Telos

[Tara]

Phew, this shrine took a lot longer than I thought it would to be completed! I've been working on it since around the end of May, but it's finally finished. If you follow me on Twitter, you've more than likely seen me rambling about it and how productive I've been the past couple days...

But, here it is! Telos, my shrine to Hamuko, or Minako Arisato, from Persona 3 Portable. There's a lot more content on the Persona series (well, mainly Persona 3) this time around. It's mostly just rambling about theories and the added Social Links, but it was so much fun to make!! If anyone is interested in affiliation or link exchanges, I'd be happy to oblige.

Also! No, I'm not done: along with this release comes something else. Since I have so many Persona shrines done and kept in mind for the future, I decided to make a Persona subdomain that lists all my Persona shrines and future projects. It's called The Aeon! I'll still keep my Persona shrines listed on my main page at besaid.org, but they'll also be listed separately here.

I'm keeping the links the same just for simplicity's sake, and also because my links won't work if I use a / subdomain. When I get more money I may actually buy a domain to go with this, but we'll see.

[Mikari]

Yes! Minako, I've so been looking forward to this! You did great! The whole collection rocks! So much insight and great writing, cute layouts too.

[Tara]

Thank you so much, Mikari! It took me forever to decide on a layout for her... orz It was a lot of fun talking about different theories and how Minako/Hamuko brought the S.E.E.S. group a lot closer together.

[Kibumie]

Congrats on finishing this lovely site Tara~ I can't believe you just started working on it a couple of weeks ago.! It's very informative and the layout is so cute and adorable. As well as your persona subdomain! I really like the font you've chosen for it too. Good luck on your future projects!

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I should really finish this game xD

[Tara]

Hahaha, getting crappy hours at work gives me way too much free time, but thank you!! I usually don't write too informative, but lately I've been wanting to just for fun and, well, it is a lot of fun, lol.

[neo]

Hi, Tara!
I haven't played any Persona games, but I really wanted to comment on your layout. It is so pretty!!!
And, I think your other Persona shrines really compliment each other with their layouts as well!

[anon]

Minato, Persona 3's original male protagonist, had a more introverted personality with a morbid sense of humour. In contrast, Hamuko has a more sunny and bright personality.

I saw this on your site and felt the need to make a comment about this because there's really more to the differences in the male protagonist and the female than just "they act differently." This is mostly because of gender roles at play and the need to fit the characters into roles that people can socially accept as a character that can be popular. The ideal gender role for males is quiet and introspective (no emotion) while ideally girls should be more concerned about their relationships, be cheerful, talkative, and friendly. Japan and other Eastern countries enforce these gender roles more strictly than Western cultures since the default being is male, and if girls aren't "girly", then they aren't desirable. Which is frustrating in itself.

If the female protagonist had a similar personality to the male protagonist she probably wouldn't be as well received; not just because the male protagonist already carries these traits but also because Japan (esp. the male-dominated gaming consumer market) doesn't want to see an emo, grumpy girl.

[Tara]

Minato, Persona 3's original male protagonist, had a more introverted personality with a morbid sense of humour. In contrast, Hamuko has a more sunny and bright personality.

I saw this on your site and felt the need to make a comment about this because there's really more to the differences in the male protagonist and the female than just "they act differently." This is mostly because of gender roles at play and the need to fit the characters into roles that people can socially accept as a character that can be popular. The ideal gender role for males is quiet and introspective (no emotion) while ideally girls should be more concerned about their relationships, be cheerful, talkative, and friendly. Japan and other Eastern countries enforce these gender roles more strictly than Western cultures since the default being is male, and if girls aren't "girly", then they aren't desirable. Which is frustrating in itself.

If the female protagonist had a similar personality to the male protagonist she probably wouldn't be as well received; not just because the male protagonist already carries these traits but also because Japan (esp. the male-dominated gaming consumer market) doesn't want to see an emo, grumpy girl.

That's actually a really interesting point that I've never thought of before. Though there are Japanese video game characters that are female and more stoic, like Lighting from Final Fantasy XIII, I definitely agree with you. Japanese feminism is so different from the Western version so I tend to stay away from the topic entirely unless I know 100% for sure what I'm talking about.

When I have some free time I'll add a blurb about that to the page, though, thank you for that tidbit of information! I really do like Hamuko's personality, but sometimes I wonder how people would react if the personalities were switched.

@Neo: Ahhh, thank you!!! I'm so finicky with my designs so I'm glad you like them. /w\

[SnowRayjah]

Tara, I already mentioned it on twitter. But I love it! I think its brilliant. I love hte bright an dcheery colors (they fit well with Hamuko). And I loved all the information. I actually really enjoy your thoughts on the differences between the male versus female leads. I've thought of women as more nurturing (not that men can't be, I know lots of nurturing and responsible men), so I always assumed that was why she was able to make more out of her friendships with the SEES members than Minato was. Thank you for the fun read!

[Tara]

Aww, thanks Snow! I'm really glad you like it!! The first layout I had done for Hamuko was greyscale but I swapped it for the one I'm using now because it just didn't seem to fit properly...

Hmm, I think that could be part of the reason though! Hamuko seems to have the same kind of motherly instincts that Mitsuru has, albeit in a different form. She's so protective of all her friends, just as they are super protective of her and it's so cute.