Fun game: take a shot every time I mention the word CPU

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These are some things I already put up on my Twitter that I thought I'd just bring over here on DeviantArt after I properly finished the sets they belonged in, but I thought, screw it, I wanna let these ideas out. A majority of the stuff here is based on feedback from you guys anyway—heck, in the first place, this whole thing started coz somebody joked about how CPUs probably lay eggs (I'm so sorry I've forgotten who you are but please know that this multicolored mess of mine is all due to you)—so I thought that this'd be a chance to let ya'll in on the stuff I came up with so far.A bust shot of Nep's mom, Umbriel, and a pair of rough sketches of her and a little Vert.The idea that Umbriel would be well-acquainted with Vert was something that came up years ago (it might've been something came up with, I can't remember), but the idea of her being a mentor of sorts to the young CPU is a rather recent one.I think the idea that the two of them were close eventually influenced how I wanted to portray Umbriel, since while her fun-loving and free-spirited nature is something one can easily attribute to Neptune, I also imagined her having a mature and motherly demeanor which may have rubbed off on Vert. She's also really good with kids.A small sketch of a littleBlanc with her farmer dad, right next to my not-so-rough idea of what the HDD form of Blanc's mom looked like.Blanc's dad is admittedly the only one I've pictured being more involved with raising his kid so far, being the only parent Blanc ever knew for most of her young life; the idea is that Blanc was originally intended to be raised as a normal kid not meant to know of her mother’s identity as the CPU, and most of her earlier years are spent on her dad's farm.While her dad speaks highly of the mother she never knew, her mom’s absence causes Blanc to grow to resent her for leaving, although her dad often tries to convince her that she had good reasons for doing so. Kaiyo no Umi of Twitter suggested that tangerines would be one of the things grown on their farm, something which honestly failed to cross my mind. I loved the idea, so I’m making it canon for this AU, hehe.

C. The first sketch shown here is a design for a young Vert (approx. 10-12 y/o­) that was based on one of Tsunako’s early concept sketches for her. The rest, along with the sketches of her in row A, were done mostly because they’re somewhat closer to the design we’re familiar with. I’m still planning on eventually using the first one, though.

*Also, I haven’t come up with a couple of ideas for it yet, but I wanted Blanc and Vert to have been close when they were much younger. I dunno why, just thought it’d be cute to have a little Vert following Blanc around and looking up to her as her senior. Coz hey, I thought, what if Blanc’s insecurities came to be because the little girl that looked at her like she was this cool older sister eventually outgrew her in several ways?

*There's also one sketch of Vert's mom that I crammed in there for some reason, please ignore it for now.

D. Nep moms sorted by height. Left-right: Hana, Natalia, Umbriel, Sonya; naming characters isn't my strong suit so I just took suggestions from random folks. Hana, Natalia, and Sonya are respectively named by , Dak, and Excelsia. Thanks a lot, guys! Anyway, here are the notes I have on the CPUs of the AU that somebody out there called the MILFdimension (whoever you are, please come forward, I wanna shake your hand).



Hana:

*Easily the oldest of the current CPUs, she's old enough to have hailed from a time when CPUs were still seen as proper deities instead of being regarded as political leaders or high-profile celebrities like they are in the current age, which is something she fervently disapproves of.

*This mindset has caused some friction between her and the younger CPUs like Umbriel and Sonya when personal ideologies are concerned, but she is still willing to cooperate with them for diplomacy’s sake.

*She's not very good with technology. Not that you'd catch her admitting it, at least when she's sober.

*A few exchanges on Twitter and Reddit (I lurk around r/gamindustri every now and then. Thanks for the support ya'll give me over there as well, haha) suggested that she would be quite suited for leading Gamindustri's own version of the yakuza, which I thought was too good to let pass, so I ended up using it.

*The thought came to mind that an organization far too large for Hana to properly control would lead to it producing dissidents or enemies that operated outside of her radar, so the fear of Blanc being targeted by any of these people would lead to her leaving her child soon after she was born, and any knowledge of her even existing would only be left to the subordinates she trusted.



Natalia:

*She served as a mentor to Umbriel and Sonya when they were younger, so she at least shares a good relationship with the two. She also looks up to the much older Hana, though she often expresses this by nagging the stubborn old CPU into taking a break every now and then or just making sure she takes care of herself, being quite aware that Hana was simply too intimidating for most people to coax into doing anything else besides her work.

*She doesn't seem to have the best of luck when it comes to bearing children; something she never got the stomach to tell Vert was that she was her second child, having lost her first daughter to stillbirth due to terrible habits that affected her health. Vert's frequent wishes for a sibling wears on her, but she does a lot to suggest other options for her instead, such as making friends, keeping a pet, etc. shared an article about a failed Xbox handheld, which helped influence this particular idea a lot. My first idea was to give Vert an older brother that really just served to give more details about this AU, showing that only female children born from a CPU would inherit her mother's power. Wasn't sure how else to go about it, so I went with the idea that spawned from Xeniph's suggestion.

*Natalia really did wish that Vert would have a sibling, but she was completely unwilling to take the chance to bear one due to her past experience. So instead, she approached Vert's father—a Basilicom employee she really just dragged off to bed one drunken night—and requested that he let the first daughter his wife would bear him grow alongside Vert as her half-sister. The proposal was initially met with some measure of dismay, but the offer of being able to raise their child while having their needs provided for by the Basilicom seemed like it would help a lot, and eventually their daughter, Chika, would grow up eternally doting over Vert. But unfortunately for Vert, while having an actual sister seemed like a dream come true, something about Chika not being a fellow CPU just didn't sit right with her...



Umbriel:

*In her younger years, the prospect of being Planeptune's CPU sounded like a responsibility that was far too heavy for her to handle, and while she took her time training and had the potential to be a great leader one day, she much preferred going on small adventures or reaching for personal pursuits over her responsibilities as a CPU candidate.

*She met Sonya back when both of them were children, and while the young CPU candidate of Lastation proved to be rude, irritable, and snobbish, Umbriel saw in her a kindred spirit that didn't wish for the role of a CPU as much as her, and Umbriel eventually won her over, and the two became an exceedingly close pair.

*It was clear that even before Umbriel inherited the position as Planeptune's CPU that she personally valued altruism and a closer relationship with Planeptune's citizens over being a ruling figure, and practiced this by taking the time to help others whenever possible, occasionally dragging Sonya along with her (who was often just concerned that people would take advantage of Umbriel).

*When she had Neptune, Umbriel ultimately made the decision to do her best for her country as its CPU, fully embracing her role for her newborn daughter's sake. Her primary motivation behind it was to work hard enough so that it would be possible for Neptune to pursue any path she might want to dedicate herself to in the future if she decided not to inherit Umbriel's responsibilities, which so far appears to have spoiled the child.



Sonya:

*Her mother and predecessor was a strong leader, and she did her job well enough to raise Sonya as a fierce and competent CPU; however, she was also rather abusive, and with this being paired with her indifference to any of Sonya's personal achievements did little to foster any feelings of respect or admiration Sonya would have towards her mother growing up. Without a proper outlet for her frustrations, she couldn't help but allow her resentment to boil over—eventually producing an unhinged and violent persona that became her HDD form.

*While she initially hated the carefree Umbriel for being too negligent with her responsibilities, she envied her for just how much freedom she enjoyed, and it was only when she eventually became her closest friend that she could allow herself to be vulnerable, something she was eternally grateful for. She still disapproved of how Umbriel avoided her responsibilities, however, and she helped her fellow CPU candidate grow into her role just as much as Umbriel helped her cope with her personal demons.

*Years later, the people of Lastation eventually grew tired of their CPU's iron-fisted policies and excessive restrictions, an opinion that was openly and publicly expressed, though not without consequence. Sonya took the citizens' protests as a call to action, and soon after earning their trust by supporting them however she could, she overthrew her mother in a violent coup with Umbriel at her side, taking her mother's place as the CPU. Whether Sonya killed her mother or locked her away in an unidentified prison, however, is left unknown; on the other hand, others who were more distrustful speculate that Sonya let her flee in secret.

*One thing that Sonya promised herself was that, should she ever have children, she would never treat them the way her own mother treated her. Unfortunately, with her explicit lack of personal role models to draw from when it comes to motherhood, her interactions with her first daughter, Noire, were awkward at best and intimidating at worst. Thankfully she had Umbriel around to offer help, advice, or babysit on occasion, and the Planeptune CPU's oft-exaggerated retellings of her past experiences and adventures with Sonya allowed Noire to hear of a far more positive side to her mother, and she grew to admire her immensely, even if she didn't know how to express it to her.

*Years after Umbriel's death, Sonya took it upon herself to have a hand in raising Nepgear, something which was motivated not only by her past relationship with Umbriel, but also because the young CPU appeared to be just as bright and promising as her mother, perhaps even more so. This unfortunately complicated Sonya's own relationship with Noire, as she couldn't help but feel that Nepgear had become her mother's favorite. Not wanting to be outdone, Noire becomes determined to do her best not just to win her mother's approval, but also to prove to herself that she could be a great CPU without much help.







Some related stuff:Here's some great fanart as well! God, you guys are amazing. To be honest, when I thought of expanding the idea of the Neps having biological parents, the only ones I actually thought up were Umbriel and Sonya. Hana and Natalia were later created because I never expected the idea to be so enthusiastically accepted in the first place by my watchers. So really, thanks a lot for the support you've shown for this small fan AU.That's it so far, everyone. As always, feel free to leave any suggestions or ideas in the comments, since this whole thing was always a group effort in the first place. See you soon!