#straylize vers

TNT: This is exactly how it would go.

Akechi: Ah, why didn’t you just say that. Of course.Akira: fUCK YOU??????

Akechi isn’t suggesting they ACTUALLY give them real money… but just like. If they’re insisting on a trade, they need to make that trade happen somehow, which means they’ll do half the job and bring them Minato on the spot instead of force the Arisatian Military to blindly search every corner of the earth (bc who’s to say Minato’s still in Arisatia). Sure, it’d be dangerous, but it’d be the fastest way. Tbh it’d also be dumb of the captors bc I can imagine The Arisatian Military would have snipers ready to take out ALL people responsible unless they came in bulk. Lmao Akira looking at Akechi like “Now what? There’s 25 people here and we have 3 snipers”. Akechi, sweating bullets. “Give me a minute to think, asshole, God, I can’t get anything done around here because of you.”

Akira wouldn’t negotiate or even pretend to, Akira would just straight up go for murder when it came to Minato, esp if they gave him a location, he’d just go in prepared to fucking annihilate all of them. Akechi would be a bit more resourceful and pretend-meet the people halfway to get to Minato and if it means having to cut a few throats on his way out, well, that’s just the way it has to be.

Notice how they wouldn’t work together when it came down to something like a ransom because their methods would clash so much and they’d struggle to agree on anything. Akechi: Fine, you can have your army. I can’t wait for shit to hit the fan.Akira: sO YOU’RE PLANNING TO LET IT HIT THE FAN ARE YOU M-Akechi just, yeah, an unknown amount of people will all be carrying an unknown amount of guns and they’ll all start fucking shooting at the tiniest trigger fucking wonderful Akira tell me more Akira talk about this wonderful plan of yours where we all just simultaneously dodge 50 rounds of death Akira-

I love them but God whytheysofucking dumb.

Straylize: Yeah. Pretty much just.

Again, with no Akechi as a factor in mine, it’s literally just “Akira isn’t going to negotiate or pretend to.” He’s going to run down and obliterate anyone who threatens Minato’s safety. He isn’t going to reward them with money or let them live.

If he doesn’t absolutely kill them all himself, he’s going to make sure they’re locked up in a cell and tortured to the point that they wish they were dead for ever daring to fuck with the king. The worst scenario of all is the one where Akira kills everyone but the ones who arranged it, forcing them to see their comrades die before taking them in for torture interrogations.

100 follower Poll Winner (Art/Fic): Goro Akechi

Title: Gloves

Lunchtime in the Arisato Palace was a time when most who were always at the top of their game would finally relax. Though their breaks were staggered to ensure palace security was tight, the forty-five minutes those guards had to relax was always embraced. The heaviest pieces of armor could be set aside, and for those who worked the more agile security detail, their gloves came off as well.

Save for two people.

One such person was Goro Akechi; he served as one of Minato’s closest guards, and had been serving for the past nine years, under Minato’s direct approval to do so. On this particular day, he’d been sitting alone in the staff dining area. In one gloved hand, he held a spoon, in the other, a book. Though he maintained a friendly, amicable relationship with the other guards, this wasn’t uncommon for him at all. He wasn’t the sort to get close to people—most didn’t know very much about him at all beyond his visible dedication to his work. That sort of guarded existence prevented anyone from ever knowing why he never bothered to remove them—though it was easy to assume he was like the other that never removed their gloves.

That other person was Akira Kurusu. For Akira, who led the royal security and tended to the king personally as his retainer, it was expected that he would rarely take his gloves off. He hardly ever took his shoes off. He didn’t sleep often, he never took personal days or any time for himself; he was a workhorse, and that often meant that taking the time to remove his gloves while he ate was time wasted. He didn’t have time to waste, so he elected not to.

TNT: “assuming goro’s literate”  he isn’t, so, moving on-

You’d think Minato would have a clean writing style because he’s the king, but no, he’s the kind of person whose letters you can only make out if you have a similar handwriting style of it, or if you’ve gotten used to reading it. Ex, the way he dots his “i”s is done by dragging the pen for too long so the ink lingers, and it makes the “i” look more like a curved “T”. Unfinished “o”s that look more like “u”s. And unfinished “a”s that look more like “u”s as well. On top of that, I think he writes waaaay too tiny for anyone to actually figure out WTF those letters are. When his style was clean, it looked good, but now…. I always imagine he was good with his handwriting until the Fall, where he began being pushed to write way too much and exhausted his hands to the point he no longer gave a fuck and everyone around him was having trouble reading his rushed writing. So, he adapted to using a typewriter and never looked back. Since using a typewriter, his hands can rest more, and his handwriting isn’t as terrible because he doesn’t have to rush writing to get shit done.

Akira’s job doesn’t involve a lot of writing but the times he has to write he makes sure it’s readable. No italics, nothing fancy if it’s important, at best he highlights words with color if he has it on hand to make sure whoever gets the memo does their job right. I also think he writes his letters bigger to make them easier to read. I also believe he doesn’t have time to use an eraser at all, so if he makes a mistake further along his text, he just x’s it out and clarifies what he means before sending it away.

Ok, but as far as Akechi goes (in my vers), he has a pretty neat and clean writing style. Not because he cares, but because that’s what’s required of him as a kitchen attendant. Writing up lists, shopping, recipes, journaling/planning, placing orders or gathering them and organizing them is part of his job. It’d suck if he actually didn’t do it that well. Cursive is his default, which is hilarious because NO ONE in the kitchen wants him to fucking use cursive. Even if they CAN read it, it just makes it agonizingly slower than it should be, but they can’t get on his case for it being “bad handwriting”. So, Akechi purposefully writes in cursive to piss off his superiors because he knows it gets under their skin and it’s the only way he can fuck with them without getting penalized. 

So, to summarize my thoughts on it, if they ever got separated and their only form of communication was writing, I think all their styles would be readable, but Minato’s might look a little difficult to make out at first glance because it’s so tiny. Akira’s would be the easiest to read, and Akechi’s would just look… obnoxiously fancy LMFAO perhaps even moreso because Akira’s writing style is really bland and “doesn’t have any kind of personality”. It’d be hilarious bc Akira wouldn’t even have to open his letter to know if it was from Akechi or not, he’d just see the fancy damn letters and think “i can read this later”. Lmao, imagine Akechi getting a letter from the famed Kurusu only to see ungracefully big letters, bland writing, a bunch of X’d out words, and “get this done” at the bottom. Like. This is it Minato. This is the man you trusted your life with. Are. You. Fu C KIN G jo KE in G???

Straylize: I don’t have much to add with regards to Minato and Akira, because… yeah, it’s the same and exactly what I would have said.

Same for Akechi, though in my vers, there’s a bit of a caveat. Since he’s an assassin and has assumed multiple identities over the years (and even still has to in the present, albeit away from the eyes of the palace), his handwriting is very adaptable. 

He wasn’t very literate to start, he could read and write simple things, but under Takaya’s care, he became well-versed and very literate in all manners, and one of the key aspects of adapting his identity was also making sure that nobody could distinguish his handwriting. He’s ambidextrous as well, and different personas of his can be either right or left-handed, or have totally different manners of handwriting. As “Goro Akechi,” one of the Kingsguard, his handwriting is much like TNT says. For other personas, it’s much different.

Just a quick list of the presently revealed confirmed character roles. Some of these things have only been mentioned in asks, fic, or on twitter. Not all of their designs have been released yet (for major characters)—and we’ll definitely post updated lists as more characters get revealed, since this is only a small handful of what we’ve decided on!

Minato Arisato: King

Akira Kurusu: King’s Retainer

Ryoji Mochizuki: Prince (straylize vers)

Goro Akechi: King’s Retainer (TNT vers), A-Rank Guard (straylize vers)

Junpei Iori: A-Rank Guard

Yukari Takeba: Royal Military Archer, part-time royal stylist

Mitsuru Kirijo: Head of House Kirijo, Governness of Bufula

Akihiko Sanada: Mitsuru’s Retainer

Kotone Shiomi (FemC): Noble of Bufula

Shinjiro Aragaki: Kotone’s Retainer

Haru Okumura: Heiress to House Okumura, future Governness of Astarte

Ryuji Sakamoto: Haru’s Retainer

Kunikazu Okumura: Head of House Okumura, Governor of Astarte

Shuji Ikutsuki: Head of House Ikutsuki, Governor of Nyxwing

Aigis (Ikutsuki): Heiress to House Ikutsuki, Shuji’s Retainer

Metis (Ikutsuki): Shuji’s Retainer, Aigis’ future Retainer

Jun Kashihara (Kurosu): Heir of House Kashihara, future Governor of Garudyne

Tatsuya Suou: Jun’s Retainer

Junko Kashihara: Head of House Kashihara, Governess of Garudyne

Akinari Kashihara: National Historian and husband of Junko, Jun’s father

Kei Nanjo: Head of House Nanjo, Governor of Mahama

Reiji Kido: Kei’s Retainer

Masayoshi Shido: Head of House Shido, Governor of Eigaon

Sojiro Sakura: owner of Tavern Leblanc in Oratorio, close personal contact of Akira’s.

And a brief tease for characters (both major and minor) who have roles that aren’t yet revealed but are solidified, take a look beneath the RM! We’ll be revealing more about them in the future!

TNT: I think that’s an after effect both Akira and Minato have to deal with. Despite clearly having each other, there’s a barrier that keeps them split up (rank and gender etc, not to mention the guilt that burdens Akira every time he remembers what happened during The Fall). Though, since the question was directed at Minato specifically, I’ll answer them in order.Akira’s out working most the time, from little personal errands for the King to dealing with assassins. Minato has so little time with Akira that he often has to lie and make up some excuse for them to spend time together. Be it either filing paperwork he can easily do himself, tripping and faking hurt, or a “business” trip to Astarte. He gets lonely, but he feels responsible for Akira’s hardships (given Akira’s position, Minato could technically fire him, but… they need a retainer. Minato would fire him if he wasn’t putting a bullet in both their heads that way.) so he sucks it up and tries to bend the rules in their favor little by little, but the people aren’t easily swayed, and making radical changes only brings more assassins for Akira to deal with. He has to put on a mask to make everyone believe everything’s fine, because if the King is worried for their future, then the people won’t feel secure. Akira’s the only one he can open up to about those insecurities, but Minato ends up often not burdening him with those thoughts in the end, since Akira already has so much to deal with. That… and Akira’s never around that often, so Minato’s opportunities to actually communicate with Akira about anything is very slim.

Minato doesn’t talk much to anyone besides Akira (who then relays Minato’s message for him to whoever it needs to reach), the other nobles, or very specific staff in the palace (like guards who drop in to deliver news or letters). It’s partly because he doesn’t feel comfortable with it, and partly because he’s worried his mask will break if he’s allowed to talk for too long. In my vers, this is (to some extent) why Akechi’s plan to become retainer is so… efficient. Minato wants Akira to work less. Minato wants company. Akechi can both work and free up Akira’s time. While Akechi sympathises with Minato (being lonely and feeling like there’s no one around that’s willing to listen to you) he also knows he needs to exploit that weakness in Minato in order to get ahead. Minato needs someone by his side because unlike Akira (who needs to communicate with important informants to keep Minato safe) Minato doesn’t directly have to communicate with anyone if he doesn’t feel like it because that’s something he knows Akira can do better and faster for him in certain cases. But it leaves him isolated a good chunk of his time. Some days, he doesn’t say a word to anyone. Not because he dislikes talking, but because he has nothing to say or no one to talk to, or just too much to do. Other days, he can talk his throat sore from the speeches he has to hold, and how much he has to rehearse not to sound completely monotonous. They’re both broken and lonely, but I do tend to focus on Akira a lot in my comics when I write them, because there’s a lot to show there (conflict, both internal and external) whereas Minato’s (if i made a comic for him- which I’m planning after the current one) would be… almost stagnant. There’d be almost no dialogue. With Akira, there’s a lot of ups and downs, but with Minato (during the times Akira isn’t present) is like a consistent stream of apathy.

Straylize: What TNT says is pretty universal for both versions.  Obviously, there  are some differences due to the way Akechi’s role differs; Akechi can’t really exploit that loneliness because in my verse, Akechi is really never allowed to get that close, since he’s an A-Rank soldier and not a retainer. He’s still about as close as he can get, but there are bigger barriers for him to get through.

So Minato is still mostly isolated; he doesn’t confide much in anyone but Akira, but there are a couple of people in the palace that he is a little closer to. Junpei is one of those people; he’s an A-Rank guard who spends most of his time protecting Minato; he watches over his quarters. While Akira is the one who accompanies Minato everywhere personally, Junpei is one of the guards who watches their backs. If they go on an outing outside the palace, say to another city or region, Junpei is the one who will guard his quarters or meeting room, or even a restaurant. Anything where Akira would be inside with Minato, Junpei is usually one of the guards outside. He’s been in service of the kingdom since just after The Fall, and has worked closely with Minato for so long that Minato and Akira both have some trust in him. So even though Minato doesn’t confide much in Junpei, Junpei is still a person who can brighten his spirits, usually with stories (both real and outlandishly made up) of escapades in the capital. It helps Minato feel a little less lonely, since Junpei is so animated that Minato can live a bit vicariously through it. He appreciates those moments, even if they’re fleeting.

He also has Yukari, who much like Junpei, has been in his service for long enough to have earned some trust. Even though she primarily works with the military as an archer, her natural sense of style means she likes to work closely with the royal tailors; she’s the one who can draw of Minato what kind of  clothing he wants for various occasions, going over the ideas before relaying them to the tailors to start the work and fittings. Even though it’s something official and somewhat formal, Yukari’s personality is never really all that stiff with him, and the fact he can tell her the kind of clothing he wants without judgment makes him more incline to be honest. They bring out a fair amount of good in each other, even if it’s again, somewhat fleeting because Minato never shares his burdens.

straylize: I can’t speak for TNT’s plans when it comes to art or comics—but I can talk a bit about why Akira hasn’t really displayed this in fics up to this point, though I imagine it’ll be a similar response for us both.

Those tics don’t exist in the same form that they do in canon. Not that they don’t exist at all—but Akira as a retainer in the present day is a very different person than he was a teenager. Before things went terribly wrong and they were forced to grow up pretty quickly, those tics were pretty common. Even when he tried to mask them to be more like a retainer (as he got older and the Kurusus got more strict about adhering to his role), Minato would definitely see them often, and of course, was endeared by them.

But everything changed after their parents were killed. Akira grew up pretty immediately and hid a lot of his true personality behind the mask of being a retainer. That included his sass and his sarcasm, his flirtatiousness, his playful side and his inherent rebellion.

It was also those little quirks. Things like tapping his foot in thought and fussing with his hair gave way to adjusting his hat or dusting off his clothes. The only real remain tic that anyone ever gets to see is adjusting his glasses, which most of the time ends up being kind of a necessity.

Every so often—when he’s tired and overworked, or overly stressed and his guard is down just enough, those old habits shine through. They’re definitely still a part of him, after all. But because he’s forced himself to be so stiff, refined and duty-bound, things that amount to Akira’s “true self” are locked away and… well…

We’ve got a lot of plot to work through before we can really let those parts of him start to more prominently show again.

(I can’t speak for Akechi’s thoughts; the Akechi of my verse would not find it at all cute because he has nothing more than disdain for Akira’s entire existence, so I’ll have to leave that one to TNT’s verse!)

TNT: What Straylize just said! Akechi grew up seeing those ticks, and was obviously endeared by them because he’s remembered them all as retainer and is now using them against Akira. The reason Akechi is mimicking them is because he knows Minato is endeared by them too, and that Akira doesn’t do them anymore because he’s forcing himself to be the perfect retainer not to taint his family name. His humanity is something he knows he has to toss aside (to uphold the Kurusu name) so the few times his mask does break, he tries not to have it break in front of Minato, or anyone that might let Minato know. Yes, Akechi, I’m looking at you. Last thing Akira needs is to give Akechi more fuel to feed the fire he’s making around them.

What Akechi is actually successfully doing by taking over the ticks is make himself what he deems to be a “perfect Akira”, an upgrade. So, the image Akechi is putting forward towards Minato is what Akechi wants Minato to see him as.

In essence, Akechi wants Minato to see him as a better Akira.

Deep down, he feels like Minato should like him for his true self. Problem is, that true self has been lost to years of bitterness, pettiness, and spite. The closest Minato came to seeing Akechi as his true self was those two instances they met when there were younger. Once when Minato ran into him at around age 7, and one where Akechi snuck into Minato’s office. But those two meetings weren’t enough for Minato to get to know him, and sadly, it’s how Akechi manages to trick Minato into thinking his mask is his true self.

straylize: Well, when it comes to Akira, his fatal weakness is Minato, but a little more so in the sense that his weakness is actually his self-imposed bindings to his duty as retainer. He goes above and beyond in dangerous ways sometimes.

And similarly for Minato, it’s Akira, but more in the sense that it’s because Minato is a bit soft? He often wants to alleviate those burdens. And in general, he’s also pretty bad at saying no and  tends to give people the benefit of the doubt. Which… obviously can be a bit naive. Their weaknesses play into each other a lot. 

For Akechi, tho… hoo boy. For my version, it’s definitely a combination of over-confidence and single-sightedness. He’s got a goal and he’ll do what it takes to achieve that, but all the same, it means he doesn’t always look at things from the right angles. A person with a broken mentality and a lack of proper empathy can’t always see things from the right light, and Akechi suffers from that a lot. He fakes all of those things well enough to fool Minato and most other people, but he can’t pull the wool over everyone’s eyes.

And. You know.

If you end up doing anything that severely threatens Minato at any point in time, there’s a chance your fatal weakness ends up being Akira Kurusu himself.

:)

TNT: It’s similar for both of us on that front. Minato’s weakness is his willingness to lessen the burdens on Akira, and Akira’s weakness is overworking himself for Minato’s sake. They both try to protect each other but end up hurting each other instead. Minato makes Akira feel useless when his duties are restricted or cut short, and Minato feels like a burden when Akira can’t get more than three hours of sleep because of his duties.

As for Akechi, my Akechi’s biggest weakness is his vanity (that over-confidence you mentioned), but moreso, his naivety. Akechi does have a lot of experience in manipulation, because it’s how he had to adapt in order to get ahead, but he’s not a people person, so when someone extends him basic acts of kindness, he tends to take it a bit too intensely than it was intended. This is where Minato’s basic empathy appeals to Akechi so much that Akechi’s views of Minato become distorted (also like you mentioned, this near-fetishization of the King). Akechi will read Minato’s basic acts of kindness as romantic because no one else treated Akechi fairly. So, Minato’s “basic acts of kindness” seem like “acts of affection” and that’s where he’ll cripple himself- thinking he can actually get together with the king, because he doesn’t understand people as well as he thinks he does.

Just a little quality of life update to the blog! On the main navigation, we’ve added a CHARACTERS/ROLES page!

Here you can find some info about all of the characters revealed so far, including roles, ages, and House alignments! Of course, there’s still info there not revealed, and characters that won’t be added until we completely secure their place in the story. We will be updating this as more reveals are made, and do our best to keep it up-to-date.

But in the meanwhile, you can get a sneak peek at some of what we’re working on, including some reveals of minor characters and other roles that weren’t previously discussed! Please keep in mind that not all characters will receive designs, but all roles will be revealed as we go. Also keep in mind that the reason we don’t generally answer asks about character roles is because we’re not ready to reveal them yet, not because they won’t have a place in the AU. We really want to take our time to flesh things our appropriately before we start talking about some aspects, but we’ll gladly answer what we can about the things we’ve revealed so far.

Enjoy, everyone!