Huddled Embrace

Huddled Embrace

Fandom(s): Pokémon

Red x Fem Reader

Summary: Your most favorite thing about spending time with Red is the cuddling. Of course, hanging out with his Pokémon are a plus, too.

Drabble

Content: Fluff, romance, friendship, bonding, established relationship, platonic relationships, cuddling, huddling for warmth, hugs, Eskimo kisses.

Warnings: None.

Main List | AO3

Snuggling your cheek against Red’s collarbone, you let out a relaxing sigh as he pushed you further against his body heat, arm over your shoulders. A blanket was shared, one around you two and the other on your laps. You felt warmth all over.

Charizard’s fire lightens up the cave, having made a bonfire in the middle of the room. Pikachu is settled on top of either of you, lying peacefully as you pet its head.

“Chuuu~” spoke the Pokémon, eyes closed.

A smile dawns your lips at the cute sight, using your thumb to rub Pikachu’s temple. Red watches your face with his usually calm visage, but his crimson gaze shows clear softness behind it.

The Flame Pokémon lets out a rumble from its throat, resting its head against its arm as it absentmindedly swished its tail around. Charizard was pretty much a cushion with Red and yours backs leaning against its curled form.

Feeling a light tap on your cheek, you blink, turning your head to Red in curiosity.

“What is it?”

The Kanto Champion’s mouth only twitches upwards. He suddenly moves to press his forehead against yours, noses touching. His cap being tilted to rest on the top of your head.

A giggle easily escapes you at Red’s action as he moves his face side to side to deliver you an Eskimo kiss.

Though very quiet, you can make out Red’s hushed voice from the typical icy blizzard and the crackling of the fireplace.

“Mm, love you, too..” you whisper back.

From the sidelines, Pikachu and Charizard share a visibly pleased smile.

Hi hi! I'm back. I kind of shocked you took your time answering me, I'll be honest. I thought you'd just dismiss everything I said (specially with such a lengthy text). So thank you, really!

I'm going to answer you back as well, if you don't mind. And once again, I'm not attacking you, just giving you my honest opinion. And once again, I'll tackle your points in order.

- When I get my anxiety attacks and depressive episodes, I act just like Sumire on her slumps. Maybe that's why I can resonate so much with her on those first ranks. Maybe it's a difference in our life experiences and how we tackled it? You think it's lackluster, I think it's subtle enough. And I agree with you on how she slowly was trying to regain herself but Maruki's actualization kept in check. I think that's how we got the little snippets of the real Sumire inside (the bento incident).

- I think the other athletes thought she had lost it and she was going crazy. In Japan, mental health issues is a real sensitive topic and people try to avoid "different" people. It may be a little graphic, but if you have time read about the Sagamihara stabbings. Also, that's the issue. Sumire had her Shiho. Her Eiko. It was Kasumi, and she lost her. And we, in fact, get to talk to her trainer twice so there's our "person in the area".

- About the phone: I don't think it was really broken, nor it was Kasumi's phone. It was Sumire's phone. The lag, the malfunctioning, it was all due to Maruki's interference. When she calls you and we get to listen to her first call ever, her voice is all Darth Vader like. Plus, Joker calls her Kasumi because Sumire carries Kasumi's student id, issued before her death. Joker being Joker and helping out is the reason we can reach the true Sumire. After all, if you don't advance her confidant you can't reach the Royal route.

- I think you're partially right on your point about the Phantom Thieves and their friendship. I do think their friendship get the usual flow: meet, persona time, join the team, funny banter. They like her, they are friends. But you're right, it isn't a rank 10 friendship between them. That's evident with the last cutscene. The gang joins up to help you get to the station, but she arrived there first? Why didn't she go with them? And what the fudge I HATE THAT SCENE. It's so lackluster for her character. A disservice.

- I think BOTH of her awakenings show a Spirit of Rebellion, yes. First time she's rebelling against common sense. About the fact she has to accent she isn't Kasumi and never will be. Hence, the dialogue about "these are the shoes that you chose". The second awakening, rebellion is against MARUKI'S SOCIETY. Remember, he had already changed the entire world at this point and he's saying "it's okay, you can keep on dreaming. Your pain will go away." At this time, she rejects this version of the world, thus finally embracing herself and achieving the "true glass slippers": her own self.

- About connection with the player, well, even with the new brief Haru scenes I still couldn't like her and her confidant. Both of them suffer a LOT by being the last kids on the bunch, and after you get her rank 5 there's not much else you can do together until Sumire becomes relevant again. Thinking about it, Akechi sometimes disappears as well aka you can't raise his confidant in some months. Now, about the goals, the only ones I think it can trully compare are Ann and Yusuke. She does decide to be an international model, but only AFTER you do her confidant. She wasn't serious before. It was a hobby. Ryuji goes back to track at the end of the game. Haru is busy with the company, but at the same time she always has time for you. She's always tending her garden. I don't know.

- Is she the only well known athlete? Yes!

Remember, the star of the school was Kamoshida and the volleyball team. After he confessed, Shujin's reputation was in shambles and only the Yoshizawa twin(s) were left. And about the dance... they did say they were busy/going home. And her dance is even after you have a romantic rendevouz with a love interest and Ryuji, so they really don't have a reason to stick in school.

- Giving you once again the point that Cendrillon (and her clothes for that matter) should have changed after her true awakening. Specially with the knowledge that Personas have the form of one's true psyche. And Cendrillon fits like a glove -- or, rather, a shoe -- in the themes. Your argument is that "[Cinderella] doesn't fight for a cause for other and themselves." That's true. But so doesn't Carmen. Or Milady. Or Captain Kidd. So what does a pirate, two femme fatales, a legendary thief, two vigilantes and fairy tale princess have in common?

They're all tricksters!

Yaldabaoth made two Main Trickers, Joker and Akechi. But the other personas are just as much tricksters as them. Milady is a femme fatale that doesn't have a clear side. Captain Kidd was a corsair. Robin Hood and Goemon stole from the rich to give to the poor. Arsene Lupin was a gallant thief and Zorro fought for his people.

Why is Cinderella/Cendrillon a trickster?

Because she disguised herself to go to the ball, so much so her family could recognize her. She TRICKED them and the prince, making him think she was noblity!

- The eating trope. I dind't mind it, but I read a lot of shounen. What made me cringe was the beach scenes, yukata scenes, fhe fanservice. But again, japanese game.

- Romance: You can avoid their romance, but Haru already loves you by the point you reach rank 9. And if you say you're only friends, she asks to be left alone and goes to her room. Plus on many moments on her confidant other people ask if you two are a thing or not. Other than her, I THINK Chihaya? She reads her cards? I don't know she's the second worst romance I rushed it.

- Getting new glasses for her dad deserves a rank? Yes because it's not about the glasses. It's about Sumire choosing something by herself. She was ready to leave that responsibility to Joker, but he gave her his moral support and she did get to choose it. She even lampshades it.

- When you like your therapist, you develop this bound in which they become kind of like your second family. You can talk anything to them. Maruki did say, at the beginning of the game, that she was a former patient of his, we get to see when and how he changed her cognition. And, remember, she was depressed because her sister had died and suddenly after only one t

visit she's all better. It's a miracle! He's THAT good! He helped her on her worst moment! Maruki is as important for her as Joker.

- Effect of her student status: in what way? I mean we saw how everyone acted before and after she started underperforming. Other students gossip she can take tests whenever, skip class all the time with no repercutions. I think it's enough. She's special. More explanation would go into exposition territory.

- About her processing about her twin death, I just thought about something reading your point. Maybe her recovery was fast because she was already processing the death. It IS a reach but, say. Sumire, pretending to be Kasumi, came to terms to her sister's death. Okay. Once Sumire went back, since she was already processing the loss, the shock went full on "wtf who am I really?" And I think most of her trauma came with the guilty that she contributed to her sister's death.

- What was Maruki doing? I think it's what we saw. He helped Rumi. Kept his research in secret while taking care of some patients. One of them was Sumire. She was a drastic case so he helped her. I don't think he helped more people at this time, and if he did, they were extreme cases like Rumi and Sumire. They were irrelevent, tho. Because they were like Rumi and Sumire. If he did help more people, they were unremarkable to him. Sumire was his second successful case. His Persona wasn't fully awakened yet, keep that in mind. He got the job at Shujin to keep an eye on Sumire while finishing his paper and keeping up with the kids.

- The blue butterfly: only the persona users could see it. And the party members did get invited to the Velvet Room and talked to both Lavenza and Igor, with the exceptions of Akechi (probably went before tho bc Yaldabaoth) and Sumire.

- She stalking him and the important job: Mona knew amd talked about it, so most likelly it was Phantom Thieves business. Why else would a talking cat care?

- But it was for the betterment of society and saving it from injustice. Maruki wanted the world to like by his rules, he had good intentions but his views were flawed, as seen by that part in his palace where you answered quizzes with what was right and wrong. Plus, remember, at first Sumire didn't agree with the Phantom Thieves changing hearts because she wishes for people to be able to solve their own problems by themselves. People should be able to stand on their own, without relying to a god, a group of teens or someone dictating their lives and take away the pain. Free will and struggle are too important for her, which is also a shock when you realize Maruki's meddling with her cognition. BTW I think this is also one of the moments where we can see, deep down, this is Sumire's view of the world. If she was only mimicking Kasumi, when we explored the palace she could have agreed to Maruki or wouldn't feel unconfortable on the quizz part. The question about "give up on your dream and get a new one" really hurt her.

- Marinette is a static character. Her views get challenged, she gets more roles (being the new guardian and everything) but at the end of the day she's still the same old Marinette. They even get TIME TRAVEL ffs Astruc. On the other hand, the Sumire from the start of the game is not the same from the end, the whole "stole identity act" aside. She gets braver, she stands up for herself and what's right, she finally can reach international competitions, comes to terms with her sister's demise and even gets her self confidence back.

OOF! DONE!

Sorry if I made any spelling mistake, english isn't my first language, it's 1 am over here and im tired.

Once again thank you if you took your time reading, I'm loving our talks.

NOTE: This will be my last post over this discussion as I will not be accepting messages regarding this debate topic anymore. My original post that led to these exchange of views was just meant for me to let these bubbling thought go, leaving it behind and moving on with my continuation for writing. An outlet. And while I appreciate the responses of different opinions, please understand and respect my choice that I am done with it and am moving on.

Your long discussion is something else, I’m impressed by you making an extended analysis and outlook. And it’s kind of hard to dismiss a message from my inbox with such a lengthy text. I feel like I’m kinda overwhelmed seeing the time you take to message me again regarding the topic further. Though I have to admit that this subject has brought burnout for me, as I am brought to think about her again when I was going for moving on from her. But I’m not pointing fingers at you or anyone else. My opinion on her has hasn’t changed much, she is a poorly written character who is still my least favourite, but she had potential to be something if under the right circumstances.

Though I can see your point of view, I can’t help but diverge from them as well. There are gaps where we probably won’t totally look at things about the character the same way, which I understand and mean no rudeness by it.

Also, thank you for the follow. Though I’m not sure if my regular posts would be appealing to you following me based on our discussion, considering I run a storytelling blog, aside from the inbox discussion which is not actually my preference to do on Tumblr. I thought the other debate would leave a different impression but I’m glad it didn’t.

Anyways, back to my point of view.

For the slumps, I suppose I just view them from the writing perspective for the most part. I can see it being subtle as well, but perhaps too subtle to the point where it’s not elaborated enough for her story. I think Atlus should’ve done more to link her connection with Maruki further, like her routinely going to his sessions so he’d keep her cognition in check, more showy in being off putting if not, etc, since it felt like she stayed the same when acting as her sister until the reveal happened. Everyone has slumps, but her’s can’t be different she is not introspective enough that there’s more to it then that. If she was more about the loss of her sister when acting as Kasumi then there’d be a reason for the difference in her slumps.

It makes sense for Japan to walk around topics from mental health as a country who thinks about it differently from others. I’m not going to put a label any more than that as these subjects are never to be defined by others as one thing or be something that everyone agrees on. I wouldn’t put Kasumi as being Sumire’s Eiko or Shiho since I was actually meaning about her association currently instead of the past. Especially when we know more about those two unlike the real Kasumi. I would say she was more like Sae for the sister aspect, including the predictable similarities the Yoshizawas have with the Niijimas and the grief and loss of their father, and Futaba’s mother Wakaba. Her trainer wouldn’t be quite the same as she’s only in Yoshizawa’s life when it’s about her training and classes but nothing so familial. When the real ‘person in the area’ should’ve been her parents after losing one of their kids. And their lack of involvement is disappointing. Her words spoken when choosing to battle Joker and Akechi show that she hadn’t accepted her sister’s death with healing and affirmation during the times she impersonated her. That is not how a person overcomes grief. Acting as a deceased loved one and ignoring the reality of it is not acceptance, it’s avoidance and a coping method of blocking out the truth. It’s unhealthy. And her parents are pretty crappy because of how they respond to that situation. Her father makes only a rare appearance, they aren’t being constant figures in her life, and they let her parade around as Kasumi when they should’ve sat her down and talked to her about what she is doing to herself and to them as a family. Sumire’s cognition only affects her, so they know the truth. It’s not how anyone should go about loss and sorrow when it doesn’t resolve anything but a painful reminder. If they had bothered to care more about their daughter’s situation and be more present and involved in her life, Sumire wouldn’t be so pushed to the edge of her inner struggles when she could talk to them about it. And a point that you’ve mentioned on how people had distanced themselves from her is saying that, aside from her parents, coach, and obviously Joker and Maruki, there has apparently not been a single decent person at all in her life besides the obvious four where two are not around enough. This just proves that whatever so called bond she has with the thieves is so minuscule and inconsistent when she doesn’t even consider them. They’re the ones out of the other confidants of Joker that she interacts with, yet those interactions have no substance as she discredits them compared to Joker, who she only gives her real attention to when it should’ve been in fair amounts in regards to having anyone decent in her life.

To have her phone be malfunctioning by Maruki is a bit strange to me since his powers are a little confusing. That detail doesn’t happen to the other thieves when he grants their wishes and affects their mentality. It may be the side affect of her cognition, but if that were the case then only Yoshizawa would’ve been the only one affected by her phone malfunctioning. But we can notice the malfunction, too. So it has to be that she took her sister’s phone or her phone was broken herself from the impact of the traffic accident. But that would depend on if the twins had their phones on their person in their bags. Yet that is also iffy when her phone goes back to normal, so she’s either gotten herself a new one or something. It’s just confusing and weird. Yoshizawa’s ID is all Joker had to go off of in identifying her anyways, but there’s creative opportunities in finding out her real name. Since everyone apparently knew what happened and her backstory, it must’ve landed on the news. I’d think that advancing her confidant didn’t need to be the reason to reach the royal route when Maruki is the star of Third Semester, a confidant, and has interactions with everyone that can leave a more interesting opportunity for royal’s route. It revolves around him like Nyx, Izanami, and Yaldabaoth. And he is similar to Nyx and Yaldabaoth in the sense that the three are both responding to what people wanted. While she answers to humanity’s desire for death and extinction, while he and Yaldabaoth are about granting deepest desires, which compensates for their own benefits.

Maybe the point Atlus made for the end meeting of Yoshizawa was that she’s fine to go back to her life as nothing ties her to the thieves anymore. Because her one true objective was defeating Maruki, and having achieved that, went to continue her career as a gymnast. Which would majorly diverge her path from others due to absences, different goals, that kind of thing. Since the only thing she cares about is gymnastics, it’s her priority that she holds above all else. Which could even transcend the thieves. It makes sense that her and Cendrillon are the odd ones out.

I feel like her first awakening needed more than just ‘going against common sense’. Her failings of gymnastics other than for her own personal goals mean nothing else to her. The dialogue for her first awakening explains that that’s the reason for her rebellion, what others have said about her. When, in contradictory, she factly states that she does not care for her special treatment, the school’s approval, or her honour student status, who she herself is opposing the terms upholding said status that she also doesn’t care about. All of her ‘potentially losing her status’ is just by a result of her own actions and self-knowledge. She is fully aware that keeping the honour student-athlete status all depends on her only and that the consequences of it taken away are the results of her actions. Not anyone else’s. Like being in third place. That all came down on her alone. Yet she spins it as if it’s unfair and that she’s being wronged. Making a commotion because she is unable to deal with her slumps that she claims is affecting her gymnastics, which is not delved upon further detail, is not worth the attention of storytelling when there is nothing off about the school staff warning her about the loss of status. There’s just no injustice. She won’t let anyone speak ill of her dream? Why when she doesn’t even care about anyone has said. Does she tell every person what she wants to be when she grows up? Nothing about her getting third place was rigged, it’s just the result of her performance that she failed to meet in the end. That’s it. And fake Kasumi’s reaction over losing her younger twin is not impactful. She brushes pass her “death” with mild sadness and grief and continues off on her merry way. Even Sumire’s fake appearance in the Palace was small. If fake Kasumi had cared about her sister more, and the situation around her, then we’d have something more interesting to go off of. To say that her awakening was just about her identity crisis doesn’t fit because that wasn’t what was presented in the dialogue or the scene leading up to her gaining a Persona. And she said that her name was Kasumi, she was still in firm belief that she was the older twin, not that she accepted that she couldn’t be her sister. If that were the case, then we, as the player, would’ve known her true identity sooner as a result because her lines would’ve given evidence. The reveal of her actual sister shows that she genuinely thought it was the other way around. Cendrillon’s words like “Rather than accept a life in cinders, you’d strive towards splendor, you know the risk. Well, if those really are the shoes you’ve chosen.” works with Yoshizawa’s, albeit rather poorly, motive for awakening. Cinderella had strived to have the freedom to do what she wanted without being held back, to be something a little more than what she really was. It aligns with Yoshizawa’s goals when as fake Kasumi: to reach the level of gymnastics on a higher level for herself, since that’s the only thing that matters to her. The student status goes with the athlete status, but she doesn’t even care for it. She wants to be a star, to be the best of her club and proceed bigger goals. Her ‘Risk’ is being stripped of her honour student status title as the result of her inability to meet the requirements of first or second place tournaments that come with the athlete terms she is consciously aware of. There’s no fowl play, no rigging, no unfairness. It’s simple understanding and consent by both parties. She knew exactly what to expect depending on the outcome.

The ‘shoes’ she’s chosen can be more than just her filling in her sister’s place. Cinderella puts no effort to be someone else, she’s just perceived by that impression from others after her fairy godmother makeover. She stays the same person as when she attended the ball and never had to put on an act. The thing about Sumire achieving Kasumi’s dream for her by being as her is obviously a major flaw, that’s not how life works. Sumire is aware that to accomplish a goal like reaching to the top, to want to put oneself in a higher position requires the person themself to truly reach that dream. She knows that that’s what Kasumi wanted, not only with her but also for herself by her own efforts. And being in Kasumi’s position was the most notable thing about what Sumire wanted, she wanted what her sister already had. But for Sumire, her inferiority complex and jealousy isn’t simply a mild thing, it’s pushed to the edge to the point where it’s so unhealthy that it consumes her and her treatment of the people in her life. For fake Kasumi, the shoes can be a representation of her ideal objective, because it’s a symbol of success like how Cinderella got her happy ending from those shoes, which she keeps to the end. So fake Kasumi’s version would be to reach gymnastics on the global scale that she’s mentioned before. Because that’s the only thing she cares about. How Sumire and fake Kasumi think are an interesting comparison. And it’s also only based on Sumire’s interpretation of her twin, but still a sort of instinctive reflection of herself. Judging by Maruki’s powers, it’s clear that what the wisher desired is a likelinesses of oneself. Unlike some of the other thieves, Sumire never wanted Kasumi’s return. And I don’t think it’s because she “accepted her death” when that can be open to a different meaning. She literally confessed when opposing Joker and Akechi that she couldn’t stand remembering the truth. Her being Kasumi is not a way to heal from grief. She could’ve viewed it as “Kasumi’s gone. I was the cause and I don’t want to remember that. I’ve always wanted to be like her, to move like her, all of it. I can be rid of my guilt and be the person I’ve always wanted to be. And I can reach the top like we had strived for. As the twin who had everything.” kind of mindset. To her, Kasumi and Sumire cannot coexist, there needs to be only one that remains. While it can be seen that her desire to be Kasumi is of survivor’s guilt and that her sister should’ve been the one who lived, it can also be for herself. She envied Kasumi to an unstable amount, and it’s implied that the two lacked communication about each other’s feelings. She wanted to be Kasumi, to be in her position as the best, to be thought of as such by her peers, and a spotlight dedicated for herself. This can be viewed as the unstable selfish side of Sumire regarding her inferiority and possible resentment towards her sister, because that also stems to jealousy. Her growing issues and struggles not only affects her, but also the people in her life. It isn’t just one defined thing that she believed Kasumi should’ve lived when she has a layer of internal issues that can’t be simplified.

To say her second awakening is about her rebelling against Maruki’s society is off. Including Maruki “changing the world”, because that is a doubtful outcome. Nyx is an exception since she’s an ancient being that’s been around for eons. She was brought up to answer humanity’s wish, death. Which has been their growing desire that’s been built up after thousands of years. And she was to bring the end to the entire world. Yaldaboath and Izanani, on the other hand, are different because their powers only stretch within Inaba and Tokyo. As far as we know anyways, Yaldaboath’s influence has only been over Tokyo. Like how the Dark Hour only happens in Tatsumi Port Island. The Dark Hour happened from the broth of the Kirijo Group’s meddling and failed experiment. Inaba fog and TV world was an experiment by Izanami who pinned P4 Protag and Adachi against each other to see who’d win. Yaldaboath made a bet with Igor over similar circumstances. Him with Akechi, Igor with Joker, and who’d be victorious with their own morals. It sets the reasoning behind the other world’s locations being in these places. It is an improbable chance that Maruki’s abilities are capable of affecting the whole world when he is a human being with a Persona and a Palace. Yaldaboath is the one with the obvious possibility of affecting the world into distortion and twisted desires, he’s a supernatural entity with inhuman abilities. Maruki’s may be amplified by his Persona with his Palace to back him, that doesn’t mean his powers are unlimited. They would reach to the extend of his own location. While Personas are capable and grow by strength, they are not invincible or superiorly godlike. Like taking over the globe. So the idea that Maruki took over the world in comparison to the true antagonists is inconsistent.

Yoshizawa had willingly agreed with his empathetic, yet misguided view that everyone can be happy. She wanted to go back to being Kasumi, not only so she’d forget her cause of death, but also to continue in a happy place of ignorance and position where she was the elder twin who had everything. Maruki’s Actualisation focuses on the deepest desire of a person becomes true. But that is not forced on everyone; aka, Joker and Akechi. Joker is easy to understand, he’s in a place where he is fine where he is, the present. He has no lost loved one, he’s free of his record, he’s made allies, he’s released the chains of fate tied to him, freed the city from corruption, he’s just in a good place where his life was already on track. Akechi has never been one to bow to false happiness and accept deceiving fantasies of having his own mother return or anything like that. It works for them beu see they are a mirror of each other that went down different roads in life. Though Sumire’s second awakening is at least a little more consistent, as she embraces her real identity, it doesn’t align that she’s rebelled against Maruki or rebelled at all. She has no will of rebellion in either awakenings, yet her both awakenings didn’t really matter. Atlus just added it for audience sake. Because deep down she’s already made that choice when returning to the real world and living as herself. Maruki’s powers weren’t forced down her throat, she wished for it and got what she had wanted like the thieves. But she already had this figured out when returning from his Palace. Her sister’s death is still fresh, her internal struggles haven’t gone away, her selfishness is still there, she accepts that Kasumi is dead but hasn’t made peace with it before her mind was blocked for fake Kasumi, something that was by her own choice.

Sumire and fake/real Kasumi had always wanted to be gymnasts as their profession before they even met Joker. And despite absences of confidants like Akechi, she was always the one with the least amount of appearances. Akechi plays an important key role for Joker, they are two similar yet different individuals who go as two sides of the same coin. Yin and Yang. Rivals. Haru only being relevant until Yoshizawa’s return is just one of many script changes by Atlus so that we’re reminded that Yoshizawa is actually supposed to be important.

It’s obvious that Kamoshida and the volleyball team were considered the ‘star’ when volleyball was the most mentioned sports in the school, with track second. And that was the case because of the Kamoshida drama. With the reputation of volleyball being under fire just as the school’s. Yet it is baffling how out of an entire school, Yoshizawa is the well known athlete when there should be absolutely way more recognized athletes that isn’t just defined by the volleyball team who do other sports. It’s a plot hole. It’s like saying she’s the only honour student in school, when Makoto and I’m sure other star students fit the slot, too.

The reason for Joker’s friends not attending the dance is a pretty lazy excuse. A plot hole. Saying that they’ve all unavailable for going home sounds so inconsistent. Especially since almost all the thieves attend the same school, including even Mishima, and with the number of them, at least one would’ve made sense to stay. And of course the dance scene is mandatory, even after a romantic event with someone else, because it’s too literally focus solely on Yoshizawa. That’s the whole reason Atlus made the dance interaction in the first place when it doesn’t happen in vanilla p5 during the festival.

The thing about me going about “Cendrillon doesn’t physically change” is the matter that Sumire, being fake Kasumi, carried the cognition that she was in full belief that she was someone else with a different conscience mindset. Even if Sumire’s mind may have been repressed and kept as a form of subconscious, what fake Kasumi believed in was real to her. As I’ve stated previously, fake Kasumi truly thought that she was the older twin until the reveal. Persona; the physical representation of a psyche, leaves some gaps. Because things like identity crisis, amnesia and other similar situations can affect and influence a person’s psyche greatly. It’s about knowing yourself, knowing who you are and what you stand for and stand by. Personas are foreshadowings and representations of the characters’ stories. They don’t change because the stories fill out all the way to the end.

Another thing, Cendrillon doesn’t fight, period. Not for others, not for a cause, not even for herself. Carmen and Milady are not the same as the fairytale damsel. Also because they are not damsels, they’re femme fatale oriented characters who do more in their stories. They’re fighters, in personality wise and mentally. They do not let men or anyone walk all over them. Carmen’s death goes with the lines that she will always be free, tied down by no one. She’d rather choose to die than be bounded in life. While Milady, made as an antagonist with no remorse for her actions, is executed for her crimes. The two women share many traits like deceit, sneakiness, cleverness, living their lives by their own rules with no regrets, even with the consequences. Cinderella can hardly be considered a Trickster. When, as I’ve mentioned before, aside from her fairy godmother makeover, she does not change in any way apart from her appearance. She didn’t even try to trick anyone when no body but her stepfamily would recognize her, and yet the stepfamily don’t even interact with her at the ball. The only characters (excluding animal friends depending on what version) that do anything in the whole story, are the prince and fairy godmother. The prince just lets her identity slip by him because of physical attraction and “love at first sight”. He’s the reason for how Cinderella ends turns out in her life, he made the decision to test every woman am with the glass slipper and put it into action. That’s really the glory of the slippers; her doing nothing and him doing something by hormonal attraction by first meeting. She can hardly even try to lie because he doesn’t bother getting to know her enough like a rational person when he immediately sees her and instantly decides she’s the one to marry after a dance and a conversation, which wouldn’t be much from a first meeting. She looks just like everyone else at the ball, so of course nobody would notice. This was all the fairy godmother’s doing in the first place.

Remember, Persona 5’s whole theme is about Tricksters, rebellion, and characters who stand by free will. That’s the entire point of the game’s story and symbolism. It’s Persona, all the games in the series have a theme with Personas basing off them.

The romance thing with Haru isn’t really anything new. In vanilla p5, Atlus pushes Joker and Makoto more as a couple, and they even had to act like one for Eiko, and have scenes in Futaba and Sae’s Palaces, or the other girls in a more mild way. But in Royal, it is so blatant that they changed things to ship Yoshizawa instead since she’s the poster girl. Okay

How does getting her father’s glasses have Sumire making her own choice when she was actually Kasumi? Her mindset was from her cognition when that event happened. It wasn’t actually her being herself. Her making her own choice can be the case for any scenario, but one that she’s always made was letting real Kasumi do what she wants. That was a choice. They’re twins, supposedly meant to be close, so she’d had to let her sister make choices for her when she could’ve spoken up about it at any point. And her being ready to leave the responsibility up to Joker can just be seen as consideration since he came all this way for a simple task. That’s normal for politeness and matters. It’s not that significant.

Her friendship with Maruki is normal, it’s not abnormal. But Maruki gives small amounts of manipulation and gaslighting to have her and everyone else under his powers. Maruki, you’re a considerate guy and all, but please NEVER counsel anyone ever again. To say that he’s “just that good of a therapist” by getting her all better is, ludicrous. How does this obvious shift of transition from her turning into fake Kasumi a sign that he’s a amazing at counseling when EVERYONE can see that she’s masquerading as her sister. The school knows this, her club, her teachers, her trainer, for the love of god her parents. You’ve also mentioned this that they do. She even vocally calls herself Kasumi and carries her sister’s ID. It’s clear to everyone, minus Joker and maybe others who don’t attend Shujin, that she is not fine. It’s such a weird contradiction that the people in her life are fully aware that she’s pretending to be her sister and yet act like that’s a completely normal thing when it’s her cognition, by the power of Maruki, that’s actually being affected. I feel like I’m repeating my points again, but parading around as a deceased person who has been in your life, is not how a person healthily recovers and heals from loss. That is not natural or normal. People should know that! Especially her parents! It doesn’t make any sense why it’s going this route other than another plot hole that Atlus made as an excuse so Joker wouldn’t find out about her identity sooner. It’s absurd.

I’ve mentioned the effect of her student status in the other points I’ve made a few times. It’s not about the gossip, the tests, skipping classes when she does not care for any of that unless it involves her personal goals of gymnastics. Otherwise, she doesn’t care for it at all. And I also talked about her processing of her sister’s death.

Which of her stalkings? Because Morgana did not even know about both these cases. Her confessing to tailing them thieves left just as much of shock to him as Futaba and Joker. The same for when she pops up in Maruki’s Palace on her own.

Joker has been the only person to see the blue butterfly. He’s a wildcard, he has the fool arcana, he’s contracted to the velvet room. Of course he can see it. Morgana can as well because he was created by Igor. Velvet room attendants can alter their appearances based off the other games. They are capable of turning invisible to the human eye when going into the human world or be apparent. But they are always viable to their guests. The thieves’ reason for being in the velvet room in the first place was because of Yaldoboath, the false god took them to repress their strive for justice and tried to manipulate Joker for a deal because he cheated on his bet with Igor and infiltrated the velvet room so he’d win. Impersonating Igor and splitting Lavenza so she wouldn’t recognize his true identity. None of that was Igor or Lavenza’s doing. It’s a similar scenario to P3’s the answer. Where it was that SEES reached their conclusion and conviction and were able to follow Aigis to the velvet room, just like the thieves when they reach their resolve and are able to leave their cells. Lavenza even stays in the nurse’s office as Joker recruits everyone to meet, but not all of them appear at once. The entrances to the velvet room are all in various locations between the real world and the supernatural. Public places that can by stumbled upon mind you. And nobody in SEES, Investigation Team, or the Phantom Thieves have been able to actually see the entrance. The Persona-Users. They just think the leaders are lost in thought or daydreaming. And as I’ve stated before, the interaction of the thieves being in the velvet room wasn’t even by the residents’ choice because of Yaldaboath. He infiltrated the velvet room.

The Phantom Thieves were put as a public symbol of inspiration for society to solve their own problems if they could help it. Of course everyone knows that the thieves can’t fix everything and make everyone hunky dory. Maruki’s rules aren’t necessarily by his rules, as the power of his actualisation depends on the person he can affect if they have a wish so deep, like bringing back the dead. It feels like Yoshizawa undermines the meaning of solving one’s own problems when there are times solving things on your own just isn’t enough.

That’s the thing with Sumire on the Marinette similarities. They get no consequences from the result of their actions, it’s excused and passed off, or the repercussions are light. While Sumire gets self confidence, no matter the little amount of time it happened, she goes back to being the same character as we saw her in the beginning. And wardrobe and hair are a big part of visual representation on characters. Her hair goes back into a ponytail with the red bow, and her glasses are gone. She looks exactly the same as when Joker first meets her in the ending. Everything’s the same. Just like her thief attire where she had truly sought for herself to be her sister. There’s nothing that differentiates them apart. Regarding Marinette, most of my opinions over her are similar to Youtuber Cyrus the Great’s analysis videos on the show if you’re curious. He’s pretty detailed and makes interesting notes about her and the cast.

i have to be honest u were lowk one of the people who dug me deeper into the persona hole but like in a good way 😭 i just really love ur writing

Thank you very much. I mean, I am an amateur writer and the most knowledge I have with literature were during my old school years from the smallest lessons in elementary to the big ones in high school. I also like to set up my posts to be pleasing while giving you enough information on what my works are about and what’s in it. Like the summary, warnings, and the banners above ‘Keep Reading’.

Sorry to bother you, but I wanted to ask what gen of Pokémon characters do you write for? Is it any gen or is it only a few specific gens? Thanks in advance! (Btw, I love the P5 fics you wrote!)

Well, so far I’ve only started with Red because he’s a classic and an iconic character in the games and shows like Pokémon Generations. He was the most comfortable to write for since I read a lot about what kind of person he was canonically and what other fanfic writers thought of him.

As for gen, I’ve only kept up with the 1st-7th since I was a child. I always come back to check what I’ve missed out on from time to time, however, my knowledge on Galar and beyond is pretty limited (I’m kinda blind to that game). Generation 6th’s a personal favourite, though. I could try to go for other characters but it would depend on my preferences regarding whether I like them or not.

hi I have a request!! how about akira being sleepy/groggy after a clinical trial with takemi, with the side effects of the drug making him feel really tired…and clingy too. reader is already at Leblanc when he comes back and waiting in his room bc she had brought a movie for them to watch. but of course they don’t end up watching the movie and he decides that her chest would be the perfect pillow and place to fall asleep on. she is a bit flustered but melts into the cuddles and pets his hair while he sleeps. /)//w\\(\

Personal Remedy

Fandom(s): Persona 5

P5 Protagonist/Joker x Fem Reader

Summary: After a tiring day of going through another round of Takemi’s clinical trials, Akira needs you to make a full recovery. And despite all your fluster, you are more than happy to take of your hardworking boyfriend. There’s no place he’d rather be in anyone else’s arms but yours.

One-shot

Content: Fluff, romance, established relationship, sleepiness, napping, tired/soft Joker, flustered/nurturing Reader, cuddling & snuggling, comfort, domestic bliss/fluff, falling asleep listening to heartbeats, movie date.

Warnings: None.

Main List | 𝐉𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐫 | AO3

Taking your seat on Akira's bed, you couldn't help but shift a little in anticipation as you stared at the floor entrance of the stairs, waiting for your quiet and ever hardworking boyfriend to walk up.

The two of you had planned for a movie date today, where you'd be the one to pick the film and your boyfriend would have his home-attic reserved for you to watch together. Akira had texted you beforehand that he would possibly be running mildly late, so you could get a head start in arranging the setup.

Sojiro had allowed you to stay to wait for the young man as he began preparations for closing the café. He had long since trusted you two in being rationally responsible for whatever activity you'd do alone. So he left the small establishment some time ago with the closed sign switched and a locked door on his way out. Akira would reopen it with his spare key.

Looking out the window, evening had began to roll in. You went to playing on your phone to pass the time when you finally heard the sound of a lock being undone, signalling his expectant arrival.

The noises of footsteps drew closer, albeit slow and lazy as a familiar mop of messy black curls and trademark faux glasses came to view as Akira trudged up the stairs. They were all a part of his look in keeping a low-profile regarding his unjust criminal record.

"Treasure..?" Akira's soft baritone voice called out to you; carrying a pleasant relief and relaxation underlying his calm tone.

Your face instantly changed into a fonder and gentler look towards your boyfriend. As nonchalant and reserved as he behaved, he had a serious romantic and sweet side of himself that he'd bring out to you in private.

Akira's sharp, stormy eyes were slightly half-lidded, posture a little hunched, even with his hands in his pants pockets, showcasing his drowsy state after a tiring day. And considering that another way you've spent time together aside from dates and group hangouts, was helping each other with errands and such. You understood the amount of work he had to do as the leader of the Phantom Thieves, including 'strengthening his bonds', as he previously explained it to you.

Akira had opened up to you about his unique ability, which was different compared to yours and the others. The power of the Wildcard, where the strength of his multiple Personas depended on the strength of his ties with the people around him. So doing clinical trials with the gothic doctor was a way for him to form a bond with her. He never delved too deeply on the topic, but it made your heart light knowing that Akira trusted you enough to talk about this part of himself. There were even times where he confessed to sometimes feeling alienated from the Thieves.

You were always willing to hear what Akira had to say to get whatever pressure he needed off his chest. Including lying together on his stiff, makeshift mattress atop of those crates as you freely conversed about anything, cuddling on his couch, or spending other moments such as these.

"Aki," you say, standing up from his bed to make way to him. Your brows furrow slightly at his clear exhaustion, just what ragged him out like this? Standing in front of him, you place one hand on his shoulder, the other to his cheek. Akira didn't hesitate to lean into your touch with closed eyes.

"Are you okay?" you made sure to keep your voice mellow. "What happened?"

".. Takemi."

Ah, that made sense. Akira volunteered months ago to be the test subject of Tae Takemi's, a back alley doctor in Yongen-Jaya, clinical trials. It served to benefit both parties: access to medicine for the Phantom Thieves, and research for the local doctor.

Though you did worry sometimes that the woman would push the experiments a bit too much on the noiret, even if she was licensed in the medical field. She did call him her 'guinea pig' after all, it made you a tad unsettled by that notion but Akira reassured you that he wouldn’t overdo it.

"C'mon.." you whisper, taking your hands to hold his. "How about some rest, yeah?"

Akira tried to straighten himself, doing his best to blink away the drowsiness. He must've had to put as much energy as he could to walk home. "No, it's okay. You chose a movie to watch, right? We can still set it up."

When he took a step forward, he slumped against your body. You didn't stumble from his action, and stood steady as you accepted his embrace. He didn't put all his weight on you though, just enough to hold you loosely in his arms. With your height difference, Akira towered over you, so you stood head-to-chest. That meant he had to lean down more to rest his face on your shoulder.

You deliver him a half smile, quirking one corner of your lips high with an eyebrow raised. "Think you can manage to sit through the whole thing?"

The frizzy haired male snuggled his nose against your neck in response, causing a sudden squeak to escape you from the sensation. Akira gave a light chuckle under his breath, you always were ticklish there. He knew he had to prove that he could go through the entire film, but that meant moving his body away from yours, and you were just so warm that he couldn't bring himself to leave.

"Let's just do a rain check, all right?" you stroke the back of his head, fingers brushing his soft tresses. "No objections. Don't think you can fight me on this."

"I think you've been spending too much time with Morgana.." Akira mumbled, giving you a light squeeze.

"You two are basically a package deal." you softly retort. "Being with you includes him, too, you know. Speaking of Morgana, where is he anyway?" looking at his bag that somehow still hung onto his shoulder, you saw no sign of the not-cat's whereabouts. He would've chimed in to agree with your sentiment by now.

"Futaba," Akira took a pause to lightly sigh. "took him home for the day for our date."

You hum, musing to yourself, "He did say he never liked being the third-wheel."

"Nope." eventually untangling from your hug despite his dismay, Akira stood on his own, mildly sluggish, glasses lowered to the bridge of his nose.

You shook your head with a sigh, reaching to take off his spectacles with one hand, "This way, Hero." the other went to grab his again and guided him to the bed.

Even snickering a little from the jesting nickname, Akira lazily followed suit. Once he sat down on the mattress, you stood in front of him after putting his glasses on one of the shelves nearby, he was still able to surprise you with his sudden agility. Trapping you in his arms, he brought you down with him, turning you to lie on your back while he laid on your front. But this time, he rested his head against your chest, body between your legs.

You immediately felt warmth spread your cheeks, which grew hotter when you felt his face press further.

"W-Wha—?!" you stuttered, face completely flushed.

"You're really warm," Akira sighed out contently. "and soft. I should do this more often..."

"Hol-hold on for a second..!"

You tripped over your words, unsure how to respond to that, much less what to do with your hands as they were raised halfway up from your shock.

"Sh-Shouldn't you change into your pyjamas? You can't sleep in those clothes..!”

"Just this once..?" Akira's sleepy voice begged, lifting his head to give you those endearing soft gray eyes. "You can spend the night, we don't have school tomorrow."

"It is getting dark.." you mumbled out as you looked out the window. "And I don't think I can bring myself to get up anyhow..." you sigh, cheeks still carrying a remnant of pink.

Akira's face brightened up at your words, "Then I hope you don't mind being my pillow for the night, too?" There was that cheekiness of his that came out to play. "You feel much better than a real one. Definitely a better way to wake up than having a cat suffocating you to consciousness."

Knowing he was serious about that last part, you grumble a little, lips pressing together in an almost pout before Akira swooped in to deliver you a swift kiss. It almost blanked your mind before you shook your head out of your stupor. "At least let me take off my bra, I can't sleep in it."

"Of course." he beamed. "That'd be even better." Akira quietly laughed when you answered him with a gentle shove, you couldn't bring yourself to actually hit him, not matter how light. And it wasn't like nakedness was a novel thing between you with how far and committed your relationship was.

Shifting to let you take your shirt off enough, he chose to rest his head back down beside your torso, letting you do what you needed to do without making any glances. He was a gentleman, after all. And you wholeheartedly trusted him.

Once done, you were only able to put your bra on the shelf with his glasses because of your limited reach. Grabbing a hold of his blanket you draped it over his body, which covered you, too.

Resting back to your bust gain, he rubbed his head side to side with a pleased sigh. And despite all your fluster, you feel elevated regarding his relaxation. Your hand went to pet his hair, running over his messy tresses as he listened to the sound of your heartbeat like a lullaby. It thumped fast from the beginning before going more steady.

“.. I don’t mind how our date turned out.” you murmur.

“I don’t either.” he says back, tone just as quiet.

Hearing Akira’s breathing slowly going even, you knew he was falling asleep. So you presumed to continue stroking his head as your vision slowly faded as well, soon succumbing to the realm of dreams along with him.

Hi, this is not a request. I just wanted to say I have read Entwined Hearts and I am in love with it. I like that you didn't make the reader a Mary Sue Character and I love the interactions she has with everybody so far, especially Akira. I am new to the Persona series and have only just started playing 5, so for characters I don't know, I just look them up. Is the boy who gave her the headphones the protagonist from 3? I hope you continue this story. Love from a new fan.

Oh wow, thank you! This is the first time someone’s mentioned my story and to see that you enjoy it brings a pleasant surprise. And of course, I would never depict Reader to be a Mary Sue, it would mean I didn’t understand what characters are supposed to be for in a story. And main character(s) are very important to viewers as they are the center of the plot. So it’s important for them to understand where the characters are coming from. Especially for a franchise like Persona, where flaws and personal growth are very important for the characters.

I always want Reader to act human, think humanly. Show her struggles, feelings and habits that are a part of her personality and who she is, what she’s been through, what she offers to the Persona franchise. And be introduced to something new and foreign, like romance, jealousy, relationship obstacles, perhaps thinking of having a different life from the one she has now and what she previously thought of. Reader has lived a complicated and kind of crazy past that makes her unlike any of the other characters in the games, I try to, at least. She identifies as a Persona user for so long that she doesn’t really see herself as anything else because it’s a world she familiarizes the most, compared to reality. That kind of makes her vulnerable in a way. Where, despite her strength, she still falls back into a state of loss, insecurity, helplessness, fear, and trauma. But also on how she perseveres and heals from them.

Honestly, ‘Entwined Hearts’ is the first romance story I’ve ever written. My one-shots, drabbles, etc, are different because there is no long progression from being strangers to friends to lovers. I don’t actually have any personal experiences with love except from what I’ve seen and read from TV/films, other fanfics, games, and more, so it’s an interesting challenge for me for sure. I certainly do try to make Joker and Reader’s interactions be something worth paying attention to every time.

And the headphones? Maybe, maybe not…

‘Entwined Hearts’ timeline is Persona 5 taken in present day, but I will include much more from previous games, perhaps even something for Persona 6 if that ever happens. Though of course I can’t input anything specific in case of spoilers for what I have planned. I do hope you like what the Persona series has to offer and that you might take interest in their hidden connected worlds with each other, or the individuality of each game. I really am continuing the story, it’s just taken me time to work everything out. I will have new chapters coming.