the King of Oblivion [nooj]

Site: This site opened 1 July 2004. Version one is done in tan and dark red, and graced by the lovely fanart of the amazingly talented Seraphic Beast, who was kind enough to grant me permission to use it in my layout. You should definitely check out her site to see the rest of her FFX-2 artwork - she does a particularly yummy Gippal. Also, don't miss her LotR boys and her Saiyuki art if you're interested in those series.

Between the refuge of the interstate overpass
And the Sun State Building stretching twenty-four
stories to the skies
Car tires and cats' eyes sing a lullaby
He walks the sidewalk like he's dancing on fire
He climbs the fire escape like there's no place
higher than his room
He can feel all eyes upon him when he moves

If you see me I'll be hypnotized
From the fourteenth row I see rust on his hands
Outside it's Church Street where all the people sing
Hail to the King of Oblivion

He's born on Friday, but he's Saturday's child
From his room down the hall I hear his radio
dialed to a Broadway serenade
As ashes on beer cans make their promenade

If you see me I'll be mesmerized
From my empty row I feel moved to my feet
Outside it's Church Street where all the people sing
Hail to the King of Oblivion
Of Oblivion

And he looks around him
And he finds himself alone
But rewards of unconsciousness
Are yet to be had, to be had

Title: The title of this site comes from the song "The King of Oblivion" by Seven Nations. You can see it in it's entirety there on the left. (And that was an annoying little CSS trick to make work, by the way, so I use it somewhat gratuitously on the site. Please forgive.) When I was trying to decide what to name this site, nothing I could think of seemed good. "Seeking Death" or something along those lines seemed to obvious, and the 'pick an adjective' style of shine-naming annoys me. So I was thinking about it, and I put in an album that I'd just borrowed from the library - the Seven Nations album that features this song - and when I listened to the lyrics it seemed a very good fit for Nooj.

And he looks around him / And he finds himself alone / But rewards of unconsciousness / Are yet to be had, to be had This verse in general is a particularly good match for where I see Nooj as being through most of the game. He's surrounded by members of the Youth Alliance, but he keeps himself isolated and very much alone. He sees death as his reward, his release, and he seeks it as an ending from the very emptiness that he maintains because of his desire to die.

Why: There's actually two parts to the "why" here. Why did I make the shrine, and why Nooj in the first place?

I made the shrine because I went looking for Nooj information and couldn't find any. It amazed me that Gippal and Baralai both had several excellent sites devoted to them, while I couldn't find a single sizable Nooj shrine in English. Mind you, I don't think this yet qualifies as a "sizable" shrine. It's a start, however.

Why Nooj? That's a bit more complicated. Obviously he's my type (gee, do you think I like morally questionable guys with glasses and long ponytails, maybe?) but there's more to it than just his looks. (And no, I don't mean his taste in clothes.) The despair of seeking death and the hard climb out to understand why life is worth living is something I've known too well in my own life, so I identified with Nooj.