"One Shall Stand, One Shall Fall..." // "Under Different Circumstances, We Could Have Been Great Rivals...

"One shall stand, one shall fall..." // "Under different circumstances, we could have been great rivals... Or perhaps even friends."

"A false god is slowly coming undone, a decaying gentle madman... How long will he continue to maintain his ideal world as it becomes real but he loses himself to self-destruction?"

So... Possessed Mooki anyone??

Also a couple alts w/o the glamour and bg! The tears are black and reminiscent of the mental shutdown symptoms. I also made him seem more thin, sickly, tired, and pale. Like he hasn't been taking care of himself AT ALL.

So I did a small bonus alteration of this edit to be loosely inspired by concept art:

Randomly fiddled with the colors and used a bit of the real Kasumi's sprite for the eye lashes and beauty mark and voila! What if though...

Weirdly enough, the screencaps for the CG cutscenes seem to be a lot easier to edit than the anime ones. Probably because they're usually much better quality whereas the anime ones just vary in quality (mostly shit though).

Seriously though, while probably done before, an AU where she survives but fails to save Sumire does have potential. Her Persona would either be the commonly HC'd Odette or the one I was picking for an AU I have where she survived, "Nettchen" (after the version of Beauty/Belle in the German variation of Beauty and the Beast titled, "Little Broomstick").

OG screencap I took, not TOO different as you can see but still:

"Behold... The power of Dark Energon!" // "Here... I'll show you who I really am. Come! Loki!"

“My, my… Such tenacity… Such passion… So, you have finally decided to stop living an illusion... No longer a mere duckling but a strong, graceful swan… In that case, I shall gladly lend you my strength... Along with the other girl within you as well... I am thou, thou art I... A new pair of shoes is in order, now step forward and be reborn! Shall we dance now… My dear swan?”

Was messing around on Befunky's collage maker and did a quick aesthetic board for Odile Sumi.

So here are some quick Aesthetic Boards I did based on an idea that hit me, Monarch Maruki and Sumire (more context further down below):

Monarch!Sumi Aesthetic Board with a fairytale/Swan Lake theme: "Shattered Princess KaSumire"

Monarch!Maruki: "Sorrowful Savior Takuto"

This was an idea that hit me while chatting on Discord: So basically, if you don't complete Maruki's Confidant you'll be barred from the 3rd Semester and get the Vanilla ending instead right? Wellll... Considering all that, this means that he and Sumi will be left to their own devices... As in their own problems won't be solved. Sumi would more or less remain in her Kasumi delusion until the filter potentially wears off and Maruki disappears to god knows where.

The unwitting inaction from Joker would then have MAJOR consequences in Strikers since that game can take place after either timeline... Either one or the other or even both fall prey to EMMA and become Monarchs themselves:

Maruki is self-explanatory as his desire to help people consumes him and kickstarts his self-destruction, warping his cognition and wanting to spread the Jail's influence further. People who have their desires stolen would just be mindlessly happy and "cured" of trauma or hardships (big or small). Much like canon, he thinks he's "helping" them. Maruki's "crown" would be a gold crown of thorns (biblical influence anyone?), representing his savior/martyr complex and how much he's really hurting. Removing it represents him renouncing his "godhood" and taking steps to move on and heal himself.

Sumi's is more or less revolving around herself and desperation to keep up the Kasumi filter/charade. Her own delusion and self-hatred festering. It's basically her living an ideal fairytale and not wanting to leave it. Anyone who got their desires stolen would join the Kasumi delusion. Basically, they all would view her as her dead sister and address her as such. Her "crown" would be her sister's red ribbon that her Shadow wears and then removes, symbolizing her finally letting go and developing her own identity and independence.

Idk, I just feel like with all horrifying implications that the now optional Vanilla ending are giving out... I feel like they would be easy prey to EMMA. Especially at their most vulnerable states. They both have the blueprints for having a Jail; Just need a design, layout, cores, trauma cells, etc.