Venus Shay

Venus Shay (ヴィーナス・シェアー) is an El Kadsreian satirical caricaturist and journalist who currently works at Destiny Publications. She was one of the witnesses of the St. Jude's High School shooting.

She contributed for her elementary and junior high school's newsletter before joining enrolling in St. Jude's High School and becoming the director of the school's newsletter in 1999. Due to the publication of the Flandre Scarlet cartoons in the newsletter, Shay became subject to death threats from the Shintoist Province and Scarlet Devil of Team Crimson. From the time St. Jude was firebombed in 2001, she was placed under police protection by the Glonisla Police Department. The officer defending Shay was killed by Crimsonites during the 2005 shooting.

Early life
Shay was born on February 21, 1985, in Glonisla and was raised there. Her mother worked at a secretary at St. Jude and her father was American-born big game hunter Big Claw Shay. Her grandfather on her mother's side owned a grocery store in Capulco. Her talent for drawing began at the age of five and eventually began contributing for her elementary school's newsletter at the age of nine. She continued to draw while she was in junior high school.

Career
Shay later enrolled at St. Jude's High School and became director of the publication after choosing to revive the school's art club. While enrolled at the school, she contributed cartoons for the school's weekly newsletter, as well as the local newspaper in Glonisla. While working at the paper, she also drew comics for Exclamation Comics under the pseudonym of "Selena Bartoszek".

2001 suicide bombing and subsequent threats

 * Main article: A Dog of Flandre

On November 9, 2001, during her third year, St. Jude's was firebombed by a suicide bomber who detonated himself with Molotov cocktails; the issue published a week earlier was titled A Dog of Flandre and satirically featured the SPASDOT mascot, Flandre Scarlet as "guest editor." Shay and two other students were placed under police protection. A year later, a man in Glonisla was arrested for posting a threat to behead Shay on a Crimsonite forum. In a 2002 interview, Shay stated, "I still can't marry yet, and I still don't have a driver's license or debt. If I risk ending up dead, I'll have my parents scatter my ashes in the Pacific."

SPASDOT put her on its most-wanted list in 2003. Because her father was known for big game hunting, Shay applied for a permit to carry a firearm for self-defense. The application was not approved.

2003 - 2009
Shay graduated from St. Jude's in 2003. Even after graduating, she continued to work for the school's paper while attending the Glonisla Institute of Art, studying graphic design. She received her bachelor's degree in 2007. Shay was one of the artists that left St. Jude following the 2009 exodus. Because of this, she moved to El Kadsre City, where she began working for Destiny Publications. She later met her future husband at Destiny, they began dating before they married in 2012.