03 ▷ VIDEO

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Good evening, Mask or Menacians.

Today, you'll be treated to the chaos that is Nonah 005 on a movie night. On camera are the Pines twins, a tiny wizard, a minotaur, a wannabe Arthur Fonzarelli, and some kid with Troll doll hair. But most prominently shown is one Ken Amada, who you might recognize as "that kid with the dog" or "the forty year old man trapped in a twelve year old's body." Kittens wander in and out of the area, while Koromaru sits comfortably at the cameraman's hip.

Barely audible in the background is the noise of explosions and gunfire -- but don't be concerned. That's probably just the movie. Probably. More troubling is the way the Fonz and the Troll are bickering over the gratuitous violence while everyone patiently ignores the hell out of them. Well, everyone except Ken, who seems to be gritting his teeth.

Quietly, Star-Lord, our illustrious cameraman, murmurs into his device as he zooms in on Ken. ] Some shit's about to go down. You see that vein popping out on his forehead? That's the vein of someone who's gonna snap.

[ The teens' arguing goes on for another half a minute, during which time Ken seems to become more and more irate. When their squabbling finally reaches a crescendo, the kid rounds on them. ]

Would you two shut the fuck up?!

[ And just like that, the room goes deathly silent -- save for a timely record scratch, courtesy of the film they were trying to watch.

And then, Peter Quill starts cackling. ]

Oh my God, I'm totally posting this.

(( cover your ears, children. expect a whole lot of threadhopping. ))

Comments

[nostalgiabomb]

Nah, that's all the more reason to practice. Gotta work on making it sound natural.

[amadaman]

... I'd rather practice normal English so I don't have to use this translator to talk to you guys properly.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Oh. Right. He forgets that people aren't used to translation chips like he is. ]

I mean, there's that, too. Pretty sure the best thing about learning any language is learning the swears, though.

[amadaman]

You think so?

I mean, I think it's interesting. Not just the swear words but... what sort of words are swear words or insults in different languages.

I mean, the word fuck? [He says this so easily when he's not saying it as an actual curse to anybody.] We don't even have a word that can directly translate to that in Japanese. And here, I'd get in trouble if I said something like "shit," but the Japanese version for that, I've had classmates saying it in first grade and as nobody really cared so much.

[he's 12]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ small intelligent swearing encyclopedia. Peter actually looks impressed ]

I guess it has to do with what people find insulting, right? Apparently "shit" isn't up there where you were from.

When I was growing up, "fuck" was basically just filler word. Like "um" or "okay."

[amadaman]

That explains a lot about you.

For us, it didn't really matter what we said, as long as we didn't say it to the wrong people or say it in the wrong tone? It's kind of hard to explain. It's like the whole honorific thing, when I don't use -san on people's names, that's actually more uncomfortable for me than swearing in English.

[nostalgiabomb]

Why is that, anyway? I mean, the honorific thing. Just a formality issue, or--?

[amadaman]

It is. The one I always use... the -san? That's not really that formal. I'm not trying to call you 'sir' or anything if I use that. But if I didn't, especially if it was someone I didn't know well, it'll be really rude.

Disrespectful, I guess. Like walking into someone's room with muddy shoes and stepping all over their carpet and putting my feet on their furniture.

[nostalgiabomb]

Iiii'm pretty sure that's not the same thing at all.

I mean, it just seems kinda stuffy.

[amadaman]

That's how it is.

I mean, it's especially so for me. I'm younger than anybody I interact with on a regular basis, and I shouldn't disrespect my elders. It is probably stuffy, especially if people are used to stuff that's more similar to America's, but I grew up with it.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He huffs out a laugh. ]

Well, guess it's just doubly so for me. Folks I grew up with weren't exactly fussed about bein' polite or formal. Pretty much like chatting with your big brothers from day one.

[amadaman]

That's probably much closer to how it was like for Kaneda-san and Tetsuo-san.

For me, this is the most... well, back in Iwatodai I've been living at my school for the last two years so I guess I just fell into this habit.

[nostalgiabomb]

Living at your school?

[ He tilts his head, curious. ]

Not all the time, though, right? What about holidays and stuff?

[amadaman]

[He shrugs.]

Stayed at the dorms. I mean, I'm allowed off campus as long as I make curfew, so I had stuff to do around town. I played with Koromaru when I visited the shrine he used to live at.

[nostalgiabomb]

So you-- literally stayed at the school? All the time?

[ A pause, and the implication settles in. Slowly, carefully, he adds, ]

No family to go back to?

[amadaman]

Not really, no.

I have relatives. They showed up at my mom's funeral and played hot potato with me because none of them wanted me, so the uncle who's got custody of me now put me in the dorms.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Ah, crap.

Peter winces a little, sucking in a quiet breath. ]

... I'm sorry, man. That's-- really rough.

[amadaman]

Yeah. Needless to say, we don't get along that well.

It was probably better this way, though? My mom didn't die a normal death, and if I didn't end up at Gekkoukan where I found people like me, I'd be considered insane by now.

[nostalgiabomb]

Insane? What do you mean by that?

[amadaman]

My mom died in the Dark Hour in an accident that involved Shadows, but most people don't know that either of them exist.

Imagine a kid going on about a monster killing his mother in a world that's not supposed to have them?

[nostalgiabomb]

... Ah. Yeah. I can see how that'd be a problem.

That how you ended up in that weird club? The one that fights monsters.

[amadaman]

Yeah. Some people from the school found me wandering around. When they learned that I was able to get by the Dark Hour without getting attached by Shadows, they told me I had the potential to be a Persona user so I volunteered to be on the team.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Peter still finds that whole thing foolhardy. Dangerous.

But then again, he was raised by pirates and sent into ventilation shafts on the regular, where more than one crewman had been sucked into exhaust fans and lost a limb or two, if they were lucky. So who was he to judge? ]

You know, you're a brave kid. Don't think there'd be many kids who'd volunteer to fight monsters after findin' out they were real. Pretty sure most kids your age would try their best to ignore it or pretend it never happened.

[amadaman]

[Ken tries not to cringe at that. It was hardly a decision of bravery for him, or at least he thinks so. Vengeance and spite and a complete disregard for his own safety, more like. He shrugs and smiles a little though.]

Thanks. But I do get told I don't act my age a lot, so. I was more relieved that they were real and I wasn't actually going nuts.

[nostalgiabomb]

Yeah. Pretty sure you're secretly a forty-year-old man with a bowler hat and a monocle under that youthful exterior.