#w3d7

[scramble-crossing]

I really wish Uzuki knew that Sho was still kicking earlier in neo this would've been so insanely funny

[bravadoting]

I’m surprised no one comments on how Tsugumi remembers Kubo, even after his exorcism. Sure, other characters maintain a vague recollection if prompted about him, but it’s apparent that Tsugumi retains her memories.

Alt text: Shiba and Tsugumi converse in the middle of Scramble Crossing.

Shiba: An Angel!?

Tsugumi: Assuming he was, everything begins to make sense. He hid among the shadows, granting you the powers that would help him erase Shinjuku. Then, he donned the guise of a Reaper, and began to monitor those of us who survived.

How is this possible? On W3D7″, she uses her Trailer ability to show a past, destroyed timeline to Shiba. This recollection nullifies the exorcism’s effect on her. 

Alt text: Blotchy black streaks with thick red outlines (the Dissonance Birds) enclose Hishima and knock Shoka back. The yellow vignette signals that this is one of Tsugumi’s trailers.

According to the Secret Reports, the vibes of latent powers come from the Higher Plane (NEO Report #3). Just as Rindo’s Replay stems from the ability to travel between planes, Tsugumi’s ability likely originates from the clairvoyance that Composers possess (OG Report #6). 

(Additionally, Angels are similarly able to remember Kubo and imprint memories, ala Joshua showing Neku’s death to him.)

[altorav]

Alto! Hope you feel better soon!

Tell us some (new?) AUs you would love to see for Neshiki! Anything you've seen in other fandoms that didn't make its way to Neshiki yet?

Thank you!

Well, I think a popular AU that I haven't seen yet is the reincarnation/parallel universes AU

Consider this: KH:DDD!NekuShiki were looking for each other, separated by dimensions, and they both betrayed Sora and Riku in order to reunite with each other, basically falling for the same dumb trick coughcuzthey'resoulmatescough

They also canonically said these lines to each other:

"See you on the other side."

"You won't recognize me after this."

"I will find you."

Another AU I haven't seen is something that plays up their somewhat enemies-to-lovers-esque early dynamic (hence why I came up with Pride & Prejudice AU awhile ago)

Another one is Rivals to Lovers based off their early Emotion Edge concept of being leaders of opposing teams. (This one is a huge opportunity but nobody so far had come up with anything yet)

Assassin AU (remember W1D2 or W3D7) vampire/werewolf AU, florist AU, witch & familiar au (imagine Shiki as just a witch trying to get by in her little shack in the woods and Neku is her unruly and stubborn cat familiar that she had to deal with daily. Things get worse when he accidentally ingested a potion that turns him into a human)

[itsfarmerphil]

W3D7: Rest and Celebrate in Advance and with Expectancy.

Heading into today, Sunday, a day of rest and a day to celebrate and worship. A time to lean into God and allow Him to fill you up as your rest in Him. It’s a day to worship God for all He has done and is in the process of doing. A day to celebrate His handywork as our church celebrates 60 years of ministry in the community and 25 years of our lead pastor serving. So today, I turn to God’s Word…

[having-a-hyperfixate]

Week 3, Day 7

Safety cut, line breaks where the original posts ended.

The Final Day

“I bet you don’t even know what the word ‘nervous’ means.”

“‘Ey, why you gotta call me out like dat, Phones?”

I have missed these two. :’) For the record, I’m fucking terrified.

 OKAY THE CITY BEING THIS DARK IS AWFUL I HATE IT. NOPE.

-----------------------

Beat. Answer your phone. It’s probably Rhyme. BEAT. THE PHONE. NOW.

-____-

Why. *facepalm*

-----------------------

I may have zoomed right past Kariya and Uzuki with Soundsurf before I even registered they were there. Thankfully the game didn’t let me zoom too far. >.>

I simultaneously have the warm fuzzies cuz ~teamwork~ and a yawning abyss of dread in my stomach cuz this is it.

I’ve always hated those last talks before the final battle. They make you so horrifically aware of exactly how much you stand to lose, even if you win.

I do not like that I have to go to Udagawa to meet Kaie. I am hella paranoid about that place. Aaaah.

-----------------------

Shout out to Hishima standing there to tell me he’s looking for someone? And then not telling me who? Bruh.

Kaie is waiting for someone who holds incredible power of the non-supernatural variety. So Rhyme or Shiki? Cuz everyone else is currently accounted for or VERY supernatural.

Well that was a weird detour.

-----------------------

An aside: Beat is all grown up and doesn’t flail at his full name anymore.

-----------------------

Beat Shiba. There’s no way this is real.

Oh now time has stopped. Good. THE PEOPLE ARE TURNING INTO NOISE WHAT. (This is about to descend into an unreadable mess I suspect. Sorry.)

How did I get a B I almost died. I think that meteor thing almost managed to hit eesh. Alright. Here comes the shit storm.

Oooh Rindo. Straight savage. I love his habit of throwing people’s words back that them. It’s the best kind of fuck you. It’s way too early to celebrate my dudes. There’s still no way we’re done.

“Executor”? Oh I do not like that.

Damn he died without going Noise.

I had really hoped Kubo wasn’t coming back. This was very naive.

4:44:44. Of course.

Also, OH FUCK. RINDO’S PIN JUST ERUPTED KUBO IS THE SOURCE OF THE DISSONANCE I CAN’T THINK WHAT DO.

NO DON’T YOU HU- NEKUUUUUUUUUUU!! He. He. He killed… he erased Neku. No. no no nononononononoooooo. And the Inversion-!

What IS he?! (I think I’ve gone non-verbal oh dear)

Another Angel. It’s official. I hate the higher plane. I didn’t like them before, the whole business with how cut off the Composer is has always struck me as designed to fail and massively fuck up but this. This is so much worse.

Why?! Why would… Why would they decide to destroy Shinjuku and Shibuya..?

Shit, Rindo has been Kubo’s proxy. Shit shit. This is so much worse than the reveal that Neku was Joshua’s proxy. Joshua hadn’t actually DONE IT yet. This fucker has actively done it once and is in the middle of succeeding again. Oh god.

Minamimoto. He was looking for a way to consume and control the Noise Rindo was generating. That’s why he needed a sample. His first attempt didn’t work and it fucked him up, like the Plague Noise have been doing all week. Shit I really hope he’s had time to figure it out. I vote we go back, un-erase Neku before I throw up, find Sho, get him fucking cooperate for once in his existences, no that’s not a typo he’s died like 4 times, then destroy the pin before Fuckwad here can call the Noise out of it. 

We’ll only get one shot though.

I’m gonna unpause now.

Okay watching Shoka get got like that. That was. Extremely unnecessary. 

I do not envy Rindo having to explain all this oh boy.

-----------------------

It just registered that we’re about to try to kill AN ANGEL. Fuck me. I remember Panthera Cantus. Oh boy.

I don’t know how well talking to Shiba is going to work, when he’s probably the way he is because Fuckwad did something to him on a Soul level.

Lmao that went poorly. Shocker. And now, a scavenger hunt across time~

-----------------------

The scavenger hunt has yielded

Hishima and Shiba used to be     good friends but Hishima refuses to be overtly helpful

Rhyme has mad hacking skills     and Beat still hasn’t looked at his damn phone

“Must be from a higher     plane. Everyone from up there is some kind of weirdo, let me tell you.”     KARIYA. WHAT. HOW MANY HAVE YOU MET!? Also like, most of the Reapers     aren’t supposed to know about this shit. I remember the secret reports     very well thanks. Only the Composer knows they exist.

Coco called Fuckwad a must,     dusty, crusty old cretin and this gives me LIFE. Otherwise was very     unhelpful.

Uzuki just had an ‘oh my god they were partners’ moment re: Hishima and Shiba and I’m half giggling cuz my brain made it a meme and half having Feels cuz “things go south with your partner and then that’s it?” halp my emotions.

SHE JUST CALLED HIM HELLO!? XD UZUKI I LOVE YOU. SHE STILL HAS NO CHILL SHE’S JUST MORE PRODUCTIVE ABOUT IT.

“Can you imagine? Being played like that… and then having everyone just abandon you like you’re nothing?” It wasn’t until Fuckwad said what he is that I stopped being out for blood. I was assuming that whatever had happened to change Shiba, he had played a part in it himself. But if someone that much more powerful came and started messing with his head and his soul then yeah, he deserves to be snapped out of that and to be himself again. If what he became isn’t his own fault, if it wasn’t because he messed with something he shouldn’t have, then yeah. Make this stop. Then we’ll see.

-----------------------

Damn Hishima going straight for the jugular. Respect.

We got our cease-fire for now though. Shoutout to Neku casually reassuring him we’ll fight him to the death if shit doesn’t kick off. Like that’s totally normal. Aiya.

-----------------------

A thought, as Fuckwad is gloating over how screwed we are: Minamimoto want’s to “approach infinity”. Which in this case might not mean ‘I want to be Composer’, it might mean ‘I’m trying to make the jump to Angel’. In which case… That would be very good for us, I think. Certainly couldn’t be worse, at any rate.

(Exact line I’m on: If you thought that Noise gave you a good beating last time around, just wait till you see it now. You kids are in for a world of hurt. (No, I am not typing out his weird lisp thing.))

-----------------------

Oh gooooooooood damn it not again.

OH MY GOD SHOKA IS- SHOKA IS SWALLOW!?!?! HELLO!?!?!? I had completely forgotten Swallow even existed with all the madness.

THat. THaT JUST HAPPENED

AND FUCKING HE BROKE OUR PIN NO NONONONO OKAY OKAY HOW ARE WE GETTING OUT OF THIS THERES A WAY WHAT IS IT

Hello giant beam of light what??? I am massively confused. How. What. I do not understand what is happening. What is. GOING ON.

This post is long as fuck I’mma just make a new one.

[daisydezem]

Week 3 Day 7 (2/7)

Erich: *whistles* Rosetta: Don’t you all think we need to take better care of that one? Judy: Maybe fertilizer?  Erich: Could do that...  Judy: So.. uhm... how are things going with you guys and Marshall? Rosetta: Good... Erich: It’s going well. How about you? Judy: I... I’m out. We don’t have a click.  Rosetta: What? You gave up? Judy: No... Remember the beach? He wanted to talk to me and he told me. I didn’t want you all to know but now with just a week left I thought you should know. Erich: Wow... just 3 others left to beat. Rosetta: 3? Don’t you mean 4? Erich: No. It’s just Lori, Bristol and you left. Judy: I get you leaving me of the list but what about Riley? Erich: Oh... right. Rosetta: You’re acting weird. What is it? Erich: Okay look... You don’t have to worry about Riley. I can’t say why but just trust me okay.  Judy: Right that’s not vague at all... Rosetta: But good to know

@ladystraud-pixels, @terrahji

[goldensunset]

YEAH GIRL ME TOO

[trisaxis]

Clockwork Staccato

Also on Twitter

[Close-up & Spoilers under the cut]

Inspired by the song Patchwork Staccato. It made me want to draw BE Rindo with a big clock. The time is an hour away from the time the Soul Pulvis is released. I REPLAYED W3D7 TO CONFIRM 😂

[abnormallynice]

The World Evolves With You

The long-awaited personal take on a TWEWY-Digimon crossover is complete T3T/

Keep reading if you like headcanons and text! (TWEWY spoilers inbound):

The wolrd/AU follows alongside the TWEWY story with minor changes: - Players are partnered with a Digimon, not other players. Though, groups sticking and working together helps (as Shiki says in W1) - If the human or Digimon in a team is erased, they other will also cease to exist in several minutes. No Digimon nursery/rebirth or data downloading. - As a Player has personal growth, their Digimon will show equal in growth and digivolve into higher stages. - Digimon are In-training on Day 1 and outside of battles but automatically digivolve to at least Rookie when the battle initiates. In rare instances, some humans have Digimon higher than Rookie stage. - Where player’s prize for winning the Game is a second chance at life, Digimon have a chance at reincarnation into the human world, in a form of their choice. - Noise are mindless Digimon with tribal markings and appendages.

Neku and Monodramon: Evo line: Monodramon > Strikedramon > Cyberdramon > Justimon - Since Neku is our lovely protagonist, he gets the coveted dino/dragon Digimon. This was an amazingly hard choice to make (At first I wanted to go with Impmon, but ultimately I decided it suits Beat better). I did like the idea of Neku having rough, violent looking digis up until Mega, then showcasing a change of heart via the look of the final evo. - During the last day of W3, Justimon appears, a stark contrast in look and personality compared to prior forms. Justimon represents Neku’s final growth as a person, with a less aggressive shell but strong sense of justice for the friends he’s made, people he’s helped and a world he promised to get back to. - Notably, Neku’s Digimon is the only one that doesn’t have a set of wings in Mega. Let’s say It represents his stubbornness to not accept death, even when he was forced into the UG over and over. - It’s not surprising that Neku does NOT like this little, chubby purple creature that keeps following him around at the start of W1. It’s Shiki that helps convince Neku they have to work together (they still meet on D1W1. She and BlackGatomon saved Neku and Monodramon’s collective butts). Sloooowly, Neku and his digimon’s relationship betters and by the end they are 100% in sync.

Shiki and BlackGatomon (Mr.Mew) Evo line: Salamon > BlackGatomon > LadyDevimon/Angewomon > Mastemon - In contrast to Neku, Shiki’s Digimon was a painfully easy choice, lol. She always refers to her Digi as Mr. Mew as well, as they surprisingly resemble a stuffed animal she had when she was alive. In reality, her digimon IS her stuffed animal (thanks to data collection on the digimon’s part, it knows and understands Shiki). It’s one of the reasons that Mr.Mew is a champion level when they first meet. Mr.Mew only ever devolves to Salamon after Shiki’s first encounter with Higashizawa in W1. - Mr.Mew’s evo line is the only one that doesn’t follow ‘traditional’ evolution. The first time they go to Ultimate, the evolve to LadyDevimon; representative of Shiki’s still inner turmoil. When facing Higashizawa on D7, they slide evolve to Angewomon; representing her accepting herself (This is one of the reasons she is the winner of the Game in W1). In the final battle, the two evolutions combine to make Mastemon (I recommend looking at a pic of this digi because wow <3 ).

Joshua and Lopmon Evo line: Lopmon/Lopmon X > Cherubimon (Good) X - I knew knew knew Josh had to get Cherubimon as his Mega. Where most of the other’s Digimon Megas have somewhat seemingly human forms, Churubimon looks out of place as this massive pink bunny with winged ears, indicative that Joshua isn’t human like other players. Cherubimon X looks even more alien and ethereal (seriously, google it. The floating notes/digicode is perfect imo). - As part of Joshua’s deal with Kitaniji, he took a handicap and his powers were lessened, which made Cherubimon X a Lopmon. His Digimon appears as a regular Lopmon when meeting Neku for the first time, which helped mask his identity and assume his role as a regular player. However, Neku will soon notice that Lopmon never digivolves higher than Rookie (whereas his own Digimon was steadily evolving to Champion level). - When Joshua reveals his innate power in W2D5, his seemingly regular Lopmon transforms to Lopmon X. X-antibody Digimon are unheard of, and much stronger than their base-level counterparts (I tease at this in the image by giving Johua’s Lopmon a fluffy tail, which regular Lopmon don’t have. If anyone questions it, Joshua would explain how its a clip-on and looks much cuter than the stubby tail, lol). - Cherubimon X is only ever revealed right at the end of the final battle, when Neku and Joshua face each other. Joshua dares Neku into killing him, but Neku can’t bring himself to command Justimon to do it. Cherubimon X then attacks both Neku and his Partner.

Beat and Impmon Evo line: Impmon > Meramon > SkullMeramon > Beelzemon - Pairing Impmon and Beat just felt natural. They both share an innate need to be badass but are also unwittingly dense and easily embarrassed. They constantly bicker with each other but when it’s time to fight, they can’t wait to get in there and show what they’re made of. - On W1D3, Rhyme still sacrifices herself to save Beat (he knew Rhyme was his sister from the start so he and Impmon stuck around her and her partner). Although Beat didnt get erased, he still made the choice to become a Reaper. - When Rhyme gets erased, it sees a shift in Beat’s motivations and personality, which naturally affects Impmon. Impmon permanently evolves to SkullMeramon and is mindless fighting machine during W2, just operating off Beat’s whim. When Neku gives him Rhyme’s pendant, both Beat and his Digimon soften up. - As a reaper, Impmon could evolve and stay at Ultimate level without issue. When Beat rejoins Neku in W3, he loses that ability and his Digi has to start from square one; In-training level. Impmon (or Yaamon, in this case) wasn’t too happy. Eventually, Impmon gets back to comfortably sitting at Rookie during W3. - W3D7, at the dead god’s pad, (when facing Kitaniji and Shiki) with Beat’s resolve and growth, Impmon evolves right into Beelzemon (indicative of how Beat wants to become more capable and help people he cares about while looking awesome), saving Neku. Beelzemon also helps Neku, his Partner and the other Player’s Digimon to take on Kitaniji’s final form.

Rhyme and Kudamon Evo line: Kudamon > [ERROR] - Kudamon have cool, collected personalities and can conduct precise assessments, even during battle. For this reason I really liked it for Rhyme’s partner. It’s the most pleasing choice close to squirrel-shaped! I liked this version of Kudamon in particular as well (vs the 2006 anime version), since the markings on it were very Noise-like! - When Rhyme sacrifices herself for Beat in W1D3, Kudamon is at risk of being deleted. As a counter, Mr.H binds Rhyme’s soul to the Digimon, keeping it alive (although Rhyme couldn’t speak through Kudamon, the Digimon could feel her emotions and hear her thoughts). - During Beat’s Reaper stint, Kudamon was with him, but no matter what they said, Beat wouldn’t break away his focus. He loosens up eventually and can take Kudamon’s words to heart. - Kudamon accompanies Neku, Beat and their partners through W3, and does get captured by Konishi on D1. - Although Kudamon never evolves (or devolves) beyond Rookie, they do help immensely during the battle with Konishi on W3D7. They are at the final battle as well.

And that’s all for now. Thank you for reading all of that >v<’‘‘\ Hope you enjoyed!! Give me you headcanons and ponders if you like! Maybe someday I’ll get to the Reapers..... ‘‘‘OTL 

[skullreaped]

i think a lot about the fact that beat called hanekoma out on being suspicious in og w3, even when neku was adamant that he couldn’t be, even after hanekoma helped literally to save his and rhyme’s lives.

i think about how he knew his behavior/personality was especially frustrating to konishi and he used that against her to get her worked up on w3d7 just so that he could be a distraction while neku got rhyme’s pin back

i think a lot about the fact that he already suspected the ruinbringers as being reapers before the actual reveal, so the reveal didn’t even phase him.

i think a lot about how beat called dibs on partnering up with rindo on the day when you can choose to split up the team, specifically let him call the shots without having someone question his judgement, showed nothing but absolute confidence in the two of them as a team through their part of the mission, and then reinforced his encouragement of rindo’s decision making when the plan worked flawlessly

i think a lot about how beat was the one to comfort fret after kanon’s loss and how you know he was drawing his experience from both when he lost rhyme on og w1d4 and neku in AND

i just... think about how perceptive and intuitive he is. he’s really good at reading people, but it... isn’t really a conscious thing. he notices a lot and puts a lot of pieces together and reacts to them accordingly without really being asked to.

he can tell you that he knows you’re sad, probably knows why you’re sad, but i don’t think he can necessarily tell you why he knows you’re sad because it’s just a bunch of little signs and signals that he picks up on and unconsciously puts together. it’s the way you’re a little too quiet for a little too long, it’s the way it takes you a second before you smile, it’s the way something in the tone of your voice or text is just a little off of what he’s used to. just, the subtle shifts. you can be masking to the best of your ability and he’ll just be “yeah you were kinda mopey so i thought i’d hang out and cheer you up”. beat you absolute fucking gem of a human being.

anyway all of this is just me basically saying that beat doesn’t need books to be smart and be one of the biggest empaths in the entire game and i love him

[someone-took-meep]

I'm on neo W3D7 so I'm not too fearful, (like rindo X Shoka seems to be being set up) though I'm not fully into the twewy stuff on here for a bit still

[scramble-crossing]

i deffo agree with your entire analysis (including the questionable canon of the anime canon) and yeah for sure the original game supports this imo. for one thing i don't think that hanekoma would have supported sho even as a back-up plan if he thought that sho would've destroyed shibuya or fundamentally ruined what HANEKOMA liked about it. hanekoma considered a shibuya under sho to be better than a shibuya erased by joshua, so whatever shibuya sho would've made couldn't have been a dumpsterfire or whatever. like not saying that sho would've kept things squeaky clean or something but hanekoma considered it 'good enough to support'. hanekoma isn't exactly the best but i think that he wouldn't have picked sho if he didn't think that sho had some attachment to shibuya.

in NEO we literally see him come back to his shibuya on W3D7 to fight soul pulvis even though he could've just fucked off. yeah we have the scene of neku "convincing" him, but the dude already came back to shibuya and decided to stay to fight for his city. he also literally warned rindo about soul pulvis and about the presence of angels (the japanese version with him talking about "hyper-real" numbers is even more obvious) back on W3D4 even before neku showed up!

the wicked twisters and all of shibuya would've lost without him and his contribution to operation: awakening. period. (along with everyone else)

he learned his lesson about teamwork! when he goes to another day, he makes a fuss about "you're joining MY team" but he actively walked up to the guy signing up team members and went "hey i need a team lol" like a student asking their teacher for help getting a partner for the group project. he's gone from "not a social animal" per megumi to "zetta dig[ing]" konishi's "style" to teaming up with the WTs to protect them to understanding the value of working together in an equation for the sake of his goals

also it's worth noting that the line about only doing it for his sake is slightly different in jp. neku says that they have to get to shiba as soon as they can and says "渋谷を守るため もし力を 貸してくれるなら――" (if you can lend us your strength to protect shibuya). sho interrupts him and says, "フン、俺は 俺の目的のために 動くだけだ" (hmph, i only work for my own goals/i do want what i want) basically, telling neku to stop telling him what to do. neku says, "それでいいよ おまえも渋谷を 狙ってただろ" (that's fine, since you're aiming for shibuya too, aren't you?) and then "その渋谷の崩壊は 許せないよな" (shibuya's erase would be unforgivable, right?/you can't allow shibuya to collapse, can you?). so like yeah it's similar to what the english script did but it has a very different implication. here neku isn't convincing him to help but rather being like, "yeah, you'll only do what you want to do, and i know that you're going to do things that help shibuya because you're aiming for it as well." like i said, we literally see sho ALREADY have been offering rindo helpful advice before neku even showed up.

he gives the WTs tons of advice in the first week that have nothing to do with his interest in soul pulvis but rather to expand their powers. in field walk rpg he has a ton of random character dialogue about how he loves random shit in shibuya like the holographic hachiko statue (tokyu plaza) because he thinks that dogs are stylin' or how he thinks that rhythms that shake the heart (specific to him being interested in picking up music records from tower records) are as beautiful as a flawless equation or whatever. why would he want to destroy all of that? he wouldn't

he doesn't even care if other people cart away his artworks! he didn't seethe about that in the og, just made more and then walked away

i agree with him being obsessed with beauty and art and probably shibuya's. i mean the guy wanders around the phone booth of love at molco and shit trying to pick up cool pieces for his next artwork (and leaving something precious of his own in its wake, suggesting that he isn't interested in stealing shit, he just has a unique value system of exchanging items and art and stuff), makes people play Tin Pin Slammer and doesn't even participate himself but just hangs out in the crowd watching and seethes when joshua cheats him out of an interesting match, and possibly even stuck negative noise on ken doi to catch their attention about ramen given that the negative noise in W1 was all mission-related that a reaper must've put on someone (and with their relationship in another day). he's not a "good person" but people treating him like he's evil or sadistic or whatever just pisses me off. he's an arrogant asshole who, as far as we can read from the text, genuinely wants to see a shibuya full of cool art projects and sick murals like the udagawa one he likes and cool people like the WTs with their interesting UG powers and stuff.

ok thanks for listening to my essay. 3.1415926

Hey there.....it's been a couple months and I live in shame

Thank you so so much for this I absolutely LOVE your thoughts! I wanna try to respond them in as organized a way I can so I'm gonna address each point individually and in chronological order.

First of all, I 100% agree with what you've said about Hanekoma. If he wasn't able to directly remove Joshua from power even when he threatened Shibuya's very existence, and instead had to approach him in an extremely tedious and roundabout manner by guiding Neku when he could and using Sho as a sort of half-proxy, there's no way he would've shoved a dangerous or otherwise incompetent person into the Composer's seat and forced himself to repeat this whole process weeks later once Sho had a grip on Shibuya. Like you said, "hanekoma considered a shibuya under sho to be better than a shibuya erased by joshua," and that means something coming from a person who belongs to a class of beings who willingly "purify" cities that do not live up to their standards. It's not impossible to think that if Hanekoma thought Sho unfit and saw no other alternative, he would've come to see Shibuya as a lost cause and let it fall, preferring a dignified end over allowing it to rot and fester as a shell of its former self. Granted, he doesn't exactly sing Sho's praises. He certainly seems to view him as being convenient over an actual good candidate for the position. However, regardless of the fact that Hanekoma's criteria seems to be "the biggest, most unlikable freak in the UG," I think my previous point still stands. Would Sho have been a good Composer? Impossible to know for sure, but if nothing else we can extrapolate from what we understand of Hanekoma's values that he would've at the very least safeguarded Shibuya against erasure and kept it intact enough to still be worthy of existence in the eyes of some very, very picky Angels. And this is saying something when Joshua refers to Shibuya as being a massive influence on the world around it, so much so that he fears it corrupting other sectors of the UG. To put it simply, maybe Sho just passed the bar when it came to Hanekoma's standards, but that bar was set extremely high. Also! Just in case anyone mentions it, while Hanekoma saying that he relied on Sho's attachment to Shibuya is exclusive to the anime, technically speaking it's canonical that NEO is a sequel to the anime rather than the game. It's still very much relevant to Sho's character in NEO, if not his character in the original game...

Which leads right into your next points! Just for a moment, I want to jump to what you said about the japanese version of the game because I find it extremely interesting. That's SUCH a different implication from what we get in the english version!! Whereas we're given more of a sense that Neku is corralling Sho into working with him and the rest of the Wicked Twisters on the basis that he can't be Composer without a city to rule, basically using his preexisting goal to try to get him to adopt a new one, that of saving Shibuya, here he's saying that he knows that Sho already has a goal of saving Shibuya. It's less "Look here asshole, you have to save Shibuya because you can't be Composer without it," and more "You and I both know that you want to save Shibuya, so stop being so stubborn and help us out already!" Yes it's subtle, but personally I think it lines up better with the version of Sho that's put forward by the anime's ending, and, perhaps more importantly, lends better to interpretations of Sho's motivations In english, it reads closer to "Sho wants to be the Composer -> therefore he must save Shibuya. In japanese, it can more easily be read as "Sho wants to save Shibuya -> Ergo, he clearly cares about Shibuya -> Sho wants to be the Composer because he cares about Shibuya. Again, it's minor stuff, but the japanese version, I feel, more obviously connects his motives with his actions, presenting him helping to save Shibuya as a natural result of his affection for the city instead of it being an obstacle in his way or a diversion from his ambitions. It's really a shame that this nuance is lost in the english version. Sho is already kind of a mess in the fact that it can be difficult to discern what the writers are trying to do with him. He's built up as a persistent and deadly threat all throughout twewy only to be unceremoniously killed off in a scene that feels more like a bit than an actual serious story beat. Neo's promotional material paraded him as a core character in the protagonist's group, and yet he ends up being booted out 1/3 of the way into the story and made unplayable until post-game. He is one of the most integral characters to the plot, and yet what, in the end, does he have to show for it? Nothing! He leaves the secret ending having returned to the exact same position he was in at the start of the first game, at the exact same level of power, still gunning to take on the Composer. It feels like he's being used as sequel-bait in a series where it took 14 years to make another game, not to mention the fact that the last time something interesting was implied to be happening to him, A.K.A A New Day where he was positioned to become Neku's partner, that plot thread was dropped hard and absolutely nothing came of it. I'm not saying he's been completely abandoned by the narrative. He's definitely shown to have improved as a person since the events of the first game, and I love that! I love his cryptic mentor/moderately shit big brother arc and the fact that Neku, Mr. Twewy himself, is willing to put his faith in him. But to me at least it feels like he's being underutilized, especially in comparison to characters like Beat, who I love, but who certainly didn't need as much as he got in neo given that he had a totally satisfactory arc by the end of the first twewy. Sho is perfect for a redemption arc that's reminiscent of Neku's while still being unique and complex, one that would fit seamlessly with twewy's themes of growth and the necessity of human connection. If we ever get another twewy game and this is exactly what happens I will kiss neo on the lips for being the PERFECT in-between phase and kick-off for this arc, but I mean...it's twewy. Waiting for another game to complete his storyline is like pushing Sho off a cliff with nothing to catch him but a prayer and the world's shittiest little kiddy pool. Also the hose that's trying to fill it with water is clogged by a giant knot in the shape of mickey mouse ears.

But I've gotten sidetracked. Mostly because it's been so long that I totally forget the post that spurred this ask in the first place. I might be stupid. But honestly I think you've already put it perfectly. I'm especially grateful for the info on the field walk rpg because it's something I know very little about. I'm glad Sho got to have a fun day out with his child soldiers/teenage besties :] Overall, it's absolutely true that Sho is a very morally complex character. I tend to dislike labels like "good person" vs "bad person" because it leaves little room for nuance, something that this series is chock-block full of. The idea that Sho is an utterly selfish and sadistic individual who can never truly change irks me because it's so antithetical to the messages of this series, "Anyone can change for the better," and, "By letting others in, approaching their different worldviews and values with genuine, good faith, and by extending compassion towards each other, we make the world a better place for both ourselves and the people around us." Sho is doing this. It may be with baby steps, but it's clear from his interactions with the Wicked Twisters, as well as his enthusiasm for art that is not his own whereas before he expressed disdain for any artistic vision that wasn't his, that he is making an effort to be better and allowing these experiences to change his worldview. If he is never extended the same narrative reward that other characters are shown for this exact same kind of growth, if he is instead trapped in this cycle of scratching and clawing and desperately yearning for some sense of divinity only to crash fantastically, met with violence and isolation and the loss of the few, good things he's managed to scrape out of life...well that'd be pretty miserable, I think.

[memcaked]

Fading

Source: Subarashiki kono Sekai | The World Ends With You

Relationships: Bito “Beat” Daisukenojo & Bito “Rhyme” Raimu

Characters: Bito “Beat” Daisukenojo, Bito “Rhyme” Raimu

Additional tags: Non-binary Bito “Rhyme” Raimu, ADHD Bito “Beat” Daisukenojo, Grief, Angst, Introspective, TWEWYTOBER, TWEWYTOBER 2020, Not beta read

Summary: It wasn’t always like this. If Beat sits here long enough and blocks out the why can’t you be like your sister, the if Daisukenojo applied himself and improved his time management, the be quiet, can’t you shut up for once? the memories of some carefree boy playing with a skateboard he didn’t know how to use would come back to him.

Beginning notes: Addendum: this was first written and uploaded on the day of October 2nd, 2020. fading was a hard prompt for me and i thought of beat and how his arms started fading during w3d7 and then it shifted to Beat and how he became a reaper to save rhyme. so theres not a lot to actually do with the prompt. but I want to post it anyways. probably has some continuity errors but im trying to focus on the "it just has to be Done" aspect if im writing one every day

Body:

It wasn’t always like this. If Beat sits here long enough and blocks out the why can’t you be like your sister, the if Daisukenojo applied himself and improved his time management, the be quiet, can’t you shut up for once? the memories of some carefree boy playing with a skateboard he didn’t know how to use would come back to him. It’s hard to think about - of how that boy was him once and he’s a rough, careless delinquent whose only real purpose is his sibling, and they’re double dead because of him.

Rhyme, Rhyme. His parents’ only hope. Their golden hair and their crooked-cute smile who waited their turn and helped him with his homework three grades above their level and didn’t seem to phase them. The one with the good brain who’d be the first Bito to go to uni and was happy to be signing up for more years of endless work that has no rules and punks who laugh it’s easy if you stop daydreaming and actually listen! like it’ll go away. He can’t convince his parents that he couldn’t continue past junior high. He’s not sure if he can cope with high school next year. Rhyme wanted to stick themself there until they’re 25?

It’s a jungle out there and ever since the pressure on Beat’s back could crush him and Rhyme’s big blue eyes as they were repeating the mnemonic they made up to remember the things for a living thing or how to spell the word he loses marks for he knew, bless their soul, they couldn’t get through the big bad world even with all the adages they’ve learnt. They’d be bright and smiling about some long job they wanted to study and it’s gone like the light left their eyes when they talked about the future. He lied about the skater thing so that day-long team thing didn’t know it was two stupid kids with no goals in life, so Rhyme could remember him as the brother who lined up at 4 in the cold dark morning to get them the bell pendant even if they didn’t know, even if the Beat before couldn’t even ollie. They smiled at that. Said they think he would achieve that.

And like everything he tries hard for, Rhyme won’t smile ever now, they’re lost in this black pin. He fled Hanekoma’s four walls, bitter black coffee shit reeking shithouse because they know about pins, how to fix Rhyme so they’re something you remember. They’re in there but they barely recognise him, like if they’ll burst out fully formed for him. The wall reapers bet Freshmeat will be gone next Game if he keeps chasing the same two teens around. It makes Beat wonder if he decided to earn his wings and leave the humans behind for the same - what word did Rhyme use again - mikes him? - of the ranks below thinking they’re better than him. The Underground is a judgy junior high for these soulkillers, except Beat is so many times more lost without Rhyme, their golden hair and crooked-cute smile and the piles of pithy ideas that shone through those brilliant eyes and its because of him. Didn’t look both ways. Didn’t look at his feet. What’s the point of a sacrifice if they have no motive for revenge?

This is what happens when people like him take it easy. Beat thrashes his wings, rough and humming with noise. He’s done with the laziness, the nothing matters. He’ll apply himself and shred until he burns up. Those fuckin’ bastards will pay for what they did to Rhyme.

End notes: no more makeovers we’d rather be the villains as long as we know whats right now

[grandpayaoi]

twewy anime bossfights are so rushed it makes me wonder if they'll cut the w3d7 boss rush into just tigris/anguis/draco

[runs-4-pinkcupcakes]

FMLS90 W3D7

Do we have a Sunday 10/27 prompt? Or is it a rest day? @fatmaninalittlesuit

Weeks 1 and 2 were Monday-Sunday.

Week 3 is only Monday-Saturday?

[having-a-hyperfixate]

The Final Day’‘

This is absolutely going to be long and rambley af so I’mma just put a cut here. This is just one massive post for the entire rest of the game.

Rindo is back in the RG somehow. Which makes less than no sense. What was that crazy beam. Shibuya is GONE there isn’t an RG to send him back to, even if someone did want to send him back?

That beam reminded me of the Jesus beams not gonna lie.

But… Fret. Presumably Nagi and Beat too. They’re. Gone. Poor Rindo… That’s the worst kind of gaslighting. Reality itself is gaslighting this poor kid. ‘Your best friend in the world is gone, so gone that no one remembers him. You don’t even get to mourn properly because there is no one TO mourn.’  I am also not okay.

I assume this random talking to us at Hachiko is the dude I saw a brief glimpse of in a screenshot from the final trailer. Hazuki Mikagi, okay. Everything about this is supremely weird. 

Leading this weirdo around and he asked how we feel about emotions? Um, what?

Was he responsible for that beam of light?

This whole thing is extremely unsettling, I don’t think I like it. The music is all… serene, this guy keeps asking existential questions, who even comes up to some kid clearly having a bad day and demands a tour of the city.

He knows Rindo’s name even though we never told him. Not sure if that was a slip or an intentional nudge that Something is going on but there we go.

‘I should take this chance to apologize for Kubo. He’s a real piece of work.’ WHAT. YOU SEND HIM TO SHINJUKU?!?! IS THIS KID GOD!? WHAT!??!

‘Exorcised’. Like a demon. Which is a psychic rank you can get in the first game, and probably this game, ergo, a thing that exists in this universe.

Okay. So this Hazuki guy is Something Else. I dunno if he’s an Angel or higher or WHAT. He’s something. And he “exorcised” what Fuckwad had Fallen to when he decided not to stop at Shinjuku and continue on to Shibuya. But he only did this after Rindo faught so hard to stop it. And then he gave Rindo what he thought Rindo wanted. And now he’s here trying to understand why Rindo is miserable. Which to us, as humans, is obvious: the people he loved, the connections and family he had made through the game are all gone and worse, no one remembers they ever existed.

And now he’s being offered the chance to try again. This feels like a double edged sword. And I don’t care.

Okay I actually kind of appreciate the thing Hazuki is pulling here. He knows what it is that Rindo wants, I’m pretty sure he’s listening to his thoughts, actually, and in order to make Rindo own up to it he’s arguing the ‘no’ position. Giving Rindo someone to argue against so he can convince himself.

WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAPPEN AT UDAGAWA.

Bruh some of these clips were in the announcement trailer.

(I can’t wait to read the secret reports. That’s gonna be a wild ride.)

Oooooh that’s what ‘exorcised’ means. That is hardcore. He definitely deserved it but that is uh. Slightly inconvenient.

Can we actually contact Rhyme this time PLEASE. Oooh Rindo worked out Kaie is waiting for Rhyme. :O I’M FINALLY GONNA GET MY MASSIVE COUNTER OFFENSIVE FUCK YES. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I’M PUMPED LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOOO!!!!

Who’s gonna protect them. Beat. Really. Just give them the damn pins at this point. They both know their ways around a fight and Kaie might need the backup. If we lose, we’re all toast regardless, and if we win everyone gets put back where they belong.

AAAAAAAAAAAH SHE’S HERE!!! RHYME!!!! Aw… She can’t see Neku and Shoka cuz they’re actually dead. That’s really depressing. Makes sense but like. Oof. Especially for Neku.

I love that Rhyme still has a saying for everything.

This timeline is going to be a mess by the time I get everything positioned correctly lmao

Beat’s ‘How do you know about my sister?! Right, future.’ is never going to NOT be funny. It’s very refreshing to have a time travel plot where people just listen when he tells them shit needs to happen.

Is it acutaly Shiki time ohh my god. I might cry. Please tell me she has a face now. If her face is still illegal I will actually scream.

I’m offended. We didn’t get to go see Shiki. The betrayal. OH but now we might be? Stop playing with me, game. GIVE. ME. SHIKI.

Rindo was freaking out that we weren’t gonna be able to get rid of all the Noise around the café and I definitely threw my hands up and yelled when I saw the word ‘zeptogram’. And I read it before he said it, cuz I read v. fast. Nice to see you again, idiot. Please don’t go berserk again.

I am. Very impressed that Minamimoto managed to work out where the Dissonance Noise are coming from, down to the exact energy source that creates them. He nailed it. Well done sir.

I think… he’s proposing we awaken the city and use the energy generated by the thoughts and emotions of the living people to neutralize some of the Dissonance Noise that are waiting in the pin. Erode some of its power.

“How about this: I’ll talk, you type.” Lmao.

I got denied Shiki again. Part of me is annoyed. The other part of me is like ‘are they saving her entrance for when she can see Neku again properly because I can live with that’.

OH the Hishima cutscene is voiced now OKAY. Guess that means this is the one. Rhyme is voiced too. This is gonna be it.

And she speaks Minamioto. Coo.

Huh. Neku’s power is to sync with people. Which he learned to do in the first game. From Mr H, with the harmonizer pin. (Twister is playing and I have Emotions help) And now he’s gonna do it on an absolutely MASSIVE scale. This is insane. I am 1,000% here for it. Sync, Dive, Remind. And if I had to guess, we’re doing this atop 104.

Alright Shiba. ‘Mere. Tsugumi’s eyes aren’t all freaky anymore yay. Oh snap. He’s gonna unleash the Plague Noise against the Dissonance ones. Nice. Turnabout is fair play. I’m kinda sad Fuckwad isn’t here to witness that.

Alright. Change. Our. Fate.

SHIIIIIIIIIIKKKKKKKKKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I gave myself a headache ow.

“07734.” “Ew. Hey! Don’t just spout off numbers and walk away, you jerk!” That was amazing.

FUCK ME SIDEWAYS. OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. NO. NO WAY. I DIDN’T THINK THERE WAS ANY WAY. OH. MY. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. This is the first time Neku’s seen him since Joshua failed to stop Coco from killing him. I’m. A puddle. Help. Neku looked so happy. My cat is slightly concerned haha.

Neku still holds his hands like he’s got the headphones. The same pose as in the first game when you scan. This gives me all the feels.

“They’re just mindless thoughts” Okay so I’m mentally exhausted at this point and I processed that as ‘thots’ and it was hilarious. BEGONE THOTS.

Okay this thing right here? This is a final boss. And it is cool as fuck. Too bad it’s trying to END ME. So cool. SO. COOL. Here comes phase 2 lol. I died and had to redo it. FML.

That. Was awesome. A worthy successor to the epic final strike of the first game. 999% eh?

I continue to not like Shinjuku rules. Once you’re a Reaper, leaving means you get erased once the game ends? Disrespectfully, fuck that. Oh don’t you dare, Shoka. Don’t. You. Dare.

Oh, Joshua is here. PLEASE. Lmao Shoka’s reaction. I’m sure he appreciates that, the drama queen.

*facepalms* Joshua strikes again. I’ve missed you, you little shit. You are terrible, but I missed you. Rindo, I’m pretty sure she’s fine. I think captain helpful over here reincarnated her for you. Since you saved him and his city. I guess I’ll see though.

Uzuki and Kariya continue to be adorable. I love them. And yeah, good luck calling in that debt from Minamimoto, Coco. Gooooood luck.

I’m having a lot of Joshua centered emotions right now there is too much Joshua all at once help. “I should have known I could trust you.” You are killing me dude. You really, really should have. I’m going to turn that line over in my head for way too long, I just know it, but let’s try to get through this before my brain turns off completely. “Let’s not keep her waiting.” OKAY THANKS I’M GONNA CRY AGAIN.

What Hazuki was saying about ‘purifying’ as opposed to ‘destroying’ Shinjuku makes me think that restarting it in some form was always part of the plan, so hopefully they’ll have luck with that. It’s still profoundly fucked up that any of that happened, and even more so that it was sanctioned. I’m. Going to be hung up on that for a while once it sinks in.

This poor idiot hitting on Rhyme is about to get got oh no XD

Shiki is breaking my heart. Aaaaaaaah!!! Reunioooooon.

Ooof it’s been a month since Rindo saw Shoka. Big oof. Joshuaaaaaa.

And then they almost got hit by a car lmao. OMG HE MISSED HER FRIEND REQUESTS AHAHAHAHAH YOU GOOBER. Neku really should have warned them that Joshua is Like That lol. Even when he’s being helpful it’s in the must backhanded way possible.

I would very much like to know why on earth Shinjuku needed to be obliterated though. Like. Does that… Happen often? Maybe the secret reports say.

Speaking of, time to get those, along with the rest of the trophies.

!!!! The title screen updated, NICE. Can’t let anyone who hasn’t beaten it see that but NICE.

There’s another Another Day. Oh boy. I am not ready for that madness yet.

Random thought as I was moving this from word, where I typed it: I’m really, really fucking glad they didn’t decide to deal with Mr H the way they dealt with sleezy mcfuckwad. That would have been… I don’t have a word.