#||. defined reality

he views humans as 'less than' in a lot of ways. he claims to kind of hate them on a general scale, calls their personal stories insignificant, has a history of digging his fingers in and kind of treating them like playthings. edgy shit like that

HOWEVER. despite what he claims there, he somehow views other supernatural things as even less interesting. Like, wow, you're a god? Could not care less about that.

He can recognize some types of creatures (snakes like himself and his family, and rasetsu like. u. um. soon.)

he can also notice patterns, if he meets multiple of the same species. (like, with permission, I can wipe his memory if it's wanted, but he's come across three 'dark childe's so far? he's starting to notice the trend)

otherwise he doesn't know what people are, but can tell that they're off. there's degrees of it: some people are 'only a little bit off' (touched by supernatural, but not fully changed), 'considerably off' (used to be human but aren't anymore, for whatever reason), 'way off' (things never once human), or 'WAAAAY off' (gods, or god-like)

What is a 'father', anyway? One could count the number of ''fathers'' he's encountered and come away with what, 7? 8? The normal number of dads.

They've all had profound influence over him, though.

I'm thinking about Ivon right now, Kathe's father -- Who by some technicality could be deemed 'his' father too, over the brief period wherein he was, kindly, a parasite dug well into Kathe's life.

He's agonized over it. Did this man influence him? This pathetic, useless, nothing of a man? Of course he did. Every beautiful and hideous thing he shares with Kathe is owed to the breaths run damp and dank through this man's lungs.

Is this the influence of a father? That you can be absolutely worthless as a man, as a human being, and still fall upon the end of your days having your touch ripple out upon the lake? The children you hailed over still live lives that you shaped. They're not at your mercy, you died by their hands -- And yet. And yet?

Dri was fond of himself, and this 'livelihood' he's found in this world. He copied his father-- (his current father, at least! one of his favorites~! )-- and mimicked this role of a 'detective', loosely. Noncommittally~ His nosy self had always been this way, but only after looking upon ' Dimitri ' did he start considering anything in this professional realm seriously. And look at him now!

-- He realized that Ivon was a P.I. as well.

Dri could be counted as polygamous tbh.

He distinctly doesn't seek out romantic relations, of course - despite being very lax about flirting, it doesn't actually mean a thing. He probably couldn't provide the sort of partnership most people crave. It's all too far beyond his radar, and most people don't seem interested in viewing him that way to begin with.

However, if a [different person] chose to try that course, there's a decent enough chance he'll entertain it and play the role. 'boyfriend' or something.

and if he DOES fall 'in love', though -- his own sense of love. lucky few that strike it. -- he can be incredibly dedicated and passionate. As substandard and off as it all is, it can potentially run very, very, very deep.

And he can't stop himself from developing (WHATEVER) sort of feelings he might toward multiple people, if that's how things progress. He can agree to play monogamously, if someone with that much priority asks him to -- but beneath the surface, it's not something he can genuinely bring himself to care about?

Which is a little funny, cuz he can end up feeling quite jealous if another person veered away from him. If they're the right person, at least.

So nothing really GETS to Dri. As far as horror stories go. Maybe they did, back when he was a kid, but given enough years of seeking out thrill it all starts to water down after a while.

Stories aren't anything. He doesn't, generally, read or watch fiction at all these days. Reality is where it's at.

Even so, with enough downtime, there ARE stories he'll engage with, at least a little - and those are usually gonna be horror.

They have no merit to him, personally-- but he enjoys them on a core level, the fact of their existence. One that sticks out to me is how he doesn't care for hit series Animal Crossing, but he was told about some creepypasta about it, and suddenly nothing is more interesting than that! bc it's funny. bc it's human. bc ghost stories gotta be etched into everything. bc he wants to know what they came up with, and why, and what makes it compelling, and who finds it compelling, and whether he can be rendered at their mercy or not, and how much to laugh when it fails.

his favorite stories are plausibly real, or at least told in such a way that they can ALMOST get him to believe it. The key is almost -- As soon as it's confirmed real, it's not interesting anymore, that's just another stupid paranormal thing. When it's made up, but plays on psychology, fear, the unexplained, the need for answers, the inability to firmly deny -- and when it does such a good job that even he starts to feel doubt, that's interesting!

A movie or a book will never achieve that, though. creepypastas, args, never - just by nature of being firmly fiction. Rumors, whispers, campfire stories will.

His true body is, in fact, a snake. It's coiled somewhere in his world. It's lived a hundred years and will live a couple thousand more probably, if left alone. If ever ejected from another body, he comes straight back to this one, so whatever happens in the human world is fine.

His main body, (blond, 5'4,) was given to him by his god Susanoo so that he can better to do his job as one of their world's Sentries. I could explain more of it later, but in simplest terms, he acts as something of a shepherd to their snakes.

This job is easier done with hands and legs and stuff. It also helps to maneuver in the human world if he looks like them. So, he and his brother get presents.

The body acts pretty human - able to be harmed normally, for example - but it ages veeeeery slowly. Its metabolism is also weird, so he can get away with eating less. It's oddly energetic and agile for how little he takes care of it, really-- sustained by a god, it moves with something of an eternal youth, avoiding the settlement of bones and muscles that lead to aches and slowness. but at a glance, there's nothing revealing to be noticed about him.

His Seth body (brown hair, 5'7) was............ grown in a lab?? tube style??? in the og kagepreo verse this was done by kenjirou, obviously. but in main it's been switched to Hideo. This was done by request (and threats), and their relationship maintains that anything that happens to this or any of his bodies will be seen to by Hideo. This is his main point of getting away with shit.

This body runs differently- It does need to eat more, for one, being not sustained by a god. But when he's not using it, it essentially goes into a coma. He tries to visit it at least once a day to maintain some level of strength and flexibility. It's easy to end up with bedsores, unfortunately -- he ignores them. But it does leave this body with a degree of weakness that he doesn't love. I have health complications :(, he'll say, dying every night

But yeah functionally, the body borders on shutting down entirely. I think it grows, at what would be a normal human rate, if it were consistently alive - but it's more or less paused when he's not in it, slowing the rate of growth a bit.

-

He's capable of possessing humans. He finds it a hassle, since it leaves his preferred body empty and exposed, and, if they manage to maintain consciousness, he has to fight them for dominance. It's also just straight up tricky to do. There's potentially interesting and fun things about it, and he might be inclined to in the right situation - but it's so off his radar he normally forgets it's an option.

Unless- something drastic happens to the body he's using, and he needs another one in the vicinity. He'll do it without hesitation then.

He possessed Kathe when she was younger. She's a case study on what can happen in that situation.

I've blanked !! on every movie !!! ever made !!! so these aren't his favorites, but they're probably up there

colorful - it's just really good. rare that he can sit back and just appreciate something. even took some of its messages to heart? very rare for him ! knives out - hc that his dad got psyched over it and sat the family down and yknow what it was fun as hell. Lots of bonus came from his dad being a nerd, but yo a good mystery is a good mystery death note (netflix) - I just drew blaaankkkkk but tbh he loves to laugh at it. he doesn't have many of those. it was so bad

/ the nerd mostly uses tv to keep up with news. I think his real favorites would be more academic. think-pieces. mystery or horror (really picky about it). some documentaries maybe. I haven't watched enough jp films to know his real picks.

tagged by: @j4dore tyyy <3333 !!

(Well, I mean. his BODY can die. Historically, though, he's known two freak doctors who can heal the body enough for him to repossess it, so it's fine-- Though socially, it's a little awkward. Dying and coming back. Hard not to blow cover. :(