003. [Text]

[fatalissimo]

[PRE-POST WHATNOT]

[It's raining outside today, but for once Nonon doesn't seem to mind; she's still in the utter sinkhole that is Violet City, but for the time being, her morale is good. Her money ran out quite some time ago, and she'd been okay with sleeping outside (it was going to take more than that to get her down properly) until that freak snowstorm last week felt the need to hit; seeing as she'd never worked a day in her life (not a proper job, not something that wasn't school and training) the idea of doing that was something almost completely foreign to her, but eventually she'd caved and applied somewhere and gotten hired.

And in the time since, she's discovered the surprisingly unsarcastic utter joy in the equation that is "make muffins = get money."

Sure, she's probably never going to get the flour out of her hair again and half the time she somehow ends up with glaze on her face, but she's found a bakery and they were hiring and she's stronger than she looks, and there's something really satisfying about being able to do things with her hands and see the results, and generally she's doing really well. Singing a bit while she does it, even, and making use of her Ambipom's entirely too many hands to hold trays for her while she works.

Life is actually surprisingly good today.]


[TEXT]

This place is actually pretty mundane, for somewhere that has a bunch of magical fire-spitting animals at their disposal. It took a lot of considering it, but I don't think I can really complain about that, though. It's sort of nice to know that even in a place that has something like that, people aren't using them to burn each other's faces off.

(Usually, anyway, I've heard there are a few whackjobs that do that.)

How many of you are from somewhere like this? Where there's not much going on, I mean, and you can just kind of exist.

And if you're from somewhere that's not like this and there's stuff going on all the time, what's it like for you to be living here now? Is it boring for you, or is it sort of a relief?

Comments

[fatalissimo]

Unless you happen to go to Honnouji Academy, that's probably the case.

[diamondo]

yep never heard of it
im guessing youre not familiar with hopes peak either

[fatalissimo]

"Hope's Peak"? Really? That's cute.

So if it's really like mine, from what you've heard - what's a school like that doing taking in a gang leader, anyway?

[diamondo]

you know i never questioned it back home
but now that im here i question it all the time
hopes peak accepts the best of the best in their respective fields
so youve got people like the super high school level programmer
or the super high school level swimmer
but youve also got shit like
super high school level gambler
and super high school level good luck
(which was drawn from a lottery rather than being chosen)
so they purposefully picked us out because of our abilities
so obviously im the super high school level biker gang leader
and i have no idea why they decided that would be a good idea for their school
but im not even going to question it

[fatalissimo]

"Super High School Level"? Is that supposed to mean you're better than everyone else in your age bracket, or is it implying you're good enough to be admitted to a particularly super high school?

It's stupid as hell either way, but one's stupider than the other.

[diamondo]

its not stupid!

[...care to try that again, Mondo?]

okay yeah it sounds stupid as hell
but it means were the best at what we do in our age bracket
though i guess hopes peak is kind of a super high school
everyone wants to get into it and they say if you make it in your future is practically guaranteed to be great so
theres that i guess

[fatalissimo]

Okay, so basically you got let into a really awesome school because you are the best biker gang leader who ever led a bike gang, in the board's opinion. And they let in a gambler, so I guess they never lose at gambling...and someone just got in because a little ball came out of a tumbler and they decided they must be the luckiest kid ever. And they give you all little titles and pat your ass even though by your own admission you don't bother with actually learning anything there, and you're going to get a free ride to whatever future you want because of it.

God, you're all going to die. You're going to get into the real world and you're all going to die because you will have no skills whatsoever outside of your one cute little talent.

[diamondo]

i was talking about the public schools actually
the shit where i dont actually learn anything
i only just got accepted to hopes peak

[...it's not really a lie???]

but yeah im not gonna argue the free ride thing
its pretty fucked up honestly
the fact that we dont really have to do shit in order to have a good future
while other people have to work hard just because theyre not the best of the best at what they do
but at the same time i seriously think youre overreacting
were not gonna die
we may not be perfectly suited for the world because shits been handed to us
but were not gonna get killed or anything
i dont know what your world is like but ours is more like it is here
its pretty peaceful most of the time and the shit we have to deal with as high schoolers is like
homework and tests and shit
not saving the world or anything like that

[fatalissimo]

Who said anything about saving the world? Sit the hell down, James Dean, I'm not saying you're literally going to die.

[diamondo]

you couldve been more clear then
besides a lot of people here seem to come from places where theyre stuck saving the world

[fatalissimo]

...You've told me the setup to a really bad joke. "A gang leader, a swimmer and a gambler walk into a bar..."

Somehow I don't think you guys are the people most would trust to save the world.

[diamondo]

those arent anywhere near the worst the schools accepted
and yeah i wouldnt blame them
i cant speak for everyone else in my class but id be shit at saving anything

[fatalissimo]

What makes you say that?

[diamondo]

im just not good at shit like that

[IT'S NOT LIKE IT'S HAPPENED BEFORE AND HE HAS MAJOR ISSUES BECAUSE OF IT, NOPE]

[fatalissimo]

Don't worry, James Dean. I wouldn't trust me with it, either.

I protect what I've got, but that's about it.

[diamondo]

thats really all we can do
im just glad this worlds never in any grave peril or anything
because im pretty sure a lot of us here would just fuck things up
even with the pokemon

[fatalissimo]

...People in groups tend to do that anyway, unless they're led really well.

[diamondo]

yeah thats very true
you need a damn good leader to get everyone on the same page
much less capable of doing anything

[fatalissimo]

Aren't you a leader yourself, though?

[diamondo]

yeah i am
but theres a difference between being a gang leader and actually getting people to work together
i could whip everyone up into a frenzy and point them in a direction and then hope for the best
but a good leader has their loyalty
its kind of hard to explain

[fatalissimo]

Actually, no, I get what you're saying. We saw a leader kind of like the first type - whip them into a frenzy and point them and hope for the best - recently, but our leader is more like the second one.

[diamondo]

then youre damn lucky
leaders like that arent all that common

[fatalissimo]

Yeah. I've learned a lot from her in the time that I've known her, and I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world.

As long as I can follow her, I'm happy.

[diamondo]

its a pretty good feeling isnt it?
thats the sort of thing they manage to inspire in everyone
im kinda jealous i cant do it
but it takes an extraordinary leader to pull off something like that

[fatalissimo]

It's the sort of thing that can't really be learned. I can get people to follow me with no problem if I have to, but I can't make people genuinely loyal to me like that. I'm jealous of her for being able to, but at the same time I don't know what I'd do with anyone that actually decided to follow me in that sort of way, either.