#more specifically haru ann and /possibly/ yusuke

[iiguess]

OOC. Sam being more physically affectionate when sleepy! Sam being lowkey cuddly with a select few of the Thieves!!!

[scrivenger-grimgar]

phantom thieves will always be phantom thieves, reguardless of whether they can steal hearts at that very moment. all of the thieves know this but sometimes it still sneaks up on them.

each and every member learned to be silent very quickly when under threat from shadows, and eventually just as a general threat reflex. they habitually walk silently, scaring the other members of the shadow ops.

they'll scan the room for escapes and hiding spots, and reach for weapons that arent there.

Ryuuji's accent changes when he's angry or excited thanks to William, and slowly begins to assimilate the accented English into his brain. he's able to read maps flawlessly and knows intricate details of boats and ships. if he touches someone after working out then the other person receives a nasty static shock, beyond what should be possible but not actually harmful. excitement or animosity cause his hair to puff up and electronics start going haywire around him.

Joker's third eye still works, but he's able to tell the quality of both gemstones and metals even without it and is now always resisting the urge to swipe up anything shiny. he speaks fluent French, is able to walk around perfectly in heels, and is extremely proficient in both free running and parkour. he expected to retain his ability to pick locks and perhaps his sleight of hand, but causing shadows to respond to his emotions and commands was not within any realm of possibility.

Ann began running hotter than other people around her, anger causing her hands to burn what she was holding. after awakening Celestine she became even more of a polyglot, with four languages fluently spoken: Japanese, English, Spanish, and French. her singing voice in each language is musical and fantastical, and even her acting improved.

Makoto's gaining of significant religious knowledge, specifically catholicism, as well as the ability to speak very old French, is something she attributes to both Johanna and Agnes, as well as her ability to cause nuclear fission and not be harmed by it. She immediately tries to get a handle on this, not wanting to explain to her landlord why exactly there is nuclear radiation in her apartment.

Yusuke is now practically immune to the cold, and will often forget that normal people don't go shopping in shorts in the middle of February. his touch can freeze small amounts of water when he's not careful, and larger bodies when he actively concentrates. simultaneously, his knowledge of swords and swordsmanship shoots through the roof, as does the complexity of his speech. how exactly his Japanese went from 'very formal high schooler' to '1500's disgraced samurai' without anyone in his small circle of friends noticing was nothing short of a miracle.

Haru was expected to learn English given her position as CEO of an international fast-food company, but Lucy gave her a strange shortcut, with her 17th-century English. her psionic abilities have to be closely regulated, as there were several occasions where she used it to float things to her, unlock doors, or even knock things over. even with that trouble, Lucy still gives her the upper hand with her experiences in negotiation and diplomacy shining through.

Futaba suddenly being able to speak Arabic is decidedly ignored by Sojiro, though she does get a kick out of speaking a language none of the other thieves understand. her ability to manipulate any electronic device within a ten-meter radius of her is not, nor is her sudden ability to levitate.

[apollos-boyfriend]

since your playing p5 whats your thoughts on the team members so far? :D

okay so! as a heads up i have already Experienced p5r so these r not initial thoughts necessarily. but i still want to rant about my favoritest kids <3 this got long so i'm putting it below the cut whoops ladkjf

ryuji! i fucking love ryuji man. i think a lot of people write him off as just the goofy sidekick character but he is SO much more to me. a lot of ryuji's trauma gets so overlooked due to the fact of him largely being comic relief, but like. that kid has gone through SO much!!!! between his father and kamoshida and his peers like. he is SO strong. i love his characterization of "people are treating me like a punk, i may as well act like it" bc it's not even him necessarily playing a role he isn't. he is a punk! he's disruptive and counter-cultural and has issues with authority. and that's punk, but also like, those are the parts of punk that society sees and demonizes. ryuji is punk not just because of that, but because he cares about others before all else and stands up for what's right no matter what, even if it means being punished for it, because he has a super strong sense of justice and is super protective over those he loves!! i feel like a lot of ryuji's character gets kind of. skipped over by a large majority of players. because his actions and presentation is very specific to fighting against japanese culture, meaning it gets lost in translation unless you're aware of japanese culture and norms. i love this boy so much <3

i have. a lot of thoughts on ann. largely her meta-treatment by the writers as opposed to her in-game self. you can find some ramblings if u scroll down my p5lb tag, bc i have. a Lot of thoughts on that aspect of her. on a lighter note, though, i fucking love ann. i think she also kind of falls into the mischaracterization of being ditzy at times. not as badly as ryuji, but ann is a very open character. she's extremely compassionate and wants to help everyone she possibly can, even at her own detriment at times, but as we're shown this sometimes leads her to being used by others. which i think leads to people making her just. overly trusting to a blind degree. or stupid. but ann is super smart! she immediately clocked that the painting was yusuke's, not madarame's, and is shown time and time again to be able to understand others' true feelings, even if they're trying to keep them hidden. i really like how she's blunt and honest, even if it comes off as harsh or insensitive. she speaks her mind! she's not going to hesitate and risk not being heard to understood! i really love that for her

i haven't gotten him yet BUT i am on madarame so. i will sneak in yusuke. because i love him. he is truly one of the characters ever. obviously he is one of The most autistic-coded characters in the game (alongside futaba). which is detrimental to an extent. bc people often just fully mischaracterize him due to his eccentricity. for me i just really love how unapologetic he is with it. that kid has never heard of masking in his life (/pos). he's one of the characters i feel for the most because like. god. he had his whole fucking world twisted. haru and makoto had similar experiences of people they'd known all their lives becoming corrupt, but like. haru's dad wasn't always like that. and neither was makoto's sister. they HAD good intentions. madarame never did. he's the closest to mirroring akechi in that sense, except akechi knew all along. yusuke didn't have that privilege. that sense of revenge. i think his story is so delicate and difficult because how do you even go about knowing your entire life was a lie? and not even in a way you can step away from. art was still his world. it's not just something he did for madarame. the knowledge of carrying that burden. of those memories that shaped you being corrupted in such a way.

morgana is there. i guess. wish he wasn't.

[p5x-theories]

Okay these actually ended up being a lot more interesting than expected when I grabbed them from the data- these are the text for the Phantom Thieves' names used on the page where you can view your teammates, equip stuff + upgrade them, etc. It's similar to the dialogue box names, but not quite the same; here's Cattle to demonstrate:

This is specifically the text used in the latter screenshot-type pages.

Which is to say, the names in the first image:

Futaba Sakura - Yukimi Fujikawa

Tomoko Noge - Goro Akechi

Kayo Tomiyama - Seiji Shiratori

Motoha Arai - [Leo's real name, which may be Reo Kamiyama]

Yusuke Kitagawa - Ryuji Sakamoto

[Mont's first name, which may be Kotone] Montagne - Riko Tanemura

The names in the second image, however... include a few new ones:

红莲

Shun Kanou - Makoto Niijima

JOKER - Yaoling Li

梅洛普 - Haru Okumura

Ann Takamaki - Kiyoshi Kurotani

Morgana - Ruferu (/Luffy) - 妈妈

I'll come back to the first and third ones in a moment- the one in the middle, next to Haru, is a Japanese name (possibly "Amane Umeraku", though there are a couple possible first name readings in particular) that I don't recognize from the beta anywhere, and it doesn't seem like it could be Polter or Enco from the snippets of their names we know, either (unless "Aran" or "Ikenami" isn't their real name, I suppose).

The first and third ones, however, are Chinese. Google translates the first one as "red lotus" (Hóng lián), and the third one as... "mother" (Māmā). So those are... interesting? If accurate?

I don't recall seeing this particular style of name text anywhere else in the second beta, so I'm assuming that means all three of these refer to future Phantom Thieves we don't know. But if anyone else knows they've seen this text pop up anywhere else, let me know!

[kareofbears]

persona 5 strikers thoughts and feelings

This is going to be a long post. Like, the type of post you’d only really have time to read when you’re trying to sleep but you’re not ready to be unconscious yet so you’re just looking for something to do to spend your time with minimal effort. 

So in 2018, a masterpiece was born into the world: Into the Spider-verse was released and it was amazing—it’s honestly the best spiderman movie we have without a doubt, and it’ll be very far into the future before Spider-verse is beaten as the best spiderman movie. Them’s the facts. Then in 2019, Spider-man: Far From Home was dropped. It’s a great movie! Great characters, great continuation of who these characters are and works fantastic as a continuation of a story. It’s really hard trying to take the torch of a previous movie (or in Marvel’s case, juggling twenty something movies) and come up with a new movie that both works on its own, as well as being the next step in this series of films. Thus, with that idea in mind, I think it’s kind of unfair to judge into the spiderverse and far from home, because these are two movies with two completely different objectives in mind. 

Okay, so this is still a persona 5 strikers post, I promise, but the idea is the same: Persona 5 could basically do whatever it wanted—new story, new characters, new everything, and it’s just plain old awesome. However, Persona 5 strikers did not have that sort of freedom. It was bound to the original game, and it had its own rules and stuff it had to keep intact, characters they had to work with, and on top of that, it had to justify its existence as a sequel (lets pretend money doesnt exist lmfao). 

SO, the big question is: did it do that? Did it justify its existence? 

And my answer: holy fuck did it ever do that

I came into this game knowing the extreme bare minimum. I knew there was someone named Sophia, and i knew there was roadtrip, and i knew there were Personas. That’s my knowledge of it before i played it on the Switch.  I should also clarify like, early on, that i was not expecting anything from this game. At all. I was the world’s biggest cynic of this game—if you scroll down my p5s tag far enough, youll just see me complaining about a game that hasn’t even come out yet. I was fully expecting to have this be a Waifu show, and any male character that isn’t Akira to just be shoved aside like some kind of nerd in a high school hallway, and i have never been more pleased to be wrong. In fact, i actually owe it an apology, because of how fucking rude i was for no reason!!! Because this game deserves everything to be honest. 

Persona 5 strikers is, frankly, insane. Insane in the sense that it got to pull shit off that just would never have existed in the original game, because the original game is scared. It had to be as impressive as possible and garner as much attention as possible. Strikers does not have that problem—every single person who bought that game does not need to be convinced that persona 5 is a good game. They already played it. That means Atlus can just fuck around and have a good time, and man did they have a good time. There’s still scenes that still shock me if i think about it too hard, because i’m used to atlus having to follow this sort of rule set when it comes to persona 5 (or any of the main games im assuming, but i havent played them.) And on top of that, there’s still shit that’s Atlus Trademarked Branded in a good way. The style of story of story telling, and revealing the mystery that is so integral to what p5 is, is still there. 

So, to make this even a little bit comprehensible, i will make a list! 

First of all, What is this game?

In short, this game is an OVA of an anime. It’s bonus side content that has one thing in mind: to showcase these lovable characters more by putting them in fun situations. That’s it, and it is just phenomenal. That was the main point of, i’d say, like forty hours of the game. It’s just fun times with fun characters. 

But to get deeper of what i think is happening, or what they were thinking during the development, is that this is a second opportunity. Persona 5 (as we all know) had a lot of problems, and we were not quiet about those problems. We yelled it all out, made posts, made complaints on every social media platform ever. And Atlus heard all of them, and Strikers is a way to mitigate those mistakes. Aside from being a fun OVA, Strikers also works to be a deeper exploration of these characters—more specifically, the characters that did not receive much in the original game. Creating this sequel is having the ability to redo what they felt (or to be more specific, we felt) in the original game while adding new ones. I will get to that in a second.  

The format of the game 

Absolutely brilliant to throw them on a road trip. P5V already forced us to experience Shibuya for 200+ hours, and im so glad that they didn’t do that again. Going from town to town, making us experience these new places alongside our favorite characters is so good, and it just makes sense. It’s fun, it’s lighthearted, and it’s actually shockingly good. But one thing i do want to talk about early on is the way the story unfolds and the villains that they use, and what they do with it because it’s very interesting. 

So as we explore japan and stuff, we encounter jails, and with those jails comes an antagonist. This antagonist works to be a parallel to one of our characters. That character will find it in their hearts to feel bad for the antagonist, because the antagonist could have been them had the original game not happen. At first I thought all of the thieves were gonna get an antagonist, and i was really hyped for the ryuji one. And then came to hour forty of the game where i realized “yeah that’s not gonna happen. There’s just not enough time.” And i was right, and the game ended. But i am not salty at all, honestly, because the people who got a direct antagonist were: Ann, Yusuke, and Haru. (we wont count zen and sophie). 

Is there a trend??? Yes. these are all characters in the original game that have received the worst treatment by atlus. The three of them are basically cast aside the minute they finished their original arc, and its horrible! BUT that’s why this is the path that atlus chose for them—to give them more depth, and screentime, and a way to show their inner self. That isn’t to say that the ones who aren’t those three (makoto, futaba, mona, akira, ryuji) didn’t get anything. Futaba still has her thing at the end with ichinose, and she was very prevalent and animated during the rest of the game. Mona and Akira have to be a focal points, that’s just the nature of the game. The other two though, I will talk about in depth in a second.  

Makoto

Y’all i poke fun at shumako fans sometimes cause its kind of easy and fun, but i honestly love makoto. In my very first playthrough of p5 (my first ever jrpg game, first persona game, i had no idea what i was doing), i had only maxed out two characters: ryuji and makoto. And i know she had a lot of screentime and love in the original game which is great, but i truly felt like she was dissed in this game. Her only roles were

A driver

Someone to tell them “we don’t have a choice. Let’s keep going and see where this takes us.” (seriously, if you replay this game, you will see how much she does this)

Idk, i just wish she had more to do, especially compared to how much love they gave the other characters. 

But let’s talk about some of the new characters! 

Zenkichi

Damn you atlus. Damn you and your insistence at bringing in cop characters. I was fully on board with hating zenkichi, i was fucking ready for it. I was convinced that there was nothing they could do convince to like zenkichi. I was immune to their copaganda. 

And then i ended up loving him, which makes me sad a little bit. I didn’t realize how desperate i was to have an adult who has a persona. Someone who wants the world to change just as much as they do, while still having that aspect of them that makes them adult. Like??? As someone who is technically an adult, its a breath of fresh air. An adult. Who fights. For justice. Using a persona. And god i love akane so much, and her obsession with the thieves (that scene is probably in my top ten fave scenes of the game). Also what i loved about zenkichi is that he fucking hates the cops!! He hates the system of the cops!! And thats why i actually really started to love him!! Because i thought it was atlus saying that the systematic problem of the police cannot be solved by one person, and zenkichi threw away his badge. I actually cried at that part!! 

But then he became a cop again, and i was just :/ but as a character, i really love him to bits and would love to do a study on him, or at least use him as an outside pov. But! i absolutely love his persona, since im a les miserables fan hehe

Sophia 

she’s probably my favorite new aspect of the game. I was ready to not like her—again, i just suck like that, lmfao—and when i saw her, i was scared that she was just another waifu. I mean, she was very cute after all. But then as the game went on, i thought she was a little too cute. And even further into the game, i finally slapped myself in the face and realized oh my god shes not a waifu. Shes a sister. 

That blew my mind, im ngl to you. A female character that isn’t supposed to be romanced? By jove, what a miracle! 

And she…is an amazing character. Im sorry, i just love her so much. I love her so much that she  probably ranks as my fifth or sixth favorite character which is surprising even to me. Everything about her is delightful and invigorating. She’s funny??? Her comedic timing is amazing, and she has such chemistry with the rest of the team. She’s actually useful to the plot, and while her character design is a little too on the nose for me in terms of cuteness (i mean, good god she’s wearing oversized sweater to show how cute and tiny she is, and her hair has literal hearts in it), she is absolutely lovable. 

But what i actually really wanna gush about for a second is sophia at the last stage of the game. You get the idea, i dont really like to get excited over things, so at this point i figured that there was nothing this game could do to shock me. 

And then sophia had a persona awakening. 

Like. holy fuck did i yell. I didnt realize what was happening until the music had already kicked in. and its just so fucking smart!!! Sophia??? The ai?? With no heart?? gOT A PERSONA???? AWAKENING??? BECAUSE SHE LEARNED WHAT THE HEART IS AND THE PASSION THAT YOU NEED IN ORDER TO GET A PERSONA??? I started crying honestly, because it was just so smart. And looking back on it now, its obvious!! Of course it would lead to this, it only made sense that the culmination of her character arc leads to her getting a persona, nothing else would have been as good. Also, her voice actor is just amazing?? When she was talking to ichinose at the end, i actually got incredibly emotional because of the line reads. Its just so spot on and it really captures the essence of sophia.

Muah. five stars Atlus. You got me. 

Ryuji <3!!!!

Oh man. Oh boy. Okay. so where do i start. 

Yall know i love him. Hes probably my favorite fictional male character of all time, and he is the one i was the absolute most cynical about in this game. I was expecting literally nothing. Nothing. Like. nothing. I thought he was just gonna keep being used as a joke, or a gag, and he’s gonna be super horny all the time for the other girls and it was gonna make me mad and there was gonna be some insane homophobic/queerphobic jokes in every other scene and i know i was being unfair, but i cant help it. 

And then i played the first two hours of the game, and i cried the entire time. Because ryuji has never been better than he is in this game. Its crazy. 

The ryuji in persona 5 strikers is who ryuji should have been/how he should have been treated this entire time. From the actual funny jokes (for example, the gold bar joke + his reaction to it in the beginning of the game), defending his female friends instead of being the one people need to defend from (natsume arc), and the fact that he was the one to be there with morgana and akira in the very beginning of the game. Its such a small thing that they didnt even need to do, but it was such an integral part of the original game for me, that i just was convinced that nothing like this was going to happen. But then it happened. Its just small stuff like that that could have been overlooked but it wasn’t because this game? Persona 5 strikers? Fucking loves ryuji. 

The actual respect they gave this boy is insane and i wasn't ready for it. Like, they gave the shujin trio lunch, they gave the little charm of the katana when they were in natsume’s jail, and, in my opinion this is the second-best thing that they could have given ryuji is sophia. Ryuji and sophia are the pinnacle of a brother & sister bonding relationship in the game that isn’t akira & futaba. And its really prevalent too?? Small stuff from the beginning of the game (pulling her out of a jail, calling her shorty), but then you have the iconic “shut the fuck up” scene, and that scene was so well characterized and written and voice acted, that somehow him saying “fuck” was the least exciting part of that scene to me. Ryuji is an older brother to her, like its undoubtable, and its only further cemented at the end of the game where Ryuji helps out ichinose because he knows how much sophia cares about her. This game. Love ryuji. And i love. This game. 

You know what else i love? Akiryu. 

Guys. i was fully prepared to starve in terms of akiryu. But theres just. So much of it. I wont get too deep into it, because i think this aspect of the game for me still needs marinate a little bit. Like, what was that last shot when EMMA died and Ryuji walked to approach Akira so they could relish in their victory together?? And the smile from both of them??? What the fuck. That was amazing. Also Joker being saved by Ryuji when he was about to fall from the cliff to save sophia??? WHAT. The LEADER AND HIS RIGHT HAND MAN? WHAT. anyway. If theres anything i want to keep for myself in my own brain, its the akiryu aspect of this game, so i wont talk too much about that part of things (instead, itll probably manifest in fic lmfaooo). 

Sure, there’s tidbits of stuff i dont like that they gave ryuji: sexualizing ann in that one cut scene and making him touch the jails even though it hurts, and i recognize those and frown at them, but for the most part, i am blown away with how they treated him.

Basically, Ryuji has never been better. From the opening of the game with him being the first text message and the one to sling his arm around akira, to the very last cut scene where it was ryuji wordlessly leaving because he’s so confident that they would never be separated for long, this game adores Ryuji and i am so so happy to say that.

The Royal aspect of things

Yeah, i had to talk about this, but itll be a short thing i just wanted to point out. Because the last part of this game...is persona 5 royal. Which is curious. Like taking reality and giving that power to someone else so you dont have to experience suffering anymore? And even like, the final section just looked a lot like the top half of maruki’s palace?? And whats even crazier is that we had a boss fight with sophia, just like how we had a boss fight with sumire? Royal and Strikers have like, the same thesis statement. It’s kind of uncanny.It’s interesting, it’s like atlus came up with these two ideas, and then just decided they liked both of them so much that they just did it twice. I don’t mind though—actually, in terms of how the last Palace/Jails go, i probably like them both about equally. 

Though i did love the final battle in this one more than i did in royal. Splitting into teams?? Thats cool as fuck, and really innovative and i didnt see it coming. It also kicked my ass. A lot. 

Now for the last stretch: the small stuff!

The music — bomb as fuck. In my heart, Daredevil is ranked the same as Rivers. Axe to grind is also amazing, but Daredevil owns me

Akechi — i really debated whether or not to talk about him, but i figured a bullet point should be enough. Im really shocked that he wasnt in this at all. Like not even a name drop. If this is an OVA, and the point of the game is to please the fans, and akechi is arguably the fan favorite character, i was really ready for something. But there was nothing, except for the pancake hallway if that even counts as a reference. Thats it. Thats all i wanted to say about him.

The humour — FUCKING HILARIOUS im convinced that in my fifty hour playtime, five of that is dedicated to me laughing and unable to continue the game 

Akira — so much personality! His lines of dialogue are crazy sometimes (like. Whats up with him saying Ryuji has ‘nice abs’ when they were in bath? Im crazy and even i dont know what the fuck that could mean) 

Battle system — oh my god i almost forgot to talk about this. I love it! I kind of miss the turn based aspect just because i found it very comforting for some reason, but this hack and slash style of gameplay is so invigorating because i do feel like it justifies shit like the baton pass and huge attacks.  This battle system fully encompases how the Phantom Thieves are supposed to fight, you know what i mean?

Anyway, thats my thoughts on strikers. Loved it. Amazing. 9.3/10, wouldve been higher but Konoe’s Jail almost bored me to death. Also im a monster and i didnt do any requests that isn’t a fun one, teehee. As if i play persona 5 for the persona aspect of things.

[shadow-scenarios]

Hello~ may I ask for something slightly specific? I wanted to ask about a scenario in which the reader recently obtains the Meta-Nav but instead of the PT finding out first, Goro does. See, the reader and Goro have recently become acquaintances and reader thinks that the Meta-Nav is something related to illegal activity so she goes to consult their detective friend on this mysterious app! Haha, sorry if this is too specific ;-;

Hey there simulationone, this isn’t too specific!! I like creative ideas that change the plot & this has been my favourite request to write so far.

However, I did change the request slightly. I made it so that the Reader awakened to their Persona & gains the MetaNav!! I hope that’s alright with you. If not, feel free to message me again and I can rewrite it.

{ Post Writing Note: Well, I wrote way too much!! Sorry if there’s less Akechi content than you thought, I got hyperfixated on how it would affect the plot. I’d love to write a Part 2 full of angst with this, so feel free to request it!! }

- Nexus.

Dance with Justice | Goro Akechi

Life at Kosei High was predictable. Like a metronome. Constant pressure to be the best & high achievement boundaries, it was a wonder how she was ever accepted without some sort of moonlighting as a prodigy. These stories of mental shutdowns & psychotic breakdowns made the world look grim & everyone seemed desperate to escape it all.

Comfort was found in the Phantom Thieves and how they manipulated hearts. Dancing the line between immoral & illegal, it was a grey area where the who was less significant than the how. Society grasped onto them as miraculous saviours as they solved cases faster than regular forces ever could: Kamoshida, Madarame, Kaneshiro, Medjed. The world was taken by storm, these renegade rogues looking to change the world & it seemed they were no longer an urban legend.

Their downfall was unexpected, to say the least. Okumura was murdered in cold blood, his mental shutdown playing onscreen during an important meeting where he was about to reveal an important factor in solving this buck-wild case. A calling card was found at the residence, the sigil of their misdeeds. Just when the mystery was about to unravel, the threads gave way to a bigger problem: Did the Phantom Thieves cause the very shutdowns everyone was trying to escape?

Swiftly, the media capitalised. Labelling them as criminals, demanding their arrest. Everything shifted so quickly & she was caught up by the egregious claims of both sides. There was one thing for certain: The Phantoms Thieves had killed someone and regardless of their previous deeds, they needed to be brought to justice.

Naturally, the first viable suspect she found was Yusuke Kitagawa.

He was of the eccentric sort, gaining a scholarship through art. Everything the strange man did was usually for the sake of ‘ Finding true beauty! ’, which was slightly melodramatic. Before Madarame’s case, he was fixated on art singularly. Now? He seemed to have other priorities. Whenever someone would discuss the Phantom Thieves in an art lesson, there was a glimmer in his eye & the paintbrush that had been on the canvas stopped in order to listen in.

A victim of Madarame’s plagiarism, which gave a plausible motive. Despite this, nothing was concrete. She thought about her friend, Akechi. Was this how he solved crimes?

Obviously, the next step was to follow Yusuke around. Sneaking around was rather easy, all she had ever been known as by the student populace was ‘ the girl who was friends with Akechi! ’, so standing out was not much of a problem. There was not much abnormal. Despite being somewhat of a social outcast, he had a small circle of friends. Six in total.

Five of them were clearly wearing the Shujin Academy uniform on the day she spotted them. One was tall in stature with fluffy black hair & thick framed glasses. Reserved in nature but he always appeared to have some sort of witty comeback. Soon he became known as Akira.

Another one was a blonde, around the same height. He wore the uniform much like a delinquent alongside a yellow graphic tee. Obnoxiously loud, as it was never difficult to hear what he was saying even from far away. The person closest to him was Ann. She had platinum blonde hair tied back into pigtails & features of an American.

Makoto was next. Clearly more of a calculating type, she wore the uniform immaculately. Wearing her hair in a French-braid styled headband, she had maroon coloured eyes & was around average height. Most of the time, she was commenting on the boy’s behaviour.

Haru Okumura was someone recognisable due to the news about her father’s death, which was saddening. In her uniform, she wore a fluffy pink turtleneck alongside white tights with flower patterns.

Futaba was just as strange as Yusuke. She used a mixture of gamer jargon whenever she spoke and was never seen in a uniform. About middle school age, she carried around a set of headphones everywhere that regularly rested atop her maple coloured hair.

Stuffed inside of Akira’s bag was also a cat that they tried to hide. Key word: Tried. Six of them & a cat.

They frequented a local cafe in Shibuya, LeBlanc. It was a nice location & she had even gone in there once to listen in. Boss was kind, to say the least. He served coffee with a warm smile & the curry combined perfectly enough to encourage a smile out of her.

On a Friday, the cafe was busy. They had gathered at one table & chatted casually. Most of them looked forelorn. Akira eventually gestured for them to take the conversation outside, where they would disturb fewer people.

Following behind them, she paid Boss & followed, attempting to seem casual. They never noticed. Conspicuously trailing into an alleyway, Ryuji pulled out his phone. Listening in was difficult so she opted to pull out her own phone and record. One of them, presumably Akira, simply said “ Mementos. ”.

Mementos. That singular word triggered something & changed everything. As the world began to violently shift in a strange phenomena, hues of vermillion & mauve dotted her vision. It was hypnotic. Eventually, she snapped out of the trance.

Concealed by masks & flashy outfits were the suspicious group she had been following. It was blatantly obvious by their hair colours. However, the animated cat creature was a surprise. It was reminiscent of the cat Akira carried around but even stranger was that it talked. Then it turned into a bus. Which did not seem all that strange.

Inherently familiar with their environment, they sped off down the escalator, leaving her alone with her thoughts. There were so many reds & greys. Thick red veins ran through the sides in mangled forms. The wall behind her was dilapidated & the only way to proceed was the escalator in front of her.

A fatal mistake, really.

Recalling the details of the awakening are fuzzy at best. These lumbering creatures formed entirely out of shadow began to take notice of her unwanted presence. Cornered, desperate and alone. Insurmountable pain; the voice of someone almost familiar; then freedom & rebellion.

With the pact of her Persona, everything was clearer. Life had previously moved in rhetorical patterns, it was now a whimsical dance. Eliminating the so called enemies with a weapon in hand, she eventually found a way back to the surface. The door at the beginning looked to be a way out, so she threw caution to the wind & took the chance.

Fatigue came first in this dingy alleyway. Adrenaline had been fuelling the push to leave alongside her newly granted power and once that was gone, nothing would spare her from raw exhaustion. Checking her phone in the hopes of finding evidence, the video taken was still there, though it cut off as soon as anyone disappeared.

Even without evidence, she knew that this group was doing something illicit. So she texted the one person she trusted with this secret: Goro Akechi. He was a detective, surely he would have answers.

;; I must speak with you in person as soon as possible. It’s regarding the Phantom Thieves, I have some evidence for you. You’re investigating them, correct?

Knowing full well that Akechi lived a busy life, she did not expect a response for a while. After gathering the strength to stand once again, she headed home. It was the most exhausting experience ever, physically & emotionally. A few minutes after returning home, there was a response from Akechi.

I am indeed investigating them. If you have any evidence regarding them, would it not be more convenient for me to receive it via text? ;;

;; Yes, it would be, but I can barely even believe the evidence presented to me. It’s better for you to see it for yourself. Are you attending school tomorrow?

Indeed I am. Pulling away from the public eye has benefits. If you are free during lunch, we can meet on the rooftop and discuss the supposed evidence that you have found. Does that sound like a compromise? ;;

;; Alright. I’ll see you on the rooftop tomorrow.

The next day was filled with trepidation. Everyone seemed to be mulling about & with how slowly the clock was moving, it was if the school was in a state of chronostasis. Although she did not share many classes with Akechi, there had been a moment where she saw a mop of hazelnut brown hair amongst a crowd, so he was likely to be there.

Sitting on the rooftop alone was slightly boring but she understood why he was late. Every time lunch began, Akechi would be surrounded by people who wanted his attention. It must have been rather annoying.

5. 10. 15. Minutes ticked by. During the winter, it was exceptionally cold so not a single soul came up. The chilly winter breeze nipped at her skin & for a moment she wondered if it was Akechi that she had seen. The brown hair easily could have been mistaken—

The creak of the door announced his presence. With a formal apology, he recalled how his teachers were intent on swarming him with catch up work that he would inevitably never complete. Dismissing it all & moving along with the subject, Akechi got straight to the point:

“ What was it you wished to speak to me about? ”, he asked.

“ I believe I have ascertained the identities of the Phantom Thieves, ” was the only reply she gave.

Looking astounded, he shifted his glove via force of habit & looked directly at her.

“ That’s quite the bold claim, ” he returned to a neutral expression as the mask of the Detective Prince slipped back on, “ Do you have any evidence? ”.

Recalling the story to the best of her ability was tedious. From the suspicious behaviour Yusuke had been demonstrating to the video evidence taken from her phone. Throughout the entire story, he maintained a neutral expression so she was never quite sure what to think.

“ Usually, I would disregard such stories as a strange dream or a vision you had & declare your footage as edited. However, I have... also had an encounter in this strange phenomena as well. ”

Everything began to make more sense as it was explained. Akechi rattled off about the cognitive world, Palaces, Personas & even how ‘ stealing someone’s heart ’ was possible. He explained that his plan was to lend the Phantom Thieves a hand in their next assignment & catch them in the very act. Specifically, their leader.

“ That explains a lot. Let me help you. I have a Persona as well & I can fight in that other world. I want to bring the Phantom Thieves to justice. They killed Okumura & many others if they are the ones behind the mental shutdowns. Tampering with the heart of another is wrong... ”

“... Alright. I suppose it will make things easier if it is the two of us. I hope you are a very good actor,” Akechi extended a reluctant hand for her to shake. His gaze was calculated, cold. Much different from his tone of voice. However, she took his hand & shook it.

With that, a contract was signed. Both herself & the detective would bring about the end of the Phantom Thieves.

Word Count: 1.9k

Publish Date: 27.09.20

[krisseycrystal]

rated: t

fandom: Persona 5

prompt: “Soulmates” + Shuake

requested by: @ardentknight

hello yes i’m back w/ more shuake for you plz enjoy

- o - o - o -

Too Many Video Games [Read on AO3]

- o - o - o -

Because Ryuji and Akira were the kind of “thick as thieves” that meant no secrets, not ever, Ryuji could be understandably miffed that when it came to the ever-controversial topic of soulmates, Akira only said, “I’ve already met mine.”

Ryuji, who still had no idea who the long, crooked line on his wrist was supposed to represent, scowled.

“What the hell?” and “How?” and “Who is it?” fell together in a messy jumble over his tongue and out of his mouth. He could hear his mother’s voice now, scolding, “Slow down, Ryuji. Breathe. You’re the only person I know who could drown simply by speaking.”

Akira smiled enigmatically and did that thing he always did when he was thinking: pinched a strand of curly dark hair between his fingers and twisted.

Ryuji wasn’t impressed. “Really, dude? You’re not gonna tell me?”

So finally Akira chuckled and pulled down his sleeve to reveal a boxy and cool-as-fuck looking Hercules gleaming on the underside of his wrist. The constellation was boxy, with legs that hurricaned outward. It was sick.

“And that is…?”

“The who is private.”

“What, really?!”

“Really.”

But no matter how hard Ryuji pushed and begged and pleaded, it was the one and only secret Akira kept from him. 

It was infuriating.

- o - o - o -

Most people wore bands around their wrists; others didn’t. That wasn’t anything new. It was one of those unspoken understandings that the stars your soulmate was born under was a piece of private information you decided who and when to share with and how. Some people were like Ann who always changed out her wristband to match her outfit and had who-knew-how-many bangles and scrunchies and other accessories she’d gathered just to look cute and keep the stars on her wrist secret. Others were like Mr. Sakura who had no interest in the business of soulmates and kept his wrist bare for anyone to see the Ursa Major there.

Some people, on the other hand, were like Akechi, who always wore long sleeves no matter the weather and usually gloves and never were caught swimming. Ever.

It was those people who typically had more than one constellation, but that wasn’t a very common occurrence.

It was rare when a person had a whole piece of the sky chunked out and wrapped around their hand, winding up their arm, gorgeous and multi-faceted. In ancient times, theories had been that those unique individuals were able to call nearly anyone they met a soulmate who was born under at least one of those stars; in modern times, more theories were coming out that the more constellations on your body, the more specific your soulmate had to be. That soulmate had to have been born under that exact window of the sky.

At least, that’s what Ryuji heard on TV. 

He figured that’s what Akechi had and why he wrapped himself up so much and so often and so tightly.

And then the day came when they were meeting to plan an infiltration into Sae Niijima’s palace. Ryuji, who arguably knew Akira better than anyone else, thought he was acting strange. Usually, Akira had the window seat in the LeBlanc booth the Thieves unofficially claimed as their own. It wasn’t as though Akira wasn’t allowed to sit anywhere else, but the instant he swung a hand at Ryuji in a very gentlemanly, You first, Ryuji felt something was off.

But it wasn’t a big deal and he wasn’t a sissy so after Ann climbed in, he scooched beside her and Akira sat on the outside. Haru, Yusuke, and Makoto clambered over into the opposite bench and Akechi and Futaba pulled up a few tall chairs from the counter.

They talked.

And they had talked about this plan so much lately that Ryuji felt like he already had it memorized, so he slouched over his crossed arms and let his chin dig into the purple of his jacket sleeve and closed his eyes and thought man, no wonder Morgana likes taking naps in sunlight; this is great--

--when Akechi, jokingly in response to a jibe from Makoto, hummed, “By the strength of my stars, are you doubting me?”

And it wasn’t like Ryuji had never heard people make those kind of expressions before. By the strength of my stars. The sprawl of my stars. Let no one but my stars be the judge of me.

It was just that people usually said something like that because that phrase held a connotation with the stars they were born under. Ryuji heard the word “strength” out of Akechi’s mouth and he remembered there was that old, animated Disney movie he used to love as a kid about the super-strong son of a god and his back snapped ramrod straight.

He would have probably talked his own self out of it all, too, if Akira hadn’t reacted the way he did, pressing his glasses up his nose and sharing a humored Look with Akechi, his arm close enough to brush against Akechi’s knee.

Akechi met his look in turn, a distinctive curl to his mouth that looks almost handsome and--

--oh my god.

Akira fucking took the outside seat for a reason.

Ryuji’s mouth dropped open, brown eyes enormous. He thought he might get whiplash from how fast his head spun back and forth and back and forth between Akira and Akechi and the dopey-eyed, disgusting Look they were still sharing while Makoto was still talking and oh my god. Oh my god. 

Akira’s soulmate is Goro Akechi.

“Ryuji?” Haru chimed from the other side of the table. Her head tilted, pretty mouth pinched in concern. “Are you all right?”

“You--”

Akechi and Akira took one look at him and without needing to look at each other, they moved.

Akira’s hand slammed over his mouth before he could say another word; the other hand fisted into the back of his purple jacket and yanked him out of the booth so quickly and messily, Ryuji’s knee banged up against the bottom and nearly upended all of the team’s coffee and notes spread over the table.

Makoto squawked. Futaba yelped, feet jumping up onto the edge of her tall chair. Akechi hurried the both of them around the counter. They nearly ran into Mr. Sakura on their way into LeBlanc’s kitchens while he was on his way out, toweled hands laden with a fresh, steaming pot of curry. The man swore wildly as he lifted the giant pot, stumbling back out of their way. Then the door swung shut and Akira finally released Ryuji once his back was pressed to one of the two steel ranges lining the back. 

“Wha--” But Ryuji didn’t get a chance to ask a damn thing because nearly immediately afterward, Akira and Akechi spared another glance, and then Akira turned around and fucking left him there in the kitchen with his soulmate, who, last Ryuji was sure about, they weren’t even really sure about. “What the hell was all that for?!”

“You don’t know how to be subtle,” Akechi muttered as if it was supposed to be enough of an explanation.

It wasn’t.

“You!” Ryuji sputtered. “You and Akira!”

“We--” Akechi looked like he was about to say something else but then thought better of it, biting the words back before they had a chance to slip free. “--yes.”

“You and Akira.”

“You said that.”

“I can’t fucking believe--”

“--you don’t have to say it that loudly, do you?”

That set Ryuji off again; he nearly screeched. “And you guys are keeping it secret!”

“Of course,” Akechi said as the kitchen door finally swung open again and Akira wandered back in. His slender fingers were wrapped around the handle of a small, ceramic cup of coffee. “I should think even someone as monkey-brained as you knows that it’s our business when and where and how people know the nature of our relationship.” 

“Y-yeah, but--” 

And then Ryuji’s entire front turned cold because Akira fucking dumped the coffee over his front.

“What the hell, man?!” Ryuji shrilled. He would have backed up further, trying to get away from this horrid abuse of their friendship, but the edge of the range still dug into the small of his back and his shoes squeaked uselessly against the floor tiles. “What’d you go and do that for? That’s fucking cold!”

“No. It’s hot,” Akira coolly said and Ryuji’s first thought was that he’s been playing too many video games.

“The FUCK?”

Akechi somehow picked up whatever it was Akira put down because he sighed like this entire conversation was taxing. His arms crossed over his chest. Akira handed a paper towel roll to Ryuji. “Consider it our cover story. The three of us looked rather conspicuous running into LeBlanc’s kitchens as fast as we did.”

Ryuji tore the paper towel roll out of Akira’s hand. “Excuse you. I was dragged.”

“Regardless, you will tell them you spilled coffee on yourself and it was so hot you could have suffered severe burns, so you are grateful Akira and I were as quick-thinking as we were to cart you off to the kitchen sink to resolve the situation and help you as fast as possible. Understand?”

Ryuji looked up, squeezing his yellow shirt dry and dimly realizing his mother was probably going to make him do the laundry (again). “That’s it?”

“That’s it,” Akechi confirmed. Akira nodded.

“You’re not gonna say anything else?” Ryuji swung a hand at his ruined shirt. “Not like, ‘Sorry you had to find out this way, Ryuji,’ or ‘Hey, bud, I know this is like, breaking news, but if you keep this a secret, I’ll make it up to you.’” Ryuji stopped and gasped loudly. “Blackmail.”

“You wouldn’t.” 

“I could!” Ryuji tried to meet Akechi’s hard stare with his own but hated how transparent his own damn heart was. He sighed. “Fuck.” Then, he thought better of it. “Actually, speaking of--”

“--we’re not talking about our sex life, Ryuji.”

Of course Akira knew what he was thinking. Of course that whole “knowing each other better than anyone else” and “thick as thieves” thing was being turned around to bite him in the ass. Of course.

Damn.

[auncyen]

OK so trying to set a goal for writing today

I think I need to set a fairly specific one because lately it’s been “finish the chapter” and you know what happens?  The chapter doesn’t get finished.

(Yes, this is for “When the Cat Dragged in the Trickster”.)

I’m not sure if I should go for an amount of time, words, or trying to finish specific scenes.

Scenes I’m pretty sure I want in the chapter while trying to keep descriptions vague...ish:

conclusion to the group being in Mementos (this was supposed to be in the last chapter but since that got huge I ended it at Dramatic Moment instead).  this got very lengthy in first draft with a major hint toward something but in the end it might get shortened.

phone check.  brief.

yusuke-ann scene.  yusuke has turned unexpectedly important to this in my head recently.  (and honestly seems like he should have gotten a few more chances to shine in canon?  INTERPRETING VISUAL SYMBOLISM IN PALACES AND MEMENTOS? idk maybe I’m making too much of it)

ann trying to be a little more buddy-buddy with ren.  results are mixed.

lunchtime with haru, ann, and morgana.

POSSIBLY: scene with sojiro.  I’m not sure.  I really want a particular sort of scene with sojiro and I’m not sure when it would best fit in, before or after, well...

second mementos trip

CLIFFHANGER???  I...don’t know.  I do know I want An Issue to happen and I know it will be Many Words to resolve and that makes me a little worried about how gd long the chapter will be if I’m shoving it in there.

Where the chapter is at rn is 3.4k words in this copy (the copy that shortened the first scene) which is:

...maybe half of the conclusion to the group being in Mementos (THIS IS KIND OF A LONGASS BIT EVEN WITH ONE PART CUT OUT)

most of the yusuke-ann scene, I think

part of the lunchtime scene??  I kind of just started at one line I could imagine Morgana saying and launched from there.

...even though I usually write chronologically, maybe my goal should be to try to at least start all the other scenes (besides maybe the sojiro one)?  that or just pick one or two to have completely done but I know myself and nothing is completely done until the chapter’s posted on ao3.  and even then it may not be done.

[party-of-rpg-muses]

I’m watching the Social Events in Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight and I couldn’t help but notice a few things.

Makoto often tried to get Sae to acknowledge her, but when she fails, she would be crushed as a result. That’s because she respected her sister so much.

When Futaba broke Yusuke’s ¥300,000 jester doll created by an Italian artist, she was incredibly guilty upon learning that it meant so much to him, even having spent his reward money from an art competition for it. She refers to him by name rather than “Inari” and offers to pay it back, even offering to find a part-time job.

Yusuke takes it in stride, mentioning that all good things must perish sooner or later. Even saying that with creation, one must pay a price. So by losing a doll that was dear to him. something great will happen to him. It possible he completely lost it.

Haru likes to use an axe and chop wood (and when Ryuji muses to go through her room and drawers, she threatens him with said axe).

Ryuji’s been training for track again after the escapades with the Phantom Thieves and considering competing again. Before Joker, he wouldn’t have even considered it.

Futaba is a fan of the two pop idols from Persona 4, Rise and Kanami.

Haru’s love of ballet came from a painting she saw ever since she was little.

If Ryuji had to choose, he’d pick a girl with a toned, fit body and a nice tan. But he also wouldn’t pass up the shy bookie type with glasses. (Or as Yusuke calls him “a desperate scavenger”).

Morgana thinks Haru has a crush on him (because of his “charm”, which is “a hit with the ladies”).

When Yusuke learns it was from an French impressionist (and learning there was a signature on the back), he becomes incredibly excited and overjoyed. Like, giddy, high-pitched voice, and beyond thrilled. He even wants to see the painting as soon as possible.

Sae passed the bar exam while she was still attending school. And with her good looks, she was invited for an interview on TV. The media constantly hounded her, even spreading a rumor that she was in love with a celebrity.

She also has incredibly high standards. Especially when it comes to punctuality, table manners, clothing, and choice of words.

Ryuji and Morgana talk about sex appeal (thought Morgana gets upset because he thought Ryuji was using the term “catwalk” to refer to how he walks).

Haru buys her food in bulk from a warehouse in the suburbs. Like 100-count of croissants or 10 whole turkeys. It’s much cheaper than buying less more often.

When Futaba was in the 4th grade, there was a special dance party where parents could join. Wakaba was so excited that she took the day off and Futaba practiced dancing so she could dance with her mom. But she came down with a fever and missed the dance, but Wakaba stayed by her side the entire time, even smiling and telling her to get well soon. Futaba really wanted to dance with her mom, but never got the chance.

Yusuke would often fast for several days to bathe in cold water during the winter.

Ryuji’s mom had an improved mood lately, most likely because Ryuji has been keeping his head down and behaving. Or maybe because she could tell he had a new sense of purpose.

Despite how strong Makoto is in aikido, Sae is even stronger. She’s never been able to defeat her older sister.

Haru used to love ballet and her father encouraged it, but he only saw it to impress business partners and barely attended her lessons and recitals.

The twins struggle to dance in unison at first.

Yusuke freaks out at the idea of facing Makoto and her aikido fighting style.

To quote Ryuji: “When in Rome, DANCE LIKE A FREAKIN’ BADASS!”

If Futaba could, she would definitely get a pair of Groucho Marx glasses to wear regularly, so long as it still functions like her usual glasses.

Ann’s attempt at being sexy (a sexy, pleasured sigh) falls flat. Even Morgana didn’t like it.

Futaba refers to Justine as “Justy”.

Ryuji refers to Makoto as the “Fist of the Phantom Star”.

Ryuji knows how to make a treat that can perk someone up when they’re tired. Simply chopped up lemons dipped in honey. His mom used to make it for him all the time, but it happened so often that he felt bad asking her so often.

Futaba confirms that Haru is a (precious) cinnamon roll (too pure for this world).

Yusuke has no specific type of girl. He likes all kinda of girls (so long as they are aesthetically pleasing).

Justine is far more willing to tease Caroline.

Haru and Makoto want to see who’s more fearsome senpai.

Ryuji admits that Takemi and Hifumi are hot. (Joker can even mention that he knows a certain fortune teller, a certain teacher, and a certain reporter.) Even Yusuke wants to know about Joker’s connections with women.

No one other than Shiho has been in Ann’s room.

And Ann suggestions getting a team party together with the others and even inviting Shiho.

Haru is very poor with technology. She once accidentally stumbled across Tanaka’s Shady Commodities. And up until recently, she thought the term “booting your PC” literally meant kicking it. And practically every computer she touches stops working without warning. Even technicians don’t know what’s wrong.

Futaba admits that Makoto will be a top-tier wife one day.

Ryuji knows quite a bit when it comes to physical activity. Staying hydrated, relaxing the muscles, one’s body weight. the lactic acid in one’s body.

Futaba created a really popular and successful game for fun, but sold all rights because the contract looked like too much work. (Ryuji calls her an idiot for not accepting the deal and becoming rich, to which she responds by calling the king of morons).

She even entertains the idea of taking Joker on as an employee when she gets series and deigns to make Ryuji the Tea Monkey.

When Ryuji tried to call the flyers in his room, he just got the twins. And upon calling the number for Kawakami’s maid service (of course, it was the twins), they sent Makoto to “clean up [his] mess”.

Makoto really wants a motorcycle license.

Haru doesn’t know what to do with her father’s yacht.

Futaba wants to one day “fill out” like Ann.

[itspikamefan]

(Close enough if you don’t count the backpack or Akira’s expression)

Ryuji and The palace of submission

Part 5

“Ugh I need a nap” Ann complained

Akira and the other phantom thiefs had all come back to cafe Leblanc after Akira rescued them all from the torture pits. All of them, that is, except for Ryuji

“You can worry about sleep later we have more important things to be discussing” Makoto said

“But those torture pits were exhausting” Ann whined “And I’m tired”

“Oh quiet Ann,” complained Futaba “we need to find Ryuji”

“How is it that you managed to search the ENTIRE palace?!” Yusuke screamed “And not find a one man with bright blond hair!”

“He wasn’t anywhere when I searched the palace I’ve said this a thousand times already!” Akira exclaimed “All I have found is a root to the treasure and you people, who were no help whatsoever!”

“DONT YOU DARE” Yusuke exclaimed

“Jeez Yusuke why are you so pissed about this?” Asked Haru

“BECAUSE” he pointed at Akira “HE WAS THE ONE WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO TRY AND SAVE HIM. BUT NOoOoOoO HE HAD TO LEAVE HIM THERE TO HELL KNOWS WHAT!!!!!”

“Ryuji will be fine, Yusuke.” Ann said

“You want to talk about a man who made thousands of celebrities bend to his will, weak and strong, and say that Ryuji will survive him?!?!?!?! You people have lost your minds!”

Makoto put a hand on Yusuke’s shoulder “He will be fine I think Ryuji can handle a couple baddies on his own”

Just as Makoto finished that sentence, Someone had walked in the door of the cafe.

It was Ryuji.

“Ha told you!” Makoto exclaimed

Yusuke merely mumbled something about Makoto having a big head.

“Ryuji, we are so glad that you are_” She didn’t finish her sentence before Ryuji ran over to Akira and got in his knees.

“Master I apologize for my lateness! Those mean men wouldn’t run the red light so I could get to you.”

Everyone blinked for a second

“Ryuji? What did you just call me?”

“Master, that is what you told me to call you as your slave.

Quiet

(Cut to outside of Cafe scene)”WHAAAAAT?!?!?”

——————————————————————————

After helping Ryuji into some normal clothes (unfortunately though were unable to remove the chain) they sat him down at a booth

“Ryuji what the hell happened?” Makoto asked

“Master Akira had saved me from the mean expirement men” Ryuji said (Akira proposed he called him that instead of just master, as it sounded creepy)

“‘Mean expirement men’?” Morgana asked

“Yes they tortured me with these machines that did all sorts of things that only my master should do!” (There were some things texted to Ryuji in the car that I shall post later)

“So then why are you here and not wherever you met your ‘master’” Haru asked

“Because Master Akira told me to meet up with him at the cafe Leblanc”

“And when was this?” Makoto asked

“I don’t know”

“How do you not know what time it is?”

“‘Time’? What is that?”

“Oh come ON! You can not tell me you don’t remember the concept of time!?!?!”

“Master Akira told me not to remember things such as math or English, don’t know what those are either though.”

Yusuke thought for a moment “Ryuji, can you go upstairs?”

“I’d rather not, especially if master Akira still wants me here”

“Well your master want you to go to your room”

“I don’t believe you” Ryuji squinted

Yusuke looked at Akira with an expression that meant ‘back me up here!’

“Yusuke is right, you should go upstairs Ryuji”

“Ok master!”

Ryuji then bounded up the stairs and into the attic.

Yusuke then slammed his hand on the counter “ Ok then what the hell Akira?”

“What is it?” Akira leaned back

“You claimed to not have found Ryuji in the entire palace, and now he shows at the cafe claiming you’re his master?!?!? What the hell did you do to him?!?!”

“I didn’t do anything to him! I’m just as shocked as you guys are!”

“Then explain why he thinks you’re his master!” Ann exclaims

Akira is shocked for a moment then realizes something.

“Oh no!!!” Akira says

“What is it?” Asks Yusuke

“When I was in the palace after you guys were taken. They asked for a picture of me for no reason. I relented and then went on to find you guys!”

“Wait a minute you don’t think they...” Yusuke realizes

“The technology exists! It is possible for someone to use a photo to copy that person’s face, and sometimes even their voice!” Haru explains

“So then, when they took that picture of you” Ann begins

“They had someone impose as me and make Ryuji into their slave one way or another!” Akira finishes

“So then how do we make him back to himself again.” Yusuke asks

Haru thinks for a moment and then speaks “Okumura foods and a specific advertisement agreement with the company we were trying to decorrupt. Perhaps I can head over there and try to see if the company has a solution to this.”

“So what do we do in the meantime?” Asks Makoto

Akira looks up at the attic “I guess for now Ryuji will be living with me

To be continued

(Things that we’re said in the car

5. The machines that were used to torture you will not be used again. However, I may ask you to allow me to do some of the things that the Machine did to you in exchange for your protection. Trust me it won’t be long.

6. Even if someone claims to order you in the name of your master. You must not obey them unless you know that your Master gave you direct order.

And finally 7. On the third Saturday of every month you must prepare yourself for some sort of Master slave roleplay. The type may be whatever you choose but in every scenario you must be the slave.

[Note note: 7 will become important later in the story!]

And sorry for the long notes in the story I just had to explain some plot points)

[wondr18360]

Hints at who the traitor was in Persona 5

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

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

1. Lurking at Okumura Foods

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

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

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

3. Sudden Thieves fan??

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

4. Genius, or experienced?

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

5. Bad storyteller

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

6. Sae’s calling card

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

7. The deal

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

8. Delicious Pancakes:

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

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

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

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

[yusuke-of-valla]

“Oh! You didn’t mention knowing an Anti-Shadow Suppression weapon!”

That is the first thing the girl who returns from the labyrinth with the Phantom Thieves says when she sees him. Yusuke observes the others and notes everyone’s confusion, though he has to assume Goro’s is due to this girl knowing what an Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon is more than anything else.

Yusuke is perfectly still, running through possible answers.

“What’s an anti-shadow whatever?” Ryuji asks.

“The Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons were a series of robots designed to eliminate shadows, much like you do.” Yusuke explains, “Though, as I was not designed as a part of that series, it is inaccurate to call me one.”

Everyone stares at him.

“YOU’RE A ROBOT?” Futaba shrieks.

Yusuke nods.

“AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME?”

“I am not permitted to reveal information that would put my creators or their organization in jeopardy.”

“Your creators?” Ann asks. “What do you mean?”

“The people who created me.”

Ann frowns, “Well obviously, can you be a little more specific?”

“I am not permitted to reveal information that would put my creators or their organization in jeopardy.”

“So.” Akira says, “you’re a robot. But not one of the Anti-Shadow weapons?”

“I was made separately from the initial series by a different group, correct.”

“You look a lot like one.” The girl who identified him notes. “You’re ‘headphones’ were a dead giveaway.”

Futaba gapes. “WAIT THEY AREN’T ACTUALLY COOL HEADPHONES? IS THAT WHY I HAVEN’T BEEN ABLE TO FIND A PAIR?”

“Do you just… not have ears?” Ryuji asks.

Yusuke shakes his head. “Not in the traditional sense, no.”

After staying silent for so long, Goro finally speaks up. “So, if you’re made by a different group, yet share commonalities, is it safe to assume you were based on stolen research?”

Yusuke smiles. “Yes.”

That gets Futaba to calm down a bit. “Stolen research? That has to do with shadows? Wait, were you made by the same people who stole my mother’s work?”

“I am not permitted to reveal information that would put my creators or their organization in jeopardy.”

“So you WERE.”

“Yes.” Yusuke says.

“Why do you keep repeating that?” Ann asks.

“He’s a robot, he’s got programming he can’t control.” Morgana says. “You physically can’t answer any of our questions. But if we already know about it, then you haven’t revealed anything.”

“Exactly.”

Ann frowns. “So what? Are we supposed to just keeping making guesses until we say the right thing for you to confirm?”

“If I could tell you, I would.”

“Maybe we should wait until we’ve rescued Makoto and Haru then.” Akira says. “That way we can have everyone here to piece things together.”

“May I join you?” Yusuke asks. “Since you already know the truth, I’d like to lend my aid beyond simply duplicating skill cards.”

“What, have you been secretly hiding a persona?” Ryuji laughs.

“Yes.”

Everyone, aside from Goro and the girl who already knew about Anti-Shadow weapons, stares at him.

“YOU’RE A ROBOT WHO CAN USE A PERSONA?”

[astromechas]

(SPOILERS FOR Q2)

This is probably one of the most requested summaries (there were a few more asks that I didn’t include here). As such, this one is a bit long one.

Anyway, I’ll summarize this in order of appearance, starting with FEMC! (please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors since I didn’t proofread this)

(Under the cut... this is so long, I know I’ve said that before but DAMN)

-- FeMC joins the Phantom Thieves --

I did a quick summary of how FeMC joins the Phantom Thieves (HERE) so this bit is just her thoughts on the group.

FeMC is super on board with the whole thief motif. The Phantom Thieves never really go into detail about what exactly they steal (though Ann did once mention their full title being “Phantom Thieves of Hearts”) so FeMC thinks about it being kind of like a game. Once they return to cinema after saving FeMC and welcoming her to join them in rescuing Makoto and Haru, FeMC laughs about how it’s kinda like she’s a member of the Phantom Thieves as well. When they return to continue their rescue mission, FeMC gladly volunteers herself to dress up as a cop, because using disguises is a basic part of being a thief. All in all, FeMC thinks it’s a lot of fun, and thinks that everyone in the PT is really nice.

-- The Phantom Thieves meet The Investigation Team --

The Phantom Thieves (+FeMC) first meet the Investigation Team in the 2nd theater, during the Jurassic Labyrinth. Futaba notices something moving at great speed in their direction, so Joker goes to check it out. After turning a corner, he is immediately attacked by P4MC, brandishing a katana, with Joker defending himself with only a pistol. The Phantom Thieves all show great surprise at this strange person who is able to hold his own in a fight with Joker. The Investigation Team show a similar level of surprise, seeing a masked man fight equally with their leader, and both teams are shocked to hear the other also knows about Personas. Teddie yells that this isn’t the time or place to talk about this-- not while Rise is in pain and Yosuke is missing.

Akechi asks the Investigation Team if all of them were Persona users (like the Phantom Thieves). P4MC is surprised to hear that, with Kanji pointing out that not only did Joker have a gun, but showed a willingness to use it (to which Yusuke pointed out it was only a model gun).

After they’ve sorted that out, Ann asks everyone if they’ve calmed down now. P4MC apologizes as well, saying they were all just a bit frazzled since they suddenly appeared in the jungle, with little understanding of the situation. They wandered around looking for an “exit” when they saw Joker, and P4MC says that though he attacked him, he had no intention of killing him.

Teddie tells P4MC to wrap it up quickly, because Rise is in a lot of pain. P4MC tells the Phantom Thieves that Rise was poisoned, and asks them if they have any kind of antidote. When they answer no, Chie asks them if they’ve seen anyone else in the jungle, specifically, a guy with funny hair and a pair of headphones. Unfortunately they haven’t, and FeMC laments that they too have lost someone precious to them.

Anyway, knowing they have no way of helping Rise, the Phantom Thieves take the Investigation Team back to the cinema, with P4MC saying he’s putting his trust in Joker (though he sounds a bit reluctant, considering he’s just met strange masked people who say they’re gonna take him to a cinema... from the jungle).

When they get back, after adjusting to the shock of suddenly appearing in a cinema, Naoto points out that the Phantom Thieves’ clothes have suddenly changed, confused on when they could’ve had time to do that. Ryuji brushes her off, saying getting Rise help should be a priority.

FeMC approaches P4MC, and tells him that although she’s only just met the Phantom Thieves, they are all very kind and reliable. She also says if he’s facing difficulties, he shouldn’t hesitate to cooperate with others. He thanks her and tells her he feels a bit reassured.

After that, Margaret and Marie both appear, and tell them to leave Rise with them. Everyone (save for P4MC) is surprised to see Marie there, who says she only came because Margaret made her, while the Phantom Thieves are again weirded out by the sudden appearance of more people in blue clothes.

While Rise is getting treated, the Phantom Thieves and the Investigation Team both get to know each other better. Teddie commends P4MC for knowing such a beautiful woman (Margaret) while Naoto tells them that it isn’t the time for talk like that, not while Rise 久慈川さん (kujikawa-san) was sick and Yosuke was missing.

Ryuji hears Naoto call Rise “Kujikawa“ and starts to connect the dots in his mind and yells that he finally realized who she was (Rise is still a popular idol in P5′s canon). Futaba tells him that it can’t possibly be Risette (Rise-chi in JPN) because Risette isn’t in high school.

And so everyone proceeds to get reallllyyy confused on what year it is. Naoto asks them if the year is 2011 with Yusuke shutting her down completely. FeMC nods along, saying it can’t be 2011 because it’s 2009! P4MC says (confusedly) that it’s 2011, though they quickly come to the realization that whatever pulled them to the cinema crossed through time.

After P4MC introduces himself, Makoto is surprised to hear that he’s a second year because he’s so calm and composed, with Akechi saying he definitely isn’t a normal person since he could hold his own against Joker. Ryuji remarks on the cool atmosphere that the two of them are creating, while Ann points out that P4MC also knew a person in blue (with Joker knowing the twins and FeMC knowing Theo).

Chie introduces herself next, saying her all time favorite things were kung-fu and meat! After this earns a bought of surprise from Haru, Chie immediately backpedals, saying she loovvees sweets in the most unconvincing voice ever.

Yukiko is next, introducing her self as the next proprietor of Amagi Inn. FeMC compliments her, and says as heiress, she must be very skilled at cooking. P4MC jumps in, telling her not to speak of cooking, with Futaba saying she senses a great darkness in his words.

After Kanji introduces himself, he’s immediately distracted by the cute fluffy cat that is Morgana. He passes the baton to Naoto after being made fun of by Teddie.

(I already summarized Naoto’s introduction (HERE) if you want to read that. Mainly they talk about the detective prince title, and how Akechi is the second coming.

Once Rise is better, she introduces herself properly and thanks Nagi, Hikari and Marie for helping her. Ryuji marvels at how cute she is in real life.

That’s the “gist” of the Investigation Team and the Phantom Thieves meeting. They didn’t seem to react too much at the idea of the PT being criminals (mainly because they aren’t making it clear what they steal). However, there are a few points in the game where P4MC points how some of the things they’re doing are ‘thief’ like, being kinda vague in how he normally would never do these sorts of things.

-- The Phantom Thieves and The Investigation Team meet SEES --

I’ve already summarized the parts specifically pertaining to FeMC and SEES (HERE) if you’d like to read that.

A lot of their introduction is dedicated to FeMC and them not knowing her, so a lot of their interactions with the Phantom Thieves come from after the fact.

I’ll just quickly summarize some of their interactions that give a general sense of what the IT and PT think of SEES (and visa versa)

Chie becomes very interested in Akihiko after he says he’s into boxing

Teddie is bothered by the fact that Akihiko is so handsome, and says that he won’t lose to this イケメン (lit. handsome man)

Akechi appears to be familiar with the Kirijo Group

Ann thinks Koromaru looks incredibly fluffy and thinks it’s amazing that a dog can also use a Persona (with Morgana saying that he’s also fluffy and a Persona user, though Ryuji points out that he’s contradicting all the times he’s said he’s not a cat)

Ann marvels at the effect archery has on a person’s body by looking at Yukari (who she, presumably, saw using a bow during the previous battle)

Both Futaba and Rise are excited to see another navigator (Fuuka), cheering at the fact that they’re now a trio.

In the AIGIS labyrinth, as they’re trading off code names, Ann suggests “Boxer” for Akihiko while Haru suggests “Lancer” for Ken.

Both Mitsuru and Makoto both trust each other’s judgement

At the end of one of the special screenings, Mitsuru gives Makoto a bear of gloves (the type worn on motorcycles) as a way of thanking her.

There’s definitely more that I’m missing but for the most part, SEES seems to get along with the Phantom Thieves pretty well. There’s a surprising lack of the groups reacting to the fact that the Phantom Thieves are...well, thieves. I suspect that’s partially because the groups never really talk about what it was that they’re fighting for in their respective games (i.e the Investigation Team never says what they’re investigating). Still, like I said before there are some parts where other characters will note that what they’re doing is “thief” like. So there’s that.

Sorry for the kinda long post, but there was just a lot of summarize. I hope this answers most of you’re guys’ questions! Don’t be afraid to ask if you need clarification, though!

[cloudaintfair]

Femoral Meeting - C3

One day after school, Ryuji stumbled as his broken leg was acting up, and because of that, he met one of Gekkoukan High’s former athletes. Kazushi Miyamoto.

A/N: There’s chat-formatted text messages in.

FFN I AO3

Prologue I C1 I C2 I C3

“C’mon Ren, Pick up.” Ryuji muttered to himself as he paced around his room, phone on his ear.

Ryuji was let go from the hospital after no information was extracted from him. To be more precise, after Ryuji denied everything thrown at him. Although he was still reeling from the fact that for all intents and purposes, his identity was compromised.

He really doesn’t know what to do, hence calling their leader.

“Hello Ryuiji, do you know what time is it?” Ren’s groaning voice was heard from the other line.

“I effed up man.” Ryuji admitted. “I effed up.” He repeated as he sat on a chair slumped forward.

“What did you do this time?” Morgana’s chimed into the conversation.

“Can it you stupid cat.” Ryuji growled as his free hand balled into a fist. “I don’t have time for your BS.”

“What happened?” Ren’s voice was laced with seriousness.

“Someone confronted me about being a Phantom Thief.” Ryuji shared.

“What?!” Morgana yelled. “How could you be so careless Ryuji?!” He chastised. “I’ve always told you to stop announcing that you are a phantom thief.”

“Not the time Morgana.” Ren’s voice cut through the incoming tirade. “What did you do?”

“I denied everything of course.” Ryuji’s voice was indignant. “And besides the rest of us here weren’t even talking about being a phantom thief.” He hissed. “They concluded that I’m a Phantom Thief because I had a persona!”

Ryuji was really panicking now. This new development could land Ren back in jail, worst everyone would go down with him.

First the track team, now his friends.

“Ryuji, you need to calm down.” Ren’s soothing voice brought him back to reality. “Calm down.” He repeated.

“But that’s impossible!” Morgana shrieked. “No one should be able to identify if anyone is Persona-user or not.” He added. “We’re the only Persona users around.”

“Are you absolutely sure about that Morgana?” Ren asked the cat.

“Well no, but.” Morgana tried to reason out.

“Well?” Ren asked.

“Fine.” Morgana resigned. “Anyone with a stronger navigating Persona should be able to identify if someone is a Persona user or not.” He admitted. “But even then using Personas in the real world is unheard of!” He argued.

“Well they used it.” Ryuji snarled. “They even listed Captain Kidd’s skills, strength and weakness.”

“That’s a terrifying ability.” Ren remarked. “You just need to deny everything alright Ryuji.” Ren suggested. “They can’t force you to tell anything unless they have a warrant.” He explained. “They don’t have proof to prove their claim.” He finished.

“I know.” Ryuji sighed. “But don’t worry, I won’t drag everyone else down with me.” He added in a somber tone. “I won’t make a repeat of what happened to the track team.” He continued. “Thanks for talking to me Ren.” He finished.

 “No Ryuji, you need to deny everything you hear me?” Ren stated in a firm manner. “You can’t tell them anything alright.” He insisted.

“About that.” Ryuji hesitated. “I kinda owe them now.”

Ryuji proceeded to narrate how he was even in contact with the people who scanned him in the first place.

“So that’s how it went down.” Ren was in deep thought. “Nothing we can do for now.” He added. “You just need to deny everything they throw at you Ryuji.” He insisted. “You got that?”

“Sure man.” Ryuji sighed. “But if things do go south, I can assure you that things won’t go the same way the track team did.” He finished. “Bye”

“No Ryu-“

Ryuji hung up and lied down on his mattress and thought of the things that has happened. If there’s one thing he appreciates Morgana for, it’s that the cat would leave him alone and won’t bother him.

One thing is for sure, he won’t bring the rest of the thieves down with him.

2:25 AM

Ren: You need to deny everything alright?

It was right after the classes for the day ended. Anne approached Ryuji as soon as the teacher exited the classroom.

“Hey Ryuji, what’s the deal with those guys in black?” Anne asked.

“I don’t know.” Ryuji shrugged. “Why?”

“Well they were asking questions about you.” Anne answered.

“For real?” Ryuji questioned.

“Specifically questions about when you were still a member of the track team.” Anne informed him. “Which reminds me, did the track team ever sue Kamoshida?” She added another question. “I know the volleyball team did, both male and female teams did.” She shared. “Along with the case Kawakami-sensei insisted Shiho and I file against him.”

“No, they never did.” Ryuji answered. “I didn’t sue him either for my leg.” He added. “It’s too much of a hassle and Ma’s swamped already” He explained. “I can’t do that to her.” He finished.

“Ryuji, you should have.” Anne eyes widened. “Out of everyone, you suffered the most under Kamoshida.” She explained.          

“No I didn’t.” Ryuji shook his head. “Shiho did.” He replied.

“That was different.” Anne insisted. “Shiho’s in another school able to walk and still able to play volleyball.” She explained.

“Maybe so.” Ryuji sighed. “I can’t sue even if I wanted to.” He added. “We just don’t have enough money for that.” He explained.

“Fine.” Anne sighed. “Did you go to the doctor’s office yesterday?” She asked and started another topic.

“Yeah.” Ryuji nodded. “The doctor said I need to lay off on after school running.” He shared.

Before Ryuji could say more, his and Anne’s phone notified them of something.

“It’s from Makoto.” Anne said as she fished out her phone. “On the old 1412 group chat.” She added.

4:35 PM

Makoto: Were there people in black in Shujin earlier?

Futaba: There were.

Makoto: Did they ask some questions?

Anne: They did.

Anne: They were about Ryuji and his days as a track member.

Makoto: I was asked the same thing.

Makoto: They said they needed input on Ryuji’s days as a track team member.

Makoto: From the eyes of the Student Council President.

Ryuji: For real?

4:36 PM

Futaba: Really?

Futaba: That’s weird.

Anne: What’s weird Futaba-chan?

Futaba: I wasn’t even asked a question by those weirdoes

Futaba: In fact, none of the first years were asked questions.

4:37 PM

Anne: That is weird.

Yusuke: There were no people in black earlier in Kosei.

Haru: I noticed them talking to Mako-chan earlier.

Haru: But I wasn’t approached by them.

Makoto: I think the people approached were those who were aware of Kamoshida.

Makoto: It would make sense if none of the current first years were approached.

4:38 PM

Makoto: This also applies to why Haru-chan and Yusuke-kun weren’t approached as well.

Ren: Is this related to what you’ve told me last night Ryuji?

Anne looked at the boy in front of him with a questioning look before replying.

4:39 PM

Makoto: Last night?

Anne: Why Ren?

Anne: What did Ryuji tell you last night?

Yusuke: I must admit, I too am curious on what Ryuji has divulged.

Ryuji: Some lady out-ed me as a Phantom Thief by scanning me for a Persona.

Anne: Scanning?

4:40 PM

Ren: Morgana said that it’s possible to detect a Persona-user, if someone has a powerful enough navigating Persona.

Futaba: But that’s impossible!

Anne: I agree!

Anne: You can’t use a Persona in the real world.

Ryuji: Well they used it on me

Ryuji: Considering that, that Kirijo lady is loaded, those people in black may be her employees.

4:41 PM

Makoto: Ryuji may have a point.

Makoto: They may be profiling Ryuji for past crimes.

Ryuji: The hell! I haven’t done anything!

Makoto: Calm down Ryuji. I never said you did anything unjustifiable.

Futaba: Apart from being a phantom thief of course.

Makoto: Although to be fair, they started the interview with questions about Ryuji’s mother.

Ryuji: The eff! Why did no one tell that they were asking about Ma?!

Anne: Oh right, they did start the question about your mom Ryuji.

Ryuji glared at Ann for a brief second before typing in his reply.

Ryuji: And I repeat, why didn’t anyone told me sooner?!

Makoto: Sorry, but questions about you were very peculiar and were the ones that stuck.

4:42 PM

Makoto: I did ask them, why they were asking about you and your mother?

Makoto: They claimed that its background checking your mother.

Haru: If that was the case, why didn’t they approach Ryuji-kun?

Ryuji: Haru’s right, I was never approached by them.

Ren: Were they asking any other questions apart from Ryuji’s involvement in the track team?

Anne: No.

Makoto: No, they didn’t.

Ren: We’ll worry about that when the time comes.

Ren: We can’t do anything about it.

Ren: In any case, Ryuji?

Ryuji: Yeah?

Ren: Just deny everything okay?

Ren: They don’t have anything on you.

Ryuji: I know.

[dragonsinkwell]

If you don't mind me asking, what are all of your AU's? And what are they about?

Oh boy get your popcorn ready because this is a doozy of a question, but one I am more than glad to answer because I love these so freaking much. I will point out that I keep a tidy list here (x) of the AUs I’ve introduced so far, both for basic explanation but also contains links to each tag for easy reading, but I know a lot of people aren’t gonna read every link on my blog so I’m fine with explaining them here~

First we’ll tackle the non-Persona 5 AUs because I have… way, way too many of those tbh. I’ve done a few practices on a Danganronpa mastermind!AU where Shuichi Saihara was the mastermind of NDRV3, though should inspiration strike (or a request come in) I’d give a go at writing for other characters taking up the role, and how those scenarios might play out.

I have an untagged Fate/Grand Order AU for completely self-indulgent purposes where I and a friend joke about what like in the Chaldea base might be like with us two being the last remaining Masters. It’s a disaster, but you can catch references in the small F/GO snippets littered about.

So far I have two AUs for the Arsène Lupin novels, one a modern!AU where it’s exactly what it says on the tin and it’s just a modern take on the character. The other is a time travel!AU (although it also contains dimensional travel but I don’t care enough to change the name for my own tagging purposes) where he’s brought to an alternate version of the modern day via parallel universe/string theory bullshittery.

On to the meat of this ask: my myriad Persona 5 AUs. First and foremost is my first (and dubiously favorite) AU, the vampkira!AU. Named so because at the time of creation the only canon name we had was Akira Kurusu and I haven’t changed it because I like vampkira better than vampren. But this is separate from what I might otherwise call a vampire!AU because the universe is based for a very specific story idea that I have, where the Reader Character is a Spirit Agent in Tokyo who ends up having to deal with vampire!Ren. The whole thing is aimed at my vicarious love of ‘Enemies to Friends to Lovers’. I do plan for the other PTs to show up including: werewolf!Ryuji, witch!Ann, fairy!Yusuke (like Tinkerbell, it’s meant to be funny), alchemist!Makoto (think Atelier series alchemist, not FMA), brownie!Futaba, fae!Haru (spooky fae, the kind you don’t mess with, not funny at all), and a fellow spirit agent!Akechi who actually got the help and support he needed to be a better person.

Next comes the palace!AU, another fairly self-explanatory one, where Persona users can indeed have Palaces of their own. So far I’m currently writing a full fic for Ren’s palace, though I have definite plans for an Akechi palace fic, and I’m kicking around ideas for possible Yusuke and Ryuji palaces.

Then we have my youkai!AU, the foil in some ways to the vampkira!AU, where they’re more traditionally Japanese supernatural creatures. Unlike the vampkira!AU I don’t have one overarching story idea for this, so far it’s just four separate ideas for the PT guys featuring nekomata!Ren, oni!Ryuji, kitsune!Yusuke, and tengu!Akechi. I might write stuff with them knowing each other, I don’t have any qualms about seeing them interact but I just don’t have one big plot for this one.

I’ve written some bits and pieces for a proper thief!AU, but this is some really self-indulgent faffery because I want actual-gentleman thief!Ren to sweep me off my feet. (And it’s good potshot fodder when you’ve gotta make a friend weak in the knees). I just want thief banter and sass, ya feel?

There’s also a pocket pals!AU I’d like to do more for, an AU where the guys get shrunken down and the poor Reader Character gets to babysit until it wears off. The whole point is crack and fluff, and seriously just picture tiny!Akechi and tiny!Ryuji getting sent to a cardboard jail because they keep fighting while tiny!Ren laughs (at Akechi, mostly) and tiny!Yusuke tries to be the Goodest Boy while painting the tiniest paintings. Adorable.

Another plot heavy AU is my velvet attendant!AU, born of wanting to write some porn I got distracted with some really, really cool story ideas and now it’s going to eventually become a full, coherent fic of it’s own. The basic premise is that the story takes place after a very specific canon bad end (the one where you make a deal and the Metaverse remains, you know the one) and to fix this an alternate version of Ren (one who got another bad end, if you fail the interrogation, you know the one) becomes a velvet room attendant to the Reader Character in order to help her fix things, all under the nose of the ‘current’ timeline’s corrupted!Ren (the one who made the Deal). It’s a complicated mess, but it will let me take a look at a lot of interesting facets to Ren Amamiya and his reaction to the power he was given and what it could have done to him.

And now we reach AUs I have, but haven’t yet introduced to you all just yet, though surely they will appear in due time.

Of these, first up is a twin!AU, an easy to explain AU where Akira and Ren are the Amamiya twins and it’s absolute faffery just to have two of these crimeboys running amok. Can you blame me? Also carries a huge sitcom vibe, set in college where they can all be goofy friends. Former-child actor Goro Akechi and current-model Ann having gossip sessions, anyone? Smuggling high-school senior Futaba into the dorms to have TTRPG sessions? Hella.

Then I have a non-reader insert AU I’d like to tackle: a role reversal!AU where due to varying circumstances Akechi and Ren’s roles are reversed, with Akechi having fallen under Sojiro’s care and benefiting from it, saving him from his canon downward spiral, and Ren loses out on this support system and becomes a twisted antagonistic force instead.

Back to the reader-insert, there’s an Arabian Nights!AU idea I’ve kicked around, but I’d like to spend some time reading the actual Thousand and One Nights first before I get too deep, but it looks to be a fun and promising venture.

In my notes I have what I call a Disney prince!AU for Akechi, where the whole story idea is basically a Disney movie, and Akechi is the prince to your princess. Still very much under construction, but absolutely a fic I’m going to write.

BIG EDIT: I also got a request for a detective!Akechi piece and I’m totally gonna turn that into an AU, you bet ur bippy. Look forward to that, Akechi Anon.

Bonus edit: I do technically have two more AUs, though I have no idea if you’ll see them here unless I get more ideas or y’all really want to see them. One is a mahou shoujo!AU where the PT + Akechi are a band of magical boys and girls who fight evil and Shido and Yaldy are totally dressed like 80′s anime villains. The other is a sort of companion to the pocket pals!AU where the guys are animals instead, featuring cat!Ren (anyone see a theme here?), shiba inu!Ryuji (literal sunshine), fox!Yusuke (duh), and beagle!Akechi. This one has mostly been reduced to joking headcanons with a friend, but if anyone really wanted to see it make an appearance I’d be glad to write and post something here.

Morning addendum: Since this has become my de facto AU master post I’m gonna mention that I forgot an eventual yakuza!AU. Because.

Another edit because I lack self control: Been considering both a Starbound!AU and a Stardew Valley!AU because both games are good and they’d make for good crossover fodder.

[cosmiciaria]

Persona 5 Review! (Spoiler Free)

Ok, so I’ve played it twice, I’ve platinumed it, I’ve been through every f*cking rage quit, I died many times right before getting to the safe room, I’ve never seen it coming like a thousand times, and now, I can safely say, I love this game so much.

No joke. Persona 5 was everything I expected and more, much more. It surpassed my expectations in every aspect. And yes, this is gonna be anything but praise, and you can already guess which is going to be my final verdict on this, but still, I have to talk about this game.

So, like in its two predecessors, you play as a nameless protagonist, whom we’ll call Akira Kurusu (‘cause that’s his name in the manga and I like it very much) and who’s been falsely accused and now is under probation in Tokyo, the big city. Here, he’ll be taken under custody by Sojiro Sakura, the owner of the café Leblanc, and he’ll attend to this school with a very particular sense of fashion when it comes to its uniforms, Shujin Academy. Soon enough, Akira will discover that a strange app has been installed into his cellphone without his consent, and despite the many times he tried to delete it, it won’t go away.

From here on out, you can guess what will happen if you’ve played another Persona game before: he’ll discover he can summon creatures from hell itself and that there’s a world inside of the world where shadows live, he’ll come across other people who can summon things as well, and they’ll fight demons and stuff, and at the end, they’ll save the world with the power of friendship because if not, this is definitely not a jrpg. Pretty much the same concept from previous games.

But at the same time is completely different, new and fresh.

Persona 5 revolves around the themes of ’freedom’, and ’being slaved by society’. The topic of corrupt and rotten adults is also brought up many times. And it does it perfectly. From the beginning, you get absorbed by the prejudice they throw upon Akira for being a ‘delinquent’ under probation. You can feel how they speak behind his back, how they look away while he walks past them. You put yourself in his shoes, and you sympathize with his bad luck. That’s a very special moment for the player and the protagonist, for it hadn’t happened in previous Personas: this is the very first Persona game in which the main character has the heaviest story pre-game and you feel it. And with ‘heavy’ I mean, seen, clear, present, because yes, the P3 Protagonist had a very sad past, but the game barely touched upon the death of his/her parents, and regarding Yu Narukami… well… yeah, he comes from the city and… yeah, that’s it.

Akira is a character already stablished, the responses you can choose for him have a tendency to seem rebellious, the way he smirks, taunts his enemies and acts proudly of himself… He is, in every way, a character on his own, and not a chance a representation of what the player want him to be. And that’s GREAT!

And not just him. The friends you come across in this path – The Phantom Thieves – may all seem a copycat of previous characters from previous games, but there’s always something that make them unique and original. The way Ryuji speaks and stands against everyone; Ann’s ideals of becoming an inspiration and her passionate love and care for her friend Shiho; Makoto’s concern about her sister and her own future and the pigeon-hole that chained her down for so many years; Futaba’s case of agoraphobia, with her tearful fears and her own demons; Yusuke’s hidden past shaped in a painting and his eccentric ideas; Haru’s heavy burden in following her father’s footsteps while at the same time realizing what she wants for herself; Akechi’s intrusive appearances, with a sad motive and a real self-centered issue; Morgana’s pursuit for his own past, and his devotion for the team. Yes, we already had that best friend who follows women in swimsuits (and actually buys a swimsuit for them cof cof Yosuke I’m looking at you cof cof), we already had the genius detective, the rich heiress to a big enterprise, the talking animal (stop it, Teddie, this is un-bear-able), the popular girl… but they all bring something new to the table. They’re all relatable at some point, and it’s hard to choose a favorite, for they all make you want to be part of that group of friends.

The story is so well thought that it makes me want to cry tears of joy. The main concept is to change the hearts of corrupt people: a sexual assaulter, an artist who plagiarizes his pupil’s work, a mafia leader… you get the idea. The Phantom Thieves risk their lives by entering Palaces, these people’s manifestation of their distorted desires, and they steal their 'treasure’ – in other words, they take away from the villain’s cognition that specific thing that made them corrupt in the first place. It can be a memento from their childhoods, it can be a very naïve object that, with time, created in them this sinful desire to abuse of others with their power. F*ck these guys, really.

And yeah, one thing leads to another… and… there’s like a wheel thing, things that happened at the beginning have repercussion later down the line… and… if I speak a little more I’ll be banned by Atlus 'cause spoilers. But, let me just say that if you believe that Persona 4’s story was clever and surprising, trust me, your jaw will fall to the floor many, maaaaany times in Persona 5. Like, really. You’ll envy these kids’ minds. You’ll never see it co- sorry, it just never gets old.

The gameplay remains true to Persona roots, and brings back the Shadow Negotiation, a mechanic that hadn’t been present since the Persona 2 duology. Before, you gained Personas at the end of the battle thanks to cards shufflin’ (the Shuffle Time Oh My God), but now, it’s up to you to convince the shadows you fight against to join your cause. The Velvet Room is also back, with a very grave-voiced Igor (and Oh, I wanna comment on this, but I can’t), and with two new assistants: Caroline and Justine, the twin wardens. You’ll be able to fuse Personas, just like in old times, but in this occasion you’ll have to decapitate the Personas you want to fuse to create a new one. Nice! There’s also an electric chair, a cell for lockdown and a hanging spot! Cute! All of these things bring new mechanics to the Velvet Room, that you’ll be taking advantage of. There are over 200 Personas to create, and there are some new ones, but don’t worry, we’ll be seeing the same old faces again (hee, hoo, Jack Frost is there too!).

As always, the Social Lin- pardon me, the ’confidants’ (f*ck it, they’re still Social Links, don’t bother me), will enchant the player and take your heart, no pun intended. Aside from fighting darkness itself inside the Palaces (which you should finish as fast as possible), you’ll be spending time with your party members and people from school and from around the city. It’s always good to see Akira interacting with his peers, but it was refreshing for me to see him with adults: in a society in which adults are all rotten and only think about themselves, he comes across some grown-ups that are worthy, that are still clean, and this goes to show that not all of the adults are corrupt, and not all of the teenagers are stupid and immature.

Akira grows close to the people around him, and you can sense his affection and theirs. There’s a big change as to how they regard our favorite delinquent: they slowly realize that he’s not a troublemaker as they made them believe, that he’s actually a noble fighter, and that he’s also worth fighting for. All their love, all their support, is seen and felt during the course of the game, and even more during the final hours. You’ll be grateful to have been close to all these people (I fully recommend to do a playthrough with all the Social Links maximized, it’ll give you, apart from a sense of satisfaction, the whole picture of what I’m talking about).

Social Links are now useful to the actual gameplay. Not only the party members learn new skills as in Persona 4 and passive skills as in Persona 3, but also the confidants outside of the party will give you perks and bonuses during the fights. For example, Mishima’s Social Link (Arcana Moon) will give you extra experience points for those playable characters that are on the reserves (you know, the ones you don’t like and don’t use), so now all of your characters level up at the same time, not just the four you choose. And it’s helpful as hell, believe me. Another Social Link, Hifumi Togo’s (Arcana Star), lets you exchange the characters in battle for those who are on the reserves as well, so in a middle of a boss, if a character is low on hp or sp, you can change them for one who is fresh and ready to fight. And so on. That’s why it is advisable to maximize as many Social Links as you can (but don’t forget to boost your social stats from time to time!).

So, the story is great, the gameplay is addictive… and the music is downright REBELLIOUS. It’s so good that it makes you wanna put on a mask and go out to reform society in a costume. There are songs that you’ll never see – alright, I’ll stop. It’s just… I love 'Last Surprise’ so much. And 'Rivers in the Desert’. And 'With the Stars and Us’, especially the piano version, my goodness, is that a tear in my eye…?

At the end of the game, I found myself whispering how good it was. It was beautiful, and I cried, although it’s not a sad story. I cried because of how good, how joyful it was, because of how many laughs it gave me; I cried because it conveyed many feelings, it made me feel rage, sadness, pity, happiness, rage again, betrayal, surprise… I was amazed by how clever the story went, by how well implemented each mechanic was. I really don’t know how Atlus can top this game, but I’m sure they will, and Persona 5 won’t be the 'last surprise’, I hope.

I really am glad that this game exists. I waited for it not so much, because I entered the Persona world (and I’ve been sucked into it forever now) last year, but still, a few months of delay felt like an eternity, and by the end of March, I was yearning for this to finally be released.

I do have one complaint. Tiny. I really wished there were more easter eggs and references to past Persona games. I know you can see Rise’s poster, and also Kanami’s (which makes, unfortunately, Persona 4 Dancing All Night canon), and that they mention the other 'ace detective’, referring to Naoto Shirogane. I’ve read but not found that they also mention another detective with red sunglasses, making an allusion to Katsuya Suou, older brother of Tatsuya from Persona 2. But still, I was waiting for that trip to Inaba, or to Tatsumi Port Island, or to come across at least Yu Narukami. Something… more. But I guess we’ll see Akira interacting with previous wild card wielders in the not so far away future (yeah, you guessed it, most probably Persona 5 Arena is being developed right now). I just wished they put something more obvious into the game.

But that’s it. I want Atlus to keep on creating games, to keep on surprising me. If you’re a fan of the series, this game will blow your mind, because it brings everything from past games and make it better. If you’re new to the series, this game will blow your mind as well, but you’ll have a difficult time adjusting to the previous ones, if you ever wish to play them (I recommend it though, even Persona 2 Innocent Sin). All in all, it’s an excellent, EXCELLENT, jrpg, and everything we’ve been waiting for.

Persona 5 doesn’t disappoint.