#nopperabo

[utsukushiiyamai]

Fred Cherrygarden, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Nopperabō at the Fukagawa Edo museum

[every-kiroranke]

[avamedera]

Ever heard of the Nopperabō? The faceless ones of Japanese folklore? Nopperabō resemble ordinary human beings in almost every way, and blend in perfectly with human society. However, the illusion is quickly shattered when met face to face—nopperabō actually have no face at all.

[yourfaveisanavatar]

Noppera-Bo from Japanese folktales is an avatar of the stranger

noppera-bo from japanese folklore is an avatar of the stranger!

[hislittleraincloud]

You think the faceless characters were actually just the cast with prosthetic on? Because I kinda do lol 😅

I wish, but they were in scenes with the other characters present (like when Weems says they need to put their "best face forward", that was on Outreach Day 💀).

Imma bet that these poor characters aren't even going to ever get the lore they deserve, hence my feeble attempts. Right now she's useful for establishing the function of her powers (in a harrowing way for our protagonist), but I'd love to use her more in AB2.

Speaking of AB, this was me earlier:

*starts to read Part 1 of Chapter 8 that I have done*

*gets the sudden urge to write Jairo, writes another 1300 word drabble*

I need to put a hard deadline on myself.

[regal-ls]

[hislittleraincloud]

"The Faceless"

Rare photo of AB Mishizu Herz (left) at the Rave'N.

In Satisfying Afterburn lore, The Faceless are Nopperabō ¹. The girl who Wednesday has a bad habit of crashing into, Mishizu Herz, is a half-Japanese, half-German Nopperabō whose Outcast powers are supernaturally empathetic, reflecting the heart of who she physically and mentally encounters on her face, for however long or brief (depending on the strength of the preoccupation). In Outcast society, they tend to make good law enforcement officers/work well with the investigative justice system* since their powers are objective. They can't help or manipulate who they 'face'; it's something like a temporary possession by the emotional image projected by the other person. Still, Norminal society has a deep distrust of shapeshifting Outcasts, so there are few Nopperabō at higher levels of government.

*And thus, in the future there will be some more interesting interactions between ABW and Mishizu.