This first paragraph will likely push most of you away, which is fine.  Being a writer, I understand why people look down on fanfiction.  In some cases, it's lack of creativity and originality by the authors.  The primary reason, however, is that anyone can write fanfiction and dump it into a huge pile on the internet, making it hard to discern what's good an what isn't.

Believe it or not, there are a few exceptional fanfic writers out there.  They do it because they enjoy it, and for no other reason.  Whereas to some of us, all of the work that goes into these things may seem like a waste of time, I think gamers as a collective understand all too well how easy it is perceive a hobby as such.  After all, we confront that same outside mindset every day from our parents, spouses, friends and even our enemies.

That being said, I'd really like it if all of you checked out computer-geekz's Persona 4:  Simulacrum over at FanFiction.net.  The story is a continuation of Persona 4, taking place seven years after the end of the game.  It's written extremely well, and the story seems (almost) as if it could actually be a follow-up to its source material.

Obviously, given the open ended nature of the social linking process, some compromises had to be made.  The main character--Souji--has a voice and a personality here.  His relationships with the Investigation Team are all pre-determined by the author, seeing as it'd be difficult to allow the reader to select through text.  This shouldn't be too much of a problem though, as everything is written from an unbiased and extremely believable point of view.

Given Persona 4's relatively niche audience, this story isn't getting a lot of attention from the robust fanfiction crowd, so I'm just trying to throw some good will his way.  I've enjoyed the story, and I hope the mass of Giant Bomb's Persona fans will as well.

I'm guessing it isn't finished yet?

I've read the first 5 so, I'll carry on later, thanks for this.

Nice find, thanks for this. And you're right, Fanfiction is still looked down upon today as gaming was 20 years ago, and it's even more niche.

Boooo, fanfiction, boooooooo.

You said Fan Fiction. That word is taboo. Also, there is a massive spoiler for the game within the first few paragraphs. That is all.

Ha ha!  Fanfiction.

I loathe the name Souji Seta, but I can understand its necessity in a context like this. Still, I think it could have allowed more creativity to use a first-person narrative and have people not refer to him by anything specific, like in the game.

Read it before. Certainly better written than others I've read.

" You said Fan Fiction. That word is taboo. Also, there is a massive spoiler for the game within the first few paragraphs. That is all. "

Search & Replace Souji Seta with Charlie Tunoku.

This sounds interesting, i might check it out once the ER is over so i don't spoil the story.

"I loathe the name Souji Seta, but I can understand its necessity in a context like this. Still, I think it could have allowed more creativity to use a first-person narrative and have people not refer to him by anything specific, like in the game. "

I was reading this before, really has that professional quality.

While I don't have an issue with the name Souji, I do believe that Charlie Tunoku is a way more awesome name.

Fan fiction generally brings negative connotations in my mind, but huh, I'm really enjoying this.

The reason I don't like fan-fiction isn't because of a lack of creativity and originality, even though those may be ubiquitous throughout fan-fiction (I wouldn't really know).  I'm just stuck in the very rigid canon of everything.  If it isn't part of the canon it doesn't exist to me.  Probably unfortunate for me, but that's the way it is. 

"The reason I don't like fan-fiction isn't because of a lack of creativity and originality, even though those may be ubiquitous throughout fan-fiction (I wouldn't really know).  I'm just stuck in the very rigid canon of everything.  If it isn't part of the canon it doesn't exist to me.  Probably unfortunate for me, but that's the way it is.  "

" The reason I don't like fan-fiction isn't because of a lack of creativity and originality, even though those may be ubiquitous throughout fan-fiction (I wouldn't really know).  I'm just stuck in the very rigid canon of everything.  If it isn't part of the canon it doesn't exist to me.  Probably unfortunate for me, but that's the way it is.  "

Obviously I'm not asking anyone to change their opinions or views on fanfiction here.  It's generally set in stone whether or not you can stomach the concept, no matter how well written or conceived.  I'm just asking you to set it aside and try to read a chapter or two and see if it hooks you.  
 
To those that have been reading and enjoying, I'm glad!  Makes me glad I brought this to the attention of the community and managed to get the author a couple more readers.  Makes it worth it.  The story is not complete yet, so if you reach the "end" and want to read more, I'd personally make a fanfiction.net account and subscribe so that you can be alerted by email whenever a new chapter goes up.
 
To those that have been saying that it would be better from a nameless, first-person perspective, I honestly have to disagree.  Then again, that stems from a bias I have toward mute main characters in video games.  It drives me insane.  Also, having read everything presently published, I really don't think it would have been as effective from a first-persona point of view.

To those that have been saying that it would be better from a nameless, first-person perspective, I honestly have to disagree.  Then again, that stems from a bias I have toward mute main characters in video games.  It drives me insane.  Also, having read everything presently published, I really don't think it would have been as effective from a first-persona point of view. "

For example: There's the Let's Play of Persona 3 of Something Awful works sorta like a fanfiction. The guy uses the name Minato Arisato for the MC and he writes the LP as if it's his Livejournal. He gives him a relatively fleshed-out personality, that of a snarky Emo who through the power of Hanging Out With People To Get Magic Powers becomes more the Messianic Figuretype he's meant to be by the end.      
 http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/Persona3/    

Minato Arisato -- like Souji Seta -- is the name provided for Persona 3's protagonist in the game's official manga adaptation.
 
Admittedly that is a pretty cool idea.  Given the narrative that Simulacrum is going for, it wouldn't have worked at all for this particular story, but I'd like to see something similar from the Persona 4 angle.

anything is better than the jurassic park fan fiction i saw the other day.

Read up to chapter 7 and It is pretty interesting so far.

" Minato Arisato -- like Souji Seta -- is the name provided for Persona 3's protagonist in the game's official manga adaptation.

you got me, my ADD only allowed me to read the first paragraph before dropping a quick reply and moving on with my life.

Honestly, I also steer clear of fanfiction the vast majority of the time.  After finishing Persona 4 with the true ending, however, I felt the need for more.  More exposition into the lives of these characters that I had just spent 70+ hours with.  I wasn't done with them.  Due to the open-ended nature of the social linking system, allowing the player to select their best friend and even their girlfriend(s), Persona 4 seemed to me like the ultimate game for fanfiction.  I was disappointed when I found that very few pieces for the game actually exist, but because of that I came across this gem rather quickly.

"Honestly, I also steer clear of fanfiction the vast majority of the time.  After finishing Persona 4 with the true ending, however, I felt the need for more.  More exposition into the lives of these characters that I had just spent 70+ hours with.  I wasn't done with them.  Due to the open-ended nature of the social linking system, allowing the player to select their best friend and even their girlfriend(s), Persona 4 seemed to me like the ultimate game for fanfiction.  I was disappointed when I found that very few pieces for the game actually exist, but because of that I came across this gem rather quickly. "

Doesn't matter in the least to me.  I simply wanted to bring this to the attention of the massive Persona 4 fanbase inhabiting Giant Bomb so that maybe this guy could get a little more recognition for this apparent labor of love.  I fully understand that this is not "canon," but as there isn't likely to be a "canon" continuation to the Persona 4 story, I don't have a problem viewing it as such.

That's a good read, even though I just finished the first chapter. Ha, I've got a long way to go. 
 
Thanks for posting this.
 
Edit: Now I'm into Chapter 6, the one thing I don't like about this, is the fact that you change perspective's in this story. Like you go from souji, to naoto, to souji, then to nanako. But whatever, still a good story.

I've got a few problems with it. I will say, it started out really cool, kind of mysterious. Its a nice take on what happened to the Shadow World after the game is finished. 
 
Though in later chapters, it kind of goes in circles, with characters arguing with each other, and constantly saying the same damn thing in their head over and over again in terms of "jealousy" and there are moments where its like the writer just threw his arms up and just said "Okay, whatever, lets just wrap that part up already!" Then theres issues of names being mixed up in some parts. Some of the suffix words like kun, chan and senpai were not used correctly, I think. Its also much darker than the story in the game itself, which is kind of a downer, but it probably works with the context of the story and the character of Seta/Charlie
 
Still, hope he gets a chance to finish it. I'd like to see how this plays out.
 
PS, Bonus points if Chie branded the main character with "Charlie" as a nickname or something.

Actually you know what? I'm gonna decry about the characters in the story, so skip this post if you dont want to be spoiled about it. 
 
Why does Chie feel the need to rely on holding a firearm? I figure she would get it back, then return it to work thanks to her martial arts mentality, like she would say "Guns are for chumps, I can always hold a crane stance against a bullet any day." Or something to that effect. She also gets knocked the 'eff out several times in the story. Only to immediatley get back up like it was nothing, at least most of the time anyway. I wouldnt make such a big deal about it, but when something major happens to her down the line, the story kind of runs with it....then drops it. As if its like "Yeah, this isnt going as well as I had hoped..." Meanwhile, Yosuke is pretty violent torward Charlie/Seta. So when the main character just doesnt feel like having to reason with Yosuke as if he really is that stubborn. Which causes some discussions later in the story to be long winded and...go nowhere. Like when Charlie is caught at his house, he could've playfully implicated that his big master plan was willing to share the food he was working on when he got done making it.  When Yosuke and Chie eventually snap to, they dont seem as emotionally attached to Charlie as the other characters did. They dont seem to want to try and apologize to their friend they havent seen in years. Also, Naoto just doesnt seem as punctual as she is in the game. Using big words and sentences to deliver across that shes a very sophisticated and intelligent person.

So is chapter 13 the ending for simulacrum? I feel like it just left me hanging, with no real closure. 

Well, I'm about half way through and it isn't that great. The writing isn't bad, but it isn't outstanding either. I find it kinda boring. As for the content, the author actually gripped me in the beginning, but the story has now dissolved into a bunch of assholes arguing with each other. My main problem is that it doesn't match the experience I had with the game (watching the endurance run). I've familiarized myself with Charlie, the crazy womenizer. I think its actually not a good idea to write fan fics for games like Persona. I am not pleased, but I don't have beef with Fan Fiction, it allows people to develop their own writing skills. Having a prefab set of characters with a general idea what they'll do is a great way to learn what you must do with your own creations.

New Chapter is up.

If you havent read up to chapter 14, disregard this post
 
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Man, Chie really loves that gun. Knock on her door, she'll probably greet you after she pumped you full of lead.
 
Still doesnt seem right....

Usually I laugh at my sister for reading em, but this fan fiction's actually alright. I think I care for it more than I would something else because I felt really close to the characters by the end of P4, so it's probably me being excited for more situations than it is good writing.

:( Man this is rough, this is not how I'd have liked to imagine things happening after the end of Persona 4... De-press-ing.

I've read the first two chapters so far and I'm really liking it.

Should be named Charlie Tunoku or my character Takashi Matsumo.

lol talk about a minor detail you noticed. not bagging on you ( done with that shit) just props for being in depth  
 
im reading it and yeh its not bad id pay 2 see this story be presented in some sort of downloadable episodic format