#fun fact I originally thought of it as an ad or notice to humans | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aris-lil-library · 9 months

Text

VARIOUS RE CHARACTERS REACTING TO FRIENDLY ZOMBIE READER (G/N)

Brought to you by your local zombiekin <3 (Fun fact, was originally planning on adding Wesker- but I wanted to get this out sometime within the month lolol)

Also please note, I have not seen a full playthrough of Re1R or Re1- Chris might be OOC.

Characters Included:

Leon Kennedy (Re2R)

Claire Redfield (Re2R)

Jill Valentine (Re3R)

Carlos Oliveira (Re3R)

Chris Redfield (Re1R)

Content Warnings Included:

Mentions of body horror (brief, but still applies to reader themselves.)

Mentions of gore/death (nothing explicit.)

The Sewers. (They deserve their own trigger warning /hj)

Mention of eye touching/prodding

Leon Kennedy:

After having cleared the hallways of the Racoon City Police Department and coming face to face with some disgusting freaks of nature named Lickers, Leon thought he had seen it all. Honestly, he didn’t imagine there was anything new that could surprise him in this goddamn place until he made eye contact with you.

Well.. if you can call staring at the dangling eye hanging out of your socket “eye contact”.

He instinctively raised his gun, expecting to see you rise to your feet, stumble over to him and try to nom his neck like all the other undead he’d seen so far- but to his (pleasant) surprise, that didn’t happen. In some odd groan you spit out, which he assumed was your attempt at speech, you backed away from him. Arms raised as if to show you didn’t mean to cause him harm.

It was odd to say at the very least. He kept his aim marked at the dead center of your head, though he hesitated pulling the trigger now. Your right hand (which Leon noted had a nasty looking chunk taken out of it) drifted down to a bloodied ID badge hanging from your breast pocket.

Though it was hard to read, Leon squinted out the words “Assistant Secretary” in bolded letters at the top of your ID.

He looked back up at you, slowly lowering his gun as he noticed the almost.. human-like quality of fear in your eyes. He could’ve sworn he even saw your shoulders sag slightly with relief as he tucked his gun into his holster.

“Hey.. can you.. understand me?” Leon’s words paused at times as he debated internally if he was really trying to communicate with a dead person. He could feel his stomach sink slightly as you slowly nodded back, cautious that he’d still shoot.

“What the hell.. How are you even- no wait- you’re infected and you can still?- What??”

You watched as Leon’s brows furrowed and his expressions cycled through confusion, disbelief, intrigue and right back to absolute bewilderment. It was almost funny and you almost tried to smile at him- before remembering the fact that your jaw had gotten unhinged a while ago and it’d likely confuse the poor guy more.

After a very long and arduous time of trying to explain to the baby-faced police officer how exactly you got bit and how you locked yourself in this room and how even you didn’t know how you kept your humanity- it just ended up in Leon sitting on the floor, scratching his head.

“I really don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me. I’m sorry.” You grumbled out a brief noise of annoyance before just accepting it and sitting on the ground across from him.

There was an awkward silence between the two of you for a while before Leon spoke up.

“Hey look. I know you’re already bit and all but maybe we can find you some help? There’s a hospital in the city- there has to be someone who can fix.. uh.. whatever you’ve got going on here, right?” He even sounded unsure of the words he was saying, yet the caring smile etched onto his nervous features was enough to convince you that you should come with him.

Not particularly like you believed you could be cured, but more as in “This poor kind boy will get killed if someone’s not looking out for him.”

So you gave a polite nod, rummaging through what little supplies you saved in here before heading out of your sanctuary with Leon- glad you’d met someone so nice in this mess.

Claire Redfield:

Despite having been caught in the middle of a zombie outbreak and getting turned yourself, undead life was surprisingly calm. You had shuffled your way down into the sewers after getting bit, accepting your fate as you felt your consciousness slowly slip away as blood drained out of the bite on your leg- only to wake up a few hours later a lot paler and surprisingly awake.

Part of you was frustrated you had somehow miraculously lived through transforming into a zombie because of course you would be the unlucky schmuck who would stay sentient throughout something like that. Only your level of sheer bad luck would allow that.

It turned out being down here wasn’t too bad if you ignored the weird mutated masses of flesh in the water, the massive hulking figure of a presumably mutated man that would scream in agony every hour or so and the other rotting corpses surrounding you. Otherwise, it was nice.

You had honestly thought that you were going to live the rest of your undead life here. It’s not like being on the surface is any better at the moment- though you had to admit, it got boring really quickly.

That’s why when you heard a small repetitive bang of a pistol fire off- you couldn’t help but let your curiosity win. You peaked around a corner, just dark enough so whoever was firing couldn’t see you, to take a glance at whatever unlucky person slipped down here.

She couldn’t have been past her early twenties, you thought, her younger features and nervous look spoke volumes. Her eyes had a certain steely resolve to them though, which would’ve impressed you if she didn’t stare directly at you. Previously fascinating eyes now had your stomach drop as she raised her gun at you preparing to fire.

You scrambled away down the hall you came from, legs slightly slipping from the slimy layer on the floor that you really didn’t want to think about at the moment.

Claire had started giving chase after you, worried you were possibly another survivor that she had scared off with her reckless gun waving.

“H-Hey! Wait up!” She yelled out, following your shadow throughout the gross sewers.

You had run yourself into a dead end- panicking and turning around to see her approaching rapidly. Without a way to defend yourself, you simply put your arms in front of your face to shield it as you shut your eyes tightly- preparing to get shot.

Clacking sounds of boots hitting the wet floor filled your ears as Claire stopped just a few feet away from you. She huffed out in exhaustion, leaned over to catch her breath.

“I’m.. I’m sorry- jeez hold on. About.. About scaring you. I didn’t know there were other survivors down here. You alright?” She looked up at you, briefly scanning over your body.

She noted how you looked worse for wear (but then again, so did she) and the large, infected looking wound on your leg. Her face shifted into one of pity as she looked back up at your face.

“Oh.. Is.. Is that why you ran from me?” You nodded, slowly lowering your arms to gauge her expression. It’s funny, she looked a lot more sweet up close. Your eyes met hers and you almost felt better. She looked at you with such.. compassion, even though you were infected.

Claire felt an immense sense of pity overwhelm her. She must’ve scared the living daylights out of you upon chasing you down like a rabid animal. As her gaze met yours though, she realized how glossy your eyes looked- how pale your skin was. You were probably already dead considering how familiar you looked compared to other zombies she had seen.

“I don’t want to hurt you, okay? You seem like a nice.. person? Zombie? I’m not fully sure what to call you.” Her tone was very soft, almost like a gentle elder sister, it was soothing to hear after all the harsh groans and grumbles you’d been hearing from the other undead around you.

“I think that it’ll be beneficial for us to work together. I have a friend who’s a police officer who I’m trying to meet up with. Maybe we can all find a way to escape together and you could get some help at a hospital out of this town. Is that okay?”

It wasn’t like you really had a reason to say no and the way she kept her voice so polite and calm definitely swayed your choice. With a nervous step forward, you precariously nodded.

“Perfect. My name’s Claire. Claire Redfield. It’s nice to meet you.”

Jill Valentine:

Jill was getting pretty damned tired of this zombie shit. First at Arklay, now in Racoon City the day before she was supposed to move out of this hellhole. It was just starting to get ridiculous and if she still believed in a God, she would’ve thought they had it out for her.

As she turned a hard left, narrowly avoiding a zombie grasping and hobbling towards her- Jill entered the subway company’s office. Thankfully it was empty, Jill thought to herself as she pushed the door leading into the traffic control system’s room only to have the door get pushed right back into her face.

…

What the fuck??

Jill grabbed her knife from the sheath on her side and rammed the door open- fully expecting to have to fight hand to hand, only to meet your terrified gaze as you fell onto the floor.

She honestly couldn’t tell if you were infected or not- you looked like you’d been drained dry of all your blood, yet your expressions were so human. Hands raised, slightly shaking (Jill wasn’t sure if that was due to fear or the fact your right hand was hanging on by a few tendons of muscle.)

You mumbled out a shrill and raspy yelp, trying to communicate as best you could that somehow you were still conscious, even in this form.

Jill wasn’t exactly sure what to do with you, knuckles tensing and untensing around the handle of her knife. She almost felt guilt thinking about stabbing you now. Her body went taut as she saw you stumble up and head to the subway panel. You waved your hands, pointing back and forth at the subway map and its controls.

“You.. know how to work that?” Jill hesitated with her words, almost embarrassed that she was trying to communicate with.. a zombie as far as she could tell.

Well that was until you nodded very rapidly, as if trying to prove you had some worth.

So with a frustrated sigh, Jill said “Okay, I need to go to Fox Park. Figure it out.”

Jill watched you with interest as you flipped through the switches expertly, going through the path so quickly she had to assume you worked here before.. whatever happened to you. You figured it out so quickly and turned back to her, as if expecting her to allow you to follow her to wherever she was headed.

Part of her really didn’t want to bring back an infected to the subway but you had the biggest eyes and were practically pleading.

“No- you can’t. God just..” Bigger puppy dog eyes.

“NO. You’ll cause too much commotion! I can’t-”

“Hey Jill- you got that subway route finished?”

Your eyes instantly went to the radio buzzing from her shoulder and she made a mental note to punch Carlos when she got back.

“Yes.. Thanks to the help of a.. oddly friendly zombie.”

You could hear him cackle over the other side of the radio. “You’re joking- right?”

“I wish I was.” Jill sighed out and explained to Carlos that she actually met a nice zombie and spent about 10 minutes convincing him and the other U.B.C.S members to let you follow and that she swears she’ll keep an eye on you and please please please please let her keep you-

Mikhail begrudgingly agrees after her arguing that she should be able to keep you around and that you’ve proven yourself to be helpful- but is told that you’ll be staying with Carlos when you both return to not endanger the civilians and to truly prove yourself.

Jill didn’t know why, but she felt the need to protect you. Maybe it was some lingering savior complex or survivor's guilt but she ignored that for now and walked alongside you back to the subway station.

Carlos Oliveira

As Jill arrived with you in tow, Carlos did notice how surprisingly calm and patient you were with everyone. You clung onto Jill for a little while- being careful to not go too far into the train- in the off chance someone would see you and freak out.

While Carlos trusted Jill’s choice in trusting you, most of the other U.B.C.S members were.. not as happy with the platoon leader’s choice in allowing you to stay. Tyrell was very obvious about his lack of faith in your unwillingness to cannibalize them and informally ordered you to stick near Carlos.

Carlos didn’t mind to be honest. Though, it was a little perturbing to see the way your flesh loosely hung on in some places. He tried his best to be polite and not stare as it’d be “ungentlemanly” of him.

You served to be pretty helpful in the RPD, keeping an eye out for anything he might’ve missed (zombies or items.) You even took a few solid hits for him which may have left you a little more gory in some places over before- but Carlos just appreciated the gesture.

“So, tell me, how’d you end up like that?”

“…”

“Oh right. Can’t talk. Sorry.”

A simple nod or shake of your head was enough to satisfy any base questions he had for you– plus his quips about certain events like the locked doors kept the mood light and cheery.

It was honestly a lot of easy communication between you two- Carlos read you very well and normally a simple tug on his arm or small grunt would do the trick if he truly missed something.

Carlos did ask some weird things though-

“Can you like.. see outta the hanging eyeball?”

You didn’t really think about it before but now that you focused on it- you really couldn’t. With an experimental prod, Carlos watched in horror as you pushed it back into its socket to see that’d change anything. It didn’t but it was worth a shot.

He (somewhat disturbed, somewhat politely) asked you never do anything like that in front of him again.

Fair enough.

Chris Redfield

This entire mansion situation was completely overwhelming for Chris- everything was so out of place and nothing made sense. Grappling with the concept of zombies being a real thing, Umbrella Corp actually being tied to this goddamn place somehow and the Bravo Team being completely wiped out along with his other colleagues being God knows where was just getting too much to handle.

Maybe that's why he didn't even take a second glance at you when you rolled a flashlight next to him as he sat on the ground of the grimy hallway.

It took him a second to fully process what just happened- his eyes running over the slimy flesh of your body that looked rotten and gross. You just simply stared back at him, hollow eyes in hollow sockets waiting for a response.

“.. Hello?”

You waved back in response, watching as Chris’ face cringed as your bones cracked and popped from the movement.

“That's new. Most of your friends seem to not be interested in conversation, eh?”

Chris was pretty sure he was losing it- he knew he should be grabbing his gun and getting rid of this thing in front of him before it attacked instead of making conversation. Yet something felt different about this one.

You nodded your head slowly and made trepidatious steps towards Chris. Testing his willingness to let you near- he did move his hand near his knife, which you took as a warning and stepped back.

He looked down at the flashlight you rolled towards his side and palmed it. It was essentially a gift- and you didn't seem to want to harm him.

“Listen. I need help finding my friends. They're somewhere in this mansion. This place is just so confusing to get through- will you help me out?”

You seemed to hesitate for a second, feet lingering in place as if trying to see if it was a trap. Chris almost found it funny, the both of you unsure of the other and still needing help to get out of here in one piece.

You gave a weary nod to him before stepping closer and offering your hand to help him up.

Chris shuddered a little as he felt the bone through your frail, decaying flesh and pulled himself up with your help.

An odd duo you two made, but certainly two is better than one in this situation.

#ari's writing #resident evil #resident evil x reader #resident evil headcanons #resident evil hcs #leon kennedy #leon kennedy x reader #claire redfield #claire redfield x reader #jill valentine #jill valentine x reader #carlos oliveira #carlos oliveria x reader #chris redfield #chris redfield x reader

533 notes · View notes

biocrafthero · 5 months

Text

Why Sunny’s Halloween costume is a mummy instead of a vampire

Okay strap in guys this is a long one

(Under a read more because I have lost my mind)

(Also for some stuff I’m using Wikipedia as a source this isn’t a professional essay or anything)

Something I have noticed with Omori fans is that, much like with other fandoms, people like to assign fun Halloween monsters to their favorite characters. For a character like Sunny, I have noticed that many people opt to make him a vampire, which is a choice that seems quite understandable. The idea of the modern vampire can be traced back to many different authors, the most popular one in the minds of most being Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which was published in 1897. Some of the visual and behavioral trademarks of a vampire has to do with things such as aversion to sunlight, pale skin, fangs, and the need to feast on the literal blood of others to stay alive. Vampires have always been considered undead, which aligns with their history throughout folklore; there were several instances where corpses were staked after being accused of vampirism.

Reading this, its easy to see why fans would assign a character like Sunny to the idea of vampires based on all of the common traits of vampirism. However, while I do enjoy AUs and such of a vampiric Sunny, I disagree with this common interpretation and instead propose the idea of Sunny being associated with a different kind of undead monster: the zombie.

(“But Kaun, didn’t you say in the title of this post that Sunny is associated with mummies?” Yes, but we’ll get there.)

The origin of the zombie can be traced back to several different sources throughout the world, the most well-known one being Haitian folklore during the 19th century. Regarding modern depictions, popularized by the film Night of the Living Dead, zombies tend to be slow, rotting, human undead (while it must be noted that undead animals isn’t particularly uncommon either). Much like vampires, zombies need to consume humans to survive, but the difference is that, while vampires only need blood in most depictions, zombies tend to eat all parts of the body. The idea of the brain being the specific target is something that’s only come up within the last fifty years throughout pop culture; adding to these newer additions, it was only within the last twenty or thirty years that the idea of the running zombie was introduced and subsequently popularized.

So what does any of this have to do with Sunny?

Well, thought Omori, we are shown clear evidence of why the idea of the zombie resonates with his character. The most obvious example is with Hellsunny, who can be found throughout the entire truth sequence, in some parts of Black Space, and in a very particular cutscene in the Hikikomori Route.

Now, while its easy for us to assume things from the POV of Sunny himself, sometimes its important to take into account the intent of the creator in order to interpret things such as this. So, once again, why a zombie?

Well, the choice of the zombie is quite obvious to me: the fact it is commonly referred to as the living dead. Now what does this allude to regarding Sunny? It most likely correlates with his emotions in the wake of Mari’s death, especially considering he’s the one who killed her in the first place. It is commonly said by people who have experienced the loss of a loved one feel as if they’re just drifting through life after their passing, and the same can definitely be said for Sunny. At the time the real world sections of the game take place, its been four whole years since the incident had occurred, and Sunny has both figuratively and literally wasted away in his own home. Characters comment on how he seems very skinny and/or frail, and how he clearly hasn’t been taking care of himself. In a way, its like a part of him died alongside Mari.

This is where we get to what some would consider to be an extension of the zombie archetype: the mummy.

Regarding its depiction in horror since the history of real mummies is an entirely separate conversation, the modern depiction of the (male) mummy can be found dating back to the 1932 film The Mummy. While most historical, real life mummies had their organs removed before burial, the mummy from the film (named Imhotep) was deduced to have been buried alive after it is discovered that its organs had not been removed at all. Now while the rest of the film’s plot isn’t quite as relevant to our analysis, I believe these details are important to note. The idea of the mummy being something sealed away, only later to be awoken again as some kind of living dead, is very interesting considering the parts of Omori that make this comparison to Sunny. The allusions to the idea of Sunny’s own home being some kind of coffin or tomb adds to these ideas.

This is why I think the vampire comparisons simply do not fit. The idea of the vampire inherently implies that the afflicted needs to take something from others in order to survive, and while the same can be said about zombies it must be noted that within recent years the idea of a kind zombie has been slowly making itself known. Additionally with mummies, aside from the blatantly orientalist bullshit regarding its history in pop culture, don’t tend to be depicted with having to consume any physical part of the human body (but physical violence in general is still on the table for them. They tend to be depicted as more on the level of vampires in terms of their intelligence).

In contrast, the living dead (referring to both zombies and mummies) tend to be much more passive. Most don't go out of their way completely to hunt humans, only hunting if one crosses their path—mummies even more so, with them not even needing human flesh to maintain themselves. When not hunting, these monsters tend to just... exist, not doing much of anything at all. They don't expend energy on actively looking for what they need to survive, instead opting for what they need to find them, wasting away all the while. And the thing is with zombies: they rot. They decay, bound by more realistic things than mummies are (which tend to be sustained my more magical elements in pop culture).

While the idea of having to actively go out and hurt others to sustain yourself is very interesting, when specifically regarding Omori’s canon, it doesn’t quite fit in line with Sunny’s character and his arc. In contrast, him neglecting his own needs and wasting away is more in-line with all of that, which is why he’s more commonly depicted as being a zombie or a mummy by official material.

I know this post is extremely long-winded, but I think this kind of analysis is very fun. Additionally, you don’t have to take my word as gospel, either. I enjoy AUs where Sunny is a vampire, since he’s in a position where he has to violate his own morals in order to sustain himself. I think it acts as a very interesting way to deconstruct his character, and to push him to his limits (including the brink of death if he refuses to hunt).

#rambles #omori #omori sunny #Omori analysis #I have clearly lost my mind and need to be sent to the nearest mental facility at once

264 notes · View notes

midnightkolrath · 6 months

Text

Dante and his deeper layers I've noticed in the 2007 anime

I originally meant for this to be a WAY bigger dig/analysis, as I want to go episode by episode...but I decided to minimize it for now because this anime gives me brainworms so often, lmao.

So, lets get into this light dig of added bits for Dante's character from the anime and just how neat the anime is on what it covers.

Early on in the anime, there's parts of the anime where Patty unknowingly berates Dante about having a picture of his "girlfriend" on his desk, not knowing its actually his mother. Same episode, she talks to Dante about her own mother, and how much she wishes to meet her, after being orphaned for unknown reasons (We learn why later but you know).

And BOTH times, Dante doesn't respond, save for a quiet distant stares off into space or seemingly ignoring her. For the first case, he very much likely excuses it with the fact that she's just not aware of the truth of the picture but not outright scolding her over it.

Like...he doesn't snap or correct her or anything. He just remains quiet. And we know how much Dante loved his mom (his color palette even matches hers for gods' sake) and how he got when facing Trish in DMC1 (which this takes place after). Shows just how those events really changed him afterwards. Especially since this is also after he thought he killed Vergil with his own hands...which the anime VERY MUCH shows the depression he has. He's in it deep for alot of it.

Back to the second part of the Patty thing though, as much as he pretends he isn't listening or doesn't care, he very much WAS listening to her, as later in that episode, he easily figures out where she went (into a trap where a demon disguised itself as her mother to lure her) due to the poster she was gazing at which reminded her of her mother, and the discussion they had right before she ran off.

Like, this man may be the way he is and PRETEND he isn't paying attention to people sometimes, but like...no, when its important, he VERY MUCH is. Speaking of which...episode 3.

This is one of the fun parallel episodes where the situation reflects a part of Dante's life...such as when a demon falls in love with a human, who was originally supposed to serve his master. Obviously, a parallel to Sparda and Eva's relationship, Dante's parents.

Even when its found out that the guy is the target dante's supposed to be after, Dante literally takes time to hear him out and question him over his love for a human woman. Dante's the result of such a relationship, so it makes sense he'd stop to listen.

In the end, he decides to go against killing this demon, despite what his client wanted. He sees firsthand and knows that this is actually a couple in love. Like...he gets it. For obvious reasons, but he also MADE SURE it was a true love relationship. Pretty wholesome actually.

An obvious one if you've seen the instruments and jukebox in his office, but episode 6 adds on that Dante 'gets' music and how it can touch/relate to people. I think its a cute additional touch. :' )

I wanna dig into this episode more eventually, but its obviously music themed. And Dante hangs out as a bodyguard for some fellow music enjoyers. Just one of those nice further looks on the general work Dante does, which this anime does a great job in doing.

Episode 7 onward is where shit gets deep into more parallels and just the kind of guy Dante is, while going through it this whole series. Helping a spirit get laid to rest by pulling a prison break and rescuing her brother (Episode 7)...

Having his status as the son of sparda ending up getting someone originally close to him (Supposedly anyway, its implied that Dante grew up with this guy and was raised by the same mother figure...which Dante denies, but we know how he can be, and he was likely trying to protect him in a way) hurt and said person thrusting hate on him for it as that was why a whole village got burned down...and the guy originally believed and had genuine faith that it wasn't Dante's fault (Episode 8)...

Meeting students (who are brothers, one older and one younger) of his father, arguably bonding with one of them and having to put both down in the end (Episode 10), which can be seen as a cruel parallel to himself and Vergil...(And even going through the effort of respectfully setting a grave site together for them)

And the final episodes, 11 and 12, are the conclusion of the whole arc that was built up in the background...but its also a show of Dante and Patty's relationship becoming so close as she goes to personally save him after he was impaled by the big bad. Its a pay off for the growing bits of them spending time together from episode 1, and later a neat easter egg nod in DMC5 where Patty calls to invite him to her birthday party, showing they still very much keep in touch. (And the novel Before the Nightmare goes more into why, exactly, he actually didn't want to go, but we'll dive more into that later one day).

I'll likely more deeply elaborate about the anime one day, but like...there's a reason why its such a gem in the series. Short, but did great with the episodes it had. A treat for those who want to see more layers for Dante. Its so SO good.

Like you may or may not like the 'slice of life' parts, but its necessary for what they were going for, I think. I know I skipped a few things, but I hope I got the big highlights atleast. Go check out the first anime, its a pretty damn solid ride.

#devil may cry #dmc #This was abit chunky so this gets a read more #but man I love the 2007 anime SO MUCH #One of the best things this series has tbh #I'm glad it exists #leo's DMC analysis

99 notes · View notes

silentglassbreak · 3 months

Text

Anonymous

Noah Sebastian x OFC

Here's the 3rd part. Hoping to also get this one up quick. This story is really coming together in my head. Also, I know I promised smut, and so far have not delivered. That is coming, pinkly promise. We've got to get the foundation man!

Warnings: Alcohol abuse, overall abuse, mild violence (ie. bar fights), smut, swearing, and altogether just a lot of fuckery.

+It goes without saying. This is a work of fiction. My words are mine. Plagiarism is a crime.

Part 3 - The Grey

Sleep was a wild idea, given everything I had learned last night. I couldn't seem to quit scrolling through Google, YouTube, listening. I felt as though I was educating myself. Learning, in some way, what I was getting into. I wanted to see what I could learn about him, but he was an overall private human, even for a musician.

I did learn he is a Scorpio, born on Halloween. Originally from Virginia. The names of his bandmates. He had quite a few wonderful songs that I had added to my iTunes quickly after hearing them. So far, my favorite was Limits, which was saying a lot, given Just Pretend was still so incredible.

Throughout all of my 'research', the most important fact I learned was that Noah was very good at hiding his alcoholism. I expected to see articles, tweets, or even a TikTok about some scandal. An arrest? A fight? A drunken performance? I found nothing.

I suspect Noah is what I consider a silent drunk. Someone who doesn't drink for fun, but for release. For something to escape to. This had to be true, because I found zero evidence of his addiction on social media or in the depths of Google. I even shamelessly searched 'Noah Sebastian alcoholic' and came up with some very strange fanfiction. Interesting thought...

This almost worried me more. This meant I was going into this blind. The rockstar lifestyle was something not only musicians lived. So how did he manage to do it so quietly? Was his publicist just that good? Did he even have one?

Despite my determination, sleep finally took hold about 4AM, me waking up at noon with the videos of their music still playing on YouTube. I slammed my laptop closed and wiped the drool from my lips.

I needed caffeine.

I slipped into my house slippers, and sauntered to the kitchen, Angel following behind. I heard his quiet whine, and quickly paced to the back door to let him out before he had an accident.

Once I had slurped down half of my energy drink and let Angel back in, I snatched my phone from my bedside table. Sitting on the edge of my bed, I checked through my notifications.

Given it was my day off, I wasn't surprised to see a text from Sam asking if I wanted to come in and help him with his case files. I didn't even open it. That should answer that question.

I opened my messages to reach out to Laura. Her and I needed to speak immediately.

Before I could open her thread, I noticed a message from Noah, which made my throat dry.

Noah: Hollywood Palladium. Doors open at 6PM, but you should get there about 5 to get into your suite. I'll text you once I get offstage and we can figure out how you'll smuggle me out. We go on before Motionless in White.

Noah: Thank you again, Leena. I know this is a pain for you.

This guy isn't actually real. He is sweet as honey. Smooth as butter. And wakes up at 6:30AM, apparently? Who the fuck is this guy?

Me: I'll be there. I haven't told Laura yet. Pray for me.

His response came quickly.

Noah: Our Father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name...

I only responded with laughing emojis and flipped to Laura's thread.

Me: Can you talk?

This was our code. She was working and if she was busy, she would respond. If she wasn't, she'd call.

My phone vibrated in my hand immediately.

"Hey." My voice was a fucking mess. I realized I hadn't used it at all yet.

"What the fuck is up, Kyle? You getting sick?" I cleared my throat and sighed.

"No. Just woke up."

"Late night? You doing okay?" I could hear the concern. 3 years sober, didn't mean it wasn't still something to keep an eye on.

"Yeah babe, I'm good. I need to fucking talk to you, though."

"Sure, what's going on?"

I sighed, not even knowing how to begin. I couldn't exactly tell her the lead singer of one of her favorite bands was a newly recovering alcoholic. Not without permission.

"I uh..." My brain drew a blank. "have not thought this through."

The other end was silent.

"You sure you're okay?"

I sighed hard. "I met Noah Sebastian."

Now there was dead silence on the phone.

"I'm so fucking sorry, I've lost my mind. Can you repeat that?" Her voice was deadly.

"You heard me."

"Noah Sebastian? From Bad Omens?!" I could hear her voice raising some octaves.

"Yeah a few days ago."

"Fucking where?!" I had to hold the phone at a distance from my ear.

"At...my work." My brain worked overtime to work out this lie.

"I call bullshit." She is too good at seeing through me.

"Laura, would you fucking listen?"

"Noah Sebastian did not walk into a fucking mortgage office and just happen to meet my best friend, the loan officer. Bullshit."

"Laura, listen!"

"Fuck! Fine! What?!" I could feel her irritation.

"I have tickets to their show tonight. In their VIP booth."

"Did you help him buy a house or some shit?!" That actually wasn't bad.

"Possibly. Still up in the air."

"You're such a fucking liar."

"Do you want to go or not? We'll be seeing him after."

I could feel her jaw drop to the floor. "We're going to meet the band?"

"No, not the band. I don't think. Just Noah."

"Just Noah? Christ Mileena, did you fuck him or something?!"

"Absolutely not! Laura what the hell?!"

"What?? You don't even listen to Bad Omens." I scoffed at that.

"I fucking do now."

After a solid hour of interrogatories from Laura, planning on getting to the event (I would drive, obviously) and what we would wear, we finally hung up.

I had about three and a half hours before I had to leave to pick her up. I had enough time for a walk with Angel, lunch, and to get ready.

When Angel and I set out on the sidewalk, and I had set up my AirPods (3 guesses who I was listening to), my phone chimed with a text. I groaned. Didn't we get through enough details?

When I saw the text though, I was surprised to see Noah's name.

Noah: Hey, weird request, but could I call you for like ten minutes?

I was puzzled, but typed a quick affirmative response.

My phone rang a few moments later.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I'm sorry." His immediate apology confused me.

"Sorry for what?" I could hear him chuckle, his voice slightly hushed.

"Calling. I know it's weird." I half-smiled. There was a level of innocence to Noah that made me feel better about this entire situation.

"Noah, I'm your sponsor. You're allowed to call me any time, day or night."

"But what if I call you at 3AM cause I'm craving sugar?"

I shook my head, weaving down the sidewalk with Angel heeling nicely at my left.

"Then we go get ice cream?"

I could hear the smile in his voice. "No way. You don't mean that."

I proudly responded. "Wouldn't be the first time."

He only snorted in response. I did wonder why he needed to call.

"Are you okay?"

"Mm, yeah. We're at the venue. Did sound check a while ago. The guys cracked open some beers. I told them I was going to take a quick walk to get some air. I feel like they might know something." His concern was thick in his words.

"Ah, okay. Well, super proud of you for walking away. That's amazing on it's own."

"Yeah?" He sounded unsure.

"Oh, one hundred percent."

"Thanks Leena." He sighed. His voice then came out a little smoother. "Did you talk to Laura?"

"I did."

"And how did that go?"

I smirked. "Well, she doesn't believe that I met you at work, so now she's got horrific ideas of how I met you, but she's in."

This made him laugh. "Horrific like how?!"

"I won't repeat it. But either way, she doesn't know how we actually know each other. I'm struggling to figure out how I'm going to explain us giving you a ride home?"

He was quiet, my guess was thinking. "How well do you know her?"

"Better than anyone, why?"

"You trust her?"

"With my life."

"Tell her. It's easier that way. Just maybe ask we don't all chat about it?" This took me back. As private as he is, and he doesn't even know me that well? Why trust me, or someone I trust, with this secret? His reputation is somewhat on the line.

"You sure?"

"Should I not be?"

I sighed. "I wouldn't risk your good name Noah. I promise."

"Thanks Leena." I heard muffled voices in the background. "Hey, I've got to go. See you later?"

I agreed, and we disconnected the call.

The ride to the venue was mostly quiet, aside from the soft music on the radio playing.

"So...anything else I should know before we walk in there? Ronnie Radke isn't going to be hanging with us too, is he?"

I chuckled at this.

"Listen babe, I've got to tell you something."

She lifted her eyebrow in a knowing look. "Knew you were lying."

I shrugged. "Look, I'm going to tell you this, but this is covert level secrecy. No one can know. Or Noah is fucked. So promise me? Not even your husband gets to know?"

Her look turned more serious.

"Of course babe. Anything."

"I'm Noah's sponsor." Her jaw dropped open, almost unnaturally so.

"He's in AA too?" I nodded.

"He just started. And he needed a sponsor. I offered. He needed help getting through this show and the after party. So he's going to pretend to be sick after, meet us backstage, and we're going to smuggle him out and drive him home."

I could see the wheels in her head turning. She believed me now. She knew I never lied about AA.

"Oh my God, babe." She shook her head. "I'm so sorry. I pried too hard. Jesus, I feel like an asshole."

I waved her off. "Don't, my love. He gave me permission to tell you." She nodded at that, sitting back in her seat.

After a beat, she giggled to herself. "You sure are the luckiest sponsor ever." That made me laugh. I wasn't so sure yet.

The show was electric. The man on stage, singing, was a different person entirely. If it weren't for the fact that he made direct eye contact with me several times throughout the night, I would've never believed him to be the same shy, unsure, uncomfortable man he was in group. On stage, he was confident, he was in control, he was the leader, and the crowd, his flock. It was insane to watch, and I would be lying if I hadn't said I felt absolutely mystified at points. I teared up when they played Just Pretend, vehemently singing along. This was not lost on him, and I caught the smirk he got when he saw my glassy-eyed singing. No different than any other fan. That's okay, that's who I was for now.

We were to not be seen or noticed. We were shadows waiting to seamlessly remove him.

Once the set ended, and everyone waited for Motionless in White to come out, moving in and out of their seats toward the bars and bathrooms, Laura and I followed the security guard who had been told to allow us backstage.

I checked my phone a few times, but still had not heard from him. As we made our way to the meet and greet area, we saw the giant line of fans waiting for their band to show up. We slyly waited against a wall behind the line. We blended in.

"Have you heard from him?" I checked my phone again with no results.

"No, but I would bet he has to do meet and greet first. I don't strike him as the type to disappoint fans."

She nodded in agreement, so we waited.

After about twenty minutes, we heard screaming, and looked over to see them come out, waving at everyone waiting in line. I saw his eyes searching. Was he looking for us?

Pulling out my phone, I shot a quick message.

Me: By the trash cans.

He was talking to a girl with his face on her shirt when he slipped his phone from his pocket and his eyes immediately scanned and found mine. The smallest hint of a smile lifted his lips. I saw him turn his back for a moment, and turning back to sign autographs

Noah: Thought I lost you. M&G will be over in 45min. Meet me in the parking lot?

I sent a thumbs up, instructed Laura of our plans, and we began our trek to the car. Once in the car, I sent a quick location pin to him so he could find us. I got a response a few minutes later.

Noah: Just look for the ancient Tahoe. Roger that.

I rolled my eyes, and despite Laura watching her concert videos, she noticed.

"What?" I showed her my phone, and she smiled.

"Well, he's funny, huh?" I nodded.

"An absolute dork." She bit her lip, turning in my seat.

"Leena?" I looked up at her from my phone screen, looking at my own videos.

"Hmm?"

"Do you like him?" I paid little attention to the question.

"Oh sure, he's a nice guy." She put her hand on my shoulder, making me give her my full attention.

"No, Mileena," she pushed my phone down. "do you like him?"

This made me scoff. "Laura, I barely know him!"

"What's to know? He's a singer in a near famous band. He's got the voice of an angel. He's adorable." This made me roll my eyes again.

"I'm his sponsor." She threw her hands up.

"Is it illegal?" I shook my head.

"No, but it's awful and would make me a terrible human. And I work very hard to be a good human."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "I don't believe that, but okay. I respect it." I smiled at her.

"Thank you Laura."

"But I still think you like him."

I was silent in response, not amused by her pushing.

“He has a girlfriend anyway, Laura.”

I watched her eyes nearly bug out of her head. “He does?!”

“Yeah, he told me yesterday.” I could see the disbelief on her face.

“I’ve never heard that. What’s her name?” I sighed, thinking back to our conversation the day before.

“He…didn’t say? Just mentioned he had one, and she didn’t know about AA yet.”

Her lips pursed. “Not buying it.”

This made my eyes widen.

“What?”

“He has a girlfriend but doesn’t even tell you her name? And doesn’t tell her he’s made a life changing decision to get well? I’m not buying.”

I rolled my eyes. “Christ, Laura, you’ve got trust issues.”

She pointed at me. “Facts. But it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t believe it.” She sat back in her seat.

“I’ll just ask him when he gets here, no worries.”

This caused a flood of panic through me. “Please don’t! He’s not the type to talk about personal stuff. He’s actually pretty withdrawn.”

Her blank expression was telling. “Noah? Noah Sebastian? The guy who just went absolutely insane on that stage? Is withdrawn? Mhm, sure.”

I sat back in my chair and groaned.

“Please? That’s his personal business.”

She nodded. “Fine, but you should ask him.”

I didn’t respond, attention now on the text I had from him saying he was headed our way. I started the car, ready for a quick getaway.

After about ten minutes, I saw his tall frame in the doorway of the elevator, jogging over to the car. I snuck a glance at Laura, who looked as though she may absolutely burst.

“Here comes the rockstar.” She let out in a sing-song voice.

The back left door opened, and he slid inside the seat quickly, buckling his seatbelt and running his fingers through his long, and now greasy, hair.

“Hey!” My voice was about three pitches higher for truly no reason at all. This was not lost on my best friend, whose eyes I saw flash over to be before turning around and looking at Noah, eyes absolutely bulging.

“Jesus, it’s like trying to escape a wild pack of hyenas!” He sat back and sighed heavily as my truck backed out of the space and began moving down the aisle. “I mean the guys, not the fans.”

I looked up in my rearview. “Did you do like we talked about?”

“Yes. Made sure to gag as loudly as possible and everything.” I could see the smile crinkling the corners of his eyes.

He turned his attention to Laura, holding out his hand. “I’m so rude, I’m sorry.” She took his hand, looking absolutely stunned. “I’m Noah.”

All I heard from her was a weak ‘Laura’ in response.

Once we hit the darkened streets, putting the venue behind us, the tension in the truck relaxed.

I looked up in my mirror again, catching Noah’s attention.

“Do you mind if I drop Laura home first? She’s got to get up early for work tomorrow and her house isn’t very far.”

He smiled. “Of course. I’m all the way in Calabasas, so no worries at all.”

I just nodded. The ride was smooth for a moment, until I heard the familiar ring of an iPhone. It was Noah’s.

“Hello?” I couldn’t hear the voice from the other end. “Hey babe.”

Laura’s face whipped over to me, I’m sure seeing my expression darken ever so slightly.

“Yeah, I’ll be okay. I’m not sure what happened, but I started feeling off before the set and by the end, I was throwing up.” He waited for the response. “No, uh…” he hesitated. “I actually haven’t drank at all today.”

Something in my chest swelled. I was such a proud sponsor. He was making an effort, and all I could do was appreciate it.

He nervously laughed. “Yeah, right? Shocking, I know.”

I could hear his tone. It broke my heart for him. I knew that conversation, I had many myself. When people don’t believe you haven’t been drinking, or are shocked to hear it. They’ll even go so far as to get angry at you for quitting. It’s a long, torturous road he’s set down, but hopefully with the right support, he will stay on track.

“Well I just caught an Uber, and I’m going to go home and pass out. Try to get over it.”

I made a conscious effort not to look at him, doing my best to respect his privacy. I could see Laura doing the same, scrolling through her phone.

“Yeah, uh, maybe we should wait until Monday? Make sure I’m not contagious, and all that?” His voice almost sounded brightened, but I was likely imagining things.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. But do you want to catch this crap?” He made a sound of approval. “Thought so. I’m almost home so I’ll talk to you later babe.” He wasn’t, but okay. “Mhm, I love you too.” Slight poke to the abdomen. Nothing to worry about. “Bye.”

My hands relaxed slightly on the wheel. No one spoke for a little while. I could see his eyes just watching the streetlights fly past the window. He almost looked sad, but I couldn’t piece together why exactly. I could guess, however, that this is harder than he initially anticipated. It always is.

Laura shared my concern, so she spoke up.

“The show tonight was awesome, Noah! Better than the one back in November!”

This sure perked him, making him sit up in his seat. “Yeah? Thank you for saying that.”

“Oh fuck yeah, dude! Watching you guys play is spiritual, honestly.” This made him crack a wide grin.

I felt a poke on my shoulder, causing me to look up.

“What’d you think Leena? How was your first Bad Omens show?” I could see him searching for my answer, but he’s not the only one who could be a smartass.

I waved my hand in a topsy-turvy fashion. “It was alright.”

“Oh shut the fuck up, you cried during Just Pretend.” Laura was triumphantly smiling.

She’s so dead.

My cheeks were getting warmer, and I instinctively cracked my window. When did it get so hot in here?

Noah let out a giggle, an actual fucking giggle. “I thought I saw that.”

“Dude, how can you see anything up there? Fire? Smoke? Lights?”

He shook his head dismissively and flopped back in his seat. “Please. I can see anything if I’m looking for it.”

His words rang out followed by silence. Laura’s face was deadpanned.

What the fuck does that mean? In a literal sense, I get what he meant but wow, what an innuendo to make. Unintentionally, I’m sure.

The context wasn’t lost on Noah, who only cleared his throat, not speaking another word.

Luckily, we were already cruising down Laura’s street, stopping in front of her driveway.

“Welp, this is my stop.” She turned to look in the backseat. “Thank you so much for the concert. It really was awesome.”

This earned her a grateful head nod from him. “Anytime.”

She wouldn’t be forgetting that.

“I love you babes, call me tomorrow?” She wrapped an arm around me while I agreed to her request. She hopped out of the car and within seconds, she was gone.

“You want to stay back there, or hop up front?”

Without answering, a long leg reached over my console, plopping Noah in the passenger’s seat. I stared at him incredulously while he beamed at me.

I shook my head and put the truck back in drive, waiting for him to direct me to his house.

#noah sebastian fic #noah sebastian #bad omens fanfiction #bad omens #fanfic

39 notes · View notes

ladymarycrawley · 2 years

Text

What if I'd ask you out? - Mason Mount

Request: Maybe y/n is watching Mase training like watching him stretch and stuff (that recent video that you reposted 🤤) and she gets all flustered and one of the boys from chels catches her drooling and teases her about it!? Like they make sneaky comments and jokes when they’re around Mase and he catches on and starts to tease her a little ??? (Mase and y/n aren’t dating but there’s definitely something there and all the boys know it!). (@jessmountsmason hope you like it!)

Warning: none

Tag list: @masonxomount @chelsealover @masterclassbaby

That training session was a tough one for the players, mainly due to the hot weather added to the routine the gaffer expected them to do, but you could say with certainty it was testing your self control and patience as well. Mason and Ben, whose you were closer to, invited you to watch their training ahead of the start of the season

The soft spot you had for Mason was something blatantly obvious to most people that knew both of you, maybe he was more discreet about it but you were in his mind quite often too...That man was so hot it was unbearable: how dared him standing there with his perfect face, that smile to die for, wiggling his peachy butt before you with no consideration at all? Not to talk about his thighs, you would've gladly rode them. It was unfair for a single human being to be that gorgeous.

On his part, he was happy to have you there watching him: your focused stare on him, accentuated by your frown, your forefinger lightly brushing over your lower lip, your back resting against the bench…God, you were so perfect to him.

The fact was that the bond between you was something silent, painfully silent, the only thing that would speak for it were your glances and your body language. Those little things were enough for the people around you to notice it and never miss a single occasion to tease you about that. Mason became a little sneaky tease himself as the guys always nudged him every time they caught you staring and drooling over him, as they did that time precisely.

"What's the matter?" Mason asked panting, drying some of the sweat off his neck and face with a terry towel.

"Y/N can't stop staring at your juicy butt"

You blushed immediately, experiencing a level of embarrassment you never thought could be humanly possible.

"I wasn't!"

"She said you're so flexible"

"I can teach you how to to be better at it"

All the boys went like "woah" at Mason's two-way joke, as if his jab was something that could declare his final win over you.

You scrunched your face at his line, rolling your eyes in annoyance.

"Work on more original pick up lines, Mount"

"You love my unoriginal pick up lines" He wiggled his eyebrows looking at you with a mischievous grin as he brought his water bottle closer to his lips to have a drink.

"And not only those!" Ben squealed, eliciting an hysterical laugh from all the boys there.

You huffed, crossing your arms over your chest and looking away.

"You're so childish, grow up!" You took your things and got up, intending to leave them.

"No Y/N, don't go!"

Mason called you, sounding rather desperate. His tone caused you to turn back to look at him.

The Chelsea midfielder realised then he got carried away a bit, as you were all staring at him. "I mean, if you go I'll lose my number one fan and the guys won't have anyone to make fun of"

Ben giggled, Reece rolled his eyes shaking his head and Conor chuckled mumbling something like "You two are unbelievable"

Hearing him so happy to have you there while doing the thing he loved the most, made you feel gratified as if you were somehow vital for him, your presence making his day better and improving his performance perhaps.

The hard thing now was not to show how good that made you feel or else they would have taken up with their jokes again. So you bit the inner side of your cheeks to stop the smile that was threatening to form on your lips and looked down before meeting Mason’s gaze.

“Well, since you sound quite needy I’ll stay”

Mason’s lips curved into a grin, a satisfied grin because he got what he wanted.

“Only because I sound needy? Not because you’re enjoying it?”

“Nah, I just feel sorry for you”

“So you’re taking pity on me?? That’s what you’re saying??”

“Kinda” It was your turn to grin, hitting Mason jokingly on his chest before going back to your seat.

Your eyes meeting spoke all the words you weren't brave enough to say out loud to each other, your tinted cheeks and his smile as a validation.

“Ok guys, gotta go now”

“Enjoy the show Y/N!” Reece shouted at you before resuming the training with his teammates.

“Fuck you, James!” You shouted back.

“Well, clearly not me as there’s someone else you’d really like to fuck” Ben went on with his dirty joke before Tuchel scolded them for their behaviour and language.

You blushed violently and so did Mason: it was all so embarrassing but so true at the same time, considering that you couldn’t stop fantasising about how amazing it would be sharing your life with him, even the most ordinary tasks, not afraid to give each other some cuddle or having him all to yourself at night.

“Guys, stop it please” Mason, visibly embarrassed,scratched the back of his head, wishing that theatrics would end right away.

"After all of this you should at least ask her out"

"Yeah mate, it's the least you could do!"

Mason shook his head and sprinted away, doing the running exercise Tuchel asked them to do: he'd have loved to ask you out but what if you would have said no? What if you got bored of him?

He had no idea you were dying for him to ask you on a date but the same fears were holding you back from making any plans with him.

When all the tension disappeared and all the other Chelsea guys were busy, Mason left the group and walked closer to you, determined to pop his question.

"Hey, I'm sorry for earlier, they can be so annoying sometimes…"

"It's fine, I know them now. They're annoying but they do no harm"

Mason giggled and took a seat next to you.

"But they're kinda right, I should ask you out"

"You don't have to just because they told you to"

"No, I mean, I'm not doing it because of them but they made me realise I have to do it and that I'm a crazy if I don't take the chance so I'd like to ask you if you're free tomorrow night"

You widened your eyes as your cheeks got flushed: he was really asking you out??

Your heart was doing somersaults and your stomach started churning.

"Ehm yeah I mean, why not?? It would be great"

"You don't have to say yes if you don't feel like it"

"I would be crazy not to take the chance, wouldn't I?" You two looked into each other's sparkling eyes with a knowing smirk as long as Mason broke the contact and got up from his seat.

"Well, I'll pick you up at 7 then…don't make me wait!"

"It's called being fashionably late!"

You couldn't stop smiling, one of your biggest dreams was finally coming true, all thanks to some dorks who couldn't stop making fun of you.

#mason mount #mason mount x reader #mason mount x y/n #mason mount fluff #mason mount oneshots #mason mount imagines #chelsea #chelsea fc #chelsea imagines #england nt #england nt imagines #england nt fics #football imagines #football fics #football writing

550 notes · View notes

starchildrenofdustand-ashes · 29 days

Text

your incentive to read to the bottom of this post is ✨Ben Vereen in a thong✨

In honor of yesterday being Good Friday and Easter being on Sunday, let me tell you about my current hyperfixation: Tim O’Horgans, original Broadway production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

This version is notoriously hated by Andrew Lloyd Webber- opening night being described as “the worst night of his life” but that’s only because even as a young man he was clearly a curmudgeon who hated fun.

This production is campy, it’s busy, and its clear it relies a lot on the spectacle pillar of theatre, but I love it nonetheless. my favorite version of JSC is the OBC recording consisting of: Jeff Fenholt as Jesus, Ben Vereen as Judas, Yvonne Elimen as Mary, Barry Dennin as Pilot, Bob Bingham as Caiaphus and Paul Ainsley as Herod. Some of the names you’ll recognize reprises their role for the 1973 movie.

I’m gonna tell you a few my of favorite fun facts/ things I noticed based on images and what I’ve read in Nassirs Rock Opera. Without further ado:

Overture: There are many descriptions of the overture, and they're very wild and I have no idea how to verbalize it. But I can tell you that Jesus rode in on a golden chalice with this opulent cape on lol.

You can learn more abt the staging for the overture here. The next pic is of him in his chalice chariot thing lol

Heaven on Their Minds: These are images of Judas and his tormentors. Now, Judas is usually played by a very strong actor, so a visual representation of what he’s going through isn’t really necessary, but I love the concept. They’re these hooded, shadow figures who follow him around and push him about on the stage. They chronically torment him and he fights them throughout the show until it’s time for his death where they lifthim up so he can get the rope to hang himself.

This Jesus Must Die: this one gets me really excited. So the High Priests are on this brige that’s meant to look like dinosaur fossils; and have you seen their costumes?? Like I have so many questions, this is such an interesting take. They keep their elaborate head pieces in the 1973 film, and they also give them a scaffold as a lair, but their costumes/set is so campy here. Really giving off Disney villain. Their part in the show received a lot of criticism because they’re portrayed kinda smarmy, and slinking in the shadows; the portrayal was deemed anti-semantic.

In the 1973 movie, they added the song “Then We are Decided,” between Caiaphus and Anna’s to portray a more human side to the Sanhedrin. That song is never performed, so you can imagine how well that went.

Hosanna

This is probably my least favorite song in the whole album but visually? I have no idea what's going on in this picture, but I love it. So it's a processional and the priests are watching from their lair. Apparently the props are supposed to look like microbes, and I know there was an insane thought process behind this, it's giving protozoa, amoeba realness. Like someone is carrying a giant set of dentures, can you find them?

Pilate's Dream

Costume Design for Pilate, and also Pilates Dream

The Temple: This is another wild one:

No Words, simply watch the Tony performance:

I Don’t Know How to Love Him:

She's so cute, I love her. This song was apparently one of the biggest applause of number, justifiably. I think one of the biggest complaints with this production as a whole, was the use of the gaudy mics. They're interesting. You can watch her performance at the tony's too.

Gethsemane: Apparently, Gethsemane was one of the biggest flops of the night, such a flop that people were laughing lol. It was staged with Jeff Fenholt, alone, center stage. There was this thing that dropped down behind him, O'Horgan dubbed 'The Universe Box'. It was suppose to look like Jesus was singing this song at the precipice of the universe with a galaxy of stars around him. In Rock Opera, Nassir refers to it as 'O'Horgans oversized toy', and there were several things that compared it to decorative boxes and toys from the 80's. I tried really hard to visualize this, because the concept of it sounds super cool. Instead, it looked silly to viewers and apparently Jeff Fenholt (who sings my favorite rendition of Gethsemane) didn't have the acting chops to pull away from the failure of the concept. YOU! DO! NOT! UNDERSTAND! THE! ANGST! I WENT! THROUGH! TO! GET! AN! IMAGE! OF !! THIS!!! DAMMED!!!!! BOX!!!!

Okay, I have to agree, it does look... strange and I would not have guessed it was supposed to represent the universe.

I'm not quite sure what is looks like. 💀💀

(I found the image from a person on TikTok! The account has lots of JCS OBC tidbits )

Pilate and Christ:

There was this really cool set piece that acted as the door to Pilates palace, it was ceasers head, and when the doors opened, it would expand to reveal 6 more eyes and pilate would sashay out lol.

King Herod

This number also got a lot of applause, it was definitely comedic relief, as Herod is often used for. Apparently he was wheeled in inside a giant, green dragons head and it opened to reveal him sitting in like a shell type thing. I'm still trying to find pictures of this prop- after finding the universe box, I am determined! He was in full drag with nails, the dress, the headdress and those fabulous platforms. Those platforms slay, btw.

Apparently there were a lot of high kicks and they did the Charleston lol.

Could We Start Again Please

There was some criticism about this songs placement in the show.This number was said to be not memorable at all because people were still reeling from the show Herod put on I think it's placed perfectly, because it kinda brings you back to the gravity of the situation. Had this song been placed before Herods Song, right after this Judas would hang himself. That's just too much too soon if you ask me. This provided a nice buffer, to settle down and get ready for the angst to come

Judas Death: Here are images of Judas' tormentors helping him take his life.

Trial With Pilate: Apparently this number flopped too. People said it was too long and the positioning of Dennen's mic caused him issues as his voice would cut in and out when he moved. Also, I have no idea what to make of the Roman guards costumes

I love the images of Barry Dennen going feral, pls best Pilate!!

Superstar: aaah,, the titular song. This was another stand out and y'all, If you thought Carl Andersons white fringe was extra? Any Judas getting bedazzled, wearing sparkles or glam during this song??? Yeah, none of that holds a Candle to Ben Vereen fucking coming out and performing this song in a gold thong. I can't make this shit up.

Now, I think this part is pretty cool. Jesus rises out of the ground wearing what's been dubbed 'the chrysalis'. It starts out thin, but each ensemble member grabs a pillar and spread the cape out across the stage. Judas sing this song on a butterfly set piece behind him. Okay metaphor 😩

For the opulence that was displayed throughout the entire show, the crucification was rather simple; he's simply stripped out of the 'chrysalis ' and put on a triangle.

Pls. Anyway. I love this show and we need a revival of this exact production! I'll wait until ALW expires and then find a producer lmfao 😌 There are a few updates that need to be made, but it is absolutely possible with todays technology?? Image updated gethsemane?? Tom O'Horgan your mind, sir!!!! Anyway. I love this production.

If you made it this far, thank you, I hope you now love this production as much as I do. 🫶🏾

#jesus christ superstar #Ted Neely #Carl Anderson #Jesus Christ superstar obc #easter #musical #jesus christ superstar 1973 #ben vereen #she speaks #she reviews #long post #Jesus #Judas #Jeff fenholt #barry dennen #bob bingam #Paul Ainsley

6 notes · View notes

pheita · 8 months

Text

Blood Night Alternative Beginning

Yeah, the Make me Write Tag made me do this lol

I decided to switch between Lyran and Arritit for this one because it's more fun. Plus it offers some more insight we didn't had in the original version that is only Sojan's POV

So what changed? Basically a bit about the timeframe. Lyran didn't got stuck in Lagawood and met Sojan but got stuck in a town a day walk away from it weeks before and runs into Arritit because of this.

Tagging @ashen-crest @abalonetea @contes-de-rheio @writingamongther0ses @chris-the-dragonslayer since you were on the old tag list. Also tagging @tabswrites because of the make me write tag of her.

Don't forget all of my WIP stuff can be found @lagawood-guildhouse

Warnings for alcohol mentions, blood, stabbing, minor violence

A little protected from prying eyes, Arritit sat in the pub and thought. Autumn had reached its midpoint and soon winter would stretch out its long icy and snowy fingers. If she wanted to arrive in Stramsa'gonil before the big snow, she had to hurry, and above all, hope that her brother Sojan was planning to spend the winter in Lagawood as usual, and that she could collect him there.

The chance that he had not yet noticed that their father had become active again was definitely there, where he traveled as a hunter over the whole continent. On the other hand, maybe he had already noticed something without knowing what it was.

The playing of a lute made them sit up and take notice. A young bard in blue and green robes had sat down on the small stage. The wild black curls were just a little tamed and were banded with a colorful ribbon. Filigree fingers plucked the strings with an elegance that spoke of years of practice, as did the soft tenor voice that rose above it all as if it were no effort. A laugh escaped her when she noticed that he had added more depth to his eyes with black makeup, making those unnatural green eyes stand out even more. Even if he looked human, his blood was clearly not, Arritit as a shaman saw that immediately.

The thought brought her back to her problem. She was sure that this time they would have to face their father, and she didn't know if Sojan was ready, or her mother. She wouldn't be able to do it alone, especially with the insane twins on her father's side. Sighing, she emptied her mug of beer and went to get another. The only good thing about being a demon was that she had a very high alcohol tolerance, yet she was cautious.

Slowly, she put one foot in front of the other, so others would think she was getting drunk, and walked to the counter. She twirled her index finger and pointed into the empty pitcher. "One more." "You sure?" "Still standing, am I?" The innkeeper just shrugged and took the pitcher to draw another beer. This close to the small stage, Arritit took the chance to eye the bard more closely.

It might have been the alcohol, or the fact that she hadn't had sex in almost a month, or it might have been the fact that she was about to make a leap in her magic, but she had to admit that he was appealing to her.

The fine clothing stretched too much during the lute playing for him to be an effeminate fellow, and the question of what was there in his bloodline and how that might play out in bed crossed her mind, even though she rarely took a man to bed.

The thought of all she had left behind in Ryenaton flitted through her mind like a withered bush in a storm, but she pushed it aside. Her eyes still on the bard, who by now had intoned a lewd drinking song, she took two coins from her purse and placed them on the table. The innkeeper looked at her in confusion. "For our singing friend. He'll be thirsty from all that singing." The innkeeper nodded and drew another beer and set it out for the bard with a nod to Arritit. The bard smiled with a brief lowering of his head. Satisfied, she made her way back to the table where she sat before, knowing that it would still be free as little was going on today. She didn't sit long when a drunken man staggered in her direction.

Ready to fight back if necessary, her fingers sought the hidden dagger in her belt and with the other plucked her oversized scarf so that everyone could see the necklace with the many pendants that identified her as a shaman or mage. For most people, it was enough of a clue, but not for this man. Either he was too drunk or too stubborn or just horny that he didn't care and continued his way to her.

""Traveling all alone like this, beautiful?" "Yes, and I'm not your beautiful or sweetie, and I'm not interested either. If you want to keep your balls and not hang head over heels from the tallest building in the morning, then leave me alone." "Oh, look at that. A harpy," he just grinned and sat down without being asked. Arritit kicked the chair in front that he, so that it landed on the floor. Through the noise, some looked over, but no one reacted. It was not surprising. "You've got fire, I'll give you that," the man laughed as he got to his feet. "I'd be happy to show you how fiery I am." "Now we're talking the same language."

She rolled her eyes. It was becoming more and more obvious that she was dealing with the sort particularly brash and stupid. Slowly, she stood up and picked up her mug. Her eyes searched for another free table when she felt herself being grabbed by the arm. "Let go of me if you are true to your fingers." "If I were you, I would do as the lady asked."

The new voice made Arritit blink. Behind the sleazy guy, the bard had appeared. The eyes that previously laughed and flirted with the crowd were now cold and spoke of murderous desire. "And you want to stop me?" the man laughed out loud. "You should never underestimate someone based on their looks my friend, besides I prefer to play without interference, and you are an interference and a pest. So now let go of the lady and get lost." "What if I don't?" Arritit was pulled by the arm. She used the momentum it gave her to stab with the dagger. Only slightly delayed, the bard had struck.

His nose bloody and a non-fatal stab wound to the abdomen later, the man lay on the ground, whimpering like a toddler. "You have a dagger?" "You punched?" Astonishment on both sides gave way to laughter. The bard looked down with a frown. "The stab wound doesn't look too bad." "I'm a shaman, I know how to stab without killing." "I saw that." He pointed to her necklace for clarification. "I'm Lyran." "Arritit." "May I invite you to come further forward?" Amused, she looked at him. "So you can protect me?" "Much more so that I can protect my audience before you stab them all in their folly."

Lyran extended his arm to her with a playful smirk. She couldn't tell what it was exactly, but Arritit liked it. "So you're the protector of the poor and helpless?" she teased him, getting a loud laugh in response. "No, I don't have the combat experience for that then, but I do what I can, where I can." "That is already more than others do." "That may be true. So you are the avenger of women?" "Only when someone gets too close to me."

She grinned challengingly at him. Lyran raised an eyebrow, yet he smirked and led her to one of the empty tables almost directly by the stage. With a kiss on the hand and a bow, he went back to his seat and took up the lute as if nothing had happened. Arritit laughed softly into her mug. Lyran had just managed to make himself even more interesting to her.

#writblr #writing #blood night au #fantasy #lyran #arritit

16 notes · View notes

violent-optimism · 1 year

Text

Ranking every Ganon/Ganondorf based on Appearance

Hey folks!

Those who know me well know that Ganondorf is one of my all time favourite video game characters and I am SO excited to see him return in “Tears of the Kingdom”. In that spirit, I thought it would be fun to do a personal ranking of every major Ganon or Ganondorf appearance in a Zelda game.

Notice how I said “major”, because quite frankly there are a lot of smaller Zelda games out there and I don’t have time to look into every single one of them to see if the G man had a cameo or not. This won’t be a complete list, just complete in terms of my personal knowledge and the games I am most familiar with. Also, friendly reminder that this list is my opinion and I’m not trying to offend or change anyone’s mind.

Let’s go!

Ganon from the CD-I Zelda games - 1/10

I had to throw this one in here just for fun. It’s no secret that most of the characters in these games look absolutely god awful, not just Ganon himself. He looks like a weird, swamp monster that’s a cross between a dog and an ogre. Whenever I see this image all I can think of were those hilarious Youtube Poops from way back in the day. It is truly a silly design that fails to even remotely represent such an evil and intimidating character.

Calamity Ganon from Breath of the Wild - 3/10

Gosh, I just know I’m gonna piss people off with this one. I’m sorry, but I just don’t like this design at all. Like, what am I even looking at here? He looks like a Christmas tree crossed with a pirate skeleton or something. The only reason why I gave him a 3 is because at least he is somewhat intimidating, unlike the last entry on my list. I know I haven’t actually finished BOTW, but that doesn’t change the fact that I find his design to be pretty uninspired and confusing, at least from what I’ve seen.

Original Ganon from the Legend of Zelda - 5/10

Although I’ve always preferred Ganondorf to Ganon, I will say I actually dig this design quite a bit. It really gets the point across that he is a powerful baddie and will hurt you if he gets the chance. It’s a good look, it’s effective, and oddly cute in a weird way? Especially when you see him in the game as a bundle of sprites that resemble a bright blue pig. Ultimately it’s just not as threatening or aesthetically pleasing as some of his other reincarnations.

Ganondorf from The Wind Waker - 6/10

Now we’re getting somewhere! While this is far from my favourite design of his, you have to admit it goes in a pretty creative and unique art direction. This version of Ganondorf feels rather large and imposing, especially since he towers over the characters of Link and Zelda who are literal children. I love the small details like his brooch and sandals. When I look at this image, I’m left with only one burning question...why did they make him so god damn CHONKY?

Ganondorf from Ocarina of Time - 7/10

Honestly it’s really hard to find anything wrong with this design. This was the first time we ever saw a human version of Ganondorf, and it’s inspired all of the other versions since then to some degree. He’s imposing, he’s threatening, he’s powerful, and it shows. I love the brown tones mixed with the white/blue/red cloth that’s scattered over various points. I think the only problem I have with this is the weird cod-piece situation that’s going on. And why did they make his ears so big and goofy?

Ganondorf from Hyrule Warriors - 8/10

Now THIS is more like it! I never played Hyrule Warriors, but boy do I sure love this design of Ganondorf. The blue and gold tones, the giant boots, the luscious red mane that’s free to blow in the wind. This is a look that just screams power and strength, with a touch of grace added in for good measure. Ganondorf looks delightfully mean here, like he’s thinking about how much he’s going to enjoy smashing your face into the ground.

Ganondorf from Tears of the Kingdom - 8.5/10

This new look hasn’t even been out for a week and I’m already so in love with it. I’m really enjoying the Samurai inspired design, with the man bun, tattoos and more skin shown than any other version I can think of. I know it’s on trend to talk about the thirst factor, but it definitely is there. Ganondorf’s potential for sex appeal is long overdue, and judging by everyone’s reaction I think I’m correct in that. Similar to Link and Zelda’s designs, I feel like this look has taken a bold new turn without straying too far from the original design of the character. I can’t wait to see more of him!

Ganondorf from Twilight Princess - 10/10

Here he is; the man, the myth...the absolute GOAT. In my opinion, Ganondorf’s design PEAKED with Twilight Princess and no other design has even come close to this level of perfection. Part of this might be my nostalgia talking, or the fact that this is my favourite Zelda game. But according to some other folks online, it looks like I’m not the only one who is obsessed with this look. Just looking at this image you can feel the anger, the power, the dominance. I love the colour scheme, the hairstyle, the cape, the fingerless gloves. There was so much thought put into every detail and it really shows. Perhaps 11 year Sam was ahead of her time, but I thought this Ganondorf was sexy as fuck back in the day (and tbh I still kind of do). At the end of the day, this look has everything you’d want for the King of Evil.

Thanks for listening to my ramble, folks. I hope you got something out of it. What’s your favourite version of Ganon/Ganondorf? :)

#Ganondorf #Ganon #The Legend of Zelda #my ranking

13 notes · View notes

katyspersonal · 1 year

Note

Transgender micolash

Valid, tho tbh I am not sure whether you sent it to ask my thoughts about it, or just informed me about what idea you like? Sorry it is just hard to say with ask lacking extra words to make it a statement or a question, hahah

I've shared my thoughts about Micolash's attitude to themes of birth and pregnancy occasionally, especially in this post ( x ), but yeah, it comes down to: no matter what Micolash is born with, he would LOVE to have an uterus. So imo, if he was born female, he'd come to lack genital dysphoria and even feel elevated during periods, however would absolutely dread being associated with femininity or motherhood as a role OTHERwise. Like... He'd love what his body allows him to experience, but in terms of gender identity absolutely be a man. And alternatively, as a trans woman, Micolash would definitely take advantage of weird eldrich powers gathered to be reborn in a new body - remember what kind of setting Bloodborne IS! Alternatively, his gender identity could stay male forever and he'd JUST want a type of body that can birth life. He admires this shit to a bizarre extent no matter what!

Again, you didn't specify whether you mean trans man or trans woman Micolash, but in Japanese original Micolash is referred to with the status more akin to king/lord (pretty masculine), not 'host'. So if you mean trans woman, that piece should be factored in. In my mind, Micolash is a man (or, as I like to say, 'my precious boy'), but yes if he is a trans man I can't help but feel like he would yearn to change many things about his body... but not That One. Deeper voice and no b00b tho? For sure. But besides personal dysphoria, there'd be added layer of wanting to become a 'perfect human being' - both male and female. However, that would turn out... well, not so perfect. I think we all can agree the only character in Bloodborne setting who changes the body with eldrich magic and gets the perfect result is Paleblood Hunter when they turn into a squid! (no, Val, you don't get to make the 'is that Patches erasure?!' joke fhghfutjh)

On the OOOOOTHER hand, notice how most of Great Ones are feminine figures? Oedon and Mergo aren't even gendered in Japanese original, and I for one only call OoK 'he' because he appears weirdly humanoid and resembles fishmen, while his mom (who also has human face) is more similar to snail/slug women (sex dymorphism strikes again)! You might want to say "but Oedon-" but holdup! Ebrietas is adult version of what Arianna's child is and is known in internal files as 'bastard of the Moon' so Flora, a feminine Great One, could impregnate mortal women too, you know? So it is possible that a man could get gender dysphoria induced by close proximity with Great Ones, rather than it occurring initially. Like what if Rom for example is only a she after being blessed by Kos, because apparently Godhood in Bloodborne is feminine.

That being said, trans woman Micolash is not necessarily excluded! Just not an interpretation I'd personally choose, because Micolash and Rom in my thing ARE 'brother and sister' mentioned in Brain Fluid description! My Mico is a man no matter with what body he was born! Also, now that I considered it, for trans man Micolash it could work that he used to have full on dysphoria, but it was after communing with Great Ones that he got appreciation for organs of birth that was stronger. Basically Great Ones can shift one's whole self-perception by being TOO much of moms?

(Fun fact, @saintmicolash did come up with an idea like whole three years ago - that Micolash, born male, is reborn with female reproductive system after weird eldrich s3x with Kos, but he can't birth a human and instead can only convert human sperm into her phantasms. I think this fits the character well too, but this idea is just change of the body, without any gender identity change, so I can't say how much it counts...?)

#bloodborne #micolash host of the nightmare #ask replies #whew sorry for the tangent i just have unnecessary amount of thoughts on how micolash-#-feels about various body parts and his desires regarding sexes and genders #'unnecesary' i say as this character is one of the most tied up to theme yeah #'school of mensis' more like 'school of MENSES' am i right dhfjgkkjjj #(okay sorry it was so bad)#no but seriously school of mensis is basicaly dudes going 'omggggg childbirth o:'#would only be natural if its founder had the most intricate and intimate experience with it #great ones snuck gender envy in everyone's brain eyes meal i guess?#a lot to think about #also you can tell i can't use my pc rn because of lack of pointless script screenshots

11 notes · View notes

lyssafreyguy · 7 months

Text

i have thoughts about YIIK. nothing crazy deep it's just that i'm almost 13 hours in now at chapter 3 level 21 and i've been spending this whole time ragging on the game? deservedly so? but i also have some positive and mixed opinions towards it too and i wanna write them down in no particular order! (full transparency: i'm playing vers 1.25, with assist mode on so i can use the game's slow down mechanic whenever i want in battles, i have the sort of elemental weakness/resist system added in 1.25 turned off, and i'm sure some of the things i have to say will have to do with whether or not YIIK had the proper funds and time to achieve what i think could be done better but i have no knowledge on how that shit works. what do you want from me.)

i like the sort of low polygon/flat textures plastered on lumpy geometry/choppy frame rate style of the game's overall aesthetic and the character art for the different talk sprites is generally pretty well done (could've maybe used less gradient tool tho)

going off of that tho: the game's start menu has a references page that lists media that YIIK might either directly reference, make homages to, or have been at the very least inspired by and while that's nice and makes sense with the game's pseudo-retro feel i have this feeling that there wasn't that deep of an understanding about what makes of the media they listed like. good? and impactful? it just feels kinda surface level.

the music is also pretty alright! like i said i'm only at chapter 3 (so i've been to Flag Town and met up with Claudio and Chondra) but so far i haven't really heard a piece that i didn't at least passively enjoy (fun fact: there's different battle themes and one of them is done by Toby Fox! i've known about YIIK for a couple of years now but didn't actually know this until recently and i'm delighted to report that you hear it and go "oh yea that's Toby.")

voice acting is alright. it's passable. no particular character that i felt so far has been way better than all the others. like i said before tho sound mixing and levels and mic quality vary between characters and sometimes even between lines of dialogue? also Alex's internal dialogue (infamously) goes on longer than it needs to be a good chunk of the time considering this is an RPG and not a visual novel but also there would be pauses of up to like 5 seconds between lines on autoplay?? and it felt like the most awkward pause ever??? i haven't noticed that happening since chapter 1 ended tho so who fucking knows. i'm playing a pirated copy who gives a shit i guess. (on the Alex Doesn't Know How to Shut the Fuck Up point: this version of the game gives you an option at the beginning to play the game with reduced monologue but the original cut option is described as "ideal for those seeking a deeper understanding of the storyline" so like. FUCK your players who don't wanna hear Alex whack his own dick I GUESS.)

there've been a few lines of dialogue so far where i hear them and go "what was the fucking point of you saying that?"- same goes for some sections of player interaction (Alex talking amongst multiples of himself in his head after certain cutscenes not just being an automated event being the biggest thorn in my side)

i LOVE Rory being a tank character. his default pacifism "attack" making him a human shield along with his skill that lets him swap his HP and SP for when his health gets too low while defending the party is genuinely such a good combo. i'm looking at the vers 1.25 announcement made on steam and this is apparently a result of them improving Rory's "usefulness in battle" so you know what? good on the developers. i gotta tentatively give it to em on that one.

i don't mind everything in battles (from melee to skills to dodging) being QTEs but i don't like that there's never a window of time or a tutorial when you first go about using them so that you can get a feel for how they work ESPECIALLY for skills that require you to hit multiple buttons/sections and ESPECIALLY at the very beginning of the game. i think the game could've also benefited by having some accessibility settings.

speaking of i like that there's 2 separate QTE minigames for dodging - for attacks to only target one character and for attacks that target multiple characters - but in my experience the former is a lot hard to get a full on dodge rather than a defense buff without the slow down mechanic and i honestly don't know how to feel about it. like i'm sure that some players out there have a much harder time with the former or have an equally hard time with both but. still.

1 note · View note

lyd-jms-lwrs · 2 years

Text

Heads and Three Tales - Foundation Art and Design Final Project 2022

SUBJECT THREE: LUX APOCALYPSE: NUCLEAR

Lux was the hardest to design and I don’t really have an answer for why that was. He is also the one character I was debating giving up numerous times when I thought I could not complete this project in the way that I wanted to. I am glad that I didn’t have to cut him out though since I really like the way he turned out. Back in the beginning there were going to be five apocalypses, but that was too much. The options were:

● Imaginative ● Climate ● Medical ● Natural

● Man-made

As you can see, some of those are practically the same thing so I could cut the number down easily. Lux had the biggest character change, even more than Grey. Lux’s original plan was to be an old general who was dying and you were going to be one of his troops. I was put off the idea because I personally do not like war themed media like movies. They scare me. I was not happy with Lux’s idea and this was the start of the PROCRASTINATION ERA. I was so put off doing Lux’s design that I designed Grey and Box fully with stories planned and personalities before I even tried with Lux.

Eventually, I was forced into a corner meaning I had to FINALLY start working on Lux...and I loved it. I scrapped everything. I went back in with a blank slate. All I knew was that the story was going to be set in world destroyed by nuclear war. I thought back to the two previous stories and noticed both had a running theme of violence. I could have done a third keeping with the theme but that bored me. So, I decided to make the Lux story calmer, with less of a focus on violence and more on trying to enjoy the most of life before it gets taken away from you. Lux went from a rugged, aggressive army general, to a gentle giant who likes apple flavoured sweets and who carries around a sledgehammer, not to hurt people but as a device he can use so that he can take out his anger safely without hurting anyone.

Fun fact, Lux is the only one with a date of birth specified. Which was a mistake! But I only realised that a few days after I had finished his profile. I decided to keep it though. I’m going to assume most people thought at this was set in the far future, but no. I never say what year this apocalypse takes place. It could be the far future, but looking at more recent times, it is scary that maybe it could be closer than we think. But, hopefully, this scenario will NEVER happen.

Lux’s appearance and design is probably my favourite one, because I had so much fun creating it. I knew I wanted him to wear a bandana around his lower face and to have a eyepatch, but what if I added small details to make him seem more human, for example Lux has a tongue piercing and a lazy eye. As for his tattoos, I thought skulls or fire would be cliche since he is already quite a masculine looking guy (which he doesn’t like according to his profile), so I went with less stereotypical designs like plants and a butterfly on his upper right arm. As for his heart face tattoos, they were a happy accident. I had smudged some pencil and it looked like a heart and I instantly knew that I had to keep it.

I wanted Lux to appear a lot softer than in the original design. When I think back to my first plan for him, I groan because old Lux would have been the WORST to spend the rest of your dying days with. That’s why I turned him into a gentle giant. I also thought by making the reader kill Lux in the end would hit harder. That ending was of course inspired by John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men

Similar to Box, I kept a lot of the original details in Lux’s final design – that being the bandana and the eyepatch. I did remove his hoodie and changed his hair style from a middle part to a half shaved head.

#headsandthreetales

0 notes

arcanadreams · 3 years

Text

That time you and your demon boyfriend went viral

hi yes hello obey me fandom!! my name is Gabbi and i have never played a single second of the actual game but i have read enough fanon content for the past year to have this idea swimming around in my head and now i am finally letting this accursed thing out of my brain and putting it in yours

also i’m only doing the brothers because any more than that and i’d have an aneurysm probably. oh and shoutout to @obeythebutler and @beels-burger-babe for inspiring me with their works to feel brave enough to write for this fandom

Lucifer:

You and Lucifer go viral on Asmo’s Devilgram story!

You’re in the kitchen helping Asmo with dinner duty and singing along to one of your playlists of human realm music that you like to show him.

Asmo starts filming your cute little dance while you stir the pot on the stove because you are just adorable!

About ten seconds into him filming, Lucifer appears in the doorway with quite the stern look on his face. You know, the one that comes right before a “MAMMOOOOOON” and strikes fear into the heart of all those with functioning eardrums. That one.

He opens his mouth, presumably to tell y’all to shut the fuck up, but then there’s a lull in the music and the eldest can hear your voice ever so slightly above the song’s vocalist and he freezes.

Man stops in his tracks like someone just smacked him in the face with a midair volleyball.

Asmo can be heard stifling a laugh behind his phone.

Lucifer’s face gets so soft and he almost, almost, loosens his metal-rod-through-the-ass posture before you notice him and give a little wave and ask if you and Asmo were being too loud like the considerate darling you are.

Lucifer clears and his throat and says something like, “No, you aren’t. I was just coming to check on how dinner is coming along,” and leaves, after which Asmo immediately presses the post button.

Screenshots of Lucifer’s heart eyes for you go absolutely viral because every demon on Devilgram goes absolutely feral for seeing the eldest demon brother lose his dignified composure. It becomes a meme template. “Get you someone who looks at you like Lucifer looks at MC” and “me at the delivery demon when he shows up with my spicy bat wings” posts become commonplace. (Asmo thinks the memes are totally worth getting strung up with Mammon for laughing at them.)

Mammon:

Much like Lucifer, you and Mammon end up going viral off Asmo’s Devilgram. (Noticing a pattern here?)

He pulls a silly prank on your asses and honestly I don’t know how you fell for it. But hey, they say “idiots in love” for a reason, so...

You and Asmo are sitting in the common room of the House of Lamentation just chillin. Well, he’s chillin, you’re on the floor studying for an upcoming exam.

The video starts in the middle of a conversation you and the avatar of lust were having.

“No, Asmo,” you say. “Mammon and I don’t use pet names for each other.” Now that’s just a darn lie, and every demon and crow within ten miles of Mammon and you together knows it.

“Really? I find that very hard to believe, MC.~”

You sigh in response to Asmo’s teasing. “Okay, he has a lot for me but I’m just not much of a pet name person, y’know?” The rest of the exchange goes like this:

“Oh, I totally get it.” *pause* “Hey MC, what do human world bees make again?”

“Honey.”

Cue a sheepish Mammon sticking his head in the doorway at the bluntness of your tone when you answered Asmo.

“Yeah, babe?” he looks like a puppy left on the side of a highway oh my god hUG HIM-

Asmo turns the camera back to his smug ass face and in the background you can be heard tripping on the damn carpet trying to get up and hug your mans. (”MAMMON GET OVER HERE SO I CAN HUG YOU” “W-WHAT? I THOUGHT YA WERE MAD AT ME?!?!?!?!”)

Leviathan:

Streamer Levi? Streamer Levi.

You guys go viral the first time you make an appearance on one of Levi’s weekly (insert cool Devildom streaming service name here) streams.

It’s completely unintentional. You had been asking him for weeks to play with him on there, but he’s the avatar of envy after all. He doesn’t like sharing his partner, even if it’s with random strangers who have no real access to you.

However, he has his stream on a Thursday instead of a Friday one week, and you come into his room carrying dinner because 1) You didn’t realize he was streaming and 2) No matter what he was doing, the boy needed to eat. It wasn’t unusual for you to bring him dinner, so you had no idea why he was blushing and stammering even more than usual this time in particular. Boy was speaking in beached whale trying to tell you what was wrong.

Then you notice his screen. Oh! “Hi chat!” You wave, setting Levi’s food down on his desk in front of his keyboard. “M-MC!” He full-on whines, slamming a hand over his mouth afterwards when he remembers his viewers could hear that.

Honestly, they’d meme the fuck out of him if it weren’t for the fact that they are FINALLY SEEING HIS HENRY!!! THE MYSTERIOUS MC!!!

Chat is bombarding you with questions while you make Levi eat dinner. And by make him eat dinner, I mean literally feeding this man forkfuls/spoonfuls while he games because you love how flustered he gets when you do that.

Does it impact his score? Absolutely. Does he care? Not really when you’re pampering him like that.

You start answering chat’s questions about you while he’s chewing so he can’t tell you to stop LMAO-

You’re a natural on stream. The VOD becomes the most popular on Levi’s account in a matter of hours and soon cute highlights compilations of you and him on that stream start making the rounds on Devildom Twitter.

Satan:

There was buildup to Satan going viral, similar to Levi in a way.

Satan does have a Devilgram, but it’s basically a white woman’s Instagram with added book reviews for variety. Unless you’re a reader his account is pretty boring: candles, books, fireplaces, and cats.

However, after you two started reading together fairly often he began posting pictures of your legs draped over his while you sat together. They’d always be captioned with vague ass pretentious literary criticism.

This goes on for months, and he gains a lot of (horny) followers after the leg pics start up. He doesn’t really get why but you both joke that it’s because you have some damn nice legs and I mean neither of you are complaining about the new following.

You two go viral when he finally shows your face, entirely by accident.

The post is a video, which is already strange for him and grabs attention. In it, you’re scoffing and reading an excerpt of a book, mocking its understanding of female anatomy.

“I’m quoting here, Satan: ‘her breasts bouncing around like giant pacmen.’ I’M SORRY?? THAT ISN’T HOW BOOBS WORK SIR. WHY ARE MEN ALLOWED TO WRITE?”

(fun fact that is a very real quote from a very real book I really read last month pls save me)

Originally the camera is focused on your body, with your head out of frame to protect your privacy, but your righteous anger made Satan laugh. Like, a real laugh. The one that makes you and everyone in earshot wonder if he truly was never an angel cause he sure as hell laughs like one but anyway-

When he threw his head back, his DDD angled up just a tad without him noticing, and your face was in view for like .2 seconds. Screenshots of it are making the rounds on Devilgram almost immediately: FINALLY THE LEGS’ OWNER HAS BEEN FOUND.

Satan apologizes profusely but you honestly find it funny and you two opt to just start taking selfies while reading with both of your faces in them from now on.

Asmodeus:

I’m gonna be real with you: you and Asmo go viral all the time. Pretty much everything Asmo posts can be considered viral because of his social media following and his status as one of the seven avatars of sin.

However, there are some fairly cute highlights to be pointed out among the times you were both featured in a post that blew up.

Your favorite is probably that time Asmo livestreamed on of you guys’ ‘Nail Nites,’ as you call them.

You’re both on the floor, doing your nails and kicking your feet back and forth while talking to chat. A lot of the questions are about your relationship, and there’s a lot of flirting back and forth between the two of you.

A particular clip of the stream does blow the fuck up on Devilgram, though, when someone screen records it and posts it with a bunch of heart emojis edited over it.

“’What colors do you think best describe each other?’ Ooo, that’s a good one, chat!” Asmo claps his hands together excitedly, making sure to be careful of his nails.

Pretty much everyone expected you to say pink, but you surprised both your boyfriend and your viewers when, after a pensive few moments, you replied with “Hmm...probably yellow or orange.”

“Can I ask why, darling?” Asmo tilts his head in confusion. I mean, yeah, those colors look good on him, but he doesn’t wear them often so he’s wondering about your thought process.

“Well, in the human world those colors often represent happiness, optimism, and positivity. You’re always the cheerful presence I need in my life when things get hard, so you have the vibe of those colors.”

Asmo proceeds to burst into tears and hug you, messing up both of your nails and prolonging the stream since you both have to start over. But neither of you particularly care.

Fun fact: Asmo has the clip that demon made of that portion of the stream saved on his DDD and watches it whenever he feels sad.

Beelzebub:

Beel and you probably go the most viral out of everybody. Like this moment is an entire phenomenon across the Devildom internet.

It’s a video, or well, multiple videos, taken at the end of a Fangol game that Beel’s team had just won. Everyone is cheering and going crazy, yourself included, and you just really wanted to congratulate your boyfriend.

So, like the rational person you are, you elect to climb up onto the railing of the bleachers and wave to get his attention.

You were absolutely fine up there, and sat all comfortably motioning Beel over to you. He notices, of course, and jogs over, standing right beneath you and looking up. (Back where you were sitting, Mammon is screeching like a hyena in heat and Belphie, who is laying down, has one eye open to glare at him. The youngest knows Beel would never let you hurt yourself; you’re fine.)

A bunch of assorted demons at the game has started filming while you were sat atop the railing since you were rather noticeable. Therefore, there’s a shit ton of different angles of the adorable events that follow:

You slide off the railing, landing right in Beel’s waiting arms bridal style. You’ve got this brilliant smile on your face as you pull his helmet off. None of the DDDs filming can hear it over the crowd noise, but Beel asks you why you just went through all that trouble and you tell him it’s because you wanted to tell him how proud you are.

Soft boy’s chest puffs up and he smiles this big cheesy smile at you reach up to run a hand through his hair. You feel him practically purr at the contact, and with a laugh you pull him in and plant a big ole smooch on him.

The crowd, at least those of them that can see, scream. Everyone is running high on adrenaline and happy emotions; something that cute causes a ruckus!! When you pull away Beel proceeds to put you on his shoulders and you celebrate with him and the rest of his team.

The videos of you two being adorable go completely viral and there are some threads dedicated to stockpiling every single angle taken of the event. Beel is completely oblivious to the attention but you have a lot of them saved on your DDD.

Belphegor:

If you think Belphegor has any sort of social media presence whatsoever then you are sorely mistaken. (Well okay he actually does run some anonymous troll accounts to meme on Lucifer’s posts but that’s neither here nor there-)

Therefore, naturally, you two go viral off of Asmo’s Devilgram.

Okay so someone in the obey me tag the other say headcanoned that Belphie will go out of his way to nap in ridiculous places and my brain really took that and RAN WITH IT.

So what happens is that Belphie will fall asleep in the fucking weirdest places. I’m talking on top of the fridge, underneath the dinner table, on top of bookshelves...you name it, he has slept there, no matter the effort it takes to get there in the first place.

And, ever since you two started dating, you would join him. Sometimes it involved putting yourself at risk of great bodily harm, but the little smile he gave when you he saw you fucking scaling the countertop to reach him made it worth it.

So anyway, since Beel adores the both of you to no end, he takes pictures whenever he sees you two napping together, whether or not it is in a crazy place. He sends these to the family group chat because he thinks they’re adorable.

Over a span of weeks to months, Asmo has built up a stock of images of you and Belphie cuddles up in seemingly impossible places. Once he has about ten or so, he posts a compilation of them to his Devilgram with some cheesy ass caption like “The things we do for love <3″.

They become a meme SO QUICKLY. Like UNBELIEVABLY quickly.

The picture of you and Belphie sleeping on top of a bookshelf, in particular, is a big hit. Memes abound.

“If my girl doesn’t climb up a bookshelf to cuddle my ass, she don’t love me.” “Get yourself a partner who scales bookshelves just to be with your ass.” Etc etc...Belphie doesn’t give a shit but you laugh at a lot of them so he sees that as a good outcome.

#IM SO HAPPY TO HAVE FINALLY WRITTEN THIS #obey me #my writing #obey me headcanons #obey me x reader #lucifer #mammon #leviathan #satan #asmodeus #beelzebub #belphegor #posts

3K notes · View notes

greysfall · 3 years

Text

My 4444-word review of NEO TWEWY (with personal illustration + heavy spoilers)

My overall critical score for the game is 7.5/10, while my personal enjoyment score is 8.5/10. This review is posted as I have 80% completed the game, got the secret ending and achieved the Angel psychic rank. I’ll first start with the main pros and cons as follows.

PROS:

- Enjoyable as a whole, still upholding the first game’s spirit in world building and sharing the same backbone - which was mostly revealed in the Secret Reports, it’s impossible to grasp the story without reading them.

- The new cast and new game is charming in their own way

- The old cast’s return is one of the biggest highlights for sure, it was fun and impactful. Everyone stays true to themselves and also had their own stories wrapped up nicely.

- Boss designs are cool, new pins are fun to use and collect

- The connection between the old and new cast is well written and executed, including but are not limited to the tension between the old and new protagonist, the weird but fun interaction between the 2 Composers, the new friendships revealed and formed

- Sho being in the main cast is something so uniquely TWEWY and uniquely Sho

- Still good music

- Still many fun side quests, some of them really uphold the same quirky spirit of the old game and some are surprisingly touching

- Many new nice stores and yummy looking foods to explore

- The map is really easy to memorize for me, it’s fun to travel around the “current” Shibuya to see all the differences compared to the past

- The social network is crazy and interesting to read through

- Has an anti-frustration system to help 100% complete the game more easily and earn money faster, so post-game is relatively managable.

- Overall, I really feel the efforts the team poured into making this as their passion project, not just during the development process but for all the last 14 years. They showed the vision of what they wanted to make, at the same time giving something to both the old as well as new fans.

CONS:

- The biggest problem with the game is scenario writing. The story is so heavily back-loaded. The director himself thought it would be better to balance out the tension flow by adding more at the beginning but gave in to the scenario writer in the end, probably due to time pressure. This results in an underwhelming execution of characterization and lots of wasted potentials for the first half of the game.

- I struggle to view it as a stand-alone game, since the backstory and the old cast both play such an important role in the core of the game. If someone plays this game without having played the OG, they can only enjoy it on surface value at best.

- The new cast is nice but most of them aren’t quite as intriguing as the old cast, maybe it’s cuz they’re all too nice deep down that they lack a little bit of an edge, of that batshit craziness that everyone in the OG used to have? I think some characters (Fret, Nagi) ended up weaker in terms of characterization because the writer is too afraid of making them unlikeable – which kind of backlashed cuz they only became likable in the most expectable way to cater for a specific group of fans. I would have wished for the other team leaders to be more crazy too, had they not suffered 30+ loops of the Game…

- The CAMERAWORK IS HELL.

- Gameplay does get tedious at certain points with all the time travels.

- Shiba is so badly written as a villain, some Shinjuku characters should be given more screentime cutting into Shiba’s– like Hishima or Kaie or even, Hazuki (though his limited presence also solidified his importance).

- Some of the main character designs, for example Beat’s hairstyle and his food reactions are hilariously bad. What’s the point of covering up most of his unique facial features?

- Some of the minor/side characters’ design are too cool for them to have such a small role (eg: Ayano, Eiru). Ryoji did get much screentime but is nowhere as fun as Makoto was.

- Overall the scope of this game is made a little too big for the team to handle as perfectly as the last game that was very compact, it felt somewhat rushed in development too so the missing pieces are clearly there in the final picture

The entry fee versus paying for it all in the end

An important difference between the Neo game and the original Shibuya game was that the Shibuya rule asked for an entry fee that is the Player’s most important asset, stated as a chance the Composer gives them to reexamine themselves. Meanwhile, the Shinjuku rule neither encourages nor allows personal growth and ultimately aims to erase as many Players as possible. It’s a pity we were never introduced to the full Shinjuku rulebook, as it seems like the system there focuses more on building up power and a grand government to compare with the individuality-driven system of Shibuya.

When you have to compare the new game and the original game (OG), this is an important factor to consider. Also, the OG has a serious storyline running through and through, locked with a different partner/GM creating unique atmosphere for each week and you don’t get to see your old partners again until the end. NEO’s team system does not allow such deep insight and communication between the Players. All of your teammates are always there throughout, the dynamic does change with each new addition but it is not as prominent as a partner change.

Another important factor is how the OG was built from scratch for a new platform as “something no one has ever seen before”, while Neo recycled a lot of old unused ideas from the previous development (check out this interview for more details). The development team for NEO lacks 2 key members and had a change of writer so the final product is not as strongly bound together as the last game.

The new cast is definitely inspired by today’s teenagers (from the view of creators), compared to the old cast they’re more sociable and always seem to take whatever works for them despite feeling unstable inside. They are all innocent and genuinely nice kids, avoiding to hurt each other to a degree that they end up keeping some sort of distance. They’re also unable to communicate at deeper levels, always stagnant at this half-baked stage of equilibrium without any motivation to get to the core of things. That is the cost of entering the game without an entry fee, without even dying or having a reason to be there/to fight seriously. These kids were stolen from the RG into a Game that was decidedly the worst environment for them to change or develop, just wandering around cluelessly to find a way “out” until tragedies started to unfold one by one and they ended up being charged the total sum of the price for their actions – ultimately losing everything in the end.

That is, I believe, a story arc which can resonate more to the youth of today rather than of my generation. If the message of the old game was to “listen”, enjoy life to the fullest and accept to trust others, the message of the new game is to “speak up” from the inside, trying to understand yourself and take actions instead of just going with the flow and finally, to take responsibility for such actions.

If Neku was handpicked by the Composer for being the special one with an all-dense soul to ensure victory of the game then Rindo was just a normal kid chosen out of random by Kubo to be his back-up plan, who just happened to have a high enough imagination to awaken the incredible power from his pin. Rindo was then officially chosen by the Composer as Josh picked up and handed the pin to him again, this time not as Josh’s personal Proxy – but as the Proxy to represent the normal people of Shibuya and via whom he could gamble if humans can fight for their own fate.

The underworld heroine and the hero with little of his own

Shoka is for me a refreshing and layered heroine. She’s the kind of character that took at least 3 trials of creators to form as a complete individual – that included Nomura who gave her the base design and Reaper background, Gen who gave a more cunning touch and the writers who made her English dialogues more punchy. Dishonesty equals “tsundere” is such a cliché, so the English writers tried really hard to avoid that trope in my opinion, while still letting her good intention come through.

She serves as the character who is informed of everything the players should have known, and there was almost nothing she could do about it. Almost. Until she met Rindo.

They were drawn to each other by sharing a state of “not having anything of their own”. They both started out with not being able to truly know themselves, Shoka even hated her RG life but also managed to mature from that stage before Rindo. She must have vibed with Shiki’s love and passion in the Gatto Nero threads, initiating her connection with Shibuya and understanding herself more. With Shoka as Swallow, they were able to open up to each other and offer mental support… but was still not getting to the centre of their problems because for all this time, Shoka could not tell Rindo the most important things about herself.

How did Shoka feel when she met Rindo at the UG? She probably didn’t want to hope that he would live the day until she witnessed the Twisters’ potentials. From the very beginning, they were both incredibly conscious of each other and also constantly frustrated that the person they happened to “notice” was such a condescending bitch/a clueless loser. The Shinjuku Reapers are overall quite drunk in power and uncompassionate to Players, Shoka included. She is also a master of dissociation, which results in her constant boredom, tone swings, haughtiness and subconsciously distancing herself from the friend – the boy she cares about – from false hope, as she judged from facts that it was a hopeless situation where nothing could ever be. Maybe she is naturally a bit of a chameleon just like her name suggests (Shoka 紫陽花 = hydrangea, the color-changing flower), so putting on an act and always dissociating herself from what’s important was easy, while hiding her contradiction was impossible. It was the ex-Reaper Beat who broke it out to her, that she should decide whether she really cared and wanted to do something for a change. He knew how it felt like to cross that line, and knew she wanted to too.

Shoka is endeared by many of the Shinjuku Reapers and has shown independent acts of kindness (the Shinjuku ghost), proving that her kind and truthful side is as real as her harsh and dishonest side – which makes her a nice mirror to the previous heroine Shiki, who also embraced a dichotomy of self-complex and self-love within her character. In the end, she was the first of the new cast to ultimately accept all that is important to her and independently made the decision to help save Shibuya despite all costs.

She was jealous at Rindo’s interaction with Tsugumi and Kanon but remained silent cuz she wasn’t at a place to have any say about it. She also didn’t reveal about Swallow because that would only add an awkward irrelevance to their current situation, as she was too ready to face erasure at the end of the Game. She only wished to “play a game” with him, be it FanGo or the Reapers’ Game. The tension that the team could only feel at the end, she’s felt it the entire time. The song “DIVIDE” is applicable to not just one bond in the game, but it always makes me think of theirs. There is always a “divide” between her and Rindo throughout the course of their journey, as the living and the dead, as a Player and Reaper, as someone who has a place to return to and someone who doesn’t, someone who knows little but wields too much power and someone who knows a lot despite not being able to do much.

“If only I had the chance to connect with you on the other side

But time goes on, and without us realizing it

The battle is getting heated

Time goes on, and without us realiazing it

Divided again”

To be honest, maybe I didn’t grow any affection for the new main cast from Rindo’s perspective but from Shoka’s. Since I started to sympathize with Shoka, I started to see the boy in a more “real” way. The real Rindo, behind his peaceful façade with others, would lash out on Shoka for her unfairly harsh attitude while none of the others cared. He could also subtly feel that mantle of unspoken secrets from her, her own contradictions, the unresolved chemistry between themselves – and not knowing what to do with it rather than to feel angry with all the unfairness he could not process. (As a Libra too, he’s triggered the most by unfairness!)

It is actually a positive development as he’s at least “reacting” to something strongly now rather than to keep evading his problems. During my replay, I clearly saw the difficult situation Shoka was in, her remaining harshness after the Motoi incident was due to her internal struggle with a mission to save her own life, versus a chance to really be with the team. Her decision was to do both at the risk of losing favour from both sides. Rindo started to accept her layer by layer, as the person who resonated the most to her contradicting nature from the start and knew that via learning her resolve, he has learnt his too.

Later into the game, she even got too much of his attention. Maybe even without knowing she’s Swallow, he’s familiar with her thinking direction and Swallow had always been closer to him than any other friend. It was only after she had to betray her important ones twice that she could start being truly honest. The scene when she died a 2nd time left a strong impression in me, the little reveal let Rindo know that he is also losing Swallow as he’s losing Shoka – and that only death could drive the last secret out of her. Her final “Later, loser” echoed through Rindo as it was the final truth, with only him remaining to hear it: they had actually, already lost everything.

Rindo was the boy who never dared to face all that matters to him until he lost it all, fighting an unfair battle in the faith that they would somehow still win. Shoka was the girl who always knew what was dear to her, but never dared to think she could be together with them ever after and still threw her all into a battle she knew was losing. I think they stir each other on naturally to fill out their gaps, similar to what the Shibuya game partner systerm would have aimed for. The end reward was a little divine intervention to help close up the divide between them once and for all.

During the game there was not enough space to process anything personal so at the ending when they officially became “friends”, it was an important affirmation of their bond. Some people complained it was friendzoning but it’s not, they just have arrived at the perfect place to start something more. “From now on, we will truly be together” – I read it as that kind of message.

The heroine from a lost battle, with her story taken away

After reading the secret reports and playing the game to be surprised of how small a role Tsugumi had in the main game despite being the “Hype-chan” thought to be a major character of the next TWEWY installment, many fans would feel sad at a missed opportunity to see the Shinjuku arc in full depiction.

It was shown clearly that, a Shinjuku arc was very carefully planned out and is a vital part of the whole story, yet it could not be made due to various circumstances behind the development scene. I would assume, that the team were not able to make a TWEWY game that ended on a despairing note, but it already happened in their mind, thus becoming a mental burden that forced them to break away from it and started the game anew with NEO. A significant part of NEO became the healing arc for the Shinjuku characters, especially for Tsugumi though I really wished more emphasis should have been placed on her rather than Shiba. We didn’t even get to see her brother – Shinjuku’s Conductor who had a vital role and instead was given the clueless Shiba, who had absolutely no idea what’s going on all the way until the last day in NEO. It’s as if Tsugumi has had her story stolen away from her, because her own battle ended with a saddening loss.

I think every time the game creators look at Tsugumi, they would feel that sadness too. Maybe to them, she is a bigger character than what is seen by the fans, as despite their failed effort to depict her story, she’s lived in their mind for all these years through periods of destruction, healing and rebuild. Though it is a pity we could not get to experience the full scope of the Shinjuku story, the creators was clear about the place they wished for it to arrive at.

Individuality, connection and the social network

The team system adapted from Shinjuku rulebook does not allow much room for personal development, as the team dynamic is closer to a work relationship forced to bear results, than a spiritual bond to max out all corners of understanding as found in the partnership system. The old Shibuya system allowed only 1 winner and 1 week limit per game, while the new rule declares for a 1 winning team and only the team at last place will be erased – the other teams will enter another loop. Furthermore, whichever team to challenge the unwinnable Ruinbringers will face the risk of ending up dead last followed by erasure. As a result, the longest-standing teams are most likely not the strongest ever recorded, but the ones who have figured out a strategy to simply survive until something changes, enjoying their newly found social constructs while they are at it. Basically, it is a system to hypnotise players into the illusion that they are still “living”.

Therefore, we as players would not get to the core of each Player individually as fast and directly as we did in the last game. The Twisters were able to stand out not because they’re powerful, they only started to have a real chance after growing enough to each form a meaningful and personal connection to another teammate. It did not come as a team, nor did it intiate from the existing friendship between Rindo and Fret. In fact, I did not find much solidity or anything truly note-worthy about the main team and new characters within themselves until they started clashing with other team members, Reapers and new recruits from week 2 onwards. Rindo found his personal development with Shoka (via a clash with Motoi and pretty much a mini dating sim between them), then via the confrontation of his role with Neku; Fret found his with Kanon then Nagi, the team learned about the real Neku via Beat, Neku entered the UG via Coco’s wish to save Tsugumi… it was not the team but their personal links that empowered them to fight and solve each of their problems.

The other team leaders may have failed because they did not form such personal links, after 30+ hopeless loops Fuya’s team all fell apart to pursue their own interest even at the cost of erasure, Motoi quit his KOL façade to work like a dog for the Reapers (probably to save just his own ass not his team), while Kanon dropped her tricks to find changes via honest cooperation in acceptance of a fair loss. The despairing note in that is huge without making much of a scene because their failure didn’t happen at their best effort to “win”, but in their last attempt to find a way “out”. Even Shiba got his way “out” in the end thanked to his personal friendship with Hishima and Tsugumi.

Something has shifted in the mindset of the game creators in the last 14 years, as both games are about “connection vs individuality” but the last game focuses more on connection between just individuals and this one on the overall network that is formed out of those individual connections.

The introduction of Beat into the main cast was truly the bridge between old and new, they helped each other out in several turns before officially recruiting him. Beat is a character whom a lot of fans including myself have felt somewhat concerned about after Neku disappeared from the RG, so when the new kids welcomed Beat with warm and organic interaction and Beat seemed happy, I started to feel like I wanted to help them out too! I think the overall team chemistry is enjoyable enough for new players, but I could warm up to the new kids more from the pov of a returning character – whom I’m glad to be Beat, as the older brother figure who is genuinely kind, fun, serious and upbeat at the same time; who is needed and needs the kids in return.

The social network is a fun and refreshing feature. You can read all of the crazy tidbits about Shibuya and the links each character have formed with the town people, it’s also fun to visualize how the characters act off screen. Characters’ profiles provide extra insight into their background too, like how it reveals Tsugumi has been friend with Coco during her time in the RG. During the game when not all characters have showed up, you can sometimes guess which empty spot will belong to whom. For example there is a 1 character linking to Neky that is not linked to anyone else, so I could guess that was Joshua, and that another character linking only to Joshua was probably Hazuki, hinting that the 2 Composers are related before either of them even showed up.

Hazuki only showed up for 5 minutes, but his presence is so vital and true to the game that I think he is the most memorable out of the new cast. The two Composers have such an intriguing bond, with their yin/yang or phoenix/dragon themes, opposite color design, the sempai/kouhai tone and the way they keep some sort of distance/work relationship as if it’s mandatory between Higher beings, yet at the same time they can talk so casually because they are truly equal – and different from one another. I have written a separate meta on them here.

Some people pointed out, that all Shinjuku characters’ names and themes are based off Hanafuda cards and the Phoenix in Hanafuda belongs to the Paulownia suit – which is Joshua’s name flower. This is so interesting because it feels like the creators somehow saw it as a sign to interweave the Shibuya and Shinjuku storylines together. Though it doesn’t come out much on the surface, it’s fascinating nonetheless considering both Josh and Haz had at some point interfered with the other town’s affairs.

“Shibuya tour with Haz” was such a special scene, as it happened between 2 characters who do not/no longer have a reason to care about Shibuya, on the subject of what is worth saving about Shibuya. Hazuki carried out the purification of Shinjuku and stepped in to restore Shibuya just as part of his job and unlike Hanekoma or Joshua who both possess profound understanding of humanity, he really didn’t know humans at all. Rindo’s irrational wish invoked in him a sense of curiosity, to try gambling on something irrationally and learning a bit of what his senior have experienced. With all the pieces put together, it provides an overview on Higher beings as a whole, and that Joshua and Hanekoma are really the odd ones out with Hazuki being somewhere in between them and the rest.

The old friends

It’s easy to have returning characters overshadow the new cast as they have already matured out of their personal story arc and stayed in our hearts for all this time. In the end, I have managed to enjoy both the old and new cast separately and altogether, and they will both find their own place in our memory of this game for the long term.

Sho is truly as crazy as ever, the game wouldn’t be the same if Sho is any less of what he is. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like Neky or Beat is younger than Nagi at all, with moments when it seems like Neky has aged 14 years instead of 3 years. His friendship with Coco surprised me pleasantly, and their interaction together with Beat was fun to watch. Rhyme’s found a new dream and her friendship with Kaie is precious too, especially considering that she can still talk to him online after the game ended. Josh and Neku’s interaction suggested that they have resolved the past and are on equal terms now, they even parted ways in good spirit and I don’t feel any worry about them like I did before.

Neku and Shiki’s reunion scene was beautiful, theirs is such a special bond that it has grown and supported them even without being able to see each other. I am so happy to see them all again and that they stay true to who they are, albeit looking more grown up, cooler and happier than ever before.

Overall, NEO can’t become a classic on par with the OG, but is definitely a good sequel and a good game in its own rights. I’m happy with whether or not there will be a 3rd game to complete the 3 monkeys theme, but if there will be – I hope the creators can really find the time to learn from the last 2 games and start over with a fresh mindset and strong core.

#neotwewy #neotwewyspoilers #ntwewy #ntwewy spoilers #neo the world ends with you #twewy #review #meta #neo twewy #shoka sakurane #rindo kanade #tsugumi matsunae

181 notes · View notes

vrishchikawrites · 3 years

Note

Ok so like

This is by no means an insult, attack or anything of the aort to you personally, i enjoy your content and opinions and i fully mean this respectfully....

But i find it so interesting that some people can hate a particular character and not read fics about them?

Like, from my first interaction w fandom in general, i could read any relationship/ plot/ ooc as long as it is well written. Even if i hate canon characters, i can usually read them in a positive light. Hell, i can read any JC fix as long as i know if it's positive or negative so i know what to expect

And then i found tumblr discourse

Again, this isn't something I'm criticising, just an observation I'm curious abt, since detachment from the source material seems to be so scarce fandom wise

Ok, so - here's the thing. The problem isn't fans loving JC and writing him favorably. If that was an issue, many reasonable people in this fandom wouldn't be so miffed about it.

The problem is - we can't avoid them. You said it yourself, "as long as i know if it's positive or negative so i know what to expect"

We don't know what to expect.

Everyone wants to tailor their fandom experience. You mentioned you can read almost anything as long as it is well-written. That's a good thing because it opens up the entire fandom for you. But some people have specific tastes and triggers. They would want to look at the content they like and avoid what they don't like.

That isn't possible in this fandom.

I write canon characterization of JC. I am forced to tag is anti-jiang cheng. People write fanon characterization of JC. They don't tag it Jiang Cheng-friendly.

We get fics where JC is suicidal and people are gaslighting WWX - making him feel insecure - in the main Wangxian tag. And that is presented as ok for JC to do. They say it is suicidal JC, they don't mention that JC, Jiangs, and everyone is gaslighting the fuck out of WWX.

Then we have a perfectly good fic that we get invested in and find ourselves in a hole where WWX has crippling self-esteem issues, the Jiang family is abusive, but is brushed aside. There's no tag mentioning OOC WWX with self-esteem issues.

We have fics where Wangxian cheat on each other - with JC. And there's either one or more abusive partner involved. Partner abuse isn't tagged.

We have fics where all of WWX's morality is transferred onto JC. But JC isn't tagged as OOC.

THIS ISN'T TAGGED.

In fact, we have people using deceptive tags like angst with happy ending - Wangxian only for the happy ending to be for WWX to die at the hands of his abusive spouse. Again, no warning. The problem is so common and so many readers are blindsided by it that people have told me they clock out of the fandom because of it.

It isn't something as simple as an attachment to the source material. I am the last person to say fanon characterizations aren't allowed. I have been writing fanfiction for over two decades. Fanon characterization doesn't bother me at all.

There are fandom olds, good people, who will tag fics that are favorable to JC as JC-friendly and I don't think many of us have an issue with them. The problem starts when it becomes difficult to find a good fic where a canonical antagonist isn't allowed to walk all over the canonical protagonists. It is difficult to find a fic where everything that makes WWX so great in the canon is turned over until he only has surface characteristics of WWX but underneath that surface, he's someone we don't know.

Detaching yourself from the source material is one thing. But do you know many fics are out with WWX or LWJ having a bucketful of mischaracterizations? I have a near-crippling problem with depictions of severe self-esteem issues. I was drawn to WWX because, despite everything, he doesn't have severe self-esteem issues. So many fics include WWX with low self-esteem, severe self-deprecation without tagging? Because they consider it canon? I noticed that because I'm sensitive to it. But there are things I am not sensitive to, but other people want to avoid. Those things aren't tagged either.

It is frustrating for people who want to experience fandom, who want to be comfortable in fandom, but somehow have to deal with poor tagging, strange characterization, abuse justification, morality discussions, etc.

Fan content longer a favorable space for many fans. There are only so many fics you can clock out of before you start feeling completely disgusted by the situation.

So the response to all of that shit? Create a fandom vent space where people who do not like all of these things can come together, vent, and share their thoughts on. Venting in the story's comments section or in the author's space is bad form. A venting to people who have experienced similar things away from the creator's space? Fun and good form.

Also, added bonus, every time I see a meta, discussion, or answer an ask that forces me to think - my understanding of characters improves and I incorporate it into my fics.

to conclude - people can be detached from the original source material. But you bet people will rebel when someone tries to shove them in a particular direction. The more stans try to shove people in the direction of fanon characterization, the more people who like canon characterization will cling to it and defend it.

That's human nature.

All of this discourse? A response to being shoved and forced to bear fanon interpretations with complete disregard.

As people keep saying, the Chinese side of the fandom doesn't experience any of this shit.

Also, to clarify - I mean none spitefully or disrespectfully, despite my blunt language. This isn't a criticism of you or your ask, but of the state of this fandom.

#reader asks #long post #vent #re: jc #re: fanfic #re: fandom

152 notes · View notes

mxtcha-tea · 3 years

Text

domestic shiratorizawa

⊹summary; the life inside the dorms of shiratorizawa

⊹pilots; gn![y/n], ushijima, tendou, semi, yamagata, reon, kawanishi, shirabu, goshiki (pairings showed; yamagata x reader, goshiki x reader)

⊹genre; fluff, crack and some cursings (no proofread)

⊹flight details; i've once made a domestic imagines in my old blog so imma make a small reboot of it <3

random shopping

normal day, normal life. you could've seen yourself laying or even napping in your room while a compilation of minecraft songs plays in the background. but no. instead, you're inside an antique shop with Yamagata, Ushijima and Tendou.

you have no idea when, or how did the process happened but you surely is done with getting dragged inside the shop by Tendou and Yamagata.

while Ushijima's stuck on a section, you don't know where, but he's definitely stuck there, "[y/n]! look at what i found,"

Yamagata called you as you turned around to see him holding up a pretty heavy doll. you raise your brow, "what the hell is that?" walking towards him and taking a closer look at the object in hand,

"i think it's a, um, i think a matryoska doll? matroyska? is that how you say it?" "why're you asking me, i don't know jack shit about russian stuff,"

"ah you mean, matryoshka doll?" Tendou butted in, startling you two, "it's also called a 'nesting doll' and did you actually know that it was actually originated from china?"

Yamagata's eyes practically sparkled at that with a surprised look, "from china? really?"

you can only roll your eyes, "and how can you even know all that?" Tendou snickered and put on a smug face, "i'm actually very smart, y'know. ya'll just don't know about it," "says the person in class 2,"

"i blame the mathematic old hags for adding letters in math, and the apple that fucking hit my man Isaac," you tsk'ed and walk towards the next section. Yamagata passive aggressively put the matryoshka doll down and follow after you along with Tendou,

"also, we need to find ushijima, i think he's stuck in some section between here...ah there," you stopped walking and turn to your right where you find Ushijima reading a book.

Tendou skipped towards him and smack his shoulder, "you okay, wakatoshi-kun? you sure did took longer to look at the stuff here," while Tendou chats with Ushijima, Yamagata look up at the shelves as something caught his eyes.

he tried to reach it while tip toing but due to his height, he can't reach it. then, he jumped from his spot to grab the object but end up hitting his head onto the board, "AGH, FUCK!" which causes you all to look at him, watching him hold his head while shivering from the pain,

"are you okay, yamagata?" ushijima ask, putting back the book on the shelves, "yeah, yeah, i'm just tryna get that," he shakes his head before pointing up.

you followed his finger and caught a glimpse of an old polaroid. it's a little bit dusty but other than that, it looks new. Ushijima reached it from his spot and managed to grab it, "here,"

he hands it to Yamagata as he instantly recovered from his recent pain and snatch it from Ushijima's hand, subtly thanking him with a grin, "why do you even need a polaroid?" Tendou asked, leaning his arm over Ushijima's shoulder with one brow up,

"pfft, for journaling of course,"

a gust of wind went through you while staring at him with a poker face, the same with Tendou with a small cat like smile. Ushijima just looked the same,

"okay," "WHAT'S WITH THE TONE??" you blinked and just knit your eyebrows, "i mean, since when you started journaling? you're not even the type of person to do something aesthetic,"

he pouted and just crosses his arms, "so what? that doesn't mean i can't do it, right? have faith in me god darn it. and honestly, my journal looks good so far," "well, fine,"

you waved your hand at him and continue going through the other section. and just like that, "hey wait!" Yamagata tailed after you.

Tendou snickered at the two and focus back on Ushijima, who's still watching the display yet again, "have you thought of what to buy wakatoshi-kun?" "i'm not sure, there's a lot of interesting stuff here," "well, you've only been in this section but okay~"

studying

"agh, why did those idiots really have to call me at this time...?"

you groaned, slowly walking through the halls with a slouched figure. tracing your fingers along the wall with a dejected look. you're suppose to sleep today.

an hour or two long sleep. it's finally the weekend which means the time for you to sleep all of your problems away. drifting into slumber with fluffy pillows and warm blankets, enjoying your dream as long as you can.

until your ringtone annoyingly rings next to your ear. you answer the call, and again greeted by the most annoying human in the planet,

"[y/n], we need you at the gym right now!"

"huh? oh fuck off Tendou, i need to sleep right now,"

"nuh uh, you can sleep later after you go to the gym,"

"why? are you, i don't know, practicing or something?"

"you have to find out. if you don't move your ass from that bed, we'll send Hayato to wake you up~"

". . ."

and now, you find yourself standing in front of the door of shiratorizawa's volleyball gym. not only that Tendou wakes you up from your sleep, you also had to WALK all the way from your dorm to the gym,

"i'm gonna add more time to their practices after this..."

sliding the door open, you expect them to be doing serves or maybe spikes.

but instead, you're seeing them—as in the 3rd years—all sitting down at the middle of the court, with books around them.

and what's even more confusing is that they somehow managed to bring a table inside. no, not the flip-able table.

literally a whole ass table.

Reon looks up from his book and notices your figure standing on the door way. he waves his hand at you, you did the same but still with a confused look.

Yamagata was next to see you as he abruptly stand up from his spot, shaking the table in the process,

"Hayato! stop shaking the table," "oops, sorry. ah, wait, [y/n]!"

that caught all of the boys attention as they look at you, "what taking you so long to arrive?" Tendou asked, a pen rested in between his upper lip and nose.

Semi smacked him in the face—earning an 'ow'—before shaking his head,

"their dorm is literally far from the gym, and why do you even proposed your idea of studying at the gym anyway?"

you make your way towards them, Reon patting the empty spot next to him. you sat down on your spot as Yamagata did the same. seemed like he was waiting for you.

Tendou rubbed his nose and pouted at Semi, "this was the best place to study anyway! it have much more room,"

"we should've gone to the cafeteria OR the LIBRARY," Semi groaned, looking back at his book before writing on it,

"pfft, the cafeteria's no fun. and i got banned from the library," Reon looks at Tendou with confusion, "well, it's not surprising,"

Tendou shrugged, "i was also banned from the library," Ushijima said, not looking up from his notes as you knit your eyebrows at that,

"you're also banned from the library? Satori, what did you and Ushijima did—" "anyways, um,"

he cut you off, fidgeting with his pen before pointing it at you, "right, you need to tutor us on this subject~!"

you blinked, looking down at the book they're studying about, "haven't the teacher covered this already?"

"well, i'm sorry, class 6. but we have no idea how this thing works. maybe only Reon, but look at Semi,"

Tendou wrapped his arm around Semi's neck, practically head locking him, "he's from class 1 and i think you should teach him about this the most," "I'll rip your fucking head off, Tendou!"

while both of them tried to strangle each other, Yamagata caught your attention next,

"and also, it won't be fun without you, y'know," Reon nodded, "and don't forget that you can't leave me alone in this,"

"oh right," "hm? what was that?" Yamagata asked. you just shake your head with a defeated smile, "nothing..."

after clearing your throat, you snatched Semi's book away before flipping through the pages,

"okay you scumbags, it's time to learn,"

oblivious enough

the birds chirped from the tree, the hallway's as loud as ever. Semi and Tendou's leaning against the window, each of them drinking apple juice and eating yakisoba bread.

it was silence between them before Semi spoke, "hey, Tendou," "yes Semi-Semi?" "y'know,"

Semi turned his head to look at Tendou as the redhead did the same, "have you, noticed the relationship between [y/n] and Yamagata lately?"

the latter made a thinking face, before nodding, "hm, seems so,"

"do you think, either one of them ever noticed about it?" Tendou shakes his head at the question, "nope, i don't think they do. in fact, they might be completely oblivious to it,"

Semi snickered, "right, like that one time..."

"[y/n], do you think my lips are dry right now?"

you look up from your clipboard, seeing Yamagata pointing his lips, "hm, nah. they're fine, but if you want, i can but on some lip balm,"

his eyes sparkled at that as he nodded his head with excitement, "sure!" you walk towards your bag with Yamagata following you. opening the zipper and search inside it, you pull out your lip balm,

"here, hold still," you put a hand on his cheek while the other applies lip balm onto his lips. it was a slow process but he managed to not move at all while making eye contact with you.

once you finished applying, he pop his lips before humming, "mn, cherry," "let me know if you need anything else,"

he nodded with now flushed cheeks as he smile at you. you did the same, gently patting his arm.

from a distance, Shirabu looks at them with a disgusted look, "ugh, can't they be more subtle about it,"

Kawanishi shrugged, "just let them be,"

"how can i redo my memory? i don't need to see that this early," "well, what if it was us?" "i would be twice as grossed, i can put my own lip balm," "hm yeah, you're right, i honestly would be like that too," "good,"

"haha yeah, now that i think about it, they do it all the time right?" Tendou nodded at Semi's statement before hearing the all too familiar voice just a few meters away from them,

"[y/n]!"

you turned your head around while still sipping your drink. Yamagata stood in front of you, holding out his visibly crumpled necktie with a small smile,

"my necktie!" "ah again? whatever," you give your drink to him as he hold it for you.

grabbing the necktie from his hand, looping it around his collar shirt and started tying it with a concentrated look,

"i can't say that it'll be clean when i finished tying it," "it's okay! that's why i'm asking you to do it, messy or not, at least i have it on," "hm, yeah,"

after you finished tying it and patting it a little, Yamagata hugged you, "thank you!" "yeah, you're welcome,"

the aura literally radiates on the slightly crowded hallway as some of the students who passed you talked among themselves.

Semi and Tendou stared at you two, expressionless eyes but with a small smile,

'ah, right,'

Tendou sighed, intertwining his fingers together and lifting it up to his cheeks, "ah, young love~"

"we're all the same age,"

"young love~"

bonus; reliable kouhai

lifeless.

is what goshiki would say when he took a few glances at you from his book. you promised to tutor him about this subject he's struggling on. but didn't really expect to see your slouched form walking inside the library.

he's not even sure if you even hear anything you're saying right now, "get a shovel and two-" your head hit the table, creating a loud sound and catching the attention of almost everyone inside the library,

"[y/n]-senpai, um, are you okay??" you groaned and rapidly blink your eyes, covering your forehead, "yeah, 'm just..."

a yawn escaped from your mouth before you can even finish your sentence, "...tired. those stupid senpais of yours need help tutoring too even tho being grown ass men,"

goshiki closes his book and creating a small 'thump', snapping you out from your mind,

"well, if that so then you didn't have to come, you could've just tell me and i would be fine with it!" your hoarse laugh caught him off guard as a shade of red ran across his cheeks, "i can't break a promise, tsutomu. why do you even think i agree on tutoring you?"

"uh, cause you want to help me with my studies?" "one of it, and cause i enjoy tutoring you," he can feel his cheeks heating up more when you made eye contact with him, a small smile laced upon your face,

"and honestly, you're smarter than i thought. class 4 right? that's cool," he looked away, trying to calm his nerves down, "t-thanks! a lot of people thought i was in a lower class, so i, i appreciate it,"

goshiki took a peek at you, now burying your face onto your face, "also, senpai," "hm?"

"you should take a nap for now, i think i can start understanding this formula," you slightly look up at him, "you sure? i was prolly talking craps just now," "yeah! your health is more important anyway,"

you hum, offering him a warm smile, "thanks, i know i can count on you," you rested onto your side and close your eyes. lips slightly parted and just like that, you're deep in your dreams.

he pursed his lips, slowly leaning against the table to look at your face. it's calm, peaceful and beautiful, kissable lips. he wonder if he could lean in a little closer until you two-

goshiki instantly jolted up and hit himself on the head, face's covered in the color red, 'no! don't think about that, curse you Tendou-San for introducing me to those mangas...'

Tendou's faces ran across his mind as he grunted,

'why're they so pretty??'

240 notes · View notes