#will i make fun of the incessant amount of infantilization that people do to taka? yea

[pompadorbz]

How popular do you think kiyotaka is or could have been. Cause I think about how he got top 10 in the character poll and then got 4th place on some poll question gay people which fictional character they would date. And just how popular/liked do you think taka is but due to the stigma around his family it's just not know.

That's a tough question! Just a warning that I' ll likely get heavily sidetracked here! But I think it would all come down to how his character is portrayed, both by the fandom and by DR itself. If things were to be altered and he became a survivor for example, that could probably completely change how liked he is by the fandom, especially considering he's already fairly well loved despite him not making it past chapter three. In the actual universe of DR... I don't think it's hard to find someone that doesn't like the guy. He's kinda got a bullseye painted on his back for people who do know who he is, and for people who don't. He says himself that because of how he is, he never really forms social connections (it's the tism). But I think that it would make Mondo befriending him, as well as just class 78 in general feel all the more special to him. I think he went into Hope's peak with no expectations, so when people were just genuinely nice to him from the get-go, I think it would've been SUCH tonal whiplash. I don't actually think that Mondo was his first friend in hope's peak! He was in the killing game, and I think that's because they became so close BEFORE then that the memory kinda managed to squeeze its way through completely subconsciously. I personally like the idea that his first actual friend was Sayaka! This is a shameless hc that comes ENTIRELY from her calling him nice in that relationship chart. It's also generally really funny to me because from a glance- like with mondo, they have practically NOTHING in common. But I think that Taka would be very quick to recognize and respect Sayaka and the work that goes into her profession. Here's a fun fact for you! At the very beginning of the game, we learn that there are online forums about hope's peak! Additionally through some introductions, we learn that many of these characters, including the ones that aren't outright famous, have fanbases! How odd! How creepy! I think that Taka's in-universe "fanbase" fucking SUCKS. It's not a fanbase as much as it is a cult following of people that obsessively hate-watch everything he does like you see with a lot of celebrities online. It doesn't matter that he doesn't have an online presence or celebrity status. If there's a will, there's a way, and they will not stop at finding a way. I think that sometime after Taka graduates, more specifically after a certain event that I'm yet to talk about in depth, Taka's fandom resurfaces. The old hatewatchers have mostly fizzled out, and now? NOW he is what one might call BASED. But among these fans there's a fairly large portion of people who are aware of what he went through for about 75% of his life, and use it to justify treating him like a child who doesn't know anything! They talk about him like a cuss word would kill him, or like he is completely unaware and oblivious to the concept of sex and how it's done. Now where have I heard that one before? Like I thought, this got INCREDIBLY sidetracked, but I wanted to try and cover a ton of ground, especially since I've been so late to all these asks lately. Sorry about that!