[Old] Essaaaaaay
... so a long day at work made me babble in notepad about some of the decisions I made for DRS and whether I think they're likely to be actually canon or not. For a character that started off as a random urge to play a moeblob for a day she's had an embarassing amount of thought put into her. Also because if I get this down into text now I can use it as a tally when the thing actually comes out to see how many points I scored.
Mato = pre-star BRS
Yomi = pre-???? DM
Mostly these are genre savvy guessed from the information I have, the preview, and the original PV, with some fanart stuff thrown in to match.
- The Canon Stuff
1. BRS really is a moron. DM's clever. Partially because it's funny and partially because it basically seems incredibly likely. Just look at the pre-star bit as Mato flops on Yomi, cribs her notes, struggles with a guitar, and generally derps around. It's hard to get the impression she's the brightest crayon in the box; more likely, BRS is the shonen retard hero and DM is the cooler-headed, more calculating one. By the same fashion BRS is more emotive - in the preview Yomi/DM's just smiling away while Mato/BRS goes through a range of angry/unhappy/worried/fucking your shit up faces. I assume she's similarly wide-ranged when happy, but that hasn't been seen much in the DR because, well, BRS' life just prior to DR entry was astronomically crappy (literally, haw) and she's too weighed down by mopey.
2. BRS and DM are given the same or very similar power i.e. starhax. Because it would seem to make sense, and because the designs of all the different BRS characters have certain similarities to them, above and beyond huke only being able to draw emoeblobs.
3. BRS kills DM, not quite against her will. IIRC, the original PV notes pretty much said this for certain, and if they didn't I'm sure the anime will - BRS killing DM is the only way out of the antagonistic situation they've gotten into. The real question is whether the antagonism towards BRS was entirely due to starhax or whether Yomi was secretly kind of 'god Mato why you gotta be so awesome' and starhax used a momentary bout of weakness to strike in a manner not unlike Ga-Rei Zero. (Don't think I haven't noticed the similarities, BRS anime.)
However DM came about, I'm betting the anime will include (because this is how the tropes go) a moment of 'What was I doing? Thank you for stopping me' death speech and redemption and BRS at least having to come to terms with what she did. All of which makes me assume that she is accepting of the fact that she had to kill DM. This isn't nearly the same as being happy about it, so much as her going in a very fatalistic sense 'this has to be done and cannot/should not be apologised for. I can emo forever about it after the fight's over'. So and thus.
- After-Canon Stuff
4. Assuming 2 and 3, post-canon BRS hates the shit out of starhax and, a large chunk of the time, herself. Hating the starhax is obvious - it got at Yomi, forced Mato into a fight for her life, and then caused her to kill Yomi. Okay so she's now a badass BRS but it still royally screwed her over. By implication and by being bloody obvious, she also tends to sink into depression herself; she used to be a happy go lucky kid and now she is a badass warrior who got her heart torn out and got kicked in the teeth by fate baaaaaaaaaw. Even if she accepted what had to be done, resigning herself to living on and moving on is not exactly the easiest thing in the world and everyone has moments of weakness. Every so often BRS steals away from everyone to go emo on a rooftop or somewhere similarly stupidly and photogenically out of the way.
5. From 4, BRS thinks being a hero for the sake of it is goddamn stupid. See also where she kicked Len in the face. She gets confused when people call her a superhero because she seems herself as anything but, she's just a kid who had to go and kill her best friend. She gets angry when people fight because 'good fights evil', and staunchly believes you at least need a reason beyond 'lol good is good and evil is evil' because that's just ridiculous and no excuse to inflict pain and loss on anyone. Probably it's her biggest trigger right now (though there are potential bigger ones.)
6. She's probably still that happy-go-lucky moron underneath. I'm kind of assuming that starhax doesn't intrinsically change a person, BRS just got hit with a slew of traumatic events that required her to harden the hell up followed by a lot of emo and a lot of being highly unsure in her place in the world. Her best friend getting fucked over is not particularly conducive to her being an outgoing person and is conducive to her thinking about things too damn much and turtling up - partially out of emo, partially out of a sort of martyring instinct. (Starhax can't fuck with people close to me if no-one's close to me.) Shocking, confusing or distracting her out of her funks works quite well and is getting easier as she gets used to a life that is not exactly normal but is at least less threatening.
7. ... she's not really sure she's human now. She's not exactly one to analyse this much but it kind of makes her feel weird, you know? She's not a robot nor a human nor a mixture of the two and is kind of out on the periphery of the DR anatomical charts. Notably of higher power level than 99% of DR occupants and really isn't the same as anyone there and sometimes she remembers this and goes all quiet because of it, let alone the implications as re: her ever having something like a normal life due to being a superpowered goth emo moeblob with scars and a gigantic cannon.
- Random Bonus Stuff Which May Get Added To As I Think Of More
8. The cannon can blip out of existence, and her eye can be turned off. Not the faintest clue if this is canon or not but it's a common theme in some videos: start off without burning eye, place hand to eye, eye ignites and cannon appears in her hand. This is a useful way to handwave whether or not she has her weapons on her so I'm totally stealing it.
9. She sucks at playing the guitar, but it was super fun to just sit there and strum. If she could have taken one thing with her - I'm assuming she left it all behind - it would have been the guitar. Only starhax would probably have turned it into a star-shaped electric guitar with three necks or something and it would have lost all it's charm.
10. Random bonus stuff: Likes cats, but likes big energetic dogs more. Habitually nicked and cut and injured herself in a variety of accidents prior to becoming BRS - the sort of kid who always had a plaster - and kind of wishes that still worked. Loses herself in good reverie just as easily as bad. Has decided she likes light clothing that covers the waist (scars), but feels strongly that if she's patrolling she should be in her BRS gear because it's somehow appropriate. Has a ridiculous sweet tooth and huddles protectively over food she likes.
Mato = pre-star BRS
Yomi = pre-???? DM
Mostly these are genre savvy guessed from the information I have, the preview, and the original PV, with some fanart stuff thrown in to match.
- The Canon Stuff
1. BRS really is a moron. DM's clever. Partially because it's funny and partially because it basically seems incredibly likely. Just look at the pre-star bit as Mato flops on Yomi, cribs her notes, struggles with a guitar, and generally derps around. It's hard to get the impression she's the brightest crayon in the box; more likely, BRS is the shonen retard hero and DM is the cooler-headed, more calculating one. By the same fashion BRS is more emotive - in the preview Yomi/DM's just smiling away while Mato/BRS goes through a range of angry/unhappy/worried/fucking your shit up faces. I assume she's similarly wide-ranged when happy, but that hasn't been seen much in the DR because, well, BRS' life just prior to DR entry was astronomically crappy (literally, haw) and she's too weighed down by mopey.
2. BRS and DM are given the same or very similar power i.e. starhax. Because it would seem to make sense, and because the designs of all the different BRS characters have certain similarities to them, above and beyond huke only being able to draw emoeblobs.
3. BRS kills DM, not quite against her will. IIRC, the original PV notes pretty much said this for certain, and if they didn't I'm sure the anime will - BRS killing DM is the only way out of the antagonistic situation they've gotten into. The real question is whether the antagonism towards BRS was entirely due to starhax or whether Yomi was secretly kind of 'god Mato why you gotta be so awesome' and starhax used a momentary bout of weakness to strike in a manner not unlike Ga-Rei Zero. (Don't think I haven't noticed the similarities, BRS anime.)
However DM came about, I'm betting the anime will include (because this is how the tropes go) a moment of 'What was I doing? Thank you for stopping me' death speech and redemption and BRS at least having to come to terms with what she did. All of which makes me assume that she is accepting of the fact that she had to kill DM. This isn't nearly the same as being happy about it, so much as her going in a very fatalistic sense 'this has to be done and cannot/should not be apologised for. I can emo forever about it after the fight's over'. So and thus.
- After-Canon Stuff
4. Assuming 2 and 3, post-canon BRS hates the shit out of starhax and, a large chunk of the time, herself. Hating the starhax is obvious - it got at Yomi, forced Mato into a fight for her life, and then caused her to kill Yomi. Okay so she's now a badass BRS but it still royally screwed her over. By implication and by being bloody obvious, she also tends to sink into depression herself; she used to be a happy go lucky kid and now she is a badass warrior who got her heart torn out and got kicked in the teeth by fate baaaaaaaaaw. Even if she accepted what had to be done, resigning herself to living on and moving on is not exactly the easiest thing in the world and everyone has moments of weakness. Every so often BRS steals away from everyone to go emo on a rooftop or somewhere similarly stupidly and photogenically out of the way.
5. From 4, BRS thinks being a hero for the sake of it is goddamn stupid. See also where she kicked Len in the face. She gets confused when people call her a superhero because she seems herself as anything but, she's just a kid who had to go and kill her best friend. She gets angry when people fight because 'good fights evil', and staunchly believes you at least need a reason beyond 'lol good is good and evil is evil' because that's just ridiculous and no excuse to inflict pain and loss on anyone. Probably it's her biggest trigger right now (though there are potential bigger ones.)
6. She's probably still that happy-go-lucky moron underneath. I'm kind of assuming that starhax doesn't intrinsically change a person, BRS just got hit with a slew of traumatic events that required her to harden the hell up followed by a lot of emo and a lot of being highly unsure in her place in the world. Her best friend getting fucked over is not particularly conducive to her being an outgoing person and is conducive to her thinking about things too damn much and turtling up - partially out of emo, partially out of a sort of martyring instinct. (Starhax can't fuck with people close to me if no-one's close to me.) Shocking, confusing or distracting her out of her funks works quite well and is getting easier as she gets used to a life that is not exactly normal but is at least less threatening.
7. ... she's not really sure she's human now. She's not exactly one to analyse this much but it kind of makes her feel weird, you know? She's not a robot nor a human nor a mixture of the two and is kind of out on the periphery of the DR anatomical charts. Notably of higher power level than 99% of DR occupants and really isn't the same as anyone there and sometimes she remembers this and goes all quiet because of it, let alone the implications as re: her ever having something like a normal life due to being a superpowered goth emo moeblob with scars and a gigantic cannon.
- Random Bonus Stuff Which May Get Added To As I Think Of More
8. The cannon can blip out of existence, and her eye can be turned off. Not the faintest clue if this is canon or not but it's a common theme in some videos: start off without burning eye, place hand to eye, eye ignites and cannon appears in her hand. This is a useful way to handwave whether or not she has her weapons on her so I'm totally stealing it.
9. She sucks at playing the guitar, but it was super fun to just sit there and strum. If she could have taken one thing with her - I'm assuming she left it all behind - it would have been the guitar. Only starhax would probably have turned it into a star-shaped electric guitar with three necks or something and it would have lost all it's charm.
10. Random bonus stuff: Likes cats, but likes big energetic dogs more. Habitually nicked and cut and injured herself in a variety of accidents prior to becoming BRS - the sort of kid who always had a plaster - and kind of wishes that still worked. Loses herself in good reverie just as easily as bad. Has decided she likes light clothing that covers the waist (scars), but feels strongly that if she's patrolling she should be in her BRS gear because it's somehow appropriate. Has a ridiculous sweet tooth and huddles protectively over food she likes.