#Hamuko and minato are like canon

[yusuke-of-valla]

Yusuke and Sumire in the corner while everyone has an existential crisis about why they're fighting:

[tsururoach]

The thing about Ryomina (mlm or mlf) is that I hesitate to say I "ship" it because I don't really consider them solely in the 'romantic' side of things.

Like, to me their whole deal is more on the conceptual scale of things. They exist on many planes, they can be romantic, they can be platonic, they can be the same person, but there is still emotions there regardless of what you do.

Death delivers all, death is all encompassing, death lived inside of them until one day, it leaves. Something that was in them for 10 years leaves him. It should've felt empty, like something wrong. And yet that thing, that concept, that person was no longer stagnant. It saw the world from you, and it grows. It becomes a person, it becomes human. (You also, learn to become human)

It starts off someone who knew only that single point of view, to someone who was able to change. Change themself- and change you- no longer restricted by that tie to you. And yet, the bond you have was strong enough that he was still led back to you.

I think the 'love' that would hypothetically exist between the two of them would be the 'love' someone could have for a concept. An Abstraction and mixed with simple human affection. The love of the life that lived next to the protag. The protag to me would love Ryoji, the way one would love life.

Funny how that is: Loving death like life.

V ADDING A DISCUSSION ON HAMUGIS AND RYOMINA SECTION HERE V

I consider Hamugis more generally romantic than Ryomina but thats also because they also have less fuckassery. But i still also do consider them in that nebulous relationship status area.

Don't get me wrong. I love love love hamugis. Actually let me add a sidetwt doodle here while I can.

Okay heres the thing about my preferences in Persona 3 ships. I'm actually okay with most of them tbh. Like generally I usually don't get other people's interpretations of certain ships, but i still on some level kind of like. Get it.

The only one is like. Junpei and anyone who isn't Chidori; or at the very least with anyone who redacts chidori entirely. I like jundori okay. I like Junpei. Junpei's #1 defender.

But I do on a level instinctively prefer the mlm ver of ryomina over mlf, and the flf ver of hamugis over mlm. (I do actually overall prefer aigis x protag over ryomina in general in the normal terms of 'ship' but we already talked about that)

Now I'm well aware technically I could make the protaganist's character whatever but we've come far enough that a lot of "insert" protagonists already have a general kind of personality okay. I do sometimes err away from canon portrayals, yeah but hey.

Anyways I feel like... Hamuko and Aigis form a stronger bond together. It's not just the difficulty of the love itself that changes things. It's the approach. Hamuko is generally portrayed as more headstrong and more outwardly optimistic, which, yeah.

I feel like... While Aigis benefits from someone reaching out to her, inversely, Ryoji benefits from reaching out to someone?

And then when Aigis is forced to reach out...

Anyways, what I'm trying to say is I feel like the bond overall has more meaning. Like I did say Aigis' relationship with the protagonist is also still in that conceptual air, I'm kind of rehashing what I said before. Aigis is coming to terms with her own humanity .

I lost the plot of this psot.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Guide to Persona MC names

Just a small guide to help newcomers understand all the names and nicknames/fannames for their fav Persona MCs. Keep in mind this is main games/nameless MC's only (so I won't list Aigis in the P3 but I will mention Maya as well as the notes at the bottom, this is due to how I structured P2 vs P3 sections) (Edit: may add to this list later but it's pretty complete for now)(Edit 2: Note that Shunjiko translates as Protagonist/Hero/Main character):

Persona 1:

P1MC: shorthand for Persona 1 Main Character

(P1) Hero/Shunjiko: Japanese generic title

Boy with Earring: In-game moniker

Naoya Toudou: Manga name

Yuuya Narumi: (one of the) DramaCD names (note: other dramaCD is just labeled "protagonist")

Jihei Suzakuin: Novel name

Persona 2:

Tatsuya Suou: MC for P2 Innocent Sin, can be renamed and it'll carry over in EP (and Katsuya's last name will change as well)

Maya Amano: MC for P2 Eternal Punishment. Cannot be changed, just like Aigis

Kazumi Kiba: MC for the manga Persona: Tsumi to Batsu. (not really related to the games but it takes place right before P2EP, Edit: mentioned him because I've seen some people think he's suppose to be an adaptation of Tatsuya or something when he's just a different character all together)

Persona 3 (Male):

P3MC: Short hand for Persona 3 Main Character

(P3) Hero/Shunjiko: Japanese generic title

Kitaro: The Japanese Fanname, due to his resemblance to the main character Kitaro from Gegege no Kitaro.

Minato Arisato: Manga name

Makoto Yuki: Movie name (*gets adopted later into games)

Sakuya Shiomi: Stage Play Name

Leader: Generic Name for MC in Drama CDs and such

Roger: A name used in AtlusUSA marketing (maybe related to this line in the game?)

Door-kun: (English) Western fandom joke nickname, spoiler reasons.

Gettaro/Tsukitaro* Yamada: provisional name for P3MC in the movies' script. A play on Kitaro. (thanks @aliliceswonderland for reminding me, as well as the other's! TToTT)

Persona 3 (Female):

P3FeMC or just FeMC (sometimes/old variations FeShe or MShee): Shorthand for (Persona 3) Female Main Character. Since SMT if/Tamaki, Maya, and Aigis have fixed names (in Persona canon), this one is usually who people mean when they hear "FeMC." Though some might use this word as a "what if" for P4/5/6 having a female protagonist. But it's usually for the P3 one.

Leader: Generic Name for FeMC in DramaCDs and such

(P3) Heroine/Josei Shunjiko : Japanese generic title

Hamuko (Arisato): The Japanese fanname, IF Arisato is used, it's derived from the P3MC's manga name.

Minako Arisato: The Western Fanname, derived from Minato Arisato but making it "ko" since a lot of females use that name (note: Minato is actually a unisex name to begin with)

Makoto Yuki: P3MC's movie name. SOME adopted this name after the movie was release due to being a unisex name)

Kotone Shiomi: Stage Play Name (*only official name she's gotten, and unlike P3/4/5MCs whose names were taken from anime adaptions, she's the only one to have her's taken from the stage play).

Door-Chan: (English) Western fandom joke nickname, spoiler reasons.

Canon-chan/Non-canon-chan: (English) Western fandom joke nickname, usually in regards to her canon status. (answer: she is canon)

Lunako Gekko: Name used for Famitsu article

Persona 4:

P4MC: Short hand for Persona 4 Main Character

(P4) Hero/Shunjiko: Japanese generic title

Leader: Generic Name for MC in Drama CDs and such

Bancho(u): Japanese Fan Nickname (he's also called this in Arena's files, short hand for his Arena fighter title)

Souji Seta/Soji Seta: Manga Name

Yu Narukami: Anime Name (*was later used for games)

Various Stage Names: Unlike the P3MCs who have a fixed stage play name, P4's gimmick was to change the name each showing. The ones used in the DVDs are: "Yuuya Seta" for the first one, "Hayato Asakawa" for the second. (complete list, at least for the 2nd stage play coming soon)

Charlie "Chuck" Tunoku: Giant Bomb Endurance run of P4 (I think this is the more famous one)

Kenpachi Ramasama/Ramasama Kenpachi: Two Best friends play P4

Chad: (English) Western fandom joke nickname, something something blame the anime (originated around it's run) esp the scene with the King's game. He got all the chicks or something.

Persona 5:

P5MC: Short hand for Persona 5 Main Character

(P5) Hero/Shunjiko: Japanese generic title

Joker: His in-game code name

Akira Kurusu: Manga name

Ren Amamiya: Anime Name (*was later used for games)

Various Stage Names: Like P4, they adopted the gimmick of doing different names each showing. The ones used on the DVDS are: "Itsuki Onda" for the first one, "Naoki Toudou" for the second one, "Nozomu Akase" for the third one, and "Kaito Shinno" for the forth/last one. (complete list here)

Chair-kun: In reference to the original teaser for P5 (there were a lot of chairs)

Pego: Fan nickname for P5MC, usually english fandom from what I've seen. Stands for Pe(rsona) and Go (aka 5 in japanese). It's a very common one and I...literally forgot TT0TT

Akiren: Alternative fan nickname for P5MC, for fans that like both Akira and Ren's names but don't want to choose I suppose.

Persona 5 X:

P5XMC: Short hand for Persona 5X Main Character

(P5X) Hero/Shunjiko: Japanese generic title

Wonder: His In-game code name

Fun facts/other notes:

FeMC is the only one who breaks the streak of using anime names (due to not having an anime adaptations), it also causes P3 to cross between two different kinds of supplementary canon. (see more on this reblog)

Not all of P4's various stage names are known, namely (haha) the first stage play. If you dig you can find all of the 2nd ones (I should really post that list one day DX)

Despite P1MC not having a consistent chosen name, Atlus seems fond of Naoya, specifically using Naoya/Kazuya together (Devil Survivor 1 manga and P5 Mementos Quest mission) with characters. If you read the P1 manga you'd understand why they put those two names together.

Kitaro and Hamuko were used as place holder text for the P3MC and FeMC chars names for PQ2.

Banchou was used for P4MC's mocking title card in Arena/Ultimax, it was translated as "Kingpin" in english.

Some other chars I didn't listed as having "Leader" could very well be called "Leader" at some point.

Shin Kanzato is the MC to the anime Persona: Trinity Soul, a series that takes place 10 years after P3. It's in it's own separate canon from the P3 we know, Edit: but I'm mentioning him because of it being the original sequel of P3 for a brief period.

Aigis' name obvie can't be changed just like Maya, but she is the MC of both The Answer, as well as the Aigis: The First Mission cellphone game. (sometimes fans refer to her as a "toaster"...bc she's a robot)

Edit: Anna is the MC of P2's novel adaptations iirc, and Naoto and Yosuke are protagonists of their own books/novels/manga. There are most likely others but I will probs end it there (as I just wanna stick with games/original MCs and having Aigis/Kiba/Shin was a bit dicey)

Similar to Pego, P3MC may also be referred to as Pesan, and P4MC as Peyon. I haven't personally seen it (considering the other more prominent names they've had) but I wanted to list it just in case.

To update: Since I mentioned Roger, it's only fair I dig for all the other ones used for other characters (it's just Roger is the most popular, and it's not used often even at that).

[daily-rayless]

15 Years of Minako

It's time for another character appreciation post – the last of 2024 – and we've come down almost fifteen years to the day for a very, very special character. I first played Persona 3 in 2008, and I enjoyed it, but it was in 2009 when Persona 3: Portable was announced that my interest in the game rocketed up through the roof and into the stratosphere. Because, guys -- we were going to get a female protagonist.

September 2009

I don't know what my earliest art for Minako/Hamuko/Kotone was, but this is the earliest I could find. She had no canonical name yet. Her game hadn't been released in the States. As you can see, I wasn't even quite sure what her hair was supposed to be doing back there. But I was still excited.

December 2009

I've talked before about why having a female protagonist matters so much to me. The short version is that in an ideal world, where male protagonists weren't such a continuous majority, maybe it wouldn't; but that world doesn't exist, so it does matter, it matters to me. Minato has always been a fairly take-him-or-leave-him character for me. Minako? I was into her before the game was even released.

March 2010

I was intrigued by her design, her bright red eyes, her fluffy curls, the way her vibe was so different from Minato's. And, actually, her vibe is somewhat at odds with the game itself. P3 is a game of sad blues and sickly greens and grungy reds. Minako is all bright reds and pinks, tropical orange, soft yellow, warm brown. They could have taken the easy route and just done a gender-flipped Minato, a blue-haired girl, quiet, rather closed-off and antisocial. They didn't. They gave us someone new, somehow who visually contradicts the status quo.

September 2010

And, once I played the game, I saw that not only was her design very different, she had a different personality – different dialogue choices from Minato, a different mood. As far as the major plot points went, she did the same things as Minato, but she felt like her own person, not a gender-flip. She does change the status quo. You can diverge from Minato's narrative in some small but significant ways, but even if you choose not to, playing as Minako still feels different from the original version.

December 2010

And, miraculously, playing the game lived up to my own dangerously hyped expectations. Getting new insights into the female members of SEES without the tropey baggage of being a male hero romancing them; Social Linking the male members while getting the option to romance them or not. The original Persona 3, with Minato, is a great game, but Minato had to romance all of the girls and he couldn't even Social Link the guys. Minako's route gives you a deeper, broader experience when it comes to the core cast.

February 2011

Her being female adds nuanced conflict to her rivalry/friendship with Junpei, brings introspective weight to Akihiko's protectiveness, complements rather than undercuts Yukari's attempts to assert herself and not be dependent like her mother. Mitsuru doesn't have to step down as SEES' chagrined leader and cede her authority to this new boy – she cedes it to another girl. Tropes can be done badly or well, and these aren't inherently better than Minato's route, but Minako's tropes are often less typical, thus they feel more original – thus, to me, they're more interesting.

May 2011

I want to make clear that while I prefer Minako over Minato, I'm not arguing she's the better character or should be the default. And I'm pausing to say this because, unfortunately, ever since Minako first arrived on the scene, she's brought her own tension to an often already combative fandom.

December 2012

“She's not canon!” You used to hear that. As if the protagonist of a game that had been made and published and could be played wasn't canon. “Yeah, but she's not really canon!” It felt like there was a push within parts of the fandom to devalue Minako as a character, delegitimize her.

February 2013

Unfortunately, it feels as if this attitude is somewhat shared by Atlus itself. While Minako got a game route, a stage play, and is featured in promotional art, her absence in the Persona 3 remake is glaring. I'm not sure what I think Atlus is trying to say by omitting her, if anything. I'm just so disappointed that Minako's route, the route that gives you the most variety in plot points and character exploration for the main cast, wasn't deemed worthy of remaking.

January 2014

Minako, that brave, funny, smart, defiant protagonist, wasn't deemed worthy.

January 2015

Like many silent protagonists, Minako's a character open to a lot of interpretations. Broadly speaking, the game allows you to pick dialogue options for a reserved Minako or a more forceful Minako. But whichever way you go, if you've played the game, you know she's a character with pain buried deep inside her.

November 2016

Her fandom, her specific fandom, often sees her as a girl who smiles and sparkles and fights to cover that pain. Looking at Minato, you wouldn't be surprised to learn he's troubled. But Minako will make you believe she's confident and happy for a very long time until something breaks that illusion and you realize there are secrets in that smile.

August 2018

Minako is passionate, enduring, stubbornly brave.

October 2022

But she's not canon, right?

June 2023

She's not really a character. She's just a theoretical scenario Persona played with briefly, then discarded.

September 2024

Too bad for us.

[hellohimawarihana]

I know that I post many protagonists tags for Persona series (mainly the 25th anniversary ones), but for those who didn't know I will explain the origins of their name and what names I refer to the most in this Tumblr. Sure, you can use the other names as well, and for different names than those mentioned below you can search on the internet if you want.

Persona 1 Protagonist: While he's mostly unnamed in official media, most fans refer him as 'Naoya Toudou' from the manga, which had more personalities than in other adaptations.

Persona 2 Protagonists: The two heroes, called 'Tatsuya Suou' and 'Maya Amano' are already canon at the beginning, so no need to add more. You can rename Tatsuya if you want to in his game, though.

Persona 3 Male Protagonist: There are two canon names that I usually add when posting/reblogging, which are 'Minato Arisato' from the manga and 'Makoto Yuki' from The Movie. But I usually use the movie name though because it was used for Dancing in Moonlight and Portable remaster (if you change the language of the game) too, just like his female counterpart below for the latter. Though I use Makoto often for anything about him, sometimes I'll refer him by his surname Yuki to prevent confusion to Persona 5 character with the same first name.

Persona 3 Female Protagonist: In general I don't use stage play name for the protagonists, but 'Kotone Shiomi' is the only official name she had (names like 'Minako Arisato' and 'Hamuko Arisato' are fanmade names), so sure, I'm including her name here. This was even used in Portable remaster too.

Persona 4 Protagonist: Same as P3 Hero, with manga 'Souji Seta' and anime 'Yu Narukami' as one of his famous names. Since the latter is used the most for spinoff games and Golden remaster, I'm gonna call him Yu too.

Persona 5 Protagonist: Same as the two male protagonists before him, with 'Akira Kurusu' for the manga and 'Ren Amamiya' for The Animation, Dancing in Starlight and Royal remaster. I usually refer him as Ren in most occasions.

[littleshysheep-at-da]

All my Persona Series Ships!

(Felt like Posting this here, keep y’all Updated. I made this as Google Doc to send to people when I know they also like Persona so I don’t have to say it everytime)

I actually am a crazy Shipper, strongly dislike when people don’t Ship or break my Pairings, and am OTP/OT3 for life. I just also have Self Restraint and Common Sense, so I understand Shipping's all about fun (and doesn't have to be Canon Compliant or make sense) and to not be an asshole to other people having their own fun.

Also adding Sexuality/LGBTA+ Headcanons for ones I have them for (but I don't have them for every Ship or Specific Character). Also yes I am caring about Name Order here.

-Persona 5 (and it’s many Spin-Offs):

Akira (Gay) x Goro (Demi)

Ann (Lesbain) x Shiho

Haru (Bi) x Ryuji (Bi)

Futaba (Ace) x Yusuke (Ace Pan)

Makoto (Lesbain) x Kasumi (Bi)

Toshiro x Eri

Sojiro x Wakaba

Sae x Kawakami

Tae x Chihaya

-Persona 3:

Hamuko (Bi) x Minato (Bi)

Aigis x Hamuko or Minato

Ryoji x Hamuko or Minato

Fuuka x Natsuki

Mitsuru (Lesbain) x Yukari (Bi)

Junpei (Straight) x Chidori

Shinjiro (Bi) x Akihiko (Bi)

-Persona 4:

Yosuke (Bi) x Souji (Pan)

Yukiko (Bi) x Chie (Lesbain)

Naoto (Nonbinary) x Kanji (Pan)

-Persona 2:

Tatsuya (Bi) x Jun (Gay)

Eikichi x Miyabi

Ship Numbers (because Autism)

P5 = 9 | P3 = 7 | P4 = 3 | P2 = 2 | Total 21

Gender Breakdown 18/21 Ships

(not counting Kannao or Aigis and Ryoji)

M/F = 7| M/M = 4 | F/F = 7

Other Ship Notes:

I personally DO NOT see the Protags as self inserts. I think they all have their own personalities. So I don’t really have any self insert ships were I ship them just because I want to date a character, but I do understand some people have those.

Akira and Goro are a massive call back to Tatsuya and Jun from Persona 2, and Tatsuya and Jun are written with the intent to be romantic. Though I think after the third semester I usually don’t have to explain why I feel like Akira and Goro is an obvious Ship, it’s one of those you can totally have a different preference but you understand what I'm getting at right?

I reeeally hope I don’t have to explain that Futaba and Akira are in sibling dynamic so Shipping them would be gross.

Kasumi’s infatuation with Akira makes ZERO SENSE. The only people who see through your delinquent deguise is Goro (because soulmates narrative foil) and Ryuji (who doesn’t see through he’s just a good boy who trusts everyone), so Kasumi seeing through it makes NO SENSE. If she were to follow anyone around saying “Senpei” I think it would be Makoto.

Rise’s feral one sided thirsty crush on Souji is very funny to me (and I love playing it for comedy) but I don’t think he would ever reciprocate it. Her love just feels a bit too superficial, and Souji has too many issues of not being seen for himself for me to like it as a Ship.

I do think Yukari had a crush on Minato and I think Minato would be willing to try dating her, but I feel their love languages would be too different and it would end in disaster. Minato seems like the little actions and subtle comfort where Yukari seems like she would want big romantic gestures (something Mitsuru would do for her).

I will say with all Persona Romance Routes I am very much not a Fan of the Pandering that is “Girl likes you for no real reason” (it’s honestly just a boring Romance to me) and would’ve liked if more of the Girls just weren’t Romanceable so we could just have more Male/Female Friendships. I feel (aside from the stand out VERY BAD ones) a lot of the Romance Routes aren’t that bad, just don’t mesh well with the Tone and Tension of the rest of the Game (they’re kind Mundane and Boring in comparison to the Relationships I ACTUALLY Ship). But my Opinion on Persona Romance Routes as a whole would be a completely different discussion than Ships.

Update cause I forgot:

It’s necessary to say this so I don’t get Canceled; Hamuko and Minato are Canonically Two Halves of the Same Soul, some people choose to see that as Siblings and some people choose to see that as Soulmates. I used to prefer Siblings but now I prefer Soulmates. Either is fine but don’t mix em is all.

When I say Kasumi I usually actually mean Sumire. Sorry it’s partly cause it’s a Spoiler and partly cause I never got in the Habit of calling her by her Real Name. So unless Specific Context assume when I say Kasumi I mean Sumire. I just don’t feel like going back and changing it everywhere I’ve said it.

[starlit-dreaming]

[prologue] re: All in the Past

Fandom: Persona (3 & 4) Rating: M Major/Eventual Ships: Akihamu Minor Ships: Jundori, Minayuka AU: Twin Protags + Somebody Lives/Not Everybody Dies + Post-Canon AU Note: Cross-posted on AO3 under the same title.

Summary:

Kotone Shiomi might be an idiot. No, actually, she is undoubtedly an idiot, because no one in the right mind would choose to stick around in the same city that took her loved ones away, a place that had nothing for her. She knew that her parents loved this wretched place, that they often swung by to play concerts when they were alive. Her brother had loved this terrible place, enough to want to finish his schooling, enough to actually consider opening up that bakery she always joked about. Her brother made friends here, he even had a girlfriend (which, gross, someone actually thought her gloomy brother was attractive), and he was finally opening up his heart to people. On their phone calls, he had even asked Kotone questions of her life! Questions that he’s never bothered to ask before! And then he died. He died, leaving everything behind — money, his cosplay crap, the letters she sent him over the years, and… He left her a goodbye letter. //In which the aftermath of Minato's death affected those outside of SEES.

A/N:

I wrote a fanfic around 2014 on FFN under my first fanfic writing account (and I want no reminders of its existence, but if it gets found, just know I will scream and cry if you do find it). It was intended to be a one-shot, although it was very open-ended and I didn’t really want to think too deeply on it. Originally, this was meant to hype me up for P3: Reload, but I haven’t touched it yet because I’m still mourning over the fact that there’s no Female Protag. Hamuko is a nickname; Kotone Shiomi will be used as her full name! Also, I’ll be including Japanese suffixes to better portray relationships. Fun fact: The University is named “Hankyō” (反響) which means “echo” and “reverberation”, which I found to be poetic, because Hamuko’s following after the traces of her brother’s memory in order to solve the mystery of his death. @hwang-lucas because I'm posting this fic for you instead of letting it collect dust in my google docs LMAO

Chapters: [prologue] 1 | 2 | 3

——————————

0. prologue

——————————

Beginning of March, 2011

Breathe in. Breathe out.

This will be the third time in her life that she visits the Iwatodai Graveyard, and she wishes that it never went beyond the first visit.

But that’s the thing about life.

Like it or not, you don’t always get what you want.

“Thank you for showing me the way,” she politely bowed at the handsome silver-haired young man.

“No problem, Shiomi-san,” Akihiko Sanada gave her a sympathetic smile as he hands over the bucket of water — for cleaning the graves, she idly reminds herself as her eyes linger on his muscles for just a second too long. “Will you be okay from here?”

Breathe in. Breathe out.

“Yeah, no worries,” she replied, smiling at the stranger despite the clenching of her fists. It was very hard not to grab his shoulders and shake him for answers about her brother, but she knew better than to do that.

Easy. Just take it easy. They don’t know you, and he might not be one of them.

It was, predictably, harder to watch him walk away without any answers to any question of hers.

When she first arrived in the area, she got lost — plain and simple, and flat out embarrassing. Her phone was dead, and she couldn’t contact anyone who might know something — not that she knew anyone in Iwatodai, much less Tatsumi Port Island, to begin with. Maybe Mitsuru Kirijo, the person who helped fund her brother’s funeral and arranged everything, but she’s not sure if that’s how she wants to get back into contact with her brother’s friend…

Anyway, that was how she became acquainted with Akihiko Sanada — she wound up finding the police station and asked for directions to the graveyard. The officer at the desk was a rather intimidating fellow, and maybe it was obvious that she was gradually getting more and more confused at the older man’s instructions as he mentioned the names of streets and buildings, that Akihiko Sanada, a handsome young man who had been in the room, had politely offered to show her the way.

Which, she supposes, has been the only good thing about the day for her.

Talking to Akihiko was easy, and maybe that was because he was easy on the eyes. As she glanced at their surroundings throughout the journey to the graveyard, he made it easy to feel as if she hadn’t been an outsider looking in. He made recommendations to some of the food places, she asked about things like the bookstores and cafés. Eventually, they touched on the topic of why she was visiting the graveyard, and he sympathized with her by mentioning his younger sister after she spoke of her brother.

His name sounded familiar enough, so chances are, Akihiko had been one of her brother’s friends. There was a brief mention of an Akihiko-senpai, and she had suspicions that they were one in the same. She would need to revisit the letters her brother sent her as well as the emails to be sure. Detective Shirogane was arriving next week, so the sooner she figures it all out, the better.

Still, it was clear that Akihiko managed to walk forward with his grief, even if it still hurts.

She wondered, then, that if it was her who left this world, would her brother mourn for her in the same way as Akihiko had done for his sister? Would he miss her, often, but still find the strength within him to still push forward?

Or would he be standing here, alone in a world that feels strange? Alone, and unwilling to let sleeping demons be, to touch upon matters that were best left behind as everyone had advised? The past is in the past, but would he let himself feel angry at the world? Would he get frustrated when things feel hopeless, despair when it starts to feel pointless? Would he deal with detective after detective, the constant confirmations that he’s in over his head, and that the only logical explanation ought to be drugs and a friend wanting to protect their reputation?

Oh, but she knows. She knows her brother better than anyone else in the world prior to his death. And, maybe, the only thing she never knew was the him before he died. He would wear his apathy to mask the painful aches, if he ever allowed himself to feel in those fleeting moments.

But, unlike her, Minato had friends that he could trust. Friends he could count on.

Her brother was strong, both physically and mentally.

And, more importantly, he isn’t her.

He’s not Kotone.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

She won’t break down like this. She hasn’t cried in years, and she’s not gonna start now, when she knows absolutely nothing about the man her brother became. Oh, she certainly raged at his death, cursing the world for all that it’s taken from her, but she had yet to shed honest tears over his death.

And instead, she smiles. Smiles were a good thing. Smiles made people feel safe and reassured. Smiles made her likeable. Smiles hadn’t failed her, even when she’s alone and tired and sick of it all—

Eventually, she manages to find her brother’s grave, settled beside her parent’s gravestone. Her parents eloped and ran away from their respective families after marrying, but only her father was disowned by his family. The Shiomi Family was matriarchal, and because Kotone was the only girl born in her generation and was therefore the heiress — at least, until one of her cousins were born and Kotone was more than happy to pass on the hat, so to speak — she was accepted into the family with open arms after her parents died, even if they criticized her mother often.

So, it was a bit surprising to know that her parents didn’t have their gravestone in the Shiomi Family Graveyard. For Minato, it was probably thanks to his friend who likely argued in his favor. Did he ever talk to her about their maternal family? Or did he just leave the thought alone?

Vaguely, she recalls a blurry memory of her crouched down in front of their parent’s grave. She was just a little kid sobbing, her brother hugging her, traumatized and different because the adults said so, saying that he had been awake when the accident occurred.

(She woke up in the remnants of the accident, after their parents had passed, with her brother shaking her and trembling all the while, with an expressionless look on his face and tears falling down. In the midst of burning flames and blooming pain that looked almost like an ominous green, she was traumatized in a different way.

But that is neither here nor there.)

Kotone shakes her head, settling down and opening her yellow backpack for the cleaning rags and got to work cleaning her parent’s grave. Her brother’s grave was much cleaner and well-cared for, likely visited by his friends more than her parent’s have ever been. But, his stone sits beside them, like his cremated ashes placed beside their parents in her room.

Seeing his name engraved in the stone was a very jarring thing. It’s a strange sight, one that she never expected to see before she’s even considered a young adult. Like her brother, her name will also be carved in this place when she passes, and she hopes her family honors that request.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Kotone rinses out the cleaning rag and places the flowers for her parents.

Seventeen.

Minato died when they were both only seventeen.

And now here she was, eighteen and in a world without him.

Living in the same city where their parents died, the same city that traumatized him and left them both orphans. The same city that she recently moved to, just to cling onto the could-haves and should’ve-beens.

Eighteen and alone, when they promised to move in together so she can finally escape the Shiomi Family and he can finally live without them threatening to hold their parent’s inheritance against him.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

When she attended his funeral, her family — her mother’s side of the family, because father was disowned after he eloped with mother and adopted his own mother’s maiden name — was solemn and quiet, but all of them only showed up for appearances. Most inquired about possessions, and only some of them realized that she was still there. Everything went to her, except for certain boxes that he himself had set aside and noted for who it would go to. He drafted his own will, apparently, and left it with the same lawyer their parents used who looked at her with sympathy and pity.

All of his belongings had been neatly tucked and packaged away, as if to make it all easier.

Her brother had told her that his time was coming to a close, that he was tired. She thought he was joking when she first read that email, with him talking about graduation for his senpais. She thought that with how animated his letters and emails became after befriending his friends, that he was finally coming out of his shell. Maybe he had a flair for dramatics, something she never knew, and wouldn’t that have been nice to have in common with her brother?

She thought wrong, when she received that dreadful phone call from a stranger whose name she’s only known through her brother’s letters and emails.

It sickened her, really. She had months worth of letters and emails from him, and as his letters stopped, descending into short phone calls and even shorter emails, she thought nothing of it. He sounded tired, and she could only assume that he hadn’t been sleeping well again.

Final exams often did that to people. So what? He missed a few phone calls, and he sent her apology texts whenever he missed five. Whatever. He’s a busy guy.

How naïve of her. Did she really think it was normal?

She thought it was strange, maybe even suspicious at times. His first week there was odd when he emailed her about it, no matter how much the detectives justified it as delusions or just pure exhaustion. He even claimed it, but it still stood out to her.

Because apparently he was so exhausted and thought the city turned into some sort of deranged graveyard in greens, with blood oozing in places and the moon yellow. She even thought it was a dream of his, since he mentioned dozing off on the train at some point, and that maybe it’d be a great premise for a suspenseful horror story he wanted to write. At some point he mentioned his dorm mate-turned-friend-turned-girlfriend, Yukari Takeba, had pointed a gun at him. Granted, she supposes that having a gun was probably for the best safety-wise since only two girls and a guy lived at the dorms until her brother came along, as well as the others.

She wonders if this Yukari girl had known about her brother’s condition. Apparently, from what was told, the doctors claimed that her brother passed away in his sleep. How that was possible at such a young age, she hadn’t the slightest idea.

It was like one day, he was spirited away.

At one point in all their correspondence, he mentioned that his friend asked him to kill him, and that he felt horrified at the idea of it. She doesn’t blame him, but since she couldn’t even find a Facebook profile of this Ryoji guy, she wonders if her brother was… if he was talking about himself, rather than an actual friend. She hopes not — God, she really hopes not. How much was her brother struggling? Did he actually rely on his friends, or did he only tell her that so she’d feel at ease?

She… was too distraught at the funeral to take notice of them. His friends did show up, at least, she thinks they did, but they mostly didn’t approach her, and she kept to herself. A young woman, Mitsuru, had expressed her condolences to her directly, saying that she was her brother’s friend, and offered her phone number if she ever needed it.

But Kotone never called her. The number was saved on her phone, but… she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Her nails were digging into her skin painfully, and the pain quickly washes away when she immediately releases her clenched fists upon realizing this fact. She’s been staring at the bouquet of flowers resting before her brother’s gravestone — pinks and blues, seeming almost symbolic of something.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Vision is shaking, but that’s normal.

Right. She can think this over and over again a million times, and she will, but now she’s here visiting her brother’s… grave. What should she even say to him? Should she apologize for being unable to visit his grave because she hadn’t fully moved to Iwatodai yet, even though she prayed to him and their parents often? Should she tell him how exhausting it was to unpack everything by herself? That her university admissions made a mistake with her transfer paperwork, so she ended up wasting maybe an hour having to wait on getting that crap sorted out? Does she talk about the journey to the graveyard because she got hopelessly lost?

Does she talk about the detectives, all of the ones that rejected her case? Or what about the ones who threw insulting remarks about him or his friends, or the few believing that the Kirijo Group had some involvement? Not all of them were bad, she supposes.

But what does it say about all those full grown men, when it was a kid barely into his first year of high school who reached out to her first?

The same kid who asked her if she was still looking for someone to look into her case?

What the hell do normal people really talk about, anyway? What should someone say, despite the distant relationship they shared prior to them passing on?

Breathe in. Breathe out.

“Hey,” she settles on a smile. “Sorry I couldn’t come sooner.”

Before he decided to attend Gekkoukan High School, they were only able to meet up a few times in a year if they were lucky. All of them had been for family gatherings, and Minato had been shoved into house to house among their relatives because none of them wanted to deal with the more traumatized twin.

They only stayed in contact through her sheer stubborn will, and she doubts her brother would agree to it if she hadn’t been intentionally annoying and nosy about his life. The letters were meant to be his reprieve from her constantly trying to contact him by phone.

(Maybe she should’ve tried harder.)

It was a good thing that she didn’t give up on staying in contact. She doubts that she would be excluded from it as his twin sister, but if she wasn’t one of his contacts, maybe she wouldn’t have even known about the funeral. Some of their relatives still didn’t find out until recently.

(And they were all disgustingly the same, murmuring feigned sorrow with greedy eyes as they reluctantly ask about whatever was left of their inheritance from their parents.

She knows they wish she were out of the picture, too.)

“I know you didn’t want to talk to me about a bunch of stuff, but what the hell, big bro?” she dryly laughed. “What’s up with all the money and cosplay crap?”

Part of her thinks that maybe he really did do some shady jobs — the money he left behind to her was enough to buy her several houses and live comfortably unemployed for years, and that didn’t include the inheritance from their parents and the royalties they still received from their music. If she was smart with her money and didn’t waste it, if she made a few investments, then she’d be set for life.

(One detective thought that maybe he sold raunchy cosplay pictures, a mental image that was, and still is, very much unwanted and unneeded and made zero sense with what she knew of her brother. It helps that the detective seemed just as uncomfortable with the thought as she was.

Another suggested it was from video game competitions, which sounded much more likely and vastly more doable and preferable.)

Similar to their parents, there were royalties coming in under his name. Maybe she ought to revisit those papers and figure out why that is. The past few months, she’s been more focused on graduating and planning what to do next, so she tried to avoid thinking about most of the unpleasant aspects that come after someone’s passing, which included those royalties.

Still, he really did leave behind a lot of stuff. Weapons, clothes, accessories, books, and a bunch of miscellaneous stuff. The few detectives willing to entertain her case before declining after hearing that the Kirijo Group was involved considered that maybe his school club was one of those Dungeons and Dragons thing, but was much more serious to the point that they’d embody their character. His phone’s background was also proof that he was really into gaming. It explained half the problems and nothing more.

So this whole green world thing from the first letter was maybe a mistake, which was possible. He might’ve been tired and started writing a scene and forgot that it was a letter to her. Debatable, questionable, but not impossible. The weapons thing felt odd, but her brother had never been very forthcoming about his interests other than music, so that left room for possibilities. Books were normal, but the random outfits and accessories made sense when lumped together as part of the cosplay stuff. He had an armband with “SEES” on it, which was apparently one of his after school clubs.

What concerned her was the random health stuff. 

He had a notebook. It mentioned the names of the items, the effects of it, the HP and SP — that was one of the tip offs that it must’ve just been a group game thing. Some were items were relatively harmless, but the more concerning items were what he noted to be “Rancid Gravy” and “Odd Morsel”.

She supposes that it was fortunate that Mitsuru Kirijo had offered to buy most of her brother’s things for her, even if she sent an assistant to handle the deal. Even if she was sure that the Kirijo Group covered up her brother’s cause of death, she did seem guilty about it. And ashamed, if the avoidance of a second in-person meeting was any indication.

One of the suggestions for her brother’s cause of death was overwork, despite being at the pinnacle of health. That was the official story, anyway.

(How the hell does the rising star of the track team die in his sleep, without an ounce of drugs in his blood?)

It was painful going through his belongings, and the whole thing felt rather ironic. She would want for nothing thanks to her brother’s passing, and yet him being alive was the only thing she wished for.

She crouches down, feeling so incredibly small and sad and angry at the world. It looked like the grave was well-maintained. His friends, she thinks, because their family hadn’t thought kindly of her and her brother, except for a few who were never able to care for them.

A passing thought flickers in her mind, wondering if her brother ever visited their parents while he was here.

Probably not.

He didn’t like reminiscing any more than she did.

She places an incense, a habit that’s become second nature since the death of their parents. Even if she doesn’t believe in an afterlife, she finds comfort in the gesture. It helps, knowing that if it really did exist despite her disbelief, then she could make her loved ones happy even if just for a short while.

“I don’t even know if melon bread is still your favourite,” she admits softly, placing the plastic wrapped bread on the grave as an offering. “I’d like to think it still is.”

It’d be devastating if she were ever told otherwise, but she likes to pretend that she still knows her brother well. Her brother would eat anything placed in front of him, but he had minor dislikes that popped up from time to time. When she first started learning how to cook back when they were younger and still lived together, she was absolutely terrible, but her brother never complained and simply made suggestions little by little. He sent her compliments when she sent him cookies every once in a while, and she promised to cook for him whenever she had the chance to see him.

Her brother was always the better chef, though. He was always sending her recipes, mentioning alterations he’s done. She didn’t really have the chance to show off when they reached high school, but she promised she would. Hell, he entertained the idea of a restaurant, purely because he had a senpai who was good at cooking.

And now, she’ll never have that chance to cook for her brother.

“You promised,” she muttered, feeling so horribly hurt and broken as she smiled with gritted teeth. “Did you remember? We were going to be grown-ups and open up our own bakery or restaurant. I’d deal with the customers, and you could stay in the kitchen cooking and baking all day, rocking out to music as much as you want, and then when we close up shop, we can just go upstairs and be at home relaxing in minutes.”

It was a what-if, a possible future plan, but she wanted to be with her brother because he was the only person left who understood. She wanted them to live an easy and simple life, because it was hard to move from place to place with no one to return home to.

And that’s what will happen now. Moving to a new place with no one to come home to.

Again.

“You liar,” she muttered, bitter and hateful, burying her face into the palm of her hands. Part of her wants to cry, but she won’t, and she hasn’t. This dreadful place doesn’t deserve her tears. She could smell the sandalwood incense, and yet again, she’s reminded of that time during their parent’s funeral.

How could he leave like this? Did she even cross his mind?

Ah, but she knows. She knows that whatever happened to him, he didn’t want to leave her.

It wasn’t said outright, but there was a chance that he’d be fine. That he was going to hang in there.

Something happened to him, but what ?

She clenched her fists, her nails once again digging into her skin.

It’s very easy for her, she thinks, to feel resentful about everything. Resentful of her brother, of his death, of herself — everything.

Between the two of them, she was always selfish, something that she didn’t mind until now, always wanting things to go her way. She was always more resentful, she knew hatred so intimately well that it made her feel bitter to her bones. Maybe that was why she knew that he’d tell her to leave it be, let bygones be bygones, and to not even try to look into his death.

But her brother was gone, so he can’t really tell her what to do. And she won’t take the imagined advice — not even if he were to rise from the dead to tell her himself.

She’ll damn well figure out why he died.

——————————

[Unsent Letter]

From: Minato Arisato

To: Kotone Shiomi

January – 2010

Dear Hamuko,

For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.

I’m not sure if this letter will ever reach you, but if it has, then. Well, I’m gone, and the world hasn’t ended like we thought it would. This day came sooner than I thought, and it’s hard sometimes, but I think I get what you mean now. About rising above challenges as long as you’re with some friends, even if you were only talking about manga. I have a promise to keep to my friends, and I’ll die trying to achieve it.

Maybe in another life, or another world, you could understand what I’m going through. Or maybe we would live normal lives and build up that bakery you keep yapping on about.

I’m sorry for never really being present in your life. You always reach out to me, even when you get upset at me for something I’ve done. I do feel guilty about that, and I can’t make anyone happy here no matter what I choose to do. I know you’ll be okay, you always manage to bounce back up no matter what, but that doesn’t mean it won’t hurt.

I’d like to tell you I’m sorry in person, but if you received this letter, then I can’t do that.

My choices have brought me to this point, and I can’t say I regret anything about my life now that I understand what true relationships are like.

I do regret one thing, and that’s leaving you behind. I’m sorry, Hamuko, for breaking our promises. I won’t ask you to forgive me.

This is just another consequence of my actions, and I will bear it as my responsibility.

You will always be my little sister.

Goodbye,

Minato

——————————

‘Now what?’ She thinks, staring blankly at the gravestone. ‘I bought an old dormitory to renovate so I can feel less guilty for using brother's money one I start getting tenants  — I need to do some tidying up, but it’ll be a good place to rent out, so I can have a little extra money just to be safe. I don’t have a meeting with the detective until next weekend, and I need to wait to hear about my enrollment to University.’

She looks up into the sky, watching the clouds floating by amidst the sunset skies.

How long has she been standing here?

“Shiomi-san? You’re still here?” comes the familiar voice, surprise and a hint of concern in his voice. Looking up, she finds herself staring at the man she’s seen only several hours ago.

“Oh, Sanada-san,” she politely greeted after a moment of silence.

She knew that seeing him again was inevitable, considering that he was a student at the university she’s enrolling into, but it’s only been a few hours. And, unlike before, he wasn’t alone. Standing a little away was a group of young adults, with a teen, a dog, and a foreigner girl.

“I was actually just about done,” she smiled at him. “There’s been a lot on my mind, so it’s rather refreshing to get it off my chest.”

It wasn’t necessarily a lie — she really did feel better, even if she had a minor headache from all the things that she needed to deal with. Renovations. Paperwork. Meeting the detective. University.

Paperwork was no joke, but solving a mystery with almost no clues was the absolute worst.

Ah… so much to do.

“I see,” he looked at her, understanding in his eyes as he simply nodded.

“Well, I ought to get going before it starts getting dark out, Sanada-san,” she bowed to him, smiling politely. “Have a good evening.”

She walks past him, getting a better look at the group. What a colorful group, she thinks. Blue baseball cap guy, a lady in a pink sweater, a petite lady in green, a blonde foreigner, a teen in an orange sweater, and…

Kotone instinctively smiled, bowing politely at the group and glancing up at Mitsuru Kirijo, the most famous among the group. The heiress, or rather, the leader of the group. Wasn’t she her brother’s friend? If that’s the case, then everyone here must’ve been the group who showed up at her brother’s funeral.

So she was right. Akihiko Sanada was the same Akihiko-senpai her brother mentioned in passing.

“I take it that you and your friends have been taking care of my brother’s grave,” she bowed again. “Thank you for looking out for him even now.”

She bites her tongue, her mind cursing at them. How much did they contribute to her brother’s death? There’s been shady rumours of the Kirijo Group, they were wealthy and had more than enough influence to keep things hidden.

Kotone will never know.

Before they could say anything — surprise, shock, or just downright confusion written all across their faces — she takes her leave. Fists clenching, she bites her lip and wonders how she ought to go about this.

She can’t take any risks right now.

It was safe to assume that they were all dorm mates or or they were all part of the same club, otherwise they wouldn’t plan on visiting together with an almost carefree air to them.  It was also possible that they all happened to know her brother from separate instances and came together to grieve after his funeral. He’s mentioned quite a lot of names, so that’s her first step: rereading everything and writing down names and his relation to them. That’s already her plan for before the detective arrives.

She wasn’t going to demand answers from them. Not right now.

For starters, a cover-up was still in the realm of possibility with the Kirijo Group involved. And it was very obvious now that they might know something from how they acted at the funeral back then. They grieved for her brother, but it was different from all the other funerals that she’s been to. Back then, she thought nothing of it because her mind had blanked and she couldn’t focus.

But Kirijo recognized her after she thanked her, with a flash of guilt and understanding. Maybe she’s grasping at straws for something, but it doesn’t matter.

She will find out the truth.

[sleepy-bunbun-ace]

i'm still disappointed by no femc in the p3 remake so i'm gonna do what i do with all of my blorbos, isekai her.

this time i'm not gonna use pla but twst instead mostly because there's more opportunities to use personas in twst than in pla where the only way i see her getting access to her persona is during the red sky thing. i'm also gonna rotate between names since i don't feel like choosing a name.

prologue + chapter 1 only

so since the femc's route isn't canon, she doesn't become the great seal because makoto/minato is already the great seal.

whatever brings yuu to the twst wonderland world sees her up for grabs and brings her to the before prologue area where she's then isekai'd to twst.

not without erasing her memories, of course.

minako wakes up in a coffin, grim opens it with his fire, yadda yadda, the whole beginning of the prologue is the same.

the dark mirror takes an interest in her because while she doesn't belong in any of the dorms, she has incredible potential and takes notice of the contract she's not aware she has.

grim escapes and causes arson and hamuko goes off to help kalim who's butt is on fire.

she feels a connection trying to be made with him but something is preventing it from happening (sorry kotone, no social links yet).

again, things go the same for the most part in all honesty throughout the prologue just with hamuko having more dialogue inputs.

a key difference is no ghost fight when she first gets to ramshackle dorm because she somehow manages to befriend the ghosts (which causes questions as to how she's not afraid of them because she's most definitely never seen ghosts before).

another key difference is during the mine battle where kotone actually helps fighting the monster using a stick she found near the cabin while also giving out orders.

there's social links desperately wanting to be made with grim, ace and deuce but the time hasn't come for that yet.

on the night of the last day of the prologue, at exactly the point where 11:59 changes to midnight, the sky turns green and people turn into coffins for an hour, but nobody is awake to notice.

chapter 1

first day of classes for hamuko and grim. also ace got collared for eating a slice of a tart and decided he's a ramshackle kid now.

things mostly go the same for the most part but there are a few changes.

kotone runs into ortho when chasing after grim and immediately feels melancholic and sad. he reminds her of... of... who does he remind her of?

the whole lunch thing is a bit different too with minako immediately noticing how there's something off with jamil and how kalim seems to be hiding emotions (like her. but she isn't hiding her emotions, is she?). this does not affect chapter 1 but does affect chapter 4.

when kotone first meets riddle, it's like all her attention is immediately on him and not in the 'tyrant housewarden' way but in a 'he's somehow like me' way. a blue butterfly only she seems to notice flutters between them.

before i forget, the dreams!! they still do show the particular scenes from alice in wonderland but alice acts strange. she looks the same as in the movie but with yellow eyes instead. she tells minako to "save the queen, he has yet to awaken" or something along those lines.

I FORGOT TO MENTION THIS IN THE PROLOGUE SECTIONS BUT SHE GOES BY YUU BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T REMEMBER HER NAME.

okay, back to chapter 1. for the most part, it goes rather the same seeing as hamuko is trying to make sure her friends stay alive.

the day before the unbirthday party, the boys find out she's a girl and freak out as if they've never interacted with a girl in their lives. minako can understand why they thought she was a boy with how she looks but is just kinda done with them as they freak out.

crewel figures out she's a girl because it's crewel. you don't question him.

now, the whole battle for housewarden aftermath is different with kotone having more impact. she essentially rewords what ace is conveying towards riddle with her own observations. she's trying to make sure the situation doesn't get worse while also making riddle realize that maybe how he's been handling punishments isn't really good housewarden behavior.

it doesn't work, riddle still overblots.

now, just because minako doesn't remember the events of p3, that doesn't mean the skills she learned doesn't exactly go away. it only takes a few minutes for her to realize that they had to target the phantom and not riddle. she tells ace and deuce to focus on the phantom while she finds a way to separate it from the overblotted boy.

turns out jumping out a tree that started to float while you were climbing onto strings made of ink hurts a lot. feels like death.

so the memory thing goes quite different (i'm basing the concept off of on the eight wishes of a resident therapist by adaven on ao3). both riddle and kotone wake up in a void where the only other things there are a desk with two papers on it and a very familiar looking boy.

he tells them the only way to keep going is to sign the contract that will bind them to all responsibility of their actions.

"i will chooseth this fate of mine own free will."

they sign the contracts and the boy disappears with a smile. impromptu therapy time as they go through riddle's memories.

he starts with denial in the beginning but nearing the end he just spills because he's so drained from everything that's been going on. he's tired and doesn't know what to do anymore.

hamuko promises to help him become better because "that's what friends are for" and riddle is so confused. "he wants to be my friend??? after everything i've done??"

they wake up after the promise (the social link isn't established yet) with riddle still looking like his overblot self but now in control of himself. the phantom is still alive, desperately trying to reconnect to riddle.

minako's pocket feels heavy and she pulls out something very similar to a gun. there's no time to think, she puts it up to her head while shielding riddle from the phantom.

orpheus makes her return from the sea of souls.

the battle is soon finished with riddle and kotone being the most injured (i think that attacks that use hp cause injuries on the users body). with only a few questions about orpheus before crowley shows back up, the chapter finishes as normal with only riddle and kotone being taken to the infirmary.

at the end of the chapter, hamuko tells riddle she remembers her name.

at the exact point where 11:59 changes to midnight, the sky turns green and people turn to coffins, only this time the two in the infirmary are awake to experience the hour.

[mousewife-stash]

OUGUHHH were!yukari is so pretttyyy .. you absolutley do not have to respond to this i just wanted to let you know i think the design is GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!! ALSO HRLEPPPP lustful snake fans unite :3 <- thats the one lovers snake enemy its my favourite shadow ever ever ever ... also i lorve the were!SEES sort of thing like during the dark hour ??? oiugh thats so YUMMY . do they ALL turn into beastie guys at the same time though ? or is there a specific parameter ? like otherwise theyre just having the funny guy hour andstuff yoiu know

AWWW thank you so much!! (and please by all means do NOT let me disrespect your shadow wife)

right now it's JUST yukari (though I have some tasty ideas regarding shinjiro BUT...put a pin in that for now), the were!shadow mechanism i'm imagining is still kind of a hand-wavey vaguery to get me get to the good stuff LOL but. generally, we know there are sort of three basic outcomes to people during the Dark Hour: transmogrify into a coffin, stay awake and risk being devoured by/becoming a Shadow, and stay awake and eventually transcend into a Persona-user. but, I'm imagining; what if there's a sort of fusion of those second and third states, where an existing Persona-user survives an attempted Shadow devouring and their Persona regresses to Shadow state/they fuse with it as a result...

unlike my p4 au which I have taking place entirely *after* the canon events of the game, I actually want this to be an alternate timeline that transpires *INSTEAD* of the p3 canon and this happens to Yukari VERY early in the events of the game--possibly even during/as a result of the very first Full Moon shadow operation against the Priestess on the train? not totally settled yet, but...something to think on

I think Yukari is a really juicy candidate for this (aside from the idea first randomly coming to me in a dream LOL who knows what my subconscious was cooking) because she already IS the SEES member we see struggling the most to adapt to this world in sort of the "everyman" position--vs. Minato/Hamuko the natural-born leader, Junpei the gung-ho (even if that's a bluff), the experienced senpai, etc. She has the most trouble summoning her Persona to begin with, she's got the Ick about the whole situation and suspicion about her comrades, and I think it'd be deliciously intriguing if that hesitation resulted in her getting attacked + transformed and fomenting even MORE resentment about her situation like, "of course this had to happen to ME, WHY did this happen to ME", and the tension there that escalates between her and various SEES members, etc., who she blames, who blames themselves...but also, crucially, how it becomes a bonding point once that hurt dies down

and yes for MOST of the month she only transforms during the Dark Hour, except for the three waxing-full moon-waning days when my headcanon is Nyx's influence is the strongest. then she's stuck like that for a full 72 hours babey >:)

[p5x-theories]

Idea for if the Player Characters of P3 and P4 become Phantom Idols

It’s not gonna happen, but it would be a real treat if the manga names Minato and Souji were used as codenames for them.  And FeMC only has one official name, but they could use Sakuya for her because it comes from the same stage musicals that her official name comes from.  Or if they don’t object to using fan names they could use Hamuko in the east and Minako in the west.

My reasoning for this?  The codenames that Merope comes up with for Phantom Idols are based on their real names, but changed around (except for Seiji.)  So if there was ever a place to acknowledge these official but non-canon names it feels like here would be good?  Especially if they’re explicitly codenames, so they won’t interfere with the canon names.

Like I said, I don’t expect this to actually happen.  We don’t even know if these characters will even show up.  But if they did those are my proposed codenames.

Oh my god, this is genius! I agree I don’t know if they’d actually go for it (if they even put the previous games’ protagonists into P5X as Phantom Idols in the first place), but wow I suddenly wish this is what they’d do, because that is so fun. I’m sort of obsessed with the idea, honestly.

[yusuke-of-valla]

Trying to decide if Chidori not being a boss fight in September means I should move Yusuke's awakening to not that or change it into a boss fight because like. Child kidnapping.

I mean I guess I could redo the entire thing because idk if Chidori would expect Yusuke to have a way to contact SEES during the Dark Hour like she would with Junpei so maybe she like. Calls them before the dark hour and tells them to call off the operation and Hamuko. Is. Sooo chill about this yeah.

So the gang splits up with Minato taking one group to find the full moon shadow and Hamuko and the rest splitting up to find Yusuke.

Junpei guessed the dorms because it's the last place they'd check but doesn't tell anyone because he wants to talk to Chidori on his own because a) he wants to hear the truth from her, b) it's kinda his fault that Yusuke brought up that Hamuko was the leader to Chidori, and c) if there's somehow a good reason Chidori kidnapped Yusuke he wants to give her a chance to explain herself before Hamuko tries to kill her.

So they go and hash out a version of what happens in canon but uhhh hm. Oops. Yusuke actually got away from Chidori earlier (and maybe stole her evoker or something idk I haven't decided and he's just.) Sprinting to Pawlonia Mall because he figures that's where the others are because apathy syndrome victims have been showing up around there more than usual and they'd never ACTUALLY call off the operation and then uh.

Either he gets jumped by a shadow or runs into the Hermit and oh boy it's Pygmalion time this boy can fit SO much repressed rage.

And then they beat the hermit and take Chidori into custody and everything happens the same as canon because Yusuke is not allowed to visit Chidori in the hospital and his sad baby fox eyes are strong but not as strong as Hamuko's determination to like not leave her brother alone with the person that kidnapped him

(They can talk later I just don't want the Jundori scenes getting interrupted, they're important to me)

There's also a secret rank 11 to Junpei's social link that's just him and Hamuko slugging it out on a riverbed because "ARE YOU FUCKING DATING THE PERSON WHO KIDNAPPED MY BABY BROTHER WHAT THE HELL?"

[hishima]

when it comes to the p3 protags i'm a minato and hamuko truther sorry. i know kotone shiomi is femc's canon name and i like that for her a lot too. but i love arisato siblings.....

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

My freaking life with naming schemes for the FeMC.

Me pre-movie: Oh! Minako like a fem version of Minato (narrator: little did she know, Minato was unisex). But Hamuko is a fun one too! Such fun fan names. I’ll use Minako if I’m doing a Twin AU tho. Me, post-movie pre-stage play and P5: Oh I could do Makoto Yuki. I mean it’s the male’s name, and they are probs one and the same person. And Makoto Yuki is unisex so it works out (narrator: dipshit over here still doesn’t realize Minato is unisex). Regardless, they seem to go for the anime names so I should get attached to this instead. Don’t want a repeat of Souji. :’) Maybe I’ll give her a nickname of “Ko/Kou-chan” just for fun. Me, post-movie and stage play, pre-P5: Oh she has a new semi official name! Kotone! And so does the MC! Sadly I don’t think they’ll use/get attached to them. I mean, Atlus has only been using the anime names, I don’t want a repeat of Souji. :’) Me, post movie/stage play/P5, pre- Puzzle dragon/P3P rerelease (aka when Makoto N was announced): ............GDI! This is worst than saying Yu’s name out loud in english. Yu sounds like you, and Narukami is too much of a mouthful. But now Makoto is taken by another big char??? And Yuki is already another 3-4 chars (including nicknames). TT0TT Ahhhh and the chick looks like FeMC too???? Wtf, FeMC hasn’t been acknowledged in so long, plus Yusuke looks like P3MC, are they trying to hurt me more. ;w; Screw it, we’ll go with my Ko-chan nickname (with Minako/Hamuko variants) until she gets a new name. TT0TT Back to calling P3MC Minato again.....or maybe I should just fully adopt P#MC? Yeah let’s go with that. orz Me: post movie/play/P5/puzzle dragon/P3P release but pre-P5X: Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh no. I’m not getting attached still. I hate this mixing of canons. Give Sakuya justice! At least PQ’s personality matches Makoto Yuki....... Kotone doesn’t match her PQ2 counterpart imo.... I can’t. I won’t. Me post-everthing but esp P5X: So Mont’s name is probably “Kotone?” ....haha....AHFJDSAFJSAJFLA Oh it’s Makoto N all over again. Oh and there’s another Yuki? FanTASTIC!

[khattikeri]

1, 6, 7, 8, 9 for p3!

i'm not super involved with the fandom for p3 BUT. i do have thoughts

1. the character everyone gets wrong

i feel like a lot of people read yukari as Hysterical Bitchy Rude Female TM and that's. well for starters get eyes. like she has feelings, she's getting used to the whole persona thing, and her lashing out and grieving her friend's death is normal

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

this one's more in the sense of how the fandom used to be, i don't really see annoying shippers today... a lot of shippers for mslash pairings involving minato would bash yukari for "getting in the way"

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because of how the fandom acts about them?

don't really have a character like this. sometimes i think people take it a little too far with the aragaki worship/woobification but also. he's neat :')

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

protag's canon names probably (both for hamuko & minato), nothing major i don't think...? unless the answer counts. i think the answer should be canon bc it just. really makes sense storywise to include it

9. worst part of canon

i think the worst parts of p3 are pretty much all more related to its gameplay mechanisms than its story. social link mechanics especially sucked

[miusato]

I always can tell how long a person has been shipping or played P3 just by looking at the way they called femc xD it's fun to see her going by different names but I'm happy to see people still talking about her til this day she's my fav :D

Oh totally! I personally called her Minako since I've always known her as Minako (y'know like opposite to Minato) since I was a teenager althoughhhhh my current obsession with her is actually a recent thing lol I stick with Minako now but sometimes I do refer to her as Kotone when needed (like when someone talks to me about her and referred to her as her canon name)

I've seen veteran people called her Hamuko (and my friend actually still refer to her as Hamuko til this day hhh) and idk I just find it really cute that all of her ship names has -ham at the back since -mina/-koto has been taken by Minato/Makoto hhh and i always find it very delightful when any new people who seeks for -ham ship are surprised that her ship pairing name ends with ham since its so far away from the name Kotone lol

But yeah I agree with you! P3R has been a blessing fr and I'm happy to see more new ham shipper (me included) around here

[ff14hermes]

not too surprised by these votes! the makoto + kotone combo held its lead (though mina twins Almost took over at some points), but the individual results are different

for the male MC, Minato Arisato swept with over half the votes, totaling at 56%. Most of these votes went alongside Minako, but he has the most even split among FeMC names. Makoto Yuki takes second place with 34.2% of the vote, being paired up with the other "canon" name of Kotone more than 4/5ths of the time. Poor Sakuya got only 1.8% of the votes... most of which are with his fellow Shiomi.

for the female MC, Kotone won with a solid 44.5%. given how her name is often paired up with both Makoto and Sakuya, it's not a surprise—though her name gets used alongside Minato a lot, too. Minako took second place with 28.5%, almost exclusively used with Minato (makes sense, given her name was made up to match his). Hamuko, the other Arisato, took last place with 19%, again having nearly all her votes shared with Minato.

There are some more nuanced answers in the tags, too! Now that this poll is finished, I'd like to do one for the P4 protagonist (and eventually the P5 one!) Please look forward to it ^_^