Can I just say your Jojo pose game is on point? Especially for the written word? It's just over the top as Jojo but written with excellent subtly so it doesn't bog down the story yet retains an interesting bit of flavor. Kudos to you, good sir!
[X] Just provide some hints to point her in the right direction.
- Shadow her with Medaka however. Medaka will do so anyways and you may need to keep her contained.
[X] Just provide some hints to point her in the right direction. She wants to stand on her own two feet and we value and respect that, but she is still only taking her first steps on that path and we're helping her with those.
-[X] Keep an eye on her from the shadows, secretly ready to step in if things go badly wrong. Make certain to give her a fair chance to stand on her own first, however.
-[X] If she starts struggling then subtly 'nudge' things to help her find the right outcome. Nothing overt, but minor stuff (a slightly ajar locker, the sound of something be dropped, etc) that draws her attention to the right places.
-[X] If/when she confronts the right person, make certain we appear in an out-of-the-way place only she can see to give her a confident nod, reassuring her that she's right and that we have full confidence in her ability to do this.
Also I want to point something out real quick that I think would be funny. Most of the Medaka Box male cast have physiques like this:
While our Zenkichi, with his Joestar/DIO heritage has a physique like this:
We are ripped! We just hide it under baggy cloths since Medaka's exhibitionist tendencies basically burned out our desire to flash our own bodies. Besides, our body it a tool to use when we most need it!
Also I want to point something out real quick that I think would be funny. Most of the Medaka Box male cast have physiques like this:
While our Zenkichi, with his Joestar/DIO heritage has a physique like this:
We are ripped! We just hide it under baggy close since Medaka's exhibitionist tendencies basically burned out our desire to flash our own bodies. Besides, our body it a tool to use when we most need it!
Actually more like ..
Our Half-brother. And no did you not notice the description of our clothes? Zen is as much an Exhibitionist as Giorno and Josuke.
Being willing confront her own fears and her own failures means being willing to accept the potential consequences. It would be all kinds of hypocritical to inspire her to save herself while planning to save her if/when she fails. It's the same sort of dependency even if she wouldn't know of our presence. This is her chance to grow through either success or failure- and I think stifling the odds of failure by providing a safety net and no real consequence shits on a lot of what we just said. She's a big girl who chose this, and it's time for her to reap what she's sown, whether that be success or failure. It's in her hands and we should simply accept that.
I realize given the tendency to be very overbearing and controlling on this site this is going to be an unpopular opinion, but we just promised we'd teach this girl how to save herself- and sometimes that includes the risk of failure.
[X] Just provide some hints to point her in the right direction. She wants to stand on her own two feet and we value and respect that, but she is still only taking her first steps on that path and we're helping her with those.
-[X] Keep an eye on her from the shadows, secretly ready to step in if things go badly wrong. Make certain to give her a fair chance to stand on her own first, however.
-[X] If she starts struggling then subtly 'nudge' things to help her find the right outcome. Nothing overt, but minor stuff (a slightly ajar locker, the sound of something be dropped, etc) that draws her attention to the right places.
-[X] If/when she confronts the right person, make certain we appear in an out-of-the-way place only she can see to give her a confident nod, reassuring her that she's right and that we have full confidence in her ability to do this.
Being willing confront her own fears and her own failures means being willing to accept the potential consequences. It would be all kinds of hypocritical to inspire her to save herself while planning to save her if/when she fails. It's the same sort of dependency even if she wouldn't know of our presence. This is her chance to grow through either success or failure- and I think stifling the odds of failure by providing a safety net and no real consequence shits on a lot of what we just said. She's a big girl who chose this, and it's time for her to reap what she's sown, whether that be success or failure. It's in her hands and we should simply accept that.
I realize given the tendency to be very overbearing and controlling on this site this is going to be an unpopular opinion, but we just promised we'd teach this girl how to save herself- and sometimes that includes the risk of failure.
You're shitting me. This girl is going to have to stand up and fight her own battles at some point and it's better to she gains the courage to do this on her own terms against a cowardly high school bully than later on when the stakes are inevitably higher. Failure is a fact of life, to err is human, failure is the greatest teacher- etc. There's a reason humanity has invented a thousand ways of saying 'it's ok to fuck up every once in awhile if you grow from it'. We can make some epic speech about teaching a man to fish instead of giving him a fish- but until we allow for the possibility of failure we're no better than Medaka.
You're shitting me. This girl is going to have to stand up and fight her own battles at some point and it's better to she gains the courage to do this on her own terms against a cowardly high school bully than later on when the stakes are inevitably higher. Failure is a fact of life, to err is human, failure is the greatest teacher- etc. There's a reason humanity has invented a thousand ways of saying 'it's ok to fuck up every once in awhile if you grow from it'. We can make some epic speech about teaching a man to fish instead of giving him a fish- but until we allow for the possibility of failure we're no better than Medaka.
Like I said you´re taking this too far. "Helping her grow so dependency does not happen" does not equal sending her off alone and getting disinterested in the situation, even if you say its just a little bully its important and she´s demonstrating courage on her own. Having a safety net is not bad and sometimes people need just a little push.
Knowing that someone has your back is not bad. A little push, a reassurance-these things are normal, fostering complete individualism cant be healthy either.
Elevating the individual yet still acknowledging our nature as social creatures is only logical from our viewpoint.
And no comparing us to Medaka is not quite right. We are very much taking a different path than her even if you say otherwise, she would have solved the issue on her own. We are letting her fight this one with some of our support. Its very different and Im sure you know this.
You can say that failure is a good master but sometimes people actually want to succeed you know? for your courage to actually be rewarded? she´s not going to become utterly useless on her own if we help her a little.
She didn't got to where she is by pure chance and on the shoes of others, Talent may get you through a lot but you still have to put in some effort in things, she sweated, bleed and shed tears for her achievements.
In the end I dont think its inherently bad to support one another.
[X] Just provide some hints to point her in the right direction.
-[X] While keeping an eye on her from the shadows. You dont think anything dangerous will happen but better safe than sorry.
You're shitting me. This girl is going to have to stand up and fight her own battles at some point and it's better to she gains the courage to do this on her own terms against a cowardly high school bully than later on when the stakes are inevitably higher. Failure is a fact of life, to err is human, failure is the greatest teacher- etc. There's a reason humanity has invented a thousand ways of saying 'it's ok to fuck up every once in awhile if you grow from it'. We can make some epic speech about teaching a man to fish instead of giving him a fish- but until we allow for the possibility of failure we're no better than Medaka.
Her failure state is us helping her, not her being unable to find the culprit. We already addressed and changed that, in addition to giving her the asked for help. I can understand wanting to cut it off from there, in order to let her feel extra good about herself. I can understand wanting to guide her along the way to make sure she succeeds. I, personally would prefer for her to do most of the rest on her own, and let her solve the issue.
However, none of this is stopping her from failing, because her failing is explicitly us solving the problem for her. There is no possible way we can remove the chance for failure as the problem exists.
You also shouldn't write off failure as necessary, because I will point you to any dangerous to learn ability such as martial arts, to working with heavy machinery, to working with dangerous chemicals. While failures of some sort are likely to occur in the learning process, forgoing trying to stop them out of some belief that failure is the best teacher is just going to end poorly.
Again, her not being able to do this on her own is failure, because she has set her goal as to try and do it on her own.
Which is why I don't want to follow along. It gives her the most help while reducing the chance of her failing as much as possible.
Like I said you´re taking this too far. "Helping her grow so dependency does not happen" does not equal sending her off alone and getting disinterested in the situation, even if you say its just a little bully its important and she´s demonstrating courage on her own. Having a safety net is not bad and sometimes people need just a little push.
Knowing that someone has your back is not bad. A little push, a reassurance-these things are normal, fostering complete individualism cant be healthy either.
Elevating the individual yet still acknowledging our nature as social creatures is only logical from our viewpoint.
And no comparing us to Medaka is not quite right. We are very much taking a different path than her even if you say otherwise, she would have solved the issue on her own. We are letting her fight this one with some of our support. Its very different and Im sure you know this.
In the end I dont think its inherently bad to support one another.
My problem is that we're taking it upon ourselves to protect her from the consequences of her actions for her. If she asked for our help here, or for us to wait in the wings- that's fine. Having a contingency/backup is smart. Presuming you'll have backup when you haven't arranged for such is a bad habit to encourage. I'm saying, sometimes the most important part of losing is knowing when you should ask for help. If she's concerned about the bully and asks for us to watch over it? Fine. If the bully hits her and she learns to have backup when she confronts someone in the future? Fine. If she fails to realize where she went wrong because two saviours on high swooped in the moment things didn't go according to plan? That's bad.
You can say that failure is a good master but sometimes people actually want to succeed you know? for your courage to actually be rewarded? she´s not going to become utterly useless on her own if we help her a little.
She didn't got to where she is by pure chance and on the shoes of others, Talent may get you through a lot but you still have to put in some effort in things, she sweated, bleed and shed tears for her achievements.
Obviously, and I'm not saying she will. I'm saying it's undermining the message we've been trying to tell her by implying we don't believe she can handle the situation on her own. We have less than zero reason to think this will go wrong. I respect her accomplishments, and I've never stated I didn't think she was a strong person- but the fact of the matter when outside her comfort zone she came to us and only calmed down when we broke the problem down into something that was in her comfort zone. The goal here is to teach her how to break problems down into something she's comfortable dealing with on her own- even if that method of dealing with it realizing she needs outside help.
Obviously people want to succeed and I expect her to succeed here, but that doesn't change the fact sometimes people need to handle the issue himself in order to learn best. You can spout some bullshit about only intervening if we know she can't handle it, but without resorting to absurdities, we have no idea what she's capable of handling until she demonstrates for us. Either we jump the gun and undermine her own efforts, or we've already witnessed her 'lose'. Unless this massively escalates, to the point of severe physical harm or worse- then it is best to see how she adapts and responds to the situation.
[X] Just provide some hints to point her in the right direction. She wants to stand on her own two feet and we value and respect that, but she is still only taking her first steps on that path and we're helping her with those.
-[X] Keep an eye on her from the shadows, secretly ready to step in if things go badly wrong. Make certain to give her a fair chance to stand on her own first, however.
-[X] If she starts struggling then subtly 'nudge' things to help her find the right outcome. Nothing overt, but minor stuff (a slightly ajar locker, the sound of something be dropped, etc) that draws her attention to the right places.
-[X] If/when she confronts the right person, make certain we appear in an out-of-the-way place only she can see to give her a confident nod, reassuring her that she's right and that we have full confidence in her ability to do this. No. of Votes: 2
[X] Just provide some hints to point her in the right direction.
-[X] While keeping an eye on her from the shadows. You dont think anything dangerous will happen but better safe than sorry. No. of Votes: 1
[X] Just provide some hints to point her in the right direction.
"Good answer!" You reply. This girl, Aria Ariake, is striving to evolve! To change herself to go above her flaws! Such determination...deserves a small reward. Rather, a nudge in the right direction.
"Give me some time." You move to the other corner of the room and dial a number. "Shiranui? I need the personal info of a certain group of students-no, I'm not planning anything unspeakable. No, you cannot use this to blackmail me, no matter how you spin it. Yes, I'll buy you an appropriate amount of food."
Truly! Who ever heard of an information broker that request fried chicken and ramen as payment?!
"Separate lists of-" You tell her, and in less than two minutes she has everything. You write everything down. "See you later for the reward." You end the call and return to the girls' side. For some reason Medaka looks a tad upset. She probably wanted to do the digging herself. "Here." You give Ariake two lists. "One has the members of the Athletics Club that live in the 23 Block, the other those who have a subscription to Fuguruma newspaper. With those, the others clues and your own observation skills you should be able to find the culprit. It doesn't need to be said that, once done, those lists need to go."
"Y-Yes! Thank you!" She hugs the papers close to her chest before bowing deeply. "To both of you! I-I will go now!" And with that she bolts out of the room.
"Let's follow her Zenkichi." Medaka says, right hand on her left biceps.
"You took the words out of my mouth Medaka." You reply, right index and middle fingers under your left eye.
[*]
The two of you follow Ariake from the shadows, always keeping out of sight. Medaka can pass for a Ninja straight out of the Edo period, while you have mastered the art of operating outside other people's perception.
The brown-haired girl goes to the track field, and quietly begins to observe the other members as they train. In truth there is a single girl that fit all the criteria, and to your great satisfaction Ariake soon finds her.
"Isahaya-sempai." Ariake calls out to the other girl while she is drinking from the fountain.
Isagi Isahaya, a girl with dark green eye and black hair wearing the Athletics Club uniform, slowly turns around. "What is it Aria-!" She suddenly stops, eyes widening when she finally notices the ruined shoes Ariake is holding in her hands.
"Isahaya-sempai." Ariake repeats, eyes staring straight into those of the other girl. "Were you the one that did this?"
Faced with such an accusation panicking is the worst thing one could do. Unfortunately for her, Isahaya is an impulsive girl. "I-I don't know anything!" She shouts before sprinting away.
Ariake stares dumbfounded for a few seconds before a look of determination settles onto her features. Holding one shoe in each hand she begins to chase after her fleeing sempai. Maybe it's because they associate that place to running, but both of the keep making circles around the track field. Ariake, even if she started with a delay, soon comes close to Isahaya. "Isahaya-sempai! Please stop!"
"No way?!" The black-haired girl exclaims. "But I can run 100 meters in 12 seconds flat!"
"An excellent time sempai!" Ariake shoots back. "But mine...is 100 meters in 11 seconds flat!"
With a final sprint she surpasses Isahaya. She looks behind her shoulders, only to slow down and finally stop when she sees that the other girl has stopped before her and is kneeling, a look of defeat on her face.
"Ah...ahaha." She laughs bitterly. "Ariake, you...are really better than me." She hangs her head down. "I confess! I was the one who ruined your shoes! Go on and have me kicked out of the club, I deserve it."
"Wha-! No way, that's too harsh!" Ariake shakes her head while moving in front of the other girl. "I just want to know...why you did it."
"...I was jealous. Are you satisfied? I'm saying I was jealous!" Isahaya punches the ground. "I trained for three years with the hope to one day becoming a regular. But then! The coach gave the place to a girl who trained only two thirds of what I did! And you know what's the most embarrassing thing?"
Ariake stays silent.
"He was right." Isahaya finally admits. Her body slumps, as if a great weight was removed. "You're faster than me Ariake. If you keep training you can get even faster, I'm sure of it. It was just me, me and my stupid and ugly jealously!" She throws her head back, revealing she is crying. "So do it! Punish-"
The brown-haired girl goes down on one knee and hugs the other girl.
"Me....Eh?" Isahaya's eyes widen, her mind unable to understand what's happening.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" Ariake says with her eyes closed, a small smile on her lips. "You were second-guessing yourself even while doing it, and afterwards the regret just kept growing stronger and stronger."
"W-What do you know? How can you say something like that with such surety?!"
"You have dark rings under your eyes and your skin is pale. Since that day you cannot sleep well, and only a few hours per night." Isahaya tenses in Ariake's embrace. "I know, because I see the same thing every time I look into a mirror. I think...only a bad person would be able to sleep serenely after doing something like that."
"A-Ariake..." Isahaya's lips are trembling. "Uuh..."
"I forgive you Isahaya-sempai."
"Uuwaaaahh!!" And with that Isagi Isahata begins to cry. It takes a while before she stops.
"Such passion! Such Generosity!" In that moment Medaka and yourself burst out from where you were hiding underground. Medaka has the left hand in front of her face, her eyes visible in the spaces between fingers, while the right shoulder is slightly higher than the left one. On her right side you are showing your left side, right foot standing on a piece of rubble you prepared beforehand and put into place during the exit, left fist raised next to your face. "2nd Year Ariake! I really like your forgiving heart!"
"Who the hell are you people?!" Isahaya screams, aghast at the display. Ariake has a slightly less surprised but similar expression.
"98th Student Council president of Hakoniwa Academy! Medaka Kurokami!"
"1st year, Class 1 of Hakoniwa Academy! Zenkichi Hitoyoshi!"
""LET US CONGRATULATE THE BOTH OF YOU FOR OBTAINING THE HAPPY END YOU DESERVE!!""
Isahaya screams louder. Ariake is laughing nervously with an empty stare.
[*]
"Truly! Why are some people seemly unable to appreciate a properly dramatic entrance?" You shake your head. "After we went through the trouble of matching their pathos."
"On the contrary Zenkichi!" Medaka flaps her fan. "Haven't you see how quickly they went back to training? If they keep pushing themselves so hard, they'll break their personal records in no time. And the way 2nd year Ariake and 3rd year Isahaya held hands...their friendship has blossomed!"
Or they were running away in fright. But you'll keep that to yourself. "By the way Medaka."
"Mh?"
"Why did you ask for my help before even knowing what the request was about?"
"Uhm..." Medaka taps the fan on her lips, staring with a gentle expression at the sky. "It's because 2nd year Ariake came to the Council in person."
You raise an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"It takes courage to show up in person to ask for help when the possibility to remain anonymous exists. Courage, and willpower." She explains, looking at you with a smile. "I know you like people with those traits Zenkichi. That's why I believed that, together, we could help 2nd year Ariake better than I could do alone. I was right."
"You know me well Medaka." You grin. "Bullying is an activity for trash...but I don't believe Isahaya-sempai is trash. Their ordeal made the both of them stronger, I recognize it."
You may not have the limitless faith in humanity Medaka has. But those that struggle and never give up, no matter the obstacles, will always have your respect.
"And it was possible because of your viewpoint. I suppose I should express some sort of gratitude." Medaka suddenly throws herself at you, giving you a tight and tender hug. "Thank you!"
Medaka's second Special Skill: the [Strict Girl/Cute Girl Switch].
"You really should." You reply with an huff and a smile while patting her head. Really now, why does your childhood friend act so cutely only when it suits her better?
[*]
A Few Days Later
"So you need my help again?" You ask while reading the request. What a childish-rather, what a girlish drawing. "A request to search for...a lost puppy? Oh." You immediately understand. "Don't worry Medaka, I'll take care of it."
"Thank you Zenkichi." She wistfully looks out of the window. "You know I have never been good with animals."
That's the understatement of the century.
Let's be clear here. Medaka doesn't hate animals: rather, she loves them. But with her overwhelming strength animals, who know nothing of personality, mistake her for a super-apex predator. From the class bunny of primary school to the zoo animals during a trip, there are never been a beast who dare to show up in front of Medaka. It really depresses her.
You can sympathize, since you have a similar problem. Unless it's him, but he is an ass that even Medaka wouldn't probably be able to like.
"Heeeh, I'm surprised! To think that the invincible super princess actually has a weak spot." Shiranui later comments after you explained the problem.
"What can I say, even for her something exists that she cannot do flawlessly." Unless she trains the animals into being used to her presence. Uhm, that could actually work if you go through it slowly. 'I will propose it to Medaka later on.' "So Shiranui, you said you have an idea where the puppy is?"
"I mean, I heard someone saying something about a dog living on campus somewhere." She leads you behind one of the buildings, where trees and bushes were made grow naturally. "Should be, somewhere around-there it is!"
A borzoi. Who the fuck lose in a city a dog that the Russians originally used to hunt wolves? It's a miracle it hasn't killed anyone yet.
"This is the dog right? It matches the drawing and everything, right?" Shiranui asks excitedly.
"Yes, it matches the drawing...if you add a decade of training under Raoh." You deadpan.
[] Approach it, you should be able to make it behave.
[] Time for a sausages offering...drugged of course.
[] It looks like a wolf, you will treat it like one: take out the velvet gloves and find a web.
[] Write-in.
Medaka has the left hand in front of her face, her eyes visible in the spaces between fingers, while the right shoulder is slightly higher than the left one
"You really should." You reply with an huff and a smile while patting her head. Really now, why does your childhood friend act so cutely only when it suits her better?
