@witch — voice

[hext]

My name is Wanda Maximoff. I have met several of you.
I have seen some of you die. Some of you have seen me die, as well.

We are, I think, intimate — if not consensually.

[ she attaches her dimly lit picture, taken near the church. a slow, measured breath, then she continues in her low, but confident voice, angled just so by her Eastern European accent: ]

We are here to survive, and we all know there is strength in numbers.

Trust is not given freely, it is earned, yes — but neither should we make sweeping generalizations about each other's competencies, young or old, when we each come from such unique... and uniquely horrifying... worlds.

[ the softest tapping sound accumulates in the background; her fingers, rarely ever idle, are dancing along the edges of her tablet as she runs through the paces of her message. ]

Winters spoke strongly of resets. I think about it each night. What drives them, if there is any reason or logic behind them. If they are not merely whims of the lighthouse keeper, then let it not be this:

Let it not be us, dividing into factions and turning on each other out of spite and fear, vengeance and guilt, carried past our deaths into this purgatory. Young, or old, or without classification. [ here's lookin' at you, five. ] We will only die again faster this way, festering in mistrust.

[ in this moment, she wishes perhaps more ardently than ever before that steve were here — he knows the power of a call to arms, how to be the tree that does not move, the liberating thrill of speech — despite how glad she is that he is not a victim with her. her captain, her beating heart, her family. ]

Each project will always have its own team.
But we shall try to be one town, yes?

I think we can.

Comments

@warlock; voice

[necromantiae]

This is a very inspiring pep talk.

( he only means that half sarcastically. )

Are you going to suggest we all join hands and sing Kumbaya next? That's the natural progression of a message like this, isn't it?

( it's a good message, in all honesty. )

Unification between so many different people is going to be difficult.

@tarth, voice

[chivalrouswench]

Well spoken.

[ Brienne doesn't know how to trust anymore, and there is at least one person in town she is convinced she will never be able to, but that doesn't make Wanda any less right. ]

Voice

[paletteswap]

That is very wise, I hope many here take it to heart.

Are people turning on each other already? I was under the impression that many were working on exploration. Perhaps I have missed something.

@kingofwei, voice

[pure_havoc]

[his tone is entirely too suave for this]

Advocating unity preemptively? It's almost as though you expect us to find a reason to go for each other's throats.

[hext]

The right thing is always harder than the wrong thing, Ambrose.

[ a beat. they're friends of a sort already. they understand persecution, and standing up to it. ]

But you know that.

[hext]

How old was Podrick, when you first took him as a squire, Lady Brienne?

[hext]

There was a massive dispute amongst the citizens on the network yesterday. Lines drawn over capabilities based on, it seems, age — understandable fear over past experience with harm coming to children. But fires were lit and pride was wounded.

[ she sighs. ]

I watched people who should be working together, mentoring and learning, draw away from each other with a strong sense of mistrust over one single offer of exploration. I only hope it won't be with finality.

[hext]

I think you missed a fairly massive fight on the network yesterday.

[necromantiae]

I hate that you're right. Why can't the right thing be easy too?

( it should be easy. more people would do the right thing if it wasn't so damn hard most of the time. )

How do you propose your ideas come to pass though? Saying that we shouldn't fight is one thing but putting it into practice? That's something else altogether.

[pure_havoc]

Clearly, though it's not as though I have the time to babysit every last communique in this place. Or the interest, for that matter. Idiots will be idiots no matter where we are.

[paletteswap]

I see.

Unfortunate to have potential allies turn to enemies over something so trivial.

We have only been here a short time, tensions are still running high. In time it may smooth itself out.

[He hopes]

[hext]

[ the fond smile is in her voice for him. her feelings for ambrose thrum kindred, shared, reflected. ]

I think we start by healing fresh wounds. Reach out across imaginary lines and erase them.

[ a beat. ]

I would like to train together. This place has injured our abilities. If we train together, we can take the measure of what we can still do — perhaps help each other compensate in areas we haven't explored.

[hext]

I would like to be proactive about it, if possible. —On that note, are you open to training with others?

[hext]

[ she can't help huffing out a laugh, barely a breath. ]

That is true, of course. But tell me this — you would rather not let idiocy at large eventually get you killed or reset, yes?

[necromantiae]

It is really quite something that there are already wounds to heal.

( this place was all about go hard or go home, wasn't it? except no one could go home so ha ha on everyone. )

It is not a bad idea, training together. I think you might have some difficulty convincing everyone but perhaps the majority would be amiable. It would be like one big physical education class.

( hopefully with no square dancing involved. what a stupid concept. )

[pure_havoc]

No, that's not a desirable outcome no matter who you are. But there are plenty of ways to prevent being swept up with idiocy at large. This situation is changing as people explore, new and exciting strategies may come up at any time.

[hext]

Not everyone will like every idea. That is not the reality I am hoping for. Simply some hands joining that might have turned away from each other before.

[ coyly, then. tenderly cajoling. ]

Would you participate?

[hext]

Do you have some ideas? We have not met before — I would love to hear your thoughts.

[necromantiae]

I haven't really trained in a very long time but I suppose I could carve out some time.

( it's not like he was doing much else. he was going to have to fix that at some point soon or he'd get bored. )

You might have to ask me nicely though.

[hext]

[ the tips of her fingers dance over her smile, not shy, but with a quietly immense pleasure. ]

Ambrose. My darling. The very beat of my poor, dead heart. Will you help me?

[pure_havoc]

We haven't. Cao Zihuan, Lord of Wei. You may call me Cao Pi. [must be polite, first and foremost]

I prefer to focus on solutions to problems that have been readily identified already, and to be sure, not being reset, whatever that means, is a problem. I don't know if people arguing has any relation to it, but I will say...we have no structure, here. There are the three leftovers and the mysterious lighthouse keeper, but none of them behave as a leader. Without trusted leadership in place, everyone will eventually break down and look after their own interests, if they haven't already.

[paletteswap]

Of course. Back home I am the Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei. Training others is what I have done for years.

And I've fought alongside those of all skillsets. And ages.

[necromantiae]

Wow.

( he's honestly impressed. )

I'm flattered. How could I say no to something like that?

@username

[dualikey]

oh, i never really asked about the resets

what'd he say?

@replica

[replicates]

you want to train together?

[ #priorities. ]