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gumnut-logic · 3 years

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Callisto (Arrival - Bit 2)

Prologue Incident - Bit 1 | Bit 2 Fallout - Bit 1 | Bit 2 | Bit 3 Voyage - Bit 1 | Bit 2 | Bit 3 Arrival - Bit 1 | Bit 2

Well, these posts seem to be getting longer. I’m pondering if I should make them shorter and more often.

As always, many thanks to @tsarinatorment @scribbles97 @janetm74 and @onereyofstarlight for their amazing support and who without putting up with my crazy this fic would likely not exist.

We are finally there and things can start happening. Wow, planning makes for longer fics apparently.

I hope you enjoy it ::hugs you all::

-o-o-o-

As the rest of the family exited the cockpit, Michael watched John deploy the last of the long chain of communication buoys into orbit around Callisto and held his breath.

The space monitor was frowning at his console as they both waited for that final connection to click into place.

A moment and John’s face relaxed.

And Michael with it.

His own board flashed up with a connection confirmed through the chained micro-tunnel drives.

John hit his comms. “Tracy Island, this is Thunderbird Excel. Do you copy?”

They waited.

A heartbeat.

“Thunderbird Excel this is Tracy Island. Great to hear your voice, John.” Even Michael could hear the smile in Kayo’s voice. “I have a lot of green and pretty lights here. Send me the tests and I will bounce them back.”

“Sending now.” John’s fingers darted across his board and Michael watched the system take on the workload and churn data all the way back to Earth. “And I must say, Kayo, it is lovely to hear your voice, too.”

“Looking forward to hearing yours often. Data incoming. Will apprise results.”

“Looking forward to it, Thunderbird Excel out.” John’s fingers flicked again and the comms signal closed.

“Thunderbird Excel?” Michael arched an eyebrow at the astronaut.

John shrugged. “Well, I think she’s earned it now, don’t you?”

“Mmmm.” He looked back down at his board. The thought of having contributed to creating an actual Thunderbird...

He was startled when a shadow passed over his hands. “You’ve done well, Michael. Thank you.”

He looked up at the red-headed Tracy floating beside him. John was an enigma. He was a brother like any Tracy, but unlike the eldest who hated him with a passion that saw no border, John was quiet, even kind. Michael had been working alongside Brains and John and occasionally the youngest, for over a year now, and while he doubted he and John would ever be close friends, there was a mutual respect.

Plus, the distinct feeling that if Michael ever laid a finger on any of John’s brothers ever again, he would not survive the attempt.

It was definitely the quiet ones who should be worried about.

Not to mention Eos.

Michael really wished he could get his hands on that piece of code.

But again, he felt that it would be his last action in this universe.

Not that John had ever threatened him.

He didn’t need to.

“Are you feeling okay?” Turquoise eyes were peering down at him.

“I am well. No need to worry.”

The astronaut smiled. “Good. Monitor the comm network and liaise with Brains regarding the T-Drive’s performance. Let’s see if we can cut down on the jumps on the way back. I’d prefer to go through as little of the nausea as possible.”

“Agreed.”

John arched an eyebrow and his lips curled up. “I’ll be in Thunderbird Five assessing the danger zone and coordinating with Thunderbird Three.”

“FAB.”

The astronaut stared at him for just an extra moment longer before pushing off Michael’s console and throwing himself towards the cockpit exit.

“Thank you, John.”

A flicker of a smile and the last Tracy disappeared through the door, leaving Michael alone.

-o-o-o-

Virgil hated the IR spacesuits. They were far too tight and left nothing to the imagination.

Also, the red baldrics clashed horribly with his green stripe enough to rip his eyeballs out.

But although his standard uniform was satisfactory for short forays into space, it was not enough for a space mission of this magnitude as it did not have the survival and safety mechanisms needed in an emergency. So, here he was dressed like some kind of spandex wearing superhero, his heavy lifting muscles providing a great anatomy lesson to any within eyesight.

“Looking good, Virg.” Gordon’s eyes were laughing.

“Shut up, Fish.” The aquanaut was used appearing all but naked in front of thousands. Hell, Virgil had nothing to be ashamed of, it was just difficult to keep a straight face in a professional capacity.

How the hell John lived in one of these things was a mystery Virgil had no interest in exploring.

The alternative was wearing something like Alan’s spacesuit, but that had its own issues regarding his exosuit and despite the...exposure, this was the best option.

At least he had a little security with the addition of his exosuit support padding and his harness – never leave home without it. That and his baldric covered a little of his modesty.

Didn’t stop his brothers’ comments though.

Alan actually snorted in laughter.

Scott raised an eyebrow, but then their commander was dressed the same and, much like John, was giving the Greek gods a run for their money in the process.

Virgil felt like a dwarf from The Lord of the Rings. What was his name? Gam? Gim? Gimli? Standing next to that bleached elf.

Virgil grunted. “Let’s do this, already.”

Okay, the grin on Scott’s face was both worth it and damned annoying.

Dad had chosen a version similar to Alan’s suit. Due to his health concerns, Virgil had recommended extra support with arm guards and greaves built into his boots. He had glared at Virgil, but Virgil was a Tracy and just as stubborn as his father and if he wanted to go on this mission he could damn well meet him halfway.

Dad wore the protection.

They had Uncle Lee’s ‘space skivvies’ measurements on file and the IR fabricators had churned out an IR uniform echoing their father’s. Considering the astronaut’s skillset, Virgil had coloured his baldric stripe as green as his own and thrown in some of his own kit.

The colour combination still ripped out eyeballs.

Thunderbird Three was nestled into the Excel much like she had been into the XL, but higher up, leaving the massive thrusters behind her and nestling instead of providing the main superstructure of the craft.

To compensate for the loss of One and Two, the Excel now had a third engine on her dorsal plane to offset the two massive pectoral lightspeed engines. Together the three engines provided the huge ion thrust needed to propel them vast distances. And when the T-Drive was required, the third would go dark, the original two engines would flare up and give him his next case of nausea.

Three still connected with Five for extra stability, but she was no longer mandatory for the Excel. Where the XL had basically been an exosuit for Three to break the lightspeed barrier, the Excel was now more Five’s exosuit as she was the one Thunderbird the Excel needed to operate at her best.

Johnny’s ‘bird now had wings.

Very, very big ones.

The cockpit was crowded but quiet as Alan smoothly disengaged Three from the bigger craft, spinning her in space and pointing her towards the moon.

Virgil shifted in his suit, uncomfortable as hell. Not enough to be world ending, but annoying. Beside him, his father glanced in his direction with a concerned frown.

“Are you okay, son?”

That, of course, prompted an equally concerned frown from Scott in front of him.

“I’m fine.” It wasn’t a complete lie, he could live with the suit. His arm was still aching and his stomach had yet to forgive him despite the food he had shoved into it, but he could probably get away with that.

The worst of it was the lack of sleep.

Scott’s eyes were far too knowing.

The medic in him knew that they were going into a potentially dangerous situation. Hell, they were in space right now, not exactly Tracy Island’s pool patio for relaxation. They needed to be alert and ready.

He had tried to sleep. He had sent all of his brothers to nap during the voyage out here. But he doubted any of them managed much.

He certainly hadn’t.

Scott knew because Virgil could see it reflected in those blue eyes of his. He still looked worn, though he tried to hide it, ever the professional.

Dad.

Dad was still looking at him with questioning eyes.

Virgil sighed. “I’m just tired. I can manage.”

Those lips pressed together, obviously displeased.

Typical.

His father was so like Scott in so many ways that having both of them to contend with on this mission was going to send Virgil grey.

It was okay for them to go out on a limb, risk their lives for the greater good, but if someone they cared about did the same, they were all worry and you can’t do that.

As if to emphasize that thought, his father’s frown fixated on Scott. Virgil followed his gaze, but from his angle could only see the back of his brother’s head.

Another glance at his father and the concern was clearly there.

Perhaps something was starting to sink into Dad’s head. Maybe he was realising what he was risking.

Who he was risking.

Three shook a little as she breached the minimal atmosphere of the moon. Alan was muttering orbital calculations. Each large planetary body was different and required a catered approach.

The Base had sent vectors and the conditions that constituted ‘weather’ on the barren moon, but there were many firsts in this mission and this was one of them.

For the benefit of the rest of them, Alan threw up a hologram of their approach.

The massive crater known as Asgard swelled on the screen. It was very bright, even in the weak sunlight. Probably ice. To the north of it lay an even brighter splash of white, rays extending out across the heavily cratered surface for miles.

As they sank, the horizon formed in a sharper curve than Virgil was used to. Sharper than Mars which was the only other planetary body beyond Earth’s Moon Virgil had ever set foot on.

“There it is.” Alan, ever enthusiastic in his element, pointed out a spot quickly growing on the display. “Callisto Base.”

It was a white cross with a massive airlock at its centre. Surrounding the arms of the cross was machinery, storage tanks and energy production facilities. It shone ever so bright, like a blunted star plastered on the side of the moon.

As they drew closer, the Tracy Industries logo could be seen branded across the airlock doors.

The base was a massive endeavour. Almost entirely underground taking advantage of a small crater in the Doh crater wall, it had capped the landform and sealed off the space creating a series of caverns to house the transport ships moving between the Base and the Jefferson or any other destination they chose.

Entirely self-sufficient, TI’s hydrogen technology gave it power, TI’s heavy duty excavation equipment gave them the power to dig the base out of the rock and ice. It had helped to find unexpected caves under the surface. All and all the Base was a robust structure, protecting its fifty-odd inhabitants from the hazards of living on an exposed and radiated moon.

“Callisto Base, Thunderbird Three requesting permission to dock.” Virgil was suddenly irrationally proud of his little brother.

Commander Walters answered immediately. “Permission granted Thunderbird Three. Hold in the airlock for repressurisation and permission to proceed.”

“FAB, Callisto Base.”

“One of these days, Jeff, you are going to tell me what that means.”

Both Alan and their father snorted.

As they approached, the big airlock doors slowly began to open, splitting the TI logo in half. The hologram stayed fixed on their destination, but Three pivoted her nose to the darkness of the sky bringing the ever-hovering presence of Jupiter back into view through Three’s windows. Alan flicked a wrist and the Thunderbird started lowering into what was now a gaping maw below.

Three slipped into the airlock and the doors closed behind them.

-o-o-o-

Alan was a professional, but he had to admit that he was internally bouncing around in joy. The air was still thick with tension, his family caught up in this thing with Dad, but Alan was doing his best to ignore it and focus on his job.

And oh my god, he was landing on his second moon of Jupiter! This had to be a first. He could go down in history as the first person to land on several moons, another planet and multiple random comets and asteroids.

Okay, so Virg and Scott had been with him, even Gordon on Europa – that had been one hell of a mission that still gave him both dreams and nightmares – but he had been the only one to land on all of them.

Alan Tracy, astronaut extraordinaire. He couldn’t help but grin as the airlock repressurised and the Callisto Commander finally gave him permission to land.

He slowed his ‘bird to a perfect touchdown as the secondary airlock doors closed above him.

He killed her engines and let her begin her cool down sequence.

The whole cockpit sighed a little in relief. A pause as if to reset and then everyone was moving.

-o-o-o-

Gray Walters rubbed the back of his neck as Thunderbird Three coasted smoothly from the decontaminating airlock into the main hangar. The pilot of that ‘bird had to be a Tracy. The huge red rocket barely fit nose to tail with only inches to spare between the two massive sets of doors. After all, they had never expected such a large craft needing to dock.

He had Kate to thank for arguing the hangar’s size...with Ju backing her up as usual.

The thought of his wife froze him for a split second. Ju was going to be okay. Jeff was here now. He had always been their good luck charm. Hell, the guy had survived eight years in space alone. Ju could manage a few days.

Couldn’t she?

“She’s docked.” Mary, his second, looked up from her station. “Shall I shunt her into a bay?”

“Leave her in central for now. We’re not going anywhere and they may need to leave in a hurry.”

“That will piss Benji off.”

“Benji can stew. His team still has a week left of their Jefferson rotation.”

“He will cite regs.”

Gray turned away. Let him cite regs. “This is an emergency and takes priority.” He sighed. “Run decon in the central core. Anyone not crucial to this operation is to steer clear of International Rescue. Lock off environmental systems. Keep the two crews contained to keep the risk of contamination as low as possible. We can’t afford an accidental bug in the system.”

“Will do.” She paused before bringing up the topic he knew she would. “What about Jeremiah?”

“What about him?”

“You need to tell them.”

“One thing at a time, Mary.”

“But-“

“First we find Kate and Ju.” He swallowed. They had to find Ju.

They had to.

-o-o-o-

Stepping onto a new world was never as grand as it appeared. Hell, landing on Mars for the first time had been a trip over his own toes’ moment.

Stepping onto Callisto was no different.

It was Scott who grabbed him before he could flip head over heels across the gantry. Changes in gravity always took time to get used to and less than twenty-four hours ago, it had been Earth oppressive.

Callisto gravity was a relief…if a little disorientating.

His eldest’s strong grip wrapped around his arm and held tight. Jeff looked over at Scott and was pinned with such worried bright blue eyes that his heart clenched.

All the tension, the argument, the resistance to his presence on this mission boiled down to the emotion in those eyes.

Love.

And fear.

Scott was terrified.

Jeff did it without thought or care for what anyone would think. He grabbed his son and yanked him into a hug, holding him close. The squawk across comms and the scrape of their helmets against each other did nothing to stop him.

“I’m sorry, son.”

“Uh...”

Scott’s arms wrapped around him, ever so hesitantly.

That hesitation hurt almost as much.

He clung that much tighter.

“Dad?” It was breathless.

He clung a second longer, but… Yes...right.

It was a moment stolen.

Because they were on a mission.

Jeff let Scott go.

His son pulled away slowly, not quite fully releasing him, and again those blue eyes were fixated on him in worry.

So much worry.

“You okay, Dad?”

Jeff straightened with more ease than he had managed in a long time and became aware of all the other eyes on him.

The ever-present echoes of Lucille’s beautiful brown eyes were assessing him. That was a given. But another two pairs of blue and a frowning fishy amber had him targeted as well.

He looked at each of them before turning back to the massive cavern around them. A mix of rock wall, structural support and storage, the docking cavern was lit with strong lighting, the red of Three reflecting on patches of frozen water embedded in the walls.

They were standing on a walkway that had been extended out to Three’s hatch. It was obviously of variable height and length and Jeff couldn’t help but admire the design.

He wondered who was responsible.

He wondered if it was Kate.

Her green eyes smiled at him at the back of his mind.

His lips pressed together as his sons and brother-in-law continued to shoot concerned expressions in his direction.

A breath.

“Let’s do this.” And he led them out and into Callisto Base.

-o-o-o-

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #Virgil Tracy #Scott Tracy #Alan Tracy #Jeff Tracy #John Tracy #the mechanic #callisto #Gordon Tracy

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nightwingshero · 3 years

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1, 15, 25, 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, 85, 95, 100 for the OC(s) of your choice.

Thank you, love!!!

1. Does your character have good aim?

Wren: She does, actually. She’s excellent at throwing knives and such, which shocks the hell out of her.

Whitney: NOPE. Not even a little bit. She wouldn’t try, she would either embarrass herself and say breaking her nail as the excuse not to.

Blair: Not...really. It got somewhat better with training with Oliver, but...there’s a reason she never played any sports. It’s not really her thing.

Camille: She does now, after training with Clint and Natasha at S.H.I.E.L.D. It took her a bit longer to get it, but she did get there eventually.

Naomi: Yes! She used to play softball when she was in high school, she’s rather athletic. Good luck challenging her to a game of darts. Just saying.

15. Did your character ever want to be a cowboy?

Wren: No, not at all. She wanted to be a rockstar astronaut at first, something her mother thought was hilarious. Wren swore up and down that Rocketman was about her, but uh...she didn’t really get the lyrics at that young of an age.

Whitney: Absolutely not. She was definitely a princess kind of girl. Being a cowboy was never her thing, she would rather be the princess or damsel in distress that gets swept off her feet.

Blair: Not really. She wanted to live on Mars and be an astronaut too. She loves space and always has. Blair grew up to be an astrophysicist though...close enough.

Camille: I could see that, sure. I don’t think it was specifically a cowboy, I think she wanted to be the Lone Ranger, like the show her father watches. She would make her dad pretend to be a bank robber so she could go after him.

Naomi: Nope. Not at all. She was more into cops and robbers or princesses, to be honest. Cowboys just didn’t really hold her attention. The only one that could was Woody from Toy Story.

25. Does your character experience sexism for the job/title they hold? (ie: she’s a girl, she can’t be x,y,z because only boys can be)

Wren: Not necessarily sexism, but Pratt does hit on her and stupid ass comments that piss her off. It’s borderline sexist and she’s borderline ready to punch him in the face.

Whitney: Yes, she does. She was raised treated like that, honestly, and she was raised to believe it’s okay. Joseph definitely treats her like a housewife, even as Mother of Eden’s Gate. She doesn’t know better, even though it really does piss her off.

Blair: No, not at all. Her coworkers love her and don’t at all think that she shouldn’t be doing what they’re doing. She’s smart and well-respected in her field. And that doesn’t change with the teams at all. Blair isn’t disrespected like that, that’s a big no no. She also helps Mick with being politically correct.

Camille: It depends on which job we’re talking about. She’s had her fair share as a doctor, her knowledge and rep questioned because she’s female. Now, in S.H.I.E.L.D., she has had moments, but not nearly that many. S.H.I.E.L.D. is known for having diverse agents, and the very few she’s witnessed be assholes, she’s corrected (or Nat has rather quickly.) With the Avengers, it’s a hard no. Her place was earned and she’s respected by members of the team, and those members are quick to address those issues when they witness someone treating her that way (they drink their respect women juice.)

Naomi: As a war correspondent, absolutely. Being told that “this is no place for a girl” was something she received a lot. But she did a badass job at it. Now, S.H.I.E.L.D. was a lot better, for sure. They welcomed her and her skills for gaining intelligence with open arms, she’s a resident badass. Once S.H.I.E.L.D. is taken down, she becomes the PR for the Avengers, in which she’s someone you don’t wanna cross. She becomes highly respected.

35. Naptime, yes or no?

Wren: YESSSS! That girl loves naps! Give her a slice of cheesecake or some ice cream right before, and she’ll curl up on the couch and nap while watching The Twilight Zone.

Whitney: Eh, not really. Whit is normally busy with something, and she would rather be doing something productive than nap.

Blair: Yes! Most of it is because she’s working all hours of the night on something in the lab, so when she gets home, she’s not getting enough sleep. So! Yummy hot cocoa and naps!

Camille: Eh, she’s not known for it because she works a lot during the day, but if it happens, it’s because she’s pulling long hours and needs a break. But Camille isn’t really a frequent napper, it makes her more tired, if she’s being honest.

Naomi: Nah, that’s not really her thing. She’s used to long hours, and knows that if she naps, she won’t be able to sleep that night. So she’ll power through and maybe just go to bed a bit earlier to catch up on sleep.

45. Would your character kill someone to get what they want?

Wren: Ehhhh...that’s a hard maybe, depending of if we’re talking pre-cult or not. Wren is morally grey, and if she had to have it, she would once she’s joined Eden’s Gate. But before? Not as likely.

Whitney: Yes! She actually has, to be honest. Joseph and the others pretty much numb her to killing someone, so she’ll poison someone who crosses her. She literally kills with kindness.

Blair: Absolutely not. Blair doesn’t put her personal needs/wants above the value of others and their lives. She’s very much against that and couldn’t live with herself if she did.

Camille: I have a hard time seeing it, unless it was a mission in which it needed to be done (her wanting peace, killing bad guys for it, etc), but those are few and far between because she doesn’t do a lot of the things Natasha does. But she is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

Naomi: Eh, not really. If it is a “want”, its going to be revenge. But it’ll be with the right intentions and in the name of doing what’s right. She’s not as scared or worried about getting her hands dirty as long as it’s for the right reasons, not necessarily because of something she wants.

55. Do you have any characters who despite trying their best ended up being horrible parents?

Wren: I think it would depend on how you define ‘horrible’. Because Wren tries her best to be the best mother she can be, but feels as though she’s become her father and failed Harper. Mostly because Wren kept a lot of the Wrath and Judge stuff a secret, and Harper doesn’t take kindly to that. It’s not her being a horrible mom, just making bad decisions that affect her kids (mostly Harper) negatively.

Whitney: Yes and no. While yes, she protected her son and put him in hiding with Ivy, she still stands by Joseph for the longest time instead of leaving to be with her son and to take her daughter and sister away from danger and toxic relationships. She is able to redeem it, though. Her and Wren both, actually.

The other three (that I chose to do this for) are good moms, so I don’t think this really applies.

65. Is your character energetic?

Wren: Oh yeah, she definitely can be when she’s comfortable. She can get pretty excited and pumped up, often making Jane, Ivy, and Whit a bit tired. Randy, Gray, and Ro just go along with it, Mel and Quinn join in and encourage it.

Whitney: Yes and no. She really is, but she tries to keep it on a leash and not show it, because she was raised being told that it wasn’t lady like. The more she grows (as a character) and hangs with the rest of the group, she loosens up a bit.

Blair: She can be when she’s had too much coffee. Blair is naturally mellowed out though, often being more calm. She’s not reserved at all, she just...has more of a calming upbeat presence.

Camille: Sorta! It depends on the situation, she’s more reserved when you first meet her. There are moments when she’s with friends that she does absolutely get energetic, but she’s mostly energetic after working out or going for her morning jog.

Naomi: No, not particularly. Like Camille, she’ll get amped up for a workout, and there may come a time where she’ll get energetic over a big event, but she’s not one to get super energetic.

75: Do any of your characters wear glasses, sunglasses, goggles, or monocles?

Wren: She’s obsessed with aviators. She collects them, and they’re usually blue, silver, or black. She eventually steals John’s because she digs them.

Whitney: If she’s gonna wear sunglasses, they’re either the 50′s or 60′s kind. Some cat-eyed, or those bigger glamorous butterfly styled ones. But she does have some nice Gucci and Coach glasses she’ll wear. It depends on what matches.

Blair: She’ll wear regular sunglasses, mostly Ray Bans. She wears reading glasses from time to time, but she mainly uses contacts. Blair has a pair of backup glasses that have the tinted lens.

Camille: She used to wear glasses when she was younger, but she eventually got Lasik, so she doesn’t wear them anymore. As for sunglasses, she wears modern cat-eyed or just rectangle ones. Anything that looks good and is her style.

Naomi: Aviators, and that’s really it. She’s not really big into them, she has one pair of brown aviators, and that’s it. They do the job.

85. Has your character ever been led down the wrong path because of their anger?

Wren: Absolutely. That’s the whole point of her canon, actually. The Wrath leads to her joining Eden’s Gate and becoming the Judge. She eventually redeems herself, but it does lead her down a dark path.

Whitney: Yep. She starts killing for Eden’s Gate because of it, but it’s funny, because it’s her anger that actually helps her redeem herself and gain her freedom: killing Joseph and Ethan.

Blair: Yes and no...? Kinda...? Like, when she woke up from her coma, she found out Carmen had left her for someone else, essentially moving on. The anger is what led to her maybe running into some unfavorable company (Leonard), where she decided to just give him her engagement ring instead of running the risk of him robbing her at the bar they happened to run into each in (his favorite bar). In her anger, she purposefully went to a bar that was known to be a frequent place for criminals. But that anger also had her moving to Star City, where she became a hero. Sometimes her anger can get her in trouble with her powers, but that gets better. It all depends on how you look at it.

Camille: Sort of. The Civil War incident really...was something else. Camille didn’t see it as a dark path, it was what she believed was right. She was angry that something so wrong went down in Lagos, so she sees the need for restrictions and boundaries. Her siding with Tony caused turmoil between her and the others, even Steve, and it led to a huge fight at the airport while trying to bring them in. Rhodes getting hurt added salt to injury. Later, it’s shown to her that perhaps choosing the Accords was the wrong path after all.

Naomi: Depends on how you look at it, honestly. As head of Public Relations for the Avengers, most just assumed that Naomi would be in agreement to the Accords, but she’s not. She’s angry that the government is trying to have control over them, especially after with what happened with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra, she even says that to Camille when they’re fighting about it. She fully believes Steve and sticks with them as things become divided, and she becomes a fugitive right along with them. So, depending on what side you’re on, it’s either yes or no.

95. If given total rule over a country, would your character step aside to turn it into a democracy?

Wren: I think this depends. I think, yes, for the most part. Wren isn’t one to be a leader, she would rather not, but can rise to the occasion when needed and if she knows it’s better she’s in charge. But she would want everything to be fair and such. It would have to be a true democracy.

Whitney: I see her as keeping control, honestly. Whit is the kind of person that will claim she knows best, and maybe she does, but she wouldn’t relinquish control. Not when she’s never been allowed to have it. If given the opportunity to do so, this queen would absolutely rule.

Blair: Absolutely. She would try her best to set it up with the right candidates, honestly. She wouldn’t want to put anyone in the wrong position where they can do harm, but politics are honestly not her thing.

Camille: Yes, without hesitation. I could see her turning to Steve, because who else would know better than Captain America (and no, not that knock-off Gucci Captain America they have on The Falcon and The Winter Soldier--we don’t support Walker in the Camille and Steve household), so she would ask who would be better to hand it off to.

Naomi: She would give that up so fast, without thought. She agrees fully with Sam when he says that he’s just the soldier, because she feels something very similar. She wants nothing to do with leading something like that, she doesn’t want that responsibility. It’s why she doesn’t really join the Avengers. She has zero interest in leading.

100. Are any of your characters queer?

Honestly, it’s safe to say that most of my OCs are. I have more queer OCs than I have straight OCs. But I have so many OCs, I’m just gonna list the ones I’ve done so far, and if you wanna know more, you can always send me an ask!

Wren: Bi, hands down. Her first relationship was with a woman named Lilith in college. She honestly preferred women in the beginning because she doesn’t trust men easily.

Whit: She’s bi, but still in the closet. She hasn’t had a chance to really be with a woman, but the attraction is there, and so it the want to do so.

Blair: Definitely pansexual. She thought she was just bi for the longest time, but she’s actually pansexual, and she’s comfortable with it. She was engaged to a woman before she went into a coma, and a few hook ups afterwards have been a mixture of genders.

Camille: Straight. One of the few that I have that is, honestly. She’s tried in college, but it wasn’t for her. She supports it completely, though. One of her best friends is gay, and she went to their wedding.

Naomi: Bi, definitely bi. She’s had a mixture of men and women in her dating history, but ultimately none of them worked out because it’s hard to have a personal life when you’re in war zones for the sake of journalism or working for S.H.I.E.L.D. where you’re undercover often in order to gather intelligence.

#oc: wren blake #oc: whitney seed #oc: blair chambers #oc: camille riley #oc: naomi clarke #my ocs #asks #guileandgall

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elyvorg · 4 years

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What would you think of a talentswap au? I know we all love kaito in all his wonderful spacey self, but ive seen some really interesting concepts for ultimate assassin kaito, as well as ultimate astronaut maki, ultimate detective kaede and ultimate pianist shuichi. Some very interesting things could be done with their histories and how they affect their present, especially if the changes are minimised. (Say, Shuichi's uncle being a pianist rather than a detective.)

I dont think the original character arcs could be pulled off as well, what with how the character's pasts affect how they react to the situations they're thrown in during the killing game (for example i doubt maki would have gone directly to murdering kokichi when she's convinced he's the mastermind if she hadn't been raised as an assassin) but i think there is some interesting potential in what would and wouldnt change about them

I know talentswap AUs are a pretty popular thing in this fandom, and I do enjoy looking at people's ideas in terms of the creative aesthetic redesigns of characters they can come up with. As a narrative thing, though, the concept just doesn't really do it for me.

I agree with your point that it can be an interesting exercise to imagine how a character we know might have diverged from the same starting point through slightly different circumstances in their life, and what would and wouldn't change about them. But I'm just not especially interested in the end result, because ultimately, whether by a little or by a lot, they going to end up as a different characters.

Obviously, as you can tell from my blog, I like thinking about AU scenarios. But, for me, they need to be plot AUs, not character AUs. I enjoy plot AUs because I like imagining how the characters I already know and love would react in interesting ways to new and different situations not seen in canon. I'm much less into AUs where the characters have been changed such that they only superficially resemble the ones that I'm a fan of.

For the most obvious example of this, let’s take Maki. The reasons I love her, the things that really make her Maki to me, are the trauma she suffered in being forced to be an assassin, the issues and self-loathing she has today because of that, and how amazing it is that she still manages to be a good person at heart despite everything. A Maki who was literally anything other than the Ultimate Assassin wouldn't have any of that, and then she's just... not really Maki any more. It's not just that she obviously wouldn't try to kill Kokichi; none of her story would be the same at all.

The same also goes for anyone else who's talent-swapped into being an Ultimate Assassin, because that level of trauma is going to significantly change anyone. To take another example, because this is a hypothetical I have actually thought about a bit, let's try to imagine an Ultimate Assassin Kaito.

With the caveat that I don't actively seek out every talent-swap out there, I've happened across an assassin-Kaito concept or two that basically looks like the same Kaito: he incidentally murders people for a job, but then he also still has sidekicks and looks after kids and is his usual optimistic Kaito-y self when he's not doing a murder. That's a cute idea; I understand the desire to keep Kaito recognisable, but I just... I don't think that would be possible. I don't think anyone, no matter how resilient, could still be like that after going through what Maki went through and being forced to kill so many people. Maki didn't end up the way she did because she was weak; far from it.

(And it's obviously even less possible that Kaito wasn't forced and traumatised into this just like Maki was, because he'd never choose to kill people for a living. Perhaps we could imagine that Kaito was at one of the cult-run orphanages (for minimal changes, maybe his grandparents weren't there after his parents died? oh nooo) and got scouted, and/or volunteered in order to protect someone else because he's exactly as selfless as Maki.)

After going through all that, especially since he started from the same point of someone fundamentally very selfless and caring, an assassin-Kaito's issues would end up very similar to canon-Maki's. He'd still care about other people beneath it all, but it'd be hard to notice that when he'd also hate himself and feel like he doesn't deserve to be around anyone, let alone help them, because who'd want advice from a killer?

The only really different part would be his outward personality. Kaito's general personality is nothing like what Maki's was pre-trauma, so he'd have ended up with something quite different from Maki's cold aloofness. Specifically, if you'll bear with me on the out-of-left-field example here, I think he might have ended up looking something like Axel from Kingdom Hearts. (I once hyperfixated on Axel, okay, so I've thought about this a lot.)

In short, Axel used to be a good kid, a bit of a cocky attention seeker but with a heart of gold, until he was forced into doing horrible things for an evil organisation against his will. He pretty much coped with that by accepting that he's A Bad Guy now, and owning it, carrying out his evil missions in a stylish, badass sort of way, like a twisted version of the cocky kid he used to be. This also conveniently gives him something he can focus on to avoid thinking about all the things he hates and never wanted about this. Given that Kaito was a vaguely similar kind of kid to what Axel used to be, it seems possible that he might cope in a similar way if put through the child-slave-assassin wringer.

But, while the end result would definitely be a very fun and fascinating character, my point is that it still wouldn't be Kaito as we know him at all. It'd be an entirely new character. He'd have Kaito's name and face and pre-assassin-training childhood, but those details would be the least interesting things about him.

(I would recommend checking out Axel's storyline to see a character along these lines, but honestly the required untangling of the Kingdom Hearts lore-spaghetti is not necessarily worth your while. That and all this stuff about his issues is pretty subtle and I only really noticed it at all because I happened to like him enough to hyperfixate for a while.)

Even putting aside the extreme example of an assassin talent, a lot of Danganronpa characters are as great as they are specifically because their personality and their talent make such a good combination. Take Shuichi, whose issues and character arc and potential as an interesting protagonist revolve around the fact that he's an Ultimate Detective who starts out weak. A pianist Shuichi would just be a somewhat anxious and insecure pianist, which wouldn't be especially interesting or important to the progression of a killing game. Meanwhile, a detective Kaede would be way more confident about her detectiveness than Shuichi and would probably look something like a more optimistic and trusting Kyoko; again, less interesting. [Edit: or would she?] To bring in some other combinations of these four, a detective Maki would look very similar to Kyoko, because she'd have similar trust issues from her orphanage days.

As for a detective Kaito, sure, we can imagine a Kaito who's the same kind of person but with a passion for solving mysteries (which he’s also actually good at) instead of space. He'd still do his sidekick thing, of course, because the only thing that'd make him lose that central part of himself is loads of childhood trauma. But then this Kaito is just genuinely every bit the hero everyone needs, solving the cases and supporting the others in one package... and, whoops, there goes all of his issues and character arc. At best, he'd still struggle a little with the Gonta situation in trial 4, but that struggle wouldn't be actually about Shuichi and so it wouldn't be nearly as fun. (A detective Kaito still wouldn't struggle as much to accept Gonta did it, either, because he'd be someone who's used to trusting the facts and logic alongside his instincts about people to intuit the truth.) And he’d still struggle a bit with dying if we gave him the virus, but so much less so, because at least he’d be obviously managing to be the hero he wants to be before the end.

An astronaut Maki would pretty much just be a regular astronaut who happened to be an orphan. She'd need to have taught herself to be good with communication and teamwork because that's necessary to be an astronaut, so she'd mostly just be a little bit like Kaito but extremely toned down. (Again, Maki without her assassin trauma kind of just becomes a fairly ordinary competent person and not really Maki as we know her.) Even then, it's a huge stretch that someone pragmatic and cautious like her would have been willing to risk losing everything just to take the astronaut exam as a teenager. And an astronaut Shuichi doesn't even seem possible; he'd have been way too insecure to apply to astronaut training early like Kaito did, no matter how badly he'd hypothetically love to go to space. Really, Kaito's reckless personality is a necessary part of having an Ultimate - as in, teenage - Astronaut. Pretty much all of these kids' talents are intrinsically tied in some way into who they are as a person and as a character in this story.

The only talent-swap within these particular four characters we're talking about that I think would work in terms of keeping them basically themselves is between Kaito and Kaede. That's because they were both written with the talents they have to help enhance the kind of people they are, and they're such similar people in the first place. Both of them are selfless and optimistic and all about working together and helping others; Kaede plays music to make people smile, while Kaito's astronaut training requires him to be someone who values communication and co-operation. I can just about see a talent-swap between these two making sense while still retaining everything important about who they are as people and keeping their stories roughly the same. You'd have a space-flavoured Kaede and a music-flavoured Kaito, but their personalities would still be very recognisably them.

(Though, still, I dunno if I'd have loved a pianist Kaito quite as much. There's just something about that space theme that helps get across how bombastically over-the-top he is in a way that a more down-to-earth talent simply can't quite match. Also, that execution.)

...The problem with this, though, is that the new music-Kaito and space-Kaede wouldn't be all that meaningfully interesting to explore compared to their original versions. Which I guess is kind of the unavoidable catch-22 I have with character AUs. Making big changes to a character can be an interesting thought experiment, but it ultimately results in them no longer being the characters I've grown to love any more, while changes that keep them still recognisably the same people are inherently going to be pretty superficial changes that aren’t worth exploring very much.

#danganronpa v3 #danganronpa v3 spoilers #kaito momota #maki harukawa #shuichi saihara #kaede akamatsu #thanks for the ask!#me: i'm not interested in thinking about this concept much #also me: thinks about it a whole bunch for this ask anyway #Anonymous

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rchtoziers · 5 years

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3 from those new prompts for reddie? 🥺

3. “I’m not jealous.”

cait… as a treat…. i lowkey…… wrote this in the lmntsfy universe i hope thats ok xoxo

Their move to Houston is a quiet one.

Richie had gotten the job offer on an otherwise uneventful Sunday afternoon, while he and Eddie were curled up on their couch alternating between lazily dozing off and channel surfing. It was a dream Richie hadn’t even realized he had until they offered it to him.

So they packed up quietly and sold their house quietly and took trips back and forth from Chicago to Houston until they finally found a place they both liked and put down an offer. They rented a moving fan to take their things across country and they accepted NASA’s offer for a private jet to transport them on the day of the move, and when all is said and ton it only takes them a week at most to feel settled into their new home.

Richie has one month before his teaching job starts up.

One of the perks with Richie being offered a job to teach the new cadets is that, by extension, they offered Eddie a job at the hospital as well. His own department, actually, complete with an office and people who work for him and budget meetings and the whole deal. Richie had expressed that Eddie had interest in updating medical procedures for NASA flights, and in turn, they had given him a fully-staffed research facility, too.

It’s a bit overwhelming, if Eddie is being honest, in a way he has yet to get used to.

“You know, I keep thinking things are gonna settle down for us,” Eddie comments. He straightens the name plaque on Richie’s desk in his classroom. Because Richie has a classroom now. “Like, eventually the novelty will wear off, right? People will stop just offering us things?”

“Baby, you’re engaged to the guy who famously survived alone on a different planet for two years,” Richie tells him. His arms wrap around Eddie’s middle from behind. “People better never stop offering us things.”

Eddie smacks his arm. “It was only eighteen months, stop exaggerating.”

“Felt like a billion years.”

“Yeah, well, that’s because you were pining desperately for me,” Eddie says back. “Wondering if you’d ever get the chance to tell me you were head over heels in love with me. Carving our initials into the Hab canvas and writing RIchie Kaspbrak in your logs every other day.”

Richie presses a kiss to the space behind Eddie’s ear. “It’s not a funny joke when it’s true,” he teases.

“Oh, shut up. I’ve seen your logs. I know what you were doing that whole time.”

There’s a long-suffering sigh from Richie that almost makes Eddie smile. “Yes, and the fact that you continue to love me after watching me sing horribly off-tune to your god awful playlist is a miracle I thank god for every day.”

Eddie laughs and turns in Richie’s embrace so that he can wrap his own arms around Richie’s neck, pulling him down those infuriating four inches so he can press a soft kiss to Richie’s mouth. “I’m truly the hero, here,” he says seriously. “Not you. They should make a movie about me.”

A startled laugh bursts out of Richie. “Sweetheart, you know that you’ll be in that movie too, right? Like they just announced the casting choice for your character? They are making a movie about you.”

“It’s about you, Richie! The rest of us just happen to be there!”

Richie tilts Eddie’s chin up. There’s an obnoxious, terrible, beautiful smug look in his eyes. Eddie is so in love with him, so desperately, even after all this time. “I knew you were jealous about the movie.”

“I’m not jealous.”

“Eddie baby.”

Eddie sighs. “I hate you.”

“How many times do we have to go over this? I know you don’t. You know you don’t. The whole world knows you don’t. Hell, even NASA knows, which is why they gave you an entire hospital for you to play around in.”

“It’s not playing, asshole, there’s life-saving work that goes on in hospitals every day, plus the research I’m conducting is going to help prepare future astronauts for worst-case scenarios prior to mission takeoff, which could statistically prevent situations like the one that lead to you being stranded on Mars for eighteen months—”

Richie kisses him to shut him up. Eddie would probably be more put out by it, if it wasn’t a tactic he himself has used multiple times in the past. Eddie twines his fingers through Richie’s curls at lets himself be kissed thoroughly, lazily, sweetly. He wonders if he’ll ever grow tired of kissing Richie Tozier.

If he’s being honest, he already knows the answer to that.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re very impressive,” Richie says finally, pressing a kiss to Eddie’s nose as he says it. “Dr. Kaspbrak is gonna save the American astronaut. Everyone is very impressed with you, you’re loved by the whole world.”

Eddie smirks. “Now who’s jealous?”

“Still you.”

Unable to stop it, Eddie lets out a surprised peal of laughter. He tightens his grip around Richie’s neck. “You’re insufferable,” he says, but they both know he doesn’t mean it.

“Oh, baby, you call me the sexiest names,” Richie deadpans.

Eddie presses up on his toes to kiss Richie once again. Richie smiles into it, but they’ve had lots of practice by now. Eddie knows how to kiss him around smiles and laughter and tears and everything in between.

“Hey,” he murmurs, when they finally break apart. “We just had a bunch of big changes. How you feeling?”

Still intertwined in Eddie’s embrace, Richie shrugs. “Like we just moved a thousand miles to live in Texas. But. Good? I love our new place. I’m mostly excited about this job. I’ve got you. I’m good.”

“You’re gonna be everyone’s favorite professor,” Eddie tells him honestly. Richie rolls his eyes. “No, don’t do that. I’m serious, Rich. These cadets, they’re gonna adore you. And not just because you’re gonna be the only professor who isn’t afraid to swear in class.”

Richie laughs.

“I’m really proud of you, you know that?” Eddie continues. He brushes his thumb along Richie’s jawline. “Taking this leap. Caring about it so much. There’s gonna be a bunch of baby-faced astronauts in this room that look up to you, and then they’re gonna learn from you and they’re gonna realize they were admiring you for the wrong reasons.”

“Yeah, yeah, hot for teacher,” Richie says. He laughs again when Eddie smacks his arm. “I’m kidding. Doesn’t matter, anyway. Teacher’s only hot for doctor anyway.”

Eddie rolls his eyes. “You’d think that you would get less sappy over time. Or make less inappropriate jokes.”

“First of all, I never make the mistake of thinking anything, ever.”

“Oh my god,” Eddie groans. “Where’s Teddy? Is it too late to warn him to fire you? He’s so going to regret this. Who’s idea was this?”

Richie kisses Eddie again, even though he’s laughing, and it doesn’t take long for Eddie to be smiling into it, too. Sometimes he can’t believe how happy they get to be, now. That this is their life. That he gets to wake up each morning with Richie next to him, even on the mornings that Richie wakes up gasping for breath and even on the mornings where Eddie wakes up screaming and even on the mornings where their coffee machine breaks. They get every morning, and they get every night, and they get all of it in between.

“I love you,” Richie says. It never gets old. Eddie presses a soft kiss to Richie’s collarbone. “Thanks for moving out here with me.”

“You said it yourself, I’m engaged to the guy who survived on Mars. Perks come with it.”

Richie grins. “You know, you really do sound jealous. I can get you a teaching job, too, babe. They wouldn’t even bat an eyelid. I can ask for whatever I want. Hey, NASA, can we get a teaching job for the neurotic doctor? Maybe he can show them how to avoid getting infections when you get stabbed with an antenna.”

Eddie sighs. “For the last time, I’m not jealous of your teaching job, or of the movie they’re making about you, or of Bill’s book about you,” Eddie insists. “I don’t want a teaching job. I don’t want a movie. I don’t want a book.”

“Then what do you want?” Richie asks. “Cause I can get you anything in the world, Eddie my love.”

“Dumbass,” Eddie says gently. “I have everything I want. I moved to Texas to make sure I could keep it.”

It takes Richie a second, but when he gets it his cheeks go pink and he grins obnoxiously from ear to ear and Eddie’s heart is swooping in his chest just at the sight of it. It’s incredible, how much stronger he’s felt about Richie since they started dating. How it just gets stronger every day.

“Now who’s the sappy one?” Richie asks, but he’s crying just a little so his teasing comes up short.

“Still you,” Eddie insists. Richie gives him an unimpressed look. “Okay, both of us. But I’m not jealous.”

Richie laughs wetly. “Sounds like something a jealous man would say.”

“Oh, for god’s sake—” Eddie groans, but Richie just pulls him back in when he tries to break away, and when he’s pressed against Richie’s chest again Eddie can’t help but kiss him.

#reddie #richie #eddie #my writing #hyruling #answered #me making everything about the dumb idiots in space: as a treat :)#RLY THOUGH I HOPE THIS IS.... OK.......... WHOOP #cait ilySM #this got so sappy ?? kind of?? idk idk IDK writing who idk her #anyway thanks for being an actual angel cait nothing i write could ever compare to you but ily anyway<3

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commentaryvorg · 5 years

Text

Danganronpa V3 Commentary: Part 5.24

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 5’s wrap-up, with explanations about the plan out of the way, Kaito had a lot of things to say to his sidekicks. He admitted to his jealousy of Shuichi while finally getting his apology thing right for once, probably didn’t fully internalise Shuichi’s insistence that he never had anything to be jealous of, finally stopped pretending that he’s fine, Shuichi and Maki were desperate to protect him against all the odds, Kaito was probably secretly thrilled by how much time Monokuma was wasting, a brief Kokichi interlude proved that his plan had nothing to do with selflessness or trust, Maki’s confession of her feelings for Kaito didn’t remotely diminish their friendship and was very specifically relevant to her character arc, and Kaito… doesn’t truly believe in himself any more.

This time? I think you know what’s going to happen this time.

(space)

Kaito: “Hey, hey… don’t cry. Can’t you send me off with one last smile? You guys, too. I’m not gonna allow any tears. Send me off with a bang.”

Kaito is not usually against people crying. Shuichi has cried in front of him multiple times and Kaito never tried to tell him not to. He definitely understands that crying about something that hurts is a healthy way to let out your emotions and shouldn’t be discouraged.

So the reason that Kaito’s asking everyone not to cry for him here is really for his own sake. He’s not telling them that’s the reason because that would be making things about himself, but it has to be. He is scared as hell yet determined to face his death with courage, but his lack of real, genuine belief in himself any more means that all of his strength comes from everyone else. They’re what’s been keeping him together this whole time – even when he was falling apart and dying, he could take his mind off the bleak terror of his own situation by focusing on the people around him, thinking about how far his sidekicks have come and how strong they’re being and how proud he is of them, using those thoughts to keep pushing himself forward for their sakes. And now, the reminder that his death is going to hurt them might make his courage falter, and he can’t afford that. He needs them to smile for him, to let him focus on how amazing they are and how they’re going to be okay without him, so that he can find the strength to keep smiling himself.

(“Think of everyone you’re helping, and let that be your strength.” He’s so much like Kaede.)

Shuichi: “Alright… Kaito. I… won’t cry.”

You can do this, Shuichi. Kaito needs you to be strong for him. You’re his hero, just like he’s always been yours.

I doubt Shuichi is aware that that’s why Kaito is asking this, but he’s still going to manage to do it all the same. He’s able to fight through his emotional pain and not let it stop him when he needs to, even though he’s still feeling it and it still matters. You don’t have to be invincible to be strong enough to support someone.

Kaito: “Hey, sorry about the wait, Monokuma. You can go ahead and start now.”

Kaito, you are not remotely sorry at all about the wait. You know exactly why you’ve been making him wait. And the fact that Kaito’s specifically saying he’s okay with starting now does rather suggest that he’s pretty sure he can hit the right time window from here.

Kaito: “But let me just say this to the true mastermind controlling Monokuma… You better get ready! My friends aren’t gonna lose to you!”

He believes in everyone so much and is genuinely so sure that they’ll be able to get out of here and end this! And he’s right! And if the mastermind thinks otherwise, then they’re underestimating the hell out of Kaito’s friends!

Also here is the second Very Excellent Kaito Sprite!!! It’s exactly the kind of fierce determination that’s always defined Kaito, turned up to eleven. Of course Kaito would be like this right at the end! This is just what he deserves! And the fact that he can do this even though he’s clearly still weak and dying and in horrible pain just makes him even more amazing and heroic and inspiring, and Kaito was always always always being an idiot to ever think it wouldn’t!

Kaito: “And Shuichi… Never forget, you’re not alone. You have friends. Don’t try to do everything by yourself, okay?”

Shuichi: “…Yeah, Kaito. Okay.”

This is the same thing Kaito said to Shuichi through the bathroom window yesterday! This is why having said that back then heavily implied that he thought he’d never see Shuichi again – because this is the last bit of advice he wants Shuichi to hold onto once he’s gone. That even if Kaito can’t be there for him any more, Shuichi still has other people who are happy to support him, and he doesn’t have to put so much pressure on himself and carry his burdens all alone.

(Kaito is, of course, still being a huge hypocrite re: the whole not dealing with your problems alone thing. But at this point I feel it’s less that he’s convinced he needs to hide his own problems in order for the others to rely on him, and more just that he’s about to die and so his problems don’t matter because it’s too late to help and not worth wasting effort on, right?)

Kaito: “Don’t forget! The impossible is possible! All you gotta do is make it so!”

This is actually only the third time in the whole story that Kaito ever says this! It was pretty surprising when I realised that, because it feels like such an iconic line for him – but maybe the reason it feels so iconic is that its use right here is so intensely memorable. Of course he’d want to make sure his sidekicks don’t ever forget this.

Shuichi: “Yeah! Thanks, Kaito!”

And Shuichi won’t! By this point, he thoroughly buys into Kaito’s words and doesn’t think they’re ridiculous or illogical at all.

Maki: “…”

Kaito: “Maki Roll… How long are you gonna cry? You should smil—”

Maki: “I-I can’t… That’s impossible… I can’t…”

It’s okay, Kaito. In Maki’s case, the fact that she’s actually letting herself cry this much and is admitting to how much it hurts is incredible progress. Her trying to suppress that would be a step backwards. Let her cry for you, and be proud of her for that.

(also, aww, that sprite of Maki there)

Kaito: “Haha… of course… My bad for making you cry like that.”

Kaito! Stop apologising for dying! It is not your fault that she’s hurting; stop telling yourself that it is and making yourself feel bad! She would be so much worse off than this if she’d never met you!

Kaito: “Alright then! Let’s end this with a bang!”

Damn right we will! The only way Kaito would ever have things end! If he’d really been the one under that press, things would have ended in such a pathetic whimper, but no! Kaito deserves so much more than that!

Kaito: “A special punishment suited to the Luminary of the Stars!”

Monokuma: “You don’t gotta tell me! I’m excited to get this started!”

Kaito has very definitely thought about what this punishment will entail.

I love how he stole Monokuma’s line, too. Usually Monokuma is the one to talk about a very special punishment for the Ultimate Whatever, but nope, this execution is on Kaito’s terms. It’s also great that in doing so, he made it a punishment not for the Ultimate Astronaut, but for the Luminary of the Stars. Kaito has never made much of a show of his Ultimate title, because after all he’s still only an astronaut trainee and it’s really not such a big deal that he happens to be the youngest one. The thing he’s always cared the most about being and knew he already was is a luminary. So the Luminary of the Stars is who he is in death, too, whether Monokuma says so or not.

And what’s especially incredible is that Kaito is able to act this bombastically over-the-top not only through his fear and his pain but also through his lack of genuine belief that he really is this awesome any more. In fact, fun fact: the only times he’s called himself the Luminary of the Stars since the beginning of chapter 3 have been either in an attempt to back up his lies about being fine, or as “Exisal Kaito”, a fake and overexaggerated version of himself. For three whole chapters until now, he’s never said it purely for his own sake. He no longer believes he deserves to be called that.

But even if he doesn’t believe in himself now, this larger-than-life showmanship is how Kaito Momota has always been, how he’s always wanted to be, and not even his own issues are going to stop him from being uncompromisingly himself right until the very end. Kaito is so amazing.

Kaito: “Oh yeah? Well screw you! I’m not gonna die the way you want!!!”

He knows exactly what he’s about to do and is so fucking ready to do it.

(I mean, he’s not. God, he doesn’t want to die at all – but if he doesn’t have a choice on that front, then he’s damn well going to make the most of it like he makes the most of everything.)

The Game Over animation shows Kaito being dragged off like usual, but I refuse to believe that’s what actually happened. He would have walked there himself with his head held high, keeping his dignity and not giving Monokuma the satisfaction.

(He can walk on his own. He doesn’t need your help, Monokuma.)

I love Kaito’s pose and expression here. He never usually crosses his arms at all – his usual body language is much more open – so the fact that he’s doing so here strongly suggests that beneath it all he’s still really freaking scared and does not want Monokuma to see him shaking. His fixed stare straight forwards also reads like he’s trying his hardest not to let any of his fear and pain show on his face. He will not give Monokuma the satisfaction.

Also look at the planetarium projecting stars all over the background. This execution is of course based on the very first execution in Danganronpa 1 as a callback, especially now that we’ve brought the Hope’s Peak stuff into this story. But Kaito’s version has so much more spectacle, just like it should for him.

(One tiny nitpick in this image and the rest of them, though – he should already be covered in his own blood just like he was before this scene started. I am mildly disappointed by this.)

Remember in Danganronpa 2 when some of the execution songs had lyrics? Lyrics about reaching for the stars, even though none of those executions had any right to have anything to do with space and those lyrics were completely extraneous? Remember last trial where I noted that that execution song also had unrelated lyrics, meaning that apparently the composer has not forgotten that they can sometimes put lyrics in execution songs?

Why are they not letting Kaito reach for the stars. It would be perfect. I always insistently sing those lyrics along to the existing music whenever I watch this execution anyway because they should be there. Grumble grumble.

This rocket is almost exactly the same as the one from Danganronpa 1, with two differences: the marquee at the top that clearly displays the status of the execution, and the window that Kaito can see out from. Both of these additions are Very Important.

Blast Off: Second Ignition

Can we take this to mean that in all 53 seasons of Danganronpa, there’s never been another Ultimate Astronaut? Or, at least, never one who was the blackened. Which would make sense, because all astronauts are Good – that’s literally one of the criteria for passing the recruitment exam; Kaito explained this in his FTEs – and so it would take very unique extreme circumstances, even in a killing game, for any astronaut to ever go through with killing someone.

And then all of a sudden this isn’t like the DR1 execution after all. This may seem just like a twist they put on the old execution just to keep it fresh, but it’s really quite narratively meaningful. At first, this appears to be the usual kind of cruel irony in executions. Kaito thought he’d get to go to space? Haha, no, we’re taking him as far away from space as possible and killing him there.

But that’s not what happens. Against all the odds, despite how impossible it seems, Kaito manages to hang on and keep fighting and come out the other side, turning a bleak situation in which he seemed utterly doomed right around and somehow grasping a victory for himself anyway. That’s exactly the kind of narrative that Kaito has had in general throughout this whole game culminating in his heroic role in this trial, and I love that they gave him that for his execution too. They care so much about Kaito’s story.

(Okay, so realistically Kaito could not possibly have been sent all the way through the Earth’s core because that’s A, way too far to go (even assuming the execution took longer than the cutscene makes it seem, which it must have done regardless) and B, would very definitely have killed him. What’s actually happening here, presumably, is that the rocket does a big U-turn after it’s down a certain way, and everything we see outside the rocket implying it’s going straight through the Earth is just special effects provided by Team Danganronpa.)

(I should also mention that the in-universe writers definitely didn’t do this for the purpose of presenting that narrative I just talked about, because they never realised Kaito would even have such a narrative and only intended him to be a disposable crutch for Shuichi’s development. The only reason they decided to make the rocket go downwards was because if it’d gone upwards then it’d have smashed a hole in the dome that would expose the lie about the ruined outside world and allow everyone to escape.)

Hang in there, Kaito, you’re almost there!

It’s technically inaccurate to say that Monokuma had absolutely no hand in killing Kaito, because the shaking and the G-force from the rocket would have made his existing pain from his illness so much worse. An account I once read by an actual astronaut describing the experience of liftoff talked about enduring the G-forces by tensing his stomach muscles, which has to hurt like hell for Kaito to do right now, and by using a breathing technique he’d been taught, which it looks like Kaito might be doing here? Hopefully Kaito can focus on his astronaut training and try to think of this as just the launch he’d always dreamed of, that it’s still worth it even if it’s so much more painful than he imagined it being. Monokuma is managing to cause Kaito a lot of suffering here – but goddammit Kaito is going to hold on through it all just a little bit longer because he cannot die before he’s gone to space!

And he’s here. He made it. He’s in space.

he’s in space

HE’S IN SPACE

And most of all, he can see that he’s in space. The window is so very important. Every spacecraft needs a window because otherwise how will the astronaut be able to experience the feeling of being in space that’s the one thing every astronaut wants so much and worked so hard for?

I love how this particular shot shows the stars outside by having them be reflected off the window, even though they otherwise wouldn’t be visible from this angle. It is so important that we know what he’s seeing. (SPACE. He’s seeing space.)

Also, I do not remotely have the musical vocabulary to properly describe this, but the BGM makes A Sound during this moment that’s unique to this execution theme that really gets across the wonder and amazement Kaito must be feeling at seeing this and being here. He’s in space.

And then he just… breathes a sigh of relief and relaxes. For the first time in his whole story, he doesn’t have to fight any more. He can rest. He can give in and let his illness take him away.

Under any other circumstances, Kaito might not have let himself do this, might have forced himself to keep fighting just for the sake of fighting until his very last breath, simply because doing otherwise would be giving up and he is too damn stubborn to ever do that. But here, holding on too stubbornly might just result in him dying too late, when Monokuma wants him to. It’s by finally going easy on himself and letting himself rest that he’s able to claim his victory. And I really, really like that.

And he’s smiling! He’s in space! He’s seen it up close and it’s everything he hoped it’d be! He fulfilled his dream! Almost everything he wanted was for others, but this is the one thing he wanted for himself and he got it after all!

And he’s about to win. He was hoping this whole trial that he’d be able to time things just right and die right here, and that’s exactly what he’s doing.

This is a much smaller, more subdued smile than Kaito’s usual dazzling grins, but that’s as it should be. For once, he’s not smiling for someone else’s sake. This is a smile that’s entirely for himself.

(It is also possible, actually, that he could see the Earth through the window in the brief glimpse he got – and if he did, he’d have seen that it’s very definitely not been horribly ravaged by meteorites. So maybe a tiny bit of this smile is for his friends, in that he knows with even more certainty that they’re going to have somewhere to escape to after all.)

The marquee, meanwhile, is important so that we can see very clearly that Monokuma is not okay with this. We’d have known that soon enough anyway from his reaction when the rocket comes back down (up?), but having it be made apparent right as it happens is the perfect way to do it.

…Can we first talk about the pool of blood that he’s lying in. He coughed out blood while sitting up that blotted out the window, but that’s not enough to have made this pool too. So probably what happened while we were busy being shown the rocket looking confused is that Kaito collapsed to the ground and just kept coughing up more and more until he couldn’t any longer.

And yet somehow, despite that, despite everything, he looks peaceful now that he’s gone. Like he’s just taking a well-earned rest. As much as he could manage it, this is on his terms. Kaito is one of the only Danganronpa characters who dies with a smile on his face, and if anyone could manage to do that, of course it would be him. His pain was fading into fuzzy nothingness, and he could he let himself slip away with the thoughts that he made it to space after all, that his friends are going to be okay, and that Monokuma’s really not gonna like this.

Damn right it did! Fuck you! You may have caused him a lot of pain and pushed his death a little closer, but he still didn’t die when you wanted him to!

The irony in this execution was presumably meant to be to give Kaito a tiny, tantalising glimpse of space and then drag him away from it back down into a terrifying deadly crash, but nope. He died up here, in the place he loved so much, before anyone could take that from him.

There’s a fun “Eeeeoo-eeoooo-ooouuu” noise here that sounds kind of like the rocket powering down as it just gives up, and it’s wonderfully satisfying.

What’s also really fun and satisfying is what the music does here as the rocket heads back down. In almost every execution theme, there’s a bit with wordless vocals that kind of go “wa-wa-wa-wa, wa-wa-ooh” and so on, which almost always happens as the final killing blow is dealt. That bit’s still here in this version, but unlike every other time, it’s in a different, higher key than usual. Because this should have been the killing blow, but it isn’t! The execution failed! I am very grumbly at the composer for refusing to put the obviously correct lyrics into this piece, but I really really love that they thought to do this.

I do not approve of the way the rest of the students are standing here in really neutral poses and only-vaguely-stressed expressions that barely look like they just watched one of their friends die. (We should assume that there was a camera of some sort inside the rocket and that the feed was being played on a screen that they could see, because obviously Monokuma would want the maximum despair by forcing them to watch Kaito meet his end.) The fact that Maki is not crying here is a very blatant and explicit inaccuracy, and really she and Shuichi should at least be standing next to each other, and probably also holding onto each other for emotional support. They understand each other’s pain and would be trying to help each other through it just like Kaito would have wanted them to. FRIENDS, dammit.

Monokuma is SO ANGERY and I love it.

And I love this whole execution scene. It’s not completely perfect, I have a couple of notes as you’ve seen, but just, aaaaaaa. It makes me genuinely happy to watch. Kaito dies, yes, but given that that was going to happen, it is the best possible death he could have had and it is everything he deserves and I cannot even. It manages to make his death feel like a triumph, which is so right for Kaito.

(SPACE. He was in space.)

I suppose another part of what used to wig me out about Danganronpa executions is the way they make such a spectacle of a character’s horrible ironic death. But in Kaito’s case, this is his heroic victory on his own terms even in death, and so damn right it should have this much spectacle. And damn right he is very much not an object but still a character, still Kaito, right up until the end.

Monokuma: “Ghghghgh…!”

Thanks for sending Kaito to space and fulfilling his dream for him just before he died, Monokuma! He wouldn’t have been as happy if you hadn’t tried to execute him – you really did him a solid there!

Monokuma has an absolutely delightful voice clip of angry mumbling here that has some far more creative noises than the text box suggests and goes something like: “MmrghrackinfrickinssunarrnnrusFRGHRGH”. It is my favourite voice clip of Monokuma’s. It is so satisfying.

Shuichi: “What’s the matter, Monokuma!? Upset that Kaito won!?”

Shuichi knows exactly what Kaito just did and is so proud of him for doing it!

Maki: “He died before the end of your punishment. Kaito didn’t die from your execution!”

This makes it clear that they really must have been forced to watch the whole execution on some kind of screen – but that just backfired on Monokuma too! That means that they saw Kaito die in space and they felt happy and relieved to see that as well!

Monokuma: “Hmph… I dunno if he meant to do it, but he certainly went out like a stubborn jackass.”

Of course he meant to! Kaito would never have settled for anything less!

(It was essentially Kokichi’s ultimate goal to piss off Monokuma, but in the end, Kaito’s the one that Monokuma felt the most personally infuriated by. And that wasn’t even his main intent with the plan, just the icing on the cake at the end.)

Shuichi: “That’s… enough! Enough of your bullshit, Monokuma!”

I’m pretty sure this is the first time in the game Shuichi’s used such strong language – and it’s not going to be the last. This really goes to show that he is absolutely not fucking around any more.

Shuichi: “I made a promise to Kaito! I will end this killing game! And to give Kaito’s death meaning, I swear I *will* keep my promise!”

Shuichi has to be so, so goddamn tired of losing people he cares about, of having their deaths still feel meaningless as of right now because this killing game’s just kept going. But no more. He is Done with this. Losing Kaito was the last straw.

The Monokubs are extremely confused at all this drama and emotion going on.

Monokid: “Feels like we stumbled into the last act. I dunno what’s happenin’ at all!”

Yep, that’s exactly what they did. Nobody told them to be subtle about this, either.

Monokuma: “By the way… I dunno where you got the idea that this killing game can be stopped. There’s nothing a participant can do to end this killing game.”

And here Monokuma’s hinting that this isn’t really just about this individual killing game and is about the endless cycle of “fictions” that a fictional character within one of them couldn’t possibly do anything about.

Then he flashes everyone with a delayed-action Flashback Light that’s going to take effect bit by bit next chapter. If the Flashback Lights can do that, then the technology is clearly very versatile and well-refined, making it even easier to imagine that they can also do all of the many other brain-rewriting and subtle-borderline-brainwashing things that they have apparently been doing this whole game.

Monokuma: “You’ll remember soon enough… You’ll remember that despair is the only choice you have. And that hope doesn’t exist here at all!”

He actually gave them those memories to give them hope (supposedly; it’s actually a meaningless attempt at that and we’ll get into that next chapter). But nope, since he’s Monokuma, he’s contractually obliged to act like he wants everything to be about despair, when really he’s just trying to make things entertaining.

Shuichi: (After all that, I honestly don’t remember how we got back. It took all I had just to accept the reality that Kaito was gone…)

Awww, Shuichi. He really did depend on Kaito so much – almost too much – and it has to be so hard to know he’s suddenly not there any more.

Shuichi: (But it wasn’t all for nothing. Because we’re drawing ever closer to discovering the true mastermind…)

Damn right. Kaito sacrificed everything for this plan so that they’d at least know for sure there was an audience. (And, okay, Kokichi’s actions helped too, but that was just an incidental side-effect of his selfish plan and not because he actively wanted to help them.)

At some point during the time in which Shuichi is presumably taking a break in his room to grieve for Kaito, Tsumugi is cosplaying Junko, apparently purely for the heck of it, and monologuing to Motherkuma about how the killing game will never end. Was this necessary, Tsumugi? This is a teaser for the out-universe audience, sure, but is the in-universe audience also seeing this teaser, or does she just make a habit of villainous gloating to herself as Junko?

“Junko”: “As long as it’s fun, we have to keep doing it. That’s just simple supply and demand.”

And that’s not something the real Junko ever cared about, now, is it. She spread despair for her own sake, not because anybody else wanted it.

Shuichi: (Later that night… I found myself standing in that one spot in the courtyard. The place where Kaito and I would train together…)

He came to the training spot! By the way he talks about it, he didn’t even really consciously think about it – he was just missing Kaito so much that he sort of wandered here to try and help himself cope with it.

Shuichi: (My heart… felt crushed. All the loss and guilt and helplessness… sinking in my chest.)

Awwww, Shuichi!

(It’s okay to cry if you need to now, Shuichi. Kaito only asked you not to for as long as he was still there. He never wanted you to suppress it forever.)

Maki: “…What are you doing?”

Shuichi: “Ah, Maki…”

Maki: “…So, you came too.”

Shuichi: “Yeah…”

And of course Maki came too, for the same reasons. They really are both his sidekicks.

Shuichi: “Maki… I’m sorry.”

Maki: “For what?”

Shuichi: “I was the one who drove Kaito into a corner… Just like Kaede, I… I end up betraying everyone important to me… It’s all my fault.”

No, Shuichi! None of this is your fault! You didn’t betray him! You couldn’t possibly have known until it was too late that revealing the truth would get in the way of Kaito’s goal. Kaito knew the risks and accepted them when he agreed to the plan, like Kaede did with her crime. That was his responsibility alone to bear, just like he told you Kaede’s was when you first trained together! He was going to die anyway no matter what happened, so dying the way he did was better than it ever could have been otherwise! And you must know Kaito would never, ever have wanted you to blame yourself for this.

Ghhhhh. It’s so heartbreaking that without Kaito there to talk him out of it, and while he’s still reeling from his newfound grief, Shuichi just reverts back to all of his usual self-loathing and unnecessary guilt. He doesn’t deserve any of this.

The way Maki bluntly asks Shuichi what he could even be sorry for makes it clear that she doesn’t blame Shuichi for any of this at all, at least. (I wonder if she’s partly blaming herself for it because of the whole crossbow thing, but if she is, she doesn’t mention it.)

Maki: “…Are you feeling lonely?”

Shuichi: “Huh?”

Maki: “Are you lonely… now that Kaito is gone?”

Shuichi: “Yeah… lonely. I… I feel so lonely, and so sad I… I don’t know what to do…”

Instead of doing what Kaito would have done and telling him not to blame himself, though, Maki has a very different approach to try and help Shuichi. It’s probably because she herself has only just opened up to the approach of acknowledging how she’s feeling and talking about how much it hurts that she’s trying to encourage Shuichi to do so with her.

Shuichi: “The only reason I’m still alive right now is because of Kaito. If he hadn’t have been my friend, I would be…”

Shuichi really, genuinely feels like Kaito saved his life, just by being his friend. And Kaito never knew that. God damn it, if only Shuichi had realised how much it would have helped Kaito to hear that from him.

Maki: “…Me too.”

And Maki feels the same way! He saved her too! She’s finally able to admit that to herself! Kaito really was a hero to both of them.

(I am an absolute emotional wreck as I’m writing this, just so you know. Far more than I’ve been at any of the other times I’ve mentioned doing myself an emotion.)

Maki: “I can’t remember the last time I ever cried that hard. I wonder how long it’s been…”

That’s a good thing, Maki Roll! Not that you had something to cry about, of course, but that you let yourself do so at last.

It’s implicitly been a few hours or so since the trial ended, so I can only assume Maki was having herself a nice long cry in her room during that time. I hope Shuichi was letting himself cry too.

Maki: “But, I won’t cry anymore. I’m sad, but… I’m grateful to Kaito.”

Shuichi: “Grateful?”

Maki: “Yeah. I want to tell him that rather than being sad or lonely… I’m grateful to him. … That’s why… I won’t cry anymore. I’m not going to wallow in pity. I want to show him how much I appreciate all the things he did.”

That’s exactly what Kaito would have wanted! As much as you can, try not to wallow in your sadness, and instead try and think of and focus on the good things and what you can do to move forward! I don’t know if Maki’s aware that she’s following Kaito’s philosophy here, but this is the perfect way to honour his memory. Maybe she’s able to see this when Shuichi can’t because even though she’s only just figuring out how to express her pain, she’s still a lot more used to being in a lot of pain and yet remaining able to think rationally through it all.

It’s also so lovely that she’s finally fully willing to admit that Kaito has done so much for her. It’s just a shame that she only managed to do so upon his death and never got to say that to him while he was alive. It really would have meant so much to him to hear that.

Shuichi: “Yeah… Yeah, I guess it’s the same for me. I want to show my appreciation, too. I’m sure that our friends who’ve passed on… don’t want to see us miserable.”

Exactly, Shuichi! Kaito never wanted his death to hurt you and hated that he couldn’t stop it from doing so anyway. And neither did Kaede.

Shuichi: “…Thanks.”

Maki: “Yeah…”

I like that even though she took a completely different approach, Maki did end up helping Shuichi realise that Kaito would never have wanted him to feel guilty about this.

Tsumugi and Himiko show up. Apparently Tsumugi finished pointlessly cosplaying, then.

Tsumugi: “Umm… If you don’t mind, can we join you in your training?”

From the fact that she’s the first one to ask, it was most likely Tsumugi’s idea to join in with a training session to honour Kaito. This is an absolutely lovely sentiment! This was quite possibly the only thing that made me actually care about and like Tsumugi a little bit on my first time through when I was otherwise completely indifferent to her character.

Which is to say, it’s the only reason I felt at all sad and betrayed when I realised she was the mastermind. I’d thought she cared about Kaito, but apparently not. She’s just suggesting this because it makes a good story; she doesn’t give a damn about honouring Kaito’s memory for Kaito’s sake, not when she’s the one who killed him. This gives me such mixed feelings about this part now; it’s still is a lovely gesture on the surface and there should be a group training session in honour of Kaito, but, argh. Fuck you, Tsumugi, you murderer.

Himiko: “I’ll train you all from the ground up so we can end this killing game together.”

At least Himiko genuinely cares about training to honour Kaito, though! Even if it might not have been her idea to come. So there’s that. It’s also pretty cute of her that she claims she’s going to train them (despite how we see in the upcoming illustration that she is not very good at push-ups), which might be an early sign of something Himiko’s going to be doing a bit more of next chapter, too.

Tsumugi: “Himiko and I promised Kaito.”

Himiko: “Yeah. We’re gonna do what we promised and work together to end this killing game.”

Tsumugi lying through her teeth for her part in that promise aside, this does give the impression that she and Himiko have maybe been hanging out a little offscreen and getting to be somewhat closer friends. Himiko is going to be the most openly upset about Tsumugi being the mastermind when that gets revealed.

Shuichi: (Monokuma said that there’s no hope anywhere… But he’s wrong. There is hope. My friends are my hope.)

Did you know this game is about friends! Friends are the best source of hope – as in, they’re not literally hope itself, Shuichi is still using the word slightly wrong here – but they inspire you to stay hopeful! Kaito was the best at it, but every other one of his friends can do it too just by being there and being his friend.

Shuichi: (Kaito said it best… I’m not alone.)

Shuichi’s not forgetting that! Kaito would be so glad, since he wanted so badly to have that be the last bit of advice Shuichi took from him before the end.

Shuichi: (Not just my friends here, but also friends who have died… They all gave us their hope too.)

They did! Especially Kaito and Kaede, but everyone else who was their friend, too.

(Hope isn’t a tangible thing such that you can give yours to somebody else, as if you wouldn’t have it any more once you inspired somebody else with it. It’s more like they shared their hope with him, giving him the strength to keep hoping.)

Shuichi: (Thank you… Kaito.)

Mmmrnghrghrmgh. I’d say it’s painful that Kaito never heard those words, but Shuichi did thank Kaito several times for many different things. Kaito just never quite realised how truly grateful Shuichi was for absolutely everything.

Kaito: “Let your sweat wash away all your sadness, fear, worry, and hardships. Just start moving your body and your pain will become memories before you know it.”

Maki: “…Then you should train, too.”

Kaito: “Well, I don’t have anything to worry about. Cuz, I mean… I’m Kaito Momota! Luminary of the Stars!”

Shuichi’s narration never specifies why he thinks back to these particular words Kaito said. The first part is just good advice to help him take his mind off his pain while exercising… but why also think of the rest? I wonder if this is Shuichi finally realising that, oh, man, Kaito really did have the most worries and hardships the whole time and was keeping them all to himself. I kind of wish his narration would have gone into that realisation a little more, though.

Meanwhile, Keebo did not come to the Kaito memorial training session because he’s too busy having a chapter-end stinger, since Kaito’s execution incidentally broke his inner voice antenna.

Keebo: “All I hear now… is silence. That silence means my will is now my own.”

This kind of sounds like Keebo is realising that his inner voice was essentially subtly mind-controlling him this whole time, which should in theory make him more resistant to it when he gets his antenna back before the next trial. But… it’s not going to.

Keebo: “Even if despair is all we have to choose… Even if hope no longer exists… I will never give in to despair!”

That… doesn’t make any goddamn sense, Keebo. Refusing to give into despair even though you don’t think you have anything to hope for is exactly the kind of meaninglessly positive attitude that everyone was having when they saw the Flashback Lights this chapter. Keebo is having the exact same mindset he always has and simply not using the word “hope” for it in this case. At least his lack of inner voice is finally spurring him to take some action, I guess.

The end of the chapter gives you Kaito’s jacket, officially called the “Galactic Jacket”. Of course he called it that. What a dork.

A memento of Kaito. It depicts his fantasies of the universe.

SPACE. (He was in space.)

Most of the execution presents just feel like a gameplay mechanic thing, but I do like to think – and I’ve seen a lot of fanart of this, too – that Maki and/or Shuichi did in fact take Kaito’s jacket with them. Let’s not think too hard about the fact that they’d have had to awkwardly remove it from his body after he fell out of the rocket (unless maybe they just got another spare one from his room?) and just focus on the thought that of course they’d want a memento of Kaito to help give them some of his stubborn optimism and strength. We don’t actually see either of them wearing it during chapter 6, but shush, it’s totally just because the artists didn’t want to redraw a bunch of sprites just for one chapter, right.

If they did take the jacket that went to space with Kaito, I wonder if they washed the blood out of it. I’d like to imagine they considered it but then decided not to, because they don’t need to hide the fact that Kaito was suffering to be able to remember him as a hero – and in fact, trying to erase that and pretend he was invincible wouldn’t do proper justice to how incredible of a hero he was.

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[Chapter-end bonus ramble] [Next post]

#danganronpa #danganronpa v3 #drv3 #ndrv3 #chapter 5 #class trial #commentary

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healisms-blog1 · 5 years

Text

❝ the good girl is always a ghost, the body is always a wound. ❞

( katherine mcnamara. 23. she/her. ) we spotted MARIELLA CAULFIELD around toledo today, just another gear in the machine of the apocalypse. i heard she is a MEDIC for CAMP SEROTONIN. i guess it fits, seeing as she is known to be + resilient & + charitable, as well as - impatient & - naïve. they often have fade by lewis capaldi in their head while they work. i wonder if they’re prepared for what’s coming ? ( faye. 22. est. she/her. n/a. )

life as she knew it,

Born to Louise Brodeur and Darby Caulfield in the midst of a very cold winder night in Leavenworth, Washinton, Mariella Caulfield was the product of a unconventional relationship. Despite their new addition, both refused to settle down into an indifferent, loveless marriage and instead agreed they would work to raise their daughter separately. Once she was able to walk she would spend time split equally between Washintong and New Orleans, Louisiana. It was often that her parents fought on what values to instill into her, their core values and expectations never quite lining up.

Her father wanted her to be raised to live life as she pleased, whereas her mother would have preferred she was brought up in a more traditional sense. As a result, Mariella had very different relationships with her parents. To her dad, who she mirrored in more ways than one, she could do no wrong. Her mom on the other hand, she had grown to detest her daughter more and more with every visit. She reminded her too much of her father, a man she loved more than anything to hate.

The friction between she and her mother eventually came to a boiling point at age ten when child protective services were called to their townhouse by a neighbor. The elderly women next door often overheard screaming between the two of them and worried she might be abusing her child. The charges were investigated and eventually dropped, but the memory of being ripped from everything she knew and ( while briefly ) shoved into foster care has always stuck with her. While Louise was technically not guilty of anything, she did very little to prove otherwise once her parental rights were restored.

Even as a young child Mariella was the type who wanted to get out and explore, to meet as many people as possible and learn from them as she went. Being raised by two teachers really set her love for learning into motion. Knowledge above all else was something her childhood was rooted in, and the fever to learn stuck with her well into her time in school. There was no one subject she enjoyed more than the other, but she had a particular penchant for STEM classes. She went through all the changes in potential career growing up; from wanting to be a ballerina, an astronaut, to even considering following in her parents footsteps and becoming a teacher; which is how they met.

On a particularly hot afternoon in the middle of summer, her father began complaining of chest pain and shortness of breath. At first he assured her that it would go away, he would be fine. But as the night persisted and he wasn’t getting any better, she dialed 911 in the hopes that emergency response would make it on time. From the minute she arrived at the hospital she was captivated by the process and found herself asking questions to anyone who would speak to her. Mariella was thirteen then, and everything seemed to have fallen into place. Funny as it was, she found her calling through her father’s heart attack.

It wasn’t until she reached university that she really started experiencing the world for what it was, and she quickly felt like a fish out of water among the masses. As such it was rare you’d find her without at least two books tucked under her arm. Being a medical student took up the majority of her life, the courses work-heavy and requiring immense concentration, but she tried to be as social as she was dedicated to her education. Given she graduated high school at fifteen, the girl pushed herself to mingle with people across the board rather sticking to one fixed set of friends. At her core she believed all people had something more to discover beyond what was shown at face value, thus she made connections wherever she was able.

Graduation from Med school arrived in a whirlwind of emotion, mostly exhaustion and relief. While as happy as she was to be finished with the bulk of her studies and onto the next stage of her impending career, Mariella knew this was one of the last times she’d have to well and truly enjoy being young before fully engulfing herself into the workforce. So, rather than sticking to her typical plan, she decided to celebrate on an impromptu trip to Ireland, setting off with nothing but a quickly packed suitcase and whatever money was left in her bank account.

the start of the outbreak & onward,

September 25th, 2015. Crowded among a group of strangers underneath an airport television, word of the outbreak begins spreading on television. Everyone within the confines of the Louis Armstrong airport in New Orleans were on edge following the story dropping, numerous people began panicking. Rather than feeding into outcry, as nothing around her seemed to be out of the ordinary, she pushed it from her mind as she boarded her connecting flight to Europe. Only, the plane never left the ground.

Ten minutes after their plane finishes boarding, all of the passengers find themselves face-to-face with one of the creatures. Being small and quick on her feet played in her favour as she quickly maneuvered through the plane, narrowly escaping the bloodbath with her life. A good few of them survived the ordeal and decided to stick together, spending the initial night of the outbreak holed up in a supply closet. The group separates the next morning, each hoping to return to their respective families. She, however, blindly decides to make a run for it.

Alone, unarmed, and terrified, she did the best she could for someone in her situation. They—whatever they were—began surrounding the gas station she holed herself up in, making any chance at escape very slim. Convinced she’d die there, whether by starvation or from being attacked when the reinforcements on her door gave way, Mariella began plotting an escape route. She knew very little about the outbreak as it stood, but was observant enough to notice that if they were distracted by a loud noise, she could make her way around without much trouble.

The next week or so is spent coming in and out of abandoned houses and scavenging whatever she can carry. Mostly everything she took was medical supplies, building herself quite the kit should she need to help someone in need. By that point her initial adjustment to the new world went by quite horribly. As time passed she quickly found that the more ‘savage’ way of living was not the one for her.

At first of the mind that the creatures were still people underneath the dirt and decay, Mary refused to kill them. To her, they could still be saved. There would be a cure. There had to be, right? Before she joins a group or finds a solid place to call home, a close encounter with a hoard is what changes her mind. Someone steps in to save her, and she’s felt indebted to them ever since. The near-death experience acted as a wake up call, and from that point on she stopped avoiding the inevitable; to survive, the undead had to be exterminated. The possibility of a cure ( or at the very least a vaccine to help the remaining humans ) still plays in the back of her mind.

The person that rescued her disappeared as quickly as they swooped in to aid her, but she got lucky shortly after and found a few people to travel with. Everyone within her group seemed to be handling the transition with relative ease — whereas she found herself keenly aware that she would not survive long if not for having capable people surrounding her. Though she may not be the greatest in combat or of much use when it comes to scavenging, she knows she’s a valuable asset in other ways, happily putting her medical knowledge to good use.

January 14th, 2016. Catching wind of a camp called Serotonin beginning a slow recruit of people with varying abilities, Mariella is among the first to offer her expertise. Thankfully she’s welcomed with open arms and feels she may have found herself somewhere much more permanent to call home. Trust doesn’t come so easily in their new world, though she’d certainly lay her life on the line if it came to down to protecting her people. Any people, actually, because prioritizing human life above all else is her number one goal. When she’s not tending to the ill or injured, the young woman proudly acts as a morale boost, doing whatever she can to keep everyone around her going. Where most people have seemingly given up hope on there ever being a way out, let alone a real chance of survival to the end, she remains fixed in her belief that there are better days ahead of them.

misc,

Basically, she’s kind, gentle, soft, dedicated, passionate, thoughtful, stubborn.

She’s a certified Mom Friend™ and proud of it.

Would literally go to any length necessary if it means keeping those she cares about safe. She honestly just wants to save people in general !!!

She tends to see the best in people, even those who don’t deserve a moment of her time, and tbh, she’s not to be trusted when it comes to making allies; she’s liable to take in the wrong people and get herself killed.

She’s not helpless, she can get things done when needed, but she can’t fully defend herself. Aka, she ABSOLUTELY needs training.

wanted connections,

I’m not very picky, I’d love any and everything under the sun, but here are a few potential ideas:

Maybe someone she met travelling between baton rouge and the reservoir, who helped keep her alive and she aided them medically

Friends and/or a close/best friend

A good influence, someone who brings out the less tense, more relaxed version of herself

Maybe an ex or a past fling??? idk

Someone to help train her!! homegirl really needs to learn how to use a gun and fight (honestly, bc Kat has good content from Shadowhunters and Arrow and I rly want to use it)

People outside of her camp that she helps, bc honestly she wouldn’t be able to resist doing whatever she can to aid people, especially helping a rouge if they came to her

idk just pls gimmie all the connections/plots AhH!

#toxinintro #temp about tag.#feel free to skim it's a literal bio kjsfbkjbk omg #pls lmk if you wanna plot

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rubberduckyrye · 6 years

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This is probably a weird ask but why do you like Kaito? I absolutely hate him tbh but I want to try or at least understand why people like him.

I had a whole lot of stuff written for you and tumblr decided to refresh and I lost it all. Ack! I’ll try to recreate my answer as thoroughly as possible.

Firstly, I want to commend you for trying to understand someone else’s perspective about a character you don’t like. It can be difficult to even try, let alone succeed, so even if I can’t help you understand my perspective, I hope you retain a level of respect for our differing opinions. So, without further adieu, let’s get the show on the road.

I think that Kaito, like Kokichi, is one of those characters that you have to decide for yourself if you like him or not. What that means is, hes a bit pliable and mold-able, able to be what you want him to be. I don’t know how you see Kaito, but I see him as someone who has a heart of gold, someone who has everyone’s best interests at heart, and someone who has his heart in the right place.

A lot of people dislike Kaito due to mistranslations from fan translators, them making Kaito way more homophobic than he actually is. Kaito has a line in Salmon mode that, in the english translation, was him expressing upset and concern for the fact Shuichi apparently “swung that way” but never told Kaito until in that moment, and it read as if it was an afterthought confession, not as Shuichi sitting Kaito down to tell him and talk to him about it. Kaito is all about communication, so he wants those close to him to trust him enough to tell him such things, and this is supported in his Free Time Events, where he says communication is the most important tool to an astronaut. He very clearly takes this to heart and applies the need for communication in real life. (This can also explain why he is thoroughly frustrated with Kokichi, who is a big ball of miscommunication waiting to happen.)

In the fan translations, however, the fan translators spun Kaito’s words to have him upset over the fact Shuichi was into other men, which reads as incredibly homophobic. However, this is still a mistranslation.

Another reason why I’m convinced it was a mistranslation is the fact that Kaito’s LSE event was, within itself, about Kaito having strong, passionate, romantic feelings for a very clearly male rival pilot that he wanted to confess his love to. He didn’t seen in the closet or unaware of himself, and reads as someone who really knows what they want to say when they confess but is a bit nervous about. Kaito uses the race, winning the race, as an excuse to confess if he wins. Because he’ll win the right to confess. So when people say Kaito is homophobic, I can’t help but to roll my eyes and gesture to his LSE. Because they are very, very clearly mistaken.

Kaito has a serious case of “foot-in-mouth” syndrome, but he really does have the best intentions for others. He’s very aware of what people need in order to build them up, and he acts accordingly in order to make that happen. For example, Shuichi as a detective isn’t trained properly for murder cases. He was more trained for run away cases, infidelity cases, and lost pet cases. It’s important that I stress how under-qualified for murder cases Shuichi was, because him being under-qualified is what made him such a nervous wreck in the beginning. Kaito saw this nervousness and crippling fear and anxiety, and took it upon himself to lessen the burden for Shuichi so he could continue forward. By telling Shuichi that he would be the one responsible for Shuichi’s mistakes, he was able to basically put training wheels on the bike in a situation where Shuichi had no choice but to ride a bike. This help Shuichi grow as a detective. Kaito also makes a work-out routine for Shuichi to help train his body to be healthier and to tire him out at night so he would sleep better.

The same thing for Maki, except with a different issue–Kaito saw that Maki was a girl who hated herself, who wanted to isolate herself from everyone because of her “talent,” and to him, that was unacceptable. Kaito knew that if Maki isolated herself from everyone, that she would never heal from whatever traumas she was facing–and I bet you Kaito figured out that if she was an assassin who hated herself to the point of self-isolation, he figured she was an assassin not of her own free will. that’s why he says he cant believe that she’s an assassin, because she’s not the “evil, cold hearted murderer” sort. She’s just a girl, a girl who was forced into this profession for some reason and feels as if she is undeserving of friends and love and support to get her out of such a situation. In a way, I believe Kaito putting so much faith in Maki was his way of trying to make her stop her assassin work, and help her be just a normal girl. Helping her gain some self love, respect, and feel worth it will make her more willing to look for a way out of her horrible situation. That’s why he drags her to training with him and Shuichi–not because she needs the training, but she needs the social connections to keep her from slipping.

Kaito sees the good in people, and he wholeheartedly wants to believe in every inch of it. That’s why when he sees the good in Maki, he doubles down on his faith in her and recklessly and blindly trusts her. However he’s not perfect, as Kokichi slips under his radar here. Though, to be quite honest, I personally believe Kokichi is the exception to the rule only because Kodaka thoroughly hates him, and Kokichi as a character is a very chaotic, out of control, hyper intelligent character that Kodaka needed to keep isolated, neglected, abused, and ignored in order for his plot to not completely fall apart at the seams. I’ve said it before, but Kokichi is a character can and will ruin plots and narratives when not kept in check, simply because of his hyper intelligence and good nature/instinct to save/help everyone.

Anyway, Kaito can sense when there is good in someone, and he really clings onto those good qualities and wants to help someone become the best person they can be.

Kaito himself wants to help and is a good person too. He always tries to do the right thing, and his heart is always in the right place when doing as such. I imagine that Kaito is the kind of person who, when he makes a mistake and is called out on it, will low-key panic and do his best to not make that mistake again. My immediate thought is his sexism, which seems entirely unintentional and probably the result of traditional values put on him by his grandparents since he was apparently raised by them. If someone had pulled him aside and told him he was being sexist, he would absolutely double down in trying to be more aware of himself and his words and not be as such.

Kaito is a warm, passionate, affectionate and supportive person who is loyal to those he loves and honestly? As a struggling person myself, I’d really love and appreciate having a “Kaito” in my life. Someone who could support me in such a way that I actually am built up to be the best version I could be? Someone who would be cautious and aware of what I needed without pushing me too hard? Sign me the fuck up man, and also I bet Kaito hugs are the best, warm and strong and supporting…….. I’m 100% Aroace and not interested in romance but just the idea is kinda making me swoon a little!

(What can I say? I’m weak for love and support, sue me)

I also like how these traits Kaito has plays into his flaws as well. A great visual example of what I’m talking about is here, where Kaito in a Persona 4 AU has a shadow represented by Atlas. I think this 100% represents Kaito’s need to lift others up and help them, but at his own expense. He doesn’t let people know when he’s vulnerable or suffering, because he thinks that will make them fall down to his level and suffer with him. He wants to build them up, not break them down, and that means hiding the fact that he’s falling apart himself. He’s their support structure, and if they see him breaking, then they’ll lose that support.

Anyway, that’s really all I can think of right now, sorry! I hope that all made sense! And, even if you don’t agree, I hope you can understand and respect my interpretations of Kaito. Either way, I hope you have a great day!

#Kaito momota #danganronpa v3 #danganronpa #v3 #momota kaito

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zevveli · 6 years

Text

The A.C.T.O.R.S. Program

[At 5078 words this is the longest post of this kind I’ve made, story under Read More because it kind of got away from me.]

In an attempt to create better peace and understanding between galactic races the humans of the Earth Allied Systems created a program known as the “Astronaval Cross-Training Outreach Research Session” or A.C.T.O.R.S. (something that a human in training program referred to as a “backronym” claiming that “the suits would never sign off on it without a ‘cool’ name.”) The A.C.T.O.R.S. program was ingenious; Alberria and several other “astronauts”, as the humans called them, were selected from the various galactic races of whom the humans had good relations with, and sent to undergo training with the new astronaval recruits among the humans. It was not at all surprising to see the stocky fur-covered Alethi present, as they had nothing but respect for humans since their help with the treatment and extermination of the “blood-rot” which turned out to be nothing more than a bacterial infection, albeit a very aggressive one that still claimed a not-insignificant number of those infected even with treatment. Nor was he surprised to see the bulky carapaces of the Mosarri, they seemed quite similar according to rumors so the only options were for them to be aggressive foes or for them to “get on like a house on fire” as the humans put it. However Alberria was surprised to see the highly xenophobic Stenthrass present. The creatures, with long serpentine bodies, rarely dealt with other races, and almost never on what anyone would call “good terms.”

Alberria mistakenly thought that the human training would be simple, after all he had been aboard Passan vessel practically his entire life, and had been astrogating since he learned the math necessary to plot courses. And when it came to the scholarly parts of human training he was correct.

He was not expecting the physical aspect.

Every morning a loud instrument was sounded to make certain that every single occupant of the training center was awake. From the time that it was sounded they had fifteen human minutes to shower and get dressed before reporting to a large field where they stood in rows next to each other. They had to stand a certain way: arms to the side, back straight, head forward, heels together toes spread apart at an eighth of a circlet (forty-five-degree-angle as the humans called it.) They had to stand in the same position, every day, and a very angry human would walk up and down the rows yelling at them. If you weren’t in the exact right position, if your standard-issue training clothes were dirty, if you missed a button, if your collar wasn’t straight, you got yelled at. Once Alberria saw him look up-and-down at a human, reach into his pocket, pull out a three-sided piece of plastic, and waved it in front of the human’s face.

“RECRUIT! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS?” He shouted.

“A forty-five-forty-five-ninety triangle Drill Sergeant!” the recruit shouted back.

“AND WHY DO YOU THINK I HAVE THIS?”

“To make certain that my feet are in the correct placement Drill Sergeant!”

The Drill Sergeant placed the piece of plastic down on the ground between the recruit’s feet while staring at him.

“NOW RECRUIT! WHEN I LOOK DOWN AT THIS TRIANGLE BETWEEN YOUR FEET WHAT SHOULD I SEE?”

“You should see my feet next to the edges of the triangle Drill Sergeant!”

“NEXT TO? RECRUIT YOUR FEET SHOULD BE GODDAMNED FLUSH WITH THAT THING!”

He looked down.

“JUST AS I THOUGHT! RECRUIT WHEN YOU ARE AT ATTENTION YOUR FEET NEED TO BE FORTY-FIVE DEGREES APART! NOT FORTY-SIX! NOT FORTY-FOUR! FORTY-GOD-DAMNED-FIVE!”

He snapped up the triangle and continued walking down the line addressing the entire formation.

“PUSH-UP POSITION!” He ordered. Immediately all the races capable of doing so dropped down to start the hellacious human exercise. “TO HELP YOU REMEMBER YOU’RE ALL GOING TO GIVE ME FORTY-GOD-DAMNED-FIVE PUSH-UPS SO YOU’LL REMEMBER TO KEEP YOUR FEET AT FORTY-GOD-DAMNED-FIVE DEGREES! THEN WE’LL GET TO YOUR P.T.!”

Alberria found the whole thing ridiculous. If one person messed up, everyone was punished, usually by having to do push-ups, or run, or cleaning some random part of the base. The Drill Sergeant would yell at everyone for the most minor of screw-ups. After formation they would get to eat breakfast. Then they would train some more, marching together, running together, doing all manner of human exercises until it was time for their second meal. Then it was time for the actual training, learning about the ships, how to run them, how to keep key parts going, the command structure, simulations were run, and on some days, they were handed human firearms and sent to shoot at targets.

Alberria did horribly the first time. The Drill Sergeant informed him in not so friendly terms, that he had been killed by the hostile boarding party for his failure to hit any of them. He was then given a large white cloth with two holes cut in it, which he was instructed to put over himself. Alberria was then instructed that he was to wear the sheet at all times, except when eating, sleeping, or showering, and was not allowed to say anything except for “Oooooooo” unless asked who or what he was in which case he was to respond “I am the ghost of a useless astronaut who cannot shoot straight to save his life.” Alberria was forced to do this for a week, his sole comfort being that he was not the only one subjected to this punishment.

After about a human month he noticed far fewer humans around him, after two several of the non-humans were missing as well. Alberria was informed that “They couldn’t hack it,” and were sent home. By the third month he was starting to understand the humans’ madness and it terrified him.

By punishing everyone for the mistakes they were attempting to build the legendary human comradery Alberria had heard so much about (although his “bunkmate” a man called Allan hastened to inform him that this was a different form of comradery than most humans would form.) The physical exercise and all the shooting was because they never knew what dangers the ship might face, and hypothetical situations such as “the security team has been neutralized already and the enemy is barreling down towards the armory” were treated as plausible occurrences (Alberria’s protests that a boarding party was far less likely than total spacing was met with a curt dismissal, and orders to run and additional 4 human miles in full gear.) As the third month drew to a close they began the true training.

One-by-one the recruits were loaded into a machine that spun them around and around, simulating high force velocities. They were given tasks to accomplish during these tasks such as manipulating instruments, cleaning a human firearm, solving a multi-colored object known as a Rue-bick’s-cube (Allan admitted that he could not do that under normal circumstances.) The worst one though, was when Alberria approached the machine and had a strange belt strapped to his chest, and a strange object attached to his finger. “Your task today is simple,” the Drill Sergeant told him as he entered the machine and was strapped in, “Stay awake as long as you can.” Before he could ask any questions the hatch was shut and the machine began to spin. It spun faster and faster until Alberria began to feel light-headed, the edges of his vision became dark, and his vision went black. The next thing he knew he was lying upside-down on an angled bed with his ankles strapped to the top, and a mask strapped over his face supplying oxygen-rich air to his body.

Alberria would have called it torture, and to an extent it was, but he was realizing how necessary it was. See every race has their own way of jumping to hyperspace. The Ocaalo utilize fine instruments to find tears in the fabric of reality to slip in and out of subspace. The Ra’atzda utilize engines to create these tears and jump through at their leisure. The Mosarri utilize hyperefficient fusion reactions to fly at relativistic speeds until they slide into subspace by sheer coincidence. Alberria’s people, the Passan, had an elegant solution, utilizing quantum phase manipulators to simply ease their ships into subspace. It was always beautiful to watch, if disconcerting to be on, as the ship shimmered and waved like a reflection on a pond disturbed by the wind, as it quickly vanished into subspace. After hearing all the galactic rumors about the humans, Alberria would have expected something similar to the Mosarri tactic, but having been through the hellish training he now knew that the Mosarri hyperdrive was both too reckless and not reckless enough. The humans used graviton generators and manipulators to actually create a singularity around their ship (or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they use gravitons to turn their ships into singularities,) pulling them into subspace, then upon reaching their destination, manipulating tachyons to cause the ship and all of its occupants to spontaneously emerge from hyperspace. The method is certainly efficient, taking relatively little power (only 192.3 YottaWatts per trip, which the humans claim to be half the power output of their origin sun), as opposed to the next-most efficient method used by the Ocaalo which, by utilizing the conversion rates he had memorized, Alberria estimated required around 263 YottaWatts just to open the rift from normal space, and 283 to open it from subspace, this not including the power needed to seal the tears to prevent other ships from falling in to subspace), however it placed a great deal of strain on both ship and crew. During the course of his training with the A.C.T.O.R.S. program Alberria had learned that a human ship could make only eight hyperspace journeys before its structural integrity was called into question, and most astronauts were only permitted to make 19 hyperspace journeys in a year except in dire circumstances (the absolute cap is not made publically available to astronauts due to what is referred to as “space addiction” and the normal permitted cap may be lowered at the discretion of the medical corps on an individual basis.)

Finally after six months, the training was concluded. Alberria and the rest of the recruits who made it were allowed a two week period to do whatever (legally permissible) thing they wanted, before being given their assignment. In that two week period Allan showed Alberria around some of Earth. He got to see a strange human sport called “Baseball” which Allan seemed to thoroughly enjoy, despite spending most of the game angrily shouting at the people playing the game for various reasons (mostly the team he claimed to like, shouting for them to “catch the goddamned ball” and to “throw it to…” some position). His team lost with a final score of eleven points to one point, but Allan still claimed it to be a “very good game.” Alberria wondered what he would have said if he liked the team that won. They also went to see an “Aviary” which was filled with various earth creatures called “birds” that Allan said looked “just like the Passan only much smaller, without arms, with wings closer to their chests, stouter torsos, and they look nothing alike.” And strangely enough this was entirely accurate.

The halcyon vacation of two weeks ended far too soon and Alberria was given orders to report to shuttle-port 683-A5. A large group of humans were there, as well as the other Passan who had made it through the A.C.T.O.R.S. training (although apparently the program would last until the end of the upcoming “tour” at which point the non-humans and humans would return to their respective ships.) The shuttle was Spartan in decoration. With only 52 seats with 5-point harnesses and a rack for the bags which contained the astronauts’ meager belongings (although Alberria learned not all of the occupants were astronauts, as when he asked one how long he had been an astronaut the individually angrily retorted “I ain’t no fucking gap-squid! I’m a goddamned Space Marine!” at which point nineteen of the other occupants thrust their fist in the air while shouting “Ooh-rah!”) After strapping in, they were made to sit for a while, it felt like forever to Alberria, made even longer by the argument between one of the astronauts and the space marine. (Gap-squid. Jar-head. We keep your pasty asses safe. Yeah, but we get your fat asses off earth. You wouldn’t last a day in the E.A.S.M.C.! And you wouldn’t last a minute if I pushed you out an airlock!) Then the shuttle shuddered, and lurched, as it was pulled out from the port to the pad. The engines started to hum and whine, as the pad began to rotate upwards until Alberria could feel the full force of the human planet pulling him downwards towards its surface. The ship remained stationary, Alberria faintly heard one of the humans muttering something, cut off by a grunt as the guy in the seat next to him elbowed him.

“Stop praying Gutierrez! You’re making ME nervous! If launches bother you so much why the fuck don’t you just keep your boots on the ground?”

“Once we launch I’m fine but I hate being vertical like this. If God wanted man to stick to walls he’d have made us Lizards. No offense!”

“None taken,” came the grunting reply of the reptile-like bafkal that Alberria had only vaguely noticed, “but to be honest I used to hang from walls all the time back home and I’M freaking out right now so I can’t imagine how you must be feeling.”

“THAT IS NOT HELPING!” Gutierrez shouted, “THAT IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF HELPING!”

The shuttle erupted into laughter as the human freaked out, which resulted in him beginning a profanity laden rant in his native tongue. The laughter cut off as the announcement system cut in.

“Tower to E.A.S.S. Quillback. Weather is clear, Airspace is clear, Trajectory is clear, All Systems are green. Initiate on my mark. Three. Two. One. Mark.”

The engines roared, the Quillback shuttered. Alberria felt himself being pulled down into his seat. It felt very similar to the machine that spun him around and around and yet, different at the same time. Surprisingly no one was screaming, or even hollering for joy (despite claiming that they would do so.) Suddenly the pull stopped. Alberria felt himself slide a bit in his seat. The engines were still roaring, but everything felt…light. But not like the times that they made him stay in the spinning machine until he passed out.

“Welcome to micro-g greenies.” One of the humans said, a couple others laughed. It was another three hours in the cramped shuttle before a voice cut in over the system again.

“E.A.S.C. Carnwennan to E.A.S.S. Quillback. We are prepared to receive you, prepare for gravity arrest.” The shuttle shuddered and the engines cut out. There was a feeling of falling, a jolt and a slam. “Carnwennan to Quillback. Gravity arrest successful. You are clear to disembark.”

Alberria and the others unfastened themselves from their harnesses, grabbed their rucksacks from the secured racks, and stepped out into a large open hanger. Following instructions relayed to them prior to boarding the Quillback, the astronauts walked through the corridors until they arrived at their assigned berthings.

“Erm…Allan.” Alberria asked as they entered the assigned room. “Are you sure this is the right place?”

“809C-7, that’s the right berthing. Why?”

Alberria looked around in disgust, the room was cramped, barely the size of the closet in his lodgings aboard his last vessel with the Passan. It contained four bunks, two inset on each wall next to the door to enter the room. Against the back wall was a set of twelve lockers with one of four human letters, A, B, C, and D, and one of three symbols, a red circle, a brownish-grey square, and a brownish-grey star, the square and the star were apparently different colors to human eyes known as “Blue” and “Yellow” but to the Passan they would have been identical without the shapes. The letters were obvious, they were meant to refer to the four bunks, labeled A, B, C, and D, but the shapes meant nothing to Alberria. He knew from the file assigned to him that he was assigned the B-bunk and he had been looking forward to spending the five hours of “cool-up” time lying in it to rid himself of the travel fatigue. But there was a human asleep in his bunk. In fact there was a human asleep in each of the bunks.

“These bunks are occupied Allan.”

“Yeah, we went over this in training remember? Hot-bunking? These guys are Red Shift, right now Blue Shift is on duty, in five hours we go on duty with the rest of Gold Shift. At which point Blue Shift will come back, wake up Red Shift, then go to sleep until we get relieved by Red Shift in eight hours.”

“They were serious about that?”

“Yup.”

Alberria stored his belongings in his locker (The B with the “yellow” star on it) and took the time to go around the ship with Allan. They quickly figured out where the “Rec Room” and Cafeteria were. As well as a few other key locations, the medical bay, the supply depot, but before they could explore any more a whistle was sounded to signify that shift change was in about fifteen minutes. Alberria and Allan quickly took off to the engine room to take over for the Blue Shift folks. They arrived slightly early and Alberria was stopped by several other members of the Gold Shift when he attempted to enter the engine room. It was calmly explained to him that they could not enter until shift change, and that the Blues couldn’t leave until shift change. As soon as the whistle sounded again the two Shifts immediately swapped places.

Running the engine was extremely simple, if boring. Walk around, look at a bunch of needles and dials, write what they said down every fifteen minutes, turn a crank or switch a lever if the control tower told you to. If a machine beeped find out why it beeped and then do what it said to make it stop beeping. By the time the shift warning whistle sounded Alberria felt like his eyes were going to fall out of his skull, when the shift whistle came it couldn’t come soon enough. He went back to his bunk, woke up the Blue in his bed, and crawled in. He realized why it was called “hot-bunking” the bed was still warm from the other guy, it probably was always warm because someone was always asleep in it. He had a sudden thought, when the hell did they wash the sheets? That first shift he found it difficult to sleep, until eventually his exhaustion overtook his disgust.

Alberria’s sleep was rudely interrupted as he was violently pulled from the bed and onto the floor. He looked up and saw the Red who had been in his bed when he first came in to place his stuff in.

“Fucking Peacock!” He snarled as he ripped the blanket away from Alberria, wrapped himself in it and flopped down into the bunk.

Alberria and Allan went to the Cafeteria intending to have the traditional post-slumber meal of “breakfast” but according to the ship’s schedule they would instead be “breakfasting” on “Dinner” which supposedly was the last meal the humans would eat in a day. Then they went to the Rec room to spend the rest of the time before their shift relaxing or such. From some of the humans he learned several “card games” of luck and strategy, he enjoyed the game “Hearts” the best, as the strategy far outweighed the luck, but did not much enjoy the game “poker” which was much more luck-based. Allan claimed that there was a lot of strategy involved in poker, but that Alberria was at a disadvantage because the passan body language was easier to read for humans, and that the human body language was, conversely, more difficult for the passan to read. Alberria just knew he preferred the games of Hearts and Spades.

The next shift was just as boring, but sleep came easier at its end. As the days went by he noticed that many of the astronauts who had been aboard for a while had images and symbols on their bodies. He asked if it was some sort of caste or religious thing and was informed that it was, sort of.

One of the older members of Gold Shift, referred to as “Petty Officer Grayson” explained that sailors were always superstitious, because on the sea you could do everything right but if a storm or swell hit you just right there was nothing you could do about it, and that translated to space. So the ink symbols, tattoos as they were called, came to be created as good luck charms, and also as celebrations of certain achievements. The most common symbol he had seen was an old human artifact known as “cannon” crossed over top of an “Rocket ship” a space-travel device theorized by humans before actual space travel was achieved. Petty Officer Grayson explained that this meant that the astronaut had served in the E.A.S. Astronaval corps. The next most common symbol was a five pointed star, with half of each point colored in, none of which were next to each other. This was apparently called a “Nautical Star” and it was believed that any sailor or Astronaut who had this tattoo would always find their way home. Several of the astronauts had a hooded figure standing in a boat, this was apparently an old figure from ancient human mythology called “Charon” and it signified that the astronaut had spent time assigned to the docking port on the satellite of the same name that orbited a planetoid in the human home-system called “Pluto.” There was a turtle with a large disk on its back that resembled the human home planet of Earth, this signified that the astronaut had journeyed past the edge of the home-system in normal space. There was also a bunch of birds called swallows with bubble-like helmets, each of which signified that an astronaut had traveled 50,000 “Astronomical Units,” which were the average distance between the human home world of Earth and its central star, in normal space, a process which at the Carnwennan’s full speed would require approximately 10 months of constant travel, but at the maximum recommended speed for non-emergencies it would actually take almost two and a half Earth Years. There was also one which was exceedingly rare, found only on people such as Petty Officer Grayson who referred to themselves as “Career Enlisted” as well as a handful of officers, a tall bearded human with a crown and three-pronged staff, emerging out of a singularity. This symbolized that the astronaut on whose flesh it was drawn had survived 50 of the gravity dives. Of which Alberria would be experiencing his first soon enough.

Sure enough five days later the Carnwennan shuddered and the instruments in the engine room started to shudder.

“Is this the gravity dive?” He asked.

Petty Officer Grayson laughed. “Greenie! This is start up! We’ve been in orbit around Mars for the past month you’ve been here to get you recruits used to life aboard her! In about two days we’ll be inducting you all into the court of King Neptune,” he tapped his arm just below the elbow where the world turtle rested “once we pass the Kuiper Belt. Then we start the dive.”

The dull monotony of the engine room was gone. Machines pinged and whirred more often, and orders from the helm came in near constant droves. By the time Red Shift came to relieve them Alberria damn near passed out just changing out of the work uniform to get ready to sleep. Two days later he was woken up by his Red Shift bunkmate, but rather than crawling into the bunk the man turned around.

“We’re diving today.” He grunted when Alberria asked why he wasn’t getting in the bunk. “No one sleeps in their bunk until we’ve successfully breached subspace.”

It was weird seeing the Cafeteria and the Rec room so full of people, most of whom were swearing profusely and drinking large cups full of a foul-smelling bitter drink the humans called “Coffee” which apparently acted as a substitute for sleep in sufficient quantities, but also could act as a poison in large quantities, and there was a significant amount of overlap between the two classifications. A few hours in all of the recruits were made to stand in a line, as well as several of the more established sailors. Petty Officer Grayson stepped forward and pulled out a book.

“Fellow Astronauts! We are gathered here to induct these people into the most hallowed ranks of King Neptune’s court! As our seafaring ancestors honored the ancient king of the sea, so to do we beseech his protection here in the void!” He continued on in a long flowing ceremony talking about ships, and voyages, and safe returns, and crossing into the deep unknown. At the end of which some of the men stepped forward to the recruits, Alberria included.

And punched them in the upper arm as hard as they possibly could.

“Welcome Brothers!” Petty Officer Grayson shouted and the room erupted into cheers and applause that was cut off by the shrill whistle demanding attention.

“All hands secure yourselves! Prepare for gravity dive! All hands secure yourselves! Gravity dive in ten minutes!” Immediately a mad dash began as people rushed to various chairs that were secured to the floor and began to attach themselves in with the familiar five-point harnesses.

“All hands secure yourselves! Prepare for gravity dive! All hands secure yourselves! Gravity dive in five minutes!” One of the astronauts began humming a hauntingly low tune. The others began to pick it up.

“All hands secure yourselves! Prepare for gravity dive! All hands secure yourselves! Gravity dive in sixty seconds!” Several of the Astronauts stopped humming and began to sing instead.

Our blood’s on the ground,

But we’re in the sky.

Death comes for us,

So we piss in his eye.

The dead whisper tales,

Of the black-star foam.

We journey through hell,

But we’ll soon be home.

I’ve got a girl on Io bright,

Her eyes like stars and her hair like night.

Her words so soft her lips so red,

Her touch so warm it could wake the dead.

Our blood’s on the ground,

But we’re in the sky.

Death comes for us,

So we piss in his eye.

The dead whisper tales,

Of the black-star foam.

We journey through hell,

But we’ll soon be home.

After the second chorus the humming resumed and then suddenly Alberria felt a great weight pressing down and pulling up on every single molecule of his being. At a single moment he felt himself being pulled into his navel, his chair, the ceiling, the ship, everything. He wanted to black out, but all the blood was being pulled towards his brain at the same moment it was being pulled away from it. In his younger years Alberria had been told that 98% of an atom was empty space, in this moment every single atom aboard the Carnwennan was compressed down and all that empty space was removed. Everything took on a ghostly pallor as the solid ship became a state of matter that Alberria, quite frankly, didn’t think actually existed before the humans decided that the laws of physics were mere suggestions. Then everything grew bright as the singularity formed from the ship and pulled in the surrounding light. With a rumble the ship became more coherent, the pressure began to ease as Alberria went from being in total pain, to having a headache from hell and feeling as if he needed to throw up everything he had ever eaten in his entire life so far and half the things he hadn’t yet. From the looks on the people around him he was far from the only one. The experienced astronauts took deep breaths and resumed their chant.

I promised I would soon return,

And then her love I’m sure to earn.

But she must stay and I must fly,

Sure as I’m not her only guy.

Our blood’s on the ground,

But we’re in the sky.

Death comes for us,

So we piss in his eye.

The dead whisper tales,

Of the black-star foam.

We journey through hell,

But we��ll soon be home.

The chant continued in that vein, as the narrator continued to sing of the lovely woman from the moon of Io, and how the astronaut overcame the challenges of space for the sole purpose of one day returning to her and wooing her away from the other astronauts whose attention she was drawn to. Slowly Alberria realized that his breathing was beginning to match the tempo of the chant. Soon he realized the purpose of the song, it relaxed the astronauts, allowed something for their heartbeat to align itself with after the terrors of the gravity dive, in short, it aided recovery. Finally the whistle sounded again.

“Attention crew, subspace is normalized. You are clear to release securements at your discretion. Red Shift you are clear to return to your berthing.”

Alberria unclasped his harness and staggered to his feet. The only one of Gold Shift to do so, the rest were placing their heads between their legs as Red Shift stumbled off back to their bunks.

“So,” Petty Officer Grayson asked as he approached Alberria. “What’d you think of the gravity dive?”

“I can’t wait until we finish the A.C.T.O.R.S. program so I never ever have to do this ever again.”

The human laughed, “Get used to it. We’ve got three more scheduled for this cruise before we reach our turn-around destination I think. And you all will be returned to your respective governments when we reach their ports on the return journey, so you’ve probably got at least five more dives in you. And that’s not including the breach.”

Alberria wished he could tell whether or not the human was joking, but glad he couldn’t because at least this way he had hope.

#Zev's writing #humans are space orcs #Space Shanties #SciFi

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serenagaywaterford · 5 years

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A Woman’s Place: How Yvonne Strahovski Fleshed Out One of Literature’s Greatest Villains for the Digital Age’s Most Important Show

Since its initial publication in 1986, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood has been terrifying readers the same way Orwell’s 1984 did decades before. In a future of America where conservative ideology and religious extremism has given way to a theocracy now called Gilead, men alone control the government and women are forced into roles as barren wives, quiet housekeepers, and fertile handmaids destined to be vessels for children and nothing more. Offred, a handmaid owned by Commander Fred Waterford, is determined to survive her sexual servitude, reunite with her daughter, and find freedom from a life as property. Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck, The Astronaut Wives Club, Killer Elite) plays Serena Joy Waterford, the commander’s strict and intimidating wife in Hulu’s Emmy-award winning adaptation of the novel. Thanks to an expert script and Strahovski's devotion to the depth of the character, Serena Joy is taken from her days in the novel as the evil-stepmother locking Offred away in closets (though she does do that once or twice in the show) to a woman of political intelligence and religious persuasion whose road to hell was paved with good intentions. As Commander Waterford says in the show: “Better doesn’t always mean better for everyone,” and there’s a real empathy in watching Serena Joy get what she wanted and lose everything she took for granted. I got to chat with Yvonne about what goes into building humanity in a character everyone loves to hate and a small snippet of the darkness waiting in season two. What is it like bringing to life this character who has such an expansion of depth and presence compared to her novel counterpart?

It was such a wonderful opportunity. I mean, obviously, the character, like you said, is not as fleshed out in the novel. So I had a really wonderful opportunity to humanize this person that hadn’t been humanized before. It was also a challenge too because one of the least relatable characters — not at all relatable in the book — definitely put me to work in trying to figure her out from day one. For me, Serena has these three different narratives going: that of an enabler of the system, that of someone suffering from the system, and that of someone facing consequences of being on the wrong side of history. Did any one of this faces to her story stand out to you/resonate more with you while bringing her to life?

Yeah, definitely. I really quickly began to see those dualities like you said. She’s basically the architect of her own oppression in a way — in a big way — because she was definitely part of that conversation of how they created Gilead. And at some point, her voice was taken away from her in that conversation in how they were going to proceed with this new society. But she was definitely one of the people originally who focused on that kind of a change. It’s interesting because I do sort of see it as a very pure beginning for her — in the sense that I think there was a purity to the idea that she was for which was women to take back their power in their biological abilities and make babies, basically, and save the world. I think she wanted to inspire women to do that. But obviously between that seed being planted and where we see everybody going, a lot obviously happened and things went horribly wrong. And now she finds herself in this situation that she wanted but there things about it that don’t suit her. And therein comes that humanity where I think anyone in any of those positions would struggle deeply as we watch them all be oppressed. In a show filled with women, Serena has such a complicated and antagonistic relationship with her fellow women. Talk about what it’s like for you to play a character like this. What is it like portraying this character in a world that many see as an eerie reflection of Trump’s America?

It was really interesting because I have mixed feelings about it. It’s a fantastic role, but at the same time it was very much art reflecting life which became apparent toward the second half of shooting season one. After the election, that was sort of midway through our shoot. The women’s issues coming up in the headlines, and the Women’s March itself, happened while we were still shooting and bunch of us went to it while we were in Toronto. And we started seeing The Handmaid’s Tale signs start to creep up just even in that. The show hadn’t even come out yet and it really started hitting me how much [it] would be relevant.

It’s so amazing to play a character like [Serena Joy], but it’s so sickening in a way. I’m the person who has to sit with her and try to understand her and justify her actions when I don’t really want to. But I have to, because I’m playing her. It’s an interesting character to humanize because you do get to get a glimpse and understand how it came to be this way for her and perhaps what she could have done differently during that process and how she’s struggling with the reality of the situation now. So rather than just being the mustache-twirling, creepy villain who was just evil all around, I think there is this side of her that is evil and this side of her that is not evil. So just sort of a very layered, complex, interesting process. Very rewarding to be a part of something so powerful. If there is anything redemptive in the things Serena does, it’s her desire for motherhood that drives a lot of her actions. Do you see her as someone doing horrible things in the hope of a positive outcome? Or is even her hope for children a selfish action?

I really see her as someone who is in a society where there is no possible outlet for her rage and her emotions that are boiling inside her. She put herself in this kind of society and now doesn’t know how to deal with it. She doesn’t have any intellectual stimuli at all because her books and her writing have been taken away from her. And she doesn’t have a connection to her husband anymore physically because that was taken away from her when she couldn’t bear children anymore. Now there is another woman coming in and taking over that role. And stripping away all the authoritative stuff about Serena — all the political, all the religious, fundamental extremism... everything — you have a woman who is desperate for connection but is unable to connect and is constantly being rejected by her husband, by her handmaid, and by society by way of rejecting her intellect and her brains.

She’s probably rejecting herself because she resents the fact that she cannot be the one to have a baby. So I sort of peel away everything — anything you could label her with — and I see a human being who is desperate. And those rage outbursts come out of that exact thing I’ve just described. There’s nothing else for her. I think in nature people react differently when they’re put to the test, and Serena rages. When we left Serena Joy, she was watching her best chance for a child be taken away. What can we hope to see for Serena in season two now that we’ve got this blank slate going forward into uncharted territory?

I’m not allowed to reveal anything at all about season two, which I know is a real big bummer. But it will be darker and we don’t really lighten up in that department. Beware: it’s going to be just as painful to watch. And also wildly entertaining. You can catch up on the first season of The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu and look for season two, which will be out in 2018! -- Melanie Moyer

http://www.itsjustaboutwrite.com/2017/10/a-womans-place-how-yvonne-strahovski.html

#yvonne strahovski #the handmaid's tale #serena joy waterford #here's the full interview with credit #i'm not crying you're crying #she's so insightful #we are blessed #NOW DO ONE FOR S3!!!

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pikkish-moved · 6 years

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In Search of Rest

In which Olimar leaves in search of a nice, peaceful vacation, and is horribly disappointed

Olimar lay in bed, awake, thinking.

He had, for quite a few weeks, now, been looking forward to tomorrow, but now, on the eve of the day, he was, admittedly, facing a few doubts.

For tomorrow, he would be leaving.

Not permanently, of course. It was just supposed to be a quick vacation, no more than a month or so, at the most. Just a trip out somewhere in space, then he’d loop back around and come home. He wasn’t even going anywhere, really, just flying out into space for some peace and quiet.

The problem was, he was worried about his family. He didn’t like to admit that his wife had any flaws (and on the rare occasion that he did admit such to himself, it was always quickly followed by a thought such as “But I love her all the more for it,” or “But that really doesn’t matter, she’s still the best woman in the universe,”) but it was true that she… wasn’t the best at managing money, and tended to spend it rather quickly in Olimar’s absence.

It was true that, as a freighter ship pilot, he was often gone from home for longer periods of time, but only rarely for more than a couple weeks, and almost never for a month or longer. And when he was gone for such longer periods, he usually came home to a house in disarray.

“Oli?”

Olimar was snapped from his thoughts by his wife’s soft voice. “...Mm?”

“You’re… still awake?” She rolled over to face him, head still resting on her pillow, only the eye not half smooshed into her pillow open, and only halfway open at that.

Olimar, lying on his back, just let his head fall to the side to look at her. “Yeah.”

His wife gave him a sleepy smile. “That excited to be leaving?”

He let out a quiet chuckle. “...Not exactly.”

Replying with an equally quiet laugh, she scooted a little closer to him, cuddling up to his side, opting to trade her pillow for Olimar’s chest. “I told you, dear, we’ll be fine for a bit while you’re gone. And you’ve been working so hard lately, you deserve the vacation!”

“...Maybe so,” Olimar sighed, wrapping an arm around his wife’s shoulders.

“Of course so!” She laughed.

Olimar just let out another small laugh.

Eventually, holding his wife in a loving embrace, he fell into a peaceful sleep.

✿✿✿

The next morning, after a rather lengthy goodbye to his family, Olimar boarded his beloved ship, the S. S. Dolphin, and blasted off. With the sleek rocket’s powerful engines, it was only a matter of minutes before the ship was high in orbit.

There, for a time, Olimar stayed, looking down on Hocotate, gazing at its two large rings and red moon. It was a sight that, even after seeing it many times over, he had not yet tired of, and hoped he never would.

But eventually, he did turn his gaze to the stars. This was supposed to be a vacation, after all, and he was sure if he didn’t get out of range of short-range communications, the president of Hocotate Freight would be calling him soon, asking him to do just one more haul before his vacation!

The only problem was, Olimar wasn’t entirely sure where he wanted to go. He had no plans, no set destination in mind. He simply had intended to go. So that’s what he did. He picked a direction at random, and set the Dolphin flying that way. What he would find and where he would end up, he didn’t know,

✿✿✿

For about two weeks, Olimar simply flew in the direction he had chosen. A lot of the way was in space he knew well, on account of having flown it so many times on various deliveries throughout the various planets of the galaxy. But then, he suddenly found himself among stars he didn’t recognize, and for a time, he felt an unusual excitement bubbling in his chest. It was something not unlike the excitement he had felt the first time in the cockpit of a ship, or the day he had purchased the Dolphin.

It was that feeling of wonderlust, of wanderlust, of amazement and excitement. That feeling that told him you, you, Captain Olimar, are a true explorer of the stars.

And for another moment, that feeling blossomed into something just a little dangerous, just a little reckless, telling him, let’s go on an adventure.

And he almost listened, almost turned the Dolphin to go explore one of the numerous unfamiliar solar systems within easy travel distance.

But then Olimar just laughed to himself. This was simply supposed to be a nice, peaceful vacation. A time for him to relax, to sit back. For as much fun as it was to fantasize about a grand adventure on a far-off planet, Olimar knew that wasn’t for him, and certainly wasn’t the purpose of this vacation.

So he set the Dolphin on autopilot, leaning back in his seat to gaze at the stars.

✿✿✿

Another day or so passed, in which Olimar thoroughly enjoyed his nice, peaceful vacation.

And then, quite abruptly, that adventurous feeling swept over him once more. And once again, Olimar just laughed at himself. It was absurd, the idea of him, on an adventure! He had dreamed of such as a child, but he was well into his middle age, now, and had since come to understand that things like that didn’t just happen.

Still, though, the feeling persisted, a strange anticipation gnawing at the back of his mind.

Olimar just shook his head. Maybe I’ll go make some tea, he thought. That’ll help.

So he once again set the Dolphin to autopilot, and rose to go to the ship’s small living quarters.

But just as he had stood up, there was a tremendous CRASH, and the Dolphin shook ferociously. Had Olimar still been in his seat, still with his harness holding him safely down, he likely would have been okay. He would have been able to quickly regain control of his ship like the skilled astronaut he was, and resume flight.

But he wasn’t in his seat, and he didn’t have his harness on to keep him safe. The moment the Dolphin was struck, Olimar was flung forward, his head striking the control panel in front of him- hitting a number of buttons and switches which only made the situation worse, not to mention knocking the captain unconscious.

Without the expert helmsman at the wheel, the Dolphin shuddered and shook in its flight. In moments, it was pulled into the effect of the gravity of a nearby planet, and quickly, it began its descent towards the foreign world’s surface.

Already damaged by the meteor that had struck it, as the Dolphin entered the planet’s thick atmosphere, more and more pieces of it were stripped away, falling to the surface of the planet below, spread across miles and miles of space. And as the ship fell, it set the creatures inhabiting the forests below in uproar, startled at the blazing streak arcing across the sky.

And just a few of those creatures, just a very select few, had the strangest feeling that this was something important.

Eventually, the Dolphin came to an abrupt halt on the planet’s surface, its hull smoking and scorched, and definitely no longer space worthy without all its missing parts.

And inside the ship, Olimar slowly began to awaken, yet unknowing the grand adventure he had just been cast into.

#pikfic #pikmin #pikmin fanfiction #captain olimar #hey look its olimar’s family!#I really need to come up with a name for his wife #well actually for all his family #I’ll probably do that eventually #maybe #pikmin fic

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sage-nebula · 6 years

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1, 20 and 40!

1.) What’s your favorite way to dress?

Casual and cool. B)

Honestly, one of my favorite looks is just a t-shirt and shorts (and the only reason why you didn’t see me wearing one of my many, many graphic tees in Japan is just because it was too hot to wear anything other than tank tops most of the time djklsfjsdsdfs). I have so many different graphic tees (and especially Pokémon graphic tees) that it’s ridiculous, but I love all of them. I also like the look of a t-shirt and jeans, but if it’s warmer out, I’ll want to be in shorts. That aside, I love comfy sneakers, or my boots. I’m also a fan of sandals when I have a good pair. I like wearing lots of jewelry, and over the course of our trip I started doing stuff with my hair, and just recently I started wearing make-up! (Not too much; just lipstick, eyeliner, eyeshadow, and mascara. I’m so bad at applying the eyeliner, but I won’t get better if I don’t practice, so . . .) Basically, I want to look cool, but I also prefer casual clothing. I have to dress more nicely for work and I’m not so much a fan of that, but I love being able to just dress casually on the weekends. It’s the best. :) (But yeah, I always want to look cool, too. Cool is Important, even if my definition of cool is different from everyone else’s.)

40.) Do you like light blankets or heavy blankets?

It really depends on how cold I am, haha. If I’m super cold, pile the blankets on me, but if I’m not, just one blanket will suffice. Thinking about it, I kind of do prefer if I only need one blanket, so I guess in that sense I prefer light blankets, but honestly, if I’m cold and I’m not in a place where I can dial up the heat, pile the blankets on me. I hate being cold so much, I cannot stand it.

20.) Do you believe in god(s)?

Mmh . . . no, but I don’t mind if other people do, so long as they’re not using that as an excuse to hurt others. And this is kind of a heavy subject, so I’m putting the rest under a cut.

I grew up in a Catholic household, but my parents were not very strict about religion. I did have a first communion when I was young, but I never had a confirmation, and my Sunday school was very patchy at best anyway. Additionally, I went to public school, whereas my brother (technically my stepbrother) went to Catholic school. (He is now a very ardent atheist lol.) My parents have since converted to Lutheranism, but they did that a few years ago, and it didn’t affect my childhood just as it doesn’t affect my adulthood outside of my father pestering me every now and then to “find my faith.”

But the truth is I haven’t, and I don’t think I ever will, for a couple reasons.

The first is pretty personal, so I won’t go into too many details, but . . . a few years ago, I lost the one I was closest to. After her death, I was so devastated that I prayed over and over again for her to be returned to me, and I offered my soul up in these prayers. I offered my soul to any angel or demon that would answer . . . but no one did. The stories always go that both heavenly and evil entities want your soul, but either my soul was so worthless that no one wanted it, or those entities didn’t exist to take me up on the offer. I follow the rule of Occam’s Razor (which states that the easiest, most obvious solution is the right one) most of the time, so I’m inclined to believe the latter. They didn’t answer, because they don’t exist.

Aside from that, and more broadly, the idea that there is some cosmic deity that watches over everyone doesn’t really make sense to me. A lot of religious people figure that god is watching over them and their loved ones, that god has a plan for everyone, et cetera. But there are seven billion people on this planet; why would any god spend time watching over one particular person? Why would an immortal, omniscient being care what happens to a human being, which to a god would be like a cricket or ant would be to us? And moreover, why would they interfere? If I’m driving home tonight, and I’m about to get in a car accident, why would god---any god---take the time to save me, rather than paying attention to the billions of others around the world who need help? I don’t even mean this in a “woe is me, I suck” way, but more in the “it just doesn’t make sense that I’d be more important than anyone else” kind of way. The “god is watching out for us and has a Plan™” mentality feels very individual-centric. It reminds me of that scene in The Office when Michael is talking about how, whenever he’s sad, he imagines an astronaut in space looking down on him and feeling sorry for his problems. We laugh at that scene because the idea of an astronaut paying attention to Michael like that is absurd. That’s what the concept of a deity paying attention to individuals on Earth is to me. It just doesn’t make sense.

And I feel the same way about a deity creating Earth, and everyone on it. First of all, why did they stop at creating life on Earth? What about the other planets in this solar system, or beyond? Secondly, let’s say that a deity did create Earth and every life form on it; in that case, why would they stick around to obsess over this one planet, instead of moving on to others? Again, it just feels like a failure of logic to me. Unless the deity is somehow tied to this planet, which would necessitate the existence of an even greater being that tethered them, I don’t see why they’d stick around instead of moving on to other planets in other galaxies. The universe is so vast that I see no reason to stick to Earth.

Lastly, I just haven’t seen anything that would change my mind. Again, when I was offering up my soul like I was, there was a massive change for any holy (or evil) being to show themselves to me and make me believe. I’m not an ardent atheist; I’m open to being proven wrong, and to “finding my faith” if it ever happened. I actually consider myself to be agnostic, because I feel that any religion could be true, but there’s just no proof that any of them are. So if an angel or whatever did descend before me, then okay. If, when I die, I find myself face to face with Jesus, then cool, I will admit that my lack of faith was my bad and that I’m sorry. But so far I haven’t had those experiences, and as such I don’t feel that believe in my heart of hearts like I feel I should if I were to call myself religious. Therefore, I’m honest in that I’m not. (Because in truth, I feel it’s worth to say, “I’m religious!” when you don’t feel it just because you’re afraid of not getting into Heaven or whatever. I’m not an expert, but I feel like Jesus wouldn’t really appreciate a hypocrite like that.)

All of that said, I have nothing against people who are religious, so long as they don’t use their religion as an excuse to hurt or oppress others. I know that religion helps many people. It’s comforting to some to think that whatever misfortunes befall them are part of god’s plan. Others need religion as a reason to be good and kind to others. Still others like to use religion as a way to make the world make sense to them. All of that is fine. What someone believes really isn’t my business, and I’m not here to judge. But that said, I do have a problem when people use religion as their excuse to be terrible to others. In my opinion, there’s no excuse good enough for oppressing, hurting, or even killing other people. I don’t care what your religion is; the second you start using it as a stick to beat others with, that’s the second I have a problem with you. Not because you’re religious, but because you’re being horrible.

As a final note to all of this, while I’m not religious myself, I do have a pretty core set of beliefs and morals that I try to live my life by. I believe in being kind to others, to extending help when and where you can, even if you have nothing personally to gain from it. I believe that the way you treat others will come back to you, i.e. if you’re a dick to others, you shouldn’t be surprised when others are a dick to you. I believe in honesty, and loyalty (within reason), and that while there is nuance to most situations, there are also some things that have very hard lines of morality that can’t be crossed (e.g. rape is always wrong). I’m not perfect, because no one is, but I try my best to be a good person, because I think the most important thing is not where you end up after you die (if anywhere), but how your behavior and your actions affect those around you while you’re on Earth. So even though I’m not religious and I don’t believe in any gods personally, I still do believe in being a good person. And to be honest, I think that’s what’s most important.

(But that said, to anyone who reads this, if you disagree, that’s cool. Just please don’t try to start Discourse™ with me over it, because trust me, religion Discourse™ never ends with anyone being happy, or having their minds changed. It’s just not a good road to go down.)

#obscure ask meme #somegiantmess

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nsfw-bnha-and-dangan · 7 years

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Could I request the ndrv3 guys with a bi female S/O? But they don't find out she's bi until her extremely biphobic ex sees them on a date together and goes to "warn" the guys about her? (with said ex being why she was too nervous to come out to them?)

I love this idea! I’m actually a bi girl myself so I definitely get where this is coming from!

Shuichi Saihara:

You guys were just relaxing at the library, switching novels and manga as you finished them and nuzzling into Saihara’s shoulder

When you glanced up you noticed your ex walking over, your body visibly stiffening at the sight

He wasn’t exactly… accepting of who you were, saying some horrible things after finding out that you were bi

You had kept that part of yourself a secret from Saihara, not wanting the same thing to happen with him

But it looked like your secret was about to come out as your ex came up to Saihara and tapped him on the head.

“Hey, dude, I see your hanging with (Y/N) here. Figured id let you know that she’s a bit of whore, shes probably fucking a few girls behind your back.”

“Excuse me?” Saihara asked, confusion and anger bristling up inside him.

You were already close to tears, digging your nails into your palms and refusing to look at either of them

“Yeah, she likes chicks too. What, she didn’t tell you? Figures, makes it easier to eat pussy behind your back. Sorry to burst your bubble, man, but I’m doin’ you a favor.”

Your ex walked off and you burst into tears, trying to be quiet since you were in a library. “I-I’m not… I’m not cheating on you, I s-swear!”

Saihara pulled you close and wiped your tears, trying to keep other peoples attention from you. “I know, I know you wouldn’t. But… was the other part true?”

You nodded, taking a shaky breath. “Y-yeah… I’m bi, Shuichi, a-and I wanted to tell you but… my ex broke up with me on the spot when I told him and I r-really don’t want to lose you!”

You started crying again, hiccuping when you felt a kiss pressed to your hair. “I would never break up with you, especially not over your sexual preferences. You like who you like, there’s nothing wrong with that. I trust you and I know you would never cheat on me.”

You smiled softly as Saihara pulled you up, neatly putting your books back on a cart to be reshelved and taking you home for some cuddles and crime shows, the best date you could think of with no chance of being yelled at by your ex

Kaito Momota:

Kaito was eagerly leading you around the space museum, pulling you from exhibit to exhibit with the biggest grin on his face.

Perhaps you weren’t as into space travel as your boyfriend but you were having fun nonetheless

Well, you were anyways

Seeing your ex, who apparently worked there now, immediately had you hiding behind Kaito, shaking and trying to convince him to leave.

“Just a sec babe, I just want to finish reading this. We’ll go to that little cafe you like, I promise!”

It was too late anyway, your ex had already spotted you and made his way over, crossing his arms.

“Shocked to see you hanging around a guy now, after what you told me. Or maybe he’s just for show so you can fuck all the chicks you want and not get called out for it.”

You whimpered as Kaito turned around, touching your arm gently in hopes of calming you. “What the fuck, asshole! I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about but you need to leave, I’m not going to let you talk to my girlfriend like that!”

“Hah, seriously? You haven’t told him that you like both cock and pussy? That’s honestly hilarious, poor guy has no idea how much a little slut you are! Telling you now, buddy, might want to drop her before you catch her scissoring with some slut.”

That was it for Kaito, no one talks about his girl like that! So he punched your ex square in the face and walked off, pulling you behind him until you got outside

You were crying when you sat down on the bench, fighting to breath as Kaito rubbed your back gently.

“Hey, sweetie, it’s okay. Shh, I got you, I won’t let him do anything to hurt you, I promise!”

“Y-you must think I’m h-horrible after what he said…”

Kaito shook his head quickly, drying your tears with his jacket sleeve and making sure your ex hadn’t followed you out

“No, honestly I didn’t really get what he was saying, something about you liking girls? If… if your gay i-”

“I’m not gay, just b-bi… I swear, I love you, i-its not a lie!” You waved your hands quickly, earning a little smile from Kaito

“Hey, its cool, it doesn’t bother me. I wish you would have told me, but if that asshole was the reason you didn’t then I get it. I love you too, babe, and ill make sure he doesn’t touch you again!”

You sniffled and let Kaito pull you into a tight hug, fingers tickling your sides until he got a giggle out of you.

“That’s better! Come on, let’s go to the gift shop! Loser buys the astronaut ice cream!”

You squealed and raced Kaito to the gift shop, his relaxed attitude making you feel much better.

Kiibo:

You had taken Kiibo to the park, laying in the grass to watch the clouds. You kept pointing out little shapes that he struggled to see, overanalyzing and blushing when you kissed him

When a shadow loomed over you, you both sat up, squinting to see who was there.

“Long time no see, (Y/N)”

The second you heard that voice you went pale, it was most definitely your ex-boyfriend, likely here to start something

“W-what are you doing here?”

“Well, I saw you with your little robo-boyfriend here and figured id give him the heads up about your little habit.”

Kiibo looked very confused, looking between you and your ex nervously

“Don’t d-do this…”

“What, and let him get screwed over the same way I did? Listen, dude, I don’t really get your deal but your girlfriend here likes pussy. Actually, that’s probably why she likes you, pretty sure robots don’t have fuckin’ dicks.”

Your ex laughed and walked off, leaving you with silent tears streaming down your face and a very confused boyfriend trying to figure the situation out

“Who was that? And what was he saying about you?”

Before Kiibo could ask any more questions, you kissed him messily, pulling back with a sob

“I-I… he was my ex, we had a really bad break up. A-and he was kind of right. I’m bi, Kiibo.”

“Bi?”

Sometimes you forget that Kiibo doesn’t always get human things so you quickly explain that it meant you liked both girls and guys.

“B-but I love you the most, I would never stray!” You cried, sincerely hoping Kiibo would believe you.

You squeezed your eyes shut, waiting to be hit or yelled at like your ex had done when you told him, but you only felt the cold chill of metal arms wrapping around you

“I’m sorry you felt as though you had to hide that from me. I may not understand sexualities very well but I trust you, I know that you love me. A-as for my… anatomy…”

You shook your head and just nuzzled into Kiibo’s chest, hearing the whir of his fans. “Don’t worry about that, I don’t care. I just want you, Kiibo.”

You refused to let go and Kiibo didn’t mind at all, laying you down and using the blanket to make sure his metal body didn’t hurt you or make you too cold.

You wound up falling asleep on Kiibo for a few hours as he stroked your hair, feeling an overwhelming amount of emotion for you as you slept

Gonta Gokuhara:

Gonta had taken you to a bug exhibit at the science museum! He was rushing all over the place, pointing out all the bugs to you and telling you their scientific names without pause.

While bugs weren’t exactly your favorite thing in the world, you loved watching Gonta when he got so excited, bouncing around like a small child.

You had been checking out some of the butterflies when you heard Gonta’s curious voice above the others in the exhibit, catching your attention.

“Gonta doesn't… understand.”

“Wow, she really knows how to pick’em, jeez. But yeah, I’m warning you, you’re going to catch her in bed with some bitch, she’s a total slut. I was smart enough to cut her the hell off before it happened and I recommend you do the same.”

Your ex walked off and Gonta looked even more confused, glancing from your ex to you repeatedly. You quickly made your way over, pulling Gonta to an empty hall and making sure your ex wasn’t around

“G-Gonta doesn’t really know what just happened… that man said really mean things about (Y/N)…”

You nodded, sighing softly. “T-that was my ex-boyfriend, Gonta. And… h-he was talking about him I’m bi.”

“Bye? (Y/N) is leaving?”

You almost giggled, taking Gonta’s hand and holding it tightly. “No, um… Bisexual, it means I like girls and guys the way most girls just like guys.”

Gonta nodded, smiling softly. “Oh! Gonta understands that! (Y/N) likes having boyfriends or girlfriends! But why was (Y/N)’s ex saying such mean things about it?”

“He’s the reason I never told you, when I told him, he, u-um…” You teared up and Gonta scrambled to hug you, nuzzling your hair.

“He said mean things to (Y/N), right? Gonta is very glad he is your ex now, (Y/N) deserves a true gentleman! A gentleman would never call his girlfriend those mean things!”

You smiled into Gonta’s chest, pulling back to kiss him sweetly. “That’s why I’m with you now, because your the best gentleman and I love you, I promise I would never cheat on you.”

“Gonta knows! If (Y/N) was a boy she would be a great gentleman!” You blushed a little, that was some of the highest praise from Gonta and it had you smiling, feeling much better than before

Kokichi Ouma:

It was one of the rare days when Ouma was content with a simple date at a cafe, the two of you sharing a miniature cake.

“Mmm, (Y/N)-chan? Can you get me one of those sweet coffee thingys?” You winced, the last thing Ouma needed was caffeine, but you gave him a kiss and went up to the counter to order the horribly sweet drink

When you glanced back over someone had taken your seat, another glance had all the color leaching from your face. It was your ex and based on the look on Ouma’s face, he didn’t have anything nice to say.

The second the coffee was put into your hand you walked back over, just in time to hear the end of the conversation.

“Hey, no need to get all pissy. I’m just trying to warn you before you wind up walking in on her and some other chick with their legs in the air. Maybe you’ll get lucky and they’ll invite you to join, eh?”

Your ex laughed and smirked at you, moving to get up before Ouma’s hand shot out and grabbed his shirt, an eery smile on his face

“So that’s what you think of her, hmm? Listen, buddy. I’m the leader of a very large, very evil organization. And with one phone call, I can have a few of my followers come to your house in the middle of the night. They will tie you down, strip you naked, and turn you into the biggest laughing stock the world has ever seen. And that if I’m in a good mood. Now fuck off before I have to pull out my phone, got it?”

Your ex sighed and walked out, waving a hand in annoyance. Ouma pulled you to sit, taking his coffee and looking you over. “That wasn’t a lie, by the way. I could totally get DICE to do that.”

“T-thanks…” You managed a shaky smile and took a bite of the cake, blinking back tears.

“(Y/N)-chan! Stop looking so sad, ill cry too!”

“Sorry, Kokichi, I just… you weren’t bothered by what he said?”

Ouma shrugged and sipped his coffee, grinning as the sugar filled his system. “What, that you like girls too? I’m bi too, doesn’t bother me.”

You blinked, Ouma was bi? Well, that certainly made things interesting. You smiled softly and took a sip of your own drink.

“Awe come on! You still look all upset! Let’s go to headquarters and play that game you bought!”

Ouma grabbed his coffee and his cake, pulling you outside with his free hand as you stumbled and tried not to fall.

But a couple rounds of Twister with a very hyper (and handsy) Ouma was more than enough to lift your spirits, ending up in a tickling match that had you breathless and giggling.

Rantarou Amami:

The two of you were shopping at the mall, Amami helping you find a dress for a relative’s wedding, when it happened.

Apparently, your ex had finally found a job because he was working at the first store you peeked into, coming up to Amami as you ducked into a changing room

“Hey, dude. I see you’re with (Y/N) there and I figured id give you a heads up about her. She likes chicks, so I figured you’d want to know before you see for yourself.”

“What are you talking about?”

Your ex laughed at Amami’s growing confusion, not realizing the unbridled anger brewing inside him. “Don’t bother asking for a threesome either, little slut likes to keep the bitches for herself.”

“Alright, you need to stop. My girlfriend is wonderful and I know she would never cheat on me, regardless of her sexuality. I don’t know why the two of you broke up but it looks like it was for good reason if this is how you spoke to her. (Y/N), get dressed, we aren’t going to buy anything here.”

You quickly got dressed and followed Amami out, letting him lead you into another store and hiding in a changing room.

“Alright, so I have a feeling there’s something you need to tell me?”

You nod and sit on the bench, Amami holding your hand reassuringly.

“S-so, you probably figured out that I’m bi… I hope it isn’t a problem for you, I swear i-”

Amami leaned down and kissed you sweetly, cutting you off. “Whoa, it’s okay. Two of my sisters are bi, its no big deal. Your not the kind of person who would sleep around, I trust you. Your ex, or whoever he was, isn’t worthy to be around you. You can tell me anything, okay? No matter what, we’ll have a conversation about it and get it figured out, I promise.”

You smiled and stood up to hug him, pressing your face into his chest and relishing in the warmth.

“We still need to find your dress, princess, as much as I would like to stay in here all day.”

You giggled and popped out of the changing room, letting Amami pick out some dresses for you try on, your worries melting away.

Korekiyo Shinguuji:

Korekiyo had convinced you to go around the history museum, spouting off facts as you went from exhibit to exhibit.

It may not have been your favorite date in the world but Korekiyo was clearly in his natural habitat so you were content, it was quite cute to see him bustling around to look at artifacts

It was going great up until a much too familiar face made its appearance, your ex tapping Korekiyo on the shoulder so you would both turn around.

“Well shit, I thought you were a chick. Oh well, this works. Dude, I saw you with (Y/N) and I figured id warn you about her. Shes, like, half lesbian or some shit. Either way, figured you would want to know so you can cut your losses. See ya!”

Before either of you could speak he was gone, leaving you shaking with tears in your eyes, clinging to Korekiyo’s arm. “O-oh god… fuck, I wasn’t going to tell you, I’m s-so sorry Kiyo!”

You were crying hard now and Korekiyo was quick to lead you somewhere else with fewer people, gently rubbing your back.

“Shh, darling, it’s okay. It’s quite common for humans and even animals to have sexual preferences outside of the opposite sex, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

He spoke gently, letting you cry yourself out until you were able to relax a little, getting you to sit down.

“M-my ex… when I told him he f-freaked, he accused me of c-cheating and called me n-names. I was too scared to tell you, I d-didn’t want it to happen again.”

“I would never call you such horrible things, especially when you’ve done nothing wrong. Come on, smile, crying doesn’t suite such a beautiful example of humanity.”

You smiled softly at the compliment, always feeling so special when Korekiyo called you that. Your smile triggered his and you could see it in his eyes as the both of you returned to the exhibit, making sure not to give your ex even a glance as you enjoyed your evening.

Ryoma Hoshi:

You had convinced him to go to a tennis match, the first one in years. The two of you were sitting together, sipping sodas as you watched the players.

“Ryoma, can you explain how this works to me? They keep calling things out but I don’t get it…”

“Love means zero, and-”

He was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder, turning around to see your ex. He had seen a picture before and knew it had ended badly, so why was he talking to you guys?

“Dude, aren’t you that tennis pro who went to jail?”

“Why do you care?”

“Eh, doesn’t matter. I just figured id give you a heads up about your little girlfriend. I don’t know if she told you but there’s a pretty good chance shes fucking a chick behind your back. I never got lucky enough to catch her in the act but oh well, maybe she’ll let you in.”

With that, your ex returned back to his popcorn, muttering under his breath about the match. You had tears in your eyes and Hoshi could see how much you were hurting, looking into your lap as your nails bit into your thighs

Before he has the chance to do anything, a rogue tennis ball flies from the court and hits your ex square in the jaw, pulling a choked laugh from you

Your ex storms off and leaves you with Hoshi, who is looking at you quizzically.

“I-I guess I should explain, huh?”

“You don’t have to, I pretty much get it. Your, what, bi? Or pansexual?”

You nod at the first option, laying your head on Hoshi’s shoulder and smiling softly. “Yeah, bi. I’m sorry for not telling you but after him… i-i couldn’t.”

A quiet kiss on your forehead calms your worries as Hoshi turns back to the game, continuing his explanation of points to you.

#Anonymous #ndrv3 #shuichi saihara #kaito momota #kokichi ouma #ryoma hoshi #korekiyo shinguuji #gonta gokuhara #rantarou amami #kiibo #ndrv3 imagines #ndrv3 headcanons #ndrv3 scenarios

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smolfangirl · 6 years

Text

I could live, I could die, hanging on the words you say

A sound so sweet, of you and me - 7 - First revelation

Extra early today because a few lovely people screamed at me begged for this and I am too excited for you all to read this chapter to say No ^^

Also seriously, go and check out @silveranchor‘s new fic called “Fire on Ice” it’s beyond amazing and deserves all the love! ch1 ch2

Story: In a world where you only know who your soulmate is by calling them by their first name, Matteo soon finds that the smallest words can be the hardest to say.

Word count: 2.7k

“Mh, what did you say, Matteo?”

Seconds passed. Turned into minutes. Stretched into eternity, into a nightmare he knew had no escape. His hand was shaking as he dialed her number.

The first time, he reached her mailbox. He dialed her number again. And again. And again.

By the sixth time, the recorded words were engraved into his brain. Luna here! You can’t reach me right now, but you can leave a message and I’ll call back! Have a nice day!

By the tenth time, he only ever heard his name, his name in her voice, over and over and over. Matteo, Matteo, Matteo. A never-ending chant, leading to a never-ending chain of questions.

Sleep came too late and too restless, with dreams of the moon and six letters haunting him even in the darkest corners of his unconsciousness. The morning didn’t bring any development either, no reply, no answers, no idea what this conversation, this new step brought his way. Their way.

“Oh boy.”

Matteo barely mumbled a greeting into the direction of his best friend as Gastón already noticed the dark circles under his eyes and the grogginess in his movements.

“What’s wrong? With all my love, but you look like shit”, he interrogated, before he clasped his hands over his mouth, a gasp slipping out. “Oh no, something with Luna?”

He sighed, letting his backpack fall on the floor and burying his head in his arms as he sat down. “You could say that.” Though it wasn’t something that bothered him, but the lack of it. The nothingness in which she had seemingly disappeared, although he had waited for her by the doors all morning. Even when the bells demanded him to go to class, he had lingered in front of the school a bit longer, and she still was nowhere to be seen.

If this went on like this, he would lose his mind for sure.

Gastón silently watched Matteo, he felt his impatient eyes burning on his back, so he sat up and began to explain. “She called me last night and we chatted a bit” – he swore he could hear Gastón mumble how pathetic they were – “And then she said my name and hung up. Like, immediately. And now… I have no idea. When I call her, I only reach her mailbox, and I didn’t see her until now either.”

“Wait, hang on. You two never used your names in front of each other? Ever?”

He shook his head.

“Never ever? There wasn’t a single time you called her Luna?”

“No, why would I?”, Matteo said, honestly surprised by how shocked exactly his best friend sounded. “To me, she’s just chica delivery.”

Gastón snorted so loud that it defeated even the noise of their chatting classmates, outstanding like the reflection of a diamond in a room full of candles. “Yeah, we both know that she’s more than that. Besides, you have like a thousand nicknames for her, it’s hard to keep track.”

Only five.

Out loud, he plainly said, “Whatever.”

Their incoming teacher cut their conversation off, and if Matteo was honest, he rarely had felt as glad about a teacher showing up as in this moment.

Naturally, though, one class wasn’t enough to let Gastón forget about this. With the sound of the bell, he turned to Matteo, expectation glimmering in his eyes.

“So, let me see if I got this right. You never said her name, but she said yours last night? For the first time? What now?”

Matteo shrugged. Enough questions wandered through his mind without granting him as much as a second to rest, he didn’t know how to deal with Gastón’s ones as well. “I have no idea. It’s like she was swallowed by the earth, but in the end, we can’t be soulmates anyway. I have you already.”

Silence. He couldn’t hear it anymore, he’d go deaf from it, from the mocking that seemed to come out of this lack of words, like he was supposed to understand a core lesson but failed and no one intended to help him.

“I have two”, Gastón finally admitted, which lowered Matteo’s odds even more, he thought, and he hated it. He hated this situation. Since last night, he felt like someone else, like someone took over him the moment his name came across Luna’s lips and this someone was helpless, clueless. Luna-less.

Without any effort, he heard her voice again, heard the gentleness in her tone. Matteo. If only he knew why she had hung up on him…

They had P.E. before lunch break, and their teacher ordered them to stay longer. Too long. So long in fact that, as Gastón and Matteo reached the cafeteria, neither Luna nor Nina were to be found in the crowd.

Matteo lost all appetite.

“Look, you can think this over for the rest of your life.” Gastón nudged his shoulder after Matteo took two or three hesitant bites of his food (a cheap attempt at Italian pasta) before picking through it with his fork. “Or you just see for yourself. Are you that afraid she’s not the one? And what does this mean anyway? You can still be with her, soulmate or not. Since when is this stopping you?”

These words made it sound easy. Made saying her name sound like the set-up for a fairy-tale ending, beautiful and magical.

Too bad Matteo couldn’t believe them, no matter how he wanted to. More and more doubts leaked into his veins like a running water tap slowly filling a whole bathtub, they spread their poison until he realized a consequence that ripped his heart out of his chest, smashed it into pieces and then stomped upon the remaining shreds.

Luna wasn’t his soulmate. She definitely wasn’t, this phone call was the proof he never wanted. And if she wasn’t, someone else belonged to her in this bond, someone he’d lose her to as soon as they came along.

Someone like Simón.

He had lost her before he even met her. They’d never be more than friends.

With a violent shake of his head, Matteo kicked those thoughts out of his head, he never wanted to stumble upon them ever again, he wanted them gone, deceased, destroyed.

“I like having you as a soulmate”, he said to Gastón. Everything else would have felt too much like a lie.

“Doesn’t change that you are very much in love with her.”

To Solare: I can’t come to the rink today, my dad decided we’d have our weekly family dinner tonight…

Solare: :(

Solare: Hope you have fun

During their last dinner, his dad had complained about his mindlessness, unknowing how much worse it could get, how much worse it was this time. Conversations about work and meetings with people who drove cars even bigger than their egos and time schedules tighter than their customized suits failed to spark any interest in Matteo when he resembled a mess on the inside, a house of cards crumbling from the wind blasting through.

Things got worse when he felt his phone vibrating in the pocket of his jeans. While his mom explained to his dad why they should cancel the reservation for another one of these work dinners and change it into another, probably fancier restaurant, Matteo risked a glance.

Solare: Milkshakes on me after training tomorrow?

To Solare: Sure

Solare: I can’t wait

“Matteo!” Rolling thunder echoed in the voice of his dad. He slid the phone back into his pocket, but it was too late. “No phones by the table, how many times do I have to tell you?”

“I’m sorry”, he mumbled.

“Was it something important?”, his mom wanted to know, her tone indefinitely sweeter, as if she caught the tiniest grin tugging at his lips when he thought about seeing Luna tomorrow, about her text and how she felt as impatient to talk to him as he did.

Yet, Matteo denied. She wasn’t his soulmate and therefore of no interest for his parents.

“Good, then you can listen now. Your mom and I will travel to Italy for a few weeks, so you’re going to be alone in that time. No parties, no alcohol, and you’ll call us every week as usually.”

“Yes, Dad.”

Out of all things in his family, an empty house was the most common one for Matteo, something he’d grown used to at the age of roughly ten, eleven years. And as long as they didn’t take him along, it meant he could stay with his friends, in his school, it meant not moving again. It meant home.

It meant being able to figure out what happened with Luna. What would happen, too.

The next morning arrived too late and too soon, as he laid his eyes on her and hadn’t settled on any plan, any questions to ask her. He had nothing prepared but a smile on his lips as she walked in his direction. “Hey, astronaut! How was your family dinner?”

Astronaut.

A nickname, like his first name never sprung out of her lips, like she had no clue what she did to him. Astronaut. No, Matteo didn’t like it. He didn’t feel like it. He felt like screaming, like shouting every single word that messed him up since she had hung up and pretended this phone call was nothing but ordinary.

Yet, Matteo didn’t scream.

He didn’t ask.

He simply shrugged and returned her hug. “As usual. How was your movie night with Simón? You’re still doing that, right?”

“Yup, we are, and it was nice. Although I hope it won’t be a horror movie next time.” A fond expression hushed over her face when she looked at him, meanwhile Matteo gladly noticed no jealousy bothered him.

A blush spread on her cheeks, pastel like a winter sunset, and it was both beautiful and suspicious. “Although he tried to do puns at some point and well, Gastón is so much better at this.”

“No way, Gastón is horrible at doing puns.”

“I fear you might be a bit biased here.” She grinned at him, head slightly tilted to meet his eyes, and he felt torn between keeping it at this light banter or to dive down into the depths of a talk about first names and soulmates.

In the end, he shrugged it off. “Biased? Me? Never.”

Luna laughed, only to shake her head at him. “Sure. Anyway, chico fresa, I have to go and find Nina, see you later?”

Of course, Matteo thought. She’d see him in their lunch break and at training and for milkshakes afterwards. She’d see him, he’d see her, yet he wasn’t ready to let go of her just yet. He craved more of her, of his personal sunshine. “Can’t you talk to her in the breaks?”

Luna stared at him, eyes filled with a sparkle he failed to understand, and a smile too sad for her usual happy self. “No, it’s important. I should have talked to her about something yesterday already, but I didn’t.”

Just like we should have talked yesterday but didn’t.

“Everything okay?”

She nodded, and like that, she disappeared into the hallway.

Contrary to Gastón’s beliefs (and endless puns), Matteo struggled to follow their physics class. Thoughts passed through his mind like a train following old railways that lead everywhere and nowhere. Thoughts of Luna like a train he couldn’t leave.

Matteo was in love with Luna, he realized that now, in a love that made him ache for her every single time she was around. And even more when she wasn’t. His whole body was shaking, aching under the desire to kiss her, to pull her closer.

But someone like her, someone so pure and sweet and radiant, would never be his soulmate, in no way be the soulmate of a lost boy like him. The pain of realizing this, of feeling nothing when he said her name, would be too much.

So, as his teacher went on about calculations and deductions, Matteo swore himself to not once let her name slip out in front of her, not when he remembered the silence at the other end of the line when she said his name… he couldn’t. He never could, and he realized it the same moment he knew Gastón was right.

He truly was hopelessly in love with her.

“Can I ask you a question?”

Luna sat in front of him – a rare occurrence as she lately preferred to sit so close to him their knees bumped against each other from time to time – and took a sip out of her mango milkshake.

“You just did”, he shot back, leaning into the cushion of the couch as he tried to look more casual than he felt.

“Sometimes, I really don’t like you.” Matteo laughed before he blew a kiss in her direction.

“I mean it”, she pouted.

“I just meant that kiss too, or do you doubt me?”

Whenever he found no smile on her face, the way her eyes took over her face surprised him, the pull coming out of this glowing emerald green. Like now, when she stared at him, a bit deadpan.

“Okay, what do you want to know?”, he asked.

“How did you and Gastón find out you are soulmates?”

“Easy”, Matteo smirked, memories of this day popping up, even sweeter now that he got to still be around this place, his friends. “It was my first day in school here, and the teacher assigned me to sit next to him. I said it, then he did and yeah… since then we’ve been soulmates.”

Whatever she had expected, apparently this hadn’t been it. “Wait, that’s all? Were you always that direct?”

Her hand fidgeted with the straw of her abandoned shake, her gaze avoiding him. Matteo would give everything to hear what went on inside her head.

“Yes, I don’t see the use in dreading this whole name thing.”

“I don’t see the use in dreading this whole name thing.”

Then why do you dread it so much with me? That question sat on the tip of Luna’s tongue, right at the very front, burning her whole mouth. Too eager to blurt it out, she still never found the courage to ask. Instead, she went for another question – she had a lot of those recently, they crashed down on her like a waterfall, soaked her until even her bones began freezing. “Okay, and how did it feel? How did you know?”

“I’m not sure.” He rested his head against the cushion, lost in memories. “Intense, definitely. My heart was racing. Like, for a moment it felt like I wasn’t even in that room anymore. And then, I just knew.”

She nodded, her own memories drawing her in. They only let her go when Matteo shot a question of his own to her. “Why so curious now, chica delivery?”

Out of a good excuse, it took her a painfully long moment to answer. “I never got to ask, that’s all. Nothing more.”

Luckily for her, he bought into her cover. “How was it with you and Simón?”, Matteo then added, studying the left-overs of his milkshake. (Strawberry. She wondered if he chose it on purpose, plainly to mess with her. Or if it was another habit he picked up and couldn’t drop now.)

“Wait, what?”

“What?”

Confusion haunted his beautiful face. Even with the frown on it he looked stunning, like something that belonged into an art gallery, not into a small, insignificant place like this.

She wondered if she ever grew tired of memorizing his beauty. Probably not.

“Hang on, you are not soulmates? Simón is really just your best friend?”

Luna mirrored his frown. “Yeah. Why? Did you really think…?” She couldn’t even finish the sentence, so absurd seemed this idea to her. She loved Simón, a lot, but soulmates? It was too big a word for them, despite their closeness and familiarity with each other.

He ruffled through his hair. “Always seemed like it.” At this point, the frown melted away like ice cream in the summer sun – and a minute later, his smile was the sun and her whole body made of ice cream.

“You look happy about that”, she said. A cough accompanied her weak attempt at teasing him, however, he still looked away with a hint of guilt trapped in his expression.

“Never.”

His smile told her the opposite.

She loved that smile.

#soy luna #lutteo #my sl fanfiction #a sound so sweet of you and me #mari tika please don't kill me #I still want to be around to see how ya'll like chapter 8 because I am so so thrilled to post that one

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