1. Tipping the Scales in Desperation
When I decided to make a Dark Sun sequel, I wanted it to be different. I'd always enjoyed the idea of showing the different sides of suffering with Akechi, where either his malice brought him to utter numbness, and he would only react with cold, calculated behaviour, or the actual suffering that we hadn't seen yet - bringing him to desperation and breaking him down.
(...cause I'm evil like that lol)
Dark Sun was the former, where Akechi was never truly brought to break, but instead, reached the edge of ruthless cruelty.
Therefore, Real and Ideal was meant to be heartbreaking. Everything I've written, every scenario, for me, was intended to hurt our pancake kun. Real and Ideal is about pain, and hurt, and how Akechi, who has found a small happiness in the world, deals with having emotion for once, because he has something, other than himself, to protect.
So, now that I had my idea, the next task was how to portray it, all the while keeping it as canon-seeming as possible.
This came in the form of cornerstone events that, although some were written to seem relatively normal to the reader, are actually tipping points in the story that change Akechi's views drastically. There are actually quite a few of these written into Real and Ideal, and though some are more exaggerated then others, many of them may have gone completely unnoticed ;")
But, even with that, these were absolutely crucial for the story, as they would set up the desperation in Akechi that would walk him into the 2-route content arc.
Here are a few examples, some more intense than others. See if you can guess what in these scenes made them so important:
- the scenes that speak of Akechi's nightmares in Chapter 6
- The vine scene where Akechi accidentally drops into a room of Maruki's fears in chapter 19
- The scene in chapter 7, where Maruki shows Akechi a vision of him accompanying Shido during a political speech after he becomes Prime Minister
- Anytime Akechi takes Rumi hostage
- The scene in chapter 14 where Akechi cauterizes his own wound
- The arguements between Akechi and the Thieves in chapter 12
- The attack on LeBlanc in Chapter 23
2. Hint in the description
Cue back to October, where I'd first thought of the idea of having two routes for the ending.
When I'm thinking of new ideas, I often review that I've written previously to try and spark more creativity or more detailed ideas for next steps, and oddly enough, I was re-reading the description I'd made months ago for Real and Ideal.
Then I noticed the last sentence:
"The question is, what do we really want? Justice, or freedom?"
Instant lightbulb moment!
That line became the basis for the two-route arc. That's where I got the names of the routes from haha :")
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Extra Content: Dark Sun and Real & Ideal - Did You Know?
FanfictionFor anyone who has read my Dark Sun fanfic, there is a ton of thought and research that went into the story to make it connect in ways that weren't canon to Persona 5 and Royal. I worked consistently on trying to make new connections that seemed can...
