#masked characters are cooler anyway>>>

[peppzi]

Seeing other ppls operators/drifters that look like fucking supermodels then.. there's.. my.. son. My ugly horrible son. He's hideous.

[autistic-britta-perry]

watching bmc London and having the opposite experience of when you hear musical songs out of context and interpret stuff that's not actually in the text not only it is THERE but there's even more in the dialogue

[attleboy]

i thought too hard about insect motifs got a little silly and made... a lot lmao these versions of the characters are from @sm-baby's amazing digital carnival au!! full images and rambling about insect choices are gonna get stuck under the cut... it'll be a bit long and i will be putting photos of real bugs down there so be mindful

pomni: "butterfly"

inspirational species are black swallowtails mostly for the shape, and malay red harlequins mostly for the pattern

carnival pomni's actually the one that kickstarted this whole set... i drew her hat in a way that reminded me of butterflies, went "wait...", then i fully leaned into it :)

jax: "centipede"

there was no specific species for jax. without being able to use color, they were too similar to pick any out... i have included a giant centipede just for reference though since it was mainly larger centipedes i used for inspiration

anddd there's a little bonus sketch for how pre-sentience jax might've looked with a centipede outfit... he gets a bug scarf and some goggles!

ragatha: "ladybug"

inspirational species was the twice-stabbed ladybug chosen because the inverted color scheme looked the best out of all the ones i tried, and also because it's a metal name and we know ragatha's good with a knife... stabby stab... i did add more than two spots to the dress though, it just looks cooler lol

gangle: "spider"

inspiration was the spinybacked orb weaver which i was absolutely ecstatic to find because come on that is the perfect spider for gangle like look at it!! it looks like her mask, it's got red, it's got gold on the limbs, literally twinning

zooble: "mantis"

inspiration was the spiny flower mantis which, like with gangle, i feel is pretty much perfect for zooble... they come in many colors (including pink), have abstract patterns, and it gave me the excuse to cover zooble in spikes :D fun

and no kaufmo because i'm lazy and he's dead (sorry kaufmo fans but am i wrong), and the rest don't have bug names that i know of?

i still want to draw the carnival characters in their regular looks sometime, i just got really really inspired by the idea of secret skins and bug-themed outfits and went a liiittle haywire :P

anyways if you read all that you're a real one and you've got too much time on your hands... if you didn't, i understand, i get wordy, sorry :'D okay i think that's all byeee

[vrisrezis]

Love triangle?? With atsv characters

Basically a love triangle between them, their spider alter ego and you … ?

Gwen has been longtime best friends with you and Peter for what feels like forever. Even after peters passing, you and Gwen remained close. Throughout the years, it was only natural for gwen to fall for you, her best friend. Peter had often encouraged her to try and go for it, but she never gave in to the temptation. Not when she has been lying to you for so long about who she really was. While her dad did often speak his mind on the mysterious spiderwoman and his doubts, you always seemed excited talking about her. It didn’t take long for her to find out you were not only a huge fan, but definitely had a bit of a crush.

This was amusing to her, obviously. But it also made her wonder if you felt nothing for the real her, and you just liked some alter ego of hers because she was cool and saved the day or whatever.

How you and spiderwoman met, was not under the best of circumstances. As you can imagine.

Growing up, you were always pretty tough. Fighting for and defending Peter against bullies, it was what drawn gwen to you right away. You always stood up for others, and perhaps in the real world it’d get you in more trouble, trying to help a defenses old man against some mugger, you nearly got real hurt in the process. Thankfully, your celebrity crush was there to web him up.

She remembers the look you gave her, you were so.. awestruck.

You never looked at her like that. Not the real her, anyway.

“Thank you spiderwoman!” you say with glee, a word she would almost never use to describe you.

She clears her throat, seeming off guard by the way you greeted her. Or perhaps she was caught off guard by how beautiful you looked in the moonlight. Is it hot outside or is it just her suit?

“Uh… uh…” she hesitates for a moment, before displaying faux confidence. She nods in understanding, “anytime, hopefully next time I’ll see you under better circumstances, cutie.” she says with a wink, before swinging away.

There’s practically hearts in your eyes, did spider woman… just flirt with you?!

Meanwhile, gwen is freaking the hell out over the fact she just said that. It’s certainly easier to flirt under the mask, she supposes.

You didn’t shut up about spiderwoman for the next week.

Miles was one of your best friends, had been for over a year now. Although this friendship, to many seemed newly found, to you both it felt like you knew eachother forever. You often ignored how Ganke never failed to mention that’s something people in love say about eachother.

Ganke was a close friend to the both of you. He was also very much aware of how miles was keeping this huge secret from you, and he often relayed to miles how he should just tell you already. Miles said no, everytime. So ganke had to resort to desperate measures, on one of your many hangouts with the two males.

“Hey, I’m curious.” Ganke starts, “what do you think of Spiderman?”

Miles nearly chokes, he looks wide eyed at ganke, as if ganke just killed a cat. Honestly, ganke is surprised miles hadn’t brought up Spiderman to you himself before, but honestly miles was terrified of what you actually thought, to the point he didn’t want it mentioned at all in front of you.

But your immediate grin makes miles almost audibly sigh.

“I think he’s awesome! Way cooler than the other one to be honest like wow have you seen that suit? Nice color.” Miles couldn’t help but notice the way your eyes lit up in excitement. How come he hasn’t heard you talk about spiderman before if you liked him so much?

“Hey, miles?”

“Huh?!” he yells, his voice becoming so high pitched it sounded like he was just hitting puberty, making you laugh.

“I- I mean.. yeah… what’s up?”

“Do you think he’s … cute?” you ask, rather curious what miles thinks of spiderman.

Ganke almost laughs at how wide miles eyes are, somehow even wider than before.

You would eventually have the chance to meet spiderman, which was not something miles would be happy about. A fight with a particularly … tough villain had caused much damage to the city. Miles swears, today he had to pull up at least 3 buses by his webs.

However, the bus you were in, as plain as day. He couldn’t see anyone but you, the other people in the bus being a blur to him.

He was scared, so so so scared. The moment you’re out and safe, he wants to hug you. He almost does, but he’s able to restrain himself once he feels gwen tug his arm, warning him of how weird that’d be.

He sighs, but he sees you smile at him, grateful. He’s blissfully unaware of how hot your cheeks are, seeing him in the flesh, in person.

You wonder if he’d be okay with signing an autograph.

Hobie was never the type for being subtle. He was blunt, but because of his casualness about it people do not take what he says seriously. He didn’t plan on making a strong effort to hide being spiderman from you. Because he trusts you, with his life in fact.

You two have fought together on many different occasions, way before he became spiderman. People didn’t like either of you, when you were young at least. Strong and unafraid, and like him, you often spoke your mind about things. Granted, you were a lot nicer about it but still. It’s something he definitely likes about you. To him, falling for you just felt natural. Like it was meant to happen. Like falling for you was second nature.

But over his time of becoming spiderman, he had … well… found out you had a major crush on his alter ego. You did not shut up about how “babygirl” he was. And while this was amusing at first, it annoyed him a little. Did that mean you weren’t interested in him, as hobie, romantically? And if you did find out who he really was, would you still like spiderman? Or would it ruin the imagination for you? And if you did, would it only be because he’s spiderman?

A lot of questions circle his mind, a lot of worry and it isn’t like him. He really hates it. Only you can manage to do that to him.

Eventually, the two of you do end up meeting.

You were known for being a fighter, laws or not, you didn’t care, maybe a bit headstrong in your beliefs. Maybe you got too caught up in things, as you often did. Difference was, hobie was not there to back you up. As he often was.

Not this time though, as apparently Hobie had some unfinished business to deal with. You had no idea what that meant, but you trusted hobie enough that he wouldn’t go off doing something stupid without you.

You were not hobie however, and did something stupid without him.

While yes, the guy had harassed you first and you had every right to be angry with him, you probably shouldn’t have provoked such a big and muscular looking guy. There’s no way you could take him in a fight, but you could always try.

Before you even had the gall to fight this guy, before he can even pull the first punch, webs are shot his way. You gasp in surprise, turning behind you to see the one and only.

His movements are quick, and honestly, spiderman struggles for a little.

If even he struggled during that fight, you didn’t stand a chance. But you’re too busy absolutely fangirl/boy/theythem’ing to even care.

Once everything was said and done, Spiderman turned around to take a look at you. He was relieved you weren’t banged up or anything, though you couldn’t tell. “You aight?” he asked, and typically he was so cool and collected, but around you he had no idea how he should be acting. Thoughts from before still clouding his mind:

He lets them go for a moment upon your excited squeal and has to hold himself back from laughing.

Pavitr mentioned spiderman quite a bit, and very early on when he first became the masked vigilante. He was quick to gauge your opinions, because in his mind you’re thoughts and feelings matter the most to him.

He would quickly learn you loved the guy, so he proudly continued doing the whole superhero thing. However, as time went by he had seen your admiration for Spiderman develop into a crush. Only upon your first meeting with him, though. He couldn’t blame you, he supposed that in your eyes this guy saved your life from imminent peril. In his eyes, he was just doing something that was common sense. Saving you while you were trapped in that bus was not something he needed to think twice about.

And he certainly didn’t think twice about hugging you, either. Despite you two not really being acquainted with one another. He was quick to come to his senses, about to pull away, but you held on. And he realized you needed this hug as much as he did. He combs his fingers through your hair, as if second nature. Just like he normally did, and he was the only one that ever did that. You didn’t seem to catch on in that state, but little did he know how grateful you were towards him. He could only imagine, but it was a fraction to how you truly felt.

“Thank you, spiderman.” You say with such softness in your voice, he’s never heard it from you before.

And from that point on, he did not stop hearing you gush about the arachnid. While he often laughed this off, he wondered if that meant things would be weird between you two if he told you the truth.

[snivyartjpeg]

Yuma Month Day 26 - Role Swap

god i was excited for this one. it first started off as a joke, but the more i thought about it, the more interesting this swap became. so here's my massive lore dump of changes that'd happen in the story beneath the cut (spoiler warning):

i think, fundamentally, yuma and yakou are very similar characters. they're both very protective and kindhearted, with a strong sense of justice and a penchant for attracting terrible luck. because of this, some things would remain the same, such as the NDA's dynamics with their doormat chief as well amnesia!yakou's massive unpaid intern energy. i think yakou would be pretty similar to how he behaved in the light novel- a bit more optimistic and naive, like yuma. but there are two key differences between them that'd make this a different story, especially in ch 4: yuma has a forte, and yakou is very selfish. so here's some changes:

yakou's wife is his shinigami now, as you can see, while shinigami is yuma's dead wife. i think mrs furio would act cooler than shinigami. she'd still be playful, but she takes her job more seriously. also she hands yakou the solution keys normally without throwing up. they still have to do the dance and mouth sword thing tho. and the other stuff. that's just death god protocol

shinigami (or in this case the unnamed Mrs. Kokohead but i will still be calling her shinigami for convenience sake) was a scientist at amaterasu who studied forensics and thanatology instead of regenerative medicine. this also means that the pill she gives zombie yuma is not going to bring him back, but instead grant the zombie homunculi a peaceful, painless, but permanent death

speaking of zombie yuma, he's the homunculus now! yakou is 100% human and also doesnt have a forte. he's still number one, but instead of having a forte he's just that good at solving mysteries

yes this means makoto looks like yakou now. sorry makotoheads. i think he'd have really long, shaggy hair dyed to be like. idk. black or something. also he's more clean shaven bc stubble with a mask on is a sensory nightmare

yuma still cant cook. he subsists entirely on takeout, meat buns, black coffee, and beer. he's still in a lot of debt and under a lot of stress and his personality is essentially "what if canon number one just gave up"

he doesn't smoke though. he tried once and got into the worst coughing fit

imma say it right now. kurumi is not a love interest. yakou likely disguises himself as a faculty member instead (also i think one of the teachers gets a crush on fem yakou bc i just know she'd be hot)

ANYWAY what about chapter 4? im SO glad you asked! because here's where things get spicy!

so, lets start with the dead wife. shinigami catches onto huesca's inhumane research and she's just as adamant about bringing the truth to light as she always is. she blows the whistle, so he blows her up. yuma investigates, but they dont let him look any further, yada yada, yuma stews in his misery for five years

yomi sends in the evidence to motivate yuma to kill huesca, and makoto lets it happen because a dead huesca would be convenient. he even introduces the hitman, fully expecting yuma to make use of him

yuma doesnt. in fact, he wants to kill huesca with his own hands. and now that these detectives are here, he can do it and even return alive. the thing is, he doesn't want to put them in danger, so he chooses to do almost everything alone (sound familiar?)

his plan is simple:

ask desuhiko for a peacekeeper uniform. desuhiko trusts him enough to take "i want to investigate kanai ward's ultimate secret by infiltrating their ranks" as an answer. he does, however, let yakou know about this as an offhand comment before the mystery ever begins

hold fubuki's hand. it doesnt really matter how. she'll gladly allow it because she's fubuki. he stores her time powers and heads out the sub. yakou also learns this as an offhand comment played off as a joke (maybe fubuki affectionately comments about how she never expected the chief's hands to be so soft... idk. there has to be some way for yakou to have this as a future clue)

use his peacekeeper status to sneak into amaterasu HQ and demand a functioning ama-pal from that one creepy researcher

use ama-pal + fubuki's borrowed powers to bypass huesca's security. sneak the bot past the hard-of-hearing doctor and press the button to shut off security

this would probably alert huesca, but since the doctor never received a warning, yuma has enough time to rush in and stab him before he realizes what's going on

leave HQ while still in uniform, dispose of the disguise once he's safe, and return to the NDA like nothing happened. success!

soooo.... yakou, on that same day, decides to investigate amaterasu HQ with makoto

all the while, vivia has his suspicions about yuma's actions and keeps an eye on him in spectral mode. he... basically witnessed the whole thing, so he gets up off his ass and decides to follow yakou to the lab because he has a Very Bad Feeling about this

just like canon, he senses the death god and deduces that our protag has been killing off murderers, and so he wants to protect his chief as well as his peace and quiet (his dynamic with yuma would be the same as his dynamic with yakou, since it's entirely believable for yuma to treat vivia with the same kindness yakou did)

yakou tries to speak to huesca, but surprise! security is disabled and he's dead in the lab! no one else at amaterasu liked huesca enough to check on him, so yakou and makoto are the first ones at the scene of the crime. yakou, of course, decides to start investigating this murder

vivia somehow sneaks into the lab (dont ask me how) and confronts yakou, threatening him with his boxcutter and adamantly imploring him to stop pursuing this particular mystery in the same way he did yuma in canon. unfortunately, this attracts attention, and now they're in trouble (maybe even yomi's there to fetch his files). at this point, yakou has enough solution keys, so he panics and goes right into the labyrinth (and maybe others can enter for another reason that isnt coalescence idk)

so... they go in the labyrinth... vivia tries to stop him every step of the way, until the answer is right in front of them

yakou kills yuma with his own hands. there's no stab wounds or toxic gas to leave any doubt. yakou begins to question what good his justice really does. it doesnt even save them from their predicament, just like the other deaths. instead, makoto ex machina comes in to save them, and hands yakou a small black box

when they return to the agency, everyone is heartbroken over their chief, who seemingly died out of nowhere. fubuki tried rewinding time, but to no avail. halara tried everything to wake him up, knowing it's futile. desuhiko stood aside, feeling completely helpless. and yakou and vivia return looking like they just came back from hell

they barely get the chance for a funeral before the knockout gas trap activates... you know the rest

AAAAND SCENE! so that's my extremely long winded lore dump about this au. i thought about it Way Too Much but god it's so interesting to me. i love these characters and swapping them was immensely fun

[eliotquillon]

What do you think about the relationship between the ducklings with cuddy & wilson

taking ducklings to just mean the original gang, here. anyway. oh my god i actually have another use for the flowchart i made for my friend group’s niche powerpoint night (wherein i attempted to speedrun an explanation of house, duh):

as you can see on my handy dandy diagram, there’s a pretty big divide between the fellows and the ‘adults’ (specifically wilson and cuddy). i think it was @all-pacas who pointed out the one-way system between the adults and the fellows, wherein the adults are allowed to peer down but rarely engage with the fellows’ drama directly, so i won’t rehash that because her explanation is great and also i’m running on not a lot of sleep atm (it is deadline season). so let’s move onto the individuals.

i’ve talked about cameron’s relationship with wilson before: not really friends, but definitely more than just distant colleagues (which is essentially what wilson is to chase; they get basically zero scenes together until after cameron leaves lol). so i’ll skim over that because that post was pretty long and there’s no way i’ll rephrase it better over here (i’ll drop a link in the replies if i have time). moving on…cuddy and cameron is interesting, because they butt heads not that infrequently in s2 and 3; i’m thinking specifically of cuddy’s general eyeroll reaction to articlegate here, and also cameron’s massive wave of irritation at cuddy trying to intervene during camchase fwb era, but there are definitely way more examples i’m just not remembering specifics about. i think, on the whole, this is mostly because a) cameron and cuddy have pretty dominant, not entirely dissimilar personalities that clash when put together closely, and b) cameron in general really chafes at being judged/told what to do by anyone who isn’t house. absolutely hilarious to me that cameron gets invited to her baby naming ceremony but tbh the pettiness drops off pretty sharply after s3 so maybe they do make water cooler small talk in the background. for everyone’s dignity i will not properly acknowledge the weird ‘does cameron still have feelings for house uwu’ thing cuddy tries to investigate during saviors, because if i think about that episode too long i start twitching and i think it smells fear, but like. that is also a thing, for like five whole seconds. although to be clear if cameron parallels any of house’s other love interests it is stacy (in the grand camchase reenactment of house/stacy). anyway i do appreciate that cuddy is one of the few people who cameron drops the mask with and isn’t actively trying to win over. but also you know what i’m like. i want everyone to be friends and frolic in a field together and i do think cameron and cuddy’s friction is a leeetle bit suspicious (misogyny) when they’re the only main female characters for the first three seasons. but i digress.

onto chase: as previously discussed, he and wilson do Not Talk until cameron leaves. i’m pretty sure they don’t have a solo scene at all until private lives but please don’t quote me on that. and this…makes sense to me. wilson and chase are very different—not in a ‘ooo fight about it’ way but just in a ‘they’d have nothing to really talk about or bond over besides house’ way, yknow? wilson is hyperinvested in his patients. chase really doesn’t gaf outside of notable exceptions (usually children or nuns). and unlike with cameron, chase doesn’t spend anywhere near enough time with wilson for proximity to create any kind of fondness. i’m sure it’s cordial, and i am fond of the idea of them working together with cameron to Gaslight House at the start of s4, but that’s about it. as for cuddy and chase: pretty much the same? i mean chase doesn’t really have a problem with shrugging and going ‘lol not my problem’ to cuddy whenever she tries to rope him and cameron back in to deal with house in s4 and s5, but that’s not personal to cuddy, it’s more about his #boundaries era with house. and chase is like…infamously a kissass. cuddy does specifically say to house in human error that chase is a good doctor (she’s really the one harassing him to un-fire chase), and she clearly liked him enough to give him a position in the surgery department after he left diagnostics, so clearly he has made a decent impression on her…but that’s not really about chase as a person. i think cuddy likes him, and chase is kind of ambivalent about her, but like. even if she were not dean of medicine i can’t really see them hanging out. yknow?

saved the best for last: FOREMAN. i love that we see foreman calling out wilson’s bullshit in the pilot. one of my favourite gags in lines in the sand is foreman’s half hearted wave of acknowledgement when wilson walks in and sees them all ddxing in his office. it’s so cheeky. obviously it must kill house to have to answer to foreman in s8 but yknow what i bet it killed WILSON just as much. ultimate passive aggression vs straight up aggression-off. i think they both die inside at the knowledge that, by s5 at least, they’re the ones best equipped to deal with house’s nonsense but equally i think wilson is secretly thrilled that foreman stands up to house all the time. they’re so frenemies coded. and as for foreman and CUDDY…they crack me up sometimes. i love love their powerplay with each other at the start of s4. i love seeing cuddy relish in dangling promotion over him and then yanking it away in s2. in another life this could’ve been such a great forbidden ship dynamic. as the kids say, she is just always clocking his tea. i so wish she could’ve given foreman the telling off of his life about his misadventures with the huntington’s trial. foreman is just so allergic to Not Having conflict it tickles me!

[slimeboiss]

Last Defense Character Analysis

I already did a full breakdown of my preliminary thoughts on these characters when most of them didnt even have names, so I figured i'd return to this topic now that each and everyone of these freaks is accounted for (as far as we know anyway). Have my opinions changed or what I secretly a genius that nailed all these characters on my first impressions? Let's see

TAKUMI SUMINO

I'll be honest, I don't really have anything new to say about this guy that hasn't already been said in my last post. I'm sure there have been a few tidbits about his character that have popped up in some trailers, but as far as I know nothing so far has changed my perception of him as your average Danganronpa protagonist (including Kokohead, from Rain Code). Which isn't necessarily a bad thing - the protagonists of Kodaka's games tend to be some of the more inoffensive characters. And like with every protagonist (save probably Makoto because who cares about him) Im sure theres more to him than meets the eye - but I doubt that it'll fundamentally change his everyman personality he's got going on.

DARUMI AMEMIYA

She's like the mascot of the game for me. I've never seen a more Danganronpa-coded character in my life.

Like Takumi I think I nailed down my thoughts on Darumi pretty well in my first post - she's had a lot of early prominence in early trailers, so it was easier to get a feel for what she was like compared to some of the no-names in the cast.

That being said, as more information about her came out, she does strike me as a character that hides her much deeper issues behind a mask. She actively wants to die, and she wants to die in a spectacular way. My guess is that she's had a horrific life (who hasn't in these games), and her obsession with killing games is a coping mechanism. I expect that she might have a touch of suicidal ideation and maybe even self harm habits stemming from this, though I can't imagine whether or not the writers are capable of handing it well.

Guess we'll have to wait and see!

EITO AOTSUKI

Getting queerbaited by the man behind Danganronpa is like losing chess to a dog but man come on. "Takumi's most trusted ally"? Who do you think you're fooling

He's a nerd with little social skills but he has strong feelings about friendships. He's also apparently sickly, which explains why he was the same skin tone as copy paper. The only difference between my initial impression of him is that I expected him to be a lot more "cooler" - closer to Byakuya, but not as much as an asshole. However, his profile and quotes seems to lean to him being a far more earnest and awkward character than that.

And yes the gay sex scene still looms heavy over him but I still have no idea how to contextualize that with what we know about him. Maybe he really is freaky like that.

(it'd be funny if that scene is just not in the game at all and nobody behind the game ever acknowledges that it happened.)

HIRUKO SHIZUHARA

Apparently, she's the Leader of the Special Defense Unit, but I have no idea how that translates into the game itself. Is she Sirei's second in command (disregarding Nigou for a second)? She does have a domineering energy that would make her a good candidate for leadership, but like

Is she the one giving out commands in battle

is she actually the protagonist but exclusively in combat

maybe im overthinking this, im tired lol and reaching for new things to say

Besides that, she's a huge fan of violence and bloodshed, which is a character trait that is shared by like half the cast. You're not special girl get a new character trait.

TAKEMARU YAKUSHIJI

Yeah I was pretty much spot on, this guy is the delinquent with a heart of gold. I want to say though, he comes off as more hotblooded and harmless than Mondo for some reason. It's hard to explain, their archetypes are pretty much identical but Takemaru comes off as if he's putting more emphasis on the "defender of the weak" part right off the bat. Im basing this all on a few quotes the devs deliberately selected to give that impression, so who knows, maybe hes just as much of an antisocial jerk as Mondo was in his first few hours.

I will say that they're not beating "this is danganronpa but again" allegations with this guy.

KAKO TSUKUMO

She deserves to be in a better game.

Okay okay, I don't have much to add about her. She's meek and a bit spacy, traits I could have gathered from early trailers. She also wants to be a detective, because she's a fundamentally curious character.

I don't want to acknowledge the elephant in the room, but it does seem that she's... resentful about a certain relationship of hers. She gives me the impression that she wants to be independent, but a certain someone keeps dragging her back - and perhaps, her sense of genuine love and her naturally submissive personality keeps her from voicing her true feelings. I will expand a bit on my theories on the next section, where unfortunately I have to talk about-

IMA TSUKUMO

Im not sure what I was expecting

Okay so "siscon" is a very common trope in japanese media - you even see it in otherwise "good" media like Spy x Family. It's not necessarily "romantic" in nature, yes, but 9 times out of 10 it straddles the border between platonic and romantic so closely that at that point you might as well be playing the Coffin of Andy and Leyley.

In this case, it seems that their "relationship" is the way it is because of their very rough upbringing, with Ima becoming Kako's sole protector. By that line of reasoning, it's not a surprise that Ima would be so defensive over his sole sister, and why Kako, who has presumably been sheltered by Ima most of her life, would be so meek and curious.

That being said, nothing about how Ima has been written so far or Kodaka's previous track record inspires much confidence that this is going to be anything but a stock incest joke for 90 percent of their screentime, which is a shame. It could genuinely be an interesting storyline if it wasn't written by the Danganronpa creators.

Also worth pointing out that their character art has opposing angel and devil motifs. Make of that what you will but like I don't need him to have evil fucked up wings to gather that this guy is a creep.

TSUBASA KAWANA

She's like, normal. From what I've gathered, she's a perky, generally cheerful girl that doesn't do well under pressure. Her gimmick appears to be that she tends to throw up when she's put in a stressful situation, which I hope doesn't become a running gag that gets run to the ground.

Also, it looks like her talent with machines (who could have guessed), also has a gameplay purpose. She can upgrade character's weapons in the garage - which does make me wonder if other characters have a sort of additional gameplay mechanic that tie in with their talents, or is she just special in that regard.

Also she has a whole ass van as a weapon, which must suck for Takumi who just got a katana. Katanas are cool but not as cool when your classmates gets a freaking armored van.

SHOUMA GINZAKI

His title is literally "Waste of Space", LMAO

I speculated that he had a Chihiro-like personality, being meek, shy, and perhaps a literal self-deprecating. I was right, but he definitely leans way more into the self-deprecating angle. Sorta like Toko or Mikan, but with an outward personality skewing closer to Chihiro, if that makes sense. (Yes i know this is not a danganronpa game but these are the closest analogies i can make).

He might have gone some experimentation (judging from a screenshot of him on an operating table), something that perhaps heavily influenced his self esteem. Maybe the experiment went bad and left him looking like a kindergartener. I'd be pretty fucked up too if I got stuck looking like a smurf my whole life.

I suspect he's a closet nerd (specifically for Gundam), on account of his weapon being a fucking mech.

As an aside note, if we keep going with the danganronpa comparisons, it's funny how you can draw a line between the token cartoon character designs - from sex offender who everyone hates (Hifumi and Teruteru) to gnomes that hate themselves (Ryoma and this guy)

GAKU MARUKO

Fuckass bowl cut

I didnt mention this specifically in my first analysis (if you want to call it that), but I kinda took this guy for a "lovable" coward type. Think Hiro. This is pretty close to the true, except he like openly admits to not caring about anyone but himself. He's like very explicitly a selfish prick. He gives me the vibe of this very annoying character who nonetheless mellows out as you near the endgame. His bio does state that he is good at taking care of the people he has open his heart to, so it's not like he's a complete sociopath.

I have no idea what this means but I'm sticking with my "token pervert" theory. Nonzero chance that this guy is develops a creepy obsession with a girl that takes over 90 percent of his characterization (see Kazuichi Souda)

YUGAMU OMOKAGE

Certified freak.

He's got the same deal as Darumi, having a weird, almost fetishistic obsession with murder, but unlike Darumi, his stems from the fact that he's the heir to a family of hitmen. Not only does he enjoy murder, but he also enjoys torture - anything that inflicts pain, either on other people, or on himself. Grade A sadomasochist, a very Danganronpa-coded character.

His dialogue also very heavily implies that he desires Takumi carnally, in which case he would have to get in line behind Eito.

Apparently, he's also a fan of getting naked and streaking through the school. I genuinely don't know what to make of that.

KYOSHIKA MAGADORI

I expected her to be a more serious, stoic character, closer to a Peko or Maki, but turns out she's like, weird. She took becoming a samurai too seriously and now she had a third grade education and all the knowledge of swordsmanship and bushido that she could gather from anime. In other words, she's a grade A otaku, but she has no idea how technology works because she's as old fashioned as a samurai. In other words, she's like, closer to Gundham than she is to her fellow swordswoman Peko.

The other gimmick about her is that she has a very close relationship with her sword. And if you don't know what that means, then Kurara makes a joke in her character introduction trailer that Kyoshika uses her... ahem, as a sheath. So yeah. This sure is Danganronpa writing.

KURARA OOSUZUKI

I was off about her the most probably - I wouldn't really call her a chuunibyou anymore, she falls into the Rich Bitch Ojou-sama archetype except that for some godforsaken reason she wears a giant tomato on her head.

Honestly theres very little in her design that could have given me the impression, besides maybe the ruffled blouse you can kinda make out beneath her giant fucking mask. She's haughty and annoying, kinda like Byakuya except that I cant imagine she fulfills the same role as he does - in part because I imagine it would be really hard to take your rival antagonist seriously if she looks like that.

For some reason her weapon is a bejeweled shovel - i imagine everyones weapons have some sort of symbolism, but i couldnt imagine what shovels have to do with her.

MOKO MOJIRO

I don't have much else to add, I think her joyous whimsy was pretty evident in her character design from the moment i saw her. She does seem to be the type to overexert herself for some reason, given the fact that we see her reassuring Not Karua while laying on a bed.

Yuri.

NOZOMI KIRIFUJI

Here we are. I had a sneaking suspicion, but it looks like we finally have confirmation. "Nozomi" is not the game character as Karua (Takumi's childhood friend). These are definitely two different characters.

Right. Anyway,

I expected that this would be the twist. These games always have an amnesiac character, and this time around it's not the protagonist that's fallen victim to it. But is it really amnesia, or is she truly a different person? Or did Karua even exist at all? Is Nozomi the original?

Anyway, out of all the characters in the game, Nozomi stands out not just because of her similarity to Takumi's dead childhood friend. All the characters wear black uniforms when in battle EXCEPT her. When she transforms into combat mode, she doesn't shed blood like everyone else either - instead being bathed in blue light.

Why is that? Is she like a robot? Her uniform has robotic attachments that are absent in everyone else's uniform, so it's not a farfetched idea. But that's about as far as my theories go. Who she is, her relation to Karua, etc. I have no theories at the moment lmao. Kodaka has already pulled the clones and twin sisters twist before, and while nothing is stopping him from doing it again, I wonder if he came up with a new batshit plot twist. Maybe the real Karua were all the corpses we've made along the way.

Poor Takumi she does not fuck with him.

As a closing note, "Nozomi" as a name means hope. So make of that what you will.

[bones4thecats]

Hey how are you doing so could I request a frieza x female alien s/o ft Kuriza, the reader is the wife of frieza and the mother of Kuriza, maybe spending time as a family ?

❥· Remembrance, Frieza × S/O (ft. Kuriza, King Cold, and Cooler)

Characters: Frieza (🏔️) and Kuriza (🌰) (ft. King Cold - 🌨️, and Cooler - 🧊) A/N: This was such a cute story. These characters are slightly OOC in the ending, but, who cares? It's called Fan-FICTION for a reason. Anyways, enjoy, Anon! ✎ Summary: You tell your firstborn son, Kuriza, the story of how you and his father and your husband, Frieza, met, fell in love, got married, leading up to that day in the med-bay.

┍━━━━━━━━━━━━━☽【❖】☾━━━━━━━━━━━━━┑

🏔️ You met Frieza when he came to meet the leaders of the planet you resided on, Planet Calspis. Calspis was home to aliens similar to Frieza's race, bodies covered in an armor that acted like other species' clothing, long tails that could be used for any task, and high-power levels by nature.

🏔️ But, there was two things your species were different on: the first being your heads. Instead of holding a single pair of horns when in your normal form, your people had two sets. The horns were small, much like Frieza's when in his first form, but grew in length when evolving. Your faces were different as well, they were hidden by masks made from your kind's personal energy. The stronger you were, the stronger the face-guard you had.

🏔️ Survival alone made your people stronger. And, because of this, pride filled them all, almost matching the Saiyans'.

🌨️🧊🏔️ When Planet Calspis was visited by Frieza along with his father and older brother, you and the prince were young, around six in human terms. And, when King Cold tried to put you two together for some time alone while he spoke to your parents, the Overlord and his Lady of Calspis, you just stared at one another. No words were spoken, but a seed of care was planted.

🏔️ It took a while, some hypothesis it took a mere few visits, while others say it took years, but Frieza and you began to grow your bond like a sunflower in an empty field. And, while the others tried to put it behind their other views on you, your parents began to see how you changed spending time with him.

🏔️ You began to grow cold, viewing all around you as below you. It didn't help that Frieza encouraged it. "They're beneath you. In power and rank, how can you stand them speaking about you and your family is such vile ways?" He'd say. This all piled up, and resulted in a big issue.

🌨️🧊🏔️ After a talk with your parents, they brought out your happy-self again. But, a butt-hurt member of Council, who believed you were becoming a monster and wanted to kill the people who raised you -- which you didn't --, set his own plan into motion.

🌨️🧊🏔️ He tried killing you. A mistake when around both your family and Frieza's. The newly-declared leader of the Cold Force, now Frieza Force, raised his hand and choked out the Council Member. Calspis, now in chaos over people choosing their leaders over the rogue Councilman, was annihilated by your dear Lord.

🏔️ Frieza, upon your request, allowed your parents and younger twin brothers on the ship. And, during the ride to his home planet, he asked permission from your father, Overlord Moss, if he could have your hand. Your father, after seeing how much Frieza seemed to value you -- as he never took requests from anyone --, smiled, shook the younger-than-him alien, and said, "You may. Best of luck to you both."

-

🌰 "That's how you and Father got married?" Kuriza asked, his chestnut-shaped head moving to look at you. You smiled and nodded, looking back down at the bundle in your arms. Kuriza's eyes held stars as he looked down at his little brother, whom you had your brother-in-law and father-in-law assist in naming, and smiled.

🏔️🌰 All of a sudden, the door opened for your room. Kuriza looked up and his tail wagged happily, much like a dog's would back on Earth. "Father!" He cried, running up to Frieza with a happy smile.

🏔️🌰 Frieza rolled his eyes playfully and lifted up his firstborn son. He walked up to you and kissed your head, making you hum and lean into his chest. Before he could ask you anything, a couple of heads popped in the door. There, walking inside, was your father-in-law, King Cold, and brother-in-law, Cooler.

🌨️🧊🏔️ They smiled at the baby as Frieza stood beside you, annoyance struggling to stay inside the Emperor as he watched his brother poke his second son's face. King Cold just let out a couple 'pride-tears', as he called them, and admired his second grandson.

🌨️🧊🏔️ "How is my little Zeroh? Goodness, he looks exactly like a mixture of you both!" King Cold said. Frieza scoffed lightly and wrapped his arm around your shoulder, sat beside you on your bed, and allowed his tail to hang in front of his baby's face, like a makeshift toy.

🧊🏔️ "Of course he'd look like us. He is our child after all." Cooler chuckled and looked at his brother, "Now, now, little brother. Father was only stating a fact."

🌨️🧊🏔️ Frieza rolled his eyes once again, probably for the millionth time today, since he was around his father and brother the entire time since your time in labor. You smiled gently at your youngest and kissed his head, hearing his coo lightly as you pulled away.

🌨️🧊🏔️🌰 "King Cold! Cooler! We need your attention on the dock!" A servant said, behind the door as to prevent a rage from Frieza. King Cold and Cooler nodded, said their goodbyes, and walked out, leaving Frieza, his wife, and two sons alone.

🏔️🌰 Looking down at his younger boy, Frieza smiled, his tail moving as Zeroh tried to grab it with his padded-finger tips. Kuriza curled up next to you, on your left, as Frieza wrapped his arms around your both.

"Our little family is finally together once again."

┕━━━━━━━━━━━━━☽【❖】☾━━━━━━━━━━━━━┙

[theotherseapancakes]

Psssst. You mentioned no one cares about Philemon, but now I'm curious if you have any thoughts about his role in the games after he disappeared. And for sillies sake, does he have anything to do with the Dance games?

I have been waiting my entire life for this. Anon do you realize how verbose I'm going to get. DO YOU REALIZE? I hope you like read mores. Let me preface this with I am aware and have seen some popular theories, so I'm going to sidestep a lot of them and present one I've built since... well, I became a Persona fan as a teenager. MAJOR PERSONA SERIES SPOILERS LIKE THE ENTIRE THING OK? OK. yes even royal.

The P2 PSP additional scenario is so incredibly important and I think everyone missed the point of it. THE PERSONA 2 PSP ADDITIONAL TATSUYA SCENARIO!!!! It's beyond important, because it reveals to us Philemon can have more than one Avatar we know about, just like Nyarly. (Casual reminder he's like half the shopkeeps in P2. Time Count, anyone? Why was the Time Count so hot. Anyway.) Disclaimer: I'm just a casual fan who has played a LOT of Persona and SMT. I haven't gotten around to all of them, but I've played/finished both paths of 1, 2, 3 (and p3p) as well as 4 and 5. Didn't manage to get my hands on Golden but I've seen enough of it. (It's funny you ask about the dance games, they're the only ones I don't have right now! But my roommate does, and will be gone for a few months soon, perhaps I will take the time to start with p4DAN. I'm atrocious at rhythm games though so more than likely I'll find a video. Anyway.) WHAT is Philemon? If we can't define that, we can't talk about The Positivity Guy Ever.

So let's talk about Phil. He's a fascinating character. His Persona is just a form of Himself, But Cooler. And he seems to HAVE no set shape, not unlike Nyarlathotep. People have various theories about Shadows and their origins etc., but Phil is more like that vote of confidence in people. I think, personally, that after the end of Innocent Sin, Phil's been pretty weak. We see in Eternal Punishment he's fading pretty roughly, and has a hard time talking to the party. Presumably ending Nyarly might to some degree fix things when Deja-vu Boy goes home, but... the problem is, we don't know how fixed they truly ended up being, or the full depth of how much he could/did expend!

In fact, the first time we even see Phil without the dumb mask is when Tatsuya decks him. Pay close attention to that fact. To the mask motifs here. I want you to really soak in Phil's everything. He's a leader. A kind soul. He's the good of people. He wants to believe the best.

Anyway, most of these things overlook what I find really interesting as we've gotten more games worth of lore: he and Nyarly aren't the only eldritch entities walking around like that. Yes, Nyx is one too. Yes, it's probable she may even be their 'mom'. It's possible they all came from Nyx initially, but it's also possible (and should be considered) they too may have been outsiders at one point. We need to ask ourselves how far the human collective unsconsciousness can go. Is that sea infinite? Could it affect other worlds? Think about Aion in Devil Summoner Soul Hackers 2. Yes, I am asking you to think about Soul Hackers 2. Deal with it, I don't care. They're sister series. They share many things. SO! Did the shape of the human mind change a bunch of eldritch creatures and make them interact with us even more after Nyx smacked the moon a gazillion years ago? Is there multiple worlds? Weird bullshit? Just the two? Hmm. Well... I, personally, think so. I think he was touched by humanity just like Nyarlathotep, but in the other way. The reason I bring this up is two-fold. The first is Nodens. Now, we don't know much about the actual Nodens, unfortunately, just some speculation. Which is a shame. (If anyone has more info I'd love to have it, ngl. As a pagan this shit fascinates me.) But what we do get on him in Lovecraftian lore can provide us some intriguing possibilities about Phil's everything, which the games love to keep really rather vague. (And this is putting aside that his human Persona is based off the obviously bogus Jungian Spirit Guide, but we love an old guy in a mask anyway. He probably felt that was more 'friendly' for humans, hah.) I believe that Nodens, and Phil by extension, are just as responsible for nurturing and keeping the collective unconsciousness alive and positive. We see the butterfly symbol everywhere. We see it with Lavenza, too. "This is truly an unjust game." So was the bet Phil made with Nyarly, a game he rigged. Phil made the mistake of thinking the Crawling Chaos wouldn't cheat, a mistake he is never making again, I assume, if he can help it. Shit, you could view his boss fight in P2EP as him trying to train the EP crew to beat the snot out of Nyarly, even. But off topic. If Nyarly is basically the father of all Shadows, and they and Personas are the same coin, it makes me wonder a lot of things. The two have always been portrayed as simultaneously diametrically opposed, but also not? They have identical halls in P2. They have similar powers and talents... I think after Persona 3, Phil's remnants sank into the Collective Unconsciousness, to attempt to rehabilitate humanity from what it lost, from what he himself lost. I think Igor took over the room, because he took a backseat to recover. It would go a long, long way towards explaining why only SOME characters have the tier of the Wild Card, which is similar to the 'original' Persona power. (Having multiple.) He was took weak to remain in his Spirit Guide (Philemon) form, and had to abandon it to return to the depths as Nodens... So. Let me go back to Nodens and make some notes about design.

Nodens, as seen here, sort of resembles an iron maiden. It really brings to mind the idea of maybe Tatsuya or someone's humanoid form sleeping within it, doesn't it? Fitting for an aspect of Philemon! ... You probably can see where I'm going with this, but let me pull up some screens to finish the point:

That's right! It's Azathoth, Baby! I believe that unlike mythology, he's yet another aspect of Philemon. Eldritch positivity, in too much force, could be used for accidental bad, too. (Reasons Maruki is my favorite Law Hero, haha.) Let me explain. I think Philemon always existed in... let's call it parts. Azathoth is said to be a dreaming god in whom's universe we all just happen to be alive inside, right? "Dream of butterfly" (Philemon) "Or is life a dream? Don't wanna wake up. Cuz I'm happy here." That sure is thematic to what Maki goes through in Persona 1, and what Maruki's beloved suffers, isn't it? ISN'T IT. The "true reality" he creates... would help Maruki create in the additional Semester--would be something most humans would never pass the muster to even try to control. But we have seen Phil test a few people and find them worth passing before! However, that seems like ages ago. Why has he been so quiet? I think because he was spending time conserving his energy. He believed in humanity enough to give Makoto a push when it was needed in p3 (or femc, if you play her), but otherwise trusted Igor while he restored what needed it. But in Persona 5 Royal, he hand-picked Maruki, didn't he? At first, when I played Persona 5 Royal, I really thought it was some part of Nyarly, but I no longer believe this to be the case. The coloration and symbolism in the background (the golds, the whole garden of eden themes, the way his Palace was laid out), the whole sea of soul motifs in P3Re later... mmm. I have a lot of thoughts about this, but this post is already way too long for one simple ask. So let's wrap up by going one step further and looking finally at Nodens' dialogue to the party in the Extra Scenario in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (PSP). The following is a transcript, you can find a video here:

Nodens: This is the memory of the lost child whom you all seek. Nodens: Memory occasionally brings about much distress and suffering, but it is absolutely vital to distinguish oneself from others and manufacture one's own psyche. Nodens: Ever since it began, life's memory has accumulated unbroken, passing through individual experiences and spanning several generations. Nodens: And so it has given shape to Kadath and the Collective Unconsciousness, thereby becoming a foundation for the next generation. Nodens: Even if the roots of the world are directed by fear and anxiety, never forget that the true essence of life is brimming with joy. Nodens: You must not stop seeking the answer for why life was born in a cosmos progressing towards absurdity and chaos. Nodens: Life brims with joy, bringing about balance in a universe predestined to heat death, and that allows the world to live a long time.

So to answer your question, I think he's taken a much subtler role. I think he's influencing people by pretending to be a Persona for Maruki, because he believes it will help them grow. I don't think he was intending a forever-control vice grip, but rather to prove a point. No matter what, the primordial chaos of humanity will rise up for chaotic good, lawful good, whatever "good" is needed. Azathoth is... interesting. Adam Kadmon is also interesting. But mostly I HIGHLY suspect we may see him again in Persona 6, or at least I'm hoping so. It's my personal pet theory by then he'll be less faded and come back to us in a new form of some kind. He's never had a set one, after all. Now for funsies about the dancing game, well, he's a positive guy, he wanted to just make sure everyone had their fitness regimen checked off. Obviously. (This is a joke.) Did the devs intend this? I'm honestly not sure? Like there's a lot of nods to older Personas in 5 and now 3RE especially, but it's definitely worth chewing on. I could go on and on about things I think he's connected to, but ultimately they have the final say lol. I'm just a crackpot conspiracy theorist on tumblr who really likes Philemon. He and the Room are my favorites. :) Ask me about attendants for additional dumb, sometime, I guess lol.

[internetgiraffekid1673]

Batfam Brainrot still going strong, and at this rate, it probably won’t go away until I finish up drawing them in my very specific order. This time, it actually is Tim Drake’s turn! Have some Red Robin!

Initial trace with low effort background! Listen. I’m NOT drawing the condom cowl. I loved the Red Robin comics, but that was probably the only part I actually hated. The stupid stupid earless cowl. Fortunately for me, the writers apparently got the memo halfway through, since Tim has this MUCH COOLER alternative costume when he’s in the Ünternet. Yeah, for those of you who’ve never read it, turns out the supervillains have a Ready Player One-esque virtual reality internet that they use to communicate that’s also, like, really corruptive and strongly encourages all your worst impulses and feelings. Tim takes it down from the inside out with the help of his catatonic Guy In the Chair, Lonnie Machin, formerly known as Anarky. Anyway, this is my favorite Red Robin costume, mostly cuz the mask is really unique and cool and very bird-like. I’m also a long-hair Tim supremacist.

Stylization time! I mentioned in the Carrie Kelley post that I need to draw more characters with capes because they’re genuinely so fun! Like, I know, Edna Mode is correct during her whole rant about no capes. They’re not practical like 90% of the time. But, MAN, do they look cool! And in the case of Batfamily members, I actually can attempt to justify it! Bruce’s cape is bulletproof, Tim’s cape is secretly a glider, and the Robin cape is great for jerking the current Robin around like a misbehaving cat when they fall over ledges or whatever! I also pushed Tim towards the skinny side. Tim is a teenager who isn’t done growing, so I like the idea that he’s kind of gangly and awkward and wiry. Not as muscular as his big brothers, simply because he’s still growing into his proportions.

Characterization pose! I wanted to draw him in a pose that communicated his maniacal scheming supervillain energy, so analytical head tilt and slightly hunched shoulders felt good for that. I’m a major fan of Tim being slightly creepy too, so this helped. I love the expression I gave him in his civvies! Just a dead eyed stare that could mean anything from “plotting your murder for a minor insult” to “wondering if eating that 4 day old sandwich of unknown origin was a bad idea.” I enjoy the fact that his hair is about the same length as Cass’, which makes them pretty indistinguishable for someone with failing eyesight. They definitely use it to mess with people. Also, I know his boots are solid black too, but I really wanted some more red to help break up the overwhelming amount of black in his costume. There are only so many shades of gray I can use before it gets annoying! As usual, the hero name text was traced, although this time I also typed out his real name and traced that too.

Nightwing Edition

Red Hood Edition

Robin (Carrie Kelley) Edition

[dark-meta-knight666]

Just needed to get it out

everytime someone just makes Taranza personality just sobbing about Sectonia, it's annoys me. Has anyone even done Taranza without mentioning Sectonia's name for one second, it's like that what his whole character is and it makes me hate him more and more, and then they bring in Dark Meta Knight like he caused this, tbh i don't really care if he did or didn't there was no evidence stating he did and Taranza doesn't even know but it's like people coping mechanisms to just torture my poor little edgy borb with it by making him suffer and that makes me hate Taranza even more.

(just gonna bring in a theory just why not) I have a theory that Sectonia is just the mirror version of Joronia since the only time we see her real form is in the mirror of an artwork which means Sectonia just yonked her into the mirror trapping her inside cuz it makes no sense why she transforms into a wasp. (anyways back to me ranting)

I like Taranza and his design but how tf am i suppose to feel bad for him if his personality is just Sectonia and every bad thing that happens to him is just so funny, atleast Taranza in the manga has some personality. Also just noticed how Taranza got fucked up in the most possible way ever.

• First he loses his queen.

• Second KTD is overshadowed by KPR which has the same story but different aspects (also the name sucks who came up with Kirby Triple Deluxe it doesn't even contribute to the story), has one of the same sub-game but different and Susie has a personality. Despite the game coming first and having a original story Hal just decided to do the same thing and make it even cooler.

•Thirdly everytime he's in the fucking artwork it always shows Sectonia (like why is he making that fucking cookie of her, that must be so awkward and weird).

•And lastly that face mask of his dead queen, dang Magolor is just so savage that he went back in time just to see Joronia so he can create a mask (just imagine that you have someone you love the most just for someone to make a mask outta them).

Taranza is the most misrepresented, tortured character in the whole series.

[scribescrawls]

Thinking about silly Tarnma AU based on that Jim Carrey movie The Mask where Damus finds a magical mask that when he puts it on at night turns him into “Tarn”. The mask basically brings out your innermost desires and so Damus is basically larping what he sees as the ‘cooler’ version of himself who’s a lot more confident, assertive, taller, stronger, and more ‘suave/smooth’ (or at least smooth in his eyes lol). He’s still kind of a dork in either form haha.

I still want to keep Pharma a doctor in this au, but he’d basically be in the character Tina’s role in the movie. Maybe he’s being blackmailed to help the bad guys rob the bank in this idk lol just go with it. Although it would be a little funny if Pharma is like ‘Really? All this medical knowledge and skill at your disposal and you want me solely to be a honeypot distraction to gain intel?’. He’s a bit insulted lol.

Anyway Damus meeting Pharma and trying to woo/flirt with him as “Tarn” in overly dramatic/elaborate ways which does have Pharma feeling some kind of complicated way, but I think he’s just as, if not more, endeared when he meets Damus as himself who is more awkward and shy without the mask to hide behind and they have a sweet moment where they watch the sunset together.

Listen I also want to see Damus/Tarn evade the cops by breaking out into song and pulling them into a musical number against their will like in the movie. Except for Prowl whose serious attitude makes him immune to the whimsy lol. I want to see Damus in his “Tarn” frame with the mask on dancing with maracas and shaking his hips to the music. His inner dramatic theater kid ass no longer has any shame or inhibitions and this is the result lol

There’s also this scene in the movie where the main character asks if he should go as ‘The Mask or as himself’ when going to meet the person he likes. And the other character thinking this is more of a metaphorical scenario tells him to go as both because they’re technically both him. And it’s kind of true since the mask just brings out an exaggerated version of your innermost desires. There’s a quote in the movie that goes “If deep down you're a little repressed, and a hopeless romantic, you become some kind of love-crazy wild man” which is what basically happens to Damus/Tarn in this au when he puts on the mask and falls for Pharma.

Anyway like in the movie, at the end after the bad guys are dealt with Damus asks Pharma if he’s sure about getting rid of the mask because after it’s gone it’ll just be Damus that’s left (babygirl is still kind of insecure). But Pharma just rolls his eyes before grabbing the mask and chucks it away, then grabs Damus and proceeds to kiss him.

Where did the mask come from in this au? I like to think it’s from the TFOne universe and Liege Maximo of that universe was pulling a prank on Megatronus Prime by swapping his mask for a fake one that he made hence the magical mischief-like power and ability to persuade the people/world to listen to the wearer to an extent. Then shenanigans ensued in their world that probably got a little out of hand and the other Primes were like ‘I swear to Primus, Liege get rid of that thing!’. And Liege is like ‘it was just a little prank! But okay I’ll get rid of it’ and proceeded to chuck it into like a wormhole or something and it landed in Damus/Tarn’s world.

[ultimate-character-design]

The Ultimate Character Design Tournament

Please remember to vote for characters solely based on their design, rather than which character you are more familiar with or like more!

IX | Honkai: Star Rail

Sampo Koski | Honkai: Star Rail

"Sampo has such a cool design, but even cooler is his backstory/lore!

You first meet Sampo in Belobog, a cold planet covered in ice, and this dude is rocking hip cut outs and short sleeves 😭 like bro what are you doing? And you meet him in a pile of snow

Sampo is a cheeky little piece of [redacted] who acts as a businessman / conman. He acts incredibly sus and it's so funny because he just... disappears randomly sometimes? But he's also super strong, like buddy boy somehow snuck 4 entire people into the underground with him. Also, on top of being sus, he's actually super helpful on top of that.

In Sampo's concept art, you can see more of his details! He has a bunch of snake motifs, since he is a bit of a shady guy.

Anyways, there's a lot of hidden details on him that really make his design so good! So pleade vote for him!"

*Spoilered propaganda under the cut

Sampo Koski | Honkai: Star Rail

"Sampo is a member of the Masked Fools, a group of erratic people who are willing to find elation no matter the costs. At the end of the Belobog chapter, Sampo practically shatters the fourth wall, implying that not only was it planned, but that Sampo was simultaneously a driving force and key character in the story.

In Penacony, you meet another Masked Fool named Sparkle in story line, and she is absolutely insane.

In contrast to Sampo, who is a little sus and a little silly, Sparkle is willing to mess with people (she transforms into this one guy's dead sister and kinda pokes at his buttons) and she gives another character this button that will explode if it or its twin (that she has) is pressed. Anyways, Sparkle is absolutely crazy and makes Sampo look like a silly little normal guy in comparison.

Sampo being on the tame side of the Masked Fools just makes him that much more endearing and funny to me! He also asks Sparkle for his mask back (a mask is something the Masked Fools have that basically gives them power), which makes it seem like something big is gonna go down sometime."

[ellaphnt]

Is it actually racist to relate to Toshiro as an autistic person? The argument seems to be that calling Toshiro autistic disregards the context of his culture, but I feel like the manga made it pretty clear he has issues even beyond his restrictive cultural norms. No one else he knows from his homeland act like he does, and I thought they made it pretty clear that he was an odd child even in the context of his culture. Maybe it is just a coincidence, but I feel like there's room to acknowledge the contexts of his cultural upbringing while also relating to an autistic reading of his behavior.

Hi hi! I agree! Toshiro/Shuro’s behavior have roots in growing up Japanese, but his behavior has made him an odd one, even at home. I like to say he’s sort of an “outcast everywhere.” I think it’s definitely one reason he envies Laios, and also possibly one reason he is infatuated with Falin! I’ve written about Toshiro and Falin before (as many have!), about how he views her as 1) someone he wants to be like and therefore liked by, and 2) someone who might understand him. He doesn’t have a lot of those types of people in his life.

Not to mention the lack of confrontation. Hien, Benichidori, Maizuru, Tade, all don’t fear speaking their mind! They do it many times. Only Toshiro, hm. I find him relatable in many ways, and I’m sure Ryoko Kui did that intentionally. Was this made for a Japanese audience with commentary on their culture? Yes. Can non-Japanese audiences relate to it anyways? Yes. Can his behavior also be attributed to autism? Can it be an intersection between both his cultural upbringing and possibly learning to mask? HMMMMM either way, I’m really glad autistic POC fans have given their take on it. Tons of POC and non-POC have already spoken about just the cultural part. I’m glad to see commentary on both.

Hearing other POC fans analyze his character is amazing, but I was worried the “it’s just his cultural upbringing” angle would mean his nuance as a character will mainly stay in POC circles. POC relate to POC! (Not a blanket statement, I’ve seen POC who don’t like Toshiro and that’s fine. Not to mention the frequent inability to relate to each other) But if someone is not POC, namely white, and the faults of his character are ONLY attributed to being POC, why try to sympathize with him at all? Lowkey, that might be one of the reasons there was so much hate towards him last week. I’m not saying Toshiro must be any way palatable to a western audience, but hopefully you see my point.

Which is why I think, again, that Ryoko Kui made him relatable to a broader audience. Toshiro’s behavior stems from being Japanese but the fight is not JUST about that culture clash. It’s about anyone who find it hard to confront others and speak their mind. And thats why his character was picked up by autistic fans too! It’s a broader experience than people give it credit for.

You’re in good company of fans who also see themselves represented in either a cultural and/or autistic interpretation of his character! No it’s not racist. Reading autism into a character does not undermine their cultural upbringing. Autism does not flatten a character’s nuance that does have a lot to do with his cultural upbringing. On the contrary, it ADDS to it.

A character can be both. Think it makes them cooler tbh. They have their own things to work on still, they still have their flaws. They could even do something wrong and hurtful! (Shocking!) It doesn’t excuse anything, it just adds another layer to them.

And in the end, it’s just a reading into the media. A singular take, if you will.

I hope I covered everything you mentioned!

Ending it off, here’s some posts other POC have made about this topic because I cannot speak for the community!:

Post 1

Post 2

Post 3

[sassycyborgninja]

ray's character reference? sheet? anyways ray

I designed them and their outfits myself, the one on the left being just their casual attire and the one on the right is the masquerade one (tho I didn't have ideas for a mask) ill probably make them a fake in game profile it'll be cooler!!

the pose is by theposearchives!

[evedaser]

allllrighteo folks I finished cligés you know what that means:

ripping the bandaid off first - i did not like cligés. not the character, the character is fine, but i sighed and said "thank god" when i saw "Here ends Chretien's work" written at the end of the page.

why? you may ask. uh. how do i say. the short of it is that i don't like romance.

the long of it is that the love-at-first-sight is uncompelling to me, and having multiple full pages at a time of internal discussion and pining is fucking annoying. i don't care!! shut up!! i understand that this love is causing you suffering because you do not know if the object of your affections returns your desire, you don't need to waste BOTH our time by explaining it in the most tell-don't-show, over-wrought, verbose way that was humanly possible. these two characters are beautiful and lovely and made for each other and yada-yada-yada you haven't made me care even half as much as i would need to in order to enjoy any part of any of those sequences. unfortunately for all of us it happens multiple times.

once again chrétien shows his mastery in ways completely separate from the insufferable romance plot in how fun and compelling all the battles and tourneys were. i loved them!! cligés using subterfuge and trickery in his battles was incredible and created palpable tension, and was a wonderful mirror to alexander having done the same thing back in britain to help arthur earlier on. both the battle against the traitor of london and the duke of saxony were wonderful and fun and interesting, i appreciated the tactics of the greeks relying also on cleverness rather than just on strength and glory like they often do for british knights. arthur and his court were a lot of fun, and apart from the pages where alexander and soredamors were thinking about each other, i really liked his story!!

that being said, i wasn't AGAINST any of the romances. i was happy for alexander and soredamors when they got together, as i was for cligés and fenice. i WAS rooting for them, but god it was just those really annoying sections that i talked about earlier, they really got to me. uh i also didn't particularly like the romeo and juliet plot they pulled but tbf i don't have any better ideas apart from like poisoning the emperor or something. ok anyways silly time

the NECROMANCER NURSEMAID named THESSALA OF THESSALY. incredible. unbelievable. perfect. i love her. chrétien have you ever spoken to a woman in your life. name one woman

chrétien trying to frame john the architect as a man who is loyal to and who loves cligés, but also his response to cligés' request being "there is nothing I would not do at your bidding to secure freedom for myself and my wife and children. also i don't have a choice because you're my lord" is. hey you're not doing a great job convincing me that this man likes having cligés as his lord.

ok so i get that alis had bad counsel and stuff, but what kind of crack was the emperor of germany smoking when he, immediately upon hearing the request, promised fenice to greece AFTER already having promised her to saxony??? bro double crossing his fucking neighbours/vassals what an idiot. like, everyone else in this story can make their excuses, but this guy truly just made a bad stupid dumb decision with no reasoning behind it at all except that greece is apparently cooler than germany

cligés doing the equivalent of swapping masks at a masquerade and genuinely confusing hundreds of trained knights for sometimes days at a time on multiple occasions is hillarious actually. keep it up liar boy!

ok no but actually why did we spend thirty pages with alexander and soredamors before getting to cligés. i really really do understand setting up all the narrative parallels between father and son, but truly the parallel was never mentioned and never meant anything. i don't even think alexander was mentioned after his death, alis' promise was always considered "to cligés" after that point. more than it just feeling pointless to the overall story (i really enjoyed it), WHAT HAPPENED TO THE COOL SHIRT???? THEY SPENT SO MUCH TIME TALKING ABOUT THAT DAMN SILK SHIRT AND IT JUST DISAPPEARED 😭

"For since her days every emperor has been fearful of being deceived by his wife when he remembered how Fenice deceived Alis, first with the potion he drank, then later by that other ruse. Therefore every empress, whoever she is and regardless of her riches and nobility, is kept like a prisoner in Constantinople, for the emperor does not trust her when he recalls the story of Fenice. He keeps her confined each day to her chamber ... and allows no male to be with her unless he is a eunuch from childhood," 0_0 w h a t .