♛ ooc; overshadowing permission post
Stan's only power in the house is his shadow powers. At the end of the game, he's able to become a shadow at will (at least, he does in the after-credit scene) without using someone else as his vessel. However, for almost the entire game, Stan has to rely on using another person's shadow to... well. Exist outside of a bottle. He's still able to Overshadow the main character even after he gets his body back, and really, he can do it to anyone.
Except there's consequences. Very silly consequences.
♛ OVERSHADOWING 101: THE LONG EXPLANATION FOR ANYONE WITH THE PATIENCE TO READ ALL THIS
There are three (3, tres, trois, etc.) things to keep in mind when it comes to Overshadowing:
1) Personality
2) Prominence
3) Classification
All of these determine the "strength" of a character's shadow. Most important is the third category, but since this isn't Okageverse, it won't have as large an effect. So let's try to break it down into something that might make a vague bit of sense:
Personality: One of the things that makes Ari (Luca, Main Character, whatever) the perfect vessel is that he's described as very bland and passive. Characters that are shyer, quieter, and more passive make better candidates for Stan to comfortably Overshadow them. Characters that are outgoing, aggressive, and above all confident make it more difficult for him. Difficult, but not impossible. One point in the game is that he has Overshadows one of the Heroes in the past. It did not go well. More on this later.
Prominence: Is your character often ignored? Do they go unnoticed? Are they more likely to fade into the background than take center stage? Do they have a tendency, even despite their personality, to be upstaged by other characters?
The less prominent a character is, the weaker their shadow is. There's a reason Ari is called "the Canada of Okage."
Classification: Basically, character archetype. Stan is a Classified Shadow Evil King. Other Classifications include Hero, Evil Butler, Scientist, Artist, and the various lesser Evil Kings. The possibilities are infinite, but the more your character fits to a specific archetype, the more likely their shadow will be affected. Now, obviously most characters are more complex than simple archetypes, but basically if you can view a character as one thing on the surface, that would be their Classification.
So how do you determine if your character has a strong shadow, a weak shadow, or somewhere in between? Ask yourself these questions:
1. Is my character more confident than meek?
2. Would they actively confront someone or mutter passive-aggressively?
3. Is my character the type who is easily noticed or the type that fades into the background?
4. Does my character's surface personality fit an archetype?
The more passive, shy, meek, unnoticed, etc. your character is, the weaker their shadow.
It is at this point you must be thinking "AWESOME. BUT HOW DO I OBJECTIVELY RANK MY CHARACTER'S SHADOW STRENGTH?" Either that or "why did I click the long version?" Both are excellent questions. I don't know why you're still reading this. Anyway, just to make things simple, let's put shadow strength on a scale of 1-5.
♛ SHADOW STRENGTH RANKING
1. You may as well be Canadian you are so damn unnoticeable.
2. You're shy, and it probably takes a few efforts for you to get a word in edge-wise, but you can grab attention when you need to. It might take a few introductions to remember your name, though.
3. People don't tend to do double-takes, but you can garner attention and hold an audience as well as the next person. People might forget your name or face after a first introduction, but they'll quickly remember you the next time around. You can make first impressions, but they're general, vague thoughts like "they seem nice" or "they're kinda weird."
4. You're noticeable. It might be because you're confident, you're charming, or you're such a scary fuck that people tend to veer away from your path. People tend to make very strong first impressions of you that may linger longer than noticed. However, in a crowded room, you're not usually the center of attention.
5. You're as noticeable as an American in the middle of Europe. If no one remembers you, they must've had a lobotomy because holy shit dude.
It's alright if your character ranks a 4 or a 5. In fact, I would expect 1 and 2 rankings to be relatively rare.
And now comes the fun part: the consequences.
Let's say your character is a 4 or a 5 and Stan Overshadows you. This will not be pleasant for him. When he Overshadows the hero, Rosalyn, he immediately freaks out, starts complaining about her thighs are too lumpy and her shadow too fat, and hops right back in the bottle. Of course, Stan's complaints can extend beyond physical attributes. Let's use America as an example: should Stan hop into America's shadow, he'd immediately start complaining about patriotism, smelling like burgers, etc. (And make fun of him for being fat.)
Anyway, when Stan leaves Rosalyn's shadow, a mark of his power is left behind: her shadow is turned hot pink. Although the only two shadows he curses in the game are hot pink, let's say for the sake of hilarity that he can turn into any color or pattern. To use yet another Hetalia example: if Stan were to hop into Iceland's shadow, the shadow left behind could be Iceland's flag. Shadow colors don't have to be specific to a character though; if you want generic hot pink, that's fine. If you want polka-dot, awesome. Want the Mona Lisa? Even funnier.
(Note: The power can be lifted. Stan is usually too much of an asshole to do so, but it's possible. Shadows can also be disguised if a character is in a place with no lighting directly hitting them. Rosalyn always carries a pink parasol above her head to hide her shadow's true color.)
FORGOT TO ADD: Stan can Overshadow people for long durations of time or in separate inteverals. In the event of this, it's entirely possible to shut him up for two seconds. Stan can only exist as a shadow in the presence of light; should a character turn off all the lights--and I mean all the lights, PDAs included--thus eliminating all the shadows, Stan will vanish. HE'LL BE BACK AS SOON AS YOU TURN THEM BACK ON but you'll at least be rid of him for two minutes.
♛ OVERSHADOWING 101: TL;DR
IT'S UTTER CRACK, MAKES NO SENSE. STAN GOES INTO YOUR SHADOW. HE WILL MOST LIKELY BITCH ABOUT IT. WHEN HE LEAVES, IT WILL BE COLORFUL. IT'S REVERSIBLE. DO YOU WANT A COOL SHADOW?
The only thing you should see above is the "shadow strength" part. The rest you can skip.
Character Name:
Shadow Strength:
Color of Shadow:
Any characteristics Stan might be able to complain about in the event of Overshadowing?
ANYTHING ELSE?
QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? "WHAT THE HELL IS OKAGE?" Who knows.
Except there's consequences. Very silly consequences.
♛ OVERSHADOWING 101: THE LONG EXPLANATION FOR ANYONE WITH THE PATIENCE TO READ ALL THIS
There are three (3, tres, trois, etc.) things to keep in mind when it comes to Overshadowing:
1) Personality
2) Prominence
3) Classification
All of these determine the "strength" of a character's shadow. Most important is the third category, but since this isn't Okageverse, it won't have as large an effect. So let's try to break it down into something that might make a vague bit of sense:
Personality: One of the things that makes Ari (Luca, Main Character, whatever) the perfect vessel is that he's described as very bland and passive. Characters that are shyer, quieter, and more passive make better candidates for Stan to comfortably Overshadow them. Characters that are outgoing, aggressive, and above all confident make it more difficult for him. Difficult, but not impossible. One point in the game is that he has Overshadows one of the Heroes in the past. It did not go well. More on this later.
Prominence: Is your character often ignored? Do they go unnoticed? Are they more likely to fade into the background than take center stage? Do they have a tendency, even despite their personality, to be upstaged by other characters?
The less prominent a character is, the weaker their shadow is. There's a reason Ari is called "the Canada of Okage."
Classification: Basically, character archetype. Stan is a Classified Shadow Evil King. Other Classifications include Hero, Evil Butler, Scientist, Artist, and the various lesser Evil Kings. The possibilities are infinite, but the more your character fits to a specific archetype, the more likely their shadow will be affected. Now, obviously most characters are more complex than simple archetypes, but basically if you can view a character as one thing on the surface, that would be their Classification.
So how do you determine if your character has a strong shadow, a weak shadow, or somewhere in between? Ask yourself these questions:
1. Is my character more confident than meek?
2. Would they actively confront someone or mutter passive-aggressively?
3. Is my character the type who is easily noticed or the type that fades into the background?
4. Does my character's surface personality fit an archetype?
The more passive, shy, meek, unnoticed, etc. your character is, the weaker their shadow.
It is at this point you must be thinking "AWESOME. BUT HOW DO I OBJECTIVELY RANK MY CHARACTER'S SHADOW STRENGTH?" Either that or "why did I click the long version?" Both are excellent questions. I don't know why you're still reading this. Anyway, just to make things simple, let's put shadow strength on a scale of 1-5.
♛ SHADOW STRENGTH RANKING
1. You may as well be Canadian you are so damn unnoticeable.
2. You're shy, and it probably takes a few efforts for you to get a word in edge-wise, but you can grab attention when you need to. It might take a few introductions to remember your name, though.
3. People don't tend to do double-takes, but you can garner attention and hold an audience as well as the next person. People might forget your name or face after a first introduction, but they'll quickly remember you the next time around. You can make first impressions, but they're general, vague thoughts like "they seem nice" or "they're kinda weird."
4. You're noticeable. It might be because you're confident, you're charming, or you're such a scary fuck that people tend to veer away from your path. People tend to make very strong first impressions of you that may linger longer than noticed. However, in a crowded room, you're not usually the center of attention.
5. You're as noticeable as an American in the middle of Europe. If no one remembers you, they must've had a lobotomy because holy shit dude.
It's alright if your character ranks a 4 or a 5. In fact, I would expect 1 and 2 rankings to be relatively rare.
And now comes the fun part: the consequences.
Let's say your character is a 4 or a 5 and Stan Overshadows you. This will not be pleasant for him. When he Overshadows the hero, Rosalyn, he immediately freaks out, starts complaining about her thighs are too lumpy and her shadow too fat, and hops right back in the bottle. Of course, Stan's complaints can extend beyond physical attributes. Let's use America as an example: should Stan hop into America's shadow, he'd immediately start complaining about patriotism, smelling like burgers, etc. (And make fun of him for being fat.)
Anyway, when Stan leaves Rosalyn's shadow, a mark of his power is left behind: her shadow is turned hot pink. Although the only two shadows he curses in the game are hot pink, let's say for the sake of hilarity that he can turn into any color or pattern. To use yet another Hetalia example: if Stan were to hop into Iceland's shadow, the shadow left behind could be Iceland's flag. Shadow colors don't have to be specific to a character though; if you want generic hot pink, that's fine. If you want polka-dot, awesome. Want the Mona Lisa? Even funnier.
(Note: The power can be lifted. Stan is usually too much of an asshole to do so, but it's possible. Shadows can also be disguised if a character is in a place with no lighting directly hitting them. Rosalyn always carries a pink parasol above her head to hide her shadow's true color.)
FORGOT TO ADD: Stan can Overshadow people for long durations of time or in separate inteverals. In the event of this, it's entirely possible to shut him up for two seconds. Stan can only exist as a shadow in the presence of light; should a character turn off all the lights--and I mean all the lights, PDAs included--thus eliminating all the shadows, Stan will vanish. HE'LL BE BACK AS SOON AS YOU TURN THEM BACK ON but you'll at least be rid of him for two minutes.
♛ OVERSHADOWING 101: TL;DR
IT'S UTTER CRACK, MAKES NO SENSE. STAN GOES INTO YOUR SHADOW. HE WILL MOST LIKELY BITCH ABOUT IT. WHEN HE LEAVES, IT WILL BE COLORFUL. IT'S REVERSIBLE. DO YOU WANT A COOL SHADOW?
The only thing you should see above is the "shadow strength" part. The rest you can skip.
Character Name:
Shadow Strength:
Color of Shadow:
Any characteristics Stan might be able to complain about in the event of Overshadowing?
ANYTHING ELSE?
QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? "WHAT THE HELL IS OKAGE?" Who knows.