run until I see the sunlight again

Social Links Explanation

dormition — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 05:04:42 GMT

Before we get started, there's a nifty quiz if you're stumped, and also a good quick interpretation reference.

Long-Winded Explanation
This is a little complicated, so bear with me.

First of all, you have to understand what a Persona is. When Minato, or another Persona-user, shoots himself in the head with a special bullet-less gun called an Evoker, he summons a Persona. Persona are a representation of your inner soul. Most people only have one; Minato, however, ~~for plot reasons~~ has the ability to summon any kind he likes. He can lug around up to a dozen at once. In game, he has three due to power-capping.

Each Persona is a member of one of the twenty-two Major Arcana, which starts at 00 and ends at 21. Each person has a soul that corresponds to one of them: Mitsuru, for example, is another Persona-user who is of the Empress Arcana, number 3. She summons Penthesilea, who is a Persona also of the Empress Arcana, and only Penthesilea.

Minato, as I've said before, can summon whoever he damn well wants as long as their base level is less than or equal to his level. When he fuses a Persona (creating one, basically - this process is not relevant to your interests) he can get one that's higher than his level through the use of Social Links. Say he wants to make a Virtue, one of the middling level Justice Persona, with a base level of 32. If he fuses a Virtue without a Social Link, he gets a Virtue at level 32.

But, and here's Minato's initial guiding motivation to be social at all, if he does have a social link, for each rank it goes up - to a maximum of 10 - the Persona gets more experience points. Typically two ranks equals one level, though that's not exact. Continuing our above example, if he wants to create a Virtue of a higher initial level, he has to become closer friends with Chihiro, the girl he knows at school that is of the Justice Arcana. The closer he gets to her, the more ranks he gets, and thus the higher level his Persona are. This makes him automatically interested in befriending people of various Arcana, because it literally improves his fighting abilities.

In Practice
For my own amusement, I've decided to keep track of Minato's relationships in terms of Social Links. If he offends them, they become inverted or reversed (yes, more tarot card references), and he must repair things before they can improve again. I think he can lose ranks, too, though that's never happened to me. The max rank is 10, and once that happens the relationship can't reverse. As the ranks go up, it gets harder to obtain the next one.

I'm not going to track specific threads for each rank unless I get a lot more free time later, so for now you'll have to do with just plain names and ranks.

CR Chart

dormition — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 04:58:53 GMT

INTRODUCTION

You'll notice that there's a Major Arcana and set of stars listed for each relationship here. If you aren't familiar with Persona 3, there's an explanation for this, is available here. If you think your character belongs up here and they aren't, or if I've picked their Arcana or rank wrong or something, just let me know! I'm aware that this is a mostly arbitrary system, as Minato doesn't really have Social Links anymore, so please don't take it too seriously.

Tthe base code for the CR chart was made by ketsudan. As a note, dropped characters are not included on this list!

CANON MATES

minako arisato
contrapose | SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI: PERSONA 3

XXI. THE WORLD ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Cras molestie enim vel purus vestibulum ac mollis lacus cursus. Proin odio leo, ornare pharetra auctor eget, pharetra vel sem. Integer porttitor, tellus sit amet adipiscing dapibus, mauris risus venenatis nulla, vel pellentesque libero nunc quis mi. Aliquam vehicula, libero a elementum molestie, eros odio suscipit nunc, non gravida turpis libero vitae lorem.

NAME ★✘❤

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Cras molestie enim vel purus vestibulum ac mollis lacus cursus. Proin odio leo, ornare pharetra auctor eget, pharetra vel sem. Integer porttitor, tellus sit amet adipiscing dapibus, mauris risus venenatis nulla, vel pellentesque libero nunc quis mi. Aliquam vehicula, libero a elementum molestie, eros odio suscipit nunc, non gravida turpis libero vitae lorem.

NAME ★✘❤

IN GAME

NAME ★✘❤

FROM DRAMADRAMADUCK

NAME ★✘❤

IC inbox.

dormition — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:37:43 GMT

vriska.serket@kernos.net (4)	Incredi8ly Serious 8usiness	Day 20/Night
mitsuru.kirijo@kernos.net (5)	Medical supplies	Day 23/Morning

E-MAILS

TEXTS

EMAIL | VOICE MAIL | PHONE | TEXT

Stats & Permissions

dormition — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:33:39 GMT

character info.
NAME. Minato Arisato. SERIES. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES. AGE. February 12, age 19. HEIGHT&WEIGHT. 5'4", 130 lbs. APPEARANCE. On the left. Note that this version of him has been out of high school for over a year and doesn't wear his school uniform anymore.	STATUS. ■■■■■ \| A-OKAY. Nothing currently wrong with the guy! LODGINGS. Arrived \| Oct. 10 (Day 14) Staying \| W4-231
developments.
RESIDENCE. West 4-231. POSSESSIONS. His mp3 player, various snacks, some rope. WEAPONS. A one-handed sword and his Evoker, which means he has access to the three Persona Messiah, Helel and Thanatos. Their abilities wouldn't be exactly as listed under P3:FES because of skills carried through fusion. EXPLORATION. IDK HE'S NOT TOO INTERESTED IN THAT RIGHT NOW, that'll probably change if someone tells him to start exploring, though. GOALS. Make friends and help people. No, really, those are his goals. Also to get SEES home safely without them finding out about their tragic future.
permissions.
TRIGGERS. Hurting his friends will get him seriously cheesed off, and uh. He is the protagonist so you might want to be careful with that. Otherwise, he still sorta feels like he isn't supposed to be alive, so talking about death will make him pretty melancholy, reserved, and maybe a teensy bit of suicidal ideation. MEDICAL INFO. He used to be dead?? He sleeps and eats a lot. Tends to sleep more when he's upset. MENTAL INFO. Minato used to house Death in his mind, and also he likes to repress everything that upsets him, so his mind's kinda a funny place. Aside from the fact that his Persona "live" there, too, depending on how you interpret it. I love mind reading but if things head in that direction, you'll probably need a primer on his situation, l-lol. FOURTH-WALLING. If your character is from modern day Japan, P3 was pretty popular, so have at if that's the case. (He's really not going to care.) Otherwise it's not too likely anyone will know him. PHYSICAL CONTACT. KNOCK YOURSELF OUT. ROMANCE/SEXUAL RELATIONS. Minato is ~~a pimp~~ a bit confused about how this romance thing works, but recently he was dating Itsuki in DDD and has started to get a glimmer of understanding on how this is actually supposed to happen. He might get into relationships with people if he feels that's where they want the relationship to go, and he'll genuinely care about them, but he won't be a committed active participant. If you spend enough time with it he can form more genuine romantic feelings, but it takes a while. He's not adverse to more casual sexual contact, though; he's just not liable to initiate it. INJURE/KILL. He automatically recovers HP every turn depending on what Persona he has equipped, and he has a full heal ability, so he's seriously hard to take down. But actually injuring him I have no problem with, it's just difficult! lol. Death would be fun to play out with him, too, considering how many issues he has with it. DEVICE HACKING. GO AHEAD he probably won't care. THREADJACKING. I love this. Do it. ANYTHING ELSE. I realize he'll probably run into some people on the island that he had CR with at DDD, but I totally understand that not everyone wants to be affected by that sort of thing. Minato himself is well aware that different versions of each person exist and that no one is guaranteed to recognize or remember him, so he won't be put off by that. He is, though, very loyal, and is likely to hang around your character if he's been friends with them before. If you'd prefer he not tell them that he's known them in a previous incarnation, that's totally okay! I'd rather not retcon it just because friends have such an enormous influence on his personality and development, but it's completely IC for Minato to just. Never bring it up. So let me know, I'll probably ask if it's important CR, anyway! o/

App for exitvoid.

dormition — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 21:35:48 GMT

character.
CHARACTER NAME: Minato Arisato
SERIES: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3.
CANON POINT: A couple years post-canon.
AGE: 19.
APPEARANCE: Picture!

PREVIOUS GAME HISTORY: I played him at dramadramaduck for two years, so quite a lot happened to him. I'll put it in bullet point so that it's easier to follow (I hope).

→ Minato befriended Shinji Ikari from Evangelion, and through that also became friends with Asuka and Kaworu from the same world. When the Eva kids went through canon and ended up post-End of Eva, their world was left decimated, and they had nowhere to go. It was about November of the P3 timeline, and Minato invited them back to live in their dorm. They became de facto members of S.E.E.S, with Kaworu as an analytic backup type like Fuuka, and Asuka taking the drugs that allowed her to manifest her own Persona. (The consequences of her taking those drugs were understood and played out eventually.) Shinji was dropped at some point during this.

→ He also befriended Russia from Hetalia, calling him Ivan, and ended up a determined and steadfast friend of his. He learned some basic Russian through their association.

→ Itsuki Koizumi from Haruhi was one of Minato's first friends on the community, and slowly over time they became extremely close. When P3 canon finished, Minato was dead, or at least left stranded holding back Nyx in another dimension; Itsuki searched for and found a way to bring him back by making a deal with the Marquis from Neverwhere. Though they both owed the Marquis enormous favors, Minato did come back to life. I wrote up a brief summary and link roundup in case this needs more detail.

→ Alive again, Minato got a job working for Kanzeon Bosatsu from Saiyuki, and acquired his worldhopping capable mirror from her. Working for her mostly included forging signatures for her, doing more paperwork, and making popcorn when she watched interesting things in her lotus pool.

→ He got an apartment living with Asuka and Kaworu in Iwatodai. They both play violin, and convinced him to take up the viola. Minato took to it naturally, but wasn't in any way a prodigy at it.

→ Somewhere around this time we got an active Persona 4 cast, including Naoto Shirogane. Due to popular fan theories, the Naoto player and I agreed to have them be cousins who used to see each other when they were young and then lost touch after their respective parents died. They reconnected through the community with some awkwardness (at least on Minato's part). I timeskipped Minato one year to bring him up to the timeline the P4 cast was in for simplicity.

→ Shortly before I dropped him, he began dating Itsuki romantically. They weren't extremely serious about each other and were more testing it out. About this point is where he'd be pulled from to be played in Exitvoid.

PERSONALITY: As a person, Minato is withdrawn. That isn't to say he isn't social - merely untalkative and unemotional. Throughout the game he grows more and more responsive to people, starting out extremely biddable but becoming almost pro-active by the end. He is capable of becoming friends with virtually anyone, and ranks those friends, as is apparent, higher than his own life. He is almost absurdly loyal and just as absurdly silent about it. For him, actions speak almost everything; he says little more than what is absolutely necessary. What he does say, though, is usually perceptive and intuitive, both spot on and helpful. He takes almost every opportunity he can to help someone.

He's extremely mature by virtue of being extremely repressed. He has a whole barrel full of issues that rarely reach the surface, and for the purposes of most of his interactions, he's a strangely quiet and unresponsive little Japanese kid. But the reasoning behind why he's so quiet is more complicated than that. Although we know that he was orphaned at a young age, and that when he does appear as a high school junior he's unnaturally or at last unhealthily apathetic, the only clue we have as to what life was like for him in the time in between is that he'd lost his memories of his parents' death, and subsequently also the memories of the massive Shadow, Death, being sealed into him. This amnesia was not from a supernatural source: this was his psyche's way of dealing with those events.

This would set a trend for him. Minato frequently and commonly represses any and all emotions, particularly the stronger, more negative ones. He has abandonment issues and something of a martyr complex, because he doesn't attach himself to people easily. The events of the game forced him to become attached, and while post-game he's more comfortable with others and being friendly, and is more in tune with social cues, he still latches onto what friends he makes with both hands. He will literally do anything for them.

But, as mentioned briefly above, Minato is definitely a moral person. He is a people pleaser and desperate to belong, in a way, but this is balanced by a strong ability to read and understand those around him. He is sympathetic and empathetic, and will never resort to violence if there is another option. To Minato, there are no 'villains' - there are only people. He isn't one to judge. After all, it takes a certain kind of person to accept with equanimity voices only he can hear and people only he can see.

ABILITIES: → He has the RPG protagonist ability to be good with any weapon he picks up.

→ He can also summon his Persona. He's an oddity even in canon in that he can summon any of them that he wants, but he can only carry a dozen of them at once. Per the rules, if accepted I'll pick three Persona for him to bring with him.

What exactly is a Persona? It's a physical manifestation of someone's inner personality. Minato's mutable nature means that he has a lot of these. What it actually looks like is a kid shooting himself in the head (it's not a real gun, though) and summoning a big mythological spirit or demon. He can perform a lot of various magic spells and physical techniques with this, including elemental attacks, healing, and attribute boosting (support).

→ Usually by the end of the game he has max courage, intelligence, and charm. This means he's good at getting people to do what he wants, has little self-preservation instinct, and was the top student in his grade at school.

→ He's basically a very powerful jack of all trades. If this needs capping in any way, just let me know and I'll be happy to cooperate. :)

POSSESSIONS: His mp3 player, his Evoker, and a one-handed sword. The three Persona he would arrive with are Messiah, Helel and Thanatos. Their abilities wouldn't be exactly as listed under P3:FES because of skills carried through fusion.

samples.
JOURNAL ENTRY SAMPLE: Examples of posts can be found here: One Two Three Four. If you need anything else, let me know!

"Love and Death"

dormition — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 23:40:39 GMT

Shall we, too, rise forgetful from our sleep,
And shall my soul that lies within your hand
Remember nothing, as the blowing sand
Forgets the palm where long blue shadows creep
When winds along the darkened desert sweep?

Or would it still remember, tho' it spanned
A thousand heavens, while the planets fanned
The vacant ether with their voices deep?
Soul of my soul, no word shall be forgot,
Nor yet alone, beloved, shall we see

The desolation of extinguished suns,
Nor fear the void wherethro' our planet runs,
For still together shall we go and not
Fare forth alone to front eternity.

Sarah Teasdale.

Defriend

dormition — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:04:16 GMT

This journal isn't being used in a game anymore, and will probably be used for private RP from now on, so please defriend it. :)

dormition

OOC

dormition — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:33:37 GMT

ANON MEME

Use it if you need to. I also have his HMD up and anon-enabled, as always.

31st rebirth [video]

dormition — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:18:50 GMT

...Whose clothes are these?

[They're Kamina's, in fact, though Minato's wearing them with much less confidence. The cape hangs limply and his chest is very pale and very scrawny, though there's an undertone of muscle to anyone that looks that closely.

Minato himself just looks bemused and faintly peeved. He has better things to be worrying about, after all.] They won't come off.

30th rebirth

dormition — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:39:40 GMT

Who's going to the Halloween party?

Itsuki, you should come so you can meet Naoto-kun.

29th rebirth [lol better do something with this virus before it ends]

dormition — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:55:52 GMT

Itsuki, I went grocery shopping today. I thought I'd make onigiri and seaweed salad since I didn't get you any frozen dinners... You like seaweed, right?

28th rebirth [RL with Naoto; backdated to the 6th]

dormition — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 02:55:24 GMT

Minato spent his time on the train to Inaba gearing up his courage. It didn't take long, actually; the Shadows reappearing on the community had the added effect of bringing him in mind of that fateful year, and Minato as a leader never doubted himself. This was the right choice, telling Naoto-kun. It was just cowardly to keep things from him.

Not that he was eager to bring up his death. That was one topic he wasn't sure how to broach.

He walked steadily to the park, hands in his pockets as always, listening to his music. He skipped past the Russian composer that came on: angry strings weren't right for the day. The following techno was much better.

27th rebirth

dormition — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:26:47 GMT

Captain Harkness, can I talk to you?

[Locked to S.E.E.S members, including Kaworu and Asuka]
I know we've disbanded, but Shadows have started cropping up again. Shinjiro-senpai said they were at Torchwood once, and now with all the kidnappings in Inaba, they might be related. In any case, something's going on. I think we should be on the look out. Even if our mission is over, we're still a team.

If you don't want to get involved, I understand... but I thought it was worth talking about. And it should go without saying that if one of us is in trouble, the rest of us will help them, right?

26th rebirth [accidental voice]

dormition — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 05:00:13 GMT

[Crackling of static before the sound of tentative strings. It's not exactly clear what's going on - a note flubbed here and there, abrupt starts and stops; it's Minato tuning his viola.

There's nothing but quiet breathing. It's slow, deep. It has the indefinable quality of weariness. And then the first opening strains of Bach's Prelude No. 1 filter through, soft and hesitant at first but gaining speed as he falls into the music.

Despite being undeniably melancholy in tone, there's an element of hope to the song, fierce persistence that suits Minato well. He goes quite comfortably through the majority of the first movement, perhaps a mistake here or there, but overall a passable rendition and certainly one played with emotion. And then, partway through the song - about two minutes in - there's a long, high screech as his bow slides off the strings, abrupt and startling.

Breathing, still quiet but louder now. Faint rustling as he puts away the viola and walks to the computer, sits down, and sees it was recording.

He doesn't say anything. He realizes he never got to the climax.]

Taxi Request Post

dormition — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:55:53 GMT

So, it's occurred to me that DDD is in need of a new taxi character, and I thought I'd volunteer Minato for that if anyone has need. Basically, if your character needs a worldhop, you're probably safe to assume that Minato gave it to them - definitely if he's friends with you. There are a few characters that he wouldn't, just because he's a moral and practical person and isn't about to go around helping people hurt others, but for the most part, he's your guy! So just post here letting me know if you need me to assume that he gave your character a worldhop at some point.

For your own reference, he travels by way of a small handheld mirror Kanzeon gave him, and he is a remarkably drywall, unresponsive taxi service. He likely wouldn't ask too many questions and he wouldn't need repayment, though he'd take it if offered. He also has a great memory for people he's met, which is why I'd prefer it if you'd let me know if he's giving your character a ride, LOL. From that point on he'd pay a little more attention to them, and hey, who knows - maybe we could get some CR out of it. :3

25th rebirth [RL with Russia; forward-dated to, uh, idek]

dormition — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 01:47:26 GMT

[It was some days after Ivan's post that it occurred to Minato that he might not be posting simply because he couldn't. So, armed with a laptop - something that had cost him the last of his funds from his job with Kanzeon, who had disappeared from the community, a fact he in turn had kept from his friends - he made his way to Stalingrad.

This time, he cast Tetrakarn before arriving, having the foresight to at least try to prevent another wound.

Glancing around the rubble cautiously, Minato was surprised at the lack of fighting. It seemed unexpectedly peaceful. Where was Ivan? Was it finally over?]

24th rebirth [private | hackable with great difficulty]

dormition — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 02:01:22 GMT

I want to see them again.

I want to... ... ...

... I can't.

23rd rebirth

dormition — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 13:41:39 GMT

Kanzeon, I might need to take a couple days off of work. There's something I need to take care of.

Ivan, I got you an mp3 player but I'm not sure what kind of music you'd like on it. I can always change it for you later, but giving you just classical seems limiting...

Ryoji... whatever you want to do about the situation, I'm behind you.

22nd rebirth [RL with Naoto]

dormition — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 01:16:24 GMT

[Much as Minato tried to be calm and at ease at all times, family still gave him pause. He didn't want to strain his tenuous link with... Naoto, not Naoko - by detailing the way the community worked. Ordinarily, it wouldn't have bothered him if she didn't believe what he said; but here, now, after everything that had happened, family was beginning to take on a new meaning.

What that meaning was, he didn't know. He put it out of his mind as he knocked on the door to her hotel room, shifting his weight slightly from foot to foot and removing his headphones.]

apart(mental) • DYSFUNCTION JUNCTION FST

dormition — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 05:17:51 GMT

( FAKE CUT FAKE CUT )

21st rebirth

dormition — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 01:31:11 GMT

"It's worth it."

20th rebirth [locked to Aigis ; hackable]

dormition — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 01:20:42 GMT

I'm sorry about yesterday.

I don't want to limit you... and... I didn't plan on coming back.

IC Contact Post

dormition — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:15:35 GMT

voice(mail) • text • email • music • picture • video

"It's Minato. Leave a message."

19th rebirth [RL for the Dysfunction Junction]

dormition — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 05:07:09 GMT

[Continued from here.]

Worldhopping by mirror was fairly anti-climactic. Only as the familiar surroundings of the small apartment he shared with Asuka and Kaworu shimmered into view did he realize that the modernity of it might be disconcerting for Ivan.

Oh well.

He glanced over at him in passive, veiled concern, taking note of how battered he seemed regardless of Horus' healing. He'd try not to press, but -

"How are you?"

He was worried.

18th rebirth

dormition — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 19:55:44 GMT

...Sorry I was gone. I was sleeping.

[locked to Itsuki]

I'm considering telling you something.