Ipopte / Rikimatsu Ariko from Golden Kamuy is an intersex cisn't (link) bi graysexual demiromantic mammoth (link), and his variation is Persistent Müllerian Duct Syndrome (PMDS)!
The pressure put on Ainu people by the government and Japanese social society to assimilate was incredibly strong. It was common for Ainu youth to reject their roots and try to hide their Ainu background while assimilating into Japanese society.
Joining the military while still young, would have multiplied that ten fold for Ipopte.
Not only is he the only major Ainu character we never see wearing Ainu clothing, and the only one who commonly goes by his Japanese government name, he’s also the only one we never explicitly see communicating in Ainu. His father spoke Japanese fluently, if his mother did too, Ipopte might not even be as fluent in the Ainu language as he is with Japanese.
He’s the representation of a culture under colonial rule slipping away with the younger generations put under pressure by government and social structures to assimilate.
In pictures where there’s more than one pet, characters listed in the captions go from left to right.
They’re dirty after not being played with in a while. Should’ve cleaned them before taking photos...
Golden Trio. Sugimoto, Asirpa and Shiraishi.
More, and provided context as to why I chose some of them, under the cut.
That cat just gave me Sugimoto vibes. Otherwise I would’ve imagined he’d be better as a dog. Also with Shiraishi, I was planning on having every Abashiri tattooed prisoner be a Postcard LPS since I have a handful of those, but later on it’ll be clear I ran out and went with more conventional LPS for some of them.
There’s also a lot of Fairy LPS in here since I collected those as a kid somewhat. I have like, 20.
Boutarou the Pirate.
The butterfly was one of my handful of Postcard LPS, so that’s why he’s a butterfly. Nothing else. Though I think he’d do well if he magically had large butterfly wings one day since they’re pretty.
Koito, Tsukishima and Koito. Tsukishima declined to drink Usami’s “milk.”
Nikaidou Twins. Who’s who?
Tsurumi. Tsuru-gull, more like.
...Is Yuusaku just shy?
Ariko and Kikuta. I figured they’d like a good campfire.
Choosing regular LPS for these two were difficult since so many were made with being “cute and delicate” in mind, which isn’t what these two are, so going for Fairy LPS was kind of a cop-out. Though I still think they fit, body wise, since Kikuta’s on the heavier side anyways and Ariko still looks imposing.
Inkarmat, Ogata Trinity White, Tanigaki.
Inkarmat’s a ladybug since she’s on the smaller side of the cast to begin with and red & black work well, color-wise, with her personality. Ogata needed to be a cat and while Tanigaki wouldn’t be a hippy-dog-thing, I think it works.
I believe the sushi was a part of a real LPS set. The big beer bottle though...
Wilk, Kiroranke and Sofia.
Wilk’s the old Savanah Reed beagle simply because 1) I have no wolves, 2) Otherwise, no other animal fits him, 3) I own two of them and as a kid it made me feel like I was on the top of the world to have two of her them.
Nihei and Henmi.
“ERECTION!”
“Are you thinking of your execution, ripping you into pieces? I understand you perfectly.”
Gansoku.
The walking pets are really buff. Not the best for play, but great for portraying buffer Golden Kamuy characters in a shitpost thread.
Edogai and Ienaga.
After going to the salon, (I have so many salon accessories...) They go to the cemetery to do unspeakable acts.
Almost forgot Vasily Pavlichenko.
Despite him not having a rabbit motif, I think a “snow bunny” motif is good on him.
Toni, Hijikata and Nagakura.
Hijikata is a dragon because why not.
Ushiyama the Undefeated.
His LPS is huge compared to the rest. The wings especially. They light up, actually, but it doesn’t do that well with this light I’m using to take pictures.
Kantarou and Kamezou.
Kamezou’s name has the kanji for turtle in it, so that’s his animal motif in general. Most LPS turtles look the same, so choosing one for him was the easiest in the whole cast.
Kadokura and Kirawus to close things off. It looks like Kadokura fell over...
Funny story about that LPS. I found it years ago while doing yard work in my backyard after it had been there for... Who knows how long. Might have been months. So dirt is still in its little wool details. Kadokura may not have a sheep motif, but it’s a lucky/unlucky pet who’s also a postcard pet, so...
Also I have no good deer LPS for Kirawus, so he’s a chinchilla now.
