#diego becerra

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First drawing for the OC kiss week of this year. This time Diego and @kidhellion's Nikki.

(I had no idea where to add Nikki's hand scars, but let's ignore that).

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My second drawing for this year's OC Kiss Week. This time is Diego and @ianthedebonair's Damien.

I hope I did Damien some justice.

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Final entry for this year OC Kiss Week. I wanted to finish it yesterday (come on it was Valentine's day and Sidestep's death anniversary), but I wasn't able. So, here it is today.

It's Diego kissing his Puppet's, Tyler, hand. I explicitly avoided drawing Tyler's face (because symbolism, and because I have yet to design him, lol). He also lacks body hair, because I couldn't be bothered, and because it does fit the Puppet's pristine aesthetic, I guess.

I experimented a bit with linear perspective, but I'm not fully satisfied. Things I have to improve on.

The funny thing, is that the room looked like something out of Silent Hill for most of the drawing. I changed the colors enough that's not the case anymore, but it was like I was drawing something from Silent Hill 2 (the original). Which made me wonder how Diego would handle Silent Hill, especially with his telepathy and all...

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Truth Hound: Sidestep's Villain Suit Redesign

This took me longer than I expected, but here it is! The final design for my Sidestep Villain Suit!

I disliked my first design greatly, and wanted to change basically since the moment I posted it. I like this one much better.

1. Now the helmet, collar and the bottom of the shoes include certain dog aligned design elements that were missing in the previous iteration. I did experiment a bit with a dog snout, but I ended up giving up on the idea.

2. This is still an Imposing suit, with Speed and Strength upgrades. The circles on thr bottom of the shoes are meant to be part of the Speed upgrade, as well as the triad of golden things on Truth Hound's back.

3. Now I show the back of the character, something missing on the previous design. I realized, reading the wiki, I couldn't let the back just be. Since there some things that were exclusive to the back that I needed to take into account.

4. The color palette: Funnily enough I based it on Superman. In the wiki it says the suit is gray. I didn't like that very much. Then Superman became relevant again thanks to the movie, and I thought: Well, what are the most heroic colors? That's right, blue, red and gold. So, I wanted to do a darker version of those colors. To show how Sidestep is a corrupted hero figure.

5. I never said it before (or at least I don't remember saying it), but Truth Hound is an Anarchist, and a Villain who saves civilians if he can help it. So the idea of going for more heroic colors, just slightly off, made sense to me.

6. I made an effort to have some unique shapes to repeat across the design. And I think it feels way more organic than my previous attempt.

Well, that's all. Feel free to tell me if you like it. Or if you prefer the previous one (why though?).

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Something that deeply attracts me to Fallen Hero is the Puppet. They're just such a a heavily themed character is insane.

For one, independently of how the Puppet looks, they're Sidestep reflection. Not just a mask, but a second self. One that uses half of the day.

The Puppet is wish fulfillment. Becoming human, being recognized as such. Perhaps it can be the gender you identify as, without needing to transition. Isn't it nice to be the gender you are without question? And is such a beautiful, charming body. An escape, a fantasy made flesh.

But it can be a self inflicted prison. The wrong gender. Other. A body stolen and defiled. A body, not a person. Not someone, but something you wear. You use. A necessary evil. An special and convenient tool. A body you can abuse sexually, for you rape it when you have sex with it. You are using the unconscious body without their consent, for your own pleasure, lying to people you'll never see again, and some you've grown to care about.

The Puppet is a character I can't stop thinking abou. They're just so versatile. They've got so much potential.

Especially when Sidestep learns more about them. That they were someone. That the Puppet is actually Ace. A person. A real person.

The Puppet is at once an aspiration and a reminder of what you'll never be.

Then there's Ortega. The fact you can live your secret crush vicariously through the Puppet is insane. It's wonderful. Delightfully twisted, so tempting. So wrong.

Probably the most villainous aspect of Diego is how comfortable he is as the Puppet. His canon route will always be ending up Puppet-stuck. It's inevitable. The promise of being human, of being unequivocally beautiful. To be free of the shackles, of the body that's being changed and marked against his will. The body that has been abused, used, defiled. Instead inhabiting a youthful, attractive, human being.

Diego's Puppet is someone I'm still defining. But I'm going with the idea of being a living fantasy: human, tall, beautiful. Diego loves the idea of being the Puppet. Loves dressing him, speaking as him. Smiling, and being charming when in his own body is distant and taciturn.

I think the most selfish desire Diego secretly has is to be the Puppet fully. Yet he is afraid. For that wish to come true, it means even more loss. Could Diego live with himself after losing his own identity? Who he is?

The Puppet is with Ricardo, but has he not, as Diego, found a new, sweet yet unexpected love with Danny? Can he sacrifice real, almost honest connection for a fantasy that can never become true? A fantasy that's always a lie?

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Some of these I had to pick because of canon:

1. Verbally hostile: Constantly calls Ortega "idiot" and "old man". They may be affectionate to some degree, but still. Plus Diego's speech tends towards cynicism and sarcasm.

2. Exploits other people's desires: Diego uses his Puppet (Tyler) to get in Mortum's good graces.

3. Gaslighter: Car crash scene is probably enough. But Diego is not afraid of gadlightning to keep the secret.

4. Not minding being friends with people who have harmed others: I don't think there's a character in FH who hasn't harmed someone else in some degree, given its a superhero story. That said, Mortum is a former villain, Bo may be primarily a driver, but it's working for a villain, and Argent choked Diego.

5. Controlling other through fear or violence: That's the whole shtick of the Villain persona, is it not? Truth Hound does use fear, although he tries not to harm civilians if possible.

6. Using people as stand ins: Diego uses Tyler (the Puppet) to live the fantasy of being with Ortega. That counts to me.

5. Two faced: He has three different personas, so it's kind of inevitable.

Blank Template:

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Diego's card for this year's OC Kiss

Template by @glitchy-npc

Some references below:

I included Villain Suit references too, just in case. Feel free to change his clothes if you want to.

You can find more references in my pinned master post, on the Fallen Hero section: Link here.

Also, for the specific Diego's character reference sheet post: here.

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I do wonder if the poly between Ortega and Danny will be available for Puppet-stuck Sidesteps in Revelations.

It would make sense to me, since everything points towards Sidestep returning to their body eventually.

Although I don't see a way any of Sidestep's relationships going unscathed after the reveal of what happened. Or even if Sidestep somehow keeps it a secret, then they would have to explain why the relationship changed so much while the Impostor was on control of Sidestep's body. Since, logically, the Impostor wouldn't continue the relationship with Herald...

It truly would be fucked up if the Impostor did continue Sidestep's romantic relationships, huh? In some way it would be karmic justice for Sidestep, who has used the Puppet's body in a similar way before (not exactly continuing Ace's relationships, but Sidestep did began some with a body that wasn't theirs).

That said, I'd still like the chance for Diego to get in a poly with Ortega and Danny. Mostly because I really like the dynamic between the three of them. And the conversation coming from all these situations together we'll be either super angsty, super hilarious, or (most likely) both at the same time.