"I want to create an environment where everyone has the opportunity to give it everything they've got."
KIYOTAKA "TAKA" ISHIMARU
ULTIMATE MORAL COMPASS
by @sherlockholmes_ on discord
"In a true competition...there's no such thing as a tie! You win, or you lose. That's...the only thing that matters!"
Kiyotaka values structure and rules above all else. Everything must be systematic, by the book, and in accordance with his black-and-white thinking, or else he doesn't know what to do. Small changes or perceived "mistakes", such as skipping a single class or wearing a different outfit, can completely throw him for a loop. Although he loves rules and has a strong sense of justice, these factors can make it exhausting.Taka has pretty much one hobby: education. He seems to think of school as an actual full-time job, with the goal of being a "studying professional". When people suggest other things for him to do, he's agreeable, but still reframes it to be another form of studying, like "studying video games". He doesn't see the point in doing anything just for fun, because everything must have a purpose and noticeable result with no time wasted. He doesn't do well with interactions at school, but the schoolwork itself can be soothing to him.An overambitious leader, Taka believes that he's responsible for many, many things, including (or especially) things that are out of his hands. He is the one who must enforce all the rules, he is the one who must unconditionally help every other student, and he is the one who must single-handedly change the world. He sure does dream big.“The foundation of effort is the will to never give up” - that's how Taka defines it. Even if a situation arises where it seems impossible to continue further, he will find a way to push through and absolutely refuses to give up. He doesn’t allow himself any breaks either, no matter what’s going on on any given day. He’s an incredibly driven person who believes that life is worth putting every ounce of effort into.He’s slow to realize that his own perspective shouldn’t be, and isn’t, the only one. Because of this, he has a bad habit of pushing his own beliefs onto others and demanding that they follow his expectations. When fairly criticized, Taka can quickly admit he's wrong, but he beats himself up over it - or even literally asks people to physically hurt him over his mistakes. He becomes completely ashamed of himself when he misses anything, as if any slip-up is a fault in who he is rather than what he's done. This leaves him with low self-esteem at times. He treats other people with much more respect. If someone teaches him something new, he’s up to call them an honorific title, but if he learns something himself, it's just another day.Taka is strongly emotional and passionate - excessively reactive, even. He’s been described as “enthusiastic to the point of being mad”. He's loud and prone to constant yelling regardless of his mood, so people mistakenly think he’s always angry…and annoying. People often (try to) ignore him, so he tends to be a little out of touch with current trends. He immediately jumps to controversial and emotionally charged topics when starting a conversation, so he can come off as insensitive and unsociable when he inevitably doesn't get very far, but he just doesn’t know what a normal conversation is.His main goal is to create a world where everyone is given an equal chance at success in life. He puts it upon himself to be the one to prove that hard work is better than luck, and ordinary people who make an effort can surpass the ones who were born to climb the ladder. He believes everyone needs to put all the effort they have into everything they do, because “there’s nothing worse than a genius who trips and falls”.
Gender: Male
Pronouns: He/him
Age: 18?
Birthday: August 31st
Height: 5'9" (176 cm)
Weight: 146 lbs (66 kg)
Blood Type: BLikes/Hobbies: Order, working hard, being in charge, school, studying, reading, socializing, food, justice, boxing, competition, proving things
Dislikes: Having nothing to do, inconsistency, wasting time, his family's reputation, tardiness, being ignored
Fears: Being like his grandfather, breaking rules, failure, being hated
Secrets: TBA?
"No matter how intensely the stormy seas may batter me, I will not fall as long as my feet are firmly planted!"
Taka’s grandfather, Toranosuke Ishimaru, was the former Prime Minister of Japan. The man gained his success without any effort, support, or failure; he was just born a "genius". Because Toranosuke didn't work his way up to such a high position, he didn't recognize its importance or know how to maintain it; his naïveté, arrogance, and inflated self-esteem were used to get him involved in a corruption scandal, causing the downfall of his political standing and business affairs. He left considerable debt, mistrust, and shame on the family name before he died.As a result of this, Kiyotaka grew up in a low-class household with a rough start. He lived with his father Takaaki Ishimaru, a policeman and one of the closest people to Taka. Takaaki's a serious and unwell man who shows little sympathy, but is still very nervous around others due to the family’s reputation. He's similar to Taka in that one mistake will set off his relentless need to make things right. He loves his son deeply, but might not have taught him in the best way.His middle school days were harrowing, so much so that they weren’t elaborated on because “it looked like it [was] going to turn dark”…for a killing game. At least things were looking up for him in high school. He attended Kaiseidan High School - a prestigious, top academic school - as a nearly flawless student who won top honors every year. He was known for his work with the Public Morals Committee, for which he was the chairman. Those factors are what made him the Ultimate Moral Compass. If he had to give up his talent, he would’ve chosen to become a farmer to help the country in a more physical way.Today, Taka has mixed feelings about his grandfather. He hates and pities Toranosuke simultaneously, but Taka learned an important lesson from him. His desire to accomplish even greater things than his grandfather even with such a disadvantage is a major motivator for all he does.
"By the way, how much do you know about the world of 2D art?"
HIFUMI YAMADA
ULTIMATE FANFIC CREATOR
by @sherlockholmes_ on discord
"I was so happy... I had no idea there were other people on the planet who'd felt the same thing I had."
Being called a "fanfic" creator makes it sound like Hifumi is only a writer, but that's only part of he does. In the original Japanese version, he's a dōjin author: someone who self-publishes creative works, especially fan works and print media, along with other creators who share the same interests. Hifumi primarily makes fan comics.Hifumi focuses on art and fandom more than anything else. He wants everyone he interacts with to already be just as knowledgeable about his interests as he is, but if they aren't, he'll teach them regardless of whether or not they agreed. Even so, he sees people recently getting into his hobbies as inferior and annoying, even though he himself says he only really knows already popular media. He aims to participate in more events to prove that he knows his stuff, but he could just be trying to prove it to himself because of his own insecurity...So, he's extremely passionate about visual art, but doesn't really care about the real world all that much. He's generally against making real-life friends, mainly because he doesn't believe anyone would actually want to be his friend for any reason other than their own benefit. Because of that, he pushes people away before they even get a chance to show that they're sincere. He became overly attached to Alter Ego specifically because that was the only "person" he knew who would genuinely listen to him and his interests without judgement. In the creative industry, he also sees many things as a competition where getting along is a disadvantage.He's also just weird - that much is obvious just from meeting him. He's unrestrained in just about every way and sees no point in keeping the internet world and reality separate. When talking about his interests, his excitement can't be quelled. He sees the world in terms of fiction and references that other people don't really get or wouldn't voice themselves. His speech is unusual, switching between overly formal or poetic terms and internet slang. Because of all this, people don't take him or his art seriously.He appears to have high self-esteem, but gets very defensive if anyone says anything negative about his art. If anyone slights his work, he's noticeably affected by it, but hides that and goes on about how the person saying that is wrong or how he takes their insults as compliments.Even though he has bad defense mechanisms, Hifumi is overall a well-meaning guy. His strong motivation to continue making art over the years can mainly be attributed to the fact that sharing his drawings as a kid made him realize there are other people like him. Though his life's work is fanfiction, his goal is to make original fiction that will help people that felt the same way he did, alone and excluded.
Gender: Male
Pronouns: He/him
Age: 18?
Birthday: December 31st
Height: 5'7" (170 cm)
Weight: 342 lbs (155 kg)
Blood Type: OLikes/Hobbies: Creating artwork, fanfiction, anime, manga, comics, video games, the internet, Diet Coke, junk food, figurines, relating to others
Dislikes: "Newbies", criticism, people being judged by appearances, people who don't like his interests, lack of privacy
Fears: TBA?
Secrets: TBA?
"But I think I have more to offer. I'm ready for the challenge of creating that dream myself! I was thinking...if I could create something that might save someone, the way the princess saved me..."
As a young child, Hifumi never had any friends. He was just a mild-mannered boy who liked to draw, but became bitter and hurtful to everything and everyone over time. Whenever people tried to make friends with him, especially girls, he believed it was just a shallow attempt to be nice to the weird, dorky kid, so he took pleasure in insulting them in return.After watching an episode of his now-favorite anime for the first time, Hifumi grew to love the main character, Princess Piggles. He drew fanart of her to fill in the gaps of things that weren't shown in the anime, such as her falling in love. He was really happy with the results and made more and more drawings, then posted them to his own website, where they became an instant success.He saw that other people loved the same things he did, as much as he did, and he was overjoyed at the realization that there were people he could actually relate to. That's where his passion for fan work started. Recognizing that he wasn't actually alone in the world ended most of his bitterness toward others, so he thanked that character for saving him.During middle school, Hifumi convinced his school to start a fanfic club by bribing them with a cut of the profits from his works. While he only focused on one fandom and art medium before, this started his exploration into others kinds of fan work and boosted his popularity.Hifumi became and remains famous - or infamous, depending on who you ask - in the world of fanfiction. At just a school festival, he sold 10,000 copies of his fan comics. He attends conventions with creators of all types of art, and even has experience with making cosplay himself. His success from a young age and these achievements are likely what made him the Ultimate Fanfic Creator.The entire time Hifumi has been making fanfiction, he's thought about also creating something original that other people would want to make fanfiction of, in order to save someone the way that his favorite character saved him. That's still his current dream.