd help in an emergency, but she's done enough in her mind

They were looking to adopt when they got the news of the Niijima's passing. It felt like the universe was giving them a sign, to Rise. Naoto wouldn't use those words, but same feeling. Having a teen and two infants was tough, but for them? Rewarding as fuck. Rise sobbed when one of the twins first babbled a "Mama" in her direction, and cried so hard watching Naoto melt at being called "Papa"

Rise would sing to them to get them to sleep. During storms, the whole family would get under a fort in the living room with cushions and blankets, Rise singing and Naoto humming as they watch their youngest, Makoto, gradually stop shaking, her iron grip on her brother and big sis slackening

So. Yeah. Please let me know if you like this au and if I should keep goinf

[mythgirlimagines]

How would the DR1 boys react to parts of their bodies randomly becoming invisible?

o.o

Leon Kuwata:

When he first saw- or didn’t see- it, he froze.

He thought there was something wrong with his eyes at first.

Then he started properly freaking out.

Chihiro Fujisaki:

He did his best to stay in his room.

It was kind of embarrassing, and he didn’t want his classmates to know.

Hopefully he could figure it out on his own…

Mondo Owada:

Did someone put a curse on him or something?

He almost didn’t notice to begin with, because of his long clothes.

But he was very much not happy.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru:

Nothing could have prepared him for that!

What was happening to him?

Would any of his classmates know how to help?

Hifumi Yamada:

Surely this was an effect of little sleep.

His body wasn’t actually turning invisible, right?

And at random intervals, too…

Makoto Naegi:

He may or may not have screamed.

What other reaction was he supposed to have?

At least his body parts were still there, he guessed.

Byakuya Togami:

He tried to mask his shock.

He could tell his body parts were still there.

What caused them to be invisible?

Yasuhiro Hagakure:

He couldn’t stop freaking out.

Did they just disappear from him?

It was some kind of alien curse, he knew it! What else could it be?

[shslquestionmark]

Celeste's complex murder was always interesting to me. That's the one that I have the most trouble understanding or relating to. Strange motive, strange case, complicated murder.

//I have a lot to say about this! I think to understand her murder plans, we have to primarily understand Celeste as a liar and a narcissist.

//I don't think Celeste's primary motive is greed. I think what deep down motives Celeste is that she is horrifically afraid of being ordinary and overlooked. Thus why she creates such a grandiose persona for herself and, when pushed, she says that Taeko Yasuhiro is a loser.

//But I don't think she necessarily thinks she *is* Celestia Ludenberg. Like, on some level, she still thinks she is an ordinary loser, and she's just tricking everyone. That's why in the final moments when she's caught, her mask breaks and she speaks without her fake accent.

//the money motives are symbolic. "If I have a castle and 20 vampire butlers then I'll finally REALLY be Celestia Ludenberg, and then I will finally feel worthwhile."

//As for the murder itself, I think she actually does a really good job of the lying part of it. I mean, when you consider her actions prior to her chapter, everything she's said and done is in service of this ultimate plan; claiming that she has the ability to adapt to their new environment to set the groundwork for herself as someone who couldn't be behind this murder, while frightening the others into suspecting one another. And the whole thing with the hammers is her running this murder like a shell game.

//The part that trips her up is the central role she gives herself. Her murder seems obvious because she's the one constantly lying and leading the group around. She'd have been safer if she hadn't given herself a starring role in the scheme.

//Bonus: Hifumi giving the critical "Yasuhiro" clue in such a confusing way is a really funny example of what a smug loser he is. He can't just talk normally in a way people would understand, even as he lays dying. He has to be clever and flex in that moment.

[kx0e]

are your commissions open? i have a shiho, goro, hifumi, eiko, ken, and yuuki black mask au.. and a seperate just shiho & goro one. but i'm just lookin around :3

my comms will be open on the 26th there will be 5 slots (2 on tumblr and 3 on twitter) :D

[kurayamineko]

[tinyronpa]

AOI ASAHINA — Ultimate Swimming Pro

MUKURO IKUSABA — Ultimate Soldier

KIYOTAKA ISHIMARU — Ultimate Moral Compass

JUNKO ENOSHIMA — Ultimate Fashionista

SAKURA OGAMI — Ultimate Martial Artist

MONDO OWADA — Ultimate Biker Gang Leader

KYOKO KIRIGIRI — Ultimate Detective

LEON KUWATA — Ultimate Baseball Star

CELESTIA LUDENBERG — Ultimate Gambler

BYAKUYA TOGAMI — Ultimate Affluent Progeny

MAKOTO NAEGI — Ultimate Lucky Student

YASUHIRO HAGAKURE — Ultimate Clairvoyant

TOKO FUKAWA — Ultimate Writing Prodigy

CHIHIRO FUJISAKI — Ultimate Programmer

SAYAKA MAIZONO — Ultimate Pop Sensation

HIFUMI YAMADA — Ultimate Fanfic Writer

AKANE OWARI — Ultimate Despair Gymnast

FUYUHIKO KUZURYU — Ultimate Despair Yakuza

MAHIRU KOIZUMI — Ultimate Despair Photographer

NAGITO KOMAEDA — Ultimate Despair Lucky Student

HIYOKO SAIONJI — Ultimate Despair Traditional Dancer

KAZUICHI SOUDA — Ultimate Despair Mechanic

SONIA NEVERMIND — Ultimate Despair Princess

GUNDHAM TANAKA — Ultimate Despair Breeder

MIKAN TSUMIKI — Ultimate Despair Nurse

ULTIMATE IMPOSTOR — Ultimate Despair Impostor

CHIAKI NANAMI — Former Ultimate Gamer

NEKOMARU NIDAI — Ultimate Despair Team Manager

TERUTERU HANAMURA — Ultimate Despair Chef

IZURU KAMUKURA — Ultimate Hope

PEKO PEKOYAMA — Ultimate Despair Swordswoman

IBUKI MIODA — Ultimate Despair Musician

KOMARU NAEGI — Makoto's Protag Little Sister

TOKO FUKAWA — Ultimate Writing Prodigy

MONACA TOWA — Li'l Ultimate Homeroom

HAIJI TOWA — Monaca's Despicable Half Brother

NAGISA SHINGETSU — Li'l Ultimate Social Studies

KOTOKO UTSUGI — Li'l Ultimate Drama

MASARU DAIMON — Li'l Ultimate P.E.

JATARO KEMURI — Li'l Ultimate Art

HIROKO HAGAKURE — Yasuhiro's Chill Mother

YUTA ASAHINA — Aoi's Track Star Brother

TAICHI FUJISAKI — Chihiro's Concerned Father

KANON NAKAJIMA — Leon's Loving Cousin

AKANE OWARI — Ultimate Gymnast

FUYUHIKO KUZURYU — Ultimate Yakuza

MAHIRU KOIZUMI — Ultimate Photographer

NAGITO KOMAEDA — Ultimate Lucky Student

HIYOKO SAIONJI — Ultimate Traditional Dancer

KAZUICHI SOUDA — Ultimate Mechanic

SONIA NEVERMIND — Ultimate Princess

GUNDHAM TANAKA — Ultimate Breeder

MIKAN TSUMIKI — Ultimate Nurse

ULTIMATE IMPOSTOR — Ultimate Impostor

CHIAKI NANAMI — Ultimate AI Gamer

NEKOMARU NIDAI — Ultimate Team Manager

TERUTERU HANAMURA — Ultimate Chef

HAJIME HINATA — Reserve Course Student

PEKO PEKOYAMA — Ultimate Swordswoman

IBUKI MIODA — Ultimate Musician

KAEDE AKAMATSU — Faithless Harmony

RANTARO AMAMI — The Schemer

MIU IRUMA — Gyaru Princess

KOKICHI OUMA — Faceless Nobody

KIIBO IDABASHI — Robotically Artificial

GONTA GOKUHARA — Gentle Giant

SHUICHI SAIHARA — Ultimate Detective Wannabe

TSUMUGI SHIROGANE — Not The Imposter

KOREKIYO SHINGUJI — Masked Compromise

TENKO CHABASHIRA — Girly Pop

KIRUMI TOJO — Elegance And Grace

MAKI HARUKAWA — Child Caregiver

RYOMA HOSHI — Dead Inside

KAITO MOMOTA — Energentic Restlessness

HIMIKO YUMENO — Uninterested Introvert

ANGIE YONAGA — Cult Leader In The Making

KAEDE AKAMATSU — Ultimate Pianist

RANTARO AMAMI — Ultimate Adventurer

MIU IRUMA — Ultimate Inventor

KOKICHI OUMA — Ultimate Supreme Leader

K1-B0 — Ultimate Robot

GONTA GOKUHARA — Ultimate Entomologist

SHUICHI SAIHARA — Ultimate Detective

TSUMUGI SHIROGANE — Ultimate Cosplayer

KOREKIYO SHINGUJI — Ultimate Anthropologist

TENKO CHABASHIRA — Ultimate Aikido Master

KIRUMI TOJO — Ultimate Maid

MAKI HARUKAWA — Ultimate Assassin

RYOMA HOSHI — Ultimate Tennis Pro

KAITO MOMOTA — Ultimate Astronaut

HIMIKO YUMENO — Ultimate Magician

ANGIE YONAGA — Ultimate Artist

[aravas-writing]

Because I feel a little better and need it out of my system:

A funnyman's recap of Blue Archive

Volume 1 Chapter 2

V1 is not that long, especially in comparison to the others. But hey, it was just the first volume, after all.

So, we got Hoshino resigning and everyone is bummed out about it. Sensei finds her and asks her about that.

She tells him the story of the student council president before her at Abydos, Yume. Despite all the bullshit, she tried her best and was always smiling.

Yume...isn't around anymore. As we find out later, Hoshino found her dead body between the dunes. It's Yume's riot shield she is using. To the last, Yume believed that Abydos could be saved while Hoshino grew more and more cynical about it.

The player, through a recap done by Ako and Hina, learns that Hoshino used to be a troublemaker, a firebrand. How she mellowed out so much is a mystery to them

Hoshino admits that Sensei is the first adult she ever trusted. How she didn't think they would be of any use when they first came to Abydos, because adults were useless to her, but Sensei has grown on her.

She fakes returning, but clears her position for good once Kaiser starts twisting her arm. They get really asshole about it, too, by randomly jacking up the interest rate because Abydos didn't want their deal.

This, Hoshino does end up striking a deal, only to get faked out and imprisoned, to be used in some experiment. Though not by Kaiser, but by someone else.

Black Suit

Member of shadow organisation "Gematria"

Considers Sensei an equal, yet enigmatic individual

Is the first person that made me go "what the FUCK is going on behind the scenes?!"

Oddly affable, graceful even in defeat

Gets jokingly shipped with Sensei

It is through Sensei's first talk to him, in regards to Kaiser's fuck shit and Hoshinos kidnapping, that Sensei shows his adult card. A powerful item that saps Sensei's life force for immense power

It's just about the dopest description I've heard so far for a fucking credit card you use to roll the gacha

Anyway, Black suit is a fair sport and tells Sensei that Kaiser wants Abydos because of a treasure in the desert. Gematria fed them that info, so now they seek it intensely and at great cost.

Naturally, Hoshino is heavily guarded and Sensei's options are limited. So, they organise an assault with the four remaining girls and calls for aid from a certain girl.

You see, I committed a cardinal sin last time. I omitted a severe detail due to forgetfulness. You see, as the crew was scouting out Kaiser back in chapter 1 for a bank heist, they encountered someone running through the black market district. Someone very crucial to this part of the story and someone incredibly important to the further story.

Ajitani Hifumi

Babbi

Look at her

Adorable

She considers herself a average girl

Collects merchandise from the kids show "Peroro Friends"

Peroro superfan, that freaky chicken is even her ex skill

Gets roped into minor shenanigans, bonds with Abydos girls

Comes in clutch with a paper bag on her head, calling herself "Faust of the Masked Swimsuit Gang"

Modified Enfield Assault Rifle "My Necessity"

Hifumi is the one Sensei contacts for help, as she has a surprising connection to one of the higher-ups at her school. Said bigwig tells Sensei in no uncertain terms that they intend to cash in on the favour they owe Trinity with this.

And then they rain down artillery on Kaiser positions.

Brilliance.

Problem Silver also gets involved, with Haruka giggling menacingly before blowing through enemy ranks and Mutsuki going feral over people annoying "glasses girl" (Ayane)

Look at these pics from the summer event. Ayane is very adorable, so I can understand Mutsuki fully.

Hoshino gets freed, hope against hope, and she realises that Abydos is her home and will remain her home. Simply because those dearest to her are all there, waiting for her.

All is well that ends well, as Kaiser takes a hit, makes concessions to Abydos and the head of the Loans department flees in disgrace as the Media has a field day with all the info that got leaked.

Still, something great and terrible is on the horizon already...

[lockefanfic]

I'm back, and:

I'll get to all the asks in my inbox soon!

I'll get back to writing soon (tm)

I have finished Persona 5, and I have (spoiler warning) 10 thoughts after the break.

So for context, I played and finished Persona 5 Royal on PC. I ended up putting 95 hours into it, beating the main storyline and doing a good amount of the Mementos quests/confidant storylines, but I didn't do the third semester (more on that later). Thoughts:

What a game. I'm a pretty big JRPG guy, and this ranks up there in my top 5 of all time. Easily. Great characters, great storyline (albeit with what I thought was some filler towards the end of the game), really fun (if basic) battle system. And it's easily the most stylish JRPG I've ever played, and a lot of that has to do with the comic-style UI and god-tier soundtrack. Loved the game, loved the characters. After I finished it, I felt like I was saying goodbye to legit friends I'd come to know pretty well over the past couple of weeks.

Makoto best girl, don't @ me. Sorry Kasumi/Sumire. Makoto was the real Phantom Thief, cuz she infiltrated my palace and stole my heart. I legit awwww-ed at a couple of points in her romance. Hifumi close third place behind Makoto and Kasumi/Sumire.

I didn't do the third semester because how the fuck was I supposed to know you had to max out Maruki's confidant level just to unlock it? I went into this playthrough blind, and Maruki was always kind of sus (I kind of assumed he and Akechi he'd end up being a big bad and I guess I was half-right), but I had no idea that a whole 20+ hours of the game was locked behind his confidant level. By the time I realized it, I was already long past the date he left the school, and there was no way I was going to re-play 80+ hours just to unlock the third semester. Bah. I think it's crazy that they would lock most of the new content behind a pretty random confidant that you can easily pay zero attention to. Shame, because Kasumi/Sumire and Akechi are locked to the third semester and Kasumi/Sumire might've had a better chance of becoming best girl if, y'know, she could actually join my party permanently.

Was Haru even a character? I'm pretty sure some of the lesser non-party confidants got more screentime and background than she did. I didn't use her much either, because Makoto, Ann, and even Futaba were more interesting characters. How adorable (and relatable) is Futaba lol. When she called Mishima an NPC I legit laughed out loud. She destroyed him.

And on the topic of Okumuras, fuck you Okumura boss battle. It was the one part of the game where I had to turn the difficulty down.

WHY COULDN'T I ROMANCE SAE edit: for god's sake I could romance my homeroom teacher but not her? c'mon.

I watched a video about how the characters are much more comfortable in the Metaverse instead of the real world, and damn, it really resonated with me. This game had a lot to say about masks and social/societal pressure and hierarchy and things like that, and I found myself saying damn, that's so true more times than I could count. A large part of why I grew so attached to the characters and their struggles was because in a lot of ways, I saw myself in them.

Loved how real and accurate Tokyo (and the in-game world) was. Loved the references to popular chains, specific streets, and small things like brand names. I giggled irl at the nerds walking around in Akihabara with their bags of merch until I realized I've been those nerds a few times and then I got semi-offended, lol.

Akechi was sus from the start. I mean, was anyone actually surprised when he did the heel turn? At least he had his anime last stand, even if the team went from "you betrayed us you asshole" to "omg akechi nooooo what a noble sacrifice sadface" pretty quickly.

This was my first Persona game and the entire calendar/time cycles were really interesting. The other games have a similar system, right? Should I bother playing Persona 4 or just wait for Persona 6? Is Persona 5 Strikers any good?

Anyway, that concludes my little hiatus from Tumblr. I have a few things on the go irl so I probably won't be as active on here as I was previously, but I'll always be around, even if I'm not posting every day like I used to.

I'm going to be hopefully finishing up a couple of fics I've started, and I've come up with a few ideas for some sequels/new fics (Gaeul sequel because I'm an IVE fan now), so stay tuned.

Love you all, and hope you're all being excellent to yourselves and to each other. &lt;3

[halfmoonism]

Where Wrath's Edge is Sharp (wwes)

hi sorry I am subjecting you to the Horrors (my terrible awful p5 longfic au that I will. eventually? post once I've finished arc 1 (crossing my fingers. we're at 150ish-k at the time of writing and they're still going through the first palace.))

initial post | wwes tag

major p5r spoilers immediately ahead:

short ver: not-quite-roleswap AU where an Akechi who is persona-less until 17 runs into Morgana instead and unwittingly becomes the leader of the “phantom thieves” w/ Morgana, Makoto, Futaba and Sumire, going against sort-of-Black-Mask Joker w/ Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, and Haru.

long ver: takes a deep breath.

the layout of the iyr/rtg masterpost is so pretty, I'm citing it as inspiration :) I'll start w/ general notes then go into more concise sets of info

misc

no romance! this is an entirely gen found family fic w/ mild alternative chara interpretation (due to differing circumstances) but otherwise sort of follows canon, though the timeline starts abt 8 months before p5r canon (sept 2015)

I'm most likely keeping second and third awakenings, confidant links just take ten million years to progress bc Akechi is. Akechi

new personas: Akechi (Robin Hood -> Skadi, now 2nd persona), Sumire (Cendrillon -> Antigone)

Robin Hood just didn’t make sense for the direction Akechi's chara took (after still feeling helpless, all hope he had that he could be a hero of justice that avenged his mother died); Cendrillon made no sense for Sumire (she never became Kasumi, so the "clock strikes 12/become a different person" theme doesn't fit)

I'm so insane over his 2nd persona being Skadi btw like in mythology Loki killed her dad so. yknow. definitely no parallels there abt being both the victim and the perpetrator or anything

since there's only 5 party members, there is no set nav! Futaba fights w/ a scythe :) this also means everyone else helps teach sumire how to analyze weaknesses after she joins the team :) whoever's nav comments on showtimes as well!

element specializing:

Akechi - curse/psy/gun (Loki), bless/ice/phys (Skadi) Morgana - wind (main healer/buffer + I was not giving him gun sorry lmao) Makoto - nuke/lightning Futaba - psy/fire Sumire - bless/phys

new teams (+ arcanas)

notes: - new arcanas don't reflect the canon storyline, like Akechi being the Tower doesn't mean he has Shinya's canon storyline. it's more about reflections of their personalities and circumstances :) - Ninth Circle links (besides Joker) all break after certain points in the story and reform in third sem

the Espy Division (name courtesy of Futaba)

Futaba initially wanted to name them the Neo Justice Squad V but she was vehemently shut down by Akechi and Makoto lol

Akechi — the Tower

Morgana — Judgment

Makoto — the Chariot

Futaba — the Hanged Man

Sumire — the Fool

the Ninth Circle (name courtesy of mostly Ryuji)

Joker/Ren — Justice

Ryuji — Strength

Ann — the Magician

Yusuke — the High Priestess

Haru — Death

non-team confidants (in order of appearance; might be changed but these are pretty set)

Kiyoko Hagoromo (literally the only OC; goes to Akechi's school) — the Lovers

Lala Escargot — Temperance

Jose — the World

Trader Sakai — Wheel of Fortune

Muhen — the Hierophant

Sojiro Sakura — the Star

Shinya Oda — the Sun

Eiko Takao — the Moon

Shinichi Yoshizawa — the Empress

Hifumi Togo — the Hermit

Mika (Yamanaka) — the Devil

Sae Niijima — the Emperor (only established after interrogation room)

major plot changes

on principle, the Espy Division do not steal hearts. they fight the shadows to metaphorically break through to ppl and go from there. Futaba and Sumire do not steal their own hearts, for example. they go to therapy

Akechi does not awaken when he is 15. he continues to get passed around between foster homes until he lands the internship at the prosecution's office at 17 and immediately moves out to his own apartment

Akechi's very grand plan to take Shido down this time is to gain so much fame and credibility that ppl will actually listen to him when he publicly accuses Shido of all of his crimes. he does this by using the Metaverse to solve cases fast, which naturally makes Makoto suspicious of him

Shido and Sae's palaces are discovered early but not explored until around the time they are in canon. instead Futaba's palace is done first, then Sumire's, then the canon palaces are done in order

Sumire does not become Kasumi! her parents try to send her to therapy but she's so utterly convinced that she doesn't deserve it that she completely avoids Maruki and develops a palace instead (the palace of Acedia; forms as an arena in scramble crossing)

the canon palaces are done but for different reasons (Kaneshiro's is done as the conclusion to a long series of cases Akechi and Makoto were looking into since Dec; Okumura's is done bc Haru insists that they do it; Sae's is done bc she outright threatens to take Akechi and Makoto into custody if they don't turn themselves in)

Joker joins them for Sae's palace. they're all fully aware he's the leader of the enemy team but they reluctantly need his assistance to get past one of the cognitive doors

Joker's confidants (minus the Espy Division members/Shinya/Lavenza/Sae) are still happening in the bg so that's. so very fun for Sojiro when interrogation room comes around

Yaldabaoth declares Joker as the winner immediately after Shido confesses and claims his “prize” by possessing him to terrorize Tokyo. yes this is how I incorporate satanael into the plot

Maruki's reality still comes to pass, but everyone's wishes are appropriately updated. Akechi is not the only person in his apartment. Sumire's not the only sister alive. Joker... Nothing Bad Happens at all to him :)