Thoughts behind why I picked Yosuke’s Personas for his swaps, just so I could get rid of these explanations from taking up space in my mind.
Fool | Izanagi -> Izanagi-no-Okami
This one is self explanatory since Izanagi is given via handshake by Izanami, I only put it here for the sake of putting it here.
Chariot | Urashima Tarō -> Sarutahiko Ōkami -> Kamunaobi no Kami
The part that drew me to Urashima as Yosuke’s initial Persona here was that after he left the Dragon Palace, he was like a stranger in a world he once knew. While Yosuke’s circumstances obviously weren’t the same, I felt that Yosuke quitting baseball and not knowing what direction to take his life in, or feeling out of place in a world he knew was similar enough. As another bonus, Urashima helping the turtle can be a reference to Yosuke helping whoever the Priestess is in this situation and becoming their friend.
For Sarutahiko, while baseball isn’t a martial art, I liked the symbolism of the misogi. He moves past the feeling of being directionless and feeling like he doesn’t belong, and thus, ‘purifies’ himself of any doubts.
As mentioned in the persona post, Kamunaobi is part of a trio of deities that purify defilements and rectify calamities. With Sarutahiko being a symbol of misogi, I felt it was a natural connection to one of the deities that were born from Izanagi’s misogi. According to some, the Haraedo no Kami (Chie’s Persona) are separate purification deities from the trio Kamunaogi is part of, but it wasn’t my intention to give Yosuke a third tier Persona related to purification like Chie’s.
Priestess | Abe no Seimei -> Zōchōten -> Ebisu
The main reason for picking Abe no Seimei was mostly because there are a few stories where he displays great intuition, and this is something that is associated with the Priestess arcana. In one story, his rival challenges him to divine how many objects are in a box, but does some switching around beforehand, as a way to trick Abe no Seimi. However, Abe knows something is up, and sidesteps the trick. Besides that, he was a respected individual, and I thought out of all the swaps, Priestess!Yosuke would provide the best contrast with being in a respected position (family store vs Junes association).
Truthfully, I wanted to pick another one of the Four Heavenly Kings, but since Zōchōten already had fire theming, I figured that it would be best to stick with him. That being said, his correspondence with spiritual growth matches with some upright Priestess meanings and it can easily represent Yosuke having more faith in himself.
As I mentioned on the Persona page, Ebisu is sometimes associated with objects that wash up along the shore, which can tie into Yosuke’s family business dabbling in secondhand goods. His origin story has him with unfortunate circumstances, but he ends up finding happiness eventually, as well as being one of the Seven Lucky Gods and the most popular. Both of these can mirror the state of the shop and Inaba, with them being hard on luck with Junes and the dwindling population to flourishing later.
Emperor | Umisachihiko -> Minamoto no Tametomo -> Hachiman
Going off the really loose idea of Emperor!Yosuke getting into an argument with Katsuragi, who then moved and the rift was never repaired, I chose Umisachihiko as a representation of what Yosuke wished would have happened. Umisachihiko was rough around the edges and wasn’t the best brother in the world. While swearing to serve his brother for the rest of his life and for all future generations is a bit much, Yosuke wanted to find Katsuragi eventually and apologize, and he hoped that Katsuragi would accept.
Which makes his second tier Persona of Tametomo a bit awkward considering he fights against his brother, loses, is exiled, and eventually dies alone. I will say this was mostly so the transition to Hachiman would be smoother, but arguably, Tametomo represents the reality of the situation, that Katsuragi will never see him again and Yosuke will have to accept the fact that he hurt someone he cared about and he has to move on and be a better person for future friends.
For Hachiman, since he was believed to be Ōjin, who was an ancestor of the Minamoto clan (the same Tametomo comes from), as well as having a bow and arrow association (which Tametomo was very good at using), I wanted to connect him directly to Tametomo instead of taking a route where I switched the order of Tametomo and Umisachihiko. He is also associated with a dove, and while it may not mean peace in his context, the dove is a typical symbol of peace. I felt Hachiman would represent both the idea of forgiveness and the reality of the situation. Yosuke regains his hope and desire to one day apologize, but understands that he may not have the happy resolution he wants. (Can you tell I haven’t thought about him much).
Lovers | Yashimajinumi -> Ame-no-oshihomimi -> Futodama
There was barely anything about Yashimajinumi besides what I mentioned in the post. One other source mentioned he was very significant because his family ties showed the relationship amongst gods in the ancient texts and I... felt that was a bit off since there really wasn’t much on him, but at the very least, the concept of him being connected to others felt like a good fit for Lovers!Yosuke, both in terms of the team and the band to fans.
Similarly, there wasn’t much on Oshihomimi, but I liked the story of him turning down the offer to rule earth to represent Lovers!Yosuke having a more ‘whole’ vision about his future, understanding that music isn’t easy and not having such unrealistic expectations as before.
Futodama more or less just represented the idea of Yosuke in the future, with his music, making a difference on the lives of people, whether it was considered significant or not, but mainly at this point, I realized there was a lot of relation between Lovers!Yosuke and having Personas related to Susano-o and Amaterasu in some fashion, so I figured I might as well just keep the trend going.
Fortune | Momotarō -> Ōoka Echizen -> Omoikane
Momotarō being a boy hero fit well with Fortune!Yosuke, who isn’t a proper detective yet. Interestingly, depictions of Momotarō kept making him younger and younger, which I also thought fit a junior detective vibe to Fortune!Yosuke.
For Ōoka Echizen, since he is a historical figure, I thought this would be a nice transition from Yosuke having a fictional boy hero Persona to a historical one, which represents him becoming a detective or pursuing a career related to it more concrete. In this sense, he doesn’t imagine that he will be a great detective or whatever one day, he will become one.
Omoikane being a kami of intelligence and Fortune!Yosuke further being confident in his desires. Makes sense.