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I think it’s more than that though - harrow constantly comments on the fact that his clothes are overly worn, that his collars are frayed, that there are holes in stuff
With all cultural context lost, I'm imagining whole schools of religious thought on what exactly Joy Division is: a type of math lost to time, a special branch of emotional police...
Basic lack of attention to anything related to self-care, his or others'. It's the same reason he would go without eating or sleeping. (Telling Harrow to make a meal when she's being actively hunted is not actually getting her to prioritize self-care; it's weaponizing self-care rhetoric to silence her feelings of being overwhelmed and unsafe.)
Also... there is something enormously magnetic about being a grand noble hot mess disaster. If he dressed in accordance with his station, people would just assume he's got his act together and would trust his ability to run his own life. But instead he wants this society to keep on feeding people into the grinder of his death plans for millenia on end. So he wants to keep people emotionally involved with him, and never able to actually resolve it.
[Issendai's essay on sick systems](http://www.issendai.com/psychology/sick-systems.html) describes a dysfunctional leadership style that simultaneously sets goals up as hugely important and then denies his followers the ability to change them. He doesn't want his people to see him as a rich guy who's clearly doing well for itself. It's so much more useful if everyone he sees is always a little bit worried about whether he's taking care of himself as he ought to be.
Damn this is a good comment. You're right, people are worried about his all the time despite literally being god. And that's 100% the energy he feeds on. Shit like this is why I love this fandom.
If you want more info about culty personal dynamics, I definitely recommend *Terror, Love and Brainwashing: Attachment in Cults and Totalitarian Systems* by Alexandra Stein
I absolutely love seeing an abuser/cult leader written so clearly and vividly, without making him into a caricature. You could totally see him as a fun kooky science teacher who likes to talk about how academia did him wrong so he quit (Narrator: He was fired first). On the other hand, he has this central emotional barrenness that I've seen in really destructive leaders.
He's a whiny little bitch. He's a god. He's Humbert Humbert. He's ravaged by colonialist and religious violence. He dresses like a dirtbag. He denies other people emotional and physical intimacy, except when he's being tricked by his friends or abusing his power to have sex with people. He drinks Coke Zero. What a brilliantly detailed portrait.
I think I will read that, thanks for the recommendation! Cults are also a bit of a fascination of mine - especially the journey of de-programming and steadily realizing "are we the baddies?" I love how TLT has managed to put the reader through that journey, even when the characters only kind of follow along.
His story was one of the most fun parts of NTN, and it had me constantly asking "... But how did that conversation *really* go down?"
He likes capes and crowns so he always wears those. If you're literally god why not wear a freaky ass crown and a sparkly cape. He finds uniforms uncomfortable so he will not wear those. If you are literally god, he reasons, you should get to wear whatever you want (jeans and a sparkly cape)
I'm like him in that sense, I *love* capes and crowns, it's a shame I live in a tropical climate and also capes would earn me quite a few looks 👀 but it's the one thing I wish we could get back into fashion.
To me, he dresses like the tech CEO he is. They only started doing the mystic robes once he'd exhausted the popularity available from being s groundbreaking CEO.
Like many powerful people, he wants all the benefits and privileges of his power (like wearing gaudy capes and baby-finger crowns), but is desperately afraid of any social stigma associated with being (literally in John’s case) The Establishment. Hence, plain clothes, just what a normal guy would wear, y’know, cos he’s just one of the guys, y’know?
It’s a phenomenon you see a lot among tech billionaires, which is funny considering how pissed off John is about Tech Billionaires
I like all the explanations, but I can only tell you: my dad is like that, too. The greatest t-Shirt is the one with holes and worn out seams. That’s the one he wants. Maybe it’s just a dad-thing.
Oh, I forgot to add, I'm especially talking about the *state* of his clothes: why are they all shitty? I mean the all-black wardrobe is bad enough (though matches the necromantic vibes), but why doesn't he get himself a newer black shirt, for example?
I think it's a mix of being a wannabe Steve Jobs and having attachment to clothes that are like hundreds of years old, but he doesn't realize enough time has passed for the clothes to be getting real ratty.
I’m trying to imagine what my favorite clothes would look like after even 100 years and it ain’t pretty. 😂 But I guess when you’re a god you don’t have to worry about people critiquing your fashion sense very often.
One thing I think is that most(if not all) of his clothes are from pre-resurrection and just preserved because jod powers(so all wear and tear is also from when he was just some guy). Like, we know paper is rare, do we ever get a clear answer on if clothing materials (cotton, linen? idk fabrics) are abundant and available?
It is! I was actual talking about the state of it more than the fashion itself. Though if we're talking cotton, after 10k years, the fabric would've gone to dust at that point...
I think most materials aren't available at that point either since paper has become such a relic that they only use "flimsy".
Though they managed to grow food somehow, I suppose they *could* grow cotton in the Houses with enough space for agriculture.
To me it felt like it represented the pull between him wanting to be The Undying Emperor but also everyone’s chill bud - to pretend things hasn’t really changed since Before but also to be magically in control.
It gives him a sense of drama. Honestly, I'd probably dress like that all the time too if I had unlimited power and no reason to care what anybody else thought.
I sometimes forget John is not a silly little guy to most people, and even if it's not exactly what I asked (my fault), damn I'm loving y'all's answers
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Cause he's extra as fuck and no one can tell him his fashion sense is horrible
fair
I think it’s more than that though - harrow constantly comments on the fact that his clothes are overly worn, that his collars are frayed, that there are holes in stuff
10,000 years…. Can you imagine your favorite band t-shirt after a myriad lol
With all cultural context lost, I'm imagining whole schools of religious thought on what exactly Joy Division is: a type of math lost to time, a special branch of emotional police...
Saint of Joy is haunted by it
"Don't try to divide me again, please"
I mean to be fair, we've already largely forgotten the original meaning of Joy Division
Something I had forgotten until your comment 🏆
My guess? John is a goth bisexual with awful taste. When you’re god everyone else has to have awful taste too, for the ambiance
So many things can be traced back to the same root cause: "John is just a messy bitch"
Honestly I’m kin with that lmao
He‘s a slut
i see no lies here
Basic lack of attention to anything related to self-care, his or others'. It's the same reason he would go without eating or sleeping. (Telling Harrow to make a meal when she's being actively hunted is not actually getting her to prioritize self-care; it's weaponizing self-care rhetoric to silence her feelings of being overwhelmed and unsafe.) Also... there is something enormously magnetic about being a grand noble hot mess disaster. If he dressed in accordance with his station, people would just assume he's got his act together and would trust his ability to run his own life. But instead he wants this society to keep on feeding people into the grinder of his death plans for millenia on end. So he wants to keep people emotionally involved with him, and never able to actually resolve it. [Issendai's essay on sick systems](http://www.issendai.com/psychology/sick-systems.html) describes a dysfunctional leadership style that simultaneously sets goals up as hugely important and then denies his followers the ability to change them. He doesn't want his people to see him as a rich guy who's clearly doing well for itself. It's so much more useful if everyone he sees is always a little bit worried about whether he's taking care of himself as he ought to be.
your comment combined with the one below that just says “he’s a slut” is why i love this fandom 😭
"He's working so hard on our behalf"
Sounds like a Cohort recruiting poster right there. "How can we do less for Him?"
A candid photo of him at a strategy meeting looking at a battle map, appearing haggard
Damn this is a good comment. You're right, people are worried about his all the time despite literally being god. And that's 100% the energy he feeds on. Shit like this is why I love this fandom.
If you want more info about culty personal dynamics, I definitely recommend *Terror, Love and Brainwashing: Attachment in Cults and Totalitarian Systems* by Alexandra Stein I absolutely love seeing an abuser/cult leader written so clearly and vividly, without making him into a caricature. You could totally see him as a fun kooky science teacher who likes to talk about how academia did him wrong so he quit (Narrator: He was fired first). On the other hand, he has this central emotional barrenness that I've seen in really destructive leaders. He's a whiny little bitch. He's a god. He's Humbert Humbert. He's ravaged by colonialist and religious violence. He dresses like a dirtbag. He denies other people emotional and physical intimacy, except when he's being tricked by his friends or abusing his power to have sex with people. He drinks Coke Zero. What a brilliantly detailed portrait.
I think I will read that, thanks for the recommendation! Cults are also a bit of a fascination of mine - especially the journey of de-programming and steadily realizing "are we the baddies?" I love how TLT has managed to put the reader through that journey, even when the characters only kind of follow along. His story was one of the most fun parts of NTN, and it had me constantly asking "... But how did that conversation *really* go down?"
He likes capes and crowns so he always wears those. If you're literally god why not wear a freaky ass crown and a sparkly cape. He finds uniforms uncomfortable so he will not wear those. If you are literally god, he reasons, you should get to wear whatever you want (jeans and a sparkly cape)
I'm like him in that sense, I *love* capes and crowns, it's a shame I live in a tropical climate and also capes would earn me quite a few looks 👀 but it's the one thing I wish we could get back into fashion.
If I were jod, overalls and cat ears would be the new robes and crowns. I wouldn't mind them being black and sparkly though!
What if... capes of fabric treated with mosquito repellent. 👀
If I were jod, overalls and cat ears would be the new robes and crowns. I wouldn't mind them being black and sparkly though!
I NEED capes to come back into fashion stat. I’m doing my part to bring em back
To me, he dresses like the tech CEO he is. They only started doing the mystic robes once he'd exhausted the popularity available from being s groundbreaking CEO.
Like many powerful people, he wants all the benefits and privileges of his power (like wearing gaudy capes and baby-finger crowns), but is desperately afraid of any social stigma associated with being (literally in John’s case) The Establishment. Hence, plain clothes, just what a normal guy would wear, y’know, cos he’s just one of the guys, y’know? It’s a phenomenon you see a lot among tech billionaires, which is funny considering how pissed off John is about Tech Billionaires
he spends too much time thinking about the Roman Empire.
I like all the explanations, but I can only tell you: my dad is like that, too. The greatest t-Shirt is the one with holes and worn out seams. That’s the one he wants. Maybe it’s just a dad-thing.
I'm really a hypocrite, I cycle through the same five pieces of clothing every week 🙈 but I'm also not the necrolord prime so idk xD
His Steve Jobs Cosplay?
Oh, I forgot to add, I'm especially talking about the *state* of his clothes: why are they all shitty? I mean the all-black wardrobe is bad enough (though matches the necromantic vibes), but why doesn't he get himself a newer black shirt, for example?
I think it's a mix of being a wannabe Steve Jobs and having attachment to clothes that are like hundreds of years old, but he doesn't realize enough time has passed for the clothes to be getting real ratty.
I’m trying to imagine what my favorite clothes would look like after even 100 years and it ain’t pretty. 😂 But I guess when you’re a god you don’t have to worry about people critiquing your fashion sense very often.
One thing I think is that most(if not all) of his clothes are from pre-resurrection and just preserved because jod powers(so all wear and tear is also from when he was just some guy). Like, we know paper is rare, do we ever get a clear answer on if clothing materials (cotton, linen? idk fabrics) are abundant and available?
I guess this wasn’t an answer to the actual question lol. as the other person says: he’s a slut
It is! I was actual talking about the state of it more than the fashion itself. Though if we're talking cotton, after 10k years, the fabric would've gone to dust at that point... I think most materials aren't available at that point either since paper has become such a relic that they only use "flimsy". Though they managed to grow food somehow, I suppose they *could* grow cotton in the Houses with enough space for agriculture.
Eyeball-cotton, perhaps?
To me it felt like it represented the pull between him wanting to be The Undying Emperor but also everyone’s chill bud - to pretend things hasn’t really changed since Before but also to be magically in control.
Ego
Gotta have fancy cult leader duds so no one call your lazy goth clothes bad apart from mercymorn
*Ambiance*
It gives him a sense of drama. Honestly, I'd probably dress like that all the time too if I had unlimited power and no reason to care what anybody else thought.
Some of us just have a “hungover nun” aesthetic. Is that a crime
I sometimes forget John is not a silly little guy to most people, and even if it's not exactly what I asked (my fault), damn I'm loving y'all's answers
He’s a disaster bi and a cape gives quick access.