the girl anachronism

tl: the dying man (the song the lyrics of this come from)

the front cover (when you fold it up) is this dartboard. the board shows two darts, kechi's one is a bullseye but joker's is a triple-20. joker will always be better and more liked than akechi no matter how hard they try.

tl: goodbye my wife, i really loved you

okay this was... meant to be leblanc in the bg. i drew it like 2 months ago, there's a better leblanc later on lol. it's akechi and joker chatting, joker behind the counter as he acts as if he serves akechi but really it's because he's always above them. akechi's face is obscured and will continue to be obscured through this as their agency is stripped away.

tl: goodbye my wife, i really loved you, you know

pretty straightforward, jazz jin is a safe space for the two of them to strengthen and spill their hearts, so they'd have important conversations here.

tl: but i'm taking the train to the Good God

this is the eden of maruki's palace, where you fight that dumb tentacle bitch for the first time (really fun fight 🥹). i mean the thieves are literally going to 'god' when they're here, so it was an obvious choice. further, in the song this is a metaphor for le moribond going to his death, while in the game akechi basically is marching towards their death (the end of the ideal reality) here.

tl: i'm taking the train before you

the train, as mentioned previously, is akechi's death. he's marching to his death when he goes up these steps, and he's going before joker.

tl: but we take all the trains we can

i take this as kind of grabbing life by the balls regardless of his impending doom. you awaken hereward the day before your last fight, so the only time akechi can really use their true soul is when they fight for their right to die. akechi uses his true soul, his rebellious spirit, to die. i'm normal about this. (but tbh who kept akechi on their team in that boss fight...)

tl: goodbye my wife, i'm going to die

they're in penguin sniper again, this time looking away from each other. tensions are high! the game's nearly over and akechi's placing their life in joker's hands. joker seems aloof but he can't even stand to look at akechi due to the pressure.

tl: it's hard to die in [the winter], you know?

my mooties, remember that poll? yeah that lyric was originally 'au printemps', the spring, but... whatever. it's a lyric about how hard it is to leave when things finally seem a little beautiful to you, shown by akechi stalking observing shusumi in kichijoji. this is my least fav section, somethings just off about it. they aren't even meant to have a face yet😭

tl: but i leave for the flowers with my eyes closed, my wife

akechins gaining facial features! the flowers are meant to be pink forget-me-nots, symbolising bonds transcending time or distance, compassion, etc. this was kind of a filler, but i like it kind of😽

tl (rough): because we've had our eyes closed often

this is the better leblanc i was talking about lol... maruki holds the calling card, ren bashfully holds his wrist behind his back, and akechi is truly stripped of all agency and free will, represented by an animal. joker and maruki really are toying with their life during 2/2 and akechi's backed into that dark corner.

tl: i know you'll take care of my soul

and finally, right under the dark corner of crowkechi, is this. i tried making them look as young as possible, vulnerable, and they hold lavenza. she's part of the velvet room after all, the manifestation of their (now hopefully free) heart. crowkechi is beside normalkechi to show their own acceptance of their soul full and whole.

if i actually say all the lore i feel like id never stop typing i have lots of thoughts about her but here are some bullet points.

kasumi (whos sumires older twin in this au) is like the only person in this au who stays dead, she was goro's (a famous theatre actor) sort of ballet trainer and they weren't really close but then she Fucking Dies basically the same way as canon

sumire was kasumi's shadow when she was training goro, she kind of just did her own thing on the other side of the studio every day

sumire offers to train goro in the place of kasumi, presumably to save shido the time and effort of finding another dancer as good as either sumire or kasumi

she actually wanted to get closer to goro to ask about her sister, who she always looked up to but was never really allowed to be close to (a sort of unhealthy competitiveness was fostered between them so they would be pushed to improve their dancing)

goro actually knew jackshit about kasumi because she wasn't that great of a person

they wind up bonding over their experience in being famous very young and become friends and having fun et cetera

akesumi best friendship propaganda

all of the media thinks theyre dating but theyre really not🙏

when goro meets and joins the phantom theatre club (not their actual name ill have to... think about that) she drops by every now and then as a choreo/team spirit lol and to gossip with goro and ren

her and maruki don't see eye to eye with a lot of things (read:anything) and ill get into that. at some point

futaba was heavily sheltered for most of her childhood by her mother, wakaba isshiki, until wakaba's disappearance. wakaba was a well-known editor within professional dance and acting circles. she was adopted by sojiro sakura, who allowed her to stay in her rooms and skip school most days as long as her grades remained satisfactory (he's a decent parent other than that). she was like that one kid who consistently ruined the class average for you but you NEVER saw her and everyone hated her

she starts going to school this year, accompanied by ren, the odd exchange student from the countryside that sojiro is housing. there, she joins the school's theatre programme with ren, originally as part of the tech team, but her natural talent for singing (which she kept secret out of embarrassment and lingering bitterness towards the arts due to her mother) and a joke audition for the role of madame thénardier causes her to eventually get casted as cosette.