her♥ism

[Roleplay blog for Minako Arisato of Persona 3 Portable. Affiliated with Citta-Alveare] App | Social Links | Info

[asofterpersonaarchive]

[Might as well ask for a USEFUL miracle.]

[fanart source]

[kinginshi]

Okay, so he’s not thrilled at the suggestion that she’s his senior — how is she older than him! He can’t even tell! — but a demonstration? That’s enough to snag Gold’s attention immediately, silencing any protests he might have about her impromptu rise in social ranking. She makes a good argument for meeting away from the lower districts too, but. Death. Demonstration.

—wait.

'… does that mean you're gonna kill me or something?' he asks doubtfully, staring at Minako now like she's a mass murderer. Well, he stares at her as a kid would: equal parts horror, defensiveness, and absolute fascination. 'Look. It sounds cool and all, but I dunno if I'm ready to kick the bucket…'

But is he ready to walk away and not know what her “Persona” thing really does? Gold leans away, considering. His eyes go left, where people are milling about aimlessly, then right, which is more of the same. No one’s curious about what the heck the girl’s talking about, but… he is. He definitely is.

He leans right back in, voice dropping to conspiratorial levels.

'… okay, whatever. You got me. Let me see.'

'But no funny business.'

[gentleheartedness]

Minako laughs, but then she's clapping her hands across her mouth because that's rude don't do that it's not polite. Still she's thoroughly amused at the prospect, and it keeps a little glint in her eyes even as she reaches for the cold metal of her Evoker, strapped to her thigh beneath her skirt.

When he leans in, she grins like the Cheshire Cat. "No funny business! No deaths, nothing like that. Promise."

The Evoker goes to the side of her head with practiced ease.

"Persona." And the trigger's pulled.

There's a sound like glass crackling, falling, exploding--and that's because it is, it's her mind shattering and it sends an echoing jolt through her body that's been felt a thousand times before. Before the shards have even vanished entirely, a shape bursts up in blue flame behind her, coffins encircling his frame. The chains rattle and rattle and it makes her think of the Reaper stalking Tartarus at midnight, tall, dark, menacing--

But it's not. It's just Thanatos, huge and silent, looking at Gold with his empty-eyed stare.

Minako claps her hands, suddenly wondering if she's laid the dramatics on too heavily. "Uh...ta-dah?"

[futvresite-blog]

Minako / Crona

[futvresite-blog]

{ ☽ } —  The females voice silenced Crona’s tears—but only for a moment. He was suddenly distracted by the presence of someone else, cautiously peeking above his knees. Her voice was gentle, nature evidently tender… And someone he knew sprung to mind. 

                         Marie… 

The Meister was reminded of the misconduct, feeling the weight of his sin in his stomach, on his shoulders shoving his head back down into the sanctum of his knees, but the shadow cast would never be enough to swallow the teen completely. 

                                            What can I do to help…

Crona himself couldn’t find the answer to that so quickly on the back of his tongue. There were a few moments of prolonged silence while Crona decided whether or not to utilize the situation. 

"I-I did something really bad, Miss… 

                   Can you show me a place where I could be alone?”

Preferably forever. 

[gentleheartedness]

Minako waits patiently for him to speak, taking note of how tense he is. She taps her fingers to faint music playing from her headphones--it's a light and happy sound, something out of place in such a setting.

When he finally does speak, it's in a hushed tone with a surprising amount of politeness. She looks at him, expression entirely serious as thoughts cross her mind like birds in flight--quick, silent, one after another in a flash.

Then she looks around as if they're in a very interesting place and not a thousand yards underground.

"I could, I could! It's pretty hard to be entirely alone in this city considering our gracious scientific overlords, but...still, I could. I will, as a matter of fact!"

Minako's smile turns cheeky, but it's in a gentle way.

"Whatcha do that's so awful...? I don't think anyone deserves to be alone, not permanently at least. Loneliness, is..." She stretches her hands out before her, fingers twining like yarn. Her gaze drifts to follow the arch of her hands. "Unpleasant," she decides, her tone turning softer.

[apprisings-blog]

"Bonds.. They certainly are important, aren’t they? Bonds make humanity even stronger… It’s amazing, isn’t it?"

Lifting his scarf a little higher so it touched his chin, Ryoji watched the girl thoughtfully. He was sure of something… He’d never met this girl. Not once. But there was definitely that familiar feeling. As if he was staring at him. 

"We know each other…?"

Carried. Fought.. It was exactly like he had done. Only that person and his friends would know the things she spoke of. 

"… I see. But I’ll tell you now… That smile of yours is making my heart heavy. Don’t tell me such sad things while smiling that way… I’m sure you’re not one to simply accept fate like that."

"Luck has nothing to do with it. You may be similar to him but you are not that person… Right? Challenge fate. Fight it. I feel as though I’ll treasure you all the same."

[gentleheartedness]

She nods--no one has to lecture her on bonds, she certainly knows their worth. They tingle through her limbs and brighten her mind, and they just--yes, they're really something. Even here in the Hive where currently it's just Thanatos staring in bewilderment through her eyes.

Ryoji's a lot of things to her, and she...she doesn't know how to put it, really, but his reaction's a little mysterious, and she's being mysterious herself, so maybe that's fair enough.

"Hey, now," she says, folding her hands behind her back and fixing him with a teasing glare. "Don't try that charming stuff with me! I know all your tricks! Hehe, still, even if I could defy my fate, I shouldn't. It's the only condition the Velvet Room asks for, right? I make choices, I own up to them. Or is defying that a choice too?" She puts a mischievous finger on her lips and winks.

"Ahh, do you really? I cherish you loads, Ryoji-kun, so that's a relief...I'm trying my best. That's just about all I can do. Good thing we're used to weird situations or I don't think anyone'd believe me! Tell you what though, I'd like to meet this guy that's kinda like me. I think we'd be good friends."

[shiomiis]

Orpheus!

[imoutosama]

[futvresite-blog]

// intro open post.

{ ☽ } — The heat of the desert had brewed sweat, but it was nothing compared to the dampness of this District Alpha. It was going to be mentally exhausting trying to figure out how he got here from the outskirts of Death City.

The air was humid, thick. Crona attempted to keep his breathing under control. The foreign streets had Crona taking hesitant steps with a posture that was nothing less than apprehensive. And the pestering voice of his Weapon hadn’t made his bones quake since the sand burned him through his clothes, and for some reason, the lack of consternation Ragnarok caused worried the Meister.

     I don’t know how I’m supposed to deal with a place like this… Crona’s lips trembled, a silent debate on whether or not to divulge his uncertainty. Admit his quick defeat. Ragnarok wouldn’t be there to scold him on his lack of integrity. No one was around to pester him, asking what’s wrong, Crona? if he was caught staring in the same direction for too long. If he looked paler than usual.

       Alone.

                   The word had repeated in head, and hopefully the whispered lullaby was enough to soothe his climbing hysteria.

Crona was alone, hiding in the dark of a place his friends would never find him. Slumped against a damp wall with guilt in his gut. He clenched his stomach knowing he’d never have to see their faces again. Even if the guilt simmered, there was still the betrayal. And it didn’t sting as much as it tormented the teenager, taking advantage of his timid nature and the fact that he barely had a spine; a structure so malleable, it was so easy to corrupt with a brush of panic or the voice of his malicious mother.

                                           Medusa…

Crona exhaled, his heart that pumped at the bottom of his throat relaxed in its chamber. His chest now ached for a different reason—the bitter pang of being torn between homesick and nowhere bound. How could someone want their mother’s arms, yet want to be so far away from her? 

The teen felt helpless. Crona sunk down the sodden wall, pulling his knees toward his chest. He sat in a ball with his lavender eyes shut tightly, reminding himself he was finally alone, that he had gotten what he wanted. The tears mixed with perspiration, and that made it easier for Crona to tell himself he wasn’t crying. Perhaps his muffled sobs could drown out the sound of nearing footsteps. 

[gentleheartedness]

Well, Gold had mentioned Alpha as being creepy. The Trainer hadn't lied at all, not that she doubted his moral integrity or anything.

Minako skips through the tunnels, her steps causing a light splash that sends cold water seeping into her shoes and her socks. She's not deterred at all, in fact she only performs a little turn to get a quick view at her surroundings--and she's glad that she did.

Down a nearby tunnel, there's a splash of pink. It's been dulled by water and shadow and yet she still sees it, gracing the bleak corridor like...like an abandoned piece of gum on cement!

It's not a graceful metaphor and it's not pretty, but Minako's satisfied. She approaches the figure slowly, transitioning from a prance into a cautious walk. Her fingers drum absently at the holster strapped to her thigh, but ah, it's fine, it's fine...

He's crying, after all.

Minako sits down beside him and wraps her arms around her legs, copying his posture with a slouched mimicry of her own. A bright smile is on her face, at odds with the despondent body language--she's waiting for his attention.

It's inevitable that he looks up or peeks sooner or later, and Minako speaks very softly and quietly, like she's soothing an animal.

"There's no point in asking 'what's the matter', don'tcha think? How about 'what can I do to help'?"

[kinginshi]

Okay, hands down: Minako was probably one of the most sensible people in Hive City — maybe even in the universe. At her query, though, Gold grimaces, quirking one side of his mouth in what could’ve seen a show of regret.

Where he lived, huh? Well, there’s only one thing he can say about it: it can’t be any worse than where she lives.

But it’s still pretty bad. —really bad.

When he answers, it’s like the words fall from his mouth, a strange weight to them. ‘Alpha. It’s — you heard about it, right? The place with the crazy zombies.’ He taps his foot on the ground a couple times, either calling to attention the fact that it’s underground, or the fact that he’s not happy with it. ‘I mean. It’s not like you’ll die if you go down there, but you shouldn’t. S’creepy. And dangerous. Twice as bad as Delta, trust me.’

Gold pauses for a second, seeming to idle, but then he nods to himself, border-imperceptibly. ‘But, uh. I could come visit you in Delta? Was planning to go there at some point, anyway.’ A shrug punctuates his words, but he’s too honest for embarrassment. ‘When you go down there. And not die. Or…’

He squints in confusion, but then he smiles through it.

'Whatever a Death Girl counts as.'

[gentleheartedness]

"Oooh boy. Wait, wait. You mean...that District with the dark and the damp and lots of things that may or may not be intelligent but look an awful lot like zombies? That Alpha?" He sure does mean that!

There's a beat as Minako pretends to play with her thoughts as if she didn't already know her opinion on it all.

"Sounds like an adventure! Granted a mind-boggingly dangerous one, but still pretty cool! That's why I'm not too scared of Delta in comparison, hmm?"

Minako lifts a finger and winks in unison.

"It'd be a bad show of me as your senpai--" Hold on, he may not know that word. "Ah, your senior to let you put yourself in danger for my sake! If we meet up, might as well be above-ground. Less danger, less hundreds of tons of earth above our heads..and I'd say less death, but I'm here, so..."

Her smile turns mysterious. "If you really want to see why you're right in calling me 'Death Girl', I could...give you a little demonstration after all?"

[oshizuma-deactivated20170804]

Not so lackadaisical?

[oshizuma-deactivated20170804]

Narumi was quite thankful for the reaction; her certainly hadn’t judged the young woman’s character wrong, as expected of a man like him—but that’s just going into details even he would rather not think much further on. A gentle, quiet, laughed eased the air a little more for himself now that any possible concerns were completely forgotten. He brought a hand up to the back of his head, despite the hat’s position there and turned almost sheepish. 

“Well, an amusing little story that: But, I’m certain it’s something you don’t need to hear me talk your ear off over.” he smiled and allowed his hand to fall back to his side, clearly not to fazed by his own predicament. “Though, it’s as you suggest; I’ve manage to lose my way whilst travelling through the sectors—lost track of just which one this is. Would you mind filling me in?”

[gentleheartedness]

Oh don't worry, she'll be the one talking your ear off.

"Absolutely!" Minako chirps, absently tapping a foot to the beat of her headphones. "This place isn't even a Sector; it's District Delta. A little dusty and super big and empty, but it's safer than most of the other Districts! No one's able to make heads-or-tails of what's on the walls, but it never stops people from trying." 

She taps her chin.

"Let's see...Delta's under Sector Four, I believe? The Culture Sector."

[nemesisofjustice]

Ken certainly was screaming on the inside. Was she always this… flirtatious and teasing where she interacted with him? He tried to move the Pocky to her lips, but she gave Ken a quick kiss already.

Needless to say, his lips quivered and he nearly dropped the candy, but he still kept it back in his teeth and tried to move it to her lips again. If she keeps being so frisky, Ken is gonna melt.

[gentleheartedness]

Oh, that's impressive. He didn't drop it. She really needs to stop messing with him. Minako gives him a bit of an apologetic look--the sincerity of which can be doubted--before taking the situation "seriously".

She makes a show of very calmly holding her end of the Pocky, arching her eyebrows at him; the red in her eyes holds nothing but warm amusement and she hums, casual.

[nemesisofjustice]

"E-Eh?! K-K-K-Kiss…?! Minako…san…" Ken’s heart felt like it was going to explode at this point. Was she TRYING to humiliate him, or was she actually…?

Ken took in a deep breath and grasped one end of the Pocky with his teeth, his eyes tightly shut as he blushed brightly. Oh, this could end so many ways.

[gentleheartedness]

"You heard correctly! So are you--" She finally puts a lid on her chattering, grinning widely at the fact that he's...actually going along with it!

Gods bless his little heart. She still couldn't believe this is the same kid who used to sit and drink black coffee so seriously across from her at the dorm's table.

There's a very faint blush of her own, but the S.E.E.S. leader is shameless in the end. She certainly gives him a quick kiss unless Ken chickens out first!

[gentleheartedness]

"Pocky… Game? W-Wait, Minako-san, what are you doing?" Ken doesn’t know what is going on. Even then, he takes the chocolate-covered treat and wonders what to do with it.

"Sooo… What’s this ‘Pocky Game’ You’re talking about?"

She's not deterred at all by the question.

"Whoa, what's this? You've never heard of it?" Minako grins wider and indicates the Pocky stick. "Basically you hold one end in your mouth, and one person takes the other end, aaand...we each take a bite! Rinse and repeat until someone chickens out--or we end up kissing!"

"Sooo, how about it?"

[timeforashodown]

"…"

She overcame it all. The pain she suffered, the loss she had dealt with. Somehow, she dealt with it, and ended up coming up stronger for it. Strong enough even for him to realize that he didn’t stand a chance. It wasn’t just because of her friends either; it was because she herself, was tough enough to overcome it.

"Yeah, you’re right. I can’t give it up. My whole life was spent in a fucking box, in and out of the same goddamn rooms to try and impress some fuck who throw me away when I wasn’t worth anything to him. I can’t let that go, no matter what happens to me in the future, that’s gonna be there. That anger is gonna stick…"

"…So, you knowing that, knowing what Strega did to your friend, what my old man did to you guys, and what I planned to do, you’d still ask me to be your friend?"

[gentleheartedness]

"Now that...I'm not even going to claim to understand. I was just in and out of foster homes or relatives' places a lot, but what you went through was something else entirely. I think it's pretty amazing you survived!"

She laces her fingers behind her back, humming thoughtfully; she turns his words over neatly, lining her answer up so that the reply comes calm and smooth.

"Absolutely. It'd be hypocritical of me to preach friendship and then be like, 'nope, sorry; you don't qualify'! I'm not happy about my friends being put in danger, but the fact you'll talk to me at all speaks volumes. You're not Strega, you're not Ikutski-san, and you're not some heartless monster. So why can't we get along?" She smiles. "Seems like you already know this, but I'm Minako Arisato and I'm really pleased to meet you."

[softerpersona]

birds gotta fly. fish gotta swim.

art by: (x)

[timeforashodown]

The boy, despite his distaste and uncertainty, listened intently, wanting to know what exactly lead her to believe that she was anything like him. The more he listened though, the more he found himself agreeing. Kirijo had screwed the two of them over pretty bad, it seemed.

"Yeah, I read about some of that in their files, but most of the stuff relating to you was buried too deep for me to find anything. Pretty annoying, but the most I got was what you did for your friends. Once Mitsuru started running the company, the files got pretty easy to break into…"

"I don’t get it, if they’ve messed with you so much, why are you bothering with them? Why aren’t you like me? Why aren’t you trying to kill them?"

[gentleheartedness]

Minako closes her eyes, tilting her head. "That's a good question. Guess what? I've got an answer for you."

"I would probably be just like you if I hadn't accepted that contract in the Velvet Room. Seriously! I look pretty happy, right?" She opens her arms, inviting him to look. "But back then, before I became a member of S.E.E.S? I was faking everything. If I hadn't made any friends, if I hadn't let my anger go, I'd be right with you and Strega too, probably.

I don't like the Kirijo Group much. Still don't. But I trust Mitsuru-senpai and so long as she runs it, I can deal. Anger's exhausting to maintain, like I said. So I let it go. I'm not going to tell you to do the same, because you don't cope the same way I do...but I want you to know, I'm serious when I say I want to be your friend"

[kinginshi]

She might be a little talkative, a little weird, a little older than him — but right now, it feels like Minako’s one of his only comrades in the city. Gold jumps to attention at her words, hands clenching and unclenching in sudden excitement. He, he just—

'I KNOW!' he exclaims, the volume of his voice rising suddenly. He manages to catch himself, looking just a little abashed and rubbing the back of his neck. It's just. Nobody ever agrees with him, not like that. 'I mean, adults being clueless— or totally bad! But never like—

'I didn't expect something like this, ever.’

He links his hands together and stretches, briefly, and when his eyes are back on Minako, they’re bright.

'I guess it’s cool to meet people like you here, but. ‘m not the only one who thinks it’s unfair, right?’

'This whole thing is total crap.'

[gentleheartedness]

Minako jumps theatrically at his outburst, intentionally exaggerating her movements with a playful glint in her eyes."Heeey now, are you insinuating meeting my most charming and wonderful self doesn't make up for being a lab rat?"

Her hands sweep up and clap together as she sighs; "Seriously though, don't even get me started. This is hands-down the weirdest situation I've ever faced. Scientists and I don't get along at all--as part of my adults are evil or clueless' thing."

Minako blinks for a moment before snickering to herself; the sound fell softly between them like snow. "Nope. That's it. We've talked for a while, so I've gotta know; where do you live so I can pester you sometime? You don't mind, right?"

[gentleheartedness]

YEAH WELL Your Minako is really refreshing, and your unique take on her as well as your amazing writing really brings her to life. SO. ✖✖✖✖✖

((I didn't even reblog--

Ahh thank you so much though! I'm so glad you enjoy my depiction of her, and I certainly adore your Gold!))