I’d say a few passing run ins as fellow heirs more than any sort of friendship or rivalry. They’re a couple years apart. I don’t have the number ironed out because I’m handwaving a lot that’s not absolutely necessary to my main plot, but I’d say about 5 years. Fugaku participated on the front lines during the latter half of Second War ten years prior to canon (he was a preteen and turned teenager on the field), while Shikaku did not, so there was a deep gap in their lived experiences and kill count for a while.

I think they didn’t know each other very well, but Shikaku has always been a nosy boy who quietly but thoroughly seeks out information about everyone. Think of him a bit like, uh, Kabuto and his ninja info cards (snort). It got Shikaku into a lot of trouble as a kid until he got really good at hiding his presence. He is of the few people that know about Fugaku and his...odd relationship with his mom.

Shikaku doesn’t exactly lack empathy, but it wasn’t taught to him, either, so while he can empathize he’s generally a piece of shit about it. Fugaku’s overly sensitive (and has an unfortunately fantastic memory for events that have hurt him) so if Shikaku ever attempted to help him, Fugaku probably lashed out and drove him away, and they both eyed each other from afar. Fugaku’s a very private person but a lot of his shame is on display at all times so he’s not easy to befriend. Shikaku was never interested in befriending him, either. He’s already got Inoichi and Chouza.

Shikaku’s upbringing was mostly...neglectful? His grandfather was an ironfisted presence when he was around, but age and exhaustion have driven him deeper into the Nara woods, away from humans and ninjas, so he wasn’t around much. (When he was, his attention was focused solely on Shikaku and that’s where Shikaku got a lot of his scars. Rip.) Shikaku’s mom was taken away from him as a young child, and he was raised pretty much by his sisters and aunts and grandmother, who, though they didn’t exactly resent him for being the male heir, or mistreat him like grandfather did, they didn’t really include him in their day to day gossip, either. It made him infinitely curious about what others are talking about, and why they won’t tell him, and there’s where he got his spying hobby from.

So he’s always had a lot of free time and a lot of curiosity, and a fair amount of intelligence, so he became a spy nin early on. He’s seen a lot of violence, heard a lot of secrets, but he hasn’t personally killed ninja and civilians with the brutality of his grandfather’s techniques during wartime like Fugaku has. (He will get his chance during the Third War.)

onmyoji is a game set in ye olde japan with all its fancy magic nonsense. the main character is abe no seimei, who’s lost his memories and is going around helping people while figuring out how to get his memory back. he’s joined by kagura, a young girl who likewise lost her memories, hiromasa, an archer with a big attitude who’s looking for his missing younger sister, and yao bikuni, an immortal sage who hopes seimei can finally kill her. the story doesn’t seem too complex so far but it’s definitely entertaining. the characters are colourful and all have that exaggerated mythological quality to them, they generally only have 2-3 personality traits but they go all in on those to make it work. the designs are incredibly good and varied, all characters have two unique designs (standard and upgraded) and many have one or multiple skins too, including a lot of R and SR charas

gameplaywise you work with teams of three or five shikigami (the monsters that you roll) plus your player character (one of four options). shikigami each have a unique set of skills and you can equip them with up to 6 souls that give various passive effects depending on the combination. the combat is simple and easy to get used to but has a lot of depth if you want to really get into it. the SSR rate is garbo (1.2% and no guarantees for 10rolls) but lots of SR and even R characters are extremely meta thanks to the wide spread of gameplay gimmicks and synergy across all rarities. there are also ways to get characters outside the gacha although obviously the higher the rarity the harder it is to pull off this way

there’s a pvp section where players can pit their teams against each other at a fixed time every day for some neat rewards but it’s not required to progress in the game. the story battles actually have a pretty steep but not impossible difficulty curve which means there’s a good incentive to raise your shikigami outside pvp context and beating story battles that kicked my ass earlier has been very satisfying. you can definitely get a fulfilling experience without touching pvp ever

the game kind of wants to be an mmo which is why there’s world chats and guilds with dozens of members. lots of farming can be done coop style (with strangers friends or guildmates) and there’s a few aspects of the game (including the daily missions) you can’t really do without having a guild with at least a handful of active members which is imo its largest drawback. i’m not looking to participate in ranking events or whatever so i mostly just want to use my guild to let some pals benefit from being in one and that’s it.

Send ‘Flashback’ to see one of my muse’s old memories

Kai:

35. How does your character behave around people they like?

If he’s comfortable, he’ll joke around a bit and affectionately make fun of them (this is mostly around his brother, Anya, Zack, and James). Otherwise, he’s attentive to whatever they say to him and is generally curious about them, asking questions about shared interests once in a while if he feels talkative enough ;v;

36. How does your character behave around people they dislike?

He gives them all the Glare™ if he really distrusts/hates them but otherwise he just ignores them honestly

37. Is your character more concerned with defending their honor, or protecting their status?

Neither tbh? He will defend other people’s honor tho lol

38. Is your character more likely to remove a problem/threat, or remove themselves from a problem/threat?

He’ll remove himself first, then calculate what is needed to remove the problem/threat altogether =v=

39. Has your character ever been bitten by an animal? How were they affected (or unaffected)?

I’m pretty sure his mom’s cat bit him a lot when he was younger but he still loves him to bits

40. How does your character treat people in service jobs?

He doesn’t really say much to them, so I guess he looks rude at first, but he gives the biggest tips bc he’s just really shy =v=

41. Does your character feel that they deserve to have what they want, whether it be material or abstract, or do they feel they must earn it first?

He definitely feels that it needs to be earned, and also that he doesn’t deserve to have anything good at all because he’s horribly self-deprecating oops

42. Has your character ever had a parental figure who was not related to them?

His cook/housekeeper Martha, who’s basically like a grandma to him, and his butler James, who’s like another big bro or a young father figure to him =w= Also to a lesser extent, Zack’s, Looc’s, and Anya’s parents, who are all really gracious to him and his brother after his mother died =v=

43. Has your character ever had a dependent figure who was not related to them?

does Zack count

44. How easy or difficult is it for your character to say “I love you?” Can they say it without meaning it?

It’s extremely hard for him to vocalize his feelings at all, so if he says it, he definitely means it with all of his being =v=

45. What does your character believe will happen to them after they die? Does this belief scare them?

He used to be afraid that there was nothing beyond life, but since the events of S6 he’s reconsidered =v=

Aya:

20. In what ways does your character compare themselves to others? Do they do this for the sake of self-validation, or self-criticism?

Outwardly, she acts like she’s too good to do anything with the rest of the crew (besides her sister), and pretty much acts like the “cool lone wolf” stereotype, but that’s bc deep down she hates herself and everything she’s done and thinks that her loner status is necessary for atonement, or something >w>

21. If something tragic or negative happens to your character, do they believe they may have caused or deserved it, or are they quick to blame others?

Oh my god she blames herself and h o w

22. What does your character like in other people?

She likes it when people are earnest in their efforts and their feelings. She also likes people who can match her in wits and sarcasm, and who aren’t afraid of the front she puts up =w=

23. What does your character dislike in other people?

Dishonesty, manipulation, being slimy and/or overall a terrible human being?

24. How quick is your character to trust someone else?

Nope

25. How quick is your character to suspect someone else? Does this change if they are close with that person?

She is always suspect of everyone, she doesn’t trust very easily, but will hunt for the truth before accusation (unless she is SURE her hunches are right)

26. How does your character behave around children?

She loves being around children, especially younger kids ;v; To her they are pure and honest with themselves and won’t try to hurt or manipulate anyone (unless they were mistreated or brought up badly, in which case she would probably kick whoever was responsible) She almost always lets her guard down around kids, which is rare for her when she’s with anyone else =w=

27. How does your character normally deal with confrontation?

She starts by hurling insults at them, and when they’re all riled up she starts a brawl lmao

28. How quick or slow is your character to resort to physical violence in a confrontation?

0 to 100 in the blink of an eye L M A O......

29. What did your character dream of being or doing as a child? Did that dream come true?

She just wants to protect and be around her loving family honestly

30. What does your character find repulsive or disgusting?

I LOVE THE EMISSARY BROTHERS its implied kuro mujou straight killed himself just to drag shiro mujou back from the underworld and when by some freak twist of fate shiro was the one sent to guide him to the afterlife kuro just kinda broke every rule ever by becoming an emissary too