Topic Brainstorm

I actually came up with a topic last week while we were looking through the storybooks. In this post I am going to outline that and propose four different variations that I will choose from.

Diary of a Phantom Thief

The idea is that I will have the Phantom Thieves from the game Persona 5 write journal entries. Each story will be an entry in Joker's probation diary that was given to him by his guardian, Sojiro. There are nine Phantom Thieves: Joker, Mona, Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, and Crow.

Option 1: Source: Japanese Fairy Tales - Lang

I will choose 4 thieves and each will retell a story as if it were one of their own adventures as a Phantom Thief. For this option, four different characters will each write a journal entry. Some stories I think may work for this are The Two Frogs, The Cat's Elopement, Schippeitaro, and The Magic Kettle.

Option 2: Source: Japanese Mythology

This option is very similar to option 1, except the source material will be Japanese myths instead of fairy tales. Four characters will each retell a myth as if it were their own adventure. A few stories I am considering are The Eight Forked Serpent of Koshi, The Labors of Yamato, and The Quest of the Jewel.

Option 3: Source: either Japanese Fairy Tales - Lang or Japanese Mythology

This option is again very similar to the others, except this time Joker will write all of the journal entries himself. The other characters will be incorporated into his retold stories. I am considering some of the same stories listed for options 1 and 2.

(Photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Option 4: "Chivalrous Robbers"

I don't have a source for this yet as it will take some digging and there will be a variety of different sources. The game's basic premise is that most people have a dark side they are afraid to accept, called the shadow, and those able to accept it gain a persona. This is a real psychological concept from Carl Jung, but in the game, those with a persona actually gain some sort of mythical creature that helps them fight shadows, save the world, and so on. The Phantom Thieves have personas that are all what would be considered "chivalrous robbers". For this option I would find stories about four of them and retell them from the character's perspective.

Example:
Story 1: Joker, Arsene Lupin
Story 2: Fox, Ishikawa Goemon
Story 3: Crow, Robin Hood
Story 4: Skull, Captain Kidd

At this point, I am leaning towards option 1 and 4. They sound the most fun since I would be writing from the point of view of several characters instead of one. This also may make it easier to find stories that are a good fit. Option 1 sounds potentially more fun than option 2 simply because fairy tales are fun! Who doesn't like fairy tales?

I took a look at Freebookapalooza and found a few books that look like they may be useful:

Myths & Legends of Japan - Davis

Legends of Japan - Green

Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan