lucetilogs | Event Log - Total Recall (2)

Entry tags:

Event Log - Total Recall (2)

Who: YOU AND ME! THAT SPELLS... MOUYE?
What: More event shenanigans
When: Today until the 4th! (Backdating is okay too)
Where: All around Luceti. Actually that's wrong. Anywhere INSIDE Luceti.
Summary: It's that special time when the Malnosso collect all their recent experiments and apply them all at once to measure effectiveness. Although invaluable as research, it tends to leave the subjects looking just a bit mad.
Rating: Rated BLARGHARGHBLARGH

So there is a mod post and it pretty much tells you EVERYTHING you need to know. This is a second log so people can change up their effects and try something new, jump into the event late, or just avoid the impending CAPTCHA on the first log.

Don't forget to tag in using the appropriate format: [canon] character name

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Cinderella? Fairy tale? These were more words that Viral didn't understand well--what kind of world was Billy really from? Confusion was evident in his eyes as he pieces the information together.]

...I see. [Not really.] Let's go to the library, and you can tell me more about 'Cinderella'.

Edited 2012-06-01 18:58 (UTC)

Oh, uh, sure. [He pauses, then glances around one last time.] But are you sure you don't need anything cleaned...?

You don't need to clean up other peoples houses. [He glances away and nods to the front door.]

Come on. You can also explain why you want to clean everything on the way.

[...Sigh. Maybe he can clean the library or something when he gets there. Giving his dress an idle tug - really, what had possessed him to pick one so short? - he finally caves and starts for the door.]

Man... thank god for Disney or I wouldn't know this stuff at all. Okay, uh- "Once upon a time" - fairy tales always start like that for some reason - there was this girl, Cinderella. She lived with her parents until her mom died, and then her dad married this cranky old bitch who had two other daughters. That's where the wicked-stepmother cliche comes from.

[There are so many more words that Viral doesn't fully understand in Billy's explanation, but he listens with quiet interest at the nonchalant retelling.]

...the story didn't end well, did it? [Anything with the word 'wicked' as a descriptor wasn't meant to bring happiness.] And where does the cleaning come in?

...You don't know much about fairy tales, do you?

[That's the first time he's ever heard anyone assume there'd be a bad ending. Sheesh.]

Anyway, don't rush me. The stepmother made Cinderella do all the chores in the house, like she was a maid and not a daughter, and she seriously overworked her. But since Cinderella's your typical princess-type, she's all good, and kind, and well-behaved, so she didn't complain about it. She never fought back.

[Sounds familiar, ha.]

[Viral's thoughts stray to his few encounters with Princess Nia, with her sweet smile and hair like the clouds above. The thought of her actually cleaning--

if her cleaning was anything like her doll repairs, she would be giggling in delight while doing work of a quality that would get a beastman executed.]

...I know stories of a different sort--they involve more warriors and less princesses.

Its still hard to believe that Cinderella would do a very good job of cleaning.

Well... she's not really a princess yet. That comes later.

[God, this story is so all over the place right now. He's never been very good at this, admittedly. He tends to ramble way too much for decent explanations.]

Okay, look, there was this local prince- and his kingdom was gonna have a party. A ball, I mean. And everybody in the kingdom got to go, because... I dunno, I think he needed to find a wife or something. And Cinderella wanted to go, but she wasn't allowed because she's way hotter than her step-sisters, and her step-mom wanted them to marry the prince. ...One of them, I mean. Can't both marry him. So off they go to the party and she's stuck crying in the garden because her life sucks.

That sounds...

[Odd? Petty? Very human? Viral pauses thoughtfully, biting back the urge to nitpick at semantics, and considers all of the women that he's met in his life.

They would storm the ball if they really wanted to go.]

That sounds like she needs to tie her boots and go to the ball anyway. No one can stop her.

Heh, you're not the only one who believed that. While she was crying, the story goes that her "fairy godmother" shows up- actually, I don't even know how to explain her. A random, magical old woman who grants wishes to good girls who want their dreams to come true, or... something like that? Anyway, she uses her magic to give Cinderella her dress, and a coach, and some horses, so she can go to the ball too.

So she just wished for it, and it happened?

[This tale was oddly reminiscent to their first conversation, where Billy told him about superheroes and they both talked about how enough determination can change the tide of any battle.]

How convenient.

That's why it's a fairy tale. They're like... stories that could never come true, but they make people feel good, because they're about unfortunate people getting the sort of reward for being good that everybody dreams of.

[Where's a six year old girl when you need one?]

[No six year old girl is needed; Viral starts to understand the point of the Cinderella tale. It's not a story he's familiar with, but records of similar kinds of tales did exist in the desert sands. He was no historian, but it's hard not to read the writings in the caverns on the long nights in the field. The Gunmen used by the beastmen years ago were solar powered--their nights were free to camp and prepare for the next day.

Viral's curiosity got the better of him then. How could he not read when the writings were similar to the script on their official orders?]

...So they're like the tales of Gish and Enkidu fighting the Guardian of the Mount and the Bull of Heaven. Something impossible, but also something to dream about.

Is there more to this tale? It sounds too easy.

Edited 2012-06-02 18:41 (UTC)

[Billy grins a bit at that. The names are unfamiliar, but it sounds like Viral's world at least has some heroic or fictional tales. Good to know, maybe he can ask about that later.]

It does, doesn't it? It's not the end, though. She had until midnight to go to the ball and get home again because the spell was gonna wear off. So Cinderella did the whole spiel of showing up, wowing everyone, dancing with the prince, being all cool and mysterious- it's all pretty dramatic. Then the clock starts ringing for midnight and she rushes off without even saying her, name, leaving behind a glass slipper. The prince was totally head over heels about her, though.

[The stories weren't widely circulated among the troops, like the interpersonal liaisons that came with friendships that ran deeper than just camaraderie. He doesn't know many, and only started to bother learning more during his years as a wandering guerilla. He would try to answer if asked, but he is still a terrible storyteller despite his final orders.]

...so how does it end? You said that she gets rewarded for her...goodness.

It ends with the prince coming to Cinderella's rescue by getting every girl in the kingdom to try on the slipper, which to me sounds kind of stupid, because there had to have been at least one other girl out there with the same size foot. But whatever, it's a fairy tale. She tries on the slipper, it fits, so she gets to marry the prince and become a princess. The stepmom tried to get in the way, but what's she supposed to do against a prince?

[He shrugs, idly kicking a stone out of the way as they walk. The library isn't that far now.]

So yeah, that's Cinderella. Teaching little girls to be house slaves until they get married off to a handsome prince. Great life lessons, huh?

...wouldn't it be better to teach a girl to be strong and self sufficient?

[This was clearly another aspect of humans that he just wouldn't understand--but that didn't matter.]

So if you're Cinderella, then who are the other characters?

Yeah, I don't get it either. But tales about heroic princesses saving themselves aren't very popular. Maybe deep down little girls just want to be damsels, to be saved by someone. Don't quote me on that, though, I don't know any little girls that I could ask.

[His mother could probably write a whole psych paper on the phenomenon if asked.]

...I don't know any either. [None of the ones he met thus far in Luceti counted, especially since he met them over the course of the Shift. Who knew whether these children were normally in this form?] But it makes no sense. None of the women I've met would wait for a rescue when they can do the job themselves.

Hey- fairy tale, remember? Anyway, not everyone can be strong. Sometimes people need to be saved. That's why heroes exist.

[He certainly knows that feeling, growing up as the local bully's punching bag. Would've been nice to have a handsome prince around to sweep him up and take him away. Not that he'd have said as much.]

[Viral didn't understand the feeling as much as Billy, but knew enough from his recent experiences to sympathize a little. He had no desire for a hero...but almost acted as one to the refugees that needed it. He was a hero that was as troubling as their enemies to their minds, but it was more than they had otherwise.]

...what about you? Do you need a hero?

[Billy lifts a brow at that, then his lips purse into a smile again, looking kind of amused. Ironic question, that.]

Well, if I'm supposed to be Cinderella right now, I guess I do. Funny, though- when I was little I always wanted to be one.

[Even if he doesn't look much like one now.]

You're not having much luck then.

[But it was a thought. Fairy tales, heroes...Viral always sympathized more with Enkidu in those ancient stories, not Gish--it was Gish that walked the world in the end, seeking answers. Alone.

This new kind of tale, with half-orphaned daughters and princes, intrigued him. He huffed, amused.]

I'll give it a try for you, to see how it goes.

[...he didn't mean to say that, but it was too late.]

...Heh. What, you want to be my hero?

[No, Billy, singing that goddamn Enrique song is not an option right now.]

[Billy's fortunate that the reference goes right over Viral's head. The beastman would be vastly uncomfortable otherwise. He grins in amusement at the question, deciding that this was probably just another part of the strangeness this week and that it would be easier to not fight it.]

Why not? It sounds almost fun.

Edited 2012-06-05 01:02 (UTC)

Event Log - Total Recall (2)

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