Oh my gosh… thank you so much to everyone who has sent me asks about my Akechi’s Palace concept in the past several weeks! (There are more than are pictured here, but I got so many messages about this that I couldn’t fit them all…)

First of all, there are no fics of my concept yet, unless someone has decided to write one and I just don’t know about it! I’ve had some people ask if they could write something based on it, though, and I fully encourage it!! I’d honestly love to see someone expand on my ideas further in written form, and I’d be glad to talk to them about it if they want to flesh out the concept more while writing… I’m not a huge writer myself, so I wouldn’t be able to do it on my own, but I’d be really delighted to help make it happen in my own way. ;v;

As for more information on the palace, my thoughts aren’t terribly well-organized right now. ;; I may be posting more artwork from it at a later date, but I think these little extra notes might be informative or interesting to some people:

• During the Phantom Thieves’ infiltration of Akechi’s palace, there will be times where they can’t progress any further inside without Akechi allowing them deeper into his heart. These are the moments where they have to appeal to cognitive Akechi himself, to get on his good side and make him warm up to their presence (since Akechi’s palace is all about his inability to vulnerable & open up emotionally to others). The PTs physically cannot continue in his palace if he feels threatened and afraid of them… this is when the hallways would start looping forever, when staircases would have no second level, when doors open to nothing, etc. These things become less distorted when his mind is more at ease.
• I like to imagine that this is when the mechanic I mentioned previously, about the PTs turning into kid versions of themselves, comes into play… they may have to literally play games with Akechi, like kagome kagome or hide-and-seek, in order to make him happy. I’ve been kind of toying with the idea of whether or not Joker would also be turned into a child alongside his other PTs, or if it wouldn’t work on him — maybe he’d be turned into a child, but mentally he’s still the same, so he has to work extra hard to keep the peace between child Akechi and his friends who are now also childlike? I can’t believe Joker is a babysitter now
  
• The most important thing of all to me is that I don’t actually want Akechi’s palace to end with the Phantom Thieves changing his heart. I feel like that isn’t necessarily what Akechi needs, similar to how Sae was also better off that way, as she was able to make that change herself. I think what would be most impactful to Akechi would be for the PTs to endure all of the trials of his heart, and to witness and experience all of the things about himself that he doesn’t let anyone see — his horrible past, his hatred, his doubts and insecurities — and to still be able to extend him their acceptance and forgiveness despite all that. Making it to that innermost, most vulnerable part of him, that’s still so angry and sad and scared (represented as a battered and pathetic little boy, similar to how he still feels inside) and still welcoming him… idk. I think that’s the most powerful experience Akechi could have in order for him to change his own heart. That’s pretty much exactly what I had in mind when I drew this

I might have more to say on the subject later, but I hope that this helps to suffice for now!

Hey, thank you so much for the compliment!!

I really think that the story would mostly be quite similar up until the point where Akechi’s palace becomes a divergence in the plot! (I mean, I… have a few personal grievances with the story itself and the way it handles Akechi, but that’s pretty here nor there.) I know that does throw a bit of a wrench in the writing of the story, however.

To be totally honest though, I don’t really put much stock in the claim made by Morgana that Persona users can’t have palaces, since not only is there evidence from datamining and other supplementary game commentary that Akechi was originally supposed to have a palace anyway (the datamining proves this was still supposed to be the case all the way up until programming the actual game, even)… Morgana didn’t even know that Tricksters existed until he met Ren, nor did he know that you don’t necessarily have to kill a palace owner’s shadow to defeat them. Basically, I don’t think it’s all that unreasonable to think that in a scenario where Akechi’s palace exists, the Phantom Thieves might assume Persona users can’t have palaces because of Morgana’s limited knowledge of the metaverse up until they realize it actually was possible all along… that would not only further throw into question what they thought they knew about the metaverse, but also make them wonder — if Akechi can have a palace, and can have distorted desires, maybe any of them could as well? What could that say about the validity of their justice?

As for your Loki/Robin Hood question, I… didn’t actually think of that immediately…. I wasn’t really sure at first how they would manifest, but after thinking about it and discussing it with vibesenpai_ on twitter, I actually think that his treasure would be his personas, manifesting as two toy action figures. They would be the metaverse manifestation of his real life treasure, which I imagine would be something sentimental that his mother made for him; something that represents the last time he felt like someone important to him really needed or cared about him… something like, say, a birthday card. 🙃

I know that doesn’t necessarily answer everything, or maybe this is way too long and full of information you didn’t really ask… I apologize if that’s the case, but regardless, I hope it helps people understand the concept I was going for a little better!

ha ha hfksjdg SURE

So first of all, I think that Akechi’s shadow self being a child is the most fitting choice for his personality, I guess? His Crow image comes across as very youthful and innocent in how earnest it seems, with his weapons being specifically described as children’s toys, and even Robin Hood as his persona, who feels to me like the kind of superhero a kid would dream up. I think the reason that Akechi is the way he is ultimately comes back around to being caught up in the traumas of his childhood, and that motivates everything about his current self… both in his desperation to be seen as valid and valuable, but also his long con revenge scheme. Keeping all of that in mind, to me it makes sense that his shadow would be stuck as a literal child version of himself.

The basic premise of Akechi’s palace in my AU is that it’s just one big party that never ends inside of a giant labyrinthine mansion… it’s his birthday, every day, and he’s always the centre of everyone’s praise and attention. All of the shadows are his party guests, and they’re constantly bringing him food and gifts, and so on. However, I think that ultimately the way Akechi wants to be seen by the world, and the way he views it, are a big cover for what’s really underneath the surface, and I wanted his palace to reflect that if that makes sense? Even inside of his own palace he can’t really be himself, so he presents a fake version of what he wishes the world were actually like. Sort of like: Shido or Madarame’s palace on the outside, but Futaba’s palace on the inside.

All of the food is actually inedible (it’s just to look nice) and the boxes of presents are all empty. Akechi wants to be celebrated and acknowledged, but he also feels as though it’s only possible so long as he’s putting up a front of being cheerful and pleasant — essentially, being someone he really isn’t. I think the children’s birthday party theme works well in this case, because even though it’s his party, there’s always an expectation that he has to be on his best behaviour, and that he can’t ruin the fun by showing just how sad and afraid and alone he really is. I like the idea that the more upset he becomes by the Phantom Thieves showing up to steal his treasure, and the more he starts to fall apart as a result, the more his own shadows start to get angry and even begin to turn against him.

To elaborate more on the palace itself, it’s meant to look beautiful and pristine on the outside, and it does on the inside as well, but only up to a certain point. If you travel too deep inside of it, things get really confusing — I imagine it becomes somewhat like the Winchester Mansion, with staircases that go nowhere, doors that are just a part of the wall or open up to nothing, and so on. All of those puzzles and tricks are meant to prevent his “guests” from going any further inside, which is where things start to resemble places from his real childhood… an orphanage, his foster homes, even the tiny apartment he lived in once upon a time with his mother. Speaking of his mother… I’m sure you can guess what the haunting creature in the bathtub might represent

As a little aside: spearofroute4 on twitter brought up the idea that (similar to Shido’s palace) for one part of the infiltration, the Phantom Thieves might be turned into child versions of themselves and have to make nice with Akechi, or pretend to bring him presents to pacify him, or something like that. I love that idea and I’d really like to draw it, so I might end up doing that next!