Mononaq - Untitled

Celestia Ludenburg with an Ultimate Gamer Reader That Beats Her in Gambling

She honestly wasn't expecting very much from you when she challenged you

You were just talking, and she offered to play a simple game of Poker

She smiled to herself, expecting to win the game and have you crying at her knees

But instead, she was faced with a "you lose" as you came out the victor

She was stunned

She lost? To a gamer, of all people?

She figured you would be slow or stupid, but she seriously underestimated your ability to read patterns and form a strategy

Oh no no, she would not let this go

She demanded another match

No way was she losing to a stupid gamer!

But you beat her once again

Celeste demanded another match, then another, and another

But lo and behold, she was faced with a "you lose" every time

She was getting very angry now

And you could tell, no matter how hard she tried to hide it

She could not comprehend how you beat her so many times

You picked up your consoles and prepared to leave

"I can see you need some time to yourself. Come find me again if you want to play another game."

And you left the room to go about your own devices

She watched you as you left, boiling with anger

By this point, her face was as red as her eyes

No way was she letting you get away with this

You had to have cheated or something

And she was gonna put you in your place and play until she won

Now when she saw you, she would say hello before making a belittling comment about your talent

"Well, well. If it isn't the slow witted Ultimate Gamer."

And any time a task had to be done, she would insult you again

"Oh, I wouldn't bother asking him for help. All he knows how to do is play video games."

"Oh, don't worry if it's too hard for you. I wouldn't expect much else from someone whose talent is playing video games."

It was honestly starting to get on your nerves

And when you confronted her, she smiled and challenged you to another game

"Oh? Offended, are we? Well, if you have something to settle, let us settle it in a game of Poker."

And you did

And surprise surprise, she lost again

She failed to catch you in the act of "cheating"

But she wouldn't be stopped so easily

She needed a plan...

From then on, her comments toward you were even worse

They went from mildly cutting to straight up stabbing

They would make any normal person start bawling into their knees right on the spot

But all it did was piss you off

You wanted to play another game with her, just to humiliate her as you won again

Which was exactly what you did

You approached her yet again, and asked to settle the score once and for all

Naturally, she agreed, and you got back to it

No matter how many times she demanded a rematch, you beat her every time

And you were getting tired of the same game every day

"Celeste, this is pointless. We're both just wasting our time."

"Hm. Well, you should have thought of that before you decided to cheat."

You looked at Celeste with a confused expression.

"What? Celeste, I never cheated."

Celeste narrowed her eyes.

"Do you truly expect me to believe that? How else could a lowly gamer like yourself beat Celestia Ludenburg, the Ultimate Gambler? The only explanation is that you are cheating."

"I'm not cheating. I'm just good at reading patterns and coming up with strategies."

Celeste weakly chuckled and put a hand in front of her mouth.

"Hm, how foolish. Those strategies can only work in your silly little games. Not real ones like mine."

"Celeste, I wish I had a better explanation for you, but that's really all I'm doing.

Suddenly, Celeste slammed her hands down on the table, her eyes flaring with anger.

"Don't make me laugh, you idiot! Just because you played one game of Poker online doesn't mean you're an expert at it!"

Despite how startling and even scary her sudden outburst was, you managed to keep your cool.

"I didn't say I was an expert. I just said that all the time I spend playing video games helps strengthen my ability to read patterns. That's all there is to it!"

"Shut up! I know that's not 'all there is to it'! I'm the Ultimate fucking Gambler! There's no way I can lose to a moron like you! You must be lying! YOU MUST BE!!!"

Celeste knew what you were saying was true. She knew you were right.

She was the Queen of Liars, after all. She could detect lies just as well as she could tell them.

She just didn't want to admit it to herself. She didn't want to admit that a gamer was better at her own game than she was.

But reality was staring her right in the face, and she knew she had to give up.

Celeste slowly fell to her knees, staring blankly at the ground.

"Well... I suppose it's over now."

You walked over to where she was and kneeled down in front of her.

"Celeste?"

"It appears no amount of lies and denial can change what is true. I lost, and it was to a gamer."

You sat there with nothing to say. You started with wanting to humiliate her, but something in you felt bad for her.

This was her talent. It was her everything. Gambling meant so much to her, which was why she couldn't accept the reality of losing.

"Well? Aren't you going to spread the news? Tell the whole world that you bested the Ultimate Gambler at her own game?"

"No. I'm not gonna do that."

Celeste looked up at you in confusion.

"What? But I-"

"I wasn't in it for the competition, Celeste. I was just having fun. Sure, I wanted to humiliate you at some point, but I can see how much it means to you. And it'd be real jerky of me to just walk all over that."

Her eyes widened in surprise. Then she chuckled at you.

"Hm. I suppose I shouldn't have dismissed your capabilities just because of your talent. Forgive me, (Name). You truly were a worthy rival."

"Let's forget about it, now. How about we go to a coffee shop or something? Y'know, take a break from all this gambling we've been doing."

You stood up and extended your hand. Celeste looked up at you in shock for a moment, then she smiled and took it.

"I would enjoy that very much. Come, I know an excellent coffee shop we could go to."

And you both left the room, and Celeste kept hold of your hand until you reached your destination.

You may have started as rivals, but you had a great relationship by the end

Celeste was finally able to accept her losses, and you're the best rival she ever gambled against

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mononaq

3 months ago

I don't know if this is a controversial thought, but. I often think about how the SDR2 cast has... unlikable traits. Such as being a bully, or being a coward, or being a crybaby - and how a lot of lets players, they dislike them on the basis of these traits, and can even refuse to see their status of "victimhood" as real and valid because they find them unlikable.

And I just... I think the fact that they are "annoying" is the point.

The message, in my opinion, is that even if a victim shows undesirable traits as a response to their trauma, they are still a victim worthy of sympathy and help. And I think them being "unlikable" is something of the point - people brush off their issues as something "annoying", and because of that, they never get help. That's how society fails victims, fails to help them: they view them as the problem.

Even if it's a response to trauma, it's a crime to be cringe. The world will break you and then get mad at you for being broken. Just look at SDR2's characters - it's their story over and over again.

Mikan Tsumiki, for example, is constantly called annoying by people who hate her, before she even murders anyone in chapter 3. The reasons are simple: they don't like her stutter, they don't like her people pleasing, they don't like her crying. All of these are responses to her trauma. They don't like her, dismiss her, because she's traumatized in a way that isn't "perfect," isn't "pretty." And I'm sure this is intentional- Mikan is intentionally what one would call "annoying" because the point of her character is to illustrate how people ignore people in need, and how those vulnable people can be taken advantage of and recruited into a cult. No one helped Mikan Tsumiki—not in the way she needed. Even the less malicious people, they brush off her quirks as her "just being Mikan," instead of resulting from her trauma. She isn't quiet in her cries for forgiveness - and that makes her hateable to some people.

Mikan was always mentally unstable - that was obvious if you just talked to her. If you spent enough free time events with her, it was downright predictable that she'd be a murderer. And yet, when she does murder, none of the characters saw it coming - because none of them (except Hajime if he did her FTEs) really got to know her. None of them put effort into knowing her. When she was meek, her flaws were, while annoying, unintrusive. But now that she's mad, now that she's angry about the way she was treated - she's crazy. Thats what they say: she's crazy. They disregard the factors that led up to this, and act like it came from nowhere - but these types of things never come from nowhere. Breakdowns build up overtime, a death of a thousand cuts, and when you finally snap, you finally breakdown, the world will look at you like you're crazy and say: it was just a paper cut. Ignoring how you have thousands of other paper cuts on your body.

Everyone always, always have reasons. You may not see them, you may not understand them, but there is always an answer to "why?"

Mikan isn't the only character that illustrates this message- characters like Kazuichi, or Hiyoko, also do so.

People don't like Kazuichi for a number of reasons, ranging from very valid to not so much. One complaint I've seen is that he's a crybaby and a coward, that he's always whining.

And this is true - he is something of a coward, terrified of being betrayed. But if you, again, take the time to get to know him and understand his reasoning behind this, it's clear that these fears are a result of his trauma. He comes from an abusive house, and he's been betrayed by friends before - he has plenty of reason to be scared of it happening again. He doesn't fear being betrayed, not really, but the pain of being thrown out. Even his harassment of Sonia is an extention of his trauma - an unhealthy coping mechanism, a fixation on someone too polite to throw him away...

And even Sonia is apart of this message (to a lesser extent). Everyone ignores Kazuichi's harassment of her because they think it's "harmless" - which is a disservice to both of them. It's not fair to Sonia to expect her to deal with Kazuichi, and I understand why people would dislike Kazuichi from his treatment of Sonia - it's really not fun to be in Sonia's position, especially when no one else sees anything wrong with the situation because Kazuichi is "harmless." Even if Kazuichi doesn't mean to hurt Sonia, he is - and everyone is just ignoring it. Because that's a big theme in SDR2, isn't it? These kids were vulnerable to Junko because everyone ignored their issues. Even each other.

Hiyoko, too, illustrates this perfectly - I'd argue that every character in the game illustrates this to some degree, but I feel like it would be excessive to talk about all of them. Hiyoko's bullying is ignored - dismissed as a "quirk," and it's not fair to either her or the people she targets. It's not a quirk - it's a response to her trauma, and she needs help! She needs to be stopped. Because she's hurting herself and she's hurting others, and brushing it off, dismissing it as harmless teasing... it just creates even more hurt all around.

Or, like, take Akane - no one even addresses the many concerning comments she makes during the game, and when you play her free time events, it can really catch you off guard how fucking awful her life has been. But no one even thinks to ask her about her troubles most times - because she's "strong". Because she's "stupid." How can she be anything but a blissful meat headed idiot? There's just - this assumption of lack of depth. That so many of the characters regard each other with - that so many let's players regard the cast with. They see their annoying traits, unlikable traits, and don't even think to wonder "where is this coming from?"

And it fucking - boggles my mind! It illustrates exactly what this game is warning about - this level of apathy, this lack of concern, this assumption of lack of depth, this lack of curiosity and care for your fellow human beings. And like - yeah, these are characters, but I think the way you approach characters can be very telling for how you approach people, too. Everyone has reasons for why they're like this - people are a domino train of complex reasoning, and... I don't know. It just - when you dismiss a SDR2 character as "annoying", I think you're doing almost exactly what the game is warning against. The SDR2 cast were vulnerable to Junko Enoshima because people didn't care. People didn't help them, or didn't even realize they needed help. And I think how you treat these fictional abuse victims... can be very, very telling on how you think of real abuse victims.

Ask yourself - does someone need to be the "perfect" abuse victim for you to sympathize with them? Do they have to be likable to you to be worthy of your kindness, to be worthy of help? Do you think that?

I don't want to say you have to like the SDR2 cast, of course - but trying to understand and sympathize with where they're coming from... I think that's important. And I think it's important to exercise that skill in real life, too.

255 notes View Post

mononaq

4 months ago

What if character development of the students realizing that Monomi really isn't working for Monokuma, and Kazuichi going from being the least trusting of Monomi to protecting her

15 notes View Post

mononaq

3 months ago

yess thank you she one of my favorite as well

Why Tenko Chabashira is a Great Character pt. 1: Tenko’s Backstory and PersonalityA

Another essay excerpt because that did better than I expected last time and I'm suprised people actually want to read my stuff.

Tenko Chabashira is an over-hated character in the fandom with people before the game even came out criticizing her and hoping that she died.

Now this is not everyone’s opinion.

I've seen many people praise Tenko, but it’s a widely accepted opinion that she sucks, ranking near the bottom on a lot of people’s tier lists and having people post on every social media platform how much they hate her.

I love Tenko.

She is my favorite character in NDRV3 and right now my favorite character of all time.

With the game already in its eight anniversary I thought, what a better time than ever to fulfill my civic duty as a Tenko fan and explain why she is a great character and doesn’t deserve nearly all the hate she’s gotten.

Backstory

One of the main reasons people hate Tenko is her hatred of men.

I would like to lessen this to dislike because Tenko shows multiple times in the game that she does not hate men and there are also reasons behind her sentiments.

Tenko took her master's teachings very seriously; he was like a father figure to her (which makes sense especially since her parents abandoned her), and she was adamant about mastering neo-aikido.

Tenko is also really gullible.

It's why she believes Himiko can do real magic, so she would believe her master wholeheartedly when he tells her that interactions with men would weaken her.

It's similar to a child being told by their parents that if they are good Santa will give them gifts.

Another factor contributing to Tenko’s dislike of men would be her crime fighting which not only adds to her childlike nature but gives more of a reason to her so-called “man-hating.”

In one of Tenko’s ftes with Shuichi, she says:

“As practitioners of Neo-Aikido, Master and I… are also heroes of justice! Master and I wear masks to disguise ourselves! We serve to save, whether it is day or night! We do everything! Help an old woman carry her belongings… Help a child cross the street…Oh, yeah! I caught a thief the other day! We also punish degenerates who cheat and bring divine justice to gropers on trains. And even help girls who just had tough break-ups!”

Even though those don’t seem like the best reasons to “hate” a whole gender overshadowed by being hurt by men emotionally or physically.

If you think about it, it’s not the worst reason either, Tenko was just a kid and her master filled her head with misconceptions and stereotypes about men.

(In the end, he was just trying to protect but there are many more ways to go about it.)

Of course, Tenko didn’t have to believe it, but by being exposed to bad men on the streets when she and her master were fighting crime, and not having many interactions with good men, you can start to see where she comes from.

She’s just like a kid who never grew out of the boys' cooties phase (with a little more trauma), and as a kid, she wasn’t taught that all men aren’t bad, she wasn’t shown that all men aren’t bad, and she wasn’t exposed to the idea either.

I don’t think we should blame Tenko for something really out of her control.

Children are very impressionable that's why they're easy targets (well them and elderly people).

Their frontal lobes aren't fully developed so they don't think critically plus when your a kid small and vulnerable you tend to look to your parents for safety and guidance.

Imagine yourself in Tenko’s shoes. The man who is basically a father figure to her tells her all these misconceptions about men—and that they will stop her from fully mastering Neo-Aikido, something she has dedicated years to. With her low self-esteem, she likely already believes she isn’t good enough.

(While most of her self-esteem issues seem to be tied to her physical abilities, strength could play a role in that too. )

Wouldn’t that make you dislike them?

Then when he takes her out and she sees the men doing exactly what her master told her that they would do it would not only prove that her masters teachings are true it would solidify that hatred.

Now at the beginning of this section I said that Tenko doesn’t hate men but now I’m saying she does?

I believe Tenko had bad teachings and exposure that made her man hatred reasonable.

I don't think Tenko hates the whole male species as she says she does but if you're a man who hurts women Tenko is going to hate you with a burning passion an important distinction I need to make.

Tenko’s backstory isn’t perfect I’ll admit that but based on how she interacts with men during the game and how she acts overall bad exposure and teachings are a fine reason.

Personality

She’s rather boisterous and is like a ball of energy and can be overbearing to other students especially Himiko since how she acts with other students (not just the boys) is not “normal” per se (but no one in this game is normal) many people chalk it up to her just being annoying.

Still, I would like to add something else that may be a factor in her upbringing which I know I have already discussed.

Still, Tenko grew up in a temple with priests she was sent there when she was very young (there isn’t a specific age but many suspect five to six) so we can assume that she didn’t have a lot of interaction with kids her age (especially boys) with the only time interacting with people probably being people going in the temples for religious purposes or the people she saved while fighting crime.

A person’s upbringing especially if it’s bad or not normal can influence how someone acts just take Maki Harukawa, for example, she grew up in an orphanage and was trained to be an assassin during the game when Shuichi and Kaito are fighting she makes Shuichi watch her teaching Kaito to assemble and disassemble a crossbow so that they can make up, and when Kaito is kidnapped she reverts to the only thing she knows and tries to kill Kokichi.

Or Gonta Gokuhara who was raised in the forest by wolves doing odd things like not wearing shoes, lacking general cultural knowledge, getting suddenly controlled by strong emotions and having trouble with language.

So it makes sense for Tenko to act strangely and lack strong social skills, given her isolation from kids her age when she was young.

Unlike someone who has been interacting with others their entire life, starting from kindergarten, her experiences have been limited.

Or you can just say it’s her lack of understanding social cues and she’s neurodivergent coded.

...

Tenko, while claiming she hates men, gets along fine with them and shows them support. Some of these scenes include:

Joining Kaito’s strategy meeting

Telling Shuichi not to be too hard on himself after Kaede’s death

Yelling at Kokichi when he makes fun of Shuichi without his hat

Promising to avenge Rantaro and Ryoma’s deaths

Complementing Gonta for being calm and reasonable after Kirumi accuses him

Feeling bad after flipping Shuichi over her shoulder and carrying him back to her room

Allowing Shuichi to participate in Aikido with her

Telling Shuichi he needs to gain more confidence in himself.

She is also lovely and caring, volunteering to protect all of the girls, placing herself at risk alongside Kaito and Gonta to save Kaede from her execution, and her friendship with Himiko, in which she tries to help her overcome her emotional suppression, demonstrates her compassion for others.

She is one of the most vocal characters when it comes to opposing the killing game they were imprisoned in, and she is always willing to offer assistance or emotional support.

Tenko has a wonderful personality. Her deep emotional core, supportive persona, and childlike thinking are qualities that I and many others can identify with.

These qualities, in my opinion, dampen the hatred of her "male-hating" mentality in some aspects and make her a charming character.

Tenko's development

While having many ‘annoying/ undesirable’ traits Tenko eventually does have character development.

The main one is her dislike of men. I've already discussed that this dislike doesn’t seem genuine because, since the beginning of the game, she’s been having friendly, kindhearted interactions with men but taking that out of account Tenko does develop from the beginning of the game to her death.

Tenko’s journey reveals layers of her personality, showcasing how bad experiences shape beliefs and attitudes.

And how a good experience can turn it all around for the better even if her transformation is not entirely linear and overshadowed by other major characters (Shuichi Maki and Himiko.)

In her Free Time Events (FTEs) with Shuichi, she is very mean to him.

Nicest thing she says is that he can improve himself through Neo Aikido and become a good man like her master.

However, the interactions in her FTEs specifically with Shuichi amplify her disdain for men making it seem worse than it is in the game.

Despite all this she still she moments of genuine growth realizing that not all men are as bad as the ones her master told her about and the one she saw while crime-fighting through her experiences with Shuichi and the other men in the game she slowly but surely alters her perspective, and the journey leads her to form a friendship--though some would say acquaintanceship--with Shuichi (a man 😱.)

It’s a shift for her from her initial male-hating persona as she learns to accept that not every man is as bad as she was taught to believe by her master.

I could go on but this is getting long so in Part 2 I'll delve deeper into Tenko’s character arc and development in chapter 3.