REACTION: NEATH! A Fallen London Musical | Mask of the Rose Song!

[@irisisblind2412]

All of the characters in this song (except for the last one in the robes) were actually made by stupes specifically for this song! And you were pretty close about about Byron Brimstone, in fallen London the city happened to fall right next to hell (yes really) so devils tend to enter fallen London to trade souls and such. So while he might not be THE DEVIL he still is a devil.

[@6Qubed]

15:42 would you believe that this man being a devil (not _The_ Devil, _a_ devil) makes him at worst a morally neutral sociopath and not, in fact, the "most evil" thing in the Neath? hell, the most he wants from you is your soul, and sure he might pay less than market value for it but he certainly won't _steal_ it and hey, if you're lucky you can always get it back!

[@thefreelancepsyco9426]

The spider's web mentioned by the newspaper may have been a sorrow spider. They've never been seen eating eyes.

[@hazeltree7738]

"They've never been seen eating eyes" That feels oddly specific/like a reference

[@thefreelancepsyco9426]

@@hazeltree7738 The browser game provides several different entries randomly as you play. "They've never been seen eating eyes." Is pretty much the entierty of one of the more memorable entries on Sorrow Spiders.

[@krofgninut5984]

​@@hazeltree7738they DO steal eyes though. And they are big. When they get too established, they start fusing together to form a collective intelligence called a spider counsel.

[@oliversherman2414]

As a British history buff, I love the Victorian Era theme of this song The backstory of this game is basically that after Prince Albert died, Queen Victoria (his wife and the Queen of the British Empire) made a deal with these demons to bring back her husband but it came at a horrible price. The city of London was taken beneath the earth's surface by the demons with it's citizens trapped inside

[@damsonrhea]

The Masters aren't demons - more eldritch horrors beyond the stars, though London fell down next to hell. (Though demons aren't exactly what you might think).

[@oliversherman2414]

@@damsonrhea thanks for clarifying

[@gregjohnson3551]

The Masters are best understood by considering that someone took a 1950s B-movie scifi plot device and then said "but what if we treat this seriously?". They are literally alien space bats who, in the course of their own attempts at advancement discovered that something they were completely lacking was vitally important in cosmological terms - they came to Earth to study Love, not for any sentimental reason, but to try to use it for their own purposes. This is why they are constantly seeking peoples diaries and true love stories, and encourage certain festivals.

[@oliversherman2414]

@@gregjohnson3551 lol true

[@runeanonymous9760]

@@gregjohnson3551 is that the lore? I thought they had to get the love stories to prove that miscegenation between different forms of being (specifically, stars and messenger-crabs) shouldn't be a crime. And the Masters will be killed if they fail to prove that True Love Conquers All or whatever, and also literally the only who believes in that is the one in the song (who you can also romance in the upcoming game, I think?)

[@matthewfitzpatrick2225]

15:50 I love this the dead but cause while it’s mainly a metaphor, because of this series, the line “the dead are ware of it” is quite literal since the dead don’t really stay dead down in Fallen London unless fully destroyed. Die by natural means or simple murder and they tend to just wake up. And to add with the Masters verse that starts around 16:49 the character in the series is known for combining words when speaking.

[@onnastik9468]

I am hugely into these games but I have almost no idea how to explain them to anyone. The lore is very complex, intended to be drip-fed rather than infodumped, and kind of makes you sound completely insane when you do try to explain it. Like, the way the fandom likes to describe a major backstory event is "a giant space crab fucked the sun". It makes complete sense in context! And yet! As for playing Mask of the Rose, it's a visual novel so it all depends on how you feel about those. You might try Sunless Sea if you want something more gameplay-heavy; Skies is a good game but it's set in a possible future of the setting where everything's gotten *even weirder*.

[@Turbo_1701]

So I was explaining the lore at work and was told to shut up talking about giant space bats working for the pig powered giant space crab messanger with a hard on for the sun so I can concure its hard to explain the lore without sounding insane

[@thecursedgalleon7096]

One thing i haven't heard any reaction-er talk about is the way the music reaches a crescendo at the end when Harry Teller says "besides, I've been dead for a week"

[@ЕвгенийСемёнов-в2щ]

KZbinrs in this video are listed in the description, from the nerdcore scene there are Stargirl and BassedOlaf drinking at the table, and also Freeced and Little_flecks in the backing vocals. Great reaction, keep them coming!

[@wikinfei]

I didn't read the description before watching and it took me longer than i'd like to admit to realize that Stupendiium played the bar tender. The costume and acting were amazing. I've never played (or heard of for that matter) this game, but i really enjoyed the premise of it, but i doubt i'll ever play it though since it's more of a visual novel game.

[@damekkoDark]

yeah I wasnt sure after they confirmed it. they just looks weird without a mustache

[@digitaldave1136]

Honestly, it's sort of ironic that Stupendium is playing as a transgender character (honestly not sure if the bartender actually turned into a female when London fell or if they sometimes crossdressing, which then would be more ironic as a male crossdressing to act as a crossdressed person)

[@lumilumii]

@@digitaldave1136 stupendium is nonbinary !

[@valentinademaria1168]

Fallen London is the original game and it's both free and text based if that helps

[@digitaldave1136]

@@lumilumii Doesn't change their sex, and honestly, gender bs these days is stupid as hell. Either way, it's ironic a non-binary person is playing a non-binary character... (which is sort of stupid again since binary can be used for an infinite amount of choices because it's a yes or no statement)

[@ivangood7121]

Honestly, previous 3 games are better to start. The first game, "fallen Landon" is actually a free browser text adventure game. The sunless sea and sunless skies have more interesting gameplay and still retain great writing.

[@mibadada]

Yes, Fallen London will give you a free look at the writing style and content, and Seas or Skies are great if you want more gameplay. However, Mask of the Rose was written to be a freestanding introduction to the world, so it will give you a grounding in the basic lore pretty quickly (and the writing is fantastic, but that's true of every game!) Mask has a more personal focus and will let you get to know a few characters well, while the other games focus more on world events and lore with characters taking a backseat but still very interesting Ultimately it depends on your preferences of what kind of stories you like!

[@damsonrhea]

@@mibadada Also, Sunless Sea/Skies are big timesinks - they aren't easy games, and they are dense ones.

[@gamesandglory1648]

@@damsonrhea less than fallen london itself.

[@krofgninut5984]

If you be scared of regular spider webs, you dont want the neaths sorrow spiders. The spiders on the surface are at best a nuisence, but sorrow spiders are a true menace.

[@digitaldave1136]

I'm not sure if it was intentional, but the line "And a Robert is just a robber to a tee" had a double meaning where robert is literally sounding like "robber" with a t

[@assaultghost00]

It was intentional. When he says bob he is referring to a currency like a penny and when he says Robert he’s referring to a currency similar to a dollar. People call him honest bob because he’s a thief and he has never earned a honest bob, his real name is Robert. So when he says a “bob is just a Robert and a Robert is just a rober to a tee” he’s saying his real name is robert and he is just a rober

[@DeaconBlues117]

"But still coal is twice the price" - lots of jewels on the houses, but they're not getting shipments of cooking and heating coal any more.

[@runeanonymous9760]

Actually, the aristocrat guy is the demon- I think this game is set around the time of Britain's (failed) attempt at conquering Hell? The Masters aren't demons, but I think that they were the ones who introduced demons to the Earth's ecosystem? I think I recommend playing one of the Sunless games, which are set later on in the timeline of this universe, late 1800s and early 1900s I think? They're more like traditional games, with gameplay, but that gameplay is incredibly difficult and frustrating. I still haven't worked out Skies' control scheme, and it took years to get in the hang of Sea, and I'm still not the best.

[@assaultghost00]

It’s more like London just happened to fall near hell and the masters are bat like creatures that serve a god like being which is the creature that sunk London and I believe six other cities. The masters aren’t really evil it’s just they are trying to collect the essence of pure love which is why the song has a lot of verses about love and why each character is seeking someone to be with in the song

[@runeanonymous9760]

@@assaultghost00 wasn't saying that the Masters were evil, just that I thoughts the devils and hell weren't on earth until the First City fell. (also Veils is definitely evil. Irons also kind of sucks, but Pages is the best and I cannot make a Pages headcanon without woobifying it)

[@helenanilsson5666]

I love that while these characters, aside from Mr Pages, weren't based on NPCs, they 100% feel like they belong in the Fallen London universe. Harry Teller strikes me as something of a Local Gossip that can point you in the direction of the next plot line, and running a newspaper is part of the mid-to-late grind in the game. He's dead which means he probably failed a Dangerous skill check, since that's how you get wounds and eventually die. Honest Bob is a Shadowy figure, probably someone familiar with Spite or the Flit, which is the main areas of crime in the game. Grinding the Shadowy attribute is a pain though, which might explain why he's such a shabby sight. Getting a spouse is also possible in the game, and it does come with some advantages. Cassie, working at the Singing Mandrake (which is a place in the game), has obviously made themselves at home in Veilgarden - an area of Persuasion, wine, drugs, decadence and artists. The game is very gender inclusive, especially for being such an old game. I think it was the first game I came across where "how should NPCs address you" included a gender neutral option from the start and no matter what form of adress you choose you still have the same avatar options. Byron is a devil, and those aren't really playable characters (the narrative makes it clear that you come from the surface and at least start out with a human soul). However, they are quite easy to find already early in the game, especially in Ladybones Road, which makes them associated with Watchful challenges. They've got a railway to Hell, and later in the game you can embark on a railway venture of your own. The railway story arc makes it very clear that the Masters can bear offspring with devils which raises some interesting interspecies cosmic horrors questions. Mr Pages is probably the master that comes off as least frightening to new players, the way he has taken to the English language is very endearing and he just wants books. Much more approachable than Fires (who runs factories) or Iron (mute who writes with both hands at once). Lately I've grown very attached to Wines though. During one of the recurring events players can purchase a dream of domestic life with a selection of NPCs and I just had to take Wines for a queer platonic spin. After the event ended I could still run into him in the dream realm Parabola and uh, I might have gotten infatuated with the sad space bat. Whoops.

[@DeaconBlues117]

"But still coal is twice the price" - lots of jewels on the houses, but they're not getting shipments of cooking and heating coal any more.