Who told you so, dilly dilly, Who told you so? ‘Twas my own heart, dilly dilly, That told me so.
ouch is one of the most intimate, romantic ways to be close to someone else. The Town knows this very well -- the Town wants everyone to be as close as possible.
Perhaps that's why this bonding is so...aggressive.
Because you're in for quite the shock on this otherwise peaceful day when you brush against the next person on your path.
Maybe you're going out of your way to touch people. Maybe you've got a terrible urge to just see what's lurking in someone's heart. Maybe you trip over a conveniently placed rock -- whatever the cause, you're getting an up close and personal look into someone else's heart.
Welcome to Awash's eighteenth event log, everyone! Further information on this event can be found here at the OOC post. You are welcome to make your own logs and posts for this event!
If there are any questions, please ask them here. Thank you!
[ That's fine. She normally doesn't barrel in without a plan like this, but heartscapes reflect the owner, there's no telling what will be inside, and she trusts Percy enough that it won't harm her if she indulges it. In fact, she's found through traversing multiple others that indulgence is key to the exit. Thus, her enthusiasm for partaking in what seems to be a game like this is unfettered. ]
I know of it, but never partaken in it. It is an athletic competition, yes? Whose flag must I capture?
[Given that Val is his most important person in Chroma, the apartment feels rather warm and cozy, inviting and comfortable for him. Percy's relaxing against the couch and his fingers continue typing up a few sentences before he looks at Val again, shrugging a little.
There's still a thin smile on his lips though. He's home, even if it's fake, and that's something he can't ignore.]
Either the town's going to kick us out, or someone's going to show up that isn't welcome here and we'll have to go anyway. That's how it usually goes around here.
[ dextera starts slowly, looking at the crystal in his hands. ryo knows this story already. maybe he was even a little bit satisfied by hearing it. he doesn’t know what that makes him feel. ]
[ Teenagers...he's lucky Nero is too distracted by everything else here to pick up much on it, if at all. ]
Yes! I commissioned the finest architectural minds in my empire for this, and spared no expense. The aristocrats called it wasteful, but I say it is beautiful, and I am sure the visitors who came after its opening would agree!
[ She reaches upward toward the ceiling, a smile on her face as rose petals slowly fall. ]
[It's odd to him. He's never really been inside of a human's house like this before. He's been in houses, but not because he was invited. He didn't have the time to just enjoy it.
...
The house is pleasant. A different kind of pleasant than the home Valvatorez knows, but cozy is cozy.]
There's no reason not to enjoy it while we're here. Just be ready for whatever might happen when things go wrong.
He wonders how he should actually answer that very simple question. You've uncovered the secret villain that has been living here! Congratulations! It isn't like his heart can lie, right? Very right. He rubs his forehead as he looks away, somewhat anxious. ]
This teacher thinks he could have done better in a lot of his actions in the past.
[Somehow, it doesn't surprise him that this is what Lupin's heart looks like. He's pretty quick to explore, though it's a bit of a disappointment that he can't get into any shops or alleys. Still, it's interesting to see the airships overhead, the newspapers and artwork, the statue of Lupin holding...
Wait. What?
Akira stops and stares at that one for a bit. It really looks like Lupin is holding Cairngorm there, and it isn't in a very platonic way.
the non-answer is a kind of answer of its own, though, and dextera puts a little more distance between them as he reaches up to touch his throat. in a way, he’s surprised that berkut would ask. he’s very surprised that berkut is still standing here. ]
It was… taken from me. A long time ago.
[ that’s sort of an abstract response to a question that has a direct answer, though. ]
Getting it back was a gift. And now it’s gone again.
Taicang Mountain. It's...where I trained, as a child.
[It's easier to feel calm, with Pyra here; easier to ignore the constant pleas for help, with someone by his side.
He manages to smile a bit at her attempt, though he can't quite muster a laugh.] I'm not sure we could get out through the city gate, regardless--those walls are much higher here than I remember.
[Luckily the mountain appears to be close enough that they don't need to leave town at all, the walls ending abruptly when they reach its side. Wherever they go though, the never-ending throngs of people never seem to thin out at all.]
[He's sure people in his time would find it beautiful, anyway. He can't say he knows how the people felt about it at the time, given that they were having to help pay for it...]
So what did you do here? Hold plays?
[At least it brought some culture to her country?]
[ Really putting me on the spot here! I am the villain of the story. The scum villain! The one that gets away with everything with his two-faced and hypocritical way of living!
He really doesn't need one more person thinking that he's a good person, but at the same times, he really doesn't want to be run out of town. Oh wait, there's that trap-filled castle I could live in? Maybe being run out wouldn't be so bad? Oh my god. I would level up from being a cannon-fodder villain to a full-fledged boss that has his own castle!! Fuck! ]
I could have done better, and I hurt people along the way. Far more than what they deserved to be hurt. I liked to say that I had no choice, but there were a lot of choices before me. At least three choices I could have done, but I always to chose the one that would keep me alive.
[Unfortunately for him, Val doesn't know the meaning of the word "chill". So here he is, standing in front of him, judging him for his words and actions.]
You think your biggest crime is self-preservation at the cost of others?
[ Ah, he thinks. Things are starting to come together.
If Shen Qingqiu is to be believed, he never wanted to betray Luo Binghe. That was what the teacher had told Berkut during that hallucinogenic episode. Perhaps that was also a lie like everything else, but it slots nicely into this discussion.
What a distasteful mess. ]
There is another reason. I cannot tell you what it is, but there are . . . things even I cannot do. Changing your destiny is one of them. Consider it a mercy that I have revealed the truth, and strengthen yourself accordingly.
[ Besides, can this disciple be considered bad when he is the one who will be wronged? ]
He almost coughs up some blood but swallows it. A very bad habit that he has. When he hears something terribly upsetting news, his cultivation energy spikes and causes something inside of him to rupture which in turn causes blood to pool in his mouth and he swallows it before using his energy to heal what he has upset. ]
[Dono...is that a Japanese term? The man did say he was from Japan. And a great spearman, at that--if this were any other situation he might have asked to see his skills.
As it is, however, Xie Lian simply...nods.]
If you believe we should help them, I most certainly won't protest. [He used to think exactly the same way, after all--and maybe that's the way out of here.
If they do stay to help the multitude though, Tonbokiri might notice the requests gaining in multitude, and getting more and more difficult to complete. Like a hydra, each request is replaced with two more, wishes going from "carry this luggage" to "solve a marital dispute" to "please cure me of the plague."
The people's smiling faces, too, look less and less like normal smiles, and increasingly more like masks.]
[He can still smell the blood, but it's not as though he's going to point it out. Val won't drink it either.]
You know what you're doing wrong, which is more than what most humans can say. Change yourself. You aren't a vengeful ghost that's existed for 400 years.
[ Right, he is the one that will be wronged. He's the one that has not done anything. He has followed everything that Shen Qingqiu has said without argument. He thought that he was loved and cared for by his master, but it was all lies. ]
It was all lies. All your kindness was only lies. [ His guilt manifested in a single person. How unseemly. ] You're the one that's making my destiny! You're the one that is going to betray me! I have to be the one to stop you?
[ He breathes in. ] You should have just been cruel.
[ Honestly, I don't know how long I've been alive. Immortal body is super weird like that. It probably isn't four-hundred years, though. Oldest cultivators are like in their hundreds, right? Yeah, that sounds about right.
He is getting himself off topic. ]
The self-preservation isn't just the cost of others. It's the cost of someone's hope in the world. Their belief that people are good and that the Human Realm deserves to not be burned to ashes. [ You can say change yourself, but I fucked up BIG TIME! This is a villain's confession, OKAY? ]
Humanity isn't good. They're greedy and selfish and they'll pollute whatever they touch without a care because it won't affect them. Their regard for each other's lives is at an all time low. There are teenagers who want to take over the world.
[That teenager is dead, but she sure won't accept it. Val won't disagree that humans generally suck, but he does listen to that last part.]
Do you believe that the Human Realm deserves not to be burned to ashes?
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ouch is one of the most intimate, romantic ways to be close to someone else. The Town knows this very well -- the Town wants everyone to be as close as possible.
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