Video | un: SunshinePrincess

[prodigalhairess]

[When the video flicks on, Rapunzel... isn't staring at it at all. She's huddled on the windowsill in her room, knees pulled close to her chest and her cheek resting against the cool glass of the window. She's staring outside, into the now-constant night, her eyes locked on the moon hanging above.

She seems... defeated. Anyone who's met Rapunzel before, even in the terrible jungle they escaped last month, would know that she's a constant beam of bright and vibrant energy. Rarely does Rapunzel's smile leave her face, and rarely does that aura of unending optimism leave her. But now, that bright and vibrant look to her is gone; her shoulders sag, and her expression as she gazes at the moon is akin to a painful yearning bordering on heartbreak.]

The people who disappear... [She's seen some folks talk about that, the past few days. One man had said someone he lost "returned to the sea", so Rapunzel can put the pieces together in her head.] They turn into those squid things again, right? And they just... go back to the water?

[She's not sure if she believes that. She has no reason not to, of course, but Rapunzel is still holding onto some shred of hope that she can one day see Corona again. Maybe if they disappear, they really go home, and it only looks like they turn into squids again?]

What happens to them after that? Can they still, y'know... think and feel? Do they still have their memories? Are they still them?

[There's a long pause. Rapunzel's hands grip tight into the fabric of her skirt, and a soft squeak can be heard; Pascal, her ever-present chameleon friend, uncurls himself from his spot on her shoulder so he can snuggle up against her neck, just under her ear. It's the only form of comfort such a little creature can provide for her, but he still tries.]

Can they be... happy like that, even if they weren't happy before?

Comments

Swittity swoo action time

[droptheious]

[Varian very, very rarely sees Rapunzel look like this. She really is an unending source of optimisim in their world. This one too, now. He's seen her look hurt and defeated before, of course. Hell, he's been the direct cause of her looking like that. But he doesn't like it any. It leaves a horrible, painful pit in his stomach. He doesn't need their empathetic bond to know that this is bad.

And he doesn't need two guesses to figure out who this is about, either. Goddamnit.

He doesn't answer her video. He doesn't even entertain answering her video. Instead, he heads over to her room, giving the door a quiet knock before stepping inside. Turns out seeing her look so crushed in person doesn't make this any easier. He has his own pain for Cass vanishing, of course, but his is more...subdued. Not out of a lack of remorse for Cass just...out of habit. He's done this song and dance more times than he can actually count anymore. He can process his own... everything about this later. For now, he wants his focus to be on Rapunzel. ]

Hey.

[Great start, fantastic start. He closes the door behind him, crossing the room to sit down beside her. Despite never being the most tactile person on the planet, he doesn't hesitate to put an arm around her know, offering whatever comfort he can provide. ]

I'm sorry, Rapunzel.

[That she's lost Cass again, that he can't provide her any answers for the questions she has. That she's now left feeling like this when she could be home and have some degree of happiness. ]

[prodigalhairess]

[Hugs are good. Most of the time, the best thing to help get Rapunzel out of a funk is a good hug. It's why now is so telling, just how upset she is, that all she can do is slump to the side into Varian's hug. She doesn't even bother to return it, just... sink into it.]

... I feel like I failed, Varian.

[It's almost a shock to herself, that she admits that. Rapunzel never gives up, never entertains the idea of it, but this... this is so different from anything else they've been through. How can she fight this? Jump into the ocean and try to find the squid Cass has become again?]

I tried to do so much for her, and she was still taken away. Just like that.

Video | un: Pierrot

[violetlies]

[He won't lie. Being a newer arrival and seeing the recent stream of posts popping up on the network of people having lost people...important people, at that...it's unnerving. Kokichi pauses, before adjusting his black hat - a new nervous tic of his, and answering.]

We don't know.

[He's not going to lie about that. That would be putting false expectations into something he knows nothing about. For the sake of someone's comfort, but it just doesn't strike him as entirely in his place to say.]

...We can hope, though. That's all that's a certainty is to keep hope alive. Keep moving forward and keep believing. That's what they'd want us to do. And maybe someday they'll even come back to tell us themselves.

[He doesn't know Rapunzel that well, having only just met her in the jungle, but...this is definitely striking.]

If you need or want any help, or...anything, I'll...be here. You helped me not too long ago, after all.

[prodigalhairess]

[Honestly, that's one of the reasons Rapunzel hesitated to let this video go through. She doesn't like furthering the spread of sad, depressing thoughts. She fights hard against that every day, and does her best to help people pull themselves out of those dark places.

It's just... hard. When she loses someone as important to her as Cassandra. And she has so many worries that she has to find an answer to some of them, at least, or else it's gonna eat her alive.]

Thanks. I really appreciate it. [They're not just an empty response to his offer. She's genuinely happy that there are people who are trying to help.] I do want to keep moving, and I will. I'm just... worried about my friend.

[She doesn't want to air out all of Cass's dirty laundry on the network, so she can't really explain why she's worried. It's not fair to her, even if Cass isn't here.]

Video | un: rrrRUFF

[mactirebeag]

[Oh, no. This video is already reminding Mebh of when Robyn suddenly disappeared and she'd followed her scent to the beach. While her memory of that doesn't feel as raw as when it happened, it still stings.]

...I dunno. But I don't see why anyone would want to be one of those squids after you have to do it once.

[Being a wolf is better, in her opinion. And she thought Robyn shared that opinion with her, until she'd gone into the ocean herself.]

[prodigalhairess]

Being something totally different can be kind of fun. I can understand that curiosity.

[She did, after all, choose to be turned into a bird willingly. That was fun - up until the bird's mind started overriding her own. And the people who turned her into a bird wanted to keep her and her friends caged forever. That was bad.]

But... do the people who go back like that really want to?

@Samsa ; Video

[anthropophagite]

I think... they become what they were before. As squids I mean.

We didn't feel happy but we weren't in pain either.

[prodigalhairess]

[Hm. That's... not reassuring.]

So they don't feel anything? That's... almost worse.

Text; UN: Cuddlebunny

[lightthedarkness]

[Usagi is really NOT in any mental state to be talking or consoling people, but Rapunzel is hurting and well, she LIKES Rapunzel even if they're not all that terribly close. She doesn't want to see the other girl suffer or be hurt.]

To be honest, I like to think they somehow make their way back home if that's what they wanted. I know what they *say* about being here and going back to being a squid is... it. But, we found our way here, why couldn't we find our way back home?

So maybe some people stay a squid, but some people go home.

[prodigalhairess]

[That's.... a conflicting response, and it shows in the way Rapunzel's brow furrows and the corners of her mouth tug into a frown. It's a nice thought in general - knowing that she'll still be able to see Corona again someday, that she'll be reunited with Eugene and her parents and all their other friends. If this had been any other situation, it would have been an immensely comforting thought.

But Cass... Cass didn't have that to look forward to. She knows, thanks to Varian, that things eventually work out back home, but what about Cass, who's going home from where she was taken, not where Varian was taken? She'd be going back right into Zhan Tiri's clutches, she'd be alone and suffering again...]

But what if someone who doesn't know what they want disappears? What do you think happens to them?

audio; un: doublehedgedsword

[laminae]

[Oh. Ohhh no, those are some ominous questions. Fern can catch on pretty fast why Rapunzel is asking these questions - it's clear from how defeated she is. He futilely tries to remember if he's seen Cass around in the last few days, but nothing, not even a glimpse, is coming to mind.

He hesitates, sending her a message via omni rather than going straight to her room. For all he knows she might want some time alone or something, and he doesn't want to crowd her.]

Dunno if I can answer any of that. Um, are you okay?

[prodigalhairess]

[When someone asks if she's okay, it's always Rapunzel's first response to just brush them off and say that she's fine. The last thing she wants is to worry anyone, after all. But she's not stupid - she's been in Trench long enough to piece things together, knowing that trying to hide and suppress the things eating away at you can fester a whole lot worse than it would anywhere else.]

... I don't know.

[She doesn't want to immediately dump it all on him. So for now, she just sighs, a slow and long breath through her nose.]

Cass is gone.

Text | un: Alcaid

[ghostharasser]

[He was going to scroll past this post, at first. It’s not that he isn’t sympathetic. He actually super gets it, but his own loss was still pretty new and he still felt particularly tender about it.]

[Her question gives him enough pause to realize he might be able to help. He also knows if he were looking for answers and someone didn’t spill something this important, he’d go apeshit.]

So …before my uncle went back to the sea, my whole family did a blood pact. The familial one, obviously.

I can feel him out there, still, even though we’re so far away, and he’s a squid. It’s not something I can feel super strongly, but it’s there if I focus on it, and I know he’s doing okay.

I can’t speak for your friend, but maybe it’s the same for them.

[prodigalhairess]

... You can still feel it?

[That's. Oh. A spark of light flashes in Rapunzel's eyes; hope, piercing through that sad, defeated cloud.]

I hadn't- I... didn't want to try to feel it. In case it was really gone. [She wouldn't be able to take that sort of heartbreak.] Do you... think it works the same for everyone?

Video UN: glyphywitchy

[imaglyphwitch]

[Luz doesn't know what to say. She was hit first with Stan, which was already bad, but then came Asami, who Luz knew was super important to Korra, and that had been bad enough. Seeing Rapunzel the way she was, Luz could put two and two together. Varian, after all, was still here, and she gleamed how important Cassandra was to their group. She'd talked to the girl a few times and had found her cool, but Cass was clearly not one for opening up so easily. It just stunk now, that people were going faster than she could get to try and deal with.

But she wanted to say something. Rapuzel, after all, was just as much a beacon of light in their house as anyone, and she wanted to try and be reassuring].

I think squids are blissful in their existence. They don't have the pressures we do, they don't have to try and justify their existence. They just ARE, and they will continue to swim on and on. That's their own special happiness.

It doesn't mean we don't get to miss them.

anonymous text

[eudaimonikos]

[Aw...this is pretty sad to look at. Michael would never put his name to this, but maybe he's got a few things to say about one of these topics.]

You can think and feel just fine as a squid.
You can even be fine with being a squid, if you don't know any better.

[prodigalhairess]

[Aww, why hide your words? You're trying to be helpful, person, and Rapunzel appreciates it.]

But they're all alone in the ocean, right? What if... being alone is bad for that person? It would just make them even more miserable...

voice: un: buttman

[shiro2hero]

[We're so sorry about the username, Rapunzel. It's a prank, really.]

They do.

[The least he can do is confirm that much. Personal experience says it's true. But it's not a lot.]

Someone I was very close to came to me, when he was... returning. He wanted to say goodbye. To tell me where he was going.

I'm sorry. I can't answer the rest of your questions. I wish I could. But they're still there. And - I hope they're happy.

[prodigalhairess]

[It's okay. She's so caught up in everything else that she doesn't really notice it; maybe when she's feeling better she'll laugh, but, y'know. It doesn't make anything weird.]

... Wait, so some people know they're... leaving? Enough that they can say goodbye?

[That... it's hard to say it helps. Because it just throws another flurry of questions through Rapunzel's head; did Cass know she was returning to the sea? How long did she know?

... Did she... not want to say goodbye to Rapunzel?]

Do they all know it's going to happen?

[schoolingfish]

I...

[He even lives in the same house as her, and he's never seen her like this. He knows someone must have disappeared, and it must have been someone important to her.]

I don't know the answer to that, but I spend a lot of time in the ocean. Maybe...if you know what their squid looks like I can keep an eye out for them. Maybe try to get a video so you can see and we can try and figure out if they look happy.

[How do you even tell if a squid is happy?]

[prodigalhairess]

[Luca you are too good for this world. That suggestion actually makes her perk up a little, a spark of hope in her eyes.]

oh, I didn't see her as a squid when we first showed up here, but... hm. [She reaches to the side, journal never far away, and begins flipping through the pages until she stops on one in particular.] It might look something like this? All black with blue lines like that.

video; un: liontamer

[chickenchoicejudy]

[Ryan doesn't know her from a hole in the wall, but she looks pretty bummed and he has some relevant information that might help.]

They're still them. They might have more of a squid brain? But they're still them.

[He's certain of that, and firm about it.]

I know someone who went back to the ocean like, almost as soon as he washed ashore? He stayed there for another week because he needed more time to process everything, and then he came back. And actually, he did it again when he had a concussion? I think it just-- it happens when he gets too stressed out. But he's still him.

[prodigalhairess]

[Rapunzel can understand that. She may vastly prefer to be around others when she's feeling stressed or upset, but she's been friends with Cass long enough to understand that some people just need space. But this feels... different.]

Was he okay in the ocean? Like... he wasn't in any danger, was he? And he felt fine when he was a squid?

text; un: trashmouth

[measuringdicks]

yeah
I think so
it's better than them going home, sometimes.
maybe there are people who do go home idk that's how it worked before
maybe they get a choice

[If so, that doesn't really make Richie feel any better about Eddie, but it's better than the cold thought that he might've gone back to Derry. As for this girl, though...he knows this grief, and he knows it too well.]

if they picked the squid option then trust me they're much happier
but you still feel all fucked up and shitty about it

[prodigalhairess]

That's what I'm worried about.
The "it's better than them going home" thing.
Home's not really that bad in general, but...
What's been going on with my friend isn't very nice.
I'm worried she's back in that bad place.

Being a squid is better, definitely, but I still hope she can feel good as a squid.
She deserves to feel good.

video | un: furuderika

[miiraculous]

I believe... It is possible to be happy in such a scenario, yes.

Happiness has many sides to it. If you treat it like a one dimensional object, then it is possible to be happy with just that. But if they've seen the other sides of happiness, then it may be harder.

[prodigalhairess]

[The other side of happiness...]

I don't think - no, I know my friend wasn't very happy when she was here. I tried to help her, and I think it worked sometimes, but other times... I knew she wasn't feeling good.

I just don't want her to be stuck not feeling good, y'know?

voice: lys.skvgrd

[pawper]

[The lack of sunlight has already had a negative effect on her mood, leaving her with a restlessness that won't fade and a gnawing desperation for a distraction from the sight of a full moon in an unchanging black sky. Hence, bothering with the "network" instead of once again trying and failing to meditate by candlelight.]

...are you talking about someone specific?

[prodigalhairess]

... Yeah.

[There's really no hiding it. She doesn't want to hide it; even though she often downplays her feelings so others won't worry, there's no way to hide this.]

My... my best friend, Cassandra. She showed up here the same time I did, and now she's just... gone.