#and these things were so important to celeste and they’re in a very real sense irreplaceable

[girldraki]

:(

[lesbians4armand]

What is your take on Armand's sexuality. I suppose he is canon bisexual as in he says he fucked Celeste and Estelle but do you read him as having any real interest in women? He seems very gay to me

Honestly, I totally read and see him as bisexual. I think he can have more interest in men than women, but so far we’ve only seen that part of him (aside from vague references to relationships with women) in the show.

One of the things that makes me see him as bisexual the most is a bias from the books and a relationship with a character named Bianca Solderini who is yet to be introduced to the show, a woman he knew as a young man in Venice during his life with Marius. Bianca and Armand were very close and very obviously loved one another (romantically as well as in other ways), and Bianca cared for Armand when he was dying before he was made a vampire.

While it makes some sense to make Louis explicitly gay rather than the hand-wavy bisexuality of all vampires in the books, I think Armand’s (and Lestat’s) bisexuality are equally important. They aren’t just bisexual because vampires don’t care, they’re bisexual because they already were.

I can see Armand having a preference for men, both out of genuine preference as well as a comfort in familiarity (Armand to me is very much a character who likes to be in situations he is familiar with, this is why he seeks security in covens and tries to somewhat recreate the dynamics of what he had with Marius when he was young). A part of this familiarity could be being with men as almost all of the most important relationships of his life have been with men, it’s what he knows.

But I do still think he is attracted to women. Bi4Bi devils minion you are so real.

[tickle-bugs]

Extraordinary

Summary: Makoto’s a bit haunted by the lack of normalcy in Hope’s Peak--at least, whatever shreds of normalcy could survive in a place like that. Hina, Sakura, and Kyoko bring him some measure of peace. 

@naegiristan Here’s your TOC fic! I apologize for it being so late, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless :) Thanks to the lovely @peachytickles for hosting this with me. I had a blast. @ticklesofcolor 

There’s a lengthy conversation about food/healthy eating in the beginning, so TW/CW for food. 

Living at Hope’s Peak had forced Makoto to severely recategorize the way he viewed himself. Being ordinary was just...who he was. There was no word for it before. Makoto was himself, and that’s all that he ever needed to be. School life, if he could even call it that, had wrenched that comfort away from him. 

How was he supposed to be ordinary amongst the world’s foremost geniuses? What was the point of being ‘just Makoto’ when everyone else was so much more? 

“Heads up!” The call snapped Makoto out of his thoughts. He turned and caught a facefull of frosting and sprinkles. He narrowed his eyes at Hina, not exactly annoyed but not exactly happy either. 

“Oh my god, are you okay?” Hina wheezed, not even bothering to hide her giggles.

“I’m fine.” Makoto wiped a bit of frosting from his nose and popped it in his mouth. Hm. Strawberry.

“You looked like you could use a donut. I take my friends’ donut deficiencies very seriously.” Hina took a seat by his left, sliding the dozen box to sit between them. Sakura sat on his other side, graceful as always, and took a glazed donut from the box. 

“Sakura!”

“Hmm?” She looked up, donut in mouth, and Makoto stifled a chuckle. 

“You’re...having a donut?” Hina stared in open-mouthed wonder. 

“I can have cheat meals sometimes.” Sakura averted her eyes, uncharacteristically bashful. 

“I thought you hated donuts! I feel betrayed!”

“It’s reverse psychology, Hina. It makes cravings easier.” 

“Next you’re gonna tell me you actually love cake.” Hina huffed, and when Sakura stayed quiet, she threw her hands up in exasperation.

“We’re soulmates! I’m supposed to know these things about you! My whole life is a lie!” Hina whined, dropping her head in her hands. Sakura leaned around Makoto to pat her back, chuckling at her dramatics. 

Kyoko drifted over with perfect timing, taking a graceful seat before Hina could declare a divorce. 

“Hey, Kyoko.” Makoto smiled. Her eyes lingered on his face for a while, longer than usual, and it occurred to him that he still had frosting on his face. He pulled napkins from the dispenser on the table and dipped them in his water glass, choosing speed over discretion as he scrubbed at his face. 

“Hina. Sakura. Makoto.” Her lips quirked up on his name. 

“Do you have plans, Kyoko?” Hina slid the box to Kyoko, but she didn’t take a donut.

“Why do you ask?”

“Sakura and I were gonna go up to the art room. Wanna come?” 

“I suppose.” Kyoko smiled.

……………..

“Guys, look!” Hina gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. 

“Is that...Celeste?” Sakura wrinkled her nose, slipping past Hina to get a better look. Nearly every surface in the room was covered in images of Celeste, from paintings to sketches--even a sculpture or two sat at the back of the room.

“Hifumi must have drawn these,” Kyoko sighed, thumbing through a discarded sketchbook--unfortunately, also filled with drawings of Celeste. 

“What makes you say that?” Makoto looked over Kyoko’s shoulder. The drawings were good--no, great, actually, if one could get past the creepiness of it all. Did Celeste know about all of this?

“He’s obsessed with her.” Kyoko held up a more tame drawing of Celeste looking out a window. Something at the back of Makoto’s mind stirred upon seeing it, but the feeling fled as quickly as it came. 

“I think he’s a little more than obsessed.” Sakura gestured at an easel with an Elizabethan-style portrait of Celeste on a throne, revelling in excessive jewels and finery. Celeste had to know, then. This was the kind of thing she’d force Hifumi to make, anyhow. 

“I want a creepy portrait now! Let’s make them for each other!” Hina giggled, appraising the portrait of Celeste with open amusement. 

“I’m not an artist, Hina.” 

“Who cares? It’ll be fun! You and I can do each other. I won’t judge you. Makoto and Kyoko, why don’t you guys swap as well?” Hina shoved brushes and palettes into everyone’s hands, leaving no room for argument. Though Makoto really wanted to argue. There was no way Kyoko would--

“Alright.”

“Y-Yeah. Sounds good.” He coughed, dumping his supplies at the nearest station. Sakura came around with canvases for them, delicately setting them on the easels. 

Painting was rather relaxing, once Makoto got into it. Some of his anxieties melted away as he meticulously blended the paint, trying to capture the lavender undertones of Kyoko’s hair. He cut the line of her easel across the canvas with a thick brush, and in one fell swoop, outlined the curve of her head peeking out behind it. The creepy piece of the activity was lost on Makoto from the moment he started--he had to do Kyoko justice. 

He leaned in close for the most important part: Kyoko’s eyes. They both weren’t visible, but her right eye peeked out just enough for him to capture the gentle violet. He dabbed tiny reflections into the iris, giving her eyes the shining life that he’d always admired. He wondered if his eyes looked like that. Probably not, anymore. 

The sensation of something light and fluffy sweeping across his nape rudely interrupted his musings and nearly sent him onto the floor. The feeling zipped along the side of his neck and hopped up to his ears--he tilted out of his chair at that point, and Sakura’s sharp reflexes were the only thing saving him from an untimely demise. She righted his chair with him still in it and smiled.

“Hina!” Makoto slapped a hand to the back of his neck, cheeks blazing red. Hina’s grin told him all he needed to know, but the paintbrush dangling between her fingers told him more. 

“Sorry! Had to snap you out of it. We’re going to go get dinner, if you want to join us.” Hina squeezed his shoulder and it only tickled worse. He tried to discreetly pry her hand off of his shoulder but there was no room left for playing natural. 

“You guys go ahead. I’m not hungry.” He cursed himself for the way his voice cracked. He saw Kyoko glance at him from the corner of his eye and he cleared his throat. Real smooth, Makoto. 

“I’ll pass as well.”

“Oh, okay. Bye!” Hina looped her arm through Sakura’s and dragged her out of the art room, leaving Makoto and Kyoko silent and alone. 

“I finished your painting.” Kyoko turned her easel to face him. What’d she painted certainly looked like him, if he squinted. The colors were all there, and she’d perfectly captured the one tuft of hair on his head that would never lie down. His face was a little lopsided, looking more like an emoticon than anything else. He adored it more than words could describe.

He needed words, though, because Kyoko was staring expectantly. 

“I….it’s…” Would cute sound patronizing? Maybe endearing was alright. No, that would be worse. 

“You can say it’s horrible.”

“It’s perfect, Kyoko.” He ran his thumb over her signature in the bottom corner. 

“Can I see yours?”

“Oh, uh. Sure.” He turned his easel towards her, eyes fixed on a point in the middle distance so he wouldn’t have to look at her.

“Makoto.” He looked up, expression neutral. 

“This is wonderful,” She whispered. Tears glistened in her eyes, threatening to fall, and Makoto frantically passed her tissues from his pocket. 

“Kyoko, hey--”

“I’m just grateful, that’s all. Thank you.” She dabbed at her eyes. 

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing to me. Thank you.” She took the painting from the easel and held it protectively. 

“You’re welcome.” He smiled.

………………………………..

“I want what they have. Sakura and Hina, I mean.” Makoto unlocked his door and held it open for her. 

“A lesbian relationship?”

“Wh--no, of course not. Wait. They’re together?” Makoto’s jaw dropped. 

“Makoto, your lack of perception worries me sometimes,” Kyoko huffed, slipping past him with the paintings. She rested them against the wall near the door as Makoto worked his jaw, trying to remember how to speak. It made sense,  but how could he not notice?

“Listen, my point is that I want normalcy. I want to laugh with someone who means something to me. As messed up as it is that we’re trapped here--” He gestured to his room-- “I’d like to at least have friends like everyone else.” He flopped on his bed. She sat more gracefully beside him. 

“I’m not very funny.” Kyoko shrugged. He squinted confusedly at her for a moment. 

“That’s okay, Kyoko. You don’t have to be. I’m just complaining about something stupid.” He sighed deeply and fiddled with his jacket sleeves.

“I may have a different way of making you laugh, though.”

“Oh?” He looked up. 

“You might hate it. Just...tell me to stop if you do.” She made eye contact with him, and if he didn’t know any better, he’d say she was...nervous? He’d never seen her like this. It was equally endearing and unsettling.

The skittering of nails around his collarbones stopped his train of thought dead in its tracks. 

“K-Kyoko! Wait!” He squealed, giggles bursting from him before he could even think to hold them back. She withdrew her hands as if she’d been burned, watching him intently. 

“You didn’t have to...I mean...I-It’s okay if you…” Makoto waved his hands around, well-aware that the stammering was losing him any cool points he may have had with her. 

“You like this.” A statement, not a question. 

“I think so? Y-Yeah, I do. It’s fun, and you’re fun, and--”

“Makoto.” Kyoko silenced him with the tenderness of his name. “It’s alright.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes.” She smiled--smiled!--at him, and his heart flipped in his chest. They gazed at each other for a moment, warm and inviting, and it would’ve been great if Kyoko didn’t ruin it by tickling his ribs. Makoto squawked and fell backwards on the bed, giggling at machine-gun speed. He grabbed at her arms to have something to hold and she chuckled at him, sliding her hands down to his sides. She moved languidly, calculating every move before Makoto could react to her last one. 

“Just so you know, Makoto, you mean something to me, too. So in a way, we’re both getting normalcy.” She hummed and scribbled curiously at his stomach, laughing softly at his attempts to curl up. He wondered if she knew how awful her nails were, even through his shirt. His survival instincts advised against telling her, though--she’d likely never leave him alone. 

If Makoto could see through his mirth-squinted eyes, he might’ve seen Kyoko staring down at him fondly, smiling wider than she had since they’d arrived at Hope’s Peak. Instead, he cycled between swatting at her hands and hiding his face, absolutely overwhelmed on all fronts. 

“Yeah,” she whispered softly, applying enough pressure to make Makoto shriek, “Ordinary is just what I needed.”

If he wasn’t giggling so hard, he’d’ve told her that she was what he needed, too. 

[dragonrajafanfiction]

Lionheart Party

In straight white slacks, the dark green Cassell blazer and a button up shirt tucked in neatly, Tigre couldn’t have looked more preppy. His dark hair was slicked back in a flamboyant green bow that highlighted his aqua eyes. He smiled and greeted Lionheart members courteously as instructed by Celeste.

“Look them in the eyes, smile warmly and shake their arms firmly. Maybe pat their shoulders as they pass through the door but not too hard and not too soft, like a caress. Less with the ladies. Just a smile will suffice. Thank them for coming and direct them straight to the wine.”

“Really? The wine?” Tigre said, startled. 

“Yes.” Celeste grinned.

“Welcome! Thank you for coming!” Tigre said, shaking the hand of a guest and patting his shoulder as he walked inside. “The wine is on the bar to your left!”

Celeste didn’t bother even announcing the party campus wide. She was only interested in entertaining Lionheart members. He was the S-ranked student, but she was the host. She hung him outside the door like a decoration. Her first accomplishment here.

Word of the unorthodox living accommodations spread like wildfire around the campus but Tigre said he was fine with it. The girls were helping him tremendously and he didn’t care much for the rumors. He was excited that he was on his way to becoming a dragon-like person, just like his ancestors. 

The Lionheart men weren’t interested in him anyway. 

As he shook the hand of one tall blue-eyed man with the looks of a male model, he drew Tigre in for a surprise hug and asked, “So which sister is yours huh?”

Tigre laughed awkwardly, recalling the conversation in the car. The whole reason they liked him is because he didn’t demand their attention. “I uh… will let them decide that. It’s their choice.”

The man threw back his head and laughed. “Smart! I like you!”

“The wine is that way.”

The svelte handsome man winked and went that way, but he took his hand and dragged him inside. 

Tigre dug in his heels and trie to delay. “Wait, I’m supposed to... “

“Hey my buddy bought cookies. You should try them.”

Celeste stood like a bold centerpiece in the dorm, speaking to the three of them with a flute of champagne. She spoke in short clips, smiling in a floor length white satin dress, gesturing her dark arms and shoulders. Her neck glittered with a diamond on a thin gold chain. Her hair was done up in a braided crown.

Ruby was helping to serve the drinks and keeping everything stocked up. She had been talking to a man with dark skin and black eyes with straight hair held back with enough gel to make it stick together in lumps, when she suddenly broke eye contact with him and caught eye contact with Tigre. Her expression caught the attention of her suitor who followed her gaze back to him. As soon as he saw the Cassell S-rank watching them, he backed away, hands up in innocence and wandered off in defeat.

Ruby mouthed the words, “Thank you.”

Porsche was laughing on the couch in a green dress that was cut all the way up to her knees, leaving her leg completely bare as she crossed one over the other. The two guys on either side of her couldn’t seem to keep their eyes on her face, she wiggled her heeled shoe a bit and smirked when they looked before continuing her conversation about the wonders of her home country of Tanzania.

Tigre lowered his eyes a bit. They were having so much fun. He should do or say something, but nothing comes to mind. What they were doing was none of his business. They wanted to be friendly with all these people because they wanted to lead the club so it was important to show off in the meet and greet. He couldn’t hold a conversation like they could. If he tried to chat, he might ruin things. 

He nodded to himself that, for now, it was fine to hang out. When he reached the bar, he turned around and looked into a pair of beautiful dark eyes with a pale face. 

“Hey there.” Her skin reminded him of Celeste’s satin dress, smooth and shining in the light. He was supposed to welcome and smile and lead to the wine and that was all, but he found himself suddenly tongue tied. 

“I’m Veronica. A pleasure to meet you.” She held out her hand, palm down, displaying her painted red nails that matched her elegant straight gown.

“Hi…” Tigre looked at her hand. He wasn’t supposed to shake hands with them, right? Her hand wasn’t in the right position to shake anyway. His arm twitched, not sure what to do.

Veronica’s smile vanished and her expression darkened as she lowered her hand, but she smiled again, recovering. “This is the party right?”

“Yes. The wine is right over there.” Tigre said, happy to get back on script.

“I’m not interested in wine. I don’t drink.” She said, “And I know. I’ve been standing here for ten minutes.” She was standing over a tray of cookies. “Want to try some?”

“Sure!”

Veronica smiled and stepped next to him. “Mind if I keep you company?”

“Not at all!” Tigre said. He felt a sense of relief not to be by himself any more. The cookies were good, sweet, warm and chocolatey. He reached for another.

The next person came up and Veronica stepped forward and shook his hand. 

“Veronica… fancy meeting you here.” The blonde man said.

“I’m a member of Lionheart now so…” She looked up at Tigre. “Tigre… is that your real name…?”

“It is.” Tigre nodded.

“Tigre, I’m Henry Everton. My parents are of an old dynasty in Poland that immigrated to the US during World War II and made money in the oil business.”

“Oh I see.” 

“Where is your family from?”

He almost said he didn’t know. But he did know. “Dragons!” he exclaimed confidently.

Everton wheezed for a second, trying to hold in his mouth full of wine, and then laughed. “Wow. That’s what it all comes down to right?”

Veronica nodded. “That’s why we’re all here. Cassell attracts the highest purity hybrids from all over the world. Tigre knows why we’re here as well. According to the registry, he majored in martial arts.”

“Oh really? You might as well so long as you have the physique and energy for it. I personally can’t handle getting into too many fights. But you look like you’ve been in a few yourself.”

Tigre self-consciously bit into another cookie. “I have.”

He felt a sudden sense of relief. He seemed comfortable just standing at the bar and holding a conversation.

“OH you know who has your same major? Alex.” He turned and shouted.  “Hey Alex!”

Alex looked to be about 6 foot 50 and about as wide. He lumbers across the living room and towers over Tigre like a goliath. Tigre didn’t remember this guy coming in. Wait…

He turned to the door. People were just walking in! He’d left his post and people were just flowing in like crazy!

Celeste was staring at him, with angry black eyes.

Panicked, Tigre looked up at Alex who stared down at him like he could pound him completely through the floor.

“Yeah I think he’s in like all your classes this is awesome! You guys should exchange numbers.” Everton beamed and slapped Alex on the bottom before going to greet the people coming in.

“Ah sure…” Tigre pulled out his phone that he got from Toyama and tried to remember how to add a contact. After a few awkward seconds he gave up. “Can I… just give you my number?”

Ruby has gone to the door for crowd control but she isn’t nearly the presence that Tigre apparently was. Soon, she’s surrounded and fielding awkward questions from guys who looked like they were drunk already. There must have been another party somewhere and maybe it had ended? Or were people here just drunk all the time?

Porsche wasn’t going to help her sister, she was busy taking selfies on the couch, holding out her phone and making a victory sign with her fingers. “Okay now give me all your numbers.” She commanded. All the guys were happy to comply.

Tigre finally got the number to Alex the Giant, who apparently was in all his classes.

He grumbled. “I look forward to seeing you in battlefield training.”

“Right…” He whispered. “S...same here.”

Tigre turned to the bar where three guys were filling the cups of the people in line. One man had a cup in each hand and spilled a bit on the floor as he walked back to the door to give beer to people as they were coming in.

He was so distracted he didn’t realize Veronica was talking to him. “As part of my study, I was tasked with researching S-ranks like Principal Anjou and Lu Mingfei. They seem very ordinary on the surface, but their minds are anything but ordinary. They’re not overly obsessed with anything in this world. Anjou appreciates good things in the world but can hardly enjoy them because this is not his world. Lu Mingfei seems to feel the same way. No matter how much he attains in power or status, he’s not truly interested in it. So it didn’t surprise me at all to see you outside the party on your own. This is exactly how S-rankers act.”

“I… I guess?” He stammered. He turned and caught sight of Porsche who was in a full blown make out session with one of the men on the couch. They way his  hand moved up her body and over her shoulders and then over her hair and…

Someone knocked into him and apologized. “Oh wait!” He looked up at him wide eyed. “You’re the S-ranker. That’s awesome! So are you half lizard or something? I hear you guys turn into dragons when you’re really pissed off.”

“I… don’t think so?”

The man shoved a beer into his hand. “Here bottoms up. I want to talk to you and hear your story. Are you from a whole family of dragonslayers?”

“No..”

“Really? Where are you from?”

“Mexico… I…”

“Mexico? I haven’t heard a lot about dragons there but you know what? I had a sister who did a whole report on the legend of Quetzocoatl… I wonder if you have some sort of Dragon Lineage from that, but it’s also possible that Hybrids came from the Conquistadores. I mean, it’s possible that Cortez and Montezuma were hybrids… or maybe even Dragons!”

Tigre couldn’t walk without bumping into someone. The whole place smelled like alcohol. The music was suddenly extremely loud and people were bouncing in the living room. This was all his fault. He had one job. Celeste was going to kill him. 

The man ushered him onto a couch with two other people. He introduced them but he could barely hear over the noise. 

“By the way, I live downstairs down the hall. I heard the party going on and you know…”

“Wait, all these people live here?”

“Yes, like, I think three quarters of these people are your neighbors. How’d you get a pad like this? I mean dang, shackin’ up with the Smith girls? Lucky you.”

“They might kick me out after this…” He squeaked.

“No they won’t.”  This guy switched out his empty cup with a full one. “You’re kind of quiet…”

Tigre looked down at his cup and realized it was plastic and a shade of red. He didn’t remember these cups being in the bar area. “Where did this cup come from?”

“If you crash a party you bring your own booze. Common courtesy. So which one of those girls is yours?”

Tigre suddenly felt very dizzy and tired. “I don’t know. I don’t…”

“Oh come on, be honest… There’s one you got your eye on? I don’t want to step on any toes.”

“Porsche likes guys a lot. You should talk to her.” He kept trying to focus his eyes. People were laughing awfully loud.

“Excellent. By the way, Veronica is nice. You know if you don’t like chocolate.”

Tigre squinted at him and realized this was not the person who was talking about Mesoamerican mythology earlier. Someone else had sat next to him and he didn’t even realize it. He suddenly wondered if there was some sort of time skip and he’d been sitting here for a longer time than he realized.

It sank in that he was intoxicated. He didn’t drink that much. How could he feel this listless and out of it? He decided it was probably best to just stay on the couch and not move too much. He was afraid of falling because the room was tilting so bad.

Two freshman hooked up microphones and a beat started playing. They were speaking quickly at each other and insulting each other with quick words and phrases that somehow rhymed.  People cheered and goaded on the best rhyming phrases and much to his shock Celeste broke from the crowd and snatched the mic.

Her dress was slightly stained. “This is my party, this is my house, so listen up, Mama Celly gonna rap now. Yo all you fellas walkin’ like you wanna piece o’ me. But I’m not your baby girl who’s gonna go down easily! Disses just starting, Kiss and kowtow, I’m gonna take you ‘part as future Lady Lionheart!”

She wasn’t angry? She was having fun?

“Oh… good…”  Tigre slid down the couch, laid down and blacked out.

[cobaltusami]

Tropical Vacation pt. 4

Hey hi hello! I meant to post this earlier but my dumbass forgot to. There Is no tickling in this part but this Is the part where they meet!

Something important to note: I have not completed the second game, So this probably won't make sense because I've probably not seen some huge plot twist yet. I apologize. This Is happening In an alternate universe anyway so hopefully that doesn't take away from the story too much!

Characters In this part: All of class 78, Hajime, Fuyuhiko, Mahiru, Hiyoko, Ibuki, Nekomaru, Akane, Chiaki, Sonia, Nagito. (The rest of class 77 Is there but not mentioned by name.)

Word count: 2,247

Part 1: [Click or tap here!] Part 2: [Click or tap here!] Part 3: [Click or tap here!] Part 4: You are here.

Once they all assembled at the gym, Monokuma appeared on the stage.

“Thank you all for coming to my ted talk!” He greeted. “And for the splitting headache I now have thanks to you four over there.” He pointed to Mondo, Hiro, Taka and Sakura. Mondo and Hiro chuckled while Sakura blushed.

“I have gathered you all here for a very special surprise!”

“We know what you said in the announcement, can you just get on with it?” Leon rolled his eyes at the mismatched bear.

“Well, Someone’s pushy today. I guess my feng shui isn’t working as well as I’d hoped.” he sounded dejected. “Which Incidentally, Is the subject of today’s meeting!”

“Don’t tell me, You’re gonna throw more sand around?” Hina asked with a small giggle, nudging Sakura.

Sakura flinched hard from the contact, her nerves still on fire from earlier. “M-Monokuma… we are not interested In your decorating escapades.” she mumbled.

“I guess you’re right… It’s not nearly as interesting as watching you getting ti--”

“Sh-Shut up!” She stammered, blushing.

“What about your decorating, Monokuma?” Kyoko sighed, realizing this meeting may never end If she didn’t step In and get it back on track.

“Puhuhuhuhu…” Monokuma giggled. “See? Someone cares about--”

“Just get on with It.” Kyoko interrupted, quickly losing her patience.

“Fine, You’re all no fun…” The bear moped for a moment before clearing his throat. “I called you all here to tell you that I’ve redecorated again! Once you leave the Gym you should notice a whole new world out there…” He said ominously.

“This Is a waste of my time.” Byakuya huffed. “I’m going back to the library.”

“Oh but before you do that, I must warn you…” Monokuma sounded like he was grinning as he spoke. “There are other students out there, much different than the group you’re all used to.”

“D-Did you ge-get another p-p-pool floaty or some-something?” Toko rolled her eyes.

“Something like that.” He called vaguely after the students who were exiting the room.

But imagine their surprise when they opened the doors only to be met with bright sunlight, the sound of waves crashing, and seagulls cawing.

A/N I'm not sure how Monokuma Houdini'd this, he probably stole Usami's spare magic stick--

“W-What the!?” Byakuya jolted back with a surprised gasp.

“W-What happened to the school?!” Makoto stammered.

“Puhuhu… What do you think? After your lukewarm response before, I took your criticisms into account and redecorated! Pretty realistic huh?”

Hina, Kyoko and Makoto stepped out, looking around. “G-Guys? It’s actually real.” Hina stammered, shocked.

“No shit, How could Monokuma have faked it!?” Mondo retorted, walking out with them.

Hina scanned the area enthusiastically then squealed. “Sakura! Come out here! There’s a beach!” she announced as she bounced back in the doorway.

Sakura followed her best friend out again. “It’s… pretty.”

Leon, Hiro, Celeste, Sayaka, Taka and Chihiro all followed them out, looking around curiously.

Chihiro giggled happily. “It’s so nice here!” they beamed, twirling around once in the gentle breeze.

“Look at the water! It’s so blue!” Sayaka smiled.

Toko took one look at the water and began to back up nervously, she looked to Byakuya trying to gauge his reaction to all of this.

“This Is some kind of trick. I’m not falling for It.” Byakuya huffed irritably.

“I don’t know, It looks pretty real to me.” Hifumi commented as he stepped outside.

Hina looked to Toko and noticed how nervous she seemed. she smiled, reaching her hand out for the writer. “Come on Toko! Come with us. I won’t let anything happen to you!”

Toko blushed, stammering awkwardly. “I-I don’t ne-need your protection, M-Meathead!” She chided.

Most people would be offended by this, Hina knew by now that this was just how Toko was. She stepped back through the doors. “Come on Toko~ don’t you wanna just feel the fresh air for even a few seconds? It feels great out here!”

The writer did in fact, want to feel the fresh air. She looked to Byakuya silently for his opinion again.

“Do what you want, I certainly don’t want you In here.” He said coldly, crossing his arms.

She looked back at Hina and shakily took her hand, stepping outside with her.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna join them?” Monokuma asked the Progeny.

“This Is some kind of Motive, and I’m not dumb enough to fall for it like they are.”

“Yeah no.” Mondo grabbed a hold of Byakuya’s arm, dragging him outside. “You aren’t staying where we can’t keep an eye on ya, We all agreed to stick together.” He muttered.

Toko actually smiled as she stood In the sunlight with Hina. “I-It does fe-feel really g-good out here…” she admitted.

“See? It’s not so scary.” Hina beamed, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

Sakura smiled at the two, glad they were getting along for the time being and she didn’t have to kick Toko’s ass for saying anything too off handed to the swimmer.

“L-Let go of me!” Byakuya growled, ripping away from the biker, as he turned around to go back inside the doors closed with Monokuma standing in front of them. “Open the doors. I’m going back inside.”

“No you aren’t.” Monokuma announced, All the students turned to him questioningly. “Consider this a school field trip! You’re going to be staying here for the next few days while I make actual changes to the school.”

“Stay where exactly? This Is just an island.” Makoto asked.

“I’m glad you asked, Unlucky one! Across this bridge Is a park, and through magical gate number one Is an island with a hotel. The hotel Is where you’re all set up to stay.” Monokuma explained. “But be caaaareful… There are other students on this island that aren’t as hospitable as you are. They’re cold blooded killers who’ve already had a few trials.”

Makoto felt his blood run cold as he looked to Kyoko for comfort, her face was it’s usual iron mask.

“I’d love to stay here and chat with you all, but your teacher should be here shortly to show you the way.” Monokuma sighed. “Enjoy yourselves! Try not to kill for at least a few hours, I have some surprises to prepare for when you get back!” with that he disappeared. Leaving behind the group of concerned students.

“H-He’s totally joking about the other students… right?” Hiro asked, nervously smiling.

“He has to be, There’s no way he can watch over us and a whole other class at the same time.” Makoto replied.

“I shouldn’t have listened to you!” Toko cried, pulling her hand away from Hina. “I-I should ha-have known y-you were m-m-making the wrong ch-choice!”

“Toko, Easy! It’s gonna be okay!” Hina tried to reassure the walking ball of anxiety. “I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, And I mean It!”

They didn’t have any more time to panic when Usami appeared. “Hello students!” She greeted cheerfully, the group quieted down and looked at the pink and white bunny in total confusion.

“Oh god, There’s more of ‘em?!” Mondo asked.

“M-More of them? You aren’t comparing me to that awful Monokuma, Are you?” Usami sobbed. “I would never do anything as vile as him!”

“Who are you?” Kyoko asked.

“My name Is Usami, I am your soft and squeezable teacher! It’s nice to meet you all!” She beamed. “I am very happy to have you all here!”

“Monokuma said there were other students on the island… Is that true?” Makoto asked.

“Yes, Ah but don’t worry! They aren’t at all as he says!” Usami quickly corrected. “They are wonderful kids! They’ve taken a stand against Monokuma by not participating In his horrible games…”

Makoto let out a small breath of relief. “We’re the same, We haven’t killed anyone either.” He informed the plushie.

Usami giggled happily. “Love, Love! That’s wonderful to hear! Come with me, I’ll take you to the others to get you all acquainted!” She announced as she began to walk towards the bridge.

The students reluctantly followed, not seeing much of a choice. As they made the trek to the other island Usami asked for all of their names, giving them each a compliment on how nice their name was.

It was such a stark contrast to what they were used to with Monokuma, which only made them more suspicious and uneasy about this whole thing.

They arrived at the front of the beach house, and they could hear yelling and laughing, mixed in with some shrieks of surprise coming from whatever was behind the house.

“It sounds like they’re out on the beach!” Usami observed, leading them around to the beach and sure enough, they were. They were having a water gun and balloon fight.

Hajime shrieked as he got pelted by three different people, turning away to protect his face with a laugh. When he opened his eyes he was looking at the other class and Usami.

The students abruptly stopped their shenanigans and looked to the group.

“Everyone, This Is the class Monokuma mentioned before!” Usami announced. “Come introduce yourselves!”

Ibuki was the first to step forward, her eyes wide in shock. “Sayaka??? Is that you??” she gasped.

Sayaka’s eyes also widened as she too stepped forward. “Ibuki? Ibuki Mioda??”

There was a moment of silence as they stared at each other in disbelief, but then they squealed and ran to hug each other. “Ibuki, I’m so happy to see you!”

“Ibuki Is happy to see you too!”

“Ibuki? You know her?” Hajime asked curiously.

“Yes! We were In the same music group before Ibuki left to pursue a solo career.” Ibuki explained, pulling away from the singer.

Leon eyed Nekomaru, shocked. “C-Coach Nekomaru?” He stammered.

Nekomaru blinked, seemingly his face clicked In his head. “LEON KUWATA!” He shouted. “Oh man, It’s been a while! C’mere you!”

Leon smiled nervously as he approached Nekomaru, being pulled into a powerful hug.

Hajime seemed a bit more at ease about the situation as Sonia was the next to step up. “Hello! My name Is Sonia Nevermind! It is wonderful to meet you all!” She greeted cheerfully.

“Whoa,” Akane looked at Sakura with stars in her eyes. “You look super strong!”

“Th-Thank you.” Sakura smiled a bit. “My name Is Sakura Ogami, What Is your name?”

“Oh! Right! I’m Akane Owari, Ultimate Gymnast.” She introduced herself. “Hey, Wanna fight??”

Nekomaru approached them, gently pulling Akane back. “Easy tiger, go introduce yourself to the rest of the class.”

She pouted as she did as he asked.

“Sorry about her, She’s really Into sparring.” Nekomaru laughed. “I’m Nekomaru Nidai! Ultimate team manager! You’re the Ultimate Martial artist, Yeah?”

Sakura was a bit caught off guard. “Yes, How did you…?”

“I’ve watched you fight.” He admitted with a chuckle.

Makoto stared at Nagito. Why did he look so familiar to him?

“Hi, I’m Nagito Komaeda! I’m the Ultimate Lucky student. Nice to meet you!” He introduced himself. Man, he even sounds familiar.

Makoto jumped In surprise. There could be two of the same ultimate?! Though he supposed they DID do this lottery before… “U-Uh, Hi! I’m Makoto Naegi. Ultimate Lucky Student.” He smiled sheepishly at the surprised look on Nagito’s face.

“Really?? Another Ultimate Lucky student? WOW! So my theory was correct.” Nagito said thoughtfully. “I’m really not an Ultimate after all!”

“W-What?” Makoto stuttered, taken off guard by how cheerful he seemed about this. “N-No uh, I was picked at random for a lottery. You’re probably the real--”

Chiaki grabbed Nagito by the arm and yanked him away to give him a lecture while Hajime and Fuyu took his spot. “Sorry about him, He’s on a kick about being trash.” He explained with a sigh.

“Man, and I thought Makoto had low self esteem…” Hina mumbled, giggling at the side eye she received from him.

“I’m Hajime Hinata, I don’t know what my Ultimate Is.” He offered his hand to shake.

“I’m Makoto Naegi. Nice to meet you!” He beamed, his eyes flickered to Fuyuhiko, who still looked a bit uneasy about this situation.

Hajime looked at the blond and gently nudged him. “Go on, It’s okay.”

Fuyu stepped forward and looked up at Makoto-- It’s not every day that someone has to look up at him so he was slightly amused. “My name Is Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, I’m the Ultimate Yakuza.” He introduced, stepping back. Hajime put his arm around Hiko’s shoulders and pulled him into his side to comfort him, sensing he was uneasy.

Mahiru, who had been scared initially, seemed much more lax now as she and Hiyoko introduced themselves to the group.

Once the rest of the group had been introduced, Usami turned to the students. “I should show you to the hotel so you can settle in your rooms!”

“Ibuki can do It!” Ibuki bounced excitedly.

“I will go too!” Sonia volunteered.

Usami giggled. “Very well! I’ll let you two show them. Their rooms have their names on the doors. I must go prepare something, but I will be back to check In on you!” She reassured, disappearing just as Monokuma does.

“Follllooow Ibuki!”

After getting settled In, the Hope’s peak students found that some of their stuff was already in their rooms, also the rooms were much nicer than their school dorms. It was definitely gonna take some time to get used to being able to see sunlight, but It was certainly going to be a nice change for a while.

Tomorrow they would be getting more acquainted with the students that inhabit the island.

[homeformyheart]

expectations - beckett harrington x f!mc (te)

author’s note: this fic was a request from tanu after the brief scene i wrote in my other beckett x f!mc fic, the sunshine of life.

copyright: all characters owned by pixelberry studios. series/pairing: the elementalists – beckett harrington x f!mc (celeste russell) rating/warnings: 13+; family tension, fluff word count: 2.4k based on/prompt: request from @robintora​ summary: celeste meets beckett’s parents and it goes about as well as expected.

expectations

celeste cradled her throbbing toe as she sat on the bed with beckett standing in front of her. “why wouldn’t you give me more of a heads up? i have nothing to wear and i have to get a gift! i can’t show up empty-handed!”

beckett rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “it’s not that big of a deal, is it?” celeste gave him a pointed look. “okay, i kind of… forgot.”

“how do you forget about your parents wanting to have dinner with me?!” celeste’s eyes widened in disbelief. as oblivious as her boyfriend could be sometimes, he usually wasn’t this dense.

beckett let out a long sigh. “well, you know how i struggle with their expectations and there’s lot of pressure now that we’re a year away from graduating to make sure i pick the right career.”

celeste lowered her foot and crossed her arms over her chest. when she finally spoke, her voice shook with vulnerability. “and i’m not exactly someone who would meet their expectations, right?”

“i’ve never really had a girlfriend before, so i can’t say for sure,” beckett said thoughtfully. he glanced down and noticing celeste’s crestfallen expression, crouched down to meet her at eye level. “but that doesn’t mean i wouldn’t be proud to introduce you to them as my girlfriend. i love you so much, celeste.”

she tried to smile to reassure him. “i love you too, beckett. i just… i don’t really know the attuned world very well but it seems like your family name and reputation is really important to your parents. and for all they know, i may as well be attuneless. i can’t exactly tell them i’m half-source.”

beckett sat next to her on the bed and wrapped his arm around her waist. celeste leaned into his embrace, laying her head on his shoulder so her nose so she was up against his neck. she breathed in his comforting scent.

“you are the most amazing and impressive person i’ve ever met. they know that you mean a lot to me. they just want to get to know you,” beckett said, pulling back slightly to kiss her hair.

“will katrina be there?” celeste asked hopefully. having a friendly face in the room would definitely make things less daunting.

“i’m not sure actually. last i heard she was somewhere in the amazon doing research,” beckett said.

celeste sighed and stood up. “since i don’t have much time to get ready, help me figure out what to wear that’s going to offend your parents the least.”

beckett followed her to the closet and wrapped his arms around her from behind. he bent down and kissed her cheek. “that dress i bought for you when we got lunch with katrina last year should be more than fine. you look radiant in pretty much anything.”

“yeah, yeah, flattery will get you everywhere, beckett harrington. i’m still annoyed you didn’t tell me until last minute.”

beckett peppered her face and neck with kisses in response until she shooed him away so she could change into the outfit in peace. when she emerged from the closet dressed in the yellow dress and blue coat he bought her a year ago, his eyes lit up and traced the way the outfit curved around her body perfectly.

celeste ran an air spell down the coat and dress to remove any wrinkles before looking up at beckett. “this is the best i’m going to be able to do on short notice. what do you think?”

he put a hand on her waist and pulled her toward him. she stumbled forward and he steadied her with his other hand, leaning in to capture her lips into a steamy kiss. celeste felt warm when they broke apart, beckett resting his forehead against hers. “you make me wish we could be late,” he murmured softly. “you are so beautiful.”

celeste nuzzled his nose with hers. “flatterer. now let’s get going. i really don’t need to get on your parents’ bad side by being late.”

beckett had already manipulated the portal in her dorm room to take them directly to the harrington estate. the arrived in a matter of seconds, which was certainly not enough time to mentally prepare for the evening ahead. she would never admit this out loud to her friends, mostly because they wouldn’t be able to relate, but she wished they had traveled the attuneless way. it would’ve taken infinitely longer, but at least it would have bought her some time to prepare.

celeste stared up at the large, mahogany doors with the harrington family crest etched at the top and swallowed nervously. she fiddled with the buttons on her coat and tried to take slow, deep breaths. beckett slid his hands into hers and squeezed it gently before directing a metal spell with his other hand toward the door. celeste’s eyes widened as she noticed the metal inside the door turn and creak internally before opening slowly to let them in.

he took her coat and handed it to a servant before taking her hand and leading her down the long hallway. they passed what looked like a foyer, a sitting room, a study, another sitting room, or maybe it was a parlor, and a stairwell before celeste realized that she would be utterly lost in a place like this if she were alone. why anyone would need this many sitting rooms was beyond her.

when they finally arrived at the dining room, she noticed that his parents were already seated. mr. harrington appeared just as imposing as she’d imagined, with hair as dark as katrina’s except for streaks of silver running through it. her gaze shifted to his right, where beckett’s mother was sitting with her hands delicately tucked under her chin, eyes not-so-subtly inspecting celeste from head-to-toe. her shoulder-length brown hair was curled and celeste noticed that beckett must’ve inherited her cheekbones.

“ah, they’re finally here. come join us, children,” mrs. harrington said, her tone friendly but without any real warmth.

celeste took a deep breath and followed beckett, taking care to avoid eye contact with his parents as he pulled out her chair for her before settling comfortably to his father’s left. she felt a little relieved that she wasn’t sitting directly across from either parent but made sure to keep a smile on her face. regardless of whatever she felt inside, she needed to remember to smile through it all.

“hi, i’m celeste. it’s very nice to finally meet you, mr. and mrs. harrington,” celeste said, making an effort to keep the nervousness out of her voice.

“it’s very nice to meet you too, my dear. and you can call me alice. i found it odd that our beckett has been dating you for over a year and yet this is the first time we’ve actually gotten to meet you,” mrs. harrington replied; her gaze, however, was focused on beckett.

beckett cleared his throat. “we’ve been busy, mother. with school, internships, and celeste is on the thief team as well.”

“well, at least you seem well-rounded, miss russell. i will say it’s been great to see penderghast as back-to-back thief champions. and you’re a sun-att, correct?” mr. harrington asked. as far as she could tell, he was genuinely curious.

“yes, that’s correct. my secondary attunement is metal. both definitely come in handy in the thief arena,” she said cheerfully, glad to have some common ground with at least one parent.

his mother let out a soft hum before turning her attention to the food that had arrived. celeste stared at what she presumed was a salad in front of her but wasn’t sure given the mix of strange looking ingredients that she hadn’t seen before.

“what’s wrong, dear? salad not to your liking?” alice asked.

celeste quickly grabbed her fork and held it over the plate. “no, it’s just, uh, there are a lot of ingredients i don’t recognize,” she said quickly before taking a delicate bite. she was actually pleasantly surprised at the bright flavor.

“that makes sense given your attuneless upbringing. although truthfully, most people in the attuned world wouldn’t have tried any of the food you’ll get to have tonight. we imported special ingredients from around the world.”

“oh, well, the quality is certainly unmatched. everything looks absolutely delicious,” celeste said as the servants brought out the next course.

while the food was good and unlike anything she’d had in the attuneless world, she didn’t think it was that special. and judging by the pink tips of beckett’s ears, he didn’t appreciate his father’s comments either.

the rest of the dinner went by relatively smoothly, with peppered bits of small talk here and there. most of the questions weren’t too intrusive, and she found it relatively easy to ignore the lightly condescending remarks sprinkled here and there. they were finishing up dessert when they finally got to the topic of what they were going to do after penderghast.

“i haven’t really decided yet. i think i’d probably like field research and working with magickal plants,” celeste answered honestly when they asked her what fields she might be interested in. she had given it some thought as she prepared to declare her major last year. working with plants would allow her to spend more time outdoors and with nature, which is where she felt most like herself.

alice let out a soft tsk of disapproval, barely audible over the sound of her setting her spoon back down on the table. celeste looked away and saw that mr. harrington was giving her a thoughtful look and she tucked her hands between her thighs to keep from squirming under his gaze.

“well, it’s not a very compelling field, but to each their own, i suppose. we have high hopes for beckett to live up to the harrington name, and i’m sure you understand your role in supporting him.”

celeste jaw fell open slightly. they weren’t seriously implying that she should be a trophy wife? “i think i understand where you’re coming from, mr. harrington, but with all due respect, beckett and i challenge and support each other to excel in each of our respective fields. i would hope that you’d prefer someone who can match your son in intelligence and drive and not someone who acts as arm candy.”

“arm candy? is that an attuneless phrase?” katrina’s voice broke through the tension in the dining room. “sorry i’m late, everyone! trying to arrange a portal out of the amazon last minute is not as easy as you’d think!”

“kitty kat! you made it after all,” mr. harrington said, his demeanor seeming to morph into that of a doting father as katrina stopped to give him a kiss on the cheek before making her way over to the seat next to her mother.

“of course, i wouldn’t miss a family dinner like this! i’m so glad we all get to spend time together, celeste is practically family after all!” katrina said, giving celeste a subtle wink.

“that seems a bit premature, darling, considering they’re not even out of college yet. plenty of time to find a proper match,” alice said, dabbing the corner of her lips with a napkin.

“she is by far one of the best students i had at penderghast last year. made it very difficult to decide who to nominate for the attuned magickae uirtus award,” katrina said matter-of-factly as she took a sip of her mother’s glass of wine, much to alice’s annoyance.

mr. harrington’s steely gaze shifted to beckett. “i presumed you would be a shoo-in for the award, beckett. but barely beating out someone who didn’t grow up with magick? i’m not sure that’s something to be proud of.”

“with all due respect, mr. harrington, beckett was able to stay on top of his studies while helping me and my friends protect penderghast from a rogue…” celeste’s eyes briefly met beckett’s. “…attuned thieves. the high attuned herself was very appreciative, and you should be very proud of your son.”

beckett cleared his throat before katrina or anyone else could respond. “celeste and i must be getting back, we do have exams to study for.”

mr. harrington gave beckett an understanding nod. “of course.” his gaze flitted over to celeste, who swallowed nervously. “it was nice to meet you, celeste.”

“thank you for the wonderful dinner and for having us. it was very nice to meet you as well,” she said clearly, hoping her voice conveyed the same grace and confidence as katrina’s.

they stood up and were making their way to the front door when they heard katrina’s footsteps speeding toward them.

celeste turned around just in time to catch katrina as she wrapped her arms around her in a huge hug. “don’t worry about those stuffy old busts. you’ve always got an ally in me, celeste. take care of bean,” she winked, before turning gracefully and heading back into the dining room.

once they were safely outside and out of earshot, celeste let out a long sigh. “i suppose that could’ve gone worse.”

beckett gave her a reassuring one-armed hug. “you did wonderfully. i know it’s not easy to deal with my parents, and you still handled them well while being yourself.”

“sure, because that’s what sounds reassuring right now – ‘your boyfriend’s parents may not approve of you but at least you were yourself!’” celeste retorted, rolling her eyes and pulling away from him.

beckett laced his fingers through hers and tugged their joined hands to pull her close. he leaned down to give her a kiss, “believe me, you did well given the circumstances. and i promise i’ll make it up to you.”

“good, because my mom is visiting next week and we have to get lunch with her,” celeste said cheekily, not even bothering to hide her grin.

beckett’s jaw dropped. “what? you can’t just drop that on me last minute! that’s not enough time to prepare! i’ll have to go to the library straight away to make sure i can engage in conversation – what was her thesis at penderghast?” he started walking faster down the sidewalk, half-dragging celeste with him.

celeste giggled and she sped up her pace to keep up with him, allowing him to tuck their joined hands in the pocket of his coat. now she just needed to remember to actually ask theia if she could make it to lunch next week.

* * * * * mentions: @robintora; @miss-smrxtiee; @eleanorbloom; @itsjustwinter; @mm2305;

[kyberphilosopher]

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

          “Hey… Hey! Robocop! I’m talking to you!”

          I snap open my eyes, my led changing between yellow and red, finally settling upon white at the sight of Celeste and Cal looking at me. Cal is sitting in the desk across from mine, looking at me curiously as he holds a manilla colored file. Celeste leans over him, glaring at me as she snaps her fingers to get my attention.

          “The fuck were you doing?” she asks, aggressively.

          “Making a report,” I answer calmly.

          Celeste sees she is at fault and rolls her eyes. Cal looks me up and down quizzically like he doesn’t believe me. I guess, in a way, I have just lied to him. I mean, I was reporting, but not in the way that he would think. Regardless, Cal lets it goes and returns to the folder.

Software InstabiLity ^

          I swallow, even though the saliva in my mouth isn’t real. It’s more like simulated spit.

          “I attempted to use my computer but it appears to be unusable,” I say.

          “Yeah, that’s been like that for a while,” Cal says, shrugging. “Here, you can use mine.”

Software Instability ^

     “Thank you,” I say as I stand up. I make my away around the desk and come to Cal’s side. He sighs and pushes the keyboard over to me.

          “Password?” I question.

          “Here- just-” Detective Kennedy yanks the keyboard back over and types something in. With my very good sense of sight and analyzation skills, I can clearly make out him typing “fuckingpassword!”. I like it. It suits him.

          “Fucking Androids,” Celeste mutters. I don’t know what her problem is, other than her experiencing jealousy. I needed something I did not know, and so I asked. If she is like this with other people, she has a high chance of being strongly disliked by her coworkers. Regardless, Cal doesn’t respond to her.

          I scan over all the reports of Androids. They are all vastly different, yet similar. Android beat man after refusing to give sexual intercourse. Android stopped taking orders after owner beat them. Android fled after a period of mistreatment from Plaintiff.

          In the 371 cases filed, all of the Androids appear to have gone through some kind of emotional shock. Almost as if they had woken up from something. Like they couldn’t take it anymore.

          I can’t imagine doing such a thing. I was created for a reason. I am not to break off from that reason. I do not want anything but to complete my mission. The answer is simple. I do not have anything to ‘wake up’ from, because I am not alive.

          “Over 300 cases filed in Seattle,” I observe.

          “Yeah,” Cal sighs, sounding exhausted. “Worse in Minneapolis. You’d think they would’ve had enough of revolutions by now.”

          I find that he is mentioning the protests of 2020 for the Black Lives Matter movement. There was another, larger movement years later in 2023 against the privileges of the upper class.

          “I guess they had good reason, though.” I can’t stop the words that come out of my plastic lips. Celeste snaps her head to me angrily, Cal raising his eyebrow in disbelief. “I meant about the… never mind.”

Software Instability ^

     What a ridiculous thing for me to have said. Why did the idea even come to my brain? I need to run a diagnostic. No, everything’s fine. All my levels are good to go. So what was that?

          I turn my head to look at Cal. The yellow grid appears as I analyze what I can. I can see traces of leftover strawberry shampoo in his hair, and a thin layer of mint chapstick on his still chapped lips. Under his jacket and hoodie is a deep green shirt with a coffee stain on it, and weathering on his belt suggests he’s had it for a while. I can also see mismatched socks. The man clearly has some problems taking care of himself.

          The mismatched socks are comforting in a way though. It seems like a very human thing to happen. I return to real life and watch the Detective shift in his seat.

          “Guess they did,” he says after a second, still looking at the folder.

So^ftware 1nstability ^

     The corners of my mouth turn upwards when I look back to the screen. Although Cal is hostile towards me, he is not being so hostile now. It is appreciated, for the sake of me doing my job.

          “Two Androids escaped from a sex club last night…” I say.

          “Escaped?” Celeste sighs.

          “They didn’t escape,” Cal explains. “They stopped doing their jobs and they ran away. They’re missing.”

          “Oh,” I say, going over my mistake. Another stupid thing I’ve said. “All of these are exceptions from the normal Androids. They appear to have gone through some kind of simulated mental break.”

          “Too bad there’s not a mental ward for Androids,” Celeste snarks.

          “Too bad there’s not a good mental ward for humans,” snaps Cal back. Both their heartrates rise- one in anxiety, the other in anger. I can tell something in Cal’s past has made him angry towards mental institutions. Curious.

          I open my mouth like I think I’m going to say something, but then I close it because it’s probably best not to. I’ll speak again once Cal’s heartrate returns to normal. That may take a while though, because apparently he has a bit of an arrythmia. He should get that checked out.

          Cal closes the folder and throws it on his desk. It spins a few times before falling onto the floor near my feet. He doesn’t seem to notice. “Alright,” he says. “Get back to your desk. Talk to you later.”

          An abrupt end to the conversation, Celeste looks stunned before giving me the ‘stink eye’ and moving away. I like that Cal did that.

          “Apparently a-” I stop. My led turns yellow, then green. “A new case was reported. All officers are being called.”

          “That us?” Detective Kennedy says, perking up.

          “Yes,” I say, standing up straight. “We are assigned all cases with Exception Androids. This will probably be one of them.”

          He pats around his hips, feeling his badge, gun, and handcuffs. “Alright, let’s go.”

          Detective Kennedy’s car is disgusting. I feel so out of place, being a clean and modern Android in a car from 2015. I sit up straight while Cal leans back, one hand on the wheel. Something I’ve identified as ‘rap’ music blares through the speakers. The lyrics are difficult to keep up with, but I manage. It must take a lot of talent to speak so fast and so musically without tripping over your own words. It could be an Android doing it, but Androids are rarities in the music industry because they are said to sing without soul.

          “Do you listen to this music often?” I ask over the beats.

          Cal scowls at me and runs one hand through his hair. “No,” he says shortly.

          I look down to my lap. It is important that him and I experience little social friction between us in order to solve cases efficiently. I seem to be failing at that, even though I was designed to integrate with humans. If this continues, I will have to report to Adelicia about that, and she will greatly disapprove.

          “Gimme the facts,” Detective Kennedy orders.

          “A family was reported staying in a hotel. 36 minutes ago, James and Megan were reported dead. Their child has not been found. The family reported that they did have an Android with them, but witnesses say they saw none.”

          Cal puts turns to the right sharply. “You should use your turn signal.”

          “Shut the fuck up. Stay in the fucking car.” We come to a stop. I can see groups of people outside a large brick building. Some are uniformed officers, others citizens. Two other police vehicles flash red and blue from their sirens.

          “I’m afraid I can’t do that,” I tell him.

          Cal freezes, a glare coming into his eyes. “The fuck did you just say to me?”

          “I have been instructed to accompany you. I can’t wait in the car.”

          Detective Kennedy does not like my response at all. “I told you to stay in the car.”

          “Your orders are conflicting with my mission. I can not allow that.” I stop, running a diagnostic. “I will self-destruct in 10, 9-”

          “Oh don’t fucking self-destruct!” Kennedy yells. “Just get out of the fucking car and stay the fuck out of my way.”

          My countdown of self-destruction disappears. Cal exits the car and slams the door. I blink a few times, doing another diagnosis. Then I open the car door too, closing it with care. I wouldn’t want this rusty old green car to just fall apart. Then I may have to accompany Detective Kennedy longer than I’d like and it would become unpleasant.

          I take a moment to observe the scene further. Cal pulls me from this trance by saying “What the fuck are you waiting for?”

          “Sorry, Cal,” I say. “It won’t happen again, unless requested.”

          Cal rolls his eyes and jabs his head to the doors. “Come on, tin fuck.”

          Our elevator ride up to the 13th floor is mostly silent, except for a slightly comedic bit of dialogue.

          “Won’t stop texting me…” Cal says aloud as he glances down at his phone.

          “Did you know that Officer Celeste has the breast measure of a C-Cup, but uses padding to make it look like a D-Cup?”

          Cal scrunches up his face and also goes deadpan. “What?”

          Cal leaves the elevator in front of me as some kind of ego boost to him. I think he may feel threatened by Androids and wants to feel like he’s in control of me. He has nothing to worry about, so long as he doesn’t harm the investigation.  

          Finding the crime scene is not difficult. About a dozen officers are positioned outside the room. Officer Shovelman steps forward, a datapad in his hands. “Here’s what we-”

          “Don’t worry. Tin fuck here already let me know.”

          I give a little wave to Shovelman, who quickly walks away upon seeing me. I consider following him, but decide against it. It would have no positive bearing on the case. I could miss evidence while talking to him.

          The room is filled with two bodies. One on the bed, the other on the floor. The woman, Megan Eli, had dark red curly hair that fell just below her shoulders. She lays on the floor with a clean, dark hole in the middle of her forehead. Her husband is the same, only sprawled out along the bed with his mouth gaping.

          I observe the husband first. I can clearly confirm that, yes, this is James Eli. He has dark skin and golden eyes, wide in death. He had no criminal record and was age 34. Megan was age 31.

          “Where’s the child?” I ask.

          “Child?” An officer I don’t recognize asks.

          “Yes. The family was supposed to be made up of three people. So where’s the third?”

          I don’t get an answer to my question, causing me to speculate. It is now my priority to find the child. They might’ve witnessed the shooting and thus the culprit. If there is an Android involved, they might be able to shed some information on it. It’s in the best interest.

          I move on to the wife. I can see that she has blood on her right hand. Some of it is human, other is Android. Binary Blood. Now why would she have that on her? I can also see another gunshot wound to her side. It wasn’t fatal, but it was close range and the bullet came from below.

          “The culprit was short,” I announce. “Very short.”

          Nobody pays me any mind, even though I really thought that would’ve been a useful clue.

          I follow a short trail of human blood on the carpet. Megan must have been shot once, stumbled, and then shot again fatally before falling. James must’ve been dead before her, which matches up with him not doing anything to intervene.

          When the trail stops, I use my analysis grid to make out faint footprints in the carpet. They are almost faded, but the hotels floor is so crusty and stale anything is noticeable for me. I know it can’t be any of the Officers footprints, because these are much more faded.

          The first pair of shoes are a size 12, male. The second pair is Megan’s size 6. Perhaps the child witnessed the shooting up close in personal. Could it be that the child killed the parents themselves? Why?

          Near the child’s shoe prints is a drop of Binary Blood. I narrow my eyes. Another drop of silver blood appears a few feet in front of me, past the first one and next to the bathroom.

          “Have we searched in there?” I ask. I receive no response. Alright. Very helpful. I cautiously make my way over to the bathroom. I slide the wooden door open with ease, getting a bearing of my surroundings.

          The bathroom is neatly made up. Hanging over the side of the trashcan is a used condom, a recent one. Mary and James most likely had intercourse not long before their deaths. The toiletries from the sink are missing but that’s not out of the ordinary. I’ve been made aware the it is common for humans to take things from hotel rooms. It’s actually quite funny. The bathroom is exquisitely clean, regardless.          

          The only thing that strikes me as off is the shower curtain, which is pulled all the way over. I know I possibly shouldn’t dare open it. That would be considered tampering with the evidence. The last thing I want is to mess up a crime scene.

          I pull back the curtain sharply. My led flickers from white to yellow, to red, to green, then back to red. In front of me is the child, holding a gun up to me as their own led changes.

[cela-astral-projection]

Aric/Aedan Vernersson Character Survey

Basic Character Questions

First name? Aric. Psuedoname is Aedan 

Surname? Vernersson 

Middle names? Axel 

Nicknames? Brother 

Date of birth? September 23rd 

Age? Early to mid-twenties (died around his 25th birthday), but he's quite responsible for a young man. 

 Physical / Appearance

Height? 6'3

Weight? 240

Build? Buff but still soft. 

Hair color? Pale yellow/white. 

Hairstyle? Long, thick and wavy hair that is usually pulled back 

Eye color? Silver 

Glasses or contact lenses?: He wears glasses when he has to do a lot of writing or reading for eyestrain, but other than that, he has excellent vision. 

Distinguishing facial features? He's not big on shaving, so he generally has some form of facial hair. 

Which facial feature is most prominent? His jawline. 

Which bodily feature is most prominent? His arms or his monster hands. 

Other distinguishing features? Bright silver eyes. 

Skin? Tawny brown, like his mother's. 

Hands? Ginormous meat hooks. 

Makeup? Not his thing. Lucio made him put on his eyeliner once. It melted in the sun, and he swore it off because it burned his eyes. 

Scars? His hands are a little rough, and he's got a few cuts up his arms, but nothing too pronounced. 

Birthmarks? Some darker brown pigmentation on the back of his arms. Pretty faint. 

Tattoos? He has some sun paintings (one on each pec) reminiscent of the rock art from his village on his chest in a dark sienna color.

Physical handicaps? Bone spurs on his heels, but that's just an annoyance. 

Type of clothes?: It depends on what he's doing. In the palace, he wears grey and charcoal with red and gold accents. When he's just going about his day, he wears lightweight linens in a rainbow of colors. 

What are their feet like? (type of shoes, state of shoes, socks, feet, pristine, dirty, worn, etc.) Like I said, the boy has bone spurs on his heels, so they were already giant monster feet, but that just adds to their length. He takes good care of his feet. He likes high-quality boots and shoes. (Unlike his sister who would go barefoot everywhere.)

Race / Ethnicity?: His father is from Lucio and Morga's tribe, and his mother is one of the southern tribes on the frozen sea. (A/N: for all intents and purposes, I write them as Swedes/Post-Spanish Mission  Chumash Indians because...that's what Kristen (Celeste) and Erik (Aric) are.) 

Are they in good health? Aric was always in generally good health. Until he wasn't... 

Do they have any disabilities? None to speak of. 

(image of Chumash Rock art for tattoo reference) 

Personality

What words or phrases do they overuse? "Yeah, Bud!" 

Are they more optimistic or pessimistic? Optimistic 

Are they introverted or extroverted? Extroverted

Do they ever put on airs? Nope. You won't find a more chill, friendly guy. 

What bad habits do they have? Nail-biting and hair pulling (trichotillomania, but he has to be very, very anxious) 

What makes them laugh out loud?: So many things. And at inappropriate times. 

How do they display affection? Gifts, acts of service. 

How do they want to be seen by others? Reliable, approachable, trustworthy.

Strongest character trait? Seeing the best in others. 

Weakest character trait? Blind loyalty. 

How competitive are they? Very. 

How do they react to praise? He loves hearing praise and being told he's doing a good job. It gives him warm fuzzies. 

How do they react to criticism? He is very open to criticism as long as it's constructive. 

What is their greatest fear? Not being able to save his loved ones. 

What are their biggest secrets? He's an open book. Except for that whole...fake name-Lucio is my cousin thing. (Which he is not terribly good at hiding) 

What is their philosophy of life? How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.

What haunts them? His mother's face when he left home. 

What will they stand up for? Anyone, anytime. 

Are they indoorsy or outdoorsy? Outdoorsy. 

What is their sinful little habit? He wouldn't consider it immoral, but he does indulge in some of the magician's...herbal remedies. 

What sense do they most rely on? Sight. 

How do they treat people better than them? As equals

How do they treat people worse than them? As equals

What do they consider an overrated virtue? Temperance.

If they could change one thing about themselves, what would it be?   Probably would do better to realize that some people just can't be reached, but damned if he doesn't try. 

What is their obsession? Fishing and his dog. 

What are their pet peeves? People that touch his food without permission. Aedan doesn't share food! He will buy your food! NO TOUCH. (Though Celeste will note that he has no compunction about stealing her food.) 

Friends and Family

Is their family big or small? Who does it consist of?: Small. Mama, Papa, Sister, and Him. There is, of course, the extended family and his tribe, but the core group was relatively small. 

What is their perception of a family? Family is the most important thing. 

Do they have siblings? Older or younger?: One sister. Same age. 

Describe their best friend. Bit of a ditz. Funny (though it's unclear if he means to be). Dog lover. Drinking buddy. 

Ideal best friend? Someone not afraid to throw their stuff in a satchel and get lost for a day. Bonfire under the stars. Loves dogs. Not scared of touching fish. 

Do they have any pets? Ebba! Borzoi like M & M but with big brown patches and knows how to mind. 

 Past and Future

What was your character like as a baby? As a child?: He was a happy, inquisitive baby. He was rough and tumble, always on the go. Occasionally he’d scare himself (falling) but he only needed to be told that he was okay and he’d keep on going. 

Did they grow up rich or poor? They had no real need for money unless they were traveling, and then they mostly traded for what they needed.

Did they grow up nurtured or neglected? Nurtured. 

What is the worst thing they did to someone they loved? Left them. Wasn't his idea, though. Still feels terrible.

What are their ambitions? Getting to be free and live his own life. 

What smells remind them of their childhood? Woodfire. Briny seawater. Spice. 

What was their childhood ambition? Be the head of the rowers that went out to the islands. 

What is their best childhood memory? Traveling with dad to the surrounding tribes and making friends with other kids. 

Did they have an imaginary childhood friend? No. He had so many friends he didn't have time for imaginary ones. 

 Love

Do they believe in love at first sight? Maybe? His parents had an arranged marriage, and he thinks that's pretty fine.  He likes getting to know people to make sure that what he's feeling is real. 

How do they behave in a relationship? He's all about making his partner feel cherished and comfortable. He likes to move slow...ish. 

What sort of sex do they have? He's not exactly wild. But, he's open-minded. 

Has your character ever been in love? Sure. 

Have they ever had their heart broken? Nah. If he parts with people, it's amicable. 

 Conflict

How do they respond to a threat? Try to reason. If not, try to subdue with as little injury as possible. 

Are they most likely to fight with their fists or their tongue? Fists, honestly. If it comes to that. Even then, he'd probably just try to wrestle and pin them. 

What is your character's kryptonite? The concept of someone he cares about being hurt. 

If your character could only save one thing from their burning house, what would it be? His dog. Not an object, but things aren't that important. 

How do they perceive strangers? Never met one. 

What are their phobias? Ophidiophobia, so it's probably good that he never really got to know Asra because Faust would have scared him to death. 

What is their choice of weapon? If he had to really fight, he'd use a one-handed battle-ax. 

What living person do they most despise? Valdemar, but living and person are both kinda uncertain terms. 

Have they ever been bullied or teased? No. Even if he was, it wouldn't bother him. 

Where do they go when they're angry? For a walk. 

 Work, Education, and Hobbies

What is their current job? Head guard of the palace. 

What do they think about their current job? Get to hang out with his bud most of the time, so that's pretty neat. Could do with less having to enforce his stupid decrees (which he finds ways around if he can.) 

What are some of their past jobs? Fisherman and hunter. 

What are their hobbies? Fishing, hunting, falconry, reading. 

Educational background? No formal education. Dad taught him how to read and write, but he didn't have much use for either of those skills until he came to Vesuvia. 

Intelligence level? Himbo-lite. 

Do they have any specialist training? Jack of all trades, master of none. 

Do they play a sport? Are they any good? Rowing and wrestling. 

What is their socioeconomic status? Upper class? Lucio pays well. 

 Favorites

What is their favorite animal? Ebba. 

Which animal to they dislike the most? Snakes. 

What place would they most like to visit? He'd like to travel like his dad did before his parents got married, but he's not picky. 

What is the most beautiful thing they've ever seen? Poppy fields! 

What is their favorite song? No Hurry - Zac Brown Band

Music, art, reading preferred? Reading but music is a close second. 

What is their favorite color? Green or blue. 

Favorite food: Grilled stuffed portobello mushrooms with bleu cheese. 

 Possessions

What is in their fridge: Beer, red wine (that hefty stuff that leaves long tendrils when you swirl it. he likes to chew his wine). Meat, cheese, mushrooms, bread, a lot of veggies. 

What is on their bedside table? Reading glasses and a book. 

What is in their pockets? Money. 

What is their most treasured possession? His dog. But calling her a possession feels terrible. 

 Spirituality

Do they believe in the afterlife? Sure. 

What are their religious views? He believes in spiritual guides, and he believes in magic. Though he is sadly more like his father than his mother in that he really can't cast.

Are they superstitious? He's a little 'stitious. 

What would they like to be reincarnated as? A peregrine falcon. 

How would they like to die? Not the way he did, that's for sure. That sucked. 

What is your character's spirit guide? Duckhawk! 

What is their zodiac sign? Libra. 

 Daily life

What are their eating habits? An army marches on their stomach. He always makes sure to have a decent breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

Do they have any allergies? Just pollen. 

Describe their home. The palace. His room is pretty spartan. Bed, dresser, desk, couple side tables, mirror. 

Are they minimalist or a clutter hoarder? Minimalist. 

What do they do first thing on a weekday morning? Try to get to the bath before everyone else does. 

What do they do on a Sunday afternoon? Nap or go for a hike out in the woods. 

What do they do on a Friday night? Drink with Lou. 

What is the soft drink of choice? If such a thing existed, it would be original Coke. 

What is their alcoholic drink of choice? He's an appreciator of fine whiskey and wine. But, he won't turn his nose up at a good ale or cider. 

 Miscellaneous

What is their character archetype? The hunter. 

Who is their hero? His dad. 

What or who would your character dress up as for Halloween? Thor. 

Are they comfortable with technology? Ehhhh. Not really. He can use it but would rather not. 

If they could save one person, who would it be? He couldn't pick. 

If they could call one person for help, who would it be? Linnea. 

What is their favorite proverb? Friendship is love with understanding. 

What is their greatest extravagance? Gifts. He buys gifts like the world will end tomorrow. 

Do they believe in happy endings? Sure. 

What would they ask a fortune-teller? Am I doing the right thing?

@vesuviasfastestcourier​ Will this help until I can write more Aedan fic? :)

[commentaryvorg]

Danganronpa V3 Commentary: Part 6.7

Be aware that this is not a blind playthrough! This will contain spoilers for the entire game, regardless of the part of the game I’m commenting on. A major focus of this commentary is to talk about all of the hints and foreshadowing of events that are going to happen and facts that are going to be revealed in the future of the story. It is emphatically not intended for someone experiencing the game for their first time.

Last time in trial 6, Tsumugi was very clearly just cosplaying Junko despite no-one properly figuring this out for ages, Danganronpa trivia was really not necessary to prove everyone’s memories are fake, Tsumugi kept insisting that Shuichi called this trial because of her backstory when really it has nothing to do with that and everything to do with Kaito, Maki was very distressed to learn even more how she was just being controlled and manipulated like always, Tsumugi was a literal fucking shapeshifter, everyone was more upset than they should have been over Hope’s Peak being fictional for something they’d only known about for two days, but at least that meant that the outside world was…

Well… about that.

Monokuma:  “Puhuhu… Forget about the world. It wants nothing to do with you.”

Oh boy. It sure doesn’t, even though it should. Here we fucking go.

…Does anyone have any idea what “kumafarre”, the word plastered all over the trial background from this point on, is meant to mean? Because that’s always stumped me. It has to mean something for them to have put it there. Kuma is bear, obviously, but “farre” can’t be Japanese, so… ???

“first!”

Pfft, of course that’d be the first message to show up. But it also proves that everyone in the audience can see their messages showing up here, so they should know that the characters can see what they’re saying.

“Bring on the spoilers!”

How does this even make sense? You can’t have spoilers for a reality show that’s happening live. The only possible spoiler is who the blackened is during a trial, but we’re way past that now.

“Kyoko is my waifu.”

“Sakura is my muscle waifu.”

“Chiaki #1 waifu”

Ugghh waifu culture. And also, I told you everyone was a bunch of genwunners in this audience! No-one mentions anything like this for any character outside of DR1 or 2. And yeah, obviously seasons past 3 don’t exist in the out-universe, but the out-universe writers could totally have just thrown in some random names we’ve never heard and expect us to assume that they’re talking about unknown characters from other seasons. Fifty other goddamn seasons they could be choosing from! But nope, it’s all gotta be mostly season one with some two, that’s all that counts.

“My husbando Shuichi!!!”

And of course Shuichi gets that shitty treatment too, even though he’s a real goddamn person who never asked to be famous and nobody is entitled to anything from him.

“Wow, Himiko is still alive…”

Seriously, that’s the first thing someone wants to say when their messages are getting displayed in a place where Himiko can see it? Lovely.

“Viewers get to participate now!”

“I feel like I’m participating, too!”

At least these couple of people are currently being fairly reasonable – they’re just excited to be a part of it in some way!

…The first two characters Tsumugi cosplays after this moment are Kyoko and then Sakura, and then Chiaki pretty soon after that. She’s pandering to those people whose messages she saw, isn’t she.

“Sakura”:  “Of course, those you see here are only a fraction of our total viewers.”

I. Should. Sincerely. Hope. So. Because that’s the only thing that makes this even remotely believable – the idea that the majority of the fanbase are somewhat more decent human beings than this (you know, aside from the watching real people kill each other thing) and we’re just seeing the vocal asshole minority right now.

…That’s really not what the narrative is going to be going for with this, though. If they actually wanted us to think that this audience we see is just the asshole minority and everyone else is more decent, this topic should get addressed in more than just this one throwaway line, and it is not. So probably the only actual reason this line is here is to establish that the number of viewers is way higher than suggested by just these commenters, and not that the attitude of the rest of them is significantly different.

“I believe in Keebs.”

This is a little early hint to the Keebo deal, since a lot of the audience should be thinking about him the most.

“You can do it, Shuichi!”

I like this person! This person is the most decent and realistic person we’ve heard from so far! Yeah, cheer on Shuichi just like I’ve been doing throughout this commentary! They care about him and want him to succeed! It is of course more twisted in this person’s case because he’s not actually fictional, and becomes even more so now that Shuichi can actually hear them and any pretense that he’s just fictional can’t be maintained, but at least this is otherwise a realistic and relatable response to this.

Shuichi:  “W-Wait, why would a peaceful world need a killing game like th—”

“Taka”:  “It’s *because* the world is so peaceful that this killing game is necessary!”

“Celeste”:  “It is so very peaceful… And so, it is so very boring.”

“Kyoko”:  “With so much peace, people have become bored. They need stimulation…”

That’s… kinda bullshit. First Shuichi’s assumption that only a world full of strife could possibly create a reason for a killing game, but then also the idea that peace would make people bored. Humans don’t start wars for entertainment, you know. World peace should be the least boring thing for humanity, because without having to spend so much effort on survival and equality, everyone would have more energy left to make all kinds of technology and art, including entertainment which should not have to involve killing real people to be entertaining!

To be fair, Tsumugi is probably exaggerating somewhat, given that she’s part of Team Danganronpa and is trying to sell the idea that her product is so necessary for the world. But it would seem that we are in a world where one way or another it’s become socially accepted to watch real people kill each other for entertainment… which doesn’t seem like a peaceful utopia at all, really.

“Chiaki”:  “Every person in the outside world watching this is a huge Danganronpa fan.”

We get a demonstrative image of people all over the world apparently excitedly watching Danganronpa, most of whom are vague and faceless. If it were just them then it could be possible to imagine that Tsumugi is lying and this is just a hypothetical image of what she’s talking about rather than the truth. But… Makoto’s also there. The kid that we, the out-universe audience, very definitely saw at the beginning of the chapter in a context that had no connection to Tsumugi and no reason to be a lie. Which gives this image a lot of credibility.

(And if this is the truth, again, it really doesn’t look like it’s a shady hidden thing only accessed on the darkest corners of the internet.)

I will say one thing in this world’s favour. I’m not remotely trying to defend the part where they watch real people kill each other, but Danganronpa really must be hugely popular among absolutely everyone for this to have somehow ended up not extremely illegal. Which means, given the fact that the audience are basically telling themselves it’s fiction and treating it as such, this is also a world in which it’s socially accepted, not just in niche geek subcultures but in mainstream culture, to get really excited by and invested in fiction. If you took all the awful murderiness out of it and made sure it was all actual fiction, man I’d love to live in that kind of world. As it is, in our world, only children are really socially expected to get super-excited about fictional stories all the time, like it’s something people are meant to grow out of as adults. Among adults, only very few extremely mainstream fictions get even close to that kind of widely-accepted level of importance in people’s lives. Which is disappointing to me.

“Chiaki”:  “This killing game is for everyone… So it’s everyone’s killing school semester.”

That’s the Japanese subtitle of this game, which actually turns out to be very meaningful! The general sense of it she’s talking about here would have applied to every season up until now, but there’s also the more specific sense that this season in particular has audience participation, which is apparently the first time it’s happened, making it even more “everyone’s” than before.

And the localisers just decided to nope on that subtitle and change it to the meaningless “Killing Harmony”, which is honestly a shame. Maybe the Japanese subtitle is a bit too long and too much of a mouthful for western standards, but they could have at least changed it to something which kept that relevance.

“Killing Harmony! I just got it! LOL”

Haha, no, that doooeees not work in the localisation.

“I’ve waited three years for this.”

“I thought the franchise was done.”

Huh, this is some juicy info. It’s taken three years since season 52, long enough that some people thought there wasn’t going to be another one? (And a lot of the rest of the chatter at this point is people applauding, perhaps being happy that they got another season.) That… suggests that Danganronpa might have been already on its last legs even before what happens in this trial comes and puts the lid on it all, which maybe makes things a little more believable. That’d also potentially explain why this is the first time they tried the Keebo gimmick, if they were trying to keep things fresh after worrying people would be getting bored of the same old thing.

Also, even if it’s usually less than three years between games, you’ve still got to imagine it’d be at least one year or so, which means it’s been over half a century since the Danganronpa franchise began. A lot of people who worked on it while it was still pure fiction wouldn’t even be alive anymore at this point.

Plus, geez, how long did they keep Rantaro in limbo between games? Was he allowed to live a relatively normal life for the time being while knowing that if they ever did get around to a season 53, he’d be forced into it, meaning he lived dreading that day and desperately hoping it’d never come? Ouch, poor Rantaro. Or possibly they do in fact have real cold sleep technology in this universe and they just stuffed him in one of those for three years.

“Shuichi, look this way! <3”

That’s… rather entitled but also kind of believable as something someone might do, since it seems like a lot of the audience have forgotten that these characters don’t just exist to perform for them.

“Get to the punishment already!”

Aaaand here’s someone who’s barely a believable person. Do the audience really just watch this to see people be horribly executed, rather than for all the character drama that happens in between those parts?

The opening theme music for this game starts playing… and apparently this is being played in-universe, based on the fact that Maki reacts to it.

Maki:  “What is this…?”

“Fuyuhiko”:  “Can’t you tell? It’s the title of the current Danganronpa you guys are doing.”

God, that has to be incredibly disturbing and wrong, being told that you’re hearing the theme music for you and your friends’ suffering and death… and it’s just this chill jazz tune, of all things. This probably hammered home more than anything else the awful sense that all of their struggles have just been entertainment.

“Chihiro”:  “Danganronpa’s gone on so long because the whole world enjoys and supports it.”

No mention of the fact that apparently some people thought there wouldn’t even be a season 53? Of course not, Tsumugi wouldn’t want to admit that the franchise might be on its last legs.

“Makoto”:  “What season do you think we’re on? You should be able to tell from the logo.”

So she claims. But you know what I thought when I first heard her say this? Since I already figured it was probably season 53 from Junko the 53rd, I thought the clue in the logo was the negative space between the V and the 3.

It’s actually kinda shaped like a 5 if you look at it that way! But nope, that’d make way more sense that what it’s actually supposed to be.

(I bet Shuichi figured it out from the Junko hint and not the logo, too.)

“V is the Roman numeral for 5.”

*deep breath*

That is not how Roman numerals work!!! In Arabic numerals, “5” can mean five, or fifty, or five hundred, etc, depending on its position within the number. But Roman numerals do not work like that! “V” only ever means five, and its position in the number does not change that. V3 cannot possibly mean fifty-three. It’s combining two number systems that work completely differently and do not make any sense being combined, but if one were to try and make a number out of it, it’d simply mean “five-three”, separately. Or maybe you’d add them together, so it’d mean eight.

In Roman numerals, fifty is denoted with an “L”. To actually get fifty-three in any vaguely sensible way by combining Roman and Arabic numerals, it’d be L3. Or, heck, why don’t we write the whole thing in Roman numerals? Then it’s LIII. Which just so happens to look and sound very similar to the English word “lie”. If the Japanese writers of this game wanted to do a clever little number/letter trick, why didn’t they go for that? It would have been great! Or they could call it L3 but make the negative space between the L and the 3 look kind of like an I somehow, so that “LI3” almost looks like “lie” as well. Missed freaking opportunity there, guys. Instead it’s just very apparent that nobody in Spike Chunsoft (or Team Danganronpa, for that matter) has any idea how Roman numerals work.

“Danganronpa 25 was the best.”

Shout-outs to this person. They’re the only person we ever see here who mentions any series other than 1, 2 or the one they’re currently watching. Props to them for knowing what their favourite season is and sticking to their guns in a sea of people who disregard every new season that comes along as soon as it’s not current any more in favour of obsessing over the first ones like they’re the only ones that matter. Season 25 probably was genuinely one of the best ones if it has a dedicated fan like this. You go, random person. I feel you.

“This is my first Danganronpa.”

Huh, so despite how much Tsumugi is trying to make us think everyone is obsessed with it, there have to still be at least a few people who don’t get what all the hype is about, if this person only just decided to check it out for this season.

(Clearly there hasn’t been a large enough proportion of these uninterested people who are upset about the whole killing-real-people thing to be able to put a stop to it before now, though. Even if it’s not their thing, if the rest of the world’s okay with it then it must be fine, right???)

“I love Shuichi <3”

Yes, thanks, we’re getting that impression. This is probably the same person from before, who still feels the need to mention this while everyone else is talking about this being season 53.

Monokuma:  “The seasons just kept coming, and with it came more killing games… Until it transcended games and anime to become this, the Ultimate Real Fiction…”

They gloss over this quite quickly, but it is important to note that yes, the earlier seasons really were just fiction in this universe like they were in ours. They’re not trying to retcon that the Hope’s Peak killing games were actually only happening for entertainment thanks to Flashback Lights and fabricated backstory. DR1 and 2 were completely fictional in this universe, which means that nothing happening here matters to or compromises that storyline at all.

After all, it does make sense that Danganronpa would need to have worldwide popularity already before society collectively decided that doing this with real people (but definitely not really real people, right) would be totally okay. It’s unclear exactly when the transition to “real fiction” happened, although Shuichi and Maki’s comments on the files in his lab kind of made me assume that there were more real ones than fictional ones. So… I was just shouting out season 25, but that one probably involved real people being killed, too.

“Leon”:  “What, did the letter in there throw you off? Well, I guess that happens. But isn’t it just rad how it looks like a letter, but it’s really a number!?”

I am way too amused at how they made it be specifically Leon, mister 11037 himself, who mentions this point. Nice one, guys. Nice.

“Sonia”:  “Since this is the 53rd season, one would expect to see a multitude of characters…”

Tsumugi:  “But you only have memories from the first two, so you wouldn’t recognize any others.”

They shouldn’t even recognise the ones from season two, like I’ve been saying! But she’s been cosplaying them anyway. So it’s probably a lot less about keeping them recognisable for the students here and more just about pandering to those genwunners and twoers outside.

(Obviously there’s a very good out-universe reason for this, but, you know.)

Tsumugi:  “So yes, I’m the mastermind! But the *real* mastermind forcing you to do this is… the people of the outside world!”

Way to deflect your responsibility, Tsumugi! Yes, everyone outside is also partially responsible by demanding this and giving it an audience, but you’re still the one who made it all happen and got everyone killed!

The audience starts chattering about how they’re the mastermind, but it’s in a way that sounds happy about it, like they’re just excited to be part of the story. They don’t seem to register the fact that, hey, maybe being literally actually responsible for the suffering and death of the characters they’ve been watching and caring about isn’t actually a good thing.

“Mmm… Shuichi’s nose <3”

Meanwhile Shuichi’s “fan” here still has a one-track mind and is getting increasingly creepy. I refuse to believe that this is the same person who was cheering Shuichi on earlier, since that person actually cared about him and didn’t only shallowly see him as eye-candy.

“put Maki back on kthx”

Also apparently Maki has “fans” too. But hers probably aren’t the good kind either.

“Mikan”:  “The ones managing this killing game aren’t psychos like the Remnants of Despair…”

“Ibuki”:  “They’re literal managers! Literally!”

Just because they’re managers, that doesn’t stop them from being shitty, evil people on par with the Remnants of Despair in terms of awfulness. They are quite evidently both.

Tsumugi:  “So I want to hear your best guess. What company is running this show?”

…

Shuichi:  “…Team Danganronpa?”

I love how Shuichi’s tone of voice makes it clear that he’s just pulling this name out of thin air. How is he supposed to know? Conveniently, Team Danganronpa were apparently just really uncreative when it came to naming themselves. (I guess this is realistic enough, though – our world does have The Pokémon Company, which makes Pokémon.)

We – and therefore presumably the students and the in-universe audience – get shown the opening movie that was right at the beginning when you start a new file, the one that summarised seasons 1, 2 and 3 and then implied this one would be a continuation of it. Which still doesn’t actually make any in-universe sense, since all the evidence other than this clearly points towards Hope’s Peak having not being part of this game’s backstory until Tsumugi improvised it in chapter 5. Maybe this was a promo video Team Danganronpa then hastily slapped together after that point to try and act like they totally had this planned all along?

The only difference from before (because it would have been a huuuuge spoiler to see this last time) is that we also see the supposed logos of every Danganronpa season up to 53. 4 through 10 are clearly the out-universe writers having a field day referencing other works of fiction, but then 11 through 52 are all exactly the same logo with only the number being different. Yeah, that’s not how it actually was, is it. The out-universe writers just didn’t want to take the time to make that many unique logos for a split-second each of screentime. (And, fair enough.)

We then get shown a collage of what appears to be basically all of the illustrations in this game. Which you’d think shouldn’t actually exist in-universe, because the audience’s camera is supposed to be Keebo’s eyes, and he wasn’t there for half of this stuff! So this strongly suggests that despite what Tsumugi’s going to claim about that later, the audience could also watch the game through the Nanokumas’ footage instead and potentially saw all the same scenes that we saw that way.

…Makoto is on there, though. He definitely should not be. The out-universe writers didn’t catch that, I guess.

Shuichi:  “Shut up… Shut up!”

Yeeeaaah, I don’t blame Shuichi for this. Tsumugi and Monokuma and the audience have been blabbering on for quite a while now, barely letting him and his friends get a word in edgeways while treating them like objects for their amusement. That has to be awful.

And even aside from Shuichi’s feelings about it, the way the audience has been suddenly babbling excitedly about Danganronpa in general to the point of almost completely ignoring the characters who are in this actual story they’re supposed to be invested in is pretty shallow of them. That’s already a sign of how unrealistically awful an audience they’re going to keep showing themselves to be.

Shuichi:  “No matter how many false memories we’ve been implanted with, *we* aren’t fictional!”

This line is here as a setup for the big reveal, of course, but even so… he’s right. Just because literally all of their memories from before this killing game are fake, it doesn’t change that they’ve been real people from the moment they got all of those memories.

Shuichi:  (Who… are we…?) “We… are real! We’re living, breathing human beings!”

“Nekomaru”:  “No! You’re just like MEEEEEE!!!”

I made Shuichi answer this incorrectly at first because I really feel like he would want to assert this… and he’s still not wrong! They are very definitely living and breathing right now, nobody can deny that!

“Makoto”:  “You’re just fictional characters created solely for this killing game.”

“Teruteru”:  “Nothin’ we can do about it, I’m afraid. Danganronpa’s that kinda property.”

I’m sure it’s much less some intellectual property dispute and more the idea that everyone might have slightly more issue with actual real people from the outside world being killed in this. It’s totally fine if they were created solely for the killing game, though, because then they’re not real and only exist to die here, right?

And honestly… that does make all the deaths in this game come across as just slightly less awful and tragic, in that context. Not because they aren’t still extremely real people who very much did not deserve to suffer and die, but, since they were created to die, anyone managing to survive and escape despite that feels like even more of a victory than in the previous games. It’s less Monokuma killing a bunch of people who were never meant to die, and more Shuichi managing to save at least a small handful of people who were never meant to live.

“Gundham”:  “Your immaterial existence is a fabrication, independent of your actual flesh and blood.”

To translate the Gundham-ese: their “souls” were created separately from their bodies. Kind of like how they were discussing when going into the Virtual World how odd it is that the two can be separated like that.

Tsumugi:  “Yep, you’re all fictional.”

“Ibuki”:  “You guys out there beyond the fourth wall already knew that, right!?”

I like how this works as simultaneously talking to the people beyond both fourth walls at once, while not actually breaking the real one. (Though the people beyond the in-universe fourth wall are only telling themselves these guys are fictional and aren’t actually right.)

Tsumugi:  “You all didn’t look like this when you first came to the Ultimate Academy… Those were your true selves. Now you’re all just fictional characters. That’s the truth.”

Shuichi:  (That’s the truth? Then… our real identities…)

Don’t get caught up in her manipulation, Shuichi! You are not any less “real” just because different people used to inhabit your bodies!

Tsumugi goes on to talk about when they first arrived at the school as their pregame selves before they got their outfits and memories. And again, we saw this. It is quite ridiculous to assume we saw an entire lengthy section in the prologue which just straight-up didn’t happen. The game has lied to us, but only with very small lies of omission (re: Kaede’s inner monologue). If the game was willing to lie to us about entire sections we played through, we couldn’t trust anything. We couldn’t even trust if this trial we’re playing is really happening right now, or if anything we saw really happened, which would render this entire story meaningless.

“Byakuya”:  “But boring, everyday characters have no right to be in Danganronpa…”

Honestly, why, though? Sure, the talents are supposed to be a Danganronpa thing, but you could totally do a killing game with ordinary people. It might make for an interesting change, especially after 53 seasons.

“Peko”:  “Which means your Ultimate talents are all just fiction.”

They may have come from fake memories, but they have those talents now. Nobody can deny that Shuichi’s been a pretty great detective.

Maki:  “Our talents as well…?”

Maki Roll, you never killed anyone, and you’ll never have to! This is great news for you!

…I bet if Kaito were still here, he’d immediately turn to her with a big grin and tell her that. Encouraging and being happy for the sidekick with a bright side to this would be way more important than however he might be feeling about this revelation in respect to his own talent.

Maki doesn’t react here with anything other than shock and disbelief, though, so I don’t know if this quite sinks in for her yet. It’s probably very hard for her to accept that she suddenly doesn’t deserve to feel guilty about anything. After all, this won’t diminish the effect Maki’s memories have on her and that she’s going to have to live with feeling like she’s killed countless people for the rest of her life. But knowing that nobody real actually died because of her has got to help a lot. I’m sure that’ll sink in eventually, once she’s had more time to think about it without the trial getting in the way.

“Chiaki”:  “I mean, they suited you to a certain extent, but mostly in a placebo effect sorta way. Kinda like a form of autosuggestion… You know, like if you do it, it’ll all work out.”

We’ve seen Flashback Lights do plenty of things that aren’t just straight-up remembering stuff: brainwashing everyone to be filled with meaningless “hope” and a sense of the completely wrong meanings of the words “hope” and “despair” in chapter 5? Brainwashing Shuichi into suddenly being a creepy pervert for that optional scene in chapter 3? Kaito’s phobia of ghosts leading him to feel anxious and nauseous upon simply thinking about a certain irrational stimulus? So, given that, it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine they can do this kind of thing too. Heck, most of the talents in this game are things that only require knowledge, and perhaps a certain kind of personality, something Flashback Lights can very evidently do. Some also require muscle memory, which is a bit more of a stretch, but it’s still memory.

The hardest one to buy for me is probably Angie’s talent. There’s some muscle memory and some knowledge involved, but a lot of what makes someone good at art is more intangible and hard to define and might be difficult to encapsulate in a Flashback Light. However, Angie was unique in that she explicitly did not remember creating her art, because Atua was supposedly possessing her, and she had to be alone for that to happen. That’s how she made the waxworks. So it’s possible that what was actually happening was some kind of hypnotic trigger making her pass out when she thinks she’s about to create something, and then the gamemakers put pre-created waxworks in her lab. Remember how Angie made four waxworks without having intended to? Almost as if the gamemakers weren’t sure who she’d choose for the ritual and just made all four in advance. …And, okay, admittedly it’s very unclear how anyone could have got inside the school to put the waxworks there, which is the same question as how a hypothetical clone-with-a-Flashback-Light would have got in for the resurrection thing if that was going to be possible. But there’s something there. (Can you tell I hadn’t thought of this idea until after the commentary for chapter 3 had gone up and so I’m awkwardly fitting it in here instead.)

And ultimately, if the characters being “fictional” is the point of this story the out-universe writers decided to tell, then that always had to include fictional talents as well, since Danganronpa insists on having all its characters be Ultimates. So Flashback Lights have to be able to do this, even if it’s a little bit of a stretch to believe, because it’s just necessary for the premise to work.

It’s a lot like how we had to buy that the Exisal randomly had a voice changer that could perfectly mimic any student’s voice, simply because that was vital for the fifth trial’s premise and that story wouldn’t work if it didn’t. We can’t just use the fact that it was somewhat unrealistic of the Exisal to have a voice changer as any kind of evidence to propose that it actually didn’t.

Another example: I once saw a blind LP of the first Danganronpa game where it got to the memory wipe reveal and Junko handwaved how memory-wipe technology worked. And the LPer was all “Um, no, how is memory wiping even possible? I think it’s pretty important to establish this, actually!”, like he was using the fact that he didn’t understand how to question whether it had even happened at all. But that was missing the point; explaining the technology really wasn’t all that important. The existence of memory-wiping technology was just a necessary part of that story that had to be accepted, because if memory wipes weren’t possible then that story couldn’t have happened. This story is the same, except with Flashback Lights and the multitude of things that they need to be able to do to make this story work. At least in this case, Flashback Lights and some of the things they can do are well-established already, which is better setup than the memory-wipe technology had in DR1.

Tsumugi:  “Can you really say you’re not fictional now?”

Yes! Yes, they can and should say that!

“Hajime”:  “Even if your body is real, your identities, personalities, talents and past are all fiction.”

Past, sure. Identities… maybe? At least if we’re just talking about legal identity? But their talents are quite evidently still talents now, as I’ve just been saying, and their personalities are also something they’re expressing right here and now. Even if they were deliberately crafted and created to be that way, it doesn’t mean those personalities aren’t now real. You can only call a personality “fake” if that person is knowingly putting on a façade and pretending to be someone they’re not. So the only fictional personality we ever saw was Kokichi’s supposed love for this killing game. …Oh, and Tsumugi’s, of course.

Also, hi, Hajime. It’s fitting that she’d choose him for this. If we’re supposed to believe that Izuru got shoved full of every single talent imaginable by them doing weird brain stuff to him, it’s perfectly reasonable to also believe Flashback Lights could do something similar on a lesser scale. And Izuru’s entire existence was created from that process, but that didn’t make him any less “real” of a person than Hajime was. If anything, it made him more real at that point, because he’d overwritten Hajime completely (at least until the simulation). It’s honestly a very similar thing. Maybe Hajime’s story partially inspired the idea for this game.

Shuichi:  “…”

Unfortunately… this seems to be working on Shuichi.

…You want to know what Tsumugi ought to think of as the real reason she killed Kaito? Not to have his death inspire Shuichi to become even stronger. That would still be happening anyway if Kaito were still by his side encouraging him; all that was needed for that final push was for Kaito to admit that Shuichi’s even more of a hero than him and tell him that. The real reason for his death should have been because Kaito would completely annihilate what Tsumugi is trying to do here.

Because the only thing that matters is what you want to believe! Tsumugi is trying to argue that their pasts being fabricated means that they don’t count as “real” people, but who even cares about that? They believe they’re real, and have always believed that, and still want to believe that, so why should anything else matter? Someone like Kaito who puts such value in belief and has such strong, unbreakable convictions about being true to himself wouldn’t be listening to any of this crap. He’d be shaken to learn his memories are all fake and that his grandparents and fellow astronaut trainees don’t exist, sure, but it wouldn’t even scratch his belief in who he is. He’s Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars! Who cares if he’s only this way because someone else wanted him to be, it’s still who he wants to be, so it’s who he’s going to keep being, dammit! And, of course, upon seeing that his sidekicks are having trouble with this idea and are starting to doubt if they’re really real, he’d give them just the pep talk they’d need to keep believing in themselves and their own existences.

Kaito is exactly the kind of person who would be able to blow this whole trial out of the water, and nerfing him enough to prevent him from doing that required nothing less than him not being alive any more.

(Meanwhile, if Kokichi were still alive at this point, he’d be his usual infuriating self. “Oh, you guys are only just figuring this out now?”)

Also, if Kaito were still alive in this trial and ultimately ended up surviving and escaping while having learned that his memories are fake and he was never actually an astronaut trainee… you know that would not stop him from striding up to JAXA’s front door and being all “Let me take the astronaut exam, sure you already know I’m too young but you’ve also seen I’ve got exactly what it takes”.

---

[Next post]

[justanotherboyinblue]

Unusual Asks

Spotify, SoundCloud, or Pandora? spotify!! 

is your room messy or clean? ...depends if i don’t have company, or i haven’t been made to clean it, it’s relatively messy. well. it’s not messy to me, because i know where everything is and why things are...not...put away, but messy to Literally Everyone Else

what color are your eyes? brown!

do you like your name? why? i Love my name mostly because i chose it and i like how it sounds I Just Think It’s Neat

what is your relationship status? taken! i have two beautiful partners that i love very very much

describe your personality in 3 words or less Chaotic Disaster Gay

what color hair do you have? also brown dkjbsgalk

what kind of car do you drive? color? i don’t drive! don’t have my license yet

where do you shop? anywhere and everywhere alksjdb meijer? ig?

how would you describe your style? Grunge

favorite social media account discord! ‘s how i talk to my babies :3

what size bed do you have? a twin! v comfy, v bouncy

any siblings? unfortunately two brothers both are Assholes

if you can live anywhere in the world where would it be? why? switzerland honestly first of all, lgbtq+ has been legal there since 1942 like look at them Go oh my gosh also! i love german, it’s such a fascinating language but the biggest reason? that’s where moje rojena wants to live

favorite snapchat filter? i don’t have snapchat, and don’t really plan to kjasbdl

favorite makeup brand(s) don’t wear it! the only thing i use is chapstick lmao a wonderful vanilla chapstick by Eos

how many times a week do you shower? sometimes every night, but mostly every other night! so three or four

favorite tv show? oh gosh there are so many she-ra is probably at the top i love supernatural, and elementary, bbc sherlock, person of interest, steven universe there are a bunch of amazing shows i love!

shoe size? i think i wear like a ten and a half quadruple e do with that as you will

how tall are you? 5′4 i think probably

sandals or sneakers? flip flops!! or barefoot kadjbsgl

do you go to the gym? i don’t think i’ve ever even seen the inside of a gym

describe your dream date cuddle pile some show or movie on tv So Many Blankets but the most important thing the Most Important thing is that my babies are with me and that’s all i really need

how much money do you have in your wallet at the moment? i don’t have any cash, but i have like a little over $50 on my card

what color socks are you wearing? white with gray designs

how many pillows do you sleep with? normally three, but i’ll bring in another three if i want to build a Nest:tm:

do you have a job? what do you do? no job! i think my first job will be working at my local library

how many friends do you have? uhhhhhhh no idea a dozen? idk maybe half a dozen i really have no idea, and i have a horrible memory

what's the worst thing you have ever done? I Will Not Divulge Such Information

what's your favorite candle scent? there’s this one candle we have that’s tide+kelp scented but it just smells like a speedstick it’s awesome

3 favorite boy names Leo (obviously) Tobias Axel

3 favorite girl names L(again, obviously) Celeste i’ve always loved the name Andromeda as well! 

favorite actor? Ezra Miller!! they’re a nonbinary icon, first of all, and they’re an amazing actor in my opinion! they’re Credence in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Barry in Justice Leauge

favorite actress? hmmmmmmmmmm probably Margot Robbie tbh love her stuff also? have you seen the trailer for Birds of Prey? we Stan

who is your celebrity crush? don’t have one kjdsablg

favorite movie? oh gosh I Cannot Choose A Favorite Anything Okay i love Avatar(the one with the blue aliens not the Disgrace Of A Movie), and The Dark Knight, Captain Marvel, Abominable, and so many others

do you read a lot? what's your favorite book? i do! i used to read almost a full book every day Finding Me by Katheryn Cushman is really good, and so is Five Feet Apart, i love the Divergent series too!

money or brains? brains duh, if you’re smart you can make more money but if you’re an idiot with money what happens when you run out

do you have a nickname? what is it? not really kjabdsga my partners have their nicknames for me of course, but with my actual name you can’t have a lot of nicknames Leo calls me Q, i’ve been called Stefano and Viktor, one friend used Quimberly for a while akjfgbslkdfg

how many times have you been to the hospital? other than when i was born, i think only the once!

top 10 favorite songs Here We Go sweet tooth-Scott Helman adderall- Max Frost bambi- Hippo Campus roxxane- Arizona Zervas grixtronics- GRiZ iSpy- KYLE truth hurts- kidz bop (fuck off it slaps) walk man- TMG mr.clean- Yung Gravy peach scone- Hobo Johnson

do you take any medications daily? nope! 

what is your skin type? (oily, dry, etc) definitely oily

what is your biggest fear? Ya Boi Out Here With Abandonment Issues

how many kids do you want? i’ll stick with my fur babies thank you very much

what's your go-to hairstyle? in my face covering my right eye so i can’t see with it because it annoys my mother and i think i look Hot

what type of house do you live in? (big, small, etc) medium i would think? we don’t have a second floor or a finished basement, but i’ve never had to bunk with either of my brothers so

who is your role model? no one specific! just, kind people, yk? 

what was the last compliment you received? i think it was on...monday? when Leo kept telling me i was adorable XD

what was the last text you sent? to a gc with my partners saying i was going mia because I Have The Right To Not Interact With Anyone For Several Days And Watch Movies  no i will not be taking criticism

how old were you when you found out santa wasn’t real? like somewhere from seven to nine i think i have no idea dude, i have the memory of a goldfish

what is your dream car? .... 1967 black chevy impala

opinion on smoking? bad for you, love the smell, not gonna tell you to stop, will just worry quietly in the corner because i won’t tell you what to do with your life

do you go to college? nope! still in high school, i probably won’t go to college tbh

what is your dream job? owning my own bookstore! with a cafe a cat cafe i have it planned out to a concerning degree

would you rather live in rural areas or the suburbs? i’ve lived in one place my entire life and it’s on the side of the highway with no neighbors so Suburbs Be Like Scary

do you take shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels? oh absolutely

do you have freckles? no and i’m salty about it

do you smile for pictures? of course! never with my teeth tho because my canines are halfway up my face :)

how many pictures do you have on your phone? don’t have a phone! i have a Whole Bunch on my computer though

have you ever peed in the woods? did not work out tried once Never Again

do you still watch cartoons? of course i do i’m gay it’s legally required

do you prefer chicken nuggets from Wendy’s or McDonald's? i’ve never had McDonald's nuggets but Wendy’s has the best for sure

Favorite dipping sauce? ranch or campfire sauce

what do you wear to bed? pajamas???? in winter it’s long sleeve tees with fuzzy pants in summer it’s basketball shorts and whatever twenty-year-old shirt i can find in my closet

have you ever won a spelling bee? i’ve never entered one so no homeschool for the win

what are your hobbies? Anything On A Screen and books mostly books on a screen but i’ll occasionally pick up a paperback also food and swimming

can you draw? s o m e t i m e s

do you play an instrument? i played guitar for a while, but i broke one of the strings and don’t have the tools to replace it i really want a ukelele

what was the last concert you saw? i went to a college campus for four days with my youth group, and a band named Sing Love played every night

tea or coffee? Neither

Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts? Also Neither i’ve been to starbucks one time and it was the most disappointing drink i’ve ever had i am a loyal biggby customer  even though i haven’t been there in over a year

do you want to get married? not in the traditional sense i couldn’t even if i wanted to because the us said No Polyam Rights

what is your crush’s first and last initial? L.R. + L.G.

are you going to change your last name when you get married? probably! or we’ll both take a new one together

what color looks best on you? warm colors!! i do look Fabulous in a nice cool forest green though

do you miss anyone right now? Of Course I Do I’m In A Long Distance Relationship With Two People

do you sleep with your door open or closed? closed if it was open my asshole cat would eat all my hair ties and my fairy lights

do you believe in ghosts? nope! 

what is your biggest pet peeve? uh people who assume? ig?

last person you called? Leo XD

favorite ice cream flavor? mint chocolate chip!!

regular oreos or golden oreos? The Golden Ones  they taste like lemon even if they’re not the lemon ones i love it

chocolate or rainbow sprinkles? i don’t like sprinkles because i’m a Monster

what shirt are you wearing? i’m Not It’s Hoodie Season

what is your phone background? my tablet backgrounds are Leo and L because i’m a Sap

are you outgoing or shy? Both i’m getting a lot better in the confidence department, but i still get nervous and overwhelmed sometimes!

do you like it when people play with your hair? I Cry Every Time and so does Leo it’s adorable

do you like your neighbors? if i did i would hate them because i Can

do you wash your face? at night? in the morning? not outside of the shower

have you ever been high? nope

have you ever been drunk? nope

last thing you ate? leftover itallian mac n cheese

favorite lyrics right now ..... ................. raindrops on rose and whiskers on kittens~ sTICKING-

summer or winter? winter!!

day or night? night, of course

dark, milk, or white chocolate? milk! or dark with sea salt

favorite month? hm maybe august because it’s just starting to get cold, but you can also still swim on the warm days

what is your zodiac sign pisces! as i’m sure is obvious

who was the last person you cried in front of? my mother Because Leaving Me Alone For Five Minutes Is Impossible

thank you Luxet for the questions!

[robobrainmurdermysterytheatre]

Fallout OC Interview!

I already tagged people, so I’m not tagging anyone in this. I took FOREVER because I thought every question needed an essay-length answer. Also because I went “Oh, I have SCREENSHOTS that would fit well with these questions 😏” then had to sift through the 9gb of screenshots I have to find them. Enjoy!

Rules:

1. Choose an OC.

2. Answer them as that OC.

3. Tag 5 people to do the same.

What is your name? Jack Daniel O’Kelley

How old are you? 24... no, 25 now. Actually, technically, 235.

What do you look like? I’m white, almost 6ft tall, blonde hair, freckles, blue eyes... well, they used to be blue, now they’re... weird... one robot arm, lots of scars, lots of tattoos... you’ll know me when you see me, believe me.

[Read the rest under the cut 👇 It’s long! I threw in a bunch of pictures for lookin’ at! Also, the story of how Jack lost his arm!]

Where are you from? Where do you live now? Boston, born and raised. Except, before the war. Now I live in Sanctuary. I pack up and winter out in the southwest, though! Hate the cold. 

What was your childhood like? Before the age of 10? Not great. I was an orphan, grew up in an orphanage. I can’t complain, compared to what orphans in this time have to go through? Still... it was... not something I even want to talk about. But once my parents adopted me? It was nice, it was normal, mostly. They were good people. I didn’t want for anything. They made up for everything else I’d been through. 

What groups are you friendly with? Are you allied with any factions? I’m General of The Minutemen, so I’d say we’re pretty friendly. The Minutemen have a good, solid relationship with The Railroad, and I personally do as well. We also have a good relationship with Goodneighbor, we always get supplies from there rather than Diamond City, if we can. And again, in a personal sense, I’m a big fan of the Mayor over there. Close personal friend! There are also some groups up north, in Far Harbor I’m on pretty good terms with: the harbormen, the synth refuge. Being popular with the Children of Atom from up there has perks that carry over into dealing with them in the Commonwealth as well. Oh! And the Atom Cats are definitely friends, they gave me a neat jacket and everything. They’re not really a militant faction or anything, they’re great to just hang out with and build cool power armor. They have a poetry night, too!

Tell me about your best friend. That’s just a friend? His name is Deacon. I’m pretty sure I’m not at liberty to tell you anything else about him, though. My other best friend is Piper, number one reporter in the wasteland. Very fun, very funny, very kind. We get drunk and sing showtunes together sometimes. She’s surprisingly good at fighting, more than once now I’ve seen her wreck with a minigun she just picked up from whatever enemy we just downed, but she’s still really good with that 10mm. She reminds me a lot of my late wife in a lot of ways. She’s doing amazing things, bringing truth to the people. 

Do you have a family? Tell me about them! I had my family before the war... my parents and then my wife, Ray, and son, Shaun, later. They’re all gone now. I have my son... he’s a synth replica of my human son that he made of himself... it’s complicated... but it’s not. I love him. He’s more my real son than the old man I met nearly a year ago who was the person my human son became. And my husband, Danse. And everyone around us in Sanctuary, really, is family. We all love and support each other, that’s what matters, you know? Even some people outside of Sanctuary - Nicky in Diamond City is like a father to me, Longfellow up north on the island too... The Abernathy’s treated me kindly and helped me supply up when I first came out of the vault and I had no idea what was going on, they were the first people I saw, so they feel a lot like family, too... and the Railroad, like Deacon puts it, are just “one big dysfunctional family, with guns” and, well, working with them like I do, we’re family. I also have a cousin on my dad’s side that survived the war, Celeste! She has the best weed and is a big *ahem* fan of Mayor Hancock. I love her dearly.

What about a partner or partners? I’m married to Danse, he’s an amazing man. Besides being tall, dark and handsome, he’s dedicated, strong, loyal, smart, principled... he’s also the biggest softie I know, he’s compassionate and loving and oh, god, his sense of humor is blink-and-you’ll-miss-it dry but if you catch it, it’s amazing. I have no idea what he’s doing with a guy like me. We balance each other out really well, he helps me keep my shit together, and I help him cut loose. Our marriage is sort of open, we both have people from before we got together that are really important to us, so I have a boyfriend, too. He lives out in Vegas now, where he’s from, but I met him up here during a really dark time when I thought I didn't have anything left in me and had run away from everything. He gave me back the will to keep trying. Haley’s really special - smart as a whip, loyal to a fault, goodhearted, charming, one hell of a shot... Oh, and gorgeous. We’ve had a lot of fun together, just wish I could see him more often. And then there’s Preston. He’s just... everything that’s good and right about humanity. How could I not fall in love with him? He’s beautiful inside and out, he has a heart of pure gold, he’s fought so hard for everything he believes in. I didn’t even realize he had any kind of feelings for me until after I had already gotten together with Danse, but, after we worked out the whole open relationship thing, we got together and that was that. 

Who are your enemies, and why? Number one on my shitlist are The Gunners. We’ve been whittling away their numbers, so they’re less of a threat than when I first encountered them. They’re still a legitimate enough with the firepower, organization and numbers they still do have. Anyone or anything that threatens the settlers or the Minutemen are enemies in my book. Things are pretty tense with the Brotherhood of Steel, as well. There’s no... official conflict with them at the moment, but they’re on thin ice.

But seriously, fuck The Gunners.

Have you ever heard of The Brotherhood of Steel? What do you think about them? Ah, yes. I think if they weren’t trying to spearhead a synth genocide on my turf, we would be able to coexist just fine. I actually used to be in the Brotherhood, though it was mostly me being opportunistic, hoping they could help me find my son and getting to play with power armor and big guns and giant robots. My husband was, too. We were Paladins! Well... I kind of took his position after they kicked him out... he recruited me, he was my commanding officer - one hell of an officer, too, that’s why I field promoted him to Captain of the Minutemen. But I’m getting off topic - The Brotherhood, thankfully seems to have at least slowed down on the synth genocide bullshit after The Minutemen and our allies blew up The Institute. I gently reminded Elder Maxson that’s what happens when people fuck with my family. I haven’t had too many issues with them since. 

[Knight O’Kelley 😏]

What about The Enclave? I’ve heard about them from multiple sources, I’m not sure how much of that information is good information, but from my understanding, they sound like assholes. Dangerous assholes. 

How do you feel about Super Mutants? I feel bad for them. The ones out here in the Commonwealth were made against their will by The Institute. That’s bullshit. I’ll still kill them when they’re shooting at me, though. I’ve ran into a few friendly ones, there’s Strong and Erickson, and Virgil used to be a Super Mutant but now he’s a human again. I know there’s friendly, smarter Super Mutants in other areas. They’re people too, just like ghouls, just like synths, just like humans. If they’re friendly, I’m friendly, if they’re hostile, I’m hostile. Just wish there were more around here that weren’t hostile. They’re also excellent fighters, I definitely admire the no-bullshit approach they take to fighting. 

What’s the craziest fight you’ve ever been in? Oh, boy, this one’s hard, I’ve been in some crazy fights. Probably The Battle for Bunker Hill, where everyone showed up to the party and I almost died. I was still working undercover at The Institute on the Railroad’s behalf, and so Me, Danse, Deacon, Preston, Hancock, and Mac all go out to meet this Courser. We had Danse in full power armor because we were worried about the Courser recognizing him, but he refused to stay behind because he was worried about me but I’m really glad he didn’t. So we meet this guy, the idea was that we were going to go with him to reclaim these four synths hiding out at Bunker Hill, but when we had a chance, instead we’d take him out and relocate the synths. Well, somehow The god damn Brotherhood of Steel got word of the synths hiding out there as well, so we go in and it’s just a clusterfuck, The Railroad agents, gen 1s, Brotherhood, Caravan guards, everyone’s firing at everyone everywhere. That made getting in easy, we just waded through the fire. We got down there, jumped this Courser and secured the synths. Then we had to fight our way out and in the process Danse’s armors broken, so he has to hop out, but we have everything pretty well handled. Then a second wave of Vertibirds roll in, they’re dropping guys, they’re firing on us from the air, everything is chaos again. They recognized Danse and they were out for blood, they start coming for him instead of the synths we’re protecting, which at least gave Preston, Deacon and Mac a chance to take the four kids to relative safety. So Danse and I are distracting them, trying to slowly retreat, but keep their attention on us enough the rest of our folks can get away. I’m on one side of the street and he’s on the other, just ripping into them. Then this grenade sails over my cover and lands right next to me. I’m pissed, I’m exhausted, I’m thinking, I’m going to throw this motherfucker back at them, there’s nowhere to run, we’re pinned down, fuck it. That was... the wrong call. Or I don’t know, I’m still here, so maybe it wasn’t. I reached down and next thing I know my ears are ringing and I’m flat on my back in the middle of the street in the most excruciating pain I have ever been in. Last thing I see before I black out is my gorgeous, heroic husband standing over me, absolutely fucking furious, unleashing complete and utter hell with that gatling laser on what’s left of the Brotherhood troops. And that’s how I lost my arm! 

Have you ever fought a Deathclaw? Many. I hate fighting them, honestly. They’re beautiful creatures. Terrifying, but beautiful. 

Do you like fighting? I’m so tired of fighting. 

What’s your weapon of choice? In a perfect world, where I won’t accidentally blow up my friends? Mayhem, my quad-barrel missile launcher with a built in targeting computer painted Atom Cats colors. Generally, though, I go with my sniper rifle, Liberator, or the laser rifle Danse gave me, Righteous Authority.

How do you survive? Your wits, your charm, your skills, brute force, some combination? (a.k.a. what’s your S.P.E.C.I.A.L?) As much as I’d like to think it’s my excellent combat prowess, mostly some combination of my skills and my charm have helped me stay alive.

Have you ever been in a vault? What do you think about them? Fuck Vault-Tec, fuck their mothers, fuck all their friends and fuck the vaults. Except Clarence, the salesman who sold me my family’s place in Vault 111. They fucked him over, too. He didn’t know. I can’t be mad. We’re friends. And Curie, technically, was Vault-Tec, when she was a robot, but that’s different. Oh, and the vault I kind of... own... now is OK, the original Overseer left when I did her freaky experiments wrong. It’s known as the Party Vault, now! But listen, I was frozen for 210 years in Vault 111, and as fucked up as that is, that’s probably one of the most benign things Vault-Tec ever did to anyone. They carried out some of the most horrific things I have ever heard of, they’re awful.

[Vault 88, the Party Vault!]

How do you beat all the radiation around here? Has it affected you? I don’t have to work too hard to deal with the radiation after the... “religious experience” I had when I “infiltrated” the Children of Atom for Acadia. I still don’t have an explanation for what happened, but, the radiation heals me and eventually dissipates itself after a while, when it even does effect me. Every so often during a bad radstorm I still have to pop some Rad-X. Before that, though, lots of Rad-X and Radaway and cowering in corners of buildings when radstorms blew through. Radstorms used to do a number on me, they’d give me panic attacks, hallucinations - and not the fun kind - make me sick. Not so much anymore, so that’s good.

What’s your favorite wasteland critter? Deathclaws. They’re majestic, they’re fierce and huge. They have interesting mutations that turn them neat colors. I think they’re a lot more intelligent than the average wasteland critter.

What’s your least favorite wasteland critter? Radroaches. Everyone said roaches would survive the apocalypse and not only did they survive, they got more disgusting. Yuck.

How do you feel about robots? Pretty fucking good! I’ve been fascinated with them since before the war. I was going to go into a career in robotics. I guess I kind of ended up doing that, since I build so many now. And Codsworth, who’s a robot, is one of my favorite people. So, yeah, pretty fucking good. 

[These are babeys]

How many caps do you have on you right now? Twenty four thousand give or take. Don’t even think about robbing me of them.

Nuka Cola or Sunset Sarsaparilla? Listen, Haley sent me a crate of Sunset Sarsaparilla once and that shit is way better than any flavor of Nuka Cola I’ve ever had. 

Do you do chems? Yes. But strictly for business, not pleasure anymore. Before the war, I was addicted to Psycho and Med-X, and probably Mentats, back from when I was in Anchorage. Hell, even as a kid I would get high here and there. I would really do whatever I could get my hands on. But I cleaned up when Ray was pregnant. Once I lost her and Shaun, it was open season again, especially since chems seem to flow pretty freely in some places around here. I had it bad, my friends had to drag me more than half dead to a wasteland doctor more than once. But once I got Shaun back... I couldn’t do that to him, I couldn’t do it anymore. Sometimes the occasion calls for it, though, there are a lot of fights I wouldn’t have walked away from without the extra edge. I just have to watch it.

Do you ever think about the Pre-War world? A lot. I think about the life I had before, the people I cared about. I also think about the mistakes were made that got us to the place we are now, if anything to try to avoid making them again. If they’re even avoidable... 

What’s your deepest regret? What would you do differently? Not being able to protect my family in the vault. I don’t know what I could have done differently, I was trapped in there, what could I do? I think about it every day like maybe I’ll have an answer to that question, but I never find one.

What’s your biggest achievement? Or what do you hope to achieve? Destroying the Institute, hands down, biggest achievement. They were the biggest roadblock to a functioning Commonwealth, and now they’re gone we can actually build something. 

What do you want for the future? For yourself? Your friends? The world? 

Peace, for all three. 

[ungarmax]

so here’s that thing from my drafts i was talking about earlier.  i didn’t read it over or anything so it probably doesn’t make any sense, but SHRUG EMOJI.  @nekosd43 @epersonae @siobhanrobotnik

i’ve been thinking kind of obsessively about a taagnitz royalty au idea i had the other day.  celeste and i were talking about starting a new rp and throwing ideas around and i randomly said, “taako is a prince and magnus is a stable boy!” just as a generic idea, but then.  THEN.  i started to think about it.  and i added kravitz, which made it at least 50% better.

there’s an elven nation called the felicity wilds ruled by a set of twins from the animus clan (edward & lydia).  in this nation, twins are considered royalty because they tend to only show up in families because, i don’t know, elven genetics or something.  there are also other races living there, primarily humans and half elves.

there were probably seven royal houses at some point, but elves live a long time and have a lot of time to murder each other, so we’re gonna say only one house/clan remains in power.  the other families have died out or scattered.  sometimes people claim to be from one of the clans, but it’s usually just bullshit.

taako and lup were definitely from one of those clans, probably disgraced or something a long time ago, or maybe it’s sort of a “hide your royal babies who are gonna get murdered in this coup d’etat” situation.  either way, they were raised in a human orphanage at the very edge of the country for a long time without the knowledge that twins are royalty, etc.  at some point, someone figures out who they are, and they find out they’re part of the phoenix clan.  the current leaders aren’t the most popular monarchs and so it’s easy for them to get political support, and they’re not planning on taking over anyway.  at least not right now.

anyway, they get some like...off brand royal titles like duke and duchess or something.  no actual political power, but good for popularity.  they both think it’s dumb as shit, but they enjoy having things for basically the first time in their lives.  they get to go to wizard college and stuff.

meanwhile, the next country over is a more human based country, although a lot of dwarves live there too.  this country is actually called shadowfell (based on the raven queen’s actual location according to d&d lore), but due to the fact that most of the industry in the country is excavating and polishing precious gems, residents affectionately call it the crystal kingdom.

shadowfell is also known for its necromancy.  specifically, their good necromancy.  no zombies or skeleton friends here.  their necromancers are generally very respectful of the dead and have an abiding consciousness of the soul and body’s connection to one another.  dark necromancy, like raising undead, or becoming a vampire or a lich?  very frowned upon.  punishable by doing time in the eternal stockade, or even by death.

residing over the nation is the raven queen, the ‘raven’ part being a ceremonial title for whomever wears the crown.  her real name is unknown, but those close to her call her ruby.  her partner is ????, and she has a grown son, kravitz, who is looking to get married.

there are maybe some border disputes or a trade agreement that could be beneficial to both countries, something like that, and also the shadowfell royal family isn’t opposed to having some magic mixed in with it.  i guess they’d also have to be cool with like a half elf in there too.  idk it’s possible necromancers have longer lifespans than regular humans/dwarves/whatever because of their close connection with death itself, so half elven lifespan is pretty average to them.  the POINT was that edward and lydia known an opportunity when they see one and decide to foist their problem twins off onto the crystal kingdom.

i think it’s lup that they send with the intention of marrying her off to kravitz.  i don’t want to say there aren’t magical or just scientific means for trans women to have babies in this world, but i do rather like the idea that it’s kind of a ‘fuck you’ to kravitz & co. when they know that heirs are important.  if you want to get into skeevy bullshit, maybe edward was courting taako and taako was like “no thx bye” and he figures he might have a better shot with taako if lup is gone away.

taako absolutely travels with lup, as does lup’s handmaiden, lucretia, who is also secret girlfriend.  and they arrive at the palace and, oh no he’s hot.  taako gets a crush on kravitz literally immediately, and kravitz, bless his little gay heart, can’t even see lup.

but lup is the one who is supposed to be courting kravitz, and taako is here for emotional support or whatever.  kravitz wants to do what’s best for his country, even if it means marrying a woman, so he spends a lot of time with lup, who isn’t really particularly interested.  he’s nice?  he’s definitely not really into her, and she’s definitely not really into arranged marriage or whatever.  she’s probably not into this entire trip, but that’s not really kravitz’ fault.

so taako is bored as fuck, but he likes horses and this country has a lot of open places and nature to explore.  so he ends up going down to the stables and borrowing a horse almost every day.  and he gets to know the guy in charge of the stables, who is of course magnus.  they sort of bond over stupid jokes about horse dicks and their shared love of nature and horses.  romance happens, because that’s what this dumb story is about.

meanwhile, lup has met one of the more dubious members of the shadowfell court, a necromancer named barry whose family had gotten into some Bad Necromancy Shit when he was small and had gotten removed from their place in the shadowfell nobility.  barry is working on making up for what his ancestors did and was begrudgingly allowed to return, if only because he’s a brilliant scientist who has made great advancements in the field.

lup and barry hit it off instantly.  and since we’re doing ot3s here, in this house, lucretia is cool with lup being poly, and lup has lucretia’s blessing to pursue this bluejean-clad nerd.

thing is, kravitz and taako also have this mutual flirtation thing going on whenever they happen to meet, and it’s very clear to pretty much everyone that they’re into each other.  taako, however, is dating magnus at this point, so he kind of tries to keep his distance.

but since lup and kravitz aren’t into each other, someone at some point makes the suggestion that taako marry kravitz instead, which would solve all the border disputes or whatever was the issue, and that would also keep taako from having to go back home to be courted with by edward, which he Does Not Want, so it’s Hard.  they don’t get to stay here if no one is marrying kravitz, after all.

but taako has a boyfriend!!!  but staying here would solve a lot of his problems and he doesn’t want to go home!!! but it’s hard!!!

and then lup is like, hey dude you know i have a boyfriend AND a girlfriend right, maybe you could, like, you know, do that too.  and taako is like wow what a great idea let me go talk to all my boyfriends and make sure they’re all right with this.  except probably with more worrying about everything for drama or something, man, i dunno.

anyway, then he marries kravitz and continues dating magnus, and lup marries barry and/or lucretia, and everyone is happy.  and they adopt angus and he can be the next king after kravitz.  man, i dunno.

also, i tihnk merle is one of kravitz’ advisors for some reason, even though he is down an arm and it’s pretty much kravitz’ fault (don’t ask me how yet i don’t know).  davenport’s from felicity wilds and traveled with taako and lup.  i don’t know his job title exactly.  maybe he’s kind of a “””handler.”””  they call him dad because they know he hates it.

[libralita]

Title: Emergency Contact

Author: Mary H. K. Choi

Summary: For Penny Lee high school was a total nonevent. Her friends were okay, her grades were fine, and while she somehow managed to land a boyfriend, he doesn’t actually know anything about her. When Penny heads to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer, it’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind.

Sam’s stuck. Literally, figuratively, emotionally, financially. He works at a café and sleeps there too, on a mattress on the floor of an empty storage room upstairs. He knows that this is the god-awful chapter of his life that will serve as inspiration for when he’s a famous movie director but right this second the seventeen bucks in his checking account and his dying laptop are really testing him. 

When Sam and Penny cross paths it’s less meet-cute and more a collision of unbearable awkwardness. Still, they swap numbers and stay in touch—via text—and soon become digitally inseparable, sharing their deepest anxieties and secret dreams without the humiliating weirdness of having to see each other.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Review:

So many things wrong with this book. I’ll talk about the one thing that I thought was done well. The romance. Which bonus points for a romance book having a decent romance. I think that Penny and Sam’s interactions were charming. There was very little forced tension and I think that part was well written. I was a little worried I wouldn’t be able to tell which perspective I was in because there’s a lot of texting but it was pretty distinct and the third person helped. I also didn’t have a panic attack when reading about anxiety so that’s good.

 …Yeah that’s about it first Penny. I don’t like characters who are dicks to their parents. I get that Celeste is not the best parent in the world but my god she needed to cut her mom a break. She didn’t let her mom go with her on move in day which is like so heartless. Especially at the end. Penny tends to be a dick to everyone except for Sam. Mallory I get because Mallory is a bitch. But Jude didn’t deserve it.

There were a few plots that were so minor I didn’t really give that much of a shit about them. Penny’s professor was forgettable. She didn’t really do anything and didn’t have much of a character other than YA idol that came straight out of Tumblr (we’ll get to that later). Then, besides the pregnancy thing, a lot of Sam’s subplots didn’t really keep my attention.

There were also some dumb little moments like this:

“Penny wondered why ‘girl trouble’ meant some dude had dating drama and that ‘women’s trouble’ was about periods.”—Page 55

Probably because you become a woman when you’re on your period. While you date when you’re young, usually. You know girlfriends. Ever heard of the phrase “boy trouble”? But this moment made me laugh. Also the fact that the author refers to things like stereotyping countries as racist. Like at one point Penny makes a generalization about Australia and she wonders if she’s racist. Because that’s a racist. It’s just really silly.

But the thing that made me really hate this book was only on two pages. Pages 80 and 81 were the worst. And it had a lot to do with Penny’s “love” of Sci-Fi. Which is also a thing that only has some importance to the plot. Just a little disclaimer is that I’m not huge Sci-Fi person so take what I say with a grain of salt:

“Over the years, Penny inhaled the [Sci-Fi] classics—Ready Player One, Dune, and Ender’s Game, though it wasn’t until was introduced to Messiah, ironically from a guy who was the worst dude in the history of dudes, that she realized sci-fi didn’t have to be so…boy. J.A.’s work was like Ender’s Game, yet where Ender was smart and getting conned ‘cause he was a kid, J.A.’s hero Scan knew her worth.

A female protagonist made the stories more inspiring than voyeuristic.”—Page 80

Okay. First of all, “Sci-Fi classics like Ready Player One”. What? That is just silly. I have not read this book but it’s not exactly a Sci-Fi classic. Dune could be considered one, Ender’s Game…I guess? But my god Ready Player One does not belong on this list. This just screams to me that Choi just googled popular Sci-Fi books and that was all the research she did in the genre.

Second of all, that last line doesn’t make much sense? I looked up what voyeuristic means and I’m guessing what this sentence is trying to say is that when a protagonist is female then she becomes inspiring and less sexualized? That doesn’t make sense because you still sexualize a protagonist. I…just don’t know what this means. This is just feels like the author is bullshitting and doesn’t really know what she’s talking about. Which brings me to my next quote:

“From then on Penny’s stories centered around women and girls. There wasn’t even a special trick. You wrote it exactly as you would for a guy, but you made pain thresholds higher since girls have to put up with more in the world and give them more empathy, which makes everything riskier. Plus, with sci-fi, you set up the rules at the beginning and you could blast it all to kingdom come as long as you did it in a satisfying manner.”—Page 81

Okay, so in order to write female characters you write them exactly like male characters. EXCEPT you make them have higher pain tolerance because of shit they go through and they’re more empathetic. A tad contradictory.

Then you go on to say that in Sci-Fi you can up whatever rules you want. So…what happens when you have like a matriarchy? There are stories with matriarchies. So would you just switch that for the men? It’s Sci-Fi you can do whatever you want. That line also doesn’t make sense on a completely different level. Because “Plus, with sci-fi, you set up the rules at the beginning and you could blast it all to kingdom come as long as you did it in a satisfying manner” sounds like you’re saying that Sci-Fi authors can set up rules and then just go “fuck them!” and it’ll be fine as long as it’s satisfying.

Haha no.

Do you remember when the Prequels came out and people were freaking the fuck out about Midi-chlorians because it fucked with established lore or whatever? Sci-Fi and Fantasy have a lot of similarities and I know if Brandon Sanderson just flipped the table on how the Cosmere worked the fandom would be pissed. Also that sounds like some real “ends justify the means” shit. As long as I get to a satisfying conclusion it doesn’t matter how I got there.

But this book talks about real issues and it has a message. It’s empowering to women and--

“J.A. made nerdiness glamorous. And not in some posery Tumblr way where girls played first-person shooters in their underpants to be attractive to guys.”—Page 81

Wow, you just slut shamed a bunch of women. That’s not hypocritical at all. Also, cam girls are not on Tumblr, they’re on Twitch.

[aurimeanswind]

I’m More of a Winter—Sunday Chats—1/28/18

Oddly enough, I find myself more “happy” or more at home and comfortable through the winter. It’s my favorite season, yet this one seems to not provide the same boons to excitement as the previous have. There is far less joy to be found, and that kind of sucks.

But we move on with the show.

Talking About The Week I Had

I’ve come to both hate and somewhat enjoy talking about having terrible weeks and rough times. I always, in my heart, feel I am begging for attention. And there must be some honesty in that, right? But I also feel this sense of responsibility and obligation to my internet presence that I need to keep sending those thoughts and feelings out there, and that maybe I’ll feel better when I do. And I usually do. There is always a warm and loving outcry of support when I do, and it always warms my heart, without fail.

But I dunno. It’s hard. I have really bad days and I put myself in a dark place, and while I love the honesty, I don’t want to share that because it’s both personal and it looks like I am begging for good vibes to be sent. Obviously this is all counteracted by me openly expressing my frustrations here (or so my brain hopes) but it’s a difficult side to every coin. The one that’s aware of the more selfish-seeming repercussions of crying out for help, and that just so wishes to be like, not bad on your own. 

I think with my depression and fits of morbid thoughts and feelings of wanting to hurt myself, that’s always the fall back. I just want to be good without having to ask for help. The idea of, “well why can’t I just be alright on my own? Why does this have to be a thing where I have to have me picked up off the ground by my wonderful companions who’d graciously do so, but I can’t just “be” on my own?” When i say I express frustration in sharing my feelings of being depressed, I think it helps to empathize from that angle:

I’m not frustrated because I don’t want to ask for help, I’m frustrated because I was never given the opportunity to not need it.

Does that make sense?

God I hope so. In short I had a bad spell of self-hatred style depression this week, and this is me just airing it out those feelings. If it doesn’t make sense, ah don’t worry about it, but if you saw me struggling this week, that’s your bit of context.

What’s On Tap

Predominantly I’ve been playing one thing this week, and that’s been going back through The Witcher 3. That’s a great goddamn video game.

The Witcher 3

There is just something about Yennefer that... goddamn. She is just like a magnet for me. I definitely feel to her what Geralt does. It’s an attraction that goes beyond appearance. She isn’t like, the best person? either? But I just adore her. She fits the mold of a partner in so many respects, and peeling back the layers of her character are excellent.

I got to Skellige and boy that is just the best part of that game hands down.

The snow, the wintery peaks, the people of Skellige, it’s just so much better than anything you see in Velen or Novigrad I think. Not to say either of those chapters are bad, they’re excellent, but I think it just shows that Skellige is that much more interesting of an area. I think that, to some extent, derives from the fact that Velen and Novigrad are neighboring areas, and so their culture is very similar. It gets me even more excited to see Touissant, the place added in Blood and Wine, because that is also a totally separate part of that world.

Celeste

I’ve managed to put a few hours into Celeste now, where when we recorded the podcast I had only put about a half hour into it.

I worry that maybe my expectations for this game were set too high, especially with folks continually telling me how impactful it’s emotional aspects are. I’m trying to keep my expectations in check, but I will say so far the game has done some pretty interesting things.

On the gameplay level, it has the tightness of something like Towerfall, applied to very Super Meat Boy reminiscent platforming levels that are short, consumable, and challenging. It kind of reminds me that I’m not really in the mood for something that is just outwardly so challenging right now though. Like, it makes you frustrated and you’re supposed to derive enjoyment from the victory, but the levels are very long and frustrating at times, and I’m not getting the same satisfaction I got from something like Cuphead. 

That, mixed with the really interesting story bits makes me kind of just want to get to the next story beat above everything else. The constant dying and repeating of the same challenges impedes that.

Maybe most of my frustration is that each “chapter” bases itself around a different mechanic, and a lot of those have been more just annoying than anything else. One was these platforms that you can move by pressing against them while holding them, which worked, but another was ground or wall that you can’t retread once you’ve touched it once or you die, and that was just zero fun.

There is a very interesting scene where you have to calm yourself from a panic attack, and it’s very evocative, so maybe there is something too Celeste, but right now I’m more mixed than I’d like to be. Overall it definitely plays well, I’m just unsure of if I am buying everything there.

Questions

Like always, look for my tweets on Sundays with the hashtag #SundayChats in it, respond with your question, and be in the chats! Let’s do this!

I like that Ubisoft essentially did this by putting Mario in XCOM last year.

But like, what if Princess Peach was a leader in Civilization 6?

How good would that be?!

Have Mushroom Kingdom units?! Build Peach’s Castle as a World Wonder?! Having to import mushrooms from other city states to appease our great lord and savior Princess Peach?! PEACH getting NUKED by GHANDI?!

Anyway.

I feel like I can’t think of any mind bending ones, or ones that haven’t been done before, save for the Princess Peach one. Like, I’d love to see an strategy game with the Tales characters, and that already exists. I’d love to see a third person action game with Final Fantasy characters, and that kind of exists, and that’s also kind of happening with the FF7 Remake. I’d love to see Vincent from Catherine as a character in a Persona game with all adults, but that feels like a cop out. 

Link playing Baseball? in MLB the show? 

I’ll think on it and if I come up with anything good I’ll tweet it at you.

I don’t know that series sounds like its for weebs.

Nah I’m kidding, I’m glad everyone seems to be having fun with Monster Hunter World. I definitely have a bit of FOMO, but after that beta I really doubt I’d have fun with it.

Nabeshin would go Insect Glaive. Scott would get the biggest and weightiest sword. Tony you’d get whatever you’d get. You said you were trying the Bow on the latest show, so maybe that? And I’d be the cat and I’d be chilling on an inflatable tube.

Hands for feet. Duh.

I’d get like, those toe-shoes, which would basically be gloves, and then go on my merry, tree-swinging way. Like, I’d finally have my dream of being able to have four hands. Ugh. Feet for hand sounds awful because you’d still have “arms” so its not like you’d be able to four-footed run. 

Garbage.

I have no clue what this is.

*Does a quick google*

So Like, I am only loosely familiar with Big Brother, and I hate reality TV (I know Jazz, I’m sorry) but this seems like, totally boring! No big names at all. The entertainment weekly article I read showing the contestants for this upcoming one were recognized by their recent “Dancing with the Stars” placements, and that’s just fucking depressing.

But yeah, I like the idea of celebrities that don’t know they hate each other slowly learning that they do, in fact, hate each other all for your viewing pleasure, sure, if you’re into that sort of thing. But at least throw like, Liam Neeson in there to choke somebody or something.

Oh man there is so much I’d love to see Rocksteady do. They’ve definitely become a favorite developer of mine, even if i have a tenuous love-hate relationship with Batman Arkham Knight. 

I mean they are almost definitely working on something Batman. I feel like we don’t end this year without knowing exactly what they are making, or without it releasing. I think Justice League/Batman Beyond would be cool, but I just worry that they aren’t going that route.

I want them to break away from Batman. I think they’ve earned enough clout to do their own thing, and that’d be the thing I’m most excited about, but it may ultimately just be another Arkham game.

I’d probably kill myself right away tbh.

I know that’s a little morbid haha, but I’m definitely not making it. I have really bad asthma, so assuming we are getting “infected” “running” zombies I am boned. I’ve also never fired a gun before, nor do I really have any interest in doing so. I’m also a pacifist and hate the idea of hurting other living things, dead or not. I’d also not want to be a hindrance to me loved ones who are stronger than me and can live on. And boy it’d be a fucking bummer to just watch humans kill humans over food and water and guns and stuff. I just don’t want to been that world (which is kind of our world, I know, yes).

And knowing my luck I’d be patient zero, so there’s also that.

First, I want to say:

fuck Captain Jack Sparrow.

That being said.

I want Sly Cooper’s ancestor who was also a Pirate, Henriette Cooper.

Hell, I’d probably just want Sly Cooper too.

And maybe Captain Kidd, but like, cool Lady Captain Kidd from AC Black Flag.

And Nato Johnston, who is real.

Jurge Cruz is into some deep web shit with his crypto-mining operation.

It’s messed up.

And very impressive.

That’s a really good question. I want to say yes, because I think that’d be cool, but I don’t know of any Arc System Works game that’s made it big there. There probably (definitely) is one? But I just don’t know it. Maybe Guilty Gear. 

I’d say no because I think the way the controls work in FighterZ is just too simplified. I don’t know what the skill threshold for that game is, but who knows, maybe it’s possible. God wouldn’t that be rad?

This is a tough question. I saw this and I think, at least partially, thats what my opening thoughts bit was about. I don’t really think there is, and I don’t think that is such a bad thing, right?

Like that doesn’t make you any less of a friend, and this goes for everyone to anyone they know with mental illness. If you’re there, supportive, and send the good vibes and are understanding of their issues, you're doing it right. I think it’s people that just lack empathy or say “why aren’t you just happy?” that are the ones super fucking up.

I’d say just empathize with the fact that sometimes all you can do is send support, and that’s totally enough. So don’t sweat it.

Christ.

Joel’s Ears from The Last of Us because apparently that mother fucker can just hear through walls. 

And maybe.... uhhh... The lady from The Sexy Brutale who can hear codes being typed in on keypads from the room over? That’s lit.

Goddamn my arms would just be horrifying tendrils though. Imagine if this combined with my feet that are hands and I’m just a four-eared two-handed monster crawling around listening with my big stalk-ears?!

God help us for this image will never leave my brain.

Ah so you play the Wraith eh?? Well that’s good to know. Time to get my STRATS ready. Of course you’d play the most broken monster though.

And probably never but I’m keeping the dream going.

Evolve was good you guys.

9.0/10, Irrational Passions.

I REVIEWED IT.

http://irrationalpassions.com/evolve-review/

That’s it! That’s the show and the whole kitten-caboodle. 

It’s been a long week but keep things on the up and up. We’re about to move into February and I’m about to launch a cool new show and IP is working on some cool stuff to look forward to. So get hype!

oh and please keep it on the real.

(this gif of Danny laughing on Table Flip just miraculously popped up on my gif search and it’s a gift to you, me, and the GG gods, so enjoy)

[airoasis]

10 ways to have a better conversation | Celeste Headlee

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/10-ways-to-have-a-better-conversation-celeste-headlee/

10 ways to have a better conversation | Celeste Headlee

All right, I wish to see a show of fingers: what number of of you will have unfriended any individual on facebook considering they mentioned anything offensive about politics or religion, childcare, food? (Laughter) And what number of of you already know as a minimum one individual that you just restrict on account that you simply do not wish to talk to them? (Laughter) you already know, it used to be that with the intention to have a well mannered dialog, we simply needed to comply with the recommendation of Henry Higgins in "My fair girl": stick with the climate and your wellness. However these days, with climate change and anti-vaxxing, these topics — (Laughter) aren’t risk-free both. So this world that we are living in, this world wherein every dialog has the skills to devolve into an argument, the place our legislators can not communicate to at least one one more and where even the most trivial of issues have anybody combating both passionately for it and towards it, it can be not natural. Pew research did a be trained of 10,000 American adults, and so they determined that at this second, we are more polarized, we are extra divided, than we ever were in history. We’re much less likely to compromise, which means that we’re now not listening to each other. And we make selections about the place to are living, who to marry and even who our pals are going to be, based on what we already think.Again, that means we’re not listening to each other. A dialog requires a balance between speaking and listening, and somewhere alongside the best way, we misplaced that steadiness. Now, part of that is as a result of science. The smartphones that you just all either have to your fingers or close enough that you just might grasp them fairly swiftly. Consistent with Pew study, a couple of 1/3 of yank teens ship greater than a hundred texts a day. And lots of of them, just about most of them, are more likely to textual content their friends than they’re to talk to them nose to nose. There’s this best piece in the Atlantic. It used to be written by using a high school trainer named Paul Barnwell. And he gave his kids a conversation project. He wanted to coach them the best way to communicate on a certain subject with out utilizing notes. And he mentioned this: "I came to realise…" (Laughter) "I got here to appreciate that conversational competence possibly the single most overlooked talent we fail to educate. Youngsters spend hours on a daily basis enticing with strategies and each other by means of displays, but hardly ever do they have an opportunity to hone their interpersonal communications competencies.It would sound like a humorous query, but we must ask ourselves: Is there any 21st-century skill more main than being capable to maintain coherent, positive conversation?" Now, I make my residing speaking to men and women: Nobel Prize winners, truck drivers, billionaires, kindergarten teachers, heads of state, plumbers. I talk to humans that i like. I talk to men and women that i don’t like. I speak to some people that I disagree with deeply on a personal degree. However I nonetheless have a great conversation with them. So i’d wish to spend the following 10 minutes or so educating you the best way to speak and how one can hear. Many of you have got already heard plenty of advice on this, things like seem the person within the eye, believe of interesting subject matters to discuss upfront, seem, nod and smile to show that you’re paying concentration, repeat back what you simply heard or summarize it. So i need you to omit all of that. It’s crap. (Laughter) there is not any cause to gain knowledge of the way to exhibit you’re paying concentration in case you are in fact paying concentration. (Laughter) (Applause) Now, I in reality use the particular identical talents as a respectable interviewer that I do in usual life.So, i’m going to educate you how one can interview persons, and that is sincerely going to aid you study the way to be better conversationalists. Learn to have a dialog without wasting your time, without getting bored, and, please God, with out offending any person. We have all had relatively first-class conversations. We have now had them before. We all know what it can be like. The kind of conversation the place you walk away feeling engaged and influenced, or where you feel like you’ve gotten made a real connection or you’ve been perfectly understood. There is not any intent why most of your interactions can not be like that. So i have 10 normal ideas. I’m going to stroll you by means of all of them, but honestly, when you simply pick certainly one of them and master it, you can already enjoy higher conversations. Quantity one: do not multitask. And i do not imply just set down your cell telephone or your pill or your vehicle keys or something is to your hand.I imply, be present. Be in that second. Don’t feel about your argument you had together with your boss. Don’t suppose about what you are going to have for dinner. If you wish to get out of the conversation, get out of the dialog, but do not be 1/2 in it and half of out of it. Number two: don’t pontificate. If you wish to state your opinion without any possibility for response or argument or pushback or progress, write a web publication. (Laughter) Now, there may be a rather just right motive why i do not enable pundits on my show: considering the fact that they may be quite boring. If they are conservative, they are going to hate Obama and meals stamps and abortion. If they’re liberal, they’ll hate huge banks and oil organisations and Dick Cheney. Utterly predictable. And you do not want to be like that.You need to enter each conversation assuming that you have some thing to gain knowledge of. The famed therapist M. Scott p.C. Stated that true listening requires a surroundings aside of oneself. And sometimes that means setting apart your personal opinion. He stated that sensing this acceptance, the speaker will emerge as less and no more prone and increasingly likely to open up the interior recesses of his or her mind to the listener. Again, assume that you have whatever to be taught. Invoice Nye: "every person you will ever meet is aware of whatever that you don’t." I put it this manner: everybody is an informed in anything. Quantity three: Use open-ended questions. In this case, take a cue from journalists. Begin your questions with who, what, when, where, why or how. For those who put in a complex question, you’re going to get a simple reply out. If I ask you, "were you terrified?" you are going to respond to the most powerful word in that sentence, which is "terrified," and the answer is "yes, I was once" or "No, I wasn’t." "were you irritated?" "yes, I was very angry." let them describe it. They’re the ones that know.Try asking them things like, "What was once that like?" "How did that believe?" considering then they could ought to stop for a second and think about it, and you’re going to get a way more exciting response. Number 4: waft. That means ideas will come into your mind and also you must allow them to go out of your intellect. We have heard interviews frequently where a guest is speakme for a few minutes and then the host comes back in and asks a question which seems adore it comes out of nowhere, or it can be already been answered. That implies the host most often stopped listening two minutes ago seeing that he concept of this really clever question, and he was simply certain and decided to assert that.And we do the distinctive equal factor. We’re sitting there having a dialog with any individual, after which we do not forget that point that we met Hugh Jackman in a coffee store. (Laughter) And we discontinue listening. Studies and suggestions are going to come back to you. You must let them come and allow them to go. Number five: If you do not know, say that you don’t know. Now, persons on the radio, peculiarly on NPR, are far more mindful that they’re occurring the file, and so they’re extra cautious about what they declare to be an trained in and what they declare to know for certain.Do that. Err on the aspect of caution. Speak should not be affordable. Quantity six: do not equate your expertise with theirs. If they’re speaking about having misplaced a family member, do not talking in regards to the time you lost a household member. If they may be speaking concerning the predicament they’re having at work, don’t tell them about how much you hate your job. It is not the same. It is not ever the identical. All experiences are individual. And, more importantly, it is not about you. You don’t have got to take that second to show how mighty you might be or how much you have got suffered. Anyone asked Stephen Hawking once what his IQ was, and he mentioned, "I haven’t any concept. Men and women who brag about their IQs are losers." (Laughter) Conversations usually are not a promotional possibility. Quantity seven: try to not repeat yourself. It can be condescending, and it is fairly boring, and we tend to do it a lot. Principally in work conversations or in conversations with our kids, we’ve a factor to make, so we simply keep rephrasing it again and again.Don’t do this. Quantity eight: keep out of the weeds. Frankly, humans do not care concerning the years, the names, the dates, all those important points that you’re struggling to provide you with on your intellect. They do not care. What they care about is you. They care about what you are like, what you will have in customary. So fail to remember the details. Leave them out. Quantity 9: this is not the final one, however it’s the primary one. Pay attention. I can’t inform you how many fairly most important humans have stated that listening is perhaps probably the most, the quantity one essential talent that you just might strengthen. Buddha mentioned, and i am paraphrasing, "in case your mouth is open, you are now not studying." And Calvin Coolidge stated, "No man ever listened his means out of a job." (Laughter) Why will we now not pay attention to one another? Quantity one, we might as an alternative talk. After I’m speaking, i am in control. I do not have to hear some thing i am now not interested by.I am the middle of attention. I will bolster my own identity. However there is another reason: We get distracted. The usual man or woman talks at about 225 phrase per minute, but we are able to listen at as much as 500 phrases per minute. So our minds are filling in these different 275 words. And look, i do know, it takes effort and vigor to clearly pay attention to anybody, but when you can’t do this, you’re no longer in a dialog. You’re just two individuals shouting out barely associated sentences within the same location. (Laughter) You have got to hear to at least one another. Stephen Covey stated it very fantastically. He mentioned, "Most of us don’t pay attention with the intent to fully grasp. We listen with the intent to answer." yet another rule, number 10, and it’s this one: Be temporary. (Laughter) (Applause) All of this boils right down to the equal normal inspiration, and it’s this one: Be interested in different men and women.You know, I grew up with an extraordinarily famous grandfather, and there was once style of a ritual in my house. Humans would come over to speak to my grandparents, and after they would depart, my mom would come over to us, and he or she’d say, "do you know who that was once? She used to be the runner-up to overlook america. He was the mayor of Sacramento. She gained a Pulitzer Prize. He is a Russian ballet dancer." and i form of grew up assuming everybody has some hidden, robust factor about them.And honestly, I feel it can be what makes me a better host. I keep my mouth shut as more often than not as I most likely can, I maintain my intellect open, and i’m always all set to be amazed, and i am under no circumstances upset. You do the identical thing. Exit, speak to individuals, hearken to folks, and, most importantly, be prepared to be amazed. Thanks. (Applause) .

[batterymonster2021]

10 ways to have a better conversation | Celeste Headlee

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/10-ways-to-have-a-better-conversation-celeste-headlee/

10 ways to have a better conversation | Celeste Headlee

All right, I wish to see a show of fingers: what number of of you will have unfriended any individual on facebook considering they mentioned anything offensive about politics or religion, childcare, food? (Laughter) And what number of of you already know as a minimum one individual that you just restrict on account that you simply do not wish to talk to them? (Laughter) you already know, it used to be that with the intention to have a well mannered dialog, we simply needed to comply with the recommendation of Henry Higgins in "My fair girl": stick with the climate and your wellness. However these days, with climate change and anti-vaxxing, these topics — (Laughter) aren’t risk-free both. So this world that we are living in, this world wherein every dialog has the skills to devolve into an argument, the place our legislators can not communicate to at least one one more and where even the most trivial of issues have anybody combating both passionately for it and towards it, it can be not natural. Pew research did a be trained of 10,000 American adults, and so they determined that at this second, we are more polarized, we are extra divided, than we ever were in history. We’re much less likely to compromise, which means that we’re now not listening to each other. And we make selections about the place to are living, who to marry and even who our pals are going to be, based on what we already think.Again, that means we’re not listening to each other. A dialog requires a balance between speaking and listening, and somewhere alongside the best way, we misplaced that steadiness. Now, part of that is as a result of science. The smartphones that you just all either have to your fingers or close enough that you just might grasp them fairly swiftly. Consistent with Pew study, a couple of 1/3 of yank teens ship greater than a hundred texts a day. And lots of of them, just about most of them, are more likely to textual content their friends than they’re to talk to them nose to nose. There’s this best piece in the Atlantic. It used to be written by using a high school trainer named Paul Barnwell. And he gave his kids a conversation project. He wanted to coach them the best way to communicate on a certain subject with out utilizing notes. And he mentioned this: "I came to realise…" (Laughter) "I got here to appreciate that conversational competence possibly the single most overlooked talent we fail to educate. Youngsters spend hours on a daily basis enticing with strategies and each other by means of displays, but hardly ever do they have an opportunity to hone their interpersonal communications competencies.It would sound like a humorous query, but we must ask ourselves: Is there any 21st-century skill more main than being capable to maintain coherent, positive conversation?" Now, I make my residing speaking to men and women: Nobel Prize winners, truck drivers, billionaires, kindergarten teachers, heads of state, plumbers. I talk to humans that i like. I talk to men and women that i don’t like. I speak to some people that I disagree with deeply on a personal degree. However I nonetheless have a great conversation with them. So i’d wish to spend the following 10 minutes or so educating you the best way to speak and how one can hear. Many of you have got already heard plenty of advice on this, things like seem the person within the eye, believe of interesting subject matters to discuss upfront, seem, nod and smile to show that you’re paying concentration, repeat back what you simply heard or summarize it. So i need you to omit all of that. It’s crap. (Laughter) there is not any cause to gain knowledge of the way to exhibit you’re paying concentration in case you are in fact paying concentration. (Laughter) (Applause) Now, I in reality use the particular identical talents as a respectable interviewer that I do in usual life.So, i’m going to educate you how one can interview persons, and that is sincerely going to aid you study the way to be better conversationalists. Learn to have a dialog without wasting your time, without getting bored, and, please God, with out offending any person. We have all had relatively first-class conversations. We have now had them before. We all know what it can be like. The kind of conversation the place you walk away feeling engaged and influenced, or where you feel like you’ve gotten made a real connection or you’ve been perfectly understood. There is not any intent why most of your interactions can not be like that. So i have 10 normal ideas. I’m going to stroll you by means of all of them, but honestly, when you simply pick certainly one of them and master it, you can already enjoy higher conversations. Quantity one: do not multitask. And i do not imply just set down your cell telephone or your pill or your vehicle keys or something is to your hand.I imply, be present. Be in that second. Don’t feel about your argument you had together with your boss. Don’t suppose about what you are going to have for dinner. If you wish to get out of the conversation, get out of the dialog, but do not be 1/2 in it and half of out of it. Number two: don’t pontificate. If you wish to state your opinion without any possibility for response or argument or pushback or progress, write a web publication. (Laughter) Now, there may be a rather just right motive why i do not enable pundits on my show: considering the fact that they may be quite boring. If they are conservative, they are going to hate Obama and meals stamps and abortion. If they’re liberal, they’ll hate huge banks and oil organisations and Dick Cheney. Utterly predictable. And you do not want to be like that.You need to enter each conversation assuming that you have some thing to gain knowledge of. The famed therapist M. Scott p.C. Stated that true listening requires a surroundings aside of oneself. And sometimes that means setting apart your personal opinion. He stated that sensing this acceptance, the speaker will emerge as less and no more prone and increasingly likely to open up the interior recesses of his or her mind to the listener. Again, assume that you have whatever to be taught. Invoice Nye: "every person you will ever meet is aware of whatever that you don’t." I put it this manner: everybody is an informed in anything. Quantity three: Use open-ended questions. In this case, take a cue from journalists. Begin your questions with who, what, when, where, why or how. For those who put in a complex question, you’re going to get a simple reply out. If I ask you, "were you terrified?" you are going to respond to the most powerful word in that sentence, which is "terrified," and the answer is "yes, I was once" or "No, I wasn’t." "were you irritated?" "yes, I was very angry." let them describe it. They’re the ones that know.Try asking them things like, "What was once that like?" "How did that believe?" considering then they could ought to stop for a second and think about it, and you’re going to get a way more exciting response. Number 4: waft. That means ideas will come into your mind and also you must allow them to go out of your intellect. We have heard interviews frequently where a guest is speakme for a few minutes and then the host comes back in and asks a question which seems adore it comes out of nowhere, or it can be already been answered. That implies the host most often stopped listening two minutes ago seeing that he concept of this really clever question, and he was simply certain and decided to assert that.And we do the distinctive equal factor. We’re sitting there having a dialog with any individual, after which we do not forget that point that we met Hugh Jackman in a coffee store. (Laughter) And we discontinue listening. Studies and suggestions are going to come back to you. You must let them come and allow them to go. Number five: If you do not know, say that you don’t know. Now, persons on the radio, peculiarly on NPR, are far more mindful that they’re occurring the file, and so they’re extra cautious about what they declare to be an trained in and what they declare to know for certain.Do that. Err on the aspect of caution. Speak should not be affordable. Quantity six: do not equate your expertise with theirs. If they’re speaking about having misplaced a family member, do not talking in regards to the time you lost a household member. If they may be speaking concerning the predicament they’re having at work, don’t tell them about how much you hate your job. It is not the same. It is not ever the identical. All experiences are individual. And, more importantly, it is not about you. You don’t have got to take that second to show how mighty you might be or how much you have got suffered. Anyone asked Stephen Hawking once what his IQ was, and he mentioned, "I haven’t any concept. Men and women who brag about their IQs are losers." (Laughter) Conversations usually are not a promotional possibility. Quantity seven: try to not repeat yourself. It can be condescending, and it is fairly boring, and we tend to do it a lot. Principally in work conversations or in conversations with our kids, we’ve a factor to make, so we simply keep rephrasing it again and again.Don’t do this. Quantity eight: keep out of the weeds. Frankly, humans do not care concerning the years, the names, the dates, all those important points that you’re struggling to provide you with on your intellect. They do not care. What they care about is you. They care about what you are like, what you will have in customary. So fail to remember the details. Leave them out. Quantity 9: this is not the final one, however it’s the primary one. Pay attention. I can’t inform you how many fairly most important humans have stated that listening is perhaps probably the most, the quantity one essential talent that you just might strengthen. Buddha mentioned, and i am paraphrasing, "in case your mouth is open, you are now not studying." And Calvin Coolidge stated, "No man ever listened his means out of a job." (Laughter) Why will we now not pay attention to one another? Quantity one, we might as an alternative talk. After I’m speaking, i am in control. I do not have to hear some thing i am now not interested by.I am the middle of attention. I will bolster my own identity. However there is another reason: We get distracted. The usual man or woman talks at about 225 phrase per minute, but we are able to listen at as much as 500 phrases per minute. So our minds are filling in these different 275 words. And look, i do know, it takes effort and vigor to clearly pay attention to anybody, but when you can’t do this, you’re no longer in a dialog. You’re just two individuals shouting out barely associated sentences within the same location. (Laughter) You have got to hear to at least one another. Stephen Covey stated it very fantastically. He mentioned, "Most of us don’t pay attention with the intent to fully grasp. We listen with the intent to answer." yet another rule, number 10, and it’s this one: Be temporary. (Laughter) (Applause) All of this boils right down to the equal normal inspiration, and it’s this one: Be interested in different men and women.You know, I grew up with an extraordinarily famous grandfather, and there was once style of a ritual in my house. Humans would come over to speak to my grandparents, and after they would depart, my mom would come over to us, and he or she’d say, "do you know who that was once? She used to be the runner-up to overlook america. He was the mayor of Sacramento. She gained a Pulitzer Prize. He is a Russian ballet dancer." and i form of grew up assuming everybody has some hidden, robust factor about them.And honestly, I feel it can be what makes me a better host. I keep my mouth shut as more often than not as I most likely can, I maintain my intellect open, and i’m always all set to be amazed, and i am under no circumstances upset. You do the identical thing. Exit, speak to individuals, hearken to folks, and, most importantly, be prepared to be amazed. Thanks. (Applause) .