rionaleonhart: kingdom hearts: riku, blindfolded and smiling slightly. (we'll be the darkness)
More notes on Persona 5 Strikers! We're about to leave Okinawa.


Rambling about Persona 5 Strikers. )


Ginger came in during the sunset beach scene and, confused by the intense warm colours, asked, 'Is everyone wearing swimming costumes in Hell?'

I want to see so much fanart of all these kids sleeping cuddled up during their roadtrip together. (Although it's apparently very warm, so they might not be feeling that cuddly.)
rionaleonhart: top gear: the start button on a bugatti veyron. (going down tonight)
For a while now, I've been making entries talking about how each of my major fandoms fits into my fandom history. I considered a fandom 'major' if I'd written at least ten thousand words for it across at least three fics.

I'm starting to wonder if those criteria are too strict, though. Persona 5 falls short on wordcount; I've written just over nine thousand words for it. But I've written five Persona 5 fics. That's enough for me to feel it has a real presence in my fandom life.

So I'm going to say that, if I've written at least five fics for something, it counts as one of my major fandoms, regardless of wordcount. This also reinstates a couple of my older fandoms I've always felt should have made the list.

This means it's time for some 'my fandom history' writeups!


Jak and Daxter

I'm glad I found an excuse to add this to the 'major fandom' list; it always felt wrong that it didn't qualify!

I must have first played Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy when I was thirteen; it was positively reviewed in Official PlayStation 2 Magazine, which my brother and I used to buy every month. I didn't actually start writing for it until I was fifteen, though, when Jak II came out.

Jak and Daxter was a colourful, cartoony platformer. Jak II was a dark action shooter set in a dystopian future. Jak had been tortured and traumatised and now he was bent on revenge! It was an incredibly jarring tonal shift, but it matched my teenage tastes perfectly.

The Jak fandom is particularly significant for me because it's the first fandom where I felt I really had a presence as a writer. Previously, I'd write a fic or two for a canon and then move on. But I stuck around for a while in the Jak fandom, and it's where I met [livejournal.com profile] eva_kasumi, who I think was probably the first fandom friend I ever made.

The earliest surviving fic I wrote involving sex was for Jak II, although it wasn't explicit (none of my sex scenes are explicit; it's not an area of writing I've ever been confident in). It was noncon selfcest. I feel I sort of jumped in at the deep end there. (It's possible I included sex in a now-lost earlier Red Dwarf fic, but I strongly suspect that that was also noncon selfcest.)

Favourite character: I'm surprised to realise I've never really thought about my favourite character in the Jak series. Maybe Torn? He's very grumpy, which I enjoy.
Favourite pairing: Jak/Torn. It's a ship with a lot of anger in it, and what more do you need, particularly when you're fifteen years old?
Number of words written: 9,659, across nine fics.

Snippet: I actually have managed to hang on to a snippet of unfinished Jak and Daxter fanfiction, which is impressive, because I must have written this in... what, 2005? Somewhere between 2004 and 2006, at any rate. I've kept my writing obsessively backed up for a long time!

This was saved in a document called 'stupidest jakfic opening ever.doc'.

Jak and Daxter unfinished snippet. Some sort of Daxter pairing, circa 2005. )


ShakespeaRe-Told Macbeth

At the age of seventeen, I had a brief but intense love affair with the BBC's ShakespeaRe-Told modern-day adaptation of Macbeth, set in a restaurant and starring James McAvoy. I was absolutely obsessed.

This adaptation didn't have a fandom, but I was determined to be a fandom all by myself. I signed up to write a hundred fics and managed forty-one. In light of this, it's sort of surprising that this didn't hit the 'ten thousand words' threshold! But everything I wrote for Macbeth was extremely short, falling between 100 and 400 words.

In 2020, fourteen years later, I was struck by nostalgia and checked whether AO3 had a section for ShakespeaRe-Told. It did! I left a comment on a Macbeth/Banquo fic by [archiveofourown.org profile] speakertone, mentioning my solitary fannish history with the adaptation and how pleased I was to find that someone else had written for it, and I was delighted by their response:

I just have to say something because this is so amazing to me that it's almost hilarious - I'm pretty sure I've read all forty-one of the ficlets you posted back-to-back-to-back and I loved them! They were the reason I figured it wouldn't be so out of nowhere for me to post this fic online, so I'm really really ridiculously happy that you found this and you enjoyed my writing. Thank you so much!!

I'm ecstatic that my terrible teenage fanfiction could encourage someone to post their own fic for this nonexistent fandom, all those years later.

Favourite character: I mean, obviously it's Macbeth himself, just as it is in the original play. The entire adaptation is ninety minutes of Macbeth making terrible decisions and hating himself and having a guilty paranoid trembling breakdown. I was inevitably going to love him.
Favourite pairing: Equally predictably, it's Joe Macbeth/Billy Banquo. It wasn't the first pairing I'd shipped where one half murdered the other, and it absolutely would not be the last. I was obsessed with the scene where Macbeth strokes Banquo's face and kisses his hand just before arranging his death.
Number of words written: 8,505, across forty-one (very short) fics.

Snippet: I've got a few tiny scraps of incomplete fic scattered around from my [livejournal.com profile] fanfic100 attempt. Interesting to look at them again; it's been such a long time! Here's a snippet.

ShakespeaRe-Told Macbeth unfinished snippet, circa 2005. )


Persona 5

Persona 5 was my first encounter with the Persona series, at the age of thirty-two. Scrolling through a sale of Japanese games on the PlayStation Store, I spotted it for £10 and thought I might as well try it out.

What I'd heard about the Persona games sounded daunting; they seemed very long and complicated, and I wasn't sure what they were really about. But it was the autumn of 2020 and the country was in and out of lockdown; there wasn't much else to do. If I was going to get into a hundred-hour JRPG, now was the time.

What a great decision. The Persona series has been incredibly valuable to me throughout the pandemic, constantly keeping me engaged in a restricted time. It has its flaws, but I love its characters; I love the emphasis it places on friendship; I love its strange blend of normal school life and fighting symbolic monsters in parallel universes. I've hugely enjoyed both playing and writing for these games.

(Here's an alarming statistic: I've spent over 500 hours playing Persona games since I discovered the series in September 2020. This means I have spent nearly 3% of the last two years playing Persona.

Honestly, I'm struggling to regret this. A substantial proportion of it was during lockdown, and I've had such a great time with this series. A worthy use of approximately one in every 33 hours.)

Favourite character: In the original Persona 5, it's probably Ryuji. He can be inconsistently written in a way I find frustrating, but I love how passionate he is and how openly he admires people; he just thinks all his friends are really cool! In Royal... God help me, but it might be Akechi, who was the party member I liked least in the original game. It turns out that, when you scratch his smug surface, you discover an angry disaster, and I've never been able to resist one of those.
Favourite pairing: Protagonist/Ryuji. Let me kiss him, you cowards! He's clearly in love with me; why can't I reciprocate?
Number of words written: 9,497, across five fics. Unusually, I've never written from the same Persona 5 character's perspective twice; I've got one fic from the protagonist's perspective, one from Ryuji's, one from Makoto's, one from Akechi's, and one that pings between various non-party confidants.

I don't think I have any unfinished Persona 5 snippets to include here! I've somehow managed to finish every Persona 5 fic I've ever started.
rionaleonhart: final fantasy x-2: the sun is rising, yuna looks to the future. (you'll never see it coming)
This one's for you, [livejournal.com profile] futuresoon.


Title: Puppetry
Fandom: Persona 5 Royal
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Protagonist/Akechi
Wordcount: 2,100
Summary: “You’re daydreaming me into existence?” Akechi asks. “This is pathetic.”
Warnings: Unwanted kissing, dark implications


Puppetry )
rionaleonhart: kingdom hearts: riku, blindfolded and smiling slightly. (we'll be the darkness)
I'm playing Persona 5 Strikers! I initially didn't plan to get this spinoff because I thought from the title that it was a baseball game. It is definitely not a baseball game.

Here are my notes so far! I've just cleared the second Jail.


Early notes on Persona 5 Strikers. )


I'm glad to be having another adventure with all these weird kids!
rionaleonhart: top gear: the start button on a bugatti veyron. (going down tonight)
At the end of 2021, I wrote up all the fic ideas I’d been scribbling down in my diaries over the years. I’m about to switch diaries again, so I found myself thinking about how to continue to archive these concepts in the future.

Therefore, here’s the start of a potential annual tradition! When I finish a diary, I’m going to write up the fic ideas at the back. If I’ve written the fic, I’ll include a link to it. If I’ve started the fic, I’ll share a snippet (or everything I’ve written, if I’ve barely started). If I haven’t started it, I’ll write at least a hundred words on the spot.

Let’s see how this goes!

I’ll start with the ones I’ve written in full. Fandoms: Life Is Strange: True Colors, Deltarune, Uncharted, Horizon Zero Dawn, Doctor Who, Persona 5. There may be spoilers for these canons below the cut.


Written fics from my 2021-22 diary. )


Next, let’s look at the works in progress (or at least the works that were started; I’m not sure they’re actively progressing). Fandoms: Bravely Default II, Life Is Strange: True Colors, Exit/Corners, Persona 5. There may be spoilers for these canons below the cut.


In-progress fics from my 2021-22 diary. )


And now we reach the scariest category: the fic ideas I haven’t touched and now have to write something for. Fandoms: Undertale, Life Is Strange: True Colors, Until Dawn, Danganronpa 2, Doctor Who, The Great Ace Attorney, Zanki Zero: Last Beginning. There may be spoilers for these canons below the cut.


2021-22 fics I hadn't started... until now. )


And that’s everything! I hope I keep this up in future years; it’s a nice little exercise. Maybe some of these fics will actually get finished? Time will tell.
rionaleonhart: kingdom hearts: riku, blindfolded and smiling slightly. (we'll be the darkness)
I've finished Persona 5 Royal! Here are my notes up to the end.


Full spoilers for Persona 5 Royal. )


And that's Persona 5 Royal! It took me a hundred and fifty-seven hours of gameplay to finish, as if Persona 5 weren't already long enough. I had a great time.
rionaleonhart: kingdom hearts: riku, blindfolded and smiling slightly. (we'll be the darkness)
I must be almost finished with Persona 5 Royal! I've just entered the Palace on 3 February; here are my notes.


Persona 5 Royal spoilers, up to early February. )


Rei (my housemate, not the protagonist) happened to be in the room when we entered the final Palace after the calling card, and enjoyed the motivational music. We had a little dance party.
rionaleonhart: okami: amaterasu is startled. (NOT SO FAST)
I can't believe Persona 5 Royal took a game I already loved and introduced weird memory bullshit, my favourite thing. Of course I immediately dropped my playthrough to write this.


Title: Rewrite
Fandom: Persona 5 Royal
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 2,100
Summary: Fine. Ren's accepted this new reality. Akechi won't.


Rewrite )
rionaleonhart: kingdom hearts: riku, blindfolded and smiling slightly. (we'll be the darkness)
I drifted away from Persona 5 Royal for a while, but I've fallen back into it now! I'm now in early January, which means I'm in brand new territory.


Persona 5 Royal spoilers, up to early January. )


I'm really excited to be playing through the new material in this game!
rionaleonhart: final fantasy viii: found a draw point! no one can draw... (you're a terrible artist)
[personal profile] pict demanded to know all my ambitious fic ideas, which reminded me of something I've been thinking about doing for a while: archiving the fic ideas I've been scribbling down in my diaries.

Every year, I buy the same style of diary, which has a couple of blank pages at the back. I've been using these blank pages to note down fic concepts since 2013. Some of these get written! Many of them don't.

If I type up the unwritten concepts, maybe one of them will inspire me? (Or indeed inspire someone else? Feel free to let me know if you're interested in writing any of these!) At the very least, they'll no longer be languishing in old diaries I rarely look back at.

These are sorted in alphabetical order by fandom; the notes under any particular fandom may contain spoilers for the canon. Some ideas are extremely vague; some are very specific. Crossovers are filed haphazardly under whichever fandom feels right in the moment. The tags on this entry should give you an idea of which fandoms are represented, if you're wondering whether anything you know is in here!


A huge pile of unwritten fanfiction ideas. )


I'm not sure this exercise has actually sparked any inspiration, but it's good to have all these ideas in one place. If any of these would particularly interest you, let me know!
rionaleonhart: kingdom hearts: riku, blindfolded and smiling slightly. (we'll be the darkness)
A few months back, I told my mum about a client I had who was worried all his poems about piss might make people think he was into watersports, and then I had to explain what 'watersports' meant. Ten minutes later, she asked, 'Do you think he was winding you up when he said people might think he was - what was it called - a rain merchant?'


Between work, other games and overambitious projects, I've slowed down on Persona 5 Royal, but here are the notes I've been making here and there over the last three (real-world) months! I'm in mid-November; I've cleared the casino Palace but haven't yet sent the calling card.


PERSONA 5 ROYAL LETS ME INVITE RYUJI TO THE BATHHOUSE

Ryuji goes 'You got it made, man!' and both choices are great: 'Wanna move in?' and 'I live in an attic.'

Ryuji's enthusiastic about being asked to move in as we bathe together.

I'm choosing all the flirtiest options with Makoto and I have no regrets. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed her dynamic with the protagonist. The whole 'fake dating' storyline is a lot of fun.

'I guess b-boyfriends... um, really can be... reliable...' Makoto's so awkward right after we start dating, and it's very cute.

It seems weird that we never celebrate anyone's birthday. Maybe every character's birthday falls two days before we meet them.

No, I just checked and Ryuji's birthday is on 3 July! You should have said something, Ryuji; we could've hung out! If I replay this game, I'm going to look up everyone's canonical birthday and spend time with them on that day if possible.

I really love how Sojiro gradually, grumpily warms up to us.

I love this 9 October hangout with Futaba where we bump into Iwai! Delighted by the opportunity to describe Futaba as 'basically my sister', and by the fact that Futaba's terrified of Iwai at first but then nerds out over model guns with him.

I really like the rank 10 non-romance confidant scene with Ann. She's a person who values her friends so strongly.

Aww, Kasumi notices I look like I haven't been sleeping well and asks if I'm okay! She's very sweet.

I didn't notice on my first playthrough, but there are Hallowe'en decorations and people in costume around the city if you wander Tokyo on the 31st of October!


And some spoilery notes on Persona 5 Royal. )


The problem with Akechi's design is that, whenever he's talking, I'm just thinking about how much and how undeservedly I love Light Yagami instead. Light and Akechi would absolutely loathe each other.
rionaleonhart: final fantasy viii: found a draw point! no one can draw... (you're a terrible artist)
Persona 5 fanfiction! Makoto tends to struggle with perfectionism and low self-esteem, and I thought that might collide interestingly with Ryuji's open admiration and more relaxed attitude.


Title: Good Enough
Fandom: Persona 5
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 1,700
Summary: Makoto's spent her life straining to meet everyone's expectations. It's strange to realise that Ryuji doesn't need her to be perfect.


Good Enough )
rionaleonhart: final fantasy viii: found a draw point! no one can draw... (you're a terrible artist)
Glad that Makoto's now joined the team in Persona 5 Royal; I was missing her! Although, unfortunately, the aspects of the game that frustrate me also start showing up at around this point.

I love how much personality the protagonist has, despite communicating entirely through dialogue options. Delighted that he can run up to a shady recruiter and demand to be put in one of their porn videos.

'For the blond one, I can sense impending woman troubles. Or... perhaps it's something else?' It's man troubles, Chihaya. You're sensing that Ryuji's in love with the protagonist and is going to have an extremely hard time accepting it.

I can't believe I'm not suave enough for Akechi to spend time with me.

Ryuji's so endearingly awkward when he's asking Makoto about coming up with a new move together! I'm grinning extremely widely. (Ryuji's voice acting in this scene is a joy.) I already ship the protagonist with both Ryuji and Makoto; am I going to end up shipping all three of them?

To be honest, I'm not sure either Makoto or Ryuji would be particularly happy in an actual romantic relationship with each other. They have very different attitudes to life and planning that I feel would cause mutual frustration.

But Ryuji's friendship could be valuable to Makoto, if she can get over her 'you must be this smart to spend time with me' hangups. He's open and honest and compassionate in a way that I think Makoto, who's used to being devalued and manipulated, could really benefit from. I'm glad Royal added that conversation between them; I've never really contemplated the dynamic between Ryuji and Makoto before, and there's potential there!

'That dick ain't gonna stop us now that we've got our awesome new member.' Ryuji really admires her, and I think it's very sweet.

Goddammit, Makoto's so cute. I smiled all the way through her 'please take me to the arcade and teach me how people enjoy themselves when they're not just studying all the time' scene. There's a definite possibility I'm just going to end up romancing her again.

The new Akechi confidant scenes just let you flirt with him non-stop, and it's cracking me up.

Akechi's confidant is definitely much improved. His dynamic with the protagonist becomes more interesting if they actually spend substantial one-on-one time together. I love Akechi making a comment about shooting us and then going 'Only a joke.'

I'm still not a Mishima fan, but I'm hating him less fiercely this time around, perhaps because I've now met Teddie and realised it could be worse.

Ryuji invited me to a festival, and I'm annoyed that I didn't have the option to reply with anything more enthusiastic than 'Fine, fine.' There are points where the game just seems to assume that you don't like Ryuji! I love Ryuji and I won't accept these attempts to diminish our friendship.

Poor Kasumi. It's a shame, when she opens up to you about her loss, that you can't offer sympathy or express concern about the way she feels obliged to exhaust herself as a result; instead, your options are 'good work exhausting yourself' and 'have you considered exhausting yourself harder?'

My favourite thing I overheard after getting top of the class in the July exams: 'There's nothing scarier than a criminal mastermind.'
rionaleonhart: kingdom hearts: riku, blindfolded and smiling slightly. (we'll be the darkness)
Rei's partner Tem and I have an arrangement: whenever Tem visits, the two of us will play weird videogames about murder together.

Tem: Riona! Tomorrow, there will be murder.
Riona: Absolutely.
Rei: You can't say things like that!
Riona: We just did.
Tem: What are you going to do to stop us? Murder us? That would just be playing straight into our hands.

In weird-videogames-about-murder news, I'm surprised and delighted by the announcement of a sequel to AI: The Somnium Files! That's actually the game that kicked off this tradition; Tem and I tend to be awake before anyone else in the house, so we'd hang out and play it in the mornings. Looking forward to more of this absolute nonsense.


Of course, I'm also still playing Persona 5 Royal. Here's my latest batch of notes.

Can't believe I almost turned down Ryuji's invitation to see a film in order to hang out with a politician. I need to get my priorities straight. Boyfriend time is more important than spending my time as efficiently as possible.

'With Ryuji next to me, the movie was almost as fresh as the first time I saw it.' Aww!

Takemi calls me 'good boy'. She remains terrifying and I'm into it.

I keep going 'oh, I'm still at the beginning of the game, I'm only two Palaces in, Makoto hasn't joined my team yet, I've barely started,' and then I catch sight of the game clock and realise I've been playing for over thirty hours.

I love that Makoto prepared for spying on us by reading detective novels.

There's a whole new shopping district to explore in Royal! Ryuji's hanging out with me and commenting on everything I look at! I got a bravery bonus for sitting on a display sofa for ages! This is delightful.

'I keep forgettin', but your glasses are fake, huh?' WHAT, I REJECT THIS NEW CANON, OF COURSE THE PROTAGONIST NEEDS HIS GLASSES, HOW DARE YOU. Yes, I know he doesn't wear glasses in Palaces, but obviously he's got a corrective magical mask.

([personal profile] pict informs me that 'the protagonist doesn't actually need glasses' was already canon in the original game, which I am also choosing to ignore.)

It's strange how rarely we see characters who canonically have vision problems, given how common vision problems are in real life.

Also puzzled by Akechi later going 'oh, so those glasses are just for the aesthetic?' in response to 'I see a lot of things'. Maybe I see a lot of things because I am wearing my glasses, Akechi. From two paces, I can barely tell whether someone has eyes; with my glasses on, I can see individual hairs on their head. The fact that I can't see things without assistance doesn't mean I can't ever see things; that's what glasses are for!

This darts date with Ryuji is very cute.

'I feel like I understand something better after pairing up with Ryuji!' You bet, Rei.

Caroline calling the waitress over with 'Hey! Person!' is sort of incredible.

I scored 69 points in a round of darts and got the message 'NICE ONE'. It was the first time I'd seen that message, so I didn't realise until I got a similar score later that it had just been a coincidence.
rionaleonhart: kingdom hearts: riku, blindfolded and smiling slightly. (we'll be the darkness)
I'm so glad Persona 5 Royal explained the logic behind negotiations. I no longer have to rely on a guide for all the answers! (One of the biggest issues with the Persona games is that they rely too heavily on trial and error. I don't think there's any other game series that sends me running to guides so often.)

Hey, Naoto got mentioned on the television! It's nice to have this reminder that we're still in the same universe as the other games. I wonder what Yosuke's doing right now.

I'm pleased to note they've changed Ryuji's portrait when he tells me, 'It's cute hearin' that from someone like you,' so now he looks happy rather than uncomfortable. Embrace how cute I am, Ryuji.

Delighted to announce the formation of my phantom thief organisation, Team Yosuke. I shouldn't be allowed to name things.

Ryuji took a photo of all of us at the buffet! That's an adorable Royal addition. I'm very pleased.

The new counsellor seems nice! I don't trust him.

Sort of want fanfiction where Ryuji opens up to the counsellor about his crush on the protagonist.

Ryuji's response to Maruki asking what he does in his free time: 'Uh, hang out with my buds, mostly - though I just started doin' that recently. Before that, I was just pissed all the time.' I'm so glad we could bring something positive into this angry teenager's life!

I laughed aloud at Ryuji responding to 'What do you want most out of life right now?' with 'Uh... I want somethin' to drink, I guess.'

Don't tell the student you're counselling that talking to him feels like talking to an old friend, Maruki.

I studied really hard and managed to get in the top ten in the first set of exams! TAKE THAT, EVERYONE WHO WROTE ME OFF AS A DELINQUENT. My favourite things I overheard when running around the school afterwards: 'It's kind of scary that a guy like that is also crazy smart,' 'Did he steal the test answers or something?' and 'He must have blackmailed them or something. How did he get those scores?'
rionaleonhart: kingdom hearts: riku, blindfolded and smiling slightly. (we'll be the darkness)
I finished Persona Q, if you hadn't deduced that from the fact that I wrote a fic about it!

At one point, Yosuke said he'd give me a shoulder massage later. I risked the Reaper to get that conversation, and it was worth it.

The trouble with Persona is that it's a really charming series of games about THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP, but occasionally it has strangely mean-spirited scenes that don't seem to fit the themes and tone at all. In particular, there are moments when a party member is upset or distressed and, rather than giving you the opportunity to intervene or comfort them, the game goes 'and then you just walked away and left them to it, it was hilarious.' When Yosuke's on the verge of tears because of a misunderstanding, please just let me explain it to him!


Having finished Persona Q, am I going to shut up about Persona for a while?

No. No, of course not. It's time for Persona 5 Royal.

After I finished Persona 5, my main thought was, Wow. That was incredible, but it was also vast and exhausting. I definitely want to play the Royal expanded edition, but I don't think I'll be ready for that for at least a couple of years.

Seven months later, here we are.

Now that I've played Persona Q and met the actual Persona character called Rei, I probably shouldn't name the Persona 5 protagonist Rei again; it was already confusing, given that that's my housemate's name, and is now doubly so. That said, I'm naming him Rei again and nobody can stop me.


Rambling about the early hours of Persona 5 Royal. )


I'd forgotten how much Persona 5 makes me think of Final Fantasy VIII, between the school setting, the quiet protagonist and Ryuji 'Zell Dincht' Sakamoto. Ryuji and Zell aren't identical, but there's definitely enough similarity to call Zell to mind.

I dreamt a couple of nights ago about Squall and Zell kissing, and I'm blaming this game. (Maybe 'thanking' would be a better word than 'blaming'. Squall/Zell was my first ever ship, and I woke up reflecting very fondly on it.)

I just looked up the account of the dream I wrote when half-asleep, and I'm going to type it up because it made me smile:

Dreamt I was Squall Leonhart and kissed Zell after an intense foot race around a raised track. EXTREMELY GOOD. I think I was sort of trying to hint at it and he went 'yeah, you don't have to ask, you can absolutely kiss me' (because, as we all know, Zell is very in love with Squall).

Barret was annoyed with us for kissing on the track instead of continuing to race. Barret, the race was supposed to be seventy-two laps; it was lap five and we were all exhausted already. Making out with Zell was a much better conclusion to the race than actually seeing it through. Also, what are you doing here? You're a FFVII character.

Rinoa had previously suggested letting Zell win to make him feel better. Hopefully the kissing succeeded in making him feel good without having to compromise the race.
rionaleonhart: final fantasy viii: found a draw point! no one can draw... (you're a terrible artist)
If I've written at least ten thousand words of fanfiction for a particular canon, across at least three fics, I'll write an entry talking about how that canon fits into my fandom history. Clean Slate narrowly pushed Persona 4 across the threshold, so here we go!

(I mean, all right, Clean Slate is technically a Persona Q fic, but I'm counting it for Persona 4. It's about Persona 4 characters. It qualifies.)


Persona 4

I picked up Persona 5 out of idle curiosity in September 2020, when I saw it for £10 in a sale of Japanese games. All I really knew about the Persona series was that the games sounded intimidatingly long and complicated, but, hey, there was a pandemic raging and I had time to spare.

I absolutely loved it. I was left curious about the rest of the series, but Persona 4 seemed difficult to obtain in the UK. I'd only be able to get it on PC, and my laptop probably wouldn't be able to run it.

Then my laptop stopped working properly, and I had to get a new one. At least there was one upside!

I played Persona 4 Golden at the age of thirty-two, in the midst of lockdown. It saw me admirably through eighty hours of a period when there was very little to do. I was afraid it'd inevitably be a disappointment after Persona 5, but if anything I loved it more.

A large part of that love is due to Yosuke, who somehow hurtled straight into my heart, flaws and all. All my fanfiction is devoted to either embarrassing him or forcing him into a full-on psychological breakdown, because that's what I do when you're my favourite character.


Favourite character: Yosuke Hanamura! A well-meaning but flawed mess of a character whose foot lives perpetually in his mouth. A strange mixture of thoughtless and considerate. Wildly in love with the protagonist, but has far too many issues to consciously realise that. I love him an unreasonable amount and I am compelled to destroy him.
Favourite pairing: Yosuke/protagonist. I don't usually get invested in pairings involving silent protagonists, but Persona is an exception! Yosuke's just so in love, and I want him to get what he wants (and then flip out because he doesn't understand his own desires and he's terrified of what he wants).
Number of words written: 10,144
rionaleonhart: final fantasy viii: found a draw point! no one can draw... (you're a terrible artist)
Here are some teenage boys being terrible at feelings at the end of Persona Q. (It should be understandable if you're only familiar with Persona 4, though!)


Title: Clean Slate
Fandom: Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
Rating: G? I think this might actually be G-rated. Nobody bleeds or anything.
Pairing: Yosuke/Persona 4 protagonist
Wordcount: 2,000
Summary: If they're going to have their memories erased anyway, it's okay for Yosuke to kiss Yu, right? No consequences. The perfect plan.


Clean Slate )
rionaleonhart: kingdom hearts: riku, blindfolded and smiling slightly. (we'll be the darkness)
Some more notes on Persona Q! These run from the Inaba Pride Exhibit up to the third floor of the clock tower.

Yukari's response to 'we should all go to a festival together!' is 'Oh, hmm. That does sound fun... But you'll be there, won't you, Teddie?' and I'm glad she understands my 'I love everyone here, EXCEPT TEDDIE, WHO I AM FORCED TO SIT THROUGH FOR TIME WITH THE CHARACTERS I LOVE' struggle.

Rise's disappointed that she wasn't in the party to see Kanji's bad bad bathhouse!

Akihiko's characterisation in this game is generally very poor, but it's cute to see him and Chie training together.

It's lovely to see everyone talking about the possibility of Kanji becoming a teacher. And Kanji actually starting to consider it!

Yosuke's canonically flustered by the giant sweaty muscular loincloth man monster. Sometimes I wonder whether 'Yosuke is very clearly into guys and repressed about it' is just in my head. It's not.

Chie: You don't use me enough in battle.
Riona: Oh, I'm sorry, Chie! Let's do some fighting together.
Teddie: You don't use me enough in battle.
Riona: Good.

Oh, wow, the game actually addresses the fact that the games these characters are from aren't set in the same year! (I'd be really interested to see the Persona 4 cast's reactions if they get home and try to look their new friends up online.)

Awww, seeing the Persona-users of the future gives Mitsuru hope!

Yukiko wants to see Akihiko in a skirt! I'm enjoying Yukiko in this game. (Yukari's also into the idea!)

I still don't understand how this game managed to get Akihiko so wrong. He's not stupid and he's not reckless, going by everything we see in Persona 3. Where has this characterisation come from?

Holy shit, I was not expecting this game's plot to be so devastating. I didn't know it had a plot beyond 'Persona characters from different games hang out'!

Also, I went 'oh, wow, I hadn't realised Rei's voice actor was this good' when the plot kicked in, and I looked her up; it's Ashly Burch, voice of Chloe Price and Aloy! Suddenly I can hear her so clearly. She's giving a very intense performance!

Tentarafoo continues to be phenomenally useful. I love you, Yosuke. I think you're wonderful.

It's nice that Yosuke's privately telling me how much he admires Kanji, but you could tell Kanji that once in a while, Yosuke, rather than just teasing him!

Yosuke really cares about the entire team! It's very sweet. It's nice to see him and Rise have a warm interaction, too!

I told Yosuke he's cool, and he went into a blushing panic. ('Yosuke is flustered,' the narration informed me.)

'Hey, maybe what's good about me is that I'm blessed with the friends I have.' You're so cute, Yosuke.

Protagonist: Say nice stuff about me!
Yosuke, blushing: Huh? Well, it's kinda tough saying it to your face... I can't say stuff like how you're reliable and cool and great at playing along, you know?

Yosuke's got it so bad. I love it. (RD's response to the screencaps I've been sending her: 'riona he's so extremely gay for you. every single one of his lines could have NO HOMO at the end of it and read the same.')

I just end up cooing over Yosuke whenever I try to talk about this game. I'm not sorry. I love this stupid in-denial kid more than he deserves.
rionaleonhart: okami: amaterasu is startled. (NOT SO FAST)
Here is a deeply, embarrassingly self-indulgent Persona 4 fic. Loosely inspired by Higurashi: When They Cry, but knowledge of Higurashi is not required at all; the concept just provided a helpful excuse to psychologically destroy Yosuke.


Title: Collapse
Fandom: Persona 4
Rating: 15
Pairing: Yosuke/protagonist
Wordcount: 3,300
Summary: Yosuke kind of wants to kiss Yu. He also kind of thinks Yu might be a murderer.
Warnings: Weird and dark.


Collapse )