Persona AU meme

[rikimaru]

Personas are manifestations of the soul, a mask worn by the wielder to face life and its hardships. Those with the ability to summon their persona are able to do battle against shadows, which embody the negative aspects of the heart. Shadows, much like personas, can take countless forms based on the person themselves. Despite the distinctions, both are derived from people, typically with shadows representing the part of yourself you deny and personas the parts you accept.

Both come from you. How you deal with both is entirely up to you.

NOW THAT WE GOT THE FLUFF OUT OF THE WAY, it's a generic persona AU meme. Borrow elements from the games, make up your own shit, it's your life; shape it to what you want it to be. The games generally mix slice of life with RPG shenanigans and both allow your characters to draw strength from their personas, from their true selves. Have fun with that.

A better summary of personas
Arcana alignments since every persona has one. Your call if you wanna bother with these.

How much you wanna AU your characters is up to you! Literally canon but with personas, suddenly high school setting with magical spirit monsters, whatever as long as you're having fun! Find your characters' arcana, make or borrow personas

SOME PROMPTS I GUESS:

1. Awakening: Sometimes, people gain the ability to summon personas after a crucial moment of intense emotion. A desire to protect, a yearning for revenge, maybe even the will to live. What's just as important as what brought on your awakening is who's around for it and who's about to get their asses kicked?

2. Shadow self: Those who have difficulty accepting who they are may have to deal with their shadows, their "darker" selves. Shadows emphasize (even exacerbate) the traits the person denies, growing violent and murderous when denied and potentially becoming personas when accepted. If you find your shadow, chances are you're in serious trouble. This could end in a fight if talking doesn't work. Just be careful about fighting a being that represents part of someone...

3. Dungeon crawling: Maybe this'll lead to a shadow confrontation, maybe it won't. Good on you if you're honing your fighting skills! Regardless, you're probably not alone in doing this, so take your pals and go beat up shadows. Dungeons shape themselves after a person's desires and personality, much like the shadows that inhabit them. If you're gonna go to a friend's dungeon, at least make sure they're okay with it; it might be too personal for them to deal with.

4. Social links: As most of the persona and shadow stuff happens behind the scenes, there's still the rest of your life to deal with. School stuff, work life, personal problems, it's all here. These are people you ride into battle with, so it's good to know who's on your side. It's as if actually being friends with someone will make them stronger allies or something!

5. Persona vs Persona: I mean. No one's stopping you from fighting. Maybe shadows aren't enough training for you. Maybe you're practicing tactics. Maybe it's a social link thing, maybe one or both of you are really pissed at each other. Your personas are doing the talking now, so hopefully you remembered your opponent's weaknesses you're unquestionably giving it everything you've got.

6. Mandatory smut option I guess: It doesn't count if we touch personas, right?

7. Wildcard joke goes here: I'm not your dad; make up your own damn prompts if you want!

But Riki, I want more details than this! What about a setting, better prompts or less vagueness on your part?

Comments

[titanianblade]

(No, that's totally fair. The poor guy's been through more than enough today and he probably doesn't want a headache on top of everything else.

Being smaller than him means there's not much Cornelius can do to help him stand, but the rabbit stands beside him all the same.)

Of course. I know the way back to the real world. I can take you home from there.

(Just need to leave the dungeon first. It should be calm with the shadow defeated, but he'll stay on guard just in case.)

[yaboyguzma]

[He could only grunt as he forced himself to his feet. He felt like he weighed a million pounds and wanted nothing more than to collapse in his bed and not think of anything for a while.

But the trick was getting TO the bed first. And not get eaten by the monsters here. Sheesh...]

You don't have any kind of stretcher or back-up, huh..?

[titanianblade]

I'm afraid not. Technically, at least.

(An idea comes to mind before they get moving, the pooka's head perking up in a flash of realization. Just as before, the tarot card hovers before Cornelius as he crushes it in his little paw.)

Persona.

(Once again, Liu Bei is called to his side, this time with his blades sheathed. The persona is about Guzma's height, perfect for draping an arm over his shoulders to give him someone to lean against.)

[yaboyguzma]

Right... your purse-thing.

[He's gonna side-eye Liu Bei for a second, but it's not gonna be too much longer than that; he's stuck in this hellhole and he wanted to go home. He would have to suck it up and have this weird creature help him up. So he rose with the assistance.]

Just... just gemme out of this dump.

[titanianblade]

(With a nod, Cornelius takes point as his persona helps walk Guzma through the dungeon. Fortunately for them, the defeat of his shadow seems to have scared off all the lesser ones for now. They won't stay gone, he's sure, but the later they come back, the better.

The return trip is thankfully uneventful as the three of them arrive at a...very old fashioned looking TV, antennas and all. The screen is blank, but it begins to ripple as Cornelius pushes a paw through it, as if in demonstration.)

This will take us back to the real world. You should go first.