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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Oct 4, 2021 15:27:04 GMT -5
Kelsier | Power Swap Room | striderIf a fall could have ruined Kelsier’s pride, it would have done so a long time ago. It hadn’t been his most graceful moment, true, but…he’d had worse. And he really hadn’t expected not to have any momentum after moving that fast, anyway. He hadn’t even thought to wonder if shadow travel worked the same way pewter did, but clearly, it very much didn’t. “Were they?” He asked, taking Nico’s hand and pushing himself up. He didn’t technically need it, but he knew Nico didn’t offer physical contact lightly. He wasn’t going to turn down an offer the boy had made independently. He adjusted the mistcloak back into place as he listened, nodding a little. It made sense. And he didn’t regret the attempt, even if it had backfired a little bit more than he’d anticipated. “In my defense, that’s the one you use most often,” he told him, smiling a little. “Can you blame me if it’s the one I wanted to try the most? Damn…do you always feel this tired afterwards?” That was a good enough answer to Nico’s next question. He shook his head a little, then glanced up, interested as Nico continued. “Dreams?” He repeated, his tone curious. “How so?” |
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Oct 4, 2021 23:36:55 GMT -5
As much as Nico wanted to learn more about what it meant to be Mistborn, he knew the kind of exhaustion Kelsier must be feeling. Nico felt it every time he shadow travelled. He took in a breath, deciding that making sure Kelsier was okay was more of the priority at the moment. He could learn more about Allomancy once Kelsier had gotten a chance to rest a little bit. “It’s the most practical,” Nico replied with a small shrug. “Teleportation can do a lot of things in a lot of situations. Raising the dead can only do one thing, and it’s not always the most helpful. I guess… my powers are a little bit less… good for general use than yours are. Yours are good for more than just fighting. Mine… they have other purposes, sure, but most of the time they’re most useful when there’s an enemy to take down.” He didn’t seem too bothered by that. There was always another enemy to take down. “But… yes. I passed out for almost a week the first time I tried it. You’re already doing better than me. But… you should still probably try to sleep it off, if only for a little bit. And I can show you my other power. When you fall asleep… think about me. Think about what it would be like to appear in my dream.” |
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Oct 5, 2021 17:16:31 GMT -5
L didn’t usually think to try and spend time with people. He was much more likely to get absorbed in a case, and never speak to anyone unless he needed information they had. He didn’t mean to treat people as tools, but oftentimes…he supposed that was what he ended up doing. That was what came of not having friends. Especially in a job where he actually did need people, often enough. He had never needed to be liked. He had never needed friends, or anyone he interacted with outside work. Which meant…now that he had a friend, a very real friend…he found he hadn’t really understood what it would be like, before. He had never thought he’d have anything to talk about if he didn’t talk about his cases, but he’d never been lost for words around Orpheus. He’d caught himself rambling to them more than once, in fact. He glanced sideways at them, thinking that over. He did want to learn Greek, even if he wouldn’t be able to actually hold a conversation with anyone in it…he doubted he could find anyone in his world who spoke Ancient Greek. Or, no, that wasn’t true, but he doubted they would appreciate being contacted just to speak it. “It’s pretty similar to a spoken language in a lot of ways,” he explained, lifting his hands again. He began to sign the alphabet, moving fairly quickly since he wasn’t directly trying to teach it at the moment. “It does have its own quirks, but so do all languages. It tends to be extremely blunt, for one thing. Facial expressions are also important, its version of tone, basically. Saying the same thing with different expressions can have opposite meanings.” |
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Oct 5, 2021 18:07:35 GMT -5
Kelsier | Power Swap Room | strider“Makes sense. That’s probably why you beat me in our spar. You’re a little more used to not having powers to constantly use to your advantage,” Kelsier replied, fighting off the exhaustion pulling at his mind and body alike. He was good at that. It was less about ignoring it and more about observing and accepting it, most of the time…not letting it have the power it seemed to demand. It was just like pain in that way. You could always deal with more than you thought you could. He was about to protest that he was perfectly fine and didn’t need to sleep, but he hesitated at the mention of the dreams. “Can I appear in your dreams if you’re not asleep?” He asked, one eyebrow lifting a little as he looked at Nico. “Or are we both going to nap in this lovely, Mistborn-power-friendly room the House has gifted us with?” Not that he didn’t want a chance to try the powers. He did. But it wouldn’t do to bore the House and blink out before Nico had so much as Pushed on a coin. |
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Oct 6, 2021 3:42:42 GMT -5
Orpheus watched L’s hands, eyes wide as they went into a flurry of signs. It was slow enough for them to see each individual sign, but not slow enough that they could have replicated them. It was all the more confusing because of the difference in the Greek and English alphabet. L had done more signs than letters Orpheus knew of, and the House didn’t seem to know how to translate it in a way that Orpheus would understand. Which meant that this could probably take a while. They didn’t think they minded, though. It was learning a whole new language, a whole new way to communicate. Of course it was going to take a while. Was it possible to play while using sign language? Not the guitar, of course, but if they managed to get their hands on an instrument that required only one hand to play… they shook their head of the thought, instead focusing on L and the signs he was making with his hands. “It sounds… complicated,” they admitted, a bit of color moving to their cheeks. “I… still want to try to learn it, but… I don’t know how good I’ll be. I think I’d like to figure that out, though.” Orpheus grinned, then let their smile fade into something softer and somehow more genuine than it had been before. “I suppose I’ve finally found a good use for the fact that I’m very bad at hiding my facial expressions and emotions,” they joked lightly. “I’m… grateful that you’re here, by the way. That you’re willing to teach me, even though that takes time and energy you might want to spend doing other things here.” |
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Oct 6, 2021 3:47:37 GMT -5
“Or maybe I’m just better at fighting than you are,” Nico retorted, a tiny smile coming to his features. He knew he hadn’t exactly won that fight fair and square – he wanted a rematch. A way to prove that he really was the superior fighter, with or without powers. Although he had to admit that Kelsier was right. He was used to having to fight without his powers because they either weren’t useful or took too much out of him to do much good in some situations. Which meant there were a great number of fights he’d won without using any powers at all. Some demigods didn’t have powers. They all had to learn how to fight without relying too heavily on them in case of an emergency. Nico looked around wistfully – he had to admit that he wanted to learn more Allomancy, and if the House decided they were boring, then it would blink them both out. Nico might never get another chance to learn Allomancy. Still, he knew what shadow travel took out of a person. “The House can see inside our heads. We’re still staying in the spirit of the room, we’re both just… going to sleep for a bit.” |
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Pansexual
Cloverleaf
For certain as our banner flies, we are not alone. The people too must rise.
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Post by Cloverleaf on Oct 7, 2021 13:49:10 GMT -5
| Loki | Hourglass Room | Loki blinked into the House, thrown forwards as the ground under their feet shifted. They pushed themself back, scrabbling out of the dip of sand they'd found themself in. They crawled upwards away from the center, only to find themself touching a smooth piece of rounded glass. The sand near the edges wasn't so steep, and they stood, scowling as they brushed sand off their clothes. They looked around, taking in the situation. It was the House of course, and a room of some sort. They appeared to be in an hourglass. Looking through the glass, they could see a distorted view of the rest of the room- it looked similar to the living room or hallway, with the same carpet and walls. Like it was the kind of room you expected to see when you opened one of the doors. |
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Post by ~∂єѕтιиу on Oct 7, 2021 15:43:49 GMT -5
Hook - Hourglass Room
Hook blinked in beside the god, similarly ill prepared for the sudden change of terrain. He staggered as his boots sank into the deep sand, though he was able to catch his balance with remarkable ease before his struggles could make for much of an entertaining scene. “Damn,” he muttered under his breath, looking around in a flustered daze as his eyes strained to focus on the rapid change of light.
With a keen analysis of his surroundings, he came to the same conclusion as Loki quickly enough. There was a faint divot in the sand at the very center of the circular room - indicating what he could only assume was the gradual displacement of sand. He glanced back to Loki, long enough so that it couldn’t be mistaken that he’d seen them; though the pirate said nothing to acknowledge them.
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Pansexual
Cloverleaf
For certain as our banner flies, we are not alone. The people too must rise.
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Post by Cloverleaf on Oct 7, 2021 15:57:36 GMT -5
Loki | Hourglass Room | Hook | They pressed a hand against the glass experimentally. It seemed thick and sturdy, but they wondered if they could break it and get out. The divot of sand in the middle was a clear statement of time running out, and Loki sensed that the House expected them to heed its warning. The glass was about half full, with the line of sand resting at about where the hourglass was widest. A door, similar to the ones seen in the hallway, was in the room outside of the glass. They saw Hook's gaze and tilted their head slightly, their gaze curious but haughty as they took in the sight of the other blinker. |
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Post by ~∂єѕтιиу on Oct 7, 2021 16:10:50 GMT -5
Hook | Hourglass Room
Content to stay quiet, the Captain trudged up to the glass so he could see the outside for himself. The drop was sizable, potentially deadly even with a pillow of sand to fall on. One way another, however, the House clearly wanted them to get from inside this thing to outside. The question was if they were meant to beat the timer or to just wait on it.
He scratched at his chin, still squinting in the bright light as his gaze was focused on the door. He looked up, taking a few casual paces backwards as he did so, then shrugged and reached into his jacket for his flask. They had some time to figure it out.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Oct 8, 2021 18:30:26 GMT -5
The translator was probably going to be at least somewhat helpful, here. Maybe not for the alphabet, but for the other signs…it would probably be translated accurately enough. Of course, being able to understand a language and being able to speak it were two different things, especially when the House was involved, so this was probably going to take some time to pull off, but it was time they had, and L didn’t think either of them were likely to stop blinking in anytime soon. Besides, he wasn’t lying about wanting to be able to use it again. It was closer to him than he was willing to admit, most of the time…not something many people knew about him. Languages, it seemed, were important. He was also better at getting his thoughts across in it. He wasn’t sure the difference would be noticeable, especially while the signs were still being translated, but it was there. He let his hands lower a little. It was easy to start going too fast, sometimes. He suspected his hands kept up with his brain better than his tongue did. “It’s a bit selfish of me, actually,” he replied, adjusting the cover around his shoulders a little more. “There aren’t many people who even know I know it. And even if they somehow found out, there would be no need to use it, most of the time…it’s not as though people usually see me when they’re communicating with me. So…thank you. For indulging me, even though it’s not a skill that’s going to be very useful to you.” |
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Oct 8, 2021 18:50:34 GMT -5
Mare glanced over, looking at Nico as he explained it. He was right…using the bone wasn’t going to hurt the person. She didn’t know what sort of afterlife might exist. She had no idea, but…well, if there really was one somewhere, that was a good sign, right? She still didn’t entirely understand how different worlds worked. Could they be connected? Could her afterlife and Nico’s be one and the same? She smiled a little. It was a smaller one than most of Kelsier’s, a quiet, less rebellious version of the expression. Where Kelsier smiled to prove he wasn’t defeated, to prove there were things that couldn’t be taken from them, Mare seemed to smile for herself. Or maybe she just wasn’t used to anyone else paying attention to her enough to see it. She did think using the bone for this was better than just abandoning it to turn into more dust. If it were her bone, she would be more than happy to let someone draw flowers with it. She just hoped this person would have felt the same. She began to copy the flower, making a more clear version of it with the bone. “That makes sense,” she replied, nodding a little. “That she can do things, I mean.” She did notice the term stepmother. She didn’t pry, but it was interesting to think of the gods having relationships like that. The next words made her pause. She sat back, looking at Nico, her expression a bit puzzled for a moment before she understood and looked away. “Yeah…people have all sorts of ideas about who you can and can’t be,” she mused. Then she looked up, giving Nico a smile edged with just a bit of mischief. “Glad to know I’m breaking rules no matter where I go.” |
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Oct 8, 2021 19:02:54 GMT -5
Fire Nation. Fire flakes. Zuko’s very warm colored clothes. Even his eyes were a sort of yellow amber color. Sal couldn’t help but notice a theme. Was that common in the House? He had no idea why it would be, but he also had no idea why he was there, so he wasn’t going to complain. And Zuko seemed alright. As long as he didn’t start breathing fire, it could be a coincidence. Right? The flakes were good, though. Zuko himself had picked some pff his armor, so Sal wasn’t thinking about it too much, but they were a very good sort of spicy. He looked up, waiting for the room to respond to the request. It didn’t take long for a sheet of white printer paper to flip over and float gently downward, until it came close enough for Sal to snatch it. He looked at it for a moment, then turned it over for Zuko to see. On it was a lopsided square, with a couple other lopsided squares inside it, and two stick figures, one of which had two blue lines sticking out from its head and scribbles on its face, and the other had spiky black hair and a shaded part over its left eye. Overhead, in clumsy lowercase letters, was written “you are here” with an arrow pointing vaguely in the main box’s direction. |
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Oct 8, 2021 19:13:29 GMT -5
Kelsier | Power Swap Room | striderKelsier had learned to fight around the fact of his Mistborn status. He had been a thief before he’d Snapped, but…his dealings had been mostly in deception. He had rarely actually fought anyone head on. By the time anyone realized what was happening, he was long gone, and so were their riches. He had learned to fight because he’d Snapped. He needed his powers…he wasn’t utterly defenseless without them, but he was close. Which meant, he really didn’t like it when the House took it upon itself to remove them. He’d allow it this time. Nico would get to feel them. That was worth it. He watched the kid for a long moment. He had a point. They weren’t sleeping in the way they normally did. Besides…the weight of this offer wasn’t lost on him. Nico, who had nightmares more often than he didn’t, was suggesting Kelsier, who currently had the power to control dreams, enter his head while he slept. Insisting, even. “Fair enough “ he agreed, lying back and closing his eyes. “You’ll have to tell me what to do, though. Since going rogue went so well for me last time.” |
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Oct 9, 2021 16:53:27 GMT -5
If anyone understood the importance of language, it was Orpheus. They had been attempting to express themselves in language for as long as they could remember. Language defined every ounce of their being – they were a musician, but they were better at the poetry side of it than they were at the composition side of it. Their lyrics were what they used to touch people’s hearts, and if their lyrics couldn’t be understood… then maybe the core of the song would still come across in the melodies, but the listener wouldn’t understand all the nuance and intricacies that really told the story. They knew what it meant to be able to speak to people in a language they understood. They had spent a long time thinking about what it meant that the House took their words and translated them. How much of their meaning had been lost as the House decided how best to phrase what they were saying? How many idioms had they used that had been mistranslated into something L might understand better, but that didn’t have the same exact meaning? There was something important about learning a language that was important to L, even if they had to rely on the House translator in order to do it. The communication would be more direct. It would mean something. “Ah,” Orpheus replied quietly, crossing their arms as though they didn’t believe a word L was saying. “I’m not indulging you. Perhaps I’m being rather selfish, too. I want to know more about you. I want to experience the things that you enjoy, and I count myself as lucky to be among the few you’re comfortable sharing yourself with.” |
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Oct 9, 2021 19:25:12 GMT -5
There were some things that couldn’t quite be translated. Concepts that couldn’t be expressed just right, concepts that didn’t have a direct translation in the first place…the House did a fairly good job. There were few to no obvious mistranslations, at least that L had experienced. He didn’t know exactly what languages a lot of the people around him were speaking, true. Maybe he should start making a point of asking when he met new people. It would be an interesting thing to catalogue. Of course, there was also the possibility that they were having completely different conversations, and the House was merely translating the words wrong. Would it have found that entertaining, to watch two people conversing without getting a word of what the other intended? He highly doubted it. Maybe once or twice, it would toy with that concept, but not more than that. It would miss the entire purpose he was beginning to suspect the House had. Relationships…it seemed to thrive on how they interacted with each other, no matter how that might end up being. He blinked in with people he liked and people he didn’t, but it was rare that he blinked in with anyone he had no desire to talk to, and if he ever did, he almost never saw them again afterwards. Plus, it always put more than one person in rooms, as far as L could tell. If it were interested in merely testing them, why not do single person rooms? He tilted his head at Orpheus as they replied. The poet was, perhaps, the best indication of this. He had blinked in around them many more times than he had anyone else since he’d met them, and they were also someone he trusted, a rare occurrence from him, even from people he’d known a lot longer. And also, their tone when they replied was interesting. “I don’t think that can really be a selfish motivation…” he mused, quirking an eyebrow at them, his expression almost amused. “I believe finding joy in other people’s joy is the definition of selflessness. It is of course impossible to be completely selfless. If someone didn’t like making others happy, they wouldn’t do it.” |
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Oct 9, 2021 20:34:30 GMT -5
Nico noticed the similarity to Kelsier’s smile. It was entirely possible that his smile had been different before he had met Mare. It was entirely possible that she had taught him how to smile the way he normally did. It wasn’t just possible, Nico found, it was likely. Or maybe they had just influenced each other. Still, Nico found it hard to believe that Kelsier’s smile had been the same before Hathsin. It had likely changed with everything else about the Mistborn. Snapping did something to a person. Not only did it give them powers, but he had a feeling it also changed who they were at their very foundation. Snapping only happened when you experienced something terrible, and those kinds of events tended to change you anyway. “Kelsier thought my world was a better place than Scadrial. And… in a lot of ways, it is. There are things that are a lot easier to do in my world. People are seen more equally, and there’s nothing like Hathsin that I know of. But… he was disappointed to find out that there are divisions based on things like gender and who you love. I don’t think there’s any world that’s perfect. I think… I wish there was. We can keep trying to make every world better for the people that live in it, but there are always going to be people that stand against that, and… I wish I knew why. I wish I could believe that there was one world out there where nothing like this ever happened. Where everyone is equal and happy and nobody is seen as illegal or wrong just because of who they were born as. But maybe humans just aren’t like that.” He gave a quiet sigh, watching as Mare continued to draw the flower. “The petals are a little bit more ruffled than that,” he commented, letting his voice drop to something quieter and more subdued. |
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Oct 9, 2021 21:11:48 GMT -5
Mare didn’t know Kelsier had Snapped. Maybe she should have figured it out…how else could he have escaped this place? How else could he have left it in one piece? But it had never occurred to her that someone could Snap in Hathsin before, and it didn’t occur to her now. Whatever he had done to escape, she thought it had probably had a lot to do with luck. She listened to him talk, the bone drawing the petals further and further from the center. She didn’t know if it looked the way it was meant to, but something about the pattern was soothing…maybe, she mused, it was just that it wasn’t allowed. The fact that there was more than one type of flower, that they could be different colors, that perhaps they even felt different to the touch… It was a wonder to her that anyone could live in a world with flowers without wanting to learn their names, where they grew best, what made them brightest…It was the same sort of wonder a starving person might have felt at watching someone turn down food. She cocked her head at him, looking up again. “I don’t know about that,” she replied after a moment, adjusting her petals as she spoke. She didn’t know exactly what the ruffles were meant to look like, but she did see his point. Her drawing resembled his more when she tried it. “I just think…it’s a little like saying food just doesn’t taste good because you hate this one kind of soup. Or weather just isn’t pleasant because you don’t like wind. If you love bread, or rain, then it’s not quite true.” Her lips curved slightly up. “Unless you’ve never met anyone you liked.” |
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Oct 9, 2021 22:17:21 GMT -5
Zuko had learned long before that the way his world worked wasn’t very common in the House. There weren’t many people who lived in color-coded nations or who had powers that seemed to work with their home’s central ideologies. The more Zuko spent time with people, the stranger he thought it was. He didn’t know if he thought it was stranger that more people didn’t live like he did, or that the Fire Nation worked as it did. Perhaps it was just about access to resources. If the Fire Nation were to expand even further into the Earth Kingdom, they would probably end up having access to some of the dyes that created those brilliant green clothes. If they managed to breach the Northern Water Tribe, they might find the secret to making blue dyes. As it was, the only readily accessible plants were the ones that colored their clothes the way they were. There were reasons behind the color coding, and not all of them were aesthetic. “Helpful,” Zuko commented, picking up the ‘map’ and turning it over in his hands. It seemed like a children’s drawing. “Is it… a detailed map of the entire House, to-scale and with accurate and detailed depictions of each room?” He didn’t know if more specificity would help, but… he figured he might as well try. It had worked out well enough for Sal, hadn’t it? |
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Oct 10, 2021 0:01:58 GMT -5
Nico looked around, making sure there wasn’t anything they were missing before he turned his attention back towards Kelsier. The House didn’t seem inclined to stop them from sleeping. If it didn’t like the idea, he had a feeling it already would have done something to stop them. He took in a deep breath, then gave a sharp nod. He would let Kelsier go to sleep first, but he figured it would probably be helpful for them to both get comfortable. Although… the room hadn’t exactly been designed with comfort in mind. It had been designed for training, not for sleeping. It was a rather large gesture, but Nico hadn’t originally thought of it that way. It was a way for Kelsier to get the rest he needed and still use Nico’s powers. The fact that going to sleep would invite nightmares was an afterthought. He trusted Kelsier, though. If anyone could chase them away, it was Kelsier. “It’s not that hard,” he said after a moment, settling on the ground and shrugging his jacket off so he could use it as a pillow. He glanced over at Kelsier, giving what he hoped came across as a reassuring smile. “You just have to thinka bout where you want to go as you fall asleep. I’ll be right behind you, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find my dreams.” |
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Oct 10, 2021 18:59:01 GMT -5
“You could be a philosopher,” Orpheus commented, a small smile pressing at their lips. They didn’t truly know if their motivation for wanting to learn was selfish or not, but… they wanted to get to know L better. They wanted to be able to share in something that was important to him, even if they had never heard of it before. If it was important to L, then it must truly be important. Or maybe their thoughts were slightly biased because L was a friend. Maybe the things L thought were important weren’t universally important, but they were at least important to Orpheus. They shook the thought away, choosing to ground themself in the room instead of letting themself be carried away by their thought. “I wonder,” Orpheus murmured, glancing down at L’s hands, “how poetry is made in sign language.” They considered that for a moment before looking up at L. “I mean… I understand that song is probably out of the question, but every language has poetry. Poetry is part of the human condition, there’s no chance that humans exist for any period of time without inventing poetry that best suits their language. That’s why poetry is different depending on the language. Sometimes it’s flowery and soft, like a melody, and other times it’s hard and sharp and… well, it all depends on the language. But if you can’t play around with the sound of it as you can with spoken words, is poetry in the form of the words? Is it… is it more like choreography?” Perhaps they shouldn’t have delved immediately into questions of poetry, but it was at the forefront of their mind. They wanted to learn enough to be able to create poetry. To appreciate the beauty of the language that L called his mother tongue. “Sorry,” they mumbled, cheeks turning red as they realized that they were asking questions that L might not be able to answer. L didn’t think about poetry nearly as much as they did, so it was possible he never learned how to write poetry for sign language. And… technically, poetry that worked in any other language would work in sign language, it would just be… different. |
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Oct 10, 2021 19:12:03 GMT -5
Nico listened to Mare’s words, then gave a small nod. He could see what she was saying. She was far kinder than Kelsier had ever described her as. Not because Kelsier had described her as unkind, but because it would have been hard to capture Mare’s flavor of kindness in words. She filled out all of Kelsier’s sharp edges, while somehow managing to magnify them at the same time. She was fierce and stubborn and kind and so different from anything Nico had expected. He hadn’t ever expected to be able to meet her, so it was a pleasant surprise to see her now, in front of him and real in a way he wasn’t used to. He didn’t have his powers to tell if she was a House person, but he didn’t think she was. She seemed too realistic for that. Kelsier would be able to tell, though, so… he just had to keep her alive long enough for Kelsier to be able to tell him if this really was Mare. “I’ve met plenty of people that I like,” he murmured after a moment, giving a small shake of his head. “But… I guess you’re not talking about me. I wish there were a way for the people in charge to see that everyone is worth something.” He knew it was naïve and idealistic, but… deep down, Nico di Angelo still believed that human beings had intrinsic worth. He believed that they were good, at heart. He had done so many things wrong. He had made so many mistakes, and maybe his goodness was hidden deeper down than other people’s, but… he wanted to believe in a world where everyone treated each other with kindness. That was the sort of world he was willing to fight for. “Your world might be more like that, someday,” he added, breathing out. “I believe in the dream Kelsier has for it.” |
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Oct 10, 2021 19:25:36 GMT -5
Mare couldn’t help being reminded of Kelsier when she looked at Nico. They didn’t look anything like each other, really. Not physically, anyway. But she could see the ways they were similar. She could see the unending stubbornness, stubbornness she shared, but in a different way than either of them did. She never gave up on solving s problem, but she was willing to rule out options for how to do it. Kel never had been. She knew that some things just couldn’t be done, so she tried to find ways to do what she could. Kel had never accepted the premise in the first place. And somehow…she thought Nico was similar in that way. He wasn’t willing to accept things, just because they were impossible to change. It was one thing that had drawn her to Kelsier, she knew…she and Marsh had always shared the more practical view of things. It would have made them closer if it wasn’t a quality they both disliked about themselves. Not the Marsh would have admitted that. She looked down at the flower, and briefly considered whether more petals would improve or ruin it. After a moment, she lowered the bone and looked at Nico again. “Dream?” She asked quietly, watching him. “Kelsier has a dream for the world, when you know him?” |
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Oct 10, 2021 19:37:34 GMT -5
Nico glanced at the drawing of the flower, giving a small nod of approval before he reached out with his own bone to begin drawing another flower. He was halfway done with the stem when he heard Mare’s words. It was hard to imagine a Kelsier who didn’t have a distinct plan for what the world should look like. It was hard to imagine a Kelsier who wasn’t adamant that he was going to take down the Lord Ruler once and for all. But… was it possible that Kelsier hadn’t had those goals when he had known Mare? The Kelsier Nico knew wasn’t selfish, except in that he was doing a lot of this to avenge Mare. That might have been a selfish reason, but it wasn’t a selfish goal. A Kelsier with a self-serving goal wasn’t a possibility Nico had stopped to consider. “Yes,” Nico answered carefully, unsure exactly how much to say. “He does. Well… a dream makes it seem like he doesn’t know how he’s going to make it happen. He has a plan, too. Or at least… he has most of a plan.” He didn’t know if he should mention that the plan included killing the Lord Ruler. He had a feeling that would make Mare worry. “Your flower has a lot to do with it,” Nico added, voice low. “I think… the likelihood of there being flowers like that again are pretty low, unless things really change, but… he wants a world where a flower like that isn’t completely unimaginable.” |
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Oct 10, 2021 20:12:44 GMT -5
How much had Kelsier changed since she’d known him? How much of the person she had fallen in love with still existed? She hadn’t thought, before, that he could have changed much since her death…it was difficult to imagine Kel changing, somehow. He had always been the sort of person who was impossible to be influenced, one way or another. That was the arrogance talking. It was hard not to believe in someone who believed in himself that much, especially when his actions matched his words. He swore he would never be caught, he was never caught, you started to believe it was impossible for him to be caught. He had felt like a force of nature in that way…inevitable and unquestionable. She had to remind herself that she had warned him. Deep down, maybe she hadn’t been as sure as she had felt like she was. “But that’s my dream,” she said finally, eyes lowering to the flower she’d drawn. To the one Nico hadn’t finished drawing yet. “Not his. I always used to talk about a world that had flowers in it. I thought there was only one sort of flower, then, so I didn’t imagine that there could be flowers I didn’t recognize, but…I didn’t think he ever really believed in it. It was just something I talked about because I knew he wouldn’t laugh.” |
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Oct 10, 2021 20:40:22 GMT -5
Kelsier blinked in, stopping before he could step into the open air in front of him. He’d been prepared for the weightlessness of falling, and he was simultaneously annoyed that the House couldn’t have waited two seconds for him to hit the ground, and glad that it hadn’t blinked him in while he was falling. He sighed, turning to see the rest of the familiar living room. No one else was there, but he had been the first one of many to blink in more times than he could count, so that didn’t mean anything. He eyed the hall. Tempting, to try doing a room alone, just to see if he could. Though he was no longer aiming to destroy the House, his fingers itched the power to. The knowledge how to, at least. Maybe he just would have liked how leverage felt, in case it decided to try anything. He sighed again, less for himself and more for the House this time. Then he strode towards the hallway. |
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Post by <Raintalon> on Oct 10, 2021 20:49:09 GMT -5
"Both engines are nominal, and the power fluctuations you have been experiencing should be - - woooooooooooooooooah, hoo lld on. Woah."
The voice of Unit 214, or, as she preferred to be called, Hera, echoed through the living room, seeming to be coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once, as if there was an invisible speaker in the room, broadcasting from god knows where - where was she? And why the hell did she sound like that?
"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllo? Hello? He-llo?" She echoed again, testing. "Can anyone - oh. Ohhhhhhhhh, I can see now. That's so much wors - wheerere is this? Oh my god there's a person - um, hello? Can you hear me?"
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Oct 10, 2021 20:49:45 GMT -5
Sal knew little about Zuko, and less about the House’s usual blinkers. He didn’t know how any of this worked, and since it already seemed to defy probability…assuming anything seemed like a bad plan. He sort of hoped this wasn’t a one time thing. It was just absurd enough for him to want to do it again, if only to see if it could keep its own standards. He hadn’t forgotten that Zuko had warned about danger, but as long as it was this level of danger, he was pretty sure he could handle it. He waited, eyes on the ceiling, for the House to respond to Zuko’s request. And sure enough, a larger piece of paper dropped, flipping over itself once, twice, three times before it landed at right side up at Zuko’s feet. It was far more detailed this time. The lines were straight, the rooms were quietly to scale, or at least they didn’t look wrong when attached to the rest of the picture. In face, it seemed to fit perfectly under Zuko’s specifications, right down to the tiny compass in the corner to orient it. On closer inspection, it could also be seen that this was, in fact, a perfect map of Zuko’s former home. |
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Oct 10, 2021 21:48:16 GMT -5
Kelsier turned, one eyebrow cocked as the voice echoed through the room. So the House had decided to throw someone at him after all, had it? Well…he couldn’t say he was surprised. What did surprise him was that he didn’t immediately see who was speaking. He turned again, looking into the hall, but there was no one there, either. It took him a moment to understand why he felt so suddenly disoriented. The voice wasn’t coming from anywhere in particular. Well. That certainly wasn’t what he had expected. He was just a little bit impressed with the House for surprising him. It wasn’t easy to do. Unless… No. That wasn’t possible. If the House ever did deign to speak to a mere mortal such as himself, it wouldn’t have sounded quite so… Well. Like that. “I can hear you,” he replied pleasantly, smiling, though the expression felt odd when it wasn’t aimed in any particular direction. “I can’t see you, though. Where are you?” |
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Post by <Raintalon> on Oct 10, 2021 22:19:20 GMT -5
"Uhh - hhhh, that's...a good question I'm not really...well I'm not completely sure?" She paused for a moment, taking everything in. "My systems all technically seem to be working, but these pathways...it's the same code, but - ug ghgh - everything's moved around. I can see you, though, and hear you, so...hi? Nice to meet you? Probably? Maybe?"
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