hi sorry I am subjecting you to the Horrors (my terrible awful p5 longfic au that I will. eventually? post once I've finished arc 1 (crossing my fingers. we're at 150ish-k at the time of writing and they're still going through the first palace.))
initial post | wwes tag
major p5r spoilers immediately ahead:
short ver: not-quite-roleswap AU where an Akechi who is persona-less until 17 runs into Morgana instead and unwittingly becomes the leader of the “phantom thieves” w/ Morgana, Makoto, Futaba and Sumire, going against sort-of-Black-Mask Joker w/ Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, and Haru.
long ver: takes a deep breath.
the layout of the iyr/rtg masterpost is so pretty, I'm citing it as inspiration :) I'll start w/ general notes then go into more concise sets of info
misc
no romance! this is an entirely gen found family fic w/ mild alternative chara interpretation (due to differing circumstances) but otherwise sort of follows canon, though the timeline starts abt 8 months before p5r canon (sept 2015)
I'm most likely keeping second and third awakenings, confidant links just take ten million years to progress bc Akechi is. Akechi
new personas: Akechi (Robin Hood -> Skadi, now 2nd persona), Sumire (Cendrillon -> Antigone)
Robin Hood just didn’t make sense for the direction Akechi's chara took (after still feeling helpless, all hope he had that he could be a hero of justice that avenged his mother died); Cendrillon made no sense for Sumire (she never became Kasumi, so the "clock strikes 12/become a different person" theme doesn't fit)
I'm so insane over his 2nd persona being Skadi btw like in mythology Loki killed her dad so. yknow. definitely no parallels there abt being both the victim and the perpetrator or anything
since there's only 5 party members, there is no set nav! Futaba fights w/ a scythe :) this also means everyone else helps teach sumire how to analyze weaknesses after she joins the team :) whoever's nav comments on showtimes as well!
element specializing:
Akechi - curse/psy/gun (Loki), bless/ice/phys (Skadi)
Morgana - wind (main healer/buffer + I was not giving him gun sorry lmao)
Makoto - nuke/lightning
Futaba - psy/fire
Sumire - bless/phys
new teams (+ arcanas)
notes:
- new arcanas don't reflect the canon storyline, like Akechi being the Tower doesn't mean he has Shinya's canon storyline. it's more about reflections of their personalities and circumstances :)
- Ninth Circle links (besides Joker) all break after certain points in the story and reform in third sem
the Espy Division (name courtesy of Futaba)
Futaba initially wanted to name them the Neo Justice Squad V but she was vehemently shut down by Akechi and Makoto lol
Akechi — the Tower
Morgana — Judgment
Makoto — the Chariot
Futaba — the Hanged Man
Sumire — the Fool
the Ninth Circle (name courtesy of mostly Ryuji)
Joker/Ren — Justice
Ryuji — Strength
Ann — the Magician
Yusuke — the High Priestess
Haru — Death
non-team confidants (in order of appearance; might be changed but these are pretty set)
Kiyoko Hagoromo (literally the only OC; goes to Akechi's school) — the Lovers
Lala Escargot — Temperance
Jose — the World
Trader Sakai — Wheel of Fortune
Muhen — the Hierophant
Sojiro Sakura — the Star
Shinya Oda — the Sun
Eiko Takao — the Moon
Shinichi Yoshizawa — the Empress
Hifumi Togo — the Hermit
Mika (Yamanaka) — the Devil
Sae Niijima — the Emperor (only established after interrogation room)
major plot changes
on principle, the Espy Division do not steal hearts. they fight the shadows to metaphorically break through to ppl and go from there. Futaba and Sumire do not steal their own hearts, for example. they go to therapy
Akechi does not awaken when he is 15. he continues to get passed around between foster homes until he lands the internship at the prosecution's office at 17 and immediately moves out to his own apartment
Akechi's very grand plan to take Shido down this time is to gain so much fame and credibility that ppl will actually listen to him when he publicly accuses Shido of all of his crimes. he does this by using the Metaverse to solve cases fast, which naturally makes Makoto suspicious of him
Shido and Sae's palaces are discovered early but not explored until around the time they are in canon. instead Futaba's palace is done first, then Sumire's, then the canon palaces are done in order
Sumire does not become Kasumi! her parents try to send her to therapy but she's so utterly convinced that she doesn't deserve it that she completely avoids Maruki and develops a palace instead (the palace of Acedia; forms as an arena in scramble crossing)
the canon palaces are done but for different reasons (Kaneshiro's is done as the conclusion to a long series of cases Akechi and Makoto were looking into since Dec; Okumura's is done bc Haru insists that they do it; Sae's is done bc she outright threatens to take Akechi and Makoto into custody if they don't turn themselves in)
Joker joins them for Sae's palace. they're all fully aware he's the leader of the enemy team but they reluctantly need his assistance to get past one of the cognitive doors
Joker's confidants (minus the Espy Division members/Shinya/Lavenza/Sae) are still happening in the bg so that's. so very fun for Sojiro when interrogation room comes around
Yaldabaoth declares Joker as the winner immediately after Shido confesses and claims his “prize” by possessing him to terrorize Tokyo. yes this is how I incorporate satanael into the plot
Maruki's reality still comes to pass, but everyone's wishes are appropriately updated. Akechi is not the only person in his apartment. Sumire's not the only sister alive. Joker... Nothing Bad Happens at all to him :)
