History Fanfic / Marigolds

%%* OriginalCharacter: Several show up to expand and give Akechi his own circle of confidants. Examples include Hikaru Kondo, Ise Saito, Hinata Osumi, Fusazane Atsuzawa, and Fusatsune Tsuchihashi.

* AdaptationalSexuality: While Akira has only been allowed to date girls in ''Persona 5'', here, he as a crush on Akechi and [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/21681676/chapters/114518605 his interlude]] mentions that he's had crushes on some boys as well. [[spoiler: The FlashSideways segment in [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/21681676/chapters/86696722 Chapter 60]] shows that this also applies to Ann, where she ends up getting Shiho as her girlfriend thanks to Maruki granting her deepest desires.]]

* HannibalLecture: In Chapter 45, after being irked by Makoto's comment about his "privilege" as the Detective Prince, Akechi rips into her motivations and mindset, bluntly asking why she's so deadset on getting validation from others and why she's so [[GreenEyedMonster jealous]] of him in particular. When Makoto demands him to tell her what he sees about her after getting his retort, he simply sums her character up as a [[ExtremeDoormat pushover]] who only really changed her source of validation from the principal and the school to the rest of Thieves. Makoto gives him a ShutUpHannibal in response, angrily declaring that she ''has'' changed, and goes out of her way to prove it to him by volunteering for the police force.

** In the original timeline, Shido refuses to acknowledge Akechi despite how much things he had done in Shido's name. In the new timeline, Akechi ''defying'' Shido caused Shido to finally acknowledge him instead. Given that Shido doesn't know of the original timeline, this can be read as DramaticIrony.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: Makoto claims how Akechi had the privilege of becoming the Second Coming of the Detective Prince, envying him because of how he quickly integrated himself into the Phantom Thieves. It understandably irks Akechi because she made it seem like he just got lucky.
* InternalReveal: Akechi reveals his identity as the Black Mask to the Thieves in chapter 39.

* MidSeasonUpgrade: Towards the end of chapter 40 (which Colbub says is roughly the halfway point of the story in the author notes), Akechi awakens to a third Persona: Raguel, the avenging angel of justice in Judaic traditions.

** Dialogue between them in Chapter 8 implies that [[spoiler: Yaldabaoth]] had ''always'' been in contact with [[spoiler: Shido]], even in the original timeline Akechi came from, [[AdaptationalExplanation explaining why]] [[spoiler: Shido]] kept saying that they were [[spoiler: "chosen by God"]], even in the original timeline, as opposed to the line being born out of sheer [[{{Pride}} pride]].

* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Befitting of his RedBaron as the Detective Prince, Akechi’s able to quickly deduce a situation even with little clues. This is mostly showcased in his interactions with Ryuji, where he quickly figured out he was looking for a specific teacher when he saw him at a nearby restaurant and realizing the background of the person who stalked his mother.

* EtTuBrute: This is Akechi's reaction to finding out that [[spoiler: Hinata was giving information about him to Shido]]. While she was [[spoiler: threatened into it by Shido promising to make her the focus of a public scandal to drag Akechi himself (who she deeply feels indebted to) down]], he's still deeply hurt by [[spoiler: her]] actions and leaves [[spoiler: her]] with a RejectedApology as a result. Unfortunately for [[spoiler: Hinata]], this ends up being the breaking point [[spoiler: that causes her to form her own palace]]. It takes several chapters worth of introspection and interactions with his Confidants for Akechi to come to forgiveness.

* NamedByTheAdaptation: Joker is called Akira Kurusu here. The protagonists of ''Persona 3'' and ''Persona 4'' are called Minato Arisato and Yu Narukami respectively.

** The owner of Jazz Jinn, Muhen (here [[NamedInTheAdaptation fully named as Kisaki Muhen]]), taking the role of TheBartender here. Much of his Confidant events are shown with his interactions with various characters talking their regrets and experiences with love, handing out his own bits of advice and observations, and letting Akechi see how others interact with the world.

* TheManBehindTheMan: Just like ''Persona 5'', [[spoiler: [[GreaterScopeVillain Yaldabaoth]]]] is this to the Anti-Social Force and [[spoiler: the Metaverse as a whole]]. ''Unlike'' the original game, however, Shido is ''directly'' contacted by [[spoiler: Yaldabaoth]], who has convinced the man that he's [[spoiler: chosen by God]] to "rule the masses". As a result of Akechi's TimeTravel leaving him more experienced and with different goals, [[spoiler: Yaldabaoth]] opts to [[spoiler: give Shido access to the MetaNav]] so that [[spoiler: he can place his hitmen into the Metaverse to commit assassinations via mental shutdowns]], ensuring that [[spoiler: Yaldabaoth's]] goals can still come into fruition without [[spoiler: his chosen piece, Akechi]].
** Dialogue between them implies that [[spoiler: Yaldabaoth]] had ''always'' been in contact with Shido, even in the original timeline Akechi came from. [[AdaptationalExplanation This explains why Shido kept calling himself ]] [[spoiler: "chosen by God"]] in the original game, as opposed to the line being born out of his {{Pride}}.

* SinisterSurveillance: [[spoiler: The MetaNav]] is revealed to act as one [[spoiler: for all of its users]]. Akechi makes a deal with [[spoiler: José]] to block out its view in order to prevent the Mastermind from spying on him and the Phantom Thieves. The group later has to make sure that they don't discuss anything out loud [[spoiler: in front of their phones]] to prevent the Mastermind from finding out their plans.

** [[spoiler: Wakaba Isshiki]] is alive in the new timeline thanks to Akechi's AdaptationalHeroism and desire to be TheAtoner. Instead, [[spoiler: she's deliberately placed into a coma to keep her safe from the Anti-Social Force]].

** It’s very telling how different Akechi’s relationships to their canon selves compared to this fic. In the former, they hardly tolerate his presence and only agree to work with him out of necessity and three of its members (Ryuji, Futaba and Haru) view him in especially low regard. In this fic, all the thieves ask him to hang out with them even if it’s not Phantom Thieves business and the very same people who dislike him now instead treat him like he’s part of the team. It helps that Akechi only put Wakaba in a coma instead of killing her and was personally involved in changing Kunikazu Okumura’s heart.

* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler: Wakaba Isshiki]] is alive in the new timeline thanks to Akechi's AdaptationalHeroism and desire to be TheAtoner. Instead, [[spoiler: she's deliberately placed into a coma to keep her safe from the Anti-Social Force]].

* AdaptationalSexuality: While Akira has only been allowed to date girls in ''Persona 5'', here, he as a crush on Akechi and [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/21681676/chapters/114518605 his interlude]] mentions that he's had crushes on some boys as well. [[spoiler: The FlashSideways segment in [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/21681676/chapters/86696722 Chapter 60]] shows that this also applies to Ann, with her desire being granted by Maruki ending up with Shiho as her girlfriend.]]

** Hinata Osumi is this to Shinya Oda. Both of them are the Tower Confidants of their respective Wild Cards (Akechi and Joker, respectively), with their social links being defined by familial troubles resulting in them being socially outcast. Both of them started out their friendships with their respective Wild Cards thanks to the latter attempting to reach a goal -- Joker needed to beat someone's seemingly invincible cognition and therefore needed Shinya's help, while Akechi ended up establishing a link with her as a coincidence during an attempt to level up another one of his Confidants. Much of Shinya's issues stem from [[AbusiveParents his mother]] trying to overcompensate for her status as a single parent, while Hinata herself is a single parent whose issues stem from how raising her child has led to her current circumstances. As far as Phantom Thieves targets go, Shinya's request is another mission for the depths of Mementos, while Hinata's own problems leads to her getting a full-blown ''palace''.
** Hikaru Misono to Hifumi Togo. Both of them are Star Confidants defined by their hobbies (music and shogi, respectively). Hikaru is a bright and cheery young man [[SadClown who hides his more debilitating issues with his attitude]], while Hifumi is a soft and demure lady who engages in a more excitable {{Chuunibyou}} behavior whenever she plays shogi. The two of them have issues with their [[AbusiveParents abusive mothers]], both of whom have had issues related to their husbands and their circumstances. Both of their parents end up getting changes of heart thanks to the Metaverse, but while Hifumi ultimately wanted her overbearing mother to leave her alone, Hikaru wants to get back with his mother.

** José is this to Morgana. Both of them are the non-human Magician Confidants of their respective Wild Cards who have an intrinsic amount of knowledge about the Metaverse and thus also act as the [[MrExposition Mr. Expositions]] to their Wild Cards. While Morgana is an amnesiac who [[spoiler: is actually a creation of Igor to embody human hope]], José is fully aware of who he is and [[spoiler: is seemingly a creation by some other being who also watches over humanity in order to study them]]. When traversing through the Metaverse, José rides his own car, whereas Morgana ''is'' the vehicle.

** Fortunately in the current timeline, [[spoiler: Wakaba is in a coma instead of having been killed.]]

* SparedByTheAdaptation:
** So far Akechi has been able to save Wakaba, Takaki and Atsuzawa, whom all ended up dying in the original timeline. He's able to avoid killing people or sending them berserk in this timeline by instead putting them into comas that can be reversed when the time is right. Misono and Fusa too were saved.
** Akechi himself, as in the previous timeline, he died after facing Shido's cognition of him in the engine room.

* {{Foil}}: Akechi is this to Makoto. Both are third years, have brown hair and red eyes, lost a parental figure and are considered the smartest within the Phantom Thieves. Their upbringing and circumstances are a different story. Makoto is a student council president hoping to join the police while Akechi’s already part of it due to him being a detective prodigy. Makoto was treated with disdain by the majority of her school peers and was only accepted within the Phantom Thieves while Akechi’s already gained enough popularity as the Second Coming of the Detective Prince. Makoto, having a sister who’s a prosecutor, isn’t in any danger of being homeless anytime soon while Akechi was moved from various foster homes and it’s implied that some of his foster parents weren’t parental material. Makoto is an idealist while Akechi is cynical.

** Justice - Fusatsune Atsuzawa

* ButterflyOfDoom: Akechi is savvy enough to know that even changing minor things could have an effect on the future. That's why he's careful not to change anything related to Akira and the Phantom Thieves, and even steps in when it looks as if things are going too differently. [[spoiler: Despite his best efforts, though, every member of the Thieves has gotten involved in the Metaverse one way or another by the middle of June, when Okumura's Palace didn't even come up until October in the original timeline.]]

** The Cleaner, who otherwise only appears as a cognition in Shido's palace, physically appears and is given an expanded role as Shido's muscle and [[spoiler: discrete way of [[HumanTraffickers removing his enemies and critics]] now that Akechi refuses to do so]]. In fact, [[spoiler: his trafficking is a significant part of Akechi's plan to take down Shido in the real world -- by making sure that Shido would be associated with the Yakuza, he could trick the ''world'' into thinking that Shido was directly supporting human trafficking rings, ensuring that he faces justice for his many other crimes without the help of the Metaverse.]]

** The owner of Jazz Jinn, Muhen (here [[NamedInTheAdaptation fully named as Kisaki Muhen]]), taking the role of theBartender here. Much of his Confidant events are shown with his interactions with various characters talking their regrets and experiences with love, handing out his own bits of advice and observations, and letting Akechi see how others interact with the world.