I wish to inform you that the following story idea was powered by G Fuel, coffee, homemade booze (yes, it is legal for personal consumption), sheer "'Murica," and Revengance-posting. What am I talking about? Well, allow me to elaborate. So, during a long shower, I had an idea: the Personas of the main characters in Persona 3 were themed (with one exception) around Greek gods, Persona 4's was themed around Japanese mythology, and Persona 5's around (in)famous "gentlemen thieves." I had a thought: what if there was a hypothetical Persona game that would occur in the US? How would the main Persona theming work? Then it came to me: great Patriots in US history. Like Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and so on. Their legacy of creating a country on "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" is what makes them great.

Here is my proposal for this concept: a young group sees that the Great American Experiment is falling apart due to the greed of elites that don't give a rat's ass about them and their corporate allies who pay their way into politics interfering with the average person's life. This group forms the "Minutemen" group identity to restore their country back to the ideals on which it was founded upon.

I'm going, to be honest; this idea is going to get political. Before you think I'm either a right-wing or left-wing person I'm going to stop that now. I'm neither. That's right, I'm a dirty fence-sitting moderate. Growing up in a right-wing family but in left-wing hell (Cali, Chicago-area, etc.) both parties have their merits in terms of ideas, but they also have their flaws. Too many here to really get into, but I'm not some anarcho-type. The one thing you need to keep in mind is that while some normie may be a registered voter for a specific side, a small vocal minority subscribe to every single bullet point the party stands for; they only side with it because voting Third Party is not possible in our current system nationally (locally is a different story). If for some reason I end up suicided by three shots to the back of the head, we know the glowing alphabet bois are responsible. Point being, I'm going to rip into everyone.

As for the characters, what am I going to do? Obviously, Igor is going to show up as the master of the Velvet Room, as intended. The Attendant is undecided as well as the form of the Velvet Room since each Room echoes the heart of the main guy/gal inside it. Minato's was an elevator going up, Narukami's was a limo going forward, and Ren's was a panopticon prison. I do have the main Protagonist's history chosen though; he'll be the disgraced son of a politician running for the office of the President who's sent away to a private school a la Bully. This way we get the private school setting we've seen as a recurring locale (yes, I know that P4's school was public and technically P5's, but they were much more selective it seems). I have also decided on his Persona, it will be Washington. Only appropriate that the leader of the group would have the first President as his Persona.

I know that the first thing that will pop into some's minds is the nationality of the party. I do want this party to reflect the spirit of the US's values, so while in real life I'll rip on "rEpReSeNtAtIoN" and how poorly it's handled by the media itself (because it is), I will have various ethnicities shown in the party. As for other body types or sexualities, I do not know at this moment in time. Now, as this is a Persona variant story and the main protagonist character will be the "PoV" character in which the story is seen through his eyes and since I'm straight and am only attracted to women, the female Social Link characters and those in the party will all need to be romanceable and all the dudes will be bros. After the disclaimer, I'll list the party members I've decided on for sure. Not all of them will show up in this pilot but are characters I have thought up for this potential project. Please do note that all mentioned characteristics and appearances are not final; the same applies to some names.

If you're upset by any of these decisions that I, the author of this idea, is putting forth please see yourself out or skip to the next entry in the repository, please don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Title: [undecided but I have some ideas and aren't final]:
Persona [number]: Patriots
Persona []: Revolutionaries

Rating: M in-game world, likely T+ in writing.

Summary: In the year 20XX, the disgraced son of a politician arrives at Hornady Private High School in an attempt to hide the shame his father feels in public towards his son's actions. Angered by the event that spurred this change, the young protagonist finds himself in a room with a long-nosed man by the name of Igor who tells him how he can save his country: with the power of Persona. Inspired by the rumored feats of the Phantom Thieves of Heart, he must gather a group of friends to fight alongside him in the "Other World" to change the minds of those in power. But there is an other-worldly force opposing him and his Minutemen who will stop at nothing to see its plans come to fruition.

Pairing: Completely undecided other than it will be the Protagonist and one of the female Social Links.

Disclaimer: I own my copy of MS Word and my desktop. Persona belongs to Atlus and P-Studio and all named characters that reference their work and storylines set in the games and other media belong to them. I own all mentioned and described original characters in this story. This story is a work of fiction. Any mention of living or dead is coincidental. Any mention of public figures, both living and dead, is for storytelling purposes only and any real-world attacks (verbal and otherwise) is not the purpose of this work. This story does not advocate actions of real-world violence towards other parties. This is a fictional story set in an alternate world where magical spirits in the human soul exist to fight the literal manifestation of negativity. This is one of the few times when I say to refer to this specific disclaimer for this story due to the nature of it.

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Dramatis Personae/Social Links:

Protagonist / "John Stevens"
Ethnicity: Caucasian
General description: Slightly tanned but pale skin, chestnut-brown hair kept "professionally" short, blue eyes, average height (around 5'8"), generally fit (can play most sports but not run a marathon).
Background: Son of a politician running for President of the US.
Personality: Attempts to follow in his father's footsteps in having a forward-facing "strong but silent type" of approach. Will change to come into his own as the story progresses.
Role: Leader.
Arcana: The Fool/World.

Unknown
Ethnicity: Shadow
General description: Appears in the real world as a Corgi-Sibainu mix. In the "other world" as a chibi, bipedal version of this same breed mixture (big eyes, oversized head).
Background: An (obvious to the readers) Shadow from the "other world" who doesn't know his/her history beyond not remembering (common Persona game trope with the Shadow character). Acts as a guide for the initial two characters for the "other world" and how it works.
Personality: TBD.
Role: Mandatory mascot character. DPS/Healer.
Arcana: TBD.

Carlos Perez
Ethnicity: Cuban
General description: Black hair kept short with slight shagginess for styling, on the taller side (5'10"), darker-tanned skin (partially due to sports involvement), Latin facial features, some slight feminine figure features (hypothetically could cross-dress and be mistaken as a girl).
Background: "Younger twin brother" of Erika by two hours. Son of Cuban immigrant parents who made their money in commerce in the late 2000's. Tuition paid in full by parents. Considered by many of his peers to be a baseball prodigy.
Personality: TBD other than sometimes salty about being called the "younger brother."
Role: Tank.
Arcana: TBD.

Amelia Ackerman
Ethnicity: Caucasian/Japanese
General description: "Sun-kissed" skin tone, ink-black hair kept in a long ponytail that doesn't pass her collar bone, brown eyes, shorter height (around 5'3"), generally fit, mostly Japanese facial features (takes more after her mother).
Background: Daughter of a detective and private defense attorney. Aware of that the "Other World" exists due to old files she discovered. Is in Hornady due to a scholarship.
Personality: TBD.
Role: "Glass cannon" magician.
Arcana: TBD.

Erika Perez
Ethnicity: Cuban
General description: Black hair either cropped short (boys' type of look) or in a Pixie cut depending on time of year, slightly taller (5'8"), Latin facial features, tanned skin but lighter than her brother's due to her preferred sport.
Background: "Older twin sister" of Carlos by two hours. Same family history as Carlos. Isn't the smartest when it comes to traditional testing and currently hasn't been expelled yet due to being a star athlete on the girls' basketball team.
Personality: "Tomboy" stereotype. Brags that she's older by two hours to get under her brother's skin.
Role: General magician/healer.
Arcana: TBD.

Melissa Eastman
Ethnicity: Black
General description: Dark brown or black hair at mid-back length (straight or curled), brown eyes, brown skin in a shade akin to caramel (#66350F for reference), average height (5'5").
Background: Only daughter of a chain business restaurant magnate specializing in Southern "comfort food." Moved to LA after the headquarters for the business relocated. Sent to Hornady by her stepmother after her father remarried several years prior.
Personality: Has a "valley girl" accent and plays into that stereotype. Is emotionally distant with her clique at the beginning of the story due to feeling like she should belong with them but feels like she truly doesn't.
Role: TBD.
Arcana: TBD.

Others TBD.

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Locale(s):

Hornady Private Highschool
A private high school deep in the mountains of Colorado for the rich and elite near the (fictional) town of Eddsburg, Colorado, a resort-town that gets most of its income from the posh local resort during the winter months. The school boasts of great alumni ranging from Fortune 500 CEOs to politicians in the Senate and Congress alike as well as graduates that end up going to Ivy League colleges among their graduates. Their athletics teams are the best in the division due to many former professional athletes hired as coaches ranging from tennis superstars to Olympian athletes. Due to these accolades, the school's tuition is the largest barrier of entry, second to it is the exam that "charity case" scholarship students are let in on. The school has international clientele of the children of foreign dignitaries and other foreign elites. It has all of the amenities of a high-class boarding school (because it is). There are a few locals in town who have their children attending on scholarship. The students wear a uniform that follows the "winter/summer" schema for different uniforms. The school also follows an unorthodox school year system being a year-round school with summer and winter breaks as well as a three-year cycle rather than the traditional four-year education cycle; the school's administration and founder insists that it is the best for this type of school. The school also allows for students to work part-time jobs at local businesses to earn extra pocket money, should they desire to.

Eddsburg
The (fictional) resort town in the Colorado Rocky Mountain range which boasts a permanent population of five thousand and a temporary population during the winter months of up to thirty thousand with an average of one million visitors passing through to visit other less posh and posh resorts in the area. It is used as a hub for these resorts. The town landmarks include Hornady Private Highschool, the Freedom Lodge and Slopes Resort, the historical Edd Moriarty gold mine, and the railway station leading down the mountain to Estes Park. The town hosts a number of various boutique shops for the children of the upper-class clientele as well as many restaurants ranging from fast food to five Michelin Star fine dining establishments. The town also has yearly Fourth of July block parties and other yearly community parties for all to take part in.

Railway station
This is one of the only "luxury" methods of travel to Eddsburgh as the railway cuts right through the mountains. While primarily for passenger travel, light cargo also passes through it for town supplies.

Freedom Lodge and Slopes Resort
An upper-scale ski resort frequented by many of the students of Hornady and their visiting families during the winter. It also sponsors a hunting lodge during the various, yearly hunting seasons.

Edd Moriarty gold mine
An old gold mine from the Gold Rush era that has long since dried up. It was the original reason the town was founded and is used at times by local children as a haunted location to prove their bravery.

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[Currently undecided opener which previews a later section of the story should be input here. If left like this it is because it is still undecided].

XxXxXxX

4/1/20XX

"This is your captain speaking. We're arriving at Denver International here in a few minutes. At this time, we ask that you take your seats and buckle your seatbelts as we make our final approach. Once again, thank you for flying Gamma Airlines. Flight crew, please make final preparations for landing," a male voice stated over the intercom waking a young man from his slumber.

Blue eyes looked out to see the mountain range below him out the window. This was… different for him. He was used to flying through private services, not commercial airlines. He was in the 'Coach Plus' seating which only gave him the extra amenities of having a tablet screen to view media and complimentary food and drink. He knew it was because his father was trying to make a point. The rest of the next half hour went by slowly as the plane descended from altitude to the Mile High City itself: Denver. He was only able to fall asleep thanks to noise-canceling headphones and the dullest of movies he had seen in a long time. Helped drown out the crying children of which it was their first flight or didn't know how to pop their ears.

The plane landed without incident and the passengers, himself included to be polite, clapped. The plane pulled up to the terminal and the front slowly began to disembark. As he did, he saw what appeared to be a blue butterfly, almost ethereal in nature, fly past the window before it vanished right in front of him.

"Is this your first time in Denver?" an older man asked. It had been the man in the middle seat beside him as he had the window seat.

"Yes, actually," the boy answered as he grabbed his carry-on bag, a backpack with essentials in case the flight lost his luggage.

"Visiting family, or-?"

"School, actually."

"A bit strange this time of year for a transfer, the year's almost over."

"It's a year-round school," the boy clarified. "They're starting classes next Monday."

"Ah, that explains it. One of those private schools," he said with understanding. He stood up; it was their time to disembark. He opened the overhead bin and started to pull his luggage down. The boy pulled it down for him. "Ah, thank you, sonny. These old bones aren't like they used to be," he laughed heartily.

"What brings you here, sir?" the boy asked in kind as they started to walk off.

"Well, I suppose it's only fair to ask since I asked you. Retirement."

"Retirement?"

"Yes, I've been meaning to see all the places I never got to go during my working life. Better late than never!" he laughed. "My grandchildren live out here now and it's about time I came to visit them instead of them visiting me." They exited the boarding ramp and entered the concourse proper. Around them were other future passengers getting ready for their flights whether they be leaving right now or in several hours. "If I may impart a piece of advice, from an elder to young'un?"

"Sure," the boy said as he shifted his bag on his shoulder.

"Make as many connections with others as you can. Learn from their life experiences as they learn from yours. Maybe you'll learn some interesting skills along the way. Live with few regrets. I remember this man when I was deployed to Japan, he said his high school life was the greatest time in his life; the golden time of his youth. Make memories that you can look back on fondly."

"I will," the boy answered simply. He had no idea how his new 'high school life' was going to end up.

"I'll hold you to it, youngster!" he laughed jovially as he walked away.

The boy walked away and continued on his own journey. He exited the concourse and entered the baggage claim. He only had one suitcase that contained a week's worth of casual clothing. The rest of his clothing would be provided by the school. Exiting the baggage claim there was a dressed-up man in a driver's uniform holding a sign with his name on it.

The boy walked down to the man who asked, "John Stevens?"

"That's me," John acknowledged with a nod.

"Allow me," he said as he grabbed the suitcase and backpack and carried them to the car, John following in tow. The car was nothing special. It was a four-door sedan made by a luxury car brand. It had leather seats for passengers and a TV in the back of the headrest. The driver placed his minuscule luggage in the trunk and took his place in the driver's seat. He started to pull out into traffic, their spot quickly taken by another person picking someone else up. "How was your flight, sir?"

"It was… flighty," he supposed.

"Your father is… Senator Stevens?"

"Yeah."

Seeing that he didn't want to talk much the driver added, "Well, in the fridge there are complimentary drinks and snacks. Please, help yourself to them."

John nodded and did quickly browse it, only taking a granola bar and water. He had a feeling these were upcharges and not really complementary. The trip was uneventful and took a few hours driving through the mountains until they reached the town of Estes Park the car drove to the train station. From what John had read in advance about the school and general location, this station was built to reliably haul cargo and people when the roads get blocked off due to winter weather. Speaking of winter weather, there was still some snow on the ground. He was glad that he brought a jacket to accommodate for the shift in weather.

He handed the driver a twenty as a tip and took his luggage inside the small station. He didn't have to wait long after purchasing his ticket as the schedule had another train arriving within the hour. When it had arrived, he boarded per his ticket. The ride itself would take close to an hour mainly due to the winding railroad tracks and uphill climb the train had to make. As he rode, he reflected on how he got here, why he was being sent to an 'exclusive' boarding school deep in the Colorado Rockies.

Before he could dwell too much on it, the train pulled up to the station. It felt like the 2 hours of travel went by in an instant. He exited the train and entered the station proper. It didn't take long to find a taxi willing to take him, it seems like plenty of them were waiting by the curb. John walked to the closest one and put his things in the passenger seat.

"Where to, kid?" the driver asked in a Brooklyn accent. Must have been a transplant.

"Hornady," John answered.

"Ah, the rich kids' school," he said as he pulled out. He looked at John in the rear-view mirror. "Haven't seen you around here, you new?"

"Yeah."

"Ah, that explains it. Small town during the off-months, get to know everyone's face in that time who's a regular."

The rest of the drive was pretty quiet. He pulled into the school, the large iron gates keeping the students in after-hours and unwanted people out. They were wrought iron with the crest of the school in decorative metals and other plastics for long-lasting color mounted to the brick pillars supporting the motors for moving it. In the middle of the bars, and in an out lane, there was a guard's office with a barred door with a code lock on it. The gates were currently open and the guard passed the time reading a magazine. The taxi pulled up to the front administration office and he stepped out of the passenger side, handing the driver a twenty-dollar bill.

In return, the driver handed him a card. "The name's Mark Walhburg. No relation to the actor, same pronunciation, different spelling," Mark said. "If you need a ride, just call my work number there." And with that, the driver named Mark drove out of the school grounds.

Now that he was alone with his thoughts, he could look around and see the campus itself. The main buildings of the campus itself were all linked by elevated walkways on their second levels and corridors on the first. After all, it was a school in an area in which winter could be brutal at times and travel between buildings could be impeded by a few inches of snow that couldn't be cleared, so it made sense. The main structure was of an H-shape in four levels, from what John had read it was the main area with all of the classrooms. On the left and right sides respectively were the male and female dorms. Behind both and the main building was the PE/practice gymnasium, all three buildings were linked to this gym. Inside of it was enough space for a full basketball court which could be converted into a volleyball court or indoor tennis court if needed. According to the brochure and 'new students' guide, it also had a 'state-of-the-art' training center inside it for athletes or students just looking to work out.

Off to the side, of these buildings, and connected to the male dormitories on the first level, and apparently underground to the female dormitories was the administration building. Inside were the offices of various teachers and the administration staff. This building is where he'd need to go. He could see in the back a formal gymnasium for competitions as well as the connected pool used for swimming/diving competitions. The gym was one that would normally be seen in smaller colleges, that being it had two courts inside where one could be used for one sport, the other could be used simultaneously for another with a divider dividing the two, or run two games at the same time of the same sport in the case of tournament hosting. The swimming pool was of Olympic size to allow for water polo, racing, diving, and other more recreational swimming during the off-season. A 'secret' passage existed below ground for student-athletes to get into the pool and gym. In the back of the campus was a football field that had a running track around it for track and field competitions. On the other side of the campus were baseball fields for baseball and softball games to run simultaneously. Not featured on campus was a golf team that practiced at a local golf resort for golf season.

John took his two pieces of luggage and walked inside the administration building, a two-story structure that had most teachers on the lower level while the headmaster's office and meeting rooms were on the second level. It wasn't a particularly large building, but it was separated from the rest of the school possibly showing a separation between students and teachers.

He walked up to the receptionist at the front who was tying up a storm on her keyboard, probably entering in student records or something. "Name?" she asked somewhat annoyed.

"John Stevens, I-," he said before he was cut off.

"Do you have an appointment?" she interrupted.

"Yes, with Headmaster Kirkman. I'm-." He was interrupted again.

She leaned over to press a button on the intercom. "Mister Kirkman, I have a John Stevens here for you."

"Go ahead and send him up," an older male's voice came through the intercom.

"Elevator, second floor, first door on the left," the receptionist said to him without asking. "Leave your things here."

"Thank you," John choked out. She was very unpleasant.

He took the elevator to the second floor as instructed and knocked on the ornate door of the headmaster. "Come in!" came the cheerful voice from the other side. He opened the door to see three people in the room: a man and two women, one younger than the other. "Please come in and take a seat." He gestured to the expensive-looking chair in front of his desk. "I'm so glad you could come; I hope the trip here was pleasant?"

"It was uneventful," John said as he took a seat.

"Good. Good. I'm Headmaster Kirkman, you may address me as that or Mister Kirkman. To my left is your guidance counselor and homeroom teacher Missus Charles," he waved his hand to the woman who appeared to be in her early to mid-thirties. Her appearance [undecided]. "And on the other side is the second-year male dorm 'mother,' Miss Kara," he introduced the younger of the two women, she appeared to be in her mid to late twenties. Her appearance was [undecided].

"Good morning," the two said together unintentionally. The slightly annoyed, confused look they sent each other confirmed that.

"I humbly welcome you, Mister Stevens. Your father is a very wise man to send his son to our prestigious school. Is it true he's running for the presidency?" he asked.

"He hopes to become the party nominee and win, yes."

"We'll have to wish him all the luck then, won't we? But enough of that. I wanted to welcome you personally to our school. It's not often that we have an esteemed person such as yourself enter this late in the three cycles." He put on the table a notebook that said 'student handbook.' "There is our student handbook, please be sure to familiarize yourself with it. As for attire, as we are a uniformed institution, a full week's set has been already sent to your dorm room for both our winter and summer attires. You will need to keep on top of keeping them clean." His expression changed. "Your father sent a somewhat concerning your… outburst at a quite important dinner for him. Know such outbursts will not be tolerated here. Behave yourself and your future will be quite bright." He then turned to look at Ms. Kara. "Please, show him to his room."

The younger woman stepped around the desk. "Please, this way," she said.

"Please familiarize yourself with the campus. This afternoon you'll be meeting with Missus Charles to set up your electives and class schedule."

John followed the dorm mother out of the headmaster's office and collected his things in the lobby. The two walked to the other building where the elevator took them to the second floor for the second years. As they waited in the elevator, Ms. Kara asked, "Outburst?"

"I'm…" John paused to look for the right word, "quite opinionated with some of the company my father keeps for his business."

She nodded knowingly but said right as the doors opened, "Keep your head down. It's for the best, especially for high-powered-types." The room was a corner one by sheer coincidence. The previous tenant had gotten sick with an illness that would keep them in their home country for the entire year. "This will be your room," she said as she handed him a key card. There were 'waves' printed into it signifying it was RFID. He tapped it against the sensor in the wall and the door unlocked. On one side of the room, it looked quite lived-in, the other was spartan with nothing more than white sheets. blanket, and a basic pillow on the bed. This was the side she gestured to. "That will be your side."

"I have a roommate?" John asked, more out of confirmation more than anything else.

"Yes, he's currently at practice so you'll meet him later. I hope the two of you get along, there aren't opportunities for room reassignments unless there are extreme reasons for it." John nodded, it made sense. The school was almost at capacity intentionally. Have to get exclusivity and prestige somehow. "As for your key, it will open your dorm room, all external doors on the dorms and the airlock door of the girl's dormitory, all external doors of the main building during non-school hours, and the practice room. Please do not lose it as there will be a fee for replacing it."

"The girls' dorm?" John asked.

"The same applies to them, but you may be granted access to the common room on the first floor if invited in or buzzed in during non-curfew hours. Remaining in the girl's dormitory after curfew hours is not permitted and will be punished accordingly. They may also visit the boy's dorm if invited or buzzed in during non-curfew hours. This privilege may be revoked at any time. There is a commonly shared common room off the cafeteria for all students, please make use of it during after school, periods you don't have classes or non-curfew hours." She noticed the small stack of boxes on his side. "It appears that the deliveryman brought up your sent belongings. I'll leave you to get that sorted out." She proceeded to leave the room but left the door open, probably to encourage any students that were in to socialize with him.

John started to unpack his things. There wasn't a whole lot. Inside was a blanket made by his late great-grandmother. It was a simple flannel blanket she made for him one Christmas. It was functional and practical. Inside were a couple of personal books including Atlas Shrugged, Aeon, and some of Karl Jung's works. Outside of these quite complex books were some manga and comics that he had packed, mostly action novels. Such as Warvel and PC with heroes like Steel Man and Superdude. There was even a comic about mafiosos during the Depression and Second World War which would become the Goodfather movie. He also packed a handheld video game system from Wintendo and his laptop. By the time he finished, his side of the room was still spartan but was slowly getting some personality. He placed what little clothing he had inside the closet which showed the fourteen sets of spring and winter clothing hanging on hangers. There was a more traditional dresser inside of it where he started to put his non-school things away.

"You my new roommate?" a boy's voice asked. John looked behind him to someone of Puerto Rican descent with short hair wearing a baseball jersey with the LA Dodgers logo on it.

"Yes," John said as he stood up and extended his hand. "John Stevens."

"Ah, the senator's kid. Name's Carlos Perez," the boy said as he shook his hand. "Surprised I already knew?"

"Yes, actually."

"The school rumor mill works quite quickly. It's got a 50-50 chance of being complete bunk though."

[More of an introduction scene, includes a common thing to start a friendship around; ends up going to sleep after a long day].

John slowly felt himself start to wake up and found himself dressed in a luxurious Italian suit. Looking around him, he found that he was on a private jet. In front of him was a balding man with a long nose, like that of a toucan almost in proportions. He was dressed in a suit as well. He gave off an aura of someone who was otherworldly. For some reason, there was music played by a piano as a woman sang, however, neither could be found.

"Ah, you're finally here! Welcome to the Velvet Room!" the man said. His voice was warm and inviting but had a slightly higher pitch.

"Velvet Room?" John asked.

"Yes! This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter… It is only a room that only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter… It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future. Now then, why don't you introduce yourself? My name is Igor, I am delighted to make your acquaintance." He waved a hand beside him where a young woman was. "This is this room's Attendant, Marianne."

She bowed. She was a silver-haired woman, maybe in her teens or extremely early twenties who wore a blue-purple dress. "Welcome."

"What's your name?"

"Johnathan Stevens," John introduced himself. He didn't know why he went with his formally full name rather than the shorter 'John.'

"Welcome," Igor said once again. "Now, let's take a look into your future, shall we?"

"My future?" I asked, clearly confused.

He waved his hand over the table in front of him, a stack of cards appeared. "Do you believe in fortune-telling?" he asked.

"Not really?" I reply not entirely sure where he was going with this.

He waved his hand once again and the cards dispersed into a hexagonal grid, with one card at the center. "Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different… Life itself follows the same principles, doesn't it?" he chuckled. The card to the bottom right – facing John – flipped over showing a card of a destroyed tower with the markings of XVI. "Hm, the Tower in the upright position represents the immediate future. It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent. The card indicating the future beyond that is…" The card on the bottom left flipped over showing a moon on it with a lobster near the top of it, it had markings of XVIII on it. "The Moon in the upright position. This card represents 'hesitation' and 'mystery'… Very interesting indeed. It seems that you will encounter a misfortune at your destination, and a great mystery will be imposed upon you. In the coming days, you will enter into a contract of some sort, after which you will return here. The coming year is a turning point in your destiny… If the mystery goes unsolved, your future may be forever lost. My duty is providing assistance to our guests to ensure that doesn't happen," he said the last sentence as if it were his life's duty. He waved his hand once more and the cards vanished.

"Assistance?" John asked.

"Yes, but an explanation for that will have to wait for another time. It's about time you woke up."

He vanished from the space, as the last of his consciousness disappeared, Igor turned to the Attendant. "What do you think of our new Wild Card?"

"He will be… quite interesting. And a challenge."

"Quite. But it is our duty to render whatever assistance we can to prevent disaster."

"Do you think he can do it? Prevent the upcoming disaster?"

Igor pulled out the card of the Fool. "Infinite possibilities my dear, infinite possibilities."

To be continued…?

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I'm going to be completely honest; this is one of the most original ideas I've come up with. It's not very often when I write up character profiles and location dossiers for these pilots. I legitimately think I'm on to something special here. As for if I'll be able to pull this off, I do not know. What are the challenges for this fic? Well, one of the largest is creating a brand-new cast of characters with their own motivations and personality, including side characters for Social Links. The second challenge is creating a borderline-new storyline as well. The reason I say "borderline" is because the initial inspirations for this group will be the Legend of the Phantom Thieves in Japan; that being changing the hearts of rotten adults in their lives before those initial changes of the heart become exposing the rot in our society. I don't want this idea to be "Phantom Thieves: American Edition."

Another challenge is going to be the "metaverse" world itself. How will it work? P3 had Tartarus, P4 had the TV World, and P5 had the palaces and Mementos. Then there's the final boss, who in terms of Persona-fashion will that be? That's another unknown. There are a lot of unknowns in this concept as they're not fully constructed, but I had this idea that I wanted to put out there. There are a few that have done something similar, but I wanted to do my own take of "Persona, but in the US." If you have any suggestions for this idea, drop them in the reviews or DM me them and I'll be sure to credit you if I use them. The last thing is the waifu wars that are always present with Persona games. By the way, it's always been a strong argument between Yukiko and Chie for P4 and I could never make a decision for P5 easily (all the girls are great and have their attractive features and flaws to endear them to you). I never really played P3 but I do own the manga adaptation of it from volumes 1 to 6 currently at the time of writing this and plan to read them soon to see if that's viable for ideas.

This is coming out after my first completed story for that old Harry Potter / Star Wars idea I proposed a while back; the bounty hunter one. It's complete by this point, so if you haven't read it yet and have any interest, go ahead and check it out. As for other ideas, I do have at least two Pokémon ideas, one from Legends Arceus and one from the mainline series itself. So, keep an eye out for those. I also have a suggested idea from another user involving Harry Potter in Star Wars which involves Harry hooking up with Shaak Ti and their daughter is Ahsoka. It's an interesting idea so we'll see where that one leads. That's still in the "idea" stage thus far. I have a couple of "original fic" ideas in the pipeline which is also just concepts at the time of writing this. I have a jokey Kuroinu fic where the MC has a magical gun and the title of it is going to be "Kuroinu, but I have a gun," it will be posted here sooner or later. Lastly, I have a Harry Potter / Yakuza idea I've been contemplating for some time; part of the issue holding it up is starting it off and timeline placement. Once I get that figured out you can look forward to that idea. There are a couple of other ideas but those are the ones I currently have on my mind.

Now, on to real-life things. Went to Galloping Ghost Arcade this last weekend. It used to be the largest arcade in the world but is now the largest arcade in North America. Had a great time and if you're in the Chicagoland area, I definitely recommend checking it out. Lots of games that you've hardly heard of or only saw when you were younger. They even have rare cabinets like the Sailor Moon beat-em-up game. I recommend checking them out online because they have so many cabinets it's astounding and I'm underselling it. I'm working on an IRL project for my Odysee channel, look forward to that; it's a DIY thing so it's taking longer than I would like to get done. One of the things I need is a ¼"x28 tap for threading a screw-hole before I'm done but that won't be into my local Home Depot (build a shed, ooooo) for like another week at least. "My Dress-up Darling" is the shit this season, if you're a godless weeb check it out. I'm still working through my manga backlog, which gained 2 books with volumes 16 and 17 of Komi-san. Yay. Almost done with Yakuza Kiwami 2, I hope to have that done in the next few days to move on to Yakuza 3 Remastered. (Correction: I have completed Kiwami 2 and am now starting Yakuza 3 Remastered).

But that's all I have for now. If you want to send me a tip (and help me make poor financial decisions), cryptographic money addresses are in my bio. See you in whatever I decide to do next.