Starchild Answers - Tumblr Posts
I have more post just look at my page. Also I hope you find the arcana swap au/idea I have for Maruki and Zenkichi.
I just did and I love the idea! ^_^
I read this post one time. And I agree I think Akane and Zenkichi need a therapist. ( I know it's the original not Royal but either way I'm nominating him.) And I think the person most excellent for the job is none other than Takuto Maruki. ( I know he was something of a questionable counselor) There's no denying that he understands trauma and is very good at getting people to open up. look at futaba for example she is the most socially closed off but he was able to get her to open up in a few seconds flat. If Maruki talk to Akane and Zenkichi I'm pretty sure it'd be a big step forward that was the fact they could relate to each other about what it means to lose someone and have that grief and pain tear you up. For Akane and Zenkichi being counseled by someone who understands your situation perfectly might be the best thing for the 2 of them. If not the whole ordeal of what they went through.At least a big chunk of it or enough that they can both heal step-by-step.
My shipping sensors are going off the charts!
But really though, as questionable of a counselor/therapist he is, his own trauma would definitely resonate with their own pretty well. Zenkichi would probably be a little easy after about a session or two but Akane (realistically) might be a little challenging due to her own trust issues (Ex: Her Shadow (despite being more like Konoe’s puppet) constantly lashing out at her own father and anyone else that tries to help her is honestly a definite sign that she does suffer from such along with the fact that she apparently doesn’t interact with her classmates and being mostly in her room because of her grief like Futaba. There’s also said Shadow admitting that was she was scared of losing more of the people she loves and cares about) but she would break down her own walls though after a while! :)
Your Accomplice Au looks cool, I wanna know more pls
O-Oh! Thanks! Well, besides the basic description I gave with those edits, I don't have much else planned out (keep in mind that this came about from me freaking out on Twitter about the idea of shipping Zenkichi and Konoe and a later convo with a mutual). But I guess more description is in order!
Their backstories are still the same but prior the events of Strikers, they end up encountering each other somehow (I haven't figured out how yet but maybe he was assigned to be a bodyguard or something? Either that or he was dragged by Kaburagi to an event he held? It's not set in stone) and they strike up a conversation.
Zenkichi sympathizes with Konoe's hardships while Konoe expresses his own sympathies to him about Aoi's death (more reason for Owada to be on his shit list since he was planning on backstabbing him anyway).
They become close until Konoe trusts him enough to reveal his secret about how he's using the Metaverse along with his findings and plans with it. Now Zenkichi would normally be horrified but Konoe then gives him a tempting offer: He helps him with his skills and connections to the force along with another thing he will discuss with him later and in exchange he will be able to avenge Aoi and bring down Owada for good, making the world safer for his daughter. THAT is what ends up clinching it and he agrees but on the condition that Akane doesn't get dragged into it (spoiler: She does anyway). The deal is made.
As for the other thing he mentioned? That is where Zenkichi awakens his Persona by being dragged into the now deserted Okinawa Jail as more or less an experiment. After being overwhelmed by Shadows and awakening Valjean, Konoe's version of the Black Mask is born as Zen tears them all apart. Of course, Konoe takes the time to make sure he recovers from the ordeal.
Now Zen's tasks are different than Akechi's as he mostly resorts to torture in both the real world and Metaverse if needed and is sent on those changes of heart that are mentioned in the game (the ones not caused by the other Monarchs themselves). Basically he starts up the change of heart epidemic while under Konoe's employ.
Now one thing about their relationship: It starts out as being more of a transaction/exchange so to speak. One benefitting from the other with Konoe at first viewing Zen as a pawn to be used. That and some occasional... Ahem, distractions if needed. Zen's feelings start to change as he desires to be more closer than that with Konoe not exactly wanting to get attached at first (ironic huh?), mostly faking how he feels at first to keep Zen around before possibly throwing him away when his plan is a success. But naturally they become real and legitimate and expresses it as such, wanting his little "Attack Dog" to be by his side forever.
Now onto the main game, Zen still joins the PTs on the road trip but mostly to act as a mole for Konoe. He DOES get attached to the kids a bit but Konoe came first. The meeting at the Madicce building is actually when Konoe gives him a risky idea: He will make Zen the Kyoto Monarch in an attempt to catch the PTs. Zen is hesitant due to the potential risks but Konoe reassures him and even gives him a glimpse of what his Jail would look like and he finally agrees.
The Kyoto arc continues as usual except the false message from Akane is from Zenkichi's Shadow while the real Akane is actually alone at her house after he leaves for "business reasons." The girl starts to suspect something is wrong, hell, she had been suspicious for a while now. But she brushes it off as him being a selfish asshole that she thought he was. That is until she decides to go to his old hideout and she finds a distraught Futaba who tries to explain the situation and Akane is just... Stunned. Not only were those kids she befriended the famous Phantom Thieves but her father basically more or less lost it. She still has mixed feelings about him but ultimately decides to go in the Jail herself with Futaba guiding her (FutaKane maybe?).
She confronts her father before he could forcefully change everyone's hearts and he actually hesitates before suddenly snapping at her. His mind is a mess from being put into the Monarch position despite him agreeing to it. His Persona is screaming at him to stop but he refuses. Akane is horrified when he reveals what he had been doing and all for the sake of Konoe and avenging his wife like Akane would have wanted along with keeping the world safe for her. Akane doesn't believe that this Shadow is her father, the one who despite his faults genuinely loved and cared about her and her mother. While he clearly still does, his morals and character are gone.
It's with that realization that she awakens to her own Persona (who it's based off of, I haven't decided yet).
After the eventual fight against him, she asks him why he really did it and why he would help someone like Konoe with the PTs offering him to join them. He refuses and contently says that Konoe gave him new meaning to his life and the he loves him, plain and simple, before vanishing. Akane is horrified and heartbroken in response before fully blaming Konoe for taking away the only family she has left.
He feels terrible for his failure when he wakes up at Konoe's place. Thankfully his Persona is back and still in his control. Both men agree to fight the PTs themselves.
Side note: When the PTs explore the zoo section of Konoe's Jail, Zenkichi is not seen among the Monarchs on display. They're confused as they are all convinced that Konoe manipulated and used him (Akane especially).
When they confront him, Akane yells at him for what he did to her father. Konoe's Shadow promptly spells out two things:
He WAS using Zen but his feelings ended up being legitimate.
That while Zen was no saint in everything that happened between him and Akane in the past and present, Akane wasn't either as her OWN (bratty) selfishness and negligence blinded her to every potential red flag that might have been present up until it was too late. Like what Zen ended up doing in canon, AKANE drove her own father away.
Akane just freezes in shock since he was actually right in a way. All she had ever done was yell at her dad, made everything about how SHE (and she alone) was affected by Aoi's death and refusing to empathize with him nor look at the bigger picture despite the fact that they were both grieving for the same reason, just handled said grief differently.
The rest basically goes the same as canon at best. At least for now. Phew! That was a doozy to write but yeah! That's basically it so far! ^_^
1: random question to give you a break from all the heavy shit that anonymous asshole gave you. (You look like you could use it.)
2: who do you think hates shido more Ren the guy who had his entire life ruined when shido threatened an innocent woman and manipulated two police officers into taking him to jail and police officers beat him and Goro tried to kill him?
Or Akechi the guy whose shido's bastard son who he left causing his mom to suffer and ultimately die, being powerless to do anything and get sent around from foster home to foster home, feeling like a cursed child and find out when he was working for the asshole what he really thinks of him (and also ruined his life)?
Hmm... Honestly, that's tough. There are hints that just hearing Shido's voice is a trauma/PTSD trigger for Ren so I can understand him despising the man who ruined his life for petty reasons and just because he was powerful enough to do so. But in the end, when he had every right and opportunity to do so, he spares Shido's shadow to make him atone and suffer the consequences (to quote Ann on sparing Kamoshida's shadow: "Sometimes there are fates worse than death."). A cruel mercy yes, but still mercy regardless.
Now Akechi... Hoo boy... Akechi. Where do I even begin? He was considered to be a "cursed child" just for being born. He was conceived when Shido more or less assaulted his mother and only they suffered for it until she killed herself, leaving him to fend for himself. He was passed from foster home to foster home like Futaba was with no genuine friends or family to rely on (something that Ren had compared to him). If I were in his position, especially when you look into how Japanese society was like regarding bastard children (which in layman's terms, is absolutely horrible), I would definitely be pissed as hell at the asshole father that more or less abandoned me and my mother for the sake of reputation and power (especially when said father is a misogynistic, slimy, petty, and all around disgusting piece of shit). When I saw the scene with cognitive Akechi (especially in the anime adaptation), I was about ready to just hug the poor kid and just go apeshit on Shido. I'm not gonna even start on the implications of the types of abuse Shido may have inflicted on him (especially with the comment about him resembling his mother). But anyways, I would honestly say probably Akechi really considering that he knew Shido longer and saw the extent of his cruelty and corruption. Both in past and present day, but that's just me.
(Another thing I noticed while fighting Sumire, if you watch the background, you can see Maruki calling out to you guys every now and then in the distance. So uh. Yeah that’s a thing!)
Huh, very interesting! Like, what does he say? That is unless it's inaudible? I'm just very intrigued and curious!
(It’s inaudible, but I’m guessing Mr. “Violence isn’t my thing” probably isn’t enjoying watching this.)
Oof! Yeah, that definitely puts a new perspective on that and pretty in-character for him. Ouch! I want to hug him now! ;_;
Hay didn't you say that you we're also considering doing Maruki's friend shibusawa to?
Huh? I don't quite remember that, I didn't have any edit plans for Shibusawa at all really (I love his design but as a character he's, "eh, so-so"). Unless it was something else??
As a refresher you said on a tweet, when you did the young age edits of konoe, Zenkichi, Maruki and ichinose the you would consider doing rumi and shibusawa.
Oh that's it! I actually forgot! I guess I decided to cancel on those back then and forgot to mention that! So sorry about that! I guess I just felt like there wasn't much of a point with those two ideas... Well that and I guess I was pretty drained by that point from doing the other edits.
Well I understand. When you're drained you tend to forget stuff. I mean I'm chock full of energy and I forget stuff. P.s. I'm glad it was able to give you a reminder.
Ain't that a mood sometimes. Thanks for understanding and I appreciated that! ^_^
Zenckichi my beloved
He
Pfft! Perfect, absolutely perfect! Made my night! XD
Just look at him!
You know I've always wanted to ask. And I know it might be an obvious question. But I've seen your phantom thief Maruki design. So does that mean you want Maruki to come back and join the thieves?
Absolutely! Maruki had definitely dealt with lots of injustice in his life on top of letting his trauma overtake and control him (best represented by Azathoth/Adam). Hell, Joker could have easily let him fall to his death but didn't. The kid knew that he was a man who was hurt badly to the point where his mindset became warped. He's basically what he could have become had he not met the group who kept him grounded (same with Akechi but there's not enough talk about how Maruki is a foil to Joker as well). He needs people who care about him and to take care of himself. But yeah, Maruki redemption, recovering, and becoming a PT? Hell yes!
Saw your post. Hear me out, NG+ Maruki who’s aware that the year is repeating for… some reason and breaks FURTHER because of that. He has to relive all those moments over and over again.
Oh god Purge your mind! And Azathoth will be aware too and would further fuck with his head. Especially if Maruki attempts to reject him in one timeline.
Regardless though, owww!
i dunno if you remember your "secretary's relative/family member held a grudge against Zenkichi" concept, but i wanna share to you that it, and your other amazing content, inspired me to write my first Persona longfic (and 3rd HaseMaru fic) based on it! <33 ʸᵒᵘʳᵉ ᵃˡˢᵒ ᵒⁿᵉ ᵒᶠ ᵐʸ ᶠᵃᵛᵒʳⁱᵗᵉ ᴾᵉʳˢᵒⁿᵃ ᵇˡᵒᵍˢ ᵃⁿᵈ ʷʳⁱᵗᵉʳˢ ᵒⁿ ᴬᴼ³... ˡⁱᵏᵉ, ⁱ ʰᵒᵖᵉ ʷᵉ ᶜᵃⁿ ᵇᵉ ᵐᵘᵗᵘᵃˡˢ ˢᵒᵐᵉᵈᵃʸ ˣᴰ
O-Oh! I actually don't know what to say actually except thank you so much! And yes, I actually still remember this old concept after a long time (which reminds me, I need to check and see if I crossposted it to here from Twitter yet or not) and I'm glad it and other content was able to inspire you! I actually read your two HaseMaru writings and they were really good so I can't wait to see what you come up with! ^_^
I do have other projects such as a remake of an old one-shot since I've improved on writing since along with me and @creepymarsh's Prison of Grief before going to other projects so I hope you look forward to those!
Again, thank you so much and good luck on your 3rd HaseMaru fic!
Hi! Just found your blog and to spread my weirdness...
I just accidentally made an op Odin! :D
Have a good day/night!!
Oh? Odd but ok! You have a good day/night too!
Hi! I've been following your tumblr for a little while now, and I think your different takes on the characters are so interesting! Especially your stuff on Zenkichi and Maruki (Your phantom thief! Maruki is a personal favorite). I was wondering what your thoughts on our boy Joker are since I haven't seen a lot with him specifically. I was also curious if you could ever see him developing a palace a la Maruki or Zenkichi in your Prison of Grief story. If so, what would it be about and how do you think it would trigger?
Hello and thank you! I am actually thinking about doing a small redesign with PT Maruki at some point so keep an eye out for that!
As for Joker, I don't really talk much about him because of the different ways his character can be intrepreted (toxic or otherwise) but yeah, I can see him developing a Palace somehow like in me and CreepyMarsh's fic. The trigger and look for it I'm not exactly sure on though (the most common idea is a theater though).
But my takeaway for him as a character is this since it makes the rounds very often: I personally think his own traumas should have been addressed for certain but I feel like it's more prominent in the base game and manga adaptations with Strikers having him recovering and going through Post Traumatic Growth as opposed to full on PTSD like people would frequently do. It's there but he's getting better. It helps that Mona was staying with him at home too so he had someone to talk to or even vent. Plus I feel like he was more expressive and being more himself in Strikers as well. As I put it on my Twitter: He's like a feral cat that would go, "fight me" on occasion.
A lot of his dialogue options with Zenkichi is interesting too because they can range from snarky to neutral to concerned and then welcoming when he joined when he had every right to turn him away and not show sympathy due to his ties with law enforcement. Same with Maruki, the man even asked for Joker's consent to vent when the fist fight phase happened and all of his options were accepting and even understanding.
And that's a core aspect Joker that I feel like people overlook: He is kind and can be forgiving but not to the point of naivete. Even to those who wronged him (unless they go way too far) like Maruki, Zenkichi, Akechi, hell some of the other Thieves who blackmailed him before joining. Also, he DOES go apeshit. His case is just more calm and subtle and that's honestly much more intimidating than outright screaming like Akechi. Hell, there have been moments where he ended intimidating someone without even trying unless he states otherwise. He's a dork but can be scary if you piss him off.
The boy went through a lot but his trauma alone isn't his whole character. If anything, he's accomplished so much despite it and is slowly healing. It helps that he has a strong and stable support system in the form of the group and his confidants, something that antagonists like Akechi, Maruki, and the Monarchs lacked which contributed to their trauma and pain worsening. Even Zenkichi lacked one since Akane hated him and he could hardly trust anyone in the force until meeting the group. That could contribute as to why Joker sympathized with him, Akechi, and Maruki because he knows what it's like and wants to help.
Bottom line since I'm rambling: He's traumatized by what he went through but that's not his core personality as that would undermine his accomplishments despite it and can even come off as infantilizing if one takes it too far (there should be a balance there). He's also kind, even to those he had every right to hate (especially if they wronged him specifically) but he's also not dumb either and will go into protective mode when people he cares about are threatened. Especially those he considers his family. But he can be a little shit sometimes too. He can even act/come off as guarded or cold due to past experiences but is the sweetest soul when he lowers his guard. Like I said, he's kind but not dumb and can even be cautious due to what he experienced.
Joker is a precious occasionally feral cat but isn't a "uwu soft delicate traumatized boi" either. He's someone who was in a fucked up situation but rose above it despite all the pain. He can handled himself sometimes. Sure he may have potentially bottled it all up to avoid disappointing his friends but based on his behavior in Strikers, he's gotten better about it (again, Mona stayed with him so there might have been venting prior). His friends seeing and protecting him no doubt reassured him and cleared his own doubts and he's happy. That's all that matters there. I love this kid and the depth he has and how he can be inspiring for some. Especially in regards to trauma. ^_^
Hear me out (don't reply if you're not interested, I don't wanna bore you with topics you don't hold interest in); Akane with the Omnitrix.
Hmm... Do go on! I loved Ben 10 when I was younger so this sounds like a fun idea/AU!
If I may propose something: Zenkichi maybe being one of the Plumbers (or a former one) along with that idea. :)
howdy! quick question! if Ichinose was a confidant, what arcana would you think she'd be?
Hello! And oh dear, sadly I don't know at the moment because I'm not super big on her nowadays and therefore didn't put more thought into her in terms of HCs besides her cutting her hair at some point and maybe wearing glasses (either mostly for reading or full time). I'm sorry about that! 😅
Hello! I just read "Prison of Grief" today and I really enjoyed it but it hasn't been updated in a while so I wanted to ask if it's still being worked on? Thank you
Ooof! Don't worry! It's still alive and being worked on! The current chapter just had me and @creepymarsh stumped for a while along with irl things happening! We both feel really bad that it took so long but it should be out soon after we wrap it up (finally decided on where to stop), proofread it, and fill in any gaps in it. So sorry for long wait! All I can hint at is that this one is a huge doozy, utilizes a common Zenkichi HC, and that we're both pretty proud of it! ^_^
Hi ^_^ I really like your short hair Sumi edits, so I wanted to incorporate them into my belief system and use your edit for her messenger icon in my (future) ao3 fics (I have a work skin that can display text messages with custom icons). Is that something you would be comfortable with, provided I credit you for the icon in the author's note? (if you need more information on the fics before you can make your decision, please let me know!)
Awww thank you so much! And sure, just pretty much give credit when you do so is really all I ask. ^_^
Heya there sorry to bother ya out of the blue, but I came across your present era/Strikers Rumi edits and I just wanted to ask if you're okay if I could use the design for any fan works? :o (With full credit to you of course)
Sure, I don't see why not! Just credit me is all I ask! ^_^