#thank you nyarly

[pixelfont52]

they are preparing

[nyarlylicious]

This art dump is (almost) entirely focused on Masato!

Because I can't stop drawing him as much as I can't stop drawing his Player Character. He never did get an official face reveal, so all of this is just interpretation. In my head he is cute, though.

There's a version of the first one that shows the eyes. I wasn't happy with the way they were turning out, so I censored it as a placeholder. I ended up vastly liking the placeholder version more in the final piece.

[katsona-the-katsequel]

Doppelgängers

A list of the different personifications of aspects of oneself in Persona.

Shadow Self

Representation of the public cognition, person's desire, person's insecurities, and person's fear of public perception (everyone say: "thank you, Hiding in Private").

Distinguishable for their unnatural eyes.

Everyone develops one at some point in life (possibly during early teenage years).

Love to dunk on themselves, unless they're a Palace Ruler, then they dunk on everyone else... before dunking on themselves.

Must be battled and/or accepted by the individual they represent to disappear or become a Persona.

Can be found anywhere in the Expanse. If the issues the Shadow represents are too strong, they form a Dungeon to live in. If their desires become distorted, they form a Palace. Both structures attract regular shadows.

So tied to the individual that any harm done to the Shadow Self will be reflected on the real one. If the Shadow Self is killed, the real individual dies as well.

With the magic of science, can be forced into unstable artificial Personas.

Splitting

Shadows can be naturally split into more aspects of oneself if an inner conflict is too big for said Shadow to represent all of it.

Split into more specific aspects, Shadows gain more autonomy.

Some of the Shadows may want to obliterate the other Shadows if they have opposing aspects. This way the specific aspect gains more power inside the real person's psyche.

Under the Rumor Curse

Nyarly takes advantage of his domain to take control over Shadows and make them do his bidding.

Shadows basically thrive under the Rumor Curse, leaning more on their "public cognition" aspect.

Can lean on said public's perception to continue existing after the individual they represent dies.

Have a stronger desire to not only kill their real selves, but replace them as well.

The combination of greater autonomy and desire to replace the real versions grants them the ability to fight with Reverse Personas instead of transforming into bigger monsters.

May be formed regardless if the individual already has a Persona. Rumors about anyone exist regardless if they've figured themselves out, after all.

The opposite of a Shadow Self. Ideals are what an individual wishes they were and how they want to be perceived.

(EDIT: Shiori's Shadow wasn't born from the Rumor Curse. It was truly born from her subconscious and manipulated by Nyarly. Sorry about the mistake 🐧).

Ideal Self

SPECULATION ALERT: Might form as naturally as a Shadow, maybe even earlier than the teenage years. The moment a kid is asked what they want to be when they grow up, it's game.

SPECULATION ALERT: Unknown where they naturally reside, though it might be the Expanse as well.

Benevolent by nature, will always help their real self.

Can fight by summoning their own version of Personas.

(I don't have pics of P2's Ideal Selves, but they exist 😔)

Cognitive Self

Representation of how the individual is seen by a specific person.

Created from the perception of someone else, with no input from the individual.

Mostly found in Palaces.

Can be fought, but their power depends on what the Palace Ruler thinks of them and their death doesn't affect the real self.

Under the Rumor Curse

Lean more on rumors for their creation, rather than a single person's perception.

Can coexist in the physical world with the real selves.

Mostly come into being when the rumor is too contradictory to the real thing (like death rumors), unlike normal rumors that become part of a person.

Alternate Self

Come into being whenever there is an alternate timeline.

I suppose characters from P5X would count as this.

Anima/Animus

So far, has only been shown as a genderbent version of an individual.

They're not even called this, but I felt they needed a special distinction for lore-implication-reasons, and if Atlus can play loosely with Jungian terms, so can I.

Not even I know what's up with Theo.

Shapeshifters

Beings with the power to change their appearance to look like someone else.

Somehow both more AND less common than it should be.

[mollypollykinz]

Binged TAYM in one go. That last dungeon up to Nyarly was perfect in every way. I’ve never seen a fic embody the themes of p3 and p4 so well and apply it so effectively to Goro’s redepemtion. I don’t think there’s another fic out there that better depicts his struggle to be better and continuously choose good in the face of evil. Well done.

Wow, thank you so much! I worked especially hard on that final dungeon so I'm glad you liked it :D

[marasschino]

that makoto with nyarly tattoo 🎤 please i beg you i must know more

Ok ok so * kicking my feet like a school girl *

Basically similar to how Tatsuya refused to let go of his memories and nyarlethotep ate that shit up, Minato hesitated when making the seal and in barely a moment of hesitation and regret (yknow bc he finally found a reason to live even tho he's always been willing to die) Nyx and Erebus meet and the Fall is solidified. Can't exactly make a seal between two primordial beings that are no longer seperate from each other. And when the world ends and it's just shadows/demons fucking around nyarl is like "yay thanks king you're a real one"

Ofc we haven't gotten to all the other angst of the fact that almost everyone dies

So just lore first for how the Fall works in this au is that regular humans are consumed/turn into shadows, persona users directly fuse into Nyx (they can't really be consumed by shadows and can't turn into shadows bc of their persona), and wild cards or those with the potential of the wild card can withstand Nyx (that doesn't mean they're *not* slowly being fused with her it just takes longer) that combined with nyx lore from p1, everything is the Midnight Hour now and the world has kinda just frozen in time

With that in mind the only two people left from sees are Minato (who's now marked by nyarl bc he ruined a timeline) and Aigis who awakens to her ability of the wild card.

I haven't figured out everything for this au because I am so scatter brained but Ryoji is here too (I can probably make it work with the whole meta space fusing w the real world + when that happens nyarl's rumor thing is functioning again + cognition fuckery + I also think it'd be funny if Nyx just kicked Ryoji out bc he's still a little too human and she doesn't like her ugly little shadow son)

This is a lot and it's also all I have for this au that I am 100% sure of, everything else I haven't shared is easily subject to change lmao

Also here's some extra little sketchies:

[universalpheonix-versusxiii]

Mod//

What the-... who are you!?

I am a shadow, the true se-...

No.

Nice try Nyarly! But I'm a pro at breaking Mirrors!

"Might I ask what exactly you're referring to?"

Uh... duh, the mirror shadow. You gotta try better than that.

"I have no earthly idea what you're talking about, but good for you. Also, don't forget that pie the oven."

OH SHOOT, RIGHT!!! THANKS NYARLY!!!

"Ta-ta~"

"....There's no way..."

[eru-iru]

Hi, sorry if I’m bothering you but I saw you mention a fic where Minato’s shadow gets taken by nyarly and I’m really intrigued, do you know where I could read it? thanks!! 💙💛

oh sure! it's a fic part of a series called the Hours 'Verse. since the fic with minato's shadow getting taken is around the p5 time and a lot has happened, you might need a little bit of context from the other fics like the first one on how minato and ryoji survived. you dont really need to read all of them i feel for the context of that specific fic but yeah here's the link for it! https://archiveofourown.org/works/15798612/chapters/36766782

[truebluewhocanoe]

Any particular Dr Nyarlathotep headcanons/musings pertaining to the second and fifth doctors? What you've written so far is fantastic and It's interesting to see what people think would fit the traditionally more unassuming doctors

Oooh, that is an excellent question! Actually, I've got a Dr Nyarlathotep-y Fifth Doctor one-shot in the works right now. I won't give too much detail but my headcanons for him boil down to two ideas: 1. A lot of Nyarlathotep Five art has angelic or 'biblically accurate angel' vibes. I like this a lot and would also add onto the white/gold color scheme and general aesthetic of the Sin Eaters and Lightwardens from Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers

Here's two examples to get the vibe:

The other Nyarlathotep vibe idea I have for Five is that he's still got bits leftover from the Watcher in him. My specific headcanon for the Watcher is that he's a future version of the Doctor from a timeline where the entropy destroyed the universe, just clinging onto existence becaues Nyarlathotep (and also maybe Timeless Child). The universe already having been destroyed means he had nothing to lose by going back in time and rewriting events, but, paid the price in that he- the focal point of the two timelines- would merge back into his original self, which would be lethal and cause a regeneration. So, 4 didn't die of fall damage at all, he died to the entropy effects in the Watcher. Here's some more on that idea in this fic, and how it might manifest in 5, in this post. And stay tuned for that one-shot I'm writing- it'll hopefully go up today or tomorrow!

I don't really have any specific fleshed-out ideas for 2. I really like his "oooh I'm just a little guy (who's going to out-maneuver you at the last second when you least expect it)" dynamic but I'm not 100% sure where to go for a full Dr Nyarlathotep headcanon for him. I'll have to think on it! I do know I'd like the monochrome visuals of the 1st and 2nd Doctors' eras to be incorporated into their form somehow. Maybe when 2 unfurls his Nyarly form he just kinda, folds out like an origami. Get back to me later on that one

Thank you thank you thank you for coming into my ask box, I love talking about Dr Nyarlathotep stuff (or anything with the show really, it doesn't have to be Nyarly related) and this helps me get my creative juices flowing!

[randomidiocyncrazies]

N P T Y!

thanks for the ask! i kinda went ham on the AU question lol

N - Name three things you wish you saw more of in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).

oof this is hard! the thing is. i'm an extremely fickle mistress, so i don't really have a 'main' fandom? also i think most of what i want from fandom is extremely generic (more gen fic, more femslash, more AUs with interesting worldbuilding, more rarepairs etc etc) and most of my specific comments are aimed more at the source material than at the fandom

(that said, if anyone writes political intrigue and/or the mundane stuff of nation building about the Kree/Skrull Alliance please please please link! there's so much story potential there..............)

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

okay so i LOVE most AUs, but my favorite are well-done roleswaps (by which i mean the characters' core personalities are intact, it's just that their circumstances have changed). I mean... i still lowkey think about the Persona 4 adult investigation team AU a friend and I talked about almost 10 years ago lol

(oh! speaking of the Persona franchise, i've always kind of wondered what would happen if P4 protag moved to Sumaru City after P4 and gets Jun Kashihara from Persona 2 as his homeroom teacher, and one way or another accidentally triggers a way for Nyarlathotep to return (most likely with P4 protag coming into contact with Tatsuya by chance through Jun)—after all, the theme of Persona 4 is to lift the fog of deceit, but not all truths should be remembered... though I guess this isn't really AU since it could theoretically happen as long as you handwave the mechanics about how personas/Nyarly and Philemon work)

my other pet AU is the Appmon Utena AU because narratives about roles and agency fascinate me! (appmon and utena endgame spoilers in linked posts)

as for something that I'm mostly making up right now........... uhhhh Loveless AU for Oda and Aoki from 2.43 Seiin High School Men's Volleyball Team, but only about the concept of Fighter-Sacrifice pairs and not... everything else (I have not read Loveless but it's got A Reputation)—mostly because i think it'd be so interesting if their pair name is "Selfless", seeing as Oda tends to think of himself as selfish in the novel, while Aoki's speech about "no need to thank me, I'm doing this because of ulterior motives" and his utter devotion to Oda's cause makes me kiiinda feral. (and from what little i understand about the general power dynamics of Fighters and Sacrifices, i think it makes sense for Oda to be the Sacrifice and Aoki the Fighter? idk)

i haven't thought of why they're marked, since they're meant to be Just Some Guys in 2.43 (i.e. not one of the star players on the team)

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending? 

i'm not willing to die on this hill, but i have this entire elaborate headcanon about Euanthe from Counter/WEIGHT having a dead fiance and them being essentially an anti-stratus due to the programming language disconnect between the Divines and the Apostolisian mechs. both are just something i pulled completely out of my ass tho (note: Twilight Mirage is the last sci-fi season from friends at the table that i've completed)

as for something i'm slightly more willing to die defending: Yukiko and Chie from Persona 4 lived on takeout for like 4 months after they got their own place, before grudgingly learning how to cook at the Inaba community center (also Yosuke heckles them about it and sends shitty pics of his humble homemade dishes at ridiculous hours to taunt them about it—at least, that's how they interpret his gesture

and i mean. they aren't entirely wrong about that.)

Y - What are your secondhand fandoms (i.e., fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)?

oh boy most popular media is like that for me... i feel like ORV is one of these even though i did read some of it? (and i mean. i do plan on reading past ch 75 of ORV one of these days.) i've heard stuff about SVSSS (about a rarepair/side character) and the Owl House seems interesting from the general impression i get from my dash

I guess i also. learned about SPN on tumblr (and know more than I want to, even though in the grand scheme of things it's not much at all)

[ask prompts here!]

[kroosluvr]

hello. it is me. nyarly

would you be bothered if i sent you a royal trio song rec and my conspiracy theory? thanks

NYARLATHOTEP I MISSED U

i would never ever be bothered plz lay it on me PLEASE I NEED THIS

[regretmedicineandsmokes]

-- -- @hvbris -- --

"I don't think fairies are Nyarly's style, although I haven't seen him in a while so I could be wrong." he tilts his head in consideration. He knows how Nyarly operates and the fact she's alive and sane makes her something a lot more interesting than a unlucky witness... it could also make her potentially off limits. "I still owe him for a little dealio a few decades back, so if you see him tell him Loki says hi."

He doesn't make a habit of reading people's thoughts that's a lie but hers are like being shouted at. He's a little insulted that she even had the vaguest of thoughts that he'd do something as boring as poison a drink. He's got a heck of a lot more style than spiking a drink thank you. But she is right, his and Nyarly's M.O's are quite similar, his just come with a sense of humor and often to those that brought it on themselves. Sure some assholes take a little more violent than ironic death, but sometimes that's the way it has to be.

"I sure did! I made each of them unique too! Can't be accused of sloppy work, I have a reputation to maintain." he grins, and yes he is proud of his work, sure sometimes people don't appreciate the effort that goes into it all, in fact some Tricksters skimp out on the fine details, but he likes the personal touch. "And sure I know Bigfoot, he throws the best parties."

𝐆𝐀𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐋 & 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐀 @regretmedicineandsmokes

When a voice resonated next to her, accompanied by some hand clapping, Mina jolted, stumbling away. And right there, in the woods, was... A man? No, not a man. He looked like a man, but he had just appeared out of nowhere.

"You... made the fairies?" she repeated slowly, staring at him like she'd just seen a ghost -which, in this particular situation, was not too far from the truth. She had just seen someone being eaten alive by fairies, which was arguably much worse than seeing a ghost.

"You're not Nyarlapokep." Unaware that she had, again, butchered the name of an eldritch terror, she tried to understand what the fuck was happening. Clearly, this wasn't the same being as the one she had seen in the haunted house, but he sure seemed to be having similar powers, and the same penchant for violence.

She mechanically took the bottle he was handing her, too much in shock to do anything else. Hell, she even took a sip, which in hindsight was probably a bad idea. It helped with the lingering bad taste in her mouth, though. "Thanks," she said, just as mechanically.

"Wait- did you just say you modeled the fairies after porn stars?" It seemed she was finally registering his words. What had he said about Bigfoot? Did he know Bigfoot?

[nyarlylicious]

They're both voiced by the same English VA. Coincidentally: They're also two of my absolute favorite characters in any media.

[princekirijo]

very interested in black mask!riku if u have any lore you'd like to share about him!! unless it's spoilers :0

Now that I've revealed his design I can finally talk about it, so glad you asked!!! I'll keep most of the details under wrap for now because again I'd love to do something with this but we'll see. 

The AU actually starts off the same as Captain. So the Thieves meet Riku, he awakens to his persona in Hatanaka's palace and they try to change her heart. However, something goes wrong. I haven't had much time to really think about the ins and outs of Hatanaka's palace yet, but I'm thinking there might be some puzzle they can't solve, or a block in the real world. Either way… they fail the deadline. Hatanaka successfully goes through with her assassination and Riku dies. The end.

SIKE Riku actually wakes up again at home (Port Island home), in his bed. And he's super confused. He very clearly remembers getting shot, he shouldn't be here right? He's dead right? He gets out of bed and looks in his bathroom mirror to find that he's actually 14 again. Now he's really confused. It takes him a couple of minutes to adjust but it seems that he's travelled back in time to when he was 14, before he moved to Tokyo and met the Thieves. He goes downstairs and finds his moms there and he kind of indirectly asks them what year it is. They're a little confused but they tell him it's 2032, two years before the events of the captain au. If you haven't figured it out already Black Mask AU also doubles as a sort of NG+ AU :]

He takes time to adjust and tries to go about his days as normal just as he did before. He's been having very weird dreams though, twisting darkness and a deep voice encouraging him to use this new start to his advantage. He mostly ignores it and passes it off as some weird nightmare - a byproduct of this weird timeline reset. Mitsuru is summoned to Tokyo to speak to the government/public safety/something like that idk about her request for the Shadow Ops to investigate the strange shadows nest in Tokyo (the Metaverse - this also happens in Captain). The family all decide to go and make a sort of trip out of it. While they're there, Riku decides to take this opportunity to check out the Metaverse and see if he can figure out wtf is going on as he still has the app. He still… sort of has access to Pimpernel. He can hear and speak to him but he can't properly summon him. Anyway he sneaks off and goes into Mementos, where he wanders around for a bit. 

Eventually a few levels below he finally gets cornered by a shadow (he's able to avoid them up until now thanks to Pimpernel). This shadow happens to be the shadow of a very annoying CEO of a largish tech company - one who is very vocal about his hatred of the Kirijo Group. He recognizes Riku, having met him at a few business parties. This guy starts going off about the Group saying some really horrible stuff about Riku, the group in general, and ofc Mitsuru herself. It's when he starts saying shit about Mitsuru (I'm sure you can imagine what a sleazy businessman like him would say), that something inside Riku snaps. He's been so confused and upset about everything that's happened (I mean you would he's literally reliving his life but being painfully aware he died it's gonna mess you up) and in that moment it all kinda comes to the surface, and he lunges for the shadows throat. Now Riku is very strong for a 14 year old and he caught the shadow off guard so he manages to actually snap the shadow's neck, killing it instantly (I should warn that in general Black Mask is much darker than Captain and there's a lot more gore so fair warning). Riku stumbles back realizing what he's done, vaguely remembering the Thieves telling him the consequences of killing a shadow. 

He doesn't have much time to think however as he's ambushed by a bunch of lower level shadows. Just as one of the shadows is about to attack, Riku feels a surge of power within him and a blast comes out of nowhere to knock the shadow back. Then he hears a voice, a voice that's not Pimpernel but feels the same. This is a very rough draft of what it says:

Poor child, beaten and trodden on by society… hated by those who should be cowering at your feet, scorned by those who should bend to your every whim! What a pity full sight indeed… This is no way for a KING to act!!! I ask you boy… will you sit back and be trampled on by these fools? You've been given such a unique gift… the gift of foresight… use it to your advantage… make those who ridiculed you bow before you in fear and reverence! I can give you that power… do we have a deal? … Yes. I hear you, COME TO ME! AHAHAHA VERY WELL! I am thou… thou art I… let us join forces and show these pathetic bastards who the REAL KING IS!

Then he rips off his mask and summons his new Persona… who I won't reveal yet cause I have two ideas I can't pick between. Regardless, he defeats the shadows with ease and escapes. Thankfully no one noticed he went missing but from that point on Riku changed. His parents begin noticing subtle things about him, he's much more quiet, always lost in thought and seems to be muttering to himself. Mitsuru (well Artemisia) senses some strange dark aura around him, but only for a second before it fades (she's sensing both his persona and the influence of Nyarlathotep). Ultimately, she puts it down to her worrying too much, and says nothing (big mistake on her part 😕). 

Riku, now equipped with a persona he can use (still can't access Pimpernel) and the Metanav decides to see if Port Island has any distortion - which it does. Goaded on by his persona he decides to take advantage of the Metaverse and starts off kinda small, using it to neutralize small enemies of the Kirijo Group before slowly building up to much larger foes. He also decides to still move to Tokyo, like in Captain and with Hatanka. This time though, Hatanaka doesn't actually abuse him, instead he uses her for her connections as he aims to go after the person who ordered her to kill him in the original timeline. 

I just realized I can't actually go into anymore detail without spoiling some stuff from Captain (I might have mentioned this stuff already I actually can't remember but for now I'll treat it as I haven't). So this is where I'll stop the summary for now. The main big changes to the AU happen in the Hatanaka Arc and the Shido Arc plus an entirely new palace being added after Shido's (who's you ask? You'll see 😏). Another big thing to mention is that Akechi is also still Black Mask as well. He pretty much does the same as he does in P5 but he actually gets saved in Shido's palace by the Thieves. I haven't quite decided if he knows what Riku is up to directly or if he's simply just aware of him. If you have any other questions feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer without any spoilers. Thanks for showing interest!! Black Mask AU was really fun for me to come up with so I'm glad you're intrigued :]

[mollypollykinz]

ive been rereading "throw away you mask" so much that I realized something..

How would Goro and Akira's showtime be like this time around? Would it still be the same or different?

Also who do you think would Ken and Teddie's showtime would be with and how would it go?

(again.. I love "throw away your mask", it is amazing and thank you for making such a masterpiece)

Honestly gonna headcanon that Akira and Goro's showtime looks a lot like the attack they get on Nyarly together. Akira like throwing his dagger at the shadow before Goro slices it in half. Probably with some more dramatics for flair or whatever.

The other party members have multiple showtimes with multiple party members so I think Ken and Teddie would be no different. Teddie probably has a showtime with both Akira and Goro, but if we wanted to say that we're sticking to canon rules and Akira and Goro only get to showtime with each other, then I think Teddie would definitely have a showtime with Morgana. Something silly where he's riding on top of the Monabus before attacking the shadow idk.

Same as before, Ken'd probably have a showtime with Goro. He and Teddie might share a showtime as the like "add-on" members of the group. Ken and Yusuke might have one too; I feel like Yusuke would have some profound art vision about Ken's spear or smth. My creative powers are unfortunately limited so I don't really know what exactly each of these showtimes might look like.

[beevean]

lol

I’m thankful, because if someone ever asked me “but Bee why do you like this game so much”, I can just point at this video now, since it’s almost my thoughts transplanted into video form 😂

The one thing that bugs me is that Nyarly makes it sound like the story is bullshit and the worst thing about the whole game. And... it’s not? Not only it’s not as bad as his tone says (the complaints he has are valid tbf, but I don’t think they warrant that much annoyance), but how come he completely flew over the one thing that everyone complains about, the level design? The fact that levels are just these long, two dimensional stretches of nothing but enemies to fight, with no level gimmicks at all unlike LoI (I hated the platforming sections in LoI, but at least it had them)? This is the main reason CoD is so divisive, so it’s odd that he doesn’t even mention it in passing.

But who cares. My man perfectly explained what’s so compelling about the crafting and ID raising systems, picked the best tracks to showcase why the OST is Yamane-san’s peak masterpiece, knows about the prequel mangas so he understands the characters, and called Isaac “the perfect villain” by only using the entirety of the Stabbing scene to prove it. 11/10 review <3

@beevean

[bobzora]

in a tremendous moment of sudden genius i've figured out that if i want to see tatsuya. i should play tatsuya's scenario. he's really going thru it isnt he :(