phonetasmal | [Video] un: foxtales

[Video] un: foxtales

[The initial video opening just displays a new sign on the wall of the common room. It looks like someone managed to find a piece of whiteboard and an erasable marker to incorporate into the sign. What does the sign say?

10 weeks without murder

Yes, you read that right. The whiteboard part is where the 10 is written with marker. It's clearly been made to be regularly updated. Kurama's voice when he speaks is...close to his usual calm tones but a little tense.]

Many of the people here will wonder why this sign is needed. The people who need it know why. I am one of the first group to fall through the Fissures, so this encompasses the entire history we know of of outsiders in this world.

I'm going to keep it updated appropriately, since...there might be more of us, apparently.

I would like to ask that no one tamper with the sign except for accurate updates. This is not a prank and it is not for pranks. It's for people that have suffered.

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There are...enough, unfortunately. I don't know if I can say that the sign is truly needed, but if it can offer any reassurance...

[Damn it, Futaba, why you gotta ask him that?]

...I didn't come here directly from them. But yes. It's something I have experienced.

That isn't a job for a wall sign.

That's a job for a pet shaming sign.

WHAT KIND OF INCONSIDERATE FUCK CRACKS OPEN A DURIAN IN THE MIDDLE OF A COMMUNAL LIVING SPACE

My apologies. I know your brother and I've been attentive to the network and the sign-up sheets for the rooms.

[What he means is, he's too clever and too nosy and probably can match names to usernames to faces for most of the people that were here before this latest influx whether he's really spoken to them or not.]

My name is Kurama.

...this is going to be another conversation that will make me very angry at people I can't reach, isn't it?

What is your criteria for 'plenty of experience'?

Four life or death games, all of which are over, the masterminds dealt with in some way or another.

[You did the best you could, Kana-chan.]

I'm hoping it can provide some grounding...

[ His tone is... bitterly polite. ]

Or maybe you could just shut up and let us focus on the positive aspect of this, instead of being "that guy."

Some of the people here now have been through a set of circumstances where a week without murder is not only not a given, it's the exception to the rule.

[Welcome to the copy/paste brigade, Letty, this is the stock explanation.]

They aren't stories people enjoy telling.

According to the androids, no one has been here in the station but them for quite a long time. But... I think the sort of new arrivals the sign is meant for would rather have something that is confirmed by other outsiders rather than the androids.

There are a number of complicated factors involved.

Oh! Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Kurama.

[She smiles.]

Any friend of my brother's is a friend of mine.

I will admit, it...suited who I was at the time.

That seems an extremely unfortunate title, Kawasumi-san. My name is Kurama. ...Minamino Kurama.

Likewise. It's rare I run into anyone even a significant fraction of my age, the closest I've met in recent memory was around nine hundred or so.

I still don't think you're getting it. You're not trying to help – you're trying to talk over us and explain how we feel to our faces, even when you've just admitted you don't know what we've been through and you don't understand how we feel.

[ she's certainly starting to lean more towards 'strained politeness' than actual politeness. ]

I'm not going to dignify that with a response, because you're clearly not understanding what I'm trying to say. This has nothing to do with you and doesn't affect you in the slightest. So why do you care so much?

Kurama. Hello. [I'm so sorry, she uses first names without honourifics like some heathen.] Nice to meet you. My title... I don't like it either. But I never thought of a better one.

I am uncertain that killing truly would have freed us before. But yes, they all seem to hope the best for us.

[Touma addresses him with the same calm tone he used for Yuuri.]

The fact you have to focus on the 'positive aspect' and ignore all of its negative ramifications is why I can't let this be. Tell me, do you honestly believe the people who this sign is for will be able to focus on the 'positive aspect' of it in the event the murder clock gets reset?

You know what would be better? A sign that encourages those who have suffered to seek medical attention. We have three doctors here at the station that can help. At best, the current sign can temporarily ease those in need, but the help it gives is superficial and will lead to more suffering in the future.

[His voice remains calm, but its firmness from before is now replaced with conviction.]

I care because I can't stand seeing people hurt. How do you expect me to willfully turn a blind eye to being told there's a bunch of people here who have been hurt so badly that they need a sign to tell them how long it's been since any murders occurred? Why should I simply accept this as a burden meant to be carried only by those who have personally experienced your trauma and leave you guys to get crushed under it because it's not my problem? I'm sorry, but I'm not someone who believes you need special positions or reasons in order to reach out to others.

If you're so concerned about me not understanding the feelings of those I want to help, how about you try sharing with me the contents of your heart so I can begin to understand them? You're been hiding your true feelings during this whole conversation by remaining polite with me. I know there's more you want to say to me. So please, let me hear them. No matter how ugly or nasty they are, I want you to say them.

[ Now his expression is shifting to something... overly calm. ]

Not only based on some of the responses I've seen, but from personal experience? Yes. I do.

[ ........................... ]

So, how long have you been a therapist, then? Since you're clearly so experienced in this field, and all.

[... Robin is so tired and it shows on his face.]

Touma, just stop. You're making an ass of yourself. Leave the gods-damned sign alone.

Stop, before you just make things worse.

[ Oh... looks like Kurama got here before he could return. He's casually stepping up beside the redhead. He glances from one side... to the other...

... then tapes a sign next to the note: "That's right! Meowvelous work everyone!" that's complete with a smiley face that has cat ears...

You love him, Kurama. ]

My thoughts, exactly.

[Touma drops his calm demeanor and gives Robin a pointed look.]

I don't care if I'm making an ass of myself. That sign is not a good idea. Even in an ideal situation where there's never a need to reset it, we can't expect everyone who drops here to respect it. Someone is going to eventually mess with it, whether it be for malicious or ignorant reasons, and the fallout is not going to be pretty.

I've already made up my mind on what I'm going to do. I'm going to create my own sign and place it next to theirs. It'll have the three doctors' contact info and it'll hopefully encourage them to visit one. I want to remove that damn sign completely, but unless I can somehow convince at least one of them to agree, I can't. Taking it away without their consent would only harm them more and create a massive shitstorm.

They're not going to because you keep pressing the issue. Do you really think what you're doing here is helping? Because the more you keep talking, the more you're turning people against you because you're tactlessly sticking your nose where it doesn't belong.

I was going to leave this alone, but I can't watch this anymore. Stop. Drop it and maybe come back when you've learned to approach this with some modicum of delicacy. As it stands right now, nobody wants to hear your self-righteous harping, least of all the people who are actually reassured by this sign.

Shut up and mind your own gods-damned business.

...

You call their not being trapped in whatever the fuck was happening to them an illusion?

You want an illusion, I can do that, literally or figuratively. Literally every friendship I can remember before I got here was that - an illusion borne of my powers.

Telling someone that ten weeks have gone by with no one having to kill anything worse than a giant bird or carnivorous deer, when they've been trapped in a place where it was a constant? That. Isn't. A fucking illusion.

And I'm not just talking semantically. I'm talking that what he's doing is a significant comfort to those trapped in a functional warzone. It's telling them "they're safer here". Maybe not safe. But safer.

You've done a good thing. I will admit, I assumed that sign was meant to be more an admonition aimed at, well, the less-ethical among us, at first.

With fuller context, though... Sure beats a charm spell for soothing someone's emotions.

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[Video] un: foxtales

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