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

[amadaman]

They are.

I'm one of the lucky ones that I have the power to fight them. Without it -- it's been two years since I started seeing them, without it I probably would've been an empty shell lying in a hospital bed ages ago.

1/2

[boobwindow]

[ This took a fast dive.

He seems so casual about the whole thing, but just in case she privates their conversation. ]

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[boobwindow]

Sounds awful. [ Seeing something others apparently can't see? ] I'm not sure if you would call that a gift or something else.

[ She hesitates to use the word "curse". ]

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[amadaman]

[Ken's seen and heard his teammates talk about their powers and problems -- their leader even demonstrated Persona summoning to a 15 year old on their first meeting or something, just because (sigh) -- that he's not worried about talking in public. He notices her lock the conversation, but he rolls with it without comment.]

I don't think any of us would call it a gift. It's pretty creepy, and it's caused us a lot of grief.

But, well, I think it's lucky for people in general that someone can fight it. The more Shadows we defeat, the more people recover from the illness they cause.

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[boobwindow]

I didn't want to be so callous.

[ Her eyes narrow. ]

What kind of illness?

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[amadaman]

Well, it's called the Apathy Syndrome. People are found unconscious or... barely conscious. Almost vegetative, I guess. We call them the Lost.

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[boobwindow]

So the more of those weird shadow things you get rid of, the more it removes whatever hold they have on people?

For once it would be nice to hear about someone being from a world that was rainbows and sunshine.

[ She just feels bad is all. Practically everyone here has some kind of problem to deal with back home. ]

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[amadaman]

You can only appreciate the light if you know what it's like to be in the darkness.

[He shrugs.]

Even if it were just rainbows and sunshine there would be someone where who'd find something they didn't like about it, and it'll spread from there. It's normal stuff.

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[boobwindow]

Fair point.

You're a little wise beyond your years, huh?

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[amadaman]

Yeah, I get that a lot.

I've just... seen a lot more than my classmates have, I guess.

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[boobwindow]

Sounds like it.

What about here? [ He might be wise for his age, but he's still a kid. A kid in another world. ] Doing okay here, then? Besides numb skulls not knowing when to shut up during a movie.

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[amadaman]

Well, for one my average number of days spent fighting monsters has gone down from 'every night' to 'maybe every other swear-in,' so I think that counts as an improvement.

And they're loud, but they're my friends, which I also didn't have a lot of back home. So yeah... I'm doing pretty well.

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[boobwindow]

Back to having a semi-normal preteen life?

I know the feeling. I've got a friend who hasn't seen a lot of movies, so she yells at the characters during the movie.

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[amadaman]

"Normal" according to societal average though being an imPort spices up my reputation a bit over in Nonah. Honestly, it's a bit of an adjustment. And they yell at everything anyway, especially each other.

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[boobwindow]

Who's the adult in the house again?

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[amadaman]

... Charlie?

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[boobwindow]

Well... one is better than none.

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[amadaman]

I dunno, if we didn't have him maybe you would've been called in to help.

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[boobwindow]

A virtual stranger?

[ Charlie is the safer option. Karen might just throw someone through a window. #adulthood ]

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[amadaman]

Sometimes we've got to grasp for straws.

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[boobwindow]

Desperate times, desperate measures?

I guess if you ever need to... I'm Karen.

[ Ken you have just acquired a Kryptonian. Congratulations. Social link rank up. ]

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[amadaman]

[He's collecting all these superheroes.]

Just learning to rely more on people. I'm Ken. Nice to meet you, Miss Karen.

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[boobwindow]

Nice to meet you, too.

If you ever need an ear or anything, let me know. I'm honestly not the best with words, but I'll try.

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[amadaman]

Don't worry. If I was good with words myself, I'd be able to cut down my problems by seventy percent.

But I get it. I appreciate it, Miss Karen.