video | un: username

[pacificates]

[ The camera feed opens to reveal… an eye, mostly. Huge and watery and blue, sunken bruised skin around it. The look of someone very ill, or very tired. Half-hidden by scraggly blonde hair. Whoever this is, they’re holding the Omni very close to their face. ]

Voices, faces. Echoes held in stone. It speaks—! [ Someone has… just discovered the network. There’s something bright in his voice, but it grows dim. ] So… small but the hurts are so big. I hear them but they don’t hear me, I don’t know how to help. It doesn’t make sense.

[ Frustration. Grating. Sets his teeth on edge. It’s not supposed to be like that, he’s supposed to help. And there is further to his upset: ]

Blood. Stifling, suffocating and not safe. He remembers Adamant, slain brothers for the sake of serving. Then… torn and twisted, until the sound of what they’re not supposed to be is all they hear. Bound to their will, and His. They can’t change me, they can’t. I must be me—!

I can taste it. There’s others, different kinds. None of the songs are the same but they’re better. But there’s too much blood, it takes over. Drowns out the other songs.

[ There’s a long pause. The Omni is moved away, revealing a little more of his face: a young man, perhaps no older than twenty. A thin, long face; bleary eyes and a somber expression. He’s not looking at the camera. ]

I don’t like it here.

ooc: please consider using this page re: cole's abilities and what comes with interacting with him.

Comments

[Video] un: 008

[hachitaro]

[Taro's in his usual human guise, but frowning. Uh. Hm.]

You... uh. You okay there, buddy?

[pacificates]

[ It speaks again—! To him—? Cue the Omni being pulled in close once more. ]

Oh—! You hear me—! It speaks but— [ Magic. ] Changing, cloaked. It wears another face.

[Video | UN: JustLuke]

[faithfulson]

[ That was... a lot; Luke could follow some of it, and got the gist that this person could sense the magic of the change in Sleeper blood, but the rest goes over his head. Perhaps relating to events back where they came from? ]

[ He shook head after a moment, focusing instead on the fact this person was clearly troubled by the blood of this place. ]

Are you going to be all right?

[pacificates]

No. I— I shouldn't be here. They'll change me. Make me something else, something wrong. I want it to be spirit, not demon. [ He doesn't want to change. This one is a different song. One of the ones that the song of blood drowns out. ]

Not you. Yours is another song. You're better.

Video; UN Lothrat

[ezra_of_lothal]

[Ezra sometimes experiences the world in singing tones, flashes of mental images, and visions, so most of this is surprisingly relatable.]

It was deafeningly loud and discordant for me, too, at first.

Would a place...separate from everything, for a little while help, do you think? [Plenty of people around have temporary pocket dimensions. He could ask to borrow one.]

[pacificates]

A song sings through him. The echoes of others. Calling, connecting. I know that song. [ The notes are different, but the song is the same. He is no Spirit. As for the other thing, there's the barest narrowing of eyes. His mouth upturns. ]

Blood stains everything here. Can't separate, can't clean. Seeps too deeply.

video | un: graham crackers

[possessum]

( There's something about this — all of it — that makes Peter want to shirk away. The words, the way they're said, the... things they say. Like some weird riddle, almost nonsensical to his own ears, but it's clear that they mean something to the person. It feels like watching something unravel.

It induces an odd shudder down his spine that isn't altogether unfamiliar.

Maybe a year or so ago, he wouldn't have replied to this. Kept some distance. But here he is, turning on his feed, nervous but empathetic — not entirely sure to what, just... the upset in general. The guy's young, and upset, and he says he doesn't like it here. Peter's heart twists a little. )

Hey. You must be new here, right? I'm Peter. Do you.... remember your name, yet?

( He isn't sure how long it's been since this guy might've washed up on shore. Maybe it's been a bit, or it could be just recently, but either way — a name's a good place to start with grounding somebody who's upset, at least in his experience. )

video;

[pacificates]

[ A boy. A man. But, oh—! Something lurks within. It is shaped differently, the song is not the same but some notes feel similar. ]

Bright, burning. A body built. He never knew before. The son holds Knowledge within him. [ And then, oddly cheerful. ] Hello—!

[ There's no gesture to indicate an answer to either of his questions, but he does continue: ]

I remember. I forgot once. Before. When the shape of me changed and I made mistakes. I remembered, remember now. [ Forgetting and remembering, a cycle. He forgot when he came to these shores too, but he remembers now. ] I am... Cole. It isn't mine. I took it, but... never stole. A name I became.

( video | un: alucard )

[ananym]

[ hmm. ]

You'll get used to it.

[pacificates]

No.

[ He doesn't understand. ]

Not safe. They use it. Blood, binding, bent into something else.

voice: un: vi

[faceblocks]

[she makes her voice soft, pauses before adding more after the greeting. this kid (?) seems ...overwhelmed is kind of an understatement.]

Hey.

[i don't know how to help and it doesn't make sense tug at her, and frankly...she doesn't know how to help, either. there's too much blood. yeah, ain't that the truth. and if one isn't used to all this blood (after all, everything here runs on blood just about) it can be quite a shock to the system.]

It's a lot to take in, yeah. Especially if where you're from is ...different. There's a pretty good chance it's gonna get better. I know from experience.

[going out on a limb, here. maybe a redirect of thoughts. the way he's speaking reminds her a little of ...jinx. not exactly, but the chaos of thought, the (?)mind-clutter(?).]

You got a favorite song?

[pacificates]

The underbelly is hard, the scales on top are soft. It is the same here, but... a different softness. They care, here. [ She has known the underbelly. It's there in her voice. Here, they all live in the underbelly. But they all care for one another. He's quiet for a little while. ] The blood will not lessen.

[ It seeps too deeply into every crack and crevice. He does not know how it will get better for him. He is... afraid. ]

Soldiers slumped with empty cups. The bard sings, sweet songs. I stand high, listen. She helps. Her voice helps people.

video; un: kolchek

[hearuthinking]

Don't think anyone really likes it here, kid.

[pacificates]

They do. I hear them.

[ He's very matter of fact on that. ]

Blood magic is— is— wrong. They break, bend. Wrong.

[frogfear]

[It feels common, newcomers taking to the network to try to understand the world they've come to, and Willow can't help but feel a pang of sympathy for boy.]

It's, uh, not so bad here, once you get used to it. I guess it probably doesn't seem that way now, though. Are you okay?

[pacificates]

No. Not okay, not safe. I don't want to be bound—! [ He is... freaking out. He doesn't know how to be calm when the world is like this. ]

It's what they do, they take and twist and turn us. Make us what we're not. I don't want to be that because... because then I'm not me.

You have to understand, you know the songs.

video; un: ruka

[moonsounds]

Oh, it's you! [At least there's a semi-familiar face.

He doesn't seem to be doing so hot though. She sympathizes.]

Are you alright? Do you... Do you need to get to a quieter place? [That sometimes helped, she's pretty sure, though she knows Cole operates a bit differently.]

video;

[pacificates]

[ Oh, it's her. ]

Yes. Hello—!

[ There is at least some kind of cheerfulness in him, but it's short-lived. ]

No. I don't think the blood can be quieter here.

< ren >

[dyaddyissues]

[ Kylo doesn't make a habit of replying over the omni, most chatter is fairly uninteresting but something about Cole and his words draws his attention. ]

What's wrong with you.

[pacificates]

I am me.

[ He is not wrong. ]

This place is wrong.

video; un: lookingforshinsengumi

[tealeafs]

[ .. well, at least half of this makes very little sense of Chizuru. In a way where she isn't quite sure if she's just too stupid to understand it - though she's leaning towards that, if she's entirely honest with herself - or if this really is that incomprehensible.

One thing she does understand though. It seems like this person is rather new to these sorts of devices too. It brings a kinship that, along with the worry about all the cryptic things the other is saying, makes her unable to not respond, really. ]

Ah.. sir?

[ .. is he a sir? Chizuru isn't sure, the address sounding a touch careful and shy. ]

Is this the first time you're seeing something like this..?

[ She figures it's easier to address the Omni rather than any other part of this. Maybe she can help him use it a little better, she figures? ]

[pacificates]

You're not stupid.

[ It startles out of him so quickly, and he falls silent just as quickly afterwards. The prickle of it in his mind. No, not stupid.

... Sir? He doesn't know if he's a 'sir', either. ]

The stone is magic. The song of it is different.

video | un: sds

[fogsong]

[ Sharon feels an instant pang of sympathy. I must be me. Her lips press together in the barest hint of a frown. ]

This place isn't all bad but it does take some time to get used to and some things are... [ Her frown deepens; darkens. ] ...they're worse than others. [ A heavy, thoughtful pause. ] Do you need any help?

[pacificates]

I want the blood to go away. They tell me it can't.

[ Something he is very unhappy about. ]

I'm the one who helps. I don't know how to help me. [ Blood. Rituals. It prickles within him. But there's more, there. It's in her too. She must be her, too. ] Blood will bind me, I can't let it. You know it. It'll bind you too. You must be you, too.

Video: UN - Runeseeker

[onerthes]

Gods...

[She brought her hand up to her forehead. Oh, this poor boy. Yeah, she'd met him on the coast and she'd been worried when he had shown up, just slightly. Curious too, but a little concerned. He seemed almost dangerously sensitive.]

You're a paleblood aren't you? Or is this natural to what you are? Are you hearing the 'songs' of this world? Do you have the ability to tune them out a little?

[pacificates]

My blood isn't pale. It's red.

[ ( ... No one's explained the blood types to him.) ]

No. I hear it because that's what I am too.

Video; un: darkness cw: mention of disassociation from reality

[survivalthroughhate]

You're a strange one. Do you always speak in riddles?

[There was something about the disjointed way the young man spoke which made Maul feel uncomfortable and it showed on his face. It reminded him too much of his own state when Savage had first found him, driven to madness after so many years of pain and solitude.]

[pacificates]

"Strange." Says the stranger. [ There's a slight tilt of his head, almost bird-like. He's listening. ] Spoken as he knows the strangeness.

I say what I mean. Sometimes the words don't make sense to the others.