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Text; UN: Godisstilldead

So I will make this quick so as to not waste anyone's time.

I'm new and I have a few questions which I would appreciate being answered by anyone NOT named Darth Maul or anyone dumb enough to call themselves one of his cult members.

Are there any actual schools in this place besides an endless amount of weirdo dojos and their even weirder belief systems? [He saw all of the bickering comments.]

How likely is the house I pick to live in going to get wrecked the first month in... mostly because I rather have a car NOT fly through my roof a second time... not that I've seen any cars around but that's beside the point.

Seems like winter is going to be an absolute pain so where can I get decently warm clothes?

Lastly, how often am I going to open a door and experience an Escher painting suddenly surrounding me?

Thank you in advance.

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I agree that a lot of it is people's choices. And for a long time I assumed that people almost always did the selfish thing, and chose to behave that way, myself.

I still think kindness is rarer than it should be. But I find if I offer help, or simply don't assume the worst of them, sometimes people really do respond positively. Make choices that aren't are purely self-interested.

Then you're much kinder than I am, or have met infinitely nicer people than I have. I can assume absolutely nothing and be disappointed in people.

THIS place is the exception, not the rule.

Then I hope it keeps proving to be the exception for you.

And for the record - while there isn't much I could do that Obi-wan can't do better, probably - you're welcome to call me anytime, ok?

I doubt it, just have to give it time.

Pretty sure that requires knowing your name at the very least.

Technically I think you just need my screename - Lothrat.

But my actual name is Ezra Bridger.

What do you prefer to be called?

[Well, Ezra's got one thing absolutely right, he's definitely not doing this better than Obi-Wan.]

If you wanted me to only refer to you as Lothrat in conversations, then yeah, technically you're right, I would've only needed that.

Ritsuka Aoyagi is my name.

[No one, if he can help it, will ever find out about Loveless.]

[He has his awkward moments.]

Hah, just Ezra's fine, really. Lothrat's sort of a joke.

Pleased to meet you, Ritsuka Aoyagi.

A joke, you understand, I'm not going to get since I don't know you? Sure, same.

I don't expect you to? I just wanted you to have my screen name to reach me via Omni if you need, that's all.

I mean, I'm happy to explain if you want.

So you mention it's a joke but you didn't expect me to understand? [He seriously doesn't get people. This is why he prefers animals and books.]

If you're eager to tell. Go for it.

[Well, he's pretty thoroughly confused by this conversation at this point, too, but he's gamely carrying on.]

It's a bit of a slur for street kids, back on my homeworld. Got called it a lot, when I was younger and on my own.

So, no, I don't expect people to get it or actually call me that.

I don't particularly enjoy calling anyone any sort of slur, especially not about children who had no choice in their situations. So now I won't be using your username at all if I can help it.

[Hmm.]

Tell you what, I'll set a new username as Bridger. You can use that one.

Much more preferred, thank you, Bridger-san.

You're very welcome.

I know a bunch of other people are responding to your questions. Anything you'd like some more info on?

That depends, we're you in Deerington before?

Nope.

I was somewhere else called Temba, after I got yanked away from the galaxy I'm from. People from all over time, other worlds who got brought there. Obi-wan was there, too, except not exactly this Obi-wan. Like, the same core person in very recognizable ways, a younger version of the man I met back home.

But as he is here, he doesn't have any memory of being there.

There's other people I knew from Temba who are here also, but they don't have those memories.

And there was one guy Kyle, who was my friend in Temba is DID recognize me and remembered being there, before he came here.

Why do you ask?

[Well... that... sure was something. That's a whole lot of sudden backstory and it strikes one of Ritsuka's biggest fears, being forgotten. Ezra doesn't know that though. His reply takes longer to return as Ritsuka fights back the panic at being forgotten in this place.]

Never mind, you can't answer it. I suppose I will ask what should I be careful about MOST instead since "careful about everything" is the already obvious answer.

[It's been rough, navigating all that he knows around people who have made such an impact on him, for good or for ill. The lack of recognition from Maul had been a bit of a relief, but horrible to see on people like Obi-wan, Luke, and Padmé.

Ezra takes a little time to think before he replies.]

I could warn you about all sort of physical dangers. But those would be nearly impossible to predict.

So I'm gonna give you an answer that may seem dumb, or condescending, or obvious, but then explain a little about why.

Be careful about letting yourself be alone too much.

We're all susceptible to what people here call corruption. But the truth is, I don't even think I can simply say 'be careful about corruption'; it's just a fact of life.

Isolating yourself might buy you a little time before you feel corruption at all. But it might leave you without someone to notice it's set in, if you don't notice. And a lot of people don't notice it in themselves. I'd leave you without ways to combat it. Connection is one of the best ways I know, to keep corruption from growing in you.

[He stares at the reply for a long time.

Well...

Shit.]

Figures. [Ezra doesn't know, and Ritsuka doesn't plan on divulging but what Ezra just said was basically a death sentence of sorts. Ritsuka didn't DO people, he didn't like MOST of them and he trusted even LESS. So to know that he would have to depend on them, to connect with more of them to ensure he didn't get whatever the hell "corrupted" would be for him? He was screwed.]

Just how bad is corruption?[Because he was pretty sure he would be seeing it a lot.]

[Ezra doesn't know, but given everything Ritsuka has said about the lack of kindness in his life - he can make a guess. A guess partly based on his own years of being and feeling alone in the world.

That's exactly why Ezra had laid everything out like he did.]

Corruption can change you both physically and emotionally, and the emotional and physical seem to be interconnected. Extremely strong emotions, mental turmoil, can make corruption worse.

And being badly corrupted seems to make you vulnerable to beasthood. Meaning you completely transform into something...else. A being not really recognizable compared to who you were, and doesn't really think the same way at all, as far as we can tell. Usually very violent.

It's possible to come back, but not guaranteed or easy - again, connection to people is one way that has worked. People report that they really didn't feel in control of their actions.

Oh...

[So he might do the thing he would hate most of all and hurt people. He doesn't want to turn into a monster, a Beast. He doesn't want to become very violent. The idea of becoming something he tries so hard to avoid...]

... Thank you for telling me this.

You're welcome. I know it's a lot to take in.

It is but... it wouldn't be this hellacious place if it was easy.

I guess that's true.

Well, I try not make things harder, at least. Take care, ok?

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in_loveless_memory - 2023-01-13 04:16 (UTC) - Expand

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