23 || She/Her || Fic Updates/Posts: #first fic || Art: #my art || Twitter/Ao3: @WittleBeaver || BlueSky: @wittlebeaver.bsky.social || I love akechi and joker and persona and akechi and joker and persona and
The boy reverts back to staring in concern, “Mama… why do you look so tired?”
“I-I haven’t been sleeping well recently,” she strays her eyes away from his innocent gaze.
“Are the monsters in suits bothering you while you sleep?”
A choked sob escapes her throat and she quickly pulls him in for a tight, loving hug while staining his shoulder in quiet tears. “ I’m okay. Don’t worry about me. ”
“One day, I’m gonna become a hero just like Robin Hood and fight off all of those monsters.” He nestles into her chest and rests there for a moment as a tear falls down his cheek. “ I’m gonna protect you from everything evil, mama. I swear by it, ” her son says with a shaky voice.
“ Oh, Aki… ” she whispers under her shallow breath. The mother’s hand shakes as she gently strokes his hair. They bask in the peaceful silence and bright moonlight, hugging for dear life.
The mother wipes away her tears before releasing him. She meets his eyes with a soft, comforting smile, “It’s really late and I don’t think we’ll be able to make it home before midnight.” Her face scrunches in disgust when looking at the bed, “How about you go brush your teeth while I get us new sheets, okay? Don’t let anyone in no matter who they are or what they say.”
Aki happily nods and pecks her cheek, “Okay, mama!” He trots into the restroom as she exits.
After bobbing his head down to spit toothpaste out, he lifts his head up to see an older boy representing him in the mirror. Akimitsu feels nothing but hatred and guilt for him. His life is just a scandal; his existence caused his mother’s suicide; and he solely resembles his troubled mother- Goro Akechi.
Akimitsu Akechi looks closer to observe the emptiness within himself and is further filled with disdain. Whispering under his breath, “You’re worthless- You don’t deserve love, you don’t deserve your mother, and you don’t deserve your life.” Staring at himself with burning eyes, a loud knock coming from the hotel door startles him out of it.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Semi-lazy back study because I had to itch my need to render something. And because I’m an obsessed freak who feels like she needs to make everything persona 5, I based it off of Ren (literally just the hair and coffee mug atp 💀 the ref I was using practically lined up with his body shape)
Note: Unfortunately, I do not know who is in the ref because it was from Pinterest and I found like, 6 other copies of the same photo :/ If you know it, please let me know so I can credit them!!
On Twitter, there was a discussion about how Ren couldn’t give two fucks about Mishima with his dialogue options. A moot and I talked about how his dialogue options tend to come off more annoyed/irritated during Futaba’s training arc as well, but there’s always one option that’s kind to hide how he’s slightly frustrated on the inside. This is how this statement was born and it’s lowkey true 😭
I put it in a very lazily drawn scenario as well with a REAL quote from Ryuji. It’s during the talk you have before Hawaii and with one of the options, he thought LA was the capital of the U.S. instead of just California, even though it’s not the capital of California either 😭😭😭
I love Ryuji btw I’m not actually dogging on him- he’s just a little special is all 🖤
I have everything you could’ve ever wanted in the palm of my hand…
I’m late yes I know I’m VERY aware. This also looks so shitty lowkey but maybe I’ll redo it ON TIME for a different 2/2. Anyway, happy belated euthanasia day
Ps: looking at the orb now with their faces in it, it’s almost comedic because they look so bad in it 😭😭😭😭 so, ig it could be for comedic relief but know Goro and ren are crying messes but Goro is giga pissed
Hi I’m gonna dump the art I think look decent enough to be posted in different posts because a few deserve their own post. Sorry for the spam in advance 🙏🏼
The Saddest Tragedy of 2/2; Damned Regardless of Choice
Wasn't sure if anyone else already talked about this, but after going through the Persona 5 Royal Artbook a while back, and again recently... Something about the whole situation just really struck with me.
Obviously, spoiler warnings ahead for Persona 5 Royal, specifically Third Semester's Februrary 2nd.
So, unsurprisingly, I'm referring to Maruki's Deal.
It's a common interpretation that Akechi's 100% gung-ho against it.
But there's two separate moments that show a rare bit of... Wavering in his resolve.
The first is the Phantom Thieves meeting in Maruki's office with Lavenza:
Out of all of the Phantom Thieves, the only one to play devil's advocate and remind the group that Maruki's actions benefit them too is... Akechi, of all people. Not Joker, not Makoto, not Lavenza or anyone else.
It's solely Akechi who brings that fact up.
In the same meeting, beforehand he was very upfront and crass about how manipulative Maruki was being, and how the man played the other thieves like a fiddle...
And yet he says this in spite of all that.
There was no reason or prompting for him to, and Ryuji even rejects him politely afterwards too.
So surely this was just an off-line of simple pragmatism, right?
Well, here comes moment number 2, in one of the optional Jazz Jin hangouts you can get with him:
He plays it off as some idle food for thought with no deeper meaning, but... It's Akechi. He usually doesn't just say things just to say them.
There's always a hidden meaning to his words.
It's pretty obvious he's referencing his space in the Phantom Thieves, a group that's civil with him but doesn't particularly have any inclination to be friends with him... But it does beg a question...
Is he happy? Now that he's no longer being controlled by Shido, or burdened by a lifelong revenge?
By the sheer existence of this conversation at all, directed only towards Joker and in a place that he's comfortable in (second to Leblanc) it's pretty safe to say he is, but has reservations about it (i.e. 'If their happiness hinges on the group's unhappiness.')
Now where does the artbook come in? Well, inside the P5R artbook, there's a handful of interviews that expand on some parts of the Royal exclusive content.
What was the one bit that stuck with me?
(Thanks to VeskScans on Twitter for the high-quality scans of the artbook: https://x.com/VeskScans)
Per fan-translation:
Creator's Comment: "When I think about how Akechi's wish is to play chess with the protagonist after school, I want to tell him 'You like the protagonist after all, don't you?'"
Akechi's Wish.
He has a wish that Maruki actually does grant him, and it's to essentially be friends with Joker. It's mutual to Joker's own wish to be friends with him.
So add up the context of all three, and it paints a very depressing picture already:
Akechi is genuinely happy for once in his life, but doesn't think he deserves it at the cost of everyone else's. It runs opposite to his own sense of Justice, and his negative views on himself as a "cursed child," and that fuels him to keep denying it.
So with him being split between the two sentiments... It's unsurprising that he would rely heavily on Joker to make the ultimate decision; Whether to accept, or to deny. Because he himself can't, and Maruki knows full well of that.
Sure, he keeps pushing Joker to deny Maruki... But why?
Is it because what Maruki's doing is wrong, and he needs to be stopped? Is it the closest thing to a punishment for all of his actions, which has been constantly denied to him up to this point? Is it the closest thing to a confirmation that he's undeserving of such happiness, especially with how much blood is on his hands?
Who knows.
So how does any of this tie into Maruki's Deal on 2/2? Isn't Rejecting a false reality the obvious choice here?
Well... It's simple.
You're not really picking between a true reality and a false one.
You're picking between:
The acknowledgement of Akechi's growth (Hereward), the righteousness he carries as The Justice arcana, and his freedom from being under someone else's control his whole life.
And this:
Think about it. Maruki gives you multiple opportunities to accept his reality, and they become increasingly personal to Joker with each one.
First is the happiness of the general public.
Second it's the happiness of the other Phantom Thieves, especially Sumire.
Then finally, it's the happiness of both Joker and Akechi.
If the first two couldn't sway Joker's decision, why would the third?
Because you want Akechi to be happy and no longer suffering. You're the one in control of making that decision as the player, remember?
And both he and Joker are also fully aware of that, given how they look back at you in the "Accept" ending.
Not to mention in spite of how he reverts back to his "Detective Prince" mannerisms, almost as if he was a different person entirely... We never actually get any indication that he goes off to fight Maruki alone, or try to fix everything himself, do we?
Sure, he says "... Well. I have your answer. There's nothing left I can say. Our deal's off."
But what can he say? Once again, you've exceeded his expectations.
And once again, he's left as speechless as his "you really are..." moments.
You chose him over a "true reality." You told him to his face that he matters, you accept him as he is in spite of everything he's done, and you want to keep spending time with him as equals. As friends.
There's no anger, betrayal, shock, or even hurt in his voice. Just quiet acceptance because after all they've gone through together, he knows Joker wouldn't lie about that.
It's a truth he has to accept, even if it conflicts with his image of himself. He's wanted by someone else, for the first time in his life.
Of course he has no need for a deal anymore. They were always the closest things he was willing to get to a friendship, without establishing a close tie that could potentially hurt him in the end.
Why would he need one when you chose your bond over all else?
You proved to his face that it's not just some temporary truce with mutual benefits. It's a genuine bond for both parties, not just to him.
... It's just a shame that something you've done with him up to this point with genuine intent has been perversed into a means to sway both boys and you into compliance.
Ultimately though... You're the one stuck between two choices for him:
Forsake Akechi's happiness, and finally being wanted for who he is and not whatever pleasant image or service he can provide.
Forsake his freedom, and all the growth and accountability he's accumulated thus far from his own sins.
This teenage boy is damned regardless of the decision you make. All because a man with a Jehova complex noticed that he matters to Joker (and by extension you as the player), and uses him as an ultimatum to get Joker (and you) to comply.
All because said man is well-aware that Akechi's actual fate is vague. Did he live? Did he die? Who knows, neither he or Akechi actually confirm it. They just dance around the subject and leave the assumption up to you. But he'll take full advantage of the vagueness to justify his actions to you, and show why his goals and yours are "truly in alignment."
And the worst part is that Maruki's doing this with a genuine intent to make his life happier afterwards, much like youself. It's not out of malice, or a sick sense of delight, or with the airs of playing god.
He's distorted. He's a man with good intentions that have become so distorted that he inadvertently perverses the very desire to do good for the world.
And just like Shido, and Yaldaboath, before him...
Akechi's the number one casualty.
You're just forced to decide which part of him the gun is aimed at this time.
Because this boy can't have both. It's one or the other.
So, I’ve been working on other fics because I really needed a break from ITDH. I just kept reading it and reading it and I just got tired of it 😭 I felt like everything sounded awful and I started hating it. So, I took the executive decision to just stop working on it for a bit.
If I were to give a percentage on its progress, I’d say about 40%? It’s been tough going through it ngl. Like, I have a vision but it’s hard putting it into words that make sense and verbally create a visual. So, it feels like it’s 10x harder to finish.
However!!! I’ve been getting these ideas for other stuff and I’ve been cooking with those. Anddd that’s about it. Not much else has been happening, so yea!!
To anyone still keeping up with this tho, thank you so much for being patient and sorry that it’s taking so long!! I swear I will not leave you hanging like that 🖤
