You know what’s even more wild? Otome was keeping her body while she was comatose(idk Rei said that she was unconscious for a very long time) and then shit started to go down in that drama track
Bruh I just read the whole drama track and holy fucking hell how is the tag NOT exploding rn? Between world domination, Rei being crafty, and Ichijiku being insecure about wearing cute girly clothes, there should be so much screaming
jakurai is so good because he is mentally ill (catholic) and has a savior complex (catholic) which means he believes he is the only person besides God who can save people from themselves (catholic) and he’s trying to repent for his sins (catholic) and he’s also trying so hard to be morally pure (catholic) and
part 400 of hypmic textposts bc these things never get old and theyve been rotting on my computer for several months. sorry for my incredibly obvious bias to samatoki
tfw you wanted to see jyushi with miku’s cinnamoroll hair but jakurai was the one who had cinnamoroll as their partner so you just decide to do both lol
one of my favorite things about hypmic is how integral hair colors are to the character design. their hair colors all mean something and they’re so deliberate.
yamada brothers all have black hair to match their normal ass names and remind you that they are, really, just normal kids.
samatoki and nemu have white hair to contrast them. i could talk forever about how samatoki and nemu are designed to directly contrast ichiro but that’s for another time. jyuto is the Normal One, hence the normal brown hair. rio is ginger just to remind you that he’s white lmao.
all the members of matenrou have dual-colored hair to match their dual personalities, with a more normal color of hair layered over the more absurd one. this is important, because their more socially acceptable personality is what they are more like most of the time. (they are autistic) people perceive them as completely normal functioning adults before finding out that they are, in fact, not at all normal.
ramuda is pink because of his chuoku affiliation BUT! there’s more! his hair is dual-colored, but fades to purple rather than having a hard switch from pink to purple. much like i said about matenrou, the dual hair color is indicative of a dual personality. ramuda’s dual personality is different from matenrou, however, because the distinction between his cute persona and his darker persona as his real self kind of doesn’t exist. instead of drunk jakurai, host hifumi, or angry doppo, which are all not the true personalities of the matenrou members, dark ramuda and cute ramuda are equally the real ramuda. gentaro has brown hair so not to clash with his clothing, but also to emphasize that he’s supposed to be more of a narrator-type character, to fade into the background and let the story unfold, to finish his brother’s work and then vanish as though he were never there. dice’s hair is blue to oppose chuoku’s pink and his mother, while still being a link to her, and to contrast ramuda.
kuko’s hair is red, and i like to believe that it’s supposed to be like fire, connecting him to his sun motif but also to ichiro, who is often associated with fire. i sound ridiculous, but let’s keep going. bringing back the dual-colored hair i talked about before, jyushi’s odd hair color is outside, completely opposite from matenrou. jyushi’s chuunibyou personality only appears around people he doesn’t know, or doesn’t feel comfortable around (like a mask. autism), so naturally his hair’s eccentric accents are outside, rather than inside. hitoya is yet another case of the Normal Guy, but this time i want to say it’s because of jakurai. hitoya’s hair color is so incredibly common and average, two words i believe hitoya hates. you know who has a unique hair color? jakurai. hitoya is average, jakurai is not. sorry i get more insane the further down the post goes.
sasara is like ramuda, and i hate to break it to you, but we don’t actually know sasara that well. he’s definitely a many-layered character, and the fact that he will hide what he’s thinking and put on the mask of a silly guy makes me believe that his hair going from dark to light is deliberate. rosho is yet another dual-colored hair case, but he’s special because he’s only got a few streaks of lighter purple. these few streaks sort of symbolize how he gets when he’s mad, or maybe even how he’s a completely different person speaking to a crowd versus speaking to an individual. there’s nothing i can say about rei that i didn’t cover with the buster bros.
this has been division all-stars posting with leg, stay tuned for more. i am writing this while incredibly tired so assume any error i make in my grammar or typing is a result of that.
Horseman of the apocalypse get reborn as hypnosis mic characters. Jiro as Pestilence, Dice as Famine, Rio as War, and Jakurai as Death.
I wrote this while mildly sleep-deprived, so sorry for the not great grammar that may or may not appear.
Pestilence
When Jiro was born, it was a celebration, a joyous occasion of new life entering this world.
For Jiro though? Pestilence screamed at the top of his lungs, confused and baffled by the turn of events. Just moments before, he had been wandering around the empty plains in northern America, peacefully waiting until the he was called again to usher in another apocalypse.
Growing up a second time is... daunting to say the least. While Pestilence's now-parents weren't in the picture anymore (and curse his soft heart for still loving the man who'd loved them then left them), Pestilence now had two brothers, one older and one younger.
Pestilence learns to love Ichiro and Saburo, learns to laugh and fight and love. It's so very much different then his relationship with the other harbingers. It had been difficult to truly love the others, Death with his aloofness, War with his wildness, and Famine with his cruelty. But even so... a part of Pestilence yearned for them, yearned for his kin.
In a funny twist of fate, Pestilence Jiro ends up meeting Famine ("Arisugawa Dice," the man murmurs in between pachinko machines, a look of wildness in his eyes that had never been there before) first. Dice, he calls himself now, and quietly tells Famine Dice his ("Yamada Jiro"). There's no fireworks, no bursting emotions, nothing. To the world, it's just another day, but to Jiro... it means everything and more to know that they are here too. That Pestilence is not alone.
Jiro doesn't end up meeting either War or Death until the rap battles (and isn't that a strange thought in itself? man, he thinks, humans were weird). War, he finds is every bit as intimidating as before, human or not. A former veteran, and how fitting is that? In the end, they part ways before the battle without exchanging names, exchanging confirmations of each others identities, but that was okay. Jiro knew. And so did Busujima Rio.
Death on the other hand... Well, people can't say that Death doesn't have a sense of humor any more, Jiro supposes. Long grey and lavender hair and a kind, gentle demeaner, Death presented himself as a saint, as a holy man. It was strange, to say the least. Jinguji Jakurai, Jiro knew, was anything but. Death may be kind, but it was also callous and cold. Uncaring.
The world continues turning, the cogs of fate continue to work. Jiro doesn't know why the world had decided to snatch him from his peaceful wandering and thrust him into this strange, strange situation, but he would wait. Sure, it was strange to be able to move around populated areas without spreading diseases, but Jiro could be content for now.
The apocalypse would come eventually, and Jiro would ride alongside the others to usher it, just like he'd done countless millennia before. There was no need to rush. If nothing else, the harbingers had patience in spades and were no strangers to waiting.
(There is a small niggling of doubt in the back of his mind. What of Ichiro? What of Saburo? If the apocalypse truly came in their lifetime... could Jiro truly usher their deaths? Would he be able to spread diseases and doing his duty without hesitating? Could he truly watch them die?)
Famine
Arisugawa Dice was not born as Arisugawa Dice. That is a fact of life. But despite what others thought, Tohoten Daisuke Dice was not born originally as his mother's child either.
Famine snarled as best as he could at his so-called 'mother.' It was rather difficult as a baby, but he managed. The women flinched back, as if struck, but soon calmed herself, delusioning herself that her so-called child was just that. A child. Famine inwardly sniggered, but kept his face blank.
It was annoying, being a small human. It's not too bad though, to be free of his duties as a harbinger, free of the expectations that the others brought with them. As time passed, observing the woman who constantly hovered and the man that was rarely ever there soon became routine in his new life. Famine does not care though. Famine is cruel and cold and uncaring. There is no love nor hope nor mercy in a famine after all.
It's not until he's a bit older, a bit wiser, and a bit more human that he realizes, oh. Maybe he did love this human woman, this mother of his. That, even as he snarled and clawed at the man who dared to call himself Famine's father, he might just be able to love and care for another being. That his righteous and protective anger may have just been triggered by this mother of his.
The truth of the matter, though, is that Arisugawa Dice's first love is not his mother. He might not have realized it at the time, and it would take years upon years before he would realize the love that came to be, that made him human, was first born from his love of dice and gambling. That same love would soon take over his life, leaving him a gambling addict and so, so very much like the human he despised.
Famine spent little time thinking of his kin. The truth of the matter is that they were not close, each one content on doing their own thing. It's not until he runs into Pestilence ("My name," a pair of young eyes quietly watched the pachinko machine twist and turn, "is Yamada Jiro.") that it comes to the forefront of his mind. If Pestilence was here... there was a good change War and Death were here too. It's strange and discontenting to think about, after spending so many years thinking that he was free.
He ends up meeting War as a part of Amemura Ramuda's meddling. They are a team now, Fling Posse, and well, it's interesting. They're fun and even though Dice sometimes wanted to wring Ramuda's neck, sometimes wanted to toy with Gentaro until the man broke, he held back. Arisugawa Dice was not cruel like Famine. He was an idiot gambling addict.
War ("Busujima Rio," War's uncharacteristically serious and quiet tone takes him off guard. It's strange and Famine hates it.) is so, so very different from before. Dice mentally compares the wild and loud War with the quietness and stillness of Busujima Rio and finds it lacking. There are parts of War still in Rio, Dice can't deny that, but it comes in small bits and pieces and rarely. War, Dice finds, has grown tired of war. How ironic.
If Dice found War ironic, Death was even more so. Ramuda wasn't incorrect in finding the so-called saintly doctor of Shinjuku a hypocrite. It's nothing short of a surprise in finding out that Death ("Jinguji Jakurai," Death smiles, and for a second, Dice wonders if he's in hell, "A pleasure to meet you, Arisugawa-kun.") is a doctor of all things. A doctor known for saving many people, as a person who brought life and not death. It's slightly terrifying, but if Death enjoyed it, Dice squinted, then more power to him, he supposed.
Time goes on. Things change and grow and die, an endless cycle. If Dice happened to wonder why they'd all been dragged in to this world, he never says it out loud. In some ways, it's strange to be a another normal being and not a bringer of misfortune. In others, it's frustrating being so weak and fragile now. But Dice was content. He had his mother and gambling. He had his posse.
The apocalypse would approach eventually and Dice was fine with waiting. He'd spent much of life waiting in the past and now would be no different. He had been born to usher the apocalypse and that was what he would do.
(There's a quietness in his mind that shows up on his bad days, when he gambles away everything. It's a quietness that reminds him that if the apocalypse ever shows up, it won't be him who dies. It'll be his mother. It'll be Ramuda and Gentaro. It's an unsettling thought, and so he pushes it away, hidden for another day.)
War
War is born into a family a veterans. Each one of them have fought battles, both out in the field and the ones in their minds. To them, they were battles worth fighting and they present their scars proudly to the world.
Busujima Rio, they call him, and he accepts that name just like he's accepted the countless other ones that he's worn to battle. In truth, it's not war that he loves the most, it's the thrill and adrenaline. He grows up a second time as rambunctious and energetic as the first from countless millennia ago, a spitfire in human clothing, as some would call it.
It's not until he's older that Rio starts to lose his enthusiasm for war. He fights in a pointless war, another meaningless battle in the vast field of other meaningless battles in the course of history. He watches his brothers-in-arms lose hope, lose their lives, and wonders. How ironic, he thinks, for War to lose interest in war.
It's there that he meets Death, Death who is oh-so-beautiful and ethereal. Death has always been beyond human grasp and untouchable, and in his human skin, Jinguji Jakurai is even more so. Rio watches with wide eyes and disbelief as Death hurries around in the medical bay, saving and healing as many soldiers as he could, his fellow doctors working alongside him to do the same.
Meeting Death was an experience in itself, and also a reminder that the other harbingers also existed. War had rarely ever thought of the others, though War had been more prone to run into the others, it was merely in passing. In the end, he doesn't meet the others until years later, not until Division Rap Battles begin and the start of the H era.
When Japan is called back from the war, Rio moves away from society. Maybe it's because he's so human now, maybe it's because he's seen to many good men try and fail for their ideals, but Rio is tired. He's tired of noise, of people, and of fighting. He watches as his former platoon fight against the new government and instinctively already knows that they will fail. The itch of war has not returned and Japan will remain peaceful for some time yet, Rio knows.
When Mad Trigger Crew is formed, Rio spends little time thinking about it. His agreement comes from the small, aching desire for fighting that War always felt, albeit now overshadowed by Rio's exhaustion. Samatoki and Jyuto, Rio finds, are entertaining. Their personalities clash, but both are so very easy to rile up. If Rio happened to just terrify them into submission via his so-called 'survival cooking,' well, that was no one's business.
Funnily enough, Rio meets Famine on accident. The man is wandering around, hungry and lost. Famine ("Arisugawa Dice," Famine grins, so much more wild and somehow just as viscous as always, "Nice ta meet 'cha!") has always been a bit more cruel then the others, but there's a wildness in his eyes that wasn't there before. Rio quietly feeds him and sends him on his way, neither commenting on how different War is now. Dice is unnerved, Rio knows, but chooses to ignore it. If the man asked, Rio would answer, but until then, he would stay silent.
He doesn't meet Pestilence until the rap battles, and even then, Jyuto is with him and Pestilence has another boy with him, his younger brother if Samatoki is to believed. Pestilence had always been the kindest of all of them, and now in a human skin, Rio sees that Jiro is no different. Fighting him on the battlefield of the rap battles will be fun, he thinks. In the end, they don't exchange names, they don't confirm identities, but that's okay. The harbingers would always recognize each other, and now was no different.
The world marches on. Rio never says it out loud, never mentions it to the others, but oftentimes, he wonders why they were dragged into this soft world. There is no need to fight for one's survival or a constant war to fight. It's peaceful. It's a bit strange, to be surrounded by nature and calmness rather then war and bloodshed, but Rio is happy. Rio was happy with his little campsite, with knowing the others are fine, with Mad Trigger Crew.
When the apocalypse comes - when, not if - Rio would return to his role as War. It was his duty and purpose. He would usher in the apocalypse like he'd done so many times before.
(The one bad thing about the quietness of the forest is that Rio cannot distract himself from his doubts. Could he truly usher the apocalypse during Samatoki and Jyuto's lifetime, should it come? Could he really stand aside and watch as they died? If they died from war, the war that the apocalypse always brought with it, the war that War would incite, Rio wasn't sure he could ever forgive himself.)
Death
Jinguji Jakurai was born into the darkness of the underworld. It's nothing new to Death, the cruelty of humans, and while amusing at times, it is nothing surprising. They teach the newly reborn Death the best ways to kill a person, to take out targets without hesitation. Death knows that his casual indifference to killing is unnerving to many, especially in a child's body, but he does not care.
The truth is, Death is indifferent. Whether mortals were to live or die, Death does not care. They fear what they do not know, but Death has always been. It can be patient and it can be callous, but in the end, Death can be kind. Jinguji Jakurai cuts down his targets with ruthless efficiency, as painless and quick as possible.
It's not until he's a bit older that he begins to meet humans again, begins to be reminded why humans were so fascinating. Each one so different and fragile in their own ways, Death quietly fell in love. Death's love couldn't truly be called love though, and neither did he ever call it that, but it's then that for once, Death choses to save these mortal lives instead of reaping them. (Jinguji Jakurai writes down on his high school career form that he wanted to be a doctor. Beside him, Amaguni Hitoya does the same, but for completely different reasons.)
Death had always known that the other harbingers were reborn as well, as his domain over death extended a bit to rebirth as well. He leaves them be though, for there is no apocalypse and therefore no reason to interact with the others. It's not until he sees War again during the war that they're actually closer then he thought they were. Busujima Rio, Jakurai sees, may be War, but becoming human has changed the being. It's actually a rather exciting realization, for none of the others had ever truly been mortal before. Not like Death. Jakurai felt a spark of interest in seeing what had become of the others for the first time since before their rebirth.
After the war, after the change in eras, Jakurai is left wandering Shinjuku. The TDD had broken apart, and feeling emotions that he could only describe as hurting, Jakurai meets Doppo and Hifumi. It's... strange. He forms Matenrou, creates a place for them, smile unwavering and kind. He knows what they call him, what the world calls him (saint, kind, holy) and the irony of it all is oh-so very amusing.
He sees Pestilence and Famine again during the rap battles. Pestilence, Jakurai notes, are as kind and sad as ever, fittingly in a body of a child for their gentlest member. Pestilence may have brought pain and drawn-out sadness, but in the end, the boy was the kindest and most understanding of the all (after all, he was one of the lepers, of the outcasts).
Famine on the other hand is just as different as War is now. Maybe even more so, Jakurai muses. The harbinger was now more wild, more playful then before. As he watched Famine taunt and play around with the other members of his division, Jakurai finds himself glad that the boy had found himself to belong, even if it was with Amemura Ramuda.
They're all unnerved by his profession, Jakurai sees, and it amuses him quite a bit. Maybe he is a little bit tired of only taking the lives of mortals. Maybe he does find a bit of sadistic joy in knowing that it was Death that saved their lives, but in the end, Jakurai wasn't spilling. It mattered none to him, because after all, all mortal beings will return to death, whether they fear him or not. Death could patiently wait his turn, for Jakurai would save as many lives as he could.
Life moves on. Time marches forward. Humans are born and others die, but Jakurai continues doing what he knows. There's a bit of wonder sometimes, if this was the doing of a higher being, if the fates was setting something in motion, but Jakurai ignored the thought. If it was truly the work of the fates, then things will happen when it happened, whether he wanted it or not. He was content with Matenrou, content with his job. Jakurai would take his happiness where he could.
Death was constant and Jakurai would always exist as long as there was death. The apocalypse might appear one day, it might not, but it did not matter to him. He would do his duty as he had done so since the beginning of time.
(Jakurai closes his eyes to the possibility of losing Doppo and Hifumi. Death was inevitable, but some came sooner then later. He might not know if he could truly reap their souls should their time come too early, but should they live long, happy lives, he would send them off to the next world with a smile. Death is inevitable, Death is unavoidable, and in the end, Death is patient. Everyone will die one day and Jakurai would patiently wait for when life ceased to exist. And then Death too, would finally die.)
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