Character I really want to bitch about: Akechi Goro P5R. I can't really put it into words but god I hate fandom characterisation of Goro. Not in a "everyone woobifies him" way but "how can everyone ignore the huge fcking handle-with-care sign on him". I'm. Frustrated. Hngh. I'm sure I'm too hyper about this, but just. no. All of the tragedy of his character, his intelligence, his relationship with his mother is almost completely lost in "aggresively-tsundere serial killer". I don't get the need to... dumb him down or make him incapable of love or lacking in understanding and empathy while portraying his rather just anger at the world. His relationship with Ren too, the confusing love he feels and the way destiny works into their relationship to nearly destroy them both. I feel Ren is portrayed awfully... helpless and morally upright wrt Goro. Which does not make for good ShuAke. (They're foils, thesis and antithesis, not... I'm not sure how to explain it honestly). This is why I prefer JP Goro, a lot of nuance is lost in the English translation of the game itself.
(I loved your characterisation of him a lot, I think I sent some anon asks fangirling about your fics.😅)
I recently got into BSD, and I think I'm going to stay away from fandom (esp wrt Dazai) outside of jokes. There is just no trust.
YES I FULLY AGREE (and thank you for liking my fics!!)
i have said this before, i think, but a huge element of akechi's character is that he is deeply traumatized by humanity as a whole. he has little faith in the goodness of people and even less in systems and governments. he doesn't want to be kind to people because it doesn't end well for him. he cannot bring himself to help people because he has to think about how that might hurt him down the line, and no one else is going to think about his pain. also, he is 18. he's a kid! you know who else is a kid? everybody.
one of the best themes in p5 is how every phantom thief has their own traits that are reflected in akechi: ryuji and goro have similar relationships with their parents; ann and akechi are both public figures/minor celebrities with the self-image issues that entails; yusuke and akechi both have corrupt father figures who use them relentlessly; haru and akechi both have fathers who treat them like objects; futaba and akechi are both clever and lonely in their cleverness and unable to connect with other kids their own age. and akira, of course, always akira, but all of them.
any of the thieves could have ended up like akechi, if not for. if not for akira, if not for people who loved them and reeled them back from the edge, if not for each other. akechi is the only person who gets none of that until it's too late for him. of course he's bitter and jealous and hates everyone! anybody would, in his place.
another thing is that trauma just makes it harder for you to empathize with other people because all your resources are dedicated to getting through your own days. akechi isn't inherently unempathetic or incapable of kindness (not that lacking empathy is bad); he's just not in a place where he could exercise those traits even if he had them. he pretty much has to kill - we don't know what, if anything else, shido had to maintain control over him. can you imagine how much worse it would be if he spent time sympathizing with his victims and the consequences of his actions and then had to do it anyway?
and lastly, p5 stresses that children don't get choices. children don't have power in a world ruled by corrupt and callous adults. they have to bear the abuse until the universe takes pity on their misery and grants them a persona - but in akechi's case, a persona isn't enough. his life is still dominated by the self-serving cruelty of adults because it's not just power that saves you, it's also having other people who understand. and akechi never had anyone understand him until long after it would have changed the trajectory of his life.
as for the way akira gets flattened to his moral uprightness - lmao. pretty much the whole point of akira's character is that he would be exactly like akechi if not for, again: if not for sojiro, ryuji, ann, yusuke, futaba, all his confidants, hammering in over and over that what gives him strength is the bonds he builds with other people, and what keeps him moral is those same bonds. he was willing to kill! it's not that he's a better person than akechi inherently, it's just that the course of his life is dramatically different in ways that support him being good. it's a tenuous morality. he does have an internal sense of right and wrong, justice and injustice - akechi does too. it's not what made him good, though.
i didn't realize i still had so much to say about p5! thanks for sending this in and thanks again for liking my fic <3
