deernet | video; un: tabris | locked from un:younghuman

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video; un: tabris | locked from un:younghuman

[A young boy appears on the screen! He's sitting on... maybe the roof of a house? You can see the tops of buildings in Gaze behind him. But that's not important. What's important is what he has to say-]

How do you throw a great human birthday party? Not just the stuff with cake, gifts and people, I'm already know about all of that basic stuff. The extra things that make it a really good party. The kind that creates important memories that you can look back on and feel those pleasant feelings again.

[For some reason, this matters, apparently.]

Anyway, the first of the month was Paul's birthday. [No need to elaborate on that one. If you know, you know.] So we're going to do something next month, on the first, instead. It's a surprise, so don't tell him. You know he'd say something like "that's not necessary, it's just my birthday and it will interrupt me sitting in the dark and contemplating my terrible purpose so I'm busy and also no one can use the shower for the next hour".

So it's up to me and the rest of you to make it a good one that he likes. If you're Paul's friend or lived at the beach camp, gimme ideas and then show up and bring a gift. He needs something to strain rice with so he stops using his hands.

((ooc; a log for the party will go up ~~next week(ish)~~ this weekend! If you have CR with Paul you are invited, no reply necessary.))

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[she furrows her brow, thinking.]

If you could find some excuse to send him my way, I could take his measurements. I would send my omen, but he hates lying and never bothers to be any good at it.

[she inhales as if she's about to say something, then frowns.]

And if he thinks it's your nameday, won't he make your favorite kind of cake and not his own? Perhaps you might tell him you don't feel strongly about any kind of cake, and he should make you his favorite. And it's very easy to find music on the Omni crystal. I found Lady Beyonce that way, and I was only looking for lemoncake recipes.

[it autofilled to lemonade. her life was changed.]

But perhaps you should ask Paul. You might say you don't know what you feel like listening to at that moment, and he should pick something to play. Then you could make a note of it. If you ask the Omni crystal, it can find you singers who make music of a similar kind. I've found many fine singers that way. I could help with that too, if you like.

Edited 2022-03-22 04:59 (UTC)

I'll see what I can do. I'm already forcing him to dress cool for the party so why not make him have more clothes.

...Who... are you again?

[Names! Names are important. And yes, Paul needs more teen drip, less teen dictator. Then a nod.]

I've never eaten cake so I don't have a preference, that way he can make the kind he likes to eat or a kind he wants to make. I can also ask him about what music he wants to hear me play on piano. I don't think either of us have ever used the Omni for music before.

[Interesting... He examines the device curiously, looking it over, wondering where it even begin if it's not something he can already play.]

I'm Alayne. I don't know that he's mentioned me.

[it's ok if he hasn't, true gentlemen don't brag about the girls they meet like theon greyjoy always did.]

It would be well to ask him to make his favorite kind of cake, even so. You might say you wish to try it as you know little of cake. [what a tragic people he must come from, to never have had cake.] And perhaps you might find some other musicians to play with you? On the harp, or the lute?

Nope.

[It's possible he has and Kaworu just wasn't paying attention. That happens if he can't latch onto the topic right away because his head is slightly empty. He rolls over and props his chin on his hand thoughtfully.]

That could work. I was going to teach one skeleton to play piano... I could teach another the lyre.

[she is about to say she could play the high harp, if he has one, perhaps for one or two songs, not so many that she can't dance with paul, when there are skeletons.]

...skeleton people?

[there were all sorts of strange people here, surely there could be some regular, living people that looked like skeletons? and needed music lessons.]

The skeletons. They exist in our houses and help us with chores and other things. Teacher does it with his necromancy

[Like this all normal and good. Like saying there's a stove in your house.]

[blink. blink.]

What is it your teacher does? Are they like the lantern imps?

He's... Teacher? He looks after all of us.

[There's more truth but that isn't a lie either.]

[her voice is very steady and her back is very straight.]

What does he do with the skeletons? Are they part of the magic here, like the imps?

[they are not....actual dead people being manipulated by ancient forces, surely?]

No, they're part of his skillset. He's a necromancer. So he summons them to help around the house.

Where does he summon them from? Were they part of his household, before he came here?

[are they his faithful retainers, who happen to be skeleton people, or are they corpses being forced to act against their nature? also is he made of ice]

Probably from the ground. That's where humans like to toss their dead bodies, right?

[Questions he'd never thought to ask! Therefore, he's so unhelpful here.]

Humans that bury their dead generally expect them to stay there.

[her voice is a bit quavery, now.]

Your teacher, is he as cold and pale as ice?

No, he's warm and his skin is dark.

[He cocks his head, unable to comprehend her concerns.]

They are still dead. It's only necromancy that reanimates them. Like puppets.

I have only ever known White Walkers to command armies of the dead. Cold, pale men made of ice that hate all that lives. Is there anyone in your house like that? There was said to be a woman, long ago, with their powers, who married a man and taught him their arts. They did cruel, horrible things for years until two rival kings joined forces to bring him down.

[should an ordinary girl from the vale know all this?? probably not, but it's important, and she's not sure that there's anyone here who could tell the difference.]

Does your teacher have a wife like that? Or some sort of--friend?

No. Mostly we like to sleep late and eat cereal when we watch television. And I'm an angel, Harrow is a necromancer, Gideon is a cavalier, Paul is a human Duke, noone made of ice.

[All of that is so normal, compared to what she said. Angels, necromancers, just like rival kings. Nothing weird here.

As for the second part, Kaworu thinks about this. He really thinks.]

He spends a lot of time alone in his study and keeps inviting people to stay at his house so he probably doesn't have many friends at all.

[she exhales. she doesn't like the idea of puppeting corpses at all, but this seems more like unpleasant magic than a white walker incident. she probably doesn't have to ask wanda to seal the house in a wall a mile thick, but she should probably keep an eye on the situation.]

Well, I don't know about your people, but my people find it upsetting to see their dead friends and relatives paraded around and used as puppets. We like to put them somewhere special, with the rest of their ancestors, or whatever else they would have instructed us to do, in life. I imagine the people here feel very much the same, as they have catacombs and cemeteries too.

[not as nice as the crypts in winterfell, but then few catacombs are. time to be a normal girl and sound a little less like someone whose brother's corpse was famously defiled.]

Anyway, I can play the high harp, if you have one. And would you mind if I bring Paul a batcat kitten? They only drink a little blood, and I think he would like it very much.

I don't know how my people feel about it as I was the last of my kind, but probably not very much. Most were probably dismantled by humans for research. But to project a soul that no longer exists onto form that is no longer recognizable or distinct is a very human thing to do.

[He doesn't sound angry about it. He actually sounds a little amused, like he finds it all to be some sort of endearing quirk. The concepts of burial rights are truly bizarre to him.]

I agree. I think that's something he'd like. He dotes on animals that live in our house already.

I'm sorry that happened to you. People can be very cruel. But it is a comfort to honor the dead, and horrible to see their bodies ill-used. It is like someone is mocking you for being sorry they're dead. And it isn't that we don't know that they're dead, it's only that they would have told us, in life, what to do with their bodies, and it is a comfort and an honor to see that wish carried out. Perhaps that doesn't make sense to you, but it seems to me that the people here feel this way, and it would be better not to do anything to cross them, as there are more of them than are of us, and we are on their land.

[SORRY this is a bit of a sore point, especially after the catacombs.]

You might find some comfort, in lighting a candle for your people, or whatever form of tribute calls to you. It isn't only humans, I think, that miss the ones they love.

Edited 2022-03-23 17:21 (UTC)

They weren't my loved ones. I had never met most of them. We were simply born from the same flesh and nothing more. We are different from humans and don't understand concepts of sentiment and attachment to physical form as it is transient for us.

[He pauses, as if considering what it would be like to feel something for his brethren. Truthfully, can't quite imagine it. Being of the same creator is not the same as a connection.]

Still, your concern for the dead is curious. After all, humans have ruled over the living to create their societies since their earliest days. Why would they change their mind when it comes to the dead? You could ask Paul about it. He learns from Teacher too.

[heavy sigh]

Forcing the living or the dead to work for you against their own wishes is cruel and wrong. They should be able to leave if they're unhappy or feel mistreated. It's true some people have more than others, and bad people often come to power, and I don't know what to do about that, but I know at least where I come from people are free to go somewhere else if they don't like where they live or what they're expected to do--or they're supposed to be, anyway. If they aren't, there's meant to be someone who can help them. I don't know about you, but I would rather be the person that tries to help them, than the people causing the problem in the first place. If somebody has to be in charge, it should be somebody that wants to help people as best as they can, not just use them only for their own gain. Good rulers care about the people under their command, and they provide for them. Good rulers allow people to honor their dead in the way that they choose. And if a ruler is bad enough, their people will turn against them, especially if they come from somewhere else, somewhere far away. They'll say their ruler isn't one of them, and doesn't understand them, and they'll look elsewhere for leadership, within their own communities. If they see strangers interfering with their own dead, in a way they don't like, they'll feel as though they aren't respected, and they'll come to hate those strangers, and perhaps all strangers, and try to drive them out or even kill them. I don't know why that is, and I don't know why people can't just be kind, but it's true. And I think Paul knows that.

Besides, I have lost loved ones, and I wouldn't want to see them being puppeted around against their wishes. It would be like watching them die all over again, and I'd do anything to stop it and lay them to rest.

[perhaps this is getting personal, but anyone may lose loved ones, and wish to see them honored. at least they aren't talking about the night's king anymore.]

I imagine some of the people here feel the same way. And if even one person feels very strongly about it, strongly enough to fight your teacher for their loved one's remains, it could go very badly for all Sleepers. And that is what concerns me.

Edited 2022-03-24 16:46 (UTC)

[He listens, but remains clearly unmoved despite her passion. That smile, like this is all very amusing and a little bit quirky, remains on his face. Humans are so very curious in the things that they believe to be important and unimportant and so often it seems like those things even conflict with each other.]

Humans are so attached to their ideas about leaders and institutions. Sometimes I wonder if the idea eclipses the actual nature of these things in reality and allows things to persist beyond their use or benefit because they fail to measure these things. Paul would probably know more.

[A shrug! He stretches his arms over his head. Regardless of disagreements, he's clearly not there to hold a grudge.]

You can ask at the party!

[it takes sansa a few moments to work out what is being said, here--does this boy seem to think they can simply change institutions whenever they please?--so that the panic subsides and she is able to switch gears (and curse herself for being so candid in public).]

I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time.

[a small, wry smile.]

You know, Paul never mentioned your name, either.

That's right. It's house protocol not to mention names to others outside of it.

[Not that he cares because...]

I'm Kaworu. Kaworu Nagisa.

[that's an interesting rule. not that she has any room to talk, right now.]

It's good to meet you, Kaworu. You've been very kind in putting together this party for Paul. If I can help in any way, you only have to let me know.

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peripheries - 2022-03-25 15:06 (UTC) - Expand

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