#the otason

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“Under Pressure”

@dddaysofsummer (Sorry it’s a little late!!!)

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i'm super new to the mgs series so i'm not sure if there's been much talk about this already, but... do you know if otacon ever knew that strangelove was his mother? or, do you think he knows/remembers anything about her at all? (also, as a sidenote, i can't help but wonder how different he'd be if she'd been the one to raise him. idk if there's already any fic/meta about that)

Heyyy! First of all, welcome to the fandom! We’re a fairly small little group but dang there sure if a lot of talent out there, so you’re in for a good time. 

So... Hal was probably about 3 years old or so when Strangelove sent him into hiding and was subsequently killed by Huey. It’s not impossible for him to have some memories of her, but they were probably garbled and faded. Also, with Huey’s penchant for rewriting the truth, there’s no telling what kind of stories he told Hal about his mother. However, I think we can asusme that Miller was right at the end of MGSV and Huey definitely took every opportunity to talk about the “black hearted Diamond Dogs” so if he thought he could get away saying they killed Strangelove (to explain her absence) he probably would. 

If I had to guess, I’d say that he probably went with a story like that- saying that Strangelove had sent their son away to protect him from Skullface/The Diamond Dogs/Boogeyman/Whatever and now that he was finally free he was just looking to reunite with his dear boy again. At the same time, I don’t imagine he talked a lot about her to Hal because there was probably no need? I see him being a “Haha, it’s just us Emmerich Men” kind of dad (who them promptly ignored his son). 

I think most fans like to imagine than after the events of MGS4, Strangelove’s message did eventually find its way to Hal, and after everything he got confirmation that his mother did indeed love him. (Although this probably means that up until then he was left wondering.)

This is 100% my own HC but I thought that one of the faded sort of memories Hal has is of his mother’s accent. He doesn’t even remember that it was hers, he’s just always had a fondness for British accents and found them... comforting? Cough Julie... Cough Naomi... ABORT ABORT 

There’s definitely some loose meta floating around about how Hal might have been different if he’d been raised by Strangelove! The number one thing is that he might not have been such an awkward sort of nerd, and we might have seen a lot more of that sassy/snarky side from MGS2 right off the bat. Also...possibly a better dresser? We’re also definitely looking at a lot less childhood trauma but all in all it would have sent him down a very different (hard to say if better?) path. The funny thing about MGS as a series is that so many of it’s characters and interactions rely on miniscule chances and coincidences, if you start moving pieces around and pulling threads it all falls apart. A Hal raised by Strangelove probably would not have been so naiive as to end up at Shadow Moses thinking his giant robot would never ever be used to launch nukes...

(There are some fics out there where Hal is raised by her, but they’re often kind of AU “Brothers Joy” storyies where Joy and Strangelove are a couple and Ocelot and Hal are step-brothers and they’re pretty far removed from canon, but they do exist.)

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Here’s all my Amano style MGS characters together! I really like the look of the lot of them. Now I want to design some watercolor type group images.

Some design notes:

Snake is the one where I feel like I got to have the most fun with patterns. Since his outfit is pretty monochrome I wanted to explore textures and patterns as much as Amano does. Also his sneaking suit reminds me of a ninja in a lot of ways, so I kind of tried to make him look like that kind of lithe, svelte sort of soldier.

Meryl’s design was done with her quote, “I’m more comfortable with it (the gun) than a bra” in mind. XD For some reason that made me want to give her a semi-armor gilded boustier? She still has camo pants because she’s a tough cookie.

Hal is simple but I love him. His face is remniscent of Vivi from FF9, but he has the markings of a white mage. I think he’d be the sort of mage who uses potions and elixirs to help rather than flat out magic. He’s a little weird looking, but shaped like a friend.

LIQQUIIID was one where I got to have a lot of fun. I basically mashed up his MGS1 and TPP looks and then ran them from a FF filter. XD You can see his shoulder scarf and beaded/tooth necklaces coming into play. I think his tattoo probably shows up somewhere as well, maybe on his gloves?

Wolf I kind of imagined as one of those ultra-glamorous vilanesses. The ones where you actually kind of trust them in the first half of the game? Also, because she so used to cold temperatures, I wanted to give her furs, but also play up the cleavage the way her bodysuit in MGS1 does. I think I’d like to tinker with this and maybe give her a long coat with (kind of ermine fur style) instead.

Mantis was SO FUN TO DO. I basically woke up with ideas and sat right down to draw them out. I tried to incorporate backstory into this idea. Whereas Hal is a white mage, Mantis is obviously a black mage, and since one of the earliest forces a black mage uses is fire, I wanted to give his robes a singed look. He has a skull mask instead of a gas mask, but you can see his mop of red hair poking out from under that massive hat. Just like his game appearances, I wanted to make use of straps, but also have the robed look of a mage.

Now that I have some designs hammered out, I’m going to work on some full compositions!

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“Nomads”

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Doing some work on Amano style MGS designs... now with color! All done with ink and markers. I’ll probably do some watercolor ones once I figure out designs I like for everyone.

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"..Snake.”

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I don’t think I posted these!!!! But @snailboyy did me some bonus sketches based on “When You Fell” which was just about the nicest thing. (Personal fave after the one on the far right is the very faint scarred-back sketch on the underlayer!)

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Continuing the theme of “Cat really likes kimono and wants to see Hal in more pastels” - THIS beautiful piece of work by @marlind! I absolutely love the colors they chose and the subtle pattern on the sleeves. I especially love the delicate lace under the collar (part of a hiyoku maybe? My kimono anatomy is kinda of bare bones). And Dave is looking very sharp as well! Thank you so much for this awesome illustration!

If you’re looking for some great art, I’d recommend checking out their commission post!