#though she's polaris togami in this. not polanski.

[zenonaa]

Time for the second request!!

[prompt list here]

💖 Please like, reblog, leave kudos and/or comment on tumblr and AO3 💖

***

[ao3]

When Future Foundation’s abandoned overseas building collapsed, Polaris felt genuine fear for the first time in her life. It wasn’t the darkness under the rubble that scared her. Many feared what they couldn’t see, not knowing what predators may have been lurking away from the light, but the darkness never intimidated Polaris. She knew that whatever hid in it was afraid of being seen. They were weak. A coward.

The cramped space didn't unnerve Polaris either. Pinned down by debris, she could barely move, barely breathe. Her limbs felt like they were on fire, but she didn’t cry or scream. To become the person she was today, she had long accepted that she would regularly be dancing with death. Blood-thirsty half-siblings, a deranged anthropomorphic bear and homicidal pre-teens... she had survived them all. Polaris could survive this.

Yet she was drenched in sweat. Heart racing, she started to thrash, flailing her legs to try to free herself from the wreckage. Despite her attempts, the debris clung to her, rubble teeth biting firmly into her flesh. She could barely breathe as the darkness choked her, unrelenting, clenching her tighter and tighter.

A hand grabbed her upper arm. “Polaris-sama!”

Light swelled at the edge of her vision. For a moment, she thought it was a flashlight, but with some squinting, she realised it was the glow of a bedside lamp. Then she realised she hadn’t been buried in rubble, but under a blanket. Nor was she in a defunct Future Foundation base. She was in her bed.

And it wasn't a rescuer staring down at her. The wide grey eyes belonged to Touko Fukawa.

“I didn't mean to wake you,” said Polaris.

Touko shook her head. “I wouldn't want to be asleep while you were so distressed.”

“I'm fine now. You can go back to sleep, Touko.”

“Was it a nightmare or a night terror that you had?” asked Touko, remaining sitting up. 

“It was just an unpleasant dream. Nothing to worry about.”

“When I used to share a bed with Komaru, we would both often have nightmares. What we found helped most was talking to the other about what happened in them.”

Polaris frowned. More firmly, she said, “I said I'm fine, Touko.”

Years ago, Touko would have apologised for making Polaris raise her voice and dropped the topic. Now, a furrow dipped between Touko's eyebrows.

“Do you remember the promise we made when we started dating?” said Touko. “‘No secrets.’”

“This isn't a secret.” But Polaris sat up and sighed. “In my dream, I was back under the rubble when Future Foundation’s old offshore building collapsed. You know... during the last killing game.”

Neither Polaris nor Touko had taken part in that. Touko had been in Towa City with Komaru Naegi, fulfilling a mission that Polaris had entrusted them with. Meanwhile, Polaris had been heading the rescue operation for their friends who were in the killing game. It was when Polaris was inside the building that the explosives went off. Her ears had rung. The ceiling had rained down on her. She had laid in the building’s ruins, packed in like a corpse in a coffin. Even had a nice black suit on, at the time.

Touko fidgeted her hands. “I didn't know about it until after... I-It must have been a horrible experience for you. The darkness, the enclosed space... the uncertainty of when you'll be let out and b-by who... or if you will be left in there to starve and rot.”

Though Touko had not been under the rubble with Polaris, she spoke with a familiarity. She was one of the few that Polaris knew who was afraid of the dark whilst knowing its real horrors. Her monsters weren't imaginary, with scales and forked tongues. They didn't wield knives, or guns. For Touko, darkness was the inside of the closet her mothers locked her in for days at a time, or her bedroom when her father creaked the door open in the dead of night.

Monsters though they were, that didn't mean Touko’s parents weren’t cowards. The lot of them were pathetic weaklings who had used the darkness to prey on a child. Their own daughter.

“Did you think you were going to die in there?” asked Touko.

Polaris’s younger self would have scoffed and said, ‘Don't be stupid. I am unkillable.’ Now, she swallowed, aware that she was as human as the others. Her friends had taught her that, for better or worse.

“I was determined not to.” Polaris’s hands clenched into fists on her lap. “I had made a promise that I would collect you from Towa City.”

Perhaps that was what unsettled Polaris about the ordeal. The thought of dying without returning to Towa City like she told Touko she would. Had Polaris died back then, so many things would have been left undone. Left unsaid. 

‘Let's go home, Fukawa.’

‘I would like to partner with you, Touko.’

‘Call me Polaris from now on.’

Had Polaris died in the wreckage, instead of being with Touko in their apartment together, she would have been in a crypt in front of a stone monument. Her ashes would have included whatever men's suit she was cremated in, and the name on the grave would not be hers. Not anymore.

Polaris's hands shook slightly. Touko lay a palm across Polaris's white knuckles.

“Dreams are how our psyches try to process certain things,” said Touko. “I find the more you talk about your dreams, the more you can distance yourself from them. They’re no longer thoughts clouding your brain, but a conversation topic. That’s what Gekkogahara told me, anyway.”

“What did you say when Gekkogahara told you that?” asked Polaris, quirking her brow slightly. Touko hesitated.

“... I said this was rich coming from a silent bitch who’s so shy that she has to talk through a virtual rabbit avatar.”

A small scoff escaped Polaris’s pursed smile, which made Touko grin wider. Polaris’s heart gave a flutter and she looked down at their hands, Touko’s on top of hers.

“Did what I say help?” asked Touko.

“Yes. It did. Thank you.”

Touko let out a delighted squeal. The bed shook as she wiggled happily. “I-I’m glad, Polaris-sama!”

Polaris looked up. “What did I say when we started dating? We’re partners. Equals. There is no need to add -sama, Touko.”

“Ah, right! S-Sorry... Polaris.”

“Good,” said Polaris, feeling her smile return. “Now, we should try to go back to sleep. We have work tomorrow.”

While Touko switched off the bedside lamp, Polaris lay down again. She waited for Touko to settle next to her before draping an arm over her, face warming as Touko snuggled backward into her body. As Polaris held Touko, she thought to herself that even if she had the dream again, the rubble wouldn’t be there when she woke up but Touko Fukawa would be.

[hey-heigo]

i keep thinking about the polaris-chihiro roleswap au. like it's making me crazyy

the base implications of byakuya's crossdressing as polaris in the togami novel canon is to demonstrate his determination to win at any cost, even go so far as to do something as 'demeaning' as wear a dress

the most-widely accepted reason, both in the game and in fan theory, for chihiro's crossdressing was that it was to evade the shame that came with being identified as a non-masculine boy

^^ to reflect this in the au version: chihiro follows this line of thinking, but also adopted more of canon byakuya's reasoning for choosing his appearance in the togami novels. rather than adjusting his appearance to try and explain away his discomfort about being perceived as effeminate/non-masculine, he leans into an appearance to appear non-threatening and boyish -> not quite masculine enough to be taken seriously, not quite feminine enough to be ridiculed and totally shunned -> good way to get his dad's business competitors to underestimate him and let their guards down

^^ because of this, instead of canon byakuya's over-pompousness and selfishness, he takes on more of a 'sweet prince' kind of demeanor, as in being very friendly and polite and taking advantage of weaknesses that he catalogs in those around him. there is the idea in his head that he needs to constantly reassure himself and others that he is above them, both as a way to help retain the benefits of the 'pampered innocent rich boy' persona and also to eliminate any misgivings he might have regarding his own self

like canon byakuya, he's kind of twisted, but he's more subtle about it

au version: polaris's intentions with crossdressing started very much the same as the togami novel canon and maybe even with the reasoning given for canon chihiro's crossdressing - a method to protect herself from people who would have regarded her differently as a male - but she got comfortable in it and withdrew from the heir competition because of it, while also trying to hide that reason

looking only at canon chihiro's dialogue about herself in regards to the chapter 2 motive, there's no clear indication that she's referring to the need to 'become comfortable being a boy', and moreso the indication that she needs to become stronger/more self-confident in preparation of being outed by monokuma, so that when she starts getting attacked for 'being a boy', she can defend herself (shoutout to @/rainbow-crane and this post for this analysis!! highly recommend reading)

with regards to this in the au version: polaris, though really enjoying life more as polaris polanski vs. as byakuya togami, might conflate the worry of being outed with being discovered by the togami family - like the idea of 'i moved out of my parents house and socially transitioned without telling them and i really dont want to deal with it if anyone outs me to them' but coupled with the fact the parents are extremely rich and powerful and don't take well to shame being brought upon their name...her paranoia is justified

^^^ as it is, she's slightly different from canon chihiro. she wouldn't be fine with being outed to her classmates, per se, but if it happened she's confident that she'd be able to handle it (and if you consider how far she got in the competition before willingly dropping out, the reasoning for her confidence is clear). however, the main concern is if people were to find out who she was related to, and if that information were to find itself back to the togami cong.

^^ also bc of that. she does this weird mix of catty rudeness coupled with genuine good intentions. like she can act as self-absorbed and superior as byakuya does in canon, but is much more willing to take initiative to help others. a weird combination of refraining of letting people get too close while also understanding the importance of community and group work (and also showing off) - she'll often see herself as a keystone in any given operation

like canon chihiro, she ultimately just wants to be able to get along with her peers without worry

tl;dr: tags by @//byakugay-tgirlmi

[Image ID: screenshot of Tumblr tags. Tags describe: "listen. grabs your face. Togami is the manifestation of what would happen if Chihiro detransitioned and became a man. Okay."]

[shockersalvage]

Salvage Showcase- Polaris P. Polanski

Assuming I get this out in time, this Showcase is dedicated to the most popular character in Danganronpa Togami has to offer in the fandom and on the day of Volume 3's release! If its not Shinobu Togami you heard about, you probably hear this girl's name dropped every now and again and for pretty understandable reasons given who she is!

Time to take a dive into the great Polaris P. Polanski!!!!

(...Who doesn't have official art so I'm just using the Vol 2 cover of DRT in its stead)

Summary

Now, Polaris is a character that plays a role in the events of the Legacy Crown Championship in the 2nd volume of Danganronpa Togami. She is Suisei Nanamura's assistant, at best 13 years old at the time, and travels to the LCC to Castle Toajo after Mitsuzo Togami hires Suisei to solve the case of mysterious killings in the competition.

Now, compared to her eccentric boss, she is very silent and has taken to pretty much following Suisei around. Suisei entrusts her to go through evidence or handle them, regardless if the contents are embarrassing or even gorey. Best shown off when, on the ninth day, Suisei announces that he has figured out the culprit - which was Kazuya Togami. During this meeting to discuss such a claim, she hands over Saburo's camera (that has been recording himself in the buff dancing) and was tasked with holding the bag that contains the severed head of Yoru. The latter piece of evidence is the nail in the coffin that had Kazuya initially tossed into the dungeon...

Only for it to 'be revealed' that Mitsuzo was the culprit in a confession note left behind as Mitsuzo appeared to have killed himself. With their client dead, Suisei leaves the LCC on a helicopter and one assumes that Polaris would have done the same.

Except! No, she doesn't! She secretly stays behind and begins working on trying to figure out the 'reliance' that will crown the winner of the LCC and heir of the Togami Conglomertate. In the end? When the chaos of the killings of the LCC had the castle burn down, Polaris would be one of the survivors: having not only figured out what the reliance was, but also finding Shinobu Togami to escort her to safety. As Shinobu wakes up, Polaris has whispered what the reliance was into a tape recorder: and was deemed correct. Thus, making her the official heir to the company!!

Or rather...he. In actuality, Polaris was just Byakuya Togami in crossdress, disguising himself as a girl to infiltrate the LCC (he figured he'd get close to it eventually while working as Suisei's assistant since the detective only takes high profile cases). Byakuya was apart of the hundreds of other Togami kids who were disqualified from even participating in the event due to their Mother's social standing and had been working to sneak himself for a long while. First by acting asa day trader and then as the aformentioned assistant to Suisei.

With his victory secured, Byakuya offers Shinobu to come with him to be his secretary with the other participants dead or missing (like her brothers) and since Shinobu lacked either Hope or Despair - aspects that'd he find use in someone that can write an untainted view of his autobiography. She accepts, though does request one thing: that he calls her big sis! Which gets him taken aback as much as your average teen boy does.

Considering Polaris is Byakuya, her personality is pretty similar to him. She's intelligent, cold, serious, and has no issues in doing unnerving tasks if it means she can get ahead or do her job. While in the LCC she maintains a quiet demeanor, very rarely speaking, when her job is done, she's free to express her usual stern, and critical nature towards others below her.

In particular, Polaris shows disdain towards how the LCC is operated by the Togami Conglomerate, primarily in regard to who is chosen based off their pedigree and acting as if someone from an unknown background can't be the heir (which might implicate Byakuya being from an unknown background himself?)

Yet, in regard to the event featuring Polaris, it should be noted that the flashback itself was a shared unreality memory for both Kazuya and Blue Ink. When we consider Byakuya's account in-game, where he says he was one of the participants, it makes rather unlikely for him to done the alter ego of Polaris or even be Suisei's assistant.

Rundown

In DRT's theming, Reality vs Unreality, and how it affects Byakuya as a character, Polaris represents a major aspect of our Ultimate Heir in using an aspect of Unreality, deceit, as a positive (if only for himself).

From tossing out his glasses that had a tracker on it, in order to fool their enemies and get them off their backs, to faking his death to even Blue Ink during a confrontation with Hasegawa Research Institute, to taking credit for the WDP in order to use it for his own domination conquest, to becoming Polaris even become the heir to the Togami Conglomerate to, most importantly, wiping away Kudan into Blue Ink: Byakuya is no stranger to deceiving both ally and enemy in the WDP in order to get ahead for himself. And this isn't a unique DRT trilogy trait either, remember Byakuya in DR1's infamous moment? Where he tampered with Chihiro's body just to reveal Genocide Jack amongst their group and know who to watch out for when/if he decided to become a blackened? Deceit, even if it makes others thinks less of him or intefers with his allies, is a valued tool of Byakuya when push comes to shove, which does make him legitimately tricky to deal with on top of his high intellect.

Which actually contrasts the other protagonists of DRT (or POV trio) remarkably well in their outings with Unreality. For both Kazuya and Blue Ink, the story makes it clear that they are pretty much being strung along by the whims of their Borges' Story AI, unable to see the truth until late into the WDP (and how they handle that is very different). As for Moleman, despite what he thinks is his past, his entire being as an alter is just a falsehood used by the main personality of Suzuhiko Otsuki to make his killings easier. Basically, all three POV Togami's are depicted as being unknowingly under and/or, even if aware, suffering from the effects of essentially living life under a lie. They are not in control of the narrative woven by others for them, at least, up until Shinobu goes through her development in Volume 3.

But Byakuya? He differs in that he's usually depicted as being the controller or just a user of Unreality. He's not generally caught up in it, but is the one crafting/going along with a false narrative that has enemies pretty much still struggling to keep up and trap him (well, that and having assistance from his few allies), despite essentially having the upperhand or dead to rights. Polaris is pretty much the epitome of this dynamic, even if probably not real, with her being able to come onto the island and take the crown without alerting anyone to her true identity, whilst almost everyone else pretty much killed each other in the mysteries of what was essentially a self-started killing game.

This also makes his actions in the final book of DRT hit that much harder. When he chose not to take over the world, it also meant he was now choosing to submit to being under Unreality, choosing to believe a lie that Ultimate Despair would have crafted that obfuscates the truth of the WDP, hinder his talent and cut his relationship with Blue Ink. All of that, just to save Blue Ink's life. For a character defined by his self-centeredness, even in the trilogy itself, him going for a major sacrifice like that is very telling of his true heart underneath his ego and what he eventually gets back post-DR1 (after some development during that killing game as well).

Personal Thoughts

Polaris is a funny case to me! As said before, she is pretty much just Byakuya and, even then, its very possible that her existence beyond Unreality is, well, non-existant. It doesn't help matters, she only appear in just a long flashback and barely has much of a role in events too until the end.

But that said, she's pretty much the most popular character to come from the DRT trilogy and its not hard to see why (...well aside from the fact she is a mainline character) ! For one, the idea of Polaris gives a layer and interest to Byakuya in a few ways. The most obvious being his interest in crossdress, even if only for a means to an end, is something that gets people's head's turning over Byakuya's sexuality in question and is just a fun concept to explore with such a serious character (and him going on to dress as a nun and state he doesn't mind wearing women's clothes is just so much fuel to use).

Another layer him being Polaris brings is his potential connection with Suisei. Byakuya crossdressing is one thing, but him being an assistant to an eccentric, yet corrupt detective? Someone's whose own arrogance and high intellect towards life reflects onto Byakuya? How much of Suisei rubbed off on Byakuya? They seemed like a stable pair working together, so is it possible Suisei knew about Byakuya's true identity all along? That's not even getting into the parallels between him and Kyoko, being stronger given her connection with Suisei in the DRK series. It's brief, but its a dynamic that has quite a bit of potential to gleam through, if you see assume that even outside of Unreality, there was a possibility that Byakuya diid become Suisei's assistant for a time.

Finally, there's the possibility of Polaris herself not coming from a well off home given her talk with Blue Ink at the end of the LCC, after she won (and her bitterness over people outside the ranking system not being able to compete). Now we know in-game Byakuya was a participant in the LCC for real, so him sneaking into the competition is just false. That said, it could still be possible he had to very much work his ass off from nothing just to be accepted into the real LCC (which is very likely given just how much of the true event is left pretty vague). It gives a real credence to his arrogance and his actual appreciation for hard work, since it means he was legitimately working himself in not just the LCC, but throughout his entire life, into become the powerful Ultimate Heir we know of him as today and gets you wondering if the reason why he's such a condescending jerk is because he's projecting his struggles and victories onto everyone else.

Though, as you all know by now, DRT is not one for making things concrete and Polaris (and what she brings to the table) is possibly just straight unreality produced by the K2K System. That said, DRT not being so concrete means its not a hard denial either of their existence in some other fashion. While Byakuya being Polaris to compete in the LCC is false, whose to say he didn't spend some time in his years posing as her before or after the fact? The details being fuzzy means those who do love Polaris are free to accept her in some fashion, while those who dislike her or think of everything in unreality is being all fake, are also not wrong in dismissing her. It's a situation where, even with unreality being in play, people on both sides can pretty much win.

For me, I like Polaris for the aformentioned layers above and think she just makes for a fun addtion to Byakuya's history. While I doubt he'd have needed or even was crossdressing in the real LCC, him just being so comfortable with himself he can wear practically anything, no matter the gender, is a confidence from Byakuya that you can't help but like and I can't help but basically accept as like a pseudo-canon trait of his.

-

And that ends DRT's entry! I missed the anniversary of DRT Volume 3, which sucks, but at the very least am glad to get this out a bit quicker than usual! Was inspired to make this after seeing posts of DRT floating about on that day, so managed to make this Showcase quicker than usual.

Next up is back to Killer Killer!

[talesfromnatea]

Isn’t Byakuya half-Japanese, half-Polish or something? It is still funny though that he has blond hair and blue eyes despite this, as neither of those genes should given him that.

As far as I know, we don't know! His mother is unknown. All we really know is that she wasn't important enough for Byakuya to be among his father's "Elite" children. I've seen her HC:ed as French a lot, probably because Byakuya has "French" as one of his Likes.

I personally think she's indeed either French or Eastern European (Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, one of those) considering that Polaris P. Polanski is such a specific name for him to use as an alias and Polanski does come from those countries.

So I HC that she's like... a middle class European woman who came to Japan as an exchange student, got pregnant from Togami Kijou from a one-night-stand, and therefore decided to stay in Japan and groom her child to become the next successor of the Togami Family from birth. I mean obviously she did that part, no 12-13 year old is naturally like that (in the Togami Succession Competition-flashback), and he doesn't seem to have ever even met his father before that. His Elite siblings certainly didn't know he and the other ~95 siblings existed. So his mother must've been the one to teach him to disregard everyone and everything to gain the status she wanted for him and taught him to demand just that for himself

That's a bit off-topic but yeah. There's a reason I think Hawk in the Sky is a perfect song to describe his childhood

[hey-heigo]

oh yeah i saw your reblog of togami fun fact and i think i followed you because you chew on him so well. do you have posts of your thoughts on togami's backstory? (you can answer privately btw)

i straight up don't remember if i've ever posted in length about my byakuya backstory headcanons (if i ever did they'd be catalogued under '#my thoughts' probably, that's the tag i use for my fandom posts) but! just for you i will list a few that i have off of the top of my head

i liked the concept of the togami novel and ended up perceiving the heir struggle as like. not a necessarily organized competition (what with heir prospectives trying to assassinate each other or otherwise blackmail, threaten, or force each other out of the running) but more a survival challenge with occasional tests of cleverness, strength, etc. and byakuya managed to win by manipulation and sheer force of will, and doing things that might be considered 'underhanded' or 'shameful' (see: polaris p polanski) -> testament to ambition

byakuya says something cringe in thh like 'im perfect in every way. wits, ability, and body' which always pissed me off but as a result i ended up seeing him as like. above average in athletics, maybe good agility and reaction time? and capable of self-defense, but definitely nowhere near professional levels, and not in a way that's obvious from looking at him

re: physical ability and 'perfection', i don't think he's an 'ultimate' anything aside from 'ultimate progeny'. like he's not the ultimate stock-broker or the ultimate viola-player, but he can do both things pretty well. more of a jack-of-all-trades master-of-none kind of talent. maybe that eats at him a little, the fact that he won't ever be truly outstanding in one single field until he becomes togami head

also re: physical ability, he gets his blue eyes from his mother's side, so he's more sensitive to light. but his mild near-sightedness and need for corrective lenses is from his father's side. he doesn't know this though, so he blames his mother's genetic for all of it

he was planning to get lasik after becoming head of the family but. well. lol

he's half-french. his mother is french. i dont think ive ever posted about mamagami but ive definitely made mention of her in my fic, though at this point she's more of an oc than anything since there's like, no canon info about her at all. but she's a french sculptor who did not want a child and does not want any relation to the togami family other than having them as like. art clients. a cool lady very dedicated to her profession and could have been the ultimate sculptor, but kind of a emotionally neglectful mother ngl

there probably is some more canon info on papagami , aka kijo togami's character but i haven't really bothered looking for it. instead i made him into a sad little man who kind of hates his role as togami head and would've preferred a more mundane life (like as an architect - i actually did make a post about this somewhere), but he won his generation's heir competition because he felt like he had to, not because he necessarily wanted to. for reasons yet unsaid

byakuya spent the first part of his vulnerable youth being emotionally neglected at his mother's villa/art studio in france (hence the bilingualism hinted in the canon). when he left to join the heir competition after one too many assassination attempts he got one of his mom's business partners and former exes (a guy named 'polanski') to shelter him

byakuya's impressions of his parents: his mom sucks (fair i suppose) and his dad lacks real ambition and isn't suited to his role. or at least, he could be surpassed very easily. byakuya plans to make himself the greatest heir ever seen because of his shit parent combo

byakuya's known pennyworth the butler since birth. i have this idea that each togami kid gets just one togami family servant to help shape them into their roles. pennyworth happens to be the oldest of the roster but also the most experienced, and is kind of a shifty old man (i.e: very cunning and more loyal to the family than the child he's been assigned to, though that changes as byakuya gets older)

byakuya's also probably a girl and bisexual but he''s trying to take over the world through his shitty family's conglomerate and then survive a murder game apocalypse so she doesn't really care about that rn

[shockersalvage]

Danganronpa Togami: Misc Championship Affiliates

Now here we have the DRT LCC cast that weren’t exactly participants, but did have involvement in the process, barring a few major exceptions. Made via Novel AI.

DISCLAIMER: This is just what I think the cast of DRT looks like. Having any other interpretation is super fine! Go nuts! It’s valid!

Kijo Togami

“The leader of the Conglomerate! We...don’t actually know him all that well. He gets some voice lines, but no physical appearance. I always imagined he’d be greying up in the years, but would use the conglomerate’s funds to make him look as young as possible, while still be imposing. Trying to keep up the imposing figure angle.”

--

The Makkabes

“Aren’t they a cute couple? I always imagined the MAkkabes to not necessarily be old, but still look older than someone like Yusuke. So I’m glad this design came to be.”

--

Polaris P. Polanski

“And here we have pretty much the most popular DRT girl, heck most popular DRT character herself: Polaris P. Polanski. Granted, she’s pretty much just Byakuya Togami, but I guess that goes to show you how impressionable his character is. Gave her a blue-themed outfit to match her eyes. For someone who doesn’t get much screentime, she really captured a lot of people’s heart’s huh?”

--

Now, you might be wondering by now: Where is Blue Ink? Or Kazuya? Or Suzuhiko even? Well, by the end of this series those guys will be for last given their high prominence! Rest assured, you’ll see them soon. Tomorrow, though, is a real myst’ry!~