❀ 1st Konpeito ❀ [Video]

[konpeitoqueen]

Someone better- better explain this to me! Before I-

[Someone's screaming into the receiver, mouth and face too close to identify them. However, the voice sounds young and feminine, and it's screeching.] I- I don't want to be here! I want to go HOME! WHERE AM I?!

[The video feed suddenly drops on the ground. For the next few minutes, you can hear sobbing in the background. And then the door opening. At one point she starts screaming and suddenly there's the cheery tune of a Christmas song starting, before the door slams roughly. After a while more and a bit of 'Mawile, mawile?', she finally comes back into view.]

...Ugh. If anyone makes fun of me, I'll rip your head off.

[There's a girl on the camera, wrapped up in so much towels, spare trainer sets and so on that she looks more like a ball of tossed clothes than anything else. Her Mawile tries to snuggle in with her, but she visibly pushes it away and pins its head against the floor. The Pokémon's back mouth snaps in shock, but she doesn't pay much mind.

Her eyes have rings of red around them- hell, her entire face is extraordinarily red. It seems that apart from the cold, she's also been crying.] I'm the Saionji Hiyoko. SHSL Classical Japanese Dancer. From the super-famous Saionji clan.

People keep telling me to leave this town and go beat some Gym Leaders or something, but who cares?! It's cold, this is stupid, and all I have for defense against all these monster-things is... another monster-thing. [Ayani the Mawile perks her head up.] It's not stinky or mean, but it's stupid and rock-hard like metal and just makes me colder! Plus, there's a weird red-nosed deer outside the door that wants me to 'ride it into Cherrygrove in the name of Christmas' or something. Isn't that all a Western tradition? Christmas is just a some event that gives you discounts in stores where I come from. Figures, scummy foreigners just love shoving their shit in everyone's face, even someplace like here... what even IS this place?

...Is there a chance... [She suddenly seems reluctant to say the next few words, but her face turns sour again- almost in realization- and in an instant just spurts it out.] Is this place yomi? It's cold and dead, that's all I can tell! All it's missing is the huge dirty river that separates us from the living realm. I want to give that stinky rotten Izanami a piece of my mind for allowing me to suffer like this! Where is she?! And- [Saionji grabs her Mawile, and both mouths start yapping-] What kind of Yomotsu is Ayani?! [If you're not familiar with Shinto lore, the girl on the video feed is currently spouting nonsense. And even if you are familiar with Shinto lore, her yelling and complaining is so jarring that you'd mistake it for nonsense anyway.]

Comments

normal audio reply

[enjoymyatelier]

You do realize you're thinking of a very specific subset of Westerners, don't you? They're called Americans. The rest of us don't like to talk about them.

Re: video

[konpeitoqueen]

[Okay house cat size she can deal with, definitely. She takes a niiiiiice, long time to reply to you, a few hours, in fact. Now she's sitting somewhere like a lodge with her Mawile getting drunk on hot chocolate next to her.] Ohhhh! That's good! Can you kick them around and toss them on the wall and- and squish them? Do they make funny noises when they get scared?

[Is this kid serious-] I know Ayani makes funny noises! [You may not want to ask her on how she knows that, but whatever.] Orrr... can you only scare them once your own Pokémon gets strong?

[konpeitoqueen]

You keep telling yourself that. [She's almost got a pout in her tone, with how it just drops and rises.]

Alllll Westerners end up something like that, anyway! Rude, noisy, and they throw their trash everywhere! Don't know how to make real, good sweets, and instead mass-produce huge lollies and candies that taste only of sugar. Only greasy swines can ever stand the taste of those sort of things!

[She chuckles a bit.] Don't know when to shut up, don't know when to sit down, don't appreciate other cultures and go around shooting people to bits!

[enjoymyatelier]

Do you really have any room to talk? My experience with Japan has been that it's overcommercialized to the point of having less cultural worth than Hong Kong, of all places, and really should have remained some backwater fishing village.

[WOW KAYNETH NO STOP]

[konpeitoqueen]

[OH WE'RE GONNA FUCKING DO THIS]

Excuse me?! Did you even know where to look? You probably spent all your time sticking your gross head into Tokyo and meeting all those brainwashed by the stupid uncultured Westerners!

I've performed in many places over the world and Japan is full of the greatest, high-quality things! I don't understand why we butter up to everyone else just because they're bigger. I mean, I wish people would stop importing those tacky products from overseas!

And worse of all- Westerners just love bastardizing Japan's traditions! Geisha, Shinto lore, even dancing, just to attract crowds and make money! Tell me that isn't disgusting!

[enjoymyatelier]

[ETHNOCENTRISM FIGHT]

It was Fuyuki, actually --- a city that presumably has quite a strong history that consists of exactly one temple. The Hyatt I stayed in was a complete sty with nothing of historical or cultural value, and I was only angry about it being destroyed on general principle.

Oh, really? Tell me about your artists, then --- I won't deny that Hokusai's prints are impressive, but you really can't beat Caravaggio and Rembrandt. Furthermore, do you even have any sculptors worth talking about?

And no, I do agree with you on the subject of Japanophiles, actually --- they're pathetic, really.

[konpeitoqueen]

[IT'S TOO LATE TO TURN BACK NOW]

Fuyuki? [Did she even go there before] Isn't Hyatt an American thing? And what do you mean 'destroyed'?

Pffft. Our artists put most of their concentration into the delicacy and harshness of nature, not the stupid meatblocks that makes up a good portion of humanity! They're people with the sense to look away from the slaves beneath them and focus on the Earth itself, or the legends of amazing beasts. What about our folding screen art? Ceramics? Kano Eitoku! Tokiwa Mitsunaga! [With her family status, there was a lot of such works in her own home.] And have you seen the sculptures of Kamakura art? Just because most of them aren't what you consider sculptures of real people doesn't mean they're any less good, you know! In fact, they're better- they don't have people to model after for Shinto and Buddhist deities! They gotta analyze it aaaall from texts!

Well, at least you can recognize how greasy and pitiful those people are.

[lullabytes]

About that...I don't think anyone knows. If you catch one...something good will happen, though.

[ ...She won't spoil the item surprise. ]

Probably...and if someone comes to pick you up...then I'll see you really soon, right? I'm afraid...I don't have the badges required to do that myself. Sorry, Saionji-san.

video reply; she's in Cherrygrove now

[konpeitoqueen]

Ehhh? Something good will happen? Sounds cool, I guess.

You don't have the... badges? But I thought you've already been here for, like, ages! [Apparently, 2 weeks is 'ages'.] And you're SHSL Gamer, and this is... kinda based off a game, right?

But I guess you'd probably be too busy sleeping and drooling to get anything done. [Slipping back into her rudeness. There's the Saionji we know. She picks the Pokéball with the Stantler in it, and-]

Eh...? Is this... [She gasps and drops the Pokéball as it opens.

It's a stack of photographs.]

video reply; :D nanami probably didn't notice a time lapse if there was one. GAMES...

[lullabytes]

Mhmm, it's based off a game. I've been leveling my team...but more importantly, there's supposed to be a Christmas party here in Goldenrod with everyone, and an early January birthday. So, before taking on Violet, I absolutely wanted to go here.

[ Because well you know how their party attempts went, and she'd like to try a normal one?

Leaning forward, Nanami's eyebrows raise. Those photos... ]

...I might be wrong, but those are...?

[ ...Right? ]

1/2

[konpeitoqueen]

[She kind of- doubles back. Party at Christmas... party on the photograph. These are the ones they used to convict Hanamura- and sorting through, there's more. From the second trial- she tosses them away, and under them-]

Big Bro Oowada said...

2/2

[konpeitoqueen]

-why do I only know now?!

[She kind of drops all the photos, and her Mawile seems concerned at the water suddenly streaming down her face yet another time of multiple this day, and her mouth is agape like she wants to scream but only gasps and stares at the scattered photos in disbelief.

Good gift her ass. She'd appreciate them a few days later. But not now.]

[lullabytes]

Oowada-senpai said something...?

[ Well, it's not like she can't understand how the photos have bad memories...but they also have good ones, too, right?

Nanami's own present was one of the keychain charms of Usami, which they'd all thrown away. ]

...Saionji-san, I'm sorry, but from here...I can't do something like hug you or that sort of thing...and to start with, I'm not sure I'm good at that.

[konpeitoqueen]

[She stares at the screen, and growls]

Just- shut up and go away!

[Well then. There's one photo in her hand, one of them in Hope's Peak uniforms- Saionji, Koizumi, Ibuki and Tsumiki, but it's not the one from the murder trial. It's a happy one, posed what is the school yard, but she doesn't know.

By extended logic, Nanami should've been a classmate too, but Saionji bears no good feeling towards her.]

[lullabytes]

...If that's what you want. Oowada-senpai and Ishimaru-senpai...they'll bring you back here, right?

[ ......... ]

...In that case, I'll see you when you get here.

[enjoymyatelier]

Yes, Fuyuki. Don't you even know your own country that well? It has quite a bit of history to it --- not that you'd guess, given that the closest thing they have to a proper Japanese historical monument is exactly one temple.

[...okay, sure, there were some other fancy places, but those weren't entirely Japanese...]

And yes, it exploded. I was only mildly annoyed on general principle.

Anyway, the fact that you say that clearly shows that you know absolutely nothing about Western art --- or, at least, you know nothing about Gian Lorenzo Bernini. There's nothing to suggest that Buddha didn't exist, and it was very possible that he did --- just as the god Apollo and the nymph Daphne did, in fact. You can't argue that they were simple human beings, and while I don't deny that the Kamakura Buddha was rendered with great skill, it's not quite the same as seeing marble made to mimic flesh right down to the dimples right next to marble mimicking the tree Daphne transformed into. Furthermore, we have our fair share of fantastic landscapes and seascapes, none of which you've probably even heard of.

[konpeitoqueen]

[...Exploded? What? Uh, Saionji is just going to ignore that.

As for the rest, though- okay, shit, she's losing GOTTA THINK FAST GOGOGOGOGOGO] Well, all your artists are coming from a bigger landmass and population! So, compared to our concentrated talent, yours only have a few diamonds in a huge, stinky pile of wannabes. So even though you might think numbers are smaller by your quantity of pieces, ours is still far more high-quality and superior.

So give up trying, you creepy loli pedo! How old are you, even? [Ah, yes, the familiar 'loli pedo' accusation.]

[enjoymyatelier]

Do you have any variety to speak of, though? I swear, it's all roughly in the same style ---

--- are you really resorting to ad hominem attacks? Do you know nothing about proper debate whatsoever?

[konpeitoqueen]

[What the fuck does an ad hominem mean]

Why should we fix what isn't broken? It's highly refined, high-quality!

Well, why otherwise would you even be talking to me without even referring to my situation? Uwaah, no stranger should be making such talk with me!

[She doesn't seem very bothered by him though.]

[enjoymyatelier]

I was defending my honor! I likely would have actually bothered to inquire about your situation if you hadn't proven to be objectively wrong about absolutely everything.

video

[angerpoints]

[--whoa, okay, what? Yusuke doesn't mind having to wait a couple hours for a response, but he does kind of mind the sudden turn for the creepy that the conversation suddenly takes when it resumes, and it shows in the vaguely weirded out look he gives her. Look, he wasn't lying when he told her he kicked a couple Pokemon in his time here, but that was only because they were trying to bite him on the ass at the time of the, uh, kickening, not because he gets some kind of weird thrill out of it! The way Saionji seems so, er, invested in his answer to her questions, he's pretty sure she's not asking for reasons related to self-defense.

... that said, he's still feeling reasonably charitable towards her, so he's gonna give her the benefit of the doubt and not jump to any conclusions here. After all, there could be a chance that he's just getting the wrong impression and that she isn't actually a sociopath. Why not?]

You can scare 'em with or without Pokemon. My question is, why the hell d'you want to?

[(UNSURE).......]

[konpeitoqueen]

[She's gonna teach him that giving her the benefit of the doubt isn't exactly going to be in his favor.]

Why not? Because it's so fun to see them recoil in fear and trample over them! They make the best noises, too!

I mean, it's fun to see them be cute, too. But it's better to see them whimper!

[She's just gonna leave it at that. Have fun.]

[konpeitoqueen]

Say what you want! If your honor has to be defended from a little girl, it can't be that solid in the first place!

[gardentrainer]

[Jade covers her ears. Oh noooo. She understands why Ayani is screaming. BUT WHY IS SAIONJI CRYING? This is too much screaming.] She'll protect you. You don't have to scream too...

[konpeitoqueen]

[She takes a few hours to reply. Probably a bit worrisome, if Jade actually cares for her well being. But when she's back on screen, her Mawile is chugging too much hot chocolate, and her snark is back.] Turns out, Ayani can beat an Exeggcute... or, whatever it was called. So I guess she's not too dumb.