💖 A Pretty cool person I hope 💖

Morgan found themselves recklessly wondering around the forests outside the Dark Academy alone, as a sort of outlet of dealing with the previous trial and past events. Something about the whole situation weighed down on their shoulders. Maybe it was guilt, maybe it was the old neon hoodie, maybe it was the crippling realisation that they needed a better form of escape from reality right now- whatever it was, it didn’t feel good.

The forest was pleasant, they thought. The aesthetics were nice if you thought near constant rain was good and a general gloom to the place. Morgan didn’t particularly like it but there was something about the fresh air that was supposed to help with lifting moods or something. 

This portrait had a number of pros they guessed. Fresh Air, Constant Rain, A school, Trees to avoid their classmates or potential dangers roaming the actual academy. Those two things could be two sides of the same coin if you really wanted to look at it like that. But Morgan knew better than this! No one else wanted to murder, surely. Their friends could make it though! Totally! Absolutely! That was a rant but right now optimism was their only defense line.

But he couldn’t

And he didn’t.

Not realizing someone else was in this wide landscape, Jotaro squeaked in suprise to see Morgan approaching his little area of clearing. 

“Oh whassup Jotaro,” They greeted, with a gentle smile.

“I’m…” There’s a bit of a pregnant pause while they obviously mull over what they should say, what was right, what would be the best flow for conversation-- All these thoughts nearly hurt as they raced around sporadically, bouncing off each other and causing a ruckus in their head that was unwanted.

“I could be better.” They eventually exhale, slumping their shoulders. “Everything is just so… so much!” Morgan flapped their arms when they struggled to illustrate what they meant but maybe it conveyed through. Maybe.

Kouki turned her head just in time to see a big splash rising up from the water. She stared blankly at Morgan, flailing around in the water, feeling a distinct urge to not help him. Damn idiot probably scared all the fish away. She watched him struggle for a while, before begrudgingly dragging herself to the edge of the water, spear still held firmly in her hand.

“Shit, how the hell did you manage that?” She said, irritably. She sighed, and shook her head, before reluctantly holding out her arm to help Morgan. “C’mon you klutz, get outta there.” She was starting to think she should’ve just let him squirm for a while longer.

The cold water was definitely a shock to their system, causing them to yelp at the impact. Once they finally stopped being a doofus, Morgan gladly took the hand offered to them and waddled out of the water.

“Haha, wow, what a mess I am huh….” They look down at their now soaked clothes, pulling the hoodie off their shoulders and wringing it out absentmindedly before answering Kouki’s question.

“Well. I haven’t really got used to stopping in these--” and they point down to their shoes/makeshift heelys with a sigh, “I’m gonna have to see if I can, Idk, fix ‘em before trying to ride them again...” Morgan pouts, before glancing to Kouki with a warm smile.

@romantichydrocity

By now, Kouki had begun to settle into the new accommodation. At first the idea of living in a literal cave seemed like an affront to her dignity, but the new dorms turned out to be alright. And besides, the caves had started to grow on her after a while. There were lots of places to explore, and it was honestly kinda cool. Yeah, not nearly as aesthetic as the previous castles, but hey, you gotta make compromises sometimes. 

Morgan, as oblivious as ever, had rolled on towards the waterfall in their makeshift heelies and noticed! Kouki! Now, they hadn’t really gotten a chance to ever say hi or anything, but of course they knew of Kouki. A small bubble of excitement welled in their chest as, well, they admired her! They admired everyone here in terms of reputation, but Kouki was genuinely very cool.

“Hey ther- aAA!”

Splash.

It hadn’t been her most well-rested night, but in spite of the everything Alice had managed to rest up at least a little bit. Was it great? … No, and it left her running at a slightly lower speed from the exhaustion. Normally she was very well rested, and sure, she had a late night here and there. This brand of ghostly nonsense was very unusual, though. And the brand of ghostly nonsense about Marquette (Morgan???) was extra concerning. That… was probably fake. Right? Sure, it was a magic castle, and sure, some wild and crazy shit had happened, but how could ghosts formed in and of the castle possibly know anything true about them? It was probably just trying to mess with them, although Dominique summoning the lot of them to the library was concerning to say the very least.

And Marquette Morgan??? Whichever name they would go by, didn’t look too good. Alice wanted to pay full attention to what Dominique told them, she really did, but the bachelor’s(?) reaction did little to reassure her that they were okay by any meaning of the word, and even less to assure her that the claim was false. And if that worried her, what on earth was it going to do to them? Even worse, the last time this happened was only stopped by the death of a human in the castle? Everything was happening so much, and she didn’t know how to handle it, and her friend didn’t know how to handle it, they were nice, they didn’t deserve that but what could she possibly do to make this any better at all? Not a lot, probably! Emotions were one of the things that she couldn’t fix! It’s not like cutting yourself opening a rusty can and being able to just wash it off and wrap it up. You can’t put a Hello Kitty bandaid on someone’s feelings and expect it to be all better.

They were frantic, and crying, and god it hurt to watch and probably hurt even more to feel and someone had to do something and that someone might as well be her. Even if she was probably the least qualified person to help an older person work out a crisis or three, she couldn’t just stand by and let it happen. While she did wonder why someone would impersonate their entire brother, she was equally sure that there had to be a reason for it. Nobody here was bad, and she believed in that more firmly than anything. No one had enough of anything to hide that those pesky ghosts would get to them, surely. There were a couple things she wasn’t exactly looking to share with her class, but nothing she wouldn’t be able to face up to if she had to. Probably. But that wasn’t important right now.

Approaching the ambiguously M-named person she considered a friend carefully, wanting to comfort them but not impose, trying to walk the fine line of acceptable conduct with someone she knew and liked but wasn’t especially close with. Why were they talking about themself like that? Who hides an entire brother? Who does that? If Marquette was the one who hid an entire sibling, why would Morgan want to be him? Or was this entire thing beyond her understanding? Even though she didn’t really get it, Alice just wanted everyone to feel okay despite the situation at hand. “… You’re worth something no matter who you are.” With as much conviction as she could muster, she looked up at M______, almost but not quite pleadingly. “You’re my- well, you’re our friend. That’s true no matter what.” Hopefully. It was a little bold to speak for everyone on that matter, but it was what she believed. Marquette, Morgan, whoever, it didn’t matter! The person before her was her friend no matter what name they went by.

After a moment of brief uncertainty, like she wasn’t entirely sure of what to do next, she remembered what was probably a comforting gesture to make. It had helped her the last time she was so upset over something, so maybe it would make Marquette feel better? “… Do you want a hug, or something…?” Was that a stupid thing to ask??? Maybe??? She’d already proven ineffective when trying to prevent them from drinking spoiled milk, and this was a considerably more serious matter she was considerably less prepared to handle.

The 6 foot tall disaster bit their lip to stop anything else absolutely absurd from pouring out. Dazed, desperate and destroyed, they try to calm themselves down knowing their outburst meant nothing because they were nothing. 

When Alice spoke, it surprised them. They’re... worth something? That can’t be right. Alice was just being kind. That was it. Their puffy eyes now focused on someone who was extremely pleasant to know. 

It’s such a shame you made a scene! You look pathetic now! You made people care, for what reason?!

These thoughts swirled in their mind for a moment before they realised they should reply. 

Rubbing some of the tears from their eyes they offer a very weak smile to Alice, 

“I appreciate what you’re like... trying to do there Alice, I really do, I just, um. I should probably like bounce, I’ve caused such a scene, god, uh,” They say softly, sniffling through the statement.

The thing is, they processed the hug offer and it caught them off guard. Entirely.  

“A.... hug?” They gasp, a brief glimpse of delight flashing across their expression before it flickered away. 

How weak. You sully your brother’s name with insecurities and weakness. You either sort yourself out or give up. Accept your worth. 

“Uh....”

The night passed, ghosts continued whispering inaudible things throughout the night. It was an uncomfortable sleeping experience, that was for sure. Goodness knows if any of you managed to get any sleep. It was near unbearable.

@romantichydrocity

Shiori sighed as he straightened his hat. He had taken to pacing the hall he’d woken up in, grumbling to himself and waiting for anything to happen. He was starting to feel hungry and tired (despite having just woken up from a so far undetermined length nap), with no clue where to get either of the things he wanted. There was nowhere to go.

And that wasn’t to mention that one kid.

Shiori had been speaking to his peers for a bit, learning about them, introducing himself, gloating, the usual, but his eyes kept on being drawn to one of his classmates in particular. And the same question always came to mind.

What the hell are they wearing?

It hurt the costume designer just to look at them. He had no clue who they were, and didn’t particularly care to find out. As hard as he tried to avoid looking in their direction, he found himself constantly turning to look back at the kid, not exactly subtly staring at them from across the room. Shiori wasn’t exactly sure if he had the fortitude to approach them; anyone who dressed like that probably had some kind of aura about them to repel anyone away.

The bachelor had their hands in their pockets and was walking over with a twinkle of interest in their eyes. They held their gaze on Shiori before getting to relative speaking distance.

“What you must remember, is that the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing…”

What is up lads, we did it! The final roster for Despairvania is here!!