#nonemiart

[unicornbobatea]

So y'all know how @leslielumarie has a Corruption AU for her character Papaya, right?

Well, since Reese here is also doomed by the narrative, I thought it'd be pretty cool to do a darker Reese AU as well. This post was originally going to be dedicated to my old Nightmare Demon OC "Cinnabar", but all of the aspects that were associated with that OC went into making what I call "Crimson!Reese". Please enjoy the short story snippet below, which is followed by some design notes.

Luca sat quietly on the train, reflecting on recent events. How was it possible for someone to kill one of his family members? And not just any of his family, but Vance of all demons was the one to die. Who could've done such a thing? A man from across the bus looked at Luca and spoke up with a weak croak.

"Where are you headed, boy?" the old man croned.

"Amanita," Luca said quietly. No need to hide the fact that he was headed to a town in the middle of nowhere.

"If you're just going there to wander around, I suggest a different location," the man says. Luca only raises an eyebrow. "Folks over at that town ain't themselves nowadays. They drag their feet and hallucinate, talking about horrors too personal to share. Like they're dreaming while awake or somethin'," the old man rambles on. Luca slowly turned his gaze to look out the window. If what the old man was saying were true, then a Nightmare Demon could very well be in the sleepy old town of Amanita...

The sun's descent crossed with the moonrise as Luca got off the bus, ignoring the old man's warnings. Just as the old man had said, there were a few wandering people who were dreaming with their eyes wide open, something only a Nightmare Demon could force upon people. Luca walked forward, going deeper into the town as night fell upon the streets.

The moon took its position high in the sky, yet none of the street lamps would light.

Luca's ear twitched as a ferocious punch came from behind him, dodging out of the way and continuing to evade as more punches came his way. Luca threw his palms forward, catching his attacker's fists in his hands before grabbing the assailant's wrists and throwing him far away towards a wall.

Whoever tried to hit him, his facd was covered by a mask, with only his glowing yellow eyes showing. He wore no shirt, but covered his torso in a heavy, teal denim jacket with beige fur. His black jeans were ripped at the knees, and his black canvas slip-ons were heavily scuffed.

"Long time, no see," the attacker smiled, unmasking himself.

"No... it can't be..." Luca whispered to himself. He knew that voice, and he knew that face, but he didn't know the Nightmare Demon standing before him. Reese would never attack him, and Reese would never destroy a town like this.

Reese launched another onslaught of attacks at Luca, firing streams of Nightmare Gas that Luca deflected with his own blasts of Nightmare Gas. Reese wasn't even close to Luca's skill level, but he was still giving Luca a hard time.

"Seems like this old thing's weighing me down..." Reese snarled, taking off his jacket. He came at Luca again, but much faster this time, forcing Luca to take him seriously, to the point where Luca would admit that Reese was keeping him on his toes. At some point, Luca saw Reese's back, which shocked him. He never thought he'd see Reese develop a gash, much less one that was blood-red.

"You know, when I killed Vance, I thought it was too easy. Thankfully you're as much of a fun challenge as I'd hoped!" Reese laughed, meeting Luca blow-for-blow. Luca couldn't dwell on the fact that his cousin's death was at Reese's hand, and focused on finishing the fight.

Eventually, after an hour or so of fighting, Reese slipped up, giving Luca an opening to grab his head and slam him into the ground.

"Reese! This stops now!!" Luca yelled into the night. He was met only with wild, pained, echoing laughter.

"YOU'LL HAVE TO KILL ME FIRST, LUCA!!" Reese yelled back.

Reese went insane after losing both Papaya and Enoch. After Luca cuts contact with him, Reese sees it as "abandonment", leading him to go insane.

Reese has a block of pale highlights in his hair. Unlike Corruption!Papaya, who (I would assume) got streaks in honour of and due to his attachment to Luca, Crimson!Reese's highlights are a form of mockery.

Reese's gash is in the shape of a heart, and is located on his back in the middle of his trapezius. This is something that was taken from my discarded NMD OC, Cinnabar.

LeslieLu Marie mentions that Luca's purple gashes are a property of his bloodline. Most NMDs have blue gashes. No official mention of red (yet), but I'll bet that Reese's red gash probably breaks existing NMD lore. On my part, I used red because 1.) Hearts are typically depicted as red and 2.) Red for Rage bro, Reese in this AU has unending rage.

Reese's jacket used to be Enoch's. Where did it come from? Well, "we do a little grave robbing. As a treat".

Reese has much more visible musculature after going insane.

Reese killed Vance as vengeance for Vance killing Papaya.

Reese still has a happy-go-lucky personality, but it's only a front, and he takes an unseemly pleasure in murdering both human and NMD alike. You know Flowey from Undertale? Yeah, that.

Reese's goal is to either kill Luca or die by his hand since there's nothing else to live for, at least in his mind.

In order to kill Vance (and possibly Luca), Reese becomes a capable fighter and enhances his strength and his speed to the point that he can dodge an arrow aimed directly at his head. This is another aspect taken from Cinnabar.

I really like what I've come up with! I always liked Reese as a character, and I really liked Corruption!Papaya. I knew I wanted to do a similar AU for Reese at some point, and here it is!

Papaya in this AU is probably rolling in his grave huh?

[unicornbobatea]

It’s him. He angy. OwO.

[unicornbobatea]

What if I?