#disclaimer: i still haven't finished neo (i know. i know) and it's been a while so uh

[protect-namine]

what's up, I haven't forgotten this btw. if I never post this fic, just know that this was the plot I had in mind in my chapter one draft:

(they're all adults here btw, because a lot of things happened already by the time the story starts). so. joshua still sees dead people, right. the only problem is that he is definitely not dead. the only problem joshua has is that the composer (whoever he is 🙄) won't let him die no matter how many attempts he makes to enter the UG (because neku understands that if he succeeds, he'll try to become composer himself, and uh. neku has met many composer joshuas from other dimensions. one of them even successfully nuked shibuya! so, no thank you!! the only version he can tolerate is pink.)

so joshua is stuck in the RG against his will, pretending to be friends with shiki and eri and neku (yes, they all know each other in the RG), pretending to be a medium or exorcist or whatever because, well, he can see the dead, and he's bored, and he also runs this anonymous chatroom about strange happenings in shibuya (kinda drrr! style, all the participants in the chat are either players or reapers but no one knows who is who).

(btw, rhyme already survived the reaper's game at this point, and one of the first things joshua did as "medium/exorcist" was help RG!beat communicate with her while she was playing the game.)

(this paragraph isn't really in the chapter draft but it's just background info) the thing about neku though is that he's a relatively young composer but a pretty good one. due to plot reasons he already died too because he was with his best friend in the car crash. then he became composer at the end of the game. and as a reward to himself, he resurrects his best friend. but now neku is like, severely attached to this best friend. and why wouldn't he be when they just played the reaper's game together, trauma-bonded together, and he just resurrected him? he agreed to become god (for plot reasons) so he'll be alive again!! neku basically just wants to make shibuya a better place for his best friend.

fast forward to the present. said best friend (who is the only player who doesn't remember dying and playing the reaper's game, gee neku, special treatment much?) meets this cool artist who owns a cafe. they get this idea to expand their horizons and explore the bigger world out there. so they decide to, you know, leave shibuya and discover the world. dream big! go out there and grow!! and neku, who for plot reasons became the composer for them, is now stuck playing god to this goddamn city and his reason for his whole godhood isn't even in it, like what the fuck man (he's like a weird mix of weeks 2 to 3 neku).

anyway, so neku is not in a great state of mind, and because of that he kinda gives joshua the opportunity to finally slip into the UG. joshua does not know neku is composer or what even his deal is, but through other means he finds out that this is his only opportunity to successfully enter the UG. except when he's about to do it, shiki calls him with her week 1 problems and like, she's really desperate and she didn't know who else to turn to, joshua what should she do? she's so scared, joshua. can you be there for her for a sec?

what does joshua, budding misanthrope who only has this one opportunity to die, do in this situation?

(I am very sorry shiki, but he's going to be your partner in the reaper game, I'm afraid. also, hanekoma is, of course, doing his own thing in the background as always. it complicates things for both joshua and neku.)

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anyway, I just think it'd be neat to explore the idea of neku with powers and feeling like he's stuck in that situation; joshua being human and feeling like he's stuck in that situation. both of them learning from each other. joshua finding out that neku is composer and thinking it's hilarious that neku is preventing him from being composer when neku himself doesn't even really, truly care about shibuya beyond what his best friend likes about it. "we're just the same person, aren't we neku?" what a hypocrite.

and also to explore what week 1 joshua and shiki would be like. how, instead of shiki kickstarting this change in neku, she challenges joshua's perception of life and death and friendship, because they're already friends in the RG, why are you being so distant, joshua? joshua grappling with the fact that he murdered his friend and he's stuck with her in this death game. pretending that he really doesn't think the RG is all that and yet why does he want shiki to win this game? why does he want her to live? maybe he just thinks that for her sake, but not for himself. but shiki doesn't believe that.

and also to explore hanekoma babysitting neku now instead of joshua, hanekoma being CAT and the reason that neku's best friend left, and some other things. neku who tried to keep joshua alive and now has to oversee this death game knowing that joshua wants to be composer and that he killed shiki, this person they both knew in the RG.

I just think it's fun to explore how different circumstances would challenge their characters differently, you know. the flipped power dynamics, etc etc.

of course, the fic ends with a climactic gun duel, per usual.

I haven’t visited the TWEWY tag in ages BUT I have a sudden dire need to write a fic where Neku has supernatural powers (and he’s kinda meh about, whatever) while Joshua doesn’t, he’s 100% completely and utterly human and he’s really mad about it because it’s so boring

Idk I honestly thought I’m done writing TWEWY fics tbh so we’ll see if this is just another idea I’ll eventually forget or if this actually goes somewhere this time