Me shaking Atlus until more Grey Pidgeon lore falls out-
But yeah, I love that idea of his being a far more direct control instead of Akechi's manipulation of their baser emotions, I think that'll be a really neat angle! Especially wrt Futaba and Wakaba, and how it means for future victims he needs to really use his time to study them and figure out how they would speak, which ties into the way Akira can figure out what confidants like best for him to say.
Seth is a really good one for Akechi, but I'm honestly kind of partial to Loki haha. I like the idea of him awakening to Loki through a fusion accident or something similar that gets at a lot of his own rage that he still keeps repressed and tries not to show in front of the other Pthieves because he finally has friends, he doesn't want them to see this ugly side of him.
I think Akechi in this universe wouldn't exactly be like his third semester self, but definitely more direct than he tends to be as his prince persona. He still has to be the smartest person in the room and craves attention on his terms, but is more concerned about his appearance in front of the people he actually likes instead of The Entire Public. He's still driven to be the best and wants to be acknowledged, but more in a, "I don't have the money or the family support that you have but I'm still better than you, try to keep up," kind of way instead of a, "please don't abandon me, please love me," kind of way.
I'm good either way also! It might be interesting to have Akira survive and team up for the final Shido fight, especially since his powers meant he had way more control over the victims themselves, which could make an interesting moral debate for what, if any, ~consequences~ he should face. I think Akechi would firmly be of the opinion that Akira isn't entirely blameless, because to imply otherwise would be to rob Akira of his agency, but it's entirely up to Akira what he wants the form of his justice to take.
I love the idea of him leaving clues and Akechi desperately trying to figure out how to connect the dots for concrete proof to his identity to try to stop their eventual coming to a head, because if it's as early as pancakes being a deliberate clue, he's going to be aware of this game of cat-and-mouse they're playing and try to figure out how to "win" it.
If he does survive the engine room, maybe instead of his life, it's potential life in prison that Maruki is dangling over their heads? Not to mention the deaths of people who wouldn't have died without Akira's intervention. Because Akechi wouldn't want Shido magically back in his life like Madarame or Okumura, even if it's something that would objectively make his mother's life easier, it wouldn't even cross his mind at that point for Maruki to sincerely think that would do anything but piss him off. Maybe a, "I can make it so all your crimes never happened. It's made a lot of people in this world much happier, you know. This way you don't have to be separated from the only person who's ever challenged you in a meaningful way."
Considering how possessive Akechi is, I could see Akira being worried that keeping him out of prison might be enough to sway him, because if it's the question of, "someone has to take the fall for Shido's crimes," he'd be initially torn on it himself because going to prison is going to be hell on his mother after everything they'd done, but sending Akira to prison is almost certainly going to be a life sentence so. Wiggles hand, could be something.
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But yeah, I love that idea of his being a far more direct control instead of Akechi's manipulation of their baser emotions, I think that'll be a really neat angle! Especially wrt Futaba and Wakaba, and how it means for future victims he needs to really use his time to study them and figure out how they would speak, which ties into the way Akira can figure out what confidants like best for him to say.
Seth is a really good one for Akechi, but I'm honestly kind of partial to Loki haha. I like the idea of him awakening to Loki through a fusion accident or something similar that gets at a lot of his own rage that he still keeps repressed and tries not to show in front of the other Pthieves because he finally has friends, he doesn't want them to see this ugly side of him.
I think Akechi in this universe wouldn't exactly be like his third semester self, but definitely more direct than he tends to be as his prince persona. He still has to be the smartest person in the room and craves attention on his terms, but is more concerned about his appearance in front of the people he actually likes instead of The Entire Public. He's still driven to be the best and wants to be acknowledged, but more in a, "I don't have the money or the family support that you have but I'm still better than you, try to keep up," kind of way instead of a, "please don't abandon me, please love me," kind of way.
I'm good either way also! It might be interesting to have Akira survive and team up for the final Shido fight, especially since his powers meant he had way more control over the victims themselves, which could make an interesting moral debate for what, if any, ~consequences~ he should face. I think Akechi would firmly be of the opinion that Akira isn't entirely blameless, because to imply otherwise would be to rob Akira of his agency, but it's entirely up to Akira what he wants the form of his justice to take.
I love the idea of him leaving clues and Akechi desperately trying to figure out how to connect the dots for concrete proof to his identity to try to stop their eventual coming to a head, because if it's as early as pancakes being a deliberate clue, he's going to be aware of this game of cat-and-mouse they're playing and try to figure out how to "win" it.
If he does survive the engine room, maybe instead of his life, it's potential life in prison that Maruki is dangling over their heads? Not to mention the deaths of people who wouldn't have died without Akira's intervention. Because Akechi wouldn't want Shido magically back in his life like Madarame or Okumura, even if it's something that would objectively make his mother's life easier, it wouldn't even cross his mind at that point for Maruki to sincerely think that would do anything but piss him off. Maybe a, "I can make it so all your crimes never happened. It's made a lot of people in this world much happier, you know. This way you don't have to be separated from the only person who's ever challenged you in a meaningful way."
Considering how possessive Akechi is, I could see Akira being worried that keeping him out of prison might be enough to sway him, because if it's the question of, "someone has to take the fall for Shido's crimes," he'd be initially torn on it himself because going to prison is going to be hell on his mother after everything they'd done, but sending Akira to prison is almost certainly going to be a life sentence so. Wiggles hand, could be something.