#Minako having to do all that on her own

[moghedien]

Minako's Sailor V era is something that can be so personal to me and also cause me so much pain

[arom-antix]

Yuri!!! On Cards collaboration!

So, I know I've been pretty inactive recently, at least in posting my own art but for good reason! In the Yuri on the Web Discord server artists and writers alike have all collaborated to illustrate a deck of cards and write stories for each of them. And as a resident artist myself, I couldn't not take the opportunity to draw for this project UuU

Oh and if anyone was wondering, yes, I am to blame for inflicting this giant project onto the server BUT I REGRET NOTHING AND NEITHER WILL YOU IF YOU CHECK OUT EVERYONE ELSE'S WORKS. Trust me, they are amazing! The masterpost can be found here!

GIANT thanks to @lines-on-ice and @yaoiconnoisseur for helping so much and being amazing co-administrators and basically making this entire thing possible! You really saved me from my own overambition XD

The guidelines for this project can be found on the Yuri!!! On Cards blog as can the masterpost with all the links to everything. All the art that gets posted to Tumblr will also be reblogged by the blog.

With all that said, here's the actual art I made! (Break for those who don't want their dash to die UuU)

Okay, I lied. First, I'd heavily recommend for you to check out the guideline posts, both the general and artists' and even the writers' if you're up to it to get a grasp of the perimeters of this project. There's also some vague lore and AU stuff about the whole thing to find which will give you context for why the art looks the way it does to a certain extent.

You can also just jump right in and take everything as I ramble about it which, I mean, I won't stop you, the guideline posts aren't short. I will not blame you. You can still just look at the art. If that's your choice, go on ahead!

First up!

Ace of the Kingdom Otabek, The Deep Shadow

Being of the Kingdom of Diamonds, he's skillful and sharp. He moves quietly as a shadow and is just as mysterious.

Okay, I can't comment much on how he actually is, you'll have find that out by reading his fic(let?). They were supposed to be ficlets but as writers tend to do, none of us could manage that so take "ficlet" with a big grain of salt for every written work.

I've, by the way, not read any of the ficlets for this project beside my own so I'll get to experience the reveal with y'all and I'm gonna perish waiting.

Anyway, about the art. The yellow of course comes from the Kingdom of Diamonds' designated colour. As for the outfit, it's based on this handsome fellow I found who's supposed to be a Kazakh archer which I thought fit Otabek's whole shadow thing perfectly (and Writingfromtheshadow's fic Equivalent Exchange has me in an iron grip and I don't want to be released).

If there are any Kazakhs in the audience, you are free to laugh at me for any inaccuracies or missteps, I am but a humble little not-Kazakh, I don't expect to have gotten it all right UuU

Next up!

King Yuuri, Wanderer of Dreams

The ruler of his realm, he is as the mind flows. Kind and benevolent yet of fickle thoughts, the spirals of the subconscious are ones he both masters and bows to.

Again, gonna be waiting for his fic with everyone else but like. It's Yuuri. Anxiety is kind of a given.

In terms of art, I don't know if you can tell but this was where I started writing my will because oh my stars, what did I get myself into. If you follow me or my art, you'll know that I don't draw lineless. Like ever. And apparently I decided this project on a deadline that others were depending on me making look nice was the place to go all out.

And the worst part is that I'm not even mad at it so I have no argument to not do it again.

Anyway, the blue is from the designated colour of spades and yes, you've guessed right as to why this colour was picked for this suit. I'm predictable, leave me alone. As for the rest, the outfit is inspired by traditional Japanese dress that the Internet told me about (again, Japanese may laugh at me all they want UuU Your culture is very cool but also there was so much info, I hope I got it at least a bit right).

Also I spent like eight hours looking at hanakotoba for this and I've never been this happy about a decision I regretted so much while I was having to draw that many flowers. And you know I had to include The Gay Flower^(TM).

The Japanese iris is now Yuuri's btw.

All the flowers used are: Japanese irises, Jasmine flowers, Forget-me-nots, cherry blossoms, white roses, green carnations and blue roses (Viktor's flower. Read: I am predictable).

And finally!

Queen Minako, Tamer of Minds

Of the Realm of Dreams, she sees your fears, the snares laid by the subconscious and, strict and blunt as she is, she clears a path for the motivated and lets no potential go to waste.

Again, haven't read a word of the fic.

This one was by far the one that I made the fastest and I would've loved to do more with it but like deadlines. I'm gracefully skipping over the fact that I set the deadline and am fully to blame for being late.

But, as with Yuuri, blue is for spades. And since I wanted her to have a leotard but still match Yuuri and make her outfit look even slightly Japanese inspired, sheer fabric to the rescue! With cherry blossoms, of course, because CSP had the pattern preinstalled UuU

And I don't know if it worked but I tried to make her hair both look like her signature style, traditional Japanese hairstyles I found on the good ol' Interwebs and then kind of a spade by having that middle stick be the stem and the hair the spade's butt.

Also this probably goes without saying but the ranks of the characters are just titles. Yuuri is not married to Minako, she is just the Queen and he the King, don't worry.

Again, a BIG thank you to everyone who also participated, it was so fun to work together on this and see everyone's progress! Nic and Lil, you're amazing, thank you so much for everything you've done for this!

And to everyone who's made it this far, thank you for sticking around and please go check out all the other art and the ficlets! I promise it's worth it!

Masterpost | AO3 collection

[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.

[goddessalthena]

UsaMamo Week 2024 - Day 4 - Free Day

I'm late with this one, but better late than never, yes? This themeless installment just so happened to line up with wild card day. Fortuitous, no? A note to those of you who have read my previous posts in this series: I've added a timeline of sorts to the beginning of each chapter in order to make things a little easier to follow as we jump around. Day XX BU (Before Usagi) & AU (After Usagi)

(This is the third part. You can find Ch. 1 & Ch. 2 here.)

(Tentative) Title: A Matter of Timing Summary: Aged up, Friends to lovers UsaMamo Non-Senshi AU told in a series of snapshots. Rating: T (for language) Words: 3058

Free Day

Day 491 AU

“I know, I know! I’m late, but you would not believe the day I’ve had.”

Minako looks up at Mamoru with the expression of one who is not amused. "Har har har," she deadpans before smacking the seat of the empty chair beside her. "Sit your ass down, Chiba. You're three rounds behind."

Mamoru smiles and rolls his eyes before stepping aside. "Happy to, but we're going to need another chair." Minako blinks when she notices the woman to his right. “Everyone, this is Yūki Tomoko.” Minako’s eyes zero in on his right hand which is currently hovering directly behind the small of Tomoko’s back. “She’ll be joining us tonight." Minako’s eyes narrow.

All other eyes at the table go wide and a thick, palpable silence descends over the group until a shrill, “Hi, Tomoko-san!” rings out from the back. Mamoru’s eyes fly to the face he’s been dreading/anticipating seeing all week long. Even from a distance he can tell that Usagi’s cheeks are visibly flushed, but that’s more than likely due to the three empty beer bottles in front of her and not the fact that he’s brought a mystery woman to one of their gatherings for the first time since they met. He tells himself that that’s fine. That bringing Tomoko here tonight isn’t about seeing how Usagi reacts.

He figures after downing three or so beers of his own that’ll be easier to believe.

“There’s a free chair over here!” Usagi bellows, waving one arm in a wide arc. Makoto catches the rogue limb with a deft hand before it can hit her in the face. “Let me just—” There’s a screech of metal on tile and about two seconds go by before Mamoru realizes what she’s about to do. He reaches Usagi just in time to stop her from going ass over teakettle when she heaves the empty chair up off the floor. Makoto has frozen halfway out of her seat and is giving him a look that is part astonishment, part admiration. Mamoru shoots her an awkward smile as he settles Usagi back into her chair.

“Oh em gee, she’s so pretty!” Usagi hisses in his ear in the loudest stage whisper known to man.

Mamoru can feel the heat flooding his own cheeks now, but he manages to nod even though all he can think is, ‘Nowhere near as pretty as you are.’

It’s not until he’s carrying the empty chair back to a waiting Tomoko that it occurs to him to wonder why there’s an empty chair at all. Someone must be missing. His brain catalogues all of the faces he’s seen in the time it takes to swing his head back in Usagi’s direction. Makoto’s on her right, Ami’s on her left, and the douchebag is nowhere to be seen.

***

Forty minutes later Mamoru’s still wondering where Usagi’s jag of a boyfriend is. The guy has been glued to her side for months now—four months to be precise—crashing one get-together after another, trying to insert himself into their tightly knit group, seemingly oblivious to the fact that everyone but Usagi sees him for the pompous gasbag that he is. Mamoru wants to ask someone—mainly Usagi—where the chode is tonight, but he hasn’t had a chance. Bringing Tomoko to their regular group night has caused quite the stir. An eventuality that he had counted on but is now regretting.

The group has been peppering her with questions ever since she sat down and Mamoru can’t get a word in edgewise. Tomoko is completely at ease amidst a sea of inquisitive strangers as he knew she would be. He’s seen her manage raving meth heads in the ER without breaking a sweat, so she’s more than capable of handling this crazy bunch. Tomoko is intelligent, but not pretentious, confident, but not arrogant, witty, but not sarcastic. She is the perfect plus one and Mamoru cannot wait for her to leave.

Tonight is not going at all how he’d planned.

Reika draws Tomoko into a discussion about Cairo—they’re both avid travellers—and Mamoru leans back in his chair and tries to feign interest while keeping his gaze from wandering down the table. He thinks he’s been doing a decent job of the former, not so much of the latter. It might be easier to focus if he didn’t find Usagi staring back at him every second glance. Makoto has cut her off and swapped her to soda but her cheeks are still rosy. He wants to go over there and talk to her but he can’t. Right? That would be rude.

Right?

“You’re staring.”

His gaze slides to the left. Minako is eyeballing him. He doesn’t care. “Where’s—”

“Twat-wad?” Minako answers before he can finish. Her gaze flits to Usagi. “Not here.” That’s all she offers. Hard to say if that’s all she knows. She glances at Tomoko who is laughing at something Motoki has said. “Your date is charming.”

“She’s not my date.”

“Does she know that?”

“Yes.”

Minako drops the side-eye and looks him full in the face. Mamoru holds her gaze. After a few beats she raises an eyebrow and leans back in her chair before turning her eyes to Usagi. “Hmm…” she hums. “Interesting.” That’s all she says, but Mamoru knows that’s not all she’s thinking.

***

Tomoko joins him at the bar twenty minutes later. “Now that is a chatty crew.” Mamoru offers her an apologetic look but she just laughs. “They’re really nice. I never would have guessed a nerd like you would have such cool friends.” This isn’t the first time he’s heard this, and he doesn’t really know what to say so he just shrugs and takes a sip of his beer. “I don’t get it though, I thought you brought me here to appease a jealous boyfriend. Where’s Mr. Insecure?”

“MIA, apparently,” Mamoru answers, stealing another glance at Usagi. She’s hugging Ami and trying to coax her into staying for one more round. Usagi knows Ami won’t stay because she’s got an early morning and she’s the most responsible one in their group, but she’s asking anyway because she knows it makes Ami feel loved. Usagi is amazing like that.

“Damn, you’re in deep. No wonder he’s jealous.”

Mamoru jerks to attention to find Tomoko studying him with wide, sympathetic eyes. He opens his mouth to speak then realizes there’s nothing he can say so he just sighs and runs a hand through his hair. Tomoko laughs and pats his arm. “I won’t tell you it gets easier because I know how much it sucks, but who knows? He didn’t show tonight. Maybe your luck is about to change.”

“I don’t believe in luck.”

“Well then, I guess you’re fucked.” Mamoru nearly spits out his beer. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand then gives Tomoko a questioning look. She crosses her arms. “If you really don’t think luck is going to lend a hand, then you better stop watching from the sidelines and get in the game. You’ve brought me here to play defence when you should be on offence.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Offence?”

“Who cares if the boyfriend is jealous? It’s her attention you’re after,” Tomoko tells him, nodding her head at Usagi. “You want me to help you get it?”

They stand shoulder to shoulder as Mamoru considers her offer. Ami is finally parting from the group, but Usagi is insisting on walking her all the way to the door. Usagi never lets anyone leave without at least two goodbye hugs. Everyone complains about it but she never seems to care, and she always gets her hugs. No matter how much they grouse about it they all humour her. Because they love her. How could they not? She wears her heart on her sleeve. There’s not a false bone in her body.

Mamoru turns to the bar and sets his empty bottle on the polished wood. “Thanks, but I’m not interested in playing games.”

“Then why did you bring me?”

Mamoru sighs. “I told you. He doesn’t like me. He thinks I’m a threat.”

“Yeah, but why do you care what he thinks?”

“I don’t. I could care less what he thinks.”

“Then what—”

“He’s a jackass, but for some reason beyond my comprehension he seems to make her happy. Except for when he’s sulking like a petulant child.” Mamoru takes a breath and flattens his palms against the bar. “I didn’t bring you to spare his feelings, I brought you to spare hers.”

Tomoko lays a hand on top of his and quirks her mouth in a half smile. He tries to mirror the expression but his heart just isn’t in it. The harsh sound of shattering glass makes them both jump and whirl around. Usagi is standing in front of them and her feet are surrounded by shards of broken glass. She stares at the pair of them like a deer in the headlights for two, maybe three beats, then her face turns beet red and a string of barely intelligible apologies—and several curses—spout from her lips as she drops into a crouch. Mamoru and Tomoko cry out in unison when Usagi reaches for the glass, but they’re too late. The damage is done, blood is already seeping from her left palm, and everyone is springing into action.

A waiter is rushing up with a broom, Tomoko is asking the bartender for a first aid kit, and a chorus of voices are crying out in concern. Mamoru is only vaguely aware of all this though because ninety nine percent of his focus is on Usagi. He scoops her up from the floor and into his arms before she has time to fully register the injury. It seems like the natural thing to do; he doesn’t want her to step on any of the glass, and as he makes his way to the restrooms it simply never occurs to him to bother putting her down. It’s possible she’s protesting, but he’s too busy deflecting the group and telling Tomoko to bring the first aid kit to the ladies’ room to listen. It’s not until he gets inside and sets Usagi down on the counter next to the sink that Mamoru realizes how fast his heart is beating. He’s pretty sure it’s not because of the extra cardio.

He takes a breath and looks at Usagi. “Are you okay?”

She blinks up at him with those wide blue eyes of hers. “Yeah,” she says but her voice is shaky.

After a few more breaths he feels calm enough to take a look at her hand. The wound doesn’t seem very deep, he needs to clean it to be sure, but it doesn’t appear to need stitches. He raises his eyes to her pale face and shakes his head. “Didn’t anybody ever tell you not to touch broken glass?”

Usagi looks instantly repentant which makes him regret the gentle rebuke. “I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry.”

“What? Don’t apologize,” he tells her, reaching over to turn the faucet on, “you have nothing to be sorry for.”

“I ruined your moment.”

The quiet comment throws him off balance and he shoots her a puzzled look. “What moment?”

Usagi peers up at him from beneath her lashes and Mamoru’s heart skips a beat, but his question goes unanswered because Tomoko arrives with the first aid kit. Mamoru sees Usagi’s immediate blush but he doesn’t have time to dwell on it because there are more important things to focus on. He gets to work cleaning the wound. Tomoko offers to assist but makes no comment when he insists on tending to the injury himself. After they agree that stitches aren’t necessary—Usagi looks particularly relieved to hear this news—Mamoru dresses the wound. Usagi has been unusually quiet throughout. Mamoru chalks it up to shock.

“Looks like you’ve got this under control,” Tomoko says. Mamoru pretends not to notice the edge of amusement in her tone. “I’ve got an early shift tomorrow so I’m going to take off.” She flashes Usagi a genuine smile. “It was nice to meet you, Usagi. Take care of that hand.”

Usagi nods and offers her a shy smile in return. “Nice to meet you too, Tomoko. I hope you’ll come again. I promise not to bleed next time.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Mamoru says dryly.

Usagi shoots him a quelling look. “Quiet, you.” Mamoru smiles.

Tomoko laughs at the pair of them then turns and heads for the door. She lifts her hand in a casual wave and calls, “See you at the hospital, Chiba,” without turning back, and then she’s gone.

It’s just the two of them again.

Usagi gazes at the bathroom door for several moments before turning her eyes to Mamoru. A faint blush lights her cheeks when she finds him watching her. This small reaction kindles a glow of warmth inside his chest.

“Tomoko seems really nice,” Usagi says. Her voice is soft and sweet and maybe just a little bit timid. It’s not like her to be shy.

“She is,” Mamoru agrees, taking a small step closer to her.

“And smart,” she adds, raising her chin to hold his gaze.

Mamoru nods and places his right hand on the edge of the counter a scant few inches next to her left thigh.

Usagi swallows. “And she’s a doctor.”

He smiles. “Yes, she is all of these things.”

“You two look good together.” Mamoru looks past her, to their reflection in the mirror. He knows he’s biased, but he thinks they look good together. He wonders what Usagi saw when she was watching him with Tomoko. What she was feeling. Was it anything like how he feels when he sees her with—

“Usagi, where’s Hideyo?”

Her smiles dims and she looks away. There’s an excruciating pause during which Mamoru holds his breath, and then Usagi says the three words he’s been longing to hear for four long months. “We broke up.” It takes every ounce of Mamoru’s considerable self control to swallow the whoop of delight that bubbles up in his throat. Usagi stares down at her bandaged hand and mumbles, “Don’t tell Minako. I’m not ready to hear ‘I told you so’ yet.”

It’s not easy to force his features into a sympathetic expression when he’s feeling nothing short of ecstatic, but Mamoru understands that this breakup must be painful for her so he focuses on that and the urge to dance a jig begins to fade. “What happened?” Translation: how did the asshat fuck it up again?

Usagi’s gaze flits to his face then back to her hand. “I don’t…really want to talk about it.”

“All right.” He doesn’t really want to talk about it either. Sayonara, shithead.

“I just…” Maybe she does want to talk about it. “I think I made a mistake getting back together with him, and I’m mad at myself for being so stupid.”

“You’re not stupid, Usagi.”

“No, just hopeless.”

The bitter reply hangs in the air between them, reminding Mamoru that if anyone in this bathroom is stupid, it’s him. He cups her shoulders in his hands and waits for her to look up before he speaks. “I should never have said that. I was out of line.”

Usagi shakes her head from side to side and leans forward into his grip just a little. “You were being honest with me, just like Minako was. That’s what real friends do. They tell each other the truth, even when it’s hard. I want you to keep telling me the truth.”

‘Okay, I love you.’

He gives her shoulders a gentle squeeze. “Okay, I will.”

“Even when I don’t want to hear it?”

He nods. “Even when you don’t want to hear it.”

‘I hope you will though.’

“Good.”

Usagi smiles and Mamoru experiences a flash of perfect awareness. A window has opened. A perfect moment of opportunity, and there’s no telling how fleeting it might be. He’s had a number of chances like this before and he’s squandered each and every one of them. He promised himself it wouldn’t happen again. That when the time came, he’d be ready. The secret he’s long been harbouring unfurls in his chest and suddenly it’s too massive to contain. It rises up in his throat, sails along his tongue, and presses against his lips, begging to be set free.

“You’re a terrible singer.”

Usagi’s mouth drops open as Mamoru stares blankly into the mirror behind her head. A complete fucking moron wearing his face stares back at him. It’s unclear who, out of the three of them, is more shocked by what he’s just said.

“Shut up!” Usagi snaps, eyes sparking with indignation. She swats his chest with her uninjured hand for good measure. “I am not!”

Mamoru looks down at her and part of him wants to die. To just curl up into a ball right here and wait for death to claim him. But another part of him can’t help but notice how impossibly, unreasonably, irresistibly cute the girl in front of him is. That part of him thinks maybe it’s worth sticking around. You know, to see what she does next. He could go either way, but…

Usagi thrusts a self-righteous finger in his face. “I’ll have you know that some people really like my singing! I’ve been compared to Adele.”

Mamoru blinks. “Human people?”

“Shut up!” Usagi huffs as she hops down from the counter. “What do you know? Listening to you sing karaoke is like listening to an ox strangling a goat.” She sticks her nose up in the air and stomps off.

Mamoru stares after her in bafflement for a beat before jogging to catch up. He reaches the door and pulls it open in time for her to sweep through without missing a step. “An ox strangling a—what does that even mean?”

He’s gonna stick around. It’s definitely worth it. She’s definitely worth it. He wants to see what happens next. He’s got a good feeling that it’s going to be amazing. He can’t wait.

Today wasn’t the day. It wasn’t the right time. He wasn’t ready.

But he will be. One day soon, he will be.

***

Thanks again for reading! ❤️ NGL, three prompts was about three prompts more than I thought I'd write a week ago, but it's a welcome surprise.

Be sure to follow @usamamoweek for all of this year's content!

Many thanks to our awesome hosts @random-mailbox and @lilliebellfanfics for making this event possible. 😘😘

[genshingorlsrevengeance]

hello! i was wondering if you still wrote for persona 3, could you do general hc's for minako arisato and her s/o that's also in sees?

(Persona 3) Minako's S/O being in S.E.E.S

I sure do! And as a bonus because I miss writing the Arisato's, there's also Twin!AU HC's added (aka both male and fem MC's are present as siblings)

Minako cares for S/O greatly. She'd do anything to not have them in harm's way, doubly so considering her line of work.

Shadows were a threat to humanity, but it comforted her at least to know S/O wouldn't be affected by the Midnight Hour.

Until one night, they were still in a human form when it the clock struck midnight.

Her heart nearly stopped when S/O used an evoker, and summoned their own Persona.

And following that, they were asked to join SEES, much to her dismay and relief.

On one hand, it meant that she could keep an eye on them without worrying if they would get caught in collateral damage.

But now she had to worry about S/O getting killed by a Shadow.

The greatest threat however had yet to come:

Meeting the rest of the dysfunctional squad that were the other SEES members.

===

(Junpei) "Hey, you're S/O, right! Minako here just won't shut up about you!"

(Yukari) "Please, you'd be doing the exact same thing if you were in her shoes."

(Minako) "I'm right here, you guys!"

(S/O) "Minako's told me a lot about you all as well! It's a pleasure to finally-"

Aigis examined S/O closely, her irises seemingly changing focus.

(S/O) "...U-Uh-"

(Aigis) "Confirmed. S/O will not be an issue to Minako's safety."

Noticing their confused expression, Minako stepped in, clearing her throat loudly.

(Minako) "Ahah...d-don't mind her. She's a robot."

(S/O) "She's a what?!"

===

If S/O ever got hurt during their operations, Minako would not hesitate to tear the Shadow apart, but knew she had to keep her head cool.

She was the leader, and the rest of the team would crumble if they saw her panic.

Fighting against innate instincts, even in the heat of battle, she tries to not let her emotions dictate her actions.

BONUS: Twin!AU

Minato knows that his sister wouldn't choose anyone to be her significant other lightly, so he doesn't bat too much of an eye.

Normally if a person was trying to hit on her, he'd interfere immediately with a death glare.

He's respectful, but doesn't show much emotion around S/O.

---

(Minako) "S/O, this is my baby brother, Minato!"

(Minato) "We were born at the same time-"

(Minako) "I was born a couple seconds earlier, so I'm the eldest!"

(S/O) "Hah, nice to meet you!"

Minato simply nodded, his face and voice remaining deadpan.

(Minako) "Don't worry, he's usually this emo around everyone too!"

(Minato) "And she's usually this annoying every day. Though you already knew that, considering you're with her."

(S/O) "Heh, I sure do!"

Minako pouts at the both of them.

(Minako) "Don't call me annoying! And YOU especially shouldn't be agreeing with him!"

---

Minato eventually lets his walls come down around S/O, showing a bit more emotion whenever his sister isn't in the room.

It's usually a gentle smile or an extremely quiet chuckle, but it's a sign of trust.

If his sister trusts them, then he can too.

In battle, Minato makes sure to watch over them for Minako's sake whenever she can't join the team.

He knows it'll give her peace of mind. It'll also shut her up too.

(Minato) "If you ever need some help, don't be afraid to call for me too."

[writers-reach]

Heyyyyy welcome back from your break, hope you were enjoying your time and great day :D

I have a random silly request: separate characters of Minako Arisato (P3) and Yu Narukami (P4) having a S/O that just befriend shadows enemy like convince or help shadows, able to get shadows to join their party and fight alongside with SEES or Investigation Team to fight against their own shadows for them. S/O form their own Shadow Party that turn good shadows. S/O even recruit powerful shadow like The Reaper to join Party that S/O form for shadows.

Reader be like: "We are now friends, follow me"

persona 3/4: an s/o who allies with shadows (minako arisato & yu narukami)

notes: short, gn!reader, no persona 3 spoilers, slight persona 4 spoilers

minako arisato

she was... puzzled to say the least.

she was ready to give out commands to her team, ordering aigis to go on the defensive with her buffs and debuffs and akihiko on the offensive with polydeuces.

she was going to have you focus on making sure the team was at full health when... were you talking with these shadows? like, conversing with them? and they seemed to listen?

minako had no idea shadows were conscious enough to understand humans, let alone seem to respond back (though maybe not verbally).

"y/n... what... are you doing???" she nearly laughed in confusion, but when you turned to her with a wide smile and your arms outstretched, she couldn't help but smile back.

"oh! they were just saying they were fine with helping us pass this floor if we left them alone! they're chill," you replied.

minako shared a confused look with akihiko and aigis (the former of whom shrugged), but chocked it up to your infectious optimism and ability to talk to anyone, even strangers. even shadows!

yu narukami

similarly confused, but moreso he was worried for your safety when you seemed to be surrounded by a horde of shadows.

he was ready to go in there, metaphorical guns blazing, but he stopped short when he realised that these shadows seemed to be... listening to you?

"y/n, uh, care to... let me in on what's going on?" he asked, though never letting his longsword out of his grasp. he was still on high alert around shadows, after all.

"so, crazy story," you began, "these shadows here are willing to help us fight the boss. they don't like the boss, either, so..." you made gleeful shrugging motion. "teamwork!"

"...teamwork," yu repeated, processing what was happening before him.

the shadows seemed to agree, wanting to take down this dungeon's boss as well. but who was yu to argue against shadows helping? teddie was basically a shadow, anyways. it'd be a bit hypocritcal of him to not accept.

but still, he'd stick by your side to ensure your safety. yu wouldn't be able to live with himself if you got hurt.

[dial-p-for-placey]

The last of the proto designs! Now there is a lot I want to say about this design especially because I had to compile it from a handful of partial designs.

I get into all of this and my process under the cut! Please read this one! I put a lot of work into coming up with this complete design!

Okay so this design is based off of these 3 images

And as you can see there are already a lot small differences between them all but they are all too similar so I didn't want to draw each of them as their own (especially since the bottom pic the only real thing it has going for it is colored for reference)

So I combined them all. Took the crown and the double pauldrons and the battle bra since those are the most unique elements and very different from the other designs. I decided not to add the bow from the one pic since that looked similar to another proto design, though i did use her school bow color for the bra. Also the second image makes it look like the skirt was longer and I also remembered there was an interview (might have been included in the back of a manga printing) where Naoko said she originally wanted the skirts of the senshi to be longer but her editor made her shorten them so I kept the long skirt.

Next was the hardest part because none of these images have full color or Usagi's full body. So this is when I reveal to you that I do actually believe all these designs where supposed to be Minako for Sailor V (since Naoko came up with that story first). I don't have any proof of that and none of these designs have notes, but with that as a possibility I decided to pull from a proto Sailor V design

I took the skirt design/coloring since the middle image is probably just a lighting effect on it, but does make it look like there could be a white stripe on the bottom. Also made the stripes on her shirt ruled to tie into that. Also just took Minako's shoes since I have no idea what the design of them would be.

Also directly pulled Minako's color palate (the blue, orange/gold and purple-ish color) and the green from her gloves for the design on the top pauldrons (which was a clip studio brush for a ribbion/fabric that I molded to fit)

Like I said... I did a lot of work to compile this design together. It's not an official one and could argue that this Minako, but considering Naoko abandoned a lot of these design elements and then came back to them for Usagi I still think it's fitting to say this is a proto Sailor Moon

[sailormoonandme]

Long Rant Incoming!

I am honestly just exhausted with how the Sailor Moon fandom so often bashes the original anime, in particular when they do so by presuming bigotry of any kind on the part of the staff members.

Sure, show me a quote or an interview where they definitively say something and I will listen with an open mind. 

But why does this fandom presume that, for example, AnimeRei’s interest in men was obviously changed from the MangaRei’s more negative attitude because of sexism?

Or that Usagi being naked in the last episode whilst Mamoru was in his Endymion armour was again rooted in sexism?

Or that old favourite that has now become oh so trendy again thanks to Cosmos, that the Starlights were physically male in the anime (as opposed to simply dressing as men and pretending to be men) because the anime staff were being homophobic. More specifically, that this change was implemented so that the UsagixSeiya relationship was ‘less gay’.

Let’s talk a bit about that shall we?

So....

The original 1992 Sailor Moon anime had two men explicitly in a relationship in season 1, Kunzite and Zoisite.

It had two women explicitly in a relationship in season 3, Haruka and Michiru.

It had a character in season 4 who, to my understanding (please correct me on this as I am not overly knowledgeable on the subject), was trans, Fisheye.

When you go beyond the explicit into merely very obvious subtext, Sailor Moon’s track record for LGBT representation gets even larger. The pair of female animators in episode 21. Fiore and Mamoru’s relationship in the R movie. The fashion designer and his assistant in episode 140. Sailor Lead Crow and Aluminium Siren’s relationship.

Not to mention the UsaRei ship:

Or the MakAmi ship:

It’d be weird for a show with this kind of track record (that was indeed a trailblazer in the context of the time) to suddenly got cold feet over another female-female relationship.

Now there are two counter arguments to this:

a) Most of the above doesn’t apply specifically to Sailor Moon herself, the UsaRei ship being subtextual for this very reason. In other words ‘its okay for side characters’

b) Sailor Stars was under new management. It is entirely possible said new management had very different attitudes towards female-female relationships

Let’s tackle a) first. 

It’s okay to portray side characters in same sex relationships

First of all, Usagi was attracted to Haruka in episode 92. Even after she discovered Haruka was (in her eyes at least) a cis woman she still regarded her as attractive and desirable, usually blushing whenever Haruka flirted with her and being all too happy to dance with Haruka in episode 108. 

Isn’t it a little weird to argue it would be bad for Usagi to be dating another woman when there wasn’t a world of difference between how Seiya in the manga and Haruka in the anime were framed and presented to the audience. 

The main difference was that in the manga Seiya was explicitly pretending to be male and therefore would not have corrected anyone’s presumptions that she was a man, which is exactly what Haruka did at the end of episode 92 when Usagi and Minako discover Haruka is not a cis boy. 

Whilst we might argue that the character of MangaSeiya would have presented herself differently had she not needed to disguise herself, from a narrative POV if the anime had stuck with Seiya being biologically female she would have had to maintain that disguise for the overwhelming majority of episodes anyway. In other words, she would have been presenting herself as a cis male the entire time outside of Sailor Senshi fights. 

Second of all, the anime was still explicitly shipping Usagi and Seiya even after the big reveal in episode 188 where the Senshi and Starlights discover one another’s identities. In fact, episode 189 has Minako explicitly state that the Starlights are in fact girls:

Now, whilst Minako regards this as a dealbreaker for her own romantic affections for the Three Lights, Usagi is still obviously conflicted about her feelings for Seiya. This culminates in episode 194′s famous “Am I not enough?” scene and their conversation in episode 195 where Usagi lets Seiya down backstage and he kisses her goodbye on her cheek.

Before episode 194 the show was going hard on this ‘star-crossed lovers’ imagery and ideas, with the Starlights and Outer Senshi trying to pull the pair apar. Seiya even communicated to Usagi at night whilst she is in her bedroom , which imo is deliberately evoking Romeo and Juliet. Moreover, the animation frankly framing the pair in a romantic light, with plenty of blushes and soft lighting liberally appearing all over the place. 

Sure, on screen you have a biological woman and biological man. But the show has explicitly stated that that Seiya is not a man, or at least from Usagi’s POV that isn’t the case. 

Now one could argue that this is nevertheless reductive. After all, you still have a female role assigned and a male role assigned in the relationship. But again...how different is this really from Haruka and Michiru who are present and as explicitly romantic as ever in Sailor Stars?

In terms of ‘presenting’ as male or female Haruka and Seiya are in the same boat 99% of the time (the 1% is for episodes involving bathing outfits or other forms of partial nudity). Most of the time Haruka visually presents as (for its day) typically masculine until she assumes her Senshi form where she presents as more typically (again, for its day) female. The only difference between the two characters is that the viewer intellectually knows that Seiya has a penis that becomes a vagina whereas Haruka always has a vagina. But since in both cases we never see those particular pieces of anatomy it is a moot point.

So the argument that ‘on screen’ Usagi is not being shipped with a woman is irrelevant. To all practical purposes, from a purely visual POV she might as well have been shipped with someone just like Haruka. It didn’t make it ‘more acceptable’ at all. In particular when you consider the show heavily implies that Seiya’s male body was nothing more than a guise assumed on Earth for the sake of their mission. So, had anyone been extrapolating forwards Usagi and Seiya potentially forming a long term relationship, Usagi would have been in a relationship with someone who was biologically female anyway. 

Third of all, the ‘side character’ argument falls apart when you consider HOW popular Uranus and Neptune were. In Animage’s 1995 poll episode 110 "Death of Uranus and Neptune!? Talismans Appear" was voted the most popular episode. A major reason why SuperS was so unpopular was because the Outer’s were absent, which is why the very first episode of Sailor Stars practically revolves around them. Hell, exempting Usagi, of all the Solar System Sailor Senshi, Uranus and Neptune are the last ones standing, dying in the third to last episode of the entire show. 

This isn’t even mentioning HOW prominent they were in season 3. Like, sure, they weren’t the MAIN characters, but until Hotaru shows up, they were by far and away the most important characters in the show just behind Usagi. Sailor Moon S as a whole is ostensibly one great big ideological debate between Usagi’s idealistic philosophy and Haruka and Michiru’s more hardline realistic philosophy. 

To codify them as ‘side characters’ in the context of season 3 is akin to describing Mamoru or Chibi-Usa as side characters in the manga. That is to say, the difference between them and Usagi is a matter of mere degrees. Are we in all seriousness arguing that those degrees make the difference between how okay it is to present characters as part of female-female relationships? That’s rather ridiculous isn’t it?

Let’s move on to point b).

The new management didn’t like same-sex relationships 

Yes. It is entirely possible that the new management had very different attitudes towards female-female relationships than the people in charge of the prior four seasons of the show. Thus the representation present in the prior four seasons doesn’t excuse season 5 of being homophobic in its decision to make the Starlights biologically male.

You know what else is entirely possible? That there were any number of other reasons for that decision apart from homophobia.

Again, I’m willing to listen with an open mind to anyone that has a statement or an interview or something like that from production staff members that might support the above interpretation. But in over ten years of being a Sailor Moon fan I have yet to see anything that implies this rather damning motivation on the part of the production staff. At which point why is anyone at all just presuming the worst faith interpretation?

Here are some good faith interpretations for why the Starlights were biologically male:

- Making them biologically male could raise a bit of intrigue on the part of the viewers. Even if they figured magic was the reason how they could change from male to female, they’d still be enticed to watch to see the process in action. Which would be even more intriguing compared to four seasons of transformation sequences where girls simply put on new Senshi outfits.

- Making them male made it easier for writers to generate the show’s all important filler episodes and opened up more storytelling opportunities. 

If the Starlights are biologically female it would mean either scrapping episodes or scenes where the Starlights are involved in partial nudity. Case in point, episode 178 where Luna is revealed to have taken a bath with Yaten, episode 183 where the gang vacation at a lake and are in their bathing suits, episode 184 where the gang see Seiya getting out of the shower, or even episode 176 where the Starlights are in dance outfits which naturally are tight fitting and therefore do not leave much to the imagination. 

Perhaps these instances could have still happened with the Starlights as biological females, but it would have been trickier and required a lot more strategic thinking on the part of the overworked writers who were on a deadline. Making them male frankly just made their lives easier

- The anime staff might have simply believed that the idea of three women disguising themselves as men and maintaining such a secret amidst becoming super star idols, attending high school, etc was simply unconvincing, too big of a suspension of disbelief.

- Making them biologically male might have been a ‘creative flex’. What do I mean by this? Simply put it is not at all uncommon for people adapting a piece of media to throw something in of their own invention. 

This might happen out of boredom on the part of the people adapting the source material (it can potentially be dull merely replicating something) or it could occur due to ego (see the majority of modern MCU films and TV shows that change no end of things from the comic books). 

Ego, unfortunately is all too common amongst creative people, especially those who have made it professionally into the entertainment industry. There is a desire by many to put their stamp on a work, even if it is not a work of their own creation per se. 

This may well be the root of several other changes between the manga and the anime too, regardless of whether those changes have anything to do with gender, sexuality, female representation of other such issues. 

- Making them biologically males who transform into biological females, in the eyes of the production staff, might have been more avant garde and progressive towards the LGBT community as it rendered the characters as arguably trans or gender fluid characters. 

- And finally...it may well have just been a mistake. The manga and anime were produced simultaneously but also at very different paces, the manga releasing monthly vs the anime’s weekly schedule. 

Between Takeuchi’s busy production schedule, not to mention however else she was involved in the (by then massive) Sailor Moon brand, it is entirely possible that she either hadn’t decided upon, or simply miscommunicated her ideas for the Starlights, thus resulting in the anime staff misunderstanding her intentions or extrapolating them to be biological men in their civilian forms. 

Indeed, Takeuchi herself misunderstood the Starlights in the anime as she apparently missed the dialogue that implied they were biological females who used magic to become biological males for their mission on Earth. She instead got upset that they were men who were Sailor Senshi.

Now, I came up with the above off the top of my head and don’t have any hard evidence in support of any of it. Which means they all carry  just as much weight as the ‘obviously it was bigotry’ interpretation.

And, once again, I have to bring up the fact that Sailor Stars features Uranus and Neptune in a relationship and arguably even ramps up their flirtations compared to season 3. So, kinda weird that they’d include one female-female relationship in season 5 but would be apprehensive over another one. 

In conclusion

Can we as a fandom please just fucking STOP automatically presuming the worst of the original anime and its production staff?

Seriously, its really, really, really, really WEIRD!

More than weird though, it is simply unfair.

It is unjust. 

It is hateful, even.

Which is particularly ironic since this is a franchise literally built around a character who stands for...well...you know...

[nie7027]

Related to the all persona au I have that I have briefly mentioned before...

I've been thinking about my headcanon of how persona users become stronger/more powerful the longer they have had their powers and how that coupled with my headcanon about how the P1 and P2 casts are leagues more powerful than the neo persona casts (a single person from P1 or P2 would be able to take the the whole SEES or the Investigation or the Phantom Thieves on their own) because unlike the neo persona casts they received their powers directly from Philemon while the neo casts received it from the remnants of Philemon's power that Igor has means the P1 cast HAS to be introduced before the P2 casts in my all persona au.

Because the P1 cast being the ones to receive their powers first (and from Philemon) are the most powerful of them but they are also the ones who have been able to grow up accustomed to that power, to learn to control it as it develops and be aware of the huge responsability of it whereas the P2 cast didnt have that chance.

They are time bombs.

They have a huge amount of power they don't know how to control, they never got to learn how. Due to their circumstances they aren't even aware of the great power they have. They have no memories of that.

And if the memories ever return they would cause such an emotional overload that it would leave the person completely unstable. If only for a few minutes.

A few minutes too much considering the great amount of power they are unaware they have.

Decades of power they never learned to control accumulated along with mental unstability... That's an extremely dangerous combination

They are time bombs only someone from the P1 cast would be able to manage, not someone from P3/P4/P5 (maybe Minato/Minako but they are... you know.... Dead....speaking of Ryoji would also definitely be able to take them on but yeah he's unavailable too)

Even someone like the Real Tatsuya who actually got to grew up using his power isn't free of that because yeah he has decades of experience using his power but he also was trapped in a post apocalyptic dimension filled with shadows.

He's traumatized.

He lived for decades in a permanent high stress environment with next to no support (or none at all if he lost Katsuya at some point which is most likely the way im going) and accustomed to using his power without any constraint (there's only shadows around him, there's no need to care if he goes over the top and destroys everything in his path).

Upon returning to this side Tatsuya will be unaccustomed to living in a society, to having to restrain his power. And he will be in another highly stressing environment except completely different from what's he's used to because all will come from his head. His trauma.

He will hear a dog bark(having no heard anything but shadows for years) and he will go completely nuke over it in mere seconds launching super powerful attacks before he can even realize what hes doing. Just pure instinct and reflex he had to forge to survive the way he lived but that it's no longer useful to him here, back in the normal world.

He will need a therapist.

And Maki will be perfect for the job.

Not only is she a psychologist and a persona user who received her power directly from Philemon even before Tatsuya(so actually more powerful than him, if not one of the most powerful even in her own group) but she's also someone close to Tatsuya. Someone he knew and considered a friend.

Maki would know this and probably prepared for years for this (never losing hope that she would someday help the kids she couldn't help when she was younger).

She would appoint herself as Tatsuyas therapist the moment he steps back into our world, already applying all the psychology techniques she knows to help Tatsuya start processing his trauma way before Tatsuya or anyone else even realizes what she's doing.

It also fits nicely in my au because she's already also Akechis therapist which gives me an excuse to give them something in common, something that would help them get to know each other and bond over.

I imagine either Akechi or Tatsuyas exiting Maki's temporal office in the Shadows ops headquarters just as the other is arriving for their respective session and making small talk while Maki gets ready to receive the other.

Or them talking/complaining about the exercises Maki has ordered them to do and how much they frustrate them.

Just. I love when the au builds on its own

[nkn0va]

Request (P3): For their birthdays, Minako and Mitsuru's S/O's give them a ring that matches their favorite colors.

Best girl bullshit, go.

-Even before you started dating Minako, it's not hard to figure out what her favorite color is. Pink manages to sneak into every single one of her outfits and just about everything she owns.

-You're pressed for ideas for whatever reason so you decide a ring with a nice pink gemstone is the best way to go here. A nice rose quartz or pink amethyst is...affordable enough.

-One the day of, you take her out to eat, wherever she wants, as long as the price is within reason. You're still a high school student.

-In general you two have a nice hangout date at the Paulownia mall, doing whatever catches your or her eye. When the day has blazed by and the sun sets, signaling it's time to head home.

-You manage to remember at the last minute that you'd gotten her something, making you call out to stop her before she heads to her dorm, only for her to turn around and see the ring.

-Minako gasps audibly, clearly not expecting something so intricate and beautiful, however cheesy it may be.

-Next thing you know she's got you in a hug threatening to expel all the air from your lungs saying thank you over and over again as if you're about to disappear if she lets go.

-She immediately puts the ring on and silently vows to herself to never take it off like it's some kind of wedding ring. Probably treats it like one too until you get her one for real someday.

-Mitsuru is...a lot harder to impress on a date at first glance. Having been born into wealth as massive as she has tends to give off that kind of vibe.

-Of course you know better than that, being her S/O but the pressure isn't entirely gone, unfortunately. It's pretty easy to get into your own head when it comes to someone like Mitsuru.

-You do come up with something though. You find a nice ring in a window display while walking home one day embedded with a very beautiful shade of red that immediately brings Mitsuru to mind. Perfect.

-You manage somehow to save up enough money to get the ring and all that's left is...just about everything else. Fantastic.

-You eventually decide on something she's never really had before, something only you can give. You admit you can never impress her externally with something fancy, so the best option is something more intimate, which she pretty much never got growing up.

-After school it's cuddling up in a blanket with an old classic movie she'd probably never heard of before. A very cozy atmosphere she'd pretty much never experienced before meeting you.

-Of course, to top it all off, your present her with the ring afterward. It's nowhere near as extravagant or photogenic as something she could just buy herself, but the fact that it comes from you makes it extra special.

She's much more reserved than Minako in expressing her thanks, but she is by no means any less grateful, the smile she can't seem to wipe off her face and the way she pressed her body further into you is clear proof of that.

[anti-katsuki-lounge]

Decided to throw my hat into the OC ring.

Name: Minako Suzuki

Age: 19

Gender: Female

Hair color: Blue

Eye color: Blue

Quirk: Fortify (Similar to Kirishima and Tetsutetsu, she can increase her durability while boosting her strength, at the cost of her speed)

Bio: Minako had some strict pro hero parents that she wanted to follow the footsteps in, so she went to U.A., managing to pass the entrance exam. Unluckily for her, she was put in Aizawa's class, and Aizawa saw her enthusiasm as her not taking things seriously. Her getting last in the Quirk Apprehension Test sealed her fate.

After her expulsion, her parents disowned her, saying she shamed them. She would spend the next two years stealing to stay alive. By then, her bitterness towards Aizawa grew until she decided to become a full villain. By Izuku's first year, she's joined the LOV. She has her own plan for the USJ.

She spends the attack hiding in the shadows with a camera, live-streaming the attack, hijacking every screen she could. Eventually, she pulls a Dabi and exposes Aizawa's misdeeds and what they lead to. She even gathered video footage of Aizawa's unjust expulsions. She reveals the amount of students who either became villains or worse after getting expelled, the marks on their records pretty much ruined their lives. She also calls out Nedzu for letting Aizawa do this (the other teachers at U.A. are accomplices to Aizawa's crimes in her eyes, especially Nedzu)

The rest of the attack goes as canon, but Aizawa's toxic teaching being exposed, combined with the villain attack, causes a massive scandal the U.A. is extremely lucky to not have been shut down in the aftermath.

Aizawa is fired, losing his teaching and hero licenses. He is also facing criminal charges (abuse of power, emotional abuse, etc.). His former students all come forth to speak of what Aizawa put them through.

The teachers of U.A. have lost the trust of their students, with many leaving the school. 1-A and Aizawa's former class especially. The Sports Festival is either canceled or delayed (if it still goes on, Bakugo's behavior is continued to be rightfully seen as unheroic without Aizawa there to defend him)

As for Minako, she turns herself in, content to stay in prison for the rest of her life. After all, her family threw her away and she accomplished her goal in ruining the man that ruined her life.

She is surprised when she (along with many other students who became villains thanks to Aizawa and U.A.'s incompetence) is offered a chance at rehabilitation. Seeing an opportunity to take back what U.A. stole from her, she accepts.

Notes:

-Has been keeping tabs on Aizawa since her turn to villainy, witnessing him expel his whole class on their first day, which she videotapes and shows on her livestream, further condemning Aizawa.

-Does not attack the students. Her beef is with the teachers, not them. If anything, she pities 1-A, especially Izuku after witnessing the QAT. Though she is bitter with Bakugo not getting expelled for attempting to assault another student while she got expelled basically for being too happy.

Peak character and a “villain” I can 100% support

[aijousenshi]

so i really wanna talk about some of my favorite aspects of sailor v. i feel there is this misconception about certain qualities she attains maybe because she looks like usagi or how makoto and mina both have this love for romance and tend to get caught up in it , etc etc. she has similarities to her fellow sailor scouts but every sailor has things that make them really who they are. they each individually stand out. I REALLY JUST AM COMPILING SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS.

♡ MINAKO'S DESIRE TO BE MORE

one of my favorite things ( and absolutely one of my favorite moments ) within codename: sailor v. is the fact that mina tends to be hard on herself in her early days of discovering who she is. it's easy to see her within the main canon and see someone who goes to modeling jobs and has been successful with getting people's attention ( as in my canon she has also become an idol already ) but:

representing venus + love and beauty is a lot of pressure. that's a lot to live up to. even mina can be hard on herself. we see that here. to think that she would walk into every room thinking she's just this fabulous , charming individual that will dazzle everyone is just a lie. all of the senshi can be hard on themselves but moments like these feel very human. humanizing a young girl who desires to be so much but doesn't quite know how to find that .. so she'll take time looking in the mirror at herself wishing she had things that she doesn't.

♡ THE RED BOW + BECOMING SAILOR V.

a very important thing to my portrayal is that minako never builds herself around a man. even when it comes down to her LIKING men very much and going to great extremes to get their attention , she built her name on her own. the red bow in her hair does not represent the boy she liked giving her a gift. the red bow in her hair represents her. she trademarked sailor v , she forged her own path. it might be easy to say " oh sailor v wears a bow bc a long time ago she got it from a boy and this is her reminder of him " but keep in mind the very first boy she ever liked (after her awakening) was very toxic. minako making the decision to break things off from him once he showed his true colors and ultimately rejecting his advances because she has SEEN how kind true love can actually be is important. the red bow in her hair represents her determination , strength , and desire to fight for love and beauty.

♡ USAGI & MINAKO

usagi and minako are similar in a lot of ways but some important things they do not share in common are :

usagi is known to be the cry baby. minako does not cry. she finds other alternatives. yes i think every individual ONCE IN A WHILE will cry about things but it isn't excessive with minako. she strives to find other alternatives.

usagi and minako both are slackers but minako can be far more determined than usagi. she excels at things she is passionate about and will work hard to perform well even if it gets hard.

minako is athletically gifted. usagi is known to be quite klutzy.

usagi focuses more on seeing luna as a mentor and a motherly figure while minako treats artemis like he is her partner in crime.

family habits can be quite different for usagi and minako. usagi after her rebirth is very close to her family while minako isn't actually very close to her family at all. she has a ton of trouble with her mother specifically.

♡ SAILOR VENUS AWAKENING

sailor venus ( and this will go for my threads with people ) tends to act like a veteran soldier. she is the first person within the sailor senshi to reawaken to her powers. she is active before the events of sailor moon as we know during codename: sailor v. i like to take the specific canon of it taking a while for her to be recruited because minako believed in herself for so long , it's hard to open up to a group of girls to fight crime with when she GENUINELY wants to solve the world's problems by herself.

by the time of the sailor moon main canon events , the only real partner minako knew was artemis. there has to come a time where she knows she isn't powerful enough to face everything by herself. and it is through these other sailor scouts that she finds that resolve.

[docholligay]

Choose Your Own Adventure: August

I basically had to just, cut this in half and call it a month. No voting this month, as your answers are still carrying me through to next month. Thank you all so much for backing my play on this, it means so much to me to read your comments. I know this is not god's most exciting thing, but it's the most writing I've done in a long time and that in itself is meaningful to me.

In the aftermath of a bombing, there is silence. No birds sing. No people chat to each other in the streets. No glasses full of drink with a dull thus against the wood of the table. There is only the still, dark quiet, underlaid by the one sole sound of fires burning. 

So it was in the room, after Fareeha left. As Mina sat. As the fire burned. 

Mina sat with her hands in her lap, not quite staring at the fire. Staring through it. Silence stretches on so long--it could not have been more than a minute since Fareeha stormed out of the room, and if one listened, her steps, firm and consistent, could still be heard echoing back into the low, glowing light of that chamber. 

The firelight provided little more than the heat and dim glow promised. Rei could see things in the fire, certainly, but Mina seemed to be simply turning something over it, like a chicken, dripping from the spit. 

Haruka gave a short sigh, punctuating the air, breaking the spell. Doc put her drink back to her lips, Angela let out a little sob back in her chair, and the world began to move again. 

She leaned toward Mina, paused at her ear for a moment before continuing, Mina keeping her eyes on the fire all the while. A whisper.

“Why’d you do that?” 

Mina looked at her, but said nothing. She simply shook her head as her wide eyes cast around the room. Trying to find a reason for herself, on the shelves, in the flames, anywhere. 

But the house returned only silence. 

Haruka puzzled. Of course Mina sometimes hid things, even from her, that was part of what she was supposed to do, was make judgment calls. Haruka didn’t want that job. But Lena hadn’t done anything, as far as Haruka could tell. But she didn’t always know. She wasn’t very smart, not like Minako. 

Haruka touched Mina’s knee, drew back her attention. “Is Lena…you know, bad?” 

Mina shook her head again, but moved away from Haruka, to the end of the couch. A pang hit Haruka’s chest, her hand still hovering where Mina’s leg should be. She lowered it, and leaned back against the seat of the couch. 

It had been her, somehow. The little spark of unhappiness she had set fire to everyone else. Just because she was…Haruka would have liked to find a word other than ‘jealous’ to apply to her feelings about Fareeha, but she couldn’t come up with a better one. The whole idea of this had been to get some kind of vacation out of Overwatch courting Michiru’s family, and Mina’d wanted to see how other paramilitary groups handled things. Or so she said. Hard to say, with Mina. 

Haruka flushed a little, thinking about how Fareeha, well, didn’t intimidate her, exactly, but she was a wall of a person, both in her body and in her personality. She was so exact, and so polite, but she didn’t seem to like Haruka. Not really. She was polite in the way a police dog was polite. But it didn’t come off awkward, it came off so strong, and the broad shoulders only supported the idea. Haruka found herself wanting to salute, and that anger churned up in her, that someone could be all of that, and Haruka was just, well--

You’re just a weedy and bad-tempered mutt. Never a police dog. 

Haruka shook her head, though it echoed in her own voice. So why didn’t Mina go after Fareeha? Fareeha had actually been the bossy one, mostly. Even to Lena. Lena just didn’t seem to care all that much--Haruka did envy her ability to ignore a commander--and had carried on with whatever she was doing. Lena hadn’t been the one with the detailed schedule. Lena’d taken them to a pub with chicken katsu. She was, Haruka thought, nice. Fareeha seemed to like her, even, and Haruka wasn’t sure Fareeha liked anybody. Except her wife. 

Why had Mina attacked her? Even for Mina, it had been a mean thing to say, especially over such a stupid argument. She was smarter than that. And now she didn’t want to even tell Haruka why. It was confusing, and she hated it. And she hated that it confused her. 

It descended on her again, the difficulty of being the stupid one in a group full of smart people. The fire crackled, and she stared into the flame. No, not the stupid one.

“And if me math’s wrong, it’s because I’m not a very clever woman.”  But Lena smiled wide. She was always smiling, and it never seemed like a choice she was making. 

They were standing at the edge of the road, guessing about how long it might take Lena to get to a nearby town while Fareeha groused at yet another cell phone, trying to find a connection. Haruka took a pull off her cigarette--MIna was probably right and she should cool it on the pack a day she seemed to have developed as a twitch here--and shrugged. 

“Whatever that means. You probably went to fuckin…you know, Cambridge or something.” 

“Sure, right,” she clapped Haruka playfully on the shoulder, “in that I ‘ave been to the English city of Cambridge.”

Lena looked at Haruka a moment, studying, and shook her head. “Love, I never went to university. I completed exactly the two A-levels the RAF needed in order to let me fly very expensive planes, very fast, and took an exam name of, ‘’aving a bloke ask me name, rank, and service number as I stood with me gas mask off, eyeballs melting out me ‘ead.’ Very exclusive program.” 

“Really?” 

Lena’s eyes glittered, the edges of them crunching up with a giggle.

“Clown asked for me name four times because every time he asked "Name?!?" I gave him me rank. Was a bit ‘ard to think, just then. Any’ow.  University, hah.”

“And you’re,” she tapped the ash off the end of her cigarette, “like, an officer.” 

Lena took off her hat, shook the rain off it, and put it back on her head.  “Top as it gets, love, don’t let Fareeha fool you. She doesn’t outrank me, ‘owever much she likes to act as if the world rests on ‘er entirely. I let ‘er, as she isn’t ‘appy if she isn’t miserable, but they report to me same as ‘er.” 

Haruka went to take another puff, and then willed herself to stop. This was an elite organization, the best people in the world, and Haruka hadn’t thought, even for a moment, that one of the leaders might have skipped the whole college experience. Haruka was never going to college, she knew that. She wasn’t smart enough. 

“I know I said I’m not a very clever woman,” Lena was looking at her now, in a serious way, “But--”

“No, I mean, don’t--don’t think you’re stupid or anything--” 

“I don’t, and I’m not.” Lena gave another chuckle. “Haruka. Not a person alive, asks me about university, once they see me fly. I am not being asked to be a bloody physicist when I rally people to the cause. Meantime, Ang don’t know what a sandwich is, and Fareeha acts like ‘uman interaction is a new concept she’s only now learning. What I was going to say is, I know I said I’m not a very clever woman, but I just like to take the piss out of meself now and again. I am perfectly clever, in the ways I need to be, because--” and with this she took Haruka’s elbow, and looked intensely at her. “There is more than one way to be clever, and a good operation, a good group, ‘as many as it can manage.” 

She flushed. How had Lena known? She’d known Haruka felt stupid, and she’d corrected it, and Haruka felt grateful, if grateful came in an ashamed flavor. Limited edition. She was smart in some ways, too, wasn’t she? She was just as good as Ami, or Rei, or any of them. Just different. 

“Yeah. I’m gonna go fix the van.” 

So, she hadn’t been able to fix the van, but that didn’t mean the she didn’t have other things she could do. She could go after Lena. She could try to comfort her, the way she had Haruka. She wasn’t always as good with people as MIna, but she and Lena were alike, right? They were smart in different ways. 

Haruka stood up, determined, and the three women left in the room stared at her. 

“I’m going to find her.” She put back on her jacket. “I can fix it.” 

----

Lena’s back was to the wall, her head tilted back against a toile of small songbirds, legs encircled by flowering green vines. A sliver of moonlight crept through a door and worked up her leg, her arm, her cheek, illuminating that small slice of corduroy and wool and freckle against the long, dark hallway behind her. 

“You should have died that day, and everyone knows it! Everyone!!” 

Dozens of voices rushed in, telling her dozens of other things.  It wasn’t a choice you made, Raj reassured, what else were you meant to do?. Don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of chances to die in the line of duty, Parvati added. Oh, Christmas would be so hollow without you, Florrie pressed, misty-eyed, it would feel wrong. And who’s Mondatta to me, said Aunt Lily with a shrug. 

“He was…” Lena breathed in, deep, “he was a hope for something better, and--I--” 

Lena, I don’t know what I would do. 

She opened her eyes and almost saw him, shining tremulously in that pale silver shimmer, the grey of his fur glinting against the darkness. 

It was a nasty thing to say, but that didn’t make it true. All it ever had been was an accident, a wrong step. Sometimes, in life, you lose, love. Doesn’t matter how much you tried. Doesn’t make you a villain. We’ve been over this, Lena. It’s done and dusted. Chin up. Carry on. Sun still rises in the morning.

She pinched her temples and drew her hand forward, wiping her eyes, and nodded. 

Besides, said something inside of her, you have other things to do here, in this life. It was her voice, but tin around the edges, as if someone had stuffed her into an old radio. Not quite right. Not quite her. 

Her back slid up the wall as she stood, brushing the birds and their floral shackles. Lena’s eyes drifted into the darkness. 

There was a light there, a warm orange glow at the end of the hallway. Lena was sure--at least she thought she was sure--that there had only even been a window at the end of that hallway. She must have gotten turned around, it was true that she hadn’t been paying too much attention as she’d stormed away to find a quiet place. 

One foot moved toward the light. The birds behind her let out a shrill call, but were silenced as the vines crossed over them.

A rich aroma came down the hallway, cinnamon and vanilla caressing Lena’s face. She could nearly taste it. But there’d been hardly anything in the kitchen, so far as she had seen. This place had been shut up. 

But she followed, the smell getting stronger, raisins and brandy joining the parade as she became swept in the current, moving inexorably toward that golden glow. It began to feel warmer, as she drew close. There were the giggles of children. A song, playing on a faraway radio. 

You’ve always been needed here. No one here wishes you died. Everything would be so much worse if you had. 

There was a shout, in the back of her mind, the way her dad used to do when she climbed too high into a tree, but it was swallowed and sweetened in the warm syrup of that brandied golden door. She touched her fingertips to it, and it swung open, a zephyr of light and comfort embracing her. 

The fire was blazing in the hearth, reflected in the polished tile of the mantle surrounding it. A giant tree stood in the corner of the room, covered in ribbons and bright glass balls. The table near the window was wobbling with the weight of puddings and pigs in blankets and roast potatoes, all clustered about a giant turkey. 

Giggles, and then passel of children running around the room. As Lena watched them, they began to come into focus, and Lena realized she recognized them. The room was too big and too fine to have belonged to any of them, and yet, here they were. Her family. Christmas. 

She put her hand on the doorknob, steeled herself to leave. This is what you want. She opened the door behind her, and then a chipper voice came from a plush velvet chair by the fireside. 

“Lena?” A man with green eyes and reddish blonde hair turned to face her, “Oh love, we’ve been waiting so long! Tell me everything.” He put his hand out. “I’ve missed you, Bean.” 

Lena shook her head, her back to the door, but it crawled out. 

“Dad?”

[katsona-the-katsequel]

Assumptions and Headcanons - Pre-Canon Timeline

Consider this the intro before I finish the actual timeline. This section focuses on clarifications and ideas that enrich the Persona Timeline, specifically the Pre-Canon one.

Who created the Sea of Souls? Who lives there?

It's unknown who created the Sea. It either created on its own, or the Great Will had something to do. Every timeline is connected by the Sea, so this is your only chance to realistically crossover with FeMC. There might or not be a whale that lives there, depending on how canon you consider Trinity Soul to be. Its in the deepest part of the Sea where the Seal locking Nyx is located. The guy in charge (or closest thing in charge) is Chronos.

It isn't all that impressive when a higher being claims to come from the Sea. Every soul came from it and will return one day. They're probably taking advantage of the fact that humans don't know of the Sea to sound more important than they are.

This is why I consider PQ to be semi-canon, since otherwise Chronos wouldn't have been okay with the Velvet Assistants holding a dancing competition in the Sea of Souls.

That's right SMT fans, the Sea is the same as the River Styx.

Why couldn't Erebus reach Nyx' psyche before P3?

As mentioned in the timeline, Nyx' psyche was still scattered across the Collective Unconscious. Erebus could try all he wanted, but he would never find enough of her to call her physical body down to Earth. During P3, enough of Nyx' psyche was finally gathered into one single being: the Nyx Avatar (aka Ryoji). This caused Ryoji to be the literal embodiment of Death, since that's their entire purpose. I wonder what would happen if they met Chronos...

So, P3 happens and the Nyx Avatar is sealed by Minato/Minako before they can finish calling down Nyx' physical body. Erebus now knows where to find Nyx' psyche. There's a specific place now. However, the Seal prevents him from ever reaching it. Elizabeth thus comes annually to kick his ass and the Fall never comes.

I like to believe that a part of Ryoji is still fully aware in the Nyx Avatar after everything that happened, so Minato/Minako is not alone while being the Seal.

Neither may speak (one is being a Seal and the other one is being sealed away), but there is an understanding that they will never be truly alone. Just like when Ryoji was Pharos.

Did the rumors that became true during Eternal Punishment stay true after Nyarly's defeat?

I don't think so. The power to rewrite reality using word-of-mouth is really potent, but was only being powered by Nyarly. I believe the moment he was weakened, all rumors that came true dissolved into simple rumors once again. So, Kiyotada Sumaru stayed a fictional figure.

That was a low blow, Nyarly.

Where did the first Velvet Room attendants come from?

We know Igor was a doll, but if you ask me, Nameless, Belladonna, and the Demon Painter used to be human. Their exceptional and otherwordly talents in the arts made them stand out to Philemon to make them the "Muses" of the Velvet Room. Nameless was probably a German pianist (as a reference to a certain composer who also lost one of his senses), Belladonna was an Italian opera singer, and the Demon Painter was a painter from Sumaru City. It seems only Belladonna kept her human name. It also seems like you can leave your post whenever you want. It was confirmed that Nameless and Belladonna were still in the Velvet Room by P5, but no such reference was made for the Demon Painter.

Igor is almost impossible to pin down since his name is really old and dolls have existed everywhere since almost forever. Since he is sometimes referenced as powering the Velvet Room, I just placed the creation of velvet itself as a possible start for the timeframe of his creation. Can't have the Velvet Room without velvet being a thing.

Now, is the Velvet Room the same as the Black Lodge? Nah. But for fun we can imagine that Mark Frost and David Lynch have been to the Velvet Room.

If Tsumi to Batsu isn't canon, what happened to the Red and Black Books?

I believe the fun part lies in their unknown whereabouts, which serves as fuel for fanfics and other stories. For all we know they're in the hands of an unknown Persona User and/or another mysterious organization. Who knows? I mostly included them to fully connect Jung to Philemon and explain why he seems like such an important human to the latter. Igor may have begun to interact with humans under his master's orders and in part to look for the potential owners of the Books, but he ended up growing fond of his guests and attendants.

On a side note, can you imagine Philemon's heart attack when "The Red Book: Liber Novus" was published and mass produced in 2009? Before realizing, "Ah, this is just Jung's diary, not the magic book". Then again, the publisher was called Philemon Foundation, so we might have a case of ghost company in our hands.

Why did Stephen upload the Demon Summoning Program to a single high school instead of sending mass e-mails like in SMT?

I have a few theories: The first one is that there wasn't an urgency to gather Demon Summoners for an upcoming apocalypse. According to semi-canon sources, Thorman and Gotou existed at some point in the Persona Universe, but either due to Kandori's capitalist machinations or as a consequence between Phil and Nyarly's bet, they were never able to truly gain power. Adding this to my second theory, that Stephen used to attend Karukozaka high school, would explain why he tentatively only uploaded it to his old school's servers. Less desperation and more indirect experimentation, one might say. This would also explain why he became more of an offscreen mentor to Tamaki once she gained the program, since Stephen would have more time to continue developing and experimenting with it. One successful user was enough for now.

Personally, I believe he ended up working for the Nanjo Group after P1, who sponsored this and any future projects he had until his death. Considering he is apparently a trascendent entity, this cushy existence would have been a nice break from the other universes.

Wouldn't it be fun if Stephen was the original creator of beta Evokers but set aside the project due to the lack of a "supernatural power source"? And this project ended up in hands of the Kirijo Group after they split from the Nanjo Group? And then Kouetsu Kirijo only had to finish it by adding the Plumes of Dusk?

What was Nyx doing at St. Hermelin, anyway?

This is something I struggled with. In the end, I settled for someone finding a large Plume of Dusk, thinking it was a pretty rock, and getting the Snow Queen Mask made out of it. A Plume of Dusk this big ended up attracting a lot of Nyx' psyche, which made a mess when combined with Drama Club teenage girls as seen in the number of victims. In the end, it evolved into the Snow Queen Curse. For all we know, the Mask was trying to use the girls as puppets to help bring the Fall, but Nyx' psyche always got to them and they committed suicide soon after.

Personally, I would have stopped producing the Snow Queen at my school after the first two deaths, but to each their own.

Which war did Masataka Amano die in?

This is a huge supposition on my part since even the dates are approximates. I have four contenders: the Falklands War, the 1982 Lebanon War, the Second Sudanese Civil War, or the Sri Lankan Civil War. Pick your poison.

The game says that Gekkoukan was founded after the Kirijo Group laboratory exploded around 1999. The school logo says that Gekkoukan was founded in 1982. What is the truth?

The way I made this work was by making the original founding of Gekkoukan in 1982, like in the logo. Maybe it started as an actual learning insitution, where the graduates would have a possible career in the Kirijo Group. After the entire Death ordeal, they decided to hide the old labs by building a better state-of-the-art school building on top and relocating Gekkoukan there.

[laugtherhyena]

I don't know what LINUJ was thinking when he chose to make Yoruko's upperclassman and Minako two separate characters but personally I don't really mind it? Mostly cause when I see background characters that don't officially appear beyond a few mentions, I go, "A character that barely has a skeleton of a personality that I can mold to my whims?! WOOO!!" and then proceed to squeeze them like a stress ball. I don't think about Amane (the upperclassman) a lot, especially in comparison to Kojiro, but I think it'd be fun to explore her character as I do have a project idea with her as part of the cast but it's kinda on the backburner of my brain cause I'm trying not to make too many projects at once cause I'm already struggling to juggle a bunch of other stuff at the same time. That being said, on the topic of Amane's pink hair, I actually think it's dyed?? Not sure cause I only just got passed the second bad end with my friend in Chapter 6 so we haven't seen the context of Yoruko's CG where she's in her fantasy, so take this with a grain of salt, but for some reason the wiki labels the CG as Yoruko talking to Minako??? And the woman shown has her hair having faded pink tips, revealing that her roots are actually brown. Ngl, the idea that Minako (still) dyes her hair to the color she has today is really funny but I think that's just the wiki editors messing up on whos who. Sometimes wikis aren't the most reliable source of information when you want to quickly review something without replaying the game and stuff, and I think it makes more sense that in Yoruko's fantasy, she'd be reunited with who she believes is her upperclassman, even if she cares about Minako. And if we take her appearance in the fantasy as truth from what little we can see of her, that means that both Amane and Yoruko dyed their hair for their hostess job (although Yoruko did it to mimic Amane specifically), lmao.

But yeah, I think the sequel cast having connections to the characters of the previous game is a really neat tie-in, even if it's not very strong and it's interesting to explore their connections with each other in fanon. My headcanon with Setsuka and Teruya being sibling figures to each other could be interesting since they actually reunite through their work, and probably spent a lot of time catching up and getting to know each other again. Which makes it hurt even more when Setsuka goes missing. Like, Teruya probably freaked out when he realized he hasn't heard from Setsuka in a long time and tried to push for an investigation to search for her which Kinjo put a stop to due to his own plans with Syobai. Poor guy was probably torn between disobeying orders to find Setsuka since he didn't want to lose another important person in his life or falling in line to Kinjo due to his loyalty to him. But if Kinjo were to suggest that she might've been kidnapped for the killing game, possibly to "fill in space," Teruya probably chose to fall in line since stopping Mikado's killing game would probably be the closest way to save Setsuka, even if he wanted to do more. And we all know how that worked out...

On a much lighter note, in a Non-Despair AU where Setsuka and Kojiro cross paths again after many years, I like to think that they reignite their friendship since I see Kojiro being more upset over Setsuka ghosting him (and Teruya) for years without an explanation than the fact that she cheated and got herself banned in billiards, which probably caused some controversy with his sponsorship for her. Hell, he probably thought she was dead or something with how long he didn't hear from her. That's kinda what happens when you go into hiding instead of confronting the consequences of your actions, Setsuka. But once they get pass the initial awkwardness, Setsuka and Kojiro becomes best buds again. They also become drinking buddies with Teruya (as an adult) chaperoning them, much to his (affectionate) annoyance.

It's crazy to me how he just made this random ass character instead of making Minako herself be the upperclassmen, like that would have led to a much stronger connection between Yoruko and the first killing game's class than Minako just so happening to be the boss at the bar her and Amane worked at.

Slight tangent here but, seriously, Amane Kaira? Two letters away from Akane Taira? I know Linuj has a track record of having characters with similar names in the another series, but this ridiculous. How were we seriously meant to believe this was a real person? Because for the longest time i just assumed that "Amane Kaira" was the fake ID Minako used when she worked at the bar with Yoruko since she mentioned both of them had it because they were minors back then.

As for the wiki, i believe it really is just flat out wrong when it says that's Yoruko talking to Minako (which generated this whole misconception) because those CGs were first uploaded there just a little after Ch6 came out so we didn't had everything properly translated back then and it just never got fixed + just from the little we see of this girl you can tell she's not meant to be Minako

In addition, the hair color of the girl in the Cg is a soft pink whereas Minako's is a pink closer to a purple-ish (violet-ish, whatever you wanna call it) tone + from both of her sprite galleries Minako's hair really doesn't seem to be dyed when you compare it to characters we know have dyed hair in the series (Emma has visible brown streaks in her blonde hair and Hajime's is really really light at the top for some reason)

And if this isn't enough, Linuj straight up adresses her as her own person in Yoruko's character sheet (translation by ToastCat333)

So yeah, Amane, the totally real person who is not Minako Tomori! As much as this stuff annoys me, I can't say I'm not a fan of picking minor characters and making up ocs out of them, I'm curious to see what you'll make up of this character.

[phoenix-manga]

Briar Auroria

CV: Kotobuki Minako

Biographical Information

Gender: Female

Age: 18

Birthday: March 20

Starsign: Pisces

Height: 176 cm

Eye Color: Seagull Blue

Hair Color: Golden Blonde

Professional Status

Dorm: Rosadormienti

School Year: 3rd Year

Class: 3-D | Student no. 1

Occupation: Student | Dorm Leader

Club: Griffin Scout Club

Best Subject: General Magic

Fun Facts

Favorite Food: Berry pana cotta

Least Favorite Food: Sushi

Dislikes: Waking up in unknown places

Hobby: Takinga stroll | Feeding wild animals

Talents: Tapestry weaving

Idol Stats

Performance: Vocals are known for its gentle and alluring tones that can also sing acapella

Choreography: Interpretive dance with flawless movements and complex footwork

Styling Jewel Outfits: Classical | Gothic

Briar is compassionate but can also be a leader type of person. She is skilled in a lot of subjects that it almost looks effortless, she appreciates the praise she gets but in return she also uses her skills to help out other people. She is seen as a person worthy of respect by a lot of people.

Very open-minded and would not shun anyone regardless of their background because she knows how it feels. Her motherly attitude stems from her lack of a mother figure in a portion of her life.

However, she tends to try too hard even if she is exhausted. She tries to be her best for her father and even goes out of her way to try and bond with him a little even if it was fruitless in the end. She tends to be affection-starved and anyone who is close to her can tell, she feels proud when she is given praise.

Briar can maintain her composure even if nobles whisper behind her back, she can very much handle herself by keeping a stoic mask. But there have been times it tends to crumble and she would have a breakdown in her room where no one would hear her.

Hometown: Kingdom of Slumbering Willows

Family Life

Briar’s mother passed away after giving birth, the old lady who was a neighbor of the mother took care of Briar a few days before Roland came and adopted Briar. Briar grew up not knowing the warmth of a parent as the king was always busy and even if he had time, he didn’t want to upset the nobles.

Though he did provide Briar with tutors, servants and expensive gifts but as if that made her feel any better when the tutors and servants who grew up in a certain mindset would talk behind her back or look at her as if she’s done a heinous crime.

It didn’t help that her stepmother and stepbrother often had to scold her for trying to bother the king even though all she wanted was to at least greet him. She was reminded of a cruel social rule amongst the pure blood nobles, “stick to your own kind”.

Ever since, Briar has tried to try and give off the proper royal image to show them that she can be just as good as they claim to be, if her father acknowledges her then they will realize it too.

At first, she tends to stress herself out and didn’t even smile genuinely until the incident that led her to meet the Foxtwill family that she started to at least feel affection for the first time. She then started to hang around the palace less often unless there was an event or ball scheduled.

Briar has gained a good reputation amongst the commoners who are made up of different races. She put all her effort and authority as a royal on improving the lifestyle and economy of the commoners. She at least has this permission and there would be no one who would stop her from doing so as she was still performing her duties.

Childhood Memories

Briar’s most vivid childhood memories in the palace were all sad and lonely. The most painful memory was when she was expecting her father if he would plan a birthday ball for her just like he would for Aurus. However, she wasn’t even greeted a “Happy Birthday”, there was no ball held and even if there was, it wasn’t about Briar.

Though she learned to stop expecting a birthday party for her, it still hurt her feelings every time. That is to say, when she spent her birthday with the Foxtwills during the time when there wasn’t an event at the palace, she decided to go see the Foxtwills who surprised her with a cake and handmade gifts.

She cried that day, out of happiness and sadness. Happy that she had people that care about her but also sad because why couldn’t her father do something this small for her? She would’ve been happy with just a greeting.

Her next memory was when she first met Gula, taking home the egg and eagerly waiting for the day it hatched made her feel a lot of emotions. The moment her eyes looked upon the hatchling’s gaze, she felt like there was a true companion with her and would be loyal to her.

Briar is a 3rd Year Rosadormienti student and is the current dorm leader.

She is known as the strongest student in the whole academy as well as the top student. Many admire her and are inspired to work hard. Briar is always humble and wouldn’t make comments if a student was falling behind on studies, there would be study groups from time to time and the ones with the highest grades would tutor the ones who need the support.

Briar also excels at magical spells, those who competed against DCA were said to feel frustrated that they couldn’t get past Briar’s defense. There were some rumors about her facing off against Malleus Draconia during a magift tournament one time, which was true that the two were powerhouses during the match. Briar only lost because she exhausted herself and Malleus took the opportunity to defeat her team.

On the outside, people praise her for being a top mage in her school but the school knows her as a reliable “Mom” friend who has the tendency to sleep on a lot of weird places. There were times her friends spot her sleeping in places that aren’t supposed to be slept in. No one knows why she ends up there and Briar doesn’t even know either.

School Relationships

Briar used to be a little distant when she attended the school but over time she got close with a handful of students. Such as Evonie, Vidya, Ella and Perrine.

Evonie and Vidya’s confident and strong personalities as well as rivalry were a shock to her. But then they sparked a competitive drive in her and made her feel included. For once, she was allowed to act how she wanted with no one to criticize her.

Ella’s fascination for Briar’s beauty and lineage reminded her of the young Foxtwill children. And Ella always was very sweet to her, it was like the sibling that she wished Aurus was. Yes, even though she envied him, a part of her wished he would at least try to get to know her.

Perrine somehow seemed to see through the mask of regality that Briar wears, she has met a few people who can read her like a book but Perrine was the first to talk to her about it. She told her words that she wanted to hear all this time.

Briar’s relationship with Willow is more on the former seeking guidance in the latter. Willow’s form is from Briar’s need for a voice to tell her that she is enough and she is noticed. Willow feels sad for her charge not being able to have a happy memory with her family.

But as much as she wants to yell an earful in Briar’s father, she can’t because this matter needs to be handled by Briar when the time comes. So, she becomes the conscience that always tells Briar positive things to help her self-esteem.

Gula

Briar has a black dragon named, “Gula”, he was found as an egg when Briar almost went missing during a hunting party for the nobility, not like anyone would care though. She had to beg in front of her father to let her keep it until he reluctantly did so but she had to promise that there won’t be any problems with whatever hatched out of it. Briar kept her word took good care of the egg until it hatched.

Gula became protective of Briar and wouldn’t listen to anyone other than her. His species of dragon is classified as a mix between a toad and a volcanic dragon. It was only until she read a book about dragons that she realized that his species were known for being aggressive and a danger if approached, they also loved to ingest ore due to their stomachs being able to melt even iron.

But Gula is such a baby who would follow her around and scare away the servant who even come a feet closer to them. Briar often kept Gula in her room and fed him quality ore, though bathing was a bit difficult, Gula hates bathing and is the only time he would try to avoid Briar. She thinks he’s such a child for not wanting to bathe.

Gula has the ability to eat rocks and spew them out as green, flaming orbs. He also can lift five times his own weight. He also is surprisingly a fast flyer despite the chubby body.

Lusio

An Arabian horse that Briar purchased at an event once. He is a proud horse who may come off as arrogant at first. He cares a lot about winning and will whine about losing, Briar has to comfort him if they ever lose, which rarely happens. Lusio is skilled in many horse contest categories but he is known for racing the most.

Her unique magic is called, “Three Gifts”. She can use three elements and even combine them for a more powerful spell. Though this would tire her out quite a lot due to her being only a half-blood.

Apart from her UM, she specializes in healing magic and spells that manipulate nature to an extent which is considered an incredible feat. She would have been recognized as one of the top mages if the nobles weren’t pushing her younger brother to the international public while they kept her in the dark.

Roland Stephan Auroria

The fairy king who loved a human woman. After losing his lover when she gave birth to Briar, he kept her at the palace but due to the pressures of tradition as well as the guilt of leaving the one he loved to die alone, he let his fear overcome him leading him to ignore Briar so as not to lose the respect and praise of the nobles.

He does provide her with servants and tutors and even allows her to roam outside, at least up to the limitations placed on a royal. But other than that he hasn’t contributed to anything nor tried to defend her when the nobles gossip about her.

His relationship with Eletha was merely political and he can’t really stand up to her whenever she reminds him to keep to traditions. He was a coward with no courage to even stand for his own opinions.

Eletha Lilith Auroria

The king’s second wife. She is very strict on keeping traditional beliefs and makes sure to keep Briar away from the prince. Constantly reminding the king about the importance of keeping to the same group and upholding the tradition of pure bloods belong with other purebloods while half-bloods belong with other half-bloods.

She doesn’t outright bully her; she just blatantly ignores her like the other pure blood fairies do. Though she is taking proper care of Aurus, she only wants him to look good in front of the nobles to the point where she would do a lot of events that will give him a good reputation even if it wasn’t his own contribution.

Aurus Gladio Auroria

The prince who is also Briar’s younger step brother that will inherit the throne because he is the only child in the family who is a pure blood fairy. He follows in his mother’s guidance and ignores Briar, though he wonders why his father bothered to keep her in the palace at all. He never got to know Briar and sometimes catches a glimpse of her wandering the palace gardens.

He is easily swayed by nobles and would often be lead to believe that he is the best and the most brilliant even though he tends to skip lessons to play outside, not like his parents or tutors would scold him for it. Thus, he ends up becoming naïve with no idea what to do without any guidance of some sort.

Amare Casia

Roland’s first love. She was a commoner and a human with merely just a flower shop to her name, she met the fairy king who was wounded in her garden after he was careless and was thrown off his horse.

She brought him into her house to help him recover, he fell for her the moment his eyes met hers. Even after he recovered he continued to visit her until it was one night they spend together that led to her pregnancy.

He was petrified at what the council might say so he asked her to keep quiet which she reluctantly agreed to. Amare started to regret her naïve romance with Roland as she spent those nine months alone with only her old lady neighbor as her support.

She passed away after giving birth to Briar and she was left to be taken care of by the neighbor who now occupied the old flower shop. It was when the king returned he finds out what happens, out of guilt he takes Briar to his castle. Briar’s looks resemble her mother’s so much that the king can’t help but remember the woman he left to suffer all alone.

Yolanda Foxtwill

A fox beastwoman who married a half fairy. The seamstress of the Tailor Shop that is a family-run business. She saw Briar all soaked in the rain when the carriage that was supposed to take her back to the palace, didn’t arrive. The poor child caught a cold while standing outside and Yolanda offered to keep her in the house until she feels better.

When the royal guards knocked on their door, they were shocked when she realized that the child in her house was a princess. Briar reassures them that they are safe from any supposed punishment. Yolanda reached out to Briar because she saw the sorrow in her eyes.

And from then on, Yolanda welcomes Briar to live with them when the palace gets unbearable to her. Outright thinks she is better suited to be queen instead of the narrow-minded royals.

Ash Foxtwill

Yolanda’s husband who delivers the clothes and fabrics made by his wife. He is a buff man who is half fairy that married a fox beast woman. He loves his wife and he treats Briar like his own daughter.

He can’t hide his excitement whenever Briar had time to bring Gula along, he’s always had a soft spot for animals. For some odd reason, Briar is approached by a lot of animals which is a heaven for the buff man.

A big softie who comforts Briar and was the only father figure who gave her the encouragement she needed to hear, he will enthusiastically proclaim that Briar is the image of how royals should be. He in charge of making corsages that are cute and popular among the other villagers.

Oliver Foxtwill

The eldest son who takes care of silkworms that make the materials for the cloth. He is a skilled weaver and has a soft spot for silkworms, he once tried to convince others how cool silkworms are but that didn’t go well.

He once mentioned sneaking a live silkworm into the King’s pants to teach him a lesson, Briar hopes he’s joking… He respects Briar a lot after she helped out the commoners despite how nobles talk behind her back.

Olivia Foxtwill

The youngest daughter who admires Briar because she is an actual princess. She loves to play dress up and shows Briar all the dresses she will wear when she marries a prince. She has the typical girly personality and dislikes getting dirty.

Briar tends to spoil Olivia a bit by sending her dresses she sewed herself. Olivia wishes that she would have Briar as an older sister. You would think that she would also want Briar to marry a prince but due to how disrespectful the nobles were known to be, she claims that she will be the judge of who Briar’s suitor is.

The character’s name, “Briar” is derived from the name the three fairies used to hide Aurora’s identity, while her last name, “Auroria” is just Aurora with rearrangements on the letters.

Briar is the one with the most detailed backstory mainly because Sleeping Beauty was one of the films the artist watched a lot other than Cinderella.

The concept of Briar’s unfortunate home life came from the idea of her being half-fairy. The artist thought it would be boring if she seemed too perfect. It would turn her into a Mary Sue if that was the case. There should be conflict on her character and flaws.

Her character design is close to the original Disney princess she is based on with a few differences, mainly her hair style lacking the curled bangs that Aurora has.