EVERYBODY! EVERYBODY!

[lucetimods]

Who: Everybody! Everybody!
What: It's a beach! There's fruit! Love in the air! Classy private rooms in the mountains!
When: From sunrise to midnight! (AND IT'S TODAY! FEBRUARY 18th!)
Where: Out on the beach, centered around the teleporter/tunnel exit area. But it feels like July out there! Ain't that just the shit?
Summary: Summary? Why does this need a summary. I said everything up there. And then I'm gonna say even more after this. Why do we need this field? Seriously, anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Rating: KEEP IT CLEAN, KIDS. Take your dirty smut to an appointments post!

Long Ago In A Distant Land, Akai, the fully functional fonbot, unleashed a fairly standard mod post. But a foolish player kept asking questions and come on, do you really need to know that much? Now everyone wants to play out their ships and get into fruit shenanigans and undo to evil that is AKAI.

((No, but seriously guys, look at the mod post, you know what to do. Everything you need is there. Mass log post, remember to tag your characters name here, and do your thing.))

OH YEAH! So like, assume there is stands (or you know, beach-appropriate huts) here and there that are stocked up on bathing suits (and curtains you can change behind), stands with beverages, and snacks. Nobody's really operating them, new stuff just gets Shifted there (BUT ONLY IF YOU'RE NOT WATCHING). The Malnosso are the most considerate bro-ginization ever.

Comments

[fleurdesel]

...no. And yes. I do not care to be manipulated but...it's been almost a decade since I've felt loved. Wanted. It's...selfish of me to want it to linger, especially if it is false. And yet I cannot help it.

[It was the most likely outcome. Dawn would break, and so would this compulsion, this affection, and Adele knows no matter how well she braces herself for it beforehand, it will break her as well. Once was enough, and Tony had been kinder, gentler than Robert ever had cared to be. Even if they'd only truly been together for a week, it was more than she'd had in, as she's said, a decade.]

[folklorist]

[ A sigh. It's not entirely fair they do such things to them, no, manipulate their feelings for people they're stuck in an enclosure with and yet...sometimes good things can come from it. But only sometimes and Helios isn't counting on this, whatever this is apparently, to end very well for most people. ]

I don't think it's selfish to want to be loved. It's...it's human nature, really. I-I don't like the fact that the Malnosso are the ones initiating such things though. [ He'll bend down and let the texture of the sand run along the tips of his fingers. ]

But it...is nice to be wanted and-and have someone there for you despite everything that this very well might not be. It's nice and I...don't blame you for not being able to help it. I-I can't exactly either. None of us can.

[fleurdesel]

It shouldn't be this easy. To just...reach into our minds and twist things around. To force us to feel...[Adele sighs and massages the bridge of her nose.]

Being manipulated like this once was enough for my life, Helios. I am not so eager to endure the fallout a second time.

[But she cannot change it. So she may as well accept it. Syncing her breathing to the crashing of the waves, tying her heartbeat to the one of the coast Adele stares out at the water, gradually wresting most of her thoughts from her mind as Ben had attempted to teach her to do. It wasn't easy. But it did ease her somewhat once she was done.]

[folklorist]

It shouldn't be...but it is. For them, unfortunately, the twisting of our minds...is all rather easy for them. Making us feeling things we're not supposed to feel anymore or at all. [ He stops and shakes his head. The symbol unconsciously drawn in the sand beneath them is slowly eaten away at the incoming waves. He stands and dusts his hands off on his jeans. ]

You don't. You don't have to endure it alone, Adele. As sad as it may sound...we're all affected together by these experiments. No one...no one has to endure anything alone if they don't wish too. [ Bold words and possible hypocritical at best given that Helios has done such things before. But, no, Giles was usually there to talk to and Frederic. But they were both gone now and he's not sure what he's going to do once this ends. ]

[fleurdesel]

I have no right to impose my misery on anyone Helios. Especially if they're coping with their own as well. I don't know how I will take this, when it's over but. I will...try. Not to turn you away outright should you attempt to assist me. It is the best I can offer. I do not know what it is I would be able to do or say for you and Alice once this has passed but. I will also try to assist you. If you wish.

[folklorist]

It's in imposing if the person is willing to help assist you, is it? [ He looks at her with a smile. ] But, thank you, whatever comes after today or whenever this happens to end- [ if ti even does ] -I'll try to help you in anyway I am capable of. We-we're all in this together after all and it's only natural to help one another. It's what makes the people in this village...so special and easy to talk to. Or at least that's what I've found to be true.

[fleurdesel]

[Adele nods, considering Helios for a long moment before she turns back to the ocean. Not hers, no cliffs or cottage here, but comforting all the same. In truth she had no doubt that if it came to it, when it came to it, Ginia would be of more use comforting Helios than she would be. There are things that she doesn't know and doesn't understand, not for lack of trying. They simply did not know each other well enough, and she could not blame Helios for it. There were many things she has not, and most likely will never share with the man.]

Were it not for the people, this would be hell.

[folklorist]

I think you're quite right about that. I wish I could meet them under better circumstances and without all- [ He motions to the surrounding area while pretty and picturesque and ideal it's underlying shadow and darkness is much deeper. The pain and trouble they went through to get this ocean still rings clear in his mind. ] -this in the way. But it can't be helped I suppose. [ A thin line as he lips purse together. ]

If it weren't for the people...I'm not sure how well I would have gotten along to be honest.

[fleurdesel]

Who did you meet first, when you came here? [She's listening, she's interested, and she is concerned for Helios. It just...helps remind her that this is false, and that she can endure it, to focus on the horizon. To breathe with the waves. Perhaps the next time she and Ben meditate, she should recommend they do it out here.]

Was it Giles?

[folklorist]

[ Helios shakes his head his expression slightly more dour at the mentioning of the other man. But...his smile returns quickly. ] N-No actually. I-I was here before Giles. I was one of the first people he met, actually. I helped him back into the village. [ He still remembers their first conversation and how ever so intrigued the other was. ]

But I met a good few people upon my arrival here. But I think it was...Ted. Yes, Ted, he was the first person to give me an apartment to stay in. Even with his room mate whom I never met, just like that. It was...so strange but I couldn't outwardly refuse such a kind offer.

[fleurdesel]

Compassion runs deep for most here, though I am not overly surprised now that I have settled in. All we have to keep from descending into chaos and murder is one another. We are only as good as we are to the newest and most vulnerable of us. It is...a strange little commune we live in Helios. [She tilts her head to the side.] Does Ted still reside here?

[folklorist]

Yes it does. We're an odd bunch that way. Although it's really no surprise when it comes to Luceti. Strange is...good at times, if this place is any look into it. [ Helios shakes his head, sighing. ]

N-No he's...been gone for awhile, sadly. But the memory of him is no less prominent than it was before. I-I suppose Luceti helps with that too. You make such strong connection is such a short amount of time. To forget anyone...I don't know if I really could to be honest. [ Because you never know when they'll leave. Like Giles, Frederic, everyone else he's met and grown close to. ]

[fleurdesel]

Shifts aside? Strange is good, I'm never truly bored living with you Helios. And there are, as you've said, opportunities to make connections you'd never thought possible. I've met, and befriended, a piece of my family's legacy.

[She smiles to herself at the thought of Lupin. A strange friend, yes, but a friend nonetheless.]

I knew Giles for a very brief time, but. I understand. People here, the circumstances, the sheer extraordinary nature of the place and those that thrive here. It makes them remarkable.

[folklorist]

And to think I haven't blown up anything in the house quite yet. [ A good nature laugh from him. Helios looks at her curiously. ] A piece of your family's legacy? Here? [ That piques his interest. ]

I-I think you two...would have gotten along quite well. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses but we all manage to thrive when working to together. So it's...no surprise, really, that we've lasted this long.

[fleurdesel]

I assume that should you ever do so it will be an accident. [She offers a half smile.] Mm? Yes. Lupin the Third is here, and he is the grandson of Arsene Lupin, a character my great grand uncle wrote short stories about in his time...


We will last as long as we must, until this place no longer has need of us. Till then? I have every intention of remaining.

[folklorist]

It was an accident, yes. Sound cancellation spell...still haven't quite figured that one out. It was...a project between Frederic, Giles and myself. [ All propelled by the horrors of one Halloween event.

Helios eyebrows raise and his eyes widen. ] That's rather amazing. The people you meet here, hm? But as for remaining here...I-I think I'd like to as well. It-it's probably selfish of me, yes, b-but I just- [ a sigh as he closes his eyes for a few brief seconds ] -I just have so many things to do back home. What with the castle and my students and everything else.

[ But there's no hatred towards him here. No being an outcast or made an example of when you do something wrong. People who use magic actually like talking to him here. And people actually care about it. There's also no Nero. He shivers a little at thinking about his brother but he brushes it off and rubs the back of his neck. ] I don't...want to forget everyone either and everything I've learned when I go back home. People like the ones here? They don't deserve to be forgotten. No one deserves that.

[fleurdesel]

[Adele turns to face Helios, watching his face, his hands. Searching for tells, because that was the only way she could learn to read him. In some ways she'd found him to be so open, in others? Locked up as much as she could be on a bad day. Without the ability to just ask him, she learns him through his tells, his twitches. Though for the most part they were in a language entirely foreign to her. One day she might understand better, and until then? She intends to study.

That shiver, she thought, but wasn't certain, didn't have much to do with the cold. It was only when Helios reached up to rub his neck, a textbook gesture of nerves, anxiety, or distress that she confirmed it. Moving slow, because Helios was just as jumpy around contact as she was, Adele reaches over to pat his back.]

I've heard rumors of those that return home having dreams. Perhaps it is fact, perhaps it is wishful thinking. Perhaps those that are more magically inclined are more likely to remember. [Remembering this wasn't that much of an issue for her, but. She could understand the distress the thought of all this being forgotten caused in those that had something to return to.]

[folklorist]

[ The twitches and tells were a bit more noticeable now but not by much. Helios still had a difficult time opening up to people and telling them just what exactly was wrong. But he has come a long way from what he was when he arrived here. It's something he had to thank the people he's met here for. It's one of the reasons he doesn't want to leave, doesn't want to forget the people here.

He nods. That sounds like what Frederic experienced. ] F-Frederic told me that he used to dream when he left once before. And both he and Giles remembered everything after a short while when they both came back. I-I just don't know why they can't let us keep our memories when we leave.

[fleurdesel]

It could drive a person mad. Knowing they've lived here for days, months, years, and have all that forced into their personal timeline in the space of a second. Some may be accustomed to that. Those from worlds like mine? Are not.

[folklorist]

Even coming from a world like mine something like that...it's hardly fair or easy to get used to. Even if there are spells that one can use to, to get rid of a person's memories in my world. Th-they're hardly condoned or-or even suppose to be used.

[fleurdesel]

Then there are the paths that cannot be changed, yes? Lives that have already been lived. Events that must come to pass. Some things must not be changed. And for this alone it is probably for the best that we do not remember.

[folklorist]

No there are. S-Somethings, no matter how much you wish to change them, simply cannot be changed. [ he sounds dour, sad even, as he says that. There's an undertone of masked sorrow and immense pain but he hardly lets that show. ] It-it would disrupt the natural and normal balance of things I think. For every action an entirely new dimension is created or so certain people believe. If you try to rewrite those actions or happenings what would happen to the dimensions and timelines that are created from them?

[ A pause. ] Somethings are out of our control to change.

[fleurdesel]

I am the worst sort of hypocrite for saying this but...[Her voice is low, gentle. Far gentler than she's spoken with anyone, friend, patient, or otherwise.]...we must accept what we cannot change. It is not easy, it is not pleasant, and it can be painful. But. Far better to deal with what we can, instead of dwelling on what we cannot. Yes?

[folklorist]

[ Helios blinks looking back at her when that tone is used. He's never heard it coming from Adele and yet he...can't help but appreciate it. ] Yes. Y-You're right. It's...very painful. [ Extremely so. ]

But, but dwelling on it c-can be just as damaging as the event that occurred. It's just...sometimes it's hard letting go, you know? [ He remembers his conversations with Ginia and Robert. He has to forgive himself eventually. If only it were that easy. ] Sometimes it's...so very hard.

[fleurdesel]

[Even with as adverse to it as he was, Adele can't help but step closer, can't help but reach out and rest a hand against his back. Just a warm, present weight, a point of contact against whatever demons and memories he faces on his own day in, day out.] I am the last person you have to explain this to Helios. I understand this, at the very least.