Lily's Color Blog Spot

so, the concept is like spirits that haunt people by manifesting through big ass tattoos (at least full back in size) - as the tattoo is slowly completed so does the spirit slowly become part of the person. 

they'll take on traits of the host, such as pieces of their personality but also things the host may value or want to see in themselves. Ms. Hannya is physically feminine, very open to express impulsiveness and violence. Big D is more jovial and friendly than Kiryu but just as much of a himbo, etc.

the spirits themselves exist parallel to humans, doing ghosty goo things like haunting people or places, making shit fly off walls, the usual. but some of them are drawn to people to possess them as a form of interaction with the world they could not otherwise achieve. something about the slow process of tattooing, fresh wounds and the literal imagery help spirits shape into something tangible and attach themselves to the host. lesser spirits by contrast just sort of ‘exist’ without any real personality or being. 

theme-wise, the spirits take on the central subject of the tattoo (a dragon, hannya, tiger, etc) as well as other bits to varying degrees. for example, Ms. Hannya usually appears as a ghost looking thing but she can form a snake body or have sakura petals float around her. Nishiki's fish likewise could have water effects swirling around, etc.

the spirits are invisible to everyone (including other spirits) except the host unless they choose to show themselves. spirits can sense other spirits despite visibility.

when first manifesting, hints of them appear during the tattoo's initial progress.

Majima's started out by him seeing very unworldly hair tendrils in weird places, hearing Ms. Hannya’s voice, seeing vague apparitions of her, etc throughout the process of his tattooing. Saejima saw bamboo growing out of the walls or something more benign for his lol.

I think it'd be cool to interpret the heat effects from people's in-game fighting moves as them literally channeling their spirit 👀 so when Kiryu’s got his flame aura going on, that’s his dragon helping out. I want to keep the spirit’s ability somewhat in line with the games so the spirits themselves aren’t going to be directly fighting other people or doing fancy shit like Jojo stands but rather mostly buffing their hosts. spirits do have some limited physical interaction with things like they can touch and be felt but it’s more or less within a short radius from their host.

people who have heat effects to their moves but say, no tattoos could be host to lesser spirits that don’t develop into their own being. said host’s connection to that spirit is weak and they wouldn’t even know they’re possessed but that fire shit do be cool tho. people like Akiyama or Shinada would fit here and still prove to be pretty strong but it’s not as comparable to as those with fully sapient spirits.

spirits are very protective of their hosts since it's their ticket to interacting in the real world though it varies. some might be more self centered while others will genuinely bond with their host. 

Ms. Hannya is very defensive of Majima, to the point she's often aggressive and has a lot of tough love to give him. initially he was very resistant to her manipulations to go apeshit and she doesn’t particularly care for his selflessness at his own expense, so the beginning of their relationship was fairly hostile. she became even more protective of him after his experience in the hole. she’s not a fan of anyone who uses Majima (even if he lets them) so people like Kiryu are on her shit list and to a lesser degree Saejima, due to the ‘I’m constantly going back to jail’ thing lol.

Big D is quite the opposite, he’s willing to go along with whatever Kiryu says and shares his recklessness. he’s a very passive spirit who doesn’t bother to argue with Kiryu because he knows there’s no point in talking to a brick wall so he just does his best to protect him. Ms. Hannya is pretty irritated by his passivity just because she thinks Big D could *try* to reel Kiryu in from being a dumbass but frankly he doesn’t think Kiryu would listen.

hosts and spirits share emotional and physical feelings.

for better or worse, spirits can feel all the physical sensations their hosts do. Majima’s time in the hole was enough to make Ms. Hannya disappear for the most part as she was too weak to even manifest. she could talk to him but barely.

as far as emotions go, neither hosts or spirits can make each other feel things. instead it’s more like, they can understand what the other is feeling innately. so if Majima’s making googoo eyes @ Kiryu and denying anything lovey dovey is going on, Ms. Hannya can call him out on it lol.

there’s porny implications here too so do with that information as you will lol

spirits cannot be damaged physically unless the tattoo itself is damaged. touchups can help maintain their appearance. upon the host’s death, the spirit also “dies” and reverts back into a lesser spirit, losing its memories and identity.

given my Nishiki lives AU, his fish got burnt pretty badly so his spirit has since taken up a similar appearance. unlike Nishiki who in a way feels like the damage done to himself is deserved as some sort of penance, his spirit is actually rather bitter about it.