video; un: v | cw for creepy dolls i guess?

[mehanizovati]

[the video starts focused on a shelf, and on that shelf is a doll. absolutely the kind that just exudes 'listed on ebay for having the spirit of an angry victorian child in it' vibes with its dead eyes.

when viktor speaks his tone could not be more dry.] Some of you might have noticed the unpleasant dolls that, when ignored instead of bought, come to life violently. This is a matter our household is not entirely aware of because Palamedes continues to gladly buy any unpleasant doll he sets his sights upon.

[offscreen, but not like, very far offscreen (it is not a big living space), palamedes chimes in with a pointed, 'While I respect your aesthetic tastes, you're wrong, they're delightful,' that viktor will pointedly ignore as he continues.]

He will not stop bringing them. Some of them vanish after a week or two. He calls this one Sensible Bethany.

['She calls herself that, actually, I explained this already,' from the peanut gallery. the camera shifts as viktor turns to address him back]

Is this entire place not haunted enough without ugly dolls, I ask again? There is a limit, Palamedes.

[in the unfocused corner of the camera the doll absolutely turns its head to stare directly at the screen.]

Comments

[xiaoxiuya]

Well, it can be useful when one has a lot of people crammed into a small area, and has to coordinate said group as quickly and efficiently as possible, such as when one is trying to organize a battle field. Or an intersect sporting event, if one wants to be less dire and serious for once. That's my understanding, anyway.

[mehanizovati]

Like uniforms? Hm, I suppose there is something to that. I always assumed it was largely a matter of bragging when it came to rich families.

[xiaoxiuya]

Oh, it can absolutely be both! There's hardly ever just one layer of meaning with these things, from what I've seen.

You have to remember though, frequently a "rich family" is not just rich, they may have held actual political power in the past, or are trying to reach that state now. Wearing some kind of visual marker, whether it's an actual uniform or a set of colors or a badge, lets them identify each other and sets them apart from potential rivals. This is also why large businesses and corporations frequently have logos on their vehicles and letterheads, even if they don't go as far as making their employees wear the company brand. It's all about visibility.

[mehanizovati]

Ha, I see you are from a world where this is common. I suppose that does make sense, I admit I have no interest or head for this sort of thing and left the social facade to my business partner in my world. It is all too exhausting to keep up with.

[xiaoxiuya]

Remember how I said I was an educator? The school I worked for -- though it was actually called a sect in that world, I used a word I thought you'd find more familiar to save time explaining -- was divided into twelve divisions, or "peaks." Literal peaks, because the entire sect was headquartered on a mountain. And each peak had their own colors we all had to keep track of. And that's not even going into our rival institutions or the actual nobility, or the wealthy merchant families who wanted to be nobility, or the demon world and their noble families! It was A Lot, but keeping track of it all was part of the job, so I made do.

[Read: he made Luo Binghe memorize them all, and then pretended to "quiz" Binghe whenever he needed a reminder. What, it was good training for his future career as emperor of the world!]

I always did wonder if Cang Qiong Mountain Sect was always intended to be divided into twelve divisions, or if they just did it that way because the mountain had twelve peaks...Nobody else was organized that way, as far as I know. XD

You know, we never did get the chance to have our conversation about your business, did we? I'm sorry for that, I really did want to hear all about it. It concerned magical research, did it not?