You Were The Path I Chose | A Goro Akechi Romance

[A/N | General Information]

Nothing much to see here, just a FeMC AU for Persona 5 Royal featuring a choice to romance Goro Akechi . . . and all the consequences that entails, for you and for him.

Okay, maybe there is much to see here, considering how long it is. This started as an Akechi-exclusive spin-off book of my other fanfiction, "FeMC Scenarios"—it uses the same FeMC, but most of this book is entirely original and far more developed than anything in that one.

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Some general disclaimers . . .

—This starts as a series of novelizations (with some more or less minor twists and changes) of all Akechi's Confidant rank-up scenes, as well as some scenes in between, but goes above and beyond later.

—The canon game ending won't happen; there won't be any leaving or splitting up, and the Metaverse won't disappear either (I consider this a plot hole, considering we are told that the Metaverse is an alternate dimension where cognition manifests . . . it doesn't actually make any sense that the whole dimension would disappear just because Mementos lost its central figure.) What happens to Akechi, I will not spoil . . . that being said, I don't actually have an "ending" planned, I'll likely keep writing for as long as I keep having ideas. However, after a certain point, I might switch the status to "complete" because the main storyline will be completed.

—The ending aside, I am aiming to be as canon-compliant as possible and will follow the canon storyline of the game (from roughly June to February, and beyond—after the game would have already ended). Every other change is a direct or indirect result of the protagonist change.

—A lot of the game's story is skipped in between the chapters, meaning I do not recommend reading this unless you've finished the game (or at least know the story.) Knowledge of the game's events will be expected and there will be huge spoilers (even for future events in earlier chapters in cases where the characters know more than the player/audience.

—This takes place in the Royal canon and includes the new content and characters, but will likely exclude all spin-offs simply because I haven't experienced any of them.

—There will be headcanons (especially regarding backstories), but nothing that would directly contradict or be impossible in the canon game. I'm expanding character lore, working with what's already available, not against it.

—Akechi's probably going to break the 4th wall at some point because he would.

—Considering this is a romance-centered book, I'll put significantly more focus on that (first and foremost, a more gradual and early build-up and more in-depth exploration). There will certainly be more happening between the couple than would happen on-screen in the game.

—This is rated M on Ao3, so while the descriptions won't be very graphic, there will be some mature content later on. I'll still put a disclaimer at the start of those chapters too.

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The FeMC that will be featured in this book . . .

—is named Rin Amamiya, but retains the codename "Joker".

—will tell the story in 1st person and (mostly) retain the 2-3 dialogue options setup from the game (only one of which will be chosen per option, typically the best or most interesting one; plot-altering/necessary options are always bold.)

—is a mix between my take on a female Joker and an original character. She is a direct gender-bend (from only P5R itself) in some aspects (name, looks, role, some personality traits, . . .), but is also distinctly different in other ways, especially in terms of personality (she is different in the ways she has to be for this romance and story to work . . . more on that at the end of the A/N.)

—will have significantly more complexity and development that affects the outcome or even existence of certain events in the story (this is part of what I meant by "all other changes are more or less a result of the protagonist change"). As a general rule, if something wasn't addressed or didn't happen in the game, it's likely due to Rin's differences from canon Joker.

Here's some art I made of her:

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That all being said (and also because I've been called out for this by some very observant commenters—thank you) . . . We've arrived at the end of the A/N, so now I should probably tell you that this book, at its core, is actually a romance fanfiction-shaped essay covering two topics:

—Akechi's character in general (I'm a pretty avid Akechi analyzer who has spent way too much time thinking about him, and written actual essays on him and this game . . . he is my favorite fictional character of all time, what can I say?) This book is also a tribute to him and a way for me to spell out all the realizations I've had about him throughout the last few years. This means also that I'm giving you Goro Akechi, the way he actually is. I'm not compromising an ounce of his borderline incomprehensible complexity or character for a second, and you (and the characters) will just have to deal with that. Yes, you'll very likely find yourself questioning most, if not everything, you thought you knew about him if you commit to reading this . . . but it'll be worth it (if this happens, I would love to hear about it, by the way!)

—Why the Joker/Akechi ship would NOT work with canon Joker . . . shown through making the changes I believe would be necessary for it to work (a main goal of creating Rin's character was to make her a version of Joker whom Akechi would not hate, even fall in love with . . . another reason for saying that essentially every change in this book just comes from her differences to canon Joker.)

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Anyway—now that I've dumped a whole bunch of info and backstory on you, please dive in and have fun with the story!

If you want to leave requests for scenes you'd like me to write, go right ahead! I can't promise I'll actually do them, but I'll absolutely consider them. Both canon scenes and original ones work for requests (even ones that happen early on, I'll simply change the chapter order to keep it chronological then.)

I'm also someone who loves receiving comments and being a part of her readers' journeys through her work in general, so please feel free to spam as many comments as you want! Be it feedback, thoughts, impressions, observations, or really anything that comes to mind. I reply to almost every comment as well, so don't be surprised by that.

Feel free to also check out my other P5R fanfiction while you're at it, especially if you want to see Rin romance other guys as well, and most importantly, please enjoy!