#oh goro akechi.. how i love you

[eyeris07]

ohhh goro akechi... you make me so so sick.. he just wanted to be a hero for his momma.. this song always reminds me of akechi and his mother. it makes me cry a lot.. but also inspired.. hopefully it will make you all cry/inspired a lot too..

[luuxxart]

ok so according to the prev poll it seems like you guys want me to post the pmd comic right here !! (does save me a lot of time coding a new tumblr for comic purposes and setting up CF ;w;)

so just wanted to share some parts/sketches from what I have so far

[kroosluvr]

featherman seeker

as usual da cele notes under cut

had to get some food so thsi si late... i lterally gluedm yself to my chair to finish this LMAOAO

all of the not-dialogue is just straight up lines frm featherman seeker LMAOOO just rearranged

this takes place during 3rd semester (see: infiltration log on wall on 4th page, also their winter clothes strewn around akira's room) after drawing it i was rereading like oh u cld prob see this as like post-third semester but nah i intended it to be such BECAUSE

i rock w the canon that sumire has no clue abt akechi's past and black mask and the mental shutdowns and shido and the engine room she doesnt know hes supposed to be dead, that he sacrificed himself, etc. so ofc shes going thru the game like yayyy featherman yay and her sort of naivete Gets thru to goro. i imagine this is like idk a game he played in childhood bc he was a featherman fan but now revisiting it bc sumire wanted to try it, hes like. damn. this kinda. uh. well thats crazy how things line up. so i think it kinda grates at him but sumi's excitement and like. enjoyment! of it kinda helps him also enjoy it more

SO LIKE He knows he's going to die. He knows thats how grey pigeon's story ends. but he's happy here, and now, with the people he loves, so that makes it All right for now. it's a sad story but it's the good ending.

also i forgor how/where/when goro exactly Actualizes back into existence but can u imagine if he spawned right into the winter wonderland of shibuya square like (head in hands) smth so like. isolating abt it. in a crowd of ppl being excited over christmas and hes like what the hell im supposed to be Dead right now.

also "you are not alone" in the first panels very important..... right under hte panel w goro and sumi side by side :') yea

ryuji and ann holding akira back. YEA.

i really like the 3rd slide. the colors mmmm BUT YEAH so its goro/akira fighting/saving sumire, hanging out at jazz jin, last stand against adam kadmon, then goro holding sumi and akira's hands in the snow, then them smiling :') kinda like a procession of memories, or to-be memories or whatever

ANYWAY this is also like part of my whatever canon divergence where the royal trio section of 3rd sem is just longer for no reason . (aka: the thieves take longer to win over to their side, idk maruki gives u a longer time on the deal, etc etcetc.) just more royal trio time :3

sumibun akimeow and gorodog in 4th img... hidden.... also tennis rackets. ALSO THE LITTLE POLAROIDS Important. and all their clothes! i imagine they stay over at leblanc A Lot. akira prob convinces sojiro to Keep morgana at his house LOL and he handles the business and stuff just so they can have their safe haven while they struggle to try and win the thieves back and infiltrate the palace etc . (I kinda have a comic or something in the works for this)

more abt dialogue choices

"it's tough for a tutorial stage" - this means smth. i didnt think this thru 100% ASKJDHASDKJA but its to do w akechi's life and how everything was so fucking difficult for him as a kid when it shouldnt have been.

"is the second phase giving you trouble" - also smth to do w akechi. (As u can see these are all half baked metaphors) smth to do w his 'second life" aka: third semester being Difficult. because now he has sumire and akira and he doesn't want to leave them, so dying the 2nd time is gonna suck real bad.

i like shuakesumi btw

[monakisu]

I want you to know that I came across a random post of your Death Note art, went "Awww, oh my gosh, with the way this person draws Light I think Akechi would look fantastic in the same style!", clicked onto your profile, and then saw your newest artwork was Akechi. I'm still kind of cackling over it and thought maybe you'd find it funny too. Your art is SO cute, I'm very happy I found it <333

HAHA THAT’S AMAZING (<< was an akechi artist wayyyy before i fell head over heels for light)

but rlly… theyre so similar:

- brunet

- asshole

- pretty boy

- mass murderer

- black-haired homoerotic rival

at the end of the day, the key difference is one is a top and the other is a bottom.

ok but seriously, they’re vastly different characters on a fundamental level:

- light was handed everything him on a silver platter: family, friends, looks, intellect, a comfortable life… as a bastard child of a sex worker and now an orphan, goro had to fight his way to his current position and will always harbor a terrible sense of inferiority (light is completely confident in his absolute superiority, Always (that’s why the challenge of L sent him off the deep end of obsession lol))

- light genuinely sees himself as a hero, while goro would like to feel the same but is nonetheless depressingly aware of his villain’s journey (his undesirable position as the detective vs the underdog phantom thieves, his string of assassinations, his ultimate dirty bloody goal, etc.).

- light’s motive is about the world’s salvation, cleansing, the birth of his ideal reality (very messianic of him with the slightest loving tinge of mary cradling her lamb hahaha) while goro is laser-focused on ruining this one asshole’s life in particular, vengeance and revenge at once! one’s focused on rebirth, and the other gunning straight for death! they both use murder to get what they want but light probably floats around thinking himself so clean and divine as mother of the world (ignorance is bliss) while goro is constantly desperately trying to cover up his suspiciously red hands with his gloves hehehe… they’re both constantly striving for perfection, just with varying levels of self-awareness!!

- goro is a canonical loner; light has a horde of friends; this is probably due to a difference in public persona! goro is an untouchable idea of what he thinks a human should be and is completely out of the loop when it comes to normal social interactions (believes opening with hegel will instantly endear himself to the average person (luckily he inflicted that upon akira who is decidedly not average in the slightest)), light is implied to be more down-to-earth and even slightly goofy (he’s gaming decorum like an advanced speedrunner)! it’s probably good how distant goro is, because getting any closer to him will allow you to see how off-putting and uncanny he is, sorta like an AI-generated image—seams in the wrong places and far too much teeth LOL. meanwhile light has this whole shebang so thoroughly figured out that he’s BORED with it all! he’d like to move on to the next game (with L), thank you!! light definitely still exudes uncanny creepiness (it’s his natural state of being) especially when he zones out or starts hysterically cackling out of nowhere at his own thoughts, but he’s a hundred times better at masking compared to goro due to a better upbringing. goro is starved for the adoring friends he sees akira easily picking up one after another; light couldn’t give less of a shit because he’s always had those trivial luxuries! he’d much rather prefer an adoring WORLD!!

- then there’s the difference in how they die… one started out surrounded with company but ultimately died alone, while it’s the opposite for the other (if you count the de-realization of maruki’s reality as goro’s “death” (which i don’t)).

- in conclusion, light and goro are like funhouse mirror reflections of each other!!! one is a pampered lapdog getting a taste of rabies and letting loose, while the other is a starving wolf trying to domesticate itself for treats and headpats!! and i <3 them both!!!!!

anyways i may be wrong about light because im going purely off of fics, tumblr shitposts, and my own imagination :] feel free to school me in a way that won’t destroy my delusions!

[thedaythatwas]

I need to know what goes on inside akechi’s head on the evening of october 24th.

like. look at it from his perspective. he comes to leblanc early. he has his priorities straight: he’s going to play some mind games, really get under joker’s skin.

(bear with me while I get serious about a profoundly unserious conversation)

he’s staking his claim on enemy territory. he’s sitting patiently, waiting for akiren to walk through the door. surely, it will intimidate his rival to know that he’s made himself at home in his living space. look how close he managed to slip without akiren noticing! he even went so far as to strike up a conversation with his odd barista caretaker. akechi would drop some quick political jargon here, reference some continental philosopher’s name there— all in the name of making akiren look totally incompetent.

really, joker should be terrified. he should feel violated, even. akechi would! hence:

look— he’s so self satisfied! yes, he totally won this round!

🚨 BUZZER NOISE! 🚨

see, akechi is playing 4D chess. so is akiren! but they’re using drastically different playbooks. we know this because goro akechi procedes to get hit with the following:

I know you as the player don’t need to select that dialogue option (I could go on about the implications of that, but other posts have already said it better). but you can! and I, for one, do.

not to get too deep on what is obviously a joke post, but I think this offers some insight into those little rants that akechi goes on sometimes. you know what I’m talking about— “oh, you’re so special, so interesting, it’s like we were fated to meet each other!”

yes— they were basically fated to meet each other, but that’s not the point.

as silly as it sounds, the fact that dialogue options like this exist proves the oft-stated fact that akiren is the antithesis to akechi’s thesis.

akechi plans his interactions with akiren down to a tee, and still, akiren manages to throw akechi off his rhythm! every. single. time. nobody else does this.

part of this is because akiren sees his interactions with akechi for what they’re worth. it’s all a gamble, a chess match. akechi appreciates that akiren is an equal player in their game. he respects that. it takes intelligence to see a bluff for what it is, and to call it. flirtatiously, too!

that respect is what makes their relationship so compelling. it holds true whether you read what they have as love, hate, obsession, or, hell, even all of the above! you know it isn’t indifference, because that doesn’t make any sense coming from either of them.

call me crazy (I certainly deserve it) but if akiren responds “honey, I’m home” to akechi, he hears another message loud and clear: I see what you tried to do here, I’m calling you on it, and you don’t scare me. you’ve made your move, and I’m going to undo it with flair, because I’m joker, and you love it.

and when you look at it like that, it makes sense why little things might set off akechi’s thoroughly-stated appreciation of akiren. they aren’t “little” to him at all. I’m sure he doesn’t wax poetic just to fuel akiren’s ego, anyway. that isn’t quite his style.

and hey! even if akiren didn’t mean to communicate all of that (he totally did though), it doesn’t make the sentiment any less real to akechi! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. the guy has issues. let him plot the downfall of his enemies (real and perceived) in peace <3

[senblades]

Sorry if this been asked before, but I was wondering what was your inspirations for writing FFTSR?

It’s reminds me a lot of marigolds by Colbub a bit, with the time travel and Goro’s Confidants and such.

hoo boy I have QUITE a few inspirations that I am very willing to share:

Marigolds, for sure! Marigolds is absolutely one of my favourite ng+ fics, so while there wasn't anything 1:1 that I grabbed for my own purposes, things like Goro's confidants were definitely influenced by Marigolds, as well as fics that take a similar approach

Daredevil, you've hit the wall by ez_cookie was one of the first fics I ever read, and I was definitely influenced by things like the Sumire characterisation in that fic- plus, I think it's safe to say that Daredevil was what informed me that SumiGoro friendship existed and that it's excellent lmao

Akechi Goro's love language by Ren_saxon, (correct me if I got the fic name wrong I didn't double check) a frankly hilarious one-shot, can really be given majority credit for the creation of fftsr, I think- the running gag of Sumire Not Knowing is pretty much what led me to the idea of "oh, Sumire in a ng+ situation would be hilarious," so I send my many thanks to the author for leading me to this conclusion haha

I'm something of a sponge when it comes to writing, so there are a lot of smaller inspirations and prose quirks that I've picked up here and there (special mention for A Tale of Two Tricksters' canon divergences in palaces- love all that so so much)

I also use a lot of fics as a 'reference point', if that makes sense? like, "oh, this is how this author writes this, this is how this author conveys this scenario", so even if I'm not getting inspired for plot points, I'm still learning plenty! (fics like Throw Away Your Mask and The Crow Cries at Midnight being examples of this- good ol' time travel and massive canon divergence shenanigins for me to think about)

FUCK I NEARLY FORGOT The Disappearance of goro akechi by Kupowonders is. Excellent. I've probably absorbed so much from that fic in terms of my writing style and how I plan plot points- just. I can and will sing this fic's praises forever

This also serves as a "Fic recommendations" list HAHA- if you haven't read anything I've mentioned, you should! They're all incredible!

[jitteringjoculatrixxx]

Persona 5 boys at their wedding

Gn x reader

Author's note: hiii, this is my first fic and I'm sorry if it's out of character, this is mostly a warm up, I hope you like it! No dialogue, just actions.

I don't really want any constructive criticism at the moment please, I'm still settling in.

There's no Akiren because I don't know how to write for him

Characters available: Ryuji Sakamoto, Yusuke Kitagawa, Goro Akechi

---------

Ryuji:

Oh goodness this boy is absolutely adorable

He's trying so hard to keep it all together, be a man and all that

He's trembling as the tears threaten to spill

Like an excited puppy he's smiling and hopping from foot to foot

As you finally arrive at the altar and stand beside your groom, he can't resist the urge to hold you in some capacity

He's holding your hands tightly

When the time comes to kiss, he pulls you in and wraps his arms around you in a tight hug, kissing you with messy enthusiasm

His dancing is a bit clumsy, he's still shaking from the excitement of everything, but you can bet his arms hardly ever leave your waist

Yusuke:

He is always so composed

Standing up straight with a loving gaze and an appreciative smile as he watches you

In this moment, it's YOU that is the finest piece of artwork in his eyes

Patiently waiting for when you make your way closer

Once you stand beside him, he whispers words that sound so much like the most beautiful poem you've ever heard

And it's all about you

His kiss is more soft, and gentle, like a flower petal brushing against your lip

At the dancing section of the event his grip is loose yet secure, so that you may dance with passion and fluidity as he watches your majesty with wonder

Akechi

Akechi has been living a lie and acting for years now, so he knows how to keep his cool and play the role

That's not to say he's faking anything about his love for YOU, God's no, he loves you to bits

It's just he has an image he wants to keep up, so he stands with a quiet stare and elegant smile

Watching you walk up the aisle, most people wouldn't think anything amiss, but anyone with a trained eye could see how his fingers anxiously tugged at the bottom of his clothes

You arrive at his side and turn to what would seem to be your very own prince

Taking your hand into his, he kisses the back of it, looking you in your eyes with a knowing smirk which you can't help but return, he kisses with a certain amount of lingering firmness.

The dance was as one would expect, like a ballroom waltz right out of a fairytale, hands gripping at you possessively, but not too tight to cause discomfort.

Later, when in the comfort of your shared home, he was alone and could let the stray, happy tear slip, but only for a moment, not wanting to spare a generous amount of time dwelling on vulnerability... Maybe one day... Maybe even in front of you...

[immortalmsmoon]

7IYUDTDHYIGF TYSM FOR DOING MY RQ FOR CHIBI i hope you dont mind me rq again 😭 then pls ignore this rq

can you let Akira and Akechi react to chibi of there s/o ? like the sec s/o see her chibi self she squished the holy spirited out of the chibi she will also coy with it and how cute the two chibis of themself are also lovers and Naver be separated form each other like them

oh, one of the chibi lovers was up in a shelf the if they fall they may damage themself ? now you have two chibis in a danger high place

if you ever separated them they will only sulk until they are in back again

Chibi Part 2

Part 1

A/N: Thank you so much for the cute request!! i love it so much! sorry Akira's is so long :(

Characters: Goro Akechi & Akira Kurusu

Warnings: None!!

Word count: 407

Goro Akechi~

the moment he sees the chibi version of you he is blushing like crazy

he is so over loaded by cuteness that he kinda shuts down for a second

he blushes harder when he sees you playing around with your chibi self and squeezing your chibi self

he just wants to hold the chibi you in his arms and kiss it the same way you did with Chibi Akechi :)

He could barley hold back when he saw the tiny little version of you. you were so cute, with you squishy little cheeks and tiny little hands, and your cute smile and-

He took in a deep breath, his hands fists.

The moment you picked the Chibi version of yourself into your arms and starting messing around with its hair, he felt like his heart was going to burst.

But the more he looked at it, the more he noticed something...

it looked sad. Lonely.

he slowly turned to look up on the shelf where the small version of him sat. it looked back at him with a pout on its small face. Akechi glared at it, but still took it down from the shelf, before walking over to you to reunite the two chibis.

Both Chibi's broke out in adorable smiles, You couldn't help but giggle as the two little versions ran around hugging one another and pressing kisses to eachother.

Akira Kurusu~

This guy has chibi version of you in his arms before you know what's going on

he's pressing kisses to the chibi you's head and squeezing you, and your holding onto the little version of him

when he also sees that the two chibi's are in love HE NEARLY PASSES OUT ITS SO CUTE

blushing SO HARD

The two Chibi's sat on the ground infront of you and Akira, hugging on another tightly. Akira's smiling so hard his cheeks hurt. he reaches out to pet the chibi you's head, and quickly picks it up, making Chibi Akira pout. You lift the Chibi Akira up into your arms, swinging him around a bit, pressing kisses to its forehead.

Akira can't help but blush at the sight. he looks back to the small version of you. it has his shirt balled up in its hands, and it sits there smiling at him so brightly he thinks his heart may stop working.

he presses soft kisses to the chibi you's head, causing it to somehow smile even brighter than before.

[akiology]

Home || Goro Akechi x Reader

Word Count: 995 Summary: You take home a little kitten, and you and Goro are now parents to this adorable little bundle of fur. Note: requested! fem reader! i didnt directly name the little kitten (only a few affectionate nicknames), so feel free to insert your chosen names!

Before meeting Goro, home was an unfamiliar concept for the both of you. Of course, there is the house that you go home to, and Goro had a house he goes home too. But the feeling of familiarity and comfort was nowhere to be found. The warm welcome followed with a loving parent's embrace... was not quite there. For the longest time, home was a distant concept, a pretender’s game, trying to blend right in by mimicking what you see and hear. Fake it ‘til you make it, they say. Maybe one day, when you say that you are ‘home’, you will finally believe it.

Until you found each other, and perhaps home was more than a house you go back to every night.

You snapped out of your trance when your classmate, quite literally, snapped their fingers in front of you. “So? Will you take her?” they asked, while holding a small kitten. She had white fur and black muzzle, and could fit in the palm of your hand.

When your classmate handed her to you, the kitten reached out and as you held her she placed her paw on you as if to say 'Don't let me go, please.'

Now you stand in front of your apartment door and bring her close to your face, "My little baby, you are going to see your father now. He just got home," you whispered. She opened her eyes and her head turned to the direction of the door. It was as if she knew what you were talking about. You giggled and knocked at the door using your foot.

You heard some shuffling inside, and after hearing footsteps approaching, the doorknob finally turned.

"My princess, did y-" Goro stopped after seeing the kitten you held in your arms, "Oh? Who's this?"

"This is our child!"

/./

"So what should we name her?"

After telling the story of how you got the adorable little kitten to Goro and getting some old clothes you no longer need as a makeshift bed, you now settle in the living room with the kitten currently lying down and observing her parents.

"Why don't we name her after you?" Goro winked.

"But wouldn't that be confusing?"

Goro shrugged and held his hand out for the kitten. She turned around and placed her paw on it. Goro smiled.

"Aww~ She likes you! That's your papa, my little baby!" you cooed at her.

Goro blushed, "P-papa?"

"Yes! We are her family now. I'm her mama, which naturally makes you her papa!"

Goro's face turned even redder, and so he clasped a hand over his face and turned. It was embarrassing, but he very much liked the idea of playing house with you. A part of him feels guilty because he feels too happy. Is he even deserving of it? Before he could even go down the hole of dangerous thoughts, the kitten climbed over his lap. 'Papa, pay attention to me,' she seems to say.

Goro smiled and picked her up, snuggling her close. You scooched closer to the both of them and embraced them. Welcome home.

/./

During the weekend, Goro had to work overtime. So you spent the whole day with your little baby. You got a long cloth, and tied it around your neck for a makeshift sling bag that could fit your little kitten.

She behaved the whole time while you shopped. You bought a few clothes for her, a bed, food, and other necessities she may need. A few people were in awe whenever she popped out of hiding, and a few kids waved at her.

As you were taking a short break from your shopping, your phone started ringing.

"Hello?"

"My princess, how are you?"

"Oh, I am good! I went out to buy a few things for our little baby," you told him, and felt some stirring on your lap. The kitten seems to be hyper aware of you, inspecting the magical electronic box in your hands that has her father's voice.

"Ah, I wish I could be there, by the way don't buy any treats. I saw some on the way to work and I'm gonna pick up some before going home.”

And sure enough, when he got home that night, he brought home some sweets for you and snacks for your little kitten. He tried to quietly turn the lock of the door, as he was home late, careful to not wake you up if ever. He saw you lying down with the kitten on your stomach. He smiled, and committed the image to memory. It felt too good to be true.

/./

When you went to school the following week, your classmate asked you about how the kitten was doing. You told them about how the kitten is settling in nicely, and showed a few pictures of them at home. Whether it be sleeping, playing, eating, after bathing… you have all the pictures. Your classmate seemed pleased.

After a long and tiring day, you stretch as you reach your apartment. You fished out your keys from your pocket, and as you opened the door you could hear some muffled talking. As you approach the living room, you see Goro on his arms and knees while holding a small toy mouse in front of your little kitten.

"You should learn how to hold this so you can protect yourself and mama while I am away," Goro says with a straight face, and your little kitten tries reaching for the stick.

You chuckle, "Goro what are you doing?"

"Playing with our baby?" Goro seemed genuinely embarrassed he was caught, but relaxed once you sat down beside him.

"Sounds intense," you giggled and gave him a quick kiss.

The kitten climbs onto your lap and settles in there. Goro handed you a plate of snacks he brought on the way home and placed a hand on your lower back.

"Welcome home, my princess."

Home. Yes.

You are home, finally.

[frickingnerd]

who we used to be

pairing: ann takamaki / panther x gn!reader

summary: during the third semester, you lose all memory of your girlfriend. but ann and you find each other again, even when you can't remember her

tags: "amnesiac"!reader, lovers to strangers to friends to lovers, falling in love with the same person twice, angst with a happy ending, wholesome fluff, spoilers for p5 royal, maruki's reality

things changed so quickly. one day, you kissed ann goodbye, telling her you'd see her again tomorrow. the next day, you couldn't even remember her name.

“do i know you…?”

ann felt her heart shatter into a million pieces, as you said those words. there was confusion in your eyes, as you looked at her. she had tried to greet you with a hug, when you had pulled away. and now you were looking at her like she was just some stranger to you.

“n-no, i– i must've mistaken you for someone! i'm sorry–!”

ann tried to brush it off, forcing herself to chuckle awkwardly. there were so many thoughts running through her head, so many questions. but one thing was for certain. you were being genuine. you truly didn't know her. or at least, you didn't remember her.

“you just… reminded me of someone i used to know!”

those were the last words ann said, before rushing off. you were left behind, confused about what she could possibly mean. but she had run off so quickly, that you couldn't have asked her.

ann soon had to find out that you weren't the only person that had been acting weird. the world she lived in had changed. events that she vividly remembered had never happened. shiho never tried to kill herself. haru's father never died, nor did goro akechi. yusuke still lived with madarame, ryuji was part of the track team and everyone seemed… happy.

everyone except for her.

the world she lived in now was supposed to be perfect. but the most important thing was missing. the one person that made her life worth living.

“are you okay…?”

ann's head whipped around as she heard your voice. out of all the people that could run into her crying on the school's roof, it had to be you.

“wait, it's you… that girl, from a few days ago!”

a pained smile rested on ann's lips. that was all she was to you now. that one odd girl that mistook you for someone else.

“you've been crying… do you want to talk about it?”

you sat down next to ann, grabbing some tissues from your bag and handing them to her. she took them, smiling thankfully, before wiping the tears from her eyes.

just being near you again was oddly comforting. yet it also hurt like nothing ever had before.

“i have… gone through a break up, of some sort”

perhaps this was the best way to describe it. you weren't dead. she hadn't truly lost you. but your relationship was over the moment you had forgotten about her.

“i assume you weren't the one who ended the relationship…?”

“yeah, you're right…”

the two of you fell into silence again. ann didn't know how she could describe this situation to you. she was struggling to find the right words. words that wouldn't give away that she was talking about you. words that wouldn't give away that you had lost your memories of her. words that wouldn't give away that the world you lived in was wrong.

ann stared at you in awe. despite not knowing who she was, you seemed to understand her. or was it because you knew who she was? deep down, perhaps you could still remember…?

“you know…” it was your voice that broke the silence again. suddenly, your hand had found ann's and the blonde's heart almost stopped when she realized you were holding her hand. oh how she had missed this… “i think… you're a very pretty girl, ann. you could date anyone you'd want! but you're so much more than just some pretty face…”

“i know that you and i aren't friends or anything! i don't know you as well as shiho or ryuji do, but– i am convinced you are a great person. and whoever left you must be an idiot, because i know i would never lea–”

you stopped yourself. what were you even saying? shiho and ryuji? i would never leave you? those words had left your mouth, but were they truly yours? what were you even saying? it was as if you were remembering things that never happened…

“because you would never…?”

ann seemed to be eager to hear you continue that sentence, but you awkwardly pulled away your hand and chuckled.

“what i mean is… i think you're great! or– i assume that you're great! perhaps, if i were to get to know you… then i'd know for sure”

“like… a date?”

ann had said what you were too afraid to suggest. it was true, you wanted to go on a date with ann. you didn't quite know what it was about her, but there was something. a force drawing you to her, like a moth to a flame.

“well… you just ended a relationship and you still seem to be hurting a lot. asking you out right now probably wouldn't be right” you turned her down. “but if you're ever ready for something new… then i'd love to take you on a date!”

something new. perhaps, that wouldn't be too bad. ann wasn't sure if she could get your past with her back. but perhaps she had a chance of a new future with you…

“i think i need a few more days to clear my head. but after that, i'd love to go on that date with you…”

[leonawriter]

One of my favourite ideas with regards to Ryoji is this sort of... thing where he can just exist outside of time somehow, because of how short a time he's allowed to exist in reality.

(massive spoilers for P3 onward past this point, obviously, if you haven't already gone through the game.)

[EDIT: I've cleaned it up a bit and edited and put it on AO3. So, if you want like... an entire extra scene plus some, go here.]

Which is great in theory, but a bit more complicated if you wanna put it into practice, other than going "well, he's here because... oh, a wizard did it." There are possibilities and plausibles, but they're frankly limited if you have (like me) a logical mind and a need for something to suspend your disbelief.

Except then I had a thought - Ryoji is also known as Death, or Thanatos. He takes on that role at the climax, even. So, I started thinking along those lines, and wound up with-

Ryoji the psychopomp. Ryoji, the grim reaper.

Not "the Reaper" as in the one that roams dungeons (he exists during P3 and is implied by design to be connected somehow to Tatsuya Sudou, anyway).

More like, that it's a case of "Life gave her creations to Death, no matter what they both knew would happen the moment he touched them."

Minato (or Kotone) dies on the school rooftop, and there he is, able to talk to them, and they're able to tell him that everything worked out, that everything will work out. Their spirit lingers at the Door, and they talk like it's passing notes in class.

A young girl finds herself on the receiving end of unwanted advances, and then she's somewhere strange, confronted with uncomfortable and unwanted truths, and then- then, there's a boy in a yellow scarf wanting to know all of the things that she loved about her life. At first it's strange, and more than a bit hard to think of things for this weird guy who she's never met before, but the more she talks the more she realises that she really did have things she treasured.

He thanks her for telling him, and as she makes her peace with the fact that this is it, he tells her that he'll keep them in his heart now, too.

Wakaba Isshikki knows about the cognitive realm - a little too much, perhaps, but not enough to stop. Enough, perhaps, to see the shadow of a boy following her for a day or two. Enough to feel as though she's already living on borrowed time, when she feels that surely she knows what's happening, and she simply... doesn't care.

She's a little wispy, still, when he leads what's left of her toward the Sea of Souls where she now belongs. He's concerned, and rightly so, about what that means. Wakaba's more worried about the kids.

(A few people don't get Ryoji. Those unhappy few get the floating mask of Death and a series of coffins to tell them that their time has come. For some it's because even in death they have no humility, and for others still it's simply easier, that way. Easier to not be Ryoji wile dealing with it, even if it would have been easier still to simply walk away and let them find their own way to the Sea.

But Kunikazu Okumura had sent so many his way, that it was only right that Death came to meet him personally.

"I didn't even get to finish my speech," the man said, blubbering after the towering figure that Death made.

You had a daughter, Death reminded him, and he was silent the rest of the way.)

Goro Akechi comes to, and the first thing he sees is a bright yellow scarf.

The first thing he does is swear, because boys with slicked-back hair wearing yellow scarves aren't supposed to exist when you're dead. The second thing he does is look around, and realise that you aren't really supposed to exist in a sea of stars and sit on nothing when you're alive, either.

"Please tell me this isn't the afterlife," he says, mostly because although he figured it could be worse - he could have found himself in hell, or surrounded by all of the people he'd killed over the years, all of the ones who had every reason to make his afterlife hell if it wasn't already - it could definitely be better.

"It is and it isn't," comes the cryptic answer. "Usually it is, more or less. Each of those lights represents a soul, after all." And there were so many of them. "But you're a special case! You're both dead and not dead right now, which, usually that doesn't happen? People can almost die but not actually die, but they aren't usually both at the same time, I mean."

"Maruki," Akechi practically spits out. "In that case, I'm surprised you're not inundated right now."

Blue eyes - far too blue to be human, they almost remind him of Morgana, and he was neither human nor a cat, apparently - duck down, glancing away.

"I felt what happened. Everyone caught up in a lie, completely oblivious... if the one controlling that power had wanted to bring ruin, then..." But he shakes his head, bringing himself out of his own thoughts. "It's a good thing that didn't happen, really! And- you're wrong, by the way."

"What?"

"Like I said, you're a special case. I've been able to talk to a lot of people, but I've never been able to ask anyone to send a message back before!"

"Back?" For a moment, Akechi is reduced to parroting back words. Surely they mean something, but the obvious meaning is impossible, and he can't think of anything else. "Who would someone like you even want to send a message to, anyway?"

"Would you believe me if I said they were old enemies, who were also old friends? But, I guess you've had a few of those yourself, right?"

"What would you even know about me?"

Akechi got a lopsided, bittersweet smile in return.

"I've been following you for a lot longer than I think we'd both have liked," come the words that send a shiver down his spine as instincts and senses that were rusty from disuse told him what that meant even as his more conscious mind shied away from the idea of it. "But I hope that after this, we won't be able to talk again for a long, long time."

Something tells Akechi that he's both in no danger whatsoever, and also that he really shouldn't refuse. He expects to be on a strict deadline (ha, dead) but time moves differently here, and apparently they have exactly as much time as they need. No more, and not a second less.

When he opens his eyes again, he can remember everything-

Someone really wanted you to live, Ryoji had said, with a teasing smile, and bright eyes.

It makes him feel small. It makes him feel indebted - to Akira, to Ryoji, in ways that he can't even begin to examine or think of how to repay. It makes him want to give it all back, so that he doesn't have to deal with it, but that would be purely theoretical and besides, he has promises to keep.

First, a debt to Akira, something that to Akechi feels like barely a drop in the ocean and that hopefully Akira and his friends will feel the correct amount of gratitude for.

Secondly-

"Hello- yes, this is Goro Akechi speaking. Is this Mitsuru Kirijo-san? I have a message to pass on to you. Are the names Ryoji Mochizuki and Minato Arisato familiar to you, at all?"

[averagegtenjoyer]

hellooooo this time you get a silly little drabble!! i just finished fighting this guy for the first time and got inspiration!!!

" joooooooker ... " a voice drawls out, anger and hunger evident within the tone. a voice that akira knows a little too well, causing him to bite his lip and remain hidden; no matter the cost. he'd been split off from the others on purpose, his pursuer clearly wanting nothing else than to deal with the leader himself.

this little phantom thief is elusive. he's quiet, reserved, and most importantly, patient. willing to wait if the situation calls. but how long will he have to wait against no other than ... goro akechi? so much happened within that last hour, from figuring out akechi was involved with both the psychotic and mental shutdowns, able to wield two personas, the black mask reveal, and then ...

SLAM.

" come out, come out, wherever you are! " akechi rasps, digits scraping against the walls as he searches in desperation. " oh, once i get my hands on you ... " the hoarse voice soon turns to a sinister cackle. akira was not at all ready to deal with that, and that could easily be told by how hard his heart is racing. it might as well burst out of his chest.

" ... i'll crush you beneath my heel! or maybe i'll just tear you limb to limb! i'd LOVE to hear your bones snap and feel your blood run down my fingers! "

out of pure anxiety and the inability to stay in one place out of distress, he jumps onto another nearby table, which undoubtedly makes noise. ah, well, that's not good, now is it? should he continue moving? or maybe hiding would be a better option ... no, his mind is a mess, he can't think-

suddenly, there's an overwhelming pressure around his body as he's suddenly lifted up into the air so fast that he becomes dizzy. the little thief looks down at what almost looks like claws squeezing his body so tightly that he's starting to lose feeling in anything below his waist. biting his lip, he hesitantly looks up with fear in his gaze, those terrified eyes of his meeting akechi's semi-bloodshot, but amused ones through the red tints of the helmet.

there's silence between the two as akechi revels in that of his catch. his prize. he brings the smaller up towards his face so he can see that terrified yet quite adorable expression better. a smile slowly tugs at his lips before he speaks. despite the rasp, his voice almost sounds like a purr.

" ... finally caught you, my little criminal. now what to do with you? "

MY GODDDDDDDDDDDD im literally chewing on my own hanrd i love this so much i cant i just i !!. God i have nonwords i love this Oh insane giant akechi you have my heart vvvvvvv

[manias-wordcount]

Got another request for ya! :D

Can I please request headcanons for Joker, Ann, and Akechi being invited to Sunday dinner with their American S/O's family?

Sunday Dinner HCs (Akira Kurusu, Ann Takamaki, Goro Akechi)

𝗔/����: 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗼 !!!! 𝗶𝗺 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 (𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗸𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘀 𝗟𝗢𝗟) 𝘀𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗶 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝘁. 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆!

𝙒𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚? ⇒ 𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩

𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙧?

Joker

Your family will be charmed by him, that’s for sure

Your family is gonna think he’s real handsome and they’re gonna say he sounds real smart and polite

Might be a little blunt when telling him to speak up when his accent gets in the way of him speaking English but they’re impressed by how fluent he is

And you know someone is gonna say “Damn, and I can barely speak English!”

At the table, someone (probably Mom or Grandma or even Auntie) is trying to fix his plate

“Just point at what you want baby, I’ll get it for you” type beat

Of course, he’s a bit overwhelmed and culture-shocked- America is a very different place from Japan after all

But with your help and with how excited and welcoming your family actually is, he gets comfortable relatively quickly

And it feels like there’s never a dull moment while he’s with you and your family in the states

Just don’t tell them he was on probation- that’s a whole can of worms you don’t want to mess with

Ann Takamaki

First thing you’re gonna hear when the food gets set out and everyone starts fixing plates is “Eat baby, you’re too skinny”

Now of course, you know that you and Ann are both perfectly fine the way you two look but…

Ann canNOT say no to all the homecooked meals in front of her so she’s more than ready to let everyone pile a little bit of what they want her to try 

When she talks to your family in English, everyone is just floored by how different she sounds because of the accent change

And they all want to know all about her parent role in the fashion world and her job as a model

Naturally, there are gonna be a few people upset to hear how she had spent so much time alone as a kid but they remedy that by saying she’s always welcomed back anytime she wants

Pretty much, your family lowkey adopted her

Out of everyone, Ann is able to take this experience in stride the most since she has experienced so many different cultures while she moving around when she was younger

And her personality makes her so easily liked and well-received that it’s just a good experience all around

Especially when Auntie brings out dessert and lets Ann have the first piece

Goro Akechi

Oh they’re IMPRESSED by him

Highschool detective? Making his own money? And he’s handsome?

All around the table, people are gonna be asking him questions about his job and how much money he makes and all that

And they’re gonna be hanging onto his every word so much that food goes cold

And when Goro accidentally lets it slip that he’s an orphan with the shittiest absent-tee father in the world?

You know everyone and their momma are gonna start hollering and getting mad for him

All the while Grandma is shaking her head and piling a mountain of food on his plate like he’s suddenly one of her grandkids

Of course, he’ll gonna be a bit unsure of all this affection- he grew up without it and Japanese culture is just so different from all this

But he eventually warms up to it all and finds himself receiving the warm love of family that he always wanted but never thought he would get

And naturally, your family is very proud to welcome such a successful, impressive young man into their family as soon as possible (think of the bragging rights lol)

[kroosluvr]

aftermath

ERMMM this takes place after long winter au third semester.... it could honestly vary but i think sometime btwn 5-10 yrs. sumire is abroad, akira moved back to tokyo after finishing hs/college, goro is. around

SORRY ITS 5am again so ill make this quick . again

QUICK DISCLAIMER this is kinda like a lot of me projecting LMFAOSDOGKJSDHFK@#)40 so like dont read into this tooooo much bc idk royaltrio cld be insnanely ooc here but. YEA.

started thinking abt akira constantly calling up goro and sumire even after 1) goro dies (so they think) and 2) sumire distances herself post-third sem. i elaborate on this on my shusumi fic........ sorry subtle shilling

^ tldr i think these 3 kinda drift apart after the snowglobe world crumbles, that false reality that ironically brought them so close together..... back in reality, things feel Different (but this is Our reality right? why does it feel so strange now?) and so. well its just not the same, no amtter what

the. the “the love was there. it didnt change anything. it didnt save anyone. there were just too many forces against it. but it still matters that the love was there” tumblr post

even though they loved each other and knew it too, there was also some sort of looming feeling that it won't last - but it does, still. it exists, in some meaningful sense-

akira sees and thinks about sumire and goro in everything he does, his day to day life, worries about them, wants to tell them about all he's doing, wants to hear about what they're up to. so he does so by leaving voicemails (although in this case sumire changed her number LMFAO. he does it anyway)

in the same vein, sumire thinks about all the things she'd like to tell goro, but with no address to send it to, it's useless. but she writes them anyway - more and more as a solace to herself, conversing with the memory of goro in her head, making him live on in that sense. and with akira i think it's a little more subtle. here she's trying to find a coffee shop that measures up to lebalnc, and of course she doesn't. there's only one leblanc and only one akira. but yeah like in sumire's case she kinda goes these "roundabout" ways in her Missing Them. theres also the added thing of her wanting to be more independent (from goro and akira and kasumi and tokyo and etc etc etc. also elaborated on in said fic)

goro! i think there's smth so poignant about visiting your own grave (i wrote sumire doing htis in another fic. thats an aside) hair cut, mask on, no gloves, he's a different sort of goro akechi but not really in any meaningful sense either. he's just different. sumire leaves the scarf (i think w sumire, she learns from goro like. omg im blanking on the word. LIKE reliability..? thinking realistically? smth like that.) so shes subconsciously thinks oh ill get him something useful like a scarf to keep warm (and a lil more subtle on the love aspect). akira gets him a lovely bouquet, straightforward and honest w his love/adoration, never afraid to spell it out. smth abt goro needing to live a new life now but also he keeps looking back - but this time, there's love when he looks back. there's still love

a kind of "youll always have home with me" sentiment btwn these 3. even if we never return there, youll still have a place in my heart

like "i dont think ill ever have that kind of love again. but i had it once. and even if i couldnt keep it, its still important." THIS IS HARD TO EXPLAIN

anyway tldr theres just some sentiment w royaltrio w Wanting to move on but also holding onto your past, and learning how to reconcile with the horrible parts but also the tender and lovely parts. sometimes there's stuff you gotta leave behind and grow past, grow around, even if it's good. even if it's good, you still have to push forward. <- a lesson that i'm trying to teach myself currently so thats why this is very. projecting. LMFAODSJKHJKSDKW sorry im crnge goodnight

these notes are horrible dont read these.

[justauthoring]

everything.

*everything: all things; all the things of a group or class.

pairing: akechi goro x f!reader

a/n: i... i love him.

Akechi Goro had dived into your life and stolen everything.

The first moment you laid eyes on him, you’d fallen in love with him. Everything that had been nothing more than chance, a meeting that by all rights never should’ve happened, only to turn and find him in Leblanc the next day. It hadn’t taken long for Akechi to worm his way inside of your life and take over every inch of your being.

He’d become your whole world.

And, unfortunately for you, you’d thought he’d felt the same.

-

You’re already running late to school when you feel your body, rather rough, smack into another.

You would’ve lost your balance had a pair of arms not reached out with a quick reflex to grab you, hold you steady and stop you from embarrassing yourself even further when it processes in your mind just who exactly you bumped into.

Akechi Goro wasn’t hard to identify, but he certainly had been the last person you’d expected to run into that morning on your way to school. The sight of him is jarring, enough to send you into what you can only assume is a fumbling baboon of a mess, blinking back at him, wide eyed and lips agape, as his touch on you registers.

It seems he realizes it too because in the next second, he’s abruptly pulling his hands back, letting them fall to his side in an almost practiced movement. His lips are curling into a polite smile, eyes crinkling with a warm that seems to pierce right through you.

It takes you a moment to gather your bearings.

“O-Oh, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going and I’m late and–”

“It’s quite alright,” Akechi assures with a simple tilt of his head. “I wasn’t paying attention either,” he assures, “I hope you’re alright?”

You feel like a little girl with the way your heart races at his words, cheeks warming in a way you’ve not felt before as you quickly wave your hands before yourself, adamantly shaking your head. “No, no,” you rush to explain, “I’m totally fine. I… I–” But you don’t know what to say, and you already feel like an idiot for how much of an embarrassment you’d made of yourself. “I really am sorry.”

“Like I said, water under the bridge,” he grins, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. It’s such a wide grin and yet so vague, so… empty. It pulls you from your over revere, pausing even as the smile fades and Akechi makes a movement like he’s moving to leave. “Well, I should be on my way.”

Blinking, you nod; “oh, yes, of course,” shuffling to the side, you bow slightly at the waist; one final attempt of showing your apprehension before watching you walk off. He offers one final wave before completely turning his back to you, head straight and never glancing back. But, you? You stay there, all thought of being late to school leaving your mind as you watch his retreating back, unable to ignore the way your nerves feel like they’re lit on fire.

Or the way he’d grinned at you.

So empty, so… fake.

-

You’re on your way to Leblanc the next day.

The group had agreed to meet there to discuss your next actions regarding what to do about Makoto and the threat of her revealing your identities as the Phantom Thieves. It was rare that the six of you met there instead of your regular spot, but it had been short notice and with Morgana and Akira already being there, it seemed the easiest.

Only, you don’t realize how early you are until when you step inside the rather quiet cafe, Ann nor Ryuji nor Yusuke are there, and instead sat in one of the stools of the bar is Akechi himself with Akira stood on the other side, an apron adorned.

You pause at the door, eyes wide as both pairs of eyes fall on you.

“Oh, it’s you,” Akechi smiles, barely phased.

Akira’s brows furrow; “you two know each other?”

“Not really,” Akechi shrugs, “I ran into her the other day. I didn’t know you two were friends though.”

“Y/N.” Akira smiles, meeting your eyes. “We go to the same school. Same grade too.”

Akechi eyes fall back on you then, eyes lighting up with recognition; “ah, yes, you were wearing a Shujin uniform that day.”

Blinking out of your stupor, you step forward, clutching your bag tightly; “what’re you doing here, Akechi-san?”

“Thought I’d try the coffee,” he answers with ease, as if the words were practiced beforehand. “It’s nice to see you not in such a rush.”

Cheeks burning, you glance down at your feet; “uh, yes. Sorry about that again.”

Akechi just waves you off and an air of silence follows, none of you sure what to say. You’re still shocked at the mere sight of the Detective Prince, let alone in a cafe like Leblanc, and embarrassed that both times you’ve run into you’d been caught off guard. 

Luckily, Akira cuts in through the silence. “Would you like a cup of coffee, Y/N?” He offers with a warm smile, gesturing to the spot next to Akechi. “I can make one for you.”

Smiling softly, you nod, moving towards the bar and setting your bag down on the counter top. “I’d love one, thank you, Akira-kun.”

You’re none the wiser to the watchful pair of eyes on your back, carefully taking in every word you say and the warmth in your eyes as you stare back at Akira. It isn’t hard to notice the way you eased the second Akira invited you in, simply calmed by his presence.

“I must be going anyways,” Akechi politely excuses himself, moving to a stand. “Thank you for the coffee,” he nods at Akira, before turning to you. “It was lovely to see you again, Y/N. Hopefully our paths will cross again soon.”

You freeze at his words, taken aback as you blink, eyes widening. You can feel Akira’s gaze on you, also obviously shocked by Akechi’s words, but he remains silent as you simply nod, only managing a small, pathetic smile when Akechi waves at you, excusing himself.

Then, a moment later, you turn to Akira. “That was… odd, right?”

“Definitely.”

-

Akechi seems to pop up more frequently from then on.

He always, somehow, seems to be exactly where you last expect him to be. He’s a constant surprise that leaves you puzzled all the more each time, but yet, every meet feels more comfortable, more natural. Akechi’s suave with his words and he always seems to know what to say, and before you know it, he’s a part of your life in the way you always seem to seek out his company or time. He’s busy at the worst of times, but he always seems to make time for you. Needlessly answering your calls, walking you home from school when you have nothing else to do.

Ryuji’s not a fan. He constantly complains about how close you are to the Detective, swearing there’s something off about him but you just shrug him off. Akechi’s sweet and he treats you well, and undeniably, you enjoy spending time with him.

And somewhere along the way, the line blurs between just friends and more.

-

To Akechi, you’re an anomaly.

Something that shouldn’t be.

The first time he sees you, something grips at his heart. Something so powerful, so intoxicating it’s impossible to ignore and painful to deny and yet, he does it all the same.

The emotions he’d felt when you ran into him had made no sense and yet, he couldn’t take his eyes off of you. Breathless, a light sheen of sweat covering your skin, hair a mess on your head, and somehow endlessly beautiful. He’d thought you gorgeous, an intimidating emotion that had left him reeling, panicked to get away and yet even as he’d left, you hadn’t left his mind.

Emotions unwanted nor needed, like jealousy at the way you’d reacted to Akira that night. The want and desperation to be near you, to listen to every last one of your pleas. You’re a poison infecting him, distracting him from his true goal – from what he needs to do.

And yet, he can’t stop himself.

What had started as a ploy to get closer to Akira, to find out more about his weaknesses, turned into him dropping everything the second you text. Wasting his time waiting for you to rush out of class just so he can walk you home. Eating with you, spending time with you doing pointless things like watching movies together, or going for a walk at the park or or or…

He can’t deny you and it burns all the same.

-

“It’s quite beautiful out, no?”

Akechi’s quiet for a moment and you don’t rush for an answer, keeping your gaze focused on the stars above as you listen to his quiet breaths.

“Yes,” he says eventually, but when you turn to look at him, his eyes are on you.

Cheeks warming, you bite your lip, letting the silence envelope you as you shuffling, moving so you’re closer. You’re desperate for his touch, to feel his heat on you, letting your thigh press against his own and your hand to fall over his own that rests on the pavement beside him. You don’t let your gaze waver, keeping it trained on his as you thread your fingers through his own, a silent breath of relief escaping you when he doesn’t pull away.

Lips parting, you exhale; “Akechi…”

His shoulders ease, relaxing, and after a moment, he whispers; “yes?”

“I want to kiss you.”

…

“Can I kiss you?”

He shouldn’t. He really shouldn’t.

You were a distraction, you should be nothing more than a means to the end.

But his eyes flicker to your lips and the ever pressing thought of I want to swarms every last coherent being in him. Your lips look soft and inviting and all he wants is to feel your lips against his own.

“Yes.”

You don’t waste a second. You lean forward, pressing yourself full against him, lips molding against his own in a nervous, shaky way that has his hands itching to grab you, to pull you closer, to take control. He wants all of you, now. He doesn’t want to wait. He doesn’t want to ignore it anymore. He needs you, with him, against him, a part of him.

His hands fall on your waist, tugging, needlessly, breathlessly, taking control in every way you couldn’t. You’re pulled flush against him, breath taken away as he kisses you, so deeply, so sensually, so wholly.

And when he pulls back, your lips are red, puffy and you’re breathless, as if in a day dream, staring up at him.

“I love you…” You whisper despite yourself.

Akechi never says it back.

-

His betrayal rips your heart in half.

It’s as if he takes it in his own hands and tears it apart, leaving nothing left.

You’re a shell of yourself. The group notices but they don’t know what to say. 

Or rather, they can’t say what they want to say.

We told you.

He was always this way.

You should’ve listened.

But that would’ve been cruel, so they don’t say anything at all.

And you don’t say anything to them about it either.

You wallow in your own heartbreak all on your own, saving your tears for when you’re alone and save in the privacy of your own bedroom, tucked far, far away from it all.

There’s so much you want to say.

You don’t say any of it.

-

Even when he curses you all out, screams at you, says what he’s always felt, you stand there, numb, silent.

And when you hear that final gunshot, you barely flinch.

-

Akechi doesn’t expect to see you.

He hates that you’re here.

“You idiot.”

You just stand there, frowning.

“Why did you come back!”

But you refuse to say anything. Akechi watches you, eyes trained on you as you simply step towards him, kneeling before him, patching him up the best you can, never saying a single word. You shrug away his attempts at pushing you away, never even meeting his gaze, wrapping the gunshot wound on his stomach to stop the bleeding, completely silent the entire time.

And then, finally, you ask; “why?”

Akechi frowns.

Your eyes flicker up to his own, and Akechi hates the way his heart hurts at the side of your teary, red, blotched eyes staring back at him. It hurts even more because it’s because of him. You look like that because of him. Because he’d toyed with your heart, your feelings, and ripped it to shreds all without blinking an eye.

He’d hurt you.

And he hates it.

“Because,” Akechi groans, shifting to sit up despite the pain that radiates through his body. “I had to.”

You shake your head, unable to stop the way your eyes water all over again and tears pour from your eyes, a sob retching past your lips. “Did any of it mean anything?” You pause, as if afraid. Akechi imagines you’re terrified. “ Any of it?”

But he doesn’t say anything.

He just stares back at you.

And after a moment, you just sigh, moving to a stand before grabbing him, helping him to his feet.

-

“It did mean something.”

It’s a day later. 

After the two of you had escaped Shido’s palace, you’d brought him home. It’s not his first time being in your house, but it still feels wrong. Your parents weren’t around as he learned they never were, and so he’s able to safely hide in your room as he heals.

It’s been completely silent since you brought him here. Akechi knows he’d passed out somewhere along the way back, but still, any of the time he has been awake, you’ve refused to speak to him. You bring him food, water, clean and dress his bandages, but other than that, you leave him alone.

He couldn’t stand the sight of you walking out that door one more time so he says what he should’ve said a long time ago.

You pause by the door, body rigged.

“You meant–... mean something to me.”

He watches you closely, eyes trained on your face as the words sink in. He notices the slight way your body eases, shoulders lowering as your grip on the door loosens, but your face is still blank, still… distant.

“You’re just saying that.”

Akechi frowns; “no. No, I’m not.”

You finally turn to look at him. Those same, sorrowful, hurt eyes staring back at him. It kills him.

“I loved you.”

“I… I love you too.”

“You never said it back.”

Akechi sighs. “I was afraid.”

Body finally turning to face him, you huff; “you tried to murder Akira.”

Akechi scowls at the mention of your oh so precious leader, and you scoff.

“You treat them like their scum.”

“They are.”

“Am I?”

“No,” Akechi says without hesitation. “Not you.”

You shake your head; “they’re my friends.”

“I know.”

Pausing, your gaze falls to your feet, slumping in defeat. “I loved you so much,” you whisper, voice cracking, “and you hurt me. You hurt my friends.”

“I know.”

“I don’t know if I can forgive you.”

“ I know. ”

Akechi thinks that’s it. He expects you to turn, walk out the door, and not come back for a while. Maybe never. Maybe you’d tell Akira and the rest. Maybe you’d rat him out. Get rid of him for good. He’d deserve it.

But you don’t.

You don’t move.

All you do is slowly raise your head, meet his eyes and whisper; “but… I still love you.”

And it’s all Akechi needs to hear.

[emanation-aura]

joker palace fic. im in love with your writing. please share some with us

Oh my god anon I'm so happy you asked!! I made some fantastic progress recently so I'm definitely going to talk about it now

So actually I have. um. two Joker Palace fics. One of them is based in the third semester and is basically what I talked about in this post: in short, due to some Wild Card Bullshit™️, instead of living in Maruki's altered reality in third semester, Joker actually forms a Palace as a cognitive defence and basically it becomes Goro and Sumi's job to get him out (like Maruki, he physically resides in it).

The other one is a post-game Palace au, where Joker forms a Palace out of the stress and debilitating isolation of prison. This one is the one I've been working the most on and it's at 11k words and counting— when I'm not even close to finishing it!! I'm having so much fun with it so I guess I'll talk about this one.

He thinks about the past year a lot. About the Metaverse, discovering it with Ryuji by accident, that terrifyingly free moment when he ripped Arsene from his face and felt as if he could challenge the world itself, and proceeded to do exactly that. About Personas and the Velvet Room (he tries dreaming for Lavenza, but if she exists and can hear him, she makes no reply,) and the final chains breaking under his command, all the anger and hatred burning off Arsene in waves of blue flame morphed into physical form: the cold, immovable steel of Satanael. He thinks about how the unyielding heart of Satanael, a strength unto its own, had slowly melted in the face of a perfect reality. How Maruki’s lies had snared everyone but him, and that unique, awful loneliness melting the devil’s limitless island of strength into Raoul, the trickster just as capable as Arsene but acting under no name but his own. How the truth and free will, his own real self, triumphed over the benevolent lies of yet another false god.

This Palace AU revolves heavily around the theming of first, second, and third-tier Personas (mostly Joker and Goro's). Like, we all know the pattern to the Persona awakenings in P5R, right— trickster-god-true self. Raoul is the original name of Arsene Lupin in Maurice Leblanc's series (btw did you know I actually bought The Adventures of Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Thief kinda for this fic), Hereward is the historical figures whose exploits inspired the tales of Robin Hood, etc. And like.

The Palace Joker has in this fic is a prison. But unlike the Velvet Room, it's not a prison where Joker is trapped; in fact, Cognitive Joker is the ruler of the Palace, and instead the stuff being locked away is memories. It takes the kinda passive/wallflower nature Joker has in the Confidant interactions to something more extreme: because Joker has literally nothing to do in prison but be trapped in his own head thinking, he starts categorising and compartmentalising his memories of the past year, wounds and traumas that are still fresh and raw.

And the crux is that he doesn't want to face his trauma. He locks away all his memories of the interrogation, of police brutality and being arrested and being deleted by Yaldabaoth out of existence... and most importantly, Akechi.

He had once said that Akira never allowed himself to be enslaved by things like human relations or past selves, leaving his heart forever free, but now Akira’s locked in juvie with nothing but his own misery for company, he thinks that’s wrong. The Velvet Room, taking after the shape of his heart was a prison, after all, and after that he’s simply traded one prison for another. (One might say that only the flesh remains imprisoned while the mind and heart remain forever free, but solitary confinement is a unique hell precisely because its containment reaches far beyond the flesh alone.)

So to tie these two tangents together, Cognitive Joker is the ruler of the prison Palace where he locks away his most painful memories, serving as a guardian/warden. The thing is, Cognitive Joker's true form is actually just Raoul.

Raoul is Joker's 'true self', but Joker's 'true self' has morphed in solitary confinement.

(Tighten the perimeter! It roars, golden mechanical wings spouting from its back, vivid red and gold trim dotting its jacket. Lock everything up. I will deal with him. There is no mask over its face, nor does there need to be. This is his true self: the lord of a fortress, the guardkeeper of a prison— the real occupation of gentleman thief, hoarding his hard-earned treasures.)

Instead of being a heart of a phantom thief willing to stand up to reality, Raoul has come to represent the worst side of a gentleman thief: hoarding his treasures (memories) and never letting them show. Hiding his trauma, even, from himself, just to try and convince himself that he's ok.

This has most been me rambling about the workings of this fic from behind the scenes, so anon, I'll treat you to two nice long passages now: the first one is the delivery of the calling card, and the second one is when Goro confronts Cognitive Joker— because this is also a shuake fic, by the way, although no actual romance happens yet beyond homoerotically beating the manifestation of your rival's heart to death and saving his soul from despair. Goro is the one to infiltrate the Palace (thanks to some intervention by Lavenza) and learn about all of the absolutely horrifying shit happening in Joker's mind.

(Continues on from right after the snippet in this post.)

Finally, Maruki speaks, jolting Akira out of his stupor. “Kurusu-kun… to tell you the truth, I didn’t plan on visiting you at all. I thought it would be better if I kept away from all of you, after causing you guys a great deal of hurt. I still intend to stay away, but—” Maruki pushes his glasses up, the reflective sheen hiding the strange, intense quality in his eyes. He reaches for his jacket pocket, pulling out an envelope. “Someone asked me to come today— I can’t tell you who, but they asked me to deliver something.” Akira’s breath catches, and his eyes dart to the invisible looking-glass that the security guards must be looking through. He’s not been allowed any communication from outside (either that, or he hasn’t received any, but he tries not to think about that). But Maruki catches his glance and shakes his head, in that soft, disappointed way he had shaken his head back when he carried Sumire in his arms and drove her Persona berserk. “It’s been cleared,” he says, still ever so soft. His fingers fumble, but he slides it under the glass partition like an immigration officer returning his passport. “And, before you read it… I understand you may be angry with me, which is fine. The important thing is that you read it and understand what it means.” He picks up the envelope with a curious hum, eyes hovering uncertainly around Maruki’s tense figure, a nervousness that is visible to him the same way bloodhounds pick up scent. Whatever it is, the therapist expects him to be angry, and will allow him. Short of a letter from— Akira wrenches the door shut, but the fading impression of brown hair and a thrown glove lingers anyway— short of him, nothing else could possibly faze him. Akira opens the envelope. Slips the small, black-and-red card out in one move. Flips it over— wrong, he seems. Flinches, at the words written there. I have not ever written one of these, and as such, find myself at a loss. I have no theatrics to demonstrate, no declaration of war, no enmity, even. Thus, I will simply state what happens next. Akira Kurusu, you have lost yourself in a fortress of loneliness, even going so far as to suppress yourself for the sake of others. You may call it protection and name it your guard, but that doesn’t change its essential nature: a prison of your own creation. Twice, now, has your heart been a prison. No more. I will steal your distorted desires without fail. No signature. Akira drops the card. Stands up suddenly, not even registering the sharp, panicked breaths he’s taking. Distantly, the blob of maroon in front of him stands up as well, saying something he can’t hear. No. Not possible. He cannot— he is (was?) a Persona user. He simply cannot have a Palace. Raoul screeches, long and loud, in his head. It used to be a deep, bellowing comfort, drowning out the silence in his head with a hearty laugh that wrapped around him like stage curtains, enveloping him in its warmth. Now it just sounds unhinged— the scream of a bat or the lone howl of a wolf, pounding through his skull with the force of a gunshot. No! It screams, pitched lower and deeper yet strangely similar to his own voice. When he closes his eyes, it’s not Raoul there but himself, with glowing, yellow eyes. The one person we allowed in— to betray us like this, not again! Throw him out, throw them all out! “...Kurusu-kun! Please, say something! I know it’s a great shock, so please try to calm down—” Akira’s eyes snap open. The world slots back into focus, colours swimming back to their original places. Maruki stares, eyes wide with stress. He can’t think. He can’t even feel. All he was and will ever be shrinks down into this point in time, crushing him under its immense weight. “I’ve heard the calling,” he says quietly. Any louder, and his voice will break. “And I understand what it means. Please leave now, Maruki.”

And for when Goro confronts Cognitive Akira/Raoul:

“You’re not Akira,” Goro states dumbly. He’d known, of course, that Cognitive Akira was not the real one— but it had the real one’s face and mannerisms, however foreign it had been. This, though… “You’re his Persona, Raoul.” “I am thou, and thou art I,” Raoul recites, punching a hole through Goro’s tattered heart. Goro had only seen Raoul once: in the final battle against Maruki, merciless curse damage and powerful sleep magic forming a potent combination against Azathoth. He’d assumed that Raoul was a new Persona Akira had fused, a powerful addition to Yoshitsune and Attis and the likes he’d brought to the battle. Yet… If this is the form Akira’s Palace Ruler takes, it can’t be just any old Shadow he picked up from the sea of collective unconsciousness. “Are you surprised, General of the Wake?” Raoul smirks, leaning back a little. He’s floating off the ground now, lounging on the air. “A phantom thief needs a place to hoard his treasures, for the hearts he steals cannot be treated like regular old trinkets.” Hereward rears his head, sensing his name. Goro thinks back to Hereward’s namesake— an ancient nobleman and leader of a resistance movement, nicknamed “Hereward the Wake”, whose exploits may have inspired the tale of Robin Hood. Raoul recognises not Loki, who he used for the longest, nor Robin, whom he had first, but Hereward— fancifully, neither a masked hero of justice nor a god, but just a man. The name comes to him easily. Goro read Sherlock Holmes in the run-up to his public deceit as Detective Prince, and thus, he also knows of its rival. “Arsene,” he says. It makes a terrible, hilarious amount of sense: who better to lead the Phantom Thieves than the quintessential phantom thief himself? “Arsene Raoul Lupin.” “Bravo,” Raoul claps, crimson eyes twinkling with blue flame. “Praise be to my rival, who has never failed to see through me. Yes, I am the gentleman thief of old, the one who took up the mantle of Arsene Lupin, master of a thousand faces, whose actions constitute my identity sufficiently*: Monsieur Raoul.” Goro pictures the original awakening, the blood pouring from Akira’s eyes. That blue-flamed trickster behind him, bursting with energy. Arsene Lupin. “I did not wish it to come to this,” Raoul says, his hands gesturing to the red flashing alarms at the complex. “Truly, mon corbeau. The gentleman thief keeps many secrets, but conversely, it is the detective on his heels who sees them all, not any of his closest acquaintances. That is why me and I have let you in, time and time again. Yet you end up betraying our trust to the very end. Let it be said that these precautions—” Raoul waves at the prison at large, demonic eyes wide with a sad kind of triumph— “have come to fruition at last.”

Goro flinches. He thinks about putting a bullet through Akira’s brain. The splatter, even though it had never been real. About reporting to Shido with glee that the Phantom Thieves were well on their way to falling into his trap, then going to Leblanc and playing chess with Akira, talking about Hegel and antithesis over rapidly-cooling cups of coffee. The deceit of Robin Hood and the truth of Loki. He has betrayed Akira. And while he’s been valiantly avoiding thinking about the boy ever since he woke up, the Palace— it has forced him to grapple with it. He cannot say he regrets his betrayal, nor can he say he enjoyed it, or felt it was necessary. Those things mattered to the Goro of the past, but not to him now, because— because— Because he lives with his sins every day. Wears them on his sleeve, because everyone else must know the true him before deciding whether to engage or not. He will not bend to their standards of social grace— you will live as yourself, sins and all, forever, Hereward says. It is not atonement nor punishment. It is your path to walk. This is still a realm of distorted desires, Goro reminds himself. He cannot start believing in the distorted rhetoric of the Palace Ruler. “It is still a prison,” Goro says calmly, perhaps the calmest he’s ever been since waking up in the god-forsaken place. “You think you are protecting yourself from the horrors of the world, from betrayal, from pain. But you are only locking it away so that you do not have to deal with it. You are not primarily protecting yourself from others— though I should think some part of that is true. No, you are trying to protect you from yourself.” Thinks of Maruki’s text. Done. Akira was defensive and cynical. Shocked by the calling card. Speaking as someone who’s been in contact with many traumatised teens over the past years… trying very hard to compartmentalise his pain, too. Raoul recoils, eye-like slits narrowing into a sliver of crimson. But Goro has already found the truth, written in video tapes of the “interrogation” and the partition falling on the engine room. This Persona might be Akira’s true self, not the invincible anonymity of Arsene Lupin, phantom thief, but it has distorted itself into a man chained to the prison of his heart, locking away pain and tragedy to fool himself into strength. Simply another mask, but not one aimed outwards. A mask placed over his soul in the hopes of fooling himself. “I know how this goes,” Goro says cockily, refusing to draw out the philosophical tangent, drawing his sabre. Raoul raises an eyebrow, or what passes for one on his face, and magic curls under his metallic talons. “You won’t go down without a fight.” “Indeed, detective.” Raoul sighs, languid and calm— like Akira, right before an ambush. “A thief cannot avoid confrontation forever. It is time, then, to use martial prowess to settle what trickery cannot.” Goro grins. This— this is familiar ground. This is adrenaline running through his veins, Loki’s enthusiastic bloodlust rippling into existence; the mask materialising over his features, the desire to rip, tear, kill. This is the same feeling their duel had evoked all that time ago, turned up to eleven. Truly, a no-holds-barred fight against the distorted ruler of Akira’s heart? The part of him that misses combat revels in this. (The part of him that played chess with Akira in Leblanc mourns it— not the battle, exactly, but the loss of what made him Akira.) Novel battles call for new tactics. Pressing a hand against his mask, Goro’s first command is not Loki, but— “Hereward! REBELLION BLADE!”

*whose actions constitute my identity sufficiently is specifically taken from Maurice Leblanc's tales on Arsene Lupin, where Lupin says:

"Why should I have a definite, fixed appearance? Why not avoid the dangers attendant upon a personality that is always the same? My actions constitute my identity sufficiently. [...] It is all the better if people are never able to say with certainty, 'There goes Arsene Lupin.' The great thing is that they should say, without fear of being mistaken, 'That action was performed by Arsene Lupin.' "

By the way, to any other writers of Joker Palace AUs out there using themes of masquerade/masks/theatre, with Joker represented as a person who has lost his identity by being a social butterfly and putting on 'masks' for other people: rock on!!!! That's literally exactly what the theme around Arsene Lupin is!!! He literally says "I myself have forgotten what I am really like; I no longer recognise myself in a glass" in the tales!!

Anyway. Yeah.

Here's your food, anon! Hope you enjoy. I plan on publishing this fic for Whumptober (if I finish it in time, haha), so keep an eye out for it then!

PS. if you want to read about the Third Sem Palace AU you'll have to give me some inspo, cause I'm a lil stuck >.>