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goroakechioneshots · 4 years ago

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Maybe One Day (Goro Akechi x Reader): Affection… such things had ultimately been denied to Goro Akechi throughout the entirety of his childhood, and so he found it an unnecessary hassle to give such treatment to others. Outside his usual ‘detective prince’ mannerisms, he simply didn’t associate himself with people if it could be helped. All his pining fangirls were turned down. Gently, of course, because it would ruin the spotless reputation he’d fought so hard to build up if he met their constant confessions and flirtatious advances with hostility.

And then there was you…

At first, he assumed you would be no different to the masses he’d charmed before. However, his detective prince facade fell flat in your eyes. Not to say that you had rudely dismissed him, but there was a certain lack of interest in your gaze when he was around. He couldn’t help but wonder why that was. Everyone was on a mission to appease him; his classmates, his teachers, his fangirls, the media… But you treated him like just another person. Then again, Akechi didn’t mull over this at first. It wasn’t too weird that one person out of hundreds didn’t seem to care when they were talking to a celebrity. There were more important things to focus on, and so these brief thoughts faded into the background for a while.

That is, until you were both assigned on a group project together.

Goro was grateful that the teacher had assigned the groups herself, because whenever a project came up he was always swarmed with other students hoping to partner with him. Not because he was smart, but just so they could brag to people or make it out as though they were friends. It was a real hassle, and Akechi would end up lowkey begging the teacher to let him work alone. Which, of course, would wind up piling more work onto the strenuous detective duties he already took on.

After the bell rang, he approached you. Admittedly, with some apprehension. Even though you had shown little to no interest in him or his detective role in the past, it was hard to shake the inkling that people only cared about being around him for his status.

“Ah! LastName-san…? I believe we were assigned to work on the history project together.” He approached your desk near the upper middle of the room, giving the pleasant smile which always had his fangirls swooning.

You looked up at him, a book open on your desk, then looked around the room blearily. Had the bell already rung? A little disgruntled that time had passed so quickly, you closed your book and began gathering your things. “Oh… ok. Do you want me to focus on the economic and political sections while you handle geography and culture? Or whichever you want to work on… I don’t mind.”

Akechi analyzed the out-of-touch figure before him somewhat curiously. Such a straightforward and business-like response. You hadn’t even smiled at him, though you didn’t frown or glare either. There was an odd glint to your eyes though, that mellowed out when the both of you made eye contact. He honestly wasn’t used to it.

He played innocent, as always, and laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. “Geography and culture works fine… The other two areas aren’t really my strong suit.”

It was a natural attempt to win your interest. Not because he wanted it, parsay, but because he was so used to utilizing his detective persona to make people favor him… he was caught a little off-guard when you ignored it once more.

“Alright.” And that was it. You grabbed your bag, swung it over your shoulder, and meandered off. No attempt to elongate the conversation.

Akechi hummed to himself thoughtfully as you left the class, but a text notification distracted him. He pulled out his phone. It was from Shido… A scowl nearly adorned his lips, but he held it back. Couldn’t let his peers see him break character, after all. More importantly, it seemed he wouldn’t have time to work on the project tonight. There was business to deal with in the Metaverse… again.

Several weeks passed. Between his detective work, other classes, and commands from Shido, it wasn’t too uncommon for him to slip on an assignment or two. That said, the history project had been completely ushered to the back of his mind until, surprisingly, you approached him one day after class.

“Hey. I finished my half of the project and compiled it onto some slides. Can you send me your half when it’s done so I can save the completed assignment on a flash drive?”

Oh…

Oh shit…

In a flash, Akechi turned his charm up and attempted to weasel his way out of the situation, putting on a grand show of being ashamed and distressed to really nail the sympathy home. “Ah! Yes, the project… I… have a confession to make. I’ve been so busy with interviews and work that I haven’t been able to complete much.”

Any other doting classmate would have reacted with a ‘worried’ expression. Told him not to push himself too hard and excused him, offering to complete it themselves. His peers would often do anything for the sake of getting his attention for more than a few minutes, and he’d manipulated this to his advantage often. Always rewarding their efforts with a grateful smile and feigned embarrassment.

Not you…

For a moment, you blankly stared at his little ‘have sympathy and excuse me from my responsibilities’ act. He was a good actor. Too good. Unfortunately, you were a master at seeing beyond manipulation, for reasons linked to childhood which you would never share with another soul as long as you lived.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” You lied. “Maybe you should cut back on the interviews.”

Akechi paused for a split second at this. It was a very unorthodox response. He realized suddenly that it was going to take a lot more than his usual charm to sway you.

He began to speak, but found he was cut off before he could get a word out.

“There’s still a week left. Crappy work is better than none at all.” You shrugged.

No. No, that wouldn’t do. Goro Akechi couldn’t have a terribly done project. He was the reflection of perfection. His teachers and other students revered him for it. Not that it would be a noticeable damper in his reputation, but he was painstakingly meticulous about every little thing he did.

His feigned embarrassment was starting to shift into real embarrassment. “Is… Is there any way you could… maybe-“

“I’m not committing academic fraud, detective.”

Akechi felt his face flush at how bluntly you called him out, and a few students glanced at the term. Quickly gathering himself and giving a nervous laugh, he insisted, “That’s not what I meant…”

It seemed he’d be stuck scrapping up this half of the project one way or another. A part of him deep down wanted to growl at you like some sort of animal for putting him in such a strenuous situation. There was no ignoring Shido’s orders, but perhaps if he cut off all the interviews for a week and pulled some all-nighters, he’d be able to bring up something presentable. A twinge of disdain for the coming sleepless nights crossed his face.

You watched him carefully, then sighed. “What if I help you?”

He perked up. Perhaps his charisma had won out after all. “That would be great. I’m sorry for the hassle-“

“I never said I was doing it all for you.” You interrupted before that thought could go any further. “We could do a study session. I can look up relevant links and pass them on for you and whatnot, but you’d still be doing the work.”

It was almost funny how suddenly the ‘detective prince’ deflated at this. Still, it was a better deal than finding all the links and information on his own. At the very least, he’d have information passed on to him. It would make the process of research quicker and smoother.

“I suppose that would be fair, wouldn’t it?” He stated, in that pleasant tone he always forced with others.

You gave something of a partial laugh. “You don’t have to act like you’re not mad at me.”

Akechi blinked at you. Was it that easy to tell? Was he not putting up as good an act as he thought he was? This made him secretly flustered for a moment, but you continued before he could try and insist he wasn’t mad.

“We could meet at the school library after school if it works.” You offered.

That wouldn’t work well… “I often have last minute duties to fulfill after school hours.”

Those last minute ‘duties’ were always Shido calling him and handing over a targets name. Sometimes multiple. And if those targets weren’t taken care of in a timely manner, Akechi would be on the receiving end of some violent fits. He shuddered a bit internally. The man would pay eventually. It was just a matter of careful planning and making sure the newly renowned Phantom Thieves didn’t get any larger than they already were.

You frowned, and he knew this vague answer was likely being interpreted as him being lazy, so he wracked his brain for what few times of the day he was actually given time to himself.

“I suppose lunch would work…” He said, with some hesitation.

It sucked that his one time of the day unoccupied by people or stress would now be invaded with both another person and schoolwork, but he knew he needed the help, loath as he was to admit it. He had permission to eat in a certain teacher’s classroom, and used it as a hideaway so that a flood of fans wouldn’t fight to sit with him. And, frankly, he didn’t want to sit with anyone.

“Alright.” You agreed. “We can meet during lunch till it’s done.”

………………………………………………..

For the next few days, Akechi found himself carrying his lunch tray up to the library where you would be waiting with several books and a laptop open ready to assist him. He loathed it at first, but… something strange began to occur. You began to actually engage in conversation with him. When he was working on a section that didn’t require his or your complete focus, the two of you would talk and hang out.

Random, ridiculous conversations such as ‘what’s your favorite book?’ or ‘did you ever watch Neorangers Featherman when you were a kid, or was that just me?’. He hadn’t even realized when he began to answer honestly and not bother trying to fabricate his lies. He didn’t have to, with such trivial things. And yet, he found he enjoyed it. You, talking to him like he was just another peer.

His half of the project was finished faster than he anticipated it would, likely in part to your handiness with the search bar and library archives. The project, once put together, would be easily passible as an A. Maybe even an A+. He breathed a sigh of relief when it was over, and returned to his usual lunch routine…

At least, that’s what should have happened.

Even after the project was complete, Goro found himself coming to eat lunch with you. It was a little awkward the first time he sought you out during lunch with no particular agenda. He wasn’t sure what he was doing. He always chose to spend his lunch alone, so why did he want to eat with you again? Perhaps it was intrigue… There was something off about you. Something that he couldn’t quite place, and he resigned himself to eat lunch with you and spend time until he figured out what it was.

‘It’s to hone my detective skills.’ He reasoned weakly with himself each time.

And you didn’t attempt to avoid him either. You had a little section on the rooftop, a part that wasn’t closed off to students yet was seldom populated, that you sat. Akechi joined you, and eating there just became a regular routine. This didn’t mean he would show his true self, however. He still kept up the facade, spilling his heart out about his justice and ideals, then waiting to see your inevitably underwhelming reaction. Often a shrug or a simple ‘cool’. It was like a game, trying to peak your interest. A game that he refused to believe he was losing.

Then, one day, with the strangest look in your eyes… you smiled. You smiled at him, and it actually caused the detective prince to pause with mild astonishment. The smile was so sincere and yet, so mysterious.

“Akechi… when am I going to get to meet you?” You asked.

The question rolled out like it was normal, and Goro couldn’t help but be confused. Meet him? They’d… already met. Several weeks prior. Was this a trick question?

“I… wasn’t aware we hadn’t.” He laughed, confusion evident. “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”

Your smile grew a bit, and you shook your head. “I’ve become well acquainted with your public image. When am I going to meet you?”

For a moment, one could hear a pin drop. Goro froze, for the first time in a long time, appearing truly caught off guard, as the words sank in. How… how did you know? He never let his detective facade fall. At least… he thought he hadn’t. Had he? You were looking at him, both curious and unusually gentle.

You leaned back a bit, seeming thoughtful. “I guess I should rephrase that question. Will I get to meet you?”

Akechi swallowed and lied. “I’m… not sure I follow.”

The smile melted away into a soft frown, then to acceptance. “I guess not.”

The silence following this was incredibly awkward, as Goro tried to wrap his head around the fact that you’d seen through him so easily. It was more frightening than it should’ve been, and he began to wonder if spending time around you was a bad idea after all. His throat was dry, and yet he found himself speaking.

He could hardly believe his own words. “Maybe one day…”

#p5 #persona #persona 5 #persona 5 royal #my writing #gaming #goro akechi #goro day #akechi #p5 akechi #p5 goro #persona fandom #x reader #p5r #oneshot #writing #persona 5 akechi #akechi x reader

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akechicrimes · 5 years ago

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it does matter, actually, that goro akechi is a minor. not because this somehow exonerates him morally, or because this somehow makes him not responsible for his actions, but because persona 5 is invested in children as a source of hope for a better future.

once i saw someone complain that people will defend akechi’s murders on the grounds that he’s a child/minor and how they felt that this doesnt excuse multiple counts of murder. and i was like, ok, well, im not sure anyone was excusing him, but alright, sure. and i’ve seen a few rebuttals to that, one of which is that shido and the other adults in akechi’s life had a responsibility to support akechi in such a way that it didn’t come to murder, and of course it’s on shido to just not be a massive dick who endorses fascism and murders in the first place. and i was like ok, well, this seems a little patronizing and dismissive of akechi’s agency and autonomy, but alright, sure.

in a very roundabout way of explaining my first two sentences, there’s one thing that bothers me lately, and it’s selim bradley from fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood.

for those of us not familiar with fma:b, selim, or pride, is the oldest homunculus/artificial human in the show and the second-oldest villain, despite the fact that he looks about eight years old. of the seven homunculus named after deadly sins, selim/pride is the only one to survive the show--with an asterisk, which is that selim gets the “homunculus” part of him erased by the end of the show. with the “pride” aspect of him gone, selim is mortal, without any special powers, without memories of any of his amoral acts, and is generally just a happy, normal child.

which is a weird exception to fma:b’s general rule in which every other homunculus dies. even fan favorites like greed and envy don’t live, despite the fact that greed and envy are far more sympathetic as characters. selim kills multiple people on-screen, shows zero remorse whatsoever, and is an active helper in all the other mass-murders that the homunculi engineer. selim’s not an innocent in any way. also, he’s like, 200 years old? 300? he’s very old. biologically, mentally, emotionally, selim is not a child.

but fma:b goes out of its way to make sure that selim gets a second chance at a future, just because his body looks like a child’s. cut another way, he gets an exception from a large number of terrible crimes, up to an including participation in genocide, just because he looks like a child.

fma:b reminded me that, outside of tumblr’s purity politics over children, and especially so in japan, children are socially constructed in a very specific way, beyond biological age and legal majority cutoffs.

yes, biological age is a thing. yes, legal majority is a thing. i’m not saying that being a child isn’t a biological thing--it is, obviously. but what i’m saying is that there’s a difference between, say, the sex assigned to you at birth and your gender presentation, to use an analogy. there is a such thing as biological age, but the societal status of being a child of a related but separate thing. and this status of being considered a child is a societal construct.

the social construction goes like this, insofar as i’m aware: children should be good and silent and dutiful and work hard and go to school and listen to their elders, and their elders in turn should do everything they can to guide the children to the right path and build a good society for these children to inherit. (if we want more details on this, please see the entire history of filial piety in asia.)

so that’s a social contract right there baked into the social construct of childhood: children don’t have power, but adults have an obligation to make sure they don’t need power, and to make sure that the future and their children’s futures look bright.

children represent the future, essentially. they’re the next generation. they’re simultaneously without legal rights as adults and in a very vulnerable position, for sure, but they’re also simultaneously considered the country’s most precious capital: quite literally the people who will inherit and lead the country next.

which, personally, i think puts a whole new spin on the phantom thieves in general. they’re not just kids who’re being rowdy or kids telling abusive shitty adults theyre being abusive and shitty--or, they’re kids doing those things, but they’re not just kids doing those things. they’re kids who’ve been specifically let down by adults who did not fulfill their social obligation to them. they’re kids who’ve been abandoned and neglected by the very adults who should have been paving the way forward for them, as society has asked those adults to do, because those adults have instead chosen to line their own pockets and cover their own asses.

so the kids said: alright, well, then i’ll take power for myself, and i’ll make my own future. (which is where we get a lot of those promo slogans of “steal back your future” and junk like that.)

sae’s comments about how adults should do their part to fix the world for the kids is just a resolidifying of the way the world “should” work, and we could talk about her comments on the matter, but actually i wanna talk about yoshida.

i especially want to talk about yoshida because yoshida and shido are the two politicians we see the most of, and both of them spend a lot of time reciting political rhetoric to speak to the hearts of the general japanese populace. we all know the way that shido thinks of japan: a large vehicle that one person is in control of, and the masses just compose the throne upon which the ruler sits.

we also already know that yoshida’s a Real G, but it’s worth really close-reading some of his lines. he speaks a lot about apathy, the lack of caring for each other in society--a general willingness to disregard your fellow man, to not uphold one’s social obligation to each other. but he also talks a lot about the “youth”--which is not really uncommon for a politician, obviously, since politicians are always talking about “the children” and “the kids” and “the next generation” and “those damn millennials” and all that shit.

yoshida instead gives us these fun lines:

A world where the young exist only to be exploited... is a world that must be changed!

And while our society appears to be prosperous, many of our young people are quietly suffering. They lack jobs, security, savings... The next generation will lead us into the future and yet they have no plan for how to arrive there.

Passing on the societal ills we have created to the next generation... is not right!

...the current administration refuses to discuss their plans for the future... Can we really accept such an utter lack of transparency?!

If you make a promise, you must keep it. If you make a mistake, you must atone for it. These are basic human principles that we have all learned from the youngest of ages...

yoshida’s entire thing about how the adults have let the children down isn’t just him saying shit--he’s commenting directly on the fact that the social contract has been broken, and he’s putting the blame on the administration for not upholding their responsibility to secure a future for the children, especially since the children are the future of the country.

this is partly why he doesn’t blame the phantom thieves for acting the way that they do; rather, he seems them as a logical reaction to the injustice that’s occurred as a result of the society that the adults have left for them:

I bet [the Phantom Thieves] are a group of young people. Young people who have experienced cruelty and injustice... They bravely face the societal ills that plague our world without thinking of the consequences.

(i think also in part he admires the fact that they’re anonymous and don’t benefit personally from their actions, which is exactly the opposite of what he did as a young politician. he also doesn’t throw the real embezzlement culprit under the bus to exonerate himself presumably for the same principle of desiring selfless public service instead of personal gain.)

in both the early parts of the s link and later on when yoshida starts talking with matsushita more extensively, akira’s important because he’s young--he represents the young demographic that yoshida and matsushita are discussing the future of. akira demonstrating support for yoshida in a public way means a lot because he’s a minor. matsushita asks akira for his opinions on the phantom thieves and other issues because akira is a minor. akira’s opinion is supposed to be heard and valued by adults, who should take his opinions into consideration and do their best to not let him down.

this is tied into the general thread of yoshida being a person who was self-admittedly just as corrupt as everyone else, who was blinded by glamor and fame and money, who got caught up in political scandal. yoshida’s general acceptance of his mistakes as a human being and politician ties over to his general belief that it’s not that the youth are rebellious no-good teens, but that the youth have been let down by politicians like who he used to be. he blames himself, and because he is not too different from the rest of the older generation and politicians in general, he implicates a lot of the older generation and politicians as also blame-worthy.

his quest for redemption and atonement dovetails neatly with his views on the broken societal contract. taken together, yoshida’s s link implies to us the idea that the entire general older generation in japan more or less owes the children of japan a formal apology, and the older generation better get on their redemption arc and start being the vanguard of the change for children:

The reason [the Phantom Thieves are] causing a stir is because they are addressing the world’s problems. Setting aside whether their actions are right or wrong... there is one thing I can safely say about the Phantom Thieves. A belief with conviction... has the ability to move a person’s heart.

I’m sure you are all aware that I am “No-Good Tora,” the one accused of embezzlement. However, because I was accused like that, I was able to understand the suffering of the weak. Why am I in politics? In the past, it was merely for personal gain. But why do the Phantom Thieves continue to change hearts? I believe they do it for the world and its people. And in choosing to do justice for others, they had no choice but to disguise themselves. No matter what the world says, I fully support them.

I’m just an average citizen. However, I will continue to voice my beliefs. I may not be able to become a Diet member this election... and I may not be able to effect change during my lifetime... but I’ve made my peace with that. I will be happy as long as I can be a meaningful stepping stone for the future of our youth!

okay. so that was a lot of close reading about yoshida. why did we do this exercise, tumblr user akechicrimes.

there’s two takeaways from this. the first is the one that yoshida has already talked about extensively, which is that the phantom thieves are just but not because Fuck Cops and Fuck Capitalism and Fuck Anime Jeff Bezos. the phantom thieves are just because the people who are supposed to be upholding society aren’t doing their fucking jobs. the phantom thieves are specifically saying: we’ve been let down by society, so apparently we have to do everything our goddamn selves around here.

(which also ties in neatly to the general “fuck cops” vibe of persona 5 which, i would like to say, is very specifically “the cops are not doing their jobs.” the TV station scene where akira speaks back to akechi is, if i’m remembering this right, maybe the ONLY time we really hear “akira’s” opinion on the morality of his own activities, which is fascinating because he just does these things without ever justifying himself to the player--anyway, his three options are: (1) They’re justice itself, (2) They’re necessary, and (3) They do more than the cops. so akira can’t ever at any point say that the phantom thieves are bad, but his most interesting and detailed answer is to point out that the cops aren’t doing what they’re supposed to do, so who can really blame the phantom thieves for doing what the cops aren’t?)

the second takeaway is that yes, goro akechi does get more leniency because he’s a minor.

yes. seriously. this isn’t a matter of excusing what he did, or downplaying the fact that he committing murder. i’m not saying that he wasn’t old enough to make decisions (although i would never say that he was old enough to make decisions, because he was 14/15 when he got wrapped up in shido’s conspiracy). i’m also not saying that akechi, somehow for some reason, didn’t volunteer himself willingly, because all the evidence points to the fact that he did (although of course “free will” is also highly circumspect considering his living conditions at the time and the fact that shido makes it clear that he was able to manipulate akechi without ever infringing on akechi’s sense of autonomy). i’m not even saying that akechi was driven to the point of murder and had no other choice (although i think that might also be true as well).

what i am saying is that under the construction of childhood as japan’s future and japan’s hope, akechi is considered a valuable member of society, and is therefore worth saving.

or at least he should be.

akechi says that he’s an unwanted child, but “unwanted child,” according to yoshida’s rhetoric (and a lot of japan’s general rhetoric of children as hope for the future) is an oxymoron. (or at least it would be an oxymoron if japan weren’t so fucking hypocritical.) you can’t not want the future of the country. you can’t not want hope for a good future. the very idea that a child could be not wanted or not valuable doesn’t make any sense, because children are the future--in some ways, whether you like it or not, that child is going to inherit the earth when you’re dead.

the kind of person who’d not want those things is--well, shido. (this is why i used yoshida; yoshida and shido are two polar opposite politicians.) shido quite literally does not want a good future for anyone in the country and quite literally does not want akechi and quite literally does not see akechi, one of the very young-person citizens that shido is supposed to be serving, as useful or valuable in any way unless akechi is directly promoting shido’s fame and popularity. shido being akechi’s father is just a very neat and nice way of literalizing the ways that shido, as an adult, has let down akechi as a child--the ways that shido quite literally owed akechi something to make akechi’s life and future better, and instead did everything awful.

there should not ever be a thing like “unwanted child.” that in and of itself, from the start of akechi’s life, was nonsensical. and to the extent that shido being akechi’s father is allegorical of the ways that shido is a terrible patriarch for japan, i would say that akechi, as an unwanted foster child, is just another allegory for the ways that children nowadays are treated as misbehaving, lazy good-for-nothings who have to work themselves into the dirt to be given half the salary and half the praise. akechi, as an unwanted child, is just the personification and representative of an apparently unwanted generation.

what i’m getting at is that akechi’s status as a minor (and yes he’s a minor even if he’s eighteen; age of majority in japan is twenty)--akechi’s status as a minor is a critical part of why akechi gets a shot at a redemption arc. so yes, actually, the other villains or palace-rulers don’t get redemption arcs because they are adults, who had a societal obligation to do better by their peers and by the children of japan. yes, actually, akechi’s informal “trial” in the hands of fandom is to be tried as a minor and not as an adult. yes, i know kamoshida didn’t kill anyone and akechi’s literal crimes are more morally repugnant, but yes, unfortunately, being a minor does actually exonerate him on the morality spectrum to a degree.

being a child matters in the larger scheme of persona 5′s logic of who owes who, who’s responsible for who, and why we should not be apathetic. adults owe children a better future. adults have been letting children down. adults owe every single phantom thief, including akechi, an apology, a better future, and health and happiness; and they owe that to japan’s future not as a matter of exchange or morals, but simple social obligation. adults are supposed to take care of the kids--full stop.

”okay but @ tumblr user akechicrimes?? akechi KILLED people.”

yeah, i know. i said “being a minor does actually exonerate him on the morality spectrum to a degree.”

what degree? no idea. that’s up to you to decide. if you want to play in the black-grey-white morality scale that only goes two ways, you’re welcome to continue to ask “what degree.” we can argue that being a minor somehow reels akechi back from the “black” end of the spectrum into the “grey” or “white” parts.

but (if i may be permitted to go completely off the shits into things that might make people pissed off at me for saying) i implore you to consider that this two-way scale of morality is not the line of thought that persona 5 is pursuing.

this, again, ties back into the social construction of a child. i’ve said “a child is representative of the country’s future” so many times i think it’s lost meaning, so let me dice it a different way: a child is socially constructed as representative of potential and hope. a child is socially constructed as the capacity for things to get better. in persona terms, a child is the fool at the start of their journey, all futures contained in one present, a vast multitude of could-be’s.

for a game very concerned with japan’s general societal ruin, children are not just in the position of having been let down by adults, but are--as the phantom thieves demonstrate--representative of better futures regardless of how terrible circumstances look in the current day. they are a source of believing one day this sad, depressing story might actually end with “and then they lived happily ever after.”

if i may go even more completely off the shits, take a look at this heckler from yoshida’s s link, which is the one that akira speaks back to in the middle of yoshida’s speech:

...I’ve been wrong this whole time. Even though someone has failed in the past, it doesn’t mean that person can’t try again.

this is to say, redemption arcs insofar as persona 5 (and also persona 5 royal, i think) is concerned is not a question of necessarily addressing the wrongs that have occurred. yoshida sets the bar pretty high in that yoshida does not ask for forgiveness for what he’s done, and instead simply accepts his actions and their consequences without attempting to lessen the blow. he embraces what he’s done in all its awfulness.

but because akechi is a a minor, and because akechi as a minor is getting wrapped up in persona 5′s train of thought about kids as the hopeful futures of japan, akechi is at the very least owed a chance to do better. as a minor, japan is societally contracte to give him the space to have the potential to be better and do better. nobody is obligated to forgive him, and indeed neither royal nor akechi ever seem to entertain this as a valid possibility. forgive, forget, reconciliation, retribution, and resolution seem to be all off the table, as if the very idea would minimize haru or futaba’s losses. the very conceit of the dreamworld in P5R wants to shoot down the very idea that the past can ever, to any degree, be fixed, remedied, or even emotionally resolved. akechi will have always killed wakaba and okumura and this fact will always be awful--full stop.

nevertheless, despite the fact that the past cannot be changed, akechi is still a minor. rather than attempting to resolve the issues of the past, akechi is still owed the space to become a beacon of potential change for the better in the future--which is also known as hope.

i’ve said this in other posts elsewhere, but persona games are like, obsessed with hope. they fucking adore that shit. why not? even in difficult times, even when things are terrible and you’re going through misery, if you at least have hope that one day things will be better, that life will change, that the new generation will step up to the plate and make the story have a happy ending, pain becomes easier to bear. and why not? persona games cover a breadth of difficult topics.

especially in a game like P5, which talks at length about modern day japan’s ailments, what good is it if the player walks away with a defeatist attitude that the future will be terrible?

if reality is malleable like morgana says, isn’t the first step to have hope that this is true?

this post has gone on a lot longer than i thought it would. but in any event. that’s why it is valid to say that akechi being a minor “exonerates” him to a degree.

also selim bradley lives because fma:b concurs that children are a hope for a better future and fma:b is particularly invested in this line of thought because it’s a story about edward transitioning from a child to a young adult who is learning about the ways that the world works and is also still just childlike enough to propose that the world shouldn’t have to work in the bloody, awful way that it does. selim is representative that all children should be given as many chances as possible to do and be better because they are representative of potential. if that wasn’t clear. lmao.

#meta #mine

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badlydrawndrawnings · 5 years ago

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Takuto Maruki’s Cursed Timeline

[NOTE: Everything in this post is mostly comprised of juicedup14′s Fan Translations, because they are honestly the most reliable ones I have access to. If anyone wants to kindly make a rebuttal regarding events on the timeline or correct events on the time/other corrections not related to the timeline, feel free to do so].

Looking back at the Original Vanilla Persona 5, and comparing it to Royal story wise, something tells me that Atlus creating Takuto Maruki into existence sort of accidentally muck up the timeline. It’s not help by the fact Atlus is still refusing to accept 2016 as the year Persona 5 takes place and use 201X despite calendars lining up.

Because we don’t have a Birthday OR Birth Year, for the purpose of this post, Takuto is a Pisces born between Feb 20, 1988 (because Futaba’s BD is Feb 19) and March 20, 1988 (Excluding March 3 because that is Yuka Ayase from Persona 1′s BD). 1988 makes Takuto 28 in 2016, and 29 when Royal ends. I don’t think Atlus wants him young as 21 or 22, but I don’t think Atlus wants him older than 30, and details of his past makes me think he isn’t 23, 24 or 25. Also for purpose of this post, P5 will be given the year 2016, because 201X is actually going to be mention several times and I don’t want confusion in the timeline.

In regards to the timeline, we must talk about the first elephant, Wakaba Isshiki and her involvement in cognitive (p)science.

Original Vanilla Persona 5 shows that Wakaba is in the field of cognitive (p)science research, and her research has ties to the government. Wakaba’s involvement within the cognitive (p)science field made her super important (seemingly almost leading pioneer important) to where Shido thought that to steal Wakaba’s research (after she refused to turn it to him), he needed to order a hit on her. All of this is the same in Royal. No retcons at all.

With the addition of Takuto’s character who is involve in the same field, you think someone could have named dropped a connection, right? Wrong! There is no connection (that I can find) linking Wakaba and Takuto, and Takuto when meets Futaba and seeing Wakaba’s research, he seems to have no idea who Wakaba is at all.

In fact, all of Takuto’s past (which will be discussed under the cut) gives implication cognition (p)science research is new. Not new-new, but new enough that people are still apparently trying to be the first to make a real name for themselves in the field independently(as much as it can) from the government, and Takuto was a top contender on the list. An explanation for the first elephant is simple: Wakaba got into the field of cognitive (p)science when it was new-new and was able to snag government connections. Takuto meanwhile, got into cognitive (p)science when people were trying make a real name for themselves independently while in university and stuck with uni for a good while.

So far, so good. Elephant two and all the heavy major spoilers is under the cut.

Elephant Two of the cursed timeline is the breakup with Rumi and when Takuto lost his future lab because his research wasn’t ‘valid’ enough, as the two events happen in close succession with one another. Rumi was Takuto’s college/uni girlfriend (the wording makes me think they started dating during uni and stay together ever since; they’re college-uni sweethearts). Based off the the diaries entries, Takuto and Rumi were still engaged to one another between 2/2 of 201X and 4/9 of 201X. 2/2 entry states that 2/3 (aka, ‘tomorrow’) is also Rumi’s Birthday. 4/9 entry is written in the Spring, with Rumi in the hospital shock and traumatize over the lost of her parents and Takuto trying to still wrap his own trauma and shock over Rumi’s parents death and Rumi herself.

By the time of Takuto’s conversation with Rumi at the hospital -clearly happening in late spring given Takuto’s third diary entry is in early summer, and because polo shirt are worn in warm temperature of spring and summer- Takuto finished his first thesis, aka the research pre-cognition overwrite (aka, Takuto’s power). In this same conversation, Takuto awakens his Persona abilities in the real world (it’s not a full awakening tho), but seems to not use it again after Rumi.

At least not until Takuto lost his future lab.

Based off the second flashback with Takuto and Shibusawa (aka, Takuto’s friend; juicedup14 translated the friend’s name), Takuto’s research came to a complete halt, and the future lab Takuto is planning on having is also halted as well. In the previous flashback with Rumi, Takuto mentions someone took an interest. By 6/3 entry, Takuto is now rewriting his thesis and doing his second round of research. With this rewrite and powers, Takuto seems to realize ‘oh shit cognitive (p)science is dangerous better make sure it doesn’t cause harm’.

By the flashback with Yoshizawa meeting Takuto in 2016 (aka, before the start of the game) the man has that Shaggy’s style beard, meaning enough time past after everything in 201X, as well with the fact Takuto had enough time to establish a practice because realistically, Yoshizawa’s parents must have gotten Takuto’s name as a referral or pick from a list of professional for their daughter to at least see. To keep Takuto’s past stay as close as possible to P5/Royal (since Rumi still stings a sore spot in Takuto’s heart even in 2016), Takuto’s worst year has to happen in 2014. And with 2014 in mind, timeline isn’t cursed when looking at it as a whole.

(Pre) 2/2, 2014: Possibly 25 or 26 year old Takuto has terrible headaches like Rita Repulsa, and Takuto pops the question to Rumi. Rumi says yes.

2/2, 2014: 26 year old Takuto writes in his diary about meeting Rumi’s parents (on her birthday). Headaches are still terrible.

Possibly 2/3, 2014: Rumi’s Birthday, and Takuto meets Rumi’s parents. There’s a chance the burglary happens on Rumi’s birthday, so for the purpose of this post, let’s assume it’s the case. Rumi loses her parents and lands in the hospital due to the shock of the trauma.

4/9, 2014: Another diary entry. 27 year old Takuto’s headaches get worse, as well has the pain in his heart due to the condition of Rumi.

Post 4/9, 2014 (Probably April): Takuto gains powers of cognition overwrite; he heals Rumi at the cost of retconning himself out of Rumi’s life.

Post 4/9 2014 (Probably late April or most likely May; see Elephant Three and Four): Takuto’s research and future lab are stopped. Takuto gets drunk over it with Shibusawa. This is one of two periods where someone *coughshidocough* stole Takuto’s original research.

6/3, 2014: Takuto is still early on in round two of his research. This is the second of two periods where someone*coughshidocough* stole Takuto’s original research

Post 6/3, 2014 but Pre-March 2016: 26 or 27 year old Takuto decides to stop being a research and decides becomes a therapist/counselor after talking to Shibusawa.

Pre-March 2016: 26 or 27 year old Takuto is now a therapist with a practice

March 2016: 27 or 28 year old Takuto see Yoshizawa and creates Ka-sumire (yeah he just changed Sumire’s cognition of herself and it’s not a fusion of the two, but technically it is in a sense?)

12/24, 2016: Should Joker max Takuto’s Co-op/Confidant, Takuto finishes his second research paper/thesis, shows it to his his old professor, and says his suspicion who stole the original research, and awakens his Persona when reality and Mementos fuse together thanks to Yaldy. Takuto becomes God (like). If we take Takuto’s word, Goro is dead and brings him back to life

1/1, 2017: Third Semester officially start.

So far, still good. And now we get to the Elephant Three, Four, and Five: Masayoshi Shido, Goro Akechi, and Wakaba Isshiki’s death. That’s right; Wakaba is back at it again, though it’s not her fault. All three are connection to one another so they’re all in a little heard of elephants. We ought to blame Shido deciding to order a hit on Wakaba with his supernatural hitman but not trying to kill Takuto when getting a chance.

On 12/24, Takuto is convince it’s Shido who stole the original research all those years ago (with Takuto mistaken that his research was used for psychotic breakdowns, this help narrow the timeline) -which I do think it's legit given the professor response and Shido canonically stole Wakaba’s research- resulting in Takuto to start over from scratch. It’s odd to think Shido allow Takuto to live when Shido has a supernatural hitman at his beck in call...right? To re-summarize a post I don’t want to link because I’m only going to be taking about 2014, Goro Akechi’s Timeline of 2014 is this:

2014, between Goro’s last year of middle school and the beginning of his first year of high school, 15 year old Goro (he won’t be 16 until June 2) awakens to his Persona and Powers. There are no serious rampages (aka psychotic breakdowns) and obviously no mental shutdowns. Goro experiment with generic shadows in the Metaverse to understand WTF is going on with him.

2014, May in Goro’s 1st year. Goro decides to show himself to Shido and his powers (Goro clearly didn’t show up as a train hitman; just someone who knows he has powers to make life go swimmingly well). As Goro and Shido knew each other for 2.5 years, the midpoint for a year anniversary in May is November, which fits the long ass exposition scene. The psychotic breakdown we know in P5 also get there start here.

2014, August in Goro’s 1st year. Wakaba dies in her car accident. As Goro’s BD is in June, and given what Shadow!Shido says to the PT, Shido introduced the idea of mental shutdown to Goro post June, and Shadow!Wakaba is most likely sixteen year old Goro’s first human Shadow he had to kill.

Given Takuto’s personal timeline, while we don’t have the exact dates for when the lab and future research was canned and when Shido stole Takuto’s original research, the only ball park estimate is Late April or May, with May best corresponding to Goro’s starting his plan of revenge and deciding to work for Shido. The idea of a 15 year old somehow having access to a university, stealing a grown’s man thesis paper without getting caught, and giving it to Shido as well as bringing up supernatural powers in rapid succession is humorous, but obviously wrong.

The idea Takuto’s first research thesis was stolen right before Goro approached Shido is the only placement that makes sense. We have Takuto who is basically on the fine line of being a nobody and somebody. Takuto was gonna join the big leagues. We have Shido who has his goals of taking over Japan, as well as the drive. Shido is still a regular corrupt politician, and has no way of say, killing someone by special means and get away with it at of this moment.

Canonically, Shido’s interested in cognitive (p)science boils down to ‘I can use this for my goal of becoming prime minister’. Given his role in the government, he must had heard Wakaba’s name and research, but had no real means on talking to her about it since Shido apparently only spoken to Wakaba once or twice to get her to hand over the cognitive (p)science research. The closest he can get to Wakaba’s research is this coffee driven twenty-something year old who looks like he never seen a comb or brush in his life (I doubt Takuto is this, but Shido probably think so) thesis paper that Shido takes a shine to it. A really good shine. Like, ‘Hm...I’m gonna take it and hope there’s physical proof to it in the future and ruin this man’s whole career while I’m at it’ shine.

Just has Shido read a few paragraphs, Goro shows up and offers his powers. Even though Shido hasn’t read the full paper, Goro is the physical proof that somehow support Takuto’s paper. Shido being Shido, still wants Wakaba’s research because it’s been in the making for much longer than Takuto’s. With new knowledge how the other world works due to Goro causing rampages of psychotic breakdowns, Shido throw aside Takuto’s research and order the hit he couldn’t do on Takuto onto Wakaba. And you think that Shido would have taken another chance at Takuto with Goro, but he didn’t.

Why? Takuto is no longer in the field of cognitive (p)science by this point because now he’s either a therapist/counselor or on the path of being a therapist/counselor. With a ruin research career and having to switch job, Shido probably did the right move from his POV to not add Takuto as another needed casualty. Because Shido in a sense, spared Takuto’s life a second time around, it also answers a question I found in Third Semester:

If Shido stole Takuto’s research, why does Goro have no idea who Takuto is when they properly met in Third Semester (remember: Goro has a question mark symbol when Takuto is reveal to be the Palace Owner, meaning Goro is confuse that this random guy is something Joker and Ka-sumire know, and Goro has to research Takuto’s past to explain to Joker)? And the answer is Goro truly has no idea who Takuto Maruki is! By the time Goro introduced himself to Shido, Shido found the man irrelevant and no longer important to bring up to his supernatural hitman as a target because Shido can get the true diamond in his eyes: Wakaba Isshiki’s research.

This would also put Takuto’s assumption of the psychotic breakdowns and how Shido introduced mental shutdowns to Goro into a new light. Psychotic Breakdowns is canonically Loki’s special power Goro can us on others to make them go wild and destructive and go on rampages. Mental Shutdown is pretty much killing the Shadow and seeing whatever will happen next. The two are not the same thing, despite what the original Vanilla Localization says by lumping the two together; it’s a mistake on the localization part. In fact, I’m a bit convince there’s a chance Takuto fell into the same mistake as well...

#takuto maruki #goro akechi #masayoshi shido #wakaba isshiki #p5r spoilers #persona 5 royal spoilers #persona 5 the royal spoilers #persona 5 royal #persona 5 the royal #major spoilers #endgame spoilers #this is a text post #timeline

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badlydrawndrawnings · 6 years ago

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Rewriting Goro

While Trying to Incorporate the Canon Parts (because I been wondering how the game could have kept Goro as in Canon while fixing the character/whole thing better).

Goro doesn’t think of his ‘didn’t think this plan out well’ plan of working with Shido in order to take him down and inadvertently becoming a supernatural hitman. Goro didn’t plan on killing him in canon, so it’s the same here. Since no one is taking down Shido and all the others rotten people, he’s going to do it. Goro still decides to become a teen detective. I headcanon Shido gave Goro some help with some influence and connections (Goro couldn’t get that famous with just faking a few cases + real work at times), and since Goro isn’t working with Shido in this rewrite, Goro is just a plain wannabe teen detective. However, he isn’t that bad, and while not on the levels of Naoto, he gets a new nickname different from canon: The Black and White Detective of the Law.

Goro sees the world as black and white: those that are guilty criminals, and the innocent people hurt by them. Goro is set on getting the guilty no matter wait. At the beginning, Goro arrest real criminals that escape their crimes. However, in some cases, Goro make a few known criminals psychotic, as the law fail to put them behind bars the first time around, meaning the second time is a 100% guarantee (arrest for new crimes people). Goro keeps an eye on Shido, who is slowly gaining power and influence. Eventually, Goro learns of Wakaba Isshiki, and due to a terrible mistake, is under the idea she’s willingly working with Shido (quite the opposite though, as she’s trying to stop him from getting her research). While trying to get her to be psychotic, Goro inadvertently injures Shadow!Wakaba, causing a much late mental shutdown. Ergo, Wakaba’s death still happen, and Goro has no idea he’s related to it.

Now, Shido been keeping an eye on rivals and allies, and he learns of Goro’s existence after Wakaba’s sudden death (Shido added the note for the sake of it). Shido has no idea Goro is his kid until some investigation, and he realize there’s no way he can get Goro to work with him. Not voluntary of course. Being the smart man that he is, Shido, with lots of help to make sure it won’t be trace back to himself, gets Goro to do his dirty work. Goro now takes down associates of criminals, believing them to be guilty, not knowing half the people he arrests are framed by Shido, since they’re (admitting guilty of very minor crimes) rivals/innocent people getting in the way. This is how Ohya’s partner ends up in her state: it’s in a similar way to Wakaba. Unknown to Shido, Goro manged to learn about Madarame, Kaneshiro, and Okumura, and Goro plans on taking the them all down, as they have some connection to Shido (Goro is now trying to exposure Shido the good old fashion way).

Of course, Goro’s plan get derail by the Phantom Thieves, as he plan on taking down Kamoshida. Goro doesn’t take their arrival of his world so great. 2.5 years down the drain, and they think changing their hearts will fix everything. To Goro, while the PT get the confess to their crimes, it’s not a true confession. Has it been truly justice, the criminals would be face with the reality of their crimes without any outside help to help them (Goro is totally ignoring he makes people go psychotic cuz he in denial). Goro first meets the PT in Madarame’s Palace, just when it collapses (because honestly the game did Black Mask’s threat level poorly; if you got someone like that, actually show him a few times to and maybe let them interact). Goro/Black Mask and Joker fight, and Black Mask swears he’ll take down Joker if it’s the last thing he’ll do (”I’ll won’t have some criminal trash get in the way of true Justice”, something like that). Now the PT is out looking for the Black Mask. With this rivalry/hatred in the Metaverse, Goro and the Phantom Thieves in the real world get along great...kind of.

Goro befriended Joker after learning about Shido’s drunken night and the ‘attack’ of the teenage delinquent (Goro sees Joker as innocent as mention above). Goro finds him at Cafe LeBlanc, and Joker starts the Confidant/Co-Op earlier. At this point, no one know Goro’s reputation, so the rest of the PT at this point (Ryuji and Anne, granted she does say Goro is familiar), are okay. It’s only after Madareme’s change of heart does it change at the TV Station. Goro calls them criminals, stating what they’re doing is wrong. It sours things, but Joker is still dead set on being Goro’s friend because he think Goro can change his black and white views. The rest of the PT (even those that join later) go ‘FINE”, and they use Goro as a mean to learn info about the problems of the police. In this world, Goro is just working with just the police, having no relationship with Sae (he knows of her, but they never talk as he’s at the bottom of the ladder). As such, Makoto’s issue/joining is still the same, sans Goro (Goro doesn’t know Sae, so he can’t really say much to Makoto).

It’s after Futaba’s Palace does the PT suspect Black Mask involved in Wakaba’s death. However, they know Black Mask isn’t working with the Conspiracy, as Shadow!Madarame and Shadow!Kaneshiro assumed the PT were allies with him. Thinking back to what he said about “Justice”, they realize the Black Mask’s justice became so skewered, he may have help caused Wakaba’s death, allowing the Conspiracy to play him. Maybe. Everyone is split. They don’t know if they’re being play, if their original assumption is right, or they should just ignore him because he’s actually not their priority at the moment since they haven’t seen or heard any trace of him in a while (they assumed he backed off). The fight of Ryuji and Morgana is more about what they’re going to do with Black Mask, as those two have the biggest different views: Ryuji and rest of PT are on team ignore him and Morgana on team being play. With being ‘abandon’ and his feeling less useful since no one is taking his word, Morgana leaves, trying to prove them wrong (so canon stuff here) in both ways.

Things go out of hand when it’s time to change Okumura’s Change of Heart, both the real and Metaverse world. In the real world, Goro confronts the PT earlier, showing the photo of them entering Okumura’s Palace. He’s upset with all of them, especially Joker, calling them out for befriending him just to get intel, and he runs away, ignoring Joker’s call. They’re scared that Goro, in his anger and ‘betrayal’ (from Goro’s POV), will turn the photo in. However, they still have to worry about Okumura, so they’re extra cautious if Goro accidentally turns them in on the day of the change of heart. While it goes as plan, the PT are soon met with the Black Mask, trying to make Okumura go psychotic. They have a brief fight, ending with Black Mask getting shot by one of the PT (I say Haru, grabbing Makoto’s gun to save her father), and Black Mask shoots Shadow!Okumura, killing him. Everyone FREAK OUT, including Black Mask. As the PT run away, Black Mask lingering behind, realizing what he had done.

So the PT is now worried about Goro turning them in, the Black Mask wanting to get them for shooting him, and the fact Black Mask did something that could affect the change of heart process. Like Canon, Okumura dies, and they figure the Black Mask has no idea this was even a thing (remember, everyone freaked out). They almost get hearts attacks when Goro meets them at the school festival, telling them he won’t turn them in..if they can prove him wrong. At the cafe, at the proper meeting, Goro tells them about how he be investigation a politician, and that he may be behind everything going on for the last few years, telling them there’s word of Sae being in his pocket, unwittingly at least. If they get a change of heart on Sae, he’ll deleted the photo,and he’ll give the name of the politician so they can change his heart. As they bring up the Black Mask, Goro tells them he saw them, and that he certain the person had no idea shooting Shadow!Okumura would lead to his death, and swears he’ll capture the criminal, turning him in when they save Sae.

Everyone does learn Goro is going to betray them to the Police (not the Conspiracy; they know he has a beef with it, especially with the politician leader. Their theories are wacky, with Ryuji having the wackiest of all: Goro is related to the guy) so he can reclaim his title (everyone see how ironic it is). So the plan is alter a bit: Get Sae’s Palace to sneak out the real Joker, distracting everyone with a fake (and Sae to be their ally). Also, the PT is bit nicer here canon since Goro isn’t trying to kill Joker, but it’s still an act. Joker is upset by this because he thinks he can get Goro to spot what’s he doing and let him (and the others) go free. On the day of the canon heist, they start things off as plan, but unknown to them, Shido deep’s pocket are with the police, and they plan on framing Goro for murdering Joker. However, luck is on the PT and Goro’s side...sort of. The PT are fed lies that Goro, aka Black Mask is working with the Conspiracy, and that he killed Joker, so everyone is angry at Goro for his ‘hypocrisy’. In truth, Goro manged to catch wind of the PT plan, and rescued Joker from getting a headshot, and the two have a heart to heart chat. Goro is upset this is the second time they the PT lied to him. Joker brings up how Goro did set a trap though, and Goro explain he was hoping to convince Sae to get Joker a light sentence, as Goro was going to give up all the info he has of the Conspiracy as well so the two can go to jail together in a rewritten rank eight:

Goro tells Joker about being Black Mask, how the Conspiracy -before it even became it- ruined his life, and the guilt for getting played by Conspiracy into killing, hurting,and arresting innocent people. He tells Joker to get the PT stand down. At this point, the news break out Joker is dead, so Goro suspects he’s being frame. Goro wants to take down the Conspiracy by himself, saying the PT brand of justice isn’t going to work in this case. So they part ways, and everyone is shock to see Joker alive. As Joker tells them what Goro told him, the mood is a bit sour, since they still think Goro is playing them. However, since their leader is alive, it’s a real 50/50 split. Excluding Joker, Anne, Yusuke, and Haru -she truly thinks now it was in accident, like Wakaba- believe Goro. Makoto, Morgana, and Futaba for not believing -she angry for what happened in her life after her mother’s death anf don’t believe it. Ryuji of all people is in the middle, as while he hates Goro, the story they hear doesn’t make too much so...if anything, he wants to hear it from Goro himself. Everyone can agree to take Shido’s heart (they figure it out) before Goro does his plan...whatever it is.

Everything follow canon, with a few differences. The Cleaner is more of Shido’s second hand here, and he doesn’t back down easy as the PT get the letters. He does a bad number on the PT, and they barely won. To make things worse, while trying to escape. they run into Goro . He complains to Joker for not telling the PT to stand down, since they’re going to ruin everything, and that he’s going to turn them in. The not believing Goro team call him out for ‘working’ with Shido and that he should turn himself in. Goro is upset at this accusation, telling everyone how he can he work for such a scumbag of a father. So everyone is going ‘wtf’, and Goro tells them how he’s the bastard child of Shido, and how he ruined his family life to where his mom killed herself (Ryuji feels vindicated).

Everyone is now more or less on the same team, and they try to get Goro to rejoin the team to change Shido’s heart, since they didn’t actually kept their word to Goro. If they do that, Goro turns himself for the things he did as Black Mask. Goro doesn’t want too. Since at this point his black and white view is turning grey, he’s was hoping to maybe cling onto whatever he has left of his reputation. He doesn’t want to give into society’s view of his status of a bastard criminal, and they fight. The PT win the first time, and they try to get Goro to change his mind still, bringing up all of their misfortunes on how society tries to paint them the wrong way too. They’ll say they are willing to stand by his side, knowing how he was with no one for a long time It almost works, but Loki convinces Goro that it’s another trick like all the others, decides to summons Loki and becomes Black Mask, finally ‘accepting’ who he truly is.

Of course the PT beat his ass, and they still try to get Goro to rejoin them. Back to his senses, Goro does agrees, though he doesn’t look too convince it’s going to work out easy. As they all start to leave, freaking Cleaner comes back, with reinforcement. Goro, being the closest, tries to pull the stunt he does in canon (doesn’t help the Cleaner is actually targeting Goro) but the PT decide to help and they escape back to the real world. Goro is grateful and thanks them...and also ask for them to call Sae. He realize he’s more useful as a witness than taking down Shido, and that a change of heart, Shido will have supporters/allies to keep his plan up. So Goro is secretly arrested by the police, and he gives up all the information he has of Shido and the Conspiracy.

So Goro is out, leaving the boss fight as it is with Shido. As the PT confronts Shadow!Shido after finally defeating him, telling them about how Goro is his own son, and that how it’s his own flesh and blood that’s going to help take him down. As the Palace does his collapse, Shadow!Shido gets the last laugh, telling them that Goro is already dead the second he turned himself in, and that they’ll be joining him soon (cue cutscene of Goro getting a visitor). The PT escape the Palace (no one beats on Ryuji since everyone has important things to worry about, and it’s Ryuji who brings up after they meet up again). They contact Sae, and she’s upset, as it turns out Goro ‘killed’ himself, but all signs points to a murder. However, since Goro’s evidence he collect is still good, they can use it in Shido’s trial (it sucks that there’s no witness though to back the evidence up). Goro did left something behind for Joker, ranking up the Confidant/Co-op from the dead (idk the item. Thinking cuff links or the tie).

So everyone mourns Goro, and get the shock of their live when Shido admits to his crimes...including Goro, telling the world about his son and how manipulated from afar. So the PT has some hope justice will be done, but of course, there’s still the issue with Mementos and Yabadadoo. Speaking of which, learning the truth of that gets a stronger reaction, as everyone is upset Joker and Goro (and in some ways, everyone else), were pawns. For Goro, they realize he died believing everything will turn out fine (when it isn’t). Everything is the same as canon, and Joker turns himself in, more for Goro since died almost for nothing. And like canon, Joker gets out. Everything ends the same way like the game.

It’s honestly not the best rewrite, and the tweaks of the Confidant/Co-Op make no sense at times. However, Goro’s character is still the ‘same’ like canon, being the traitor while getting his story flesh out to be believable and make him more understandable. And he gets a solid conclusion. It’s not a great one, but it’s better than the AWOL Schrodinger Cat situation the game did.

#persona 5 #goro akechi #akechi goro #this is a text post #character rewrite #plot rewrite

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