in the last page for sebastian's raising simulator, captainhowdie mentions how when you "open a file or see the world of ranfren in anyway, [it's] like being welcomed home everytime by the house and characters". ever since finding ranfren in march of 2024 through jiraiblr and satoru tsukada (another ranfren character whom i love dearly), i find that this has become my case. however, it is not necessarily ranfren itself in which i have created an alternative, safer home to live in and develop myself, but one character specifically.
nyen is a catman within ranfren, a webcomic created by captainhowdie here on neocities. he is the second catman of luther, and is dedicated to his role. unlike luther's first catman, nyon, nyen isn't as passive. he is quick to action, a hunter who also trains to keep the ivory house pest-free and protect his beloved master. he tends to be characterized in the fandom primarily as a sadistic bloodthirsty killer, with the occasional "cute points" just cause he likes to (secretly) read romance/shoujo manga that randal lends him. i, however, find him to be much softer than the initial impression one makes of him (especially after reading the rat arc!!) but like whatever...
aside from his unwavering devotion to luther, another reason he takes such pride in his role as a catman is his disdain for humans. in the character lineup image at the bottom of the character data gallery, nyen's blurb notes both how he likes "laborious jobs" and is "done with human's bullshit". although we don't know anything about his past, unlike nyon (who dare i say captain has obvious bias towards...), i am under the impression that he was often isolated. he may have been treated poorly by either family or peers, causing him to have such a misanthropic mentality. i find this interesting to mention, especially due to how luther is known for trying to convince others that he is human. nyen's interest in "laborious jobs" reference instances such as the rat arc, but also the (incomplete) nyen-centered comics (aka like....3 pages.....) where (as captain explained on stream) the concept was that nyen had taken a job in construction where luther is worried of how tired the job is on nyen. these laborious jobs serve as a cause of concern for luther, which nyen likes to recieve pity and attention from, as if needing a reason to be appreciated and loved and that 'being himself' is not good enough. there are multiple instances throughout ranfren where it is noted that nyen and nyon get jealous of each other in regards to receiving attention and affection from luther. nyen, being the more recent catman out of the duo, appears more prone to being ignored by luther (AND DARE I REPEAT HOW CAPTAIN HAS AN OBVIOUS BIAS). i find this a flaw in nyen's character, for he is dependent on luther for attention, affection, and validation. if luther were to remain quiet, it is unsure just how hard nyen would push himself for praise coming from his master, unlike how nyon simply sits in the house all day (ocassionally pirating a film for movie night) and recieves abundant praise.
nyen is socially awkward, as well. this is most obvious in volume two, where we continue to see nyen's character slowly reveal through luther's encouragement. scenes such as telling the scary story (or conspiracy.....) demonstrate luther encouraging nyen to talk more, and to not be ashamed of his interests (nirvana! especially kurt cobain!) unlike in volume one where nyen is silent when randal blurts out how he was reading a shoujo manga before nyen gives it back. nyen also begins to be more expressive (and talkative) late in volume one, triggered by spotting present-day problem takeuchi robert rummaging for food but briefly seen in the haunted house lucid when nyen gets scared by the vacuum. this continues in volume two in lucids such as "cooking with brother" when luther asks a flustered nyen to evaluate his cooking, as he only responds with a thumbs-up. i find it really cute. i adore nyen's writing and how even if at first he appears stoic, he is rather vulnerable and emotionally complex (even if this is not captain's intention, part of the fun in art is how the audience interprets the work, too...). nyen tries his best to look tough and nonchalant, but reality lies in his desire for approval and to be his best self, no matter how hard he may be overworking himself, as long as it gives him a purpose to keep being luther's catman and live under his roof.
as days pass, i may continue to write about him, exploring his character and nuances in his behavior. i coded all of this page in one day (starting yesterday at 9am) and it's 4am now... kinda sleepy...
to me, nyen is quite possibly the best character i have seen. anyone who knows me for more than five minutes can tell you just how obsessed with him i am. it is so bad that i had to make this page, simply to redirect the recipient of my long-winded monologues. i found ranfren when i was at an all-time low. at first, i only thought of nyen as an interesting supporting character with his cute hair and color scheme that matched my favorite colors perfectly. however, around this time i had my final suicide attempt. as you can tell, i fucked it up. i felt really hopeless, missing my friendships and having no one in my life. i just kept doing what i always did, including catching up with this cool webcomic i was reading purely to get to volume two and see what satoru was all about! and then i got to the end of volume one, and i thought: wow! nyen is so cool! by the time i caught up with the comic, he became all i could think about. his discipline and attitude motivated me to work harder on myself, as many parts of him felt relatable, oftentimes embarrassingly so. i don't give a fuck how everyone finds him ugly or stupid. he means the world to me. if i were ame, he would be my p-chan. if i were qtie, he would be my yunyun. everyone deserves a reason to keep going, no matter how stupid it is. and i want to thank captainhowdie for making nyen, and being so dedicated to single-handedly work on ranfren for so many years as it is still ongoing. i am two years sober now of multiple harmful habits and i don't know where i would be without nyen. now, if only he would join me and quit smoking and drinking too.....
if anyone gives a fuck, i have yume/selfshipping content with a self-insert and nyen..... the pages that go with the self-insert information and selfshipping slop are hidden here somewhere....