#at most we got zuke and his brother from nsr

[paintedhyenadogs]

Reverse 1999 please... Malay characters... That'd be so cool...

[sir-subpar]

Can we try? (Zuke x Purl-Hew drabble)

Below the cut! Also, what's their ship name? ZukeHew? Purlzuke? Idk

Summary: Zuke's relationship with romance is complicated, but he's goingg to try again. (More of a warm up oneshot this time. Might do Zuke x Zimelu next)

Author’s note: Rarepair time baby! I was originally going to do Rin x Zuke, as I’ve seen lot’s of cute media of it, but then I had an idea: What about a ship I haven’t seen yet? (It’s so rare, if it were a steak, it’d be mooing.. Either that, or I somehow just didn’t notice it before.)

Zuke's relationship with romance was… complicated.

He didn't dislike the idea of romance. Quite the opposite, really. He wanted to have a partner in life.

The thing is… he was afraid. His last relationship resulted in a bitter, fiery, frightening end.

He shivered at the thought, subconsciously running his hand through his hair. 

Needless to say, he didn't need a repeat of that.

After a while, he came to the conclusion that romance… probably wasn't for him. Even if he wanted it to be. He just gave up trying.

He met Mayday, his best friend, band partner, and roommate. He was glad he met her. 

She was a great friend to have, he felt comfortable around her. Safe. As they shared their love for Rock together. Eventually the idea of romance drifted away from him. He stopped thinking about it.

Then the revolution happened.

It started with Sayu's comment. While she was wrong about his feelings being for Mayday, she did have a point, in a way.

"Ba-bump! Ba-bump!"

"Ba-bump?"

"It means follow your heart Zuke!"

He started thinking about it again briefly, before Mayday refocused everyone on the fight at hand. The revolution continued to be a distraction for Zuke, Yinu and DK West took his mind off it, (even if his brother brought a whole different kind of baggage) it gave Zuke something to prioritize. Until they met 1010.

“Haters gonna hate. When we show up, we get the sexy mission done. You better put on your tactical thermal goggles, ‘cause we’re gonna bring the heat!”

Ugh. So cheezy. It was just like 1010 to say things like that. May fawning over them didn’t help. Neither did the factory constantly dropping more bots each time they broke one, making the whole ordeal last even longer. The whole situation was aggravating to Zuke. At the time, he didn’t get what so many people (including May) saw in these guys.

At the time.

After 1010, there was the battle he dreaded, more than he did Tatiana. 

Nadia.

He missed her. He respected her. He understood her. He loved her…

Then he feared her.

He ran from her. He hid from her. He fought her.

“There is no one… Not even him.”

He comforted her, but still kept her at arm’s length.

When the rock revolution ended, he and May went indie again. Eventually, they became friends with various members of NSR. He began talking with Eve again, even if it was a bit tense. He also found himself bonding with Sayu’s crew, as well as Yinu and her mother. May, of course, quickly got attached to 1010.

Speaking of 1010…

That was what all these thoughts accumulating were about. Zuke had a bit of a dilemma going on.

One of the 1010 members, while as flirty as the rest, had chosen a different target to show his affection to. While most of them focussed on Mayday, one chose Zuke. The blue-haired, sunglass-wearing, boy band android: Purl-Hew.

Yeah, he didn’t know why either.

Well, at first, he didn’t even realize that was the case. 

A tapping on the sewer cover brought Zike out of his nap on the couch. Grumbling for a bit, he climbed up the ladder and pried open for the unexpected guest. 

He had to squint as he was met with a bright blue light. A synthesized voice pierced into Zuke's ears.

"Why does something so beautifully radiant hide away in the sewers rather than gracing the world with your light?"

Zuke rolled his eyes, "Dude, May's not here, you can stop. She'll be back later, I'll tell her you stopped by."

Then he closed the sewer grate, and descended back into his home.

'Huh. Wonder why it was just one of them this time.. Don't they usually do things as a group?'

He figured it was just a weird, one time occurrence.

Then, weeks later it happened again.

The tapping, Zuke opening the grate. Purl-Hew humming out a cheesy pickup line, Zuke telling him that May wasn't home again, and him closing the grate.

Then again. 

And again.

And again.

It became almost a routine at some point.

Weeks of Purl-Hew randomly dropping by. Almost every time it was when Mayday happened to be out.

Another few days went by, and May had gone to see a movie. Originally they were going to see it together, but Zuke's back and legs started acting up and he wanted to stay home and rest.

May offered to stay and help him with anything he'd need, but he insisted he would be fine and she should go still. It took a bit of convincing, but she eventually agreed, on the condition that he'd call someone if he needed help.

So, once again he was alone at home, laying on the couch.

And the tapping happened again.

He let out a frustrated groan.

Reluctantly he pried himself from the couch slowly. If he was careful (and lucky) maybe he'd be able to climb the ladder without hurting himself too much.

The climb was slow and cautious, yet still sharply shot pain up his back as he moved.

He pushed the manhole cover aside, poking his head out into the world above.

Once again, Purl-Hew was back.

Before the android could say anything, Zuke let out an exasperated sigh, already preparing to close the sewer's entrance.

"Dude, again, May isn't here-"

"I know."

Purl-Hew's hand caught the metal cover, preventing Zuke from closing it.

Zuke froze.

"... What?"

"She took Eloni to the movies, so I knew she wouldn't be here. I want to see you." Purl-Hew stated, his tone making it seem like that was an obvious fact.

Zuke tried to read the robot's expression, but with him wearing his signature tinted glasses and his silicon lips pressed into a thin line, it was impossible to read him.

"I uh… why uh… why though?" Zuke quizzed.

The android, despite not needing to breathe, did so just so that he could let out a frustrated sigh.

His hands practice shit to Zuke's sides, hooking under his arms.

Just as fast as he grabbed him, he yanked him out of the sewer and held him above the ground.

Zuke's feet dangled over a foot above the ground. Stunned and shocked, he could barely utter a question before he was interrupted again.

Purl-Hew held Zuke close, almost slamming his lips into Zuke's with a firm but chaste kiss.

Zuke might have been human, but he felt like a computer program crashing. 

All thoughts left him, all he could do was look at the blue bot wide-eyed.

Purl-Hew pulled away, looking Zuke in the eyes.

"Does that answer your question?"

"I- I guess? I mean, yes? But also, why me? When did this," Zuke pointed at himself, "Become a draw for you?" 

The android's jaw dropped. "You're kidding, right?"

"Aren't you?"

"No!" He protested.

"Is it really that hard to believe that I find you attractive?"

Zuke paused, thinking of his response. Purl's tone sounded so genuine, despite his mechanical voice.

"I.. I'm just not used to this. It's not that I see myself as ugly, but I know I'm not anything too special. I'm just… me."  Zuke confessed, shrugging as best as he could in his position. He still was hovering over the ground in Purl-Hew's grasp.

Purl pulled him close, touching their foreheads together.

"I'm very drawn to you, Zuke. You're not only a good looking guy, but you're also loyal. Kind. You have a relaxing atmosphere I've grown to appreciate about you. I like you… I want to spend more time with you, I want to know more about you. Zuke.."

He pecked Zuke on the cheek.

"Will you go out with me? On a date?"

Zuke's heart jumped into his throat.

Could he date someone again? After all this time? Did he want to?

… He wasn't sure how to feel.

But..

He chewed the inside of his lip. Purl-Hew's been trying to get his attention for months, relatively politely too.

He too was putting himself out there. Flirting with someone who's shown zero reaction to it till now. Opening himself up, and letting him be in a vulnerable position.

Zuke took a breath.

"Okay, we can give it a try.."

"Wait- really!?" Purl-Hew's voice raised. Excitement bubbling to the surface, his cheeks glowed a brighter blue.

 

Zuke nodded, avoiding eye contact.

"Y-yeah.. Let's try it out.." 

In a matter of milliseconds, he was pulled into a hug.

"Thanks Zuke. You won't regret it~" 

[backbreak]

1010 Headcanons

(I’m working on a few art pieces and I feel like I need to explain them here. It’s also just a way for me to keep track of em’)

Pre-NSR Headcanons

Before the battle with B2J, I believe that 1010 didn’t really have individual personality's. 

They were only robot’s following their programming at that point.

Of course, Rin was a little different. I’m not saying he had a personality, but his soul purpose was to be the voice of the group. He talked for them.

The other’s just followed lead.

Post-NSR Headcanons 

When 1010 was destroyed and the factory heavily damaged, Neon J had to start from scratch.

He didn’t alter the designs. However, he decided to develop their AI to become more complex. 

Of course, their personality’s were based around their core themes. (Zimule-bad boy, Haym-soft boy, Purl-hew-cool boy, Eloni-funny boy, Rin- leader.) 

After the AI’s were completed, 1010 started developing on top of that; Forming their own thoughts and opinions on the world around them. (I’ll get to how that affects them soon.)

Now one of my main headcanons around 1010, is that their fight was actually very traumatizing. I mean, imagine seeing your siblings exploding around you, or having your skin torn off and the entire world screaming at you in response. That’s pretty messed up.

Anyway, Each of the members had different reactions to what happened, and it greatly affected their views.

Now we enter what I like to call the “NJ, your kids need therapy” section.

Rin

Now in the beginning, Rin was confused. 

He initially thought things were just gonna go back to normal, but he was quickly shoot down. The other’s were doing things on their own, now. They weren’t going to him anymore, and quite frankly, he felt left in the dust. Rin felt like he lost his purpose.

After that realization, he made different attempts to regain his role. These attempts varied in severity, from calm coursing, to aggressive behavior. His anger and grief rising for each failure. It only deepened the cracks in their relationship, and his brothers have started avoiding him.

On the topic of grief, Rin is currently on step 3. And he decided that the ones to blame for this change is non other then B2J. He excuses his anger as being mad at them for hijackings their concert and humiliating his brothers, but he just want’s things to go back to normal.

He did manage to reconcile with them, though. It was rough, but they managed to become friend.’

That brought him back to square one, confusion. He’s trying to figure himself out and Zuke is helping him out along the way.

Purl-Hew

Purl-hew was neutral to the change.

He’s salty towards B2J for what they did, but he prefers to just avoid them. 

He became very quiet compared to the others, and he prefers to spend his time alone.

Despite being built to sing, Purl-hew struggles with expressing himself through words. Instead, he became inspired by Eve and started painting.

From the events of the fight, what effected Purl-hew most was when their exoskeleton was exposed to their fans. He felt humiliated and it hit his self-esteem hard. You can see it through his art.

Zimule

Zimule was slightly overwhelmed. But after a few days, he got used to it.

He had a few traits that fit bad boy role; snarky, bold and confident. However he’s also wary and doesn’t act spontaneously. 

The thing that got Zimule buzzing from the battle, was how quick Neon J was to use them as disposable weaponry. It made him question how much they actually meant to him. Would he just destroy them if they stepped out of line? Were they just expendable robots to him? It made Zimule hesitant whenever he was near Neon J.

He also began asking why he made music and whether or not he was actually passionate about it.

That’s when Mayday came in.

After witnessing her play her guitar, he was immediately hooked. He tried to play it off cool, but his eyes were filled with child-like wonder every time she played. (They basically bonded over their mutual love for guitar.)

Soon after, Haym looped himself into their little ring and they just clicked ever since. (If you ask em’, they’ll say Mayday is their little sister.)

Haym

Out of all of them, Haym was the most ecstatic about the change. The new sensation that filled him with excitement.

He may be known as the “innocent boy” of the group, but he’s the most mischievous of the bunch. He enjoys playing pranks on his brothers. And -although it usually comes back to bite him in the butt - he makes a lot of sarcastic remarks.

Has the mouth of a sailor.b(i.e he curses)

The battle with B2J didn’t really faze him to much.

However, being destroyed and rebuilt made him question something; Is he even alive? Was what he was feeling real, or was it just programing? Was his existence as a robot even real? Existential crisis ensues.

In his search for comfort he came across Zimule and Mayday hanging out, and they immediately hooked him in. Now Haym and May are holding a vs war on who can pull the best prank.

Eloni

Eloni - like Purl-Hew - was neutral to the change, if not a bit scared.

He' been to busy being everyone else emotional support buddy to work on himself.

lill’boy feels underappreciated by the people around him.

That’s why we must love and appreciated this boy.

Eloni often uses his hands when he’s talking. Exaggerating his poses to better get his points across, or for comedic effect.

(And I don’t actually have any good headcanons on him, so I’ll just cut it off here. I’ll update this some day.)

[cloudsrust]

Do you have any other NSR ships other than NeonNova? :O(

(Think I’ve spent a good minute trying to understand if that was a a sad clown face or something like “:Oc” a gasping face- before giving up lmao. Doesn’t matter, both clowns and amazed folks are welcome here ahah.) I think I had already responded to an ask about my ships in the fandom but since I only talked about Neon/DJ and Eve/Tatiana (my main ones) I can add on it!

Mhhh- I weirdly don’t directly ship a lot of stuff but I did see around some interesting pairings so- here we go!  (Note- I personally see most of these more like, close friendships/bromances than actual ships- but I also like when I see ‘em portrayed as romantic ships!)

Mayday/Eloni (GreenDay(??)) I like the chaotic duo/”I like them ‘cause they make me laugh” dynamics I’ve seen around with these two! Also I’d say they look adorable together;; it’s a ship that makes me smile!

Mayday/Eve  This one I see more as close friendship rather than romantic. I like the idea of May trying to get close to Eve with their shared interest in art (I headcanon that MayDay draws B2J’s covers herself, while Zuke paints them), maybe with the excuse to learn more about painting and “art understanding” from Eve! They do be looking cute when together with their contrasting personalities and styles though-

Zuke/Rin This I can see as both romantic and platonic with how I headcanon Rin and how they started getting close. Platonic- Rin hanging out in the sewers with the duo, especially Zuke, and getting close to ‘em since that’s where he can be himself without worrying about his image. The good feeling of finally having friends based only on who you truly are and not who you’re supposed to be, ya know? Romantic instead- Rin falling for how carefree and laidback he looks, and with how he isn’t fazed by his flirting but when he starts talking about their interest in technology and other kinds of music, Zuke's interest sparks up. He loves the smile he gives him when he knows Rin is being himself, and Zuke highly prefers that part of him as well.

Neon/Mama (HeartMonitor(?)) Two single parents teaming up together?? Hell yeah. Also like- Amaranth(Mama) being tall protective wife material? Just lovely.  They’d look extremely sweet together, also 1010 being Yinu’s watchfull brothers/babysitters is something I cannot have enough of (guess Yinu is a rare exception to my deep hate for children eh;;) so that would only add to the ship! :,> I do like them only being close with one another, supporting each others’ in losses and hard times. 

Purl-hew/DK West I have absolutely zero idea how this came up and around but- heck it’s interesting as all hell. I like the idea of Purl-hew having a strong bf double his size (size difference baby wHOOP WHOOP)- Purl might be surely able to defend themselves from 1010 or nonbinary haters but sometimes all that “robot/android laws” stuff can be a bich to deal with when the threat is only vocal- so that’s where DK could come in 👀. Also like- contrast of personalities once again eh eh;; calm android lad with lound and energetic titan of a man,,,

And that’s all the new stuff I guess- the rest I got is like,, friendship only headcanons (it’s mostly about 1010 though lmao.)

[lesserfandomappreciation]

No shame to monster-fuckers but most people have the decency to either embrace it or hide it. Neon J out here kink shaming half of NSR when he’s fucking Space Mothman on the side. That’s just not right.

Also, finally more NSR requests!

Alien Rin meets 1010 (NSR)

Neon J knows exactly when 1010 finds out. 

Out of all the ways for the NSR meeting to go, he hadn’t expected the entire board’s phones to collectively begin to whistle and chime with a mass explosion of texts at once. His own phone was ringing off the chain, and it’s during his checking through the many, many texts that he fails to notice the how silent the table has fallen (besides the ringing).

This man is going to get well-done with a seasoning of charcoal. 

Mayday and Zuke being the protags they are are the ones who bring Space-Rin to meet real Rin ( “We have to help him Zuke, it’s his destiny.”) Man, Zuke is no 1010 fan by any means but he fills an album with just their reactions - the boys (alien included) are losing their collective minds. 

Rin is a charismatic, smooth-talking guy and all, but Alien Rin just flips the switch on that real quick. The moment he sets eyes on his double, Rin is as dorky and enthusiastic as the rest of them, tripping over his words and babbling just like some of the others. He’s excited - and confused? - and he wants to know everything. This guy might be his space brother-from-another-mother-possibly-the-same-mother-Father-explain - he wants to know every single detail. He also signs himself up as his personal tour guide - after all, who better to befriend a Rin, then Rin himself?

Oh yeah, Alien-Rin is now Space Brother, Space Bro, Star, Starry, Shiny. Family gets nicknames, and the nicknames don’t stop coming. 

DJSS move your butt there’s a bigger dork in town! Purl-Hew has arrived! Purl-Hew is the “cool guy” aesthetic for sure, but his calm and cool exterior shatters in an instant upon seeing Rin and Alien-Rin right next to each other. He’s geeking out - you can’t tell me that he’s not a secret geek that only his brothers and Neon J have to suffer through. Now there’s an alien right there and they look alike and they might actually be related? Far out! Still calmer than the other brothers, but still hyped. 

If Alien-Rin has a question on anything, he need only go to Purl-Hew - so long as he’s willing to answer some of Blue’s questions. 

Zimelu(Red) and Alien-Rin got along almost instantly, surprising only Zuke and Mayday who refuse to leave until they see the “show” whatever that means. See they don’t know Zimelu well enough. His brothers on the other hand can barely keep track of how many times he’s told them to recharge, cooked for them, yelled at them for leaving clothes on the ground instead of cleaning up this week. The bad boy red bot is the mothering older brother type, and Alien-Rin’s shy demeanor and vulnerability immediately set off his need to protect. He will be a calm barrier between him and outside factors if need be. 

Alien-Rin and Haym are two peas in a pod. Haym is the most introverted of the bunch, shy and preferring to be a more supportive role than being the main singer on any one track. Curious as he is about him, Haym is well aware just how overwhelming his family can be - he’s right by Zimelu protecting “Star” from his brothers’ nuttier antics. Once things calm down, he and Rin are the ones who check in the most on Alien-Rin’s emotional state. Surprised as he and his brothers are to see a possible alien relative, Alien-Rin is the one who found out someone, possibly his dead beat father, was out here using his likeness x 5 and the only way to do this is call his other parent and try to suss this out. That’s a lot. 

Bless his heart, truly and deeply, but Eloni is an accidental menace. Poor Alien-Rin is trying to find answers and Eloni cannot for the life of him crank his energy back at all. He is so hyped it hurts. He’s got a little brother. A brother younger than him. Do you know what this means? He’s not the youngest anymore! He is going to be the best big brother ever, just you wait! The energy and questions are sweetly intended but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a lot to deal with. His brothers have to reign his energy back a lot. After a bit of time he wants to show his new brother everything in the city - all the sights, all the best shops, everything!

It’s a few hours of establishing dynamics and sorting out who they are, what they are to each other, before the front door creaks open. Neon J stumbles in. He’s barely able to stand after the verbal thrashing he got, a fact he complains about loudly (”It wasn’t a real fight, otherwise I would have won!”). So absorbed is he in his whining, it’s not until he see the edge of a shoe he didn’t make that he realizes something is off. He looks up. Sees 1 very confused alien standing in the middle of his sons, all of whom are glowing bright with what can only be described as true rage. Rage at not being told about their precious little brother. 

Zuke grabs the popcorn bowl from Mayday. He doesn’t trust her to not flip it’s contents as she cheers to the subsequent show. 

[auspiciousinformant]

Core Character Ranking - No Straight Roads

At this point with the game having been out for well over four and a half months, I figure that with having a small piece of fiction under my belt, and with the fandom having cooled down from the initial release but still hot enough for content to steadily be coming out from the fanbase, now is a good time for me to share my thoughts on No Straight Roads - rather, what I call the Core Characters of No Straight Roads.

I call them this because they are the collective protagonist main characters and antagonistic bosses - not filling up one bucket or another quite satisfactory. I might even make this into a series if anyone cares enough to hear my thoughts on other pieces of fiction. If you’re interested, continue below the line.

Oh, also, spoilers for No Straight Roads if you still care about that.

Disclaimer before continuing onwards - I’ve never actually played No Straight Roads! I’m not exactly a person with enough wealth to throw at my own interests and hobbies, but I feel I’ve absorbed enough through culture osmosis, 100% walkthroughs of the game, and other people’s interpretations of the game to be able to make my own informed opinions on the characters.

Also, this isn’t a “bosses” ranking list - this is a character ranking list. Meaning that individuals are going to be ranked rather than the whole. For example, Sayu will be divided into the four members behind Sayu (hereafter refered to as “Team Sayu”) as well as Sayu herself. This also means I won’t fully go on the gameplay mechanics as I don’t have enough experience with it to make a fully informed decision. I will talk about what I’ve seen though.

With that in mind, we’ll be starting as all of these lists usually do, from the bottom ranking to the top: ________________________________________________________________ 20. Eve

Now, this may come as a shock, but I absolutely despise divas. Eve was entertaining enough, but through her videos she was only relatable and likable to me before she and Zuke broke up. Mostly because I could relate with her self-loathing and her found happiness.

Still... setting someone’s hair on fire? And then being confused as to why that happened? Then completely blaming the victim and using that mistake as fuel to shut out any other potential kindred relationship for the future? I’ve seen people who do that; it’s pathetic at best and annoying to see at worst. Thankfully, due to Zuke, she does eventually come around.

Her music and boss fight are interesting enough I suppose. I like how the perspective changes and I adore when you have to switch over to Mayday and it becomes a fully chaotic mess of limbs, doubt, hatred, and rage. I live for that chaotic aesthetic.

Otherwise, she’s just... the weakest character to me in No Straight Roads.

Maybe she’ll Eve-ntually earn my respect in supplementary materials.  ________________________________________________________________ 19. Sofa

The first member of Team Sayu I’m mentioning and he’s this low on the list. Ouch. Not to say that I hate him, the hate started and ended with Eve - he, along with the others don’t really have much of a personality canonically that I can see to judge him on. But in terms of his design, I’ve never been much of a fan of “overweight and silly” outside of Doctor Eggman/

Do not take this the wrong way. I am in NO way fatshaming ANYONE.

I just have never liked that design in fictional characters. See Hifumi Yamada from “Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc” for more on what I mean

Still, he’s a core member of Team Sayu and from the fanfiction I’ve read he’s one of the better characters to write with. Maybe if we got a spinoff or other related materials, he’d go up a few numbers in rank, but as it stands, he’s the weakest of the group.

Sofa-r so good, let’s move on before these puns go too far. ________________________________________________________________ 18. Mayday Yeah. I’m not a huge fan of Mayday herself. Hotheaded protagonists are fine here and there, but she’s so hot-headed I’m surprised that she didn’t have the fire aesthetic as well. I guess with it all being taken by Tatiana, they could only give her a warm color scheme so it wasn’t redundant.

Her gameplay seems fine, if a bit basic. The heavy hitter is also a hothead, who could guess. I kinda like how someone as scrawny and small as her also has the biggest heart and temper. Also the gags that come from her relating to the other bosses are hysterical and make for good protagonist material. Still, outside of her interaction with DK West, Zuke, and Team Sayu, as well as the very end of the game, there’s a lack of enough “heroic” traits that makes Mayday fall flat from just shy of ranking higher.

I don’t have a clever pun, joke, or one-liner for Mayday, so let’s go to the next person in my list. ________________________________________________________________ 17. DJ Subatomic Supernova I have never really liked disco or dance music at the best of times, but I love space. So what happens when you mix something I feel lukewarm to, something I absolutely adore, and combine it with a trait about a person I absolutely also despise?

You get space helmet man who likes fresh ice cream and goes on for minutes about how great he is and how everyone else around him are plebeians - not knowing how pretentious the stage name “Subatomic Supernova” is.

If I had made this list when I had first seen No Straight Roads, he’d be only just ahead of Eve just because I dislike her so much more than I hate egotism of DJ Subatomic Supernova. But he’s now gone higher on the list since he’s grown on me thanks to the fandom and me realizing the game is parodying the stereotypes and the industry of music. Also, Zuke’s drum solo is AMAZING with the EDM version of DJ SS’s theme. He’s even gone so far as to become half of my second favorite paring in the NSR fandom!

Shine on, you funky space man. ________________________________________________________________

16. DK West Ewah! Older of the two brothers by age, younger of the two by maturity. I absolutely love this goofball. His shadow powers are absolutely amazing to watch and while I normally don’t like rap outside of Eminem (and even then only select tracks), he grew on me a lot. He’s so unique and the culture he’s based on from what I understand was researched with a lot of respect and care.

I’ve heard (and seen) that the third fight ramps up the difficulty way too much, but considering that Mayday is attempting to repair a broken household, it makes sense it’d be such a heavy undertaking from a gameplay and story point.

Also DK West Encounter 1 is a smash hit, telling us everything we really need to know between DK West and Zuke while being an absolutely great song that reminds me of Epic Rap Battles of History for anyone that remembers that.

He overshadows his previous competition by a large margin, and I can’t wait to see more of him if that’s possible. ________________________________________________________________ 15. Yinu’s Mom As the real mastermind behind Yinu’s position in NSR, it suddenly makes so much sense as to why a literal child is in such a strict EDM hierarchy like NSR. What keeps her from going above and beyond this ranking isn’t anything more than just the pressure she puts on Yinu to perform. During the fight, and what I can only presume also happens outside of concerts in the universe of No Straight Roads, it seems like she entirely forgets the reason Yinu keeps playing the piano in the first place.

However, I am a huge sucker for family dynamics, and her stopping her assault due to the memories that Yinu was able to drag out of her through the broken piano by playing Heart of the Prodigy is enough to almost enough for me to reach the level of emotional catharsis as the ending of Pixar’s “Inside Out” did for me. And the way she shielded Yinu when they were falling, the gasp of fear that she might not survive the fall - just pure, amazing storytelling through “show, don’t tell”.

I will say, the more morbid part of me that enjoys things like Danganronpa, Your Turn To Die, and Nonary Games, had the thought of “if it weren’t for the fact that Mayday and Zuke also fell from that height and survived (and that this game is meant for younger audiences), Yinu would have became an orphan.”

Mother of the Year award goes to Yinu’s mom for being the most realistic, sympathetic, non-dead mom in fiction. ________________________________________________________________ 14. Yinu I love classical music, but I don’t really like children. Yinu is an exception to my general dislike of children. The promotion that was released before the game was a little eye-rolling, but it was also funny. Fortunately, in the game, Yinu is so much more mature and interesting than the promotional material lead us to believe. The way the piano plays plays in the base version of VS Yinu conveys just how talented she is at nine years old. It’s a shame that it slowly gets covered up by the EDM version as the battle goes on.

But her reasoning for playing the piano, through the photos you get from Yinu’s backstory is all the more reason to respect this literal child. She turned the loss of her music teacher and father into a shining passion for music. The piano being the very memento of her deceased dad - looking at the photos and then realizing what you did in shattering her piano creates a fantastic retroactive look at just how destructive Bunkbed Junction’s revolution really is to people.

We’re not even half-way down the list, and yet we already have great characters like this, so let’s keep looking. ________________________________________________________________ 13. Dodo There’s been a huge gap since the last Team Sayu member. So what makes Dodo so great compared to Sofa? Well, the deep voice that comes from the scrawny, blue man is funny to me. It caught me off-guard the first time I heard it and had me giggling for hours afterwards after I paused the video to regain my composure.

That, and mocap work is hard work. On top of that, though he’s mostly not the face everyone remembers when fans think of Sayu, it takes a lot of talent and self-confidence to dance like a cutesy mermaid despite being a male, at least in my opinion. So I see him as having high confidence, but also being like Zuke in the “chill and mostly quiet” department.

There’s not much else for me to say, since most of Team Sayu doesn’t have blatantly obvious character traits. So let’s move on. ________________________________________________________________ 12. Sayu Sayu herself is... well, not real. It’s like trying to judge any number of the Vocaloid/UTAU voice banks. Sure you can place any number of personalities and messages into it, but in reality she’s just been built as a “cutsie, wootsie, pink mermaid” idol.

Still, the personality that Team Sayu gives her is fantastic. Her fight is annoying, and lackluster even to watch, but her song is amazing in all of its forms, even if for me the vaporwave version is the least effective of all of them - and Analog Aquatics is the BEST lead-up song to it, even ahead of Heart of the Prodigy.

Hatsune Miku? Who’s that? I only see Sayu as the best Vocaloid. ________________________________________________________________ 11. Remi Technically the creator of Sayu in the first place and her designer, Remi seems to be the “all according to plan” type. To think that his passion for art would lead to a career such as NSR, and a close-knit friend group like Team Sayu. It’s something that I’m sure that every artist has had as their goal at one point or another.

I highly respect anyone with the ability to put their artwork out in public, both in real life and as a character. Even so, there are characters I like even beyond Remi, and once again, we don’t have much to go off of for him outside of the very few times we see him in Sayu’s battle.

Almost all of Team Sayu has been covered at this point - heck, even Sayu herself has already been covered. So where’s Tila you ask? Well, we’ll get to that, but not for a while. ________________________________________________________________ 10. Tatiana “Kul Fyra” Qwartz From the very moment we first hear her voice, we can tell she’s all business and order. When we watch all of NSR reject the rock music outright and listen to Tatiana’s speech afterwards? How she seems to disregard her artists own safety and prioritizing undermining Bunkbed Junction’s efforts just because she can’t bear to remember her old bandmates? Wonderfully selfish for a heartbroken character.

Also, for those who hate her time-oriented powers and how weakly linked they are to Tatiana herself? Consider this: She’s almost 50 years old by the time Bunkbed Junction starts their revolution. She’s lived long enough to be anyone in the cast’s mom - probably even old enough to be Team Sayu and Yinu’s grandma. She has only seen a progressive march of time erode at everything she ever loved and cared about.

The blazing passion within her is brought back to her through Bunkbed Junction’s actions, but through a reversal of time and a reflection of her memories. Bunkbed Junction literally shatters the world view that she constructed for herself to ignore the regret and pain that had been slowly eating her up inside without her ever even having fully realized it in the first phase. By the time Tatiana reverts back to using her Kul Fyra form, she’s trying so hard to list any number of reasons to ignore her past and focus on what little time she actually has left to work on the future.

This was a bit of a longer explanation and reasoning, but for a character as amazing and symbolically complex as Tatiana, she absolutely deserves it. And as you’ll see for the next character, this is only a fraction of my love for the characters of No Straight Roads. ________________________________________________________________9. Neon J And here we start with my absolutely favorite characters, the ones I not only enjoy reading and writing about, but that in canon I can wholeheartedly accept them for who they are, flaws and all.

My grandpa was in the navy, and to make a long story short there were some complicated things that happened that required me to live with both him and my grandma when I was really little. So already there’s something that I can latch onto and adore. Even with how cringy Neon J is at the end with him attempting to try to give an epic war hero speech, my grandpa can be the same way sometimes, and that’s okay. They kind of act similarly outside of that as well.

His design is so sleek and smooth, and sometimes I forget that he’s actually a cyborg, unlike his sons boyband creations. Normally I hate the military, war, and what it all represents at a cynical level, but when it’s portrayed in a way like No Straight Roads did for Neon J and 1010, it reminds me of the people who actually join to serve their country and the people in it, despite how few in their countries actually deserve their respect.

And yeah, I can already hear the “blah blah fiction is poorly portraying law enforcement/the military because ect ect”. I disagree. Think of it this way: Neon J is a fun example of what a leader in a military unit is. Not only that, he’s extremely loyal and willing to do what it takes to get the job done - including having a program inside 1010 that makes them explode when they fail to generate the requisite fan praise that’s likely required to keep 1010 merchandise flying off of the shelves and thus prove to the other NSR artists that even robot boybands can be used to help Vinyl City; AND use said robot boyband as weapons to fight off any threats - internal or external.

Also think about what he had to go through to become a cyborg. That means he likely had to replace everything that’s on the surface - imagine what he needed to replace underneath all of that metal. How much of his original body is left? How badly did the war he was involved in hurt him? How many comrades did he lose to try to recreate that feel in a boyband? Aren’t the implications of that so much more grand than the surface level “radar head man is bad representation of military people because he’s silly and ineffective at his job”. Furthermore, tell me of a person in the real world who lost so much of their body they literally had to become a cyborg that has a literal radar for a head.

On top of all of that he’s the second half of my second favorite pairing. Not that is has any major bearing on how great Neon J already is. Is it silly that Neon J tries to give a huge speech at the end when we know Bunkbed Junction is just trying to get to Tatiana? Yes. But it’s fun.

I salute the No Straight Roads team for creating such an amazing character . ________________________________________________________________8. Blue 1010 Robot | Purl-Hew Ah yes, now we start getting to what’s taking up most of the top 10 slots. Kind of funny that not all of the 1010 members are going into the top 5 slots with how much I ranted and raved about Neon J. But I have characters I like way more than most of the 1010 band members.

And yes, I’ll bring this up now since we’re actually talking about 1010, that will apply to all the members of 1010 so I don’t have to repeat myself: I already know that they’re meant to parody boy bands, pop bands, and how similar all of them are and ect ect ect. That doesn’t stop me from going “hee hoo pretty boys” at fictional characters. And, yes, I know they don’t canonically have names, but I’m going with what’s been accepted across the fandom. Also all of their body types are the same: I like them alot. They’re tall, in monochrome (hah, chrome), and the way they bob to the beat in their battle is fantastic and shows they are powered by music as much as any machine is in the universe of No Straight Roads.

Starting off with my least favorite of them, Purl-Hew just reminds me of Garnet from “Steven Universe”, which is not a bad thing. It’s just that outside of what we learn of Garnet, she’s a character I often forget exists. I think it’s honestly the shades and the blue, more square-like hair that makes me draw the comparison. Purl-Hew strikes me as the “cool” one. The one that recites his poetry in coffee shops and is the sensitive boy with a cold exterior. You know the kind of person I’m talking about.

Other than that, I like the 1010 branding on the side of his head. I normally don’t like hairstyles like that, but somehow with how it flows and how non-obnoxious it is, I actually find myself liking the hairstyle. Also coupled with the fact that I see him as the second eldest of all five of them, who likely cemented an identity for himself before the others, makes me like his entirety even more.

A cool dude deserves a cool transition, but since this isn’t a video, a line break will have to do. ________________________________________________________________7. Red 1010 Robot | Zimelu Zimelu is one of the ones that strikes me as the one that’s borderline trying to break free from the rest of the band and become his own artist. The mowhawk, the color red, even to what he’s likely supposed to represent in-universe. Many see him as having anger issues, and considering what 1010 is about coupled with, again the hair style and his color, yeah I can see why.

But I also see him having a somewhat tsundere side. Not overtly fully tusndere as “I-It’s not like I like you or anything!” but more of a “Hey, I got you [insert favorite food] to eat. Don’t read too much into it.” while looking off to the side to avoid seeing your reaction just because he’s not sure if he can handle the thought of him possibly being wrong and then seeing you be disappointed kind of tsundere.

I don’t see a lot of peices of work exploring this concept, and I’d love to see more of it - or heck, even other personality traits that could be lying under the rebellious design of him.

I see him as the middle child of the group, which could also add to the rebellious personality and anger issues. Not sure if anyone agrees with me on this though. ________________________________________________________________6. Yellow 1010 Robot | Haym Okay, so this is a bit weird. Haym is my second least favorite in terms of design, but third favorite because he’s supposed to be the sunny, shy, and sweet one. I see him as the second youngest of all of the 1010 members. Old enough to have experience and understand his purpose, but young enough to retain that childhood-like innocence and sweetness.

I think he’s content about his place in 1010. It’s not that he would slack off or anything, but he’d be the most comfortable with his identity out of all five of them, even years down the line. Where Purl-Hew has to upkeep his identity, Haym is fine just being who he is and happy that the crowd accepts him for who he is.

Also him saying “even your lips, which form that raaaaadiant smile~” made me smile like an idiot and my heart flutter when I first saw him - and don’t even get me started on his pose when he was saying that. So that probably has at least some bearing on his placement in this list. ________________________________________________________________5. Green 1010 Robot | Eloni Haym was weird for me to admit I still don’t fully like his design, but Eloni’s design is actually worse for me. I still don’t like the fact he looks like you could hang him on a Christmas tree or a keychain and not be out of place there. But as I learned more - especially the part where in-universe he’s the least-liked because he’s the prankster type, my heart melted for the guy.

While I myself am not a prankster or a fan of prankster types, sympathetic characters that are generally unliked in-universe for something minor or not their fault is something that will always get me to love a character. There’s also a lot of great fanfiction out there for Eloni, playing with the idea of jealousy, feelings of inadequacy, and the resulting love and support that inevitably follows from a strong supporting family.

Also, I see him as the youngest, and likely the one who thought it’d be a good idea to give everyone reindeer heads for the Christmas event instead of whatever was originally planned. The fans probably loved it anyways, even better than what was originally planned, but never knew it was Eloni’s messing around that gave them the toy-soldier-with-reindeer-heads 1010.

Second best 1010 boy deserves to be in the top 5 for all of this and more. ________________________________________________________________4. Tila Tila? You mean the one girl who only goes “pyun” a few times? The only one of Team Sayu that has any voice lines that are more than sobs, grunts, tremoring fear, and sounds of triumph?

Yes. That character. You want to know why?

First, lets start with her design. She wears an oversized hoodie and glasses - already two things I can relate to. The color contrast is just perfect between her hair, skin, and hoodie. Her design alone to me screams “high-functioning introvert”.

Her one line? Going “pyun” a few times? Absolutely adorable. I wanted to hear her say more lines, and the delivery of them being so uncertain filtered through a microphone to not come out that way as Sayu? She is definitely the shy one of the four of them. Also let’s not forget she’s Sayu’s voice actress in universe. Meaning that VS Sayu is something that Tila is singing.

Also, in the background material for Sayu, she’s the one that apologizes for using Remi’s art for one of her songs, and starts the collaboration with all four members of Team Sayu. It’s her story we follow. Not any of the other four members, though Remi does actually say something.

Though we don’t get much else of her, which prevents her from taking a spot in my top 3 picks, if we got just a little bit more from her, I’d definitely bump her to 3rd, maybe even let her take 1st. As it stands, compared to the rest of Team Sayu and Sayu herself, top 5 is nothing to sneeze at. ________________________________________________________________3. Kliff “No one like’s Kliff! He’s evil and bad!”

I mostly disagree with that statement, politely of course. Does no one like him? Seems that way in the fandom, but I like him. Is he evil? Yes, most certainly. Is he “bad”? Well, what’s the context of bad in this case? A bad plot-twist? A bad character? A bad guide? Not really. Well, except for the last part, possibly, but even then he’s still serviceable.

I mean take into context that Tatiana is Kul Fyra. On a first viewing, after having fought so many people after first meeting Kliff, most people would have forgotten that he, like Mayday, also likes Kul Fyra and was even there for her concerts. People who have insane memory would remember it, but for the rest of us, it probably came as a shock that Kliff would send a satellite into the NSR tower.

But he’s a fan that put Kul Fyra on a pillar, just like Mayday. He’d hoped that rock artists would get her back into rock music, to reignite the fire in her, so that he could enjoy her music again. He even says that he’s still her fan. He questions Tatiana “did my loyalty mean nothing to you?”.

And while yes, she didn’t technically owe him anything, the way that Tatiana shoots Kliff down so coldly after all of his attempts and his waiting - after she shut herself away from any potential future differing opinions and banning rock so she couldn’t remember the heartache - he snaps.

I’m not saying that Kliff was right, or that his reaction was fully justified. But imagine him saying he’ll be the strategic planner of NSR - after all, it was thanks to him that Mayday and Zuke got as far as they did. They knew what was coming ahead of time due to his advice. Mayday and Zuke would just be figureheads. It would be entirely realistic, and not make Kliff entirely evil.

Still, with all the hypotheticals out of the way, having an entirely selfish twist villain like Kliff was amazing. When you go through the entire story knowing how it will end on a second playthrough, suddenly his motives and what he says makes so much more sense.

I want to see (or maybe someday I’ll write) a redemption arc for Kliff. He’s not so fargone that I’d write him off as another villain for the sake of evil, but it would take actual work and effort. It’s something I look forwards to seeing in the far future.

Though he is also fun to see as an antagonist in all of these stories I read about him. ________________________________________________________________2. Zuke On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d rank Zuke an 11. From his design, to his animations, to his background, his voice, his lines - everything is an 11/10 for me.

Starting with design again, normally I’d dislike the major contrast such a saturated green against a saturated blue. But there’s other bits in Zuke’s design - his red eyes, the fact that his clothing is a good neutral base to draw away from the chaos of colors of his head - only to lead back into what looks like ultra-comfortable blue-and-green flannel with dark blue flats? It all screams the perfect chill dude to hang out with.

His personality matches too. He’s laid-back, wise, rational, humble, and kind. Almost the perfect man in every way. Though he has his limits, especially when it comes to DK West, and he’s not always the most intelligent at times. Sometimes he takes a minute to put two-and-two together, especially when he’s under pressure and nervous.

And his drumsticks being used as a walking cane when he’s not battling, admitting that it’s NSR property - recognizing that NSR itself is not bad, it just needs change. He doesn’t generally talk smack unless, again, it’s DK West. He probably says less than Mayday does out of the two, but I wasn’t counting. I was just thankful that he was talking at all, attempting to be the voice of reason in situations, telling Eve he was wrong for leaving so suddenly (even though he’s not at fault for his hair being set on fire), reconciling with DK West after Mayday gets them to talk about their feelings to each other - he experiences the most growth over the longest period of time.

In fact, it feels like we’re witnessing Zuke’s entire story through the eyes of Mayday. Sure, Mayday has a stake in the conflict, and a small bit of growth, but none nearly so much as the jolly green giant between them. Heck, he’s so good that he made DJ Subatomic Supernova’s music actually sound good.

If this wasn’t enough, he’s also one half of my favorite pairing. Where’s the other half? Where he belongs of course. ________________________________________________________________1. White 1010 Robot |  Rin Look guys, my favorite character of No Straight Roads is finally here. Let me be the ideal fan and give him my utmost attention.

ATTENTION!

Hoo boy have I been waiting to talk about Rin! His design is the one that I love the most despite how simple and obviously pandering it is. I mean come on, he’s got the kind of hairstyle that just screams “typical emo/scene/goth/pop leader” without the sweeping bit of hair in front of the eye like Haym’s or other emo/scene/goth hair styles. He has no unique colors to himself (white and black are technically not colors). Heck, as a robot meant to parody pop/boybands, he technically should be the most bland and uninteresting part of 1010.

But that’s where you’d be wrong. Rin is the one who leads the flirting attempt against Mayday. Rin is the one who is focused on the most of all the 1010 members when the cutscenes play. Rin is the one who’s talking the most in the promotional video for 1010 and No Straight Roads. Even though Zimelu takes up most of the spot in the in-game photo op, Rin is the second most noticable. In the “wefies” the 1010 members make in the promotional video, Rin is front and center.

Rin is the poster child. Meaning he has the most mounting on him of all the members of 1010. And this can manifest in any number of interesting character traits. I’ve already written an (as of posting this review) three chapter fanfic on Rin and his dynamic with not only the other half of my favorite pairing, but also his dynamic with Neon J, and how both Zuke and Neon J view Rin - through what I perceive how Rin actually feels and acts when he’s not on stage.

I could probably do an entire 20 minute review on why Rin is the single-best character of No Straight Roads, both in and out of canon, but I don’t have the tools for it. And as a side note, the guitar solo that Mayday can play over the song is the single-best of all the guitar solos, the second being the one against Yinu - and that deep passion for 1010 is reflected well in the guitar solo.

Zuke may be an 11/10, but Rin is a perfect 10/10 - and I wouldn’t have it any other way . ________________________________________________________________Afterwords Finally, after an entire 4 hours of writing, I’d like to hear your thoughts on all of this, if you’ve made it this far.

What did you agree and disagree with? Feel free to comment if you want.

As for me, I think I’ll continue to browse the work of the fandom, keep an ear out for any future updates or sequels, and rock on with the amazing soundtrack of No Straight Roads jamming loudly in my ears.

Rock on fellow No Straight Roads fans! Or whatever genre you prefer to listen to.

[the-nsr-family]

Main Au Timeline Part 2

as they heal up and spend more time with 1010, Zuke is less hyperly protective of mayday and they start to trust the boyband. Mayday forms a sibling like bond with them, and while zuke doesnt go that far, he will say that they are good friends (though mayday will tease him on wanting more with Rin)

- They also bond with tatiana more and slowly start opening up about their pasts to her and eachother (not to say neither knew stuff before the attack, but there wasnt really a time or place to say “i techinily have family that never stepped up to claim me when i was orphaned so i have abandonment issues from that and thats why i always want to be around you” and that “lightning storms freak me out as i saw my dad electracuted to death infrount of me by one and my encouragement for you to slow down and relax is due to watching my mother work herself to death while growing up after my dad died”)

- Tatiana’s personal guilt grows by mayday (seemingly unknowingly) conferming that she is the niece she refused to ever see, that she got so jelouse over her brother having that she refused to ever meet. that she spend years grieving over.

- unrelated to above but everyone in the house/penthouse is sleep-deprived because of night terrors, which occasionally turn violent (primarily for zuke, but watch out, mayday Bites)

-Tatiana gets ready for mayday to hate her as she sits her down for a talk, only to get blown away by the fact Mayday had known sense tatiana told them that she was ful kyra, but that mayday had forgiven her along time ago for not helping her “frist time we met, you where grieve over me, who you thought died 10 years ago back then”

tying back to the fact they actually met pre-game at a concert, and nice little closed circle which helps them bond

-tatiana breaking out the memoribila she never could get herself to get rid of? Mayday crying over hearing her parents vioces for a couple hours. she watches and listens to everything, and even finish the song her parents where working on.

time goes on, fmaily bonds grow stronger, Zuke and mayday wowing everyone with their singing voice (its mainly zuke, and rin falls in love even harder listening to him sing), they start releasing music again online and mayday starts a blog.

everyone meets and falls in love with aunty, that just the rules. their other friends (various NPCs and Most-likely self insterts) start to pop up in the NSR artists line of sight, which helps the other artists bond with B2J as their friends offer insights to how they think and react. (Also Reaffirming that mayday survived along time Alone on the streets by pointing out queues and things she does subconsciously and how the artists can adapt to her) 

then kliff starts up trouble again, tageting both civilain friends and NSR family alike, triggering Mayday and zukes biggest breakdown yet. only a few reasons stopped them from going out and facing kliff and his gang on their own- Mayday is still injured here, Aunty was talking them threw their spiral back to reality, tatiana came in and hugged them.

Rin and Zuke get togather everything is happy for a while- heck Mayday and zuke finally started to show their powers, though they had issues with them at frist, they where working on them when kliff biggest attack so far hits and mayday is taken.

(skipping over this as i already did a thing about it the other day)

Mayday gets back, they find out there is a stalker/treator in the building, the mega stars start to really close ranks, no one goes anywhere alone, aunty semi-forcefully has them through a party/get-to-gather to help unwind, tatiana isnt fully happy with it, but at the party she meets barbara.

now B2J has two kick ass moms (they dont fall into dating just like that, it takes a few months,)

when tatiana and barbara are firmly dating Beach Episode happens, all the good shit here.

sometimes after they come back maydays grandparents want to meet her. she says yes to one meeting then cuts them out of her life, her other aunts are pretty cool though

(and that should be everything so far that isnt any au stuff or personal character interpretations (thats a DIFFERENT post) - Heartbreaker _____________ We really owe a hell of a lot to Aunty in this AU uhjenfdhujknemd-