#but still. neku knows that there is good in him

[scramble-crossing]

Do you ever think about the fact that the Leo Cantus Armo fight takes place in the Udagawa Backstreets, exactly where Neku was shot, once by Joshua once by Coco, twice had his life unfairly ripped away from him, and when he arrives Sho is furiously bearing down on Beat with the intent to kill so that even if he is out of his mind under the duress of Soul Pulvis' power Neku would be entierly justified in erasing him...but instead he chooses mercy? He shows him a kindness that the world never afforded him, because for all that Sho has done Neku still believes that he deserves it? And despite the horror he has been through all he wants is to extend the second chance that his friends once gave to him? I don't I'm normal.

[mageknight14]

I loved how NEO pulled the rug out with Rindo’s character. At first, he generally seems much more sociable and outwardly friendly compared to Neku and then the game quickly goes "yeah, nah, he’s a huge fucking mess too." He’s a good kid fundamentally at his core but he can also be whiny, hypocritical, passive-aggressive, and kind of insensitive at times. He has a tendency to be judgemental and harsh to the people around him while not acknowledging his own faults, like when he complains about Beat joining the team even though he saved their lives beforehand because he’s not Neku or when he gives Fret shit for fawning over Eiji Oji and Kanon while falling for Motoi’s BS. He’s so pessimistic about himself and others that not even a death game that heavily emphasizes the value of teamwork can get him to fully come out of his shell, which is where his time-travel powers come in AND EVEN THEN it’s a double-edged sword since on one hand, it forces him to actively step up to the plate and survey the situation to find the best possible solution, which leads to him slowly growing out of his shell, but on the other, it also leads to him becoming overly reliant on his time travel so that he can walk back from potentially life-changing decisions without having to worry about it since he has a magic reset button. Which ends up biting him in the ass. Hard.

He’s one of those types of people who is ultimately a thinker and planner instead of a do-er, but his being young and overly impressionable takes this personality quirk to such an extreme that he's foundationally useless to most groups. He’s the type of person who you have in a group project who sits around and does nothing, but then complains with the project does poorly because he couldn't be bothered to speak.

He's so unconfident and directionless that he uses effectively Instagram as a means to listen to someone who sounds like some 2deep4u philosopher post dumb flowery bullshit that effectively has all the meaning of "Drink water when you're thirsty." and he admits to finding such "deep" meaning in these posts that it supposedly helped him through life. Because he's 15 and doesn't know anything.

However, all of this makes him interesting as a character because he’s, again, still a fundamentally good kid at his core. While he’s shown to have a fuse, he is also the kind of person who has the ability to think his emotions through. That's what we ultimately see when he and Fret finally talk and drop their beef. The game depicting Rindo's capacity for self-awareness and emotional reflection is a positive revelation of his character strengths. He proves that he's capable of recognizing when he's in the wrong and knows how to apologize, a trait he shows quite a few times throughout the story, while also doing everything he can to set things right as well as be more understanding toward how his friends feels.

He’s kind of the guy who will drop everything to help a little kid out, even when there’s no tangible benefit to doing so and he and the others are shown to be on limited time, shows empathy to his friends/fallen enemies, and feels massive amounts of guilt for his actions, even if he didn’t know better at the time.

Hell, the entire endgame is fueled by his selfish yet understandable desire to save the people he cares about most from total erasure, to the point that he’s willing to risk thousands of lives to do so. But not only is he shown to be internally grappling with himself regarding his decision but he’s also willing to take responsibility and ensure that EVERYTHING goes right not just for himself and his friends but the people of Shibuya in general, in a parallel to Neku’s own selfish if understandable decision to put the bonds he formed in the original game (particularly with Joshua) over the actual city.

Characters aren't interesting simply by switching between 2 different character traits. They're interesting when all those traits are being expressed at the same time for reasons that are consistent within their internal logic. You gotta be a good writer to pull that off and you gotta know when to show off these dimensions during your story to achieve proper dramatic effect when the time calls for it and NEO I feel does this pretty damn well.

[qualityrain]

thinking abt how nekus the one that changed joshuas mind to not nuke shibuya. megumi tried convincing him by trying to make shibuya perfect but that perfection wasnt required at all joshua just had to be convinced that people could change. we dont know if hanekoma did anything but i definitely think he tried convincing joshua otherwise but from how he treats neku he kind of pushes the u HAVE to do a 180 and change because letting people in is good!! and doesnt acknowledge anything else. neku understands the struggle and the hurt that comes with caring about people and chooses to do so anyway. joshua probably thought megumi and hanekomas views to be idealistic and unreachable especially for somebody like himself. seeing neku be 5% better and slowly learning from strangers around him despite joshua trying to discourage him showed joshua that people can change. shibuya isnt a completely lost cause. its easier to be convinced of something when you know the pros and cons and neku realises that despite everything its still worth it to reach out to people. its what makes joshua understand and concede that there is a possibility it could be worth it and thats enough to change his mind. anyway unrelated its 3am and theyre both pathetic

[frickingnerd]

dating neku & joshua

pairing: neku sakuraba x gn!reader x yoshiya "joshua" kiryu

a/n: this somehow turned into a joshua post more than a nekujosh x reader post– you should still read it tho 👉🏻👈🏻👀

neku and joshua have quite the weird relationship with each other where it's hard to figure at times if they absolutely hate each other or if they actually are in love with one another

joshua can be a real asshole at times and he loves to mess around with you and neku, leading to neku and you often teaming up against joshua

joshua likes to lie for his own entertainment, but he also just lies a lot to himself as well

he's actually pretty lonely, but he'd never admit to it, not even if you held him at gunpoint!

neku and you figure it out at some point and never bring it up, but you try to make joshua feel more comfortable around you two

it's very easy to fluster joshua with genuine kindness. so if you sneak up behind him, hug him and tell him ‘we really love you and care about you a lot’ he'll be a mess!

he'll always laugh it off, but you can tell how flustered he truly is…

before dating you two, joshua thought it would be impossible to ‘get’ people. and neku was honestly the same in the regard

but now that the three of you are dating, the two boys realize that they were wrong. it takes a lot of time to truly understand someone, but it is so worth it!

neku, joshua and you trust each other with your lives! despite all the lies joshua tells, you trust him! he might be an asshole, but neku and you know he's a good person!

[mewkwota]

Geo stellar/ Saito Subaru

You also asked for Neku Sakuraba, who I know appeared in Kingdom Hearts, but I have nothing much to say about him strongly. Seems cool. I guess?

We'll just focus on Geo for this.

Send Me a Character

And I will tell you my:

First impression Seems cute. I wasn't rotted by the mindset of the Internet during my introduction to Star Force, so I easily accepted Geo as "oh look another new Mega Man". I can't even remember how we came across him. One day my brother got SF1, and that was about it.

I was also thrown off to see that he can smile so big once my brother got to SF2, but y'know, it is good for him.

Impression now I may not have as much of a deep and personal connection with Geo as I do for Hub, but I am still quite fond of him.

A word I find myself using a lot with him is "soft". I think about it a lot whenever drawing or when brainstorming concepts with him.

I'm sure a big part of why I see him like that is because Geo is a pure human. That deviates so far from any previous Mega Man but I think that's actually very interesting. It adds a sort of vulnerability compared to the others that makes me think, "What will do you, soft human, in this tougher world?", "How much will you change?".

Favorite moment Whenever Geo's visor is obscured it looks so cool. I also think in doing so, it hides a part of him being human, perhaps I am overthinking it but something about that is kinda cool.

Idea for a story There is a theme going on here. Obviously. I'm usually able to find key concepts to work around when I invest that much into a character.

This would have occurred early into Geo's entry into OSS, so he's only just met the twins-- not knowing they are twins just yet. One night, while Lan is asleep, Hub decides to ask Geo a sudden question, "What's it like to be human?".

I actually drew something that was meant to start this comic off but gave up afterwards because my energy vanished. Gee, I wonder which one that was.

Unpopular opinion I like his SF1 form more. Seeing Omega-Xis clearly reminds me they're both one part of the same whole. The two-headed Mega Man.

Random Note: I never realized how neat it is to play as Geo in VRChat. Just having Omega-Xis chilling there as my other arm makes me feel less lonely.

Favorite relationship It's a super basic crossover, but I love the interactions shown between Geo and the Hikari twins in OSS. He fits right in. :>

Favorite headcanon Those boots of his are like weighted gear in DBZ. If Geo can't get beeg and stronge like his dad, those will have to do.

[dj-of-the-coven]

Top 5 Beat moments!! Predictable but also you're like the go-to Beat blogger and I want some Beat appreciation

It is almost physically impossible for me to choose the BEST Beat moments simply because he has too many such moments to count, but here are five of my favorites in no particular order: 1. Beat's words of comfort for Fret

Not only is this advice incredibly sweet, I think it's an amazing bit of characterization about the way Beat processes grief. This both works as a callback to how he handled Rhyme's death (keep goin'--for her sake) and as a parallel to the death of someone else who was close to him, a passing that he's still dealing with at that point. I love that he's matured enough to recognize his struggle in Fret and give him the same words of encouragement that he needed when he was that age: keep going, no matter how hard it gets. Somebody has to.

2. Beat on the rooftop

this image goes hard. next entry

(This one is mostly about the picture, but on a more serious note, I think this scene drives home the fact that Beat really does have deeper emotions than everyone seems to think he has. The dude is seriously introspective. For a guy who's allegedly pretty head-empty, he's able to describe his emotions incredibly well to Neku when the time comes, and I think that his reflection on those feelings didn't just start in the moment. If not earlier, I think he might've started here.)

3. Beat resolving to protect the Twisters

The fact that Beat considers the team to be his responsibility is really heartbreaking, honestly. He does so much and still falls short for basically everything that he cares about, both in the original twewy and in neo: he never really was a good reaper, he couldn't rescue Rhyme/save Shibuya without Neku's help, and here, in neo, he falls short of the expectation of the "legendary player" that was placed upon his shoulders when he was being hunted. In spite of the twisters' generally positive attitudes about his joining, Beat is still technically a consolation member; in short, a failed goal. He places the care of the team entirely on his shoulders for no reason other than that he cares. There is no expectation of him to carry that weight, but he wants to, and he tries to, no matter what kind of recognition he receives for it.

4. Beat sacrificing himself

Beat's first instinct when it comes to the ones he loves is to put himself between them and whatever tries to hurt them, be that a car or a massive taboo beast noise. If he loves you, he will die for you, without hesitation or fear.

5. Beat reuniting with Neku

He is such an incredibly expressive puppy, I fucking swear. I know there are a thousand more moments to care about and analyze but I just have to put a spotlight on my boy... he's so happy to see Neku again that he starts to CRY

(I also love that Beat's soft side, particularly his habit of crying, is framed over and over again as a very endearing quality rather than making him weak. He's such a sweetheart and every moment that showcases it is my favorite.)

[fisticuffs-bee]

Favorite Character Poll (:

I'll even get Into It i have Reasons

Have you seen sonic. he's so cool. i literally keep getting the reputation of being The Sonic Guy because i do NOT shut up about that series when given the chance.

I simply have a tendency to love protagonists and watanuki is the protagonist of what is my favorite manga ever

You guys have no idea how much I think about vanitas. It's incredible I haven't posted more about kingdom hearts in general actually. but i think that's mostly because the only kh thing i think about is a massive au that is Such an undertaking that i dont really want to have to bother explaining it more than once akshfalksda

unfortunately, persona 5 left a huge impact on me when i was in high school. i wish that game was actually good for the hold that it still has over me.

i experienced twewy when i was an edgy middle schooler (hes a bit older, granted, but. lol just like neku) and it changed me forever. (i only said "and neo" bc i really like his design in neo it inspired me to use my adult money to go out and buy clothes that i actually like and not just wear whatever i still had of stuff my mom got me when i was in high school)

my favorite character of all time ever is my own blorbo salem jastres who is my oc ive had for nearly over a decade at this point. i have literally considered changing my last name to his whenever i get it legally changed. he is the guy i absentmindedly doodle in notebook margins. because i used him for a dnd campaign, i've got two versions of him running around and im equally obsessed with both. my friends jokingly accused me of kinning him. i literally never stop thinking about him. i HAD to give him some sort of mention here. but he's not a real option hes just the "i dont know these guys / i dont care / i just want to see the results" option

some honorable (or not so honorable, depending) mentions include: chai from hi-fi rush, zangetsu from bleach (hollow zangetsu), junpei tenmyouji from zero escape, and jak from jak and daxter (fun fact: zangetsu is the dishonorable mention i have a love/hate relationship with bleach)

[purplelea]

NekuShiki question time! :)

1. Would they want to have kids? How do they tell each other?

2. Is there any scenario/au you would like to see them in (more often)?

3. How do they make up after a fight?

I think they would, but not a lot of them. I'm thinking either one or two. And I have no idea how they would tell eachother, so i'm going to skip that part x)

A scenario I'd like to see more often... I think them making mistakes. being imperfect. hurting eachother and working through it. being young, being free, being the teenagers they weren't allowed to be because of Neku's second death. Because Shiki spent three years waiting, and Neku spent three years in purgatory, and now that they're back in the RG they should get silly with it. I think part of what makes me like them a lot in an highschool setting (after the og, before A New Day, or in an AU) is that they're usually very imperfect and clumsy there, but they still love eachother anyway, so much. Also I love the idea of both suddenly getting a group of friends when they were pretty lonely before XD

I'd say it depends of the fight. If it's a small one, not really high stakes, they just got annoyed or frustrated but none of them is really hurt, they'd do something silly like a joke to the other one and move on, or just help them out with something. They wouldn't need to talk about it. If the fight was a serious one though (I think they'd be rare but still happen sometimes), they would first need time to chill. Shiki, especially. Neku is pretty chill after neo, but I think Shiki can still get mad pretty easily because she's very stubborn and adamant on some things. Time might have eased her rough edges, but they're still lying beneath the smooth surface. So firstly they'd take a break x) And then they'd be able to talk about it. Their talks may vary in lenght, some might be very quick and some might take multiple hours if the issue was a big one, but they don't leave anything unsaid, whether it's positive (remaining silent on his feelings for Shiki before A New Day was... maybe not a Good Choice for Neku, and he knows it. Shiki can only know how much good other people think of her if they tell her outright) or negative. Neku might need to push Shiki sometimes to voice the negative parts... because she's so happy he's back that she refuses to admit that some things might be wrong. Neku on the other hand is more likely to remain silent on very small things that bother him than to do so on important stuff. He'll compromise on which restaurant Shiki wants to go all the time, accepting her choice way more often than imposing his, but he won't lie on the important stuff, because if it remains unsaid it'll never be solved. The only issue is that he might be too brutally honest on those sometimes ^^" But in any case, before moving on, they'll hug and make sure each of them feels validated and loved, both to ease Shiki's anxiety, and to reassure Neku on his trauma of isolation.

[airawisteria]

The fact that Neku chose Joshua at the end of TWEWY just makes me feel so many fucking things—

Alright, here me out here.

Imagine you've gone through living life seeing dead people fighting these monster things, but no one believes you—none of them trust you. Sure, they maybe might trust you, but clearly not enough to believe you. You (probably) isolate yourself and clearly can't fit in, so you believe that letting people in will only lead to disappointment because what you've gone through has proven that to be the case.

Fast forward to now where you're the Composer. Shibuya's slowly, but surely, losing its spark and growing duller each day. And you're faced with a decision to make: to continue seeing the city eventually lose all that you loved about it and decay into nothingness or to destroy it here while it's still shining. You choose the latter. However, your Conductor is against this and vocalises this to you. You propose a bet, he has a month to win against you while you have a proxy play in the Game. Your Conductor accepts and the timer appears on his palm.

Later on, one of your top reapers (Game Masters) tries to overthrow you in the RG. He doesn't anticipate how much power you truly have in both planes of existence, so he, naturally, fails this attempt. However, during this, a teenager who you can instantly realise is like you in so, so many ways is caught in the middle. Seeing this golden opportunity, you use the gun in your hand to kill him. With a flick of the wrist, you have a Player Pin in your hands as you toss the pin onto the boy's dead body.

Neku Sakuraba should make for a fine proxy.

The first week begins of Neku's Game and you find that Neku is grasping the Game quite well—good, that's what you'd expected, after all. And soon, Neku wins but as you aren't around to oversee the players going from the RG to the UG, your Conductor has to use what he has to make sure nothing seems out of the ordinary, such as using another player as an entry fee. However, the fact that Neku sees another player (Shiki Misaki) as important enough to be his entry fee is... surprising.

The second week is about to begin and you feel quite the bit intrigued by Neku, so you decide to lower your vibe so that you, too, can play the Game. Once you're in the Game, you waste no time in partnering up with him. Neku, so laser-focused on finishing this Game for Shiki Misaki, looks for you, panicked. It's a sight you hadn't been expecting—since when did someone like Neku care about others like this?

Acting like you normally do, you soon find that Neku is not exactly fond of you. Of course, you hadn't expected him to be, but you had thought it would be for a different reason as opposed to not doing the tasks with haste since he needs to get Shiki back. You'd thought it would be for your attitude, but just that, not because of someone else. How... intriguing.

The week continues with Neku exchanging words of hostility to you as you half-truth your way out of things. Neku gets visions and soon realises you had killed him, and the hostility raises many levels. It's almost tangible how much he hates you. Yet, you do not give him a full answer, but rather one filled with half-truths. And, as the week continues, you find that the world view the two of you had agreed upon had changed for Neku. He is willing to let others into his garden. He's changed. The new situation shocks you, but you do not show it—how could you? And, why would you?

The week continues with much the same situation with Neku only cooperating with you, begrudgingly. Your identity was almost discovered by one of the reapers (Koki Kariya) but instead, you are assumed to be alive. If only to save yourself the hassle of the two knowing that you are the Composer, you go along with it after a moment of hesitation.

You find out about how the Taboo Noise came to be and that the Game Master (Sho Minamimoto) alongside Sanae Hanekoma has been using them.

The week continues and you notice something about the Red Skull pins.

Eventually, the week ends and you and Neku are fighting Sho Minamimoto. After a long battle, Sho uses an attack that would absolutely erase Neku if the attack connected with him. So, you push him out of the way, 'sacrificing' yourself as you say, "But, Neku, I thought you couldn't afford to lose" and with that the week ends.

You watch as the third week begins and how screwed over Neku is at the moment, but you don't do anything. A reaper turns player (Bito Daisukenojo) and Neku team up.

The week continues and, eventually, the two of them make their way to Dead God's Pad where they reunite with Shiki. Soon after, you see him again and, strangely, Neku seems relieved to see you. The four of you fight your Conductor in a misguided attempt to escape the Game. Neku wins, of course, and he finds out about the Long Game and how much of his life you've controlled. Well, his afterlife. You inform him of your plans to erase Shibuya. Expecting him to see this betrayal of trust to be enough to want to seek revenge against you, you offer him a deal—you will count down from 10 to 0 and the two of you will shoot. If Neku shoots you first, then he wins. If you shoot Neku first, you win.

You expect him to choose Shibuya over yourself. After all, is that not what everyone else has done? Your Conductor was to be expected, but you hadn't anticipated Sanae's betrayal, yet it makes sense. Neku hadn't known you for nearly enough as the other two, so for what reason would he choose you? No one has ever chosen you before.

Neku picks up the gun and points it at you and you smile as you countdown from ten. Tears have stained Neku's face, but when you reach zero, he drops the gun and smiles at you as a bang reverberates around the room.

He chose you.

So, you choose him too.

A week goes by and Neku and his friends are all alive now, yet he hasn't forgotten about you. He doesn't forgive you. Yet, he invites you to hang out with all of them. Yet, he trusts you. Yet, he chose you over the city he adored and grew up in.

He chose you. And you chose him.

(You are Joshua in this entire thing, if that wasn't obvious, btw)

And that, my friends, is what I call some romantic shit right there.

[knowledgecat247]

Daily Tumblr Post (1/24)

Hey guys!

Finished the song, might release at some point soon.....I don't know

Now I need to work on character designs and stuff for the animation and voices

In other random news, I decided to start watching random MtF Voice Training videos, you know as one does and some of the stuff they were saying felt...familiar to me

For an explanation I love doing voice impersonations, and I can do some good ones of the following: + Elmo (When I'm not sick)

+ Mickey Mouse (When I'm not sick)

+ Kermit the Frog

+ Ernie (It's like Kermit the Frog, but less froggy)

+ Mario

+ Luigi

+ Toad (When I'm not sick, because despite Toad having a little gravel, it's a very high pitched gravel)

+ Waluigi

+ Stitch

+ *cough* *cough* Wilbur Soot *cough* *cough* (That ones only good for parodies now to poke fun at him)

And honestly I remembered this morning that I am able to do....a sensual anime girl voice, is it good? I don't know, I need to get people's opinions on it still. I try to make sure to utilize my knowledge of the Japanese language (Which is not a whole lot: "konichiwa", "Sensei", "Neku", "Roku") and I mainly only use "Konichiwa" and "Sensei" for it... I've said enough.

Anyways, I just need to learn how to do a voice impersonation of a female version of me, sounds like a fun challenge XD

I'm still on the fence about being trans and stuff depite the fact that I would love to be a girl and I feel like the world would probably be so much better for me if I was.... I'm still on the fence

Oh yeah! And there will be a part 2 to the NIMT bracket, so after this first one is finished expect another one (yay)

Anyways, this is where I say peace out! Hope you have a good day y'all! Peace!

[rainbow-nijisaki]

How about 13 and 16 for the TWEWY ask game?

13. what would you like to see in the future of the series?

First and foremost, my wish is that the series continues to be beloved and thus kept relevant by its fanbase, even if we don't receive anything new. I'm not incredibly hopeful for new entries, but that's not entirely a bad thing (and considering NEO's 14-year gap, anything could happen, so I won't say the chance is zero!). That said, I feel generally the same way about any potential sequels as I did when the "new 7 days" was first announced - I don't really want a sequel for sequel's sake, but if the team has an idea they want realized, I'd love to see it. That's one of the reasons I so wanted NEO to happen - because I had a distinct feeling the original "new 7days" project had been cancelled, and I'd always wondered about that idea that never saw light.

As for more specific and self-indulgent answers, the things I'd want most if I had infinite money and could fund the team myself:

TWEWY Prequel: This was my number one want before NEO. The original game concluded nicely, so most of its loose ends lie in the past. Joshua's rise to Composerhood is a fascinating topic, along with Kariya's hints about a previous long game occurring in the past and his familiarity with taboo noise. There's just enough information there to suggest the team knew more about all this than what they ultimately chose to share, and it kills me a little that we'll likely never know what exactly they were thinking when they wrote that. In all honesty, I still want this game, but it faces some competition from -

The Shinjuku Story: This one I mostly want because I feel like most of the story has to exist already somewhere - it almost feels like a missing entry in the series. I think I'd like to see this as a "Neku's adventures with Coco as they investigate Shinjuku and uncover the story of what led to its destruction" game, but a split timeline would also be nice. My guess is you'd play as Tsugumi during the pre-inversion sections in that case. I really, really would like a twewy prequel, but between this and that, I feel this one is in more dire need of telling. Part of the reason NEO is so convoluted is because they're trying to allude to an entire game's worth of backstory that doesn't actually exist in any other format. (On a side note, in an alternate universe I'd have liked NEO to be split between Neku in Shinjuku w/ Coco and Tsugumi, and Rindo's group working with Beat in Shibuya. Minamimoto could be on either side depending on what role Coco has for him. It'd feel a bit more relevant to AND that way, and be able to tell the Shinjuku story without losing the Shubuya tie that the team deemed necessary.)

Should they determine they're never going to make any new entries in the series, I really want a data book. I'd love to see all the plot bits that never made it into writing (which I assume they won't share now on the off-chance they do use the IP again). Novelizations of the two aforementioned plotlines would also be very welcome as an alternative to full games.

This is less of an actual want and more of a pipe dream, but I think it'd be neat to see the original remade in the style of NEO. I don't think it's quite possible to replicate what made the original's gameplay special on systems that aren't the DS / 3DS, so that ship has sailed - so a re-invention of the battle system to work in a single-screen 3D space could be a lot of fun and very stylish. Would it be as good as the original? I don't know. But it sure would look cool.

Please, please let Sora make good on his promise to see Neku in Shibuya in KH4, I'll actually buy the game if you do SE. Even better if it's NEO Neku. And let Neku bring his friends so I can finally have a 3D NEO Joshua model to spin around and get a reference for that hairstyle facing right I'm begging you SE

16. any pet peeves – gameplay mechanics, story details, missed pun opportunities, etc?

The original game is absolutely perfect except in one regard.

Where are my threads macros???

I'm willing to forgive it for the original DS version but I really would have liked to have them added to Final. We have four pin sets, but for a game heavy on fashion (especially with the brand chart mechanic) we have to manually change threads piece-by-piece. And read through all the descriptions again and again looking for that one effect...again. I think I played with equipment sets a lot less than I would have otherwise because of this.

But fine, Final is an enhanced port so I'll forgive it too.

But then we get NEO, a brand new, modern RPG in the year 2021...

And we still. Do not. Have. Threads macros.

Ugh.

-

Another big one for me (but probably more personal) is the total loss of ground-Joshua in Solo and Final remix once you unlock levitation. I understand that, unfortunately, switching mid-combat wouldn't really work anymore, but I would have at least liked a toggle in a menu somewhere.

"But Yoshaiya," you say, "why do you need that? What insane person would actually use ground combat Joshua once you unlock the vastly superior god-powers-angel-beam-flinging-levitating-actually can kill things Joshua-"

I would. I do not need to elaborate.

-

I'm not going to get into story details pet peeves since surely you're tired of reading this by now and wondering when I'm finally going to shut up - I'll just quietly note that while I do love both games, I do have some story nitpicks regarding NEO. But that's not something I want to get into right now. I'd rather not discuss my misgivings without also going into what I like about it, and most likely, neither you nor I have time for that essay right now. (Also, before I say anything about what I like / don't like regarding NEO's writing, I'd definitely want to give it another replay.)

As a minor one though...I would have liked to see more familiar faces among NEO's minor cast. Shibuya's a big town and always changing, but it's almost sad how the old faces are just...gone, three years later. Off the top of my head, I remember Eiji Oji and Ken Doi, and K-1 Okada from J of the M...and that's it. I'm actually kind of hoping I overlooked someone at this point. This isn't actually a pet peeve, mind, just...a missed opportunity I'm a little bummed about.

[scramble-crossing]

2 3 10 12 13 for the ask game!

2. A headcanon you weren't sure about at first but have come to like! Ok this is hard to answer because I forget what's canon and what's intricately-woven-into-my-brain headcanon but I'll say the "Kariya was an Angel" theory! I never disliked it, but I never liked it more than the simpler explanation of "Oh he's just been around the block a couple of times, that's why he knows more than the average Reaper but still couldn't pick out Joshua as the Composer-that stuff's above his paygrade." Even now it's not "canon to me" level of headcanon, but I can see the appeal and really I appreciate anything that inspires people to look a littler closer at characters like Kariya or Uzuki. Also it's really good when played for comedy. His ass is showing up at the Angel convention, stealing as many appetizers as he can, and bouncing before anyone can point out that he got fired 30 years ago for skipping meetings to go play Tin Pin with random Wall Reapers.

3. A character that fandom has helped you appreciate It's too easy to say Coco so Beat! It's embarrassing to admit but I kinda had a bone to pick with him when I was first getting into the series for sorta "replacing Sho" in neo. I didn't think he was as interesting (and to be fair he really isn't in neo until you take his relation to Rindo's arc into consideration; he works wonderfully as a back for Rindo to hide behind even if his own story was very much concluded by the end of the first game. Then there's also his dynamic with Neku, which is very very good, but he didn't need to be a player character for that. Anyways). Beat analysis posting made me actually pay attention to him while replaying the games and realize how much I'd missed skimming over him in W2 (the poor guy's really gotta try to compete with fan darling Joshua and Sho, aka the loudest fucking man alive, for screen time). His stint as a Reaper is incredibly fascinating. I forget who, but I always distinctly remember someone talking about Beat getting prepped to try and deaden his heart and become as brutal and merciless as a Reaper is supposed to be before ultimately choosing kindness in both his siding with Neku and sparing Kariya and Uzuki in W3 and man.....yeah. He's just such a good guy. He's easily in the top 10 favs now, if not the top 5

10. A blog (mutual or one you follow) that has made your fandom experience brighter Well....yknow....

There are a LOT of others and I'm too shy to tag but goldensunset (incredible analysis) playtwewy (fav fics ever) sho-minamimoto (awesome art + sho headcanons) dj-of-the-coven (made me love beat) purplelea (also incredible analysis) bitternami (very kind and wow I read a fic of yours once and it blew me away...I will remember to find it and leave a comment soon) leonvilasi (always leaves fun and interesting comments in my notes) off the top of my head and a whole bunch of people who aren't as active in the twewy fandom anymore or whose art I love and the people I always see leaving funny tags in my notes you're all awesome <3

12. Compliment someone else in your fandom AUGH HELL ON EARTH!!! dandelion2302 I absolutely adore the way you draw Sho your art is amazing.................

13. Your favorite type of fandom event (gift exchange, ship week, secret santa, prompt meme, etc) Yknow I've never actually done any fandom events before twewy! I had a blast during the twewybang and while I probably won't participate again for a while (I'd rather finish the fic I wrote for the 23 one first) it was a wonderful first experience with this sort of thing :]

[mageknight14]

Something I always find funny when it comes to TWEWY discussion is how people tend to take Hanekoma’s words at face-value when it comes to the TWEWY mythos and his opinions on the Shinjuku games’ structure and take everything he says as fact when the games show, subtly or not, that he’s a heavily biased source who will outright LIE in the Secret Reports and that he’s not always the right moral viewpoint.

And that’s what I honestly love about his character because like any well-written character, he is often fraught with his own subjectivity.

I think an important thing to note is that in the Secret Reports, there is a small mistranslation that shapes a lot of what Hanekoma has to say regarding the events that takes place within the story; namely, Rindo DOESN’T have a high Imagination. It’s actually rather low or mediocre and his Replay power mainly comes from his pin, with Nagi and Fret being the real powerhouses.

(Shout-outs to my friend ζ for this great document!)

In the original ENG translation, the report went "For better or for worse, he is able to maintain abnormally high levels of Imagination, thereby increasing the accuracy of each Replay."

When in actuality, it’s "The higher [the] levels of Imagination he is able to maintain, [the] increas[ed] accuracy of each Replay." Which basically means that Replay relies on him maintaining the focus of his Imagination, rather than how much Imagination he has in general. It also fits in well what we know about Rindo and how he contrasts his team. Nagi is a huge otaku with a passion for her favorite gacha game, Fret is a fashionista that’s caught up on the latest trends, Shoka has her entire thing with Gatto Nero and Neku and Beat are winners of the last Reaper’s Game, with the former already having high amounts of Imagination even before he got sucked into the game due to a combination of his love for urban culture and the arts and Hanekoma’s graffiti subconsciously raising his Imagination levels even higher. Meanwhile, all Rindo has is the words of a social media guru that he mindlessly parrots and a mobile game that he casually plays. Not exactly grounds for cultivating a high level of Imagination, no? That said, Rindo is still able to function as a potent user of Replay due to his ability to hold a LOT of information in his head at one time, giving him a holistic view of the situation that makes him be able to piece together character relationships and bits of information in a way that he can use to his advantage to turn a bad situation around to his favor. W1D5, W2D2, W3D3, and the final day are especially great examples of this.

This is an important distinction to make because Hanekoma actually dismisses Rindo multiple times due to his low Imagination, in contrast to how supportive he was of Neku in the first game. Hanekoma's prioritization of Imagination is him believing that it is a necessary foundation for people to have in order to face adversity; to interpret their world; to grow, self-analyze, and to properly contribute to society. With that in mind, Rindo not having a good level of Imagination to him is indicative of a kid whose potential to do all these things is not as impressive and therefore would probably fail the Shinjuku Reaper’s Game. And to some extent, he’s right since Rindo does fuck up at times and stagnate when people he believes to be more capable show up to potentially solve his problems for him; taking away his responsibilities from him.

However, Rindo does grow from his mistakes, which ultimately culminates into him rejecting the offer for Haz to solve everything for him in favor of striving for a better future for both him and the people he cares about and the Shinjuku Game’s ruleset does make him come out of his shell as a leader, which was what ultimately saved all of them in the end, not his Imagination levels. It’s important to note that unlike the others, Rindo doesn’t actively participate in Operation Awakening: he’s the guy who gets the pieces to go where they need to go in order to have the operation go by smoothly and navigates them to do their job correctly. Operation Awakening ultimately succeeds due to Rindo’s skill as a leader, which Hanekoma did not view as something to make ado about. Hanekoma's vibe was that imagination, and by proxy, the things it provides a person to do, is something that is predisposed..but Rindo proved that you don't have to be predisposed to imagination to do really amazing things or affect change on a grand scale; you can learn how to do it through your experiences. There’s a reason why World is Yours, which is basically Rindo’s theme, has the phrase "Making mistakes is proof that you’re challenged. The World is Yours."

This is also a pretty big contrast when you consider how the Shibuya Game operated, which was heavily biased towards high Imagination people to excel further while pushing low Imagination people out of the running. I mean think about it: out of a normal week in the original game (Week 1), only Neku and Shiki survived legitimately (Beat only got by due to Hanekoma’s intervention in order to make him a wild card later on). But because they have high Imagination, Hanekoma is fine with such a low survival rate for the others. If someone only cares about supporting the already "gifted", then it makes sense that Hanekoma would only focus on a model that promotes Imagination gain and self-reflection for those he deems worthy, i.e. already have good Imagination.

That’s not even getting into how the nature of psychs and pins already predisposes low Imagination people to be weeded out in the original game. And of course, there’s also this Report from the original to consider.

"So, what happens to those who survive the week? Those whose Imagination is less than outstanding are broken down into Soul, while those with excellent Imagination become Reapers. The most talented of these may travel to the next plane, inhabited by Us Angels."

Remember Sota and Nao? By Hanekoma’s and the Shibuya Game’s logic, those two deserved to be absorbed into Soul by account of them not being able to survive but it’s because how the Game operates, that’s just how it has to be, even though the circumstances were out of their control and they are shown to be genuinely good people. From Hanekoma's view, he sees the act of facilitating Imagination as the means to progress evolution; a way to improve the health of world's laws. And why wouldn't he, right? By focusing on Imagination, you are promoting people to think better, to build self-awareness, to grow and change into better people; to reflect. Hanekoma finds this to be ideal, but maybe doesn't consider the vast ways with which people could achieve high Imagination. Hanekoma essentially viewed the lack of focus on Imagination specifically in the Shinjuku Games as precluding the capacity to grow and change, but failed to account for ways in which the team system could allow for growth and self-reflection in other ways even without an entry fee, and arguably more so because of it. The great thing about Hanekoma as a character is that while he has good intentions, he still falls under the Higher Plane mentality of "the ends justify the means" and this leads to a heavily biased perspective from his end. Just take a look these excerpts from the original game’s secret reports:

"My art is widely accepted in Shibuya."

"This proves that those with Imaginations sufficient to create the future are gathering in the area. Shibuya's future is looking very bright."

"I imbue my art with two command codes. The first is "Enjoy the moment more". This strengthens the Imagination. The proxy received this signal loud and clear, though past trauma precluded him from responding accordingly."

"The second code, "Gather", calls to those with strong Imaginations. Hence the inevitability: why wouldn't the Composer find his worthy proxy standing in front of my graffiti?"

When you break it down, he’s essentially saying "My art is so good that it is propelling Shibuya into a better future. Just ignore how I implant my own codes within it to specifically cultivate Imagination." Sounds just a bit egotistical, doesn’t it?

Shibuya is a hub of youth culture and is where new trends are born. Of course the UG of it would value individuality and creativity -> influencing others through art and passion. Shinjuku is both a business district but also has a very expansive night culture. It’s considered "adult" in comparison so of course the UG would value having to work with many, many different kinds of people -> being able to navigate and work with people to your advantage. This also helps to explain why the concept of entry fees aren’t a thing because the team set-up is the challenge in and of itself. Obviously Shiba’s version of the game is an anomaly so huge teams like that probably wouldn’t exist in a "normal" version of the game.

But being a leader in and of itself puts that individual in the best position to ascend and gain power within the UG, but then the leader is burdened with being in charge of the individuals under them. Meaning they have to learn to balance the two and work with their team. Likewise, just joining a team means you end up at the mercy of just following along with what your leader says, meaning without the ability to actually challenge or discuss things openly, you will also fail as an individual within that team.

Let’s compare Fuya and Kanon’s teams for this example: Fuya is explicitly noted to have a high Imagination but that didn’t stop him or his team from repeatedly coming into second-to-last place and the mental breakdown he’s currently having while Kanon doesn’t have a whole lot yet she has her head on her shoulders and the social skills needed to be an effective leader, hence why she and her team are able to survive relatively comfortably in the middle. Just having high Imagination or high qualities won’t be enough on its own if you’re unable to work together and balance out your respective strengths The Wicked Twisters end up being the best example of this ideal since they’re able to work together and clash thoughtfully as a team and support one another in times of needs, with the final day in particular running entirely on this concept. If just a single piece was out of place, the entire thing would’ve fallen apart.

Ultimately, Rindo’s growth is a response to OG TWEWY in that you don’t need high Imagination or some other equivalent to be able to enact change and that there are other methods to do so, especially if you use your own unique strengths for them.

Then we must compare how the respective Games are operated. The Shibuya Reaper missions (other than the one assigned by Kitaniji) tended to be pretty simple: go here, defeat Noise, etc. The other stuff such as the need to fix 777’s lighting seemed less about intentionally giving a mission and more incidental. They additionally have harrier Reapers, who more or less fit as the game’s RNG element with their job being to actively hunt down Players like animals. With this and giving the Players simple missions with little structure to go on but letting them have to figure out any resultant complications, the Shibuya Game is a lot more chaotic. By contrast, the Shinjuku Reapers are a lot more involved and administrative, which is fitting considering their business aesthetic. You have them being around to answer questions (unless you’re Shoka but she’s had to do this repeating structure for ages without a shake-up of things so it makes sense that she would be sick of it), preventing unfair interference, providing help, and generally ‘administering’ the missions. You have ordered events like the Scramble Slams, with the commentator actively, well, commentating, more involved missions like decals being set up ahead of time, spot-the-difference missions, a pig treasure hunt, etc…

Of course, there are certainly chaotic elements as well (bribing Reapers for more points, having to act on the whims of the Game Masters, teams forming alliances with one another, etc) but for the most part, it’s a much more controlled structure and it really fits in well when you consider the individuality vs sociality mindset of Shibuya and Shinjuku respectively and shows why Hanekoma, an Angel infatuated with Shibuya, would look down on the Shinjuku games in comparison. In his mind, Shibuya’s more emergent mechanics and interactions allow for more Imagination to be cultivated and to him, Imagination is the sole important thing to focus on. But Rindo’s growth disproves that mentality quite a bit and shows that, like many things, there’s room for compromise between both sides. It may also reflect the devs' changing opinions as culture has changed. In 2007 Nomura and company may have focused more on individual talent under the idea of the spirited sole artist, but by 2018, they realized that leadership and followership, and the ability to work in teams, also really fucking matters. Individuality is still important at the end of the day, hence why Rindo needed to get his shit together and not just become a follower like he was before in order to achieve better things for himself and others, but accepting and learning to balance different viewpoints in order to achieve a desired solution is also extremely important.

At the end of the day, Rindo’s growth is a response to OG TWEWY in that you don’t need high Imagination or some other equivalent to be able to enact change and that there are other methods to do so, especially if you use your own unique strengths for them and even Hanekoma himself seems to realize this when he praises Rindo’s ultimate decision and the courage he had to have to make that choice and sincerely hopes to meet him someday.

Ultimately, Rindo’s growth is a response to OG TWEWY in that you don’t need high Imagination or some other equivalent to be able to enact change and that there are other methods to do so, especially if you use your own unique strengths for them. And even Hanekoma himself seems to realize this when he praises Rindo for this courage he had to make his final decision and that he sincerely hopes to meet him someday.

[ayahachitwister]

Now I'm totally considering a Symphonia-style TWEWY AU. I'm not actually going to write that since I already have my huge witch AU still going, but XD'' Thinking about how the TWEWY characters would be used in the Symphonia world is kinda fun~

...though I wasn't thinking when I first placed everyone into roles, so I accidentally made Sho into Neku's dad, whoops.

Anyway, who gets what role under the cut, for those curious~ Just know that with all that said, there will be Tales of Symphonia spoilers, and I highly recommend playing it without spoiling yourself if you can!

So, the roles--and keep in mind, this is just based on where they'd be starting in the world/some of the major plot points around them, 'cause uh... there's not a good 1-to-1 for like any of these.

Neku = Lloyd Shiki = Colette Beat and Rhyme = Raine and Genis Sho (*edit: or Mr. H) = Kratos Shoka = Sheena Rindo = Zelos Nagi = Presea Fret = ...Regal?? (with his dead best friend as Alicia >.>'~) Josh = Mithos

Noishe gets to be the Progfox, and you'll understand why I chose that if you've read my witch AU.

And... I have no idea for past that. >.>'' Like I'm sure Megumi, Konishi, Higashizawa, and Shiba at least could be four of the five Grand Cardinals, but who the heck would be Martel?? And Yuan and Botta?? I almost want to say Kariya and Uzuki for that, but then that would mean... DX'

Also, thinking about it again, maybe Mr. H should be Kratos instead of Sho XD'' But it was still funny to think of Sho in that role :D'' I mostly thought of him first due to NEO.

[frickingnerd]

dating neku & shiki

pairing: neku sakuraba x gn!reader x shiki misaki

a/n: i've been replaying the first twewy game (& hope to replay neo:twewy soon) so i had to write for my favs from the og cast! but i'll post poly for neku & his two others partners too <3

shiki and you are much closer at first, as neku just has a hard time opening up and isn't super social when you first start dating

he has grown a lot already, but he knows that he still has to improve, so that eventually there's no trace of the antisocial asshole left that you and shiki first met

even though the two of you liked him back then, he's determined to be a better person for the two of you! but that sometimes leads him to isolate himself

neku struggles to show how much he cares about you and shiki, while he's also the one most passionate about the relationship and an absolute simp for you two!

both neku and shiki are incredibly touch starved, but neku even more than shiki

those two felt so lonely and isolated for such a long time, that they're desperately longing to touch you, while also being too shy to initiate intimacy

both of them also need a lot of reassurance and reminders that they are loved the way they are!

shiki struggles the most with confidence, regarding her looks and her talents, while neku often wonders if he's even a good person…

whenever the three of you go on dates, you meet up at hachiko! it's your little spot and it holds so many memories, that even if it'd be quicker to meet somewhere else, you will always meet at hachiko's statue!

due to dating shiki, you and neku quickly become close friends with eri too!

shiki never shuts up about you and neku, leading to eri knowing all the details of your relationship and becoming your biggest supporter!

shiki not only makes the three of you really cool throuple costumes when halloween comes around, but she also makes regular clothes for neku and you!

and while she always refuses to let you pay for them, as she sees them as gifts, neku and you always sneak some money into her wallet when shiki isn't looking…

[mekatrio]

the next game i plan to play is TWEWY. unlike the other games ive been playing recently i will not be going into this game blind bc that is impossible for me, cuz ive lived with the worlds biggest twewy fan who is my brother. literally have memories from 2009/2010 of hearing the twewy ost from his ds first thing in the morning. he has also told me the entire lore of this game multiple times. i also tried to play it before in like 2016 or 2017 cuz my brother rly wanted me to and he was like 'its shorttt you can do it'. He Was Lying. and i also watched like 80% of his neotwewy playthru.

so im going to try again now as a More Experienced Gamer. hoping to finish before the end of january cuz thats when i see him again and i wanna hv scholarly discussions abt it with him. and maybe ill play neotwewy if i feel like it (i doubt this). for fun i want to list down everything i know abt the game from my brother so after i finish it i can revisit this post and laugh at it

- "What's a meme?"

- i dont actually know what a meme is. i remember this gameplay mechanic confusing me

- everybody is DEAD and this is PURGATORY or something like that. i still dont really understand what the reaper's game is despite knowing abt twewy for like 16 years

- this game is not a week long my brother LIED. i thought the game would end after one week which is why i tried it back then LOL i know that theres three weeks.. i think..

- shiki doesnt actually look like that thts actually the appearance of her toxic yuri friend or something. i remember this Very vividly bc its like the biggest plot reveal from week one and i remember being like WOAHHHH and jaw-dropped and it was so awesome. its still so awesome! im excited to experience that again

- beat and rhythm are hit by a car but the cars look like sharks bc uh.. hm...

- i actually dont know why the enemies look like that. i know theyre like..... Negative Spirit Energy or SMTH LIKE THAT but why they take the form of animals... idk

- Calling..... Someone is Callinggg 🎶

- the music is really good

- EVERYONE IS SO SKINNY ITS ALMOST SCARY

- fashion fashion that mechanic is fun. you need bravery in order to crossdress which gives you epic stats. which i think is very fun!

- also fuck im realizing that this is a squarenix jrpg meaning im gonna have to be planning members stats and all that shit again. and while i do miss doing that, i hope twewy's 2008 (2007?) design isnt too asswater and is actually functional

- THE COMBAT IS HARD i remember having to draw shit with my left hand while my right hand had to tap buttons! like what!!! according to my brother the combat utilizes every part of the ds, even things like the microphone and closing the screen, and is why he likes this game so much. i hope i can like it as much as him

- im nekuuuu and im rude and unfriendly and i cant remember anything and im mean but I'll Become Kinder as the game progresses

- neku chokes shiki??? i think he was trying to kill her??? so he could leave the game or something.. and she was floating? i have levitation powers???

- i dont remember if i get epic powers.. i feel like thats something i shouldve remembered

- i dont know what the math dude does in this game. i dont remember what all the dudes with the wings are called or what their deal is but ohhh i remember them all pissing me off

- THE FUCKING PIN GAME pins??? badges?? bottlecaps??? i dont remember but i remember that minigame pissing me offff. fuck im gonna have to experience squarenix minigames again

- there is so much dialogue wohfuisdhfjk Squarenix JRPG.

- shiki DISAPPEARS at the end of the first week.. for some reason.. and neku plays a second week so he can bring her back. and that happens again for the third week where i think??? beat and rhythm disappears at the end of the second week? but this time neku isnt just betting on bringing his friends back HES BETTING ON THE FAITH AND GOODWILL OF THE ENTIRE WORLD somethinggg like that

- joshua is the new partner for week 2 and he is such a gay boy.

- Mother and father calls me Joshua ohohohoho

- only dead people can enter the reaper's game and if you win you get another chance at life or something?? idk why tho..

- beat and rhythm entered the game bc they were running away from home cuz they have shitty parentsss and then they got hit by a car

- and shiki attempted suicide i think

- and neku can't remember how he entered the game.. oh... so mysterious....

- it was because joshua shot him with a gun

- and joshua is God because this is a Squarenix JRPG

- joshua wanted neku to show him humanity's worth or SOMETHING cuz neku was a kid who had lost faith in humanity or something like that??

- and joshua disappears in the ending i think very ambiguousss

- The World Begins With You....