#wildcard futaba

[lesbiamano]

all the wildcard!futaba and justice!sumi art ive done so far ^_^

[phantomthiefgaige]

So just a heads up, some of my followers may wanna avoid the Wildcard Futaba AU I’m making for….reasons

Content Warnings include

Sexual Harassment

Murder

Bullying

Emotional Abuse

Emotional Trauma

Parental Trauma

Drugs

Alcohol

Depictions of blood

Do I really gotta say swearing? It’s persona. No shit it’s got swe-

Morgana

Sibling neglect

Seriously, Persona CW’s are fucking wild. I can keep going too.

Manipulation

Depictions of very bad weather (Thanks Netflix)

Terrible writing

And many, many, many more

So if that’s not your cup of tea…might wanna skip it folks. For everyone else…hold in tight. It’s gonna be a doozy…

[235uranium]

"loki is akechi's hate" "loki is destroying akechi's psyche" you're all cowards. loki is akechi's anger and outrage at being trapped and abused. and that is NOT a bad thing

[iguanasplit]

i need more of the hermitfaith au

-"So, shall we meet Again, Yoshizawa?"

It seems Sakura Futaba, has taken interest in me.

(I am thou, tho art i,

Thou hast acquired a new vow...)

[The Wildcards from the HermitFaith AU]

[samasmith23]

How Goro Akechi effectively serves as a dark foil to the Phantom Thieves' brand of rehabilitative justice

So... I understand that Goro Akechi is a pretty divisive character within the Persona 5 fanbase (especially his pre-Royal incarnation), but I have to admit that I honestly found his backstory and role as a sinister foil to the Phantom Thieves to be legitimately intriguing. Elements which are revealed during his boss fight in the game’s “Cruiser of Pride” arc!

When the Phantom Thieves infiltrate the Meta-Verse to confront the Shadow of the corrupt ultra-nationalist politician, Masayoshi Shido, who’s palace takes the form of a gigantic yacht sailing through the ruins of a sunken Japan, they are suddenly confronted by Akechi in the ship’s engine room. Having just betrayed the team during the previous arc, Akechi is revealed to not only be the true culprit behind the mysterious wave of mental shutdowns & psychotic breakdowns (which included the deaths of two Phantom Thieves’ member’s parents, Futaba Sakura’s mother Wakaba Isshiki & Haru Okumura’s father Kunikazu Okumura respectively…) that have occurred throughout the game’s narrative as part of Shido’s conspiracy to get elected as Prime Minister, but that he is also Shido’s illegitimate child. Essentially, Akechi was the product of a dubious affair between Shido and a sex worker whom the former later discarded when he discovered that she was pregnant, driving her to depression and suicide shortly after Akechi's birth. Akechi spent his entire childhood being passed around as a “problem child” between various foster homes (highlighting Japan’s problems with how the country treats its orphaned children) before later being granted the power of a "wildcard" persona-user, as well as knowledge about the existence of the Meta-Verse by the false god of control, Yaldabaoth.

While Akechi was a societal outcast similar to the members of the Phantom Thieves, he took the wrong message from his experiences. Akechi misguidedly believes that the only way to truly oppose the status quo that looked down upon him is to not only become a part of it (i.e. caring only about his good grades & celebrity status) but to destroy everything that he hates by reducing himself to Shido's right-hand assassin in the Meta-Verse, perpetuating mental shutdowns & psychotic breakdowns on Shido’s political enemies simply to get some semblance of recognition & validation from his abusive father before exacting revenge on him (whilst exploiting his "ace-detective" celebrity status to "solve" the crimes that he himself committed).

Essentially, once Shido finally became prime minister Akechi planned to whisper the truth about being the former’s illegitimate child, telling Shido that he was only able to get where he was due to the son he abandoned and labeled as a potential “political scandal” before murdering him.

Despite Akechi and the Phantom Thieves' mutual dislike of Shido, the former is so fixated on vengeance that he does not care about the innocent lives he ruins and destroys in the crossfire to satisfy his own personal bloodlust. Instead of legitimately trying to reform society like the Phantom Thieves do, Akechi becomes a pawn of the very same systemic corruption that was responsible for his initial suffering. Akechi cares only about his own hatred & jealousy instead of empathizing with others who were also victimized by society’s ills. This contrast is visually reflected through the juxtaposition between Akechi and the Phantom Thieves’ leader, Joker, when they confront each other in the engine room of Shido’s yacht. While Joker is portrayed as standing strong alongside his teammates & friends, Akechi stands alone in the opposite end of the room, confused & angry. While there is a part of Akechi that regrets his horrible actions and even recognizes the potential for him & Joker to be friends due to their similar backgrounds, he's too far gone into his obsessive vendetta against Shido that he refuses to turn back and now desires to kill the Phantom Thieves in a misguided attempt to ease his internal conflict.

During the boss fight with Akechi in Shido's Palace, the detective prince repeatedly dismisses the Phantom Thieves' efforts to appeal to his common senses, believing that concepts like friendship and teamwork are foolish "cliched bullish*t... in this eat or be eaten world."

While this attitude of Akechi's might seem unrealistically cartoonish on the surface, it actually makes sense when considering his background of being unfairly labeled as a "throw-away child" by Japan's foster care institutions. YouTuber LadyVirgilia goes into far greater detail about this in her excellent The Truth About Goro Akechi analysis video. There, she states that an overwhelming number of Japanese orphans are incapable of being legally adopted due to impoverished parents voluntarily relinquishing them from their care while still maintaining legal guardianship over them. Additionally, LadyVirgilia discusses how violent hierarchical power structures often form among the children within these foster homes, with younger orphans sadly being subject to bullying & abuse by their older peers.

While these facts are not explicitly stated about Akechi's backstory within P5 Royal itself, they can easily be heavily inferred due to the game's heavy emphasis on exploring themes related to Japanese sociocultural issues. It’s implied that the institutional failings of Japan's foster care system (combined with Shido's abandonment of his son while he was still in the womb), ultimately contributed to the development of Akechi's warped perception of the rest of the world. Due to being dismissed as a "throw-away child" and being forced to grow up in an institution that is unfortunately subject to high rates of systemic abuse & neglect, Akechi spent his entire life feeling unwanted & loved. Ideals such as friendship & companionship became foreign and unrealistic concepts to him due to having experienced nothing but society's cold & uncaring apathy.

Essentially, Akechi became deeply jealous & hateful toward the rest of the world, misguidedly compelling him to want to prove his superiority over the rest of society by manufacturing his status as "the celebrity ace-detective and honors student who ultimately brought down Shido." But when Akechi encounters the Phantom Thieves and befriends their leader Joker, he begins to experience his first genuine bond of companionship. Despite developing a legitimate appreciation towards Joker, Akechi is simultaneously confused & unable to fully process these newfound feelings. Akechi becomes envious of Joker's ability to rise above his similar status as a societal outcast by befriending & protecting others like himself. Consequently, Akechi projects his own failings & inability to legitimately rise above his tragic upbringing beyond his false celebrity status onto Joker & the Phantom Thieves, cruely dismissing them as "the trash of society" and blaming them for interfering with his revenge plot against Shido. This empty & hollow existence that Akechi chooses to live is further reflected by the sole two personas that he utilizes during his boss fight: Robin Hood, who represents Akechi's false celebrity & justice-abiding gentleman facade, and Loki, who embodies Akechi’s true personality as a deceitful trickster & psychotic murderer.

I personally couldn’t help but find all of these elements to be rather interesting & insightful about Akechi’s role as an antagonist/rival to the Phantom Thieves. It honestly highlights the tragic nature of Akechi's situation, since while he had the potential to utilize his deductive knowledge & skills as a "wildcard" Persona-user similar to Joker, he instead allowed himself to be consumed by his own hatred & madness.

The parallels between Akechi & Joker are further evident through the latter also being a victim of Shido’s abuse. Specifically, the corrupt politician wrongfully sued Joker for “assault” when he tried to stop Shido from drunkenly forcing himself upon a woman. In contrast to Akechi however, Joker is motivated by his negative experiences to fight against the unjust status quo that figures like Shido represent to prevent similar abuses of power from ever occurring again to others. Additionally, we also see dualistic parallels between Akechi and other members of the Phantom Thieves, such as Makoto Nijima who similarly previously upheld the misconception that “good grades and following orders are all that truly matters to be a worthwhile member of society.” Whereas Makoto outgrows this mentality by instead choosing to utilize her status as student council president to help her suffering peers rather than for her own academic career, Akechi conversely exploits his intellect as an “ace-detective” to perpetuate societal injustices for his self-centered vendetta against Shido.

In essence, if the Phantom Thieves embody the potential benefits of rehabilitative justice then Goro Akechi embodies the dangers of retributive justice (aka, revenge). To reference two of my favorite movies, Batman Begins and Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, not only is there a strong difference between justice and revenge (one is about altruistic harmony whereas the other is about personal satisfaction), but the most surefire way to victory is by fighting to protect what you love rather than fighting to destroy what you hate...

The distinction between justice & revenge is made abundantly clear at the end of Akechi's storyline in the baseline game (i.e. before the Royal exclusive Third Semester new content), where following his defeat at the hands of the Phantom Thieves Akechi is suddenly approached by a cognitive duplicate of himself that dwells within Shido's palace. In addition to the Cognitive Akechi emphasizing the futility of Akechi's quest for acknowledgment & vengeance against Shido by revealing that the latter always intended to dispose of his right-hand assassin once he was elected prime minister, the cognitive duplicate also reveals the true depths of Shido's depravity when he states that he only ever viewed Akechi as a puppet to fulfill his own ambitions. While it is true that Akechi was so obsessed with revenge that he allowed himself to become a pawn of the corrupt status quo, it is exceptionally cruel to learn that this is how Shido has always viewed his own son (which is further punctuated by Shido later revealing to the Phantom Thieves that he secretly always suspected that Akechi was his illegitimate child due to how much he reminded him of his mother). It is this revelation in particular that allows the Phantom Thieves to better empathize with Akechi's tragic upbringing & circumstances. Even though they still seek to hold Akechi accountable for the murders that he committed at Shido's behest, the Phantom Thieves simultaneously recognize that in a sense, Akechi was also a victim of both Shido's cruelty and the systemic injustices of larger Japanese society.

This effectively culminates in the bittersweet resolution to Akechi's storyline in the base Persona 5 game. When the Cognitive Akechi duplicate offers his real-world counterpart one last chance to "redeem" himself in Shido's eyes by killing the Phantom Thieves in his stead, Akechi for the first time in his life decides to be his own person instead of being defined by the labels Shido and society had imposed upon him since birth. Choosing to no longer be a puppet of Shido's corrupt machinations, Akechi rejects his cognitive duplicate's hollow offer by instead turning his gun on the duplicate and his Shadow minions before sealing the engine room's watertight doors between himself and the Phantom Thieves. At the very end, Akechi was finally able to acknowledge that his desire for false appreciation from both his abusive father and larger society was ultimately worthless. Akechi ultimately sacrifices himself to allow the Phantom Thieves to escape, recognizing their true justice while entrusting them to do what he was incapable of by holding Shido accountable for his crimes & reforming society.

From a certain point of view, one could argue that the Phantom Thieves indirectly inspired a change of heart in Akechi by proving to him the validity of their sense of justice.

Overall, while I was initially indifferent towards Goro Akechi at the start of my playthrough of Persona 5 (and even outright skeptical & suspicious of his motives given his vocal opposition to the Phantom Thieves), by the time I got to his boss battle in Shido's palace I ended gained a deeper understanding and appreciation for what the developers at Atlus were attempting to convey with his character. Akechi effectively functions as both a cautionary tale about the dangers of allowing oneself to be consumed with thoughts of revenge, as well as a dark parallel to the Phantom Thieves who seek to legitimately reform society for altruistic rather than self-centered reasons. It was these elements that ultimately elevated Akechi into becoming one of my personal favorite members of P5's cast (right behind Makoto, Futaba & Ann...) from both a narrative and character writing perspective (especially with the Royal edition's overhauled confidant line for Akechi, which better fleshes out the latter's rivalry with Joker, and the player now has to progress manually instead of it being automatic)! And I am definitely curious to see how Royal's exclusive "Third Semester" content further fleshes out Akechi's character since I'm aware that he plays a major role in the new story content.

[katsona-the-katsequel]

The way I understand Persona awakenings...

The Investigation Team (sans Yu) and Futaba gained their Personas manually. The more natural way, we could say. The old way. The would-be user gained their assets personally to boot their Persona. However, this was still the hand-written version.

The Phantom Thieves (sans Futaba and Akira) also did it manually, but the 2.0 version. Not needing to walk all the way to retrieve the needed assets, they got them metaphorically shipped to their location and finished booting their Persona in half the time it took the Investigation Team to find their Shadows.

The P1 and P2 users (+Wildcards) gained their Personas by hiring a contractor. The expert acquired and installed all the proper assets for them and even added the latest features such as invoking them in the physical world or owning more than one at the same time. You could also get personalized real-time assistance! The devices are compatible too! You can call your contractor to transfer your Persona assets to another user! Totally worth the unspecified contract.

SEES (sans Minato/Minako and later Aigis) created their own program to boot their Personas. They are personalized with certain features such as using them in the physical world, but since they're the equivalent of homemade, they need a lot of requirements everytime they want to use them. Good news is that they also found a way to discard assets to save on time so anyone with a compatible device can use it. Kudos for actually making them as functionable as the normal awakenings, if a bit more trigger-happy.

The Masked Circle and Strega used a pirated website. That shit has virus, bro. Yo, they just stole your credit card number.

[senblades]

hello! i was reading shuake fics, as one normally does, and i came across an interesting subject in one of them!

in the fic (it was kinda like a feb 2 fic but with the interaction between ren and akechi happening 2 week early), ren asks akechi:

"if i know that you're not real and that this is just part of maruki's reality, why haven’t you dissapeared like when wakaba, okumura, and makoto's dad did when futaba, haru, and makoto realized?"

i thought it was an interesting point to make so i was curious and wanted to hear your opinion on it! :D

oh ho ho I have thoughts indeed! (and I think I've read that fic actually lmao)

My general, heavily biased thoughts, are that Akechi not disappearing on 2/2 (or earlier, in the case of the fic you mentioned) is because he isn't actually dead. Something of a basic answer, but a girl can dream HA

Other reasons, however, could include Akechi being a wildcard, Ren being a wildcard, Maruki-typical shuake favouritism, the works! Atlus seems to be very insistent on not giving Goro a true death status, given that they've taken to confining him to "that one week in november" in spinoffs (smh can't believe that the Tactica dlc wasn't set in the third semester /j (...mostly))

But, in the end, I think that Akechi not disappearing and subsequently insisting on returning to the true reality and awakening Hereward, is very important in establishing that, whether alive or dead, Akechi in Maruki's reality is undoubtedly real

There are several meta and narrative-based reasons why I think this is important- first off, would something that is entirely Maruki's creation oppose his ideology like that? And can cognitions even have personas? Like. I'm no Metaverse doctor, but-

And for the more narrative and thematic reasons- To say that Akechi in the third semester isn't real is to strip any and all development to his character during that time of meaning. From the third sem jazz club convos, to 2/2 (what a mouthful HA), to Hereward; to turn around and say that all that was exclusively Maruki putting on a puppet show- at that point, what would be the point of Akechi being there at all, narratively speaking, if it doesn't actually add to his character?

...that was something of a slight tangent LMAO- but my thoughts often spiral in different places when I think of the third semester haha (like. Y'all. if I had been a persona fan before Royal came out, I would have gone fucking NUTS when I saw all the shit they added HAHA)

anyways, thanks for the ask! I've been waiting for an excuse to spill all my thoughts like that hehe <3

[argentsunshine]

here is a new question and statement. happy pride month. what are your complex and convoluted gender and sexuality headcanons for all the phantom thieves and which of them have autism

happy pride month ♥️

akiras some kind of nonbinary but hes on probation so he doesn't really care about that right now <3 id say he's genderfluid or something like that. gender = wildcard. shes bi but we knew that.

ryuji is cis and he's "he's a little confused but he's got the spirit about transness . he isn't straight but he won't realise this until he's twenty one

ann has had the Very Affectionate Teen Girl Friendship thing going on with shiho for years and the realisation that she's gay has been brewing in the background for years but she doesn't fully realise it until she awakens to carmen

yusuke has the autism thing where your relationship to societal norms is sufficiently weird that "what gender are you" becomes a very difficult question to answer. he also kind of thinks everyone is kidding about attraction and hetero attraction specifically. is he gay? ace? aro? if you forced him to answer he'd spend 15 minutes talking and you still wouldn't have an answer

makoto can be transfem as a treat but she's so focused on being normal and socially acceptable and normal that she hasn't processed the gay part until about a week after awakening to johanna where she fills a notebook with points for or against the idea that she's into women. this does not help at all

futaba she/it transfem swag

haru I'm not really sure on gender but i think she realises shes gay in college but unlike ryuji where this rocks his entire world she's like oh that makes sense and moves on

akechi is a gay trans man but as previously discussed he's a binary trans guy teenager in 2016 who already has a superiority complex so it'll take him a few years to start being reasonable to other less normal and assimilationist and socially acceptable gay and trans people

i think sumi is straight not an insult to her i just think she is. she's the token straight who's become culturally queer because all her friends are gay

I've spoken about The Autism before i can't find the post but I'd just be repeating myself. ryuji and ann have adhd. nvm heres the post

[beezonia]

P5 eah au

Akira - Son of the Mad hatter (wildcard)

Ryuji - Son of Jack (his story involves climbing and a lot of running to escape giants)

or we make him the son of captain hook (in reference too Captain kidd)

or he’s the son of the hare (Alice in wonderland)

Ann - Daughter of either sleeping beauty or she’s the daughter of goldielockes

or we make her the white queen from Alice in wonderland? Idk

Futaba - Daughter of Robin Hood or daughter of the pied piper (it’s futaba come on)

Yusuke - Son of the little mermaid

or son of the white rabbit

Makoto - Daughter of Prince Charming (I’m going the darling route with her)

Haru - Daughter of Snow White

Akechi - Son of the queen of hearts

Sumire - Either we make her the daughter of Alice and Kasumi was the og daughter but she died/disappeared and her sister took her role

or Sumire is the youngest daughter of Cinderella (In reference to Cendrillion) and it’s Kasumi who doesn’t want to follow her destiny so Sumire might have too

Shiho - Daughter of the hare (tortoise and the hare)

or she’s the daughter of smee (so her and ryuji stay close)

That’s all I got for now! I’ll get back to you on the adults/Toshiro/Eri soon

——-

[jester-creates]

thinking about that Mechanisms persona 5 au again. The one where it's the mechs cast in p5. So I might as well put who I think should go where.

This is also a college au. I guess. It just fits better

The phantom thieves- the Mechanisms. This is obvious why. They choose the Mechanisms as their phantom thieves group name first, but after a certain someone kept basically saying to everyone that they were the Mechanisms in public, they made the band as a cover and now they have to manufacture beef between themselves as the band and themselves as phantom thieves and that the phantom thieves definitely stole their name.

wildcard- Jonny D'ville. He's the narrator of the Mechanisms and one of the first members of the Mechanisms. He's up there for most roles over all the albums, so wildcard. I'm half tempted to make his persona Prince Charming because one, it would tick him off to no end and two, it the role he as himself played in ouatis.

0 fool - I think Yog Sothoth or one of the elder gods would make the best fit for Yaldy. No idea who Igor would be though

1 magician - the Toy Soldier. It is the least organic of the Mechanisms which is in line with Morgana's origins. I'd say it was given instructions to find the wildcard and eventually found itself in the first Palace pretending to be a Shadow or something. Haven't decided on a persona for it yet though

2 high priestess - Ashes O'Reilly. They have mob connections (though a lot different from how Makoto's went). Ashes would slso manage to become the student president at their college. Their persona would probably be Hades

3 emperor - Raphaella la Cognizi. She and Yusuke are both eccentric weirdos (/pos) in their fields. She has probably neglected herself and her finances in her focus on science as well. Haven't decided on a persona for her yet

4 empress - Nastya Rasputina. A princess and an Heir to a food company are basically the same thing right? (I almost had her be the futaba of the group due to Out, but I figured that being the Haru of the group fit her better. Plus she deserves to be the most terrifying member of the group. And also a big weapon.) Haven't decided on a persona for her yet.

5 Hierophant- Dr. Carmilla (unless I find someone better). She is somewhat of a parental figure? I'm not too sure on this one.

6 the lovers - Gunpowder Tim. His whole thing with bertie parallels Ann's thing with Shiho pretty well.

7 chariot - Baron Marius von Raum. He seems like he would be the most like Ryuji. He does do the talking about the phantom thieves out loud thing which results in them having to make the band as a cover.

8 strength- the Aurora. As the most inhuman of the crew, she gets to be Jonny's attendant in the Velvet Room. They do figure out that something is up with the VR and rescue her much earlier than lavenza gets rescued in p5. (Aurora and Nastya are together in this au still)

9 hermit - Ivy Alexandra. She would definitely be a Navi type.

10 fortune - undecided maybe loki?

11 justice - drumbot Brian. He gets to be akechi due to the whole 2 modes thing, so two personas. To keep in line with his mostly robot thing I am going to make him a anti shadow weapon (think aigis from persona 3)

12 Hanged man- the pendragon trio (or at least arthur). the thing with mordred could be a good parallel between iwai and his kid

13 death- Oedipus. tae and oedipus are both doctors who do kinda have a similar storyline. plus the image of oedipus in tae's outfit kills me

14 temperance - undecided. maybe cinders?

15 devil - Ulysses. Ohya and them have a very similar starting point when we meet them. And Ulysses is a gumshoe (a detective) so that would take the place of ohya's investigative journalism.

16 Tower - undecided. Maybe Heracles?

17 star - undecided. Maybe rose red? Maybe Guinevere?

18 moon - undecided. Maybe pilchard? (Though he'd do better as a Palace ruler or the Shadow that leads them to the second palace)

19 sun - snow white. She and Yoshida both are politicians campaigning for peace and better stuff.

20 judgement- Lyfrassir Edda. They and Sae are both long-suffering people in kaw enforcement who have to deal with the Mechanisms/phantom thieves and all their shenanigans.

[lesbiamano]

i just realized. i think i never posted the arcanas for all the characters in my swap au😭😭for the sake of not leaving you guys on tumblr in the dark, this is them!

• The World (as in The Wildcard) - Futaba Isshiki, codename “Sibyl”

• The Magician (yes he is a cat in the over world) - Akira Kurusu, codename “Bishop”

• The Chariot - Yusuke Kitagawa, codename “Vivid”

• The Lovers - Haru Okumura, codename “Ivy”

• The Emperor - Ryuji Sakamoto, codename “Star”

• The High Priestess (he’s a human kid here) - Morgana, codename “Pawn”

• The Hermit (and navigator) - Goro Akechi, codename “Hawk”

• The Empress - Makoto Niijima, codename “Specter”

• Justice (Black mask) - Kasumi/Sumire Yoshizawa, codename “Indigo”

• Faith - Ann Takamaki, codename “Valentine”

as for the non playable arcana characters, i also changed a few of them

• The fool (and i mean the actual real one) - Igor

• The Hierophant - Sojiro Sakura

• The Wheel of Fortune - Kiyoko Akechi

• The Strength (from the get go) - Lavenza

• The Hanged Man - Zenkichi Hasegawa

• Death - Tae Takemi

• Temperance - Sadayo Kawakami

• The Devil - Mika

• The Tower - Shiho Suzui

• The Star - Kana

• The Moon - Maya Amano

• The Sun - Tatsuya Suou

• Judgement - Sae Niijima

• The Councillor - Rumi

and as a little bonus, instead of jose, i put in sophia ! not for any major plot reasons, just because i really wanted her there lol

anyway! that’s all of them! if you have any questions i’d be happy to answer! i love this au so much it’s so fun😭

[phantomthiefgaige]

Okay y’all…so for those who know all about my weird AU’s. Lets get them all lined up.

We have

S.E.E.S Chihiro

Sburb: Connection Lost

Toko and Syo as sisters

And of course

Wildcard Futaba

It’s not a lot of AU’s honestly.

Also

I MADE THIS WHOLE POST TO ANNOUNCE WILDCARD FUTABA IS IN THE WORKS!!!!

YOU CAN NEVER MAKE ME LEAVE THE KITCHEN WHEN I’M COOKIN THIS TYPE OF FIRE!!!!!

[235uranium]

THIRD SEM THIRD SEM THIRD SEM

[symphonic-scream]

Post

Uhm. Another P5 characters with P4 plot au. This one with Makoto-Goro siblings

I'm off my ADHD meds for a little bit so my mind is running wild again so here's another au.

The wildcard is Akira/Joker here. He's staying with Sojiro and Futaba while his family is on a world traveling cruise for a year.

Star is Morgana. He's, more like P5 Morgana. A cat.

Magician? Futaba! She's basically Inaba's only tech support, and takes a lot of crap for being so "obsessed" with something that's "ruining the youth"

Chariot Ann for this one. She plays volleyball, moved to Inaba the year before, has a girlfriend back in Tokyo. She's hoping to get to see her at tournaments.

Priestess Yusuke! His mom, Sayuri, runs the Inaba Gallery, which holds cultural art and pieces about the town's history. He has been spending more time running tours since her illness has spiked. (Transmasc Yusuke)

Emperor Ryuji! He's misunderstood. Wants to protect his Ma, but everyone just sees the violence they saw in his dad. He's also coming to terms with being bi

Lovers Haru. She's a celebrity chef, taking a year off from being a baking show host after a ton of threatening letters, and a break in while she was away from home. So she's staying with her Uncle Munehisa Iwai and cousin Kaoru, helping out at their airsoft and hunting shop

And. Fortune Makoto. But gimme a sec to explain that one

Instead of one detective Prince? This au has TWO!! The Detective Princes, the Akechi twins; Goro Akechi, the charmer, runs a sweets blog, the Hunger Arcana. And Makoto Akechi, the silent broodier twin, the lonelier brother, the Fortune Arcana

Now let's talk specifics. Makoto is AFAB, female at birth. After their parents up and left, Makoto started pretending to be Goro's brother to be "safer". Then, it felt good. But, not quite right. (Non-binary Makoto.) They haven't thought about it since they started binding and taking T, at 15. There's other issues at play

Makoto doesn't know who they are anymore. All anyone sees of them is Goro's twin, the little brother, the shadow to the much more beloved Prince. They swallow down anxiety pills each morning, trying to erase the shake they feel in front of the camera. It doesn't ease the sting of their brother's harsh words

Goro wears his outfit from canon. Makoto has a similar coat, but instead of tan it's dark blue. Black pants, black boots to his black dress shoes. No headband. Less bangs. They keep their hair shorter than Goro's. To help pretend to be his brother. It's choppy, a little wild, and when it's wet from the rain it sticks up all over. They have a custom Breton style cap (it's like a police cap), it's dark blue, black, has a bright blue fist on the part where a badge would go.

They start to split more and more as the story goes on. It really strikes when Makoto starts at Yasogami, and Goro continues on playing the adult. After Makoto is saved from the TV, they move out of their apartment, living in the spare room in the Kitagawa home

Anyways that's the outline under the cut will be extra stuff I've come up with

Makoto, post being rescued, lying out by the Samegawa riverside, late at night, hat beside them just. Watching the stars

Haru lies beside them. Doesn't say a word. But, she takes their hand

Makoto: ...do you think I'm doing any good with the group?

Haru: of course you are, why would you ask that?

Makoto: ...

Haru: oh, your fight with Ryuji.

Makoto: it, did he say it was a fight?

Haru: he seemed upset like it was one. What happened?

Makoto: ...he asked me out. But, I don't know, it didn't feel right. I can't tell what he thinks I am, *who* he thinks I am. But, I know it's not who I want to be

Haru: he doesn't think of you as a girl. None of us do

Makoto: but he sees me as a guy.

Haru: ...and that's not you? You're neither?

Makoto: I'm, that's an option?

Haru: oh, you isolated little baby queer

Makoto: wha

Haru taps at their bound chest a little: you like this, right? The binding?

Makoto: yeah. I always have, it's why I started the hormones. But,

Haru: are you worried they'll turn you into someone you're not?

Makoto: it's silly, cause, I like what I've gotten. But,

Haru: but it's enough?

Makoto: it's enough,

Haru: hey, did I tell you I like girls?

Makoto: no?

Haru: mm. Cause I like girls. But I also like, non-men. And some men, selectively.

Makoto: oh? So, you know about this stuff?

Haru: I do. So does Akira, and Yusuke, and even Ann. So, we could talk to Ryuji over time, get him to understand some stuff, if you were interested in trying with him. We could do so regardless

Makoto: ...he's not, my type. I, I think I also like non-men. Women too.

Haru: hm, fancy that

Haru, flirting

Makoto, densest motherfucker in Inaba

Haru: how about this? I can start using neutral terms with you, see how you feel? Maybe ask Yusuke and his Mom to do the same?

Makoto: that, sounds nice. I'm, going to talk to my doctor. Lower my, T. A little bit.

Makoto at school, quiet and pensive, in the male uniform with their cap, hands in pockets, just standing by the stairs, looking at their boots

And Haru slides over, hand to their wrist, smiling all pretty, and Makoto softly smiles back

Their whole class thinks they're dating lmao. The whole school thinks so

Ryuji: ...ah, so I wasn't his type to begin with. EFF,

Yusuke: hm? Oh, Makoto-senpai wishes to be referred to with gender-neutral terms. You weren't *their* type to begin with

Ryuji:

Ann: YOU KILLED HIM LMAOOO

Akira: rip Ryuji

A little skip. To them being in Relationship together

Makoto lying back on Haru's bed, knees off the edge, coat thrown off, black turtleneck riding up just enough to hint at abs. Haru sits on their lap, work apron tossed aside, the dark button-up having a few buttons undone at the bottom, a few at the top. She's holding one of Makoto's hands to her thigh, just under where her skirt rests, the other is on their stomach. Makoto's remaining hand is buried in bright curls, and they're panting, Haru giggling as she sprinkles kisses to their jaw

"Your, your uncle- when will he,"

"We still have a little time, don't worry. I woudlnt put you in a situation where he'd try to kill you."

Makoto's mind is spinning so fast. Only thought being "Haru". Haru is having fun turning her stiff little detective into affectionate mush

And, when her uncle does come home,

Munehisa: hey, you didnt tell me you had a boy over

Haru: uncle, this is Makoto! ***They're*** helping me study for exams!

Munehisa: ...uh, okay? Just. No funny business with my niece, okay?

Makoto: Y-YES SIR

So. Yeah

[phantoms-lair]

Pretty sure Ryuji is going going to end up swearing by the Royal Knights by the end of Cyber Sleuth (Because what have gods done for him except cause problems and Omnimon is chill)

Also Akechi is special he is the first Wildcard Who is also digidestined, Mirei is so annoyed with Yaldabaoth, though she has to help Akechi unlearn all his terrible habits. At least by opening his heart to his Digimon makes opening his heart even further easier

Akechi's bonds I came up with for the Hackers Memory side of things

His Digimon- Fool It also represents his journey as a digidestined

Keisuke- Chariot ( Because if there's ever a goggles-kun Arcana, it's Chariot)

M. Ryuji- Tower

Ekira - Death ( I got spoiled for the end of hackers' memory)

Nokia - Lovers or Sun

Yuuko- Empress

S. Ryuji- ??? He has a bond with him, but just have yet to decide one for him because I can't come up with one that isn't Chariot or Fool, and both of those are already taken. Ryuji is literally planned to be the bridge between the two teams for Strikers because I plan for Akechi to end up creating his own team by accident for the jail shenanigans (Keisuke [Who will remember everything thanks to the bond with Akechi], Nokia, Arata, and Yuuko as navi)

Mirei - Strength, she is basically his attendant. So this one was kind of Obvious

Futaba- Judgment Also obvious

Arata- Hermit He's basically male futaba so what else I was supposed to put him as?

Chitose - Lovers or Sun

And yes I'm doing this as and ask instead of my normal messages because I want other people to see my brainstorming for this wonderful fic idea

I love hearing more about this!

Maybe the Star for Skull Ryuji? It has connotations of faith, hope, and renewal.

Which, Ryuji has all of those things but not in the way most think of them. His faith isn't in some nebulous higher power. It's in himself and his friends and allies. And his hope isn't a desperate 'Things will get better, I just know it'. It's 'Things will get better because I am going to make them better, even if I have to ascend to Heaven and strangle God with my own two hands.'

And both of these are interpretations and are much more likely to resonate with Akechi.

As for renewal Ryuji has kinda already had to be reborn from his own ashes once when he transitioned from Track Star to Phantom Thief. And I think he acts like this for Akechi by renewing his bond with his former...I don't know if Teammates works considering the everything but yeah.

I also love the idea of Ryuji coming up with new expletives based on his experiences that make no sense to almost anyone not in his immediate friendbase.

"What in the name of Velvet?" (Is he referring to the Velvet Room in place of Heaven or Hell? He's not specifying)

"It's all Digimonji to me,"

"Honest to the Royal Knights."

And on one memorable occasion "Trickster Damn It", which was memorable because it made Akiren spittake his coffee, and he will likely never live that down.

[mesmir-ized]

*flipping through cue cards

ponysona…no……..my little persona……..no…………

(elaboratig on cutie marks below BC i thought about them a lot !!! ahhh so long)

(not spoiler free !!!!!!!!!!!!)(corn get outta here !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

i wanted to keep these as simple as possible , and not cram too much imagery in to them , so they wouldnt look out of place in the show &c ! fun little challenge i gave myself , just for context :D

akechi: a white pawn chess piece ! my friend actually came up with this ! and its kinda genius ! to paraphrase what she said: white chess pieces move first ; akechi is always the one to (attempt to be) one step ahead of the thieves , having everything lined up for himself to succeed . 

     her words: “akechi sets the first gambit, the tone, and gets to begin laying out the chess board how he sees fit, and joker is the reactionary. but heres the thing. strategists differ on how you should play as black, like if you should automatically be on defense from white's offensive move. but the most famous black player of all time is magnus carlsen, who is WILDLY an offensive player and absolutely goes for it every time, to the point where white has been INTIMIDATED by him and played poorer statistically against him because of it . like thats CRAZY!! hes one of the boldest chess players in existence and he prefers to go SECOND! it was pretty much unheard of before him.”

    plus , (my words now) theres the idea of not only him manipulating others (the pawn) , but he himself becoming a pawn in a plan much grander than him . the p5 wildcards and their games of strategy a nd all !

joker: joker card(+mask !) i was actually trying to come up with something “better” , but the joker card really , really fits him . not only literally being a wildcard in the metaverse/persona sense , but also IRL , how he’s adaptable to every situation ! canon pretty much explains it , LOL ! but again bringing in the theme of classic games of strategy , joker with his joker card !

ryuji: EPIC awesome skull (literally his na,me...) , but i liked it with the idea of delinquency/pirates(YIPPY !) , as well as the lightning not only for power , but symbolizing speed~  hes just cool

ann: lipstick kiss mark ! this one actually came to me really quick , LOL ! it symbolizes her role as a model (makeup !) , but also has to do with how she reclaims her sexuality and looks for herself ! that , as well as her caring nature , especially to the little guys(like a mother’s kiss goodbye on your forehead..)

yusuke: ink brush + swirls !!! funny enough this one took me the longest to come up with . i wanted to avoid giving him a palette , since i wanted to focus on traditional japanese art forms above all else (since thats basically his whole tyhing !) and ended up going with an ink brush ! it’s not exclusively japanese by any means , but its recognizable , and we see him work with ink many times ! the little swirls are meant to be the golden ratio (beauty ?)LOL , but just kinda look like swirls.......maybe shapes found in his art ?

makoto: gavel and books ! also took me a weirdly lomg time to come up with , but i figured it out ! the gavel is obviously meant to represent justice/the justice system , but also wanted it to represent power as well (since makoto can often act like a secondary “boss” LOL , and her role as a leader at school !) . the books are for her intelligence (perhaps legal books) ? yippy !!!!

haru: a coffee cup with a plant growing out of it ! this is a bit on the nose , but i had fun figuring it out ! keeping her goal of opening a cafe (and coming up with new coffee blends throughout the game) in mind , as well as her love for plants and gardening ! the plant is meant to form a sort of heart (which can also look like steam coming fromt he cup).. , to also show her nurturing side !

futaba: computer and medjed eyes !!!!!! also a bit on the nose , LOL ! for this 1 , the computer is obviously tied to her skill as a hacker/her computer-focused life , but the eyes carry a bit more weight ! theyre literally the eyes of the deity medjed , who is known for those two eyes that look directly at you ! we dont see any medjed logo with graphics like this in game IIRC , but i added it for the double(triple?) meaning ! medjed in game carries the weight of being a part of the book of the dead , and connected to futaba’s palace themed around egyptian tombs , but i also felt the eyes could be tied to how she monitors everyone , and interacts with the world through her computer (almost as if shes looking out from it !) yippy !!!!!!!!! :D

sumire: magic wand/gymnastics ribbon ! as explained by my description , LOL , this mark is meant to look both like a magic wand (cinderella/fairy gdmother ...) as well as a gymnastics ribbon ! we see her with these in game , which made my job much easier ! the ribbon forms sort of an “s” for her name , and also looks kind of like a shooting star , to symbolize how she is always shooting for the top ! (and on a darker note , how shooting stars can often be meteors that fall apart)... kasumi’s mark is hers but reversed , and has an additional sparkle/star on it , for “3 stars”, 1st place ! the absence of this sparkle for sumire can represent how she lost her sister , and how she feels lesser (even if just as wonderful !)

okay yayyayy thats all bye bye !!!!!!!!!