History Fanfic / CrimsonAU

* OutsideContextProblem: The Tatterdemalion group pulls camera footage of Morgana breaking into the secure storage facility where Madarame keeps his counterfeit paintings. They're at first able to chalk his actions up to him being an extremely well-trained cat, but then they see him take a specific file and then return it to its proper place. Since there are no pictures or color codes in the filing system, the only possible conclusion is that ''the cat can read.'' This group has no apparent connection to the Metaverse yet, so nobody has an answer for what's going on.

* UngratefulBastard: Zig-zagged in regards to Sae. She does show some appreciation to Akira for helping Makoto when she was in a tight spot with Kamoshida, but she makes it clear to both Makoto and Akira she doesn't want Akira associating with her sister nor does she believe he has a future.

* AdaptationalBadass: In canon, [[spoiler: Akechi only ever used two Personas (Robin Hood and Loki) despite having the Wild Card. The fic adds another Persona, Fenris.]]
** Kaneshiro, who was a minor threat in canon is much more dangerous, with his crime ring being an extremely powerful [[TheSyndicate Crime Syndicate]] with far reach and heavy presence throughout the fic. Kaneshiro himself is also much taller, more muscular, and physically intimidating and more involved with Shido in real life and his Shadow managed to [[CurbStompBattle overwhelm]] [[spoiler: [[TheDragon Akechi.]]]]
* AdaptationalCurves: Kaneshiro, who was short and portly Gonk in canon is described as tall, muscular, and threatening.
* AdaptationalEarlyAppearance:

* AdaptationOriginConnection: Iwai was originally a member of Kaneshiro's gang. In the game, Iwai is simply stated to be ex-yakuza, while Kaneshiro's crime ring is not actually related to the yakuza at all.
** Likewise, despite being the main antagonist of Makoto's arc, Kaneshiro had little to do with her until she recklessly charged into his hideout. Here, he's apparently responsible for the death of her father.

* AscendedExtra: The newscaster that interviews Akechi is Mitsuyo Togo, who was originally a one-off boss for Hifumi's Confidant.

* BetaCouple: Ann and Ryuji seem to be headed this direction.

* CanonImmigrant: An interesting case with Maruki. The fic began before Royal, and there was originally no intention to include him. However, he does appear in the rewrite that began after Royal released -- though since the author hasn't played Royal, this is most likely just TheCameo so far.

* ComplexityAddiction: Akira's plans tend to be more complicated than necessary. They work more often than not -- even Ohya is impressed with his ploy to get Madarame to open the storage unit -- but also cause more problems than they solve.

* CuttingTheKnot: Lala tells Akira, who is noted to have a ComplexityAddiction, that being honest in relationships is almost always the way to go, and that people tend to make things more complex than they need to be.

** In the game, Junya Kaneshiro was a SmallNameBigEgo who only cared about making money through scams. Here, he's a bona fide yakuza going to war with his old bosses. He traffics in drugged-up women who we see onscreen, nearly suffocates a teenager with plastic, murders a man with a power drill, and (in the most recent installment) is planning to kidnap Makoto to neutralize Sae as a threat.

* {{Deconstruction}}: ''Crimson'' takes a more realistic edge to Persona 5's story, casting Akira more as a teenager who is in over his head. Akira and the other Thieves' tendencies to [[IndyPloy wing it]] bites them in the ass as much as it works out in their favor. To that end, because of this, Akira's confidants also now play a more central role in the plot.

** As Akechi points out, Kobayakawa trying to effectively Blackmail Makoto into investigating her fellow students by threatening to withhold her letter of recommendation was poorly though out when Makoto is the younger sister of a very intimidating yet effective prosecutor. Sure enough, Makoto complained about her circumstances to Sae, who then angrily reads Kobayakawa the riot act.

** Makoto's decision to try and press charges against Sugimura using his recorded threatening messages against Haru is a near example. Kagawa, a former cop who was friends with her late father points out that if she does press charges against Sugimura, its highly likely that the brat's father would retaliate by usi his political influence to make an enemy of the SIU (i.e Sae's employers) who may then decide to fire her sister to escape the hassle.
* DiggingYourselfDeeper: Much like in canon, Kobayakawa blackmails Makoto into investigating the Phantom Thieves for him. [[ForWantOfANail Unlike in the game]], after Makoto has a falling out with Akira and Ann, she ends up telling Sae about the whole ordeal, [[KnightTemplarBigBrother and Sae puts an end to all of it]]. Kobayakawa, in a bid to save face, puts in a request for Sae to suffer a Mental Shutdown in retribution. [[spoiler: The Black Mask is less than amused though when he learns that not only did Kobayakawa incompetently pass off ''his'' task onto a high school student, but also expects him to kill Sae over something so petty.]]

* TheDreaded: Sae ''terrifies'' Akira in their first meeting.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[spoiler:Black Mask refuses Kobayakawa's request to give Sae a mental shutdown, partly out of disgust of the man's pettiness.]]
** Downplayed when Sugimura [[spoiler:abducts Haru and asks Kaneshiro to drug her into compliance. Kaneshiro doesn't have any problem with drugging and assaulting women on principle, but since kidnapping a rich, famous heiress would draw unwanted attention, beats Sugimura to a pulp instead of helping him. He then decides to just kill Haru instead.]] Like we said, downplayed.

* [[spoiler: RapeDiscretionShot: After Sugimura requests Kaneshiro's help in locating Haru, Kaneshiro gives Sugimura one of his drugged up prostitutes to "work off his frustrations." The chapter ends when Sugimura drags her into his car, saying that her name is "Haru" for the night.]]

* PoorCommunicationKills: Morgana overhears Kobayakawa assigning Makoto to investigate the Phantom Thieves, and immediately assumes the worst; this requires Akira to spend much of the story jumping through hoops to keep Makoto and Haru off his trail. When they finally do meet to talk things out, it becomes clear that Makoto and Haru never had any intention of turning them in to the authorities. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] as Lala repeatedly advises Akira to just have an honest conversation with Makoto, though Akira's ComplexityAddiction prevents him from following through.
** For even more {{Irony}}, Akira is on the other side of this conversation just a few chapters before, frustrated that Kawakami doesn't believe he won't tell on her for moonlighting as a maid.

* AdaptationalAbomination: Caroline and Justine go from relatively ordinary-looking young girls to non-human things that hide from Akira's sight but cause him intense fear. According to an author's note, this is because Drowz finds their canon characters irritating.

* AdaptationalAbomination: Caroline and Justine go from relatively ordinary-looking young girls to mysterious ''things'' that hover in the background of the Velvet Room.

* AdaptationDeviation:
** Other than the additional story elements, the main difference is that Crimson!Akira is much more likely to come into conflict with his friends and confidants. This reflects a more realistic approach to how difficult it would be for a teenager to keep so many strong-willed people happy.
** Madarame's Palace goes from a museum to a factory, and the looming deadline is changed from the threat of Madarame initiating legal action against the Thieves for breaking into his atelier to Yusuke's impending expulsion from Kosei High on false charges of plagiarism.
* AdaptationExpansion:
** Several of Akira's Confidants plays a more direct role in the story than they did in the game, even interacting with one another. Dr. Takemi in particular learns about Akira's status as a Phantom Thief during the Kamoshida arc.
** The author admits to being bothered that the canon Phantom Thieves never collect any real-world evidence of the Mementos targets' crimes, but merely take Phan-Site posts at face value. In the fic, they're always shown verifying requests before deciding to take them on.

* AdaptationNameChange: Haru's codename is change to Rose instead of Noir, though the name returns back to Noir once Haru fully supports the Phantom Thieves.
* AdaptationalAbomination: Caroline and Justine exist in non-human forms that hide from Akira's sight but cause him intense fear. According to an author's note, this is because Drowz finds their canon characters irritating.

* AdaptationOriginConnection: Iwai was originally a member of Kaneshiro's gang. In the game, Iwai is simply stated to be ex-yakuza, while Kaneshiro's crime ring is not actually related to the yakuza at all.
** Likewise, despite being the main antagonist of Makoto's arc, Kaneshiro had little to do with her until she recklessly charged into his hideout. Here, he's apparently responsible for the death of her father.

* DemotedToExtra: Of the confidants, Sojiro and Yoshida haven't yet gotten to do much outside their canon storylines, while Chihaya, Hifumi, and Shinya have yet to appear at all.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Happens on several occassions with several characters:

* NamedByTheAdaptation: The Niijima sisters' father is named Akihiko, after the ''Persona 3'' character who also has grey hair and became a detective.
** Yusuke's mother is named Chisako.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler:It was primarily to secure his own position in the Conspiracy, but Akechi's murder of Kobayakawa was done after Kobayakawa tried to make him kill Sae for petty reasons.]]

* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Haru eccentrically thinks Akira's cat is magic. Makoto is dismissive of the idea, but the audience knows Haru is dead on the money.

* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Takemi's examinations of Akira lead to her quickly realizing he's going through repeated physical trauma, and eventually realizes he's almost certainly a Phantom Thief.

* GetOut: When Makoto visits Shiho in the hospital to interrogate her about the Phantom Thieves, Shiho demands that Makoto "get out of here" in a borderline MadnessMantra.

* ShipperOnDeck: Haru is supportive of Akira and Makoto to the point of drawing doodles of them together.

** Madarame's Palace goes from a museum to a factory.

* ExactWords: When Iwai turns himself in for attacking Sugimura, Sae gives him her word that no police, prosecutors, or SIU members are watching from the observation room. [[spoiler:Goro Akechi IS in there, but his job title of "Detective Prince" makes him not technically a member of any of those groups.]]