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purpleyellow · 4 years ago

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Recovery pt 2

Seventeen 14th member

Hayun’s masterlist

“She’s home, and it’s time for the 97+maknae liners to watch Hayun”

a/n: Some of these are shorter, so I apologize. Also, I couldn’t find gifs of mingyu and dino that fit the “aesthetic” so sorry again. Feel free to let me know your thoughts as well as send me some requests💙. Ask box is also open to random chats.

The8

(italics are Chinese)

“Myungho!” Hayun called out from her spot on the couch and waited for a few seconds before screaming again “Minghao! The8! Whatever name you respond to”

“I’m here woman, calm down” The boy rolled his eyes as she extended her arms to give him her notebook. Minghao took it without a second glance and sat on the floor next to her to read the sentences she had written since he had last left her. “Nice job”

“Do you have any pointers to give me?” She smiled paddling her feet on the couch and he gave her back the notebook.

“Your calligraphy still sucks” He snickered making her chuckle “But I told you that the last three times you called me”

“Yeah, you did,” Hayun twisted her pen, looking from her laptop to the pages before noticing the boy hadn’t left like the previous times “What?”

“Why the sudden interest in Chinese?” He blatantly said, making her close her notebook and shrug her shoulders.

“I needed something to distract me and turns out it’s very easy to get a language certificate through the internet,” The girl said without a break, smiling triumphantly at the end which made him giggle at her proud face. “I might need you to help me revise some stuff though”

“I don’t have much time before I need to go back to pledis so write down your questions and I’ll help you when I get back” He patted her arm and got up from the floor.

“Yeah, go ahead and leave me like everyone else” Hayun threw her head back dramatically making him look at her sassily.

“You do know we’re making you richer right?”

“Yes. And you know that I like to communicate with people” She raised a finger and poked his chest “And I can’t do that if someone is not around to teach me their mother tongue”

“Isn’t three languages enough for you?”

“I want to be one of those smug polyglots. Once you’re done with me I’ll call Yuto to help me with Japanese. There’s this idol who can speak German I think, I’ll talk to him too” She joked with a wink and Minghao shook his head laughing.

Mingyu

Mingyu pushed the door with his elbow and set the tray of food on Hayun’s nightstand. Pushing her arm until she woke up from, what he assumed, her nap.

“What?” She groaned holding his hand and turning away from him.

“I made you food” Mingyu chanted sitting on the bad and moving the platter to his lap

“Is it pizza?” She asked, burying her face in the pillow.

“No?”

“Then I don’t want it”

“Noona, you have to in order to get better soon” The boy rolled his eyes poking her side and she groaned again.

“Is it ramen?”

“No” He answered, expecting her to at least sit up to see what it was. In reality, Hayun stayed still in her spot, pretending to fall asleep again and have him go away. Huffing, Minngyu poked her again “I tried a new recipe, you need to help me see if it’s tasty or not”

Raising her head like he expected, she checked what he had brought and whined while sitting properly.

“You made soup” The girl pouted making him laugh. “I want something greasy”

“You can’t have anything greasy for now” Mingyu shook his head and brought the spoon out of the bowl, leaning forward to feed her a little “Say ahh”

Shutting her mouth, Hayun shook her head making him groan and retreat the spoon annoyed. Smiling mischievously, she opened her mouth again and as the boy took the bowl out of his lap she instantly closed it.

“Can you be a little cooperative?” Mingyu complained laughing and she shrugged, allowing him to properly feed her a spoonful. “How is it?”

Making a disgusted face, Hayun quickly changed it to a pondering one and then smiled satisfied.

“Not bad, Chef Gyu”

“Not bad” He repeated her in English making her laugh and nod.

“Next time, maybe add a little more spice”

“A package arrived for you” Seokmin sang while walking inside Hayun’s room and she shot up from her bed “Wait, calm down. We don’t need your stitches to rip open”

“I’m taking them off tomorrow” She rolled her eyes taking the package from him. As he was walking away she waved him inside, shaking the big box with a smile “Stay, you’re going to like what I ordered”

“Ohh, what is it?” He sat along with her on her bed and helped her rip open the cardboard.

“I ordered a hammock” Hayun smiled satisfied as she made her way to the fabric “I’m going to hang it in my room and chill in it”

“Cool,” Dokyeom got up, holding an end of the object and spreading it out so they could get a perfect view “How are you going to hang it?”

“Uh?” The girl blinked, her smile turning to a frown as she looked at him.

“The hammock. You’re going to need a place to hang it”

“Oh. True” She sighed and let go of her end, throwing her body back on the bed and repressing a very mild discomfort. “I didn’t think about that”

“I guess we’re going to need a drill or something professional like that” The boy kept muttering, walking around her room while looking at the walls and dragging the hammock along the floor.

“There must be a tutorial somewhere on the internet. I’ll look for it later” She sighed carefully pulling herself upwards. “Or you know… my very strong groupmates can hold it up while I lay in it”

“Ah, I think you got the wrong person” DK shook his head grinning and she leaned her head forward doing the same movement.

“No, I don’t. C’mon, Seokmin-ah. Do a favor for your sick Noona” She smirked, making him tumble laughing.

“Wow, just a minute ago there was nothing wrong with you” He managed to say in between laughs and she grinned, leaning on her side and shrugging calmly.

Seungkwan

“Are you going to hold my hand?” Hayun asked Sengkwan as soon as they made it to the hospital, the boy rolling his eyes with a big exhale before taking her hand in his and making her laugh “I meant when they take out the stitches dummy”

“Of course I knew that” He scoffed, throwing her hand away. In revenge, Hayun looped her arm around his waist and forcefully made him hug her shoulder as they walked together. Whining, Seungkwan said under his breath “Noona, not here”

“There’s no one in the hallway, stop pouting” Hayun giggled gently slapping his butt, which caused him to widen his eyes and look around to see if she was telling the truth.

“Aren’t you a little bit worried?”

“Not really. I’ve had stitches before” She shrugged as they walked inside a room and sat on a waiting list. “But in all seriousness, I do want you to hold my hand while they do it”

“Why?” He whined again resting his head on her shoulder. “You said you weren’t scared”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t want some support”

“Okay then” He sighed and they stayed in silence for a few seconds before Seungkwan turned to her serious “You’re probably not going to like hearing this”

“Oh my, what did you do?”

“Nothing. I just feel bad” The boy took her hand again and looked down ashamed “I kind of feel better about not doing the entire performance after you had to step out”

“What?” Hayun frowned and he shook his head, realizing how that sounded.

“I’m not glad that you had to take a break. The members know I complain about wanting you with us all the time” He smiled gently making her chuckle “It just made me realize how lucky I am that I didn’t have to sit out everything”

“Strangely enough I don’t feel attacked at all” Hayun laughed patting his head and gesturing for him to rest on her shoulder again “I’m glad you didn’t have to either Boo. Please keep taking better care of yourself”

Vernon

“Is that my sister?” Vernon frowned, leaning down over the back of the couch to check out Hayun’s phone.

“Oopsies, gotta go,” Sofia said over facetime and instantly hung up the call, making the boy frown at his own reflection on the black screen.

“You were facetiming my sister?” He looked at Hayun confused and walked around to sit next to her.

“Yeah actually. I do talk fairly often with your mom too.” She quirked up an eyebrow and crossed her arms “You better step up your technology game because I’m stealing your family”

“What?” He chuckled, leaning back and taking her phone to check the latest calls, laughing harder when he realized she was telling the truth.

“I mean it, boy. Your mom said she’s getting me a Christmas stocking this year”

“Well, you’re going to be a great addition to the family” Vernon snickered not knowing if she was being honest or not.

“I’m aware”

“Are you going to do something right now?” He asked side-eyeing her and she shook her head “Good. I’m going to need you to help me out with something I composed”

“You know. Technically I’m still on my work hiatus” She smirked poking his side and Vernon snorted. “But, we are at home after all so I don’t think that’s a problem”

“I know, that’s why I asked” He laughed and opened an app on his phone.

Dino

“You’re not supposed to be here,” Hayun said as soon as she heard Dino entering the room backstage.

“You came!” The boy beamed running to hug her and she replied with a giggle rubbing his back.

“I wanted to surprise you guys after the last stage” She smiled and shrugged looking to see if anyone else was around “Please don’t tell the others”

“Okay. Oh my, I saw you this morning but I can’t believe you are here” The boy chuckled making her pat his cheek.

“Why did you come back?” Hayun asked frowning “You’re supposed to be on stage in two minutes”

“I left my phone inside my pocket again” Chan giggled embarrassed and took the device, setting it on the table. “Aren’t you going to be lonely while we’re gone”

“Nah. I’ll look around to see if there’s anyone bored too”

“You were supposed to say ‘watching you is enough for me’” Dino made an annoyed face and both of them started laughing.

“I’ll look around after watching the performance, don’t worry” She rolled her eyes and held his hand “Talking about it. If you guys come back and I’m not here text me. I either lost track of time or one of the managers sent me home”

“The managers don’t know you’re here?” He said amused “How did you even come? You’re driving already?”

“I took a cab. But now that you said, I can drive again. I don’t know why I didn’t do that”

“Okay, Noona” Dino laughed stealing a look at the clock “I have to go, please don’t wander around too much”

“Good luck with the performance!” Hayun smiled sending him a flying kiss before he bolted off the room.

#Hayun #seventeen 14th member #seventeen oc #seventeen au #Seventeen Additional Member #seventeen addition #seventeen female addition #seventeen female member #seventeen female oc #seventeen extra member #seventeen imagines #seventeen x oc #seventeen x 14th member #kpop addition #kpop au #kpop #female!oc #female!kpop #female!addition

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mischiefandspirits · 3 years ago

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Oldest and Newest

Damian tugged down his face mask as he looked out over Gotham city. He was finally here.

After two decades of anticipation, after nearly a decade of work, it should have been a happy occasion.

He tugged the mask back up as he heard a scream nearby.

He stopped three muggings, saved a woman from assault, and stopped a robbery by the time a flicker of purple started following him.

He scared off some men that were following a woman then pretended to take off northward before ducking around a water tower and sneaking up on his pursuer as they tried to follow. He took them in before approaching.

They looked about five foot six. The dark body armor and cloak hid their build some, but the way they carried themself proved they were muscular even if not overly broad. As he grew closer, he could see that the armor was primarily black with dark purple detailing that matched the cloak’s color. They also wore a full face mask like his friend Vesper’s, though theirs had white lenses that stood out against the black fabric instead of being completely black like the older vigilante. They were cautious, yet sure-footed as they raced over the rooftops which showed a familiarity with the territory and an understanding of its dangers.

Similarly, their growing annoyance showed they’d realized they’d lost him so Damian swooped in to pin them against an air conditioning unit. They tried to throw him off, but his larger size and superior skills kept them pinned long enough to bind their hands and tie them to the unit.

“Who are you and why are you following me?” he growled, crossing his arms and looming over them.

They stared at him for a moment, head tilting to the side, then snorted. “No wonder he got mistaken for B a few times. Are you seeing this guy?” the young woman -- judging by her voice -- muttered to herself before saying, “I’m Spoiler and I’m following you because you randomly showed up in Gotham and started playing vigilante. Don’t you know Batman doesn’t like that?”

“And yet, here you are doing the same.”

“Excuse you, I’m Batman’s partner. I earned my place on these rooftops.”

“Right.”

She tilted up her chin and crossed her arms. “I am!”

Damian frowned, but didn’t move to redo the ties she’d slipped. Vesper had told him that his father was a solo hero. Batman worked with the Justice League and the Birds of Prey as necessary, but he’d never had a permanent confidant or taken on an apprentice like some of the other heroes. The closest thing he had to partners were the Batgirls. According to Vesper, though, neither ever developed a close bond with the man. The two might be called in as backup or would team up with his father when their paths crossed, but they never depended on one another. His father was more of an inspiration, patron, and occasional teammate than a partner to either woman.

Spoiler didn’t seem to be lying, however, and appeared too forward to be capable of deceiving him. Had something changed in the four years since he’d talked to Vesper? Perhaps he should have gone with his original plan of waiting to go out until after he’d spoken with her the next day after all.

Hindsight and such were not going to change the present, however.

He looked over the woman again. Girl, he realized. Given her proportions, she was likely in her mid-teens though he could be wrong as the armor was rather concealing. An apprentice, then, which explained why she had not fallen beside her supposed partner. The mission his father perished on must have been deemed too dangerous for her to accompany him.

He carefully thought over his next words. He was not ready to announce his presence yet as clearly he had some research to do and he needed to speak with Vesper. He also didn’t know how trustworthy Spoiler was. Even if she was telling the truth about being his father’s partner, that did not tell him just how far his father’s trust in her went and therefore how far he should trust her in turn.

He stepped back from the girl, dropping his arms and attempting to take on a less antagonistic posture. “Then I am sorry for your loss.”

“Loss?” Spoiler questioned.

“Batman’s death,” he answered slowly. Had no one told her?

“What? Batman’s not dead.”

Oh, no, she was simply trying to hide the truth. “My contacts within the Justice League say otherwise.”

Batman's death had left Flamebird uncharacteristically despondent of late, understandably given how close his father and Damian’s were and the fact Flamebird had been on the mission where Batman perished.

“Someone’s going to get an ass beating,” she muttered, storming to her feet. She poked him in the chest. “So what, you find out Batman’s gone and decide that means you have a free pass to just do whatever you want in my city.”

Damian pushed her hand away, fighting down the urge to stab it. “As I think we’ve established, I had no idea you existed. I simply had business in Gotham and thought I’d do some good for a recently undefended city.”

“Yeah, well, now you know the city is being defended.”

“By a child, yes,” Damian scoffed before he could stop himself and the girl bristled.

“Who the fickle frack are you to judge me?”

After being momentarily stunned by her euphemism, he answered, “I am Ẓill.”

She stared at him and slowly shook her head. “Yeah, no offense, it’s def a me problem, but if I try to say that I will totally beat it to hell and back with a tire iron then set it on fire and spit on it just for good measure. Is that an alien language?”

“Arabic.”

“Shit. Yeah, okay, that’s why I’m sticking to the Romance languages for now.” She glanced to the side. “Do you know Arabic?”

“I-” he started, but she waved him quiet.

“I thought you were going to learn after the last run-in with… Okay, yeah, that’s fair. So… Well of course he can, the little polyglot.” She turned back to Damian as he started to wonder if the girl was insane. “So your name translates to Shadow. Mind if I just call you that because, again, I will not be responsible for the atrocity that leaves my mouth if I try to pronounce Arabic without time to practice.”

“Shadow is fine.” She wouldn’t be the first, as it had taken both Flamebird and Beacon awhile to learn how to pronounce his name properly, and the Ismoian still called him that on occasion as a nickname. More accurately she called him Shadow the Hedgehog, but that was a reference he refused to investigate given Flamebird’s reaction to it. “Who are you talking to?”

She gestured to the side of her head. “Augur. He’s our eye-in-the-sky computer guy. Hacking, running comms, information gathering, strategy, all that fun stuff.”

“I thought Oracle worked with Batman when he needed assistance with that.”

“Oracle? I mean, she helped train Augur and helps out when he needs a hand, but she’s got the Birds of Prey and Vesper, not to mention helping out the Justice League sometimes. I think she used to do a lot more for Batman back before Augur, but she’s got her own shit to do now. Augur’s our main man.”

He really should have waited to speak to Vesper. Clearly his information was more out of date than he thought.

“So, Shadow Weaver, what brings you to Gotham then?”

“Shadow Weaver?” He growled when she nodded, radiating amusement. That was clearly another reference he didn’t want to know anything about. “My being here is none of your concern.”

“Random unknown vigilantes being in my city are, like, the definition of my concern,” she said, cocking a hip.

“Your city?”

“Yeah, my city. So either tell me why you’re here or get lost.”

“And if I don’t?”

She shifted into a fighting stance. “I’ll make you.”

Damian snorted at the threat, then was yanked backward by his hood. He brought his hand up to defend, which was knocked aside.

He froze when he recognized the featureless mask staring down at him.

“I told you to keep your head down,” Vesper reprimanded, poking him in the forehead.

“If you had warned me that Batman had picked up a disciple this wouldn’t have happened,” he huffed and Spoiler pretended to gag.

“Ew, gross, don’t call me that. Makes it sound like I worship B or something, which, yeah, no.”

“Stop picking fights with Spoiler,” Vesper said and poked his forehead again. “Batman is already going to be mad enough.”

Damian’s eyes darted away from his friend and, behind Vesper, he saw Spoiler flinch.

Vesper let him back up and shoved him away. She turned to Spoiler. “I’ll deal with him. He’s a friend. Sorry.”

The girl nodded and left.

“Come on.”

The older vigilante led him to the rooftop of a clock tower. She used a biometric scanner to unlock a hidden hatch and they slipped inside, dropping down ropes into a workspace.

There was an elaborate computer setup in one corner, oddly lacking a chair, and a workout space in the other. Mirroring that was a modest medical area in one corner and a kitchenette in the other with seating at the island. Elevator doors stood between the computers and medical area while a couch and some chairs sat at the center of the room.

Pulling off her hood and mask, Cassandra led him to the couch. He removed his own hood and mask then pulled his katana off his back to lean against his leg as he sat next to her on the couch.

“You look good,” she said, glancing over him.

“You too. It’s good to see you again.”

She nodded, then lightly slapped his arm. “What were you thinking, Damian? I know I told you how protective Batman is of his territory.”

Damian’s left hand came up to trace the phoenix engraved onto his right bracer. “When was the last time you spoke to someone in the Justice League?”

She frowned, studying him. “I have been on an Outsiders mission for the past month, and was busy with a show the month before that. If Oracle has worked with them in that time, she hasn’t said anything. Why?”

“A little under a month ago, a JL team went on a mission. I don’t know the full details, but it had something to do with Darkseid and… Batman did not make it back.”

She didn’t react visibly, but her voice was soft when she asked, “You are sure?”

“Jon was on the mission. He said Batman was vaporized right before their eyes. I’m sorry.”

She bowed her head and closed her eyes. After her moment of silence, she looked up at him, face blank. “Why?”

“Why?”

“Why are you here? Why do you care? You’ve always been interested in Batman, but this is… more.”

He sat up straight, hands fisting on his thighs. “I told you my name was Damian Naji, but that was a lie. My name is actually Damian al Ghul. My mother is Talia al Ghul… and my father was Batman.”

She studied him. “Batman… did not know?”

“Not as far as I am aware. Mother told me she told him she miscarried because I would be a distraction to him and the cause. After everything you’ve told me about him, I think she and Grandfather were just worried he’d take me from them. If she told him after I left, I don’t know.”

“Why didn’t you tell him? You could have come to him for help when you ran away from the League.”

“Tt. You know how I was back then. I was everything Father stood against. He wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with me. Not until I could prove I was worthy of him.”

She reached out to take his hand. “That’s not true. He knew my past and he accepted me.”

“You killed one person, instantly regretted it, and never killed again. I spent almost ten years as an assassin. It’s not the same. Besides, you were just an occasional teammate. I’m…”

“His son. Which is exactly why I know he would have loved you. Batman cares deeply for those who he considers his own. Even Oracle and I. He keeps -” She frowned and looked down. “He kept his distance from us, but only because he felt he didn’t have a right to us. Oracle had a parent and was independent, only needing help getting her feet under her. I was an adult, legally, when we met and Oracle took on my training since she was the one who found me and had practice working with younger heroes due to assisting Black Canary with the Justice League’s minor division. Had he found you, though, he wouldn’t have hesitated. You would have been his.

“He would not have been happy about how you were raised, but he still would have loved you. He would not have turned you away, even if you had wanted to continue down the path of an assassin. He would have seen that wasn’t what you wanted, though, and taught you a new way. You would not have had to do it on your own.”

Damian shook his head. “No, I had to prove that I wasn’t what my mother made me. I had to prove I could follow his rules, only then could I present myself as his heir.”

“You wouldn’t have had to prove anything to him.”

He pulled his hand away to trail it against his bracer again. “Perhaps you are right. You knew him better than I. But I did have to prove it to myself.”

She shook her head and wrapped an arm around his shoulders despite him being a head taller and twice as wide. “How?”

“My first kill was on my sixth birthday. I was fifteen when we met and I decided to leave behind the League’s ways in favor of Father’s. It… took me longer than I liked to push through the instincts to kill so on my sixteenth birthday I made an oath. Ten years of saving lives to atone for ten years of taking them. Only if I reached my twenty-sixth birthday without taking another life would I come to Gotham.”

“That is why you’ve come.”

“No, my birthday is still a few months away, but… Jon told me what happened. I realized I was too late so I am here to… I thought if I could never present myself to Father absolved of guilt, I could at least protect the city he devoted himself to since I believed it was now undefended.”

“You did not know about the others,” she chuckled.

“You told me he worked alone,” he growled.

“He did when we last spoke.” She pulled away, tilting her head. “Am I your only source for information?”

“Yes. I did not know if I could trust any other source given his reclusiveness.”

“But I only told you about Batman. What about behind the man under the cowl?”

He slumped back against the couch.

“You do not know who he is,” she said, amusement in her voice.

“Mother always told me I would learn who he was when I’d earned it. The only things I know are that I am his only family and heir. That’s why I asked you to meet me. I wanted to do this properly and cover his responsibilities in and out of the mask, but I can’t do that without knowing who he is. I’d hoped that either you would know or you could help me figure it out.”

She hummed and glanced to the side.

He followed her gaze to see a clock on the wall. It was nearing two in the morning.

Suddenly she hopped to her feet and dragged him up. “You said you are staying at Hotel Belle Monico?”

“Yes, room 3215.”

“Go straight back there and get changed.”

He nodded, figuring she wanted to get some rest. “Alright. I’ll see you later then.”

After getting her confirmation, he climbed up the ropes and did as told. It only took him fifteen minutes to get back to his room and another twenty to change out of his vigilante attire, lock all his gear away, shower, and put on his sleeping clothes. Once that was done he started to debate whether or not to get some sleep or do a bit of research first.

A knock came at his door.

He grabbed the small dagger he kept on him at all times and palmed one of the knives he’d hidden around the room as he approached the door. He peeked through the peephole, then tucked both weapons into his waistband and opened the door.

Cassandra had lost her own suit in favor of a casual teal dress and gold-brown leggings. She frowned as she took him in and started shoving him further into the room before he could say anything. “Get dressed.”

“What’s going on?”

“Clothes.”

Well aware he wasn’t going to get anything out of her, he slipped into the suite's bedroom and changed into some slacks and a polo.

“Good,” she said when he came out, then turned on her heel and left.

He quickly followed after grabbing his wallet and one of the room’s keycards.

“Where are we going?” he asked once they were in the elevator, but she just smiled at him.

The silence continued as they climbed into her car and she drove them through the city. He tried to ask again when they crossed a bridge out of the main city and into a neighborhood filled with mansions and old manors, but she remained tight-lipped until they pulled up to the gate of a larger manor.

She rolled down the window and hit the call button, which was soon answered over the video screen by an older gentleman in a butler’s uniform.

“Ah, hello, Ms. Cain,” the man said in a warm, British accent. “I was told you might make an appearance, but I didn’t think it would be so soon.”

“Hello, Alfred. Should this wait?”

“No, you might as well come in now. They’re all still awake after tonight’s events,” he sighed and the gates began to creak open.

“Sorry,” she said and he waved her off before the screen went dark.

Curiosity itched at Damian, but he stayed quiet as Cassandra drove up to the front door and they climbed out.

Alfred met them at the door. He gave Cassandra a kind smile then turned it to Damian. “Always a pleasure, Ms. Cain. And who is this?”

She looped her arm around one of Damian’s. “An old friend. Alfred, this is Damian Wayne. Damian, this is Alfred Pennyworth.”

He didn’t react to the name, assuming she’d just given him an alias, but the calculating expression on Alfred’s face as he stared at Damian’s had him second-guessing the assumption.

The expression was quickly replaced by a sad smile, however, as the man stepped back to allow them into the manor. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Master Damian.”

“You as well, Mr. Pennyworth.”

“Just Alfred, my boy. Please come in. The others are winding down in the family room.”

“Thank you, Alfred,” Cassandra said, then led Damian into the house by his arm. They went up the main staircase in the entrance hall and into the first door on the left where they found a room inhabited by a group of children.

The oldest were a pair of teenagers sitting on the couch.

The girl was white, but tanned with long blonde hair pulled into a messy braid and dark green eyes. She was thin but muscular and he could see her arms were covered in small scars thanks to her Gotham Sirens tank top. She was cradling a sleeping infant who was wrapped in a Wonder Woman blanket and clutching a stuffed Batman.

The other teen was more androgynous, body hidden under an overly large White Arrow hoodie and Supergirl sweat pants. They were Latine with their skin a pale brown and their eyes a silvery blue. Their hair was black and chin-length. They had a video game controller on their lap and a tablet in their hands.

The next oldest was a preteen boy with a book sitting sideways in an armchair, back against one arm and legs draped over the other. He was fair with freckles speckling his face around his navy eyes. His hair was short and a dark red, almost black color. He was thin and muscular like the girl, but there was a touch of broadness to his shoulders that spoke of a bulkiness to come with puberty. A German Shepherd was squeezed onto the chair with him, half-tucked under the boy's legs with his head on the boy's stomach for pets.

The last child was a few years younger than the preteen. He both had the most conditioned and the least combative build of the children, having more of a gymnast's figure. His skin was of a similar olive tone to Damian’s, though a few shades lighter, and his curly hair was brown-black. Damian couldn’t see his eyes as he was dozing on a rug in front of the tv with a three-legged pitbull puppy, both curled around a large stuffed elephant. A video game controller was abandoned behind the boy.

The three awake children turned to Damian and Cassandra when they entered. They all greeted her warmly, but the girl and boy eyed him warily while the androgynous teen studied him with sharp curiosity.

“Who’s your friend, Cassie?” the boy asked.

Cassandra shoved Damian further into the room. “Your brother.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So last month I made a post asking if anyone had written a story where the Robins' ages were reversed as is the trope, but they still got taken in by Bruce in the same order as well as giving some ideas for how that could work. No one ever got back to me on if that was already a thing so I figured I might as well write out one of the scenes that really caught my interest when brainstorming.

#batfam #damian wayne #cass cain #stephanie brown #batman #rabno #fanfiction

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sugar-petals · 5 years ago

Note

I see that lately you’ve been reblogging the ice skating guy. Could you introduce him to us in the caro way??👀

i see, i see. you are falling for the beautiful ice skating guy. with delight do i talk about him. ♥︎ who are you asking about, then?

shōma uno (22) of nagoya, japan, the dreamiest ice angel you will ever see:

lucky newcomer stans: shoma is extremely easy to spot. 5′2, soulful, sparkly, and always headed for the podium because his artistry fucking slaps. this angel is the latest olympic silver medalist ✨

if you see a petite, serious-looking guy with thighs for the gods and impossibly elegant upper body work, you can be sure it’s him.

off the ice, look for this: the supreme doe face. dark uwu eyes, wide baby cheeks, 100% shook. needless to say: it’s over when he looks at you like that.

something else to watch for when you want to spot the angel. his primary hobby is sleeping lmao! shoma naps everywhere. once, he was so exhausted, he was found cutely slumbering before his olympic press conference.

meanwhile, his presence on the ice? expressive, alluring, aptly sensual start to finish. sometimes feisty, even. he saves all his energy and then delivers. it’s ballet on blades. the guy puts so much passion into his choreo.

youtube

most well-known are the moments when he ends his program and switches back to his normal cute mode. that’s when you see the puppy gaze return.

bc the thing is: you won’t see shoma’s feistiness elsewhere. the japanese are already very reserved and shy, but he’s made an art form of it. his voice is quite light and high, that contributes to the effect. i have not seen one interview where he tries to stand out or embellish his answers. shoma stays true to his unobtrusive character, you’ll see him spaced out 90% of the time.

shoma is often freightened by social settings and fan service. if you didn’t know how he’s on the ice, you can easily get the impression that he’s avoidant or insecure. but it’s just this: he’d rather be gaming or eating than get animated and play celebrity. you have a cozy introvert here. he’s in the game since he’s 5 years old but still doesn’t show himself off, he’s in his own sphere.

you might see him look overwhelmed pretty often, but the flipside of the coin is, shoma is humble and doesn’t act out of arrogance. for a skater this great, his ego is minimum inflated. he doesn’t like putting himself in the center. legend has it he could always win gold but takes default silver out of politeness 😂

what he does like and respond to is getting direct praise. shoma lives for encouragement. that shit flusters him immensely, and it’s something he accepts. when he’s uneasy in crowds he doesn’t smile very often. but to this day, fans shouting ‘shoma, you’re so cute’ before he starts to skate has proven to lift his spirits effortlessly. last time it happened, he immediately cracked a smile:

now, there is plenty to compliment.

i mean, look. the sheer athleticism of this man. god knows how high he jumps.

from facial expressions to hand postures, everything captures the music. he looks fantastic.

shoma has great sense of dramatism. what you’re seeing is always art.

shoma’s infamous signature move is the cantilever. you can see why. the audience is losing their minds every time.

what else to praise? the absolutely beautiful costumes.

shoutout to satomi ito who designs these.

the #1 shoma praise bot is skating god yuzuru hanyu (aka current reigning olympic gold medalist) himself. imagine this: a baby is babied by a fellow but slightly older baby. yuzu said this about shoma: “he is like a puppy!” what you see is what you get, shoma is as adorable as he looks.

so, yuzu takes good care of him and makes sure smol shoma is always included even if he’s getting shy. even since the early days:

if you ask me, team japan couldn’t be any more handsome and princely. the sheer combined power of cuteness and skill. you’ll hear from these lovelies.

shoma and his younger brother itsuki are also pretty much inseparable. goals, this is the softest sibling insta you will ever see. once again, with sleepy shoma.

baby photos included. faith in humanity restored.

he also has wholesome interactions with his idol and fellow skater daisuke takahashi. dai is a funky, bubbly personality and complements shoma’s introversion really well.

another important person to shoma, if not the most decisive recently, is retired world champion stéphane lambiel. yes, this handsome swiss glamazon.

shoma went through a highly distressing period of being coachless last year. he parted ways with machiko yamada and mihoko higuchi (below) who were his coaches for 16 (!) years. they were a dream team.

so that he decided to go for something new ended up as the most heartbreaking shit. he lost his inspiration and will for skating and kept dropping to lower rankings. he broke down in competitions because his fans were cheering for him even if his skating deteriorated and he felt undeserving. 2019 was shoma’s existential crisis. he went to several camps to try out coaches, to no avail.

enter coach stéphane! who started to work with him last winter. oh thank god. lo and behold, shooms has been consistently improving and getting very smiley (!) ever since. these two go together like fries and ketchup.

so, guess who is currently training in switzerland now. whole new world for the little guy 💕

stéphane is eccentric, cheeky, and bold enough to uplift and inspire him but also “so friendly!” as shoma described him. he praises genuinely and knows how to foster shoma’s talent. their language barrier is also no problem, lambiel is a polyglot. i think that stéphane is off ice what shoma is on ice, this is the perfect exchange. i love this song.

the ice angel has quickly recovered from his misery thanks to the amount of positive feedback. on youtube, you find multiple fancams of stéphane getting very invested in uno’s performance from the sidelines 😄 shoma adores him and stéphane is a protective ice dad. just look at these two.

there’s no better coach he could have. stéphane’s choreographies perfectly cater to shoma’s poetic interpretation. so satisfying. so impeccable. as dostoevsky said, beauty will save the world.

youtube

last japanese nationals in december, shoma even took gold and cried from relief on the podium. he’s improved so much. stéphane will make him go far.

what convinced him to coach uno was simply this: “his eyes sparkled!”. and yes, there’s hardly anyone who won’t be impacted by this.

this puppy has all of our hearts so let’s send out compliments to him. fingers crossed for shoma’s upcoming competitions and the next olympics where i am sure he will stun the world. i mean, he won gold in the baby boy hall of fame already. he’s a really great artist and soft person who deserves everything. thank you for attending my ted talk.

#shoma uno #figure skating #long post #yuzuru hanyu #stephane lambiel #daisuke takahashi #mihoko higuchi #itsuki uno #anon #cub mail 🐅

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parjiljehavey · 4 years ago

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Lost Shadows Left Behind ii

Summary: Dante meddles, once again. Hopefully, the results are what Nero is after.

Read on AO3 for details notes at the end!

3rd of May, 1:43pm

One year, ten months and eighteen days after the events of Redgrave City

—————————————————————-

It had been some months since Vergil had divulged the name of the woman who had clearly ensnared his heart. Things had improved between Nero and Vergil; they were actually starting to bond, sometimes at Dante’s expense, but hey, Dante was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Dante’s brother had gone off on his own for a hunt, heading over to Siberia after they'd gotten word that locals were claiming vampires were running around several villages.

Vergil went because Dante didn't speak Russian; he only knew Spanish, Latin, and Italian with a smattering of German; mostly because Dante had liked how foul language sounded in German. Vergil, on the other hand, was a damn polyglot.

Nero had called off and on, busy with the mobile branch and the kids he and Kyrie were raising. Last time Dante had talked to Vergil, the elder twin had actually gotten a letter from Nero with a post script calling him an asshole for forcing Nero to write an actual letter like it was the 19th century because Vergil didn’t have a cellphone.

Vergil, of course, went out and bought the cheapest cell phone he could find after receiving it. Dante had been wheezing for air over Vergil’s grumbling over technology and uncooperative locals. The phone number scribbled on a piece that Dante handed to Nero was met with a nose wrinkled with disgust after the kid had racked the balls for a game of pool. Nothing like a game of pool after pizza, in Dante's opinion.

"Dante, a three year old can write better than this."

"Hey! That's not anyway to thank your amazing uncle for writing down your old man's new phone number. Especially when said uncle is letting you drink his beer." Dante was grinning despite the reprimand. Nero took a drink from one of said beers, raising an eyebrow. "Don't text him by the way. Stick with phone calls; he's still figuring out how to play Tetris on the piece of crap he got. Wait until he gets a smart phone for texting." He broke the rack. A stripe went in. "Solids are yours."

"You mean like the one you broke by falling into a river?" The kid was leaning on his cue, watching as Dante lined up another shot.

"I was thrown into that river, you little punk. I didn't go out that day looking for a swim. If I wanted to go swimming, I would have packed my broad shorts." Dante could have cleared the table if he had wanted to; but this was bonding time with his nephew, so he intentionally messed up his shot.

Nero gave him a look that conveyed that he knew what Dante was doing as the kid set down his beer next to Dante's own to circle the table for a good shot. After pocketing one, Nero did the same thing Dante had and missed on purpose. They fell into a good silence; the crack of the cues hitting the balls as they took turns making their shoots.

“How’s the search for momma doin’?”

Nero grunted, clearing not happy. Oh, he knew that look. It struck Dante for not the first time that this was Vergil’s son and they made similar facial expressions. Dante sighed. “Alright kid, spill it. Tell Uncle Dante what’s buggin’ ya.”

Nero snorted, as he always did when Dante called himself ‘Uncle Dante’ in a conversation. Dante waited, taking his time with his next shot to give the kid some time to get his thoughts into order.

“There’s only two women that it could be. One died in ‘94 and the other disappeared a month or so after I was born. The problem is that the woman who died was a nun; the Spardan nuns took their vows of chastity seriously and very rarely left the convent’s tower. When they did, it was documented for what reason and when, right down to the time. None of the nuns left the tower around the time Vergil would have been in Fortuna.”

Dante leaned against the table, twirling the cue stick in his hand. The kid was pacing, not even paying attention that it was his turn now. “So that leaves the one who disappeared, right? Where’s the problem there?”

“The problem is that she didn’t disappear in Fortuna. There was a group that helped those who became disillusioned with Sanctus get to the mainland; to start over. The majority of that group was... eliminated. A surviving member recalls taking a woman to the mainland shortly after I was born.” Nero trailed off, scowling as his grip tightened around the cue. Dante could hear the wood beginning to creak.

“Nero.”

“What?”

“Wanna put the stick down before ya break it?” Nero looked at the stick and set it down on the table after a moment. When his nephew remained silent, Dante sighed. This kid was too much like his old man sometimes. “I take it the trail went cold after she hit the mainland?”

Nero sighed, moving to sit down heavily on the new couch Vergil had gotten for the office. The old one had kicked the bucket finally while Dante was taking a nap, making Vergil actually laugh. Nero eventually nodded, head in his hands. “The trail went cold when she arrived in Genoa. There’s literally nothing left to go on.”

The earlier anger that the kid had was gone and now he was just deflated. Dante really didn't know what to do or say; so he did what he did best. He created a distraction by knocking the beers from their perch on the table. Nero snorted despite himself; kid probably knew what Dante was trying to do but if the kid was laughing, Dante'd take it. Dante looked at the mess on the floor, sighing. He shrugged, “Wanna get us some new ones while I clean this up?”

“Actually wipe it up, Dante. Putting the rug over it doesn't count.”

“What if I roll Vergil's chair through it? The wheels getting gummed up will annoy him.”

“Dante!”

—————————————————————-

3rd of May, 3:32pm

—————————————————————-

Dante stared up at the ceiling above his desk, processing everything from the past few hours. Nero had volunteered to go pick up pizza, and Dante was sure that it was both for the kid to clear his head and to talk to Kyrie without Dante teasing him too much for it. Dante really didn’t want to make a habit of meddling in affairs that weren’t his (First giving Vergil a kick in the ass about Nero's mom and now this?), but this was for family right?

Family helped family when said family needed help. Dante picked up the phone and dialed one of the numbers that he pretty much knew by heart now.

“Hey Morrison! I want to know if you can dig up some information on somebody for me. You can have whatever you want.”

Got a name?

“Yeah, Lucrecia.”

Lucrecia? Dante heard the information broker repeat it several times under his breath and then heard a rustle of paper.

“From what I understand, she arrived on the mainland sometime in the nineties from Fortuna, ended up in Genoa. Trail went cold on our end of things there.”

Lucrecia Capello?

“Dunno. Never got her last name, if she had one. Why?”

I’m thinking that the Lucrecia you’re looking for is the same one I’ve got in mind. Remember that coalition that formed about ten years ago?

“Yeah? What about it?” Dante remembered it; some hunters pulled together to train up new hunters in a manner that meant less of them dying on their first couple of hunts as greenhorns and a more accessible list of jobs. Readily available backup and access to an arsenal of weapons were big enough bonuses that had a lot of human hunters signing up.

They had extended an offer for him to join when the coalition had first formed, one that still stood because he never responded one way or the other. Lady had actually considered joining up, but Dante couldn’t remember if anything came of that or not.

She’s part of it. One of their top ranged hunters, as it turns out.

“Ranged as in what? Bazooka?” Explosives were a popular choice amongst human hunters.

No, son. Sniper on the rooftops. She can shoot doublets .

Dante let out a low whistle. Doublets, as it was called amongst sharpshooters, was two shots hitting two targets in quick succession. Very impressive. “Where is she right now?”

Got that right here, son. ‘Bout a hundred miles up north of you last I heard; been there for a while actually. I believe she’s training a new hunter; took on a couple C rank jobs off my hands. Want her number?

“You mind?”

Nah. It’s for your nephew ain’t it?

“There’s nothing that gets past you is there Morrison?”

Afraid not.

—————————————————————-

4th of May, 7:38am

—————————————————————-

One year, ten months and nineteen days after the events of Redgrave City

For the second time in just as many days, Dante had given him a phone number. His uncle had handed him a piece of paper with a grin after Nero had come back with the pizza, stole a couple slices and went off on a hunt. All the hunter had said was, “Think this might be the woman you’re looking for, champ.” and out the door he went for a job. Nero looked at the number again, scrawled in Dante’s horrendous handwriting.

It had taken Nero hitting a This number has been disconnected message twice before he realized that Dante’s nines were written like fours. Seriously, the five year old Nero and Kyrie were raising could write better than this. Nero grumbled, leg twitching as he listened to the phone finally dial.

Password?

“Are you Lucrecia Capello?” Jeez, it was hard to talk. It felt like he was swallowing his tongue.

Depends on who’s asking. Do you have the password? The voice was melodic, with a dry wit.

“No. Listen, this isn’t about a hunt.” There was a snort on the other line. “Don’t hang up! My name is Nero. I-” He cleared his throat, “There’s no easy way to say this. I think I’m your son.”

...When were you born?

“September 19th, 1992.” The sound of a sharp inhale.

And where were you born?

“I’m sorry?”

Where were you born?

“Fortuna.”

The other line was silent for several long moments, and Nero would’ve thought the call had been disconnected if he wasn’t able to pick up the sound of choppy breathing and someone in the background asking if something was wrong. Nero jumped when he heard a door slam shut. He thought he could hear a racing heartbeat; he didn’t know if it was from the other line or his own. It was just now hitting him that he was more than likely speaking to his mother.

“Hello?”

What would be a good time and place to meet, Nero?

—————————————————————-

tagging: @queenmuzz and @starrymindgurl

#devil may cry #devil may cry 5 #vergil x nero's mom #vergil #Vergil Sparda #even though vergil is only mentioned #dante #Dante Sparda #nero #nero sparda #nero's mom #nero's mother #uncle dante #dante's trying to be a good if meddling uncle #we met momma next time~

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love-and-starshine · 4 years ago

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PLEASE tell us more about you and toby :O how did you guys meet? how did you both confess/start dating? you’re so cute together!! :D *starts chanting ‘otp! otp!* - Ris (selfshipgeek)

ASDFGHJSDFGH I’D BE HAPPY TO!! :D Thank you Ris!! ;w;

So Toby works with this team of geniuses that solves various problems, and my s/i Skylar’s uncle is part of the team. When Skylar moves to their city to get away from some problems she’s been having, she spends more time with her uncle, which leads him to introducing her to his chosen family, the aforementioned team!

Sky’s shy and doesn’t really mix well with people at that point in her life, so she doesn’t really care to make friends with the team too much. She figures it’s not gonna last anyway, nothing ever does, so why bother? She’s not mean or anything, just really indifferent and lowkey uncomfortable with the whole thing, but couldn’t say no to her uncle. She’s irritated by Toby the most at first since he notices her defensive behavior and says something about it. Annoying pretty boy, what do you know, right?

While her uncle steps out for some coffee and effectively leaves her there to get to know the others, she decides that ‘yeah no I’m not dealing with this’ and slips out to hide in her uncle’s car, figuring out she can wait for him to come back so the two could be on their way to whatever they were supposed to do next. But the team gets a time sensitive case and splits up! And, due to some shenanigans, who else but Toby (and Paige) happens to take her uncle’s car when they scramble to leave to different parts of the city.

There’s some humorous ‘oh shit I didn’t know anyone was here’ / ‘fuck is the car moving’ moments, but due to their time pressure they have no choice but to just let Sky tag along when they go and meet some bad guys to sneak some information from them or something. When they get there, Sky is ordered to stay in the car, but thankfully she doesn’t, since the situation goes sideways when Toby and Paige have to pretend to be some buyers of some dangerous tech or some such, but don’t speak the language the buyers are supposed to speak. Sky does, since she’s a polyglot (a person who speaks multiple languages, seriously Many languages in this case), and she steps in to con the bad guys. She has the time of her life, she ends up joining the team since her language skills are seen as an asset, and Toby is thoroughly impressed and intrigued by the evasive newcomer. And obviously grows super smitten with her.

And as for their confession/dating, it gets complicated with Sky being a stubborn ass about having ~feelings~ and Toby just kinda being “yeah I’ve been flirting with you for the past year, you must have noticed”. There’s a lot of mutual pining involved because of course there is. Eventually Toby confesses first, in a “well might as well because we might die” moment and Sky just promptly goes “uhhhh same but brain.exe has stopped working, call back later”. She loves him too but doesn’t know how to deal with it, it’s a whole Thing with them kinda dancing around the obvious until Sky gets her shit together. He’s really chill about it though, he’s very patient and since reading people is kinda his whole thing, he knows she’s working through stuff in her own way and needs a bit more time than he does. And when they finally do get together, it’s like super sweet and supportive and stuff.

I’m sorry, this got super long asdfghjkl... I have Feelings!!

#asks #selfshipgeek #thank you ris for enabling my dorkiness #i appreciate it so so much and i appreciate you!!#also lol @ my ship is basically me looking at toby's canon ship and going: it's free real estate :3 #well most of it isn't really just the They Have Problems part i guess #but i also relate a lot to the other party in said ship sooooo y'know #inspired by canon but also canon is a piece of clay that i'm gonna make into something Different #i'm rambling i'm sorry i am sleepy lol #writings.txt #tba toby tag #also i cry you're so sweet ris thank u #Anonymous

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ganymedesclock · 6 years ago

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Yes! I am so fucking sick of the "fuck yeah humans!" mentality that's seems to have wormed its way into every fandom. I'm tired of reading stories and ideas about aliens marveling at how humanity is so strong, dangerous, powerful, intelligent, adaptable, and all that shit, and how they can beat anything and anyone because they're just "inherently better." It's that same 40k crap, just retexturized.

I feel like “humans are weird” is trying to be a rebuttal to the perception of humans as the generic, boring, everyman race, like “oh why would you ever play a human when you can play an elf or a space elf,” when I feel like ironically both of those concepts have the same problem: it’s a perception of humans as a default.

Humans Are Weird doesn’t actually challenge the perception of us as default, generally; it’s just a question of whether humans are the bottom line or the top, whether everyone else is more interesting than us, or everyone else is less interesting than us. Both, ultimately, flatter humans with the idea that we’re the meterstick by which the whole world can be judged, even if humans as the bottom line seems like it’s insulting us, which is why I think Humans Are Weird falls short- it perceives it as an insult and tries to solve it with aggrandization, but, in actuality, the problem is we’re already overly aggrandizing ourselves other hypothetical other peoples.

Many a generic trying-to-be-Tolkien high fantasy gives us Elf Cities and Dwarf Cities and Orc Cities, but if they just want to make a port town or a lovely peasant village or a bloodsports arena city these things are often made human. It’s the same problem that if you have a cast of white able-bodied men, they’ll be divided according to personality and theme, the Introverted Smart One, the Brave but Gentle Strong One, the Charismatic Leader, the Sarcastic but Loyal Second In Command. But in many traditional media, if your hero team has only one girl, being The Girl will be considered her personality trait, so she doesn’t need another one.

Same problem here- being The Elf is considered a personality trait. So if you have humans, they’re allowed to be a bunch of different things inside and outside of their culture but even if we have colorful characters, we might put a Proud Warrior on the cast because of his Proud Warrior Culture, or a charismatic linguist from their charismatic linguist culture, or a brilliant scientist from her brilliant scientist culture. While humans can have a proud warrior, a charismatic linguist, and a brilliant scientist- because since we are humans, we realize that the idea of trying to characterize even a single culture out of the many cultures on Earth as having a single personality would be ridiculous and stupid. We don’t have people in space operas introducing themselves of “oh, I come from the proud New York clan, in New York, everyone is a warrior, it’s simply not DONE otherwise,”

Personally as a writer, if you really want to take a crack at fixing the underlying problem posed by humans as default, I feel like there’s two solutions here.

If you don’t have any noteworthy standout thing to do with humans in your fantasy or scifi setting, exclude them entirely. This forces the audience instead of perceiving the environment as a default with a bunch of cool add-ons, that instead they need to empathize directly with the viewpoints of the elves, orcs, dwarves, goblins, etc. that dwell in this world.

If you do want to include humans... make them interesting. For example, being light on some details, I’m working on a Voltron reimagining AU which features people from Earth as part of a broader community of sapient life. And no, I don’t have Allura boggling in wonder and horror at, say, the lack of viscosity of terran tears. But I did still have some fun worldbuidling with the terrans:

They currently lay claim to the only fully artificial planet. They did that! It’s pretty cool. They also tend to modify and climate-control the hell out of a lot of their colonies, which is a tendency born of the fact that, as the intergalactic whippersnappers of the Leo Supercluster who also experienced a mass exodus early in their dealings with other races, they snapped up a bunch of what was not exactly prime real estate and didn’t look it in the mouth.

Similarly because of this you have a lot of terran diaspora on planets that aren’t Federation holdings. Comparatively, galra living elsewhere like that is rarer because the galra tend traditionalist and their culture is basically built around accommodating entire clans rather than specific individuals, so they tend to move or organize themselves.

So, in this setting, the terrans have an interesting chunk of worldbuilding to them, they’ve got a history that’s uniquely theirs that makes them good company with the unique histories of others, and this leads to some cool features you can see- for example the diaspora and ‘less habitable’ planets affects these versions of Lance, Pidge, and Hunk- Lance, who grew up on a Spaceport, which is full of different people, and so he’s the team’s cheerful polyglot who’s conversational in a large number of spoken languages since he grew up leaping from Spanish to English to several galran dialects to olkarin and back again in three conversations. Hunk, as a character, who comes from an affluent background and thus has access to the luxury of cybernetic augmentation- because before they had mastered making planets safe for them, terrans figured how to make themselves safe for planets. And Pidge, who’s from a high gravity planet so she’s short, abnormally dense, and capable of impressive jumps.

That’s not an insistence that you have to specifically characterize humans in a fantastical setting the way I have, naturally, but just, don’t treat humans as defaults, and don’t feel like you have to diminish everybody else to make up for how “boring” humans are.

#writing ruminations #readmore #Anonymous

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ofalsehoods · 6 years ago

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lotor is a polyglot fluent in over 1,000 languages from countless different time periods and suffers all of the problems that come along with it. you might wonder, “how is that even a problem? it means he can talk to basically anybody” and. well. if you speak another language you will probably begin to see the issue here.

he can’t keep his thoughts straight in one (1) language from one (1) time period. when one is fluent in a language, one doesn’t even need to think about it in order to speak it or think in it--all the processing of the language happens subconsciously. bilingual people sometimes switch and mix languages while speaking and writing (i would know, i’ve done this plenty of times). if you think that keeping things straight in two languages is hard, can you imagine what would happen with someone able to subconsciously internalize and process over 1,000 languages! this means when he talks, he’s constantly switching languages. the issue compounds when you consider the fact that he’s 10,000 years old and knows vocabulary and grammar structure from multiple time periods; this is especially so with altean languages, in which he has studied every surviving variant. he needs to use at least some conscious effort to remain in one language and also in one time period; people who work with him extensively have noticed this.

he frequently needs an omnilingual translator clipped onto his person to be understood since sometimes everything blurs together and he can’t keep anything straight. this is especially so when he’s excited or emotional and loses some conscious control of what he’s speaking--he will keep going in the other language even after multiple reminders that he needs to switch back. the thing is, he doesn’t always have one clipped on, because he sees the omnilingual translator as “lazy”--not to mention he likes showing off that he’s the only person in the entire galra empire who “doesn’t need one” due to his learning. ironically, he needs one not because he has learned too little, but because he has learned too much. ever seen those videos on youtube of why superpowers are actually a bad idea? yeah this post could be one of them.

#word of god™. || tian speaks #alma te anul; the history of self. || HEADCANON

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famous-hungarians · 6 years ago

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Famous Hungarian Mathematicians

Please note that almost all information below comes straight from Wikipedia. This page is not meant to be used as original information, only as a subjective excerpt of the lives of these extraordinary people.

"Ratings" are very subjective therefore they represent only a very personal opinion.

John von Neumann (Neumann János)

Rating: Must know

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann

Born: 1903, Budapest, Austria-Hungary (today Hungary)

Died: 1957, Washington, D.C., U.S.

Residence: Hungary, United States

Excerpt: Von Neumann was generally regarded as the foremost mathematician of his time and said to be "the last representative of the great mathematicians". He is often compared to or mentioned along the likes of Hilber, Shannon, Turing or even Einstein.

Von Neumann was a child prodigy. When he was 6 years old, he could divide two 8-digit numbers in his head and could converse in Ancient Greek. By the age of 8, he was familiar with differential and integral calculus, but he was particularly interested in history. He went on to study chemistry in Berlin and later Zurich meanwhile also studying mathematics in Budapest. Once he had received his Ph.D., he went to study under David Hilbert in Göttingen.

He started his career teaching in Berlin, later briefly in Hamburg but was already invited to Princeton, New Jersey by the end of 1929. In 1933, he was offered a lifetime professorship on the faculty of the Institute for Advanced Study where he stayed until his — rather early — death.

Von Neumann is considered one of the most influential scientists of the 20th century. He contributed not only to various fields of mathematics but also to multiple branches of physics, economics, computing and statistics. He took part in the Manhattan Project and the development of the hydrogen bomb while also served as a consultant of various US government organizations.

Personal life: Von Neumann was born Neumann János Lajos to a wealthy, acculturated and non-observant Jewish family. He left Europe before the Nazis took power, but he did eventually have to relocate his family to the US in 1939. Von Neumann was married twice and had one daughter from his first wife.

Known for: Von Neumann achieved so many thing in so many fields that it's hard to summarize. Still, it's probably fair to say that in his absence the second world war could have lasted somewhat longer and that the development of computers could have also suffered greatly.

Fun fact: Von Neumann held a lifelong passion for ancient history, being renowned for his prodigious historical knowledge. A professor of Byzantine history at Princeton once said that von Neumann had greater expertise in the field than he did.

Legacy: If Einstein was the greatest mind of the 20st century then von Neumann was easily the greatest Hungarian mind of the 20st century and possibly ever. His legacy is close to impossible to list but the Von Neumann architecture is likely to be known and taught world-wide for the foreseeable future. His contributions to the war effort is also likely to remain well-remembered.

Paul Erdős (Erdős Pál)

Rating: Should know

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Erdős

Born: 1913, Budapest, Austria-Hungary (today Hungary)

Died: 1996, Warsaw, Poland

Residence: Hungary, United Kingdom, Israel, United States

Excerpt: One of the most prolific mathematicians of the 20th century. He was known both for his social practice of mathematics and for his eccentric lifestyle (Time magazine called him The Oddball's Oddball) His main field was combinatorics but did contribute to other fields as well.

Erdős never won the Fields Medal, but he did win the Wolf Prize in Mathematics for "his numerous contributions".

Throughout his career, Erdős would offer payments for solutions to unresolved problems. These ranged from $25 for problems that he felt were just out of the reach of the current mathematical thinking (both his and others), to several thousand dollars for problems that were both difficult to attack and mathematically significant. There are thought to be at least a thousand remaining unsolved problems, though there is no official or comprehensive list. The offers remain active despite Erdős's death. A solver can get either an original check signed by Erdős before his death (for memento only, cannot be cashed) or a cashable check from Ronald Graham.

Personal life: Erdős was a son of two Jewish mathematics teachers. In 1939, he fled the country from the Nazis and lost many of his family members to Holocaust. He spent most of his life traveling, living out of suitcases. Erdős never married and had no children.

Known for: Since Erdős was considered a problem solver rather than a theory developer therefore his achievements are somewhat less memorable. He is still known for a long list of lesser known achievements.

Legacy: The Erdős number is an important part of folklore of mathematicians.

János Bolyai, Johann Bolyai (Bolyai János)

Rating: Nice to know

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/János_Bolyai

Born: 1802, Kolozsvár, Transylvania, Habsburg Monarchy (today Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

Died: 1860, Marosvásárhely, Transylvania, Austrian Empire (today Târgu Mureș, Romania)

Excerpt: Bolyai, the son of famous mathematician Farkas Bolyai, became obsessed with Euclid's parallel postulate early in his career. Between 1820 and 1823 he had prepared a treatise on a complete system of non-Euclidean geometry. Bolyai's work was published in 1832 as an appendix to a mathematics textbook by his father. In addition to his work in geometry, Bolyai developed a rigorous geometric concept of complex numbers as ordered pairs of real numbers. Although he never published more than the 24 pages of the Appendix, he left more than 20,000 pages of mathematical manuscripts when he died.

Known for: Non-Euclidean geometry. The discovery of a consistent alternative geometry that might correspond to the structure of the universe helped to free mathematicians to study abstract concepts irrespective of any possible connection with the physical world.

Legacy: There is a university in Cluj-Napoca, and dozens of schools both in Hungary and Romania named after him. There is also an international prize for mathematicians named after him.

Personal life: Like his father, Bolyai was an accomplished polyglot, speaking nine foreign languages including Chinese and Tibetan. Bolyai also played the violin at a very high level.

Farkas Bolyai, Wolfgang Bolyai (Bolyai Farkas)

Rating: Nice to know

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farkas_Bolyai

Born: 1775, Bolya, Transylvania, Habsburg Monarchy (today Romania)

Died: 1856, Marosvásárhely, Transylvania, Austrian Empire (today Târgu Mureș, Romania)

Excerpt: Bolyai's main interests were the foundations of geometry and the parallel axiom. His main work, the Tentamen (Tentamen iuventutem studiosam in elementa matheosos introducendi), was an attempt at a rigorous and systematic foundation of geometry, arithmetic, algebra and analysis. Other important ideas in the work include a general definition of a function and a definition of an equality between two plane figures if they can both be divided into a finite equal number of pairwise congruent pieces.

Personal life: Studied mathematics both in Jena and Göttingen, became close friends with Gauss. Father of János Bolyai.

Known for: Contributions to the foundations of geometry Wallace–Bolyai–Gerwien theorem.

Fun fact: He learned Latin, Greek, Romanian, Hebrew as a child and later also French, Italian and English. He certainly spoke German fluently as he spent many years in Germany.

Paul Halmos, Paul R. Halmos (Halmos Pál)

Rating: Nice to know

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Halmos

Born: 1916, Budapest, Austria-Hungary (today Hungary)

Died: 2006, Los Gatos, California, U.S.

Residence: Hungary, United States

Excerpt: Halmos made fundamental advances in the areas of mathematical logic, probability theory, statistics, operator theory, ergodic theory, and functional analysis. He has been described as one of The Martians.

He arrived in the U.S. at 13 years of age, by 22 he already had his Ph.D. in mathematics, having some of his time "wasted" with philosophy on his way. Soon after his graduation he started working under John von Neumann.

Halmos later thought at various universities and became known as an outstanding expositor of mathematics.

Personal life: Halmos followed his father to the US. He comes from a Jewish-Hungarian family, and he's know to have followed his father to the United States but there's little information on his personal life.

Known for: Halmos was an unusually clear and engaging expositor of university mathematics who won various awards

Legacy: In his memoirs, Halmos claims to have invented the "iff" notation for the words "if and only if" and to have been the first to use the "tombstone" notation to signify the end of a proof, and this is generally agreed to be the case. The tombstone symbol ∎ (Unicode U+220E) is sometimes called a halmos. Lester R. Ford award is also renamed Paul R. Halmos — Lester R. Ford Award in his honor.

Other famous mathematicians

There are of course many more Hungarian mathematicians with an English Wikipedia page but most of them are lesser known among wider audiences.

There are still a few of them who might be interesting to people more involved in mathematics:

Peter Lax (Lax Péter)

John G. Kemeny (Kemény János)

George Pólya (Pólya György)

Cornelius Lanczos (Lánczos Kornél)

#hungarians #mathematics #mathematicians

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fuzzballsheltiepants · 7 years ago

Text

That Cocky F*%!ing Smile

AFTG/All For the Game, follow up to Name Games. Written for Fanfiction Cockyweek. Neil and Andrew meet up for coffee, Andrew is a smitten law student and a series of lawyer jokes ensues. Read on AO3 if you prefer.

I am fucking ridiculous, Andrew thought, glaring at the pile of clothes on the bed.

He might have actually spoken allowed, judging by the amused look Sir gave him before jumping up to nest in the rejected shirts. Great. All he needed was white cat hair all over his clothes to complete the look. He really ought to buy stock in lint rollers. Not that Neil Josten would likely care about any of this, really, judging by the fact that he dressed like a kid wearing his father’s clothes.

How the cocky little shit had managed to get that card in his pocket still baffled him. Why was an even bigger mystery. It wasn’t that Andrew was insecure, more that he was a realist. None of which made it any less ridiculous that he was trying on shirts before going to get fucking coffee with someone he had met an hour ago.

Eventually settling on something that wasn’t too obvious nor too covered in cat hair, Andrew reached the coffee shop a few minutes early and sat on the bench outside for a cigarette. He was just about down to the filter when Neil approached, wearing overlarge sweats and looking flushed and slightly out of breath. Andrew suddenly felt a little breathless himself. I am absolutely fucking ridiculous.

“Did you run here?” Andrew queried when Neil stopped in front of him, seeming to inhale the smoke with an almost religious expression on his face.

“Um, yes?” Neil seemed surprised by the question. “I only live a few blocks away.”

“Do you own a car?” It was uncommonly hard to keep his face blank; he let his fingers twitch instead.

Neil rolled his eyes. “Yes, you saw me with it.”

“Ah, well,” Andrew said, “I figured you might have borrowed it. Or stolen it.”

Neil dropped onto the bench a hairsbreadth from him, seeming unfazed by their proximity. “I didn’t steal that car.”

“That one.” Andrew didn’t think it was his imagination that the flush on Neil’s neck deepened. He stood before he could unintentionally chase the man off. Neil followed him into the cafe, tugging his hood on over his head despite the sweat still evident on his face. Andrew glared at him when he ordered a fruit smoothie; Neil looked incredulous at Andrew’s triple chocolate mocha frappuccino.

“Is that coffee or dessert?” he asked as they found an empty table near the window. Andrew just gave him a flat look, and Neil grinned. They sat in silence for a few moments, sipping their drinks, while Andrew tried to ignore the unfamiliar twist in his stomach that got stronger with every glimpse of glacial blue eyes.

“So, uh, what do you do?” Neil asked.

“Really? That’s your opening salvo?” Andrew shook his head in mock sadness. “I expected so much better from a pickpocket who defends feline gender nonconformity.”

Neil’s face was somewhat hidden by his hood but it appeared he had gone pink again. “My…coworkers told me that was a normal question to start a conversation.”

Well, that was definitely not a normal second sentence in a conversation. Andrew arched an eyebrow at him. “Your coworkers are boring little fucks, aren’t they.”

“No. Yes? I don’t know, they find the things I say ‘unsettling’ and ‘assholey’. Not that that’s even really a word, but that’s what Jean called it.” He shrugged. “I mean, he’s fluent in three languages, you’d think he would’ve been able to find something more creative but whatever.”

Andrew found himself staring at Neil’s mouth as he was talking. When the fool reached for his drink Andrew dragged his eyes upwards; he did not need to be watching Neil sucking on something in that precise moment. “How would you prefer to start a conversation?”

“I don’t know, I guess I’d want to ask why your cat chews on bones. Isn’t that more of a dog thing?”

“You have seen my cat, yes?” Neil nodded, and Andrew rapped his knuckles on the table. “Then you may understand that he is the type of creature to pinch shit out of the trash, including, evidently, a chicken carcass this morning.”

“What about you?”

“Are you asking if I steal food out of the trash can? Now I know why your coworkers think they need to give you tips.”

Neil huffed a laugh as he shook his head. “No, I was wondering how you would start a conversation.”

Andrew leaned back in his chair and took a too-long pull at his frappuccino, trying not to grimace at the brain freeze that resulted. “Why did you slip that card in my pocket?”

“Oh.” He blinked at that and looked down at the table, his fingers playing with the wrapper from his straw. “I guess I enjoyed our run-in at the vet. People keep telling me I should make friends, so.”

Friends. Figured. “So you put your pocket-picking skills to use.”

“It worked, didn’t it?” Neil asked, that cocky grin returning. “It got your attention.”

Andrew snorted at that bit of ludicrousness. “Are your polyglot coworkers also petty criminals?”

“Not exactly.” Neil laughed. “I work at a bank, doing interpreting and translation with Jean. The rest of them are bankers.”

“So, criminals, just not of the petty type.”

Neil hummed in response and poked at his drink with the straw, sealing the end with his finger and lifting it up before releasing it and watching the liquid pour back in. He never seemed to still his movements, a sharp contrast to the waiting room at the clinic where he had appeared to be doing his best to turn into the furniture. Something about him didn’t quite add up, but Andrew had always enjoyed human calculus. Then Neil’s eyes darted up to his and Andrew was caught. He recognized that look too well. Fuck.

“I’m going to law school,” he found himself volunteering. Anything to push that bleakness off that face. “To answer the question your friends so boringly suggested.”

It worked. “You’re kidding.” Andrew shook his head. “You didn’t seem like the ambulance chaser type.”

“I’m flattered you have such a high opinion of me. And of my future profession.”

“Well, everybody hates lawyers, right?” There was a hint of teasing in his tone again.

“Except lawyers.”

That laugh again, that bright sound. I am so, so fucked. Neil studied him with a small smile playing on his lips. “What’s the difference between a lawyer and a vulture?” he asked.

“Frequent flyer miles,” Andrew deadpanned.

The smile grew. “I’m still undecided. If I saw a lawyer and an IRS agent drowning, would I get lunch or read the paper?”

Andrew tsked and shook his head, adding in a level voice, “It’s a real shame that ninety-nine percent of lawyers give the whole profession a bad name.”

“I think that’s giving the remaining one percent too much credit.” Neil kept playing with his empty cup as he studied Andrew. “Seriously, why go into law?”

“The system is set up to screw over the underprivileged to benefit corporations and rich people.”

“And you wanted to get in on that.” Neil sounded playful but his expression was not.

“Naturally,” Andrew said. There was no point in getting into everything he wanted to do, the fact that he wasn’t going to graduate for a couple of months but had already mapped out his track into child advocacy. That would take too much to explain. He debated pointing out that Neil couldn’t talk, given that he was working for a bank large enough to require two interpreters, but didn’t want to cause that hopelessness to creep back into his eyes. “What do you do when you’re not interpreting and translating and whatever the fuck else you do at work?”

Evidently that still wasn’t the right question, judging by the brief flicker that crossed Neil’s face. “I play with my cat.”

“You’ve had her for a month.”

Neil shrugged. “I’m studying Tagalog right now,” he said.

“So, what, you spend all of your time learning how to say shit in other languages?”

“I can say ‘shit’ in sixteen languages,” Neil answered. “It’s the other words I’m working on.”

“Ha, ha.”

Andrew’s phone chimed and he glanced at it. Fucking Nicky.

U better not be late for dinner i’m making enchiladas

According to the clock on the phone he still had an hour. Neil cocked his head at him. “Problem?”

“No, just my idiot cousin. I agreed to have dinner with him and his husband and have been regretting it ever since.”

“I should go anyway,” Neil said, standing up and looking around for a trash can.

“Busy night learning another language?” Andrew asked.

Neil made a face and Andrew had to smother the desire to kiss the frown off of him. “Nah, I’m supposed to meet up with a couple of my coworkers. They want to do trivia night at some bar. I don’t know when they’ll ever learn that I suck at trivia.” Neil’s coworkers seemed to be oddly invested in him. Andrew wondered how much of it was a result of his perfect bone structure and lean runner’s body, and how much of it overcompensation for the scars on his hands and face and no doubt elsewhere.

Once outside in the parking lot, Neil flipped his hood back and tilted his head so the light rain played on his face.

“You know, most people have the hoods up when outside in the rain and down when under a roof,” Andrew said.

Neil angled so he was looking at Andrew. “I get tired of people staring at these,” he said, gesturing at the unusual scars that stood starkly on his cheeks. “And I don’t mind a little rain.”

“I doubt they’re looking at the scars.” Neil straightened up and looked at him in confusion that Andrew didn’t bother to clarify. “Do you want a ride home?”

“It’s just a couple of blocks. It’ll take just as long to drive there as run it.”

It was the politest possible rejection. Andrew nodded and turned to leave when Neil called his name. He looked back to see a grin so beautiful it should be outlawed splitting that perfect face.

“Someone should give you some Viagra.”

“What?” Andrew heard wrong, he must have. He walked closer and peered up at him.

“Haven’t you heard? You give Viagra to a lawyer, and they just get taller.”

The laugh barked out of Andrew before he could stop it. Only this lunatic could manage to combine a short joke with a lawyer joke. “Yeah, but if the effect lasts longer than four hours I have to call a doctor.”

Neil’s laughter shifted him closer until Andrew could feel the heat off his body even through the sweatshirt and the rain. He felt like he was going insane; when he had found that card in his pocket he had thought this guy would just be a pleasanter-than-usual way to get off. Damnit. Now he was…interested. He didn’t want to be interested, didn’t have time for it and the clusterfuck of emotions that went with it, and Neil—well, he had no idea what Neil was thinking and that was dangerous.

“I don’t really know how this works,” Neil said abruptly, and Andrew blinked his way back out of his thoughts.

“How do you want it to work?”

Neil shrugged for about the eightieth time during their conversation. “I don’t know. I mean, I like talking to you?”

“Is that a question or a statement?”

“Statement?”

Andrew almost laughed again, which would have broken some sort of record and ruined his reputation. Luckily he managed to control it. “So do you want to do this again?”

“Yeah. Maybe real food though.” He looked contemplative. “Apparently I don’t eat enough.”

“Okay.” Andrew would wait to dissect that comment. “I have a late seminar tomorrow, but I’ll text you.” A minute later he was in his car, driving past the idiot who was jogging down the road, rain plastering his auburn hair down into a near-black skullcap. He debated just going straight to Nicky’s but that bottle of Jack he’d picked up just to help him get through the dinner without committing homicide was sitting on his counter.

Sir greeted him with a sleepy chirp from the pile of clothes on his bed. Fatass had no doubt not even bothered to get up for the past couple hours. Probably wouldn’t until Andrew got home and opened a can for him. Bee and Nicky both had told him a pet would be a good companion. He still had his doubts, especially when the feel of the obese monstrosity walking across the bed had him bolting upright in a near-panic, but he had to admit the purring and warmth quieted the nightmares.

And even his garbage-raiding habit may have its benefits. He pulled the card for the vet clinic out of his pocket, rubbing his thumb over the scrawled letters and numbers that marked the back. Whether Neil was a benefit or a curse was still up for some debate. Time would tell.

Swearing under his breath at his stupidity, he swiped the bottle of Jack off the counter, called a useless good-bye to the lump of fur currently ruining his shirts, and headed off to torment his cousin.

#aftg #all for the game #fanfiction cockyweek #andrew minyard #neil josten #andreil #sir fat cat mccatterson #my writing #lawyer jokes #tfc #the foxhole court

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xuseokgyu · 3 years ago

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thank you for telling me this! it means a lot that you're trying to reassure me in all of this:)

i bet you're an amazing singer!! and i can't dance either 😭😭 my best friend used to be a dancer and she is dancing all the time. when i try it, it just doesn't look good. i am not talented in it at all fml. dancing is so fun to look at though,, it makes me slightly jealous to see professional dancers be so good, but at the same time, i really enjoy watching dance videos.

ayyyy we stan a polyglot!! for me, i'm a native slovak speaker, so i know czech as well since it comes hand in hand (i don't think i can even count it at this point lmao.) i'm kind of fluent in english, i've been studying german for like 7 years but i'd say i'm like A2 level at best 😭 i've always wanted to know spanish man,,, i even spent like 6 months on duolingo just to get something, but eventually i got bored of the teaching style of that app and just stopped ://

ooh also !! i started making your gift already 👀👀 i'm having fun with it so far, so i hope it will go well.

now, i'm really sublty asking for song recs. meaning-- tell me your favorite artists and songs, be it kpop or not!! - caratadmirer

No problem at all ☺️ If you ever want to come and vent about other college/life problems~ you can come to me ok? I might not be able to help but I’m a great listener

Oh wow these are so interesting!! Aside from English I only ventured into Latin languages that are somewhat close to mine, so I understand you going for Czech (both Slovak and Czech fascinate me!!) but you’re also learning German!!! That’s so cool and yeah haha I guess Duolingo is good for keeping the language fresh in your mind when you aren’t surrounded by it, but I also can’t really use it as a learning mechanism by itself

I’m excited for it 👀👀👀👀 and I’m really glad you’re enjoying this process!!

So my favorite artist is Ben Platt, from his newest album my favorite song is Carefully 😘👌 I looove singing along to it... Another new song I have been obsessing over is Brividi by Mahmood and Blanco, I “met” Mahmood thanks to the 2019 Eurovision and I’m so excited that he will be representing Italy once again! I’ve been listening a lot to Sasha Alex Sloan too,one of my favorites being Older, Woosung’s new album, in this one I recommend Hangover, and I also highly recommend the artist Bren Joy, from him my favorite is Insecure what are some of your favorites?

Hope you have a great week 🥰

#I know youll say thats is all fine #but still I want to apologize for taking a while to answer this 😅#had a busy week/weekend but in a good way !#ask #anon #carat secret admirer

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lore-a-lie · 7 years ago

Text

Chapter 3: We Lived and Let Them All Die Young

Daily Life

The morose mood of the night before still lingered the next day in the dining hall.

Korekiyo’s early presence hardly seemed to have helped in this regard, though it would be easy to miss with how Angie still went out of her way to speak with him. One only need look towards Kaede and Kaito to see the lingering damage however, a hard blow to those so quick to help comfort those in need.

It was times like this Gonta truly wished he were better able to support others in ways beyond his body. There was little use for physical strength or skills in these trying times. Regardless of the dangers they’ve faced and the empty promises he’s made so often, he has yet to protect anyone here at all.

He failed Rantaro, and by extension Shuichi and thus Kaede. He failed Himiko, so not only was Tenko left to mourn her Miu also had to pay the price making Kibo mourn her in kind. He failed Maki, so he failed Kaito and Ryoma both. He failed Kirumi twice over, rending his one victory moot. He’s failed everyone.

He’s failing his friends worse than any of the language lessons his human family has tried pushing him through, and yet not once has any of them blamed him for that. That may be the worst part of all.

… Speaking of language lessons Gonta should try thinking in Reptite language less. But that so hard. Make Gonta feel more stupid than when he talks. Or try to understand when Himiko or Kiyo talk.

… Well just Kiyo talk now. Gonta… Not sure what to do with him after last trial. He talk hard as it is but he show he is bad guy right? Not Monokuma boss, but still bad guy. Hurt good people sort of bad-

I’m really not sure I can really keep up thinking like that, it’s too difficult on me. It’s bad enough they all must think I have the understanding capacity of a child, I have no desire to think like one too.

If someone speaks to me then I’ll try again. I’ll already be translating their words and sorting out a response anyway. So for now I’d much rather think as myself rather than the brute they may think I am.

Perhaps Kaede and Kaito are also trying to sift through what shall be done with Korekiyo? We can’t leave him be. Not like I did for Kirumi. If I hadn’t just accepted her word that she was better Maki wouldn’t be-

I shouldn’t think that way. I don’t wish to doubt them. It doesn’t suit a gentleman to be needlessly wary of those he’d consider his friends. But are any concerns needless in this place? I’ll just see what I can do!

Gonta nodded to himself a little as he went to join Kaede and Kaito after he finished getting breakfast. They hadn’t really needed to worry about doing that themselves before, when Kirumi was here. The kitchen felt so much emptier and colder with her gone. Worse still by the fact her killer was still there.

He placed himself beside Kaede in hopes that would help block out Angie and Korekiyo for her. She was looking better than yesterday at least, but that’s hardly saying much. But the grateful smile she gave him was still genuine so that made him feel a bit better. Kaito’s warm welcome was also appreciated.

Kaito’s warmth is being forced though, it’s obvious from his body language. At least that much is easy for me to understand. But he’s right in showing his best face forward when in front of a proper lady, to avoid giving her reason to worry! Especially not this one, with so many other problems plaguing her lately.

When the two ate enough they began discussing what they thought may work to help address any concerns the group would have with Korekiyo, due to the revelations of the last trial, as Gonta listened.

It’s not like he’d be of much help during the thinking process anyway. Enforcing their decision would be a much easier task for him, whatever it may be. They’d just need to run any plans by everyone else first when they finish arriving. Though it feels odd that Tenko, Ryoma, and Kokichi still aren’t there yet.

Kaito’s taking most of the lead, even with him as out of sorts as he was. It does make sense that Kaede would be taking the latest reveal harder. The type of betrayal she faced this time was far too personal.

“Hey Gonta, come a bit closer okay? Need your thoughts here big guy.” Kaito whispered best he could, as if that would keep Korekiyo or Angie from noticing what they were talking about. A quick glance at the odd pair showed such an attempt was fruitless, but Gonta complied best he could anyway.

Though the way Angie reached for Korekiyo’s teacup instead of her own while the murderer was distracted was odd. It was too out of the way to be a mistake for her and one of her fists was clenched.

However it’d be best to focus on working out what Kaito wanted his input on for the time being. “So, which do you think would be easier in the long run: tying him up somewhere, like being put under arrest, with you, me, or one of the other guys being responsible for bringing him meals, or just assigning him a “warden” in shifts who could watch him like a hawk?”

“I’m certainly not one to object to being tied up, if that helps make anything easier.” Korekiyo chimed in, as if he were just giving his own two cents about the weather. But why would anyone like to be tied up?

Kaito must have been equally confused as his mouth was stuck open. His face was also turning pretty pink though, so it could be some sort of fever acting up again- (No Gonta don’t be stupid. Kaito said he wasn’t sick before, so why would he be sick now? How could anyone get sick in this clean place anyway?)

The discussion must have caused Kaede a headache trying to understand too, as she put her head in her hands with a groan. To try and help Gonta cautiously tried rubbing a circle on her back, like his grandma would when he got too stressed. Hearing Korekiyo snicker seemed to warrant giving him a scolding look.

Gonta must not be all that good at glares though, as even Angie reacted to it more than Korekiyo did. Weird, since he was told so often before what a scary face he had before even with his cute spectacles.

Gonta wish he know how to say something like “spectacles” right around friends. More gentlemanly word than “glasses”. But he keep messing it up with the verb too much to be comfortable with it for now. Gonta still need more practice first.

“Gonta think either idea work for him. Gonta real good at tying knots and watching stuff!” Gonta assured Kaito best he could. And for whatever reason caused Korekiyo to laugh some more. (Is Kiyo making fun of Gonta or did Gonta say something funny? Should Gonta be worried about making him happy?)

Before he could ask what might have come out wrong Kokichi finally made his appearance. Still odd he could beat Tenko or Ryoma here, he’s the one of them most prone to slinking about the campus. (Sometimes more literally than others, given that time Gonta saw him slip on the stairs and go into a handstand. Unless that’s not how that word’s supposed to work either? At least he didn’t get hurt.)

Odder still was how he chose to focus his attention on Kaito instead of Kaede, but he talks fast so Gonta had trouble keeping up. Maybe he worried Kaede would be cross at him for taking over the trial?

What he could catch was the word “Polyglot”. Gonta has no idea what that word could mean, but it seemed like a sort of word game he wanted to play? So Kokichi must be trying to avoid dealing with the trial’s results and keep everyone else from thinking about it too until everyone else arrives.

Kokichi must be super upset by what happened. He hate killers, so he hate Maki. But she do nothing wrong, and Kirumi kill her before he say sorry about it. And now Kiyo’s a cereal killer and Kirumi dead.

Gonta’s forest family had little sister like that. She love to make others happy when she feel sad too.

Reminiscing instead of paying attention soon proved to be a mistake.

No one’s making sense anymore, and Gonta is very very lost. Kaede at least noticed as he stared blankly at Kaito and Kokichi who were speaking in tongues, and in her infinite kindness took some pity on him.

“You can ignore them Gonta, Kokichi’s just trying to find a way to show off-”

“And failing! Nyahaha~” Angie cackled off to the side, prompting a harmless slap fight between her and Kokichi as he tried to silence her from across the table.

“I AM NOT! Kaito cheats I tell you!”

“Not my fault your Russian sucks dude.” Kaito chimed back, enjoying the show.

After taking a deep breath and rubbing at the bridge of her nose Kaede continued to explain. “ANYWAY, they’re just messing around with the languages they know.”

“Or evidently don’t know beyond the names of local cuisine.”

“SHUT UP KIYO NO ONE LIKES YOU!” Kokichi snapped again, trying to swipe at Korekiyo for his offense only to fail and leave himself open to Angie's assault.

“Has anything really changed in that regard?” Korekiyo asked, barely smothering a chuckle at the antics going on before him.

“Atua thinks Kokichi shouldn’t mouth off at those of us who really can cheat at this.” Angie teased, nearly rendering Korekiyo's muttered words inaudible.

“I hardly see how participating at all can be “cheating.”

“If no one else here can prove it’s a real language you’re speaking it’s cheating Kiyo.” Kaito stated as he rolled his eyes.

“How was I supposed to know none of you people knew any Chinese?”

Korekiyo’s complaint was only answered by a bread roll chucked at his head by Kokichi. Angie happily caught it on the rebound, earning both of them a glare from someone they really shouldn’t be taunting.

Not that either of them could be made to care about that. Gonta bemoaned how so few of his friends had a working set of survival instincts. Not even Kaede or Kaito could really be exempt on that account.

Kokichi and Kaito went back to speaking gibberish again. Or apparently “French” according to Kaede. Her talent must be pretty useful to let her catch onto to these things in addition to making such pretty music.

But this gives Gonta his own opportunity to “show off”! Even if they can’t recognize what he says he can still share some of what his forest family taught him.

“Can Gonta try?”

“... Huh? I mean sure if you want to...” Kaito was obviously pretty baffled by his request. How could he not be with how awkward he is at speaking normally.

“I’m very sorry if this also constitutes “cheating” but I’m most grateful for the opportunity to speak in my truly native tongue.” The words easily flowed from him now. Not that anyone would be able to recognize them as words without proper practice. In all honesty, it probably sounds like a mix of hisses and clicks.

… Correction. A horrifying series of hisses, clicks, and chirps. Oh dear. I didn’t mean to give everyone such a fright. Why’d I have to do something so petty and stupid-

“... Well, this certainly explains a lot. That wouldn’t happen to be the language you grew up with while living in the forest, would it? It’s hardly any wonder why Japanese proves so difficult for you to grasp vocally now.”

Korekiyo was the first to adapt. Fitting given how his studies would require the most familiarity to new and unnatural sounding languages. But Gonta wouldn’t have felt as bad if he was among those scared-

No, that’s mean. An eye for an eye is not the sort of logic a true gentleman should be in favor of. What could ever be “gentle” about such a thing? One mustn’t stoop down to the level of the cruel, like him.

“Um, yes? Sorry if Gonta scare anyone. But that also why it easier for Gonta to talk to animals and bugs. Gonta makes their sounds easier than most people, and Reptites good at understanding others.”

Kokichi was at least very impressed, he practically had stars in his eyes as he beamed up at him like a little kid. “That’s so cooool! Okay, Gonta wins!”

“I didn’t think this was something you can really “win” at though-” Kaede was cut off by another bread roll being shoved in her mouth. Kokichi’s lucky they were small enough that didn’t cause any problems. They should also probably take the hint and keep the dish of those further away from him from now on.

“Nope, Gonta wins.” Kokichi said while wagging a finger in front of her with his cheeks puffed again.

… Yay? Gonta still not know what’s really going on though.

Tenko’s timing couldn’t be better as she stormed through the patio doors. And like the one reasonable human being in the room the first thing did was grab Angie by the hand and practically carried her as far away from Korekiyo as she could. She must have seen them talking through the windows before.

Looks like Tsumugi was following close behind her too, before being left behind in Tenko’s rush to Angie. Ryoma also seemed to have been shadowing them- Ah, maybe he was late to make sure they were safe!

“WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO HIM?!” (A very fair question if there ever was one. But Atua wouldn’t have let her do anything truly dangerous to her health right? He’d never fail his prophet like the rest of us.)

“Aww, good morning Tenko~ But it’s fine, it’s fine-”

“NOTHING IS FINE!”

“But it is! Atua doesn’t think any of that stuff Kiyo said during the trial was true. Except for killing Kirumi.” Angie said, trying to wave off Tenko's very real concerns. Surprisingly enough it was Korekiyo to be the first to dismiss her excuses.

“... Your flimsy sham of a god must be blind, deaf, and stupid. Why would I ever lie about something that’d reduce me to both a pariah and the most likely target of our next case? Does “He” claim Ryoma and Maki were lying too now? You saw little issue in taking both of them at their word before.”

Tsumugi and Ryoma both entered the dining hall in time to hear that accusation, which served to only make Angie more frustrated. (At least Gonta think that was what she feeling. Angie very hard to read. Her face keeps lying, worse than Kokichi’s. At least Kokichi’s face knew how to do more than smile.)

“He doesn’t doubt you all believe that, but yes. Atua doesn’t believe anyone here took any lives before they arrived in this place anymore. And He’s very sorry for letting us think otherwise before!”

“I have 127 reasons why that’s not possible Angie. You and your “god” can’t just pretend I didn’t go to prison for what I did because it’d be more convenient for you that way you know.”

“WHAT THE FUCK RYOMA?!” Kaito shouted in surprise after nearly gagging on his drink.

“I killed the entire mafia family responsible for taking everything I loved from me, how many people did you think that’d be? Hell, even with it only being those most directly responsible this wasn’t that big.”

“... Huh. Well that was significantly more than I was expecting. I didn’t honestly think I’d have the fewest number of deaths on my hands of the three of us. I’d never dream of hurting more than 100 people. It’d be far too easy for their lives to be reduced to little more than mere statistics instead of true tragedies.”

“Is it bad to be glad Maki isn’t here to say how many people she’s killed right now? Because I don’t really want to know what the highest headcount would have been.”

“Hey, it’s not like she had a choice Tsumugi-”

“Don’t be a fool Kaito. Murder is ALWAYS a choice. There is no such thing as a “fair” or “justified” death. And unlike Ryoma or myself she never had any limits on those she’d kill nor did she have intentions to stop should she leave. It’d be a greater disservice to her if you insist on overlooking such things.”

“Y-you don’t know that-” Kaito tried to argue, but Korekiyo was making sense from what Gonta could gather. Even if it meant accepting Kokichi might not have needed to apologize to Maki as badly as Gonta liked to think. (But she still not as bad as killing game. She no deserve to... Maki protected Angie even though they no trust each other! It be better for Maki to not fight Kirumi, but she did for friend's sake. That not something bad people do! Right?)

“And neither do you. If she did change her mind she would have said so to someone would she not?” Korekiyo challenged back.

“He… Does have a point Kaito. Even if she did it to help those kids this was still her choice to go so far, talent be damned. But I’ll bite, what’s your “limits” then?” Ryoma asked.

“I already told you what I’m looking for in the women I target and implications for how many I’ve killed, so why should I share more than that at present?”

“Hey wait, does this mean I can annoy you as much as I want and all your threats would only be bluffs?~” (STOP LOOKING HAPPY AT THAT IDEA KOKICHI! DO NOT TAUNT THE PREDATOR WHO KILLS FOR SPORT.)

“Oh heavens no, I’m more than capable of finding non-lethal alternatives for you Kokichi.”

“Awww…” Kokichi’s feigned disappointment was short-lived however, as seeing Kibo enter caused him to perk back up again. Kibo didn’t give him any time to say any more jokes though, and got to the point.

“So everyone else is present? Good. So speaking of non-lethal alternatives what shall we do with Kiyo?”

“Why settle for not killing him? I have no problems with taking him out if that’s okay with everyone else.” Ryoma said, not breaking eye contact with his fellow murderer as if to emphasize how serious he’s being.

Korekiyo barely batted an eye at the threat before replying. “Are you sure you want to go so far? There’s hardly a need to cause more bloodshed so soon after the last trial is there?”

“Hell no, we’d ever be okay with that! What the hell are you thinking man?! You can’t throw away your life over this. It’s not like it’d be too hard to just lock him up somewhere or keep an eye on him.”

“If I may suggest for people to not “keep watch” or be in charge of bringing me any meals Angie has proven to be less that trustworthy in this regard already. But I’m more than open to any ideas that don’t involve my own death. In general male wardens would likely be the option you’d all be safer with too. Not that I doubt Tenko’s physical capabilities, but if left alone things would quickly escalate I imagine.”

“Huh?~ What is Kiyo talking about? Angie has done nothing wrong. Atua even said He doesn’t think Kiyo’s as bad as he said he is anymore!” Angie complained as she started squishing her face again.

“So I suppose you just tried drugging my tea as a source of entertainment? Or perhaps poison is the more accurate term, considering just how limited our resources are.” Korekiyo leveled her a look, but he’s coming across as more inquisitive and teasing than actually upset despite what he was saying.

Her own expression furrowed and puffed as she took note of the colorful flowery mug he lifted to his mask as if to taunt her to show him he’s wrong. Leaving her with only his original dragonfly patterned teacup if she wanted to prove her innocence by drinking from it herself. But she couldn’t, so she went to pour it out in the garbage before going off to sulk back in the seat Tenko wanted her to take before.

Maybe Kiyo really is monster and that how his face works? Like instead of a zipper that really IS Kiyo’s mouth, and he just have a lot of tiny pointy teeth- No Gonta being silly again. Gonta see Kiyo’s mouth at the party, and it normal. Even if it looked more like lady mouth. But all of him looked more ladylike. … Kiyo couldn’t be a LADY monster this whole time could he? That must be just Gonta silly talk right?

“It wasn’t anything THAT serious. Just enough to get you an itttsy bit sick, since you keep acting so smug. It wouldn’t kill you to at least pretend to have some remorse for what you did to Kirumi you know.”

“Were you really willing to stake your life on that guess, Angie? Or everyone else’s?! Be more careful, please! Your “Atua” has already proven too faulty to trust in life and death situations like this.”

“Gonta agree with Kibo. Gonta can keep close eye on Kiyo, so Kiyo no hurt anyone okay? And no one else hurt Kiyo either. Gonta promise to keep everyone safe, so no trials happen.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea for now. Locking him up could put him in danger and lead to another trial, so a buddy system should work as a compromise for now. Is that okay with everyone else?” Kaede asked, looking around the room for approval. With little better solutions available everyone soon agreed.

Not that this meant everyone was happy about this solution. Kokichi, in particular, looked pretty upset. Gonta liked to think this was more out of worry than anger, but it was hard for him to know for sure.

Kibo also looked more distant than usual. Until his pink eyes lit up, nearly literally, as if something just occurred to him. But whatever the thought that brought a smile to his face was, he kept it to himself.

There was little time to try asking him about it when Monokuma made his sole appearance. Gonta almost missed the little tune the Monokubs would sing as they appeared, but it was silly to linger on that. Besides, for all the bad Korekiyo caused there was now only one Exisal threatening everyone.

“Heyo kiddeos. Boy is it a beau-ti-ful day, isn’t it? No worries, no kids, no stress! Just me on my lonesome taking care of you brats. This’ll make things soooo much easier.”

“Would you just get to the point already? We have bigger problems to deal with right now.”

“Whaaat? Bigger than me? Well that just won’t do now, will it? But don’t you worry bout a thing, ‘cause Papakuma’s got just the ticket to help you all sort out your differences! Some fab-u-lous prizes~”

“Yaaay~”

“Oh, can it Kokichi we all know you’re faker than Tsumugi’s tits.” (Huh? Tsumugi has fake birds? Why?)

“H-hey, leave me out of this! And I’m not flashy enough to do that sort of thing-”

“Suuuure you don’t Princess Padding. Let’s face it, there’s no other way for a cosplayer to keep up with anime babes nowadays anyway. But here you bastards go! The legendary Levistone, and the priceless Ocotobrush can be yours for a mere 999 Monocoins~”

“... But you just said it was priceless?”

“Well it was a figure of speech, so pay the fuck up space chimp!”

“What? Why do I have to, who even has that kinda dough?!”

“I mean it, show me the money. Then you get to have your fun exploring to see if you can find the flashback light I’ve hidden somewhere around here.”

“... Is that really are there is?” Angie asked, sounding rather skeptical about this whole thing.

“Yeah, why should we pay at all for something you’re probably trying to kill us with anyway?!”

“‘Cause I need the cash to help sort out the next motives for you guys, so sue me. Ya see you were supposed to be getting a nifty lil’ card key to push you kids along, but with my cubs gone I’ve decided we’d be going in a different direction. One that suits the way you all wanted to take this story more.”

“W-what are you talking about?” Tsumugi asked, looking very scared. Rightly so with another motive on the horizon, so Gonta went next to her to help Kibo reassure her everything would be fine.

“You’ll see~ I’m sure it will all be very enlightening when it’s done. But for now, you better pay the piper!”

Since it was clear Monokuma wouldn’t give them the items or leave Gonta’s friends pooled what Monocoins they had to make the bear leave them in peace. Hopefully this wouldn’t happen again. (Gonta feels kinda bad he hasn’t been looking for those much so he wasn’t much help. But it very rude to damage school property isn’t it?)

Kibo was quick to take the Levistone and headed out towards Miu’s lab, remembering the odd pedestal there. Rather than split up like they did before everyone else chose to follow him to see what this would unlock, but Gonta made sure Korekiyo stayed as far away from the girls as he could.

It was hard to focus solely on him when they got outside again though.

“Is there something the matter Gonta?” Tsumugi asked.

“Yeah, Gonta just keep seeing bits of tiny bugs. But they no want to talk to Gonta before.”

“Bugs? I thought we said before this campus didn’t have any natural pests?” Ryoma hung back a bit to make sure he was hearing Gonta right. And probably to be ready to help if Korekiyo caused trouble.

“Gonta no think so either at first, and before he thought bugs he see were the ones let out at the party. But they not, these much smaller. And very shy with how they keep ignoring and avoiding Gonta.”

“Weird. I mean I haven’t seen anything when I’ve been at my dojo either so they must be really small. Not that Tenko doubts you at all, you did say your eyesight was super good so I believe you for sure!” Tenko assured him with a smile and a fist pump. Korekiyo, on the other hand, seemed more perplexed by the information.

“Curiouser and curiouser. If there is a local insect population after all that could help us figure out where we are. The lack of any at all was far more concerning, should Ryoma’s screen cage theory prove true.”

“Yeeeah, we could be somewhere deep underwater or on the moon or ANYWHERE if there’s no bugs at all." Kokichi said. "‘Specially since the weeds had been getting on just fine for however long this place has been a thing.”

“But if we were in space Kaito would still have recognized some stars wouldn’t he?” Kaede spoke up from the front, near Kibo.

“Not a chance. Space is way too big, and I wouldn’t even know where to start if that were the case. But c’mon guys, fuckin’ space? That’s impossible! Being on the bottom the ocean was the safer bet.”

“Are you sure? Sure sure sure? Because things in here have been way more advanced than anything Angie ever expected to see before. A secret sci-fi moon base could maybe explain that.”

“But Zero Escape already used both of those plotlines before…”

“... Gonta not sure he comfortable with that title. But if Kaito say it’s un-possible then it has to be, right?” (Gonta pretty sure he got that word wrong again. Why do “im” and “un” sounds gotta be so alike?!)

“Right! And who cares what some game or show used Tsumugi, that doesn’t rule anything out for us.”

Tenko had the last word on the matter as they stood before the pedestal. It was odd to see how the maintenance was still going on around the school even with the massive losses of the Exisals. But when Kibo placed the stone on the indent available the landscape began to spring to life.

The odd carvings took on a deep red glow as the stone flew straight to the sky. And from that sky came a most unusual looking lab. Somehow. Gonta was pretty sure that wasn’t actually up there before, there weren’t any clouds in the way or anything. He took care to make sure no one fell over at the impact of it reaching the ground. Connecting itself to the lab of the late great inventor. Gonta tried to ignore that.

… Actually that is a very good idea in general. Gonta’s no good at technical stuff anyway, maybe even worse at that then he is in his language studies.

“Fuckin’ sweet! Hey hey, Kibo let’s go check out your rad lab okay? With something this sci-fi it’s gotta be yours!” Kokichi said as he threw an arm around Kibo, despite the latter’s obvious discomfort.

“Are you sure? I mean it could be Kaito’s, could it not?” Kibo offered, but it was clear he already knew it was his. “I would have preferred my lab have a more traditional look to be honest,” he said with a sigh, causing Kokichi to snicker and poke at the robotic boy's face.

“Pfff, as if. Why would Kaito’s lab try to do the architectural nasty with Miu’s lab anyway? It’s gotta be yours! Besides inventors are robots go hand in hand!”

“I… Wha... Can you… not phrase it like that please?!” Kibo sputtered as he blushed and tried pushing the clinging boy away. (Is that like how he makes the pretty lights that change color? Kibo good at that. Very nice of Miu to help him learn it! Gonta miss her. Gonta hope Angie still right that everyone okay.)

“Or ever speak again for that matter. Just because she isn’t here to say it doesn’t mean you have to.”

“Oh, sure I’ll totally play the quiet game with you Kiyo. First to say something loses!”

Korekiyo shook his head as if he thought Kokichi was joking, but the intense stare Kokichi was giving him told a different story. It didn’t look like he had any intention of stopping either until Korekiyo broke.

“Uh, Kokichi aren’t you going to be going with Kibo?” Tenko cautiously asked, getting only a furious head shake in reply. Korekiyo only shrugged and made some weird set of hand gestures to Gonta, as if that explained anything.

Whatever they were must have meant something to Kokichi, as he got pretty mad.

“HEY, THAT’S CHEATING YOU CAN’T SIGN!” Kokichi shouted, which only made the corners of Korekiyo’s mask twitch like he was grinning underneath it.

“You’re very right, I can’t. But you never ruled it out. And I do believe this means you just lost.”

“... Fuck you.” Kokichi said as his parting words, heading off to Kibo’s lab with Kibo, Kaede, and Kaito. (Why we have so many “K” names? Why don’t Gonta have “K” name too? Gonta feels left out.)

“Knock it off already! Geez, if we’re done taking this seriously I’ll be at my dojo if anyone needs me okay? I’ve got better things to do.” Tenko wouldn’t be wrong either. Gonta saw she took some leftovers from her breakfast in a little box before they left, so she probably went to go feed Himiko’s fishies.

They must be a lot happier in Tenko’s lab. It was a bit of hard work from both of them, but the fish had a lot more room to swim around in the area under Tenko’s hanging platforms. He just hoped she really knew what she was doing, with how dangerous they could be if she didn’t feed them often enough.

Hopefully Himiko’s fishies and birdies no try to eat each other now that there no cages, that be sad- Actually, that reminds me, I forgot to ask about undoing the student council’s previous actions before!

“Uhh, should Gonta clear open the death road again? Since that make Kaede and Kaito angry before.”

“Nah, man it’s fine. Without Miu’s tools it’d probably still be way too difficult for us all to escape through there. Don’t worry about it, we’ll find another way outta this place you’ll see!”

“Angie thinks the warehouse should also remain closed! If… That’s alright with everyone else?”

“I can agree with that, it’s a bit too dangerous to leave it like it was before. This should be fine!”

Good. It nice to see Angie, Kaito, and Kaede all getting along again. No need for any Atua.

“Also… Gonta no good with tech-nol-ogy so it okay if he no go up there? Gonta and Kiyo can go find thing for paintbrush instead.”

“I for one am also in favor of the idea. If everyone else is here there is no harm in us heading elsewhere, and I do have a good idea where this item is meant to be used.”

“W-well you can at least wait to see if the flashback light is hidden in there can’t you? I mean if it is then it’d be easier to just see the memories here than to regroup at the dining hall again right?” Tsumugi asked, still obviously nervous being around Korekiyo. She was pretty brave to put what was best for the class before her own wants, by pointing this out to him despite obviously wanting the murderer gone.

“O-oh. Right. Gonta and Kiyo wait here then!”

At least they didn’t need to wait too long. It was fairly awkward, since Angie kept trying to get a rise out of Korekiyo again for fun while Ryoma watched the three of them like a bear waiting for a salmon to leap from the river. Kibo was the first down and he seemed fairly disappointed by his lab.

Gonta felt pretty bad about that. It wasn’t fair for Kibo to be the only one unhappy with his talent’s research lab. And Monophanie said these were all made just for them, to make them happy too.

Maybe this is what he means when he talks about robophobia? It’s terribly unfair to think that by being a robot Kibo has to understand and enjoy technical things. He only learned some computer stuff because it helped to remind him of Miu, not because he liked it at all. Like when Gonta was still new to them so many Reptites would assume that as a primate he would just love bananas as a gift. So. Many. Bananas.

A nudge to his side snapped him out of his thoughts, as Kokichi seemed perturbed by whatever distant and frustrated expression Gonta had on his face in response to those memories. But as they confirmed there was no flashback light to be found here he gave his tiny friend a reassuring smile before heading towards the school again.

Since Korekiyo said before he thought he knew where the octobrush needed to be used, though he was teased a little for not quite understanding what octopi had to do with anything, he lead the way. All the way to the fourth floor and heading towards the hallway of the creepy not-baby-bear statue things.

“This case at least has a fun bit of foreshadowing to it. Torii such as these, also known as “Shrine Gates”, primarily act as entrances to holy grounds. However, some of these sacred spaces may also have other forms of barriers to help protect them from corrupting forces.”

“Every time he uses the word “fun” there should be a massive asterisk after it or something.” Tenko not-so-subtly whispered to Angie, who giggled at that. Korekiyo also heard her and seemed confused.

“Why? This is one of the “tamest” interests I have, and education should be an enjoyable experience for everyone. Any case where it isn’t is the fault of the one doing the teaching, not the one trying to learn.”

“Gonta think that be easier if teachers not hit people with rulers for writing with wrong paw.” Gonta offered as the memory came to mind. One that certainly didn’t help his language lessons any.

One that didn’t help his friends keep their peace of minds any either. Oops. But before he could mentally chide himself for oversharing and needlessly causing them to worry Korekiyo and Kokichi spoke up.

“... I do believe such methods have been banned in most school environments. Was this a private tutor?” Korekiyo asked, and his disturbance about what he learned Gonta struggled with seemed oddly genuine.

Kokichi, on the other hand, went in a far more vengeful and aggressive direction. “Gimme a name and a face and I’ll egg their house good when we get out! And maybe steal something, depends on my mood. They got any stuff you’d like Gonta?”

“Kokichi no!”

“Come on Ka-yay-de, it’ll be fine~” Kokichi insisted despite Kaede’s objection, but before she could push for it Gonta tried to help keep his friend from doing anything that could have serious consequences.

“But that illegal! Breaking law bad!”

“Soooooooooo? It’s fun~ Why do you think I learned how to pick locks?”

“To have a useful skill you could use responsibly for the benefit of yourself and others?” Kibo offered.

“Bitch please, have you even met me?”

“Well speaking of unlocking this should be the place right?” Ryoma asked upon reaching the hanging scrolls. Angie snatched the brush away from Korekiyo and brought the tip to the canvas with a flourish, but much to her disappointment she didn’t need to do anything else.

As soon as the hair hit the fabric patterns began to materialize on the surface of all three scrolls at once. However as soon as the images settled the scrolls rolled themselves up, so Gonta didn’t have time to read anything written on them. He only caught that the left had a Monokuma with some tiny drums and the one on the right was a Monokuma with a weird scarf that he was pretty sure he should know by now.

Behind where the scrolls once were was a new set of stairs to the fifth floor just like Korekiyo predicted. But any sense of foreboding that could come with it was immediately broken by the class’s bickering.

“Ah, how fairly typical for a gateway be guarded by parodies of the dueling gods Raijin and Fujin-”

“Yeah yeah, “humanity is beautiful” cultural bullshit yada yada. Can we go now?”

“Aww, but where did the brush and scrolls go? Angie wanted to keep those…”

“WHY?”

“Every artist worth their salt knows you can never have too many materials Tenko!”

“Pretty sure that’s the sorta thing a hoarder would say too.”

“Hey, watch it Kaito, you can’t judge her!”

“Says the girl who both questioned it first and definitely didn’t kidnap all of Himiko’s “familiars”.”

“I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t count as kidnapping. It’s good she wants to look after them I think.”

“Yeah Tsumugi, that’d be stealing , get your words right!”

“That isn’t what I meant Kokichi!” Kibo sniped at him.

“Okay everyone, let’s just go up and see about the next floor okay?!” Kaede shouted over the noise. She looked a bit bashful as they looked at her, but eventually everyone chose to go up and give it a look.

As if to further prove Korekiyo’s mini-lecture accurate “holy” certainly felt like the word to describe this new space. Everything about it reminded Gonta of the sorts of churches and cathedrals he’d see on TV and cartoons. But with everything so dark he’s not so sure this could ever really be a house of God.

“Hmm~, bad space, Atua doesn’t like it.”

“Well, who cares what your false god thinks anyway? The symmetry and attention to detail is certainly a pleasant surprise, even if the idols we are being presented within it are… more than a little insulting. Particularly if the one is meant to be invoking the six-winged Seraphim of Christianity and Judaism.”

“Symmetry’s so boooring though. Way too tired and tied to western beauty ideals. So Angie’s just gonna go now!”

“Then Tenko’s going too! We’ll just meet up later if someone finds the flashback light okay?”

“Who knew our dear Angie would be so repulsed by the imagery of angels?”

“Kiyo, be nice.” Kaito scolded. (As if it were possible for someone who killed a girl as caring as Kirumi to ever be nice! Even if she killed Maki first, and Maki was also not a bad person. This was so complicated...)

“I like to think I have been behaving very well considering what I’ve put up with from her today. However as nicely designed as this floor may be I would also wish to return to my own lab if that would be alright with everyone. Unless there is something here you’d like to see first Gonta?”

“No, that fine. Gonta can check later. You all know where we be if anyone finds flashback light, okay?” (Tsumugi’s lab not have anything for Gonta anyway, and Shuichi and Rantaro’s lab just have… sad memories now. This also be easier to keep Kiyo away from anything new he could make plans with.)

That said going back down to the lab may not have been the “safest” place to take Korekiyo. He became rather volatile at the realization that the gilded katana’s blade was missing again. It only got worse when it became clear the stone mask from before was also nowhere to be found. Gonta forgot how actively scary Korekiyo could be when he got angry. (Gonta also not sure hair should move like twitchy snakes. Unless that normal for monster hair? Human hair definitely no react when their people get mad.)

None of that anger was directed towards anyone at least. Not even Kokichi, who Gonta suspected was probably responsible for this, not that he’d ever tell Korekiyo that. So Gonta just waited until he calmed down more before he tried talking to him at all. It’s not like there was much else for Gonta to do in here.

“Do any of Kiyo’s books have pictures? Most are hard for Gonta to read.”

“Of course, give me a moment,” Korekiyo replied, taking a break from his reading to slip other aged tomes from the many shelves around his lab. After finding five that he seemed satisfied enough with he passed them along to Gonta, who awkwardly held the old books as if they were made of glass. “These are all primarily art based texts, so the author’s commentary shouldn’t be needed to appreciate the works they show. They all should also follow a general insect theme, with some arachnids and the like.”

He’s already sorted books like this out? Why do that? For me? Or does Kiyo also like bugs? But Kiyo’s… Not really a good person, right? Why would someone cruel ever like something as small or cute as bugs?

Gonta gave his thanks as he accepted the pile of books, but he was unsure about returning the smile he thought Korekiyo was giving him under his mask. It’s odd, how much and how little things have changed since the last trial. Korekiyo wasn’t acting that much differently than normal, but nothing feels the same anymore. Like Gonta could wake up and all of yesterday would just be a dream. But he knows it wasn’t.

He didn’t know how long they read in silence before Korekiyo started asking him questions about his life with the Reptites. They were all framed as if he was trying to give Gonta a chance to reminisce about better, easier, times but he couldn’t trust how “innocent” Korekiyo’s curiosity was anymore. Not with his promise to his forest family burning in his mind. So he tried to stay as honest but vague as he could.

There shouldn’t be any harm in stressing how the Reptites weren’t all that different from humans. If anything that would help make it easier for everyone to get along, wouldn’t it? Not that Gonta’s smart enough to really know for sure. He’d just have to settle for trying to be the best person he could possibly be to show what positive influences both of his families have been to him. Maybe that’d be enough.

It soon grew easier to talk about his human family instead, well as easy as talking could ever be, and Korekiyo didn’t seem to mind the redirection in the slightest. If nothing else Korekiyo was a good and attentive listener, and his interest always seemed genuine. It’s not like he could hurt any of Gonta’s family from this place anyway. They didn’t have a whole lot of girls around the house anymore either.

His mother still had some problems with Gonta that he didn’t really understand, and she was out most of the time. Both his parents were. Might be how he got lost in the first place, not that he’d ever know. But Grandma was always good to him, always helping him when Grandfather got upset about his lessons.

Of course, it was schooling that lead to Korekiyo giving more of his own input.

“You really aren’t “dumb” you do realize yes?” He said in that way he wasn’t really asking a question but making a statement. His intentions for this were hard to judge but the curiosity in his tone sounded real.

“Huh?”

“There’s more than one way to teach any given subject, and everyone has their own ways of processing information. You aren’t unobservant nor are there any notable problems with your memory from everything I’ve seen and clearly show the drive and desire for learning in areas. If they’re already willing to seek out means of helping you learn outside of conventional school systems your family should be open to the idea of trying something else if their current “solutions” aren’t proving effective for you.”

“Gonta pretty sure Kiyo’s not right about that. Gonta’s an idiot-”

“You are the Ultimate Entomologist are you not?” Korekiyo’s tone got colder at his question. More likely a sign of annoyance rather than anger at being told he’s wrong about something. Like he was speaking to a child that made him repeat himself rather than having given evidence of the flaws in his observations.

“... Yes?”

“Then how can you, a teenage prodigy in a scientific field, be considered anything less than a genius?”

“Because bugs are different! Gonta no good with words, or computers, or...”

“So? I’m hardly any better around technology, average at the very best with my inexperience with them. While your ideal of a “gentleman” may be able to excel at all things that isn’t how people were meant to develop. Not that I am dissuading you from trying, it is a wonderful goal for you reach for! But People always value different types of intelligence and skills, so even if you aren’t in a situation where these are greatly appreciated that doesn’t mean you are “stupid” for lacking in the areas that commonly are.”

“But Gonta not useful here.”

“Oh yes because you clearly aren’t currently performing a task that you are easily the best suited for.”

“... Gonta pretty sure Kiyo being “sar-cas-tic” right now. That not nice.”

“If memory serves Buddhism would also agree with you there. But the point remains, does it not?”

“Gonta not useful in trials.”

“And who not named Kaede or Kokichi has reliably been so thus far? Everyone helps in different ways depending on the case’s context and if I do recall it was your testimony that revealed one of my lies. That’s not to say it might not have been found even without your observation, but you made it easier. Just as you are now making life here a tad less stressful for everyone despite some… unsavory details.”

“Gonta say stupid things.”

“And so does Kaito. Very often I might add. But no matter how he may be teased he is also very far from unintelligent and we can all acknowledge and respect this. Miu was much the same way with her quirks.”

“Kaito different, he still talk good.”

“Don’t pretend as if I don’t know how needlessly difficult my preferred style of speech can make it for others to understand me. And yet here we are, without me talking down to you, and you’ve still carried multiple conversations with me while barely missing a beat.” (SO HE DO KNOW. KIYO IS STUPID JERK!)

“... If Kiyo know that why he not just talk easier?” Gonta complained with a halfhearted glare. But all it did was make the anthropologist laugh. “Kiyo laugh like Reptite do back home. Very hissy, much mirth.”

“Kehehe, now that was a word I wasn’t expecting from you! I don’t believe that’s one even I’ve used lately. But hearing it in use can make it easier for others to learn ways to express themselves they didn’t have the ability to before. Which is part of why I speak like this. I do also just like to show off of course.”

“Gonta no know what he like better, friendly mean people or not friendly kind people. Kiyo easier to understand when he just a friendly weird person before.”

“What can I say, life’s complicated. That’s what makes it and the people you meet in it so very enjoyable. Simple may be safer, but it gets dreadfully dull if it stays that way for too long. Nothing is meant to stay the same, particularly not if they’re people. And not all of life’s changes are considered for the better.”

Gonta assumed there was little point int pushing the issue further. Korekiyo had no regrets he was willing to show, and Gonta wasn’t sure he really wanted to understand his reasons. So instead they fell back into silence reading, or just looking at their respective books to spend the time.

Until there was a knock at the door, and with it an unexpected visitor.

Kaede of all people came through those doors. But she looked so conflicted it was like even she didn’t want to be there or know why she was doing this. As if to prove her resolve she closed her eyes and took a calming breath before she spoke with the coldest tones Gonta had ever heard from her.

“Gonta can you wait outside for a bit? There’s something I need to ask Kiyo about alone. Don’t worry, you know we’re the only ones in here and you don’t need to go far, so I won’t be in any danger. Not unless he wants to try something monumentally stupid.”

“Is… Is Kaede really sure about this? Gonta could just go wait on higher level-”

“I’m sure Gonta. Everything will be fine.” She repeated, with the bitterness and finality of a blizzard. The shift from her natural warmth was nearly as terrifying as the contrast it had with the fire in her eyes so he obeyed. If only because she underestimated how good his own hearing could be. For her own safety.

He leaned against the wall beside the shoji doors, waiting and listening as if hunting for bugs in a forest. Human voices were far easier to catch than any insect’s chirps or wingbeats, but he still couldn’t be too careful. Gonta didn’t want to risk making Kaede feel betrayed again by catching him eavesdropping.

“This is quite the surprise Kaede, what do you wish to speak to me about? Yesterday’s accusation?”

“No. We both know you didn’t believe a word of that. I just need to know… How long have you been waiting to try a stunt like this?”

“Oh? And what “stunt” would that be by chance?”

“Don’t play coy with me Kiyo! This is about your sister, isn’t it? To… “Introduce” me to her.” She hissed at him. It was clear she wanted to yell at him but restrained herself since the sound would alert Gonta.

With how deafeningly silent it was after that Gonta was afraid he missed something until Korekiyo spoke.

“Of course it is. It always is. Everything I do, that I am, is because of Her in one way or another. So, should I take this to mean you wish to go back on your earlier promise? You must hate me ever so much for tricking you in such a heartless way, don’t you?” (She should, we all should, HOW COULD YOU-)

Another pause, as Gonta heard Kaede take a deep calming breath before she replied. “... No I don’t.”

“Fascinating. Are you lying to me, or to yourself right now?” Gonta could practically hear the sick smile Korekiyo must have hiding under that mask as he spoke, and it was making him feel ill. It was too cruel.

“SHUT UP-” Kaede nearly shouted, before stopping herself. It took everything Gonta had to keep himself from charging through those doors and yelling at Korekiyo for trying to hurt Kaede for a reason so… So stupid. (What else could you ever call killing a friend for the sake of someone who was already dead?!)

But he managed to control himself, hands clenched and teeth grinding as he did, and continued listening while wiping all his frustrated tears away. If she came out and noticed those she��d know he heard them.

Her voice was little more than a whisper as she tried speaking to Korekiyo through her anger once again. “Stop talking like that. But… How could you look me in the eye and ask if it’d be okay to MURDER ME?!”

“Oh come off it. It’s not like you’re the first girl I’ve ever asked that question. And until She has her 100th friend you won’t be the last. But you were one of the very few who gave me your permission so readily.”

Gonta felt himself go cold. 100 “friends”. 100 victims.

How close to that number is he at this point? Does it matter? Wanting to go that far speaks volumes, even if he only killed a fraction of that. But… Is it so different from Ryoma or Maki either? They both… They also killed a lot of people before the game right? That was why Angie and Tenko told me to be so careful with both of them, despite only Maki ever threatening anyone and Ryoma being so… broken.

This must be different. Maki’s was for her job, her talent. Ryoma’s was for revenge, and he was finished. He’s just a sad friend who needs our help. What do you even call something this unbelievably twisted?

“... Then why didn’t you try anything when the first blood perk was still in play? I fit your… “standards”, and then you could have gotten out without any consequences. Before Shuichi or Rantaro died.”

“I already told you. I didn’t remember why I felt I needed to ask you that question as I couldn’t recall Sister was already dead. And it’s not like I had an opportunity to when that horrid drone began, the only girl I could have gone after at that point was Tsumugi, as she was the only one in the dining hall that isolated herself with her visit to the restroom. You would likely have been in Shuichi’s company anyway, and I hardly had any need to pick a fight. I was more than content to see how this would all play out.”

“So that’s all there is to it? In the end, this is all because you saw your motive video?” (Just like Kirumi... Why videos do this to us?)

“What else were you expecting of me? To tell you that you were completely mistaken? That I really did believe you’d ever be as callous as to be the one behind this killing game? As if I’d insult your intelligence in such a way. Besides, it doesn’t sound as if you truly intend to let the others know about my motive just yet. Why else would you have sent my watcher away for this chat? So, what are you planning to do?”

“That’s none of your concern Korekiyo.”

“Oh? Why so formal? There really is no need for that. I’m more than willing to accept your change of mind, so this won’t happen to you again. It’s not like Sister doesn’t have other options available in here.”

Rather than responding to that Kaede forced her way out of his lab, nearly hitting Gonta with the door in her hurry. She didn’t seem to notice that though as she tried slamming the shoji screen behind her.

“Tried” being the key term as this style of door has a habit of bouncing back open when you try that, due to their lightweight paper construction. Gonta noticed that a lot back at his human Grandfather’s estate.

He couldn’t find any comedy in that quirk though, when he saw the look on her face. It was like the mask of a monster he saw in one of the plays his human family had tried taking him to. The ones that expressed different emotions depending on the angle you saw it at. (Korekiyo would know what it was called.)

Her face was nearly red and she looked on the brink of tears but she wasn’t embarrassed, sick, or sad. A sharp contrast to her bone-white knuckles, clenched so hard Gonta was worried she’d draw blood soon. There was nothing but rage and hate present on her face, the flame from before fanned into a wildfire.

“Huh? Is Kaede okay? Did Kiyo do something? Or say mean things? Is there something Gonta can do?” He tried asking her, knowing better than to try touching anything that feels cornered. Humans and animals aren’t all that different in that regard. But his gentle voice did snap her from her thoughts.

“O-oh, no. It’s okay Gonta, honest. He answered everything I needed him to. I’ll be alright. You can go back in now, I’ll just head to my room.” She said, giving him what was meant to be a reassuring smile.

As if she hadn’t just heard straight from the monster’s mouth her attempts at kindness were what nearly got her killed. Like she didn’t just prove she was intending to hide this fact from them all so none of them would try to kill him for this atrocity outright. Even though he’s proven he certainly deserved such a fate.

Gonta tried offering her a hug at least before she went, which he was glad she accepted and helped her relax, before watching her go with his own poor attempt at a smile as he childishly waved her goodbye.

He hoped that would be enough to convince her. Enough to hide what he was thinking from her.

Though hiding from Korekiyo would probably prove to be the greater challenge. He was the one who gave him the idea after all, and this would be the safest means to take care of him should Gonta prove unable to stop another murder. Far safer than any of Ryoma or Kaito’s plans offered before, he was sure.

He re-entered the anthropologist’s lab, doing his best to play confused as though he hadn’t heard a word they said. Korekiyo probably wouldn’t find it out of place if the looks sent his way turned out harsher than intended either, since he should know Gonta just saw how he reduced Kaede to angry tears.

Korekiyo gave him a kinder smile, judging by the deceptively gentle look in his eyes, as Gonta returned his book to its original position so they could continue reading in silence like before. It was a smile Gonta had no problems with returning this time. Why shouldn’t he? Korekiyo is giving Gonta a means for him to finally prove himself useful to all of his friends at long last, after so many failures. He should be happy.

After all, it’s my sworn duty as a true gentleman to protect my friends from whatever may threaten them.

And if that means I have to dirty my hands by putting down a dangerous animal to do so, then so be it.

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#New Danganronpa V3 #ndrv3 #ndrv3 spoilers #drv3 #drv3 spoilers #drv3 fanfiction #fanfic #gonta gokuhara #korekiyo shinguji #kaede akamatsu #angie yonaga #kokichi ouma #K1-B0 #tsumugi shirogane #tenko chabashira #kaito momota #ryoma hoshi

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