#my feelings are messy but I do appreciate it

[thatmooncake]

…

*takes a deep breath*

People here are insanely nice and I love and appreciate you all but I feel ridiculously lonely and everywhere I look it seems like everyone around me is BFFs and talking about fun stuff and I don’t feel like I have really many people to talk to about fandom-related things on here where it doesn’t end up trailing off and mostly I feel like I’m just bothering people so it feels like every time I post a picture or an idea or analysis it’s like I’m getting up on stage and staring into a sea of faces like I’m some sort of stranger, and it feels stupid to be saying that in such a friendly space, and meanwhile everyone seems to be friends and are doing things together all the time, and while I really really want to be a part of that I frequently feel like I’m seen as some weird mix of unapproachable and forgettable even when I interact and regardless of who or what is behind that and how irrational it is, and regardless of who can relate (gosh I’m sending you guys the biggest hugs), the outcome is the same, I’m not a part of any group or really of anything much but I’m told I’m supposed to feel glad about arbitrary numbers and keep posting and grin and bear it when people seem to resent me and think it’s their god given right to send me hate mail and joyfully let me know they’ve reposted my stuff to sites I don’t go on and make rude comments and start unsolicited RPs in my DMs and talk shit about other people I barely know in my asks. And the thing is maybe all of that is my fault and maybe I deserve it but even if it is and even if I do the feeling is still there, and it’s not a good one, and it’s not what I joined this fandom for.

[crescentfool]

I noticed you're a Ryomina!!! How did you get into it? And do you have any good fanfics/doujinshi you can advice me to read? ANYTHING on Ryomina actually? I'm dying for anything about them!!! Thanks!!

yes!!! it's me!!! i'm ryomina fan (one of many)!!! thank you for visiting my askbox, i'll do my best to answer all of the questions because it always makes me happy to see that ryomina sparks joy for people! :D

...this got really long because i like linking to things, so i'm putting it under a read more (IM VERY NORMAL ABOUT THEM)

how did i get into it? i got into persona 3 around august 2021 through the movies- at the time my only experience with the persona series was with P5R / P5S / P5D. p3 was the one that interested me the most (i thought minato was very pretty + i caught wind that the themes of the game were very resonant with people). i picked the movies over the game because i'm a guy who plays games at a snails pace, haha.

admittedly, i did latch onto ryomina because of the scenes in the third and fourth movie (i have mentioned in the tags of this art i drew how much i felt like i was exploding and blasting off to the moon watching it).

but what really dug me into the ryomina hole (and what has kept me there) was thinking about how much ryoji encapsulates the themes of p3- and how interconnected his fate is with minato. i wrote some musings about their dynamic here, if you're interested!

tl;dr: what if we were both boys and we were mirror images of each other and i inherited your kindness and looks but god doomed our narrative even though we're soulmates

on ryomina fanworks recommendations:

regarding fics: i'm going to assume that you've probably read the fics that have the highest kudo ratings on them, so i won't really be listing those.

a personal favorite fic that i always hold close to my heart is Eurydice's Vow by crescentmoontea, which explores the idea of ryomina in p5r's third semester. this was the first fic i read about ryomina and it made me tear up lots...

i also think a lot about I Alone Await You by Nail_gun, literally scrumptious writing that captures the ryomina dynamic so so well. actually check out Nail_gun's other ryomina fics while you're at it too!

other fun fic i'm fond of: can't get my mind out of those memories (what were they?) by foxmulder_whereartthou. ryoji being homeless lives rent free in my head and it's all because of this fic. there's a bunch of other fun ryominas from the same author too (i still need to read them)

BkZa555 also has some fun AU scenarios if you're into that too, notably with Zagreus (P5-Setting, Ryoji focus) and The Definition of Insanity (TIME LOOP fuckery!), but they're currently ongoing.

these were some ones that came to my mind first- as i have the strongest recollection reading them. admittedly i haven't really been reading fic this year, so i don't have many recommendations from fic that came out this year. but if you're so inclined to let ryomina consume your soul, i definitely recommend giving the newer works in the ryomina tag a look-see and see if it strikes your fancy!

as a side note, i do have a few ryomina fics that i've bookmarked on my ao3 here, though i have to say that i'm not sure how well they hold up in terms of like... what i would seek out of a fic these days. but they made past me happy so i bookmarked them, LOL. it's kind of outdated (my collection of fic recs has my old username *disintegrates*).

regarding doujinshi: i have not read all the ryomina doujinshi available, but as a starting point, please take a look at this list from pandora-scans from livejournal!

notably, this is where you can find the strawberry-chan say good bye doujin- which features a small and cute comic from shuji sogabe (the p3/p4 manga artist), as well as other artists. the existence of this doujinshi is the funniest thing to me because it's like "HEY if you're wondering what the volume 8 cover is really gay it's because sogabe contributed to a ryomina doujin." this fact makes my head spin (positive). it explains a lot about the manga.

regarding persona side material:

i know you didn't ask for these but i thought that i mine as well list these too, since i feel that the side materials have some fun expansions on ryoji and minato's interactions. i haven't... watched/read all of these but, hey, i like to share these things!

for comic anthologies for the persona series (some of which have ryoji!). if you're interested in reading them, here's a scanlation index from maboroshi-no on tumblr. i don't think this is a comprehensive list, but i think it will be a great starting point!

for some translations of the persona 3 drama cds, check out imaginary-numbers on dreamwidth! ryoji and minato interactions can specifically be found in the persona 3 character drama cd vol. 1, and for the audio + english subs, you can watch this video on youtube:

and ohh the musical. ryoji singing and dancing gives me so much joy. i haven't watched the musical in it's entirety (only fragments), but here are some links that may be of interest to you:

Ao no Kakusei (The Blue Awakening), Sakuya version - playlist for the first p3 musical, translated by Phoenix Maiika.

Ao no Kakusei (The Blue Awakening), Kotone version - playlist for the femc version!! also translated by Phoenix Maiika on YouTube.

Persona 3: The Weird Masquerade (English Subtitles) - playlist by rumio!

P3 Weird Musical DVD & Soundtrack Booklet Scans by rumio_k - twitter thread that links to these funsies, if you don't have twitter, here's the publicly shared drive link.

god. these sure are a lot of links, huh? i hope you enjoy them- pick and choose whatever sounds most appealing! (if this overwhelmed you im sorry GKLHLDH i just like being very comprehensive in my answers about things so i got carried away).

and as a reminder, you (and anyone else reading) are always welcome to browse my tags/archive and reblog things from there anytime! i have... nearly 300 ryomina posts which, while mostly consists of art, has a few fics, meta, hcs, gifs, memes, and whatnot scattered about.

or browse the minato and ryoji tags too! there's.. nearly 1k minato. and 500 ish ryoji. and they're going to keep on growing because i can't stop being obsessed with archiving these things. god help me i am so deep in this hole called ryomina hell and now you're here too. welcome aboard!

there's always going to be a lot of fun ways to enjoy rotating ryomina around in one's brain, i think- they're a pairing with such fun symbolic imagery that is So Deep (to me) but ALSO they're immensely hilarious and weird guys (affectionate). so i love to share these things in hopes that it gives you joy too! they are the most couple ever (to me) (i'm biased)

thank you again for the ask! i hope it can satiate your need for more ryomina, and be a nice aide in exploring the p3 fanspace :)

[corisbrainrot]

if you dont mind.. can we get aaron art (pdh?)

this guy,,

[swashbucklery]

Just wanted to say thanks for your 'queer as in i love you' tag. I always like seeing it. It's a good reminder that not everything about being queer is a struggle or adversarial even if the news/current events usually make it feel that way.

This was so lovely to hear, thank you so much for taking the time to let me know that.

This year has been the first where I've been able to make a conscious effort to recover from the Being Essential Experience, and I have been thinking a lot about identity and what brings me joy and realized how much I missed the happiness and beauty of my queerness. Not that I became less queer during the past three years, but - being stripped down to a task or a role left so little space for personhood altogether. I am fortunate to be at a point in my life where I love my queerness so much and I'm grateful that it's a part of who I am. I love love love posts about other people nurturing their own queerness as I revive mine. Like a houseplant left unwatered on a radiator for too long, it's bouncing back.

And I think more than ever it's so important to incorporate both. Unfortunately one of the tasks of our community is resistance right now, and anger at injustice, naming injustice, is an important part of that. But another critical task is solidarity and community building. If our siblings are being harmed where do they heal, where do they find safety and care and affirmation and love. How do we stand with them so that they have the energy to resist again. How do we make sure that we are not divided, because a divided community is easier to harm than a whole one.

[honeydew-sillies]

Hello so I did not think this was going to end up as a comic but it did so... oops?

But this Serirei fic by @tigglerex absolutely destroyed me so I HAD to draw it omg. The way op wrote lee Reigen... fantastic wonderful. I hope you like the drawings !!

[simplyghosting]

Helping out a friend with some family legal problems and they sent me some of the text exchanges for documentation and my immediate reaction to reading what my friend said was

[valaratminaforaldrar]

genuinely confused sometimes when people compliment my renders like are we looking at the same renders. are you sure you're not confusing me with someone else

[aqqleshiqqing-archive]

What are the most important relationship events for you? Drop a timeline! wiiiith Steveeennnn

my favorite event with stevaide has to do with what I created, called the slateport slowburn - this happens before the actual events of RGB and the arcs to come after. basically the whole stevaide romance happened before the canonical events (all of them). everything will be written under readmore :]

stevaide has two "arcs", but I'll just focus on the one where the slowburn comes into play.

so for context - steven and jaide (aged 11/8) had met each other when they were younger though it only lasted an entire day. young steven was in johto to go rock hunting with his beldum when he was harassed by wild zubats in the cave, and young jaide who was just collecting apricorns nearby the area - heard him and came to rescue him. they had a brief exchange before he had to leave, but to steven this left a major impact in him. before he departs, he gave her a shiny rock as a way to say thanks before leaving. she also notes his beldum, saying she never seen one before and would love to see it in it's final evolved state. (despite how much information is displayed here, there's still a lot of bits I left out, like. 90% but I just summarized it and it sounds kind of bad here ngl PFFTT)

and now. years later (aged 22/19?) jaide goes to hoenn as she hears that hoenn prides in contests and she hoped her aprijuice business could work well here since they're performance enhancers. she eventually became popular in hoenn and was regarded as "the johto lady in slateport city" since slateport has that little corner of little shops near the beach and everyone would always go visit her there. steven, on the other hand - is aiming to become the next champion for hoenn. he hears about this "popular aprijuice drink" and that's where he suddenly remembers, and the rock he gave her became her necklace - he remembers the rock because it became her necklace later.

he attempts to say hello to her, hoping she'd remember him - but. she doesn't remember him. this is surprising to him because he remembered that moment years ago so well. maybe it was because he thought he was going to die, so it's burned in his memory. counting the days before steven would take on the league, he would try to visit jaide who always appeared on slateport and try to befriend her - though she wasn't willing to build that connection with him because he ended up becoming an irritance to her. there's a little gag where jaide's now evolved ursaring is constantly on the look out if he appeared or not and would notify her about it LMAO.

but eventually steven does give up, and decides to focus on the league and battles the e4 and champion (which, tbh I wouldn't know who but he just fought a previous champion)

eventually he did win, and the whole hoenn region cheered for him. he won with his partner pokemon, metagross. which jaide in turn realizes that this man was the boy she saved with his beldum years ago and he was actually trying to reconnect with her as old friends. she felt guilty, and maybe she could get a chance to tell him that she does remember him? say sorry maybe? who knows.

after the whole hype over steven being the champion has died down, steven for the last time - would visit slateport and tell her that he's sorry for being a nag and won't bother her again, but to his surprise this time, she comes fourth to him to congratulate and admit that she actually does know him but due to the years, had forgotten his face. but she still wants to be friends with him. a rough beginning to rekindle their friendship, but everything's been said and done - and eventually they got along quickly.

it just so happens that jaide is actually staying in hoenn for a while, so she's still a bit unfamiliar with the region - but since she's friends with steven, he happily takes her around the area to introduce her their lifestyle, and this is where their friendship developed into that of a romantic attraction. (she fell first AHA)

[getting-messi]

some mf on instagram tried to play the "saying one is better than the other is just an opinion, neither is factual" card... literally EVERYTHING says messi is better 😭. the stats, the awards, the trophies, even the eye-test like,,, you wanna prefer a criminal for whatever reason, go ahead, we can't stop you but there's literally nothing in your facor if you decide to pass him somehow being "better" as a fact. not one thing. i did NOT put up with 6 years of that goddamn crying picture being recycled over and over again for mfs to spout their "let's appreciate both!" bs... the winner celebrates and the loser explains 🤷‍♀️

GIRLLLLLLL LMAOOOOO!

I think we can confidently say that believing that Messi isn't the greatest is ignoring the facts - it really couldn't get anymore factual 🤣

They really are making up nonsense to try and discredit Messi. Some of the arguments pre-world cup were CRAZY! People tried to say that Messi couldn't win trophies without Iniesta and Xavi - he did and went onto win many. People criticized his lack of knockout round goals at the world cup - he scored in every round in 2022. People tried to say that he doesn't show up in the big moments - showed up in the biggest way possible in the final. LIKE??????

you're absolutely right - i do not care if people like that criminal over Messi (like weird flex but whatever) but saying that they are comparable or that he is even CLOSE to how great Messi is - is just laughable.

[alexandriteobscuraarchive]

((I've done a few of these today, I know, but I'm going to get one last blog interaction reminder out of my system rq. I'm coming from a good/positive place with this (although if I'm being honest it can be a source of upset/frustration if I'm having anxiety, that isn't the case here so don't worry!) and hopefully afterwards I'll be able to do actual ic content after work and whatnot. I appreciate everyone who reads this and makes the attempt to understand where I'm coming from.

Compliments are nice and I truly do appreciate each and every one. I know you guys mean well whether we interact or not but please don't let compliments be the only way you engage with me. Again I have to stress that I appreciate them but at the end of the day if that's the only thing you send in it begins to feel a bit.... hollow for lack of a better term and I hate feeling that way about something that's coming from a genuine place. If you truly like what I do that much then let's shift focus and actually turn it into legitimate ic engagement. Tell me you like something; a muse, a plot, a vibe, whatever else, and then let's work on writing that thing, no matter what it is, together. I love y'all but at the end of the day I don't want people who just stay on the sidelines and occasionally say something nice, I want you to fuckin jump in here with me.

You like a muse? Prompt them.

You like a muse but don't know how to approach them for whatever reason? Tell me and I'll help you.

You like multiple muses but can't decide who to interact with first? Guess what babe, you're getting the party platter and 24/7 muse service.

You aren't sure about a muse for whatever reason? I'll teach you about them/help you figure out if they're right for you.

There are literally no limits whatsoever and honestly? At the end of the day I'm here to write with people, whatever it takes. Again: I'm here to write WITH people rather than just for or around them. If you can muster up the nerve to send me ooc love then surely you can do it ic as well, all it takes is a shift in perspective, priority, focus, whatever word you'd like to use. Engaging ooc is great but I want you to actually engage from an ic standpoint just as much and all I'm asking is that you guys keep that in mind because it's incredibly important.))

[spinkt]

Looked over to the middle couch cushion and saw a big spider (big for, like, northeastern US house spider) and went "oh you're a big one!". It was black, looked fuzzy, had two white stripes on its back. I could see easily under it while it was moving on the side of the cushion. "You're fine," I told it, "as long as you stay over there." It crawled under the overhanging cushion, and I checked on where it was once cuz I couldn't see it anymore, and then I kind of ignored it. Until I started being very aware that I didn't know where it was, and then I felt itchy crawly. Look down, fuckin thing is on the end of my big toe just chillin. It got flung, and is now perhaps under the TV cabinet on the other side of the room, and now I feel all gross and can't put my feet down on the floor anymore.

[highwaydiamonds]

As someone who hates the sisyphean task of cleaning, how dare my mental health prefer a clean room.

[semercury]

I never asked for the burden of existence.

[chisatowo]

Okie I took a shower and now I'm normal again (lying) anyways look at my son

[naldthal-thetraders]

Looking back at my sketches & lined pieces, I feel either always..... gain a different visual approach. My lineart used to be thin, until I started doing the bold outline to pop things out more, but also I like my sketches a lot more.

[asakamasanobu]

simply overcome with feelings for ricchan today …… i love him so much i must speak this out into the world