♀ folkmore application.

[reloves]

★ Character Information ★

Character Name: Minako Aino
Character Age: 17, both physically and mentally, though she technically does have a very, very long past life's worth of memories on top of it.
Character Species: Human (though technically alien, depending on which definition you'd go by, but she was reborn as a human and looks human, so I'm going with that.)
Current Health: Alive, uninjured.
Outfit: Here!

Character Canon: Sailor Moon
Link to History: The canon's world and story and Minako's own.
Canon Point: Post Stars arc.
Canon Iteration: CRAU from isleofavalon.
Canon Iteration Explanation: Though Minako is mostly the same as her canon counterpart, there's one major difference - something she learned over the time of her stay in Avalon. Very early on in canon Minako is told that she is destined to be hopeless when it comes to love for all eternity, which she takes way too much to heart and fully starts to believe in. And while she was still troubled over that in Avalon at first, she learned through the help of other people and her now-girlfriend Monika that it is actually possible for her to have love in her life, and that it won't diminish her duty. She's learned that it's okay to have both, rather than having to choose between love and duty and making herself actively unhappy while sticking to only one.

★ Folkmore Roles & Attributes ★

Skills: Singing. Leadership. Volleyball. Being dramatic. Giving romantic advice. Still getting to school on time despite oversleeping. (Maybe that one can be filed under 'general athleticism'.)
Canon Abilities: Here, over at the powers section on the Wiki!
Role: Legend
Role Qualities/Attributes: Angel-like wings that will manifest in the colour of her powers and aura, which is a general golden-yellow-ish hue. A halo in a similar hue surrounding her head that manifests in the shape of a wreath with rose-like flowers in it, similar to the background here. Her eyes change to a similar golden hue whenever she gets very emotional.
Role Reasoning: At first I was hesitating between familiar and legend for Minako - mostly since she contains the duality in the sense that she as a person is all about serving one particular person, but on the other hand, she's also a natural leader. It's the last quality and how big of a part it is of Minako that makes me lean towards being a legend instead. Minako is courageous and self-sacrificing to a fault, making her slot into the role perfectly. Considering how much Minako naturally strives for perfection with her usual duty, I feel like she might take the duties of the legend role very seriously too when she lears of them, and it'll be fun to play around with seeing how much she can stick to them and how much she might overwork herself just a little bit too much because of them.

★ Personality ★

Option 2. Choose FOUR-FIVE of the following questions to answer and expand upon. You may choose a fifth question if you feel it is integral to your character's personality. Each answer has a 100-300 word requirement.

What is the most important and defining relationship(s) in your character's life and why?

This is easily the question one could answer the quickest about Minako, but also the one that defines her the most. After all, despite the fact she has had multiple important relationships in her life, and even has a girlfriend now, the one that has always defined her the most is her relationship to Usagi/Sailor Moon/Princess Serenity. The girl is Minako's best friend in their current life, but also her princess - both in her past life and in this one. And though Minako is not the only person assigned to protect Usagi, since she's doing it together with her friends, she is the leader of the bunch, and she's always taken this task incredibly seriously.

It shows mostly in the way Minako always seems to consider this duty before anything else. At the start of canon (by which I mean the prequel Sailor V spinoff) we see Minako as an entirely normal 13 year old, living life like any 13 year old girl would. But the moment she regains her memories of her past life at the end of said spinoff series, it's like she changes entirely. She becomes much more serious, seeming to commit her entire life to this duty again on the spot, despite literally being 13 to 14 years old at that point. Despite her age, and despite not having met the girl yet in their current life, Minako is already taking her duty as part of her relationship with Usagi so incredibly serious, willing to throw away her ordinary life for it in an instant. Sure, she starts opening up again and joking more again later on, but there's no doubt this relationship changed the entire core of Minako's being.

What is a headcanon (or two) you feel strongly about and that you prefer playing your character with? How is this supported in canon and why do you think it benefits the character's story?

The main headcanon I really enjoy is the theory that Minako was meant as Usagi's (or Princess Serenity, if we're talking about their past life, since that's where it all started) body double. It's basically implied in canon, but since it's never explicitly said that way, it still skirts the line between being actually canon and just a headcanon.

There's plenty of evidence for it in canon too. Minako and Usagi look incredibly similar, sharing both hair colour and eye colour, not to mention that they both let their hair grow fairly long. Then there's the fact that Minako does - very briefly - pretend to be the Moon Princess when she first meets the other sailor soldiers in canon, basically pretending she is Usagi.

I mostly like this headcanon because it truly leans into Minako's character. Of course Minako, incredibly devoted to both her princess and her duty, would be willing to be said princess' actual body double - mostly intended to try and let her become the target of enemies instead of her actual princess, just like when she pretends to be the Moon Princess. Minako is fine with it if she gets hurt, but she'd never want to let Usagi get hurt in her place. It shows just how dutiful and self-sacrificing Minako is, to a point where she'd even be willing to throw away her entire own identity for her princess.

What does your character feel like they struggle with still? Where could they improve? This could be physically, mentally, emotionally, or otherwise.

This question is so fascinating because there's a huge gap between what Minako believes she struggles with and what she actually struggles with.

Minako is, after all, incredibly hard on herself. She's the textbook example of a perfectionist, and though she can be critical of others because of this as well, she is always much more critical of herself. Even when it comes down to things she truly can't help, like during the Dream arc in the manga where the other sailor soldiers gain their upgraded powers before she does, Minako never blames the circumstances, but always blames herself and her own - in her opinion - lacking abilities. Somehow everything has to always be her fault, and she always feels like she could solve any situation if only she could do just a little bit better.

While in truth this is the exact thing Minako struggles with: taking duties overly seriously, and always placing them solely on her own shoulders, rather than learning to share the burden. It had to be said that Minako is already getting a little bit better at this due to her stay in Avalon, accepting that she can have things in her life aside from just her duty, but she still hasn't gotten over her habit of still taking her duty overly seriously aside from that.

What famous folklore, legend, or myth would you associate your character with? Are they literally inspired by Snow White? Do they have similar struggles or energy as Red Riding Hood?

Canonically Minako is heavily associated - or perhaps I should say tends to associate herself - with Venus and/or Aphorodite-- as in the goddess of love and beauty. This is, however, a highly ironic comparison when it comes down to it. Granted, it's mostly used in the sense of Minako claiming that she's amazing at anything involving romance and giving romantic advice, but when you compare the mythological figure of Aphrodite with Minako, there's actually a huge contrast. Aphrodite is often portrayed as someone whimsical. Someone who'd cheat on her husband with a more attractive man because she felt like it, someone who causes the entire Trojan War just because she whimsically wanted a golden apple. Aphrodite constantly thinks of herself first, and while she does help out some mortals, she seems to mostly just cause trouble because of her self-interested nature.

Minako, on the other hand, is actually selfless to a fault. Sure, when you see her being her usual ditzy self, it might be tempting to compare her to Aphrodite. She seems kind of empty-headed, overly dramatic, the way the goddess tends to be portrayed in mythological stories. But Minako, at her core, is actually the complete opposite of it, even if it might take people who only know her on a superficial level a while to see it.

★ Player Information ★

Player Name: Jelle
Pronouns: She/her
Are you over 18?: Yes.
Contact(s): queeningsquare
Who Invited You?: here!
Current Characters: n/a.
Permissions: Here
Writing Samples: Here and here from the TDM.