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Last up for the groups formations! It won’t be the last of me though :)

How did day.light form?

Formanon💫

Yay! Glad you're sticking around a bit, Formanon!

As for day.light well...

I feel like I should preface this with the fact that it has major spoilers for a certain Vivid BAD SQUAD plot line that peaks in An4/Light Up The Fire. If you know, you know.

(I know most people already know of said twist, especially because of how spoiler-happy people are in this fandom [which always ends up at my expense], but I'd rather put this warning here if there is Anyone who DOESN'T know the horrors of An Shiraishi lore)

Inspired by national idol Haruka Kiritani, Minori worked hard every day to become an idol that could spread hope— just like how Haruka gave her hope, too. Accruing countless failed auditions, only one obscure talent she had to learn for her auditions caught her eye even after failing; Art.

Minori started drawing fanart of Haruka after realizing how much fun it was, occasionally getting swept up in daydreams about Haruka finding her art, recognizing her talent, and making her a member of ASRUN. She posts her fanart to PicShare, under the username Harurin.

She's worried about how Haruka hasn't been able to show up in that much ASRUN content as much as the other members recently, but has hope that Haruka will pull through whatever is holding her back. Mai's absence concerns her, as well...

One day, while looking at an official music video for ASRUN on Smile Video, Minori accidentally clicks on a different song.

This song intrigues Minori in an unsettling way. The song is very different from the peppy vibe of ASRUN's music, and is a lot more melancholic... listening to it, Minori can't help but relate to the song's feelings of trying your best and not succeeding, and admires the hopeful message at the end, even if the song makes her a bit sad.

Minori, after a bit of digging, finds out that this song is by a producer called n○ne, with the vocals and lyrics being done by someone called RAN. While the video has no illustrations, it does have animated subtitles and effects done by a person known as Amia.

After listening to more of their music, Minori decides to post some fanart of their songs, portraying her own experiences in context of them.

Shortly after, Minori receives a very excited DM from RAN herself, asking if she wants to join their group...

And that's how day.light forms.

......

So let's go back.

Nene, unable to conquer her trauma by herself, eventually has her anxiety heightened to the point where she starts struggling to attend school. As a consequence, she begins online school in her first year of high school. During middle school, Nene started composing out of neccesity— a part of her screams that she still needs to do something related to musicals or music, at least, even if she can't bring herself to sing anymore. This led to Nene posting music online as n○ne.

An, finding nobody in Vivid Street with the same passion to surpass RAD WEEKEND as her gives up on finding a partner, and tries to pursue her dream alone.

While struggling all by herself, Ken decides to tell her the truth about Nagi's death, not wanting to hurt her any further than he already has by continuing to lie to her.

An, after learning this, doesn't know if she can surpass RAD WEEKEND, but with Nagi's dream in mind, she doesn't want to give up, either. She realizes now that her dream is unobtainable by herself and goes online to find a partner or teammate, realizing she can't ever compromise on her dream. This ends up with her finding Nene and making music with her.

While Nene is unable to perform onstage with An for various reasons, Nene gives An permission to use their music to fulfill her dreams... supporting her the best she can.

Mizuki makes an edit using one of their songs later on, leading to An recruiting them as well... (An is very fond of recruiting people, lol)

So this stuff all leads to day.light forming!

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Minor update! I have changed how OC asks are formatted. Previously, they looked like this:

"About Miku, huh..."

But now, they look like this:

Ichika: "About Miku, huh..."

This change makes it a bit easier to read these posts, I feel... let me know if any of you have any further suggestions!

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Hello again! I’ve been really enjoying hearing how the groups formed!

Up next is TPCoAaR!

How did they end up forming?

Formanon💫

Thank you Formanon!! Answering these questions is also fun, too!

TPCoAaR actually forms in a pretty simple way, so no super long explanation this time!!! (hopefully)

Kohane and Shiho, having recently befriended each other as classmates, decided to visit Phoenix Wonderland together after Kohane accidentally discovers their common interest in the amusement park.

While walking around the park together, Kohane and Shiho find Emu, who advertises her own show. Intrigued (because she's never heard of a show involving Emu at PXL before), Kohane asks Shiho if they can take a detour to watch Emu's show— to which Shiho agrees.

Emu takes them to the Wonder Stage, where she puts on a performance all by herself. Intrigued by their smiles and Kohane's clear passion for the park, Emu asks if they want to put on shows with her.

Kohane and Shiho, both hesitant for their own reasons, gently rejected her offer.

Shiho wants to focus on her future as a bassist and doesn't think she'll be good at shows. Kohane is anxious even at the thought of standing on stage in front of tons of people and is simultaneously insecure about her ability to put on shows.

Emu, while saddened by this, accepts their decision... she just hopes she can find someone else to help her save the Wonder Stage before it's too late.

A few days later, Emu runs into Ena at the park, taking photos for her social media account. Catching a glimpse of her @, Emu looks Ena up online and hatches a plan to save the Wonder Stage...

And shows up the next day at Kamiyama High School, just to find Ena. She ends up convincing a very bewildered Ena to help her put on a show, at least one.

A week or so later, Emu tells Kohane and Shiho that she found someone to do a show with her and invites them to see the show.

Sitting in the audience alone, Kohane and Shiho couldn't help but think about Emu's previous offer...

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Back to the formation questions!

How did Forever Dream! form?

Formanon💫

While Saki was in middle school, she always turned to watching Airi's performances as Happy Everyday on TV as a form of comfort. Being a fan of Happy Everyday led Saki to discover QT and the idol Airi Momoi, and she quickly became enamored with the world of idols. Pretty schoolgirls singing cheery songs, having fun and working hard everyday— to Saki, idols are the epitome of the "youth" she's chased after her whole life. Because of this, Saki decided she wanted to be an idol, just like Airi.

While Saki was still in the hospital, she got Touya to help achieve her dream— with him acting as a manager of sorts. He also found himself enraptured by the idol world after doing so much research for her sake, inspired by them despite his own inability to face music at the time.

In her 2nd year of high school, Kanade began attending Miyamasuzaka Girls' Academy by her grandma's suggestion. This is how she meets Saki, who is enthusiastically handing out posters for her own mini live at their school auditorium, to little avail. Kanade accepts a flyer and goes to Saki's mini live, looking for inspiration for her next song.

While Saki's performance is decent at best, something about her song and dance gives Kanade the hope to keep composing... and Kanade later finds that she can't replicate this feeling on her own.

Because of this, she reaches out to Saki, asking if they can work together— to which Saki immediately accepts.

Kanade then meets Touya, who expresses his gratitude for Kanade's offer. The three then work together to put on more lives, until one day, Saki spots Airi in the crowd.

After a dejected Airi leaves the auditorium following the end of Saki's live, Saki decides to talk to her herself— wanting advice on what she should do as an idol moving forward due to her lack of success. Kanade and Touya come with her to support her.

Airi then bitterly shuts down Saki's dream after her continued insistence of becoming an idol, and walks off.

Upon seeing how depressed Saki has become following their talk with Airi, Touya feels like he can't just let this happen. He tells Kanade what he thinks, and she agrees.

Airi finds a mysterious Untitled file on her phone...

while Saki's composer and manager wait for the end of school to come so they can confront her properly.

Addendum from my Discord DMs to elaborate on some character motivations here:

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It’s not a formation question this time, but I have to know.

AURORA how did you guys surpass RadWeekend by coincidence?

Formanon💫

Honami: "We've always been making songs and doing events without much of a goal in mind, but that one event we held... I knew it was different from the others, but none of us expected how impactful it would be."

Shizuku: "Yeah, although... I'm sure it's because of everyone else's hard work. Mafuyu-chan's lyrics, Tsukasa-kun's composition, and Honami-chan's singing are all wonderful."

Mafuyu: "You too, Shizuku. Your stage presence and singing are the best, and I'm glad to call someone like you my partner."

Shizuku: "Eh..."

Shizuku: "Hehe, thank you, Mafuyu-chan...! I'm also glad that it's you, too."

Tsukasa: "...Wow, that's high praise when it comes from Mafuyu of all people..."

Mafuyu: "I have more to say."

Tsukasa: "Are you perhaps... going to praise me next?!"

Mafuyu: "About the question."

Tsukasa: "Oh... sorry."

Honami: "I— it's okay, Tsukasa-kun, you're very good at what you do...? Uhm..."

Mafuyu: "....................."

Mafuyu: "...Anyway. I remember hearing somewhere that people who are a little selfish with their feelings are the type who can put on big events like Ken-san's and ours... so maybe that's part of it?"

Shizuku: "Maybe... I wonder what being selfish with our feelings means about us, though."

Tsukasa: "It could be about aspirations we can't sacrifice... for example, I want to make people smile no matter what, so I always put that wish into my music. Although, I don't really get how that's selfish... Hm..."

Honami: "You might be onto something, though, Tsukasa-kun... when I sing, there's also something I can't let go of."

Tsukasa: "Really? I'm glad I helped answer the question, then."

Mafuyu: "Good work, Tsukasa."

Tsukasa: "...!"

Tsukasa: "Thanks!!! You too, Mafuyu!!!!!!"

Shizuku: "Ahaha, Tsukasa-kun has a really silly smile on his face..."

Shizuku: "Ah, this reminds me of the time when we were at the park—"

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hey, tsukasa, any thoughts on rad weekend?

Tsukasa: "Oh, that's the event that Ken-san and his group hosted a few years ago, right?"

Mafuyu: "Yeah. They're called RADder."

Tsukasa: "Thanks for reminding me. Although... about RAD WEEKEND—"

Tsukasa: "I never saw it personally, but I remember hearing a lot of people talk about surpassing it, especially when I first found Vivid Street... how about you, Mafuyu?"

Mafuyu: "I also didn't see it. I didn't have any intention to surpass it, but that ended up happening anyway. Did you intend on it?"

Tsukasa: "No, I truly didn't... and it's not like Honami or Shizuku did, either."

Mafuyu: "But you acted like you did when offering up all those autographs."

Tsukasa: "H— hey! I didn't want to be disrespectful to the legacy RADder created!"

Tsukasa: "It would look weird if we were honest and said that the four of us surpassed RAD WEEKEND by mere coincidence...!"

Mafuyu: "I guess so."

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Hello again! It’s the how did AURORA form anon!

I’m really curious about how the other groups formed as well, but I don’t want to make you answer all at once.

So I thought I’d start from the top this time with,

How did re:start form?

Formanon💫

Hi, Formanon! Since you asked, I'll go over how re:birth formed.

Chronologically, re:birth forms last out of the 5 units in this AU.

Saki, Honami, and Shiho not forming Leo/need with Ichika and instead being in their own groups is the main driver of re:birth's early story. It's what ends up pushing Ichika to start a band, in other words.

Ichika has started practicing guitar on the school rooftop, feeling somewhat aimless about her future. She's happy that her and her friends are all on good terms now, but she can't help but be disheartened by the fact that the four of them aren't doing music together...

Haruka, having recently quit ASRUN, has taken solace in sitting on the school rooftop and reading to avoid the constant attention she receives. Ichika, being a little too awkward to acknowledge the fact that Haruka's a celebrity, continues to practice her guitar regardless, and they both don't talk to each other at all.

After a while, Haruka begins showing interest in Ichika's playing, actively listening to it instead of reading. They finally introduce theirselves, and Haruka is reminded of her past aspirations as an idol— in some way, she feels compelled to perform with Ichika.

After careful consideration and receiving some advice from Ichika herself, Haruka decides to try out playing the bass. She's terrified to do this, terrified of her past failures with Mai, and even more terrified to think about performing on a stage.

Haruka then decides that playing bass will be just a hobby— that she won't perform on a stage again professionally, but rather, she can simply play bass when it's just her and Ichika.

One day, Ichika and Haruka decide to practice in a secluded and shaded area of Nonogi Park. Akito, deciding to change his route for his daily run on a whim, inadvertently runs across the two, recognizing Haruka. The moment Haruka notices him, she freezes up and shuts down, immediately worrying both Ichika and Akito...

While Akito does feel bad about what happened that day, something about their performance shook him, even though he could tell they were amateurs. Akito recalls when Ena suggested that he try music all those years ago... and gives it a second thought. He thinks it's about time he tried to take something seriously again.

He then does research into various instruments and settles on drums— often practicing in his room.

This then gets us to Rui. Rui has friends at school who are in a band, but their keyboardist won't be able to make it to their performance due to a family emergency— since Rui has basic knowledge of how to play a synthesizer, they beg him to sub in for their keyboardist for just that night, which he accepts.

Rui then starts practicing in public areas before the live, wanting to gauge how outsiders will react to his current skill level. Performing alone in public makes him feel nostalgic; but there's a hint of discomfort to it that he can't discern properly.

Eventually, the day for the performance rolls around. Haruka went to see it by An's suggestion (she's friends with the lead singer) and brought Ichika along with her. Akito overheard someone talking about the event at school and decided to see if the rumors about the band being really good were true (as well as to gather potential reference material for himself).

Akito, despite recognizing that Rui is an amateur at music like him, can't help but be drawn to his presence on stage. After the live, he (awkwardly, in the nice guy act) asks Rui about this ability as well as Rui's experience... to which Akito then learns that Rui isn't actually a member of any band.

Akito, in the spur of the moment, impulsively asks him if they could play music together, at least once— just so Akito can learn a bit from him. Rui accepts and agrees on a date because he doesn't know how to say "no" anymore.

While exiting the livehouse, Ichika and Haruka recognize Akito from the situation before, but don't say anything. They both were moved by Rui's performance, and Ichika expresses to Haruka that she thinks it would be nice to play music with someone like him, too...

Haruka then feels conflicted.

She's worried about holding Ichika back, but at the same time, she's not sure if she'd be okay playing music with him, even if she wants to do so as well.

A mysterious file then shows up on her phone; Untitled.

Haruka meets Miku and Len in the Park SEKAI. She learns that she and three others need to find their true feelings, and a song will be born— as well as various other things that she has a hard time believing. Regardless, she's curious about the fact that they want to help her, and consequently asks them for advice about her situation with Ichika and Rui.

Back in her room and thinking she just had a dream, Haruka turns on her phone and decides to text An concerning Rui's whereabouts regardless...

Ichika and Haruka, having later that week learned of the studio where Rui is practicing from that band's lead singer, walk in to find another familiar face— Akito.

They watch him play with Rui a bit, to which they're then caught staring by Akito, who seems just as surprised as they are...

This is where their story properly begins, I think.

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Here's a miscellaneous assortment of Kizuna Rank titles that differ from their canon versions!

Ichika and Haruka

-> Rank 5: Miyamasuzaka Rooftop Buddies

-> Rank 26: The First Note We Played

-> Rank 46: Always Reigniting My Passion

Akito and Rui

-> Rank 5: Two-Sided Personality

-> Rank 26: Blistering Feelings

-> Rank 46: The Things We Can't Compromise

Saki and Airi

-> Rank 5: As Seen On TV

-> Rank 26: Nostalgic Fanmail

-> Rank 46: Forever My Idol!

Saki and Touya

-> Rank 5: Close Childhood Friends

-> Rank 26: Learning How To Be Cute

-> Rank 46: Loves Music Above All Else

Tsukasa and Honami

-> Rank 5: Longtime Livehouse Attendees

-> Rank 26: Let's Take Care Of Everyone!

-> Rank 46: So I Can Be Your Best Partner

Shizuku and Mafuyu

-> Rank 5: Mystery And Fame

-> Rank 26: Being Our True Selves

-> Rank 46: A Destined Meeting

Kohane and Shiho

-> Rank 5: Scriptwriter And Director

-> Rank 26: Silent Dedication

-> Rank 46: A Trusted Troupemate

Emu and Ena

-> Rank 5: Let's Make It Sparkly!

-> Rank 26: Like A Big Sister

-> Rank 46: Smiling After Sunset

Minori and An

-> Rank 5: The Fan And The Friend

-> Rank 26: Fall Down 6 Times, Get Up 7 More

-> Rank 46: Someone Else's Dream

An and Mizuki

-> Rank 5: Exchanging Our Ties

-> Rank 26: A Secret That I'll Keep For You

-> Rank 46: Don't Leave Me Behind

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Here's some school uniform Live2Ds for re:birth!

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PSA, I am adding a new tag to this blog. This tag will be #non ask.

This will, as the tag states, denote posts that aren't asks.

I've added this tag so it's easier to find those posts without having to scroll through the general #vertical sekai au tag!

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How Characters Refer to Eachother in the Vertical Sekai AU

Or, more simply, what honorifics they'd use. I thought compiling a list for reference might be interesting!

IN-UNIT

re:birth

Ichika -> Haruka

"Kiritani-san" (early story) -> "Haruka"

Ichika -> Akito

"Shinonome-san" (early story) -> "Akito"

Ichika -> Rui

"Kamishiro-san" (early story) -> "Rui"

Haruka -> Ichika

"Hoshino-san" (early story) -> "Ichika"

Haruka -> Akito

"Shinonome-san" (early story) -> "Akito"

Haruka -> Rui

"Kamishiro-san" (early story) -> "Rui"

Akito -> Ichika

"Hoshino-san" (very early story) -> "Hoshino" (early story) -> "Ichika"

Akito -> Haruka

"Kiritani-san" (very early story) -> "Kiritani" (early story) -> "Haruka"

Akito -> Rui

"Kamishiro-senpai" (early story, sometimes drops his name and simply refers to him as "senpai") -> "Rui"

Rui -> Ichika

"Hoshino-kun" (early story) -> "Ichika-kun"

Rui -> Haruka

"Kiritani-kun" (early story) -> "Haruka-kun"

Rui -> Akito

"Shinonome-kun" (early story) -> "Akito-kun"

Forever Dream!

Saki -> Airi

"Airi-senpai" -> "Airi-chan"

Saki -> Touya

"Toya-kun"

Saki -> Kanade

"Yoisaki-senpai" -> "Kanade-chan"

Airi -> Saki

"Saki-chan"

Airi -> Touya

"Touya-kun"

Airi -> Kanade

"Kanade"

Touya -> Saki

"Saki-san" (early story) -> "Saki"

Touya -> Airi

"Momoi-san" (very early story) -> "Momoi"

Touya -> Kanade

"Yoisaki-san" (very early story) -> "Yoisaki"

Kanade -> Saki

"Tenma-san" (once, when they first met) -> "Saki"

Kanade -> Airi

"Momoi-san" (once, when they first met) -> "Airi"

Kanade -> Touya

"Aoyagi-san" -> "Aoyagi" -> "Touya" (maybe after a long time?)

AURORA

Honami -> Shizuku

"Shizuku-senpai" (early story) -> "Shizuku-chan"

Honami -> Mafuyu

"Asahina-senpai" (very early story) -> "Mafuyu-senpai" (early story) -> "Mafuyu-chan" (later)

Honami -> Tsukasa

"Tsukasa-san" (middle school, as well as parts of early story) -> "Tsukasa-kun"

Shizuku -> Honami

"Honami-chan"

Shizuku -> Tsukasa

"Tsukasa-kun"

Shizuku -> Mafuyu

"Mafuyu-chan"

Tsukasa -> Honami

"Honami"

Tsukasa -> Shizuku

"Shizuku"

Tsukasa -> Mafuyu

"OWN-san" (first meeting) -> "Asahina-san" (early story) -> "Mafuyu"

Mafuyu -> Honami

At Miyamasuzaka Girl's Academy: "Mochizuki-san"

At Vivid Street: "Mochizuki" (early story) -> "Honami"

Mafuyu -> Shizuku

"Shizuku"

Mafuyu -> Tsukasa

"Tenma-san" (early story) -> "Tsukasa"

The Phoenix's Castle of Ashes and Ressurection

Shiho -> Kohane

"Azusawa" (very early story) -> "Kohane"

Shiho -> Emu

"Ootori-san" (very early story) -> "Emu"

Shiho -> Ena

"Shinonome-san" (very early story) -> "Ena"

Kohane -> Shiho

"Shiho-chan"

Kohane -> Emu

"Emu-san" (early story) -> "Emu-chan"

Kohane -> Ena

"Ena-san (early story) -> "Ena-chan"

Emu -> Shiho

"Shiho-chan"

Emu -> Kohane

"Kohane-chan"

Emu -> Ena

"Ena-chan"

Ena -> Shiho

"Shiho-chan"

Ena -> Kohane

"Kohane-chan"

Ena -> Emu

"Emu-chan"

day.light

Minori -> An

Online: "RAN-san" -> "RAN-chan"

IRL: "An-chan"

Minori -> Nene

Online: "n○ne-san" -> "ne-chan"

IRL: "Nene-chan"

Minori -> Mizuki

Online: "Amia-san" -> "Amia-chan"

IRL: "Mizuki-chan"

An -> Minori

Online: "Harurin"

IRL: "Minori"

An -> Nene

Online: "n○ne"

IRL: "Nene"

An -> Mizuki

Online: "Amia"

IRL: "Mizuki"

Nene -> Minori

Online: "Harurin"

IRL: "Minori"

Nene -> An

Online: "RAN"

IRL: "An"

Nene -> Mizuki

Online: "Amia"

IRL: "Mizuki"

Mizuki -> Minori

Online: "Harurinrin"

IRL: "Minori"

Mizuki -> An

Online: "RAN"

IRL: "An"

Mizuki -> Nene

Online: "n○ne"

IRL: "Nene"

CROSS-UNIT

Honami -> An

"An-san"

An -> Honami

"Honami"

Tsukasa -> An

"An"

An -> Tsukasa

"Tsukasa-senpai"

Mafuyu -> An

"Shiraishi"

An -> Mafuyu

"OWN-san" -> "Asahina-san"

Shizuku -> An

"Shiraishi-san"

An -> Shizuku

"Hinomori-san"

Rui -> Tsukasa

"Tenma-kun"

Tsukasa -> Rui

"Kamishiro"

This list doesn't encompass all relevant dynamics, so I'll add more later most likely. Thanks for reading!

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i lowkey thought this was just project sekai but... everything is vertical

the wonderstage? thats vertical now

the schools? thats also vertical now

the clouds? they are now flipped 90°

other than that I LOVE THIS CONCEPT... YAYYYYYyyhhna :3

LOLLLL YEAH, i can see how the name would be confusing at first glance... i'm not super good with names, so it felt like the easiest option? anyways thanks, i'm glad you like the AU!

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Is Wonderland Sekai the same as in canon? And how did AURORA end up forming then?

"Is Wonderland Sekai the same as in canon?"

Yes and no.

Yes, because in canon, Tsukasa's SEKAI formed when he was a child according to the VIRTUAL SINGER World Link event— but also no, because his SEKAI isn't influenced by WxS in this AU, so certain details have changed.

For example, the Miku in Tsukasa's SEKAI doesn't speak using many onomatopoeias because that was a habit she picked up from Emu. Some other things are different (particularly the plushies) because of the fact that the other members of AURORA affect Tsukasa, which in turn affects his SEKAI.

"And how did AURORA end up forming then?"

It's complicated, to say the least. I'll try to summarize the events leading up to their formation as concisely as possible (assuming I don't eat my words and end up going on a tangent again).

All four of them discovered Vivid Street individually during their time in middle school.

Tsukasa started composing tracks at home, finding inspiration in the atmosphere there shortly after RAD WEEKEND. He never actually saw the event himself, though, nor did he ever perform much on Vivid Street (he was a little, uh... distracted).

Mafuyu started performing at livehouses by herself, venting her suppressed feelings and thoughts through street music— finding safety in this town where it felt as if no one from her school or her parents could ever confront her.

Honami became a regular attendee to various livehouses in Vivid Street, similarly moved like how Mafuyu and Tsukasa were. She'd often take videos of live performances and show them to the Tenma siblings as well as Kanade (since she's still her housekeeper and they have a common interest in music). Honami is also a regular at WEEKEND GARAGE, and is good friends with An.

I think now is also a good time to share that Honami never had her falling out with Ichika and Saki like in canon because of her relationship to Tsukasa. Their common interest in street music allowed them to become better friends (even though they were always technically childhood friends, Honami was never really close to him), and knowing Tsukasa he'd quite literally chase her down and make her talk to Saki if he absolutely had to (the last thing he wants is Saki suffering any more than she has to).

Shizuku got lost one day while heading to a store and ended up in Vivid Street, witnessing one of Mafuyu's performances on the street. She was so deeply moved by this performance that she wasn't able to forget about it, even during her time in Cheerful*Days as an idol. After she quit the group years later, the sound of Mafuyu's singing was still ringing in her ears...

These events set the stage for the formation of AURORA.

Thanks for sending in an ask, by the way!

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Do Kohane and Shiho ever clash in terms of how the script is written for specific plays and how Shiho visualizes it to be portrayed?

Sometimes, their images for shows do conflict, but they don't really get into heated debates about it or anything.

The worst that's happened is Kohane sacrificing her image of a play for the sake of Shiho's vision— which upset Shiho because she doesn't want Kohane to take her own influence out of their shows just to appease her.

After Shiho noticed Kohane was doing this, both of them were at a loss for what to do.

Kohane is pretty conflict avoidant, and the last thing she wants to do is hurt Shiho, so I feel like she'd overthink the situation and run it around in circles in her head. She also feels a little insecure in her writing as is and considers Shiho to have objectively better ideas than her (even if her feelings disagree to some extent).

For Shiho, she's concerned about Kohane holding back because of her, but is simultaneously scared of being too blunt with Kohane and hurting her feelings— especially with how sensitive the latter can be. Shiho is used to her blunt nature being misinterpreted, and while she knows Kohane is much stronger than she seems, that fear still lingers at the edge of her mind...

Luckily, they were able to talk it out with Ena and Emu's help. Emu's heightened sense of empathy and emotional intelligence helped Shiho analyze the situation and figure out what to do about it without hurting Kohane. Ena's confrontational yet kind nature helped Kohane work up the courage to actually talk to Shiho, reminding her that they'll definitely fix the problem together— and even if things do go wrong, Ena will be there to support her. I also feel like Ena would try to inspire more confidence in Kohane by sharing her honest opinions about her ideas and writing after Kohane openly puts herself down in front of her... could it be that Ena sees a little bit of herself in Kohane?

So after this whole situation, Shiho and Kohane now compromise whenever their images conflict. They identify what parts of their shows and ideas are most important to them and try combining them the best they can in a way that is fulfilling for both of them. Sometimes, it's much more of a struggle than they expect, but as friends, they'll get through it together!

[vertical-sekai]

Do the characters keep some traits from their canon personalities? For example, would Rui still be interested in stage technology/design? Do you think he'd collaborate with Emu's group at all?

It's kind of my question for all groups I think. Do you imagine they have ties to their canon group members at all? Or are they a completely new character with new relationships?

"Do the characters keep some traits from their canon personalities?"

Yes. The AU changes backstory/setup elements to these new units forming, so all of the characters are relatively similar to their original counterparts. Some of them are more similar to their canon counterparts than others, though.

In regards to Rui specifically, he is still interested in robotics and theater, although he repressed those interests in middle school to try and fit in with his peers better. This then led to him putting his dream to connect people via shows on the backburner— he gained friends but failed to understand why he still felt lonely despite "fixing" his problem. His conflicting feelings on friendship itself led to him giving up on shows altogether in his first year of high school.

Considering those factors, I think Rui could collaborate with TPCoAaR, but I think he'd have to have major character development first. He'd basically need to fix his relationship to his interests to at least some extent, in other words.

"Do you imagine they have ties to their canon group members at all?"

As for Rui's relationship with what would be the other members of WxS:

He's classmates with Tsukasa. They don't know each other very well, but Tsukasa is pretty friendly to Rui and tries to subtly support him in his own way (as he's noticed his true distance with their other classmates), and Rui (who picked up on this) isn't used to it at all. Tsukasa is considered to be kind of a weirdo, and so is Rui if he were to be himself— but Rui finds comfort in Tsukasa being like that, I think. Tsukasa also wants to make Rui laugh, and Rui (to some extent) reminds Tsukasa of Touya.

He hasn't met Emu personally, but he's aware of her existence. He saw her a couple times during middle school when he was doing (illegal) street performances on Phoenix Wonderland property.

He's still childhood friends with Nene. Their dynamic is mostly the same, except their distance from middle school was never resolved. Rui has been extremely worried about her ever since she dropped out of Kamiyama to start taking online classes. Nene still blames herself for what happened to him in middle school. They both feel incredibly guilty thinking about each other, but they won't talk it out... it's not like they talk much now, anyway.

All other characters follow the same kind of guidelines well, if that helps? Thanks for the ask!!