#doppels

[silvermoon424]

A Shaft Online Shop-exclusive card of Iroha and her Doppel, Giovanna. Scanned by me.

[failedelectrocution]

thinking about how the main horror aspect of alterates / doppels etc is the concept of 'other', and the uncanny valley.

thinking about how neurotypicals experience the uncanny valley when seeing or interacting with someone autistic and instinctively being hostile or avoidant to them, which is why a lot of autistic kids get bullied and ostracized.

[roxanneslosteyes]

Headcanons I have for the doppelgangers aka trying to make them more monster like

CW: Some of the writing might be disturbing to some readers

• They have a time where they hunt at any time but some doppels think it's best to hunt during afternoon time

• It's common for them to hunt people in the safety in their houses as it's easy prey (normally housewives or old people are the easy prey when the housewives husbands and kids aren't home since they mostly stuck at home since its 1950s and there is no witnesses to call D.D.D and old people are defendless) but some are stubborn or want a challenge so they hunt in more popular areas (Such as apartments)

• They toy with their prey before eating them by playing minds games, try to make them weak to them

• They eat everything in the human body

• They normally watch the suffering of other people while they toy or eat their love ones (example: Parents with their children, Children with their parents, lovers, married couples, single couples, etc)

• They do eat animals and bugs if they can't find a human to eat

• They stalk their prey aka humans before mimicking them or to eat them on weeks or months some are lazy so they only stalk them for few days.

• They normally prey on people who are vulnerable or at least in their eyes. (Example: Kids, People who lives alone, Housewives, People who walk alone, Elder people, etc)

• They smell blood miles away and follow the blood smell

• They might use objects around the houses or apartments to kill their victims if they feel more brave

• They are stronger then a human

• if a housewife has a baby, They might mimic baby crying to lure them to their death

[resident-normal-person]

[leaf-storm-lurking]

Witches, Doppels, and Overblot.

(Note: I'm very familiar with PMMM mainline, but I've only seen the anime for Magia Record and I just finished Book 4 for Twisted Wonderland. I may get some stuff wrong.)

Imagine, life's been rough lately. Nothing has been going your way and it's starting to wear you down. On the brighter side, you have magic, but it's not helping you. In fact, you just feel worse and worse until you snap.

If you're a magical girl from Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Congrats, you're a witch, and your soul is forever doomed. Unless you're in the Magia Record timeline in which case you'll use your doppel.

If you're a mage in Twisted Wonderland, then you'll go into Overblot.

The best-case scenario is to use your Doppel. Doppels seem to go away by themselves and there seem to be little downsides. The only downside is that repeated use can lead to Doppel Syndrome where you fuse with your Doppel, but that's reversible and an anime-only thing. You'll mess stuff up, but that's going to happen with the other two options anyway.

Overblotting is rough. When someone overblots a countdown effectively starts till the overblot drains the user of their magic killing them. People who die of overblot leave behind a phantom that will continue to cause problems till they are killed. The only way to save someone from overblot is to fight and defeat them before they are killed. Good luck with that though, Overblot fights are hard as hell.

On a better note, Overblot might be the easiest of these conditions to prevent. Magical girls need to fight witches (which uses magic) to collect Grief Seeds and that's the only way to purify their Soul Gems and prevent Doppels/Witchification. Mages just need to rest and not use magic and their Mage Stones will clear up naturally.

Which brings us to Witches. If someone turns into a Witch, they're screwed. Coming back from witchification requires an act of God. Which makes sense, you're not supposed to come back from witchification. I will say that in a PMMM (Puella Tart) spinoff, there is a character who was a witch but managed to revert back into a magical girl. Although I'd rather describe her as a witch in the form of a magical girl.

Now, what's the point of all of this you ask. Simple...

Give me my Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Twisted Wonderland crossover you cowards.

[lunathewafflelord]

The fact that there are characters in Magia Record who have been there since the debut of the game but still don’t have Doppels reminds me of the scene in Veggie Tales where Larry asks the Scallion what his name is and he says he’s been here since the beginning but still doesn’t have a name.

“They haven’t given me a Doppel. I’ve been here since the game launched and I still don’t have a Doppel!”

[beyond-mogai-pride-flags]

Doppelsexual Pride Flag

Doppel-: describing one's attraction to one's Doppelgänger (a biologically unrelated look-alike, or a double, of a living person), or at least having an attractional curiosity.

Coined here. -Ap

[a-magical-artist]

Top Ten Favorite Doppels

Turned in less than five minutes before Halloween ends, but whatever:

10. Abigail

Hagumu is really just a scared kid despite being a Neo Magius stooge, and Abigail is a very good representation of that; Hagumu closes her eyes whenever she comes out, to which, same as Abigail is a very intimidating doppel filled with teeth and spikes. Her form’s listed as a “reversible shape” and she gives the impression of a torn up, straw-filled doll with a toothy mouth and spines/shards all throughout her inner lining. It’s also a good twist that since Hagumu’s magic makes her unusually strong against witches, Abigail is the opposite, being effective against magical girls. 

I really love the exterior on this one, it looks very pretty and ornate, and it does a nice job contrasting with the messy, shard-filled fiber underneath.

9. Gothel

I’m very close to unlocking Gothel (all I need are materials for Magia leveling), but I already love her design. She takes Yozuru’s wish and magnifies/projects it as many witches (or doppels) do, in her case, trying to find someone or something that can make Yozuru feel the emotions she wished away. She takes the form of a tower (name being a great Rapunzel reference) with exposed ribs she uses to drag in and crush whatever she sees, which is...fairly impressive as a doppel design without being too gory (a reason why Beatrice and Therisia aren’t here or in this slot). 

8. Clothette

I...really, really don’t like Suzune Magica, and I don’t like Suzune. I do however, have a grudging respect for her Doppel design. Clothette’s based around a gadfly, comes out of Suzune’s eye, has bells for eyes, and is constantly on fire. It’s a great design, but points off for coming from a character I can’t stand.

7. Gibdaughter

So, fun fact about hummingbirds for anyone who doesn’t know; they’re beautiful little birds...that have the worst tempers. I love them for that, and I’m happy to see one used as a base for a doppel design. Gibdaughter, as per usual, externalizes Kanae’s wish to be left in peace by using her very love of music. Her main attacks all revolve around the vibrations she gives off, adjusting them to resonate with her targets until they shatter. Given both the animal and the character of Kanae, this was an all too appropriate fit. The doppel’s mechanical appearance is pretty and both a nice reference to hummer feathers (they give off a metallic sheen when light hits them), and to Kanae’s aloof exterior.

6. Sylvie

Given how sweet and caring Ikumi is, this one was a surprise. Sylvie’s a very invasive doppel-moreso than Hevelius even-in that she’s not only formed from Ikumi’s lower half, but also seems to thread her way through her entire body given Ikumi’s eyes turn into glowing, barbed anchors. Definitely lines up with her nature, but...jesus. She gives the impression she’s based around one of those cymbal monkey toys, which is already creepy enough, but Sylvie’s “head” is just Ikumi, and also the gigantic screw jutting out of her upper back. The accordion midsection does not help in any of this and makes Sylvie’s movements look off, even for a doppel. Good but horrifying design, though the glowing eye anchors are a little over the top for me. 

5. Hund Balou

Hund Balou is one of the rare genuinely disturbing doppels; Hanna was already very close to being her by externalizing her curse on the world and those around her, so there’s not much for Hund to do except just. be destructive. Her form is creepy, her description’s creepy, everything about Hund is really screwed up. And Hanna, being spiteful, vindictive Hanna, loves her and thankfully, never got the opportunity to use her for some pretty obvious reasons. Hanna’s relationship with Hund is similar to Alina’s with Old Dorothy-both are in sync with their doppels and have the same goal, which is...horrifying given both characters. Hund is really cluttered and witch-like in appearance, being covered in leashes, chains, and buttons with a splattered green/purple/blue dress topping it all off. Her mixed media feel is pronounced, which is a good indication of how close Hanna is to her, and how messed up her implications really are.

4. Ein Roter Drache

This is the stupidest, and yet most awesome doppel I have ever seen; it’s a dragon that makes its entrance by riding on its hoard of treasure and smacks its targets with its tail. The tiny crown is a really funny touch for it and I will forever be sad that I can’t get Elisa outside of a support as of NA’s shutdown

Also love how it’s just Elisa’s bottom half to give the illusion she’s riding the doppel-that’s awesome and I love the creativity going into it

3. Oaji

*Insert the “What are you doing in my swamp” mere here*

Oaji takes the appearance of an entire swamp that lures people in, hinting at both the barrier of the witch and the witch herself possibly being similar to Zola, which is a cool concept. I love how simple she looks, and her coming out from behind Chiharu lines up with her misguided efforts to help her. She kind of gives off a similar vibe to Elsa Maria from the original series-even the branches bring the Sebastian familiars to mind. Also really love the lantern and the gray pool forming underneath Chiharu-the gold streaks just really top everything off here.

2. Marita

I love assassin bugs and so I love Marita. Instant number two for me

For real though, I didn’t expect these to be used as a doppel base, so I was very surprised when Sunao came out and her doppel had this as one. It looks appropriately creepy and very elegant, and I like the little necklaces hanging just below the head of the doppel. Marita also shares the needle/sewing aesthetic with Latria, and although there’s no blood, the giant one serving as a mouth is scary enough in implication. The crystal ball (that turns red during attacks) being the doppel’s abdomen’s also a nice touch. 

Honorable Mentions:

Old Dorothy: Old Dorothy in-game is described as witch-like, and that’s because unless the viewer knows where her core body is, she just looks like an unrecognizable mass of puffballs and paper flowers dipped in orange paint. With witches, you can never really tell what it is you’re looking at, so Old Dorothy gives off that same impression. She didn’t officially make it because of her weird little core body, but I do love her gimmick. 

Theresia: I do like Theresia, but I felt her design wouldn’t fit since I’m trying to avoid the more gory doppels. I do like how she’s literally just Sana’s ears, and how there’s two versions of her that have an equal chance of coming out (though this does present some complications when going competitive with Sana).

Poker Alice: Too much of what looks to be exposed muscle for me to feel comfortable putting her in, but I adore the skulls exploding outward behind the chair and the hands covering Yukika’s eyes. Speaking of, the eyes on this thing are both cool and nicely scary in contrast to the simplicity of the rocking chair. 

Gosirsa: Colorful and very beautiful, the wheels at the front make for a surreal touch, something that many doppels tend to lack due to being scaled down versions of the full witch. Didn’t make it because there’s too few slots and too many doppels to choose from, but definitely in my personal faves.

1. Campanella

Campanella’s just the right amount of dumb, elegant, and unsettling, hence her being here at the number one spot. Yachiyo’s training event also helped me warm up to her; while Yu Hong and Cyan were self-defeating and frustrated respectively, Camp was really, really mellow by contrast. She seemed willing to work with Yachiyo as long as she accepted and stopped rejecting her, which was, at the time, a very nice change from the usual (not that Camp doesn’t try to take over however-once Yachiyo implies she’s going to keep running from her, she goes on the attack). She takes the form of a ticket puncher holding a lantern, comes out of Yachiyo’s leg, and gives the overall impression of a scorpion, ridiculously oversized shoes and all. Her anime appearances are a nice representation of Yachiyo’s fears and it’s just really satisfying to find out  that they have enough of a relationship to where she can use her in fights. Doppels when it comes down to it are a sort of agreement/truce between the magical girl and their witch self; not only does it allow them to come back, it allows them to make peace with their insecurities and fears without the danger of turning into a witch. Campanella, both in-game and the anime, represents that relationship to its fullest, so she’s at the #1 spot.