Fanfic Rec: A Different Kind of Truth

v  A Different Kind of Truth (Source: Fanfic.net)

Ø  https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9996283/1/A-Different-Kind-of-Truth

Ø  Persona 4/Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run

Ø  Warnings: Ongoing (& thus necessarily unfinished as of this rec)

Ø  Prereqs: Reading Steel Ball Run first is recommended (& bato.to is back, so there’s that…)

Wow. 

There are five different authors that have gotten me to just set aside everything I was doing for a day and a half to read, and as of today The Infamous Man gets to join that list.  This fic has it all.  Fights are a little more Jojo’s style, and it’s neat to have a different twist on the battles that occur.  This author has it all down, from Jojo’s excitable narrator to the social links.  There’s side characters you didn’t expect to show up (because, of course, the original social links don’t necessarily work with the protagonist chosen), Aika is as much of a Jojo’s character as she ever was, and it’s such an honest take on some of the problems of the original P4.  Guess you could say…this fic is Persona 4’s Shadow?  Nyohoho~.

It’s interesting and realistic.  Fights are portrayed as a lot more dangerous than in the game (because, well, if you fail, it’s just a game, and not even a roguelike…it’s not like it deletes your save file).  Everyone’s shown still battling their Shadow’s issues, both in and outside of their Social Links, and yes, you actually get to see them operating outside the orbit of the main character, which is just awesome.

This time around, it’s Johnny Joestar, former racing prodigy, who’s your main character.  I started reading the fic briefly at the time I started Steel Ball Run, and bookmarked it for later because at first, Johnny’s such a pain in the butt as a main character—he’s rude, sarcastic, he doesn’t have much interest in anything.  While reading SBR isn’t necessarily required, it is recommended, because you’ve got such a deeper look at Johnny’s character rather than just a surface impression once you’ve read the manga.  (And you’ll catch more of the references.)

What I find truly fascinating is that having your protag like Johnny isn’t actually all that unlikely given some of the conversation options (“Be an ass and leave” during Strength’s social link comes to mind, for instance), and even more so given some of the characterizations of Yu/Souji (Thawing a Frozen Heart from AO3 or my own in Innocent Sin Online…kinda), and yet, that actually does help form bonds (albeit different ones than canon).